All Star Sports and Free Dining 8/19-8/27 (updated 10/8 with pics)

[kaysmommie]

Enjoying your trip report and all the pictures. Also read your last trip report offsite adventure. I agree GF is too fancy for us too! But we love the poly.

 

[ely3857]

Great stuff Shame about AAA but Budget came through



Jodie

 

[zigzagzerr]

Day 5 – Epcot and lunchin’ with the fish

The alarm woke us up at 7 this morning. We ate breakfast as usual in the room, downed our Nescafe, and were out the door by 8:15 for our adventure at Epcot!

As usual we had a little bit of a wait at the turnstiles before they let us in. And then another short wait with the Test Track crowd before the rope was dropped and we were led to the ride. Let me emphasize again that getting up for park opening is absolutely worth it – I know it’s a drag to wake up early on vacation and it’s also kind of a bummer to be standing at the turnstiles for 15 or 20 minutes. But it makes your park day SO much better. Okay, off my soapbox now.

We walked right into the preshow video at Test Track and were therefore in the first group of people to ride. DD just loves Test Track – she would ride 10 times if she could. After Test Track, we walked across the park to the Land pavilion to pick up fastpasses for Soarin’. I had intended for us to ride Living with the Land while we waited, but I obviously missed a memo – Living with the Land was down for rehab. Bummer! I like it...was sorry to miss it.

Since we had some time before our fast passes would be good, we wandered over to the Honey I Shrunk the Audience 3d show. I’m pretty sure we saw the first show of the day. There were about 30 people total in the audience (I guess everybody else in the park was off Soarin’). Of course, in this tiny tiny audience, we discovered our candidate for “mother of the year”. When her small child began screaming and crying midway through the show, did she exit through the doors to her left? No, of course not. She walked her child off to the right hand side of the theater. And left him huddled next to the curtain sobbing while she watched the rest of the show. Nice, huh? Even when the cast member came over to help them find the exit, she wouldn’t go. So yea for her. I must add that the rest of us in the theater found it enjoyable as well. Not.

But anyway….after we all gave mom the “look of death” on our way out and went skipping down the lane…..we walked down to the Living Seas pavilion to try and see Turtle Talk. Last time we were here, the line was pretty long. Guess what? It was pretty long this time, too. It took us two shows to get in, so probably close to 30 minutes. We were tickled that the child picked to talk to Crush was from Columbia, Maryland, which is within spitting distance of where we live. Small world….after all. This was a very cute show, but I wish they could find a better way (or a bigger theater). The line just winds around itself, there’s nothing to see while you wait. The Disney folks are trying though….they’ve set up a Kidcot station so that kids can color while their parents wait in line (that’s a kicker, ain’t it?).

After Crush (“dude!”), we were able to use our Soarin’ fastpasses. I love love love this ride. Especially flying over Main Street at Disneyland – brings back great memories for me. After we rode, we picked up another set of FP’s.

We walked onto Journey Into Your Imagination with no wait at all. There was only one group in front of us walking to the ride – and let me tell you, that hubby was having a good old time pinching wifey’s butt as they walked in! Later, after the ride, the wife was getting down and funky in the “make your own orchestra with your hands” thing. Even the CM there said it was too early in the morning for so much action!

We thought about riding Spaceship Earth but it had a line winding around outside, which was ridiculous. I don’t think I’ve ever waited to ride it, and wasn’t going to start now. So we decided to go ahead and check in for our 12 noon ADR at Coral Reef. We didn’t have to wait long to be seated. In fact, this was the one restaurant where I noticed they were taking walk-in’s.

I was not sure what we might be getting into by eating here. The Unofficial Guide does not have good things to say about the Coral Reef and it gets bad press here on the Dis also. Our server was Halil, and he was very proper and efficient. We were seated in the 3rd tier of booths, so did not have an up-close view of the fishies, but that was okay.

