My first solo -- Well almost solo trip!

[Donald is #1]

Well, here goes. After reading many trip reports, I have finally gotten up the courage to write my first trip report. First come the apologies, I don't think that this will be as witty as many of the reports that I have read on this board.

Background

The original plan for this trip was this was going to be my first fully solo trip to WDW excluding a trip to the Disney Institute that had a extra day or two on it. Well about a month or two before my trip, I was having dinner with my BF and I mentioned that I was going to WDW. Well, low & behold, she was talking her mother down to Discovery Cove for a long weekend over Mother's day. So suddenly my fully solo trip turned into a solo trip plus one day with my BF & her mother. So the characters are:

Me: 40ish female who loves WDW
BF: Best Friend- Also 40ish female who went to high school & college with me. (Yes we have been friends forever!) We have also been on a few vacations together particularly to places that her husband doesn't want to go to.

BFM: Best Friend's Mother - Probably in her 60's, doesn't walk well and hasn't been to WDW since the 70's.

Planning the trip
First of all, I love photography. But I have never taken all of my equipment to WDW because I don't want to carry it on the rides. I have always wanted to do a photography trip to WDW. So, last year, after helping my sister plan her first trip to WDW and having no vacation plans myself scared1: ) I decided to go at the same time as my sister & her family. It worked out well. I stayed at the WL while they stayed at Fort Wilderness with her in-laws in their RV. Over the 8 days, I ended up spending about 1/2 of my time with them and 1/2 of my time solo. Anyways, just before this trip, I decided on the trip to convert my MYW pass into an annual pass so that I could do the photography trip that I always wanted to do. Guess what? During this trip I found that I really do prefer to carry my point & shoot camera at WDW. I don't want to carry all of my camera gear with me. I only carried my camera gear 4.5 days out of a 12 day trip. Anyways, back to the story, my original plan had been to do 4 days in the parks (1 day EPCOT with camera, 1 day AK with camera, 1 day EPCOT without camera and then 1 day AK without camera). Well by the time I made my reservations, it was an 8 day trip. Using the AP discount, I was able to get a pool view room at AKL for a nice price. I had wanted a savannah view room, but the discount wasn't available and the AP discount was just too good to pass up. Well about a month before my trip after a really long & stressful week at work, I decided to add on a few more days. So I went home and added on 4 more days. I was able to book a Savannah view room with the AP discount for the first 4 days. So I was really psyched!

Now fast forward to the Monday on the week before my vacation. The previous Saturday (i.e. 2 days before), I had gone down to visit my mother and she was fine. We went out to lunch & I took her shopping. Now at about 3 AM or so on Monday, my phone rings. It is one of my sisters and she is at the hospital because my mother was having problems breathing. Well, it ended up that my mother contracted pneumonia and she ended up in the ICU on a respirator. So all that week, I spent every evening driving down (about an hour) to visit my mother in the hospital and the big debate that I had is what should I do about my vacation. My sisters & I debated it every day. They kept telling me to go & I kept hesitating. Now the question that you probably have is, why didn't she just wait until after her mother gets out of the hospital? Well, I thought about it, but my stress level was through the roof from work and I really needed time off. Also, unfortunately, my sisters & I have experience with parent's illness and we knew that this could go on for months. So, in the end, I decided to delay my trip by 1 week. So on Thursday & Friday of that week, I totally rebooked a vacation that was scheduled to start the following Tuesday. I did make one change though. I had been looking at the DVC for some months and had already decided to purchase during my trip if I didn't feel bored on the trip (heaven forbid) and if I liked the look of the DVC units. So, when I rebooked, I changed to a split stay: 6 nights in a studio at SSR and 5 nights in an AKL Savannah View room.

When I told my mother that I delayed my vacation, she was very annoyed at me. But I am glad that I did, because by the next week, she was starting to do somewhat better. I asked her if she wanted me to delay again but she was very adament that I go.

 

[Donald is #1]

So, now it is Tuesday (5/8) and I am up really early! Although I live near the Manchester NH airport and I prefer to fly out of there, I was flying out of Boston for this trip. I had a credit on Jet Blue from last year's trip and I wanted to use it up. Anyways, I had an 8:45 AM flight so the van picked me up at 5:45 AM. The ride to Boston (Logan Airport) takes about an hour but we did run into some traffic getting to Logan. Luckily I had checked in on-line the night before and the line to drop off my baggage was short. I then stopped at Dunkin Donuts in the terminal to get a donut for breakfast. I stopped at the one outside of security. I later found out that there was one inside of security. The security lines moved well except that they did a careful check on my backpack. My backpack is my camera bag. It has a compartment in the bottom for the camera equipment and then an area in the top for anything else. I think that they got confused by all of the pins that I had in my bag for pin trading. Anyways, once past security, I stopped to buy a soda for the rest of my breakfast and then off to my gate to wait for my flight and eat my breakfast. The wait was uneventful and soon it was time for the flight. The flight ended up being very quick (2.5 hours). We landed so early that we had to wait for a gate to clear! By the way, I love Jet Blue! It is a great airline to fly.

Once I got off of the plane, I headed down to baggage claim. I had used ME on my last trip and it worked well though I did feel a little rushed getting to the airport. So, this time, I decided to get a rental car. My bags were one of the first ones off, so I had them very quickly and I was soon waiting for the Hertz Shuttle. When I got to Hertz I was a bit annoyed that my name wasn't on the board. I have Hertz #1 Gold and I should have had the car ready & waiting for me. Luckily the wait at the #1 Gold counter was only a couple of people and I had a car soon enough. I ended up with a small or mid-size Hyundai SUV (Tuscon). The drive to SSR was very easy. I found the grounds at SSR to be very beautiful and peaceful. I ended up with a first floor studio in the Paddocks section.

Here are some pictures of the studio:

Here are some pictures of the view from the studio (#6512)

I was really impressed with the room. It was nicely laid out. I also was spoiled very quickly by having the couch in the room. I travel often enough so I am used to staying in hotel rooms. Therefore I was surprised when I got to AKL later in the trip, how much I missed having the couch to sit on when I was relaxing.
Back to the story: After I dropped my stuff in the room and took some pictures, I walked over to Artist's Pallette to get some lunch. I didn't want to much since I was having dinner at Boma that night but I needed something to hold me over.
At Artist's Palette, I had the Pepperoni Flatbread pizza and a Diet Coke. The pizza was good. Overall, I would rate Artist Palette 3.5 (out of 5). The pizza was good and the size was just enough. However, I was a bit disappointed in the selection of takeaway food. Basically, they didn't have a very good fruit selection.

After lunch, I ended up driving to a grocery store. I ended up at Goodings, which wasn't the cheapest store but at least was convienent. At the store, I bought water, soda, bananas, and some cookies. I ended buying both small & large bottles of water. The large bottles I used in my room and each morning I took one of the small bottles with me to the park. I still bought water in the park, but it was nice to have some with me. After the grocery store, I drove over the premium outlets. Basically, I just wanted to go to the Disney outlet there. I found some discounted pins. They also had a very good selection of the '06 clothing from the parks. Finally, I drove over to DTD. My first stop was the World of Disney. One of my co-workers had lost her Mickey watch and she asked me to see if I could find a replacement. I quickly found the watch that she wanted and then found one for my self also. I also started my pin trading here. I have been colllecting pins since my 1999 trip. However, I have never really traded. I tried trading a little during my October trip but didn't really get into it. But for this trip, I brought about 40 or so pins to trade. And yes, I really got into trading on this trip.
After the World of Disney, I stopped at the DVC booth and made an appoinment for the next morning. My next stop was for pins and finally a stop at the Rainforest Cafe to buy a couple of mugs for my sister. By this time, it was the end of the afternoon and time for me to head back to SSR. I unloaded the car and was able to relax for about 1/2 an hour.

