LIVE: Our nearly-two week Disney extravaganza! UPDATE 5/10

[donaldsgal]

I read a trip pledge that QuackTatty and MomofCKJ both posted in their PTRs a while back, both of which inspired me to think of what mine would say. In recent weeks, we've decided not to return next year. Now, we're notorious for saying we won't go back next year to give our finances a break - then we find money and go! But as of now, that's the plan for 2010.

That being said, that increases my desire to really do all those things that I put off doing or have always wanted to do. Thus, please enjoy my 2009 Trip Pledge:

(in no particular order)...

1. I will try a Dole Whip. These must be either God's gift to mankind, or someone puts some addictive substance in the Dole Whip to ensure it's cult-like following. Maybe by the end of this trip, I'll be able to say, "I'm not only the president of the Dole Whip Cult; I'm also a member!"
2. I will use the Photopass option and actually be IN some of the photos.
3. I will take lots of pictures of the parks, not just with us in them, to enjoy during our 2010 hiatus.
4. I will watch at least one Streetmosphere performance in its entirety, rather than chuckling as I go by and thinking, I should really watch that sometime.
5. I will make time to explore the shops in the parks rather than just riding rides, seeing shows, or shopping only at DTD.
6. I will see more parades.
7. I will be sure to ask CMs how THEIR days are going when I have the chance to interact with them.
8. I will not get frustrated if we leave later than I want to in the mornings. (This is a stretch for me....)
9. I will "soak it all in" more. This includes, if necessary, stopping while en route to a ride (but not in the MIDDLE of the walkway... c'mon, people) to enjoy the music or sounds or weather or smells or sights or.... you get the idea.
10. I will use the video camera function on my camera more often. Hannah will appreciate not just seeing herself in pictures in years to come but actually WATCHING herself enjoy Disney.
11. I will take the boat to DTD from OKW at least once this trip.
12. I will NOT become grumpy if we hit a lot of construction on 77.
13. I will move slowly through the parks on our last day.
14. I will not be ashamed when I tear up at a show or song.
15. I will buy my niece a balloon.
16. I will give Maelstrom another shot.
17. We will take the time for Hannah to meet Ariel. My golly, that child LOVES her. We will stand in line for this to happen even if the wait is ridiculous and even if we'd rather do something else.
18. I will document every moment of my niece's first experience on a roller coaster. She can only ride Goofy's Barnstormer, but darnit, we will have the footage to prove that she did!
19. I will sacrifice plans in the interest of spontaneity.
20. I will take Hannah swimming at least once at night. There's something really relaxing - almost like we're getting away with something - about swimming after dark.

ETA:
21. We will spend time at Innoventions. I hear there are some neat exhibits there now, including the Velcro and fire safety shows as well as Stormstruck which may be too intense for Hannah).
22. We will let Hannah play in the fountains if she wants.
23. We will take Hannah to Club Cool.
24. We sit out on the porch at our villa. I may even post updates from that position!
25. I will focus on how many days we still get to enjoy Disney, rather than focusing depressingly on "only X many days left here..."!

There you have it. What will YOU be sure to do on your next trip?

 

[noahdove]

I love it!!!!

 

[tinytreasures]

wow your trip sounds wonderful
I love the pledge

your niece is so cute
I share your sister's birthday what a cool thing to meet your dd on your birthday *wiping tears now*

we are leaving our kids at home for the first time to go back and have not made any plans at all
I think we will just go with the flow and see what we see

 

[donaldsgal]

I love it!!!!

Thanks! Hope you keep stopping by as the PTR becomes a TR!

wow your trip sounds wonderful
I love the pledge

your niece is so cute
I share your sister's birthday what a cool thing to meet your dd on your birthday *wiping tears now*

we are leaving our kids at home for the first time to go back and have not made any plans at all
I think we will just go with the flow and see what we see

That's a fun coincidence! I bet you'll really enjoy your adults-only trip. We haven't had one of those since 2004. When do you guys travel? Thanks for stopping by; please keep reading and posting!

