The NeverEnding Trip Report: 39 Parts and Counting (7/9 MK Day 2 & TL! LOTSA PICS!!) [Archive] - Page 2 - The DIS Discussion Forums

Eeyore's Tailfinder

02-16-2008, 03:10 PM

I am feeling the Florida Fever today, so I thought it would be nice to pick this up again and see if I can somehow get it finished before next trip (chance would be a fine thing!) - forgive me, as this is going to be from memory so it might be a tad patchy!!

Oh, and I didn't take any photos today (shocking for me I know!:laughing:)

We had planned to do Wet'n'Wild today, but Els wasn't feeling too good as he had thought he had got a bit of sunstroke. We didn't want to chance anything, so we swapped our shopping day with our Wet'n'Wild day and went shopping instead.

We walked down to Sizzler, as we planned on getting our breakfast here. It was quite busy when we went in, but we did get served in no time. The breakfast was good, but I was starting to get sick of breakfast food! We don't eat breakfast much, so I think it was a bit of a shock to the system

We called Yellow Cabs to take us to the new Super Walmart and waited for them over the road in the Holiday Inn. The ride there was uneventful (this will have more meaning later on!) and we got there in no time. We loved this Walmart! It was absolutely huge and I don't think we went around a quarter of it. There is a huge Disney section, where I got a Mickey t-shirt for myself for $5, and Els got a kids POTC one for something like $3.50 - shoppers paradise!! We were here for aaages and we lost each other a couple of times. I bought a box of Lucky Charms, since I remembered them over here, and some of those drinks sachets. I got a Thomas the Tank toy for my cousin, suntan lotion and aftersun, a DS game for me, some sweets and Disney things for my other cousins... Els got some Eyedrops from the chemist section since he suffers bad conjunctivitis and he swears that these are the bestr drops he's ever had, and they were like $3. I don't remember half the stuff we got, but I remember thinking we'd have a huge bill, and then being surprised that it only came to around $100.

We'd definitely come to this Walmart again! It's huge, and it's fun just to go around and look at all the different types of food - does anyone else ever do that abroad?

We didn't want to grab a taxi from outside, as we couldn't be sure it was a legit taxi, so we used the payphone to call Yellow Cabs. And thus the trouble began. We waited around 10mins before he came, checked it was for us, and hopped in the back.
Taxi Man: Where to?
Us: Sheraton Studio City please
TM: Where's that?

Ok fair enough, he didn't know the hotel, but to be fair there are hundreds, possibly thousands of hotels in Orlando and he couldn't be expected to know them all.
TM: Could you give me directions?
Me: (Thinking: I'll tell him it's near Wet'n'Wild) Umm, ok, I guess.

So we head off. I guess alarm bells should have started ringing. I tell him the hotel is on International Drive, just opposite Wet'n'Wild. He doesn't know where this is. Not knowing where a hotel is, I can forgive, but Wet'n'Wild I should think is one of I Drive, or even Orlando's primary attractions! He didn't seem to even know where I Drive was, and given that he didn't speak good English didn't help one bit. Off the top of my head I start thinking of other places. Do you know Prime Outlets? Yes he does! Off we go.

All is well until we reach the intersection and he starts turning off for the I4 - Panicking, we start shouting No and telling him he's going the wrong way. He does an U-Turn (I kid you not) and starts getting mad with us telling him we were the ones who told him to go to Premium Outlets. PRIME!! WE SAID PRIME OUTLETS!!

To cut a long story short, he was getting a bit iffy telling us that we'd told him we'd give him directions and now we didn't know where we were going. What I meant was, I could tell him it was on I Drive and near WW! If I knew the directions I would be driving myself! I told him this is my first time in this country, of course I can't give him directions - he's the taxi driver! He somehow managed to get onto I Drive by cutting up a million cars, and when we saw somewhere I recognised (the holiday inn) I shouted to him, here, this is our hotel right here. He dropped us off at HI and told us, you don't have to give me the fare. By that time I was a bit shaken up and just wanted to get outta there, I just threw him $10 and jumped out which he seemed very grateful about. I don't think he meant to be rude or scary, I think it was his first day and no way should the taxi company have given him the job!! Thus ends our little adventure! I think that was the scariest thing, and the only bad thing we had happen to us.

We walked the rest of the way to the Sheraton - glad to be out of the taxi and able to laugh about it now. We dropped the shopping in the room, and caught the I Trolley up to the Prime (Not Premium!) Outlets.

I wasn't too keen on the layout of this shopping outlet - I know they were in the middle of building, so hopefully it'll be better once it's finished. It seems as if you can't walk around in a circle, we had to keep going back on ourselves. I was really disappointed to find out the Disney Outlet wasn't open yet - wasn't even anything in the shop, it was just walls and floor. Els got a couple of pairs of jeans at one store (rue21 I think), and I got some t-shirts for $5 THIS (http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_002A2820000P) one to celebrate my new found love of Mac and Cheese, and a simliar one with a Cookie and Milk saying 'Teamwork'... I'm yet to wear either but I thought they were really cute and funny! I got some bargains in the Calvin Klein Store - 3 pairs of CK Girls 'boxers' for $18 and I had printed out some vouchers before I went, which meant I got a gorgeous CK handbag for $40.

I think this place will be good when it's completed. We waited absolutely ages for the I Trolley back, around 40-50mins I would say. Absolutely knackered we happily stopped outside the 7/11 over the road to the hotel to grab a couple of cans of Coke.

We were way too tired to go anywhere too far tonight, so we went to Denny's next door! Just as good as the first time!

Sorry no photos and for the rather boring TR - I promise there will be plenty next report!

Next Up: Busch Gardens!

Thumpersmom

02-17-2008, 10:23 AM

Welcome back Haley!!!

Nice update even w/out the pics...sometimes the camera makes you miss stuff.

Looking forward to more.:surfweb:

scottny

02-17-2008, 10:50 AM

nice update. Ooh Busch Gardens. the last time I was there my Grandmother had a heartattack in the park. have not been back since. I would love to get there one day.
Looking forward to hearing more.

PinkPrincessZ

02-17-2008, 12:27 PM

Hi Hayley!

I'm really enjoying your report! To have a three week vacation.....bliss!:hippie:

Keep it coming!popcorn::

Eeyore's Tailfinder

02-17-2008, 02:23 PM

Thanks guys! I'll try have BG up by the end of the night!! :teeth:

OhioDisneyLover

02-17-2008, 02:52 PM

I'm really enjoying your trip report. I just found it today and spent the last hour and a half reading everything so far!

I can't wait for the next installment. :banana:

burly

02-18-2008, 08:44 AM

yay, welcome back. thanks for the update.

erinstar

02-19-2008, 01:32 AM

Welcome back Hayley, great updte, can't wait to read more!

lindsmom

02-21-2008, 04:59 PM

I would love to spend some time in the US, be it even for a few months. There's an institution in Massachusetts I think which deals specifically with underwater exploration, so I'd love to go there

This wouldn't by chance be Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, where they developed the sub that found the Titanic, would it? It is a small world... :rotfl: I'm 45 minutes from WHOI.

Weird.

Pooh's-Honey-Pot

02-25-2008, 04:23 AM

Hi Hayley

I have only just discovered this thread, bit late as I have been following your food reports and know you are already back!!! Am only at page 10 but have just seen your TRULY BRILLIANT itinary cards. If you still have them PLEASE could you send the template to me??!! I am off to Disney in May, love planning, and these are just genius!!!!! :cool1: I am off work this week so plan on catching up with your whole trip report!!!

Eeyore's Tailfinder

02-25-2008, 07:26 AM

I'm really enjoying your trip report. I just found it today and spent the last hour and a half reading everything so far!

I can't wait for the next installment. :banana:

Thank you very much! I can't tell you how many times I've done that! Glad you're enjoying it!

yay, welcome back. thanks for the update.

Thank you :) I will try and have more up soon!!

Welcome back Hayley, great updte, can't wait to read more!

Thank you :thumbsup2

This wouldn't by chance be Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, where they developed the sub that found the Titanic, would it? It is a small world... :rotfl: I'm 45 minutes from WHOI.

Weird.

It is indeed WHOI ::yes:: I would love to spend a bit of time there, since Titanic is my specialism :) It is indeed a very small world!

Hi Hayley

I have only just discovered this thread, bit late as I have been following your food reports and know you are already back!!! Am only at page 10 but have just seen your TRULY BRILLIANT itinary cards. If you still have them PLEASE could you send the template to me??!! I am off to Disney in May, love planning, and these are just genius!!!!! :cool1: I am off work this week so plan on catching up with your whole trip report!!!

Thank you very much!! I'll email the cards no problem - I'm at work right now, and they're on my laptop, so I'll email them after I get home tonight! :thumbsup2

PinkPrincessZ

02-25-2008, 12:05 PM

Hi Hayley!

I'm looking forward to hearing about your shark dive experience at Seaworld- I'm thinking about scheduling it for my DH. Is it worth it?

Pooh's-Honey-Pot

02-26-2008, 08:15 AM

Thanks for the card templates - I am in awe!! :worship:

Shir Kahn

02-26-2008, 03:55 PM

Oh no! Last page already! I can't wait to hear more, you're not even at WDW yet! Great trip report! :goodvibes

Lluianae

02-26-2008, 04:12 PM

I've read your food trip report and enjoyed that one. I'm enjoying this one just as much (I find myself not as hungry :rotfl:) Can't wait for the next installment:woohoo:

Eeyore's Tailfinder

02-26-2008, 04:29 PM

Hi Hayley!

I'm looking forward to hearing about your shark dive experience at Seaworld- I'm thinking about scheduling it for my DH. Is it worth it?

DBF LOVED it! I have actually written the report - I'll try and get it up ASAP :thumbsup2

Thanks for the card templates - I am in awe!! :worship:

No problem! Hope they help you!

Oh no! Last page already! I can't wait to hear more, you're not even at WDW yet! Great trip report! :goodvibes

Hopefully I'll have more up soon - I'm being worked like a dog :surfweb: I was teaching until 8.30 tonight :scared1: Bring on the weekend!!

I've read your food trip report and enjoyed that one. I'm enjoying this one just as much (I find myself not as hungry :rotfl:) Can't wait for the next installment:woohoo:

Why thank you :rotfl: It will be up soon, hopefully!

Eeyore's Tailfinder

02-26-2008, 04:42 PM

Today was an exciting day – we were headed to Busch Gardens!! (Sorry, everything is from memory so it might be a bit jumpy!)

As you know, we didn’t have a car, so I had booked the Busch Gardens Shuttle online to go from the Universal Studios bus parking to Tampa. This was really easy to book and I would recommend it – you don’t have to pay upfront, you just put in the time, place and date and you get a confirmation number. Print out this confirmation and bring it with you – job done.

We did however need a taxi to get to Universal. We were really, really close, but we’re on different sides of a very large road we’d need to cross. So for safety reasons we decided to call a taxi. A bit wary after yesterday’s experience, we called and decided that if the driver seemed a bit ‘dodgy’ again, we’d just not get in. Taxi arrived in good time, bright and early, and I explained to him that we were going to the bus parking bit – he was ok with this and off we went. Well, he got us there safely with no problems and we were the first ones there on the bus. Had our pick of seats and waited for more people to arrive.

We had one more pick-up I think, at a hotel/restaurant just behind Ripley’s, and then we were off! We did pass WDW on the way, and I managed to sneak a peek at Downtown Disney, which immediately got me all excited, and wished we were going to Disney instead of Busch. All in all, it took around 40-50min I think to get there, but the time passed by pretty quickly of what I can remember.

Taking care to write the bus number and pick-up time before we left, we ran to the ticket booths. We started queuing where it said ‘Discovery Cove Tickets’ as we had a DC plus SW plus BG ticket, and we hadn’t yet been to DC. A BG worker ushered us off to the entry where you scan your ticket, saying we’d be fine. Of course, after queuing there we were not fine with our DC voucher, and had to return to the DC Ticket area to queue again to get our proper ticket. When all that was sorted, we were finally in and ready to hit the park!

