Orlando (Day 4)--Disney's Hollywood Studios

If you're a big Star Wars fan like we are, you will love, love, LOVE the amount of Star Wars that's going on at Hollywood Studios!

One of our first stops was the Star Wars Launch Bay, where there are museum-like displays of Star Wars movie props like light sabers, costumes, models of various space craft, and other memorabilia, as well as games for kids to play.  There's also a great short movie about the passion of the creative people who have been involved in the Star Wars franchise and are responsible for moving it into the future for generations to come.

We lined up with the masses and did the "meet and greet" opportunities with Kylo Ren and Chewbacca and then checked out the rest of the area.

Meet and greet with Kylo Ren (we kept our distance!)

Meet and greet with Chewbacca

O doing "rabbit ears" behind the Jawa's head

A game of Holochess, anyone?

Stormtrooper on patrol

Another highlight was the updated Star Tours ride ("Star Tours--The Adventures Continue").  We liked it so much we went on it twice, and it was different each time!  And we weren't the only ones who liked it . . . all the riders erupted in cheers and applause after the ride was finished.

Our youngest had done the Jedi Training Academy in Disneyland so he enjoyed watching how they are currently training the young Padawans to be Jedis and catching a glimpse of Darth Vader.  The Path of the Jedi movie was quite amazing.  It was a 10 minute retelling of all the six Star Wars movies, including new footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Young Padawans doing light saber practice

Darth Vader emerges from the temple

Lord Vader menacing the audience

One thing we heard while we were there is that there is supposed to be a new 14-acre Star Wars Themed Land coming to both Disney World and Disneyland.  Wow, how cool would that be?  If the crowds at the Star Wars attractions in the park were any indicator, they could probably support an entire separate theme park based on Star Wars franchise and not just a themed land, but hey, a separate land would be AWESOME!  

Other memorable highlights of the day:
-  Muppet Vision 3D--who doesn't like the Muppets?
-  Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular!  This was a behind-the-scenes look at how they do some of the stunts in the Indiana Jones movies . . . with lots of pyrotechnics and explosives.  O was so inspired by what he learned he went right to the gift shop to buy a "scene clacker" for his future movie-making ventures.
-  The Great Movie Ride--If you're a classic movie enthusiast (do you watch the Turner Classic Movie channel?), don't miss this journey through some of the most famous classic films.

Meet and greet with Mike and Sully

Looking down Hollywood Boulevard at the Chinese Theater

Nob Hill in San Francisco (mural but very realistic!)

Some of you also know that we were on a quest to ride the MOST AWESOME roller coaster in the world:  the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, starring Aerosmith.

The holy grail . . . we're ready!

Very cool entrance to ride

The story behind the ride is that the riders are given back-stage passes to an Aerosmith gig, and they're late, so they jump in a stretch limo and race through the streets of Los Angeles to get to the arena, all the while accompanied by blaring Aerosmith music.  The ride is basically a roller coaster that is mostly in the dark (like Space Mountain).  It has two inversions, one corkscrew, and it reaches speeds of up to 58 mph, all in about a minute.  In other words . . . it's EPIC!!!  Riding this would be a huge stretch for our youngest, but he was determined to do it, mainly because he loves Aerosmith so much.  We all mustered our courage, and before we knew it, we were seated in the limo, the bars came down, and we were off!

Note the look of SHEER TERROR on O's face as the camera captured his expression at take off.  (In all fairness, the rest of us were pretty terrified, too!)

We rode in the "Buh-Bye" car, which played portions of three Aerosmith songs including "Love in an Elevator."

When the ride was over, O said:  "That . . . was . . . AWESOME!"  Success, and another big fear conquered.  After souvenirs were purchased, we headed back outside and discovered that the thunder, lightning and rain had settled in for the night, so we headed back to the hotel and watched a spectacular thunder and lightning show accompanied by Epcot and Hollywood Studios fireworks, which we could see clearly from the safety and comfort of our hotel room.  What a great day!

Boys wearing their souvenir t-shirts from the day

Orlando (Day 3)--Disney's Magic Kingdom

Cinderella Castle--Disney World's Magic Kingdom

Disneyland's Magic Kingdom is one of our family's most treasured places on earth, so we were eager to see how the Magic Kingdom at Disney World would compare.

Main St. USA

The Magic Kingdom was the first park of the week where we really felt the crush of people on Spring Break.  Oh, the humanity . . . wow, it was PACKED, and the lines for the rides were long!

Thankfully, we had booked some Fast Passes in advance and joined our youngest when he used his "DAS" pass privileges, so we managed to eventually get to most of the rides on our list, including many Fantasyland favorites like Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Peter Pan's Flight, It's a Small World, and (new to us) the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

Ready after a long wait

Blue Dumbo--ready to fly!  

Dumbo!

We also rode many other rides in the park, including Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, Tomorrowland's People Mover, the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion.  Lots of credit to our youngest, now 15, who conquered a lot of fears from years past by riding all of these rides with us.

