February 17, 2015: Elisa's Florida Road Trip: Day 4

Elisa's Daily Blog

Vlogs from Magic Kingdom!

Hey there!!!!

Wow - I have to tell you - I had an amazingly fun day in the Magic Kingdom yesterday!

Not only did we hit tons of rides and attractions, eat some great food, but I was vlogging throughout the day!!  Boy, do I love talking to you guys so much better than just writing. 

Don't get me wrong, the writing is not going to stop, but talking to you in real time, while I'm experiencing something is waayy better!!

The high point of our day was the Thunder Mountain Railroad Coaster!  Unfortunately, I didn't get Fast Passes for this ride in advance and when we went to get them in person, there were none left (boo!).  

The wait was super long when we first went at around 1pm, so we decided to check back in the late afternoon.  And good thing we did - we lucked out with only a 30 minute wait and so Gianna, Kelsey and me made a mad dash for this one.  

Here I am after Thunder Mountain Railroad last night: 

The kids and I REALLY wanted to go on the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train roller Coaster, but again, no Fast Pass and the ride had over a 2 hour wait, as you can hear us explain:

As it turned out, the wait for the Mine Train ride only went down to 60 minutes, and we opted NOT to wait.  However,  today I'm going to secure Fast Passes online for Friday when we'll be back in Magic Kingdom for this ride as well as for Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad. 

Aladdin's Magic Carpet and Dumbo was fun as was our little ride through It's A Small World.  The Barnstormer kiddie rollercoaster in Fantasy Land was fun, but way to short.  The kids enjoyed Dumbo and we also hit The Laugh Room.  

Fast Pass was available for Tomorrowland Speedway, so we grabbed them.

Tedd totally photo bombed this video at Speedway.

Me and Gianna on Speedway

It's a Small World - "Italia"

with Pooh at Crystal Palace Restaurant

The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

Ice cream sunday at the Plaza Restaurant

I really couldn't believe all the modifications that were made since our last visit, and there was a great deal of construction going on all around the park for even more changes and additions.

Many of the rides have been refurbished with new additions to the ride itself or the atmosphere around it since i was last here 3 years ago. The Adventures of Pooh for example had all these interactive play areas for kids which were annoying and noisy, in my humble opinion and it didn't really appear to entertain the kids all that much.

One thing I will say that I didn't like, is that Disney World has just gotten way too structured and organized for my liking.  There are arrows all over the ground telling people which way to walk; the "cast members" have become a great deal bossier and everywhere you turn, there is a Disney photographer waiting to take your picture.  It really takes away from the impromptu nature of a great photo op.

Tomorrowland Speedway

Needless to say, everyone was bushed by the time dinner was over.  

Today, is going to be a much calmer day.  Heading over to the Fitness Center this morning for a much needed work out.  The plan is to head to Hollywood Studios later this afternoon.  

Originally, the itinerary was to visit Universal, but since the weather is not very nice, I'd prefer to go when it's nicer out for the kids' first time there.

Hope you enjoyed the video-filled blog today!!  Tanya and I will be doing more of this and filling up our YouTube Channel with lots of great Travelin' Cousins videos!!

PLEASE CLICK THE MOMMY BLOGGER ICON TO VOTE FOR US!!
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See ya back here tomorrow!!!
-E
xoxo

Tanya's Daily Blog

It's Shrove Tuesday!:

Howdy all!

I’ve got to say that I’m not having the best of luck with this site and/or internet over the past few days…
I was almost 100% finished writing today’s daily scoop and then I got kicked off and lost every last word! ugh - I should have already learned this lesson and do my writing offline, but hopefully I now know better!

So here goes again…

Today is Travelin’ Tuesday, and while Elisa is out there travelin’...

I’m officially home (more or less) for the next 2 weeks. That is when we leave for our next vacation...
Which will be a Road Trip back to Lake Tahoe and our second trip up there this season. 

