Animal Kingdom Lodge - Room with a View @WaltDisneyWorld

I was fortunate this past trip to WDW that we were able to stay at the Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Villas. We had a room overlooking one of the Savannahs and could step out on the balcony to see the animals. Admittedly we had plenty of rain, but even so I was able to catch a few good shots of the animals. It was a pleasure to wake up, get breakfast, and take it out on our balcony to eat. We could then sit and watch the animals (or the keepers) for a while.

The animals on our Savannah are brought in once a day (in the morning) to get their breakfast and a vet check. So, at times there were no animals to see when we woke up. It was still a very nice view from the room.

#WW Trying to get Photos

My son has decided that for the most part he'd prefer I *not* get his picture. We were waiting outside of Expedition Everest (my mom & daughter were riding for a 2nd time) and I thought a photo of the 3 men would be good.. my son thought otherwise.

WDW Marathon Weekend

Fee for 1/2 marathon - $140
Fee for 5K - $50/person
Stay on site to avoid Traffic hassles
Cost of meals
Pain during 1/2 marathon
Soreness/Stiffness after 1/2 marathon
Lots of Tylenol/Ibuprofen
Running the 5K with my family and having them support me as I do the 1/2 - priceless.

Just some stats for those that are interested. There were 8000 of us running the Family 5K on Friday. There were 22421 FINISHERS for the 1/2 (and more of those were female than male).

Travelling around the World

We found these guys at the France Pavilion at EPCOT. It started as what seemed to be a juggling act and ended up with the man on top of all the chairs. Very impressive.

Of course, no trip to Disney would go by without seeing a few of the characters.

When we stopped by the Haunted Mansion, we found they'd updated the wait queue. There's now a 'cemetary' side and a non-cemetary side. The cemetary side is probably a little longer, but it has interactives that are fun.

Despite being sore after the marathon, though, I have to say I enjoyed myself.

Disney 1/2 Marathon

I don't recommend doing it like I did. I had minimal training during the year (plans to train harder didn't work out like they should). I debated all the way up to the day before as to whether or not I'd make it. Hubby was supposed to go with me, but he did NO training. As hard of a time as I gave him, his decision to not do it was a good one.

I'll admit that I made a better start than I'd expected. I downloaded a program to my iPhone that updated me regularly on my pace and let me know if I needed to increase speed. My normal method of pacing is to find a Team in Training coach and manage to stay between two groups they're working with. It was just as well that I had my program as I didn't manage to stick with one of their coaches.

The only downside of the program I used was it wouldn't let my music continue when it went to speak to me. It was supposed to allow my iPhone to multi-task, but instead of pausing my music, speaking, then restarting my music. It just paused it. I didn't want to have to mess with it, so I just didn't have music.

I actually did fine until around mile 9. At that point my knee really started bugging me. My mile 11, it was hurting. When I got back to our room, it was nicely swollen. I did manage to get it down and the pain controlled enough to be able to go to EPCOT, though, to check it out more than just in passing.

EPCOT

Over spring break, my family did a service project which earned us a free Disney park ticket for each of member who participated. We took the opportunity to go on our recent trip to visit my parents. My son and daughter decided that we wanted to go to EPCOT this time. It was somewhat surprising as I thought they'd pick Magic Kingdom, but they had their reasons. My son wanted to check out the countries. My daughter wanted to do the Kim Possible scavenger hunt. We had seen other families doing this the last time we visited, so she wanted to make a point of it this time.

The scavenger hunt itself is fairly easy. There are kiosks located around the World Showcase that you can pick up a 'communicator'. Through the communicator you explore one of the countries in the showcase while helping Kim Possible and her buddies Ron and Wade defeat various villains. There are 7 possible hunts to go on, each in a different country. We did ours in China, France and Japan. It was too hot for us to want to do more, so we turned it back in at that point.

If you've never been to any of the Disney parks, I recommend taking advantage of their fast pass system. On this visit we picked up fast passes for Soaring. As soon as we had this, we took off for Test Track. We still had a 40+ minute wait for Test Track, but it's the only one we had all day. We don't do Spaceship Earth, so it wasn't a problem. The others we rode were pretty much walk-on rides.

As usual, when I went to a Disney park, I took too many photos to post here. So I created a scrapblog.

Contemplating Torture

My dad has suggested we try to do the 1/2 marathon again in January 2010. We took this year off due to lack of preparation and just to take a year off. If we want to do it, though, we have to sign up by March or all the slots will be gone.

