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Showing posts from September, 2015

LA

After leaving Santa Fe early on Sunday morning we arrived in LA at about 1pm. The stopover in Denver was much more pleasant... However, we walked all the way to our gate to find out the we need to go half the way back as our gate had changed. Thank goodness we had plenty of time. I'm not sure that Airport Transfer drivers get tickets for speeding here....our driver was crazy - thank goodness we were second stop...I seriously felt safer on Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom (the high speed roller coaster in the dark)!!! We spent the afternoon orientating ourselves in LA. We are staying just above Hollywood Boulevarde so we took a quick walk along the Boulevarde to check out the stars. They go on and on forever. We saw some "interesting" sights...but I might leave that story for Brayden to share! Got harassed by every single tour company and dressed character - not to mention the "upcoming stars" signing CDs!!!! LA is a very very interesting place!!! We headed back t

Out and about in Santa Fe

We have had a great day today...after a slow morning allowing Brayden to recuperate. He is feeling better today, thank goodness. We are unsure whether it was food poisoning or a touch of altitude sickness...we are approx. 9000ft above sea level!! Unfortunately technology has let us down today and we can't upload any photos :( Ja and I started the day with a yummy breakfast at the Sage Bakehouse. It was really yummy but they didn't accept Mickey's Magicband...so hard to get used to. We then headed for the retail outlets for some retail therapy. We shopped and shopped...got some great bargains too! We checked out Walmart as well...Braydens request!!!!! We also checked out Jo-Ann's - a craft store...smaller version of Spotlight. We then headed downtown to the plaza (the town centre) where this weekend they are holding their Fiesta...a festival they hold annually! There are people everywhere. We went to see Santuario de Guadalupe....the oldest shrine to Our Lady of Guadalup

Goodbye Disney ~ Hello Santa Fe

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Sadly we have had to say goodbye to Disney World this morning....and a touch early too! Our airport transfer arrived at 5:30am to get us to the Orlando International Airport for our flight leaving at 8:22am. Flights were good...the mad rush at Denver to get to the furthest end of the airport in 8 mins to board the plane to Santa Fe wasn't my favourite. But we made it in the end. We have definitely gone from one extreme to the other on this holiday -the big grandeur of Disney to the little Santa Fe...the plane was small and so is the airport! We didn't do a lot this afternoon or tonight as we have little boy unwell now. Let's hope it clears quickly. I did have a quick look around The Cathedral Basilica of St Francis of Assissi. What a beautiful place.    

Blizzard Beach and Hollywood Studios

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A super awesome day for most of us on Thursday...whilst it was our last day at Disney we had an absolute blast. Not a lot of photos to show as we were too busy slipping and sliding around Blizzard Beach Water Park. Not all of us made it...Jason stayed in bed unwell, Julieanne decided against the water park and Jim was unwell and Ted had gone exploring elsewhere. So Jenn and the girls, Dad and Brayden and I had a ball. There were so many great things we did - far too much fun. From a family raft ride to individual toboggan races! A fantastic way to spend our last day at Disney World! Even a fake tattoo at the end of the day. After heading back to the resort....and visiting the ice cream shop...YUM! We headed on our last Disney Adventure for 2015! We boarded the boat and headed for our dinner reservation at Hollywood and Vine, on Sunset Boulevarde at Hollywood Studios. After dinner we had tickets to the 'Fantasmic'show - what a way to farewell Disney World. A laser show - so hard

Epcot, Our Resort and Downtown Disney

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Our day, on Wednesday, started with a very early morning so that we could get to our breakfast reservation (1/2 hour walk away) at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall. This was a character dining meal. We had breakfast with some princesses...Belle, Snow White, Aerial  and Sleeping Beauty. Brayden got a photo with the gorgeous Belle. We decided to conquer some more of the rides at Epcot...Jason and Brayden hadn't done "Soarin'" - as fantastic ride where you hang glide around sights of California. We then all headed to one ride called 'Test Track' I think this ride will go down as my favourite...definitely my favourite at Epcot and maybe even my favourite across all of the parks. We designed a car and tested it on a track. It was all simulation however the test ride wasn't. We were in a little car that travelled at very high speed. It was incredible. We then went on a ride through time...which sent us around through the inside of the Epcot ball. It was very hot so w

Magic Kingdom Again!

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There is seriously something magical about Magic Kingdom! It seriously takes your breath away! We headed back to Magic Kingdom today....lots more to do....and we still haven't done it all. We started with a Jungle Safari... Finally a mention of The Jungle Book in this ride....Brayden loved it. We had lunch at the Be Our Guest Restaurant...this was in the castle of the Beast (Beauty and the Beast)....a gorgeous castle...particularly the ballroom where we ate our lunch. We went on The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, explored Tom Sawyers Island, cruised on the Liberty Belle (a paddle steamer), rode again on the people mover and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Jason and Brayden went back on the Speedway and we went to the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor which was fun! I think my highlight for the day was dinner at The Crystal Palace. We got to meet some of the Hundred Acre Wood characters...MY ABSOLUTE FAVOURITE!!!! We met Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and of course Pooh....yes I fell back to kid

LegoLand Florida!

