*Marty_Mouse_House*
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2004
- Messages
- 60
Vacationers:
Husband - early 40s
Self - early 40s (college sweethearts - married 20 years)
Son - 15
Beagle - 9
Active Cat - 3
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
Our last day at WDW. It was kind of sad just thinking about it. We got our 7:15 wake up call and decided on the Magic Kingdom this morning. It was so easy to get to the Magic Kingdom on a whim. You could either take the walkway or the monorail if the weather was not good. On previous trips we didn't get to the MK as much as we liked because it was so hard to get to. We were able to do all we wanted in the MK on this trip. The first ride today was the Astro Orbiter - a favorite of our son's. The wait was about 20 minutes. I thought this ride was okay only as long as I didn't look behind me while I was spinning around. Next we did Snow White - a walk on. We were walking past Country Bear Jamboree (a surprising favorite of my husband's) and they were getting ready to start so we jumped in. This was followed by Swiss Family Robinson. Somebody was asking a cast member if there was a ride "up there". To me, it's just as good as any ride. Next the Riverboat was in the dock so we raced to get on for the first time this vacation. Usually, we all really enjoyed the leisurely pace of the riverboat, and enjoyed walking through all of the 3 levels of decks while it was underway. Today, however, it was getting hot, and fairly crowded on the boat and I was somewhat restless. We had a lot to do (my husband had all 4 parks written on his schedule for today) and I couldn't find a cool place along the railing to watch everything. We disembarked after the ride and made our way to Space Mountain using a fast pass. This ride does not currently have a sponsor but when FedEx was the former sponsor, we had the opportunity to visit the sponsor's lounge located around the corner of the Space Mountain building. This was a treat. They had easy chairs, free sodas, juice and water, a t.v. and private rest rooms. We could help ourself to the Space Mountain Fed Ex pin. When we were ready, the lounge attendant took us through a special door along the Space Mountain corridor straight to the front of the line. Those good ole days are gone!
We soon had to say goodbye to the Magic Kingdom and after a trip to the Main Street Bakery (crumb cake - $2.99 and 2 cupcakes - $1.99/each) we headed back to the hotel.
The next stop of the day was the Animal Kingdom. Used the AAA parking pass and parked in the first row, 3rd spot. We started off with Pocahontas - which we all enjoyed and the animals were very cute. Then we must have been at the park at the right time because every attraction just followed from there and we didn't have to wait The Festival of the Lion King was next. We were put in the back row and it was extremely hot there. We had heard that they had enclosed this building, but we couldn't feel any air conditioning and I had my mini-fan going the whole time. Next we enjoyed It's Tough To Be A Bug and they surprised me with a 2nd "stinger"! This was followed by lunch at the Flame Tree Bar-B-Q, another delicious option at the Animal Kingdom.
We ordered the chicken sandwich meal - included corn on the cob and baked beans - $6.79, bar-b-q rib meal included corn on the cob and baked beans- $8.49, chicken sandwich only - $5.29, fry basket - $3.49, and ice waters - free. We took our trays and followed the path around the restaurant outside. There was a patio here at the top of the hill with table and chairs but we followed the path further down the hill next to the water and found a delightful breezy spot right on the water and under an awning. This was a really pleasant place to sit which I don't think many people knew about. We stayed for Mickey's Jungle Jammin Parade which none of us had ever seen before. It was very cute. I especially liked the floats made out of twigs and natural materials. After the parade, we made a fast exit back to the car and hotel.
We got back to the Contemporary and a huge clanging was coming from our room. You could hear it all the way down the hall. We determined that it had to be something with the air conditioner and tried raising the thermostat, lowering the thermostat and opening the sliding door. I called the front desk. Just as I was dailing the number, the clanging stopped. They asked me if the air conditioner was still working and we thought so, so I said yes. They told to me call back if we had any other problems. No sooner had I hung up than the clanging started again. It didn't stop and now the temperature in the room was rising. I called the front desk again and they could hear it through the phone. They said they would send somebody over. After about 45 minutes nobody came so we couldn't decide whether to wait or leave. We took this time to go to the lobby and stocked up on fresh brochures for souvenirs. Also, we discovered that we had received a phone message from neighbors back home who had just arrived at Disney. We wanted to get together later in the evening but we had a hard time reaching each other. I wondered if my friends would be able to get through the guard gate. I called the front desk and they said that if they arrived by car, all they had to do was to give the guard gate our name and room number and after security looked this up that they would let them through.
