faline
12-21-2011, 10:22 AM
December 11, 2011
Sunday
Who:
Gene
Linda
DB Scott
DSIL Donna
DN Sam
It’s now close to 5 on Sunday evening and I haven’t had a chance to get to trip notes since the day before yesterday!
When I left off on Friday nite, I was telling you how we had just exited from Spaceship Earth. From there, we walked on over towards Mexico. At Mexico, we took the boat ride. I was surprised at the long line to get on!! After that, we just wandered around World Showcase enjoying the weather and being at Disney World.
By time we got to Canada, it was just about time to check in for dinner. I called. Donna & Scott were just walking by the fountain and would be at our location within a few minutes. When they arrived, we checked in at the podium out by World Showcase and walked back to the restaurant. We only waited a few minutes before we were seated.
I don’t remember what each of us had for dinner. I know I had the filet mignon and it was delicious! The only one of our party who didn’t really eat was our nephew, Sam, who is quite picky. Nothing on the menu did it for him. We tried a side order of mac and cheese but he wouldn’t eat it. I don’t think they even charged us for it which was nice.
Over dinner, we caught up on how things had gone for the last day or two. After checking in at Wilderness Lodge on Thursday, Scott & Donna decided to go to Magic Kingdom instead of Animal Kingdom as they originally planned. They spent the better part of the day there. Sam loved Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain but the jury was still out on the “Haunted House” as there was “no way out”. Later in the evening, they even returned to the Magic Kingdom for the fireworks. Early on Friday morning, they had to wake Sam up as they had a breakfast reservation at Whispering Canyon. Sam was not happy they were checking out of Wilderness Lodge as he didn’t really understand they were just moving to another resort and not going home yet. On Friday, they went to Disney Studios where the big hit of the day was Lights, Motors & Action – particularly the appearance of Lightning McQueen. Sam had had two very busy and full days!
After we finished our Le Cellier dinner, we walked over to the bakery in France and picked up some goodies to go. From there, we went to Electric Umbrella to get Sam some chicken and fries which he does like. Once Sam was done with his meal, we decided to head back to Old Key West. At our resort, we decided not to head directly to bed as we figured the others would likely wake us up when they came in with all their luggage and groceries so we spent some time on our deck before moving indoors.
In the interim, Scott, Donna, and Sam had gone on Test Track and, following that, had left the park. From there, they went to Winn Dixie, picked up some stuff, and headed to Old Key West. By the time they arrived at Old Key West, Sam was passed out. While we were waiting for them to arrive, we discovered the remotes on our living room tv and the one to the master bedroom tv did not work. Gene had called about these and they said someone would come right over. After Scott & Donna arrived, Gene called to ask them to come tomorrow instead but the woman arrived at the same time Gene was placing the call. She quickly had our televisions working again.
Scott and Donna said they would let Sam sleep in on Saturday morning so Gene & I decided we would head out to Animal Kingdom when we got up and they could join us when they were ready.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Gene & I got up and had a cup of coffee before heading to Animal Kingdom. Scott was up and shared a coffee with us. He headed off to the shower as we headed out the door.
We did not wait long for a bus before we were whisked off to Animal Kingdom. We arrived there shortly after opening and headed straight for Expedition:Everest. It was a walk on so we circled around and did it a second time. From there, we crossed the park and walked directly on the Safari with no wait at all. We were placed in the very front row of the truck. We went to Flights of Wonder. The show was only half full. After that, we walked the trail. The tigers were up and fairly active. By this point, we were hungry so stopped at the quick service portion of Yak & Yeti. Gene got a chicken sandwich and I got an order of sweet and sour pork. We had just sat down to eat when Donna called to say they had arrived at the park. They had given Sam the choice of going in the car or on the bus and Sam had chosen the bus so they used Disney transportation. They met us at Yak & Yeti and had some lunch. After lunch, Scott, Donna and Sam went on Kali River Rapids while Gene & I manned the elephants that squirt to try to get them a bit more wet! We did Dinosaur and then another ride on the safari. This time we were in the very last row of the truck. The elephants were very active and were just coming out of the water hole as we came by. We headed to A Bug’s Life but Sam did not enjoy that at all and Donna took him out of the show after just a few minutes.
Before leaving the park, we stopped at Animal Outfitters where Gene and I picked up our free calendars as annual passholders.
