Cast: Beth (me: 40, planner, fretter, trip #9)
Dh: Mark (39, a great big wonderful kid, always up for a lark,trip #5)
DS: N. (trip #5, pre teen, and determined to do every ride he was too afraid of on his last trip)
DD: A. (trip #4, 7yo, so totally psyched)
Thursday am, we're moving slower in the mornings now. The day is bright & beautiful, and since we're being moved to a 2nd floor lagoon view concierge room, we toss all our belongings into our bags and head out by 9:30. We decide to take a small, quick breakfast in the lounge and head to Animal Kingdom. Actually, only A. was really interested in seeing this park, but the rest of us went along because after all, she did endure Splash Mountain with us. Its only fair.
The bus ride over from the TTC was great, hardly any wait at all, and basically empty (guess most folks moved a little faster than we did today). I don't know about anyone else though, but the walk to the front gates at AK from the bus stop there seemed very long. Maybe we're just getting tired at this point in the trip.
DH has started with a plan of attack, and has circled on our map all of the must sees in the park. We lollygag looking at the animals on the way in, and its cool & shady here. Then to ITTBAB, and we grab a FastPass. While we wait, I have to get sunglasses, I've lost 2 pairs on this trip, (good thing I buy relatively cheapie ones), and A. of course loves browsing in shops. We see some characters in costume, and we admire from afar: Rafiki, Baloo, Jane, King Louie and some others. A. is shy about seeing the characters, and finds it a little awkward that the non-face ones don't say anything, so we hang back. N. is clearly much too old (at 12) for that sort of thing. ITTBAB is a lot of fun, it was A's and my first time, M & N's 2nd, and we all really enjoyed it. The gentleman sitting next to me from England (I think) REALLY enjoyed the show and had a terribly infectious laugh. He had everyone cracking up.
We walked over to the Safari ride, and got some FP's and then had to obey our growling stomachs. We hadn't eaten much earlier, and needed some lunch. We saw the Tusker House and decided to give it a try, thinking at first it was a sit down place, and then being surprised it was counter service. But what counter service! This was the best we'd had so far! The kids got roast chicken w/ mashed potatoes, M. got a turkey sandwich wrap, and I had an amazing salad. We all shared and thoroughly enjoyed the wandering musician who seranaded us. I highly recommend this place.
Off to the Safari. We'd done this once before, two years ago, but had forgotten much of the schpiel, so it seemed fresh to us. Despite the early afternoon hour, we saw many animals, elephants, zebras, giraffes, even the lions. A. was a little frightened of the story of Big & Little Red, and it took some time before she understood that they were never in any real danger. She loved it.
We took the train out to the petting zoo, and have to be honest in that this was a disappointment to us. The train ride was ok, and the indoors displays & CMS were informative and interesting, but the petting zoo? We come from a rural area, and the last thing I need to see at AK is goats. Thats all we saw in there. Maybe folks who don't have goats nearby were impressed, but we wished we'd known in advance.
The Kali River Rapids restored our spirits though, and some more shopping made the day worthwhile here. We had PS's for 5:30 at Prime Time Cafe in MGM, and we hoped to take a quick swim before we headed over, so we headed back to the hotel!
We're walking along, on the way to our room and we pass the quiet pool to get there. As we're walking, M's head snaps back. "Did you see that?!" he's shocked, absolutely flabbergasted. Of course I have to see what he's talking about, and he points out a girl wearing a thong at the quiet pool. I'll bet she's no more than 18 years old, tan as can be and in a bright yellow thong bikini. While I admire her ability to wear such a suit, I've gotta say I was surprised to see it here. But like I said, we're from a somewhat rural area, and are not used to seeing this sort of thing. I guess we're easily surprised.
Back to our new room, which we love. Its #2515, and while you can't see the castle at all because of some tall palm trees, we got a fabulous view of Space Mountain, and the view of the fireworks here makes you think they're shooting them off just for you. We liked this room a lot. Anyways, instead of taking our pre-teen son down to see the pool show, M. decides that they'll go rent a couple of those Mini-Sprites (the small boats). A. and I decide to just relax in the room, then go down to the beach to see if we can see our guys go by in their boats. They came close to the peninsula where we were standing, and I got a couple of pictures. Then we all meet up back at the room. The guys loved the boats.
