"I bet they get Charmin" A May 2014 Girls Trip **04/03 THE END**

[DisneyKid4Life]

Holy WOW TWO CHEETAHS!!! That's actually pretty exciting. I know they're not doing anything, but to even see one seems to be rare.

TWO??? Holy WOW!

Plus underwater Hippo!!! Not too shabby Amber.

 

[amberg93]

Nice safari pics! I agree that is one sassy cheetah

I haven't done Pangani in forever, but those meerkats are so cute!!

Such sassy. Too much.

They were so cute. We lingered by them the most and just like 'aww'ed over them.

I don't know if they just give out a ton of FP for the safari or what but it seems quite often that the FP return line is crazy long. And that happened in the days of FP- too so it isn't just a FP+ thing

The trails are definitely something cool to do if you want something to do at your own pace and just relax a bit. Love the gorillas!

Yeah I don't know what the numbers are compared to FP returns but I feel the same way. It's usually just a long line.

We had some animal lovers in the group too so that was helpful.

Love the safari, that baby elephant didn't look too little to me! AK really is such a pretty park isn't it?

When's the cruise? Any chance of a trip report for that?

It looked smaller with the other elephant. I promise. But AK is super pretty.

The cruise is on Saturday, but we leave on Friday. I wouldn't know where to put such a trip report (there's not really a Princess category). Although maybe a mini one in here when we get back. I'll see what happens. If there are suggestions as to where to put it I might [/color]

Holy WOW TWO CHEETAHS!!! That's actually pretty exciting. I know they're not doing anything, but to even see one seems to be rare.

TWO??? Holy WOW!

Plus underwater Hippo!!! Not too shabby Amber.

Apparently I stand corrected. There were exciting things

It was pretty cool to see the hippo. At first some members of our group missed him

 

[MarieLightning]

Day 2, Part 4: This Is Not Okay

Once we were done having some animal fun time, we got off the trail and decided it was time for a rest and water break. We headed over to grab a few cups of water and sat at a table in a shaded area. I can't quite remember where we sat exactly, it wasn't a quick service location per say but not a snacks kiosk either?

It had this fancy wall though

At which time, a custodial Cast Member came over and chatted with us some, pointing out that the markings in the wall made for Scar's face (the one we took a picture of), and Simba's face on the other wall. Some of us had a harder time seeing it, so she actually went up to the wall to show the mouth, nose and ears. She was really nice and we mentioned how interesting it must be to work at Disney, because being there so often just gives you the opportunity to notice all those little things over time that you may not see at first, and she agreed that there are still a lot of things around she probably hasn't even seen yet

Disney is just a gold mine

With our water and rest break completed, we went on our way to use up a very important FastPass

Expedition Everest!

Unfortunately, we arrived only to find that it was currently closed down. Thankfully enough, I did soon receive yet another email from My Disney Experience to reconfirm that I now had a FastPass to use for either Expedition Everest, if it came back up, or a number of other rides by the end of the day. We decided to keep it for EE and cross our fingers that it would be back and running later in the day

As those plans changed, we decided to go onto a different kind of adventure, passing through many pathways and getting admittedly a bit lost on the way

But we finally made it!

See, last time we were in Disney, Camp Minnie-Mickey (*sniffles*) was still in existence. As such, it was easy peasy to figure out where to meet certain characters! However, that all changed when they chose to close it down for construction that's probably gonna last until I'm a grandmother (okay, okay, probably not) and as such, we had no idea where to go to meet a certain Native princess

Thankfully, we eventually found the trail

And took a few pictures while we were at it. Hello, peeking parrot!

Here, let me take a better picture

That's better, you majestic bird you

It took me forever to spot these little guys, too, hidden in their tiny little cave

The other girls spotted them much faster

We soon got to the point of getting in line for Pocahontas, which was a good length but not ridiculously so, so we just went for it (especially seeing how much time it took us just to find her)

We waited somewhere around ten minutes to get to the front of the line, give or take a couple of minutes. She was very sweet, but the meeting itself was kind of underwhelming

I think for some characters, it's just a bit trickier maybe to interact with a large group?

Either way, we did get to meet her, Traci got to steal the show again, and then we were on our way!

By that point, we were starving, and we knew where we wanted to eat!

Restaurantosaurus!

