Our 2012 Walt Disney World Vacation pt. 3

Day 3 - Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Magic Kingdom Day! Magic Kingdom is usually a big hit with both new and returning guests – and this was certainly the case for us! We wanted to get to the park to see rope drop, a show put on every morning at The Magic Kingdom that officially opens the park. It’s a short show but embodies everything Disney – so it’s a must! We left the resort around 8:00am & arrived in time for rope drop and then headed straight for frontier land!

We rode Splash Mountain first (and again a second time) before heading over to The Magic Carpets of Aladdin. The line was extremely short and we pretty much hopped right on – with the "real" Aladdin and Jasmine which was pretty cool!

Next we headed over to the Enchanted Tiki Room which is a show-type experience with animatronic tropical birds singing a few songs.

The Jungle Cruise followed the Tiki Room. Our “guide” was hilarious - so many good puns! After we got off the Jungle Cruise we decided to head over to the Pirates of the Caribbean and adventure with Captain Jack – does anyone else who’s been on this ride think the animatronic Jack Sparrow looks incredibly realistic?!

Ryan insisted we see the Country Bear Jamboree and while I was appreciative of the ten minute rest & air conditioning, I made note that this probably isn't an attraction I’d be dying to see next time. But Ryan enjoyed it, so that’s all that matters!

We visited The Haunted Mansion which was an instant hit that we still look forward to riding each visit! Before lunch we hit up Snow White’s Scary Adventure which has since been closed and replaced with Princess Fairytale Hall.

We ate lunch at Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn & Cafe, which has really good burgers and a condiments bar! After a brief panic that we had lost each other in the restaurant, we enjoyed our burgers and got back to the fun!

We rode Prince Charming Regal Carousel and took some more pictures! We were pretty thirsty at this point and Ellen was dying for a frozen lemonade. We couldn’t find any nearby so we decided to ride The Mad Tea Party in the meantime. The Tea Party always seems to have a fairly short line so we decided to do it twice!

It’s A Small World is a must! And while some don’t enjoy the repetitive song, we love resting our feet, sitting back and enjoying the classic ride.

Up next –The Barnstormer! This attraction is in the Storybook Circus part of Fantasyland and is a great junior roller coaster. It reminds us of an old roller coaster we have here at home.

With a Fast Pass in-hand, we headed over to Space Mountain. Ryan remembered this ride as a kid but it had been under construction when Ellen first visited so this was a first for her! SO. MUCH. FUN. We really love this ride - the dark twists and turns are exciting and unpredictable – Ellen laugh’s the whole way through. We rode it twice this day, one with a fast pass, one without - the Fast Pass was definitely appreciated!

We saw the Astro Orbiter and wanted to try it, as we were determined to ride pretty much everything. Both full grown adults and neither of us particularly small for our age, we awkwardly & embarrassingly crammed ourselves into the seats and enjoyed the ride.

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin was up next! This is fun, interactive ride where you shoot lasers to defeat Zurg! Having both visited the parks as kids we remembered seeing ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter and being pretty scared and excited by it. We realized that this ride had been replaced in 2003 with Stitch’s Great Escape. While the Stitch ride is probably a better fit for the Magic Kingdom, we missed the Alien Encounter for sure.

We rode Peter Pan’s Flight before calling it a night. Magic Kingdom was a great day, full of magic and memories. We went all out and dedicated ourselves to riding as much as possible! Unfortunately, Big Thunder Mountain was closed for construction so we didn't have the chance to ride it. We left the park 11 hours later at 7:00pm and called it a night! 

The Benefits of Staying On-Resort

Although we both stayed off-resort when we went with our families as kids, we made the decision to stay on-resort as adults on both our 2012 and 2014 trips; on both trips we stayed at Disney’s All Star Resorts. Through our own research and experiences, we've realized many benefits of staying on-resort and have found some great tips & tricks that we wanted to share!

1.       One of the first perks of staying on resort you’ll need to know is that you can schedule your Fast Passes up to 60 days in advance of your arrival through the My Disney Experience App/Website. Fast Passes allow you to go into an express line for certain attractions and shows and bypass the regular line. If you decide to stay off resort you still have the benefit of using the Fast Pass system and My Disney Experience App but are able to book your Fast Passes only 30 days in advance. While this may work great for some, you run the risk of having a limited choice of Fast Passes available for the more popular attractions as only a limited number are made available for each time period throughout the day. We’ll have a more in-depth post on Fast Passes soon! We discussed which attractions we wanted a Fast Pass for at each park (you’re entitled to pre-book 3 Fast Passes per day) and when we hit the 60 day mark we booked our Fast Passes for the preferred window of time for each day of our trip – we even managed to get a Fast Pass for the brand new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at Magic Kingdom!

