Seven Highlights From A Week at Walt Disney World

In case you've never read a word of this blog before, let me just fill you in: I loves me some Walt Disney World. It is easily my favorite spot in the entire world for so many reasons I could never list them all. Earlier this month, we were there for a week to have a good ol' fashioned family vacation. We hadn't been to WDW since June 2009, which is like 70 years in Disney Years! So, it was exciting to go and of course we did all kinds of neat things, eat wonderful food, rode incredible rides and met favorite characters from beloved movies. I'd go on for days telling you about every cool thing we did (and I will if you want me too!) but for here I thought I'd share six highlights from our trip...

#7) Staying at the new Disney's Art Of Animation Resort.  The value resorts at Disney are, in my opinion, the most "Disney" hotels to stay at. They aren't fancy, they are just overflowing with colorful fun and excitement. As always, Disney has taken their own game to the next level with the Art of Animation resort - which just opened earlier this summer. The new hotel immerses you in the environments of four favorite Disney films. You can almost literally swim with Nemo, explore the jungle with Simba and walk a stretch of highway with Lightning McQueen and Mater. We opted for the fourth and final option - hanging out with The Little Mermaid herself, Ariel.

It's no secret that 1989's The Little Mermaid is my very favorite Disney film, not to mention at the top of my list of all-time favorite movies in general. I was thrilled when I found out Disney chose this slightly older film to include in their new hotel. The other three sections of the new resort are made up of suites for 5 or more guests, while The Little Mermaid buildings house rooms designed for families of four or less. So, it worked out for me that The Little Mermaid was out best option money wise.

The buildings are decorated with images of fish, clams and other neighbors and friends of Ariel's. Around the grounds of the Little Mermaid wing you will find Prince Eric's statue (direct for Ariel's Grotto,) a salute to Dinglehoppers and Snarfblats as well as four story tributes to Ariel, King Triton and Ursula. There is a Flippin' Fins pool which is way less crowded than Nemo's Big Blue Pool, and it plays music from not only The Little Mermaid film soundtrack but also the Broadway Cast Recording and several Ariel and Sebastian albums that Disney had released back in the day.

In the Landscape of Flavors food court, you can dine surrounded by background and concept art from the film while dining under a huge light fixture that looks like Ariel's grotto from beneath and appears to be above the sea when viewed from the side. The guest rooms are decorated in great detail with my favorite being the shower. The shower curtain features a full sized image of Ariel, but when you pull the curtain aside you reveal Ariel's Grotto in great detail surrounding the shower. It was a very cool touch. Sebastian's sheet music for "Under The Sea" embedded in our coffee table was a nice touch too.

The newness of the resort made for some very crowded experiences at the food court, but overall the Art of Animation is a really cool place to hang out between parks especially if Cars/Finding Nemo/The Lion King or The Little Mermaid happens to be one of your favorite movies.

#6) Buying $7.00 Binoculars at Animal Kingdom  You don't have to talk me into buying anything in Walt Disney World. If it has a picture of a character, or mentions anything about Disney World - I'll easily buy it. I love to buy stuff for the kids without their asking. While we were waiting for our Fast Pass time for Kilimanjaro Safari, I surprised the kids each with a cheapo pair of toy binoculars. They said Disney's Animal Kingdom on them, and had a picture of Mickey Mouse in a safari outfit holding a pair of binoculars. I mean, how was I supposed to NOT buy them? So, the kids loved them and they took them on the safari ride and they just elevated the ride to a whole new experience. The kids were so into looking at the animals through their binoculars and hunting around for more animals than were out in plain sight. It was adorable to watch the kids see the safari though their "new eyes". I must have snapped two dozen pictures of the kids looking at animals. After the ride, the kids were so excited to continue using their new binoculars. They stopped at any chance to see animals and get an up close look at them. The binoculars experience, coupled with a great meal at Rainforest Cafe, meeting Pocahontas (one of the kids' favorites) and the incredible Finding Nemo The Musical show - made for what was easily the most enjoyable day we've ever had at Disney's Animal Kingdom! The binoculars even made several trips with us to other parks.

