We got plans! 8/20-8/27 & 9/13-9/16 (pics) updated 10/8, Final Thoughts

[marsh0013]

thanks to everyone that is reading along!

Day 2, Tuesday Aug 21, part Addendum

I think I forgot some *very* important information about Day 2. On that Tuesday morning, know how we had to make a stop over at the coffee shop for our daily caffeine kick? Well, I forgot that this morning, we also bought a pound of the Kona Coffee! We had them hold it for us until we got back from the park, because they closed by noon (blasphemy!). So yes, we were equipped with our coffee now! Accompanied by the travel cups I brought from home, we were now truly set!


Day 3, Wednesday Aug 22, Part 1

This day, my notes are very spotty, so I have to go from memory for most of it. Shame on me. I must have been very tired Wednesday night! Well, let's start on Wednesday morning, so that you know why!

We were up early again, with that darn phone ringing at 6:15 am. Yaaaaawn. I'm glad we didn't stay any later at Epcot last night! But alas, I'm in Disney! And today I'm going to AM EMH at Animal Kingdom, a park to which I have never been! Our plan was to do half a day, hit the biggies, skip the trails, pretty much power through this park commando. Was that the right decision? We shall see.

So we brewed our coffee (yuuuummmm), grabbed our bananas, and headed off to the bus stop. Not too many other people were waiting, so we figured that was a good sign of things to come. Pretty much was. We got to the gates at about 7:30, exactly the time I had hoped for. Once we were let in, of course we had to wait for rope drop. Mickey and Friends stopped by

Sorry that's so blurry, but the camera was tempermental and not warmed up yet, so it was a bit foggy. Reminded me of my glasses every time we stepped off one of those chilly buses or monorails! Those babies fogged right up each and every time! Good old glasses.

Whew, got a bit off track there. So once it was time for rope drop, we busted on over with the crowd to Expedition Everest. I was so psyched for this! I love rollercoasters, so this was right up my alley. I grabbed fastpasses, then we got on right away. Talk about a blast! That going uphill backwards thing was awesome!

Next stop - Kilimanjaro Safaris! We walked across the park and discussed how it was really good that we were there early, as it wasn't really that bad heat-wise yet. (That would change!) When we got to the Safari, we ended up having to wait about 20 minutes because it took them a while to get the trucks going for some reason. But once we got on, it was awesome. We got to see lots of animals, and of course, we lived through the horrible storytelling . Here's just a few of the better ones:

Once we got off, our fastpass window was up, so we snagged a FP for the Safari, then headed back to use our FP on Everest. Had a blast once again on Everest. Then we had some time to kill. So, it was the perfect time to grab breakfast! We stopped off at the Tea Shop, and are we glad we did. They had this really good raspberry flaky pastry thing and I got a iced tea latte. Really, that means concentrated tea with a lot of milk, but hey, it was good. Really good actually. And a perfect breakfast to tide us over till we got back to the Poly later.

Here's where my memory gets fuzzy. I have pictures of the Pooh gang and then us with Everest behind, so I'm gonna go with the theory that we did the characters and stopped for more pictures on our way to...something. Dinosaur maybe? Let's go with that.

Well, while we were walking, we happened upon the perfect opportunity. Pooh and Friends were meeting and greeting, and it was hidden down a path, so practically no one knew what was going on, so we had a very short wait! Another great "happening upon a character" for us! First, we have Pooh and then Eeyore...

...then on to Tigger. Well. Tigger was in some sort of mood! A good one, don't you worry your pretty little heads about anything inappropriate or anything. Sheesh. Well, Tigger wanted to dance with me, and he would not let me go!

He finally did relent and we were able to go on our way

As we continued to walk, we then stopped to take pictures with Everest in the background

Right, so now I'm pretty sure we travelled over to grab a FP for Dinosaur, because our next window was up. I do seem to remember sitting on park benches for a couple minutes while we waited for that window... So yes, now we had 2 sets of FP - 1 for Safari and 1 for Dinosaur. And it just so happened that the Festival of the Lion King was starting soon! I have always wanted to see that show and it did not disappoint. We were both in awe at what they did. Absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, I have no pictures. But we had a great time! And I loved the interaction with all the little kids, ooh, just tugged on my heart strings and put a huge smile across my face.

