One Couple's Trip w/Free Dining Sept 2005 - Day 6 & 7 has just been added

[dwmlaf]

Sun - 1st Day - 9/18/05

Cast of Character’s

Me – (43) Did a lot of planning and wanted this trip to be perfect
DBF – (58) Doesn’t care what happens because “WE ARE ON VACATION”

We are ready for a vacation after dealing with the influx of 40,000 new friends and neighbors who were evacuated to Lafayette, LA from Hurricane Katrina (little did we realize what Hurricane Rita was going to do when we got home).

Alarm goes off at 4:30 am in the morning to catch a 5:45 am plane. Thank goodness 2 weeks before Hurricane Katrina hit I had changed our airline reservations from flying out of New Orleans to Lafayette. DBF still hasn’t said thank you to me for changing our plans at that time. Sheeeze the things the “Planner” has to go through without any gratitude.

We have a friend who came in from Colorado to take a mini vacation with us before we left; she changed her flights around because of Hurricane Katrina so we convinced her to stay in our home while we were gone because Hurricane Rita was swirling around the Gulf. Luckily, we did. I would have had a lot more damage to my home if she wasn’t around to take care of things when Hurricane Rita hit.

The friend dropped us off at the airport (20 min ride) and we were off. No problems leaving Lafayette or at our stop over in Atlanta. Smooth sailing.

We arrived in Orlando around 11:00 am. We had to go get our baggage since Magical Express still had my flight information for New Orleans on our tickets. I was able to check in and get our information changed for our return flight. We jumped on the bus and were the 3rd stop on ME’s route.

Arrived at Port of Orleans Riverside around 1:00 pm. Was able to get my one request for a smoking room but not my request for the mansions. Oh well, it ended up working out for the best. We were in Alligator Bayou #18. Close to the bus stop and main building. The quiet pool was on the side of the building. I never did make it to the main pool, I walked around it once and it looked like a great place for the kids to have fun. We were also on the free dining pkg.

We spent an hour trying to hook up the laptop to broadband (which POR just recently installed). I was beginning to hate that computer but DBF is on a high priority job for his company. His boss kept forgetting we were going to be on vacation so that is why he ended up working on part of this vacation. But, thanks to Hurricane Rita he couldn’t work on the computer or telephone conference calls after Wednesday because everyone was evacuating.

DBF insisted we at least see the Magic Kingdom first. I know, try not to go anywhere on your arrival day. Basically, I only planned on going on the Jungle Cruise (FP), Pirates, Tiki Birds, Haunted Mansion, It’s a Small World and possibly Carousel of Progress before we had to meet a fellow Dis’r at the Grand Floridian for our Wishes Cruise.

There was nobody at Magic Kingdom it was incredible. We arrived around 3:30 pm and got the following completed.

We jumped on the train (as the last float was going by from the parade).
Got off at Adventureland
FP Jungle Cruise
Went to Pirates (10 min stdby) in actuality it was a walk on
Walked into the Tikki Birds (I swear that Tikki God was constantly winking at me)
It was time for us to get another Fast Pass, so we walked over to see how the lines were at Splash Mt and Thunder Mt. Splash was 10 min stdby and Thunder 20 min, so we grabbed a FP for Thunder and rode Splash (walk on).
We went to Thunder and walked right on (we couldn’t even give away our FP).
Went back to Jungle Cruise and walked on (didn’t need to use our FP).
Looked around the rest of Adventureland and then walked over to Main Street and grabbed a hot dog at Casey’s Corner.
Left the Magic Kingdom by 5:30.

We took the monorail over to the Grand Floridian. Very nice resort but too stuffy for DBF and I. Wandered around for awhile trying to find the dock we were suppose to meet for the Wishes Cruise. The bell man tried to send me back to the Magic Kingdom for the Spectro parade (which wasn’t even running on a Sunday). The Concierge tried to tell me that they don’t have any cruises and tried to send me back to the Contemporary Resort. I gave up and went to the dock and waited until somebody showed up that worked there. Sure enough a Lifeguard came up to me and asked me if I was going on the cruise.

