steveanddonna
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2003
- Messages
- 664
Day 4
Epcot was on the agenda for Saturday. We planned to do Future World in the AM, take a swim break in the afternoon, then return to Epcot for a stroll around the World Showcase in the evening. We didnt make dinner plans, deciding instead to be adventurous and see what appealed. Through the years weve eaten at pretty much every sit-down restaurant in the WS except for Germanys Biergarten and the restaurant in France. Teppanyaki is a particular favorite of ours, but we ate there in March & May, so something different was definitely in order.
We grabbed a fast pass for Test Track, then got in the single-rider line when we noticed it was a five-minute wait. A bonus, I got to ride with an adorable Japanese family who hailed from the same city as my SIL. The Mom was even wearing a beautiful kimono; cant imagine how difficult it must have been to do the parks in traditional dress. After trying one on for BIL & SILs wedding in Tokyo, I can tell you kimonos are not easy to wear. After TT, we headed straight for Mission Space, but DH smelled the coffe from FountainView, so we made a little detour. After espressos and a little sweet treat we got in line for MS, also a very short wait. DH must be losing his propensity for motion sickness - even after a snack and coffee, MS didnt really bother him. He did want to wait before going back on TT though. We still had 45 min. before the end of our return time, so we bought some pins for our nieces and nephews, perused MouseGear, then returned to TT. We finished our morning with Honey I Shrunk... and some more people-watching. We were thoroughly entertained by a little boy, about 3, who was having the best time playing in the little water area. We were especially thrilled that his parents were letting him and not trying to rush him along to get their moneys worth. The sky started to look pretty angry, so we decided to return to the Poly a bit early to get some swimming in.
The pools were somewhat more crowded than they had been, but not terribly so. The volcano pool did get really crowded after the quiet pool was closed because the levels were too high. Levels of what we never did find out. We only swam for a half hour or so, because DH inadvertently kicked my toe - the broken one, of course - and I decided I really wanted to be sitting somewhere with a cold drink. After sunning for a little while we returned to the room to change. We wanted to pick up a little something for the concierge CMs who had been so kind to us, so we decided to tour the shops at the other monorail resorts. It was an excellent plan, as just after we boarded the monorail, that angry sky lost its temper and the rain (which would last until 9 PM) started. It was a real FL thunderstorm with lots of incredible lightning and rolling, resonant thunder. We spent a couple of rainy hours exploring GF and CR. We knew Stan was working at CR til 4:50, but decided not to look for him to say good-bye. In retrospect, we probably should have, but we were still feeling a little geeky about all the attentio the day before. We found some small gifts at one of the concourse shops (the sweet CM even wrapped them for us!) and got back on the monorail.
The rain went on and on, and WS at Epcot didnt seem like a really good rainy evening activity, so we had hors doeuvres in the lounge then relaxed in the room for a while. DH was getting antsy, so when the rain slowed down we decided to head for the Boardwalk. We hadnt been there since 1997 or so, when the bus trip back to the resort turned into a 90 minute adventure akin to Mr. Toads Wild Ride. The valet at Boardwalk was from our home state and was very personable and helpful, making recommendations about what to check out and amking sure we knew about the valet policy. Its easy to see why people love BWI so much if all their CMs are like this. The Boardwalk itself was pretty much deserted. We munched on a piece of pizza, peeked into JellyRolls, then reluctantly headed back to the car. It was time to start packing and thinking about going home.
The Last Day
Following a light breakfast in the lounge and hugs all around from Ivette, we went downstairs to say good-bye to Kathy and Aida, who asked us if we wanted a late check-out when she realized our flight wasnt until 9 PM. This was perfect, as it gave us time to enjoy the MK for a few hours before coming back to the Poly to pack. It was drizzling on and off, but, again, we were almost always inside when the rain started. After our farewell hot dog at Caseys (and no, we dont eat hot dogs that often at home - its a Disney thing!) we went back to the resort to pack. We then returned to the MK for a few more attractions. The sky was looking pretty nasty again, so we decided that PoC would be a good place to wait out the rain; of course, so did everyone else. This turned out to be the longest wait of the whole trip - about 45 minutes. At least we were dry and cool and comfortable. A lot of attractions were down because of the lightning, so we went to the Enchanted Tiki Room, another good rainy day respite. Afterwards, we headed for Tomorrowland and the TTA (I still think of it as the PeopleMover), Space Mountain, and Buzz. DH has been very jealous since our November trip, because I outscored him on Buzz by finding a REALLY good Z worth a lot of points. Well, he got even with me this time - he scored 999,999 points! There truly is no topping that! My DH, the Galactic Hero! We had an early dinner PS at CP, so we wrapped up the trip with Pooh and friends. It was the perfect way to end our day at the MK.
Ill skip over the trip to the airport and the flight home - uneventful and just TOO sad as always. We arrived home a little after 11 PM, tired, blue and cranky. As we were scanning the pile of mail the catsitter left on the kitchen counter, DH held up a big postcard and said, Look - we got a postcard! Yes, it was THE postcard, with the discount code for travel through 12/19. You know what I did at 6:30 AM the following morning! The rate wasnt available for the trip we already had planned in October, but hey - we couldnt let it go to waste, so we booked a December trip for ourselves and our nephew, Tyler. Theres nothing better for lifting those back-home-blues than planning the next trip!
