We have been staying in Walt Disney World for the last 10 days but as of today we have moved to St Augustine. 39 years ago Rich and I visited St Augustine on our honeymoon, so we have returned to visit again. On Saturday we will be leaving on a 12 day transatlantic cruise to Lisbon, Seville, and Barcelona followed by a 7 day journey from Florence to Milan so I may not post to this Blog again until May. Hopefully I will have lots of pictures to share then too.
Walt Disney World (WDW) is more than 2.5 times as large as Manhattan. It is made up of 4 Theme Parks, 18 theme Resorts, 2 Golf Courses (I think), many lakes and 1 Shopping/Dining Complex. There is enough unused land for 4 more theme parks. In other words it is huge. The current theme Parks are Animal Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studio, and the Magic Kingdom. The current Resorts (and their themes) are: All Star Resort (Sport, Music, and Movies), Animal Kingdom Lodge (African Game Preserve), Beach Club Resort and Villas (New England Beach Club of the 1870s), BoardWalk Inn ( East Coast Boardwalk Hotel of early 1900s), BoardWalk Villas ( East Coast Beach Cottage of early 1900s), Caribbean Beach Resort (Caribbean Islands), Contemporary Resort ( Future as perceived by the past), Coronado Springs Resort (Northern Mexico and American Southwest), Dolphin (Modern Florida resort), Grand Floridian Resort and Spa (Turn-of-the 19th century luxury hotel), Old Key West Resort (Key West), Polynesian Resort (Hawaii, South Sea Islands), Pop Century Resorts (Icons from various decades of the 20th century), Port Orleans (Turn-of-the 19th century New Orleans and Mardi Gras), Saratoga Springs (Upstate new York 1880s Victorian Lakeside Retreat), Swan (Modern Florida resort), Wilderness Lodge and Villas (National Park Grand Lodge of the early 1900s in the American Northwest), and Yacht Club Resort (New England Seashore Hotel of the 1880s).
During the last 10 days we visited all 4 of the parks, as well as Universal Studios, and 8 of the hotels/resorts. We visited Animal Kingdom Park which has 7 areas (Oasis, Discovery Island, Camp Minnie-Mickey, Rafiki’s Planet Watch, Africa, Asia, and DinoLand USA) and 20 attractions (too many to list). We also visited Epcot, which has 2 areas (Future World, and World Showcase). We also visited Disney-MGM Studio, which has 1 area and 18 attractions. Last but not least we visited the Magic Kingdom which has 7 areas (Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, Mickey‘s Toontown Fair, Tomorrowland, Main Street USA, and Adventureland). Among the resorts we visited were Animal Kingdom Lodge, BoardWalk Inn, BoardWalk Villas, Caribbean Beach Resort, Contemporary Resort, Coronado Springs Resort, Polynesian Resort, and Wilderness Lodge and Villas. Because we are staying in the ‘world’ (WDW) we have a parking slip which enables us to park anywhere in the ‘world’ without additional parking fees. I believe that anyone can visit the resort areas with parking fees.
4/3 Monday, we drove from Crystal River to Lake Buena Vista and signed into Fort Wilderness Park. We are located in a very nice site in Hickory Hollow. I have posted pictures of Fort Wilderness below.
4/4 Tuesday, we spent the day in the Animal Kingdom Park. We visited 6 of the 7 areas (the seventh was for the little ones), and went on 10 of the 20 attractions. We especially enjoyed Expedition Everest (the newest high speed train ride), and the Kali River Rapids (a white water rafting ride) in Asia. I enjoyed shopping in the Mombasa Marketplace in Africa. The parade at the end of the day was terrific. Lots of wildly colored and oddly shaped animals (people on stilts with African mask-like faces and great costumes and/or people towing animal bodies on bikes with the animal head on a stick as though dancing on a long neck). It is very hard to describe and I did not get any pictures, but if you ever get a chance to go, do so. If I get another chance to see it I will take photos. We had dinner at BOMA , one of the restaurants in the Animal Kingdom Lodge. The food was south African, buffet style. Everything was spiced very differently from our normal but was very good. I have posted pictures of the park below.
4/5 Wednesday, we visited Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge. These 2 resorts are very interesting and very different. Animal Kingdom Lodge fuses African tribal architecture with the exotic. It includes a 33 acre plain with 200 free roaming animals and 130 birds. The Wilderness Lodge reminded me of a grand old National Park Lodge in the Northwest, lots of wood. It really reminded us of Seattle. I have posted pictures of the lodges below.
