After reading some positive feedback on how these videos are helping people plan their Disney vacations I have decided to find a few more videos to share with everyone. Today, I am featuring the third and final Magic Kingdom Mountain (the other two are Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad), Splash Mountain. Splash Mountain is your basic “log ride” as I like to call them. I believe some people call them flume rides? The theming of this ride really makes it worth riding the ride once because it has the story of Brer Rabbit and gang and ends with you going into the briar patch like Brer Rabbit did. It is a fairly long ride but the story as you to to the top keeps your attention and you really don’t notice how long you have been on the ride.
Pros: great on a hot day (you get a little splash at the end of the ride), interesting story line, you get to see Brer Rabbit and gang which is hard to do nowadays, the drop is very fast
Cons: If you are a chicken like me you will not like the drop - there are no safety bars or belts - and it is pretty high, the ride is long so it may seem like it is dragging on, if you get offended by Song of the South skip this ride!
So now that we have that out of the way on to the video!
Posted under Travel by The Blonde Diaries on August 21st, 2008 2:04 pm
Dealing with airports are becoming more and more of a hassle. You have to get there at least 2 hours ahead of time, you can’t wear metal if you want to pass through the metal detectors on your first try, and liquids must be no more than 3.4 ounces and must be contained in a quart sized (no smaller no larger) ziplock bag. One thing you don’t want to have to worry about is getting to the airport. Mike and I have made it a habit to find a company to shuttle us to the airport so that we don’t have to worry about getting there, parking, unpacking the car, securing the car, and shuttling to the terminal. It has really helped keep the vacation stress levels down because we don’t have to worry about our car at the airport or how we will arrive.
If you are in the New York/New Jersey area, Go Airlink Shuttle, is offering a shuttle service from anywhere in the New York Metro area to the Newark Airport via their Newark Airport Shuttle. It is very reasonably priced and would be a total lifesaver if you are traveling with a large number of people or small children. They offer both one way and round trip services from the airport to your desired pick up/drop off location and include discounts for small children and if you decide to book a round trip service. Give them a visit before you leave for your next trip.
Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom has 3 famous “mountain” rides. I have already posted a video about Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - a fun roller coaster themed around a runaway train in the wild west. The second mountain I would like to call attention to is Space Mountain. Space Mountain is another roller coaster ride and is located in Tomorrowland. The roller coaster is completely inclosed and is completely dark - similar to the Aerosmith Rock ‘n Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. I am a fan of Space Mountain. It is a pretty cheesy/tame roller coaster but I am not a roller coaster buff so it works for me. The ride isn’t super fast and does not do any special things like flip or roll while you are on it. The main thing you need to worry about is keeping your hands inside the ride at all times. This is not a coaster that you can hold your arms up above your head or to your sides as there is track all around you and you really don’t want to lose a limb. If you have a member of your group afraid of the dark this might not be a good ride to take them on.
I found this video on YouTube to share. To be totally honest, the quality isn’t the best but this is a hard ride to video tape because it is completely dark. This video version is of the ride with the lights on. I thought this would be helpful to demonstrate that there are no loops or barrel rolls in the ride as well as to drill down my point of keeping your hands inside the ride. If you have someone nervous about riding this ride, this video will help ease their fears.
Posted under Travel by The Blonde Diaries on August 18th, 2008 12:50 pm
One of the biggest expenses my family and I found while trying to plan our trip to London and northern England earlier this year was transportation between cities. Yes, Europe and Great Britain have an excellent train system established that will get you between the major hubs of Europe but the trains are not a really cheap way to travel. I was actually shocked at how expensive a train ticket for an entire week would be.
So if you are trying to plan a trip abroad and would like to see multiple cities during your trip consider hiring a car to take you around. It is much cheaper and you are not tied to a train schedule and hoping to make your trains and connecting trains and risk being stranded at a station that you are unfamiliar with. I am actually considering an italy car hire for Mike and I’s honeymoon next year. I did not realize how close Venice and Milan are and would love to see the fashion capital of the world if at all possible. I also hear that there is a fabulous outlet mall nearby with all of the top designers having stores there.
If you don’t know where to begin in hiring a car for your vacation, give Car Hire Direct a visit first. They are located out of England and specialize in searching over 40 car hire sites to find you the best deal for your trip. The search is very fast and brings back quite a few search results to help you maximize your savings and find the car to fit your needs. The layout of the site is excellent as the first thing you see if the form to input your dates, location, and type of car that you desire and all you do next is press enter and the site does all the searching for you. You can also book online which is great because you won’t have to leave the site and then try and find the same deal on the site it led you to.
There are many questions that come up during trip planning to Walt Disney World but one that I don’t see that often that people should consider is regarding travel insurance. Travel Insurance covers things like illness of family members and weather. It really should be a no brainer. I mean WDW is located in Central Florida and hurricane season stretches from June to November so if nothing else you should purchase the insurance if you are going in those months. More often than not though people opt-out of the insurance thinking it is a waste of money. I view insurance as something that offers piece of mind in the case that a natural disaster strikes or a family member falls ill. There are a few different ways to shop around for travel insurance if you are new to this: either purchase directly from WDW when you make your reservation or visit a site like insuremytrip.com which allows you to input the value of your trip and how much coverage you want. It then queries insurance agencies to give you a comprehensive listing of policies and prices. Travel insurance really is not that expensive and something you should consider purchasing for any trip - Disney or not.
BTW if you are heading to WDW in the next few days Tropical Storm Fay has formed south of Florida and is project to hit Tampa. Please plan accordingly and visit the National Hurricane Center to stay current.
