The Butler's Do Disney

Day #3
Another advantage of staying in a Disney Resort is Magic Hours. As a resort guest, one park per day is open extra hours just for you.  Tuesday that park was Epcot.

Tip:  You can now reserve your fast passes online months in advance.  

Epcot is a little less crowded than other parks, so it is the best place to meet and take pictures with Disney Characters.

We loved the Test Track ride, but my personal favorite was Soarin'.  To make exploring the country's a little more exciting for children, Disney has created an Agent P Mission.  The family is given a smart phone with different missions to fulfill in each country.  The phones activate all sorts of fun things in each country.  Our first mission began in England inside this telephone booth.

 

We had lunch at Teppan Edo in Japan.  It was excellent and entertaining. We spent the rest of the day exploring the world and went to bed early.

The Butler's Do Disney

DAY #2
Any trip to Disney requires the eating of Mickey Mouse Pancakes at least once. Of course, I failed to photograph the eating of said pancakes but let me assure you, it happened. We made breakfast reservations at Kona Cafe which is located in Disney's Polynesian Resort.  The food was spectacular. I had pancakes with Macadamia Nut Butter-to die for, while Scott had the Tonga French toast, equally death worthy. The kids also didn't disappoint with their inappropriate groping of a wooden statue's butt cheeks..

Our plans to travel to the Polynesian resort was two-fold, breakfast and a chance for the kids, Atley in particular,  to ride the mono-rail. This seems to always be one of the most exciting things about a Disney Vacation.  

We even got to experience it breaking down and making us late for our appointment with Disney's Typhoon Lagoon water park!

 We were extremely fortunate to have amazing weather almost the entire trip. Although, the 3 degrees and 8 inches of snow we left behind would make most any weather look amazing.  Plus, even if it was a little chilly, the water at Typhoon Lagoon is heated and feels fantastic.  The highlight of the water park was being able to snorkel with sharks, sting rays, and lots of other tropical fish.

 Disney Water Parks are overlooked when planning a vacation.  But, they shouldn't be.  They give you a little down time, while still being super exciting and entertaining for the kids. Typhoon Lagoon definitely did not disappoint. We could have stayed there for days.

A must at the water park is the Sand Bucket of Ice Cream!

No, Day # 2 was not over yet. After a quick shower we took the resort bus to Hollywood Studios. Yes, we were already exhausted.  In fact, Scott's fitness tracker recorded that we averaged about 14 miles of walking per day.  

Tip: Drink plenty of water and keep the ibuprofen ready.

Some of us were more happy than others to be taking pictures.  Hollywood Studios is the home of the most famous Disney show-Fantasmic.  

We made reservations for dinner at Hollywood & Vine and with our reservation we got priority seating for the show.  I highly recommend doing this.  Hollywood & Vine is a buffet style dinner with everything from Lobster Mac & Cheese, Prime Rib, Broccoli salad and everyone's favorite, an unlimited dessert bar. We lost Nash after Fantasmic and with the help of the Disney Cast, a few prayers and tears, he was finally recovered no worse for wear. Never a dull moment.

 Hollywood Studios also has my least favorite ride in the entire world The Tower of Terror.  It just so happens that this was Harley's favorite ride of the entire trip. In fact, most were a little lame after riding this first. Yes, I totally humiliated myself on this ride. If the picture isn't proof enough, just watch the video.  When, we got on the ride everyone was dead silent.  That is when Atley made the following remark, "Well, people I'm either about to become a man or have my childhood destroyed."  When it was over he loudly exclaimed that the ride was, "the definition of hell." 

The Aerosmith Roller Coaster was another favorite. Don't let their terrified faces tell you any differently.

Tip:  Buy the Disney Memory Maker. For one price you get all the pictures/videos taken on the rides and throughout the park. Totally worth it!

The Butler's Do Disney

DAY #1

We have been planning and anticipating our Disney World Vacation for about a year.  When Scott's family heard about how much fun we were going to have they decided they wanted in on the action too. So, not only did we have the sheer joy of a week at Disney but the kids had a chance to see a few of their cousins as well. We all stayed at different places and didn't have much time to chat, but it was still fun to see what everyone else was doing and compare notes. We were also able to stay a night with my dad in Jacksonville, where he made Harley caterpillar pancakes and he and Atley switched faces.  Don't worry, everyone is back to normal now.  

When we were planning our vacation I spent a lot of time reading advice columns and mom blogs about their Disney Experiences.  It was incredibly helpful.  So, I am going to record what we did and what we really loved about our trip, not only for our own memories, but just in case you might need/want some advice planning your own Disney World vacation. 

