The Next Disney trip (When to go)

Cinderella's Castle and a Disney Fan.

All the Disney experts, all the Disney blogs and all the Disney guide books stress the importance of planing when thinking of embarking on a trip to Disney World.  Lets face it.  The Florida Project, as Walt called  Disney World, is huge.  With 30,080 acres or 47 square miles of land filled with all sorts of adventures, figuring out where you want to be and when you want to be there, can be a daunting task.  So,  I agree with the experts up to a point anyway.  Big Picture planning can make a lot of difference in how much fun a visitor can get out of any Disney Vacation.  Besides, I feel planning a trip to Walt Disney World is lots of fun.  Figuring out where to eat, what parks to visit and the special events in which to participate adds loads of enjoyment to the over all experience and extends the excitement of going to Disney.  When my wife and I went over Christmas in 2010, we had the pleasure of reading reviews and looking at guides, all with the goal of getting the most fun out of the trip that we could.  Many guides go so far as list what attractions visitors should do and when they should experience them.  For a first time visitor, I might even go so far as to recommend following some of the preset plans that are in the guides. Personally, because we have learned a lot about how and when to visit attractions and how to use fast passes system to our best advantage, we have the freedom of making informed choices as to what attractions to see at the times I'm ready to see them. A number of attractions that are so popular that they run out fast passes early.  Toy Story Mania in Hollywood studios and Soarin' in Epcot are only two examples of attractions that can quickly run out of Fast Passes so if one of these attractions are on your "not to miss" list then my advice is to get a fast pass for that attraction  when you arrive at the park.  Nobody wants to get out of bed early while on vacation, but if you are at a park when it opens, even during the busier summer times, you can often get a fast pass for a popular attraction and get immediately in the standby line with only a short wait.  Who wouldn't want to do their favorite Disney attraction twice.

Lightning, Mater, My wife and I.

Someone is acting silly, and the other has big ears.

I've read about some changes in-store at Walt Disney World that will affect how visitors use Fast Passes. In the past,  Fast Pass users were allowed to use the Fast Pass line even after the end of their Fast Pass time had expired. In other words if your fast pass for an attraction was for between 1:00 and 2:00 in the afternoon, and you arrived at 2:30 or 3:00 there was no problem.  You would be allowed to use the fast pass and get right into the attraction.  If my understanding is correct, Fast Pass users will be required to return before the end of their Fast Pass time.  Disney's goal is for visitors to be able to pick times to do certain attractions before they arrive at the park, sort of like dinner reservations for attractions.  In order for this to work properly, Disney feels that stricter enforcement of the fast pass time will be required.  I think it might be fun incorporate planning your Splash mountain experience while you were planning your trip but this might take some of the spontaneity out of riding.  While I like a more free form approach to what attractions I choose, I can see the advantages of having a set time to ride an attraction thus guaranteeing a seat on an attraction at a time close to when I would like to do it.  I am a bit concerned by what happens when attractions closes during the period of the reservations.  I know from experiences that attractions close when the unpredictable Florida weather sends lightning near the parks.  Most of the tall rides or the attractions involving water suspend operations. Nobody wants to be on Splash Mountain or in the middle of the Jungle Cruise when lightning strikes in the area. Some daredevils might want to risk being struck by chancing a ride with Brer Rabbit, but certainly not me.  I might find the new system useful, but right now, I'll reserve judgement.

My Wife in Downtown Disney.

All this leads up to choosing a time to go to Disney,  When is the best time to go? What times should people avoid?  The answer to when to go is not cut and dry. This really depends on what sort of experiences you want.  In my case,  There are only a few times that I really want to avoid the parks. Among those are the week between Christmas and New Year, and the weeks of spring break in late march and parts of April.  Reportedly, the crowds are way too big for my tastes.  The week between Christmas and New Years is the most popular time of year for Disney world.  Sometimes, for safety reasons, Disney has had to turn people away from the parks even if they have tickets.  Each park only will hold so many people and when that limit is reached, Disney doesn't allow any more people into the park.  Now, I understand that some people can only get away from their jobs at certain times and family is always a consideration when you decide when to go on vacation and Who wouldn't  love a break from the cold northern winters to celebrate some of the magic of Disney.  Almost every year my family's mid winter escape from Indiana is to warmer climes of Southern Alabama between Christmas and New Year's. We enjoy the wonderful seafood and have even participated in the annual Polar Bear Dip at the infamous Flora-Bama Lounge. The crowds in Southern Alabama are almost non existent especially compared to what goes on at Disney world at this time of year.  Also, I like to avoid Disney when the Kids are free from school during spring break, The crowds at Disney World tend to swell to capacity again, and inevitably, the cost of tickets and lodging reflects the popularity of the time.  Of course, some people thrive in the throngs.  The excitement of experiences shared with large groups of people drives them to seek the times when the most people are there, and I can understand the allure of people watching. But it just isn't for me so I avoid those times.

