National Lampoons Aussie Vacation - 12/12/16 to 25/1/17 Universal - 40+ Days at Disney World

[Beccybooboo]

DAY 5 - 16TH DECEMBER

Another beautiful morning in Orlando.

The best of the bunch was E.B ( i think thats his name). Being a long time drummer myself this guy was rocking. Had to do the metal pose.

Oh i feel sick just looking at the picture. I waited for them to return, i could see my daughter a mile away with a big smile on her face. She said it was awesome and was so happy she had ridden it. As we walked off my Wife told me the truth of the experience, haha. There was excitement at the start but once they reached the top i think little India was thinking oh my gosh, and at the top of the loop i think it was a sheer terror face. Bec did a great job of keeping her calm and half way through she was screaming with big smiles loving the last section of the ride.
If it was me i would be screaming the whole way and crying so thumbs up for getting on it.

The staff at Universal were great.

Oh to wake up and be in Orlando again.

Love that photo of you guys rockin out he was the best.

So proud of India she was such a trooper to go on this ride. I am glad that she loved the more kid friendly ending, because as a kid that is what she will remember from the experience, the shear fear part has been pushed to the back of her mind thankfully all she will remember is going on her first scary ride with Mum and I love that, she was very brave.

Ad might not be into doing the scary rides, it's not his thing and I get it. I think he was very brave letting our little India go on, as I am sure that was just as scary as the thought of riding it probably worse.

Keep up the good work. I am loving reading your report my love.

 

[wsssup]

DAY 9 - 20TH DECEMBER : EPCOT

Annnndddddd yes .. that is not our bus again.

We were up early ready to go. Off to Epcot, yippee!. All of us were very excited. Weather was overcast but still hot already this early in the morning.
Through Pop Century Lobby we made our way out to the front to the bus area.... and Waited....... and waited.......and waited........and........ waited a very long time.
Insert quick comment on the Disney Transport System. Ummmm.. terrible if you could use just one word. But don't worry we sort this out later... back to the good stuff.

Our bus finally arrived and after stacking everyone in, like it was a world record attempt to see how many people you can get in a bus, we were on our way.
The next hurdle upon arriving was this so called dreaded security check, that i had read about on disboards. Turns out it was quick and painless.

WOW WE WERE IN EPCOT! It's a long bloody way from Australia so this was a little moment to cherish.

Some happy snaps, and time to cruise on in. It wasn't really crowded which was good. Walking past Spaceship Earth you could tell that everyone in line probably is not a member on the Dis. It's the first ride you see walking into Epcot so naturally people will just line up to it, making the wait time very long already this early in the morning. Silly non Dis people.

World showcase was our destination for most of today. There was no rush to see everything, we are going to be here awhile so the turtle was going to win the race. India and Bec wanted some breakfast and Bec was in search of the Cronut.
It was an easy find, turn right heading towards Canada and a little kiosk had them.

Mmmm sugar for breakfast.... hey it's okay we are holiday.
We headed over to Canada and checked out it's goodness. Already we thought this place rocks. The attention to detail was awesome. Time to find those pressed penny machines. This time i was going to try get a whole lot more after our dismal Disneyland effort the year before.

England was the next stop.

The Christmas decorations were up and not over the top, which was nice as to not distract from the scenery. The Wife taking a picture of me videoing, which was not going too well with the choice of camera. Stabilisation was terrible..... hmmmmm maybe a bad purchase.
The crowd was starting to roll in and the weather was heating up.

Paris decorations were nice. I didn't think much of the Paris area as a whole , felt like it was shoved in a corner and seemed a little dirty. Bec found some Beauty and the Beast Decorations.... oh no.....haha.

Next was Japan. Now this place was awesome. I had lived in Tokyo for a month and this place was spot on, every little detail was perfect. It was time to head in to Mitsukoshi. Such a cool store, shame about the inflated prices though. There was so much stuff but i had to restrain myself, well we all did.
India was after a fan so we checked that area out.

Oh no, they have Godzilla. Ummmmmm.... oh i want it all. Lucky i held off, as later on in the trip i find the exact same Godzilla on the left for $30 not $100+.
After finding India her fan, Bec and I grabbed a Japanese beer. Yum. The legs were starting to hurt a little and we made it to Italy for a little sit down.
One thing about World Showcase.... NO SHADE. It really is just all out in the open pretty much.

Frozen was down. Walking past there were many sad faces. Not much you can do but soldier on. We had fastpasses for this in the weeks to come so on we went off to Mexico. Time for our first ride of the day as the wait time was a walk on.

