Live from Orlando (aka living like the locals)
- Thread starter BroganMc
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BroganMc
It's not the age, it's the mileage
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 2,991
Thursday, 4/17: The Relaxing Day at AKL.
This was the first day I had absolutely nothing planned for us pre-trip. No meal reservations, no park plans, not even a timeshare preview. We kept looking at the blank day on our schedule the whole trip imagining what we may be doing that day. We even debated a day of nothing but chilling at the resort. I could even stay in my jammies all day and just read my book, sip cool drinks and watch the ducks play in my private lake.
But since we've been doing plenty of half days, we decided doing nothing would be a bit boring. But the idea of braving yet more crowds was more than we could bear. Three days of that is quite enough.
So when we escaped Animal Kingdom yesterday (just after the parade along with some 20,000 others), I called up WDW-DINE and asked if we could have breakfast at Boma's instead of dinner last night. What time did we want, the CM said. As late as you can make it. 10:45am was the time we picked, fifteen minutes before the restaurant closed and well after the crowds had dispersed for the day.
Here's a little secret we've discovered for all you long time park visitors. When you want to truly experience another resort, talk to CMs and avoid all hustle and bustle, make the latest breakfast reservation you can get.
Since we didn't need to leave the apartment until after 10am, the morning was spent waking up to classical music and Fox & Friends morning show. I grabbed the keys for the day and chose our scenic route through Disney to avoid I-4 again. I also discovered another little shortcut to Animal Kingdom via Pop Century. I'm getting to know Buena Vista Blvd really well now.
I let Dad off at the door and zip around to HA parking. The weather is definitely on the upswing. The car thermometer reads 72 degrees. There's still a cool breeze in the shady spots but in the bright sun it is just right. By the time I get down to Boma's, Dad has already checked in and they're waiting for me.
He goes up for the first course while I order drinks: a couple African fruit juices and a pot of Kenyan coffee. Our waiter Tilly is so quick to the table I have time to go join Dad at the food counters before he's filled his first plate (all muffins). We load up on hot food (eggs, bacon, sausage, chedder omelette, an African corned beef hash, and potatoes), grab a plate of fresh fruit and take to our seats. Oh, we also get a bowl of African-style oatmeal that simply says "plant nutrients". It's an odd but good concoction of eyeball-like roots and seeds with fresh cinnamon and sugar as garnishes. Here's what our feast looked like:
Now we've been to Boma's for dinner several times but I confess I'm getting a bit tired of the place. Our last visit was still good food, but I feel like I've eaten most of it before and my tastebuds are not as adventurous anymore. So when someone suggested I just had to try the place for breakfast, I looked forward to it. And I was right. Our breakfast buffet was a sumptuous feast of plain ol' American favorites and African delicacies. The juice was absolutely perfect and that African oatmeal was very interesting in texture and taste. I did skip the roast meats though (turkey was served up this time).
After breakfast, we snap a few pictures of an empty Boma's and start talking to a couple of the nicest CMs. The first is a transplant from our home town in Maryland. Linda tells us she and her husband moved down to FL last August along with three of of their 4 kids. Two are in high school and the other two college age. Turns out living down here is a much better deal for them financially as the kids will get lots of FL resident breaks on college tuition. Housing is a fraction of the cost back home as well. And with Linda working at Disney, they get all the cast member breaks as well. Dad and I debate the merits of moving south and getting jobs at Disney again. With my web design work and computer skills I could live anywhere. Alas my dad's business is Maryland based and we'd both miss the rest of the family. (With 9 little nieces and nephews, there are far too many school plays and sporting events to be 900 miles away.)
BTW, any of you folks checking into AKV next week, if you see a blonde lady with "Linda, Ellicott City, MD" and a red "Earning My Ears" ribbon tell her hi. She's been working there 2 months but likes her little red ribbon too much to take it off yet. Here she is with Grandpa Mohawk.
Linda, Dad and I start coaxing the young college student CM from Botswana into seeing the fireworks. Pako has been in Disney 7 months and she has yet to see a fireworks show. She says she's afraid they'll land on her. Linda plans to kidnap her one night, along with Linda's teenage girls, and take her to Magic Kingdom for Wishes.
From there, we head out to the pool area and savannah overlook. We meet another college CM from Namibia. Michelle tries to explain where her country is to we dumb Americans but then pulls out a handy little map Disney gave her. There's Namibia, on the South East coast just north of South Africa and east of Botswana. Michelle tells us her next big adventures in America are to ride a hot air balloon over the orange groves and go walk the Grand Canyon. She says her country is barely 18 years old and has lots of undeveloped spaces. She's most amazed by all the American roads. We try to explain to her where our home is and end up telling her about our travels out west through the Flint Hills of Kansas. (Dad and I once drove from Maryland to Denver, CO and back. That was an adventure.)
Since the weather is so nice today the pool has a nice size crowd. There are still chaise lounges available in the outer regions and you do see more water than people. Despite the cool breeze folks are just glad they can finally wear their swimsuits down here. Since Sunday, this is really the first day you'd want to get wet.
We meander past the Simba's Cubhouse staff who are making African bead bracelets with the kids and upstairs to Arusha Rock Overlook. Since it is sunny yet not hot, lots of animals are out and about. We see two different kinds of antelope, zebras, giraffes and lots of pelicans. The animal handlers arrive to feed the pelicans and end up feeding a couple mooching Florida cranes. (Those are the tall-legged white birds.)
We meet a couple more guides from Botswana who've both been here 6 weeks. None (including Michelle downstairs) can believe Pako hasn't seen the fireworks yet. They all plan to tease her until she does.
A visit to AKL would not be complete without a visit to the gift shop. As gift shops go, Zwabadi is one of our favorites. I find a very colorful AKL shirt (purple with the African-styled logo) and the soundtrack to the Finding Nemo musical.
By the time we finish making a round through the gift shop (and meeting more DVC members who are avoiding the crowds), a flood of people start coming into the lounge. A glance at our watches tells us it's already past 4pm. We've been here for 5 hours. Time flies when you're having fun.
So we hop in our van and set out for our next destination: miniature golf. We usually play Fantasia Gardens but since it's so close, we decide to give Winter Summerland a try. Taking a right off Osceola Parkway and a left at the light, we find ourselves back on Buena Vista Drive. Winter Summerland is just a traffic light away.
Thanks to our APs we play 2 for the price of one (our DVC discount is only 15%). Dad insists on being scorekeeper and the cheating begins. They're a bit backed up at the course but we play just behind a couple of guys from Blizzard Beach. The young one was a former Disney PhotoPass guy so he offers to take our picture several times throughout the course.
Dad choses the Summer course because he wants to feel warm. It's a neat theme of elves and Santa on vacation at the beach. Dad makes it past the water shooting fish but I and my camera get clobbered. (Just watch yourself on the bridge.) I finish the course 5 under par but Dad comes up with 11 under. (Remember what I said. He cheats really well.)