My husband wanted to know whether we wanted to return to MGM to watch the Super Stars and Motor Cars Parade. This is a wonderful parade and we really wanted to do it. But it would have meant another car ride to another parking lot, another park that day and we were starting to wear out. We decided to give this up in order to do Epcot one more time and to see Illuminations. We drove to Epcot and used the AAA parking pass. We sent more free video postcards from Innoventions. We had to do the Rio Del Tiempo ride in Mexico again! (That "debatable issue" was never totally resolved.) We headed over to Maelstrom in Norway and had about a 15 minute wait. My husband happened to be carrying his cell phone which rang outside of Norway. It was our neighbors who were in Epcot too so we decided to meet outside of United Kingdom. We all got something to eat at America and then found a spot to watch Illuminations near the American pavilion. I always enjoyed the fireworks part of the show but also missed the former Epcot show where they lit up each of the countries in turn. After the show there was a mad rush to leave and of course we were about as far away from the parking lot as we could get. We slowly made our way along with the rest of the crowd. We wanted to get back to the Contemporary in order to watch the 10:00 fireworks from the 4th floor landing. We knew we wouldn't make it at this rate. We had already offered to drive our neighbors back to the Contemporary with us in order to watch the fireworks and then they could leave from there by monorail to get their car parked at the ticket and transportation center. It was here that they mentioned that they had a package waiting at package pick-up at Epcot. We had just about given up being able to make the MK fireworks at the Contemporary. We waited with the throng in the package pick up line. I wondered what fabulous and heavy thing my neighbor had bought that it had to be delivered at package pick up. It turned out to be scrapbook stickers! We got through all that and piled in the car. We drove back to the Contemporary and my husband dropped us off out front. I was hoping that there would be a rain delay, but no such luck. We ran up to the 4th floor when the booming started, so we didn't miss much. We couldn't believe that we made it at all! After the show, we took lots of pictures together and they soon left for the monorail.
We got back to the room and I noticed that the thermostat was set on a different setting, so we assumed that somebody came while we were gone and fixed it. It didn't give us any more trouble.
The Disney part of the trip was nearly over. Tomorrow we would be checking out and leaving for a day at Universal. I am not the type of person who enjoys Universal more than Disney so my husband and son would have to drag me and my Contour Cloud kicking and screaming from the Contemporary.
There were a few things at Disney that we didn't get to that we wanted to do but I guess that just gives us a reason to come back! These included: Eating at the Fort Wilderness Trails End Buffet, doing Kali River Rapids (with ponchos on), seeing Fantasmic, doing the Living Seas, taking more of the animal trails in Animal Kingdom, doing the Enchanted Tiki Room, seeing the American movie at Epcot and seeing the Super Stars and Motor Cars parade. Also, we really didn't see any of the parades at the Magic Kingdom this time.
We had a fabulous trip which I owed in part to being able to get to get to the Magic Kingdom easily. When we stay at the Dolphin we make lots of trips to Epcot (and can plan our meals better) but we never get over to the Magic Kingdom as much as we want to. We really enjoyed the Contemporary for that reason (as well as the spaciousness of the rooms and the view). Given the chance, we would definitely stay at the Contemporary again.
Part 9 will be Universal, and then I will be finishing up with a summary. Thanks so much for reading so far.
---------------------------
Previous Trips: 30 plus trips in 32 years
Since being married we have stayed at: Fort Wilderness Campground, Fort Wilderness Cabins, Yacht Club, Caribbean Beach, Polynesian, Beach Club, Swan and Dolphin, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Port Orleans Riverside, Contemporary Resort.
