Saturday, April 28, 2012

Disneyland: It's fun to be a kid again!

As I reflect back, I realize 2 things. 
1. I must have had a lot of PTO the year I turned 25
2. This was the year I think I evolved from an enthusiastic Disney hobbyist to a certified, obsessive-compulsive Disney lover.
Early morning tram ride to the parks.
After the whirlwind trip with my best friend to the world, Bill and I wanted to visit my brother out in Los Angeles for a long weekend. My brother, Tony, had moved out there a few years prior and we had never been to LA. Disney had a promotion that year that you got a free day in the parks on your actual birthday with ID, so who was I to pass up a FREE day?

I wish I had done more research on Disneyland. I knew it was smaller and that we could likely see most of it in one day. I did not know that it was 2 separate parks (Disneyland and California Adventure), but was surprised to see that they practically shared an entrance. The entrance gates were a stone's throw away, unlike in the World where you would need a monorail, bus, boat or car to park hop.

Another thing I didn't expect was for the Castle to be so much smaller! It's definitely cute on a smaller scale, but somewhat disappointing compared to the magic of walking up Main Street in the World. Walt refers to the castle as a "weenie", something to draw the guests in.


We had no touring plan, but knew some of the main attractions we loved from the World and wanted to see how it was different in Disneyland. The first thing we hit was Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blaster. Bill says Space Mountain was better at the Land. We noticed some rides were similar but different between the World and Land. For example Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion had different queues and different ride layouts. I looked forward to riding Toy Story Midway Mania, but the queue was outdoors so we didn't get to enjoy Andy's room. They did keep the interactive Mr. Potato Head.

Tony had never done Toy Story Midway Mania or Soarin'. And of course we had to do Tower of Terror. I love thrill rides, and Tony likes them, too. But his face in the photo was priceless; it truly was the tower of "TERROR". 

We checked out the Boardwalk area in California Adventure Land. We had a lot of fun on the giant Ferris Wheel.
Fun to be a kid again!


We tried a few things that don't exist in the World at all. For one, we did the underwater Nemo ride, which used to be 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. We finally got to try Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Due to a lack of touring plan and hot weather, we ran out of energy to wait for the Matterhorn (but that's just a reason to go back, right?).







Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3...

1. I'm blogging from my phone!
2. The infamous Trent charger arrived today.
3. It came fully charged! How life is good!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

2 Queens: Halfway to 50!

Beth has been my BFF since we were 7 years old. We call ourselves the 2 Queens. In the spring of 2009 we both turned 25 and thought that this milestone would be best celebrated in the place of the eternally young at heart: Disney World! (Are you really surprised?)



We went for a short 5 day trip over Memorial Day week and discovered a few new things...

1. Dining Plan
We signed up for the Quick Service Dining plan, which got us 2 counter service meals and 2 snacks per day. The plan was a little confusing at first as far as what was included in a meal. The counter service in the parks were pretty straight forward, but grabbing breakfast at the resort (we stayed at POP) was hard to understand how many beverages, which types, etc. But we managed and it was quite convenient. Overall, the CMs are willing to explain if you ask what's included.

2. Animal Kingdom
I convinced Beth of the benefits of Rope Drop and the first morning we hit up AK. Now, I'm not proud of what I'm about to tell you, but since a few years have passed I'm willing to confess.
I was really, really eager to be the first ones on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. (I admit to being the annoying speed walker. What can I say? I walk with purpose!) We got to the turnstiles early but there were still a few people in front of us. We didn't realize that there were special turnstiles for guests with Tusker House reservations before park opening. So when the folks in front of us got let in, I thought we were just lucky. And we started following this small group of 20 or so people through the park towards the safari. Except I realized that none of the other turnstiles opened up and that we were the only 20 guests in the park while the masses were still waiting back by the entrance.. As a CM led this group towards Tusker House, we realized that we should not be there.  Too embarrassed to break away from the crowd and go back, we blended into the shadows of some of the mercantile storefronts and meandered towards the rope closer to the Safari until the rest of the Rope Drop guests arrived. Needless to say, no one ever caught us and we wound up being the very first guests on the first truck in the first row. 