The course is themed well and is very easy. It makes a good distraction for the family, though I think we prefered Fantasia Gardens a bit more. One of the neat things about this course is all the little details Disney has put into the construction. For instance, take a close look at the tracks on the cement and the flamingo's on the rooftop. Seems Santa was in a bit of a hurry to land his RV sleigh.
Upon finishing golf, we're given a set of little prizes: a Winter Summerland golf ball, a sharpie keychain and a candy cane snack. I really want to see where all that screaming I've heard is coming from. So a short walk down the Winter course reveals Blizzard Beach and another flood of people. Seems it's now 6pm and the waterpark has closed. While the crowd heads to their waiting busses I check the schedule. Busses run 30 minutes before closing and then to EPCOT until 9pm. So this is how one uses the busses to get to the golf courses on site. We file that info away for future information.
Blizzard Beach from the golf course. Bus lots are to the left of this picture.
It's only 6:30pm now but Dad needs to make a stop at Walgreens for some medicine and I know we have an early breakfast at Spoodles planned for the next day. So we opt to head home. As soon as you set tire off Disney property, especially during evening rush hour, you encounter the rude Florida drivers. One blares his horn and blows by us on the turn into the Walgreens lot on I-Drive. Where do all these people get their licenses?!
We make it home before dark. Cook up some leftovers and select a movie for the night. Being the techie I have a selection of movies ready on my hard drive. Dad choses High School Musical 2 and vows he must see the MGM show again now that he knows the story.
The sad thing for us is that we only have 2 more days in this spacious villa. It has been very comfortable returning to Cypress Harbour each night. We start telling ourselves we have to go home on Sunday.
Now the next two days I may not be posting as religiously. Our plans call for some all day events so I expect to be busy. Hopefully SSR has come through with the free internet as well. We'll see come Sunday.
This was the first day I had absolutely nothing planned for us pre-trip. No meal reservations, no park plans, not even a timeshare preview. We kept looking at the blank day on our schedule the whole trip imagining what we may be doing that day. We even debated a day of nothing but chilling at the resort. I could even stay in my jammies all day and just read my book, sip cool drinks and watch the ducks play in my private lake.
But since we've been doing plenty of half days, we decided doing nothing would be a bit boring. But the idea of braving yet more crowds was more than we could bear. Three days of that is quite enough.
So when we escaped Animal Kingdom yesterday (just after the parade along with some 20,000 others), I called up WDW-DINE and asked if we could have breakfast at Boma's instead of dinner last night. What time did we want, the CM said. As late as you can make it. 10:45am was the time we picked, fifteen minutes before the restaurant closed and well after the crowds had dispersed for the day.
Here's a little secret we've discovered for all you long time park visitors. When you want to truly experience another resort, talk to CMs and avoid all hustle and bustle, make the latest breakfast reservation you can get.
Since we didn't need to leave the apartment until after 10am, the morning was spent waking up to classical music and Fox & Friends morning show. I grabbed the keys for the day and chose our scenic route through Disney to avoid I-4 again. I also discovered another little shortcut to Animal Kingdom via Pop Century. I'm getting to know Buena Vista Blvd really well now.
I let Dad off at the door and zip around to HA parking. The weather is definitely on the upswing. The car thermometer reads 72 degrees. There's still a cool breeze in the shady spots but in the bright sun it is just right. By the time I get down to Boma's, Dad has already checked in and they're waiting for me.
He goes up for the first course while I order drinks: a couple African fruit juices and a pot of Kenyan coffee. Our waiter Tilly is so quick to the table I have time to go join Dad at the food counters before he's filled his first plate (all muffins). We load up on hot food (eggs, bacon, sausage, chedder omelette, an African corned beef hash, and potatoes), grab a plate of fresh fruit and take to our seats. Oh, we also get a bowl of African-style oatmeal that simply says "plant nutrients". It's an odd but good concoction of eyeball-like roots and seeds with fresh cinnamon and sugar as garnishes. Here's what our feast looked like:
Now we've been to Boma's for dinner several times but I confess I'm getting a bit tired of the place. Our last visit was still good food, but I feel like I've eaten most of it before and my tastebuds are not as adventurous anymore. So when someone suggested I just had to try the place for breakfast, I looked forward to it. And I was right. Our breakfast buffet was a sumptuous feast of plain ol' American favorites and African delicacies. The juice was absolutely perfect and that African oatmeal was very interesting in texture and taste. I did skip the roast meats though (turkey was served up this time).
After breakfast, we snap a few pictures of an empty Boma's and start talking to a couple of the nicest CMs. The first is a transplant from our home town in Maryland. Linda tells us she and her husband moved down to FL last August along with three of of their 4 kids. Two are in high school and the other two college age. Turns out living down here is a much better deal for them financially as the kids will get lots of FL resident breaks on college tuition. Housing is a fraction of the cost back home as well. And with Linda working at Disney, they get all the cast member breaks as well. Dad and I debate the merits of moving south and getting jobs at Disney again. With my web design work and computer skills I could live anywhere. Alas my dad's business is Maryland based and we'd both miss the rest of the family. (With 9 little nieces and nephews, there are far too many school plays and sporting events to be 900 miles away.)
BTW, any of you folks checking into AKV next week, if you see a blonde lady with "Linda, Ellicott City, MD" and a red "Earning My Ears" ribbon tell her hi. She's been working there 2 months but likes her little red ribbon too much to take it off yet. Here she is with Grandpa Mohawk.
Linda, Dad and I start coaxing the young college student CM from Botswana into seeing the fireworks. Pako has been in Disney 7 months and she has yet to see a fireworks show. She says she's afraid they'll land on her. Linda plans to kidnap her one night, along with Linda's teenage girls, and take her to Magic Kingdom for Wishes.
From there, we head out to the pool area and savannah overlook. We meet another college CM from Namibia. Michelle tries to explain where her country is to we dumb Americans but then pulls out a handy little map Disney gave her. There's Namibia, on the South East coast just north of South Africa and east of Botswana. Michelle tells us her next big adventures in America are to ride a hot air balloon over the orange groves and go walk the Grand Canyon. She says her country is barely 18 years old and has lots of undeveloped spaces. She's most amazed by all the American roads. We try to explain to her where our home is and end up telling her about our travels out west through the Flint Hills of Kansas. (Dad and I once drove from Maryland to Denver, CO and back. That was an adventure.)
Since the weather is so nice today the pool has a nice size crowd. There are still chaise lounges available in the outer regions and you do see more water than people. Despite the cool breeze folks are just glad they can finally wear their swimsuits down here. Since Sunday, this is really the first day you'd want to get wet.
We meander past the Simba's Cubhouse staff who are making African bead bracelets with the kids and upstairs to Arusha Rock Overlook. Since it is sunny yet not hot, lots of animals are out and about. We see two different kinds of antelope, zebras, giraffes and lots of pelicans. The animal handlers arrive to feed the pelicans and end up feeding a couple mooching Florida cranes. (Those are the tall-legged white birds.)
