On to the next park...

We left Animal Kingdom and caught the bus over to the Ticket and Transportation Center. There we hopped on a monorail and headed over to the Magic Kingdom. It was late afternoon...perfect time to arrive and see all the lights coming on.

 We wanted to check out Fantasyland...to see the new updates. They have done a lot since I was last there. We went on a couple short fairly quick rides and looked around a bit. The new Snow White and the Seven dwarfs ride...looks like it will be fun!

 We did check out the Little Mermaid Under the Sea adventure..(or whatever they call it) It has a pretty fast moving line...because it has cars like in  the Haunted Mansion...always moving along...one right after the other. On this ride...they were "clam shells".

                                      all the main characters from the movie were included... it was a cute ride.

can't you just hear her laughing

Happily ever After

Our next stop was Tommorrowland...Buzz Light year of course and the ALWAYS...Always...The People Mover. Best ride ever...always moving no wait...and a relaxing couple of minutes while it takes you around Tomorrowland. When the girls were little we always went on this ride...more often than not...several times.
Linda really wanted to go in the Carousel Of Progress. She went to see it originally at the World's Fair when she was a little girl. She wanted to hear the song...I just laughed be cause almost every time I've been on the ride...it stalls out...but we went. Hardly anyone was in there and it was really corny...but old Walt had a vision. I figure eventually they will replace that ride with a newer more exciting one. It is so corny I start laughing and couldn't stop...got the people behind us laughing too. Sad but true...it's just old. even Linda commented..".it's not like I remembered it". Back at the World's Fair...it must've been so cool...the seats revolving around the stage...but it just can't compete with new technology.

a peek at the new Snow White ride

we stopped by my favorite little fountain

once all the lights came on it really was beautiful. That was exactly why I wanted to go there i the first place...to enjoy all the decorations and lights

there was a Very Merry Christmas party going on that night...so we started heading out...on to our next stop EPCOT. It was very crowded on Main Street...I was glad I was with Linda...not John. John would have been freaking out in that mob. Between crowds coming in...and crowds going out...and people lined up for the parade...it was not easy to get out of the park! But...look at the view! Who cared! and...because of the special event...they were making "snow". I t was like little flurries of snow falling all around us.

I was glad to be getting out of the crowd though. Realistically from the time we started to leave until we finally got on a monorail...it was an hour! Took the nice ride on the monorail to the Ticket and Transportation Center...then hopped on a monorail to Epcot. always relaxing. At EPCOT we headed to The LAND...because Linda had never been on" Soarin."..and if you are at EPCOT...you HAVE to ride that ride!  There is usually a wait...but it's worth every minute! We ate a little something (good Pumpkin Squash soup with toasted pumpkin seeds...yum!) and headed over to the ride. The wait was not as bad as we expected...and Linda loved it.  When we came out...there was NO LINE at all...we started walking quickly back up before we were told to STOP!  We hadn't  realized the extra magic hours were at EPCOT that night...and because we were staying at a Disney resort...we got to stay and enjoy the rides for extra time. Once they knew we were eligible we got to walk right up and get on the ride again. By the time we got off...all the other people with extra time had worked their way over and the wait was back up to 1hr! otherwise we would have gone again!...hahah After that we slowly walked around the World showcase area...looked in the shops...but a few small things.; and just enjoyed walking around the almost empty park. It was great.

Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th just happened to be my birthday and as always if I am going to get a year older...I'll feel years younger...by going to Disney World

I booked a room at the Dolphin Hotel...and my friend Linda came along

the weather was PERFECT for a day at Disney

We checked in and walked over to the back entrance of Epcot...from there our first stop was a bus to

it took us a while to get underway...but we arrived and made our way back to Africa....we were going on a safari...haha

a few wrong turns (as usual) and then we made our way

and we were plesantly surprised by a relatively short wait in line. The park seemed pretty crowded...we expected the worst...but our wait was only about 20 minutes.

we are both people watchers...so lines aren't a problem

ALL of the animals were out on this sunny, partly cloudy but cool day. We got to see everything! including lots of crocodiles!

lots of elephants...the whole family. We had a group of young boys on our "jeep" they were fun to listen to...so excited...:)

we had to stop at one point because an ostrich was walking down the middle of the "road"...took it's time...so we all had to wait

and a few big hippos

Linda had never been on this fun ride...the Primeval Whirl...Megan and I love this one! Sometimes the wait can be long...for this little roller coaster ride...but once again we got on pretty quickly...and we had so much fun we acted just like the little kids and got right back on it for a second "whirl!"

fun!  Our next stop was another dino ride that we got right on with no real waiting...just the time it took us to walk up, weave aound the line and get on the ride....which was nice

what I enjoy about Disney...is all the details that add up to the whole effect. The signs, the landscaping, etc...all set the mood.

