A "Jen from Maine" LONG Trip Report 7/23 - 8/1

[maine_jennifer]

I've posted my whole trip report here. To those who dare read it all, good luck!



Josh & Aunt Jen’s Florida Adventure – Day 1
Friday, July 23, 2004

Plans for today: Travel to Florida & the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue

Our vacation got off to an early start today. Our plans went well. We got up at 4:30am, out the door by 5am, stop at Dunkin Donuts and was at the bus station at 5:30am. We were taking the bus to Logan Airport because it was cheaper to fly from Boston. However, a few days before our trip, I learned that the bus may be randomly stopped for search because those dorky Democrats were having their convention in Boston and messing up my vacation! Well, this made for a semi-stressful ride down as I was SURE we would be searched and miss our plane.

Thankfully, it was a nice enough ride, we got to watch 50 First Dates and thankfully we weren’t stopped. I thought it was a cute movie and wouldn’t mind seeing it again. I’m not usually a big Adam Sandler fan, so I was pleasantly surprised. Anyway, from the time we got on the bus until the time we finished checking in at the airport was 2 hours and 24 minutes. Not bad, but I don’t think I’ll fly from Boston again. There was just too much hassle for me and not enough savings for me to justify that hassle.

A slight delay cause us to arrive around 10-20 minutes late in Orlando. Bob from Sunray Transportation was there waiting for us as promised in his phone call the night before. We quickly collected our luggage, stopped at Publix, dropped off the luggage and got checked in. When the person checking us in said our room was 1223, I just about fell over. My request was simple and I didn’t think it was asking for much: a non-smoking room near the laundry. We were there for 10 days and had only packed about 4 or 5 changes of clothing. I explained that we had to do laundry at least once, maybe twice and we’d really like something closer. She found one in building 3, I said that was better, but she said she’d keep looking. Eventually, she found us a room on the first floor of building 5 by the courtyard. Much better!

We get to our room, call for our bags and for the refrigerator that I reserved from A Baby’s Best Friend. The bags came first, then the refrigerator was wheeled in after. We unpacked a few things, I set up the refrigerator and we quickly headed over to Fort Wilderness for the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue. I was shocked to see that our seats were smack dab in the very front, in the very middle up against the stage. We had only made our reservation a few months ago and was expecting something on the outskirts of the room or in the balcony. Needless to say, being in the front, I was the lucky one chosen to be enamored with Sixbits backside. LOL I played right along, not hard to do, and had lots of fun. Of course, this was to be my first hint that that this wasn’t going to be an easy trip for my teenage companion. Josh seemed to be pretty bored with everything unless it was loud and flashy, but I just passed it off as maybe he was just tired from our busy traveling day.

After it’s over, we grab the boat back to Magic Kingdom and thankfully, we didn’t have to wait too long for the bus. We head back to the hotel, finish unpacking and head to bed early.

 

[maine_jennifer]

Josh & Aunt Jen’s Florida Adventure – Day 2
Saturday, July 24, 2004

Plans for the day: Train Tour, MGM for Lunch, Typhoon Lagoon

As expected, today started with another early morning. We needed to be at the Magic Kingdom by 7:15am for the Magic Behind Our Steam Trains Tour, so we got up, Josh had his breakfast, I ironed a bagel for myself, and we were on our way.

The train tour was great, and Jim, our guide was full of information. Unfortunately, Josh was bored the entire time. At 10:30am, Jim said that the tour was “officially” over, but if anyone wanted to he could probably talk until 1pm. Knowing Josh wouldn’t make it, we skipped out and headed over to Disney-MGM for lunch at 50’s Prime Time Café. This was fun and I’m glad I finally tried it. On our way out, Josh stopped to pick up a Donald Duck mug for his sister and a big Disney dog bowl for his brother to use for cereal.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel, grabbed an adequate nap and made our way to Typhoon Lagoon. I know Josh really wanted to do Blizzard Beach, but I don’t really like slides, so I never gave him the option. At least at Typhoon Lagoon, I could do the wave pool and lazy river while he did the slides. We got there around 4pm and searched for a place to throw our stuff. After a walk around the countryside, we found a spot and ran for the lazy river. It is SO hot out! I really like the relaxing trip around, but Josh quickly got bored with being lazy and wanted to head to the wave pool.

We make our way over to the wave pool which doesn’t appear to be active, but we wait a minute or two and WOW, that wave pool is CRAZY. I was out just about where the red line was, about 4.5 – 5 feet and those waves really tossed me around. There was NO jumping over them and I discovered that the best thing to do was to jump under them as far as you could. Josh went out as deep as he was allowed and had a great time. Eventually, he wanted to some slides and I told him to go ahead and that when he was done, he was to come right back here and check in with me. Well, after about 10 minutes or so, one wave knocked some kid’s hip into my head and OOOWW that hurt. I’m very surprised that more people don’t get seriously hurt from it, but it sure was fun anyhow. Anyway, after I got hit, I headed to the back of the wave pool where they have these “benches” you can sit and still get wet from the wave. I figured I could still see Josh when he came back and when he did, we headed to the lazy river again, did the family raft ride, lazy river again, and headed back to the hotel around 6:30.

