ZerasPride
DVC Member Since 2001
- Joined
- Sep 1, 1999
- Messages
- 4,284
Tuesday, June 8, 2004 - Day 3 - How did we get the front row?
We had a long day today but started our day off with breakfast at GG in the early morning. I didnt exercise today because I was just too darn sore from jogging yesterday. I had bacon, eggs and grits and Di had a sausage egg croissant for a total of $16.74. Di gave GGs breakfast a 7". After our yummy breakfast, it was off to Epcot for the morning.
We just missed a monorail as we walked up the 46 steps from the first floor of the GF to the monorail level (no elevators for us!). Another monorail came quickly. It was a lovely morning with big puffy white clouds in a gorgeous blue sky as we headed toward the TTC. As we rounded the corner on the monorail line and got to see the GF from a distance, I sighed to myself at how beautiful the property looked. I could even see our room from the monorail line! I was on a mission to find a postcard to send to my six year old niece who had broken her wrist in two places the day before. She wanted me to send a postcard from where Mickey lives. I couldnt find one I liked but happened to see stationary and post cards in our room that have imagines of the GF on them and Mickey in one corner. I bought a stamp from the gift shop at the GF and guest services mailed it for me (she received the card on Saturday after we got back home).
I remembered to wear my pedometer just one day of the trip and this was it. I put it on when we left our room and didnt take it off until we came back from MGM about 4:00 in the afternoon. We walked a total of 13,323 steps. Once we were at Epcot we road TT (getting a fast pass first) and then when our window opened up we got a fast pass for MS because the wait was 40 minutes. I bought some sugar free cheesecake from the Fountainview Café for $2.79 (didnt care for it at all, the lc cheesecake from Ruby Tuesdays is way better).
We had lunch at Electric Umbrella and I had a double cheeseburger (no bun), fruit cup and a diet soda. Di had chicken fingers and fries and our total was $18.00. I asked the cashier when we ordered if I could have my burger without the bun and she told me no. I should have asked for a manager but I didnt want to make trouble or to have a hassle. When we got to our seat, I tried to extract a little piece of cheese for my burger from the offending bun since they toast the cheese right on the bun making it almost impossible to free the cheese without getting some bread along with it. I found a blond hair on top of my burger. I guess it could be argued that it was mine if I had blond hair - which I dont! That gave me the impetus I needed to ask for a some help. I talked to a young CM who looked like she knew what she was doing and she told me all the CMs at EE are new and that they just didnt know you could order your burger without the bun. She brought me out a new double cheeseburger without the bun that was actually warm and ended up tasting quite good. I also enjoyed the grapes from the fruit salad and was very happy with this meal.
After lunch we road SE and then headed out the IG for MGM taking one of the friendship boats (no 7). It truly is a slow boat to China but it saved us some shoe leather. We wanted to ride GMR but not with a 45 minute wait. The park was extremely crowded this afternoon and there were literally wall to wall people and wall to walk strollers. We made our way over to RnR because we were both excited to try it. It was 2:15 when we got in the standby line that read a 40 minute wait. The fast pass return times were for after 6:00 pm so we decided it was worth our while to do standby. I was pretty nervous as we made our way through the line. It didnt help that our wait time was mostly outside in the sweltering heat and humidity. The back of my tee shirt was soaked with perspiration.
I was so nervous about riding this ride. I am deathly afraid of big drops. I can do inversions and loops but those drops get to me. We made our way into the recording studio finally (after some technical difficulty that could significantly increase the amount of your wait). When we were positioned for our ride and could see the car in front of us take off, I almost bailed but my little sis wouldnt let me. Somehow we ended up in the front row and I thought I was going to pass out for fear!!!! I should have known I had nothing to worry about. It was an awesome ride. Almost right up there with Mission Space. I absolutely loved it. I even tried to keep my eyes opened the entire time. My only complaint is that at 90 seconds, the ride is way way too short! I would say overall, it was worth the 40 minute wait but I would certainly prefer to fast pass this ride in the future.
I also think that I will try NOT park hopping on a future trip and see how that works as far as grabbing fast passes and staying on a good schedule to always be holding one. Thats hard to do when you switch parks mid-day. When we switched parks in the evening, we found the fast passes either gone for the day or for inconvenient times but when we stuck to one park, we seemed to always have at least 1 fast pass at our disposal. Like I said, Im going to try it next trip and see how it goes.
