Whether you are new to the Disney world, or an old friend looking to keep up on all the Disney happenings, follow along as I discuss news and tips related to Walt Disney World and the Disney world as a whole.
I'm going to try and post some photos this week from our trip that was right after Thanksgiving. I'll try to keep them succinct so that you aren't scrolling all the live long day.
We did a portrait session. Here's a family shot:
My crazy kids with their Key To The World Cards:
Just getting off the monorail to go to Magic Kingdom. This was around 10:30am the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
It's really not too crowded.
My boys...walking to Adventureland...
On Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse
Hindu Caitlin...in line for the Magic Carpets of Aladdin.
The boys getting ready to fly on a magic carpet.
Bryan realizing that, yet again, Stefan will be driving the carpet toward the spitting camel trying to get his dad wet.
It's early entry day for our incentive group. Well, even though we hit the hay early the night before, it was a bit of a rude awakening to get up at 5:30am Eastern, especially when our bodies were probably still thinking it was 4:30am Central.
And it was going to be a steamy one again. Here's the photo from our room doorway as we left around 6am:
It was red shirt day today. As we headed to the ballroom for our buffet breakfast, it was a sea of red shirts.
The family sitting down to breakfast. Yep, Stefan was not awake yet.
I saw my friend, Laurie, and her family but as you can imagine, there were a lot of people there.
After breakfast, we headed down the hallway to get on special buses that were taking us to Magic Kingdom. We got on about 6:30am and arrived at MK just before 7am. They were just opening the turnstiles as we got up there.
We entered and I had to take a castle pic:
It looks more crowded than it was. Seriously, we walked on to everything.
We didn't have a specific plan. Being veterans, we've done just about everything. We headed toward Adventureland since, as usual, everyone else headed for Tomorrowland and Fantasyland.
We came up to Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride and Stefan decided we needed to do this.
This is tradition. Stefan and Bryan ride in the same magic carpet vehicle and Stefan tries to get the camel to spit on his dad.
I had to stop and take this picture:
In all my years of going to Disney World, even when we've been there at rope drop, I have NEVER seen a ride that says it has a ZERO wait time! I needed to document that for posterity!
Once we got off of that, I used my coupons and got two bottles of water. It was already steamy.
We headed through the tunnel to Frontierland and who did we run into: Jessie & Woody! As face characters! First time for that one!
Here's one of me and Woody - terrible, I know - that's how humid and icky it was.
Stefan wanted to hit the shooting gallery so Bryan waited with him while Cate and I made a beeline for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (BTMRR). It wasn't up and running yet. So we jumped on Splash Mountain and walked right on. It was refreshing to get wet, even that early in the morning.
We got off and got on to BTMRR and then met the boys as they had gotten on the train just before ours.
We decided to head to Tomorrowland since the kids wanted to do Space Mountain.
We got a little sidetracked and had to walk on to Buzz Lightyear. After I scored 700,000+, Bryan wanted to go again and try and score higher. So the kids went off to Space, and he and rode Buzz again. 5 times. Seriously. We just kept walking on.
Bryan, the little snot, maxed out at 999,999. I took a picture, but my flash makes it hard to see. His console is the one on the left:
and mine at 809,000
We took a break to watch for the kids and then Bryan had to go meet Buzz Lightyear
We finally met up with the kids and they decided they wanted to ride Buzz again. So we rode two more times.
Then it was approaching 8:30am and we needed to use our coupons before 9am. We headed over to Cosmic Ray's and got some water and juice.
Even by 9am, it was so humid. We decided we'd just do two more things: Jungle Cruise and Mickey's Philharmagic.
On the way to the Jungle Cruise, we saw the "other" Woody and Jessie, and the Lotso Bear from the new Toy Story 3. (Honestly, I don't know how long Lotso will last in the parks once people see the movie.)
Then Alice toodled by and said we were going the wrong way and we should follow her for all the fun!
We headed off and did the Jungle Cruise and Philharmagic. Then we headed for the bus area to head back to CSR.
Once we got back, the housekeeping elves had been there and had Bear and Kitty all waiting for us.
We had a pool break and then decided we'd head to the Pepper Market for lunch.
Not a fan of the PM. It took them 10 minutes to get me a burger. I should have ordered the Shrimp Paella that Cate had because it was ready and it looked fabulous. But I didn't. The boys had something Mexican and were happy. Overall, I felt it was overpriced. Even for Disney. I miss my villas kitchen.
Yeah, I'm a hotel snob and not afraid to admit it.
We decided to hang in the room and just watch some TV. It was truly too hot and humid for us. Plus, having been up since 5:30am, we were ready for a break.
Dinner time was much better this time. We headed to the Crossroads and went to Sweet Tomatoes. I had head a lot about this place online and thought it would be okay to try. I was a little worried because I have teens...teens who are meatosaurus-like. I wanted to make sure they were full.
I had a coupon for BOGO...could I find it? No. At least not until after we came home.
Everyone agreed that it was good. Thankfully, there was more than rabbit food once we got through the salad bar or my kids would have disowned me. But even Bryan, who's not a huge vegie fan, thought this was a good place.
We headed home and packed it in for the night.
Next up: June 15 - Animal Kingdom and the big party at MGM Studios!
It's a given; people have cell phones. (There's a "well, duh!" statement if I ever heard one.)
