Lorana
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2001
- Messages
- 3,292
DAY 12: AUGUST 29, 2001
- Animal Kingdom at last, Laundry, Illuminations from Afar
The alarm clock was again kind to us, though we did set it to awaken us a little after 9:00am. It was our last full day in Disney World - and the first day since the wedding that was entirely ours. We had loved spending time with everyone, and in many ways we missed having them here with us. But we were looking forward to a relaxing day together, alone.
We got up, showered and dressed, and then grabbed our mugs and headed over to the Pepper Market for some breakfast. We ate slowly and talked, enjoying our breakfast together. The restaurant was fairly crowded this morning, and we were a bit surprised by that. Coronado Springs had been a fairly quiet resort, and there were few people about. It was, in truth, one thing we enjoyed about it.
Afterwards, we went back to our room to drop off the mugs, and then headed back to catch the bus to the Animal Kingdom... at last! The Animal Kingdom is our favorite park. We love animal-watching and are nature buffs, so this park appeals to us greatly. We could spend hours just wandering around, soaking in the sights!
We make a quick stop in to the Gift Shop to see if they have any executive pens in. Sadly, they do not, and then we are heading off to the bus stop. Our timing is still good, and we are soon on our way to the Animal Kingdom!
The day was very hot and muggy. I had forgotten to mention that on Monday, while in the MK, two CMs had passed on a great tip for staying cool. The Groom's Ears are, as John fondly called them, a "solar furnace." Not only are they black, but the pocket of air insead them heats up. I am happy that John wore his ears during our entire trip, but I feel bad knowing how hot they made him. Because of that, he was constantly looking for ways to cool down. While we were in the Magic Kingdom, he asked a CM at an open stand for ice to put in his hat. She gave him a bunch, and he placed it on his head. It made him feel so much better! We started to walk away and as we did, I realized how hot and thirsty I was, so we went back to the stand to buy some water. As we did, another CM - a very grandmotherly type - had come over. She took one look at us, made John sit down, gave him water, and pressed two cold small towels onto us, ordering that we place them around our necks. John's face was red from the heat, and I am sure mine was as well, and the CM was quite concerned that we were going to suffer heatstroke. I'll be honest and say that I didn't realize how hot and thirsty I was until she made us sit down and started helping us cool off. Good thing she was there!
Anyway, she passed on one of the ways CMs keep cool: wear cold, wet towels around your neck. I wish I had discovered this sooner!! You wouldn't believe how effective this was at keeping us cool. And the CMs throughout the park are all willing to let you wet your towels down. It was amazing, and from that point on we wore the towels everywhere. The CM insisted we keep the ones she gave us.
So we had them on now, and were reveling in how well they worked. We were still hot, but not nearly as bad as we had been previously.
Another tip to pass on, that I forgot to mention from Monday: John had bought a new pair of khaki shorts at the Wilderness Lodge. Well, when we sat down for the parade, he apparently sat in gum! Ewww! We didn't realize this until well after the Sword Ceremony, when I happened to notice the offending stain on his shorts. We tried to remove it, but the gum was quite ingrained. Oh, well! We were sitting on a bench at the time, when we saw a CM come by and start MOPPING the ground. Naturally, John asked her why she was doing so. She thought at first that he was asking her to come over and clean up the area around him, and he quickly assured her everything was all set. She explained that she was cleaning the area, and mopping was part of it, to clean spills and such. Jokingly, he asked her if she could also remove stains from shorts. She then walked over and asked him what had happened. John laughed and said that he wasn't serious, and she insisted to see. So I told her about the gum and had John stand up to show her. She then asked John if he wanted a new pair of shorts.
"Are you serious?" he asked her.
"Quite," she told him. "It's all a part of the magic. How much did the shorts cost?" She then pulled out a certificate, and wrote John out a certificate for a new pair of shorts. Instead of assigning a dollar amount, she just made it out for a new pair of shorts, and said we could go anywhere on property to get a new pair. We thanked her profusely, and were wowed by this bit of Disney magic.
John ended up buying a new pair of shorts at the WDW Clothing Store on Main Street, near the entrance. We found out when he did so that the CM should have assigned a specific dollar amount, but we had no problem getting the shorts. And the new ones were a much nicer pair than the old! And we didn't have to turn in the old, either, so we brought it back in the hopes we can get the stain out.
But that was Monday. Now back to Wednesday...
So we get to the Animal Kingdom, and already there are lines at the entrance. As we get off the bus, we see King Louie posing for some pictures with people. There is a long line, else I would have stopped for a picture as well! But as he is standing there, a palm tree in a box with wheels comes zooming in, and begins talking to the girl posing with Louie, asking if she will dance with him. We stop for a few moments to watch the talking tree. It was great fun!
