Sunday, March 31, 2013

Sorry guys! The wifi in atlanta costs money so i cant post anything

At the Orlando International Airport

Well, we are officially done with Disney! I'm at our gate in Orlando, Gate 73. We're leaving at 7:30 and it is currently 6 in the morning. We took the bus here and everything went great on that one except a baby cried the whole trip. The check-in lines were terrible, but luckily, we found a check-in kiosk for passengers with no checked baggage, and that was ten times easier because there was no wait there. Security was a breeze and we took a tram to our Airside. We went to Starbucks to pick up some coffee and I ordered a vanilla bean frappucino. I love the Orlando Airport. It is not too big, like Atlanta, but not itty-bitty, like Lafayette. It is very clean-cut and organized. We are sitting at the gate and are waiting for the boarding call in about 30 minutes. Here's our plane:

Anyway, I would tell you part 2 of our wonderful story, but I only have a few minutes before we board, and I think our plane has wifi onboard, so I can try to post it then.

See you on the plane, or in Atlanta, 

Jack

Saturday, March 30, 2013

once again, a long and fun day part 1

So yesterday, we made sure to wake up extra early to catch the bus to Epcot. We had to get there early because we wanted to get a fastpass to Soarin', a ride that simulates flight. It is very popular, and the wait easily can get to two hours. Then, we went to Test Track. We waited for about 70 minutes, but it was well worth the wait. First, we got to design our own car. We shaped it well, and it was colored a lilac purple. We had turbo boosters mounted on the tail and ad a powerful turbo engine. Now we only had 5 minutes to design our car, and we spent a little too much time shaping it. We were going to add an accessory to the hood, but we only had 13 seconds left to design our car. We saw the perfect one, but someone(mom) accidentally scrolled the wrong way and somehow we got this thing that looked like a nose with one nostril. Trust me, it was a real turnoff to the beauty of our once-masterpiece. Then, we got to test out our car. We got in this mini convertible and scanned our disney cards and our car we designed came up on screen. We did multiple tests in the convertible. We did a capability test, and we went really fast on a slippery road and swerved around(not really, the track the car rode on swerved) and sped toward a lightning bolt and made a sharp left turn. Then, they did efficiency tests on the car we designed while we peacefully drove around. The convertible then did some hairpin turns around some laser hologram trees and then we sped through a tunnel and when we came out, an 18-wheeler nearly jackknifed us but thanks to the convertibles amazing steering, we made it out okay. And for the last test, speed. We raced really fast toward this door and right when it seemed we would smash into it head-on, they opened the doors and we sped off. We quickly gained speed and were soon at 65 MPH, according to the monitor. Then, we raced at 65 and banked 50 degree turns! Scary! We all were holding on while the car tilted on the bank. Finally, the ride came to an end and we went into the post-ride area and looked at the score our designed. We got 197 points, which is so-so. We all agreed that our car would have gotten a better score if that nose hadn't been added.
After that, we went to this place called Innoventions. There, we put some household items test like Underwriters Laboratories. We smacked a TV tube with a rubber sledgehammer by pulling a rope attached to a pulley. They had a counter that measured how many times the TV was smacked. It was hit 104, something something something times and had still not broken. We twisted some hoses with wires inside together a bunch of times and pulled them apart. They never broke. Then, we went to a section about hurricanes. They had a glass box with a model house inside. You could turn up the wind inside until the gable on the roof collapsed in. I turned it to 150 MPH and the gable collapsed, the model fence was blown down, and the garage door was bent in. We then made our way to Soarin'. It was great! We got on these seats in front of this huge movie screen with a projector on the other side. You were, in reality, suspended in air in the theater so that your feet were not touching the ground. You flew all around Califronia and it felt so real! There was a steady stream of wind blowing at your face so it felt like you were moving through the air. When   you descended, the chair tilted forward, making you feel like you were truly falling, and vice versa when you went up. We all loved this ride. It was very peaceful and serene. Then we went to the World Showcase. We went to Canada, the UK, France, Morocco, Japan, The American adventure, Italy, and Germany.(Remember, we had already seen  Mexico, Norway, and China). On our way out, we stopped at a gift shop in Japan to pick up some gifts and I bought a Japanese soda, Japanese Apple-flavored gummies, and some Hello Panda cookies. The Japanese soda was cherry flavored and was delicious. There was a marble in it to make it spill proof. We wanted to get the marble out, but couldn't, so we gave up. The cap was sealed on and wasn't threaded so it couldn't be twisted off. The apple gummies were awesome! They wee made with real apple juice and were great. And hello panda cookies are these panda-shaped 3-d cookies with chocolate cream inside. The whole gang was tired after we were through with Epcot, so we came home to take a small nap.

