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Our trip to Disney World!

DJ / 11 Years Ago

We finally got around to taking a trip to Disney World after living down here in Georgia for over 3 years. I had previously been to all the parks during Thanksgiving week around 1990 with my mom, so it seemed fitting that Kelley and I would also go during Thanksgiving week. We drove down on Sunday, arriving at our hotel around 5pm. We stayed at Disney's All Star Sports hotel, which was really neat and full of huge sports related stuff.

See all the pictures from our Disney trip!
We then went to Downtown Disney for dinner and to check out the stores and the area. We ate at T-Rex's, which was a very cool experience, and walked through the whole place. On Monday we spent the day at Magic Kingdom and unfortunately, it was rather cold that day. On Tuesday we started at Epcot, but that park is by far the weakest of the 4, so we were done with it by 2pm or so. We then went to the AMC dine-in theaters at Downtown Disney to watch the last Twilight movie. Having a real restaurant style dinner in a movie theater was awesome, and the food was pretty good. After the movie we checked out Disney Quest, a 5 floor entertainment complex filled with tons of virtual reality experiences and advanced arcade machines. The top floor had tons of retro arcade cabinets and pinball as well.

Wednesday was spent at Hollywood Studios, which we both agree was the best park of the 4. Thursday, Thanksgiving, was spent at Animal Kingdom. We were able to finish up at that park by 6 or 7pm and get back to our hotel. We wanted to do that so we could have the Thanksgiving dinner that they had at the food court there. It was pretty good and rather traditional. The next day we got up, packed up, and got on the road pretty early. We stopped by Savannah to eat Lunch at Zunzi's, a local hole in the wall food place we heard about on the travel channel as having one of the best sandwiches in America. We arrived back in Augusta over an hour earlier than we hoped, and then we had Saturday and Sunday to recover! Overall it was an awesome trip and we had lots of fun - we look forward to going to Universal Studios parks next November for a similar type of trip.

T-Rex's
DJ grade: A
Kelley grade: A+

Magic Kingdom:

Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
Interactive Movie
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 15
Cute little animated show with corny jokes and audience interaction. The technology on how they do this is more interesting than the show in my opinion.
DJ grade: B-
Kelley grade: B

Carousel of Progress
Track ride / show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: < 5
Audience seats rotated around a central stage with 4 different scenes from different times highlighting technological progress.
DJ grade: C
Kelley grade: C

Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin
Fixed track ride
Fast Pass: Yes
Wait: 10
Ride around with a laser pointer gun and shoot targets all over the place. Keeps track of your score.
DJ grade: A-
Kelley grade: A

Peoplemover
Tour
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 5
Gives a tour of the Tomorrowland area in the Magic Kingdom - went inside of Space Mountain, which was cool.
DJ grade: B+
Kelley grade: B

Stitch's Great Escape
4D show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 15
You sit in seats while Stitch wrecks havoc around you - much of the time in the dark. Includes foul smells.
DJ grade: D
Kelley grade: D

Philharmagic
3D Animated show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 10
Donald has a romp through various Disney movies searching after a magic hat.
DJ grade: B-
Kelley grade: C

Pirates of the Caribbean
Water track ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 25
Ride a boat past pirate stuff - retooled to include Captain Jack Sparrow from the movies.
DJ grade: C
Kelley grade: C

Swiss Family Treehouse
Walking tour
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 0
Walk through the treehouse home of the family
DJ grade: D
Kelley grade: D

Space Mountain
Indoor roller coaster
Fast Pass: Yes
Wait: 10
Indoor, dark and twisty rollercoaster
DJ grade: A-
Kelley grade: C

The Haunted Mansion
Fixed track ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 20
Ride around and through a mansion full of ghosts and such
DJ grade: C
Kelley grade: C

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Roller coaster
Fast Pass: Yes
Wait: 10
Standard railroad themed coaster of moderate speed and height.
DJ grade: B
Kelley grade: B

Jungle Cruise
Riverboat tour
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 5
Tour through a jungle river area with crocodiles, villages, and such to see - boat captain constantly told punny jokes.
DJ grade: B
Kelley grade: B

The Hall of Presidents
Mixed video and puppet show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 5
A video honoring our presidents followed by a stage full of animated president mannequins and Barack Obama giving a speech
DJ grade: B+
Kelley grade: B

It's a Small World
Water track ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 25
Scenes from around the world with children singing the song over and over. Super repetitive and annoying
DJ grade: D
Kelley grade: C

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Fixed track ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 20
Scenes from Winnie the Pooh and friends. Cute.
DJ grade: B-
Kelley grade: C

Peter Pan's Flight
Suspended track ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 20
Scenes from Peter Pan. You flew in a ship instead of on the ground, otherwise very similar to all the other track rides.
DJ grade: C+
Kelley grade: C

Wishes Nighttime Spectacular
Fireworks show
Fast Pass: N/A
Wait: 0
Fireworks and music - we were in-between the two places where they were launched from, making an interesting back and forth experience.
DJ grade: A
Kelley grade: A+

Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid
Fixed track ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 10
Scenes from the Little Mermaid.
DJ grade: B-
Kelley grade: C

The Barnstormer
Roller coaster
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 10
Super short flying themed roller coaster.
DJ grade: B-
Kelley grade: C

Epcot

Mission: Space
Simulator
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 10
Realistic (simplified) simulator of a mission to Mars
DJ grade: B+
Kelley grade: B

Living with the Land
Water track ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 20
Tour through a greenhouse showing growing techniques.
DJ grade: B
Kelley grade: A

