Friday July 9, 2004
Today was our last day at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I woke up feeling sad that I never really explored AKL like I wanted to. After the parks all day, I was always too tired to go down to the lounges, to do the night vision, to hang out in the lobby, by the firepit, to go out onto Arusha Rock, and so much more. Chad did indeed do these things every night as the rest of us conked out on the beds, so he was very satisfied. AKL has a warmly inviting atmosphere, slow-paced, very relaxing in it's appeal to me. I'd love to visit it again one day.
Anyway, enough boo hooing, we mistakenly thought it was EMH at MGM, so we rushed and got to MGM at 7:45. There was a short line at the turnstiles, and I thought this is great, we'll practically have the place to ourselves. Well, as it got closer to 8 AM, we saw no evidence of any CMs getting ready to open up. We saw them sweeping and roaming around. There was a suit talking to people, seemingly picked at random, asking questions about how they liked the parks, where they're from, how old their kids were. I didn't know if he was choosing them for something special or what. When it was 8:15, I finally said to the family behind us that it's not fair for Disney to make us miss out on 15 minutes of our valuable EMH time, and I was informed that EMH was tomorrow. So we had an hour of standing to do. Mom and Jesse went to sit by the restrooms, and Chad and I held our spots. Chad was determined to be the first to ride RnR, so I said why not, let's go for it like the other lunatics LOL! The line got very long, and the time went by fast. Soon, a CM came to make an announcement.
He shouted to the crowd that the Studios would open in exactly 5 minutes, and that "rope Drop" would begin exactly 5 minutes after that. Those who wanted RnR---stay on the right. Those who wanted ToT---stay on the left. (Is that right??) The MGM music came on, and a welcome message. It was exciting, as this was our first real opening. There were 2 CM ahead, one with a RnR outfit on and one with a ToT outfit on. We all had to stand behind them as they watched the clock. When it was exactly 9 AM, they started walking slowly forward, with the huge crowd behind them, and they kept turning around to tell people to stay behind them. Chad, Jesse, and I linked arms and walked directly behind the RnR guy, and I told Chad I was going to grab onto the guy's belt so he could drag us along . People on the sides, especially kids, would go ahead of the CM, because they were on the sidewalk and the CMs were in the street, but the CMs told them to move back. It was very controlled, and the CMs did it without being rude. As we got closer to the attractions, the CMs all of a sudden said "GO FOR IT"! Everyone took off running like mad, and it was hilarious! I was laughing so hard while I ran that I couldn't keep up with Chad and Jesse, who were still holding on to each other. So Chad slowed down for me, and darn it we were the third family to ride RnR LOL! Oh well, I spoiled Chad's big dream, but I was actually doubling over with laughter as I saw kids and grammas and dads with strollers and people falling out of their flip flops all running to get to the rides. We lost Mom way back, but she knew where we were heading. She wasn't doing the rides anyway. We had her trained to meet us in the ride gift-shops.
Anyway, we loved RnR, did ToT, saw Beauty and the Beast, which was lovely, traded some pins with CMs. I was in desperate search for Tapestry of Dreams/Nations pins, but no one had any. I couldn't even find any to buy. Those are the only pins I was interested in collecting, because I LOVED that parade and was crushed when I found out they got rid of it. We ate fast food here and there, went into all the shops, and really enjoyed the pace. By noon, it was beginning to get crowded, and hot hot hot. We did the animations tour, which was nice, and had a chance to cool off. We had our pics taken with Lilo and Stitch, did WWTBAM, had an all-around wonderful time. We didn't have a chance to to the Great movie Ride, which I knew Mom would like, but we wanted to see the parade and head back to AKL for a rest, since we were doing E-night later on.
This was our first time seeing the Stars and Motor Cars Parade, and it was a good parade. But the sun was so hot, it was very uncomfortable. That week, I believe it was 96 degrees every day. I felt sorry for the characters in the parade, they must have been ready to drop at the end. But the parade itself was great, with so many characters. We were waving to them, and they were waving back, so much fun.
Back to AKL by 5. I began packing, since we were checking out and checking into the Contemporary the next day. I planned on doing laundry, but just didn't feel like it. We had enough clean clothes to last us our last couple of days.