We arrived in Orlando around 10:30AM.  We checked into our Disney Resort-Pop Century.  Apparently, this is a VALUE resort, but honestly it didn't feel like it. The room was a little tiny but it was absolutely adorable, with two huge heated pools and super cute Disney decor.  Each section is decorated like a decade, we were in the 50's section of the resort with poodle skirts, bowling pins, juke boxes and Lady and the Tramp. At a value resort you still receive all of the incredible Disney amenities, like free transportation to all the parks, an arcade in the hotel, plus a full service food court and shopping.  Not really sure what else you could need or want. We loved it.

After checking-in and exploring the resort. We headed to Downtown Disney for our reservation at T-Rex.  Tip:  Make Reservations As Early As Possible. Food is a super important aspect of vacationing for me. We tried to eat breakfast in our room each morning and take a backpack full of snacks and drinks for the parks and then eat an early dinner somewhere special. The T-Rex restaurant is so much fun. It is full of animated dinosaurs that roar and screech periodically, beautiful aquariums, plus there is a meteor shower every 30 minutes.  

After eating we walked around Downtown Disney where Nash ran into a guy wearing his same shirt. That was awkward.

We finished our day by spending about 4 hours at Disney Quest, which is a 5 story interactive arcade.  This place is incredible, full of traditional video games and much, much more.

A Star is Born

Atley made his theatrical debut last night in Les Miserables. He played Gavroche and we are so proud of him. He did a fantastic job. It was totally worth coming home early from our vacation.  

Richmond

You don't have to search very far on this blog or talk to me for very long to learn that I have a passion for Civil War History. I love reading about the generals, the presidents, the spy's, the war strategies, the battles and I absolutely can't get enough of dragging my family to as many Civil War sights as possible. As I have also mentioned on numerous occasions, Virginia is full of Civil War history. And Virginia was indisputably Southern.  A few weeks ago we spent the day in Richmond. I had been wanting to visit the capital of Virginia and the Confederacy for some time. Our first stop was the Museum of the Confederacy and Jefferson Davis' Southern White House.  These two places are smack dab in the city center and in the middle of VCU's campus.  It is a diverse neighborhood ethnically, economically and educationally. In fact, I am almost 100% sure I saw Uncle Si from Duck Dynasty chatting up a very distinguished looking doctor. Anyway,  I felt a little awkward going into the museum and the Davis' home.  I caught more than a few disgusted stares focused in our direction and it made me wonder if I was projecting some sort of tolerance for the worst that the Confederacy had believed in, in my own countenance.  The stares and whispers made me completely insecure about my choice to haul my children into such a place and a little embarrassed to tell people what we did with our free day.  I have been given strange looks and reprimanding lectures regarding visiting these places before. I've been teased a little-all in good fun- I think, but in the midst of all that good-natured-fun-poking,  I have essentially been called a racist for patronizing anything Confederate. I always thought that was a pretty big leap. Maybe I am wrong. With the exception of a few places in the deep south, I have felt like most of these landmarks have presented a straight-forward and unbiased look at both sides of the war, the ugliness of slavery, and the fact that racism existed on both sides of the Mason Dixon Line. I'm not really sure our schools have attempted to portray that same image.  Atley came home last year after studying Virginia history ashamed to be a Virginian. I was infuriated by the preferential way history was being presented to him. He was later given a state wide test that asked the question. "Who invented the Cotton Gin?"  Most of us would reply Eli Whitney. However, in an effort to promote equality there most be an equal number of African American answers as white American answers.  The answer to who invented the cotton gin was Eli Whitney's slave.  Apparently, watching him work tirelessly in the fields provided Whitney with the inspiration he needed to follow through with his plans. Therefore, the slave should be credited with the invention. Say what?  Am I crazy to think that is a totally bizarre and bogus concept. I want my children to see both sides of life in 1860's America and 2015 America. I think they will realize that with the exception of Slavery in the south, both sides had good points and terrible ones, righteous men and evil men.  I feel like those principles apply to any group, religious, ethnic or otherwise in today's society as well. Am I wrong? Is there something immoral about learning about and discussing the confederacy? Finding some redeeming qualities in some of its' best leaders?   Maybe so.  Anyhow, I'm certainly being made to feel that way.

 We also visited Hollywood Cemetery where President James Monroe and John Tyler are buried along with many famous Confederate Generals including JEB Stuart.  His grave is pictured above. Below is the graveside of Jefferson Davis and his family.  The cemetery is in a lovely spot overlooking the James River.

 

Ever notice that children during this time period always wore dresses and long hair regardless of sex.  On this trip, I learned that boys wore dresses until they were six years old. Above is Robert E. Lee. How did you tell the difference between a boy and girl? A girl's hair was parted down the middle while a boy's hair was always parted on the side.

If you want to read an excellent book on the Civil War and its influence on the lives of southerners both black and white, even in the present day, this is my favorite book on Civil War History.

If you want to learn a little, but mostly just want to be romanced by a young Patrick Swayze, you must watch the mini-series North & South! One of my favorite moves of all time.