National Lampoons Aussie Vacation - 12/12/16 to 25/1/17 Universal - 40+ Days at Disney World

[Sinders99]

Loved reading your review of the Star Wars day!! It wasn't available when we went but we would have loved it!! I love those Star Wars ears too!! We tried to find some during our trip but they were sold out everywhere Oh well, something we'll have to get on our next trip!! Love that you guys had enough time for downtime on your trip. We're definitely going to try and schedule some nothing days to relax on our next trip!!

 

[CdnCarrie]

Loving the report! I was surprised that you were finding Florida in December hot? I thought Australia would be way hotter.

Right from the beginning I was thinking "why don't they just rent a car?" LOL.
Sorry about getting sick. That sucked.

 

[wsssup]

Loving the report! I was surprised that you were finding Florida in December hot? I thought Australia would be way hotter.

Right from the beginning I was thinking "why don't they just rent a car?" LOL.
Sorry about getting sick. That sucked.

It does get hot here, and December to March is our hottest time in Melbourne. The difference is Florida is very Humid, in Melbourne its just hot and you step outside and you burn. Plus we left before any hot weather here so we had not seen sunshine for awhile. It took us awhile to figure out getting a car but glad we did.

 

[wsssup]

DAY 36 - 16TH JAN : GO WITH THE FLOW DAY PART 1

Ok, lets hope this time this post goes through.

Another day was upon us, day 36. Wow what a holiday we have had. There was though a little voice in the back of our heads letting us know it would be over soon. But lets not worry about that at this stage. We were dressed and ready to go pretty early, what were we to do today? There was no plan for today at all, no fastpass+ reserved , nothing. We were just going to go with the flow today and see what happens. So with us all ready to go we headed to the car. Away we went on our way to somewhere for some random fun.

That somewhere would be Animal Kingdom. We really enjoyed our Christmas day here and we had been neglecting this park, so lets get in and give it some love. Crowds were not too bad at this time of morning, and the weather was fantastic again. Through security again no problems, and off towards the Annual Pass entrance. The Annual pass entrance was a time saver at all the parks, we always just walked right through which was great.

We did not have to walk far before finally seeing the Tree Lady. India was amazed by seeing this. She did not really do much, and the crowd started getting bigger in this area just to see her. It was cool to see but lets get moving i thought before being crushed by everyone pushing in to get a picture.
We headed off and back down towards the Tree of Life.

Such an awesome looking Tree. We had not really looked in the shops around this area so in we went to check out anything we may have missed. We had not really purchased anything from Animal Kingdom, and after going through all the shops we still had not found anything. The clothing was just really bad, and yes once again the Mens wear was pretty boring. With our shopping quest in this are done we continued on to see what we could find.
We did not get very far when we saw a few characters out we thought were not at the parks anymore. Yes we had to get in line for this one for sure.

Good old Russel and Dug. I was surprised to see Dug out and about. Before we left I had read that Dug was not going to be at Animal Kingdom anymore, so seeing him was awesome. We are all big fans of UP, and the line was very short for this meet. It was our turn almost, we had to wait for 5 or so minutes while they did a Character swap. The CM in the line was pretty funny, and kept everyone entertained. He found out we were from Australia and started telling us some facts, that were totally wrong. He was a good sport though. It was our turn to meet the dynamic duo.

Dug saw India and ran to give her a big hug. Hi nearly knocked her over he was so excited. I walked up to Russel and gave him a high five. I commented on how awesome his badges are and he must get all the ladies. He nodded his head and gave another high five. India was still being squashed in a dog hug with Dug. She started scratching his belly and his leg went crazy. Bec walked up to Dug next and then she go knocked over nearly haha.

He really took her by surprise and nearly knocked her phone out of her hand. The Dug and Russel took a liking to the BB8 backpack. They just kept playing with it, i think the photopass and CM people were getting annoyed haha.

We got some more happy snaps, and said thanks to Dug and Russel and went to wave good bye. As we walked off they kept following us. The CM had told them we were from Australia, and Dug was very excited still. I said do you guys want to come home with us, plenty of places to run around for Dug and lovely places for Russel to explore. They both nodded and we all laughed and walked off, with them walking out with us. They stopped before really getting out of the meet area so we said good bye again and we would be back later to pick them up. What an awesome meet, totally not planned at all and we had a great interaction with them both. Such a great way to start the morning. I logged into the Disney App to see if we could get a Fastpass for anything. With a fastpass booked for everyone we first needed a quick drink.

