Innoventions West

Disney World's website calls Innoventions "a 2-building pavilion and interactive play space for kids of all ages where you can imagine, invent, inquire and be inspired while exploring amazing innovations that make our lives better." We just call it FUN!

On our quest to do absolutely everything in every park, Ian and I spent a few hours exploring Innoventions West, and saved the second building, Innoventions East, for another day.

In Innoventions West we learned about potential fire hazards in our house, by playing a game against other Disney guests using special flashlights. Our team won of course ;)

Free souvenir alert! Our gorgeous mugs as fire men:

Safety first!

Then we starred in our very own video game, in a section called "Smarter Planet." Wut wut...

Bonus, we emailed the game to ourselves so now we have another FREE souvenir! You can play our game too, just click here.

A few of our other adventures included more video games, and making velcro frogs that came home with us at the end of the day. Have I mentioned that I love free souvenirs!?

Look at Ian's frog going for a ride on his shirt. Adorable hitchhiker.

But by far my most favorite exhibit in Innoventions West is The Great Piggy Bank Adventure. Ian and I learned how to save money for a vacation playing interactive games on a tour narrated by the cutest piggy ever!

Isn't he cute? I was sad when in the end they told me the piggy was NOT another free souvenir :(

But Piggy and I were close friends while it lasted.

Ta-da! We saved our pennies in the piggy, and were rewarded with a super sweet virtual vacation. Now in real life, is the hard part of applying that swine-taught knowledge so we can take an actual vacation.

All-in-all, Ian and I give Innoventions West two thumbs way, way up. Free souvenirs, interactive exhibits, and two big heads full of knowledge we left Epcot that day with giant smiles on our faces.

A Few Hours at Epcot

Ian and I have determined that besides the ability to visit the "Happiest Place on Earth" whenever we feels like it, the best part about owning a Disney Annual Pass is the freedom to stay for only a few hours -- no all-day commitment needed. Phew!

And whether all day, or an hour, the Disney World parks are a super sweet date. Score! :)

On this ridiculously hot Sunday afternoon with the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival in full bloom we spent a few hours -- as much as my melanin-deficient skin could handle, strolling the park. How romantic.

One of my favorite things about the Festival is the Disney characters fashioned out of flora, scattered around Epcot. Sometimes finding them is adventure in itself! Goofy was ginormous, and the perfect, smiling face to welcome us to the park -- I've always had tender spot in my heart for that pup.

Those incredibly creative people at Disney never cease to amaze me with what they come up with, and I certainly wouldn't fight if they wanted to make me one of their own. I'm just saying my childhood dream was to be an Disney animator, but I'll settle for Imagineer. Hint, hint.

Pumba, Timon is behind me, stankin' up the land in front of Innoventions.

The butterfly garden was Ian's favorite part of the whole day - from this picture it's easy to see why... ;) Fairy, wut!?

Ian'll have my head for that comment. No, he does not love fairies. Ha ha.

After I teased him about Tinker Bell being his favorite pretend person, Ian showed me up with his mad photography skeels by capturing this butterfly close up -- a feat I was unable to accomplish. Good job, Papi.

And a fairy garden is only complete with fairies, and I heart fairies!!

In Epcot's Word Showcase, it's super-great to travel around the world without the hassle of customs or costly airfare. The food in these countries is fantabulous too -- makes me salivate just dreaming of it. But since we'd decided not to spend any cash during this visit, instead of eating Ian decided to try on a few new looks in Mexico. Sassy MexiRican anyone?

In China, we were astounded by the terra-cotta warriors in Xi'an, and then got silly waiting for the short film to take us across the country in CircleVision 360. We sure know how to productively kill time.

Then we met a sea monster, made out of plants, hanging out in the reflecting pond.

Though we narrowly escaped our encounter with this creature, the adventure to the other side of the world left us exhausted and sun-kissed, so we called it a successful few hours and headed home to nurse our imaginary wounds.

On our way out Ian determined he'd like all of our friends to experience the Disney fun like we do, and needed his picture taken to show it. Either that, or he's telling us that we need to go see Oceans, which was only in theaters on Earth Day (April 22nd)...so we've missed it. Sorry, darling.

It's a Sad Day

May 11th is a very sad day -- this is the anniversary of my Disney annual pass expiring...lagrimas...

So while I'm sulking at work, magical wishes are being fulfilled without me (and Ian) *sigh* I even wore black today in honor of my grief.

BUT!

Let's not mourn for too long, because I've been saving my pennies all year in anticipation of pass renewal.

So this weekend we'll be heading to The Happiest Place on Earth woot! woot! We'll have some delicious new blog posts coming soon.

Lots of love...

Spectro-Magic

Every Disney World park has great parades throughout the day, and they're all 'must-see' events! The best things about Disney parades are:

1. An all-in-one viewing of many of your beloved Disney characters.
2. After running across the parks in the hot Florida sun most of the day, a parade is a welcome breather, especially if you can find a shady area to plant your backside.
3. Get to the parade route early, 30-45 minutes, and snag a front row seat for a few personal interactions and handshakes from the characters walking by.
   

But by far my most favorite is the night parade at Magic Kingdom, Spectro-Magic. It sparkles, it glitters, and it sings.

Winking fish in front of Cinderella's castle dripping in icicle lights.

Colorful, twinkling dwarfs dance by.

As if the sparkling colored lights aren't enough, magically everything turns white.

All of the parades are well worth the wait and time, but Spectro-Magic is a requirement for the full Disney experience.

The Biggest Disney Lesson

No matter where you find yourself on Disney World property, the most important rule is: JUST BE A KID!


Our advice is to channel your inner 6-year old, and leave your adult inhibitions at home.

Perhaps unleash the inner beast...

Or climb on everything (that's not roped, or fenced, off)...


Explore!


And especially, give yourself permission to be a tourist.

Then document your antics with an obscene number of photos, so that delicious scrapbook you'll put together when you get home is cholk-full of fun.

Lots of love...

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Disney World at Christmas is amazing! Garland, and lights, and lots of cheer make the parks a veritable North Pole in Florida. This joyous Noel of course would not be complete without snow falling from the sky, and Christmas carols filling the air as you stroll down Main Street U.S.A. towards Cinderella's castle.


Nothing says Christmas like Cinderella's castle drowning in icicle lights at night. AND, it even changes color periodically!! Can it get any better than that?

Blue


Orange (my favorite)

"I'm the king of the world" Purple

Its hard to contain the warm-fuzzy feeling that consumes you, from toenail to head hair, when you stand wrapped in the arms of the one you love, gazing at this fairy-tale abode. Shiny. Romantic. Magical.

The Official First Entry

Now that it's February we figured it was perfect time to begin a blog whose journey actually started in December...

So who are we? We're Ian and Devon -- Orlando residents who finally have Disney passes, and aren't afraid to use them. We're documenting our year of Magical Wishes in this blog, where we'll share our favorite rides, little known spots, and just about anything we can explore at all 4 Disney parks.

So we begin with a parade, Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmastime Parade, to be exact, at Disney's Magic Kingdom. I love Disney during Christmas! Of course the best place to watch a parade is from the front row, but since we walked into the park late for this one, we stood in the back by Town Hall.








One my favorite things about the parks is being star-struck by the characters -- it's like running into a Hollywood celebrity, and parades are a great way to see a plethora of characters all at once. :)