After Dino land we stopped briefly to see the start of the parade...and then we were off to the Magic Kingdom. I wanted to be in the Magic Kingdom at dusk...because one of my favorite things is when it gets dark and all the holiday lights come on...it never gets old!
More on that in the next blog... because I am tired of moving these pictures around...and having to repeat steps to get things where I want them...hahah

A Beautiful Day!

I just got back from a quick bike ride...time to get ready for work. But...just have to say it is a BEAUTIFUL day. 66 degrees, not a cloud in the sky...a slight breeze. River looks like a lake...I wish I didn't have to spend the day inside...but we have the Children's Holiday party this morning at the Library. I will get to see my little friends coming in to see Santa and having fun.
Brenna and Josh are on their way to Florida....(no turning back now..haha   )  :)
It's not the right season...but this is the kind of day Robert Browning must've been writing about when he wrote:
"God's in his heaven
All's right with the world!"

A day on the island

this guy was gone...just the Fresh Catch part was still there...good place to pose with ship in background

we didn't get a picture this time...but here's one from 1999...these girls are 25-26 now!

The best part of the Disney cruises is the trip to Castaway Cay; the privately owned island in the Bahamas. All the ships have similar stops...but Disney is the only ship that pulls right in to a dock on the island and you can walk off the ship. No tender to take you over to the island...in other words...no waiting in line for a boat, riding over and waiting in line to get back...you can walk on and off the ship as many times as you want. It's great.

There are naturally photo opportunities when you get off the ship...currently they have the Christmas tree and some sand people

They time the arrival of the ship to be morning on the last day of the cruise. We were docked and cleared to get off the ship by 8:30...(I think)
. Here's the view from our stateroom. It was a little cloudy at first...but the skies cleared and it was a beautiful day. We were happy for all the people from Washington (St), Canada, Chicago, Ohio, etc...some of whom had never been to the beach before! It was perfect. A staff member told us it was the nicest weather they had had for the day at Castaway Cay in the last 3-4 weeks. When the boat arrives...crew member get off and set up the beach chairs, get the food going, etc. Once everything is set up...people are allowed off the ship. We watched as the jet skis, ski boats, etc arrived. (They came around our side of the ship.)

and the zoomed in picture

The first time we went on the Disney cruise back in 1998...there wasn't much on the island. There were deck chairs of course, hammocks in the trees, snorkeling and bikes to rent...but not too many activities. They did have the teen beach area and the adult only part of the beach...so everyone could relax and enjoy the day. I remember our friend Gayle T. trying to sneak over to get a picture of our then teen aged kids...and getting "caught". Crew member told her she was too old to be in that area...hahaha.
There is a paved "runway" maybe leftover from days gone by...probably when people used the island to bring in illegal substances.... That has been there all along...fun to walk down the road and see the plane at the end...along with a bar or two...here's what it looks like now...15 years later...

                        tucked in nicely among the trees and plants...used to be standing on it's own...

This has also been there since the beginning....

play area

John and I decided we would take a walk around the island...versus walking around the deck of the ship like we did the day before. We did not participate in the 5K...but that might've been fun. Saw people coming back
 after they finished. They were the first group on the island.
We walked around for 2 hours! I snapped pictures along the way...

there are various old rusty anchors along the path...probably found when dredging around the island...my guess anyway

And the the extra Disney touches of course...

Pelicans are kind of the "theme"...these decorations and the Pelican Beach play area

bike rentals or wheelchairs for beach; also had wagons for toting kids around

I liked the signs :)

There are play areas for various age groups, a splash park area, covered pavilions where they serve lunch

There are also little shops (but of course!) and places where you can get your hair braided...in case you haven't done that yet!
At the end of the island...there are cabanas that groups can rent...for their own private place to relax for the day. Kind of nice.

Each one looks a little different...with a little chalkboard out front with name of family/group

The teen beach area was also back there somewhere. They offered a 4-hour package...kayaking, snorkeling,sailing,  etc ....I'm sure the kids had a blast!
They now have para-sailing, jets skies, Hobie Cats,  fishing...all sorts of fun things to do on the island for all ages......all you need is the $$$$$$
They have an Observation Tower out at the end too...we went up and saw the view...nice!

we met up with a few bike riders while were were there...everyone took turns taking pictures...hahah
After we got to the tower...we made our way back.

I'm guessing this BIG rat?......( definitely bigger than a mouse trap) was not part of the island decor...hahah
John thought I was crazy...taking pictures of everything...hahah
 As I said...the best thing is you could take a walk around the island...then walk back (or ride the tram) back to the ship...freshen up...or hit the pool and the AquaDuck (no lines...everyone's at the beach!) and then head back out in time for lunch!
Lunch on Castaway Cay...hamburgers, barbecue, some chicken and fish, fresh corn on the cob, cole slaw, chips,etc. Cookies and ice cream for dessert...fruit...plenty to keep everyone happy.