We met up with everyone who was on the cruise. Our DIS’s boyfriend had informed all of us that he was going to propose to his girlfriend while the show was going on so we were to keep it a secret. It was a very nice evening, the driver (Scott) took us around the lagoon and showed us the back of the Wilderness Lodge and had us guess what animal is on the back of the lodge (it is in the shape of a bear). We had an excellent view of Wishes on the water, it was a great day to start our vacation

We arrived back to the Grand Floridian around 8:30 or so and DBF and I decided to get a drink up at the bar on the second floor. I mentioned to DBF about the Electric Parade would start around 9:00. The waitress told us how to get on the balcony around the corner. We took our drinks out there and watched the parade go past the Poly Resort. After the parade we grabbed a cab back to POR and were back in our room by 10:30, lights out by 11:00.

 

[dismom9761]

Great start.I also went last September and everything was a walk on.I agree about the Grand Floridian.Nice to visit but I don't see myself staying there-especially with my kids.

 

[TLinden16]

You sure got quite a bit accomplished at the Magic Kingdom! Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip.

Thanks for posting.

 

[dwmlaf]

September I so far have found is the best time to go. Here is day 2


One Couple’s Trip – 2nd Day – Mon 9/19/05

Cast of Character’s

Darcy – (43) Did a lot of planning and wanted this trip to be perfect
DBF – (58) Doesn’t care what happens because “WE ARE ON VACATION”


First I wanted to give you an update of POR. I was not able to get a mansion like I requested but we were able to get Alligator Bayou #18. DBF and I felt we were back at Yellowstone because of the toilets. I don’t know if it was our room or if they are all like this, but every time you flushed the toilet a geyser of water would come out of the bowl. We ended up having to shut the lid, flush and then raise up the lid again so we could get the seat to dry off for the next person to use. Then on top of it you couldn’t lean against the headboard at night because of the wood pieces for decoration, reminded us of the hotel we stayed in Casper, WY. Our trip last year to Yellowstone was one of our favorite trips and we sure felt at home while staying at POR.

Also, we were very impressed with the transportation service at WDW. We hardly ever waited for a bus, loved the boat ride to DTD, and we used the monorail quite often. Even DBF commented that he couldn’t understand why anyone would want to use their cars at all down at WDW.

We started our first day at MGM.

We didn’t arrive to MGM until 9:10 – DBF had to check his e-mails from work. We get through the front gates and before we could do anything DBF had to check in with his boss (in FL we are one hour ahead from LA). No answer from his boss (good – now on with our vacation).

We FP RNR and Rode RNR – we were practically the first people on. Then off to TOT. I was dreading TOT because I don’t do heights very well and I won’t let you know how I handle turbulence. I ended up loving this ride. We grabbed a FP for TOT after riding.

DBF had to call his boss. His boss for some reason forgets we are at WDW and thinks we are in Ohio. Go figure. Anyway, I have a great picture of DBF in front of TOT while he is trying to convince his boss that he is looking at TOT. DBF even took the phone and faced TOT so his boss could hear everyone screaming on the ride. It was too funny.

We then walked over to the Great Movie Ride. Actually, I think this was the longest line we stood in during our entire trip. This was because we started at the door. Watched the movie. They loaded up once and then we were next on. I would say it was a total of 15 min. It was a good ride and we both enjoyed the show.

Then off to Star Tours. We get ready to load on to the ride and the CM looks down the hallway and noticed nobody else was coming. So he says pick whatever seat you want, I think there was a total of 6 people. I enjoyed this ride more because there was 6 year old in front of me. He was yelling out the whole time “DAD I LOVE THIS RIDE”, “LOOK DAD WE ARE SHOOTING THE SPACESHIP”. Dad was trying to get him not to yell, I thought it was great that the boy was yelling it showed that he was having a great time at WDW.

We walked over to LMA to get a FP before lunch. They weren’t offering any for the 12:00 show. So we went to the SCI-FI diner for our 11:00 ADR. We were on the free dining plan, but for this meal we paid for out of pocket to save some credits. 11:00 is early for DBF to eat lunch so we ended up splitting a Reuben sandwich, which was quite good. Then only complaint DBF had was he thought they would show a full length movie instead of just movie trailers. Oh well, I just thought it was neat with all the different cars.