 

[tinytreasures]

we are a little freaked out to leave the troops with Grandma and grandpa they will be fine I'm sure. Since we have never left them overnight before it will take a lot of planning to get everything set up
Grandma has never done all the meds on her own before
my kids are all special needs
we go on Sept 1 for 5 days

 

[donaldsgal]

We've made some last minute changes to our trip. By the way, we are officially just one week away from our trip!!!!!

I don't think I posted about this yet, but we've made some changes to our itinerary. Seeing as how we aren't going back next year, this is sort of turning into the trip where we make sure we do all the things Hannah will enjoy. I'm going to post and updated itinerary now since it's easier to point out the changes:

May 4:
Arrival around 1 PM
unpack
take the boat to DTD
dinner at Earl of Sanwich
Shopping (Goofy's, World of Disney, and Design-a-Tee)
Trip to grocery store for various sundries for the duration of the trip
back to the room early to rest

May 5: Magic Kingdom
Rope drop
afternoon break
back for dinner at Crystal Palace
See Wishes

May 6: DTD/ Epcot
We're sleeping in and having lunch at T-Rex at 12:15. Hannah loves Dinosaurs, so this should be fun. We've dropped Coral Reef - the menu right now isn't appealing to me
Explore World Showcase - if we get tired, go back to the room for break
Dinner at Tokyo Dining at 8 - getting there early to request a table by the window for IllumiNations

May 7: Sea World!
Not sure how long we'll be there, but we'll just be eating counter service
We were going to the beach at the Poly for the Electrical Water Pageant this night, but we moved it to Friday the 8th. We'll likely just have the night off!

May 8: Animal Kingdom!
We're picking Mom up at the airport at 10:00
Spend the late morning/afternoon at AK - see the parade for the 1st time
back to the room for a quick break/freshen up for dinner
We moved dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse to 6:20 instead of 7:10 so we can get to the Poly's beach on time to see Wishes and the EWP. Mom isn't visiting the MK this trip, so we thought she still might like to see Wishes!

May 9: DHS/MK
Morning EMH at DHS
Stay through afternoon parade - this is MUCH later than we normally stay, but as mentioned, we're trying to see new things
Go back to the room and for break/eat dinner
Missy and I go to MK for the night - get there around 5:30-6:00 and stay through closing while Mom watches Hannah for us

May 10: Mother's Day - day off!
We moved Boma to 10:30 - more sleeping in! Bonus!
Back to OKW to rest/swim
Leave for MCO around 3:30-3:45 for Mom's flight home at 5:45
Get back to OKW, freshen up, and head to dinner at California Grill at 5:30

May 11: Epcot/DHS
Morning at Epcot (Soarin', here we come!!!)
See Figment
back to the room to rest
Missy and I head to DHS for PM EMH - we're using Kids Nite Out for the first time. We're excited to have the night to ride ToT, RnRC, and TSM. We'll use the service from 6:30-10:30 since there's a 4 hour minimum for the service and since EMH gets emptier throughout the night.

May 12: AK
Stay through about noon or 1:00
Break
Hoop Dee Doo at 5:00

May 13: MK
Hannah's got a BBB appointment at 8:30. Missy bought her a Jasmine costume. We're planning to get to the MK about 7:50-8:00 so we can get in the park early, take some empty pictures on Main Street USA and get to the BBB
breakfast at CRT @ 9:15
This is a very Hannah-oriented day; the only ride we have as a must-ride is the Magic Carpets of Aladdin, since Hannah will be dressed as her
See Storytime with Belle; Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It; Dream Along with Mickey; meet Ariel and the other princesses; and see Celebrate a Dream Come True parade
Leave for a break
Dinner at Jiko at 5:40, then the night off

