“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”
― Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird
― Harper Lee, To Kill A Mockingbird
Our Favorite Rides Well we're winding to our last few days in the park. We've been here in Disney for two weeks and it's seemed like maybe four days. possibly five! Where has the time gone?? Friday will be our last day in the park. But enough about the sad times...on to the fun things! Next time you go to Disney or whenever you visit for the first time, the following rides should definitely be on your bucket list!! P.S. this photo is taken in front of our ride! Who can guess what and where it is? It's A Small World - It's a classic so you have to ride it! It's a nice little boat in the nice cool air and you don't get wet or go fast and you get to play a little guessing game of all the countries. For me it shows me how big our world really is. The Haunted Mansion - MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!! I have no idea why. I just love the going up and down and watching all the ghost and songs. I love the ending...what's the ending? Go see for yourself...you may leave with an extra "friend". Splash Mountain - Who doesn't love a good log ride? It's long and cool and keeps teasing you but you get a nice story to go along with it and ultimately, it's called Splash Mountain for a reason so be forewarned!! Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin - The game before there was Toy Story. You and your partner get to compete against each other while hoping your laser goes where you want it to go and shoots the targets. The People Mover - Another nice leisurely ride that takes you around Magic Kingdom (or at least Tomorrowland) where you can rest and cool off while also being able to see different sides of the park. Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Now Playing - Okay so I lied!! Can I have a lot of favorites?? Cheesy jokes that will just make you laugh and you can send your own jokes in. It's Tough To Be A Bug - Such a childish show but who doesn't love a good "4-D" show! There's all sorts of creepy crawly surprises. Expedition Everest - The ride that just might make you curse in your head, at least I know I did. It's quite the expedition! Festival of the Lion King - LOVE LOVE LOVE this show! The music, the culture, the costumes. It's a must see! Soarin' - It's worth the wait and such an experience. This ride will make you want to travel the 50 states! Spaceship Earth - The crazy long ride inside the big ball at Epcot. You get to take a selfie and design your own utopia. But be careful because if the previous rider changed the language and you aren't paying attention, you might have to go through the entire ride without understanding a word of it! The World Showcase at Epcot - A place where you can visit 11 countries all in one day! You can meet, talk, eat, and learn all about different cultures. This is why Epcot is my favorite park! Toy Story Mania - THE BEST RIDE THAT EXISTS! Just like Buzz Lightyear BUT SO MUCH BETTER!!! Hollywood Tower of Terror - THE SECOND BEST RIDE THAT EXSIST! I can't explain why I like being dropped over and over but it sure is fun!! Rockin' Rollercoaster - Best roller coaster in all four parks. It starts off fast and turns you upside down and inside out with only neon lights showing the way! And that's our favorite rides! What are yours?
XOXO, The Gearles
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Disney Edition We're back and it's a Monday!! So what drives us crazy this week? Well since we are in Disney World for two weeks we decided to talk about some not so magical moments at the Magical World of Disney. Helping assist us in today's blog is my mom's best friend who happens to be a Disney expert, Mrs. Lisa Pritchett. Not So Magical Moments1. Alright, to start off, it's already not fun to stand in a long line when it's 100 degrees and a humidity of 95% but it's really not fun when the line you are standing in has a 70 minute wait and the people in front of you are obviously having stomach issues! Please people! Must you really keep passing that gas?!? Come on!! Have some consideration for the people behind you!! 2. Unfortunately, on Wednesday, I developed eye issues. This happens to me several time a year when somehow I manage to scratch my eye. Because my eye then becomes overly sensitive to light, I have to try not to expose it to bright light. This is very difficult to do in Orlando, FL and so I had to rent a wheelchair and let Abby push me around because basically, I was blind. Therein lies the problem. Most people at Disney World are kind and considerate and will do everything they can to get out of the way or help you out, but there are some who don't want to be slowed down by anyone or anything and they are the ones who this complaint it directed towards. In Abby's words, "You see me coming so don't try to pass me in a crowd, don't try to cross in front of me and don't suddenly stop in front of me. I can't stop on a dime and you are going to get run over! Don't blame me and give me a dirty look because you chose to be impatient!!" 3. Disney's new fast pass system is kind of cool but some rides need some tweaking. When we went through the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train line, we had to wait much longer because we were a party of four. Others who entered the line after us got on the ride much faster because they were a party of three. Not cool!! 4. We love Disney's transportation system when we stay with our friends at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It saves us the hassle of having to drive to the park each day and deal with trams. However, certain times of the day when many people want to go to the park or leave the park, the busses become way over crowded. The bus drivers keep crowding people on and many passengers are forced to stand up. Many parents allow their children and teenagers to take a seat while older riders are forced to stand up. The bus drivers are not always very smooth drivers and those of us who do not regularly ride a subway or city bus are not very good at balancing on a moving bus with hard stops and rough take-offs. And even when you do know how to balance good because you've had a lot of years dance, some of those bus drivers are horrible drivers! Please parents, your kids are young and agile. Teach them some manners and have them give up their seats to allow older and less agile riders to sit! 5. With great fun comes a great price and Disney loves to show you that. The only free thing you can get at Disney is a cup of water and sometimes they only give you a cup of ice and you have to fill your cup at a water fountain. I love Disney but they are fast becoming a rich man's vacation destination. The price of accommodations, tickets, and food is ridiculously high! I cannot imagine how families with several children can even afford to come here on vacation! $19.99 for one piece of fish and a side order of fries?? Come on Disney, give us working class folks a break!! Once in a lifetime is correct!! 