The Gran Fiesta Tour. I love Donald so this ride was rocking for me. Nice to sit down and cruise along and not be sweating outside. So our first Disney World Ride was this, haha. Nothing amazing but hey i love my slow kiddie rides, I'm old, haha.

It was nearing our first Fastpass+ off the day. I wonder what we will be riding, and hoped that i had made a good choice for a good time slot.

Yes it was time for Test Track. Our first Fasptpass+ off the trip. With a tap of the magic band the light was green for takeoff..... then we hit the dreaded fastpass+ queue. After coming from Universal's express pass to this was a bit of a shock. This moved extremely slow and the line was very unorganised. We finally got into the room where you design your car, which really is just a time wasting device so the line doesn't choke up.
Having said that though the doors opened and instant line was packed again.
So the first fastpass+ was a good 40 minutes.
The ride itself was well, ok i guess. The end speed test is the highlight with the bank turn.

What you look like after the ride.

Ok so it was time for a new mission. Another tick of our list of things to do. Gimme some Turkey leg action.
Time to hunt some gobble gobble down. Back through the World Showcase.

MISSION COMPLETE. Oh yes this was salty goodness. You Americans have big Turkey's over there thats for sure. It was like a party in my mouth, i hadn't tasted anything that good in a while. Yum yum.
The next Fastpass was coming close so we made our way to where we needed to be.
But lets get another happy snap first.

AND THE NEXT RIDE IS......

Spaceship Earth. Another Daddy ride to rest his sore feet. Now this ride rocks, there is no better way to relax and sit back and enjoy the ride. The camera was working for us so the little video at the end was funny for us 1st timers to see. Highlight has to be making it to the top for that epic moment of the Earth.

Im still trying to figure out why India is pulling my ear, hahaha, i seriously dont remember this. Maybe dragging me to the next ride.
It was getting dark now and we needed some light on the scene.

Wow, thanks India. Epcot looks awesome at night. Figment was the next ride ( save that for another day).
The park was closing at 9pm and we had extra hours till 11pm. We stayed right until closing, for our first day in a Disney World park we had powered through the whole day and survived.
As a family we had dreamed of this moment and what an amazing day we had.
It was time for the Bus madness of getting back to POP. This took a good hour and a half.
Off to bed as we were all exhausted, but it was ok as we had a rest day coming up.

 

[wsssup]

DAY 10 - 21ST DECEMBER

A good sleep in was had by all. Our long day at Epcot took it out of us. Today was a relaxing day, the weather was overcast again but still warm. It was time to do a typical overseas traveller event.
WALMART.
Yes I know it might not be exciting for locals but for us WALMART is heaven. We dont have this kind of awesomeness back home in Australia. We have KMART TARGET and BIG W and thats pretty much it, and all three of those stores put together don't stack up against the might Walmart.

Time for another Dodgey Uber ride.
We arrived at Walmart and in we walked. The first thing that caught my eye was Fireworks. WOW, Fireworks in a shop, lol. Yes this is another amazing thing for us Australians to see. Our nanny government doesn't like fireworks and they were banned a long time ago. Oh the fun taken away from us again.

It was straight to the toy section to see what goodies I could find. Note the word I, yes i am a big child and love toys, well we all do. Lets see what Star Wars goodies they have. Of course the one thing i really wanted was going to be impossible to send home. The giant Millennium Falcon quad copter , bugga.

Oh so many cool toys that we don't get back home. My brain was hurting.
We soldiered on to check out some clothes, and loaded up with a few goodies each. Then off to the food section for some supplies. Even this is a laughing event. Everything is so big. Large this Large that. We just dont have large things back home.

When we saw these we were laughing. To us it was amazing , people walking past were probably thinking what is wrong with you people.
It was a good few hours we were in here. This was as exciting as going to a theme park for us.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing around the pool.

NEXT : MAGIC KINGDOM

 

[elcmum]

DAY 10 - 21ST DECEMBER


Yes I know it might not be exciting for locals but for us WALMART is heaven. We dont have this kind of awesomeness back home in Australia. We have KMART TARGET and BIG W and thats pretty much it, and all three of those stores put together don't stack up against the might Walmart.

I have been laughing and nodding at your entire report. It's fun reading the Aussie lingo (happy snaps!) and hearing about your experience at Walmart. There are still times I walk around and think, what the heck, when I see giant bags of cereal or enormous bottles of tomato sauce.