Somehow, despite two somewhat-researched trips to the World, I never knew about the Dinosaur attraction. Oh, if only we had bought the picture at the end of the ride: I'm pretty sure Beth's head was between her legs as she was missing from the photo entirely, while I had my arms up, protecting my head with a look of sheer terror on my face. Despite this, we rode it a second time and in the next photo we had not gained an ounce more of our dignity back.
This was obviously taken before riding Dinosaur. I still have my wits about me here.
We also made sure to ride Expedition Everest a few times. Although it's very rare and I would never recommend planning on this, we got in the single-rider line and managed to sit together!

3. 50's PrimeTime Café
If you miss hanging out in your Grandma's kitchen, look no further than this restaurant. After waiting in Grandma's living room, we were seated at a Formica table and our server, Uncle Dale, seemed to be excited about how much we'd grown. Apparently the last time he saw us he was bouncing us on his knee. Everyone in the restaurant gets in on the act. When I came back from the restroom, Uncle Dale asked if I washed my hands. When I said "yes", he quickly shot back "Then what color was the soap?". He even made us set the table! The most memorable moment was when Uncle Dale refused to clear our plates until we had one last bite.  And he insisted that we feed it to each other, while egging on the other restaurant patrons extended family to cheer us on while he photographed the evidence.
Click on the photo to enlarge.


Other Stuff
We met Beth's friend, Sarah, who was a CM at Kidani. She took us around and gave us the "insider's scoop" on a few things. We rode Astro Blaster at night to see all the lights, checked out the International Epcot Flower & Garden Festival and asked CMs at Rock n' Roller Coaster "Should we Walk This Way? I don't want to miss a thing." We may have been 25, but we'll never grow up!



Saturday, April 21, 2012

Oh, the humanity!


One of the things we love to do is people-watch. And let me tell you, Disney World is PRIME with interesting people; particularly interesting interactions. There are a lot of stimuli in the World: detailed sights, sounds and smells everywhere you go. Throw in high temperatures, lots of walking, commando touring plans, close living quarters, and high expectations of the best family vacation ever and you've got the perfect recipe for breakdowns (and I'm not even talking about the kids!). Think Clark Griswold.

On our first trip together, we witnessed quite possibly the most astonishing (and memorable) interaction between a family. Families were taking turns getting pictures in front of the Walt and Mickey statue with the castle in the background. This particular family wanted a picture of their kids in front of the statue. The kids, however, were not in the mood. One of them was crying and refusing and the parents lost their cool. The mom grabbed the kid, swatted him on the bottom and yelled at him "Get up there and smile, d@mmit! This is the happiest place on earth!"
Sadly, this is not uncommon behavior. Last year a boy about 6 years old was having a melt down. How did the parent handle it? "Stop crying or I'll take you to Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and dress you up like a princess!". Yes, you read that right, they threatened punishment by cross-dressing. 


Ah, parenting at its finest! 


The moral of the story is that Disney can be great, but if you don't listen to your bodies and your moods, you may wind up reaching new lows. Take breaks, set reasonable expectations and if you miss doing something, well, now you've got a reason to come back.


Lastly, I'll leave you with a more lighthearted conversation we overheard in a queue.
11 year old boy: Mom, I love this place. I want to come back.

Mom: Well, you'll have to get a job and save your money.

Boy: Job?!?! I don't even like to make my own bed!
What's the best thing you've ever overheard in the World?

Can you guess what I said to Bill right before this picture?

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Anniversary #1



Disclaimer: I'm new to blogging and will figure out how to lay out these pictures.....someday.
About 2 months before our first wedding anniversary, work was getting crazy for me. Lots of long and high-stress hours were wearing me out and I needed something to look forward to. When we discussed how we were going to celebrate our first wedding anniversary, I thought back to all those couples we met on our honeymoon. The ones who went back to the World to celebrate every milestone in life, sometimes several times a year. And at the time it seemed crazy. Even I couldn't believe I said it out loud. But once the idea to return to Disney was out there, I realized how much I needed to get away. And planning a trip to the happiest place on earth was a great distraction in the meantime.