6. This one comes from Lisa. She has two little kids and we all know that little boys like to repeat what they hear so remember your language around little Mickey ears. As her husband posted on Facebook, "To the 2 young men standing behind me while waiting in line for Baymax....thank you for the uncreative language you are using. New vocabulary words that I don't want my two boys to learn! You need your mouths washed out with soap!!" 7. I finally broke down and bought a pair of Chacos, the best shoes I have ever had, but I made a HUGE mistake of buying them and wearing them the day before I started walking 8 miles around Disney. The first three days my feet were miserable...but a week later and my feet love and thank me for them!! Didn't your mother ever tell you, little girl, to never wear new shoes to a theme park?? Duh... 8. Jacking up prices for special events seems to be a typical thing for Disney. We went to Hollywood and Vine and expected to pay $34.99 plus tax because it was a character dinner but because of Star Wars weekend and all the characters were dressed as Star Wars Characters, they jacked the price up to $57.99 without any notice. We didn't know this until we sat down and started eating. After tax and the mandatory 18% gratuity because we were a party of 6, I paid $145.75. I have never in my life paid that much for 2 people to eat and the food was not really all that great! Again, a rich man's vacation...needless to say we stuffed my backpack with goodies to take home. 9. This is another one that comes from Lisa. We paid $100 for the Tables of Wonderland discount which is supposed to give us a 20% discount at the Disney restaurants. Because we were scheduled to eat at several restaurants, we thought it would save us some money but have since learned that you can't always use the discount because of certain blackout dates and special events (events we didn't even know were special events!). I guess this is really just another way of Disney getting all your money! 10. If you are going to deny people the ability to sit down and rest their poor aching feet by saving your friends and family a seat on a bench, please make sure your friends and family actually show up because otherwise that is just rude!! Also, I don't really think your bag needs a seat and it sure would be nice if you would set it on the ground so that someone who is tired can sit in that spot for just a few minutes and regain the energy they need to travel on to the next fun adventure waiting for them just around the next corner! Have you noticed Disney didn't really think about people wanting to sit down after walking all day? How many benches do you really see around Disney World? 11. We all know that you have to pay sales tax on food and we have come to accept that. We also all know that restaurant owners in the United States are too cheap to actually pay their employees a decent wage and expect their customers to do it for them by paying a tip on their tab. However, I would like to decide myself if the person waiting on me deserves a tip and how much they deserve. Because we were a party of six (but only 5 paying because one of our party had a very small appetite and usually ate off his parents plate), Disney always charged us a mandatory 18% gratuity. Thanks for taking away my ability to choose for myself how much tip I pay!! To be honest our waitress at Hollywood and Vine wasn't very enthusiastic and did not deserve an 18% tip but I'm just saying. 12. Poor communication. I am sure that Disney is such a large operation that it is hard to fully train all their employees on all the dos and don'ts but it would be nice if were weren't told one thing by one person and then something totally different by someone else. Animal Kingdom Lodge has a nice campfire that you can sit around and that is lit all day. We thought it would be fun to make some s'mores and so we called the front desk and ask if that was okay. They said sure...go ahead. So we gather all of our supplies and head down to the campfire and start making s'mores. We are having a good time enjoying our s'mores when another lady comes up to us and tells us that we are not allowed to do that!! Really?? We just asked someone and were told it was okay so now who do we believe?? Get your stories straight please!! Do you know how sad I was when I heard this? I just stuck my marshmallow on the stick and they decided me my s'more. Now don't ask me how many I had before that, that's irrelevant. 13. Dear Animal Kingdom Lodge Housekeeper: Checkout time is 11:00 and I promise that we will be out of here by 11:00. Please stop coming by and bothering us while we are trying to pack up all our stuff!! We have until 11:00!! Go find another room to clean and come back after 11:00!! Don't come at 9:45 and then again at 10:20!! 14. Let's be honest...the temperatures during the summer are NOT so magical at all!! We have been during November and it is quite pleasant! So remember if you go during the summer, pack lots of water and go to the dollar store and buy lots of those little personal battery-operated fans. You will be glad you did! 15. Lastly the not so magical lines. Who hates them? They're everywhere... at the grocery store, at the mall, at the bathrooms and so of course you have them AND LOTS OF THEM at Disney. Be prepared to stand in lines...even if you have fast passes.