We snacked on cakes and goodies we brought with us, since none of us were really hungry, and Mom and Jesse went to fill our mugs. We relaxed on the balcony until it was time to go over to MK.
We got there at about 8 PM, and went to get our E-night wrist bands. The line was long, but moved fast. It was so nice to see MK as the sun went down, to see the lights start to come on. I wanted to take a train ride, but that didn't work out. The area around the train station was so crowded with people getting their Spectro/Wishes spots. I wasn't even sure if the train ran that late. When Spectro began, we were right by where it turned, by the entrance to MK.
Spectromagic is absolutely spectacular. Maybe my family is easy to please, but we were like little kids, so loving this parade. It really is magical, all those lights in the dark, the energy, the fantsay, the characters in lights...it makes me home sick for WDW just thinking about it. Mom had never seen anything like this before, and was teary-eyed with it's spectacle. She loved the three little pigs! And when Cinderella came by in her coach with Prince Charming, (sigh) it was so magical for me. It was very crowded, but everyone was polite, and there were no problems at all. After, we walked toward the castle to get ready for Wishes!!!
We were SO looking forward to this, having never seen it, and I had spent so much time on the Dis reading about the best spots to watch it. Well, I coldn't remember any of it, but things worked out perfectly. We got fairly close to the castle, and sat ourselves down in the middle of the street. People started doing the same, and we all waited, and watch the castle changing colors. Then it began!! The music, the fireworks, Tinkerbell flying so close right over our heads, it was wonderful. I sat with my two sons close to me and I had my arms around them, wanting to keep this going forever. They'll grow up, move out, have lives of their own, but we'll always remember the bond we felt as we sat there watching Wishes. Disney truly can bring people closer, stirring emotions that you want to share with your loved ones, where you can just let go and be yourself, and laugh and cry with joy and really appreciate the magic. This is a precious memory for us.
After Wishes, people started leaving the MK, but not us, since it was E-night. We took pics with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto. This was the REAL Mickey LOL, not farmer Mickey or Luau Mickey or safari Mickey. Mom said she never knew that Goofy was so cool! We were getting crushes on Mickey and Goofy!
E-night was great. The place was empty. Mom bought us 4 lighted retractable plastic swords, ans we swashbuckled while we walked. We made calls to my DH and my Dad, and asked them if they could hear the Disney music playing in the background. So This Is Love was playing...i love that song.
Haunted Mansion was fun, and Spalsh and BTM. What a different experience doing the mountains in the dark. I absolutely love Splash Mountain, with all the animatronics. I found a hidden Mickey...a fishing floaty thing shaped with the head and two ears. oh yeah, I'd read about the wedding ring in the cement outside HM, and I asked a CM about it. He was so into character, telling the whole gruesome story of the bridal couple, and he told me where to find the ring. I went back to the exit, under the last part of the canopy, but couldn't see a thing in the dark. I had my lighted sword and I pointed it at the ground, and people exiting the ride thought I'd lost someting. I told them I was looking for the wedding ring from the HM story, but none knew what i was talking about. But I found it! It's supposedly not really an intentional ring, but part of the construction that looked like a diamond rin, so Disney played it up. Whatever, I saw the ring! I went back where my family waited, they were still talking to the spooky CM, and a woman CM joined them, and spooked the heck out of Jesse.
POC was closed, which was a big disapointment, because it's a classic.
At closing, we went to Casey's and had hot dogs and fries, sat at a nice outside table facing the castle, and listened to the Kiss Goodnight. I was so teary, I just couldn't hold it in. Many of my friends and extended family laugh at my reactions to things Disney, but I know my Dis friends know what I mean.
We walked arm in arm in arm in arm all the way to the bus, where we were entertained by a CM singing Disney songs. Back at AKL, we spent some time on the balcony, since this would be our last night there. Then we went to bed, exhausted, happy, and grateful for the blessing of this trip.
Tomorrow, the plan was to check out, check-in to CR, have the bags transferred over, and make it to out Storybook Princess Breakfast at Epcot by 10:30 am.
