Tiki Family Trip Report 2012 Part 4

[TikiGoddess]

Read Part 3 here.

Wednesday, July 25:

No 6am wake up this morning! But we did get moving around 7 and got to Blizzard Beach around 9:30am. We found some chairs for our few belongings and got on line for the chair lift (15 min). We certainly could have walked up to the slides but the chair lift is fun! We did our favorite, Teamboat Springs, let the girls run wild in the kids area, did Teamboat again, then took the Lazy River over to the red slope slides (double and single). It was quite crowded – it was hard to find tubes to ride on in the Lazy River. (yes, there were Brazilian tour groups) We bobbed about in the wave pool for a while, then Tim took the girls back to the kids area while I got lunch. We all shared a chicken wrap and a meatball sub. After lunch we tried to go on Teamboat Springs again, but there was a very long line for it (the posted wait was 15 min but I doubt that was correct). So we headed out of the park after a little more time in the kids area. The bus took about 15 minutes to come – and in that time, we saw 4 buses headed to Animal Kingdom (not the Lodge). On our way out of the parking lot, the Blizzard Beach sign said, “closed to capacity”. Yes, it was that crowded.

Back at the Lodge, we washed up (side note: me and the girls wore water shoes this year – MUCH better on the feet). Then we spent the afternoon visiting and trading pins with King Pin in the resort store, and relaxing in the room. I had made a 5:30 reservation for Jiko that morning – our first visit to the excellent restaurant. We were seated right by the window and the service was top notch. I had the tomato, radish, and watermelon salad accompanied with a chicken flatbread. It was delicious! My husband gave the perch entrée high marks, and Julie said that the macaroni and cheese was the best in WDW. That’s a high compliment – that girl knows her mac and cheese. Since I was planning on going out that night, I skipped the drinks, but got some sips of my husband’s Zebratini. Excellent. We paid for the meal using our Disney rewards points, which made it all taste that much better!

Since I had my AP, I decided to go to the parks by myself for the night. Tim took the girls to the arcade, up to the lounge for dessert, and they spent a bunch of time on the balcony watching the over 40 animals that were in view! They took pictures – it was amazing to see at least 4 giraffe, a number of zebras, antelope, and birds all in the same area. I missed all this, but I did get to Epcot, after about a 10 minute wait for the bus. I used the wait time well and checked us in for our flight the next day. (Side note – the free wifi at the resort worked well for us, checking FB, email, that sort of thing)

At Epcot I rode Spaceship Earth, Living with the Land, and visited Mousegears and the Duffy shop. I was disappointed to see that they were out of the Duffy outfits I wanted, but I knew I could get them online when I got home. I was out of the park before fireworks and got to the lounge for desserts and cordials before it closed. Got back to the room early enough to get some packing done.

Up Next: Last Day -- and a very crowded Studios visit

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[faline]

Thinking about Jiko is making my mouth water! That spot is certainly on my favorite restaurants list for Disney World!

Getting to Epcot on your own must have been a very nice adult break!!

[SBETigg]

How lovely for you to get some alone time at Epcot! That's a special treat. A shame you couldn't find your Duffy outfits, but yes, there is always online. My Duffy has been wearing his Mexico outfit since Cinco de Mayo.

[Dopey's Girl]

Yeah for alone time in Epcot. That really is my favorite place to just wander all alone.

[January-2007]

Thanks for reporting. We really enjoy Blizzard Beach. It was empty when we were there in January.

[DizNee143]

Another great day

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[LandFan]

Jiko... Nice