The first ride we came across was Gwazi, the wooden roller coaster. There didn’t seem to be much of a queue so off we went. Oh my gosh, I will never ever ride this ride again. I never get sick on rollercoasters, but I felt so ill after coming off this one. This is the roughest ride I have ever been on and my brain just felt rattled after coming off.
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4908/img6304copyiy3.jpg
The dreaded Gwazi

So what do you do after coming off a coaster feeling like that? Try and find SheiKra of course!! We walked through the bird gardens and Land of the Dragons, through to Stanleyville where SheiKra is situated.
http://img113.imageshack.us/img113/2355/img6313copyhx3.jpg
We began queuing and it was HOT out there in the sun. A message came over the tannoy saying that SheiKra had broken down, but stay in your places as it will be fixed soon. We stayed for around 40mins and it still wasn’t fixed. As much as I wanted to ride SheiKra, we had only ridden 1 ride so far and it was nearing lunchtime. We decided to do as many others were doing, and just left the line. We spoke to many other people throughout our holiday, and each person who said they had been to Busch Gardens said that SheiKra had broken down at least once during the course of the day. BG really needs to sort that out.

We decided to forgo Stanley Falls and Tidal Wave, as we didn’t want to sit for an hour on the way home drenched! We moved to Timbuktu where we rode Scorpion. Cute small coaster, but we were wondering if we’d done the right thing when we saw the only thing that kept you in the car was a lapbelt and there was a loop in the coaster. But of course, we lived to tell the tale!

We decided to grab lunch, since it was almost lunchtime and before the queues came in. We were quite close to Desert Grill, so we chose there more for convenience than anything! Food review will be in my dining, but I will say one thing. The entertainment here is a bit weird. I have to say the thing with thanking all the war veterans everywhere in the Anheuser-Busch parks is a bit strange – of course I think they are doing an awesome job out in Iraq/Afghan and I have people dear to me out there too, but I somehow didn’t think that a theme park is a place to be thanking people for fighting in a war, JMO…. also, it was funny that the entertainers were doing an ‘American 60s Music’ Medley, and they were doing British Invasion covers!

Anyway, moving back to the topic! We decided to move from here to the much-hyped Rhino Rally, stopping to watch a cute baby elephant on the way:
http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/3974/img6324copyqa0.jpg
We were surprised to find there wasn’t much of a queue, so we pretty much got straight on. Els was a bit sneaky here, he was in a bit of a hurry to get on and he dashed past me onto the car – I soon found out why, when I had to go sit with the driver in the front! I swear, he did nothing but tease me the whole way through! He made me his ‘navigator’ and he kept asking me some trivia. If we made a ‘wrong turning’ and were swept away down the river, he made the whole jeep shout ‘Oh Hayley!!’, he did make them clap for me at the end though. Despite being thoroughly embarrassed, he was a lot of fun. I must admit, despite it being a cute ride and seeing a few animals, I prefer the Kilimanjaro Safaris at AK as I think there are more animals to see and it lasts a bit longer.

We went back on ourselves a bit at this point, to go and ride Kumba. Els remembered this being a good ride from when he went when he was younger. We must have been really lucky with queues since there wasn’t much of a line on anything today, bar SheiKra, I think the most we waited was 15-20mins on the big ones. This ride was excellent!! I loved it! Just a brilliant rollercoaster!

From our vantage point here, we could see cars were now running on SheiKra, so we ran over and joined the queue, and prayed that it wouldn’t break down before we rode! Soon we were in the cars, and I couldn’t wait! I had looked forward so much to riding this ride. The bit where you travel up to the drop is really scary, but despite waiting so long to ride, it is so worth it! It’s a brilliant ride! 200x better than Oblivion in Alton Towers! When we came off at the other end, we bought the DVD of the ride, which is quite good (but better if you’re in the front row, so if you want the DVD try and get front row) – nice to relive the memories! We stayed in this area for a bit, filming the people getting absolutely soaked from the SheiKra water spray. It was so hot, people were just standing underneath to get completely drenched!
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/6005/img6336copyig4.jpg
SheiKra in all its glory!

We walked over to the Hospitality place for our free beers – I drank half of mine and gave the rest to Els since I don’t drink beer (which of course he relishes as he gets 2!) – this was a nice rest, since we got a table outside and watched the birds for a while.

We were debating whether to walk over to Montu since it was the other side of the park, and the bus was coming to get us in about an hour and a half. We didn’t want to queue for ages and miss the bus. We decided to walk over and check the queue size. On the way, we walked through the Myombe Reserve which was really cool to watch the gorillas and the monkeys.
http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1132/img6373copypz3.jpg

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/1385/img6377copyed3.jpg
Quick! Someone tell that leaf it's got a Gorilla on it's butt!

The obligatory bronze monkey pics:
http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/2338/img6358copyev3.jpg
(I tried to climb on this for a pics and almost burnt my legs! - not advisable!)

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/9521/img6369copysz2.jpg

http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/7113/img6370copyza8.jpg

We also watched the alligators near here for absolutely ages!
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/6365/img6356copyyj2.jpg

Montu only had around a 15min line so we waited and went on. I am so glad we didn’t forego this ride! This was another excellent rollercoaster, we both loved it, and it was a really nice end to the day!

We sat down in the Marrakesh Theatre for a bit and watched the end of another show, as I sat down and drank a blue slushee – my lips were blue til the next day! We made our way slowly towards the exit, getting some souvenirs and drinks for the journey home.
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/6097/img6342copyfp5.jpg
My new fetching bird-spotter look, complete with blue teeth. No, I didn't buy this hat!

We were 10mins early for the bus, but it was there anyway so we went on. We were glad we came so early and not more than a minute than we sat down the Heavens opened and it was pouring down!

People arrived on the bus absolutely soaked! We had a bit of a wait on the way home since a family of 4 had just not turned up. We had to leave without them despite waiting over 30mins. It rained almost all the way home!

I really liked BG, but it was a long day for just a couple of rides. If you are taking the shuttle, then I think you would need 2 days to see everything – one for the rides and one for the animals (especially with the new area that’s opening now). We wanted to do the Serengeti Safari, but we just didn’t think we could fit it in along with everything else we wanted to do, and we were right. I guess you could do it in a day if you drove down and you were there from open to close. I do recommend the shuttle, you just need to pick and choose your attractions.

When we arrived back in Orlando, it was dark, but it wasn’t raining. We made the first drop off and the shuttle continued up Universal Boulevard. We were going to come up right past our hotel, go to US and were going to have to catch a taxi back. Els asked the driver if we could jump out, and he agreed we could jump out on the corner by Wet’n’Wild where there are traffic lights. We tipped him and quickly jumped out – definite plus! Otherwise we’d have been ages getting back!

Both of us were tired and not in the mood to go anywhere to eat. We walked to the KFC near Visitor’s Circle and got a take out from there which we took back to our room to eat. Yup – all the dining options on I Drive and we get KFC!

A very hot, tiring, but good day!

Next Up: Seaworld!

Nicole786

02-27-2008, 12:11 AM

Awesome, awesome, awesome! I can't wait to hear more, i've been reading since last year!

scottny

02-27-2008, 12:24 AM

Great update and pics.

"Cute small coaster, but we were wondering if we’d done the right thing when we saw the only thing that kept you in the car was a lapbelt and there was a loop in the coaster. But of course, we lived to tell the tale!"

Only a lapbelt. I don't think I would do that.

burly

02-28-2008, 08:46 AM

Thanks for the update. We only had one day for BG also so we opted to do the VIP. It was so worth it. Did all the major rides twice and at the front, and the safari, got to touch the animals. And they fed us lunch. We were done by 2 or 3. can't remember. But definately worth the money. Hot Park tho. :cool1:

PISCESANGEL

03-03-2008, 10:23 PM

subscribing! :cheer2:

Pooh's-Honey-Pot

03-06-2008, 08:35 AM

Eagerly waiting an update!!!!!!

PinkPrincessZ

03-12-2008, 02:05 PM

popcorn::

scottny

03-23-2008, 08:55 PM

:surfweb: popcorn::

LoveTwoTravel

03-25-2008, 04:31 PM

Hi Hayley,

Your trip reports and photos are wonderful. They really capture the "magic" of WDW. Thanks for sharing! Please keep them coming for all of your visits!

I tried to PM you to ask if you would please email me the itinerary card(s) template(s) that you used, but was unable to. Maybe b/c I am a new member???

Anyway, will you upload them or help me to figure out how I can send you my email addy (without my posting it here)? :)

Thanks so very much!

cjsteiger

04-11-2008, 01:38 PM

I finally caught up on your TR. I love hearing all about U/IOA as my husband wants to do those on this trip too. What I wouldn't give to be able to have 3 weeks. I guess I could if I went in the summer but I won't do that one again.

I PM'd you so I could get a copy of the itinary cards. WHat an awesome idea? My hubby thinks I'm nuts as our trip is not for 10 months but hey you have to start sometime. ;)

LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:lovestruc The helicopter pics. I really want to do that someday!!

Keep up the good work on your TR.

I can relate about the having to get this TR done before the next trip. I do that with my Scrapbooks. I have to get working on my 2007 book before we go in 2009 and now that I found the DIS boards I'll have to do a PTR and a TR too next year!!:scared1:

Cheryl

Eeyore's Tailfinder

04-23-2008, 03:38 AM

I hope everyone who PM'd me got your itinerary cards! If not, PM me and I'll try to resend again - for some reason the DIS doesn't always email me when I have new PMs so I may have missed it :)

Eeyore's Tailfinder

04-23-2008, 03:51 AM

Sorry this has been a long time coming!! But finally we have reached:

SeaWorld!

Today, we were both quite excited as we were headed to SeaWorld!!

Els had been waiting for this day FOREVER, well since I had told him about his birthday present, as he was finally going to get to do something he had wanted to do for a long time.

Up once again bright and early, we got changed into comfortable clothes since we would be at SeaWorld until late tonight. We caught the I Trolley down and again felt a bit jealous when some people came on asking which stop they got off for WDW – but never mind, we would be onsite in just a few days!

The I Trolley took us almost right to the entrance of SeaWorld, and we felt privileged to go through the special Discovery Cove entrance where there was no queue, and the cutest little old man checking our bags. I was really looking forward to this park for some reason, I thought it would be really cool. The first thing we saw when we got into the park was Shamu!! Well, not the real Shamu, but the cuddly version! There was absolutely no queue since SeaWorld had just opened so I jumped in line myself – the TM looking after him waved me over with a cheery, come on you big kid! And I got a photo with Shamu!
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7923/img6388copyhf7.jpg

We walked over to the information desks inside the park and checked in for Els’ animal experience later in the day. That done, I definitely knew where I wanted to go to first – see the manatees! This was something I was really looking forward to in Florida! I had hoped we could go and swim in Crystal River with the manatees, but short on time and funds we had to give it a miss.

We followed the path around and arrived at the Stingray Pool first – we had a quick look here but I was so fidgety to see the manatees! We bypassed the Dolphin feeding area completely since we didn’t really want to buy the fish, as we were going to swim with them in couple of days anyway! We kept on going and soon I could see the manatee area! This place is really quiet first thing as I bet everyone goes for the Shamu area or to ride Kraken. I loved seeing the manatees – they are so cute and peaceful. I took loads of photos here and filmed them a lot. I was really happy to see the Manatee store and I told Els we’d have to come back here before we left tonight!!
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1313/img6402copyqr3.jpg

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/340/img6411copydp9.jpg

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9572/img6412copygq7.jpg
Manatee with only one flipper

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/4338/img6419copyca4.jpg

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/8610/img6423copywf4.jpg
Me with a manatee - I swear, he came up to me whilst I was sitting there!

