More paper Disney

 After a break of three months, the Disney Go Blog finally released another four in their paper Disney series.  I have only managed to finish the first three so far.  The two blocks of Main Street were easy to assemble.  The parade floats were a bit more fiddly.  The castle was more difficult to put together as some of the steps weren't very clear.  I still have to finish the Carousel.

In the new sets, they have added some extra Halloween themed crafts as well as more parts to the Paper Disney Park.

In Happy Haunts set 1 you get the Entry Gates with some extra pumpkin decorations as well as some decorations and shadow puppets.

There are no paper park pieces in Happy Haunts set 2.  Instead they give you a placemat, cup sleeves, napkin rings, place card holders, decorations, and a doom buggy snack box.

In Happy Haunts set 3 you get a Haunted Mansion facade on too big a map (9 sheets!) with a stretching portrait chamber.

Happy Haunts set 4 includes more parts around the Haunted Mansion including more rooms.

New printer and papercraft

When our printer needed more ink back in July, we looked at the cost of replacing ink, and the cost of buying a new printer with ink.  We finally took the plunge, spent a bit more, and upgraded to an ink tank printer. 

Not being so concerned about saving precious ink, I printed some things from a few papercraft sites.

 

I started with the sample saloon from Hotz ArtWorks.  It looked too small against the Reaper and Knight Model figures so I didn’t assemble it.  I have since gotten some Dracula’s America figures that seem closer in scale so I probably will put it together.

 

Disney Parks Blog had just come out with Paper Disney Parks.  They have four so far in the series.  The first two were both for Main Street and the Magic Happens parade, the third was for Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, and the fourth was for King Arthur’s Carrousel. 

I printed off all of them at 25% to save space once done and have finished the first set.

 

They haven’t printed any more in the series yet, so looking for a Haunted Mansion led me back to Haunted Dimensions.  They have papercraft for three versions of the Haunted Mansions from the different parks. 

They also have the houses from Amityville Horror, Psycho, and Adams Family as well as facades from the movie theatre from The Blob and some others.  I have printed off the three houses and the movie façade and am mostly finished the Amityville house.

 

For more hyper detailed versions of papercraft about the Disneyland signs, train station, and castles there is also The Disney Experience.  I haven’t started on any of these yet as I am not sure if they will be too large once finished as well as too complex if shrunk. 

 

Some of the buildings will be used to fill up a table for wargaming, and some will be used for our Halloween display table in our new spare bedroom.

Disney Trip 2016 - Day 10 - Polynesian/Travel

On Tuesday, August 30, we got up, showered, and packed the last of our items away. We had accumulated a lot of snacks that would not make the trip back.

We stored our bags at the front desk and took the bus to the Magic Kingdom. We were early, so we took the train around the park and checked that off our list. Knowing that Stitch made an appearance at the front, we saw him as we were starting our train ride and he was still there when we got off - but the line was too long.

We took the monorail to the Polynesian Resort and had our Aloha Character Breakfast. It was a beautiful breakfast - we started with fresh fruit and pastries, then had an all-you-can-eat, family-style breakfast - scrambled eggs, biscuits, waffles, hash browns, sausage, and bacon. There was also this mango/guava/orange juice that was wonderful.
They had the following characters there - Pluto, holiday Mickey, Lilo, and of course Stitch. It cost about $35 a person - which I consider a bargain for what you received. We were there early but they sat us early. We did have a long wait for Stitch but, when he finally came around, my daughter had tears again.


We took a cab back to our resort. Gaby when to the arcade again. We got our bags from holding, and waited for the bus back to the airport.
As we got to the airport it rained very heavily. We unloaded under the canopy and made our way over to our terminal for our flights back. We waited. The desk did not open until 3:45.
We were in the front third of the line but we got held up. Our tickets back for David3 and I did not have our middle names and the computer did not want to board two people with the same name. So we had to wait while the agent was on hold and could fix it for us.
Our bags were a bit over - 54, 51, and 53 pounds but he let them go through without overcharges. My bag, even with all the heavy liquids and extra stuff, was still only 47 pounds.

