We did go to one more part of Disney while on vacation – Downtown Disney. We were blessed to visit with extended family one evening while at Disney. They drove quite a distance to have dinner with us and it was great. The best part was watching all of the kids chat. By the end of dinner they were all wearing smiles and laughing. Wonderful.
While there, we stopped to enjoy the Lego store. Man, that was some great lego. Elspeth spent quite a bit of time crafting a small car that she raced alongside other kids. It was really cute and pretty fast, but it did have some stearing issues (it tended to drift to the right).
Both my girls rode the bus today. They ended up coming home over heated, tired, hungry but content with their days. Katrine says that she has nice teachers and friends in her class. Elspeth says that she has a boy teacher who doesn’t smell so he must shower; oh and friends too. What more could you ask for.
This was our final leg of the trip….the journey home.
To help break up the monotony, we scheduled one stop. Chocolate world! Now that is one yummy smelling attraction. It was enjoyed by all and chocolate was purchased before we finally headed home to familiar beds.
Even the sign looks yummy.Now that is a lot of kisses.The tour ride had really cute singing cows along with delicious looking chocolate.
We visited this park at least four times this visit because we wanted to see as much as possible. The expansion of Fantasyland to include castles for Cinderella, the Beast, Ariel and Rapunzel has been really well done. There was a lot of things to discover each time we walked through. For instance, we didn’t even notice Rapunzel’s tower until we walked past the hanging lanterns at night and looked up. They have also reworked the Dumbo ride and it is amazing. They have added an air conditioned indoor playground where you can let your children play while you wait for your turn to fly with Dumbo…or you can just go in to let them play and cool off. they have also added hands-on activities to other waiting areas that helped to prevent an attack of the “How much longers”.
Winnie the Pooh areaWinnie the Pooh areaInside the Dumbo queue.Another shot from Dumbo
Cinderella’s castleRapunzel’s towerInfront of Gaston’s pub. He was one of our favourite meet and greets.
They have also added a treasure hunt, complete with pirate map, to Adventure land and a sorcerer card game to Main Street, Frontierland and Fantasyland. The girls had a lot of fun searching for treasure and battaling disney villians.
Yup, actual treasure map.Getting ready to cast a spell.
Of course there was the character meet and greets. The wait for Anna and Elsa without a fast past was about 40 minutes which is way shorter than we had feared it might be but we used a fast pass anyways. The other princesses have also be moved to thematic settings. Tiana is inside air conditioning decked out in Mardi Gras colours and Merida’s area looks like a Scottish castle courtyard; just to describe two.
This time we were actually early enough one day to watch the official park opening. The mayor of Main Street comes out to welcome you. Then a train pulls up full of characters who come to the railing and wave. Then a count down and in you go!
As usual the parades and fireworks were top notch. If you are heading to Disney, I would suggest that you pack some glow sticks. At 8 for a buck they are way cheaper entertainment than the various light ups for sale and can be a distraction during the wait for something to start (the girls made magic wands).
Glow stick fun.
One all time favourite ride is the Jungle Cruise. I just love the signs and props as you wait. Katrine actually got the silly jokes and puns this time while Elspeth just enjoyed the sights. We enjoyed this one in rain and at night.
Okay, some random photos:
I actually refrained from buying him.His tail could come off.Cooling off in one of the misters.
This was a hot day. The weather was nice and sunny…until after dinner when the rain began. By the time we were lining up for Fantasmic the skies opened up. Within ten minutes we were soaked except for the parts covered by our ponchos. Then the thunder and lightening began. We called it a night and headed back to the hotel for some warmth and snacks. Even though we missed the cool light show it was a fun day.
Two hot girls waiting for their popsicles to arrive.
We began the day by waiting to meet Princess Sofia. Elspeth discovered this show over the summer so she simply had to meet her. Both girls were excited to meet Phineas and Ferb as well as seeing Ducky MoMo.
While Elspeth played at the playground Katrine went to the Monster Inc meet and greet. The location was very well decorated and had nice big fans.
Both girls enjoyed the Star Wars section. They also thought it was funny when Glenn jumped up to play Gene Kellly from Dancing in the Rain.
For Elspeth the day was about Frozen. The parade, the sing-along, the short movie clip and the Olaf show, they were her highlights. At one point in the sing-along Elsa let lose her powers and snow fell from the sky. Elspeth’s mouth fell open, she stopped singing and dancing to look up at the ceiling in awe. “Look! She really can make it snow!” It was a true Disney moment.
Both girls thought that Olaf looked just as cute in person. Wish that there had been a meet and greet.
