faline
05-23-2010, 07:24 PM
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Plan for the Day:
Animal Kingdom
Lunch at Rainforest Café
Downtown Disney in the Afternoon
Dinner at Earl of Sandwich
How the Day Really Went:
It’s another hot, sunny day. We arrive at the bus stop around 9 to find quite a large group of unhappy people. Security is there. I think someone at the stop flagged the security vehicle down. One person is on the phone. It seems folks have been waiting quite a long while for a Magic Kingdom bus and none have come. The person on the phone announces that he’s spoken to Transportation and they are aware of the problem and are sending floater buses. Another person speaks to the driver of a Hollywood Studios bus who asks how long the person was waiting. I didn’t hear the response but did hear the bus driver say he’d call it in. A few minutes later, a Magic Kingdom bus appears and, right behind it, our bus to Animal Kingdom. As the Magic Kingdom bus pulls away, I see that not everyone who wanted to be on board was able to get on. That bus doesn’t even go to the final bus stop, El Centro, but instead heads away from the resort. I don’t know how long folks needed to wait for another bus.
There’s quite a crowd entering Animal Kingdom today. As we enter, I hear a man asking for directions for the Wildlife Excursion. We’re going to get fast passes for the Safari; they can walk along with us. He’s here with his daughter, Katie, who is celebrating her birthday and his daughter’s best friend. They live outside Philadelphia though he grew up in Massachusetts and they’re staying Club Level at the Contemporary. We show them where to check in and gather up fast passes for the safari which is already a 20 minute standby.
We walk the Pangani Trail where we see a new gorilla mom and her 12 week old babe. How sweet! By time we exit the trail, we could use our safari fast passes but, instead, we walk across the park and pick up fast passes for Expedition:Everest. There are lots of people here and it requires much weaving to move from point a to b. With Everest Fast Passes in hand, we head back to our safari. As we traverse the park once again, I hear a child ask “Whey did they put Everest in Asia?”
Our safari is quite good. We had an excellent driver who seemed to have a knack for slowing the vehicle enough that it really allowed time to get photos. Giraffes were practically close enough to touch. Even the lions are clearly visible though they are not up and about. There’s even a baby white rhino. By time we exit, the standby line is 45 minutes and stretches out of the que and into the African pavilion.
We could use our Everest fast passes now but we have lunch reservations at Rainforest Café so head to that location. As Safari Club members, we’re offered a free appetizer so have an onion ring stack as our appetizer. We each have burgers and chips for lunch. Lunch was good but, combined with the heat and crowds, has made us somewhat sleepy.
Still, we re-enter the park. On our way to Everest, we shop a bit and have a few photopass pics taken. When we arrive back at Everest, it only takes a few minutes before we’re seated for our thrilling encounter with the Yeti. We’re have trouble locating our pic on the screens and then a cast member begins to yell at us to move along and says we can ask to see our pictures inside. Guess she’s really helping Disney picture sales!
Let’s get out of here! We decide to go home and swim. It’s about 1 now. The next showing of Nemo will be at 2 and folks are already standing in line in the hot sun! Yikes!
We’re practically falling asleep on the bus on the way back to our room. Instead of donning swim suits, we nap for an hour or so. After our nap, we do put on our suits and head out to the quiet pool. We still have some towels we gathered from the main pool yesterday so bring a couple with us. A couple of hours later, we head back in to shower and change.
Before we went to the pool, I had put my credit cards and license into my travelers check holder and put that in the safe. I pull it out of the safe. I pull out Gene’s wallet and because I’ve also pulled out my netbook, I toss Gene’s wallet onto the bed. I walk across the room to the desk and put down my netbook. I check the travelers’ check holder and have my photo pass card and annual pass which I had also put in there but can’t find my license or credit cards. Must have fallen out in the safe so I check the safe again. Not there. I look in the bag that was sitting under the safe. Not there. Now I’m beginning to panic a bit. What else have I touched? I check the desk again. I check my drawers. I check another suitcase. Where could they possibly be? I check the safe again. Nope. Now it’s time to tear the room apart until I find them. I move onto another bag near the safe. I start pulling things out of that and find them spilled in the bottom of that bag. Whew! I did not place them in that bag so the only thing I can figure is that, when I threw Gene’s wallet on the bed, they spilled out of the travelers’ check case. My annual pass and photo pass did not fall out because I was holding onto that side of the case. In any case, I can breathe again.