In theory, a great food pick. In practice, not so much for that day

However, we didn't want to go for Pizzafari - for one thing, we knew we'd be eating at Pizza Planet some time during the week. For another, we'd eaten pizza the day before - and then, Veronica's meals often consisted of pizza as the best viable vegetarian option in certain locations. Then, Flame Tree BBQ was out as well, and we figured Restaurantosaurus would have the best food option. And the food itself was pretty satisfactory

That day, however, was having some major service issues

We got to the restaurant during a pretty busy lunch time, so we were ready to spend a few minutes waiting. I went off to find a table to sit at so I could save the spots for everybody else. And then I waited. And waited. And waited.

Eli came to join me at some point, seeing as she had forgotten her gift card for meals that day so we arranged it so we'd pay for her and she'd pay us back later. She sat with me, and we waited some more.

Eventually, Amber arrived and put down our tray of food options. She and I both went for the mac and cheese hot dog, and Eli got herself a burger. We were all satisfied with our picks, although I ultimately wasn't as big a fan of the hotdog as I had been in October. The bread was just very dry

Then Traci was next to arrive a few minutes later. She'd gotten, I believe, the chicken BLT salad. I don't think she had a major issue with it, but it wasn't her favorite meal of the trip either. In hindsight, I think Disney salads tend to be an overload of cold lettuce with minimal warm toppings. Of course, I haven't tried all their salads, but that is the conscensus on the salad experiences so far

At that point, the four of us waited some more, until Amber went back off to the line to see what was taking Merranda and Veronica so long, and also tell them where we were sitting. Merranda arrived a few minutes later, and after a bit more time of waiting, Veronica and Amber joined us

Both girls had gotten the black bean burger, and they actually both thought it was pretty good

Now, I know what you're thinking. But Marie, it was a busy lunch time, and you all ordered separately. It makes sense you wouldn't all have gotten your meals at the same time, and that there was a bit of wait!

And I would tell you, why yes kind reader, such a situation would make sense

Unfortunately, that is not the situation as it was

The Cast Members taking the orders were doing their job as usual. They got everyone's orders sent back and situated quickly. The cooks were also very quick - they're used to lunch rushes after all. They were putting food up on trays speedily and efficiently.

And then, you get to the in between Cast Members. The ones that are supposed to situate drinks, desserts and meals all on the same tray and call out your order when it's ready.

Those people were not speedy, nor efficient. And they weren't understaffed, either

The food itself was getting put out quickly, only to then be left under the heating light for ages (which, in retrospect, explains the dryness of my hotdog!). Those Cast Members were just dragging their feet around, and what's worse, they weren't even making an effort to make sure people would know when their order was ready

They would set up a tray, and speak out the number. Speak, not call. At a normal speaking volume. Like, come on guys. This is a busy restaurant. It's lunch time. There are crowds of people waiting for their food around, giving their order. There are people in the next rooms over, eating, talking, and overall not being quiet. There is noise coming from the kitchen right behind you. What makes you think using a normal speaking volume will carry enough for people to hear their number being called, regardless of whether they're paying attention or not? And then they would just stand back and stare when nobody came forth to get their trays. It got to the point where people waiting for their food, closer to the counters, would call out the numbers so people could actually hear them

Overall, it was just not okay

Thankfully, we eventually got all of our own stuff situated, but we all agreed that it was not good service. It especially made no sense that Veronica, who had ordered the same exact thing as Merranda, had to wait so much longer for her food. All in all, between Amber dropping our tray of food off, and Veronica joining us, there was about a fifteen to twenty minutes difference, to the point where by the time she got there, pretty much everyone else was done with their food

Once we all were done eating, we'd come to the conclusion that this was worth a visit to guest services. And if you've followed our TRs before, you know we're not the type to go running off to guest relations for complaints - we'd actually never been in there before for that reason, only ever to leave good comments. We just didn't feel it was an acceptable situation

Having been the one to witness the most of it, Veronica went off with Amber while the rest of us looked around the gift shop. When they got there, Amber calmly explained the situation, assuring them she wasn't angry but that she didn't think it was okay. She made it a point to let them know the cooks were putting the food out quickly, and that the Cast Members at the registers were also efficiently taking orders - and that even they were wondering what was going on

The lady at guest relations apologized for it, and said that seeing as it was food related, she would like to get the whole group some ice cream for the trouble, which the girls thanked her for. She then went on to say that for the time spent, she'd also give a FastPass to any attraction for all of us, which was definitely going above and beyond as well. Which, randomly enough, then reminded Amber she also wanted to leave a good comment for our safari driver, which she did, and then the two girls came back to join the rest of us with the super FastPass and the voucher for ice cream in hand

We put those away for the time being and decided that, seeing as we were pretty close to Discovery Island, and had tossed around the idea of meeting them before lunch, we should go visit our favorite Wilderness Explorers!

