Our Disney Adventure Begins

By 4:00 Saturday afternoon, we had moved into our new digs for the next week. We knew we were in Davenport, but appeared to be well into the boonies. In fact, we were very close to Disney and all necessary amenities. We quickly discovered that we were not alone. We’ve been used to the proliferation of lizards in Florida, but we also discovered a significantly larger lizard sunning on the water catchments behind our home.

The pool with its covered lanai was quickly a major attraction. It was Florida hot and the pool was very inviting and our little girls were lovin’ it.

Sunday morning found us driving to Disney Hollywood Studios – in our day known as MGM. It was Sunday and we expected some crowds, but none exceeded our expectations. We plotted our approach to the park and after getting a “Fast Pass” for Toy Story – this is new, but significantly reduces wait times. After obtaining our passes, we went to the Little Mermaid show. The animation was great mixed with live action, but the best part was watching the reaction of the little girls.

Next, we took in the Disney Junior live show. You have to be young and part of today’s TV generation to know about Disney Junior, but the live show captivated the children.

We lunched in the large concourse and were entertained by the children hop-scotching.

Before lunch we did our Fast Pass at Pixar Toy Story Midway Mania. Here’s how we benefited. When we entered, the wait was 80 minutes for non fast-passers. We walked right in and after 5 minutes were on the ride. I found it only slightly interesting that the most popular ride at Disney Studios involved a shooting gallery. Americans do love their guns!

After lunch we did the Little Mermaid live show. This was highlighted by a photo-op with a mermaid fountain.

After lunch, we went to the classic tour of the Disney Backlot. This tour is still exciting for little ones, but is getting a little tired for past visitors. The highlight is always the Mickey towers – both topiary and steel.

Next we walked down Hollywood Blvd. and took this pic.

We got to the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular and little late but still witnessed Indy dispatching numerous Arabs and nasty Natzis.

After the show the girls paused for a photo shoot with the Monsters Inc. characters.

This is an operating film studio, so the street views with their vistas to the horizon should not come as a surprise.

We finished the day with the Beauty & the Beast live show. The girls were pretty much beyond their prime, but they still enjoyed this highlights show.

Back at the home, the pool was an instant hit. There was no nap time today, so by early evening we were sans children. They will have another big day tomorrow.