Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Walt Disney World and the Florida Shore, April 2017: Part 3

By Nick

Part 1
Part 2

Monday, April 24th 

We slept in a bit before heading to Disney's Hollywood Studios to use our FastPasses for Toy Story Midway Mania and Tower of Terror.

 Me, Barbie, Jill, Zach, and Trevor



We headed to Star Wars Launch Bay where we were met by my Disney Exchange Podcast co-host Dave. We got pictures with Chewie, BB-8, and the always terrifying Kylo Ren.



Please note Trevor isn't in the photo with Kylo Ren. That's because he showed Kylo his Rebel Alliance logo tattoo and was sent to stand alone off to the side!


We had a very good lunch at Brown Derby before heading over to Epcot the guys heading to the HP Lounge that is located above Mission Space courtesy of Zach and Trevor, while the girls went shopping.



We all met up again, and got a bunch of pictures of the Flower and Garden displays. Love the portrait mode on the iPhone 7!



At one point Barbie and I were having our picture taken by a PhotoPass photographer when Jill and Zach happened to start walking in front of the picture. They apologized, but I said, no, please keep going through, and asked the Cast Member to keep snapping as they did. He said in the years he'd been a PhotoPass photographer, he'd never had anyone request this.




We hopped a monorail over to the Ticket and Transportation Center, where we disembarked and took a walk over to the Polynesian.


While the girls went to the BouTiki shop and Trevor to Disney Springs, Dave, Zach and I went to the Tambu Lounge for cocktails.


Once the girls returned, we headed over to the Top of the World, a Disney Vacation Club lounge located at Bay Lake Towers, where we had a light dinner and enjoyed Wishes one last time, as it has been replaced by a new show, Happily Ever After.




Sunday, May 28, 2017

Two and a half Days at WDW Touring Plan - Episode 128 of The Disney Exchange Podcast

The Disney Exchange is Lisa, Dave and me Nick

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

After news and rumors I share plans for our trip to Walt Disney World in December 15th-20th.


My wife and I have Gold Annual Passes, and Blockout or blackout dates apply.  I called Disney and found our these dates starts Monday, December 18th. This means we only have Friday afternoon - Sunday to visit the parks, so I ask Dave and Lisa for their advise. We bounce around different touring plans, factoring in that park hours may be shortened and that there will be various Christmas decorations and activities we will want to see. 

The Wheel of Distiny :  You have a $10,000 Disney vacation budget but you CANNOT go to Disney World, whatcha gonna spend it on?

You can send us an email at info@thedisneyexchange and reach out with show suggestions, submit Wheel of Distiny topics, or request a listener number on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedisneyexchange, Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyexchange 

If you would be so kind as to leave us a 5 star review on any of the social media sites, such as Facebook or iTunes, we'd really appreciate it. Thank you!

Thank you for listening to
The Disney Exchange!

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Walt Disney World and the Florida Shore, April 2017: Part 2

By Nick

Sunday, April 23rd 

We slept in a bit and had breakfast at the Pepper Market at Coronado Springs before heading to Disney's Animal Kingdom.



After riding Dinosaur we walked back towards Discovery Island Trails and walked through the shops. I was in search of a hat. I'm not a big hat fan, but I'm even less of a fan of putting sunscreen on my face as I generally break out from it and just don't like how it feels. 

Me, Trevor, Zach, Barbie and Jill

While in the shop I received a text from my Disney Exchange co-host Lisa saying that she, her husband Raymond, and their son Joseph were in DAK also, at the Nomad Lounge, located inside Tiffins. I texted our other co-host, Dave, and told him where we were all meeting up.

We spent a couple of hours having adult beverages, snacks and a good time together!


  Lisa, Dave and me

We left there and took photos in front of the Tree of Life, and said goodbye to Dave. 


Joseph, Raymond, Lisa, Dave, Barbie and me

We headed to Kilimanjaro Safaris, stopping at Dawa Bar, because, well, it is a long walk and it was a hot day.




Lisa and her family left for awhile, and our group had dinner at Yak and Yeti.  We ran into friends Jennifer and Chris (see part one) on our way over to meet Lisa, her family and Dave at the Fastpass entrance to Rivers of Light.


While waiting for Lisa, our friends Beth and Amanda spotted us, and we sat with them during the show.



Ah, Rivers of Light. It is, well, it's okay. It isn't something that I would wait to see again. For one, the bleacher seats are not comfortable enough for prolonged periods. And the show is sort of aimless. The music and visuals were pleasant enough, but it lacks a hook.




We said goodnight to everyone and headed back to the resort for the evening. 

Part one can be found here : http://disneymusings.blogspot.com/2017/05/walt-disney-world-and-florida-shore.html

You can hear a full review by Lisa, Dave and myself on Episode 124 of The Disney Exchange Podcast.




Sunday, May 21, 2017

Dave's Pandora Preview Review - Episode 127 of the Disney Exchange

The Disney Exchange is Lisa, Dave, and me, Nick
All photos this week are courtesy of Dave.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download 

Welcome to the latest episode of The Disney Crime Report Podcast!

