Misc Disney Photos

Last set of Disney photos ... then I'm off to start putting together that scrapbook!



Here's Benjamin and I at the aquariums in-between The Living Seas with Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush, at Epcot. That was a lot of fun. I loved Epcot. There's so much to do there.




The kids -- especially the younger two -- had a lot of fun with the water sprays in Adventureland in the Magic Kingdom.



Speaking of Adventureland, I had heard that a Pineapple Dole Whip Float was one of the best snacks in all of Disney. I would second that notion.



The Kilimanjaro Safari at Animal Kingdom is a lot of fun. I took a lot of pictures, but didn't want to bore you with too many. And yes, they are real animals. Some people who've never been there aren't sure about that, what with it being Disney and all.




In the Magic Kingdom, one neat thing that Robert suggested was taking the raft to Tom Sawyer's Island. This was a nice little break and a change of pace from standing in line to ride Dumbo and Peter Pan. Here's the girls playing checkers before we took the raft ride back.

Hope you enjoyed these! :)
Feel free to ask me any Disney questions -- I feel like a semi-expert now!

Our friends at the Animal Kingdom

Is anyone getting bored with these Disney posts? I haven't heard any comments ...

Either which way, I'll post one more after this, and then move on to Bigger and Better Things.

On our last day, we went to Animal Kingdom. I know a lot of people don't like Animal Kingdom, but we liked it quite a bit. For one thing, it was shadier and cooler than the other parks. Robert particularly liked that it wasn't as crowded.

And the lines to see the characters were much shorter (and cooler).



Here's the girls with Pluto, looking at their autograph book. They had to wait in line for less than four minutes.




We took the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, and inside were Pocohantas, Rafiki, and Jiminy Cricket. There were literally no lines -- maybe just one person in front of us for each.



At Camp Minnie-Mickey, there are about five lines for different characters -- Minnie and Mickey, of course, being among them.



I'm not sure what this was all about, but when we went up to see Goofy, he started "kissing" me repeatedly. [Robert was over at "It's Tough to be a Bug," so I guess Goofy thought I was available.]

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that.

Rebecca was just giggling about that the other day. "Mommy, I think Goofy wishes he could marry you!"



Chip and Dale were also at Camp Minnie-Mickey. One of the Cast Members told us you can tell who's who because one of them has a nose like a chocolate "chip." Ah-ha! :)

Fun at the Magic Kingdom

My goal (no, seriously!) is to get all these Disney photos in a scrapbook album within the next 6 days.

Maybe I'm setting myself up for failure for saying this, but it's true.

I have the hard copies of the photos, and I have the Creative Memories Disney scrapbook and paper kits. All I have to do -- hopefully tomorrow -- is open it all up and begin.

And really, as much as I love digital cameras .... I haaaaate how people hardly ever hard copies of photos anymore. I'm sorry, but seeing a few photos on Facebook just isn't the same as being able to sit and hold an album that tells you a little bit about the pictures.

I'm sad that the photo album/scrapbook seems to be dying, and I'm trying to at resurrect it a little at my house.

Now, on to digital photos ...


Rebecca always did love Minnie Mouse. When she was two and a half, she had a Minnie costume that she wore almost every day for about two months.


The girls had fun in the little shop outside Pirates of the Caribbean. Um, where is Rebecca's shoe...?


And here's Rachael, still wearing the hat that her grandparents bought her when she was four and we all went to Disney World together. (Well ... I don't mean that she's been wearing it for four years ... you know ...)


Not surprisingly, Rebecca particularly liked dressing up as a Girl Pirate.



I figured people might be wondering when I was going to post a picture of myself.

Benjamin loves Pooh and Tigger, but his face here basically sums up how un-interested he was in actually meeting any characters.

Disney Photos -- Port Orleans

We stayed at Port Orleans Riverside, a "moderate" Disney resort, and I loved it. I actually enjoyed it more than the Grand Floridian -- it seemed more our style, somehow. I guess we are "moderate" type people.


We went to the pool ... I think twice.






There are actually something like five (or more) pools at the resort, but this is the main one, and as you can see, it's very nice. It had fountains, a slide, and a playground kind of behind it.



Benjamin is very interested in bridges these days, and there were plenty at the resort to keep him happy. This water wheel was outside the resort food court, which we visited often.

Disney Photos -- Characters at Epcot

On our first Disney trip, when we went to Epcot, Robert rode Mission:Space and was sick the rest of the day, so we didn't get to do much else.

On our second Disney trip, Rebecca started throwing up in our hotel room about 30 minutes before we were about to go to the Princess Lunch in Norway at Epcot. So not much got done on that day, either.

So I was really glad that we finally got to Epcot and actually do things and enjoy it!





In the UK, we sat on a bench and ate fish and chips, and the girls spotted both Alice ...


... and Mary Poppins.


What was kind of neat is that, about 10-15 minutes later, we passed Mary Poppins while walking through the UK, and she smiled at the girls and said, "Fancy seeing you two again!"



We were told late that Daisy Duck was a "hard gal to find," but we had already spotted her at the Epcot entrance.


I waited in line with the girls while Robert and Benjamin rode Spaceship Earth (that big golf ball thing). It was very hot waiting in line. If that's what Disney in late September is like, remind me to never ever go there in July.

More Disney photos -- trains in Epcot

I didn't realize until I had started this post that I was doing two in a row featuring Benjamin and vehicles.

Oh well. It just means I'll have to write another Disney post tomorrow.

In the World Showcase at Epcot -- I think in, or next to, Germany -- there was a train set, which of course Benjamin was fascinated with. He watched it for quite a while as the girls got settled in with their "Kim Possible Kimmunicators" to start their Germany mission.

[If you're not familiar with the Kim Possible Missions in Epcot (it's pretty new), it's a high-tech sort of scavenger hunt in a World Showcase country. It involves finding clues within that country, and watching short video clips on the screen of a special cell phone they give you, until you finish help Kim Possible get the bad guy. It was pretty cool. Rachael, especially, loved it. The girls did one in Germany, and another in the UK.]



Robert got some good pictures of the trains.





And then a couple pictures of Rachael and Benjamin watching them.





BTW, right after these were taken, we had lunch at the Biergarten in Germany. (I didn't get any pictures of that.) I would highly recommend it, not only for the food, but also the entertainment.

Disney Photos!

Well, the Disney trip was great, no one got sick, thank the Lord!

Godspell was exhausting but wonderful. The show got picked up by another theater for next month, so we get to do about six more shows!

Here's a few quick Disney pictures. More to follow in another post:


None of the kids wanted to ride Test Track at Epcot, but they did like looking at the cars and things by the ride. Here's Becca.


Here's Benjamin (with Becca in the background). Obviously, he liked this a lot.


And Rachael outside (again, with Becca in the background).


The first night we arrived, we were in such a hurry to get to the Magic Kingdom that we forgot to bring umbrellas and raincoats. It started pouring suddenly, and we all got very wet. Look at poor Becca in this one. She was not happy!

More another day ...