Polynesian Luau

We went to the dinner luau at the Polynesian Resort at Disney. We had a blast, the food was great. The appetizer was a light salad, pineapple pieces and bread. For dinner we were served chicken, barbecue ribs, Hawaiian bread and rice. Desert was a volcano chocolate mousse with a pineapple sauce (YUM). My pictures, unfortunately, didn't come out as well as I had hoped. My husband got better photos, I had a column in my way. I did, though, video part of the fire demonstration.

Blizzard Beach

We took a day away from the "normal" Disney parks and went instead to a water park. My kids have never really been to one, so it was a brand new experience. We started out at the wave pool, which is quite enjoyable if you can get there before it's completely full. They do provide some floats that you can use, but they run out quickly. I also recommend that as soon as you get there, rent a locker for any valuables and find a "central" area to put your stuff. There are lots of little "cubby" areas that have beach chairs to hold your towels and such. They also have refillable mugs with refill stations that you can purchase at the beginning of the day. If you'll be drinking lots of soda, you might consider getting one.

As to the rides and slides, my kids loved the family raft ride "Teamboat Springs" and the "Cross Country Creek". We did those two multiple times. We also tried the Tobbogan Racers. I think, though, that the favorite area was the Ski Patrol Training Camp. There was a swimming pool with slides, zip line, an "ice crossing" and more. My daughter did the slides and the zip line, my son decided he'd done enough of those by then.

Disney! Second day of Vacation

We hit Magic Kingdom this time. They agreed that getting the sword out of the stone was VERY hard.. ie: they couldn't. My son had an autograph book from Hollywood Studios that he didn't use. So he decided that he'd get Stitch's autograph just for fun. My son was on our tail and closing fast.. picture taken from the passenger seat of the car with my daughter. My daughter was thrilled to be able to drive and press the gas pedal herself. She still needed a bit of help to reach, but did a good job regardless.

Disney! First day of Vacation

Here is the first installment of pictures from our family vacation. We actually didn't spend a lot of time at Disney this trip, but we did go.

Hollywood Studios - it was the last day of Star Wars Weekends so we had to go for my son. Not much in the way of photos, just these two. My son had hoped to get an autograph of "little Annakin", but apparently it was a fast pass only event. People were outside the gates by midnight and all fast passes gone by 10 minutes after the park opened. So even if we'd been aware of it, it wouldn't have happened.

While we didn't do a lot this day, we did get to see the Indiana Jones show, shop at the Cantina and ride the Backlot Tour. I would have thought they had more Star Wars stuff going on, but I would guess if they did it was earlier in the month. There was a disappointing lack of Star Wars "extras" given that the event was going on. The only add-ons we found were a couple of actors in the parade and a chance to meet them if you camped out. Otherwise, it was "as normal" for Star Wars at the park.

Fun for you

while we're gone, check this out. A Disney Crossword!

Disney World Marathon

My dad and I decided not to do the marathon next year at Walt Disney World. Part of the reason is time to train. We have not had much time lately for either of us to train. The other is that next year is a "big" birthday year and I'd rather spend it with family at home than doing the marathon. I've been down 5 years in a row, completed it 4 of those years.

It's interesting to note, though, that the Goofy Challenge is already full (barely a month after the last) and the half marathon is 75% full. It's a great race to do if you're into that sort of thing. It's a good challenge even if you're not.

So if you're looking for a great race, register now.

We're off..

again! This time we're going camping on the USS Yorktown in Charleston, SC. We leave in the morning and return Monday. I'll have pics/reviews of that when we get back. In the meantime, I leave you with the ability to see the OFFICIAL race photos of me during the marathon.

EPCOT performers

Another day, another sharing of pictures taken while I was at Walt Disney World for the marathon. These are performers that we saw at various times the Friday before the actual marathon. All can be found at various times in the World Showcase of EPCOT. The mariachi band was in Mexico, the drummers were in Japan and the street performers were in France. I missed seeing my favorite group, Off Kilter (found in Canada), while I was there.

Disney World

While I was at Disney for the marathon, I stopped at EPCOT to play for a day. In their Innoventions West area you have the chance to try out a Segway. Those things are fun. You have to be at least 16 years old, minimum 100 pounds, maximum 250 pounds. You also have to sign a waiver.

So neglected..

I've so neglected my blog. I have a good excuse though! I travelled to Florida Thursday and walked/ran in the Disney 1/2 marathon on Saturday morning. I didn't achieve any records or beat my own pace, but I did finish. It was my 4th and final time actually participating. At least for a long while. :) Here's a picture of my dad and I when we reached Main Street at the Magic Kingdom. It's not easy to stop in the middle of the race, much less pose for a picture, but we did. I took a disposable camera along with us, I'll have to post pics from that later.