Saw LMA for the 12:00 showing. The CM’s told everyone they could practically sit anywhere they wanted. I went near the top and sat in front of a fan. DBF really enjoyed the show. Anything that goes BOOM he is in 7th heaven. I thought the show was quite interesting, I won’t say why for those of you who have never seen the show.

After LMA we walked through One Man’s Dream, and then we left MGM @ 1:30. It was starting to get hot.

We went back to POR and I used the pool while DBF checked his work e-mails. When I came back to the room we discussed what we wanted to do. Originally, I was going to maybe go to DTD or the Boardwalk for dinner. But, since MGM was totally dead I decided we could go back to MGM have dinner and see Fantasmic. I called Dining and see if I could change my Fantasmic ADR for the Brown Derby from Saturday to today. I know, I know, I was taking a chance but what the heck it doesn’t hurt to try. Anyway, I was able to change the ADR only I couldn’t get the Fantasmic pkg with it. I thought oh well, I figure it didn’t matter since their wasn’t that many people there that we could get a seat. So I was able to get a reservation for the Brown Derby for 6:30.

First, to let you know I really messed up. I forgot to change my watch to FL time. On LA time we arrived back to MGM at 5:30 we used our FP for TOT, walked over to RNR to use our FP, we ended up just walking on and not using the FP because that line was closed.

I look at my watch and said “Oh time to go to the Brown Derby”. That is when DBF said “Aren’t we already late?”. That is when I realized I hadn’t changed my watch. We went over to HBD and they took us right away, it is now 7:00 (FL time). We apologized profusely about being late to the waiter and how we wanted to make it in time to see Fantasmic. The waiter said no problem. We really enjoyed our meal and had the waiter box up our desert. This was one of DBF’s favorite meal.

We walked real fast to Fantasmic and we missed maybe 5 min of the show. We couldn’t get a seat but had to stay in the standing area on the left side of the theatre. They wouldn’t seat us because we would disturb the other people. That was ok. We had a great view and we were one of the first to exit.

Back to POR to watch the updates of Hurricane Rita. Lights Out

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reports ~ Thanx for posting.

 

[dwmlaf]

Thanks. I may not be the most witties reporter, but I hope I can be informative for everyone.

Here is day three

One Couple’s Trip – 3rd Day – Tue 9/20/25

Cast of Character’s

ME – (43) Did a lot of planning and wanted this trip to be perfect
DBF – (58) Doesn’t care what happens because “WE ARE ON VACATION”

Today is the day I was not happy about. I had to rearrange our schedule the week before because DBF had to have a 2 hour conference call in the morning. I originally planned on going to Epcot. That wasn’t going to happen.

I then decided that since DBF had to spend the morning on the phone I wanted to go back and finish up MGM. So off I go stating to DBF “WE ARE ON VACATION” while going out the door.

I arrived at MGM at 9:30. This started becoming a pattern for our vacation. Not once did we make it to rope drop at any of the parks. Of course we couldn’t believe the how low the crowd levels where at WDW during our stay. There was no one there.

I went to the Muppet movie first, what a cute show! I haven’t seen a 3-D movie in probably 12 years. The last one I saw was at Disneyland with Michael Jackson. Technology has come a long way.

Next went to the Backlot tour. It was kind of hokey but it was interesting at the same time. Catastrophe Canyon was fun.

Then I ran into some of the characters on my way to The Magic of Disney Animation. After Animation I strolled through the park looking at the different style buildings. I liked MGM.

Grabbed the bus back to POR and arrived around 12:30. DBF was still on his conference call so I went to the pool until he finished.

I had planned on just going to Epcot WS only for the afternoon before our 5:00 ADR for the Spirit of Aloha Show. Crowd levels changed that plan. We arrived around 1:45 it started to POUR when we arrived (thanks to Hurricane Rita). Actually, Hurricane Rita was a blessing during most of our trip. It was cloudy, breezy and not much rain, this kept the heat down for us.

