20 Search Results for "disneyland"

• Disneyland, FL by night

  • From: annagirl
  • Description:
  • 4 weeks ago
  • Views: 41

• Hague's Version of Disneyland

  • From: shattman
  • Description:

    During the summer of '74, I lived in Holland with my family. I was working at the Univ of Leiden, but had time for excursions every weekend. One that our youngest daughter, Becki [5 at the time], liked was visiting Madurodam  in the Hague [Den Haag]. It was a huge area replete with small scale (1/25) models of just about everything you could find in Holland: all manner of buildings, churches, airports, railroads, opera houses, etc.. And there was 'stuff' inside to enjoy, as Becki no doubt was observing.

  • 1 month ago
  • Views: 60
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• Disneyland at Dusk

  • From: Rebalyn
  • Description:

    Lights and movement of the Astro Orbitor in Tomorrowland.

  • 1 month ago
  • Views: 57

• here in disneyland

  • From: misladis
  • Description:
  • 4 months ago
  • Views: 62
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• Kenzie and Mickey.jpg

  • From: ouiserbynature
  • Description:

    Disneyland...the Happiest Place on Earth!!

  • 4 months ago
  • Views: 53
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• Tinker Bell and the Twins.jpg

  • From: ouiserbynature
  • Description:

    Disneyland...the Happiest Place on Earth!!

  • 4 months ago
  • Views: 104
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• Edith and Mickey.jpg

  • From: ouiserbynature
  • Description:

    Disneyland...the Happiest Place on Earth!!

  • 4 months ago
  • Views: 66
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• Family Disneyland.jpg

  • From: ouiserbynature
  • Description:

    Disneyland...the Happiest Place on Earth!!

  • 4 months ago
  • Views: 61
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• San Diego, Los Angeles and Ana

  • From: johnrichard
  • Description:

    San Diego, Los Angeles and Anaheim is the most beautiful city in USA. These cities are good travel facilities in tourist. I am first time visit in these cities for USA and put the entertainment in my travel. My wife is too happy in this travel. There are also most popular tourist destinations because of its fine weather, sightseeing, restaurant, nightlife and great accommodations. And you have to need to stay in and there are many accommodation facilities that help to get beautiful look of places and have the fun of the nightlife are Inn, discount hotels and many more. Today you can get book room online by internet. I visit these three cities San Diego, Los Angeles and Anaheim in September 2008, and got lots off fun and adventure of the places.

     

    San Diego (01/09/2009)

     

    San Diego is a modern city in state of California, which is also well known for the wildlife conservation movement, being home to a Sea World theme park and the world famous San Diego Zoo, beaches and Wild Animal Park. I book for cheap san diego hotels by internet and after confirm my ticket. I reached that city by airplane at San Diego International Airport. This airport was most beautiful decorated. I am four day visit for in this city. But I hire taxi and reached to my hotel at noon. I put my luggage in room and get fresh and take lunch. San Diego is an excellent place. In my journey I visit in the different places. Sea World was a very beautiful theme park, which was very nice. Sea World is a huge park with lots of shows, exhibits, rides, animals and things to do, which were the star of this park includes Sharks, dolphins, sea lions, and other aquatic creatures get their moments in the California sun as well. San diego Zoo was one of the largest and most progressive zoos in the world. The zoo was good facilities in which animal shows run constantly, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred. San Diego Maritime Museum was very nice. The museum has one of the world's finest collections of historic ships, including the world's oldest active ship Star of India. Our collection of ships and exhibits are available for daily public tours. Ocean Beach, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and La Jolla beach I got adventure of the water activities like swimming, fishing and many more. San Diego's miles of beaches provide excellent opportunities for surfing. San Diego Bay are excellent places for sailing, windsurfing, and jet skiing. San Diego Bay offers amble opportunities for sailors to enjoy the water, with plenty of anchorages and marinas catering to all boaters. The fourth day travel I got remembers the moments of my journey.

     

    Los Angeles (05/09/2009)

     

    Los Angeles is the largest city in the state of California. Los Angeles is an important center of culture, business, media, and international trade, but is most famous for being the center of the world's entertainment city. The city’s population is about over the 18 million. Before the visit this city I got all the information about the city and book the cheap los angeles hotels by internet. I reached that city by Los Angeles International Airport. I called taxi and reached to my hotel at noon. I put my luggage in room and get fresh. I am first time visit in this city, which is very popular tourist destination in Los Angeles. Mulholland Drive was a very famous drive. It was the setting for endless movies and first kisses, and provides great views over the city. America's most famous Street Rod Limo see over 40 celebrity homes, which enjoy a smooth ride in this classic limo. Olvera Street was the historic center of Los Angeles. The oldest building in the city lies here and is open to visitors, as are a number of restaurants, bars and shop. The Museum was very nice and beautiful, which was the culture center and home of museums and galleries. This day I see many museums like historical museum which was showing the history and culture of this city by exhibitions, museum of art which was very nice with latest collections of arts & galleries, and science center with many exhibits. Griffith Park was a second largest park in the city and there are more adventure of the hiking, biking and other sports in downtown are dodgers, Lakers, clippers, galaxy, chives USA and la kings many more attract the crowed. This is the most beautiful shopping mall and there are a lot of beautiful shops, restaurant, and computers and I bought some clothes, gifts, shoes and chocolates goods in the Los Angeles. Eight day The Rooftop Bar was famous bar and gets the more fun of the night life at night. Los Angeles travel was so excited travel.

     

    Anaheim (10/09/2009)

     

    Anaheim is worldwide famous destination for its home Disneyland, adventurous in the united states of California. This city is situated in the southern of California. Recently, I visit this city with my friends for enjoying holidays. By getting closer to this city we feel very happy and enjoy our holidays. We went to this city by air and for staying we reserved our Anaheim hotels from a travel site which gives us a list of cheap anaheim hotels. All the hotels were available on discount offer with all the modern facilities. We went to this city by air for four days. First day we leave our house early morning and fly to this city with an excitement in heart. First we reached to this city; leave our flight at Los Angeles international airport and caught train to get this city. As we reached to this city, we feel very happy and hire a taxi to get our final destination means our hotel. We spend our first day of trip in journey, rest, and interaction with Anaheim people. The next day, all of us get up early morning, get ready, and went to destinations of this city. This day, first of all we went to see Disneyland which was the most attraction of this city and draws many visitors. This Disneyland Park was looking like a magic kingdom. We spend our all days at this park because this destination meets up with a lot of activities by which we can’t take time for other destinations. On the third day, we went for the other attractions of this city like California adventure, Water Park, museums, and other. All these sights were very nice which enjoyed our great adventurous of life. This day, we also enjoyed the nightlife of this city. On the last day, we went to garden walk which was containing with a lot of shops and market from where I and my friend take some good things and came back to hotel with these nice memories. At the time of evening, we leave our hotel, reached to airport by train and fly to our hometown with moments and memories of this city.

     

  • Blog post
  • 4 months ago
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• Adventure Summer Holidays At H

  • From: colton
  • Description:

    California third largest state and first major destination for tourists in United States. With many regions of California have its own reputation but south region of California is more famous because south region is home of Disneyland, Hollywood, miles of beaches and world’s most popular destination Los Angeles and San Diego that are adjacent to each other. Recently I visit south region of California with my friends for enjoying holidays. Except holidays no more options in our life that we can do get together and in holidays we get so much time and in these days we enjoyed our friendship of one year and memorize all moments. A little bit all of us were familiar with this state because of world’s adventure destination and we also take a tourist guide to know more about this state that was very helpful for us because by which we know that a lot of cheap hotels are available in this state that provides all facilities just like home. All of us planned to go this state by air and after making reservation for air and hotels we fly to this state from our home town on May 22, 2008.