The drive over to AKL ended up being fairly easy. Overall, I found that I was able to drive around the WDW area without any trouble. There were signs every where so I just made sure to follow the signs for the area that I wanted to go to. On these boards, I had read about how dark AKL was, but when I walked into the lobby, I found it very dark. (More on this in a later post.) I walked out to the see the animals and I was very impressed with the Savannah. I was a little early, so I stopped for a soda at the lounge and then it was time for my meal at Boma.

I really enjoyed Boma. I would rate it 4.5 out of 5. I tried a little bit of everything. I really enjoyed the Butternut soup and the curried seafood soup. I tried a lot of the side dishes. The only thing that kept me from rating it a 5 was that while the prime rib was very good, I didn't think that it was excellent. I, of course, tried the Zebra Domes for dessert. They were oustanding! I also tried a few of the other desserts. Finally, I was almost too full to move, but I was time for me to drive back to SSR.

 

[Stitch_Dude]

Great report so far! DH and I have stayed at Saratoga twice before and have always wanted to try AKL so I can't wait to hear about it and see some pictures

 

[ANTSS2001]

I found the grounds at SSR to be very beautiful and peaceful. I ended up with a first floor studio in the Paddocks section.

Here are some pictures of the studio:

Here are some pictures of the view from the studio (#6512)

I was really impressed with the room. .

great start... It was love at 1st SITE for for me with SSR!!! My 1st time also to stay there last April...

 

[Donald is #1]

My first full day at WDW woohoo: ) started with a quick breakfast over at Artist's Palette. This morning started a pattern for my breakfasts at SSR, basically a chocolate croissant and diet coke. For some reason the menu choices at Artist's Palette really didn't do much for me. I am not sure why. Once I got to AKL, I liked the choices at Mara much better than Artist's Palette. Maybe it was because they didn't have the adult size Mickey waffles. Anyways, by the time that I was done with breakfast it was time for my 8:30 appointment at the DVC center.
If you haven't been to the DVC visitor's center, it is really a nice setup. When you first go in, they give the obligitory stickon name tag and then they send you to the center room where they have coffee, tea, juice, water, muffins, etc. Once you have your snack, they direct you to an area where you meet your guide. Basically they have about 3 large rooms setup with a series of nice comfy chairs with coffee tables etc. Your guide meets you here and sitting in this living room type setting, the guide asks you about your vacation habits, tells you about the DVC, and answers your questions. Next they bring you over to the AKV models and to units in the SSR. Once you have seen the models, you go back into the building and then they bring you into a little private office. This is where they go over more details including the costs, financing, trading options, etc. The whole thing takes about an hour. Once you are done, they give you your materials and then take you to the ice cream area and they get a van to bring you back to your resort or one of the parks (it is up to you).
Back to me now.. .. I had received a referal to a guide by someone who is already a member. (Actually goldilocks63 on these boards) The day of my appointment was one of my guides off days, but they had another guide work with me. Since I had already done a lot of research, I had a good idea what the DVC was about but I did have some questions and he answered them for me. Next was the highlight of the meeting for me. We went to see the AKV models. (They are in the theatre building at SSR.) We looked at both of the models (studio & 1 bedroom). I really liked the layout of them and particularly the one bedroom model. They only thing that is hard to tell with the AKV models is how dark (or light) they will be since they are inside a building plus they have a picture over the windows to show how the savannah will look. Then he took me into the SSR units including the studio (so that I could see that it was just like the one that I was staying in). And of course, he showed me the grand villa. Now I know why the grand villas are som many points. They are awesome. We talked about the cost a little and then I told him that I would think about it and I went back to my room so that I could pick up my photography equipment. By this point I had pretty much made up my mind on buying into DVC but I really needed to think about whether I wanted to buy at SSR or AKV. Before my arrival, I was leaning towards AKV. But once I got to SSR and saw how relaxing it was I was wavering. So, I decided to wait until I got my room at AKL to see how much light there was in the rooms at AKL.
I caught the bus over to EPCOT and I was carrying all of my gear including my tripod. I wanted to use my tripod for some pictures in China plus I was going to shoot Illuminations that night. I probably got to EPCOT at about 10 or 10:30. Since I had all of my gear, I didn't do any of the attractions in Future World. Instead I wandered around looking at the flower show until WS opened.

Here are a few pictures that I took.

And here is proof that I was actually there.

Now, this was the day that broke one of the cardinal rules of photography. I had bought a new Nikon Vibration Reduction lens last year and unfortunately, I had not had a chance to use it before this trip. So I took most of my photos at EPCOT using that lens. When I downloaded my photos a few days later, I found that I didn't have the lens set up correctly. There was a slide switch on the lens that was in the wrong position. Luckily I had my laptop with me on the trip and I downloaded my pictures while I was at WDW to check them! But, I really should have played with the lens before my trip.

Once WS opened, I walked around Canada, UK, and France. As I was walking around the WS, I could see smoke in the air from the wild fires up north and you could smell the smoke. I hadn't been to the movie in France in many years, so I watched the movie. I really enjoyed it, but little did I know that I would be there again in a few days. Oh well, I did enjoy watching it. After the movie, it was almost time for my ADR at Rose & Crown. I walked over a little early (probably 30 minutes) and was seated fairly quickly. I haven't eaten here since 2000, so I was excited to try it again. I was seated on the patio and had a nice view of the WS lagoon. For lunch I had the mixed green salad with the mustard vinaigrette for my app. and the bangers & mash for my entree. I really enjoyed both of these selections. I had a Boddingtons to drink. I really enjoyed the lunch. I would rate this lunch a 4 out of 5. After lunch, I continued my way around the WS. I spent a lot of time in Morocco since there are so many neat areas to photograph there.

Morocco:

By the way, I should mention that the day was extremely humid! Luckily, I bought the single serving crystal light packets with me. By adding the crystal light packets to bottled water, I was able to drink a lot of water instead of my favorite Diet Coke.

In Japan, I got there just in time to hear the drummers. This was also about 15 minutes before Miyuki's next appearance. So, I went over to her booth and listened to the drummers from there. I was the first person waiting for the show. She must watch from somewhere, because when she came out, she started picking some of the kids that had been there early. Then although there were other kids around, she picked me. I asked her to pick a girl (young teen maybe) who had been waiting almost as long as me and who really wanted one. When she completed that one, she picked me again and I asked her to pick one of the kids instead. Basically, I really enjoy watching btu I wouldn't be able to get the candy home without breaking it. If you have not seen her, make sure to watch her show because she is amazing!

After all of that standing, I was definitely hot. So it was time for a pistachio gelato. I continued to wander my way around the WS. I stopped for a while in China to photograph the warriors. This exhibit was one of the reasons that I carried my tripod. The room is fairly dark so it is hard to get a good picture.

I stopped for school bread in Norway. It was excellent as usual but it really is too big for 1 person. I probably ended up eating about 3/4 of it and it became my dinner.

About 7 PM, I was getting tired from carrying all of camera equipment. I ended up finding a bench right next to the lagoon in Canada and I ended up sitting there & setting up my tripod for Illuminations. I then spent the next 2 hours people watching and talking with the people near me. I have never really photographed fireworks before so this was an experiment for me. I had posted a thread on the photography board and I got excellent recommendations on how to photograph them. I even printed the responses out and took them to WDW with me. But do you think that I looked at it in my room before leaving for the park? No! Oh well, at least I was using a digital camera so it really doesn't cost me anything to experiment.