#5) Elias Conquers the Extended Mountain Range  Elias, now 9, had been on Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain before when he was much younger - and had no idea what was going on. He had sat out riding both the last couple of times we've visited Disney World. After 300 rides on the wooden roller coaster at our local amusement park, he was ready to take on the Disney Mountain range at full force. He had no problem getting on Splash and Big Thunder. I give credit to any kid who gets on Space Mountain. You can't see anything of that ride before you get on it. It's a complete mystery. He was a bit nervous, but not at all intimidated to ride. We got to the park early one morning and walked right up to the ride platform and got on with no wait. Elias LOVED the ride! We got back on and did it a second time. Some new tweaks that Disney has done to the attraction even brought new surprises to me. It was great to see Elias enjoy the ride so much. He liked it so much that he decided he was ready for the much bigger Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom. He wasn't too sure about getting on it, but he did without delay and he also enjoyed the heck out of that ride too. He was proud of himself for doing it, and it was certainly the biggest coaster he has ever been on. I almost got him on the Rock and Roller Coaster the following night, but after consideration he felt he had enough thrills for one trip. It's all good, there's always next time.

#4) My Kids & Stitch  My boys have this thing where they latch on to something that has already expired in the mass Pop Culture world because I think they like the thrill of the hunt finding things at yard sales or thrift shops. One of their biggest, most recent out-of-date obsessions is Lilo & Stitch. Luckily, Disney has made many attempts to keep Stitch a relevant character in Walt Disney World long after the movie has faded from the public conscience.  We had breakfast at Disney's Polynesian Resort with Mickey, Pluto, Lilo & Stitch. To the kids, this was just like meeting a real big-time celebrity. Decked out in their Stitch ball caps and t shirts, not to mention the Stitch plush Tanner carried around for most of the trip, the boys were stoked to get to meet Stitch. The presence of Lilo & Stitch even prompted the kids to join in the morning breakfast parade around the restaurant. Participation in such things is generally avoided by both my children.

Then there is the attraction, Stitch's Great Escape. If you ask me, it's one of the few bad attractions in all of Disney World. It's not a ride, it's more like a show - which is a watered down version of a really scary show they used to have in the same space. The new show, which has Stitch getting loose and running around a room in the dark with you, makes little sense and feels a bit dated. Nonetheless, the entire duration of the show brought nothing but huge smiles and giggles from both Elias and Tanner. They ate it all up and wanted to go back for seconds....which we did. Then later...thirds...which we did! I experienced that attraction more times in one trip than I have in all other visits to the Magic Kingdom combined. However, after the first show we noted where Stitch spits into the audience and claimed those seats for performances two and three so that Elias could receive a face full of alien spit smack dab in the middle of his face. He loved it. Again, he was proud. The joy and happiness in my two little buddies made one of the least enjoyable attractions at the park one of the most enjoyable.

The kids also got some personal one-on-one time with Stitch at Club 626, a show where Stitch dances out in the audience with everybody. Stitch stole Tanner's Stitch hat and made off with it, later giving it back in exchange for plenty of hugs. Tanner was out of this world excited!

#3) Getting to Preview New Fantasyland  We booked our trip around a four day weekend the kids had in their school schedule, so I didn't really pay attention to much else than that when booking. Then shortly after paying off the trip I realized that we were going to miss all the new Fantasyland expansion goodies by just a few weeks. So, going down not thinking we were going to do all that stuff made it all the more thrilling when it turned out that we got to experience a handful of the new attractions before they are open to the public!

I had read online that Disney was doing some previews of their new walk-through attraction Enchanted Tales With Belle. I dragged the family by the area of the new attraction every time we walked through Fantasyland. One one such go-round, I noticed a little bit of extra foot traffic in the area, so we quickly made our way over to what appeared to be just a row of shrubs. There, a single cast member was standing and I asked her about the Beauty and the Beast attraction. She invited us behind the greenery and told us if we didn't mind taking up 45 minutes of our day we could have a chance to experience to new show. Of course we did, making it one of only a few lines we waited in our whole trip.

The new attraction is a walk-through experience which can best be described as taking the Princess Meeting to a whole new level. You enter through Belle's house and see all her father's inventions. A magic mirror the Beast's castle hangs on the wall and soon enough the mirror expands and you walk through the mirror and end up standing inside the castle! There is an audio animatronic of the Wardrobe from the movie which is just about the most amazing piece of technology you've ever seen until you enter the Beast's Library and see a Lumiere animatronic which is even more amazing! The event is very audience participation and several people get GREAT photos with Belle which I don't see how anyone could pass up not spending several hundred dollars on prints of the event.