We got supper at the food court and went back to the room to just chill out. I had to call Renee from the DISboards to arrange to pick up the DIS Stroller that I was keeping in the room for the week. They weren’t in, so I left a message for them to call me at 8am the next morning and I’d come pick it up. Thankfully, they were staying in the same resort, so it made it much easier.

We got ready for bed, Josh called home and I called my nieces. The 5yo got mad because her sister, 2yo, accidentally hung up, but at $0.75 a call, I didn’t want to call them back. After a bit of TV, it was lights out at 10pm.

 

[maine_jennifer]

Josh & Aunt Jen’s Florida Adventure – Day 3
Sunday, July 25, 2004

Plan for the Day: Animal Kingdom, Epcot, IllumiNations Cruise

We’re planning on doing Extra Magic Hour at Animal Kingdom tomorrow, so we decide to go to the first Festival of the Lion King show today. After that, we head up and decide to grab a Fast Pass for Kilimanjaro Safaris. I know, I know, don’t waste your time just sitting around waiting for your Fast Pass return time, but it really felt like a good idea. We got our Fast Passes and the return time was like 20 minutes away, so we grab a bite to eat and rest in the shade for a bit. When we get off the Safaris, we head to Kali River Rapids, but the wait is 40 minutes and we decide to pass on it today. We do It’s Tough to Be A Bug and then skip out on the park. We head back to the hotel and end up taking a LONG nap before heading to Epcot this Evening.

Around 4pm, we get up and going and head to Epcot. We do Spaceship Earth and make our way to the Friendship Ferries to grab one over to Morocco. We sign up for the little tour which was very interesting and since we have 45 minutes before our Priority Seating, head to Japan to watch Matsuriza. Josh then wants to look through the Japan pavilion and picks out some Pokémon for his younger brother. We go back to Restaurant Marrakesh for dinner and while it was strange, it was edible. Funny thing is the chicken tastes just like chicken! We head back to Japan to get one more thing for Josh’s brother and then grab the boat back to Canada. We stop by to see Off Kilter perform (awesome!) and before I know it, it’s 8pm – YIKES! We’re supposed to be at the Boardwalk dock right now to meet up with everyone by 8:15pm for the IllumiNations Cruise.

We quickly walk to the International Gateway dock, but the boat was no where to be seen and could easily be another 20 minutes, so I decide to walk. It really is a short walk but along the way, Josh decides he has to “go”- NOW! Ok, when we pass by the ESPN Club, I know he’s been there before, so I send him in and tell him to HURRY! When we finally arrive, Jud and the others are already there waiting for us. After introductions and such, Jud presents me and Josh with Peanut M ‘n M’s. Apparently I mentioned them in my trip report last summer and he picked up on it. Thanks Jud! (Oh and if anyone is reading this trip report, for future reference, I also like Strawberry Daiquiris, Daisies, and Cash). As it happens, I brought a bit of Maine in the form of Salt Water Taffy to share with everyone and happily hand it out. Unfortunately, Captain Jeff, the driver I requested was off that day and Erin had to step in for him. She was great, especially since it was only her second time, and lots of fun, but (sorry Erin), she just wasn’t Captain Jeff. (Actually, I’m pretty sure she’s glad for that too!)

Well, around 8:30pm, we still had 6 seats unfilled, so with people getting off the Ferries from Epcot/D-MGM, we “sell” 3 seats. Jud goes up to the Boardwalk to do a final check for Lisa and her kids (yes Jud, her name really was Lisa). They were no where to be found and since it was past 8:30, Jud manages to sell 4 more seats I know, 3 + 4 does not = 6, but we were on vacation and good math skills were not required that night!

The cruise was great and to answer the Million Dollar question everyone has been asking – Jud is really like . . . well, Jud. Sorry I couldn’t dunk him in the lake Steve, but he just never got close enough to the edge. Closest I could get was when he was sitting on the floor taking pictures, but the door opened in and he was sitting up against it. Sorry to disappoint you! We all had a great time together, especially being basically strangers and after it was over, we cruised around for a bit, then headed back to the Boardwalk, said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Josh & I headed back to the hotel, Josh called home, then lights out around 10:30.

 

[maine_jennifer]

Josh & Aunt Jen’s Florida Adventure – Day 4
Monday, July 26, 2004

Plan for the Day: Animal Kingdom, swimming and resting, Magic Kingdom E-Ride Night

We were up and out by 7:30am today, against my better judgment. I let Josh pick what he wants to do so we head over to Kilimanjaro Safaris. The wait said 10 minutes which turned into 25 minutes. The animals were out in force this morning. More than I’ve seen during Extra Magic Hour before. With the delay in line, it’s now 9am, so we get a Fast Pass for Dinosaur and headed to Primeval Whirl, which says it has a wait of 5 minute that turned into 25 minutes. This is SO NOT worth more than a real 5 minute wait!!