Circle of Life
Animated movie
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 15
Short Lion King movie telling us to take care of the planet
DJ grade: B
Kelley grade: B

Talk Time with Crush
Interactive movie
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 25
Crush from Finding Nemo fielded questions from kids.
DJ grade: B+
Kelley grade: A

Spaceship Earth
Fixed track ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 30
A story of people on Earth from the cavemen days and into the future. A personalized short movie at the end was the best part.
DJ grade: B
Kelley grade: A+

Downtown Disney / Disney Quest

Dine in movie
Twilight: Breaking Dawn part 2
DJ Grade: A-, C-
Kelley grade: A, B

Pirates of the Caribbean — Battle for Buccaneer Gold
Virtual pirate battle
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 20
We manned cannons and shot at opposing ships. Very fun.
DJ grade: A-
Kelley grade: A

Virtual Jungle Cruise
Virtual white water rapids
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 5
Paddle down a river in a boat on inflatable fake water
DJ grade: C+
Kelley grade: B

Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride
Virtual carpet ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 5
Control a carpet through various environments trying to find the lamp.
DJ grade: B-
Kelley grade: B

Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam
Virtual weird hockey like thing
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 5
Stand on a platform and lean the way you want your ball to go and try to get past a goalie on a pinball like board. Strange.
DJ grade: D+
Kelley grade: C

Ride the Comix
Virtual sword fighting
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 20
Fight comic super villains with what amounts to a lightsaber. Wave it around and try to chop up dudes. No skill random dumbness.
DJ grade: D
Kelley grade: C-

Hollywood Studios

Studio Backlot Tour
Bus tour
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 10
20 minute tour through the backlot showing sets and props and such.
DJ grade: A-
Kelley grade: A

Light, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show
Car stunt show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 30
Car stunt show with about 4 different scenes all explained by stunt people and a director.
DJ grade: A+
Kelley grade: A+

Muppet Vision 3-D
3D animated movie
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 15
Muppet adventure movie in 3D - cute.
DJ grade: B
Kelley grade: B

Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular
Stunt show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 30
Re-enact scenes from Indiana Jones showing how some things are done.
DJ grade: A
Kelley grade: B

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Themed drop ride
Fast Pass: Yes
Wait: 15
Highly themed drop ride into the Twilight Zone
DJ grade: A
Kelley grade: A

The Great Movie Ride
Fixed track ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 20
Long, slow ride going through a bunch of old movies.
DJ grade: B-
Kelley grade: B

Voyage of the Little Mermaid
Live action show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 30
Live action musical of the Little Mermaid.
DJ grade: B+
Kelley grade: B

Disney Channel Rocks
Live musical show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 10
Musical show singing Disney Channel songs.
DJ grade: N/A
Kelley grade: C+

Star Tours
Simulator
Fast Pass: Yes
Wait: 10
Simulates a trip to Naboo with hijinks along the way.
DJ grade: A
Kelley grade: N/A

Toy Story Mania!
4D Midway gallery ride
Fast Pass: Yes
Wait: 10
Track ride that stopped at several 3D screen to shoot at targets.
DJ grade: A+
Kelley grade: A+

Fantasmic
Live show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 40
Musical show with fireworks, lasers, imagery, and more.
DJ grade: A
Kelley grade: A+

Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith
Roller coaster
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 30
Indoor looping high speed coaster with Aerosmith music playing in your ears the whole time.
DJ grade: A
Kelley grade: N/A

The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow
4D circular show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 20
Indoor area with 3d show elements happening from all sides and Captain Jack yapping at you for a while - it seemed like he was really there, nice effects.
DJ grade: B
Kelley grade: B

Walt Disney: One Man's Dream
Short film
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 0
A short movie covering the history of Disney and how he got to where he was
DJ grade: B
Kelley grade: B

Animal Kingdom

Planet Watch Train Station
Train ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 10
A train ride to another place in the park showing a bit of behind the scenes.
DJ grade: C+
Kelley grade: C

Affection Section
Petting zoo
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 0
Goats and pigs, but "exotic" animals were advertised - very disappointing.
DJ grade: D
Kelley grade: C

Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition
Safari
Fast Pass: Yes
Wait: 10
A ride in a bus through a virtual African safari with lots of animals around to see
DJ grade: A
Kelley grade: A+

Festival of the Lion King
Live musical show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 30
A Lion King story done to music and dance with elobate costumes
DJ grade: A
Kelley grade: A+

Birds in Flight
Bird show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 30
Bird doing tricks and stuff - very cool
DJ grade: A
Kelley grade: A+

Expedition Everest
Rollercoaster
Fast Pass: Yes
Wait: 10
Adventure roller coaster that goes through a cave and changes directions
DJ grade: A-
Kelley grade: N/A

Finding Nemo - the Musical
Live musical show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 30
The Finding Nemo story done to music and dance with elobate costumes - fish on sticks!
DJ grade: A-
Kelley grade: B

Dinosaur
Bumpy jeep ride
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 15
Ride through the dark searching for dinosaurs
DJ grade: B+
Kelley grade: A

Primeval Whirl
twirling roller coaster
Fast Pass: Yes
Wait: 10
Slow coaster that rotates the car as you go
DJ grade: C
Kelley grade: C+

It's Tough to be a Bug
4D animated show
Fast Pass: No
Wait: 20
Bug's life characters telling us it is hard to be a bug
DJ grade: B
Kelley grade: B