I’m a little behind on blogging, but with good reason — at the beginning of the month, the kids and I were at Walt Disney World in Florida! I had a conference there, and Gamma and Papa joined us to spend time with the kids while I was working/presenting/networking/absorbing new academic advising information.
Read on for a recap of our trip…
The Friday night before our trip, we stopped at Borders to find some plane ride diversions. Bubba got Toy Story Lego Army Men on Patrol, and Moco got American Girl paper dolls. Except for having to retrieve tiny Lego pieces that kept falling off the tray table, I would say these were good choices for keeping Moco and Bubba occupied on the airplane!
The next windy, damp, and cold morning, Moco had a soccer game before our flight! Daddy dropped us off at the airport (adjacent to the soccer fields) right after the game, as he had to get to football pre-game activities. Moco changed out of her soccer uniform in the truck, and I had to wipe off her muddy knees in the airport bathroom!
The plane rides were fairly uneventful. Bubba slept during the first flight… we ran into my boss (who was on her way back from Fort Lauderdale) in the Atlanta airport… and we made it to Orlando on time. We took a picture of this Harry Potter Virgin Airlines plane for Auntie Mariah, who was bummed she couldn’t join us, especially knowing that Universal Studios has the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter:
We met up with Papa (flew in from NM) shortly after we landed. While waiting for Gamma’s flight to arrive from DC (she was visiting family), Papa and Bubba raced Lego army vehicles on the floor and danced by the fountain.
We arrived at the timeshare fairly late in the evening and ordered a pizza. It was close to midnight by the time we actually ate because pizza delivery guy went to the wrong resort!!! The Bubs didn’t last very long; I think he took two bites of his pizza and then crashed on the couch.
We stayed at the Wyndham Bonnet Creek resort, which I highly recommend. It’s a newer and very nice complex. There are several pools (including one with a lazy river, another with water slides, and a spray park), an 18-hole miniature golf course, and a playground. The complex surrounds a small (presumably man-made) lake. In addition, we had great weather all week — sunny, low 80s, and not humid!
Wyndham Bonnet Creek
2 BR/2 BA Condo
The kids loved that the pool was right off the elevators from our building. They swam every day that we were there, sometimes multiple times a day! Both kids regained their tans (especially Bubba), and I’m thoroughly jealous!
We also played mini-golf several times over the course of the week. Each of us had at least one hole-in-one, although Moco showed up the rest of us with her mad golf skillz — she had several holes-in-one. We’ll just add putt-putt queen to her resume, along with soccer, skiing and air rifle shooting…
Papa had to fly out to Nebraska for a conference for about 48 hours while we were there, so it was just Gamma and the kids on Tuesday and Wednesday while I was at my conference. On Tuesday we walked around Downtown Disney after supper and enjoyed dark chocolate & raspberry and milk chocolate & caramel ice cream shakes at the Ghiradelli Soda Fountain & Ice Cream Shoppe. Bubba wanted just about everything in the Lego Imagination Center (but most of all, a Prince of Persia set), and Gamma bought Moco a charm bracelet at the World of Disney Store.
The best part of the evening was the DJ at the dock! He played kid-friendly music and entertained families for a good couple hours. I was impressed — lots of dancing, games, and a Conga line! This was an unexpected fun time!
The conference ended on Wednesday at 11:30am, so after I had a final lunch with my friend/mentor/co-presenter Sandy, Gamma and I took Moco and Bubba to the Orlando Premium Outlets for a little shopping before we picked up Papa from the airport. (There aren’t any pictures from our shopping excursion, but I did get some work clothes at Ann Taylor!)
On Thursday morning, we finally made it to the Magic Kingdom! That is, only after Gamma and Papa sacrificed 90 minutes of their lives suffering through a timeshare presentation in order to get the super-reduced two-day tickets for our choice of the DisneyWorld parks. We ate breakfast at the condo and packed PB&J sandwiches, fruit, and water bottles before heading to the Magic Kingdom.
I have to say a few things:
(1) WDW is ridiculously expensive. It’s almost nauseating!
(2) Staying at a timeshare with a full kitchen was seriously a financial lifesaver. I think we hit the grocery stores twice while there and probably spent around $30/person for the week on food, with the exception of a couple of meals that I had with colleagues through the conference and ice cream on three different days. Thank goodness for Gamma’s meal planning and cooking, too!!! It was easily $20 for a simple lunch for just me at the conference resort — so the condo kitchen is definitely the way to go with a family if you’re budget-conscious like we are!!!
(3) WDW is amazingly efficient. From parking, to trams, to ticketing, to security… they pull off quite a show keeping that place running smoothly. I was highly impressed. While at the conference, I was also impressed with the conference catering for 3000 people — and the food was great! The customer service is amazing. Employees are called cast members, so they are always “in character”. They are friendly, courteous, and helpful. It really was a pleasant experience interacting with Disney employees!