    The first day was that day when we leave our home town to south region of California and reached to Los Angeles that was the major destination of south region of California. We reached to this city at late morning because the distance was very less from our hometown and to save our time and to avoid traffic we choose travel by air. As we leave flight we collect our luggage and went to our cheap Los Angeles hotels by public transit that was reserved from a famous hotel site by searching with hotels in Los Angeles. The mistake that was taken by us that we prefer to catch our hotel by public transit because of traffic we water our so much time and also get tired. But by getting our hotels room we feel so energized because it was well interior, decorated with all facilities. So, taking some rest in hotel remove all stress and by taking some refreshment we went to visitor center to know about this city and then went to market for enjoying streets of Los Angeles and then by taking dinner all of us came back to our room with preparation of other day.

    The second day that was our second day for trip and we travel around this city by car to save time and to avoid traffic also. This day first of all we went to Griffith park where all of us enjoyed hiking trails, zoo, and ridings that’s were for kids. From this park we see great view of this city. At a very short walking distance from this park six flags magic mountain park was there that were a theme park for enjoying water ridings and all of us enjoyed them. This day we also travel around historic and cultural sites that were very nice and showing the history and culture of this city. By enjoying the nightlife of this city we came back to our hotel take dinner and went to our bed for sleeping.

                   The third day that was another outing day for traveling around other cities of this state. This day we went to Hollywood city where written word of Hollywood on mountains was most visible symbol to enter in this city. In this we saw many live performances at Kodak theatre and watch a movie at Grauman’s Chinese theatre that was most famous movie theatre of world and Hollywood sign was most identifiable where we enjoy hiking near this sign. In this city the nightlife was fully for youngsters that we enjoyed very much.

    The fourth day that’s was adventurous day because this day we travel around east side or harbor area of this city where a lot of large varieties of activities were there. At this side, we meet up with Echo Park that was a hot picnic spot and a good place for picnic and we enjoyed here a lot of water activities and adventure ridings. This day we also went to long beach and harbor area where we enjoyed water activities and other areas of attractions like Recreation Park, gondola gateway, china town and museums of arts and history. By enjoying this full city we came back to hotel.

    The fifth day that’s was San Diego trip day. This day we leave this city early morning and start travel to San Diego by car that takes only three hours. While going to this city we see many areas of attractions and by seeing these we realize that really this is a modern city of California because we only heard about it never see this city. This city is known for its environment, miles of beaches, nightlife, destinations and other point of area of attractions. This day we travel around beach because we spent a lot of time without beach activities and as we get beach we can stop our feelings and start to enjoy them. At beach we played in sand that was very cool and at beach we enjoyed swimming, surfing, fishing, and boating. By seeing sunset at beach we came back form beach and that’s was our bad luck that we can not see sunrise. By enjoying all beach activities we came back to our San Diego hotel that was reserved before one day to leave Los Angeles from same site that also offer lot of cheap hotels in San Diego with discount offer on reservation. In this city, there were so many beach cities but enjoyed at La Jolla beach and because it was most famous and at this beach a little pool were made for children in which kids can enjoy.

    The sixth day that was another day in this city was very nice because this day we went to Balboa Park where we see many arts, history, and technology museums that were very helpful for kids and all other ages. At this park, we saw San Diego zoo where a large number of animals were there with so many exhibits. At this zoo, a lot of gardens were there like rose garden, botanical garden, and Moorish garden. At this place a lot of hiking and biking trails were there to which them we enjoyed a lot.

    The seventh day, we went to rock climbing that was most popular adventurous and birch aquarium where we meet with opportunities to see excellent exhibits. This day we also went to another beach where we enjoy scuba diving, whale watching, and riding with wave. All these were suggested by a traveler who enjoyed these and also suggest enjoying these and all of us gave him thanks to meet with new life adventurous. In evening, we went to downtown, from where we do shopping and enjoy nightlife because it was perfect place to enjoy nightlife in this city.

    The eight day that was the last day of our trip enjoyed other sites of San Diego and other cities of south region of California. This day we travel around only to our hotel and surrounding areas and at the time of evening, all of us checked out our hotel to go for our hometown. While leaving this state, all of us memorize our days that we spent get together and fly to our hometown.

     

  • Blog post
  • 5 months ago
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• How To Do Disney World Like Fu

  • From: Funkidivagirl
  • Description:

    After a fun-filled week at Walt Disney World we are back home and I’m very grumpy.  It was a hard re-entry for me both physically (the exhaustion finally settled in) and mentally (back to reality).  This morning my husband told me to go find my Mickey ears and put them on because I needed to get out of my funky mood.  

     

    I experienced my first Disney theme park (Disneyland) when I was five years old and have very vivid memories of having a great time.   But living in the Midwest for most of my childhood, I didn’t go back to Disneyland until I went to college on the West Coast and then I would go several times a year.  Often I went to Disneyland on a whim if I was having a bad day and it never failed to cheer me up.

    But as much as I loved Disneyland and as many times as I had been, I had never been to Walt Disney World and I was just dying to go.  I figured, if I had so much fun in the “land”, well the “world” had to be even more fun!  When we moved to Atlanta in 2003 and I found out that Disney World was only a 7 hour drive away, I began plotting and planning.   My daughter’s 5th birthday in October of 2006 was the perfect excuse.

     

    So we went on a four day vacation for her birthday and had such a blast that we couldn’t wait to go again.  It took a few years, but finally we made it back to Disney World for the entire spring break vacation last week.  This time we were able to experience more and move around easier without a stroller and mandatory naptimes. 

    Disney World can be tons of fun or a nightmare vacation, depending on how well you plan both in the logical sense and mentally as well.   If you don’t like Disney as a brand or the Disney characters, really don’t even bother going.   It will be a very expensive waste of time for you; Disney World is not for cynics.  The people who enjoy Disney World the most are the ones who can suspend belief and get into the spirit of the place.  Even if you don’t ride a single ride at Disney World you can have a great time just being “in the magic”.

     

    Trust me when I say that Disney World is not a place that you roll up to without a plan!  Your plan can be loose or it can be airtight, but you need some sort of plan because Disney World can be overwhelming.   Besides the books and websites that I will recommend, you have me, Funkidivagirl, to help you!

    Our touring of Disney World was based on my kids’ ages, our interests, likes and dislikes (or fears) and my many trips to Disneyland.  We haven’t ridden every ride or seen every attraction; sometimes we didn’t have time or it just wasn’t of interest to us.  My husband doesn’t like birds, so we didn’t see anything related to birds and I’m the only one in my family who rides fast roller coasters.  Despite our quirks, I hope that reading about our experience will help make your Disney vacation fun, (relatively) stress-free and most of all, magical.

     

    PLANNING

    Walt Disney World, while tons of fun and really one of my favorite places to vacation, is quite a beast to plan.  I don’t go anywhere without some sort of research and planning and Disney World was no exception.  I read books, surfed websites, lurked on forum boards and read endless reviews.  Now, I admit that I am kind of crazy about it because I like to always be well informed, but even I was overwhelmed with all the information.   Finally I was able to put together a good plan for our 2006 trip, test it in the field, take notes and use that knowledge for our latest trip.  

    A good book to read is The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World and the accompanying website, touringplans.com.    The official Walt Disney World website, disneyworld.com, is good for general planning or booking your vacation, but it doesn’t give detailed information on each ride, attraction, hotel and restaurant like allears.net, which is my go-to website for all Disney World information.  Mousesavers.com is a great website dedicated to saving money at Disney World.

    When planning what parks to see on what days, look at the Crowd Calendar in The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World or on touringplans.com.  On the off-season it really doesn’t make a difference, but during the busy season it can.  Also, the book recommends that if this is your first time at Disney World (and you are traveling with kids) to see Epcot before Magic Kingdom.  I agree with this because Magic Kingdom is the best and the most magical and my opinion, Epcot is the least; if your kids see Magic Kingdom first then they will expect every park to be like that and they aren’t.   But of course some kids are just dying to go to Magic Kingdom and won’t rest until they do, so you may not have a choice but to see it first.

    Next, if you are staying on Disney property, see what parks have Extra Magic Hours on which days.  If you are willing to get up that early or stay that late for the Magic Hours, plan your park days accordingly.  You can find out the Extra Magic Hours on disneyworld.com or allears.net.

