Carrie Underwood The Storyteller Tour: Stories in the Round at Verizon Center

Date of Visit: February 25, 2016

Five years later and Mik still has only been to two NBA arenas, but he has now seen his first concert at one (and probably last). I had been trying to see The Swon Brothers for over a year including going to the Opry when they were supposed to play and then their date to play there got changed to another month. When they were announced to be opening for Carrie Underwood I was tempted to get tickets. However, I don't like arena concerts and wasn't really interested in seeing Carrie Underwood live, although I like her music. When I told Mik he got all excited because he loves Carrie Underwood, so we decided to get tickets.

We had tickets in the wheelchair row of Section 416. Finding the elevator was a little confusing, but there were plenty of staff to help direct. We actually would've found it from the first person's directions as he said it was over under the Green Turtle sign, but when I told Mom and she went over there she didn't notice because it's an entrance to the arena and easy to miss with the security there. The second person we asked actually escorted us over to it. On the way down we found a closer elevator that is more obvious right on the concourse and I definitely recommend avoiding the Green Turtle one because it's just too crowded of an area with people coming in and not being any space when someone was trying to exit elevator before we could get on.

Our seats in Section 416 were actually surprisingly good. The view was good and Mik especially liked how they showed the performers on the screens. What was really cool, though, is they cover the rows in front of the handicap section, which means they don't sell those seats to keep people from standing up and blocking your view as tends to happens at concerts. The usher wouldn't even let people stand there for a photo more than thirty minutes before the concert started. He also tried to keep people from exiting the section through the handicap area, which really was annoying because the stairs end right by the seats so they should be turning to the regular aisle to exit but they would come past whenever he wasn't watching.

Only thing Mik didn't like was there were no cup holders in the wheelchair section, which he was aware of from going to Wizards games, but this time I noticed that the regular seats do in fact have them, which is when the lack of cup holders at sports venues really annoys him. It was also is a little awkward with them having black curtains blocking the entrances to the sections, but I get it serves a purpose for the lighting effects of the show.

We both really enjoyed The Swon Brothers and it was worth going just for them, but we really should've left when Mom joked that now we can go when they were done (Her and I did that after Mickey Guyton last year.).

I like Easton Corbin's music, but we both found his performance just mostly bad. It sounded bad for a the majority of it and he wasn't as entertaining. Mik said it was so boring that he almost fell asleep. We both agreed they have the opening acts in the wrong order.

All along Mik wasn't exactly planning to stay for the whole concert. He just wanted to hear Carrie Underwood perform at least one song. After the first song, he was ready to go. Mostly he was ready to go early because he was tired and also didn't want to deal with the post-concert crowd on the metro.

Mik said that he may have lasted longer if Easton Corbin hasn't been uninteresting, but mostly the lights were just way too much once Carrie Underwood went on. Thus, he's never going to another big concert except maybe for just the opener. However, he has been reminded he likes live music (He used to spend the whole WIT Grand National rallies listening to the performers.) and we're going to take him to our favorite venue, The Birchmere, to see Brandy Clark in a few months. Of course, another Nashville trip with balcony seats for the Opry is on our to do list, too.

Destination Info:
Verizon Center
601 F St
Washington, DC 20004

Walt Disney World: Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village Accessible 2-Bedroom Lock Off Villa

Date of Visit: January 2-9, 2016

Since we usually aren't into planning our WDW trips that far in advance, we've only stayed at our home resort one other time, which was when we did Club Level for the WDW Marathon. Even 11 months out, I couldn't get Club Level this time, but definitely not bad to have Animal Kingdom as our home resort and being able to easily get a Savannah View, which everyone loved and more than makes up for the drawbacks of this resort.

The 2-Bedroom Lock Off is a Studio and 1-Bedroom Villa combined. Both the Studio and the Master Bathroom of the 1-Bedroom part have accessible bathrooms.

The Studio bathroom had a tub. There was no shower chair, but usually you can request one if needed for this type of room.

The Master bathroom had a roll in shower as well as a whirlpool tub. It was also very spacious, so Mik enjoyed just claiming this as his room to hang out in. Best of all, this roll in shower was properly designed and did not flood the bathroom, which was our one complaint when we stayed at the Jambo House.

The 1-Bedroom also has a bathroom when you first enter that has a roll under sink, but no grab bars or extra space, so not exactly what we would consider accessible. However, it is definitely convenient to have that extra bathroom.

The kitchen area is decent accessibility wise, although it really is limited on the counter space. We didn't end up caring to cook at all this trip, though, so that wasn't a real issue.

The living room area was a good area for us all to hang out in (and for Mom to take over and work while we were in the parks). While for Mik the door entry style to the balcony is easier to use, the sliding door style with the lip does make more sense with the living room furniture setup.

The Studio made a good bedroom for the 3 adults and 1-year-old that used it, although it is the same too crowded style that is why we have never done a studio with Mik again (It's the space that ends up in the accessible bathroom that makes an accessible studio too crowded to comfortably stay in for us). It also would've been crowded for them if it wasn't part of a 2-Bedroom Lock Off because the only reason it really worked was that they put the crib in front of the door to the room and we all just used the 1-Bedroom entrance.

The Master Bedroom has a king sized bed and plenty of space to be comfortable accessibility wise.

Of course, the best part of the Villa is the balcony and being able to see various animals throughout the day. It really is what makes staying at the Animal Kingdom Villas so enjoyable. Otherwise, it's kind of an undesirable resort in that other resorts are closer to the parks (our favorite being the Boardwalk and other ones on the lake with Hollywood Studios and Epcot). Also, now that we've stayed at both Kidani and Jambo, we'd definitely prefer to be at Jambo (and not just because we had Club Level there that time).

