O'MalleytheAlleyCat
05-29-2008, 10:20 PM
Cast: Me (Mom and vacation planner), DH, DS(16) and DD(12)
Arrival and Day 1: We decided about a month ago to make this VERY quick weekend trip. We happened upon some great airfare rates and had DVC points to use. We flew out of Cedar Rapids, IA at 6:10 PM after the kids went to school (a very long day according to DD) and I worked until 3:30. The flight was very smooth and right on time. We flew on Allegiant Air and I will say that it was funny that they held a raffle in mid-flight for Florida souvenirs and such! We arrived at Sanford about 9:45 PM and got our rental car then drove to Saratoga Springs. We checked in right away at that late hour and found our one-bedroom suite ready in the Congress Park section. It was a great corner room on the first floor with a patio facing the pool.
We were up bright and early the following morning to head to Animal Kingdom. Once there, we made a bee-line to Expedition Everest where the other three (I’ve tried it in the past and choose to sit out due to some motion sickness on my part) practically walked right on. I got fast passes to ride again for them while they were in line. Since the line was so short, they rode two more times….a total of 3 times in about 35 minutes. Things were getting crowded, so we decided to move on to the safari next. Because this was a very short trip, we had decided to hit only our favorites at each park. The wait was 30 minutes for the safari, so we opted for fastpasses instead. Since the time for our EE fastpasses was past, we were allowed to get more. We then headed back to ride Dinosaur. We took a shortcut behind the Tree of Life and came out by the “It’s Tough to be a Bug” exit. I don’t know if it was really shorter, but it was cooler and gave us a great view of the tree. We walked right on to Dinosaur and thought about riding Primeval Whirl, but nobody except DD wanted to spin around that much. She thought about going by herself, but decided to move on instead. We walked back to Asia to use our EE fastpasses. After that we ate lunch at Yak and Yeti. See the review here (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=134328). We walked back to the safari and had a great ride. Our vehicle was stopped twice, first by guinea fowl in the road and later by a slow moving ostrich. We had a great view of the white rhino and saw 3 cheetahs. Once done, we headed out of the park at about 1:00. We felt like we got everything done we wanted in a fairly short amount of time. We headed next to Epcot. After we parked, it began to rain and we got wet walking in to the park. Because of the rain, Spaceship Earth was crowded, so we moved past that. The fastpasses were gone for Soarin’ and although the wait for Mission Space was only 20 minutes, we decided not to ride. The wait was also long for Test Track, but the other 3 decided to go for the single rider line. I took that opportunity to check out the nearby butterfly garden that was part of the Flower and Garden Festival. In the end, DD said her stomach didn’t feel good, so she didn’t ride TT, but the boys did and said it was great as usual. The line for Spaceship Earth was non-existent by this time so we hopped aboard. I liked most of the changes since the last time and DD thought it was terribly funny at the end when our pictures showed up on the computer screen. We then headed to the World Showcase and DS decided he wanted to eat his way around the world. He started with a churro from Mexico, added some levsa from Norway (my husband got some too…he is ½ Norwegian and this brings back memories from his childhood). In China DS ate some potstickers while DD and I did some shopping. In Germany (the other country where DH and I have ancestral roots) we stopped for bratwurst and beer. We walked past the African outpost (DS said it didn’t count as a real country and therefore he didn’t need to eat anything there) to Italy where we stopped at a stand for a smoothie for DD and chocolate mousse for DS. We walked past USA and heard the start of the Gary Puckett concert, a part of the flower power shows also related to the Flower and Garden Festival. DS stated he also didn’t need to eat anything here because he eats American food all the time. I think he was getting full! We stopped at Japan and ate at the Yakitori House. We had teriyaki chicken and Udon noodles with tempura shrimp. We then spent time shopping at Mitsukoshi, where we always spend a good amount of time. DD considered getting a pearl, but decided to spend her money elsewhere. It was getting late by this time and our goal was to try to get out of Epcot prior to Illuminations so we skipped Morrocco. Unfortunately, we decided to make one last stop at the bakery in France for éclairs and at the crepe booth for some chocolate crepes. Illuminations was beginning and we tried to hustle out but were eventually caught in the crowd as everyone was trying to leave. We made it back to our room about 10:00 and made the decision to rest for about an hour and a half or so and then try our luck at the EMH at Magic Kingdom. We caught a bus at Saratoga Springs about 11:45 and walked into the MK right at midnight. We got our wristbands and headed to Space Mountain for a 20 minute wait. We then walked right on to Buzz Lightyear twice, Monsters Inc Laughfloor (DH was picked from the audience to buy everyone churros!), Tomorrowland Speedway (something we never do if it’s even the least bit crowded), Dumbo (another usually skipped ride), Peter Pan and the Haunted Mansion. We also were able to ride Big Thunder Mountain twice before the park finally closed at 2:00 AM. We were the only riders on the bus back to Saratoga Springs and fell exhausted but happy into bed at 2:45. Tomorrow: Hollywood Studios and MK again.
