Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival

... and the benefit of arriving at the parks early!

The one thing I always tell people when they ask me for advice on Disney is get to the parks at opening! The crowds are low and you can get on several rides before the lines get too long. Today my son and I took a drive over to Epcot. I still hadn't gotten out to see the Flower and Garden Festival this year and this was really my last chance since Monday is the last day of it. Like most people my son loves Test Track and Soarin', but with Epcots Tier system on their FastPasses you can only choose one. So we always pick one of those to get a FastPass for and then arrive early and ride the other. We arrived at Epcot 15 minutes before they opened and headed right over to Soarin' and only waited 15 minutes. Since we didn't have any other FastPasses until later we had the opportunity to wander around the park before the crowds got heavy. We headed over and rode The Seas with Nemo & Friends and then enjoyed having the Seas Pavilion practically to ourselves. 

Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground

We had the opportunity this weekend to spend 2 nights at the Campgrounds at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort. Some friends of ours have a camper and invited us out to celebrate their daughters 7th birthday. 

We drove up Friday afternoon and set up everything. This was my first time visiting this resort. You really would have no idea you were so close to the Magic Kingdom. The grounds are very peaceful and you really feel like you are in the middle of the country surrounded by pine and cypress trees and not to mention all the birds, squirrels, rabbits, and deer. 

New Adventures...

This month marks 10 years since I graduated from nursing school. I can not believe that it has been that long! I haven't always been sure if nursing has been the right fit for me, but all of the experiences I have had in the past 10 years have definitely had an impact on me. There are patients I will never forget and hopes that I have made a difference in many lives over the years. I have always had a passion for helping people and nursing has fulfilled that. As obvious from my blog I am also passionate about Disney, running and planning events. I have been looking to pursue a different path with my career, something that will bring my passions together. I am not planning on leaving nursing, but I am looking to get into a Disney Travel Agency. I have helped many a friends in the past with planning their Disney vacations, and I absolutely love being able to share my knowledge to help them plan a magical trip! Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you that I love to plan things; be it a weekend trip, party, or a much longer vacation. So begins my new venture to get into this new field. I am wanting to use my blog as a starting point. I plan to highlight my trips to Disney to give people more information about different aspects that Disney has to offer. Some fun things I have coming up Disney related are camping at Fort Wilderness this weekend, Star War: A Galactic Spectacular viewing at Hollywood Studios, and a trip to Pandora the new land at Animal Kingdom. I will also update my progress of getting into the travel agency world and once I am hired on with a company I will share that information here as well! In the mean time feel free to ask me any questions you may have about Disney, I would be happy to share my knowledge! 

Calling all Padawans!

Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple 

This past Saturday we finally had the opportunity to participate in Jedi Training at Hollywood Studios. I have seen parts of the show several times, but this is the first time my son actually participated in it. It is a super fun (if you are into Star Wars!) interactive show where kids ages 4-12 are led by a Jedi Master on how to use the force, a lightsaber, and then they each get about a 15-20 second battle with a Star Wars villain. 

So unfortunately at this time Jedi Training is not something you can schedule ahead of time thorough the fast pass system or by making a reservation online or over the phone. The only way to sign your child up is to go to the sign up outpost area in between the Indiana Jones show and the 50's Prime time Cafe restaurant. There are several times throughout the day with about 30 slots but they fill up fast! Show up before the park opens for the day, like 30-45 minutes prior. A lot of the times they will let you into the park early, you just can't get on any rides or into any shows until the opening time, but you are free to roam around. Or you can even make an early breakfast reservation at Hollywood and Vine and they will let you in early and you can sign up before you eat. So as soon as you get in the park make your way (run!) to the sign up. Basically follow the rest of the groups of people making a mad dash for the sign up area! We went on a relatively slower day, so it didn't fill up as fast as other days. If you get there after they fill up they do offer a few slots for alternates, but this does not guarantee you will be in the show, only if someone doesn't show up!