Graduating the Mickey way: celebration x2

[Tink0812]

Hello Disney lovers! I am typing this from my room at POFQ. We are in taking a break from the heat so I thought I would kick off my TR. We are visiting WDW to celebrate my brothers' high school graduation. I will only give a short introduction of the crew as I will add a link to my PTR.

First, there's me! My name is Amber and I am a 21 year old college student. This is my 12th visit to the world. Tinkerbell is my fav. character but I love pretty much anything Disney.

Dad (Tigger's Ally): My dad is the mastermind behind each Disney trip. He plans everything, makes all of the reservations, and pretty much rules the trip.

Mom (Pooh11): My mom is pretty much obsessed with Disney. This is her 14th trip to the world.

Grandma: This is my grandma's (Meme M. as we call her) 4th trip the world and it has been about 10 years since she has been here. This is her first visit without my grandpa who passed away last year.

Ryne: Ryne is my brother who like me, is a thrill seeker. He is quiet though and doesn't say too much unless you really get to know him.

Kyle: Kyle, Ryne's twin brother, is loud, obnoxious, hyper, and super outgoing. Did I mention loud? He isn't much of a thrill seeker but enjoys the more subtle rides at Disney.

That's the crew! Stay tuned for the details of our trip from one 15 hour drive to another!
Chapters:

Pre-trip Report 2011

Day 1: Are we there yet?

Day 1: Continued

Day 2: Arrival at the World

Day 3: Welcome Home

Day 4: Here, There, and Everywhere

Day 5: Bus Fiasco

Day 6: How much is too much?

Day 7: Homeward Bound

 

[Tink0812]

The time had come! The countdowns had reached 0 days until departure. The excitement was at peak levels. The bags were packed. Mickey was waiting with open arms!

My brothers graduated high school on Friday June 3rd. After graduation we had a party for them with family and friends. After the party Meme M. stayed the night at our house so we could finish preparing for the trip. We slept in a little on Saturday then prepared for my brothers' baseball double header. We loaded the van before the game as my dad was getting excited for the trip and loves to be ready early. The plan was to attend the games then head home so my dad could sleep for a few hours before embarking on our 15 hour journey. We were scheduled to leave our house at 9:30pm and drive straight to Orlando overnight to avoid the traffic and make less stops.

The games got canceled last minute so my dad had longer to sleep than originally planned. It seems to run in his family that we always leave earlier for things than we plan to. Due to the extra time we had, my mom, dad, Meme M, and I jumped in the van around 7pm (instead of the original 9:30pm) to start our trip! You might be asking why my brothers are not in the van......well, the had another baseball double header scheduled for the next day. Since they would have to miss two double headers during the week my dad did not want to have them miss Sunday's games so, my brothers had plane tickets to fly to Orlando Sunday night after the games.

And so the journey begins.....

 

[Tink0812]

Throughout our journey from Illinois to Florida we had to change radio stations about a billion times....we are so used to having so many stations to choose from but apparently some other states don't have that luxury.

Kentucky: Every station included nothing but remixes....weird and hard to listen to continously. It's a good thing it doesn't take long to get through Kentucky.

Tennessee: Country or gospel?? No offense to those country folks out there but I just can't listen to country music. Gospel music is fine at church but during a long car ride....it's out. We listened to a lot of silence.

Georgia: Country or rap?? Again, no country for us. Rap.....is just annoying!

The cheapest gas we saw was $3.33 which I believe was somewhere in Tennessee.

We made a few stops along the way. One in which we won't forget. Sunday morning we stopped at a McDonald's about 2.5 hours away from Orlando to get some breakfast. Not only were the workers moving at a snail's pace, they were very rude!

We finally arrived in Orlando at 11:30am Florida time (10:30 our time) Sunday morning. After driving all night.....we were exhausted but who can't be excited when you reach the most magical place on Earth?

 

[Tigger's ally]

I'm subscribing. Not just because I like you but because I too want to relive the trip through your eyes. Keep the updates coming. Can't wait for the Cindy story.

 

[Tink0812]

Well after about 15.5 hours in the van we finally pulled into WDW around 11:30am Florida time. We knew there was a slim chance that our room at Best Western Lake Buena Vista (where we were staying for our first night) would be ready but thought it was worth a try. My dad was exhausted after driving straight from Illinois to Florida and was looking forward to getting some rest. Meme, mom, and I were looking forward to all of the shopping we would do while my dad was sleeping. Well, you guessed it. Our rooms weren't ready and we were told that we could come back any time after 3. So much for that shower and change of clothes before hitting DTD. Since our rooms weren't ready my dad had no choice but to go to DTD with us. We decided that we would split up and my dad would head to somewhere with air conditioning and tvs so he could watch sports and relax while Meme, mom, and I went shopping. We would meet back at Earl of Sandwich for lunch at 2:30. So off we went and us girls headed straight towards something we just NEEDED after being in the car for that long......a nice fruity margarita.