After Illuminations, I waited a little while for the crowd to clear and then started heading out. As I was walking out, it started to rain and I got the bus canopy just in time because it started pouring! I didn't have to wait long for the bus maybe 10 minutes and since I was near the front of the line I was able to get a seat on the bus. The trip back to SSR was quick. I think that I was in my room by 10:15. I was able to watch most of Lost that night!

 

[Donald is #1]

This was another early day. I was up at about 7 and only 3 days into the trip, my shoulders were really bothering me from carrying my camera equipment. I guess that it is because normally on a vacation, I am not carrying my equipment all day long. Normally, I am in the car for a few hours, get out and visit some place for a couple of hours, back in the car, etc. Luckily tomorrow, I will not be carrying all my camera equipment.

Anyways, in my last post, I mentioned that Artist's Palette didn't have Mickey waffles. Well in checking my notes, they do have them. Sorry about that.

Throughout my stay at SSR, I found that the buses were very quick. I don't think that I waited longer than 10-15 minutes for any bus either to or from the parks.

I was able to get to AK about 15 minutes before opening and once I went past security, the lines at the turnstiles were rather long. But remembering a hint that I learned on the boards here, I went over to the Rain Forest Cafe and cut through the gift shop to the turnstiles on the other side. At these turnstiles there was only 1 person in front of me. Using this path, I was able to get to the area in front of the tree of life in time to watch the opening. The opening here is cute. It is short; so I wouldn't get to park opening just to watch it. But if you are planning on getting to the park at opening anyways, get there a few minutes early to see it.

AKL opening:

After the opening, I slowly wandered my way over to the safari. The park was quiet enough, or maybe with Everest, everyone is over there now, that I was able to go on the safari twice within less than an hour including the ride. Basically, when I got over to the safari, I got a FP right away and then went on the ride using the standby line. Once I got off of the safari, it was time for my FP so I went on again. I will probably mention this again, but I think that I saw more animals on the safaris on this trip than I had in my previous trips. There seemed to be lots of animals out there. Here are a couple of photos from the ride:

I have always loved this ride but I could probably do without the big red/little red story line.

Once you get off of the safari, make sure that you stop at the first viewing area. It is on the left as you exit the safari ride but before you get to the entrance to the Pangani Forest trail. I almost walked right by it but decided to look. There are 2 gorillas in this enclosure and probably about 3 out of the 4 times over my trip that I stopped had great views of the gorillas. They were actually the most active on this visit:

Gorilla #1

Gorilla #2 - He was actually carrying the branch on his back.

.

After my second trip on the safari, I went over the the Pangani Forest Trail. This time the trail was very disappointing. I ended up somehow timing it wrong and the trail was filled with people! There were so many people on the trail, that I ended up just quickly walking through it without spending the time that I normally spend on it. (Later in my vacation when I was on it, it was much less crowded and I enjoyed it.)

After the trail, I decided to get an early lunch. Now, one of the goals on this trip had been to eat at restaurants that I had not eaten at before. So because of my goal to try new places, I went to the Pizzafari for lunch -- big mistake! At Pizzafari, I got ther hot Italian sandwich with chips & I diet coke. I was very disappointed in the sandwich. I found it very salty and ended up only eating about 1/2 of it. overall, I would rate the Pizzafari a 2 out of 5.

After lunch, I took the trail behind the tree of life over to Asia. When I was at WDW in October with my sister & her family, we were looking for this trail but it was blocked off. It used to be open all of the time but I believe that it is now used as the exit for Its Tough to be a Bug. Today, I found the trail open so I followed it. If you get a chance to take this trail, there are some different animals on it that you won't see on the other trails plus you get to see the tree of life from a different angle. There is even a nice small waterfall on the trail.

Once I was over in Asia, I found that it was about 15 minutes before the next Flights of Wonder Show. So after stopping for a Mickey bar to make up for my disappointing lunch , I decided to watch the show since I had never seen it. The show was cute but not something that I would want to do everytime. If you like bird shows go ahead and check it out. Also, the show is slightly different at different times. The show this time ended up being slightly different than the one that I saw a few days later.

My next stop was the Maharajah Jungle trek. This trail was not very crowded at all so I had a great time on it. The tigers decided to sleep in view of everyone so I was able to get some nice photos.

One of my favorite parts of both the Maharajah and the Pangani trails is the avaries. One of the things that I have learned about these areas is that to really enjoy them, you need to take your time. If you walk through the avaries quickly, I have found that you only see a few of the birds. But if you stop and take your time to look around, you can really see a lot of birds.

After the Maharajah trail, I went and watched Its Tough To Be A Bug for the first time. Now, your question probably is, why is this my first watching ITTBAB when this was my fifth trip to WDW since AK opened. Well, my first couple of trips after ITTBAB opened, the lines were just too long. On my last trip, we ran out of time and my niece is very afraid of bugs. Also, I am not a big bug person either. But I did enjoy the show. It is not one of my favorite 3-D shows at WDW but I did enjoy it.

By this point it was only about 2 in the afternoon, but it was very hot & muggy. So I decided to head back to my room to download some of my pictures. The mousekeeper came in while I was downloading my pictures to clean my room. Since I was at SSR on a cash reservation through CRO, I had mousekeeping service every day. I left a mousekeeping envelope each day, but the only day that they took it was on this day when I pointed it out to her. She seemed very surprised & happy to get the tip! Next I wandered up to the Spa to make a massage appointment for Sunday afternoon.

At about 5, I drove over to Boardwalk. I had a 6:00 ADR at Spoodles. I ended up getting there about 1/2 an hour early. When I went into the Boardwalk entrance, the guard directed me over to a parking lot that was near the guard gate. I didn't realize it at the time, but I should have used the valet parking. I was using the DDE card for my meals so the valet parking was free, but for whatever reason, I decided to park in the normal parking lot. The walk from the parking lot by the guard gate is actually a bit far since you need to walk through the BWI to get to the boardwalk itself. Even though I was 30 minutes early, I was seated very quickly. The restaurant wasn't that busy when I got there. But by the time that I was done the restaurant was very full. My meal was excellent. I would rate it a 5 out of 5. Based upon recommendations on these boards, I had the Margherita Flatbread for my app. and the cornish game hen for my entree. Both selections were excellent! I didn't have dessert because I was too full from my meal. By the way, if you like dipping oils & olives, the dipping oil that they serve with the bread (normal part of the meal not one of the starters) is incredible. Instead of pepper & 1 or 2 herbs that most places use, this oil was full of items including chopped olives. One of the reasons that I didn't have room for dessert was that I ate too much bread with the dipping oil!
I finished dinner and I still had about 1.5 hours before I was to meet the people that I was doing an Illumination cruise with. So I spent the next 1.5 hours wandering around the Boardwalk, Yacht Club & Beach Club areas and just soaking in the atmosphere. I hadn't been in the boardwalk area since 1999 and I had forgotten how nice it was. After a lap around the lake with a few stops, I decided to get a fried ice cream at one of the kiosks on the Boardwalk. If you like fried ice cream, skip it here. I was disappointed in it. The ice cream itself was good, but the coating wasn't like the other fried ice creams that I have had. It didn't stick to the ice cream at all and was kind of soggy.

