Sunday, June 7, 2009

How can this possibly be our last day?? Didn't we just get here? We have had such a fantastic time! But, unfortunately we do have to leave today, so we packed up and checked out of the Blue Heron Beach Resort. (Not before I went across the parking lot to get a caramel machiatto from Starbucks, however).

It was only fitting that we finish our time at Disney the way we began--wearing our matching Disney Road Trip shirts and going to Epcot! Right inside the park entrance we found characters Stitch and Daisy Duck greeting park guests for pictures and autographs. We waited in line for our turn and then stood in an even longer line for the Spaceship Earth ride.

Over at Club Cool, we had one last frozen coke. At Mission Space, Beth and I played one last game of Mission Space Race with Superman and his new wife while the kids played one last time in the Mission Space play area. We watched the toilet water fountain erupt and Beth tells us that means it's noon. Baby Brad took one last ride in the stroller, and we had one last picture taken with Spaceship Earth in the background. On our way out of the park, Mary and I breathe in deeply, listen to the Disney music, and try and etch the colorful sights around us in our mind so we don't forget the magic.

We made a final trip to Downtown Disney for last minute shopping and lunch at McDonald's, and hit one last Disney outlet store on our way out of town. We were on our way about 4:30 p.m. and arrived in St. Simons Island, Georgia around 8 p.m. to check into the Hampton Inn. The kids are thrilled to eat at McDonald's again and burn off some energy in the McDonald's playplace.

We discuss the high points of our trip and name our favorite parks, rides, attractions, and places to eat. We talk again about the way Baby Brad loves all the characters and how proud Beth is of him that he's not even two years old yet and knows how to "queue" up in line for rides and attractions.

Our magic moments included an American Idol Experience of a lifetime, a Kris Allen sighting, multiple Fast Pass bonuses, and vouchers for a tour in November (when Beth goes again with a group of 32) since we forgot our Magic Kingdom tour last week. For Mary and I, every moment in Disney with Beth is magic--thanks again, Beth!!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

“A wish is a powerful thing, especially when it comes from the heart.” – Jiminy Cricket

Bev and Beth got up before dawn to attend an annual pass holder’s sale at World of Disney in Downtown Disney. Hoping for tremendous discounts, they were mightily disappointed with the small selection of marked down inventory and no discounts on regular merchandise.
Patrick was scheduled to fly back to Colorado today, so Beth drove him to the airport before we got on with our last full day at Walt Disney World.

With only seven days away from Mary’s 10th birthday, we decided to begin celebrating today. Andrew and Christopher decided to stay at the resort today with Grammy, so Beth, baby Brad, Mary, and I took off for another day at Magic Kingdom.

We rode the Monorail from the Ticket and Transportation Center to Magic Kingdom riding in the front car with the driver. We have now ridden all modes of Disney transportation—bus, boat, and monorail. Immediately inside the park, we got a birthday button for Mary to wear at Guest Relations, and I spotted Chip & Dale for a quick character photo and autograph. Baby Brad is really enjoying all the character interaction. His excitement is contagious and fun to watch considering most kids his age are crying and clinging to their parents when they meet a character face to face. Brad boldly walks right up to within a foot of the character then turns around and backs up into them for his photo op. We hadn’t gotten very far after that when we had to duck into the Emporium gift shop during the first thunderstorm of the day.

Climbing aboard the Walt Disney World Railroad, we traveled to Mickey’s Toontown Fair to walk through Mickey and Minnie’s Country houses. At Toontown’s Hall of Fame Tent, we stood in line to greet Disney’s Princesses: Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle. Brad was so funny when he met Cinderella. He kept pointing back and forth toward Aurora and Belle as if to say, “Did you know there are two other princesses here with you?” In the Judge’s Tent, we waited in line to greet Mickey and Minnie. Mary wants to know why there are no Fast Passes for Character Spots and bathroom breaks.

