Expedition Everest



Expedition Everest



When we spent our honeymoon at Walt Disney World seven years ago, we were taunted by the construction of a new ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Unfortunately it would not be completed for some time after we left. We were finally able to make the trek back to the Animal Kingdom on Christmas Day! The ride, of course, was completed and fully operational.

Once we got to the park, we made a bee line for Expedition Everest, got FastPasses and went to the line, which was already a 40 minute wait. We kept the Fastpasses for a later time, realizing that the line was not going to get any shorter as the day progressed.

Big Thunder Mountain used to be my favorite coaster at Disney. This ride is like BTM on steroids! It starts out with a little jaunt through the countryside, peaceful enough. Then it makes a very steep climb into the mountain (as you can see by the picture). After climbing into the mountain and cruising around a bit, you come to a complete stop where the tracks have been torn up by a Yeti. The train then goes backwards through the dark with some thrilling twists and turns. There is then a brief pause and the train heads forward again through a bit of a drop and several curves (excellent g-forces!) and comes to a rest back at the train station.

It is a very smooth ride without any inversions. There is a high-g backwards curve in the middle of the ride which is quite fun, then there is the drop and curve as you emerge from the mountain (smile, they take your picture there). I tried riding through it with my hands in the air, but couldn't do it :-)

We used our FastPasses around midday and got another set of FastPasses to use right before we left for the evening. I really enjoyed this ride!

Christmas Eve At Hollywood Studios



Osborne Family Lights

We had the joy of spending last Christmas Eve in Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. Of course we rode on several of our favorite rides like Rockin' Roller Coaster, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Star Tours. We also caught some of their many shows. We saw Beauty and The Beast, Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular, and Lights Motors Action.

One of the new shows there since our last wisit was the Comedy Warehouse. This show used to be on Pleasure Island before it closed. They were doing a Christmas themed improv show which was a hoot!

When we emerged from the Comedy Warehouse, we were treated to the splendor of the Osborne Family Christmas Lights. As a power system engineer, I was very impressed with the 5 million twinkling lights (they have all been converted to efficient LEDs :-)

Here is the scoop on this display.

Fun at the Airport

One-man band
 

We flew out of SeaTac airport a couple of days before Christmas and were pleasantly surprised at the holiday festivities they had there.

We started off by going through the TSA PREcheck line (check out my previous blogs) which took mere seconds and we didn't need to reassemble our bags or ourselves.

Once we got through security, we encountered strolling carolers, a pianist in the atrium, a one-man band, and people in costume. There was a joyful and festive atmosphere there, which is a nice change from the normal airport humdrum.

This was the most fun I have had in the airport in a long time, and a great way to start our Christmas trip :-)