A Star Wars Wild Weekend -- A PolyGirl40 Trip Report

5/16/04 – Day Four

Breakfast with Pooh – Soap Star Sighting & Singing Turtles.

May 16, 2004 – Hot & Humid (88/68)

Starting Line-up:
Me: Carol
#1 Son: Jeremy

Dates: May 13-17, 2004

With MGM and Downtown Disney missions completed, Jer decided he wanted to go to Magic Kingdom and also do more Epcot today. Okie-Dokie. It’s his trip.

I called Dining and was able to secure an 8:20AM PS for the Crystal Palace. (We typically like to get in early and beat the crowds to the back of the Kingdom. Today would be no different)

We were out at the bus stop and on our way to the Magic Kingdom by 7:30. There was a Women’s Triathlon underway. The race portion was zooming out of Main Street and over toward the Grand Floridian when we arrived. It was cool to see them going running by. Such dedication.

We were allowed in by 8AM. We took our time since we had a few minutes. We like taking photos of an empty park. As soon as we checked in at the podium our name was called. The Crystal Palace is (and remains) our favorite breakfast buffet. The characters, food, atmosphere and service are all excellent. Total tab: $36.19

After breakfast we headed right to Fantasyland for rope drop. (It always amazes me to see guests run. ) We headed right to Mickey’s PhilharMagic and enjoyed it immensely. It was just as fun seeing it this trip. I had to stop at the gift shop. I collect Sorcerer Mickey snow globes and they have an attraction globe with Donald and the hat. I needed it to spice up my collection. We then proceeded to Peter Pan.

Those were the only 2 attraction’s Jer wanted to do in Fantasyland. (He only wanted to do his favorites.) We trotted off to do the Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, Jungle Cruise and Pirates. Wow! We encountered no lines until we headed toward Tomorrowland. Jer wanted to shoot some Zorg! It was starting to get hot and the crowds were definitely evident in this area. We were going to take a trip on the TTA but they wouldn’t let Jeremy on with his lemonade. Oh well …

We pretty much did all we wanted to do so headed over to the Polynesian. Jeremy wanted to send some email and the Polynesian’s TTY has the text keypad. That’s fine with me son. I did some shopping for Shayne while waiting. On my way downstairs I ran into Jacob Young. (He used to play Lucky Spencer on General Hospital and is now on All My Children.) I’m a huge GH fan so this was way cool for me. I said; "Hi" and he said "Hi" and we headed our separate ways.

At this point we figured we'd better check on the book replacement from MGM before heading to Epcot. We grabbed a bus for Coronado Springs and were pleased to find our book waiting for us at the gift shop. We were feeling a bit hungry since neither of us ate very much for breakfast and opted for a quick bite at the Pepper Market. Jeremy ordered a chicken sandwich while I dined on a burger. It was this time that Jer informed me it was the first time I ordered something other than chicken. I thought about it … and he was right. [img]graemlins/silly.gif[/img] Total bill: $26.58

Jer wanted to tour the resort since we hadn’t even been over to the main pool side yet and we were scheduled to leave tomorrow. It took us an hour to stroll completely around the lake. We walked at a slow pace and took in all of the sites. The resort is so beautifully landscaped. The foliage is so fragrant. I’m glad we opted to relax a little to take in the sights this afternoon.

By 4 o’ clock we were on a bus and on our way back to Epcot. We had an 8PM PS for San Angel Inn. Upon arriving we took a journey through Spaceship Earth, visited the Living Seas and zoomed back to Mars. (I told you Jer really liked Mission: Space.) After playing in Innoventions and sending Shayne a post card, we got Fast Passes for Test Track. (It was the only attraction line we encountered all trip.) Our time was for 7. We figured we do that before dinner.

Today we opted to start at the Canadian side of World Showcase. We did the film and moseyed around the World. We landed in America right when the Flower Power Concert was beginning. We grabbed a spot and listened to the Turtles. They were both funny and entertaining. We watched the drummers in Japan. Jer wanted to see the new film in China. (We missed it in December.) Our timing was perfect. As we arrived in China the acrobats were getting ready to perform. We love these children! We quickly got a spot and watched the show. These kids are amazing. If you get a chance to see them, do so.

It was now after 6:30. We decided to skip our Test Track ride and stay to see the China film. I’m so glad we did. The new film is great! Right after we got done with the show it was time for our PS. We headed to Mexico and checked in. While waiting we learned that they were full for the evening and taking no more diners. I'm thankful I called for a PS early enough. This is a very popular dinner spot. Within 10 minutes our pager went off.

I ordered a frozen margarita; soup azteca and the Camarones Fideos (marinated grilled Shrimp over angel hair pasta). Jeremy decided to have the vegetarian special which consisted of a bean burrito, enchilada and rice. All was wonderful. We couldn’t finish our meals since we had a later lunch than normal. Not to mention snacking on those delicious nachos they bring. [img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img] Nonetheless all was great! Total charge: $47.82

We were going to stay for the Extra Magic Hour but decided not to. We had seen and done everything we wanted to (with the exception of Test Track.) We could see that a lot of guests had wristbands. I’m assuming the EMH was a success. (I measure success by interested parties. There seemed to be a lot of folks planning on staying.) I talked to a few people and they were thrilled.

I really hope the test phase was successful. I think it is great to offer all parks either early or late. This will give late nighters and early risers Extra Magic Hours.

We headed to the bus stop by 9:30. We had packing to do and our bones were tired. We had another early morning coming up. Happy Limo was scheduled to pick us up by 8:30.

I turned on The Practice finale but fell asleep during the opening credits. [img]graemlins/sleepin.gif[/img]

Magic Kingdom Photos


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[ May 29, 2004, 10:29 AM: Message edited by: PolyGirl40 ]