The White Rabbit was greeting guests outside the Mad Tea Party ride and Brad backed up into him for a picture. We grabbed a quick bite of lunch at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe before Mary and I rode on the spinning tea cup ride and then Stitch’s Great Escape while Beth and Baby Brad played at Pooh’s outdoor play area.

Our dinner reservations were at the Swan Hotel restaurant, Garden Grove Grill--an Italian cuisine buffet including a build-your-own pasta bar complete with character interactions from Goofy and Pluto. Since Mary was still wearing her birthday button, they brought out a dessert and sang to her. The food was so authentically rich and tasty. I was going to go back for round two but filled up from the dessert bar instead trying one of about seven different desserts. It’s a good thing I lost 30 pounds before coming to Disney, because I put it all back on at this one sitting!!

Back to Magic Kingdom, we rode one last time on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin where Mary beat all our scores, and then we rode on Snow White’s Scary Adventure ride before positioning ourselves right in front of the castle for the evening magic. At 9 p.m., the lighted parade SpectroMagic began. There are no words to describe this magical experience and video doesn’t even begin to capture the breathtaking light show. At 10 p.m., the Wishes nighttime spectacular closes the park day. Wishes is an impressive synchronized fireworks display with music and Disney character voices that you won't experience anywhere else! Tinker Bell floats out of the top of the castle at one point and is covered with incredible lights. After the show, Mary’s sentiment just says it all: “Doesn’t that just make you feel good?”

Indeed, Mary, the whole trip has just made us feel wonderfully good!

Friday, June 05, 2009

It’s a jungle out there—at Animal Kingdom that is. We started the day with a latte and pastry at a vendor cart just outside the park before taking in the kids’ favorite attraction. Mary, Andrew, Chris, and baby Brad could’ve played all day at the bone yard fossil fun site. Junior archeologist, Mary, led her team of excavating cadets on a wild dig uncovering an exciting adventure.

New a couple years ago, Finding Nemo—the Musical, was a colorful theater production of this Disney movie. It reminded me of the Broadway version of “The Lion King” with a cast of brilliant actors bringing the ocean story to life on stage through puppetry.

Restaurantosaurus was our stop for a light lunch before Andrew and Patrick headed out to ride Expedition Everest. The rest of us took off on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. We didn’t get very far though before having to take cover from an early afternoon thunder shower.

On Kilimanjaro Safari, an open-air, rough terrain vehicle takes you on an expedition through an African-style savannah providing plenty of scenery and exotic animals for pictures and video.

Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade brought our day at Animal Kingdom to a close with colorful floats and fun music—several characters paused to give the kids a hug or a high five.

Our last night at Beach Club Villas, Beth checked out Expedia.com to book our last two nights of lodging. I thought we may have been in for some unpleasant accommodations at the Blue Heron Beach Resort when neither the address nor the name came up in the Garmin. However, this condominium located on the shores of Lake Bryan is one of Orlando’s newest resorts and made the Beach Club Villas look like Port Orleans on Riverside. Eight of us were more than comfortable with all the amenities of home away from home including a beautiful view of the lake from our deck. After we got checked in and unloaded the luggage, Beth took us to a couple Disney Outlet stores where we shopped for some discounted souvenirs—(don’t tell the people I give gifts to).

It was the happiest place on earth at Downtown Disney tonight with thousands of people enjoying their happy selves in the Marketplace and Pleasure Island. We, of course, made our favorite stops at Earl of Sandwich, Ghirardelli, and the Lego place. At Ghirardelli we sang one more round of Happy Birthday to Andrew as he enjoyed seven cherries in honor of his seventh birthday.

Mary purchased her very own Mickey and Minnie Mouse plush toys to remember this special trip.

Patrick was on a mission today to set a world’s record for hitting all the parks in one day using all the different modes of transportation and eating something from each park as well as riding on at least one attraction at each park—he is truly his mother’s son!!