We change & head out to try to make our PS's, which we'd pushed back to 7:00. We get there in plenty of time, and have to wait awile for a table. When we get one, we're in the first room, at the bar table with a tv on it. Our waiter was forgettable, although efficient and pleasant, (he only asked one of us to remove our elbows from the table once), but the people next to us has Christopher for a waiter. He was a riot! He had them singing, clapping, apologizing to the room for not clearing their plates, switching seats and more. He was very entertaining to watch. The meal was good, M. & I both had the meatloaf, N. had the fried chicken, and A. had a hot dog (I think). The food here is good, but the big draw for us has always been the entertainment.
After dinner, we took a walk around and saw some street entertainment, but we were all pretty full, and kind of pooped, so we decided to head back to the hotel to catch the fireworks & boat parade. At the bus stop we decide to grab the bus to the Poly & GF, instead of the TTC, because we want to go to the GCH for a bottle of wine before we make it back to the room. The bus is packed! We're late on, so we have to stand at the back of the bus. While I'm standing there gripping the bars overhead, I feel a gentle tap on my back, and a man offers me his seat! This is our 6th day here, and the very first time I've seen any man beside my husband offer up a seat! I'm happy to stand, though, and tell the gentleman's wife (also standing, by the way) that I'm impressed with her husband's manners and how he & my dh are the only ones I've seen do this. She's noted the exact same thing, and feels the same way I do about it, so we're fast friends. We laugh and chat all the way back to the hotels, and it turns out that while they are from Illinois now, she used to be stationed about 20 miles from where we live. Whattayaknow? Nice family, having a wonderful time, but also nearing the end of their trip and getting a little tired.
We say our goodbyes, and head back to our room, stopping for the bottle of wine. The kids raid the concierge lounge for the great tarts, and mini pies they have, then its back to the room for what feels like a very private fireworks display. It was magnificent from this room.
All in all, a very nice day. Tomorrow is our last full day for parks, so we sit & plan what we've each wanted to do but hadn't had a chance for yet.
Dh: Mark (39, a great big wonderful kid, always up for a lark,trip #5)
DS: N. (trip #5, pre teen, and determined to do every ride he was too afraid of on his last trip)
DD: A. (trip #4, 7yo, so totally psyched)
Thursday am, we're moving slower in the mornings now. The day is bright & beautiful, and since we're being moved to a 2nd floor lagoon view concierge room, we toss all our belongings into our bags and head out by 9:30. We decide to take a small, quick breakfast in the lounge and head to Animal Kingdom. Actually, only A. was really interested in seeing this park, but the rest of us went along because after all, she did endure Splash Mountain with us. Its only fair.
The bus ride over from the TTC was great, hardly any wait at all, and basically empty (guess most folks moved a little faster than we did today). I don't know about anyone else though, but the walk to the front gates at AK from the bus stop there seemed very long. Maybe we're just getting tired at this point in the trip.
DH has started with a plan of attack, and has circled on our map all of the must sees in the park. We lollygag looking at the animals on the way in, and its cool & shady here. Then to ITTBAB, and we grab a FastPass. While we wait, I have to get sunglasses, I've lost 2 pairs on this trip, (good thing I buy relatively cheapie ones), and A. of course loves browsing in shops. We see some characters in costume, and we admire from afar: Rafiki, Baloo, Jane, King Louie and some others. A. is shy about seeing the characters, and finds it a little awkward that the non-face ones don't say anything, so we hang back. N. is clearly much too old (at 12) for that sort of thing. ITTBAB is a lot of fun, it was A's and my first time, M & N's 2nd, and we all really enjoyed it. The gentleman sitting next to me from England (I think) REALLY enjoyed the show and had a terribly infectious laugh. He had everyone cracking up.
We walked over to the Safari ride, and got some FP's and then had to obey our growling stomachs. We hadn't eaten much earlier, and needed some lunch. We saw the Tusker House and decided to give it a try, thinking at first it was a sit down place, and then being surprised it was counter service. But what counter service! This was the best we'd had so far! The kids got roast chicken w/ mashed potatoes, M. got a turkey sandwich wrap, and I had an amazing salad. We all shared and thoroughly enjoyed the wandering musician who seranaded us. I highly recommend this place.
