RunDisney

On Friday Susan and I did our first RunDisney event, a "Star Wars" 5K through Epcot. Jenn joined us, but she had done another event during her College Program. The race was delayed by a lightning storm, and there was a fair amount of rain, but we had a good time.

Part of the course was backstage, so I took a photo of the work on the Guardians of the Galaxy roller coaster.

The day before the race, we picked up our bibs at Wide World of Sports. There was an expo with race sponsors selling wares and photo opportunities.

Flower and Garden

Last week a friend of Jennifer's from University of Portland came out for a visit, so Jenn took the week off to take her to the parks. Susan and I joined them when we weren’t working. Wednesday they went into Epcot to check out the Flower & Garden Festival, and Thursday they went to Magic Kingdom.

While they did some rides, they spent a lot of time meeting characters. Friday I joined them at Animal Kingdom. Chip liked my bag. On Saturday we went to Typhoon Lagoon. 

On Sunday they went to Magic Kingdom and had breakfast at Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends. In the afternoon they spent more time at the Flower & Garden Festival. 

  

Yesterday morning I went with them to the Studios. While there I checked out the progress on Star Wars Land.

As well as the new Skyliner station outside the park. They stayed to watch Fantasmic! while I went to work. This evening we went to Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner. 

Moonlight Magic at Hollywood Studios

While Susan and Jenn were on their cruise, I started working as a Cast Member. I was assigned to work in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom.

Last week, when I wasn’t working, I went into Magic Kingdom and Epcot to check out the progress on Tron and the France expansion, as well as the topiaries of the Flower & Garden Festival.

Last night we enjoyed attending the Disney Vacation Club Moonlight Magic event at Hollywood Studios. We stayed the night in a studio at Old Key West, and enjoyed dinner at Backlot Express, free snacks, and short waits for rides. Jennifer met a lot of characters.

We checked out Toy Story Land, and rode the new coaster, Slinky Dog Dash. This morning we had breakfast at Olivia’s before we checked out of Old Key West.

Majesty Cruise

This weekend, Susan and Jenn did another four night cruise, this time on Royal Caribbean’s Majesty of the Seas from Fort Lauderdale.

Their first port of call was Havana, Cuba, where they did a tour of the downtown. As expected, they found the city kind of sad and run down. 

After a day at sea, they stopped in Nassau, where they spent a couple hours checking out the port shops. Susan said she preferred the Disney Cruise we did in 2017 to either Princess or Royal Caribbean. 

Universal

Bryan came out for a long weekend so yesterday we bought annual passes for Universal.

 

Since most of the rides at Universal give Susan motion sickness, we spent the majority of our time looking around the Harry Potter areas of the two parks, and rode the Hogwart's Express between them.

One thing we all enjoyed was The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride! It's similar to the Peoplemover at Magic Kingdom, a slow moving train with nice views of the park. Bryan and I rode the new Fast and Furious ride as well. It replaced the old Earthquake/Disaster ride in the San Francisco area of the Studios. It was okay.

On the way out of the parks we stopped at the Voodoo Doughnut in CityWalk.

Florida Residents

When not working, Jenn enjoys visiting the parks. She usually wears outfits inspired by Disney characters. For Valentines Day, she went into Magic Kingdom to meet some of the Princesses with their Princes. 

She also spent time at Epcot checking out the Festival of the Arts, and hung out in the DVC lounge in the Imagination pavilion. 

Last week we closed on the house and last Friday was my last day at ODOT. I drove my truck to the barn and got a ride to the airport, then flew out to Florida. 

Yesterday we spent another day at Sea World. We checked out the new Penguin Ride, a trackless dark ride. It's cute, but nowhere near a Disney ride, or even most of Universal's.

Moonlight Magic at Magic Kingdom

Near the beginning of this month, we got an offer on the house, so I began packing what was left in the house, put it in storage, and gave notice at work. While I was working and emptying the house, Susan and Jenn attended two DVC Moonlight Magic events at Magic Kingdom. 

They got a free dinner compliments of the Disney Vacation Club, then got to stay in the park for three hours after the park closed to most guests. They enjoyed free snacks, short waits for rides, and meeting unusual characters.

Finally they watched a special fireworks show from the train station.

Last night they attended a second event, but this time they spent much of their time waiting to meet Megara from Hercules, as well as Pain and Panic.