Upon returning to Mindy's dad's house, Christmas presents were distributed. Among the highlights for the girls - fishing rods and a tackle box; two kiddie laptop computers and a heap of craft supplies. On top of the stuff they bought at Disney, they had quite a good haul for the week.
Saturday was spent hanging out at the house as avoiding crowds, lines and people in general was a priority after the past week. We watched a few movies with the kids and a number of episodes of "Cash Cab", easily the best game show on TV. For those not familiar, it is set in a New York taxi and passengers/contestants get to answer questions for money on the way to their destination. Sounds simple and it is, but the host is funny and upbeat and the people often end up being fun as well. So we will certianly keep our eyes open for the cab when next in New York.
Dinner was had at Sonny's BBQ, another of our regular stops when visiting here. The family feast consisting of beef; pork; chicken; ribs; bread; 3 sides and 4 drinks for $36 was seen as being good value. This was made even better when we were told that the option to make this "all-you-can-eat" for another $6 was still available (I remember this from a previous visit). A little concerning was the news from our waitress that we were not going to get any beef as "the beef was nasty and had to be thrown out". Hopefully the pork/ribs/chicken were OK as we ate enough to be quite miserable tomorrow if there is some sort of problem. So far, so good!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Vacation Day 10 - Hollywood Studios
The 4th and final park of our trip was Disney's Hollywood Studios. This park was always likely to be a quick visit for us - there were a couple of rides we wanted to hit and a few shows for the girls, so we decided to plan to get there for the 7:00am Magic Hour and try to be done by lunch time.
We awoke at our usual time - 5:45am, so easily made it out of the hotel and to the park for the 7:00 opening. I went straight to the Aerosmith Rock 'N' Roller Coaster and grabeed some FastPass tickets, then immediately went on the Tower of Terror ride (Mindy was not interested in this on, so took some more time walking with the kids). The Tower of Terror's back story is that you are on an elevator in an old-timey hotel, when you suffer a sudden drop. The atmosphere and suspense are quite well developed and the drops are well done. Apparently there is a randomizing element programmed in so no two rides are exactly the same. It is certainly a highly recommended attraction for the park.
Next, Mindy and Naomi went on the Aerosmith coaster. I had ridden it before when on a work trip to Orlando and figured it would not be too scary for Naomi. Fortunately I was right - she loved it, especially the fact that you went upside down 3 times. It was her first "grown up" coaster and I think whe will be back for more! I then took her on the ride...and then we both took her again - so she rode it 4 times in about 40 minutes!
Next stop was the courtyard for a Playhouse Disney show. Fiona especially loved this and was singing and dancing throughout. At the end, she spent her time performing one of her favorite activities - cleaning up! Paper leaves were dropped from the ceiling during the show, and she loved collecting them and trying to straighten the place out. Takes after her Nan in that way.
One more show after this - Beauty and the Beast on stage. Again, both girls enjoyed this. We then decided to call it a day - we were tired and I think the girls had had enough also. So, following one more stop at a giftshop, we left and drove the 3 hours back to Jacksonville.
Overall, I was quite impressed with Disney. They certainly have perfected the art of getting you to part with your money quite happily. The whole operation of staff; transportation; FastPass; Magic Hours; Photo Pass etc is amazingly well coordinated and you feel like you are being well taken care of while you are there. I cannot see us going back anytime soon - there is really not much else to do there with kids around this age - but we all thoroughly enjoyed our stay and were glad that we did it with the girls being as old as they are.
Now time to take a vacation from our vacation and relax before 2009.
We awoke at our usual time - 5:45am, so easily made it out of the hotel and to the park for the 7:00 opening. I went straight to the Aerosmith Rock 'N' Roller Coaster and grabeed some FastPass tickets, then immediately went on the Tower of Terror ride (Mindy was not interested in this on, so took some more time walking with the kids). The Tower of Terror's back story is that you are on an elevator in an old-timey hotel, when you suffer a sudden drop. The atmosphere and suspense are quite well developed and the drops are well done. Apparently there is a randomizing element programmed in so no two rides are exactly the same. It is certainly a highly recommended attraction for the park.
Next, Mindy and Naomi went on the Aerosmith coaster. I had ridden it before when on a work trip to Orlando and figured it would not be too scary for Naomi. Fortunately I was right - she loved it, especially the fact that you went upside down 3 times. It was her first "grown up" coaster and I think whe will be back for more! I then took her on the ride...and then we both took her again - so she rode it 4 times in about 40 minutes!
Next stop was the courtyard for a Playhouse Disney show. Fiona especially loved this and was singing and dancing throughout. At the end, she spent her time performing one of her favorite activities - cleaning up! Paper leaves were dropped from the ceiling during the show, and she loved collecting them and trying to straighten the place out. Takes after her Nan in that way.
One more show after this - Beauty and the Beast on stage. Again, both girls enjoyed this. We then decided to call it a day - we were tired and I think the girls had had enough also. So, following one more stop at a giftshop, we left and drove the 3 hours back to Jacksonville.
Overall, I was quite impressed with Disney. They certainly have perfected the art of getting you to part with your money quite happily. The whole operation of staff; transportation; FastPass; Magic Hours; Photo Pass etc is amazingly well coordinated and you feel like you are being well taken care of while you are there. I cannot see us going back anytime soon - there is really not much else to do there with kids around this age - but we all thoroughly enjoyed our stay and were glad that we did it with the girls being as old as they are.
Now time to take a vacation from our vacation and relax before 2009.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Vacation Day 9 - Animal Kingdom
Considering there were Magic Hours beginning at 7:00am, we did all we could to get to the park ASAP. Considering the big day yesterday, we did pretty well arriving at 7:45. Then, we found that I had misread the sheet and there were not any Magic Hours...so we were actually 15 minutes early for the park opening!
