Our Wonderfully Magical Truly Exciting and Never Dull Trip! I FINALLY FINISHED!! #60

[ericafny]

thanks for the update, Tom wants to try the brewery restaurant but he drags me to sooo many im thinking of nixing this one on our must do list! LOL Keep it coming I love youre reports!

The Big River Grill is pretty good and I would say try it if you have a night where nothing else is planned. The food was pretty good! Like my report said, DBF and I did not agree on the beer. I liked it, he thought it was alright.

Thanks for the comments! I will have the next report up soon. I just got a promotion at work but now that means more work (go figure ) Hopefully by tomorrow I will get the next part posted...

 

[dwheatl]

I'm with you on the smoking thing. I teach elementary school and I feel so bad for kids reeking of smoke from the family smoking around them.
We missed LMA because we waited for the late afternoon show and it go rained out. Who knew?

 

[ericafny]

Day Five (Part 2) – I’m Not Gonna Let It Rain On My Vacation!

I know this has taken me a LONG time to post but its worth it (I promise!)

So here we are at the Boardwalk, big dark rain cloud threatening to ruin our night at MK. We are minutes from our hotel and think, well we can just go back and have a relaxing night, maybe get a few drinks at the bar…or we can chance it and go to MK and hope the rain steers away some of the crowds. We decided to chance it and head over to the MK bus stop at the Boardwalk. The bus comes and as soon as we get on it starts to POUR. I had started to second guess our decision and when the bus pulled into the Dolphin stop I thought maybe we should get off here. It was one of those rain storms where everything gets dark and the wind picks up (hey doesn’t that sound like a hurricane???).

Have no fear though, once we arrived at MK the rain had subsided and the only trace of the storm was the huge puddles that were on the ground. YES! At this point it was about 8 and we knew the parade would be starting in an hour. I didn’t want to get caught up in the parade crowd (don’t worry, we eventually take time to watch it another night!) because I was on a mission to ride some of my all time favorites and new not so favorites at MK. We decided to stay in the Fantasyland/Liberty Square/Frontierland area, as even if the parade is moving through you can somewhat maneuver your way from one land to the next if you stay on that side of the parade route. We entered Fantasyland, and grabbed FP’s for Pooh. The jury is still out for me on this ride as I have very fond memories of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride from when I was a kid and was very sad when they took it away. Don’t get me wrong, I love Pooh, but couldn’t they have kept MTWR and added Pooh somewhere else?!?

Doesn’t matter now. So we got our FP’s and then waited in line for Snow White’s Scary Adventures. When I was little this ride was just named ‘Snow White’s Adventures’ and my dad took me on it and I totally freaked out in the beginning of the ride when the queen turns around and she is the old lady. I think Disney quickly realized they need to change the name and include the word ‘scary’ in there somewhere as even as an adult that still freaks me out! I do though enjoy this ride and find myself laughing the entire way through! After the ride we headed over to Frontierland and grabbed a FP for Big Thunder, then went back to Fantasyland to ride Pooh. Let me just stop right here for a minute and say this: we are two adults who are in average shape. This plan would not be possible if you have kids, a larger party, or someone who requires special assistance. The park was VERY crowded at this point especially since the parade was about to start. I do not recommend doing what we did unless you are able (and willing for that matter) to run from one land to the next through swarms of people.

OK, on with the report. So off we go back into Fantasyland. Forget what those ‘experts’ say that when the parade is about to start you will be able to get on most of the rides without a long wait. I don’t agree. Fantasyland was PACKED. I don’t know if it was because of the rain storm earlier and now people are making up for lost time, but even though we had FP’s for Pooh we still waited 20 minutes! We rode Pooh and it is enjoyable, the ‘trippy’ part where Pooh is dreaming is a little odd and I always look for where Pooh is being handed the deed from is it Mr. Toad(?) but I can’t seem to find it!

After Pooh the parade had started and we somehow managed to make it to Frontierland unscathed and ready to ride BTMR! I like riding this at night better than the day, I think it adds to the atmosphere of the ride. We flashed our FP’s and rode ‘the wildest ride in the wilderness’. While on the ride I could see parts of Spectro passing by. That was pretty darn cool!

After Big Thunder the parade had ended and we kind of wanted to stay for Wishes but I didn’t feel like dealing with the large crowds after the show. We decided to save Wishes for our last night (part of our original plan) and head on back to the Dolphin and beat the crowds. Plus, the sky didn’t look too promising for Tinkerbell that night and Wishes just isn’t complete without her flying out and lighting the fireworks!