Today was our last day at Animal Kingdom Lodge. I woke up feeling sad that I never really explored AKL like I wanted to. After the parks all day, I was always too tired to go down to the lounges, to do the night vision, to hang out in the lobby, by the firepit, to go out onto Arusha Rock, and so much more. Chad did indeed do these things every night as the rest of us conked out on the beds, so he was very satisfied. AKL has a warmly inviting atmosphere, slow-paced, very relaxing in it's appeal to me. I'd love to visit it again one day.
Anyway, enough boo hooing, we mistakenly thought it was EMH at MGM, so we rushed and got to MGM at 7:45. There was a short line at the turnstiles, and I thought this is great, we'll practically have the place to ourselves. Well, as it got closer to 8 AM, we saw no evidence of any CMs getting ready to open up. We saw them sweeping and roaming around. There was a suit talking to people, seemingly picked at random, asking questions about how they liked the parks, where they're from, how old their kids were. I didn't know if he was choosing them for something special or what. When it was 8:15, I finally said to the family behind us that it's not fair for Disney to make us miss out on 15 minutes of our valuable EMH time, and I was informed that EMH was tomorrow. So we had an hour of standing to do. Mom and Jesse went to sit by the restrooms, and Chad and I held our spots. Chad was determined to be the first to ride RnR, so I said why not, let's go for it like the other lunatics LOL! The line got very long, and the time went by fast. Soon, a CM came to make an announcement.
He shouted to the crowd that the Studios would open in exactly 5 minutes, and that "rope Drop" would begin exactly 5 minutes after that. Those who wanted RnR---stay on the right. Those who wanted ToT---stay on the left. (Is that right??) The MGM music came on, and a welcome message. It was exciting, as this was our first real opening. There were 2 CM ahead, one with a RnR outfit on and one with a ToT outfit on. We all had to stand behind them as they watched the clock. When it was exactly 9 AM, they started walking slowly forward, with the huge crowd behind them, and they kept turning around to tell people to stay behind them. Chad, Jesse, and I linked arms and walked directly behind the RnR guy, and I told Chad I was going to grab onto the guy's belt so he could drag us along . People on the sides, especially kids, would go ahead of the CM, because they were on the sidewalk and the CMs were in the street, but the CMs told them to move back. It was very controlled, and the CMs did it without being rude. As we got closer to the attractions, the CMs all of a sudden said "GO FOR IT"! Everyone took off running like mad, and it was hilarious! I was laughing so hard while I ran that I couldn't keep up with Chad and Jesse, who were still holding on to each other. So Chad slowed down for me, and darn it we were the third family to ride RnR LOL! Oh well, I spoiled Chad's big dream, but I was actually doubling over with laughter as I saw kids and grammas and dads with strollers and people falling out of their flip flops all running to get to the rides. We lost Mom way back, but she knew where we were heading. She wasn't doing the rides anyway. We had her trained to meet us in the ride gift-shops.
Anyway, we loved RnR, did ToT, saw Beauty and the Beast, which was lovely, traded some pins with CMs. I was in desperate search for Tapestry of Dreams/Nations pins, but no one had any. I couldn't even find any to buy. Those are the only pins I was interested in collecting, because I LOVED that parade and was crushed when I found out they got rid of it. We ate fast food here and there, went into all the shops, and really enjoyed the pace. By noon, it was beginning to get crowded, and hot hot hot. We did the animations tour, which was nice, and had a chance to cool off. We had our pics taken with Lilo and Stitch, did WWTBAM, had an all-around wonderful time. We didn't have a chance to to the Great movie Ride, which I knew Mom would like, but we wanted to see the parade and head back to AKL for a rest, since we were doing E-night later on.
This was our first time seeing the Stars and Motor Cars Parade, and it was a good parade. But the sun was so hot, it was very uncomfortable. That week, I believe it was 96 degrees every day. I felt sorry for the characters in the parade, they must have been ready to drop at the end. But the parade itself was great, with so many characters. We were waving to them, and they were waving back, so much fun.
Back to AKL by 5. I began packing, since we were checking out and checking into the Contemporary the next day. I planned on doing laundry, but just didn't feel like it. We had enough clean clothes to last us our last couple of days.