As we are staying there, one of the Disney Photographers comes up to us and has us stand and pose for pictures. Despite the hundreds of pictures taken at our wedding, I still love getting pictures of the two of us, and we take a few moments to pose for shots. We sets us up in a couple of different angles, including doing a shot with our rings. Makes us feel like our wedding day again!
After he gives us the certificate for our photos, we head into the Animal Kingdom and begin making our way towards Kilimanjaro Safaris. It's still fairly early in the day, and we are hoping to see as many of the animals as possible before they take shelter from the heat.
The line was a little long, but we decided we would rather go now before the day got really hot rather than Fast Pass the ride. It was nice to just relax and take our time. The one great thing about having been to the World many times, and to the Animal Kingdom especially, is that we didn't feel the need to rush, rush, rush through the park to see everything. And the fact that we had purchased Annual Passes - being cheaper than buying Ultimate Park Hoppers or a combination of Park Hopper Pluses for 12 days - meant we knew we would be back sometime in the next year as well.
Finally we got through the line and boarded the truck, and were soon off on our great safari into the heart of the African wilderness. Well, at least the heat and the Disney theming made it feel that way!
It had been so long since we had last been on the safari that it was like we were seeing it again for the first time. It was great! All of the animals were out and about, including both lions and the tigers, the elephants, the hippos, and the rhinos. We were very fortunate in the sheer number of animals we saw. When the safari ended and we passed the CM who told us the Little Red was okay, I started laughing, remembering the conversations about this CM job that had occurred on the DisneyDollarless list months ago. It had never seemed silly to me until people pointed it out on the DD list, and I couldn't keep a straight face now.
After we got off the safari, we headed over to the Pangani Forest Trail, and leisurely strolled down the paths. The hippos were swimming about, and we spent a good hour or so plastered to the glass, watching them swim. The CM said it wasn't often, especially in a day as hot as today, that they were so active and swimming about. She said that normally in this kind of heat they just sit and sleep in the water.
The gorillas were also out and about, and we spent a great deal of time watching them, too, as they ranged about their home and climbed down the rocks to the water. We were so enraptured with watching animals, in fact, that it was only the call of our stomachs that drove us out. We realized many hours had passed, and we were starving.
We headed over to Pizzafari for some lunch, and got into the long lines. We then sat down in the Seasons Room and quietly ate our food.
When we left, we stopped at a stand to soak down our towels again, and that was when a CM pointed out these neat little wraps that they sell in the Animal Kingdom. They come in different colors, but they are neck wraps that you tie in the front. The part that goes around the side and back of your neck is filled with crystals that, when it gets wet, becomes a thick gel that keeps in the cold. You are suppose to soak and then freeze the wraps, and then wear them all day long. John and I decided to invest in them. The CMs gave us an ice bucket to stick them in, to get them soaked. We bought light brown ones, that when tied around our necks made us look like Scouts. And they worked wonderfully! I wish we had known about these sooner! John liked them especially because they didn't look as "dorky" as the towels around our necks.
We then head on over to Asia, and get in line for the Kali River Rapids. This is one of the few rides we had never been on before, and the day was so hot that we were really looking forward to it. Surprisingly, the line wasn't all that long, and we quickly reached the front.
The fact that the raft was completely and thoroughly soaked should have clued us in to the very, very wet nature of the ride. We stowed our stuff, including our hats, into the bin in the center of the raft, and soon we were off. We quickly learned that the river had it in for John and I, because we caught every spurt of water just right. It started with the little waterfall drop at the beginning of the ride. We went down backwards, and so when we impacted with the water at the end of the drop, a wave went up and over and soaked us thoroughly. For the rest of the ride, John and I hit every waterfall, every spurt, every drop of water. There wasn't a SINGLE part of us that was dry when we got off. I've never gotten so wet on a water ride before in my life!!
When we got off the ride, we were busy wringing out our hair and clothes. We passed people standing in line for the ride, and someone asked, "Do you really get that wet?" John and I looked at each and started laughing. "No, you don't get wet at all!" we told him, as I wrung out my hair again. "Not at all!"
We wandered around Asia for a little bit, and then went back to "Discovery Island" (I just cannot think of it as Discovery Island... I miss the REAL Discovery Island!). We got in line for It's Tough To Be A Bug, but took our time walking through the line so we could enjoy the animals hidden throughout, and the Tree of Life itself.