    By now you should have a rough itinerary of your days at the park and you can make reservations for table service restaurants.   If you plan on eating at quick-service restaurants for your whole vacation, then you don’t have to bother with this step, but I would encourage you to have at least a few restaurant meals.  For the most part Disney World has the normal quick service food—burgers, fries, chicken strips—and it can get old very fast and quite frankly it isn’t very good.   But the restaurants at Disney World have very good food and we’ve had fantastic food experiences at several places.   During the off-season you may be able to walk up to a restaurant and get a last-minute reservation, but during a busy season the reservations fill up very quickly.  I made our reservations about a week before leaving home and I had a hard time getting the places and times that I wanted; it is best to call for reservations as soon as possible (up to 90 days before your vacation), especially for the more popular restaurants.

    Right now is good place to say a word about the Disney Dining Plan:  On our first trip we didn’t have the Dining Plan, but we did on our last trip as part of a vacation package along with the hotel and park tickets.   Comparing the two trips, I think we saved money with the Dining Plan, which is $39.99 per adult (anyone over age 10, so that’s 3 adults for us) and $10.00 per child per day.  Each day included a quick service meal (drink, entrée and dessert), a table service meal (drink, entrée and dessert) and a snack (drink, ice cream, pretzel, popcorn, etc).  Considering that an entrée or buffet at a table service restaurant can easily run $26 for adults or $10 for a kids’ meal, it’s a good deal if you like to eat in restaurants (and we do).   Since we paid for the Dining Plan up front before leaving home, it made our vacation feel all-inclusive and we didn’t have to think about how much we were spending on food.

    However, there are a few drawbacks to the Dining Plan....  *Oops!  This travel journal is too long to post here; please go to Funkidivagirl.com, catergory "T and in Tango: Disney World" to read 3 very comprehensive posts about Disney World and see photos as well.  
    

     

  • Blog post
  • 6 months ago
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• Harvard Art Museum-Boston

  • From: johnrichard
  • Description:

    Boston is one of the oldest cities in United States. This city is most historic, wealthy, influential, and most popular for its attractions, destinations, nightlife, and accommodation facilities like hotels. Boston city is the capital of Massachusetts. This city draws many visitors every year for its attractions which made this city one of the tenth most popular destinations in United States. I reached to this city and after taking some refreshment I went to market for taking light junk food. This day I also know more about the attractions of this city. After knowing more I went to parks and gardens which were situated around my hotel. I also take enjoy the facilities of my hotel which were available like pool, sports room, fitness center, internet, and more. I found this great accommodation from an online reservation hotels site which gives me a list of cheap hotels in boston with all the facilities at discount offer. I went to see the famous Museum of Fine Arts, Harvard Art Museum, Museum of Science, USS Constitution Museum and Warren Anatomical Museum and full day enjoy in this city for museum. This museum was providing many hand to hand exhibits and providing practical facts of some experiments. This journey was of 3 hours long. I got this city, leave airport, hire taxi, and reached to my hotel which was very nice. This day I went to see the Boston Harbor Islands State Park. At these parks I take a lot of enjoy of water adventurous and feel very excited in Boston Harbor Islands at this park. This day I also visit Boston Harbor Islands State Park, Boston Common and Public Garden. I went to see the Copley Square enjoy the fountains, visit the top of the nearby prudential building, see the Boston Public Library, visit the beautiful Trinity Church, or go shopping along Newbury Street and It is a great combination of mystery, music, audience participation, food and fun. This is different shows and locations for a memorable evening in Boston.

     

     

  • Blog post
  • 6 months ago
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• Sleeping Beauty Castle Disneyl

  • From: jennimartin
  • Description:

    Brian and Jenni at the happiest place on earth

  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 132
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• Photographers in Antelope Cany

  • From: daronshade
  • Description:

    I very much enjoyed watching the photographers work, both experienced and inexperienced shutterbugs seemed to be in their own worlds, as if it was an adult Disneyland for the landscape photographer. Speaking of experienced shutterbugs, here's legendary photographer Jack Dykinga under the hood with photographer Jeff Foote in the foreground. I have been writing about my photoshoots on my website, www.maranaphotography.com 

  • 6 months ago
  • Views: 165
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• Venice Canal

  • From: jannycam
  • Description:

    The charm of Venice lies off San Marco Square and down the little winding lanes intersected by canals. What could be more Venetian than a gondola gliding beneath a little bridge as the sunset reflects off ochre and terra cotta walls. San Marco square was as crowded as Disneyland on its worst day, but there were plenty of quiet places to be found as we got lost in the maize of back alleyways lined with shops full of elaborate to elegant Venetiian masks.

  • 7 months ago
  • Views: 166

• Thailand Day 10, 11 oh I don't

  • From: johng807
  • Description:

    Thailand day 10, 11 or something…

     

    The price of gasoline is about $1.50 gallon, a new moderate home away from the city about $130,000 and a bowl of turtle soup about $23………….. Where did that come from?  $23 for a bowl turtle soup?  Well, it seems turtles are considered a source of longevity and virility.  I did not order any aside the price because I have already completely the longevity part of this equation, and the virility….. well one must have someone around to need virility.  So I guess I have 3 reasons for not consuming the potion.  Ok so yes I had to ask why.  You knew I would.  It seems that snakes, at least ones that are not a threat of your life, and turtles have to do with an old wives’ tale.  The polite, small framed, medium skinned, clear completion, impeccably clean and dressed uniform, with broken English female concierge explained she did not know the old tale.  But has always known these two unlikely creatures are considered in Thai custom as sacred.  Therefore you are to never kill or injure one, but only if necessary for one’s safety.  On another one of my little side notes; A concierge is a wonderful thing to have around.  It sort of reminds me of my “fix it” man in the dark, smoggy, under the mono-rail, sex tourism area of downtown Bangkok.  Full of information and always ready to assist in any way.  Somehow I feel so much more comfortable with this beautiful girl, than with Mr. Fix-it whatever his name was……. Remember, I had just a card with his number, no name on it.  This girl had besides her beautiful features, was wearing an identifiable shinning name tag.  It’s easier to trust someone when one knows their name.  Back to the $23 bowl of turtle soup, which incidentally was in a small local restaurant where I ate a full meal for $5 yet offering this delicacy.  I saw no snake items on the menu but did see a section dedicated to turtle.  There were about 6 or so choices for your consumption.  Now think about this dilemma for a minute.  Turtles are protected due to one of their customs.  Also they consume very little beef simply because they do not see the necessity of killing something that produces another product.  So, if no turtles are killed here, where the heck does the meat come from?  As with everything else in world, including the U.S., it is imported from India. It figures because India is willing to supply any item needed from another country.  Look at the outsourcing in the U.S.  If you call for assistance on that fancy new item you just had to have and now have no idea of how to work it,  who do you get at the other end of the phone?  Usually, India of course.  India offers so many services that outsourcing has now become their main commodity surpassing tourism.  So, if you are in the need of turtle meat in this case, just hop on that new computer that you just finished speaking with India on how to use it, get onto the website operated by India, where you order turtle meat from and it will be arriving on next day air.  Freshly “harvested” ready for your consumption.  Enough of turtles. 

     

    Yesterday was a long day starting at 5:00 a.m., dressed and down for the free buffet breakfast, then into the lobby to find our ride already waiting.  Off to the elephant compound about 1 hour away.  This tour was pushed as one of the best offered and it really was.  We arrived, shown to a stadium for yet another elephant show.

     

     

     

     

    Not as good as the previous day’s show, but still ok. 

     

     

     

    Then down the dirt, elephant droppings path to the mounting ramp for our elephant ride.

     

    For the next 45 minutes, we were on the back of this massive but seemly gentle mammal slowly prodding down the elephant made path toward the river.  Even though these elephants have been equipped with a blanket padded, wooden sided 2 seat strapped to it’s back, it was still a very rough front to back and side to side slow walk.  It reminded me of riding a horse, ok so true that was way back in my teen years but I still remember, in slow motion and someone else was at the control of the horse.  Our “driver” was sitting on the head of the animal about 1’ to the front of our feet which were attempting to rest on the shoulders of this tough skinned few long heavy haired animal.  Our driver called out commands and directed our ride with his knees behind the animal’s large ears flapping against his side.

