Conan the Librarian
Been Visting the Mouse since 1972
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2005
- Messages
- 2,059
After Adventure Report Dec 10-Dec15 2006
After Adventure Report Dec 10-Dec15 2006
Dec 10
We left Savannah at 4:00am and had a very un-eventful trip to Lake Buena Vista. We arrived at Ft. Wilderness at 9:30am, checked in and picked up our Hoop-de-do tickets in record time. Ft. W was packed full of Pop Warner folks and it was kinda scary with all those people. Camp setup was a breeze and we were at Downtown Disney by 11:30am. We had a nice meal at McDonald's (?) and went to the World of Disney for some shopping fun (We are still trying to find a replacement wedding ring for me). Our Pal Mickey has seen better days, so we bought a new one, but no rings. At 3:00 we went over to Old Key West for a DVC mixer and met some very nice people. We couldn't stay long as we still had some camp setup to do, and we wanted to hit the Magic Kingdom for a bit before the Hoop-de-do. When we got back to Ft. W, it was empty. All the Pop Warner folks had left and we pretty much had our loop to ourselves for a few days.
It was extra-magic night at MK, so, the park was busy. We hit Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain before hitting the boat back to Ft. Wilderness for HDD. If you have never been to the Hoop-de-do, it is a VERY funny show, in the style of an Old West music hall. Singing, dancing, and bad acting (not the stars, but, the audience members) are all there. The food is plentiful and deeelicious! We got table 13 again, front row center, so we got lots of cast interaction.
Dec 11
We hit the Trail's End for a nice filling breakfast, then boated over to MK for a day and a night of fun. Started off with me getting a hair cut and running into one of the most annoying people we had ever met. He said he was a cast member on the college intern program. He then proceeded to tell us his whole life story in great detail. We got out of their quick as soon as I got my new 'do' We got to do everything we wanted to do, and did something new to us, Cinderella's Carousel. In all the years of going, I have never been on CC, so, we did. Of course the DW picked the horses that were highest off the ground. We had quite a time of getting on the horse, but, once on, had a grand time. We worked the new daytime parade into the schedule also. It is much better than the old parade as they have done away with those globes.
It was also the night of Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party, so, we enjoyed the parade, cookies and hot chocolate, and a much more quiet park. We did have an interesting ride with the Pirates. The sound went off just before we started. It was kind of creepy watching the events unfold with lips moving but no music and no voices. Those of us in the boat started singing the song and re-enacting the script from memory. The sound kicked on just as we pasted Jack Sparrow on his throne at the end of the ride. A grand time was had by all.
Dec 12
MGM day for us. Forgetting that we needed to get the bus at the settlement, we caught the boat to Contemporary and caught the bus there. On the way, we saw a bald eagle on Discovery Island. A quick bus ride later got us to MGM and we had a find time. Crowds were limited so we were pretty much walk on for everything except the Great Movie Ride which was packed. We did hit everything we wanted to do, and, saw some streetmosphere. But we didn't get to see our card trick friend. We had lunch from Pizza Planet and were quite pleased. All we have ever heard was bad things about PP, but, the food was fine and service was quick. We got a front row seat for Indiana Jones and really enjoyed it, including when Karen Allen's double got the giggles and snorted just before punching out the stunt man. We spend about ½ hour wandering the Osborne Lights and later found out that all the video we shot of the lights was on a bad disk and all was lost. We still had fun and all was well.
Dec 13
Animal Kingdom day. We started by putting up an extra tarp so that our screen porch wouldn't flood when the rain that was coming hit. It was kind of warm that day and the animals were active. During one safari the White Rino was having a grand time chasing Zebras. We also got nice views of the baby Giraffe. I was impressed by the lack of Buzzards around and was told that they left because Disney quit putting out food they would eat. When the Buzzards started eating lettuce, they figured they had a problem. Had two run ins with people who insisted on feeding the birds in the park. One person didn't know better, and the other was a total jerk. If they want to kill the birds, why not just choke them and be done with it?