Soon we got a text from my dad saying that he was sitting at the bar in the Rainforest Cafe enjoying some cooler air and sports if we needed him. We didn't have much time after we enjoyed our margaritas but we hit up World of Disney, Disney's Days of Christmas, Little MissMatched, Mickey's Pantry, Team Mickey, TrenD, and The Art of Disney. Our usual goal is to get all of our souvenirs/shopping list accomplished at DTD near the beginning of the trip. We do this to avoid multiple trips to DTD and to avoid carrying bags around all day at the parks. We usually still end up buying things at the parks but this way it is a little less to deal with. After making all of our purchases we met my dad at Earl of Sandwich for lunch. We had never eaten here before but we loved the choices. Everyone had something different. I had a sandwich with fresh mozzarella, basil, tomatoes, and vinegrette (I can't remember what it is called). We made a mental note that we enjoyed the place and before we knew it 3:00 had arrived!

Meme and my mom still wanted to look at a few more things so while the girls stayed to finish up my dad headed back to the hotel to check-in and get some rest. A half an hour later us girls were ready to head to the hotel. We grabbed our stuff out of the van and headed up to the 4th floor where we had two rooms across the hall from each other. One room was considered the "boys" room where my dad and brothers would be staying while the "girls" room housed my mom, meme, and me.

By that time we were beyond ready for showers and a change of clothes. After that we all decided to relax for a bit before my dad and I had to leave for the airport to pick up my brothers. We took short naps and around 6:30 my dad text to see what we were doing. We were thinking of going out to do something and eat a little dinner. He said that he couldn't really sleep and would go with us if we decided what to do. After a little debate we decided to drive to Animal Kingdom Lodge. Meme had never been there before and we wanted to show her the animals and the grandiosity of the hotel itself. After enjoying a drink at the poolside bar we then grabbed a quick dinner at Mara and headed back to BWLBV.

My dad and I decided that we needed to leave at 10:30 in order to allow plenty of time for my brothers' flight that was scheduled to land at 11:30pm. We had about an hour at the hotel where we were able to see a little bit of Wishes from our hotel balcony. My dad and I left a little before 10:30. We made it to the airport around 20 minutes later. It was a bit of the maze to get into the airport from the parking garage and to find the right area. Aftr looking at the arrival board we determined that there flight was on time and was to arrive at gate 125. On our hike to the gate exit area we stopped at a McDonald's so that my dad could get a sweet tea. My dad is pretty much addicted to McDonald's sweet tea and couldn't walk by without getting one. Much to his disappointment McDonald's did not have sweet tea. It wasn't just that they had run out. IT WASN'T EVEN ON THE MENU. After the disappointment we walked over to the area where they would be exiting the tram from their terminal. By the time we got there the board said they were "in range" which meant they would be landing soon. My dad went to the bathroom and I positioned myself where I could see both the tram exit and the arrival board. When my dad got back from the bathroom it said the had touched down at 11:08. Then the waiting began. We waited....and waited...and waited some more. Then my dad noticed that there was another tram exit for their gate that was across the terminal area. He went to go watch that exit while I stayed at this one.

Ryne is 6'5 and skinny with longish dark hair so he is pretty easy to pick out in a crowd. Or so I thought. It seemed that every man getting off of that tram was tall and skinny with dark hair. Finally I saw them get off the tram and head for my exit. I text my dad to come meet us and we were off on the journey to parking garage. My brothers hadn't had a chance to eat dinner before they left so they were starving. My dad and I had saw a 24hr McDonald's at an exit right before the airport so we decided that we would go there to get them supper. Ryne raced me to the van so he could sit in the front and boot me to the back. I had been sitting in the front to help my dad navigate traffic and make sure we hit the right exits. Well, since Ryne was in the front seat that became his job. I was trying the best I could to help from the back seat but I just couldn't see.

