Avatar’s 2008 Fall Vacation

[Avatar]

Avatars 2008 Fall Vacation

Quick Links

Part 1 Posted 10/18/08 Kings Island

Part 2 Posted 10/19/08 Magic Kingdom/Animal Kingdom

Part 3 Posted 10/21/08 EPCOT/Hollywood Studios

Part 4 Posted 10/25/08 Typhoon Lagoon/Starship/IOA Universal Studios

Part 5 Posted 10/28/08 Family-Animal kingdom/Magic Kingdom/Mickey’s Halloween Party

Part 6 Posted 10/31/08 Typhoon Lagoon/Departure Day/Final Thoughts

Topic Explanation;

For the past 3 years my family has went to Orlando Florida during my daughters school fall break of two weeks. Several people wished for us to have fun memorable trips and expressed their desires in various forms of going too, I always tell them they are free to come along with us. Last year after our 15 day stay in Orlando (mostly at Disney) I was very overwhelmed in everything we had done while on vacation and just dribbled out bits of information throughout the past year. So this year I am determined to share our 13 day Fall vacation in several segments so that I may get more detailed about each day planned and to give you the reader a hopefully more enjoyable understanding of our vacation and to get more enjoyment out of the $3,900.00 that was spent on the trip. It may even be possible that for those who do read each segment that they will feel they must go to Orlando on their next trip or it may make them feel that there is no need to go now and save themselves the $3,900.00.

Introduction;

We are a family of four my Daughter Miss Rae (8), Stepson Travis (23), wife and myself Avatar/Jesse are all from Indianapolis, Indiana. On this trip Travis will be staying in Indianapolis to work and to help out in my bussines while I am away. My mother, 2 brothers (1 older 1 younger), sister-in-law and niece would be joining us later in the trip for a couple days.

Pre Trip information;

For the past several years Walt Disney World has offered a promotional package to the general public which offers that if we would book at least 3 nights and buy one day park admission for each person, that they (Disney) would give us their Disney Dinning Plan at no charge, which is a $37.00 value per person. The thing is usually after each day it would have cost us more than the $37.00 per person, so to us this is a great deal and we took Disney up on their offer of free food and snacks during the duration of our stay at Disney.

(Photo is a Walt Disney World promotion picture)

So we set our vacation date to correspond during Miss Rae’s Fall school break of September 27 to October 8, 2008. I researched our touring parks and made the necessary reservations of activities to help minimize confusion and planning while vacationing. I made our Picture Itinerary to take with us to help us remember when and where we should be in a fun understandable way.

Every thing was set and ready to go, but then a week before our trip Ryan Suhr called and asked if I would like to join him at Kings Islands Haunt Night on Friday September 26 from around 5:30 PM to 1AM. I have never been to any of Kings Islands scary Halloween events in the past but always wanted to and even more now because I was planning a trip to Universal Studios Halloween Haunt Night. I thought to myself it’s the unexpected turn of events that at times make a vacation more enjoyable. I thanked Ryan for the invite and told him I would be thrilled to come. So now our 12 day vacation turned into a 13 day vacation.

Avatar Family Vacation Part 1

Day 1

Friday September 26, 2008;

I always look forward for so long to our vacation that when it finally comes it doesn’t seem real and takes a few hours to adjust my frame of mind. But the first day is finally here and I met Ryan around 5:20 PM and followed him into the special parking area set up for Media Night. When we parked we quickly met up with Bill (ZosoBeast) and were instructed by the Kings Island event staff to board a waiting ambulance by some gruesome looking individuals who looked as if they needed the ambulance more than we did.

As the ambulance pulled away the driver turned the sirens and flashing lights on to help set the mood for what we were about to experience at the Rakes & Helbig Memorial Hospital currently under new management and formally known as Wings Diner. As we got out of the ambulance we were ushered inside quickly for check-in. My first thought upon entering was that the Rakes & Helbig Hospital was severely understaffed as it looked as if an extremely tired looking and over worked surgeon was trying to admit everyone coming in.

We were asked to wait in the waiting room which obviously was not redone in some time from the looks of the old furniture, plus it looked as if someone had been waiting many years for service.

Do not feel sorry for that individual because from the loud screams at the hospital I think that person ended up being the lucky one.

Our names were called and we were told that the wait would be much longer but that dinner would be served and to follow them to the Mess Hall. I think they should have other staff taking the new patients to the Mess Hall as surgeons only knew how to take us there through the surgery room. The surgeon who was taking us to dinner was asked what they should do with the body parts of a screaming patient, and he told them to serve it. Quit literally as you can see.