Surrounding the Belle attraction is the entire village from Beauty and the Beast and nearby sits scenes from The Little Mermaid which were all behind ropes and/or construction walls. I joked with a cast member about letting me on the new Little Mermaid ride to which she responded she hadn't even seen it yet.

So, of course I was beside myself with excitement when we were at the Magic Kingdom later that week and found New Fantasyland open for a Dress Rehearsal. The new Little Mermaid ride, which is very similar to the one at Disney's California Adventure Park, is awesome! You ride in a Clammobile under the sea and ride through all the songs from the movie. I'd by lying if I didn't say I was so excited that I didn't even comprehend everything that was going on around me!

The Beauty and the Beast village was open too. We got to see Gaston's Tavern which is done in great detail. There is a new B&B gift shop as well as a full service restaurant which is not yet open for service but we got to see the interior. They even have a popcorn cart outside which looks like it was built by Belle's father.

New Fantasyland also features Storybook Circus which holds the new double capacity Dumbo ride, a rethemed Goofy roller coaster, the East Coast debut of Casey, Jr. in the form of a splash playground and some other neat circus themed shopping and character greets.

#2) Meeting Ariel   But the icing on the cake to the whole New Fantasyland experience was the Ariel Meet and Greet after the Little Mermaid ride. Now, I've been a huge Little Mermaid fan since the movie came out in 1989. You've been able to meet Ariel for years but I've never done it before. My family was very gracious to go along with it and we waited in line for maybe 15 minutes. You have to wind your way through some tunnels in the rock work around Prince Eric's castle to get to Ariel. She's kind of hidden back there. Now, let me set this scene....

One of the things I love about Walt Disney World is how it can bring out the kid in adults. I'll never forget the first time I took my wife to Disney World and she was so excited to see Pooh. I've seen it in my friends that I've visited with too. I don't really experience that first hand because I wear my childhood on my sleeve. I'm excited about everything in Disney World and I'm all over the place with wide eyed excitement and wonder. But....when it was our turn to go up to Ariel's big shell and she invited me to sit down with her....I just turned into a 6 year old kid. I bought into the whole thing hook, line and sinker (no fish pun intended) and was totally mesmerized by the whole experience. Both my wife and the Disney PhotoPass photographer snapped great pictures of me and Ariel talking like the rest of the dry world didn't exist. I was honestly, on a complete Disney High for several hours afterwards. It was the last day of our trip, so it was the perfect way to end our week of Disney Awesomeness.

#1) Spending Time With My Family  No matter how many big shiny rides you build, no matter how many different foods they can make in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head, no matter how many ways you can shove The Little Mermaid in my face...there is nothing better on the face of the Earth than spending quality fun time with the people I love the most: My wife and my kids! We didn't have my stepson Joey with us on this trip, and we missed him. Joey and I would often squeeze in a few more hours while everybody else went back to the hotel. Elias stepped into that role nicely but we all just had so much fun. Seeing the expressions on the kids faces, their excitement over things to come and passing on experiences that I had as kid to my kids. Good times!

It was an exhausting, bank breaking week - Can't wait to do it again!

Dumbo Rides Again

Recorded 10/11/12

Photo: Ke$ha at Walt Disney World

Ke$ha at Disney World
( GENE DUNCAN, THE WALT DISNEY CO. / April 21, 2011 )
Pop singer Kesha Sebert, known professionally as Ke$ha, poses with the White Rabbit from "Alice in Wonderland" at Magic Kingdom in Lake Buena Vista.

Before It Was Tangled

I've been in a bit of a writing slump this week but I wanted to get something up here today and I was thinking about this random picture so I dug it out.



This picture was snapped in June 2009 at The Art of Disney Animation attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. It's Tanner standing in front of some art work for Disney's new animated feature Rapunzel. By the time the movie came out in November 2010, the name had been changed to Tangled. Anyone whose seen the movie will agree that Tangled was not a very good title for that film, yet I don't think Rapunzel was the best choice either. In Japan it was probably called The Girl With Long Hair Who Lived in a Tower. Actually, here's the Japanese poster.

