Disney Vacation 2008 - Day 6 - Disney Studios

Our last park to conquer was Disney Hollywood Studios.  The last time Becky and I were here it was called Disney-MGM Studios. Here the boys are posing in front of a large replica of Mickey's sorceror hat in the middle of the park.



We modified our touring plan a bit based on when some of the live shows were scheduled, but we still headed off first to the Great Movie Ride.  The entrance looks like the Chinese Mann Theater in Hollywood and the huge car took our group through an animatronic sampling of movies, from gangster films to westerns to Indiana Jones and Alien.  It ended on a happier note with a recreation of the title song from Singin' In the Rain and the hero ensemble from The Wizard of Oz.  It was a great introduction to the theme of the park.



From there we went straight to the Backlot Tour which showed up how they film a wartime naval action sequence with members from the audience and practical special effects, like water cannons to simulate nearby shell explosions.  Then they took us on a driving tour of the backlot which did contain props from several different movies.  They told us we could sneak the tram into a lot that they were preparing to shoot a scene from Catastrophe Canyon, but soon we found ourselves facing a flash flood down the canyon walls with a tanker truck getting washed over and exploding - all special effects of course.



While we skipped the violent Indiana Jones Stunt Show this time and avoided the scarier Tower of Terror and the turbocharged Rock-n-Roller Coaster, we were able to make it to a Beauty and the Beast stage show which was very well done.



Near Radiator Springs, the boys were tickled to get to Mater (like T'mater, without the "Tuh") from the Cars movie.  We heard that Lightning McQueen might be by later, but we never made it back to check.



Lunch was a lot of fun at the 50's Prime Time Cafe.  We sat at kitchen table replicas and "Mom" came by to serve us, though we had to help set the table.  We ate classic 50's meals like fried chicken, chicken pot pie, and chicken sandwiches (Go Chicken!) while classic B&W clips played on nearby TVs.



We split up again and Aaron, Grammy, and Grandpa saw Little Mermaid and Playhouse Disney shows.  Becky, Alex and I ran to the Star Tours ride which is a simulated flight through a Star Wars dogfight.  We loved it so much that Alex and I rode it again.  In the gift shop we got Aaron a T-shirt that had Yoda being turned away from a ride due to height restrictions - on the front it said "Judge me by my size, do you?"



We got separated from the other half of our group by the Pixar Block Party Bash parade that cut through the middle of the park featuring many of the stars from Pixar's films.  It involved the crowd and featured trampoline artists also - a very high energy parade.



They've built a new huge stadium near the backlot where we got to see the new Lights! Motors! Action! Extreme Stunt Show where we saw many of the techniques used to drive and film stunt cars as they set up several different action sequences with cars, motorcycles, and jetskis.  Very cool for the kids (and the big kids :)



After posing by a Miss Piggy fountain, we saw the Muppet-vision 3D show - another of Disney's great 3D shows.

Before dinner at Pizza Planet (yes, from the Toy Story movie), the kids climbed around on the Honey, I Shrank the Kids Playground where they wrestled an ant into submission.

We capped the evening with the most anticipated features.  The Animation Tour.  The've really scaled back the tour from whe we were last here because they have not produced a animated cel feature since Brother Bear came out - they've all been digitally rendered since then.  However, Alex, Grammy, Becky and I got to take an alternative class for budding animators and learned how the animators draw Goofy.  We got to practice at our own lighted tables.  Alex has been drawing more and really enjoyed this opportunity.

Disney Vacation 2008 - Day 5 - Magic Kingdom

On our way to the Magic Kingdom we were able to ride the monorail right from the Polynesian Resort.  The boys and I got to ride up in the front compartment with the driver.



When we got into the park, we had our picture taken with our ears in front of Cinderella's Castle - this is apparently some sort of family vacation Disney World law, so what could we do?



Then we started working our way through a touring plan that I had been working on for weeks with the help of various guide books and online sources.  The goal was to spend as little time as possible waiting in line, through hitting rides at off-peak times (i.e. starting as early as possible) and using the Disney Fast Pass system which holds your place in line at some specified point in the future.



