Our Disneyworld Adventures

We spent a week in Orlando enjoying all the fun that Disney offers (4 parks worth). We stayed in a hotel with Jim and Amy and their friends. It's called Shades of Green and you have to be affiliated with the military to reserve a room. Our inside man was Jim's friend Andy, who was nice enough to include us in on the fun. Since it was Ethan's first time experiencing the world of Disney, we made the most of our 6 days and visited every park. The Disneyworld Resort parks - Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios - and Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure - each gave us some great memories. Despite the cold weather on the last 2 days, we had a great time being kids again. I went a little picture crazy, so here is a batch you might enjoy. (Note: Ethan and I both wrote for this entry)
Ethan's first steps in the Magic Kingdom! Look at that smile!
Pirates of the Caribbean was the first ride we went on - we found it had been updated with characters from the movies. Here's Ethan as Capt Jack Sparrow. Less makeup than Johnny Depp's version but still somehow scarier.

Thunder Mountain Railroad USED to be my favorite ride, but after this trip, I have a few more favorites. (You'll read more about those later)

We got a little wet on Splash Mountain - luckily the guy in the red shirt blocked some of the water spray. Most of the more intense rides take your pictures during the big drops and for some reason, we were always making the same funny faces. Elin looks freaked out, Amy is usually smiling and Ethan and Jim are catching flies with their mouths. We always had a good laugh looking at those ride photos.

Turkey legs are everywhere in the parks! Ethan was the only one who tried them out. It's a bit too caveman-ish for me. (Note from Ethan: The leg started off being about as big around as my hand. Those thick white strips in the middle of the leg are tendons. Once I got down to those, I just could not eat anymore.)

My 3 year-old nephew Peyton told me to make sure I ride Dumbo Well, the lines were always too long for the ride, so I had my picture taken on the Dumbo right next to the real thing. This one's for you Peyton, and by the way, Dumbo told me to tell you hello.

We tried our hand at the Frontierland shooting range. I think Ethan was the better shot.

Big blue on the Indy Speedway. Elin is in the red car ahead of me. You're not supposed to bump cars, but I guess I have a lead foot. You may have noticed that the steering wheel is on the right side of the car. Lucky for us, the cars can't go but maybe two or three feet to either side of a rail that runs right under the car.

On our first day, we just couldn't get enough of the Magic Kingdom. We took a break in the afternoon at the hotel and then went back for more. It was the "magic hours" night which means the park stayed open later for Disneyworld Resort guests. At the beginning of the fireworks, the Blue Fairy from Sleeping Beauty flew down from Cinderella's Castle. It was amazing. Watching that and the kids all around, you can't help but feel like a kid again.

Shades of Green - there were 2 golf courses next door. Two pools in the back, a great pizza place, plus the insanely reasonable room rates make this the best hotel in Disney World.

The Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom. It looks real, but it's yet another aspect of that Disney magic. It's covered with hundreds of different animals that were individually carved out of the fiberglass or whatever material makes up its trunk.

Here we are right after the River Rapids ride and, as you can tell, we got drenched. We were the only two on our raft to get soaked head-to-toe. I guess we picked the wrong seats. Luckily the sun was out pretty regularly that day, so we dried off quickly. It's just not as fun to walk around soaking wet as an adult. Funny how things change as you get older.

Animal Kingdom has the Mt. Everest ride (the Matterhorn-equivalent). This ride had the most visually stunning waiting area. It felt like we were at base camp at Everest, with displays of climbing gear, photos of Sherpas, prayer flags, stories about the Yeti. However, we hardly ever waited in lines during our visit (yay) and didn't spend a whole lot of time looking at the waiting area decor. This ride was awesome - there was a special surprise that I won't spoil for any of you but it made for a super exciting ride.

Basically Animal Kingdom was like a huge Disney zoo with some rides mixed in. We went on a safari tour which takes you into the "Savannah". Apparently we were there on a good day and the animals were out and about. The male lion even stood up and walked around and you all know how lazy they are. My favorite was this ostrich hanging out right next to the tour jeep.

