Our Yacht & Beach Club Adventure: Day Three 4/7/03

[niks81]

Our Yacht & Beach Club Adventure: Day Three 4/7/03

Date: Monday, April 7th, 2003
Crew: Nikki (me) ~ 6th trip to WDW, DVC member, 21 years old
Mike (my fiancé) ~ 2nd trip to WDW, DVC member, 30 years old
Nora (my mom) ~ 3rd or 4th trip to WDW, 41 years old
Darrell (my stepdad) ~ Not sure how many times he’s been—at least 3 times, 51 years old

I had the wake up call set for 6:45am. When the call came I got right up and got ready. I threw on some jean shorts and a tank…it was going to be a hot one!! I also just threw my hair back in a ponytail because getting ready proved not to matter much, especially when there was a water ride! We were going to be at Animal Kingdom in the morning and Epcot in the afternoon—I knew I’d get drenched on Kali River Rapids!!

Darrell got up right away also….Mike and mom just continued to sleep

Finally at 8am I knocked on her door and reminded her that she said all she wanted was to be able to sleep at 8am, which I had let her do LOL You see, you give an inch and they take a mile! Quite honestly it doesn’t really matter to me what time we go to the parks. The problem here was that my parents hadn’t been in five years and they wanted to see as much as they could. We all know that sleeping in doesn’t get you far!

Finally mom and Mike got up and started getting ready. I was munching on Lucky Charms

I do love having that kitchen in the room!! You sure save a lot eating breakfast in the room! Once they were ready we headed down to catch the Animal Kingdom bus. Again, a lucky catch—it was there waiting for us….YAY! It seemed like everyone and their mother was going that day, just great! The ride was shorter than I remembered—we were there in no time! When we got off the bus it sure was hot and there was lots of humidity too. We got up to the front to get in and it was only 8:45am—they were asking for room cards to prove we were Disney resort guests. I was impressed they were doing this…there were hundreds waiting at the gates. It sure was fun to pass them all by!

Once we got in we made a mad dash for the safari ride because the wait usually totally stinks! It was literally a 5-7 minute wait—unbelieveable!! Definitely a first, usually I wait at least an hour. We got right on and boy, what a difference the morning makes! I had always read that going in the morning was better and I knew from experience it was true. In 98 and 99 I went in the morning and there were loads of animals. Last year, Mike’s first trip, we went in the afternoon and the ride stunk. I mean we were bored! Mike loved it this time! LOTS of animals,

and some were crossing the road! It was great! Lots of great pictures!

We got off the safari and headed over to Kali River Rapids so that we could get wet right away. NO WAIT—we walked on! YESSSSS!! My parents had never done this because Asia was not yet open in 1998. I knew they would like it. The ride started off and Mike and I got drenched right away…nice huh?

My mom screamed when we went down that hill too! They ended up getting soaked near the end. All in all it was a great ride….better then I remembered from prior years! We got off of that and headed over to Discovery Island for It’s Tough to Be a Bug. We got right up there and they shut the doors so we had to wait for the next show. Wasn’t too long though. This became my favorite 3D show as of last year and I truly think it surpasses all of the others. It’s a great show. Since my mom remembers nothing it was all new to her. She loved the bee sting and the running critters under the seat! Kids were screaming in the show…I don’t remember hearing much of this in prior years but there were lots!

After that we headed over to Dinoland USA. We stumbled upon Chester & Hester’s area first and I saw Primevil Whirl only had a 5 minute wait so we got right in line. I loved this ride last year and was thrilled we were getting on so quickly. I agree that perhaps the bright colors are a bit much, but this ride is truly the best in the park and it adds some needed zest. We got right on and got seated. I decided to tape this one since last year’s tape proved to be so funny. Something held up the cars for a couple minutes but we finally got going. They make the ride seem so harmless at first with a few mild turns, but man it sure does get going. On the first wild turn my mom screamed so loud and then she got to laughing and I mean she was laughing until she could not stop.

I thought she’d have an asthma attack for sure!

When it was over she wanted to go again and the wait was still only 10 minutes so we did. She led us to the other side this time and it wasn’t as good…I believe it was the right side. We still screamed but it wasn’t as fun as the first ride.