Once the show was over, we left, stepping over the seats in front of us (oops, didn't hear the announcement to travel to the end of your row and go down the stairs in time!), so we were rebels without realizing it. That made me proud . I'm going to guess that we used our FP for Dinosaur at this point, only because I *know* Kilimanjaro Safari was our (almost) last stop. So Dinosaur was scary. As evidenced by the picture the ride captured as I am literally cowering away! I really should have taken a picture of it up on the screen - it was *that* good, er, embarrassing. But I love that kind of stuff, so it would have been perfect to have. Oh well, next time I'll remember to have the same reaction, yes I will.

Our Safari FP were way overdue, so we decided it was about time to take advantage of them. I think it was around noon by this point. We were going to get a FP for Kali, but remember how it wasn't so hot? Well, now it was, and everyone and I mean EVERYONE was either in line (90 minutes!) or had a FP, as the return wasn't until much later in the afternoon. Oh well, next time. So we went on the Safari again, survived the bad story again, almost fell off the bridge again, and got a few more pictures:

Look at that red face! The heat was on full force at this point. So we decided that we needed drinks. And I'm not talking about water here. Even though we were always prepared with our water bottles that we brought down with us. That extra suitcase was mighty handy . Oh yes, so we were in search of drinks. And it just so happened that we were right next to the Dawa Bar! Perfect! We told our friendly bartender that we were looking for something refreshing, and he came through. Some peachy type drink for my mom, and something very similar to Dad's Electric Lemonade for me. They surely hit the spot. Ooh, then we hit the Kodak spot to get some pictures. Here's my fav that we (didn't) steal from photopass

We just had to toast the perfect morning we had just finished. And don't worry, yes the drinks were after 12 noon. Not that that would have stopped us anyway

So it was time for us to head out, probably close to 1:30 by now, I think it's the longest "morning" we did in a park all week, but maybe that's because this was our only stop at AK. We had no problem finishing our drinks as we walked out of the park to catch a bus back to the Poly to relax by the pool, get some lunch, and rest up.

Once we got back, we actually fell asleep for a bit, and forewent the pool time for today. It actually worked out very nicely, as we decided to hit evening EMH later at MGM...

(and i think i did pretty ok for very spotty notes!)

Next up - MK for dinner and a ride, then MGM evening EMH

 

[sandybobandy]

Sounds like an awesome day!

Can't wait for MGM (that's my favorite park!)

 

[marsh0013]

Sounds like an awesome day!

Can't wait for MGM (that's my favorite park!)

and as you will see later in my trippie, it's become mine too!

oh people, i am just so excited right now. i just booked a plane ticket and put down a deposit on a solo trip for february! this is kinda related to my current trippie...somehow...lemme see...well, you'll find out later how i upgraded to an AP, so yeah, that makes the feb trip possible. connections, yup. i'm about to go bang out another installation now, since i will be away for the evening.

 

[marsh0013]

Day 3, Wednesday Aug 22, Part 2

After having some food at Captain Cook's and sleeping the afternoon away, it was about time to head over to the MK for the evening. Well, that was the original plan anyway...

So we freshened ourselves up, grabbed a pic of my mom outside the Great Ceremonial House...

and hopped on the monorail over to the MK. We may have ridden up front again. I'm just not sure, as we did it a few times on the trip. And again, spotty notes today, so no biting my head off if I don't get it all straight . We got over to the MK with some time to spare before our 7:05 ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern. So I figured, if I can ride Pirates again, that would be awesome! We walked over and low and behold, 10 minute wait! Perfect! Rode it, loved it, almost went on again, but decided to head over toward the mountains and stake out FP times. Well, I'm pretty sure they were out for the evening, or they were for very late. But I did go in the gift shop for Splash and found the anklet that turned out to be perfect. It's so perrrty. Love it! Anyway, so we started discussing the option of hopping over to MGM for evening EMH.