I was very amused by the family sitting in the booth next to us. There were 2 adults and 2 kids. None of whom ordered any seafood. At the Coral Reef. Both parents ordered steaks, and kid1 had chicken strips, kid2 had mac and cheese. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why they had chosen to eat here! They were on the dining plan, so all I can think is that maybe they couldn’t get reservations anywhere else. It just seemed really strange. Oh well, to each his own.

Now, me….I was ordering seafood for sure.

For appetizers, I had the shrimp cocktail – this was okay, nothing too exciting. The shrimp were medium sized – I would never have paid the $10 out of pocket cost for this, as it was not worth it. DD had the lobster bisque, which was creamy and very good. She was quite the soup guru on this trip. DH had the calamari, which had lots of breading, but was very very tasty.

Main courses:

Me -- Mahi Mahi, this came on top of small round pasta and had a light soy sauce over it. It was absolutely delicious, one of the best fish I’ve ever had, and I practically licked the plate.

DD – New York strip steak (weird child) with french fries. She ate every bite of her meat.

DH – Blackened catfish with pepper cheese grits. He declared it the best piece of catfish he had ever tasted. And he let me try a bite of the grits, which were awesome.

For dessert, DH and DD both picked the Chocolate Wave, which is like a big warm gooey brownie with chocolate filling and white chocolate ice cream. Yummy! After I took a taste, I wished I had ordered it, too. I chose the Butterscotch Crème Brulee, which was fine, just not as good as mondo plates of chocolate sitting next to me!

Overall, my family decided this was one of the best meals of the trip. Oh, bring a sweater for the restaurant – it’s highly air conditioned in there. Total with tax/tip was $138.80. Please shoot me if I ever spend that much on lunch in the real world!

Fat and happy, we left the Coral Reef and headed back to Soarin’ for a second trip. This time we got the first row…yea!

We headed toward World Showcase and exited Epcot through the International Gateway. Our plan was to find the footpath that takes you to MGM. When we asked the CM, she pointed us at the Friendship Boat sitting at the dock right outside Epcot, so we took the boat. It was pretty hot outside – probably better to ride instead of walking. We had decided to go to MGM in hopes of catching the afternoon showing of its new Stunt Show. On our last trip, we had tried to see it but got shut out by rain. Since we were not going to be in MGM again until our last day, I was worried that we might get rained out again. So we thought we’d give it a shot today. We made it to MGM in time and caught the 2:45 show – it was a long wait in those bleachers and very very hot outside, but we did manage to see it!

As soon as it was over, we left MGM and took the boat back to Epcot. At this point, we split up for about an hour. DH had called Disney Central Lost and Found to try and find the hat he accidently left in the Animal Kingdom on Tuesday. Believe it or not, they had found it and were holding it for him at the TTC. So at this point, he took the monorail over to the TTC to pick it up. He was much impressed with this system.

Meanwhile, DD and I dropped in to Club Cool to try the different coke products. No Beverly available this time, but we tried the other ones. It helped us cool down a little bit. We then rode Spaceship Earth with no line (score!). It stopped for awhile when we were close to the end. In fact, it was when we were facing backwards and going under the net of flashing bands of light. It was quite relaxing. Finally we got going again. We then walked over to the Land pavilion and saw the Circle of Life movie, because DD loves Simba. This would have been better if the couple behind us had stopped talking for even ONE MINUTE during the show – even their kids were telling them to be quiet.

We stopped at the Land food court and picked up a rice krispy treat and a couple of their yummy chocolate chip cookies – used 3 snack credits. Put all of it in the backpack for later. Then we met up with DH at the big fountain, and proceeded to run for cover as it was now raining big time.

We ducked under cover at the Kringla Bakeri counter service place in Norway, and decided this would be a good place to eat dinner. We had never eaten here before. We used 2 counter service credits and got: one ham sandwich, one turkey sandwich, a fruit cup, a bowl of potato and leek soup, 2 sodas, school bread and a sweet pretzel with almonds. Total was $30.27.

The sandwiches were very unimpressive, but the soup was terrific! I would get it again, given the opportunity. And it was perfect to eat while watching the rain come down. The school bread was like a huge cream filled donut, covered in coconut. I mean…HUGE! Between that and the sweet pretzel, the 3 of us were completely sugared out.

