Flashback Sunday: Epcot- Day 3

 Disclaimer: This happened over a year ago.  But I still want to finish what I started with describing our trip! 
The third day was Justin's family's last day in the World. They only were able to stay til about noon, so did not really get to enjoy the world's portion. 2 1/2 days in Disney is really hard to fit everything in, but I must say that I thought we did a very good job getting them to see most of Disney. We were fortunate because the crowds were crazily low for Easter (our bus driver told us it was the economy), and we did go at a breakneck speed (getting there before opening and staying until closing with no breaks). I would not suggest going quite that quickly with kids when you have more time, but our kids were troopers. We were fortunate to see almost everything at Hollywood Studies and Magic Kingdom, and the family got to do most things at Epcot's front portion, but just none of the other Worlds. We also skipped Animal Kingdom, simply because if you only have 2 1/2 days, it is not high priority in my opinion! 

We started off with Soarin' and I LOVED it!  It was so awesome.  I will say, we were spoiled by being in the front row and when we went back later with our fastpasses I was really annoyed by seeing the dangling feet.  I will always wait for the front row from now on.  We also went on Test Track (not my fave but Justin loved it!) and Mission Space.  I was really freaked out by all the warnings about Mission Space and at first opted to not do the intense version.   But somehow, I got in the intense line anyhow and man, am I glad I did!  It was awesome!!! I found that if you keep your eyes focused on the screen it wasn't bad at all.  We rode it twice!

We loved the Under the Seas portion of Epcot with the Finding Nemo ride.  It is a nice kid-friendly addition to what is such an "adult" park.  We also loved Turtle Talk.  How cute!  Next time, I hope we have more time to linger at the acquarium.  I really loved watching the manatees.  On the kid friendly front, I also highly suggest the character greeting spot in Epcot.  The line can get long BUT you can see all of the "major" characters (Minnie, Mickey, Goofy, Donald Duck..) in one spot.  Stand in line once, see them all!  That's a pretty good deal in my opinion.

 A surprise favorite was the living with the land boat ride.  We weren't expecting too much from it, but it turned out to be really cool!  Definitely something I will do again.  Another thing I LOVED about Epcot was it was during the Flower Festival (that's not its real name but it is escaping me right now).  Anyway, the topiaries and flower gardens were amazing.  I hope to go back in April and May again next time so we can enjoy this more.  It really is worth it!

After we did the front part of Epcot, Justin's family had to head home, so they dropped us off at our hotel for the next 2 days: Pop Century!  Now, let me say that I LOVED Pop Century.  It was perfect for what we needed, which was basically a place to lay our heads.  It was pretty loud because we had a poolside room and next time we definitely will request NOT to be by the pool, but other than that it was great.  The Disney Transportation is so convenient and to me it is so much more relaxing to not have to drive yourself places.  Plus Pop has a dedicated bus service (and will continue to from what I understand...even with the Art of Animation opening) so we never had to wait on a bus long at all.  After we got settled in our room, we headed back to Epcot to tour the countries, just the two of us!

Sometimes the most fun experiences are the unplanned ones!  We had a great time watching these little ones with their momma!

This is one part of our trip we wish we had more time for.  Next trip we plan to dedicate a day and a half to Epcot because we really enjoyed looking at the countries and just didn't have enough time.  We rode the Viking ride in Norway, but that is really the only attraction we experienced.  Next time I want to see some of the movies and other attractions in this area.  We ended up eating in Japan at the habachi place.  Unfortunately, we have been spoiled by Little Tokyo and were not hugely impressed, but it was still a fun experience!  We staked out a spot for the fireworks on the water and then Justin treated us to Crepes from France while we waited.  It was a very lovely and romantic first night as a couple in the World! 

He put on a great show and we enjoyed getting to know our tablemates, but no rice only noodles!  We missed Little Tokyo bigtime!

Ready for the fireworks!

 Since nothing happens in Epcot after Illuminations, everybody just rushed to the front entrance to leave.  So Justin and I took this opportunity to take some night photographs and chill in the parks while we waited for the craziness to pass. 

Goodbye Disney!  See you next time!

It was a wonderful trip! I have never been a Disney enthusiast until this trip.  It was ridiculous how much fun I had!  We are so grateful for Justin's Dad letting us tag along and for the extra funds for a few days of a couple's getaway!

Fourth of July 2012

This fourth was pretty laid back for the Kelly's.  We were not traveling this year, which is pretty rare.  During the day we just hung out and got some things done around the house, but that evening we planned to go to the Mississippi River for the fireworks.  Several friends from the seminary joined us.  We decided to park over in Algiers and take the free ferry over to the quarter.  This was an excellent idea.  We just parked on a residential street in Algiers Pointe, walked to the ferry, and went over.  The ride back wasn't too traumatic either.  Justin almost got pushed out of the boat and I almost had to punch a lady so he could get on with us, but all in all not too bad.  :-)  The fireworks were nice, but a little short I thought.  All in all, it was a great night with friends!

The Kinards (The fireworks woke Baby Jude up!  He was kicking up a storm!!)

John and Ashley

Father's Day 2012

With the recent successful completion of my master's degree (CAN I HEAR A HALLELUJAH!), I have time to pursue other interests.  I have happily ecstatically resumed domestic and teaching pursuit such as cooking, cleaning, shopping, blogging, crafting, exercising, and planning to have the best sixth year of teaching any teacher has every has had.  (Sidenote: Where has six years gone?? wow!)  I also am hoping to put in a garden, begin micromanaging our budget again, and couponing.  I hope I am not taking on too much.  ;-)

Over Father's Day we were extremely blessed to have my family come down and visit us.  I love when they come to see us!  It is so exciting to have them in our home and be able to entertain them.  We had such a fun weekend together sightseeing and celebrating Father's Day with my daddy.