We got split up at customs by an agent that looked like an older Daniel Cook. Gaby and Shan went though as pre-checked, and David3 and I had to go through the regular line. They brought the dog out to run up an down the line but no incidence.

We picked up some burgers from Burger King and waited for our flight.


We got to Toronto with no problems. We didn't have to transfer our bags, which was a big help as our connection was tight.
Or it would have been if the connecting plane was on time. There was an issue with the plane so they had to bring a replacement in from New York.

We did a lot of walking through the Toronto terminal, and Shan and Gaby had picked up some Timbits for the wait. The kids were happy to be back in Canada and were looking forward to getting home.

My folks picked us up in Winnipeg. We were supposed to be in at 12:30 am but with the delay we were a bit late.

Disney Trip 2016 - day 9 - Epcot/Hollywood Studios - part 2

At Epcot, Cheryl went to ride the Test Track. I went to buy my Figment shirt and would catch up with Shan and the kids by the China pavilion.

The cast members really seem to have a fondness for Figment. I got a lot of compliments about my hat and shirt when I wore it on Tuesday.

I popped into the Mexican pavilion and rushed over to China to meet them. They weren't there yet so I worked my way back. We met and got a picture with fiesta Donald.

We went over to China. Shan finally got to see two of her terracotta warriors. We got pictures with Mulan and saw some displays for Disney Shanghai.

We had lunch at the Chinese Pavilion and I picked up some coins at the gift shop.

At Germany, I got some daytime pictures of the outdoor train set, took a couple shots at Italy, and then we made it back to Japan for Gabrielle.

While waiting, we sat by the kids area listening to Aoi welcome the kids. She had a lovely Australian accent due to going to school in Oz.


We took a water express over to Hollywood Studios, where I was again randomly chosen for the metal detector. That was three-for-three today. I think that I was only not chosen once during all our visits.

D3 parted from us and went back to the room while we went in. Gaby and Cheryl went off to ride the Aerosmith Rocking Roller Coaster as single riders while Shan an I found a spot for the fireworks display. They made it back in time.
The show jumped around a bit but was awesome - with fire, lasers, as well as projection and fireworks.

On the bus back to the resort we were packed in pretty tight. We were up at the front with some British kids and we all sang along to the music on the ride back. The bus driver encouraged us and even flashed the lights.


Getting drinks at the resort, after being at the arcade, Gaby overheard some kids talking about meeting Stitch the next day. We went to the concierge and checked - there are character meets with Stitch - including a breakfast at the Polynesian.

Back to the room we went with my daughter in tears that she had missed Stitch. We rushed back to the office to book it but it was too late. It was after 11pm and the concierge desk was closed.
On a mission, Gaby rushed back to the room so that Shan could book it, and then we packed as much as we could in preparation for heading home. In packing, I found my pool shoes which I thought that I hadn't packed, but I did.

Disney Trip 2016 - day 9 - Magic Kingdom - part 1

On the Monday we went back to the Magic Kingdom.

We had a character meeting with Tink, who was adorable.

Then we went through to Cinderella's Castle Royal Table for our big character breakfast. We got to meet Cinderella in her throne room before brunch, and saw Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, and Jasmine during the breakfast. Shan and I had the beef tenderloin and egg frittatas - it was amazing.
It's a pricey experience - the princesses were also available to meet next door where Cheryl saw them. Outside the castle they have the sword in the stone so we tried our luck.

We made our way around to meet Merida - being stuck outside by the rain before finally meeting her. I had some concerns. They swapped out the one with the crazy eyes just before us, but the one that we met was lovely.

All of us but D3 used Cheryl's Fast Pass and rode the 7 Dwarfs' Mine Car roller coaster. Shannon always closes her eyes on the coasters, so to her they are all dark rides.

We then finally rode the carousel. It's a big one - 5 horses deep. Shan had worries that the belt might not fit but adults didn't need to wear them.

We didn't see Gaston's statue, but went back around and rode the Haunted Mansion again. The gift shop is across the street from the mansion but we never did make it inside this trip.