Magic Kingdom is open until 11 tonite. I’m sure it will be crowded but we decide we’ll head there anyway. Not sure what we will do about dinner but we’ll figure it out.
A Magic Kingdom bus is pulling away from the bus stop as we approach. A few minutes later an Epcot bus pulls up so we hop aboard. From Epcot, we have to go through bag check in order to access the monorail. As the years go by, I find these security checks more and more annoying and yearn for the days when we could just walk up to the gate of the park and present our park pass! Oh well! Things change! At the Ticket and Transportation Center, I call Disney dining to see if I can find something in the Magic Kingdom circle. The first available is 8:15 or 8:30. Then I discover, they can’t make any reservations (even if there is availability) if the reservation will occur within the next hour. Okay. Thanks, anyway but that’s useless to me.
While I was having this conversation, we were walking towards the Poly. The Kona/O’Hana area of the resort is ridiculously crowded with folks. We don’t even ask but hop on the monorail to the Grand Floridian. Citrico’s MIGHT have something if we hang out for the next 35-40 minutes. The Grand Floridian Café can seat us in 45 minutes. Another monorail ride to the Contemporary. There is not one spot to sit at the Outer Rim. The Wave can seat us in 45 minutes to an hour. By asking two women to move down one seat (which they did quite grudgingly), we are able to locate two seats at the bar. Gene has a steak and I have the pork loin. My pork loin was delicious and Gene said his steak was good as well.
We leave the Contemporary and follow the walkway to the Magic Kingdom which is open until 11 this evening with Spectromagic at 9 and 11 and Wishes at 10. It’s just before 9 when we enter the gate. I had thought about getting on a few rides this evening but do not think we’ll be able to make our way through the folks waiting for Spectromagic. We find a spot just outside City Hall and just behind a stroller which gives us quite a good view for such a late arrival. When Spectromagic ends, we make our way up Main Street. I feel like a spawning fish trying to fight my way upstream! I’ve been craving a Mickey bar. We find a cart and Gene tells me I want a number 3 so I order that and he says he wants. After leaving the cart, I find I have a Mickey sandwich not a bar. Gene says it was the only thing he saw that was Mickey shaped and assumed it was the bar. Oh well. It’s already kind of melty and ok, not excellent, especially since my taste buds were in the mood for something else.
The number of folks in the Magic Kingdom waiting for the fireworks is pretty amazing – like Christmas crowded! Cast members are keeping folks out of the road. About five minutes before the fireworks begins, they begin to allow folks to stand on the street as long as we remain on the right hand side (facing the Castle). They are continuing to try to stream folks out of the park on the other side of the road.
Wishes is wonderful and, as always, Main Street is the perfect place to watch! We will not even attempt to remain in the park until 11. Cast members are trying to funnel everyone leaving the park down behind Tomorrowland and through the backstage area. We avoid being funneled that way and walk, instead, down Main Street which appears to have been a quicker course. I do understand why they are trying to use the alternate route – they don’t want tons of folks on Main Street when the second showing of Spectromagic begins at 11.
We have only a short wait for a Coronado Springs bus. One young girl with crutches is waiting in a chair. When the bus arrives, she transfers from the chair into the bus via her crutches. Just as I board, I glance out the window and see another chair pull up which I note. The driver halts the boarding but it does seem to take quite some time to get this man on board. We’re finally on our way. The man in the chair disembarks before we do and, again, this seems to take quite some time.
