Dave's Den

Disney World Vacation

Last week we vacationed in Orlando, where we had 6 solid days of family fun. The kids both had the week off of school, and our neighbors graciously allowed us to use their timeshare at the beautiful Marriott Cypress Harbor resort about 15 minutes from the parks. We had a 2 bedroom villa, and could shut a door to the kids' area and stay up after putting the kids to bed. We also had a full kitchen, washer/dryer, and a 2 person jacuzzi hot tub in our bedroom. It was also off-season at the parks, and we never had a wait longer than 20 minutes for anything- most waits were 10 minutes or less.

The first day was divided between Disney's Animal Kingdom and Epcot. We started the day at the Animal Kingdom. I'd done some reading on the parks beforehand, and some books suggested you can tour AK in 4-5 hours. No way. It became apparent we weren't going to see everything in our alloted half-day, but we worked-in as much as we could, including the Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids, Festival of the Lion King and Dinosaur. In the afternoon, we drove over to Epcot to meet the Disney princesses for dinner at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. Gina was in heaven as all the princesses dropped by our table to sign autographs and pose for pictures. After dinner, we even managed to squeeze in Soarin' and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Turtle Talk with Crush was a real highlight, with Gina pretty much taking over the show. Zach and I caught Illuminations, but Julie and Gina got lost in the World Showcase and didn't hook up with us until the very end of the show. Gina was very disappointed she missed most of the show, but luckily her distress was short-lived, as there's always something bigger and better around the next corner at WDW. Epcot also provided Zach with his first glimpse of the monorail, which he became infatuated with and would finally ride later in the week. One funny note: Gina was worried that the big ball (Spaceship Earth) was going to fall off its pedestal and roll over us.

Day 2 was devoted to Disney MGM Studios. Highlights here included meeting Minnie Mouse, the Extreme Stunt Show, Gina performing in the High School Musical show, and Fantasmic! We tried taking Zach on the Star Tours ride, but he screamed in horror most of the time. I finally calmed him down midway through, but needless to say, he didn't enjoy that one very much. He was more in his element for the stunt show, as that was all he was talking about leading up to the trip. He was not disappointed, and sat in awe as cars sped, spun and jumped. Afterwards, we even got to meet the drivers. Later, Gina and some other kids danced along with the performers in the High School Musical 2 show. The Fantasmic! show was a real spectacle to end the day.

Day 3 was our "down" day, although we were still fairly busy. We slept-in, then spent most of the day at Disney's Typhoon Lagoon water park. The lazy river ride provided a nice respit from the heat, and Gina and Julie hit a lot of the larger slides. Zach's favorite area was Ketchakiddee Creek, where they have a little tube ride for younger kids that he must have rode 20-30 times. After the day at the park, we asked the concierge at our resort to recommend a good family friendly place for dinner. They suggested Fish Bones and showed us a nice kids' menu that looked perfect for us. When we got there, however, we soon realized it was an expensive, dimly-lit restaurant that definitely was NOT what we were looking for. The food was good, but the atmosphere was definitely not kid-friendly. I suspect that Cypress Harbor is in cahoots with the restaurant, and is probably getting some kickbacks for sending people their way.

Day 4 was spent at the Magic Kingdom. I was shocked at just how short the lines were. We were at the entrance around 8:45am, went straight to Fantasyland, and walked right onto all the rides for the first 90 minutes or so. We had no trouble hitting all the main attractions in a single day. About the only things we didn't have time for were the Liberty Belle riverboat and Tom Sawyer Island. Zach loved the Tomorrowland Indy Speedway, and rode it twice. Gina got to sit up front on the Jungle Cruise, and even got to "steer" the boat for a short time. She was a little unsure about Space Mountain, but ended-up riding a second time after she loved the first trip so much. We had a character dinner at the Crystal Palace with Pooh and friends. Both kids were super-excited to meet the characters, and the food was fantastic. We ended the day by seeing the SpectroMagic parade and the fireworks over Cinderella's castle. Zach was also tickled to ride the monorail to and from the park that day.

On Day 5 we took a Disney break and spent the day at Sea World. The kids really enjoyed Shamu's Happy Harbor, which is a children's play area within the park. Zach, who can be rather hard to please, shouted "That was sweet!" after riding the Shamu Express roller coaster. The manatees, penguins, and Shamu show were also big hits. One thing I could not figure out about Sea World was their weather policy. Parts of Shamu's Happy Harbor were suddenly closed on account of approaching severe weather. The "severe weather" turned out to be a 5 minute sprinkle. You'd think they'd have a better handle on the weather situation, but that was a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things.

Our final day, Day 6, was spent back at the Animal Kingdom. Our original plan was to spend the day at the Magic Kingdom again, but since we'd already seen so much of that park earlier in the week, we decided we'd rather revisit the Animal Kingdom to catch some of the attractions we'd missed on Day 1. We hooked-up with my brother Don and his family (they were also vacationing at WDW) to see the Nemo musical and hang out at The Boneyard for awhile. Afterward, we explored Dinoland and Julie rode Expedition Everest while I hung out with the kids. Back at the resort, we finally had a short time to hang out at the pool before turning in. It was a relaxing, fun way to end the trip.

I have to say that the kids held up remarkably well for the week. I pushed them pretty hard as far as getting up early and packing in as many attractions as possible. Nobody had any major meltdowns, and aside from some minor issues, a great and memorable time was had by all. Gina (6) was at the perfect age where everything is still magical, and she was simply beaming all week, especially when meeting the Disney princesses and other characters. Her energy is boundless, and I think she could have taken at least a couple more weeks of vacation. Zach (4) was a little more reserved, but really came to life during the stunt show at MGM, tubing at Ketchakiddee Creek, meeting the Pooh characters at dinner, and riding the roller coaster at Sea World. He was a little trooper who wanted to stick close to daddy all week.

Here are the links to the photos (I didn't bring my camera to the water park on day 3):

Day 1 (Animal Kingdom and Epcot)
Day 2 (Disney MGM Studios)
Day 4 (Magic Kingdom)
Day 5 (Sea World)
Day 6 (Animal Kingdom)