Ducks can Cook?  Who Knew.

I have been to Disney in July and August, and I have enjoyed myself greatly, but the heat can be oppressive. There is no getting around the fact that the weather in Orlando is hot, humid and sometimes wet during the summer months. Our family has been caught in more than one monsoon in the middle of one of the parks. I remember one day that started bright and sunny.  "You could not see a cloud, because no cloud was in the sky." (The Walrus and The Carpenter, Lewis Carroll)  This was our last day at Disney before we traveled to Cocoa beach Florida where one of my wife's aunts lived at the time.  We had planned to enjoy the Magic Kingdom by revisiting attractions that we particularly liked. We had time on our tickets and  the trip to Cocoa is just a couple hour drive from Orlando if the traffic is good.  Anyway, We made the fatal mistake of packing our rain gear in our suit cases.  We had learned early on  that it was a good idea to have rain ponchos close by in central Florida, but the beautiful sunny morning skies fooled us. So into the suit cases went the ponchos and off we went to the Magic Kingdom. Early in the afternoon, The clouds started to gather. We had the unsettling feeling that a down pour coming.  Eventually, we could see the storm gather near the park and came conclusion that  we should go back to the car.  We made our way through the crowds but clouds kept rolling in. We made it as far as the transportation center before the deluge began.  Soon, water ran in rivers down the ramps that exited the monorail station. The rain fell sideways which is never a good sign. Lightning flashed all around us and the wind whipped through the station.  Our family decided to try to wait for the rain to lighten up.  But, Central Florida was determined to teach as a valuable lesson that day, and the rain continued to fall hard. Finally, we gave up on waiting for the rain to stop, or maybe we had deluded our selves into believing that the deluge was lessening and  left the station to board a tram.  Needless to say,  before we got back to the car we were soaked.  We learned a valuable lesson that day.  It won't stop us from going back in the summer and we have been back in August since that trip, but, no matter what the skies look like, We have rain gear tucked away in a pocket or purses.

Desert at The Wave.

Taking everything into consideration,  along with the fact that our summer this year is full of weddings, graduations and other events, We have chosen to go back to Disney World during one of the first two weeks in December, maybe as early as the last Thursday of November.  We have not nailed down the dates quite yet as we are waiting to see what discounts Disney might offer in the late fall.  My wife mother, right now, is planning on going as well along with my wife's brother, his wife, and their grand kids.  Our Children will either be at their new jobs or in collage, my son almost, but not quite matches my passion for Disney World and my daughter commented just the other day about what a fun time she had on  the single day she got with us at Disney last summer. But, sadly, they won't be able to go with us. I hope someday to share this special time of year in Disney with my kids and someday, my grand kids. Christmas time is my favorite time for a Disney World trip.  My wife would say, that anytime would be my favorite time for Walt Disney World trip. She, of course, would not be far wrong, however, those first couple of weeks in December are special to me.  So far, I have found them to be the best of time among all the great times we could go to Disney.  Smaller crowds, special events, and all the lovely decorations keep drawing me back to Christmas at Disney.  I can't wait to see the Candlelight processional again, or go to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party.   This year, we will avoid Splash Mountain if the weather is as cold as it was last time.  In fact, the only issue I had with the original trip in December was the record cold weather that had settled over Disney World in 2010.  I, being a normally optimistic person, believe that it will be warmer but I, knowing that if I'm not ready, the cold weather will return, will prepare for it to be just as cold.   Now that we have a time of year for our Next Disney adventure.  Our next choice will be where our home base will be, where we will stay while visiting Disney.  I'll talk about that in my next post.

