11. If you have kids, consider purchasing a "Camelbak" backpack and water bladder. It would have been sooo handy for us to have rather than purchasing water or other drinks at $3 each or refilling several bottles every day.
12. Purchase small "two way" radios and have at least each parent with one. If you have older kids, as we do with Abbey, give them one too. This was invaluable to us. "Papa Bear to Mama Bear...Elvis has left the building."
13. If you want to pack light you can and do laundry at the resorts. This will allow for more suitcase room for souvenirs.
14. Maximize your carry-on luggage. Take the biggest bag allowable. They are not weighed so you can fill them with your heaviest items (not liquids or gels remember!) and take them right on the plane with you.
15. Wear your best walking shoes. Do NOT buy new ones that need breaking in. You will walk probably more than 10 miles per day.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Top Ten Disney Lessons Learned
Jason & I kept talking about our 'top ten' things we'd do differently next time we do this trip. So we thought we'd share it all with you!
1) Buy a good stroller. The cheapo umbrella strollers although lightweight, have no storage, hardly any shade and don't handle great. Spend the money.
2) Don't spend the money on a new hair cut before going to Disney. Hmmmm. I got a great new cut & colour two weeks before going, then did my hair the first day and within one hour the heat and the sweat got to it and well that was the end of that. I didn't bother after that!
3) Don't go in May. Apparently October is the best month for weather.
4) We've said this before - but take days off in between park days to relax, swim, shop, etc. This 'go-go-go' vacation that requires a vacation after to recover from is not fun!
5) Stay on the resort - but explore your resort too! And the rest of DisneyWorld and the other hotels. DisneyWorld property is twice the size of Manhattan - there is lots to explore other than the parks. We didn't get past one pool at our hotel - and there were at least 4. And we hoped to get in the pool every day and we sure didn't.
6) Save some time for Outlet Mall shopping.
7) We sure enjoyed our 'value' hotel but felt a bit 'nicked & dimed' with the extra charges - HS internet & a fridge were over and above! Watch for hidden charges, a cheap hotel room might not be worth it if for a little bit more you can get it all in a nicer, bigger resort.
8) You don't need a full day for Downtown Disney. A few hours tops. It would be a good place to go in the evening too, especially if you like lounges & clubs. You need two days for Magic Kingdom. One day was enough for each of Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
9) The Disney transportation system is awesome. I don't know why anyone would want to rent a vehicle. It costs $14/day to park at each of the theme parks, plus your car rental. One day rental to get out of the park is a great idea, lots of great beaches within an hour!
10) Be sure to do at least one character dining experience. We did Crystal Palace with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet, but if you can, try to get into Chef Mickey's. Or if your little people are into princesses you can eat with Cinderella and friends at the castle. Even the big kids feel young again!
1) Buy a good stroller. The cheapo umbrella strollers although lightweight, have no storage, hardly any shade and don't handle great. Spend the money.
2) Don't spend the money on a new hair cut before going to Disney. Hmmmm. I got a great new cut & colour two weeks before going, then did my hair the first day and within one hour the heat and the sweat got to it and well that was the end of that. I didn't bother after that!
3) Don't go in May. Apparently October is the best month for weather.
4) We've said this before - but take days off in between park days to relax, swim, shop, etc. This 'go-go-go' vacation that requires a vacation after to recover from is not fun!
5) Stay on the resort - but explore your resort too! And the rest of DisneyWorld and the other hotels. DisneyWorld property is twice the size of Manhattan - there is lots to explore other than the parks. We didn't get past one pool at our hotel - and there were at least 4. And we hoped to get in the pool every day and we sure didn't.
6) Save some time for Outlet Mall shopping.
7) We sure enjoyed our 'value' hotel but felt a bit 'nicked & dimed' with the extra charges - HS internet & a fridge were over and above! Watch for hidden charges, a cheap hotel room might not be worth it if for a little bit more you can get it all in a nicer, bigger resort.
