Wednesday 16th September.
We had an early start to the day again so I asked Niel to go and choose some snacks and grab some coffee while Ethan ate his breakfast in the room. That kid got so into Phineas and Ferb he knew the theme song after two days now if only he could remember his manners so quickly
We all got ready for the day, my trusty handbag was Rhino's transport for the trip as well as carrying the usual "MOM" stuff to make sure every eventuality was covered. Each day Rhino was removed from his comfy spot for a game of catch while I went through the bag check line (thank goodness it never took too long). The boys went straight through the no bag lines with no worries.
The park was busy at the front again Main St looked very busy for the time we arrived which was only about 9:15 a.m.
So Niel asked which way did we want to go, AFter taking a look at all the other guests following each other clockwise I said "Let's go anti-clockwise and get on Buzz" it's a family favourite. Niel and Ethan rode together it was a walk on no wait great
So I sat in the vehicle behind them and did my thing, they both laughed at my photo at the end until they saw my score 612,000 not bad so that put a stop to their laughter and they both asked "HOW?" I just shrugged it all depends on where you sit and whether the darned thing will work or not on other days I didn't even get above 80,000 so if the ride isn't working correctly you stand no chance. We did find the ride had a breakdown or two later in the trip but what can you do I still have our family's highest score
After there Ethan wanted to go on the Tomorrow land Speedwayso Niel said since there was no queue really we'd go in but Ethan had to ride with me which went down well.
From there we did some of the other rides like Mad Hatter's Tea Cups they span the cup way too fast for me and left me feeling dizzy then they went on the Carousel I didn't go on my head was still spinning from the teacups. After that we popped on the Winnie the Pooh ride (an old favourite from when Ethan was a baby but I doubt he'll ride it again.. he now thinks its okay but a bit young for him
) Then Peter Pan and then we decided since it was still early to pop to Columbia Harbour House a favourite place of ours now there was no one in the area and we were just about to go to Haunted Mansion when we noticed CHH was open from 10:30 a.m. and it was 10:35 a.m. so in we went...
It was quiet but everything was ready so we ordered
They were both tasty and fresh the apple crisp was delicious but very filling the sandwich was the Anchors Aweigh Tuna and Mayo with chips very moist but not soggy the shrimp were light and crispy and very yummy but the portion size was just right with the fries and a soda. Ethan had the usual chicken tenders and fries which were real pieces of chicken breast not chopped or shaped in any way and the fries were only lightly salted but good
After we had let that settle for a few minutes we popped over to HM it's one of my favourites and the boys both enjoy it too. I was a little disappointed to see the Liberty boat was no further into it's refurbishment it would have been great to ride it well there's always next time
We strolled over to Frontierland where the crowds caught back up with us so we headed to Mike Fink's raft to pop over to Tom Sawyer's Island on Ethan's insistance we go over to get some time away from the rest of the park for a while. That was a complete wasted journey the bridge over to the fort Ethan's favourite place was closed of completely no way were any of the guests going to be able to explore the island so we headed back. It amazes me how many idiots never listen to the CMs one teenage boy was sitting somewhere he shouldn't and despite the CM's warning refused to budge until he was told " well we are only looking out for your welfare don't fall of and get chewed by the alligators" to which the lad replied there weren't any "You wanna bet" says the CM "we just had Animal Control from AK over here last week to remove a 5ft one from next to the dock and another one was spotted on Bay Lake just a few days before that" so the daft lad finally gets the message and the CM tells all the guest to keep their hands arms and legs inside the raft and supervise their children. Wow I've never seen a teenager move so fast to get off the raft
So we made our way over to the Mercantile store (I like my pins) for a peek at the merchandise and as were were there the boys said they wanted to go on SM and BTMRR so off we went.Again no fastpass was really needed the crowds had all gone for lunch so we walked on SM after getting a FP for BTMRR later in the day so we ended up riding that one twice. I do think though they should improve the lighting in BTMRR queues once you get inside the building where the ramps lead down to the ride it can be difficult to see your feet or anyone else's for that matter.Ethan rode SM with Niel and the BTMRR he took turns with me first and his Dad later in the day. Then on to see the update Hall of Presidents, I wasn't sure about this going in but it was greatly improved to what we had witnessed there before in the past few trips so not a bad experience and a brief history review is always good. We had saved our bottles of water from lunch to drink throughout the afternoon and still had a little left has we headed to POTC which is another family favourite. We loved it before they changed it to suit the films (just like HM) but love the new additions too. Okay I'll admit it I like JD he's a great actor what's not to like
The only thing they could have made better would have been the chance to stay aboard the ride like you can at DLRP but I digress. We often end up in the queue on the right hand side of the ride but this time we queued on the left which seemed slightly strange but still enjoyable I love the new mist effect of Davy Jones it works a bit like the water spray ones and "Fantasmic" but you don't get wet which is good.
