Cast of Characters
Me 26 Year Old Disney Fanatic from Marlton, NJ
Kristen 29 Year Fiancee and fellow Disney Nut from Marlton, NJ
Mom I get to go to Disney every week, hahahah Thonotosassa, FL
RJ 18 Year Old brother who prefers thrill rides, but still loves Disney Thonotosassa, FL
Guest Appearance
Dad I guess I will just grab a pretzel for dinner. Thonotosassa, FL
Ah day 7, we approaching the end of our tour of the world. It is pretty depressing thinking about going back to work and the daily grind, but today ended up being one of my most magical days. It was an early opening day at MGM studios which we happily took advantage of. The long walk over to the studios was beginning to wear on our feet, but we were way too anxious to wait for the boat. It was a beautiful day and tower and rock and roll were calling out to us. Unfortunately Kristen had a problem with her annual pass in the turn style. I dont know what the deal is with her tickets, but she has no luck. Later we discovered there was nothing wrong with her ticket, it was actually the turnstile that was picky. After that short delay we walked/jogged over to the thrill rides. There was no wait for Tower so we headed to get a fast pass for Rock and Roll. Instead of leaving, we hopped right on. We were towards the back this time and it is a different ride back there. You feel more weightlessness on the loops, which is good or bad depending on what you like. We both loved it. I bought a cool T-shirt as a souvenir for a friend at home and we were off to Tower. I think we ended up riding 2 or 3 times in a row. By the last time, it was getting pretty crowded so we went back to Rock and Roll for our fast pass. We both love these rides, not only because they are such great thrill rides, but also the incredible theming that goes on in them. Even if you are not a big fan of thrills, you should still try these attractions at least once. It would be a tragedy to go to MGM and miss these two. We had another yummy pretzel right outside of the Beauty and the Beast Theater. It seems like wherever we go in Disney, they always have great pretzels. There wasnt much else we wanted to do in MGM so we headed back to our room. We were actually checking out today and moving to the Beach Club Villas. Our bags were already done and all we had to do was call bell services to bring them across the lagoon. It was very easy; you have to love how convenient Disney makes things.
It was still early, but we walked over to the Beach Club to see if there was any chance our room would be ready. The cast member at the desk ended up being a fellow New Jersey transplant and there was even another couple next to us from New Jersey. It felt like some kind of reunion. Anyway, even though our pre-assigned room was not available, she put us in another one bedroom that was currently vacant. This was really nice of her and she was just so pleasant in everything she did. You could really tell she enjoyed her job. The Beach Club is a little more formal that Boardwalk is and we really enjoyed walking around the grounds. Now we had a studio over in Boardwalk and were going to stay in the one bedroom for a night. This was something we probably should have never done because we could probably never go back to the studio again. The room was huge; I told Kristen we could move in permanently if there was another bedroom. It had all the comforts of home, plus two balconies overlooking the pool. I cant even describe how impressed I was with this place. We will definitely be staying here on future visits. We were anxiously awaiting our luggage because silly me packed my bathing suit. We even went to the gift shops in the Beach and Yacht clubs shopping for a new one, just in case. In the mean time my mom joined us and she was really impressed with the room too. Fortunately our bags did arrive and we were off to Epcot for lunch. Can you tell we love this park? We decided on Canada because Kristen never ate there and I was in the mood for the cheddar cheese soup. Lunch was very good and we will definitely eat there again, if not just for the pretzel bread. Do you see a trend here with pretzels? I was partaking in the Dive Quest program at 4:15 so we had some time to kill. We were all going to see Universe of Energy again, but I figured the show was too long so I left them and went shopping for a bit because I had to go to guest services in front of the park to meet the Dive Quest crew. I was very excited and even a little nervous about the whole experience and it could not get here fast enough. The time did eventually arrive and before I knew it I was being whisked backstage with a group of three other guys. We were all first times for this experience. We got to walk through the hidden areas of the Living Seas and got to view some of the behind the scene action. There was one point that we walked through the pavilion and had to pretend we were cast members. All of us avoided eye contact with any guests fearing questions