     

     

    Everything was going fine and just became a little unnerving when he turned down a steep slope toward the fairly rapid river.  It was obvious from this chain of tourist ridden elephants, we were going in the river and don’t try to say different.  As steady footed as a mountain goat on a ledge, this huge item under our seat trekked in the water, then walked up stream and eventually exiting the other bank at a predestined location en-route the lush green darkening jungle to the front of us.  There seemed not to be much one can do at this point but bob back and forth, front and back and hold onto the wooden rails as best possible for this non-OSHA approved Disneyland type ride.  Occasionally you must duck due to the branches, which were not hanging low; we just were up high enough to be in the trees territory.  About each 10 minutes or so was a tall announcers type wooden structure the same height as we were, selling sugar cane and bananas as treats for the elephant.

     

     

    I’m sure this is a lucrative business at a hundred or so elephants pass daily and each tourist is expected to purchase at least one bunch of edibles at 20 baht (55 cents) to entice the elephant to proceed down this dirt with large holes path.  You were considered a good tourist if you occasionally donated another 20 bath for the driver a drink of either orange soda or water.  Seeing as we were at the blessing of the driver, we kept both the elephant and him happy.  We continued through the jungle emerging out to see daylight occasionally, up and down the hillsides

     

     

    then down another steep bank of the river to cross again.  This time it was deep enough to get the drivers feet wet which put the majority of our powered transit under the water.  Successfully back on the trail to another “donation” station, another 20 baht for the driver’s drink and 20 baht for the elephant’s sugar cane we continued till we came to an opening where suddenly we join several other riders dismounting.  I might mention that when you dismount and climb down the stairs to the ground, it is not like it is a controlled animal goes one way and tourist goes another.  You are thrust among 20 elephants some with drivers and similar to crossing a busy street, but the street was missing and you are in a large open area.  You just wait for the right time and cross when no elephant or the large droppings were present.

     

     This is very challenging because one does not know if these large very strong animals kick, bite or toss you aside with their 6’ versatile trunks.  But yes, all tourists safely made the challenge over to the small stands set up to sell trinkets as you pass to your next challenge.  I can best describe this experience as one of the TV reality adventure series but with old, weak and non-able humans participating. This time we were standing in front of another mounting platform constructed for the tourist convenience to enter a wooden, very old, creaky cart pulled by two fully grown Oxen. 

     

     

    Once again driven by a driver that had, what we hoped was complete control of these two, twice the size of a cow, creatures pulling us along in this cart.  Again, don’t expect comfort.  These carts are made entirely of wood with the old western stage coach style wheels rolling down a hard dirt unlevel path.  Another 45 minute ride but this time with no “incentive” stations.  We again dismounted into a chaos of Oxen, carts and smaller “land mines” of animal droppings, not knowing exactly where to go.  Our tour guide had given up instructions, just follow the crowd.  The problem being is that we were the crowd.  Thus we just looked around for a logical path which usually leads us to the correct destination.  Rounding a corner as we walked, we found a group of bamboo rafts tied together with a few persons standing there waving their arms for groups of 4 of us being assigned to each raft.

     

     

     

     

    These rafts were just as I said simply large stalks of bamboo strapped together. 2 wooden benches loosely sat on top and 4 passengers were pushed away from the bank of this same river with the captain using a longer, thinner bamboo stick as a guide.  There is no rudder, motor or radio to call the Coast Guard for rescue.  Just you, 3 other passengers sitting on these small wooden benches not strapped down to anything, a bunch of bamboo poles under your wet feet and a captain with a stick.  Off we go floating at the discretion of the rivers current.  It is amazing how one’s fears or more like concerns are soon qualm.  Our captain had complete control, with the exception of the water splashing up through the openings between the poles under our feet, of this 6’ x 12’ wooden raft.  A group of 4 rafts with 4 passengers each gently floated down this beautiful river observing several elephants, people swimming while they wash these creatures, and the beautiful floral on the banks.

     

     

     

     

    After about another 45 minutes, this time red sunburned from no shade, we were guided to the bank by our captain and directed to go up the bank for our awaiting vehicle.  Air conditioning inside the van has never been more appreciated.

     

     

    Our guide, which was the first time we had seen him since his ill directed instruction of “follow the crowd”, instructed that we would not be going to eat lunch.  A few minutes later we were again down by the river in this crudely constructed but efficient open air “restaurant” where we were fed a very nice buffet and given 20 minutes to eat.

     

     

     

     

    Our guide said we were behind schedule.  So we consumed what we could, which incidentally the food was very good, back into the air conditioned van and down the all too familiar dirt road to our next stop.  I guess if I had looked closer at this tour I should have expected this next very unusual stop.  We took a little less used road with just the tracks where tires have been with grass growing in the middle of the path.  In about 15 minutes of traversing up a hillside, we stopped at a small out grouping of buildings obviously set up for selling items.  In this case it was some of the usual items including some beautifully local spun silk items.  What grabbed my attention and somewhat shocked me was who was selling at each of these booths.  If you have ever watched National Geographic channel you see an occasional story on the long neck people.  Well, I had no idea one tribe of these people was on or ternary to visit.

     

     

     

     

     

    It was a group of about 15 open tables some with roofs over them each tended by a female member of this tribe.  Each woman wore the familiar rings of brass around their neck of which are changed each 2 years to increase the length.  It was fascinating to see such a culture never giving up on tradition.  I found 2 booths where small girls about 10 or so with 4 rings already around their necks indicating they started wearing them at 2 years old.  I saw new mothers wearing her rings so proudly holding her new born baby in a sling around the front of her so she could have her hands free to assist in selling you something from her table.  None of them were pushy, but more of a relaxed mood not much looking at us as they each wove their silk into various garments.  I purchased 3 scarves for a neighbor who loves silk each for about $5.  (My neighbor said they sell for $50 here).  There was not any bargaining occurring while our group was there.  So I am not sure if this is even associated with buying from this tribe.  I walked to each of their booths inspecting their wares as to show intense interest in each.  I saw a group of elder men way off in the distance just sitting there in the field watching our group.  I am sure they are very familiar with tourists and their mannerisms.  Our group was extremely polite and only 6 strong, so we did not pose much of a threat.  Each of the females was happy to sit and pose with you for a picture.  Most of us gave the obligatory 20 baht (75 cents) as a donation for each posing.  While there, of all locations, I had to use the toilet.  Way off in the distance was an apparent out house.  Something similar to the ones you might expect in an old wild west movie.  So I opened the single door, found my first required experience with a “squatty potty”.  It was a porcelain bowl set level in the ground with a place that you obviously put your feet and then squatted.  When you finish you business, there is also in the small room, a bright yellow 50 gallon steel drum filled with water and a plastic bowl floating in the top.  Reading about these in my tour book, I finished my business.  (luckily I could stand to do mine because there was no toilet paper).  You had to purchase it for a small donation before you entered this effectively constructed, but unexpected out house.  I took the plastic bowl scooped up water and poured down the ground level bowl.  Truly an experience. This short 30 minute visit is one that I will remember for some while.  It is not too often you get off a small tour bus to see women with 1 foot long necks covered with brass rings. I suppose I should not be shocked at the booths selling things, but I was. 

     

    At our next stop, I was not sure what to expect after the last one.  This turned out to be very mellow, relaxing 30 minutes at a butterfly farm.  I am not sure why the tour shuttle chooses the hot afternoon when the butterflies are hiding in the cool, to show up this farm because I only saw 2 butterflies in this rather large enclosed aviary.  No photo opportunity here so I headed back to the air conditioning.