(4) October is a great time to go to WDW. Yes, Moco missed a week of school. And, yes, we got lucky with the weather (which could have been terribly rainy due to the tropical depression that didn’t last or super hot and humid). But it wasn’t peak season (although it was still pretty busy), so we got through almost all the rides that we wanted to do without too much of a wait. We didn’t do Mickey’s Not-So-Scary-Halloween Party, but that looked like a lot of fun!!!
(5) I brought along The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World with Kids 2011. A good portion of the book focuses on lodging and meals, which is typically the biggest part of one’s WDW budget, so we could skip those sections. I personally liked the itineraries in the back as well as the attraction ratings… this was helpful for us planning which rides and attractions to do. There were some tips that really helped out (best tip: Fast Passes for Toy Story Mania)!
Anyhow…
As soon as we entered the Magic Kingdom, we got on the WDW Railroad and headed to Mickey’s Toon Town.
The train ride kinda sucks because you can’t see a lot of the park between the main entrance and Toon Town, but it’s a quick ride. The kids explored Mickey’s and Minnie’s Country Houses (yes, they live in separate houses. They don’t cohabit like some of us do!), their yards/gardens, and Mickey’s garage. Oh, and if you’re interested — Mickey’s green, y’all. He recycles!
I love this picture — except for Santa on vacation in the background!
Bubba was thrilled to see Pluto’s doghouse!
Moco and Bubba rode their first (and only) rollercoaster of the trip — The Barnstormer. I was convinced that Bubba would be terrified. In fact, he had his arms up and was pumping his fists. He LOVED it. Moco? Not so much. She wasn’t a fan of jerking turns around the corners. I really hoped she would enjoy roller coasters because I was looking forward to doing Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with her because I assumed Bubba wouldn’t be tall enough for most of the rides. I was wrong. She refused to go on any more roller coasters, and he clears the height requirement for many of the rides (it’s probably the hair)!!!
Self-portrait of Mommy and The Bubs on the initial ascent on The Barnstormer before we went plummeting down. Gamma’s head is behind mine, and you can see Papa (sitting with Moco) in the blue and white shirt.
We had a basic itinerary in mind to cover the Magic Kingdom, but we wanted the kids to enjoy the experience and not feel rushed to go from attraction to attraction. Everything worked out, and we really had a great experience.
Our favorite attractions are:
Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin – This is a very fun, interactive ride, which is only trumped by Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios (see Hollywood Studios recap below).
Jungle Cruise – This is a classic attraction — totally cheesy, but very funny. We had a great “tour guide” for our journey. Highlight: there was a little girl named Grayson sitting across the boat from us, too! :)
Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor – We had heard that this could be mixed. It’s like an animated stand-up comedy show. Ours was pretty funny because people were good sports. Highlight: Bubba made it on the TV screen several times because the guy in front of us was one of those being picked on. Bonus: That guy and his family were all wearing Pittsburgh Steelers jerseys!
Peter Pan’s Flight – This is one of my favorite rides, and I think Moco fell in love with it as well. You can’t beat riding in a pirate galleon, flying above London on the way to Never Land! It really is a whimsical journey!
Pirates of the Caribbean – The addition of Captain Jack Sparrow on this attraction will make you swear it’s really Johnny Depp standing there! Waiting in the dark, dungeon-like hallways to get to the ride really gets you in the mindset for the ride — the kids were initially uncertain, but they enjoyed it!
The Haunted Mansion – Both kids were uncertain about this one as well, as they’re not big into anything “scary”. This is actually a funny ride, though, and Bubba got a kick out of the ghost sitting with us!
Mickey’s PhilharMagic (3D movie) – Collectively, this was our favorite non-ride attraction. It’s a 3-D movie, and it’s great. We stopped in to see this (not knowing much about it) at the perfect time; we were getting hot, so taking a seat in the nice, cool theatre and enjoying a good short film was worth it.
FYI – none of us liked Stitch’s Great Escape! And we were bummed to discover that “it’s a small world” is closed for refurbishing — Gamma and I were so excited to take the kids on that one in particular, too!!!
Bubba begged to go on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (which is my favorite Disney roller coaster), but the wait was 45 minutes, and no one else wanted to ride. Bubba is, like many 4-year-olds, very impatient when it comes to waiting, and waiting all that time for a couple minutes on the roller coaster wasn’t high on my list of things to do at Disney World. Perhaps we’ll come back when he’s older and (hopefully) more patient, and he and I can enjoy the roller coasters together!!!
We enjoyed our PB&J sandwiches outside of The Lunching Pad after riding the race cars at the Tomorrowland Speedway. The kids enjoyed exploring Tom Sawyer Island, which included exploring some of the dark and disorienting “caves” (good opportunity to explain what it feels like to be in a mine shaft), and trying out the rifles at Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade.
