Blondie
~*~*~*~<br><font color=blue>This TF always enjoys
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 17,306
For a link to Day One, click here!
For a link to Day Two click here!
For a link to Day Three click here!
Today DH had to attend his seminar, the real reason we were in Orlando! He was out the door fairly early in the AM, and as soon as he opened the door to leave, a very loud "ROOM SERVICE" could be heard, waking me and the boys up! Wouldn't have been too bad if it was our room service, evidently someone very close by was having a nice in room breakfast!
Since that spoiled any idea of sleeping in today, we all got up, and planned our day at Animal Kingdom. Today was a little cooler than the others, so I wore a sweatshirt, as did the boys. Before we left, I had a cup of coffee on the balcony and watched all the men and women in black take their descent on the Dolphin. I watched as they walked over from the Yacht and Beach Club and The Boardwalk. This was one BIG convention!
As we got off the elevators in the lobby, it was a sea of men and women on cell-phones! I just walked straight on, barging through like a steamroller! Outta my way!
We arrived kind of late (at least I thought it was) around 10:15 and holy toledo were the bag check lines long! Took 15 minutes! I noticed that our line was moving way slower than the others (made a mental note of that for a return trip later in the week.)
We sprinted right for the Kilimanjaro Safari in Africa, as that is our AK favorite. The line didn't seem too long, so we passed on the idea of getting a Fast Pass. Had a tour guide in training for this safari. As she pulled up to get her next round of passengers, a CM who had been riding with her departed, and another one got on, sitting behind her with a check-list of sorts, and a PDA. I looked over his shoulder (he was sitting in front of us) and he was making little notes here and there. She did a good job, and I'm sure she is giving a tour right now!
From here it was on to the Pangani Exploration Trail then we shot across the park to Asia for the Maharajah Jungle Trek (also another favorite of mine.) I always seem to get some great photos here. I had most of my rolls put online through CVS, but this was one of the rolls I didn't get done, and I regret it! So, I have no photos to share for this installment, sorry folks!
We decided to have lunch in Dinoland, but we grabbed a Fast Pass for Dinosaur first. We had lunch at Restaurantosaurus in April 2001, and decided to eat here again. This is really a McDonald's, but it's hard to tell. It doesn't look like any McD's you've ever been in before! I had the boys sit at a table outside while I got our lunch, which consisted of a chicken wrap w/fries (it was really good--surprised the heck out of me!) a ten piece chicken nuggets w/fries for DS#1 and a hamburger w/fries for DS#2 (all were combo meals--makes it very easy to place your order.) We also got two little bags of chocolate chip cookies and one chocolate peanutbutter brownie. Total cost for all that, $28.74!
As we were finishing, I noticed a mom and her two toddlers waiting for a table to open up, so I motioned to her to wait a few minutes, and she could have ours. She was very thankful because by then, there were no tables, inside or outside! It filled up very quickly!
We had the pleasure
of riding Dinosaur in front of three girls who screamed at the top of their lungs the entire ride! It really spoiled it, and as we exited, my boys couldn't help but point it out, over and over and over again!
We returned to the Dolphin, to hang out at the pool, but is was a little too chilly and breezy for me! Today was the day they were closing both lap pools and the Grotto for a convention party. There was a sign posted the day before as to when they'd be closing, so we knew ahead of time. They kept the spring pool and the baby pools open, but there were only two other women with their kids besides myself there. I started a conversation with one, who was there with her DH attending the convention, they were from Michigan and were enjoying the warmer weather, only today, by the time we got to the pool, if the sun went behind a cloud, made it seem down right frosty! I was in long pants and a sweatshirt, and it still wasn't warm enough for me! I must've looked pitiful, because the lady that works at the little cabana where you get your towels, rent water floats, and buy sunscreen, brought me over another towel to cover me up! I asked her how long the convention would be there, and what kind of convention it was; it was for lenders, Bank of America, etc. She told me most of them would be checking out tomorrow (Wednesday.) I was secretly saying to myself "yay!"
It was interesting seeing the pool party come together. A bandstand was set-up, potted plants and banners were being brought in, etc. Looked like a lot of work, work I was glad I was not taking part in!
DH got back around 4:30, and we were in the room dried off and warmed up by then. I really wanted to go back to the Magic Kingdom to pick up a Christmas ornament I saw there, that I didn't see at any of the other parks. We arrived around 4:55, and first up was a little something to eat. Little did we know, most of the counter service restaurants closed at 5PM!! What is up with that???? We zig-zagged across the MK looking for something, anything! Pinocchio's Village Haus- CLOSED! Columbia Harbor House-CLOSED. Pecos Bills- CLOSED! Casey's was opened, but we didn't want hot dogs! DH said, more than once, "we should've had something to eat at the Dolphin!" So, dinner tonight consisted of pretzels! We sat at a table at Pinocchio's outside, and watched as the huge hot pretzels sold out FAST! Apparently, we weren't the only ones caught off guard! The park closed at 7PM tonight, so I still don't understand the logic in closing the counter service places 2 hours in advance. Something needs to be done about that!
We rode a few rides and made our way to the front of the park. People were grabbing up available spaces to watch the fireworks; on the curbs, benches, etc. Oh, and I forgot all about that Christmas ornament I wanted to buy!
I did, however, for the first time in my life, finally get to see Tinkerbell fly down from the Castle! I couldn't believe it!
