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Our good friends at Google run a daily puzzle challenge and asked us to help get them out to the geeky masses. Each day’s puzzle will task your googling skills a little more, leading you to Google mastery. Each morning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time you’ll see a new puzzle, and the previous day’s answer (in invisitext) posted here.

SPOILER WARNING:
We leave the comments on so people can work together to find the answer. As such, if you want to figure it out all by yourself, DON’T READ THE COMMENTS!

Also, with the knowledge that because others may publish their answers before you do, if you want to be able to search for information without accidentally seeing the answer somewhere, you can use the Google-a-Day site’s search tool, which will automatically filter out published answers, to give you a spoiler-free experience.

And now, without further ado, we give you…

TODAY’S PUZZLE:

The last ruler in the Ptolemaic dynasty tried to treat the baldness of which one of her famous boyfriends?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER (mouseover to see):

Search [electric-blue clouds] to find that they are called noctilucent (“night shining”) clouds. Search [noctilucent clouds atmosphere] to learn that they form in the mesosphere, on the fringe of space.

Our good friends at Google run a daily puzzle challenge and asked us to help get them out to the geeky masses. Each day’s puzzle will task your googling skills a little more, leading you to Google mastery. Each morning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time you’ll see a new puzzle, and the previous day’s answer (in invisitext) posted here.

SPOILER WARNING:
We leave the comments on so people can work together to find the answer. As such, if you want to figure it out all by yourself, DON’T READ THE COMMENTS!

Also, with the knowledge that because others may publish their answers before you do, if you want to be able to search for information without accidentally seeing the answer somewhere, you can use the Google-a-Day site’s search tool, which will automatically filter out published answers, to give you a spoiler-free experience.

And now, without further ado, we give you…

TODAY’S PUZZLE:

You’re gazing at the sunset and notice electric-blue clouds. Are they closer to the Earth’s surface or to space?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER (mouseover to see):

Search [Revolutionary war colonel siege Fort Stanwix]. Find Peter Gansevoort. Search [Peter Gansevoort, grandson, author] to find Herman Melville.

Our good friends at Google run a daily puzzle challenge and asked us to help get them out to the geeky masses. Each day’s puzzle will task your googling skills a little more, leading you to Google mastery. Each morning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time you’ll see a new puzzle, and the previous day’s answer (in invisitext) posted here.

SPOILER WARNING:
We leave the comments on so people can work together to find the answer. As such, if you want to figure it out all by yourself, DON’T READ THE COMMENTS!

Also, with the knowledge that because others may publish their answers before you do, if you want to be able to search for information without accidentally seeing the answer somewhere, you can use the Google-a-Day site’s search tool, which will automatically filter out published answers, to give you a spoiler-free experience.

And now, without further ado, we give you…

TODAY’S PUZZLE:

A Revolutionary War colonel, famous for resisting a siege at Fort Stanwix, had a grandson who became a literary legend. What’s the grandson’s name?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER (mouseover to see):

Search [ancient Greek philosopher four divine madnesses]. Find that Socrates taught about them, and his ideas were recorded by his student, Plato. Search [Socrates four divine madnesses famous play] to find that in Plato’s Phaedrus, which used Socrates as a character, he spoke of: Love, Poetry, Prophecy and the Mystic Rites (relief from present hardship).

Our good friends at Google run a daily puzzle challenge and asked us to help get them out to the geeky masses. Each day’s puzzle will task your googling skills a little more, leading you to Google mastery. Each morning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time you’ll see a new puzzle, and the previous day’s answer (in invisitext) posted here.

SPOILER WARNING:
We leave the comments on so people can work together to find the answer. As such, if you want to figure it out all by yourself, DON’T READ THE COMMENTS!

Also, with the knowledge that because others may publish their answers before you do, if you want to be able to search for information without accidentally seeing the answer somewhere, you can use the Google-a-Day site’s search tool, which will automatically filter out published answers, to give you a spoiler-free experience.

And now, without further ado, we give you…

TODAY’S PUZZLE:

An ancient Greek philosopher thought that not all madness was bad. In a famous play, he named four types that he considered gifts from the gods. What were they?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER (mouseover to see):

Search [circumference of the Earth] and find that it is 24,901 miles. Use Google’s built-in calculator to divide 1 parsec by the circumference of the Earth. In other words, [1 parsec / 24901 miles] shows that you’d need to circle the earth about 769,990,287 times. Wear comfortable shoes!

