LMM Plays Tour Guide - Spring Break at the World

We called the car service so we'd have time to shop because they tell us to call an hour in advance. But then they called us back ten minutes later saying they were on their way, so we had to book it out of the park.


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Our day at Magic Kingdom literally flew by, and I was really sad that my Disney trip with Max was almost over!

We got on the monorail to head back, and the monorail was stopped briefly. The driver called Max back telling us he was there. Max was asking where to find him, and the driver told us that he would come get us - so he met us at the exit of the monorail and walked us to the car. What service!
 
Before I move on to the next day, I'll go ahead and review the Downtown Disney Doubletree.

We'll probably never stay there again. Yes, it was nice to have the larger room, and the proximity to Downtown Disney was nice, but the transportation was seriously lacking. And because it's the same transportation for all DtD resorts, I'm not too eager to stay at any of the others, either.

Marcia was disappointed in the resort because it's rated as 4-star, but is probably more around a 3-star resort. It's not a raggedy hotel, but it's not super nice either. Not to mention, the service was seriously lacking. The staff at the resort was not very friendly. The people at check-in were a pain. Guest services told Max and I to come back with our mommy... I still can't get over that. And I forgot to mention that when we did come back to Marcia, she asked her if she was the only adult (technically no - Max and I are both legally adults and have been for a few years). When she said yes, the lady made a big deal asking her if she was single, which was ridiculously rude and uncalled for. It wasn't until Marcia went to the manager and complained that we were treated with respect (and it probably had something to do with Marcia being a rather big player with Hilton... she's worked in customer service for a long time and will let the manager know when their employees aren't doing their job). Then after that, they were ridiculously nice to Max and me, asking us about our day and bringing us cookies when we came in late at night. It's just frustrating that we had to go to that level to be treated with respect.
 
I've read your other TR's, so I'm excited to have found this one!!

Wow, that's too bad about the service at the hotel. :guilty:

I love that picture of you and Max on Astro Orbiter!

I've stayed at the Contemporary numerous times over the years, so The Wave was a neat place for us to try because we had seen what it was before the restaurant was there. Big difference!

:rotfl: "And here comes Snow White to tell the bratty children to go away." I literally laughed out loud at that part.

Can't wait for more!!
 
I need to hurry up and finish this TR because I'm leaving for Disney in two days!!! :banana:

Day Five

Today was check-out day for the Doubletree. We drove to AK since Marcia and Max would be leaving directly from there.


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It was AM EMH at AK, but we didn't qualify. My parents were already checked in at the Poly, and I had thought about stealing their room keys so we could get in, but figured that was too much of a hassel for what would then just be an extra 20-30 minutes in the park.

Luckily, it wasn't very crowded, yet.


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Since Expedition Everest is such a far walk, we sent Marcia to Africa to wait for us to come ride Kilimanjaro Safaris while we headed to EE.


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The wait for EE wasn't bad at all. However, Max quickly noticed that everything is very spread out in AK. The walk from attraction to attraction is quite lengthy.

We caught up with Marcia and went on Kilimanjaro Safaris.


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/
Max really like Festival of the Lion King. He said it was his favorite show at Animal Kingdom. I can't remember whether or not he like Beauty and the Beast better (I know he likes the music of B&B better), but they were his two favorites.

We had to race to EE again to use our FPs.


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This time we got to ride in the front. Max loved it.

We met back up with Marcia for It's Tough to be a Bug.


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Then we headed to Dinosaur. That's when Max started to think about food. I didn't have an ADR for us, and we were planning to eat at Pizzafari, but then Max wanted to eat at Rainforest Cafe. So I called Rainforest right then and made a reservation.


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After lunch, Max and I went to use our last set of EE FPs. That's the only attraction we FP'd all morning, and getting there for 9:00 official park opening (EMH at 8), we were able to get three FPs for use before 3:00 and ride it four times - all while abiding by the FP return times. So, as you can see, the requirement to return during the dedicated timeslot isn't much of a setback - except that we'd have to race to EE which is a long way from the front of the park.


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After EE, we went on Maharajah Jungle Trek so that Max could see the tigers.


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Yeah, he's pooping...


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I liked the birdhouses.


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Then it was time to meet up with...


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My family! Notice Rachel's shirt? Go back a few pages to Hollywood Studios...

Ironically, I'm wearing a shirt she has the same, as well. We both looked at eachother and go, "We could have been dressed the same!!!" Weird sister happening.

We were caught up with eachother while waiting on the Jammin' Jungle Parade which I haven't seen in years, but it was running late. Then we looked at the sky and realized why - it was about to downpour! So we decided to book it for the car.