We started with the Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride through an animatronic Hundred Acre Wood.  It was so much fun for the boys that we got immediately back in line and rode it again.  We then took a similar trip through Never Never Land on Peter Pan's Flight.  We then introduced the boys and Grandpa to their first exposure to It's A Small World so they could get that song stuck in their head.  Then we had a treat, the new 3-D show Philharmagic, which showcased the best of Disney's "4-D" theater experience.  Then I ran ahead and got FastPasses for the Haunted Mansion, which was just recently refurbished.  The kids loved seeing the ghosts in the car with us in the mirror at the end.  We also rode through the refurbished Pirates of the Caribbean, complete with Captain Jack Sparrow.  The boys, Bob, and I climbed up and then down the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse, though Aaron was dissapointed that he couldn't play in there longer.  



He was thrilled however to play in the playground at the exit of Splash Mountain with Grammy & Grandpa while Alex, Becky, and I followed Brer Rabbit through the briar patch to splash down at the end.  This was Alex's most adventurous ride so far.



We beat the parade to Tomorrowland which let us get across the park easily and got into the Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory where our laughter at moderately funny jokes from animated Monsters helped them power up their city. Next door we finally did the ride we'd been waiting for all day - Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin which let us shoot lasers at Zurg's minions while spinning through space.  In addition to throwing Zurg in jail...



...the boys were rewarded with a personal picture and autograph with Buzz Lightyear himself.



We only had time for the boys to splash around at a water playground for a little while before we boarded a ferry for the Wilderness Lodge for dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe.  The Wilderness Lodge is beautiful, huge, and styled after National Park lodges out west.



The Whispering Canyon Cafe was our favorite family meal this week.  The food was served family-style and consisted of all we could eat fresh baked cornbread, smoked pork ribs, pulled pork, oven-roasted chicken, pork sausage, mashed potatoes, creamy coleslaw, beans, and corn on the cob accompanied by hand-dipped milkshakes.  The boys got to ride around the dining room on wooden horses and had to promise the waitress guiding them that they would stay up late, jump on the beds with their parents still in them and never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER go to Universal Studios.

When we realized that we had no ketchup for our fries, we asked for some.  The waitress yelled "WE NEED KETCHUP OVER HERE!" and then a family from another table brought ten bottles over to our table.  Needless to say, we had to return the favor (minus the one we held back for our needs) when the next table needed ketchup.  We'll make a point to come back here the next time we come to Walt Disney World.

Disney Vacation 2008 - Day 4 - Boma, Fishing, and La Nouba

This morning we got up a little more leisurely compared to the past several mornings and went to the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a wonderful breakfast buffet at Boma - a restaurant with an African theme. While there were African dishes we could try, we also had traditional breakfast foods too.

Then we split up again with Grammy and Becky heading out to the shopping areas of Downtown Disney to look for souvenirs. Grandpa, Alex, Aaron, and I all went back to the Polynesian where the boys and I swam in a quieter pool near our room. That afternoon, a fishing guide came and picked us up at the Polynesian Dock and took us on a fishing excursion on Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon under the shadow of the Magic Kingdom.





Aaron reeled in his first fish (that Grandpa hooked) - a largemouth bass weighing about 2 pounds. He was very reluctant to hold it, but he finally agreed to have it resting on a towel on his hands while I held it.



While we all did a pretty good job, Alex got the award for catching the biggest fish of the day. He cast his own baited line, hooked, set, and reeled in a 4 lb. 2 oz. largemouth, putting us all to shame. He even got credit for his Wolf Scout badge by doing that.



Aaron talked to the herons that would hang out near our boat hoping for bait handouts. When he got bored of fishing, he also loved "driving" the parked and shut off boat, taking us into space on a tour of the solar system.



We met the ladies at Downtown Disney and had dinner at Gloria Estefan's Bongos restaurant to get a taste of Cuban cuisine. We only had time for appetizers, but they were quite good. We then rushed down to the white tent at the end of the street in this picture for the Cirque du Soleil show designed for WDW, La Nouba. To call it a circus would be an understatement, but other words fail it as well. They put on simply one of the most amazing live performances that we have ever seen. It featured thrilling tightrope walkers, little girls doing spectacular tricks with large wooden spools, a man who "flew" around the theater holding two thick silk ribbons, acrobats balancing on chairs and hanging from cords and trapezes. It featured some of the most amazing precision trampoline work we'd ever seen. All with a flair for the dramatic. Well worth the time and money to see this at least once.