But for now, it was time for dinner! We got to LTT about 10 minutes early for our ADR, and we ended up having to wait quite a bit. Half an hour or so I think. That was kinda a bummer, but I know they don't have a lot of 2 tops, so that was the problem. But once we were seated, there was nothing to complain about! Our server was great, even when I asked to have the vegetarian meal (no, i'm not a veggie, but i'm just not a huge meat eater, if that makes sense ). Anyway, everything came out real quick, and the characters were great! Just so happened that their rotation was so they came up from behind me, so they loved to come around and surprise me. Got me good a couple times too! I'm just sitting there, minding my own business, eating my food, when all of a sudden, Pluto has his arms around me!

We also got Chip, Minnie, and Dale. I think Goofy was there too, but he hadn't made his way over to our section, and we were ready to go. No biggie!

It was a really great dinner with some great character interaction. I would definitely go back! (and i just may in february )

By the time we got out of dinner, it was around 8:30, and we had plans to get on over to MGM for EMH! I was psyched. I knew we'd be able to hit at least the 2 biggies, maybe even pick up some drinks, and not have to worry about getting in early, as our next day was a relaxing one, with no early wakeup! Woo Hoo! Although, I think my mom was more excited than I was about that. Hehe.

Anyway, back to that night. We figured the easiest way to get to MGM from MK was to walk to the Contemporary (nice short walk, i love it!), and take a bus from there. Well, it ended up working out perfectly, as a bus came about 5 minutes after we arrived. So we got to MGM around 9:15ish. The first thing we noticed was the line for Fantasmic. EMH didn't technically start till 10, and this will certainly play a role...

Back to that line for Fantasmic. I was very tempted to get on the end of it, since the weather was so beautiful, and you never know when the rains will start hitting (note foreshadowing...). But no, we had the Fantasmic Package booked for Mama Melrose later in the trip, so we knew we would get to see it then .

So our next thought was to get FP for Rock'n'Rollercoaster. Well, they were not opening up the FP machines again until exactly 10pm, when EMH started (i guess so off site guests wouldn't get ones for a time they couldn't be there). And there was already a line forming to get FP. Craziness! I will not stand on a non-moving line to get a FP in half an hour! No way! So we wandered around for a bit, got some (not stolen) photopass shots. My fav is a bit blurry, but I think it just shows the excitement:

We were excited, what can I say? We wandered some more, and went over to the FP distribution for Tower of Terror. Just so happened that they opened their machines just as we were walking by! Sweet! We grabbed FP and our return time was for about 40 minutes, if I remember correctly. So now we had 40 minutes to kill. I know! Star Tours! My mom is not a huge fan of this outdated one (too rough and shaky i guess), but I love it! It's such a classic.

Sidenote - when my brothers and I were little kids, I'm talking, I'm about 10, and my brothers are 7 and 4, we were down staying at our grandparent's house in St. Cloud for our "every other year" Disney trip. Those days, we took 2 weeks and only went to the parks about 5 of those days. So on a few of our days off, our parents decided it was about time for us to see the (old, obviously) Star Wars Trilogy. From then on, it's been a bit of an obsession for all of us. So that's why I love Star Tours so much, it reminds me of all of us together, and especially my dad. (sidenote within sidenote - my dad passed away 3 years ago) /end sidenotes.

So you know we had to go on Star Tours, and wouldn't you know it, 10 minute wait! We were getting spoiled with all these short waits we were getting, but we were definitely NOT complaining. After our little trip through space, it still wasn't close to our time to go on ToT, so we made the executive decision that this meant it was time for drinks! We would have waited until after ToT (my mom has a touchy stomach), but they were closing soon. So of course, we each got a drink from the Tune In Lounge. We didn't know it yet, but this location (Tune In and 50's PTC) would see us many many more times this trip.

