Disney's Hollywood Studios: Experience Movie Magic

Anthony: When we woke up, it seemed as if the weather had a sneaky plan to mess up our day. Almost everyday in the summer in Florida it rains...for just a shower. But today, it was predicted scattered thunderstorms all day. So we had a choice: to try to catch some more of Seaworld, or roll the dice and try our luck at Hollywood Studios. Well, we decided to do Hollywood Studios. 

Of all of the Disney Parks, this one didn't have the magical feel as much as the others; however, it did accomplish the goal of Walt--to take you to another world. 

At times you felt like you were on the set, in the way. At other times, you felt like you were witnessing movie magic right before your very eyes. As I stated we didn't get to do much because of the weather, but we still experienced Disney!

As a visionary, I am always intrigued by how the creation process happens. That is why I was interested in experiencing One Man's Dream, a self-narrated story of how Walt Disney created the Disney conglomerate that we see today. He modestly claims it all started with a mouse (Mickey). But more accurately it came from deep within, with much failure, hard times, trial-and-error, and opportunistic timing. 

Another highlight of the day for me was Beauty and the Beast Live On Stage. It is a 25-minute rendition of the movie. Call me a kid if you'd like, but it is one of my favorite movies of all time. 

There were two more experiences we had that "wowed" us. The Studio Backlot Tour and the Lights, Motor, Action Live Stunt Show will amaze you as it did us. We got to see some behind the scenes areas of the park and see how special effects are done. We also saw a live stunt show with an amazing finish. 

Almost four full days of Disney can sound almost overwhelming. The truth is: we could actually have done much more with more time...and money. 

It blows me away to see all of this magic and wonder that originated from one man's dream that emanated from Walt to his team to the world today. 

Disney's Epcot: A Mix of Everything!

Jenny: It seems as the week rolls on the days don't slow down. We are going just as hard on the 5th day as we were on the 1st day.

Today we got up, ate breakfast, and headed to Epcot. Its a little hard to explain Epcot. It was filled with lots of history of different countries, futuristic information, innovation labs, space information, and indoor rides. The countries that were showcased were: Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, America, Japan, Morocco, Canada, and France. Each Country had its own little area with its own restaurant and snack shop (how cool).

Right when we walked in the park, we saw an amazing site. This huge silver ball structure! Before investigating the structure we had to get our fast pass for a ride (Soarin) that Anthony researched. Soarin is supposedly the best ride at Epcot. This rides wait was crazy long. Our fast pass appointment was 3 hours so we had plenty of time to explore. 

We walked back to the structure and discovered that the "huge silver ball" was actually a ride called Spaceship Earth. Spaceship earth is a ride that is meant for you to see yourself in the future. The ride was easy going and fun at the same time. Lots of the rides at this park were pretty easy going. We then made our way around to all of the showcased countries and by this time it was time for our fast pass ride. 

Soarin was pretty neat. It was a ride that felt like you were flying over popular sites in California. I got a little queasy, but kept reminding myself that it was just an optical illusion and it was all good. It did turn out to be one of the best rides at Epcot. 
After Soarin I got a little brave and decided that I would give into my urge to eat a Cinnamon and sugar jumbo pretzel. I knew that we still had a couple of rides left before leaving the park but most of them were pretty easy going so far. I ate the pretzel and on to the next ride... Mission Space

Mission Space had an option: choose the green group for a mild mission or the orange group for a intense journey. Of coarse when I asked Anthony which color he said Orange group with no hesitation and headed toward the orange group line. We had no idea of what this ride was or how it worked. We found out that it was a rocket ship simulation ride. Iv'e never experienced a simulation ride until now and it was different. Its amazing how they create technology to make you feel like you are in another place doing something you have no business doing. I got off that ride and my stomach is still hurting. Maybe it was the Jumbo cinnamon and sugar pretzel eaten before the ride. I don't know but I do know that I will not be eating any pretzels or any of the like during tomorrows adventure. 

Hugs and Love You All, 
Jenny

Sea World: Gators and Whales!