Main thing I didn't like about this stay was that we were at Kidani Village and the quick service restaurant is over at Jambo House, which really isn't that far away but just enough to be mostly inconvenient. It wasn't that big a deal this trip because we did end up spending a lot of time in the parks and at least for breakfast they had some hot sandwiches and oatmeal in the little store at Kidani. However, definitely makes me not consider this as a place to stay in planning future trips when it's just us because we've often relied on the quick service places at the resorts for meals, especially dinner.

Destination Info:
Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village
3701 Osceola Parkway
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-8410

Walt Disney World: Hollywood Studios - Meet Sorcerer Mickey

 Date of Visit: January 8, 2016

When heading to Toy Story Mania for our Fastpass+ time on our last day, we found that there was a Meet Sorcerer Mickey next door and there was pretty much no line (and we still ended up having to wait a few minutes for our Fastpass time afterwards). Definitely, never seen a Mickey character experience where you didn't have to wait in line. Plus, we've never managed to do a Sorcerer Mickey photo before and it's the one time Mik extremely willingly posed this trip because he knows it's my favorite character.

Destination Info:
Disney's Hollywood Studios - Meet Sorcerer Mickey on Mickey Avenue
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom - Meet Cinderella and Rapunzel at Princess Fairytale Hall

 Date of Visit: January 5, 2016

Mik may have once been into meeting characters when he was little, but I don't think he ever liked the princesses. Thus, this was not exactly his thing to do, but he was a good sport and went along since we had a Fastpass+ to do the Meet Cinderella and Rapunzel at Princess Fairytale Hall.

The setting for this character meet was the least interesting to Mik overall, but just because he isn't really into the Disney castle stuff. He did appreciate that we discovered a storybook page featuring Snow White in the room where the princesses were. However, it would've been better if it was in English; and it is kind of odd with it not being Snow White's castle or even a meet and greet featuring Snow White.

While overall I really dislike the whole Fastpass+ thing and having to really plan out what you want a month in advance versus the old day of Fastpass system, but we definitely wouldn't have done the characters if we hadn't ended up not wanting our Epcot choices and deciding the day before to switch to Magic Kingdom with only the character meets and 'it's a small world' being our options.

Destination Info:
Magic Kingdom -Meet Cinderella and Rapunzel at Princess Fairytale Hall
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom - Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater

Date of Visit: January 5, 2015

Meet Mickey Mouse in the Magic Kingdom was one of the Fastpass+ selections I made since it seemed a requirement that Nora meet Mickey on her first Disney trip and if she ended up not being into characters at least we didn't spend too long in line to find that out. Turns out that this Mickey talks and it was the rest of us that were more freaked out by the experience than Nora.

Mik again wasn't into "meeting" the character, but he particularly enjoyed the props in the room Mickey was in as it is set up as if you are backstage meeting Magician Mickey and they had his trunk open with his suit and other things for his performance.

Destination Info:
Magic Kingdom - Meet Mickey Mouse at Town Square Theater
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Magic Kingdom - Meet Tinker Bell at Town Square Theater

Date of Visit: January 5, 2015

Mik has not been into characters for a long time, so we've haven't done any character meets at Disney World since our first trip in 2001. This trip we ended up doing several including some using our Fastpass+ selections since it was Nora's first Disney trip and she ended up loving the characters. Tinker Bell was the first character we did because the wait time was under 20 minutes and she's one of Kirsten's favorites.

While waiting in line for Tinker Bell, it was amusing to watch the different dialogue on one of the Mickey posters.

Also, before you go into the room with Tinker Bell you go into a room that lights up like it's getting sprinkled with pixie dust.

Mik still doesn't like doing character meets, but he did enjoy the experience. He liked the different decoration elements in the rooms you meet the characters. Thus, it worked out well that we could check them out and skip the character by just waiting behind the photographer while they met Tinker Bell.

By the way, having PhotoPass included with our Annual Passes and being able to also download the photos others on our reservation add using their MagicBands is the best thing about how they changed up Annual Passes this year.

Destination Info:
Magic Kingdom - Meet Tinker Bell at Town Square Theater
Lake Buena Vista, FL

Walt Disney World: Hollywood Studios - Fantasmic!

Date of Visit: January 4, 2016

I'm pretty sure the last (and only) time Mik say Fantasmic was back in 2011 when we did the dessert package at Disneyland. We've always skipped it at Disney World because it didn't seem worth waiting to get in and it never popped up as a Fastpass+ option for the days we choose for our Hollywood Studios selections. We still would've skipped Fantasmic this trip except we decided to try to get another Fastpass after using our three for the day at Animal Kingdom and the only option at Hollywood Studios was for Fantasmic.

 
For the wheelchair seating, they escorted our group to a spot at the top of one of the sections. Here they have benches for one person to sit next to the wheelchair and two rows of benches in front that they keep clear for the rest of the people in the groups with wheelchair guests.

I know we're Disneyland snobs, so yes we think Fantasmic is just better on the Rivers of America. However, it really is a nice experience to be able to sit in the stadium style seating at Hollywood Studios with just a Fastpass rather than having to do the dessert package to be able to have a seat at Disneyland.

I'm still not impressed that you end up with poles blocking the view, especially when it's in an area built for a show rather than how it's sort of improvised usage of Rivers of America in Disneyland. Overall though it was still enjoyable and we were particularly glad that we ended up at the top with Mik because it was cold and we only got a little mist from the show's water's effects.

Destination Info:
Disney's Hollywood Studios - Fantasmic!
Lake Buena Vista, FL