They decided to take a bathroom break so we headed to the nearest area. Ok, the hand dryers—what are up with these? They are super turbo! When we exited my mom saw Pluto and she just had to get her picture. She jumped in line. She finally got up there and got her picture and then the cast member led him away. There was a little girl behind my mom that didn’t get to get her photo and we all felt bad! We’re just big kids, that kid deserved her picture! From there we headed over to Dinosaur which is another favorite of mine. My mom did not remember this one either, big surprise! The wait was very low for this one too…works for me! We got on in probably 10 minutes or so and I decided to tape it, which I have never done before. It was harder then I thought…some parts were really low lighted, so I’d turn on my nightvision, but overall it just turned out ok. Anyways, we were all cracking up pretty good on it, much bouncier than I remember, gotta love it! When that ride was over we headed to the gift shop. The photo was pretty funny so my mom and I decided to buy one.

At that point her cell phone rang and it was her brother. His stepdaughter had died and he was calling to give my mom the needed information. Apparently they are looking into filing charges because the coroner said the car was going way too fast so there was a chance they’d do an autopsy which would delay the visitation and funeral a bit. My mom said to just let her know because they’d take a flight out early if the arrangements would be earlier than their return.

We went to lunch over at Flame Tree BBQ. I had eaten there in 99 with my friend’s family and I thought it was the best deal of the bunch! I truly think its one of the best counter service places there are! We used our meal vouchers here and it proved to be a money saver. I got a pulled beef sandwich and chocolate cake with a drink. Mike got the ribs, key lime pie and a coke. We saved $5 total, good deal! I wish I would have gotten the ribs after tasting them, yummy! My parents both got the pulled pork sandwiches and liked them very much also.

After lunch we decided to head out and get to Epcot. On the way out we saw another character, Terk from Tarzan. We hopped in that line too and got our picture taken with him.

Then we ran to catch the bus to Epcot. It had been awhile since I’d been able to go to Epcot through the main entrance because I had stayed at Epcot resorts the last few years. It was nice to be able to go in the main way! We got through the gate and went directly to Spaceship Earth since there was no wait. I just love this ride. For one, it’s very relaxing but I also like the entire storyline also.

I taped bits and pieces of it, but I was trying to watch the battery life for other attractions and also because Darrell was doing DiveQuest later so I wanted to have enough for that.

After that ride ended we went right over to Test Track.

The standby line was only 45 minutes, which is crazy to me considering its always been at least 2 hours! The single rider line was 20 minutes, and the FP return time stunk. So we got in the single rider line. The ride broke down twice while we were in line so we did wait for at least 20 minutes, maybe 25. Finally we got up there. I ended up being in the same car as my mom which was great. Neither her nor Darrell had ridden it before and my mom loves to speed in her own car so I knew this would be her ride. We got going and she was loving the brake tests and that stuff. When we got outside I turned the camera around and got some really funny shots of her screaming.

She loved the speed! We got off the ride and she just kept raving about it! I knew she would. Darrell liked it quite a bit too! We looked at the pictures…ours was funny because I’m trying to hold a camcorder and my mom was screaming her lungs out! We didn’t buy the picture though, especially since not everybody was in it.

From Test Track we headed over to Imagination to catch Honey I Shrunk the Audience.

My mom remembered vague parts of this but most of it was still new to her. We got right in and the show started soon after that. This was the third show we’d been to where dumb people like to plop their rears down in the center of the freaking row even though they tell you not to do it. I hate that….my stepdad says in one guidebook it said to step on their toes LOL I was very tempted.

We sat down and enjoyed the show. I’ve always liked this one, and it used to be my favorite….but I think they need to add more to it. It’s Tough to Be a Bug is way better! My mom screamed with the mice though, that’s always a good one! After that we were getting short on time because Darrell’s Dive Quest started at 4:30pm so we decided to go to Wonders of Life and do Cranium Command. Last year, that was the only Future World pavilion we didn’t go to, so this one was new to Mike. I hadn’t seen that particular show for awhile either! The show was starting as we got there so we snuck in—perfect timing. I laughed, but Mike just thought it was ok. This surprised me, but to each their own I guess At that time it was nearing 4:15pm so we headed to the front where the DiveQuest people meet up.