We just missed the paddlewheel and almost went on the Bear Country Jamboree but decided to get the Riverboat first.
After finally riding the Riverboat, we waited about 10 minutes and watched the Bear Country Jamboree.

We made it around in time to catch the parade again, before making it around to the Tiki Room, which only had a 10 minute wait.

We were going to do Splash Mountain, but we were Cheryl-ed again, as all outside rides were shut down due to lightning within 7 miles. We couldn't even finish our train ride around the park.

We made it back to the front of the park and took the Monorail over to Epcot.

Disney Trip 2016 - day 8 - Disney Springs

On Sunday we had a slower day. We had breakfast at the resort and then took the ferry to Disney Springs - a shopping mall/street. They have boat/cars that you can rent but it was too wet for the hot air balloon, so Shan missed her chance.

We popped into a few stores, D3 got some Star Wars books, a Boba Fett overshirt, as well as some Lego at the Lego store. I got an Imperial soldier hat, but was unable to find any Tron cycles.

D3 and I went to the Coke store while the girls shopped and they joined us at the Coke Experience restaurant to try an International tray - 16 beverages from around the world. Some were quite vile.

We did make it to the arcade but didn't do the whole experience. They did have a Mario Brothers game that I was able to play by myself, with my daughter, and again with my son. I was able to put up a decent high score.

We went to Blaze Pizza for supper. You could order a personal pizza with a variety of individual toppings. We went back to the resort on the ferry.

Disney trip 2016 - day 7 - The Animal Kingdom - part 2

Cheryl, Gee, and I rode the Expedition Everest. It way very cool. The Wilderness Explorer badge station near there was very hard to find.

Cheryl and the kids left before us. They got lost for a bit on the way out. Shan waited around for me and I finished up a few more badges.
We checked in at the Wilderness Explorer Station on the way out. I guess they had seen me working away at them. I didn't get them all but they made me an honorary Senior Explorer.

We had supper back at the resort and made it back to the pack for the night show. It was the Jungle Book - partially projected on water sprays and singing and dancing Bollywood-style, followed by fire dancers,

It could have been due to the rain, but we didn't think that it was as good as Fantasmic,

On the way out, we caught a few vignettes projected on the giant Tree of Life. We would have stayed a bit longer and watched more of them but the kids were getting tired.

Disney Trip 2016 - day 7 - The Animal Kingdom - part 1

On the Saturday we got up early for the ride to The Animated Kingdom. I took the new camera that we got from cashing in Air Miles points. We had just got it before we left but the safari was a rare chance to use it. Even though I haven't really got comfortable with it.
Gee used my regular camera on the safari while I used the new one.

We started in Africa at the Harambe Wildlife Reserve. It wasn't high on my list of attractions but it was quite good.

Finishing that, we went on the Gorilla Walk. During the walk I picked up a Wilderness Explorer book from Jocelynne, a Troop Leader. There were many spots along the park to answer questions or do events to get stickers. While the kids weren't interested, it harkened back to my Boy Scout days and I did as many as I could throughout the day, much to my wife's chagrin.

We had lunch at the Yak & Yeti - a mix of Indian and Asian foods.

Next on our visit was the Maharajah Jungle Trek to see the tigers. The bats and the komodo dragons were away at the vet.

We did the It's Not Easy to be a Bug Show. Again, the large spiders were not announced with enough warning for Gee. It was hard to find the badge coming out of that one. It was tucked in on the path out from the show.

We worked our way around Dinoland USA. It's built up like an old-time Dino-themed amusement park. We didn't do any of the rides but I had to go into the Dig area to get the badge.
It rained heavily a few times that day. We did remember to bring the Dollarama ponchos. A few people asked if we were Canadians - seeing the maple leafs. Our response - "Maybe".

Disney Trip 2016 - day 6 - Hollywood Studios - part 2

The kids and I posed in the handprints in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre.

We were unable to get seats for the Sci-Fi Drive In theatre.

We did take pictures with the speederbike and then caught some of the Jedi training before riding the Star Tours. It was good to finally ride it after all these years.
I'm the gift shop I picked up a Medal of Yavin. It's not the Master Replica's one, but it's the closest I will come to having one.