4/6 Thursday, we spent the day in Universal Studios. Universal Studios has 2 major areas. You can purchase 1 day/1 area ticket, 1 day/2 areas ticket, 2 day/2 areas ticket, etc. We decided to go with the 1 day/1 area ticket so went to see Universal Studios and not see Islands of Adventure. Universal Studios has 6 areas (Production Central, New York, San Francisco/Amity, Hollywood, Woody Woodpecker Kidzone, World Expo) and 21 attractions. We visited all the area and did 11 attractions (Shrek 4-D, Twister…Ride it out, The Blues Brothers, Revenge of the Mummy, Earthquake - The Big One, Jaws, Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time, Lucy - A Tribute, E T Adventure, Men in Black - Alien Attack, Back to the Future - The Ride. Our favorites were: Shrek 4-D, The Blues Brothers, Revenge of the Mummy, and Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time. I have posted pictures of the park below.
4/7 Friday, was our anniversary. During the day, we went shopping and took the computer in to a repair shop to have it fixed. After we got back from the computer fix it shop I walked around the Caribbean Resort. In the evening, we had dinner at the California Grill on the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort. Dinner was excellent and then at 10:00pm we watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the deck. It was awesome, they piped the music out to us and the view of the fireworks was perfect. Although we had dinner at the resort and walked around some, we did not take the time to walk through the grounds so did not see the 6,500 square foot swimming pool. Before dining, we took the monorail to the Polynesian Resort to walk around it. The Polynesian Resort consists of 11 Hawaiian Longhouses around a Great Ceremonial House with a rain forest atrium lobby. The resort is located on the Seven Seas Lagoon. It was interesting. I like the designs and motifs of the islands. I have posted pictures of the resorts and the fireworks below.
4/8 Saturday, we spent the day in Epcot. In Future World we visited 5 of the 9 attractions. We especially enjoyed Test Track (the longest, fastest ride in Disney history), Mission Space (an opportunity to experience being an astronaut), and Soarin (free flying over California). In World Showcase we visited all of the 11 lands: Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, America, Japan, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and Canada. The movies in Canada (360° ), China (360° ), and France are super, and the attraction in America was awesome. I have posted pictures of the park below.
4/9 Sunday, we bought a new computer. The computer fix it guy was not able to fix the old one. The internet card is still in the old computer at the shop so we are still not on-line. Hopefully it will just slide into the new computer and we will be back up in no time. On our way home from shopping we stopped at the Coronado Springs Resort. I walked around the lake and took pictures of the resort. It has three theme areas, Casitas (Mexican Cities), Cabanas (Mexican beach resorts), and Ranchos (Southwestern cattle ranches). The three areas are wrapped around a lake with a nice walk. I saw an alligator and a turtle in the lake. I have posted pictures of the resort below.
4/10 Monday, we went to Disney/MGM This is a small, confusing park. It has 18 attractions. We visited 12 of them. The Fantasmic show of lasers, lights, dancing fountains and film on water spray at night was spectacular. We also enjoyed the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, the Rock n Roller Coaster, and Beauty and the Beast show. There were lots of Disney characters walking the park. This time I actually was able to get some pictures of the parade. I have posted pictures of the park below.
4/11 Tuesday, we went to Downtown Disney, took the computer to a Cingular shop to help set up the internet card, and walked around the lake at BoardWalk Inn and BoardWalk Villas. Downtown Disney is the Shopping/Dining area of the world. It has 3 areas: West Side, Pleasure Island, and Market Place. Pleasure Island has a lot of nightlife. It was not open when we visited. West Side has a Cirque du Soleil, Disney Quest (5 floors of interactive rides and adventures), and House of Blues. We mostly visited the Pin Traders and World of Disney in the Marketplace. I have posted pictures of the resort below.
4/12 Wednesday, we went to the Magic Kingdom. The Magic Kingdom and Fort Wilderness are on the same lake so we took a bus from our site to the marina and a boat to the Magic Kingdom. Once in the Magic Kingdom we visited many of our old standbys as well some new (to us) attractions. Mickey’s PhilharMagic and Stitch‘s Great Escape were the 2 new attractions we most enjoyed. Some of favorite old standbys are Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Space Mountain. I have posted pictures of the park below.
4/13 Thursday, we traveled from Disney to St Augustine.
1 year ago
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