8) You don't need a full day for Downtown Disney. A few hours tops. It would be a good place to go in the evening too, especially if you like lounges & clubs. You need two days for Magic Kingdom. One day was enough for each of Epcot, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.
9) The Disney transportation system is awesome. I don't know why anyone would want to rent a vehicle. It costs $14/day to park at each of the theme parks, plus your car rental. One day rental to get out of the park is a great idea, lots of great beaches within an hour!
10) Be sure to do at least one character dining experience. We did Crystal Palace with Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet, but if you can, try to get into Chef Mickey's. Or if your little people are into princesses you can eat with Cinderella and friends at the castle. Even the big kids feel young again!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Day 10 - Home Sweet Home
Ahhhhhh it is goooooood to be home.
I honestly don't think I've ever wanted to kiss the ground before after getting off the airplane at the end of a trip. It's not that I didn't have a great time, I really did.... but it's SO nice to be home and be able to get back in a routine. As anyone who's ever traveled with an infant before can attest to - it's HARD to travel with a little one. It's hard to lug diapers everywhere. It's hard to feed kids when they are hot and overtired. It's hard to keep them cool when it's a million degrees outside. And it's just so good to be home. :)
Our day started at 6 am with our Mickey Mouse wake up call. (yes if you ask for a wake up call at Disney you get a recorded message from Mickey himself!)
We packed a bit haphazardly, just trying to get it all in and not have a bag over 50 lbs. We did it! We managed to get it all in! We had our bags picked up and brought downstairs, and we tried to do a check in for the airline right there at the hotel but couldn't because we were flying internationally.
We had breakfast and bought a bunch of snacks to use up our extra meals (it wasn't as easy as we thought - no licensed merchandise, so we bought a lot of chips and rice krispie treats!) We did a bit more last minute shopping in time to board our bus at 8:15. Oakley waved good bye to Mickey and away we went!
We got to the airport around 9 am, and wondered what we'd do with all this time (our flight left at 12:15 pm). Well trust me we used it all up! We got stuck checking in with United as it is pretty darn complex to check in with an infant apparently, even though we now had this wonderful paper ticket we needed. They had a bit of trouble attaching her boarding pass to mine, so it was almost 11 by the time we made it through security. We bought some snacks to feed Oakley and changed her diaper and away we went to our gate. We left on time, with no hiccups at all!
We were on a much smaller plane than last time we did the Denver/Orlando route, so it was almost a 4 hour flight. We were stuck in the very last row which meant no reclining. And the row in front of us could recline, and Jason has this little 10 year old brat sitting in front of him that reclined all the way back. He was a bit stuck. Oakley fell asleep before we left the ground. She slept almost the whole way but it was a very restless sleep. Awake and asleep and crying, and back asleep... ugg.... it was quite painful! Abbey crashed a bit, I watched the in flight movie again (Extraordinary Measures with Harrison Ford and Brendon Fraser).
We made it to Denver in one piece, and had three hours to kill there. We met up with a young guy who was also going Orlando - Regina via Denver, so after we found our gate (the total opposite end of the airport again) we wandered back with our new friend Mark and found some grub... good old McDonald's. We wandered around a bit more and whittled away our three hour wait, pretty uneventfully!
We boarded the plane to Regina at about 5:20 pm local time (felt like 7:20 to us already) and we almost caused a bit of a national security breach on that flight! It was quite a small plane and it was pretty clear it was not going to be a full plane. The guy I was sitting beside made it pretty clear that he was willing to move to an empty seat (as to not be stuck beside a crying kid obviously) so Oakley got her own seat. Apparently I didn't pay any attention when the flight attendant did her 'count' so her count didn't match the gate's count - it looked like they let one extra person on the plane. Hmmm... she made it sound like a huge deal, I sure hope it's not, but how was I supposed to know? I was busy dealing with a fussy overtired toddler!
