Cafeen takes it slow in Sept (and not by choice) – 23 Sept 2010 – 01 Oct 2010

[Cafeen]

I have to agreee about the Yacht Club, we stayed there in '94 before the BW and BCV so I am excited to be staying at the BC this trip. I thought about staying at YC again but the cheaper rooms were not available for our dates and CL IMHO is overated for the price. When we stayed at YC we were upgraded to CL(was called concierge then) we still went to our TS breakfast every day and that seems to be where people say the value is eating breakfast in the lounge.

Have never been to the Yachtmen Steakhouse but the food looks good. I am curious to about those clear jelly-like things on your app

Glad you were able to find the Mickey shirt you wanted even if it was a small fortune

I have been tweeking my ADRs, still not sure about going to MNSSHP although I do have one night open just in case, of course it happens to be a night that the tickets are not discounted so it will not matter if I purchase them early or not.

Do you buy yours early? To tell you the truth I am a little leary since last year I bought tix for MVMCP then we had to cancel our trip so I ended up giving the tix away. $100+ is nothing to sneeze at

I've never done CL (at least that I know of, who knows what we did when I was younger) and don't really have the desire to. Of course, if it were an upgrade I wouldn't pass it up, but I don't think I'd get the value out of it if I were paying myself.

From thinking back, I don't think they had any flavor what so ever, so I'm thinking gelatin or something like that, but I have no idea (and a search for "common garnishes" just brought me a bunch of cocktail garnishes...). The rest of the food was great though, but sadly I'm not making the trip back there this year.

I've actually just let my stuff sit for... over a month now. I don't even remember all the plans precisely right now (I have it all stored on a spreadsheet of course though). I think that's a good sign that I'm happy with them .

For MNSSHP, last year I bought my ticket in advance. But, it was only about a week or two before I left, so it was pretty much set in stone by that time. The fact it was also only 1 ticket meant I'd be out relatively little. Not sure what I'll do this year, probably the same thing for the first party for both Mom and I, and then see how it goes for the others.

YAY an update!!!

I would love to eat at Yachtsman Steak House, the food always looks good. I don't think you can go wrong when you put banana in a dessert!

Yep .

It was quite good, though I don't think I'd do it on the normal DDP (OOP would be fine too, I'd just skip the app). It didn't make the repeat list for this year either, but of the signatures I did last year, only Jiko and Citricos did.

 

[KatMark]

Hey there. We've been missing you in these parts. Great updates. How are the plans coming for the September trip?

 

[Cafeen]

Hey there. We've been missing you in these parts. Great updates. How are the plans coming for the September trip?

Thanks Kathy.

The plans, well, they haven't changed (other than my arrival time back in Mobile got pushed from 7pm to 9pm...). Of course, right now if you asked me what they were, I'd have no clue. Good thing I have it all written down somewhere .

 

[Alison Wunderland]

Pictures...

Tomato and buffalo Mozzarella - Didn't really like this too much, but I'm not a big fan of fresh mozzarella. Also, not sure what was up with those clear jelly-like things. I bet if I did like the stuff included, it would have been very tasty though.

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Ok I am thinking that maybe the clear things were some kind of caviar. Snail caviar is clear to white. Not really sure though. They ruined the dish with them. I don't find the dish any more aesthetically pleasing by adding them. They don't look appetizing either. Where they chewy and gelatenous?​

 

[Cafeen]

Ok I am thinking that maybe the clear things were some kind of caviar. Snail caviar is clear to white. Not really sure though. They ruined the dish with them. I don't find the dish any more aesthetically pleasing by adding them. They don't look appetizing either. Where they chewy and gelatenous?

I suppose that's a possibility. They had zero flavor that I remember, and I don't remember really chewing them individually... of course, this is now stretching back to almost 8 months ago, so I may be remembering wrong. Thanks though .

At any rate, they didn't detract from this particular dish in my opinion. The tomatoes and such were still good. (Though, they now have a much better sounding tomato salad... too bad I'm skipping them this year).

 

[MEK]

I am thinking about the Yachtsman for my next trip. My son loves steak, so I think it will be a good choice. Thanks for posting the pics.

Your flower pics are gorgeous. Nice work.

Glad you have been able to come back and update. Sounds like you are still having a wonderful time.

