The Last Vacation We're Ever Taking (we'll see about that!) - THE END!!

[Schachteles]

I thought that when you got DreamFastPasses that they were good for the day not just one ride?!?

 

[AnninIowa]

They are good for the one day for use of one per ride...so you can't, for instance, just keep going back on Soarin' again and again. It's a plastic badge and the individual rides are on tabs that snap off. For Epcot, there were 6 tabs, and as you enter a cast member takes the tab for that ride off.

 

[AnninIowa]

No pictures, as we had a major storm and power outage last night, which blew my printer...so I'm not able to scan them in!

Our last full day of vacation! Normally I’m ready to head home towards the end of a trip, but this time I was actually sad to think of leaving and wanted to cram as much into our last day as possible.

I’d planned for the day to be spent at the Magic Kingdom, with the main goal being to see all of the attractions in Fantasyland. So far I’d been inside the park twice in my life, but had yet to ride anything other than Mad Tea Party.

We missed the rope drop, but most people seemed to be milling about Main Street or watching the Dream Along With Mickey show on the castle stage. Amateurs!! Wasting time like that when in only moments the lines for Peter Pan could be up to one hour?!

We marched around the castle and got in line Mad Tea Party, probably my favorite ride no matter the park (yes, it’s Disney, but a teacup ride is a teacup ride no matter where…and I love them!). My dad isn’t so fond of teacups, though, so I kept spinning to a minimum.

Next up was Peter Pan; only a 10 minute wait, whew! I actually really liked this; “flying” in the boats was fun…and no jerky movements or downward hills, either! Works for me!!

Winnie the Pooh was closed, and the wait for Dumbo looked outrageous, so we headed to Snow White’s Scary Adventure. Scary, indeed! I’d read about warnings from parents that this ride was too intense for kids; it was too intense for me!! Those little cars spun and jerked around constantly; then you’ve got the witch all around you and even the dwarfs look crazed. Never again!

Fortunately It’s A Small World was a much tamer ride. Dad really liked this one, which kind of surprised me. Again, no hills, so I was happy! It really is a beautiful inside with all of the dolls and scenes; and, yes, the song does stay with you for hours afterwards!

By now it was close to 11 am so we decided to stop for lunch at Scuttle’s Landing, which had the same sweet cream pretzels and frozen Cokes we’d had in Tomorrowland earlier in the week. So good!!

So, as for Fantasyland, we still didn’t get to ride Pooh or Dumbo, but that means we need to come back someday, right?!

Next we went to Liberty Square and the Haunted Mansion. I liked it much better than our previous visit, as the ride had stopped 3 times and pretty much spoiled the effect. This time there were no stops; big difference!

Afterwards, while I took a bathroom break, Dad was left to watch Woody and Friends do the Hokey Pokey in Frontierland. He was smiling and bobbing his head along when I came out; he was surprised that they still did the Hokey Pokey these days! I ended up walking right next to Woody for what seemed like the longest time as we tried to make our way over to Big Thunder Mountain. I think he was following me!

The line for Big Thunder Mountain was the longest we had the entire trip, 20 minutes. We got the front seat; you really feel everything in the front seat! Every little hill and bump; but it was still fun!

We decided to take the train around the entire loop, just to see everything. I think the part where it stops in Main Street is the best, as you can look out onto the entrance of MK. We rode around all the way back to Frontierland, and fought the crowd out toward Adventureland.

By now we were starting to tire (I honestly don’t know how people can just go, go, go all day long!), but I wanted to give Pirates of the Caribbean one more try.

I just don’t understand this attraction at all; I don’t get why looking at violent pirate scenes is supposed to be “magical”. Neither my dad nor I liked this on our last trip or again on this one, but to each his own. Oh, and I had forgotten about the little hill! I know people are crazy about the movie and Johnny Deep; and the new features did liven it up from the last time. Well, I know Disney will do just fine on this one without us, LOL!

Afterwards, everything was filling up; 30 minute waits for Jungle Cruise and Enchanted Tiki Room, so we decided to head back to AKL. Since it was warming up, I convinced Dad he could have some ice cream…and I almost got him to have a Dole Whip, BUT at the last second he changed his mind and wanted the twist ice cream from the Dole Whip stand. He didn’t like it; thought it was grainy. Told him he should have had the pineapple! Oh, and then I did stop for some chocolate cake at the Main Street Bakery! Yum, yum!! Only at Disney could I feel comfortable eating a big hunk of chocolate cake with hundreds of people milling around!

We headed back to the lodge and rested a bit before heading out to Downtown Disney one last time. Dad agreed to our last dinner at Earl of Sandwich (yea!), and then I went on a major shopping spree. I was able to get souvenirs for my brother and all his family, plus a big Pluto just for me! Packing it all…well, that was another story!

I decided that the only way I could get all my stuff home was to buy another carry on…and wouldn’t you know you could buy one for only $10 with a $40 purchase at the gift shop at Animal Kingdom Lodge? Well, of course I couldn’t pass up that deal; and since I just had to have a few more things, it worked out. Pluto had a nice trip home in my new canvas carry on!

One last night in the comfy AKL beds, and then it was time to leave. We had to be at the Magical Express bus stop at 7:30 (ugh!), and then began the day of travel hell, with an 8 hour layover in Cincinnati since the flight leaving Orlando was late. I’d originally chosen an early flight so we could be home in time to pick up my dogs, but that plan went out the window. We didn’t make it back to Cedar Rapids until 10:30 and were greeted by below zero temps! Sure made the chilly Florida weather seem darn near hot!

