The Magic Kingdom

Tuesday we spent the day at the Magic Kingdom. It had a lot of things that were different than Disneyland, more than I thought. We had a good time exploring and comparing it to what we know. Here are the highlights:

1. Once again we tried to be one of the first in line. We were let in for some pre-opening entertainment which included Aaron being called up to do the hokey pokey and throwing Mickey confetti during a countdown to opening.

2. Splash Mountain was great and is always one of our favorites. This one was fun because you get to sit side by side and there are many parts of the ride that are different.

3. Aaron managed to get Dream Fastpasses, again. This time was weirder than the other times. He was walking by and saw someone with a Dream Fastpass. He asked them where they got them. Then they asked him, “do you want them?” So of course he said yes and the person handed over two of them. I’m not sure if he didn’t understand what they were or he was leaving the park for the day, or just wanted to make someone elses dream come true, but we accepted the gesture.

4. Aaron was happy to see they haven’t moved the people movers out of Disney World like they have out of Disneyland. It was actually a pretty cool little ride that takes you around tomorrowland. Aaron got to experience a little bit of Space Mountain, without actually having to ride it. I wonder why they took them out at Disneyland? Especially since the track is still there and not being used.

5. And last of all, the Castle looks fabulous! Especially because of Christmas. They had white lights hanging all over it and the castle would change colors ever 10 minutes or so. It is built up high and is taller than Disneyland so you can see it from almost anywhere in the park. I loved it!

Epcot

Let me start out by saying that Epcot is HUGE! More than twice as big as Disneyland and California Adventure combined. So to get from one end to the other takes awhile. There is a lot to see and do. Here were some of our favorites:

1. Test track was great, especially when you get to drive really fast at the end.

2. Spaceship America is the ride inside of the big ball. It takes you on a little journey through history, which was great for a history nerd like me. If I could only get my students to learn/remember all that was on this ride.

3. I loved walking around the countries. My favorites were Germany and Italy. Germany looked just like a miniature Rothenburg and Italy was like a miniature Venice. I also got to try Morrocan food, which is the same kind of food they eat in the Middle East. It reminded me of my days in Jerusalem…and of why I’m glad I don’t have to eat that kind of food all the time.

Canada (Brandy--Aaron wanted to take this picture for you!)

England

Germany (doesn't it look like Rothenburg?)

China

Japan

Morocco (country in North Africa where majority of people are Arabic)

This picture below was taken for my Jerusalem friends. Doesn't it remind you of all the cheesy t-shirts we would see shopping in the old city? And to top it off, it has one of our favorite Arabic words.

4. We went to dinner at a German Buffet called the Biergarten. I wasn’t too excited because I didn’t really love German food when I was in Germany, but this was much better. And I even got to try real schnitzel and black forest cake (which I wasn’t able to find in Germany despite much searching and walking through the real black forest). There was some lively entertainment including a rendition of Edelweiss played on cowbells and the chicken dance.

Animal Kingdom

I was a big fan of this place. It is so different from the other parks and was a great place to spend Thanksgiving day. The symbol for the park is the giant "tree of life" in the middle of the park that has lots of animals carved into the trunk.

1. We saw the Lion King and Finding Nemo shows. Both were really good and much better than I was expecting. The costumes and way that they performed Finding Nemo on a stage was especially impressive.

2. The Safari ride was awesome. We saw lots of animals and even had to stop our van for an ostrich to cross the road.

3. Expedition Everest is a pretty great roller coaster. Very tall, fast, dark and backwards.

4. Dinosaur was a great ride too. Similar to Indiana Jones, but with Dinosaurs. It was actually pretty scary and I have to admit that I flinched a few times.

Our Last Day

Our last day was a catch up day to do all the things we had put off to do later including some rides, buying souvenirs, eating lots of snacks, and going to the water park. We started out our morning at Blizzard Beach. There were very few people in the park and there were lifeguards wearing coats…so I think they thought we were a bit strange. But we adjusted to the cold and got to walk right on to all of the slides we wanted to. We even got to ride a chair lift to the top of the mountain where all the slides come off.

This was my favorite slide. You ride down the mouintain in a 4-5 person tube that looks like a little kiddie blow up pool.

We headed back to the Magic Kingdom for our final afternoon. Aaron finally got Kylee to like him enough to let him hold her without screaming...maybe all the candy and soda and merry-go-round ride helped.

We finished off the day with a meal with the characters from Winnie-the-Pooh and fireworks over the castle and one last ride on Buzz Lightyear.

Thank you Barth family for a fabulous trip! We had a great time are so grateful that we got to go!