We had our own drinks with us. This had been a big money saver for us for sure. All we needed was a cup of ice. Sometimes asking for a cup of ice made people grumpy. It is free and they all know it, but some people behind the counter make this funny sigh face of oh great. Haha, we did not worry about this and always said thank you. I know Animal Kingdom is eco friendly, but the straws here are like putting a toilet roll in your mouth. They literally dissolve in your mouth when you drink through them and add a cardboard paper taste to your drink.

Our fastpass+ was ready to go. Our destination? Dinoland. There was one ride here we were kind of interested in doing, and we had not done it as yet. I did want Dinosaur but the ride was down and a massive amount of people were waiting for it to be opened again. We were heading over to Primeval Whirl.

Even this ride had a large crowd. People were starting to roll in to the park. With a tap of the magic band we were in ready for action. India was excited, as this is pretty much the same track layout as Goofy's Sky School in California Adventure. But has the added spinning at the end. This was something Bec and I were not looking forward to, but India was wanting to ride this so it was time for us to take one for the team. Even watching people get loaded in the carts looked awkward. Our time to embark on this crazy ride was ready. In we jumped and off we went. The first half I was Ok with, yeh it was a little rough on the turns but this was just Goofy's Sky School to me. Then it got to the spinning part. Oh dear, get me off this thing. India was laughing, Bec was not. And either was I hahaha, it was getting rough and Bec had knocked her arm hard on the bar holding her in. Please just end, but we just kept spinning, with India still loving every minute of it. Finally we came to a crashing stop. Even that hurt, please get me out of this thing.

As we walked out of the ride, India wanted to go on it again and again. Bec and I were toast, that one really hurt. Never would I go back on that one that's for sure. We needed to have a break after that experience. Time for some more exploring. We headed out of Dinoland and just walked around enjoying the park once more. Finding shops we had not seen before and slowly browsing through them all.

Hmmm, lets see what the Jungle Trek is like. In we went......and out we came pretty quick. This was pretty boring, and no animals were out really. After seeing how sad the Tiger looked I wanted out. It really is not open range here, and the enclosures are pretty poor. Sorry Disney but I was not enjoying this at all. India was a little sad after seeing the Tiger so best for us to move along.

We were in the Everest area and Bec wanted to ride this one again. India and I took a rest in the Rivers of light seating section. Before we could even open our drinks Bec was back. It was going to be a no go on that one she said. We walked out past Everest and the line was chaos. All of them packed. The fastpass line was stretched all the way over the bridge. There was no way Bec was going to line up. The weather was heating up a fair bit and we were all looking tired already. All of us agreed to pack it in and head back to Pop for some relaxing and swimming. We had a great morning here but I think we were done with Animal Kingdom.

NEXT : PART 2

 

[wsssup]

DAY 36 - 16TH JAN : GO WITH THE FLOW DAY PART 2

So after a relaxing day of fun at Pop, with plenty of swimming involved we all had an afternoon nanny nap. Ah gotta love those nanny naps. Something strange happened after our short nanny nap. We were all pumped up and full of energy. What does one do when they have all this energy? Where could we possibly go to release some of this and have fun?

Yes the wonderful Magic Kingdom. We are back again, with the no plan idea in effect still, this was going to be more go with the flow. We rolled up to the parking entrance and it was pretty empty. The friendly CM waved us through and said to have a wonderful evening. Our park was fairly close to the Ticket Centre, it was pretty quiet for Magic Kingdom. Kind of felt like a ghost town. Off to the Ferry we headed. There was no waiting or pushing through crowds for this one. Just a peaceful cruise over to the Magic Kingdom. Oh it looks so great at night as you get closer and closer to the fun.

We arrived on the magic land of Magic Kingdom, through security no problems. Out of all the parks Magic Kingdom did seem to have the best and friendliest security. I checked my app and set up a few fastpass+. We had a few to burn, and the crowds were very low. So where too first. We headed towards the back back of the park and started off with Big Thunder. We all love this ride, and we were able to ride it a few times. We were having camera issues as phones were flat so not many pictures were taken. It was more about having some fun and riding some rides. Next off to good old Splash Mountain in the Dark. Yipee.