Well, we took our drinks and wandered some more. Had to finish those up before we went to use our FP. We explored the areas that *weren't* open for EMH. Kinda funny, some lady in a suit was walking the opposite direction and asked us if we knew what we were doing. Hello lady, I've got a drink, I'm wandering, of course I know what I'm doing! We got plans! Ok, so I didn't say these things, but I may have thought them . We assured her that we knew nothing was open back here, but that we were just enjoying the atmosphere.

Once we finished our drinks, we were done enjoying the atmosphere, and we headed back toward Rock'n'Rollercoaster. RnR, you ask? Of course! FP window was up, so it was time to grab some for RnR. We got them, but they were for much later than we planned on being in the park. You'll see what came of them later, no worries. Time to go on ToT! I love this one. I mean, I know I love a lot of rides, but I really really do. They just all make me so happy, I can't help it. And we were all slick with our FP, and knowing exactly where to stand to be at the front of the line. Slick I tell ya.

We enjoyed going up and down, up and down, up, up, down down. You know the general idea. I love how it's different every time. The only thing you know for sure is when you feel warm, you know it's time to go free fallin!

I have no idea what time it was, but I know we did get on RnR at some point that night. But we didn't use our FPs. It's very possible that at this time, we discovered the beauty of the single rider line. Love in an elevator! blasted in our ears and we were off. So quick, that single rider line! We may have even gone on twice using this method. And we sure used it later in the week as well. It was great for us! Two adults, we didn't mind. I know this doesn't work so well if you've got kids. But for adults, I highly recommend it. No wait whatsoever.

By now I think it was somewhere around 11 or 11:30, EMH went till 1pm, but we were done. Remember though, we've still got those FP for RnR. What to do, what to do. Well, I had read on the DIS many times about people giving/receiving FP on their way out/into the parks. So I decided to spread the magic. Found a couple on their way in and asked if they were going to ride RnR, and of course they were! And they were so happy! And I was so happy! Everybody's happy, yay!

Now it was time to leave and bus it back to the Poly, to get ourselves a well deserved night of sleep!

Next up: Breakfast at Cape May, DTD, and a quick stop at the MK (and that's just part 1!)

 

[YCFAN]

I'm really looking forward to the rest of your report. It's great that you and your Mom took this trip together. Now if I could just get my 19 year old son to do that!!!

 

[disneyeeyorefan]

subscribing

 

[LAH]

Great report, pictures are awesome! Thanks for sharing!

 

[marsh0013]

I'm really looking forward to the rest of your report. It's great that you and your Mom took this trip together. Now if I could just get my 19 year old son to do that!!!

it really was nice, and being in the happiest place on earth, we tended NOT to get on each other's nerves like normal. it was great!

 

[marsh0013]

Thanks to everyone for your comments!

Day 4, Thursday Aug 23, Part 1

This morning, we were a bit tired. Thank goodness we got to sleep in till about 8:45am! Woo! Now that's earlier than I usually wake up at home, but for vacation, it's sleeping in . We had ourselves some breakfast ADR's at Cape May Cafe for 10:30. I knew the coffee there was nothing to speak of, so of course, we brewed our Kona in the room

We got off to a quicker start than I figured we would, so even after monorailing it over to the MK to catch a bus to the Beach Club, we still got there at about 10am. The nice lady gave us a pager and said it might be awile, since we still had half an hour till our ADR, but wouldn't you know it? Literally 2 minutes later, it was buzzing and we were being seated! The food was great - love all that fruit!, the character interaction was awesome, and our server was around a few times to take pictures of the both of us with characters. I really liked this breakfast. Here we are with Goofy, Dale, and Minnie.