I agree, the Yacht club looks like a wonderful place to stay.

 

[Cafeen]

I am thinking about the Yachtsman for my next trip. My son loves steak, so I think it will be a good choice. Thanks for posting the pics.

Your flower pics are gorgeous. Nice work.

Glad you have been able to come back and update. Sounds like you are still having a wonderful time.

I agree, the Yacht club looks like a wonderful place to stay.

The Yachtsman was quite good, not the end-all be-all of steakhouses, but certainly still very good. (Presentation was a bit bland, but I like to eat my food and not stare at it ). While I'm not planning on heading back this year, I'm thinking for my 2012 trip it's a possibility.

Thanks on those flower pics. I've been so busy with work and some other stuff lately that I haven't done any shooting what-so-ever since then . My poor camera is all lonely in that camera bag. At least I still take it with me to work every day...

We did stay at the Yacht Club years and years ago (Feb 1992 I think, may have been April) and it was nice, I just wish I remember more about the resort other than the room (and the fact it had a phone in the bathroom, which for a 13 year old boy at the time was pretty nifty).

So, how's about another update... careful, this one gets a bit damp.

 

[Cafeen]

Day 6 pt 1 - I'm FREE!!! Solo Morning at Epcot

Well, I wasn't THAT ecstatic. I mean, I liked having Mom there and all, and saying it this way sounds like I didn't. But, I was happy to be on my own, going at my own pace, doing what I wanted to do. It also will make this trip report a bit more boring .

So, what did I do with my first day of freedom? I ate breakfast. Well, after I woke up, otherwise I would have made a mess in the bed (or scared many people out of the restaurant...) This was the first (and only) breakfast I had planned (except that Tusker House one that I just remembered...). It was at Maya Grill right at the CSR. I figured, I loved it so much last year, I wanted to try breakfast.

Well, remember my first night? Hoping it was an off-night? Yeah, not so much. I had planned on getting the Steak and Eggs, (erm whatever it's really called, Huevos y Bistec Ranchero or something like that) without the Huevos (eggs) since I don't like them. I changed my mind though and ended up with the breakfast skillet (again minus those huevos). It was... not as good as it looks.

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Biscuit was a bit dry, bacon was Disney bacon, and potatoes were just meh. Overall pretty bad and won't do it again.

I hobbled back to the room and sat down and watched TV. Really, that's all I did. My feet were killing me on this morning, so I let them rest a bit more. (BTW, I also hobbled out at about 7-7:30am to take my morning break... pretty much had to deathgrip the handrails down the stairs to make it down them...).

With that exciting stuff out of the way, I decided to head on over to Epcot at around noon (original plan was MK after breakfast). First thing, hit up Mission Space:Orange (of course) again! This really became my favorite ride of the trip. Makes me sad that I never did the Turkish Twist down at Canobie WAY back when I went there (and when I still lived up in NH). I saw it mentioned somewhere else on these boards and then sighed at how much of a ride chicken I was.

Ahem... moving right along, I took some pictures. These were either before or after the ride, I have no idea.

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After Mission Space, I put the camera away (or took some pictures that have since been culled from my hard drive, either way it amounts to the same) and hit up The Seas with Nemo and Friends. It was cute, but for the first time, I started really missing Emily and Beth. This was an amazing thing to watch them experience in 2009, and that was a little bit of a downer, but I moved on.

And moved on with style, to catch Captain EO over at the Imagination Pavilion! I actually remember this from my younger days, and remember that it was the 2nd movie in its place. I don't remember what the first was though. The movie was nostalgic, but has not aged well at all.

I moved on to my perennial favorite, Spaceship Earth (I think I'm addicted to that smell...) and went on another twirl through the sphere.

It was about 3:30pm by this time, and I walked out of Spaceship Earth to the sounds of thunder and lightning (well, technically just the sound of lightning... since that IS thunder...) and pouring rain. It looked kinda like this:

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(And now going back through the photos, there is no space between that rain one and the last orange flower one, so I guess I really did put the camera away)

I made it to the "Blue Square" that is under cover along the left side as you face the Entrance/Exit from Spaceship Earth and just sat there. For awhile. I watched people, chatted with a few others, watched people some more, and watched the rain. It was very exciting! (Ok, it was actually pretty nice and relaxing, as I didn't have to be anywhere until 5:35pm, so I just chilled).

