Seaworld, Disney, Celebrities, Friends, and a Hurricane Aug 16 to 26 - Update Dec 1

[declansdad]

Looks like a great gameplan to start the day with!


Um... did anybody check his pulse?


Wow! It looks like it is just sitting in the middle of nowhere from that angle. Nice pic!

No better way to start the day at SeaWorld , Manta will make sure you are awake.

It was a bit scary the turtle seemed to be in the same spot for hours. Made you think it wasn't a real turtle.

 

[pooksma]

(Made by the same company that made the animatronic lion at AK?????)

 

[reelmom]

Wow, that Sky Tower is tall. Beautiful pictures, though.

 

[declansdad]

Wow, that Sky Tower is tall. Beautiful pictures, though.

Thank you. The tower was pretty cool; it continuously rotates as you go to the top and then come back down. You can really get a good view of the area.

 

[declansdad]

update time, let's finish off SeaWorld.


At the end of our last update, we were about to head over to Shamu Stadium to see the One Ocean show. We were headed to the first show of the day and we arrived a few minutes before they let people into the stadium so we were able to get in a short line. Declan, again, wanted to be in the splash zone so we compromised on a higher row but still in the zone.

The pre-show for this was a video showing some of the things SeaWorld does to help rescue and rehabilitate animals. It was a nice show.

The show itself was incredible and very moving. The whales were amazing to watch.

For this show alone, I would go back to SeaWorld!!!!

After the show we headed over to Wild Arctic. Again the passes took us right on to the ride with no wait. The entrance for the front-of-the-line passes wasn't always easy to find, usually off to the side somewhere. This one had us entering through a couple of doors and there were no attendants around. We just kept walking until we found someone.

This ride starts out like Star Tours but it is much rougher. After "landing" you walk through an area that is suppose to be an Arctic research station.

Continued in next post

 

[declansdad]

Some polar bear paw prints

After our visit to the Arctic, we headed back to ride Manta again but we also went into the aquarium that is just under the ride. Lots of rays and some other fish to take a look at.

Before heading to get a bite to eat, we rode Journey to Atlantis and Manta again plus Declan and I did the Ray feeding. It was pretty cool! Because their mouth is on the underside of their body, you had to put a fish between your fingers and stick your hand underwater. They would then swim over your hand and take the fish as they went by. A few people didn't realize this and were holding the food like they were trying to get a dog to jump. Didn't really stop the rays, they tried to climb the wall.

Other than some lunch at a place called Mango Joes and some t-shirt shopping for Declan we were pretty much done with SeaWorld. It was a fun couple of days and we would go back. There are some shows that we didn't see but I don't think I would make a point of going every trip.

After getting back to the resort, we headed out to an outlet mall in Lake Buena Vista and did some shopping. We made it back to the resort in time to hop in the pool before the skies opened up again. It was rainy pretty hard so we decided to use room service (Pizza Hut) and eat in the room.

Next up, we move to POFQ!!

 

[declansdad]

Here is a video from the One Ocean show, it was during one of the times the whales were splashing the crowd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYWTCB9ZZiw

 

[afwdwfan]

For this show alone, I would go back to SeaWorld!!!!

Wow, that's a strong endorsement.

This ride starts out like Star Tours but it is much rougher. After "landing" you walk through an area that is suppose to be an Arctic research station.

That looks really awesome!

we headed back to ride Manta again

Who's decision was this? Yours or Declan's?

we rode Journey to Atlantis and Manta again

I'm pretty sure we would have very similar touring plans for that park.

 

[declansdad]

Wow, that's a strong endorsement.

It was amazing to watch the killer whales perform. They also seemed to have a very strong bond with their trainers.

That looks really awesome!

The ride itself was good but very bumpy. The walk around part was nice an cool. The theming was well don as well. Would have like to have seen more of the polar bears.

Who's decision was this? Yours or Declan's?

Actually is a bit of both but I let him take the credit.

I'm pretty sure we would have very similar touring plans for that park.

Ride wise there isn't a lot but they are all close together, except for Wild Arctic. The park isn't that big so you can quickly get from one side to the other. With the timing of the shows and trying to work in rides you do wander around a bit.