We meet a couple more guides from Botswana who've both been here 6 weeks. None (including Michelle downstairs) can believe Pako hasn't seen the fireworks yet. They all plan to tease her until she does.
A visit to AKL would not be complete without a visit to the gift shop. As gift shops go, Zwabadi is one of our favorites. I find a very colorful AKL shirt (purple with the African-styled logo) and the soundtrack to the Finding Nemo musical.
By the time we finish making a round through the gift shop (and meeting more DVC members who are avoiding the crowds), a flood of people start coming into the lounge. A glance at our watches tells us it's already past 4pm. We've been here for 5 hours. Time flies when you're having fun.
So we hop in our van and set out for our next destination: miniature golf. We usually play Fantasia Gardens but since it's so close, we decide to give Winter Summerland a try. Taking a right off Osceola Parkway and a left at the light, we find ourselves back on Buena Vista Drive. Winter Summerland is just a traffic light away.
Thanks to our APs we play 2 for the price of one (our DVC discount is only 15%). Dad insists on being scorekeeper and the cheating begins. They're a bit backed up at the course but we play just behind a couple of guys from Blizzard Beach. The young one was a former Disney PhotoPass guy so he offers to take our picture several times throughout the course.
Dad choses the Summer course because he wants to feel warm. It's a neat theme of elves and Santa on vacation at the beach. Dad makes it past the water shooting fish but I and my camera get clobbered. (Just watch yourself on the bridge.) I finish the course 5 under par but Dad comes up with 11 under. (Remember what I said. He cheats really well.)
The course is themed well and is very easy. It makes a good distraction for the family, though I think we prefered Fantasia Gardens a bit more. One of the neat things about this course is all the little details Disney has put into the construction. For instance, take a close look at the tracks on the cement and the flamingo's on the rooftop. Seems Santa was in a bit of a hurry to land his RV sleigh.
Upon finishing golf, we're given a set of little prizes: a Winter Summerland golf ball, a sharpie keychain and a candy cane snack. I really want to see where all that screaming I've heard is coming from. So a short walk down the Winter course reveals Blizzard Beach and another flood of people. Seems it's now 6pm and the waterpark has closed. While the crowd heads to their waiting busses I check the schedule. Busses run 30 minutes before closing and then to EPCOT until 9pm. So this is how one uses the busses to get to the golf courses on site. We file that info away for future information.
Blizzard Beach from the golf course. Bus lots are to the left of this picture.
It's only 6:30pm now but Dad needs to make a stop at Walgreens for some medicine and I know we have an early breakfast at Spoodles planned for the next day. So we opt to head home. As soon as you set tire off Disney property, especially during evening rush hour, you encounter the rude Florida drivers. One blares his horn and blows by us on the turn into the Walgreens lot on I-Drive. Where do all these people get their licenses?!
We make it home before dark. Cook up some leftovers and select a movie for the night. Being the techie I have a selection of movies ready on my hard drive. Dad choses High School Musical 2 and vows he must see the MGM show again now that he knows the story.
The sad thing for us is that we only have 2 more days in this spacious villa. It has been very comfortable returning to Cypress Harbour each night. We start telling ourselves we have to go home on Sunday.
Now the next two days I may not be posting as religiously. Our plans call for some all day events so I expect to be busy. Hopefully SSR has come through with the free internet as well. We'll see come Sunday.
Pootle
<a href="http://www.wdwinfo.com/dis-sponsor/" targ
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2003
- Messages
- 1,820
I hope you're still going to be a happy as usual with SSR after your own 'private lake' and great accommodation 
The Boma breakfast looks wonderful and I'm half tempted to change my dinner reservation into an early morning one. Another entertaining report, thanks
The Boma breakfast looks wonderful and I'm half tempted to change my dinner reservation into an early morning one. Another entertaining report, thanks
marynvince
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2007
- Messages
- 575
keep those daily posts coming!
CTPinkPrincess
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2005
- Messages
- 551
I'm sorry I sound like such a broken record, but I am loving your reports!
Looks like you both are having a blast. Have a great time the rest of your trip!
(from dd, who's enjoying the latest report with me this morning)
Looks like you both are having a blast. Have a great time the rest of your trip!
(from dd, who's enjoying the latest report with me this morning)Your trip reports are THE best! Thanks so much...I, too, will be eagerly awaiting your "take" of the transfer from off-site to SSR (one of my all-time favorite places!)....
Continue to have a great time and thanks for including updating and sharing w/us in your plans!
Continue to have a great time and thanks for including updating and sharing w/us in your plans!
Mickey'sApprentice
Shamelessly demand, it works bette
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2005
- Messages
- 4,563
Hey BroganMc:
I am so loving your trippie! I can't wait to hear more.
Tonight, I couldn't find your report and ended up doing a search for "Grandpa Mohawk." It worked!
Here is more pixie dust for the rest of your trip.
I am so loving your trippie! I can't wait to hear more.
Tonight, I couldn't find your report and ended up doing a search for "Grandpa Mohawk." It worked!
Here is more pixie dust for the rest of your trip.
dvcfamily41801
Future Walt Disney World Cast Member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2001
- Messages
- 8,150
Your report is excellent! We also enjoy our relaxed vacations and talking with the CM's.
Where in MD are you? All of our family is there.
Where in MD are you? All of our family is there.
JaxDisneyFans
In Florida, it's not rain, it's liquid sunshine.
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2008
- Messages
- 195
BroganMC, I'm totally addicted to your trip posts. Keep them coming. We own at SSR and can't wait to hear how home is.
Cheryl N. WI
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 21, 1999
- Messages
- 5,061
LOVING your reports! Thanks for taking the time on your vacation to report and post pictures! We are Marriott and SSR owners too, we own Marriott at Horizons, right across the street from CH. After reading your report about CH I think I want to stay there sometime in the future, either when DD is older or if/when we ever go without her. Can't wait to read your reports about SSR!
BroganMc
It's not the age, it's the mileage
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 2,991
Friday, 4/18: Boardwalk, EPCOT & Remembering Mom
Today began a bit inauspiciously for me. I awoke at 4am with a killer back ache. I've been having these time to time. Part of the wacky world of lifelong RA is how it messes with your skeletal system. My doc tells me it's seeped into my spine now. Oh fun. Fortunately with some medicine and the heavenly Marriott beds I get back to sleep determined I will enjoy this day if it's the last thing I do. Dad's looking forward to it.
My determination reminds me of my mom. See the last time she stayed in this Cypress Harbour apartment was during a week-long family Disney marathon. She'd battled metastatic breast cancer for 4 years and that trip the side effects were crippling. Yet she toughed it out as much as she could just so she could experience a bit of Disney magic with her kids, grandkids and kid-like husband. Even though I've had arthritis since childhood, I'm only now beginning to understand the difficulty my mom went through on those trips. (I sure wish I'd known enough to rent her a scooter then.) It'll be fitting that I remember her this day as it would've been her 71st birthday.