Sadly for us skiers that region has not had a very snowy season. 
So if you wouldn’t mind praying that we get bamboozled with snow - and I’ll be doing the same.
 
This will also be our last ski trip of the season. (insert sad face here)
Next season I definitely have more ski trips on my calendar and hope that it is a record season for lots of that beautiful white powdery stuff that we call SNOW!!!

In other travel news: 
My book for the Azores has finally arrived. And the countdown for my trip to the Azores is in 31 days!

Tickets have been purchased for our flight to Boston - which will be the weekend kick off for the Azores trip - the only US city to fly to the Azores is Boston! 

We are all booked (at least for the first night) for the upcoming San Jose Gladiator Mud Run. 
Perhaps I should start training pretty soon! lol

Looks like the kids and their Peace Choir are likely going to be singing at the 2017 Presidential Inauguration in Washington DC, which is totally exciting! 
And based on the date, this will be a perfect stop over on our way to Europe for our Euro Circuit Ski Trip and the 2017 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships! That’ll certainly be an 
EPIC trip!

And in other news:

Today is Fat Tuesday - check out our FaceBook page for some fun Marti Gras links and a link to introduce you to the foods of New Orleans! All being posted this afternoon.

I’m here and I still don’t know the answer to the big question…What’s for Dinner?
It’ll be New Orleans themed, but I guess it’ll be a surprise that I’ll reveal to you tomorrow!

Finally, did you know that today is Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day?! Although, I found that IHOP chose March 3rd as National Pancake Day. 
In following with the 15 for 2015 lists, I’ll share with you some fun Pancake Facts.

Top 15 Pancake Facts:

1. Pancakes were originally invented as a way of using up all the leftover fatty and rich foods before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.
2. The earliest known pancake was made about 12,000 years ago from ground grains and nuts, mixed with water or milk and cooked on hot stones.
3. The first pancake recipe appeared in an English cookbook in the 15th century.
4. One of the oldest pancake traditions takes place in Olney, Buckinghamshire and dates back to 1445. On Shrove Tuesday, at the sound of the church bell, local housewives race with their pancake and frying pan to the church. This tradition still carries on today and the Olney pancake race has become one of the most famous pancake races in the world!  
5. The French call Pancake Day ‘Mardi Gras’, which also means Fat Tuesday.
6. It is customary in France to touch the handle of the frying pan and make a wish while the pancake is turned, holding a coin in one hand. 
7. The first ready-mix food which was sold commercially was Aunt Jemima pancake flour. It was invented in 1889 in St. Joseph, Missouri. 
8. Pancake Tuesday is known as Carnivale in Italy which comes from the Latin for ‘goodbye to the flesh’. 
9. In Iceland, they mark Pancake Day by eating salted meat and peas.  
10. In Newfoundland, Canada, small household items are baked into the pancakes, such as rings, thimbles, coins and pencil stubs. The person who discovers a particular item interprets it as some form of meaning. For example a coin could mean future prosperity, a ring could signify marriage and a thimble, in the past, suggested that the owner might become a seamstress.
11. The largest stack of pancakes was made up of 60 large round pancakes and measured an impressive 76cm tall. It broke the Guinness World Records in 2012.  
12. The highest ever flip was performed by Dominic Cuzzacrea. The pancake reached a height of 9.47 metres at the Walden Galleria Mall in Cheektowaga, New York, USA, in November 2010. 
13. The most pancake flips anyone has ever done is 349 flips in two minutes. This was performed by Dean Gould at Felixstowe, Suffolk in 1995. 
14. The largest pancake was created in Rochdale, Manchester, UK in 1994, by the Co-Operative Union, Ltd. The pancake measured a massive 15.01 metres in diameter and was 2.5 cm thick. It also weighed a heavy three tones! 
15. And lastly find out what pancakes are called around the globe HERE!

Hope you enjoyed a yummy plateful of pancakes today!

The day is calling and I'm off!

See ya later alligator,
-T