Complete 4/14!: A marathon, a family visit, and a week! (aka: No witty titles here)
- Thread starter sarbah77
- Start date
jenjolt
Loves All Things Disney!
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2008
- Messages
- 8,130
I'm totally subscribing!! WOW...way to go Jeremy...that is awesome i could never run a marathon and he was only 95 seconds off his qualifying time for Boston, he'll make I just know it!!
I can't wait to hear all about your EPCOT day!
I can't wait to hear all about your EPCOT day!
Lil'Mermaid75
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2007
- Messages
- 705
Congrats to your DH on a successful finish!!!
pamouselover
“Have faith in your dreams and someday your rainbo
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2005
- Messages
- 3,188
subbing so I dont miss your TR!
sarbah77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2007
- Messages
- 1,653
Thanks!! I was so proud of him!
Welcome!! I can't imagine running a marathon, either, and I married the guy! I just get to be a cheerleader instead!
Thanks!
Awww, welcome!!
sarbah77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2007
- Messages
- 1,653
I kind of meant to come back and post the other half last night... oops!!!
++++
On the way in to Epcot (man, who made the walk from the far parking lot to the main entrance so long? And who made the cop directing foot traffic so grumpy?), I stopped with my brother and used the gift card to buy him a 3rd day (he'd only had 2 days, since he joined my parents package). My parents went on ahead in to the park to get a locker, since we had gear for a 4am start and it was another gorgeous day.
Since it was 50-something at the 3am, I'd worn my capris, but I'd brought my hat and gloves and heavier weight coat. Same with my family, so my parents went ahead and rented a locker for all of us to ditch our stuff.
Next, we walked over to the Land and got FastPasses for Soarin'. Well, when I saw "walked" I sort of mean "my brother and I had to remember to slow down for my parents who didn't feel the need to race, quite like we did."
Then we stopped for breakfast (despite being 3 hours from lunch and up for 7 or 8 hours already), at the food court in the Land. My parents got a breakfast platter and complained about it (I should have paid more attention to this!). My brother and I split some interesting snack credits - a tomato & mozzarella salad and a container of two already peeled hard boiled eggs. That was a nice and healthy use of credits! I think, however, that was the last time I used my snack credits in a healthy manner. (where did whistling guy go? aha!) 
Anyway, we had time before our Fastpasses, so we decided to go to Test Track and Mission: Space. Of course, we had to cross the marathon to do so. There were handlers there, at marked one way intersections (no joke!) who let us cross in small groups. While we were waiting, I started cheering for the runners (we were at mile 25ish) and the rest of the crowd did, too. It really perked those runners up! It's funny how in our own head space we tend to get. Everyone's goal was To Get To The Other Side, Dangit, but there was no disrespect meant towards the runner - they were just focused on their own goals! And I do mean perked the runners up - a few of them waved and said thanks!!
Mission: Space was walk-on, basically, for both sides. My brother had never been on it before, so we went on the intense side. My parents took what they called the wimp side and we met outside once it was done. The line for Test Track was also pretty short, but shorter as single riders, so we did it that way. It's kind of funny how many times they give you the speech of YOU WILL BE SEPARATED FROM YOUR PARTY. I guess people thought they could beat the system that way?
From there, we braved our way BACK across the marathon, which had thinned out considerably (and was now down to the pace where my dad pointed out that he hustled faster than the runners did... of course, mile 25 and 5.5hrs of running, but shhhh), and made our way back for Soarin'. I find this ride a bit overrated, but that's because I don't like seeing feet. To me, it takes a bit away from the ride.
I think we waited well over half an hour to get loaded, because someone had jumped out of their seat once the ride had started. We think. Something about Dumbo being out of his seat was announced over the intercom? Such is my luck - the last two trips, someone jumped out and ran into Ellen's Energy Adventure (I figured I'd get off easy, this time, since it was down for refurb! Alas!). My parents ended up having to calm down a woman next to them, who took the "boarding instructions" to mean it was going to be a thrill ride! Poor girl!!
Next, we opted to mosey on over to the Rose & Crown for our 1:30 lunch reservations. Jeremy was back at Epcot already, having taken a bus back to the finish line and then walking in from there (...after having run 26 miles. I dunno about you, but I'd be all about the shortcuts!). But then, Rose & Crown did NOT have our reservations. Uh-oh, I thought. Two cranky parents (aka old people, when did that happen?), a marathoner, my brother and myself. Could this end well?
*insert wide area of space for faux suspense!!*
*lets the reader off the suspending!*
Yes, yes it could. We were quoted a 20 minute wait time but were seated within 5 (J was still moseying when we were getting seated). Wow! On the day that had seemed so busy? And we got outside lakeview seats! Our waitress, as seems to be my luck there, was terrible. Our food was pretty good, though. I got the Shepherd's Pie, which was a nice NORMAL sized portion of food. My dad got the bangers and mash, which he also agreed was a moderate food portion (and he didn't complain). Everyone else got the fish and chips. My parents and brother all got beer, as well. Mom didn't complain about her's, but my dad and brother agreed that they ended up with really tasteless beers. Jeremy got a hard cider and I got some girly drink with a glowing cube in it. Yeah. That's how I roll. (I like to play with the glowing cube, still.)
