SFTrny
12-06-2008, 01:06 PM
This might have been my favorite day of the whole vacation. We had nothing planned for this entire day and sat around the table Thursday night tossing out some ideas. I am a planner – and without a plan, I was worried. We slept in (relatively speaking) and headed out to AK Lodge to tour the resort around 8:30. We’ve eaten at Boma before, but the resort is beautiful. Breakfast had been light that morning since we were cleaning out the fridge in preparation for our departure the next day, so we headed down to Mara for a snack. Mara was a great surprise with it’s easy grab-and-go areas. We all grabbed a slice of pumpkin pie and drinks – keeping true to the tradition of leftover pie for breakfast the day after Thanksgiving. At 9:00 the crowds were minimal and we took our food outside to eat. The weather was perfect for eating outside, although a few dropped pieces of pie crust soon attracted a mob of birds. If we ever stay at AKL, I think that breakfast from Mara outside is a definite “must do”. Very relaxing and the coffee was pretty good. The only disappointment was that they did not offer the African Red Rooibos tea, which was being sold by the box in the gift shop. After eating, we roamed to the savannah overlooks and saw giraffes, springboks, oryx (oryxes, oryxi, oryxasauruses?) and a few other animals – also enjoying their breakfasts outside.
Breakfast and tour complete, we headed over to Downtown Disney for some shopping. We bought a sweatshirt and traded some pins, but otherwise didn’t do much there. So…we headed to the Epcot resort area. Since we’ve toured the Boardwalk resort before, we parked at the Yacht Club. We’ve never spent a lot of time at the Yacht and Beach Clubs before so it was fun to walk around and really get to know them. I liked the Yacht Club a lot and have added that to my list of resorts at which I would like to stay. We made our way around Crescent Lake, and decided to stop for lunch at Big River Grille. We ate a very relaxed lunch outside on the Boardwalk area, with no crowds and some great background music. I could have spent the rest of the afternoon there, but that was not to be. After lunch, we took the boat to the International Gateway and into Epcot. We mostly walked around the pavilions near the International Gateway and caught the Off Kilter concert. No bagpipes this time, but still fun.
After dinner, a rest in the cabin, and some packing for our departure the next morning, we decided that we would take one last venture into the MK. We got there around 7:30 and Main Street was already packed in preparation for the parade. Cast Members were meeting the entering guests and directing anyone who wanted to see the back sections of the park off to the right. Well, that’s where we were headed….so we were directed out the gate and behind the right side of Main Street! We came back out (on stage) between the Plaza restaurant and the Noodle Station. At first, it was exciting to get a mini backstage tour of Main Street, but it was a little disappointing too. Sometimes you don’t really want to see the “man behind the curtain”. Getting diverted around the crowd was brilliant though. So, we made our way around the park and grabbed another ride on Haunted Mansion and (of course) finished our last night with our fourth ride on BTM. As a side note, while BTM still had a decent line, both the Haunted Mansion and PotC had only 5 minute waits! This is a perfect time to ride these.
Then came the biggest challenge of the entire trip. We were in the back, left corner of the park at 8:30 at night and wanted to get out. The first obstacle was that we were trapped by the end of the Spectromagic Parade, which ends in that corner of the MK. Wading around the parade crowds was a frightful option, so we opted to wait it out so we could cut through Adventureland. Our best idea was to grab the train and ride it around the park, but when we checked, the train wasn’t running. Once the parade cleared and the crowds starting moving, we were on our way. Getting through Adventureland was easy, but when we tried to cut the corner at Crystal Palace, we stopped dead. Completely, totally, stopped. Nobody could move in either direction. We backtracked and headed in to the center hub. Here, the cast members kept the center aisle open and moving to the top of Main Street. From there, we were able to make our way to the front gate, leaving Main Street just as the lights went off for the fireworks. There were plenty of people trying to leave the park at that time, but we were able to make it on the first boat back to the TTC.
Breakfast and tour complete, we headed over to Downtown Disney for some shopping. We bought a sweatshirt and traded some pins, but otherwise didn’t do much there. So…we headed to the Epcot resort area. Since we’ve toured the Boardwalk resort before, we parked at the Yacht Club. We’ve never spent a lot of time at the Yacht and Beach Clubs before so it was fun to walk around and really get to know them. I liked the Yacht Club a lot and have added that to my list of resorts at which I would like to stay. We made our way around Crescent Lake, and decided to stop for lunch at Big River Grille. We ate a very relaxed lunch outside on the Boardwalk area, with no crowds and some great background music. I could have spent the rest of the afternoon there, but that was not to be. After lunch, we took the boat to the International Gateway and into Epcot. We mostly walked around the pavilions near the International Gateway and caught the Off Kilter concert. No bagpipes this time, but still fun.
After dinner, a rest in the cabin, and some packing for our departure the next morning, we decided that we would take one last venture into the MK. We got there around 7:30 and Main Street was already packed in preparation for the parade. Cast Members were meeting the entering guests and directing anyone who wanted to see the back sections of the park off to the right. Well, that’s where we were headed….so we were directed out the gate and behind the right side of Main Street! We came back out (on stage) between the Plaza restaurant and the Noodle Station. At first, it was exciting to get a mini backstage tour of Main Street, but it was a little disappointing too. Sometimes you don’t really want to see the “man behind the curtain”. Getting diverted around the crowd was brilliant though. So, we made our way around the park and grabbed another ride on Haunted Mansion and (of course) finished our last night with our fourth ride on BTM. As a side note, while BTM still had a decent line, both the Haunted Mansion and PotC had only 5 minute waits! This is a perfect time to ride these.
Then came the biggest challenge of the entire trip. We were in the back, left corner of the park at 8:30 at night and wanted to get out. The first obstacle was that we were trapped by the end of the Spectromagic Parade, which ends in that corner of the MK. Wading around the parade crowds was a frightful option, so we opted to wait it out so we could cut through Adventureland. Our best idea was to grab the train and ride it around the park, but when we checked, the train wasn’t running. Once the parade cleared and the crowds starting moving, we were on our way. Getting through Adventureland was easy, but when we tried to cut the corner at Crystal Palace, we stopped dead. Completely, totally, stopped. Nobody could move in either direction. We backtracked and headed in to the center hub. Here, the cast members kept the center aisle open and moving to the top of Main Street. From there, we were able to make our way to the front gate, leaving Main Street just as the lights went off for the fireworks. There were plenty of people trying to leave the park at that time, but we were able to make it on the first boat back to the TTC.