We were told that this park was not one that would take all day to cover but when we looked at the map in closer detail, there were actually a few things we wanted to do. First stop was Asia where I grabbed our FastPass tickets to Expedition Everest, considered one of best, if not the best attraction in all of Disney. Then we went to DinoLand where there were a few kid friendly rides. Naomi really enjoyed the Primeval Whirl coaster there, a spinning coaster that was perfectly suited to her age and tastes - nothing in the dark and nothing too scary. She rode it with both of us. Fiona liked the TriceraTop Spin, another version of the Dumbo/Aladdin rides, just with dinosaurs.
We then rode Everest...and it lived up to all of the hype. Forward drops, backward drops, twists, turns and a few surprises that I had not experienced on a coaster before certainly make this ride a "must do" attraction. We were hoping Naomi might ride it but there were too many indoor scary things for her right now. Following this, we took our first ride on the Safari. This was OK, the kids liked seeing the animals and it was another attraction suited to Fiona's taste.
After this, the grandparents arrived and we all went to the Lion King show. This was great and the kids really enjoyed it - costumes, singing, dancing and acrobatics were all excellent. Mindy's dad got pulled out of the crowd to help with the pre-show hype and he showed us all what a great elephant impression he could do. We then rode the Safari again and had the "pleasure" of sharing our row with a family that had not seen a bar of soap in a while. To give you an idea of how bad we are talking here - the rhino stink was like a rose in comparison. I am not going to say the nationality of the family involved...however, we are not sure when we will be able to eat Indian food again.
Just the kind of thing to get you in the mood for lunch! After eating, Mindy and I went on the Dinosaur ride - a dark, bumpy ride with dinosaurs trying to "get you". I commented to Mindy that if you were trying to make the absolute worst ride for scaring the pants of naomi, this would have been that ride. Naomi wanted to got on the We then hit Everest one more time before attending Finding Nemo - The Musical. The kids and I quite liked this, however the others were not so impressed. Perhaps I am easy to please.
And this was all we felt like doing. We were out of the park by about 5:30, and the kids were completely wiped. They both crashed in the room and I think are ready to go back home. Only one more day here now, and we plan to start early while they are still fresh. If things go to plan, we should be on the way back to Jacksonville by early afternoon.
We were told that this park was not one that would take all day to cover but when we looked at the map in closer detail, there were actually a few things we wanted to do. First stop was Asia where I grabbed our FastPass tickets to Expedition Everest, considered one of best, if not the best attraction in all of Disney. Then we went to DinoLand where there were a few kid friendly rides. Naomi really enjoyed the Primeval Whirl coaster there, a spinning coaster that was perfectly suited to her age and tastes - nothing in the dark and nothing too scary. She rode it with both of us. Fiona liked the TriceraTop Spin, another version of the Dumbo/Aladdin rides, just with dinosaurs.
We then rode Everest...and it lived up to all of the hype. Forward drops, backward drops, twists, turns and a few surprises that I had not experienced on a coaster before certainly make this ride a "must do" attraction. We were hoping Naomi might ride it but there were too many indoor scary things for her right now. Following this, we took our first ride on the Safari. This was OK, the kids liked seeing the animals and it was another attraction suited to Fiona's taste.
After this, the grandparents arrived and we all went to the Lion King show. This was great and the kids really enjoyed it - costumes, singing, dancing and acrobatics were all excellent. Mindy's dad got pulled out of the crowd to help with the pre-show hype and he showed us all what a great elephant impression he could do. We then rode the Safari again and had the "pleasure" of sharing our row with a family that had not seen a bar of soap in a while. To give you an idea of how bad we are talking here - the rhino stink was like a rose in comparison. I am not going to say the nationality of the family involved...however, we are not sure when we will be able to eat Indian food again.
Just the kind of thing to get you in the mood for lunch! After eating, Mindy and I went on the Dinosaur ride - a dark, bumpy ride with dinosaurs trying to "get you". I commented to Mindy that if you were trying to make the absolute worst ride for scaring the pants of naomi, this would have been that ride. Naomi wanted to got on the We then hit Everest one more time before attending Finding Nemo - The Musical. The kids and I quite liked this, however the others were not so impressed. Perhaps I am easy to please.
And this was all we felt like doing. We were out of the park by about 5:30, and the kids were completely wiped. They both crashed in the room and I think are ready to go back home. Only one more day here now, and we plan to start early while they are still fresh. If things go to plan, we should be on the way back to Jacksonville by early afternoon.
Vacation Day 8 - One More Thing
One more thing I forgot. After getting off the Splash Mountain Ride, some Disney employees told us that we were winners in the "Year of a Million Dreams" giveaway and presented the four of us with a set of Mickey Mouse ears! Certainly nothing mind blowing, but it is always nice to get something for free...and they will make a nice keepsake, especially for the girls.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Vacation Day 8 - Magic Kingdom Again
Today we hit Magic Kingdom for the 2nd time. Our plan was simple - get there early and get on all of the rides we enjoyed from the first day...and make sure we rode the few that we missed. To do this, we took thorough advantage of the two best Disney features - Extra Magic Hours and FastPass.
Extra Magic Hours are additional park hours open to people staying in Disney hotels. On this day, Magic Kingdom was open an hour early for this reason, so we were there waiting for the 8:00am start. FastPass is a great ticketing system where you can book a slot at a pre-appointed time for a ride and then come back later for little or no wait. Our tactic was going to involve me going straight to Splash Mountain to get a FastPass for the family...while Mindy would follow with the kids to Thunder Mountain (right next door). We would then ride this without the use of a FastPass before the lines formed. All was going well until I hit the rope barricade indicating that Frontierland (the section of the park with these attractions) would not open until 9:00. Denied! So our options were limited to Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Plan B was hatched - we grabbed some rides on the stuff the kids liked there - Mad Tea Party; Dumbo; Winnie the Pooh and the Indy Speedway.