We snacked on cakes and goodies we brought with us, since none of us were really hungry, and Mom and Jesse went to fill our mugs. We relaxed on the balcony until it was time to go over to MK.
We got there at about 8 PM, and went to get our E-night wrist bands. The line was long, but moved fast. It was so nice to see MK as the sun went down, to see the lights start to come on. I wanted to take a train ride, but that didn't work out. The area around the train station was so crowded with people getting their Spectro/Wishes spots. I wasn't even sure if the train ran that late. When Spectro began, we were right by where it turned, by the entrance to MK.
Spectromagic is absolutely spectacular. Maybe my family is easy to please, but we were like little kids, so loving this parade. It really is magical, all those lights in the dark, the energy, the fantsay, the characters in lights...it makes me home sick for WDW just thinking about it. Mom had never seen anything like this before, and was teary-eyed with it's spectacle. She loved the three little pigs! And when Cinderella came by in her coach with Prince Charming, (sigh) it was so magical for me. It was very crowded, but everyone was polite, and there were no problems at all. After, we walked toward the castle to get ready for Wishes!!!
We were SO looking forward to this, having never seen it, and I had spent so much time on the Dis reading about the best spots to watch it. Well, I coldn't remember any of it, but things worked out perfectly. We got fairly close to the castle, and sat ourselves down in the middle of the street. People started doing the same, and we all waited, and watch the castle changing colors. Then it began!! The music, the fireworks, Tinkerbell flying so close right over our heads, it was wonderful. I sat with my two sons close to me and I had my arms around them, wanting to keep this going forever. They'll grow up, move out, have lives of their own, but we'll always remember the bond we felt as we sat there watching Wishes. Disney truly can bring people closer, stirring emotions that you want to share with your loved ones, where you can just let go and be yourself, and laugh and cry with joy and really appreciate the magic. This is a precious memory for us.
After Wishes, people started leaving the MK, but not us, since it was E-night. We took pics with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto. This was the REAL Mickey LOL, not farmer Mickey or Luau Mickey or safari Mickey. Mom said she never knew that Goofy was so cool! We were getting crushes on Mickey and Goofy!
E-night was great. The place was empty. Mom bought us 4 lighted retractable plastic swords, ans we swashbuckled while we walked. We made calls to my DH and my Dad, and asked them if they could hear the Disney music playing in the background. So This Is Love was playing...i love that song.
Haunted Mansion was fun, and Spalsh and BTM. What a different experience doing the mountains in the dark. I absolutely love Splash Mountain, with all the animatronics. I found a hidden Mickey...a fishing floaty thing shaped with the head and two ears. oh yeah, I'd read about the wedding ring in the cement outside HM, and I asked a CM about it. He was so into character, telling the whole gruesome story of the bridal couple, and he told me where to find the ring. I went back to the exit, under the last part of the canopy, but couldn't see a thing in the dark. I had my lighted sword and I pointed it at the ground, and people exiting the ride thought I'd lost someting. I told them I was looking for the wedding ring from the HM story, but none knew what i was talking about. But I found it! It's supposedly not really an intentional ring, but part of the construction that looked like a diamond rin, so Disney played it up. Whatever, I saw the ring! I went back where my family waited, they were still talking to the spooky CM, and a woman CM joined them, and spooked the heck out of Jesse.
POC was closed, which was a big disapointment, because it's a classic.
At closing, we went to Casey's and had hot dogs and fries, sat at a nice outside table facing the castle, and listened to the Kiss Goodnight. I was so teary, I just couldn't hold it in. Many of my friends and extended family laugh at my reactions to things Disney, but I know my Dis friends know what I mean.
We walked arm in arm in arm in arm all the way to the bus, where we were entertained by a CM singing Disney songs. Back at AKL, we spent some time on the balcony, since this would be our last night there. Then we went to bed, exhausted, happy, and grateful for the blessing of this trip.
Tomorrow, the plan was to check out, check-in to CR, have the bags transferred over, and make it to out Storybook Princess Breakfast at Epcot by 10:30 am.
