Tag / Disney World

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California Dreamin’

SanDiegoLast year, the new CIO at my company started a new program where the top point recipients from our internal employee recognition tool were rewarded with a trip to Disney World.  Last week, they announced this year’s winners will be heading to San Diego next spring and today, the list of winners was released.  Surprisingly, my name was on the list, so, come next April, I will be headed on an all-expense paid trip to SoCal for, well, something.  Details will be provided in January, so who knows what the itinerary will be or how much free time we will have to traverse one of my favorite cities in this country.

Of course, my first reaction after finding out about the trip was “I wonder if the Padres are in town.”  Sadly, the answer is no.  My second thought was that after a winter that is already hitting single digits, a trip to the warm embrace of California will be very welcome.

by jim

Where Free Equals $95

msi_teslaWith both myself and Danny and Michael having the whole week off, we headed down to the Museum of Science and Industry today.  Due to my employer’s generous donations, our entrance to the museum was supposed to be gratis.  However, there seems to have been some changes at the museum since my last visit.  I expected to have to pay an additional fee for the visiting Disney exhibit, and the U-505 submarine tour was last minute audible that also added an additional cost.  Needing a ticket for the coal mine exhibit, however, was an unexpected change.  The three tickets for the three of us totaled $75.  Not to mention parking, which added another $20, and our free trip the museum was now just under $100.

That said, I can say that we all had a good time exploring the museum.  The time saved in not having to wait in a huge line for the coal mine may have even been worth the added cost.  The weather exhibit, sponsored by my employer, continued to be a big hit with the younger crowd, especially the Tesla coil demonstration.  The tour of the captured German U-boat was my first time on the submarine since I was in grade school, and the guided tour was performed flawlessly.  In our trip through the chick hatchery, we even got to see a newly hatched chicken, which was causing quite a ruckus among the crowd.

The Walt Disney exhibit, sadly, might have been the big disappointment of the day, though through no fault of its own.  There was a very similar exhibit at Disney World which we saw earlier this year, so most of the information and memorabilia were of the same vein, if not exactly the same.  For anyone who hasn’t taken a trip to Orlando within the past 6 months, it might be more exciting.

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GFY2 – Week 52

Y2Week52

A disappointing start to what was an otherwise pretty good week, breaking my streak of consecutive 5000 step days at 7.  I got right back in to the swing of things, though, on Monday and Tuesday, which is especially good since I was off both days.  Wednesday was a return to work for one day, which also managed to sneak across the 5000 step mark.  Thursday was the holiday, so things were pretty quiet.  Friday and Saturday were bounce back days, again with days off work.  Saturday benefited somewhat from Angelina’ graduation party.

Sunday was the final day of June, which was the end of the challenge to kick off the Allstate’s 1 Million Steps to Wellness.  The goal was to gather 200,000 steps over the course of the month, and I am happy to say that the goal was achieved.  My total for the month was 225,052, or an average of just over 7500 steps per day.  If I keep this rate up, I should have no problem getting to 1,000,000 steps by October.  That’s a mighty big if, though, as I won’t be going to Disney every month.

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Vacation Recap: Hollywood Studios

hollywood-studios-iconAfter spending Saturday morning at Animal Kingdom, we headed over to Hollywood Studios to finish off the day.  Our first ride was The Great Movie Ride, followed by the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show.  And then, the skies opened up and a torrential rain fell.  The next hour or so was spent hiding out under cover, until time was running out for our Fast Passes for Star Tours.  We braved the elements to head over to Star Wars land for the ride, which, of course, broke down as we were seated.  After switching to a different car and experiencing all that C3PO had to offer, we headed over to the MuppetVision 3D show before a long wait for dinner at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano.

After dinner, the rains were still coming, which put the evening’s Fantasmic! show in doubt.  While waiting for that, we went on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror… twice.  As the rain died down, Fantasmic! went off without a hitch and it was time to call it a day.

Sunday featured a return trip to the park, where we finished off most of the rides, including the Studio Backlot Tour, a showing of Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream, and the final ride of the trip, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith.  The kids got to meet Phineas and Ferb and Ralph & Vanellope, while we all enjoyed the end of Star Wars weekend by meeting Darth Vader.  As the night drew closer, the kids stayed to enjoy a Toy Story ride while I went back to the hotel to enjoy the pool one last time.