This looked awesome at night as your about to go down the drop. Nothing better than seeing the Castle all lit up, then all of a sudden you find yourself screaming.

Again we were able to ride this a few times, at the request of India. Well to keep her happy Bec and I were happy to ride this one again. We used our fastpass+ for it, even though it was not really needed as the lines were extremely short, not even a 5 minute wait.
While in the area we thought why not get on Pirates again. Not our favourite I know, but it was a walk on and we were in sit down and relax boat ride mode.
Again we were still disappointed by this ride, it is so short. Still it's a classic staple of Disney so it was still a must for us. We headed back towards Haunted Mansion. My favourite attraction by far. I could sit on this all day and night. No one was around at all, it allowed us to enjoy the line queue a bit more, checking out all it has to offer. There was probably only 8 people in the sunken room. It was just a complete ghost town. More fun for us though. Such a wonderful ride, we headed into Memento Mori after for some shopping. We needed to get those picture frames and a few other items. Bec organised for them to be sent to Pop which would take a few days but saved us carrying anything around.

It was time to finally get on the Mountain, Space Mountain. Many times we had gone to ride this one and it was always down. Not tonight, it was all gates open, and no one in site. We did not even bother using our fastpass+, as the wait time was 5 minutes. In we went. Already I was pretty impressed with the theme inside. Much better than Disneyland. But then i found myself just walking, and walking, followed by some walking. Ok maybe around this corner will be the ride. Ummm no. More walking. There was no way i could wait in line for this one. It just went on and on and on. Finally we got to the loading area. No one was in sight so it was a walk on, but with all the walking it felt like 5 minutes had gone by. We loaded up into our little shuttle, and away we went.
The photo was taken, which is weird on this version, at the start of the ride when your not really doing anything. Into the darkness we went and we were away.

All i remember was a dark blurry loud room. This thing is rough as guts and is pretty far behind from Disneylands version. It had some nice drops in it, but it just felt like a messy dark coaster. At least at Disneyland you actually see the stars better, and the music is coming out the speakers in your seat. This one really hurt my back a fair bit. Even Bec was shook up by this one and she is the coaster Queen. She did not like it much at all. As for India, well yes she loved it hahaha. Lets go on it again she said. Maybe another night I said, daddy and mummy are hurting again.

We finished off the evening with a bit of shopping, checking out main street and all its goodies. The park was closing soon, and we had another glorious day and evening. Still could not get over how empty the place was. Even as we walked to the car park it was like a ghost town.

India was dancing the whole way to the car. She had plenty of room to do it haha. What was tomorrow going to bring us. Our time was slowly coming to an end but we still had a few more days of fun to go.

 

[wsssup]

DAY 37 - 17TH JAN : DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS

It was only a matter of time I guess. We had all been feeling okay for awhile now, but upon waking on this morning it was back. Yes our colds had come back with a vengeance again. All 3 of us were just wrecked. Time for medicine again. And well lots of sleep. And sleep we did.

This was the position we all took for pretty much the whole day. We had a pretty basic small lunch but none of us really felt like eating. Just kept the fluids up and rested. Yes a very uneventful day indeed. Our bodies just needed to shut down for a day. We still had some big day's ahead of us, and sick or not sick nothing was going to stop us having our fun.

Before we knew it, night was approaching. We had a big day planned for tomorrow so off to bed again for a good nights sleep.

 

[Sinders99]

Every time we've gone to the US we seem to get sick too!! I think it's all the stress that long haul air travel puts on your body. Bummer it stole so many days from you but at least you had the luxury of time.

 

[bcwife76]

Catching up as I've been away. Aww bless, the colds came back Well crossing my fingers that day of sleep for you all made a world of difference!

 

[elcmum]

DAY 32 - 12TH JAN : THE DARKSIDE

They were having a good time with the bag. I think the one who took the bag was trying to say, where do I get one of these, and look how awesome it is. Their antics went on for a fair while, some people looked frustrated as they were not getting any attention but I wasn't one to ruin their fun. People were trying to trade with them but they were fixated on the bag still. Finally after a good 5 minutes they handed the bag back. But these little guys were not done yet by a long shot. Bec was their next target and well you know what happens next.