We got in line and waited a pretty reasonable amount of time, although they had to go off on break at some point. It wasn't too long until we got to the front though

Dug is a good dog, yes he is!

The Wilderness must be explored!

They were super cute, as always, and once we were done meeting them, we hopped in the next line over and went off to see It's Tough To Be A Bug!

We're not quite sure what the general opinion of that ride was - aside from the fact that everyone reacted pretty strongly to at least one aspect of the show, according to Amber. Either the stingers (which, I was sneaky and leaning away from the back rest around that time so they didn't get me, bwahaha) or the spiders coming down from the ceiling, which there was a pretty general agreement as to it not being okay

Overall though, there was no bad comments about it either

With that done, it was time to use our third pre-selected FastPass of the day!

It was getting hot, which we had foreseen, hence why we had scheduled for riding Kali River Rapids in the early afternoon! And also, the reason why I belatedly realized wearing white shirts one that was not the wisest idea

We got ourselves in the FastPass line and walked up to the front - at which point, we passed these two ladies on EVCs in the regular line, who very loudly complained (after pointedly looking at us) how that just wasn't fair to them. I don't know if they were referring to themselves, or people waiting in the standby queue in general, but either option kinda baffled me. Like, ladies, the FastPass system is a FREE system. Everyone can use it. How is it not fair?

And yes, some people will get to select their FastPasses in advance, but you know what, there has to be perks to staying on property

So we just brushed it off and kept going to the front of the line, at which point we all pretty much decided that wearing a poncho was just the right thing to do at that point. Traci didn't entirely agree to start with, but we eventually convinced her that she would thank us for it - and as it was, even with the ponchos, some of us ended up getting pretty well drenched!

It was our first time doing Kali, too, and I don't know that I would do it again very often. I really don't like wearing wet clothes, or ponchos. Maybe we'll do it again some time, though, we'll see!

Once our wet ponchos had all been taken off, put in a bag and entrusted to Traci (which she wasn't pleased with, but she was the only one without a bag and as such unanimously voted poncho caretaker), we decided to go and check out if Expedition Everest was back up

And it was!

So we used our initial FastPass for this ride, and soon got on the ride!

Once we were done adventuring, we decided to try and get to the 3 o'clock showing of Finding Nemo: The Musical!

Though we stopped for a couple of pictures, first!

The PhotoPass guy was making us look at the ground, then counting to three so we'd all look up at the same time and smile for the picture

I'm assuming that technique is so we wouldn't squint at the sun?

With that done, we went over to wait for the show. There was still a bit of time before the doors opening, so we just talked and chilled. There was also a bug incident, which just kept getting on everyone. Overall, we were not fans. We did try to save it from being killed, though - result of seeing It's Tough To Be A Bug

Soon enough, we were let into the theater and found ourselves a row to sit in!

We were pretty excited for this. This is one of our favorite Disney shows, and with Festival of the Lion King not running while we were there, we were hopeful it'd be a good option to show our friends

Ultimately, no one appreciated it as much as we do. Eli actually fell asleep (not from boredom, but from being tired and it being her usual afternoon nap time). And once it was over, someone (we can't remember who) asked if we were gonna have to do that again. It was a saddening moment, really, but we powered through

We then took a popular vote as to which ride we should use our super FastPass for, and the vote went for Expedition Everest! Nobody wanted to take the ponchos back out for Kali, and thankfully for me, everyone was a bigger fan of EE than of Dinosaur

And this time, we all got to sit together!