There were only three divers that day, including Darrell. I went up to listen to the information so that we knew where we needed to be and at what time so we could see him. They also invited the families to come and watch the video because the group was so small. We needed to be back at the Living Seas by 5:05pm or so to see their dive. Mike, mom and I decided to go and try to get a drink or something. We were originally going to go back to the room but there was no way we’d make it back. Then I suggested Mexico but as we started walking we realized just how long it was! So we settled on The Land food court. Good choice because it was right next to the Living Seas and they have a good selection. I had a headache so I bought some Excedrin and a hot fudge sundae. Mom got a strawberry bar and she loved it. They are the best! Mike got some apple cobbler stuff, not sure really. He liked it though.

We headed over to the Living Seas and made our way to the Observation Level after having a cast member let us skip the intro show. We looked around and finally spotted some divers. We figured out which one Darrell was right away. They were having them do little stunts for the videographer that was down there, like going through a tunnel and stuff like that. Finally they got to go off on their own and explore. Darrell waved to us a few times and did a few somersaults.

We were trying to get his attention when we spotted the sea turtle because I wanted a shot with the sea turtle and himself in it, but he had no idea what we were saying. It was quite amusing. They were in the water for about 40 minutes or so and it appeared like they were having a good time.

When they went up to the surface we went down to the first level to wait like they had told us to. Darrell came out in his wetsuit just for a few seconds and I got a picture with him. Then they went down to shower and change. The divemaster took us to the little video room to wait for them. The décor was neat in there. They had a 120 gallon salt water tank and the room was done in a sea theme with netting and stuff like that. Very cool. Finally the divers came in and we watched the video. There were some funny parts. I convinced him to buy it for $37…the truth of the matter is that he probably won’t have many opportunities to buy a video of himself scuba diving! So he did.

We left the Living Seas and set out to Mexico to go eat. When we got there my mom studied the menu and wasn’t overly thrilled so we went over to Canada where our PS was. It was only 7:10pm and our PS was for 7:40pm. I was trying to get in early but no can do. The earliest we could get in was 8pm. We were all starving but we thought we might be able to hold out. After ten minutes we said forget it and went to ESPN Club over at the Boardwalk. There was a line to get seated so we did the seat yourself in the bar area. We found a little table and had a seat. I ended up ordering the chicken dingers. Mike got the Macho Nachos. My parents got chicken sandwiches I think. Our food was out pretty quickly. The dingers were good but a little too saucy and spicy for me. I just like plain ole chicken fingers and these had been in some crazy sauce or something. I ate a couple but got full quickly. My parents finished before us and really wanted to get back to the room since we’d had such a long day. They gave us money to pay the bill and left. Some big game was on or something because people kept asking us and tables around us if they could have their seats. PEOPLE IT IS ONLY A GAME, YOU ARE ON VACATION!

Mike and I left shortly after and walked back to the resort. We were both pretty beat from the day we’d had. Got up at 7:30, went through two parks, had not come back to the hotel once, and it was 8:30pm and just then getting back to the room. Whew! We got back to the room and I was just beat! I laid down and began to watch the video from that day but I fell completely asleep! Mike woke me up at 11pm and said that everyone was going to bed. I hadn’t showered and needed to so I walked like a zombie and took one

and then crawled back into bed. I set a wake up call for the next day at 8am for us, but I had told my parents I was no longer going to make them get out of bed! I conked right out!

Day Four to come soon!

 

[snuggles]

Its nice to hear about someone going on the dive. Sounds like it was a lot of fun and you got a video too! Love those pictures of your mom screaming. I probably look like that on test track too.

 

[marybet]

I am really enjoying your trip reports. Love the pictures and all the details. Keep em coming!

 

[Nanajo1]

As I'm reading your reports I keep calling to my DH, "You've got to see these pix", neither of us is a very good photographer but DH says "what kind of camera does she use?" Like all we need is a different camera and we would have photos as good as yours. LOL We are really enjoying your trip.

 

[niks81]

Yes, my mom is very animated, can you all tell? LOL

Interestingly enough....most of the pictures you are seeing were pulled from my camcorder. Many times still cameras cannot catch certain images in their natural light without using the flash, and unless you have experience with manual focus it is hard to get the look that you really see. Not sure if you've used a camcorder, but you do see the way it actually looked when you watch it later....I have a memory stick on my Sony camcorder and when I go back and review the tape I take pictures with the memory stick. Picture quality is barely one megapixel, but that's ok with me...I mostly use those photos for online stuff anyway! And as you can see, it captures the look of Illuminations/Fantasmic quite well!

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Love your report and your photos!