Second Star to the Right... With pics! the end is here

[mrp4352]

I have this habit, Mom calls it a very, very bad one - but for some reason she hasn't called me to task for it yet. You see, we start planning trips and I realize that "If we add one more night, we can do..." So what starts as a nice long weekend suddenly becomes a weeklong trip. I haven't figured out quite how that always happens!

So, what happens when you start with a weeklong trip? Somehow, this turned into a 14 night extravaganza! But then, Disney offered free dining, so to take advantage of the free dining at the end of the trip, we had to add one more night. Yup, that's right - we're up to 15 nights people!

So, quick itenerary:

9/8-16 - Coronado Springs
9/16-20 - Disney Wonder
9/20-23 - Port Orleans - Riverside

And, just so you know who you're dealing with:


Me (Michelle) 35, single, devoted aunt to several nieces, the DisBoard participant, Mickey fan and airline Employee (that played into some discounts along the way)

Mom (Vicki) late 50s, now single, Nana, DisBoard lurker, pin collector (not trader - collector)

Eve (my aunt, Mom's sister) early 50s, married (her husband gets a Hog, she gets Disney trips with us), her motto on vacations "Just tell me where to be and how to get there"

Because we're travelling standby on early flights, my aunt flew in Friday, the 7th so we could all be up bright and early for our flights! But those flights are the subject of the next installment...

 

[mrp4352]

Ugh… What time is it? 4? Oh – wait! I have a plane to catch – Mickey’s waiting! Up, up and at ‘em everyone!!! Gotta get going – we have an early flight!

And what a flight – we were on the 7am out of Dallas to Houston and we (actually the entire plane) were introduced to Nancy – and her family – who had been enjoying Bloody Marys already. Many of them… But, we made it to Houston and quickly ran to our next gate.

Wait a second – no, not them! I recognize those ladies in their pajama pants… NO!!!! NOT ON OUR DISNEY FLIGHT TOO!!!! Yup, not only was Nancy and her family on our flight, they ended up sitting right across from us again.

We taxi out and sit waiting (we thought) for our turn to take off, but suddenly we’re heading the wrong way – back to a gate. Not good. Well, it was good; there was a mechanical issue with the air conditioning system so they decided not to fly us three hours in a craft with no air. I think I’ll second that decision! Not only that, but because Nancy and her family stopped for Bloody Marys during the walk to our new aircraft, we were able to sit far, far away from them on the flight!! YEA!!

Look – there it is! I can see the Swan, and Spaceship Earth (sadly naked looking). Oh, and there’s the Contemporary and Cindy’s Castle!! It’s not often I can find Disney from the air – but it was fun watching the parks slide by beneath us.

Upon arrival in Orlando, I decided that I needed to eat, especially since it was only 6 hours ‘til our big dinner and by the time we got checked in and ate we might not be hungry for dinner. So we ate at Sbarro’s in the airport, which gave the Magic Express line time to clear out somewhat. We were through the check in line in about 5 minutes and only waited 5-10 minutes to board a bus, then zoom – off to Coronado Springs by way of Pop Century!

During our, a storm broke – loud, long, but not heavy rain (thankfully). Ahhh, the joy of the 3pm Florida thunderstorm! We checked in, got our free food credits and room keys, and then headed out through the maze of buildings to find our home. We wandered down halls, through courtyards, around corners and finally found our room!

As lovely as the property is, the layout was confusing to us. We finally figured out that to get to our room from the main building, you go to the left, under the long covered walkway with arches, left at the long rectangular fountain, right to the circular plaza with a fountain in the middle, up a floor, left down a hallway (going past the topiary of the Three Amigos), left at the next intersection, then right the next time you’re presented with an option, past another set of elevators, and right when the dead end forces you to… Even cutting through the open plaza areas didn’t really help shorten the trip.

So, time to find our bus stop – that, thankfully, was much easier. Follow the hallway to the right until you get to a staircase, down the stairs and cut across the parking lot. The rain had stopped, but thunder still rumbled ominously. And yes, when we were on the bus to the Magic Kingdom another storm broke. Excuse me, but it’s now 4:30 – the storms are supposed to happen at 3 and be done!

Dinner is at Fort Wilderness, so once we got to the Magic Kingdom, we went and got in line for the boat to the hotel and watched the hoards of church groups coming to the Magic Kingdom for Night of Joy. I think we were really, really, REALLY glad that we weren’t getting anywhere near to that mess! Monorails were loaded to capacity – the ferry was loaded to capacity (even the second deck) and the kids were excited and hyper!

On the boat ride, we ended up standing, so we got off at Wilderness Lodge and hiked the beautiful nature trail to Fort Wilderness. It’s about a mile, I think, and it’s tucked back through the woods. We saw deer a couple of times – even getting within 20-30 feet of them at one point. There were bunnies, beautiful spider webs and lovely greenery all around us!