SNL Recap 1/08/11 - Jim Carey

It was great to see Jim Carey get back to what he does best - just being silly - on this weekend's Saturday Night Live. He didn't roll out any familiar characters from In Living Color, I was hoping for an Ace Ventura nod...but no such luck. Twitter was abuzz with the hopes of a revisit to the Ride The Snake skit he did years ago when he hosted, but no. It was all new wackiness for Mr. Carey. This skit was one of my favorites, showing off Jim Carey's uncanny celebrity impersonations:



I also liked this skit which kind of poked fun at "It's a Small World." Everybody thinks they've been on Small World when it broke down, but the truth is the boats get backed up pretty regularly so it is often that you sit still on that ride for far too long. (At least that's true with the Walt Disney World version.)

I'm also a sucker for a good audio animatronic impression!

Give A Day. Get A Disney Day.

Prop-eye

Fans of movies like Star Wars and Indiana Jones often get the chance to see props actually used in the movies, at various exhibits and theme parks. When you're like me, and you're a huge fan of oddball films that the general public doesn't care about, you don't get the same opportunity to see props from your favorite movies. Which is why I was delighted to find this prop from one of my all-time favorite movies, 1980's Popeye. The Robert Altman film is a musical, live-action adaptation of E.C. Segar's 1930 era comic strip. It's a bizarre film based on the comic strip universe and not the more well-known animated cartoons, which makes it a little harder to follow at times. Since I've seen Popeye no less than 100 times...and that's no exaggeration, I've been able to figure out what the heck is going on. Anywho...the prop in question here is Popeye's famous pipe, which I'm sure is one of many that Robin Williams chomped on while filming this movie. The pipe is on display, like all good Hollywood props, at a Planet Hollywood...this one a stand alone gift shop in Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios. If you look closely, you can see a lightsaber on display right above the picture of Robin Williams. Those Star Wars props are everywhere!

Check out this website for: Popeye Village, a tourist attraction in Malta built around the village that was constructed for the movie.

Game Review: Toy Story Mania

When I heard about Toy Story Mania coming to the Wii, I was pretty excited. The new game is based on the ride Toy Story Midway Mania at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. While there have been games before that have attempted to turn the theme park experience into a video game (Adventures in the Magic Kingdom for the NES and Walt Disney World Quest: Magical Racing Tour for the Playstation) Toy Story Mania promised to really bring a Disney World ride into my living room. If you haven't been on the Toy Story ride it's basically a ride that zips you around from screen to screen where you play very brief video game versions of popular midway games. (For more, you can check out a blog post I did when the ride opened at The Blog Wore Tennis Shoes.)

So, obviously when you play this new Wii version you're not going to be riding around, you'll most likely be sitting on your living room sofa. And also unlike the theme park attraction, you won't be waiting in line for at least an hour before your chance to play for a couple of minutes. Video games are designed to give you an experience that

will engage you for hours of game play. Toy Story Mania works hard to further the experience of the ride.

The games featured in the ride are faithfully recreated here. Almost all the games in the ride involve simply shooting or tossing things onto the screen to collect points as quickly as possible. The Wii adaptation also adds to the mix a set of additional objectives to each game. In addition to scoring a certain amount of points, there are more intricate goals like shooting five of the same target in a row, or looking for a special colored target or simply wiping out all of one kind of target. Completing all of the given objectives will unlock the game in a free play mode, otherwise you must experience the different games in a preselected lineup divided into five themes.

In addition to the shoot `em games from the ride, the game designers have added a handful of new games to the mix which use the Wii technology to their benefit. Some of these games have been thrown in to give the smallest of Wii players the chance to master a game. A few of the new games require nothing more than shaking the Wii remote to master the game. In one instance, Toy Story's resident swine Hamm is seen dancing on a stage and players are asked to mimic his actions by shaking their Wiimote in a certain direction. Even with the Wii controller sitting on a table in another room of the house, you're guaranteed to rack up a hefty amount of points. The games are pretty simple and not very challenging. Other new games like a labyrinth maze where you'll need to tilt your controller to move the maze table are quite unique.

All the gang from the Toy Story movies are here and each of the games fall into a theme connected to one of the characters. There's plenty of outer space fun with Buzz Lightyear and the aliens, Woody and Jessie host a variety of wild west games, Bo Peep, Rex, and most of the rest of the gang are all on hand as well. Some of the character voices are the same, most notably Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear but Tom Hank's brother Jim stands in to provide Woody's voice. Since many people have seen the Toy Story films numerous times over the years, the voice substitutes are quite noticeable.

