Disney World Trip

I just got back from another trip to Disney World. I had a chance to visit all four parks and discovered a lot of new things to share with you. I finally had a chance to eat at Be Our Guest. The food was pretty good, but it has a few odd quirks which I'll be sharing with you soon. I also had a chance to try the new Harambe Market in Animal Kingdom. I really enjoyed the food, as well as the atmosphere. It's a wonderful new addition to the rather limited dining options at Animal Kingdom, especially with Flame Tree Barbecue closed for refurbishment. Finally, I ate at the Rebel Hangar Lounge. I loved the atmosphere! The food was surprisingly ample for small plates, and the number of characters we saw was astounding, especially considering we were there during the week and not over Star Wars Weekends.

I learned a bit more about the best way to use your magic bands and the my Disney experience app. I had the chance to see a preview of Inside Out, and made another trip through the Emotions Garden, which remains after the Flower and Garden Festival is gone for the year. I went to the Frozen Sing Along, which Bean and I enjoyed immensely. It really is a fantastic experience to sing Frozen songs with a few hundred of your fellow Disney fans. We only stayed once to watch fireworks. On Sunday night, we saw the Symphony in the Stars Fireworks, the finale to each night of Star Wars Weekends. They were beautiful and incredible, and I loved the way they were set to John Williams' music.

Unfortunately, I also paid a visit to Downtown Disney. What a mess! They've finished one parking garage, however, all of the other parking lots are torn up, as well as the road to the parking garage. We had to park behind the gas station in the former employee parking and get shuttled over in a van. Once there, I noticed that the changes from Downtown Disney to Disney Springs are moving along quite quickly. There is a lot of construction going on, but a lot of new shops as well. Bean and I especially enjoyed the new Super Hero Headquarters. It's filled with Agents of Shield, Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy merchandise. (Surprisingly, especially with regard to the restrictions on how Disney can use their Marvel characters, Youse Guys Moychindice in Hollywood Studios is now an Avengers store too. I was quite surprised to see so much Marvel merchandise inside the parks, but I hope this means we might see the characters there someday soon as well.)

Speaking of merchandise, the Character Warehouse at the Prime Outlet Mall in Orlando is preparing to remodel the store. As a result, everything was 50 percent off the lowest price. There were some fantastic deals. Hats and ears for $6.50 or less, pins for $2, scarves were under $10, and much more. However, I discovered my favorite deal at the register: Limited Edition Frozen Olaf Christmas Magic Bands for $8.50 each. You could only purchase two per person, but it was a fantastic deal. And they're so cute that I couldn't resist.

In all, we had a great trip. I look forward to sharing everything with you in greater detail in the coming weeks.