Our plans for the day call for an early breakfast at Spoodles on the Boardwalk and a late dinner at San Angel Inn in Mexico. We arrive at the Boardwalk with 10 minutes to spare. Spoodles is busy this day but they seat us within 10 minutes. We've never eaten here before so soak up the atmosphere a bit before ordering. I like the heavy wooden tables and chairs. The service is a tad slow, but then I think we're just expecting Boma brilliance. I order the French Toast and Dad gets the All American. Neither of us are up to a buffet. The food is adequate but I confess we're not really impressed. Boma's had raisin bread French toast and the scrambled eggs were a lot juicier. Plus plain ol' pineapple juice does not compare to the African concoction served yesterday.
By the time we finish breakfast, the World of Nations is just waking up. We wander in through the International Gateway and are pleased to find the crowds sparse. That is until we round the corner into Canada and see the horde flooding in from Future World. Ah well. (Talking to folks throughout the day we discover everyone is leaving tomorrow... Saturday.) People are having a good time and the weather has returned to Florida normal (sunny and cool in the AM but getting downright hot during the day).
We didn't do much in Future World yet so this becomes our destination. Passing by the leader board we see wait times at Soarin' of 85 minutes and Fast Passes for 5pm. That's a big improvement on Tuesday when the wait read 150 min and FPs were gone. We head to the Living Seas and see a sight we've never encountered before: a 45 minute wait for Nemo with a line streaming out the door. Ouch! I guess everyone had the same idea as we did.
Dad parks his scooter outside (in the wrong place apparently) and we head in via the gift shop to go see some fish. We take the elevator upstairs and catch the morning Dolphin Encounter tour. All you see are humans from the waist down standing on the ledge of a 2 story drop
as a pair of dolphins swim up and play with them. The dolphins are so graceful and powerful diving into the water, skimming the surface or leaping up into the air. All I can think about is how those humans keep their footing and whether they know there's a 30 foot drop inches away from their feet.
When the tour ends, we move along to the main fish tank and see hundreds of the little critters. As competing schools float by the window in opposite directions Dad jokes "Look, they're just like the people crowd this week." We're amazed that the fish don't bump into each other like we lowly humans do.
We then move onto the manatee rescue tank where EPCOT houses two big creatures: Bock (orphaned as a baby) and Lou (disabled by a boat with barely half a tail-fin left). Tehy weigh 900+ to 1100+ pounds a piece. And that's from a diet of lettuce. Who says salad has no calories?
The crowd seems to be following us upstairs so we pop back down to ride Nemo. The wait time has dropped to 20 minutes. There will be no racing the queue lines this day (an obtacle course Dad and I love to take in our vehicles when there's no line), but I love this cute little ride. Unfortunately the wheelchair car is giving the CMs fits today and they don't have time to stop the ride and fix it. That means I can't easily drive my powerchair on (without stopping the ride) and must transfer to a manual chair instead. The CMs are very pleasant and helpful. As we wait for the wheelchair car to make the rounds we chitchat about the crowds. They tell us it's expected to get a lot light come Sunday. We're all anxious for a break.
My favorite part of Nemo is Pearl's comments at the end as you hear the Nemo cast singing "In A Big Blue World". Stuck to the glass she calls out as you go by, "Wait, take me with you! I mean it's a nice song and all, but they sing it over and over and over and OVER."
We skip the ground level exhibits as they're crowded with kiddies trying to spot Nemo & Dory. (We got to see those fish close up, upstairs in the learning center anyway. Same place I took my Expert Sea Knowledge quiz and scored a 100% plus got e-mailed an award certificate.)
Instead we head to the Turtle Talk show. CMs corral us into a special wheelchair loading area along with half a dozen others and we wait for the next show. We meet a lady in a manual chair nursing a couple of broken ribs. Apparently she got run down by a stroller pusher in Animal Kingdom on her first day and ended up rolling down a hill. Double ouch! (Seriously, some parents think these strollers are battering rams, even with their precious kids inside.) But she, her daughter and her friend are out making the best of it. Though Dad and I arrive first we make sure they get the seats up front since they've seen Crush before. For Dad and I, the biggest thrill comes in studying all the little Disney touches (like the special jellyfish chandeliers Disney's MayPo makes just for the queuing areas) and the crowd interaction with Crush. It's expecially fun when he tells all the kids to say "Dude" as much as possible throughout the day because their parents will just love it. Disney can be deliciously evil sometimes.
Jellyfish chandeliers:
When we leave Living Seas it's going on 2pm. The lines for ice cream have formed. Soarin' FPs are gone but the wait time holds at 85 minutes. Dad's scooter is not where he left it (outside the gift shop door) and I panic for a minute. We discover it in the stroller parking area I never knew Living Seas had (behind the Nemo sculpture). CMs are excellent in helping us find it.
We decide to go ride Figment, another of my cute favorites. There's no wait there though there's a steady stream of people. The wheelchair car is working just fine here and as luck has it, it arrives just as we pull up in the queue. Dad transfers, I drive on, and the CM takes Dad's scooter for a quick trip around the corner 5 feet. They have this accessibility down pat. it helps that this ride comes in small trains of 4 cars. The loading/unloading of wheelchair and disabled guests is so smooth there's hardly any delay.
I like what they've done with Figment, having seen all iterations of this ride. The current one is a good mix of the classic cute and newer science center chic. If only the Imagineers would do the same for Mexico and restore some of the classic elements.
We exit into the science center portion and check out our favorite sound effect floor tiles. Since January they've redone this area. Gone are the dim flashing lights of different equipment and now you have bright floor panels of different instruments. Step on a panel and you hear Figment's song played on the musical instrument of choice. It's a lot more fun and encourages people to hang out and dance to "One Little Spark". Check it out next time you go.
When we step back outside it's gotten hot. I'm craving something cool and my back is starting to ache again. We head for Mexico where I get a strawberry marguerita and Dad gets a cool lager.
En route we tour the sculpture garden, one of Flower & Garden festival's traditions. There's an amazing bronze of a little girl called Elizabeth, a stunning driftwood-like bronze of a heron and a majestic horse. Of course F&G staple Louie the Lizard is seen climbing one of the trees. Here are some pictures of this garden.
After getting our drinks (I put mine in my ol' refillable Disney mug), we stop off in China next to pick up a little elephant figurine I saw last week and catch some of the acrobats performing outside. There's a lady balancing a unicycle and tossing bowls onto her head from her foot. She does 1 bowl, then 3, then 4 then 5 bowls until she has almost a dozen bowls atop her little head. When she tosses up the cup and spoon last the crowd exclaims it just not possible, but she surprises us all. Keep in mind, she's doing this all while balancing herself on a unicycle some 6 feet off the ground. Amazing.