Jeremy and I made a pact to not return here. There are so many more interesting options at Epcot that we can scratch this one right off. He's eaten there every trip... and I might have, as well.
After that, my parents went back to nap (since it was just after 2pm!). I stuck it out with my brother and husband and we continued our mosey around the world. At France, we stopped for more booze - the Grand Marnier slushy and the Grey Goose Slushy, which we split three ways. Both of them were tasty and both of them had sneak up on you alcohol content. We watched one of the street shows and then continued to each country from there, looking at shops but otherwise just walking. My brother picked up a Sam Adams on tap at the USA pavilion, while I was too tired to continue drinking and J's stomach was a bit upset (hmm, marathon, greasy lunch, cider, and hard alcohol?). We had a nice time chatting with a lot of different people as we moseyed. There was a lot of people congratulating Jeremy on his marathon (he wore his shirt and medal), which was nice.
In fact, one older man actually pulled him aside, asking if he could touch the medal. WHY NOT? Wouldn't you know, he and his wife happen to live just a few miles from where we did, when we were in MA. He had run the half the day before (and was trying to figure out the difference between the white and grey shirts) and his wife, like me, was a spectator. She is also a wounded Desert Storm vet. Wow!! I think I remembered to thank her for her service to the country for us!
We rode the Maelstrom at Norway then the River of Time at Mexico (which, despite the addition of the Three Caballeros, was still ... hmm... well, you know) and then we hit our wall and headed back to the resort.
To me, Epcot seemed EXTREMELY busy. To my brother, it seemed so very quiet. I kept that in mind all week, when it seemed like it was getting busy. Really, it wasn't. Of course, there were a lot of tour groups there, and everywhere, all week. They were all South American groups of either families or teenagers. However, that was about it. We only noticed them because of the leader holding a flag and groups wearing the same t-shirts. Otherwise, they were unremarkable except for being everywhere. I never felt crowded, crowded out, intimidated, or put out by any of the groups, despite some apprehension on my part. As individuals, they were no worse behaved than any other park individuals (which really pretty much means things were fine).
Dinner Sunday night was at Boatwright's, at our resort, complete with pre-ordered cake. Our waitress was a doll, going over the menu in depth, telling us her favorites and the most popular items. At the end of the meal, she brought out the cake with a group of waitstaff and they all sang to us, after telling the restaurant we were celebrating our birthdays. I thought that was a cute touch - definitely was NOT our birthdays, but we were celebrating!
My mom had asked me to order the 8" cake, rather than the 6". If you have fewer than 10 people, DON'T DO IT! It was huge and we ate less than half. Yes, they boxed it up and sent it back to our room with us, but... are you kidding me? It was also a tasty cake. I was given two options when I was ordering cake - a vanilla cake with white chocolate filling/frosting or a dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate filling/frosting. I selected the dark chocolate cake, of course! (I should note here that we didn't eat another piece of it all week, since the DDP gives you dessert with your meal!)
Three of us ordered the fillet medallions and the other two ordered the prime rib. My medallions came with asparagus, a hollandaise sauce (which I ignored), and mashed potatoes. My mom and I ordered our's medium and it was perfect - pink and basically not bloody. The asparagus was cooked tender-crisp and the mashed potatoes were very tasty. The prime rib didn't last either, so there were no complaints there! This was a good meal with a good waitress. It might have been one of our best meals of the week.
Needless to say, that night I crashed and crashed hard! I think I made it to 10pm, after having been awake since 2am! I'm too old for that sort of thing!
++++
On the way in to Epcot (man, who made the walk from the far parking lot to the main entrance so long? And who made the cop directing foot traffic so grumpy?), I stopped with my brother and used the gift card to buy him a 3rd day (he'd only had 2 days, since he joined my parents package). My parents went on ahead in to the park to get a locker, since we had gear for a 4am start and it was another gorgeous day.
Since it was 50-something at the 3am, I'd worn my capris, but I'd brought my hat and gloves and heavier weight coat. Same with my family, so my parents went ahead and rented a locker for all of us to ditch our stuff.Next, we walked over to the Land and got FastPasses for Soarin'. Well, when I saw "walked" I sort of mean "my brother and I had to remember to slow down for my parents who didn't feel the need to race, quite like we did."