Arrival and Day 1: We decided about a month ago to make this VERY quick weekend trip. We happened upon some great airfare rates and had DVC points to use. We flew out of Cedar Rapids, IA at 6:10 PM after the kids went to school (a very long day according to DD) and I worked until 3:30. The flight was very smooth and right on time. We flew on Allegiant Air and I will say that it was funny that they held a raffle in mid-flight for Florida souvenirs and such! We arrived at Sanford about 9:45 PM and got our rental car then drove to Saratoga Springs. We checked in right away at that late hour and found our one-bedroom suite ready in the Congress Park section. It was a great corner room on the first floor with a patio facing the pool.
We were up bright and early the following morning to head to Animal Kingdom. Once there, we made a bee-line to Expedition Everest where the other three (I’ve tried it in the past and choose to sit out due to some motion sickness on my part) practically walked right on. I got fast passes to ride again for them while they were in line. Since the line was so short, they rode two more times….a total of 3 times in about 35 minutes. Things were getting crowded, so we decided to move on to the safari next. Because this was a very short trip, we had decided to hit only our favorites at each park. The wait was 30 minutes for the safari, so we opted for fastpasses instead. Since the time for our EE fastpasses was past, we were allowed to get more. We then headed back to ride Dinosaur. We took a shortcut behind the Tree of Life and came out by the “It’s Tough to be a Bug” exit. I don’t know if it was really shorter, but it was cooler and gave us a great view of the tree. We walked right on to Dinosaur and thought about riding Primeval Whirl, but nobody except DD wanted to spin around that much. She thought about going by herself, but decided to move on instead. We walked back to Asia to use our EE fastpasses. After that we ate lunch at Yak and Yeti. See the review here (http://www.intercot.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=134328). We walked back to the safari and had a great ride. Our vehicle was stopped twice, first by guinea fowl in the road and later by a slow moving ostrich. We had a great view of the white rhino and saw 3 cheetahs. Once done, we headed out of the park at about 1:00. We felt like we got everything done we wanted in a fairly short amount of time. We headed next to Epcot. After we parked, it began to rain and we got wet walking in to the park. Because of the rain, Spaceship Earth was crowded, so we moved past that. The fastpasses were gone for Soarin’ and although the wait for Mission Space was only 20 minutes, we decided not to ride. The wait was also long for Test Track, but the other 3 decided to go for the single rider line. I took that opportunity to check out the nearby butterfly garden that was part of the Flower and Garden Festival. In the end, DD said her stomach didn’t feel good, so she didn’t ride TT, but the boys did and said it was great as usual. The line for Spaceship Earth was non-existent by this time so we hopped aboard. I liked most of the changes since the last time and DD thought it was terribly funny at the end when our pictures showed up on the computer screen. We then headed to the World Showcase and DS decided he wanted to eat his way around the world. He started with a churro from Mexico, added some levsa from Norway (my husband got some too…he is ½ Norwegian and this brings back memories from his childhood). In China DS ate some potstickers while DD and I did some shopping. In Germany (the other country where DH and I have ancestral roots) we stopped for bratwurst and beer. We walked past the African outpost (DS said it didn’t count as a real country and therefore he didn’t need to eat anything there) to Italy where we stopped at a stand for a smoothie for DD and chocolate mousse for DS. We walked past USA and heard the start of the Gary Puckett concert, a part of the flower power shows also related to the Flower and Garden Festival. DS stated he also didn’t need to eat anything here because he eats American food all the time. I think he was getting full! We stopped at Japan and ate at the Yakitori House. We had teriyaki chicken and Udon noodles with tempura shrimp. We then spent time shopping at Mitsukoshi, where we always spend a good amount of time. DD considered getting a pearl, but decided to spend her money elsewhere. It was getting late by this time and our goal was to try to get out of Epcot prior to Illuminations so we skipped Morrocco. Unfortunately, we decided to make one last stop at the bakery in France for éclairs and at the crepe booth for some chocolate crepes. Illuminations was beginning and we tried to hustle out but were eventually caught in the crowd as everyone was trying to leave. We made it back to our room about 10:00 and made the decision to rest for about an hour and a half or so and then try our luck at the EMH at Magic Kingdom. We caught a bus at Saratoga Springs about 11:45 and walked into the MK right at midnight. We got our wristbands and headed to Space Mountain for a 20 minute wait. We then walked right on to Buzz Lightyear twice, Monsters Inc Laughfloor (DH was picked from the audience to buy everyone churros!), Tomorrowland Speedway (something we never do if it’s even the least bit crowded), Dumbo (another usually skipped ride), Peter Pan and the Haunted Mansion. We also were able to ride Big Thunder Mountain twice before the park finally closed at 2:00 AM. We were the only riders on the bus back to Saratoga Springs and fell exhausted but happy into bed at 2:45. Tomorrow: Hollywood Studios and MK again.