Around the parks

We went to Epcot a few times last week, mostly to use up dining and snack coupons. The kids joined Susan and I one night to eat at Le Cellier and another evening we enjoyed a second cast preview of Journey of Water. It looks really nice with night lighting.

 

A few nights later Bryan and I had dinner at Jiko at Animal Kingdom Lodge. It was really good, but I wouldn't have wanted to pay full price. Sunday evening after work I met Susan at the ESPN arena for a special cast marketplace. Disney gave cast members a chance to buy excess merchandise at a steep discount.

Jennifer had flown up to Boston for the weekend to visit a friend. Besides visiting bookstores, they went to a hockey game Sunday night. 

Yesterday I met one of my fellow Friendship Boat captains after work and we rode the monorail over to the TTC, then the ferry to the Magic Kingdom, during which I took a photo of the progress on the new DVC tower at the Polynesian resort.

We then made our way back to Epcot, where we joined more captains for dinner at the Biergarten.

Journey of Water

Tuesday morning I picked up my sister and niece and took them to Epcot, where Susan and I had a cast preview of the new Journey of Water walkthrough attraction. It’s a nice addition to the park, but nothing spectacular. My mom and the kids joined us.

We made a loop around the park and rode a few attractions. Like the California parks, the WDW parks now have signs out celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Disney company. I then dropped my sister and niece off at the Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando, where they were staying for a few nights.

On Wednesday I took mom to watch the shows at Hollywood Studios, and that evening Susan and the kids joined us for dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. The food is similar to what we had at the Hoop De Doo and Trail’s End at Fort Wilderness campground, and plenty of it. 

On Thursday Susan and I took my mom to Universal Studios and met up with my sister and niece. I figured we’d walk back to the Hogwarts Express and take that over to IOA, make a loop around that park, then finish up the Studios, but it didn’t work out that way. We rode E.T. then watched the animal show, the make up show, and the Bourne Stunt show. I’d been wanting to watch the last show for a while; it was pretty amazing how they matched up live actors and partial sets with the giant video screen. The make up show is more silly than scary. By the time we finished the shows, the wait for the Harry Potter train was almost an hour and it was getting hot, so we ate at the Leaky Cauldron and headed out.

Yesterday morning I took my mom to Animal Kingdom. We rode Kilimanjaro Safaris and the Wilderness Express, and watched the bird show. We then picked up my sister and niece, and I took them all to the airport.

Not So Scary

In August, Disney put out the Halloween decorations at Magic Kingdom and started holding Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Parties. Last week, Jenn attended one, enjoying the special parade, fireworks, and special character meet and greets.

This week some of the kids friends were in town, so they went to Tampa on Friday to watch at Tampa Bay Rays game at Tropicana Field. On Saturday they visited Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival.

Yesterday morning they went to Animal Kingdom, and that night they went to another Halloween party. All four dressed as Ken and Barbie.

My mom came out for a visit this week, along with my sister and niece. Today, while the latter stayed at the Galactic Starcruiser resort, Susan and I took my mom to Sea World. We watched the Sea Lion, Dolphin, and Orca shows, and I rode the new stand-up coaster, Pipeline, for the first time. It’s a pretty good coaster, thrilling but not too crazy. For dinner we went to Ragland Road at Disney Springs. I enjoyed both the food and the Irish music and dancing.