All Star Movies Disney Resort & Downtown Disney

We arrived in Orlando Florida, hearing those screeching Nanny Fine accents that Florida Women are so well known for, yet dismissed it through our excitement that the weather was warm, the land filled with Palm trees (which always makes it feel warmer) and on our way to Disney. We didn't even have to pick up our luggage as the staff at Disney do all of that for you. For me (Mel) this is sweet music to my ears as it isn't easy to juggle 2 suitcases and push Tim in the chair. The Disney Magical Express was our chariot and it awaited. On board we looked outside the windows with anticipation to see some of the familiar icons of the parks, but icons we did not see. 30 minutes later overhead we passed under a massive banner welcoming us to 'World of Walt Disney' and another 15 minutes later we arrived at our hotel. We knew that the place was big but we seriously miscalculated the extravagance of this magical land.

We get to the hotel, only to discover sadly that Tim's hoist did not fit under the bed. This was going to be a bit of a problem. It is always hit or miss with hotels when we travel. We decided to call the front desk and just see if they possibly had another room that was more suitable to Tim's needs. Our request was met with, "don't worry Mr. McCallum we will look into it for you and let you know, why don't you go and have a magical evening out and leave us to fix the problem." Of course we were surprised by this response, even though lovely almost seemed misunderstood at how urgent this need was going to be. However we did as suggested and explored Downtown Disney.

Downtown Disney was a busy little hotspot for everyone, families, couples, children and young ones out for a party night. It had lots of little charming boutiques, a giant leggo store and of course the biggest Disney store in the whole world. Many restaurants to choose from, street performers and to Tim's delight, La Nouba (His favourite Cirque du Soliel show).

We headed back to the hotel with skeptical minds as to how they possible could have fixed the issue, or even if they had tried. We got back and to our amazement, while we were away, they built a new bed base for the bed with correct measurements to fit the hoist under. What service this was, amazing. We called them to thank them as ask them where we could find a grocery store to buy some dog food for Roxy, well within minutes we had a staff member at our door with kibble in her hand that she has gone and bought for us from the grocery store. Have you ever known service like this for a 'budget' hotel, even in a 5 star hotel, I have never experienced service as good as this. Check out our towel animals we found each day they came to clean our room.

We have include some of the fun characters that we ran into at the hotel. Every night that returned home, usually around 10-11pm at night we would find tons of kids in the pool. I could not believe how much energy these kids and parents had after a full day at the parks and then to swim all night as well. Disney world really is a child's Vegas!

Here is a clip of the journey from our hotel room door, through the resort and finishing at the bus stop where we caught the 'Magical Expresses' to the theme parks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s-R89hTNY8

LEGO Sculptures

These were all so Lego sculptures of dogs. So lifelike in fact that Roxy still gave them the traditional sniff from behind too. It was very funny when a little girl came up to pat these pretend dogs after we took this photo and she got the biggest fright when Roxy moved.

EPCOT

We decided to start the Disney parks with Epcot as we heard it was the biggest. The best thing about visiting Disney world with Tim, is that we got a special pass, one that allowed us to go to the front of the line for everything!!!! I suggest if you plan a trip here, take Tim. So after a quick bag check and scan of our tickets we were standing in front of the Epcot park icon, the big Golf Ball.

The first stop we made was when we stumbled upon a great photo opportunity with all the Disney fav's. As you will see we met Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald and Goofy. Tim turned from 30 to 3 when shaking Mickey's hand, it was very cute and Roxy of course was besotted with Pluto and vise versa. I loved Goofy the best because he was the only character I didn't have to bend down to match heights!

It was this park that we discovered just how accessible Disney is. We entered into a Nemo ride and expected that Tim would wait while I did the ride, but much to our pleasant surprise, Tim was able to do this ride as well. We were skeptical, and thought, they must think Tim can transfer, but no they led us to an oyster shell seat, opened the front of it, pulled out a ramp and slid him in, Roxy settling in on both our feet. This ride began on a conveyor belt, that then merged into a river. Roxy was amazed at the colours ans sounds that she sat and watched it all go past her just like we did. I wish we could have taken a photo of the three of us sitting in this shell. What a sight it must have been!

We then headed to a more educational ride, called the Land of the living, a small boat ride that showed off Disney's agricultural flare. The sparse greens that you can buy at the parks such as salads and fruit come from their own backyard so to speak. Entertaining for those who enjoy their own vegie patch, not so much for the kids.

Next to this ride was another ride called soarin'. I went on this as Tim could not and it was gliding in a hang glider over San Francisco, pretty cool. Then we headed inside the icon golf ball to see what this famous icon had in store. Well it was a bunch of video space stuff, Tim loved it but me not so much. I missed that whole video game fascination phase.

After the golf ball we headed to test track. As you begin this 5-minute, nearly one-mile auto escapade, strap yourself in, ascend steep terrain that's 3 stories high, then let loose downhill, blasting across a bumpy road and roaring through 50-degree banked curves and hair-pin turns that test suspension and brakes at speeds up to 60 miles per hour! The best ride I have ever done, but may I suggest that if you have long hair, tie it up as I returned to Tim looking like Young Einstein.

 (above is a stylized futuristic car that Chrysler is working on)

Then it was off to try my skills at being astronaut. Now Tim spurred me on to experience the more 'intense' flight experience. So off I went. For those of you not so daring, there is a 'not so intense' option. Now I am not normally one who suffers from motion sickness but this ride really does make your tummy do things it shouldn't. I am not sure if it is the realistic view of actually blasting off or if it is the G-Force pulling your face back like it is being stretched. But whatever it was, this ride had me panting like I was in labour. Having said that, I would do it again, and I would love to do it my brother as he would get a real kick out if it.


Once I was steadily back on the ground, we headed over to visit the world. Now here at Epcot you can visit a different country. Each country has a replica of traditional buildings, food for sale and of course a gift shop.  Each country also offered some kid of attraction, from rides, to boutique gardens to museums. We started off in Mexico, then moved to Norway, China, Germany, Italy, USA, Japan, Morocco, France, UK and Canada. 


Here are some photos of some of them.

(check out some of the names that read the Christmas story in the evenings)

To finish off the day we had a reservation to eat at the Norwegian restaurant Akershus Banquet Hall. This was a Disney character dining experience, where while you eat you enjoyed the company of all the Disney Princesses. 

 

Epcot was the biggest Disney park and we did what we could to fit it all in, in one day, we missed a lot of things and it is our suggestion to do this park over 2-3 days to experience it fully.