Husband - early 40s
Self - early 40s (college sweethearts - married 20 years)
Son - 15
Beagle - 9
Active Cat - 3
Wednesday, June 9, 2004
Our last day at WDW. It was kind of sad just thinking about it. We got our 7:15 wake up call and decided on the Magic Kingdom this morning. It was so easy to get to the Magic Kingdom on a whim. You could either take the walkway or the monorail if the weather was not good. On previous trips we didn't get to the MK as much as we liked because it was so hard to get to. We were able to do all we wanted in the MK on this trip. The first ride today was the Astro Orbiter - a favorite of our son's. The wait was about 20 minutes. I thought this ride was okay only as long as I didn't look behind me while I was spinning around. Next we did Snow White - a walk on. We were walking past Country Bear Jamboree (a surprising favorite of my husband's) and they were getting ready to start so we jumped in. This was followed by Swiss Family Robinson. Somebody was asking a cast member if there was a ride "up there". To me, it's just as good as any ride. Next the Riverboat was in the dock so we raced to get on for the first time this vacation. Usually, we all really enjoyed the leisurely pace of the riverboat, and enjoyed walking through all of the 3 levels of decks while it was underway. Today, however, it was getting hot, and fairly crowded on the boat and I was somewhat restless. We had a lot to do (my husband had all 4 parks written on his schedule for today) and I couldn't find a cool place along the railing to watch everything. We disembarked after the ride and made our way to Space Mountain using a fast pass. This ride does not currently have a sponsor but when FedEx was the former sponsor, we had the opportunity to visit the sponsor's lounge located around the corner of the Space Mountain building. This was a treat. They had easy chairs, free sodas, juice and water, a t.v. and private rest rooms. We could help ourself to the Space Mountain Fed Ex pin. When we were ready, the lounge attendant took us through a special door along the Space Mountain corridor straight to the front of the line. Those good ole days are gone!
We soon had to say goodbye to the Magic Kingdom and after a trip to the Main Street Bakery (crumb cake - $2.99 and 2 cupcakes - $1.99/each) we headed back to the hotel.
The next stop of the day was the Animal Kingdom. Used the AAA parking pass and parked in the first row, 3rd spot. We started off with Pocahontas - which we all enjoyed and the animals were very cute. Then we must have been at the park at the right time because every attraction just followed from there and we didn't have to wait The Festival of the Lion King was next. We were put in the back row and it was extremely hot there. We had heard that they had enclosed this building, but we couldn't feel any air conditioning and I had my mini-fan going the whole time. Next we enjoyed It's Tough To Be A Bug and they surprised me with a 2nd "stinger"! This was followed by lunch at the Flame Tree Bar-B-Q, another delicious option at the Animal Kingdom.
We ordered the chicken sandwich meal - included corn on the cob and baked beans - $6.79, bar-b-q rib meal included corn on the cob and baked beans- $8.49, chicken sandwich only - $5.29, fry basket - $3.49, and ice waters - free. We took our trays and followed the path around the restaurant outside. There was a patio here at the top of the hill with table and chairs but we followed the path further down the hill next to the water and found a delightful breezy spot right on the water and under an awning. This was a really pleasant place to sit which I don't think many people knew about. We stayed for Mickey's Jungle Jammin Parade which none of us had ever seen before. It was very cute. I especially liked the floats made out of twigs and natural materials. After the parade, we made a fast exit back to the car and hotel.
We got back to the Contemporary and a huge clanging was coming from our room. You could hear it all the way down the hall. We determined that it had to be something with the air conditioner and tried raising the thermostat, lowering the thermostat and opening the sliding door. I called the front desk. Just as I was dailing the number, the clanging stopped. They asked me if the air conditioner was still working and we thought so, so I said yes. They told to me call back if we had any other problems. No sooner had I hung up than the clanging started again. It didn't stop and now the temperature in the room was rising. I called the front desk again and they could hear it through the phone. They said they would send somebody over. After about 45 minutes nobody came so we couldn't decide whether to wait or leave. We took this time to go to the lobby and stocked up on fresh brochures for souvenirs. Also, we discovered that we had received a phone message from neighbors back home who had just arrived at Disney. We wanted to get together later in the evening but we had a hard time reaching each other. I wondered if my friends would be able to get through the guard gate. I called the front desk and they said that if they arrived by car, all they had to do was to give the guard gate our name and room number and after security looked this up that they would let them through.
