We are now checked in to our 2 bedroom villa at Cypress Springs. Ou room is great. It has a kitchen, a family room, 2 bedrooms and two bathroms, and a outside seating area compleatly surrounded by screen.
On Monday, Grant began his training. Mom, Bobby and I had breakfast at Kona Cafe at teh Polynesian (I realy wanted to try that Tonga toast, which is sourdough bread dipped in cinnamon sugar and stuffed with banana and then lightly fried. Good stuff!)Then we took the monorail around its circuit (Grand Floridian, Magic Kingdom, Contemporary, TTA, back to the Polynesian) and then walked aroud the Polynesian. On the way back, we stopped for some groceries.
We walked around our resort and checked out the pools and te activities center before it began to rain.
For dinner, we all went to Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Boma is a buffet with African dishes. Lots of cous cous, fruist ad vegitable salads, spices... its very tasty.
On Tuesday, Mom, Bobby and I went to Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. That place is so cool. We spent quite a bit of time there - moe then had anticipated, which was cool. That night when Grant was done, we went to Downtown Disney. We did a little shopping, had dinner at Bongo's Cuban Cafe, took an Open ouse peek at the Adventurer's Club, one of the clubs at Pleasure Island, and had desset at Ghiredelli's. Yumm!!!
On wednesday, morning, Mom, Bobby and I rented a limo bike (you know, where there are seats like benches and four sets of petals, 2 side by side on the first row and two on the second and a canopy..) hat was really fun. We rented it for an hour and rode all over the property.
At his lunch, Grant suprised us by popping in. Unfortuatly, Grant was really sick, poor guy. I know I worry too much, but I rarely see him sick. We spent the rest of the day close to home, which was good. Grant slept on and off and feels much better today.
At one point, I went ito to check on him. He woke up a little and I said, "hey honey, I'm just checking on you."
and Grant says, "Oh...how am I doing?"
So cute!
Mom Bobby and I are all reading a book called "The Killing Floor," So we spent alot of time reading and makig predictions about what would happen. Mom ad I read out on our screened porch and watched the lightening.
Grant is feeling better today. Not sure what we're going to do yet... probably head down to the pool! We'll see...
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Universal Studios - Orlando
On Sunday, we checked out of Pop Century, and went over to Marriott's Cypress Harbour, one of their Orlando Vacation Clubs. There, we met my Mom and Bobby, and together we went to Universal Studios, Orlando. I had never been to this park, so I was way excited!
Our main goal (and by our, mean MY) was to visit everything that we didn't have at home in the Hollywood park. Mom and Bobby had both been to the Hollywod park, and chances are, they would get back there before they got back to this one - Most lkely the next timewe decided to visit an Orlando Unversal Park it would b Islands of Adventure.
It was about 11:30 when we actually got in te gates of the park, and no one had eaten, so we decided to have lunch first. We stopped and had pasta (for me), pizza (for Grant), and grilled chicken (for mom and Bobby)
We began by visiting Twister - Ride it Out, which was an awesome demonstration of movie effects and what a twister is like. Very similar to our Backdraft in presentation, but way cool - and temperature wise, much more appropriate to sunny Florida.
Next, we visited Earthquake. This began with a presentation of movie effects, such as blue screen, weather, and minatures, and ended with a ride on a subway into a station where we experience an earthquake! (This one shakes a LOT more then ours at home!
Unniversal is very themed. Each area is very distinct with lots of attention to detail. They did a really good job with this part! I was very impressed.
Next, we went to Amity and rode JAWS. Yikes! What a great, scary attraction! Basically you board a tour boat to tour Amity, add a you go along you encouter Jaws...several times!!! Yikes! There were some good effects, here, too!
Next we went on Men in Black, which is a way cool interactive ride where you get too shoot at Aliens, and sometimes, they shoot back! It was good fun! We had good timing, as it just began to rain as we got in line. However, it pretty much continued to rain (or "drizzle") for the rest of the evening.
