imbe@aol.com
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- May 22, 2001
- Messages
- 371
This morning dawned as another HOT one as soon as the day began! I've spent summers in FL my whole life practically, but this trip ... it really did seem hotter and FAR more humid than normal to me.
AK was the destination of the morning. We had 7:30 PS for Donald's Breakfastausaurus, and squeaked in there just in time. While we were there, I ran over to Dinosaur and picked up FP's, so when we were finished, we hit that first. In fact, by the time we rode this once, there was hardly any line, so we jumped right back & did it again.
We walked around and did a little shopping after the second ride - the stores in AK are some of my favorites. The kids wanted to play around in the Boneyard, so I stopped and let them have at it there for a while. Luckily they got hot and it began to get crowded, so it didn't last too long! LOL
As we passed by ITTBAB, I picked up FP's for this, and then Dave took them off to ... geez the name is escaping me right now! LOL that trail where the bats & kimodo dragons are?? in Asia?? Anyway, I did NOT want to go there - lizards to me .. EWWWW!!! LOL Especially such large ones!! I very happily sat & wrote in my journal & people watched for a little while!!
After ITTBAB (which Evan & Alec LOVED - then again, what 11 yo boy wouldn't, with the 'bodily function' jokes in it! LOL) we walked the Pangoni Trail, and then stopped for a snack. The heat was increasing steadily, and I was glad I hadn't planned on staying all day here. That's one nice thing about a longer visit, that you CAN leave a park when it gets too hot or too crowded and not feel as if you're going to miss something.
I "forced" them to go see "Tarzan Rocks" - I love this! LOL but they aren't wild about it. We hit a few more shops after this, and then decided to call it a day at AK. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long at all for a bus, and were soon back in the air conditioned comfort of our room at the Grand.
I hadn't made any lunch PS for this day, since I do try to leave some "down time", so we all decided on the GF Cafe for lunch. There was just a very short wait to be seated here, and I got no objections to waiting, since the kids browsed in the gift shop nearby during this time! LOL
During lunch, it was clouding up, and by the time we were done, it had started to rain. This was not good, because we had reservations to go tubing over at the Contemporary this afternoon. We'd planned on going to the pool, but just went back to the room instead, to wait out the storm. The kids picked up a video from the concierge, and while they watched that, I caught up on my journal from my chair by the window.
Just about 3:00, it let up so we headed over there quickly, as that was our time. The tubing is run by the same people who do the parasailing & the other watersports, Sammy Duvall's. I've had terrific experiences with them - they're extremely nice, friendly, and we always have fun! And the tubing was no exception. You go out on the boat, to a floating platform to pick up the tubes. These are inner tubes, single rider size, with handles along the sides in the front. The boat can tow up to 3 people at a time. Once the driver has connected the tubes to the boat, by way of heavy nylon cords, you step off the back of the boat into your tube, sitting with your feet out in front of you ... and off he goes!! This is a LOT of fun!!!!! It's definitely bumpy (which I loved!LOL) so I would say that if you don't like wilder rides, or are prone to seasickness, I wouldn't try this!! Otherwise .. go for it!! You can signal to the driver at any time to slow down or speed up with a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' motion, and he'll immediately comply. They take you around the Contemporary, WL area of Bay Lake. Alec & I did this to start and we had a blast! Evan was a little hesitant at first, so he stayed in the boat with the driver. Half way through, he decided to give it a shot .. but after about 5 min., I could see that he was petrified and NOT having much fun, and when I asked, he wanted to get OFF! LOL so he did. I'd DEFINITELY do this again though!!
We actually had to cut the time a bit short anyway, because it started to rain REALLY hard. It didn't much matter, because we were all soaked anyway from the tubing! LOL so we just walked through the rain into the Contemporary, tried our best to get a LITTLE dried off, then went up & caught the monorail back to the Grand. Needless to say, we were all FREEZING from the a/c on that by the time we got back to the room!!
Dinner was at the WCC Cafe this evening, so we monorailed around to the MK, then caught the boat over to the WL. After dinner, just spent some time strolling through the hotel again. I think this is SUCH a pretty place, and I really do want to give it a try sometime, but during the Christmas holidays I think.
The plan was originally to go miniature golfing at Fantasia afterwards, but... yep, it was raining again ... so we took the boat back to the MK, and then caught the monorail back to the Grand. The boys went & played in the gameroom there for a little while, and I just sat under the porch just outside people watching again. That's the nice feature of having been here many, many times .. you don't feel "guilty" if you're not running 24/7 trying to fit everything in.