Maybe Im getting old but the rushed pace of the parks, the heavy crowds coupled with the heat and humidity made me really grumpy a lot of the time. I thoroughly enjoyed our hotel experience and our time at Epcot was pretty unrushed because of always holding a fast pass but Im glad our next trip is to Hilton Head where I know Ill relax. Somehow holding a $200+ ticket in my hand makes me want to do things when I should be taking time to relax and smell the roses. I havent been able to figure out how to do that yet at Disney but I have no problem getting into a relaxed mode at Disneys Hilton Head resort. I know they are too different type of vacations but like I said, I cant wait for Thanksgiving week so I can sit on my porch, rock in my rocker and read a book without the nagging thought that Im wasting valuable park time. I think its time I lose my inner commando!
After we returned from MGM we spent the evening in our room because it was storming again. I was reading a really good Mary Higgins Clark novel and we both read and napped a bit. We went to GG for dinner ($18.78) and Di had cheese pizza and fries and I had a chili cheese dog and my leftover popcorn. I experimented with the GGs chili and added some of their cheese sauce they had set aside for nachos (they didnt even charge me). I poured both the chili and cheese sauce over my beef hot dog and munched on some popcorn with my diet soda. It was delicious! When my food tastes good, I dont feel deprived and Im a happy camper. Coming home to a ½ pound loss for the week was good too!
After dinner, we did some more browsing at the gift shops. I was looking at a beautiful black GF tee shirt. I laughed to myself though because the XL looked like it would be tight on my 12 year old sister and the L was even smaller. The S was so tiny, it looked like a 5 year old would have a tough time wiggling into it. At $25 I passed but it was pretty. I did look at it every time we were in the gift shop but I dont think there was anyway, no matter how much weight I lost, that I could ever fit into that top and Im sorry $25 for a tee shirt is just too rich for my blood.
After our browsing I suggested a quick ride on the monorail which turned into a foray into the Magic Kingdom since they were open until 11:00. We got there about 8:30. Even though it was wall to wall people, we got a fast pass for BTRM, and managed to do JC and POC (Di thought they were both lame). Note to self: Dont take teen to Epcot for TT and MS then MGM for RnR and then take them to JC or POC (smile). Anyway, I love the classic rides and we ended up having a mini debate over which draws more people to Disney the classic rides or the new thrill rides. It was all in good fun though.
Di enjoyed BTRM the first time we rode after Spectro was over. We managed to catch the high floats by standing on a rock by the McDonalds cart outside Peco Bills. It was a pretty parade even though were not big parade people. Our ride on BTRM was made even better by it being at night and our sheer fortune of using our fast passes right when Wishes was starting. It was just spectacular watching the fireworks go off as we rounded a bend, did a drop or came out of a tunnel. Di was suitably impressed and I think my status as a theme park dare devil was partially restored. Until she tried to get me on Splash, I just dont do big drops! Maybe next time.
We made our way of the park at closing via the railroad. It stopped for routine maintenance (water for steam) at the Toontown station which is currently in rehab. We were there for quite a while and I made a call home and talked to DH and DS for a bit. We made our way out of the park and I couldnt believe the line for the express monorail. Ive never seen the line so long. We went to the resort monorail line which was long too but not nearly so. We got on the third monorail and were back in our room soon enough.
Whew, three parks in one day - what a long but fun day we had!
Tomorrow is our early character breakfast at CP before park opening. I want to work out in the morning but between my aching feet, and the blister on the back of my leg and being sore from jogging on Monday, I felt like I was in a prize fight and I ended up being the guy lying face down on the matt unconscious!
Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom day.
Meals:
B: bacon, eggs, small bowl of grits and 1% milk
L: double cheeseburger (no bun) with tomato, lettuce and mayo and a diet soda
S: popcorn and a bottle of water
D: chili cheese dog (no bun) with leftover popcorn with a diet soda and a couple of nibbles from the sugar free cheesecake (which was gross so I tossed the rest and had a couple of my sugar free chocolates from home)
Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - Day 4, Doh! I could have had a pedicure! or How much is that (sugar free) candy in the window?
Up at 6:55 this morning because we are having breakfast with Pooh and Friends at Crystal Palace. On monorail by 7:50 and at Magic Kingdom gates right before 8:00. No one asked for our ps number like we thought but they did have a special line for those with early pss. We walked up a fairly deserted Main Street (I got a picture) but it wasnt as devoid of people as I thought it would be. There were quite a lot of people with priority seatings headed for CP and CRT. Di and I were seated a table for two near the back of the restaurant and quickly met with Tigger, Pooh and Eeyroe. Hugs, kisses, autographs and pictures all around and then we got down to business with the buffet. I had some grits, fritta (spelling) which was eggs, cheese, tomatoes and onions. It was very good and a nice change from the regular omelette or scrambled egg dish. I also had bacon, some strawberries with whipped cream cheese, coffee, 1% milk and water. Di had an assortment of breakfast goodies including a bagel, bacon and eggs, hashbrowns and some grapes.
