In the planning for 9 months, we finally went to Disneyland Florida. We had promised Stefa and Larysa that as soon as Adriana was old enough to cope with long days of walking around, we'd take them there. The last time I was there was when I was in high school, so I needed to wrap my head around having 6 and 1/2 days to cover all the parks and maximise the amount of fun time, and minimise the waiting time.
So I was given the "Unofficial Guide to Disney" by a friend who said back in November: "Start studying it now." But being the least anal person I know, I couldn't bring myself to seriously dive into the planning of the trip until 2 weeks before our flight.
So considering the lack of effort on my part to create a 5-page per day itinerary, we had a pretty decent time. We stayed at the Grand Floridian hotel, which is directly across the lake from the Magic Kingdom and we were able to see the fireworks show on the grass outside our hotel. (Stefa was volubly freaking out about the ducks which seemed to get closer and closer to us, so she didn't enjoy the fireworks quite as much.)
The highlights of the trip?
We went on an early morning opening with the other hotel guests and Adriana and I did the Buzz Lightyear ride 3 times in a row (with no line-ups) trying to increase our score every time. And then next door going to the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, where the animated characters interact with the audience and create jokes on the spot.
Expedition Everest (according to Larysa and Stef - because I had to sit that one out with Adriana) at Animal Kingdom. The "It's tough to be a Bug" show was also pretty decent, with creepy crawlies special effects seeming to be on your legs and on your head. 
Adriana, of course, saw none of this, having perfected the crouching down under the seat manoeuvre as soon as anything remotely scary appeared.
Epcot was the most varied of the parks, and I think we missed out quite a lot even though we spent 1 and a half days there. But still the Test Track, the simulation rally driving ride which everyone else loved (I once again bailed - I have motion issues). Same with Mission:Space, apparently you pull up to 5 g's on the ride, and for someone who has trouble with the Mad Hatter's Teacup ride, it was definitely not for me. Turtle Talk with Crush was another fine example of using live actors to fully animate a character, in this case, one form Finding Nemo. Larysa was able to have a great conversation with Crush, it went like:
Larysa: "What to you eat?"
Crush: "Like we eat algae, man. Like what do you eat, Larysa?"
Larysa: "Whatever my Mum and Dad make."
Crush: "Well that narrows it down! So you're on the seafood diet...like you see food and you eat it?"
Two reasons why this was funny, one being obvious and the second being that Larysa rarely eats 'whatever mum and dad make'. HA, HA! I wish.
Soarin' was also a favourite. Imagine being practically inside a film, flying through the air. It was cool!
We spent a day at Disney-MGM where Rock n' Roller coaster and Tower of Terror were favour ties with the non-motion challenged in the family, including Adriana. The Indiana Jones Stunt show was spectacular enough that we didn't feel the need to see the other stunt show with the cars. We had the best time drawing our own Donald Duck and Winnie the Pooh in the Magic of Disney Animation and Disney-MGM has the best light and firework show in the evening called "Fantasmic" (even better than Epcot's Illuminations).
Then there were the 2 water parks, which we agreed that Blizzard Beach had the best rides (the raft ride, the body slide and the toboggan racers), but Typhoon Lagoon had the best body surfing wave pool. too bad they couldn't merge the two together. It would have saved us a day.
So that was it, our 7 day trip to DisneyWorld Florida. We know we probably missed some of it, but I think there was just so much there a week doesn't do it justice.
No comments:
Post a Comment