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/4080/img6424copycr8.jpg

Grudgingly I left the manatee area and carried on going down the path. We reached the Journey to Atlantis but agreed we wouldn’t go on since we were going to the Makahiki Luau tonight and we didn’t want to go all soaked and frizzy hair!
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/6323/img6429copymr6.jpg
BUT wild dogs couldn’t keep us away from Kraken, so we stuck our bag in a locker and headed for the ride! We were expecting to queue quite a bit for this ride but were very surprised to find almost no line at all and we were straight on. This ride rocks! Awesome, awesome ride! It feels like you’re going straight in the lake, and the twists and turns are just great! One of the top 10 coasters I’ve been on!

We rode a couple of times more since our bag was in the locker anyway, before moving onto the next attraction. We came across the Penguin bit and went to have a look at that since Els really loves penguins! They were all so cute and funny! One thing I was concerned about though was the amount of penguins to the small space – but then again I know nothing about penguins and I am sure SeaWorld take excellent care of them.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5338/img6439copyta2.jpg

hayanyujah847

04-23-2008, 04:10 AM

It's about time for an update!!! :rotfl2: I commend you for keeping on as I quit before I even started my TR! lol!

Sea World looks like a bunch of fun! One of these days, we'll get over there. The pic with Shamu is oh~so~cute!!!

Eeyore's Tailfinder

04-23-2008, 05:07 AM

It's taking me ages :laughing: I will be gone again before I finish this one... I'm not even in Disney World yet! D'oh!

I loved SeaWorld... really chilled out park compared to the rest of them!

scottny

04-23-2008, 08:04 AM

great update and pics.

Nicole786

04-23-2008, 09:34 AM

I'm trying to get over to Sea World!! If i don't go before my trip, i'll try and add a day just to get over there!! I saw a deal online that says if you book with a Howard Johnson for at least 2 nights you get 2 tickets free! Pretty good deal to me, so we'll see how it works out!

Did you see the new Manta coaster Sea World is gonna build??

http://ioacentral.com/other_parks/seaworld_orlando/manta_concept_art/header.jpg

biscuitgirl

04-24-2008, 05:57 AM

I PM'd you about the itinerary cards! They look great! Loving your updates by the way!

OhioDisneyLover

04-25-2008, 05:04 AM

Your trip report has made me add Sea World to our itinerary. We live in Ohio and had Sea World here for years and years. I'd been so many times that I didn't think that I'd want to visit again but reading this has made me want to go back!!!!!

Thanks too for sending the itinerary cards. I finally finished mine the other day. I downloaded the Waltograph font and added that too!

Your templates were awesome!!! Thanks so much for sharing!

askelton

04-25-2008, 07:03 AM

Loved your update. We haven't been to Sea World in a while, but it looks like we need to go back soon! I also love penguins and could sit for hours watching them. They are so cute!

MouseFan Down Under

04-26-2008, 06:02 AM

Hello Hayley

I just caught up on your trip report and it is fabulous! You and Els make such a cute couple!

I will be sure to keep a look out for you both when I am there in September! I will be at Pop from 31 August to 9 September.

And no, you are not the only one who goes into food stores and buys stuff that isn't usually available to you....I can barely get out of the airport when I land in LAX to start the shopping process! Even the chewing gum is different!!! :laughing: And I can't wait to get me some of that Ben & Jerry's ice-cream :love: chunky moneky :love: ...I've been craving it since my last trip!

Looking forward to the next update.

Eeyore's Tailfinder

05-14-2008, 07:15 AM

Gah! I keep forgetting to post up here! I have the second part of SeaWorld, Wet'n'Wild and Discovery Cove all written up now! Never mind, here is SeaWorld Part 2: The One With All The Sharks and Hawaiians - Day 8.2

We waited near the big Polar Bear for a while, to catch some shade whilst we waited for a Team Member to pick Els up for his Shark Dive. If you choose to do this, you can’t miss it, just stand under the sign:
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We had all the documents ready, and had prepared a special bag for Els with dry shorts, a small towel, and a plastic bag to put his wet things in! I had taken my camera and purse out so I could take photos of him.

The Team Member came through the doors and checked our documents, etc. and we found out Els would be sharing with a younger boy, also from the UK. I waved goodbye to him, and was told to meet him back here at a certain time. What would I do in SeaWorld on my own for over an hour?!

My Hour:
I was told they’d be in the water in about 30mins, so I decided to snoop around the Wild Arctic shop for a while. Nope, nothing to interest me here. I moved on over to try and see Shamu in his tank, but he wasn’t there. This wasn’t going so well. Walking as slowly as possible, I made my way over to the Predators area where the sharks were. Good – another shop here. Taking my time to look over everything. I selected a really cool SeaWorld shark frame for Els, so that he could put a photo of him doing his shark dive in it later on. I must have taken longer in that store than I’d thought, as when I decided to go through the shark tunnel to see where Els would be diving, I could see one of them getting into the tank from above! So I raced back around to the check-in desk of the Shark’s Underwater Grill restaurant, and explained that I had someone doing the shark dive. The family who were with the younger boy had just gone in before me.
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I did feel bad here for the people eating in the restaurant as I thought I was blocking their view, but then again, I had paid a bit for his shark dive and I wanted to see him do it! We waited right near the glass and saw both of them getting in the cage. Once it started moving, I began taking photos straight away – I wanted to get as many as possible as I had no idea how much would turn out or how good they would be. I couldn’t use flash because of the glass and I do not have a steady hand, so I just hoped for the best! I also did a little filming with the digital camera.
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The cage moves along the top of the tunnel, stops halfway, goes to the end of the tunnel, then does the same thing on the return journey. I’d say they were in the water for a good 20mins. It was amazing how close the sharks came up to them and how big they were! I got really excited when Els spotted me and waved, as there is a bit of a distance between the restaurant and the cage.
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You can see his face in this one!

I took as many photos as I could before the battery ran out. Once I could see them start to get our of the cage, I started to make my way slowly back to the Wild Arctic. I think I may have gone through the attraction again, and browsed a bit more in the store, just in case they sold a bit more manatee stuff! I took a seat on the edge of a kerb outside the ‘backstage doors’ to wait for Els to come out. It was boiling hot and I must have waited 10mins on that kerb – I was just dying for some suntan lotion! He finally came out with the TM, and she thanked them both and told them where to go to collect their photos afterwards, as well as giving them both a ‘shark pack’. We said goodbye to the other family, and went on our way. I could tell he had loved it just from looking at his face!

Els’ Hour:
(Disclaimer: This is quite brief as I’m trying to get it out of him as he’s trying to play his Xbox360)
They walked to a small chalet type building backstage, where they were sat in a room filled with shark photos. Here, the TM gave them a talk about sharks, and they both got to touch a shark’s jaw and shark’s skin which the TM then explained to them about.

After the talk, they were both taken into a room to get wetsuits, shoes and gloves; and put them on in a changing room, which also had showers, sinks and lockers to put your stuff in. At this point they were both given a partially frozen bottle of water as it was extremely hot out, especially in wetsuits!

They were put in a sort of mini golf cart and taken to the Shark exhibit through the back door. The TM showed them around the backstage bit of the exhibit and took them along a walkway which went over the top of the shark tank. Then it was time for the final piece of kit! They were taken down some steps which eased them into a small pool area, which was gated off from the main shark tank. He said the water was freezing, but not as cold as the Ray Pool in Discovery Cove! At this point they got their photo taken in front of the cage and the helmets (it’s this photo that’s in the frame now). They had to go on their knees and put their head into the helmet, before they were taught how to stand and move with it on. The helmet was really heavy, but they were told that it would not weigh as much in the water.

Then, it was shark dive time so they both got into the diving cage! He really enjoyed the shark dive! The sharks looked even bigger when they were up that close, and he swore that one certain shark kept baring its teeth every time it came near him!
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Once the dive was over, they got out of the cage, were taken back to the original building to shower and change, before being let out back into the real world!

Once we had both been slathered in suntan lotion again, Els could not stop talking about the shark dive. He thought it was just amazing! He showed me the shark book and the t-shirt he’d got, and told me all about it. He was desperate to see the photos I’d taken of his dive, but since the battery on the camera had died, he’d just have to wait until tonight. I gave him the shark frame I’d just bought, and he was pretty chuffed with it!

We both walked back to the Predators area as he wanted to see the shark tunnel he’d gone through, as we walked through, we could see some more people getting into the cage.

Oh! I forgot to mention earlier that we’d had lunch! I don’t have a photo as I was trying to conserve the camera’s battery, but we had lunch in Mango Joe’s. We both had fajitas – I had mixed and Els had steak. I queued for quite a bit, but the food was all fresh as you can see it being cooked. The chicken was really good, but I wouldn’t have the steak again as it was really chewy and just sort of stuck in your throat. I would go there again though, but would order just chicken next time!

It was probably about 3.30ish now, and since there wouldn’t be another Blue Horizons or Seamore and Clyde show today, we decided we’d go back and do Kraken again! I think we must have done this another 3 times, and this time queuing to sit in the front row, which was absolutely awesome!

We walked back to the Manatee area for another look around here, and so I could buy some stuff in the store. I bought a magnetic notepad, a keyring (which is now broken), a ‘teddy’ magnet, and a manatee mug and cuddly toy – all manatee stuff of course. I would have bought the biggest manatee if my suitcase allowed it!

With all my manatee booty in tow, we walked back around the park to do the bits we had missed again, or skimmed over. We stayed at the ray pool for a bit, and went to collect Els’ shark photos from the desk near the entrance. They take a photo of you in your wetsuit just in front of the cage – you do have to pay for this however.

We both desperately needed a drink, so I bought us a big Shamu sipper cup full of Sprite. We should have bought it earlier in the day really, but I knew we’d be back later in the week, and it was worth it IMO just to get the cup! We sat down quite near to the Seafire Inn where the Luau was going to take place. Once we saw a family go in, we went up ourselves and queued to get our ticket. We showed our confirmation to the guy at check-in and he gave us a little paper slip which showed where we were sitting. We moved on to get our drink, I chose the cocktail while Els got a bud light, and we sat down for them to call us in. When there were quite a few people in, some of the dancers came out in their costumes and gave out Leis which was quite cool.
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Soon we were led to sit, and the servers sit you by the number/letter on your ticket. Since we had booked pretty far in advance, we were sat in the centre table at the front. We had a family of 4 on one side, and a lovely couple from Florida on the other who were celebrating their wedding anniversary. This couple was just so nice and we chatted to them throughout the show, Els was having a few beers with the guy and we were having so much fun! It’s so cool when you get someone like that at your table! The family of 4 were nice too, but just a bit strange. During the bit were they teach the younger kids to hula on stage the mother got up and did it, but the family just sat there in silence whilst she did it. It was hilarious to see her there with 5 and 6 year olds!

The food was delicious! Much better than I’d imagined! I’m afraid I have no photos, but we had island salad, Mahi Mahi in pina colada sauce (which was superb and I’m not a ‘fish person’), Hawaiian Chicken, Polynesian Style Spare Ribs, Polynesian Fried Rice and Stir Fried Vegetable Medley. We finished with the Big Kahuna, which I can’t quite remember what it was, but I think it was very nice!

The show was really good – lots of singing, dancing, narrating, and things like fire throwing. We both really enjoyed it, it was a fantastic night and we would go again.
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When we left it was quite late, so we said goodbye to the couple from Florida and started making our way to catch the I Trolley, both in a ridiculously good mood. A few people who came to the stop after us said that the Shamu Rocks show had been cancelled tonight as the whales were just not cooperating, so I was really glad I hadn’t chosen tonight to see the show!

After we got back to the Sheraton, we uploaded our photos from the day onto the laptop, and Els got straight on SeaWorld’s website to see if there were any spaces for the Shark Dive left whilst we were still on I Drive as he wanted to do it again! But sadly, there weren’t!

An awesome day – I had really enjoyed myself at SeaWorld!

Next Up: Wet'n'Wild

KristinAnne

05-16-2008, 07:30 PM

I've been lurking through most of your report, but I'll come out of hiding now! It looks like you're having such a good time. Your reports are great! I've been following along on your dining report too!