We took a break in the afternoon to enjoy the Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade, where Moco and Bubba were greeted immediately by Goofy and Pluto.
They loved seeing all the characters riding on the floats and walking past us…
…except for Cinderella’s stepmother and step sisters. Moco and Bubba made it clear that they did not care for those wicked women (who played the parts really well)!!!
We ended our day at Magic Kingdom moving it, shaking it, and celebrating it at a street party before heading down Main Street to take the tram back to the parking lot.
I forgot to mention that Disney really makes you feel that you’re going to a whole new world — which is part of what makes it so magical — because you can’t just drive right up to the park. You have to take the tram in, and as tall as Cinderella’s Castle is — you can’t see it from anywhere until you get to the park! This makes you feel like you really, truly are going to somewhere special and magical rather than a theme park that you drive by and see from the interstate.
We left the Magic Kingdom as the park was changing over for Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party. It looked like so much fun, but Moco and Bubba probably would not have lasted until midnight to enjoy the festivities of the evening, although we did briefly contemplate that option! It was very fun watching the park transform into a Halloween party, and to see entire families in costume or changing their kids into their costumes on the sidewalks.
I should also add that Moco and Bubba each had souvenir money for this trip, and they were eager to spend it. Moco purchased two charms for her charm bracelet near Cinderella’s Castle, and she got a Minnie Mouse t-shirt at the Emporium on Main Street. There were plenty of things that Bubba wanted throughout the day, but his only purchase of the entire trip was a Pluto lovey at the Emporium. For a few hours, I was almost certain that Pluto was going to trump Boo, but that hasn’t been the case!
Random funny story:
That night, back at the condo, I was checking email at the kitchen (bar) counter, and Gamma and Bubba were asleep. Moco and Papa were watching Adam Sandler’s Bedtime Stories on the couch. I heard a huge crash behind me, and I turned around and saw this:
Papa had gotten up to plug in his laptop, and he leaned over the green accent chair to reach the outlet behind it. The chair tipped backwards, which launched Papa face-first into the fake plant! Moco and I were laughing so hard (as was Papa), and I couldn’t help but grab the camera for a picture — yes, before helping him get out of that predicament. It doesn’t look that bad in this picture, but he had fake moss in his mouth and nose!!!
It was quite a funny way to end a great day!
On Friday we went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios.
We arrived shortly after the park opened. The first thing we did was head to Toy Story Mania, which is the most popular ride out of all of the Walt Disney World theme parks. The wait was 60 minutes long barely 30 minutes after the park opened! We opted to get Fast Pass tickets for later in the day, and wandered down to the Backlot Studio Tour. This was the kids’ first introduction to how movies are made. I’m not sure that Bubba really understands that everything is “just pretend”, but Moco absolutely loved it! It was also cool to walk down “city blocks” that looked like New York City and San Francisco, but everything was just backdrops and fake fronts.
The kids also really enjoyed the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular attraction — it’s like being in the audience when a real movie is filmed, with actors prepping and sets changing. They haven’t seen any of the Indiana Jones movies yet, but I’m sure they will remember this experience when they see the movies!
Here’s the rundown of the rest of the attractions we did:
Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian — This was not our favorite; it was boring… basically we just watched an extended movie trailer while standing in part of the movie set, and exited past just a few of the movie costumes and props used. Considering none of us have seen the movie and don’t really have any interest in it right now, this got two thumbs down from us!
Muppet*Vision 3-D – Papa used to love The Muppets (as did I when I was much younger), so this was an enjoyable 3-D show with our favorite Muppets. Again, the kids don’t really know about The Muppets, so they didn’t appreciate it in the same way Papa, Gamma, and I did… but it was still fun for them!
Playhouse Disney: Live on Stage – Moco probably rolled her eyes so many times she got dizzy, but this was Bubba’s chance to see Handy Manny (as a puppet) in action along with other Playhouse Disney characters from Blue’s Clues, My Friends Tigger and Pooh, Little Einsteins, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Bubba was definitely one of the oldest kids in the room, but he enjoyed it… plus it gave us a chance to sit down (on the ground!) and stretch our legs for about 20 minutes.
Star Tours — This was closed… and I was bummed.
The American Idol Experience — Moco was bummed that you have to be 14 to audition for this attraction, but we all enjoyed it. It really does feel like you’re at a live taping of AI with the lights, music, mini-interviews, the general format of the show, etc. There are auditions for park-goers, and at certain times throughout the day — three of those picked compete against each other. There are judges with personalities similar to Randy, Paula and Simon, who provide constructive feedback to the contestants. We had the chance to vote to send one of them on to the 7pm finale. We didn’t stick around for the finale, but we put through a very good singer (although I can’t remember her name — maybe Nicole?). The final winner of the day basically gets an American Idol “Fast Pass” to go to the front of the line at any real AI audition in any city — a “golden ticket” to the audition, if you will. Apparently one of the Top 10 from last year’s AI went through this process — so it is legit!
