TLinden16
Scotty and Ray at Jelly Rolls are the best!
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2002
- Messages
- 16,243
Day 7--Sunday, May 10, 2009
After getting ready, I headed to the food court for breakfast. I had enjoyed my waffle so much the previous day that I decided to get a waffle again. It was just as good the second time around.
I then headed to the bus stop to head to the Animal Kingdom. They were having a triathlon, and the bike portion was taking place on the main road in front of the Port Orleans, so they rerouted the buses. It took about 40 minutes to get from the Port Orleans French Quarter to the Animal Kingdom that morning, as it was a long, convoluted route that the drivers had to take. I was getting car sick, and everyone on the bus was getting frustrated.
When the bus arrived, I made my way through security, and headed into the Animal Kingdom. The cast member at the gate, looked at me, smiled warmly, and said, “Happy Mother’s Day.” I thanked him and quickly walked into the park. I was overcome with emotion. I lost my mom five and a half years ago, and I think I was just missing her a little more than usually this year. I stopped in the ladies room until I regained my composure.
I also think seeing the Nelsons made me a bit more emotional this weekend, as I had seen them in concert the night my grandfather died in 1991. Something they said, and a song they played helped me through his death. And the first night I saw them play on this trip would have been their dad’s birthday, and then they played a song they wrote for him. So, I think I just was extra emotion this Mother’s Day.
I then headed over to Expedition Everest. I grabbed a fast pass, and went on the ride. When I got off the ride, I met up with Krista, Kay, and Aymee. We all went on Expedition Everest together, and then headed over to Dinosaur.
As we walked through the gift shop in Dinoland, we saw some cupcakes in a display cake. We all got big cupcakes that had lots of frosting on them. We happily sat at a picnic table and ate our cupcakes.
We then went on Triceritops Spin, since there was no line. Aymee and I were going to go on Primeval Whirl, but it had a 20 minute wait, and we didn’t feel like waiting.
Krista and Kay headed off to do some shopping while Aymee and I went to use the Expedition Everest fast passes. Expedition Everest was down, so we called Krista and Kay and told them we were going on Dinosaur instead. We all went on Dinosaur.
Aymee and I then went over to use the Expedition Everest fast passes. We road it twice with the fast passes the four of us had gotten earlier, and then road it again using the single riders line.
We then left the Animal Kingdom and took the bus to Old Key West, where we were meeting Towncrier and his family for lunch at Olivia’s. When we arrived at Old Key West, I suggested that we get off at the first stop and walk to the restaurant, as I know that the ride through Old Key West is long and curvy.
We were early for our reservation, but they were able to take us early. Towncrier’s better half Sue was kind enough to make all of the ladies at our table corsages for Mother’s Day. Each of them had a different Winnie the Pooh character in it. Mine was a yellow carnation with Owl on it. It was so cute, and really sweet of Sue to travel with them all the way from Ohio. I got so many compliments on it when I wore it.
Lunch was one of the best parts of the trip. We had a lot of laughs and great conversation with great friends. I ordered a chicken sandwich, which was excellent. It was served with homemade potato chips, which were very tasty.
The servers brought some little cups of mayonnaise to the table. Krista and Sue can’t stand the sight of mayo. I jokingly said to Towncrier that he should drink the mayo through a straw to gross out Sue and Krista. Well, one of the things I like about Towncrier is he’s a lot like me--he will do silly things to embarrass or gross out others. So, he started drinking the little cup of mayo through a straw. Sue just kept her eyes off of him, but Krista was visually repulsed. It was hysterical. And Towncrier just kept on drinking the mayo through a straw with my encouragement, while Krista got more and more grossed out.
After lunch, we said goodbye to Krista, Kay, and Aymee, who were heading back to the Port Orleans Riverside for a break. I took the bus over to Epcot with Towncrier and family. We walked around looking at the topiaries, and stopped at Club Cool, where Towncrier and I enjoyed nice refreshing cups of Beverly. We even talked some women into driving Beverly by telling them how delicious it is. There is nothing quite as amusing as seeing the expression on a person’s face after their first sip of Beverly.
We walked through the butterfly garden, and looked at the cute topiaries of Tink and the other fairies. We then headed over to the Gran Fiesta Tour.
Towncrier and I then headed over to get in line for the first Nelson concert of the day.
Towncrier’s family came to meet up with us, but they decided to head back to Old Key West to get settled into their room instead of staying for the show.