After a few groans of hunger from Kyle and driving for awhile dad and I noticed that we probably should have hit that exit with the McDonald's by now. We were pretty sure that it was only like 5 minutes away from the airport. We kept driving and started realizing that all of the large hotels that we saw lining the road to the airport weren't lining this road. This road was dark with no hotels, few exits, and little traffic. After a few more groans from Kyle who thought he was dying of hunger and that he would never eat again we saw some of what looked like the large hotels in the distance on our left. Maybe we should take the next exit and find a side road that links us to the road we want to be on. My dad gets off on the next exit, pays the $1.50 toll, and comes to a rest at the stoplight. Next thing we know we see a Magical Express bus coming from down the road. I shout FOLLOW THAT BUS. At least it would get us to Disney property then we could figure out where to go from there. Guess which direction the bus went? It went right on the road we just paid $1.50 to get off of. So back on the road we went and we tried to catch up with that bus. We started seeing signs for Disney but the arrows kept pointing straight ahead and didn't say anything about how many miles or what exits. Then the signs disappeared. We started to get really concerned and Kyle was just convinced that he was not going to live when we finally saw DTD up ahead! We finally made it to Disney property. We pulled into a McDonald's Drive-through and Kyle survived. I crawled into bed around 1:30am with my alarm set for 6:00am...........Next: Our first Disney Day[/COLOR]

 

[Tink0812]

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Awwww man....I could have swore that I just laid my head down.

Maybe that's because I just did. Four and a half hours after going to bed our alarm was going off at 6am. Mom and Meme laid in bed while I got up to take my shower and start getting ready for the day. My dad left his room around six so that he could go to POFQ and take advantage of the early check-in. By checking in that early in the morning he would receive a text message as soon as our rooms were ready. After checking in he purchased his mug and waited for the concierge desk to open so he could exchange our tickets for "Keys to the World". After that he headed back to BWLBV to get ready for the "manventure" of the day. Since this trip was to celebrate my brothers' high school graduation they were able to choose one fun thing to do. It ended up being between parasailing and a seguay tour of Epcot. They chose the seguays. I think my dad was very pleased with their decision as he has always wanted to ride a seguay. The boys caught a cab from BWLBV to Epcot. They had to be there at 8:30 before the pre-riding class thing started at 9. They spent their first hour learning how to operate a seguay and the second hour touring the World Showcase from their seguays.

After us girls got done getting ready at BWLBV and packed up our overnight bags we drove the van to POFQ so it would be there when it was time for us to come back. We ate a quick breakfast at the food court there and got on a bus to Epcot. We wanted to get there before the boys finished their tour so we could ride a few rides without them. We rode Spaceship Earth then hopped in the 60 minute wait for Soarin'. While we were waiting the boys finished their tour and came to Soarin' to get fast passes. Since we still had a bit of waiting to do the boys ran over to Test Track to get fast passes. By then it was lunch time and the boys were starving (as they always are). We met them at La Cantina in Mexico. It wasn't too long after that when my dad got the text that our rooms were ready. On our way out of Epcot we stopped at the Coca-Cola store and decided to try some Coke flavors from around the world. I will have to agree with other Disers that the Beverly was disgusting! My favorites were the ones from Mexico and China.

Then we got on a bus back to POFQ so that we could unpack, relax, and shower before our nights adventures. We were greeted by our favorite doorman (who also happens to be from a town very near us in Illinois and who has actually heard of/been to our very small town). My grandma just had to get a picture with him:

The only requests my dad had made for our rooms was that they (1) be conjoining and (2) be on the ground level. We were expecting to be put in buildings 6 or 7 and were quite surprised to find ourselves in building two. We were on the ground level with conjoining rooms right across from the pool and right next to the river/boat launch. And....get this....one of our rooms was a corner room! I have read many posts on here about ppl requesting corner rooms and not getting them so I was surprised to see that even without request we got one. We walked into our rooms excited to see the changes that had been made since we had stayed last and we were greeted by our favorite friend. Nothing says "Welcome Home" like a towel Mickey on your bed.

After a bit of relaxation, unpacking, and settling in we got on a bus to DHS so we could hop on the boat to the boardwalk where we planned to eat dinner at ESPN Club. Unknowingly we had timed it just right to be entertained by ESPN Live while we were eating. My dad even got picked to answer a question:

After dinner we took the short walk to Epcot. We were planning on watching Illuminations tonight but dinner took a little longer than expected and it came down to a choice between using our Test Track and Soarin' fastpasses or watching the fireworks. We chose to use our fastpasses as we had plenty of other nights to come back for Illuminations. We used our fastpasses and by that time Illuminations had already started. Based on the large crowd we saw surrounding the lagoon we knew that we had to make a mad dash out of the park in order to beat everyone to the monorail. We had planned on taking the monorail to MK to take advantage of EMH. On our mad dash out of the park Meme's shoe broke. It was evident that she would not be able to walk through MK with a broken shoe so mom and Meme went to take a bus back to POFQ for a quick shoe change. The rest of us ran to the monorail and headed for MK. Once we got to MK we realized that we had hit in between the electric parade and the beginning of Wishes. There were people everywhere standing shoulder to shoulder down Main Street USA. We weaved our way through the crowd and practically sprinted to Splash Mountain. Knowing that the opportune time to ride SplM and Thunder Mountain was when everyone was distracted with Wishes we did not have time to waste. The wait for Splash Mountain was only 30 minutes so we jumped in line. By the time we were done with the ride my mom had called saying Meme and her had arrived at MK. We designated the Haunted Mansion as our meeting place. Knowing mom and Meme were slow walkers we stopped to get drinks along the way. Once we got there we waited and waited and waited. Finally we decided to call my mom. They were over by Splash looking for Haunted Mansion. In the 14 times that my mom has been to Disney she couldn't remember how to get to Haunted Mansion. We rode that then went back to Thunder Mountain RR since it's my moms favorite ride. We then rode Splash Mountain again since my mom was mad that we rode it without her.

