Zawadi
09-16-2012, 10:37 PM
As I posted at the end of part 1, it took just over 12 hours to get from London to our room in the Yacht Club. The flight was fantastic with on-demand video, good bar selection (hence the need for a driver to collect us at MCO) and excellent food, smoked salmon, fillet of beef & lemon cheesecake, ice cream, fresh scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream.
I had forgotten that in the last couple of weeks the park hours had been revised with MK now closing at 22:00. So, after unpacking we walked to Epcot and visited Nemo, Spaceship Earth and the Grand Fiesta. By now it was approaching 19:45, too early for bed so we headed towards the monorail for MK. As we were walking through the Legacy area, monorail Gold entered the loop. We managed to get up to the station in time to board it. Moments after leaving the station Gold stopped and the pilot announced that it could not continue "forward motion" as people were leaning against the doors. In the end, it did continue to MK but at a reduced speed. A quick platform change at the TTC got us onboard the Avengers monorail. There was a thread of "straight on, left or right at the hub". Tonight it was a forced left due to the number of people waiting for Wishes. This meant that Adventureland was the first port of call so, with no line it was onto a Jungle Cruise. I can confirm that *both the Rhino. scene is still broken and that the jokes are still as bad a ever. Then onto Pirates and Haunted Mansion before 21:30. We could have stayed for the parade but as we'd been up for nearly 21 hours our bodies out voted our hearts so we returned to the Beach Club. Why the Beach Club? We hadn't fallen asleep and missed our stop but we needed to call in at The Marketplace in order to get our DDP refillable mugs. It was then back to our room, which overlooks Crescent Lake and The Boardwalk and turn in for the night.
As the saying goes, we didn't need much rocking before being soundly asleep. We first woke around 04:30, but finally alighted our comfortable bed at 07:30. By the time that the morning's preening ritual was completed an hour had gone by before we headed over to the Dolphin to collect our car from Alamo. An upgrade to a Mazda CX9 SUV. It was time for the first drive to Walmart on Turkey Lake. A nice car to drive until I found out the size of the blind spot on the driver's side. Got a bit close to a car on the I4. :oops: Groceries collected plus a new back pack to replace ours which ripped during the trip out.
Back at the Yacht Club, we had a nice quiet breakfast drink on the balcony whilst watching the Friendship boats going about their work. It's 11:05 and there are few people around. It's a bit overcast but that suits us fine for our first visit to Stormalong Bay. DW had told me that this was a relaxing/de-stressing vacation for me. No camcorder! Her plan is working because the hour plus spent in the bay, and even going down the flying jib slide past too quickly.
After a quick shower, off into World Showcase for some lunch. It was about 14:00 and our intention was a DDP CS at Lotus Blossom Cafe. However, as we were walking through France it started to rain so we ended up in the Liberty Inn instead. We'll save the delights of the Lotus Blossom Cafe for another day.
It was then onto Studios, via Friendship VIII, for the first ToT of the trip. As we got through the turnstiles the parade was approaching the Crossroads - perfect timing! Tot, Great Movie Ride and we did the Western Scene for the first time in ages and finally a very "lively" Star Tours. We started back to the Yacht Club, but there was no boat in sight so walked it, making a slight detour to see the pool complex at the Boardwalk. Cutting through to Crescent Lake a Studios bound Friendship boat was in so we took it across to our hotel.
Just got time to refill our mugs. It's a pity that Hurricane Hannah's is closed for a refurb, which means walking to The Marketplace. Back in the room a few notes added to this journal followed by a quick change then off to Citricos for a 19:30 ADR then onto MK for the evening EMH.
If you're not carnivorous then move on to the next paragraph. The meal at Citricos was EXCELLENT. For our entrees we had Veal Shank and Beef Rib washed down with a bottle of Pino Grigio Selena followed by Tirimisu and Creme Brûlée. I also had an Italian Coffee (ameretto & kahula) .
The meal left us in a state of not feeling like going on any more attractions for the night so we just attempted to head back to the hotel. At the GF's monorail station we were left waiting as Gold went through the station as it was been taken out of service. On the bus home, the driver found the road blocked by line painters at the point of turning into the road for the Yacht Club bus station. He had to do a very tight three point turn and enter the hotel via the main gatehouse.