I would just caution new patients to not go to the Rakes & Helbig Memorial Hospital complaining of a headache. It is evident that they are unaware of Advil and have their own way of dealing with headaches.

I am not sure how I did it but I somehow managed to serve myself a plate of food that was as scrumptious as it looked.

You know once you get past all the screaming, blood and guts everywhere this Rakes & Helbig place is a real step up from the old Wings Diner tenant. Evidence as you’ll notice the tablecloth, real china and tableware.

As we were trying to have conversations over the loud screams from the hospital, one of the members from our table noticed several odd looking creators showing up at the windows.

At this point one of the chiefs of staff known as Dr. Helbig came to our table. As a side note notice Dr. Helbig’s yellow under shirt, which was cause for me to confuse someone else for Dr Helbig several days later.

He welcomes us to his domain and to please help ourselves to a scrumptious desert that he and his surgeons have been working on all afternoon.

The desert was actually pretty tasty and I was going to ask Dr. Helbig for the recipe, but as I was about to go ask him for it several more creepy creators showed up at the side doors and started pounding on the doors and while the others creators on the windows outside.

After about a minute of this one of the creepy creators broke in the door followed in by the rest of the bunch (no not the Brady’s) and went from table to table screaming, shouting and obviously looking for someone they had a beef with. Well it must have been that Dr. Helbig they were looking for, because when one of those creepy creators saw him they went and busted a bottle right over his head and then all the creepy creators hovered over him then they all picked him up and carried him off.

At this point everyone was invited out to go to the new Kings Island Haunt maze Urgent Scare. Which as being my first Amusement/Theme park scary Halloween event I was amazed at the details, scactors and so many scenes that was used to create the many haunts. I truly enjoyed seeing all the haunted scare zones and attractions. Just walking through Kings Island seemed so surreal and different from any event I have ever attended.

As the night wore on I started to wonder how the guys at camp Diamondback were holding out and at the time one of the campers had been missing for a while, then just like that I stumbled on a sad site. So I am not for certain how to break this to you Diamondback campers but I think I finally found iChase.

We started to head toward the International Showplace to watch Dead Awakening as the reviews have always been highly talked about. Dead Awakening lived up to the hype and is in my opinion a not to be missed show. I noticed several performers in Dead Awakening and I think this show brings out their true professional talent to the forefront. I took a short video from show and will share this will you now. (I hope its ok to show this)

There is another show this year and it is new called “Ghouls gone Wild” I was not expecting much from this show so I was blown away from this fun high energy show. If you all have not seen it I would highly recommend taking it in on your next visit.

It was getting closer to 1AM so we went towards the front and I got a picture from one of the Creepy creators and noticed even his eyes were creepy.

As we were about to leave we ran back into Mr. Helbig again and was able to share with him our thoughts of the Halloween Haunt at Kings Island. I will just say I thought it was fun way to spend an evening during the fall and I don’t know why it took me so long to come to one but I can guarantee that I will me attending many more in future.

At this point it was past 1AM and I had a flight to catch back in Indianapolis at 6:55AM. I drove back to indy safely and had just 2 hours to get myself ready and load the car for the airport.

Side Note;

I wanted to get this part of our trip report up as early as possible because I wanted to everyone to know that Kings Island Halloween Haunt is great and should not be missed. I always worried about the lines but the two shows and dinner (Fright Feast) would be enough to get me to come back in itself. I did not go into great detail for all the haunt attractions as I have seen numerous reports about those and will add my thoughts to those reports too. I have some very nice things to add/say about Kings Islands Halloween Haunt compared to Universals but I first want to do that report before I try to compare the two. I do plan to add more days of the trip as soon as possible and probably run a few days together in the Part 2.

Thanks for taking the time to read and giving me the opportunity to share/reminisce our families fall vacation. Jesse

Part 2 Hint – Nick-or-Treat

Quik Link to Part 2 Posted 10/19/08 Magic Kingdom/Animal Kingdom

[Guest TombraiderTy]

Sounds like a fun night at Haunt. I love how detailed and fun your schedule for Disney is with all the clip-art and colors. I hope you guys have an awesome time.

[windshawne]

Great pics. I have a strong stomach, but for some reason seeing that plate of food in those surroundings made me sick. Ugh. Not sure I could do it.

[Guest TombraiderTy]

Holy crap! Is that a cake? At first I was wondering why the park could've buy some realistic props

[ZosoBeast]

I LOVE how detailed your trip reports are! Loved having you along for Media Night. Glad you had fun!

Looking forward to part 2!

[Avatar]

Yeah – that was real cake, most of it anyway and here it is from another angle.