Our dinner reservations for this evening were for the Brown Derby so we headed to the bus station that would take us there from Animal Kingdom. Our bus stop filled completely before a bus arrived. Right behind that bus came a second one. Then things got a little strange. The woman driving the first bus would not pull into the bus slot. Later she said she could not because folks were standing beyond the yellow line at the bus stop yet she never signaled for anyone to move back nor did she ever open her bus door and tell anyone what was needed. The second bus was now blocking other busses from entering the bus terminal area. He pulled around the other side of this woman’s bus and began loading passengers. She then exited her bus and began directly passengers around some poles and said it was to prevent passengers from being injured should her bus (which was now not occupied by her) move forward unexpectedly. Whereupon the second bus then decided to pull forward a bit more so that folks would naturally be on the “right” side of the poles but which now also meant that loading passengers had a different pole directly in the middle of the bus entrance opening. It worked okay for us but I don’t know how it would work for passengers with large strollers. I also don’t know if the other bus ever loaded. In any case, we were on a packed bus when we drove to Disney Studios.
When we arrived at Disney Studios, we had some time before we checked in so did a bit of shopping and/or window shopping as the case might be. Sam said he wanted to go on the “up down” (Tower of Terror) so we got fast passes for after dinner.
After checking in, we only waited a few minutes before we were seated. We all ordered the pork tenderloin and it was yummy! I had ice cream and a Nutty Irishman after dinner. I don’t recall what the others had. By time we left the restaurant, Sam had decided against going on the “up down” so Gene, Scott & I went to Tower of Terror while Donna and Sam headed to the Osborne Lights. With our fast passes, we essentially walked right on the ride. After that, we went in search of Donna and Sam. When Scott connected with Donna via phone, she said they were by “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” the fake movie marquis so we were able to locate then pretty quickly. It was also here that Scott was able to find the cat in the display which was located down a side street just opposite the “movie theater”. We spent quite some time just enjoying the lights and music. Sam really liked all the lights and music!
We finally left the park and did not wait very long for a bus home. Instead of taking the bus all the way around Old Key West, we just got off at the first stop and took the very short walk down the street back to Hospitality House. Donna and I wandered through the gift shop for a bit before we joined the others back in our room. Sam was pretty tired but wanted his mom to be with him. Donna ended up falling asleep as well. It was midnight before the rest of us went to bed!!
Sunday
Who:
Gene
Linda
DB Scott
DSIL Donna
DN Sam
It’s now close to 5 on Sunday evening and I haven’t had a chance to get to trip notes since the day before yesterday!
When I left off on Friday nite, I was telling you how we had just exited from Spaceship Earth. From there, we walked on over towards Mexico. At Mexico, we took the boat ride. I was surprised at the long line to get on!! After that, we just wandered around World Showcase enjoying the weather and being at Disney World.
By time we got to Canada, it was just about time to check in for dinner. I called. Donna & Scott were just walking by the fountain and would be at our location within a few minutes. When they arrived, we checked in at the podium out by World Showcase and walked back to the restaurant. We only waited a few minutes before we were seated.
I don’t remember what each of us had for dinner. I know I had the filet mignon and it was delicious! The only one of our party who didn’t really eat was our nephew, Sam, who is quite picky. Nothing on the menu did it for him. We tried a side order of mac and cheese but he wouldn’t eat it. I don’t think they even charged us for it which was nice.
Over dinner, we caught up on how things had gone for the last day or two. After checking in at Wilderness Lodge on Thursday, Scott & Donna decided to go to Magic Kingdom instead of Animal Kingdom as they originally planned. They spent the better part of the day there. Sam loved Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain but the jury was still out on the “Haunted House” as there was “no way out”. Later in the evening, they even returned to the Magic Kingdom for the fireworks. Early on Friday morning, they had to wake Sam up as they had a breakfast reservation at Whispering Canyon. Sam was not happy they were checking out of Wilderness Lodge as he didn’t really understand they were just moving to another resort and not going home yet. On Friday, they went to Disney Studios where the big hit of the day was Lights, Motors & Action – particularly the appearance of Lightning McQueen. Sam had had two very busy and full days!
After we finished our Le Cellier dinner, we walked over to the bakery in France and picked up some goodies to go. From there, we went to Electric Umbrella to get Sam some chicken and fries which he does like. Once Sam was done with his meal, we decided to head back to Old Key West. At our resort, we decided not to head directly to bed as we figured the others would likely wake us up when they came in with all their luggage and groceries so we spent some time on our deck before moving indoors.