MGM Park Pictures

Just sharing a few extra photos. These are all from MGM, primarily the Lights, Motors, Action show. The costume shop is from the Backlot tour.

Pal Mickey

I bought one of these used on eBay and took it to Disney with us this past trip. I'd heard varying reviews, so here's mine. It's a cute toy. It will tell punny jokes at any time and your kids can get it to play one of 3 different games. If you're at the parks, it will activate information at certain points. Here's the break down:

Magic Kingdom - will tell you about the main show in front of Cinderella's castle. It gives you about a 30 minute warning prior to the show so you can get there. As you approach some of the rides (like Pirates of the Caribbean) it will ask you to go there and tell you either punny jokes or talk about the ride itself.

MGM Studios - has great information about movies, movie effects, etc. At a couple of the restaurants he will talk about the theme of the restaurant. He will also talk about the rides and suggest you should go see them.

EPCOT - Great for wandering the World Showcase. He tells some factoids about the various countries (like number of painters from France), how to say 'hello' in various languages, etc. He'll also describe rides as you approach them.

Animal Kingdom - He will identify the animals on Discovery Island and at various locations on the walking trails. He's not going to tell you them ALL, but it's nice that he tells you some of them as there may not be anyone there to otherwise talk about them. As at the other parks, he'll talk about the rides.

If you get one, make sure it has either the belt clip or the lanyard. It makes carrying him much easier. I recommend getting it used, unless you have something against used stuff. Otherwise, my kids and I both enjoyed playing with him.

Park TidBits

These are just a few of the things I enjoyed and thought I'd point out.

Character Meals
Norway (EPCOT World Showcase) has a great character breakfast for those with daughters into Princesses. When we visited, we had Jasmine, Mulan, Aurora, Belle and Snow White stop by to visit. Cinderella has her own breakfast/lunch. Mickey and friends can be found scattered around, though the best I've found is Chef Mickey in the Contemporary.

EPCOT
1- If you're a Disney Visa card holder, stop by EPCOT's Innoventions West. There is (or was when I was there) a Visa Character Spot. You can stop by, show your card, and get a free character photo taken with you/your family.
2- Off Kilter. I love to stop and listen to this group. Also at EPCOT at the stage in the Canadian area of the World Showcase. Check for show times.

3- Test Track. We love this ride. I'd suggest going early and getting a fast pass first thing (unless the wait isn't bad).
4- Soarin'. My kids loved this one. I haven't ridden it myself. Another recommendation for fast pass.

My normal stops in the World Showcase include Morocco (great food), Norway (love the ride), Japan (love the drummers), Canada (love Off Kilter). My kids would add that they love the shop at Japan 'cause of all the cool Pokemon and Yugioh stuff you can get. My mom likes France because of the Guerlain shop.

Magic Kingdom (favorite rides)
1- Space Mountain (fast pass!)
2- Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
3- Pirates of the Caribbean
4- It's a Small World
5- Haunted Mansion (currently closed)

MGM (rides and shows)
1- Lights, Motor, Action! (hit the first show, get there a bit early for a good seat)
2- Indiana Jones (show, recommend you get a fast pass!)
3- Rock'n Roller Coaster (also a fast pass option)
4- Star Tours (my kids like this one, recommend fast pass)

Animal Kingdom
1- Kilimanjaro Safari (we hit this one every time we go, don't sit at the back of the vehicle - you'll never get good photos, go early to this one - the animals are more active in the cooler morning times)
2- Expedition Everest (recommend a fast pass here, grab your fast pass then head to the safari)
3- Flights of Wonder (bird show)

We rode Dinosaur this time for the first time. It was an ok ride, very rough. If you've got back problems, I don't recommend it. The animals are the main draw at Animal Kingdom (duh). There are a couple of walking trails - one in Africa and one in Asia that are good to do. There's also Discovery Island and several exhibits scattered around the park. Expect to do a lot of viewing (we normally do this park in a half-day period - then go to the room and rest. From there either head to another park, go swim, or go to Downtown Disney).

Downtown Disney
Great shopping. Warning that the World of Disney shop tends to be PACKED, especially in the evenings. The Lego store has some tables outside where kids can build with Legos. It also has some cool things built out of legos on display. There are, of course, several options for eating depending on what you want. We tend to head to the Rainforest Cafe. This is very kid friendly, which makes it a good choice for families.