Magic Kingdom

Tuesday, September 30, 2014
This morning we had to get up early and pack our bags since we had to vacate our room today. The "plan" had us checking out and spending the morning/afternoon at Magic Kingdom. The resort would hold our bags until we came back to claim them. All this meant we had to wake up early so we could do our final packing, have some breakfast and catch a bus to Magic Kingdom in time for the opening ceremony. And we did!

The "plan" had us starting in Fantasy land  with Dumbo, Barnstormer and other rides until our brunch at Cinderellas castle, a character brunch.

I had gotten both the kids little notepads to draw or doodle in during times we had to wait, such as waiting for our food to arrive. Amber really liked the notepad and was always drawing in hers. When the characters came by for pictures they noticed her "doodle" pad and would pick it up and sign their autograph in her "doodle" pad. She did not like this at first, how dare someone write in her book, but after a few autographs, she wanted to collect more.

After we finished our brunch at Cinderella's castle we headed straight to the new Dwarve's mine ride, this was an awesome roller coaster ride, not scary awesome, but theme awesome. We moved on for a 50 minute wait for the jungle cruise, a 50 minute wait for the jungle cruise, yes you read that right.Of course after getting off the ride the rain begins, out came the ponchos and the dash for cover. Through the rain and the darting crowds we made our way to Tomorrowland in search for food at Pinnocio Village Haus.

After a delicious lunch, we expended our fast passes for Space Mountain, always a crowd pleaser. After two times on Space Mountain it was time for some relaxing time on the people mover, then moving on to the carousel of tomorrow before exiting the park for the day. We caught a ride on the monorail so the kids to ride to the Polynesian resort for some investigative work for our next resort stay in the future. While at the Polynesian we had lunch at Captain Cook's before returning back to our resort to pick up our bags and catch a ride to the airport.

We checked in at the airport Hyatt hotel, where we would spend the night and have airport food for dinner. Tomorrow we would embark on the cruise part of our vacation aboard the Disney Wonder.

Blizzard Beach

Monday, September 29, 2014
Another late start by design as we get ready for Blizzard Beach, Disney's water park. The buses didn't seem to be on our schedule today as we had a very long wait before we finally got a bus and were swept away to Blizzard Beach. 

Ranked in the top two water parks in the nation, I understand why. The theme of the park is that of a ski resort, very cool theme (no pun intended) for a water park. Our first attempt at riding a tube slide ended with Amber in hysterics, so we stayed away from tube slides and found something she could enjoy with us. When people think about going to Disney World I don't think they ever consider the Disney water park, this was an amazing place and we had a great time.

After doing the tobagon racers and family steamboat we had lunch at the park. After lunch a nice lazy ride on their float river and we were done for the day as the rain started. The bus back to the resort was waiting for us, which was great since we were all tired and hungry and ready to get back.

We had dinner at Pop Century resort, the food was more than filling, and afterwards we did some trinket shopping at the resort gift shop then retired for the evening to get packed and personal time before bedtime.

Quest for Halloween

Sunday, September 28, 2014
Today we slept in since everyone needed the rest. We had a big breakfast at the Pop Century resort before departing. Our destination today is Disney Quest at Downtown Disney. What is Disney Quest? It is a five story arcade, you pay and entry fee and virtually all video games are free to play. Disney Quest had some really nice virtual games as well as the usual video games you might expect to find in an arcade. 

Mason like the game where you got to design your own roller coaster then test it out in a ride simulator. Amber liked everything! Arriving at Disney Quest about 10:30 we had limited time to spend since we had to rush back to the resort and get ready for the second half of our day.

The main attraction for today is the Mickey Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. We had special party tickets which allowed us to enter the park for he party and stay until midnight. We put on our superhero costumes for the day and caught the bus to the Magic Kingdom, which was decorated fo Halloween.