After our yummy breakfast, we were at rope drop about five minutes to 9:00. I like the idea of an early character breakfast before the park opens. You dont have to take part of your morning out later to eat and it just gives you a jump on your day. Back to rope drop. Having never experienced one of these before, we were ill prepared for the herding stampede that occurred at 9:00. I mean people were running through Tomorrowland at such a fast pace, they were dropping cameras, spritz fans and leaving small children (their own mind you!) behind!! It was insane. We refused to let the crowd rush us along like cattle. We did walk at a brisk but not overly fast pace to Space Mountain. Thats of course where everyone else was headed. We were on the ride in about five minutes. While we waited in the fast moving line, I sent Di over to get us a couple of fast passes. The return time was already 45 minutes away.
I started to get smart with fast pass and not use it as soon as our window opened like I have always done in the past. Waiting until close to the fast past ending time worked better for us. This way we could manage to hold 3 fast passes at one time - all perfectly legal! We went over to Buzz after our first ride on SM and waited in a 15 minute line. When we got off our fast pass for SM was active and we then got a fast pass for Buzz. We walked back to Fantasyland and waited in the line for the new Mickeys Philharmonic show. Ive read reviews but wasnt expecting to be wowed but I was very impressed with the actual show. I loved the smell of the apple pie and seeing all my favorite characters. That Donald is hysterical! The only disappointment was that Mickey wasnt really a feature in his own show! Oh well. It was great anyway!
After MP, we checked out the line for Snow White. I dont think so at a 25 minute wait. Peter Pan was close to an hour stand by so we skipped it too. We had 5 minutes left on our SM fast pass and the time had opened up on our Buzz fast pass so we walked over to Pooh and got one for his ride, we made it to SM before our time ran out and had a wonderful ride past the chocolate chip cookie comet. Then on our way back out to Main Street we stopped at the ice cream parlor for a treat. I was hoping they had some kind of sugar free or no sugar added treat available for me and they did. I got a double scoop of no sugar added butter pecan in a cup and Di got her usual cookies and cream in a cup. The ice cream was pretty good. It also got a bottle of water to split as it was hot and I wanted to make sure we stayed hydrated. Nice lunch huh?
We next stopped in the candy store to check out the sugar free treats I had read on line were available. I wanted to take some back for DH and for a young friend thats on South Beach too. I found them behind the case and decided to come back to the store and pick them up later because it was so hot, I didnt want the chocolates to melt and we had a date with BTRM so I didnt want to take a chance on standing in a long line and having them melt because of it. We took the train to Frontierland and grabbed fast passes with a return time of 1:25-2:25. I wanted to be well out of the park before the 3:00 pm parade so we didnt get caught up in the crowds.
We rode the train back to the front of the park and used our Buzz fast passes. Neither of us did very well this time or the first time we rode, but its always fun, especially with little to no wait! We tried to ride the TTA but it was down so back to Main Street to buy the candy. I guess the CM that waited on us was new because he seemed very unsure of himself plus he overcharged me for the candy. I think $3.50 per sugar free truffle is expensive enough but he charged me $3.95 each. I knew candy at Disney would be expensive and I even expected sugar free treats to cost a bit more but I bought 4 sugar free truffles and a caramel apple to take home to DS and it was $20! I paid it with some hesitation because the line behind me was long, the price just didnt seem right to me. When I went back to get it straightened out, I guess this new CM was overcharging quite a few people and they pulled him off the register and sent him to the back. I felt sorry for him but I didnt want to pay more than was necessary either.
The older CM at the counter was obviously frustrated with having to do double duty (her job and checking behind this new kid) and I felt for her too. I just wanted the price adjustment. Of course it was not a simple process. She actually had to re-ring the purchases and try to figure out if I was going to get a cash refund or put the difference on my credit card. The natives behind me were getting restless so I asked if I could just have a bottle of water and pay for the difference and thats what we ended up doing. Except as hot and muggy as it was, she gave me a bottle of water that was out on display on the counter that was lukewarm. I hated to be a pest but I honestly just wanted a cold bottle of water for my $2.50. I think this CM was about to strangle me. I turned my head and she disappeared. When I realized where she had went, it was outside to a vendor on Main Street for the cold water. I was grateful she went above and beyond for me, despite her frustration but I couldnt understand why they didnt have cold water there in the store. It was a frustrating and strange experience for all involved!