I love the bag interaction! That is so cool. I wouldn't have even given a thought to other people being jealous --- it's their darn rotten luck they weren't cool enough to have something as cool!

DAY 34 - 14TH JAN : STAR WARS GUIDED TOUR PART 2]

India was presented with a cool Jedi Training badge. Oh i was so proud of her, haha. Our tour group all met up again after the Jedi training. India was pumped and said she had a blast. Of course Mummy and Daddy were hounding her with questions, What was it like? Was Darth Vader big ? hahaha, it was like Bec and I were little kids wanting to know how it felt. Ah yes living the dream through our child. With Jedi Training done the tours next stop was going to be Star Tours. First though a quick toilet break was in order, then we made our way over to Star Tours. We were first led underneath the AT-AT in the little Ewok area. A little bit of Star Wars information was shared here.

I love the questions you guys asked her. HAH! Total parent moment. I reckon this will measure up there with the memories of graduation.

And I am FINALLY caught up! Stupid life stole me away for a month. I'm bummed that your trip report is going to end, though. When is the next trip?

 

[wsssup]

Every time we've gone to the US we seem to get sick too!! I think it's all the stress that long haul air travel puts on your body. Bummer it stole so many days from you but at least you had the luxury of time.

We were fine in Los Angeles, but that was a short visit to Disneyland. The long haul flight can take it out of you. We still powered on as best we could, even on the day's doing not much we still loved being in Orlando.

Catching up as I've been away. Aww bless, the colds came back Well crossing my fingers that day of sleep for you all made a world of difference!

Yes those bloody colds, hahaha. They stay for the remainder of the trip... but we still had a ton of fun

I love the bag interaction! That is so cool. I wouldn't have even given a thought to other people being jealous --- it's their darn rotten luck they weren't cool enough to have something as cool!

Haha, we would walk off and they would still follow us.

I love the questions you guys asked her. HAH! Total parent moment. I reckon this will measure up there with the memories of graduation.

And I am FINALLY caught up! Stupid life stole me away for a month. I'm bummed that your trip report is going to end, though. When is the next trip?

More like nerd out questions, hahaha. Oh we were like kids asking another excited kid.
Life does take over.... gotta get back into the report. Still some fun that was had for the last few days. The next trip wont happen until Star Wars land is up and running at Disneyland. Will be back there for sure, Orlando is just too darn far.

 

[wsssup]

DAY 38 - 18TH JAN : ONE MORE ROUND OF STAR WARS PART 1

Ahh, we were back again. Yes the sickness was still around, but we were up early and off to our favourite place. Hollywood Studio's. We were all dressed and ready for an amazing day. It was pretty quiet before lunch, and our plan was to stay until stumps. We had booked the desert party, as we wanted to see the fireworks again, as well as get some of those delicious goodies.

We were able to get a few pics finally at the entrance. The photopass guys was pretty cool and took a ton of pictures. He loved the bags as well. Yes we love Star Wars. The sun was out yet again, what a lovely day it was already. We headed up towards the Star Wars stage and the Stormtroopers were out already.

There really was no one around for them to annoy or pick on. They actually looked a little lost and lonely. Hahaha. Ah well we would have plenty of time with them later on it would turn out. For now we were going to split up again. India and I were off to the Great Movie Ride and then Toy Story, while the lovely Wife was off on her daredevil Tower of Terror and Rockn Rollercoaster.

Bec had a great old time on the tower of Terror. Love the picture with her BB8 Bag riding along as well. Oh i get a sore tummy just looking at that pic.
Meanwhile India and I were on good old Great movie ride. Oh this was painful again. The guide looked like he had just woken up, and it was pure pain going through this again. Even half way India said this ride is bad. We would fix that with a spin on Toy Story. When we got there though there was something wrong with the ride and the line was massive. Time to skip this one and worry about it later.

We headed down towards Rock n Roller coaster to meet Mummy.