  

Booking Fast Passes through My Disney Experience

2.       The next major benefit you’ll have by staying on-resort is access to Disney’s Magical Express. Disney offers its on-resort guests free transportation both to and from the Orlando International Airport to your resort. Quick Tip: if you’re booking through a travel agent, be sure to check with your agent that you are reserved on the Magical Express as you aren't automatically reserved.

Ryan & Ellen on Disney's Magical Express 2012

3.       Another great feature of staying on-resort is access to Disney’s transportation system. Their transportation system makes getting from your Walt Disney Resort to each of the four parks, water parks and Downtown Disney a breeze! While we've read a lot of negative comments online about the transportation system, we've never had a bad experience with the buses (we haven’t had the need to take boat or monorail transportation yet)! The buses depart approximately every 15 to 20 minutes, although we only wait 5 or 10 minutes the majority of the time. Because you’re staying on-resort, you’re never too far from any of the parks so a quick hop on the bus and you’re at the park before you know it – hassle free! You can go back and forth from the parks to your hotel and visc-versa as often as you like. Having this system available to guests allows a worry free day at the park. You won’t have the fear of losing your keys and can enjoy an adult beverage (or two) if you so choose!

A worry-free ride on a Disney's Transportation Bus

4.       The benefits of staying on resort aren't just limited to transportation. All Disney resort hotels have amazing amenities. So far, we've stayed at the All Star Movies and All Star Sports resorts. Both are value resorts but offer everything we need! Both have 2 pools - one larger pool near the front of the resort and another smaller pool towards the back of the resort. Both pools are in-theme with each resort. There are always pool activities with a cast member leading fun games and activities for kids. Quick Tip: we found the smaller pool at the back of the resorts to generally be less crowded. Although it’s smaller and further away from the main lobby, it feels more relaxing and secluded.

Enjoying a quiet swim in the smaller pool at Disney's All Star Sports Resort

5.       Disney’s All Star Movies Resort & All Star Sports Resort are great for photo opps! Disney goes all out with their themes and includes many larger-than-life decorative characters throughout the property. While Movies has more character and film based photo opps with large replicas from features such as Toy Story, Herbie Fully Loaded and Fantasia, Sports has larger than life sports equipment which also makes for a great photo. While some people enjoy the more refined style of Disney’s moderate and deluxe resorts, we really enjoy the fun and playful design of the value resorts.

So many photo opps at Disney's All Star Movies Resort!

6.       Every Disney resort offers dining options within the resort. While the value resorts have quick-service options (burgers, salads, pastas, etc.) the moderate and deluxe resorts have a wide variety of quick service and table service dining options that relate to each resorts theme. While you can have a pizza ordered to any old hotel room, there’s nothing quite as fun as having a Disney pizza delivered to your room after a long day at the park! 

Disney pizza delivered straight to your room!

7.       Another great feature of staying on-resort is having the ability to interact with Disney cast members outside the parks. On our most recent trip to the All Star Sports resort, our concierge cast members were so friendly & helpful! They printed off our boarding passes for our flight the day before we left and assisted us with booking transportation off-property to Universal Studios. 

8.       If and when you purchase a souvenir at any of the Disney parks or Downtown Disney, you have the option of having it sent back to your resort gift shop at no additional cost so that you don’t have to carry it around the park all day! Quick Tip: be aware that gifts sent from the park to your resort gift shop usually arrive the next day after purchase, so we don't advise using this feature on your last day!

9.       Speaking of resort gift shops, the gift shops at the resorts are jam-packed with all things Disney! Many items are things you can find in the Disney parks and at specialty stores like The World of Disney and Mouse Gears, while other items, such as sports memorabilia, are specific to each resort shop.  While you can find the majority of items found in the resort gift shops at the park, staying on-resort allows you the luxury of picking up a last minute item before you leave or... more impulse shopping!