Disney Vacation 2008 - Day 3 - Animal Kingdom and Date Night

This morning we got up and took a bus to the Animal Kingdom Park an hour earlier than normal because we were staying on the resort. The park has a large tree in the center built around an offshore oil platform. You can't miss it.

Our first "ride" was the one that makes the Animal Kingdom unique - Kilimanjaro Safari. We boarded a open air vehicle and were driven around the safari grounds where we got to be feet away from all sorts of wildlife - flamingos, hippos, alligators, antelope...

...rhinos, lions, and we even got to help "rescue" an animatronic baby elephant from poachers.

After the safari, we took a walking tour of the Pangani Forest Trail which put us face to face with even more animals.  In the African area we came upon a group of street performers that had extra instruments for the boys to play along.



We then went to a live show of the Festival of the Lion King which had live performers singing songs from The Lion King, dancing, jumping on trampolines, swinging on trapezes and getting the crowd to join in on the fun.





We then went up to Dinoland where the kids played for awhile in the Boneyard.  This was a huge playground that had casts of dinosaurs that the boys could climb on and slide off of.  They could pretend to excavate some bones, or just run around and burn off some steam.



While Aaron continued to explore Dinoland with Grammy and Grandpa, Becky and I talked Alex into the Dinosaur ride which put us into a time traveling buggy which went back to prehistoric times to observe and possibly rescue a baby iguanadon from the meteor that wiped them out.  The ride was a little too loud and bouncy for Alex who spent the ride both trying to hang on AND cover both ears.



From there we got to see a new production of Finding Nemo: The Musical.  They created songs from the story and performed them on a stage with large puppets, though you could still see the puppeteers.  The effect looked great on stage and I could see it being performed on Broadway (if Broadway had 35 minute shows).  We made one last mad dash then over to the Kali River Rapids, which was a river raft adventure ride through various Asian habitats.  Aaron was so excited to clear the 38" height limit after getting turned away from Soarin' yesterday.



Then we split up and left the kids with the grandparents.  They had a buffet dinner in the Animal Kingdom at the Tusker House while Becky and I raced back to the Polynesian.  We changed quickly (leaving the camera battery behind) and went to the California Grill restaurant at the top of the Contemporary Resort.  We had an excellent meal, maybe the best meal we've ever had, while watching the sun set over Bay Lake.  From there we spent the rest of the evening at Pleasure Island, an adults only series of nightclubs.  We started, as is tradition for us, with the next showing of the Laugh Factory - an improvisational comedy show using suggestions called out from the audience.  We then went across to The Adventurer's Club which is a more eclectic comedy experience that puts on a more scripted show, but a lot of fun nonetheless.  We ended the night at and Irish-themed pub called Raglan Road for a nightcap and a performance by an Irish band. It was a fun night out without the kids.

Disney Vacation 2008 - Day 2 - Epcot

We started our first full day at Epcot, getting there when it opened. We walked to the nearby Epcot monorail station and the boys got to ride in the front with the driver. When we got in, we split up to let Grammy and Grandpa take Aaron to rides that he was tall enough to go on (Universe of Energy with animatronic dinosaurs and Spaceship Earth). Becky and Alex and I tried to get onto Test Track, but it was down for repairs (not very reassuring by the way). We went ahead next door and rode Mission: Space, which simulates taking off in a space rocket/plane and landing on Mars. There are 4 people per ship and everyone has a job to do to get through the mission successfully. Your ship is really a motion-controlled pod that flips you around depending on what is happening on the screen. Becky and I loved it, but Alex declared that he'll never go on it again (we'll see). We hustled over to The Land where we met Grammy, Grandpa, and Aaron. While we were waiting for our FastPass time for Soarin' to come due, we rode the Living with the Land (showcasing new ways to grow food) and the Circle of Life movie featuring Timon and Pumba from The Lion King teaching us an environmental message. We thought Aaron might just make the 40" height limit for Soarin', but he was in tears when the attendant slipped a card between his head and the height bar. He and Becky waited in the Land Pavilion while the rest of us took a simulated hang-glider ride over California.

