BIG: Finding BIG At Walt Disney World

When it comes to vacations, there is not doubt that Walt Disney World is a home away from home for the mil10s.  If you are looking for something BIG, you will find it there.

You can shop at BIG Al's in Frontierland, or stop and see a performance by BIG Al at the Country Bear Jamboree.  If you are looking to appease your appetite, you could stop by BIG River Grille & Brewing Works at Disney's BoardWalk Inn.  If you are looking for more thrilling adventures take a ride on BIG Thunder Mountain Railroad (shown above).

But more than all of that, Walt Disney World is known for its BIG fun.  Below are pictures from 2009 that feature something BIG.

A BIG display: The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights includes 5 million lights, 32 miles of extension cables, 66 snow machines, 100 gallons of snow fluid a night, and 43 hidden Mickeys.

EK prepares to open wide to eat the BIG lollipop.

 

Our newest favorite ride - Toy Story Mania!  Look at those BIG toys in the background.

EK is standing amidst a BIG family sculpture made of Legos.

Look how BIG Goofy looks next to us!

BIG: Baseball and Sunsets

Today was the first day of practice for EK and his baseball team.  We are fortunate to have a very good coach and a team of involved parents.  At one point there were ten players on the field practicing at various stations and we counted ten adults that were out there helping them.  Yes, we counted them because we could see them from the bleachers.  I am glad we have so many parents with better athletic talents that can use them to teach the sport to children!  Go White Sox!

The sun was starting to set before practice ended and it gave me an idea.  I think the chorus from Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress is fitting for tonight and for this month's theme.

There's a great BIG beautiful tomorrow

Shining at the end of ev'ryday

There's a great BIG beautiful tomorrow

And tomorrow's just a dream away

Winter Summerland

The mil10s love putt putt. Today we started at Animal Kingdom for a character breakfast and several rides, then we were on the move to play mini golf at Winter Summerland. It was themed to Christmas. How appropriate! Here are the standings:

1. JMM
2. Grams
3. Edie
4. EK
5. Modie

After the game we waited at the bus stop on a bench for the bus to Epcot. All of a sudden we noticed EK was on the ground! We don't know what happened--neither does he. Somehow he managed to hit his head on one of the benches. Now on to Epcot to catch the monorail to the Magic Kingdom!

Help Me Hold On

Grams holds on for dear life while riding the monorail!

Happy Birthday

EK is decked out in his birthday gear. He has his "it's my birthday" Mickey ears, a "I'm celebrating my birthday" button, and a "these are my kind of birthday candles" pirate t-shirt. Off to breakfast and then the Magic Kingdom!

Birthday Balloons

It was a full day at Disney's Hollywood Studios. EK was the very first person of the day in line for The Tower of Terror. He, Grams, and mr. and mrs. mil10 had front row seats! When we rode The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, EK told Edie that he "almost fell out."

It was a rainy day. Despite all of the slippery conditions, EK was the only one that fell down. He was goofing around saying that he wouldn't fall--then he fell.

We finished the night with The Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights and two trips on Star Tours (the ride that EK was the most excited about the whole day).

When we returned to our hotel, EK was surprised with two, yes two, sets of birthday balloons. One was from us and one from Shannon, our travel agent.

It was a good day!

Lights, Camera, Action

Mr. DeMille, they are ready for their close up! Waiting for Disney's Hollywood Studios to open.

A Fun Day Ahead

After a good night of rest, we are ready for a great day.  We are off to Disney's Hollywood Studios.  The weatherman says we have an 80% chance of rain today.  Yes, we will get wet!  That's ok.  It is bound to happen when in Florida.  

Despite the showers, it shouldn't slow us down too much.

A Pirate's Life for Me

Welcome to the Caribbean Beach Resort. We have already been swimming and now we have been to our room. We are sleeping in pirate style! Ship beds (with treasure printed bedspreads), wood planked carpeting, cargo crate chest of drawers, and a bathroom with pirate ship wall art and shower curtain. The ice box and nightstand look like barrels. Wall art features Captain Jack Sparrow in the attraction Pirate's of the Caribbean.

Safe Arrival

The travelers have landed in Orlando! We all look Zazzle-licious in our shirts ordered for the big event. Now on to Walt Disney World.

Joy to the Small World

The mil10s are very excited about their upcoming trip!  Enjoy this little video from Disney Parks.



If you can look past the fact that children from around the world are flying around the world in a ship, casting pixie dust and sparkling lights on all of the buildings below, you will see that they have ended up in a park made up of the castle from Florida's Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and "it's a small world" and Main Street, USA from California's Disneyland all rolled into the same park.  Artistic license, right?

One of the fun things about going to WDW now is that the parks, like our home, will already be decorated for Christmas!  We can't wait.

Happy Birthday, WDW!

Thirty-eight years ago, on October 1, 1971, Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom opened to the public. There was only one theme park and only two resorts on property then. The price of admission to the Magic Kingdom was only $4.95!

