mackeysmom
Let's Go Mets!
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2003
- Messages
- 1,030
Cast of Characters:
Laura (me) - age 34
Joseph - age 7 - my nephew/Godson
The original plan - Animal Kingdom in the morning, swim break, Epcot in the afternoon/evening, possibly lunch/dinner at La Cellier (I love that soup), Illuminations
What really happened ....
We got an early start because I know the animals are much more active in the morning. So, after a quick food court breakfast (pancakes for Joseph and a chocolate chip muffin for me) we headed out for AK. The bus came within about 5 minutes and we were off.
The entrance was packed and I figured that the crowds finally caught up with us. After stopping for a picture and autograph from Flik, we headed towards Kilamanjaro Safaris. Once again I was shocked -- no line at all. We walked right on - our vehicle was equipped for a wheelchair, but since there were no wheelchair bound riders, Joseph and I were lucky enough to get a front row bench that seated only two people. We saw so many animals - it was unbelievable. Even the driver remarked that we saw almost all of the animals that were there to see. At one point, we had to stop and wait for a pack of wildebeests to cross the road. I've ridden the safari a few times in the past, but this was the best. Joseph had a blast, except he was a little scared by the whole "poachers are after Big Red and Little Red" storyline. I think the combination of fantasy and reality confused him a bit.
After that, we made our way to Kali River Rapids. Due to weather and other circumstances, I had never been on this ride before. I had a cheap dollar-store poncho with me, and wrapped my pocketbook in it. Again, no line at all. We got completely soaked!!! It was literally as though I had jumped in the pool with my clothes on. As the ride ended, the cast member told us we could stay on and ride again if we wanted to. We did, and got even wetter!!
After buying an AK beach towel to dry ourselves off with, we headed over to DinoLand. Joseph had previously told me that he had ridden Dinosaur! and loved it. There was about a 20 minute wait, so we grabbed some FastPasses and headed over to the midway game area. I spend about $40 so Joseph could win some crappy stuffed animals and then we went to Primeval Whirl. The wait time was about 10 minutes. Once we got in the ride vehicle, it started up and came to a halt about 10 feet later. I was within earshot of the cast member running the ride and heard him on the phone. His end of the conversation went like this: "Yeah, somebody said they heard a piece of metal fall to the ground." "Should we empty?" "Cycle out?, but we are at full capacity." "Are you sure?" "Cycle and then move everybody in the left queue to the right queue?" "But we are at full capacity." "Yes, sir". With that, the ride began. I was terrified the entire time, but luckily everything was o.k. and I don't think Joseph heard any of the conversation.
We then made our way to Dinosaur! Joseph said it looked different and thought it was outside. It was only after we were seated in the ride vehicle, that I realized his dinosaur ride was that Dumbo-like ride across from Primeval Whirl. It was too late to do anything about it and we took off. I put my arm around Joseph and tried to say things like "oh, look at that fake dinosaur over there", "isn't this fun". He was gripping onto the safety bar so tightly, his knuckles were white. I expected the worse when it was over, but he said "I liked that - it was a little loud but fun, can we do it again?" Crisis averted - we rode it again, only waiting about 15 minutes.
I had wanted Joseph to see It's Tough To Be A Bug since he enjoyed Mickey's Philharmagic so much, but he was ready to hit the pool. We grabbed the bus back to the hotel, ate in the food court (pizza for Joseph and chicken parmesan hero for me) and went to the pool. On the way to the pool, Joseph got two temporary tattoos. We played in the pool for a while and then went back to the room to change. Joseph asked if we could go back to the Magic Kingdom instead of Epcot, so once again we found ourselves reaching MK right as the parade was coming through.
We did the same exact rides at MK as we had done the past two days. (I was able to sneak Pirates of the Caribbean in between multiple Splash and Big Thunder Mountains). Again, we never seemed to have to wait more than 10 minutes for any ride. After Mickey's Philharmagic, we decided to actually watch some of Wishes. Joseph really enjoyed it (and I enjoyed my Dole Whip!!). We left MK and headed back to the hotel food court for dinner. (Hot Dog and fries for Joseph and spicy chicken sandwich for myself). We spent a little time at the arcade and then headed back to the room. In addition to seeing the bunny again, we saw a frog sitting outside of our room. By 10:30, we were both in bed and asleep.
The plan - well, we never made it to Epcot that day, but as always, Magic Kingdom did not fail us. The lines were not bad at all. I'll be honest though, I was starting to get really sick of the food court by this point. I want my cheddar cheese soup!! Maybe tomorrow.