Wishes was over and we only had a short amount of time before the second electric parade started. We thought this would be a good time to run over to Tomorrowland and try to get on Space Mountain. Even despite the huge crowd watching Wishes and the parade the line for SM was 60 minutes long. The park was set to close at 1am and we didn't want to spend a whole hour waiting in line. We decided to go ride Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin and recheck the time when we got out. It was still 60 minutes which made waiting till another day to ride it look even better. We walked to the bus stop and made it back to POFQ around 1am.

A great Disney day was over with only a short amount of time before our 6:30am alarm would go off.....

The weather today was about 90 degrees with next to no humidity and not a cloud in the sky. We were told that it was 102 degrees back in Illinois with horrible humidity. We usually never have the problem of Illinois being hotter than Florida this time of year!

My family does have an issue of keeping our hotel rooms freezing though! This is me in a sweatshirt and pants wrapped in about 3 blankets freezing to death in our room:

Up Next: Day 4: Here, There, and Everywhere

 

[Tink0812]

What a strange night it was! Meme started screaming bloody murder twice in the middle of the night. When our alarm went off at 6:30 she bolted out of bed and we asked her what the screaming was about. She said that there were snakes everywhere in her dream and they were coming after her. There was no time to sit and chat though because we had to be out at the bus stop at 8:15 in order to make rope drop at DHS at 9. We ate a small breakfast in the room and off we went.

We waited a little bit for the bus and then spent 30 minutes getting to DHS when it should have only been about a 5-7 minute ride. The traffic turning into DHS was backed up for miles because so many people had actually driven to the park. Needless to say, we did not make rope drop as we had planned

When we finally pulled into the bus stop everyone started cheering. DHS was busy and rope drop had long since passed. We knew that lines would be ridiculous so we headed straight to RNRC for fast passes. Those of us that wanted to ride Tower of Terror (Ryne, Dad, Mom, and I) got in the standby line because it was only 30 minutes at the time. It's a good thing we decided to get in line when we did because by the time we got out the wait was 70 minutes. We met up with Meme and Kyle after we got off. We still had a little bit before our RNRC fast passes were usable so the boys took everyone's tickets and headed to Star Tours to get fast passes. Once they got back from their trek across DHS it was time for RNRC. After that our Star Tours fast passes were ready to be used. Then, it was so crowded and we did not have any desire to wait longer than an hour for what little we had left to do so we went back to POFQ to grab a small lunch at the food court. We did not want to eat anything big because we had dinner reservations at my favorite Disney restaurant, Whispering Canyon Cafe.

After eating everyone but me decided to take a nap. I don't believe in taking naps on vacation. I can catch up on my sleep when we get home. While everyone was sleeping I went to DTD to do some more shopping. Once I got back I took shower, organized my stuff, and set up internet on my computer. We all met at the bus stop at 5 to catch a bus to MK. Waiting for the MK bus:

From MK we took a boat to WL for our 6:45 reservation. We ended up arriving at WL around 6 so while the boys watched our buzzer, mom and meme went shopping and dad and I went to the bar for a pre-meal drink. We had just ordered our drinks when the boys came to tell us the buzzer had gone off.

Whispering Canyon Cafe is my favorite restaurant because of the atmosphere. The waiters/waitresses are so outgoing and they truly make dinnertime fun. Between the running of ketchup from table to table, horse races, singing, yee-haws, and attitude every time is different and every time is more fun the the last. Everyone but Ryne eats from the large dinner platter. Ryne doesn't eat meat other than hamburgers so of course we had to order him a hamburger. Kyle had to have a milkshake because here they are unending. You can have as many as you want for $7. Kyle had three in this night alone. He is well.....obsessed with milkshakes. When he was younger on long drives he would claim that he had to go to the bathroom every time he say a McDonalds sign just so he could get a milkshake. His grand total of milkshakes for this trip was 10. He was just short of his record of 12 in one week which was made on our 2008 trip.