     

    Soon all were aboard and stopping in a few minutes down the road at an orchid farm.  If you wanted to pay extra you could see the snake or monkey farms also, but I had enough animals touching my skin today.  So I took some pictures of such beautiful orchids that growers at home would drool over.  The pictures now safely in my camera and shut off for the duration of the drive back to our hotels.  Luckily my hotel was at the top of their list so I got off early and was ready for some food.  As usual, the hotel restaurant food is over priced and under flavored.  Out on the streets I went to find a local Thai restaurant the front desk clerk said is good and cheap.  You know me, I like that cheap part.  The restaurant, in which I use that word loosely, was just a quick 5 minute walk around the corner.  This food establishment had 3 of its walls open, and when I say open, I mean there were no walls.  I walked in met immediately by a nice lady who spoke no English but knew tourists so she gave me a menu with pictures and I love it that.  A quick decision of noodles with chicken and vegetables accompanied by a bottle of water was not only very tasty, but only $3.  Back to the hotel to prepare for the second part of my day, the African Night Safari. 

     

    When I first heard of this safari, it sounded great to me.  The pamphlet said for $45 you could stay in small wooden huts deep into the park with the wild animals walking around you all during the night. I loved the idea but was informed that offered service was stopped a few months ago due to “problems”.  Hmmmmmmmmm problems for whom.  The animals or the people not returning the next morning…… hmmmmmmmmmm but anyway, I did go on the 2 hour tram ride.  We were in open sided typical Universal Studios trams.

     

     

    This is good and bad.  The good is great; you get to see all of the animals up really close.  I mean really close as to where ones like the giraffes and a couple of the type deer come up wanting to sniff your camera.  I enjoyed this but some of the riders scooted as far to the opposite of the seat as possible only to be met by another curious animal.  The carnivores were, at least they claimed, safely behind a moat and an electric fence from us.  I took their word for this because it was way too dark to see any type of protection.  There were hyenas, pacing, several female and a few male very large lions watching us, smaller cats that looked like they could just take a flying jump and clear any obstacle. This was a great experience in that one learns to trust the word of your driver.  The only small problem we had was the zebra refused to get of our way so we just sat there in the pitch dark, hearing the distant roars, grunts and howls of things I was not sure of.

     

     

     

    After a couple of minutes the tram proceeded down the path.  It was very dark during the entire trip being only lit by strategically placed hidden lights illuminating the animals that were being described.  The driver said he goes by the moon light and seemed to know the trail.  Absolutely no flash photography allowed.  It was good and even better when we passed the 3 security gates to keep the animals in and separated from each other.  The transportation back to the hotel was waiting as usual.  This was really a long day with a lot of great experiences.  My shower felt so good; there was no TV but a quick pillow to my head.  The next thing I knew it was daylight and another day was beckoning me. 

     

    Downstairs to the free buffet again.  I like free. Then to the tour desk to ask directions to the local zoo to see the giant pandas.  These pandas are so rare, I had to see them.  I know, I just saw an entire open zoo of animals a few hours earlier, but no pandas.  The tour desk called a taxi for us and for 1000 baht ($30) we could have him at our beckoning for 8 hours.  I took the deal.  No having to find a taxi, explain our destination or say anything to the driver.  The desk had explained what I wanted before he arrived.  She had arranged for the Zoo trip, wait for us, take us to a nice cheap, yes cheap again, lunch, wait again for us and then deposit us back at the hotel.  Great way to travel, like a personal driver but just a taxi.

     

     

     

     

    Now that I am finally caught up on my journal, I am headed down to the local night bazaar not really intending on purchasing anything, but destined not to stay in the hotel room and watch CNN.  It’s almost dark now and I am thinking of those animals in the Safari thinking what type tourist they will see tonight.  Sort of comical, who is watching whom.  So, off I go walking again.  I’ll let you know soon what I found in this smaller community of Chiang Mai, Thailand…….

     

     

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• Disney World - August 2007

  • From: beejayeak
  • Description:

     

    This is the first part of a two week trip that included Walt Disney World in Orlando Florida (part 1) and a 7 night cruise on the Carnival Glory (part 2).

    Background:

    My friend, Angie, graduated from college in June of 2007. This was a huge accomplishment for her, as she is a single mom of two awesome kids. To celebrate, she really wanted to take a vacation, and she asked Grant and me if we would go with her. Well, she didn't have to twist our arms too much! Grant and I, having been on previous cruises as well as having visited Disney World a few times, quickly agreed.

    Angie really wanted to go on a cruise, so we booked the Carnival Glory 7 night cruise, with stops at Nassau, Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Belize. We also prebooked an excursion for cave tubing in Belize through an independent company.

    Next, Grant and I persuaded her to tack on a few days at Disney World to the front of our trip. Funny enough, we didn't really have to twist her arm too much either. We also decided to bring our friends Steve and Kevin along for the Disney World portion. Steve is an old friend of Grant's from high school who loves Disney as much as we do. He is a Disneyland cast member, so we would be able to use his discounts and sign in privileges. Kevin is a dear friend of the family and he had never been to Disney World - so we were excited to share the experience with him!

    
    At Disney World, we'll be staying at a three bedroom villa at Marriott Vacation Club's Grande Vista. This will give us plenty of space - a kitchen, 3 bedrooms, and a seperate family room for those who want to stay up later to watch High School Musical...again.

    
    The Peeps:

    Bobbi Jo (me!)

    Grant (my husband!)

    Angie (our friend!)

    Andrew (7)

    Cori (3)

    Steve (our friend!)

    Kevin (15)

    Monday, Aug. 20 2007 - Orlando, Boma, Downtown Disney

    We left last night on a red-eye out of Ontario. Honestly, I am amazed at how well we are all doing! We left Ontario at 11:30 PM Pacific time and got to Orlando (after a layover in Atlanta) at 10:00 AM Eastern time. Cori did a lot of sleeping on the plane, Andrew slept in the terminal during the layover, and the rest of us grabbed bits and pieces here and there.
    
    Arriving in Orlando - we amazingly fit all 7 of us and our luggage (including cruise luggage!!!) in a Toyota Sienna minivan. We drove to our hotel - Marriott Grande Vista Vacation Club, and luckily, they had a room ready for us. We are staying in a 3 bedroom villa, which is nice, because Grant and I get a room and a bathroom, Angie and the kids get a room and their own bathroom, and Steve and Kevin get their own room and their own bathroom! There is plenty of room for all of us!
    
    We unpacked, then went to Wal-Mart for groceries, and then came back to the hotel for a quick swim before dinner. The pools are really nice and very kid friendly - the pool we liked best had a splash zone for kids that started out at zero depth and gradually worked its way to 4 feet, with lots of spraying water features. There were also water cannons outside the pool that people could aim at swimmers.
    
    We went to the Animal Kingdom Lodge and had dinner at Boma. Yum. I love this buffet! No one besides Grant and I had eaten there and we totally talked it up to everyone else. Of course, they all loved it! Well, except for Cori, who slept through the entire dinner in her stroller! After dinner, we went behind the lobby to the Savannah to view the animals. Cori woke up for this and enjoyed looking at the birds, giraffe, gazelle, and the other animals.
    
    After dinner, we decided to do a quick stop at Downtown Disney, just so Kevin and Angie could see what it is like (and how big it is!) since I’m not sure if we’ll be able to see it on the rest of our trip. We mostly just toured the marketplace. Andrew particularly enjoyed trying to get spit on by Stitch at the World of Disney.
    
    We’re back at the hotel now and it is 9:10. Hopefully we will all get good sleep tonight and be ready to hit the parks tomorrow!

     

    Tuesday, August 21, 2007 - Disney Studios, EPCOT

    Today was awesome! We went to Disney Studios today and it was not very crowded at all. Also, our timing was perfect so we were able to see quite a bit.
    
    We started out by going on Tower of Terror - which, if you don't know, I love. This was Cori’s first time on the ride as she’s just become tall enough for it and hasn’t experienced it at home yet. She loved it and kept saying,” I want to go up and down again!”
    
    We got off the ride just in time to get seats for Beauty and the Beast, Live on stage.
    
    Then, we went on Rockin Roller Coaster - Andrew’s first BIG rollercoaster - 3 loops! He loved it! We went on the coaster a few times, switching off so people could wait with Cori. (This is whe the Disney Child Swap pass really comes in handy!)
    
    Next, we went over and did Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We just slipped into the last few seats, which ensured that we got out on time and over to Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!!! This was Andrew’s favorite attraction, because of the ninjas and the whip tricks.
    