After dinner, we ducked into the ever popular Maelstrom with a 10 minute wait. We made sure to give the “loser” sign to all the fast pass holders walking by.

As we walked back over to Future World we passed by Test Track and the fast pass machines were working, so we got a set and then walked next door to ride Mission Space (the wimpy side – we had just eaten). We took our ride on Test Track and were then about ready to head out. We weren’t staying for the fireworks tonight, had that saved for another time.

On the way out, we stopped in at the Art of Disney store and I finally purchased the cross stitch kit I had been eyeing since June. I’ve been working it at home, and boy, is it ever big!

Then back home to our little room at the All Stars. We ate our snacks from the Land pavilion, watched I Love Lucy episodes, rested our tootsies, and thought about what a great vacation we were having.

Tomorrow would be early entry at the Magic Kingdom – to go or not to go?

 

[zigzagzerr]

Apparently I'm all alone out here!

More to come shortly.

 

[zigzagzerr]

To go or not to go...

Well, of course we would go. What a silly question. We had been to extra magic hour at the Magic Kingdom 5 years ago, and it was absolutely great! We had ridden all the Fantasyland rides, DH had gone on Space Mountain (since DD was only 5 at that point and wasn’t riding coasters yet). It was marvelous. It was perfection.

It was……quite different today.

We were up at 6:30 this morning to make early entry at the Magic Kingdom. We took the All Star bus over at about 7:15. As we waited for the park to open, I noticed the piles and piles of people arriving, packing into the space in front of the train station. Piles and piles and piles of people. Should I have thought about the fact that all the people at Disney this week were staying on resort and enjoying the free dining? Hmm….maybe so. Still, I found it surprising that so many folks would be up so early. There were not this many people at the regular park opening we had attended earlier in the week. That did not seem to bode well for us.

After the opening ceremony, we were let into the park and held up once again by the rope (but just for a few minutes). Then we all stormed over to Space Mountain. It didn’t work out too efficiently…they had us all line up at the entrance (a very very long line by the time they started letting us in at about 8:15). People were picking up fast passes like crazy while we waited. We then rode Buzz Lightyear, and made our way over to Fantasyland. Winnie the Pooh already had a huge line, so we went over to Snow White (traditionally a bit less crowded). Here is where we hit the big snag of the morning. We got onto the ride vehicle, with another group in the back seat of our car. We rode into the attraction. And stopped. And the lights came on. Then the lights turned off. The vehicle moved about 3 feet. And stopped. And again the lights came on. This happened about 6 times. I couldn’t help but think of ZZub’s trip report about being in Space Mountain when the lights came on and how nobody should see the ride this way. Let me tell you….the Snow White ride ain’t too pretty with the lights on, either. All told, we sat in the ride vehicles for a good 15 minutes, before the Cast Members came around to let us out, and walk us back out to the front. They handed out fast passes to everybody, good that day for any attraction in the Magic Kingdom.

At this point, it was almost 9 am and time for the Magic Kingdom to open up to everybody. We waited at a rope by the castle, which for some unknown reason, did not have a cast member manning it. Since nobody came to release it when the park opened, we all went under and over it. And joined the massive rush of humanity heading toward Splash Mountain. I mean, these crowds were huge. We just kind of followed along with the mob (not like we had a choice anyway). We got onto Splash with about a 10 minute wait. The thing I love about this ride is that it’s not just a “hike you up a big hill, and down the flume you go” kinda thing. It’s a very long ride, tons of scenes and story. I especially love the room you go into after the big drop with the riverboat and the singing. Fantastic!

After Splash we picked up fast passes for later, and went next door to ride Big Thunder Mountain. This was also about a 10 minute wait. So far we were hanging tough through this extra unmagical morning.

Another small snag in the plan next. We walked over to ride the Jungle Cruise and saw a massive line waiting to get in. We figured out that it was because the Cruise was not open until 10 and all these folks were standing around just waiting for it to be 10. Doesn’t sound fun to me. We skipped it for now. We then tried again for our elusive Dole Whip…..but, foiled again. The stand was not open yet. Shooting blanks this morning.

