Travels of the Rennhack family
🎢 Park 4/3/2014 – 4/9/2014
Disney's Pop Century Resort, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Epcot
We left Coloma for Chicago O'Hare, the start of our Walt Disney World trip. Before we went, our MagicBands were waiting for us, an Incredibles-themed set with each of our names on it: Michael, Kathy, Lisa and Thomas.
At O'Hare, Thomas and Lisa waited at the gate with their tablets while I photographed a dinosaur skeleton on display in the terminal. We flew from Chicago O'Hare to Orlando and checked into Disney's Pop Century Resort.
The day was spent at Epcot. We left Pop Century in the morning and walked in under the big blue Epcot sign before heading straight for Spaceship Earth, where a PhotoPass photographer caught the four of us with the globe behind us.
At the Character Spot we ran into Chip and Dale, then Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy, one right after another. Lisa rode Test Track for the first time that afternoon, the whole family packed into the blue car together.
We worked our way around World Showcase from there. In Mexico, Donald Duck in his poncho and sombrero held up Flat Stanley, the paper cutout Lisa had brought along, balanced right on his hand for the picture. In China we met Mulan, and Flat Stanley kept touring with us the rest of the afternoon, getting his own photo in front of the pagoda in Japan.
Late in the afternoon Kathy and I got a picture kissing in front of the Muppets garden, with Lisa and Thomas standing in front of us. The kids climbed the playground near the World Showcase lagoon before we started making our way back toward Future World as it got dark, stopping to press our hands into a heart shape over the wall of engraved photos on the way.
That wall of engraved photos is Leave a Legacy. Kathy and I had our photo etched onto a tile there on our first visit in January 2003, and this time we found it again with Lisa and Thomas.
We hit Hollywood Studios first thing this morning, in through the gates under the big sorcerer's hat before the crowds built up. Thomas posed for his first photo at the hat, and not long after Lisa rode Tower of Terror for the first time. She held on tight going in and came out grinning.
Character meets filled most of the middle of the day. The kids hugged Minnie Mouse, met Mr. Incredible and Frozone, and later got in front of Buzz and Woody near Pixar Place. Thomas climbed into the Buzz Lightyear ride vehicle for a photo before we rode Toy Story Mania. We also found the giant Play-Doh tub and other oversized toys at a playground area, which the kids loved climbing on and through.
By mid-afternoon Lisa was ready for her first real coaster, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, and she came off it smiling. We caught Phineas and Ferb near the Streets of America before heading out.
We were back at Pop Century by late afternoon. Lisa and Thomas swam while the light was still good, and we ended the day with pizza by the pool.
We haven't done strollers in 3 years. Rock stars!
The day took in Disney's Animal Kingdom, the biggest photo day of the whole trip. We were through the gates before nine and went straight onto Kilimanjaro Safaris, riding the open-sided truck past elephants, hippos, a lion resting in the rocks, zebra, an ostrich right next to us and a pair of white oryx along the trail. Lisa had a snack at Dug and Russell's Wilderness Explorers Club House, then both kids spent a long stretch digging for fossils in the Boneyard, working a mammoth tusk out of the sand. We met Dug from Up there, who wrapped Thomas up in a hug. Over in DinoLand we walked past the big dinosaur skeletons and rode the rides in Dino-Rama.
On the Maharajah Jungle Trek we found a tiger asleep on the rocks, fruit bats hanging under the ruins and a gecko working its way up a tree trunk. We met Baloo, King Louie and Rafiki in Asia, then Chip and Dale. Near Expedition Everest we struck a scared pose under the mountain before riding it, hands up the whole way down, Lisa's favorite of the day. By the time we walked back out under the Animal Kingdom sign, waving, it was almost dark.
Back at Pop Century we let the kids swim, ran through the splash pad under the giant lit-up decade signs, and caught the outdoor movie by the pool before everyone finally crashed for the night.
Spring Break Day #4. New day, same goal. 10 miles here we come!
Thomas says, "Stick a fork in me. I'm done." Agreed! He was a trooper.
We spent the morning walking around Pop Century before the park, past the giant record players, the bowling pin and the decade-themed buildings, then put on our MagicBands and headed over to Magic Kingdom.
I rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin with Thomas, and we got the whole family together for pictures in front of Cinderella Castle. Thomas took a turn on the carousel horses, we went through It's a Small World twice, morning and afternoon, and rode past Ariel and Eric on the Little Mermaid ride.
In the afternoon we rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and walked through Frontierland. Thomas wore out on the castle steps with a snack for a while, so we slowed down and let him rest.
We went back to the resort in the late afternoon, then came back to Magic Kingdom that evening. We watched the Main Street Electrical Parade go by, the lit-up dragon float glowing green and pink in the dark, before heading back to Pop Century for the night.
We kept things quiet this morning and let Thomas and Lisa play in the pool back at Pop Century, crossing the floating pads under the climbing net while we watched from the edge.
We hadn't planned on a park that evening, but we ended up back at Magic Kingdom after all. We rode Splash Mountain together, arms up the whole way down, and it was Thomas's first real thrill ride. Afterward we walked down Main Street with the castle lit up blue behind us before heading back to the resort. Lisa fell asleep that night with her stuffed husky still tucked under her arm.
Until next time!
This was Disney World trip #3 for Lisa. I love looking back at pictures of her from the trips in 2008 and 2010.
We checked out of Pop Century Resort this morning and flew from Orlando to Chicago O'Hare, landing there in the early afternoon. From O'Hare we drove the rest of the way home to Coloma, arriving back in Michigan by early evening after six days away.