    We ate lunch at the Sci-Fi Diner, sitting at a cool red car at the very front of the drive in. It was awesome. The kids were enthralled by the big movie screen.
    
    We left lunch just in time, again, to slip into Lights! Motors! Action! Stunt show. During the first scene, the hero drives a red car, and he is chased by three black cars. In the second scene, the hero is on a motorcycle, being chased by the black cars… Cori starts screaming, “red car??? What happened to the red car???” So cute!!!
    
    Next we did the Great Movie ride, followed by 2 more rides on the Tower of Terror and one ride on Rockin Roller Coaster.
    
    Then we park hopped to EPCOT…

    EPCOT had extra magic hours for resort guests, which worked for us, because it meant some things that normally closed at 7 stayed open until 9, and some things that stayed open until 9 stayed open way later.

    We went to the coke place to sample coke products from around the world, first. Then we went over to Mission Space, and Kevin, Steve, Andrew, Grant and I rode the Orange team (more intense training).
    
    After we got off (and I realized I had left my backpack on the ride and Kevin had left his water bottle) we went back and got our stuff. Cori was occupied by one of those jumping fountains that the kids play in.
    
    Finally, we headed over to World Showcase and got dinner from a kiosk in Japan - Tempura Chicken, tempura shrimp, and beef rice bowls, and spicy tuna rolls. We sat next to the fence around the showcase lagoon and ate dinner, and then watched “Illuminations.”
    
    As I mentioned, it was Extra Magic Hours at EPCOT, which means that if you are a resort guest, you can stay and play longer. You get a wrist band that identifies you as a resort guest. We were not, so we couldn't go on any rides. (You'd need the resort wrist band) However, we could still browse the shops at World Showcase. Imagine that - they are still willing to let you shop!

    So that worked for us! We could do some of our shopping without wasting any ride time! We popped into the store at Japan - which I new Kevin would love …… "ah Pokemon!!!!” before heading for home. This was Andrew's favorite shop, too.
    
    We did a lot - the day was much more successful then I had anticipated!!! The kids were awesome!

     

    Wednesday - EPCOT, Magic Kingdom

    This morning, we got to EPCOT at around 11, and went straight over to Test Track to get some fast passes. Next, we headed over to Mission Space. Cori and I hung out in Mission Control, while Grant, Steve, Angie, Andrew, and Kevin rode Mission Space. Angie didn’t do very well on it.
    
    We decided to take it easy, and we went on Ellen’s Energy Adventure. When we were boarding the vehicles, one of the cast members, and older gentleman named Bill, came up to me and said, “I noticed you walking in and you had such a positive attitude - it is what I like to see,” and he shook my hand. Then he said, “I don’t know if you know this, but this is the Year of a Million Dreams, and I have a mission for you. I want you to be a Disney Ambassador. I don’t have to ask if you love Disney because I can already tell you do… what I want you to do is find someone in the park and tell them how glad you are to be here and ask them if they are having a good time. Then, you can take this pin and give it to the guest to help them have a magical experience!” He gave me two Tinker bell pins… one to keep and one to share!
    
    That totally made my day! I was feeling so happy, so on the way out of the attraction I went up to him and said, “That you so much - you really made my day!” And he says, “Ah, you made my year! You’re a real treat! Then he gave me a rice crispy treat! (o: What a great guy!
    
    Next, we went on Test Track and then had lunch at The Garden Grill. The Garden Grill is a rotating restaurant that has an all-you-can-eat, family style meal, with characters. We didn’t have the greatest table, but our waitress was outstanding. She even brought Kevin one of the kid’s desserts - a “decorate your own cupcake…” So cool. The kids loved when the characters would come around and interact with them!
    
    Then we rode “Living with the Land,” which is different now - instead of a live narrator, it has a recorded spiel. Lunch took longer then anticipated, so we went on Journey to the Imagination and then left EPCOT.
    
    We park hopped to Magic Kingdom, via the monorail and the ferry. Once at MK, we went to Splash Mountain and got fast passes. Then we went to the Hall of Presidents for a dose of history and air conditioning.
    
    Next, Andrew, Kevin, Grant, Steve and Angie went on Stitch’s Great Escape while Cori and I rode the TTA. I love the TTA. Then we all saw the Carousel of Progress!!! (o: Classic.
    
    Finally, it was time to use our Fast Pass. I ran ahead to try to get Fast Passes for Big Thunder Mountain, and was able to get some of the last ones. Then we rode Splash Mountain - and got soaked - and the Big thunder Mountain.
    
    Finally we watched the Wishes fireworks show, and then headed back to EPCOT, (where we had left our car parked) via monorail, and drove home.
    
    (We picked up Wendy’s on the way - OH MY GOSH. It literally took us 40 minutes to get our food. Hoestly, I am usually not a complainer, but seriously - 40 minutes? Never acceptable - much less when you are as tired as we were!!!)

    Thursday - EPCOT/Magic Kingdom

    One day left in the parks - we are all beat - but doing really well considering all that we‘ve done!!!
    
    Before I post about yesterday, I wanted to update you on the cruise situation. As you probably heard, Costa Maya and Belize were both hit by Hurricane Dean - especially Costa Maya. Yesterday, out itinerary change was made official:
    Saturday - Port Canaveral - Boarding
    Sunday - Key West
    Monday - At Sea
    Tuesday - Cozumel
    Wednesday - Progresso
    Thursday - At sea
    Friday - Nassau
    Saturday - Port Canaveral
    
    Losing Belize was a bummer because that is where we were going to go cave tubing.
    
    Yesterday, we got a late start (made even later by the fact that we forgot a ticket and had to go back to the hotel!) But we got to EPCOT with enough time to visit The Living Seas with Nemo and friends. I have not been on the new sub ride yet at Disney, but the new ride at the Living Seas uses much of the same technology - and we all REALLY enjoyed the ride. It was very neat! The ride exits into the Living Seas, where we checked out the dolphins, the rays, the sharks, and the sea turtles. We also got to watch the divers come in and feed some of the sea creatures! Way. Cool.
    
    After a stop at Club Cool to sample soda from around the world, we went over to the fast rides. Cori and Angie rode Test Track while the rest of us rode Mission Space. Then we left EPCOT, grabbed the monorail, and went back to the Magic Kingdom trying to get to the Crystal Palace for our lunch reservations.
    
    Lunch was a yummy buffet, and we got to meet Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet. Andrew and Cori also got to march in two parades!
    
    After lunch, we saw Mickey’s Philharmagic (Cori was so cute trying to catch all of the 3-d things!!!) and then went to Tomorrowland to use our Space Mountain Fast Passes, while Cori took a little nap. (Thanks again, Child Swap!)
    
    We took a ride on the TTA, and then saw the new Monster’s Inc. Laugh Factory - which uses the same technology as “Turtle Talk with Crush” to interact with the audience. The premise is that they have learned that human laughter powers Monstropolis even better then screams, so they opened up a night club to do stand up and collect the energy from our laughter. They put people up on screens and made jokes, but nothing too humiliating. It was funny! You could also text message a joke before the show and they would some in the show.
    
    It was time to use our Winnie the Pooh fast pass, and then head over to Splash Mountain. By now, it was getting particularly humid - the worst night yet, so getting wet felt awesome! After the ride, we found a place to watch Spectromagic, Grant’s favorite parade of all. Sitting on a bench behind us was a family from Canada - the little girl, Stella, was 4, and had a fantastic time playing with Cori while we waited for the parade… guess who got the Tinker Bell pin??? (o:
    
    We left the park after Spectromagic, trying to beat the crowds who were staying for the fireworks. Kevin and I ran through Swiss Family Robinson on the way out, and then we got to the ferry in time to watch the finale of the fireworks show on the ferry as we crossed Bay Lake to the TTA. We hopped the monorail back to the EPCOT parking lot, stopping at Walgreens for cold medicine for Angie and McDonalds for our dinner.
    
    One more day at the parks… Animal Kingdom!