We have a new iTunes 5 star review! Thank you Gingerstorm.

Dave talks about the new Caring for Giants Tour at Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Speaking of Disney's Animal Kingdom, have you heard about Pandora-The World of Avatar? Well,

Dave got to check it out during an Annual Passholder preview, and he shares his experience here talking extensively about the overall theme, attractions, souvenirs and dining! So, obviously, SPOILERS!


 Dannielle, Anne, Dave, and Gabe








The Wheel of Distiny topic: Do you accept random friend requests on Facebook, or vet the them, even if they appear to be Disney fans? 

You can send us an email at info@thedisneyexchange and reach out with show suggestions, submit Wheel of Distiny topics, or request a listener number on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedisneyexchange, Twitter: https://twitter.com/disneyexchange 

If you would be so kind as to leave us a 5 star review on any of the social media sites, such as Facebook or iTunes, we'd really appreciate it. Thank you!

Thank you for listening to
The Disney Exchange

Friday, May 19, 2017

Walt Disney World and the Florida Shore, April 2017: Part 1

By Nick

Barbie's Aunt Sandy, Uncle Roger, cousin Jill and Jill's husband Zach rented a house in Ormond Beach, Florida for the month of April and invited us down to stay with them.

We took them up on the offer the last week of the month, staying there 1 night,  followed by 3 nights at Disney's Coronado Springs with Jill, Zach, and friend Trevor, then back to the house for 4 more nights.

Friday, April 21st 

The day started very early indeed, with a 2:30 am Rapid Rover Airport Shuttle pickup to get us to the Philadelphia International Airport for our 5:30 am flight to Tampa.

Let me tell you why we wound up in Tampa. I had a "senior moment" when I booked our flights for this trip waaaay back in December of 2016.

Somehow I confused Tampa as being on the east coast of Florida. Ormond Beach is north of Daytona. This whole thing is even more confounding as I collect maps and globes. Geography was one of my best subjects in school. I have been to every state in the United States of America. Heck, I  have been to Busch Gardens IN TAMPA! Ridiculous.

I even remember the exact moment I realized my blunder. I was on a hayride through a Christmas light display at a farm. I was telling my friends about our plans when I said aloud we would fly into Tampa. That's when it hit me. Wrong coast.

I texted Zach, and we decided I should keep the inbound flight as Tampa and change my outgoing flight to Orlando.

Why keep our incoming flight to Tampa?

2 reasons. The Salvador Dali Museum and Cigar City Brewing.

 Barbie, me, Jill and Zach in front of the Salvador Dali Museum.


After our visit to Tampa, we went across the state to the house at Ormond Beach.

Saturday, April 22nd

The whole family was up at 5a.m. to get ready to head to Walt Disney World. Aunt Sandy and Uncle Roger were just spending the one day, so we wanted to get to the Magic Kingdom as early as possible.

The ladies took one vehicle, while the guys went to pick up our friend and Zach's co-worker Trevor at his hotel by the Orlando airport.

The gals went to the Magic Kingdom while we checked into Coronado Springs. There was a bit of confusion around Trevor's room which made us arrive a bit later than anticipated to the MK.

Meanwhile, at the MK, Barbie was recognized by a friend from Facebook, I'm gonna say her name is Jan. No, wait, Jean. (Why am I pretending I don't know her name? I'll explain shortly.)
It was actually Jennifer! Hi Jennifer! Hi Chris!


What was I doing while Barbie was having fun. I was on the bus.


We finally arrived, grabbing a few quick pictures of the 4 of us, before meeting the girls at Gaston's Tavern.

Trevor, me, Zach and Uncle Roger 

When we got there we ran into Jennifer and Chris! Sooo, it turns out I had met Jennifer and her husband back in 2015, at Star Wars Weekends, but, um, didn't remember. I felt awful, but it has now become our "thing."


The group split up again, with Zach, Trevor and me heading off to Big Thunder Mountain while the rest of the family headed off to explore more of Fantasyland, before we all met back up again.

 Nick, Barbie, Uncle Roger, Aunt Sandy, Jill, Zach and Trevor

We went over to Pirates of the Caribbean, but it was down, so we headed to Epcot

After grabbing a bite to eat at Yorkshire County Fish and Chips in the UK pavilion, who should we run into but my Disney Exchange Podcast co-host Lisa and her family! Aunt Sandy had very much looked forward to meeting Lisa, as she is a fan of the show.


We all met up with our other co-host, Dave, his wife Anne and daughter Dannielle, as well as a few of our listeners at Epcot's France Pavilion. You can hear about the meet up on Disney Exchange episodes 124 and 125.

  me, Lisa and Dave

Dannielle, Anne and Barbie

After we said our goodbyes, we went to the American Adventure, followed by dinner at The Biergarten.


We headed back to the Magic Kingdom to ride Pirates before saying goodbye to Aunt Sandy and Uncle Roger for a couple of days before heading to the resort.