One Awesome Trip

Orlando...day 5...the final chapter.

The EPIC vacation is winding to a close and we only technically have a 1/2 day to squeeze in one more trip to the Magic Kingdom...fortunately both Holly and I have the skills to make the most of our remaining time!

I signed us up for a return trip and luggage service, so we received confirmation that we were signed in at the airline and once we stopped by the kiosk at the front of the hotel to show our ID and drop our bags, all was complete. We got up early, packed and made our way over to the front of the resort (about a 1/4 mile walk from our room) at 7 am. Might I add that it was 30 degrees. Isn't Orlando supposed to be the Sunshine State?

We were at the Magic Kingdom, queued up and ready to go by 7:45. We enjoyed the benefit of early arrival (8 am), so we were among the first 25 people to ride Space Mountain, not too shabby!

A ride on the People Mover was a must, since Schnoogs has never experienced that ride in the CA park. We enjoyed several other rides and attractions before seeing too many other people in the park. We also hit up most of the rides in Fantasy Land and I must say, that Winnie the Pooh ride is pretty darn cute!

We managed to successfully squeeze in EVERY ride we wanted to by 10:45, just about the time that the park was really filling up. We were still FREEZING, so we made our way out front to wait for our bus and entertained ourselves in the shade for 30 minutes while we watched bus after bus pass us by, but none were headed back to the Coronado Springs Resort! The truth is that we have become so accustomed to just having anything that we want or need just about any time it was needed that this wait seemed so foreign!

We skidded in at exactly 11:45 to catch our shuttle to the airport. The return home took 2 airplanes making a total of 3 takeoffs and landings, so once we walked in the door (a full 13 hours after we drove off the Disney property in Orlando), it was all we could do to hug David, greet the dogs and go to bed.

That was one awesome trip.

Harry'd Travelers

Orlando...day 4...the highly anticipated trip to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

I am not sure that I can adequately capture the essence and experiences of today. Holly was GIDDY from the moment we got on property. It was 32 degrees and we had to cool our heels (literally and figuratively) at Starbucks on CityWalk for some time until the ticket windows were open. The gates were opened about 15 minutes early and I have NEVER seen Holly walk so fast as she did once she had access to HP.

Located in the back of the park, the strategy was to get back there as quickly as possible, get in line for the Forbidden Journey ride and begin the excitement. I have to say, the moment the castle came into view, I felt a little overwhelmed. Seeing the whole thing live before my very eyes, having Holly be SO excited and happy and realizing how lucky we are to be here on this trip...it was a bit much.

I can't even adequately describe the ride. Part simulation, part animatronics, part film and part movie set, this is the most amazing thing I have ever riden. We get to travel through the floo network, get chased by a dragon, fly through a quidditch match, have dementors chase after us and all through the way we have Harry, Ron and Hermoine along for the ride too. Suffice it to say that we ended up riding it twice in the morning and came back at closing to ride it one more time. Hats off to the designers for pulling this together, it is going to endure for a LONG time.

We did go over to the other park and did some other things, but really...it was all Harry all day. We of course took a bunch of pix and posted them on Facebook, if you haven't seen them yet and just can't imagine life without our photo collection, here they are.

Tomorrow is packing and travel home day, but not without one last shot at Magic Kingdom again. It would appear that we are getting our money's worth out of this trip!

Greetings from Future World

Day 3 and no signs of stopping...Orlando.

Holly scheduled us at Epcot today so that we could take advantage of the Magic Hours perk, so we were in the park by 8:00am. Breakfast included a planning session, for we identified the attractions we wanted to see, but we hadn't seen where they were in relation to one another on the map.

This place - like all of the Disney properties - impress me. There is such an attention to detail, things are done on such a grand scale, it really is amazing.

We spent until 1:00pm or so in Future World where in addition to riding anything of substance or interest (and yes, a space flight simulator too), we found a cool ride inside Innoventions called The Sum of All Thrills that allowed us to design and create our own adventure course (Holly selected a jet because naturally, it goes the fastest), load it up on the computer, name it (SUPERSONIC STUNTMASTER), and then get into the simulator and ride it. No surprise, Schnoogs torqued it up so we did 2 complete rolls.

I made it out without crying or barfing, so then we ventured into the World Showcase. We spent quality time in 7 of the 11 countries featured, and really had a great time! Lunch was at a great place in Italy and once again the food, service and company were all fantastic. The good life is certainly alive and well on this trip.

After we spent some time in Canada, Holly was ready for another round in the Orange Team Intense Training Mission Space ride, so Mommy opted to ride in a nice boat back around to Germany where she sat on a carefully scoped-out bench to save some prime viewing seats for Illuminations. It was actually a very nice time to sit in the park, as I watched the sun go down, talked to a variety of people who shared the bench with me and just enjoyed some quiet time.

Young Schnoogums showed back up at about 6:30 or so and we chatted the time away, with me making a couple of trips to various shops and restaurants for some tea, some wine and then a nice fleece blanket. Who says money can't buy you happiness? For $20 I got a blanket that made us both sooooooooo happy as we sat together nice and toasty and Holly wore it out of the park, right up until we got back to our hotel room.