My husband wanted to know whether we wanted to return to MGM to watch the Super Stars and Motor Cars Parade. This is a wonderful parade and we really wanted to do it. But it would have meant another car ride to another parking lot, another park that day and we were starting to wear out. We decided to give this up in order to do Epcot one more time and to see Illuminations. We drove to Epcot and used the AAA parking pass. We sent more free video postcards from Innoventions. We had to do the Rio Del Tiempo ride in Mexico again! (That "debatable issue" was never totally resolved.) We headed over to Maelstrom in Norway and had about a 15 minute wait. My husband happened to be carrying his cell phone which rang outside of Norway. It was our neighbors who were in Epcot too so we decided to meet outside of United Kingdom. We all got something to eat at America and then found a spot to watch Illuminations near the American pavilion. I always enjoyed the fireworks part of the show but also missed the former Epcot show where they lit up each of the countries in turn. After the show there was a mad rush to leave and of course we were about as far away from the parking lot as we could get. We slowly made our way along with the rest of the crowd. We wanted to get back to the Contemporary in order to watch the 10:00 fireworks from the 4th floor landing. We knew we wouldn't make it at this rate. We had already offered to drive our neighbors back to the Contemporary with us in order to watch the fireworks and then they could leave from there by monorail to get their car parked at the ticket and transportation center. It was here that they mentioned that they had a package waiting at package pick-up at Epcot. We had just about given up being able to make the MK fireworks at the Contemporary. We waited with the throng in the package pick up line. I wondered what fabulous and heavy thing my neighbor had bought that it had to be delivered at package pick up. It turned out to be scrapbook stickers! We got through all that and piled in the car. We drove back to the Contemporary and my husband dropped us off out front. I was hoping that there would be a rain delay, but no such luck. We ran up to the 4th floor when the booming started, so we didn't miss much. We couldn't believe that we made it at all! After the show, we took lots of pictures together and they soon left for the monorail.
We got back to the room and I noticed that the thermostat was set on a different setting, so we assumed that somebody came while we were gone and fixed it. It didn't give us any more trouble.
The Disney part of the trip was nearly over. Tomorrow we would be checking out and leaving for a day at Universal. I am not the type of person who enjoys Universal more than Disney so my husband and son would have to drag me and my Contour Cloud kicking and screaming from the Contemporary.
There were a few things at Disney that we didn't get to that we wanted to do but I guess that just gives us a reason to come back! These included: Eating at the Fort Wilderness Trails End Buffet, doing Kali River Rapids (with ponchos on), seeing Fantasmic, doing the Living Seas, taking more of the animal trails in Animal Kingdom, doing the Enchanted Tiki Room, seeing the American movie at Epcot and seeing the Super Stars and Motor Cars parade. Also, we really didn't see any of the parades at the Magic Kingdom this time.
We had a fabulous trip which I owed in part to being able to get to get to the Magic Kingdom easily. When we stay at the Dolphin we make lots of trips to Epcot (and can plan our meals better) but we never get over to the Magic Kingdom as much as we want to. We really enjoyed the Contemporary for that reason (as well as the spaciousness of the rooms and the view). Given the chance, we would definitely stay at the Contemporary again.
Part 9 will be Universal, and then I will be finishing up with a summary. Thanks so much for reading so far.
---------------------------
Previous Trips: 30 plus trips in 32 years
Since being married we have stayed at: Fort Wilderness Campground, Fort Wilderness Cabins, Yacht Club, Caribbean Beach, Polynesian, Beach Club, Swan and Dolphin, All-Star Sports, All-Star Music, Port Orleans Riverside, Contemporary Resort.