We love the Bug Show, and laughed and enjoyed our way through it all. I won't spoil it for anyone who has not been on it before by saying what happened, but we loved it! For people with phobias, however, I would really take notice of the warning sign outside. But it is a fun, enjoyable show!! We loved it now as much as when we saw it the first time... though when we had seen it the first time, A Bug's Life had not yet been released in theatres.
We wandered around for a bit watching animals, and then realized it was getting on to five o'clock. We hopped over to Dinoland to ride "Dinosaur" (we still call it Countdown to Extinction). Wheee! What fun! We both love dinosaurs - John especially - so we really love this ride. We then headed over to the Boneyard playground, and joined the kids at play for a little bit.
Finally it was time to leave, and the park was closing down. We stopped to look at our photos, and I ended up purchasing two of them. We were then hopping on the bus, heading back to Coronado Springs.
Our original plan had been to head over to Epcot. I had dinner Priority Seating reservations at the Rose & Crown in UK for 7:30pm. We were hoping for seating on the terrace with which to watch Illuminations. When we got back to the resort, however, we discovered that there was a problem with our bank account. It was, in truth, a mess. Some things had gotten double-debited by error, a deposit had not gone through, and they had placed a hold on John's card because of the number of purchases that we had recently made. Gotta love Fleet!! Suffice to say it took a couple of hours to straighten everything out, and killed our plans for the evening. We opted to skip dinner and Illuminations, and get ready to leave in the morning and take care of our account. John also wanted to do laundry before we left, and so we decided to stay at the resort that night. Sadly, it meant we never really got to see Illuminations during our honeymoon trip.
John took all our dirty laundry and went to be domestic while I made some calls and took care of the account, getting everything straightened out. Afterwards, I went to search him out, because I needed a hug - I was feeling stressed; this was not how I envisioned my last night in WDW - and because I wanted to be with him. He gave me a nice big hug and held me for a long moment, and just made everything all right again. Because he didn't want to leave the laundry, I took his mug and went back to get us both drinks, and to get my book.
On the way back from the Pepper Market, I heard the sound of fireworks and looked out over the lagoon. The temple was glowing red at the top, and behind it were the silhouettes of the Swan and Dolphin. And exploding all around them were the last fireworks of Illuminations. I stopped and watched the display, glad to see this little part of it. When it was over, I made my way back to the laundry room. John and I then sat together, reading, and spent a quiet evening together.
Afterwards, we headed over to the Pepper Market for some dinner, and then retired to our room to spend the night cuddled together, making the last night special in our own way.
- Animal Kingdom at last, Laundry, Illuminations from Afar
The alarm clock was again kind to us, though we did set it to awaken us a little after 9:00am. It was our last full day in Disney World - and the first day since the wedding that was entirely ours. We had loved spending time with everyone, and in many ways we missed having them here with us. But we were looking forward to a relaxing day together, alone.
We got up, showered and dressed, and then grabbed our mugs and headed over to the Pepper Market for some breakfast. We ate slowly and talked, enjoying our breakfast together. The restaurant was fairly crowded this morning, and we were a bit surprised by that. Coronado Springs had been a fairly quiet resort, and there were few people about. It was, in truth, one thing we enjoyed about it.
Afterwards, we went back to our room to drop off the mugs, and then headed back to catch the bus to the Animal Kingdom... at last! The Animal Kingdom is our favorite park. We love animal-watching and are nature buffs, so this park appeals to us greatly. We could spend hours just wandering around, soaking in the sights!
We make a quick stop in to the Gift Shop to see if they have any executive pens in. Sadly, they do not, and then we are heading off to the bus stop. Our timing is still good, and we are soon on our way to the Animal Kingdom!
The day was very hot and muggy. I had forgotten to mention that on Monday, while in the MK, two CMs had passed on a great tip for staying cool. The Groom's Ears are, as John fondly called them, a "solar furnace." Not only are they black, but the pocket of air insead them heats up. I am happy that John wore his ears during our entire trip, but I feel bad knowing how hot they made him. Because of that, he was constantly looking for ways to cool down. While we were in the Magic Kingdom, he asked a CM at an open stand for ice to put in his hat. She gave him a bunch, and he placed it on his head. It made him feel so much better! We started to walk away and as we did, I realized how hot and thirsty I was, so we went back to the stand to buy some water. As we did, another CM - a very grandmotherly type - had come over. She took one look at us, made John sit down, gave him water, and pressed two cold small towels onto us, ordering that we place them around our necks. John's face was red from the heat, and I am sure mine was as well, and the CM was quite concerned that we were going to suffer heatstroke. I'll be honest and say that I didn't realize how hot and thirsty I was until she made us sit down and started helping us cool off. Good thing she was there!
