Sarah's Moving 2 AFRICA! The trip planned in 4 days! * THREE parks in ONE day! 5/10

[RunningGirl]

I'm with you on the ponytail pain on a roller coaster. I wore a clip to keep my hair back and I think the metal prongs made permanent dents in my scalp! I don't know what the answer is, except to have messy hair!

Enjoying your TR!

 

[kimmylaj]

i for one am very impressed with all you have accomplished already. i am feeling a little tired just reading about it. the three amigos look like a lot of fun to hang out with
funny about the ponytail , i always have a ponytail at home, but at disney i am a pigtails kinda gal so i guess thats why i never had a hard time with rnr. sorry you didnt love it, but try it again please it is one of my faves

 

[All7OfUs]

I just love DHS! I love the art deco theming AND I LOVE ToT! But not so much RnRC. I remember that my head kept slamming against the side bars, and since I had taken off my glasses I really couldn't see much. Couldn't agree more with the "not so comfortable ride" thing. I'm not sure I HAVE to go on it again.

But you 3 were sure getting a lot in! At least for the headliner attractions. I'm so glad you got a later ADR! Can't wait to see those pictures.

 

[swells103]

Hey all. Thank you for all of your concern about me and my piggies. Sadly we now only have 9/17. Thankfully only 6 of those were to the ecoli outbreak. Hopefully the rest make it because every pig we loose is money!

As to me and TB...I go get tested tomorrow...no matter what. As soon as I drop the children off at school I have to go to the clinic and then go get tires on the van. Sounds like a good day right? I am actually a little scared because I have dropped at least 3 pant sizes in less than two weeks and was really proud of my lack of effort until I also learned that is a sign of TB...oh well...wish me luck.

 

[eyor44]

Lovin all of the pics. How ambitious you all are.
Here is some for Sarah. I hope you get better soon.

 

[jenb1023]

Maroo - what a good diser you are - thinking to call for a reservation change at Coral Reef!

Three parks in one day - wow! That makes my head spin!

The three amigos! So sorry to hear that you had to occupy your time waiting in line talking to cute boys. I bet Lauren wishes she was with you!

I like TOT but am not a huge fan of RNR. My poor mom went on TOT with us because DD (5) wanted her to. I should have told her not to but I really thought she would be okay. She was so petrified that she sat in the empty elevator for a few minutes after the ride stopped basically being upset and breathing hard until she could calm down enough to be able to walk off. I felt like the worst daughter in the world for not warning her properly and letting her ride!

Sarah - hope your test turns out okay and that the rest of the pigs are okay.

Looking forward to the next update and to see what you got accomplished at Epcot!

 

[maroo]

So! Off to EPCOT!! The THIRD park for today! We woke up late - very late - but have managed to see AK, DHS and now to Epcot!

This picture is from yesterday, but we got to see the big ball again!

We went to Test Track first, since it was close to Coral Reef. We got in the Single Rider line and waited for about 15 or 20 minutes.

But an announcement was made that the ride was experiencing technical difficulties. So, we had to backtrack through the line to head to lunch. "Excuse me...pardon me...excuse me...We have an ADR...excuse me." It occurs to me now that some of those people may not have even known what ADR meant?!

We checked in at Coral Reef and sat down in the lobby area. I was hungry! When it was time to be buzzed to our table, I could hear the buzzer…but I could not find it! I had dropped it down in the couch! And it was so far down there that I could not reach it. Whoops! The CM just laughed and said it happens all the time.

I enjoyed this meal. Our waiter, Steve, was great! (And I just love these pics of Sarah...can you see how HAPPY she is?!)

I really liked the aquarium and enjoyed watching the divers during the meal.

This picture is a little dark of us...but I love it for the cool aquariums in the background!

And since you could not see us in the last pic...Here we are!

I am glad that I was able to preview this restaurant before bringing Lauren and her family, because I was told by the CM at the restaurant that the ramp that could be used to allow Lauren to sit on the bottom level by the fish was broken and they did not anticipate it being fixed anytime soon. Not sure what is up with that? Not very Disney-like!



I know you guys want food art…





Well…this is what I have for you…

HA!


Sorry. *looks down at her feet sheepishly*

I know, I know. I am just not a food art sort of person, I don’t think. By the time that food got there, I was hungry, and I forgot all about taking the pics!

Maybe the empty plate speaks for itself!

Amy and Sarah were determined to ride Test Track, so we went back to Test Track and joined the single rider line.

After about 20 minutes or so, we were riding. We each got different cars this time.