Finally, it was getting closer to the time for the Illuminations cruise and I went over to the marina at the Yacht Club. After sitting on a bench for a few minutes, I saw a group of people come over. Now, I was going on the cruise with someone from these boards, goldilock63, adn her family. Since we had never met, I didn't know if these people were the people that I was going with. So, I really confused these people when I walked up to them and asked one of them if they were "Goldie". They just looked at me very weirdly and said no. I then quickly explained that I was meeting some people for the cruise that I had never met before and they still looked at me strangely. Oh well, a few minutes later, Goldie and her family did come. Goldie's group included herself, her daughter, her brother, her sister-in-law, her brothers kids and one of their friends. I had a awesome time talking with them both before the cruise & on the cruise. (Goldie, if you are reading this ) They really made me feel like one of the family! If you ever have a chance to do a cruise, go for it! The cruise was very relaxing. On the boat, they had sodas and bags of chips. But I was too full from my meal earlier. The cruise first went up the canal slowly towards MGM and then turned around and went to EPCOT. The entire way, the lights are on along the paths and at the hotels so besides being peaceful it was really lovely to watch. They timed it so that we got to EPCOT just before the fireworks started. They anchor the boats under the bridge closest to the UK between the UK and France. The view from here is awesome! After Illuminations, it was back to the Yacht club to say goodbye to my new friends. I made a quick stop at the Boardwalk Bakery to get a muffin for breakfast the next morning and then back to my room.

 

[Donald is #1]

This was the day that I was looking to with apprehension prior to my trip. Would my best friend's mother like EPCOT or hate it?

Well, after eating the muffin that I had bought the night before in my room for breakfast, I headed out to EPCOT. As usual, the wait for the bus was short and I was at EPCOT fairly quickly. My BF & her mother were staying off site so we met in front of the Peter Pan topiary. I was a little early as usual, but I didn't have to wait too long. My BF rented a scooter for her mother and as we were going over towards the Land, they told me the story of their "adventure" with a scooter the day before at Sea World. Apparently, when they picked up the scooter, the people at the rental place didn't give them any instructions. So when BFM (Best Friend's Mother) went to get on the scooter, they had the key in the scooter and she mistakenly put her hand on the bar that causes the scooter to go. So it started moving before she sat down. The result was that she fell and scrapped her ankle fairly badly. Now according to my BF and her mother, the people at the rental booth did nothing about it. My BF had to take her mother over to first aid on her own. Once they got to first aid, the people there helped her mother and got very upset over how they were treated at the rental booth. In the end, someone, probably in management, went over to the rental area and spoke to the person (or people working there) and they offered BFM a free scooter. But by this time she was afraid of the scooter, so my BF ended up pushing her around Sea World in a wheelchair.

So now at EPCOT, they are trying the scooter again. My BF said that the people at the rental both at EPCOT spent a good deal of time going over how to use the scooter. So, BFM was able to use the scooter at EPCOT but it took her a little while to get the speed figured out and every time she got out or got in we went through the same procedure.
1) Take the key out
2) Show BFM that the key is out
3) Get off (or on the scooter)
4) If BFM just got on the scooter, put the key in.
Now as we did this the first few times, I'm thinking "Once she gets used to it, she will just leave the key in". But no, I was wrong. We went through the above procedure every time we stopped.

So, our first stop was the Land so that we could go on Soaring. If you have never used a scooter in the land, go to the left as you enter and follow the walkway. Just before you get to the stairs and escallator that ends near Soaring, go to the left and you will find the elevator. This elevator is small so that really only 1 scooter or motorized wheel chair and a couple of people can fit into it. As soon as the doors of the elevator open, BFM started to get on without looking if anyone was getting off. So, we had to stop her so that the people on the elevator could get off (argh!!!). Once we go down in the elevator to the bottom (first floor? or is it basement?), we needed to do some manuevering to get her away from the elevator. This was because the area outside the elevator was cramped (near the exit to Living with the Land) and there was someone else waiting to go up. Finally we are down, and we get FP's for Soaring. While waiting for Soaring, we went on Living with the Land. All three of us enjoyed this ride. After the ride (the wait had been very short), we still had time before our FP, so we went over to the Imagination Pavillion and went on Journey into Imagination with Figment. Again, we all enjoyed this attraction. I am really glad that Figment is back in this show/ride. At this attraction and the Living with the Land, BFM transferred from the scooter for the ride. Unfortunately, at this attraction, they don't move the scooters to right where you get off. You have to walk up the corridor a bit before you get to the scooters.
Well, now it was time for our FP. Unfortunately, BFM didn't want to go on it because she gets motion sick. So we left her up by the Imagination Pavillion where the fountains are while we went on Soaring. We had a very short wait and as usual, Soaring was awesome! We both really enjoyed it. Though we were surrounded by a school group on the ride. So, our row was me, BF, and a bunch of kids (probably in the 10-13 year old range). So as we are waiting for the ride to start, the kids start swinging the row back & forth. Of course trouble maker that I am, I put my feet down and press against them so that it doesn't swing. Of course the kids were yelling back & forth to their friends in the rows around us. But once the ride actually started they were well behaved & enjoyed the ride.
After Soaring, we got BFM and headed over to Mission Space. BF had done Mission Space a little while after it opened before the green side opened. She enjoyed it, but I haven't been brave enough yet to try the orange side. When we got to MS, BFM decided to wait outside. The standby wait for the green side was only about 5-10 minutes so we went on the green side. (Pheww, I dodged the orange side again!.) On our ride BF was in the pilot position which made her really happy since she does have a pilot's license.

By the time we left Mission Space, the World Showcase was open so we headed over to Canada. Our pattern in WS ended up following the same pattern in basically every country.
1) Either me or BF, would tell BFM which country we are in.
2) We ask BFM would you like to look at the stores? BFM = No
3) We would then "suggest" that we look around a little.
4) Basically, all we could do was get her to look around at the outsides of the buildings!

So, country#1 - Canada, BFM doesn't want to see anything or go in the stores, so we look at the topiary and then go over the the UK.

At the UK we were starting to get hungry. So, we stopped at the benches the over look the lagoon just before the pub and BF & I go over to the Yorkshire County Fish Shop to get us all fish & chips plus beer for BF and me. We all enjoyed lunch (rating = 4 out of 5) and it was very nice sitting and looking at the lagoon. After lunch, we went over to the garden in the UK, but we couldn't get BFM to look in any of the stores. (Do you sense a pattern here?).

Our next stop was France and we decided to go to the movie. OK, we really didn't ask BFM, we just told her that we wanted to do it. The next show wasn't for some time, so BF & I went over to the pastry shop to pick up dessert. We ended up with:
me: Strawberry tart (4 out of 5)
BF: Some type of chocolate dessert (5!)
BFM: Strawberry Mousse (4).
We each tried a bit of each others and were very full when we headed into the movie. BF & I really enjoyed the movie but I am not sure about BFM. I think that she liked it but she really didn't give us any feedback.

At Morocco, BFM didn't want to stop at all. She just kept going towards Japan. Morocco is one of my favorite places at EPCOT and we didn't spend any time there. Luckily for me, I was able to visit it on the other days of my trip.

In Japan, BF was able to get BFM to go up in the garden but that was it.

In the USA, we again didn't really give BFM a choice. We were about to go in but the CM stopped us to tell us that the Fife & Drum group was about to start. So we stayed in the canopy area since it was hot and enjoyed the group. The show that they did was different than the one that I had seen 2 days earlier. After the fife & drum group, we went inside and took the elevator upstairs. This is the first time that I have seen the Voices of Liberty from above. I always love to listen and watch the Voices of Liberty. Again, their show was different than the one that I saw 2 days earlier. Finally, we saw the show. Again, I love the show in the American Pavillion.

In Italy, we got BFM to look at the architecture a little because we mentioned how much it reminded us of Italy. But we still couldn't get her to go into any of the buildings.

