Tiana’s Bayou Adventure

On Saturday, while Susan and I worked, the kids drove with our friends to Daytona to visit the beach. However the weather turned bad so they spent most of their time checking out the Buc-ee's there and shopping at stores.

On Sunday they went to Typhoon Lagoon and on Monday they went to Animal Kingdom. They went on the safari ride, as well as other attractions there.

Yesterday morning Susan and I attended our cast preview of Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. We were able to take two guests each, so we took Jenn and some of our friends. They did a pretty good job of overlaying a Tiana storyline over Splash Mountain, but I would rather they had left Splash alone and spent the money on a Tiana ride somewhere else.  

In the new ride, we go with Tiana into the Bayou to look for some musicians for a party she is planning. We run into Mama Odie, who briefly turns us into frogs (or frog sized) before we return to see Tiana’s party.  The queue and animatronic’s are well done, but the story doesn’t work as well as Splash did. After the preview we headed out, as Susan had appointments and I had to work last night. 

Roundup Rodeo BBQ

This week friends are in town visiting, and yesterday when I was off work we met at Hollywood Studios. I rode Star Tours a couple of times with the boys and then Runaway Railroad with everyone. We had lunch at the Roundup Rodeo BBQ in Hollywood Studios’ Toy Story Land.

This restaurant opened a little over a year ago but it was my first time eating there. The food was served family style so plenty of it and everything was pretty tasty. The decor is also cute. After lunch it was getting hot and the lines were long so we headed out. 

This morning the boys and I went to Animal Kingdom. We got there right before opening and rode Dinosaur, Everest, and Kali River twice. Then we walked the Tiger trail and headed out. 

We got to Typhoon Lagoon about a half hour after it opened. As usual, we sat near Shark Reef. This area used to have a large pool where you could snorkel with small sharks and fish, but they filled it in some years back. It’s usually not too crowded and is close to food and drinks and an entrance to the lazy river. 

In the evening we went back into Hollywood Studios. We rode Star Tours a couple more times, but didn’t see the space whales. Then we watched the Muppet movie and walked through Galaxy’s Edge. We capped off the night with a ride on the Millennium Falcon. 

Magic Kingdom Watercraft

This week I started training at the MK Watercraft, learning how to deckhand on the big ferries that take guests between the Magic Kingdom and the Transportation and Ticket Center, as well as the cruisers that run between the MK and the resorts on Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake. 

Thursday morning Susan and I met the kids for breakfast at Steakhouse 71 at the Contemporary Resort. We’ve had breakfast there a couple of times, as well as dinner. It’s nice but not too fancy, and as cast members we usually get a pretty good discount. The lobby is decorated with photos of Disney World in the seventies, and the furnishings have the same retro futuristic look that the rest of the Contemporary and Bay Lake Tower have.

Susan and I then took the monorail into the Magic Kingdom. We could see the progress on the DVC tower at the Polynesian Resort, which will be known as the Island Tower when it opens. 

In the Magic Kingdom, we watched the Tiki Room, then walked to Frontierland. The walls around Tiana’s Bayou Adventure were down, as cast previews had started earlier in the week. We took the train over to Storybook Circus, then walked to Tomorrowland, where we rode the Peoplemover. We looked at some stores then headed out, as it was getting warm and we both had to work that night.

Yesterday Jenn held another multi-author signing at her Barnes & Noble.

Luminous

I finally got to see the new fireworks show at Epcot tonight. Susan and I went in after work today to watch it. I like it better than Harmonius, the last show. It wasn’t quite as good visually, but I liked that it told a story and thought the song selections were more interesting.

Before the show I checked out the construction between the Imagination pavilion and Canada. We then made our way around the Showcase, stopping to watch the movie in France, which we hadn’t seen in a few years. 

Over at the Boardwalk, they had mostly finished the section where the stucco was removed. It was replaced with a vertical siding. 

The Cake Bake Shop continues its slow progress toward completion. 

Today was my last day at the Friendship Boats.Tuesday I start training at Magic Kingdom Watercraft. I’ve enjoyed my five years at the Friendship Boats and the captains I’ve worked with there, but I’m looking forward to new challenges and experiences.

Dreamworks

 

Yesterday after I finished work we went to an annual passholder preview of the new kid area at Universal Studios. Previously the area was themed to Curious George, Fievel Goes West, and Woody Woodpecker. Now it’s to several Dreamworks properties: Shrek, Trolls, and King Fu Panda.

There’s a couple playgrounds and a small coaster. The Kung Fu Panda area has a screen where an animated character can interact with the audience, similar to the Turtle Talk show at the Seas in Epcot. We looked around and watched the show in the Dreamworks theater. It’s a cute show for kids, featuring songs and characters from Dreamworks movies, but it’s not something we will watch again. 

We also checked out the new Tribute store. It was cute, set up like an old video store and video arcade, and featuring merchandise and decorations from several 80’s movies.

Disney Dreams

This morning, Susan and I got up earlier to watch a special cast preview of a drone show coming to Disney Springs this summer. Cast members lined the walkway along the lake on the West Side of Disney Springs for the ten minute show.

The show was pretty neat, as the drones formed shapes of various Disney characters or objects while snippets of dialog, sounds, and music. I was pretty impressed. 

Yesterday we also went to Disney Springs. I wanted to get another light saber blade to go with the hilts we bought at the cast sale earlier this month, and to see if I could buy some Lego pieces I needed. We also looked around the World of Disney store and a few other spots. We ate lunch at Art Smith’s Homecoming for the first time. It was pretty good.

Star Tours

Last Saturday, Jenn organized another book signing for romance authors at her Barnes and Noble. Yesterday she and Susan drove up to Gainesville, where she met fans and signed books at a Barnes & Noble there.

Last month Disney added new scenes from the Ahsoka, Mandalorian, and Andor shows to Star Tours, so I’ve been wanting to get back to Hollywood Studios to ride it. Since Susan and Jenn were in Gainesville, I headed over after work and rode it twice. I love the way Star Tours rotates through multiple scenes because it makes it so repeatable, although this time I had the newest end scene twice. 

Today Jenn visited the Studios and Epcot with a friend, and rode my boat between the two. It was also the first day Friendship 5 was brought out of the marina with its new paint scheme.