Then we stopped for breakfast (despite being 3 hours from lunch and up for 7 or 8 hours already), at the food court in the Land. My parents got a breakfast platter and complained about it (I should have paid more attention to this!). My brother and I split some interesting snack credits - a tomato & mozzarella salad and a container of two already peeled hard boiled eggs. That was a nice and healthy use of credits! I think, however, that was the last time I used my snack credits in a healthy manner. (where did whistling guy go? aha!) Anyway, we had time before our Fastpasses, so we decided to go to Test Track and Mission: Space. Of course, we had to cross the marathon to do so. There were handlers there, at marked one way intersections (no joke!) who let us cross in small groups. While we were waiting, I started cheering for the runners (we were at mile 25ish) and the rest of the crowd did, too. It really perked those runners up! It's funny how in our own head space we tend to get. Everyone's goal was To Get To The Other Side, Dangit, but there was no disrespect meant towards the runner - they were just focused on their own goals! And I do mean perked the runners up - a few of them waved and said thanks!!
Mission: Space was walk-on, basically, for both sides. My brother had never been on it before, so we went on the intense side. My parents took what they called the wimp side and we met outside once it was done. The line for Test Track was also pretty short, but shorter as single riders, so we did it that way. It's kind of funny how many times they give you the speech of YOU WILL BE SEPARATED FROM YOUR PARTY. I guess people thought they could beat the system that way?
From there, we braved our way BACK across the marathon, which had thinned out considerably (and was now down to the pace where my dad pointed out that he hustled faster than the runners did... of course, mile 25 and 5.5hrs of running, but shhhh), and made our way back for Soarin'. I find this ride a bit overrated, but that's because I don't like seeing feet. To me, it takes a bit away from the ride.
I think we waited well over half an hour to get loaded, because someone had jumped out of their seat once the ride had started. We think. Something about Dumbo being out of his seat was announced over the intercom? Such is my luck - the last two trips, someone jumped out and ran into Ellen's Energy Adventure (I figured I'd get off easy, this time, since it was down for refurb! Alas!). My parents ended up having to calm down a woman next to them, who took the "boarding instructions" to mean it was going to be a thrill ride! Poor girl!!
Next, we opted to mosey on over to the Rose & Crown for our 1:30 lunch reservations. Jeremy was back at Epcot already, having taken a bus back to the finish line and then walking in from there (...after having run 26 miles. I dunno about you, but I'd be all about the shortcuts!). But then, Rose & Crown did NOT have our reservations. Uh-oh, I thought. Two cranky parents (aka old people, when did that happen?), a marathoner, my brother and myself. Could this end well?
*insert wide area of space for faux suspense!!*
*lets the reader off the suspending!*
Yes, yes it could. We were quoted a 20 minute wait time but were seated within 5 (J was still moseying when we were getting seated). Wow! On the day that had seemed so busy? And we got outside lakeview seats! Our waitress, as seems to be my luck there, was terrible. Our food was pretty good, though. I got the Shepherd's Pie, which was a nice NORMAL sized portion of food. My dad got the bangers and mash, which he also agreed was a moderate food portion (and he didn't complain). Everyone else got the fish and chips. My parents and brother all got beer, as well. Mom didn't complain about her's, but my dad and brother agreed that they ended up with really tasteless beers. Jeremy got a hard cider and I got some girly drink with a glowing cube in it. Yeah. That's how I roll. (I like to play with the glowing cube, still.)
Jeremy and I made a pact to not return here. There are so many more interesting options at Epcot that we can scratch this one right off. He's eaten there every trip... and I might have, as well.
After that, my parents went back to nap (since it was just after 2pm!). I stuck it out with my brother and husband and we continued our mosey around the world. At France, we stopped for more booze - the Grand Marnier slushy and the Grey Goose Slushy, which we split three ways. Both of them were tasty and both of them had sneak up on you alcohol content. We watched one of the street shows and then continued to each country from there, looking at shops but otherwise just walking. My brother picked up a Sam Adams on tap at the USA pavilion, while I was too tired to continue drinking and J's stomach was a bit upset (hmm, marathon, greasy lunch, cider, and hard alcohol?). We had a nice time chatting with a lot of different people as we moseyed. There was a lot of people congratulating Jeremy on his marathon (he wore his shirt and medal), which was nice.
In fact, one older man actually pulled him aside, asking if he could touch the medal. WHY NOT? Wouldn't you know, he and his wife happen to live just a few miles from where we did, when we were in MA. He had run the half the day before (and was trying to figure out the difference between the white and grey shirts) and his wife, like me, was a spectator. She is also a wounded Desert Storm vet. Wow!! I think I remembered to thank her for her service to the country for us!
We rode the Maelstrom at Norway then the River of Time at Mexico (which, despite the addition of the Three Caballeros, was still ... hmm... well, you know) and then we hit our wall and headed back to the resort.
To me, Epcot seemed EXTREMELY busy. To my brother, it seemed so very quiet. I kept that in mind all week, when it seemed like it was getting busy. Really, it wasn't. Of course, there were a lot of tour groups there, and everywhere, all week. They were all South American groups of either families or teenagers. However, that was about it. We only noticed them because of the leader holding a flag and groups wearing the same t-shirts. Otherwise, they were unremarkable except for being everywhere. I never felt crowded, crowded out, intimidated, or put out by any of the groups, despite some apprehension on my part. As individuals, they were no worse behaved than any other park individuals (which really pretty much means things were fine).