Well, so far so good for the scooter. But.... that would soon change. I should say that overall the crowds were not bad at EPCOT throughout my trip. This day was the Friday before Mother's Day weekend (5/11) and by the afternoon, the crowds had started to pick up but it wasn't all that crowded. I don't think that we stopped at all in Germany, but my BF may have stopped in the Hummel shop.

Throughout our time in EPCOT, BFM kept worrying that either someone would take something out of the basket on the scooter when she wasn't in it and that if either I or BF stopped that the person who stopped wouldn't find us. On the stuff in the basket, sunglasses, maybe a hat, etc, she just wouldn't believe me when I told her that it would be find. When one of us stopped to look at something, BFM just couldn't figure out how that person would know where we were. I guess that the fact that the WS is a circle, just never really suck in.

We got to China just a few minutes before one of the acrobat shows. We got there early enough that BF tried to get her mother to move up near the rope, but BFM didn't want to. As a result, the area filled up and people were standing in front of us so that we could only see part of the show. I knew that was going to happen, especially since I decided to lean on the railing at the back of the courtyard. But BFM got very frustrated by the crowds watching the show. (Here is where the day goes down-hill) So as the crowd was leaving after the acrobat show, BFM really had some problems driving the scooter. As we were passing Norway, she hit someone! I was following behind her and she basically veered into a man walking in the same direction. It was basically a sideswipe of him. Now I held back a little and the poor guy was hurt! But BFM just kept going and didn't say anything. When I caught up with BF & BFM, I was very annoyed and I made a comment about the guy being hurt. BFM, says, "He walked right into me." Argh!!! I was behind her and I saw her drive into him! BF was just as annoyed/frustrated as I was.

We didn't stop in Mexico because we were going to be back for dinner and we went down to the fountain area. BFM wanted to buy something for BF's sister so I suggested MouseGears. Since BF & I needed a break from BFM, we decided to split up for about an hour. We left BFM by the fountain & Mousegears so that she could shop and we went off for a while. We first stopped at the butterfly garden and it was really cute. Next we went on Space Ship Earth and then we went in the exit to Mission Space to play the game at the end. This game can be fun, but the crowd wasn't very large to there were only about 7 people on each side. We still had a good time, but it is more fun if there are more people playing. I think that we were the only adults playing at that time. If you go to Mission Space, the game at the end can be a lot of fun if you have time. Last October, my nephew played it and had an awesome time!

At that time it was time to meet up with BFM and head for Mexico. When we met up with BFM, she told us that she basically hung out in the fountain area. She did go into the butterfly garden but she didn't like the chains that were hanging down (to keep the butterflies in) and when she went in (or out - I'm not sure), she ended up running into a woman!

We went into Mexico and after some frustation gettting BFM down the ramp. Basically BF walked in front of her to make sure no one was in front. BF & I did El Rio del Tiempo but we couldn't convince BFM to go on it. This was my first time on it since they made the changes. I liked it with the changes. But then again, Donald is my favorite!

After the ride, we went looking for the restrooms, but they are in the restaruant and you ahev to walk down the stairs. So, we decided that it would be easier for BFM of we headed to the restrooms over in Norway. So, back up the ramp and over to Norway. Of course, once we are all "rested", we need to head back into Mexico. So up the outdoor ramp and then down the ramp again into the interior. So, we were early for our ADR but we were all tired. So, I got in line to check in. The line was fairly long, but I got to the front about 30 - 45 minutes before our ADR.

OK, time for another aside. Before the trip, when BF & I were talking about spending a day in EPCOT, I asked her where we should go for dinner. Her first choice was Tappanyaki, but that was closed during our trip. So she decided on San Angel Inn. I questioned it at the time asking if she was sure that her mother would like it. She said yes. Partway through this way, I asked again, and she said that her mother would like it. (We should have gone with my gut feel.)

So back to dinner. Warning for anyone using a scooter: If you can't or won't walk down 3 stairs or so, don't eat at the San Angel Inn. We learned this the hard way! So, back to the story, I am at the podium and they say that even though they are booked and we are early they can seat us. So, we look around and ask the CM how we can get BFM down to the table. The CM says that she will need to leave the scooter and walk down 3 stairs. BF says that her mother can't do the stairs. So, we look at each other for a few seconds and the CM says, well, there is another way if she really needs to use the scooter. A CM then takes us down a ramp the runs between the restaurant and the entrance to El Rio del Tiempo. It ends up that the ramp is narrow and at the end is an area that they use for bussing tables. Well BFM can't make the turn in her scooter. So they have to move some stuff and BFM still can't get through. Finally with a lot of help from BF, she gets through. But now there isn't enough space for the scooter near the tables. So, we sit BFM down at the nearest free table and BF backs the scooter up the ramp. Ok, its finally time for dinner! Yeah! BF & I look at the menu and have trouble picking something out because there are too many things that we like. BFM now starts complaining that it is too dark to see the menu and when BF reads her the menu that there is nothing that she likes. By this time I can't wait to be on my own again! So we end up having:
App: Nachos split between BF & me. Very good. I especially liked the addition of sausage to them.
Entree me: Mahi-Mahi - Excellent! It really had a nice sauce with it
Entree BF: Chicken dish (I think Pollo a las Rajas) - Excellent
Entree BFM: she ended up getting a corn chowder app as her meal.
From a food point of view I really enjoyed it, I would rate it a 4.5 out of 5.
During dinner, BFM started suggesting that BF should join me for another day during the vacation. They had reservations at Discovery Cove on the next day (Saturday) and we both had different plans on Sunday evening. They had a free day on Monday, but I had the Keys to the Kingdom booked. So we decided that they would move their free day to Sunday and BFM would stay at the hotel while BF & I went to another WDW park. This actually complicated my plans a bit because I had a massage appointment on Sunday evening. But we decided that we would meet for the morning and afternoon on Sunday (another solo day gone!).
After dinner, we didn't want to deal with the scooter again. So we had BFM walk up the ramp and got the scooter at the top of the ramp. By this time we were all tired and even though I had the wrist band for EMH, I decided that I would head back to SSR at the same time that BF & BFM were leaving.
They tried to insist that they would drive me back to my resort, but I said, no thanks, it is real easy to take the bus (which it is) plus you will have to pass through security. Ok, I really just needed a break, but the ride back to SSR never seemed so peaceful!

 

[Donald is #1]

Well, this day didn't start off too well but ended up being an excellent day.

So, is anyone else like me? Do you ckeck your pockets, wallet, etc, every time you are about to leave your room to make sure that you have your key? Well for some reason, this morning when I was heading up to Artist's Palette for breakfast, I put my wallet in my pocket but I didn't check for my key. So, I went to Artist's Palette and had breakfast. After breakfast I headed back to my room to get my stuff that I wanted to bring to MK with me. I got to my room, opened my wallet, and ..... no key! So, I had to walk back up to the Springs area and get a new key. Luckily, I had my wallet with me so that I could show them ID. The CM seemed surprised that I knew that I needed ID to get a new key. She asked if I had forgotten my key before. I replied no; I just assumed that I would need to show ID to get a key. So the moral here is, if you are going to forget your key in the room, make sure that you have ID with you to prove who you are. She make me a new key quickly and I was back to my room. Of course my original key (now trash) was sitting on the table in the room where I left it.

Due to this slight delay, I didn't get to MK until about 9:30. When I arrived, I took my time walking up Main Street and stopped in a few of the stores. Of course I had to buy more pins that I really don't need. Got to keep that WDW economy going!