While we were speedwalking towards the exit, I heard a man say, "This is the crappiest park ever!" I was telling Rachel, when the lady who was beside me says, "I agree." Animal Kingdom haters! I can understand why some people wouldn't like Animal Kingdom - it's not as full of rides and things to do. And it's very spread out, so there's a lot of walking. It's more like an entertain-yourself park. But architecturally, it's truly impressive. My professor last semester told me I needed to revisit WDW and see if I really thought it was good architecture (this was after I told her my dream of becoming an Imagineer and she laughed at me) - and I want to take her to Animal Kingdom, the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and the Wilderness Lodge. Then even Magic Kingdom is architecturally wonderful in transitioning from land to land and all of the architectural tricks on how to make people feel smaller/bigger/closer/etc. I'm such a nerd, but I love that Disney detail, and that is one of the reasons that Disney means so much to me. And I really want to go to Disney with my best friend in architecture and spend time just taking pictures and sketching. I'm such a nerd!

It started to downpour right when we were making it to the parking lot. Fortunately, this was the only downpour of the week, and it was very brief. We moved my luggage over to my family's car, said our goodbyes in the pouring rain, and headed to the Polynesian.
 
We hung out at the Poly until dinner at Chef Mickey's.


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My cheese plate:


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MICKEY!!!


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Mickey ravioli


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Dad was just learning to use my camera... he was having some difficulties


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Another weird sit/stand picture


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Cutest dessert ever


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So it was pretty late, around 9:00, and the restaurant was rather cleared out. Rachel needed a picture of her high-fiving Mickey to send her boyfriend back home. My dad has a seriously shaky hand, and so her iPhone photo from before was all blurry and we needed a new one. We waited for a while for Mickey to come back around, then figured that since it wasn't crowded, we'd just go ask the handler if we could get a quick photo. We'd seen this done MANY times before. So Rachel and I walk over to the dessert bar and are standing there watching Mickey in the next room - not holding a camera or anything - just trying to pick out Mickey's handler. Then the character handler comes up to us. "Can I help you with anything?" "Yes - are you Mickey's handler?" "I am." "We were wondering if we could step in and get a quick photo with Mickey before we left." "Mickey only takes pictures with paying customers." "Oh, no - we're eating here. Our table is right over there, and we are about to leave but were hoping for a quick shot with Mickey first." "No. Mickey doesn't go out of order. You two need to go sit down." And he pointed at our table WITH ONE FINGER!!!!!!!!!

Now that pissed me off!!! First of all, he was judging us, assuming that we were two teenagers who had just wandered in wanting to get a photo with Mickey.

So I will post the rant I wanted to say to him but couldn't because we were at Disney:

I'm sorry - our Dad just dropped over $100 for our family to eat here, and we bought the photo they take when you enter. We expect to see Mickey Mouse, but most of all, we expect to be treated with respect. We're all adults, so you can talk to us like we're adults. We can't see Mickey right now? That's fine. I've been to more character meals than I can count, and I understand that they have a set route and interruptions can't always be accommodated. But you need to learn how to say that in a respectful manner because you work for the Mouse and are representing the Walt Disney Company. And next time, point with two fingers, b!tch!

That felt good.
 
We decided to wait around for Mickey. Our waiter was super nice about it and offered to bring us more drinks.

She got her high-five picture!


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We left a little peeved because of the character handler. Also, as we waited for Mickey, we watched him and realized that he looked to be Donald's handler, not Mickey's. There was a lady who was tending to Mickey. So he's also a liar. I really, really wanted to report him. But I didn't because apparently I look like a teenager and no one is going to take me seriously anytime soon. That's why I can't wait to turn 21 (just around the corner - eek!). Then I can pull out my ID and prove to people that I'm not a baby. I feel like turning 18 was just a big joke because besides being old enough to enlist in the military and vote, we are basically children.
 
We decided to watch Wishes from the Poly beach. I could hear the music faintly. The music is really important to me, so I need to find out where the speakers are and sit really close next time.


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Some girl sitting on the beach says, "I just don't understand why they don't shoot them off right behind the castle!" Errr... let's think about that! :pinch:


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Finale!!!


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And our room number - for future reference!


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Okay, I must finish this...


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Good Morning!

We started our day at Epcot. We walked to TTC to take the monorail there.


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We had no definite plans, anymore. Just do how we do.


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Soarin' first, obviously. Then we ate breakfast in Sunshine Seasons.


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Then Test Track.


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I wonder how much of the queue they will maintain with the refurb, if any.


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Woohoo, Camaro time!


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More Flower & Garden Festival


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We did the Seas with Nemo and Turtle Talk with Crush.


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Then for the heck of it, Captain EO.


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This is where we got a lot of our laughing material for the rest of the week. We learned that I have an awesome Michael Jackson voice immitation. "Hooter - press the button, Hooter! Streeeetttchhhh!" It was a totally weird film, but also kind of retro cool - how this was such a big deal back then, just the second 3d film of its kind. Lots of big names working on it. Outdated, for sure, but I'm glad they brought it back.


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We headed around the World to Japan for lunch.


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My Goofy dad.


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Park hop!


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Stand-by for Tower of Terror didn't take too long.


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Precious treats


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We ended up with one of these...


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