We got back to the Dolphin in record time and I was in the mood for some ice cream! The Dolphin has a great counter service ice cream stand right next to the Dolphin Fountain restaurant. The ice cream was delicious and a perfect end to another perfect day! When we got back to the room I went out on the balcony and could see some of the fireworks used in Fantasmic. Definitely a cool site to see!

Stay tuned for tomorrow…we brave Blizzard Beach and do Epcot and AK that evening!

 

[ericafny]

This has been a long time coming, so enjoy...

Day Six – Blizzard Beach/Epcot/’We’re not gonna make it, we’re not gonna make it’ (AK)

So today we decided to brave a waterpark. I say ‘brave’ because I do not really like waterparks and DBF doesn’t like waiting on line for 45 minutes in the blazing sun while holding a 2 person tube…

We got up at 7 and since we were going to be in the water all day, no fussing was had this morning over hair and makeup and whatever else I fuss over. Breakfast at the usual spot-Picabu and off we were to BB. We arrived there at 9:15 and I must say that it wasn’t that crowded. It was morning EMH and I thought for sure we were screwed by arriving so late. Not so!

We had no idea where any slides were as I had only been there once (about 9 years ago) and DBF had never been there. So we threw our stuff in a locker and began to walk. We hit the Double Dipper first and waited only 5 minutes for that. I liked this one and thought it was really really fun! We did the double-tube slide. After DD, we hit up Snow Stormers and again only waited 10 minutes. We headed over to the red slopes after Snow Stormers and rode the double raft ride there (not sure what it was called). After this we wanted a little break and I wanted to ride the chair lift! I was definitely not planning on going on Summit Plummit or the other ginormous slide there, but I was curious about Teamboat Springs so I talked DBF into getting on the pretty long line for the chair life up to Mt. Gushmore. The line moved pretty quickly but since we were two they stuck a third person with us from the single rider line. I guess that’s why the line moves so quickly. The girl we rode with was nice, from the UK. She said she had been on Summit Plummit a few times and I told her there was no way I was going to go on that thing!

Once off the chairlift we headed to Teamboat Springs. Unfortunately we encountered a sign that stated this ride is for 4 or more people ONLY. What a bummer. How come we get penalized for only having 2 people in our party?!? Hmmf.

So there we were on top of Mt. Gushmore, and for a tiny moment DBF got brave and thought he may tackle Summit Plummit, but then that moment passed and we walked down the steps of shame to the bottom of the mountain. Everyone was pointing and laughing and calling us ‘sissys’. OK, just kidding about that part. Once down the stairs we decided to take a relaxing ride on the river (I call it a lazy river because there is a waterpark near where I live and that is the name of it). It’s not called that, but I totally forgot what it was called, but you all know what I am talking about! After the river I wanted to do Double Dipper again but this time the line was about 45 minutes long. It was about 11 at this point and the park was VERY crowded now. We both threw in the towel (both literally and figuratively) and headed back to the Dolphin to relax at the pool and grab some lunch.

Once back, we had another satisfying lunch at Cabana Grill and hung out around the pool. It was seriously about 98 degrees out today and you could not stay outside for very long without frying. After about an hour I couldn’t take it anymore so we went back to the room, showered, and headed to Epcot to hang out there and grab some dinner later on.

We arrived at Epcot around 3 and since it was still sweltering outside sought refuge in Spaceship Earth for the second time. After SE, we headed to Universe of Energy and I was happy that we walked in right at the beginning of the preshow. I really like Ellen Degeneris and I think she is hilarious so I kind of enjoyed this ride! The last time I was on it was well over 10 years ago and I am impressed how they changed it to make it more interesting. I always knew it as ‘the dinosaur ride’ and I never fully appreciated the opportunity for learning this ride affords. After the ride I woke DBF up (he falls asleep on everything that is slow moving and in air conditioning!) and we headed to Test Track and grabbed some FP’s. They were for around 7 pm and at this point it was around 5 so we headed over to World Showcase to kill some time. Since we had an early lunch we decided to have an early dinner and decided on Yakitori House in Japan. We shared the sushi and Shrimp Tempura with Udon Noodle. The food was OK at best, however the place was empty and air conditioned! As we were walking out the Japanese Drummers were performing so we stayed to watch that for a bit.

We meandered a little while longer and ended up in Germany. I was happily looking at the trains when all of a sudden the wind picked up and the sky got really dark. The wind got stronger and stronger and the glass kiosk by the trains was having some problems with the glass breaking because the wind was so strong. I felt really bad for the women working there because they were trying their hardest to keep things at bay.