After we ate Ryne and Kyle got on a bus to Magic Kingdon where they got in a 45 minute line for Splash Mountain. The rest of us walked around Wilderness Lodge and took the boat back to Magic Kingdom to meet the boys. Here is Tigger's Ally (dad) and I on the boat:

It had been quite a few years since I had rode the Jungle Cruise so I convinced dad, mom, and Meme to ride it. Then we met up with the boys and rode Pirates of the Carribbean. After that it was time for the parade and Wishes so we went to check out the lines for Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain. They were only 10 minutes a piece so we got in line. We rode each once then headed over to Tomorrowland to try and ride Space Mountain again. Much to our dismay, the line was 60 minutes again. We ride Buzz Lightyear again and the boys rode the Indy Cars.....the line for Space was still 60 minutes. We get pretty serious on Buzz:

My dad, mom, and Meme wanted to ride the peoplemover but my bros and I opted out. Instead we ran just ahead of the parade to make it back to Splash Mountain. We rode Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain two more times a piece before deciding we should head to the bus to beat the crowd that would be leaving before EMH ended at 2am.

Another Disney day down and this vacation was flying by way too fast....

Next: Day 5: Bus fiasco

 

[itsalebeau]

Subbing! You guys are crazy! How fun to run from park to park and stay up late.

 

[Tink0812]

We def. are a crazy bunch! A lot of ppl like to enjoy extra rest and relaxation on vacation but we would rather use every possible moment to our advantage and enjoy every minute we get

 

[ctink23]

I'm in! Very excited to hear about your trip!

I went after my high school and college graduations... it is a great way to celebrate such a great accomplishment!

I have never been on a car trip that long with my family (only friends). I suspect my family would start to bicker after only a couple of hours lol. But at least there were a lot of you to do the driving if needed.

Sounds like you had some great first days! Looking forward to hearing more!

 

[Tigger's ally]

The van ride down was just Tink, her mom and dad and meme. We had plenty of room, drove all night and made it in 15 hours. Then, for the ride home we had to fit the boys in. Now, for some odd reason, the twins just continued to grow when the rest of us stopped years ago. Fitting a 6'2.5" and a 6'4.5" in van seats with four others is pretty hard. Legs and arms everywhere

P.S. Although they all can drive, sleeping is their preferred van activity I drove the whole way there and back

 

[Tink0812]

The boys got up early and hit the 8am EMH at Typhoon Lagoon. The alarm in the girls room went off at 7. I was the only one to respond so I got up to take the first shower (as usual). At 7:30 I woke Meme and Mom up so we could be down to the bus stop by our planned 8:30. Since we had a busy day planned we decided to make a choice between eating breakfast and eating lunch. We decided on breakfast because we had dinner plans for the evening and Meme needed food with her morning medications. Meme and I both got cheese danishes and well, I guess my mom just forgot to eat ((pay attention to this detail)). While the boys were at Typhoon Lagoon us girls decided we would head to AK for the morning. We knew AK was the plan for the next morning but due to a lunch reservation for girls only we wouldn't have as much time there as the boys. We made it to the bus stop on time but then the frustrations began. We waited and waited and waited and waited. 45 minutes later we were still waiting on an AK bus; us along with about 60 other angry guests. We had seen at least 5 DHS and 4 Epcot buses go by and still not a single AK or MK. I walked down to the bus stop for MK and DHS to see if I could find the "walkie-talkie clipboard guy" that was usually out there every morning directing the buses. Of course on this morning he was not to be found. I did happen to overhear that large amount of people waiting for the MK bus had been waiting for over an hour. After going back to where my mom and Meme were standing waiting for our still missing bus I developed a plan: The first bus that we see we get on. From whatever park that takes us to we will hop on a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge then a bus to AK which would only take a couple of minutes. It sounded like a long detour to make it to AK but we were running out of time.

Of course the DHS bus was the first to show up. Once we got there we were talking to one of the transportation directors who informed us that a bus heading straight to AK would be arriving in 10 minutes. We were so excited and we couldn't help but share with her how our morning had been going. She apologized for our problems and started communicating with other transportation directors to see what the problem was. So after an hour and a half of waiting we finally boarded a bus to AK.

Once we got to AK we had one thing in mind: Kilamanjaro Safaris. We knew the line would be long but we weren't sure we were going to have the time Thursday morning. It was only a 55 minute wait which is relatively short for this time of year/day. We jumped in line and 45 minutes later we were on our safari. Of course we took pictures of every animal we saw. Here are just a few:

We learned a few interesting facts along our journey. For instance, did you know that flamingoes are pink because of the salmon they eat? They are actually born gray and fuzzy. Also, alligators lay with their mouths open to regulate body temperature.

