JenniBarra
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2002
- Messages
- 415
Thursday, February 7
This morning, we decide to head out to visit the Disney outlets. I had read that it can be confusing to find them and we were inclined to agree. First, we made the mistake of turning off the road to the Belz Designer Outlets, but I told my husband that I kept reading something about a dead end and that certainly didn't look like any dead end... Eventually, we find the right outlets, but then it's a matter of figuring out which annex, which mall, etc.
Eventually, though, we made it to both of the Belz outlet stores. We find it interesting that Disney owns the outlets, as opposed to another party. (In California, the Disneyland Resort sells their stuff to AMS, who then runs both permanent and temporary stores all over the state - though I am still baffled as to how a few California Adventure sweatshirts had made it into one of the stores!) It made sense then what I had heard about full price merchandise being mixed in with the reduced items. Early on, I am pleased to find the _Making of Animal Kingdom_ book for only a few dollars and we also notice the same fountain from Animal Kingdom Lodge, reduced to the same price. In the end, we decide to get the fountain, though not trusting the baggage handlers, we decide to have it shipped home, along with a couple of books. What we do take with us is clothing, hair accessories, a watch (for $24, but that was still being sold at the hotel and park stores for $55!) and a cool rolling backpack that matches the bag my husband had just given me for Christmas.
We decide that we must have picked the perfect day for shopping, as the day started with a drizzle that eventually turned into quite a downpour. (Of course, by the time we reached the second store, a lot of people must have thought shopping was a good idea, too, as it was quite a bit more crowded than our first stop!)
We figure we will eat while we're out and I just happen to jokingly mention that the "world's largest" McDonald's is on International Drive. Well, Keith says, what the heck, why don't we check it out. We did pass up on the pizza, though, as we'd had enough of that in the hotel food court! It certainly is a very unique place, with lots of murals on the walls and a fountain in one corner.
As we are finishing up lunch, a woman comes over to talk to us. I'm finally to the point in my life where my antennae go up when someone seems "overly friendly." Sure enough, she's signing people up to hear a time share spiel at a nearby hotel and is offering us breakfast, 50 Disney dollars, and a mini-vacation hotel stay. Thinking that, if we go to the first morning slot, we'll have plenty of time to get to the parks when they open, we decide okay.
After lunch, since we're already out, we stop by the car rental place, to see if we can get refunded on the insurance, now that our insurance agent at home has FAXed a copy of the policy to them. (We'd called the day before to verify that the FAX had arrived and they refused to help us out on the phone, insisting we had to come in in person, but we weren't going to waste more vacation time and toll fare just to do that at the time.) It's a good thing we hadn't made a special trip, as they said the only way to remove the insurance would be to check the car in and then write up a new contract, which would result in a *higher* rate as it wouldn't be for a weekly rate anymore! As if the experience wasn't frustrating enough already...
Before going back to the hotel, we make a detour to Downtown Disney so I can pick up the 100 Years merchandise at World of Disney I had been wanting. As I had found on my last trip, it's easy to get lost in there! ; ) At least there is somewhat of an organizational pattern to each of the "rooms."
At the hotel, we decide to fill our mugs and get a snack. Finally, the seating section closest to the water wheel is open, so we sit there. Better yet, we have entertainment. : ) There's a man outside trying to feed the fish, only two birds keep trying to see if they sneak a piece of food, too!
After finishing our snack, I buy some fish food, too, that I try to evenly distribute between birds and fish. : ) At one point, Keith excuses himself. I'm not sure what he's doing, but he comes back with something that it looks like has been purchased at the hotel gift store. He opens the bag up and it's a loaf of bread! So he hands me a couple of slices and heads me over to where a woman and her son are feeding ducks. Were those ducks hungry! They tussle with each other to get the pieces, while not doing anything more to me than stepping on my feet and bumping me with their feathery behinds. These are ducks of a very different attitude than the kind I've fed at the parks at home!
It's been quite a day of shopping and feeding animals, so it's evening time once we make it to Epcot.
There's hardly any line at Spaceship Earth, so we decide to ride. Keith keeps telling me how much his late dad would have loved the ride and tries to suck in as many details as possible to share with his mother once we're back home. I've been on it maybe one or two more times than he has, but yet, for whatever reason, I hadn't looked *up* previously when reaching the very peak. This is one of those rides I'd love to see a diagram for, to see just how it snakes around and how far up certain scenes are and so on.