The Great Movie Ride — This was a neat ride through some of the most famous movies in history. Our favorite recreations of movie scenes were those from The Wizard of Oz. Moco really loved this one… she’s definitely her daddy’s girl when it comes to movies! We decided that Hollywood Studios would be a good place for Daddy, Grandma Lavera, and Auntie Mariah to visit one day as well!
The Magic of Disney Animation: Papa really enjoyed this one because of the host (a real animator). Bubba wasn’t a huge fan. It was a nice, short look into the animation of Disney movies. After the film, Moco and Bubba had the chance to meet Sorcerer Mickey.
Toy Story Mania: This was by far the best attraction of our trip… and it’s no surprise this is such a popular ride at Walt Disney World. It’s incredibly fun! It’s an interactive 4-D ride — you wear 3-D glasses and basically play games like those at a carnival (throwing darts at balloons, ring tosses, knocking down targets, etc.) and you’re playing for points. If it weren’t for the ridiculously long line (210 minutes for standby when we came back with our Fast Passes — and still had to wait for quite some time!!!), we probably would have done this ride over and over and over again!!! Sherry tipped us off to Toy Story Mania on Wii — apparently it’s almost identical in concept (minus riding around in a game car). Too bad we don’t have a Wii!
Voyage of the Little Mermaid: This is a neat “underwater” show that mixed the real actors, puppets, special effects, and clips from the Disney movie version of The Little Mermaid. Bubba didn’t like Ursula the Sea Witch when she came on stage… but we enjoyed the music and the recreation of the story. This made me wish that we had brought Moco to Disney when she was Bubba’s age and totally into Disney Princesses — she would have been in heaven!
We were able to cover pretty much everything we wanted to do at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in a day. We skipped the roller coasters and some of the attractions that the kids weren’t really interested in doing. It didn’t seem as hot as Magic Kingdom, so walking around was really bearable. It wasn’t nearly as crowded, and the lines weren’t too long for any attraction (except Toy Story Mania). There were plenty of shady places to get out of the sun, too.
Also, at Magic Kingdom, it seemed nearly impossible to get a picture with a character — at Hollywood Studios, it was a breeze! The park itself isn’t very large, and there were plenty of characters out and about throughout the day.
Both kids were thrilled to meet Mickey and Minnie. As soon as Bubba met Handy Manny, he could have called off the rest of the vacation. The huge grin on his face was worth every penny we spent on this trip. His other favorite characters were the Toy Story Army Men; they were some of the few “face” characters that talk (because they don’t have to speak in a particular voice familiar to kids and because they don’t have to wear the same type of masks) — and they were pretty funny!
Overall, it was a great day. We really enjoyed Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and we would certainly go back. Taking Moco and Bubba at their current ages (8 and 4) was a great idea, though, like I said earlier, I wish we had taken Moco to Walt Disney World (or Disneyland) when she was younger and totally into the Disney princesses. To see her light up in the same way her brother did would have been awesome… but that’s okay — because she had a great time “at the movies” and enjoying Disney in a different way.
I wish we had the opportunity to spend more time at Disney and visiting the other theme parks… I guess that means we need to start saving up for the next trip, especially because we want to bring Daddy and Auntie Mariah with us the next time! Papa and Gamma were joking that they’ll be back in another four to five years when it’s time to bring the “other” grandkids (those who are still a glimmer in the eyes of Tio Gabi and Kitty Cat)… and that might be a good time to bring Moco and Bubba back — when they can do all the “big kid” rides together. I know Bubba can’t wait to ride the rollercoasters!
Anyhow… our last hurrah in Orlando before we headed to the airport was another quick 18 holes of mini golf at the resort:
It was really nice to spend the week with Gamma and Papa, too, but it was hard being away from Daddy and Auntie Mariah — especially because we wanted them to join in the fun, too. We had this planned a year ago when I knew the conference would be in Orlando; October is always out for Daddy because of football, and at the time, we didn’t know that Mariah would be living with us and going to school… so we’ll plan it for us (as a family) next time, rather than around a conference schedule! We plan to come back someday to Walt Disney World and do it all – Epcot, Animal Kingdom, and perhaps the water parks. And Auntie Mariah and I want to go to Universal Studios to check out the Wizarding World of Harry Potter before it’s no longer cool!
It was hard to come back to Illinois and back to reality, but we’re glad we had the chance to take this vacation in 2010. We came back to similar weather — warm, sunny — but now it has quickly changed to fall weather! We’ll be wishing we were back in Orlando in the next couple weeks and months when we’re in the middle of another Midwest winter!!!
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