So….we went to ride Pirates. The sign said a 30 minute wait, but it was actually about 10 minutes. Still loving this.

It was time to use our Splash fast passes, so off we went. Wet and happy afterwards, we decided to start thinking about lunch. I knew we would want to eat early, because we had early dinner reservations at Le Cellier (4:20 pm, I know that’s not a great time, but I was happy to get them at all).

DD was all for going to Pecos Bills for burgers again (as she always is), but DH and I decided we should go for something different. It’s been quite awhile since we ate at Columbia Harbor House, but we remembered enjoying it in the past. It always seems a little quieter than some of the other MK counter service. We used 2 counter service credits and ordered the fried fish/chicken combo (comes with fries), and the ½ tuna sandwich with clam chowder. We got 2 soft drinks and 2 mini chocolate cakes. Don’t remember the total but probably around $22. Everything was fresh and hot, and we very much enjoyed our lunch. The clam chowder was also a big hit. And these mini chocolate cakes were not the death traps that the peanut butter brownies at Pecos Bills were. Thank goodness.

After lunch, we walked next door to ride the Haunted Mansion one more time. Fun fun fun!

Then I was determined, once and for all, to get my Dole Whip! We had stopped at the stand numerous times over the course of the week, to no avail. Nothing was going to stop us this time. DH got into the (of course) long long line that barely moved. He waited forever. At one point, I even gestured at him that he should give up, but he refused. Then fate finally smiled upon us…..another window opened up and DH was first in line! SUCCESS!!!!! The Dole Whip was refreshing, delicious….and well earned.

After scarfing down our pineapple delight before it melted, we walked in front of the castle and back over to Tomorrowland. After all, we still had our “anywhere Fast Pass” from this morning at Snow White. We used it to ride Space Mountain, and then decided it was time to book our little behinds out of this very crowded park.

Bottom line on morning EMH – during free dining in August, it’s not so magical.

Once again we had good transportation kharma and caught a Monorail right away. Off to Epcot!! We arrived at around 1 pm.

Hmm, this must be Dale. He was having a great time spraying himself (and everyone else) with the mister fans!

Went first thing to Test Track for fast passes – got some that were good for 3:25 – 4:25. With surprise fast passes for Mission Space that were good right away. That was cool! So we rode Mission Space, the green weenie side. It was sprinkling outside when we came out.

Luckily for us, right outside the Mission Space exit, the Jammitors were setting up to play. So we settled on a bench to watch. You know, I am not a “sit still” kinda gal, so a lot of times I am commando touring and miss the great details Disney is so famous for. I was determined not to do that today. So we sat peacefully and watched a fun show. Definitely worth it to stop and smell the roses sometimes.

We took a stroll up the left hand side of World Showcase, since we still had some time before our Test Track passes were good. We watched the 2:55 acrobat show in China – they held it inside the pavilion due to the rain. It was absolutely wonderful. These kids have the most tremendous sense of balance. The one girl was balanced on a unicycle and catching bowls on her head – and she NEVER missed, not even once. I could have watched them all day. If you get a chance to see them, do it. They’re incredible.

After the show, we scooted back over to Test Track. Apparently we had amazing ride kharma this afternoon. Test Track had just opened up again after the rain, so we flashed our fast passes and walked right into an empty attraction. And straight into the cars. Very cool!!!

We took another trip into our Imaginations (we all sang along with Figment), and then it was time for the ultimate in Dis nirvana – our ADR at Le Cellier. We had never eaten here before, but were very excited to try it. We were still a little bit early so we stopped to see part of Off Kilter’s set. Everybody watching the show was greatly amused by this one lady who was rockin’ out to the music. She had her yard of beer and was dancing up a storm! Plus she knew all the words, too! The Off Kilter groupie – I love it!

Alas, we had to leave her for now – dinner awaited us. We only had to wait about 5 minutes to be seated. Our server was Bradley, and he was very nice.