We also had a fun time on Dinosaur. They were apparently having computer problems that day, but, we got going ok, up to the point where the Carnotaurs yelled at us and then they took our picture. Then the ride stopped and the lights came on!!! We sat for about 15 minutes until a cast member came and took us out of the car. We had to walk out. To say the least it was illuminating. We didn't see Nemo, but, are saving that for May.
We grabbed a meal at the Rainforest and went back to the park for Extra Magic Hours. We didn't do much, just walked around the Tree and took pictures.
When we came back to camp, we found that our tarp didn't stand up as well as I had hoped and had to reset everything. We also found out that our new neighbors had brought a yapping dog with them into the Non-Pet area of Ft W. Not only that, they were slobs. They even left a toaster plugged into the campsite outlet during the rain. Several appeals to Guest Services brought no joy.
Dec 14
EPCOT and more bad weather. We were late that day, so we went straight to Morocco on the boat for food. Then we wandered around backward stopping in almost all the shops going into China. The DW bought a wonderful necklace there and was quite happy. We took a detour through test-track and then went over to the DVC mixer at the international gateway, but, wasn't all that impressed, though I did get a personal moment with Pluto. He is a good Dog.
We then went round to France and bought some pastries for next day breakfast and watched the movie, which we both love. It was getting close to time for our dinner at Le Cellier so we hit Brittan and wandered the shops there. We were wandering though the maze in the back when two things happened. One was that the "British Invasion" boys came out for a set, and the rain, which had been going on for a bit, started coming down in buckets. There were about 50 people standing around with umbrellas, ponchos or some other covering, enjoying the sounds. All I could do was laugh! Where ever our ponchos weren't, we were wet. After that, we gave up and just wondered over to Canada for supper, which was marvelous! We had enough time to do Soarin', Nemo and Crush, Cranium Command, and Mission Space. We were soaking wet by the time we got back to the tent.
Dec 15
Homeward bound.
We had a very un-eventful last day. We finally got someone to listen to us about the dog next door, but, I don't know if they ever did anything about it. We just packed up as best we could with the wet equipment and hit the road. We stopped at our favorite Publix near Flagler and had a very nice lunch on the beach. We drove up A1A to St. Augustine and had a very uneventful rest of the trip home.
All in all, a fine time was had by all.
After Adventure Report Dec 10-Dec15 2006
Dec 10
We left Savannah at 4:00am and had a very un-eventful trip to Lake Buena Vista. We arrived at Ft. Wilderness at 9:30am, checked in and picked up our Hoop-de-do tickets in record time. Ft. W was packed full of Pop Warner folks and it was kinda scary with all those people. Camp setup was a breeze and we were at Downtown Disney by 11:30am. We had a nice meal at McDonald's (?) and went to the World of Disney for some shopping fun (We are still trying to find a replacement wedding ring for me). Our Pal Mickey has seen better days, so we bought a new one, but no rings. At 3:00 we went over to Old Key West for a DVC mixer and met some very nice people. We couldn't stay long as we still had some camp setup to do, and we wanted to hit the Magic Kingdom for a bit before the Hoop-de-do. When we got back to Ft. W, it was empty. All the Pop Warner folks had left and we pretty much had our loop to ourselves for a few days.
It was extra-magic night at MK, so, the park was busy. We hit Jungle Cruise, Pirates, Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain before hitting the boat back to Ft. Wilderness for HDD. If you have never been to the Hoop-de-do, it is a VERY funny show, in the style of an Old West music hall. Singing, dancing, and bad acting (not the stars, but, the audience members) are all there. The food is plentiful and deeelicious! We got table 13 again, front row center, so we got lots of cast interaction.
Dec 11
We hit the Trail's End for a nice filling breakfast, then boated over to MK for a day and a night of fun. Started off with me getting a hair cut and running into one of the most annoying people we had ever met. He said he was a cast member on the college intern program. He then proceeded to tell us his whole life story in great detail. We got out of their quick as soon as I got my new 'do' We got to do everything we wanted to do, and did something new to us, Cinderella's Carousel. In all the years of going, I have never been on CC, so, we did. Of course the DW picked the horses that were highest off the ground. We had quite a time of getting on the horse, but, once on, had a grand time. We worked the new daytime parade into the schedule also. It is much better than the old parade as they have done away with those globes.