Anyway, home safe and sound, went through customs with no issues, picked up our van in the long term parking at the airport (it was only around $80 - much less than I thought it would be!). We stopped at the grocery store on the way home for a few essentials, got home, unloaded our van and put our tired baby to bed!
So thus ends the Rattray Family Adventures! Back to our 'normal' life!
I honestly don't think I've ever wanted to kiss the ground before after getting off the airplane at the end of a trip. It's not that I didn't have a great time, I really did.... but it's SO nice to be home and be able to get back in a routine. As anyone who's ever traveled with an infant before can attest to - it's HARD to travel with a little one. It's hard to lug diapers everywhere. It's hard to feed kids when they are hot and overtired. It's hard to keep them cool when it's a million degrees outside. And it's just so good to be home. :)
Our day started at 6 am with our Mickey Mouse wake up call. (yes if you ask for a wake up call at Disney you get a recorded message from Mickey himself!)
We packed a bit haphazardly, just trying to get it all in and not have a bag over 50 lbs. We did it! We managed to get it all in! We had our bags picked up and brought downstairs, and we tried to do a check in for the airline right there at the hotel but couldn't because we were flying internationally.
We had breakfast and bought a bunch of snacks to use up our extra meals (it wasn't as easy as we thought - no licensed merchandise, so we bought a lot of chips and rice krispie treats!) We did a bit more last minute shopping in time to board our bus at 8:15. Oakley waved good bye to Mickey and away we went!
We got to the airport around 9 am, and wondered what we'd do with all this time (our flight left at 12:15 pm). Well trust me we used it all up! We got stuck checking in with United as it is pretty darn complex to check in with an infant apparently, even though we now had this wonderful paper ticket we needed. They had a bit of trouble attaching her boarding pass to mine, so it was almost 11 by the time we made it through security. We bought some snacks to feed Oakley and changed her diaper and away we went to our gate. We left on time, with no hiccups at all!
We were on a much smaller plane than last time we did the Denver/Orlando route, so it was almost a 4 hour flight. We were stuck in the very last row which meant no reclining. And the row in front of us could recline, and Jason has this little 10 year old brat sitting in front of him that reclined all the way back. He was a bit stuck. Oakley fell asleep before we left the ground. She slept almost the whole way but it was a very restless sleep. Awake and asleep and crying, and back asleep... ugg.... it was quite painful! Abbey crashed a bit, I watched the in flight movie again (Extraordinary Measures with Harrison Ford and Brendon Fraser).
We made it to Denver in one piece, and had three hours to kill there. We met up with a young guy who was also going Orlando - Regina via Denver, so after we found our gate (the total opposite end of the airport again) we wandered back with our new friend Mark and found some grub... good old McDonald's. We wandered around a bit more and whittled away our three hour wait, pretty uneventfully!
We boarded the plane to Regina at about 5:20 pm local time (felt like 7:20 to us already) and we almost caused a bit of a national security breach on that flight! It was quite a small plane and it was pretty clear it was not going to be a full plane. The guy I was sitting beside made it pretty clear that he was willing to move to an empty seat (as to not be stuck beside a crying kid obviously) so Oakley got her own seat. Apparently I didn't pay any attention when the flight attendant did her 'count' so her count didn't match the gate's count - it looked like they let one extra person on the plane. Hmmm... she made it sound like a huge deal, I sure hope it's not, but how was I supposed to know? I was busy dealing with a fussy overtired toddler!
Anyway, home safe and sound, went through customs with no issues, picked up our van in the long term parking at the airport (it was only around $80 - much less than I thought it would be!). We stopped at the grocery store on the way home for a few essentials, got home, unloaded our van and put our tired baby to bed!
So thus ends the Rattray Family Adventures! Back to our 'normal' life!
Friday, May 7, 2010
Day 9 - Magic Kingdom
Our last day at the park and we had a bit of a slow start. We took our time getting going and feeding the girls breakfast and it was well after 10 am when we got to Magic Kingdom. And it was hot. Hot. Hot.