There's also five 3-D games that you can unlock. The disc comes with two pairs of the old fashioned red-blue 3-D glasses. The effect is not nearly as effective as the polarized grey lens glasses used at the theme parks (and at the local multiplex).

While this new disc does transfer the imagery and the game play of the theme park ride very well, it does not give you the same overall experience. To achieve a complete experience like the ride you'll need to unlock all the shooting gallery style games and then set up your own lineup of games in the Free Play Mode.

Overall, it's a fun game - not really worth the $50.00 MSRP - but it's a good game for kids and fun disc to have at a party. The various games are all simple to learn and play. Those not looking to duplicate a recent vacation memory and more interested in playing with the Toy Story characters would probably be better off waiting for the Toy Story 3 game hitting shelves next summer with the release of the new movie.

The American Idol Experience Gift Shop Experience

I don't know why, but I find the merchandising of TV's beloved American Idol quite humorous. I mean, at it's heart, it's just a talent show where the same people sing over and over again. I know it's a cultural phenomenon, and the highest rated show on TV, but it just seems like an odd thing to use to sell ice cream or fast food. And now, as you may know, Walt Disney World has jumped on the bandwagon with their newest attraction The American Idol Experience where guests can be either contestants or the audience for a recreation of the hit TV show. Of course to be an attraction at a theme park means there must be a gift shop at the end of the ride or show. Disney's American Idol gift shop is chock full of silly things to slap the American Idol logo on. Of course they've also dragged Mickey and the gang along for the ride. Here's some of the things you'll find...(the first three are t-shirts)

When you wear these...no one will be able to see the American Idol logo!?

I should have noted how much this leather jacket costs!

The Prez Records For Disney

Here's a neat video from the White House website of President Obama recording his lines for the Hall of Presidents attraction in Walt Disney World...



I snapped this picture of a sign outside the closed attraction when we were in Disney World a few weeks ago...

Winnie the Pooh's Hidden Submarine

Disney Imagineers pack the Disney theme parks with loads of Hidden Mickeys, inside jokes, and references to the company's rich history. Here's one of my favorites - In Fantasyland in Orlando's Magic Kingdom you'll find Pooh's Playful Spot, a cute little play area for the little ones that recreates the Hundred Acre Woods - home of Winnie the Pooh and friends. This newer attraction was built on the footprints of a classic Disney attraction 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. That ride took guests on a voyage through liquid space inside a submarine. To pay homage to the original ride that occupied the space when the Magic Kingdom opened, the designers worked a little submarine magic into the woodwork of Winnie The Pooh's house...


...this image can be found blended into the doorframe of Pooh's home. There's a similar homage across the way at The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride. The Pooh ride-thru attraction is housed in the building that used to feature Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. In the second scene of the Pooh ride, you can spot a picture on the wall of Pooh's friend Owl being handed the deed to the property from Mr. Toad himself! Pretty dorky, eh!?

Good Eats Disney Style Chapter 2 - Just Desserts

Let's get back to Walt Disney World and all the wonderful food there! They really go all out when it comes to desserts. I snapped a few pictures on our recent trip of some of the goodies we had.

Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort is one of my family's favorite spots in all of Walt Disney World. A world class buffet is served up while Chef Mickey and his pals roam the restaurant visiting each table. The food is great, including Parmesan Mashed Potatoes which are just about the best mashed potatoes I've ever had. Your meal is capped off with their fabulous Sundae and Dessert Bar. In the picture above, the mouse ear items are a rich Chocolate Creme sitting on top of an Oreo cookie with mouse ears made of solid milk chocolate. They are even better than they look! There's also a fudge brownie with Mickey sprinkles (nice touch) and a Key Lime Tart that is fantastic. I'd say they have about a dozen other such pastries for your choosing, as well as Krispie Kreme donuts, fresh fruit, cookies and candy.

This is the Chocolate Wave from The Coral Reef in Epcot. It's a moist chocolate cake with a hot chocolate syrup center. It is served with brandied cherries and a Mickey chocolate. We thought the presentation was really nice. Jennifer had a Bailey's and Jack Daniel Mousse and I had a Butterscotch Creme Brulee. (I know it's gay, but I like creme brulee.)

We thought this was neat. This is the Kids Kabob dessert at the Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club Resort. It features a rice crispie treat, brownie, strawberry and marshmallow all served up kabob style on a Mickey Mouse krazy straw. It also came with some chocolate mousse for dipping. The kids got to keep the krazy straw!

