What's New at Disney World? April 9-16, 2018

Well, it has been a long time since a blog entry has been posted.  It's not been that I didn't have anything to write about, it's much more that a just didn't have time to complete an entry start to finish, but let's see if I can crank this out.
It came up early in the school year that we would be able to travel during spring break this year.  As Craig and I were about to turn 50, and wanted some way to blow a wad with our family in celebration, it was quickly determined that we were going back to Disney World.
The last time we were there was just over two years ago, but in that time in true Disney fashion a lot had changed and was new to experience.  Most was great, with only a few disappointing exceptions.

ANIMAL KINGDOM:

Of course, when Disney goers talk about what's "new", they are most often referring to the biggest, most thrilling, and most innovative new rides.  Well, at present they are at Animal Kingdom, both within the the brand new Pandora: Land of Avatar, which opened May 27 of last year.
The more popular of the two is "Flight of Passage" which is by far the most technologically advanced ride of any currently in the Disney Parks.  The ride mimics riding a

Photo courtesy of disney.go

Banshee through the land of Avatar via use of VR and other effects.  It is almost like a combination of  Star Tours and Soarin', though more beautiful and more thrilling than both these rides.  I came out smiling so widely that I practically split my head open.
I am not the only one that feels this way.  Everyone seems to know how great Flight of Passage is, making this ride wildly popular.  As we were not staying at a Disney property, we were unable to get FastPasses for this ride.  If ya don't have one and you want to ride this is pretty much how it's going to look.  We arrived at Animal Kingdom at 803 am, just about one hour before the park opened.  Within minute the turnstiles opened and we proceeded promptly toward Pandora where we were stopped by cast members behind a large crowd ahead of us.  
THIRTY minutes prior to park opening the crowd was escorted to the ride and a queue was formed by cast members.  The queue area is extensive and themed in detail.  I would say we were on the ride within 25 minutes, but by 920 am the wait time was 210 minutes---3.5 hours! The line never dropped below 90 minutes.  My daughter was dying to ride it again.  It never happened.
The other new ride is the Na'vi River Journey.  This family friendly ride is less popular, though still never got to less than a 60 minute wait.  I was able to FastPass this ride, but had to wait until mid-afternoon to ride.  The ride is a 4 minute float down the Na'vi River.  It doesn't really do anything, but it is still well themed and makes great use of light, music, color, projections and animatronics--so I thought it was enjoyable.
Even without the rides, Pandora is a must see, especially at night when little by little , as the sun drops down, the land, including the ground, begins to glow, actually, to luminesce.
Animal Kingdom is open at night now, previously having only been open until 5 or so.  There is now a night show over the rivers of Asia titled, "Rivers of Light," but we were out of energy and didn't stay to see it.

MAGIC KINGDOM:

"Happily Ever After"

We DID stay to see the new fireworks at Magic Kingdom. On May 12 of last year, "Happily Ever After" ended the seemingly eternal run of "Wishes," which my children had memorized.  This show was so over the top fabulous that we saw it 3 times, twice from right under Cinderella's castle (once during rain) and once from the beach at the Polynesian following dinner.  The show was completely superlative, like nothing I had veer seen before, a mesmerizing combination of perfectly choreographed fireworks, colorful projections onto the castle, and music from every Disney film imaginable, including a lot of the newer favorites like Frozen, Tangled, and Moana.
Position is critical to enjoying this show, because the projections on the castle produce so much of the effect.  We were not there during peak season, so we were amazed at the ability to just walk up and grab a spot right in the middle of the hub just 20 minutes before the show.  I would imagine this is not the case during busy times, so get there early!

"We wants the RedHead," or should I say, "...The life of a pirate for me.?"

Let's face it.  From the day of its opening (1973 in WDW), Pirates of the Caribbean has

Yeah, it really is pretty bad....
well, no longer...

never been what I would call a politically correct ride full of strong heroes and moral messages.  For goodness sake, it's about PIRATES, and PIRATES are generally not upstanding citizens!  In one iconic scene, a row of women, roped together, some of them crying, are being auctioned off, aka sold, into a life of bridal slavery.  As your little boat floats on, the next scene used to show these same poor women being chased through the inn by the men with the goal of  bedding them against their wishes.  Wow, Walt! Nice work! The scene was made more livable in 1997 when a refurbishment altered the scene to show the women carrying food, so at least they weren't chasing them for sex anymore. Well, now at Magic Kingdom and coming I hear to a Disneyland near you, the bride auction has been removed.  Now it's just a regular auction of the pirate's loot, causing a collective groan from Disney traditionalists.  People are lined up selling hens and portraits and other stupid stuff.  The chase scene following still exists but now it really makes no sense.  The pirates still go on to burn up the city and brag about it in the little ditty you will know your entire life, "we pillage and plunder and rifle and loot...and don't give a hoot."  Nice try, guys.  Even without the "wench auction," your ride still glorifies crime.  Apparently these new reformed nice pirates don't disrespect women, but they still "maraud, embezzle, and even hijack."