I think Chip was also around, but we were didn't get his picture. We did manage to get all of the characters to autograph our placemat though. Or should I say, my mom did. She got very into this. As soon as Goofy wrote something about it being nice to see some other tall people, it was her absolute *mission* to get all of them to sign. I'm glad it made her so happy

Since we really didn't have any other plans until dinner, we had decided that we would just walk around the resorts a bit before heading to DTD. So we walked around the BC/YC, then went outside to look at the pool. Very impressive. I see why everyone makes such a big deal about it. Pretty cool. Then we took a walk over to the Boardwalk, just to look around outside. We didn't go into the BW, but we did use their bus stop. We killed about an hour or so walking around before we caught that bus to DTD.

Once we got to DTD, we spent our time checking out all the stores. Oooh, I forgot to mention that while we were in MK the other day, my mom found golf towels that would be a perfect souvie for my two brothers that we didn't take with us. She knew we'd be back, so didn't get them at that time. Well, she *did* see them at DTD, but she insisted that they were cheaper at Sir Mickey's in MK. I told her there was no possible way, since everything is priced the same no matter where, but she just didn't believe me. This will come into play later today! Just you wait for it!

As we were walking between the stores, we ran into a bar. So we had to get a drink. We got one to share, I know it had rum in it, some kind of Mai Tai or Rum Runner maybe. Sorry, didn't write it down! But it was good and refreshing, I can tell you that much!

So I managed to find a very cute Mickey ring that I just had to buy. I also picked up a photo album while we were there. I know we could have sent packages back to the resort while in the parks, but I figured I would get what I could while we were here. Worked out well since we didn't really have to carry them very long. Oh, I tried on a hat here too, cause I do that:

When we decided we were done shopping, we stopped at Earl of Sandwich to grab a quick bite. Since we had a very late b'fast and were having an early 5pm dinner, we just split a salad. Again, I don't remember which. But it was very very good. And not all that expensive either. A bargain if I do say so myself. It was about 1:30 or 2 I think by now.

Since we had time to spare, I asked my mom if she would like to go over to the MK to pick up the golf towels for the boys. Sure! Sounded like a great idea! So we got on the bus to the Contemporary and walked over from there. Made our way to Sir Mickey's, where my mom was sure she would find those towels at a lower rate than she saw at DTD. Well, guess who was right? Of course I was! Same exact price. So she apologized profusely and promised to make it up to me. Just kidding! It so wasn't a big deal whatsoever.

So I got the great idea to go by Space Mountain on our way out, not to ride, but to grab fastpasses to hand off as we left the park. Well, we were rewarded with a Photopass Photographer being in front of Space to take our pictures, a nice one

and a not so nice one!

Hey, at least I got my mom to laugh on that one. Totally worth it for me to look like a fool

It was sweltering in the park and totally crowded. Now I was shown why we always took our break at that exact time every day. So on our way out, we found a dad and his son and handed off the FP for Space to them. They knew exactly what was happening, as they said that they had done the same thing with FP just the day before. Pay it forward people. Spread the magic!

Once we left, we took the monorail back to the Poly, since we wanted the A/C instead of the boat. We got back to our room and decided we had about an hour to spend by the pool before we had to get ready for our dinner ADR. So that's just what we did!

Up next: dinner at Ohana, and evening EMH at Epcot
will we work Epcot night EMH better this time? stay tuned...

 

[MsPlutoNJ]

Loving it...can't wait for more.

 

[marsh0013]

Day 4, Thursday Aug 23, Part 2

So when I left you last, we were getting ready for our ADR at Ohana. I was very excited about this one. I've always heard such great things about Ohana, so I couldn't wait to try it for myself.

We got there just in time for our ADR at 5:20pm and we ended up having to wait about 20 minutes. That wasn't so great, but we just relaxed in the lounge. You'd think we would have gotten a drink, but alas, no we did not. When our buzzer went off and we were seated, we were treated to a gorgeous view! We were rewarded with a great table right up against the window!

Wow, were we impressed! And of course, our first order of business was to get a Lapu Lapu (to share). So good, watch me love it!

Once again, I ordered the vegetarian entree and it was great. All of the appys/accompaniments came out pretty quick, along with my entree, then of course came the skewers of meat for my mom. Everything was so good! I also tried the salad, the shrimp, and the potatoes. Yum, Yum. I highly recommend Ohana. We got a nice picture of the two of us and a picture of the gorgeous view as the sun went down.