    Friday - Animal Kingdom and EPCOT (sort of)

    Friday -
    
    Today was our last day in the parks. ::boo hoo::: It is the same every time. I get so excited when I go to Disney World - I want to ride everything! But when the end of the trip comes, I always say “I wish I had more time to spend just experiencing everything…” you know, not just rushing from ride to ride but exploring the World Showcase and the interactive exhibits etc. But then my next trip comes and I’m rushing around again… this trip, of course, I really wanted Kevin and Angie and the kids to be able to see as much as possible... so that was my focus...
    
    So on Friday, we went to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This park always throws a kink in my plans - I don’t know it well enough to plan well. So my wonderful timing, that works so well inthe other parks, doesn't quite work here. Plus it always seems to rain when I go there.
    
    We arrived at the parks at around 10:00 and went straight back to Expedition Everest. Last time we were here, that ride was closed because of lightening, so I wanted to get on it ASAP in case the predicted storms arrived. We got a child switch, and while Angie, Andrew, Steve, Grant, and Kevin rode Expedition Everest, Cori and I trekked over to Kilimanjaro Safari to get fast passes. Cori and I spent time waiting for the others at a kid station coloring animal masks, and chatting with a nice lady from South Africa. Then I rode the ride with Kevin and Drew while the others waited.
    
    Finding Nemo, the musical, is one of the newest attractions so we wanted to make sure we saw it… The show is awesome. The performers are top notch - the songs are cute, and the sets and props are immersive. This was a great show.
    
    The rain started as we finished eating lunch at Pizzafari, so we headed quickly over to Dinosaur, and took turns riding it while Cori napped. After some bouts of pouring rain, it slowed to a sprinkle so we figured the worst had passed. However, there was still thunder and lightening, and as we found out, the Safari also closes in the lightning, so we went to watch the Festival of the Lion King (I love this show!)
    
    When the show ended, we decided to check the Safari and they were letting people on… and they were! We saw some animals that usually hide in the heat - hippos and rhinos up out of the water - impalas, lots of neat animals ! As we left the Safari and headed out of the park, the skies opened up and it began to dump buckets of water. The lightening was right over our head… one was so loud I jumped a mile… and I got so wet, I couldn’t have been wetter if I’d jumped in a pool - no kidding, no exaggeration!
    
    However, we decided to go to EPCOT, because it was our last day, and Kevin and Andrew needed to do some shopping. The last two hours were interesting to say the least… it never really stopped raining, and we just couldn’t get much done… the kiddos were tired and miserable… but we all survived and got home tired and wet, but satisfied. We ordered a pizza on our way home, and it was delivered to us shortly after we arrived home. We spent our last evening munching on pizza and watching High School Musical.
    
    The next morning, bright and early, Grant and I drove Steve and Kevin to the airport to fly home and to swap cars at the terminal. (We found a better deal to use a different rental company to drive to the port and leave our car there, then the company we used for the first half of our trip.)

    The first part of our trip was awesome - we crammed a lot in and did really well - Steve and Kevin had awesome attitudes and were great with the kids. The kids, considering how much we did, did a pretty good job!
    
    Now it is time to head to Port Canaveral and the Carnival Glory!
    
    P.S. - I am posting this from Key West!

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• London & Paris... in a family

  • From: amyem
  • Description:

    Last month my husband and I brought our three children, aged 13, 12, and 4, on our first European vacation. It was a simply fantastic trip. Thanks for reading!

    FRIDAY
    Our first day in London was a little rough. The flight over was great - very smooth, comfortable ride, Will slept most of the time. Everyone around him on the plane thought he was so cute when we were taking off and he said, "We're goin' up! We're goin' UP!" Funny, though, they were not as impressed upon landing, when he shouted, "We're goin' down! We're goin' DOWN!!" But anyway, we landed at Heathrow at 6:10am London time, which for us translated into 1:10 in the morning, our time. Of course we could not check-in to our hotel until 3pm, but they did store our bags for us so we could do some exploring. We call it, Extremely Tired Zombie Americans Take On London. We did a lot, though, including the National Gallery, where we saw several famous works of art - including DaVinci's Virgin of the Rocks, Van Eyck's The Arnolfini Marriage, and Van Gogh's Sunflowers. We found an outdoor cafe in Victoria Embankment Park, where for our first English meal, Jack ordered the "American Breakfast." This was basically just eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast, and, for some reason, baked beans, which I have honestly never been given with breakfast in an American restaurant. Our room still not ready, we wandered across the Jubilee Bridge to the southbank of the Thames. There we boarded the London Eye, a rather big ferris wheel type observation ride. We really enjoyed the ride, and when our pod reached the top, we were able to see a beautiful panoramic view of the city. For dinner, we wandered into a quaint little English market (imagine, if you will, a 7-11), grabbed a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and yes, because we are on vacation and all, some jelly. All-in-all, a great first day.
    
    SATURDAY
    Today was a gorgeous day - plenty of sunshine, temps in the 70s. We are having a little trouble getting rolling in the morning, although I am not surprised - it takes me a good five days to get used to DST, which is only an hour different than what we are used to! We found a little Italian coffee shop called Costa right around the corner, which is exactly next door to a little American coffee shop called Starbucks, which is twenty yards away from another little American coffee shop called Starbucks, which is next to another... well, you get the picture. We fueled up on blueberry muffins and massimo (not grande, massimo!) mocha lattes and headed for Waterloo Pier on the Thames. Here we caught our double-decker boat for a tour of the Thames and the city of London. It was the perfect day for it. Our first stop was Greenwich and the Royal Observatory. We walked through a beautiful park and up a hill to the Observatory, where we walked on the Prime Meridian and stood in both the Western and Eastern hemispheres, and sychronized our watches to the Greenwich Mean Time clock. After lunch (at a Mexican restaurant, of course) we headed back to the boat for the trip back. We disembarked at Westminster Pier and walked around Parliment, Big Ben, and Westminster Abbey before heading for St. James Park and Buckingham Palace. All in all it was a good little explore of the city and helped us get our bearings a bit.
    
    

     

    SUNDAY
    We are getting a little better with this morning thing. We hit Costa again for breakfast then made our way down to the Tube. We seemed to navigate things pretty well, people were asking us for help, poor souls... we rode the tube to Tower Hill where we found the infamous Tower of London. William the Conqueror built the White Tower in 1077, and his successors expanded it. It served most famously as a prison and execution site - this is where Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey (among others) met the chopping block. It's most recent prisoner was Rudolf Hess, one of Hitler's henchmen in WWII. Today the Crown Jewels are housed here. We took a tour led by a Yeoman Warder, aka Beefeater, then explored a bit on our own - seeing the Crown Jewels, Traitors Gate, Tower Green, and the towers that imprisoned Princess Elizabeth, Sir Walter Raleigh, and the two young princes kidnapped during the War of Roses in 1483.
    
    After exploring the Tower, we headed back to our tube stop and decided to explore a different area of the city. We walked from our hotel in Trafalgar Square to Leicester Square, which can best be described as the Theater District, and on to Piccadilly Circus, which is pretty much Times Square without the really tall skyscrapers. We tried to avoid it, but we somehow ended up in the Trocadero, a huge, garish mall-slash-arcade place. The kids eyes lit up just as John's and mine started to glaze over. They of course went right for those "claw" games, where you try to manuever the claw to pick up some prize and drop it in the hole so you can get it. And this claw machine had iPODS in it! Now, any of you who have been to Gators with us know that we tell the kids EVERY TIME that they would do better flushing their money down the toilet, they can't win those games. And you also know that EVERY TIME Jack comes back a winner. Well, he wasn't as lucky this time. Leah, on the other hand... hello, little purple ipod shuffle!
    