We had lunch reservations at The Plaza Restaurant at 11 am so only had about 45 min or so to cruise around until heading towards our restaurant. We walked up and through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (very cool - just like the old tv show!) and then watched a bit of a show on the front steps of Cinderella's Castle.
Oakley was pretty lethargic this morning and really not herself. She perked up a little bit watching Mickey, and then while waiting for the Plaza to open we watched a little parade go by and she was pretty happy to see Chip & Dale. She kept telling me "Oakley tired Mommy" and "Oakley go home"... so I knew she was not feeling good at all. We made the decision that after lunch I'd take Oakley back to the hotel for the afternoon to nap and maybe cool off in the pool and we'd meet J&A back for our dinner reservation at the Crystal Palace at 4:30 pm.
So I did - and my poor sweet baby slept on me for most of the ride home plus 3 hours in the hotel. I had to wake her up at 3:45 to catch the bus back - who knows how long she would have slept had I let her. It was so sad, she's just like a little wilted flower. She is so done and so ready to go home. Next time - we either take more time and then break up the days with pool and relaxation days, or we just do fewer days. Just too hard on everyone.
While we were sleeping at the hotel J&A went on about every ride they could fit in - Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, some sorta railroad, etc etc. Jason will have to fill in the details! Needless to say they had fun, kept busy and sweated a lot!
We met back at our dinner spot at 4:30. It was our only character dining experience - with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet & Eeyore. It was a buffet dinner (yum...) and each character came up to your table for pictures and autographs. We missed out on Piglet only because we were ready to roll and didn't stick around long enough to wait. Oakley ate great! Finally - but we still had a hard time getting fluids into her, so of course she still wasn't quite her perky self.
Jason got Abbey and I Fast Passes for Splash Mountain and we had to use them before 6 pm so we had to run there. While we did that he and Oakley went to Space Mountain to get Fast Passes for that. Splash Mountain was fun - we did get SOAKED! It had a cute little ride that went with it too all about Brer Rabbit and we saw a lot of bear bums!! (Not bare bums - bear bums!) We then met J&O in the middle of the park and tried to do some indoor rides to get Oakley out of the heat.
We did the Monsters Inc Laugh Factory (so funny!), a Toy Story ride (Oakley controlled how fast we spinned, and I figured out how to use my gun at the very END of the game...) then we did the Carousel of Progress, a Walt Disney favourite that he created himself for the 1964 World's Fair. All good - all air conditioned!
Then off to Mickey's Toontown Fair where we saw Minnie and Mickey's houses last time. We did a train ride around the park here, and tried to get into see the characters but it was a 45 min wait and we had to get to Space Mountain to use our fast passes and also needed to get good spots to watch the fireworks!
Space Mountain here we come - this was a GREAT ride and I think a highlight of the trip for Abbey. An indoor, pitch black roller coaster, with lots of stars and space like scenery. Super fast, lots of fun, and a little bit scary!
Then off to Main Street USA, the front of the park to watch the fireworks. We got a great spot, and although the start of the fireworks were delayed by 10 min or so, we stuck it out and watched the whole show. Oakley did great although she was tucked into me pretty tight. She did good for the rest of the afternoon but was still pretty hot and lethargic. The fireworks show is amazing, a must-see at Disney. I think Jason got some video, we'll see if we can post it here or not. It's all set to music and it's pretty amazing especially with the big castle in front of it!
We high-tailed it back to the buses and we were on the first one back. Oakley slept on me the whole way home, and was easily changed, wiped down and put to bed when we got back. This is one tired little lady who will be happy to get home. I sure hope she doesn't have heat stroke or anything.... but I think we're done at the right time. Abbey's done too but obviously at 12 years old can handle it better! Her feet are sore, but otherwise she's not sunburned or injured or anything other than hot and tired!