And that my friends are some not so magical moments at the magical world of Disney World but don't worry we don't only have bad things to say about Disney. There's a reason that we've been five times and will continue to come...as long as we can somewhat afford it. We're just giving y'a'll a little but of a warning. Best Wishes, The Gearles It's Whatever Wednesday!! What does that mean? That today's topic could be anything! It could be about politics, education, life, a good story, or even crafts. Whatever Wednesday means we just don't care. For example in our photo we broke the rules and brought outside popcorn when we to saw a movie earlier in the year. Oooh...we are such rebels!!! So what's today's topic? Staying hydrated for Disney but being cute while doing so. Now what does that mean? We're going to transform a drab one-liter cooler into a fab one-liter cooler! Are you ready for this? It's transformation Wednesday! Mom maybe we should have done this on Tuesday. There is this thing called Transformation Tuesday. It even has its own hashtag! Well little girl we're doing our own thing! Okie dokie. I can live with that. Beautifying a Cooler So what's needed for this project? - 1 liter cooler - sander/ sand paper - plastic primer (I prefer Krylon Fusion for Plastic) - tissue paper - spackling - painter tape or masking tape - lots of paint and paint brushes - sealer (I use Modge Podge but you can use any type of sealer.) Step 1: Obviously you need to find a cooler. I got mine in a set of three at Wal-Mart for $25. I had to make my boyfriend a cooler for his fraternity earlier. Step 2: Some coolers may have an indent or logo on it. You can choose to keep those or you can apply spackling to the indents. Allow the spackling to dry at least eighteen hours. Step 3: As your spackling is drying, come up with the design that you would like to put on your cooler. Draw what needs to be drawn or trace what needs to be drawn. If you found something you would like to trace, I found that tissue paper is the best tracing paper. I normally draw out the design that I want and then I trace it. Step 4: Sand your cooler until there's no finish left on it. Sand all areas that you plan to decorate. The reason you want to sand your cooler is because you want to rough it up to allow the paint to stick better. Don't forget to sand the spackled area. You want everything to be nice and smooth. Step 5: Prime your cooler. Allow each layer to dry before adding the next. This is important. My favorite brand is Krylon. Step 6: Beautify that cooler like there's no tomorrow! Trace your designs or freehand your way to success! Step 7: Once you have beautified that cooler seal it up so it doesn't scratch. I use Modge Podge but there are many different types of sealant. Step 8: Enjoy your newly designed cooler! Stay hydrated and have fun! And that ladies and gentlemen is how you beautify a cooler and stay hydrated at Disney. This took about three days from start to finish. Remember it's not about how long it takes you to make it but the fun you're having. Look for our cooler in an upcoming post about how to Disney the right way! We hope you enjoyed this little tutorial! Send us your photos when you get done and we'll post them here so everyone else can get ideas! Here's the cooler I had to make my boyfriend for his formal for his fraternity. And yes that is the Dr. Pepper logo and a Whataburger combo. So really you could beautify any cooler you have at home! XOXO,
The Gearles |
Abby & AndreaA college student trying to figure out the world with her mom by herside. Life through my lens (Abby). We all have different stories and these are only some of mine. Some funny, some adventurous, some hard. Sit back and relax. Enjoy. Archives
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