Blogs from Disney World, Orlando, Florida, United States, North America - page 5

The one about quality time with (part of) the family The reason I left NC so early this year was due in part to being able to join up with some of the family for a few days at Disney World. Kristine and Lou along with Maggie and Hudson left Park City, UT for a month long whirlwind tour of the east coast for the holidays. They spent time in NJ, then Christmas with me and Tim and his family in NC, and travelled to Charleston to see Maggie’s grandparents then on to Lou’s family in Fort Lauderdale for New Years. The final leg of their trip was 3 nights at WDW. The main campground I spend time at is in Orlando, so it was a no brainer for me to meet up with them. Remember ... read more

In late July 2014, we were able to take a last minute trip to Florida and one of the goals was to see how inexpensively we could have 6 nights / 7 days in the "Sunshine State." Of course the question of whether to drive or fly was the first thing to be decided. We were able to find flights from Columbus, Ohio to Orlando for about $270 each R/T which turned out to be a really great move. Flying gave us more vacation time and less drive time. It was also the first time we had flown Southwest Airlines which proved to work-out just fine. That's the first part of "cheap". Next is where to stay and I had a credit on my account for $195.00 from the Marriott Vacation Club from an earlier trip ... read more

3/4/2014 - Today headed to Magic Kingdom. Took the ferry into the park. We did The Hall of Presidents, The Carosel of Progress, It's a Small World, Space Mountain, The Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Carribean and ate in the park. Hall of Presidents - life like automatons of all the Presidents, some of then stood and talked. Space Mountain - Aleta and I rode this one, Aleta screamed the entire ride, I laughed and held on tight. :-) The other rides/attractions were really neat. They now have included in the price of the ticket "Fast Pass", this gives you a fast pass to 3 rides/attractions of your choice. Really good. Stayed at the park for the light parade, the fireworks, and the light show on the castle. All was amazing, especially the light show on ... read more

Saturday, January 25, 2014 Our last day of vacation - we made the most of it by arriving at park opening and leaving just as the park was closing. Jen was great and hussled with me to the safari ride as soon as we arrived, so we could avoid the 60-minute wait that stacked up within an hour. Rides and Experiences: Safari Wilderness Railroad (to nowhere) It's Tough to be a Bug Character greeting: King Louis and Baloo/ Minnie and Mickey Lunch - Yak and Yeti Flights of Winder show Expedition Everest (fastpass) Expedition Everest (single rider) Primeval Whirl Triceratop Spin Dinosaur! Expedition Everest Dinner - Pizza ... read more

Thursday, January 23, 2014 Jen and I returned to the Magic Kingdom for a full day of fairy tales. The big highlight of the evening, and one of the top moments of the whole trip, was having dinner at the Be Our Guest Restaurant in Belle's ballroom. It was as if we had stepped into the movie. Disney absolutely out-did themselves in creating that experience. I timed our reservations just right so we would be able to watch the fireworks while waiting to be called for our table. After dinner, the park was closed and we practically had the entire place to ourselves as we floated on fairy dust to the exit. Rides and Experiences: Character Greeting: Mary Poppins Breakfast - Starbucks Astro Blaster Space Ranger Spin Character Greeting: Buzz Lightyear Space Mountain Autopia/Speedway Character Greetign: ... read more