Upon arrival at Fort Wilderness, we checked in for dinner, then wandered around the store and people watched until it was time to go into the show. We had tier 1 seating – second row center – and right behind the Disney Tattoo guy! Have you heard of him? He’s got over 1000 Disney tattoos all over his body. Evidently he attends the 7:15 Saturday night show of the Hoop de Doo once a month.

We were tired and hungry, which enhanced our enjoyment of the show. The show is silly and fun, and once every 2-3 years is just right for our family. I wish I had gotten a picture of Eve’s plate when she was done, though. I don’t think she ate anything but ribs, fried chicken and cornbread. She had a mound of bones! (Unlike me, I’m not a huge meat-eater, so I ate mostly salad, mashed potato and cornbread.)

We rode the boat back to the Magic Kingdom and hopped on a bus that was waiting for us. It’s been a long day, but wonderful!

 

[vaTiggerGirl]

You know, maybe if your group had stopped for Bloody Marys too, you could have all had a blast together!

What a fantastic start to what I'm sure what was a stupendous trip. And how fun for US to have 14 more days' worth of reports to look forward to! Yay!!

 

[mrp4352]

I would love to say we were up at the crack of dawn and running to the parks to soak up every possible moment of Disney available.

I'd love to - but I can't. We slept in - and it was lovely!! (probably better for the rest of the trip, too...) After a leisurely breakfast at the Pepper Market - well, leisurely is relative. The concept of the Pepper Market is great! The food was mostly really good. The table-side service stank (how hard can it be to seat us and get us drinks?). and thank heavens we were on free dining, $10-15 entrees in the evenings were a little pricier than we were expecting, even for Disney. That and between the conference checking out and the two checking in and everyone who was flying out having luggage everywhere, the morning meal was not the relaxed experience we had been hoping for.

(thank you for indulging my rant)

With our behinds in the past (as Pumba would say) we hopped a bus to Epcot, then two monorails to the Magic Kingdom for our first official park of the trip! We were greeted with the Good Morning song on Main Street, which is something I love! It's so happy and bright colors and even the lady driving the trolley was smiling and singing along. Then, just a few steps down the road after the show, we found the Dapper Dans! (My favorite joke from them: 'Aren't the Irish reknown for their wit?' "Yes, but you're only half Irish!")

Then, just as we got to the hub, Dream Along with Mickey started - and it was the moving eyes and mouths!!! YEA!!! That is amazing technology - I can't wait until they figure out how to make it work during meet-and-greets! Oh, and this next picture is of a duck standing in line for popcorn - it just made me laugh!

Since we were in "show" mode this morning, we hurried over to Adventureland for the Pirate Tutorial with Cap'n Jack Sparrow! Thrust left, then right, then forward (nice moves Mac, keeping that one from hitting the, uh, shall we say, the family jewels...), diversionary tactics and run away!! We found ourselves using Jack's diversion technique the rest of the trip - although the governor's daughter really didn't work so well with our group... (quick aside: as pirate-y as Mac acted, sounded and looked, he had the teeth of a model - bright and shiney and a little out of place on a dirty old pirate)

We started to go ride pirates, but since the line was to the main entrance on both sides, decided our time would be better spent eating at the Liberty Tree Tavern.

This was a new restaurant for all of us (thanks to my best friend Bekah for selling us on it!) and it was one of the most pleasant meals we had! Good, solid food in a nice, quiet atmosphere. Extra credit for the fried cheese, the turkey sandwich and the fried pound cake! Also, we had mentioned to our server that the wife, daughter and son of the gentleman that lead our Yuletide Fantasy tour last year worked at LTT. Well, low and behold, his was was working that day and came by to say hello!

After our lovely meal, we stepped outside into the oppresive heat and humidity and (what would become a common theme after lunch almost every day) we decided to head back to the room and escape for a while. Although, at the time, I think we actually said we were going back to "watch the end of the Eagles game" since my aunt's a huge fan. After the game was over, we stayed inside a little longer to play some games before heading back out into the wild.

Ok, time to go, people - we're wasting precious vacation hours in the hotel room!! Off to Adventureland for Pirates! Along with everyone else in the park at that time... We ended up weaving single-filed through the masses of people, and somehow walked on to Pirates. Well, not somehow, some sneaky person used the knowledge that often people will naturally end up in the right hand line when offered two seemingly-equal looking lines. In this case, once we rounded the corner, we walked straight to the boat! Love, love, love the Davy Jones effect! But we will have to visit this ride again later - we rode with a large group of teenagers that had a great time riding, but had to tell the one girl, very loudly, what was coming up the whole ride. Not really disruptive, but, well, it gave me an excuse to ride again!

We were worried heading to Frontierland about the crowds, especially after Adventureland had been so bad, but we had only a 5-10 minute wait on Big Thunder Mountain's standby line! Then we were off to the Liberty Belle (just so we could get a peep behind the Haunted Mansion's construction wall!). If you've not ridden, the ferry is a pretty ride, especially at twilight, and you can get some shots of rides that aren't available anywhere else.

Time for one more attraction before Wishes - let's go see Mickey!! Philharmagic is my favorite Fantasyland attraction - the music is so pretty! I especially love soaring with Aladdin and Jasmine high over Agraba.