We were then right there for the rope drop for Frontierland at 9:00 and managed to enact our earlier plan - FastPass for Spash Mountain then 3 trips on Thunder Mountain - once with the whole family and then Mindy and I switching off with Naomi. This coaster is a lot of fun and about as intense as the girls could handle I think. I really enjoyed Splash Mountain. The log ride part was good and unlike a lot of similar rides, you had something to look at while passing through. The entertainment was the Song of the South characters and music which kept you occupied until the final drop, always the highlight of these rides. By 10:00, we had ridden pretty much everything we wanted to do for the day, so the early start was a huge bonus.
After this, another trip across the park to Toontown for some more character meetings. We waited in line for a while to see another couple of fairies, the kids were quite excited at this. While Mindy was waiting in line, I raced out and grabbed 4 FastPass tickets to Space Mountain, thinking that we could each go on it with Naomi as she met the height requirements. After the fairies, Snow White was signing as well so we lined up for this. This is where Mindy and I had to yell at some people to keep them in line. There was a family with a kid who had some special pass allowing them immediate access to the fairies we had just waited an hour to see. All of this was OK...however, when they also wanted to cut in line to see Snow White (despite being told by the staff that they could not do this), we had to say something. When Fiona was getting her picture taken, they sent their child up to see Snow White, before going in. Seriously - Fiona was right there posing and their kid was tugging on Snow White's dress. This made Mindy and I quite mad at them (not at the child...we knew it was not her fault...but the parents should know better). I shouted something a tthe dad like "How about you get in the line and wait your turn". Mindy said something similar. This on the back of telling a "line cutter" at Epcot to go away and we are showing the results of living in New Jersey for a few years I think!
After lunch we were going to go to Space Mountain. When Naomi found out it was indoors and dark, she was scared...but then when she found out you rode alone, she bailed on the process. So Mindy and I rode solo, trading off with the kids. I was SO glad Naomi did not ride it - she would have been terrified on that thing...but WHAT a cool coaster. The darkness adds to the effect and there are quite a few nice drops and turns. We both rode it twice - why waste the 4 FastPass tickets? Certainly my highlight from the park and a real must-do attraction.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in Fantasyland and Toontown. I called my family for Christmas and had a nice chat. Mindy was watching the kids and I think was ready for a break after the call. Soon after this, Mindy's dad and Terry arrived which, combined with the cooler temps, gave the kids a 2nd wind. We went on a few more rides and finished up with the fireworks at 9:00. It was a great show and worth the wait...but then the crowds getting out were ridiculous. Even more ridiculous was the fist fight that broke out not too far from where we were - two grown adults - WOMEN, nonetheless, grappling with each other, headlocks, flailing arms and lots of shouting. I wish I saw what caused it! Of cours, this only added to the difficulty in moving. It took forever to get back - fortunately the kids fell asleep in the stroller (thanks again Holly and Gary!).
Not much more we could do at Magic Kingdom. We certainly got our money's worth there. Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom - Magic Hours start at 7:00am - we will see how well we do then!
Extra Magic Hours are additional park hours open to people staying in Disney hotels. On this day, Magic Kingdom was open an hour early for this reason, so we were there waiting for the 8:00am start. FastPass is a great ticketing system where you can book a slot at a pre-appointed time for a ride and then come back later for little or no wait. Our tactic was going to involve me going straight to Splash Mountain to get a FastPass for the family...while Mindy would follow with the kids to Thunder Mountain (right next door). We would then ride this without the use of a FastPass before the lines formed. All was going well until I hit the rope barricade indicating that Frontierland (the section of the park with these attractions) would not open until 9:00. Denied! So our options were limited to Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Plan B was hatched - we grabbed some rides on the stuff the kids liked there - Mad Tea Party; Dumbo; Winnie the Pooh and the Indy Speedway.
We were then right there for the rope drop for Frontierland at 9:00 and managed to enact our earlier plan - FastPass for Spash Mountain then 3 trips on Thunder Mountain - once with the whole family and then Mindy and I switching off with Naomi. This coaster is a lot of fun and about as intense as the girls could handle I think. I really enjoyed Splash Mountain. The log ride part was good and unlike a lot of similar rides, you had something to look at while passing through. The entertainment was the Song of the South characters and music which kept you occupied until the final drop, always the highlight of these rides. By 10:00, we had ridden pretty much everything we wanted to do for the day, so the early start was a huge bonus.
After this, another trip across the park to Toontown for some more character meetings. We waited in line for a while to see another couple of fairies, the kids were quite excited at this. While Mindy was waiting in line, I raced out and grabbed 4 FastPass tickets to Space Mountain, thinking that we could each go on it with Naomi as she met the height requirements. After the fairies, Snow White was signing as well so we lined up for this. This is where Mindy and I had to yell at some people to keep them in line. There was a family with a kid who had some special pass allowing them immediate access to the fairies we had just waited an hour to see. All of this was OK...however, when they also wanted to cut in line to see Snow White (despite being told by the staff that they could not do this), we had to say something. When Fiona was getting her picture taken, they sent their child up to see Snow White, before going in. Seriously - Fiona was right there posing and their kid was tugging on Snow White's dress. This made Mindy and I quite mad at them (not at the child...we knew it was not her fault...but the parents should know better). I shouted something a tthe dad like "How about you get in the line and wait your turn". Mindy said something similar. This on the back of telling a "line cutter" at Epcot to go away and we are showing the results of living in New Jersey for a few years I think!
