Disney Dream

We ended our Florida trip with a ride on Disney Cruise Line's newest boat, the Disney Dream. The massive ship is simply incredible, hosting multiple theaters, restaurants, pools, clubs, and more.

Driving up to Port Canaveral with the ship in sight

The 70,000 square foot terminal all guests pass through before boarding the ship.

The building includes a massive model of the Disney Magic, the cruise line's original ship.

Once on board, each inside stateroom includes a "virtual porthole" with a real time look at what's outside the ship.

The ship's lobby stretches upwards three levels and is quite elaborate.

The lobby also features a gigantic chandelier

Up on the ship's top two decks, guests prepared for the sail away party.

A similar view at night, with the pool covered over for additional space.

As seen in the last two pictures, the Aqua Duck is a new feature on the Disney Dream (and Disney Fantasy)

The transparent slide swings over the ship's side, but that's the most thrilling it gets - the remainder of the ride is spent slowly cruising through long stretches of tube.

Other forms of entertainment on the ship include clubs/areas for all age groups, include teenagers.

There is also a putt-putt course themed to Goofy.

The Walt Disney Theatre plays host to multiple broadway-style shows.

Outside the ship, there's Disney's own private island, Castaway Cay. Even more to do there.

My time on the Disney Dream was nothing short of amazing and I would gladly return for a second trip. It also signified the end of our time in Florida, so the next few updates will all be from the Midwest.

Discovery Cove

I'm temporarily shelving the Sunday-only updates and instead filling free time (aka time I should be doing school work) with updates. I'm now at the beginning of August 2011, meaning a mere five more months left to cover until I reach the current year.

As part of our Florida trip, we visited Discovery Cove on August 1. The attraction is a sister park of SeaWorld, but it lacks amusement or water rides. Instead, the majority of Discovery Cove consists of animal encounters - a massive snorkeling experience, a bird aviary, swimming with dolphins, etc.

Instead of standard turnstiles, guests enter through a hotel-like lobby.

The park limits the number of guests permitted in each day, creating a peaceful, serene environment.

One of the park's main attractions is "The Grand Reef", a massive pool built for snorkeling.

Once you get past the freezing temperatures, there is plenty to be seen within the water.

The pool consists of multiple channels that wrap around large rocks and underneath various bridges.

The attraction also includes a collection of more "dangerous" animals, separated by underwater glass.

Sharks, rays, and more are included.

Another of Discovery Cove's attractions include a large pool and lazy river.

The water does not contain any marine life, but it still offers some animal encounters.

The river enters into an aviary, home to dozens of colorful, exotic birds.

Yes, that is a bird on my head.

To keep the birds in the aviary, there is a curtain of water at the start and end of the complex.

Discovery Cove is an incredible experience and offers far more than I mentioned. Guests can swim with dolphins, meander pathways filled with lush vegetation, or simply relax in a lounge chair on the "beach". Breakfast and lunch are also included with admission, as are snacks, drinks, and the souvenir snorkel from The Grand Reef.

Disney Shenanigans

Although I'm attempting to recap the past year with these weekly updates, I feel like I'll be spending a good chunk of 2012 before I reach anything current. Therefore, I've combined three separate days of Disney parks into a single update. No order whatsoever, just random pictures and random thoughts.

The morning sprint down Disney's Hollywood Studios' Sunset Boulevard.

When a park has so few major rides as this one does, it's no wonder the lines are so long.

I dislike strollers immensely.

Despite no big drops, fast speeds, or intense elements, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is one of my all-time favorite roller coasters.

Random fact - a raven was initially planned to narrate the Haunted Mansion and multiple raven animatronics remain inside the attraction.

Award for most overrated ride in Florida goes to...

I understand a firework fall-out zone would need to be implemented, but I would love if Kings Island tried something like this with their nightly show.

I'm curious as to how many guests, on average, are at a Disney park at any given point in time.

From another day, the park is much less crowded when you schedule a character breakfast before opening.

Now that Disney is enforcing its Fastpass return times, it is no longer possible to build-up a collection of Fastpasses, as seen here.

I've always enjoyed Main Street's collection of buildings.

Disney's Typhoon Lagoon is an amazingly themed water park, although its offerings are a tad limited.

The lazy river though, which encircles the park, is an extraordinary attraction. Caves, water features, and multiple entrances and exits make it a great ride.

I still have at least six or seven updates from 2011, and then I'll hopefully begin sharing the random happenings from this year.

Daytona Lagoon

I look forwards to my family's annual vacation to Florida, but I must confess I find myself rather restless during the time we spend in Daytona Beach. I don't particularly care for the beach and spend the majority of my time in the hotel room, typically watching TV or reading a book. On impulse, I decided to take a walk one day and ended up hiking six miles to Daytona Lagoon, a small boardwalk of sorts a bit North of our hotel.

My hike consisted mainly of towering hotel after towering hotel.

The observation tower was visible from some distance off, but it ended-up being closed.

Although, had it been open, I don't think I would've trusted riding in it.

The remainder of the area looked decent enough.

The park consisted of a small collection of flat rides, alongside a decent go-kart track.

The Ferris Wheel was the main attraction.

Tilt-a-Whirl too.

And the go-kart track.

There was also a small collection of arcades in the area, filled with skee ball and the likes.

Nearby was also a Sling Shot ride, one of my favorite thrill rides.

It was very similar to Kings Island's version, pardon some minor differences.

For example, the control panel was very simplistic. It's location...

...was a few mere feet from the launching ball. Sketchy.

Some Walt Disney World stuff before eventually wrapping-up the Florida shenanigans and moving closer to the present.