A Disney Studios Day

 Disney Studios is one of my favorite parks - mostly because of the look and feel of it in the evenings. There is more neon than you can shake a stick at and it feels like you are in the late 40's or the 50's. Maybe its just me but it gives me a feeling of nostalgia even though it was way before my time.

We rope dropped once again and they held us at our first ride which was Rock-in' Roller coaster.

Fashion Update - Today they are dressed as Woody (or Jessie) and Buzz

After Rock-in' Roller Coaster we went to Mini and Mickey's Runaway Railway

Some of us rode Millennium Falcon Smuggler's Run and later in the day we all rode it together. I believe this photo is from the latter.

We took a break which included lunch and rest at home and then returned where some of us went to the Frozen Sing-a-long

Next we met up at Toy Story Mania

After Toy Story Mania Megan and Olivia toured through Star Wars Land and Addison, Emily, and I braved the Tower of Terror

In the hotel basement and getting ready to enter the service elevator

We got back together in time for our appointment at Rise of Resistance

Next to Slinky Dog in Toy Story Land

As always - All days at Disney Studios end with Fantasmic

An EPCOT Day

 The second park we spent the day at was EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). This is appropriate since this is the second park that Disney built. That was back when the men closest to Walt Disney were still at the helm. The park is certainly not the best of the Disney parks but it is reminiscent of the days before the company seems to have lost its way. I love Disney and probably always will but I hope that the next CEO has a vision for the parks and will spin off all of the many investments that Disney has made that served to distract them from their vision (like ABC, ESPN, Hulu, and at least majorly revamp Disney+). Walt Disney promoted America and American pride but somewhere, after his death, the company began to look at itself as a political influence pusher instead of an entertainment company; a la its mission statement "To Make People Happy."

We started the day with a rope drop to the frozen ride since we already held a lighting lane pass for Ratatouille later in the day.

Fashion update for today: The girls are Nemo and Dory

On to Frozen

Then over to Nemo and friends

Eventually we got back to Spaceship Earth (the golf ball ride the girls used to call it).

Mexico pavilion and the The Three Caballeros Ride.

After this we decided to take a break and maybe a nap back at the house. When the girls were little we operated this way - clearing out before the hunger and the heat of mid-day. Who knew that everyone (even our grown adults) still found that this works great for us. We came back into the park in the late afternoon - just as we always have.

After our return, it became time for our reservation at Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind. This was Emily's first time on this ride and it makes everyone feel like it is our first time too.

Ratatouille was down most of the afternoon. We happened to be close when it came back online and we got right in to use our lightning lane. Again, it was Emily's first time on this ride and she loved it - we all did

We spent a little time in Japan and Morocco

We separated for a little while and came back together at Moana's Journey of Water

The day was coming to an end and Olivia was not feeling well and went to the car to rest. Megan went with her because that's what moms do. The rest of us stayed for the closing show "Luminous The Symphony of Us." A few months ago Megan and I went to EPCOT and it was so busy that you could not move in the streets. No so today, we had no trouble finding great space around the lake to watch the show.

Addison had one of the new magic bands. They light up during most of the shows and Emily and Olivia got new ones for this trip. Emilhy was admiring the effect of this show on her new magic band. Megan and I have magic bands from 12 years or so ago.

An Animal Kingdom Day

Today was Animal Kingdom Day. We got up for rope drop and ended up doing Kilimanjaro Safari first. This is a picture of the crowd at rope drop.

This year Addison and Emily decided to wear subtle costumes to the parks. Today they are Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.

We saw The Lion King and Nemo Shows and rode every ride in the park

We rode every ride except for the Kali River Rapids which makes you more wet than your average raft ride. Olivia was going to ride it but the ride closed due lightning just prior to boarding. After riding the safari it was the Dinosaur ride. We wanted to ride it one last time because it will be closing later this year to make way for Indiana Jones.

One more picture of the most beautiful girls in the world to me - then back to the house

A Davis Disney Family Vacation

 Every vacation comes with its own set of challenges. I have dealt with it many times over many years in this blog. The easiest thing to do is not to go. One primary hurdle is, and has always been, financial challenges. We go on vacation together, not because it makes financial sense or is an emotional imperative. It is an experience that we share and that we will reference in our minds, in our hearts, and in our conversations for years to come. We remember them - the good and the bad. The memories and experiences make us more - more of a family because we shared something more and - at the end of the day it will grow us. Whether it be Disney, Zion, Myrtle Beach, or Costa Rica - these experiences and our joint faith in God, whom we all serve, will help us to make it through life together. After each adventure we have been able to say of one another, "I love you more than I ever did before."

One of the most difficult parts of this trip is saying good-bye to our boy Mac for a couple of weeks. He is going to be with great friends of ours who love him to the moon and back and who will be a great big part of his future. We will pick him up in a couple of weeks but we love him big and will will miss him still.

 

There are always preparations and logistics unique to each of these trips. For the first time in our long line of three basset hounds we brought the dog along. He rode 12 hours like a champ and, so far, Fenway is a little unsteady and unsure why is allowed on this little soiree. He seems to be waiting for some other shoe to drop but we will see how he takes the rest of the trip.

This year we will not travel together for the first time. A new Airline began to service New Bern to Orlando about 2 years ago. If you work the system you can get to Orlando and back very inexpensively. However, we could not begin to get all of our stuff to Orlando on the plane paying per bag as you have to do on this airline. So Megan and Olivia flew while I drove along with Addison and Emily Grace. This is a picture of Megan and Olivia leaving for home (the rest of us were well into Florida by then).

This is the house where we will be staying and it looks pretty much like all of the thousands of other houses that you can rent in the Disney vicinity. We always enjoy getting to pretend like we are rich because we have our own pool. 

The car that you see in the driveway is a different story. It is a 2026 Chrysler Town and Country. We have rented cars for trips before but this time the lean budget caused Megan to research deeply for the best deal. She discovered that we could save over $1000 by renting a car to come here; another car to drive locally while here; and yet rent another car to drive home. This turned out to be quite cumbersome with each rental having its own hoops to jump through but most certainly worth the money. My wife should have become a travel agent - she is awesome.

The first night we rested and got settled into our place. The next day, Tuesday, was a rest day but we decided to spend a little time at Disney Springs. First we encountered the famous icon that signaled that, beyond any doubt, our vacation has begun.

We visited a number of stores and stopped at the Disney customer service center to have Addison's magic band aligned with our account. After a while we went back to the vacation house for rest. We returned to Disney Springs but by then the afternoon storms had set in for the night so we decided to catch a bus and then a monorail to resort hop. 

We arrived first at the Polynesian Resort. 

You can't go to the Polynesian without having Dole Whip

Next on the monorail line is the The Grand Floridian Resort and Spa

I ran into my favorite person in the whole wide world while we were there so I wanted to get a picture with her.

We finished our tour at the Contemporary Resort