On the People Mover

The boys also got an appreciation for modern technology by seeing Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress, a rotating theatre that shows how 20th century technology has improved our way of life (and oh how far we've come since this ride was completed!).  More awesome Disney Animatronics, too!

Da boys in front of the castle

It was a beautiful and hot day, so we danced with Mickey in the streets . . . and then cooled off with ice cream and Dole whips.  Yummmmmm!!

Mickey's Street Dancing Party

Walking around Cinderella Castle

We didn't make it to the evening fireworks, but it was a great day, and the magic is definitely still there for our family at the Magic Kingdom!  

Cinderella Castle

Orlando (Day 2)--Disney's Epcot

One day is not enough time to do justice to Epcot, but we sure tried!

As you walk into the park, you are in the "Future World" area that has rides and shows and interactive exhibits.  The "World Showcase" area, with a focus on the culture and cuisine of many different countries, surrounds the giant lake that's in the middle of the park.

Lighter than it looks!  

The rides at Epcot were awesome!

Among our favorites:

-  Test Track--where you create your own Chevrolet concept car on the computer and then get to put it through its paces on the test track.  We all came up with some interesting designs, and the final speed trial at the end was pretty exhilarating.  We read up that it's Disney's fastest ride, reaching speeds of up to 65 mph!

-  Mission Space--where we worked as part of a team of NASA astronauts on a mission . . . loved that it had an orange (more intense) and green (less intense) side so we could choose our level of excitement.

-  Spaceship Earth--we liked this one so much we did it twice!  This is actually the ride that's in the iconic white golf ball that everyone associates with Epcot.  It's a slow moving ride that winds its way up to the top of the ball, taking you on a tour of human innovation since the beginning of mankind.  The classic Disney Animatronics are awesome

-  Living with the Land--another slow moving tour that takes you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the greenhouses of "The Land" where Disney uses innovative agriculture methods to grow much of the food that is served in the restaurants at Epcot.  Very impressive!

The boys after conquering Mission Space

We are also big Pixar fans, so we made sure to catch the Disney & Pixar short film festival in 4D.

Pixar fans waiting for the show to start

What luck that our visit to Epcot coincided with its International Flower and Garden Festival!  We were treated to gorgeous displays of flowers and countless amazing topiaries throughout the park.  We caught a few pictures of some of our faves.

We wandered our way around the World Showcase several times, immersing ourselves in the "lands" of the various countries represented.  We spent quite a bit of time in the United Kingdom area, and our youngest was thrilled to find a Led Zeppelin t-shirt to add to his collection of classic 80s rock memorabilia.  We saw some beautiful movies in the Canada and France pavilions, and we enjoyed sampling the cuisine in France, Morocco and China.  

Torii Gate in the Japan Pavilion

Pagoda in Japan Pavilion

Temple of Heaven at China Pavilion

Stave Church in Norwegian Pavilion

Epcot at night

We finished the day by joining the crowds around the lake and watching the Epcot fireworks and laser show.  Spectacular!  

Enjoying the fireworks show

We will definitely spend more time exploring and eating our way through Epcot next chance we get!  

The "golf ball" illuminated at night

Orlando (Day 1)--Disney's Animal Kingdom

It was cold but sunny when we ventured over to the Disney's Animal Kingdom to see the "wild side" of Disney.

One of the first things you notice when you walk in is the gigantic Tree of Life in the center of the park.

As you get closer, you begin to see that the gnarled trunk actually has all kinds of animals carved into it . . . what an amazing work of art!

We didn't do all the rides, but the ones we did were great!  If you're a thrill seeker (or if you want to catch a glimpse of a Yeti) don't miss Expedition Everest!

After conquering Expedition Everest

The Dinosaur ride was fun and reminded us of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland.

As one might expect, we also saw lots and lots of animals, both on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, which takes you on safari through the African savanna, and on the walking paths that meandered through the park forest.  Here are photos of just a few of the animals we saw in the park:

There are also several great shows in the park.  We caught the "It's Tough to be a Bug!" show in 3D in the theatre at the base of the Tree of Life.

O in his "bug vision" glasses

Stopping to admire the tree after the bug show.

The stage production of Finding Nemo--The Musical, was also impressive.  We had a return time to see the Festival of the Lion King musical production, but when we arrived for the show, all the remaining shows for the day had been mysteriously cancelled.  Later, we found out that there had been a fire during the previous show (thank goodness it didn't happen during our show!).  

We also did a lot of character meet and greets.  Our oldest is pretty much taking a "pass" on these and disappears as soon as we get in line, but our youngest is still eager to have a quick chat and get a picture with some of his faves.  

O couldn't resist playing rhythms on some authentic African drums.  

And we caught a few "selfies."

It was a great first day . . . Hakuna Matata, Animal Kingdom . . . hope to see you again some day!