Keep up the great story! I love following along.

 

[Beccybooboo]

Oh how I miss Walmart and all its goodies. Everything we cant get back home and so cheap. Although I think we kept them in business during our American stay haha.
To be able to go down to the local shops for supplies of all the good stuff... toys, clothes and of course the best drink ever diet mountain dew.
Mmmm reece's piece's, cheetos puffs I could go on forever listing all the goodness.
Oh and can't forget the bad stuff too that is so cheap it hurts thinking about how much we pay in Australia for our guilty pleasures.
Need to go back soon.. having diet mountain dew cravings.

 

[Beccybooboo]

I have been laughing and nodding at your entire report. It's fun reading the Aussie lingo (happy snaps!) and hearing about your experience at Walmart. There are still times I walk around and think, what the heck, when I see giant bags of cereal or enormous bottles of tomato sauce.

Keep up the great story! I love following along.

Our grocery/department stores do not measure up to America stores.
Super target and Walmart are awesome. I cant get over how they have pharmacy/grocery/liquor in their stores and they are so big.

 

[wsssup]

I have been laughing and nodding at your entire report. It's fun reading the Aussie lingo (happy snaps!) and hearing about your experience at Walmart. There are still times I walk around and think, what the heck, when I see giant bags of cereal or enormous bottles of tomato sauce.

Keep up the great story! I love following along.

Thanks for following along. As @Beccybooboo we are having Walmart withdrawals. Even tempted to try the Australia post service that allows us to shop at Walmart online and have it shipped to a US address. Will have to look into it more.

 

[elcmum]

Thanks for following along. As @Beccybooboo we are having Walmart withdrawals. Even tempted to try the Australia post service that allows us to shop at Walmart online and have it shipped to a US address. Will have to look into it more.

I'm an Aussie living in Indy. If you ever need an American address to send stuff to for me to route, let me know. I already do it for a few friends back home.

 

[Beccybooboo]

Lucky you it is a dream to one day live in America. Maybe when we retire.

 

[wsssup]

DAY 11 - 22ND DECEMBER : MICKEY'S VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS PARTY

YAWN...... Energy drink Check. Oh a picture of health I am. India throwing up the rabbit ears again.

Today was Magic Kingdom day. Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party was on the cards for tonight, and this was the last party of the year.
The plan was to head in and get there around 2pm, so we had some time to kill. The sun was beaming down yet again, go Orlando , so it was as good as anytime to venture around Pop Century a bit more for some good old exploring.

This really was a perfect morning to get some snaps going, and also get some 360 degree video going.
My Shirt courtesy of WALMART

Roger Rabbit, seriously a great movie.

The massive Tramp. Very well done. All the statues look awesome. It was time to get ready and head over to the Bus area for the Magic Kingdom.
Much better luck this time as it was around 1pm with virtually no one in line for the bus. So a pretty empty bus and we were on our way. I had butterflies in my stomach, this is what we had come to see and do the most.

Once again, security was no problems, short and sweet. And we were in.

So Majestic. The Christmas decorations were up and looked great, we were all ready in the Christmas mood. Oh this was to be a great day.
We had our first fastpass+ to get to, meeting talking Mickey. This was going to be cool.

As you can see we were all happy to meet the Mouse. Even at 40 years old i was a little star struck. We mentioned India had just turned 7 and he said " 7 years old , you will be driving soon " and proceeded to sing Happy birthday to her. It was a pretty cool moment. India called him the real Mickey Mouse because he could talk. Such a great experience and highly recommend everyone should do it.
We said our goodbyes and headed out down Main Street.
Wow, the first thing my wife and i both pretty much said at the same time was, " geez thats a big one". The Castle compared to Disneyland's one is Massive.
And we arrived with perfect timing for some fireworks.

I quickly had another Dad moment, looking around thinking to myself look where we are. This was awesome. Decorations everywhere looked great, my eyes didnt know where to look, they were trying to keep up with the excitement. The closer we got to the Castle the bigger it just kept getting. Thumbs up.
We took a right turn and headed over to Tomorrow Land. It was around 4pm so we were able to line up near Buzz to check in for the Christmas Party. Wrist strap on we were all ready to get going again.

The People Mover was next. Another Daddy ride, woooo. This was a nice ride to rest the legs again and get out of the hot Sun. It was cool going through Space Mountain hearing everyone scream their lungs out. Awesome stuff.