Our plane leaves at noon tomorrow but our pick up is at 8:15. So we have some serious work to do in the morning to get packed and ready to go. Plus we have to eat breakfast!! (and apparently we can use up our leftover meals with 3x snacks per meal, which includes all sorts of Mickey & Minnie candy so you know that's what we will be loading up on!
So our next post will be coming to you from our kitchen table in good ol' Regina SK!
Thanks for coming along for this ride with us! Hope you enjoyed as much as we did! (without the heat stroke!)
We had lunch reservations at The Plaza Restaurant at 11 am so only had about 45 min or so to cruise around until heading towards our restaurant. We walked up and through the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse (very cool - just like the old tv show!) and then watched a bit of a show on the front steps of Cinderella's Castle.
Oakley was pretty lethargic this morning and really not herself. She perked up a little bit watching Mickey, and then while waiting for the Plaza to open we watched a little parade go by and she was pretty happy to see Chip & Dale. She kept telling me "Oakley tired Mommy" and "Oakley go home"... so I knew she was not feeling good at all. We made the decision that after lunch I'd take Oakley back to the hotel for the afternoon to nap and maybe cool off in the pool and we'd meet J&A back for our dinner reservation at the Crystal Palace at 4:30 pm.
So I did - and my poor sweet baby slept on me for most of the ride home plus 3 hours in the hotel. I had to wake her up at 3:45 to catch the bus back - who knows how long she would have slept had I let her. It was so sad, she's just like a little wilted flower. She is so done and so ready to go home. Next time - we either take more time and then break up the days with pool and relaxation days, or we just do fewer days. Just too hard on everyone.
While we were sleeping at the hotel J&A went on about every ride they could fit in - Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, some sorta railroad, etc etc. Jason will have to fill in the details! Needless to say they had fun, kept busy and sweated a lot!
We met back at our dinner spot at 4:30. It was our only character dining experience - with Pooh, Tigger, Piglet & Eeyore. It was a buffet dinner (yum...) and each character came up to your table for pictures and autographs. We missed out on Piglet only because we were ready to roll and didn't stick around long enough to wait. Oakley ate great! Finally - but we still had a hard time getting fluids into her, so of course she still wasn't quite her perky self.
Jason got Abbey and I Fast Passes for Splash Mountain and we had to use them before 6 pm so we had to run there. While we did that he and Oakley went to Space Mountain to get Fast Passes for that. Splash Mountain was fun - we did get SOAKED! It had a cute little ride that went with it too all about Brer Rabbit and we saw a lot of bear bums!! (Not bare bums - bear bums!) We then met J&O in the middle of the park and tried to do some indoor rides to get Oakley out of the heat.
We did the Monsters Inc Laugh Factory (so funny!), a Toy Story ride (Oakley controlled how fast we spinned, and I figured out how to use my gun at the very END of the game...) then we did the Carousel of Progress, a Walt Disney favourite that he created himself for the 1964 World's Fair. All good - all air conditioned!
Then off to Mickey's Toontown Fair where we saw Minnie and Mickey's houses last time. We did a train ride around the park here, and tried to get into see the characters but it was a 45 min wait and we had to get to Space Mountain to use our fast passes and also needed to get good spots to watch the fireworks!
Space Mountain here we come - this was a GREAT ride and I think a highlight of the trip for Abbey. An indoor, pitch black roller coaster, with lots of stars and space like scenery. Super fast, lots of fun, and a little bit scary!
Then off to Main Street USA, the front of the park to watch the fireworks. We got a great spot, and although the start of the fireworks were delayed by 10 min or so, we stuck it out and watched the whole show. Oakley did great although she was tucked into me pretty tight. She did good for the rest of the afternoon but was still pretty hot and lethargic. The fireworks show is amazing, a must-see at Disney. I think Jason got some video, we'll see if we can post it here or not. It's all set to music and it's pretty amazing especially with the big castle in front of it!