This beautiful dish is also from the Captain's Grille, a Vanilla Creamery Cake - vanilla cake infused with maple syrup served with fresh berries. Nice...and gorgeous. The Captain served up all sorts of beautiful desserts, I had an English Toffee Mousse Cake with whipped cream and caramel sauce - sooooo good!

Finally, you're looking at a crazy good Chocolate Cake from the Pepper Market at the Coronado Springs Resort. The Pepper Market is our newest discovery and I can't wait to go back there. I had the absolute best Spicy Crispy Beef I have ever had. Plus, all their desserts were way over the top. Joey got some sort of danish that was the size of his head!

Good eats all around from Mickey and his friends!

Good Eats Disney Style - Chapter 1

I thought I had taken alot more pictures of food in Walt Disney World but after reviewing the 700+ pics I brought back, it turns out most of those pictures are of desserts. So I'm going to start our culinary tour of Walt Disney World with a rundown of the table service meals we enjoyed while sweating our mouse ears off in 100 degree weather.


This is the delicious breakfast served up at Ohana's inside the Polynesian Resort.

They start your meal off with a glass of Passion Fruit Juice and a basket of warm breakfast breads including a Pineapple Bread that is worth the price of admission alone. Then they bring out a giant skillet for your table loaded with some of the best scrambled eggs you've ever had, fried potatoes, sausage links and bacon. While you're chowing down on all that, another server makes their way around the restaurant delivering freshly made Mickey waffles. It's all good eats! While you are enjoying your meal; Mickey, Pluto, Lilo & Stitch visit tables for photos, autographs and hugs. Ohana's gets a big recommendation from my family!

One spot that we ate at which was new to us was Coral Reef in Epcot's The Seas with Nemo and Friends pavilion. We had the best meal of our trip here. We dined on delicious food while we had an awesome view of the pavilion's massive aquarium. We saw sharks, and giant sea turtles and even a Scuba class. The food was outstanding. Jen and Joey both had the NY Strip Steak, which they both thought was just about the best steak they've ever put in their mouths. I had...

...Blackened Catfish served over pepperjack cheese grits, topped with a smoked tomato compote. Outstanding! I had something along the lines of pepperjack cheese grits last year in Vegas and they were so good, I was eager to have them again - and the fish couldn't not have been an ounce better!

One of the few complaints about the resort we stayed at, Disney's Yacht Club, was that the food selections were very limited. There were two table service restaurants, one of them being very fancy, and a snack bar out by the pool which closed at 9. After a day at the parks, sometimes you just wanna come back "home" and have a burger and fries. There is a little malt shop at the adjoining Beach Club resort, which had about 8 tables but it was a little bit of a hike from our room. One night we ended up ordering...
...room service. We got some sandwiches which were pretty tasty, but the reason I took a picture was just because of our setup. The girl who brought our food up came into our room, set the table and hooked us up with a little room service experience right out of a movie. It was pretty cool.

And here's the only other non-dessert food picture I've got...

This is from The Captain's Grille at the Yacht Club. The Classic New England Lobster Roll - served on a butter toasted split-top bun with Vegetable Orzo Salad. I likes me some orzo....this creation was a bit vinegary for my tastes, but it was still good.

Coming up...I'll show you what we ate after the main course!

Disney's Yacht Club Resort

Among all the things we brought back from our week in Walt Disney World, the one thing we didn't pick up in a gift shop is the nasty horrible illness that my wife and I have both been fighting since we got back. Jennifer started getting sick on Tuesday when we left Orlando, and it hit me pretty hard Friday. I haven't felt like doing much but I'm dragging myself to the computer to finish the post that I uploaded pictures for a few days ago.

For the last handful of Disney trips that we've taken as a family we've always stayed at one of Disney's Value Resorts. We like them and they are perfect for those traveling with little ones. This trip we managed to snag a pretty good deal since all the rooms were booked at the Value resorts and they offered us a room at Disney's Yacht Club, one of their Deluxe Resorts. Needless to say, it was very nice and we were a little blown away by how fancy it all was. The picture above is the main entrance and if you look closely you can see my family standing on the balcony right over the check-in area. That was our room. We had a beautiful room with a gigantic balcony. It was actually shared by three other rooms but it was still bigger than you could imagine.

