Happy Tenth to my first born !! A decade of one's life is a big milestone. My little peanut who came into this world weighing little over six pounds is now almost 5 feet tall. Where did the time fly?
Avi is a new year's baby and that itself is special but this particular one had extra-special written all over it. So after celebrating Christmas in Atlanta with family we headed to Disney World for celebrating Avi's big ten. Our home for the week was the lovely resort Village Vistana by Sheraton. Avi's birthday dinner was at Planet Hollywood in down town Disney where we said cheers to my baby in our special lighted/glowing glasses (made for great souvenirs:))
We visited Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Realized that our Park hopper tickets did not serve its purpose and paying so much extra money for it was not fruitful since we really never hopped between any parks. Planned a day at one Park, stuck to it and that was it. First 2 days were spent in Magic Kingdom, my favorite park ! This is the busiest time of the year for Disney so lines were long but fast passes for 3 rides a day were very helpful.
Our first two days were at Magic Kingdom. It is divided into 6 main areas-Main Street, Adventure-land, Frontier-land, Libery Square, Fantasy-land and Tomorrow-land.We got there really early the first day, caught the morning show with Micky at the castle with day fireworks. Started the rides in Fantasy-land. The first ride was 'mad tea party' and kids enjoyed spinning around in a giant teacup. Next we did 'Its a small world', 'Peter Pan's flight', 'Micky's Philhar Magic', 'Dumbo, the flying elephant', and 'the Barnstormer'. 'The Barnstormer' was kids' favorite in Fantasy-land. Neev also enjoyed 'The magic carpets of Aladdin ' in Adventure-land. My kids are not much into roller coasters but they went onto 'Big thunder mountain railroad' in Frontier land and Neev's precious comment,"all I had to do was tuck my head into Daddy's chest and it wasn't scary anymore" made it a ride to remember. In tomorrow-land we went on 'Tomorrow-land speedway', Buzz Lightyear's space ranger spin (Avi LOVED this one, shooting the bad aliens and scoring plenty of points, we did this ride twice :)), 'Monster's Inc laugh floor' , 'Astro orbiter' and 'Walt Disney's carousel of progress (my favorite, I got to sit for 20 minutes and relax:)) 'Haunted Mansion' in Liberty Square is a must do. We also rode in Liberty square river boat. Got ice-creams and other treats at Main Street bakery and then saw the holiday parade. Also watched electric parade in the evening (very very pretty). Of course the fireworks at the castle were amazing but their special light show and fireworks on New year's eve called 'fantasy in the sky' which was done at midnight was SPECTACULAR. Castle was just so.....pretty with winter snow lights in the evening that I did not feel like taking my eyes off of it. Really magical !!
Avi's birthday was spent in Epcot. 'Spaceship Earth' and 'Soarin' were amazing. 'Soarin' specially was very enjoyable. We were lifted off the ground and it was very similar to paragliding experience. It was a family favorite. Kids enjoyed 'Turtle talk with Crush' , Tthe seas with Nemo and friends','Living with the land' and Circle of life'. Anurag and I enjoyed watching Michael Jackson groove in 'Captain EO'. Neev had fun in 'Journey into imagination with figment' which is a fun place for the kids to dance, play and do various other activities. We also took a bus and then a water taxi to down town Disney to have dinner at Planet Hollywood.
Hollywood Studios' best feature was hazelnut latte:). Ok, I am just joking. We LOVED Indiana Jones show there. 'The great movie ride' was cool. 'Muppet Vision 3 D' was lame. Kids loved 'Toy Story midway mania' because of the target shooting and scoring theme. I was game for 'Tower of terror' but no one else supported me so we skipped it. I bet it's what it says :) .'Beauty and the beast live on stage show' was neat. 'Fantasmic' was good but I was not charmed. 'Star Tours' was pretty cool too and favorite of kids.