We high-tailed it back to the buses and we were on the first one back. Oakley slept on me the whole way home, and was easily changed, wiped down and put to bed when we got back. This is one tired little lady who will be happy to get home. I sure hope she doesn't have heat stroke or anything.... but I think we're done at the right time. Abbey's done too but obviously at 12 years old can handle it better! Her feet are sore, but otherwise she's not sunburned or injured or anything other than hot and tired!
Our plane leaves at noon tomorrow but our pick up is at 8:15. So we have some serious work to do in the morning to get packed and ready to go. Plus we have to eat breakfast!! (and apparently we can use up our leftover meals with 3x snacks per meal, which includes all sorts of Mickey & Minnie candy so you know that's what we will be loading up on!
So our next post will be coming to you from our kitchen table in good ol' Regina SK!
Thanks for coming along for this ride with us! Hope you enjoyed as much as we did! (without the heat stroke!)
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Day 8 - Universal Studios (take 2)
We booked our shuttle to Universal for 9:25 am with a return at 8:15 pm. We knew this would be more than enough time to wrap up our time at Universal!
We started out with breakfast at our hotel. On this meal plan that we are on, we get 9 snacks, 9 counter service meals and 9 sit down meals at participating Disney hotels. Well since not all our days were at Disney we did book some places that were extra fancy and used two of the meals. As a result, we'll have just enough sit down meals, and probably 4 too many counter service meals! We might be stuffing our faces the next two days trying to use them all up. Not sure why I just can't let things go to waste... seriously! We'll just know for next time to plan out our counter service meals with the same organization that we did for our sit down meals. The food has been incredible. I think next week is back to reality and back to healthy eating!! Nothing like vacation photos to make you realize how much work you have ahead of you!
So - we hit the 9:25 bus and arrived just before 10 am. As I said last time we went to Universal we decided to do the Universal Studios theme park completely on our first day and save Islands of Adventure for the second day. I'm glad we did it that way as there was MUCH more to see and do here today at Islands of Adventure and I think had we done it in the other order we would have felt disappointed with Universal Studios.
So our first stop was the Incredible Hulk roller coaster ride. I think breakfast was not far enough of a memory for me when we hit that ride just after 10 am. Ohhhh my stomach. Abbey's head. We were a dizzy, spinning mess when we got off that ride. It was the biggest and baddest roller coaster we've been on this trip yet. It was massive, and it had a lot of loops and twisted you upside down and all around... and ugg.... no more coasters for me. For today at least. Maybe tomorrow. :)
After that we were off to Seuss Landing! Yes, everything Dr. Seuss you can imagine! It was as bright and colourful and creative as you'd imagine it would be. We did a Cat in the Hat ride, went on a Carousel (Car-o-Seuss-el!), went on the One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish flying fish ride, went through a bunch of play areas, tried to go on a little coaster for kids but Oakley was just too small yet, went to a candy store, book store, everything in Dr. Seuss style! My Mom would be in her glory!
From Seuss Landing we went off to another area of the park called The Lost Continent. We went to a show called "Poseidon's Fury" and it truly reaffirmed that our baby has no fear. It was a bit of a scary show, with lots of darkness, and then shooting fire, and gushing water... and Oakley just sat in my arms and watched.
It was then lunch time so we stopped at this restaurant called Mythos (I think!) that was right outside of the last ride and boasted that it was the #1 theme park restaurant from 2002-2008. So in we went. It was not bad but not great - we could assume why it didn't make it in 2009. Service was friendly but slow, and the food was just ok.
