The Shirey Family Blog - Michael, Joanna and Lincoln

Cane Bay Egg Drop

The Cane Bay Egg Drop was today. They had thousands of eggs on multiple fields for the different age groups. The helicopter dropped another large batch plus parachuting cows or bears (didn't see one up close but they were from chick fil a). There were free jump castles and each registered child got a free snack and hot dog if the wanted. Lincoln opted for the snow cone. After collecting eggs (which were empty) the kids had to trade them in for their treat bag. We all had fun... Well Lincoln and I did. Michael volunteered so he was working the event. Not sure if that qualifies as fun.

Vacation - Final Notes

We shopped at Downtown Disney before we left today. Lincoln MUST visit the Lego store before we go home. It is currently being renovated so they are set up in a huge yellow climate controlled tent. Woody made from legos was really cool.

We are driving home now. How come the drive home is so painful and long?

We had a great vacation but there were a few days of hot and humid I could have lived without. I think I like vacationing in December to see the parks... Maybe we should spend more time in the pools / water parks (when Lincoln is ready) in the spring and fall.

Lincoln says vacation wasn't long enough... I agree. It feels like we just got there yesterday. We don't go back for 6 months or so and that feels like an eternity.

We liked the Bay lake Towers but I didn't like it enough to make it a "must do". Yes, access to the monorail was great but other than that, it was just OK. Caribbean Beach is really nice. The main pool area is fun and the resort is really pretty. The food options at the main eating area are pretty good too. We missed that at bay Lake... The counter service was at the Contemporary and the options weren't as plentiful. Wilderness lodge and Animal kingdom Lodge still hold the top spots with me.

The parks were not nearly as crowded as I expected but we did notice an increase starting on Friday. One of the Cast Members told us be thankful we were leaving today as the bus loads of spring breakers, etc were starting to arrive.

Flower and Garden at Epcot was beautiful as always. It was nice to see a few new topiaries and we love the butterfly house. We never made it over to the Tinkerbell area so I can't comment on that piece. We are appreciative of the playground areas they set up during the festival. I wish they would put them in more shady areas - there was no shade at the one we went to - and I wish they would leave them up all year. EPCOT is a lot of grown up stuff for the little ones and Lincoln loves to run/climb off some of his extra energy in there.

I guess that's about it for this time. Talk to you all again soon.

Last Full Vacation Day

Saturday was our last full day of vacation... How very sad.

We spent the morning at the pool so Lincoln could go down the slide over and over and over again.

After pool time we got cleaned up and all went over to Hollywood Studios. We walked through the Art of Disney store... I love that place... And then went to see Disney Junior live on Stage. Mickey and friends along with Handy Manny, little Einsteins and most importantly Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

We then watched the Pixar Parade. Loved seeing all the characters from Toy Story, Up, Monsters Inc, etc.

Daddy, Lincoln and Grandad then went back to the hotel for more swimming. I hear Lincoln went down the slide over and over for an hour and a half. It was shopping at Downtown Disney for me and Grandma.

We head home tomorrow (which is actually today as I write this). See everyone soon!

Vacation Day 7

A VERY hit and humid day at Animal Kingdom today.

The otters are gone. Lincoln was sad.

We took the train out to Conservation Station. Lincoln and Michael watched a talk on snakes. Mom, Dad and I watched the end of a Porcupine's annual physical. We then went and pet (actually brushed) the goats and sheep and then rode the train back to Africa.

We had a pretty good safari. Lots of animals out and about. We actually saw both black and white rhino today (5-6 white rhino) and the cheetahs were awake and visible (a rare sight).

On to Flights of Wonder bird show. A couple of new birds so it was a nice change. The 3 month old South American Condor was amazing.

Michael and I then braved Everest while Lincoln, Grandma and Grandad went to spot tigers, bats and other animals.

Jammin' Jungle Parade was next. Always a fun time with great music and floats.

Dinner at Yak and Yeti - yum!

Pool time and off to bed here shortly.

Vacation Day 6

We spent today at EPCOT after a very slow start. Lincoln slept until almost 9 and then we had a terrible waiting for the his morning (waited over 30 mins and saw no less than 6 MK and 4 AK buses). Anyway, it was almost Noon and already quite warm by the time we got there.

Somehow we ended up at the Piggy Game (no surprise there), and then we went to ride the "vegetable boat ride" at the Land. It is amazing how large they can get fruits and veggies to grow. Have you ever seen a tomato tree... How about a cucumber tree or a pumpkin tree?

From there we went to play in the jumping water fountains in front of Imagination/Captain Eo. Always a lot of fun for Daddy and Lincoln. We stopped at the butterfly house as well so Lincoln could try to convince a butterfly to land on him... No success.

A tour around the world followed to look at all the flowers and topiaries. We stopped for lunch in England for fish and chips and while there mom and I shopped for Royal Wedding stuff. We then looked at the koi in Japan, stood for the national anthem and pledge of allegiance in the US, spotted trains in Germany, played drums in Africa and had a snack in Norway. Quite the busy day.

Back to the hotel for some pool time. Lincoln is getting a little braver... He went down a bigger slide and is finally trying to hold his breath and put his save in the water.

A quick dinner at the food court and off to bed. We needed an "early" night.

Vacation Day 5 - Magic Kingdom mostly

We spent the day at Magic Kingdom today... Well most of the day. Lincoln spent the morning with Grandma and Grandad riding Pooh and watching the Castle show. Michael and I packed and changed hotels... Not as much fun.