Now, one thing had me a bit concerned. I was planning on heading to the MNSSHP that night. Would it stop raining? I had no idea. Normally rain like this lasts 20-30 minutes tops, but it was going on for almost an hour without any let up so far. And speaking of that, it was time for me to head on over to the Grand Floridian for dinner at Citrico's!

I darted over to the Monorail platform and managed to stay relatively dry (ok, it's mostly covered the whole way...), hopped on the monorail and got to the TTC. It had let up a little bit, but was certainly still coming down. As I headed up to the resort line, CMs (or may have been one, or even just an announcement, I don't entirely remember!) came out to announce that it broke. No resort monorail for me. So I headed off toward the Poly, then turned back to the right way to the buses they were directing us to (yes, I took a wrong turn, remember, I'm directionally challenged at times).

Soon enough they had buses for all those going to the resorts, unfortunately, they were sardine cans. Well, not literally, that may have smelled very bad, but we certainly felt as packed as them. We pulled into the Poly, with the driver asking if anyone was getting out. Of course, he probably should have asked that first, as no one was. When he opened the door, he was met by a very rude (albeit, probably justifiably) woman demanding he get her wheelchair-bound mother on. Yeah, that wasn't happening, no one was getting on at all. As it was, I was only let on because I was solo and able to stand right on the white line that we're not supposed to pass. Poor driver was getting frazzled.

So, we then pull into the GF and wait, and wait, and wait. By this time it was pushing 5:30 (it was 4:20 when I left Epcot) and everyone's nerves were a bit on edge (well, except mine, and the young family I was standing with, we were both laughing it up). Eventually, we managed to pull up to the bus stop (I think another bus had broken down there, so it slowed everyone else down) and I jumped off (as did the family I was standing with... this detail is important later).

So, I took a quick breather and then headed off into the Grand Floridian. Took a few laps around the downstairs looking for Citrico's, then consulted the map (hey, I am male, I can't be bothered with maps or directions unless it's a dire emergency!) I headed upstairs and followed the signs and was soon enough in the lobby checking in. (This installment is super long, it's almost done, I swear!)

Seated quickly in the wide-open dining room area I was soon presented with a special appetizer. A small piece of swordfish. Hmm, fish. Not my favorite. I tried it, and at first I found it quite good. Texture was fine and was flavorful, but not fishy. Unfortunately, that didn't last. The fishiness came through in the end, but at least I tried it.

After having Aracini at Via Napoli two nights before, I was happy that I saw this on the menu. I'm not sure what I had originally planned on here, but this quickly took its place. It was quite good, just like I had at Via Napoli! For my entree I had the Filet on Mashed Potatoes, simple and VERY VERY VERY good. The second best I had all week (my AK day's Filet would be better). Lastly I had the #1 dessert of the whole trip. The Warm Banana-Chocolate (or was it Warm Chocolate-Banana?) Torte. Yes, this was even better than how it looks, and it looks great. I'm going back to Citrico's again this year (erm, I think. I better check my sheet) JUST FOR THIS DESSERT! Yes, banana was good to me this year! Now, I know what you're thinking... "Shut the heck up and show us the picture because we know you took one!"

Yep.

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[Tinkermom76]

was there many kids in Citricos? I would love to eat there but I don't know if I will ever get there without my kids. At least they are well behaved when they are out

 

[sjs314]

The Yachtsman was quite good, not the end-all be-all of steakhouses, but certainly still very good. (Presentation was a bit bland, but I like to eat my food and not stare at it ). While I'm not planning on heading back this year, I'm thinking for my 2012 trip it's a possibility.

Thanks on those flower pics. I've been so busy with work and some other stuff lately that I haven't done any shooting what-so-ever since then . My poor camera is all lonely in that camera bag. At least I still take it with me to work every day...

We did stay at the Yacht Club years and years ago (Feb 1992 I think, may have been April) and it was nice, I just wish I remember more about the resort other than the room (and the fact it had a phone in the bathroom, which for a 13 year old boy at the time was pretty nifty).

So, how's about another update... careful, this one gets a bit damp.