That done, we decided to use our other freebie, and got ourselves a frozen treat! Merranda got herself a Mickey ice cream sandwich, and the rest of us all opted for frozen lemonades! We also got some waters from the Yak & Yeti quick service location, and sat down to enjoy our goodies and rehydrate

We relaxed for a little bit, talked some, and then agreed we'd done pretty much everything we wanted to do, and that it was a good time to head out. Plus, some people were a bit tired, and others were wanting to get some pool time in, so it seemed like the best way to go

Once we were done eating our snacks, we headed on our way out of the park, stopping by Outfitters first though to look around a bit, and of course pin trade

We then decided we couldn't leave without a picture in front of the Tree of Life!

And with that done, we said goodbye to Animal Kingdom and headed over to the buses. We didn't have to wait too long, though we did have to stand, and some of us chatted with another family on the bus while making our way back to our resort

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[MarieLightning]

Oh my goodness, what's going on?! Two updates in a row? BY MARIE?!

There's reasoning for this, I promise. First, this is actually a short update - after leaving Animal Kingdom, we took too many pictures to fit in one update, but too little to not evenly split them up. And seeing as Amber wants to do the last update for reasons that are her own, we decided I should reestablish the balance of her updating twice in a row by doing the same!

So here we go!

Day 2, Part 5: "Are we allowed to sit here?"

Once we got back to the resort, the group split up once more!

I was part of the group who left the room, but first I did have to call the front desk, seeing as I had ordered a case of water from Staples, and although the shipping confirmation marked it as delivered, it hadn't found its way to our room yet. I gave the confirmation and shipping number and they said they would look into it

Amber decided to stay back in the room and get our stuff unpacked, and Merranda got herself settled in bed for a nap

The rest of us went off for a swim!

Eli wasn't sure about getting in the water, seeing as she handles the cold about as well as Amber does, but I reassured her that Disney pools are heated to a magical 82 degrees, and that got her in. We chatted and enjoyed the water for a little while, and then headed back to the rooms to get ready for dinner

Everyone showered and then we got ourselves out the door to head over to our evening destination - Downtown Disney!

It seems it's now a tradition for us to pair up an evening at Downtown Disney with our Animal Kingdom day, but seeing how early it generally closes, it just makes sense. I don't know what we'll do when it starts staying open later

Amber went a bit camera happy with the resort and got a few pictures of our building

And the pool!

This was also the moment I realized the backdrop color for the stars walls is a different color at the Sports (blue) than it is at the Music (red), which brought forth the questioning of what color it must be at the Movies. We tossed around green and yellow, and ultimately found out (later on) that it is in fact green. I think I'd like yellow better. Like, movies, spotlights? I don't know

Amber really has a strong appreciation for the Sports, too. She doesn't understand why it's the least favorite - she loves the theming, and trust me, she is not a sports person. Also, we both feel it's the best layout of the three resorts. The Music definitely has the worst layout - I guess we'll find out how we appreciate the Movies in September!

We got in line for the Downtown Disney bus, which turned out to be a pretty lengthy wait with our grumbling stomachs

We still managed to keep ourselves entertained

(Upon looking at these pictures again)
Amber: What are they doing?
Me: It's Merranda and Veronica. They're doing as they do

Ultimately, the sun had time to set by the time we were on our way

We finally arrived at Downtown Disney with only one thing in mind - food!

So we quickly made our way over to our restaurant selection for dinner - Wolfgang Puck Express!

It was our first time being there, and all in all, I'm pretty sure everyone only had good comments to make!

We made our way over to stand in line, put in our food order and tried to find a table. They were all mostly taken up, but anyone that's been there has surely seen the two big tables in the back area, next to the registers and right in front of the kitchens

We saw them too, but nobody was really sure if we could sit there because it just looked like those tables were *in* the kitchen, which may explain why no one else had sat there before

Merranda ended up asking if we could sit there, seeing as there was no other table to be found, and we all put up our numbers and waited for our food to come!

Traci got herself the chicken tenders, which did look pretty good

Merranda got the mac and cheese

Veronica got the margherita pizza, which she had some leftovers of (but it did all get eaten eventually!)