Both DD and I had the cheese soup as a starter. I thought it was yummy, DD was not impressed (go figure, and she’s the soup nazi this trip). DH had the smoked salmon and crab appetizer, which was very nice, but a little too much in the raw fish department for me. He also had ice tea to drink, while DD and I went for the mango smoothies. Yummo!

this is the crab and smoked salmon appetizer

For dinner, I had the maple filet mignon with cream cheese mashed potatoes. This was delicious. DH had the mushroom filet which he thought was a fine hunk o meat. DD had some kind of shrimp pasta thing, which she enjoyed also.

in the front is the mushroom filet mignon, the shrimp pasta in the back

For dessert, between the 3 of us, we had the maple crème brulee, the cobbler, and the sorbet sampler. Everything was good.

mmmmm..............

We were very very full at this point. Total charged to the dining plan was $160.71. This was a fine fine meal and we enjoyed it, but I would not be happy if we had paid this much out of pocket. That’s an awful lot of money. But for free….it was mighty fine!

After dinner, we watched another Off Kilter set. The groupie lady was still there. She had poured the remainder of her beer into her Wilderness Lodge refillable mug (gives a whole new meaning to “refillable”, doesn’t it?). She made the show even more entertaining than it was!

After Off Kilter, we walked over to England to see a set from the British Invasion. We had settled down on the front steps of one of the buildings, directly across from the bandstand. So when the rain started coming down, we ended up being the only ones under cover – score one for our team! We did offer a spot to the pregnant lady walking by, but she turned us down.

Before and during the show, we got a total kick out of this little girl who was standing in the front of the bandstand, putting on her own performance. She was doing ballet moves and twirls, and leaps. Very very cute! Anyway, we enjoyed the British Invasion, being big Beatles fans.

the "extra" entertainment!

From there we continued to work our way around World Showcase. We stopped to watch the drummers in Japan – they were very good. While there, we timed it right and got a chance to watch the candy lady in Japan. DD was very respectful and calm, which I think is why the candy lady chose her to make an animal. I have to say, I think this was the highlight of DD’s trip. As I said, I think that the candy lady purposefully likes to pick the kids who aren’t being pushy and rude, so something to keep in mind. After she had picked the last kid, some mom came up and announced that she REALLY wanted her daughter to get a candy animal. You have to hand it to the candy lady – she simply said no, she was finished for this show. The creations she made were incredible. And she makes them so quickly!

a somewhat closer view

We continued around World Showcase, and stopped in Germany to window shop and look around. There are always a lot of folks wandering the Germany area because there is BEER! DH picked up a beer for himself, a Riesling for me, and a soft pretzel for DD. We proceeded to sit on a bench in the middle of everything, and just people watch. This is the first time we made a point of kicking back in Epcot and seeing some of the shows in World Showcase, and it was a big hit with the whole family. Including me. So, the game plan will have to be different in Epcot from now on.

After our snack, we continued walking and made it all the way back around to England again, where we caught the very tail end of another British Invasion set. By this time, we needed to find a spot for Illuminations. We found an excellent spot at the rail on the bridge just past the International Gateway. In fact, if you look down from this bridge, you can see all the boats lined up taking the Illuminations Cruise. We figured if the boats were parked here, it had to be a good spot, so we plopped our fannies down to wait for about ½ hour. Know what? Turns out this is an awesome spot to see the fireworks. We invited a little boy from the family behind us, to come join us in front, so he could see. Great view! Great fireworks. Everybody around us was in a festive mood. I didn’t hear any bad tempers at all. (and you know, that made the night even better).

I explained to DH that we were NOT powerwalking out of the park, that he must slow down (who is this woman speaking? Do I know her?). So we joined the crowds for a leisurely stroll out of Epcot. In fact we walked down into Future World over to the side, by the Imagination and Land pavilions, where it was less crowded. And then we just followed everybody to the bus stops. Yes, it’s true – we did not have our car with us today (do you remember way back to the morning, when we took the bus to MK EMH?). This was the first time we got to experience taking the bus back to the resort after park closing. The All Star Sports line was very friendly and easy going. We chatted with the folks in front of us – just like everybody else we seemed to chat with on this trip, they were waxing poetic on how wonderful it was that they didn’t have to drive themselves anywhere in the World.

