Our Big Holiday Trip -- Our Favorite Things

And now, to round up Orlando, here's a list of our favorite things at Disney World.

Probably most people are most familiar with The Magic Kingdom, the biggest of the three main parks, because that's the one that's like Disneyland. But Animal Kingdom and Epcot have enough to fill up your day, as well. Animal Kingdom is like the Disney version of a zoo (the Safari being the actual zoo part), while Epcot is more like a Disney-sized science and culture museum.

We had tickets that let us choose two parks, one for each day. Since I'd been to Disneyland before, Uchenna said we should branch out and experience new things. He didn't mind skipping The Magic Kingdom, because he figured it would be more fun once we could bring kids.

So the first day we went to Animal Kingdom, and the second day we spent at Epcot (on a legitimate ticket this time, after our little preview the night before when the nice Customer Relations guy took pity on us and let us into Epcot to get dinner--see the previous posting).

Our favorite things in Animal Kingdom were:

(Walking through the Everest Trading Station, getting ready to face the yetti.)

(a) Everest rollercoaster. We rushed the ride as soon as we got in the gate, so we didn't have to wait in line or mess with those fast pass things. It zoomed, the yeti had torn up the tracks so we had to go backwards and turn around (that crazy yeti), and we went through pitch-black tunnels through the mountain. It was Uchenna's first roller coaster, and he laughed the whole time.

(b) Kilimanjaro Safari. You ride in a truck to see animals (real, not animitronic) out in the open (not in cages). Rangers come over the radio and tell you to watch out for poachers, then you help shut down their operation and rescue the baby elephant. We took way too many pictures of animals. It was great.

(Can you find three animals? Look for the long-horned cow thing, the giraffe, and the baby dear)

(c) Festival of the Lion King show. Just about worth price of admission to the parks right there. Huge animitronic floats, lots of dancers, tumbling monkeys on trampoline, acrobatic ballet (in fabulous bird costumes), music, everything. Even the long wait was worth it. Plus we were on the second row. Ooooh aaaah.

(Me in my 3-D bug glasses, getting ready to see the bug show. I loved all the play posters, punning on Broadway shows.)

(d) It's Tough Being a Bug show. Lots of 3-D, full-sensory surprises. It was tucked under the roots of the big Tree of Life.

Our favorite things in Epcot were:

(Waiting in line to go into Spaceship Earth, aka that great big ball. In fact, there's the ball up close, hovering over us.)

(a) Spaceship Earth. That's the huge ball that's the icon of Epcot. The track takes you up and around the inside of the ball, through scenes of history (mostly history of communication), and into the future, where on computer you see yourself in your own futuristic vision (with pictures they took of you at the beginning). The line was really long though.

(The scenes showing the development of technology--or at least communications technology--throughout western history. That's a medieval monk snoozing at his desk.)

(b) Mission SPACE Training. A spaceship simulator. We chose the less intense version, but it was fun in our little, bouncing-around space ship, each of us with a job to do (I wonder what would happen if we didn't push our buttons at the right time), and almost falling off the Martian cliff. Shwew.

(Looking at the big ball from the China pavilion, across the lake)

(c) The German shop. Cuckoo clocks, steins, beautiful glass, soccer shirts--stuff that kept making me go, "oh I remember these!"

(d) The street musicians of various types, from violins and belly dancers to drummer ensembles

Our Big Holiday Trip -- What We Learned

So, as I promised last time, here are some things we learned from our Orlando vacation:

1. Travel is tiring; fun is tiring. So don't try to go full-steam-ahead the whole time. We got in late Saturday, so Sunday gave us a good post-flight recovery. We also took some time on Monday to figure out what exactly we were going to do. Then Tuesday and Wednesday we had very long Disney days, and flew out Thursday. If (when?) we go again, we'll mix quiet days into the travel-park mix. Maybe stick Sunday right in the middle. Something like that.

(At Universal Studios' City Walk)

2. There is SO MUCH to do in Orlando that unless you have a good couple of weeks, you'll want to be selective. Pick a focus. Either spend your time at Disney World or go with a Universal Studios/Sea World combination. We ate at Universal Studios City Walk (that's a lot like Downtown Disney) when we first got in, but the rest of the time we spent at Disney.

(The City Walk is a space between the rides areas with restaurants, clubs, and general park atmosphere)

3. Choose your hotel according to your focus. If you go for a Disney vacation, you may actually want to look into a Disney hotel. That way you could go back to your room and rest in the afternoon when you're worn out and the parks are most crowded (then maybe you wouldn't need a whole quiet day).

Plus you wouldn't have to schedule your time around a shuttle. One night we missed the early shuttle back to our hotel and had to wait for the later one. We didn't have tickets into Epicot, where all the buses and shuttles meet. The hour and a half until the next shuttle wasn't really enough time to go back to Animal Kingdom for dinner, or to Downtown Disney, which doesn't require tickets. But I asked the very nice Customer Relations guy for any suggestions (ie a nearby restaurant outside the gates?) and he gave me tickets into Epcot, telling us about restaurants just inside the gate. This all brings us to point 4, which is

4. Disney World is a whole city of several neighborhoods linked by big highways. Buses run to every part, so you can get around. But figure in the travel time. If, say, you're going from Epcot to Animal Kingdom, figure it will be a good 20 to 30 minutes each way. To me, then, it wouldn't be worth paying an extra $50 per ticket per day for the park hopper. Unlike at Disneyland, you'd lose a lot of time in transit. Plus, there's plenty to do at any single park, I think, especially if you're new to it all, as we were.

(Waiting for either the Everest roller coaster or the Kilimanjaro Safari. All lines look about the same)

5. Don't get so caught up in having fun that you only remember to take pictures while you're waiting in line or sitting in the restaurant. And don’t forget to keep your camera batteries charged, or have back-ups.

(Waiting for our food at the Rainforest Cafe. Every 20 minutes they have a storm--thunder and lightening--and all the animals come to life. Lots of fun, not exactly low-key and quiet)

6. The week before Christmas is actually a good time to go because

(a) even though Orlando can get chilly (bring jackets for the evening!), it's mostly warm and beautifully green--which, if you live some place like Oklahoma, is refreshing 'round about December.

(b) the place is decorated for Christmas, and at Epicot they have Christmas concerts and storytelling.

(a soulful Christmas concert)

(c) it's probably more crowded than, say, in the middle of November, but most people planning a Christmas Disney vacation will be coming the week AFTER Christmas. The waitress at Rainforest Cafe told us that Tuesday the Animal Kingdom attendance was 37,000, which was down from the weekend and would be even less the next day. But the following week they would probably be at capacity, which is 45,000. That's just in Animal Kingdom, which is the smallest of the three main parks. Imagine what the total attendance must be.

(a traditional, Christmas-eve church service style concert)

Big Holiday Trip -- Getting Started

Boy, if I don't get going, it'll be next Christmas before I tell you about our Big Holiday Trip.

Uchenna had to use up two weeks of vacation by the end of the year or lose them forever. Rather than hang around Oklahoma for that time, he opted to go somewhere warm. I agreed that was a very good plan. So the week before Christmas we went to Orlando. Then, for Christmas itself, plus a few days after, we spent with family in Dallas.

I sometimes forget how much work it is to plan a good vacation, especially if you're trying to be economically efficient while still having a good time. Then, throw in a couple different locations, and you end up with a lot of moving parts. But then we did go, and it was great!

I'd been to Disneyland, but Uchenna hadn't. I'd never been to Orlando, but Uchenna had a conference there a few years ago. It's a big place, so rather than a blow-by-blow, I'll tell you what we learned. Keep reading to find out!