After Men in Black we grabed a snack at Richter burgers and then saw BeetleJuice - graveyard review. It was a rock show. The performers were good, the had god voices and they were enthusiastic. Next, we rode ET and missed anothr heavy rain.
After ET, we headed back to watc Fear Factor live, and by this point, we had pretty much done everything we had to. Lucky for us, the crowds were low, and the rain made the crowds even smaller. We were able to see Shrek 3-D, and Terminator.
We had dinner at the International Marketplace (I don't really know if that was wha it was called.) Grant and I shared a chicken parmigian and a sweet and sour chicken dinner, and om and boby did the same, and we all shared a fruit plate.
After dinner, we decided to reride Jaws (really cool at night!)and we just made it to men in Black to ride that one more time.
All in all, a really good day at the park!
Our main goal (and by our, mean MY) was to visit everything that we didn't have at home in the Hollywood park. Mom and Bobby had both been to the Hollywod park, and chances are, they would get back there before they got back to this one - Most lkely the next timewe decided to visit an Orlando Unversal Park it would b Islands of Adventure.
It was about 11:30 when we actually got in te gates of the park, and no one had eaten, so we decided to have lunch first. We stopped and had pasta (for me), pizza (for Grant), and grilled chicken (for mom and Bobby)
We began by visiting Twister - Ride it Out, which was an awesome demonstration of movie effects and what a twister is like. Very similar to our Backdraft in presentation, but way cool - and temperature wise, much more appropriate to sunny Florida.
Next, we visited Earthquake. This began with a presentation of movie effects, such as blue screen, weather, and minatures, and ended with a ride on a subway into a station where we experience an earthquake! (This one shakes a LOT more then ours at home!
Unniversal is very themed. Each area is very distinct with lots of attention to detail. They did a really good job with this part! I was very impressed.
Next, we went to Amity and rode JAWS. Yikes! What a great, scary attraction! Basically you board a tour boat to tour Amity, add a you go along you encouter Jaws...several times!!! Yikes! There were some good effects, here, too!
Next we went on Men in Black, which is a way cool interactive ride where you get too shoot at Aliens, and sometimes, they shoot back! It was good fun! We had good timing, as it just began to rain as we got in line. However, it pretty much continued to rain (or "drizzle") for the rest of the evening.
After Men in Black we grabed a snack at Richter burgers and then saw BeetleJuice - graveyard review. It was a rock show. The performers were good, the had god voices and they were enthusiastic. Next, we rode ET and missed anothr heavy rain.
After ET, we headed back to watc Fear Factor live, and by this point, we had pretty much done everything we had to. Lucky for us, the crowds were low, and the rain made the crowds even smaller. We were able to see Shrek 3-D, and Terminator.
We had dinner at the International Marketplace (I don't really know if that was wha it was called.) Grant and I shared a chicken parmigian and a sweet and sour chicken dinner, and om and boby did the same, and we all shared a fruit plate.
After dinner, we decided to reride Jaws (really cool at night!)and we just made it to men in Black to ride that one more time.
All in all, a really good day at the park!
Animal Kingdom / EPCOT
Due to our late night, we didn't actually get to the Animal Kingdom until about noon. This time, we drove our own car.
Our main goal was to ride Expedition Everest, the newest ride. Apparently, this was the goal of half of Florida as well. We got a fast pass, but it wasn't good until 4:20. So while eating lunch at Tusker House, we decided to just wait in the standby line for 7o minutes. This way, we'd be done by 2:30 and then we could head over to EPCOT.
So, we jumped into line. Waited 70 minutes. And when we were the third next train to load, the ride closed down due to the lighteneing that ad been threatening. SO. We waited a bit, but overheard that the storm was pretty bad. We got a readmit ticket and then went through the pouring rain to "its tough to be a bug", and then road Dinosaur.
At this time the storm had stopped, so we went back to use our readmit ticket. It took us about 15 min and we were on Expedition Everest. Was all this worth it? Well, the ride was pretty neat. A good use of special effects. the track goes both forward and backwards. A lot of fun. Sice by this point it was 4:30, we decided to jump on again with our fast pass.