 

[Queenofallthings]

I am seriously behind! I haven't been able to get on here all week!

Great shots of Declan playing football, he's sure keeping the household hopping isn't he! When Jas used to do Taekwondo we were out of the house 4 times a week just for that!

Love those shots from that tower! Disney is actually pretty close to Seaworld isn't it? Now, question, do the trainers not get in the water anymore with the whales? I wondered that since that trainer was killed a few years ago. I can't wait to visit here again, it's been 7 years, time to go back!!

So excited the next update has you moving to POFQ!!!

 

[declansdad]

I am seriously behind! I haven't been able to get on here all week!

Great shots of Declan playing football, he's sure keeping the household hopping isn't he! When Jas used to do Taekwondo we were out of the house 4 times a week just for that!

Love those shots from that tower! Disney is actually pretty close to Seaworld isn't it? Now, question, do the trainers not get in the water anymore with the whales? I wondered that since that trainer was killed a few years ago. I can't wait to visit here again, it's been 7 years, time to go back!!

So excited the next update has you moving to POFQ!!!

He is having a great time playing football. I missed his game this morning but I was given the game summary. Four tackles, one blocked kick and one interception, unfortunately they haven't figured out the offence part of the game yet. They don't move the ball well.

The trainers don't get in the water but they are all over the stadium and use hand signals to interact with the whales. It is something to watch.

May get another update done this afternoon. The Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival is going on here this week and with have tickets for a show tonight.

 

[declansdad]

August 19th - Moved to POFQ and a brush with a large group of celebrities.

So this was the day we moved back to our home. I always like arriving at the resort on the bus and hearing the announcement that finishes with "Welcome Home".

We had everything packed up the night before so there wasn't a lot to worry about in the morning. We had breakfast at the hotel and packed up the car. Our first stop was at a Publix in order to replenish our stock. Surprisingly enough I had convinced both Pooksma and Declan to try beef jerky and they decided they liked it. Declan liked it so much that we needed more. So we picked that up and a few more snacks and jumped back on the road for the short drive to WDW.

I gave the camera to Pooksma so that she could get the gates as we drove through. Since we never drive ourselves, this was going to be a first. Before that she told Declan to look cool.

Soon enough we spotted this:

Followed by this:

We made it to POFQ by 11 am, check in was quick but the room wasn't ready. We left our bags at the baggage claim and headed for the Car Care Center to gas up and return the car. By noon, we were in a National Rent-a-Car shuttle heading for DHS.

We were in the park by 12:30 or so and noticed that the tow truck was back. It wasn't there at Christmas and this has been a traditional picture for us. We quickly grabbed a new picture.

Here is the picture that started it all.

As we started up the street, these guys were coming behind us so we waited for them to go by.

We had our first Ferb sighting

and then we decided to check on the wait times for Rock N Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror.

Too long and fast passes were for late in the day so we headed towards the other side of the park. I took some pictures along the way. Hands up if you are surprised.

we ended up at Star Tours and decided to go stand-by in a 40 minute wait.

Not sure what this look was about.

Something didn't seem to fit the theme in this picture.

The line was long and hot, a Jedi Training Academy started up while we were in line.

As we made it up to the building we noticed a group of people with camera and lights following a group. They were all waiting to get on the ride but were stopped in the fast pass entrance as we went by. This group of celebrities would pass us shortly while we waited in line and Declan got to high five all of them. There were over 50 of them, here is a picture with Declan, see if you can figure out who they were.

That's it for now, more later.

 

[afwdwfan]

There were over 50 of them, here is a picture with Declan, see if you can figure out who they were.

Randall from Monsters Inc and 49 of his closest relatives???

 

[Queenofallthings]

Ok....that' picture of Declan the first year is just too darn cute!!! I love how we can look back and watch our children grow up with a Disney backdrop!!

 

[declansdad]

Randall from Monsters Inc and 49 of his closest relatives???

Well they all were wearing blue t-shirts so they blended in to the background of this part of the queue but they were monsters. They all were the same gender.

 

[declansdad]

Ok....that' picture of Declan the first year is just too darn cute!!! I love how we can look back and watch our children grow up with a Disney backdrop!!

