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I only say travel back in time since we went in April and it's now July. I realized recently however that I barely posted any of our Disney pictures so I'm going to try to do a Disney post every week or so in order to get them posted. (This is also known as, "I don't know what to blog about today OR I don't want to give a post much thought.)
The Son, needless to say, is not that into the princesses, sure, he thinks they're pretty but loves to tell me, "They're not as beautiful as you are Momma." I fall for it every time. That is, until he met Pocahontas at Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is probably The Son's favorite park and next time I visit Disney, I'll have to allow two days because we were somewhat rushed. We didn't make it over to "Rafiki's Conservation Station" until later in the day. You have to take a train over to a conservation area where they have smaller animals, a petting zoo (which was closed by the time we got there) and most importantly, they have... Pocahontas! Because it was late in the day, it was empty and The Son was able to have a lengthy discussion with her as well as some great photo opportunities. He tried to impress her by telling her that he could do "complex math" and she told him they didn't do math in her village. Huh? So, she wasn't the brightest Native American in the tribe but she was still very sweet. I think The Husband was a tad bit jealous that he didn't get a few special moments with Pocahontas too.
We also got to have a few moments with Rafiki and Jiminy Cricket but they were mere blips on The Son's Character Radar once his Native American Princess came along... notice it's all about the "thumb's up" with him again.
So heading over to Conservation Station worked out really well, he also got a private tour of the smaller amphibians and reptiles from one of the naturalists there. She was very impressed with The Son's knowledge of animals and told us that many adults don't know facts that he knew. I wasn't surprised but I was proud. That's my boy... even if he probably does prefer Pocahontas to Momma now.
Have a great Wednesday! We're off to the Y for work outs, pool time and swim lessons... no big surprises there, huh?
We're picking up today with more Magic Kingdom. We had a great time and I took a lot of pictures, what can I say?
Here's some pictures from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride:
The Son makes his official Very Scary Pirate Face. Don't be frightened, he won't hurt you unless you try to steal his treasure.
Riding with his Aunt and Uncle. He was especially in love with his Uncle (BIL #1) and continues to tell me how much he misses his "funniness." The Husband and I deemed ourselves "Chopped Liver" on this trip.
The Men. Yes, The Husband and the BIL #1 knew that they were both wearing pink polo shirts.
They didn't care that they were matching OR that they were matching and wearing pink. These two are very secure in their masculinity.
We scheduled this trip very quickly and therefore were unable to reserve many "character dinners" (character dinners aren't exactly my favorite but we did want to do one or two for The Son), we did manage to get a dinner reservation at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and Friends. The food was actually quite good except that when they tell you there is a "sundae bar" don't believe them unless you consider a machine with frozen soft serve and a bowl of jimmies a "sundae bar". I don't. But I digress...
Here is The Son meeting some characters. He was a little put off at first, I think they made him nervous, but he soon warmed up. I have to say that the people who portray these much-loved characters, are very sweet and excellent with the children, even with being unable to speak.
When we left the Crystal Palace, it was just in time for the "Wishes" fireworks show. We stood on the steps of the restaurant and watched them over Cinderella's Castle. It was beautiful and The Son loved the fireworks. Here's a somewhat blurry shot of his face and his amazement. It was so sweet.
Goodnight Cindy! Your castle looks pretty tonight!
We headed back to our hotel, full of the Disney Spirit, beliving that all our wishes would in fact come true one day...
In my next post, which may or may not be tomorrow, I'll tell you about what I think is the Best. Souvenir. Ever. at Disney World. Enjoy your day! Happy Wednesday!
More Disney pictures... I did mention that I took 1100, didn't I? This could go on for a while...
We travel to Disney pretty much every other year. The Disney Vacation Club has helped us be able to do that. Consequently, there's not too much that's new when we do visit. Not that that's a bad thing of course. One of the few new things we got to enjoy this time was a new ride called "Toy Story Mania!" It's one of the best rides ever. I will tell you that if you're going to go and want to ride it, head over to it quickly and get a fast pass as soon as you arrive in the park. Fast Passes are often gone half way through the day so you want to get one early. We made a mistake the first time and didn't get a fast pass and we waited, and waited and waited, for well over the "estimated time" that kind of sucked but the ride is awesome so we didn't feel too bad after all was said and done. Another time, we got on the ride at the end of the day toward closing when all of the fast passes had been redeemed and there were no more being given out. That wait wasn't too long.
Here's an excerpt of the description for Toy Story Mania! From my tour book: "The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2009." by Bob Sehlinger with Len Testa. Great information even for one who thinks she knows a lot about Disney (that would be me.) It's really hard to describe this ride and the book does a great job so I'll just let you read that.
"Toy Story Mania ushers in a whole new generation of Disney attractions: "virtual dark rides." Since Disneyland opened in 1955, ride vehicles have moved past two-and three-dimensional sets often populated by audio animatronic figures. Designed by the Imagineers and constructed by skilled craftsmen, these amazingly detailed sets and robotic figures literally defined the Disney creative genius in attractions...
Conceptually, this is an interactive shooting gallery much like Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, but in Toy Story Mania!, your ride vehicle passes through a totally virtual midway, with booths offering such games as ring tossing and ball throwing. You use a cannon on your ride vehicle to play as you move along from booth to booth. Unlike the laser guns in Buzz lightyear, however, the pull-string cannons in Toy Story Mania! take advantage of CG (computer-graphic) image technology to toss rings, shoot balls even throw eggs and pies. Each game booth is manned by a Toy Story character who is right beside you in 3-D glory cheering you on. In addition to 3-D imagery, you experience various smells, vehicle motion, wind and water spray. The ride begins with a training round to familiarize you with the nature of the games, then continues through a number or "real" games in which you compete against your riding mate. The technology has the ability to self-adjust the level of difficulty, and there are plenty of easy targets for small children to reach."