Mum was having a great old time. We hung about and waited for her fun times to end. She came out smiling again, Bec really loved those rides. We were all a bit thirsty now, and we were in the perfect spot for some frozen drinks. Mmmm, Jim beam and coke for us parents, and a frozen coke for India. Very delicious, and boy was it hot again already.

This was a short post..... more is coming

 

[wsssup]

DAY 38 - 18TH JAN : ONE MORE ROUND OF STAR WARS PART 2

After grabbing our drinks we sat down to relax for a little bit. It still was not very crowded at all. After our short rest we headed over to Planet Hollywood. We had not checked out the store before so we had a good look around. Nothing too exciting in here, although the display items were pretty cool.

And we had to check out all the Snow White stuff as well. Bec could stare at his all day haha.

We all got excited seeing the Almanac from Back to the future. If only we could take it home.

It was getting a little crowded in Planet Hollywood, and we couldn't find anything worth purchasing so it was time to move on. We headed over to Launch Bay to have a look around. There were a few more little toys we all wanted to purchase. Ah I could just live in this place, pull up a chair and just relax all day in Launch bay. India was in need of a little toilet break so off she went with Bec. I stood outside and waited. A few of the Characters were doing their change over, Pluto and Sophia.

Pluto was having a good old time, dancing around. Next some Stormtroopers were coming my way. They were off for a change over as well. Something funny happened though. As they walked past 2 little girls came running up to one of them with their autograph books.

They were jumping up and down so excited to see him. But the Stormtrooper was quick to point out no autographs. He was talking to them calming them down, it was pretty funny to watch. The handler finally came over to explain no autographs, the little girls were looking confused.

They still seemed happy to be talking to him. He waved goodbye and was off. The girls mother came in to get them and looked pretty angry. Guess not everyone knows they don't do autographs.
Bec and India met me out the front of Launch bay. We all headed over to Toy Story to see if it was back up and running. We were in luck and used our fastpass for it. It was a short wait which was good and we were away. Such a great ride, we all love this one. We did not score too well this time, my arms and body was sore from the sickness, so it was just a relaxing go on it this time.

After this we headed back towards the Star Wars Stage. The show was over again and the Characters were getting ready to walk back stage. Perfect time to say hello again.

Phasma was first. And India got very excited. Phasma walked right up to India and looked at her and as she walked past, and waved her cape over India.

India was blown away and so excited.

Our good buddy Kylo was next. And India loves this fella too, haha. He walked past her and stopped and turned around to stand right in front of her. She had her BB8 dress on. He stared and shook his head in disgust. India was laughing, and he walked off in a grumpy mood shaking his head.

Always good to see the gang, and with this over we took in a little bit of shopping. This was the last time we would be here so we wanted to get a good look around.

We spent an hour or so looking around. It was getting dark, and our time to check in for the Star Wars Desert Party was ready. Yes we loved it so much the other night that we wanted to do it all again. We headed over to check in. It was a quick and painless process, and before you knew it we were back in Launch Bay. We had a few friends to see first.

We headed to the Bar where the Jawa were. It was not long before they both came running over again.

They were once again up to no good. We asked if they were the Jawa we met the other day and took our bags. They both nodded and this time they were interested in India's Chewbacca bag. They were also wondering what goodies we had in the bag. Bec pulled out and showed them some dresses, a Darth Vader dress. One of them took it and used it like a rag dusting, hahaha. Then the R2D2 dress came out and they were happy. But then I found myself getting dressed by the Jawa, as they were throwing the dresses over me, clapping.

We were here for one last trade though. They loved the gold necklace, although they really wanted all of our bags. I showed them a link where they could purchase them from and both were happy. It was time for a final pick and final goodbye.

Ah what great times we had with the Jawa. Always entertaining and full of life. India was a little sad, as she knew this was the last time we would be here, she really loved the Jawa. We waved goodbye and had some hugs and headed into the desert party.

Off to grab some snacks and drinks. We found a table and it was not long before the fun began. The Stormtrooper's approached us. They surrounded India and said a security breach had been made. India was laughing again already. He was pointing to her Chewbacca Bag.
He pointed at the bag then pointed under the table.

He kept pointing to under the table. India picked up her Chewbacca bag and put it under the table.

