DAY 7
December 10th, 2015 - Thursday
More Animal Kingdom and Epcot!
I woke up early this morning and headed down to the Landscape of Flavors food court... I had gotten it in my head that I needed one last omelet!
Are ya'll tired of omelet pictures yet?
After I ate, I met up with Mark & Debby at the bus stops, and our chariot whisked us away to our morning destination: Animal Kingdom!
Pretty Christmas tree outside the gates...
This morning as we wandered through the Oasis, we veered to the right and headed right for our first FP+ of the day... Dinosaur! Along the way, we stopped and I got a coffee. It was imperative! I was dragging this morning! It was an iced coffee though, so I pretty much chugged it. Aunt Debby found her a cozy bench, and Uncle Mark and I headed on to find our TimeRover and hang out with a scary Carnotaurus!
My hair is super jacked in this photo.
I like how Mark looks like "Da hell?" and I'm like "Whaddup, bro!"
Onward! We wandered over to one of my most favoritest things... The Maharajah Jungle Trek! I'm a tiger fan, and I love the bats, too! Strangely, I took zero photos on this trail. Weird!
From there, we made our way over to Expedition Everest! Now, we had 10:10am FP+ set up for this. But at this point it was only 9:55am or so, and there was NOBODY in the Single Rider line. After about 3 seconds of discussion, Mark and I said screw it and just went and jumped in the Single Rider line instead!
Arm-raising is apparently acceptable on Everest. No face-blockage. I approve!
When we got off the ride, he said something about doing it again, which I was ALL FOR, but we decided not because we knew Aunt Debby was waiting on us. She told us we should go again if we wanted, but we said nah!
We had some time before our next FastPass, so we stopped and did a first for me, and something I wanted to do especially for Aunt Debby, since she loves birds: Flights of Wonder! It was super cute. At least what I saw of it... Not gonna lie to ya'll. The coffee from earlier had worn off, and I dozed through most of the show... right up until a FALCON BUZZED THE TOP OF MY HEAD. Yeah, that'll wake ya up, lemme tell ya!
Now the next FP+ was for Kali River Rapids, but for some reason we decided not to do it.
It's been 2 months, I can't remember these kind of details!
We were all ready for some lunch at this point, and none of the QS options were really moving us. Then I remembered about that T-Rex gift card that I brought, and was burning a hole in my wallet. Hmmm...
I told them I had an idea, and to follow me.
I smelled it before I reached it, parked my wheels, and sauntered on into a very crowded lobby at Yak & Yeti. I approached the podium, dripped some honey on the hostess, explained we didn't have an ADR, flashed my Landry's Club card at her... And within 5 minutes, we were lead to a great table upstairs, overlooking the dining room below. SCORE!
Our server was SUPER cool, and really helped us with the menu. Before long, beautiful appetizers appeared on our table!
To read more about the food, you can find the details over
HERE on my Dining Report!
Our super awesome server saw me snapping food pics, and offered to take a pic of all of us... Then proceeded to take the WORST PHOTO OF ME EVER.
I don't know why I'm even sharing it! TERRIBLENESS!
Oh, and then there were fortune cookies. And this was mine. Make of it what you will.
...Naughty.
With full bellies, we decided to do some shopping! Debby found her a few things, and I found this AWESOME totebag. It was also cheap. I don't remember how cheap, I just remember it was a lot less than most bags I'd looked at this size:
I just love it! I actually use it 3 times a week to bring my workout clothes/sneakers/water bottle to the office with me on gym days!
After shopping, we said goodbye to Animal Kingdom, and headed back to the resort for a much needed nap!
After resting and getting our second wind, we headed back out for our FINAL NIGHT AT DISNEY WORLD.
But... at least were going someplace wonderful. Yep, we were heading back to Epcot!
While at the bus stop and waiting on Mark and Debby, I was on my phone checking Facebook, and somebody had commented that they hadn't seen me in my tiara enough on the trip. I just happened to be wearing my tiara at that exact moment, so I snapped this pic and replied to her comment with it:
SO MUCH SASS. But really ya'll, what the crap was going in with my hair on this day? Geez!
Anyhow, so Epcot! We arrived safe and sound, and this time we stopped at the entrance for PhotoPass pics!
