Epic trip 2012: The Orlando leg

The Giant Tinker Toy at the entrance to Downtown Disney

While my computer and the blog site refused to talk to each other for the past two years, life has continued to be full of adventure. We got to travel to lots of places, mostly with Uchenna's work (meaning we got to stay in some high-end hotels we wouldn't otherwise consider), including a conference in Detroit; an assignment in Bellingham, WA that allowed us to also see Seattle and Vancouver, BC; a friend's graduation in Chicago; California for a wedding and a funeral; Utah for a recruiting trip; and the list goes on.

This year we combined work and personal into one big, two-week trip. Remember that one-time trial week of a time share we let ourselves get talked into? Well it was expiring this spring and we thought, great, we're not going to be able to use it and there goes our money.

But then Uchenna got a chance to take a training course in Orlando (hey, if you're going to have a training course, why not Orlando?) and we thought that's not too far from Myrtle Beach, one of the time share options. And we've never been anywhere like Myrtle Beach.

So an ambitious plan was formed to spend most of the first week in Orlando, fly up to Charleston, SC, on Thursday, then drive the two hours to Myrtle Beach on Saturday and fly home the following Saturday. Shwew!

Since it was such an epic trip, I'll just talk about Orlando here, and talk about the other two locations in later posts.

Our flight was at 6 am, which meant we left the house at about 4:30 am. Two weeks in an airport parking lot can add up, so a VERY kind friend drove us to the airport. We were in transit during the morning session of Conference, but we got to our hotel in time for the afternoon session. We had it streaming on our computer, but unfortunately fell asleep about 5 minutes into the first talk.

Our hotel, where the course was being held, was the Lake Buena Vista Hilton, within the Disney Resort and right across the street from Downtown Disney. Beautiful hotel, fabulous location. And housekeeping left us little towel animals. Can I live there for, like, the rest of my life?


While Uchenna was in his class all day, I browsed through the shops in Downtown Disney. How many departments of people do they have sitting around dreaming up Disney merchandise? This t-shirt was one of my favorites. Here's the back and the front.

I almost bought these Star Wars/Muppets mash-ups. Cracked me up!

There were also fantastic galleries of non-Disney stuff, like glass art, whimsical or quirky or just beautiful.

In the evenings Uchenna and I went to dinner and wandered around listening to the street performers.

We didn't actually go to this dinosaur-themed restaurant, but had to get pictures. It looked like Rainforest Cafe with dinos. Planet Hollywood was really lively. Seemed all the high school bands and cheer squads and dance troups performing that week were eating there the night we went. The DJ kept sending shoutouts to the various groups, which necessitated lots of cheering.

The other restaurants were calmer, like House of Blues and Raglan Road. We had lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express, but there was another Puck restaurant that seemed to think its celebrity chef was pretty special.

Of course we had to get pictures with the various Lego sculptures around the big Lego store. Yes, I looked closely and that sea monster is totally made of Legos!

 Here I am having a princess moment.

Downtown Disney stretches along the side of a small lake, with this lovely waterside walk.

We thought about going up in this tethered hotair balloon, but either there were long lines or it was grounded due to high winds at upper altitudes.

We loved the beautiful garden setting.

The last night we were there we went to see Hunger Games at a Downtown Disney theater was set up as a restaurant with a counter-like table in front of each row. The servers took orders before the show started, then discreetly brought it out during the movie. I thought it might be distracting, but not too bad and certainly novel.

Downtown Disney was so fun and we were looking forward to the later stages of our trip, so we didn't worry about going into Epcot or the Magic Kingdom or going on rides. Besides, we did all that the last time we were there, in 2009. Stay tuned for the our continuing adventures in South Carolina.

our own personal wild life

Note: This post was actually from last spring, but my computer would never let me publish it. Now that we have a new computer, maybe it'll work. We haven't seen so many critters this year, but the birds are back.

Our back fence runs along the town’s border line, and it's not just an imaginary line--there's nothing but cow pasture on the other side of the fence. Perhaps that’s why we’re surrounded by an abundance of critters. When we go for a walk in the evening, we sometimes hear the coyote chorus in the distance, although we haven't yet seen any coyotes. But here are a few little animals we have seen around the yard, our unofficial pets if you will:

We found a little hole with several babies. Here’s one who ran and hid behind the watering can. Shades of Peter Rabbit. They’ve grown up and wandered off now, but we still see rabbits streaking across the yard now and then.

I don't think I'll claim this one as our own. He was just passing by, but it's not the first tarantula we've seen. Fortunately, it's only the second. Hopefully it'll be the last. Eww.

Guess the turtle came through that hole in the fence showing in the background. Maybe we should do something about that. Anyway, after sparing him from the lawn mower (thank goodness Uchenna saw him in time), we haven’t seen him since.

A couple of months ago a couple of birds starting hanging around and before we knew it, they'd built a nest in the light over our front door. Now the babies have hatched. I 'm hoping they'll be ready to fly away soon. I'd like my light back, thank you.

C'mon Spring!

Anticipating the warmer weather--and daylight lasting longer into the evening--we bought a pair of bicycles. One of our New Year's resolutions was to work out together, so we were going to the gym after I picked up Uchenna. But it was too much like work, which is the last thing you want after work.

Going for a little ride in the evening, or on a Saturday afternoon--now that's some exercise we can stick with.

We hear we have an extensive system of trails through the center of town, running both north and south and east and west. Actually a river runs down the middle of town, and it's a terrible flood plain. So they made it all a park with these trails. We're looking forward to exploring them.

It was a blustery day in February when we went shopping, but at least it wasn't raining, or snowing. With our tax refund in our hot little hands, we found a place in Tulsa touted as "the largest bike shop in Oklahoma."

Specialty shops are great--they know their stuff, and they really fix you up. The guy showed us how to attach the bike rack to our car, so we and the bikes could get safely home. I just hope we remember how to do it again ourselves when we decide to go farther afield than our own neighborhood and surrounding environs. Like over to those trails.

Bikes have come a long way since the last time I rode one, which I think was about 7th grade. Officially ours are called comfort bikes: for one thing, the distance from the seat to the handle bars lets you ride sitting up straight. We like that better. Also, they have larger seats, fat tires like a mountain bike, a ton of gears (more than I will probably ever use), and a front shock absorber. I thought my tire was a little flat--it had a certain familiar squishy feel as I was riding--but then I realized it was just the give from the shocks. So now we're ready to get in shape in style and comfort.

(It's the helmets that really make us stylin')

Of course, this being Oklahoma, the weather gods have an ironic sense of humor, to say the least. This was the scene on the first day of spring.

(We wouldn't be biking on this particular Saturday.)

Fortunately, the temperature bounced back up pretty quickly, so the snow didn't hang around long.

(By Monday, the only snow was the bit hiding in the shadows, and by afternoon even that was gone. Glad we didn't bother shoveling our driveway--bet those who did felt a little silly).

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!