Amber and Eli split the BBQ chicken pizza, and they were both extremely happy with their selection. Seriously, that thing was gone in minutes, and we were all wondering where it'd gone

And then I got the chicken alfredo (sans peas), which was also very good, which there were also leftovers of (but those didn't get eaten)

All in all, very good meal. I'd heard good things about Wolfgang Puck, and having now tried it, I'd go again for sure. Only thing is, by the time we were done with our meal, we weren't sure if we were supposed to tip or not. It's a quick service type location, but they have people who bring your food out and check on you and such, and so we were a bit confused

In the end, nobody actually had cash seeing as we had figured it'd be your typical, wait for your tray and go on your way quick service meal, and since you pay upfront, there really was no way for us to leave tip. So if we have done wrong and offended the tipping Gods, we do apologize

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[TheMaxRebo]

That's actually pretty cool about that wall in AK and being the heads of Scar and Simba. I bet they do those sort of things to a) be cool for guest but also b) for the workers to entertain themselves

Bummer about your meal and taking so long. Sounds like everyone handled it properly - you were definitely in the right to complain as you noted something specific that wasn't working right and you calmly explained as such to customer service who calmly agreed with you and tried to make it right via ice cream and fast passes.

I don't know why you bothered to go on EE again as your bonus fast pass right ... you and Amber look downright board in your ride photo!

We've never been to WPE (I know, bad DISer) but only hear good things about it. Those pizza's look great!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I always think how much fun it must be to design things in the parks and be able to put in all these little touches. Maybe not everyone will notice, but what a great treat for those who do.

I've experienced the same thing as you all did with less than stellar food gatherers.

Wow score on the ice cream and FP!!!!

I can (very very slightly) understand people being a little upset against those who choose to buy express at other parks. But when there is a FREE system for everybody to use, just stop your whining!!!!!

 

[DisDance]

That's the beauty of Disney, no matter how May times you are there you are constantly finding something new! Is Everest ever not broken down? Seriously I feel like it's always down, glad you got on it later though. Looks like your dinner made up for your lunch experience

 

[TraciDisNewbie]

See my face in the first photo for EE. I just need to learn how to not... ugh. I did stop taking the spotlight after today (mostly because the other girls made me feel a bit self conscious) but I'm glad we rode that ride EE twice, because it is for sure one of my favorites. Also the thing about the wait time at the Dino restaurant was not just because we are impatient people, but because three of us have, and I still do, work at an amusement park, we know how much it stinks (and can only imagine how much more with that many people) but we also understand how things are supposed to be run. With those things in mind we decided it was worth the time to go and say something to Guest Relations. Which is something I would not normally do, ever. Animal Kingdom was a very fun day, and I am very glad that it was, seeing as we only got to visit that park once. And those chicken fingers were delicious. Down right yummy (may or may not have something to do with how hungry I was after swimming.) And Marie, I didn't eat your leftovers? Shame on me....I should have, it looked wonderful.

 

[anniebabymu]

Great Animal Kingdom day!

Stinks about the service at lunch... but at least everything else made up for it!

Love the shirts you girls made!!

And I totally saw Scar and Simba after you said something about it!

And then WPE for dinner... yummy, yummy, yummy!!! I got that chicken alfredo pasta too, with the peas though, and it was delicious! I loved the crispy bacon on it! And we were confused whether we should tip or not too... so we had a couple bucks on us and left it. It was weird because they did refill our drinks and everything, but it's a Counter Serve restaurant!

 

[amberg93]

That's actually pretty cool about that wall in AK and being the heads of Scar and Simba. I bet they do those sort of things to a) be cool for guest but also b) for the workers to entertain themselves

Bummer about your meal and taking so long. Sounds like everyone handled it properly - you were definitely in the right to complain as you noted something specific that wasn't working right and you calmly explained as such to customer service who calmly agreed with you and tried to make it right via ice cream and fast passes.

I don't know why you bothered to go on EE again as your bonus fast pass right ... you and Amber look downright board in your ride photo!

We've never been to WPE (I know, bad DISer) but only hear good things about it. Those pizza's look great!

I bet so too. It was really cool that she pointed it out to us.

They did handle it really well. I just don't like being the person who complains, but it was just not up to the proper standard.

Fun story about that. So, Marie is scared of the yeti and keeps her eyes closed on EE every time. Also, I used to always scream on rides, but I can't scream or laugh or yell anymore on them without it like murdering my throat. So that's pretty much how I look on every ride now unless I try not to.

That pizza was heavenly. Oh my goodness. Eli and I just devoured it so fast and we couldn't even make ourselves regret it. I want that pizza again, many times. I highly recommend it when you get there

I always think how much fun it must be to design things in the parks and be able to put in all these little touches. Maybe not everyone will notice, but what a great treat for those who do.