Bill – yeah it was super great starting my vacation out with you guys I had such a great time that I plan to be there next year on opening Friday. I got a missing SD card somewhere that had more haunt attractions on it and I can not find it for the life of me or part 1 would have been even more detailed.

Windshawne – I first I was like that too but as I thought about it I was like it’s going to be a long night I better eat.

[windshawne]

That cake reminds me of the armadillo cake in steel magnolias (chick flick). Same concept-when you cut into it, it looked like blood. I was actually ok until I saw that slab of meat-ugh.

The whole thing is a great idea though

[Avatar]

Avatars 2008 Fall Vacation

Quick Links

Part 1 Posted 10/18/08 Kings Island

Part 2 Posted 10/19/08 Magic Kingdom/Animal Kingdom

Part 3 Posted 10/21/08 EPCOT/Hollywood Studios

Part 4 Posted 10/25/08 Typhoon Lagoon/Starship/IOA Universal Studios

Part 5 Posted 10/28/08 Family-Animal kingdom/Magic Kingdom/Mickey’s Halloween Party

Part 6 Posted 10/31/08 Typhoon Lagoon/Departure Day/Final Thoughts

Part 2

Day 2

Saturday September 27, 2008

I am going to pick this up at 5:45AM as we are heading to the airport at this point I have been up for 24 straight hours but now my body clock resets itself and I am fully awake and not at all tired. Travis takes us to AirTrans curbside check-in and as we are unloading Lisa asked “where is the beach bag with all the swim suits and towels?” I looked at Travis and said don’t speed but at this time of day, if you go straight back to the house and right back here you’ll make it in thirty five minutes. He did and as I approached the boarding gate Miss Rae and Lisa was waiting for me as we were the last few to board. So far so good and to be honest that would be the last true worry of the trip. We took off and took or annual in flight pictures.

We touched down a few minutes before 9AM and Bee lined it straight for Disney’s Magical Express check-in. for those that do not know when staying at one of Disney’s resorts, Disney will pick-up your luggage for you at baggage claim and put your luggage in your room later in the day for no charge and on top of that transport you via a bus to your Disney resort. We boarded our bus for the POP Century Resort.

We checked-in at POP Century

Our room was not ready but we were told we would be in the 70’s section of the resort.

We then stopped by the concierge desk to finalize a few last minute details and dropped our carry on luggage at baggage services to be put in our room when it was ready with the rest of our luggage. So now we go to the Resorts bus stop to catch a bus to Magic Kingdom which buses run to most Disney locations about every 10 minutes or so.

The bus drops us off close to Magic Kingdoms front gates and as we go through security check Miss Rae requests that we ride the Train (Walt Disney World Railroad), which is fine with us because it is right in front of the park as you go in and would save us some walking to start this day off.

So as we just go in the gates and head up the stairs, that is were we get our first glimpse of Main Street USA and Cinderella’s Castle just barley 10 hours after I left Kings Island parking lot.

It just then hits me We Are Finally Here!!!!!!

We rode the Train around and then got off at the Frontierland station right by Splash Mountain. It was getting hot already so I decided it would be best to go ahead and get a set of Fast passes to Splash Mountain so we could ride later with no wait. Lunch wasn’t until 1:30PM so we grabed a quick snack and waited for the Liberty Square Riverboat.

It was at this point that I realized from looking at Miss Rae listening to her music that she has been growing up since our first visit here and since it was just the three of us I was going to make sure that this trip was going to be relaxed and extra special.

After that we get another set of fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad a coaster ride. I actually bribed Miss Rae before we left that if she would ride the above mentioned attractions plus Everest that she would be able to keep her new Kitty back home (which she would be able to keep either way), I had to resort to these tactics or to be domed to another year in Fantasyland/Nickelodeon Universe. I did share a fear to my wife that I would be so embarrassed if she got on a ride and started crying and saying she wanted to ride to keep her kitty in front of others (did not happen).

We stopped at a couple shops on our way to our lunch reservation and I bought a nice green Hawaiian subtle Mickey shirt in the Adventure land area. We then had lunch at Tony’s Town Square Restaurant, Which is the modeled after the Italian restaurant in the movie Lady and the Tramp.

Lisa had the Baked Ziti, while Miss Rea and I had the Shrimp Pasta.

After lunch we got Fast passes for Jungle Cruise (figured out the Hint from part 1 yet?) then calmly explained to Miss Rae that it would be best for her to go ahead and ride Splash and Thunder Mountain now so she would not be stressed worrying about it. She was reluctant but agreed if she could ride next to me.