10.   Maybe saving the best for last, a major benefit of staying on-resort at Walt Disney World is access to Extra Magic Hours! Guests staying on-resort are able to enjoy the parks past regular hours when the park closes to all other guests. You can find a schedule of Extra Magic Hours at https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/calendars/ & plan accordingly. Animal Kingdom almost always has Extra Magic Hours in the morning which is great for an early morning ride on the Safari.

      Even if you decide to go to Walt Disney World and stay off-resort, there is no doubt you will still have a GREAT vacation that will create lasting memories. Staying on Disney property just works best for us and gives us the options that we want for our own Disney experience. In our opinion, the more Disney magic, the better!

Some of our Disney Collection

Our Disney obsession isn't just limited to vacationing. We've gathered and collected a lot of Disney toys and memorabilia over the past few years. While this post won't show our entire collection, we've included some of our most favourite and nostalgic pieces.

Thanks to our parents, we had some great items to get our collection started. 

These Disney Muppet Babies are from Ryan's childhood and were some of the first items that started our collection.

While we picked up the Disney Bedtime Favorites book at a local thrift store, the Disney's Wonderful World of Reading books on the right are a great childhood memory that we love having in our collection.

We've added quite a bit to our collection over the past few years (and we aren't finished yet!) including the following: 

We picked all three of these items up at a local thrift store for a great bargain! We actually found the matching Minnie & Mickey figurines on separate occasions almost a month apart (stoked!)

We also picked up these cute Mike and Sulley plastic figurines.

Woody and Buzz were added to our collection before we went on our trip in June 2014. We had been looking around for a pair this size and were super happy when we eventually found them at Walmart!

These sets (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Disney Princesses) were also purchased at Walmart. Although small at roughly 3 inches tall, we love that they include all the main characters from the movies. 

These TY Beanie Ballz come in a variety of sizes. We got the largest Minnie and Mickey first and kept running into smaller sizes that we couldn't pass up!

So far the only Donald Duck and Daisey Duck items in our collection are these super cute mini plush toys from Hallmark. 

We received these unique Minnie and Mickey plush toys as gifts. They're part of the Disney Rockin' Collection from Hallmark.

The newest addition to our collection are these Woody and Buzz Lightyear plush toys in the style of Cars characters. Although we found them at a local thrift store, they are in great shape and originally from the Disney Store - Gotta love a good bargain!

Our collection has even made it into our home decor. We love having a little piece of Disney in every room! 

This pink & white Beauty and the Beast alarm clock was a surprise find at our local thrift store. We love the vintage design & look of the clock.

Mugs have been a reoccurring item in our collection over the years. 

These cute Minnie and Mickie mugs came from Disney World and were the first Disney mugs that made it into our collection.

We received these mugs as birthday gifts. These Disney by Britto mugs were designed by pop artist Romerio Britto & are so eye catching that we use them as decorations on our bookshelf rather than using them for everyday use.

These mugs however, are great for everyday use! We picked these up on our most recent trip in June 2014 from Disney's All Star Sports Resort gift shop. Ryan chose the Mickey Coffee mug because he looooves his coffee & Ellen chose the giant Disney mug that has dozens of characters and Disney themes.

Even our Salt & Pepper shakers are Minnie and Mickey!

We have these Minnie & Mickey decorative panels displayed in our bedroom.

Ellen received this cute Minnie Mouse figurine dressed as a princess for her birthday. It's part of the Disney Traditions Collection designed by Jim Shore. We can't wait to add more Jim Shore pieces to our collection! You can find this collection at Carlton Cards.

On our most recent Disney trip, we bought a few more items for our collection.

Ryan has decided to collect Disney snow globes from every trip we take. The black and red globe is from our 2012 trip and the retro blue from our 2014 trip.

We were excited to pick these up at Mouse Gears in Epcot & we can't wait to put them on our next car!

We collected pressed pennies, which are a great budget-friendly souvenir, both in 2012 and 2014. It was only in our most recent trip however, that we found this great pressed pennies and quarters storage and display book. 

As you can see, our collection is made up of a little bit of everything. We really don't limit ourselves to a particular character or style. Our current collection is affordable, fun and made up of items that we enjoy looking at everyday. Our collection will continue to grow as we find new pieces around town and take more Disney trips! 

Our 2012 Walt Disney World Vacation pt. 2

Day 2 - Monday, May 21, 2012

Our second day of Disney started at Epcot – the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow. Epcot opened later this day so we departed the resot around 8:30am. We headed straight to Soarin’ as the lines for this attraction fill up quickly! After that we headed over to The Seas with Nemo & Friends and took a ride in a clamshell.