I've experienced the same thing as you all did with less than stellar food gatherers.

Wow score on the ice cream and FP!!!!

I can (very very slightly) understand people being a little upset against those who choose to buy express at other parks. But when there is a FREE system for everybody to use, just stop your whining!!!!!

Disney does detail like nobody's business.

I mean, it was just so frustrating. How could you be that slow? Like, I get it, it's a tough job and stuff. I respect that. But I've seen people at Cedar Fair get in trouble for working faster than that.

They were too kind. I was just happily going to take the ice cream to appease our friends for that sort of wait.

I get people being upset when it's paid. It's putting a higher favor toward people who have money and you know, when you've got a large group that sort of pass can get expensive very easily. But at Disney it's just crazy. Like, sorry you didn't read up on the system?

That's the beauty of Disney, no matter how May times you are there you are constantly finding something new! Is Everest ever not broken down? Seriously I feel like it's always down, glad you got on it later though. Looks like your dinner made up for your lunch experience

It is and I can't wait to keep discovering new things.

Actually, in our November and October trips we didn't run into EE being down. This was the first time.

And dinner definitely made up for lunch. It was heavenly.

 

[amberg93]

See my face in the first photo for EE. I just need to learn how to not... ugh. I did stop taking the spotlight after today (mostly because the other girls made me feel a bit self conscious) but I'm glad we rode that ride EE twice, because it is for sure one of my favorites. Also the thing about the wait time at the Dino restaurant was not just because we are impatient people, but because three of us have, and I still do, work at an amusement park, we know how much it stinks (and can only imagine how much more with that many people) but we also understand how things are supposed to be run. With those things in mind we decided it was worth the time to go and say something to Guest Relations. Which is something I would not normally do, ever. Animal Kingdom was a very fun day, and I am very glad that it was, seeing as we only got to visit that park once. And those chicken fingers were delicious. Down right yummy (may or may not have something to do with how hungry I was after swimming.) And Marie, I didn't eat your leftovers? Shame on me....I should have, it looked wonderful.

I didn't mean to make you feel self conscious. I loved your faces. They were magical.

Just all of that. We aren't complainers. We just know the standards and expectations of a lesser quality park. Plus, if anything, we're usually more understanding to people having bad days because of it.

Yummy WPE food was yummy. Sorry, next time I'll tell you if there are left overs

Great Animal Kingdom day!

Stinks about the service at lunch... but at least everything else made up for it!

Love the shirts you girls made!!

And I totally saw Scar and Simba after you said something about it!

And then WPE for dinner... yummy, yummy, yummy!!! I got that chicken alfredo pasta too, with the peas though, and it was delicious! I loved the crispy bacon on it! And we were confused whether we should tip or not too... so we had a couple bucks on us and left it. It was weird because they did refill our drinks and everything, but it's a Counter Serve restaurant!

Besides lunch it was a great day.

Thank you Marie is so talented.

Yeah, once it was pointed out it was like, how could I miss it?

I did try some of the chicken alfredo and found it to be yummy also. Yeah, I think if we'd have a couple of dollars we'd have left it and will next time. It was just unexpected and we hadn't known it. I just hope the guy wasn't offended or anything.

 

[amberg93]

Hey everyone tomorrow is the big day for curising. Super exited. We're all packed and ready to go. We will get some wifi thanks to Marie's training making us like elite members so there might be some pictures posted on Marie's instagram. Which can be found here. But otherwise, we'll be back in a week and will probably do a mini-TR update about it

Day 2, Part 6: "Have you seen Marie?"

Once we got done with our delicious dinner we decided that we needed to an equally delicious dessert.

So, where did we head? But over to Ghirardelli's, of course. There was a bit of a wait, but it was worth it.

I had the Crissy Field Cookie Bits Sundae. They were out of chocolate chip cookie to put crumbles of it on top, so they put toffee cookie instead... oh my goodness it was magical. It was delicious. It was sooo rich and way too much for one person.

Marie got the Mint Bliss. I tasted it and it was delicious.

Merranda got the Ghirardelli Square World Famous Hot Fudge Sundae. Which she seemed to enjoy.

Eli got the Presidio Passion Strawberry Hot Fudge Sundae. She had good things to say about it.

Veronica went simpler and got a double scoop of chocolate in a waffle cone. And let me tell you, she was so unimpressed about having to have a picture taken before she could eat it. Don't mess with Veronica's ice cream. You'll regret it.

