Epcot Illuminations: Reflections of Earth

Epcot Illuminations Reflections of Earth from Jeff Carroll on Vimeo.

Orlando Trip Report: Day 1

The Plan

We were very excited to learn earlier this year that Becca’s national dance competition would be in Orlando. The dance team plans a big trip every other year of so and Orlando got the nod this year. Since the dance competition lasts just four days we decided to extend the trip and make it our big summer vacation.

This is our 9th vacation in Orlando but this trip includes a lot of firsts. All of our previous visits focused exclusively on Disney. We stayed on property and spent all of our time visiting the Disney Parks. We somehow never found the time to venture out to the other parks and attractions in Orlando. After much discussion and planning we decided that this was the year that we would spend time in Orlando enjoying all of the places we missed on previous visits. So for this trip we will be staying off property and will spend time at Sea World, Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Wet and Wild Water Park.

Of course we couldn’t come to Orlando and not visit the happiest place on earth. Our trip plan also includes at least four days at Walt Disney World and a visit to Disney’s Blizzard Beach water park if we can swing it.

Arrival

We arrived in Orlando last night via the non-stop on Southwest Airlines. It really is the best way to get to Orlando from Kansas City. The trip was a breeze. Even picking up the rental car was no problem as Avis is located in the parking garage right next to the terminal. There is nothing I hate more than dragging luggage on a bus ride to a satellite rental car lot.

Accommodations

The dance competition is at the Peabody hotel near Sea World so we had a lot of options for staying near that location. Marriott was our first thought as we love to collect their points. We ended up booking a two bedroom suite at the Marriott Grand Chateau which is about three minutes from the entrance of Sea World. The Grand Chateau is a Marriott Vacation Club resort (timeshare), but you can rent the rooms just like a regular hotel. We have stayed at Marriott Vacation Clubs before and have been impressed with their value and quality.

For previous Orlando trips we always felt that the advantages of staying on Disney property made it worth the extra costs. However, at the Marriott we were able to get a two bedroom suite with a kitchen and living room for less than the cost of a regular hotel room at a Disney resort. The additional room is very appealing to us as our children get older so I think the trade off might be worth it.

So far we have not been disappointed with our choice of resorts. I will provide a full review in a future posts.

I will try to make regular posts of pictures, videos and reviews of our trip as time permits.

The iPad is not above a little ribbing

Great short film shot and edited on iPhone 4

As this film shows, the new iPhone 4 opens up a new world of creative possibilities.

“Apple of My Eye” – an iPhone 4 film from Michael Koerbel on Vimeo.

Be a Samurai not a Rice Picker

Jason Calacanis is an entrepreneur who started a blog publishing company in the early days of blogging. He started the company with nothing and eventually sold it to AOL and made millions of dollars. One of his blogs, Engadget, is a hugely popular tech blog. He has since started several other businesses himself and he works to help others start companies.

Jason appears on several podcasts that I listen to and I have always found him an interesting speaker. He recently gave a talk to a group of college students about the importance of choosing your own path and “being responsible for your own destiny”. His message is that you should be a Samurai and not a rice picker. Jason reminds me of my Uncle Bill who was also a successful entrepreneur. He always said that you cannot get rich if you work for someone else.

While this video is a little long, I think it is really worth the time. Now I just need to go out and find my Sword.

One of the best commercials I have ever seen.

Jamie Oliver: Teaching Kids about Food

Jamie Oliver delivered a powerful talk at the 2010 TED Conference. He is a dynamic speaker, and his message is something we should all be concerned about. If his view is right, all of the current panic about health care is a little like trying to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. If we don’t deal with the cultural problems that lead to bad health, we will never be able to afford health care. We should also be concerned that our school lunch rooms are run by the same government that wants to run health care. Think about that as you watch this video.

Square: Amazing Solution

My obsession with technology is fueled by seeing how people use it so solve everyday problems in amazing and unexpected ways. I especially love it when the solution is simple, straightforward and easy to understand. I am in awe of this tiny little device from Square. It will change the way we do business and how we view cash. It’s a really great video to boot.

Christmas Break

I wanted to share some of the pictures from our recent Christmas vacation trip to Disney World. I took over 600 pictures, so this is only a small sampling. I will be posting additional pictures and I am also working on a trip report to give you the good, the bad and the ugly of the trip.

Dining our way around Disney

Everyone in the Carroll family is looking forward to the usual joys of Christmas, but this year we are especially excited because after all of our presents are opened we will be hopping a plane for our annual visit to Disney. Last year we went to Disneyland so it has been two years since our last trip to Disney World. We leave knowing that the park will be more crowded during the holidays, but we are well prepared to employ our proven crowd avoidance techniques.

One of the things that I look forward to with every Disney trip is all of the great food and fun restaurants. This year I got up at 4:00 a.m., 90 days prior to our visit, to make all of our reservations and to ensure that we got the times and places we wanted. We reserved some of our old favorites but also selected a few new places.

Our first day will be spent at Hollywood Studios where we will have dinner at Mama Melrose. As part of our reservation we purchased the Fantasmic dinner package. Fantasmic is our favorite show at Disney World and the dinner package gives you access to special reserved seating and means you don’t have to fight the crowds. To us this is always worth the extra expense.

The next day will take us to Animal Kingdom, where we will enjoy lunch at Tusker House. We have not eaten at Tusker House since it was converted to table service. We are not sure what to expect here.

Day 3 will be spent at Epcot where we will have my favorite counter service meal, Fish and Chips (and beer) at the Rose and Crown Pub. It requires no reservation and it is perfect for a picnic lunch in the small park located at rear of the England pavilion. If we are lucky we will be able to listen to British Invasion while we eat.

Day 4 we finally make it to Magic Kingdom. Here we will dine on a traditional turkey dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern. This is always one of our favorites.

Day 5 we will return to Epcot and eat at the Biergarten Restaurant in the Germany pavilion. We have been to the Biergarten in the past but it has been quite a few years. The German music and dancing along with some pretty good food always makes this an enjoyable experience.

Day 6 is New Years Eve, and we have decided to make it a flexible day. This means that we will float around to different parks and resorts in order to avoid the most crowded spots. We might try to check out the holiday food selections at some of the resort hotels.

New Years Day is also scheduled as a flexible day, but we plan to start with breakfast at the Cape May Cafe at our home resort, the Beach Club.

We will kick off our last day with breakfast at Chef Mickey’s at the Contemporary Resort. While the kids are a little beyond the target age group here we are just not ready to give up this traditional stop. We also enjoy taking the monorail to the Magic Kingdom after breakfast.

By the time we return to the real world I am sure we will have put on a few extra pounds, but I am also sure we will have smiles on our faces.