DISNEY COAST TO COAST!!

Upon our return from Walt Disney World in Florida to California, we decided to undertake a very special challenge: to go from Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, Florida to Disneyland, California in one day!

This took some prep and planning, but it's a Disney Bucket List item that anyone can do.  All you really need is a direct flight from Orlando to LAX and Disneyland late hours (by "late" we mean not closing at 8pm).

We started our day at opening (8am) at Magic Kingdom:

The Park Plaque in Magic Kingdom

We took a photo in front of Cinderella's Castle in Magic Kingdom.
Minnie Mouse is giving me a boost in the photo below:

That crane is STILL there

And on our way out at about 11am, we took a photo in front of the Main Street Station:

Main Street Station in Walt Disney World

We also got "I'm Celebrating" buttons from City Hall in Magic Kingdom.

Then we had to catch our flight to Los Angeles!

We arrived at LAX at about 7:45pm.  We got our luggage, caught the shuttle to the parking lot and headed straight to Disneyland! 

We arrived at about 9:15pm, and we went straight to City Hall for our button and then took our photos:

The Park Plaque in Disneyland

Me and my Owl friend in front of Disneyland's Castle

Main Street Station in Disneyland

We also acquired Fast Passes for Space Mountain in both Magic Kingdom and Disneyland.  In addition to our buttons, those are our souvenirs of a wonderful adventure!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!! oh, and John Lennon

While on vacation in Florida at Walt Disney World, we decided to visit the Wizarding World Of Harry Potter!  This would be an off-campus, undercover adventure, because Harry Potter Land is NOT at Walt Disney World.  It's at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure! We'd need a getaway shuttle, tickets and a plausible cover story for the Disney folks.

My Humans spent time acquiring those things, and it was totally worth it.  The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is amazing, and the hype around it is well-deserved.

Hogwarts

I need a small cauldron, please

Where's 9 3/4 Platform, please?

Oh, I found it.

It comes in pints?!?!

At the Three Broomsticks

inside Honeydukes

ANOTHER cool thing we got to do was tour the John Lennon VIP suite at the Hard Rock Orlando.

It's modeled after John Lennon's NYC apartment at the Dakota:

I'M ON JOHN LENNON'S COUCH, Y'ALL.

Another couch.  Not John Lennon's, but still nice.

Original John Lennon artwork

John Lennon with a Bunny Hat.

It was an amazing day. We can't wait for Universal Studios Hollywood to get their very own Wizarding World of Harry Potter!!

Walt Disney World

"Pink Bunny, what's next??"
"I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!""

As you know, we go to Disneyland pretty frequently. But we took a trip across the country to go to Walt Disney World in Florida! This was only our second trip there, and we had a great time.

There are 4 theme parks in Walt Disney World in Florida:

1. Disney Animal Kingdom

This park is part theme park, part zoo. Jungle treks, safari tram rides and a coaster that scared the pants off my poor Humans.

2. Epcot

This is me in front of Spaceship Earth, which is actually a ride in Epcot.





Epcot is our most favorite park. There are two parts to it: Future World and the World Showcase, which my Humans always call "The Parade of Nations."

We took my photo in all 11 countries in the World Showcase:

Mexico!

China!



Germany!

Italy!



America!

Morocco!



England!

Canada!



Japan!

Norway!



France!



Sunset over Epcot

3. Disney Hollywood Studios

This park is very similar to Disney California Adventure at home. Our Girl even got a ticket from their police officer, Officer Club, just like she did from Officer Blue at Disney California Adventure:

You'd think She'd learn

4. The Magic Kingdom
This is very similar to Disneyland at home. In fact, you could look at it as the East Coast Disneyland.
Sure, their castle is a little different - it has a crane in the backyard, but still, it's a very nice park.

We also got to visit the recently remodeled New Fantasyland, which has a Hidden Oswald!

And we dined at the new Be Our Guest Restaurant, currently the hottest reservation in Walt Disney World:

And by the way, THIS is the line for a Dole Whip in Florida. FOR REAL, Y'ALL:

WHERE IS EVERYONE?!?

The Anipal Meetup in Walt Disney World!

We went to Walt Disney World! And we met some of our Twitter Anipal friends!!

 We met 2 Duffys and a Chilly Bear!  On Twitter you know them as:

@DuffyBear17

@IamDuffyBear

@ChillytheBear 

We were so excited to meet our Disney Anipal friends!

And we were so honored they came all the way to our hotel to say hi.

Duffy gave great hugs

Dig Duffy's button!

It was so fantastic to meet you all!! Hope we can do it on the West Coast next time!

I think I know a theme park...

Candlelight Processional at Disneyland!

The Candlelight Processional has been a holiday tradition at Disneyland since 1958.  The hourlong ceremony includes several choirs, a live orchestra and a celebrity narrating the Christmas story.  We had never seen it, but on December 1, 2012, we finally got tickets to go!

We got to see the First showing of the First day of Candlelight 2012.  And then - we couldn't believe our luck - we got to be seated in the First row, right in the center!

The center podium right behind me

A view of where the choir will be

This was very exciting for all of us, and we were very grateful to be so fortunate. 

The orchestra and the choir

The conductor, choir and orchestra

Choir and attendants

Conductor, choir and trumpeters on the roof

Our celebrity narrator was Mr. Dennis Haysbert:

And after the Candlelight Processional, we got a nice dinner at Club 33:

 

It was a really fantastic day, and we had a wonderful time.