We had to walk the long way around to the front of Cindy's castle because they had already started watering down the rooftops, but we ended up with a passable viewing location. We were on the bridge to Liberty Square, so we missed several of the larger fireworks that were further away (darn tree!). But we were right there for the close ones that shoot from Fantasyland. And, hey, for me, more than half this show is the music anyway! (Look - it's the Blue Fairy!)

So, exhausted from our first full day of touring, we grabbed dinner at Pecos Bill's and headed back to collapse into bed.

 

[vaTiggerGirl]

What a riot to see the Dapper Dans upon entry to the MK! A perfect greeting. Like the Jamitors at Epcot, eh? And I am SO pleased you finally made it over to Liberty Tree Tavern. And now you'll have to take ME back--fried cheese?!? Really!? Wow!

I suddenly find myself missing Goofy.

And feeling like I need a little snack.

 

[mrp4352]

Ok, small gripe - I really, really, really miss the old Mickey wake up call message. Getting yelled at by Stitch at an awfully early hour is not nearly as nice as Mickey reminding me about why I want to get up!

And now, back to your regularly scheduled TR!

We're up! We have to go, go, go! This morning, we're starting our day at Kona's in the Poly! This is my Mom's all-time favorite breakfast at WDW, and my second favorite (I have a soft spot for the Rainforest at DAK). There are eggs Benedict and omelets to be had, people! Although next time, I will skip the omelet and go back to my pineapple macademia nut pancakes...

Since we were up and going, we decided a game of mini-golf was next, so we boarded the bus to Blizzard Beach and took the short walk over. Mom and Eve hadn't played that course before - while the winter course was fun, we decided we like Fantasia Gardens better (although the shade at WinterSummerland brings it in to a very close second). The theming is great - right down to the bumperstickers on the little elf mobile homes: My elf was toymaker of the month at...

After coming in second (I'm sure it was a close game!) Hey, wait a second, I'm the one telling this story...

After a nailbiting finish where I just barely gave up the lead to my aunt, we escaped from the humidity back at Coronado Springs - dining at the food court, then playing games until it was time to head out to MGM.

We started at the Tower of Terror - we had all missed this on our last trip and wanted to make sure we didn't miss it again! Everytime we ride, we swear there are effects we've never seen before! This time, it was the lightening on the walls in front of us.

Beauty and the Beast was standing room only because they couldn't open the uncovered bleachers with the weather in the area - and that did not sound like fun. So we headed to the Great Movie Ride instead! Have you ever noticed that it's the tour guide and the bad guy that make this ride? Have good CM's, have a good ride; have bored CM's, have a less-than-stellar experience. I'm pleased to share that Lilly (the lovely little size negative 2) tour guide was friendly, funny and a little doll to look at. And our gangster really played it up! Now, if we could just get a refurb that maybe changes up a couple of the scenes and 'freshens' the ride...

Can you believe it? Disney's already working on the Osborne Lights! (actually, after seeing that spectacle last year, I can believe it takes this long!) A quick stop by the temporary tattoo stand (I needed a Pirate Pluto tattoo for my Pirate Night costume on the cruise - did you know you can buy the tattoo without having it applied?), and we were off to the Muppets. Y'know, I love the preshow! I have been known to make my family wait through a whole preshow if we come in at the very end of it. This time, however, we came in at the very beginning as Scooter was checking the tvs, so I got to see the whole thing!

YUMMM!!! It's time for dinner at Mama Melrose's. I know, this restaurant is a love it or hate it - but for our family, it's a love it! Our waitress let us take our time over the meal, kept our glasses full, and made the meal for us.

We came out into the deluge. My notes from the day read: serious rain, rain, rain, thunder, lightening, rain, lightening, rain, look! a rainbow, more rain, thunder, lightening

Not a pretty sight... It was about an hour until Fantasmic and we knew we didn't want to sit in the metal stands at the theater waiting in this weather (for a show that honestly would probably not happen). So, we threw in the towel (which by now was very, very wet). Back to the hotel room for games, grabbing margaritas, chips and salsa on the way.

 

[vaTiggerGirl]

There are still a lot of days left to your trip.... waiting patiently.... very, very patiently..... oh so very, happily, patiently...

No pressure--you're busy, get to it when you can--I'm here waiting, did I mention patiently?

 

[mrp4352]

There are still a lot of days left to your trip.... waiting patiently.... very, very patiently..... oh so very, happily, patiently...

No pressure--you're busy, get to it when you can--I'm here waiting, did I mention patiently?

And your patience will be rewarded soon! Glad you're along for the ride! (oh, and for anyone else that may be lurking, you should know Tigger girl is my best friend, who happens to live halfway across the country from me, but is part of the trip on my ticker!!)

 

[mrp4352]

We slept in (again! Yea!) and dined on the banana nut bread that had been purchased as the dessert to our counter service lunch yesterday afternoon. Yummy!! Then it was off to Epcot!