I was so proud of her and I could tell she was much relived after riding both. (Easer said than done though)

We rode Miss Rae’s old favorite Peter Pan’s Flight and looked to see how crowded the park was that day by using the stroller parking area as a gauge.

It was now getting close to 4:30PM and time to reveal the hint from Part 1 report. DeLorean Rider from KICentral is in the Disney Collage Program and working at the Jungle Cruise Attraction at Magic Kingdom.

I knew ahead of time that Nick would be working on the day we would be there or later in the week passing out candy at the Halloween Party. I felt the opportunity to meet Nick and to see him in action working at an attraction that comes across to me of one that Nick enjoys working at the better option and gives us KICentral members a unique opportunity to see him in action. Some planning ahead and as luck would have it we got Nick DeLorean Rider in action.

The rest of the day was spent riding other attractions using the fast pass system until 8PM when Spectro Magic Parade started.

Then immediately following finding a place were we could comfortably sit and watch Wishes. You’ll see in the beginning of the next day why we needed to sit and watch Wishes. I am going to put the beginning of wishes up to show how nice the sound track plays to the show and you can hear the excitement of Miss Rae and other guests during the start of the show.

Obviously it has been a long two days and it was now time to go back and find our room and unpack. We were given room 265 and our ticket cards were already encoded to work so we went straight to the room and found our entire luggage with a towel animal made by the maid waiting for us in our room. I quickly unpacked and decorated our rooms window and door to add our piece to the Disney Magic.

It is now 11:45PM and this is the end of day 2 unless you would like Lisa to give a full description of me sleeping very soundly.

Day 3

Sunday - September 28, 2008

We wake up at 6:15AM as we usually do while on vacation and this is considered sleeping in for us. We follow a general rule of thumb of trying to be at any amusement/theme park 20 minutes before rope drop; this means we need to leave our room no later than 8:10 to be there on time according to our own guideline. Plus this morning a local scoter rental company said they would drop off my mother’s rental scoter at 7AM at our room. My mother would not be coming in until Thursday, but it was cheaper to rent the scooter for a week verses just the days she would be there for. We normally buy a box of donuts the night before to tie us over till a normally early lunch in the parks.

As we were getting ready to go to Animal Kingdom, Disney’s biggest and most spread-out park we were concerned with Miss Rae’s feet.

I also had developed a blister from two long days in parks and because Miss Rae was pushing my foot down hard with her foot on the Indy Speedway Car rides gas pedal. My problem was a quick fix of just switching shoes and wearing socks, but Miss Rae would require us to buy a pair of pink Disney crocs for $32.00.

We like to getting a Fast pass for Everest then riding Kilimanjaro Safaris first.

I have over the years taken photos of Miss Rae riding Kilimanjaro Safaris and because I knew some day it would be fun to look back and see her progress. The first picture is 2006, followed by 2007 and the last being of course 2008.

We then worked our way towards Everest but ended up watching Flights of Wonder bird show as it was just getting ready to start and to keep us off our feet as much possible.

The show is ok and since we had seen most everything at Animal Kingdom we were in no rush, especially since we would be returning back to Animal Kingdom on Friday. The Kali River Rapids was close by and still on the way to Everest so we did that and I must say the theme through the whole ride is excellent and I like having a dry place to store my camera equipment while riding.

We finally got to Everest and had another bravery/courage talk with Miss Rae, she was very nervous but I had convinced her that Big Thunder Mountain was rougher than Everest. Which is true but l left out the going backwards in the dark part. After she rode it I don’t know if she remembered much about it as all she could say was now I get to keep kitty!

We ate lunch at the Flam Tree BBQ where the picture of Everest above was taken from. It was getting hot and humid so we went over and took in the Festival of the Lion King Show. The show is inside and is air conditioned which was a wonderful break not to mention one of the best shows on Disney’s property.

After the show we let Miss Rae play for about 45 minutes in The Boneyard children activity area to let time pass while we waited for the late afternoon parade.

We found a seat on the parade route and I shot some video of the Mickey’s Jammin Jungle Parade.

After the parade we made our way to the Downtown Disney area, had dinner at Captain Jacks followed by shopping at many of the various shops there.

We got back to the resort around 9PM and turned in for the night

Side Note; this is the end to Part 2 and I will continue with Part 3 soon and as long as you guys want me too. The second half will tend to go faster as there is little to explain and some parks are repeated.

Part 3 Hint – Yellow = Confusion

Quick link to Part 3 Posted 10/21/08 EPCOT/Hollywood Studios

[Dane]

Oh wow. Another trip report from Avatar that can be stickied as one of the best.

[The Interpreter]

Amen...what a tremendous TR!