Off we went again down the path. We got to the Mystic Fountain which was right outside of a show at 2 pm we wanted to go see - but no strollers allowed and Oakley was just nicely falling asleep. Anyway this fountain was hilarious. It had a camera in the eye of the face in the fountain, with a speaker and a microphone. The controller guy noticed Oakley and started talking to her, and talking baby talk, asking us where we were from, how old Oakley was, spitting water out of the fountain. Oakley wasn't sure what to make of it - but I thought that guy had the best job at Universal. Sitting in some air-conditioned control room somewhere, freaking people out by talking to them through a fountain and spraying water anywhere he wanted. Yup that would be my job at Universal. :)
Oakley fell asleep shortly after that and so we kept on walking. Right beside the Lost Continent is where the Harry Potter park is going to be. We could see some of the building tops and took some pictures - it's going to be huge and very exciting. We are sad we missed it - it was supposed to be open by the time we got here!!
Off we went to Jurassic Park, and Jason and Abbey went into the Jurassic Park River Adventure Ride, which was a ton of fun and they both got soaking wet. I got video of them flying off the ride at the end into the water! Abbey was going to go again with me while Jason hung out with sleeping Oakley - but a huge cloud rolled in and lightening was spotted so all those rides that involved water and electricity were shut down. So we wandered. We went through every gift shop, looked for indoor rides, and finally found the Spiderman show/ride that was indoors and still open, so J&A went in that while Oakley and I wandered. By the time they got out, everything was open again so Abbey and I went back on the Jurassic Park ride and then did the Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls ride, another soaker! Well wouldn't you know it, after that ride was done we were on our way to the Popeye & Bluto's Blige-rate Barges, a river rafting ride, when the skies opened up and it POURED. The park was closing in one hour and there was no way we were going to be able to go on any more rides. Awwww.....
So we walked back through the park in the warm rain, picked up the things we wanted to buy and went out of the park back to CityWalk for supper. It was pretty close to 6 pm and we decided on Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville for supper. We were stepping up onto the patio when the rain came down HARD. Made the rain for the last hour look like a sprinkle. It just poured! We were sure happy to be where we were!
We had a nice supper (and a margarita, of course) although Oakley ate two bites and was an absolute holy terror. There was live entertainment, a one-man band who was very talented and a young lady on stilts that made everyone balloon animals (Tammy you should add stilts to your Sweet Pea performances... but maybe not during pregnancy!)
We had another hour to wander before catching our bus - but we were all shopped out and all walked out! So we ended up sitting for a half hour waiting for our bus. Caught our 8:15 bus back and had Oakley in the tub before 9pm!
Tomorrow is our last day. We will be at Magic Kingdom all day (eating to use up our meal plan all day too!) and plan to make the most of it. No more rain the forecast so it will be a hot one again. Might as well get some sun in before we head back to the snow!
We started out with breakfast at our hotel. On this meal plan that we are on, we get 9 snacks, 9 counter service meals and 9 sit down meals at participating Disney hotels. Well since not all our days were at Disney we did book some places that were extra fancy and used two of the meals. As a result, we'll have just enough sit down meals, and probably 4 too many counter service meals! We might be stuffing our faces the next two days trying to use them all up. Not sure why I just can't let things go to waste... seriously! We'll just know for next time to plan out our counter service meals with the same organization that we did for our sit down meals. The food has been incredible. I think next week is back to reality and back to healthy eating!! Nothing like vacation photos to make you realize how much work you have ahead of you!
So - we hit the 9:25 bus and arrived just before 10 am. As I said last time we went to Universal we decided to do the Universal Studios theme park completely on our first day and save Islands of Adventure for the second day. I'm glad we did it that way as there was MUCH more to see and do here today at Islands of Adventure and I think had we done it in the other order we would have felt disappointed with Universal Studios.