With more and more people having smart phones with all the cool and funky applications, I thought I should review the applications that are out there for Disney World vacationers.
Some of these apps are open market and some are limited to certain carriers. Since I have an Android phone, I'll have more info on that than on apps for Blackberry phones or the iPhone. I'll touch on some of the details, but in the end, it's up to you, the user, to decide what works best for you when you are on your Disney World vacation.
1. Mobile Magic
This is an exclusive application from Disney. It's available only to Verizon Wireless subscribers. Users can see wait times, FastPass distribution availability as well as a digital list of events and character autograph locations. Cost: $9.99 for 180 days of use.
2. ReadyPath - Disney World.
This is an application for your Blackberry device. You can access highly interactive maps and find rides, attractions, restaurants and more. It claims you can get phone numbers for restaurants and stores and even the golf courses to get tee times. It seems relatively new and reviews are not great. YMMV. Cost: one-time fee of $4.99
3. Ride Hopper Full
This one is on my Android phone. It shows times and hours for Disney World and other parks. The nice things about this one is it's based on user submitted wait times. Cost: one-time fee of $0.99
4. WDW Maps Box Set
This is an Android application. You get maps of all four major parks. You can search for attractions, restaurants and more. You can mark what you are looking for, mark where you've been, customize your maps and it even has built-in menus for restaurants. Cost: one-time fee of $2.99
5. Disney World Lines
This is an Android application from TouringPlans.com. This is a members-only app for their subscribers that shows wait times and helps you plan for FastPasses. You can download the app for free, but the features will be limited without the subscription. I think the online subscription to be a member is $7.95 per year.
6. Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom Mini Guide
From the same people who bring the WDW Box Set, they have an app just for MK. Cost: one-time fee of $0.99
Since I'm not an iPhone user, I can't see everything that an iPhone user can get nor can I see prices.
The following are iPhone apps:
7. Walt Disney World Maps
Use the GPS in your phone to find your way around the parks.
8. Walt Disney World Dining
See what restaurants are available in each park and what the prices are. This app also has the phone number to make dining reservations.
9. Walt Disney World Wait Times
Check current wait times as posted by other iPhone users.
I'm sure there are other choices out there based on the type of phone and carrier that you have. Do some research and find out if there are any apps that will fit with the way you like to vacation.
Have you seen those photographers at the parks, offering to take your photo? Those people are Photopass Photographers!
Have you ever taken them up on it? Did you know that it's FREE to have your photos taken and it's FREE to view them online?
Photopass services also include ordering prints, photo albums, and even your pictures on CD. But when you order those after your trip, it can be pretty spendy.
Disney is once again making it easy for you to pre-order a Photopass CD at the discounted rate of $99.95.
Now you may think that's a lot of money, but you can get all of your Photopass pictures on CD for that price. You also get the copyright to those pictures so you can reproduce them wherever and however you like.
I've heard of many people who have had hundreds of pictures taken and gotten them on the CD.
One of the other benefits to Photopass is the photographers do have some magic up their sleeves. In certain settings, there are special effects that can be added to your picture. That's not something you can do from home. However, there are some labels and borders that can be added to pictures after the fact.
Here's one of the Photopass pictures I have. It's from the old Pirate & Princess Party that had a short run at Magic Kingdom a few years back.
Aren't they the cutest you've ever seen! ;-)
Here's how it works: Go to the Photopass website and pre-order the CD. Go on vacation and get those photos taken. You'll be given a Photopass card with a number on it. Each time you take a picture, you give that card to the Photopass photographer. They take the picture and store it on your card. Come home and add your pictures to your pre-ordered CD. You go back the Photopass website and enter the number on your Photopass card. You can then add the pictures to your order, and you can even add some of those labels and borders that I mentioned.
Disney gets your CD made and mails it off to you. It usually takes a couple weeks.
So, are you excited by the return of this offer? Have questions on Photopass?
Please feel free to post your comment or question! I look forward to your discussion.
Well, there are few things with that Captain Hook that you may want to be aware of when it comes to Magic Kingdom.
If you are a frequent visitor to MK, as it's referred to by the Disney veterans, you may want to consider taking the Family Magic Tour.
It takes place daily at 10am at MK and is for all ages. You start out on a tour that quickly turns into an adventure. Mickey recruits you for a "secret mission" ~ Captain Hook is trying to take over the Magic Kingdom! If he succeeds, only pirates can ride the rides! Peter Pan apparently took Captain Hook's hook and your job is to get it back!
This tour is $27 per person, adults and children. If you're looking for something fun and new to do at MK, this could be it!
And if you are visiting MK this summer, be sure to take in the Summer Nightastic at Magic Kingdom!
The Main Street Electrical Parade returns to MK for the summer!
More importantly, and more relevant to this post, is that rumor has it that the Summer Nightastic Fireworks Show at MK will be Music, Magic & Mayhem ~ the fireworks show from the old Pirate & Princess Parties.
If that is the case (as all indications are pointing to), then you'll hear and see a fabulous story, and at a point you may think that Captain Hook is firing fireworks directly at Cinderella's Castle!
It's the best fireworks show I've ever seen and I so hope it's back for the summer!
We'll it's time to pop out again...as my friend Tigger would say...TTFN - Ta Ta For Now!