One other thing that happened in the candy store as I was waiting for this situation to be straightened out was this lady in line told me she couldnt believe I was trying to take that candy home with me and that she was just oh so sure it would melt before I could get it home. I told her we were leaving the park shortly and she said it would melt on the bus. I told her we were only a short monorail ride away from our air conditioned room and the candy would be fine. I didnt mind her saying that to me really, but it was the way she was saying it. Like she was taking some kind of perverse delight in the fact that Id have $20 worth of melted chocolate by the time I got back to my room or by the time I got home! I was determined to prove her wrong and Im happy to say my candy made it safe and sound back to Cleveland unscathed by the heat! Fortunately, the GF has a refrigerator in the storage place where they keep luggage and on check out morning, I stored it with our bags and my candy was safe and sound! So there lady in the candy store!
After we finally left the candy store, we took the train again back to Frontierland and used our BTRM fast passes. Di agreed the ride is better at night - especially with the fireworks but we had a good ride anyway. We then got back on the train, rode to Main Street and exited the park. We hopped on the monorail and were back in our room in a short time. I love staying on the monorail line. Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt trade owning DVC for anything and Im grateful we could use our points for such a luxurious stay since we had to cancel our cruise, but its wonderful not having to take a bus every where all the time.
Back in our room, Di napped a bit and I finished my book. Its unusual for me to take 4 days to finish a novel on vacation. I have been known to devour a good book in a day or 2 but Di and I were having so much fun, I didnt have a lot of time to devote to book reading. After I finished the last few pages, as I was munching on a snack of popcorn and bottled water, I took a much needed nap myself.
When we woke up it was storming outside (surprise, surprise) so we put on rain gear and sloshed our way to the health club. I was determined to work out and I wasnt going to let a little rain, thunder and lightening keep me from working out (Im trying to earn my 65 pound weight loss clippie). I did 25 minutes on the treadmill and about 5 minutes with the free weights. Counting all my steps from the time we left the room that afternoon until we came back from the work out I took 4,448 steps! I burned 142 calories and walked 1.11 miles with 4 minutes of jogging in there.
I considered getting myself a pedicure. I had been working out hard and had stayed on program and felt I deserved some type of decadent treat. But I knew I was running low on money and the spa took their last appointment for the day at 7:00 and it was already 7:30. Next time though. Maybe DH and I will stay at Saratoga Springs and do a spa week or something in the near future. I guess if I really wanted a pedicure I should have scheduled one in advance but I was a little intimated by the GF spa. I thought it would be filled with snooty people with their noses stuck up in the air but it was just regular people looking for a bit of pampering. I definitely wouldnt hesitate to book a treatment next time.
I had Di take a couple of pics of me outside the health club with me posing like a body builder showing off my muscles! It was so funny taking the pictures and now back home with the film developed everyone gets a good laugh but has only nice things to say about my weight loss and commendations for me for making the effort to work out on vacation. Silly probably to most people I know but I was the most sedentary persons alive before I started taking diet and exercise seriously six months ago and if you would have told me that I would be exercising on vacation when I made the reservations back in November of last year, I would have laughed my head off so Ive come a long way!
Back to the room to pack (checking out tomorrow, boo hoo). First I wanted to update my trip notes. Thats the only way I can give my poor readers these painstakingly detailed accounts! After packing (I wasnt sure how I was going to get all that stuff home with only one carry on bag) we went to dinner at GG again. I had 2 hot dogs (no bun of course) with chili and cheese sauce with the extra Atkins vanilla creme Endulge bar (did I mention they were good?) for dessert.
Back to the room to make sure we have everything because even though its check out day, our plane doesnt leave until 6:44 pm (or so we thought, more on that tomorrow) so we basically have another fun day ahead of us. This trip coming to an end is actually bittersweet. I am ready to go home, see my family and get back to my regular routine, but it has been nice and fun to get away with my little sis. I am looking forward to nice relaxing family trip to Hilton Head Thanksgiving week and dont think Ill be traveling without DH and DS again for a long while. I really missed them, even the way DH always complains about Disney stuff (I know secretly, deep, okay, way deep down inside, he likes Disney too).
We went to bed by midnight with the lights from the castle and the TTC shining in through the partially drawn curtains.
See ya on Day 5 as we spend our final day at Epcot (Dis choice)! And if you havent noticed, Ive gotten too lazy to list my meals again at the end. Sorry but Im trying to get this trip report posted and if I try to make it perfect, it might be another week or so before its done!