It was also the night of Mickey's Very Merry Christmas party, so, we enjoyed the parade, cookies and hot chocolate, and a much more quiet park. We did have an interesting ride with the Pirates. The sound went off just before we started. It was kind of creepy watching the events unfold with lips moving but no music and no voices. Those of us in the boat started singing the song and re-enacting the script from memory. The sound kicked on just as we pasted Jack Sparrow on his throne at the end of the ride. A grand time was had by all.
Dec 12
MGM day for us. Forgetting that we needed to get the bus at the settlement, we caught the boat to Contemporary and caught the bus there. On the way, we saw a bald eagle on Discovery Island. A quick bus ride later got us to MGM and we had a find time. Crowds were limited so we were pretty much walk on for everything except the Great Movie Ride which was packed. We did hit everything we wanted to do, and, saw some streetmosphere. But we didn't get to see our card trick friend. We had lunch from Pizza Planet and were quite pleased. All we have ever heard was bad things about PP, but, the food was fine and service was quick. We got a front row seat for Indiana Jones and really enjoyed it, including when Karen Allen's double got the giggles and snorted just before punching out the stunt man. We spend about ½ hour wandering the Osborne Lights and later found out that all the video we shot of the lights was on a bad disk and all was lost. We still had fun and all was well.
Dec 13
Animal Kingdom day. We started by putting up an extra tarp so that our screen porch wouldn't flood when the rain that was coming hit. It was kind of warm that day and the animals were active. During one safari the White Rino was having a grand time chasing Zebras. We also got nice views of the baby Giraffe. I was impressed by the lack of Buzzards around and was told that they left because Disney quit putting out food they would eat. When the Buzzards started eating lettuce, they figured they had a problem. Had two run ins with people who insisted on feeding the birds in the park. One person didn't know better, and the other was a total jerk. If they want to kill the birds, why not just choke them and be done with it?
We also had a fun time on Dinosaur. They were apparently having computer problems that day, but, we got going ok, up to the point where the Carnotaurs yelled at us and then they took our picture. Then the ride stopped and the lights came on!!! We sat for about 15 minutes until a cast member came and took us out of the car. We had to walk out. To say the least it was illuminating. We didn't see Nemo, but, are saving that for May.
We grabbed a meal at the Rainforest and went back to the park for Extra Magic Hours. We didn't do much, just walked around the Tree and took pictures.
When we came back to camp, we found that our tarp didn't stand up as well as I had hoped and had to reset everything. We also found out that our new neighbors had brought a yapping dog with them into the Non-Pet area of Ft W. Not only that, they were slobs. They even left a toaster plugged into the campsite outlet during the rain. Several appeals to Guest Services brought no joy.
Dec 14
EPCOT and more bad weather. We were late that day, so we went straight to Morocco on the boat for food. Then we wandered around backward stopping in almost all the shops going into China. The DW bought a wonderful necklace there and was quite happy. We took a detour through test-track and then went over to the DVC mixer at the international gateway, but, wasn't all that impressed, though I did get a personal moment with Pluto. He is a good Dog.
We then went round to France and bought some pastries for next day breakfast and watched the movie, which we both love. It was getting close to time for our dinner at Le Cellier so we hit Brittan and wandered the shops there. We were wandering though the maze in the back when two things happened. One was that the "British Invasion" boys came out for a set, and the rain, which had been going on for a bit, started coming down in buckets. There were about 50 people standing around with umbrellas, ponchos or some other covering, enjoying the sounds. All I could do was laugh! Where ever our ponchos weren't, we were wet. After that, we gave up and just wondered over to Canada for supper, which was marvelous! We had enough time to do Soarin', Nemo and Crush, Cranium Command, and Mission Space. We were soaking wet by the time we got back to the tent.
Dec 15
Homeward bound.
We had a very un-eventful last day. We finally got someone to listen to us about the dog next door, but, I don't know if they ever did anything about it. We just packed up as best we could with the wet equipment and hit the road. We stopped at our favorite Publix near Flagler and had a very nice lunch on the beach. We drove up A1A to St. Augustine and had a very uneventful rest of the trip home.
All in all, a fine time was had by all.