After that disappointment, we head over to Dinosaur and get right on with our FastPasses. My imagination was a little disappointed in this, but maybe it’ll grow on me. I guess I knew too much to enjoy it the first time. Oh well.

With most everything out of the way, we decide to check in early for our Priority Seating at Donald’s Breakfastosaurus. We wait about 10 minutes and are seated promptly. The food is fresh and hot, better than the reviews I’ve read. The character interaction was ok, but Josh wasn’t really into it anyway, so I can’t really judge it properly.

After we finish eating, we head up to It’s Tough to be a Bug and grab a Fast Pass, then head over for the next Tarzan show. We wait about 5 minutes in line before they open the theater to everyone. Josh picks a row, near the front and we wait the 25 minutes to the show. I think if it had been any longer, I would have gone to sleep. Our little fans were a life saver here! Tarzan is good and we head over to It’s Tough to be a Bug to use our Fast Pass. We get in and have to wait and wait and wait. It seemed as though they were a bit confused and the stand by line was going faster than the Fast Pass. After about 10 minutes, the Fast Pass line starts to move and we walk by a CM who is talking on his radio saying that they have to let more Fast Pass people in because the line is going all the way out the queue. We enjoy it again and I just love watching/listening to other people’s reactions! Around 1:30pm, we head back to hotel, take a dip in the pool and are napping by 3pm.

Josh wakes me up at 5:57pm and says – Aunt Jen, it’s 5:57. I’m thinking “yeah, so??” LOL I was hoping to sleep until at least 7pm, but I guess we can get up now. We watch TV for a few minutes then open the window to a downpour. No big deal I think, it’ll end soon. By 7:30pm, it’s still POURING, so we run to the gift shop, grab a couple ponchos and head to the park. By time we get to the Magic Kingdom, it’s tapered off to a sprinkle, but still wet. I decided against riding the train first, and we head straight to Cosmic Ray’s for dinner. To my disappointment, Sonny Eclipse had escaped! His performing area was all covered with these huge plants. Dinner was ok, but it’s just not the same without Sonny!

After dinner, we went through Merchant of Venus so Josh could find some pins for his dad and then to Tomorrowland Arcade so we could get our E-ride bracelets. When we were done, Josh realizes he lost his envelope with ALL his spending money. Seems he tucked it between his daypack and his waist instead of putting it in his daypack. Why, I don’t know! So, he takes off out of the Arcade and I have to run out to catch up with him as he was heading in the wrong direction. We retrace our steps to Merchant of Venus and I tell him to go ask the woman at the register if anyone has turned any money in because he lost his. He goes to the register and there are two extra CM’s there. He speaks to one of them and the guy comes around the corner, looks around and says sorry, someone probably picked it up. Josh comes over upset and says they didn’t find it. I asked him exactly what he said to the guy. He told the CM that he lost his money. I told him, again, to go to the register and ask the woman, specifically, “Did anyone turn in any more, I lost mine.” She said she wasn’t sure but she’d check the lost & found out back. She comes back with her hands behind her back, asking him how much money he had. He told her and I told her it was in an envelope from a bank in Maine. She said he was very lucky and someone had turned it in. Told Josh some people are decent enough to turn it in and it all depends on HOW you ask.

From there we did Carousel of Progress, Tomrrowland Transportation Authority & The Timekeeper. From there we crossed Main Street through the crowd watching Wishes and get right on the Jungle Cruise (which is MUCH better at night) and Pirates of the Caribbean. From there, we crossed over to Frontierland and grab a place for the 11pm SpectroMagic.

I always enjoy this parade, but this time, Chernabog was missing and some other things too. I think it may have been because of the rain, but I’m not sure. As soon as it was over, we did Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion, Mickey’s Philharmagic, Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear (twice). Buzz broke down both times we were on it. The first it was right by the end and the car in front of us hadn’t turned around, so the Cast Member had to do it manually. The second time happened right in the volcano room. I racked up over 800,000 points, was so excited because I was beating Jud!, but then the ride totally went down, all electronics, everything. So, my score was reset to 0. Boo Hoo. By time we got off, after a few complete “restarts”, my score was around 450,000. We leave the park around 1:43am and are in bed by 2:22am. I like to stroll. Josh doesn’t. I’m sure we could have done more, but I was not in a hurry, nor did I want to be. Thank goodness we can sleep in tomorrow.

 

[maine_jennifer]

Josh & Aunt Jen’s Florida Adventure – Day 5
Tuesday, July 27, 2004

Plan for the Day: Sleep in, go to MGM around 12:30pm, Fantasmic Dinner Package

My original plans were to go to Epcot then hop to Disney-MGM Studios for Dinner/ Fantasmic, but since Josh didn’t want to go to the ESPN Weekend on Saturday, I decided we’d just hang out at Disney-MGM Studios for the afternoon and evening and do Epcot instead on Saturday.