After we got off of the ride we pretty much had no time left thanks to our bus incident this morning. My dad had text saying that the boys had finished at Typhoon Lagoon and had eaten lunch. Ryne and Kyle went to Magic Kingdom and my dad wanted us to meet him at Epcot. Remember that detail I told you to remember? Well since my mom didn't eat breakfast this morning she was now starving. We passed about a billion places to grab something to eat along the way but she didn't want anything from those places. She wanted to eat at a sitdown restaurant. Meme and I explained to her that we had decided on breakfast and not lunch but she still insisted on eating at Rainforest Cafe. I was not about to waste a part of my day so I left them at AK and hopped on a bus to Epcot to meet my dad. I text my dad once I arrived at Epcot and met him in the tequila bar in Mexico where I tried an avacado margarita. Now, I hate avacados, guacamole, etc. but I loved this margarita. It was really sweet and did not taste anything like avacodo. My dad also had a couple of cucumber margaritas on the trip and a jalepeno margarita all from Mexico. He liked all of them but I couldn't bring myself to try the cucmber or jalepeno ones.

Dad and I started walking around the world showcase with our eyes set on the caramel place in Germany. It was a long walk from where we were so we hopped the boat to cross the lagoon. We didn't get any caramel because we were waiting on mom and meme to get there. We looked in a bunch of stores and finally we got the text that they were in the park and headed to meet us in Germany. I had tried the caramel when I was at WDW for spring break in March and it was to die for so I couldn't pass up another chance. This time I ordered a Chocolate Caramel Pecan Crunch. Mom got a chocolate and caramel dipped pretzel stick. Meme got a chocolate and caramel covered marshmellow. Dad shared with me since I knew I wasn't going to be able to eat it all. Stomachs full of caramel we decided to walk around more of the showcase. We went in a few stores and I bought a cute ring in Morocco. Then we decided to head back to the hotel for some rest, relaxation, showers, and laundry (my brothers had changed their clothes too often. They are worse than girls). My parents had dinner reservations at 7:40 at Kona. They left about 6 to make sure they had plent of time to make it to their reservation. My brothers left at 6:30 to go shopping at DTD and eat some delicious Ghirardelli's ice cream before heading to EMH at MK. Meme and I left at 7 to take the boat down to DTD to eat at Ghirardelli's. We had plenty of time so we hopped on the boat to Riverside since she had never seen it before then took a boat from Riverside to DTD. Once we got to DTD we ate at Ghirardelli's. It has been a tradition for the last few trips to eat at Ghirardelli's for at least one meal. The ice cream is so big that it has to be a meal. I could never eat it for desert. Here are pictures of our yummy treats:

Meme had the butterscotch sundae

I had the peanut butter sundae.

After eating our delicious sundae's we had plans to meet my parents at Raglan Road for drinks and to listen to the band/watch the dancers. Meme and I ordered a drink called One For the Road

My mom ordered something with Bailey's and of course my dad had beer. I really enjoy listening to Irish music and watching the dancers. The river dance is my favorite. When I was younger I did a simplified river dance with my dance studio. It was fun and I always enjoy watching the real thing. There were a few groups eating there that were actually from Ireland and a group that was from Scotland. They were hilarious and always had great requests including the West Virginia song which I can't quite remember the name of. Meme was happy because she is originally from West Virginia and my mom was actually born there.

After a nice night at Raglan Road we took a taxi back to POFQ only to lay in bed and realize that the next day would be our last full Disney day......

Up Next: Day 6: Our last full Disney day and how much is too much

 

[Tink0812]

Well if you have lost track of the time, this day would be Thursday June 9th, 2011. It's our last full day at Disney and we wanted to make the most of it. We were bound and determined to make it to at least one rope drop on this trip so we set out to make the 9am rope drop at AK. Everyone was up at 6:30am to shower, eat something small, and meet at the bus stop at 8am sharp. We wanted to allow plenty of time for bus issues in case we experienced them agin. But guess what? There were no bus issues and five minutes later our AK bus arrived. We actually did make rope drop at AK and were greeted by this spunky bunch:

While waiting for rope drop we devised a plan. The girls had to leave by noon in order to have time to run back to the hotel and change before our 2:05 res. at Cinderella's Royal Table. As soon as the rope dropped we would make a mad dash to Kali River Rapids to get fast passes. Once we got fast passes we would hop in the standby line. After we were done riding Kali we would head to Kilamanjaro Safari's for fastpasses. Our plans got tweaked a little when we arrived at Kali River Rapids to find that even after getting our fastpasses we were first in line. One of the CM's helping with the ride predicted that I would be the one to get absolutely drenched. The other CM's told me that I better watch out because they call him the Kali God because he is always right. And.......he was right! I got completely soaked, went down the big hill backwards (which is always trouble), and got pelted in the face by the elephant fountains.

