Saremy's Vacation 2011: Day 7

And now, our last full day of our Vacation-O-Fun…

Day 7 – Walt Disney’s Hollywood Studios

This was my close 2nd favorite of the Disney parks, as Hollywood Studios is like Universal Studios, but with a Disney twist. This was also the most memorable day of our vacation for two reasons.

#1. This was the one day out of our whole trip where it was about 95 degrees with about 95% humidity. I just about died. I can take the heat. In fact, I’m fine with Phoenix in July, but add humidity and I turn into a very, cranky girl. Ask Jeremy. There was one point of the day were I was on the verge of cussing and shoving people. True story.

#2. This was the day that Star Tours was re-opening. We planned to attend this park on this day, for that specific reason. Little did we realize that the hard-core Star Wars fans would come out in droves. Dressed as storm troopers, jedis and other characters. We also didn’t anticipate that the wait for the ride would be 4 hours!

Chewbacca!

Mickey as a Jedi.

Besides those two things, we had a good time here! Good rides/attractions at this park include the back lot tour, The Tower of Terror, the Aerosmith roller coaster, Star Tours (we made it on after only having to wait for an hour), Indian Jones stunt show and Toy Story Mania. They also have a great show here called “Lights, Motors, Action” and you can’t miss the closing show Fantasmic!

 

Indiana Jones!!

Belle & the Beast.

Well, that wraps up Saremy’s Vacation-O-Fun! When we got home, we decided that we needed a vacation from our vacation. Seven days of theme parks takes a lot out of you, but boy, was it fun!

 

Saremy’s Vacation 2011: Day 6

As we approach our last few days of our Vacation-O-Fun...

Day 6 - Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom

 The next Disney park that we stopped at was Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom.  I'm suprised and sad to say that this was my least favorite of the Disney parks.  Why?  Because the majority of Magic Kingdom can be found in Disneyland California...and it's better there!  Pirates of the Caribbean - much shorter than the one at Disneyland.  Space Mountain - not as fast or long as Disneyland, I'd even go as far as to call this ride "boring."  Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters - funner and possibly a bit longer at Disneyland.  It's a Small World - HUGE disappointment!  One of the best things about Small World Disneyland is the outside of the building, the clock and the part of the track that starts outside in the water.  Small World Magic Kingdom was short and all inside = lame!!  And also, there is no Mr. Toad's Wild Ride!!  That's just blasphemy!

On the positive side though, there were a few things.  First of all, Magic Kingdom still has the People Mover, which we haven't had for years in California.  Secondly, the outside area around the Haunted Mansion had a lot of fun things to play with.  Finally, at Magic Kingdom, they have the Electrical Parade!!  I remember seeing the Electrical Parade when I was a little kid and it was so fun to see it again...even if we did have to camp out about 1 1/2 hours before the show started.

 

So, that wraps up Magic Kingdom.  Stay tuned for our last day of vacation...

Saremy’s Vacation 2011: Day 5

Up next on our Vacation-O-Fun...

Day 5: Universal Studios Orlando

Day 5 of our vacation lead us to Universal Studios Orlando.  I love Universal Studios.  I think it's the theme park that people tend to forget about, but I love it!  From the classic "Jaws" ride to "Twister" to the backlot tour, it's a fun park that transports you into the sets of many movies.

My two favorite rides at this park were "Revenge of the Mummy" and "Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket."  Though I've never seen The Mummy, I know the general idea and the ride is pretty fun.  It's all indoors and has moments of complete darkness, while it goes up and down.  With Rip Ride Rocket, you got up to 65 mph and climb 17 stories!  Plus, the coolest thing about the ride is that you get to pick your our soundtrack.  There are speakers near your ears and a bunch of songs to choose from, so your ride can always have a different theme! 

One thing that I always LOVED about Universal Studios California, was the "I Love Lucy" store...though sadly, I don't think they have it anymore.  However, Universal Orlando has a Lucy Tribute store that we just HAD to check out and on the way there...we ran into Lucy and Ricky!!

We were able to finish up at Universal by about 3pm and since we had a park hopper ticket...we went back to Universal Island of Adventure, specifically to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter for more butterbeer and rides!