Well, we wake up around 10am or so. Josh grabs some cereal in the room, and I iron up a bagel. We decide not to go swimming but I still have to do laundry. We hang out in the room and head to Disney-MGM Studios around 12:30pm. We decide to head to Rock N RollerCoaster and Tower of Terror, but the lines were over an hour wait and Fast Passes are long gone. I knew they would be, but Josh didn’t know any better and I let him choose.

We head over to the Muppetvision 3-D, but that line is way too long, too. Finally, we settle on Sounds Dangerous, The Great Movie Ride, & Walt One Man’s Dream. We run over to get a Fast Pass for Indiana Jones for after dinner then stake out a spot for the parade. Of course, it’s about 3:30pm and it starts POURING, even worse than last night. My 165 feet water resistant watch didn’t even make it through the rainstorm. Either a bad storm or a bad watch! Anyway, we make our way back to Rock and RollerCoaster and Tower of Terror to see if the lines have let up, but they haven’t. We trudge back through the rain over to Hollywood & Vine when Josh falls in a puddle and soaks his daypack. We have dinner but our server was very slow getting our bill to us, so we didn’t get to Indiana Jones in time for the Fast Pass to be effective. We ended up standing in the back and because of the previous downpour, the show was cut short.

After the show was over it had basically stopped raining and we decide to go back to the hotel, change into some dry clothes, and come back for Fantasmic. I pull out my clothes and Josh says “uh, Aunt Jen . . . My pass is ruined”. I look over and the thing is complete warped and soaked and I knew it wouldn’t make it through the turnstiles. Why he didn’t have it in the ziplock pouch I gave him I don’t know. But, no big deal, we’ll just go to Guest Services and get it replaced. After I get changed, I come out to find the pass peeled in half and little bits of it laying on his bed. Grrrr I pick up all the pieces and head to the Lobby only to find out that it has to be fixed at the Park. We grab the next bus over and thankfully they replace it with no problem. I was a little nervous because I had bought them from TicketMania, but had no problems with them replacing it.

Once we get in the park, we have about enough time for one ride with a wait of less than 20 minutes. Only one we wanted to try was Star Tours and thanks to TourGuideMike’s tip on avoiding motion sickness, I did not get the least bit woozy like I usually do. Josh, on the other hand, never wants to go on it again. From there, we head back to the entrance to make our way over to the reserved seating at Fantasmic! I liked walking out the back way and having a whole section reserved. Josh wanted to sit down front, so we did and had a great view. I don’t know if it happens all the time, but the audience, on their own I think, started doing the wave. It was pretty funny because it’d take like 10 times before people got the hang of it and the opposite side could never “return it”. Fantasmic was good and we went straight back to the hotel. We figured we could try to do Rock N RollerCoaster and Tower of Terror first thing during Extra Magic Hour on Saturday before we head to Epcot. Went we got back, Josh tried to call home, but there was no answer tonight, so it was lights out by 10:30.

 

[maine_jennifer]

Josh & Aunt Jen’s Florida Adventure – Day 6
Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Plan for the Day: Discovery Cove, Chef Mickey’s, Downtown Disney

Another early morning today. We were up, Josh had breakfast and we were out the door by 7:30am. Bob from Sunray was already there waiting for us. We got to Discovery Cove a little before 8am, checked in and waited with the Trainer For A Day folks in the lobby. I won’t go through everything, but basically, the Trainer For A Day is just a guided tour of their facility, including some back areas that the “normal” folks don’t get to go to. If you don’t like structure, I would do Discovery Cove on your own. If you’re looking for more animal interaction, I’d go with the Marine Mammal Keeper Experience at SeaWorld. It was nice, but I don’t think I’d pay the extra for it again.

Here’s the brief overview:

Birds Feeding (Josh freaked)
Dolphin swim
Picture Selling Time
(I got a print of me and one of Josh, as well as the video of our group’s swim for $97)

From here, we rinsed off and went to Lunch

Then it was
Sting Ray Feeding (Josh freaked again)
Snorkling
Shark Feeding
Parrots, Sloth, Anteater
Dolphin Feeding/brief interaction
Lightening/Rain delay of 90 minutes
Special Dolphin surprise

We had QUICK showers and headed out because Bob was supposed to pick us up at 5pm and we were running about 30-40 minutes late. We got all the way to the lobby when Josh remembered he still had the prescription goggles with him. That was a $200 charge if they weren’t returned, so he ran on ahead to find out if Bob was still waiting for us and I ran back to the gift shop to return the goggles. When I got back out front, Bob was still waiting for us and was very pleasant about it. We explained about the rain delay and how that no one was allowed in or near the water because of the lightening. He took us straight to the Contemporary and explained that he was going on vacation tomorrow so that his partner, Roger, would be handling the rest of our transfers.