It's after 4 now and I remember there's a tea tour in the UK I want to see as part of the Flower & Garden festival. So we ride through the countries and arrive just in time to take the last spots on the 5pm tour. A CM from Scotland gathers a dozen of us together in the little garden behind the tea shop. She begins by clearing up some of the language barriers she's experienced earlier in the day with other tours. Having a heavy Scottish brogue, her "herbal tea" sounds like "hairball tea". It's now become a joke for us to call it hairball tea.
The tour begins with an introduction to tea and immitation tea. Real tea begins with the plant Chaemelia sinensis. All tea whether it be black, white, or green has this plant extract in it and share the exact same level of caffeine and anti-oxidants. Without this plant, tea isn't tea though herbal infusions are made the same way (via steeping). We see planters of the differing tea species from ginger to oolong and camomile. We also learn a bit about Twinings' history and the origins of Earl Grey and why there's a Lady Grey tea today. And our guide tells us the secret to making our own tea decaffeinated. (Pull the bag out after a minute, dump the water and continue steeping in a fresh cup. Caffeine is the first chemical released by the tea leaves.) We learn English Breakfast Tea is called "Builder's Tea" at home because it's strong and everyone drinks it. Tea is consumed more than coffee in the UK and never consumed cold.
Being a pharmacist, Dad loves this tour and offers his own to me throughout the next hour. I learn the difference between infusions, decoctions and tinctures going from tea to coffee to opium. Once you get Professor Grandpa Mohawk talking you'd best just sit back and nod a lot.
We both agree (having been to London last summer) that only the Brits know how to properly brew tea. In the shop after we see a little magnet with a familiar sight... it's a picture of Westminster Bridge overlooking Parliament and Big Ben. When we stayed at our Marriott hotel last August (under the London Eye) we crossed this bridge daily and woke up to the sight. So we get the magnet for the fridge and meet another young CM with a London accent. Turns out he was working in the House of Lords last year as well. We ask whether he went over to St. James Park a lot for lunch breaks and find ourselves talking like the locals about familiar sights.
My back begins aching again so I stop off in Morocco to take more medicine and take a little break. Dad meets some ladies who are stuffed with their Morrocan dinner. The weather is very pleasant and the crowd seems happy. Our time has flown fast and it's after 7pm now. We head back to Mexico for our dinner at San Angel.
We get there before our 7:30pm ADR but aren't seated until after 8pm. While waiting, we browse the shops. A little boy toting a mohawk sees Grandpa Mohawk and shyly gets his attention. Turns out both got their hair cut at the Barber Shop. They exchange compliments and hair care tips. These two are so cute I just have to snap a picture of them.
When we get to our table we study they menu closely. Dad loves Mexican food and has been lobbying to try this place forever. I'm not so keen on the spices but this meal's for him. He orders the talapia and I get the grilled chicken. His dish is mild and mine is extra spicey though delicious. The service is a tad slow making our hopes of catching at least some of the fireworks dwindle. But the atmosphere of the temple, courtyard and volcano make this place a very nice place to eat.
By the time we pay the bill and head out to the top of the pyramid entrance all that lingers in the air from the fireworks is the smoke. We fight the crowd a bit then opt to take the back route through the countries and the crowd. Along the way I realize we haven't seen any fireworks this week. Am I really in Disney?
Tomorrow (or rather today) we have our last day at Cypress Harbour. Our plans include breakfast on the patio and half a day at Seaworld then packing for the big move to SSR tomorrow. I read here that free internet isn't set to start until after we go home, so again I warn the daily reports may stop for a bit. But I'll pick up and post when I get home. Hopefully I'll meet several of you along the way and have pictures.
Thanks for reading!
Today began a bit inauspiciously for me. I awoke at 4am with a killer back ache. I've been having these time to time. Part of the wacky world of lifelong RA is how it messes with your skeletal system. My doc tells me it's seeped into my spine now. Oh fun. Fortunately with some medicine and the heavenly Marriott beds I get back to sleep determined I will enjoy this day if it's the last thing I do. Dad's looking forward to it.
My determination reminds me of my mom. See the last time she stayed in this Cypress Harbour apartment was during a week-long family Disney marathon. She'd battled metastatic breast cancer for 4 years and that trip the side effects were crippling. Yet she toughed it out as much as she could just so she could experience a bit of Disney magic with her kids, grandkids and kid-like husband. Even though I've had arthritis since childhood, I'm only now beginning to understand the difficulty my mom went through on those trips. (I sure wish I'd known enough to rent her a scooter then.) It'll be fitting that I remember her this day as it would've been her 71st birthday.
Our plans for the day call for an early breakfast at Spoodles on the Boardwalk and a late dinner at San Angel Inn in Mexico. We arrive at the Boardwalk with 10 minutes to spare. Spoodles is busy this day but they seat us within 10 minutes. We've never eaten here before so soak up the atmosphere a bit before ordering. I like the heavy wooden tables and chairs. The service is a tad slow, but then I think we're just expecting Boma brilliance. I order the French Toast and Dad gets the All American. Neither of us are up to a buffet. The food is adequate but I confess we're not really impressed. Boma's had raisin bread French toast and the scrambled eggs were a lot juicier. Plus plain ol' pineapple juice does not compare to the African concoction served yesterday.
By the time we finish breakfast, the World of Nations is just waking up. We wander in through the International Gateway and are pleased to find the crowds sparse. That is until we round the corner into Canada and see the horde flooding in from Future World. Ah well. (Talking to folks throughout the day we discover everyone is leaving tomorrow... Saturday.) People are having a good time and the weather has returned to Florida normal (sunny and cool in the AM but getting downright hot during the day).
We didn't do much in Future World yet so this becomes our destination. Passing by the leader board we see wait times at Soarin' of 85 minutes and Fast Passes for 5pm. That's a big improvement on Tuesday when the wait read 150 min and FPs were gone. We head to the Living Seas and see a sight we've never encountered before: a 45 minute wait for Nemo with a line streaming out the door. Ouch! I guess everyone had the same idea as we did.
Dad parks his scooter outside (in the wrong place apparently) and we head in via the gift shop to go see some fish. We take the elevator upstairs and catch the morning Dolphin Encounter tour. All you see are humans from the waist down standing on the ledge of a 2 story drop
as a pair of dolphins swim up and play with them. The dolphins are so graceful and powerful diving into the water, skimming the surface or leaping up into the air. All I can think about is how those humans keep their footing and whether they know there's a 30 foot drop inches away from their feet.
When the tour ends, we move along to the main fish tank and see hundreds of the little critters. As competing schools float by the window in opposite directions Dad jokes "Look, they're just like the people crowd this week." We're amazed that the fish don't bump into each other like we lowly humans do.
We then move onto the manatee rescue tank where EPCOT houses two big creatures: Bock (orphaned as a baby) and Lou (disabled by a boat with barely half a tail-fin left). Tehy weigh 900+ to 1100+ pounds a piece. And that's from a diet of lettuce. Who says salad has no calories?
