Tag: Disney World

Magic Memory Monday – Going for a (Surrey) bike ride – Dec 16, 2013

Sitting here typing this while watching the MST3K presentation of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians – awesome stuff.  A fun and happy show for a fun and happy picture!

The photo / memory for today is from our list trip to Disney World.  We stayed at the Beach Club and while we were there we decided we were finally going to get around to renting one of the Surrey bikes which you can do at a few places at Disney World.  I can’t remember all the spots but definitely at Port Orleans Riverside and the Boardwalk Inn.  In this case we wandered over to the Boardwalk Inn Resort and renting from there.

 

We got one of the ones with 2 adult seats and 2 kid seats out front.  We did a couple trips around the Boardwalk area just enjoying the exercise and fresh air in a quiet and picturesque setting.  Definitely a good memory and well worth the cost of the half hour rental!  Highly recommended.

Heather and Ted riding a Surrey bike at the Boardwalk Inn
Heather and Ted riding a Surrey bike at the Boardwalk Inn

Thinking Disney Thursday – Why can’t you wear a Minnie Mouse dress on a Star Wars Speeder Bike? Don’t put limits on imagination – December 12th, 2013

Thinking Disney Thursday today comes from our family trip to Disney World in January/February 2012.  We stayed at the Beach Club Resort and really enjoyed being able to walk to Epcot and Hollywood Studios from the hotel.  Today’s pic was taken at Hollywood Studios just outside Star Tours.

Our daughter spent a fair bit of time that trip in her Minnie Mouse dress which created some interesting pictures that you wouldn’t get anywhere else – such as someone sitting on a Star Wars speeder bike while wearing a Minnie Mouse dress?

Now, granted this picture was taken before Disney purchased Lucas Film and the rights to Star Wars so you will probably start to see more things like this as time goes on but before that you really wouldn’t see places where franchises mixed.  Hollywood Studios is a special place where you can see Disney, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Muppets, etc – most places you see one franchise.  The mixing of franchises is pretty cool and allows for some cool mashups and images.

Basically – Why can’t you wear a Minnie Mouse dress on a speeder bike?  Frankly from a child’s perspective it makes perfect sense and they will mix and match franchises all the time when they are playing – it is only as adults that we feel the need to keep them compartmentalized and that limits our imagination.

That is my Thinking Disney Thursday thought for today – don’t place limits on imagination.

K on speeder bike at Hollywood Studios wearing Minnie Mouse dress

Wild Wednesday – Dec 11th, 2013 – Disney Flowers

One of the great things for us Winnipeggers when we head south to Disney World in the winter is seeing all the flowers and the colours.  I find that I will rarely take photos of flowers here at home but when I get to Disney I tend to take many, many pictures.  The one today was taken during our December 2010 trip where we split our nights between Disney’s Caribbean Beach and Disney’s Yacht Club Resorts.  This photo was taken at the Caribbean Beach Resort.

I love grabbing pictures of flowers at Disney World.  The flowers are always are always in great condition and the light ends up being fantastic so much of the time.

For the pic today there had been a light rain in the morning and then the sun came out – so on the picture you can see the rain drops on the leaf of the flower.  I am not a professional photographer or even a very good amateur but with photos like this one I somehow manage to sometimes get a picture that takes me back to that moment.  With this pic I can almost smell the flower and I can feel the heat of the sun after a couple cool days.

Disney World flower - Caribbean Beach
Disney World flower – Caribbean Beach

Trip Tuesday – Dec 10th, 2013 – Sea World Feb 2009

Similar to the Magic Memory Monday post for this week – this pic comes from our first trip as a family of 4 in February 2009.  We decided this trip to grab a cab from the Port Orleans French Quarter Resort to Sea World to check things out.

I have a whack of pictures from that day that are the back of people as they were looking at things like the turtles, the rays and the dolphins but this one is one of the good ones where the family faced the camera!

Our daughter doesn’t look too impressed at this point but a lovely smile from our son here.  It was a pretty good day, although I do remember getting rained on heavily for a little while.  This was the last time we had gone to Sea World though – maybe on our next trip we will think about getting there again?