[XGatorHead 8904]

Great TR so far, Avatar! You're making me feel like such a slacker... You STARTED your WDW vacation a week after ours ENDED, and I still don't have mine done! I'll work on mine this week. But keep it coming, can't wait to see more.

And we were in the 70's at Pop Century too... I'll have to check to see if I can find the room number, but if I remember correctly it was pretty close to 265.

[RailRider]

Great TR so far. I have been looking forward to this since you got back. This is helping us determine if its too soon or not to take Zoe on a Disney Cruise and Land trip. Love the timeline pictures of Rae from 06, 07, and 08. Your giving me ideas.

Thanks for a great TR so far and I am patiently waiting for the next instalment.

[Avatar]

Thanks – Dane and Terpy, that means a lot from you guys.

XGatorhead 8904 – you are not a slacker – it takes time to get back and write one of these things. My first year there it took me a month or better to write one and a couple more to complete for just the parks, although I added homemade movies to them. The last year I did not do one at all, so this year I had decided in advance that I was going too and preplanned a bit to help motivate me to do so ASAP. I do look forward to yours and sorry I went right past and did not make the connection.

RailRaider – Thanks for the support this is a big undertaking, but one I am enjoying doing. Today while at work I kind of made a rough draft for the rest of the report, to help me remember everything and to help it go quicker when writing each part.

As far as taking Zoe, everybody is different about it. Many say they want to wait until their children are old enough to remember (which is fine), but that’s when they start getting to old to believe in Fairytales. If Zoe watches some Disney shows then bringing those characters to real life that she can see and feel is what some call magical moments. You could always go on a shorter stay in the off season to see how she does, before a more expensive Land and Sea trip.

I’ll just add that my brother lives 30 minutes away and I swear to you that it is cheaper to stay on Disney property than it is staying with him for free. That’s the truth.

Other Readers – Thanks for reading my goal right now is to have Part 3 out tomorrow sometime and to have a new part out every other day with most likely 2 days in each part.

[RailRider]

Those are almost our thoughts exactly, seeing as how she is growing up so fast already, we want to start now. She watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and My Friends Tigger and Pooh, so to bring those characters alive for her would be amazing. We shall see, because next weekend we are taking her to MickeyMouse Clubhouse live in Columbus, I think she is going to absolutely love it and will just make mom and dad want to take her to Disney sooner than latter.

Can't wait for the next installment.

[Avatar]

Hey RailRider a couple more thoughts while your considering your options. If you go to Orlando in the off season the crowds are really low the airline and resorts packages are much cheaper. So until Zoe starts school you can take advantage of those deals, because once she starts you’ll pay the full price and wait in long lines.

Last thing I thought you might enjoy hearing about. On Disney property Girls are greeted and addressed by the Disney cast members as princess. Example when a cast member says something to your daughter they’ll say hello princess or what can I get for you princess.

Have fun at the club in the meantime.

[king_cobra_27]

Great Trip Report Avatar!!!! AWWWWW, The Pop Century...That is where I stayed for my first trip EVER to disneyworld. Those pictures just make me feel all good inside. Thank you so very much for that!

[BoddaH1994]

Looks like Mr. Trip Report himself did it again!

[Avatar]

Yeah thanks, I must say I am enjoying doing this one but it is definitely time consuming.

Part 3 should be up by 5:30 PM.

[RailRider]

Its 5:45 and Im still waiting

[Avatar]

It would be up now but i'm getting an error code so it may be too many pics in a post. i am working on it, sorry

[RailRider]

Just giving you a hard time with the deadline you impossed upon yourself. Dont worry I will wait days for another classic Avatar TR.

[Avatar]

Avatars 2008 Fall Vacation

Quick Links

Part 1 Posted 10/18/08 Kings Island

Part 2 Posted 10/19/08 Magic Kingdom/Animal Kingdom

Part 3 Posted 10/21/08 EPCOT/Hollywood Studios

Part 4 Posted 10/25/08 Typhoon Lagoon/Starship/IOA Universal Studios

Part 5 Posted 10/28/08 Family-Animal kingdom/Magic Kingdom/Mickey’s Halloween Party

Part 6 Posted 10/31/08 Typhoon Lagoon/Departure Day/Final Thoughts

Part 3

Day 4

Monday September 29, 2008

We woke-up and went through our normal morning routine and arrived at EPCOT by rope drop at 9AM. Because of possibility of long lines we rode Soarin and Fast Passed it for a later flight. Next a quick walk through Living Seas and a ride with Nemo & Friends. Since Miss Rae is 8 we decided to have a conversation with Crush at Turtle Talk.