We started our day with the New Orleans Standard, Cafe Du Monde.  :-)

 We then drove to LaPlace where our personal favorite swamp tour is, Cajun Pride Swamp Tour.  JK and I have done it twice and have had an excellent experience both times.  They feed the alligators marshmallows and raw chicken.  It is REALLY neat to see them jump out of the water for the chicken.  We also got to see a whole family of raccoons this time.  They were SO cute. 

See the Raccoons??

The whole family with our tour guide.  He is awesome!

We ate at Middendorf's by dad's request, and then spent the rest of the day riding the streetcar, exploring the quarter, and walking on the Riverwalk.  Justin and I don't go to the quarter often, so it was fun to explore.  We found where mom and dad honeymooned and found a really NEAT used bookstore that was there when they where on their honeymoon.  Justin and I both bought books and we are planning to go back really soon. 

Mom and Dad outside the Bienville House, where they Honeymooned!

We had such an awesome time with them coming into town.  Can't wait for their next trip to NOLA!

Magic Kingdom- Part 2

In Fantasyland, we then tackled Dumbo and Cinderella's Carousel. Both are classic Disney rides that are practically perfect in every way. :-) Oh, and we ran into the wicked stepmother and stepsisters. Not to be outdone, the fairy Godmother was stationed by the castle.

Our next stop was Peter Pan's Flight. I have such great memories of riding this ride as a kid, and enjoyed it every bit as much the second time. The 6 year old was ENTHRALLED with this ride as well. We stopped by It's a small World. I LOVE it, but it drives JK crazy. haha! I don't care. There is so much to look at as you ride through, how can you pass it up?

After this, we made our way to the Haunted Mansion. For whatever reason, I remember this as a lot funnier than it actually was. In reality, it was pretty scary for the kids. Oops!








After this, we headed to Fronteirland. We all LOVED ThunderMountain Railroad and Splash Mountain. We did not have to wait long at all for Thunder Mountain, but there was quite a wait for Splash Mountain so we got a Fast Pass. Really wonderful decision! We got soo many jealous looks as we passed the line, but hey it's free they could have done it too! The 6 year old was obsessed with the "train ride" and the "boat ride". I think we could have camped out there the rest of the day! We also met Woody in Fronteir Land, and ate at Pecos Bill's?? (I think).







On to Adventure Land! Of course, we rode Pirates of the Carribean (walked right on) and the Jungle Cruise. Of course, Pirates of the Caribbean was awesome. I had read this in the guide book, but the Jungle Cruise que IS very deceiving! I felt like that que never ended! Jungle Cruise is such a classic piece of Disney, and how can you not love the tour guides corny jokes!! The six year old wanted to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpets, but we skipped out. Really, it is just Dumbo over again (with a water feature), so to me, not worth it. But, of course, if you had a kid, it would be a different story. :-) We HAD to climb the treehouse. I love it! I still secretly want to live in a treehouse, so it is fun to see the "life" the Swiss Family Robinsons lived.


At this point, Magic Kingdom had gotten pretty crowded and it had gotten pretty warm. We were all wearing thin, so we decided to take a break and head to Downtown Disney. We caught a bus and spent about 2 hours roaming around. This was a nice change of pace! JK and I bought our annual Christmas Ornament in one of the shops, and we enjoyed looking around at the Lego Shop (very cool).

Once we got back to the Magic Kingdom, we caught the "When Dreams Come True" Show, which was so great.

We ate dinner at the Tomorrowland Terrace, which has more variety than some of the quick service plances. Then we went back to do some of the rides in Tomorrowland that we skipped over in our first run through the park. Here is my assessment of those:

Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor- FABULOUS. I have no idea HOW they animations interact to what the audience says, but it is genius. We had so much fun here!

Stitch's Great Escape- As bad as everyone says it is. Don't waste your time.

Tomorrowland Speedway- Too slow of a pace even for the 6 year old. JK and I didn't ride it because we knew what it was like, but some other people just had to ride it. They acknowledged it was a mistake haha! Of couse, if you bring littles it is a great ride.

Carousel of Progress- I really wanted to ride this because I have heard others talk about it, and it is a classic Disney ride, but we were so disappointed. First of all, the attraction has an old moldy smell and THEN the ride broke down. It made us almost late for the Main Street Electrical Parade, so it isn't on my good list. ha!

So after we FINALLY made if off the Carousel of Progress, we RAN to our spot for the Main Street Electrical parade. We stood on the stockade in the Liberty Square area. It was a good spot! I loved the Electrical parade. It was so fun!

After the parade, the kids went back to Thundermountain to enjoy a few late night rides. We found out that they speeed up the ride at night! It is a totally different experience at nighttime, so it is fun to do both a day run and an evening run. Then we found a spot to watch the fireworks. Unfortunately, we were not able to get back to the castle, so we did not experience the full effect of the show. We watched it from the deck in between Liberty Square and Fronteirland. While we could see the fireworks, they did not look like they were actually above the castle. We realized later that we were seeing the back of the show! Oh well, we will know for next time. The six year old was the funniest at this point. He was intensely concerned that Cinderella was asleep in the castle and the fireworks would scare her. I assured him that she was probably used to the fireworks. Then he decided that he SAW Cinderella in the window of the Castle and that she was setting of the fireworks. He told me that that was dangerous and then stated very matter of factly "We oughtta call the law on her!" HAHAHA! Those are the things that make it fun to take a kid to Disney!

It was a long, but very fun day. The only things that we didn't get to do were the Tikki Room (it was closed for renovations) and the Hall of Presidents (ran out of time). Those will be on my list for next time! Tune in soon for Day 3: Epcot!