Anyway, she passed on one of the ways CMs keep cool: wear cold, wet towels around your neck. I wish I had discovered this sooner!! You wouldn't believe how effective this was at keeping us cool. And the CMs throughout the park are all willing to let you wet your towels down. It was amazing, and from that point on we wore the towels everywhere. The CM insisted we keep the ones she gave us.
So we had them on now, and were reveling in how well they worked. We were still hot, but not nearly as bad as we had been previously.
Another tip to pass on, that I forgot to mention from Monday: John had bought a new pair of khaki shorts at the Wilderness Lodge. Well, when we sat down for the parade, he apparently sat in gum! Ewww! We didn't realize this until well after the Sword Ceremony, when I happened to notice the offending stain on his shorts. We tried to remove it, but the gum was quite ingrained. Oh, well! We were sitting on a bench at the time, when we saw a CM come by and start MOPPING the ground. Naturally, John asked her why she was doing so. She thought at first that he was asking her to come over and clean up the area around him, and he quickly assured her everything was all set. She explained that she was cleaning the area, and mopping was part of it, to clean spills and such. Jokingly, he asked her if she could also remove stains from shorts. She then walked over and asked him what had happened. John laughed and said that he wasn't serious, and she insisted to see. So I told her about the gum and had John stand up to show her. She then asked John if he wanted a new pair of shorts.
"Are you serious?" he asked her.
"Quite," she told him. "It's all a part of the magic. How much did the shorts cost?" She then pulled out a certificate, and wrote John out a certificate for a new pair of shorts. Instead of assigning a dollar amount, she just made it out for a new pair of shorts, and said we could go anywhere on property to get a new pair. We thanked her profusely, and were wowed by this bit of Disney magic.
John ended up buying a new pair of shorts at the WDW Clothing Store on Main Street, near the entrance. We found out when he did so that the CM should have assigned a specific dollar amount, but we had no problem getting the shorts. And the new ones were a much nicer pair than the old! And we didn't have to turn in the old, either, so we brought it back in the hopes we can get the stain out.
But that was Monday. Now back to Wednesday...
So we get to the Animal Kingdom, and already there are lines at the entrance. As we get off the bus, we see King Louie posing for some pictures with people. There is a long line, else I would have stopped for a picture as well! But as he is standing there, a palm tree in a box with wheels comes zooming in, and begins talking to the girl posing with Louie, asking if she will dance with him. We stop for a few moments to watch the talking tree. It was great fun!
As we are staying there, one of the Disney Photographers comes up to us and has us stand and pose for pictures. Despite the hundreds of pictures taken at our wedding, I still love getting pictures of the two of us, and we take a few moments to pose for shots. We sets us up in a couple of different angles, including doing a shot with our rings. Makes us feel like our wedding day again!
After he gives us the certificate for our photos, we head into the Animal Kingdom and begin making our way towards Kilimanjaro Safaris. It's still fairly early in the day, and we are hoping to see as many of the animals as possible before they take shelter from the heat.
The line was a little long, but we decided we would rather go now before the day got really hot rather than Fast Pass the ride. It was nice to just relax and take our time. The one great thing about having been to the World many times, and to the Animal Kingdom especially, is that we didn't feel the need to rush, rush, rush through the park to see everything. And the fact that we had purchased Annual Passes - being cheaper than buying Ultimate Park Hoppers or a combination of Park Hopper Pluses for 12 days - meant we knew we would be back sometime in the next year as well.
Finally we got through the line and boarded the truck, and were soon off on our great safari into the heart of the African wilderness. Well, at least the heat and the Disney theming made it feel that way!
It had been so long since we had last been on the safari that it was like we were seeing it again for the first time. It was great! All of the animals were out and about, including both lions and the tigers, the elephants, the hippos, and the rhinos. We were very fortunate in the sheer number of animals we saw. When the safari ended and we passed the CM who told us the Little Red was okay, I started laughing, remembering the conversations about this CM job that had occurred on the DisneyDollarless list months ago. It had never seemed silly to me until people pointed it out on the DD list, and I couldn't keep a straight face now.
After we got off the safari, we headed over to the Pangani Forest Trail, and leisurely strolled down the paths. The hippos were swimming about, and we spent a good hour or so plastered to the glass, watching them swim. The CM said it wasn't often, especially in a day as hot as today, that they were so active and swimming about. She said that normally in this kind of heat they just sit and sleep in the water.
The gorillas were also out and about, and we spent a great deal of time watching them, too, as they ranged about their home and climbed down the rocks to the water. We were so enraptured with watching animals, in fact, that it was only the call of our stomachs that drove us out. We realized many hours had passed, and we were starving.