We got to EPCOT at 5:30, and had dinner reservations for 6. We jumped on Maelstrom and then headed over to dinner. We had the most woderful meal at Bistro De Paris, a fine dining option. We had a full meal of 2 appetizers, fruit, an entree, a cheese plate, and dessert, which consisted of little samplings of all 5 deserts the offered. each portin was so tiny, so y really got to taste a lot of different things!
The only proble was, that the meal took a little over two hours, which meant that we left at 8:30 and the park closed at 9:00 Sigh. In retrospect, I should have made the dinner for 8:00, and we could have continued our meal after the park closed.
In any case, we hadjust enough time to jump on to Mission Space (The Orange team - more ntense training, of course!) Before we left.
All in all, it was a nice time at Disneyworld. We visited all four parks, had some great meals, went on most of the rides we had planned.... it was awesome!
Our main goal was to ride Expedition Everest, the newest ride. Apparently, this was the goal of half of Florida as well. We got a fast pass, but it wasn't good until 4:20. So while eating lunch at Tusker House, we decided to just wait in the standby line for 7o minutes. This way, we'd be done by 2:30 and then we could head over to EPCOT.
So, we jumped into line. Waited 70 minutes. And when we were the third next train to load, the ride closed down due to the lighteneing that ad been threatening. SO. We waited a bit, but overheard that the storm was pretty bad. We got a readmit ticket and then went through the pouring rain to "its tough to be a bug", and then road Dinosaur.
At this time the storm had stopped, so we went back to use our readmit ticket. It took us about 15 min and we were on Expedition Everest. Was all this worth it? Well, the ride was pretty neat. A good use of special effects. the track goes both forward and backwards. A lot of fun. Sice by this point it was 4:30, we decided to jump on again with our fast pass.
We got to EPCOT at 5:30, and had dinner reservations for 6. We jumped on Maelstrom and then headed over to dinner. We had the most woderful meal at Bistro De Paris, a fine dining option. We had a full meal of 2 appetizers, fruit, an entree, a cheese plate, and dessert, which consisted of little samplings of all 5 deserts the offered. each portin was so tiny, so y really got to taste a lot of different things!
The only proble was, that the meal took a little over two hours, which meant that we left at 8:30 and the park closed at 9:00 Sigh. In retrospect, I should have made the dinner for 8:00, and we could have continued our meal after the park closed.
In any case, we hadjust enough time to jump on to Mission Space (The Orange team - more ntense training, of course!) Before we left.
All in all, it was a nice time at Disneyworld. We visited all four parks, had some great meals, went on most of the rides we had planned.... it was awesome!
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
MGM and Magic Kingdom
On Friday, we started our moring at the Magic Kingdom. After pickig up a fast pass fr Tower of Terror, we headed over to the Bown Derby for lunch, where we shared a goat cheese and portobello appetizer, cobb salad, and steak or lunch, with a cree brulee dessert.
After lunch, we went on Tower of Terror, grabbed a fast pass for Rockin Roller Coaster,and then saw the Beauty and the Beast stage show (also known as "Beauty and the Beast in a pathetically edited fast forward...)
Next, we saw the "Lights Action, Motors Stunt show," which is the car/mororcycle stunt show MGM copied from Disney Studios Paris.
In the heat of the midday, we went on The Great Movie Ride, and then finished off our day at MGM on the Rockin Roller Coaster.
Next we hopped on the bus to the Magic Kingdom (a charming ride... the girl behind us puked all over her mother. Blech...)
At te Magic Kingdom, we grabbed a dole whip float as a snack and then went to Big Thunder Mountain to get a fast pass, which would be ready to use in 30 minutes. While we waited, we went over to Liberty Square and rode The Haunted Mansion. Then, we trekked back over to Frontierland, grabbed a Splash mountain Fast Pass and jumped on Big Thunder.
Still pretty warm, we went over to Fantasy Land and rode its a small world and saw mickey's Philarmagic. We took a peek at the new Winnie the Pooh plaground gor the little rugrats before swingi over to Tomorrowland to ride the TTA and the Carousel of Progress.