Heather, T and K at Sea World
Heather, T and K at Sea World

Magic Memory Monday – Joy – Dec 9th, 2013

Today’s Magic Memory Monday post comes from our 2009 trip to Disney World.  It was our first trip as a family of 4 with our daughter having been born just a few months before.  We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter and absolutely loved the place.  It provided great convenience with the ability to hop a boat down to Downtown Disney, a very good on-site pool, great places to walk around and an awesome little park for our son to play when my wife and daughter needed to rest.

The trip was in late February so by this point we had been trapped inside for a few months already by a wonderful Winnipeg winter and T was just overjoyed to be able to get out and run around like a maniac.  I was just happy he could do it outside and not in the house.

The picture is a capture I got as he hopped off the playground slide and ran full tilt back to the ladder to give it another go.  You can see just the sheer joy on his face – I can’t look at this picture and not smile.  Wonderful.

T at French Quarter playground
T at French Quarter playground

Magic Memory Monday – Breakfast with the Goof – Dec 2, 2013

My Magic Memory Monday picture today comes from our first ever character meal at Disney World in January 2012.  We had done quite a few family trips to Disney World already by this point but we wanted to wait and save the expense of a character meal until the kids were old enough to enjoy it more.

We were staying at the Beach Club Resort and made the trek to the lobby to the Cape May buffet.  It was a good breakfast buffet and the characters in rotation were Goofy, Donald and Minnie all in water / beach / nautical themed outfits.

The kids really enjoyed themselves and the characters did a very good job of keeping the kids entertained and interacting with the kids when they got to our table.  But the second time Goofy stopped at our table is the part of the experience that I will really remember.  Our son was kind of distracted but Goofy’s act and mannerisms got our daughter laughing and playing along in a great way.  She is a bit of a goof herself (can’t imagine where she gets that from) and she had a blast.

T, K and Goofy at Cape May restaurant in Disney's Beach Club Resort
T, K and Goofy at Cape May restaurant in Disney’s Beach Club Resort

Wild Wednesday – Swimming Elephant – Nov 27, 2013

Today’s Wild Wednesday post is from Animal Kingdom.  Specifically on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride.  It was a pretty hot day and one of the younger elephants decided to cool off in one of the ponds for the elephants in the area.  I managed to grab a couple shots with just its trunk and tusks sticking up out of the water with a couple of its friends on the shore in the background.

Its tough to get to see something like this anywhere else really.  Very cool – one of the reasons the Kilimanjaro Safari ride is one of our favorites or must dos when we get to Disney World.

swimming elephant on Kilamanjaro Safari ride at Animal Kingdom
swimming elephant on Kilamanjaro Safari ride at Animal Kingdom

Magic Memory Monday – Green Grass in January! – Nov 25, 2013

Today’s day late Magic Memory Monday post / image comes from the area just outside the International Gateway at Epcot in Disney World.  We walked there from the Beach Club and had to delay our entrance when the kids saw grass.  “Green grass in January?  Everything stops until we frolic!”

Once again it is the simple things and the little details that bring back some of the best memories.

T and K at International Gateway
T and K at International Gateway

Wild Wednesday – Couple of Gorillas – November 20th, 2013

This picture today was taken on our first family trip to Disney World (also our first Disney World Marathon Weekend).  We spent the day at the Animal Kingdom and I was taking some shots of one of the gorillas when my wife snagged this shot…2 gorillas in one shot.

Kind of funny that I was in a black shirt that day to match the gorilla (plus I’m not a puny guy so the size comparison is there too).

BigGoofyRunner and the other gorilla
BigGoofyRunner and the other gorilla

Thinking Disney Thursday – November 14th, 2013 – Stormalong Bay

So we just recently booked a family trip to Disney World for February 2014 – spending a week at the Beach Club Resort.  We love this hotel and when I think of it I always get a feeling of peace.

On our last family trip to Disney World we stayed there too – it was a rough trip down what with driving to Minneapolis through a rough winter storm and then the flight down, etc.  We were a bit stressed but then we got in the pool and all the stress went away – instant vacation mode.

We are obviously looking forward to the next trip – so that we can have moments like these again.

Stormalong Bay at night
Stormalong Bay at night