We planned on going on Spaceship Earth first to get out of the rain but it was down. So we ran over to Innovations until the rain stopped. I thought we would ride Living with the Land instead since crowds were low but the standby time was 40 min. Soarin only had a 30 min wait so I grabbed a FP. I did a mental calculation in my head by then, if Soarin was only 30 min I wonder how long TT and MS lines where.

So off we go to the other side. Test Track 20 min standby (NOTE: We had figured out the following: 10 min stdby the ride was a walk on, 20 min stdby was a 10 min wait and so on). So we went into the standby line and waited 10 min before we got a car. It was fun. Since we were already on this side of Epcot off to see how long MS was. MS was a 10 min stdby. We walked right on. DBF didn’t like this ride, he thought it was hokey. Mostly because he couldn’t play the buttons when he wanted too. Don’t ever go with an Equipment Manager to any theme park, if they can’t touch buttons, blow it up, or tear the equipment apart they will never be happy.

It was getting close to 4:00 so we went back to Soarin to use our FP. The FP line was longer than the stdby line by this time. We had reservations at 5:00 so we gave our FP to a couple in Wedding Mickey Ears. On the way out of Epcot there was no line for Spaceship Earth and it was back up and running. After Spaceship Earth we grabbed the monorail to the Poly resort.

The crowd levels will affect everything you do. Remember I had planned on only do World Showcase and we never made it over there. We got 2 of the major rides out of the way.

We arrived at the Transportation Center and finally found the way to walk over to the Poly. We had plenty of time so we went upstairs and had a drink at the bar next to O’Hana’s. Spent our time watching the updates of Hurricane Rita to see if it was going to head for Louisiana.

We saw the Spirit of Aloha show. DBF didn’t like it at all, I thought the ribs were good but there was WAY TOO MUCH FOOD for the two of us. The second half of the show I enjoyed. But like I reminded DBF it didn’t cost us a thing because we were on the free dining plan. I would never pay for this show it cost a $100.00 and wasn’t worth it.

I asked DBF on the way out if he wanted to go to the Boardwalk, DTD or just back to the resort. Since Epcot wasn’t very far I mentioned maybe going to see Illuminations. Anything that has fireworks DBF wants to go see it. This is from the man who has the official Pyrotechnics book on his nightstand. DBF also does an “automatic” set up of fireworks for all our friends and neighbors on the 4th of July and New Year’s Eve. So back to Epcot we go.

Grabbed the monorail and walked over to the World Showcase. What a long walk. We ended up seeing Illuminations in front of the McDonald’s snack shop, next to the UK. Not the greatest place to watch Illuminations but we enjoyed the show. Afterwards while waiting for the crowds to die down we walked all the way around the World Showcase. If you are not tired after Illuminations I would highly recommend doing this. It is quite romantic, nobody is around and you can see the different lands still lit up.

By the time we walked all way around the lands, we grabbed our bus back to POR.

 

[OhMari]

Thanks for sharing, I hope you continue.

Who is Dis that got engaged? Do you mean another Dis member?

Inquiring minds want to know, LOL.

 

[1stTimeDisneyer]

Great Report!

 

[dwmlaf]

Wasn't me - I got engaged on Chrismast Eve.

I left out the other Dis person's name wasn't sure if she would mind or not.

Since it was awhile ago her name is Tamarra (I can't remember her screen name). If she wrote a trip report back in September I am sure she was excited and let everyone know. I met her by answering her request on this board for more people to join her on a Wishes Cruise. It was a great way to start our vacation. Very magical. In fact, we had another wedding couple with us on the boat also.

 

[dwmlaf]

One Couple’s Trip – 4th Day – Wed 9/21/25

Cast of Character’s

ME – (43) Did a lot of planning and wanted this trip to be perfect
DBF – (58) Doesn’t care what happens because “WE ARE ON VACATION”

I originally planned this day to go to Epcot and then to AK for just 3 shows (Flights of Wonder, Kilimanjaro Safari and the Parade). Since we covered most of Epcot the day before we decided to just go to AK for lunch and see what we could see.

We arrived at AK by 11:30. I looked at the show times schedule and the Festival of the Lion King was starting in 10 min. Off we go. Great show.