that we would have to make up the answers. Before we got the chance to jump in the water with the fish, we watched a short video on the experience and went over safety procedures. The video was good and got us all more excited to get in the water. The only real glaring point was do not touch or intimidate the sea turtles since they are endangered. I was a little worried that we werent allowed to bring our own equipment, but it turned out the stuff they gave us was very high quality, split fins and all. We were all given a locker and an equipment bag. What they failed to tell us was that we had to walk through the pavilion and all our guests with just our shorty wetsuits on. This was a little embarrassing and cool at the same time. At least we looked important. There was a scary moment when our group leader had to leave and just left us out in the open for all to observe. We were dreading the questions about what kind of fish that may be. I came up with Fishus Maximus, but did not have to use it on anyone. I actually spotted Kristen and my mom at this time and they came over to say hi and take some pictures. Our leader came back and we were whisked up a spiral staircase to the top of the aquarium. It was very cold in there and we were informed that we had to walk back down there after we got out of the water, brrrr. All our equipment was laid out and we were given a few ground rules: dont touch the fish, you are on stage in front of tons of guests so act like it, and stay away from the dolphin enclosure. That was about it, they did assign us buddies, but everybody explored on their own which was very cool. There were two dive masters and a videographer on the dive. The water was a little cooler than I expected but my body got used to it pretty quickly. We descended a rope and we all kneeled at the bottom of the 25-foot aquarium. There were a couple of pictures taken and we all got videoed swimming into a giant plastic bubble where you could take your mask and regulator off. It was interesting, but should be by choice. I was more interested in swimming with the sharks. We did a couple of passes in front of the glass where you could wave and essentially play with the guests standing out there on dry land. The best is swimming by the restaurant seeing every one trying to have a quiet meal. I had some fun with little kids getting real close to the glass and seeing their reactions. I spotted Kristen and my mom and swam up to the glass, removed my regulator and gave Kristen a kiss. She said it was the highlight of her day. I spent most of my time trying to interact with the sharks and laying on the bottom with the 250 lbs. Grouper. This things mouth was as big as my head so it was pretty intimidating. I was really disappointed we could not interact with the dolphins, but I had a great time with the fish regardless. It was so amazing being in their world. I swam through a large school of fish and they did not scatter at all, they were all around me. It was a dream come true. Unfortunately all good things come to an end and after 45 minutes we had to get out of the water. Everyone on the dive was extremely thrilled with how everything went; there was just this bubble of excitement in the room. The walk down those stairs and though the pavilion soaking wet was no fun at all. Fortunately they had hot showers in the locker room which we were all very thankful for. They even took our families backstage to view the video that was put together of us. I bought it of course; it was amazing how quickly they edited the thing all together. They also gave us a T-shirt and a certificate. This was definitely one of the highlights of the whole trip for me. They were perfect diving conditions, if you are scuba certified you need to do this, enough said. I was on an emotional high, but also starving and our dinner reservations were not until 9:00. We did the Food and Wine loop again and I munched on some more duck. I love that stuff. It was time to get back to the room and get changed for dinner. We said our farewells to my mom and she was off.
We had to walk back to Boardwalk to get the car since we were having dinner at Jiko. I love the Animal Kingdom lodge; we stayed here July and had a great time. The atmosphere is so unique and is carried over into the restaurants. Dinner was exquisite and we will definitely be back. The post dinner plan was Pleasure Island since we did not get to go yet this trip. We got there around 10:30 and I knew it was a bad sign when there was nobody waiting at the turnstiles. The place was a ghost town and we pretty much walked right through. For some reason clubs are no fun to us when there is nobody else there. Word to the wise, Tuesday nights are empty at Pleasure Island. So we headed back to an old favorite, Disney Quest. Kristen again managed to beat me in some video games. I must be losing my touch. We were tired and there was to be no dancing tonight so we headed back to the room for some much-needed sleep.