This visit began without rain and then, well the sky opened up. It did stop by mid afternoon and we stuck it out with wet sandals and then trucked over to the Magic Kingdom to sneak in a few attractions in case it continued to pour. The may have given us soggy shoes but thanks to those fabulous ponchos we stayed nice and dry.
This is one of the places we went to in the rain. Definetely a fun way to dry out.
There were a couple of highlights.
1.Katrine got to ride on her first backwards coaster with her father while Elspeth and I went to visit Pochahontas and explored a bit of Dino-land. (Hence the fewer photos of Katrine).
No photos of Katrine without her China sister but here is a Mickey pretzel they enjoyed while chilly.
2. The rain actually brought out many of the animals on the Safari Ride. We got to see a baby rhino frolicking in a mud puddle. Plus, the birds and elephants were out in force.
3. Our lunch at Tuskers, but that is another post.
Okay, of course I need to end this post with some random images of our day.
Nests as far as the eye can see.This was the biggest nest that I have ever seen.Elspeth got a chance to explore a southeast Asian instrument.
This is where we began our holiday and we were lucky enough to actually go back a second day as well. On our first day at Epcot we were actually able to spend the day with some of Katrine’s China family which was super fun! Love how happy she is about spending time with these girls.
Heading out to Downtown Disney for our first meal after arriving from the beach.
This was Elspeth’s first time at Disney and she was wide eyed. Her first ride didn’t get her but her second ride was Soarin’. All through the ride she was exclaiming over how she was flying and she had always wanted to fly. Once she got off of that ride, she was in the mood and ready to discover what else the park had to offer.
On the very first ride of our vacation.
Epcot has Katrine’s favourite princess – Mulan. We were second in line to meet her. Now that was a hot, sweaty wait. It was Elspeth’s first princess of our stay and although you won’t know it from any of the photos she was pretty pumped. According to her she simply couldn’t smile in the sunlight.
We love Mulan. She is one self-rescuing princess.
Right before dinner it started to rain and thunder. I would highly recommend to anyone traveling to Disney at the end of August to pack cheap ponchos. With Erika brewing we used those ponchos extensively over the next seven days. You can get ponchos at Disney but mine were cheaper and Elspeth’s made her look like a ladybug.
We headed through the rain to visit Jasmine and Aladin at their new indoor digs.
On our second trip to Epcot we stayed to watch the Illuminations show. We had just come out of Mexico and there was an empty spot at the railing so we took it. Little did we know that some of the fireworks were actually going to be launched from the other side of our viewing spot. Now that was a bit of a shock; but also exciting. I would highly recommend the Illuminations show. It is visually beautiful.
And now for some random Epcot memories:
The Land building has some very interesting ideas for growing food.
After a short stop for some fresh Georgia peaches we continued heading south to the beach.
Clearwater has beautiful beaches. Soft white sand and clear water with the scent of salt in the air. And two very excited girls who shelled, wave jumped and built castles to their hearts content. It was a wonderful morning.
Glenn actually found our gluten free restaurant and what a discovery. Frenchy’s Grill. We sat on the deck overlooking the beach. The three of them ate fried grouper nuggets while I enjoyed their mahi mahi with coconut rice. A very yummy meal before we got back on the road for Disney.
We woke up to a nice sunny day after a very relaxing night’s sleep.
The main reason that we selected the OMNI hotel was not its location (which is perfect for seeing central sights) or it’s pool. Nope we chose it because their breakfast buffet has gluten free options.
Threw in some yogurt and fruit = ready for the day.
After fueling up, we walked through Olympic park. Had a brief playground stop.
Okay, a slide made out of rollers. Very cool.
Then hit the Georgia Aquarium….home to Whale Sharks. It was amazing. Just look at the photos.
Steampunk sub for Captain Nemo!
The dolphin show was fun.Albino alligators
Shark egg!BelugasElspeth was beyond excited to get so close to a penguin via one of their pop-up domes in the display.
As you can tell, this was Glenn’s choice of stop.
The staff were not impressed when I commented that this 600 pound Grouper would make for some tasty dinners.
We sat for a very long time just watching the whale sharks, rays and fish swim around the giant tank.
This was our dinner location of choice and it was YUMMMMY! They have an extensive gluten free menu and it was made fresh. You get to customize your order. I went with a beef burger on a gluten free bun with bacon and ketchup. I also got the fifty-fifty order of fries and onion rings. Man, were those delicious onion rings. In fact, they are the first onion rings that I have had since diagnosis. I also got to sample their sweet potatoe fries which were also great.
Glenn said that we were going hipster! A lot of fun.
Sweet potatoe fries (GF)Total GF mealGF milkshake
After dinner it was time to hit the pool. We stayed at the Omni Hotel right beside the Olympic Park which had a great view. The girls were pumped to swim under the stars in their salt water pool. Very relaxing.
