Everybody up and at'em! Wake up sleepyheads!
On my customary early morning stroll to the food court this morning, I used up some snack credits on a couple of bottles of juice and a couple of muffins, as well as filling a couple of our refillable mugs. We had an ADR at Whispering Canyon Cafe this morning, but it was at 10 AM, and the kids would be hungry. So I got everyone up, gave them their snacks, got them showered and dressed, and off we went. We had to get going early this morning, because we had to return the rental car no later then 8 AM and we were SO nervous about the drive to the Car Care Center. We needn't have worried though, it was SO much easier then the night before! I am sure broad daylight played a huge part in things, but we didn't get lost once, and zipped right over there in good time. The car return went very smoothly, and quickly, and before we knew it we were on the shuttle bus, heading to the Wilderness Lodge.
What a gorgeous place this is! We live in the middle of National Park country, so after the grand lodges of Glacier and Yellowstone, WL doesn't elicit quite the WOW factor that it might if you hadn't ever seen these places.. but it is still a gorgeous work of architecture and landscaping. We had about an hour to kill before our ADR, so we did a little exploring.
I was so excited to find the totem pole! Along with Donald Duck and Eeyore, Humphrey the Bear is one of my favorite characters! I LOVE the cartoon where the ranger makes him pick up all the litter in the park before he can have his supper. Anyhow, we had to have a picture with Humphrey!
We checked in for our ADR shortly before 10:00, and were seated very quickly. I wish I could say I was impressed with this meal, we had such high hopes for it, but we ended up rather disappointed. I wish I could even tell you what we ate, but somehow I have mislaid my receipt for this morning - probably because we paid cash out of pocket for this meal instead of using the
DDP, so I wasn't as focused on keeping the receipt to keep track of credits. I believe James had the Tenderloin Tips with Eggs, and I think Ariana and I had the all-you-care-to-eat skillets. Alyssa had pancakes, and I think Caitlyn just had bits and pieces of what everyone else was eating. The food was good, not overwhelming, but good. However we had made this reservation because of the interactions and hijinks, and those were sorely lacking. Maybe it was because of our late seating, maybe it was because the restaurant wasn't very busy, maybe our waiter was just having an off day, but the fun just wasn't there. We tried asking for ketchup, and got exactly three bottles. I asked for a LARGE iced tea, and got a normal sized one. James was going to try asking about the waiter's six-shooter, but he wasn't ever around long enough to strike up any kind of conversation with. We were sad. There were no stick-horse races either. Not sure we would go back here.
After breakfast, we hopped the boat to Magic Kingdom. It was a beautiful morning, and we had a very nice ride.
We had a great day in Magic Kingdom, save for one thing: as the day wore on, James started to feel ill, and he got worse and worse. Luckily I was still sick (but feeling much better) so had cold medicine and Advil in my purse. He took some meds and was determined to carry on.
Crowds were SO much lighter today. We couldn't believe how easy it was to do what we wanted to do, and how much we got done in just one day. We started in Frontierland, and rode Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain, then saw the Country Bears. Next we headed into FantasyLand.
Obligatory really pretty castle picture on the way to FantasyLand:
We grabbed FastPasses for Pooh, then rode Peter Pan. After this, everyone needed a drink and a rest, so we stopped in at the Pooh playground. The little kids played while James and Ariana fetched lemonades and iced teas.
After we sat and rested for a few minutes, our Pooh fastpasses were ready so we rode Pooh, took a spin on the TeaCups, then headed off to Toon Town.
James and Ariana and Alyssa rode BarnStormer, then we wandered through Mickey and Minnie's houses. Lines were unreal to actually go meet the characters, so we skipped that part. Next we headed in to TomorrowLand, where we decided to stop in at Cosmic Ray's for some lunch. Ariana and James and I had bacon cheeseburgers (Yay for toppings bars!!) with carrot cakes and sodas, the little kids both had chicken strips with fries and grapes. This food was yummy and satisfying, and we had the joy of a nearly empty restaurant (it was like 3 PM), air conditioning, and seats right down front for Sonny Eclipse's show. The kids LOVED eating here and watching Sonny.
After lunch, we rode everything in TomorrowLand again. No one would listen to me, so James, Ari, and Alyssa even went to see Stitch. They regretted it.
On the way out of Tomorrowland, I shot this awesome picture of the castle - as you can see our beautiful blue skies had clouded up on us.
Finally, we made our way over to Adventureland. We rode the Jungle Cruise, and Pirates, and even got to walk right in to the Jack Sparrow meet and greet! I love how they have this set up, it's inside, out of the sun, with really cool pirate theming and artifacts. Our Jack was awesome, he had the mannerisms and the voice down perfectly.