They were a little late letting people into the theatre for some reason, and when I saw people walking in, I said, “Oh, they are letting people in.” But the line wasn’t moving. Then I realized that it was Matthew and Gunnar Nelson walking in, so I pointed them out to John.
Once they let people in, I told Towncrier I wanted to sit on Matthew Nelson’s side of the theatre so I could try to get a good picture of him. I had wound up on Gunnar’s side most of the time, so I wanted to switch out to Matt’s side. I hadn’t gotten any really good pictures of him yet, as he just moves around too much when he’s not standing at the microphone. We wound up sitting in the front row on Matthew’s side of the stage, and I finally was able to get my good picture of him.
We wound up sitting next to someone wearing a DIS Unplugged t-shirt. It wound up being the guy who proposed to his girlfriend at Jellyrolls earlier this year, so I had fun chatting with him about Jellyrolls, and Disney in general.
The Nelsons put on another fantastic set. I can’t remember what songs they did, but they did break out a couple of songs that they hadn’t played in their previous sets, which was a lot of fun.
After the show, I walked a bit with Towncrier, who was leaving the park, and went back to the theatre to see the Nelsons. The people I had met earlier in the week were in line and starting to walk in, and asked if I was going in to see the show. I told them I was, and said I would see them in there, as I had to go to the back of the line. They were kind enough to save me a seat with them. It was really nice to meet new friends at the Nelson shows.
I had plans to meet up with my DIS friend DIZNYCHERYL and her husband Keith at the Polynesian for dinner at Ohana at 7:35. I told my new Nelson friends that I probably would wind up leaving midway through the set so I could get to the Polynesian on time. They joked with me that they knew I wouldn’t leave early, and they were right. I wound up staying until the set was over. I said a quick goodbye to my new friends, and started to reluctantly make my way out of Epcot. Although I really wanted to go to dinner, I would have liked to stay for the last Nelson set, but plans are plans, and I don’t like to bail on friends unless I have a really good reason, and staying for a ninth Nelson set is not a good reason to miss dinner with friends.
I walked and jogged my way out of Epcot, and a monorail pulled in just as I arrived at the station. I got on the monorail to the Ticket & Transportation Center, figuring I’d walk to the Polynesian unless a monorail was pulling in. When I got to the Ticket & Transportation Center, luck was smiling on me, and a monorail was just starting to get loaded, so I jogged up to the platform and got on. I made it from the American Garden Theatre to Ohana in just 30 minutes! That has to be a record!
It was great to see Cheryl and Keith again. I had met them back in October at an Owner’s Locker wine night at Epcot, and randomly ran into them again in December. Our May trips happened to overlap by just one night, and they were kind enough to invite me to join them for dinner after their friend cancelled on them. I really enjoyed chatting with them, and getting to know them better over a leisurely dinner. I told them that they should feel very honored that I skipped the last Nelson set to have dinner with them.
Dinner at Ohana was better than it was the last time I ate there about two years ago. We had a great table against the window overlooking the Magic Kingdom. The starters were excellent. I really loved the chicken wings and the pot stickers. The lo mien was very tasty as well. The salad was simple but the dressing was excellent. The skewered meat was edible, but nothing special. The beef was tough but had a lot of flavor. The pork was a bit on the boring side. The turkey was good, but surprisingly fatty. The bread pudding dessert was excellent.
After dinner, we headed out to the Polynesian boat dock to head to the Magic Kingdom. The Electrical Water Pageant was in front of the hotel, but the music wasn’t playing. Wishes was starting at the same time, and they had the Wishes music playing instead. I got some neat pictures of the fireworks going up behind the Electrical Water Pageant.
We then boarded the boat and headed to the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours. Cheryl and Keith were wiped from their travel, so they wound up leaving after getting a look at the castle.
I left Krista a voicemail to let her know I was in the park. I headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean, and took a final ride. Krista actually called while I was just about off the ride, so I answered, and made plans to meet her, Kay, Aymee, and the Towncrier family over at Big Thunder Mountain.
We all went for a ride on Big Thunder Mountain, and then headed over to the Mickey’s Philharmagic. Everyone else decided to leave after Mickey’s Philharmagic. I said goodbye to everyone else.
I decided to try to get on Splash Mountain one more time, so I walked over there, and got in line. I was almost to the loading dock when the ride broke down. I waited about 10 minutes, and wound up walking up, as it was almost closing time, and they didn’t know if it would be up and running again by the end of the night.
I slowly walked out of the Magic Kingdom, soaking in the atmosphere before heading to the bus stop to get a bus back to the Port Orleans French Quarter.