Jenny: Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom were both amazing but Sea World may be my new favorite! (I know I say favorite often but Im serious this time) 

I know that Anthony hangs tough on vacations (Absolutely No Naps and go go go every waking moment) but Ive never hung tough with him. Im always the one saying "Im sun drained, lets just take a hour power nap". Well this vaca I vowed to hang with him no matter what, just to see what its like. I have to say that hanging tough and going to see all there is to see has been a much better experience! I have had so much fun hanging tough thus far. 

Today we started off at GATORLAND!

There was lots to do at Gatorland! We held a gator and python, watched gator wrestling, saw huge tortises, saw exotic birds, went on a train ride, saw albino and leucitic gators, and Anthony...

finally found his gator nuggets!!! He has been looking for places buy gator nuggets for a year now and today we stumbled across some. What a wonderful discovery. So after Gatorland we headed off for lunch. At this point I was ready to revert back to my old self and say, "Im sun drained, lets take a power nap then get back to it". Instead I ordered a diet coke for caffeine with my lunch. After lunch we headed to...

I Love Sea World! We walked into the park and I immediately saw a roller coaster :-/ My anxiety kicked in.  Just yesterday I told Anthony that I would NEVER be able to get on a coaster where your feet hang. That was just too much! That is where I draw the line on roller coasters. We continued to walk toward the coaster and ... yep it was one where your feet hang. Ive been holding strong and getting on all rides and coasters thus far but this one really shook me. As we kept walking my confidence continued to leave. The recording at the entrance of the coaster (Manta) said if you are afraid of heights (I am), afraid of flying (I am), have motion sickness (I do), and sensitive to sudden jerk movements (I am) do not get on this ride. Fear was winning this time. Anthony trooped on and went on the ride by himself. When the ride was over he came to get me, said come on, and drug me to the entrance of the ride! 

I followed and trusted my husband and He helped me conquer my fear. What a lesson for me. It reminded me of a quote "Limits like fears are often an illusion" - MJ. If it werent for Anthony I would have let fear win but a little nudge goes a long way. So thankful for this trip and my husband. After I survived the Manta ride we saw several shows (sea lions, dolphins, otters, 3D and Shamu). I enjoyed all of the shows, its amazing what you can get animals to do with positive reinforcement. All of today was an awesome experience. We didn't get to see all of the attractions at Sea World because it was so late and the park was about to close. Luckily we have 2 day passes to this park so we can go back and finish before the end of our trip. We left and went to our new favorite near by restaurant: Uno Chicago Grill. There specialty is deep dish pizza. Anthony got a deep dish pizza and I ordered the black bean burger again. 

We ended the night with the hot tub and swimming! So thankful for all the new memories and experiences God has allowed us to make together. Today after facing my fears of holding a gator, touching a snake and riding a roller coaster where your feet hang I am excited and ready for what tomorrow brings! 

Love You All and Good Night 

Animal Kingdom: Circle of Life

Magic Kingdom set the stage for all things Disney. Animal Kingdom takes you to the WILD!!!

On this day, we started pretty early because we wanted to explore the Animal Kingdom!

Once again, we started off by getting our Fastpass in order. We had gotten a tip on what the good ride was so Fastpass away. 

While we waited on our Fastpass we decided to catch some shows. 

The first show was, It's Tough to Be a Bug. Thanks for the recommendation John! If anyone knows about how excitable Jenny is, you wouldn't be surprised at what she said about this show. "This was the best 3-D experience I've ever had"--Jenny Walker. I must say Disney has taken it up to 4-D because you feel like you are there. You can actually smell, feel, experience the films. 

We then caught another show that I thought was utterly amazing. Flights of Wonder. 

Magic Kingdom takes that little kid inside of you to the park to play. Animal Kingdom takes that kid outside to follow his curiosity and play with the animals mom is too afraid to. They have these birds trained so well. They flew literally inches above our heads. Some with 10 foot wing spans. Felt like a small plane overhead! 

Uh oh! Fastpass time. 

On to Expedition Everest!