Finally, against my better judgement, we caught the Tiki Room show. Small rant warning: Rant Ahead. I LOVED the original Tiki Birds... I am SO glad it lives on in California, and I will do my best to wipe the WDW experience from my brain and remember it as it should be. What a farce this is. What a waste and what a tragedy. This is SO not as Walt intended it, and I am sure he would hate it as much as we all do. Ok, Rant over.
I had one more tradition to keep; a ride on the train. It was about 6 PM, and we were done with everything we wanted to do in Magic Kingdom. We wandered back into Frontierland, and up to the train station. We hopped on the train, and took a nice leisurely ride back to the Main Street Station, where we disembarked and left the park... Bye Bye till next time, Magic Kingdom!
We caught a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, where we had a late dinner ADR at 8:30 at Boma. I was beginning to be really worried about James, he looked terrible. He couldn't breathe, he had a sinus headache, he was weak and achy and tired, he alternated between pale ghostly white, and flushed with fever. I could tell he just felt miserable. I kept asking him if we should just skip Boma? We could head back to POR and he could take a hot bath and go to bed? Nope, he kept insisting that he would be fine, and he didn't want to spoil the evening. Fine then, be heroic.
Our plans this evening consisted of exploring the AKL, viewing the animals from the overlooks, catching the storyteller at the firepit, and finally dinner. We enjoyed looking around the lodge and the grounds, and settled in at 7 at the firepit. They didn't light the fire, because it was too hot, I think. A wonderful young man came out in beautiful African robes, introduced himself, had everyone around the firepit introduce themselves, and then told some African folktales, with lots of crowd interaction.
After the stories, he invited everyone to follow him inside. He led us to the gift shop, where he gathered up all the instruments and noisemakers he could find and handed them out to everyone. He led us back out into the lodge, where he taught everyone a simple chant/song with lots of beating of drums and ringing of bells with a refrain of "Affffrika, Afrika!!". Then he led everyone on a procession around the lobby to sing our song, and at each end of the lodge he would stop everyone and have them keep singing while he would break out into a whirling dance, arms raised high, robes swirling, yipping and ay-yi-yi-ing at the top of his lungs. It was quite the sight!
When our procession made it all the way back around to the gift shop, we returned all the instruments to the giftshop, then all of the children got a YOMD Certificate of Participation in the AKL Procession. By this time, it was time to check in for our meal. Opinions were mixed on Boma. I really enjoyed it, but then I am the most adventurous eater in my family. In particular, the carrot ginger soup was divine, and the falafel was very good as well. Ariana liked it quite well too, but the little girls weren't too happy. For one thing, this was just TOO LATE for them to be eating, they were ready for bed. I knew this when I made the ADR, but I REALLY wanted to try Boma, and this was the only time we could get. For another, they are both really picky, and this was just too adventurous for them. And poor James, by this time, was feeling SO miserable
that it didn't matter what he tried to eat, it all tasted nasty to him, and he wasn't hungry, and he just needed to go to bed. So we finished our meal, and caught a bus to DTD, and from there caught a bus to POR. The kids went to bed, and James took a nice long hot shower. Then he took lots of cold medicine, and crashed out.
THE FOOD REPORT kinda got included above. In short, we were disappointed in WCC and probably wouldn't go back. Cosmic Ray's was a very good CS option, especially during an off-time when it was not crowded. I very much enjoyed Boma, but the rest of my family wasn't that impressed. I would like to go there again, but it may have to wait for a trip when I have friends along so my girl-friends and I can enjoy it without the Picky People.
THE POOH SIZED REPORT = As before, beware the turnstiles at Magic Kingdom.
WHAT WE LEARNED TODAY
Crowds are much more manageable on weekdays than weekends at Magic Kingdom.
Tiki Room Under New Management sucks. Or as my 13 year old says (cause she gets in trouble for saying something "sucks" at school) it "inhales with great force".
Travelling between parks and resorts using the bus system for things like dinner ADRs is really time-consuming. If you have a late ADR and you don't have your own car, call a taxi. Leaving AKL at nearly 10 PM meant we had to go to DTD, then wait there for a POR bus or take the boat. It took almost as long to get back to POR as it did to actually eat our meal. Serious PITA.
The firepit presentation at AKL is a lot of fun. If you are going to be at AKL, consider making time for it.
Being sick at WDW stinks. A lot.
Colds
Needless to say we wanted to get an early start on things.
Even then, no guarantees - they go out dancing at the Polish Club most evenings. 
*twitch*) and I am sure glad to have my DisBoards fix again this morning! 
I loooooves me some scurvy pirate!
Update?