Our good friends at Google run a daily puzzle challenge and asked us to help get them out to the geeky masses. Each day’s puzzle will task your googling skills a little more, leading you to Google mastery. Each morning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time you’ll see a new puzzle, and the previous day’s answer (in invisitext) posted here.

SPOILER WARNING:
We leave the comments on so people can work together to find the answer. As such, if you want to figure it out all by yourself, DON’T READ THE COMMENTS!

Also, with the knowledge that because others may publish their answers before you do, if you want to be able to search for information without accidentally seeing the answer somewhere, you can use the Google-a-Day site’s search tool, which will automatically filter out published answers, to give you a spoiler-free experience.

And now, without further ado, we give you…

TODAY’S PUZZLE:

About how many times would you have to circle the Earth, at the equator, in order to travel 1 parsec?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER (mouseover to see):

Search [define cartomancer] and learn that it’s a term for someone who tells fortunes using a deck of cards. Search for [dark man widow cartomancy] and learn that you are looking at the king of clubs and the queen of spades.

Our good friends at Google run a daily puzzle challenge and asked us to help get them out to the geeky masses. Each day’s puzzle will task your googling skills a little more, leading you to Google mastery. Each morning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time you’ll see a new puzzle, and the previous day’s answer (in invisitext) posted here.

SPOILER WARNING:
We leave the comments on so people can work together to find the answer. As such, if you want to figure it out all by yourself, DON’T READ THE COMMENTS!

Also, with the knowledge that because others may publish their answers before you do, if you want to be able to search for information without accidentally seeing the answer somewhere, you can use the Google-a-Day site’s search tool, which will automatically filter out published answers, to give you a spoiler-free experience.

And now, without further ado, we give you…

TODAY’S PUZZLE:

A cartomancer shows you a dark man and a widow together. What, using the most common terms, are you looking at?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER (mouseover to see):

Search [what is GSP?] Find that it is the states’ equivalent of a country’s Gross Domestic Production (GDP). Search [2010 GSP Connecticut Florida Illinois Nevada] to find a list of states in GSP order. Discover that the correct order is Florida, Illinois, Connecticut and Nevada.

There is plenty of summer vacation season left on the calendar, and boredom may already be settling in around the house. So what are some fun, geeky places to take your geeklets? Even better, what are some fun, geeky places that kids and adults will all enjoy?

I was sitting down making some plans for my geeklets this summer. The list of places we wanted to go kept getting longer, and eventually turned into a wishlist, which I then put up for the GeekDads to add to. But this list is by no means complete. Please feel free to add your favorite places in the comments, and we’ll try to add them to the map, too.

The list is alphabetical so you can search by name and see if your favorite places are included. If you want to browse geographically, there is an interactive map embedded at the end of the post.

Here is my list of geeky places to bring your geeklets this summer:

1. Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum – Chicago.
2. American Museum of Natural History – New York, NY. One of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world, comprised of 25 interconnected buildings that house 46 permanent exhibition halls.
3. Ames Exploration Center – Moffett Field, California. Experience NASA technology and missions first hand.
4. Arizona Science Center – Phoenix. See Jenny Williams’ prior GeekDad post: To Boldly Go… to the Arizona Science Center.
5. Atomium – Brussels. The Belgium response to the Eiffel Tower at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958 is a tower in the shape of an iron crystal.
6. Austin Children’s Museum – Texas. Even adults have fun at the Austin Children’s Museum.
7. Belgian Comic Strip Museum – Brussels. It brings together everything related to the comic strip, from its prestigious beginnings to its most recent developments, on more than 4,000 square meters of museum floors.
8. Bletchley Park – UK. A museum dedicated to the World War II code breakers.
9. California Academy of Sciences – San Francisco. See Thomas Hawk’s GeekDad post: 10 Great Places to Take Your Kids in the San Francisco Bay Area.
10. Chabot Space and Science Center – Oakland, California. See Thomas Hawk’s GeekDad post: 10 Great Places to Take Your Kids in the San Francisco Bay Area.
11. Champs-Élysées – Paris. Watch the Tour de France riders blur past in a frenzy for 10 laps to win the last stage of the race. (You did read the Top Ten Reasons That Geeks Should Love the Tour de France, of course.)
12. Children’s Discovery Museum – San Jose, California. The Museum’s exhibit philosophy is for children to learn through concrete interactions — touching, exploring, manipulating and experimenting.
13. Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal – Cincinnati, Ohio. See Patrick Orndorff’s GeekDad post: A Family Visit to the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal
14. City Museum – St. Louis, Missouri. See Chris Anderson’s Places to take your kids: St Louis.
15. Clark Planetarium – Salt Lake City, Utah. The Clark Planetarium features 15,000 square feet of free exhibits.
16. Colonial Williamsburg – Williamsburg, Virginia. “That the future may learn from the past.”
17. Comic-Con – San Diego.
18. Computer History Museum – Mountain View, California. Where computer history lives.
19. Connecticut Science Center – Hartford, Connecticut. The East Coast’s largest new attraction opened last year, with 150 interactive exhibits in 10 galleries, plus a 206-seat 3-D theater.
20. Corpus – Amsterdam. Journey through the human body.
21. Crayola Factory – Easton, Pennsylvania. You’ll be immersed in color and creativity.
22. DeCordova Museum – Lincoln, Massachusetts. Adults can feel artsy and kids say “look at this funny thing!”
23. Design Museum – London. Covering all aspects of design from graphic to furniture.
24. Dragon*Con – Atlanta, Georgia. It’s the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US.
25. EdVenture – Columbia, South Carolina – An interactive children’s museum dedicated to creating new generations of lifelong learners.
26. Evergreen Aviation Museum – McMinnville, Oregon. Home of the Spruce Goose.
27. Exploratorium – San Francisco. The museum of science, art and human perception.
28. Fan Expo – Toronto. This event brings together an array of celebrities, exhibitors, retailers and visitors with five pop culture focuses: Comic Books, Anime, Science Fiction, Horror and Gaming.
29. Fiske Planetarium and Science Center – Boulder, Colorado. The largest of its kind between Chicago and Los Angeles.
30. Franklin Institute – Philadelphia. Founded in honor of Benjamin Franklin, it’s comprised of three centers, The Science Center, The Franklin Center, and The Center for Innovation in Science Learning. It also houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial.
31. Gamescom – Cologne, Germany. A new trade fair for interactive entertainment.
32. Georgia Aquarium – Atlanta. Currently the world’s largest aquarium, with over 8 million gallons of water.
33. Glasgow Science Centre – Glasgow, UK. One of Scotland’s must-see visitor attractions and home of Nina and The Neurons.
34. Glenn Research Center – Cleveland, Ohio. Learn about John Glenn, the Apollo Era, space flight and the solar system.
35. Herstmonceux Science Centre – UK. See Nathan Barry’s GeekDad post: GeekDad goes to The Observatory in Herstmonceux.
36. Hiller Aviation Museum – San Carlos, California. Dedicated to the dreams of flight – looking back into aviation’s history while exploring its future.
37. Houston Museum of Natural Science – Texas. See Patrick Orndorff’s GeekDad post: A Family Visit to the Houston Museum of Natural Science
38. Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center – Hutchinson, Kansas. It takes visitors on a journey from the Earth to the Moon…and beyond, through a combination of artifacts, films, and replicas, to capture the story of the U.S./Soviet Space Race. See Patrick Orndorff’s GeekDad post: A Space Museum in KANSAS?!?
39. Kennedy Space Center – Cape Canaveral, Florida.
40. Le Bourget Air and Space Museum – Paris. See the GeekDad post: Two GeekDad Attractions in Paris.
41. LEGOLand – San Diego, London, Denmark and Germany. Thrilling rides, shows and attractions, all themed around LEGO.
42. Liberty Science Center – Liberty State Park, Jersey City, NJ. It is dedicated to offering exceptional science learning experiences and to engage learners of all ages in science excitement.
43. Lincoln Park Zoo – Chicago. The wildest spot in Chicago in the shadow of skyscrapers has been a natural, free oasis for generations of animal lovers.
44. Mammoth Caves – Mammoth Cave, Kentucky. Spend the day underground.
45. Mark Twain House & Museum – Hartford, Connecticut. It offers offers a wide range of educational programs including lectures by major authors and artists, symposia, dramatic performances, concerts and family friendly activities.
46. Mauna Kea Observatory – Hawaii. Free nightly stargazing programs are conducted at the Visitor Station every night of the year, so you too can experience the amazing skies for which Mauna Kea is famous.
47. McWane Science Discovery Center – Birmingham, Alabama. It features four floors of interactive exhibits, celebrating science and wonder – from an amazing collection of dinosaurs to innovative environmental showcases, imaginative early childhood playgrounds, and an awe-inspiring aquarium.
48. Monterrey Bay Aquarium – Monterey, California. See Bruce Stewart’s GeekDad post: Monterey Bay is a Great Place to Play.
49. Museum of Science – Boston. A New England classic, with special exhibits on the Crittercam and Black Holes this summer.
50. Museum of Transportation – St. Louis, Missouri. See Chris Anderson’s Places to take your kids: St Louis.
51. Mystic Aquarium & Institute for Exploration – Mystic, Connecticut. Get face to face with New England’s only beluga whales.
52. National Air and Space Museum – Washington, DC (National Mall Building) It has hundreds of artifacts on display including the original Wright 1903 Flyer, the Spirit of St. Louis, the Apollo 11 command module, and a lunar rock sample that visitors can touch.
53. National Aquarium – Baltimore, MD. The Aquarium features hundreds of exhibits with more than 16,500 animals.
54. National Building Museum – Washington, DC. The museum offers insight into the history and future of the world we create for ourselves, with lots of things for kids and adults to do.
55. National Center for the History of Electronic Games – Rochester, New York. It collects, studies, and interprets electronic games and related material and the ways in which electronic games are changing how people play, learn, and connect with each other.
56. National Cryptologic Museum – Fort Meade, MD. Tours are provided allowing students of all ages the chance to learn about cryptology’s impact on history.
57. National Museum of Health and Medicine – Washington, DC. Peek down the halls of medical history with the collections and you’ll come across some curious medical instruments, see unusual anatomical artifacts, and learn about the first microscopes and the scientists who made history with them.
    