AK was the destination of the morning. We had 7:30 PS for Donald's Breakfastausaurus, and squeaked in there just in time. While we were there, I ran over to Dinosaur and picked up FP's, so when we were finished, we hit that first. In fact, by the time we rode this once, there was hardly any line, so we jumped right back & did it again.
We walked around and did a little shopping after the second ride - the stores in AK are some of my favorites. The kids wanted to play around in the Boneyard, so I stopped and let them have at it there for a while. Luckily they got hot and it began to get crowded, so it didn't last too long! LOL
As we passed by ITTBAB, I picked up FP's for this, and then Dave took them off to ... geez the name is escaping me right now! LOL that trail where the bats & kimodo dragons are?? in Asia?? Anyway, I did NOT want to go there - lizards to me .. EWWWW!!! LOL Especially such large ones!! I very happily sat & wrote in my journal & people watched for a little while!!
After ITTBAB (which Evan & Alec LOVED - then again, what 11 yo boy wouldn't, with the 'bodily function' jokes in it! LOL) we walked the Pangoni Trail, and then stopped for a snack. The heat was increasing steadily, and I was glad I hadn't planned on staying all day here. That's one nice thing about a longer visit, that you CAN leave a park when it gets too hot or too crowded and not feel as if you're going to miss something.
I "forced" them to go see "Tarzan Rocks" - I love this! LOL but they aren't wild about it. We hit a few more shops after this, and then decided to call it a day at AK. Luckily, we didn't have to wait long at all for a bus, and were soon back in the air conditioned comfort of our room at the Grand.
I hadn't made any lunch PS for this day, since I do try to leave some "down time", so we all decided on the GF Cafe for lunch. There was just a very short wait to be seated here, and I got no objections to waiting, since the kids browsed in the gift shop nearby during this time! LOL
During lunch, it was clouding up, and by the time we were done, it had started to rain. This was not good, because we had reservations to go tubing over at the Contemporary this afternoon. We'd planned on going to the pool, but just went back to the room instead, to wait out the storm. The kids picked up a video from the concierge, and while they watched that, I caught up on my journal from my chair by the window.
Just about 3:00, it let up so we headed over there quickly, as that was our time. The tubing is run by the same people who do the parasailing & the other watersports, Sammy Duvall's. I've had terrific experiences with them - they're extremely nice, friendly, and we always have fun! And the tubing was no exception. You go out on the boat, to a floating platform to pick up the tubes. These are inner tubes, single rider size, with handles along the sides in the front. The boat can tow up to 3 people at a time. Once the driver has connected the tubes to the boat, by way of heavy nylon cords, you step off the back of the boat into your tube, sitting with your feet out in front of you ... and off he goes!! This is a LOT of fun!!!!! It's definitely bumpy (which I loved!LOL) so I would say that if you don't like wilder rides, or are prone to seasickness, I wouldn't try this!! Otherwise .. go for it!! You can signal to the driver at any time to slow down or speed up with a 'thumbs up' or 'thumbs down' motion, and he'll immediately comply. They take you around the Contemporary, WL area of Bay Lake. Alec & I did this to start and we had a blast! Evan was a little hesitant at first, so he stayed in the boat with the driver. Half way through, he decided to give it a shot .. but after about 5 min., I could see that he was petrified and NOT having much fun, and when I asked, he wanted to get OFF! LOL so he did. I'd DEFINITELY do this again though!!
We actually had to cut the time a bit short anyway, because it started to rain REALLY hard. It didn't much matter, because we were all soaked anyway from the tubing! LOL so we just walked through the rain into the Contemporary, tried our best to get a LITTLE dried off, then went up & caught the monorail back to the Grand. Needless to say, we were all FREEZING from the a/c on that by the time we got back to the room!!
Dinner was at the WCC Cafe this evening, so we monorailed around to the MK, then caught the boat over to the WL. After dinner, just spent some time strolling through the hotel again. I think this is SUCH a pretty place, and I really do want to give it a try sometime, but during the Christmas holidays I think.
The plan was originally to go miniature golfing at Fantasia afterwards, but... yep, it was raining again ... so we took the boat back to the MK, and then caught the monorail back to the Grand. The boys went & played in the gameroom there for a little while, and I just sat under the porch just outside people watching again. That's the nice feature of having been here many, many times .. you don't feel "guilty" if you're not running 24/7 trying to fit everything in.