That alone, was worth having a pretzel for dinner!
*edited for typos!*
For a link to Day Two click here!
For a link to Day Three click here!
Today DH had to attend his seminar, the real reason we were in Orlando! He was out the door fairly early in the AM, and as soon as he opened the door to leave, a very loud "ROOM SERVICE" could be heard, waking me and the boys up! Wouldn't have been too bad if it was our room service, evidently someone very close by was having a nice in room breakfast!
Since that spoiled any idea of sleeping in today, we all got up, and planned our day at Animal Kingdom. Today was a little cooler than the others, so I wore a sweatshirt, as did the boys. Before we left, I had a cup of coffee on the balcony and watched all the men and women in black take their descent on the Dolphin. I watched as they walked over from the Yacht and Beach Club and The Boardwalk. This was one BIG convention!
As we got off the elevators in the lobby, it was a sea of men and women on cell-phones! I just walked straight on, barging through like a steamroller! Outta my way!
We arrived kind of late (at least I thought it was) around 10:15 and holy toledo were the bag check lines long! Took 15 minutes! I noticed that our line was moving way slower than the others (made a mental note of that for a return trip later in the week.)
We sprinted right for the Kilimanjaro Safari in Africa, as that is our AK favorite. The line didn't seem too long, so we passed on the idea of getting a Fast Pass. Had a tour guide in training for this safari. As she pulled up to get her next round of passengers, a CM who had been riding with her departed, and another one got on, sitting behind her with a check-list of sorts, and a PDA. I looked over his shoulder (he was sitting in front of us) and he was making little notes here and there. She did a good job, and I'm sure she is giving a tour right now!
From here it was on to the Pangani Exploration Trail then we shot across the park to Asia for the Maharajah Jungle Trek (also another favorite of mine.) I always seem to get some great photos here. I had most of my rolls put online through CVS, but this was one of the rolls I didn't get done, and I regret it! So, I have no photos to share for this installment, sorry folks!
We decided to have lunch in Dinoland, but we grabbed a Fast Pass for Dinosaur first. We had lunch at Restaurantosaurus in April 2001, and decided to eat here again. This is really a McDonald's, but it's hard to tell. It doesn't look like any McD's you've ever been in before! I had the boys sit at a table outside while I got our lunch, which consisted of a chicken wrap w/fries (it was really good--surprised the heck out of me!) a ten piece chicken nuggets w/fries for DS#1 and a hamburger w/fries for DS#2 (all were combo meals--makes it very easy to place your order.) We also got two little bags of chocolate chip cookies and one chocolate peanutbutter brownie. Total cost for all that, $28.74!
As we were finishing, I noticed a mom and her two toddlers waiting for a table to open up, so I motioned to her to wait a few minutes, and she could have ours. She was very thankful because by then, there were no tables, inside or outside! It filled up very quickly!
We had the pleasure
of riding Dinosaur in front of three girls who screamed at the top of their lungs the entire ride! It really spoiled it, and as we exited, my boys couldn't help but point it out, over and over and over again! We returned to the Dolphin, to hang out at the pool, but is was a little too chilly and breezy for me! Today was the day they were closing both lap pools and the Grotto for a convention party. There was a sign posted the day before as to when they'd be closing, so we knew ahead of time. They kept the spring pool and the baby pools open, but there were only two other women with their kids besides myself there. I started a conversation with one, who was there with her DH attending the convention, they were from Michigan and were enjoying the warmer weather, only today, by the time we got to the pool, if the sun went behind a cloud, made it seem down right frosty! I was in long pants and a sweatshirt, and it still wasn't warm enough for me! I must've looked pitiful, because the lady that works at the little cabana where you get your towels, rent water floats, and buy sunscreen, brought me over another towel to cover me up! I asked her how long the convention would be there, and what kind of convention it was; it was for lenders, Bank of America, etc. She told me most of them would be checking out tomorrow (Wednesday.) I was secretly saying to myself "yay!"
It was interesting seeing the pool party come together. A bandstand was set-up, potted plants and banners were being brought in, etc. Looked like a lot of work, work I was glad I was not taking part in!
DH got back around 4:30, and we were in the room dried off and warmed up by then. I really wanted to go back to the Magic Kingdom to pick up a Christmas ornament I saw there, that I didn't see at any of the other parks. We arrived around 4:55, and first up was a little something to eat. Little did we know, most of the counter service restaurants closed at 5PM!! What is up with that???? We zig-zagged across the MK looking for something, anything! Pinocchio's Village Haus- CLOSED! Columbia Harbor House-CLOSED. Pecos Bills- CLOSED! Casey's was opened, but we didn't want hot dogs! DH said, more than once, "we should've had something to eat at the Dolphin!" So, dinner tonight consisted of pretzels!
We sat at a table at Pinocchio's outside, and watched as the huge hot pretzels sold out FAST! Apparently, we weren't the only ones caught off guard! The park closed at 7PM tonight, so I still don't understand the logic in closing the counter service places 2 hours in advance. Something needs to be done about that!We rode a few rides and made our way to the front of the park. People were grabbing up available spaces to watch the fireworks; on the curbs, benches, etc. Oh, and I forgot all about that Christmas ornament I wanted to buy!
I did, however, for the first time in my life, finally get to see Tinkerbell fly down from the Castle! I couldn't believe it!
That alone, was worth having a pretzel for dinner!
*edited for typos!*
