The Cast: Marie, my wife, 50 ish
Sarah, my daughter, 21
Domenica, Sarah's friend, 21
Me, all round good guy, 52
Our Priors: 1980 - Off - Site
1982 - Contemporary
1987 - Polynesian
1989 - Grand Floridian
1992 - Beach Club
1994 - Beach Club
1995 - Dixie Landings / Beach Club / Vero Beach
1996 - Boardwalk
1997 - Wilderness Lodge / Beach Club
1999 - Disney Paris
2000 - Boardwalk
2003 - Polynesian / Boardwalk
2004 - Boardwalk
2005 - Yacht Club
Despite having gotten back to the room around 2:00 the night before we were up early; it's time to hit the parks. First we had one more wedding activity to attend, a farewell breakfast for the newlyweds before they departed on their honeymoon cruise. The breakfast was in one of the rooms in the convention center next to the Yacht Club. It was a nice affair; buffet,omelet station and so on. We ate, hung out for a while, said our good-byes and caught a bus for the Magic Kingdom.
We stopped long enough to find our brick at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom,paid our respects then went in. Dom was duly impressed with Main St. and the castle. Dumbo, which we haven't ridden since Sarah's first trip in 1987, was our first stop so we made a beeline there. It was hot and it was very crowded. The fans, those that were working, whirled away as if powered by anemic slugs. I could sympathize with the little kids as they whined and complained as we waited 45 minutes for our ride. I'd like to say it was worth the wait but, no, it wasn't.
I won't bore you with our every move,since everyone does the same things, but will give you some highlights and lowlights. Hadn't seen Philharmagic before so that was good, I had high score on Buzz, 484k, I have no idea if that is good or not. The wait time for Splash Mt. seemed excessive even with a FP. We all nodded off at one point or another on Carousel of Progress, that was pretty funny. Marie got to see Cinderellabration so she was happy. Stitch's Escape was just plain dumb, horrible waste of time.
Lunch was at Liberty Tree where I think we had 3 pot roasts and I can't remember what Marie had. All was good. We had an 8:00 ressie at California Grill. We rushed to shower and change and I even drove there to make it on time only to find out they were running 30 minutes behind. No problem, fireworks weren't till 10:00. We got a nice window table, enjoyed a wonderful dinner and watched the show. The California Rolls were the best I've ever had, I could have made a meal out of those alone.
I think we got back around 11:30. Everyone was beat, the heat and humidity really wear you down. Maybe it was the martinis before and the wine with dinner, no, couldn't be that.
Next day was MGM day. The ToT is my personal favorite and this time around it was made even better by the little girl sitting behind us. As the elevator began to rise the first time, this girl let out a blood-curdling scream that continued unabated until the ride was over and the lights were on. I have never heard anyone scream that long and that loud in my life. I felt bad that she was that scared but it was funny as heck at the same time..... Backlot tour,colossal waste of time. If I want to see banged up cars I'll drive through downtown Newark or Camden..... The Muppets are starting to get old..... Star Tours, old..... Getting soaked at the end of the night, not fun.
Fantasmic gets it's own paragraph. First, we arrived at 8:30 to find the place almost full. Next came the gnat attack which actually turned out to be a nice diversion from the people doing the "wave" incessantly...... It had started to rain toward the end of the show so of course everyone tried for the exits in a mad rush. As they were screaming over the speakers not to walk on the seats because they were slippery, a young woman a couple rows up from us emphatically proved them correct by doing a header and splitting her forehead open. Blood everywhere. Sarah and Dom stayed with her as I summoned a harried CM for some help.
Lunch was at Prime Time, a must-do for a first time visitor. Too bad our "Mom" didn't play up the part that much. Food was OK, nothing great.
Dinner was at the Brown Derby which was very good.
Next day was EPCOT day. Soarin', liked it but even with FP it took too long. Seemed to take them forever to get people in their seats......Imagination, so,so,sad. They've totally and irrevocably ruined it......The Shrunk the Audience pre-show, so,so sad...ruined.......Shrunk the Audience, getting old quickly......Mission Space, couldn't get anyone to go with me due to the recent tragedy.......Energy, Bill who?.......El Rio del Tiempo, they just don't make 'em like this anymore!