We had a long day today but started our day off with breakfast at GG in the early morning. I didnt exercise today because I was just too darn sore from jogging yesterday. I had bacon, eggs and grits and Di had a sausage egg croissant for a total of $16.74. Di gave GGs breakfast a 7". After our yummy breakfast, it was off to Epcot for the morning.
We just missed a monorail as we walked up the 46 steps from the first floor of the GF to the monorail level (no elevators for us!). Another monorail came quickly. It was a lovely morning with big puffy white clouds in a gorgeous blue sky as we headed toward the TTC. As we rounded the corner on the monorail line and got to see the GF from a distance, I sighed to myself at how beautiful the property looked. I could even see our room from the monorail line! I was on a mission to find a postcard to send to my six year old niece who had broken her wrist in two places the day before. She wanted me to send a postcard from where Mickey lives. I couldnt find one I liked but happened to see stationary and post cards in our room that have imagines of the GF on them and Mickey in one corner. I bought a stamp from the gift shop at the GF and guest services mailed it for me (she received the card on Saturday after we got back home).
I remembered to wear my pedometer just one day of the trip and this was it. I put it on when we left our room and didnt take it off until we came back from MGM about 4:00 in the afternoon. We walked a total of 13,323 steps. Once we were at Epcot we road TT (getting a fast pass first) and then when our window opened up we got a fast pass for MS because the wait was 40 minutes. I bought some sugar free cheesecake from the Fountainview Café for $2.79 (didnt care for it at all, the lc cheesecake from Ruby Tuesdays is way better).
We had lunch at Electric Umbrella and I had a double cheeseburger (no bun), fruit cup and a diet soda. Di had chicken fingers and fries and our total was $18.00. I asked the cashier when we ordered if I could have my burger without the bun and she told me no. I should have asked for a manager but I didnt want to make trouble or to have a hassle. When we got to our seat, I tried to extract a little piece of cheese for my burger from the offending bun since they toast the cheese right on the bun making it almost impossible to free the cheese without getting some bread along with it. I found a blond hair on top of my burger. I guess it could be argued that it was mine if I had blond hair - which I dont! That gave me the impetus I needed to ask for a some help. I talked to a young CM who looked like she knew what she was doing and she told me all the CMs at EE are new and that they just didnt know you could order your burger without the bun. She brought me out a new double cheeseburger without the bun that was actually warm and ended up tasting quite good. I also enjoyed the grapes from the fruit salad and was very happy with this meal.
After lunch we road SE and then headed out the IG for MGM taking one of the friendship boats (no 7). It truly is a slow boat to China but it saved us some shoe leather. We wanted to ride GMR but not with a 45 minute wait. The park was extremely crowded this afternoon and there were literally wall to wall people and wall to walk strollers. We made our way over to RnR because we were both excited to try it. It was 2:15 when we got in the standby line that read a 40 minute wait. The fast pass return times were for after 6:00 pm so we decided it was worth our while to do standby. I was pretty nervous as we made our way through the line. It didnt help that our wait time was mostly outside in the sweltering heat and humidity. The back of my tee shirt was soaked with perspiration.
I was so nervous about riding this ride. I am deathly afraid of big drops. I can do inversions and loops but those drops get to me. We made our way into the recording studio finally (after some technical difficulty that could significantly increase the amount of your wait). When we were positioned for our ride and could see the car in front of us take off, I almost bailed but my little sis wouldnt let me. Somehow we ended up in the front row and I thought I was going to pass out for fear!!!! I should have known I had nothing to worry about. It was an awesome ride. Almost right up there with Mission Space. I absolutely loved it. I even tried to keep my eyes opened the entire time. My only complaint is that at 90 seconds, the ride is way way too short! I would say overall, it was worth the 40 minute wait but I would certainly prefer to fast pass this ride in the future.
I also think that I will try NOT park hopping on a future trip and see how that works as far as grabbing fast passes and staying on a good schedule to always be holding one. Thats hard to do when you switch parks mid-day. When we switched parks in the evening, we found the fast passes either gone for the day or for inconvenient times but when we stuck to one park, we seemed to always have at least 1 fast pass at our disposal. Like I said, Im going to try it next trip and see how it goes.
