Deep Southern Land: The Happiest Place on Earth?! Day 2: Sales Spiel, Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom by night!

With a half-day of Magic Kingdom under our belts, it didn't seem too harsh to be at a sales spiel for time shares at 8 o'clock in the morning - especially when plied with breakfast, including that very nutritious breakfast food - Krispy Kreme Donuts!!

View from our room...lovely weather, as you can see!

The area we'd been seated at was full of tables with anxiously expectant couples or singles - not many people silly enough to do this with small children. We were greeted by Stephen, in his trendy glasses and pink business shirt with matching tie. Clearly, not a middle-Georgian!

Right from the start, we established that we were here for a good time, not a long time, and that our kind of vacation involved either staying at quirky homestay-type accommodation - as per our AirBnB experiences in Savannah and Atlanta - or bed-for-the-night motels in locations where we focused on local attractions, not a resort, per se. Probably not what a Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) salesperson wanted to hear, but there you have it. We didn't lead him on, and he didn't push too hard.

Having said that, Stephen did still have to go through his spiel, which involved us watching a Coke-style promotional video, with lots of happy holiday makers, smiling and affirming how important holidays are to their family and how the experiences of a HGV timeshare has changed their lives for the better, as well as crunching through figures showing how much better off we'd be if we spent thousands of dollars on a package which would entitle us to stay at glitzy, shiny accommodation in major cities around the world, as well as in the States, using a points system, versus our book-on-the-hop holiday planning, used to date.

All too expensive and stressful, with a little too much planning required to get your $$$'s worth for our liking, and his figures were based on our travelling habits since we've been in the US - hardly representative of what we are like at home!! In Australia, we were lucky to have had a few days away down the coast once a year.

So, Stephen graciously acknowledged that HGV wasn't for us at this time, though, before we were "released to enjoy our vacation" - we hadn't realised we were captive!! - Amid, the slick and fast-talking Sales Manager, took over, to see if he couldn't persuade us to part with our non-existent cash. Sorry, Amid - no cigar, so he slammed his folder shut and bid us "Good Day", whereupon, we had to "check out" so we could continue our holiday - obligation-free!

Phew, only 10.40 am...so we headed quick sticks, to Hollywood Studios, where who should we meet, but...

Olaf, for those who've been under a rock (without small children, of course!)

Hollywood Studios felt a lot more relaxed, compared to Magic Kingdom, possibly due to the fact that there are not as many rides, and princess-based character experiences, which most visitors gravitate towards.

This felt like a cruisy, fun place, and Dave, in particular, preferred the vibe!

As we'd arrived late morning, after our sales spiel, we need sustenance, and where better to fill up, but at a "Rosie the Riveter" styled diner ...

Not the healthiest of menus, but we managed to have burgers (with coleslaw),
and the kids had "Powerpacks" with carrots, apple pieces, etc - so not too bad!

See what I mean about the outfits!!

A huge part of what makes a trip to WDW an incredible experience is the staff...meet Roy, the friendly guide aka Sticker Man!

Roy spotted Daniel and proceeded to individually peel off sticker after sticker for Daniel's personal application. I'm sure Roy would have kept going, if we hadn't dragged ourselves away.

Bye, Roy!!

Frozen Summer Fun featured heavily at HS, and it was a challenge to keep everyone moving...remember, we had a cracking schedule to stick to!!

One of the rides we went on at HS was the Great Movie Ride, a nostalgic ride - for the parents (of our generation, anyway!)) more so than the kids - featuring some scenes from iconic movies: The Wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Raiders of the Lost Ark, among others. Our kids were a little scared at times, and missed most of the references, but it was fun for us, and a nice break from the heat!

Scarlet O'Hara's BBQ Party Dress!! We walked past this in the queue, while heading to the ride.
(Sorry about the fuzz!)

Anyone for a Mickey-shaped pretzel?!

Our FastPass+ show for HS was Beauty and the Beast, which was an amazing extravaganza of colour, movement, and songs, albeit edited down for the 30 minutes allotted!

We all enjoyed the typically over the top Disney showbiz pizzazz with which these productions are done, and it gave us a good taste of what was to come ...

Yes ladies, unlike his hair, Gaston's muscles were real!!

We had great seats, thanks to our FastPass+ reservation, which allowed priority access

Dave had a little "Daddy time" on the Rock'n'Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith... this was not a ride either child was likely to enjoy, so I stayed with the kids while Daddy had his fun!

It reached 60 miles per hour in 2.5 seconds, so he was a happy boy!!

We had some time to kill before a couple of FastPast+ reservations: Muppet Vision 3D and the piece de resistance, Frozen Singalong, so the kids had a frozen drink at Wandering Oaken's - an indoor space with more Frozen paraphernalia for sale, an ice rink with skates for hire, and a scheduled skating show, but we gave that a miss, and just hung out until our next show.

Sadly, it was only cotton wool...not the real deal!
(Our rogue toddler had yet again photo bombed the professional photographer's backdrop!)

The Muppet Vision 3D show was great fun, and technically impressive.

It was, however, a juggle with Daniel, as he alternated between wearing his 3D glasses upside down or not at all, and when he did wear them properly trying to grab the objects that "appeared" before our eyes and over our laps, or shouting at me "Get it, Mummy, get it!" Maybe next time, it'll be more relaxing...

The Frozen Singalong was our final FastPass+ show for HS and we all had a ball! There were two comedic actors in Arendelle-esque costumes, who gave a potted narration of the story, for those who'd been living under a rock, interspersed with clips from the movie, and the singalong component complete with bouncing ball and lyrics, not that ours needed them!

Isabella loved it, and Daniel went completely nuts!! He was rocking away and singing - no shouting the words - we couldn't have got him to sit down if we'd tried. The young couple behind him spent as much time, watching (and smiling) at him, as they did the show, and even commented at the end to us about how much fun they'd had watching him!!

You can never sing "Let it go" too many times...so here we go again!

Ooh! Real snow!!

And with that, we were done...until Magic Kingdom, by night!!

"Subtle" is not a word one would ever associate with Disney...but that's part of its charm!!

We arrived at Magic Kingdom just as the Electrical Parade was wending its way down Main Street...just in time to see Tinkerbell!!

It had started raining, but that wasn't going to stop a bunch of Melburnians from enjoying the fun!!

I think this was the hookah-smoking caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland?!

Here comes Cinderella, complete with fairy-lit gown...her castle is serendipitously framed by the pumpkin coach in the 2nd shot.

We weren't the only stalwarts!

The Seven Dwarfs and their loot from the mine...followed by Snow White, on foot!

Pinocchio!

Not sure who this dragon was, but he was cute!

And with a wave of his lantern-bearing tail, that was the end of the parade!

These folk are very patriotic...

Looks a bit spooky in the rain

And now for the fireworks - or Wishes, as Disney calls this pyrotechnical spectacular.

However, the advertised start time of 9 pm was postponed at 15 minute intervals until about 10 pm, due to the electrical storm we were all standing in, in the Happiest Place on Earth!!!

Before the fireworks was a sound and light show with various characters and special visual effects projected onto the exterior of the castle. The photos aren't too clear, partly due to the weather, and partly due to the fact that I was trying to enjoy watching them at the same time!