We ended up in MouseGears right off the rip, where Debby and I did some shopping. She found a really cute colorful Mickey totebag that she kept calling her "happy bag."
We also got the photo frame for my grandmother to house the picture from Magic Kingdom the day before that I still need to print. Oops.
After MouseGears, we made our way to the left and back up into World Showcase, ready to take on the rest of the countries! It was fun just browsing and exploring. More shopping ensued. Debby found a really cute vest thingy in China, and I bought a little hair clip that I now cannot find! I'm hoping it will surface, it was a really pretty little butterfly!
We ended up finishing way earlier than I expected, so we just chilled in Italy and people-watched for a while. I was kinda hungry, so I ended up at a Joffrey's kiosk (which was staffed by some really rude CMs
) and grabbed a pastry and a coffee to nibble on.
Finally, it was close enough to dinner time to wander back on over to Germany! Where I happened to spot a PhotoPass photographer...
I got us checked in at Biergarten, and apparently there was quite a wait, because we looked through the shops for a while. We poked our heads into the Karamel Kuche, but the line was 12 miles long.
I definitely wanted a treat from here, but I decided to check back in after dinner... and then never went back.
Finally our pager we off and we were led into the restaurant and our table with a family of 5... Mom, Dad, and 3 young boys. Mark and Debby got to talking to the parents a good bit towards the end of the meal. Me, however... I was just incredibly awkward.
I also wrote about the food and stuff over
HERE on my Dining Report!
After dinner, it was about time to try and grab a spot for Illuminations, and that's when Debby said they were wanting to go back to the room.
They were going to miss Wishes AND Illuminations? This time I kinda laid it on thick... Told them it was our last night there and it would really mean a lot to me if they would stay for the show. I would find them a bench to sit on and watch from and everything (which I knew was a VERY tall order). They agreed, so I went off in search!
My first stop was at a section near Germany that had been roped off, and a CM was standing there, an elderly gentleman. I asked him if he knew where the closest Wheelchair/ECV seating section was. He was VERY VERY nice, and he wasn't sure, so he radioed to somebody, who walked over a few minutes later, another CM, this time an elderly lady, who was also EXTREMELY nice. She didn't know either, and they tried radioing a few other people... NOBODY COULD GIVE THEM AN ANSWER.
Finally the SUPER NICE elderly gentleman CM asked how many people I had with me, I explained it was just me and my aunt & uncle, and he said "You know what? Why don't ya'll just come right on in here?" And then invited us into into the COMPLETELY EMPTY roped-off section that he was was guarding! That's when he told me it was being reserved for the Candlelight Processional package people, and that the show would be letting out in a few minutes, but that Mark & Debby and I could go in and find us a spot before they arrived, since nobody could tell him where to send us for Accessible viewing! WHAT. OMG. AWESOME.
Moral of the story: I LOVE OLD PEOPLE NOW.
There were two empty benches inside towards the back of the area, not against the rail, but that was good enough for me! Mark & Debby sat down, and I scooted up the the railing and found me a good spot to watch from! It couldn't have possibly worked out any more perfectly!
I was a little worried about the island there, but I was pretty certain from my recollection of the show that it wouldn't get in the way. (Spoiler alert: It didn't!) As I was sitting here, I looked down into the water directly below me, and a bunch of ducks were hanging out!
These two spent the most time chillin' with me. At one point a big gang of rival ducks came swimming in, and I watched them all have a duck turf war. My boys held their own though, and ran them off, then came back to me for some more chill time.
Once the Candlelight Processional let out, people started to trickle in my roped off area, and a guy came and stood next to me and started setting up a small tripod. He struck up a conversation, and we talked for a while. I can't remember his name now... Steve, maybe? Big Disney World fan, PodCast listener, etc. (Not a DISer, though... I asked!) He was recently divorced, and was there for his very first solo trip. And with me being a solo trip veteran, that gave us plenty to chat about. He was a nice dude, and it helped passed the half-hour or so until it was time for Illuminations!
(And I know how you girls think, so before you even go there... No. It wasn't like that. And he was too short for me, anyhow.