Stay tuned for day 4 ....
Laura (me) - age 34
Joseph - age 7 - my nephew/Godson
The original plan - Animal Kingdom in the morning, swim break, Epcot in the afternoon/evening, possibly lunch/dinner at La Cellier (I love that soup), Illuminations
What really happened ....
We got an early start because I know the animals are much more active in the morning. So, after a quick food court breakfast (pancakes for Joseph and a chocolate chip muffin for me) we headed out for AK. The bus came within about 5 minutes and we were off.
The entrance was packed and I figured that the crowds finally caught up with us. After stopping for a picture and autograph from Flik, we headed towards Kilamanjaro Safaris. Once again I was shocked -- no line at all. We walked right on - our vehicle was equipped for a wheelchair, but since there were no wheelchair bound riders, Joseph and I were lucky enough to get a front row bench that seated only two people. We saw so many animals - it was unbelievable. Even the driver remarked that we saw almost all of the animals that were there to see. At one point, we had to stop and wait for a pack of wildebeests to cross the road. I've ridden the safari a few times in the past, but this was the best. Joseph had a blast, except he was a little scared by the whole "poachers are after Big Red and Little Red" storyline. I think the combination of fantasy and reality confused him a bit.
After that, we made our way to Kali River Rapids. Due to weather and other circumstances, I had never been on this ride before. I had a cheap dollar-store poncho with me, and wrapped my pocketbook in it. Again, no line at all. We got completely soaked!!! It was literally as though I had jumped in the pool with my clothes on. As the ride ended, the cast member told us we could stay on and ride again if we wanted to. We did, and got even wetter!!
After buying an AK beach towel to dry ourselves off with, we headed over to DinoLand. Joseph had previously told me that he had ridden Dinosaur! and loved it. There was about a 20 minute wait, so we grabbed some FastPasses and headed over to the midway game area. I spend about $40 so Joseph could win some crappy stuffed animals and then we went to Primeval Whirl. The wait time was about 10 minutes. Once we got in the ride vehicle, it started up and came to a halt about 10 feet later. I was within earshot of the cast member running the ride and heard him on the phone. His end of the conversation went like this: "Yeah, somebody said they heard a piece of metal fall to the ground." "Should we empty?" "Cycle out?, but we are at full capacity." "Are you sure?" "Cycle and then move everybody in the left queue to the right queue?" "But we are at full capacity." "Yes, sir". With that, the ride began. I was terrified the entire time, but luckily everything was o.k. and I don't think Joseph heard any of the conversation.
We then made our way to Dinosaur! Joseph said it looked different and thought it was outside. It was only after we were seated in the ride vehicle, that I realized his dinosaur ride was that Dumbo-like ride across from Primeval Whirl. It was too late to do anything about it and we took off. I put my arm around Joseph and tried to say things like "oh, look at that fake dinosaur over there", "isn't this fun". He was gripping onto the safety bar so tightly, his knuckles were white. I expected the worse when it was over, but he said "I liked that - it was a little loud but fun, can we do it again?" Crisis averted - we rode it again, only waiting about 15 minutes.
I had wanted Joseph to see It's Tough To Be A Bug since he enjoyed Mickey's Philharmagic so much, but he was ready to hit the pool. We grabbed the bus back to the hotel, ate in the food court (pizza for Joseph and chicken parmesan hero for me) and went to the pool. On the way to the pool, Joseph got two temporary tattoos. We played in the pool for a while and then went back to the room to change. Joseph asked if we could go back to the Magic Kingdom instead of Epcot, so once again we found ourselves reaching MK right as the parade was coming through.
We did the same exact rides at MK as we had done the past two days. (I was able to sneak Pirates of the Caribbean in between multiple Splash and Big Thunder Mountains). Again, we never seemed to have to wait more than 10 minutes for any ride. After Mickey's Philharmagic, we decided to actually watch some of Wishes. Joseph really enjoyed it (and I enjoyed my Dole Whip!!). We left MK and headed back to the hotel food court for dinner. (Hot Dog and fries for Joseph and spicy chicken sandwich for myself). We spent a little time at the arcade and then headed back to the room. In addition to seeing the bunny again, we saw a frog sitting outside of our room. By 10:30, we were both in bed and asleep.
The plan - well, we never made it to Epcot that day, but as always, Magic Kingdom did not fail us. The lines were not bad at all. I'll be honest though, I was starting to get really sick of the food court by this point. I want my cheddar cheese soup!! Maybe tomorrow.
Stay tuned for day 4 ....