We head into the Contemporary, look around the shops, and then decide to go for a monorail ride before our Priority Seating at Chef Mickey’s. We get on the monorail and get to the Grand Floridian when we are delayed for about 15 minutes. Once it gets going again, it’s a little past our Priority Seating time, still we seated within 5 minutes. We have a great dinner, then grab the bus to Downtown Disney, do some shopping and I surprise Josh by turning left instead of right to the bus stops. We head down past the Rainforest Café towards the water and get a boat to our hotel.

By time we get back, it’s about 9:30, so Josh makes a QUICK phone call home and lights out by 10pm.

 

[maine_jennifer]

Josh & Aunt Jen’s Florida Adventure – Day 7
Thursday, July 29, 2004

Plan for the Day: Marine Mammal Keeper Experience at SeaWorld

Today, we’re doing the Marine Mammal Keeper Experience at SeaWorld - an eight-hour behind the scenes program where, basically, you are taken around by a guide to work with the people who take care of the various Marine Mammals in the Park. You actually work and interact alongside the animal care specialists in each area and get to see and do what they do to take care of animals. You don’t have a set schedule as you do what they do. If their schedule changes, so does yours.

Anyway, when the wake-up call goes off at 5:30am, I don’t even listen to the thing. It’s not Mickey today anyway – just some dope promoting the ESPN Weekend. Josh & I get up and quickly get ready. I think he ate breakfast but I know I didn’t. Eating breakfast that early just is not for me!! Anyway, it’s a few tick tocks before 6am, so we head off to the main building to meet Roger from Sunray Transportation. As expected, he is already there waiting for us and we’re quickly on our way.

When we arrive at the Staffing Center parking lot, there are tons of people around waiting for the Employment Center to open. Roger drops us off, and Josh & I head in to the Security Building to wait for our “guide” to come get us.

Promptly at 6:30am, our guide, Barb, shows up and after a quick bag search, takes us off to put our stuff in a locker and <gulp> put on our wetsuits. LOL After trying on 3 wetsuits, I finally get one that fits enough to allow blood to circulate to my hands and feet. I think I burned off more calories getting the thing than I did the rest of the day!

I started out writing this not wanting to give away too many details, but since it was my favorite day all week, it kind of got long winded. There still aren’t too many details of what we actually did with the animals, but let me say, it was incredible!

For most of the morning, we worked with the dolphins in various places behind the scenes and in the Park. Basically we got to do SO much more than we did at Discovery Cove. The one thing we did at Discovery Cove that we didn’t do at SeaWorld was an actual “swim”, but everything else we did more than made up for it, in my opinion. We did a lot of different things with the dolphins, but my favorite thing was feeding the expectant moms over in the dolphin nursery. It’s not like they did anything but swim and eat, but working with Calli (sp?) was just SO cool and she was just SO beautiful. There seemed to be something different between her and the other dolphins I had worked with over the two days.

Of course, the people we worked with were wonderful, too. Honestly, I can’t remember everyone’s name and if I mention those I can remember and forget some of the others, I’ll probably get chewed up for it. They were a great group of people and we were treated differently at SeaWorld than we were at Discovery Cove. At Discovery Cove, we were paying customers. At SeaWorld, they acted like we belonged there, made us feel comfortable, and that we were more than just customers.

Barb had left us for part of the dolphin parts, but eventually she came back and took us over to get in the water and feed some carrots to the manatees. Very strange, but very cool, even though one kept trying to eat me! lol This one manatee kept nibbling on my boots and sucking at my knees, trying to find more treats I think. Barb told us that their teeth are further back in their mouths, so it never could really bite me, but it just felt so funny I couldn’t help laughing. Josh, once again, found an animal he didn’t like too much and was out of the water rather quickly.

When we were done, it was around 10:30ish? so we headed back to shower and change out of our wetsuits. <SIGH> Thank heavens for that! A bit after 11am or so, we headed to have lunch with the employees and Barb brought us our boxed lunches. It was pretty good, a drink, turkey lettuce and tomato on a croissant, potato salad, and 3 beige desserts. The sandwich was more than enough for me and Josh had fun playing, I mean eating, the rice krispie squares. We hung out there for a while having lunch with a bunch of people, some of whom we had worked with earlier in the day.

After lunch, we hopped on a golf cart and went over to do some stuff with the sea lions. We went behind the scenes first and there was a harbor seal, Jessica, behind a “gate” in the hallway waiting for the vet to come look at her eye. When we went to the other end of the hall, they “gated” her near the entrance, where there was a push cart with stuff on it. While we were at the other end of the hallway working with Otis, she climbed up on the bottom shelf of the cart as if to say, “I’m ready to go, get me out of this hallway!” It was so adorable.