May 14: OFF!
We'll eat breakfast at Olivia's
Rest at the hotel
Flying Fish at 5:30
Consider using the extra day on our passes to go see second show of Fantasmic

May 15: DHS
Rope drop
Lunch at 50s Prime Time Cafe at 12:10 PM
afternoon break
Dinner at Teppan Edo
Park hop to MK for one last viewing of Wishes

May 16: MK
park in the morning
leave for home between noon and 2 PM

The things we changed are mostly on the 14th; we are no longer for sure going to see Fantasmic. We also added Flying Fish and 50s Prime Time. We added the Block Party Bash parade on the 9th, too. And we moved the EWP to the 8th instead of the 7th. I'm getting really excited for the trip!

I need to pack a bit this week. Most of my clothes for the trip are already at my sister's; I visited over Easter and took them then since we're leaving from her house. I'll be spending a fair amount of time at her place this summer. I'm a counselor at a Christian university, and I get summers off. Hannah is transitioning from an in-home babysitter to preschool in the fall and, as such, I'm taking turns with my mom in watching her each week. I took a bunch of clothes to my sister's so I wouldn't need to pack my entire closet at once, so a lot of stuff is already there. The nice thing is, most of my packing is already done. Friday is my last day of work, so I can grab the last few things from my apartment, head to my sister's, and we can leave on Sunday night! How exciting!

I think I have a few more itinerary cards to post, so I'll probably do that tomorrow. Have a good night!

 

[donaldsgal]

Well, it's almost here!!!

I have finally finished my iPhone itineraries. I'll post them below.

Tuesday May 12:

Wednesday May 13:

Thursday May 14:

Friday May 15:

Saturday May 16:

Parade and fireworks schedule overview:

Tonight involved much last minute packing as I head up to my sister's for the weekend. We leave on Sunday around 7 PM and - yes, folks - are driving straight through! We expect to arrive at OKW between noon and 2 PM. I doubt I'll be posting between now and then, but as I said, I plan to GO LIVE from Disney for this trip. I hope to update each day, but we'll see if that happens based on how busy we are. We are NOT worrying about the H1N1 flu (we are respecting the much-aligned swine of this country by adopting the new name in this thread ), and we plan to enjoy our first two week Disney extravaganza! I hope you'll stick with us as we detail our adventures!

 

[Nicole786]

Those all look so great!!! I was gonna post mine in my pre-trip but i may just post them individually in the trip report!

 

[noahdove]

WOW!!!!! I love them Great jobI may have to do something like this for my little niece so that it will be easier for her to fill in

 

[donaldsgal]

Those all look so great!!! I was gonna post mine in my pre-trip but i may just post them individually in the trip report!

Thanks! I'd love to see them, so I hope you do post them somewhere. I'm sure yours look great since you are, after all, the master!

WOW!!!!! I love them Great jobI may have to do something like this for my little niece so that it will be easier for her to fill in

Thanks for the compliment! I had fun making the itinerary cards. Like I said, it was Nicole's idea (the person I quoted above you). Thanks for stopping by to post again!

You all may notice I'm back even though I said I wasn't sure I would be. Well, it's a sloooooow day here at work (last day of the semester for the students). We went to lunch. My boss gave each of us a $25 gift card as a thank you for the year AND told us to go to the bookstore and buy a shirt, sweatshirt, etc. on our department's account! He's so generous. I hope I can leave soon... I'm itching for summer to officially start!

And again, if I'm not back before we arrive, please stick around and read it - I'd love to see posts on the thread, too, so that I'm motivated to finish it. But wait! I'm doing this for me, right? Thanks for reading thus far - see you at Disney!

 

[donaldsgal]

Well, after what literally seems like the longest day I have ever lived, I am sitting in the quiet, spacious surroundings of our one bedroom villa at OKW! We left last night (which still feels strangely like this morning and last week, simultaneously) about 8 PM from Ohio and drove straight through, stopping only for potty breaks and and refueling. Once, we even stopped within 15 minutes of the last stop - ahh, the joys of traveling with a toddler who guzzles her drink and suddenly, desperately recognizes her great need for a toilet! This was sunrise in South Carolina, I think. I can't tell you how happy I was to have the sun up. It made staying awake sooooo much easier!