My first ride of the day was Pirates of the Carribean and I was able to walk right on. As a matter of a fact, there was no line what so ever! I loved pirates as usual! (I was on the re-vamped version in October also.) Next I went over to Big Thunder Railroad and walked on it also. I rode this coaster for the first time in October and I was surprised how much I loved it. I am not a big roller coaster person since I don't like the big drops. Accordingly, I have always been afraid to try Big Thunder Railroad on my previous trips. But when I got up the courage and rode it, imagine my surpise that I liked it! .

Since I have never done Country Bears Jamboree, I decided to head over and check it out. The wait was short and although I thought that it was cute, I think that I would only do it again if I was with someone who wanted to go. Next I headed over to Tomorrowland, got a FP for Buzz Lightyear and then headed to Cosmic Rays for lunch. I had tried Cosmic Rays during my trip in October and really liked it. This trip I got the same thing that I had in October (Bacon Double Cheeseburger). For a counter service place, I would rate this a 4 out of 5. I really like all the stuff on the condiments bar. I end up burying my burger in sauteed mushrooms and onions! My only complaint about Cosmic Rays is that there are 3 separate lines depending upon what you want. So if you are with your kids and someone wants a burger, someone wants chicken, and someone wants something from the third counter (sandwiches & salads maybe? I can't remember), you may need to stand in line 3 times!
After a relaxing lunch, I used my FP on Buzz Lightyear. During the ride, it stopped in one of the rooms for a few minutes so I was able to rack up lots of points. I ended up with over 200,000 points which for me is incredible! I next got a FP for Space Mountain and then headed over to Monsters Inc Comedy Club. The wait was probably about 10 minutes. When we got into the theatre, I ended up sitting at the end of a row in the middle of the theater. I didn't think anything about it while I was waiting but it dawned on me as the show started that it wasn't my smartest move. They tended to pick on the people on the end of the rows towards the center for the show. So, if you don't want to be "selected" then make sure you sit in the middle of one of the rows. Actually, I was picked and if I was, I would have played along. I enjoyed the show! Yes, a lot of the jokes are dumb but they made me laugh! So this attraction will be added to my "do" list. When I got out, it was time for my FP so I went to Space Mountain, but the ride was broken. Now, I have read a couple of times on these boards that when Space Mountain is broken, the lights are on & you can see it from the TTA. So, I ran over to the TTA and got on immediately. I actually really enjoy the TTA. It is a slow ride but I like relaxing on it and seeing Tomorrowland & the castle from a different point of view. Well, when my car got to Space Mountain, the lights were on in the loading area but they went off just as my car was passing it. oh well, I didn't get to see the internals with the lights on. It will still have to be a mystery. Since I knew that Space Mountain was working, I went over as soon as I got off the TTA. I know that I mentioned earlier in this post that I am not a big roller coaster person, but I have always loved Space Mountain! After Space Mountain, I went over to Mickey's Philharmagic. This show is my favorite 3-D show in all of WDW. Of course it probably helps that I am a Donald fan. But I really love it!

After Mickey's Philharmagic, it was probably about 3:00 or so. I had an ADR at Kona at 5:10 but I decided to cancel because I just wasn't going to be hungry enough. I headed back to SSR to do some laundry and relax for a while. Since I had a studio, I had to use one of the laundry rooms. I ended up choosing the one by the Springs. Since I was carrying laundry (a good excuse at least), I drove over to the Springs area. Luckily, there was a washer available when I got there. So I put my laundry in and went up to the porch area by Artist's Palette to sit in a rocking chair and read my book. It didn't take me too long to do my laundry and it was nice and relaxing just sitting there enjoying the Springs area, reading, and drinking free diet coke from my mug. Of course the mug costs about $12. So I had to make sure that I used it enough! Once laundry was done, I headed back to my room to relax for a while. At about 6:30 I headed back to MK with my camera gear and my book.

I had directly over to the Noodle Station and I ended up getting Chicken Teryaki with rice. I had never eaten here before and it was only OK. I would rate it about a 3 out of 5. After my meal, I went over to the Main Street Bakery and got an ice cream sandwich. I took the sandwich back to the noodle station and found a table right at the railing with a nice view of the castle. By now it was about 7:00 and I sat down to people watch and stake out my spot for the fireworks (3 hours later). For some reason, the ice cream sandwich wasn't as good as the one that I had in October. Maybe it was because the cookies in October were just out of the oven and nice & warm. The ice cream sandwich was good, just not as good as I remembered.
I really enjoyed myself waiting for the fireworks. I read my book, people watched, and time talking to the family at the next table. They were also eating there and waiting for the fireworks. They were celebrating the 3rd birthday of one of their little girls and were having a great time. I set up my tripod very early so that 1) the space was saved and 2) people would hopefully get the hint that I would be standing during the fireworks. Once it got started getting dark I took a few pictures of the castle:

Castle from the Tomorrowland Noodle Station

Between reading, people watching and talking to my neighbors, the time really went quickly and I found it very relaxing. I was surprised that I could see Spectromagic from my perch at the noodle station. It was not a great view, but it was better than being 5 or more rows back in the crowd. From where I was I didn't try taking any pictures of Spectromagic since I was too far away and my flash would not go that far.

For the fireworks, I used tips from the photography board. I set my camera to focus on the castle and then put it into manual focus. Here are a couple of pictures that I took of the fireworks:

I definitely still need some practice taking fireworks pictures, but it was fun. I am glad that I took my equipment and used it on the fireworks. It would have been much easier if I wasn't solo, but I still enjoyed myself. I just made sure not to drink too much water or soda that night so that I wouldn't need to make trips to the ladies room. (Because, i would need to take my equipment with me and hence loose the spot that I had been staking out. ).

After the fireworks, I packed up my equipment and took my time heading out. When I got to the SSR bus stop, I was able to get on the next bus!

So ends another awesome day at WDW!

 

[Donald is #1]

Well, day 6 of my trip was actually Mother's day. When BF & I were discussing going to a park on Sunday (i.e. day 6), we were debating which park to go to. We finally decided that because it was Mother's Day that EPCOT and MK may be crowded. So we decided to go to AK. (Later during the week, I spoke with someone who had been at EPCOT on Mother's Day and they told me that it wasn't that crowded. Oh well, we out thought ourselves! )

I was up very early this morning (6:30) so that I could make it to AK my 8:30. As usual, I went up to Artist's Palette for breakfast and then it was on the bus to AK. The bus came so quickly, that I actually made it to AK by 8:15. My BF ended up getting there a little after 8:30. The lines at security were short but the lines at the turnstiles were fairly long. So I told BF to follw me and we cut through the Rainforest Cafe store to the turnstiles on the other side. Similar to my earlier day at AK, the line at this turnstile was very short. I think that there was maybe 1 or 2 people in front of us. Since it was Mother's Day, there was someone giving out carnations to all of the mothers entering the park. I thought that it was a nice guesture by WDW. Since neither BF nor I are mother's we didn't go over to get a flower. We walked over to the bridge in front of the tree of life and watched the opening ceremony. Once the park opened, we headed directly for Expedition Everest so that BF could ride it. Again, I chickened out and I waited for her to ride. As I was waiting for BF, I noticed people all excited leaving the EE gift shop with dream fast passes. So, of course , I wandered into the gift shop and saw the dream squard handing out the Dream FPs as people were getting off of the ride. I hung around right at the exit until BF got off. We then stood there and mad a lot of noise examing her FP and saying how great it was. Well, the CM's overheard us (as they were supposed to ) and asked if we were at the park together. Then they asked if I had been on the ride and I said no. The CM told us to wait outside the giftshop until they were done and then maybe they would be able to give me one to. So we obediently went to the exit of the gift shop and waited patiently until they came out (at most 15 minutes). Well, pixie dust rained down on me, they had a few dream fastpasses left and there was only 1 other group waiting with us. So, I was able to get a Dream Fastpass also!