I had planned on eating at the Tusker House so we decided to get FP for the Safari then go to Tusker House for lunch. After lunch we went on the Pangani Trail while waiting for our FP return time. I still can’t understand why people don’t use FP, the line was 30 min long and we ended up in the second Safari bus. We saw lots and lots of animals. It was great.

We then went on the Maharaji Trail while waiting for the 3:00 show of the Flights of Wonder. DBF loves these types of shows and so do I. Nobody was there; they didn’t even fill up the stands. After the show we went to see how long the line was for Kali River Rapids (20 min which means a 10 min wait). Bought DBF a Mickey Poncho and off to the rapids. We didn’t even get wet.

Time to get a place for the Parade. We finally decided to pick a spot from right across the exit of It’s a Bugs Life (which also ended up being the wheelchair viewing area). Watched the Parade. I loved this parade, such interesting floats. When they opened the ropes we walked right into the next showing of It’s a Bugs Life. This was the first 3D movie DBF had seen yet at WDW. DBF has coke bottle glasses and always said that 3D movies don’t work for him. Technology once again proved him wrong. He loved it.

We decided to see if we could get on to Dinosaur by chance, so we walked over and got right on. By this time it is 4:45 (park closes at 5:00). We hurried over to Primeval Whirl but couldn’t go on it because it was closed.

We ended up doing all of AK and saw everything. I am now a day ahead of my schedule. We went back to the hotel and took a break before heading down to DTD to have dinner at Capt.’s Jack. We received a few phone calls from DBF’s work; they were evacuating and closing both offices in Houston and Morgan City for the arrival of Hurricane Rita. Yippee!!!!!!!! That means we are truly “ON VACATION” since now DBF doesn’t have anybody to conduct business with. Bless you “Rita” that is until I get home.

We took the boat from POR to DTD. What a beautiful ride. Just a note, Capon Jack’s doesn’t take reservations. When we arrived we told them we wanted dinner for 2 and they fill out a card and tell you what time to come back. Our return time was 8:21 pm. It was only 7:30 pm. This gave us a chance to visit the shops and start getting some of our shopping done for everyone at home. I sure love that part about shipping your packages to your resort. What a convience. DBF found his ultimate present for himself, the 50th anniversary WDW train (in gold of course) and an extra set of tracks for under the Christmas Tree. We decided to ship this item from the store to my work. That was a mistake, because of Hurricane Rita my work got 2 feet of water and mud. We never knew how they were shipping the item. Let’s just say we found that train about a week later and where I have to go pick it up.

When we arrived at Capt'n Jack’s we had to wait about another 15 min. The place is noisy but the food was great. We enjoyed our meal there. We were too tired by this time to bother with Pleasure Island and went right back to the resort.

 

[dwmlaf]

One Couple’s Trip – 5th Day – Thur 9/21/25

Cast of Character’s

ME – (43) Did a lot of planning and wanted this trip to be perfect
DBF – (58) Doesn’t care what happens because “WE ARE ON VACATION”

Thank goodness this was the one day we were back on my schedule that I originally had planned. MK day. Since we already tackled all of Adventureland on our arrival day, the rest of the day was going to be a breeze.

We arrived at 9:30 and headed straight for Tomorrowland. Since the crowds were so low, I think there may have been 30 people at the time in Tomorrowland we decided to get this area out of the way.

Went on Space Mountain. It was ok. I remember this ride having a lot more hairpin turns when I have ridden it at Disneyland (might have been my imagination). Or it might because I had so much fun when my daughter was old enough to ride it back then. She knew she was suppose to scream during the ride, but she had the hiccups and was laughing so much during the ride in Disneyland that I never laughed so hard in my life. I guess since she wasn’t with me this time, I didn’t get much out of the ride. Ahhh memories.

We went to Buzz Lightyear’s. DBF had fun with this ride (only because he can shoot at something). I used to hunt with my dad when I was younger and was a pretty good shooter. I swear my gun was not working. Let me just say my score was less than 100,000.