After lunch we were going to go to Space Mountain. When Naomi found out it was indoors and dark, she was scared...but then when she found out you rode alone, she bailed on the process. So Mindy and I rode solo, trading off with the kids. I was SO glad Naomi did not ride it - she would have been terrified on that thing...but WHAT a cool coaster. The darkness adds to the effect and there are quite a few nice drops and turns. We both rode it twice - why waste the 4 FastPass tickets? Certainly my highlight from the park and a real must-do attraction.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in Fantasyland and Toontown. I called my family for Christmas and had a nice chat. Mindy was watching the kids and I think was ready for a break after the call. Soon after this, Mindy's dad and Terry arrived which, combined with the cooler temps, gave the kids a 2nd wind. We went on a few more rides and finished up with the fireworks at 9:00. It was a great show and worth the wait...but then the crowds getting out were ridiculous. Even more ridiculous was the fist fight that broke out not too far from where we were - two grown adults - WOMEN, nonetheless, grappling with each other, headlocks, flailing arms and lots of shouting. I wish I saw what caused it! Of cours, this only added to the difficulty in moving. It took forever to get back - fortunately the kids fell asleep in the stroller (thanks again Holly and Gary!).
Not much more we could do at Magic Kingdom. We certainly got our money's worth there. Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom - Magic Hours start at 7:00am - we will see how well we do then!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Vacation Day 7 - Epcot
Today started with a little bonus in our hotel. When we booked at Pop Century, we expected it to be the bare minimum but this was not the case!!! This morning we found a couple of extra bonus features of our room that we were not previously aware of. When Mindy closed the door of the bathroom for her shower, she noticed that there were two towels hanging on the back of the door...from the previous guest! Now there was a card about them not washing towels if you leave them hanging up, so I guess our housekeeper is particularly environmental...or perhaps just lazy. We decided to complain, hoping they might offer us a free dinner or something but the lady at the front desk was too polite for us to get really angry at her and so we left with an assurance that our room would be thoroughly cleaned during the day.
After this, we headed off to Epcot for the day. The slogan for the park should be "At least we have Soarin'!". Seriously, this was the only ride that was any good that we went on. To be fair, there were a couple that our kids were too small for...and the Test Track might have been fun but the Fast Passes were all gone before we got there, however, this was BY FAR, the least interesting "fun" park we have ever attended. It is small which makes it too crowded. there is really just a whole heap of lame rides and attractions to attend - I mean, the cruise through the hydroponics farm might have been interesing in the context of a museum visit...but as a Disney attraction?? The only that was good was "Soarin' ". This was a ride where you felt like you were flying, complete with winds and smells as well (apparently when we flew over the orange orchard I was assured by Mindy that there was an orange smell piped in...however I completely missed this). It was a truly fantastic ride, however due to the lack of anything else of note existing in the park, the Fast Passes on this ran out quite quickly as well so we only got to ride it once.
There was also a Nemo ride which was pretty much appropriate for absolutely nobody. Older kids/adults would surely have found it kind of bland...and then they threw in a moment with an anglerfish that would have scared younger visitors. What attractions there were were all crammed into Future World...the rest of the park is the World Showcase, a series of themed areas about the countries of the world. This pretty much amounted to being a sequence of overpriced shopping and dining areas. We decided we to leave about 1:30 and go and get some reasonably priced food for lunch and found an Indian restaurant. After this, we spent some time in a souvenir store letting the girls pick out some stuff and have some fun playing with the toys in the store.
Overall, we knew that this would be a quiet day at the park...I just had no idea about exactly how quiet! The girls got to sleep early and we hope that they are ready for another day at Magic Kingdom tomorrow! The weather was also quite nice today - Monday was quite chilly - and it should be quite warm for the rest of the week.
After this, we headed off to Epcot for the day. The slogan for the park should be "At least we have Soarin'!". Seriously, this was the only ride that was any good that we went on. To be fair, there were a couple that our kids were too small for...and the Test Track might have been fun but the Fast Passes were all gone before we got there, however, this was BY FAR, the least interesting "fun" park we have ever attended. It is small which makes it too crowded. there is really just a whole heap of lame rides and attractions to attend - I mean, the cruise through the hydroponics farm might have been interesing in the context of a museum visit...but as a Disney attraction?? The only that was good was "Soarin' ". This was a ride where you felt like you were flying, complete with winds and smells as well (apparently when we flew over the orange orchard I was assured by Mindy that there was an orange smell piped in...however I completely missed this). It was a truly fantastic ride, however due to the lack of anything else of note existing in the park, the Fast Passes on this ran out quite quickly as well so we only got to ride it once.
There was also a Nemo ride which was pretty much appropriate for absolutely nobody. Older kids/adults would surely have found it kind of bland...and then they threw in a moment with an anglerfish that would have scared younger visitors. What attractions there were were all crammed into Future World...the rest of the park is the World Showcase, a series of themed areas about the countries of the world. This pretty much amounted to being a sequence of overpriced shopping and dining areas. We decided we to leave about 1:30 and go and get some reasonably priced food for lunch and found an Indian restaurant. After this, we spent some time in a souvenir store letting the girls pick out some stuff and have some fun playing with the toys in the store.