How much of one ride is too much? After our first time on Kali there was still no line so they asked us if we wanted to stay on and ride again. So naturally, taking advantage of the invisible line, we went again. And again I got drenched, went down the hill backwards, and got pelted in the face by elephant fountains. That time there was a small line forming so we had to get off But, the CM's let us right back in line and we got on for our third round. And again I got drenched, went down the hill backwards, and got pelted in the face with the elephant fountains. Another family rode with us this time and when it came time to get off again.....there was no line! We all went around. And again I got drenched and went down the hill backwards. I was lucky enough to avoid being pelted in the face by the elephants. After our fourth time in a row a longer line had formed. We were drenched and decided to walk over to Kilamanjaro safaris for fastpasses. After drying off a bit we went back to Kali River Rapids to use our fastpasses. Yes, we rode Kali River Rapids five times in one day! By the time we were done with that the boys were starving. We stopped to get a snack and dry off in the sun before hitting up our Kilamanjaro fp. Well, the fp line for Kilamanjaro was just about as long as the standby line so while the boys had plenty of time to wait, us girls decided to leave so we wouldn't be late for our reservation.

We got back to POFQ, peeled off our still dripping wet clothes, took quick showers, and back out the door we went. We made sure to be back at the bus stop at 1pm because we did not want to run the risk of missing our reservation. We made it to MK without hassle and even had time to shop around a bit before checking in for our reservation. We got our picture taken with Cinderella and were taken to our table for our royal feast.

It's a little blurry because it's a picture of the picture they gave us.

Snow White, Aurora, Ariel, and Belle came to visit us during our meal.My mom was being a party pooper and did not want to be in any of the pictures.

The appetizer, picked by Cinderella herself, was delicious. For lunch Meme and I had Major Domo's Pie and Mom had Pork Three Ways:

For desert Mom had a Chocolate Mousse and Meme and I had Almond Cheesecake.

We had a great time and enjoyed having our own girls luncheon out. After we finished our fantastic meal we headed back to POFQ to meet the boys who were resting. Then we went to Epcot to ride some of our favorite rides again, get the boys some caramel, and watch Illuminations. Ryne and Kyle did not stick around for Illuminations but instead chose to go back to MK for EMH. We watched Illuminations by the Epcot exit to the boardwalk.

After thinking about it we realized that we would have to make our way through a huge crowd of ppl to make it out to the buses. Instead we walked to the boardwalk from the back exit, took a bus to DTD, and rode the boat back to POFQ. We didn't stay out late tonight because we had to get everything packed up.....it was almost time to leave

 

[Tink0812]

The we dreaded eventually came around and it was almost time to leave the happiest place on Earth and head back to the real world. We were up at 6:30 again to finish packing and get the van loaded up. We drove over to the Contemporary to park and take the monorail to MK. Throughout the whole week we were never able to ride Space Mountain. We got there early enough to get fastpasses for Space Mountain. The standby was only 10 minutes so we decided to get in line. By "we" I mean dad, Ryne, Kyle, and me. Mom and meme opted out of this one and we were quite surprised that Kyle came with us. Kyle rode Space Mountain once when he was younger and has never rode it since. Usually he and my mom ride Buzz Lightyear while the rest of us ride Space. Mom and meme went to get smoothies and shop around.

Once we got off of Space we saw that the standby was still only 10 minutes. Dad wasn't feeling too great so he decided not to go again but the bros and I hopped back in line. The second time around made Kyle kind of sick and we decided that twice was enough. Mom, Dad, and Meme rode Carosel of Progress while the boys rode Buzz Lightyear one last time and I finished up some shopping. We gave our fastpasses to a family of six that were getting ready to get in line and said our final goodbyes to Disney.

We got on the monorail back to Contemporary and after a quick bathroom stop we hit the road for what would be a long drive home. It was about 10:30 (Illinois time)when we left Disney and it wasn't long before the backseat crew fell asleep.

Ryne was the first to fall asleep!

My dad of course was the driver for the trip and I was the designated "stay awake person". There was quite a bit of traffic and tons of construction which prolonged our drive even more. We made it to Georgia before we needed to make a stop for gas. We pulled off at the exit and found that the town had been completely destroyed by a tornado. After talking to the clerk at the only open gas station in town we discovered that the tornado happened at the end of April. It had originally looked a lot worse than it did now (I can not even imagine) and it killed 8 people. Ringgold, Georgia was the name of the town. After using the porta-potties at the makeshift gas station we took a few pictures and got back on the road. When we got home we looked up the newspaper articles and videos from the tornado and it was so sad!