With the People Mover done it was time to make our way to our next Fastpass+. Big Thunder Mountain. A favourite of ours at Disneyland , so we were excited to see the differences. It was a fair walk from Tomorrow Land, but we passed so many cool things along the way, oh The Haunted Mansion we will return soon. Fantasy Land was packed, but we just powered through the traffic and got to our destination.

It looked awesome and very different from the Disneyland version. It was time to tap the Magic Bands and get to it. The fastpass line moved fairly quickly, the stand by line was at about 90 minutes. The train rolled up and we squeezed ourselves in. Lets get this thing going.

10 out of 10 for this one. Wow. So much better at Magic Kingdom. It felt quicker and longer, with plenty more twits and turns. India was screaming with excitement the whole way.
With Big Thunder under our belts we had one more fastpass+ to attend. Something the wife wanted to ride since she knew it existed. Something from a Princess she loved the most.

Yes time to venture on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. This thing looked awesome. I don't think Bec spoke a word the whole time from the lining up until the ride was over. Just a constant smile on her face the whole time.

Such a smooth ride, you can even practise your singing half way with the Dwarfs. The whole train was pretty much singing along as we made our way through the Mine, classic Disney at Work. Where else can you sing a song on a train in a mine? Thats the great thing about Disney, everyone is there to have fun and make memories.

7pm was coming along and it was slowly getting dark. People were slowly making their way out of the park while the Party goers were getting ready for the Christmas Party. We grabbed a Christmas Mickey Popcorn Bucket and headed off in search of our Party treats. Biscuits, hot Chocolate, ahh this was great. It was starting to get a little chilly but we had better things to do than worry about the cold.

The lines for rides were pretty short, but we spent most the time just walking around and enjoying the festivities. Of course a 7 year old has rides on the mind pretty much all the time. We were close to Dumbo and it was pretty much empty so on we jumped.
Spinning rides are not the best for me, they make me woozy very quick and Dumbo was bringing out the woozy big guns.

After the ride i truly felt not the best. Time to wash it down with some Haunted Mansion (more on that later)

The Castle was looking magical at night. The fireworks show was about to start so we walked around to find out spot. It was pretty packed but still easy to get around.
We settled into our spot and enjoyed the show.

The fireworks and light show on the Castle were awesome, who doesn't like fireworks. The Christmas Party was coming to an end, and was well worth the price. Our goal was to just enjoy the moments throughout the evening, not worry about rides or line up for extremely long waits for characters. Just walking around in the festive spirit was enough for us.

It was time to say good night to the Magic Kingdom and walk down Main Street to the exit. Of course we completely forgot they had the snow machine going so this was a great way to end the night.

What a beautiful sight to see and a perfect way to end the night.

 

[Beccybooboo]

I will never forget our first trip to Magic Kingdom. It truly was magical.
Seeing the fireworks over that awesome castle brings back childhood memories of seeing it on tv and wishing I could go. Having that wish come true with the people I love made me cry with happiness.

 

[wsssup]

DAY 12 AND 13 - 23RD + 24TH DECEMBER

Disneyland?????

Another good sleep in was had. Probably didnt get back to Pop Century the night before till about 2am. Transport was pretty average coming back and it wasn't even that crowded.
The next few days were going to be rest days with not much excitement going on as a reader so i will squash 2 days in 1 post.

When we finally got up and about we had to go make a pick up from another Walmart closer up towards Universal up on Turkey Lake. I had made an online purchase for pickup for some Raider gear, so off we went again to Walmart. ( Warning , there are going to be many more days of Walmart Super Targets and even a run down looking K MART ) hahaha. Sorry for the lack of excitement but hey, we are on holiday and no reason to rush things.

So back in Walmart we headed into collect the goods, this was a much bigger store and we thought we would come back to it again later.

Instead of Uber I had signed up to Lyft to get the few free rides. They are no better than Uber, and slightly a little cheaper.
Once back at Pop we thought we would go check out the competition on the other side of the lake at Art of Animation.

It was pretty much the same layout, looked a bit cleaner and they had better themed areas.

The Cars area was pretty well done indeed. Felt like being back in Disneyland. Oh how we missed Radiator Springs Racers. It's ok we will get back there soon.
Time to check out their food court. Much cleaner and a way better selection of food. If you stay at Pop, trust me, head over to Art of Animation for your food, Pop Century has evil dirty food. Even eating at McDonalds would be better for you.

All in all a nice thumbs up for Art of Animation.