RachelNinja

05-17-2008, 12:13 PM

Absolutely love your TR! Especially the photos! Well, maybe minus the sharks part ... haha, absolutely terrifies me! But I love the aerial views of Orlando. Those are great and photos that I would think the majority of us never get to see. Very unique! Can't wait for the next installment.

Eeyore's Tailfinder

06-11-2008, 03:50 AM

Wet’n’Wild!

We were originally meant to go to Wet’n’Wild in our first week, but as you may recall from our live trippie, Els burnt his scalp a little bit and we didn’t want to risk that worsening, so we just swapped it with our shopping day instead.

From passing Wet’n’Wild every day – it was more or less right opposite our hotel – we could see that it was relatively quiet-ish first thing, got very busy during the day, and it was quiet again in the evenings. So we decided we would try and go first thing when it opened in order to beat the queues.

We got there, and it was really quiet. We got in no problem with our Universal Tickets (which also included WW) and headed off to find a locker. If I remember correctly, when you pay for a locker they assign you a locker number. If I had chosen my own, I definitely would have chosen closer to where we were sitting! Our locker wasn’t facing the pool, and was sort of near the entrance, so we chose the closest seats we could find and dumped our towels, sunscreen, etc. down there.

Okay, slides before they started to get busy. We headed straight for Disco H2O round the back of the park where there was already a queue forming. We queued for quite a while on this one, despite the park having just opened, for at least a good 20 minutes. That is the one thing I hate about water parks – standing there for ages in the boiling sun, on metal stairs/walkways, in a bikini with your wobbly bits on show to everyone. However, we LOVED Disco H2O! It was sooo much fun with all the lights and music. I would have loved to go on again but by this time the queue was huge so we gave it a miss. This is definitely one of the most popular rides in the park so get to it early! Instead we ran up the steps next to it and went on The Surge which was good, but not as good as H2O!

Having had enough of the queuing already and wanting some swimming, we went to the locker and grabbed our new underwater camera, and headed for the Lazy River. We went around about twice, having fun splashing about and taking some photos of each other with the new camera.
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We also headed into the Surf Pool for some obligatory photos in front of the Wet’n’Wild sign.

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Deciding we should do at least some slides, we tried to find one without much of a queue. I fancied Bubba Tub but that had a huge queue for a 2 minute ride.

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Bubba Tub

Els really wanted to go on Bomb Bay and Der Stuka so off we went towards the huge slides. It seemed like there was a massive queue for them, but the queue from Brain Wash is on the same stairwell.

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Brainwash, Bomb Bay and Der Stuka

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Bomb Bay and Der Stuka

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Brainwash, Bomb Bay and Der Stuka

When we got to the top there was absolutely no queue to go on either of them. I turned to Els and told him they had to be really scary if there was no queue to go on! I chose Der Stuka and Els went off towards Bomb Bay. I was really nervous and almost chickened out altogether. It’s that bit at the top where you have to push yourself off the slide – eek!

Well I made it down in one piece and waited for Els who was a couple of seconds behind me. He had the biggest look of shock on his face. Well, from below, Bomb Bay and Der Stuka look like exactly the same slide and we thought they were both the push-yourself-off type slide, but boy were we wrong!! Els was really confused when the slide attendant at the top told him to get into the tube, before he’d got a chance to think about it, the floor had pulled away and he was hurtling down the slide. The look on his face was hilarious!

I maintained that Der Stuka was the scariest since you had to drum up the courage to push yourself off. Of course Els disagreed and made us go up again, this time me on Bomb Bay and him on Der Stuka. True, Bomb Bay was scary, but you were down that slide before you know it – I still think Der Stuka is the scariest!!

We decided now was the time to get lunch, so off we went to the Surf Grill. I could have sworn I had a photo of this, but apparently I don’t. I think we had 2 cheeseburgers and fries and 2 Sprites. It was good, just normal fare you would expect to find in a waterpark.

Against common sense, we decide to go for another dip in the main pool. It was really starting to get busy now, and the queues for the slides were huge. We’re not really waterpark people anyway, I love slides where you get to go down together in a rubber tube, but I’m just as happy in the lazy river… this from a thrill ride junkie!!

We decided to just dry off and leave Wet’n’Wild around 2pm. The queue for the lockers was now huge. I would definitely recommend going early in the morning before the crowds get there. On the way back to the Sheraton, we popped into the Walgreens in Visitor’s Circle to grab a few things. We bought another bottle of the Coppertone Sports suntan lotion spray as we had used a lot of the one we’d bought in Walmart, as well as a few supplies like cotton buds and the like. I bought a huge blue slurpee which I happily drank on the way back to the hotel.

I have a bit of a blank in my memory here, as I’m not sure whether we went to the Sheraton pool or just chilled out for the rest of the day!

Dinner tonight was Denny’s (again!) We were going to go to Red Lobster over the road, but when we got there the waiting time was around 30-40mins. We were really hungry, so we just hopped back over the road to good ol’ Denny’s. Will be in my dining report

We were really excited for tomorrow, so decided we would get a good night’s sleep. We were finally going to Discovery Cove!!

Next up: Discovery Cove!

punkin413

06-11-2008, 07:11 AM

yay.......and update!!! we went to wet-n-wild when i was 15 and when i was on der stuka i lost my bikini top. SO EMBARASSING for a 15-year-old! it kinda ruined my day! glad you guys had fun.......i wanna be in the lazy river right now!

Eeyore's Tailfinder

06-11-2008, 07:27 AM

:laughing: I was terrified that was going to happen to me!

Der Stuka was really scary... I'm not sure if I'll make it on Summit Plummet!

KristinAnne

06-11-2008, 02:57 PM

Pooh's-Honey-Pot

06-11-2008, 03:11 PM

Great update!!!

Years ago when we decided to go to Wet N Wild I decided to do a bit of research on it while I was at work :rolleyes1 , so put the words "wet and wild" into the internet . . . well you can imagine what popped up on my screen!! I panicked and started deleting everything as fast as I could and managed to delete my entire inbox and all my morning work!!!!!:rotfl2:

alan_renfroe

06-11-2008, 03:57 PM

Awesome pics from Wet 'n Wild. We've never been, but we want to go.

Tink2312

06-12-2008, 09:04 AM

Great update! :)
I've stayed opposite Wet N Wild before, but never actually been in - might have to think about heading there next trip. Mind you, those slides look a bit scary to me - I'm definitely a less is more type of girl when it comes to heights (or at least free-falling from them) :scared1:

tiggerplus5

06-14-2008, 05:32 AM

whooohoooo! You're back. We have tickets to wet and wild and seaworld for our upcoming trip in 2 weeks! I've been patiently waiting for your adventures.

ah-hemmm. You need to get working on your updates if you are going to complete this trip report before I leave. :rotfl2:

I love your british slang *wobbly bits* I have those ::yes::

reelmom

06-14-2008, 09:17 AM

I just found your Trip Report and I am hooked. I can't wait to hear about your Disney experience.

disneychick0412

06-14-2008, 09:43 AM

Signing on to hear the rest of your trip adventure!!! I have very much enjoyed what I have read so far!!! :goodvibes

erin1998

06-17-2008, 09:08 AM

Just signing on to read the rest of your trip report...:goodvibes It is absolutely wonderful...:thumbsup2 Looking forward to hearing your disney experiences!
Erin

ariel2007

06-24-2008, 06:52 PM

OMG Hayley I can't believe your back again.

I read your pre-trippie avidly (I must say on a different forum though) and then checked in everyday when you were in Orlando and then again everyday when you got back waiting for your reports. I was loving them and then one day they just stopped coming... I waited and waited and waited.... and nothing. I actually got really worried about you and thought something may have happened as you were posting all the time and then suddenly just disappeared.

Well its great to have you back... and cant believe you will be going on your next trip soon. I got back from mine last month and your trippie definitely gave me inspirations. Cant wait to get caught up :thumbsup2

Eeyore's Tailfinder

06-25-2008, 03:34 AM

Sounds so fun! Your report is great! We were going to go to a waterpark when we go next week (Blizzard Beach), but decided not to spend the extra money on the ticket. Looking at your pictures certainly makes me want to be in that water though, especially the wave pool!

Oooh! I hope you had fun at WDW!! Ask a silly question :hyper:

Great update!!!

Years ago when we decided to go to Wet N Wild I decided to do a bit of research on it while I was at work :rolleyes1 , so put the words "wet and wild" into the internet . . . well you can imagine what popped up on my screen!! I panicked and started deleting everything as fast as I could and managed to delete my entire inbox and all my morning work!!!!!:rotfl2:

:rotfl2: Now that's a funny story!! I got the same thing when I typed in 'Ariel' in the images search the other day on my laptop. DBF saw it before I could close the page and just looked at me funny :rotfl:

Awesome pics from Wet 'n Wild. We've never been, but we want to go.

It was really nice just to take a day and chill in the pools for the morning. The queues for the slides can get HUGE though. Get there early in the day, or in the afternoon and stay late.

Great update! :)
I've stayed opposite Wet N Wild before, but never actually been in - might have to think about heading there next trip. Mind you, those slides look a bit scary to me - I'm definitely a less is more type of girl when it comes to heights (or at least free-falling from them) :scared1:

Where we stayed was right opposite Wet'n'Wild - the Sheraton Studio City :) I know what you mean about the slides, they are scary! Put me on the highest rollercoaster in the World, but a free-falling slide... GAH!! I'm not sure if I'll ever make it to SP in BB!

whooohoooo! You're back. We have tickets to wet and wild and seaworld for our upcoming trip in 2 weeks! I've been patiently waiting for your adventures.

ah-hemmm. You need to get working on your updates if you are going to complete this trip report before I leave. :rotfl2:

I love your british slang *wobbly bits* I have those ::yes::

I'm back! Have you gone yet? I've got some more SeaWorld coming up!

I just found your Trip Report and I am hooked. I can't wait to hear about your Disney experience.

It's coming right up in a few TRs time!! ::yes::

Signing on to hear the rest of your trip adventure!!! I have very much enjoyed what I have read so far!!! :goodvibes

Thank you! Coming up!!

Just signing on to read the rest of your trip report...:goodvibes It is absolutely wonderful...:thumbsup2 Looking forward to hearing your disney experiences!
Erin

Thank you :goodvibes Disney is coming riiiight up :teeth:

OMG Hayley I can't believe your back again.

I read your pre-trippie avidly (I must say on a different forum though) and then checked in everyday when you were in Orlando and then again everyday when you got back waiting for your reports. I was loving them and then one day they just stopped coming... I waited and waited and waited.... and nothing. I actually got really worried about you and thought something may have happened as you were posting all the time and then suddenly just disappeared.

Well its great to have you back... and cant believe you will be going on your next trip soon. I got back from mine last month and your trippie definitely gave me inspirations. Cant wait to get caught up :thumbsup2

I'm back again! I post all the time on the UOG and DIS, but am never on the DIBB anymore - couldn't keep up with 3 websites :rotfl:

It's taken me aaaages to get this far, but I'm determined to finish before I go off again in August!

Stay tuned. More shortly!!

Eeyore's Tailfinder

06-25-2008, 03:56 AM

Discovery Cove! - Part I

Today was one of the days we’d really been looking forward to. We were going to get to swim with dolphins!

We’d heard that the earlier you got there, the earlier dolphin time you got, thus allowing you to enjoy the rest of the day without worrying about the time. With this in mind, we got up really early and having packed our bag the night before with towels, swim shoes, and enough money to buy the photo pack we were soon ready to go. We called Yellow Cabs again and hoped we would get a better taxi driver than in Walmartgate.

Before getting in, we made sure that the driver knew where Discovery Cove was and off we went. Instead of going down I Drive, he took us down the other way (Kirkman Rd?) which we appreciated since I Drive is a bit stop start stop start. He had the radio on and we heard there was a huge teacher convention going on in the convention center, so luckily he took us another route to avoid the traffic that the convention was causing. We got to the door of DC around 15mins after check-in opened and we tipped the driver well.