Maybe Im getting old but the rushed pace of the parks, the heavy crowds coupled with the heat and humidity made me really grumpy a lot of the time. I thoroughly enjoyed our hotel experience and our time at Epcot was pretty unrushed because of always holding a fast pass but Im glad our next trip is to Hilton Head where I know Ill relax. Somehow holding a $200+ ticket in my hand makes me want to do things when I should be taking time to relax and smell the roses. I havent been able to figure out how to do that yet at Disney but I have no problem getting into a relaxed mode at Disneys Hilton Head resort. I know they are too different type of vacations but like I said, I cant wait for Thanksgiving week so I can sit on my porch, rock in my rocker and read a book without the nagging thought that Im wasting valuable park time. I think its time I lose my inner commando!
After we returned from MGM we spent the evening in our room because it was storming again. I was reading a really good Mary Higgins Clark novel and we both read and napped a bit. We went to GG for dinner ($18.78) and Di had cheese pizza and fries and I had a chili cheese dog and my leftover popcorn. I experimented with the GGs chili and added some of their cheese sauce they had set aside for nachos (they didnt even charge me). I poured both the chili and cheese sauce over my beef hot dog and munched on some popcorn with my diet soda. It was delicious! When my food tastes good, I dont feel deprived and Im a happy camper. Coming home to a ½ pound loss for the week was good too!
After dinner, we did some more browsing at the gift shops. I was looking at a beautiful black GF tee shirt. I laughed to myself though because the XL looked like it would be tight on my 12 year old sister and the L was even smaller. The S was so tiny, it looked like a 5 year old would have a tough time wiggling into it. At $25 I passed but it was pretty. I did look at it every time we were in the gift shop but I dont think there was anyway, no matter how much weight I lost, that I could ever fit into that top and Im sorry $25 for a tee shirt is just too rich for my blood.
After our browsing I suggested a quick ride on the monorail which turned into a foray into the Magic Kingdom since they were open until 11:00. We got there about 8:30. Even though it was wall to wall people, we got a fast pass for BTRM, and managed to do JC and POC (Di thought they were both lame). Note to self: Dont take teen to Epcot for TT and MS then MGM for RnR and then take them to JC or POC (smile). Anyway, I love the classic rides and we ended up having a mini debate over which draws more people to Disney the classic rides or the new thrill rides. It was all in good fun though.
Di enjoyed BTRM the first time we rode after Spectro was over. We managed to catch the high floats by standing on a rock by the McDonalds cart outside Peco Bills. It was a pretty parade even though were not big parade people. Our ride on BTRM was made even better by it being at night and our sheer fortune of using our fast passes right when Wishes was starting. It was just spectacular watching the fireworks go off as we rounded a bend, did a drop or came out of a tunnel. Di was suitably impressed and I think my status as a theme park dare devil was partially restored. Until she tried to get me on Splash, I just dont do big drops! Maybe next time.
We made our way of the park at closing via the railroad. It stopped for routine maintenance (water for steam) at the Toontown station which is currently in rehab. We were there for quite a while and I made a call home and talked to DH and DS for a bit. We made our way out of the park and I couldnt believe the line for the express monorail. Ive never seen the line so long. We went to the resort monorail line which was long too but not nearly so. We got on the third monorail and were back in our room soon enough.
Whew, three parks in one day - what a long but fun day we had!
Tomorrow is our early character breakfast at CP before park opening. I want to work out in the morning but between my aching feet, and the blister on the back of my leg and being sore from jogging on Monday, I felt like I was in a prize fight and I ended up being the guy lying face down on the matt unconscious!
Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom day.
Meals:
B: bacon, eggs, small bowl of grits and 1% milk
L: double cheeseburger (no bun) with tomato, lettuce and mayo and a diet soda
S: popcorn and a bottle of water
D: chili cheese dog (no bun) with leftover popcorn with a diet soda and a couple of nibbles from the sugar free cheesecake (which was gross so I tossed the rest and had a couple of my sugar free chocolates from home)
Wednesday, June 9, 2004 - Day 4, Doh! I could have had a pedicure! or How much is that (sugar free) candy in the window?
Up at 6:55 this morning because we are having breakfast with Pooh and Friends at Crystal Palace. On monorail by 7:50 and at Magic Kingdom gates right before 8:00. No one asked for our ps number like we thought but they did have a special line for those with early pss. We walked up a fairly deserted Main Street (I got a picture) but it wasnt as devoid of people as I thought it would be. There were quite a lot of people with priority seatings headed for CP and CRT. Di and I were seated a table for two near the back of the restaurant and quickly met with Tigger, Pooh and Eeyroe. Hugs, kisses, autographs and pictures all around and then we got down to business with the buffet. I had some grits, fritta (spelling) which was eggs, cheese, tomatoes and onions. It was very good and a nice change from the regular omelette or scrambled egg dish. I also had bacon, some strawberries with whipped cream cheese, coffee, 1% milk and water. Di had an assortment of breakfast goodies including a bagel, bacon and eggs, hashbrowns and some grapes.