Hannah was a real trooper during the ride. Here are some cute shots of her I took while Miss was manning the wheel:

She often sits like this when she's tired or resting - so cute, IMO!

In Florida, when it was hot and we were all exhausted, enjoying the air from the window being rolled down:

We arrived safely about 1:45 this afternoon. Much to our delight (and in response to prayers offered), our room was ready! Yippee! We are in 2321, building 23, which is in the Hospitality House area. It's literally about a 5 minute walk to the HH, which is really nice. The only bad thing is that we're on the second floor, and we had to lug two weeks worth of junk... I mean, belongings... up the stairs. Oh well - I guess that's all the more reason to feel no guilt about the oodles of calories we're about to intake! There was no one in line to check in when we arrived, so we walked right up to the desk. Our CM was from Ashtabula, Ohio (up near the lake for those unaware), so that was fun. They had bunches of balloon figures all over the lobby, so Hannah was gifted with her choice.

We saw our first "character sighting" within minutes of getting out of the car in front of our building. I was standing by the landscaping and heard a great rustle in the bushes. A (quite long, in my self-admitted phobic perspective) black snake slithered quickly away. Time to take control, gather the women and children (oops - this is why we need husbands!), and move away. We started walking up to the stairs only to see our scaled sojourner peeking at us from behind the pole. Yep, the pole at the foot of the stairs. He again dashed away, and Hannah proceeded to tell us it was okay. We decided to tell ourselves we had just met Sir Hiss from Robin Hood and keep on about our business. Unfortunately, we don't look to future encounters with him with as much excitement as we might if we were meeting the real deal. We've also decided no shortcuts through those bushes this week.

We settled in to the room for about 10 minutes, and I got these shots of the villa (sorry - we had just moved in and were resting):

We headed off to the pool where we enjoyed the lovely water. I know the May crowds, particularly this year, are in great question. Having never traveled in May, we don't have anything to compare it to, but the pool was not at all busy. We had plenty of room to roam about without bumping into fellow swimmers.

We came back, got changed, and headed to Downtown Disney. We ate at Earl of Sandwich. This was a first for us, but we liked it. We had had chicken caesar salads at Good's to Go at OKW after swimming, so the sandwich (the Earl's club) was a nice accompaniment to the salad (which was fresh, crisp, and totally hit the spot). We wandered to the Christmas shop and the Art of Disney stores before heading to Design-a-Tee. I browsed the selection to see if anything caught my eye. I'm not sure if I'll find any shirts this trip, so I may go back to D-a-T later on. My souvenir of choice has morphed into Disney shirts. I wear them only at Disney, and so they are a special part of my wardrobe. I have 9 thus far - almost enough for this trip. We stopped by Goofy's Candy Company and got some pretzel sticks, a caramel apple, and a rice krispie treat. Sorry, no photos of those.

Next, we were off to World of Disney. I love that store, but it's overwhelming. And I'd like to get more shirts in plus sizes rather than just the ones that have the generic "Mickey and gang" plus the current year on them. Not my idea of original, so I usually pass those up. I did find a shirt, and I'll try to get a picture of that to post. I also bought Hannah a pack of 6 small tablets and 6 princess pens. She did SUCH a good job in the car on the way down and in being patient with her ever-indecisive Tia (that's me), so I decided to reward her. She's great because she's always appreciative of these things and almost always accepts no as an answer when in a store. Here are those purchases:

We were even more exhausted by this time, so we headed out for Publix to pick up some groceries. We got our first shots of ourselves on our way out:

We got the groceries, came back here, and I got to work cleaning the villa while Miss did some work for, well, work. I checked my bills and I'm on target with my budget thus far - woo hoo! Hannah fell asleep on the loveseat, which will be her bed while we're here. I decided I'd write the first installment tonight to keep myself up on making this a live TR. However, we're headed for rope drop at the MK tomorrow, so I better close and hit the sack! G'night all, and I hope you'll stick around for the next 12 days!