to be continued... Tomorrow at the Airport

Friday, March 29, 2013

Another busy(but fun) day at Disney


Well, like I said, we woke up pretty late and we didn't get to Animal Kingdom until 11:30. Once we go there, we looked around a little and then we went to a 4D movie called It's Tough to be A Bug! The show was hosted by that ant from A Bug's Life and he showed us different bugs. One was a tarantula that shot out spikes. Since we wore 3D glasses, the spikes seemed to barely miss us. And since we were in a 4D theater, a burst of wind would hit you as the spike seemed to whizz past your head. Then he showed us a termite. It felt that we were intruders and had an acid defense. So he turned his butt towards us and sprayed his "acid" at us. It got all over the audience but it was just water. Then he showed us the same thing with a stinkbug and it did the same thing as the termite except it sprayed a foggy gas that stunk. Then, a preying mantis came out and he complained about humans killing bugs and stuff and then declared war on the human race. Then this giant spray bottle came out and the whole crowd was enveloped in fog for a while. Then the show ended after an apology from the ant dude and a summary of how cool bugs were. After that, we went to Dinoland U.S.A. We checked out three rides from there. Dinosaur, Primeval Whirl, and some ride that I forgot the name of. Dinosaur was an indoor ride. We got on this truck and buckled in. It took us back into the age of the dinosaurs and took us really fast through this road with lots of dinosaurs in it. It shook a lot and went really fast. You had to hold on tight! he whole ride was nearly pitch black until you came upon an animatronic dinosaur. The ride I forgot the name of was pretty kiddish but we did it anyway. it was one of those ones where you spin around in a dinosaur and you can go up and down however you want. We had fun on that. Then, primeval whirl. It was like that teacup ride, but more intense. You climb up a  small hill and you take some steep drops and all and spin a few times, but that is it. After that we headed over to Asia and got on this thing called Kali River Rapids. It wasn't that bad. I was like white-water rafting but we went down a semi-steep drop and got pretty wet. After that, we went to Africa and got a Fastpass ticket for the Safari tour, because the line was long to get in. Fastpass is a thing where you can get tickets to a ride and get a good spot at the front of the line while you play somewhere else. The thing is, you have to return to the ride at a designated One hour window. So our window for the Safari was 3:50 to 4:50. It was, I think, around 2 to 2:30 and the gang was all hungry. We hadn't found any good places to eat so we went back to downtown disney to eat at Earl's again! But travel from theme park to theme park is pretty inconvenient. You have to go to a hotel bus stop and get on another bus to anther theme park You can't just go from theme park to theme park. So we took the bus to Saratoga Springs resort, which is just outside downtown disney. Then, we boarded the bus to Downtown Disney. I brought the camera along for the ride here, and this is where the visuals start.
This was my Earl's Club for today. Yum!

I was in Downtown disney, so i decided to take some pictures and video for everyone to enjoy.
Here is a gigantic Tinker Toy windmill outside the toy store.


This was the happenings around the square I was in. This square is just a fraction of the real downtown disney. I took this in one square of the east side of the Marketplace at downtown disney. They have the Marketplace with all of the shops and stores,  along with some restaurants(like Earls). There is Pleasure Island located in the center of downtown. It has clothes shops and very fancy restaurants. And last, there is the West Side, with lots of fun activities like a bowling alley, indoor theme park, fun restaurants, hot air balloon rides, and a cirque du Soleil performance. So to sum it up, that square is not all of Downtown. it is a mere piece of the marketplace.

After we left Earl's we saw something in the skies at the bus stop.
It was a dude in an airplane writing stuff in the skies with his vapor trail! It ended up saying "Love Jesus   Praise--" and then I couldn't see it anymore.

Then, by the time we got back to our Safari location in Animal Kingdom our window had expired. So we waited in line like regular people for about 30 minutes. not too too bad. The safari was great! take a look at the animals we saw
The dude was feeding the pelicans and they all gathered round for dinner.
That's a Nile Crocodile! See it?
That's a termite mound. Really tall!
Look at the giraffe!

Here we have some elephants.

This looks like an upside-down tree, but I assure you it is right side up.
 Flamingos

sadly, this animal will likely be hunted to extinction in the next 10 years.

Here are the lions!
That was the end of our safari. Luckily, we were able to take a bus from Animal Kingdom straight to Epcot.

I also have some pictures from epcot, which was absolutely fantastic! I love it!