That's us in our "Incredible's"disguise, riding the train in the Magic Kingdom to get to our rides. With our special party tickets we were allowed in the park at 4:00 and could stay until the part started, 7:00, at which time the park closed to regular park guests. Of course we had to ride the Haunted Mansion and since we had our picture pass, we also got our pictures taken in front of it.

After riding a few rides we found our spot in front of the Castle so we could watch the parade.

After the parade was over, we took the kids on the treat trail, places among rides that Disney had setup to pass out candy. After about 10:30 we were ready to exit the park, and as we left the park the rain started falling and confirmed our decision to leave was a good one.

Hollywood Studios

Saturday, September 27, 2014
The  morning started out with everyone excited, but moving slow. We arrived during the magical hours and immediately headed towards our first ride for he day, Rocking Roller Coaster, and waited until the rides opened.

Wasting no time, we quickly moved on to our second ride before the general public descends upon the park, Tower of Terror, unfortunately it would be Amber's last ride, just kidding she didn't ride.

Following the plan that Brenda designed for us, we darted across the park to Star Tours then Toy Story mania before having a snack. Did I mention it was a very hot and humid day? As luck would have it, Wandering Oaken's Frozen Funland, was next door to Toy Story mania. Stepping outside the "plan" we called an audible and did the Funland next.

The Funland had an app, you download the app and point your smartphone's camera at the target and characters would appear in the photo with you. This was very cool! The Funland was a nice place to be (did I mention the heat and humidity) as it was very cold inside.

The kids enjoyed getting to play in the ice/snow and it was good for mom and dad to have this down time while the kids played in the ice/snow.

Getting back on the "plan" we got in line (fast pass line) for the Frozen Sing along. This event was perfectly timed, we were able to sit down in a cool environment, rest the feet and enjoy the sing along, the kids enjoyed it, I even saw Mason singing along.

The rain finally showed up after the Frozen Sing Along and an amazing site of hundreds of ponchos magically appearing in unison, as if Walt himself had choreographed the event. With the rain bearing down on us we decided to find something indoors to do, the Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

Lunch was reservations at Hollywood and Vine, a character buffet including Doc McStuffin, Handy Manny, Sofia the First and Jake the Pirate. I enjoyed the food selections; fresh fruit and salads, plentiful choices of chicken, beef and fish. The dessert bar had a variety of tasty sweets to push me over the edge after the buffet. I am now ready for a nap, but perhaps a few more attractions first.

After lunch the "plan" had us going to see Lights, Motor, Action, a stunt show which we viewed under the dry pavilion of the attraction. By this time, everyone was getting tired, the rain was making things worse, but for this show, the rain stopped and we were able to watch.

All day we have noticed people dressed in 1950's period clothing. As we attempt to ride the Great Movie ride we discovered that it is "Dapper Day", an unofficial day here at Hollywood Studios where people dress up in period clothing. These outfits were amazing!

Our dinner reservation was at the Sci-Fi Dine-in, the setting is a drive-in and your table is a car at the drive-in. This was a great place for the kids, it kept them occupied and entertained watching the movies on the drive-in screen.

We ended the day on this high note as everyone was tired and ready for sleep.

Travel Day to Disney World

Friday, September 26, 2014
The highly anticipated day has arrived, our vacation to Disney World followed by a 5-day Disney Cruise.

The trip is off to great start so far as we breezed through the TSA pre-check line. It took us longer to put the four carry-on and four personal bags on the screening conveyor than it did for us to pass through the check point.

The arrival at Orlando airport was on time but late night, we had to find food and find it fast because it was 8:30ish and still had an hour and half before room check-in. The kids would not last long without food. 

With McDonald's settling in our stomachs, we found Disney's Magical Express that would take us to Pop Century resort. Forty-five minutes later (and some pixie dust) we were getting checked into the resort and as the key was handed over the rain began to fall.

We would have to make our way to our room, four stories up, seven pieces of rolling luggage (plus personal bags) and two kids. As fortune would have it, the rain stopped as we reached our room, but this would not be the last time we would see rain.