Next we popped into the Launch Bay to see Star Wars props and reproductions. I took many photos of a reproduction Rey outfit and a Dejerik table.

We walked around some more and then made it over to the Fantasmic show. They project images on water/mist as well as have live action - including a wonderful Malificent dragon.

We took a few more shots on the way out and then headed back to the room early. The park closes early. It's timed so you can either see Fantasmic or the park's fireworks.

We looked around the arcade back at the resort and got to bed early for the early day tomorrow.

Disney Trip 2016 - day 6 - Hollywood Studios - part 1

On the Friday we went to Hollywood Studios. I was randomly selected again to go through the metal detectors. We made our way around to the Muppet side.
We had breakfast tickets to Mama Melrose's Ristorante Italiano. The brunch was the grouper for D3 and I with a lovely desert. The meal here was $45 each and gave us tickets to the Fantasmic fireworks show.

We had killed some time in the Muppet gift shop already and, after the brunch we went to Muppet Vision 3D. The wait was about 10 minutes.

We had a fast pass for the Indiana Jones Stunt Show.

We made our way back to the main stage in time for the March of The First Order.

We then walked in to see Walt Disney - One Man's Dream. They had a bunch of props and displays to see before the show and we saw the rest of them afterward. I took shots of the Rocketeer jetpack, a helmet from Tron, as well as the dioramas.

We then made our way over to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Cheryl, Gaby, and I rode. It was good. At the gift shop I bought a door sign and a robe.

We went in to the Pixar section but did not go on any rides.

Disney Trip 2016 - day 3 - part 2 - Epcot - World Showcase

We started on the Canada side, took a few polite pictures of the totems, and then looked around the United Kingdom. We popped into The Toy Soldier, listened to the band a bit, and I popped into the market looking unsuccessfully for some Jelly Babies.

We walked by France and Morocco, talking a few brief photos and then we moved on to Japan.

We spent a bit of time in the Japan gift shop, with Gee being moved to tears at the selection. Cheryl was so moved that she bought Gee a lovely kimono. Shan also bought one along with some sandals ad toe socks. Gee and I also bought toe socks as well and had everything shipped back to the room.

At this point it was already 8:30 and starting to get dark. We moved along a bit and found a spot near the American Garden Theatre to wait for the fireworks.
I picked up some udon noodles and some teriyaki chicken from Katsura Grill and brought it back while we waited.
The fireworks over the water were very nice. We were under some trees but still had a good view. We were by where they parked a floating ball platform but Cheryl knew that it moved to become part of the show so opened up the view.

Afterwards we moved past the American pavilion and looked a bit at the Italian pavilion while Cheryl picked out some beautiful Italian masks.

We took some shots of the train set up by Germany in the dark and then moved on to China. Shan had really wanted to see the Terra Cotta Warriors but the displays were closed. We also found out that they had moved on and no longer had them.

Things were closing down so we went past Norway and Mexico, again only stopping briefly for a few photos and then made our way back to the entrance for our bus ride home and to our room.

Gee and I went to the shop around 10:30 pm to pick up our bag from the day before, and I bought a refillable mug - purple. Gee already has a blue one, Shan has the red, and Dee's bought the green one earlier today,

He was asleep when we got back to the room. Everyone else went to bed early to up early the next day, but I stayed up a bit to write up day two and three while they were still fresh.

We had worn our Canada shirts to Epcot - Representing! A few people said hi because of them - fellow Canadians as well as a nice couple from Minnesota we met while in line for Spaceship Earth. As well, I got a few people asking about the Figment hat - fellow fans.

Disney Trip 2016 - day 3 - part 1 - Epcot - Future World

Tuesday was Epcot day. The kids were slow to wake so Shan did some laundry. D3 was still sluggish but we catch a bit of breakfast at 11 am at the hotel on our way out and caught the bus to Epcot.

We started off at the Art of Disney but managed to barely resist buying anything.