ETA: We had a note from Disney about influenza H1N1. It's the same text as you can read on the one posted on AllEars. We've not seen tons of sick people, and it really never even enters my mind that the flu is going around. I feel very safe, and I'm excited for the rest of this trip.

 

[donaldsgal]

We got up, surprisingly, on time this morning! We were showered and out the door about 8:10. We got to the TTC and made our way to the platform. I know May crowds have been a subject of much discussion, so I took the time to get some shots of them throughout the morning.

We arrived yesterday (May 4) and are staying until the 16th. This morning, we were at the MK, and I took some crowd pictures for my fellow obsessive DISers since I know the subject of May crowds has been met with great interest this year (keep in mind we were there for rope drop and left for a break around 2 PM):

Hannah was ready to go for the day with her new Ariel sunglasses!

Bag check:

This was momentous because this trip is Hannah's first with an actual park ticket. We, of course, photographed this magical occasion:

We watched the opening show, and I fought back some tears. Don't ask me why I fight it; I guess I just don't like to admit that something that I know to be make believe gets me all choked up. Oh, well!

Here are the crowds as we entered and made our way down Main Street (the second picture looks more crowded than it is - just the congestion of people filing in):

We made our way through the turnstiles and stopped for a Photopass picture in front of the castle and the Walt & Mickey statue. Next, we headed to Fantasyland. I think Dumbo's line was short, but it was winding out of the established queue, so we bypassed it. Doing so, I remembered again the wonder and glory of knowing we have two more weeks ahead of us, thereby relieving the pressure to "do it all, see it all." So, we opted for the carousel instead.

We waited about 30 seconds for the carousel and enjoyed our trip around and around to the sounds of classic Disney music. We rode Snow White next and again had no wait. Hannah was a little scared of this one, but we encouraged her to look instead of hide her face. By the end, she was bidding adieu to Dopey.

We headed to Winnie the Pooh and experienced what was probably our longest wait of the morning. The sign said 5 minutes, but I think it was closer to 7 or 8. I know, what a travesty!

We all enjoyed our trek through the Hundred Acre Woods and headed next for it's a small world.

I love my niece, so I got on. It was the same as usual, but Hannah loves to take in all the sights and sounds, so that makes it more enjoyable.

We skipped Peter Pan as it was a 15 minute wait. We were anxious to get to Goofy's Barnstormer to see if Hannah could ride.

We took some time to stop at the Teacups. Hannah had never ridden this one before, so Miss took pictures while we spun round and round:

Okay, it was the moment of truth. We approached Barnstormer, and Hannah stood up nice and tall.

Success! She can ride!!!

You know what that means... time to document the evidence!

... continued next post...

 

[donaldsgal]

Before:

After:

I don't think she loved it - this is pretty much a certainty since she has told us a few times this morning that she doesn't want to do that again!

We headed off to the railroad and enjoyed our trip around the World. The crowds, around 10:15, were still very light, in my opinion:

Hannah and Mommy got some cute pictures in:

We got off at Splash Mountain, and I decided to ride. I got to ride alone, and I noticed a lot more that I never see when I'm with someone. I remember thinking that I never heard the turtles laugh after you pass the section where the water "hops" from cistern to cistern. I also got to look around more in the Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah scene at the end. Good times! I still prefer to ride with someone so we can giggle together, but I always love Splash. I barely got wet, so I got to enjoy the ride without getting off and having soaked drawers the rest of the day!