After that we popped along to The Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (always good and great air conditioning) The Stitch Encounter and the Carousel of Progress and then headed out of the park to the boat dock for Wilderness Lodge.
The journey was very pleasant and we saw lots of birds and the monorail went past. We had a Dinner Reservation for 5:20 p.m. so we allowed an hour to get there. We were surprised by how many people just expected to walk up and be seated immediately. I checked us in at the podium and almost straight away we were seated and we had a lovely server Jennifer and I could hear grumbles from behind us as were were shown to our table. Now everywhere we went we were asked at some point if we were on the dining plan and had to show our cards so they could check our family entitlements. Jennifer was a hoot and very adorable she asked if we had been before and we said yes and we love the games and antics so she said welcome back. She noticed our anniversary pins and she was fantastic with Ethan I wish I could have brought her home with me
. We ordered a Mango Smoothie and a Mega Berry Raspberry Smoothie and Ethan had a Coke (he's not in need of a diet there's not an ounce of fat on him so he eats what he wants to on holiday)and the Canyon Skillet ,Ethan got a chicken one with cookie and fruit salad a good sized portion for a child almost ten years old and she told him if he wanted anything all we needed to do was ask.She then went and took our order to the kitchen, we watched the fun and antics while we waited.
A little while into the meal the Pony Express Ride was due to start so Jennifer asked Ethan to join in but he refused and she noticed he wasn't eating his potatoes so she asked him if he would like fries to which he said "Of course I would like some fries" so she went to get some and again she asked him to join in and again he refused so she said " well I don't believe it I've been so good to you and you don't want to do this one thing for me" and off she went to get this and said he had to stay there until he finished
Then just as we finished our skillet( and second helpings of the meats) Jennifer asked if it would be okay if they did something special for us since it was our anniversary and we said yes, she said it might be a little odd but that something was arranged for us before dessert was to be brought out. We told her it's okay just do what you need to and we'll be good sports about it so off she went and after about ten minutes came back and announced to the restaurant that we were celebrating our 16th Wedding Anniversary and that we had been "going hot and heavy for a while" so we should have a celebratory kiss to show how much we still love each other and handed us two glasses of champagne to toast each other with. So we did as we were told
and did the unmentionable a PDA to Ethan's surprise
The photo's a little blurry it was taken by a kind volunteer from the next table so if that was you "Thankyou"
this was then followed by these two yummy rich chocolatey slices of heaven which we had asked for to go because we were so full and they survived the journey back to the hotel room intact (amazingly) to be eaten for supper.We left Jennifer a $20 tip for such a great meal and wonderful service we'll be back again in the future. The whole day was good and I remember being told years ago by someone that it often pays in huge dividends to travel the path less travelled and find your own inner peace. Well today certainly was a case of taking the path less travelled and we avoided long lines and queues and saved our sanity too.
"CAUTION LONG POST"
so we sat back and tried to enjoy the 2 hr 30 minute journey from our home town to Manchester Airport but due to track repairs we went the long way around once we got there we grabbed some snacks from the railway cafe and shared them out. Eventually we got there to the airport level above and made a decision to walk with out cases to the overnight stay hotel. It worked quite well but we wouldn't do it during the working week. Our room was okay but you needed the room key to operate everything which was annoying. We had noisy neighbours that night (and a very hard bed with soft pillows) 
and despite earplug use we still heard them so we only had a couple of hours interrupted sleep. We headed down for breakfast at 7:00 a.m. it was delicious full irish and it filled a gap. Then back up to the room and packed up and locked the cases and checked out and caught the shuttle back to the airport the road was crazy busy and we were over to the terminal for 8:00 a.m.. The place was manic ... the quick drop line was gone despite our flight not being due to depart until 10:25 a.m. so we tried to use the quick service kiosk well guess what it wouldn't work despite the airline staffs best attemts another kiosk had to be used and over-rided. At last we went through security and over to the shopping area, I've treated myself to a really cute Swarovski cat face necklace. We spent a little time at the gate and once we were called through we switched our watches to USA time and took some Jet Ease. We took off late due to some straggling passengers but eventually got going. Here's a couple of shots for you ..
So as you can imagine we were very hungry when we landed but we tried to focus on the task ahead and whisked through Customs and Immigration with no problems and made our way to Magical Express there were quite a few of us Brits on the bus which was only shared with Saratoga Springs and Old Key West
We found ourselves at the hotel in about an hour. The view was great and the CM at the front desk was great Myk was his name and he was very helpful. More to follow keep popping by 
what was that all about
ours tasted of fish seriously who fries dough in a fish fryer
Oh yes here we are...