Illuminations was of course an amazing show and while I (surprisingly) did not cry during the fireworks, I was certainly awed and inspired by just how lucky I am to be here with my girl and what a great kid she is. We are officially celebrating her birthday on this trip; we have been fortunate enough to have the Schnoogs enriching our lives for 20 years now. I expect that the word from my future world is that Holly continues to grow to be a happy, healthy and significant person...she certainly is all of those things today!

I have posted some pix on Facebook. If you haven't already done so, check them out (but leave yourself some time, as we are crazy picture takers and the selections included are only a small part of the massive collection on my camera!)

Motion Madness

Orlando...Day 2.

The day started early with a bus ride to Animal Kingdom, early entry and a mad dash to Asia so we could ride Expedition Everest. Word to the wise, riding a C-R-A-Z-Y forward, backward and steep sloping coaster is not the smartest thing to do on an empty stomach, especially if you are a little prone to motion sickness! I should be embarrassed to admit it, but I am telling you that I nearly cried...it was just that kind of an intense ride!

We made it off the ride and Holly immediately wanted to ride it again. Mommy loves the Schnoogs...but wasn't willing to get back on that crazy train, so Holly rode it again and I sat down at the bottom of the big drop along with all of the other un-hip parents who just couldn't handle it.

We took in several other attractions (none involved me riding anything) while we were waiting for our reservation time at breakfast - it was a character breakfast! I successfully embarrassed Holly by shouting out to Goofy (multiple times, she says that was what put it over the top for her), "Hi Goofy, come over here!" and then, in a nice loud voice, "I KNOW him!!!!" We did get some nice character photos.

We rode all of the cool rides (Dinosaur was great!), saw several shows and decided as the first giant drops of rain started to fall that it was time to go back to the hotel for a nap. We dodged the monsoon downpour(s) and enjoyed a 1-hour power nap. Back up and out the door by 3 to Hollywood Studios. The sun was shining and the clouds had cleared, the second half of our day had begun!

I made reservations for us at the Brown Derby and although it required us to double up on our Disney Dining credits, it was totally worth it! Holly declared herself in heaven more than once and the whole meal was enjoyable from the food to the company...it goes on the record as a very memorable meal.

We hit the ground running and saw lots of shows, attractions and more rides. I chickened out of nothing and even though we somehow ended up with 2 radical rides at the end (Tower of Terror and Rock 'n' Roller Coaster), I sucked it up and went on them. Holly did point out that I screamed on the entire coaster, even when it wasn't going too crazy, but I stand firm on the simple fact that I went on it and deserve many points for it.

We've got Epcot tomorrow, no radical rides, thank goodness!

The Same, but Different

Orlando observations, day 1.

We arrived without any incident, but with a plan. We walked off the plane, followed our rehearsed and orchestrated plan, walked straight onto our shuttle, picked up our resort key and packets (online check in, thank you very much) and left for the bus stop, knowing that our luggage would be dropped off soon and we could enjoy our time at Magic Kingdom hassle free.

Things were a little slow in getting to the park and getting a bite to eat, but we made it past all of the regular tourists who had to leave at 8:00pm after the fireworks show, grabbed a bite (we even have the Disney dining plan, a pretty good deal, I might add) and off we went in search of adventure. As resort guests, we have different hours in the parks each day, so tonight things stayed open for us until 11:00pm. Holly has our whole itinerary planned out based upon these Magic hours.

There is indeed an odd sense of familiarity to this park. Patterned after Disneyland, Magic Kingdom has a castle, Cinderella's Castle, to be exact (pop quiz, who's castle reigns over the Anaheim, CA location...anybody?) and many of the same rides that we know and love from our lifetime of visits to the original park. We went on several of them tonight - Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, Stitch's Adventure (well, that last one is not a West Coast standby, but it is cute).

The interesting thing about all of these is how at first glance they are exactly what you think of when you mention them by name. Look around a bit, or get further into the queue, and you start to see some differences, some large (Space Mountain has two tracks that run through the ride AND the coaster is set up more like a single-rider rocket so you follow behind one another, you don't sit next to each other), and others subtle, it kind of messes with your head a little bit! As our boat launched through Pirates, I leaned over and said to Holly, "It's the same..." she was right there with me, finishing my sentence, "...but different!"

Two parks, two dining reservations and less than six hours of sleep beckon, more tomorrow!

A Kid After My Own Heart

It is now official...Schnoogums and I are less than 24 hours away from our flight departure to Orlando (actually, first to Phoenix and then to Orlando, but that is just a technicality at this point) for the belated celebration of her 20th birthday!!

It is no secret that we are big Harry Potter fans, having read all of the books (more than once!) and also holding a strong tradition of standing in line for every movie after the first one. Holly is about the same age as all of the kids in the movies, so it has been fun watching them all grow up together and having our enthusiasm for the franchise grow too.

The trip was originally intended for the destination of Universal and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but it quickly grew to a full 5 days of Orlando and most things Disney. We are staying at the resort (with a water view room!), have Park-Hopper tickets, meals, transportation to and from the airport including bag service and of course the tickets to Universal.

Where my pre-planning ends, Holly picks up. I was greeted to a packet of papers on my desk last night including a cover-sheet with a typed agenda detailing each park that we will go to each day, based upon the extra "Magic Hours" we will enjoy as residents of the resort.

There is no doubt about it...she is my kid!!