We headed over to Pizzafari for some lunch, and got into the long lines. We then sat down in the Seasons Room and quietly ate our food.
When we left, we stopped at a stand to soak down our towels again, and that was when a CM pointed out these neat little wraps that they sell in the Animal Kingdom. They come in different colors, but they are neck wraps that you tie in the front. The part that goes around the side and back of your neck is filled with crystals that, when it gets wet, becomes a thick gel that keeps in the cold. You are suppose to soak and then freeze the wraps, and then wear them all day long. John and I decided to invest in them. The CMs gave us an ice bucket to stick them in, to get them soaked. We bought light brown ones, that when tied around our necks made us look like Scouts. And they worked wonderfully! I wish we had known about these sooner! John liked them especially because they didn't look as "dorky" as the towels around our necks.
We then head on over to Asia, and get in line for the Kali River Rapids. This is one of the few rides we had never been on before, and the day was so hot that we were really looking forward to it. Surprisingly, the line wasn't all that long, and we quickly reached the front.
The fact that the raft was completely and thoroughly soaked should have clued us in to the very, very wet nature of the ride. We stowed our stuff, including our hats, into the bin in the center of the raft, and soon we were off. We quickly learned that the river had it in for John and I, because we caught every spurt of water just right. It started with the little waterfall drop at the beginning of the ride. We went down backwards, and so when we impacted with the water at the end of the drop, a wave went up and over and soaked us thoroughly. For the rest of the ride, John and I hit every waterfall, every spurt, every drop of water. There wasn't a SINGLE part of us that was dry when we got off. I've never gotten so wet on a water ride before in my life!!
When we got off the ride, we were busy wringing out our hair and clothes. We passed people standing in line for the ride, and someone asked, "Do you really get that wet?" John and I looked at each and started laughing. "No, you don't get wet at all!" we told him, as I wrung out my hair again. "Not at all!"
We wandered around Asia for a little bit, and then went back to "Discovery Island" (I just cannot think of it as Discovery Island... I miss the REAL Discovery Island!). We got in line for It's Tough To Be A Bug, but took our time walking through the line so we could enjoy the animals hidden throughout, and the Tree of Life itself.
We love the Bug Show, and laughed and enjoyed our way through it all. I won't spoil it for anyone who has not been on it before by saying what happened, but we loved it! For people with phobias, however, I would really take notice of the warning sign outside. But it is a fun, enjoyable show!! We loved it now as much as when we saw it the first time... though when we had seen it the first time, A Bug's Life had not yet been released in theatres.
We wandered around for a bit watching animals, and then realized it was getting on to five o'clock. We hopped over to Dinoland to ride "Dinosaur" (we still call it Countdown to Extinction). Wheee! What fun! We both love dinosaurs - John especially - so we really love this ride. We then headed over to the Boneyard playground, and joined the kids at play for a little bit.
Finally it was time to leave, and the park was closing down. We stopped to look at our photos, and I ended up purchasing two of them. We were then hopping on the bus, heading back to Coronado Springs.
Our original plan had been to head over to Epcot. I had dinner Priority Seating reservations at the Rose & Crown in UK for 7:30pm. We were hoping for seating on the terrace with which to watch Illuminations. When we got back to the resort, however, we discovered that there was a problem with our bank account. It was, in truth, a mess. Some things had gotten double-debited by error, a deposit had not gone through, and they had placed a hold on John's card because of the number of purchases that we had recently made. Gotta love Fleet!! Suffice to say it took a couple of hours to straighten everything out, and killed our plans for the evening. We opted to skip dinner and Illuminations, and get ready to leave in the morning and take care of our account. John also wanted to do laundry before we left, and so we decided to stay at the resort that night. Sadly, it meant we never really got to see Illuminations during our honeymoon trip.
John took all our dirty laundry and went to be domestic while I made some calls and took care of the account, getting everything straightened out. Afterwards, I went to search him out, because I needed a hug - I was feeling stressed; this was not how I envisioned my last night in WDW - and because I wanted to be with him. He gave me a nice big hug and held me for a long moment, and just made everything all right again. Because he didn't want to leave the laundry, I took his mug and went back to get us both drinks, and to get my book.
On the way back from the Pepper Market, I heard the sound of fireworks and looked out over the lagoon. The temple was glowing red at the top, and behind it were the silhouettes of the Swan and Dolphin. And exploding all around them were the last fireworks of Illuminations. I stopped and watched the display, glad to see this little part of it. When it was over, I made my way back to the laundry room. John and I then sat together, reading, and spent a quiet evening together.
Afterwards, we headed over to the Pepper Market for some dinner, and then retired to our room to spend the night cuddled together, making the last night special in our own way.