Once we were done, we said our "Maholo"'s and were on our way to Epcot for EMH. Actually, we were on our way to France to get a crepe for my mom. We weren't big fans of the bread pudding at Ohana, and my mom wanted dessert! So of course, she got her crepe along with a flute of champagne, and I got my first Grey Goose Citron Slushie. That thing was good! Sorry, no pictures this time, but we did repeat it later in the trip, and there will be pictures then, hehe.

Once we finished up in France, we had just enough time to get a spot around China for Illuminations. It was great as usual. And since we were staying for EMH, we didn't feel the need to rush out. We had no interest in waiting in 40 minute lines, though, as we had at Soarin earlier in the week. So we meandered over to the Seas to see Nemo. Cute ride, glad I didn't have to wait on any line for it though.

Next up was Turtle Talk with Crush. Now this was just awesome. Once again, no wait, and just wow to the whole show. Hysterical. And that's just very impressive how they have Crush responding in real time, picking out "little dudes and little dudettes". We just loved it! And that was a perfect way to end our evening. No, we didn't actually *do* much, but we soaked in the atmosphere. We were out of there around 10pm, ready to head to bed for the return of the early mornings!

Next up: MGM am EMH, and the beginning of my obsessive with 50's PTC! you won't wanna miss this one!

 

[sandybobandy]

Oooh that picture of the sunset is gorgeous!!

Yay for going to MGM again!!!!

 

[Krissalee]

Loving you reports! Thanks so much for sharing them. I am looking forward to reading the rest.

 

[marsh0013]

hey guys, i'm leaving for a couple of days to go bird-sit for a friend, so i probably won't get another installation up until thursday. but i promise, i will be back!

 

[marsh0013]

ok, so i'm here to relay some more news. i will be gone for a few more days...because...i'm....going...to...FLORIDA! just for the weekend. my friend's parents live in celebration and they're flying us down for the weekend, and we're probably going to disney world on saturday! i'm so way excited! but this means i'll be gone till at least sunday. but once again, i promise to be back. i'll even try to log in while i'm down there just to make sure nobody thinks i've disappeared.

ok, so i'm off for the weekend, catch you guys on the other side!

 

[marsh0013]

i'm baaaaaaack! ooh, lots of fun stuff from this weekend, but that will have to be reported once this current report is done!

Day 5, Friday Aug 24, Part 1

This day started out much like the others before it. We got up early, we brewed coffee, we got bananas, and we were off to the morning EMH park. Today, it just happened to be Disney MGM Studios. At this point in the early morning, we had no idea what we were in store for.

So, we started at the gates, just like everybody else. I don't know the exact order, but we managed to ride the Tower of Terror twice, and the Rock'n'Rollercoaster three times! I'm sure there were fastpasses involved. And maybe even use of the awesome invention of the single rider line at RnR. That thing was a lifesaver for us! Who cares if we sit together, this line is about 2 seconds long! Score!

On our way over to do the Great Movie Ride, we stopped for some pics in front of the big hat.

Don't you just love how they always make you do a "fun" pose as the third one? Well, I do! Made for some funny pics from our photopass stash, that's for sure.

So after we did that, we did the Great Movie Ride. Our tour was taken over by the mobster. Slick guy, but even he can't make it past the curse of the jewel. We were saved by our guide and all was well. I don't seem to ever get sick of this one, no matter how many times I ride it. I guess I just love the movies!

We also went through the attraction "One Man's Dream" and learned a lot of stuff about Walt Disney.

After One Man's Dream, it was about time for the showing of Beauty and the Beast. Or maybe we did it the other way around, either way, we loved the Beauty and the Beast show. It was such a great show, Broadway quality stuff. Very impressive. And before the show, we were treated to Four for a Dollar, and they were great too!