Anyway, after we worked down there for a bit, we went up to the exhibit. If you’ve ever been at SeaWorld at the Pacific Point Preserve when all of a sudden, all the sea lions take off to the other side of the exhibit because the trainers are feeding them the big fish – well, we got to do that feeding. And if you’re the family who thought it’d be great to stand close to us and watch us feed them, we’re really sorry about hitting your boy with the slimy, cold, dead fish and when you didn’t move after the first time it happened, and we accidentally did it again, we’re still very sorry. <tee hee hee>

Around 1:15ish? we made our way over to Wild Arctic to do the last of our last animal encounters. After the introductions, and figuring out which guy with the mustache was Jeff so I could sing Happy Birthday to him, we put on the Wild Arctic Base Station red coats. I know, in Florida, in July you don’t need coats, but we because after all, we were going into the “Arctic”. LOL Anyway, we got to do a bit of work with the Beluga Whales who were a bit skittish but still neat to work with. We shed our red coats and headed over to the Polar Bears, behind glass of course as there is NO human contact with the polar bears. Did you know polar bears hair isn’t white?? Next we went to visit the Walrus, Garfield. Wow – Very Cool! Jeff did a great job showing us around and talking to us about everything, but like with everything else, if it wasn’t hands on, Josh seem to be off in another world. Oh well, I still found it all very interesting! I am surprised how quickly I fell in love with each animal we worked with. Kind of like when you go to the pet store and go “awww, look at that one” over each and every animal, but on a much BIGGER scale!

It was around 2:15ish? when we basically finished our program. All we had to do was head back to get our stuff out of the lockers, then go to the front of the park to take a peak at our pictures. Getting our pictures was THE WORST part of the day. The photo staff was very unorganized, unfriendly, and it took at least a half an hour for us to get our package. There are no words to express how awful it was.

Once we got the pictures, Barb walked us out the main entrance and over to the taxi/bus pick-up area. Roger was, once again, waiting there for us and Barb walked us right up to the van. We said our thank yous and goodbyes and headed back to the hotel and napped for a while.

We went to the food court for supper and when we got back to the room to change to go swimming, I ask Josh to get his key for us to take to the pool since it has no charging privileges. After some searching, he informs me that he can’t find it or the ziplock pouch it was in. Oh and his park pass was in that too. ggrrrrrrrr Since we got his ticket replaced on Tuesday, I didn’t have a copy of the back of it. I figured it was as good as gone, so I sent him to the pool while I went to the front desk to get a new room key. I told them about the pass, that I didn’t buy it on property, didn’t have a copy and they said to check with Guest Services at one of the Parks anyway, sometimes they work miracles.

When I got to the pool, I told Josh what they said and told him that if they couldn’t replace it, I would buy him tickets for Epcot & Magic Kingdom for Saturday, but that he would have to pay me back when we got home. He asked how much that was going to be and I told him around $125. You should have seen his face! LOL

We went swimming and I actually hit the hot tub tonight. Though it was hot and humid all day, and still pretty warm at night, after a half an hour in the pool, the hot tub felt great. Back to the room, a quick call home for Josh, and lights out by 10pm.

 

[maine_jennifer]

Josh & Aunt Jen’s Florida Adventure – Day 8
Friday, July 30, 2004

Plan for the Day: SeaWorld, Rainforest Café, Cirque du Soleil

We get up and get a taxi to SeaWorld. I was planning on using the Lynx bus, but didn’t want to get up any earlier than I had to, so I decided to call for a cab around 8:30am. We get there a little after 9am. We check out the flamingos and turtles on the way. The continuing theme on this trip was that Josh walks about 50-75 feet ahead of me and always appears to be in a rush to get somewhere. I like to stroll, take in the sights and smells and atmosphere, you know, just take it all in. Today is no different and he seems to be in a hurry to get somewhere, but when we get there, he wants to go on to the next thing.

We check out the flamingos and turtles on our way to Dolphin Cove. They weren’t open for feeding yet, so we just watched them for a bit before we headed to the Manatee exhibit. The movie wasn’t playing and they were having difficulties, so we bypassed it and looked at them underwater. Again, in a mystical need to hurry, we go find our seats for the Dolphin Show at Key West.

Good show and though I’ve seen it before, I still enjoyed it. After that, we go through the Penguin Encounter & do some shopping. We decide to go grab our seats for Clyde & Seamore Take Pirate Island as we want to be there for the Mime preshow. We then head over to catch lunch at Voyagers Woodfire Pizza place. After a leisurely lunch for me, we go through the Shark Exhibit, check out the horses at the Clydesdale Hamlet and make our way down to the underwater viewing area by Shamu Stadium. We hang out there for about a half an hour. There’s not much we can do before we have to get our seats and I decided that for once, I just really want to sit and people watch.

Around 1:30pm, we get our seats and catch the show. It was neat seeing the baby orca swim by as we didn’t have any interaction with them the day before. People around us were talking about the “attack” at the SeaWorld in Texas. One thing we learned over the past two days was that these are trained wild animals, not domesticated animals. The people working them understand and accept that. It’s the public that freaks out when stuff like that happens.

