We did, however, have a logistical problem. Tonight was my birthday dinner at Yachtsman, at 6PM. The parade started at 4:45. There was no way would would make it, using Disney transpo, by 6. (The car was at AKL because we took the safari bus this morning). So we decided that we would head back to AKL and enjoy the resort some, and then drive back to AK in time for the parade. We had some snacks in the lounge and then walked around to some of the lookouts, talking with the CMs about the animals. The warthogs were by far my favorite. This turned out to be the nicest day, weather-wise, of our trip. By afternoon we only needed 2 layers, as opposed to 5, all the other days.
We drove back over to AK in time for the 3PM FOTLK show. I was surprised at how many people were leaving the park. We were joking that the park would be empty by the time the parade started and that nobody would be around to see our big debut! We had some time to kill before the parade so we watched ITTBAB and then mosied up to Africa. The kids stopped to drum for awhile.
Finally it was time to head to our meeting point, back next to the safari. We were so excited!
Fer, the handler, met us and 4 other families. We were escorted backstage, one family at a time, and outfitted with our safari gear. Fer explained that the only place that we were allowed to take pictures was right where they we got our gear. What a fun experience to be back there where the CMs and floats are lining up, and seeing the logistics of how the parade starts off behind the scenes.
Fer told us that as we entered the park he would be taking pictures of us with a disposable camera and then the camera would be handed off to us. He snapped maybe 6-7 pictures. Then we were instructed by a photopass photographer that they would be stationed at 3 different locations throughout the parade to take our picture and we would get the photopass card. He rattled off the locations but my mind was racing and I only remembered "before you cross the bridge into Asia". They made sure we saw them, though, at each location. We were then handed off to 2 CMs that would be behind us, dancing, during the parade. They escorted us to our float, the tiger, told us how to smile and wave. They even tried to teach Nicholas the Prince wave.
Before long we were buckled into our float, waiting for the parade to begin. Donald was atop his float right behind us, and of course, being very naughty. He was ringing and ringing his bell and when we would turn around to look he would stop immediately and give those 'what?', 'not me', 'I'm not doing anything' hand gestures. Soon we were off. I leaned over and told the kids to really enjoy and remember this, it's probably a once in a lifetime experience, and we'll never see any of these people again so don't be afraid to act silly. After we got through the doors I took lots of pictures of the crowds and CMs. The first thing we saw as we entered the park. There WERE still people there!
Behind us, our 2 CMs and Donald.
The end.
They got us off of our float and collected our gear. We were allowed to stand on the curb backstage and watch the rest of the parade as it exited the park. After many thank yous to all of the CMs, it was time to leave. What a thrilling experience!
We headed out of the park quickly to head over to the Yacht Club. We were a little late but we didn't care! After a few minutes wait we were seated. I asked for Ricardo, Elizabeth's favorite waiter, but he was back home on vacation. I can't remember the name of the lady we got. This is one of those restaurants that I've "been there, done that, don't need to do it again." The food was very good but it was rather stuffy. We had much better experiences at Citrico's and FF. I was wished happy birthday by the waitress, but that was it. I saw others celebrating bday's get a small cake with candle. Could it be that we were all wearing sweatshirts and jeans, after a day in the park? Unfortunately our day didn't let us become more "restaurant appropriate". Oh well. No worries. I had the best birthday ever!
I don't really get involved in those. We are a non profit that does government contract work. I might have to help out with a few questions but nothing too bad. We had a change in staff at one of the federal agencies we work with and it has been a nightmare!!!! 
We are in Section 102, BB, seats 11 & 12. We got the best tickets you could buy.