This picture is for Kathleen. Apparently when the Thomas clan went down to Disney World around the time Kathleen turned 4 or 5, she loved the Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwiches. Well, they're still a staple at all the parks, so here I am enjoying one. On a side note, you may notice that in most of the pictures, I'm wearing my Seattle Mariners hat. While it's primary purpose is to prevent my ever-increasing scalp from getting sunburned, it is also a reminder that Seattle is still our home.

Spaceship Earth at Epcot, and of course my beautiful wife in the foreground. Yes it looks like a golf ball, but I guess it's a spaceship. Whatever it is, it's pretty cool and is the Cinderella's Castle of Epcot. We didn't actually go inside so we don't really have much to report on this.

The fireworks at the end of the night at Epcot were outstanding. The show is called Illumi-Nations because it's held at the World Showcase of Epcot. Basically they have mock-ups of about 11 different countries (from Mexico to Norway to Morocco to England) circling the lake. Not to ruin the show, but they roll a globe into the middle of the lake and it splits open and catches on fire. Awesome!!

In a phone booth in "London"

Here is Jim, Andy and I in Norway at Epcot's World Showcase. Andy is on the right and reserved all of our rooms at Shades of Green. We can't thank him enough! Not pictured is his adorable daughter, Emma.
When I look at this picture, I can't help but think of the old Bugs Bunny cartoon where Elmer Fudd, wearing a similar helmet, chases Bugs singing "Kill the Wabbit, kill the Wabbit, kill the Wabbit." We had just finished Norway's Viking boat ride. It takes you through the "History of Norway." As you would predict, it was a short ride, and per Disney's standard procedure, you exit into a ride-themed store where they sell these hats and many, many, many other Norwegian trinkets.

Our night out at Downtown Disney was spoiled by a typhoon-esque downpour of rain. There are lots of shops and restaurants at Downtown Disney, but we didn't get to see any of them because of the nasty weather. We did get to eat at Gloria Estefan's Cuban restaurant Bongo's. Pretty tasty grub. Here is Amy and I huddling by the bus stop as we waited for the bus to take us back to the hotel.

After a quick morning trip back to Magic Kingdom, we hit Hollywood Studios (formerly known as MGM Studios) for the day. In the background is one of the best rides in all the parks: the Tower of Terror. It's a Twilight Zone themed-ride. Basically you get into an elevator and it falls about 5 stories, goes back up and falls again. Sounds scary, but it was a lot of fun. Another one of our favorites was the Aerosmith roller coaster. It shoots you from zero to 60 mph in about 3 seconds! This was one of the two cold days we had down there; thus the jackets.

Here we are braving the cold at Hollywood Studio's end of day show called Fantasmic. It felt like we were still in New York, but the show more than made up for it.

So here's Mickey Mouse performing in Fantasmic. This was one of the only times we saw Mickey during our trip, so no pics with him this time. You can't really see it, but he's on a multi-level stage in the middle of a lake. They spray a screen of water up between the audience and Mickey and then project cartoons onto the water. Very cool. Later they catch the lake on fire. Yes, that's right, the water catches on fire. Disney goes all out to entertain, and not only was it a great effect, it warmed us up as well.

Our final day in Orlando was spent at Universal Studios and Universal's Island of Adventures. Here is Jim and I finishing up the Jurassic Park ride. We're in the back row on the right. It was still a little cold, but lucky for us we didn't get wet. These parks are a little more grown up than the Disney parks, especially Island of Adventures where they have more of the intense type of roller coasters (Incredible Hulk and Dueling Dragons). Much fun was had by all, but by the end of the day everybody's brains were a little scrambled from all the loop-de-loop and corkscrew-laden rides.

Here's the whole group at Pat O'Briens (New Orleans themed restaurant) after our day at the Universal parks. It was great to see Jim and Amy again. It felt like old times. Their next adventure is a trip to Ireland in May for their first anniversary. Hopefully you'll see more of them here on the blog in the next year or so, as we're trying to plan their visit to New York City.