And then the rain came….and it rained…and rained…and we walked around the shops in Germany…and it rained….and rained….and we sat on a bench under an awning….and it rained…and rained…no sign of stopping. After almost 45 minutes, it was still raining, but lighter now so we donned our stylish ponchos and headed to Test Track to use our FP’s. No such luck as it had closed due to the rain and they were unsure as to whether they would be opening it again this evening. Oh well. Since it was AK EMH evening, we decided to head there and check out what rides were open. Ponchos on again, and off we were to the busses for AK.

I thought for sure there would not be a lot of things to do at AK EMH to begin with, but because of the rain there was hardly anything to do. Everest was closed and while it was only drizzling now, they kept saying it will not reopen until the rain completely stops. You should have seen the madness that was going on over there. We headed to Dinosaur and walked right on. They made us take our ponchos off before we entered the building which I thought was weird. Once again, Dinosaur was awesome! I seriously love this ride, I may be in the minority, but I love it! Since not much else was open, after Dinosaur we ventured over to the circus, err I mean, Chester and Hester’s Dinorama. I talked DBF into riding Primevil Whirl after I assessed the ride and determined the puke factor was a 2 on a scale of 1-5. We actually enjoyed the ride and rode it was a small girl and her mother.

I wanted to play a game so we walked around and played the racing game where you roll the ball into the holes. I won, but I felt bad that I beat a little kid (if that was your kid I am truly sorry) and I won a red and yellow frog which is sitting on top of my tv now. He is cute and a nice reminder of that night!

We walked over to Asia past the old Tarzan theater and noticed they were running Kali River Rapids. Definitly didn’t feel like going on that since we were just drenched in the rain storm and the temp had actually dropped quite a bit. The line was still out of control for EE and it was still not opened. Since I was a little chilly we stopped at my now favorite tea stand and got some hot tea. We walked around a little more and determined not much else was happening here at the AK so we headed back to the Dolphin. In my opinion, evening EMH at AK is definitely not worth it. Better off getting up early and doing morning EMH. AK is not meant to be enjoyed in the dark, its actually quite creepy.

On the bus ride home, my DBF met a former Yankee played (baseball) and was really excited. We decided to get off at the BC, and go to Beaches and Cream for a nightcap. This hotel is gorgeous and I am working on having us stay here on our next trip! The line for Beaches and Cream was extremely long and we were told we could not sit down in the sit down section for at least 20 min (even though there were 3 empty tables) so we said forget this and went to the Boardwalk and got ice cream at Seashore Sweets. Just as yummy and not as crowded!

And with that, our very long day ended…

Next up is MK and Epcot EMH.

 

[dwheatl]

I think you got ripped off on Teamboat Springs. When we rode, they put a couple in with us, so if you were willing to ride with strangers, you could have gone.
I love the UoE, too. Ellen is hysterical!

 

[ericafny]

I think you got ripped off on Teamboat Springs. When we rode, they put a couple in with us, so if you were willing to ride with strangers, you could have gone.

Thats kind of what I thought, but oh well....next time we will definitly try it!

 

[ericafny]

Day Seven – Crank up the temperature, we’re going to the Magic Kingdom (oh yeah and we also do Epcot EMH at night…)

So now is the part of the trip where we start to realize we have ran out of clothes. We woke up at 8 and headed down to the ‘launderette’ at the Dolphin to do a wash (or two). $2 for a load, are they kidding me??? After the clothes were in the washer, we decided to walk over to the Swan and have a nice sit down breakfast at the Garden Grove Café. It wasn’t a weekend (in fact it was Tuesday) and I knew there wouldn’t be a character breakfast, so that meant not crowded. And boy was I right! There was maybe 3 other families eating breakfast that morning. The restaurant has a very nice buffet, but we opted for the ‘American breakfast’ which consisted of eggs, some sort of meat (I opted for turkey bacon) and potatoes with your choice of bread. Very satisfying! Juice and coffee were not included in the rather hefty price, however let me tell you that this breakfast was way worth the price. It was the best breakfast I had had all trip! Way better than the cold eggs and toast they serve at Picabu.

After breakfast, we checked on our laundry and threw the clothes in the dryer, once again $2 for a spin in the dryer---insane! When I lived in Albany (during college) we had a Laundromat that had dryer cycles for 25 cents! Now those were the days!!! (also I guess since it is a resort and we are a captive audience they can charge whatever they want?!?) We had about 45 minutes more to kill so we walked around the resort some more and ended up near the convention center. I felt a little funny because we were obviously lost and there were all these ‘suits’ hanging around drinking coffee and talking on their cell phones. We eventually found our way back, retrieved our clean clothes, dropped them off in the room, and headed out to MK.