We completed our rounds in the Future World by doing;

Figment Imagination

Honey I Shrunk the Audience

Ate Lunch in the Land Pavilion

Used Fast Pass on Mission Space

With coaxing

Used Fast Pass on Test Track

Miss Rae played me before riding Test Track, by getting me to agree to let here play in the kids play area at Mission Space for 25 Minutes. I have always felt the best way to tour World Showcase is to tour the various counties by yourself. Everybody has their favorite counties and shops and when you’re by yourself you can speed through some countries while totally immersing yourself in others. So I sent Lisa on her way and told her to meet us in Japan around 4:15 for dinner.

I would be going to Universal Studios in a couple days by myself so I was looking forward to some alone time with Miss Rae. We toured and rode Mexico and Norway attractions. Shopped while in China.

Miss Rae noticed the pedestrian Bridge was up and that the LED world globe center piece for that nights firework show was being pulled into the lagoon.

I really liked the relaxed time that we had and just let Miss Rae set the pace in what we seen until dinner time at Japan’s Teppan Edo restaurant.

It ends up the large structure holds two restaurants inside one severs fresh Sushi made to order.

The one we were going to is a Japanese Steak House. We were ceremonious greeted when we checked in.

The atmosphere was very professional and they followed many Japanese traditions in serving us. They Chef was one of the best I seen as far as entertaining the table.

We had Miss Rae on the Adult Dinning Plan so she could order from the adult menu as she much prefers those meals than the few child choices. Her favorite food choice is Shrimp and can eat double her weight in one serving. I think Teppan Edo ended up being one of her favorites restaurants while at Disney.

After dinner we went next door to America to watch the American Adventure program. As we were exiting the theater we could hear a concert at the American Gardens Theater.

Epcot during their Food and Wine Festival has a daily concert series called Eat to the Beat, tonight Sheena Easton was performing.

Miss Rae enjoys listening to music and has attended a few concerts so we decided to watch. When we entered there were plenty of seats to choose from.

We like a large variety of music, my wife and I grew up listening and danced to some of her hits. While we were there she talked a lot and rearranged many of her song bills. It seemed to me that as many attendees that were coming in where leaving too. We left shortly after I shot the video clip below. If you play the video clip please don’t complain to me we wasted valuable park time so I do not want to hear it.

After we left the show we walked across two countries to Morocco. As we entered the county another band was playing by the lagoon it really had a festive sound to it and guests were drawn to it, including ourselves. As I listened to the lead singer, I said to myself “Wow this guy has got talent”. When we got closer and I could see them I noticed the lead singer had a Yellow shirt on and looked like Don Helbig back at Kings Island. I said to myself Dam Don has even more talent than we thought, could this be a new show back at Kings Island for 2009.

Turn the sound down a bit before starting this one.

So I got my camera out to record this Helbig sighting and this hidden talent, but as I paned closer I realized it wasn’t Don at all.

I was a bit disappointed but quickly turned my attention to their next number!

Lisa wanted to buy a souvenir and have it shipped back home so I sent her with Miss Rae to purchase it while I took advantage of using my Monopod to take some night pictures of such an awesome place.

Morocco

Morocco Market Place

Morocco

Japan Drum house did not come out well but I did get one decent night shot while in Japan

Met back up with Lisa and Miss Rae close to America

It was getting close to 9 and I knew a great spot that gets over looked by others but offers a great angle view of Illuminations of Earth. Video is 9 minutes long and is the first part.

Of course you can’t leave out the last couple minutes of Illuminations.

The busses to the resorts are so packed right after the show, so we usually hang back a bit and enjoy the atmosphere. I took advantage of this to get more night pictures of the various countries.

Italy

Italy

Italy

Germany

China

China

Mexico

Mexico

On the way back through Future World

Fountain in front of Space Ship Earth

Space Ship Earth photos

Mouse Gears Gift Shop

We got out of Epcot about 10:00 and had a half empty bus take us back to POP Century.

Avatars 2008 Fall Vacation

Day 5

Tuesday September 30, 2008

We are going to start this day much earlier than normal for just a bit. It is 1:30AM and I have been tossing a lot but now awaken by what sounds like a Disco Party going on outside our door. I get up and have a peek. Sure enough loud disco music playing, disco lights are illuminating the walkway in the courtyard but no one in sight. I laid back down and picked-up the phone and called the front desk, when they answered I polity and in a joking way asked if there was a Disco Party planned for the seventies section and if they forgot to let everyone know about it. They seemed confused at first then I told them the music was exceptionally loud tonight outside and was wondering if somehow after 11PM it did not get turned down. They said they were not aware of it but would send someone right out to check on it. So for the next 10 minutes while the Hustle was playing I started to reminisce about my childhood, school and most recent a trip to Kings Island on Knievel day. Then just like that the music stopped and I remember telling myself as I was drifting back to sleep that “I think this is the first time I was ready to leave the 70’s behind.