We grabbed fastpasses for Soarin', then went to watch the grass grow! Ok, Disney would probably prefer that I say we experienced the educational attraction Living with the Land - but we've called it watching the grass grow in our family for so long, I don't think I could call it anything different. Loved the pumpkins in the Mickey molds that had the "Earning My Ears" bright red ribbon hanging down below!

After a delicious meal at Sunshine Seasons (including beautiful huge strawberries for dessert), we walked over to Imagination and found Figment! I miss the original version, but I enjoy this one - especially the purple star room at the very end. We were disappointed to find Honey, I Shrunk the Audience closed for refurb, though.

We still had time before our Soarin' time, so we went to Find Nemo! The ride stopped once and Crush came on with the safety announcement, "Kookoo-ka-chu, here's what ya do!" Yes, I am easily amused... After the ride, we, you know, found the coolest ocean dude! He was, like, "whoa!" and we were, like, "whoa", and then, he was like, "dude!!!" (Translation: Crush said, "Hi!", we replied "Hi", and then Crush said, "Look at all the humans in the human tank!"

Is it time yet? Is it time yet? No, we still can't go ride Soarin'...

So Eve and I headed off to explore Innoventions. Mom is dead set against learning any more than she has to on vacation, so we found her a nice, quiet little bench (right next to the music making robots) and headed off to explore. We ended up at the IBM Thinkamajig video game - you build a robot, then use your joystick to guide it through the water and in the air picking up prizes along the way. And not only did I beat Eve - I had the highest score in our groups! WooHoo! Bragging rights for the rest of the day!

We wake up Mom (just kidding, she was wide awake! Kind of...) and headed off to the Land - it's finally our turn for Soarin'! This is one of our favorite rides! The breeze in your hair, the smell of oranges, and the fireworks! Yea!!!

After walking across the Innoventions Plaza area, we decided to go ride Ellen's Energy Adventure. It's dark, cool, and 45 minutes long - what's not to like?? That, and a couple of years ago, we did the Undiscovered Future World tour and got to walk in the dinosaur area between cars - very cool! Anyway, all that to say, we really like this ride!

Then it was off to Mars - with the orange group, of course! No weak stomachs in our party! (at this point, tired legs and humidity filled hair, but no weak stomachs)

{Breaking news bulliten: I just officially booked my 12/6-9 trip with VaTiggerGirl!! We're staying at a new hotel for us, Pop Century! Ok, back to the trippie!}

After Mission: Space, we started to head back towards the World Showcase and our dinner reservation at the Rose and Crown. Along the way, we were distracted by the dancing fountain, and Club Cool, then back to the fountain. (Can you tell we like the fountain?)

Eve and I settled in down by the Friendship Boat launch to listen to Off Kilter, while Mom went back to the locker to get our rain gear - since it looked like we would be needing it very, very soon... (I noticed a trip report on another board entitled: Does it ever stop raining during our trip? We kind of felt that way during the land portion before the cruise...) You can see the storm building over Spaceship Earth in this picture.

Dinner at Rose and Crown has become one of our favorite meals! The cheese plate, bangers and mash and sticky toffee pudding along with a beer flight. Does it get anybetter than this? Well, since you asked, yes, yes it does. You see we were dining outside (and our waitress had already told us she would make sure our meal was slow enough so we could watch Illuminations from there), had a nice light breeze coming off of the lagoon and we were well protected from the incredible thunderstorm that hit, but we could see and enjoy it and the lightening show it brought.

The one downside was our Illuminations view... We were directly on the lagoon, but the fourth row back (the first two rows were lower on the lagoon than we were), so when the fireworks went off, we could only see the lagoon level shells. Anything up in the sky was pretty much cut off by the awning we had been so grateful for early that evening. Not only that, but the music was not piped into the area , so we were hearing bounce around echos that didn't line up. So, for the future, we'll continue to go, but make earlier ressies so we can get out and find a good viewing spot.

We were able to slowly wander out of the park, load a not-too-terribly crowded bus and collapse into bed after another grand day!

 

[mrp4352]

Ok, so there was a rumor the Haunted Mansion might reopen today. So somehow, we dragged our bodies to the center of the...sorry, we dragged our bodies to the bus stop and walked through the gates of the Magic Kingdom by 8:45! (not an easy feat for me, I'll have you know!). The huge wooden wall was still up, so we wandered through Fantasyland for the very end of Little Ones Extra Magic Hour (from which they didn't exclude us even though there were no little ones present). We managed to snag a ride on Peter Pan and it's a small world (just because my neice Alyssa would ask if we rode those, I'm sure. Nothing to do with the fact that Peter Pan is one of my all-time favorite dark rides, no nothing at all to do with that...)

We settled in at the Sleepy Hollow snack stand for some breakfast - I had a nice healthy muffin and water (man, the humidity and heat is miserable and it's only 9:15!), Mom and Eve had funnel cake for breakfast! The castle forecort show started while we were enjoying breakfast - for those who enjoy seeing how some of the magic is done, that's a treat! You can see behind the stage and watch as Mickey gets ready to make his big entrance!