Dinner Sunday night was at Boatwright's, at our resort, complete with pre-ordered cake. Our waitress was a doll, going over the menu in depth, telling us her favorites and the most popular items. At the end of the meal, she brought out the cake with a group of waitstaff and they all sang to us, after telling the restaurant we were celebrating our birthdays. I thought that was a cute touch - definitely was NOT our birthdays, but we were celebrating!
My mom had asked me to order the 8" cake, rather than the 6". If you have fewer than 10 people, DON'T DO IT! It was huge and we ate less than half. Yes, they boxed it up and sent it back to our room with us, but... are you kidding me? It was also a tasty cake. I was given two options when I was ordering cake - a vanilla cake with white chocolate filling/frosting or a dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate filling/frosting. I selected the dark chocolate cake, of course! (I should note here that we didn't eat another piece of it all week, since the DDP gives you dessert with your meal!)
Three of us ordered the fillet medallions and the other two ordered the prime rib. My medallions came with asparagus, a hollandaise sauce (which I ignored), and mashed potatoes. My mom and I ordered our's medium and it was perfect - pink and basically not bloody. The asparagus was cooked tender-crisp and the mashed potatoes were very tasty. The prime rib didn't last either, so there were no complaints there! This was a good meal with a good waitress. It might have been one of our best meals of the week.
Needless to say, that night I crashed and crashed hard! I think I made it to 10pm, after having been awake since 2am! I'm too old for that sort of thing!
sarbah77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2007
- Messages
- 1,653
Monday, January 12
Monday started far, far too early. We had set the alarm, to be sure to see my parents off on Magical Express and get in max Magic Kingdom time before my bro had to catch Magical Express! Oh, and I was dragging my brother and my husband to the Polynesian for Tonga Toast.
Since we were entirely dependent on WDW for transportation, this wasn't a very easy task. First, we caught the bus to the Magic Kingdom. Then we hopped the resort monorail (via Contemporary, TTC, then Polynesian). I introduced them to the joys of Tonga Toast, then we caught the monorail the rest of the way (Grand Floridian, then back to the Magic Kingdom!). From there, we hustled. This wasn't easy - J was a day post-race and I was still pretty beat. But we got on Buzz Lightyear very quickly, followed by a short wait on Space Mountain, then a trip on TTC... before hauling on over to the new and vastly improved Haunted Mansion, then Big Thunder Mountain and Pirates of the Carribean. After that was all done, we went back to the Buzz Lightyear ride... and eventually my brother found his way home.
We did find time to notice a few things:
I actually said "ooh, some people are going to be mad to have THAT ruining their view!" It was up all week, taking down Christmas lights.
I think Donald was pretty lonely as he had no line waiting for him!
We kind of died after that, putting on the brakes to our day. It worked out, because the park got really really busy after that. We ended up going to the counter service in Fronteirland, where we both used snack credits to get the chili cheese fries. This is REAL chili. With MEAT. We added some additional cheese sauce, but this was an incredibly filling meal/snack!
See? Really busy!
We went back on the TTA, for fun. Despite the fact that it was much cooler on Monday than it had been all weekend, it was sunny enough to make it a nice ride. And then... it stopped. The usual announcements of staying seated and resuming immediately began. Then ended. Next up was the announcement to stay seated until the host or hostess came over. In short, the ride broke with us on it. Since it goes through Space Mountain and everyone needed to be walked off, Space Mountain had to be shut down. Eventually we were all escorted off, down the emergency staircases and given a Fastpass good anywhere, any time, good through Thursday.
What do you do when stuck on the TTA? Random pictures!!
Our feet!
And self portraits!
We got back on Buzz Lightyear, then re-rode TTA (with no breakage!), and eventually wound our way out of the park. We opted to catch a resort ferry to the Grand Floridian, just to see what it was like. Fancy and almost uncomfortable. We did joke, though, that Disney couldn't even manage hot water at their public bathrooms... but they did have fancier toilet paper! It didn't take long to look around and, since we were tired, we got back on the resort monorail loop... but decided to go to the Contemporary (in order to hit all three deluxes in the area!). It was a very pretty resort and somewhere we were both much more confortable with. When we were bored there, we walked from there back to MK (because it was short and we could!).
On the Bay Lake side of the Contemporary.
Dinner was at Crystal Palace. Again, we checked in early, but we sat on the benches outside, as dusk fell and the lights on the Castle changed the Castle's colors. We were called early and seated right at the start of a character interaction meal. Yes. We had a character meal - we got to meet Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Pigglet. We'd gone there for the food, which didn't disappoint. It was a buffet meal, too. I had a little bit of most things - peel'n'eat shrimp, mussels, a slice of cow, and a few really tasty small desserts, to name just a few. Our dinner ended just as the fireworks did and I thought it meant that leaving would be messier than it was. Cool.
