The Wandering Disciple

St. Petersburg, Florida: Located in downtown St. Petersburg is one of the country’s premier children’s museums. Great Exploration is a place where children of all ages come to interact and learn about the world around them. The interactive exhibits found here give them a hands-on feel of how everyday life functions. The 24,000 square foot museum opened to the public in 1987 and is located in downtown St. Petersburg. The museums permanent collection features exhibits on arts and sciences and allows the children to learn through role playing and interaction. The permanent exhibits and their subject include: Animation Station: using a digital camera and computer enhancement, children are able to create their own animation skit. Bernoulli Station: learn about air pressure and movement of air using floating balls. Engine Company 15: a replica firehouse equipped with a fire engine bunker gear and more teaches the importance of fire safety. Fit 4 All Kids Ville: teaches about how goo...

Tampa, Florida: Deep in the tropical rainforest at Busch Gardens Tampa lies the Myombe Reserve, home to a family of chimpanzees and gorillas. Inside the lush landscape of tropical foliage and waterfalls, guests can visit the research outpost and witness the primates in action in a habitat that closely resembles their native homes. Opening in 1992, the three acre preserve is home to nine chimpanzees and six gorillas. The family of gorillas expanded in 2005 with the birth of male baby gorilla. This was the first gorilla to reproduce at Busch Gardens. For more photos, click on the photo above or visit my Busch Gardens photo page.

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: A trip down Sunset Boulevard at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is like taking a step back in time to the glamorous days of Hollywood. Designed to resemble Hollywood during the 1940’s, Sunset Boulevards is home to two of the parks major attractions. Sunset Boulevard opened in 1994 as an expansion to the park. The new expansion added a new avenue for shops, rides and attractions. The expansion was anchored by a new thrill ride, the Tower of Terror and a new theater, Theater of the Stars. Tower of Terror opened in 1994 and was the tallest attraction in Walt Disney World until Expedition Everest opened in 2006. The ride is based on the popular sci-fi TV show “The Twilight Zone.” Guests enter the eerie Hollywood Tower Hotel and quickly begin to notice that things aren’t quite right. As you continue further into the hotel, you see indications at how vibrant the hotel once was and then all of a sudden everyone just disappeared. Soon you are ushered into an elevator car...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: Today marked our final day of this trip. The theme park of the day today was Disney Hollywood Studios. We grabbed breakfast this morning at the McDonald’s by the hotel then hopped aboard the WDW bus to the park. We arrived at the park before opening and found ourselves close to the front of the line for entry into the park. Once the gates opened we began our tour through the studios. The first stop was The Great Movie Ride. It has been several years since I rode this ride and since most of the time it has a large line, we took advantage of being near the front of the crowd to hop aboard with no wait. The focus of the visit to the studios was to try and hit some of the shows and attractions we normally skip in an effort to get to our favorites. Since we have an annual pass, we rarely do everything in the park, rather mingle new attraction in each time we go in an attempt to experience everything that Disney has to offer. With this in mind, today we ...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: Nestle among the thrills of the theme parks and the luxury of the resort hotels is a place where guests can pitch a tent and take a break from the hustle and bustle of a Disney vacation. The campsites and cabins of Fort Wilderness brings the joys of camping to the magical world of Walt Disney World Resort. Opened in 1971, the Fort Wilderness Resort features 800 campsites and over 400 fully equipped cabins spread out over 700 acres. The campsites vary from tent only sites to sites large enough for an RV. The cabins sleep up to six guests and feature a kitchen, double bed, bunk bed, Murphy bed and more. The resort features a wide variety of activities for everyone in the family to enjoy. There are two swimming pools, marina with boat rentals, fishing, petting zoo, stable with pony and horse riding, arcades and much more. In the evening, there is a campfire program in which guests can watch a movie under the stars and roast marshmallows on the campfire....

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: The newest and smallest land in the Magic Kingdom is one of the biggest hits to the parks smaller guests. At Mickey’s Toontown Fair you can meet and mingle with many of the parks characters, tour Mickey and Minnie’s house or hop a ride on a roller coaster, it is all here for your enjoyment. The land began its life as Mickey’s Birthdayland in 1988, as part of Mickey Mouse’s 60th birthday celebration. The popularity of the attraction led to it becoming a permanent land. Once the celebration was over, the land was renamed Mickey’s Starland. In 1996, the land was renovated to take on a county fair theme and then was renamed Mickey’s Toontown Fair. The main attraction of the land is the character meets. This is one place within the park where characters are always available to meet with guests. Here you can meet Mickey Mouse himself as a judge in the fair. The Toontown Hall of Fame is one of the largest collection of characters available in the park. Her...

Lake Buena Vista, Florida: We woke up early and hit the cafeteria in the hotel for breakfast. It was early enough that it was not crowded yet. The food was average, nothing spectacular but it hit the spot. Afterwards we hopped on the bus to the Magic Kingdom. Once the park opened, we headed straight for Fantasyland. Fantasyland has the largest collection of rides that our son could ride. We hit every ride in Fantasyland before heading to Mickey’s Toontown Fair to ride Barnstormer. We continued our tour of the park through Tomorrowland where we rode the Tomorrowland Speedway, Tomorrowland Transit Authority and Carousel of Progress. We tried to stick to the rides that were appropriate for a two year old so the whole family can enjoy, however it was tough passing by Space Mountain and not going for a ride. As we crossed across the central hub to hit attractions on the other side of the park, we stopped for lunch at the Columbia Harbour House. The Columbia Harbour House in Liberty ...