Life as a Homeschool Mom

Monday, February 5, 2018

Vacation Part 5: Disney's Hollywood Studios

We ditched Disney transportation and decided to drive to Hollywood Studios from The Fort. We got to the park around 10:30am. Considering it was after park opening, we parked fairly close and got right on a tram. Before we got on the tram, we took a picture of our parking spot area. Trust me, after a long day having fun this piece of information is invaluable!

Our first stop was the Star Wars ride. We loved it!

We meandered around the park and took in the sites. Hubs wants to come back in a couple of years to see the new Star Wars attractions. Little Man thought that would be a good idea.

Egee wanted to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Just like last time, the Little Mermaid was a priority for her.

Hollywood Studios offers a wonderful stage play of Beauty and the Beast that is a must see. The kids enjoyed it just as much this time as they did when they were little.

We were able to see the Star Wars parade and the stage show.

We considered today a light day in the park and went back to The Fort to chill and relax in the early afternoon. Then we arrived back at the park to experience the night time magic.

I wanted to get all of our pictures with Chewbacca. Luckily the wait wasn't very long at this time. The kids rolled their eyes at this request, but obliged me and ended up having a good time.

We then made our way to Fantasmic! I was able to get fast passes, so we were guaranteed seats. This was the highlight of the day. They both enjoyed it eight years ago, but didn't remember it. They enjoyed it just as much this time. We had a wonderful day together!

Friday, February 2, 2018

Vacation Part 4: The Magic Kingdom!

It has been eight years since we last took the kids to Disney World! We were excited to be back and let them experience it in a different way.

We arrived using the water taxi from the Fort and made our way through the security check. Just a tip here. If you are taking in a bag, please don't pack every item you own! Place your items in clear Ziploc type bags and limit the number of zipper compartments your bag has. Everything is checked! You can bring in food and drink to the park and coolers are checked. Again, put things in see through bags inside the cooler. The lines were ridiculous for bag check with people having several bags per family member. I don't know how they managed all day with all this stuff! We had one bag that I carried. Water bottles were placed in a Ziploc bag, emergency ponchos in a bag, first aid items in a bag, and battery chargers in a bag. Security check took less than thirty seconds.

Okay, rant over and moving onward. Hubs ended up with planters fasciitis and needless to say, his feet were killing him. We took the train to Frontierland and tried to minimize his walking. The kids had a great time looking at everything and riding the different rides.

They loved the Haunted Mansion. Who doesn't love this classic?

We took Little Man on It's A Small World. That was his favorite ride when we took him at three years old. He wanted to ride it over and over and over! At almost twelve years old, he could not fathom why he wanted to ride it so many times!

Egee had to see Ariel and visit her in her grotto. Her love for Ariel will never leave her. She had a lovely chat with Ariel and was happy.

We made our way to the Royal Carousel. I always imagine the scene in Mary Poppins when I ride it.

Then off to Tomorrowland we went. We had a good time riding the people mover and watching the Carousel of Tomorrow. Our feet were killing us waiting on the Monsters Inc. Laugh Factory. We enjoyed the show, though. We blasted our way through Buzzlight Year.

We stumbled upon the pirate show before riding Pirates of the Caribbean. We had a great time watching the show. The kids weren't afraid of the Pirates of the Caribbean this go around. We had a blast and even sang along with the pirates during the ride. Next, we hopped on the Jingle Jungle Cruise and enjoyed our exotic adventure.