This is the 18-story tall globe, Epcot's most memorable monument. It houses the Spaceship Earth ride.
Next, we went to the Cool Club. There, we got to try eight different Coca-Cola products from around the globe.
I tried all of the flavors. Mozambique's Krest Ginger Ale tasted like ginger ale to me. The Costa Rican version of a Fanta tasted like Carbonated Cherry Medicine, but surprisingly, I came to like it. The Beverly from Italy was bitter as advertised. Imagine three flavorless Alka-Seltzers in a glass about one-sixth full. That's what Beverly tasted like. Germany's Mezzo Mix was pretty tasty. It was regular coke with orange flavoring. I liked that.
Japan's VegitaBeta drink wasn't carbonated. It tasted a lot like vitamin water, but it was actually vegetable juice. Pretty good! Israel's Kinley was a lot like sprite except there was a lot more lemon than lime in it and it was infused with honey, so that made it much sweeter. Mexico's soda was apple flavored, and I liked that. Then, China had a soda flavor I had never tasted. Watermelon! It was pretty good, though. It tasted like carbonated watermelon juice.

The lines in the rides at the future world were terribly long, so we walked over to World Showcase. At world showcase, there is piece of 12 different countries situated around a lake.

We only made it to Mexico, Norway, and China, so we'll come back to Epcot tomorrow morning to ride the future world rides and 
finish up the world showcase.

On our way out of there, I took some pictures of Epcot. Epcot is even more beautiful at night.
Here's the view of the lake at World Showcase.




These are some neon colored lights on the ground in Epcot.

Here is a water show at the fountain as I was leaving
Here is the lighted globe as we left epcot. Goodbye!

Tomorrow's Schedule: Epcot in the morning, Magic Kingdom for  the rest of the day.

Signing off, Jack.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Good Morning from DisneyWorld!

 Well, We slept pretty good last night Only thing is, we slept too good. It's 9:00 where you all are, but here, it's 10:00. We were going to go back to Earl of Sandwiches to eat breakfast, but by the time we get there, breakfast will be over by the time we get there. And we heard the best time to Animal Kingdom, our first park for today, was the morning, when the animals are being fed and are active. So today's schedule:
Whenever we leave-3:00- Animal Kingdom
4:00- Whenever we decide to head back- Epcot

lots of pictures and videos!

JACK

Back at the hotel after a looooong day...

Well, here is the story of my hectic day in chronological order.

First, we woke up and got breakfast and took the car to Lafayette Airport. We got there at about 6. We checked in at the self-service kiosks and printed our boarding passes. Then we took the escalator to the 2nd floor and got to TSA. I did everything right there. Shoes off, computer in a second bin, wristband off, everything! From the way I handled the stuff to put in the bin,, you would've thought I was a frequent flyer! And then when I got to the metal detector, I heard a beeeeeeeeeep! And then the officer said, hold on. At this point I was freaking out. I didn't have any bombs! What was going to happen to me? And then, the agent said, "the machine has randomly selected you for additional screening." How lucky am I? So I went to this other officer and he took this device that had a base like that thing the doctor sticks in your ears during a check-up but had a tip that looked like a stethoscope. He put this small disposable cloth on the device and scanned my hands, wrists, and forearms for bombs. Well, no bombs! So after that ordeal, we made it to the gate with more than enough time to wait for our call to board. Well, let me tell you, that plane's overhead compartments can't fit any more than a backpack in there. So, my original carry-on luggage was checked for free. And that, my friends, is why I do not have any visual documentations of the first flight.
The first plane was really really cramped. But the flight felt like no time at all, and before I knew it, we were already in Atlanta.
We deplaned at gate C53 and had to take the tram to Concourse B. We had originally planned to eat at the Charley's Grilled Subs in Concourse B, our departure terminal. But we came to find that our Charley's had been replaced with a Popeye's. But me and dad really wanted to take mom to our favorite sandwich place So we went back to the C gates and went to the Charley's there. Awesome Sandwiches!!! I had a bacon 3cheese steak. Yummy yummy. So after that we went back to B and walked all the way to B3. It was nice to sit down for a while. But 5 minutes after we sat down, they started boarding! What a break, huh?
Now I brought my carryon luggage onboard this one. I loved this flight because it was short and sweet. And smooth. I have some visual refernces.
These were my complimentary inflight snacks: Delta brand mini pretzels and a sprite.

Soon again, we were in Orlando. We made our way to the magical express, a complimentary bus service from the Orlando Airport to your hotel. We climbed aboard that, checked into the hotel, took a rest, and headed to Downtown Disney.
When we got to Downtown Disney, we went to tons of differernt places. I would show you pictures, but we forgot our camera. Anyway, we went to a shop where it is Christmastime all year, The awesomest candy shop of all time,  a shop where you can make your own tee shirt, a Giant Tinker Toy statue, anda bunch of more fun places. After we did all that, we stopped at this restaurant called Earl of Sandwiches for dinner. I got a Earl's club. It was amazing. It was so good, we will go there for breakfast tomorrow! After that, we went to the IllumiNations fireworks display at Epcot. It was great! Here are some clips of the extravaganza.
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After that we went home and to showers and went to bed. That was day 1. Tomorrow, look out for day 2!
Signign off, Jacck