It’s quite late when we finally get home!
Plan for the Day:
Animal Kingdom
Lunch at Rainforest Café
Downtown Disney in the Afternoon
Dinner at Earl of Sandwich
How the Day Really Went:
It’s another hot, sunny day. We arrive at the bus stop around 9 to find quite a large group of unhappy people. Security is there. I think someone at the stop flagged the security vehicle down. One person is on the phone. It seems folks have been waiting quite a long while for a Magic Kingdom bus and none have come. The person on the phone announces that he’s spoken to Transportation and they are aware of the problem and are sending floater buses. Another person speaks to the driver of a Hollywood Studios bus who asks how long the person was waiting. I didn’t hear the response but did hear the bus driver say he’d call it in. A few minutes later, a Magic Kingdom bus appears and, right behind it, our bus to Animal Kingdom. As the Magic Kingdom bus pulls away, I see that not everyone who wanted to be on board was able to get on. That bus doesn’t even go to the final bus stop, El Centro, but instead heads away from the resort. I don’t know how long folks needed to wait for another bus.
There’s quite a crowd entering Animal Kingdom today. As we enter, I hear a man asking for directions for the Wildlife Excursion. We’re going to get fast passes for the Safari; they can walk along with us. He’s here with his daughter, Katie, who is celebrating her birthday and his daughter’s best friend. They live outside Philadelphia though he grew up in Massachusetts and they’re staying Club Level at the Contemporary. We show them where to check in and gather up fast passes for the safari which is already a 20 minute standby.
We walk the Pangani Trail where we see a new gorilla mom and her 12 week old babe. How sweet! By time we exit the trail, we could use our safari fast passes but, instead, we walk across the park and pick up fast passes for Expedition:Everest. There are lots of people here and it requires much weaving to move from point a to b. With Everest Fast Passes in hand, we head back to our safari. As we traverse the park once again, I hear a child ask “Whey did they put Everest in Asia?”
Our safari is quite good. We had an excellent driver who seemed to have a knack for slowing the vehicle enough that it really allowed time to get photos. Giraffes were practically close enough to touch. Even the lions are clearly visible though they are not up and about. There’s even a baby white rhino. By time we exit, the standby line is 45 minutes and stretches out of the que and into the African pavilion.
We could use our Everest fast passes now but we have lunch reservations at Rainforest Café so head to that location. As Safari Club members, we’re offered a free appetizer so have an onion ring stack as our appetizer. We each have burgers and chips for lunch. Lunch was good but, combined with the heat and crowds, has made us somewhat sleepy.
Still, we re-enter the park. On our way to Everest, we shop a bit and have a few photopass pics taken. When we arrive back at Everest, it only takes a few minutes before we’re seated for our thrilling encounter with the Yeti. We’re have trouble locating our pic on the screens and then a cast member begins to yell at us to move along and says we can ask to see our pictures inside. Guess she’s really helping Disney picture sales!
Let’s get out of here! We decide to go home and swim. It’s about 1 now. The next showing of Nemo will be at 2 and folks are already standing in line in the hot sun! Yikes!
We’re practically falling asleep on the bus on the way back to our room. Instead of donning swim suits, we nap for an hour or so. After our nap, we do put on our suits and head out to the quiet pool. We still have some towels we gathered from the main pool yesterday so bring a couple with us. A couple of hours later, we head back in to shower and change.
Before we went to the pool, I had put my credit cards and license into my travelers check holder and put that in the safe. I pull it out of the safe. I pull out Gene’s wallet and because I’ve also pulled out my netbook, I toss Gene’s wallet onto the bed. I walk across the room to the desk and put down my netbook. I check the travelers’ check holder and have my photo pass card and annual pass which I had also put in there but can’t find my license or credit cards. Must have fallen out in the safe so I check the safe again. Not there. I look in the bag that was sitting under the safe. Not there. Now I’m beginning to panic a bit. What else have I touched? I check the desk again. I check my drawers. I check another suitcase. Where could they possibly be? I check the safe again. Nope. Now it’s time to tear the room apart until I find them. I move onto another bag near the safe. I start pulling things out of that and find them spilled in the bottom of that bag. Whew! I did not place them in that bag so the only thing I can figure is that, when I threw Gene’s wallet on the bed, they spilled out of the travelers’ check case. My annual pass and photo pass did not fall out because I was holding onto that side of the case. In any case, I can breathe again.