The crowd seems to be following us upstairs so we pop back down to ride Nemo. The wait time has dropped to 20 minutes. There will be no racing the queue lines this day (an obtacle course Dad and I love to take in our vehicles when there's no line), but I love this cute little ride. Unfortunately the wheelchair car is giving the CMs fits today and they don't have time to stop the ride and fix it. That means I can't easily drive my powerchair on (without stopping the ride) and must transfer to a manual chair instead. The CMs are very pleasant and helpful. As we wait for the wheelchair car to make the rounds we chitchat about the crowds. They tell us it's expected to get a lot light come Sunday. We're all anxious for a break.
My favorite part of Nemo is Pearl's comments at the end as you hear the Nemo cast singing "In A Big Blue World". Stuck to the glass she calls out as you go by, "Wait, take me with you! I mean it's a nice song and all, but they sing it over and over and over and OVER."
We skip the ground level exhibits as they're crowded with kiddies trying to spot Nemo & Dory. (We got to see those fish close up, upstairs in the learning center anyway. Same place I took my Expert Sea Knowledge quiz and scored a 100% plus got e-mailed an award certificate.)
Instead we head to the Turtle Talk show. CMs corral us into a special wheelchair loading area along with half a dozen others and we wait for the next show. We meet a lady in a manual chair nursing a couple of broken ribs. Apparently she got run down by a stroller pusher in Animal Kingdom on her first day and ended up rolling down a hill. Double ouch! (Seriously, some parents think these strollers are battering rams, even with their precious kids inside.) But she, her daughter and her friend are out making the best of it. Though Dad and I arrive first we make sure they get the seats up front since they've seen Crush before. For Dad and I, the biggest thrill comes in studying all the little Disney touches (like the special jellyfish chandeliers Disney's MayPo makes just for the queuing areas) and the crowd interaction with Crush. It's expecially fun when he tells all the kids to say "Dude" as much as possible throughout the day because their parents will just love it. Disney can be deliciously evil sometimes.
Jellyfish chandeliers:
When we leave Living Seas it's going on 2pm. The lines for ice cream have formed. Soarin' FPs are gone but the wait time holds at 85 minutes. Dad's scooter is not where he left it (outside the gift shop door) and I panic for a minute. We discover it in the stroller parking area I never knew Living Seas had (behind the Nemo sculpture). CMs are excellent in helping us find it.
We decide to go ride Figment, another of my cute favorites. There's no wait there though there's a steady stream of people. The wheelchair car is working just fine here and as luck has it, it arrives just as we pull up in the queue. Dad transfers, I drive on, and the CM takes Dad's scooter for a quick trip around the corner 5 feet. They have this accessibility down pat. it helps that this ride comes in small trains of 4 cars. The loading/unloading of wheelchair and disabled guests is so smooth there's hardly any delay.
I like what they've done with Figment, having seen all iterations of this ride. The current one is a good mix of the classic cute and newer science center chic. If only the Imagineers would do the same for Mexico and restore some of the classic elements.
We exit into the science center portion and check out our favorite sound effect floor tiles. Since January they've redone this area. Gone are the dim flashing lights of different equipment and now you have bright floor panels of different instruments. Step on a panel and you hear Figment's song played on the musical instrument of choice. It's a lot more fun and encourages people to hang out and dance to "One Little Spark". Check it out next time you go.
When we step back outside it's gotten hot. I'm craving something cool and my back is starting to ache again. We head for Mexico where I get a strawberry marguerita and Dad gets a cool lager.
En route we tour the sculpture garden, one of Flower & Garden festival's traditions. There's an amazing bronze of a little girl called Elizabeth, a stunning driftwood-like bronze of a heron and a majestic horse. Of course F&G staple Louie the Lizard is seen climbing one of the trees. Here are some pictures of this garden.
After getting our drinks (I put mine in my ol' refillable Disney mug), we stop off in China next to pick up a little elephant figurine I saw last week and catch some of the acrobats performing outside. There's a lady balancing a unicycle and tossing bowls onto her head from her foot. She does 1 bowl, then 3, then 4 then 5 bowls until she has almost a dozen bowls atop her little head. When she tosses up the cup and spoon last the crowd exclaims it just not possible, but she surprises us all. Keep in mind, she's doing this all while balancing herself on a unicycle some 6 feet off the ground. Amazing.
It's after 4 now and I remember there's a tea tour in the UK I want to see as part of the Flower & Garden festival. So we ride through the countries and arrive just in time to take the last spots on the 5pm tour. A CM from Scotland gathers a dozen of us together in the little garden behind the tea shop. She begins by clearing up some of the language barriers she's experienced earlier in the day with other tours. Having a heavy Scottish brogue, her "herbal tea" sounds like "hairball tea". It's now become a joke for us to call it hairball tea.
The tour begins with an introduction to tea and immitation tea. Real tea begins with the plant Chaemelia sinensis. All tea whether it be black, white, or green has this plant extract in it and share the exact same level of caffeine and anti-oxidants. Without this plant, tea isn't tea though herbal infusions are made the same way (via steeping). We see planters of the differing tea species from ginger to oolong and camomile. We also learn a bit about Twinings' history and the origins of Earl Grey and why there's a Lady Grey tea today. And our guide tells us the secret to making our own tea decaffeinated. (Pull the bag out after a minute, dump the water and continue steeping in a fresh cup. Caffeine is the first chemical released by the tea leaves.) We learn English Breakfast Tea is called "Builder's Tea" at home because it's strong and everyone drinks it. Tea is consumed more than coffee in the UK and never consumed cold.
Being a pharmacist, Dad loves this tour and offers his own to me throughout the next hour. I learn the difference between infusions, decoctions and tinctures going from tea to coffee to opium. Once you get Professor Grandpa Mohawk talking you'd best just sit back and nod a lot.
We both agree (having been to London last summer) that only the Brits know how to properly brew tea. In the shop after we see a little magnet with a familiar sight... it's a picture of Westminster Bridge overlooking Parliament and Big Ben. When we stayed at our Marriott hotel last August (under the London Eye) we crossed this bridge daily and woke up to the sight. So we get the magnet for the fridge and meet another young CM with a London accent. Turns out he was working in the House of Lords last year as well. We ask whether he went over to St. James Park a lot for lunch breaks and find ourselves talking like the locals about familiar sights.
My back begins aching again so I stop off in Morocco to take more medicine and take a little break. Dad meets some ladies who are stuffed with their Morrocan dinner. The weather is very pleasant and the crowd seems happy. Our time has flown fast and it's after 7pm now. We head back to Mexico for our dinner at San Angel.
We get there before our 7:30pm ADR but aren't seated until after 8pm. While waiting, we browse the shops. A little boy toting a mohawk sees Grandpa Mohawk and shyly gets his attention. Turns out both got their hair cut at the Barber Shop. They exchange compliments and hair care tips. These two are so cute I just have to snap a picture of them.