So far we have been able to do four out of the five big rides! It was getting close to time for Amy and Sarah to head back to Tampa, but the girls decided that they wanted to ride Soarin’! I had never experienced Soarin'. The line was long, but not too terrible. Maybe an hour?


I LOVE SOARIN’! Love it, love it, love it! Favorite ride of all 4 parks. I love Soarin’!

After that attraction, Amy and Sarah did a little last minute shopping and we headed out of the parks. They took me back to the hotel and we said our goodbyes.


It was such a successful day! We hit all three parks! Got to ride the five biggest rides outside of Magic Kingdom! EE, ToT, RNR, TT and Soarin’ – all in one day - one half day if you consider we did not leave the hotel till late morning! How cool is that! And we had a nice lunch at Coral Reef.

I love park hoppers! They allowed us to be so spontaneous! Especially for new folks. We didn’t get to stroll around the parks, but both of them can now say that they have been to all four Disney World parks! Not bad for about a day and a half!

It was almost 7:00 when they dropped me back at my hotel. It was close to dinner time and I was not quite sure what I should do. I could go back to Epcot and watch Illuminations, which was the original plan. But I was pretty tired and my hotel room seemed quite inviting!

The hot tub seemed even MORE inviting!

So, I picked up the phone and ordered a pizza from a nearby pizzeria. Yummy!

Then I threw on my swimsuit and walked about 200 feet to my very own hot tub! For those of you guys that read the rainbow TR...you guys KNOW why I was so happy to have that hot tub to myself! I love kids. But I was glad to have this moment of peace and quiet. Just me. And the hot tub was HOT! Ah... I remember clearly being so happy to be completely by myself. And to think that I was so concerned about doing a semi-solo trip. I thoroughly enjoyed my quiet time!

I got out in time to meet the pizza guy. I ate and tossed the leftovers in my fridge and eventually crawled in the bed and watched some TV! (And, of course, checked the DIS!) Gotta love vacation!

I was so excited to get up early the next morning – because I had some Make a Wish families to meet up with! And Give Kids the World to explore!

 

[KathyRN137]

I have dropped at least 3 pant sizes in less than two weeks and was really proud of my lack of effort until I also learned that is a sign of TB...oh well...wish me luck.

Good luck, Sarah!

Kathy

 

[KathyRN137]

It was such a successful day! We hit all three parks! Got to ride the five biggest rides outside of Magic Kingdom! EE, ToT, RNR, TT and Soarin’ – all in one day - one half day if you consider we did not leave the hotel till late morning! How cool is that! And we had a nice lunch at Coral Reef.

Very impressive, indeed! Good DIS work!!

Soarin' is my favorite ride at Epcot, too!!

...and I laughed when I saw your empty plate picture! It did speak volumes!!


Kathy

 

[All7OfUs]

So fun to get to show a first timer all the biggies! I think you made good on a day and a half, for sure! You're right, really not enough time to just stroll around, but enough to give them a pretty good taste for next time

 

[wide receiver]

No food art??? I guess your right the empty plate does say a lot. Would you go back? What did you have?

 

[maroo]

Just for the record...I DID actually respond to these...

But I think it was at the same time my power went out and the tornado sirens were going off...

So, let's try again!

I actually forgot about those guys! They were great! We had lots of fun in line. I LOVED THE TOWER OF TERROR AND THE ROCKIN ROLLER COASTER!!!! I would so do both of those again. I always make sure I put my head back though. The only thing is if you are bigger the rrc is a little scary to get out of!

They WERE fun, weren't they! They sure did gravitate to 3 girls pretty fast!

Great picture!!

How is Sarah? Last we heard, she was caring for sick piggies in Africa!

Kathy

Update on Sarah...

She does not have TB (which is great news)...instead they think she has asthma. Which sorta doesn't make sense to me because I thought you pretty much got diagnosed with that at a young age. Although, I was diagnosed at 18...from being allergic to cigarette smoke...anyway. It is possible she is just allergic to the new things out there where she lives. Maybe she is allergic to the pigs?

Anyway...they have her on good meds and hopefully she will be feeling better soon!

She has had a horrible week, though, in other areas. Our friend died on Saturday. She knew him as Papaw and he was like a grandfather to her. It was fairly sudden. It is hard for her to be away and not to be able to be with the family and to say goodbye.

Her friend's daughter, as well, is very, very sick. And that was sudden, too.

And one of her former students tried to commit suicide and got kicked out of the school where she used to work (boarding school).

So...she has had a rough week, to say the least!

So prayers for Sarah would be appreciated!!!!!

And I suspect that she will post here eventually.

How fun! I'm glad you didn't cancel you ADR for Coral Reef...Can't wait to read about it.

