DisneyWorld at Christmas

Posted on by Ian C.

Heading to Disney World, Florida, in December is a little odd because the weather is still hot, but everywhere is decorated for Christmas!

We stayed in the Dolphin Hotel – shaped like a giant Quality Street Green Triangle! It’s close to Epcot and Disney/MGM, and has a “sister” hotel, the Swan. Via the Yacht Club or Boardwalk hotels, we could walk to either Epcot or Disney/MGM; there was also a regular ferry service providing free transport to both parks!

 

First we visited Magic Kingdom – still the best Disney park!

Next stop was Epcot; a great ride there is Test Track, which races you at over 60 mph round a very curvy track!

Epcot is close enough to the Dolphin hotel to see it – here’s a nice night time picture:

Dolphin hotel from Epcot

 

Finally, we visited Animal Kingdom – it’s much less of a Disney park than a zoo, but still a pleasant visit, and meeting the “not-so-real” animals is great!

First Vegas

Posted on by Ian C.

We’ve just returned from an incredible vacation to Las Vegas, Arizona, and Utah – incredible views everywhere, both on the Las Vegas strip and out at the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Bryce Canyon, so much more!

We stayed in the Luxor hotel – a huge black glass pyramid in the desert! We also toured the Las Vegas strip, visited white Tigers at the Mirage hotel – and a cactus garden at Ethel M Chocolates:

 

We rented a car and drove south, over the Hoover Dam and into Arizona to the Grand Canyon – pictures just can’t show how incredible it is! We rode a small plane over the canyon for aerial views too:

 

Also in Arizona we visited Sedona and Meteor Crater:

 

As if Arizona wasn’t already stunning, we also visited Utah – Monument Valley, Goosenecks, Arches National Park, Bryce Canyon (and even though it’s mid-summer, we found snow!)