Then it was off to Tomorrowland for the most important business of the day: Buzz Lightyear! Where I finally, after many years of hard work, managed to max out the score! I tried to take a picture, but forgot to turn off the flash, then by the time I realized it and had fixed the setting, the score was resetting. I called VaTiggerGirl anyway! See, she's been holding her perfect score over my head for quite some time - not anymore, Missy!

To borrow Zzub's phrase, we rode the Puppies of Progress - another family favorite. It's a nostalgia thing (although I wouldn't mind a small refurb, does anyone call their cell a "car phone" any more?). Then a spin on the TTA where we noticed that there was no line for Space Mountain - so we headed straight there next. Ok, now, we're Pooh-sized (well, my aunt not so much, but Mom and I), so no line on Space Mountain means quite a hike. It was a relief to drop down into the coaster seat. [To the other riders in our car: I apologize for the squeeling, laughter, "eeep"ing, and other sounds you may have heard from our party. I assure you they are all happy sounds that mean we were enjoying our ride!]

We needed to head out of the park for our meal at the Contemporary Steakhouse, so we walked on that lovely quiet path to Toontown and caught the next train to Main Street. Where we made one of the biggest mistakes of the day, we decided to walk to the Contemporary. When we arrived, I was thoroughly convinced that the greatest invention EVER was air conditioning!

Ah, the Contemporary Steakhouse. I know, opinion on the boards are split on this one - but it's a favorite of ours. As long as you're not right on Chef Mickey's, it is relaxing. The food is always good, and it's even better when it's free! We got our deserts to go and headed back to the room where I collapsed for a nap. Mom and Eve did laundry and played in the pool and we all went to bed early. You see, the alarm has to go off early tomorrow morning...

 

[mrp4352]

Up and at 'em!! Today's the day!! Haunted Mansion comes out of refurb!!

However, for all our planning, it didn't open as part of extra magic hours, so we went and rode Winnie-the-Pooh (and Mom only jumped a little when Tigger bounced up right in front of her), then went and took our place in the throng. We were in front of the Columbia Harbor House (along with about 300 of our closest friends) and as soon as we heard the "please walk slowly and safely to your first destination" we surged forward, joining mobs from the Liberty Square bridge and the Adventureland tunnel.

We were on the ride in 25 minutes! WooHoo! Wow! I hope all the shirts and ties that were watching people as we walked out of the mansion are proud - they should be!To keep this spoiler free - I'll just say the Imagineers kept the best of what was there, gave it a bit of a spit-shine (or should that be cobweb-dusting since it's the Mansion?); and then added some fantastic new effects.

We did decide not to purchase opening day, limited edition pins. There was a line out the door of the little shop and they weren't letting anyone else in right then. Having had enough of crowds, we chose to go to the Big River Grill on the Boardwalk for lunch. If you haven't eaten there, the foods good, the beer's better and the Boardwalk Bakery is just down the street for dessert!

Back to the room to escape the heat with naps and games. Then we headed out to the Polynesian - where we found I had made a mistake. When we were planning our meals, we juggled schedules around and I had to call and make a couple of corrections. So, we showed up at 'Ohana's to find that the 5:45 meal time my list showed had been cancelled (by me) and rescheduled for 7:30. Yea, that's right. I did that. I just never transfered it over to my list of ADRs to take on the trip with us... So, we check in for our 7:30 reservation, settle in with Lapu Lapus (the divine pineapple drink), wine and our page to wait until they called us. At 7:30. Which was really all right. There was a fantastic storm blowing in (actually, it never made it to the Poly, just gave us quite a display); the nice man playing Hawaiian music started playing; and there was some GREAT people watching. I still have to wonder, though, that they absolutely could not have sneaked us in somewhere along the way.

When you go to 'Ohana's you go for the experience. The food is good (not great), but the view is spectacular and we've always been lucky enough to be seated by the huge grilling fire. Our assistant waiter was fantastic (so good that we slipped him an extra tip when our waiter wasn't around) and Eve almost ate the restaurant out of shrimp (2 bowls, I think it was, and I didn't have any and Mom only ate 1 or 2)! So we counted it a successful evening and went home to dream Polynesian dreams of drinks in pineapples and shrimp!

 

[mrp4352]

We had decided early on to enjoy sleeping in - all three of us are generally leave the house around 6:15 in the morning to go to work, so sleeping in is a luxury for us! One we don't often get at Disney World because we "have to see everything!" So we decided early on in planning that we would take time to smell roses and sleep in!

When we finally got moving, we had breakfast at the Maya Grill at Coronado Springs (mostly because you couldn't get near the food court). It ended up being a real treat and well worth the OOP expense! The biscuits and gravy were especially good.

Off to Animal Kingdom and to Find Nemo! Has anyone noticed how often he gets lost at Disney World? It seems like every time I turn around we're having to help Marlin and Dory find him. Maybe he needs one of those monkey backpack/leash things? Seriously, though, this show is beautiful and well worth the time! We try to get there about 45 minutes early - it does mean that we'll be standing outside about 15 minutes before they let us in. But it also means that we can generally get center section in the middle of the theater (I like to watch everything that comes up the aisles, so I don't sit too close).