And the scene on our way out:
Back at our room, I was asleep by 9 and I slept nearly straight through, to the 7:30am alarm on Tuesday
Monday started far, far too early. We had set the alarm, to be sure to see my parents off on Magical Express and get in max Magic Kingdom time before my bro had to catch Magical Express! Oh, and I was dragging my brother and my husband to the Polynesian for Tonga Toast.
Since we were entirely dependent on WDW for transportation, this wasn't a very easy task. First, we caught the bus to the Magic Kingdom. Then we hopped the resort monorail (via Contemporary, TTC, then Polynesian). I introduced them to the joys of Tonga Toast, then we caught the monorail the rest of the way (Grand Floridian, then back to the Magic Kingdom!). From there, we hustled. This wasn't easy - J was a day post-race and I was still pretty beat. But we got on Buzz Lightyear very quickly, followed by a short wait on Space Mountain, then a trip on TTC... before hauling on over to the new and vastly improved Haunted Mansion, then Big Thunder Mountain and Pirates of the Carribean. After that was all done, we went back to the Buzz Lightyear ride... and eventually my brother found his way home.
We did find time to notice a few things:
I actually said "ooh, some people are going to be mad to have THAT ruining their view!" It was up all week, taking down Christmas lights.
I think Donald was pretty lonely as he had no line waiting for him!
We kind of died after that, putting on the brakes to our day. It worked out, because the park got really really busy after that. We ended up going to the counter service in Fronteirland, where we both used snack credits to get the chili cheese fries. This is REAL chili. With MEAT. We added some additional cheese sauce, but this was an incredibly filling meal/snack!
See? Really busy!
We went back on the TTA, for fun. Despite the fact that it was much cooler on Monday than it had been all weekend, it was sunny enough to make it a nice ride. And then... it stopped. The usual announcements of staying seated and resuming immediately began. Then ended. Next up was the announcement to stay seated until the host or hostess came over. In short, the ride broke with us on it. Since it goes through Space Mountain and everyone needed to be walked off, Space Mountain had to be shut down. Eventually we were all escorted off, down the emergency staircases and given a Fastpass good anywhere, any time, good through Thursday.
What do you do when stuck on the TTA? Random pictures!!
Our feet!
And self portraits!
We got back on Buzz Lightyear, then re-rode TTA (with no breakage!), and eventually wound our way out of the park. We opted to catch a resort ferry to the Grand Floridian, just to see what it was like. Fancy and almost uncomfortable. We did joke, though, that Disney couldn't even manage hot water at their public bathrooms... but they did have fancier toilet paper! It didn't take long to look around and, since we were tired, we got back on the resort monorail loop... but decided to go to the Contemporary (in order to hit all three deluxes in the area!). It was a very pretty resort and somewhere we were both much more confortable with. When we were bored there, we walked from there back to MK (because it was short and we could!).
On the Bay Lake side of the Contemporary.
Dinner was at Crystal Palace. Again, we checked in early, but we sat on the benches outside, as dusk fell and the lights on the Castle changed the Castle's colors. We were called early and seated right at the start of a character interaction meal. Yes. We had a character meal - we got to meet Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Pigglet. We'd gone there for the food, which didn't disappoint. It was a buffet meal, too. I had a little bit of most things - peel'n'eat shrimp, mussels, a slice of cow, and a few really tasty small desserts, to name just a few. Our dinner ended just as the fireworks did and I thought it meant that leaving would be messier than it was. Cool.
And the scene on our way out:
Back at our room, I was asleep by 9 and I slept nearly straight through, to the 7:30am alarm on Tuesday
pamouselover
“Have faith in your dreams and someday your rainbo
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2005
- Messages
- 3,188
What a great time! How old do you have to be to run the marathon?
My DS runs cross country, and was intrested when I told him about it.
I am so glad I did not see the castle like that...
My DS runs cross country, and was intrested when I told him about it.
I am so glad I did not see the castle like that...
sarbah77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2007
- Messages
- 1,653
What a great time! How old do you have to be to run the marathon?
My DS runs cross country, and was intrested when I told him about it.
I am so glad I did not see the castle like that...
Gosh, I don't know if there's a minimum for the marathon. I assume anyone who wants to run it, can, assuming they can maintain a 16 minute per mile pace.
And yeah, I felt bad for all the first timers seeing the castle like that... but as you can see from crzyred's report (and she arrived a day or so before me), they kept Christmas stuff up LATE. And the crane was there all week, but it hadn't been there for the marathon (Jeremy kept saying "That wasn't there for the race!" all week).
coffeehousemom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2008
- Messages
- 392
It was weird about the crane I remember it not being there on Sat or Sun but seeing it Mon. I thought maybe I just didn't see it those two days LOL
sarbah77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2007
- Messages
- 1,653
Well, POR even had their Christmas decor up when we arrived in the weeeeeeee morning hours of Saturday/late Friday night... so I guess they figured everyone went home on 1/11 and it was time to take down the Christmas stuff.