Next we check out the artwork inside Mexico and ride El Rio del Tiempo. This time, I've actually been to the real Mexico, so I quietly comment to my husband about how that's such and such place and that the videos don't even come close to showing how pretty it really is.
We pop next door to ride Maelstrom. It was very easy to spot the mouse eared Viking, though I haven't found nearly the number of hidden Mickeys I'd been hoping to spot. It's still a cute ride, but not nearly as thrilling as the first time, now that I know the boat *will* eventually stop going backward. <g>
Since we plan to be at Magic Kingdom the following night, we talk about where to stake out a spot for IllumiNations. I mention to Keith how a lot of people take in dinner at the cantina and then stay for show and, both liking Mexican food, we figure it's a good plan. It's easy to get a seat because it's early enough yet and the seats are wet, so it's the ones willing to wipe a table and chairs down that get to sit. We had a great spot, it's just too bad that the food was so terrible! Not only did I find my tacos bland, my husband found that the chicken pieces in his were so overcooked as to be inedible!
At least it wasn't all a wash, as the show was great! I saw it - well, what wasn't obscured by tall people in front of me - in '97. I remember just being able to see the fireworks and not much else, while this time, wow, I could actually clearly see the globe and the images on it. : ) Very cool show!
Afterward, when we get to the bus and the driver is waiting for it to fill before taking off, we strike up a conversation with a couple across the way. They're wearing Disneyland and California Adventure attire, so we of course ask where they're from. It ends up he works at DCA and she works at DL! We're delighted at meeting fellow California residents, since it's probably the first time during the entire trip. (My husband would later conclude that, of all the different people we met during our vacation, everyone pretty much comes from somewhere east of the Mississippi.)
As the bus driver takes off, our chat is interrupted by the driver singing "The Wheels on the Bus." Soon, everyone else is singing along, too! When the song concludes, Keith jokes and says, "That's the best worst song I've heard all day!" which leads the driver into a round of "It's a Small World." ; ) We've certainly had our share of entertaining bus drivers this week...
This morning, we decide to head out to visit the Disney outlets. I had read that it can be confusing to find them and we were inclined to agree. First, we made the mistake of turning off the road to the Belz Designer Outlets, but I told my husband that I kept reading something about a dead end and that certainly didn't look like any dead end... Eventually, we find the right outlets, but then it's a matter of figuring out which annex, which mall, etc.
Eventually, though, we made it to both of the Belz outlet stores. We find it interesting that Disney owns the outlets, as opposed to another party. (In California, the Disneyland Resort sells their stuff to AMS, who then runs both permanent and temporary stores all over the state - though I am still baffled as to how a few California Adventure sweatshirts had made it into one of the stores!) It made sense then what I had heard about full price merchandise being mixed in with the reduced items. Early on, I am pleased to find the _Making of Animal Kingdom_ book for only a few dollars and we also notice the same fountain from Animal Kingdom Lodge, reduced to the same price. In the end, we decide to get the fountain, though not trusting the baggage handlers, we decide to have it shipped home, along with a couple of books. What we do take with us is clothing, hair accessories, a watch (for $24, but that was still being sold at the hotel and park stores for $55!) and a cool rolling backpack that matches the bag my husband had just given me for Christmas.
We decide that we must have picked the perfect day for shopping, as the day started with a drizzle that eventually turned into quite a downpour. (Of course, by the time we reached the second store, a lot of people must have thought shopping was a good idea, too, as it was quite a bit more crowded than our first stop!)
We figure we will eat while we're out and I just happen to jokingly mention that the "world's largest" McDonald's is on International Drive. Well, Keith says, what the heck, why don't we check it out. We did pass up on the pizza, though, as we'd had enough of that in the hotel food court! It certainly is a very unique place, with lots of murals on the walls and a fountain in one corner.
As we are finishing up lunch, a woman comes over to talk to us. I'm finally to the point in my life where my antennae go up when someone seems "overly friendly." Sure enough, she's signing people up to hear a time share spiel at a nearby hotel and is offering us breakfast, 50 Disney dollars, and a mini-vacation hotel stay. Thinking that, if we go to the first morning slot, we'll have plenty of time to get to the parks when they open, we decide okay.