As I sit here and enjoy the breathtaking view of the lake from our window, I know Mary and I will treasure this amazing vacation for years and years to come. What a great way to start our summer 2009—and we still have a day and a half of Disney fun left!!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Disney: Day 9—my new best friends are Solarcaine, padded moleskin, and warm, dry socks!!! The sky opened up today while we were on the Jungle Cruise boat tour at Magic Kingdom and soaked us to the bone. Up until then, we had been having such a good time taking castle pictures, riding rides, and checking out all the attractions that we completely forgot to show up for the Family Magic Tour Beth had scheduled for us at 11 a.m. today!

Beth has been such a fantastic tour guide all on her own, I can’t imagine anyone going to Disney without Beth and having even a fraction of the fun or seeing even a glimpse of the awesome experiences Mary and I have been honored to be a part of during this trip. I may have sunburned skin and calloused feet, but it’s all part of “Beth’s Disney Boot Camp,” and I wouldn’t have it any other way. With Beth’s extensive knowledge of the parks, the magic is ongoing and not just a “moment” here and there!! It’s not just at the parks either, but back at the hotel rooms, as well. On one of our return trips to the room, the kids were all ecstatic to find that the Disney Elf had paid them a visit with toys and gifts waiting for them on the beds—like the Mickey-shaped towels mousekeeping leaves on the beds!! I even had a new wooden shoe to add to my collection from the Disney Elf—Yay!!

Anyway, back to Magic Kingdom today, we continued to observe Andrew’s birthday stretching out the fun the way all birthdays should be celebrated! A plethora of Magic Kingdom rides and attractions were enjoyed including Peter Pan’s Flight, Winnie the Pooh, It’s a Small World, Mickey’s PhilharMagic, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin, Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor, Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tom Sawyer Island, and Tomorrowland Speedway. I let Mary drive on the Speedway ride, and decided when it comes time for her to learn to drive in a real car; Joel is going to have to teach her. I would show you the video so you could see what I’m talking about, but Mary deleted it!

For lunch, we stopped at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café for burgers, chicken, fries, and dessert. Mary got reacquainted with her old pal, Push. She was hoping Push would show up again for more trash talk, and she was not disappointed. She and Andrew followed Push (the walking, talking refuse container) around getting the garbage on all the latest news.

After lunch, we were just in time to catch the Celebrate A Dream Come True Parade in front of the castle before the first downpour of the day. In between rain showers, we did manage to get a couple character autographs with Buzz Lightyear and Pinnochio; but the most enjoyable character spot today was during supper at The Crystal Palace—buffet dining with Pooh and friends. As Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet make their way around the restaurant; all the kids collect autographs and hugs while the parents collect the pictures and videos. It was a ton of fun and the food was great—especially the dessert buffet!!

Back at the hotel, we spent most of the evening organizing and packing as we must check out of the beautiful Beach Club Villas tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Today is Andrew’s actual 7th birthday!! We got up early so he could open a few presents in our hotel room and then we drove to Coronado Springs Resort where we had breakfast at Pepper Market. Hollywood Studios was our park destination today where, in honor of Andrew’s birthday, his mom tried an amazingly brave stunt. More about that in a minute.
Tigger and Eeyore were standing near Mickey’s big sorcerer hat braving the heat for pictures and autographs. So we stood in line and waited for that perfect photo op. Meanwhile, Beth bravely made her way through the crowds to secure fast passes for our favorite ride—Toy Story Mania. However, even that act paled against her outstanding exploit--which I’ll explain in detail coming up.

Journey Into Narnia: Prince Caspian, is a walk through attraction we checked out which included scenes from the movie as well as housing props and costumes for display. We watched the Indiana Jones Adventure where they selected brave volunteers from the audience to participate in the show. I’d like to tell you that Beth was chosen as one of the brave individuals used on the stage for the show, but she wasn’t and that wouldn’t even have compared to the feat she attempted today.

