By the Numbers

Well, we're on the road again, headed back to Houston. I promise this will be my last post about Walt Disney World for a while! I still have some photos and tips from my solo visit, but I'll try to sprinkle them in throughout the next few months.

Leaving Fort Wilderness marked my 10th visit to Disney World with five of those visits occurring since 6/5/10. (One of those 'visits' was six months long-- when I worked as a lifeguard on the college program.)

This was my third visit to Fort Wilderness. The first, was with Laura in campsite 1510:



The next was by myself in campsite 1501:



And the finally, with my parents in campsite 1629:



In between those camping adventures, I celebrated with Lindsay at her bachelorette party:



And a personal accomplishment with Chris (my first half marathon!):



I downloaded an app before my last two trips, so I have some ride numbers from those.

On my solo trip I visited 126 attractions (that also includes rides on buses, boats or monorails).

My top three attractions were:
Toy Story Mania (9)
Disney Animation Academy (6)
Expedition Everest (4) & People Mover (4)

With my parents, we visited 86 attractions.

Our top attractions were:
Soarin' (3)
Star Tours (3)
Tower of Terror (3)
People Mover (3)
Toy Story Mania (3) (that includes the time we were evacuated from it)

I played tour guide to seven different friends/family in the past year (two of which had never been to Walt Disney World, three who hadn't been since they were quite young and all of which hadn't been in at least a decade).

During these trips I visited the four Disney theme parks and one Universal theme park. And purchased three different sets of mouse ears, three cups/glasses, a set of Mickey shaped ice cubes, one apron, one t-shirt, ten reusable straws and one souvenir popcorn bucket.

As the 'Year of Disney' concludes, I'm happy to have enjoyed countless fireworks, laughs and memories:



But I guess it's time to enjoy the real world... at least for now!

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Location:I-10

Day eight-- Canoes and Beach Fireworks

Yesterday was our last full day at Disney World. Since we had stayed up so late the night before, we slept in and decided to spend most of the day around the campsite.

My mom is a master canoe-er so we tried that out:



It was fun going under the bridges that we'd been traveling over all week:



Here's my view... notice my mom (paddling by herself) is way ahead of my dad and I.



Another bridge shot:



Later we went to Magic Kingdom for one last attraction, The Hall of Presidents!



On the way in we saw this little guy who must really enjoy living near Cinderella's castle!



We headed over to the Polynesian resort for a light sushi dinner:



Then headed to the beach on the Polynesian for a different view of the fireworks:



Unfortunately I didn't get a good shot of this... it was a really nice spot to see the last fireworks show of the trip!

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Location:Fort Wilderness, Magic Kingdom

Day seven-- Late Night

Yesterday we woke up a little past the alarm, but we made up for it by staying up very late!

It started in Animal Kingdom,



Where my dad and I rode Expedition Everest... twice!



Later, after a nap, we headed out to the Magic Kingdom and my dad was very excited for us to ride the steam train around the park.



We very much enjoyed being at the park after dark. When the sun sets, it's MUCH cooler and allows for some neat photos:



Once it was dark we stepped into Mickey's Philharmagic,



where we enjoyed a 3D show:



After watching the castle show, the fireworks AND the electric light parade we decided to stay in the park and enjoy the low crowds and cooler weather. It was around midnight at this point!



Although the park officially closed at 11pm, they stayed open until 2am for those staying on Disney property.



We were able to walk onto most of the popular rides!



Even though it was ideal touring conditions, it was getting quite late, so we sauntered back to our campsite.



We turned off the alarm and prepared to sleep late for our last day at Walt Disney World.

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Location:Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom

Day six-- Segways and Hogwarts

This morning my parents started out with a Segway tour around Fort Wilderness:






And I caught up with some friends to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios.






I've been dying to see this since the rumors of its opening started, so I was pretty darn excited to be there!

We started by riding the main attraction-- a brilliant ride that takes you in and around Hogwarts. The line itself was thrilling and I'm having to practice self control not to post 100 photos from the day!

Here, you see portraits lining the castle walls. They move and talk to you and each other:






Later, the Sorting Hat briefs you on the safety instructions:







Outside, a sign directs you to Hogsmead.






Where it is wintertime.






There are classic HP stores lining the area and places to buy wands, cloaks, books that bite, quills, broomsticks and... chocolate frogs!






I may or may not have taken home a few souvenirs.






The shops themselves were an attraction:






And the general ambiance was amazing:






We ducked into Hog's Head for a frozen butterbeer:






It was even better than I could had imagined!






Later, I posed with the train conductor:






And found the muggle car that Ron and Harry crashed:






It was a wonderful morning. After having waited so long to visit, I was glad to see that the theming and experience exceeded my expectations!






After our separate adventures, I met up with my parents at Hollywood's Brown Derby restaurant.






Where we enjoyed the famous (and the original) Cobb Salad.






(Trust me, it tastes MUCH better than it looks!)

And a less famous, but just as classic, Grapefruit Cake:






We then enjoyed The Great Movie Ride, which is kind of hokey and in desperate need of an upgrade, but still presents some of my favorite movies. Movies like the Wizard of Oz,






Casablanca,






And Mary Popins!






Then my dad and I rode Tower of Terror and Rock-n-Roller coaster back to back.






Tomorrow should be an easy-ish day as we start to wind down our whirlwind adventure.

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Location:Bay Lake, Universal Studios, Hollywood Studios

Day five-- Epcot

Another early morning found us in line waiting to enter Epcot:



We enjoyed riding Soarin' (three times!) as well as Test Track and Mission Space before entering the World Showcase. Here is one of my favorite places to stop, the miniature train in Germany.



And here are my parents in Italy:



We made our way Epcot where we ate at Les Chefs de France. My mom and I had some escargot (SO good) and I enjoyed a great tasting (but not so great looking) French onion soup:



We really enjoyed the food, but found there was a huge problem. There was a RAT in the kitchen!



Don't worry, it's just Chef Remy, from ratatouille! This was an interactive 'show' that was really cute and well done.

The heat, the walking and the tasty food got to everyone and we headed back to the Motor Home for a loooooong nap. My mom decided she wanted to continue to rest, so my dad and I headed over to the Magic Kingdom to watch the fireworks, castle light show and the parade. We were also able to squeeze in a ride on Aladin's magic carpets:



We ended the night with the parade and we are all looking forward to a somewhat slow day tomorrow.



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Location:Epcot, Magic Kingdom