Armed with a little more knowledge, we looked forward to reliving some of those magical experiences. Of course, there is nothing like the 1st time you watch Wishes and Tinkerbell flies over your head. Or experiencing the magical technology in Talking with Crush. You would think going back might ruin the surprise, but the real surprise was how enjoyable it was to rediscover these bits of magic. 

This time we stayed at POP Century and got to try the famous tie-dyed cheesecake.

The resort is filled with giant pop culture icons from over the years. We picked this resort because I collect Rubik's cubes. What most people don't know about me is I can't sleep at night  until I solve all the cubes in our home, so it was a little challenging for me to sleep near these cubes all week.

More fun photo ops....





Once again, we spent arrival day at Downtown Disney and returned to Disney Quest. One of our other favorite rides there is the Pirates of the Caribbean interactive ride. You walk onto a "pirate ship" in a room with screens on the 3 walls surrounding you. You wear 3D glasses and 1 person steers the ship and the sides of the ship are lined with "cannons". Other ships  start shooting at yours and you feel the ground below you shift as you get hit. However, you fight back by shooting your cannons at the other ships (and even at some ghost pirates - yikes!) to win treasure. The 3D effects combined with the moving ship feel so realistic. It's a thrill (and a darn good workout, too!).

New Experiences
Toy Story Midway Mania opened that year and it was a BLAST!! I recommend getting to the park before Rope Drop and making it your 1st attraction of the day. We typically ride it first, then grab a FastPass to ride it again later without the long lines (and there are almost ALWAYS long lines). Even if you do end up waiting in the queue, this is one of the BEST queues at all of Disney, in my opinion. You feel as if you're one of Andy's toys. Giant crayons, board game pieces, Lincoln logs, and monkeys (from the barrel) decorate this room. There is a huge Mr. Potato Head who sings, tells jokes and interacts with people waiting in line. I really wish they would continue this theme in a resort. It has such a cool effect.

 We still were not aware of the dining plans, so paid for meals out of pocket. For table service, we tried Hollywood & Vine (a not so memorable buffet) and Chefs de France. And of course, no trip to Epcot is complete without an Orange Grand Marnier Slushie from the French pavilion!
Now that I look back at this photo with the Mickey comic purse and the hidden Mickey scarf, I think I can start to see the addiction forming...must be something in the slushie!

What we repeated
  • Festival of the Lion King
  • Wishes
  • Fantasmic
  • Kilimanjaro Safari
  • Expedition Everest
  • Rock n' Rollercoaster
  • Tower of Terror
  • Philharmagic
  • Peter Pan
  • Haunted Mansion
  • Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Hall of Presidents (DH's fave)
  • Carousel of Progress (I think this was the year we started singing along)
















Sunday, April 15, 2012

Honeymoon (Part 2)

Alright, here is the meat of our honeymoon!




Our first destination with our silly ears was Downtown Disney. We love to check out gift shops and this place did NOT disappoint! Although we were novices, there were a few things we did right on this trip. After checking out a few shops, we stumbled across the Earl of Sandwich. If you ever get a chance to go, it's the most reasonably-priced Counter Service of all Disney property and you can't beat the tasty sandwiches! 


When I was in high school my choir had taken a trip to Chicago and we had gone to a place called DisneyQuest. It was a teenager's virtual gaming dream! I really wanted to relive that cool experience, especially with my new husband. When we exchanged our tickets, I cheerfully explained to the woman at the window how I was disappointed the DisneyQuest in Chicago no longer existed and thrilled to find out that there was another one right HERE! She said, "Enjoy it, this may be the last year it's open". (Thankfully it hasn't closed yet, but I often wonder how much longer it will be there.) The inside of this place is hard to describe, but it's basically 5 floors of virtual reality video games. 