Lessons learned: If only part of your group gets the Dream Fastpasses, wait patiently until the dream squard is done and if they have any left, you may be able to get them for the rest of your group.

After EE, we headed over to Kali River Rapids. I don't remember if I had mentioned this in one of my other posts, but I had never been on Kali River Rapids. For whatever reason, whenever I have been at AK, it has been cool out and since I am no longer a teenager I didn't want to get soaked when it was cold. But today was very hot, so it was time for my first ride on Kali River Rapids! We got there before it opened (it opened at 9:30 that day -- the park opened at 9) and the line was very short. So we went in the Standby line and we only had to wait about 5 minutes or so before the ride opened. We ended up being one of the first groups on. I had a very large slide lock bag with me. So I placed my hat and fanny pak in it before I placed them in the storage area in the center of the raft. I also used a smaller bag to hold my wallet. It's a good thing that I put my wallet in a bag (I kept it in my pocket) because we got soaked! The water in the storage compartment wasn't that bad but I am glad that I used the bag anyways because I was wearing a new white baseball cap that I bought at MK the day before. I really enjoyed the ride! It could have been a little longer but it really is a lot of fun. After the rapids, we went over Maharajah Jungle Trek. As I mentioned in a previous post, I really love the 2 treks at AK. We took our time walking through the trek. We really ended up spending a lot of time in the aviary; there were just so many birds to look at.

My favorite parts of this trail are the tiger exhibit and the aviary.

I'll re-iterate something I mentioned in one of my previous posts. When you are walking through the avaries in either Asia or Africa, you need to really take your time and stop and look around. If you take your time, you will see so many neat birds!

Next we went over to Africa & used the first tab off of our Dream Fastpasses for the Safari. As usual, the Safari was awesome! I just love seeing the baby giraffe.

After the Safari, we went on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. It wasn't crowded at all and we were able to take our time. My favorite parts of this trail are the gorilla exhibit and the aviary.

By the time that we finished the trail, it was time for lunch. We went to the Tusker house and we both ended up having the rotisserie chicken. I really love the meal here. I would rate this meal a 4 out of 5. Hopefully, the new restaruant here will be as good as the current Tusker House.

After lunch, we started to head over towards Nemo. We decided to stop along the way get see Pooh & Eeyore. The line was really quite short and we had a great time getting our pictures taken with them! Well we made it to Nemo just before the show started. We were able to get in a find a seat in the back. Unfortunately, we were only able to see the first part of the show. After about the first act, the lights suddenly came on and they said that the show had to be cancelled. Unfortunately, we weren't able to see a later show because of an appointment that I had that night. After part of Nemo, we headed over to Dinosaur. I really like Dinosaur but I can't ride it more than once a day due to its bumpiness. After Dinosaur, BF decided that she wanted to see Flights of Wonder. Just my luck that I had already seen it a couple of days before. Oh well, I liked the show and my BF loved it! It was a slightly different show than I had seen a couple of days earlier.

Next we went to Kali River Rapids again! This time we didn't get any where near as wet as we did the first time. But it was still fun! Finally, we went to EE again so that BF could ride it again!

By this time it was almost 3:30 and I had to think about getting back to SSR for my massage! Well, BF wanted to go to MK. So we decided to drive in her car (she was staying off-site) over to MK. From MK, I took the bus back to SSR and then we would meet up again at MK.

By the time that we actually got to her car and drove to MK, it was time to take the bus to SSR. I was able to get back to my room in time to clean up a little bit a relax. My massage was at 6:00 and really was nice & relaxing. It definitely more expensive than what I pay at home (almost twice as much ) but it was great! I am definitely glad that I made the appointment. The Spa at SSR is very nice. Like many spas, they have you change into a rode and spa shoes. I like the spa shoes (massaging sole flip flops) but I can definitely do without the Spa robes. Can anyone sit in one without having to hold the bottom section closed?

After my awesome massage, I headed back to MK to meet BF. She was able to do a few of the rides and had a great time. We walked around a few minutes and then decided to eat at Pecos Bills. In case I haven't mentioned this yet, my first trip to WDW, 20 years ago, was with BF and her sister. During that trip, Pecos Bills was our favorite restaurant. So, it was fun to go back there again. I had the bacon cheeseburger and BF had the pulled pork. We both enjoyed our meals and definitely loved the fixin's bar. I would rate this meal 3.5 out of 5.

After dinner, we were able to walk onto Pirates of the Carribean. By the time that we got off of Pirates, it was almost time for Wishes. So we headed to the Castle and we were able to find a spot in the center area. We were in the section to the left if you are looking at the castle from Main St. Wishes was awesome! I think that Wishes is currently my favorite nighttime show at WDW right now! After the fireworks, we decided to wait around to let the crowd clear out. We found a bench and people watched for about 20 minutes. Once the crowd had thinned a bit, it was time for us to head out and for me to head back to SSR.

Again, another great day in WDW!

 

[kapoof]

I LOVED your pics!! thanks so much for sharing.

 

[Donald is #1]

I LOVED your pics!! thanks so much for sharing.

Thank you so much! I will probably have a bunch more in my next installment because it is for the day that I moved to AKL!

 

[byoung]

Great report and pictures, thanks.

 

[CPer'sMom]

I'm really enjoying your report and your pics are great! Looking forward to your next installment .....

 

[OhMari]

I'm glad you enjoyed your sharing of your illuminations cruise. I really wish i would of signed up and shared one with a DIS member. Did you see any other DIS members?

Enjoying your pictures and your report.

 

[momtoccc]

I'm enjoying your report - I'm thinking about a short solo trip when I go to Orlando for a company meeting next May. Nice to see other people enjoy a solo trip.

 

[Donald is #1]

Great report and pictures, thanks.

I'm really enjoying your report and your pics are great! Looking forward to your next installment .....

I'm glad you enjoyed your sharing of your illuminations cruise. I really wish i would of signed up and shared one with a DIS member. Did you see any other DIS members?

Enjoying your pictures and your report.

I did run into 1 other Dis member. She was in line getting her EMH band at MK one evening. However, by the time that I sat down to write in my notebook, I had forgotten her name. But I do remember that she was from Mass.

I'm enjoying your report - I'm thinking about a short solo trip when I go to Orlando for a company meeting next May. Nice to see other people enjoy a solo trip.

I really enjoyed this trip and even though it was 12 days including travel I didn't get bored at all.

 

[Donald is #1]

Day 6:
I am sitting here typing in my report for day 7 and I realized that I forgotten one of the neat things that we did on day 6. So excuse me as I do back a bit first.

Remember that BF & I drove in BF's rental car from AK to MK. Well when we got to the Monorail, I noticed that there was no one waiting in the front. So I asked the CM if we could sit up front. He asked if we were trouble makers and of course we lied and said no. So we were up front. Right after we asked another group of two asked so the 4 of us got to sit up front. I have never sat up front and I don't think that BF knew that you could ask to sit up front. It was awesome! The view from up front is awesome! We were each given a monorail pilot's card.