Unbeknownst to me, Beth had prepared an acapella performance to audition with at the American Idol Experience in the event I had not been able to get into a show last week. Now, my cousin (who looks like a girl who could sing) has been telling me for years that singing just wasn’t something she could do. People standing in front of her in church even plug their ears when she sings—so she says. I just figured it was all a ploy to get me to try out first and that she actually had a lovely voice.

We got right into the studio for her first audition and waited by the silver star to be called in. I was so excited encouraging her and telling her she would go all the way to the finale show. We chatted with some of the other park guests who were nervously awaiting their turn to audition and congratulated those that exited from the audition rooms going on to their second audition.
When Beth was called in, I was able to go in with her. The gal behind the desk asked Beth to tell about her and music. Beth’s response was an honest statement: she has loved music all her life and knows she’s probably not the best singer, but that she could make up for it with enthusiasm.
When Beth began singing her rendition of “Old Time Rock and Roll”, I was blown away!

PAUSE (for dramatic effect)

She really CAN’T sing!! I was trying to look the opposite of flabbergasted as was the gal behind the desk. But then…

PAUSE (for further drama)

…Beth broke into a disco move, started motioning toward the door, and began repeating the same lyrics she had just sung instead of singing the next verse. As I prayed for the audition to be over, I was wishing I was landing on Mars in Mission Space instead of sitting in the room.
The very kind and tactful Disney cast member behind the American Idol Experience desk told Beth that she was right—she probably isn’t the best singer, but that she would love to go to a karaoke bar with her sometime. She went on to explain that as a Disney park attraction any one meeting the age requirement is welcome to audition, but also as a park attraction, Disney sets the bar pretty high for the shows that park guests watch for entertainment. We were thanked for coming in and escorted out. And that’s all I have to say about that.

At 1:20, we went to the Lights, Motor, Action show and at 3:40 p.m., we had reservations at the Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater for Andrew’s birthday lunch. At the check-in counter, it’s impossible to tell what kind of dining experience is ahead. When our party was called, we walked down a long hallway and into a theater that resembled an outdoor drive-in theater at night. With a 50’s theme, each table is a convertible car with seats and benches all pointing at a big screen with black and white movie clips and concession stand popcorn commercials. Lunch was delicious followed by a Mickey Mouse shaped birthday cake with candles and a chorus of “Happy Birthday”—thankfully our singing drowned out Beth’s singing.

Andrew was given a Disney gift card to use at any store in the park worth $63, and he took great care in selecting just the right toys for his money. We then took the leftover cake back to the resort and Beth and the boys went for a swim before Beth and Andrew and Mary and I went back to Hollywood Studios for magic hours. Playhouse Disney was hosting a dance party with a host of characters, great music, and balloon animal sculptors. Beth and Mickey Mouse did the Electric Slide and Mary and Goofy danced to the Hokey Pokey. We rode the boat back over to the resort, had a little bit more of Andrew’s chocolate Mickey Mouse cake for a midnight snack, and now I need to go to bed!

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

At Walt Disney World, everyday is a celebration. The music and lights, colors and characters, the shows and attractions, and the nightly fireworks extravaganza combine to amuse and entertain all the senses and provide for a perpetual party. For our family, today was the first day of our own special celebration. Andrew will be seven on June 3rd, so starting today, we all wore buttons proclaiming we are celebrating Andrew’s birthday (except for Andrew who wears the “Happy Birthday!” button). All the cast members acknowledge his special day, and he is treated like royalty.

The Epcot Character Spot was our first stop today where we collected autographs and pictures with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and Pluto. At The Land in Future World, we rode on Living with the Land and viewed The Circle of Life film featuring characters from “The Lion King.” These environmental based attractions helped prepare us for the Behind the Seeds tour we were scheduled to take at 11:15. An intern took us on a guided journey of the innovative gardening and farming techniques used right at Disney to grow and harvest food that is used right at the parks. We got an in-depth look at hydroponics as well as other new ways to garden that are used in lieu of growing plants in the soil. Bev asked very good questions as an avid gardener, and we all got to see a nine pound lemon and a mouse shaped pumpkin. After the tour, we went on the Soarin’ ride again. (If anyone knows what happens to your shoes if they fall off during the Soarin’ ride, will you please email Bev with the answer?).

