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Hello everyone,
In part one of this report I shared with you my thoughts and experiences around the main lobby, character dining, shopping, our room, the spa, fitness centre, conference centre and much more. In this second, concluding part I am going to share with you everything from character greetings, the pool area, lazy river, other dining and shopping options, the beach, and more!
Let's start where we left off in the last part, heading down to the Waikolohe Valley.
The Waikolohe Valley is where the majority of the fun and relaxation at Aulani happens. It's where the pool, the lazy river, more dining and bar options, snorkelling reef and several other features are located, not to mention being the access point to the beach, and where nearly all the character greetings occur.
Wandering around the valley you get to experience the beautiful natural flora and fauna of Oahu, and some of those all important Disney details.
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Hello everyone,
At the start of this month (September), Jon and I visited Hawai'i for the very first time, staying for a few days at Disney's Aulani resort in Ko Olina, Oahu.
As you can imagine, with anywhere we visit for the first time, there is going to be a lot for me to talk about. I'm going to try to break things down into themes and categories, as to not be jumping around too much. This report will also be in two parts because of the sheer length of it, and the number of photos I want to share.
I'm going to start with first impressions and our approach to the resort.
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Hello everyone,
Today I want to share with you a (rather large) selection of my photos from our recent adventures through Pandora - The World of Avatar, at Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World.
I'll give a few thoughts along the way, but I thought that on this occasion I would let my photos do most of the talking, and let you form your own opinions about the new land.
Let's start with some of the initial sights you'll see when entering Pandora from its main entry point, over the bridge from Discovery Island.
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Hello everyone,
If you're visiting the Magic Kingdom in the next few weeks you may be fortunate enough to run into iCan, the very literal, and quite comical, robot that roams the concourses of Tomorrowland.
He's a lot of fun to interact with, and I asked him to record this special message for all our friends and followers, in the video below
Enjoy!
Video:
Photos:
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Star-Lord and Groot (in his reborn form) recently landed in Disney's Hollywood Studios for an out of this world encounter, so I thought it would be fun to share these photos and video with you all.
Enjoy!
Video:
Photos of the meet 'n' greet entrance and queue:
Meeting Star-Lord and Baby Groot:
Dan. |
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 | The Country Bears Arrive in Frontierland! | |
| DisneyDan
Thursday, August 10, 2017 9:33:00 AM |
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Hello everyone,
Earlier this week we hung out with the Country Bears in front of their attraction in Frontierland, at the Magic Kingdom. I thought it would be fun to share some photos with you all of our "beary" fun encounter with Big Al, Wendell, Liver Lips and Shaker!
Enjoy!
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
If you're considering attending the Halloween and Christmas parties at the Magic Kingdom this year, you can find the dates below.
While it is still early in the year, the Halloween parties actually start next month, and we haven't heard about any new offerings, changes of any kind at this point. With just over a month to go, I suspect that the parties will be almost identical to last year. You can check out our dedicated Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party page, here, on Character Central.
Prices for this year's Halloween parties range from $74 plus tax up to $115 plus tax, for adults (anyone over 9 years old), and from $69 plus tax up to $110 plus tax for children aged 3-9.
2017 Halloween Party Dates:
August: 25, 29
September: 1, 7, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 26, 29
October: 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31
November: 1
The Christmas parties start in November, shortly after the Halloween parties end, and run through December, ending just before Christmas itself. As with the Halloween parties, we haven't yet heard about any changes, but for Christmas it's a little early right now. You can check out our dedicated Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party page, here, on Character Central.
Prices for this year's Christmas parties range from $89 plus tax up to $109 plus tax, for adults (anyone over 9 years old), and from $84 plus tax up to $104 plus tax for children aged 3-9.
2017 Christmas Party Dates:
November: 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 26, 28
December: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22
All event tickets can - and should - be purchased on the official Walt Disney World ticketing page, here.
Have a great day everyone,
Dan. |
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Hello everyone,
Last month (April 2017), Jon and I took part in our second runDisney weekend, the Star Wars Dark Side Half Marathon Weekend at Walt Disney World. Followers of my blog will know that in February we participated in our very first ever runDisney event at the Disney Princess Half Marathon Weekend. Well, here we were, two months later, ready to do it all over again for the Empire!
I won't repeat everything I said in my first Princess blog about our impressions of runDisney, training, organisation of the event, impressions, etc, as many of those aspects were very similar this time, but needless to say, we were exceptionally proud of ourselves for being able to achieve not just one half marathon weekend, but now two in the space of two months!
As per the usual setup with the runDisney events, we went along on the Thursday before the race weekend to collect our bibs and merchandise at the health expo, at ESPN. The setup was virtually identical to the Princess Half expo, down to the bib collection areas, the vendor booths and show area, and the official race store.
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Hello everyone,
A couple of weeks ago we dined at Trattoria al Forno at Disney's Boardwalk (Walt Disney World) to try the new Bon Voyage Adventure Breakfast character dining experience. You do not need to enter the Boardwalk resort hotel in order to access the restaurant; it is located along the Boardwalk area itself, and not within the hotel.
For those who like to know these things, for planning purposes or whatever, we had a 7.45am reservation. Our reservation was on a Saturday, and it seemed to be fairly quiet at that time.
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Hello everyone,
A couple of weeks ago we had lunch at The Garden Grill, inside The Land pavilion at Epcot. We had eaten there several times in the past, but it had been several years, so we thought it was time that we went back to get an updated view.
The Garden Grill is a character dining experience, which has its own title of Chip 'n' Dale's Harvest Feast. Throughout your dining experience, Chip and Dale, as well as Mickey Mouse and Pluto, make their way around the restaurant for hugs, photos and autographs. Prices can be up to $60 per adult, depending on the time of day, plus tax and tip. You should plan to be in the restaurant for at least an hour. Reservations are accepted, and can be made on the My Disney Experience app.
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