OMG Thanks for the memory....My youngest DS was 14 in '94 when we stayed at YC and I still remember him finding the phone in the bathroom and yelling to his older brother about it

We just changed our arrival night dinner from Raglan Road to Yachtsman after some consideration. DH loves steak and we may not feel like ventureing to DTD after being up early for our 6:30 am flight. Although I am thinking maybe Cap't Grille would be a better choice


Well inbetween posting the above and finishing reading your update I switched the Yachtsman ADR to Cap't Grille to save a credit since I did have one ADR OOP which is crazy seeing how we have the DxDP .

That filet on the mashed pototoes with that brown gravy looked delish but my plan has always been never to go to GF until the day I stay there so Citrico's is not in my future for this trip. I know crazy huh? But since I first saw GF from the monorail back in '89 I said some day I am staying there, almost booked there this trip then chose CR and finally ended up at BC. Idealy I want to stay at GF during the Christmas Season one day

 

[Cafeen]

was there many kids in Citricos? I would love to eat there but I don't know if I will ever get there without my kids. At least they are well behaved when they are out

Well, no, there weren't any kids there when I went. Of course, this is somewhat due to the reason there was only one or two other parties there when I sat down. I think it was one couple and one group of business associates. It was very empty altogether. I did see kids at Yachtsman and Artist Point though when I went, and they weren't a bother at all , just coincidence that there weren't any at Citricos that evening.

OMG Thanks for the memory....My youngest DS was 14 in '94 when we stayed at YC and I still remember him finding the phone in the bathroom and yelling to his older brother about it

We just changed our arrival night dinner from Raglan Road to Yachtsman after some consideration. DH loves steak and we may not feel like ventureing to DTD after being up early for our 6:30 am flight. Although I am thinking maybe Cap't Grille would be a better choice

You're welcome .

I've never been to Captain's Grille so I have no idea. I suppose you really can't go wrong with many of the restaurants around anyway, so just do what you feel like (Maya Grill is excluded from that list ). Of course, this won't help, but I've heard good things about the Grille too...

 

[mousegear]

Subscribing~ You take wonderful pictures. In fact, I just took out my old Nikon D70 after reading your trip report. I've been carrying Casio point and shoot since it's so convenient. But looking at your photos made me realize that really, good photos come from good camera + skilss.
Anyways, I'm debating if I should take D70 to our trip this Sept. I don't know if I could carry it through the trip.

 

[Cafeen]

Man I'm bad at this lately! So slow to update. Too much time working, playing games, and doing math over on the dining boards (2012 prices came out... it's not fun over there right now )

Subscribing~ You take wonderful pictures. In fact, I just took out my old Nikon D70 after reading your trip report. I've been carrying Casio point and shoot since it's so convenient. But looking at your photos made me realize that really, good photos come from good camera + skilss.
Anyways, I'm debating if I should take D70 to our trip this Sept. I don't know if I could carry it through the trip.

Thanks .

I've only carried a P&S to the parks, so my T1i will be a test. It shouldn't be too bad though, been carrying it in my backpack/case (it's one of those Lowepro things) for the past few months too and from work. It holds everything I need (Lenses, mini tripod, cleaning stuff, filters, extra battery, extra SD card... speaking of which, I gotta get that extra batter and card!) with room to spare. I will have to carry around my full tripod for my night shots, so that may be interesting (and there's no strap on my case for it, I may have to fashion something together, or just deal with it).

I'd say bring it and try it out. Worse that can happen is you don't like carrying it and leave it in the room safe. Best that can happen is you enjoy it and take some great shots .

---

For everyone else, my apologies again for not updating lately. Been busy or something. I don't promise that's going to change, though I do promise that this will be finished by this next September trip! (Even if I have to post the rest of it in a single update as I'm sitting in the airport waiting to fly out!)

I've also talked to Beth a bit lately, and it looks like I'm going to take her and Emily down again next year. Couple that with my mom wanting to spend a longer trip with me and I may be down there for 2 1/2 weeks! Alternatively, I may make 2 trips down (Beth/Emily would be in Sept when it's cheaper, Mom in Oct/Nov for F&W), either way, if that works out, looks like I'll be an AP holder for at least a year .

 

[Cafeen]

Day 6 pt 2 - Boo to you and you and you... Happy Halloween!