Fun times on Day 5!  Where did we go to next...

Saremy’s Vacation 2011: Day 4

Continuing along on our Vacation-O-Fun…

Day 4 – Sea World

On the fourth day of our vacation, we decided to preserve our sanity and take a break from the Disney parks.  So, we headed over to Sea World.  If you remember from one of our prior vacations, we like Sea World.  In fact, Jeremy has always told me that he wants a Killer Whale as a pet.  Diesel is almost as big as a Killer Whale, so we’ll just call it good.

Our day at Sea World consisted of the typical things: the dolphin show, the whale show, Wild Artic, the water ride: Atlantis (which we got drenched on) and the seal lion and otter show.  However, we also fed Sea Lions and I even got to feed a dolphin! 

One really cool thing that Sea World Orlando has that our Sea World San Diego doesn’t, is a roller coaster.  And not just any roller coaster, but a really cool Manta Ray coaster that straps you in and then hangs you parallel to the ground, while going through ups and downs and loops!  Very cool ride.  I highly recommend it.

And that wraps up day 4.  Where did we go to next??

Saremy’s Vacation 2011: Day 3

Moving right along on our Vacation-O-Fun…

Day 3 – Disney’s Epcot

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this was my favorite park of Disney World.  Epcot is a combination of a future world and something called, “World’s Showcase.’  The future world has a lot of cool attractions, such as: Spaceship Earth, which is a ride inside the Epcot “ball,” Soaring (one of our faves from Disneyland!), Test Track, where you go up to 60 mph, Caption Eo, and Mission:Space.  They also have an environmental area and ride where you see some of the “magic” that Disney is up to, which include growing it’s own plants to serve in some of the restaurants.  Plus, they have a short environmental movie called “The Circle of Life,” featuring the characters from The Lion King, that discusses what we can do to help better our planet!  Lastly, they have an “innoventions” building  that is “interactive play space for kids of all ages where you can imagine, invent, inquire and be inspired while exploring amazing innovations that make our lives better.”  So, not only was it fun…it was educational!

The World’s Showcase was really unique area that wraps around a lagoon.  It features 11 countries which replicas of their buildings, shops, attractions and restaurants.  In fact, we ate lunch in Mexico and dinner in Italy!  Where else can you do that, except at the happiest place on Earth? 

 

Italy.  China.  UK.

Cool Disney character plants throughout the park.

Epot was a lot of fun and we had an enjoyable day there!  Stay tuned to see where we went to next…

Saremy’s Vacation 2011: Day 2

Continuing along on our Vacation-O-Fun…

Day 2 – Disney’s Animal Kingdom

This park was my 2nd favorite of Disney World.  It’s a mix of a zoo and an amusement park, with a big splash of Disney throw into the mix.  When we first entered the park, you know that I had to stop by guest services to get my birthday pin.  It was the day after my birthday, so that totally still counted as my birthday (plus, they don’t even ask for ID). 

As you continue your way into Animal Kingdom, you can’t help but notice this gigantic tree in front of you, the Tree of Life.  This thing is so cool.  Jeremy and I have actually watched a show about the making of this park and this tree is man made.  Plus, when you get up close to it, you see that within the bark are carvings of a bunch of animals!  Only Disney…

Further into the park you’ll find the one roller coaster here, Everest.  It’s similar to the Matterhorn bobsleds at Disneyland, but it’s actually a bit cooler.  Part of this coaster goes backwards through the dark because the “Yeti” tore up the track!

Also, within the park is a dinosaur/prehistoric area, where they have a dinosaur ride which is very similar to the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, in fact…it even felt like it was the exact same track, building and car.  Oh well, I still thought it was fun!

Lastly, probably the coolest feature to this park is the safari type ride.  You get onto and open bus/car and head out into Disney’s African plains.  What made this so neat was that there were no fences!  It wasn’t like a zoo where you’re looking through glass cages to see the animals…they were right there!  From giraffes (at one point there was one about 6 feet from the car), to elephants to lions.  And when we went on this, there were actually some ostrich blocking the path ahead and we were held up for about 15 minutes while the park people came and shoed them away.

Overall, this was another fun day on our vacation!  Where did we head to next…