After getting ready, I headed to the food court for breakfast. I had enjoyed my waffle so much the previous day that I decided to get a waffle again. It was just as good the second time around.
I then headed to the bus stop to head to the Animal Kingdom. They were having a triathlon, and the bike portion was taking place on the main road in front of the Port Orleans, so they rerouted the buses. It took about 40 minutes to get from the Port Orleans French Quarter to the Animal Kingdom that morning, as it was a long, convoluted route that the drivers had to take. I was getting car sick, and everyone on the bus was getting frustrated.
When the bus arrived, I made my way through security, and headed into the Animal Kingdom. The cast member at the gate, looked at me, smiled warmly, and said, “Happy Mother’s Day.” I thanked him and quickly walked into the park. I was overcome with emotion. I lost my mom five and a half years ago, and I think I was just missing her a little more than usually this year. I stopped in the ladies room until I regained my composure.
I also think seeing the Nelsons made me a bit more emotional this weekend, as I had seen them in concert the night my grandfather died in 1991. Something they said, and a song they played helped me through his death. And the first night I saw them play on this trip would have been their dad’s birthday, and then they played a song they wrote for him. So, I think I just was extra emotion this Mother’s Day.
I then headed over to Expedition Everest. I grabbed a fast pass, and went on the ride. When I got off the ride, I met up with Krista, Kay, and Aymee. We all went on Expedition Everest together, and then headed over to Dinosaur.
As we walked through the gift shop in Dinoland, we saw some cupcakes in a display cake. We all got big cupcakes that had lots of frosting on them. We happily sat at a picnic table and ate our cupcakes.
We then went on Triceritops Spin, since there was no line. Aymee and I were going to go on Primeval Whirl, but it had a 20 minute wait, and we didn’t feel like waiting.
Krista and Kay headed off to do some shopping while Aymee and I went to use the Expedition Everest fast passes. Expedition Everest was down, so we called Krista and Kay and told them we were going on Dinosaur instead. We all went on Dinosaur.
Aymee and I then went over to use the Expedition Everest fast passes. We road it twice with the fast passes the four of us had gotten earlier, and then road it again using the single riders line.
We then left the Animal Kingdom and took the bus to Old Key West, where we were meeting Towncrier and his family for lunch at Olivia’s. When we arrived at Old Key West, I suggested that we get off at the first stop and walk to the restaurant, as I know that the ride through Old Key West is long and curvy.
We were early for our reservation, but they were able to take us early. Towncrier’s better half Sue was kind enough to make all of the ladies at our table corsages for Mother’s Day. Each of them had a different Winnie the Pooh character in it. Mine was a yellow carnation with Owl on it. It was so cute, and really sweet of Sue to travel with them all the way from Ohio. I got so many compliments on it when I wore it.
Lunch was one of the best parts of the trip. We had a lot of laughs and great conversation with great friends. I ordered a chicken sandwich, which was excellent. It was served with homemade potato chips, which were very tasty.
The servers brought some little cups of mayonnaise to the table. Krista and Sue can’t stand the sight of mayo. I jokingly said to Towncrier that he should drink the mayo through a straw to gross out Sue and Krista. Well, one of the things I like about Towncrier is he’s a lot like me--he will do silly things to embarrass or gross out others. So, he started drinking the little cup of mayo through a straw. Sue just kept her eyes off of him, but Krista was visually repulsed. It was hysterical. And Towncrier just kept on drinking the mayo through a straw with my encouragement, while Krista got more and more grossed out.
After lunch, we said goodbye to Krista, Kay, and Aymee, who were heading back to the Port Orleans Riverside for a break. I took the bus over to Epcot with Towncrier and family. We walked around looking at the topiaries, and stopped at Club Cool, where Towncrier and I enjoyed nice refreshing cups of Beverly. We even talked some women into driving Beverly by telling them how delicious it is. There is nothing quite as amusing as seeing the expression on a person’s face after their first sip of Beverly.
We walked through the butterfly garden, and looked at the cute topiaries of Tink and the other fairies. We then headed over to the Gran Fiesta Tour.
Towncrier and I then headed over to get in line for the first Nelson concert of the day.
Towncrier’s family came to meet up with us, but they decided to head back to Old Key West to get settled into their room instead of staying for the show.
They were a little late letting people into the theatre for some reason, and when I saw people walking in, I said, “Oh, they are letting people in.” But the line wasn’t moving. Then I realized that it was Matthew and Gunnar Nelson walking in, so I pointed them out to John.