The bus took a very long time this morning, and this was the first time we had to wait for more than 10 minutes for the bus to come. It was also a scorcher today, definitely 100+ degrees with the humidity. Finally the bus came and we arrived at MK. Once through the gates we hopped on board the Walt Disney World Railroad (one of my faves!) and made our way to Frontierland. Now I have to say that since we had already been to MK two times at night before this day, we kind of got lazy and arrived rather late to the park. It was already past 11am when we boarded the railroad. This is definitely a disadvantage, as you will see if you read on. So remember, get there EARLY!!!

Once in Frontierland, we ran straight to Splash Mountain and the standby line was incredibly long (prob around 75 minutes or more) and the FP return time was 4:15-5:15---OUCH! What were we going to do? We grabbed a couple anyways, and thought it we decided to stay then we would ride, if not we would give our FP’s away. After that we headed to Tomorrowland and checked the wait time for Space Mountain….also extremely long, so we went on Tomorrowland Transit Authority (‘paging mr. morrow, mr. tom morrow’)…It was BRUTALLY hot out and I was not the happiest camper around. After our ride around Tomorrowland, I needed to be indoors, so we headed over to Philharmagic and with a 15 minute wait we hoped on line and immediately cooled off! While we were on line, there was a band (with horn instruments) playing songs for people. It was fun and really passed the time! Everyone in the line was singing and dancing. I love this show, it is extremely entertaining. I think I like it because it includes a lot of the famous Disney movies. Whatever it is it is one of my top things to do at the World!

After Philharmagic it was time to eat lunch so we headed over to Columbia Harbor House, as I had heard great things about that place on these boards. And I know my fellow DISers would not be wrong! It was mildly crowded, however I ventured upstairs for a table and there were plenty. Tip for parents with little ones: there is a bathroom located in the restaurant so once you are done eating make sure you utilize that before heading back out into the crowds! The food was good, I got chicken fingers and fries, and DBF got the chicken/fish combo with fries. We both enjoyed it! Once we were done eating it was time to grab another FP so we got one for Space Mountain. At this point, we really didn’t know what to do with ourselves and DBF suggested Hall of Presidents. What was I to say? So off we went to the ever exciting Hall of Presidents. It was 30 minutes to the next show---lucky us! So we strolled through some of the shops around there and then DBF strolled around the waiting area of the show. He likes this kind of stuff, I on the other hand could care less. Finally we were let into the theater, which by the way needs a serious rehab. The seats were sunken in and it smelled rather musty. YICK! The show was OK, mostly a history lesson which I guess is good for the little ones. The presidents look very real and its fun to watch what each of them does on stage. I guess it was a good rest from the heat too. Well thank goodness for the Hall of Presidents because it killed so much time that our FP’s for Splash Mountain were now ready to be used, yippee!!!

Off we went to Splash, and I was as excited as a little girl. I like this ride because it reminds me of my childhood. My dad took me on it the first time we went to Disney and I remember him singing the song to me. It holds a special place in my memory. The ride was fun, but we didn’t really get wet. We were sitting in the back, so I am not sure if that has anything to do with it. We got stuck between scenes at the end, and the boats were all backed up. They made that announcement that they always make about Brer Bear and Brer Rabbit causing trouble down stream. I am wondering if they had some technical difficulties or not. Either way it was only for a minute or so and then we were off the ride.

Since our FP’s for Space Mountain were almost ready to be used, we hoped on the railroad (again!) and took it to Toontown Fair. This is actually a really quick way to get to Tomorrowland. Once off the train, you don’t even have to walk into Toontown Fair, you can just walk along this walkway and follow the signs to Tomorrowland—very convenient!

We got on the FP line for SM, however it moved almost as slow as the standby line. We still waited about 25 min to get on the ride. Not sure what was going on with the FP system that day but it was definitely not working properly. After our bumpy, yet fun ride on SM we dragged our tired butts back to the hotel but no time for rest and relaxation, it was EMH at Epcot and I had to get in another ride on Test Track!