EPCOT:

I said this two years ago and I'll say this again, Epcot is in bad need of a facelift.  Vacant pavilions and boarded up entrances already exist where tired attractions went to die (case in point--Ellen's Energy Adventure), but so many outdated attractions still remain.  The films in Canada, China, France, and in Living with the Land are so outdated the featured populations all look like they could have appeared on Three's Company.  And don't ever drag me onto that Journey into Imagination with Figment again---that journey into imagination is more like popping LSD.
Well, in some effort to spruce things up, Epcot has introduced 3 ride "layovers" that either replaced old rides or made an attempt to improve old ones.
The first of these three is "Frozen Ever After," a dark boat ride which replaced the worn out viking tale "Maelstrom" in the land of Norway.  "Frozen Ever After" opened on June 2016

Anna, Elsa, and Olaf
finally enjoy summer in Arendale

and is Epcot's newest attraction, but its lack of thrill factor and its semi distant location within the World Showcase keep the crowds somewhat reasonable.  The ride is a sweet re-tell of Anna and Elsa's adventures.  We liked it and rode it twice, both times with a FastPass.  It's a big improvement on what was there.  Epcot really needed to bring some "kid factor" to the World Showcase, and with "Frozen Ever After, " Disney succeeds.
Soarin' Over California was revamped and released as Soarin' Around the World in June 2016 (seems to be a popular date..) We used to LOVE this ride.  I actually used to say this was my favorite of all Disney rides, but the CGI effects in the new version have kind of killed it for me.  Many of the images now, like elephants running under Kilimanjaro (which strongly smell like grass, not elephants) look really fake.  Another huge yuck is that if you are not sitting in the center bay (aka Bravo), the tall images, like the Eiffel Tower and the Taj Mahal are NOTICEABLY distorted.  C'mon Disney!  Anyway, one nice bit is that the last scene is actually Epcot, not Tinkerbell flying over Disneyland like it was before.
Lastly, Mission: Space has "relaunched" its Green version.  Now you don't go to Mars, you just circle the earth.  It's like Soarin' Around the World but higher up.  It's stupid and boring and I let my second Fastpass for this ride actually expire.  I had no interest in riding it again.

DISNEY'S HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS:

This park is being given a bad rap these days because of all the construction going on.  Recently, DHS has said goodbye to "The Great Movie Ride", "Light, Camera, Action" and the extreme stunt show to make way for huge changes, including Toy Story Land, which will open June 30 of this year, and Galaxy's Edge, a full scale Star Wars Land which will open sometime in 2019.  
The kids thought we would be bored in this park and thought we would be out of things to do quickly, but we stayed busy until about 5 and then returned only about 2 hours later for Fantasmic and fireworks.
DHS is quickly becoming THE park for Star Wars junkies, and as they wait impatiently for the opening of Galaxy's Edge, DHS has come up with some simple but fun and creative entertainment to hold over those of us that just can't get enough.
About 7 times a day on the hour, in grand Imperial fashion and to a grand imperial soundtrack, Captain Phasma and her band of First Order stormtroopers make their way

"Star Wars:  A Galaxy Far, Far Away"

down Hollywood Boulevard, pausing to check out bystanders before proceeding to Center Stage where they continue to intimidate in a short production before they March on down the street again.  The March of the First Order is both cool and hilarious and I tried to catch glimpses of the event several times during the day as we passed by on our way to other things.  
For those of us that can't resist a Star Wars film montage, the "Star Wars:  A Galaxy Far, Far Away" is a 15 minute must see.  Film clips from all 9 Star Wars movies are shown on three large screens while our buddies C3PO, R2-D2, Chewbacca, Darth Vader, BB8, and Kylo Ren take their turns appearing on Center Stage.
At 9:15pm following Fantasmic, all Star Wars fans will want to return to the same three screens to watch "Star Wars:  A Galactic Spectacular, " Hollywood Studios night show featuring a combo of projections, film clips, music, and fire.  It's awesome, and even better, EASY to get a great spot far up Hollywood Boulevard to watch.

Well, I could write more, but this seems like enough for now! Not headed anywhere for a while but I'll try to post when I do!
Thank you for reading this post!
Here are a few more pictures!!  Family Selfies in every park!

Hollywood Studios:  waiting for Fantasmic

At Crystal Palace celebrating with Pooh

Animal Kingdom:  Kilimanjaro Safaris

Okay...at Epcot no selfie!