LOVED Animal Kingdom park. Asia is absolutely authentic and awesome. Found Hindi and Marathi written on shops. 'Kali river rapids' was a fun ride, not scary at all, but be ready to get splashed. We had rain ponchos, kept us dry. While you wait in the line , you can admire Bollywood movies posters stuck on walls :) You can also nosh on 'samosas & chai' in Mr Kamal's cafe here. Anandpur's Ice cream truck has great treats. And after regaining your energy with samosa, you can groove on Bollywood beats by Indian DJ :). In Dino-land, we enjoyed taking off on a rip roaring pre-historic tour in the dark to save a dinosaur from extinction in 'Dinosaur' ride. Very neat ! Kids enjoyed going on 'TriceraTop Spin' where we flew high on a friendly dinosaur above Dino-land. 'Its's tough to be a bug' in Discover Island is a not to be missed show. Its done in their amazing tree of life theater which is created in its root system. While you wait in the line you can admire the breathtaking artistry of swirling tapestry of animals sculpted on the tree that depict the intricate balance of nature. The show is great, packed with 3 D adventures and creepy crawly moments. Spiders coming out from the ceiling is really nice touch. We LOVED Kilimanjaro Safari in Africa, riding off in an open vehicle for a tour of lush African Savanna and saw Lions, Elephants, White Rhinos (endangered), Antelopes, Mandrills, Cheetah, Crocodile, Flamingo, Gazelle, Giraffe, Zebra, Hippos, Warthog, Wildebeest, Ostrich and Okapis. Ride is bumpy and mimics the real Safari so you have to hold on tight through its rugged terrain. 'Festival of the lion king' was another favorite in Africa. It was very similar to watching a circus. Beautiful costumes, gorgeous colors and very talents acrobats made for a great show but the best part was that Neev participated in the show and we got a really memorable video :)
I have to say that it was a very activity-intense vacation with lots of walking and planning. Its not my ideal way of a get-away BUT I will take family-time any day and any way :) Lots of chatting with my kids and sharing of Aha moments is my take-away from Disney World. As far as lounging sort of vacation is concerned, spring-break is not too far off :)
Happy New year y'all !
Avi is a new year's baby and that itself is special but this particular one had extra-special written all over it. So after celebrating Christmas in Atlanta with family we headed to Disney World for celebrating Avi's big ten. Our home for the week was the lovely resort Village Vistana by Sheraton. Avi's birthday dinner was at Planet Hollywood in down town Disney where we said cheers to my baby in our special lighted/glowing glasses (made for great souvenirs:))
We visited Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Epcot and Animal Kingdom. Realized that our Park hopper tickets did not serve its purpose and paying so much extra money for it was not fruitful since we really never hopped between any parks. Planned a day at one Park, stuck to it and that was it. First 2 days were spent in Magic Kingdom, my favorite park ! This is the busiest time of the year for Disney so lines were long but fast passes for 3 rides a day were very helpful.
Our first two days were at Magic Kingdom. It is divided into 6 main areas-Main Street, Adventure-land, Frontier-land, Libery Square, Fantasy-land and Tomorrow-land.We got there really early the first day, caught the morning show with Micky at the castle with day fireworks. Started the rides in Fantasy-land. The first ride was 'mad tea party' and kids enjoyed spinning around in a giant teacup. Next we did 'Its a small world', 'Peter Pan's flight', 'Micky's Philhar Magic', 'Dumbo, the flying elephant', and 'the Barnstormer'. 'The Barnstormer' was kids' favorite in Fantasy-land. Neev also enjoyed 'The magic carpets of Aladdin ' in Adventure-land. My kids are not much into roller coasters but they went onto 'Big thunder mountain railroad' in Frontier land and Neev's precious comment,"all I had to do was tuck my head into Daddy's chest and it wasn't scary anymore" made it a ride to remember. In tomorrow-land we went on 'Tomorrow-land speedway', Buzz Lightyear's space ranger spin (Avi LOVED this one, shooting the bad aliens and scoring plenty of points, we did this ride twice :)), 'Monster's Inc laugh floor' , 'Astro orbiter' and 'Walt Disney's carousel of progress (my favorite, I got to sit for 20 minutes and relax:)) 'Haunted Mansion' in Liberty Square is a must do. We also rode in Liberty square river boat. Got ice-creams and other treats at Main Street bakery and then saw the holiday parade. Also watched electric parade in the evening (very very pretty). Of course the fireworks at the castle were amazing but their special light show and fireworks on New year's eve called 'fantasy in the sky' which was done at midnight was SPECTACULAR. Castle was just so.....pretty with winter snow lights in the evening that I did not feel like taking my eyes off of it. Really magical !!