This was the day we said "NO" to little cereal boxes and take out coffee. Breakfast was in the Yacht Club Galley, we ordered off the menu not buffet. Very good after the last few days..........Lunch was at Nine Dragons. Have never had a bad meal here and today was no exception, four thumbs up....Dinner was at Victoria and Alberts, need I say more?
Next day started in EPCOT again. We were going to the Princess character breakfast in Norway, at 7:50. The two "kids" had been looking forward to this and did themselves proud. They went to breakfast garishly dressed, festooned with their pin-ladened lanyards and light-up tiaras. Yes, they did turn a few heads, mainly from little kids wishing they had a tiara. Marie and I felt sorry for the young couples with a couple of kids who paid dearly for them to meet the princesses while not eating a thing on their plates. I don't understand why they have to charge so much.
We hung around EPCOT then had lunch at Alfredo's which was very good. Spent the afternoon at the pool then it was back to EPCOT for dinner at Chefs de France (the duck was very good as was the rest of the meal). Watched what we could of Illuminations from our table and then headed home.
Our last day started with breakfast in the Galley. Then it was off to Animal Kingdom. We arrived about 10:00 and it was already hot and crowded. We spent a few hours, didn't really see all that much. We headed to the safari to get a FP then had to hike across the entire park to see Tarzan then hike back to the safari. The girls had to catch the Magical Express at 3:00 to get back to the airport and Marie & I had a 5 hour drive to Tybee Island in Georgia so we headed home for a final lunch together.
We were going to walk over to Mexico for lunch but a sudden shower put a stop to that. We settled for Beaches & Cream which was fine with everyone. After lunch we said our good-byes to each other and Disney.
Marie & I agreed on the drive to Georgia that this would probably be our last Disney vacation for quite a while. We might want to stop in for the Food & Wine Festival, it seems we come to eat more than anything else. Maybe when Sarah has kids.................
Sarah, my daughter, 21
Domenica, Sarah's friend, 21
Me, all round good guy, 52
Our Priors: 1980 - Off - Site
1982 - Contemporary
1987 - Polynesian
1989 - Grand Floridian
1992 - Beach Club
1994 - Beach Club
1995 - Dixie Landings / Beach Club / Vero Beach
1996 - Boardwalk
1997 - Wilderness Lodge / Beach Club
1999 - Disney Paris
2000 - Boardwalk
2003 - Polynesian / Boardwalk
2004 - Boardwalk
2005 - Yacht Club
Despite having gotten back to the room around 2:00 the night before we were up early; it's time to hit the parks. First we had one more wedding activity to attend, a farewell breakfast for the newlyweds before they departed on their honeymoon cruise. The breakfast was in one of the rooms in the convention center next to the Yacht Club. It was a nice affair; buffet,omelet station and so on. We ate, hung out for a while, said our good-byes and caught a bus for the Magic Kingdom.
We stopped long enough to find our brick at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom,paid our respects then went in. Dom was duly impressed with Main St. and the castle. Dumbo, which we haven't ridden since Sarah's first trip in 1987, was our first stop so we made a beeline there. It was hot and it was very crowded. The fans, those that were working, whirled away as if powered by anemic slugs. I could sympathize with the little kids as they whined and complained as we waited 45 minutes for our ride. I'd like to say it was worth the wait but, no, it wasn't.
I won't bore you with our every move,since everyone does the same things, but will give you some highlights and lowlights. Hadn't seen Philharmagic before so that was good, I had high score on Buzz, 484k, I have no idea if that is good or not. The wait time for Splash Mt. seemed excessive even with a FP. We all nodded off at one point or another on Carousel of Progress, that was pretty funny. Marie got to see Cinderellabration so she was happy. Stitch's Escape was just plain dumb, horrible waste of time.
