Monday, August 3, 2009

welcome to c'ville!

I'm picking up one of my high school friends at the C'ville airport tonight because he's flown in to visit Virginia. I'm excited! =D I've got an exciting weekend of Shortpump, Skyline Drive, the downtown, and Monticello planned as he's going up to NOVA during the week.

For those of you who were here for orientation, I hope you had the chance to check out some of the places I mentioned, well worth a visit! If not, definitely point your parents that way when they come for Parents' Weekend.

Ah and, if any of you are in the area and want to meet up for lunch or coffee or anything like that, let me know. A "real, live" UVA student on call for you. =)

exploring the magic kingdom..

Just got back from a family vacation to Florida last week, what a blast from the past! My dad and I, along with some family friends, hit up Disney's Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, and Epcot. We also decided to forgo the Blue Lagoon and go to Seaworld instead. I'm really glad we did that, as I'm now a much bigger fan of Seaworld instead of the Disney parks.

I really loved Magic Kingdom's fireworks, there's truly none that compare. The Magic Kingdom really is the epitome of all childhood dreams, I loved Cinderella's castle (especially the mosaics!). I feel that I've outgrown it though. =( Everything was targeted to young kids, and I went on rides with the feeling of hmm. I've been here and done this. Bo-ring. That was the same feeling I got at Hollywood Studios as well, if anything the age range there decreased. My two family friends were in middle school, and they were resolutely left out of all the shows when performers were picking volunteers. *shrug* Didn't remember much of that park either.

Epcot however, was a lot of fun. I liked going inside the golf ball (yep, aliens visited us and dropped down that big golf ball) and creating my future world. I really liked the electricity game (where you have paddles and shove light projections around. There's sensors or such placed around the room to make the projections go where you shove them). They should make this a widely available game, and market it to stay at home moms. "Your kids will mop the floor while playing a video game, and build up their muscles! Woot!" I humored the little girls and went on several Kimpossible scavenger hunts with them around several countries. Hey, don't knock Kimpossible, the scavenger hunts were pretty fun. Players got a cell phone that they pointed at various objects intermittently. If you found the right place, the cell phone would trigger a reaction, giving you the next clue. My friends and I made mugs sing, bookstore windows light up, doors open, etc. Another one of my favorite rides there was "Soarin'". The audience is strapped into rows and rows of seats, moved up to a panoramic screen, and taken on a hang gliding adventure.

Seaworld however, was the cherry on top of the icing. I absolutely loved all the dolphin and whale shows. I even got to watch the big killer whale in a rock concert! How awesome is that? There was also plenty of aquariums and underwater tunnels to view stingrays, sharks, and jellyfish. One of my favorite rides of the week was the one in which we took a "helicopter" to the artic to view penguins and polar bears. The ride was the audience looking at a screen, but the jerks and loops were so much more intense than the watered down Disney versions.

I know I have quite a few international readers on the blog, so if you ever get a chance, say a spring break or something like that, do go down to Florida to experience the magic of Disney. It's something you really have to do if you come to the States, and plane tickets are only $100+ if you plan far ahead in advance.