Once it was under the table you could still see a little bit of the Chewbacca bag hanging out. So the Stormtrooper kept kicking it under the table. India was laughing so much and having a great time. This was the best encounter with them we had had.

He said thank you for your compliance and off he went. Ah so good. Sorry for the blurry pictures but they were stills taken from the video of this encounter.
They were not finished with us yet. Next was Bec's turn for some attention. Yes the old BB8 bag had gotten her in trouble.

She was in a bit of trouble. She was explaining that she was delivering BB8 to Kylo, doing their job for them. One of the Stormtroopers came over to me shaking his head. I said, its all good mate and the First Order is strong in Australia. He nodded. And they were off again.

Time for us to go meet Kylo Ren again. It was a short line and we were back in. Ah good old Kylo. This was a better meet with him. We had plenty of time in there and got more interaction with him. We were welcomed to the Darkside , ah the best side to be on.

Next it was off to see Chewbacca again.

I was greeted by a hand shake, he crushed my hand almost. Oh Chewie your much bigger than me. He looked at me as if to say cmon mate, you cant be that weak. Hugs for Bec and India, and then it was time for him to play with India's Chewbacca bag.

Once again he was having a good old time with the bag. Even the helper was getting in on the fun with the bag.

After our happy snaps it was time for us to say goodbye. We told Chewbacca to be well and that we were off back home to Australia. He let out a loud roar and walked over to the map. He was pointing wanting to know where it was in the Galaxy. He pointed where he was, so Bec pointed out where we were going back to. This was a cool little interaction.

We said our goodbye and we were back into the desert part. More drinks and snacks to be had. It was not long before our Stormtrooper friends were back, and chasing after Bec again.

They were yelling out Stop, and after the BB8 bag. Bec handed it over to them.

They took the bag and they were off. They eventually came back to Bec and asked to see her Identification. Bec pulled out her Australian Driver license.

They had a good look at it then he threw it on the floor and they walked off. We were all laughing, such a great experience we had with them all night at the Desert Party. It was time for us to go get our spot to watch the fireworks. And once again what an amazing show. It was bittersweet for us, and we were all a little sad that when it was over that was going to be it for us at Hollywood Studios. The crowd slowly started to walk out but we decided to take in the sights before leaving and just enjoy it for the last little bit.

And with that it was all over. We had made so many great memories at Hollywood Studios, memories to last for a life time. It was sad walking out but one day we would return. Off back to Pop we went for a good sleep, ready for our next day.

 

[wsssup]

DAY 39 - 19TH JAN : SUPER TARGETS

We awoke to another beautiful day in Orlando. Seriously we had been so lucky with the weather, with not much rain or chill the whole time we had been here. Compared to our Winter back home which is extremely cold and wet for months. We headed in to Pop for some Breakfast. The breakfast here was not too bad, some eggs and bacon and waffles was a good way to start the day. Bec and I were still sick but not to worry.

Today we were going to go find some loot to take home. It was time to hit up a few Super Targets to see what we could find. Off we went in our trusty little rental car. Using our Navigator we just punched in Super Target and went to the closest one first.

Passing through Seven Dwarfs street or road, haha. Bec spotted this one a mile away.

Our first stop off the day. Yes we were excited, throughout the trip we did visit alot of Walmarts but found towards the end that Super Target had heaps better goodies for us. In we went, and straight to the Toy Section. Always going to the Star Wars section. I was really wanting to get the Speeder Bike drone but no one had them, and bugga Target had none either. So we grabbed the little app powered R2D2. They were supposed to be Walmart exclusives but it was in Target. They had on sale some small metal Star Wars ship figures, so we loaded up with a fair few of these. We spent a good hour or so in here getting little things as well. The girls themselves found some nice goodies. Then Bec and I found an area we had missed before. Up the back wall near the entertainment section was Nerd Heaven. A huge wall of Funko nerd merchandise. We were drooling and looking here for ages. Bec found these awesome Snow White glass cups, and then we found the holy grail. A nice poster on wood of Revenge of the Jedi. OH MY. Yes you were coming home with us.

With that done and dusted we were off again.