As the sign says, "Beware!" Animal Kingdom is the newest park of the Disney Parks. Expedition Everest was built as its main thrill ride and one to rival Magic Kingdom's long-standing crowd favorite, "Space Mountain". Well, by my book, it not only rivals it, it tops it! Yes, I said it. Very fun, very thrilling. 

Okay, now for another Fastpass and some Fastpass-waiting events. 

Oh. And while you are reading this post, every time you see a double spaced line, just fill it in with animals and atmosphere. All along the walkways were little trails and nooks where you may see exotic animals like, tigers, giraffes, macaws, etc. 

While waiting on our Fastpass ride, we decided to take Kilimanjaro's Safaris Expedition. This thing was one of our top 3 things we did. It was really like riding on a safari in Africa. Seriously, giraffe and huge horned cattle walked right up to our truck. Talk about up close and personal. And we also got to see some first time stuff for Jenny, like hippos, and rhinos. Many more. Very good experience. 

Aww man, we missed the parade. 

So we caught the next best thing. One of the main things that I wanted to see at Animal Kingdom was, "Festival of Lion King." Why? Because it is my second favorite Disney movie of all time and I know the movie verbatim. I love African singing because of its rhythm and smooth harmony. This was like the Lion King on Broadway in about 14 minutes. And thanks to us getting in toward the end of the line, we got to sit up close in the "Reserved" seats. Told y'all, we're 'highly favored'. 

Okay, now what? I guess we can start heading to our next Fastpass ride. Kali River Rapids.

Hmm. This one makes us both a little uneasy. Why? Because we know it's a water ride...and we are prepared for that...but....really? As we walk up the line, we notice that its an...uh oh...whitewater-rafting-ten-seater-on-top-of-a-tire type ride. Oh well. We got on with a family and the kids were geeked! They are screaming to get wet. We're like, "if we get wet, we get wet". We went around, went up, came down and, "Whalooosh!!!" 

Okay. We found two more things that we wanted to do. But our appetite whittled that down to one. It was a roller coaster. Again, how ironic that Jenny picked it out! 

Primeval Whirl. It's a winding, twisting, fun lil' coaster. Jenny was like, "I found that if I scream, I feel better on the ride." I knew that was that nervous, giddy-ness talking. Man that ride almost gave us whiplash. It worked and jerked us. She screamed and closed her eyes. I laughed the whole time. Noticing a pattern. 

What a great finale. 

Unfortunately, you'll have to use your imagination on this post. I know not a lot of pictures. It's not that we didn't take a bunch because we did. We will update the post with pictures. Don't worry. Animal Kingdom totally spent us today. 

We left a little early and headed to a really nice restaurant down the street from our hotel called, Uno. Man, it was good! Great customer service, great food! 

Then we cooled down, by warming up in the whirlpool.

What

A

Day!

Magic Kingdom: Where Wishes Come True

Our Day of Magic...

We got up and grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed to Magic Kingdom. After dropping $14 dollars to park, we hopped on a tram just to hear the driver say, "Even after this tram ride, you'll still be 1.5 miles from Magic Kingdom." 

How do you tell that to an excited kid?

We got on the ferry and finally made it to Magic Kingdom. 

You really revert back to your childhood years; or if you're like me, you just look within. 

I read that Walt Disney wanted you to feel like you were in another world when you were at a Disney park. With places named, "Fantasyland" and "Tomorrowland", one couldn't help but feeling as if they were in another world...and we were! 

We walked and wondered, "What are we going to do first?"

We decided to Fastpass Space Mountain! But while we waited on our Fastpass time we walked around trying to find the first great experience. 

We went to the Hall of Presidents. This was amazing! We got to see all the presidents as if they were alive. As a history-buff, I thoroughly enjoyed it! 

Well, we still had some time before Space Mountain...so, we decided to go on this "amazingly, scary, thrilling, 'ride'," as told to us by our dear sister who will remain nameless (M.R.).

We got our minds ready for this ride. Needless to say, it was just a sit-down-and-get-squirted-with-water-a-couple-of-times cartoon. We needed to waste ten minutes anyway. 

On to the next...

