On Wednesday,
we visited Animal Kingdom. This is a beautiful park, very lushly
landscaped and with lots of small details to look at, but a little light
on rides. I really wanted to watch the bird show, but the timing didn't
work out. In the afternoon, the kids returned to Typhoon Lagoon, while
Susan and I drove around, checking out different areas of Disney World.
After dinner we returned to Animal Kingdom to ride Expedition: Everest
at night, then went back to the hotel to use their night vision goggles
to view the animals in the dark.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Epcot & Magic Kingdom
We
spent a few hours yesterday morning checking out the hotel, then headed into
Epcot. There's a lot to see and do the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and it
would be easy to spend a day just doing activities here.
At Epcot, we rode Test Track, then went back to the World Showcase, where the kids tried out the new Kim Possible adventures while Susan and I watched the France movie and wandered through some countries. We met back up for any early dinner in Japan's Teppanyaki restaurant, then the kids finished all seven of the "Team Possible" missions and Susan and I made our way to Future World to ride Imagination and the Seas.
At Epcot, we rode Test Track, then went back to the World Showcase, where the kids tried out the new Kim Possible adventures while Susan and I watched the France movie and wandered through some countries. We met back up for any early dinner in Japan's Teppanyaki restaurant, then the kids finished all seven of the "Team Possible" missions and Susan and I made our way to Future World to ride Imagination and the Seas.
We spent today in the Magic Kingdom, hitting the highlights and stopping to pin-trade and take photopass pictures. We enjoyed noticing the differences between Florida's park and Disneyland, which is more familiar to us. Luckily the park was much less crowded today than it was on Saturday, and we were able to ride most things with little wait.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom Lodge
We checked out of the Boardwalk this morning, then took the boat to the Hollywood Studios. Although taking the boat from the Boardwalk to Epcot works great, because you're last on and first off, between the Boardwalk and the Studios you're first on and last off. It's faster to walk.
The Studios is our least favorite park at WDW, partly because several of its major attractions are also at the Disneyland resort, so we only spent a few hours there. We rode the Studios' version of Midway Mania, Rock N Roller coaster, and the Great Movie Ride, did the Backlot tour and the Narnia walkthrough, and grabbed some lunch, then headed out.
We then checked into the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the kids went swimming while Susan and I headed into town to replenish our supplies. We really liked our room, although we were a little disappointed we were so far away from the lobby, and on the top floor, pretty far away from the animals on the savanna.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Downtown Disney & Magic Kingdom
In
the afternoon we headed back to the hotel for showers and dinner, then
spent some time at Downtown Disney. Susan and I shopped while the kids
hit DisneyQuest, a huge indoor arcade with several large virtual rides.
We met up with them later, but didn't hang out too long because, it
being a Friday night, the lines for the rides were pretty long.
This morning we went to the Saratoga Springs Resort, where we toured models of the rooms for the Animal Kingdom Villas and Bay Lake Tower. After that we headed over to the Magic Kingdom. We took in a couple of attractions and had lunch, then watched the updated Hall of Presidents show. This new show seemed to put more emphasis on the Presidents than what I remember of the last show, which we saw in 2003. I especially like the way it stopped the slide show at the Civil War so that President Lincoln could give the Gettysburg Address, and then had President Washington give some remarks before President Obama wrapped it up. Nice touch.
It being the Saturday of MLK weekend, however, the park was pretty crowded, and most rides had fairly long waits. We decided to head out early, stopping to walk around the Contemporary Resort and the new Bay Lake Tower next door.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Typhoon Lagoon
After
dinner, we headed back into Epcot. The ride in Mexico, the "Spaceship
Earth" ride, and the movie in Canada had all been updated since our last
visit, so we made a point of catching those.While
none of the rides was a great improvement over the old version, it's
nice that Disney freshens up their attractions every so often. Epcot is
our favorite park at WDW, and we enjoy walking through the World
Showcase, and talking to the cast members from countries all around the
world.
It was supposed to be 75 degrees and partly sunny today, the best weather of the week, so we headed for the Typhoon Lagoon water park. The kids prefer Blizzard Beach, the other water park at WDW, but Disney only opens one water park at a time during the winter.
Still, Typhoon Lagoon is a beautiful park, with lots of nice touches. It puts most other water parks to shame. But the temperature was a little on the cool side, so we didn't stay all day.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Epcot
Once we got to Epcot, we purchased tickets, then walked around and did a little shopping.
And had our picture taken with Mickey and Pluto.
Then we headed back to the Dance Hall at the Boardwalk, where we attended a reception for DVC members. Afterwards, we had a quiet dinner and relaxed in our room.Today we got up planning to go to the Magic Kingdom, but we decided we needed some more provisions in town.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Boardwalk Villas
For our 17th anniversary, we decided to return to Florida for 10 days at Walt Disney World. Yesterday we got up early and drove to PDX, where we boarded a flight to Orlando via DFW. By the time we landed and picked up our luggage and rental car, it was after midnight east coast time.
We drove to WDW, stopping at a SuperWalmart for provisions, and checked into the first hotel for our stay, the Boardwalk Villas. Unlike the Grand Californian, a one bedroom villa at the Boardwalk only had one bathroom and the kids had to share the sleeper sofa.
Because
we got in so late yesterday, this morning we slept in, then spent some
time looking around the Boardwalk before taking the boat to Epcot.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Masonic Youth Update
After a quiet Christmas at home, we traveled to Eugene for a Rainbow initiation. Several of the girls from our Bethel have joined Rainbow, even though we don't have an Assembly nearby, and another wanted to join, so Susan took them over with her. Jennifer did the part of Hope. We celebrated the New Year at home as well; the kids worked on their school assignments over break, trying to finish the semester early. Today the Bethel held a special meeting to initiate a new member. After a few years of surges and setbacks, the Bethel finally seems to be steadily growing.
After the initiation, we went bowling with the members of the Bethel, as well as the DeMolay Chapter.
After the initiation, we went bowling with the members of the Bethel, as well as the DeMolay Chapter.
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