Miss rode Splash, so I got FPs for Big Thunder for later on. Oh, and my weight for Splash was 10 minutes. We waited and Hannah posed for me for a cute picture:

We decided we'd like to get some lunch, so we headed to Pinocchio's. As we walked back through Fantasyland, I took some more crowd pictures. Near Peter Pan around 11:15:

After lunch, we saw PhilHarmagic.

Hannah got scared again, but she perked up in the Ariel scene.

Next up was Haunted Mansion, during which she buried her face during the entire ride! She held perfectly still the entire trip! So funny.

Last but not least, we headed to Pirates. Hannah cracks me up because that's as dark, or loud, or scary as HM, but she loved it. Go figure! I'm just glad she had a good time. We had one lady on our boat who had her cell phone out sending a text at the beginning of the ride. The bright light pierced the darkness, but thankfully she put it away soon after we headed off to see the old fort run amok with pirates.

As we headed out, I stopped to check one item off of my trip pledge list found here. . I got a pineapple Dole Whip, and it was pretty good. Probably not something I'd get all the time, but it was refreshing.

We stopped to get some crowd shots on Main Street around 2 PM as we headed out.

We did some shopping in the emporium, and I got a cute Tinkerbell shirt. We came back to the room, where I ate one of my Goofy's Candy Company treats (pretzel rod with crushed Butterfinger, milk chocolate, and caramel drizzle) - yum!

We're headed back to the MK tonight for dinner at Crystal Palace at 6:25. I'd give this day an 8 out of 10. The weather has been 94 and hot, but not humid, praise the Lord! The crowds were light, the food has been good, and I felt very rested. We only used FP to get some for later tonight - we haven't needed them. Tonight we hope to ride Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder, and anything else that sounds fun. We're also planning to see Wishes! Have a great afternoon, everyone!

 

[shordiebecka]

I think i commented on your PTR before... and now I'm subbing for your live TR! How exciting that you are there!

 

[donaldsgal]

I think i commented on your PTR before... and now I'm subbing for your live TR! How exciting that you are there!

Yes, you did! Thanks for stopping by. I hope to keep up with it every day... we'll see! Thanks again for saying howdy.

 

[khertz]

Wow, I'm jealous y'all get to enjoy Disney for such a long time! I wish we could do that when we go this year, but I'll settle for the 10 days we'll be there instead. Can't wait to read more!

 

[disneyeeyorefan]

I am loving your LIVE trip report (a little jealous) but loving it. It is a good way to detour me away from studying for my finals.
I went in early May a few years ago and it was so nice because alot of things were short waits or not waits.
Love the Ariel sunglasses, she is a doll.
Enjoy Crystal Palace and say "hi" to eeyore for me.

 

[donaldsgal]

Wow, I'm jealous y'all get to enjoy Disney for such a long time! I wish we could do that when we go this year, but I'll settle for the 10 days we'll be there instead. Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for the post. This is the first trip of this length for us, and I gotta say - I'm lovin' it! It's so relaxing to know if we don't feel like seeing a ride, we have more days in that park this very trip to enjoy it. Thanks for stopping by - and posting!

I am loving your LIVE trip report (a little jealous) but loving it. It is a good way to detour me away from studying for my finals.
I went in early May a few years ago and it was so nice because alot of things were short waits or not waits.
Love the Ariel sunglasses, she is a doll.
Enjoy Crystal Palace and say "hi" to eeyore for me.

Thanks! I told Hannah you loved her sunglasses, and she thought that was very cool! Thanks! Thanks also for reading and stopping by. Update to follow tonight...

 

[donaldsgal]

We came back to the room yesterday to rest. I did a bit of work in the room while Hannah and Miss took a nap. We left for the MK around 5:40ish and made good time getting to the park. Once again, it was really low crowds.

We had to move quickly down Main Street in order to get to the check-in podium for Crystal Palace. We checked in a couple of minutes late and settled down.


Piglet came by pretty shortly after we sat down, as did Pooh. I headed up to get my food while Miss and Hannah waited.

