Stay, Stray, Play and Feast: Walt Disney World Orlando: An Awesome Fantasy World of its Own (Walt Disney World Orlando Series 10)

Walt Disney World Orlando
An Awesome Fantasy World of its Own
(Walt Disney World Orlando Series 10)

We initially planned to visit Orlando in the summer of 2007

and we already started preparing for the trip a year earlier,

…but when we traveled to New York and Boston in summer 2006,

my two year old son was very hyperactive that I needed to

restrain him on a baby backpack carrier most of the time.

We were worried that it would be difficult to let him stay

put on a much longer flight to Florida, so we hired a nanny

to travel with us, applied her a US Visa but it was denied,

…so we visited the nearby Hong Kong Disneyland instead,

^^^Tim with his Nanny at Hong kong Disneyland

We then limited our travels to Asian countries

to gradually acclimatize him for a future long

haul trip so we visited Bangkok, Thailand,

^^^Tim with his Nanny at Bangkok, Thailand

…Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which

we all traveled with a nanny.

^^^Tim with his Nanny at Putrajaya, Malaysia

We also tried traveling without

a nanny when we visited Guam,

and it was a pretty tolerable trip.

We returned to the US thru California

finally weaning him from Nanny travel,

….and Ho Chi Minh City.

We had a European tour a year

later where we visited Berlin,

…Czech Republic,

…and Amsterdam.

We traveled to Jakarta once,

…then returned to the US again

and visited California,

…Nevada,

…and Arizona.

Nine years older in 2016, he has matured and behaved, this time we knew, he is
ready for the long haul trip to Orlando, Florida.It took us nine years and thirteen
international travels to finally realize this long overdue trip to Orlando, where we intend
to have a 2 weeks vacation, the first week dedicated for Walt Disney World alone.

It was a long an exhausting trip to Orlando that began in our
hometown in Naga City, by a short 45- minute flight to Manila,

…on overnight stay at Holiday Inn in Makati,

…an early morning four hour flight

from Manila to Narita in Tokyo,

…a 12 hour flight from Tokyo to Atlanta,

…and finally about an hour flight from Atlanta to Orlando.

Day 1

We arrived at little past seven in the evening

in Holiday Inn Lake Buenavista, located at

WDW’s Hotel Boulevard near Disney Springs.

The check in was a breeze,

…and the kids were amused by the

scenic elevator on our way to our room

at the 8^th floor of the Tower Wing.

It was a very spacious room,

…that had a balcony with a view of the pool,

…Disney Springs nearby,

…and some of the distant WDW parks.

This hotel has one of the most comfy beds

among the hotels that we stayed in the past.

We went to have dinner at Palm Breezes,

…and we were delighted to discover that the food

was very delicious and we ended up dining here

everyday during out one week stay at the hotel.

Day 2

We all woke up at almost noontime on our second day

at WDW, nursing a jet lag and adjusting to a 12- hour

time difference between Florida and the Philippines.

We leisurely walked our way to Disney Springs,
where we intended to eat a very late brunch,

…but we were we were captivated by the various shops

at the Village Causeway, that traverses the Marketplace.

While my wife and daughter were checking the shops,
my son and I decided to watch a youth orchestra concert,

…snacking on soft baked pretzels.

We all later headed to the Boathouse located at

the Landing to have a very late afternoon brunch.

It was one of our best dining experiences as

they served some of the freshest and the most

delicious seafood dishes we have ever tasted.

It rained hard while we were dining

stopped only early in the evening,

…so we still had a chance to visit other

areas of Disney Springs like the West Side,

…where most of the entertainment centers are located,

… and the newly opened Town Center.

When the rain stopped at past eight in the evening,

we slowly walked our way back to Holiday Inn,

…and had a good night rest in one of the most

comfortable hotel beds that we ever stayed.

Day 3

It’s our Magic Kingdom day and we all woke up early in the

morning and ready for the first 8 AM shuttle to the theme park.

The shuttle took us to WDW transport center,

…where we took a ferry boat that

crosses the Seven Seas Lagoon,

…to the Magic Kingdom entrance.

From the Main Street America’s cobbled street lined

with buildings with turn of the century architecture,

…that leads to the courtyard plaza,

in front of the Cinderella Castle,

…we headed to the Adventureland,
as we always do on all Disneyland Parks

where we usually begin our park exploration.