After our yummy breakfast, we were at rope drop about five minutes to 9:00. I like the idea of an early character breakfast before the park opens. You dont have to take part of your morning out later to eat and it just gives you a jump on your day. Back to rope drop. Having never experienced one of these before, we were ill prepared for the herding stampede that occurred at 9:00. I mean people were running through Tomorrowland at such a fast pace, they were dropping cameras, spritz fans and leaving small children (their own mind you!) behind!! It was insane. We refused to let the crowd rush us along like cattle. We did walk at a brisk but not overly fast pace to Space Mountain. Thats of course where everyone else was headed. We were on the ride in about five minutes. While we waited in the fast moving line, I sent Di over to get us a couple of fast passes. The return time was already 45 minutes away.
I started to get smart with fast pass and not use it as soon as our window opened like I have always done in the past. Waiting until close to the fast past ending time worked better for us. This way we could manage to hold 3 fast passes at one time - all perfectly legal! We went over to Buzz after our first ride on SM and waited in a 15 minute line. When we got off our fast pass for SM was active and we then got a fast pass for Buzz. We walked back to Fantasyland and waited in the line for the new Mickeys Philharmonic show. Ive read reviews but wasnt expecting to be wowed but I was very impressed with the actual show. I loved the smell of the apple pie and seeing all my favorite characters. That Donald is hysterical! The only disappointment was that Mickey wasnt really a feature in his own show! Oh well. It was great anyway!
After MP, we checked out the line for Snow White. I dont think so at a 25 minute wait. Peter Pan was close to an hour stand by so we skipped it too. We had 5 minutes left on our SM fast pass and the time had opened up on our Buzz fast pass so we walked over to Pooh and got one for his ride, we made it to SM before our time ran out and had a wonderful ride past the chocolate chip cookie comet. Then on our way back out to Main Street we stopped at the ice cream parlor for a treat. I was hoping they had some kind of sugar free or no sugar added treat available for me and they did. I got a double scoop of no sugar added butter pecan in a cup and Di got her usual cookies and cream in a cup. The ice cream was pretty good. It also got a bottle of water to split as it was hot and I wanted to make sure we stayed hydrated. Nice lunch huh?
We next stopped in the candy store to check out the sugar free treats I had read on line were available. I wanted to take some back for DH and for a young friend thats on South Beach too. I found them behind the case and decided to come back to the store and pick them up later because it was so hot, I didnt want the chocolates to melt and we had a date with BTRM so I didnt want to take a chance on standing in a long line and having them melt because of it. We took the train to Frontierland and grabbed fast passes with a return time of 1:25-2:25. I wanted to be well out of the park before the 3:00 pm parade so we didnt get caught up in the crowds.
We rode the train back to the front of the park and used our Buzz fast passes. Neither of us did very well this time or the first time we rode, but its always fun, especially with little to no wait! We tried to ride the TTA but it was down so back to Main Street to buy the candy. I guess the CM that waited on us was new because he seemed very unsure of himself plus he overcharged me for the candy. I think $3.50 per sugar free truffle is expensive enough but he charged me $3.95 each. I knew candy at Disney would be expensive and I even expected sugar free treats to cost a bit more but I bought 4 sugar free truffles and a caramel apple to take home to DS and it was $20! I paid it with some hesitation because the line behind me was long, the price just didnt seem right to me. When I went back to get it straightened out, I guess this new CM was overcharging quite a few people and they pulled him off the register and sent him to the back. I felt sorry for him but I didnt want to pay more than was necessary either.
The older CM at the counter was obviously frustrated with having to do double duty (her job and checking behind this new kid) and I felt for her too. I just wanted the price adjustment. Of course it was not a simple process. She actually had to re-ring the purchases and try to figure out if I was going to get a cash refund or put the difference on my credit card. The natives behind me were getting restless so I asked if I could just have a bottle of water and pay for the difference and thats what we ended up doing. Except as hot and muggy as it was, she gave me a bottle of water that was out on display on the counter that was lukewarm. I hated to be a pest but I honestly just wanted a cold bottle of water for my $2.50. I think this CM was about to strangle me. I turned my head and she disappeared. When I realized where she had went, it was outside to a vendor on Main Street for the cold water. I was grateful she went above and beyond for me, despite her frustration but I couldnt understand why they didnt have cold water there in the store. It was a frustrating and strange experience for all involved!