We got to see the Celebrate Parade which was awesome. What a great way to keep the spirit flowing. 

It was time for Space Mountain. 

Wow!!! To be a 30 year old ride, that is one amazing coaster. Too bad Jenny didn't see any of it. Yes, she got on the ride...(Yay!!!!)...but her eyes were closed most of the ride. Lol! Really fun. 

Then...it started raining. Aww man. But we still enjoyed the park. We walked in the rain and found us a snack. Baked potatoes (each) a bag of Cheetos, and a Fanta! 

We then sloshed to Tomorrowland Speedway. We saw these go karts and thought, YEAH! But after standing in a rainy line for about 15 minutes, we got to the track and saw that it was a go kart on a fixed track that went 2 mph. We made it fun though. Jenny said, "We'll ride together." We were the only two adults in one car. 

Then we tried to find something else. 

We went to Mickey's PhilharMagic. This was a fun, fun experience. Not to give anything away, but at the same time leave you yearning for more, I'll leave you with this quote, "This was the best 3-D experience I've ever had"--Jenny Walker

Oh great! Now the rain is disappearing. Let's ride something else while we wait on...(our finale)

Jenny actually spotted this roller-coaster--ironic, huh? So while we're in line, Jenny's getting anxious. Talking about roller-coasters and how this one would be. We get in the seat and she looks with that nervous smile. We take off on this 45 second ride and you would think she was back on Space Mountain. This was fun for a few kicks and giggles. 

When we arrived we barely caught a Disney show at Cinderella's Castle when we got to the park, so we took a moment to watch that show and then...

Splash Mountain !!!!

Yep. This was fun. I really enjoyed the Fastpass experience. No waiting for the great rides. Splash Mountain was great! It was great for me because it took me down memory lane. No, I didn't ride logs down creeks (that much), but the ole Brer Rabbit story was one that took me back. The other fun part was watching Jenny be calm one minute then in "total anxiety" the next. I couldn't stop laughing at the ride, at the characters, and at Jenny. 

Then to cap it off was the Electric Parade followed by the Wishes fireworks show. It is a "don't-dare-miss" show. I'll never look at the beginning of a Disney movie the same again. It was a "magical" show that captured the kid in all of us. So touching that the woman behind me cried worse that some kids. 

Ten hours at Magic Kingdom. It was an all day experience. 

Looks like another Disney Park on the other side of these sheep I'm counting....

We're Here!!

Anthony:

My day began at around 7am, wondering where my baby had gone... 
She went to the Y.

Then around 8:30am I finally began to pack for a weeklong trip. I threw a few things in my carry-on bag and I was ready to leave the house at about 9am.

Anthony's Bag on the left, Jenny's Bag on the right

From the looks of it Jenny is going to stay a lot longer than I. 

About an hour-and-a-half plane ride later...

We arrive in Orlando!!!

There was a slight delay in our adventure. It was storming near the airport, so the baggage ramp was closed due to lightning. So anyone who had a bag checked in (Jenny) had to wait until the storming subsided until they could get their bag (Jenny). 

Then, the long awaited adventure began. We hopped in our 2013 Camero Convertible and pulled up out of there. 

We made it to the hotel...safe and sound!

Then, we went Bahama Breeze and had a nice meal. Jenny said, "Hey, let's let loose [on our diet], we're on vacation!" So I ordered a Portobello Mushroom Burger with fries and a Caribbean Breeze (pineapple, lemon, cranberry). Jenny orders a Turkey Burger with Rice and Black Beans. Talk about letting loose!

We left there and fumbled and stumbled and found our way to Downtown Disney! Wow! What a way to put you in the Disney Spirit. 

Enjoying thus far, looking forward to the next!

Excited!

Hey Yall!
So Anthony just created this awsome looking blog so we can share our trip with you! Seeing this makes me even more excited. I hope I don't faint on any of the rides :-/. I just have to continue to remember that God is in control and give my fears to him. Please keep us in your prayers :-D
Our flight will depart Monday morning at 12:40pm and we should arrive in Orlando around 3:25pm.

Love you all, 
Jenny