Just threw this in cuz it's so funny

I swear the best part of Splash Mountain

is posing for the picture!

Unexpected Canada! July 14-July 24, 2017

Well, I have been back for over a month now and it took me a little while to rummage through my head and come up with a good idea for a blog post that would encompass our experience.  Every aspect of our trip was "not to be missed," so it was rather difficult to come up with a blog post full of must sees.
We began our trip in Calgary where we experienced "the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth," the Calgary Stampede.  My kids loved the rodeo, the chuckwagon races, and the completely over the top closing ceremony show and fireworks.  We experienced the expansive (and expensive) Midway, ate any kind of food imaginable (literally, there was deep fried EVERYTHING-coffee, lemonade, twinkies, cheesecake, oreos, and no we had none of it), and viewed shows from kitchen stadium to Bollywood!  Calgary is a beautiful clean city with wonderful people which really comes alive during Stampede week!  Free pancake breakfasts start in Olympic Plaza about 8am and the party continues down the Stephen Avenue walk until the wee hours of the morning!

Free pancake and bacon breakfast on Stephen Avenue

The colorful Midway at the Calgary Stampede

Just had to include this...these pristine bovine beauties

are vacuumed and blow dried before being judged!

The stirring and patriotic night show

O Canada!

After the Stampede ended we moved north into Banff National Park where we took in the majestic snow capped mountains of the Canadian Rockies.  Here we conquered amazing hikes including the Lake Agnes Trail from the base of  Lake Louise to the delightful Lake Agnes Teahouse, the highly recommended Bourgeau Lake Trail, and last but far from least the Larch Valley to Sentinel Pass Trail, which rises 3000 feet above the pristine and jewel-like Moraine Lake (my favorite!).  We canoed on Moraine Lake.  We took Gondola rides affording us expansive views of Lake Louise and of the Bow Valley.  We rode bicycles all the way from downtown Banff along the Banff Legacy Trail to Lake Minnewanka to Vermillion Lakes back through downtown to the Cave and Basin Historic Site.  We also ate at some great restaurants, relaxed in our hot tub overlooking Tunnel Mountain, and slept like babies.

On the Bourgeau Lake Trail

Atop the Banff Gondola..

Early morning canoeing on Moraine Lake

This is my favorite picture I took in Canada..

Iphone 6s...

So worth it..at the top of Sentinel Pass

A few nights later it was off to Jasper National Park via the Icefield Parkway, which passes by some notable landmarks, including Peyto Lake, Tangle Falls, Athabasca Falls, Sunwapta Falls, the Glacier Skywalk, and most notably the Columbia Icefields, where a behemoth of a vehicle, called an "Ice Explorer" takes you (and a million other people) right out onto the glacier.  The little town of Jasper itself has some great places to relax at the end of a long day on the road, including the Jasper Brewing Company and the Jasper Pizza Company, and an even better place to start your day, the Bear's Paw Bakery, where the line out the door starts at 6am!  Seeing the sights requires some driving in Jasper. Both the breathtaking Maligne Canyon and Maligne Lake are accessed by a lengthy trek down Maligne Lake Road.  After hiking Maligne Canyon in the opposite direction of those who get there on a tour bus, we trekked out to the lake and boarded the scenic Maligne Lake Cruise to charming Spirit Island.  Possibly most majestic in Jasper is the 3000 foot (okay 1000 meters!) ride up Mount Whistler on the Jasper Skytram.  The ride itself is challenging for claustrophobes and those afraid of heights, but the views at the top are unmatched.  If you are up for the challenge another 600 feet of elevation gain will take you to the true summit of the mountain, where you are literally enveloped in clouds.

The top of the Jasper Skytram surrounds you in clouds

Maligne Canyon

Maligne Lake

Maybe my favorite spot in Jasper..the Bear's Paw Bakery!

Okay, so why is your blogpost called "Unexpected Canada?"  Okay so let me share some things we did NOT expect in Canada!

CROWDS!:

Oh was it crowded!  Somehow everyone decided to go to Canada this year.  This year Canada celebrated it's 150th year of independence by making admission to all of its National Parks free.  This was a savings of about $160 dollars for us and quite possibly a lure for just about everyone else on the planet.  Tour buses and cars were everywhere.  The crowds made reservations for all activities absolutely imperative.  You also better get your butt moving and out the door early in the morning, or you can forget finding parking once you get there.  We reached Lake Louise after spending the early part of the morning at the Lake Louise Gondola at about 10:30 am, and on finding the parking lot full we were redirected to an overflow lot about 5 km down the Trans-Canada Highway!  There you waited in line for a school bus sized shuttle bus to take you back to Lake Louise.  Then when you were done, you waited again to catch the shuttle back!  A few days later, not wanting to repeat this experience, we arrived at the popular Moraine Lake at 830 after about 45 minutes of driving to find the parking lot full and a row of cars lining the road back a good distance.  Luckily, parking karma prevailed and just as we were being hailed on, someone's reverse lights alerted us to an opening spot. Phew!
Banff Avenue in the middle of the day was like Main Street USA, wall to wall with pedestrians.  One night at the grocery store every checkout line reached back to the butcher's counter in the back of the store!  Everywhere we went, we stood in line to use the public restroom, which was usually a portapotty.
Every stop along the Icefield Parkway was shared with a tour bus, or five.
Jasper was less crowded, but only slightly.  We still crammed the Jasper Skytram with 30 people to ride up at 440 pm and waited nearly 45 minutes in line up at the top to return to civilization.
This paints a more dismal picture than actually occured.  We were prepared with reservations and a plan of action of what we were going to do each day.  We rose early and planned to be out late. Because we always had a plan we didn't waste time deciding what to do only to be thwarted by a full parking lot or full tour times.
There is another fact for sure, the more physically active you are willing to be, the farther away from people you can get!

COLD!:

It's the middle of summer, right?  I read all the tour books and knew not to expect real high temperatures.  However, I ALSO was watching my weather app and approaching the date of travel it was looking like we could expect some above normal temperatures, like into the 90's in Calgary and 80's the rest of the week.
Hmm..well I'm not sure where it all went wrong, but we were NOT prepared for the weather that awaited us, which was far colder than expected.  Some days it may have reached 80, for like an HOUR, and it took until 5 pm!
It all seemed to go south on the last day of the Stampede.  We had been inside an exhibit hall for a while and when we came out it was raining, windy, and suddenly about 20 degrees cooler.  There I was..in my shorts and sleeveless shirt at about 4pm..about as cold as I had ever been. There was no way we were going to survive so back we walked to the hotel.  We had nothing.  Nicholas and Ally each had one pair of jeans and each had one long sleeved shirt and one sweatshirt.  I had only Capri jeans and a jeans jacket, not even a sweatshirt or a long sleeved shirt.  Natalya didn't even have jeans, so she wore yoga pants the entire week.  Craig came with a sweater, a raincoat, a windbreaker, and a fleece jacket, so he doled out his clothes to the lot of us.  By the end of the night it was 53 degrees.
Craig saved us, or at least me.  Immediately after reaching Banff, I bought a long sleeved shirt as did Ally.  I wore that dang shirt everyday, but even so I was quite dependent on having the fleece handy.
The mornings were wicked cold, occasionally into the 30's!  Another punishment was anytime spent at the top of a mountain.  I had never hiked in a long sleeved shirt, but we did it in Canada.  At the top of Sentinel pass, after crossing two large patches of unmelted snow, it started to hail and I swear it was like 40 degrees, but there I didnt really care, cuz we were sweating like fiends.
On the last day, we drove back via the Icefields Parkway.  There was fresh snow on the mountain peaks and our car indicated a balmy 3 degrees Celsius.
I had a bunch of tank tops in my suitcase that were never worn...
I think we have a few pictures in short sleeves and shorts...but far more in Craig's loaner clothes.

We are wearing everything we own here on the

Columbia Icefield

Fresh snow!!  July 24th

I heard you double the centigrade and add 30, so that's....

A FEW MORE GREAT UNEXPECTATIONS!

1)  Canadians are very low key about alcohol and the drinking age.  The drinking age is 18 but it seems that if you are with your parents and order something, they really don't care.  My 17 year old ordered her first alcoholic beverage in Craft Beer Market in Calgary, some hard cider of some sort, and the server didn't blink an eyelash.

Cheers, Natalya!

2) It gets dark really late.  Though not quite, I could almost say we never saw a dark sky while we were there.  While at the Stampede in Calgary, we did stay until it was dark enough for fireworks.  In Disneyland, fireworks start at at 9:30.  In Calgary, the fireworks didn't start until 11:15!  The two hour night show can't even begin until about 930, cuz it's just not dark enough.
As we drove farther and farther north, the days became longer and longer.  In Banff, we drove to Lake Minnewanka at 10:30 because it was dusky and we thought we'd have a good chance at seeing some wildlife. Pretty much in Jasper , the only time we saw a dark sky is when we got up at 4 to make it back to the airport.

Banff Avenue at about 10:15 pm

Probably taken about 10:30pm or later

3)  The server never takes your credit card.  She brings a mobile charger to your table.  Your card is never out of your sight.  A nice security feature, I must say.

Regardless, of whatever we ran into, this was one of the best vacations I ever took.  Canada was fabulous.  I can't wait to go back and see it again!  Thanks for reading my post!