Anyway, we go over and catch Wild Arctic, by land of course. Since Josh didn’t fare so well on Star Tours, I figured we better take the motionless ride to the Wild Arctic Base Station. Walking through the animals, Josh was, once again in a hurry. I could have stayed and watched them all for a long time, but I guess that will have to wait until next time.

We leave around 3:30pm or so, and get a cab to Downtown Disney. We head to the Basin so Josh can pick up something for his mom and get to Rainforest Café for our 4pm Priority Seating. We are seated promptly and have a nice meal. It was cute, but I think I was expecting more from what everyone said. I will definitely go back, though. The Rumble in the Jungle wrap was delicious!

We get done around 4:45pm and head down to the dock to get the boat to the West Side. It takes us right to Cirque du Soleil and we only have to wait a few minutes before they let us in. Cirque du Soleil is definitely worth the expense, at least in my opinion. I never wanted to pay that much, but I gave Josh a bunch of “extras” to could choose from and he picked this. When it was over, we grabbed the boat back to the Marketplace and then grabbed our boat back to the hotel.

Josh got his stuff together to go swimming and I decided to do some more laundry for myself before I hit the pool. Another great night for the hot tub, finish up the laundry and head back to the room. Quick call home for Josh and it’s lights out at 10pm.

 

[maine_jennifer]

Josh & Aunt Jen’s Florida Adventure – Day 9
Saturday, July 31, 2004

Plan for the Day: MGM for RNRC & TOT, Epcot, Magic Kingdom

Well, instead of going to Disney-MGM Studios to do Rock n RollerCoast and Tower of Terror, we have to go to Epcot to see if they can do anything about Josh’s lost pass. I honestly didn’t they could with no numbers, but Scott at Epcot Guest Services did some searching using my ticket as a point of reference, found his original, found the replacement, canceled it and issued him a new one. Needless to say, I held on to it this time.

We have a small wait before Epcot opens but head straight over to Test Track. The wait is about 15 minutes, so we decide to go with it. About 5 minutes into our wait, they come over and say there is a slight delay, so we decide to just get a Fast Pass for later in the day and head to Living Seas. Josh gets sidetracked in Innoventions playing Toon Tag, which is a real cute idea, but I was surprised him being the video game king he is, totally stunk at it!

We make our way to Living Seas & The Land. I wanted to try to eat at the Land, but at 11am, nothing was open yet. We do Journey Into Imagination and Honey I Shrunk the Audience. We grab the boat to Morocco, go to USA, have lunch, see the American Adventure, grab Josh a Turkey Leg, do Maelstrom and decide to head to Test Track now. I gave the CM our Fast Passes and he thanked us for finally coming back. It was about 3pm and our Fast Pass return time was 9:15-10:15am. He still accepted it and we went in. We got to about 3rd in line and the ride shut down completely and they asked everyone to please exit through the doors they came in from. We got ride shut down Fast Passes, which we gave away because we had a PS at Sci-Fi Dine In and I’m sorry but I will NOT miss that for a ride!

We hop on the boat to Disney-MGM Studios, do Muppet Vision 3-D, and chill out for a bit before our PS. Unfortunately, we were too late for lunch - I love the ham sandwiches here. Josh got the ribs, didn’t like them, so our server got him a corn dog, instead. He wasn’t very hungry anyway. I got the BBQ Chicken Sandwich, which was ok, but expensive and not my favorite ham sandwich. We finish up and make our way to the bus stop to the Ticket/Transportation Center and then grab the incoming Ferry to the Magic Kingdom.

Yes, I know Magic Kingdom on a Saturday, but that is how I end my Disney World visits. We do the Enchanted Tiki Room and ride the train for a bit before we head back to the hotel.

When we get back, we quickly pack up and go for a swim before Josh calls home and lights out at 10:30pm.

 

[maine_jennifer]

Josh & Aunt Jen’s Florida Adventure – Day 10
Sunday, August 1, 2004

Plan for the Day: Travel home

Not much to say for today. We get up around 4:50am, Bell Services shows up at 5:10am to pick up the refrigerator that we rented from A Baby’s Best Friend. Bell Services also agreed take the DIS stroller and transfer it to Old Key West for the next person who signed up to use it. Very nice of them, I thought.

Roger is there at 5:30am, we get to the airport, check in with no problem, grab breakfast and wait for to board the plane. The flight is uneventful, though my mother had fun making her way to Logan Airport in Boston. We hit Kelly’s in Saugus for Lunch, stopped at my one brother’s house where I pushed Josh, fully clothed, into the pool. When he was done, he grabbed his PJ’s, the only thing clean enough in his luggage, changed and we took him home.


FINAL THOUGHTS:

July – Hot & Humid, but doable if you allow enough time for rests and drink lots of water.

Traveling with a teenager – an interesting experience, but I think I’ll stick the 10yo’s for my other nieces and nephew. Teenagers are too easily bored by the things I like to do.