When we get to our table we study they menu closely. Dad loves Mexican food and has been lobbying to try this place forever. I'm not so keen on the spices but this meal's for him. He orders the talapia and I get the grilled chicken. His dish is mild and mine is extra spicey though delicious. The service is a tad slow making our hopes of catching at least some of the fireworks dwindle. But the atmosphere of the temple, courtyard and volcano make this place a very nice place to eat.
By the time we pay the bill and head out to the top of the pyramid entrance all that lingers in the air from the fireworks is the smoke. We fight the crowd a bit then opt to take the back route through the countries and the crowd. Along the way I realize we haven't seen any fireworks this week. Am I really in Disney?
Tomorrow (or rather today) we have our last day at Cypress Harbour. Our plans include breakfast on the patio and half a day at Seaworld then packing for the big move to SSR tomorrow. I read here that free internet isn't set to start until after we go home, so again I warn the daily reports may stop for a bit. But I'll pick up and post when I get home. Hopefully I'll meet several of you along the way and have pictures.
Thanks for reading!
starrzone
<font color=purple>Quirky with snack cakes<br><fon
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2006
- Messages
- 1,327
I just found this TR and am loving hearing about your and your dad's adventures! He is quite the man (love the mohawk!
, and reminds me a lot of my grandfather. The summer before he was to have open heart surgery to have a valve replaced, he went parasailing. Yes, a 73 year old man was strapped to a parachute and lifted WAY up into the sky! I think it's important that we never lose our inner adventurer; it keeps us going and makes life more fun .
That's wonderful how you have such good memories of your mom too
. I'm sure she is up there, watching her family and thinking about how much you are enjoying yourselves. Can't wait to hear more about your trip!
, and reminds me a lot of my grandfather. The summer before he was to have open heart surgery to have a valve replaced, he went parasailing. Yes, a 73 year old man was strapped to a parachute and lifted WAY up into the sky! I think it's important that we never lose our inner adventurer; it keeps us going and makes life more fun .That's wonderful how you have such good memories of your mom too
. I'm sure she is up there, watching her family and thinking about how much you are enjoying yourselves. Can't wait to hear more about your trip!
corinnak
100% Tag Free!
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2006
- Messages
- 2,619
We head up to the Conservation center where the talking trash can has gathered another crowd. But this one is more fun as kids trip over each other trying to figure out what's inside (trash) and how a trash can can talk. I spend my time trying to find the guy talking into his hand but he's no where to be found.
I'm catching up with you after a couple of crazy-busy days, and just had to comment. My kids LOVE
Pipa, the talking recycling bin (which maybe you could tell from my avatar? ) and seeing him has been at the top of their list of things to do at AK (along with that cool fountain near the exit of Kali.....The guy who does the voice is SO amazingly funny and really blends in with the crowd incredibly well. I appreciate his artistry so very much, but I don't want to spoil it for anyone, and hesitate to point him out, even to other adults, although I will say you actually caught him with your camera.
I'm glad the weather is warming up and the crowds are heading out. Love the photo of Grandpa M with his little Mohawk buddy.
I loved reading your conversations with the CM's - it's so rare to take time to enjoy the incredible human resources at Disney. I went to college with a gentleman from Namibia.
Bummer about the non-wireless, still woefully expensive internet at SSR. Good luck with your move!
Checkers
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2006
- Messages
- 1,155
Thanks for the great report! We will be arriving next Sun. (4/27) for an impromptu trip and are staying at POFQ. We are DVC members as well but usually save our points to bring our family along. When will you be leaving? Perhaps our paths will cross and if they do I'll be sure and say "hi". Thanks again for sharing!
BroganMc
It's not the age, it's the mileage
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 2,991
We leave probably around noon. We'll have to drive to South Carolina that day in the first of our leg home. So unless you're around SSR in the AM, I doubt we'll meet up.
I'm already dreading our check-out day but at least we have 3 more weeks coming up in September. Plus it's time to go home, visit the nursery and pick up some fresh plantings for our home F&G festival.
BroganMc
It's not the age, it's the mileage
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2005
- Messages
- 2,991
Saturday, 4/19: The Last Day of our [Marriott] Vacation
Today is one we've dreaded since we started planning our trip in those cold days of winter. We dread it even more having settled into our Cypress Harbour villa with the private lake. This place has rekindled our love and we make mental notes to put it at the top of our priority list. (Our Fall trip has us returning to Grande Vista for a week before Disney.)
I wake up at 9am, surprisingly late considering I went to bed at midnight. Dad is still sound asleep. So I flip on the TV and discover the Pope celebrating mass at St. Patrick's in NY. I figure this will wake up the old guy so I go around flipping all the TVs on in the apartment (there are three). I get on the net and check e-mail, read the DIS and listen to the mass. Dad drags himself out of bed and we agree to have breakfast after on the patio.
We've eaten out the last two mornings so neither of us wants bacon and eggs, even though we still have enough to cook up for another meal. Instead we opt for a Continental breakfast of cereal, fruit, hard-boiled eggs and muffins. The weather is very nice and everyone seems to be out enjoying their balconies. A little boy just flies in with his family and calls over to us from his balcony to tell us about his trip.
We know we have to pack up tonight so we've decided to avoid Disney for the day. (We tried that the first time and were at Magic Kingdom until 1am.) Instead we use our Platinum Passes to head over to nearby Seaworld. There's a big crowd today, bigger than last week, but we figure it's more of a local crowd. The leader board announces Aquatica is closed and will reopen at 4pm. The parking lot attendants tell us they are at full capacity yet they find us a spot right up front by the entrance. Luck is definitely with us today.
My goals for the day include riding that giant Sky Tower I keep seeing from Cypress Harbour. They told me last Saturday that it was wheelchair accessible and free with my Platinum Pass. So I lead the way straight to the tower. The sign on the board says there's a wait time of 20 minutes, but they're actually ushering people straight on. Dad parks his scooter and I'm taken to a special door for wheelies.
This ride is a an air conditioned, seated, two-story elevator that ascends 400 feet in the air in a slow spiral. I take video going up and snap stills going down. From up here we can see Aquatica, Cypress Habour and Grande Vista as well as Seaworld. Alas we can't see Disney.
(The smaller white buildings in the top right are Cypress Harbour.)
We're off the ride in plenty of time to catch a percussion group (Grovin' Chefs) playing along the waterfront. Then we head to Oddy-sea, a Cirque-inspired aquatic show with jugglers, acrobats and mystical music.
After that, we head back to Key West to grab the Blue Horizons whale and dolphin show. We placed on the ground level to stage left with other wheelchair users. We hope we're not in the splash zone. This show is a stylized production with humans, dolphins, whales and birds. Our view is up close and personal. Terrific until some guys decide to crowd into the wheelchair section and effectively block the view for myself and the lady next to me. My favorite part of the show comes mid-way through when a dolphin comes splashing by and drenches the rude squatters. They quickly run off and I get my great camera views back.