Off to the Safari. We'd done this once before, two years ago, but had forgotten much of the schpiel, so it seemed fresh to us. Despite the early afternoon hour, we saw many animals, elephants, zebras, giraffes, even the lions. A. was a little frightened of the story of Big & Little Red, and it took some time before she understood that they were never in any real danger. She loved it.
We took the train out to the petting zoo, and have to be honest in that this was a disappointment to us. The train ride was ok, and the indoors displays & CMS were informative and interesting, but the petting zoo? We come from a rural area, and the last thing I need to see at AK is goats. Thats all we saw in there. Maybe folks who don't have goats nearby were impressed, but we wished we'd known in advance.
The Kali River Rapids restored our spirits though, and some more shopping made the day worthwhile here. We had PS's for 5:30 at Prime Time Cafe in MGM, and we hoped to take a quick swim before we headed over, so we headed back to the hotel!
We're walking along, on the way to our room and we pass the quiet pool to get there. As we're walking, M's head snaps back. "Did you see that?!" he's shocked, absolutely flabbergasted. Of course I have to see what he's talking about, and he points out a girl wearing a thong at the quiet pool. I'll bet she's no more than 18 years old, tan as can be and in a bright yellow thong bikini. While I admire her ability to wear such a suit, I've gotta say I was surprised to see it here. But like I said, we're from a somewhat rural area, and are not used to seeing this sort of thing. I guess we're easily surprised.
Back to our new room, which we love. Its #2515, and while you can't see the castle at all because of some tall palm trees, we got a fabulous view of Space Mountain, and the view of the fireworks here makes you think they're shooting them off just for you. We liked this room a lot. Anyways, instead of taking our pre-teen son down to see the pool show, M. decides that they'll go rent a couple of those Mini-Sprites (the small boats). A. and I decide to just relax in the room, then go down to the beach to see if we can see our guys go by in their boats. They came close to the peninsula where we were standing, and I got a couple of pictures. Then we all meet up back at the room. The guys loved the boats.
We change & head out to try to make our PS's, which we'd pushed back to 7:00. We get there in plenty of time, and have to wait awile for a table. When we get one, we're in the first room, at the bar table with a tv on it. Our waiter was forgettable, although efficient and pleasant, (he only asked one of us to remove our elbows from the table once), but the people next to us has Christopher for a waiter. He was a riot! He had them singing, clapping, apologizing to the room for not clearing their plates, switching seats and more. He was very entertaining to watch. The meal was good, M. & I both had the meatloaf, N. had the fried chicken, and A. had a hot dog (I think). The food here is good, but the big draw for us has always been the entertainment.
After dinner, we took a walk around and saw some street entertainment, but we were all pretty full, and kind of pooped, so we decided to head back to the hotel to catch the fireworks & boat parade. At the bus stop we decide to grab the bus to the Poly & GF, instead of the TTC, because we want to go to the GCH for a bottle of wine before we make it back to the room. The bus is packed! We're late on, so we have to stand at the back of the bus. While I'm standing there gripping the bars overhead, I feel a gentle tap on my back, and a man offers me his seat! This is our 6th day here, and the very first time I've seen any man beside my husband offer up a seat! I'm happy to stand, though, and tell the gentleman's wife (also standing, by the way) that I'm impressed with her husband's manners and how he & my dh are the only ones I've seen do this. She's noted the exact same thing, and feels the same way I do about it, so we're fast friends. We laugh and chat all the way back to the hotels, and it turns out that while they are from Illinois now, she used to be stationed about 20 miles from where we live. Whattayaknow? Nice family, having a wonderful time, but also nearing the end of their trip and getting a little tired.
We say our goodbyes, and head back to our room, stopping for the bottle of wine. The kids raid the concierge lounge for the great tarts, and mini pies they have, then its back to the room for what feels like a very private fireworks display. It was magnificent from this room.
All in all, a very nice day. Tomorrow is our last full day for parks, so we sit & plan what we've each wanted to do but hadn't had a chance for yet.