We had grabbed Everest fast passes on the way in, so it was time to meet our doom! This is worth the extra wait for the front seat! And actually, it wasn't too bad, only 2 trains before they sent us down to rows one and two. You have to duck to get past the Yeti when you're in the front seat! (well, not really, but it sure feels like it!)

We needed a break after that excitement, so we grabbed ice cream treats (they have the best floats with the soft serve ice cream) and wandered over to our other favorite show - Festival of the Lion King. Yup, I'm a sucker, I cry during the Circle of Life number everytime. I think part of what makes this show so special is that we've found the same dancers in it over several trips: zebra girl, snake girl, and antelope boy are among the most memorable for us. it's kind of like coming home and old friends you haven't seen in a while are waiting there for you. That and I love the interaction away from the main focus of the show: the giraffe will play with the dancers; Timon reacting to the show; etc.

After the show, I decided it was time to eat! It was 3pm and we had criss-crossed DAK. Pizzafari!! This restaurant is so pretty inside - all the bright colors, the animals absolutely everywhere you look, and the very cool music. That and the pizza is really pretty good! (The hot Italian sub is better, but I had opted for pizza this time.) We grabbed our lemon chill desserts (thanks Free Dining!) and wandered out just in time to see the Jammin' Jungle Parade; Mom's favorite thing at Animal Kingdom. We barked and growled and screetched and roared right along with them during the parade, then stomped and jumped and leaped and soared right back to the bus. We barely made it back to the room before the sky split.

I don't know if you've heard, but this is the night of the first Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party - and the storm lasted about 4 hours and it was pretty bad. I believe they ended up giving free tickets to a future event to those in attendance that night because the weather was so bad. And a castmember told us later in the trip that the Stitch building in Tomorrowland had taken a direct lightening hit and knocked out all the computers in it!

We were glad to be safe in our room, only venturing out for dinner during a lull. The only bad thing was this was our last chance to see Fantasmic during the first part of the cruise. But I think it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to be sitting on metal bleachers on a hilltop in that weather...

 

[vaTiggerGirl]

I LOVE your reports--it always feels like I'm right there with you, thunderstorms, humidity, messed-up ADR and all. (Are you sure I didn't somehow do that last one?? ha!) And I'd like to know, what is it about Fantasmic these days? Seems like we've been gypped out of quite a few shows. And I won't say this out loud since I don't want to jinx it, but you know my first day in December is at MGM.... I'm thinkin' a little Osborne lights, a little Mickey savin' the world...

What a great report! I can hardly wait to hear about the cruise. (Thank you for the postcards, by the way. And yes, I do need to go back on the cruise as soon as possible!)

And I'd like to do the honorable thing and congratulate you most sincerely for your Buzz win.

I'd LIKE to, but I'm not going to, because I'm going to STOMP YOU ONCE AGAIN THE NEXT TIME WE FACE OFF!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA.....

 

[mrp4352]

Is it really the last full day at the parks before the cruise? The first half of this trip has flown by!

Mom and Eve were up bright and early and headed out the door for Epcot to ride Soarin' twice. I decided to be a bit lazier and just meet up with them at the Magic Kingdom. On the way to meeting them, I caught most of the castle show (and got a fanastic place for pictures!), rode Snow White, and watched Philharmagic again.

We had decided to meet at the Magic Kingdom because they were offering Annual Passholders a special line between 9 and noon that morning. I think we ended up waiting about the same length of time as we would have waited if we had just gone mid-afternoon (about 25 minutes). But it was still fun to get to be "special".

We lunched at the Columbia Harbor House - which was a mob scene downstairs, but we were able to escape into the tranquility of the upstairs seating areas! They have such good food and, more importantly, they have malt vinegar for the french fries!

The park was starting to fill up (well, duh, Michelle, it was a Saturday!), so we decided to get a quick Pirates ride in before heading out - nope, nuh-huh, not happenin' folks. Sorry, but I'm not waiting 30+ minutes for Pirates - not when we're coming back next week. So after getting a Magic Moment certificate for knowing what year Aladdin was released (and a pretty rock! You know, they have those big displays where kids can fill a bag with rocks, well I got to pick one of those rocks.) we bailed on the Magic Kingdom. There's laundry to be done and sanity to be recovered before our big evening!

Dinner at the Coral Reef! This is another DisBoard love/hate restaurant. Our family leans towards love, although service has, in the past, been lacking. Tonight, though, our waiter was fantastic! Mom had the Sand and Sea appetizer (steak and shrimp) and a steak; I had the Caesar salad and a steak: and Eve had the lobster stew and shrimp pasta. The Blue Glow-tini is very good (I thought, Mom didn't like it as well, however she also would not give it up) and Eve's Mai "Tide" was fantastic!