So our first stop was the Incredible Hulk roller coaster ride. I think breakfast was not far enough of a memory for me when we hit that ride just after 10 am. Ohhhh my stomach. Abbey's head. We were a dizzy, spinning mess when we got off that ride. It was the biggest and baddest roller coaster we've been on this trip yet. It was massive, and it had a lot of loops and twisted you upside down and all around... and ugg.... no more coasters for me. For today at least. Maybe tomorrow. :)
After that we were off to Seuss Landing! Yes, everything Dr. Seuss you can imagine! It was as bright and colourful and creative as you'd imagine it would be. We did a Cat in the Hat ride, went on a Carousel (Car-o-Seuss-el!), went on the One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish flying fish ride, went through a bunch of play areas, tried to go on a little coaster for kids but Oakley was just too small yet, went to a candy store, book store, everything in Dr. Seuss style! My Mom would be in her glory!
From Seuss Landing we went off to another area of the park called The Lost Continent. We went to a show called "Poseidon's Fury" and it truly reaffirmed that our baby has no fear. It was a bit of a scary show, with lots of darkness, and then shooting fire, and gushing water... and Oakley just sat in my arms and watched.
It was then lunch time so we stopped at this restaurant called Mythos (I think!) that was right outside of the last ride and boasted that it was the #1 theme park restaurant from 2002-2008. So in we went. It was not bad but not great - we could assume why it didn't make it in 2009. Service was friendly but slow, and the food was just ok.
Off we went again down the path. We got to the Mystic Fountain which was right outside of a show at 2 pm we wanted to go see - but no strollers allowed and Oakley was just nicely falling asleep. Anyway this fountain was hilarious. It had a camera in the eye of the face in the fountain, with a speaker and a microphone. The controller guy noticed Oakley and started talking to her, and talking baby talk, asking us where we were from, how old Oakley was, spitting water out of the fountain. Oakley wasn't sure what to make of it - but I thought that guy had the best job at Universal. Sitting in some air-conditioned control room somewhere, freaking people out by talking to them through a fountain and spraying water anywhere he wanted. Yup that would be my job at Universal. :)
Oakley fell asleep shortly after that and so we kept on walking. Right beside the Lost Continent is where the Harry Potter park is going to be. We could see some of the building tops and took some pictures - it's going to be huge and very exciting. We are sad we missed it - it was supposed to be open by the time we got here!!
Off we went to Jurassic Park, and Jason and Abbey went into the Jurassic Park River Adventure Ride, which was a ton of fun and they both got soaking wet. I got video of them flying off the ride at the end into the water! Abbey was going to go again with me while Jason hung out with sleeping Oakley - but a huge cloud rolled in and lightening was spotted so all those rides that involved water and electricity were shut down. So we wandered. We went through every gift shop, looked for indoor rides, and finally found the Spiderman show/ride that was indoors and still open, so J&A went in that while Oakley and I wandered. By the time they got out, everything was open again so Abbey and I went back on the Jurassic Park ride and then did the Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls ride, another soaker! Well wouldn't you know it, after that ride was done we were on our way to the Popeye & Bluto's Blige-rate Barges, a river rafting ride, when the skies opened up and it POURED. The park was closing in one hour and there was no way we were going to be able to go on any more rides. Awwww.....
So we walked back through the park in the warm rain, picked up the things we wanted to buy and went out of the park back to CityWalk for supper. It was pretty close to 6 pm and we decided on Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville for supper. We were stepping up onto the patio when the rain came down HARD. Made the rain for the last hour look like a sprinkle. It just poured! We were sure happy to be where we were!
We had a nice supper (and a margarita, of course) although Oakley ate two bites and was an absolute holy terror. There was live entertainment, a one-man band who was very talented and a young lady on stilts that made everyone balloon animals (Tammy you should add stilts to your Sweet Pea performances... but maybe not during pregnancy!)
We had another hour to wander before catching our bus - but we were all shopped out and all walked out! So we ended up sitting for a half hour waiting for our bus. Caught our 8:15 bus back and had Oakley in the tub before 9pm!
Tomorrow is our last day. We will be at Magic Kingdom all day (eating to use up our meal plan all day too!) and plan to make the most of it. No more rain the forecast so it will be a hot one again. Might as well get some sun in before we head back to the snow!
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