Overall, we knew that this would be a quiet day at the park...I just had no idea about exactly how quiet! The girls got to sleep early and we hope that they are ready for another day at Magic Kingdom tomorrow! The weather was also quite nice today - Monday was quite chilly - and it should be quite warm for the rest of the week.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Vacation Days 5, 6 - Magic Kingdon
Sunday was another quiet day in Jacksonville, getting ready for our trip to Orlando. We left about 8:00pm for the 3 hour drive. Our first night was spent offsite about 30 minutes from Disney. Fortunately, the kids slept well in the car as we had a big day planned for Monday.
First stop on the agenda was our hotel to get our park tickets. Our hotel was the Pop Century Resort, one of Disney's budget category of hotels. The theme of the hotel is that it is divided up into decades with the pop culture elements that define those decades prominently displayed. We actually saw this hotel on a travel show about Disney and thought that the cheesy style might appeal to the girls. Also, we assumed that being a Disney property, it would certainly be clean and well maintained. So far, we are quite happy with the choice. The decor is in the retro style you would expect and it will certainly provide us with a place to crash after long days at the parks. We are in the 80's section so we have nice views of several large Rubik's Cubes, a Roger Rabbit statue and a large computer keyboard.
Next stop was our first park of the week - Magic Kingdom. This was the park with the most things of interest for the girls and the one park we plan to hit more than once. We were quite excited when we pulled into the parking lot, only to see that our stroller would not fit on the shuttle trolley taking people to the park. No problem - it was just a 5 minute walk we were told and then we would be there, So we get the the end of the parking area, ready to enter the park and then find that we need to take either a ferry or monorail to the actual park. A 10 minute ferry ride later and we were indeed at Magic Kingdom, although Mindy and I were feeling a little like Steve Martin in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" at this point.
First stop in the park was Fantasyland. First stop in Fantasyland was to go to Ariel's Grotto to meet her. The girls really enjoyed this although Naomi was a little shy. Following this, we hit the other attractions there that we thought the kids would like - Dumbo the Flying Elephant; Mickey's PhilharMagic (a 3-D movie that took you into various of Disney's fantasy worlds); Peter Pan's Flight (an indoor flight over scenes from Peter Pan); Cinderella's Golden Carrousel; It's A Small World (quite long but the kids really enjoyed this one); The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and finally the Mad Tea Party (the kids loved spinning around in the tea cups here). Overall, we thought that the PhilharMagic show was a highlight here, the kids also really enjoyed It's A Small World and the Mad Tea Party...and of course, meeting Ariel.
We then simply proceeded around the part - Buzz Lightyear was a good ride but a little old for the girls. Naomi was pretty much terrified throughout this one. They loved the Indy Speedway as well. In Toontown there was a roller coaster - "The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm". This was suited to young kids and a good way to get them back into coasters. We then stepped up a bit and hit the "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad" coaster. This was the best ride of the day for all concerned. Nothing too crazy but for the kids it was quite exciting. Fiona only just met the height restriction, so we were lucky we did not come 6 months ago. We then went down to Adventureland where we rode Aladdin's Carpet, walked through the Swiss Family Treehouse and went on a Jungle Cruise.
Adventureland also brought us one of the surprises of the day. Walking around we saw Aladdin and Jasmine posing for photos. Along with Ariel, she was probably the princess that the girls most wanted to see. It was great to see all of the kids and their parents enjoying the moment when we saw something kind of strange. An Indian couple, probably in their 20's was in the line to meet them. Mindy and I were stunned...I mean, I could understand meeting a rock star, movie star or sports hero...but a couple of actors dressed up as Disney characters??? Also, it was more than that - not only did they pose for several photos but they then were taking more shots of other kids with the characters as well. It was really quite strange. I wanted to ask them about it but Mindy would not let me.
We finished up the night lining up to meet some more princesses/fairies. Autographs and pictures were obtained from Cinderella, Belle, Tinkerbell and Silvermist. This took the girls through until about 8:30. We really wanted to wait until the fireworks at 9:00 but the kids had just had enough by then. So a quick walk, ferry ride, walk and drive later and we were back. The kids crashed quickly and we were not far behind them. Epcot tomorrow!
First stop on the agenda was our hotel to get our park tickets. Our hotel was the Pop Century Resort, one of Disney's budget category of hotels. The theme of the hotel is that it is divided up into decades with the pop culture elements that define those decades prominently displayed. We actually saw this hotel on a travel show about Disney and thought that the cheesy style might appeal to the girls. Also, we assumed that being a Disney property, it would certainly be clean and well maintained. So far, we are quite happy with the choice. The decor is in the retro style you would expect and it will certainly provide us with a place to crash after long days at the parks. We are in the 80's section so we have nice views of several large Rubik's Cubes, a Roger Rabbit statue and a large computer keyboard.
Next stop was our first park of the week - Magic Kingdom. This was the park with the most things of interest for the girls and the one park we plan to hit more than once. We were quite excited when we pulled into the parking lot, only to see that our stroller would not fit on the shuttle trolley taking people to the park. No problem - it was just a 5 minute walk we were told and then we would be there, So we get the the end of the parking area, ready to enter the park and then find that we need to take either a ferry or monorail to the actual park. A 10 minute ferry ride later and we were indeed at Magic Kingdom, although Mindy and I were feeling a little like Steve Martin in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" at this point.
First stop in the park was Fantasyland. First stop in Fantasyland was to go to Ariel's Grotto to meet her. The girls really enjoyed this although Naomi was a little shy. Following this, we hit the other attractions there that we thought the kids would like - Dumbo the Flying Elephant; Mickey's PhilharMagic (a 3-D movie that took you into various of Disney's fantasy worlds); Peter Pan's Flight (an indoor flight over scenes from Peter Pan); Cinderella's Golden Carrousel; It's A Small World (quite long but the kids really enjoyed this one); The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and finally the Mad Tea Party (the kids loved spinning around in the tea cups here). Overall, we thought that the PhilharMagic show was a highlight here, the kids also really enjoyed It's A Small World and the Mad Tea Party...and of course, meeting Ariel.