Then it was time - the VIP Dessert DisMeet that Jetsetter97 organized for us! YEA!!! We met in the VIP lounge of the Living Seas (because of the storms the night before, Disney didn't want to risk us and our desserts in the open). We got private viewing of the fish, kids played on the clear piano and I met bunches of great Dis'sers!

We were force marched across Epcot and showed our arm bands to gain access to our private viewing location right on the lagoon! (I had no clue I could make it from the Living Seas to the little island between the bridges separating France and Great Britian in 10 minutes!) I don't know what was cooler - the view or getting escorted into that area past all the jealous non-Dis'sers!

I love Illuminations! On the way out, we wandered into MouseGears and got to enjoy the fountain a little more. Then it was home to pack, we have a ship leaving tomorrow!

 

[mrp4352]

Thank heavens we packed last night! We're up, but a little slow moving (could it be because we stayed up last night packing?). After a last breakfast at the Maya Grill and using up a couple of last snack credits in the gift shop, we sent 2 bags on to Port Orleans - Riverside (our home after the cruise) and took a cab to the Swan - where we found a lovely cruise bus just waiting to take us to Port Canaveral.

We checked in and boarded the ship around 2pm. First stop, Wave Runners to change our dining rotation (we were originally scheduled into Animator's Palette the night we had Palo's reservations - not a good thing.). Five minutes later, all is fixed and we were free to go find our stateroom! We had a verandah - and it was worth every penny we paid for it! Eve and I left Mom on the verandah and headed up to Beach Blanket Buffet for some lunch (that included this wonderful ham and cheese salad!)

Time to put on the lovely orange lifejackets and head down for the safety drill. I must admit - when picking our stateroom, I picked one that put us on the port side. You see, I've been on the starboard side for a safety drill that lasted 30 minutes in the heat. not pretty... So we had a nice shady spot! That's done - now let's PARTY!!! Cruise Director Darren lead us all in proclaiming to the world: We are on vacation! Then the countdown with the magical horn - YEA! Oh, wait... We're not actually moving yet. But that's ok! It gives us time to go to deck 4 and get comfortable while we watch the coast slide by.

I love going down and waving to everyone on the coast - Many of them bring picnics and make an evening out of watching the ships go by.

We decided to go down to the pub to catch the Cowboy score. Even though I'll miss the old dueling piano bar that used to be here - this new area is comfortable and relaxing. {oh, and we tried that new Miller Chillada beer, nope, didn't work, going back to my Corona with lime}

Just for grins, we went and played Bingo. The price was inexpensive and we tend to be, slightly, competative - much fun! No winning, though... Then it was time for dinner at Triton's. YUM!!! Mom had the shrimp, a salad, beef and the creme brulee. Eve had the shrimp, tomato basil soup, the halibut and an apple tart. I had the quiche, salad, beef and a HUGE ice cream sundae. After the huge, fantastic dinner, and the long day, it was time to roll into bed.

But not before we found this friendly fellow...

 

[mrp4352]

We woke up to find Eve gone... Lost... Oh, where, oh where could our little Eve be? Turns out that she was up early. At an hour I didn't even know existed - 4am or some such foolishness! She had gone to explore the ship and play with her camera, but more importantly, she came back with coffee for everyone!!

We were up and dressed in time to go to the fourth deck and watch the ship dock in Nassau. If you haven't watched this before, it's fascinating! The captain just moves the ship in sideways and you don't even feel the bump against the pier.

We had decided to tour Nassau on our own, so we didn't rush the gangplank. Instead we wandered to Triton's for a nice leisurely breakfast (huge, yummy, good coffee - what more do you need?). Then it was time to grab a land taxi and head over to Atlantis to help bolster the local economy.

Eve and I headed to the aquarium and promptly decided that $40 is a little steep to view the fish. So, we looked along the one wall of glass that is free and found Zeus, a manta ray. If you look in the picture, you can see the diver below him to get an idea of his size. Zeus is 11 feet from wing tip to wing tip (and the nice lady the next day at Castaway Cay said that he is only half grown!).

Bonus picture!

We did a little shopping on the way back to the ship before lunch at the Beach Blanket Buffet - try the melon soup!

After some rest and relaxation in the cabin (read: Mom and Eve took naps while I read), we headed off to bingo - where Mom won over $100!! (Win #1) Then we changed for dinner and headed off to Hercules - The MUSEical! I love this show - our Hades was especially funny!

Then, yes, the quick Bingo game before dinner - where Eve won $68! (Win #2 - total cabin winnings: $168) Do you know Snow White's favorite Bingo number? It's "Five Oh, Five Oh! I love to play Bingo!" And yes, Jayme (our delightful Bingo caller all week) had many more really bad jokes.

Dinner rotation had us in the Animator's Palatte tonight! Unfortunately we did not have really good seats for the main show. But the food was wonderful: baked tomatos, squash soup, steaks, cannoli, salmon and chocolate peanut butter pie, just to name a few of the things we snarfed.

After dinner, Mom headed back to the room while Eve and I went to Diversions to check on her Eagles. It wasn't looking very pretty, so I gave up after the 3rd quarter, but Eve (being a true fan) stayed 'until the bitter end...