The ride I vividly remembered was this jungle river raft game.
Once you get seated in the raft and grab your paddle (which has wheels on the bottom for rowing), the raft gets raised in the air a few feet, like a giant air mattress. As the video takes you through a rough river, you must paddle and steer (somehow there are sensors when you paddle the wheels against the mattress) to get to treasure. Throughout the journey, the air mattress is inflating and deflating taking you on a rocky ride and making you feel as if you're white river rafting (especially those sudden drops!). At certain moments, real splashes of water shoot towards you. Definitely one of my favorite attractions in there!


I don't remember the order in which we visited all the parks (mainly because I didn't start extreme planning on spreadsheet until a few trips later). We did not know about the Disney Dining Plan on this first trip, so all meals were out-of-pocket counter service meals, except for one. I am a Francophile, so we knew we wanted to have dinner at the France pavilion in Epcot. We ate at Bistro de Paris, which was on the 2nd floor. We were lucky to make our reservation the same day for a late dinner. It worked out well because we had a great spot to view Illuminations (the nightly fireworks show at Epcot) from our table. I do remember we sat near another couple who was celebrating their 5th wedding anniversary.


Another thing that stuck with me on this first trip were all the couples we met who said they came back to Disney World every year. Sometimes multiple times per year! As I wasn't a total convert on this trip, I thought it was a tad bizarre to keep coming back so often. I mean, there is a whole world out there to see. But time and again, waiting in line, riding buses, at dinners, it seemed every time we turned around there was a couple sharing their love of the World and stories about how they kept coming back. Many people said they wouldn't end their vacation without booking the next one. I think all these folks were planting that seed in me...


What we did right on this trip: Bill is an early-riser, I am not. As it was still fairly warm at the end of October, we decided to get up early each morning to get into the parks right away to take advantage of the cooler temps. Then we would come back to the hotel in the middle of the day, when it was hottest out, for a nap or swim and a shower to head back out in the evenings. Little did we know, this is actually a great touring technique. Most guests at the parks let their kids sleep in and show up around 10am. If you arrive for Rope Drop (they used to hold a rope to keep the arriving crowds back, then drop it when the park opened), and hit all the headliner rides, there is hardly a wait at all for the rides. You can get a lot of the big attractions done before the parks get really crowded. It was definitely worth it to get up early on vacation, even if Bill said this is me when I don't get 8 hours of sleep:

What we did wrong: We didn't know about Photopass, thus we only have 2 pictures of both of us from the whole trip. Disney has photographers all over the parks who will take your picture and the picture goes on a card they give you. You can then register the card online and order your pictures at the end of your trip. 

What we loved: Bill's favorite ride was Peter Pan in Magic Kingdom. I loved Tower of Terror (we dropped so fast Bill's hat flew off his head and he caught it mid-air!). We both really enjoyed the safari at Animal Kingdom and Soarin' at Epcot. Philharmagic, Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Station, and Fantasmic were a few experiences we talked about long after we came home.

(This isn't Disney-related, but we did leave property 1 day to go to Universal Studios and although the park didn't remotely compare to Disney in terms of cleanliness and customer service, we had a blast on the Spiderman attraction! And the Hulk roller coaster was the first time in my life I almost walked away from a thrill ride. Hulk Coaster)

But we still hadn't seen it all yet....



Honeymoon (Part 1)

This post could also be titled "I can't believe we were once so naive!".






As mentioned in the previous post, our honeymoon to Disney was hardly what you would call "planned" (don't worry, we've come a long way since in terms of planning). I will admit we made a lot of rookie mistakes. Although I don't remember much of the details, I'm pretty sure we ended up purchasing tickets for everyday of the trip, meaning on arrival day and departure day, which we never used.


Here is what I do remember: We checked into the All Star Music resort (DH and I both play guitar and that guitar pool was too cool to pass up!). Although DH had never been to the World in his life, and I hadn't been in 15 years since I was a child, the magic started right away. Since it was our honeymoon and a slow season, when we checked in we were upgraded to a family suite! 