58. National Museum of Natural History – Washington, DC. The green-domed museum on the National Mall contains 325,000 square feet of exhibition and public space.
59. National Railway Museum – York, UK. The largest railway museum in the world.
60. New England Aquarium – Boston, Massachusetts. A classic that still entertains kids and adults, located right on Boston’s waterfront.
61. New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science – Albuquerque. The Museum’s permanent exhibit halls illustrate a “journey through time.”
62. New York Hall of Science – Queens, NY. A hands-on science and technology center with more than 400 exhibits to explore the wonder of biology, chemistry and physics.
63. Newseum – Washington, D.C. An experience that blends five centuries of news history with up-to-the-second technology and hands-on exhibits.
64. Old Sturbridge Village – Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Experience early New England life at one of the largest living history museums, with a large staff of historians in costume, 59 historic buildings on 200 acres.
65. Omaha Children’s Museum – Nebraska. A place where children can challenge themselves, discover how the world works and learn through play.
66. Ontario Science Center – Ontario, Canada. See Brad Moon’s GeekDad post: A Night at The Science Center.
67. Oregon Museum of Science and Industry – Portland. See Ken Denmead’s GeekDad post: Places to Take Your Kids in Portland.
68. Parc Asterix – France. The second biggest theme park in France (after EuroDisney) and just 30 km north of Paris
    