We had lunch at the Coral Reef which let us dine next to an enormous fish tank while fish, sea turtles, and sharks swam by. We expanded that experience after lunch by taking the Living Seas ride around that same tank. After that, we got to talk to a live-animated computer-generated version of Crush the sea turle from Finding Nemo. He talked with the kids all sitting in the front rows, taught them some "turtle slang", and answered their questions. He even pulled out something he found on the beach - a polka-dot bikini top and wore it hanging down from his neck. When he asked Alex what it was, he told him it was a bow tie to make a joke and everybody loved it, including Crush. Nearby we found Bruce the great white shark and had to rescue the boys from his jaws. Kids are friends, not food.

We split up again to try to get onto Test Track, but the line was too long. Instead we rode Spaceship Earth, the big golf ball-looking ride in the front of the park that showcases the past, present and future of communication.

Epcot is divided into 2 sections: Future World, where we spent most of our day and which highlights high-tech innovations and rides, and the World Showcase which is set up like a perpetual World's Fair. We took a ferry across the lagoon that separates them and ended up at the American Pavilion where we at burgers and saw the American Adventure - a multimedia presentation of American history as told by an animatronic duet of Ben Franklin and Mark Twain. Outside there we found a topiary collection making up Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Alex was getting to play a Dwarf in the Spring Musical in May, so he really wanted to get some pictures to help him with his part - so I had to get pictures of him taking pictures. We wanted to make it out of the park before the mass exodus after the fireworks show, so we booked it to the China pavilion and saw Reflections of China shown in a 360 degree theater. You stand in the middle while a movie plays on screens all around you - at one point it looks like you are standing on the Great Wall and can see it extend into the horizon on both sides of you. We ended up at Mexico where a boat ride that used to tell the story of Mexico (el Rio de Tiempo) has been transformed into a ride that mostly features Donald Duck being chased all over Mexico as his mariachi bandmates try to find him for the animatronic number at the end of the Gran Fiesta.

By the end of the day, we finally found a Photopass photographer to take a group photo in front of the big Spaceship Earth. He got us into various configurations and poses and this was the best group shot. (After we got back, we went online with a code number he gave us and added the WDW Epcot 2008 logo in the corner). We kept this code number and gave it to other Photopass photogs during the week so all of our pictures would be in one place. Time to rest up - tomorrow we tackle the Animal Kingdom park.

Disney Vacation 2008 - Day 1 - Volcano Pool & Ohana

We finally made it to Orlando after months of planning. Grammy and Grandpa Hardage brought us and we've really been looking forward to this day. We took the Disney shuttle from the airport and it brought us to the Polynesian Resort. It is one of the original resorts that rings the Seven Seas Lagoon in front of the Magic Kingdom. It is themed around Polynesian longhouses which look great with all of the palm trees on the property. The boys posed in front of the rainforest garden they have growing in the lobby while we checked in.
Once we got settled, we threw on our swimsuits from our carry-on bags and walked over to the Volcano Pool, named for the steaming volcano that had sprouted next to the pool, allowing the Disney Imagineers to build a waterslide right through it. We played there for a couple of hours until they brought our bags over from the shuttle, so we could change for dinner. We had adjoining rooms on the first floor near the entrance of one of the centrally located longhouses, which put us near about anything we needed to get to. The other advantage of our location was its proximity to the ferry dock, the monorail station, the bus stop and the Ticket and Transportation Center which got us to anywhere we needed to get on the the entire resort property.
Tonight we just had to walk to 'Ohana (which means "Family") in the main building, the Great Ceremonial House. The meal was served family style in courses, culminating in them bringing by skewers of meat that had been cooked on a grill in the center of the restaurant and dispensing turkey, pork, or beef medallions right onto our plates. The entertainment was provided by a hula singer who involved the crowd, especially the kids in the songs and dances. Once of the dances they encouraged the kids to go a grab a parent to dance with and so Becky got the privilege.

Snowy Easter Egg Hunt

A fresh layer of snow yesterday made a challenge for our Easter egg hunters this morning. It was good that they had a chance to play in it it yesterday so they knew what to expect. However, yesterday's playing in the backyard obscured our attempt to hunt for Bunny footprints.
We think we saw some at the back of the yard. They may have been just standard bunny prints (some live nearby), but there was an egg near one of the prints, so we can't say for sure.
The boys worked together to collect the plastic eggs and brought them inside. All of the candy, money and little toys inside got put into a communal pile to share.
Happy (Snowy) Easter!