We then simply proceeded around the part - Buzz Lightyear was a good ride but a little old for the girls. Naomi was pretty much terrified throughout this one. They loved the Indy Speedway as well. In Toontown there was a roller coaster - "The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm". This was suited to young kids and a good way to get them back into coasters. We then stepped up a bit and hit the "Big Thunder Mountain Railroad" coaster. This was the best ride of the day for all concerned. Nothing too crazy but for the kids it was quite exciting. Fiona only just met the height restriction, so we were lucky we did not come 6 months ago. We then went down to Adventureland where we rode Aladdin's Carpet, walked through the Swiss Family Treehouse and went on a Jungle Cruise.
Adventureland also brought us one of the surprises of the day. Walking around we saw Aladdin and Jasmine posing for photos. Along with Ariel, she was probably the princess that the girls most wanted to see. It was great to see all of the kids and their parents enjoying the moment when we saw something kind of strange. An Indian couple, probably in their 20's was in the line to meet them. Mindy and I were stunned...I mean, I could understand meeting a rock star, movie star or sports hero...but a couple of actors dressed up as Disney characters??? Also, it was more than that - not only did they pose for several photos but they then were taking more shots of other kids with the characters as well. It was really quite strange. I wanted to ask them about it but Mindy would not let me.
We finished up the night lining up to meet some more princesses/fairies. Autographs and pictures were obtained from Cinderella, Belle, Tinkerbell and Silvermist. This took the girls through until about 8:30. We really wanted to wait until the fireworks at 9:00 but the kids had just had enough by then. So a quick walk, ferry ride, walk and drive later and we were back. The kids crashed quickly and we were not far behind them. Epcot tomorrow!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Vacation Day 4 - Jacksonville, Florida
Today was a very welcome relaxing day. The main activity was a family fishing outing to the creek behind the house. The girls all had fun and were both successful on the day. The fish that were caught were way too small to keep...and we did not intend to keep any in any case, but they got a great thrill when reeling them in.
In keeping with the fish theme, dinner was had at Gene's Seafood - one of our favorite local places here in Jacksonville. We filled up and then spent the evening relaxing on the couch watching Cash Cab and Antiques Roadshow initially, then the first two episodes in a mini series on Saddam Hussein. The story so far...Saddam was a prick who killed anyone who did not like him and a lot of people who did! No stunning revelations yet but some of the moves he made to gain and hold onto power were interesting to watch. All of this is assuming there is a reasonble basis in fact for the show but I will give HBO the benefit of the doubt here.
Now I am suffering through the cricket. I kind of feel like we are destined to lose but I have seen us pull games out from worse positions than this. However, a few key players have retired since then...
In keeping with the fish theme, dinner was had at Gene's Seafood - one of our favorite local places here in Jacksonville. We filled up and then spent the evening relaxing on the couch watching Cash Cab and Antiques Roadshow initially, then the first two episodes in a mini series on Saddam Hussein. The story so far...Saddam was a prick who killed anyone who did not like him and a lot of people who did! No stunning revelations yet but some of the moves he made to gain and hold onto power were interesting to watch. All of this is assuming there is a reasonble basis in fact for the show but I will give HBO the benefit of the doubt here.
Now I am suffering through the cricket. I kind of feel like we are destined to lose but I have seen us pull games out from worse positions than this. However, a few key players have retired since then...
Friday, December 19, 2008
Vacation Day 3 - Jacksonville, Florida
Today we knocked off the rest of our drive in about 6 hours. So far, we have logged over 1000 miles and should end up over 2000 by the completion of our trip. The evening was spent with Mindy's family and it was nice to not have to think about more driving tomorrow! We are enjoying the warm weather - we went from snow in NJ to T-shirt weather here in Florida.
The cricket is still going OK. It would have been nice to see one of the top order get a century and put the game beyond doubt, however as long as we bowl well we should have enough runs. Haddin has certainly shown he belongs in the test side right now.
The cricket is still going OK. It would have been nice to see one of the top order get a century and put the game beyond doubt, however as long as we bowl well we should have enough runs. Haddin has certainly shown he belongs in the test side right now.
Vacation Day 2.5 - AC/DC
Once again, a brilliant show! I met my friend Errol outside of the arena and we took our seats. This time, I was quite high up and over the side of the stage, so in a strange way, we still felt relatively close to the action, as it was all happening directly underneath us. And as you would expect, hearing the band was not an issue!
The show was a carbon copy of the other two shows I saw this tour but was still fresh and intense. The best thing about AC/DC is they deliver every song like the audience is hearing it for the first time. Plenty of fist pumping; pointing; flipping the "devils horns"; screaming; singing and chanting made for a great evening.
Now I guess I am done with them for this time around. Three shows in three months was a great mix - and all 3 shows had their good points. The crowd this time was the most intense of all of the shows, with people still screaming as we were walking out of the arena. Hopefully they swing back through the USA after they tear up the rest of the world, as they have done on their last two tours. You have to think that this will be their last tour, considering Brian is now 61...but I am still holding out hope that they find a way to continue for a few years yet.
The show was a carbon copy of the other two shows I saw this tour but was still fresh and intense. The best thing about AC/DC is they deliver every song like the audience is hearing it for the first time. Plenty of fist pumping; pointing; flipping the "devils horns"; screaming; singing and chanting made for a great evening.