Later that morning we went to Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly know as MGM Studios) for rope drop.

Miss Rae had found an outfit earlier in the week and thought it would be perfect for Hollywood Studios, I think you’ll agree that the shirt says it all, but the skirt is what she really liked about it.

We followed most everybody to the new and very popular Toy Story Mania and got Fast Passes for a later ride, then got in line for it.

Then we rode it.

Toy Story is a must do ride and a lot of fun to do with your family.

Since we were right there we took in the Voyage of the Little Mermaid.

We then took turns riding the Rock-n Roller Coaster, which is a lot like Flight of Fear and that is my current favorite at Kings Island. The wait was 5 minutes and the park was too slow for them to offer Fast passes. I had to have my picture taken while waiting for Lisa.

I did the Tower of Terror while in that area and Miss Rae was very happy I did not have one of those bravery talks with her.

Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular was having a 11:30 show, so we rushed to catch that.

We had a reservation for lunch at Prime Time 50’s Café which was right next to the theater.

It is modeled as if you where having dinner in your kitchen back the 50’s. The wait staff act and talk like your at home and part of the family, I’ll just say you better keep your elbows off the table and eat all your vegetables. I had the very delicious chicken pot pie.

Miss Rae had the children’s plate of chicken breast with macaroni marinara.

For desert you haft to look through a blue view finder and go through the selections to see what they offer.

We decided to take in Lights Motor Action show before block party then went and immediately got a good spot for their afternoon Block Party. While we waited for the Block Party a cast member named Jess approached us as he seen my name on my shirt

He talked to Miss Rae a lot and pulled out a small memo pad and doodled some pictures for her as he asked her questions.

^ it is a doodle of all the parks, starting left to right, Tree of Life/Animal Kingdom - Cinderella Royal Castle/Magic Kingdom – Space ship Earth/EPCOT – Rockn Roller Coaster/Hollywood Studios – with a few clouds and bird at the top.

I know this as he told us as he added each one to the doodle.

It ends up that he was hired in with the Magic Kingdom crew back in 1972. He was exceptionally great at getting all the kids in the area involved in the activities before and during the Block Party. They had hula hoops for the children to keep them busy while they waited.

Miss Rae has never been very good at it but one cast member keep helping her.

She finally got it to go around a few times, she was excited and wanted us to buy one when we got back home.

The next one I just threw in because I just like it.

Block Party started and was very entertaining.

They would go for a bit then break out into dance moves and would get the children involved.

The show was fun and for the life of me I do not know how those Block Party cast members keep their energy up, let alone the heat at 3PM.

After the party we did some more family attractions and took the time to watch some street performances on Sunset Boulevard.

We took in the Beauty and The Beast show.

It was getting to be about 7:15PM so we went to get seats for the Fantasmic show, which an absolute must see when ever you go to Hollywood Studios. Besides Hallowishes at Mickey’s Halloween Party I think Fantasmic is the best night show at Walt Disney World. I am going to but the start of the show on now and the ending on our last night.

On the way out of the park Miss Rae found a Hannah Montana shop and found several items she liked and she would save her vacation money and get them on our last night there.

Part 4 Hint – Things that fly / Fish, Starship and Witches

Side Note;

You may have noticed we did 4 straight days of theme parks in a row, I highly and do mean highly recommend that nobody do that. We have went in the past few years and limited ourselves to only doing certain select attractions, plus my family would be joining us in a couple days so we knew there would be certain things we would be doing with them. I always recommend no more than two park days followed by a rest day.

Quick Link to Part 4 Typhoon Lagoon/Starship/IOA Universal Studios

[RailRider]

Wow I am impressed by the trip so far. As I was reading I was amazed at 4 park days in a row and then I caught your disclaimer at the bottom. Im worn out just thinking of 4 straight days, can only imagine how you guys were doing.

Question, when you plan your Disney trip do you do it mainly through their website, use a travel agent or Disney's planning materials that they will mail out? Just curious as you know we are getting the Disney itch.

Great report so far.

[indianapolisman]

Thanks for spending all this time to put together such a wonderfull and detailed trip report. Has anyone ever told you that you could be a spokesman for these parks? I can only hope your getting some rest now. I'll look forward to reading and watching the rest later. Thanks again Avatar for taking us along with you.