Avi's birthday was spent in Epcot. 'Spaceship Earth' and 'Soarin' were amazing. 'Soarin' specially was very enjoyable. We were lifted off the ground and it was very similar to paragliding experience. It was a family favorite. Kids enjoyed 'Turtle talk with Crush' , Tthe seas with Nemo and friends','Living with the land' and Circle of life'. Anurag and I enjoyed watching Michael Jackson groove in 'Captain EO'. Neev had fun in 'Journey into imagination with figment' which is a fun place for the kids to dance, play and do various other activities. We also took a bus and then a water taxi to down town Disney to have dinner at Planet Hollywood.
Hollywood Studios' best feature was hazelnut latte:). Ok, I am just joking. We LOVED Indiana Jones show there. 'The great movie ride' was cool. 'Muppet Vision 3 D' was lame. Kids loved 'Toy Story midway mania' because of the target shooting and scoring theme. I was game for 'Tower of terror' but no one else supported me so we skipped it. I bet it's what it says :) .'Beauty and the beast live on stage show' was neat. 'Fantasmic' was good but I was not charmed. 'Star Tours' was pretty cool too and favorite of kids.
LOVED Animal Kingdom park. Asia is absolutely authentic and awesome. Found Hindi and Marathi written on shops. 'Kali river rapids' was a fun ride, not scary at all, but be ready to get splashed. We had rain ponchos, kept us dry. While you wait in the line , you can admire Bollywood movies posters stuck on walls :) You can also nosh on 'samosas & chai' in Mr Kamal's cafe here. Anandpur's Ice cream truck has great treats. And after regaining your energy with samosa, you can groove on Bollywood beats by Indian DJ :). In Dino-land, we enjoyed taking off on a rip roaring pre-historic tour in the dark to save a dinosaur from extinction in 'Dinosaur' ride. Very neat ! Kids enjoyed going on 'TriceraTop Spin' where we flew high on a friendly dinosaur above Dino-land. 'Its's tough to be a bug' in Discover Island is a not to be missed show. Its done in their amazing tree of life theater which is created in its root system. While you wait in the line you can admire the breathtaking artistry of swirling tapestry of animals sculpted on the tree that depict the intricate balance of nature. The show is great, packed with 3 D adventures and creepy crawly moments. Spiders coming out from the ceiling is really nice touch. We LOVED Kilimanjaro Safari in Africa, riding off in an open vehicle for a tour of lush African Savanna and saw Lions, Elephants, White Rhinos (endangered), Antelopes, Mandrills, Cheetah, Crocodile, Flamingo, Gazelle, Giraffe, Zebra, Hippos, Warthog, Wildebeest, Ostrich and Okapis. Ride is bumpy and mimics the real Safari so you have to hold on tight through its rugged terrain. 'Festival of the lion king' was another favorite in Africa. It was very similar to watching a circus. Beautiful costumes, gorgeous colors and very talents acrobats made for a great show but the best part was that Neev participated in the show and we got a really memorable video :)
I have to say that it was a very activity-intense vacation with lots of walking and planning. Its not my ideal way of a get-away BUT I will take family-time any day and any way :) Lots of chatting with my kids and sharing of Aha moments is my take-away from Disney World. As far as lounging sort of vacation is concerned, spring-break is not too far off :)
Happy New year y'all !
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