In the interim, Scott, Donna, and Sam had gone on Test Track and, following that, had left the park. From there, they went to Winn Dixie, picked up some stuff, and headed to Old Key West. By the time they arrived at Old Key West, Sam was passed out. While we were waiting for them to arrive, we discovered the remotes on our living room tv and the one to the master bedroom tv did not work. Gene had called about these and they said someone would come right over. After Scott & Donna arrived, Gene called to ask them to come tomorrow instead but the woman arrived at the same time Gene was placing the call. She quickly had our televisions working again.
Scott and Donna said they would let Sam sleep in on Saturday morning so Gene & I decided we would head out to Animal Kingdom when we got up and they could join us when they were ready.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Gene & I got up and had a cup of coffee before heading to Animal Kingdom. Scott was up and shared a coffee with us. He headed off to the shower as we headed out the door.
We did not wait long for a bus before we were whisked off to Animal Kingdom. We arrived there shortly after opening and headed straight for Expedition:Everest. It was a walk on so we circled around and did it a second time. From there, we crossed the park and walked directly on the Safari with no wait at all. We were placed in the very front row of the truck. We went to Flights of Wonder. The show was only half full. After that, we walked the trail. The tigers were up and fairly active. By this point, we were hungry so stopped at the quick service portion of Yak & Yeti. Gene got a chicken sandwich and I got an order of sweet and sour pork. We had just sat down to eat when Donna called to say they had arrived at the park. They had given Sam the choice of going in the car or on the bus and Sam had chosen the bus so they used Disney transportation. They met us at Yak & Yeti and had some lunch. After lunch, Scott, Donna and Sam went on Kali River Rapids while Gene & I manned the elephants that squirt to try to get them a bit more wet! We did Dinosaur and then another ride on the safari. This time we were in the very last row of the truck. The elephants were very active and were just coming out of the water hole as we came by. We headed to A Bug’s Life but Sam did not enjoy that at all and Donna took him out of the show after just a few minutes.
Before leaving the park, we stopped at Animal Outfitters where Gene and I picked up our free calendars as annual passholders.
Our dinner reservations for this evening were for the Brown Derby so we headed to the bus station that would take us there from Animal Kingdom. Our bus stop filled completely before a bus arrived. Right behind that bus came a second one. Then things got a little strange. The woman driving the first bus would not pull into the bus slot. Later she said she could not because folks were standing beyond the yellow line at the bus stop yet she never signaled for anyone to move back nor did she ever open her bus door and tell anyone what was needed. The second bus was now blocking other busses from entering the bus terminal area. He pulled around the other side of this woman’s bus and began loading passengers. She then exited her bus and began directly passengers around some poles and said it was to prevent passengers from being injured should her bus (which was now not occupied by her) move forward unexpectedly. Whereupon the second bus then decided to pull forward a bit more so that folks would naturally be on the “right” side of the poles but which now also meant that loading passengers had a different pole directly in the middle of the bus entrance opening. It worked okay for us but I don’t know how it would work for passengers with large strollers. I also don’t know if the other bus ever loaded. In any case, we were on a packed bus when we drove to Disney Studios.
When we arrived at Disney Studios, we had some time before we checked in so did a bit of shopping and/or window shopping as the case might be. Sam said he wanted to go on the “up down” (Tower of Terror) so we got fast passes for after dinner.
After checking in, we only waited a few minutes before we were seated. We all ordered the pork tenderloin and it was yummy! I had ice cream and a Nutty Irishman after dinner. I don’t recall what the others had. By time we left the restaurant, Sam had decided against going on the “up down” so Gene, Scott & I went to Tower of Terror while Donna and Sam headed to the Osborne Lights. With our fast passes, we essentially walked right on the ride. After that, we went in search of Donna and Sam. When Scott connected with Donna via phone, she said they were by “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” the fake movie marquis so we were able to locate then pretty quickly. It was also here that Scott was able to find the cat in the display which was located down a side street just opposite the “movie theater”. We spent quite some time just enjoying the lights and music. Sam really liked all the lights and music!
We finally left the park and did not wait very long for a bus home. Instead of taking the bus all the way around Old Key West, we just got off at the first stop and took the very short walk down the street back to Hospitality House. Donna and I wandered through the gift shop for a bit before we joined the others back in our room. Sam was pretty tired but wanted his mom to be with him. Donna ended up falling asleep as well. It was midnight before the rest of us went to bed!!