We are going to print some off from this year's stop at Crystal Palace and take some from the first Crystal Palace visit in 2004 and frame them. I try to get some similar shots each trip we take.

Hope to do another update tonight or tomorrow.

 

[declansdad]

OK, In think there are two of you out there waiting to find out who these celebrities were. Well they were all females, fairly certain they were all single, and they all owned a sash.


The Miss America contestants were in the parks filming some promos for the pageant. We got to wait in line at Star Tours while they did some filming there. We were standing by C3PO when they all can running by and Declan decided that it would be a good idea to high five 52 fairly attractive young women (and one HUGE bodyguard). Pretty smart boy I think. Unfortunately, as you can see by that one picture) it was tough to get a picture of them moving by us with very little light to help out.

After they went by we started to move again and we soon boarding our flight. This redo is fantastic, if you haven't tried it in awhile, go back.

After the ride we went in search of Phineus and Ferb. Declan is a huge fan and this was on his must do list for the trip. We found them near the exit of Muppets and got in line. It was very hot and the line was about 30 minutes long. They took a couple of quick breaks during that time but they were gone no longer than 2 or 3 minutes each time.

Some pictures from around the queue and Declan with the boys:

There was a scary incident while we were in line. We were almost to the front when we heard a scream from behind us. A little girl was overcome by the heat and passed out. A couple of guests quickly came to the mothers aid and got her under some shade and started to cool her off. The CMs jumped into to help out and within about 5 minutes there were some EMTs there to help check her over.

After the pictures we decided that we would head back to the resort to see if our room was ready. They hadn't sent us a text yet but we thought we would chance it anyway. On the way to the front I found another view of ToT that I hadn't noticed before.

We made it to the bus and while we were waiting the family with the little girl that passed out got on the bus. They sat down next to us and I started chatting with the dad. The little girls was doing much better and they were getting her to drink as much water as they could. Turned out they were from the UK and we compared DL Paris with WDW. He told me it was actually cheaper for them to come to WDW for a couple of weeks than it was to spend 4 days in Paris. HE also said that 2 days was enough time to do spend at DL Paris.

Back at the resort there was still no room ready so we grabbed some lunch and waited and waited and waited. Finally around 4 pm I checked and the room was ready. We had booked a water view and were in building 6, room 6229.

our view

the room

Our luggage arrived around 5, Pooksma and Declan went for a quick swim while I relaxed a bit before we had to head back out for our Rose and Crown ADRs.

I'll be back in a few minutes to finish up the day.

 

[declansdad]

We made it over EPCOT around 6 and the skies were starting to darken. We checked out ride wait time but everything was too long. We decided to walk around WS, starting in Mexico because our ADR was 7:30.

Along the way, we had some showers and for the first time we got out the ponchos. When we got to the UK, it was about 7:30 so we went to check in. The counter told us we were suppose to be there at 6:55 and we were too late. They checked and told us they could get us in but it might be a 40 minute wait. No problem, took our buzzer and 20 minutes later, we were seated.

This was Declan's first trip on the adult dining plan so we weren't sure how this was going to go. He and Pooksma both ordered the shepherds pie with lamb and they loved it. I went with the steak and fish, very good. Before dessert it was time for Illuminations. This was the reason we booked this ADR; the UK patio is a great spot to watch.

After we went back in to finish the meal before heading back to POFQ.

Next up was a trip to MK for breakfast at Crystal Palace and an early problem for Declan.

 

[MeMom]

Oh, look, it's one of those tweenage shows they play on Disney Channel 39 hours a day now! I want good Disney classic movies more often.

Pretty view from the room.

UK patio to eat and watch Illuminations - I'm writing that down.

 

[declansdad]

Oh, look, it's one of those tweenage shows they play on Disney Channel 39 hours a day now! I want good Disney classic movies more often.

Pretty view from the room.

UK patio to eat and watch Illuminations - I'm writing that down.

We get to see those shows many times when Declan is around. Soesn't matter how many times he watches teh same episode.

No guarantees on the patio but even if you are inside, they have a spot where you can go stand to watch..