One other thing that happened in the candy store as I was waiting for this situation to be straightened out was this lady in line told me she couldnt believe I was trying to take that candy home with me and that she was just oh so sure it would melt before I could get it home. I told her we were leaving the park shortly and she said it would melt on the bus. I told her we were only a short monorail ride away from our air conditioned room and the candy would be fine. I didnt mind her saying that to me really, but it was the way she was saying it. Like she was taking some kind of perverse delight in the fact that Id have $20 worth of melted chocolate by the time I got back to my room or by the time I got home! I was determined to prove her wrong and Im happy to say my candy made it safe and sound back to Cleveland unscathed by the heat! Fortunately, the GF has a refrigerator in the storage place where they keep luggage and on check out morning, I stored it with our bags and my candy was safe and sound! So there lady in the candy store!
After we finally left the candy store, we took the train again back to Frontierland and used our BTRM fast passes. Di agreed the ride is better at night - especially with the fireworks but we had a good ride anyway. We then got back on the train, rode to Main Street and exited the park. We hopped on the monorail and were back in our room in a short time. I love staying on the monorail line. Dont get me wrong, I wouldnt trade owning DVC for anything and Im grateful we could use our points for such a luxurious stay since we had to cancel our cruise, but its wonderful not having to take a bus every where all the time.
Back in our room, Di napped a bit and I finished my book. Its unusual for me to take 4 days to finish a novel on vacation. I have been known to devour a good book in a day or 2 but Di and I were having so much fun, I didnt have a lot of time to devote to book reading. After I finished the last few pages, as I was munching on a snack of popcorn and bottled water, I took a much needed nap myself.
When we woke up it was storming outside (surprise, surprise) so we put on rain gear and sloshed our way to the health club. I was determined to work out and I wasnt going to let a little rain, thunder and lightening keep me from working out (Im trying to earn my 65 pound weight loss clippie). I did 25 minutes on the treadmill and about 5 minutes with the free weights. Counting all my steps from the time we left the room that afternoon until we came back from the work out I took 4,448 steps! I burned 142 calories and walked 1.11 miles with 4 minutes of jogging in there.
I considered getting myself a pedicure. I had been working out hard and had stayed on program and felt I deserved some type of decadent treat. But I knew I was running low on money and the spa took their last appointment for the day at 7:00 and it was already 7:30. Next time though. Maybe DH and I will stay at Saratoga Springs and do a spa week or something in the near future. I guess if I really wanted a pedicure I should have scheduled one in advance but I was a little intimated by the GF spa. I thought it would be filled with snooty people with their noses stuck up in the air but it was just regular people looking for a bit of pampering. I definitely wouldnt hesitate to book a treatment next time.
I had Di take a couple of pics of me outside the health club with me posing like a body builder showing off my muscles! It was so funny taking the pictures and now back home with the film developed everyone gets a good laugh but has only nice things to say about my weight loss and commendations for me for making the effort to work out on vacation. Silly probably to most people I know but I was the most sedentary persons alive before I started taking diet and exercise seriously six months ago and if you would have told me that I would be exercising on vacation when I made the reservations back in November of last year, I would have laughed my head off so Ive come a long way!
Back to the room to pack (checking out tomorrow, boo hoo). First I wanted to update my trip notes. Thats the only way I can give my poor readers these painstakingly detailed accounts! After packing (I wasnt sure how I was going to get all that stuff home with only one carry on bag) we went to dinner at GG again. I had 2 hot dogs (no bun of course) with chili and cheese sauce with the extra Atkins vanilla creme Endulge bar (did I mention they were good?) for dessert.
Back to the room to make sure we have everything because even though its check out day, our plane doesnt leave until 6:44 pm (or so we thought, more on that tomorrow) so we basically have another fun day ahead of us. This trip coming to an end is actually bittersweet. I am ready to go home, see my family and get back to my regular routine, but it has been nice and fun to get away with my little sis. I am looking forward to nice relaxing family trip to Hilton Head Thanksgiving week and dont think Ill be traveling without DH and DS again for a long while. I really missed them, even the way DH always complains about Disney stuff (I know secretly, deep, okay, way deep down inside, he likes Disney too).
We went to bed by midnight with the lights from the castle and the TTC shining in through the partially drawn curtains.
See ya on Day 5 as we spend our final day at Epcot (Dis choice)! And if you havent noticed, Ive gotten too lazy to list my meals again at the end. Sorry but Im trying to get this trip report posted and if I try to make it perfect, it might be another week or so before its done!