Everyone but you, me, and the Brazilian tour groups!
jenjolt
Loves All Things Disney!
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2008
- Messages
- 8,130
Awwww...yes that beautiful crane was in many of my photos...thankfully my last day at MK they had finished the refurb on the castle so I was able to get photos of the fountain and of myself in front of the castle without the crane LOL!!!
Another great update!!! Keep them coming!!!
Another great update!!! Keep them coming!!!
sarbah77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2007
- Messages
- 1,653
First, let me start you off with some pictures I took when we left our hotel room that morning:
We actually changed our plans on the fly for Tuesday. There was rain in the forecast, which made an Animal Kingdom day seem fairly unwise (there was also no rain predicted for the week!). For meal reservations, we had dinner planned for the Animal Kingdom Lodge. That was good - we didn't have to worry about changing that. However, we decided to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios, instead, where we had lunch reservations for the next day. Luckily, we were able to switch our Wednesday reservation for Tuesday!
We made it to the park just after opening. We hustled to the new Toy Story Midway Mania, which had a pretty short line. It's a new and totally goofy ride. You're in these zippy little cars and you wear 3D glasses and play midway games. Unlike the Buzz Lightyear ride, you're not in control of the direction you're pointing. It's quick moving and a lot of fun. But as a new ride, it has some VERY long waits!
Outside the ride:
From there, we crossed back to the Rockin' Rollar Coaster, which had a 30 minute wait time. I think we waited 10 or 15 minutes? Next, it was back to the Tower of Terror where, once again, I wondered why I was on a ride that scared me. But I rode it anyway... and almost complained that it was one of the shorter ones with fewer drops.
Next, we meandered over to Star Tours. Cheesy, as always, and in dire need of an update, but always fun. We had our very own row, which was pretty cool. From there, we had some time to kill until lunch, so we wandered through the Streets of America. As I'd noticed on Saturday, all of the lights for the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights was still up. It was pretty cool to look at, even without it being lit, but I'd love to see it lit some day.
Lunch was at the Sci-Fi diner. Reviews of this had always been mediocre at best, but my DH had *always* wanted to eat there so I finally caved. I kind of wish I hadn't. For the record, the movie clips are on a 45 minute loops. So we saw it all, almost twice. But, anyway. We were seated promptly, in the last row of the last car. But our view of the screen was still quite good. Our waitress did a good job, but I think molasses outside in Michigan in January move faster than she did. Our waitress did tell us that, on the dining plan, we could get a milkshake as our drink. J opted for that and I got a cherry coke (one of the ones that has the cherry syrup added), since I wanted a milkshake for my dessert. J got a sandwich, which he said was fine. I opted for a pasta with shrimp meal and... it wasn't so good. My shrimp tasted a bit off, so I ate around it for awhile. Since he'd run the marathon, they gave him (us) a free ice cream sundae and a card the staff had signed. Since we were on the DDP, our waitress suggested we get bottles of water (I wasn't in the mood for TWO desserts, in addition to the part of J's shake that I had). Anyway, the meal went uncomfortably long. It was probably made worse by the fact that I was on the inside and couldn't get out easily.
I would not return here. It was a cute schtick but once was undoubtedly enough.
J had been dying to see "Lights, Motors, Action..." stunt show and, on our way out of lunch, they were flagging people down for the start of the show. By the time we got in and got a seat, we'd missed the first couple of minutes TOPS. Our seats weren't great (hey, we were late comers!) and it was a cute show, once. It was very quick, definitely highly staged, but it was a decent use of our time. DHS is not a full day park for me (especially since we'd already been there once before!), so catching street shows and planned shows is a nice way to slow down and smell the roses.
I digress.
View from our seats:
However, as the show ended, the sky opened up and it rained for the next few hours. We toughed it out, with our jackets, but we decided we were done with the park. We put on our ponchos (these ponchos had more miles than my coworkers. We bought them for the 2001 trip, brought then in 2005, I brought them in 2007... and they came with us to Alaska last summer! I guess this more a testament to our luck than anything) and decided that it would be a good time to see what the walk was like from DHS to the Boardwalks.
Yes. In the rain. It wasn't raining that hard and I was wearing my crocs, so I cuffed my pants and off we went. It is a nice, short walk. From there, we walked through the Boardwalk main reception area, out the front door, and caught the next bus to Downtown Disney. (We did see some sort of raptor-like bird while we waited)
Unfortunately, I decided after some time at DTD that I was too cold to stay dressed like that for the night. But I decided this after we did most of our shopping, so it did give us a chance to drop our stuff off, while putting on warmer gear! Our main souvenier for the trip was a Mickey head-shaped ornament that had the date written on it. While it wasn't the proper color for the theme of our Christmas tree, it's still really quite nice.