Our next stop was our first Fast Pass - a Character Meet with Mickey, Goofy, and Minnie. Then we went and got pictures with Beymax. The line for Joy and Sadness went from short to very long while we waited the 15 minutes for Beymax, so we skipped them.

We went over to Future World west and, after a 10 minute line, did The Seas with Nemo & friends, and then spent some time looking at the tanks. D3 got some pictures of a "sad" seahorse. As we were leaving, Shan discovered that she had left her hat on the ride but was able to claim it.

We moved over to The Land and, after a quick 10 minute wait, did the Living the Land tour. Shan loves gardening so quite enjoyed seeing what they are doing. Soaring only had a 30 minute wait so I said that this was our big chance. It did not disappoint. D3 (who dislikes falling), and Shan (who dislikes heights) both enjoyed it. We made sure that they were not sitting on the end.

We had a bit of time, so we were able to finish up the west side with Journey Into Imagination with Figment. This one had a wait of about 15 - 20 minutes. Another classic ride. No-one else in our party knew who Figment was but I did.
In the gift shop, I bought a Figment hat, and had 2 mini monorail cars, a set of buses, and the Star Wars rideship sent to the room.

After that, we made our way around to the Future World East, cutting briefly through the Mouse Gear gift shop. Another quick look around still proved fruitless for some Tron cycles.

We got to the Test Track for our second Fast Pass, making the 11o minute wait only a 10 wait. D3's designed car beat the girls' car 203 to 199.

After a bit of discussion, and some pretzels, as D3 was winding down, we did the Mission: Space. The Green mission was a 5 minute wait and the Orange mission was a 10 minute wait. D3 sat out, and the girls did the Green mission, and I did the Orange mission. D3's feet were hurting.

After 15 to 20 minutes in line, we all did the Spaceship Earth. It's another old ride that holds up well.

After this, D3 went back to the hotel to eat, shower, and get to sleep early for our Universal trip early Wednesday, and we carried on to the World Showcase. He was supposed to text us when he got back to the room, but didn't. He missed his stop but the bus driver got him back to the Riverside entrance.

Disney Trip 2016 - day 2 - part 2 - Tomorrowland/plus

We started with Space Mountain. D3 waited in line with us but did not want to ride it so he sat out. There was a bit of a scramble in the line at the last moment so Shan ended up being in the front seat. So now she hates us all.
The roller coaster in the dark was interesting. Not being able to see where you are going really intensifies the experience. For Shan, all roller coasters are dark rides as she always keeps her eyes closed.

After Space Mountain, we did the People Movers. The wait was only about 10 minutes. Some people don't like this one but we did. It gives a nice overview of Tomorrowland. It even gave D3 a glimpse of Space Mountain - which we all agreed that he would not have liked.

Next we moved on to the Carousel of Progress. This was another classic that lived up to the history. We were able to walk directly on to the ride.

Cheryl wanted us to do the Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, and had been talking about it for the last two days. It was only a 10 minute wait and the ride was okay. I got the high score - even beating my FPS son.

We popped in to the Merchant of Venus and I picked up a foam Tusken Raider Gaffi Stick for $20. The clerk was new so we were unable to ship it back to the room and we had to carry it, D3's book, and the rest for the remainder of the night.

We got in line for Stitch's Great Escape but they told us that the ride was 20 minutes long and that we would miss the fireworks so we left and made our way to the center courtyard for the night-time fireworks show.

Afterwards, we went back to Tomorrowland and walked back on to Stitch's Great Escape. It seemed a bit dark for Stitch - which makes sense when you learn that it had been rethemed from the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter. With the seats, where you are locked in, it does seam as though Stich it right behind you in the dark

To finish up our day, we had a 10 minute wait and did the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which had some great thing to keep kids busy while waiting.
Then we made our way back to Liberty Square and walked on to the Haunted Mansion. Another classic ride satisfying the history. I would have gone again, but D3 was done for the day again so we left, again going by the carousel with no line but not stopping.

We took the right bus home, but got back too late for a snack - about midnight.