We were able to get onto the second bus with no trouble and were back at the All Stars within ½ hour of leaving the park. So, overall based on our limited experience with the All Star buses – I give them a big thumbs up.

We popped over to food court to fill up the mug – still utter chaos over there (sense a theme?).

To room, to bed.

 

[bookworm61]

Thanks for the updates to your report. I am enjoying reading about your trip. More soon, I hope.

 

[tinkerbell87512]

im really enjoying this report! your pictures came out really good as well! cant wait to read more!

 

[DaisyLynn]

Love your report even more with each update! Thanks for the awesome pics...that elephant is just too cute!

 

[zigzagzerr]

Oh…..don’t you hate the last day?

Me too.

The good news is that we weren’t actually going home today. We were leaving Disney proper, but would be spending the next 2 nights at the Hilton in Downtown Disney. So it wasn’t quite as agonizing as it could have been.

Anyway, we were up bright and early, knowing that we had to check out of the All Stars today. And that today would be our last day in the parks. DH was out of the room early to take a few last pictures of the resort and to fill up our mug with Nescafe one more time.

Fortunately, we had packed up much of the stuff the night before. We had a quick breakfast of granola bars and fruit in the room. Did the Express Checkout, so we didn’t have to wait in line. Just hopped into the car and headed off to start our day at MGM.

We arrived right at opening. DH and DD headed off to ride the Tower of Terror, while I went to the left at the end of Sunset and got fast passes for Rock and Roller Coaster. I quickly picked them up and settled down on a nice shady wall to people watch and wait.

I have ridden the Tower of Terror twice, once in each of the last two trips. However, last time I rode it, I really thought I was gonna freak out right there in front of everybody. Don’t know why. Normally, the freaking out scared feeling will stop once you’ve actually done whatever it is that scares you. Anyway, I really hated the “being dropped” feeling, and I decided at that point (after riding it last trip) that I didn’t wanna do it again. ’Nuff said.

It took them quite awhile to meet me – there must have been a big crowd over there. Once they arrived, we jumped into the stand by line at Rock and Roller Coaster and then rode again right away using the fast passes.

After all these fast and furious rides, we decided to chill out a bit by taking the Animation tour. Oh my gosh, how pitiful this is now! No more animators, just a movie, and then it drops you off in the animation courtyard. We could have waited for the animation class, but weren’t sure how long it would be. We did enjoy the machines that figure out which Disney character you would be – I was Cinderella, DH was Buzz Lightyear, and DD was the Queen of Hearts (no surprise there!)

DH showing his buffly form with the Incredibles!

After picking up fast passes for Star Tours, we watched the Muppetvision 3D, which we always love. We decided on an early lunch (it was about 11:30 at this point) at Pizza Planet. The 3 of us shared two pizza combo meals (one cheese, one pepperoni) – they come with a green salad. We had 2 root beers, and for dessert, shared a sugar cookie and a rice krispy treat. Total charged to the dining plan was $26.14. We thought everything here tasted good and was pretty fresh.

We had eaten the early lunch in hopes of then catching the first presentation of the Indiana Jones stunt show. On our last visit, seeing this show was pure craziness. This time was much calmer – we arrived a little bit early and got good seats up front and to the left hand side facing the stage. So it’s a good tip for these really popular shows, to try to see the first one of the day. You’ll save yourself some aggravation. We had a great view of all the action and enjoyed it a lot.

Had to take this picture. Guilty pleasure, anyone?

After the show, we used our fast passes to see Star Tours. Although the movie could use updating, we still like it. On our way back to the front of the park, we stopped and saw Sounds Dangerous. We don’t have the horrible reaction that some do to this attraction – is it fabulous? No. But it’s fine for what it is.