69. Penny Arcade Expo – A three-day game festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers.
70. Please Touch Museum – Philadelphia. Dedicated to children 7 and younger.
71. Plimoth Plantation – Plymouth, Massachusetts. It’s a bicultural museum, offering encounters with the Wampanoag People and the Colonial English community in the 1600s.
72. Reuben H. Fleet Science Center – San Diego, California. The Fleet is known for its hands-on science exhibits on subjects like vision, time, aging, and space technology. See Chris Radcliff’s GeekDad post: Geeky Place to Take Your Kids: San Diego.
73. Remington Nature Center – St. Joseph, Missouri. Where history and nature collide. (More about this place in a future post.)
74. RideMakerZ – Multiple retail locations. Build your own customized model car or truck.
75. San Diego Air & Space Museum – California. It’s jam-packed with airplanes, spaceships, memorabilia, and history. See Chris Radcliff’s GeekDad post: Geeky Place to Take Your Kids: San Diego.
76. San Diego Model Railroad Museum – California. San Diego’s model railroading clubs put together this expansive set of O-scale, HO-scale, N-scale, and toy layouts depicting Southern California locales. See Chris Radcliff’s GeekDad post: Geeky Place to Take Your Kids: San Diego.
77. San Diego Natural History Museum – California. Dinosaurs. Mammoths. Giant cats. What more is there to say? See Chris Radcliff’s GeekDad post: Geeky Place to Take Your Kids: San Diego.
78. San Diego Zoo – California. See Chris Radcliff’s GeekDad post: Geeky Place to Take Your Kids: San Diego.
79. Science City at Union Station – Kansas City, Missouri. Let curiosity be your guide through more than 50 interactive areas, providing some real hands-on fun. See Mark Dye’s GeekDad post: ToddlerGeek Field Trip: Science City.
80. Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame – Seattle. The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony will be held Saturday, June 26.
81. Science Museum, London. The Science Museum was founded in 1857 with objects shown at the Great Exhibition held in the Crystal Palace.
82. Science Museum of Minnesota – St. Paul. See John Baichtal’s GeekDad post: Make: Day at the Science Museum of Minnesota
83. Science World at TELUS World of Science – Vancouver. Look for the big geodesic dome and explore the interactive exhibits.
84. Shedd Aquarium – Chicago. It contains 2,100 species of fish, marine mammals, birds, snakes, amphibians, and insects.
85. Six Flags – Various locations. A theme park with Superman and Batman rides.
86. Skara Brae and Maeshowe – Orkney, UK. Europe’s most complete Neolithic village and UNESCO World Heritage Site.
87. Space and Rocket Museum – Huntsville, Alabama. Artifacts of our nation’s space program, hands-on interactive exhibits and space travel simulators.
88. Space Center Houston – Texas. See Patrick Orndorff’s GeekDad post: Houston, We Have a Play Place!
89. Spy Museum – Washington, DC. It features the largest collection of international spy-related artifacts ever placed on public display.
90. Star Trek Convention – Las Vegas. An enormous gathering of all things Star Trek.
91. Stepping Stones Museum for Children – Norwalk, Connecticut. With four main galleries, a toddlers-only gallery and more than 100 hands-on activities, Stepping Stones offers children ages ten and under plenty to explore and discover.
92. StoryLand – Glen, New Hampshire. A great amusement park for younger geeklets with all the rides themed around children’s stories.
93. Tech Museum of Innovation – San Jose, California. Focused on inspiring the innovator in everyone it reaches, with truly hands-on and interactive exhibits, divided among themed galleries.
94. Udvar-Hazy Center – Northern Virginia. This branch of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has the Space Shuttle Enterprise and a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird.
95. Universal Studios Islands of Adventure – Orlando, Florida. Marvel comic themed rides for the adults and older kids and Seuss Landing for the smaller kids.
96. Vancouver Aquarium – British Columbia. The aquarium has a total 9.5 million litres (2.5 million gallons) of water in 166 aquatic displays.
97. Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum – Bangalore, India. Each floor of this museum is dedicated to a scientific discipline, with plenty of interactive exhibits.
98. Wisconsin Maritime Museum – Manitowoc, Wisconsin. See Ken Denmead’s GeekDad post: GeekDad Wayback Machine: Wisconsin Day Trip.
99. Woods Hole Science Aquarium – Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Voted “best rainy day activity on the upper cape.”
100. Your local library – There are always great adventures in those book stacks.

How many of these have you visited?

Thanks to my fellow GeekDad Contributors for their additions to the list, as well as ideas from the Twitterverse by: @danielschwartz, @dougbailey, @edhaskin, @eicdocket, @jackvinson, @JeffCutler, @jeffrey_brandt, @jennsteele, @neilrichards, @retheauditors and @Tami Schiller.

View Geeky Places to Bring Your Kids This Summer in a larger map

[This post originally ran on this date in 2009, and some locations/events may have changed since.]

Our good friends at Google run a daily puzzle challenge and asked us to help get them out to the geeky masses. Each day’s puzzle will task your googling skills a little more, leading you to Google mastery. Each morning at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time you’ll see a new puzzle, and the previous day’s answer (in invisitext) posted here.

SPOILER WARNING:
We leave the comments on so people can work together to find the answer. As such, if you want to figure it out all by yourself, DON’T READ THE COMMENTS!

Also, with the knowledge that because others may publish their answers before you do, if you want to be able to search for information without accidentally seeing the answer somewhere, you can use the Google-a-Day site’s search tool, which will automatically filter out published answers, to give you a spoiler-free experience.

And now, without further ado, we give you…

TODAY’S PUZZLE:

What is the order, from highest to lowest, for the 2010 GSP of these states: Connecticut, Illinois, Florida, and Nevada?