Now I guess I am done with them for this time around. Three shows in three months was a great mix - and all 3 shows had their good points. The crowd this time was the most intense of all of the shows, with people still screaming as we were walking out of the arena. Hopefully they swing back through the USA after they tear up the rest of the world, as they have done on their last two tours. You have to think that this will be their last tour, considering Brian is now 61...but I am still holding out hope that they find a way to continue for a few years yet.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Vacation Day 2 - Charlotte, North Carolina
Today was pretty much spent driving. Of course, as we have both lost the ability to sleep in at all, we woke at the crack of dawn and were on the road by 8:30. Lunch was a nice surprise. We asked our navigation system for some restaurants close to where we were driving and chose a Mexican place just off the Interstate. we were a little nervous getting Mexican food in the mountains of Virginia, however the place looked nice so we took a chance. The food was excellent - all 4 of us enjoyed it, which is quite a rare event. One thing that really stood out was that the place had a smoking section. Smoking in restaurants in NJ has been banned for quite a while and I guess you get used to that. Places like Virginia and North Carolina will probably be among the last to ban smoking (if they do it at all).
The drive was quite uneventful, although we did notice some evidence of being further south than we are used to...a lot of crosses on the side of the road and prominently displayed on car bumpers. Not that Virginia is in the bible belt as such...but we are certainly a lot closer to it than in New Jersey.
Arriving at the hotel, we checked out the pool. It was OK but WAY too cold. We spent most of the time in the hot tub next to the pool so all was not lost. Naomi was the only one brave enough to swim in the cold water.
I was also happy to find a live internet feed of the cricket test. I am missing the first two tests on this trip so hopefully I get the chance to catch at least some of it over the next couple of weeks. Johnson has put us into a great position - if we can knock over the last two wickets quickly then bat for a day and a half, we should be able to press for a win on the 5th day.
Finally, tonight is the AC/DC concert, so clearly I am looking forward to that. Full report on this tomorrow!
The drive was quite uneventful, although we did notice some evidence of being further south than we are used to...a lot of crosses on the side of the road and prominently displayed on car bumpers. Not that Virginia is in the bible belt as such...but we are certainly a lot closer to it than in New Jersey.
Arriving at the hotel, we checked out the pool. It was OK but WAY too cold. We spent most of the time in the hot tub next to the pool so all was not lost. Naomi was the only one brave enough to swim in the cold water.
I was also happy to find a live internet feed of the cricket test. I am missing the first two tests on this trip so hopefully I get the chance to catch at least some of it over the next couple of weeks. Johnson has put us into a great position - if we can knock over the last two wickets quickly then bat for a day and a half, we should be able to press for a win on the 5th day.
Finally, tonight is the AC/DC concert, so clearly I am looking forward to that. Full report on this tomorrow!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Vacation Day 1 - Strasburg, Virginia
Today was my last day of work for 2008! In fact, I received a nice bonus this morning when Naomi's school was closed due to the snow, which meant that I had no reason to drive into work and so spent the morning at home on a conference call to plan January's activities. As a result, we were able to get away a little earlier than planned for our first driving leg.
The destination was Strasburg, Virginia, a small place in the northwest corner of the state, on the way to our real first stop of Charlotte, North Carolina. The kids were quite excited about the hotel pool which I was talking up for the whole 5 hour drive. So when we got there and found that the pool was being renovated, it was quite disappointing. However, they took it quite well and are now happily playing with their modeling clay. There is virtually nobody else staying here from what we can tell. There are no cars outside and the place is completely silent. I guess we should not be surprised considering how far from civilization we actually are. Tonight we plan to watch some Babylon 5 movies and enjoy the quiet hotel, really living it up!
I am sure I mentioned it to her before but I think it just dawned on Mindy that going via Charlotte for me to see AC/DC tomorrow night is adding another two hours of driving to our trip. Hopefully the kids continue to travel well and the pool is in operation at our next stop or I might cop some grief about this later on. If things don't go well, I think I will still be OK - I will be at the show tomorrow night and should be pretty much deaf all day on Friday - a nice defence against a possible ear bashing! :-)
The destination was Strasburg, Virginia, a small place in the northwest corner of the state, on the way to our real first stop of Charlotte, North Carolina. The kids were quite excited about the hotel pool which I was talking up for the whole 5 hour drive. So when we got there and found that the pool was being renovated, it was quite disappointing. However, they took it quite well and are now happily playing with their modeling clay. There is virtually nobody else staying here from what we can tell. There are no cars outside and the place is completely silent. I guess we should not be surprised considering how far from civilization we actually are. Tonight we plan to watch some Babylon 5 movies and enjoy the quiet hotel, really living it up!
I am sure I mentioned it to her before but I think it just dawned on Mindy that going via Charlotte for me to see AC/DC tomorrow night is adding another two hours of driving to our trip. Hopefully the kids continue to travel well and the pool is in operation at our next stop or I might cop some grief about this later on. If things don't go well, I think I will still be OK - I will be at the show tomorrow night and should be pretty much deaf all day on Friday - a nice defence against a possible ear bashing! :-)
Monday, December 15, 2008
Certified!!
On Friday I attended a certification exam, required at some point by mid 2009. I was not that hopefuly that I would pass as I have not been working as closely with the software as I would like over the past 6 months and also, there are some aspects of the exam that I had not touched. I spent a couple of nights skimming the manuals but really saw this as a fact finding mission - to hopefully find out what I needed to study for next time. I guess I must have absorbed enough while flying through the materials as I managed to pass the test. This basically means that I will not have to worry about this again for quite a while, so nice to know that my evenings and weekends will be mine for the forseeable future!