    MONDAY
    Today we decided to go total tourist and get tickets for the double-decker tour bus. We are so glad we did - we saw all of London, and were able to "hop-on, hop-off" at any stop.
    Our first hop-off was to St. Paul's Cathedral, an amazingly beautiful church in the city. The cathedral was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666, and rebuilt by Christopher Wren. It's dome stands 365 feet high. After St. Paul's we rode through West London, past 10 Downing Street, Kensington Gardens & Palace, the Marble Arch, Hyde Park, and so many other sights. Our next stop was Harrod's, the immense department store where rumor has it, you can buy anything you want. Ronald Reagan once asked if he could buy an elephant. The Harrod's employee did not miss a beat and replied, "Asian or African, sir?" We decided against purchasing any wild animals this time, but we did spend some time in the toy department and bought some fudge on the way out! We got back on the bus, and then we saw a celebrity, so we jumped off to have our picture taken with... Justin Timberlake! He was pretty cool, but seemed a little, distant. Stiff. Waxy. We also saw some of his waxy friends at Madame Tussaud's.
    After hitting the Beatles Shop (across the street from the Rolling Stones Shop), and searching for Abbey Road (we didn't find it), we finished the evening at a true English pub, The Sherlock Holmes, where we (well, some of us) ate fish & chips and mushy peas. And tea.
    
    TUESDAY
    Our last day in London. Buckingham Palace does the Changing of the Guard ceremony on odd days this month, and as luck would have it, today is April 29! We made our way down the Mall to the Palace, every now and then dodging raindrops. We waited outside the wrought iron gates, along with what may have been every other tourist in London. Gotta do it, though! Right on time, the Guards, accompanied by the Horse Guards and the band, march down the street and through the Palace gates. After much pomp, circumstance, and rifle-twirling, they were on their way out again. We walked from the Palace gates through the beautiful St. James Park and on to Westminster Abbey.
    
    If all I did on this entire trip was walk through Westminster Abbey, it would have absolutely been worth every minute and every penny. It is literally the most staggeringly beautiful place I have ever seen. I cannot even begin to describe it. Photography is not allowed inside, and believe it or not I am grateful for that because no photo that I could have taken would do justice to what I remember it to be. I am very drawn to English history and to walk through the halls of this place and actually touch the tomb of Queen Elizabeth was indescribable. We also beheld the final resting places of many others, including Mary, Queen of Scots; Anne of Cleves; Henry V; Henry VII and Elizabeth of York; Edward the Confessor; Geoffrey Chaucer, Charles Dickens; Rudyard Kipling; George Handel; Sir Laurence Olivier; Charles Darwin and Sir Issac Newton.
    
    And that was how I wanted to remember London, so we walked across Westminster Bridge to the South Bank and had a great lunch at Giraffe, a funky restaurant with a motto I can believe in. Then we headed back to the hotel to do laundry and pack up. Early morning wake-up call tomorrow, when we board the Eurostar and head to the Chunnel for Paris!
    
    WEDNESDAY
    Today was another adventure - we boarded the Eurostar at St. Pancras Station in London and headed for Paris! It was an excellent way to go. Fast, smooth ride, breakfast served at our seats... we just sat back, relaxed, and watched the French countryside roll by. We disembarked at Marne La Vallee-Chessy, the station serving Disneyland Paris, and made our way to the hotel. After checking in, we walked around Disney Village, ate dinner at Rainforest Cafe, and hit the hotel pool, complete with water slides and screaming children. Mon Dieu, are we back in Orlando?
    
    Cheers, London! You surpassed my expectations - we shall meet again.
    
    Bonjour, Paris!
    
    THURSDAY
    Happy May Day to all!
    
    May Day (May 1) is a holiday celebrated in many parts of the world, including France. There is no school, no work, and lots of places are closed. Guess what lots and lots of people decided to do today, on their day off? Yes. They came to Disneyland Paris.
    
    We had fun, though, despite the crowds and intermittent rain. We visited one of the two parks today - Disneyland. It is set up a lot like Magic Kingdom, with several "lands" spoking out from the castle in the middle. Here we saw Sleeping Beauty's castle rather than Cinderella's, complete with a fire-breathing dragon in the basement. We saw some familiar sights: Big Thunder Railroad, the Carousel, Buzz Lightyear, Space Mountain; and some new ones: Pinnochio's Voyage ride, and an Indiana Jones roller coaster.
    
    It was a nice, relaxing day - tomorrow we hit the City of Lights!
    
    FRIDAY
    After a pleasant French breakfast at our hotel, we ventured to the RER station to catch the train into the city. Everything went smoothly and we disembarked at Charles de Gaulle Etoille. The very first thing we saw as we walked up the stairs from the underground was the amazingly immense Arc de Triomphe.
    
    This became our starting point as we made our way down the Champs-Elysees, which is the grandest boulevard in Paris - the beautiful tree-lined street is littered with high-end shopping and outdoor cafes. Perfect for high-heeled women in mini-skirts walking with their little poodles! We wandered down to the Seine, where we boarded a batobus - a hop-on, hop-off glass walled & ceilinged tour boat.
    
    We cruised down the river and back again, fi nally hopping off at Tour Eiffel. We walked around it, enjoying the many different views. I always kind of thought it was just a really big erector set, but it really is beautiful. The whole area surrounding the Tower is a park, with lots of green grass, gorgeous flowers and blooming trees. The only disappointing thing was the line to get in. It was as if every line at every Disney ride had converged to make one Super Line and take over the world. So we took some pictures and got on with our lives.
    
    We walked around a bit searching for lunch, and found a cafe back on the Champs-Elysees. We ate some sandwiches on baguettes (Leah had a croissant and a pain du chocolat). We strolled through Nike Paris and then found the hugest Hagen-Daas shop ever, and got some ice cream. We then decided to call it a day and head back to our hotel. We will be back tomorrow for more sightseeing! Hope all is well with all you yanks over in the New World.
    
    
    SATURDAY
    Today we made our way back into Paris. First on our list to visit today was Notre Dame. We walked through the beautiful cathedral and around the outside. We did not get up into the tower, though (see yesterday's post regarding the lines).
    
    We then took a stroll through the city, over the river and past the Sorbonne to Luxembourg Gardens. We found a little shop that made baguette sandwiches, paninis and crepes - so we got some lunch and had a little picnic in the park. Then a French policewoman yelled at everyone to get off the grass so we moved the picnic to a bench.
    
    After lunch we headed back to the river where we got back on the batobus and cruised around the river to the Louvre. The museum is amazing. We saw the Venus di Milo and The Mona Lisa, but the most impressive art was the building's architecture!
    
    After the Louvre we headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow we plan to get in to the city a little later, so we can be there in the evening and see why they call Paris the City of Lights!
    
    
    SUNDAY
    We covered a lot of ground today. And I have the blisters on my feet to prove it! We got in to the hotel after midnight, so I'm afraid this will be a short post... I will try to add to it later on.
    

    We had a relatively late breakfast and headed for the city around

    11:30am. We took the train to PereLaChaise Cemetery, wandered around, got a fantastic real French lunch in Place d'Gambetta, hopped on the Metro and visited the Centre Pompidou (where I finally got up high enough to see an awesome panoramic view of Paris), got some nutella crepes and glace, then walked about 100 miles through the city, along the river, and finally crashed on the Champ du Mars in front of the Tour Eiffel in time for sunset (which, strangely enough, is not until 9:15pm here) and to see the tower light up - which is every bit as magical as they say. It was a great last day in Paris. Tomorrow we do the last Disney park and then Tuesday it is back stateside!

     

    MONDAY
    Back to Disneyland! Today we visited the other Disney park, Walt Disney Studios. A lot like MGM in Orlando, but much smaller. We (some of us) did Rockin' Roller Coaster, the Backlot Tour, Flying Carpets over Agrabah (like Dumbo), Cars Rally (like teacups, but in cars from the movie), and the Cinamagique and Animagique shows. We also rode on Crush's Coaster, a roller coaster ride based on the turtles from Finding Nemo. Disneyland Paris is the only WDW park that has this ride, so it was new to us! The guys went first and convinced Leah and I to try it, they said it was so much fun. They lie. Actually, Leah loved it, and I agree it was very well done. That's all I will say about that.
    
    Will got to meet a lot of characters, he got a kick out of them and enjoyed posing.
    
    
    TUESDAY
    Today we head home. We have had an outstanding 12 days in Europe, and I think we are all ready to return to reality for awhile. At least until our next adventure!
    

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