OK on to day 7:
So this day (Monday 5/14) was a little crazy in the morning. I had booked the Keys to the Kingdom (KTTK) tour for the same day that I was changing resorts. All week, I had been debating in my mind whether to drive to MK so that I could drive directly to AKL or to take the bus to MK and then take the bus back to SSR to get my car. If it was any park but MK, I would have driven over to it, but since if I drove to MK I would still need to take the monorail ( or ferry) I decided that I would take the bus. I had reserved a spot in the 8:30 tour and before that I had to pack up my car and check out of SSR. So I was up very early - 6:00 AM - in order to get the car loaded up. Since I had the rental car and I was just changing resorts, I decided to not really pack. I put all of my clothes back in my suitcase but I didn't pack in any of the souvenirs that I had bought. This was definitely not my smartest move. Later in the day when I was checking into AKL I had to make about 3 trips to the car. More about that later.

Well the car was packed fairly quickly and I drove it up to the Springs area. Unfortunately, Artist's Palette does not open to 7 and I was there at about 6:50. The opening hours of counter service restaurants was one of the advantages that I found with AKL (Mara) versus SSR (Artist's Palette). I checked out of SSR and then waited for Mara to open. Once I grabbed a quick breakfast, I walked over to the bus stop to wait for the MK bus. Well as luck would have it, the bus came quickly (doesn't it always when you have plenty of time) and I was at MK at about 7:50. I was able to go through security and the turnstile, but they held us at the entrance to the tunnel at the railway station. At just about 8:00, they started letting people with early tours and breakfast reservations in. I went in and checked in at City Hall. I then had about 1/2 an hour before my tour. I spent that 30 minutes, enjoying a Main St with almost no one around.

Castle before opening

Main street from the castle before opening

City Hall before opening

Well soon enough it was time for the KTTK tour. Pictures are not allowed on the tour, so I kept my camera in my bag. My tour guide was Matthew and he was excellent. He started off my explaining the second floor windows on Main St. Then we headed over to Adventureland and Frontierland. Along the way, we would stop for a few minutes and he would tell us more about Walt and WDW. He took us behind the scenes at Splash Moutain and we were able to see the floats for the parades. Next he took us on the Jungle Cruise. We had a boat to ourselves and they kept the bought away from the other boats so that Matthew could tell us about the ride without other people hearing us. Next we went on the Haunted Mansion and then it was lunch time at Columbia Harbour House (included with the tour). They had our lunch waiting for us in one of the rooms upstairs.
I had the fish & chips and they were excellent. I would rate Columbia Harbour House (CHH) a 4 out of 5. If you are looking for a quiet place for lunch at the MK, check out the CHH and when you get your meals, head upstairs to sit down. It was very quiet up there while we were there. After lunch, we headed to the behind the scenes area of the Jungle Cruise and then we went down into the Utilidoors. We ended up coming out of the Utilidoors on the other side of Main St. This tour was awesome! We went from about 8:30 until about 1. Although there was a lot of walking, they also found places for us to sit down while Matthew was talking to us. I would highly recommend this tour if you want to learn more about the MK and Walt!

After the tour, I stopped in one of the shops to pick up a shirt for my niece and then headed for the bus so that I could get my car and drive over to AKL!
When I got to AKL, I couldn't figure out where I could park my car near the entrance to unload without doing the valet service. I am sure that there is an area there but I guess I was just being dense! Anyways, I parked the car in the self park lot and brought my camera and suitcase up to the lodge. If you can remember from my post on day 1, when I went to AKL that night for dinner at Boma, I thought that the lobby was very dark. Well, when I entered the lobby this time, my first thought was that the lobby wasn't that dark at all. There was almost on line for check in but I had to wait about 1/2 an hour for my room. While I was waiting, I left my bag with the bell hop and took my camera and wandered around the resort. I had booked a Savannah view room and I ended up with room 2241. It was in the second building from the lobby overlooking the Arusha savannah on the Kudo trail. Here are some pictures of the room:

Well, as soon as I walked into my room, I went out to the balcony and my thought was: "There are animals out here." Now I know that you are laughing at me, because I booked a Savannah view room and I knew that there were going to be animals. But, for me to acutally see them was incredible. I made the decision right there just a few minutes after walking into my room for the first time to buy into the AKV! The bell hop delivered my bags very quickly and I went back to the car and made 2 (!) more trips carrying everything up to my room. So, what did I spend the rest of the afternoon doing? Well, I went to Mara and bought a mug, filled it with Diet Coke and sat on my balcony and watched the animals! Here are some of the pictures that I took that afternoon from my balcony. (The closeups were with a 300mm lens.)

For dinner that evening, I had a reservation at Jiko. This meal ended up being the best meal fo my trip! They sat me at the seating area where the appetizers are prepared so I was able to talk to the chefs during my meal. I had the North African-spiced Beef Bastela for my appetizer plus one of the chefs gave me some of the cucumber salad to try. For my entree, I had the Berbere Braised Lamb Shank and I had the Psitachio Creme Brulle for dessert. I also had a glass of African wine with my meal. This meal was incredible -- definitely a 5 out of 5!

After dinner, I went out to the viewing area by the pool and was able to look at the savannah with night vision goggles. I had never used night vision goggles before so it was really neat seeing the savannah and animals in the dark.

I finally made it back to my room and I noticed that I could see a Zebra out there even at 9:30 at night!

So ends another awesome day!

 

[DreaGirl]

I just found your report and I love it! The pictures are amazing and your dining reports are very helpful.

I'm sorry about your experience with BFM. That had to be frustrating, but it sounds like you handled it well.

The rooms at SSR looks so nice and relaxing! I must say that I love the room pics at AKL too and the view is amazing.

Can't wait to read more.

 

[BriarRosie]

Your pictures are amazing! I stayed at AKL for the first time in a savanna
view room in December, 2001. I remember going to change for dinner on
our first night, and I saw out the window that we had zebras. I remember
shouting over the phone to another friend staying at another resort:

"We have ZEBRAS!" Heheheh.

And I am in the same situation as you. Part of my time is solo, the other
part of the time I'll be hosting three people, two of whom I'm related to.
And they haven't been to WDW for 30 years. Luckily, they DO enjoy going
into shops, so I know World Showcase will be fun for them.

I'm looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[Donald is #1]

I just found your report and I love it! The pictures are amazing and your dining reports are very helpful.

I'm sorry about your experience with BFM. That had to be frustrating, but it sounds like you handled it well.

The rooms at SSR looks so nice and relaxing! I must say that I love the room pics at AKL too and the view is amazing.

Can't wait to read more.

so much! I really love to take pictures so this has been a great way to share some of them. I'm glad that my dining reports have been helping.

My sisters were actually laughing at me when I told them that BFM was spending a day with me. (And they will be again when the read my description of that day.) But it was only one day of the trip and it really helped BF to have someone else to help for one day of her trip.

On SSR, I was very surprised how relaxing it was! It was such a nice walk from my room up to the springs area every day. I really took my time and just soaked in the atmosphere.

Your pictures are amazing! I stayed at AKL for the first time in a savanna
view room in December, 2001. I remember going to change for dinner on
our first night, and I saw out the window that we had zebras. I remember
shouting over the phone to another friend staying at another resort:

"We have ZEBRAS!" Heheheh.

And I am in the same situation as you. Part of my time is solo, the other
part of the time I'll be hosting three people, two of whom I'm related to.
And they haven't been to WDW for 30 years. Luckily, they DO enjoy going
into shops, so I know World Showcase will be fun for them.

I'm looking forward to the rest of your report.

When I got to my room at AKL, I was really glad that I had my big camera with my lenses. I think that for future trips to AKL or AKV, I will bring my big camera and at least my long lens just to take pictures at the resort.

I'm glad I am not the only one that had the same experience at AKL. It was just so amazing being able to see the animals from my room.

Good luck with your trip. As you said, since your family/friends like to shop, you should have an awesome time in EPCOT.