YESTERDAY’S ANSWER (mouseover to see):

Search [activity 34 facial muscles] to learn that it’s kissing. Search [kissing gilded painting 1908] to find “The Kiss,” painted by Austrian Symbolist artist Gustav Klimt.

Epcot. Photo: Ken Denmead

The Disney resorts seem to have a strange sort of crossover appeal to geeks and non-geeks alike, and I happily count my family firmly in the Disneyphile camp. Indeed, not unlike the success of Apple, the way people fall in love with Disney resorts and theme parks shows that people will pay for a quality experience with excellent customer service.

Which is why we decided to make our major family summer trip to Walt Disney World (WDW) this year. This was the first trip to the WDW resorts for our boys (being in California, we frequent Disneyland), and in effect for my wife and me as well, since neither of us had been there for something like 20 years (yikes!). So, being a good geek and blogger, I’d like to share a few observations that will hopefully help other families considering their first trip to WDW make the best of it.

First thing to know is, especially compared to Disneyland, WDW is HUGE. There are four primary theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom), and 18 primary resort hotels (too many to list) serving a wide range of prices and themes. These do not include the ancillary water parks, ESPN Zone, golf courses, Downtown Disney, and more entertainment, nor the Villas, Campground, or nearby non-Disney hotels to stay in. At Disneyland, we are used to being able to step out of our hotel and be in a park inside of a 10-minute walk. Not at WDW. Expect a 15- to 50-minute bus, monorail, or boat ride to get from any given hotel to any given venue. This makes the idea of a Park Hopper pass slightly less important, since going between parks on a single day is a more travel-intensive process, so planning your trip with a day for each park you want to visit is probably the most relaxed way to go (though not the only, of course).

We stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge (Jambo House), which we highly recommend, with caveats. It’s a beautiful hotel – we equate it with the Grand Californian at Disneyland, but with an African motif. Most exciting is that most of the grounds of the hotel are a wildlife park, and if you book a Savannah-view room, you can expect sights like this off your balcony.

Giraffe at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Photo: Ken Denmead

The food at the hotels two restaurants is delightful as well. Jiko “The Cooking Place” is the fancy full-service restaurant, with a delicious mix of African and Mediterranean dishes on the menu, and a nice selection of South African wines (that we haven’t been able to find since we got home, alas!). Boma is the big family buffet restaurant, like most of the Disney hotels have where they hold character breakfasts (though there were none that we saw at Boma). Again, the food has an exotic flair, but of course both restaurants had kid-friendly dishes as well. Interestingly, Jiko is the better value. Boma is a flat rate, $36 per person for adults (12 and up) for dinner, which gets pricey quick, where Jiko has many less expensive dishes, and you can even split dishes to save cost and calories.

There is also a third, cafeteria-style restaurant called Mora downstairs by the pool, with more traditional fare. But this raises one more important caveat: the food choices can get a bit constrained, especially for kids on a longer stay, necessitating bus rides to the parks or Downtown Disney to find anything different.

As for the parks, every member of the family says their favorite thing was the Animal Kingdom park, Disney’s combination theme park and animal preserve. Of course, the park has the usual Disney immersive design – there are two primary areas, one for Asia and one for Africa. Asia is anchored by the major ride at the park, Expedition Everest, which is like an updated version of the Matterhorn at Disneyland (remind me why there’s a Yeti on the Matterhorn, since the mountain and the ride theme is Alpine?), with an extended backwards-riding sequence that’s quite thrilling. There’s also a good restaurant there, called The Yak & Yeti, serving tasty Asian food.

One of my sons on a rope bridge above crocs. Photo: Wild Africa Trek tour guide

But for us, the magic happened in the Africa area. As our one special treat for the trip, we signed up to take the Wild Africa Trek, a special three-hour guided tour by foot and truck through the animal areas of the park. From the website description:

Adventurers are fitted with an expedition harness that attaches to an overhead track. Once your group reaches the riverbank, get a stunning look at the hippos, just 10 feet below. After a seemingly precarious trek across a rope bridge dangling over a throng of enormous crocodiles, experience another unbelievable view as you hang over the crocs’ riverbed lair!

The tour started with meeting the guides, in our case Chapin, Lauren, and Mandy. There were about sixteen people on our tour. Each got outfitted with a safety harness for tying off on the rope bridges, and then smartly sent over a small test bridge to make sure everyone was okay with both the harnesses, and the heights. Then everyone was off to hike through part of the park, seeing animals, crossing bridges over crocs and hippos, and having an amazing time seeing and learning about the animals.