Traci was much more enthusiastic about the picture and is showing off her Treasure Island Warm Brownie Sundae.

So while we're eating, Merranda and I decide that we have to go the bathroom. And being me, I was like, oh I know where the bathroom is outside, since we didn't see one inside. I go outside and I try to lead our way to the bathroom and... we walk around aimlessly for a few minutes before I stop and ask a security guard.

Guess where he directs us? That's right, back inside to the bathroom that is, in fact, inside Ghirardelli's.

Oops. So, we go back in and I'm trying to walk fast and stay out of sight of everyone else because I don't want everyone to be like "Did you just go outside for a bathroom and realize there was one inside and have to come back?"

Of course, now the cover is blown. Because if they'd seen us, no one made any comment about it.

Anyway, by the end of the dessert our tables reflected our ice cream stories.

This is what I had left. It's crazy that everyone had at least a bite of it. I would have had more room if not for the three slices of pizza I chowed down, but I have no regrets about that pizza. It was a good decision.

This was Marie's left over melted.

And this is a very, very blurry picture of Merranda's cup which still had ice cream in it too.

This, meanwhile, is a table full of people who finished all their dessert. And Veronica, after finishing hers, started to eat other people's.

I'm telling you guys, one day I'll attempt the kitchen sink and I'll succeed because I'll bring Veronica as one of the people with me. I love that girl and she will bring victory to the kitchen sink mission by her insanely high ice cream intake level.

Now, once we'd finished our great food evening, we had to do some shopping. And where is the best place to shop in Downtown Disney?

Of course.

So we headed inside and pretty much instantly everyone split up. I went with Marie and we started looking at clothes. I was on a mission to find a super cute Disney dress that I could wear and that wouldn't be a bijillion dollars.

The problem was, there wasn't anything there. Marie still wanted to look around though, so I suggested that I head over to Trend-D and see if I could find anything I liked and then come back (do you see where this is headed).

I left and went over to Tren-D and found nothing. I mean, there were some cute things there but either they were way too much or they weren't what I was looking for. Sadly, I made my way back to World of Disney. I was maybe gone for 10 minutes.

And guys, I'm going to tell you a horror story. A story of the time when I pretty much got lost in World of Disney.

So, I go in and I go to the clothing section where I was before to see if Marie's still there. She isn't, so I head over toward the doll section because I know that it's most likely where I will find my wife. Except, she isn't there.

At this point, I decide that I will do a systematic lap around the store to find her (and everyone else).

On my first lap, I see Merranda. I ask her about Marie and she says she hasn't seen her.

Okay, I continue on. Lap two: I run into Eli. I ask her about Marie. She hasn't seen her.

Lap three: I run into Merranda again and advise that she come with me so that I can stop losing people. Still no sight of Marie.

Lap four: We walk around the whole store and find no one.

Lap five: I run into Veronica and Traci. At this point, I tell them to stay put in one area as they were getting ready to check out anyway.

And then finally, lap six: I find Marie. Marie is over by the dolls, where I've literally been like six times now and said she'd been waiting for me there. Except, she had gone to the bathroom and therefore had missed all of my five previous laps around the store.

We then head back to the other side of the store where we find all of the girls waiting where I'd left them, or, rather, right outside.

Guys, I swear I probably walked more around World of Disney than I had all day at Animal Kingdom.

I also learned a valuable lesson. Do not, do not, DO NOT allow people to wander freely within World of Disney without establishing a meeting time and place. The store is a death trap waiting for you to fall in and get lost from the outside world forever and spend all your money because you've given up hope of being reunited with your family again.

Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic.

Either way, we were finally back together and headed over to the pin store. Where Marie bought herself a new lanyard and we each got a couple of pins.

Veronica and I finished before others and went to sit down.

Marie came next to show off her TinkerBell animators collection doll, which she had to buy.

And when we made our way over to the bus stop and literally just missed a bus pulling away.

Which meant that we all pretty much settled in to wait for the next one by sitting on the ground.

Sillies.

Eli likes to make faces.

Marie being a tired cutie.

Our bus arrived back at the resort around 11 and I was exhausted, so Eli and I just kind of booked it to the room and left all of our friends behind. I know, I'm a terrible person. Don't stand between me and sleep though.