We round out our day hopping around to visit all the animals. The dolphins are being fed by all those eager humans. One of the trainers gives them a hand signal and a dolphin leaps into the air splashing a fellow trainer (and guests) further down the pool. We watch from a dry overlook above.
We stop at the dolphin nursery which is closed for the day. One of the mama dolphins gave birth just last night to a 3.5 foot 44 lbs baby and the trainers are giving them bonding time (24-48 hours).
We go back to see the manatees and this time the underwater viewing area is still open. We watch about a dozen of the creatures glide through the water. One is especially frisky leading to an after school special sorta moment. (You cannot script or censor wildlife.)
Our last stop is back to see the sea lions and seals. The feeding is done for the day and the crowd has dispersed. Yet there's a collection of Seaworld staff perched along the top viewing overlook with cameras at the ready. It turns out the seals have been busy making babies too. I watch as Dad films the antics of one little seal and his momma. The seal is only 3 days old and his mother is teaching him how to climb rocks. Here they are together.
We leave Seaworld at the respectable hour of 8pm. More than enough time to return to Cypress, back our bags, load the van and get to bed for an early morning wake up.
It was a good choice doing non-Disney stuff our last day. It refreshes us and makes us anticipate the next leg of our journey.
Usually we would head straight over to SSR by 9am, but tomorrow we're gonna try something different. We'll return to church at 9:30 and then onto SSR for a day of swimming and check-in. The weather has definitely gotten to those even temps we remember from past years (mid-80s during the day and high-70s in the evening). I don't know about the internet situation yet. If we have to pay for it, I expect we'll be much more judicious. So if I don't post for a few days, you know why. But I'll keep up the daily reports as I go.
Today is one we've dreaded since we started planning our trip in those cold days of winter. We dread it even more having settled into our Cypress Harbour villa with the private lake. This place has rekindled our love and we make mental notes to put it at the top of our priority list. (Our Fall trip has us returning to Grande Vista for a week before Disney.)
I wake up at 9am, surprisingly late considering I went to bed at midnight. Dad is still sound asleep. So I flip on the TV and discover the Pope celebrating mass at St. Patrick's in NY. I figure this will wake up the old guy so I go around flipping all the TVs on in the apartment (there are three). I get on the net and check e-mail, read the DIS and listen to the mass. Dad drags himself out of bed and we agree to have breakfast after on the patio.
We've eaten out the last two mornings so neither of us wants bacon and eggs, even though we still have enough to cook up for another meal. Instead we opt for a Continental breakfast of cereal, fruit, hard-boiled eggs and muffins. The weather is very nice and everyone seems to be out enjoying their balconies. A little boy just flies in with his family and calls over to us from his balcony to tell us about his trip.
We know we have to pack up tonight so we've decided to avoid Disney for the day. (We tried that the first time and were at Magic Kingdom until 1am.) Instead we use our Platinum Passes to head over to nearby Seaworld. There's a big crowd today, bigger than last week, but we figure it's more of a local crowd. The leader board announces Aquatica is closed and will reopen at 4pm. The parking lot attendants tell us they are at full capacity yet they find us a spot right up front by the entrance. Luck is definitely with us today.
My goals for the day include riding that giant Sky Tower I keep seeing from Cypress Harbour. They told me last Saturday that it was wheelchair accessible and free with my Platinum Pass. So I lead the way straight to the tower. The sign on the board says there's a wait time of 20 minutes, but they're actually ushering people straight on. Dad parks his scooter and I'm taken to a special door for wheelies.
This ride is a an air conditioned, seated, two-story elevator that ascends 400 feet in the air in a slow spiral. I take video going up and snap stills going down. From up here we can see Aquatica, Cypress Habour and Grande Vista as well as Seaworld. Alas we can't see Disney.
(The smaller white buildings in the top right are Cypress Harbour.)
We're off the ride in plenty of time to catch a percussion group (Grovin' Chefs) playing along the waterfront. Then we head to Oddy-sea, a Cirque-inspired aquatic show with jugglers, acrobats and mystical music.
After that, we head back to Key West to grab the Blue Horizons whale and dolphin show. We placed on the ground level to stage left with other wheelchair users. We hope we're not in the splash zone. This show is a stylized production with humans, dolphins, whales and birds. Our view is up close and personal. Terrific until some guys decide to crowd into the wheelchair section and effectively block the view for myself and the lady next to me. My favorite part of the show comes mid-way through when a dolphin comes splashing by and drenches the rude squatters. They quickly run off and I get my great camera views back.
We round out our day hopping around to visit all the animals. The dolphins are being fed by all those eager humans. One of the trainers gives them a hand signal and a dolphin leaps into the air splashing a fellow trainer (and guests) further down the pool. We watch from a dry overlook above.
We stop at the dolphin nursery which is closed for the day. One of the mama dolphins gave birth just last night to a 3.5 foot 44 lbs baby and the trainers are giving them bonding time (24-48 hours).
We go back to see the manatees and this time the underwater viewing area is still open. We watch about a dozen of the creatures glide through the water. One is especially frisky leading to an after school special sorta moment. (You cannot script or censor wildlife.)
Our last stop is back to see the sea lions and seals. The feeding is done for the day and the crowd has dispersed. Yet there's a collection of Seaworld staff perched along the top viewing overlook with cameras at the ready. It turns out the seals have been busy making babies too. I watch as Dad films the antics of one little seal and his momma. The seal is only 3 days old and his mother is teaching him how to climb rocks. Here they are together.
We leave Seaworld at the respectable hour of 8pm. More than enough time to return to Cypress, back our bags, load the van and get to bed for an early morning wake up.
It was a good choice doing non-Disney stuff our last day. It refreshes us and makes us anticipate the next leg of our journey.
Usually we would head straight over to SSR by 9am, but tomorrow we're gonna try something different. We'll return to church at 9:30 and then onto SSR for a day of swimming and check-in. The weather has definitely gotten to those even temps we remember from past years (mid-80s during the day and high-70s in the evening). I don't know about the internet situation yet. If we have to pay for it, I expect we'll be much more judicious. So if I don't post for a few days, you know why. But I'll keep up the daily reports as I go.
disneymom8589
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2006
- Messages
- 2,207
Your TR was such a delight to read! Your dad sounds and looks like a real kick and your mother sounded like a gem as well!
Wasn't the F&G Festival at Epcot wonderful! We were there recently and it was the 1st time at the F&G for us. I bought a David Doss framed picture directly from him at his booth and had it signed. A highlight for me!
Thanks again for a fun TR!
Wasn't the F&G Festival at Epcot wonderful! We were there recently and it was the 1st time at the F&G for us. I bought a David Doss framed picture directly from him at his booth and had it signed. A highlight for me!
Thanks again for a fun TR!
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2008
- Messages
- 6,653
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