Disney Trip 2016 - day 2 - part 1 - Magic Kingdom - Frontierland / Liberty Square / Fantasyland

We got up and had breakfast at the resort. I had an omelette at the omelette station.

Back at the Magic Kingdom, we started at the station and took the train around to Frontierland. We took the raft to Tom Sayer's Island and looked around there. There is not much to it, but it is one of the classic parts that we wanted to see.

Then Shan and D3 waited while Cheryl, Gee, and I went on Splash Mountain. It's more of a ride than I had thought, with The Song of the South storyline well depicted. The line had been about an hour for that one. When we finally go to the front, we found out why - they let about 100 Fastpass riders through to every 10 standby riders.
We didn't get the final splash though, as it had a problem 3 boats ahead and we had to wait, and wait. About 20 minutes later cast members came by and started unloading the boats from behind us. A poor little girl was in front of us. We pushed them to rush her out as she had to go to the bathroom.
We did get to see part of the ride that most people don't get to see - the backstage. Due to the problems, they gave us a mini water, and Magic Kingdom fastpasses to use later.
Outside, they wondered what was taking us so long but had figured something was up when they had turned off the water. Because our photopasses, we did get a photo of our boat going down the ride without us.

We moved over to the Pirate of the Caribbean, and waited about 40 minutes for that. It was pretty dark and they have updated it to add in a few Jack Sparrows. As fans of the movies as well as Monkey Island, it was great to finally see the prisoners tempting the dog in person.

Another 30 minute wait and we were on the Jungle Cruise. It's been one that we have see clips and photos from for decades and it was great to be on it. Our guide kept up a running commentary of bad puns that kept us chuckling the entire time. I wasn't able to get the iconic shot of the hippo spraying water however.

Both the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse were closed so I was unable to cross those ones off our list.

We hit the main courtyard in time to find a spot for the parade, We saw the new steampunk Malificent dragon. D3 was already a bit tired and sat off to the side for the parade in what shade he could find. Shan had bought one of the water-spray bottle fans. She proceeded to mist us with it - as I had predicted to Gee (and did not appreciate).

We moved on to Liberty Square. We stopped for an early dinner at The Diamond Horseshoe/Liberty Tree Tavern and had a family-style feast of turkey, roast beef, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy. Cheryl had an issue with her salad and they gave her a fastpass for 5. With dessert and drinks included, dinner was about $33 a person. It was a fine meal and a great way to cool off at the middle of the day.

We caught the Hall of Presidents just in time to catch the show. Another classic, and a very impressive show. I was too caught up in it to take many photos.

The Riverboat wasn't running and Small World was now boarded up for repairs.

We next got in line for Peter Pan's Flight. It ended up being about a 45 minute wait in line. I found it too long a wait for the ride, although the view of the city was nice. I found that the mast of the ship blocked sight and photos, and it was too dark to get anything more than a blur.
Taking a fastpass though would have missed the tour of the house which was nice to see at least once. The long lines through the kids' bedroom was also the only place where we saw major litter in the parks. Seeing Tinkerbell interact with the furniture was neat but it wasn't enough to make up for the wait.

Again we skipped past the Carousel.

On our way to Dumbo's we passed a Pooh and Tigger going to their ride. The four of us rode Dumbo's Wild Ride. It's not super exciting, but still one of the iconic rides that my wife and I wanted to see. After the ride, we got some pictures in the test Dumbo they had off to the side.

Gaby and I went off to ride the Tea Cups at the Mad Tea Party as the rest went into the Big Top Boutique. We were able to walk on to the ride and spun as fast as we could before heading back to join them. We got our purchases sent back to the resort and popped over to see Merida, but we had missed her so we moved on to Tomorrowland.

Disney trip 2016 - day 1 - travel

We left for Disney World early on Sunday Aug 21. We had to be up and out by 5 am. My folks drove us to the airport and dropped us off. There was a bit of concern if we would all fit with all of our luggage but it was fine.

We had dropped Boo off at the kennel the day before. We don’t normally get as choked up when we drop Gee off at the airport for her trips but Shan and Gee were both a bit weepy as we drove away.