After lunch, since we're already out, we stop by the car rental place, to see if we can get refunded on the insurance, now that our insurance agent at home has FAXed a copy of the policy to them. (We'd called the day before to verify that the FAX had arrived and they refused to help us out on the phone, insisting we had to come in in person, but we weren't going to waste more vacation time and toll fare just to do that at the time.) It's a good thing we hadn't made a special trip, as they said the only way to remove the insurance would be to check the car in and then write up a new contract, which would result in a *higher* rate as it wouldn't be for a weekly rate anymore! As if the experience wasn't frustrating enough already...
Before going back to the hotel, we make a detour to Downtown Disney so I can pick up the 100 Years merchandise at World of Disney I had been wanting. As I had found on my last trip, it's easy to get lost in there! ; ) At least there is somewhat of an organizational pattern to each of the "rooms."
At the hotel, we decide to fill our mugs and get a snack. Finally, the seating section closest to the water wheel is open, so we sit there. Better yet, we have entertainment. : ) There's a man outside trying to feed the fish, only two birds keep trying to see if they sneak a piece of food, too!
After finishing our snack, I buy some fish food, too, that I try to evenly distribute between birds and fish. : ) At one point, Keith excuses himself. I'm not sure what he's doing, but he comes back with something that it looks like has been purchased at the hotel gift store. He opens the bag up and it's a loaf of bread! So he hands me a couple of slices and heads me over to where a woman and her son are feeding ducks. Were those ducks hungry! They tussle with each other to get the pieces, while not doing anything more to me than stepping on my feet and bumping me with their feathery behinds. These are ducks of a very different attitude than the kind I've fed at the parks at home!
It's been quite a day of shopping and feeding animals, so it's evening time once we make it to Epcot.
There's hardly any line at Spaceship Earth, so we decide to ride. Keith keeps telling me how much his late dad would have loved the ride and tries to suck in as many details as possible to share with his mother once we're back home. I've been on it maybe one or two more times than he has, but yet, for whatever reason, I hadn't looked *up* previously when reaching the very peak. This is one of those rides I'd love to see a diagram for, to see just how it snakes around and how far up certain scenes are and so on.
Next we check out the artwork inside Mexico and ride El Rio del Tiempo. This time, I've actually been to the real Mexico, so I quietly comment to my husband about how that's such and such place and that the videos don't even come close to showing how pretty it really is.
We pop next door to ride Maelstrom. It was very easy to spot the mouse eared Viking, though I haven't found nearly the number of hidden Mickeys I'd been hoping to spot. It's still a cute ride, but not nearly as thrilling as the first time, now that I know the boat *will* eventually stop going backward. <g>
Since we plan to be at Magic Kingdom the following night, we talk about where to stake out a spot for IllumiNations. I mention to Keith how a lot of people take in dinner at the cantina and then stay for show and, both liking Mexican food, we figure it's a good plan. It's easy to get a seat because it's early enough yet and the seats are wet, so it's the ones willing to wipe a table and chairs down that get to sit. We had a great spot, it's just too bad that the food was so terrible! Not only did I find my tacos bland, my husband found that the chicken pieces in his were so overcooked as to be inedible!
At least it wasn't all a wash, as the show was great! I saw it - well, what wasn't obscured by tall people in front of me - in '97. I remember just being able to see the fireworks and not much else, while this time, wow, I could actually clearly see the globe and the images on it. : ) Very cool show!
Afterward, when we get to the bus and the driver is waiting for it to fill before taking off, we strike up a conversation with a couple across the way. They're wearing Disneyland and California Adventure attire, so we of course ask where they're from. It ends up he works at DCA and she works at DL! We're delighted at meeting fellow California residents, since it's probably the first time during the entire trip. (My husband would later conclude that, of all the different people we met during our vacation, everyone pretty much comes from somewhere east of the Mississippi.)
As the bus driver takes off, our chat is interrupted by the driver singing "The Wheels on the Bus." Soon, everyone else is singing along, too! When the song concludes, Keith jokes and says, "That's the best worst song I've heard all day!" which leads the driver into a round of "It's a Small World." ; ) We've certainly had our share of entertaining bus drivers this week...
Guess we should form a club. 
You really had a great bus driver. I've never had one who interacted with the group. Thanks for sharing your day. 