Here's some pics I snapped of the property. You can click on the pictures to see them larger.

Behind the resort is a private beach and across the water Disney's Boardwalk resort serves as a backdrop.


Mickey light in our room.

We had dinner poolside one evening. There is a two-acre pool area with slides and pools and a lazy river (which the lifeguard needed to rescue us from)

Unmade beds, but here's a glimpse of the nautical theme of our room.

The lobby was gorgeous. There's a boat captain standing in the lobby greeting everyone as they enter and among the various items sitting around the lobby is this giant globe. The kids are busy looking for a Hidden Mickey on the globe.

I'll have better Disney World posts for ya when I feel better. For now, back to the sofa for another episode of The Golden Girls.

Heigh-Ho Heigh-Ho

And we're back...from another exciting week in Walt Disney World! We had tons of fun even though we had to battle record high temps and larger crowds than I've seen in years. When things settle down around here I'll get up some posts about some of the phenomenal food that we ate and I'll show you the gorgeous Yacht Club Resort that we stayed at. I also took plenty of dumb pictures of all sorts of little Disney details that I'll share with you as well! Until then, I've got a Jungle Cruise in my front yard that needs attending to!

Sleep With Pac-Man

While most of Walt Disney World's resorts recreate a bygone time or place, Disney's Pop Century Resort celebrates the past...the past 50 years of pop culture to be exact. The 2,880 room hotel is filled with homages and tributes to some of the great stuff that's made the last 50 or so years great! There's a section of the resort for each of the decades from the 1950's up to the 1990's.

Since I've been on such a Pac-Man kick lately, here on the blog and on the Wii...I thought I'd share with you some pictures of the 1980's building of the Pop Century Resort which is a giant tribute to the little yellow guy himself. I didn't take any of these pictures, I swiped that all from Flickr...but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy them!

They even threw in a giant Rubix Cube on the end of the building to house the staircase. It's a class act I'm telling ya!

I've stayed at the Pop Century three times. Twice we stayed in the 60's building with it's day-glow flowers, giant can of Play-Doh and Yo-Yo staircases, and once we stayed in the 70's building which features a giant Mickey Mouse telephone, a humongous Big Wheel and a very large 8-track tape on the end for the stairs. In my opinion, one of the most inspired hotels in Walt Disney World!

Jedi Elias

First of all, you have to cut me some slack. This is the longest amount of time this blog has gone un-updated since I started it 2 1/2 years ago! During the down time, we spent a week at my favorite spot in the whole world, Walt Disney World! I want to tell you about a very magical moment that we experienced on our trip. As you may have read before, my children are obsessed with Star Wars, so visiting the Star Wars based attractions while at Walt Disney World was high on our list of things to do. A new attraction that they've added since we were there last is the Jedi Training Academy where kids get to train in the art of using a lightsaber with a "real" Jedi master. As soon as we arrived at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park we headed straight to this new show and waited for the next performance. As the show started, much to our delight Elias was picked to be one of the handful of kids that got to go up on stage and train with the Jedi knight! Very exciting, indeed!

First they handed all the kids a Jedi robe and a lightsaber to train with...



Not usually the most attentive child, Elias did really well and paid attention to this teacher and got down all the moves he was taught very quickly...

After going through a series of lightsaber moves a half-dozen times some familiar music began to play as two Storm Troopers took to the stage with blasters in hand. They had all the kids move to one side of the stage...at which point I think half of them wet their pants. Then, as smoke filled the stage, the Dark Overlord of Evil - Darth Vader, himself, made his entrance. Vader tried to lure the kids to "the dark side" but their Jedi Master was confident that the force was strong within them and that they could resist the temptations of the dark side of the force. One-by-one the kids got to take turns showing Darth Vader what they've learned to do with a lightsaber. Some of the kids just kind went through the motions, but Elias was ready to fight. When it was his turn, he remember all the moves and really let Darth Vader have it! (It was awesome!)

After the young Jedi defeated Darth Vader, there was a graduation ceremony from the Academy, and all the kids got a diploma to take home. Of course they had to give back the light saber and robe...but we bought Elias an official Jedi Robe in the Star Wars gift shop 100 feet away.

Even though I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, it was really cool to get to see Elias live out a fantasy like that! In my 23 visits to Walt Disney World, it was really one of the most magical, memorable moments I've ever experienced!