It is where the Swiss Robinson Family House,

…the Magic Carpets of Aladdin,

…the Jungle Cruise,

…the Enchanted Tiki Room,

….and the Pirates of the Caribbean are found

and we were able to enjoy almost all of them.

We accessed the Frontier Land from this zone,
where Tom Sawyer Island is located

…and two of our favorite classic rides

the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad,

…and the Splash Mountain.

The Country Bear Jamboree a musical

animatronic show is also found in this zone.

We had lunch at the Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Café,

…where we also watched the Disney Magical Parade.

After the parade we went to Liberty Square,

…to watch The Hall of Presidents,

…and braved the long queue at the Haunted Mansion,

..and marveled at Liberty Square Riverboat.

We the proceeded to Fantasyland,

for the Peter Pan’s Flight.

…It’s a Small World boat ride,

…Mickey’s PhilharMagic.

We skipped Prince Charming Regal Carrousel,

…and went directly to the delightful ride of

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh,

…and the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train,

…and had a snack at at the Pinocchio Village Haus Restaurant.

We chanced upon the Ariel at Ariel’s Grotto while

queuing for Little Mermaid’s Undersea Adventure.

Nearby was the Storybook Circus,

…where the kids had fun at

Dumbo the Flying Elephant,

…and the Barnstormer with the Great Goofini.

There was also a circus-themed waterplay area

called Casey Jr. Splash ‘N’ Soak Station.

It as late in the evening, and we didn’t have time for Tomorrowland anymore, but we
were just in time to watch the colorful Laser and Light Show at the Cinderella Castle,

…that precedes the magnificent Fireworks display.

We went back to the hotel past midnight and had a good night

sleep and in anticipation for our EPCOT visit the next day.

Day 4

We unxepectedly woke up a late, and we hurriedly

downstairs for the hotel shuttle after quick breakfast,
that took us to EPCOT Themepark.

They were celebrating Fresh Epcot so there

were a lot of green and garden exhibits.

We had an eleven o’ clock fastpass to Spaceship Earth,

so we decided to pass time at Project Tomorrow,

…and Innoventions when it started to have a thunderstorm

and we were advised to stay indoor as lightning precaution.

The heavy rains stopped after more than 2 hours,

we immediately proceeded to Spaceship Earth.

After the ride, the thunderstorms returned

and we were trapped at Project Tomorrow,

that serves as an exit of Spaceship Earth.

We decided to buy raincoats to look for a restaurant as it

was getting late and the rain showed no sign of stopping
We went to the Land Pavillion at the east side of

the park and it was a perfect thunderstorm shelter,

Where the Living with the Land,

…the Circle of Life,

…and Soarin’,

It also had restaurant called Seasons,

that serves excellent international cuisine.

The rain stopped at 6 PM when and we went to

the Sea Pavillion, for the Nemo and Friends Ride,

Turtle Talk with Crush and the numerous aquariums.

We also enjoyed Journey Into Imagination with Figment,

…and the Disney and Pixar Short Film Festival .

It was already 7 PM, and we only explored ¼ of the park

that was closing at 9 PM, so we had to forgo the West Side

attractions we decided to relax at the Showcase Plaza,

…and admire green sculptures, of various Disney

characters, as a part of Green EPCOT Celebration.

We then went to explore EPCOT World Showcase

is often referred as a "permanent World's Fair” that

has eleven pavilions, representing a country, surrounding

a man made lake called the World Showcase Lagoon.

The countries represented by pavilions are Mexico,

…Norway

…and China.

Although not a full pavillion, The Outpost, is a small African
themed refreshment shop that represents Equatorial Africa.

We extremely enjoyed Germany pavilion,

…because of Werther’s Candy Factory that sells various flavors of
caramel candies, and the freshly popped Werther’s Caramel popcorn.

There was also Italy,

… United States,

… Japan,

…and Morocco pavilions.

We initially intended to at the France pavilion,
where there are some excellent French restaurants,

but we did not have enough time to do so when we

realized that the park was closing in less than an hour.

There was also United Kingdom,

…then to Canada pavilions,

…where we bought cookies at the Jofrey’s stand,

and watched the Illuminations: Reflections of Earth,

a spectacular musical water fountains show that features

fireworks, lasers and fire at the World Showcase Lagoon.