Saturday involved bringing the kids to their first ever time at a bowling alley. They had a great time. The lanes were set up with bumpers to make gutter balls quite unlikely however sometimes, due to the lack of velocity they got on the ball, the pins would pretty much stop the ball when it got down the end! They both had a great afternoon and both made a spare at one point in the day which was enough to make their day! I had my normal bowling experience - falling somewhere between 125-160...on this occasion, closer to the 125 mark.
Sunday was spent at Gary's house, "watching the kids" and also watching football all afternoon while Mindy and Holly had an afternoon off. It was a nice, relaxing way to finish the weekend and to set me up for my last (1/2) week of work for the year. We leave on Wednseday for Florida!
Saturday involved bringing the kids to their first ever time at a bowling alley. They had a great time. The lanes were set up with bumpers to make gutter balls quite unlikely however sometimes, due to the lack of velocity they got on the ball, the pins would pretty much stop the ball when it got down the end! They both had a great afternoon and both made a spare at one point in the day which was enough to make their day! I had my normal bowling experience - falling somewhere between 125-160...on this occasion, closer to the 125 mark.
Sunday was spent at Gary's house, "watching the kids" and also watching football all afternoon while Mindy and Holly had an afternoon off. It was a nice, relaxing way to finish the weekend and to set me up for my last (1/2) week of work for the year. We leave on Wednseday for Florida!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Ready for the Holidays
Work has been quite busy over the past couple of weeks as we are wrapping things up for the end of the year. Fortunately I now see the light at the end of the tunnel. The rest of the year is shaping up quite nicely.
Today (Thursday) will be busy but one more busy day I can handle.
Tomorrow I am off work attending a certification exam for SAP in the morning. I have done some preparation for it but am really hoping that a combination of skimming the manuals; 2 hours of solid cramming tomorrow morning; multiple guess...I mean...choice questions and some vast recent experience performing quizzes on Facebook will get me through. Actually, I really don't expect to pass - this is more of a fact finding mission for determining what I need to read up on - but if I could get through it would save me a lot of hassle.
The weekend will be busy preparing for our trip next week. I am then only working until Wednesday lunch time when we leave for Florida. We are doing the drive in 3 legs, stopping in Charlotte on December 18 to see AC/DC for the 3rd and perhaps final time and finishing in Jacksonville to spend a couple of days with Mindy's dad. We then have 5 days in Disney planned before a few more days of recovery, arriving back in NJ on December 31. The kids are excited so hopefully it all works out well.
I have been reading one of my early Christmas presents. The Onion book "Our Dumb World", filled with delightfully politically incorrect observations about a great number of countries around the world. Just when you think they are as inappropriate as you can get, you turn the page and are confronted by something even worse (a.k.a. better). I guess I will be doing a lot of reading over the next few weeks - Mindy also bought me Artie Lange's book "Too Fat To Fish" as well as a John Lennon biography. Throw this in with the shape of the package I received from Australia and I have a lot in front of me!
So...better get back to it so I can get out of here and begin winding down!
Today (Thursday) will be busy but one more busy day I can handle.
Tomorrow I am off work attending a certification exam for SAP in the morning. I have done some preparation for it but am really hoping that a combination of skimming the manuals; 2 hours of solid cramming tomorrow morning; multiple guess...I mean...choice questions and some vast recent experience performing quizzes on Facebook will get me through. Actually, I really don't expect to pass - this is more of a fact finding mission for determining what I need to read up on - but if I could get through it would save me a lot of hassle.
The weekend will be busy preparing for our trip next week. I am then only working until Wednesday lunch time when we leave for Florida. We are doing the drive in 3 legs, stopping in Charlotte on December 18 to see AC/DC for the 3rd and perhaps final time and finishing in Jacksonville to spend a couple of days with Mindy's dad. We then have 5 days in Disney planned before a few more days of recovery, arriving back in NJ on December 31. The kids are excited so hopefully it all works out well.
I have been reading one of my early Christmas presents. The Onion book "Our Dumb World", filled with delightfully politically incorrect observations about a great number of countries around the world. Just when you think they are as inappropriate as you can get, you turn the page and are confronted by something even worse (a.k.a. better). I guess I will be doing a lot of reading over the next few weeks - Mindy also bought me Artie Lange's book "Too Fat To Fish" as well as a John Lennon biography. Throw this in with the shape of the package I received from Australia and I have a lot in front of me!
So...better get back to it so I can get out of here and begin winding down!
Monday, December 1, 2008
I Am Thankful For Alcohol and Butter
The Thanksgiving gorge fest has just ended and I think I participated in the correct spirit. This year we stayed at home and shared lunch with some friends who also are without an extended family in this area. All of the traditional foods were consumed - turkey, ham, potatoes, beans (green), sweet potato casserole, stuffing and other stuff I cannot remember. Pretty much everything had lots of butter in it, so it tasted great! A new dessert highlight was the pumpkin cheese cake that Mindy made - top notch. Much beer and wine was also consumed making for a great day. The football was horrible, fortunately the cricket came on at 7:00pm!
The rest of the long weekend involved "watching the kids" with Gary while Mindy and Holly went shopping on Friday. And by "watching the kids", I really mean sitting in front of the College football, drinking beer. Saturday involved more football (and beer) with Gary (Gators v Seminoles). Sunday was largely spent relaxing at home, although we did attend a friend's child's birthday party for a couple of hours. Now back to work for 2 1/2 weeks, before our Florida trip.
The rest of the long weekend involved "watching the kids" with Gary while Mindy and Holly went shopping on Friday. And by "watching the kids", I really mean sitting in front of the College football, drinking beer. Saturday involved more football (and beer) with Gary (Gators v Seminoles). Sunday was largely spent relaxing at home, although we did attend a friend's child's birthday party for a couple of hours. Now back to work for 2 1/2 weeks, before our Florida trip.
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