On to Carousel of Progress. I loved this one. I thought it was great, the animatronics where awesome considering at the time when Walt designed this show. We then decided to ride the Transit Authority. I thought at first it was going to be a real slow ride because it starts out slow, then you go around that first curve and your hair starts a little blowing (or maybe that was because of Hurricane Rita). DBF kept looking at Indy Speedway until I reminded him that it is a slow moving ride and that no matter how often he turns the wheel he isn’t going anywhere but in a straight line. That did it we are not going on Indy Speedway.

After getting off DBF wanted to ride the WDW train all the way around the park. I was thinking to myself that this is a dumb idea because I was sure the crowds were starting to arrive. Walked over to Toontown to grab the train. Saw some of the characters while waiting. Got on the train. When we made the stop at the Main Gate that is when we saw the crowd coming in (thank goodness) I was then able to convince DBF we need to get off at Frontierland and ride the train later.

We went to Thunder Mountain again (walk on) we both love this ride. Then walked over to the Columbia Harbor House for lunch for the fish basket. This was around 11:00. We both wanted to see the Country Bear Jamboree but it was about another 15 min for the next show. So we went over to Adventureland and did a little shopping.

Over to the Country Bears and enjoyed every minute there. We then went over to the Haunted Mansion another walk on. Originally the Liberty Square Riverboat was under refurb only until 9/22 but it was still closed. I never got to ride this ride when I visited Disneyland. Oh well.

After the Haunted Mansion, we walked over and grabbed a FP for Peter Pan’s flight. I wanted to see this one and also Snow White (never did get a chance to ride). We then walked over to It’s a Small World. We waited about 10 min. I had to laugh at the guy in front of us who was in our boat. When you first take off the restaurant above has windows (Pinocchio Village Hause) and some of the kids were waving to us when we took off. The guy in front of us turns to his wife and says are “Those kids part of the show? They look so real”. His wife and I almost fell out of the boat laughing at him. What a beautiful ride.

DBF and I then went to Mickey’s PhilharMagic (while singing “It’s a Small World After All), a 10 min wait. What an AWESOME movie. I think this was one of my favorite 3D movie (next to the Muppets).

Went to use our FP for Peter Pan. The stdby was 30 min long and we were the 3rd car loaded. Still can’t understand why anyone would wait and they were mostly adults. Incredible.

Went into Tink’s Treasure heard Tinkerbell but never saw her. Got a phone call from my daughter asking if her boyfriend needs to do anything for our camper or boat for the storm. She tells me everyone in Lafayette is acting crazy because of this storm, partly because we live so close to New Orleans and still had a lot of evacuees living in our town. I told her I don’t care “WE ARE ON VACATION”. Went through the Castle on our way out to catch the bus to POR it is now 2:30.

We leave POR around 5:00. We had ADR’s at the Concourse Steakhouse for 5:40. DBF has always wanted to stay at the Contemporary so I had planned on dinner at least. We get back to the MK to hop on the monorail and we had a slight accident. I won’t go into detail because it was embarrassing (nobody was hurt). So we told the bus driver we needed to go back to our room. Here is a note for anyone using WDW Transportation, ask where the bus is going after a drop off at a park. We thought we were going back to POR and we ended up at All Star Movies. When DBF saw those resorts he ended up being very happy that we were staying at POR because the tight budget person that I am I had suggested staying here. We couldn’t find a cab, but I told DBF if we got the bus to MGM or Epcot we could be at the resort faster. 5 min later a bus showed up for Epcot and we jumped on it. Of course, we got off at Epcot and decided to get a cab from there to POR.

After taking care of business we got on the bus to go back to MK. This was Spectro Magic night. We arrived around 7:15 and walked over to Liberty Square. I picked a wall to sit on across from Liberty Boat entrance (darn that ride not being open). Used our snack credits for some chips and cokes and waited for the parade. We were at the part where the floats have to turn to go down to Frontierland. It was an excellent spot. Since we go to so many Mardi Gras parades the best spot to get the beads is when a float has to turn (they take awhile to turn) that I got some excellent footage.

After the parade we headed to the Rose Garden. We had a bench all to ourselves to see Tinkerbell. DBF was enthralled; we didn’t know Tinkerbell was a real person. The only problem is during Wishes there were some trees blocking our way.