[Avatar]

Thanks again Avatar for taking us along with you.

Thanks for the wonderful compliment.

Thanks RailRider to be truthful we were tired but with all honesty, we were more relaxed this trip than past trips and only did things we wanted. Our first couple visits down there had us scourging around trying to get everything done, now that wears you out. Because we were on the dinning plan we usually had a nice sit down waited on meal planned to give us a great meal while we rested.

Now to answer your question; everybody is different and your answer is it depends on how much planning you want to do yourself.

It is amazing how many people will spend thousands of dollars to go and just show up without a basic plan.

Now for the Disney Resorts and most other reservations that a travel agent makes for you, they own that reservation not you. That means if you want to make changes only your travel agent can do that, which is hard because sometimes deals come out and only a limited number is available, you haft to go through the agent to do it. Some travel agents are great and watch for deals for you.

Others like to plan have a more hands on approach, Disney website is ok but is very limited on the information. I would suggest a few Disney Forum sites such as DIS http://www.wdwinfo.com/chat.htm or Mouse savers http://www.mousesavers.com/ . I order the planning kit and free maps from Disney but do the rest on my own. If you like following a basic plan there are a few out there who offer that, I belong to a paid site that teaches you how to plan because there is always a possibility changes will need to be made when down there. We use the system successfully at KI too.

I would say look at the two sites above decide when you’re going then call Disney and reserve a room and if a discount comes available they apply it for you. Also keep in mind many of the restaurants we choose the reservation are made months in advance Cindy’s at least six months out or hope for a cancellation.

A lot of members have been already and will help you but if you would like PM and I’ll give you some trade secrets ins and outs and help you get started.

The deals are out there you just need to go get them.

[luff]

Great detailed trip report Avatar. Its nice to see your insights to the parks, and remember what we did there two weeks ago.

There is no way I could post my own trip report after such an excellent one, so I will just add a couple of my pics from the Disney Cruise Ship.

After 4 days in the parks, and 3 days on the ship, both of my kids (5 and 8) said they liked the ship better than the parks! That could be because we had one rainy day and one rainy night at the Magic Kingdom.

I have never seen the Spectromagic parade in the pouring rain.

Back to the cruise ship. We had a cabin with a balcony. Great views every morning with the sunrise and every evening with the sunsets.

Each kid was in a different kids club. We could barely get them out to eat dinner. They had so much fun with games, activities, the characters, and socializing with their new friends. This also allowed us adults to spend time in quiet relaxed areas.

One of the great deck parties they had was a Pirates IN the Caribbean party. A lot of the crew and many of the guests threw on their pirate outfits

After 11:30pm they started showing the Pirates of the Caribbean on the Jumbotron around the family pool

The final day was spent at Disneys private island, Castaway Cay. When the kids went off to their clubs for some beach game time, we rented bicycles and rode to the end of the island, and looked at the view.

Back in the middle of the island they put up an observation tower. You can see how big the island really is.

Later in the day my son and I rented a Hobie Cat and sailed out to get a good glimpse of the Flying Dutchman.

After it was over, we were all worn out, over fed, and wanting to stay longer

[Jasper]

Wow an amazing trip report and on of the best i have ever seen to add to that. It is hard to beleive that in less than 10 hours you went from Kings Island to Magic Kingdom.

[Avatar]

Luff – I am glad you took the time to share your experience with us as we talked about in the PM’s. Your pictures are stunning out at sea. Hobbie Cats are great to sail on too.

I will just add I think your post of a trip report was great and if you have more please share.

I haft to admit I love sailing off shore and have not done so for several years, your photos was like a shock wave of emotions, now I just got the bug back thanks.

[Cory Butcher]

This is a Tremendous Trip Report! My family up until two years ago went twice a year, for Fall break and Spring Break. I was scheduled to go this past August, but alas medical issues prevented my family from going. Your photos have given me that itch to go even more than I already was longing too!

WDW is just such a magical place, I cannot wait to go again! Thank you for taking us into your family and sharing your trip! It certainly gives me some ideas for my next trip!

[CoastersRZ]

I was down at Walt Disney World in early September for research related to my thesis topic (sure can`t go wrong with that type of research). I haven`t had the time to upload my trip report from the five days I spent at WDW. But as you can clearly see from this wonderful trip report, Disney is a very magical place to visit.

I`ve been to Disney World twice, this past September and back in June of 2004. If you have the chance to go, I HIGHLY encourage that you go. You will NOT be disappointed. The overall experience at Disney is bar none the best in the industry. Hopefully, I`ll be back at Disney sooner rather than later, and I certainly hope its not another four years before I get back down there.