The check-in place is really nice, and feels really tropical. We were sent to this young guy to sort our check-in stuff out and I gave him our confirmation voucher, etc. and showed him our ID to prove that we were over 21 and could drink. Finally we got our photos taken to go on our lanyards and he explained what everything on the lanyard meant. I thought having the DC map on there was really handy and a great idea. It shows your photo and has a [21] if you’re over 21 to show that you can drink. It also states what time your dolphin swim is and what cabana you’ll be in for your swim. They then direct you to where you’ll get your locker, snorkel, and vest/wetsuit. Everything ran really smoothly and everyone was helpful.

We set off for DC feeling really excited in anticipation for the day ahead. A little way down the path we had our photo taken as a ‘welcome photo’ and there were plenty of staff along the way to show us where everything was. I think we were put into a little group of people and they showed us where everything was. We went to find our locker area and put everything there, as well as putting our special suntan lotion on. We then moved onto get our snorkels (which you get to keep) and masks, and our wetvests. We were ready to go explore! We found a couple of loungers near the pool and tropical river to dump our towels and lotion, and then we went off in search of breakfast.

I got cereal, a cream cheese danish, a muffin, a raspberry yogurt, some sort of fruit juice and a Sprite in case I didn't like the juice! Els got cereal, jam danish, muffin, yogurt and coke. I seem to remember quite a few choices there.
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After breakfast, we decided to go straight in the tropical river and leave the coral reef for later after we’d done the dolphin swim. The tropical river was really warm and since it was still really early there was hardy anyone in it. This meant the waters were really clear and we had a great time exploring and playing about with the camera.
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Lovely clear waters

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Trying to snorkel...

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Argh! Close up!

Our dolphin swim was at 11.35am at the Sea Horse Cabana, so about 11.30am we decided to make our way over. Well, I think we missed the bit about having to be there Xmins before the swim since they were already halfway through the presentation! I was mortified, but luckily they let us sit down – I was really worried they’d just say sorry, you’ve missed it!

We were taken down to the dolphin lagoon and I was so excited to see all the dolphins! We were able to leave the net bag that DC had given us with our snorkels on our beach with our stuff in. The water was sooo cold! We were introduced to our really friendly trainer and our dolphin Rascal and were told to sort of squat down to his height. From then we ‘made’ Rascal do tricks like sing and wave, and kiss him etc… until he suddenly decided he liked another group better and swam off!
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Kissing Rascal - I have another photo that looks like I'm about to bite him!

Our trainer whistled another dolphin called Capricorn over who was much bigger and older than Rascal – 2 dolphins for the price of one! Family by family we all swum out to the deep end of the lagoon ready for our dorsal fin pull back to the shore. This was so much fun, the best part! Capricorn was really strong and went quite fast. It was difficult holding on to the dolphin, being pulled and trying to keep a normal face for the camera as I wanted to buy the photos!!
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My 'smile-for-the-camera-whilst-getting-pulled-by-a-dolphin' face - pull by Capricorn

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I hate this photo of me, but it's the best one with both of us and Capricorn

Our trainer also used Capricorn to show us parts of the dolphins body, and how he ‘speaks’ and so on – Capricorn turned on his back to show us his underside, and the trainer said that we could touch his belly but not below his ‘bellybutton’ as this was his private parts…… just as I was stroking below his bellybutton. I am forever getting teased by DBF for ‘feeling up a dolphin’

We loved the dolphin experience, it was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about them at the same time. The time flew by and I was gutted that we had to get out of the water and that another group got to have fun with Capricorn. But, we had the rest of Discovery Cove to enjoy! The trainer took us to an area where we could view all our photos which was really cool.

We passed a food stand on the way back to our loungers where I grabbed a pretzel and a coke to share despite it being almost lunch time. Well, it’s free! I’d never tried a big pretzel before and wanted to try one – and it was good and hot! We had a quick splash in the resort pool before we decided to go for lunch. There wasn’t much of a queue and everything looked really nice. (I was positive I had a photo of this, so I'll have another look)

After lunch, it was time to try the coral reef! I was really looking forward to snorkelling with the fishes and putting our camera to proper use. The water was so, so cold. Colder than the dolphin lagoon and Els even said he thought it was colder than the shark tank at SeaWorld! You do get used to it though. Be careful when walking about, as there’s a shallow bit where the water is sort of thigh high, and then it just drops off into quite a deep coral reef. I was just trying to get used to breathing and swimming in the cold water when a giant ray came straight for me and totally freaked me out. I loved snorkelling with the fish, but truth be told, the rays just scared me a bit because some of them were just so huge. I know DC isn’t big enough but maybe they could do a reef with just fish and a reef with fish and rays! The huge ones were most often on the bottom but sometimes one came past you and it just caused panic. The funny bit was you could hear people screaming through their snorkels and be like, yup, there’s a ray over there. We made our way around, and I took my mind off thinking about the rays by taking photos and making a few video clips of the reef.

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Fishies!

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HUGE stingray

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Another huge stingray

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Attack of the stingrays!

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Els halfway around the reef

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Look at those gnashers!

Eeyore's Tailfinder

06-25-2008, 03:57 AM

Discovery Cove! - Part II

We got out and tried the ray pool next which is also very cold. I felt much better here and I think because I was able to stand up in the water and it only came to thigh/waist height. I was worried for some reason in the other pool that a huge ray would slither over the top of me… argh!! I enjoyed being here though and there’s also a photographer in here to capture you with the rays. If you stand still and hold your hands out then the rays will come and rub against you.

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Stroking a ray

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Me trying to touch one

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Taken by DC
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Taken by DC

We wanted to warm up a bit so back we went to the tropical river for a swimabout. It was so nice and warm after being in the reef! It was much busier than this morning though, and so cloudier.
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Els being funny - but you can tell the difference with this morning's water

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Els looking tiny next to the Queen stingray!!

We got out at the Aviary and had a look around. I really wanted to feed with birds with the nectar that I’d heard about, and get photos with them but I couldn’t find any staff member or photographer in there. I was really disappointed as I think this was the only let down in our day, so we just got out of there.

Not spending anytime sunbathing or on loungers, we went straight back to the ray pool and luckily just caught feeding time! This was so cool and I really recommend you ask the attendant in the ray pool for the ray feeding times. They hand out fish to everybody in a circle and the rays just come into the circle knowing its feeding time. They sort of hover over it and suck it up from your hand – I wish we’d got photos of this!

By the time we’d gotten out of here it was around 4.30pm and we’d really done everything we wanted to. We didn’t want to mooch around until the place closed and get bored there, so we decided we’d change and head back to the hotel. The bathrooms for changing and showering were really nice, lots of fluffy towels and plenty of shower gel/shampoo, as well as lots of discovery cove bags to keep your wet gear in (we still have one!). I hate changing in a cramped place and I like my space and privacy so this had a huge thumbs up from me! We gave our vests and our masks back and decided to stop off at the snack bar again for a Budweiser for Els and a coke for me, and sat drinking them near the resort pool.

I went to the gift shop on the way out, and now I really regret now getting anything like a t-shirt or towel. But at the time the shock of the photos’ price was going to be big, so I refrained! We went over to the tills to pick up our photos and to choose which ones we wanted. I was just going to buy the DVD and one photo each of me and DBF with the dolphin but DBF wanted to buy all the photos (this always happens!) so we ended up buying probably the most expensive package and just as well I had enough money with me! The package we got included the DVD of the swim, a photo CD with all our photos on it around DC, 2 photo keyrings (colour and photo of our choice), 5 large photos in DC folders (of our choice), 1 small photo in a folder and a couple of wallet sized (all same as keyring), and the photo we took when we came in in a folder. This cost us just shy of $200. Of course now we’re home, I think it was worth it!

We exited and the DC shuttle to SeaWorld was outside, so instead of getting a taxi back to the hotel we took the shuttle over and then the I Trolley back.

Overall we loved Discovery Cove, and it’s definitely something you need to do if you haven’t experienced. It’s a completely unique experience and it was great swimming and feeling relaxed all day with all the food and drink being free. That said, it is very expensive for one day and while it’s something we would do on a future holiday, we don’t feel the need to do it for a while.

We were really impressed with the underwater digital camera we bought! It took really clear photos and the battery life lasted pretty good! We were even more impressed with the mini video clips with sound it took. I’ve compressed these to really small files so that they aren’t huge on the forum, so the quality is bad.

HERE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxYdjic2aqg)is a short video I made of DC - sorry the quality is bad, but I had to compress the video by lots to make it quick to upload. Steven Spielberg has no need to worry - and look out for the tongue in cheek soundtrack!!

Back at the hotel, we changed and showered again since we wanted to head down to Chili’s tonight. We got there and it was totally packed, so we decided to give it a miss and try the other place we wanted to try – Buffalo Wild Wings.
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(Quick Report: Food was REALLY good and DBF can't wait to go back there! We're planning on going 1 day shopping to the outlets on I Drive and DBF wants to make a stop here for wings... Mmmm!)

I would have loved to sit there and have a couple of drinks, but we were both knackered after the long day of swimming and so we decided to head back and have an early night. Just as we were coming out, we happened to bump into a lady I chat to on another WDW forum and we decided to walk back up a while with her and her kids and chat. We ended up walking all the way back to the hotel – ahh well, saved us $2!

Tomorrow: Some more shopping and SeaWorld again!

Eeyore's Tailfinder

06-25-2008, 04:27 AM

The One with More Shopping & More SeaWorld!

We were just planning on chilling out today since tomorrow was going to be a long day. However, since the Disney Outlet wasn’t open yet at Prime Outlets, we decided to go off to Premium Outlets at the other end of I Drive. We caught the I Trolley just outside the hotel and it took a while to make it’s way down the other end of I Drive. There’s a lot of building going on down that end – looks like some very nice hotels are being built there.

We arrived and Els needed some fuel, so off we went to Starbucks where he got his cappuccino. The server asked for his name, which he replied ‘Elfyn’ (Welsh – it’s pronounced Elv-in). He was not a morning person this morning and when he got his coffee and took it outside, I realised it said ‘Kevin’ on the side. Looking at him with his grumpy little face drinking out of his Kevin cup cracked me up completely… it still makes me smile thinking about it. I’m pleased to say he felt better after the cup ‘o joe! I’m not sure if I told this story, but the Kevin incident was even funnier because when we went to the Luau in SeaWorld and met this really nice couple, we forgot all about introductions until right at the end when Els went ‘by the way, I’m Els’, and the guy goes ‘Hi Alex!’ He didn’t even correct him!

Procrastination aside, after coffee we hit the Disney Outlet right opposite – I was ready for some serious shopping! There’s a lot of cool things here, great for gifts for people! I saw a kids Incredibles outfit for like $10 that would have totally fit Els but it wouldn’t have fit in the cases on the way home with everything else – he didn’t take my suggestion that he could’ve worn it to the airport. We got quite a bit here – I got some cups with holograms on for my cousins… Finding Nemo for the 2 youngest and a Villains for the eldest, down from $8 to $1! I should’ve got a Villains one for myself, they were really cool! I also got them colouring books for $1 each. I got quite a bit of stuff actually – a couple of pins, an awesome Donald Duck plush in 2007 graduation gear for $4, a pink t-shirt saying ‘where I can be Queen’, Els got a Spring Break 2007 shirt, amongst other things. There were loads of stuff I wanted to buy that we couldn’t have brought home, including a Mickey head colander that weighed a ton! It’s definitely worth paying a visit and we’re going to head up again this year, but buy more!

I was looking for Crocs everywhere but couldn’t really find any. I did get a lovely pair of pink and white Adidas trainers though. Els couldn’t find any trainers for himself as a lot of the trainers for guys were high tops.