What Pretty Eggs

It is officially Spring , but you can't tell by looking outside. However, because of the weird calendar juggling that picks Easter each year, the Easter Bunny is going to need to bring a thick layer of fur, and possibly a coat on top of that. We all prepared with our traditional colored hard-boiled eggs.
We tried traditional dyes, as well as stickers, shrink-wrap plastic sleeves, and clear crayons that kept the dye off of the eggs, allowing us to make neat reverse patterns on the eggs. We even tried a few two-tone eggs.
All in all, a pretty plate of eggs. Now if we can just get the boys (esp. Aaron) to try one. Alex will usually eat the whites with a little salt and pepper.

Winter Swim Meet 2008

After winning all three of his events in his last swim meet, he was bumped up to the next division and competed in 6 events this year. He has been practicing hard at Swim Team and it shows.
Using a variety of strokes - the forward crawl, the breaststroke, the butterfly, and his favorite, the backstroke - Alex swam very hard in his division.
He did well enough to place in all six events - 2 first place ribbons, 2 second place, and 2 third place. He had a great time and wants to keep up with his swimming skills, so this will likely not be his last meet.

Flat Stanley the Cowboy

Alex read a book at school this year about Flat Stanley, who was so flat that he could incorporate himself into paintings, slip through narrow cracks, and get into all sorts of adventures. The kids were assigned to draw Flat Stanley in an unusual setting. This is Flat Stanley as a cowboy. We liked his use of perspective, with the larger cactus near Stanley and the smaller cacti up on the hills behind him.

Pinewood Derby 2008

Alex was chosen as one of 2 Wolf Scouts from his den to participate in the Swan Creek District Pinewood Derby. It was held in the shell of the old Southwyck Mall in South Toledo. They were actually great - donating the space and setting up judges' tables and chairs for the audience. First, Alex had to get in line to have his car inspected. Each car had to conform to certain size requirements, both in physical dimensions and in weight. The also were prohibited from certain modifications (like liquid lubricants).
The Scouts then took turn racing each other three at a time on mutliple tracks. Becky showed up in her uniform to support her Pack, but was quickly spotted and recruited to be a race judge for one of the tracks. Alex was thrilled by the round-robin style of the derby. Since this was our first one, he was concerned that it would be done in a single or double elimination tournament style. As it was, he did not have one of the fastest cars, but still got to race it multiple times.
He actually came in third in all of the races except his final one, in which he got very excited to come in second. While this put him near the bottom of the standings, he took it in stride. Coming from a small pack, we also enjoyed seeing all of the Scouts and leaders in uniform participating in the same event. Becky got him and all of the Cub Scouts in his pack a participation ribbon. He was a good sport and conducted himself very well throughout the day. I took the boys home (Aaron had had enough by that point) and Becky stayed to help judge the Bear Scouts' heats.
Alex has already started mentally designing next year's car. It was important to him this year that he designed a car that looked cool, but next year he wants to design it for speed.

Derby Racing at Town Meeting

Alex and the rest of Pack 90 got a chance to show off their Pinewood Derby cars in front of the entire Lower School during the weekly town meeting today. Maumee Valley had an old track that had been in storage, but Becky tracked it down and the maintenance crew set it up for them in the Resource Center in the middle of the Lower School. Not only did they get to show the other kids their cars and how they race them, they held the Pack Derby heats live at town meeting. Only 2 kids from each Den can represent their Den at the District Wide Pinewood Derby, so they raced their cars and got the 2 fastest. Alex was one of the Scouts who will get to race his car at District. All of the kids will get to participate though because of our small numbers, the slower cars can enter the design competition at District.

Building Race Cars

Fresh on the heels of building a Pinewood Derby car, we all went to Home Depot's Kids' Workshop to build Nascar style Home Depot race cars.
Becky and I like these because they come prestained Home Depot orange, they are relatively simple to build (nail the top to the botom, attach the wheels, apply cool racing stickers), and the kids get a toy to play with when they're done.
Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!