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We diverted from the crew again today. We hired a car and took Brayden to Legoland Florida. It was a 45 min drive but well worth it and Brayden had a great day! A real experience driving on the wrong side of the road, not to mention sitting on the wrong side of the car!!!! We watched a waterski show 'Battle for Blackbeard's Bounty' We went on plenty of rides and the beauty of Legoland was that it was quiet (still a lot of people) in comparison to Disney and we were able to get onto rides quickly...which meant for more rides in the end. I think our favourite was the Battle of Chi. We got to shoot targets and other people in boats with water...they were also able to get us...but on a hot day walking around wet was welcomed! By far the most spectacular part of Legoland was all of the Lego models around the park and in particular the models in 'Miniland' Miniland is made up of iconic places in America - all made from Lego! Brayden's favourite part though was the Edu

Hollywood Studios

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Things are a little behind....will get to this update asap. Yeh we are a little behind with the blog because we have been having so much fun that we run out of time each day....and we get home and are exhausted!!!!! So on Sunday 6th...we went to Hollywood Studios! Another amazing park...I'm not sure if I can pick a favourite! They are all awesome in their own way! At Hollywood Studios we split up a little because Brayden wanted to not particularly do the Frozen stuff that Charlotte and Victoria wanted to....and they didn't want to do what he wanted to do either. So our day started with the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular. The cast performed stunts and how they capture these for movies...Brayden loved finding out about the stunts BUT loved watching the stunt scenes. It was a great show. We watched the Muppets 3D show...very very funny!  Then we went to the Lights, Motors, Action Extreme Stunt Show. This I think was a definite highlight! Along with a stadium of 5000 other pe

Animal Kingdom

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Another awesome day in the magic land of Disney World! Can you believe this place has a six lane highway going through it??? We headed early this morning to Animal Kingdom as we were having breakfast on site. Another breakfast with characters....doesn't matter how many times you see them...it is still so awesome. This morning we had breakfast with Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy. We then headed straight for the safari. We toured around in safari trucks looking at the gorgeous African animals (it is ok Di...I didn't ride them!!!)  We saw so many different animals. A definite highlight. Right in the middle of Animal Kingdom is the most gorgeous Tree of Life....the carvings ( hard to see in this photo) are incredible. The kids were Wilderness Explorers collecting stickers/badges around the park...whilst finding out and learning about lots of new things! Kept them engaged and entertained. My highlight today was The Festival of the Lion King. Lots of music, characters, acrobatics,da

Happy Birthday Jason!!!

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Whilst at Disney you celebrate your birthday for the month. Yesterday and today we have focussed on Jason's 40th! Yesterday was Jason's Australian birthday and today was his American birthday...we have celebrated with him in style. There have been many birthday cards and cupcakes from many of the restaurants we have visited. Today though...Jenn gave Jason a T-shirt just for his birthday. We have spent today at the Typhoon Lagoon Water Park. Amazing! We have spent the day sliding down  water slides, riding rafts through the rapids and floating around the Lazy River.  We went on the Crush n' Gusher...the biggest slide around the whole park. But just as Jason and Brayden were about to take their  final ride....the ride and the park were closed due to the storm arriving. It was time for us to head home. Well and truly an awesome day of fun! We spent the rest of the night celebrating Jason's birthday at the Yachtman's Steakhouse. A beautiful meal, a few drinks and a very

Epcot

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Epcot - our next stop! Wow! Some amazing moments again here... No words can describe several of our experiences. Jenn made us all matching Tshirts - we looked amazing - Thanks Jenn.. Here are a few from our camera...

Magic Kingdom

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Yesterday we spent the day at Magic Kingdom. Any wonder I didn't do the blog last nujhht ...we had a 14 hour magical day!! I don't know where to start or what to say other than WOW!!!!!!! We had an awesome day! Absolutely incredible and we all LOVED every minute. We met up with the Disscher family...so great to see them. Our party is now complete for Disney World...we certainly started in style. From Bibbity Boobity Boutique for the girls to Space Mountain, the speedway and Buzz Lightyear. We had breakfast with characters, met many along the way and had dinner at Cinderella's castle. We saw parades x2, went on many rides and watched the sound and light show at the end of the huge day...and hung around for the incredible fireworks. Too much to tell you about - you will have to ask us when we get home. So here are some pictures....these are just some that we took....our Memory Maker photos aren't downloaded yet.....

Welcome to Disney World!

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Our day started with a great breakfast at the Embassy Suites and then our journey towards Disney World began. Another day of waiting and flying however we were finally heading to Disney World. The kids, adults definitely more so, we're so so excited.   From Dallas, Texas, we flew to Orlando, Florida. The flight took about 2.5 hours. I got to watch 'Inside Out' on the way...what a great movie! We arrived in Orlando, Florida at about 1345, collected our bags and headed to find the Disney's Magical Express buses to take us to Disney World. All I can say is Oh! Wow! It was real...we were heading to Disney World. After a short wait we were on the way...Disney World here we come!! Whilst everyone was tired we were also ecstatic. We have entered a new world. A world where dreams come true. A world that is so magical! Check out the view from our room... We have our very own Magic Bands that are our entry, our form of payment, our i