My Lucky Days at Disney:

Kidani village Lobby (Internet Photo)

This is the thirteenth post in this blog.  What better subject for lucky number 13 that the luckiest trip I ever took to Disney World.  So much cool stuff happened on this trip that I had do document it all for fear that people wouldn't believe it.  I sometimes wonder myself, if i shouldn't have bought lottery tickets this week because of all the things that went right. All of this good fortune happened during our most recent trip to Disney world.  My Wife and I are fortunate enough to have a fairly large extended family that lives close to us. All of my wife's brothers and sisters live within 200 miles of where we live. Her mother and sister live in the same city as we do and her brother a couple of hundred miles west of us. We had not had my wife's family in one place for quite a while, so a plan was hatched  to travel together to Walt Disney World and share one of the last grand gathering offered by Disney  Disney soon stopped offering Grand gatherings after what essentially was a  Graf family reunion in Walt Disney World.  Including all my wife's sisters and brothers and kids, along with my wife's mom and aunt, sixteen people set off that day to go to Disney world.  My daughter and her fiance were in Pensacola at the time because my daughter was doing an internship at a local paper manufacturing company. On Thursday night of that week they joined us at Disney world.  There arrival made the count for the whole group a staggering 18 people before the trip was over.  I was happy to have so much family around us.  My wife and I did what we could to plan meals and events that everyone would enjoy.  But with 18 different people wanting to do 18 different things we came to the conclusion that it would be best to meet for  some meals and to enjoy certain  events together and do our own thing the rest of the time. This worked out well for us. After the flight we jumped on the Magical Express to our Villas in Kadani village in the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Our stay was scheduled from August 1 through August 5, Monday through Friday. this schedule gave  us 4 full days in the parks and Monday afternoon as well. We had a little bit of trouble getting checked in but our concierge was most gracious and worked hard to get us the most for the money we were spending.  It took some time but it was well worth the efforts she put forth on our behalf.

Home of wonderful Doughnuts (Internet Photo)

Our first item of business was to take care of my sons desire to go to one of the two water parks.  We had been to Typhoon lagoon in 2000 when we went to Disney World during its millennium celebration and really enjoyed the trip.  Because it was later in the day and because our Concierge was trying so hard to save us some money, it took quite a while for us to get checked in to our rooms.  At the end of the day, she was gracious enough to comp our water park tickets making our trip to Typhoon lagoon free.  We only had a limited time at the water park because of our late arrival but we made the most of the time we spent there.  There are lots of amazing slides at Typhoon lagoon but we mostly had eyes for the huge wave pool,  the coral reef snorkeling encounter at Shark Reef and the lazy river. Of course, we had to have some of the mini doughnuts that are served from one of the Kiosks in the park. This little known but amazingly delightful treat is served at both the water parks though i cannot vouch for the quality of the doughnuts at Blizzard beach as I haven't been there. Creamy, sweet and delicious, these were probably the best mini doughnut I had ever had.  We had them in 2000 and were delighted to discover they were just as good in 2011.  Visitors can purchase dipping sauces for the doughnuts but they are wonderful on their own.

Big waves a coming (Internet Photo)

Typhoon lagoon has this amazing wave pool.  I swear the waves had to be 6 to 8 feet in some places of the pool.  People can always tell when a wave was released by the great Whoosh of water followed by the screams of happiness of the people in the pool heard all over the park. The huge waves come every 90 seconds and are large enough to surf. Disney even offers surfing lessons at Typhoon lagoon.  While I've always thought surfing would be fun, I don't have the upper body straight to push up on the board and stand up.  The waves were great for body surfing however, which is something I enjoy.  Care must be taken not to wipe anybody else out while body surfing.  the Wave Pool can get a little crowded and  the first time we went to Typhoon lagoon in 2000 I managed to knock somebody over. They took it in stride and were not upset with me.  In 2011 the pool was not so crowded that I had to worry about it. My wife and son and I let the waves carry us for long distances on top of the large waves. It was a great time.

The number of fish were amazing (Internet Photo)

One of my favorite things to do at Typhoon lagoon is the snorkeling.  Shark reef offers a encounter with lots of different living sea life.  Sharks, angel fish, tangs and rays all swim in a tank specifically designed for adventurous snorkelers.  Visitors are given life vests and snorkels. I didn't really need the life vest. I am already a pretty buoyant fellow, but if I was tempted to visit the sharks more closely, the life vest kept me honest by making it very difficult to dive down under the surface of the water. Though we haven't been diving for a while, my wife and I are both certified divers and this little taste of snorkeling in the middle of Disney World is just the ticket.  Visitors are encouraged to keep moving and on a crowded day I can understand that they would want to keep People from lingering too long in the tank. Visitors can go as many times as they like so people should be able to see everything they want to see. For us, the line was not long to get back in to the tank. It's important to note that visitors should shower off any sun screen that hasn't been rubbed in properly.  The chemicals in the sun screen are not healthy for the animals at Shark Reef.  At near by Discovery Cove, a  sea animal based theme park that is associated with Seaworld in the Orlando area, you are required to use the sunblock provided by the theme park in order to protect the sea life there.  I'll write about Discovery Cove sometime in the future.