We walked through the shops on the way out and picked up a few items (love that package delivery) and caught the bus back to POR.

 

[jamal]

Great report! Thanks for posting. We love BTMRR too. My six year old thinks that 'is' Disney!

 

[dwmlaf]

One Couple’s Trip – 6th Day – Fri 9/23/25

Cast of Character’s

ME – (43) Did a lot of planning and wanted this trip to be perfect
DBF – (58) Doesn’t care what happens because “WE ARE ON VACATION”

This day was originally planned to go to AK. We didn’t need to go since we saw everything on Wed. We decided to go to Epcot. After watching the weather channel for Hurricane Rita landfall and deciding it was going to Beaumont or Lake Charles (not Galveston) we were off.

We first went to Soarin (20 min stdby) we waited 10 min. I swear some of these que’s are the longest part of getting onto a ride. I spent more time walking up to the rides than standing in them. Soarin was ok. We sat in the second row and what spoiled the ride for me was being able to see the people’s feet in front of me while we rode. We decided once was enough for us.

DBF loves gardening more than anything so we grabbed FP’s for Living w/Land. We went over to Ellen’s Energy Adventure. Actually, I thought the ride was pretty good. We missed most of the pre-show and got right on. DBF loved the dinosaurs.

Since we were on that side I was getting hungry so we went to Mexico for lunch (well at least me). I got a counter service at Cantina de San Angel and DBF went to Norway for a sweet treat. He had problems with his card again! So he had to pay for this pastry. We then went through Mexico and rode El Rio Del Tiempo. I felt this whole ride was a commercial.

We went to Norway and wandered around a bit, bought some booze for some friends of ours who have been to Norway and also helped tie down our camper and boat for Hurricane Rita. Rode Maelstrom.

We then wandered over to China for awhile. We didn’t bother with the movie. We were trying to find Christmas presents, didn’t find anything of interest since DBF’s first wife was Chinese and his kids have quite of few those items.

So we went over and saw Honey I Shrunk the Kids. This was my least favorite movie. I didn’t like it, there wasn’t much in 3D effect.

We then walked over next door to use our FP for Living with the Land (30 min wait). We were the 2nd or 3rd boat to load. DBF really enjoyed this ride. There were a lot of interesting details that WDW is doing in the greenhouse.

We left Epcot to go rest at the resort before our 7:00 ADR at Teppanyaki Dining. We went to the front desk to get DBF’s card fixed. Then we went to our room and neither one of our cards worked to get into the room. Down we go back to the front desk and let them know. They had the maintenance guy let us in and sent another crew to change the batteries in the door. I went to the pool for awhile. DBF got to stay and watch the handyman teach someone else at the same time to fix our door to our room. DBF had a great time with that since he is very big on maintenance programs and training new personnel. He even told the man that he was very impressed on how he was training the new guy to handle any maintenance call. I think after this demonstration he is quite sold on how WDW handles everything. DBF even mentioned he might put in an application to work at WDW since he was so impressed on how they handled everything. Oh if I can only hope on this.

We made phone calls to check on all our friends and families to see where they were going for Hurricane Rita.

We arrived at Epcot around 6:30 and admired the fountain on our way to Teppanyaki. We grabbed the Friendship Boat and got to our ADR just in time. There was about a 15 min wait so we went to the bar to have a drink and admire the view of the Lagoon. Our little buzzer went off and we were seated for dinner. We had a wonderful Chef who was quite funny. DBF loves Plum Wine and the Chef noticed how DBF was eating his food (since his ex-wife was Chinese) and was kidding him how Plum Wine was for women only. The Chef was quite authentic especially since everyone who is Chinese or Japanese knows that Plum Wine is very potent. I never cared for Plum Wine much too sweet for me.

By the time dinner was over around 8:45 we went down the stairs and stood on the side of the Tori. Excellent view for Illuminations. I love that lit of globe of the world. I think this was my favorite firework show.

We then went through the International Gateway on our way to see the Jellyrolls. We had a BLAST. So much fun. We then grabbed a cab back to POR around 12:30 am. Lights out by 1:30 – had to watch the updates for Hurricane Rita.