To a not Super Target, just a Target. Funny though as this one was much bigger than the Super Target haha. In again we went. This time we went to the Sports section. Yes I wanted an NFL football to take home, so I could run around in my backyard with my NFL gear on looking like a clown, haha.
I found a junior size one for a good price, and it was still pretty big, to me anyway. Off to the Toy Section, oh whats this. On the end of some of the Isles was a discount section. We found Walking Dead Heaven, Cheap Metal Figures, yes grab the whole set please.
Next some cheap Dorbz, Adventure time, oh we love that show. Regular show is better though. No need for Regular show toys as we purchased on Ebay from a seller in the US the whole set of every Regular show figures ever released. Yes we are nerd collectors.

What!!!! Fast and Furious toys. Yes thank you..... remote control ones too. We dont have anything cool like this back home. So you will all have to come home with us then. We found a fair few more clothes as well. Tampa Bay Bucs gear was going cheap, so we loaded up on a fair few things, even the girls got some gear as well. Time to check out and throw it in the car. Hmm, we got a fair bit of stuff. We took it all back to Pop, and Bec and I started figuring out how to pack all this stuff into the suitcases.

This was half the things we purchased. We would get everything home no worries, with plenty of room still to fill up with goodies. We spent the rest of the day relaxing about after our shop. Come dinner time, we headed out again to grab some food and just drive around the town. It was a perfect day with no stresses just us enjoying our time together in awesome Orlando.

We had a pretty early night, as tomorrow was going to be a big day and night at Magic Kingdom for the Extra Hours Event. FUN FUN FUN!

 

[bcwife76]

Another fabulous day of Star Wars interactions!!!

I have to laugh...do people really think Storm Troopers do autographs? How exactly would they hold the pen? Not as if they would put their weapons down...

Ah Target......I miss it so. When the CDN $ was better we would shop a lot across the border (we live only 20 minutes from the closest Can/US border crossing) and then Target came to Canada and it was.....awful. Truly. It was nothing like it was in the US. They lasted less than 2 years before shutting all the Canadian stores down.

 

[wsssup]

Another fabulous day of Star Wars interactions!!!

I have to laugh...do people really think Storm Troopers do autographs? How exactly would they hold the pen? Not as if they would put their weapons down...

Ah Target......I miss it so. When the CDN $ was better we would shop a lot across the border (we live only 20 minutes from the closest Can/US border crossing) and then Target came to Canada and it was.....awful. Truly. It was nothing like it was in the US. They lasted less than 2 years before shutting all the Canadian stores down.

Yeh Target is not the same here either. I'm surprised Target does not do better than Walmart in the US. The stores are cleaner and they have better things in there, we love Walmart but had a soft spot for Target. The real shock came to us in the next few days when we visited K mart. K - Mart in Australia is our best selling department store, what we saw in Orlando K-Mart was a shock, hahaha.

 

[Sinders99]

The real shock came to us in the next few days when we visited K mart. K - Mart in Australia is our best selling department store, what we saw in Orlando K-Mart was a shock, hahaha.

OMG I LOVE KMART!!! I've just overhauled half my house with Kmart storage and decorating hacks at really good prices. We've never really had the time when in the US to visit Kmart or Target and we've only been inside 1 Walmart on our first trip to the West Coast US in 2010. Am certainly going to make time to do this on our next trip though after reading your report!

 

[imBryan]

With the gates open we had to wait 15 or so for the whole park to open up. Once open we headed towards The great Movie ride. We didn't get very far as the 1st order Stormtroopers were out pretty early and had snuck up behind us and scared the crap out of us.

They were having a good old chat to my Stormtrooper backpack. Pulling at it, prodding it. Oh yes we were in nerd heaven again, as you can tell from my nerd smile. It's the random things that make the day and this was after just walking into the park. Awesome!
After letting them know the Empire ruled, we said seeya and began walking off. To our surprise with them in tow for awhile, still chatting and making sure everyone was moving out the way. Ummmm AWESOME again.

That's hilarious! Whomever they hire to play those stormtroopers really do an outstanding job. We had our own brief encounter with them, but yours is much funnier.

I have been enjoying reading your trip report. It's cool to see the reactions of someone who has to come so far to vacation here. FYI: Test Track is one of my least favorite rides at Disney World, so you're definitely not alone in being underwhelmed by it.