After a last spin on the Great Movie Ride (about a 10 minute wait – smallest wait we’ve encountered here this whole week), we headed out of the park. I have discovered that, for me, the best way to experience MGM is in smaller chunks. There are so many theater presentations here, and obviously you can’t hit the first showings of all of them in one day, and avoid the crowds. Some of these shows, if you don’t go to the first one of the day, you’ll be muttering bad words as you stomp through the park. It gets me very frustrated and I often feel like cattle waiting in those long lines. So anyway, if I get to see this park in 2 or 3 small blocks of time, I’m much happier. Just a thought for those of you who feel the same way.

It was now around 1:30 pm, the sky was spitting again, and we were headed off for our final visit to the Magic Kingdom. It’s drizzling a bit harder when we get to the parking lot. We are seated in the very last row of the tram, and the tram driver says that once it starts really raining, they pull all the parking lot guys out of the rain. This means that parking becomes a “free for all” experience. Glad we missed that…..


Anyway, we get to the Magic Kingdom gates and DD and I run to get fast passes for Splash Mountain while DH (a glutton for punishment) gets in line for a Dole Whip again. We meet up with him at the Jungle Cruise, and finish up our pineapply treat while waiting in line. We next go to ride Pirates. This was a complete walk in. The group ahead of us and our clan just walked all the way through the empty line and hopped into the boat. We got to sit in the front row. This is the only day of our trip where there wasn’t a line. It was great, and our 2 groups were the only ones in the boat, so it felt like our own special cruise.

After escaping the pirates and taking a potty break, we noticed that the rain was now coming down in buckets. People were huddled in raingear waiting for the 3 pm parade. Didn’t look too promising, in my opinion. What to do? Ponchos on! Off we go to Splash Mountain. We had our fast passes but there was no one in line, so we rode standby. When we got off, we rode standby again. And when we got off, we rode standby for yet a 3rd time. In fact we never used our fast passes at all! Didn’t need to. Let me just say….and those of you who have been in the Magic Kingdom in the middle of the afternoon know what I’m talking about here….riding Splash Mountain 3 times in a row with no line in the middle of the afternoon….what a treat! We were such happy campers, we could care less if it was raining.

We went on the Haunted Mansion and then Small World (with a line…oy!). We picked up fast passes for a final spin on Space Mountain later, and then went for an early dinner at Cosmic Ray’s. Now, I know from the dis boards that we should have gotten the chicken and rib combo. But alas, we all ordered the burger combos with fries. Unfortunately, these burgers must have been sitting awhile, as they had that lovely hockey puck taste to them. Not the best for our final dining plan foray. $37.61 was the final tab. But we were okay with it. We enjoyed watching Sunny Eclipse and were tickled to death to see our “dancing girl” from Epcot there, dressed to the 9’s in her princess gear! With the sheer amount of wonderful meals we had enjoyed this week, I’m willing to overlook one mediocre (and free!) counter service experience.

After dinner, we wandered back over to Fantasyland and picked up fast passes for Peter Pan (I wanted that to be our final ride of the trip) and then saw Mickey’s Philharmagic. We used our fast passes at Space Mountain, took a last trip through the Carousel of Progress and the TTA.

Now let’s chat about fast passes and Peter Pan. Fast passes do not seem to work well on Peter Pan. We waited a LONG time in the fast pass line, listening to lady behind us scream at her various offspring. Finally got to ride and it was great, as always.

For our last and final treat at Disney, we walked over to Sleepy Hollow near the Hall of Presidents and each got an ice cream treat. DH and I each had the decadent and wonderful homemade ice cream cookie sandwiches (best treat in the park) and DD chose a root beer float. These were the final 3 snack credits on the dining plan. It perfectly topped off our magical vacation. What a great week.

We walked out of the Magic Kingdom at around 8:30 pm and drove over to the Hilton at Downtown Disney, our home for 2 nights. We found our room to be very nice and the beds exceptionally comfortable. Heard no noise at all from anyone. We drifted off to sleep happy and satisfied.

Coming up – Downtown Disney, swimming and Bahama Breeze!

 

[DebIreland]

Great job! No Beaker in this TR?

I'm really enjoying the report. Love your writing style and your positive attitute! Keep up the good work!