However, the best part was picking up Max and Lucy the next day! They were sure happy to come home, and have been playing with all their Disney toys since!! I do have some pictures of that: http://picasaweb.google.com/anneckhart/MaxLucyWDisneyToys

 

[AnninIowa]

So that's my trip report! I hope those you read it enjoyed it. I really did get hooked on Disney on this, my second trip. The first time visiting was such a whirlwind that I just wasn't able to absorb it (not to mention again the extreme heat and bad shoes!); this time I was able to slow down and really appreciate everything Disney has to offer!

AKL - I would definitely stay here again and would recommend it to anyone! I had a lot of the same concerns as others: Is it too far from everything? Would the buses take forever? Are there enough food choices? Is there anything to really do there? Isn't it too dark? No, No, Yes, Yes, and No!! From the friendly staff, comfortable room, great food selection at Mara, prompt bus service, and, of course, the animals, AKL was wonderful!!

Dining Plan - We didn't do the Dining Plan as we had two days off-site, but I'm not sure we would have done it, anyway. For the way we eat, we came in under what we would have had to pay for the plan. Now, if we would have gotten it at a discounted rate or FREE...well, then you'd be crazy not to do it! While it was hard to constantly part with the cash, it was nice to not have to worry about credits or when to be somewhere to eat.

Busch Gardens & SeaWorld - If you love animals, you CANNOT miss these two parks! Words cannot describe how wonderful they are!!

Magical Express - The only direct flight we can get to Orlando from Iowa is on Alligent, and they only fly into Stanford (sp). Because of the problems with layovers and Dad not liking to fly, I would seriously consider giving up the Magical Express service to fly direct to Stanford and have a car pick us up. For those who do utilize it, as long as you have your essentials in your carry-on, you can't beat the ME service!

All in all...I hope to make it back to WDW someday soon!!

 

[bunnysmum]

I really enjoyed your trip report, Ann! I'm still hoping to get MY Dad to come with us on our next trip.

I was just thinking about all the people riding on Kilomanjaro Safaris who didn't speak English...wouldn't it make sense for Disney to have the CM's who drive the jeeps to learn to say "Please sit down" in several different languages? Just for safety's sake?

Heh heh. Maybe they should add a few more "useful" phrases to their repetoire, too, like:

"If you wish to become lunch for any one of the several carnivores in the park, by all means, lean out a little further."

 

[riopooh]

great report - Thanks so much for writing.

We just got back and had a totally opposite experience in regard to crowds - I was very jealous reading your report!!

 

[John's Mom]

Ann,

I really enjoyed your trip report. Thanks for sharing!

 

[MomofCKJ]

Great report! I really enjoyed it! I went to USF in Tampa for college and always enjoyed visiting Busch Gardens!

Allyson

 

[CourtneyandRyan]

Yay Ann! Good report! Love the dog's bandanas!

Thanks for writing!

 

[NHTikiBeckie]

I am very interested to hear what you did with that George Bush doll! I cant believe they have those...

Did you not go to MGM? Did I miss that part?

 

[AStamm]

Magical Express - The only direct flight we can get to Orlando from Iowa is on Alligent, and they only fly into Stanford (sp). Because of the problems with layovers and Dad not liking to fly, I would seriously consider giving up the Magical Express service to fly direct to Stanford and have a car pick us up. For those who do utilize it, as long as you have your essentials in your carry-on, you can't beat the ME service!

We've flown on direct flights to Sanford twice--the direct flight is hard to beat. Both times we rented a car for somewhere around $200 for a week+. The drive in is really easy (just be sure you have LOTS of change since some of the tolls don't take bills and don't have any attendants around them) and then you have the luxury of a car whenever you want it...like driving yourself to the parks instead of waiting for the bus or having to transfer buses, as well as going off property.

Nice trip report--I really enjoyed it.

 

[AnninIowa]

I am very interested to hear what you did with that George Bush doll! I cant believe they have those...

Did you not go to MGM? Did I miss that part?

We're Republicans! George is sitting on my bookshelf. I really wanted the George H. Bush TALKING doll...but he was too big and I was already worried about carrying stuff home. If you look in the store in the American Pavillion, as well as the store near the Hall of Presidents, they have all kinds of little dolls (including First Ladies) as well as the bigger talking dolls. Clinton, Kennedy, Lincoln, Washington; really unique as I've never seen them before.

Oh, and we didn't go to MGM. Other than the Muppet Show, there wasn't anything I liked there enough to go again this time around as I really wanted to focus on the other parks, Busch and SeaWorld. You've already learned I don't do the thrill rides ( ), and we're not big movie people. If we ever go again, I might try it again. However, I can already see devoting a day to doing SeaWorld again AND going to the Premium Outlet Mall!

 

[AnninIowa]

The drive in is really easy

Oh, that's a good one, my friend! My dad and cars do not mix; we honestly get lost every single time we leave our city. On the way home from the Cedar Rapids airport, my dad took a wrong turn and started heading the opposite direction! We once were on our way to Wisconsin and Dad ended up in Illinois....and drove for 30 minutes insisting we WERE in Wisconsin. It's no better if I drive because he second guesses everything I do and we still end up lost. My childhood vacations are filled with memories of us being LOST...lost in Chicago, lost in Minneapolis, lost in Des Moines, lost in the Quad Cities. NOT having to drive is the number one reason we go to Disney, LOL!!