And yes how is Sarah and the piglets? Hope she is feeling better

See response above about Sarah...

We did get to eat at Coral Reef...and I guess I should post more about it!!

I'm with you on the ponytail pain on a roller coaster. I wore a clip to keep my hair back and I think the metal prongs made permanent dents in my scalp! I don't know what the answer is, except to have messy hair!

Enjoying your TR!

I am definitely taking my ponytail OUT the next time I ride THAT ride!

i for one am very impressed with all you have accomplished already. i am feeling a little tired just reading about it. the three amigos look like a lot of fun to hang out with
funny about the ponytail , i always have a ponytail at home, but at disney i am a pigtails kinda gal so i guess thats why i never had a hard time with rnr. sorry you didnt love it, but try it again please it is one of my faves

I was tired at the end of that day! But that is what hot tubs are for, right!

And I will definitely ride RnR again!

I just love DHS! I love the art deco theming AND I LOVE ToT! But not so much RnRC. I remember that my head kept slamming against the side bars, and since I had taken off my glasses I really couldn't see much. Couldn't agree more with the "not so comfortable ride" thing. I'm not sure I HAVE to go on it again.

But you 3 were sure getting a lot in! At least for the headliner attractions. I'm so glad you got a later ADR! Can't wait to see those pictures.

Aw, come on! You just gotta ride it at least once more!

Hey all. Thank you for all of your concern about me and my piggies. Sadly we now only have 9/17. Thankfully only 6 of those were to the ecoli outbreak. Hopefully the rest make it because every pig we loose is money!

As to me and TB...I go get tested tomorrow...no matter what. As soon as I drop the children off at school I have to go to the clinic and then go get tires on the van. Sounds like a good day right? I am actually a little scared because I have dropped at least 3 pant sizes in less than two weeks and was really proud of my lack of effort until I also learned that is a sign of TB...oh well...wish me luck.

The good news is...since you don't have TB...you ARE losing weight on your own!! Is it all of that great South African cooking (or lack thereof?) I can imagine you would drop some just for not eating all of this Southern cookin'!

Lovin all of the pics. How ambitious you all are.
Here is some for Sarah. I hope you get better soon.

Thanks! We had such a good time!

Maroo - what a good diser you are - thinking to call for a reservation change at Coral Reef!

Three parks in one day - wow! That makes my head spin!

The three amigos! So sorry to hear that you had to occupy your time waiting in line talking to cute boys. I bet Lauren wishes she was with you!

I like TOT but am not a huge fan of RNR. My poor mom went on TOT with us because DD (5) wanted her to. I should have told her not to but I really thought she would be okay. She was so petrified that she sat in the empty elevator for a few minutes after the ride stopped basically being upset and breathing hard until she could calm down enough to be able to walk off. I felt like the worst daughter in the world for not warning her properly and letting her ride!

Sarah - hope your test turns out okay and that the rest of the pigs are okay.

Looking forward to the next update and to see what you got accomplished at Epcot!

You mean DISaddict!

You know...Lauren is so busy with school and our time together is like a whirlwind every single time...that she has yet to even see pictures from this trip!

This summer, hopefully, she will have some time to stop and smell the roses!

Aw...your poor mom! Bless her! At least the CM's let her sit there for a few min. And bless YOUR heart! Not a good experience for you, either!

 

[maroo]

Very impressive, indeed! Good DIS work!!

Soarin' is my favorite ride at Epcot, too!!

...and I laughed when I saw your empty plate picture! It did speak volumes!!


Kathy

I love Soarin'! Have I mentioned that?

You liked my empty plate, huh! Gutsy on my part, I guess. I imagine I will get flamed by someone! lol

So fun to get to show a first timer all the biggies! I think you made good on a day and a half, for sure! You're right, really not enough time to just stroll around, but enough to give them a pretty good taste for next time

There was definitely not much time to stroll around! We were people with a mission!

No food art??? I guess your right the empty plate does say a lot. Would you go back? What did you have?

Hmm...A review on Coral Reef.

I probably would go back. But not right away. I had the steak...and it was ok. Not fabulous. But, I do have several friends that cook a MEAN steak...so I am used to GREAT steak!

The atmosphere was great! The service was superb!

I can't remember what Sarah and Amy had...I think fish? Sarah...help me here!!?!

Remember, though, that I have only eaten at Chef Mickey's (avg food at best, but great character interaction and I will definitely go back!), The Wave (very strange food and I will never go back!), Coral Reef and Biergarten (that review is coming up).

And that's it.

So I really have no business doing much of a review...I promise to do better when I go in September! Dining is the whole point, then!