 

[mrp4352]

Look!! There's an island!!

Look!! There goes an island...

Thar be squalls ahead, so about 100 feet from the Castaway Cay dock (at least it felt like we were that close) the good Captain decided that for the safety of everyone involved we should sail away and come back in about an hour. From what we heard later, there had been gusts up to 40 miles an hour in the squall and it definitely wouldn't have been safe for the people on shore to be out catching ropes from our ship.

So while we waited, room service brought the breakfast we had ordered the night before (very cool!!) and we got ready for our day ashore. I ran off the ship because I had an excursion in 15 minutes on the absolute other side of the island. The stingray adventure was incredible!

Can you believe they've trained the stingrays to enter on the left and exit on the right? The rays would bump up against our ankles while we were walking out - just like cats who know their food is on the way. Everyone had the opportunity to feed 5-6 rays. Most everyone else went snorkelling, but I'm not that adventurous, so I took the tram over to Serenity Bay to find Mom and Eve. We played in the water for a bit, then I decided to head back and take advantage of a quiet (empty) room.

But I did stop on the way back to take in some of the local scenary...

After a lovely, long hot shower and a bit to eat, I watched Ratatoie (I give up on the spelling!) before watching the ship cast off.

I met up with Mom and Eve and we donned our Pirate gear then watched The Golden Mickeys! It's such a fun show - I love Ursula's tenticles! We did swing by the Pirate Bingo on the way to dinner - where it was my turn to win - $133! (Win #3: Total cabin winnings $301). {Bad joke from bingo - Why don't pirates play cards? They're always sitting on the deck!}

Dinner was Animator's Palette again, with a fantastic pirate-y sounding Rum Raisin ice cream sundae for dessert. Aren't we a vicious bunch of pirates?

It's raining, so the pirate party was moved inside to the atrium. Unfortunately, this made it nearly impossible for us to see the party. We were on the 5th deck looking straight down on the show. We stayed to see Minnie and friends come down stairs, but gave up on the show. Hopefully the weather will clear tomorrow night so we'll get to see our fireworks...

 

[vaTiggerGirl]

I'm so jealous you got to feed the stringrays! and yet, somehow, it's satisfying that you finally did. I don't suppose you have a PHOTOGRAPH of said event...??

Gorgeous, beautiful, lovely Castaway Cay! I hear the island calling me, even now...

 

[mrp4352]

No, sorry to say... I was by myself and didn't have the underwater camera with me (for some strange reason, I decided to leave it on shore with my day bag don't ask me what I was thinking!)

I have to say, that was just about the highlight of my trip! The stingrays were so soft and velvety and beautiful just gliding around in the water.

 

[mrp4352]

It was my turn to wake up early for some unknown reason. Hmm, as hard as I was trying to be quiet, I still managed to make enough noise coming back to the room to wake everyone up. Whoopsy! I did come with a peace offering of coffee (and a donut for myself that was refrigerated and icky cold). While I waited for the two sleeping beauties to make themselves gorgeous for the day - I went to deck 4 (along with everyone young man under 15 and almost every woman over 15) to meet Captain Jack Sparrow!

It's kind of hard to tell from this picture - but he's asking if the crystals in my watch are real jewels. But once I told him no, he pretty much just posed for the picture and sent me on my way - all the while eyeing the earrings the next lady had on!

I gathered the others and we headed off for brunch in Palos! YUM!! The fruit pizza was wonderful! And the buffet was huge.

Isn't it pretty? I had a hard time picking, but finally ended up with: tiramisu in the shot glass (the best), a fruit tart in a chocolate cup (wow!), the chocolate mouse with sugar swan (eh, but it was beautiful).

While we had a wonderful meal, it was warm in the restaurant (uncomfortably so)and the castmember we told about the slippery floor didn't seem to care, so we decided to cancel our reservations for the evening and catch dinner somewhere on the fly.

Eve and I went relaxed in the room while Mom went to the DVC presentation. We're hoping to buy next spring. She learned a lot and won the door prize - a $300 room credit! (Win #4 - total cabin winnings $601) Which means it's finally time to shop!! A scrapbook, Christmas ornament and several other wonderful must-haves later we dropped our treasures in the cabin and headed up for a snack from Goofy's Galley.

Time for Bingo! It was the last session of the cruise and we did ourselves proud! Mom won $159 on the first game. (Win #5 - total cabin winnings $760) I followed up with a shared win on the second game - the game paid $188, which I split with one other person. (Win #6 - total and final cabin winnings for the cruise - drum roll please - $854! Yes, Mom actually left the cruise with more money than she boarded with)

We grabbed snacks up on the 9th deck, then went down to pack and enjoy the sunset from our cabin.

Then it was time to slip up to deck 10 to watch the fireworks. Wow!

And we rounded out the evening with Disney Dreams. Such a beautiful show - I cry happy tears at the end every time. (they often turn to sad tears when I realize that I have to leave the ship the next morning, though)

A late room service meal, then it was time to go to bed - our cruise was ending...