One Couple’s Trip – 7th Day – Sat 9/24/25

Cast of Character’s

ME – (43) Did a lot of planning and wanted this trip to be perfect
DBF – (58) Doesn’t care what happens because “WE ARE ON VACATION”

Today is our last day at WDW before we fly out the next morning. The only park we have not finished seeing was Epcot WS also we never got a chance to see the Hall of Presidents at MK.

We slept in and packed. Picked up all our packages and wrapped them all up to travel home with us.

So we grabbed the bus, it was crowded going through the gates this was the most people we ever saw on this trip. We went straight to the Hall of Presidents and really enjoyed the show. DBF and I are very patriotic people. We then went to Fantasyland and rode only the Carrousel. The line was too long for Snow White so we checked out any shops we had missed and got on the Monorail.

We grabbed the monorail and asked if we could sit up front. We were allowed to and DBF got the biggest kick out of that ride. We even got our special Pilot’s license when we got off at the Contemporary. I had mentioned to DBF if he wanted we could have lunch at the Concourse Steakhouse since we missed it the night before. DBF wasn’t that hungry so we wandered around the resort a bit and grabbed a counter meal downstairs.

DBF was complaining his feet were hurting. He only wears boots and since his tennis shoes do not have a heel he was feeling a little uncomfortable. I told him we can take the Monorail to TTC, grab the bus to MGM and take the boat from there to Epcot since we were only doing the World Showcase. No reason to walk all the way from Epcot’s front gate to the back. So that is what we did. The only problem was the boat stops at 3 different places. Then I made the mistake of when we arrived at the Boardwalk resort that I realized I still haven’t gotten my crosstich pattern for WDW.

When we got to the dock at the Boardwalk I saw a I sign on one of the stores saying “Thimbles and Thread” I told DBF they might have the cross-stitch pattern for our travel wall. We got off and found out they don’t carry them only at DTD. So instead of waiting for the “Slow Boat to China” I swear that was the slowest boat trip I have taken at WDW. We decided to walk over to the World Showcase. This was our only real hot day since it wasn’t cloudy anymore. OK we are from Louisiana, too us it was a normal summer day.

We walked over to France first since we ended up leaving at China the other day. I figured we would walk until we finished Germany then take the boat over to Canada. So we went through France, got to Morocco and received a phone call from some friends were having water coming up to their front door from Hurricane Rita. Got them in touch with my girlfriend who was watching over my house so they can stay there until the water receded. Then off to Japan. Saw the exhibit of the Tin Toys. DBF really enjoyed this exhibit. We didn’t spend much time in America.

While in Italy it started to pour. We saw some of Italy and decided to run over to Germany and sat down and had a beer and pretzel. Christmas Store was right in front of us – I LOVE CHRISTMAS STORES. Bought a Mickey Umbrella and a really pretty ornament for the tree.

Grabbed the boat to Canada and finished up exploring the lands in Canada and the UK. Walked to the front of Epcot and grabbed the bus to POR.

Around dinner time we decided to try our luck down at DTD for dinner. We missed the boat so walked over and grabbed the bus instead because there was such a line for the boat to DTD from POR. The resort was starting to get crowded because of the Triathlon the next day. We got the bus, went to Disney Art to get my crossstitch pattern. There were out of the one I wanted to get so know I have to order it. I was starting to get tired by this time. Instead of going to Pleasure Island we decided to take the boat back to POR and eat Boatwrights. It was a long wait so we saw the show in the lounge for awhile. Boatwrights was ok, but also the same time we were eating around 10:00 by this point and anything would have tasted good.

We had to get up at 7:00 to catch our bus to the airport at 8:00. I had checked earlier that morning to make sure the airport was open in Lafayette, La and it was. Going home was uneventful.

All in all we had an awesome time. We were relaxed and set our own pace. DBF couldn’t believe how much we accomplished (It helps to have a planner a long). We saw everything except for DTD. No biggie as far as I was concerned. We were also lucky we hit the right week to go to WDW. I plan on another trip when my grandson’s are older and I don’t care if I take them out of school for a week but I will pick the middle of September to go to WDW.

 

[tmtg]

good trip report

 

[byoung]

Great reviews.