When we got back to the room our case of water was waiting for us, finally.

Marie and I had a dispute about how it was going to be divided. I'd been under the impression we were each getting seven and then the last ten would be divided between the other girls. Marie was under the impression we'd be splitting it equally between everyone. She's clearly the better person of the two of us.

Marie won. Although in the end it didn't matter because we had water bottles left over. Isn't that just life though?

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[TheMaxRebo]

I love how you posted like "before" and "after" pics of everyone's ice cream. And Ghiradellis is definitely one place where you eyes are always bigger than your stomachs

I have lost people so many times in World of Disney and so often when I find them they claim they were in the area I found them in the entire time. I am convinced that store has a wormhole or something and there is an alternate dimension with another version of the World of Disney that people temporarily wind up in .... along with a bunch of missing socks

Either that or the store is actually a Tardis

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Holy, is it really ca-ruise time already??? Have yourselves a blast!!

Oy, I have been there. Go outside only to find out you need to go back inside... and then to try and do it covertly.

Amber, if you don't get lost in World of Disney, then you're just not doing it right.

 

[DisDance]

Amber Marie is going to need to put a "if found please return to" sticker on you!

Enjoy the cruise can't wait to hear about it, I'm very jealous! Safe travels!

 

[dramadrew]

What showing of It's Tough to be a Bug did you go to? I see the back of a bald shining head in one picture and wonder if it's mine, lol. Then again, if we were in front of you, I'm sure you would have noticed us again.

 

[coloredimage]

I get lost in World of Disney constantly!

And have fun on the cruise!

 

[amberg93]

I love how you posted like "before" and "after" pics of everyone's ice cream. And Ghiradellis is definitely one place where you eyes are always bigger than your stomachs

I have lost people so many times in World of Disney and so often when I find them they claim they were in the area I found them in the entire time. I am convinced that store has a wormhole or something and there is an alternate dimension with another version of the World of Disney that people temporarily wind up in .... along with a bunch of missing socks

Either that or the store is actually a Tardis

I was the weakest link on the ice cream team. I did think it would be more than I could eat and went for it anyway. Next time, I shall split it with Marie

It probably is a Tardis or The Doctor probably comes in and snatches people up and puts them back in the same place but not at the proper time and tells them they'd have only been gone one minute but it'll have been ten or twenty.

Holy, is it really ca-ruise time already??? Have yourselves a blast!!

Oy, I have been there. Go outside only to find out you need to go back inside... and then to try and do it covertly.

Amber, if you don't get lost in World of Disney, then you're just not doing it right.

Thanks Rob Will do.

Yep. I tried to be super sly and not let anyone know about it. Marie doesn't remember seeing us so I think we succeeded.

I can't even believe that they're apparently expanding it? Like... they do want you to get lost forever and ever.

Amber Marie is going to need to put a "if found please return to" sticker on you!

Enjoy the cruise can't wait to hear about it, I'm very jealous! Safe travels!

Yes I think that's what I must do. I shall print up a sticker promptly.

Thank you We shall do our best to return safely to the Dis.

What showing of It's Tough to be a Bug did you go to? I see the back of a bald shining head in one picture and wonder if it's mine, lol. Then again, if we were in front of you, I'm sure you would have noticed us again.

I wasn't really paying attention to crowds so I might not have noticed. According to the time stamp (for Finding Nemo, which I assume is what you meant?) on the picture we were there for the 1:50 showing.

I get lost in World of Disney constantly!

And have fun on the cruise!

I'm glad that I'm in good company then

Thank you! I'm sure it will not be easy, but you know, I'll struggle through it

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Totally forgot to wish you both a wonderful cruise!

Don't forget your Flippie-Floppies!

 

[courtneybelle]

Tough lunch situation at AK, but I'm so happy that Disney recovered so well with the FP and the ice cream!

I haven't met Dug and Russell since they met at DHS with Carl...maybe I can do that next week!!

I feel the same way about Kali. It's fun, but then you have to walk around soaking wet.

GUYS I'M EATING AT WOLFGANG PUCK EXPRESS TOMORROW. I love that mac and cheese, though the BBQ chicken pizza looks great...

Eeeep have fun cruising!

All that ice cream looks amazing!

Yep, getting lost in WOD is a hobby of mine. There's just so much stuff!