We had lunch in the food court there and just chose the counter with the shortest line, which happened to be the pizza place. Surprisingly for food court food, it was very nice and fresh. After lunch we just decided to leave early since we needed to head back up to the hotel with our purchases before heading back down to SeaWorld later on for Shamu Rocks and another of Els’ surprises. We just changed back at the hotel and yet again made our way back down International Drive. I was really looking forward to going to SeaWorld again. Despite having our Discovery Cove passes this time, the DC entrance was closed and we had to queue with the masses, well, there was only a few people going in the same time as us. Since we had a bit of time to spare, we decided to have a few rides on Kraken first. There was nearly no queue and we were able to go round a couple of times.

I decided to tell Els what the big surprise was – that I had booked the Shamu Rocks Dinner Buffet for us, which meant that we were allowed to eat backstage and that we were given VIP passes to sit in the VIP section at Shamu Rocks. We arrived at the venue around 20mins beforehand and already there was a crowd forming. I like the fact that SeaWorld give priority to people who have booked first – if I book in December for something in August, I expect to have a good seat KWIM? We were let in and we did have a water seat, in fact, we were amongst the first to be let in, so we hit the buffet.

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The buffet was really nice and everything was hot and fresh – as I’ve said before, we’re not really buffet people but this was really good. Lots of choices, both dinner and dessert.

Since this TR is quite lacking in photos, I'll post up photos of the Dinner Buffet here for your viewing pleasure

Els' First Plate: Soup, hot dog, corn, mash
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(Oh, by the way - The Bud Light was free!)

My plate - now I always seem to do this at a buffet. I hate it when food mash up together, but I always pile it on anyway just in case it's gone when I want to try it later. Of course, it mashes up and I leave most of it Soup, pasta & meatballs, mash, turkey or pork, more pasta, mac n cheese, some beef cabernet thing, some chicken in sauce & caesar salad.
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And yes, I did leave half of it as everything had touched each other!

Desserts. Els' plate (left): Jelly, jelly worms, chocolate chip cookie, cake & big strawberry. My plate: chocolate cake, strawberries, chocolate pastries & jelly.
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DIS GOLDEN RULE - One plate, one dessert.

I was really looking forward to seeing Shamu backstage, despite this not being a dinner with Shamu I had read trip reports of Shamu being at the pool nevertheless. Shamu was in a small holding with the gate to the pool open, but he just didn’t seem to want to come out! He came out once for about a minute before going back into his holding. Despite the lack of Shamu, I would do this dinner again because the buffet was really good and I’d also love to do the Dine with Shamu next time.
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All we saw of Shamu!

After dinner, we were lead by a team member towards the stadium, where we were shown to the VIP section. I thought they were quite good seats and I loved not having to queue to get in or scour the stadium for any empty seats!

As for Shamu Rocks, I loved this show! I thought it was amazing and better than Believe! I just loved all the different kinds of music and the whales dancing, it was really cool!
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After the show to escape the crowd coming from the stadium, we went over to Kraken again and took a ride in the dark! Recommended – even better than in daylight! Finally we walked over to the manatees area where it was really quiet and the manatees seemed to be sleeping. I bought a few more bits at the manatee shop and we walked slowly to the exit to catch the last I Trolley up. To our relief, it wasn’t that crowded and we got off at the stop opposite the Sheraton. The 7/11 was still open, so we thought we’d go in for a drink to share. We still hadn’t had one of the huge drinks that we’d seen, so we decided to get one to share! It was bigger than our heads!
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(Els actually brought this cup home in one piece and we still use it even now )

We started to pack up our stuff and I made a day bag to ready for the morning. Tomorrow was the big day! We were quite sad to leave International Drive and our lovely little hotel, but at the same time I was bursting at the seams to get to Disney and the All Star Movies!
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Some of our goodies!!

We loved staying on International Drive and thought the location of the hotel was perfect. It was a lovely hotel and one of the nicest rooms I’ve ever stayed in. We’d definitely stay here again and hope to do so the next time we stay on I Drive.

Tomorrow: The Big Day – We move to Disney!!

Eeyore's Tailfinder

06-25-2008, 04:55 AM

The One Where We Went "Home" - aka we move to Disney!

Note from the Author: Grab a cuppa, pull up a chair, heck tell your family you'll be going into hibernation - this is going to be a long one!!

Both of us were up bright and early today, and I could hardly contain my excitement! We were going to Disney – DISNEY! Me – in Disney!!

We finished packing up our toiletries which we’d left out for a morning wash, and grabbed the last bits and pieces before giving the room a once over to check if we’d missed anything. I’d booked the ‘taxi’ to come really early this morning as I wanted to get to Disney ASAP. We were both really sad to leave the Sheraton as it had become our little home for the past 10 days and we had really enjoyed our stay there. We promised ourselves that we’d be back and set off towards reception to check out, taking one last look at the room and our awesome IOA view.

Check-out was very quick downstairs and the staff were very friendly. I had booked our journey to Disney with Quick Silver so we decided to wait outside the lobby for them. Els thought we were taking a towncar, so he was looking out for one of them. I immediately spotted our real transportation – a limousine!! I shouted to Els, I’ve seen our car, and off I went towards the limo. I turned back and he was still standing in the same spot looking very confused. He had seen the limo, but thought I was stealing someone else’s ride, or just being silly! Once he realised that it was actually our car, he was really surprised! This was one of my surprises to him on the holiday if you remember last year. The driver was really friendly and put our many bags in the boot of the car. We jumped in, and we were off towards the World!!

The inside of the limo was really nice and very luxurious! It was lovely to get that little bit of luxury in!

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Els chilling in the limo!

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Me in the limo

We passed all the places we knew on I Drive, and passed the last Walmart we’d been to earlier in the week. I was hanging out of the window filming, which didn’t please Els since I’m a bit accident prone. He was convinced I’d drop the camera out and told me all I’d hear when we played it back was wind. Of course he was right!

Soon, we started to see signposts for Walt Disney World and it was all so exciting! We passed Downtown Disney, and I could clearly see Planet Hollywood over the hedges making me even more excited. We passed a welcome to Disney World sign, and we were here, right here in the World! We saw signs for the All Star Resorts and soon we passed All Star Sports, and I was delighted to have the large Coke cups to film! We passed All Star Music, but nothing to film here, and finally, we pulled into the All Star Movies Resort – Eeeeeeeeeek! We were here!!! 21 years of dreaming, 3 years of waiting, and 18 months of planning – I was finally here.

We got out of the limo and the lovely driver helped us with our baggage, we paid him and bade him farewell. I was so happy to be there I completely forgot to take a photo of us outside the limo. Ah well. The baggage guys at ASMo came straight over to help us and took our cases to take up to the room later, they gave a ticket thing, but I wasn’t sure whether to tip them? It happened really quickly and I was worried about the limo pic, etc. so I ended up not tipping them – sorry guys.

We were checked in by a nice enough lady and were given our WDW Welcome Pack and she printed off our Keys to the World. Mine was printed off fine, but we noticed that Els’ name was printed as Rhy…. What?! Now with the Alex and Kevin thing this was too much for me! No idea why this was, Rhy is part of his middle name, but not even his whole middle name? His name was on the booking so no idea why she misprinted? Anyway, he pointed it out and she printed us another one. I was really happy to note that both keys had the DDP on. Plus, our room was ready! I never expected to be since it was just like 10-10.30am now. I was hoping for a room anywhere except for Mighty Ducks – I just wasn’t feeling the Mighty Ducks and I’d never seen the movie. What did we get? Yup, Mighty Ducks. Never mind! It worked out for the best in the end although it was a bit of a walk from the main building. We were just walking away when she called us back and said she had something for us. The gift basket! Another of Els’ surprises! He was really shocked and asked who it was from… I suppose he thought it was from Mickey!

Off we went to find our room, and as we began to pass the Fantasia pool and saw the Dalmatians in the background I began to get even more excited! I wanted to run to our room, dump what little stuff we didn’t there and get straight back out to explore Disney! Despite not wanting to stay at Mighty Ducks, I thought the Mask entrance was really cool, and I thought that our room was in quite a good area of the building. The walkway outside our room overlooked the Mighty Ducks pool.

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The Mask Entrance

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Our room!

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View from the walkway

Into our room we went and on the bed was a towel decoration shaped like Mickey’s head! Our first (and only!) towel decoration!
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I thought the room was really cute, and we liked the popcorn lamps and star lights. Els sat down immediately to open his present as I snapped away at the room.
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Opening his present

The Room:
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These gift baskets are awesome – I got this at Memories by Betsy and she does a wonderful job. In it was the Walt Disney Throw, 2 x Refillable Mugs, 2 x First Time pins, a Year of a Million Dream Donald Duck Plush, a 2007 pin, a name tag with ELFYN on, a YOAMD Frame and a Stitch aerial topper. I would definitely use her again, she was really friendly and helpful on her e-mails!
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The photo of the basket she e-mailed me after she was done

Out of the bag came our lanyards and Pal Mickey as I asked Els if he was ready to go again. Sure was! We passed through the Dalmatian bit on the way, stopping to take a couple of obligatory ASMo photos! One of my regrets actually is we didn’t take the time out to explore the resort properly – I only have photos of the Dalmatian and Ducks bit.

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We stopped at the Food Court to use our refillable mugs for the first time! I got myself some pink lemonade which I love because, well it’s pink! The only bother with staying so far away from the main building was that we didn’t want to pop back to take the mugs back, so with us they had to come. I had a bag big enough anyway, so it didn’t matter too much. We headed straight for the bus stops to catch the MK bus – I was nearly bursting at this point since we were so close to the Magic Kingdom, getting to see the Castle and the rest of it. I can remember my Uncle’s family, and my mum’s best friend going when I was younger and bringing me back lots of presents and stories of the wonderful parks in Florida. I couldn’t wait to experience it all for myself. Els was excited to go too, despite having been 3 times when he was younger he couldn’t remember a lot of it.

I enjoyed looking out of the window as we went, and we caught a glimpse of MGM on the way. I knew we were close when I spotted the Contemporary and the Polynesian from the road! We soon pulled up at the MK bus stops and we practically ran towards the gates! After a quick bag check and scanning our KTTW, we were in!! This is a recurring theme in this TR, but I was beside myself with excitement! I was in the Magic Kingdom. Els got out the camera, and I got out the camcorder. The first thing I saw walking through the gates were Chip and Dale taking photos on the Square, however there was a pretty long queue and I knew we’d have plenty of time to see them again, so we left it. Still having not seen the Castle, I video’d us walking around the Square and then stepping out into Main Street, and there it was – the Castle. It was so nice to have that first glimpse of the Castle, and of course, Els snapped my first moment in Main Street!
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My first glimpse of the Castle

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Continued in next post...

Eeyore's Tailfinder

06-25-2008, 04:55 AM

The One Where We Went "Home" - Part II

As we walked up, we could hear music starting – the Disney Dreams show was starting up on the Castle stage! We ran up to where a small crowd was forming just as the show was beginning. I thought it was really cute, especially the way the characters’ eyes blinked! Els particularly enjoyed seeing Donald Duck for the first time!

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(Anyone else think Mickey looks like he's had a few too many in this pic?!)

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The show encountered a technical difficulty about halfway through and had to be abandoned – never mind, it was nearly lunchtime and neither of us had had anything to eat all day so we were starving. We walked up towards Pinocchio Village Haus, which was today’s choice, and grabbed a FP for Peter Pan on the way since it already had a huge queue.
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Pinocchio’s was pretty full when we went in, as we’d hit it at peak lunchtime – however, we managed to spot a window table overlooking Small World and we grabbed it before anyone else could! For full details and photos of Pinocchio’s Village Haus, see my dining report!

After lunch, we walked out onto the first ride we saw, which happened to be Snow White’s Scary Adventures. I’d suddenly turned into one of those people who wondered onto the first ride they saw…yikes! Ahh who cares, we were having a lot of fun! It was about 10min wait for Snow White which was quite short and we didn’t mind waiting because – well, we were in Disney!! So Snow White turned out to be my very first ride in the World! For some reason, I can’t remember any of it!