After waiting almost 20 minutes, we did get on the bus back to the resort. We then decided we'd either catch the DTD bus OR the AK bus, since we had dinner reservations at Boma, which was at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Disney does NOT run buses from resort to resort (more or less), so we knew we'd have to make a transfer. The bus to AK turned up first. From there, we hopped into the AKL line where we waited about 3 minutes for the bus. We got there early (obviously), so we spent some time walking around the resort. It's definitely an interesting place, but it's not super-high on my list of places to stay. That said, a trip during daylight might change my mind (if I could see the Savannah, etc), but it is rather far from anything.
Our meal at Boma was probably the most interesting of all of our meals at Disney. I tried a little bit of everything and liked most of it. Strangely, the dessert table might have been the least interesting (beyond the Zebra Domes, of course!). The watermelon rind salad was super-good, though heavy on the ginger. I also tried another fruit salad that was similar to the typical midwest style fruit in a cool whip like sauce (but it wasn't a typical midwest style one. for the record).
This night, especially after eating at the Crystal Palace the night before, made me grateful for the Dining Plan. Since it was all paid for, I never looked at the prices. If it hadn't been, I probably would have balked at paying $30-something for a buffet. I don't eat that much food, generally. So it was nice to not think about it, since I'm definitely a penny-pincher, worrywart, budgeter type. This just meant I ate and didn't fret.
From there, we made the uninteresting hop back to POR and called it a night. We wanted to get to the Animal Kingdom for opening and we knew that meant we had to get up earlier and move faster than we had that day!
We actually changed our plans on the fly for Tuesday. There was rain in the forecast, which made an Animal Kingdom day seem fairly unwise (there was also no rain predicted for the week!). For meal reservations, we had dinner planned for the Animal Kingdom Lodge. That was good - we didn't have to worry about changing that. However, we decided to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios, instead, where we had lunch reservations for the next day. Luckily, we were able to switch our Wednesday reservation for Tuesday!
We made it to the park just after opening. We hustled to the new Toy Story Midway Mania, which had a pretty short line. It's a new and totally goofy ride. You're in these zippy little cars and you wear 3D glasses and play midway games. Unlike the Buzz Lightyear ride, you're not in control of the direction you're pointing. It's quick moving and a lot of fun. But as a new ride, it has some VERY long waits!
Outside the ride:
From there, we crossed back to the Rockin' Rollar Coaster, which had a 30 minute wait time. I think we waited 10 or 15 minutes? Next, it was back to the Tower of Terror where, once again, I wondered why I was on a ride that scared me. But I rode it anyway... and almost complained that it was one of the shorter ones with fewer drops.
Next, we meandered over to Star Tours. Cheesy, as always, and in dire need of an update, but always fun. We had our very own row, which was pretty cool. From there, we had some time to kill until lunch, so we wandered through the Streets of America. As I'd noticed on Saturday, all of the lights for the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights was still up. It was pretty cool to look at, even without it being lit, but I'd love to see it lit some day.
Lunch was at the Sci-Fi diner. Reviews of this had always been mediocre at best, but my DH had *always* wanted to eat there so I finally caved. I kind of wish I hadn't. For the record, the movie clips are on a 45 minute loops. So we saw it all, almost twice. But, anyway. We were seated promptly, in the last row of the last car. But our view of the screen was still quite good. Our waitress did a good job, but I think molasses outside in Michigan in January move faster than she did. Our waitress did tell us that, on the dining plan, we could get a milkshake as our drink. J opted for that and I got a cherry coke (one of the ones that has the cherry syrup added), since I wanted a milkshake for my dessert. J got a sandwich, which he said was fine. I opted for a pasta with shrimp meal and... it wasn't so good. My shrimp tasted a bit off, so I ate around it for awhile. Since he'd run the marathon, they gave him (us) a free ice cream sundae and a card the staff had signed. Since we were on the DDP, our waitress suggested we get bottles of water (I wasn't in the mood for TWO desserts, in addition to the part of J's shake that I had). Anyway, the meal went uncomfortably long. It was probably made worse by the fact that I was on the inside and couldn't get out easily.
I would not return here. It was a cute schtick but once was undoubtedly enough.
J had been dying to see "Lights, Motors, Action..." stunt show and, on our way out of lunch, they were flagging people down for the start of the show. By the time we got in and got a seat, we'd missed the first couple of minutes TOPS. Our seats weren't great (hey, we were late comers!) and it was a cute show, once. It was very quick, definitely highly staged, but it was a decent use of our time. DHS is not a full day park for me (especially since we'd already been there once before!), so catching street shows and planned shows is a nice way to slow down and smell the roses.
I digress.
View from our seats:
However, as the show ended, the sky opened up and it rained for the next few hours. We toughed it out, with our jackets, but we decided we were done with the park. We put on our ponchos (these ponchos had more miles than my coworkers. We bought them for the 2001 trip, brought then in 2005, I brought them in 2007... and they came with us to Alaska last summer! I guess this more a testament to our luck than anything) and decided that it would be a good time to see what the walk was like from DHS to the Boardwalks.