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Vacation Recap: Animal Kingdom

AnimalKingdomDay 4 of the Disney World vacation started at Animal Kingdom.  Our first ride of the day was the Kilimanjaro Safari, where we saw many of the animals of Africa in their not-so-native habitat.  That was followed up with another character breakfast at Tusker House Restaurant.  The rest of the morning was spent, in no particular order, on DINOSAUR, Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain, Kali River Rapids, and Primeval Whirl.

After a little more than half a day, we bid farewell to the Animal Kingdom and headed over to Hollywood Studios for the remainder of our trip.

 

by jim

GFY2 – Week 49

Y2Week49Sunday finished out the theme park portion of my vacation to Disney World with another trip to Hollywood Studios, before calling it a day early and heading back to the hotel for some much needed pool time.  Monday consisted of a trip to Downtown Disney for some last minute shopping before heading to the airport for the trip back home.  Following all of the walking in the last week, Tuesday was a day of relaxation before heading back to work, with 2 trips to the movie theater giving my poor feet a break.  Wednesday gets us back to our normal workday activities, barely scraping the 5000 step mark.  Friday neared 8000 steps thanks to trips to Red Mango and then, after work, Rocky Vanders.

Saturday marked the half-way point of June, and I’m well above the midway point for the 200,000 step challenge.  Sadly, it might still come down to the wire, but I have a good feeling that I’m going to make it.

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Vacation Recap: Epcot

179749_10200104166228007_1777560803_nMost of day 2 of the Disney trip was spent at Epcot, along with Tropical Storm Andrea, which caused some havoc along the way.  After a breakfast at the Cape May Cafe at Disney’s Beach Club Resort, we headed over to Epoct by boat, where we first spent some time getting soaked while traversing the UK trying to complete Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure.

Throughout the day, we managed to take in Mission: Space, Soarin’, Spaceship Earth, The Seas with Nemo & Friends, the Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros, Maelstrom, and, once the rain died down, Test Track.  The rest of the time was spent traveling through the different countries and, when necessary, waiting out the rain.  Some members of our group were unable to handle the tough rides like Nemo, so they had to head back to the hotel early after throwing up on Mickey Mouse.

by jim

GFY2 – Week 48

Y2Week48Way back in Week 10 of this year, I set my record number of steps in one day with close to 15,000 while in Belfast.  Well, apparently a trip to Disney World will top that, as Thursday, Friday, and Saturday all topped that mark, with Thursday setting a new personal record of 24,988 steps, close to 10,000 steps higher than my previous high.

The week as a whole started out pretty good, with both Monday and Tuesday easily above the 5000 step mark, and averaging out to nearly the 6,667 daily average needed for the month of June to meet the challenge.  Wednesday started with a 3 AM wake-up call for the trip to the airport for a 6 AM flight, followed by a day at the Magic Kingdom.  Thursday’s mega-day started at Epcot and then back to the Magic Kingdom.  Friday started with a trip to the pool before heading out to what I guess must have been a third trip to the Magic Kingdom.  Saturday morning started with a trip to the Animal Kingdom and finished up at Hollywood Studios.

by jim

Vacation Recap: The Magic Kingdom

disney_worldWhen most people think of Disney World, the image in their mind is likely that of the Magic Kingdom, which is where I spent the first day and part of the second day of my vacation last week.  Between both days, we pretty much hit all of the non-kiddie rides and attractions.

Our first ride upon arriving at the Magic Kingdom, after the railroad, was the Prince Charming Regal Carrousel.  After that, things become a bit of a blur, but we did end up on Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan’s Flight, Under the Sea – Journey of The Little Mermaid, It’s A Small World, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Space Mountain, and Tomorrowland Speedway.  The only show we took in was Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor.

The highlights of the trips through the Magic Kingdom include Danny not getting his fingerprint to work on the first day and not being able to get in to the park for a good 5 – 10 minutes and getting stuck on Splash Mountain while animatronic birds kept looking at us and going over their lines again and again.  Beyond that, there was a lot of walking and a lot of classic, if not somewhat tame, rides.