Now after all of this, it was time for lunch. We had a 12:05pm ADR at 50's Prime Time Cafe, and we had no idea what we were in for. From the moment we walked in, we were treated just like we were back in the 50's. We were introduced to our server, and he barked at us to set the table. Now this guy, he was just so into his role, I don't think I could do him justice. Just imagine everything possible that could go wrong at a lunch, we had all those "problems" and he made sure we knew how much of a pain we were being! We started doing things wrong just to get yelled at. It was so much fun that I know that at some point we were laughing so hard we were crying. I can't even tell you. Just amazing. He was kind enough to sit with me for a picture.

We asked him if we could come back the next night just for dessert, as we had the Fantasmic Package at Mama Melrose. He was happy to oblige. Now, I know servers hate it when people just come in for dessert, but he was so welcoming to us. So on our way out, we grabbed an ADR for the next night for dessert before Fantasmic, and are we ever glad we did (note, foreshadowing!).

You know, I'm sure we rode Star Tours at some point as well, but I just don't have it written down. Must have been a lazy spotty note day! Oh well.

After we were done for the "morning" we went back to the Poly to catch some pool time before going to Epcot for the evening. Well, our plans did not work out so well, as the skies opened up and poured for hours upon hours. We ended up going back to our room to rest and wait it out. Eventually it did get lighter, and we decided to brave it out.

Next up: Epcot in the rain, and drinking around the monorail!

 

[KimAshton]

50's primetime cafe is such a great restaurant. My friend's name is Lisa Simpson and when they called us the lady went Bart's sister and everyone stared at my friend once we got up.

 

[marsh0013]

Day 5, Friday Aug 24, Part 2

So we left off with crazy rain, but starting to taper off. So we donned our Yankees ponchos like troopers and walked over to the TTC to catch the monorail to Epcot. By the time we got over there, the rain had pretty much stopped, so we got to put the ponchos away for a while. Yes, I said "a while."

Anyway, so we went on Mission: Space, whichever side spins and gives you the G forces. Very cool! I've never been on that one before, and I'm glad we went for the "more intense" side. Most definitely. After that, the skies were starting to look threatening again, but we made it over to Maelstrom to stand on about a 15 minute line (that ride should *never* have a line! crazy people!). Well, I wanted my mom to get on that ride, so she did. Nothing exciting, but you have to be able to say you've been on it, right? So now she can .

Once we got out of Maelstrom, the skies had opened up huge again. Lightening and thunder and all that fun stuff. My mom refused to leave the building until it stopped lightening. Well, at least an hour later, we were still waiting for the lightening to stop. I just didn't see it happening. But by now, we were getting hungry for dinner.

My mom thought it would be fun to ask if Akershus had any openings (even though I told her not to bother), and of course, we were turned away. Big surprise. So our next plan of action was to get a Peach Scnapps Tea Slush from China. Then we took that and we walked over to the Land to eat at Seasons. This turned out to be a great decision and a big hit for both of us. The food was really really good, especially for counter service. I got salmon and she got a pork chop, and we were both thoroughly impressed. Two thumbs up from us!

After eating, we were reading to leave, so we took the monorail back to the TTC and walked back to our building. We dried ourselves off and decided that tonight was the perfect night to go drink around the monorail. Perfect, since we didn't need to walk outside, other than to the Great Ceremonial House. And by then, it was just sprinkling.

Since we were staying at the Poly, we wanted to end there, so we decided to start at the Grand Floridian. We hopped the monorail and headed to Mizner's. There, I had a Pomegranate Splash, and I just don't remember what my mom had! Some sort of martini I think. I should have written these things down! That's the important stuff to remember, right? Anyway, we were very pleased that they provided us with a bowl of nuts for the 2 of us at our table. Nice touch.

Next stop, the Outer Rim at the Contemporary. Here, I had a Raspberry Iced Tea (like a Long Island, but razz, mmm) and my mom had...again, drawing a blank. Oh well, we chatted with the bartender a bit, then moved on our way.