After Soarin’ & Nemo we checkout Living with the Land - a slow-moving ride that explores a variety of agricultural farming methods for growing food in various greenhouses and maintaining viable sources of food (i.e. fish). 

Spaceship Earth was next on the list. This is a great ride to rest your feet and take an air conditioned break. We rode Spaceship twice this day – the interactive nature of this ride is super fun too!  

We were pretty curious about Mission: Space and were determined to try every attraction so we headed into Mission: Space Green. The green team is a less intense version of the ride with less dramatic effects. Having survived the green team we decided to try out the orange team. The orange team is a more intense version of the ride with more spinning and dramatic effects. I came out of the orange pretty unscathed but Ryan, on the other hand, wasn't overly enthusiastic about it and felt nauseous immediately. Ellen’s (not this Ellen, Ellen Degeneres!) Energy Adventure was next followed by Captain EO Starring Michael Jackson.  

We headed back to our resort around 1:30pm for some lunch and an afternoon swim. We also made a pit-stop at Downtown Disney for the first time and did some shopping!

Again, because we didn't opt to add the Hopper Pass to our tickets, we had access to one park per day. We decided to make the most of the day and headed back to Epcot to view the Epcot World Showcase. We wandered the pavilions & of course checking out Canada. We wished there was more representation from the East Coast of Canada but were pretty enthused nonetheless! Within the Pavilions, we rode Gran Fiesta Tour Starring the Three Caballeros which is similar in design to It’s a Small World.  

We stayed at Epcot and watched the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth firework show, which was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. 

Our 2012 Walt Disney World Vacation pt. 1

Day 1 - Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Our first Walt Disney World Vacation together began on Sunday, May 20th, 2012. Due to the fact that we booked this trip somewhat last minute (a month prior) we didn't have ideal flight options and ended up having an eight, yes you read that right, eight hour layover! We flew in Toronto and managed to pass the time by browsing the shops and reading books. Thinking back, it wasn't so bad but we definitely do not recommend it!

We arrived in Orlando, Florida around 1:00am and headed straight to our resort via the Magical Express - a great free shuttle bus feature for guests staying on resort that takes you right from the airport to your hotel. On this trip we stayed at Disney's All Star Movies Resort! With this being our first trip staying on-site, we had no idea what to expect but we were thoroughly impressed with the resort! We aren't fancy people so we didn't look for or miss out on any of the bells and whistles that the moderate and deluxe resorts have. As long as there is a bed & pool we're happy! The room was clean, the resort had a fun theme (great for photo opps) and the food court was tasty and had a variety of options for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Our first day began at 6:30am. We got ready, had a quick breakfast at the resort, and headed to Disney's Animal Kingdom! This trip was before the arrival of the FastPass+ system so we strategically mapped out our plan of getting our fast passes for the morning. We left the resort by 7:30am and headed straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris. It's recommended that you visit the Safari early in the morning when it's cooler - the animals are more likely to active, so better chance of seeing them out in the open! This giraffe came right up to the vehicle and posed for some pictures.

Next we headed over to Kali River Rapids. Ellen remembered loving this ride as a kid and couldn't wait to go on it again as an adult. While it wasn't the thrilling ride she remembered, it was a fun & wet start to the day! So much fun, we went on it twice!

After the River Rapids we headed over to Expedition Everest - one of our favourites at the Animal Kingdom. This ride features a Yeti and an unexpected twist that is tons of fun! We rode this ride three times that day!

Before heading back to our resort for lunch, we rode Dinosaur! (Ellen's favourite at Animal Kingdom!) We headed back to our resort for some lunch and a swim in the pool.

On this trip we didn't opt to have the Hopper Pass - a feature you can purchase to your park tickets that allow you to visit multiple parks per day. We stuck to one park per day and sometimes went back to the same park in the evening. We made our way back to Animal Kingdom at 3:30pm. We rode Dinosaur! again, went to It's Tough to be a Bug! and watched Finding Nemo - the Musical, which is a fantastic show! We also saw The Festival of the Lion King for the first time and have been completely in love with it ever since! We rode Primeval Whirl and called it a day a great first day.

Animal Kingdom is generally the earliest park to close (except for the Water Parks) so it's good to plan accordingly. We took advantage of the early night and relaxed at our resort and got ready for our next day at Disney - EPCOT!