Magic Kingdom is open until 11 tonite. I’m sure it will be crowded but we decide we’ll head there anyway. Not sure what we will do about dinner but we’ll figure it out.
A Magic Kingdom bus is pulling away from the bus stop as we approach. A few minutes later an Epcot bus pulls up so we hop aboard. From Epcot, we have to go through bag check in order to access the monorail. As the years go by, I find these security checks more and more annoying and yearn for the days when we could just walk up to the gate of the park and present our park pass! Oh well! Things change! At the Ticket and Transportation Center, I call Disney dining to see if I can find something in the Magic Kingdom circle. The first available is 8:15 or 8:30. Then I discover, they can’t make any reservations (even if there is availability) if the reservation will occur within the next hour. Okay. Thanks, anyway but that’s useless to me.
While I was having this conversation, we were walking towards the Poly. The Kona/O’Hana area of the resort is ridiculously crowded with folks. We don’t even ask but hop on the monorail to the Grand Floridian. Citrico’s MIGHT have something if we hang out for the next 35-40 minutes. The Grand Floridian Café can seat us in 45 minutes. Another monorail ride to the Contemporary. There is not one spot to sit at the Outer Rim. The Wave can seat us in 45 minutes to an hour. By asking two women to move down one seat (which they did quite grudgingly), we are able to locate two seats at the bar. Gene has a steak and I have the pork loin. My pork loin was delicious and Gene said his steak was good as well.
We leave the Contemporary and follow the walkway to the Magic Kingdom which is open until 11 this evening with Spectromagic at 9 and 11 and Wishes at 10. It’s just before 9 when we enter the gate. I had thought about getting on a few rides this evening but do not think we’ll be able to make our way through the folks waiting for Spectromagic. We find a spot just outside City Hall and just behind a stroller which gives us quite a good view for such a late arrival. When Spectromagic ends, we make our way up Main Street. I feel like a spawning fish trying to fight my way upstream! I’ve been craving a Mickey bar. We find a cart and Gene tells me I want a number 3 so I order that and he says he wants. After leaving the cart, I find I have a Mickey sandwich not a bar. Gene says it was the only thing he saw that was Mickey shaped and assumed it was the bar. Oh well. It’s already kind of melty and ok, not excellent, especially since my taste buds were in the mood for something else.
The number of folks in the Magic Kingdom waiting for the fireworks is pretty amazing – like Christmas crowded! Cast members are keeping folks out of the road. About five minutes before the fireworks begins, they begin to allow folks to stand on the street as long as we remain on the right hand side (facing the Castle). They are continuing to try to stream folks out of the park on the other side of the road.
Wishes is wonderful and, as always, Main Street is the perfect place to watch! We will not even attempt to remain in the park until 11. Cast members are trying to funnel everyone leaving the park down behind Tomorrowland and through the backstage area. We avoid being funneled that way and walk, instead, down Main Street which appears to have been a quicker course. I do understand why they are trying to use the alternate route – they don’t want tons of folks on Main Street when the second showing of Spectromagic begins at 11.
We have only a short wait for a Coronado Springs bus. One young girl with crutches is waiting in a chair. When the bus arrives, she transfers from the chair into the bus via her crutches. Just as I board, I glance out the window and see another chair pull up which I note. The driver halts the boarding but it does seem to take quite some time to get this man on board. We’re finally on our way. The man in the chair disembarks before we do and, again, this seems to take quite some time.
It’s quite late when we finally get home!