Today I post a video from the Disney Parks Blog.  "“A Day at the Magic Kingdom Park” is a never-before-seen look at the park in miniature scale. The video is created from a series of photos snapped inside the Magic Kingdom Park. And the trick is tilt-shift photography."  Enjoy! Pass the birthday cake!

Boom de ah dah

I Love the World, also known as I Love the Whole World, is an advertising campaign launched by Discovery Channel in 2008 in promotion of their new tagline: "The World is Just... Awesome". The song used in the ad is a re-writing of a traditional camping song known as I Love the Mountains or I Love the Flowers, depending on the lyrics, with a distinctive chorus of "boom-de-ah-dah, boom-de-ah-dah". [source] It is just a fun song redone here with visuals from WDW.

"I'm Going To Disney World!"

Everyone knows we cannot wait until our next Walt Disney World vacation. We even have a graphic on the side of the blog showing how much of our wait for this year's trip is complete. WDW is a destination that our family always enjoys and has given us many great experiences and memories over the years. However, we are not the only ones that enjoy being there. Every year at about this time, someone will proclaim, "I'm going to Disney World!" Let's look back at everyone that has proclaimed that now famous phrase.

A Look Back at "I'm Going To Disney World!"

First Spot: Super Bowl XXI (Phil Simms, New York Giants)
Number of Spots Since Inception: 40

Chronology of "I'm going to Disney World" Spots:

2009 - Super Bowl XLIII (Santonio Holmes and Ben Roethlisberger, Pittsburgh Steelers)

2008 - Super Bowl XLII (Eli Manning, New York Giants); American Idol (David Cook, Singer)

2007 - Super Bowl XLI (Tony Dungy and Dominic Rhodes, Indianapolis Colts)

2006 - Super Bowl XL (Hines Ward, with Jerome Bettis, Pittsburgh Steelers)

2004 - Super Bowl XXXVIII (Tom Brady, New England Patriots); Major League Baseball World Series Champions (Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox)

2003 - Super Bowl XXXVII (Jon Gruden and Brad Johnson, Tampa Bay Buccaneers)

2002 - Super Bowl XXXVI (Tom Brady, New England Patriots)

2001 - Super Bowl XXXV (Trent Dilfer, Baltimore Ravens); Major League Baseball home run record (Barry Bonds, San Francisco Giants)

2000 - Super Bowl XXXIV (Kurt Warner, St. Louis Rams)

1999 - Super Bowl XXXIII (Terrell Davis and John Elway, Denver Broncos); Women's World Cup (United States Championship Team)

1998 - Super Bowl XXXII (John Elway, Denver Broncos); Major League Baseball home run record (Mark McGwire, St. Louis Cardinals)

1997 - Super Bowl XXXI (Desmond Howard, Green Bay Packers); Holiday Gift-Giving (Santa Claus)

1996 - Super Bowl XXX (Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys)

1995 - Super Bowl XXIX (Jerry Rice and Steve Young, San Francisco 49ers)

1994 - Super Bowl XXVIII (Emmitt Smith, Dallas Cowboys); Winter Games XVII (Nancy Kerrigan, U.S. Figure Skater)

1993 - Super Bowl XXVII (Troy Aikman, Dallas Cowboys); Stanley Cup (Patrick Roy, Montreal Canadiens)

1992 - Super Bowl XXVI (Mark Rypien, Washington Redskins)

1991 - Super Bowl XXV (Ottis Anderson, N.Y. Giants); NBA (Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls)

1990 - Super Bowl XXIV (Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers); Graduation (Jim Thompson of Temple University, and Matt Kaldenberg, Phyllis Kaldenberg and Laura McEwen of Simpson College)

1989 - Super Bowl XXIII (Joe Montana, San Francisco 49ers); NHL (Al MacInnis, Calgary Flames); NBA (Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons)

1988 - Super Bowl XXII (Doug Williams, Washington Redskins); Miss America (Gretchen Carlson); World Series (Orel Hershiser, L.A. Dodgers); NBA (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, L.A. Lakers)

1987 - Super Bowl XXI (Phil Simms, N.Y. Giants); America’s Cup (Dennis Conner); NBA (Magic Johnson, L.A. Lakers); World Series (Frank Viola, Minnesota Twins)

The Super Bowl has been the catalyst for the most "I'm going to Disney World" spots (22).

There have been four "I'm going to Disney World" repeaters: Joe Montana (1989 and 1990), Emmitt Smith (1994 and 1996), John Elway (1998 and 1999) and Tom Brady (2002 and 2004).

"I'm going to Disney World" spots immediately following the Super Bowl have featured non-Super Bowl MVPs eight times: 1989, 1995 (shared), 1996, 1998, 1999 (shared), 2001, 2003 and 2007. *

I don't know what happened in 2005. Wikipedia says Disney decided to opt out because "the company's advertising efforts were focused instead on its global Happiest Celebration on Earth event in honor of the 50th anniversary of Disneyland."

Was it a bad year for visiting WDW? I don't think so. We were there!