Epcot was on the agenda for Saturday. We planned to do Future World in the AM, take a swim break in the afternoon, then return to Epcot for a stroll around the World Showcase in the evening. We didnt make dinner plans, deciding instead to be adventurous and see what appealed. Through the years weve eaten at pretty much every sit-down restaurant in the WS except for Germanys Biergarten and the restaurant in France. Teppanyaki is a particular favorite of ours, but we ate there in March & May, so something different was definitely in order.
We grabbed a fast pass for Test Track, then got in the single-rider line when we noticed it was a five-minute wait. A bonus, I got to ride with an adorable Japanese family who hailed from the same city as my SIL. The Mom was even wearing a beautiful kimono; cant imagine how difficult it must have been to do the parks in traditional dress. After trying one on for BIL & SILs wedding in Tokyo, I can tell you kimonos are not easy to wear. After TT, we headed straight for Mission Space, but DH smelled the coffe from FountainView, so we made a little detour. After espressos and a little sweet treat we got in line for MS, also a very short wait. DH must be losing his propensity for motion sickness - even after a snack and coffee, MS didnt really bother him. He did want to wait before going back on TT though. We still had 45 min. before the end of our return time, so we bought some pins for our nieces and nephews, perused MouseGear, then returned to TT. We finished our morning with Honey I Shrunk... and some more people-watching. We were thoroughly entertained by a little boy, about 3, who was having the best time playing in the little water area. We were especially thrilled that his parents were letting him and not trying to rush him along to get their moneys worth. The sky started to look pretty angry, so we decided to return to the Poly a bit early to get some swimming in.
The pools were somewhat more crowded than they had been, but not terribly so. The volcano pool did get really crowded after the quiet pool was closed because the levels were too high. Levels of what we never did find out. We only swam for a half hour or so, because DH inadvertently kicked my toe - the broken one, of course - and I decided I really wanted to be sitting somewhere with a cold drink. After sunning for a little while we returned to the room to change. We wanted to pick up a little something for the concierge CMs who had been so kind to us, so we decided to tour the shops at the other monorail resorts. It was an excellent plan, as just after we boarded the monorail, that angry sky lost its temper and the rain (which would last until 9 PM) started. It was a real FL thunderstorm with lots of incredible lightning and rolling, resonant thunder. We spent a couple of rainy hours exploring GF and CR. We knew Stan was working at CR til 4:50, but decided not to look for him to say good-bye. In retrospect, we probably should have, but we were still feeling a little geeky about all the attentio the day before. We found some small gifts at one of the concourse shops (the sweet CM even wrapped them for us!) and got back on the monorail.
The rain went on and on, and WS at Epcot didnt seem like a really good rainy evening activity, so we had hors doeuvres in the lounge then relaxed in the room for a while. DH was getting antsy, so when the rain slowed down we decided to head for the Boardwalk. We hadnt been there since 1997 or so, when the bus trip back to the resort turned into a 90 minute adventure akin to Mr. Toads Wild Ride. The valet at Boardwalk was from our home state and was very personable and helpful, making recommendations about what to check out and amking sure we knew about the valet policy. Its easy to see why people love BWI so much if all their CMs are like this. The Boardwalk itself was pretty much deserted. We munched on a piece of pizza, peeked into JellyRolls, then reluctantly headed back to the car. It was time to start packing and thinking about going home.
The Last Day
Following a light breakfast in the lounge and hugs all around from Ivette, we went downstairs to say good-bye to Kathy and Aida, who asked us if we wanted a late check-out when she realized our flight wasnt until 9 PM. This was perfect, as it gave us time to enjoy the MK for a few hours before coming back to the Poly to pack. It was drizzling on and off, but, again, we were almost always inside when the rain started. After our farewell hot dog at Caseys (and no, we dont eat hot dogs that often at home - its a Disney thing!) we went back to the resort to pack. We then returned to the MK for a few more attractions. The sky was looking pretty nasty again, so we decided that PoC would be a good place to wait out the rain; of course, so did everyone else. This turned out to be the longest wait of the whole trip - about 45 minutes. At least we were dry and cool and comfortable. A lot of attractions were down because of the lightning, so we went to the Enchanted Tiki Room, another good rainy day respite. Afterwards, we headed for Tomorrowland and the TTA (I still think of it as the PeopleMover), Space Mountain, and Buzz. DH has been very jealous since our November trip, because I outscored him on Buzz by finding a REALLY good Z worth a lot of points. Well, he got even with me this time - he scored 999,999 points! There truly is no topping that! My DH, the Galactic Hero! We had an early dinner PS at CP, so we wrapped up the trip with Pooh and friends. It was the perfect way to end our day at the MK.
Ill skip over the trip to the airport and the flight home - uneventful and just TOO sad as always. We arrived home a little after 11 PM, tired, blue and cranky. As we were scanning the pile of mail the catsitter left on the kitchen counter, DH held up a big postcard and said, Look - we got a postcard! Yes, it was THE postcard, with the discount code for travel through 12/19. You know what I did at 6:30 AM the following morning! The rate wasnt available for the trip we already had planned in October, but hey - we couldnt let it go to waste, so we booked a December trip for ourselves and our nephew, Tyler. Theres nothing better for lifting those back-home-blues than planning the next trip!
