dgaston
Proudly wears a "Believes in Fairies tshirt"
- Joined
- May 23, 2001
- Messages
- 5,883
EMH at Magic Kingdom, so I got to be mean and get everyone up and at the bus stop by 7:30. We were able to catch the first ferry to the MK, and helped countdown the opening to the park. We headed over to Tomorrowland and rode Space, but it took a lot longer than getting there at park opening the preceding day. We weren't off the coaster until 45 minutes after the hour. We got FP for later, and rode Buzz. Then we decided to head over to Big Thunder and Splash. Warning: this next bit is one of our trip highlights! Painters were decorating the barricades around the new Stitch attraction with stars, and DH had a brainstorm. He asked one of the painters to make a hidden Mickey! The painter looked both ways and added two small stars to a large one. We started to leave, and then went back to take a photo but the painter was already gone. Off to Adventureland for us. It was still before 10 am so Jungle Cruise wasn't open yet, and we got a quick ride in a Aladdin's Flying Carpets. DS15 of course refused to ride with us, but said he took our picture. We rode Big Thunder and got in the standby line for Splash (about a 30 minute wait posted). We were enjoying the ride and then "Brer Bear and Brer Fox were causing such a big commotion downstream" that we had to be evacuated from the ride for the computer re-set. This isn't so amazing but we were one log behind the EXACT place where DH, DS now 23, and DD now 20 were stranded on Christmas Day, 2001!!! We must go to WDW too often. CMs helped us climb out of the boat and we got to glimpse a few backstage scenes--DH and I have done Keys to the Kingdom, so we shared our nuggets of info about the parade vehicles with those who wanted to know. Wow, a second backstage experience on this trip. It was getting close to our breakfast PS, so we gave away our fast passes for Space after the CMs gave us a Front of the Line pass for Splash Mountain good any time.
We took the launch to the Polynesian and headed over to Kona Cafe. The preceding day I had tried to find a breakfast buffet at Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, Ohanas, etc. and everything was booked! I had breakfast vouchers to burn, and the dining CM suggested Kona Cafe. Our server was great and we enjoyed the special juice and Tonga Toast. She even figured out a way for us just to buy an orange juice and use the vouchers so DS could have two smoothies. We ended taking up at least 3/4 of the Tonga Toast with us--great breakfast choice.
After breakfast, we took the monorail back to MK and split up. DS was meeting up with NH girls, and others-who-skate, and Don and I wanted to enjoy more of MK. DS took the ferry back to Ft. Wilderness, and DH and I rode Splash (felt like two rides for one). HM, and Hall of Presidents. It was Earth Day, and I picked up the pin at the Exposition Hall. Then we headed back for a bit of a rest as we were going to PI that night.
More pool time for us.
I fixed DS some Hamburger Helper again (he could live on this stuff), and Don and I took the bus to Outpost and there was a Downtown Disney bus right there. We talked with a younger couple leaving their young children with the grandparents about PI options and Westside options for dining, and were delighted an old PI admission ticket I found in our Disney ticket drawer was still good.
We caught a set with the Stormbringer Band at the Westend Stage and headed into the Comedy Club for the first set. Very enjoyable, had me in tears I was laughing so hard. Next stop Adventurer's Club where we stayed for 3 or 4 sets. Lots of fun, as usual. Don was hungry, so he got some chili fries, and much to our amazement it was close to midnight. We always plan to see the fireworks, but get too tired to last! This time we saw them, and then headed out to the bus stop. A WL-GF bus came by (same stop as FW) but there were only 4 of us waiting for FW, so the driver said "No problem, I'll take you there." Talk about exceeding guest expectations! Nice ending to our Thursday.
We took the launch to the Polynesian and headed over to Kona Cafe. The preceding day I had tried to find a breakfast buffet at Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace, Ohanas, etc. and everything was booked! I had breakfast vouchers to burn, and the dining CM suggested Kona Cafe. Our server was great and we enjoyed the special juice and Tonga Toast. She even figured out a way for us just to buy an orange juice and use the vouchers so DS could have two smoothies. We ended taking up at least 3/4 of the Tonga Toast with us--great breakfast choice.
After breakfast, we took the monorail back to MK and split up. DS was meeting up with NH girls, and others-who-skate, and Don and I wanted to enjoy more of MK. DS took the ferry back to Ft. Wilderness, and DH and I rode Splash (felt like two rides for one). HM, and Hall of Presidents. It was Earth Day, and I picked up the pin at the Exposition Hall. Then we headed back for a bit of a rest as we were going to PI that night.
More pool time for us.
I fixed DS some Hamburger Helper again (he could live on this stuff), and Don and I took the bus to Outpost and there was a Downtown Disney bus right there. We talked with a younger couple leaving their young children with the grandparents about PI options and Westside options for dining, and were delighted an old PI admission ticket I found in our Disney ticket drawer was still good.
We caught a set with the Stormbringer Band at the Westend Stage and headed into the Comedy Club for the first set. Very enjoyable, had me in tears I was laughing so hard. Next stop Adventurer's Club where we stayed for 3 or 4 sets. Lots of fun, as usual. Don was hungry, so he got some chili fries, and much to our amazement it was close to midnight. We always plan to see the fireworks, but get too tired to last! This time we saw them, and then headed out to the bus stop. A WL-GF bus came by (same stop as FW) but there were only 4 of us waiting for FW, so the driver said "No problem, I'll take you there." Talk about exceeding guest expectations! Nice ending to our Thursday.