Castaway Creek Circles Typhoon lagoon (Internet Photo)

The last attraction at typhoon lagoon that my son wanted to do was a trip around the lazy river. Disney calls their version at Typhoon Lagoon, Castaway Creek. Most people already know what a lazy river is all about.  The experience is one of the most relaxing thing that people can do at Disney World.  Visitors float,in water cool enough to refresh without being uncomfortable.  The river roams for 2000 feet around the park, sometimes under the water slides and behind the wave pool. I like to use 2 inner tubes.  One for my feet and one to sit in. Its a perfect way to get your bearings and find out some of the locations of attractions you might want to do, if you are unfamiliar with the park.  The only thing missing was a cool tropical drink with an umbrella to make the ride perfect. Disney, However forbids drinks on the attractions and pool water is not what I had in mind.

Roz has everyone's best interest at heart (Internet Download)

Now I know I have spent time in previous posts talking about the Monster Laugh floor. In that post I mentioned that I had the honor of being "That Guy", an honor accorded to just a few dozen people each day at Disney World.  I don't have the statistics as to how many times the show is run during a day but there is only one "That Guy" per performance. and I got to be him.  I even got a sticker saying so.  What all this boils down to is, one audience member is chosen to play a reoccurring role  in the show.  There are no lines involved, the chosen member appears repeatedly on the screen during the course of the show.  He is the butt of some of the jokes and the hero of others and the role changes from one show to another. I, being the shy reserved person that I am (not) made the most of it. I tried to get people who were already in the mood for a good time to laugh by mugging and hugging and what ever I could do without embarrassing myself.  Lets just say It takes a lot to embarrass myself.  It was great fun and at the end of the show, Roz, even thanked me for being responsible for filling all the energy canisters. Of course Roz thanks all the "That Guys" at the end of every show.

Minnie's a good dancer (Internet Photo)

Because we were a large group and Qualified for the Grand Gathering Benefits, we were invited to attend a breakfast at the Magic Kingdom's Tony's Restaurant.  Located just inside the gates of the Magic Kingdom on Main Street USA, Tony's Restaurant serves Italian cuisine during the day. In the mornings however, the restaurant was given over to the Celebrations of large gatherings of family and friends for breakfast.  Breakfast was pretty much typical Disney breakfast fare. Of course Mickey Mouse waffles were served with syrup.  I like waffle's with peanut butter and I bet I could have gotten some if I asked but butter and syrup were fine for that day.  Scrabbled eggs were served as well.  My wife is not fond of eggs and most egg products.  She told me once that she can eat an egg as long as she can't recognise it as an egg.   She has mellowed a tiny bit over the years toward eggs, She will eat quiches and she really likes a particularly delicious egg tort made with pancetta bacon, cheese and parsley. The meal came with the particularly bad bacon, and a very good link sausage.  Those of you who have read some of my previous posts have read my rant about the terrible bacon at Disney World. The meal was good, but the Highlight of the event was interacting with the characters. Goofy, Minnie and Donald were all there and intermingled with the visitors.  In a way that characterizes all similar experiences, the Icons of Disney charmed their way though the crowd. Anniversaries and birthdays were announced and celebrated. Even first trips to Disney were announce and since we had two of my brother in law's grand kids with us they were celebrated along with the rest. The event culminated with Tony singing Bella Notta from Lady and the Tramp and I was lucky enough to be chosen to dance with Minnie Mouse.  How could any true fan of Disney refuse a chance to dance with one most loved Characters that Walt every created.  I certainly couldn't.  I knew the words to the song so couldn't resist softly singing along with Tony.  Minnie was delighted and kissed my cheek afterward.  I don't know if the person behind the mask actually enjoyed it, but Minnie Mouse loved it. Her reaction really touched me, but then again, I'm an old softy.