Lunch was the usual hot dogs from Casey's. They've changed the buns to these monster bread boats... Weird. They've also added some specialty hot dogs and nachos to the menu since out last visit but I stuck with a trusty staple... Corn dog nuggets. Michael had the Chicago dog... He said it was OK. The weather was better today (less hot and humid) so we sat down by the water to eat.

From there, I took Mom to Tea at the Grand Floridian via boat. It was a really nice ride... Anything is better than the odd recirculated air on the monorails. The Garden View lounge is a beautiful place with real china and wonderful tea sandwiches, scones and desserts. While we were there the boys returned to the hotel for pool time and nap.

We all met back at MK where we watched the Castle show again. The boys had dinner at Cosmic Rays and then guess what... Lincoln had to go drive a car at the Speedway. Between that and the Piggy Game I might go crazy.

After trying to pull the sword from the stone (yes, you can give it a shot right behind the Castle) we went to see Mickeys Philharmagic (spelling may be off a bit). A fun 4D movie but I'm not sure Lincoln was crazy about it. A few too many things flying in his face I think.

So if you know the park then you know the direction we are walking and so you know what comes next. Yep, It's a Small World after all... Let's all sing along folks!

Back to the front of the park for ice cream and the Main Street Electrical parade.. That music will be in MY head for weeks. It sticks worse than Small World for me.

That's all for today... Doesn't sound like much but it was another fun day.

Vacation Day 4 continued

We spent the end of Tuesday at EPCOT with Grandma and Grandad.

It was our first look at the Flower and Garden festival. The topiaries seen so far are great... Woody, Buzz, Bambi and crew, and Mickey and the Gang.

We walked through the butterfly garden and much to lincoln's disappointment no butterflies landed in him. Lincoln also got to play in one of the playgrounds. We played the Piggy Game once and visited with Nemo and friends.

The humidity was out in full force so it was no surprise it rained... Buckets for about 15 minutes and then it was done.

Dinner was counter service Mexican and then Lincoln and Grandad had ice cream for dessert.

Two monorail rides later we are back in our room.

We change hotels tomorrow and have a full day at Magic Kingdom planned... Stay tuned.

Day 4 part 1

Went to Hollywood Studios this morning. But let me back up a bit and tell you about the obnoxious woman at the bus stop.

The contemporary bus stop is a free for all. No separate areas for the different parks, the buses all just pull up to the one loading area. They are always well marked and there are often two there at a time. If they are loading the doors are open. So along comes this family. They walk right past the Animal kingdom bus with his doors open and walk to the far end where the Downtown Disney bus was stopped with his doors open. DD bus leaves and AK bus pulls up a bit waiting to see if anyone approaches, no one does so he pulls away. At that point the woman starts whistling at the bus (they don't stop once they pull away or they would never get anywhere). So he doesn't stop and she starts fussing about how dare he. Her son says but mom, he had the doors open back there. She said so what. Husband agreed with son that they should have boarded earlier or stepped up when he pulled forward. She told him that didn't matter. All I could say was WOW... Anyway, we found it all quite funny.

Back to Studios... We had a 20 minute wait go Toy Story Mania which is unheard of (usually over a 60 minute wait). It was fun (and I won in case you are curious). From there we Sid the Backlot Tour... A first for Lincoln. He liked riding the tram... Not so sure he liked the canyon scene. Off to the Honey I Shrunk the kids playground. Lincoln climbed the web and played on one of the slides but the big slides are closed for refurb. We grabbed a quick, and only OK, bite at the ABC Commissary. Best part about eating there is the TV clips... Modern Family is hilarious.

On the monorail now... The TTC bus showed up before the Contemporary bus.

Stay tuned.. We're heading back for pool and nap time. Will be back in the parks later.

Vacation Day 3 - Sea World

Long hot day at Sea World but we managed to have fun anyway.

We started the day with Shamu. It is weird not seeing the trainers in the water with the whales. I still live the show, it just isn't the same. You don't get to see the connection. I was glad to see Tilly back in action at the end. His trainer seemed super happy with his performance. And I love to see people get soaked.

We also watched the dolphin show and the Clyde and Seamore show (pirate theme so Lincoln loved it).

Lincoln fed the dolphins, stingrays and sea lions... And some of the birds that kept stealing the fish. I have better pictures but of course they are on the camera and not this phone.

We ended the day back in the (cold) pool here at the hotel. It was refreshing and Lincoln had a good time so I guess that is all that matters.

Grandma and grandad should get here tomorrow along with our first bit of bad weather. But I think the storms are supposed to bring some slightly cooler weather so that's a good thing.

Thanks for reading...

Vacation Day 2 (cont.)

I forgot to mention that before dinner (and after nap, yes Lincoln took one), we rode the boat over to Fort Wilderness, Wilderness Lodge and back to Contemporary to kill some time. We also did the resort loop on the monorail and then enjoyed some drinks in the lounge beside Chef Mickeys.

We went to Magic Kingdom after supper and I was pleasantly surprised by how not crowded it was (the monorails have been packed). We managed to ride the carousel, drive the race cars (Tomorrowland Speedway) and ride/play Buzz Lightyear in under an hour.

For those of you that are frequent visitors or are aware of all the construction going on in Fantasyland, I was impressed with how much progress they have made. Buildings are taking shape and you can actually make out what things are supposed to be.

Stay tuned... I think we are going to Sea World tomorrow. High temp expected to be 92ish... Yikes!