We got back to the hotel and took some much needed showers. We then quickly walked over to Epcot, this time walking through the Boardwalk (which is a very quick route). We arrived around 7:30 and as we were coming over the bridge into the UK, British Invasion was playing! We stopped to watch those guys play as they are pretty good! We then grabbed our writbands for EMH and headed to the land to see if by chance the wait for Soarin would be a short one. No such luck---75 min wait. WOW. Definitely not waiting on that line, and it said there wouldn’t be any FP’s issued for EMH either, so scratch that idea of the to-do list. Since we were at the Land, we decided to have dinner at Sunshine Seasons. The food was pretty good, although the lines were long. I got some Asian influenced food which included white rice, broccoli with garlic, and noodles. I could have gotten some sort of meat with it but I opted out and the girl behind the counter gave me the dishes as three separate side dishes because she said it was cheaper---thanks! DBF had a sandwich and he said it was good.

After dinner it was 8:45 so we headed to Test Track and wait in line for the FP machines to open at 9 for EMH. Well, we weren’t the only ones who had this idea. I think the park at this point was divided into two crowds, the ones waiting to watch Illuminations, and the ones waiting in line for a FP for Test Track (this was the ONLY ride that was offering FP’s for EMH). They opened the machines well after 9 and a few of them broke. Go figure! We were luckily on one that didn’t break and got FP’s for 10:20-11:20…ARG! Now what do we do? Oh, I have an idea—lets go on Spaceship Earth for the gazillionth time---great! And so we did, we went on that slow moving, kind of fascinating, and boring towards the end ride. After that we relaxed and people watched for half an hour by the fountain. It was very relaxing and at night it looks very pretty. Finally it was time to ride Test Track and it was super awesome this time! I like riding at night, I think it goes faster….

We headed back to the Dolphin and I just had to get a brownie at Picabu. It was delicious!

Next up is getting nauseous at Islands of Adventure and the high in the sky trolley train is in fact, pretty high!

 

[dwheatl]

Hey, were people dancing when the British Invasion was there? People were sitting like they were listening to Beethoven instead of the Beatles when we were there. We were across the way in one of the stores, and when we came out the music stopped; otherwise, I would have been out there shaking a leg.

 

[ericafny]

Yes there were people dancing and a really drunk dude pole dancing...hmmm...

I forgot to write about that in the report but u just reminded me!

 

[dwheatl]

Yes there were people dancing and a really drunk dude pole dancing...hmmm...

I forgot to write about that in the report but u just reminded me!

Well, I'm sorry I missed that...I think.

 

[ericafny]

I finally wrote another installment, although I think Danielle is the only one still reading this...

Day Eight – I’m just not a Universal kind of gal

So today was the day we would go to Universal. Since we did Universal Studios last year, we decided to do Islands of Adventure this year until I found a special AAA was running for a 2 park/1-day pass. I jumped on that and figured we would go to both.

We woke up around 7:00am and since we were pressed for time (rent-a-car needed to be picked up at 8:00am) we had a quick breakfast in the lobby where the bar is. Not bad, I had a bagel and DBF had a muffin. It was us and those ‘business people’. After that we headed to the Alamo desk in the lobby and picked up our snazzy ride. It actually wasn’t that snazzy although it was a little sporty. I think it was a chevy of some sort…maybe an aveo? I dunno, but it served its purpose!

Off in the rental car we go. DBF drove and I co-piloted since I am very good with directions. We made it to US/IOA in about 15-20min (around 8:45) and the park opened at 9:00am. There were lots of people in the parking lot which didn’t seem like a good sign to me. As you will see if you read on, that is no indication of the crowd level at all. Anyways since we were eager to do IOA we headed in that direction first. Now I have done IOA pre-DBF and kind of knew what to do first. So we immediately headed to Spiderman, as I remember that being a popular, and very entertaining ride! There was no line and we walked right on. DBF didn’t even get a chance to take in some of the props that are set up in the queue area. The ride was not as good as I remember (could age be getting the best of me?) and afterwards I was slightly disappointed. I also felt kind of embarrassed as I had talked up what a great ride it was to DBF and he thought it was good but the spinning part didn’t sit well with him. After our ride with Spidey, we headed to the section where all the water rides are. We hit up Pluto’s raft ride and were the ONLY people on the raft. Yup! It was a little eerie and I was beginning to think that attendance at Universal just isn’t what it used to be. The ride was fun though and we got soaked. Definitely better than Kali Rapids if you ask me (please don’t flame me!)…After our ride and since we were soaked to the bone we figured we may as well stay that way and hit up Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls. Now the queue for this was definitely creepy because we were the only people on it. I swear. The worker at the ride looked at us like she hadn’t seen people in a year. OK, maybe I am exaggerating but we were the only people on the ride. The ride was fun, but the themeing is slightly off. The story line is hard to follow and I don’t know Dudley Do-Right from a hole in the wall and I can’t imagine your average American kid would either so for me this was just another log flume...oh yeah and a wanna-be Splash Mountain. After that we headed to Jurassic Park, which I remember really liking last time I was here. Once again, no wait and off we were on our quiet river adventure…I know I know, but I don’t want to spoil it for the rest of those folks! Once again, hard to follow the story line, seemed a bit rushed and just waiting for the ‘big’ finish. The end does and always will freak me out and I ducked as we went down the hill (I’m such a chicken!). We didn’t get too wet on that one but that’s OK cause we were starting to dry off at this point. I wanted to check out more of Jurassic Park but we couldn’t go on those flyer things in the sky because we were too big (go figure!) and I wasn’t in the mood to ask any parents if I could borrow their kid for 20 minutes. So off we headed towards what would be our worst decision of the day…