Corny but lots of fun. (Internet Photo)

As readers of this blog already know my wife and I had been to the Hoop Dee Doo Review the previous Christmas. In spite of this show being so corny, more likely because of the show being so corny, we enjoyed every minute of it.  We had spent the evening laughing and singing and clapping.  The secret to enjoying a show like is embracing  the show for what it is.  It ain't Shakespeare, but who wants Shakespeare every moment of the day. I revisit the show in this blog because of what happened to me at the end of the show.  The last section of the show is a little audience participation skit based loosely on  Davy Crockett.  There is no need to worry about a depressing death at the Alamo,  this skit was remarkably untroubled by any historical accuracy.  I was asked to play the part of Davy Crockett's Angel.  I was to come out at the end of the skit like a ballerina and moon the audience, pants on of course, this is after all Disney world.  One of the other people that was chosen to do another role was talking to me about how nervous she was.  I said two things that eased her jitters.  First of all,  you would be unlikely to meet the people in the audience again so who cares what happens.  Also,  the best way to get through anything that has you in a situation in front of a large group of people is just to have as much fun as you can and not worry about what others think.  I certainly took my own advice because I had no illusions that I was chosen from my great thespian skills Or because I had the looks of Brad Pit. I knew I was chosen because the Image of a fat man such as my self with wings and a tutu is wildly funny. My instructions were to come out on stage as a ballerina so like any ballerina would, I did my best to come out on point. I could never get on the tip of my toes, so I did my best to come out on the balls of my feet, which was funny enough. Of course pandemonium broke out when I came out. Any further instructions were lost, and I didn't remember to turn around and moon the audience. It didn't matter however, the damage was done. The skit ended in and uproar of laughter and fun. A cast member was good enough to guide me to my spot and we all took a bow.  To me, you only make a fool of yourself if you let yourself feel foolish and  I was delighted to get the opportunity to brighten other peoples evening.

This was a part of the show. (Internet Photo)

When my wife and I went over Christmas, the Star Tours attraction in Hollywood Studios was closed for refurbishment.  The Ride reopened in the late spring of 2011.  I really wasn't all that interested in riding the older version anyway. To be honest I'm not sure I could tell you what the old version of the ride was about and the last time i visited the attraction the 3D affects and the movement of the simulator made me just a little nauseous. So it was with no little trepidation that my family and I got in line to ride the new version in August of 2011. Winding my way through the line was a new experience for me.   They had updated the Pre-attraction vignettes that precede entering the ride.  Visitors were treated to what a security scan might be like in the worlds of Star Wars, complete with images of riders that looked like X-rays or some other technological scanning imagery.  Not to worry however, No ones privacy was invaded by any of the scans and the objective of the scans were to give you the feeling of getting ready to board a passenger transport at a Space Terminal. We had Fast-passed the attraction and were lucky enough to spend the whole time inside the building which was thoroughly air conditioned and the new entrance to the ride was quite entertaining.  The area where you actually boarded the motion simulator was pretty much the same as it was before the refurbishment.  At least it was similar to what i recall the boarding area to be. We were soon seated in the simulators.  The new show features C-3PO as the pilot of the Star Speeder 1000 and is voice by Anthony Daniels to keep authenticity. The show is broken into three sections that are randomly selected before each iteration of the ride.  Visitors could have up to 54 different experiences with the different combinations of beginning middle and end sections.  All the experiences have a randomly selected rider of the attraction that will appear on a screen to the left of the main screen as the "Rebel Spy". Thus giving the Empire the reason it needs to chase down the speeder. Of course the Empire can never quite catch your speeder.  We enjoyed the ride so much the first time that we road it two additional times.  Amazing after the first ride, I was chosen as the "Rebel Spy" on both subsequent occasions.  I couldn't believe that I saw my face on the screen even once, let alone twice.

That's me behind my son on the left next to my wife, in my lucky shirt.

I couldn't believe the whole trip.  I was chosen as "That Guy".  I had the honor of dancing with Minnie.  I was Davy Crockett's Angel.  I was the Rebel Spy not once, but twice.  How much fun could that be.  The trip was even more fun, I got to share it all with my family.  My wife and son were with me for every lucky episode of the trip.  My daughter was with us all for my amazing Star Tours experiences.    With all the lucky things I got to be and all the wonderful lucky things I got to do, i felt the most fortunate to have my family around when I did it.  My daughter has graduated collage and will be entering the real world soon. She won't have vacation time for Disney and she might have plans of her own with regards to how she spends her vacation. While my son is still a big Disney fan, he will be off doing his own thing as well.  My wife and I talked about this and through out our lives together,  we enjoy the time we are in, living our lives enjoying our kids and each other in what ever stage the present brings us. Sure, I was lucky to be and do all these things. I'm luckier still to have two great kids and a loving wife to share these things with.   I look forward to continuing and enjoying what ever the future brings to my family.