Once they let people in, I told Towncrier I wanted to sit on Matthew Nelson’s side of the theatre so I could try to get a good picture of him. I had wound up on Gunnar’s side most of the time, so I wanted to switch out to Matt’s side. I hadn’t gotten any really good pictures of him yet, as he just moves around too much when he’s not standing at the microphone. We wound up sitting in the front row on Matthew’s side of the stage, and I finally was able to get my good picture of him.
We wound up sitting next to someone wearing a DIS Unplugged t-shirt. It wound up being the guy who proposed to his girlfriend at Jellyrolls earlier this year, so I had fun chatting with him about Jellyrolls, and Disney in general.
The Nelsons put on another fantastic set. I can’t remember what songs they did, but they did break out a couple of songs that they hadn’t played in their previous sets, which was a lot of fun.
After the show, I walked a bit with Towncrier, who was leaving the park, and went back to the theatre to see the Nelsons. The people I had met earlier in the week were in line and starting to walk in, and asked if I was going in to see the show. I told them I was, and said I would see them in there, as I had to go to the back of the line. They were kind enough to save me a seat with them. It was really nice to meet new friends at the Nelson shows.
I had plans to meet up with my DIS friend DIZNYCHERYL and her husband Keith at the Polynesian for dinner at Ohana at 7:35. I told my new Nelson friends that I probably would wind up leaving midway through the set so I could get to the Polynesian on time. They joked with me that they knew I wouldn’t leave early, and they were right. I wound up staying until the set was over. I said a quick goodbye to my new friends, and started to reluctantly make my way out of Epcot. Although I really wanted to go to dinner, I would have liked to stay for the last Nelson set, but plans are plans, and I don’t like to bail on friends unless I have a really good reason, and staying for a ninth Nelson set is not a good reason to miss dinner with friends.
I walked and jogged my way out of Epcot, and a monorail pulled in just as I arrived at the station. I got on the monorail to the Ticket & Transportation Center, figuring I’d walk to the Polynesian unless a monorail was pulling in. When I got to the Ticket & Transportation Center, luck was smiling on me, and a monorail was just starting to get loaded, so I jogged up to the platform and got on. I made it from the American Garden Theatre to Ohana in just 30 minutes! That has to be a record!
It was great to see Cheryl and Keith again. I had met them back in October at an Owner’s Locker wine night at Epcot, and randomly ran into them again in December. Our May trips happened to overlap by just one night, and they were kind enough to invite me to join them for dinner after their friend cancelled on them. I really enjoyed chatting with them, and getting to know them better over a leisurely dinner. I told them that they should feel very honored that I skipped the last Nelson set to have dinner with them.
Dinner at Ohana was better than it was the last time I ate there about two years ago. We had a great table against the window overlooking the Magic Kingdom. The starters were excellent. I really loved the chicken wings and the pot stickers. The lo mien was very tasty as well. The salad was simple but the dressing was excellent. The skewered meat was edible, but nothing special. The beef was tough but had a lot of flavor. The pork was a bit on the boring side. The turkey was good, but surprisingly fatty. The bread pudding dessert was excellent.
After dinner, we headed out to the Polynesian boat dock to head to the Magic Kingdom. The Electrical Water Pageant was in front of the hotel, but the music wasn’t playing. Wishes was starting at the same time, and they had the Wishes music playing instead. I got some neat pictures of the fireworks going up behind the Electrical Water Pageant.
We then boarded the boat and headed to the Magic Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours. Cheryl and Keith were wiped from their travel, so they wound up leaving after getting a look at the castle.
I left Krista a voicemail to let her know I was in the park. I headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean, and took a final ride. Krista actually called while I was just about off the ride, so I answered, and made plans to meet her, Kay, Aymee, and the Towncrier family over at Big Thunder Mountain.
We all went for a ride on Big Thunder Mountain, and then headed over to the Mickey’s Philharmagic. Everyone else decided to leave after Mickey’s Philharmagic. I said goodbye to everyone else.
I decided to try to get on Splash Mountain one more time, so I walked over there, and got in line. I was almost to the loading dock when the ride broke down. I waited about 10 minutes, and wound up walking up, as it was almost closing time, and they didn’t know if it would be up and running again by the end of the night.
I slowly walked out of the Magic Kingdom, soaking in the atmosphere before heading to the bus stop to get a bus back to the Port Orleans French Quarter.
Thanks for putting it all down in great detail.
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