About 30 minutes into dinner, in a span of about 30 seconds, I went from feeling great to feeling.... not great. I have a chronic stomach condition that puts me out of commission when it flares up. Lucky for me, it was flaring up! Thankfully, I have a very understanding who know that it's pretty miserable for me when I'm ill. We got to meet Tigger and Eeyore, and I decided I needed to head back to the room.

When we got back to the car, we saw some deer in the parking lot of the TTC.

This must be the trip for wildlife. We haven't seen Sir Hiss from our first day yet, but these deer were not shy at all, nor were the squirrel or rabbit that wandered into the walkway today (Wednesday) at Epcot. That's okay with me - I love animals. I am always amazed, however, when people gasp in delight at these creatures. Having grown up on a farm where we'd see upwards of 20 deer grazing in the fields at a time, it's no surprise. But hey, it's fun for them, so I'm cool with it!

Anyways, back to our night - or what should have been our night - at the Magic Kingdom. I was so disappointed! We had the FPs for Jungle Cruise and Big Thunder that I had wanted to use - not to mention seeing Wishes. Oh well. I know it's one of the perks of being here for so long, but I was still bummed to end our first full day with being sick. We came back to the room, and I was feeling better, so we opted to make a trip to the pool. It was nice and deserted, and there was a showing of Mary Poppins at the pool. That explained why we were hearing "It's a Jolly Holiday with Mary" from our villa a while earlier! We had a great time in the pool as it was sparsely populated! We came back to the room, and we took baths/showers and bunked down for the night! It was a GREAT day, minus the sudden IBS-induced paralysis that set in.

Up next: Pictures Galore! Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival

 

[donaldsgal]

We woke up nice and late today - about 10 AM! We had lunch reservations at T-Rex at 12:15, so we headed out about 11:40 or so. We got to DTD and had our choice of places to park.

The theming here is so cool! I prefer it over the Rainforest Cafe. Hannah loves dinosaurs, so she was in her element here. Here are some shots from the interior of the restaurant:

Some additional critters we got some pictures of while there, too:

We were in the coral reef room... kind of ironic, since we had canceled our reservations at Coral Reef for this lunch. I'm glad we did, if for the theming alone. Our server, Justin, was friendly and enthusaistic. I got the Mega Mes-o-Bones, Hannah got the cheese pizza, and Miss got a burger. The bun of her burger was soggy, and our fries were just warm, not hot, but I liked my ribs a lot. Justin forgot our appetizer, the Artifact Stack (onion rings), so we had to ask about it when our meals came. We ended up getting it after we got our meals, so it was in reverse order. I think Justin felt bad as he kept checking up on us after that. The meal was much faster than ones we've had at Rainforest Cafe. I'd give it a 6 out of 10.

SIDENOTE: Oh, and I'd give Crystal Palace about a 5/10. I remember liking it much more. The mashed potatoes there, as well as the rolls, were great. I didn't like the mussels, the rotisserie chicken, the salad dressings available, or the peel and eat shrimp (didn't seem fresh to me). Maybe we got there at an off time. We've eaten there before and loved it, but my opinion might also be off since I got sick (not from the food, just from my bum intestines).

We left DTD and headed to Epcot, arriving around 1:30. We took the tram in, and the Pictures and More Pictures Festival began! I had a hay day with my camera, lemme tell ya. I uploaded the images to Photobucket tonight, and I uploaded 182, with about 175 of them from today alone! Wow!

Anyways, the topiaries were just wonderful this year. So many of them, and all over the place!

We stopped to ride Spaceship Earth, which Hannah enjoyed. She liked seeing our pictures on the screen. Afterwards, a nice CM offered to take our picture in front of one of the topiaries, so we obliged her.

We took Hannah to Club Cool, where she tried the Beverly. I didn't get her after face, only her before face:

After, she said, "BLECH" with a smile. We agreed!

There were more great pictures to be captured en route to the Butterfly Garden:

Continued in next post....