Halfway through, we were all picked up by a tour truck, and brought out to a station in the middle of the park, looking out on everything. There we were fed a delectable boxed lunch, and allowed to relax, feeling like we really were out in the African wilderness.

Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park from the Wild Africa Trek respite. Photo: Ken Denmead

Finally, it was back onto a truck for a custom drive all through the park. There are regular truck tours running through all the time, but ours could pull over and stop to take pictures and talk about the animals, and could take some special roads not available to the other trucks.

Perhaps the nicest feature of the trek is that all the guides are outfitted with nice DSLRs, and are snapping pictures of everything for the entire trip, both animals and trek participants, and send you a custom photo CD from your trek afterwards. We were especially blown away that, while they promised the CD in three to six weeks, ours showed up the day after we returned from our vacation, only one week after the trek.

End of the line on Expedition Everest, at the Animal Kingdom Park. Photo: Ken Denmead

As for the rest of the parks, here are some things to think about when choosing which ones to attend:

Magic Kingdom: It is, of course, magical, and the purest Disney experience. It’s bigger than the Disneyland park, and there are interesting differences, such as Liberty Square rather than New Orleans Square; no Indiana Jones ride (there’s an Indy stunt show at Disney Hollywood Studios); no Star Tours (it’s at Hollywood Studios); the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse is still there (no Tarzan conversion). Overall, it’s the best place to take young kids looking for a magical day.

Epcot: In some ways, Epcot is a confused place. First, there’s the half that’s all about inventions and the future, with some nice hands-on science play, and a couple rides. Mission to Space is a great experience, and don’t be afraid of doing the orange-team ride; Soarin’ is the same ride as Soarin’ over California Adventure, and great for young and old; Sadly, Test Track was closed for the summer. Then there’s the other half that’s all World Showcase, basically little pieces of the world recreated in Florida. This might be a harder sell for younger kids to keep interested in. Each country usually has one experience of cultural interest – either a movie, or a ride; then a restaurant, and a store with native products. There’s only so much food you can eat (though it’s all very good), and kids will get tired of shopping quickly. And some of the rides/experiences are clunky and a bit long in the tooth; the Norway boat ride could really stand to be updated or replaced.

However, something fun to keep the kids involved is the Agent P’s World Showcase Adventure, where families check out a media-enabled device and follow clues all over the park to solve mysteries and stop various villains. There are interactive elements hidden all over the World Showcases, often right out in plain sight, and even cast members working in shops will support the adventures in some cases.

One way to approach Epcot, if you’ve got a park hopper pass, would be to spend a half day there doing the technology side of the park, and then return a few times just for dinners at the various Showcases. This also makes sense because the food is better than most of what you’ll find at Downtown Disney.

Hollywood Studios: Honestly, we were underwhelmed here. While some of the elements are fun – Muppetvision 3D, Star Tours, Hollywood Tower of Terror – the whole park is the least Disney-ish of the four. If you do go, avoid the Rockin’ Roller Coaster, especially on hot days. It has the worst managed line and loading system of any Disney ride, making for a long, painful wait. The ride itself is not bad; basically an attempt to do a Space Mountain in-the-dark ride with a more traditional loops and rolls roller coaster. But it suffers in comparison to Space Mountain. And some parents might find it a bit incongruous to be at a Disney park, waiting in line for a ride, listening to the rather sexually-suggestive lyrics of Aerosmith songs like Rag Doll.

If you go to Downtown Disney planning on dinner, it’s best to make reservations ahead of time if you’re there in high season, because drop-in wait times can be long. Of all the restaurants we tried there, the Raglan Road Irish Pub has the best food. Places like Planet Hollywood, T-Rex, and Rainforest Cafe sacrifice food quality for spectacle and high-volume.

If you’re flying into Orlando, it’s nice to know that you can actually get the Disney’s Magical Express bus service to pick up your checked luggage for you, and get it taken straight to your room when you get to your hotel. Also, you can do your check-in for many airlines in the lobby of your hotel before you leave, making the trip back smoother.

Walt Disney World is an amazing place, no doubt about it. As a family trip, without a strict focus, I can imagine it being quite overwhelming. The best suggestion is not to try to do everything in one trip. Simply pick and choose the experiences you want to have, and leave the rest for future trips. There will be plenty left for many happy returns.

This article, by Ken Denmead, was originally published on Monday.