Tonight was Extra Magic Hours for resort guests, which meant that if yu were stayig at a Disney resort, you could stay at the park for an extra 3 hours. We showed ur room key at a bracelet pick up spot and were given a bracelet, so that once 11:00 hit (normal par closing) we could sill ride rides. Then, we split ne of those Turkey legs (SO GOOD) and a jalepeno pretzel (well, really, I ate it because Grant doesn't like jalepenos.)
Finally, it was time for our Splash Mountain Fast pass, so we headed back there (after swinging by Big Thunder to grab a fast pass.) After Splash Mountain, we split a cheeseburger coo at Pecos Bill's (with the best topping bar ever - they have everything Cosmic Rays does, including grilled onions and mushrooms, but they also have a big vat of melted cheese! YUM!!!)Then we jumped on Big Thunder, stopped to watch teh fireworks show, Wishes, and then went back through Adventure Land and rode the Jungle Cruise. Then we went to our favorite spot in Liberty Square to watch SpectroMagic, Grant's favorite night time parade.
Then we went back to Fantasy Land and got a fast pass to Peter Pan and rode Snow White. By now, the par was officially closed, so when we got to Tomorrowland the line for Space Mountain really only took about 10 minutes, and we also quickly rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (yes, ours is way better) and Stitch's great Escape. No terrified kids!!! Yipee!!!.
We finished our night by riding Peter Pan and left the park at 12:30. It too forever to get back to the Pop Century, and I think my fascination with Disney Transportation has officially ended.
After lunch, we went on Tower of Terror, grabbed a fast pass for Rockin Roller Coaster,and then saw the Beauty and the Beast stage show (also known as "Beauty and the Beast in a pathetically edited fast forward...)
Next, we saw the "Lights Action, Motors Stunt show," which is the car/mororcycle stunt show MGM copied from Disney Studios Paris.
In the heat of the midday, we went on The Great Movie Ride, and then finished off our day at MGM on the Rockin Roller Coaster.
Next we hopped on the bus to the Magic Kingdom (a charming ride... the girl behind us puked all over her mother. Blech...)
At te Magic Kingdom, we grabbed a dole whip float as a snack and then went to Big Thunder Mountain to get a fast pass, which would be ready to use in 30 minutes. While we waited, we went over to Liberty Square and rode The Haunted Mansion. Then, we trekked back over to Frontierland, grabbed a Splash mountain Fast Pass and jumped on Big Thunder.
Still pretty warm, we went over to Fantasy Land and rode its a small world and saw mickey's Philarmagic. We took a peek at the new Winnie the Pooh plaground gor the little rugrats before swingi over to Tomorrowland to ride the TTA and the Carousel of Progress.
Tonight was Extra Magic Hours for resort guests, which meant that if yu were stayig at a Disney resort, you could stay at the park for an extra 3 hours. We showed ur room key at a bracelet pick up spot and were given a bracelet, so that once 11:00 hit (normal par closing) we could sill ride rides. Then, we split ne of those Turkey legs (SO GOOD) and a jalepeno pretzel (well, really, I ate it because Grant doesn't like jalepenos.)
Finally, it was time for our Splash Mountain Fast pass, so we headed back there (after swinging by Big Thunder to grab a fast pass.) After Splash Mountain, we split a cheeseburger coo at Pecos Bill's (with the best topping bar ever - they have everything Cosmic Rays does, including grilled onions and mushrooms, but they also have a big vat of melted cheese! YUM!!!)Then we jumped on Big Thunder, stopped to watch teh fireworks show, Wishes, and then went back through Adventure Land and rode the Jungle Cruise. Then we went to our favorite spot in Liberty Square to watch SpectroMagic, Grant's favorite night time parade.
Then we went back to Fantasy Land and got a fast pass to Peter Pan and rode Snow White. By now, the par was officially closed, so when we got to Tomorrowland the line for Space Mountain really only took about 10 minutes, and we also quickly rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin (yes, ours is way better) and Stitch's great Escape. No terrified kids!!! Yipee!!!.