 

[wsssup]

DAY 40 - 20TH JAN : MAGIC KINGDOM AFTER HOURS EVENT PART 1

Well we made it to Day 40. Wow, such a long time here with only a few days left. I went for a morning walk around the Lake while the girls got up. Another beautiful day here and time to reflect on what an amazing holiday we have had. We were getting excited to go home and see family and friends, but we were going to miss this place. Disney World and Universal had given us plenty of Magic and surprises, something for the memory banks to remember for a long time.

Today was our After Hours event at Magic Kingdom. From 9pm to 12am the Magic Kingdom would be open to guest who purchased the After hours tickets, which i believe is limited to around 2,000. Thats not alot of people in the whole of the park. But until then we were just going to relax a little.
After our breakfast we headed into the Pop Shop.

Such an awesome dress for India... Thanks Walmart . We searched around in the Pop Shop, we found a few little gifts to send home later on for family etc. We must have looked in this shop so many times during our stay, and it was not bad even though we had seen everything, but they did keep it up to date with new items. It's always the case too of when you get home you think, shoulda got that. There was a fair few things we forgot to get and are spewing we forgot about them. Something for the list next time.

With our morning shopping and browsing done we jumped in the car to get out and about. We just drove around for an hour or so and ended up stopping for lunch.

Yep Dirty Macca's. Thats what we call it back in Australia. We had eaten here a few times and it was not too bad really, and it was cheap. We sat outside to enjoy the sun while we feasted on our dirty Macca's haha. Still can't get over the sizes. Your small sizes are like our Large at home, hahaha.
With our bellies full we headed back to Pop for a little Nap. We wanted to be ready for our night of fun.

6pm rolled on pretty quick and off we went to the Magic Kingdom. The roads were very quiet and in no time we were parking the car. Many were leaving already seeing as the park closed at 9pm to regular guests. We jumped on the Ferry and headed over to the Magic Kingdom. After security there was a gate for the After Hours event and we walked on up and checked in for the event. We were given our Lanyard with our large pass on it, and told a few things about tonight. The free Ice Cream, Popcorn and drinks sounded good.

In we went, Main Street was a little busy, mostly from people leaving. We ducked into the shops to avoid the crowds.

It was an awesome art shop near the Mickey Mouse Cinema, cant remember what it was called. They had awesome pictures, and we found a Snow White picture for Bec that she was very excited about. One of the artist's was working at the time and we struck up a conversation. I had to put in and order for him to draw me something, so i said anything Big Hero 6. He said it could be sent to our hotel room in a day. Too easy.

It was a fair amount of time we were in here. India was happy watching the old Animations, and even enjoyed watching the artist.
We walked into the next area and watched the glass blowing for a little bit.

Amazing what they can do.

Short post, more to come.

 

[wsssup]

OMG I LOVE KMART!!! I've just overhauled half my house with Kmart storage and decorating hacks at really good prices. We've never really had the time when in the US to visit Kmart or Target and we've only been inside 1 Walmart on our first trip to the West Coast US in 2010. Am certainly going to make time to do this on our next trip though after reading your report!

Im pretty sure when you go next time there will be no K Mart, it is on the way out. Do you remember Crazy Clints bargains? Thats what K mart looks like in Orlando, with dirty floors and crap everywhere,haha. I think we went to the last one in the Disney World area that was closing down. Yes you must see the lovely attractions that is Super Target and Walmart haha.

That's hilarious! Whomever they hire to play those stormtroopers really do an outstanding job. We had our own brief encounter with them, but yours is much funnier.

I have been enjoying reading your trip report. It's cool to see the reactions of someone who has to come so far to vacation here. FYI: Test Track is one of my least favorite rides at Disney World, so you're definitely not alone in being underwhelmed by it.

Thanks for reading along and the comments. I agree with you about the Stormtroopers. They do a good job and play the part well. And Test Track, yeh, its pretty crap hahaha. Disneylands RSR kills it by a mile.

 

[4HOLIDAYS]

Still following along..glad to see your colds did not stop you. I have to have a little giggle every time you talk about the heat in Jan in Fla. We live in south Florida and Jan in Orlando to us is usually very chilly! I have a jacket on at about 73 degrees. We did the After hours in March this year, can't wait to see if you enjoyed it.