Next, we decided to ride Winnie the Pooh which was right next door. For the middle of the day at Fantasyland, I thought the queues were quite good! We queued for about 10mins here too, and although I tried to spot Mr Toad handing over the deeds to Winnie, I couldn’t see him – maybe next time! I thought this was a very cute ride, and of course, it includes my main man Eeyore! Any ride that includes Eeyore has got to be cute!! At Pooh’s Thotful Shop, I wanted to buy everything I saw with Eeyore on… Els had to drag me outta there! Although I went in plenty of times, I never did buy anything from there!

Our FP time for Peter Pan still wasn’t up, so we decided to go into Mickey’s Philharmagic. I couldn’t really remember what this was about, only that it was some sort of 3D Show, so off we went inside anyway – whatever it was, it was a nice escape from the scorching heat! We only had to wait until the show before us finished, and we were in. We chose seats middle-back since I had on my itinerary cards that the best ‘view’ was from there. This show/attraction is incredible. I loved it, and everytime I think about it it makes me ‘homesick’. If you’re a big fan of the Disney movies and Disney songs then you’ll love this. Els loved it since Donald Duck is the star. My only complaint is that it should be longer! I won’t spoil it for anyone that hasn’t seen it, but it featured all my favourite Disney songs. 11/10 for this ride – my favourite. We both really really enjoyed this one and it was something I wasn’t expecting.

We used our FP up on Peter Pan, which is more or less the same as the Paris one, but I still think it’s really cute. For some reason this ride attracts a large queue in both Paris and Florida. After Peter Pan, I really wanted to see inside Mickey and Minnie’s houses! So off towards Toontown we went!
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Their houses were really busy at this time so we sort of whizzed through them a bit and didn’t really appreciate the detail – I think I was also in the ‘see as much as I can in one minute’ hyper mode!

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Kicking back at Minnie's!

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Pal Mickey was telling him something at the time! (You can see Pal Mickey's LGMH! No one spotted it though!)

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Where the Magic happens!

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We skipped the Judge’s Tent as it was a large queue and we had plenty of time to meet the Big Cheese. We popped our heads into the Hall of Fame, but every group of characters had long waits so we skipped it for now. We noticed the little train station so we decided we’d take a trip around the MK before going back to the room. Just as we were queuing up, we noticed a lot of characters come out sort of behind the Judge’s Tent in a hidden place. Before it was out of the way, there wasn’t many people there, so we ducked under the railings of the queue and headed out to where the characters were. I’m so glad we did as we got lots of character photos! I’d made a conscious decision earlier not to bring my autograph book today, so although I got photos, I never got autographs!
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Geppetto & Pinocchio

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King Louie

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Brer Bear

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Penguin

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King John

After getting all the characters, we decided to head back to the hotel as we both wanted to change and shower before our first ADR tonight at Cinderella’s Royal Table. It was also EMH night at MK tonight until 1am so it was best we at least refresh up a bit if we wanted to stay out.

We made our way slowly towards the exit, stopping at a few shops along the way, but buying nothing except for an autograph book! I’ll be ready next time!!
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Cute shop!

The bus soon came along, and not too crowded either, and we were back at ASMo in no time. We refilled our mugs again at the Food Court and went up to shower and change. I wanted to wear my new Disney t-shirt which I thought was perfect at Dining in the Castle! Our luggage was thankfully in our room when we got back, so we unpacked a bit as well so we could shove our cases out of the way. We were back on the move in no time, and down waiting for the bus to come and take us to the MK once again. We were running a couple of minutes late, and by the time we got to the Castle we were around 10mins late. I was worried they’d turn us away, but the girl at the podium was lovely and was very excited about our DLRP Jack pins. In we went and queued up to have our photo taken with Cinderella – I was really excited about this meal. For a review of our experience in the Castle and some food photos, see my Dining TR!
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I didn’t want to come away from the Castle, but we had to – and anyway from what I could see, Spectromagic was coming around! We sneakily stayed at the top to watch and film a few minutes of it from a good vantage point, before a CM spotted us and made us go into the crowd below – pah! After the parade had stopped and before the crowd began surging back into the park, we made our way through into Tomorrowland. We went straight on Buzz, which we like in Paris and it was just as fun except the guns don’t move much. Of course, Els beat my score! Space Mountain had a long wait on it, so we moved quickly over to Stitch. I didn’t like the queuing bit for this ride. I hate rides where you have to queue, pre-show, queue, pre-show, ride… when we finally got on the ride, I thought this was going to be a good one! To tell the truth, I came off not having a clue what it was about! It just didn’t do much, and the burp thing on my seat must not have been working as I didn’t smell the chilli burp much (not that I’m complaining!) – this ride could be so much better and we felt really disappointed in it. Not worth more than a 5-10min queue.

From here, we headed for Monsters Inc Laugh Floor which also had a pre-show, but then we were straight into the ride. Els twigged what was happening as some seats had mics on them, so he guided us into some seats on the sides. We both thought this show was funny, and Els really liked it! Definitely a good one and we both came away laughing. As we stepped back outside into Tomorrowland, I could hear the Wishes music and a couple of fireworks going off – I didn’t want to spoil the show by watching it halfway through and not having a very good vantage point, so we hopped on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority whilst Wishes was going on. No queue for this at all and it was nice to have a little relax and be whizzed around Tomorrowland. I was waiting the whole time for the little person to say ‘Paging Mr Morrow, Mr Tom Morrow’! I liked seeing inside of Space Mountain and hearing the cars whiz about in the dark!

When we came off, Wishes was nearly done, so got our EMH wristbands and we looked about a few shops for a while, making our way slowly in the direction of Fantasyland.

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Sampling the merchandise - I really wanted this hat!!

We went on a good couple of rides here all with little or no wait, Winnie the Pooh again, Mickey’s Philharmagic, Small World, Peter Pan, as well as having a look in a couple of more shops. We were both really tired having got up early and been on the go all day, so we decided to head back – it was around 12am anyway. We went around Liberty Square and took a few photos of the Castle changing colours from the Bridge near there.

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We spotted a Photopass photographer in front of the Castle and there wasn’t many people there so we decided to wait to have our photo taken. We’d pre-bought the Photopass CD before we set off from home so we were determined to have our photo taken wherever possible to make sure it was worth the $100 we paid. Whilst we were waiting, I tried my hand at a couple of arty shots with the little statues.
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When we saw the photo that he’d taken, I was really pleased with it, it’s one of my favourite photos of us. There’s no one much about and I love the colours of the Castle.
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We took a couple more photos on the way out and went to wait for our bus.
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I was expecting a frenzy for the buses but our bus was quite empty. I was so tired I fell asleep on the bus back. As soon as my head hit the pillow back in the room, I was asleep.

Tomorrow: We take on the Magic Kingdom… commando style!

disneychick0412

06-25-2008, 05:38 AM

You are doing such a good job with this!!! We are staying at All Star Sports soon so I was excited to see the pictures of it!! Can't wait to read more!!!!

Summer-Caitlin

06-25-2008, 06:38 AM

YAY, you're finally in Disney. It's really weird as you and I are at the same stage in our trips in our TR's and we both went around about the same time!

I love that pic of you and Els, it is just so sweet, you should get it blown up and framed! OH MY GOD you got a limo to Disney, how much did that set you back? I didn't get to see much of the limo at my wedding so taking a long drive like that would be pretty cool!

You stayed quite long at MK on your first day there. You like me seemed to love pics with hats, I never bought one though, although I do like that one you tried on, I bit big for everyday use, but still:thumbsup2

I can't wait to see what happens next...

Kirsteen

06-25-2008, 08:12 AM

Ooh reading your TR just makes me want to be in MK right now :cloud9: The limo and gift basket surprises for Els were lovely. Kx

Nicole786

06-25-2008, 08:45 AM

So glad you're still updating!! Great first day in the parks!! Can't wait to hear about your experiences at the other parks!

Pooh's-Honey-Pot

06-25-2008, 10:31 AM

Great update!!!! I love the gift basket idea! :thumbsup2

We did the same as you! We were allocated a Mighty Ducks room when we stayed there and had never seen the film, so we asked to move to the Dalmations block, which they did. When we got home I was determined to watch Mighty Ducks to see what I had missed and LOVED it, so could have just stayed there after all!:rotfl:

punkin413

06-25-2008, 11:36 AM

i got so excited for you while reading this!!!! your first trip - how exciting! just brings a tear to one's eye. :laughing:

i just LOVE that photopass pic you guys got at night....so pretty!

Cinderella16

06-26-2008, 11:27 PM

Okay, so I just finished my TR (also from 2007!) and now I am so excited to be able to catch up with yours! I dont remember where I left off, so I think I am going to stay up late and start from the beginning! I cant wait! :goodvibes

OhioDisneyLover

07-05-2008, 12:37 PM

Great update! Thanks for sharing.

Reading this trip report definitely confirmed that a visit to Sea World is a necessity! It's on our list... just 69 days to go and counting!

Eeyore's Tailfinder

07-09-2008, 04:29 AM

Hello!! I'm glad you are all still reading! :goodvibes

You are doing such a good job with this!!! We are staying at All Star Sports soon so I was excited to see the pictures of it!! Can't wait to read more!!!!

Thank you! The All Stars are great :) Have fun!!

YAY, you're finally in Disney. It's really weird as you and I are at the same stage in our trips in our TR's and we both went around about the same time!

I love that pic of you and Els, it is just so sweet, you should get it blown up and framed! OH MY GOD you got a limo to Disney, how much did that set you back? I didn't get to see much of the limo at my wedding so taking a long drive like that would be pretty cool!

You stayed quite long at MK on your first day there. You like me seemed to love pics with hats, I never bought one though, although I do like that one you tried on, I bit big for everyday use, but still:thumbsup2

I can't wait to see what happens next...

FINALLY, right?! :lmao: I am there! It takes a LOT longer than I thought to write these things, I think both you and me are the same - we include the tiniest details which makes them ever LONGER to write!

I'm not too sure to be honest how much the limo cost, I think it cost around $110 with tip. We went with Quick Silver and I would recommend them, and go with them again!

I love trying on hats! I know everyone says you're not supposed to but I can help it! Hehe!

Ooh reading your TR just makes me want to be in MK right now :cloud9: The limo and gift basket surprises for Els were lovely. Kx

Me too *sigh* Writing it has brought back all the lovely memories!

So glad you're still updating!! Great first day in the parks!! Can't wait to hear about your experiences at the other parks!

Still here, going slowly but surely! I am determined to be done by the time I go again!

Great update!!!! I love the gift basket idea! :thumbsup2

We did the same as you! We were allocated a Mighty Ducks room when we stayed there and had never seen the film, so we asked to move to the Dalmations block, which they did. When we got home I was determined to watch Mighty Ducks to see what I had missed and LOVED it, so could have just stayed there after all!:rotfl:

LOL Glad it's not just me! I still haven't seen Mighty Ducks, although it was handy when the queue for the ASMo bus was long and we could just catch the ASMu bus!

i got so excited for you while reading this!!!! your first trip - how exciting! just brings a tear to one's eye. :laughing:

i just LOVE that photopass pic you guys got at night....so pretty!

I am just an excitable person :laughing: I was completely made up when we got to the MK - just been dreaming about going since I knew WDW existed and to finally stand there was just surreal - but good surreal!!

Okay, so I just finished my TR (also from 2007!) and now I am so excited to be able to catch up with yours! I dont remember where I left off, so I think I am going to stay up late and start from the beginning! I cant wait! :goodvibes

Hello Julianne! I'm glad you finished yours! Can you send some TR finishing pixie dust over my way?! ;) Can't wait to read your Wedding PJ!

Great update! Thanks for sharing.

Reading this trip report definitely confirmed that a visit to Sea World is a necessity! It's on our list... just 69 days to go and counting!

Aww - not long to go now! We really loved SeaWorld! Really great park, I'm going to miss it this year which is sad, but hopefully we'll make it back next year and we'll go then!!