So, when I last left off, I was finishing up the most delicious dessert of my trip (I'd say so far, but the deliciousness outshined the rest of the desserts I had that trip) and getting ready to head to a damp MNSSHP. By this time (roughly 6:30) it had stopped raining so I went outside for a break before hopping on the monorail.

Who did I see? But the little family from the bus as they finished up dinner at 1900 PF! They came outside looking for the monorail, so I guided them in the right direction (we did the same thing in 2009 if you remember, or not, we still did it either way). Was just a neat little thing. I don't remember at this time if they were heading to MNSSHP as well.

So anyway, I go inside, up the stairs and over to the Monorail (a word I've said too much in this entry and is starting to sound funny). I hop on (well, I just walked on, although hopping on is probably something that does happen more often than one would expect) and was soon swooshing off to the Magic Kingdom.

I entered the Magic Kingdom as multitudes were departing for the night. I showed the turnstile guy my print out of my ticket and he handed me a wristband (or maybe it was some guy later on... but either way) and I was in like Flynn! Well, not really, I haven't seen Tangled yet, so I have no idea how he was in. But, I digress.

I took some pictures. I'm sure you can figure out my path...

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This next shot, I was walking to Tomorrowland and I happened to turn around. Whatever can be said about the rain, if the clouds break up for sunset, it makes for a beautiful sky.

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Once in Tomorrowland, I took a break. Walking ALL THAT WAY was difficult work! After the break, I headed over to Buzz. I'd never been on Buzz, so it was something to do. There was no line for it what-so-ever, so may as well right? (This would become another recurring theme for this night!)

After Buzz, I hopped on the Peoplemover and played with my camera a bit. I like how a few of these turned out (note, I've culled more than I've shown here). This will certainly be a project for my good camera this year.

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I got a little carried away.

After Peoplemover, I took a break.

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And then walked through Toontown. I didn't say goodbye or anything, as I have no special attachment to Toontown. It was "Mickey's Birthdayland" when I last went as a little kid (I think?) and we didn't bother with it then. Wasn't a favorite spot when I went in 2009 either.

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I then meandered through Fantasyland...

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and hopped on Peter Pan's flight. This was another walk-on. For one of the 2 HUGE LINE rides in Fantasyland, this was the perfect time to see it!

Haunted Mansion was next, walked on again. Nothing super special for Halloween with the ride, but the CMs were great.

And then over to Frontierland, where I took a break, and took some pics.

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Remember that pic? Here's a hint:

This wasn't intentional, and I didn't notice it until WAY after my trip as I was going through my photos. The cloud is... um, smoke, from something (hey, it IS a DSA right there!)

After the break, I hopped on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. I've been told it's a MUST DO in the dark, and it sure was. After I finished, I hopped on again. I then took a break, and hopped on a third time.

By then it was time to move on, or I'd be stuck there all night!

So, I moved down to Adventureland and took in a ride with the pirates. No line yet again, of course. Outside of Pirates, Captain Hook was hanging with the crowd. I tried to get a picture with him, but the CM wasn't having it. He was just doing his thing. I tried to get his attention, but nope, nothing for me. Feeling snubbed, I headed over to Aloha Isle.

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It cheered me up.

And that's it for tonight! I still have Hallowishes, Boo To You parade, and some other stuff left to do tonight!

 

[sjs314]

You were definately MIA .............welcome back. Life can get in the way of all the good intentions with all of us, so your excused. I am still on hold about MNSSHP, I just can not make the commitment to buy the tickets early after buying for MVMCP last year then having to cancel our trip although I have to say looking at your pictures is giving me a slight nudge in the direction of going. I can not wait to see more pictures.
I think your new plan of doing two trips sounds GREAT.
I ended up changeing my Yachtman ressie to the Cap't Grille after reading numerous reviews.

Ah 2012 prices, what can I say other than it was a surprise that Disney released them 2 months earlier than in previous years. Now if they would just get on the ball and put some good October deals out there(not holding my breath)

 

[mousegear]

Nice update on MNSSHP. I'm planning to attend our first one this year. I haven't bought our tix yet since I plan on upgrading our tix to AP, I'll buy them onsite if the weather is okay on 27th with little discount.