My dad drove all day and night and we finally arrived home at 3am. It took slightly longer to drive home due to the bad weather we hit right before home, construction, and traffic. Everything was timed just right to avoid the brunt of rush hour traffic in Atlanta, see the sunset over the mountains of Chattanooga, and make it out of the mountains before dark. We hit a little traffic in Atlanta but we were never at a complete standstill. By the time we reached home everyone was ready to sleep in a bed, stretch out, and just get out of that van.


Another great trip is in the books and another round of awesome memories made! We will always be a Disney family and, of course, you are never too old for Disney. We will definitely be back again. Probably not any time soon but trust me, we will be back!

 

[ctink23]

I drove the whole way there and back

Very impressive!


I can't believe it took an hour and a half for an AK bus! Did anyone tell you why? I do remember some of the buses at POFQ being slow when I stayed there in 2008, but not that slow!

Avocado margarita? My interest is peaked. Was it frozen? And where in Mexico did you get these interesting margaritas? My family and I have plans to drink around the world when we go next (hopefully in January). This was also the plan last time we were there. But I didn't make it past Norway. My dad and brother, on the other hand, made it most of the way around the world. It was a very interesting trip back to MK to watch Wishes that night.

Love the CRT pictures! I haven't eaten there since the princesses took over (I do remember meeting Cinderella in the lobby, though, just not all of the princesses in the dining area).

Glad you got to ride Space Mountain before leaving! What a great way to end a trip!

 

[Tigger's ally]

The specialty marg's came from La Cava in San Angel. They were all good but the Avacodo is great. It is a frozen one. The Cuke and Jalepeno are on the rocks. All are hand mixed. Look at page 2 for descriptions. And Enjoy.

http://partythroughtheparks.squarespace.com/epcot/

 

[Tink0812]

First off, thanks for reading and thanks for the nice comments!

We never did find out why the AK buses were so slow that day. We have never had bus problems before so it was quite shocking to us.

The Avacado Margarita was frozen (and very delicious). Inside the Mexico pyramid (I guess that's what you call it) there is a tequila bar which is where I got mine but I think you might be able to get some of them outside at the Cantina.

CRT was a blast, even though our group was composed of all grown-ups! I loved getting my picture taken with the princesses and feeling like a kid again. And I don't think we would have left Disney without riding Space Mountain. That just would not have felt right to us!

 

[Tink0812]

Very impressive!


I can't believe it took an hour and a half for an AK bus! Did anyone tell you why? I do remember some of the buses at POFQ being slow when I stayed there in 2008, but not that slow!

Avocado margarita? My interest is peaked. Was it frozen? And where in Mexico did you get these interesting margaritas? My family and I have plans to drink around the world when we go next (hopefully in January). This was also the plan last time we were there. But I didn't make it past Norway. My dad and brother, on the other hand, made it most of the way around the world. It was a very interesting trip back to MK to watch Wishes that night.

Love the CRT pictures! I haven't eaten there since the princesses took over (I do remember meeting Cinderella in the lobby, though, just not all of the princesses in the dining area).

Glad you got to ride Space Mountain before leaving! What a great way to end a trip!

First off, thanks for reading and thanks for the nice comments!

We never did find out why the AK buses were so slow that day. We have never had bus problems before so it was quite shocking to us.

The Avacado Margarita was frozen (and very delicious). Inside the Mexico pyramid (I guess that's what you call it) there is a tequila bar which is where I got mine but I think you might be able to get some of them outside at the Cantina.

CRT was a blast, even though our group was composed of all grown-ups! I loved getting my picture taken with the princesses and feeling like a kid again. And I don't think we would have left Disney without riding Space Mountain. That just would not have felt right to us!

 

[ctink23]

First off, thanks for reading and thanks for the nice comments!

We never did find out why the AK buses were so slow that day. We have never had bus problems before so it was quite shocking to us.

The Avacado Margarita was frozen (and very delicious). Inside the Mexico pyramid (I guess that's what you call it) there is a tequila bar which is where I got mine but I think you might be able to get some of them outside at the Cantina.

CRT was a blast, even though our group was composed of all grown-ups! I loved getting my picture taken with the princesses and feeling like a kid again. And I don't think we would have left Disney without riding Space Mountain. That just would not have felt right to us!

I will have to try that margarita. Thanks for telling me where to get it!

Sometimes, you just have to eat with the princesses, even as an adult. I totally get it. My mom and I ate at Akershus last time we were there, and it was so fun!

Thanks for posting your TR! It was fun reading it!