We finished our night by riding Peter Pan and left the park at 12:30. It too forever to get back to the Pop Century, and I think my fascination with Disney Transportation has officially ended.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Orlando
Thursday night, Danny drove us to th airport Marriott so that we could spend the night there and not have to drive up in heavy traffic in the morning.
The three of us had dinner at Latitude 33. (First food description!) We had the pupu platter which had yummy crunchy shrimp, calamari (that Danny tasted but did not like,) ahi, and chicken wraps. Grant had Filet Mignon and Danny and I had Chicken sandwiches. Yummy!
The next morning, we got to the airport and flew to Orlando. The planes had tv's, thank the gods, because there was a screaming kid in the row right behind us. (Please don;t tell me that could be me someday!)
WE arrived in orlando on time got our bags and rental cars and drove on out to the Pop Century resort (with a stop at Publix to get some groceries.) We are staying in the 50's buildings, on the parking lot side, which is good because it is quieter then the pool side! (Man I am starting to sound like a cranky old lady!)
We drove over to the Plynesian and had dinner at the Kona Cafe. We shared a blue cheese and apple salad and an order of potstickers.
Grant had macedemia nut mahi-mahi, and I had almond and honey crusted Chicken... SO GOOD! Then Grant had a chocolate lava cake dessert and I had a carmel banana creme brulee. Heaven.
We jumped ont he monorail for a quick round trip to the Grand Floridian, Magic Kingdom, and COntemporary Resorts ending back at the Polynesian. As we got to the COntemporary, the Magic Kingdom fireworks began, and we watched them from the monorail, and then once we got back to the Polynesian, we walked down to the beach to watch the rest of them from there. (They play the fireworks music all over the resort, which is really cool!)
When we got back to the Pop Century, we walked around the whold resort, and checked out the 50's section and pool, the 60's section and pool, the 70's section (with the built in twister games) the 80's and 90-'s sections with their shared pools, the time walk along the lake (that has little trivia pieces about what happened during each generation,) and the generation bridge, which will eventually link this resort to its other half, the 1900's - 1940's.
Night!
The three of us had dinner at Latitude 33. (First food description!) We had the pupu platter which had yummy crunchy shrimp, calamari (that Danny tasted but did not like,) ahi, and chicken wraps. Grant had Filet Mignon and Danny and I had Chicken sandwiches. Yummy!
The next morning, we got to the airport and flew to Orlando. The planes had tv's, thank the gods, because there was a screaming kid in the row right behind us. (Please don;t tell me that could be me someday!)
WE arrived in orlando on time got our bags and rental cars and drove on out to the Pop Century resort (with a stop at Publix to get some groceries.) We are staying in the 50's buildings, on the parking lot side, which is good because it is quieter then the pool side! (Man I am starting to sound like a cranky old lady!)
We drove over to the Plynesian and had dinner at the Kona Cafe. We shared a blue cheese and apple salad and an order of potstickers.
Grant had macedemia nut mahi-mahi, and I had almond and honey crusted Chicken... SO GOOD! Then Grant had a chocolate lava cake dessert and I had a carmel banana creme brulee. Heaven.
We jumped ont he monorail for a quick round trip to the Grand Floridian, Magic Kingdom, and COntemporary Resorts ending back at the Polynesian. As we got to the COntemporary, the Magic Kingdom fireworks began, and we watched them from the monorail, and then once we got back to the Polynesian, we walked down to the beach to watch the rest of them from there. (They play the fireworks music all over the resort, which is really cool!)
When we got back to the Pop Century, we walked around the whold resort, and checked out the 50's section and pool, the 60's section and pool, the 70's section (with the built in twister games) the 80's and 90-'s sections with their shared pools, the time walk along the lake (that has little trivia pieces about what happened during each generation,) and the generation bridge, which will eventually link this resort to its other half, the 1900's - 1940's.
Night!
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