Lunch was at Liberty Tree where I think we had 3 pot roasts and I can't remember what Marie had. All was good. We had an 8:00 ressie at California Grill. We rushed to shower and change and I even drove there to make it on time only to find out they were running 30 minutes behind. No problem, fireworks weren't till 10:00. We got a nice window table, enjoyed a wonderful dinner and watched the show. The California Rolls were the best I've ever had, I could have made a meal out of those alone.
I think we got back around 11:30. Everyone was beat, the heat and humidity really wear you down. Maybe it was the martinis before and the wine with dinner, no, couldn't be that.
Next day was MGM day. The ToT is my personal favorite and this time around it was made even better by the little girl sitting behind us. As the elevator began to rise the first time, this girl let out a blood-curdling scream that continued unabated until the ride was over and the lights were on. I have never heard anyone scream that long and that loud in my life. I felt bad that she was that scared but it was funny as heck at the same time..... Backlot tour,colossal waste of time. If I want to see banged up cars I'll drive through downtown Newark or Camden..... The Muppets are starting to get old..... Star Tours, old..... Getting soaked at the end of the night, not fun.
Fantasmic gets it's own paragraph. First, we arrived at 8:30 to find the place almost full. Next came the gnat attack which actually turned out to be a nice diversion from the people doing the "wave" incessantly...... It had started to rain toward the end of the show so of course everyone tried for the exits in a mad rush. As they were screaming over the speakers not to walk on the seats because they were slippery, a young woman a couple rows up from us emphatically proved them correct by doing a header and splitting her forehead open. Blood everywhere. Sarah and Dom stayed with her as I summoned a harried CM for some help.
Lunch was at Prime Time, a must-do for a first time visitor. Too bad our "Mom" didn't play up the part that much. Food was OK, nothing great.
Dinner was at the Brown Derby which was very good.
Next day was EPCOT day. Soarin', liked it but even with FP it took too long. Seemed to take them forever to get people in their seats......Imagination, so,so,sad. They've totally and irrevocably ruined it......The Shrunk the Audience pre-show, so,so sad...ruined.......Shrunk the Audience, getting old quickly......Mission Space, couldn't get anyone to go with me due to the recent tragedy.......Energy, Bill who?.......El Rio del Tiempo, they just don't make 'em like this anymore!
This was the day we said "NO" to little cereal boxes and take out coffee. Breakfast was in the Yacht Club Galley, we ordered off the menu not buffet. Very good after the last few days..........Lunch was at Nine Dragons. Have never had a bad meal here and today was no exception, four thumbs up....Dinner was at Victoria and Alberts, need I say more?
Next day started in EPCOT again. We were going to the Princess character breakfast in Norway, at 7:50. The two "kids" had been looking forward to this and did themselves proud. They went to breakfast garishly dressed, festooned with their pin-ladened lanyards and light-up tiaras. Yes, they did turn a few heads, mainly from little kids wishing they had a tiara. Marie and I felt sorry for the young couples with a couple of kids who paid dearly for them to meet the princesses while not eating a thing on their plates. I don't understand why they have to charge so much.
We hung around EPCOT then had lunch at Alfredo's which was very good. Spent the afternoon at the pool then it was back to EPCOT for dinner at Chefs de France (the duck was very good as was the rest of the meal). Watched what we could of Illuminations from our table and then headed home.
Our last day started with breakfast in the Galley. Then it was off to Animal Kingdom. We arrived about 10:00 and it was already hot and crowded. We spent a few hours, didn't really see all that much. We headed to the safari to get a FP then had to hike across the entire park to see Tarzan then hike back to the safari. The girls had to catch the Magical Express at 3:00 to get back to the airport and Marie & I had a 5 hour drive to Tybee Island in Georgia so we headed home for a final lunch together.
We were going to walk over to Mexico for lunch but a sudden shower put a stop to that. We settled for Beaches & Cream which was fine with everyone. After lunch we said our good-byes to each other and Disney.
Marie & I agreed on the drive to Georgia that this would probably be our last Disney vacation for quite a while. We might want to stop in for the Food & Wine Festival, it seems we come to eat more than anything else. Maybe when Sarah has kids.................
At least you got to be a part of it all!