We headed into the Lost Continent with distant screams coming from afar. DBF looks straight up and points to it—that massive entangled structure, one side blue, one side red, both sides equally frightening. Now let me give you a little back history on good old Erica here. I used to be the rollercoaster QUEEN. I would go on every single coaster imaginable. I have even been on Dueling Dragons and loved it. Now in my ‘old’ age I am becoming a chicken and also not fond of anything that spins, loops, or gyrates in any sort of unnatural motion. Well, the Id once again took over and there we were on line for the coaster. After careful surveying and inspection, I choose Fire as I concluded it wasn’t as ‘loopy’ as its counterpart Ice. There was hardly a wait (maybe about 10 min) and then we were on the ride. It starts out smooth, calm, and quite enjoyable. Then, out of nowhere, the first loop comes and the coaster gets faster, and faster, and loops, and twists, and corkscrews, and drops, and twists…well you get the picture. Once the ride was over DBF and I looked at each other and we both knew….we were sick from the ride. Oh how lovely it is to get off of a rollercoaster and feel like your head was just bashed in. The park didn’t stop spinning. I was walking sideways. Poor DBF needed to sit down and there was no where to do it! We somehow made our way over to a small area with tables and chairs. The stand we were sitting near was closed but there was a cart to our right that was selling water. We got some and I noticed the woman selling us the water was from Manhattan. I told her we were from NY too and I asked if she misses it. She said she didn’t and we had a nice chuckle. DBF was in no mood to chit chat so I said goodbye and we sat down again and slowly drank our water. At this point neither of us were up for Hulk, which is too bad because I kind of liked that coaster, however I did want to check out the new High in the Sky Trolley in Seuss Landing. DBF made me promise him that it wasn’t a nauseas ride and I told him it’s a kiddie ride and he said ‘great lets go’. We rode that, and it definitely is a kiddie ride although they strap you in that thing as if you are being launched to the moon. I opted not to go on the Cat in the Hat as I remember it kind of spins a little bit.

After that we decided to get some lunch at CityWalk and head to the Studios side of the complex. I thought after we ate something we would be up for Mummy or at least to see some shows over there. We decided to eat at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville (as I type this his song is in my head). I liked this place. The themeing was nice and it was a very big restaurant. It wasn’t crowded at all, but it was only just about noon when we arrived. I thought the food was pretty good. I had a turkey burger and DBF had some sort of chicken sandwich. It was also moderately priced and the service was excellent, our waiter was very attentive!

Once finished with lunch, we strolled over to US and were still feeling a bit woozy. This park however was much more crowded than IOA and the wait for the Mummy and pretty much all of the other big attractions (Jaws, Earthquake, Back to the Future) was 40 min and up. We decided to not go on any more rides for the day and watch a show. I really wanted to see Fear Factor Live because I watch it on tv and was curious as to how they do it here. We waited for the next show and got pretty good seats at the top where we could lean against the rail. Pretty entertaining show, although I found out from my dad that its always the same stunts (we compared stunts). That disappointed me a little. I also don’t get why people would volunteer from the audience to do those stunts in between like with the spider crawling on that woman’s head and those people eating that gross stuff. They won a hat or something. I would not do that for a hat!

After the show we headed back to Disney, and once again I was at rest. I definitely am not a Universal kind of gal and probably will not return any time soon. The level of quality there is sub par and not on the same level as Disney (not even close). The ‘cast members’ are rude, and not helpful, and the theming of the rides, well lets not even go there. The rides are ‘bigger’ and ‘faster’ but if I wanted that I could go to NJ and go to Six Flags. I like Disney for the classic, timeless, family fun, not the big thrill rides that they build.