The park closed at 9 PM, we took a shuttle back to

the hotel where we had a room service dinner,
while my son enjoyed his cookie from Jofrey’s and

concluded the night with a milk cookie dunking snack,

…looking forward for another awesome

day in Animal Kingdom the next day.

Day 5

We always visit a zoo when we travel, and Animal Kingdom

made it possible to visit zoo and a theme park at the same time.

We started our exploration of the Animal Kingdom

at the Oasis where we roamed scenic garden pathways

amidst a wide variety of exotic animals exhibits.

We crossed bridge connect to the Discovery Island,

where the park’s centerpiece Tree of Life is located.

It is a sculpted tree with about 325 various images of

animals carved at the surface of the tree and its trunk.

The Discovery Island Trails also allowed us to explore

the numerous animal exhibits scattered around the roots,

….where we bypassed It’s Tough To Be a Bug attraction

like we always do as we found it awfully gross and scary.

Cropped from source: HERE by Michael Gray

We directly went to Africa zone of the themepark,

…and patiently queued at the Kilimajnaro Safaris.

The line was kilometric and took us more than

90 minutes to finally reach the end of the line,

…but it was worth the wait.

Rafiki’s Planet Watch is also found in the zone but they closed

it as a lightning precaution because of a sudden thunderstorm.

It was 3 PM when the thunderstorm stopped

and the park was closing at 5 PM, and we had

a very late lunch at the Harambe Market.

We walked to the Asia zone to enjoy

the Kali River Rapids at the Asia Zone,

…and Expedition Everest.

It was less than an hour prior to theme park

closing and we went to Dinoland USA, as the

attraction is unique to the Animal Kingdom

There were a lot of attractions at Dinoland USA,

but we only have to choose to ride the thrilling

Dinosaur as the park was closing very soon.

We weren’t able to visit all the attractions

because of the thunderstorms, but we still

enjoyed our first time in Animal Kingdom.

We went back to the hotel early, we lazed

in the room doing nothing and later dined

by room service before going to sleep.

Day 6

We intended to visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios but

there has been frequent thunderstorms for the last three

days, so we decided to go to Typhoon Lagoon instead.

We have included Typhoon Lagoon in our itinerary

as the kids wanted to experience the huge tsunami- like

waves reaching up to ten feet at the gigantic wave pool.

Of all the WDW parks that we visited,

we enjoyed Typhoon Lagoon the most,

…unfortunately our photos were accidentally deleted

on the waterproof camera that we used during our visit.

The water park closes at 5 PM, we returned to the hotel early

and had a leisurely dinner at the Palm Breezes Restaurant.

After dinner, while my wife decided to stay and rest at the hotel,
the kids and myself returned to Magic Kingdom. We took
a shuttle from the hotel, to Disney’s Transportation Center,

…then the Monorail,

…back to the Magic Kingdom,
and directly went to Tomorrowland.

It was already seven in the evening and we had

a very limited time so we decided to forgo the

Space Mountain because of the very long queue.

We watched Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor,

… the Stitch’s Great Escape,

…and finished just in time for our Fast Pass

reservation at the Tomorrowland Speedway .

We used our third and last fast pass privilege

at the Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin

We also tried the Astro Orbiter,

…and we got an extra treat of watching the magnificent

fireworks display while whirling up above Tomorrowland.

We found relaxing People Mover as the train

rolled through Tomorrowland’s attractions.

…and concluded our night at the Carousel of Progress.

It was past midnight when we left and went straight to bed to

rest as we would be visiting Hollywood Studios the next day.

Day 7

It was our penultimate day at the WDW and we are scheduled
to visit Disney’s Hollywood Studios, the fifth and the last
Disney park that we would be visiting on our first week in Orlando.

The kids seem to be experiencing theme park

fatigue already as everyone woke up late so

we arrived at almost noontime at the park.

Hollywood Studios reminded us of

California Adventure Park in Anaheim,

as both have main entrance gates, that

resembles the Pan Pacific Auditorium.

There was also recreation of the

Crosswords of the World Tower,

…that leads to Hollywood Boulevard, inspired by Los Angeles
streetscape, lined with themed buildings that houses
various stores selling Disney merchandise.