I'm shopping for mini tripod for my P & S. I learned my lesson last year that for night shots, I really need mini tripod since I cannot hold so steady for long time.

 

[Cafeen]

You were definately MIA .............welcome back. Life can get in the way of all the good intentions with all of us, so your excused. I am still on hold about MNSSHP, I just can not make the commitment to buy the tickets early after buying for MVMCP last year then having to cancel our trip although I have to say looking at your pictures is giving me a slight nudge in the direction of going. I can not wait to see more pictures.
I think your new plan of doing two trips sounds GREAT.
I ended up changeing my Yachtman ressie to the Cap't Grille after reading numerous reviews.

Ah 2012 prices, what can I say other than it was a surprise that Disney released them 2 months earlier than in previous years. Now if they would just get on the ball and put some good October deals out there(not holding my breath)

As far as the MNSSHP tickets, so long as you're not going the few days around Halloween, there's no rush to buy them. Not sure what the minimum "advanced purchase" is online for the discount, but otherwise you can buy them up to (and including) at the gate. I'd certainly suggest going though , just the atmosphere alone is worth it to me, of course, my situation is a bit different as I only have to buy tickets for 1.

I'm growing on my next years' plans. It's going to be expensive, but it'd likely be even more expensive if I didn't combine the two trips. Late Sept/Early Oct is our one time a year that we slow down just a little, and with this much notice it shouldn't be a problem getting the time off.

Now it's just to make sense of all the time I'll have. I know Beth wants to do Sea World for a day, and there's a lot of F&W stuff I can do with Mom. I just don't want to burn out on ~17 days at Disney in one trip.

Yachtsman was good, but really only worth it if you have the extra credits and/or cash to spend. It's not really worth 2TS, but on DxDDP that doesn't matter as much (since the "cost per credit" is far lower). I've heard good things about Captian's Grille though .

Nice update on MNSSHP. I'm planning to attend our first one this year. I haven't bought our tix yet since I plan on upgrading our tix to AP, I'll buy them onsite if the weather is okay on 27th with little discount.

I'm shopping for mini tripod for my P & S. I learned my lesson last year that for night shots, I really need mini tripod since I cannot hold so steady for long time.

I loved the MNSSHP last year, so much that I'm planning on going to all 3 that will be going on while I'm there this year .

For the mini tripod, I picked up a Slik Mini-Pro V for my DSLR. I haven't played much with it yet, but I've attached it and it seems to work just fine. It's not ultra-compact or anything, but it fits in my bag just fine. For a P&S, you can likely get away with something even smaller and lighter, since the camera itself will be much smaller and lighter than mine.

 

[Cafeen]

Day 6 pt 3 - Boo to you pt 2!
So, we last left off after having been snubbed by Captain Hook and using a pineapple Dole Whip float to recover from it.

After the Dole Whip, I headed over near the hub where people were gathering for Hallowishes. I jumped against a little half wall circle thingy and settled in. Camera aimed high I didn't take any pictures! It was a great show though.

I then meandered through the shops and picked up the 2010 MNSSHP party shirt. And walked around a bit.

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I then headed over toward Liberty Square to catch the parade. Well, I actually didn't head over here to catch it, it just worked that way. I stood just to the right of the LTT steps.

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[Cafeen]

Day 6 pt 4 - The rest of the MNSSHP

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Ok, I took a "few" pics of the parade (that wasn't all of them...) but it was very good. I'm not particularly a parade person, but it was great. After the parade, the crowd started thinning out and I headed deeper into Frontierland and took another ride on BTMRR (I think I only did it twice earlier by the way..).

After that and a break, I headed back over to pirates and walked on (yet again).

Quick glance at Pumbaa keeping us out of the Jungle Cruise

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And then I was heading out of the park. It was pretty late by this time...

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And then I was "home". Nearly empty bus back to CSR and went to bed. Tomorrow will be Animal Kingdom and Jiko.

 

[rndmr2]

I had missed this latest couple updates.

Great pics of the MNSSHP and the parade, I always thought that parade looked so cool, I would love to be able to see it someday, although I don't know if I will be able to get DH to go as he doesn't like Halloween for some reason.

BTMRR in the dark is awsome!

How did you like Buzz? I love that ride, it's one of my favorites.