OK, off my soapbox now.

Once back at the Dolphin we used the self park option and it is very easy. You just stick your room key in and the gate opens. The parking is also pretty close to the entrance so unless you have a special need, don’t waste money on the valet. It was very hot outside but I wanted to get in some pool time. A few dips in the pool and DBF couldn’t stand sitting in the heat anymore. We went upstairs to the room to shower up and decide where to eat for dinner.

We decided to go to ESPN Club (I think DBF had an ulterior motive here as the Yankee game was on) but I acquiesced and what do you know, we walk right into the beginning of a live radio show being filmed and broadcasted from the restaurant. There was an ex-ballplayer there (a former Met, don’t know his name) and an ex-basketball player who played for the Orlando Magic. I am not into sports at all but I thought it was pretty neat. The food was good too however they screwed up our order and it took a really long time to get our dinner. No worries though, this is Disney and we were given a free brownie sundae dessert for our troubles, no questions asked.

After dinner we decided to hit up EMH at MGM. We hopped on a boat, couldn’t walk, way too full and tired, and already I could tell it was going to be a crowded night. Once off the boat, swarms of people were headed into MGM. I could tell this was definitely not going to be a pretty sight. Once through the gates, the lines to get the EMH bracelet were so long and disorganized. DBF’s patience was wearing thin and I was trying to find an EMH times guide so I could see which attractions would be offering FP that night. We finally found one and I noticed that ToT was going to start offering them at 10pm. The park was so crowded that to walk down Sunset Blvd towards ToT and RnRc was horrible. We sat and waited by the FP machines for ToT but 10pm came and went and no one came to open up the machines. We decided to leave due to the crowd level and the fatigue that had come over us.

Up next our last full day at the World and yes it can be done---all 4 parks in one day!

 

[SleepingBeautyDreamr]

I finally wrote another installment, although I think Danielle is the only one still reading this...

No I am still reading it too

 

[ericafny]

Ha ha thanks Sleeping Beauty!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Great Installment!! Sorry you guys didn't get to enjoy EMH at MGM but I would have left too. No amount of magic can make a tired and cranky person deal with lots of people and chaos. Can't wait for the last day even if it's always the most depressing day.

 

[dwheatl]

Boy, and I thought we tried to cram too much into a day!
We have never tried US/IOA in FL. We have been to US in CA (my nephew was a tour guide on the tram tour) but we weren't impressed. Of course, the tour was fun, but the rest of the park lacks the charm of Disney.

 

[MousekaMaddi]

lookin for more............

 

[ericafny]

Boy, and I thought we tried to cram too much into a day!
We have never tried US/IOA in FL. We have been to US in CA (my nephew was a tour guide on the tram tour) but we weren't impressed. Of course, the tour was fun, but the rest of the park lacks the charm of Disney.

I was in US in CA when I was 12. I remember the tour being really fun! It's definitly not like that in Orlando...

I read your ticker...I'm jealous you are going to DL

 

[dwheatl]

Did you see that you inspired DH and me to do a spa trip? He went to confession, and the priest told him to take a mud bath for his penance! Honest!
The DL trip is the penance I assigned him for any little infractions around the house

 

[ericafny]

Did you see that you inspired DH and me to do a spa trip?

I am glad I can be of inspiration! Have a wonderful time! California has so many nice spa getaways...NY'ers just don't relax like that

Sorry it is taking me so long to finish thing. I have been busy walking to raise money for autism research (our team raised over $2000!) and I was in the midst of planning a conference on autism but all that is over now so I am going to try to finish this up this week. Hang in there folks...

 

[ericafny]

OK, the FINAL installment is FINALLY here....Thanks to Danielle for inspiring me to finish and thanks to everyone who has stuck by me while I dragged myself to finish...so here it is folks...

Day Nine – ‘When You Wish Upon A Star…’

8:15am and the alarm goes off…it’s our last full day here and I was very sad, however I wasn’t going to let that stop me from an all out park hopping day of riding and visiting my favorite attractions at all of the four parks…

Breakfast once again at Picabu and off we go to AK. Once there we walked right past EE (sorry all you EE lovers) and headed straight to my favorite ride there---Dinosaur. Of course, no line, and thank goodness because we didn’t have much time! After Dinosaur I wanted to try to do Kilamanjaro but the standby line was already over an hour and there was not enough time to get an FP and wait around so off we go to MGM. Side note: Today was EXTREMELY HOT and I had started to loose it very quickly but thanks to my delightful DBF once we were on the bus to MGM I got right back into enjoying my last day at WDW.