So our last stop was our home, the Poly. We went up to the Tambu Lounge and I'm pretty sure I got a Captain's Mai Tai. I could be wrong, as this wasn't our only time at the Tambu . I'm almost positive that my mom had Stephen make her a Tradewinds. She asked for something special, and that's what she got! She loved it, but I thought it tasted like her suntan lotion smells (uh, i hate coconut, so that'll do it!).

Also, at the Tambu Lounge, we got to talking to another guy who was sitting at the bar and had a grand old time just chatting with him. We were happy to end our monorail loop this way. Good drinks, and good conversation.

Once we were done with our drinks, it was getting late, so we headed back to Tokelau to hit the sack. I was out as soon as my head hit that pillow for sure! I guess a long day at the parks and some drinks will do that to you!

Sorry for no pics in this installation, I promise, there are more coming!

Next up: a morning at Epcot

 

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50's primetime cafe is such a great restaurant. My friend's name is Lisa Simpson and when they called us the lady went Bart's sister and everyone stared at my friend once we got up.

that's awesome! it's the little things that make it so fun

 

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Day 6, Saturday Aug 25, Part 1

We started off with no EMH this morning, since the EMH park was Animal Kingdom and we had already done that. It seemed like the perfect day to go to the regular opening of Epcot. We got there in time for rope drop, and walked very nicely (no running!) over to the Land to go on Soarin. I grabbed us fastpasses and then we walked on standby. No line whatsoever. Perfect time of the day to ride.

Although we did not have very much time until World Showcase was open, we made really good use of the time we had. We trekked over to the other side of the park to ride Test Track. We went right up the single rider line, and got on with no wait whatsoever. Yes, we were in separate cars, but at least we didn't have to wait. We grabbed fastpasses for it for later on our way back over to use our Soarin FP's.

Rode Soarin again w/the FP, this time asking to ride in the front row, so we waited a bit extra, but got to take a couple pics since we were the only ones waiting up at the front for a bit.

Next, we had some time to kill before our Test Track FPs, so we went on Journey Into Imagination with Figment. This used to be my best friend's ride before it changed, so I had to go on it for her. I also got her a little figment doll from the gift shop. A perfect little memento.

Then it was time for our FPs for Test Track. Since this time we got to ride together, I will show you the photopass picture, without a fancy schmancy border.

Don't we look good and scared? I told her when the picture was coming so she knew to make a face. Hehe. We're such kidders. I love making funny faces in the ride pictures. And I think more rides should let you get the picture by photopass. Definitely.

Now it was time for the part of the day we were looking for! Breakfast and drinks in France! We made sure to go over right as World Showcase opened at 11am. Well, we were rewarded with Cinderella in France. She just happened to be out all by herself with no line. We got some very nice pictures.

We were just amazed at how empty it was, and that there was absolutely no one around. It was a special little moment that we got to enjoy, just me and my mom and Cinderella

After we got our share of pictures with the princess, it was time to get breakfast. We were going to get crepes, but the crepe stand didn't open till noon! The drink stand too! The horror! Well, I couldn't wait to eat, so I got a pastry from the bakery. It was very good and flaky, perfect little breakfast.

We walked around a bit toward England and to Canada, since we hadn't perused these countries yet. Got some nice pictures with the beautiful landscaping in Canada.

And one of the gorgeous waterfall in the back.

So we had killed enough time that it was finally time to go get my mom her crepe and our drinks. She just loved those crepes. And of course, she got a champagne, and I got a Grey Goose Citron Slush. Soooo good.

If you look reaaaaal close, you can tell that my watch says 12:14pm, so it's totally legal to be drinking as long as it's after noon

That was all we really wanted to accomplish in Epcot this morning, so it was about time to go. On the way out, I got a nice picture of my mom with France in the background.

We walked out through the front of the park, took the monorail back to the TTC, and walked back to the room. Then we went to the pool for a break and lunch. And that's about all I have to say about that.

Next up: an evening at MGM, including dessert at 50's PTC!