Dee’s first flight was okay. He sat by the window but closed it on the takeoff. Toronto airport is big. We got food at the Tim Horton’s – I got chili and a sub.

Gee and I played the video machines while we waited between flights. They had ipads connected at several of the tables. Thanks to our friends at CIBC, we got Sun chips, a Mountain Dew, and a Water for free.

Shan's sister Cheryl met us in Toronto. The flight was fine - D3 getting used to it and slept most of it. He missed supper. I had the chicken wrap and some tepid soup.

We landed in Orlando around 8 pm. I thought Toronto's airport was big but Orlando was huge. Because we were staying in one of the resorts, we had the resort tags on our luggage which meant that we didn't have to collect them at the airport. Cheryl did not have the tags so we left her at the baggage claim and went on to the buses.

The bus from the airport was nice. The video on the bus was fine and helped to pass the time. I answered most of the trivia questions correctly. I am very glad that I did not have to make the drive to the park.

We checked in to our hotel - the New Orleans Riverside. We are in building 28 and our room was 2828. It is a nice size. It even has a fold-down third bed for D3 but it is too small for him. We dropped our carry-on luggage and made our way to the bus stop near us.

We took the bus to the park at about 9:30 pm. We were a bit concerned as the Magic Kingdom was not listed on the bus times. Originally, we were going to take the travel days as off days, but the Small World ride was being closed for repairs starting the next day so we extended our park days to include the Sunday.

At the park, we rushed in. We had to go around the castle as the fireworks were almost about to start and the crowds were filling in. We made it to Small World at 10 pm - just before our much-moved Fast Pass.

The ride was very nice. Each section represents a continent: Europe, Asia and Australia, Africa, and South America. Then there was the winter celebration.

As the ride ended, they mentioned that we could stay on if we wanted to ride it again. We totally took that opportunity. The attendants were very surprised and excited and sent us through on a boat by ourselves. We would have ridden a third time but D3 had missed supper and was hungry.

We went back through the castle. We got our first park photo with the castle in backqround. We had a late supper at Casey's. It was now 11 pm so it as the end of the park day but we kept hearing them mention that the electric parade was happening. So we stayed for it. It was also very nice.
It was a really good start to our first day.

We got back on our bus at 18 where we were dropped off but it ended up being for New Orleans - Dock Side not Riverside. But our driver was great and took pity on us and dropped us off at our hotel. Crisis averted.

We made our way back to our hotel, glad that our room was on the main floor. Our bags were still not here yet. Shan called the desk and they said that they were out being delivered. They showed up as she went to get ice.

Disney holiday 2016 - overview

We went to Disney. We’ve never been, but we grew up watching it on TV and seeing the rides and attractions in books and movies. We’ve always been big Disney fans. We decorate our house with Nightmare Before Christmas decorations for Halloween, we have a lot of the movies, and I even gave my wife the Disneyland viewmaster reels for her last birthday.

We weren’t sure if we should even go, with the exchange on the dollar being what it was back in February when we had to plan it, but we decided it would be our best chance. I was able to get two weeks at the end of August as holidays so we booked it. Disney World was a go!

The kids are a good ages to go; Gee is 14 and Dee is 17. They should be old enough to have good memories of the trip, and yet not too old that it isn’t still fun. Even though he is older, it was the first time flying for my son so he was a bit nervous about it.

We got some of the park travel books to make lists of rides and attractions and told the kids to go through them to list any of them they might be interested in as well but neither of them did. Gee and I are much more into the rides and Shan and Dee are not. She said that she would still ride some of the classic rides – like Space Mountain, but Dee said that he did not want to ride any roller coasters.

We booked ten days – six days at Disney, two days at Universal, and two travel days. We flew down on August 21 and flew back on August 30. We ended up adding the Sunday as an extra day at Disney for an extra $85 for the four of us – in order to get to see the It’s a Small World ride, as it was being closed down for repairs on the next day.

We’re back. We had a great time. I’ll break it down in later posts, but I wanted to mention it as the trip will have long-reaching effects on what I’m doing for quite some time.