Once at MGM we headed to ToT and grabbed FP’s, then off to the Great Movie Ride to wait out the FP’s. Our tour guide was subpar and I lost myself in the sets and sounds of the ride. After it was done we used our FP’s for ToT. We have been on this ride numerous times and this was the third time on this trip and I have to say I think that some pixie dust had been sprinkled on us that day because this was the best ride sequence we had experienced! It was the perfect last ride on ToT for this trip. I was so pumped and wanted to go again but alas…the time clock was ticking away and we still had two more parks to do!

By this time it was hot and we were hungry, we hoped on the boat back to the Dolphin and thought we would try something new and decided to try the Fountain. We were barely greeted by a host and he said to ‘sit anywhere’. That we did and waited about 10 mins. NO ONE came over to us. Several waiters and waitresses saw us and didn’t acknowledge us. Now I know I am a NY’er and can come off as impatient, but HELLO…at least give us menus! So we left and went to the old standby, Cabana Bar and Grill and let me tell you it was just as delicious as the other times we ate there with impeccable service!

Since it was incredibly hot and we had a long rest of the day into the evening we took a small siesta in the room for an hour so we could recharge for the evening. We had originally had ADR’s for O’hana for this evening but we decided to eat at Epcot at Alfredo’s in Italy so I went and had the ADR’s changed (and wouldn’t you know they had an open ressie for us---there goes that pixie dust again!).

At around 5pm we left for Epcot, once again utilizing the walkway, not the very very very slow boats. We headed straight for my favorite ride in Epcot-TT and hoped on the standby line. The time posted said 70 min but the wait was more like 25 min. Once again, an awesome ride! Afterwards we had some more time to kill but our legs were actually killing us so we took the boat across the lagoon towards Italy. This was prob not the best idea since it goes extremely slow and there is no air conditioning. No bother though, and off we went for our 7:45 ADR at Alfredo’s. We got there early, but were seated right away. Our waiter, I forgot his name, was absolutely fantastic! He was from Rome and his English was very good! He was also very accommodating because I ordered the pasta trio but the Lasagna had meat in it so he gave me extra pasta dumplings. We also got the tomato and mozzarella appetizer and DBF got pasta and shrimp with vodka sauce. The meal was very delicious (even being from NY and dining in Little Italy). The couple next to us was on the dining plan (I overheard them talking) and said that they had so much food! We did too and weren’t even on the plan---the portions were huge!

After dinner we rolled ourselves out of the restaurant and slooooowly walked towards the front of the park so we could hop on the monorail to MK. The walk was actually really refreshing and allowed us to digest.

The monorail ride brought me back to when I was a little girl and I stayed at the Contemporary. I haven’t been on the monorail in a long time, and after riding it this time I decided that I am going to ride it every time I go to the World. It is such a magical experience!

Once at MK we headed to the HM. I absolutely love this ride! I am starting to learn the dialogue and DBF was making fun of me! After HM the parade was about to start so we found ourselves some nice seats in Frontierland and waited for Spectro. Our last night in WDW and it was turning out to be spectacular! We watched Spectro with the same wide eyed awe as the 3 year old next to us. After we ran to Main Street and waited to watch Wishes. This always makes me cry! I am such a sucker!

Towards the end of Wishes we started to make our way to the exit to try to beat the crowds. We actually kind of did and got a seat on the bus but the bus driver had to wait until the bus filled up. On our last bus ride back to the Dolphin I reflected on the magical vacation we had and how I can’t wait to continue to return year after year and eventually share this experience with my own children….

Once back in the hotel room our pixie dust had run short because we arrived to a very large surprise sitting next to DBF’s deodorant…a giant cockaroach….Nope it was not a palmetto bug, it didn’t fly.

I called maintenance and they sent someone up to kill it. Even he was grossed out and identified the bug as a cockaroach. YUCK! I wanted a room change and we got one and we also got comped for that night…it was so stressful to have to pack up everything at 1am, the night before you are leaving, in a hurry, so you can change rooms and then go to sleep for a few hours and wake up and travel back home….not the ‘perfect end to my perfect vacation’ that I was hoping for, but hey stuff happens, right? Needless to say I didn’t sleep very well that night and was praying to the gods that we didn’t bring home any unwanted hitchhikers (side note: we didn’t thank goodness!).

The next morning we checked out, had some breakfast, and drove ourselves to Orlando International Airport….Bye bye Disney….be back soon