Me 26 Year Old Disney Fanatic from Marlton, NJ
Kristen 29 Year Fiancee and fellow Disney Nut from Marlton, NJ
Mom I get to go to Disney every week, hahahah Thonotosassa, FL
RJ 18 Year Old brother who prefers thrill rides, but still loves Disney Thonotosassa, FL
Guest Appearance
Dad I guess I will just grab a pretzel for dinner. Thonotosassa, FL
Ah day 7, we approaching the end of our tour of the world. It is pretty depressing thinking about going back to work and the daily grind, but today ended up being one of my most magical days. It was an early opening day at MGM studios which we happily took advantage of. The long walk over to the studios was beginning to wear on our feet, but we were way too anxious to wait for the boat. It was a beautiful day and tower and rock and roll were calling out to us. Unfortunately Kristen had a problem with her annual pass in the turn style. I dont know what the deal is with her tickets, but she has no luck. Later we discovered there was nothing wrong with her ticket, it was actually the turnstile that was picky. After that short delay we walked/jogged over to the thrill rides. There was no wait for Tower so we headed to get a fast pass for Rock and Roll. Instead of leaving, we hopped right on. We were towards the back this time and it is a different ride back there. You feel more weightlessness on the loops, which is good or bad depending on what you like. We both loved it. I bought a cool T-shirt as a souvenir for a friend at home and we were off to Tower. I think we ended up riding 2 or 3 times in a row. By the last time, it was getting pretty crowded so we went back to Rock and Roll for our fast pass. We both love these rides, not only because they are such great thrill rides, but also the incredible theming that goes on in them. Even if you are not a big fan of thrills, you should still try these attractions at least once. It would be a tragedy to go to MGM and miss these two. We had another yummy pretzel right outside of the Beauty and the Beast Theater. It seems like wherever we go in Disney, they always have great pretzels. There wasnt much else we wanted to do in MGM so we headed back to our room. We were actually checking out today and moving to the Beach Club Villas. Our bags were already done and all we had to do was call bell services to bring them across the lagoon. It was very easy; you have to love how convenient Disney makes things.
It was still early, but we walked over to the Beach Club to see if there was any chance our room would be ready. The cast member at the desk ended up being a fellow New Jersey transplant and there was even another couple next to us from New Jersey. It felt like some kind of reunion. Anyway, even though our pre-assigned room was not available, she put us in another one bedroom that was currently vacant. This was really nice of her and she was just so pleasant in everything she did. You could really tell she enjoyed her job. The Beach Club is a little more formal that Boardwalk is and we really enjoyed walking around the grounds. Now we had a studio over in Boardwalk and were going to stay in the one bedroom for a night. This was something we probably should have never done because we could probably never go back to the studio again. The room was huge; I told Kristen we could move in permanently if there was another bedroom. It had all the comforts of home, plus two balconies overlooking the pool. I cant even describe how impressed I was with this place. We will definitely be staying here on future visits. We were anxiously awaiting our luggage because silly me packed my bathing suit. We even went to the gift shops in the Beach and Yacht clubs shopping for a new one, just in case. In the mean time my mom joined us and she was really impressed with the room too. Fortunately our bags did arrive and we were off to Epcot for lunch. Can you tell we love this park? We decided on Canada because Kristen never ate there and I was in the mood for the cheddar cheese soup. Lunch was very good and we will definitely eat there again, if not just for the pretzel bread. Do you see a trend here with pretzels? I was partaking in the Dive Quest program at 4:15 so we had some time to kill. We were all going to see Universe of Energy again, but I figured the show was too long so I left them and went shopping for a bit because I had to go to guest services in front of the park to meet the Dive Quest crew. I was very excited and even a little nervous about the whole experience and it could not get here fast enough. The time did eventually arrive and before I knew it I was being whisked backstage with a group of three other guys. We were all first times for this experience. We got to walk through the hidden areas of the Living Seas and got to view some of the behind the scene action. There was one point that we walked through the pavilion and had to pretend we were cast members. All of us avoided eye contact with any guests fearing questions that we would