Honestly, the ride is awesome! So much fun and I would have loved to go on it multiple times in a row. I just know I could have gotten a higher score! ha ha!
Here's some pictures of the line. The attention to detail as you wait in "Andy's room" is simply amazing. Disney never fails to impress, that's for sure.
The ceiling... I know it looks upside down but this is the angle from where we were standing.
I had to take this shot because I had these blocks when I was a kid and this "bridge" one was my favorite. We had a little green half circle that fit right in there. I don't know why, but I loved it.
Look how the crayon is dulled from use. I thought it was really cute that they had a pink crayon was still brand-new and fresh. I wondered if that was was intentional, like Andy didn't want to use pink?
Finally got our 3-D glasses...
I think this was outside near one of the snack stands but still it was cool...
Lastly... this guy was great! He talked to the people waiting in line. I guess there's a camera so that someone can operate him and actually see the people waiting in line. It was funny.
I'm sure this post can't quite do the ride justice, it's kind of just one of those things you have to experience to understand. Rest assured that everyone in our group from age 5 to almost 50, LOVED this ride. Thank you Walt Disney World, this one's a winner for all ages!
Have a great Tuesday everyone!
AKA... MGM! ha ha! Disney Hollywood Studios used to be called MGM, personally, I cannot stop calling it MGM and I heard plenty of people around me in the Disney parks still calling it MGM so I know I am not the only one. But for all intents and purposes, it is really now "Disney Hollywood Studios"... my favorite of the Disney parks.I conveniently scheduled our dinner reservation for the first night of our trip to be at the 50's Prime Time Cafe at MGM DHS so that we could go there first. I love, love, love, love, love the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and could honestly ride it 1,293,371 times in a row if I was allowed to. Unfortunately, I had to settle for 4 times the entire trip but maybe next time I visit...I was so excited to share my love of this ride with The Son and he bravely went on it, his first ride of the whole trip. I could tell he was a little scared and I was very proud of him for being so brave.Here's a few shots of us waiting in line. I have to apologize for the way I will look in all these pictures. I had to wear my hair in a pony tail. Every. Day. I would have been a hot mess if I hadn't and I'm sure I looked fresh and cute (yeah, right) all day long because of the pony tail, however, the pony tail look doesn't translate well to photos. You'll just have to deal with it.
Here's the inside of the "Hollywood Tower Hotel, " so much fun to look around. The BIL #1 tells me that they have to bring fresh cobwebs IN every three days. I believe it. It was very webby. 
Here we are standing on our spots to get on the ride. The Son was excited that we were on spot #5 because he's 5, ya know? If you know him, and even if you don't, you can see the change in expression that he's getting a little more scared as we get closer. I want to let you know that we NEVER told him he had to go on the ride, we told him exactly what was going to happen and he agreed to go on. The Husband even told him that he's a little scared of the ride and he still agreed to go on, he's a very, very brave boy. 
We're in the elevator and the ride is about to start... not looking so thrilled now...
The ride was awesome! Even The Husband said it wasn't as bad as he remembered. He's afraid of heights and the past couple times we went to MGM DHS, he refused to go on this ride. The Son however proclaimed, with a few little tears in his eyes, "I am NEVER going on that again!" Honestly, I felt kind of bad but he was only upset for a minute and I know he was proud of himself for doing the ride at all. He told everyone he rode it and told everyone he hated it. It was very funny. We praised him a lot and told him it was brave to try and that it was OK that he didn't like it. For the record, he loved every other ride that he was tall enough to go on. So, that's the beginning of our trip to MGM DHS, I'll post some more photos tomorrow and tell you about the best new ride at Disney... Toy Story Mania! Enjoy your Monday!
I've been procrastinating with the posting of my Disney pictures, I guess honestly, I've just been lazy however, today, I'm home from my morning job, The Son is still sleeping and The Husband had to head out earlier than usual so it's quiet and I've decided, it's time to start posting. I'll start at the very beginning... the very best place to start...
Here is The son on the way to the airport. It was an evening flight and I knew we'd be up late so a little snooze in the car was a good thing. There's nothing cuter than a sleeping kid, I had to take a picture. See that scratch on the side of his nose? Well, he woke up with that the day before we left. The day before I planned on taking 1100 pictures of him. I guess he scratched himself in bed. Typical. I could photoshop it out of every picture but I'm just not going to.
On the airplane with The Husband's iphone. The kid works that thing better than I do!
For some reason, the "thumb's up" was a theme for this vacation. The Son does it in LOTS of pictures, believe me... you'll see...
After arriving at the Orlando airport, walking with BIL #1. The Son was IN LOVE with his Uncle for this entire trip. It was so sweet. Because The Husband is originally from Maine, we don't get to see as much of his family as we'd like. This trip was really nice to be able to spend a nice long time with at least some of them.
BIL #1 and The Son watching some Disney shows on cute little chairs in the hotel lobby. Two peas in a pod I tell ya.
It was a late night when we got there so I don't have too many more of the arrival, I'll just share a few images of our hotel and it's grounds. We stayed at the Saratoga Springs resort, part of the Disney Vacation Club and it was beautiful. I really like it there. This was our second time staying there and I would definitely stay there again.
Thanks for stopping by my blog today. Have a great Thursday, it's my weigh in day and I'm feeling like I did pretty well this week... I'll keep you posted.