Sunray Transportation – the ONLY transportation service I’ll recommend from now on.

E-ride night – wonderful! Would do that again, but maybe try to do more than one so you can fit more stuff in.

Discovery Cove – OK to do on your own, don’t waste your money on the Trainer for a Day program.

SeaWorld – best done when you’re willing to go slow and take everything in. Rushing around, you miss things.

Marine Mammal Keeper Experience – Highly recommended if you like animals. Would be willing to pay the “expensive” fee to do it again in a heartbeat.

Thanks for staying with me this far. I’ll try and post restaurant/resort reviews tomorrow. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to PM me.

 

[tweetylori]

I didn't catch what hotel you were staying in.

Also, would you be my aunt please?

 

[Minniespal]

Great report ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[maine_jennifer]

We stayed at Port Orleans French Quarter. Sorry about that. I really didn't want to bother writing my trip reports right now and I guess I forgot that part.

 

[highlander447]

Your reports have been excellent thanks for sharing can u tell me what u thought of the french quarter we are booked there sept 2005 for 2 weeks first time staying on site at Disney would appreciate yor comments

 

[maine_jennifer]

Thanks for reading my reports.

I really like PO-FQ. It's smaller than other resorts so you can't *really* get a bad room. With only 1008 rooms, they're mostly all close to everything. The main building / food court / pool / bus stop are located in the middle of the resort with the room buildings on either side. A lot of other Disney resorts, you have to choose what you want to be close to because the main building may be the opposite location of the pool or food court. The pool was never too crowd and very refreshing at the end of the day. Hot tub was tucked away from the main pool, which I found relaxing. The Laundry fell between the two, so it's real easy to do while you're swimming. The CM's were friendly enough and very helpful. All in all, I would stay here again. Besides PO-FQ, I've only stayed at CSR and would choose PO-FQ from now on. Only bad thing about PO-FQ is the Pizza Delivery is expensive and the food is terrible. We were too lazy one night to walk the 1 minute to the food court, so we ordered from the Pizza Delivery. My nephew could eat pizza all day, every day, but he couldn't even one slice of the stuff.

If you have any specific questions, just let me know.

HTH,

 

[lulubelle]

Thanks so much for the detailed reviews. You two packed an awful lot of Disney vacation into each day

Am glad to hear you think Cirque is worth the $$$, I have been debating on weather or not to do it. How old is Josh? I hope he appreciates what a great Auntie he has

 

[highlander447]

Thanks for replying and the tip about the pizza we did that at RPR this year ordered in and where pretty disapointed too although it was an outside company

 

[deedee67]

Jennifer ~ thanks for writing such a long, detailed trip report. I really enjoyed it! Sounds like you really know how to plan a vacation. I hope Josh realizes how lucky he is to have an aunt like you.
Can you tell me how far in advance you had to book your Marine Mammal Keeper Experience and what the cost was for that? Thanks!

 

[maine_jennifer]

The MMKE costs $389 per person and I booked it 4 months ahead of time, though I do believe you can do it earlier than that. Now to all of you who just fainted, get up and keep reading. Only two people per day are allowed to do this and it runs from 6:30am-2:30pm. It's not for those who like usual behind the scenes tours where you get to see what's "backstage" or learn from a distance how things work. It's for the Marine Mammal lover who is willing to climb into a wetsuit, get in the water with a manatee, and can willingly and without a second thought shove their hands into a bucket of cold slimy dead fish to get that dolphin who's staring at you one of the big fish that's at the very bottom of the pail. To me, it was worth every penny, and I would pay it again in a heartbeat! I'm actually seriously considering spending my day or two at SeaWorld after our cruise in January instead of WDW. Shocking huh?

Here's the official blurb from SeaWorld. If you have any questions,
I'd be pleased to answer them.



Marine Mammal Keeper Experience

The ultimate animal career adventure! In this nine-hour program,
you'll don a wetsuit and boots on this incredible animal care
experience. Get a real-life look at what it takes to care for
SeaWorld animals. Experience the thrill of working alongside marine mammal experts and coming face-to-face with marine life. Get your hands wet as you prepare special diets and assist our Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Team, including veterinary staff, as they care for endangered manatees. Care for and interact with dolphins, beluga whales, sea lions and walruses.

Up to two guests per day, age 13 and older, can participate in the "Marine Mammal Keeper Experience" The program begins at 6:30 a.m. and includes lunch, a T-shirt, a career book and a seven-day pass to SeaWorld. Cost is $389 per person including tax.

Reservations for the "Marine Mammal Keeper Experience" can be made by calling 1-800-432-1178 (press 5), or by visiting the SeaWorld Behind- the-Scenes Tour counter inside the park.

 

[bigsis1970]

Glad you had a good trip with your nephew .. What a great report.
I am also traveling from ME to Boston for a flight .. which bus service did you use ? and who did you fly with out of Boston?