Yes. In the rain. It wasn't raining that hard and I was wearing my crocs, so I cuffed my pants and off we went. It is a nice, short walk. From there, we walked through the Boardwalk main reception area, out the front door, and caught the next bus to Downtown Disney. (We did see some sort of raptor-like bird while we waited)
Unfortunately, I decided after some time at DTD that I was too cold to stay dressed like that for the night. But I decided this after we did most of our shopping, so it did give us a chance to drop our stuff off, while putting on warmer gear! Our main souvenier for the trip was a Mickey head-shaped ornament that had the date written on it. While it wasn't the proper color for the theme of our Christmas tree, it's still really quite nice.
After waiting almost 20 minutes, we did get on the bus back to the resort. We then decided we'd either catch the DTD bus OR the AK bus, since we had dinner reservations at Boma, which was at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Disney does NOT run buses from resort to resort (more or less), so we knew we'd have to make a transfer. The bus to AK turned up first. From there, we hopped into the AKL line where we waited about 3 minutes for the bus. We got there early (obviously), so we spent some time walking around the resort. It's definitely an interesting place, but it's not super-high on my list of places to stay. That said, a trip during daylight might change my mind (if I could see the Savannah, etc), but it is rather far from anything.
Our meal at Boma was probably the most interesting of all of our meals at Disney. I tried a little bit of everything and liked most of it. Strangely, the dessert table might have been the least interesting (beyond the Zebra Domes, of course!). The watermelon rind salad was super-good, though heavy on the ginger. I also tried another fruit salad that was similar to the typical midwest style fruit in a cool whip like sauce (but it wasn't a typical midwest style one. for the record).
This night, especially after eating at the Crystal Palace the night before, made me grateful for the Dining Plan. Since it was all paid for, I never looked at the prices. If it hadn't been, I probably would have balked at paying $30-something for a buffet. I don't eat that much food, generally. So it was nice to not think about it, since I'm definitely a penny-pincher, worrywart, budgeter type. This just meant I ate and didn't fret.
From there, we made the uninteresting hop back to POR and called it a night. We wanted to get to the Animal Kingdom for opening and we knew that meant we had to get up earlier and move faster than we had that day!
sarbah77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2007
- Messages
- 1,653
pamouselover
“Have faith in your dreams and someday your rainbo
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2005
- Messages
- 3,188
Dont you hate crossing back over at DHS? It wears me out!
I loved toy stroy mania.
I loved toy stroy mania.
sarbah77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2007
- Messages
- 1,653
It was fun but man, the lines for that sucker!!! Got totally out of control! Especially since Disney never seemed to be able to accurately predict the line waits. Oh well!
Disneychix
When you wish upon a star...
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2007
- Messages
- 4,078
Just got caught up now! Congrats to your DH! That's an awesome marathon time!
I don't know how he kept up with you the next day. But I love the random shots on the TTA!!
I don't know how he kept up with you the next day. But I love the random shots on the TTA!!
coffeehousemom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 24, 2008
- Messages
- 392
We too were caught in that downpour after watching LMA. The boys really enjoyed the show. Well of course 2 6 yr old little boys would LOL.
sarbah77
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2007
- Messages
- 1,653
Just got caught up now! Congrats to your DH! That's an awesome marathon time!
I don't know how he kept up with you the next day. But I love the random shots on the TTA!!
Thanks!! I deleted some of the bad random shots and opted not to upload the one of him snoozing.
And I'm so proud of him for his marathon time!! But Monday, he kept up until about noon and then we went into suuuuuuuupeeeerrrrrr sloooooooow moooootiooooon.
So, we were at the same thing at the same time and didn't meet up? Man, that's almost as bad as the Snowbird who was my neighbor all week!
jenjolt
Loves All Things Disney!
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2008
- Messages
- 8,130
Awww...another great update!! Glad that you enjoyed the shows even though you had to deal with some rain!!! I really did like the Lights, Motor, Action show a lot it was great and I had an amazing time watching all the high action stunts!!!
I'm glad you liked Boma's I was going to try there for breakfast but I had to do some scheduling changes so I had to cancel it...one of these days I will have zebra domes!
I'm glad you liked Boma's I was going to try there for breakfast but I had to do some scheduling changes so I had to cancel it...one of these days I will have zebra domes!
-
New Caramel Treats from Karamell-Kuche at EPCOT in Walt Disney World
-
How Do Disney Cruise Line Gratuities Work and What's the Best Way to Pay?
-
LIVE Disney News & Discussion Podcast | 09/09/25
-
Could This Be the Best New Disney x LEGO Build Ever?
-
Do You Remember? 'September' Taking Over EPCOT's Cosmic Rewind
-
Listen to THIS: Favorite Disney Parks Halloween Music
-
New Disney Merch: Halloween, BaubleBar, RSVLTS & Exclusives!
New Threads
- Poll
Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE
New Posts
- Poll