)
When the show was just about to start, Mark and Debby actually left their comfy bench and came and stood next to me to watch. I grabbed just a couple pictures, I mainly just wanted to watch and enjoy! (And cry a little... I'm such a baby.)
Afterwards I thanked Mark and Debby for staying so I could share my favorite nighttime show at Disney with them. Debby said she was glad they stayed, and that it was beautiful. Yay.
So they headed for the bus stops without me... What, why? It's EMH night, that's why! And I got some rides to be hittin'!
I zipped over to TestTrack, and between the fact that it was EMH, Illuminations had just wrapped, and Single Rider line... I literally was able to walk right on!
Then as I was heading over to Mission Space, I noticed my scooter was limping along and running very low on power again. I was NOT going to let it force me to end this night early, so I had an idea. I zipped into the dump shop and explained my situation to the CMs there, and asked if they had anywhere I could plug in a charge for a little bit, while I was in queue and then riding the attraction. That way I could just pick it up on my way out. They said no problem, and actually showed me to an outlet in a little recessed area where they said the often let folks plug in their mobility devices. SCORE! So I got that set up, then walked out and back around to the front, and then on through the queue.
It was bout here (see above) that my legs started giving me some trouble, but I knew we were close, so I just dealt with it. And I'm so glad that I did, because it was a blast, as always! After the ride, I just grabbed my wheels from the dump shop, thanked the CMs profusely, and headed out. That half hour or so of charging did wonders, and I was off to my next destination.
On my way across to the Land pavilion, I stopped and grabbed a photo of the Fountain of Nations as it was doing it's thing...
And then for some inexplicable reason, I took this picture of myself looking super creepy...
And then I was off for another ride on my favorite... Soarin'! This time so I could relax and not worry about anybody else, and just enjoy it! And I'm pretty sure I was on the very last flight of the night, too! Before heading down to the queue, I found the outlet upstairs that I've used before, and plugged the scooter in to charge some more while I went and had my flight.
As I exited the park, I did stop for this shot of Spaceship Earth...
And just before exiting, I stopped for one more PhotoPass pic. Again, my timing couldn't have been better, because a CM cut the line off right after I got in it! While I was waiting, I spied this super cute Stitch topiary...
And then got my PP picture, in which he told me to pose sassy with my hand on my hip, and didn't even try to center me probably because he was ready to go home, and so I look ridiculous and there's some random behind me...
Then I slowly creeped my way out to the bus stops on my little battery-challenged scooter, and finally across the expanse of AoA back to my room. Debby had me knock on her door to let them know when I was back. Mark was asleep but she was still up finishing packing as we were due to check-out the next morning
, so she came over to my room and chatted with me a little while as I was getting my things packed up.
I was telling her about how sometime in the last day or two, I'd lost feeling in my second toe on my right foot, and how weird it felt. I was also showing her how insanely swollen my lower legs, ankles, and feet were (from being on my feet so much). So she one-ups me, and shows me her legs, and the fronts of her lower calves are covered in somewhat swollen, hot-to-the-touch bright red blotches... Guess who got the DISNEY RASH?! As soon as I saw it, I knew what it was (thanks to
@Chicago Mo and others on these boards), so I was able to tell her about it and put her mind at ease a bit. I should have taken a photo, because it was REALLY bad! Disney was leaving us all kinds of BEAT UP!!!
Worth it.
Then we said good night, and she went back to her room, and I finished the majority of my packing, took a shower, and got in the bed. It was already very late, and we had one last stop to make in the morning before hitting the road for home!
Up Next: Departure Day / Trip Report Wrap-Up
Totally yum! I LOVE pistachio gelato!!!
It's not even my family and I'm mad on their behalf! (Don't defend it. Just don't.)
Super late joining it but just got caught up! Love all of you AOA pictures! It looks like a fun place to stay! Also I keep telling myself I am going to do the face-painting one day! Maybe next trip! Anyways can't wait to hear more!
The comedian said like 3 jokes, starting with: "Look at this guy! He thinks his nose is so important, he had to underline it!" (Making fun of his mustache.) Unfortunately, I can't tell you what the other jokes were, because I was crying in the floor. 
I support more adult face-paint lovers! You definitely should do it, it's so much fun!