have to make up the answers. Before we got the chance to jump in the water with the fish, we watched a short video on the experience and went over safety procedures. The video was good and got us all more excited to get in the water. The only real glaring point was do not touch or intimidate the sea turtles since they are endangered. I was a little worried that we werent allowed to bring our own equipment, but it turned out the stuff they gave us was very high quality, split fins and all. We were all given a locker and an equipment bag. What they failed to tell us was that we had to walk through the pavilion and all our guests with just our shorty wetsuits on. This was a little embarrassing and cool at the same time. At least we looked important. There was a scary moment when our group leader had to leave and just left us out in the open for all to observe. We were dreading the questions about what kind of fish that may be. I came up with Fishus Maximus, but did not have to use it on anyone. I actually spotted Kristen and my mom at this time and they came over to say hi and take some pictures. Our leader came back and we were whisked up a spiral staircase to the top of the aquarium. It was very cold in there and we were informed that we had to walk back down there after we got out of the water, brrrr. All our equipment was laid out and we were given a few ground rules: dont touch the fish, you are on stage in front of tons of guests so act like it, and stay away from the dolphin enclosure. That was about it, they did assign us buddies, but everybody explored on their own which was very cool. There were two dive masters and a videographer on the dive. The water was a little cooler than I expected but my body got used to it pretty quickly. We descended a rope and we all kneeled at the bottom of the 25-foot aquarium. There were a couple of pictures taken and we all got videoed swimming into a giant plastic bubble where you could take your mask and regulator off. It was interesting, but should be by choice. I was more interested in swimming with the sharks. We did a couple of passes in front of the glass where you could wave and essentially play with the guests standing out there on dry land. The best is swimming by the restaurant seeing every one trying to have a quiet meal. I had some fun with little kids getting real close to the glass and seeing their reactions. I spotted Kristen and my mom and swam up to the glass, removed my regulator and gave Kristen a kiss. She said it was the highlight of her day. I spent most of my time trying to interact with the sharks and laying on the bottom with the 250 lbs. Grouper. This things mouth was as big as my head so it was pretty intimidating. I was really disappointed we could not interact with the dolphins, but I had a great time with the fish regardless. It was so amazing being in their world. I swam through a large school of fish and they did not scatter at all, they were all around me. It was a dream come true. Unfortunately all good things come to an end and after 45 minutes we had to get out of the water. Everyone on the dive was extremely thrilled with how everything went; there was just this bubble of excitement in the room. The walk down those stairs and though the pavilion soaking wet was no fun at all. Fortunately they had hot showers in the locker room which we were all very thankful for. They even took our families backstage to view the video that was put together of us. I bought it of course; it was amazing how quickly they edited the thing all together. They also gave us a T-shirt and a certificate. This was definitely one of the highlights of the whole trip for me. They were perfect diving conditions, if you are scuba certified you need to do this, enough said. I was on an emotional high, but also starving and our dinner reservations were not until 9:00. We did the Food and Wine loop again and I munched on some more duck. I love that stuff. It was time to get back to the room and get changed for dinner. We said our farewells to my mom and she was off.
We had to walk back to Boardwalk to get the car since we were having dinner at Jiko. I love the Animal Kingdom lodge; we stayed here July and had a great time. The atmosphere is so unique and is carried over into the restaurants. Dinner was exquisite and we will definitely be back. The post dinner plan was Pleasure Island since we did not get to go yet this trip. We got there around 10:30 and I knew it was a bad sign when there was nobody waiting at the turnstiles. The place was a ghost town and we pretty much walked right through. For some reason clubs are no fun to us when there is nobody else there. Word to the wise, Tuesday nights are empty at Pleasure Island. So we headed back to an old favorite, Disney Quest. Kristen again managed to beat me in some video games. I must be losing my touch. We were tired and there was to be no dancing tonight so we headed back to the room for some much-needed sleep.