Before even heading to our room, the gift shop called our name. To this day, one of the tell-tale signs that we are truly in Disney is the smell of the lobby gift shop. Once the sweet aroma in the air hits my senses I feel transported to a magical world. As if I've walked into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory and promptly forgotten the real world behind me. We were immediately drawn into the gift shop. 


We bought a few things right off the bat, purchases I will never regret! Although we didn't really plan out our trip, we had purchased a book called the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. One thing that caught my eye in this book was a plush doll called Pal Mickey. Pal Mickey has a GPS in his nose and as you take him around the parks and cross certain GPS points, it triggers Micky to tell you facts about what you're looking at. It was an expensive purchase, but well worth it as Pal Mickey was discontinued the following year. I still bring him back to the parks each year.


The other items we couldn't resist were wedding ears. I got a white headband with white ears and a veil. DH got the top hat with ears. We just thought they were cute and a fun way to celebrate. What we didn't anticipate was all the attention they would garner! Every Cast Member (what Disney calls employees, I'll use CMs going forward) who saw us yelled out "Congratulations!", "Happy Honeymoon!". Almost constantly. We certainly never forgot why we were there! There were other surprises that came with those ears. At Sunshine Seasons we were in line to pay for lunch and someone dropped a Honeymoon Pin on our trays with desserts, said "Happy Honeymoon" and ran away before I could thank them! In fact, we got quite a few free desserts that trip for celebrating at the World. CMs also gave us fast passes so we could skip waiting in lines once or twice. And when they needed volunteers for the BackLot Tour, our ears stood out and they picked us! (If only I had known I was going to get hit with a ton of water. Literally.)


Ever since, we've always made sure we wear an Anniversary Pin. You never know what kind of magic might come your way!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

It all started with a mouse...

I guess you could say I'm a Disney dork but I wasn't always this way. Walt said "It all started with a mouse" and it's true. But let me back up and tell you how this accidental tradition started for me...

I've always enjoyed Disney movies as much as the next person. What child of the 80's didn't grow up loving The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Aladdin? I even visited Disney World a few times as a kid. But the dork (some might say addiction) part began about 5 years ago.

We were in the middle of planning our wedding. In the chaos of dress fittings, choosing flowers, picking out music, creating seating arrangements, buying decorations, etc, we realized about 2 weeks before our wedding date that we forgot to plan our honeymoon! Oops! Now, it was all a haze and neither of us can agree on how we decided on Disney World as our honeymoon destination, but we promptly booked a package deal, said our vows and off we went!

Of course it was a fabulous trip (and I'll save that story for another post) and we came back to the real world. Fast forward nearly a year. We started talking about how we wanted to celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary. I surprised myself by sharing with Dear Hubby (henceforth referred to as DH) that I kinda, sorta felt like maybe we should go back to Disney. Hearing myself say the words out loud seemed a little crazy. Like the first time you think about having pizza for breakfast. Sure, you like pizza, but for breakfast? That's not natural, right? And yet, once the words are spoken, you feel like now you have to do it. Just to see. And that's how it was. Once I put it out there, I started getting excited about it. And thus, Anniversary #1 was scheduled.

After 2 trips, we decided that our nephew would really enjoy the World and that it would be a lot of fun to take him. So for Anniversary #2 our vacation expanded from DH and me, to DH's Sister, her husband, 5 year old nephew and my mom. And we really did have a blast. We started to learn more tips and tricks for touring, how to save money and time, hidden secrets, etc. It was great!

However, my brother missed out on the big family extravaganza. So, for Anniversary #3, we went back with my mom and my brother. After 2 trips in a row with family, we were looking forward to going back to simpler trips with just the 2 of us. Thus, Anniversary #4 we returned and somehow discovered new things.

Other people might think we've seen it all. We're no strangers to the reaction
"You're going to Disney AGAIN???"
But we can't break tradition now! Anniversary #5 has been booked and we leave in 159 days (plus a wake up). This blog will serve to document our planning, tips and tricks, interests, reliving previous trips, and to share the magic! If you're still reading, thanks for checking out this blog and have a magical day!