So back in the room I've just got time to finish this section before getting some shut-eye prior to tomorrow's EMH at the Animal Kingdom.
I had forgotten that in the last couple of weeks the park hours had been revised with MK now closing at 22:00. So, after unpacking we walked to Epcot and visited Nemo, Spaceship Earth and the Grand Fiesta. By now it was approaching 19:45, too early for bed so we headed towards the monorail for MK. As we were walking through the Legacy area, monorail Gold entered the loop. We managed to get up to the station in time to board it. Moments after leaving the station Gold stopped and the pilot announced that it could not continue "forward motion" as people were leaning against the doors. In the end, it did continue to MK but at a reduced speed. A quick platform change at the TTC got us onboard the Avengers monorail. There was a thread of "straight on, left or right at the hub". Tonight it was a forced left due to the number of people waiting for Wishes. This meant that Adventureland was the first port of call so, with no line it was onto a Jungle Cruise. I can confirm that *both the Rhino. scene is still broken and that the jokes are still as bad a ever. Then onto Pirates and Haunted Mansion before 21:30. We could have stayed for the parade but as we'd been up for nearly 21 hours our bodies out voted our hearts so we returned to the Beach Club. Why the Beach Club? We hadn't fallen asleep and missed our stop but we needed to call in at The Marketplace in order to get our DDP refillable mugs. It was then back to our room, which overlooks Crescent Lake and The Boardwalk and turn in for the night.
As the saying goes, we didn't need much rocking before being soundly asleep. We first woke around 04:30, but finally alighted our comfortable bed at 07:30. By the time that the morning's preening ritual was completed an hour had gone by before we headed over to the Dolphin to collect our car from Alamo. An upgrade to a Mazda CX9 SUV. It was time for the first drive to Walmart on Turkey Lake. A nice car to drive until I found out the size of the blind spot on the driver's side. Got a bit close to a car on the I4. :oops: Groceries collected plus a new back pack to replace ours which ripped during the trip out.
Back at the Yacht Club, we had a nice quiet breakfast drink on the balcony whilst watching the Friendship boats going about their work. It's 11:05 and there are few people around. It's a bit overcast but that suits us fine for our first visit to Stormalong Bay. DW had told me that this was a relaxing/de-stressing vacation for me. No camcorder! Her plan is working because the hour plus spent in the bay, and even going down the flying jib slide past too quickly.
After a quick shower, off into World Showcase for some lunch. It was about 14:00 and our intention was a DDP CS at Lotus Blossom Cafe. However, as we were walking through France it started to rain so we ended up in the Liberty Inn instead. We'll save the delights of the Lotus Blossom Cafe for another day.
It was then onto Studios, via Friendship VIII, for the first ToT of the trip. As we got through the turnstiles the parade was approaching the Crossroads - perfect timing! Tot, Great Movie Ride and we did the Western Scene for the first time in ages and finally a very "lively" Star Tours. We started back to the Yacht Club, but there was no boat in sight so walked it, making a slight detour to see the pool complex at the Boardwalk. Cutting through to Crescent Lake a Studios bound Friendship boat was in so we took it across to our hotel.
Just got time to refill our mugs. It's a pity that Hurricane Hannah's is closed for a refurb, which means walking to The Marketplace. Back in the room a few notes added to this journal followed by a quick change then off to Citricos for a 19:30 ADR then onto MK for the evening EMH.
If you're not carnivorous then move on to the next paragraph. The meal at Citricos was EXCELLENT. For our entrees we had Veal Shank and Beef Rib washed down with a bottle of Pino Grigio Selena followed by Tirimisu and Creme Brûlée. I also had an Italian Coffee (ameretto & kahula) .
The meal left us in a state of not feeling like going on any more attractions for the night so we just attempted to head back to the hotel. At the GF's monorail station we were left waiting as Gold went through the station as it was been taken out of service. On the bus home, the driver found the road blocked by line painters at the point of turning into the road for the Yacht Club bus station. He had to do a very tight three point turn and enter the hotel via the main gatehouse.
So back in the room I've just got time to finish this section before getting some shut-eye prior to tomorrow's EMH at the Animal Kingdom.