The next day was Christmas Eve, and for all Aussie's back home it was Christmas Day, so we spent a fair bit of time on Skype with Family etc, filling them in on our trip so far as we dont do social media. Everyone was safe and sound enjoying their Christmas Day, while we were preparing ourselves for our Christmas day .... Oh the excitement.

I know Ive been good this year i hope Santa has me on the nice list.


NEXT: CHRISTMAS DAY - ANIMAL KINGDOM

 

[Beccybooboo]

We didnt realize how much we needed those rest days leading up to Christmas.
We had ready started our Christmas celebrations with MVMCP.
Best Christmas ever and it's not even Christmas day yet.


AoA was a blessing for food options I don't even want to remember Pop food the thought of it makes me feel sick. It is a lovely hotel.

 

[Elsaalltheway]

We didnt realize how much we needed those rest days leading up to Christmas.
We had ready started our Christmas celebrations with MVMCP.
Best Christmas ever and it's not even Christmas day yet.


AoA was a blessing for food options I don't even want to remember Pop food the thought of it makes me feel sick. It is a lovely hotel.

I stay at PoP and enjoy some of the food, but I have popped over to AoA too and had some of their pasta.

 

[Beccybooboo]

I stay at PoP and enjoy some of the food, but I have popped over to AoA too and had some of their pasta.

When we first got there we enjoyed some of the food too but after staying there as long as we did, the more we witnessed... we realised why the food was actually making us sick. On quite a few occasions food from the fridge was out of date so who knows with the food being prepared back in the kitchen what it's quality was. At least at AoA the foodcourt was clean and you could see the kitchen the food seemed to be fresher. The pasta was a good option for us too.

 

[elcmum]

I do not even know where to start with comments! Prepare yourself for a ton of them from me!!!

 

[elcmum]

Wow, the first thing my wife and i both pretty much said at the same time was, " geez thats a big one". The Castle compared to Disneyland's one is Massive.
And we arrived with perfect timing for some fireworks.

Yes! I love the castle at DL but the WDW is sooooo much more amazing, but I love the nostalgia behind the DL castle, too. I

I quickly had another Dad moment, looking around thinking to myself look where we are. This was awesome. Decorations everywhere looked great, my eyes didnt know where to look, they were trying to keep up with the excitement. The closer we got to the Castle the bigger it just kept getting.

You know how Main St is lined up with food stores on the right and souvenir shops on the left? Apparently that's because people (in the US) walk on the right, and so as they enter the park they are more apt to eat, and more likely to shop on their way out.

That theory is all well and good, unless you have been trained to walk on the left... hahah, and then have to battle everyone walking against you as you walk in and out of the park! Please tell me you noticed this, too!

Yes time to venture on the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. This thing looked awesome. I don't think Bec spoke a word the whole time from the lining up until the ride was over. Just a constant smile on her face the whole time.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Bec, you aren't the only one who had that look on their face!

People were slowly making their way out of the park while the Party goers were getting ready for the Christmas Party. We grabbed a Christmas Mickey Popcorn Bucket and headed off in search of our Party treats. Biscuits, hot Chocolate, ahh this was great.

Hahah, biscuits. Sorry. I just love that you called them biscuits.

 

[Beccybooboo]

I do not even know where to start with comments! Prepare yourself for a ton of them from me!!!

Awesome

Yes! I love the castle at DL but the WDW is sooooo much more amazing, but I love the nostalgia behind the DL castle, too. I



You know how Main St is lined up with food stores on the right and souvenir shops on the left? Apparently that's because people (in the US) walk on the right, and so as they enter the park they are more apt to eat, and more likely to shop on their way out.


That theory is all well and good, unless you have been trained to walk on the left... hahah, and then have to battle everyone walking against you as you walk in and out of the park! Please tell me you noticed this, too!


Yes. Yes. Yes. Bec, you aren't the only one who had that look on their face!!


Hahah, biscuits. Sorry. I just love that you called them biscuits.

That is good marketing.

Yes walking on the wrong side of the path was something i had to work on. Sometimes because of Christmas crowds it didnt matter where you walked it was a constant battle haha.


Hehe good to hear. I am a huge snow white fan you should see me when I meet her I am the biggest kid haha.

Hehe yes the American biscuit is sooo different!

 

[Beccybooboo]

Had to edit you couldn't see all my replies lol

 

[elcmum]

Had to edit you couldn't see all my replies lol

That is something that I would do!

And I'm equally envious you guys were there at Christmas and also equally baffled and think anyone at WDW over the hols is absolutely batty.

Okay, I'm more envious than anything. Seriously LOVING the snaps!