In the World Showcase at the Teppan Edo in Japan, we were treated to dinner and a show as the cook prepared our food right at the table. Eri, our cook, tried to make Andrew believe that mushrooms were chocolate, and the castle she made for us out of onion rings doubled as a steaming volcano and a tasty addition to our meal. Andrew received a special birthday ice cream treat and chef’s hat, and everyone sang to him as well. Mary ate most of her meal with her chopsticks, and then we fought over the rights to the Chocolate Ginger Cake.

At some point today, Club Cool and a souvenir shopping stop at Mouse Gear occurred where the boys got frozen Cokes and Mary purchased her very own stuffed Mickey Mouse. We also had a chance encounter with Baloo and an Aristocat who were out in the park greeting guests, signing autographs, and posing for pictures.

After lunch we checked out the 3-D “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience” attraction, Journey Into the Imagination with Figment, and ImageWorks interactive labs in the Imagination part of Future World.

Our supper reservations were just for the girls (and Baby Brad) in Norway at the Akershus for the Princess Storybook dinner. A three-course meal and princess encounters made this a great dining experience. Belle, Cinderella, Ariel, Aurora, and Snow White all greeted us for pictures and autographs. Clearly, Baby Brad was most enamored with Snow White, but it was Belle that gave him the peck on the cheek.

We met up with Patrick, Andrew, and Christopher in America after supper to view the American Adventure—an inspirational story of America and its people. Immediately after the show, we found a spot from Japan to watch the amazing IllumiNations Reflections of Earth. This outstanding show with the wonderfully choreographed music, lights, fire, water, and fireworks is breathtaking and should be something everyone makes sure they see when going to Disney.
Today were extra magic hours at Epcot for those staying in Disney Resorts, so midnight was park closing for us instead of nine. Bonus attractions we went on during the magic hours included the Maelstrom boat ride in Norway, the Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros in Mexico, and Mission Space in Future World. I was a little leery of riding Mission Space, but Patrick wanted Mary and I to try it, so we finally gave in to go on the less intense journey to Mars. I figured if my cousin Beth would go on it, surely it was safe and I would be able to handle it!! Little did I know she would ditch us and not ride it after Mary and the boys and I had already gotten into our space pods. Mary actually enjoyed it, but I probably won’t go on it again.

Monday, June 01, 2009

Beth and her boys headed for Disney’s other water park today--Typhoon Lagoon. Mary and I decided to give our sunburned skin a break and just have a lazy day and sleep in and relax in our new spacious accommodations. We wrote and mailed postcards and then went to the main lodge of the Beach and Yacht Club to see what was available to eat. We chose sandwiches, grapes, pudding, a brownie, and drinks and found a private table in the Solarium to enjoy our lunch.

We walked around Disney’s Boardwalk and did some souvenir shopping; then it was back to the resort to relax in the A/C.

When Beth and boys returned, we went down to the pool where there was a kids’ sing along activity. It was Mary’s turn to grab a microphone and sing her heart out to the crowd. She sang a Miley Cyrus song and a song from the movie “Camp Rock”.

Our 5:40 p.m. reservations were at Cape May Café in the main building of the Beach and Yacht Club. The seafood buffet included crab legs which Bev thoroughly enjoyed even though she had to hammer on them with a butter knife to crack them open.

After dinner we put on swimsuits and went to the resort’s main pool. Following swimming and sandcastle making, we went over to the beach where a bonfire was already in progress. We grabbed some sticks and roasted marshmallows to make S’mores. An inflatable movie screen was set up on the beach and we gathered around to watch the movie “Bolt”. With the lights of the Boardwalk as the backdrop and the light breeze coming in off the water, it was a perfect evening to sit out on the beach.