Eeyore's Tailfinder

07-09-2008, 04:31 AM

The One With All The Characters

Alrighty, since we already did MK, I’ll keep this one short… hey! I see you laughing in the back there! I can make this one short!

We got up. We went to MK. We had lunch. We went to dinner. We went to bed.

Okay, it won’t be that short.

Anyway, we did get up. Quite early, we’re in Disney! But not early enough for the Opening Ceremony. Yesterday had been a long day and we had been knackered. Quick change and making sure everything was in the bag, we set off for the bus stop, making only a quick detour to fill up our mugs.

It was still early after we got to MK and it wasn’t long after the Opening Ceremony. We headed straight for Fantasyland since that’s where it gets busiest first. We passed by Ariel’s Grotto and there was absolutely no wait outside. We got in line and there were maybe 2 or 3 people in front of us and we were soon allowed in to see her. She was a really good Ariel and had the highest voice ever. This was a good move as for the rest of our stay the Grotto was pretty crowded.
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Tip No. 410: If your child wants to see Ariel, go first thing in the morning.

I admit, I get a little messy here. I’m not sure what rides we went on. I think we went on Mickey’s Philharmagic again and maybe Winnie the Pooh?! We didn’t spend very long here though since that’s where we spent the majority of our time the prior day. We noticed that Toontown Fair had just opened, so we made our way over there. We went straight over to Toontown Hall of Fame to check the queues and NO QUEUE! We had done the 3 rooms within about 20mins, got to meet and interact with loads of characters and get a bookfull of autographs!
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Tip No. 743: If you want to see lots of characters, go to the Hall of Fame when Toontown Fair opens.

After here, we decided to chance our luck with the Big Cheese in the Judge’s Tent. We whizzed through Mickey’s House and saw that there wasn’t really a big queue. We decided to wait it out and ended up waiting around 10-15mins for him. There was the cutest baby in front of us who kept smiling at Mickey and trying to bite his nose! Soon it was our turn and we posed with Mickey – he liked our little compadre, Pal Mickey!
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We walked via the Toontown-Tomorrowland walkway into Tomorrowland. This is a really nice and quiet walk, and for a moment we had a chance to realise we were actually here after planning and saving for so long! We went straight over and grabbed a FP for Space Mountain. Even this early in the morning the queue was pretty long. We hopped on Buzz Lightyear instead. I really do think this is a good ride! When we came off, who should we see but Stitch!

Stitch was really funny, and so playful. When the photopass photographer took the first photo, Stitch put his hand over my face! He behaved for the next shot though!
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Just as we were leaving Stitch, we spotted Buzz Lightyear over by Carousel of Progress and went right on over. I was really excited as I’d never seen Buzz Lightyear before. Els also made his first pin exchange with the CM looking after him!
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We browsed a couple of shops and then it was time for our Space Mountain FP! I love the queuing area for this ride, I think it’s much better than the DLRP one! I also love the loading station and the cars better than the DLRP ones! It’s so much more ‘spacey’! We passed a huge queue and after about a 10min wait, we were onboard and we were off! I must admit, I was really disappointed with SM… I kept waiting for a dip or something throughout the ride. When they revamp the ride, I hope they make it a little more ‘rollercoastery’ but keep all the theming the same. We didn’t go on SM for the rest of the trip because we didn’t think the queue was worth the ride, but I thought the queuing area was really cool!!

After getting off SM we were really hungry (yes, we are weird!) and went off in search of some food. I had put Pecos Bill down on our itinerary cards today, but as we were in Tomorrowland, neither of us could be bothered with walking all the way to Frontierland for some food. We were starving!! I went to check if Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station was open, and surprise it wasn’t, so Cosmic Ray’s it was!

I like that everything has a separate queue, but can see how it would get annoying if everyone wants different things. Luckily, we both wanted burgers so we managed to find a tiny table and I went off to get the food. Everyone seemed to be queuing on one side, so I decided to chance the other side and I got served almost immediately!

Tip No. 210: If everyone is queuing one side and the other side is open, try it!

The food was really good here and the toppings bar was like a mini buffet! We would definitely eat here again! It started to get packed though and people were just standing about looking for tables. Get here early!

Back through Tomorrowland and through Fantasyland, and we happen to see Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee by the TeaCups! Of course we stop for a photo, and they were really fun!
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We walked back under the Castle and started to walk for Adventureland. This was somewhere we hadn’t been yet. We were just walking through and we spot Rafiki and Timon taking photos. We lined up, and only waited around 5mins whilst they took a break. These guys were really funny too! They loved Els hair and made their CM do their hair exactly the same as his for the photo!
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I saw that the Jungle Cruise was near and didn’t have much wait, so we went down and rode that. Our skipper was really into the JC thing, and did all the corny jokes and lines.

It was now getting really hot in MK and we were melting. As we were looking for some shade, who do we bump into? Jasmine and the Genie!
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After taking some snaps with them, we ran into POTC for some shade! The queue wasn’t very long at all 10-15mins, and I really liked it with the Jack Sparrow additions! Very lifelike.
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We were just outside the ride, when who storms past but Captain Hook with Smee. We just had to have our photo taken with them and they were really good fun! Hook thought he was cool and stole my sunglasses to wear for the shot. Smee had a go at being my hairstylist.
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Whilst we were with Hook and Smee, Peter Pan runs past with Wendy. Hook spots him immediately and pretends to go after him whilst Peter ducks from him. Had a little show! Els goes to find us a cold drink whilst I get in line for Peter and Wendy. Peter & Wendy were a little out of character in that they couldn’t remember the name of the whale in Pinocchio (Monstro) and Peter said, I always fell asleep during that movie. Anyhow, Wendy didn’t want to grab my hair as she thought Peter was being rude, so she just posed.
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We had a look at the wait times for BTM and Splash, but both were very long so we decided to give it a miss for today. We found a great little pin shop in Frontierland and decided to buy a whole host of pins there as well as trade one of our Jacks with the CM in the store, who was very happy to get such a cool pin!

As we were coming out, the CMs had just put the parade ropes up and the announcement said that the parade would start in just 10mins. Well, outside the pin shop there was noone waiting in front of the ropes. So I ran up and grabbed us a couple of spots right in the front. The ropes were still open in places so Els went and got us one of those frozen lemonade things because the heat was seriously bad! Well as he was buying it, the CMs closed the ropes off again and the music started! Yes – he was one of those people who duck under the ropes and run across when the parade is starting!! I had my camcorder out ready, and was really excited to see the parade! About 5mins in, Els had to go stand in the shade near the pin shop as the heat was just awful. I think I was so excited, I was oblivious to the heat!! He gave up his spot to a lady in a wheelchair near him. Although, there were only a few people behind us in the crowd. Not a crowded area at all. I filmed the whole parade from start to finish in the front of the crowd and that tape is just awesome with all the characters waving and smiling at the camera! I will never watch a parade from Main St. again! We bagged a front row spot with 10mins to go.

I went back and found Els who was slowly melting still in the shade. The frozen lemonade had made us more thirsty if anything, so we got a Sprite to share. We decided to walk back to the exit slowly since we’d done a lot this morning and seen a whole host of characters. I am thoroughly hooked on character spotting!

We went back to the hotel, showered and changed ready for our dinner at the Whispering Canyon Café. You can read that review in my Dining TR!

The Wilderness Lodge is absolutely beautiful. We were wowed when we walked in, it’s just amazing.
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I wish we would have taken more time to look around. Never mind, we have another WCC ADR this year, so we’ll explore the resort a bit more hopefully! After dinner, we were walking out when a CM noticed my 1st Time badge. He called me over and told me to turn around whilst he dialled a number, and I got a Welcome phone call from Goofy I think! Not a dream, but a bit of pixie dust there! We just didn’t want to leave the WL, it felt like home. We made up our minds that we would be back here to stay one day. Els got on the laptop as soon as we got back to ASMo to look how much it would cost for next year.

We grabbed a couple of hot chocolates as we walked back to the room, before falling asleep tired.

Tomorrow: Typhoon Lagoon!

Eeyore's Tailfinder

07-09-2008, 04:35 AM

Typhoon Lagoon

Today, something different and a break from the parks – Typhoon Lagoon!

We get there quite early and share a bus with the other All Stars Resorts to the park. First things first, we need to find a locker! We buy one, get our number and dump all our stuff there, bar our towels and swim shoes. We manage to grab some sunloungers quite close to the water and we set straight off to find the little shark swim.

No go. We just could not find it at all despite walking around that area. We followed the signs but just came straight back out onto the main path. Oh well. We found the path for Crush’n’Gusher and went straight for that one. The queue wasn’t too bad – around 10mins. The ride was good, but it’s true the advice that people give you… lift your butt up on the ride! It will definitely hurt if you don’t!

There were a couple of photopass people at the bottom waiting to take some lovely photos of us with water in eyes, gasping for air, and wobbly bits everywhere. Needless to say those photos will be staying on the Photopass CD, never to be seen again! We went on a second time on a different track, and again had the obligatory photos taken at the bottom.

Next, we walked until we found an entry point for the lazy river, grabbed a couple of tubes and floated around. I just love lazy rivers, they really make you feel like you’re on holiday – floating around in the hot sun! We went around once and got out quite near one of the raft ride, so on we went! We queued around 10-20mins to go on and it was quite a short ride and TBH not worth the wait. Ah well.

We went in the wave pool for a while and those waves are BIG! I mean really big! They take you under and take you back! If you take kidlets in the pool, stand far enough back from the waves!
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Big Wave!

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Right, is it lunchtime yet?

We walked back to the locker to get our KTTW and set off for Leaning Palms. When we got there, I discovered I’d grabbed our Photopass card instead of one of the KTTW! D'oh! Back to change it again, and back to Leaning Palms. Food report is in the Dining TR!

For the next hour or so, we lazed around in the lazy river and swam a bit in the wave pool – well, as much as you can with colossal waves!

At around 1-2pm we decided to leave TL. It was getting quite crowded, not to mention VERY hot.

Here is the *very* short video I made for TL. Sorry the quality is so bad - if I upped it, it would take ages to upload!!
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When we arrived back at ASMo, we nosied around the giftshop for a while and went to get yet more drinks in our mugs. We also noticed the caricature artist and told ourselves we would have to be back to make one. We never did get one though, so that’s something I would like to do this time. Once in the room, we just showered and relaxed for a while. We had an ADR at Boma tonight, so we made ourselves ready to go there.

AKL is really, really nice. It just has this great vibe, I can’t explain it. It’s very well themed, with a great lobby and African spice smells rising from Boma below. I would definitely like to stay there sometime in the future (although surprisingly, I find myself saying this with a lot of Disney hotels!) We were around 5mins late for our ADR but we just couldn’t find Boma! We could see where it was, but had no idea how to get down there – somehow we found it in the end, and the report is in my Dining TR!

After Boma, we walked around the main lobby for a bit, having a look around. I love the look of this resort!
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It was still rather early, so we decided to catch a bus from AKL to the MK! Just as we were arriving through the gates, the parade was about to start, so I grabbed the best spot I could find – bearing in mind this was in front of Tony’s 5mins before the parade began, and waited, as we had not yet seen Spectromagic, only a small glimpse as it was passing Cindy’s Castle the other day.

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I really enjoyed the parade, but would have enjoyed it more if the guy in front of me hadn’t kept moving throughout it! Ahh well, my fault for being so late! Els snuck off during the parade and came back and put something on my head. He’d been to the Chapeau store, and bought some Flashing Mickey Ears for me and had them embroidered Hayley whilst I was watching the parade!
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After Spectro was over, we moved down into the shops, trying to avoid the surge of people on Main St. This was a good plan. We came out near the Plaza and decided to stand on the little walkway that goes past it to wait for Wishes.
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I really enjoyed Wishes – it’s the music that makes it! Best fireworks I’ve ever seen (so far )

I believe it was EMH in the MK tonight, so we did ride a few rides in waiting for the crowd to disappear, but got home quite early as we had an early start at Epcot the next morning!

Tomorrow: Epcot!