Zawadi
09-18-2012, 09:53 PM
Tuesday Sep 18.
We were hoping to get the 08:00 flight to Napa Valley, Yosemite et al, but an unexpected phone call from my parents delayed us. Hakuna matata! There are several flights today. We still made the 08:30 after getting a 09:05 to 10:05 Fastpass. The standby line was only 10 minutes, so two stand bys, the 09:05 Fastpass, got another Fastpass for 09:55 to 10:55, The Land, Nemo then the 09:55 Soaring' Fastpass all by 10:20. Not bad going at all! We then had a snack from Sunshine Seasons but they had sold out of Danish pastries so a carrot cupcake had to suffice.
As we left The Land the sky sounded like it had a mild stomach upset (growling). We stopped in Cool Zone for the second Beverley fix of the trip. It then started to spit with rain so we decided to do some resort visits.
We took a bus to POFQ with the aim of taking a boat to Downtown Disney for lunch at the Earl of Sandwich. POFQ is very picturesque but the boats had been suspended due to T'Storms. So we had to catch a bus. We alighted the bus at the Marketplace to find the rain getting heavier. Found the Earl of Sandwich, which was full inside. I had the Italian and DW the Caprese. As we were eating, al fresco but underneath the porch, the heavens opened and the storm came within 1 mile (4 seconds between lightening and thunder). We ate slowly and when the rain eased off headed back to the bus stop via Mickey's Pantry and The Art of Animation shop. The latter appropriate as we were heading to the resort of the same name. The bus to AoA stops at Typhoon Lagoon. As we were approaching the entrance the park's sound bite started play but since we were the only guests on the bus and Typhoon Lagoon had been closed due to the storm, the driver tried to turn off the message. The end result was that instead of silence two messages played simultaneously. The two line CC system didn't know what it was spelling out.
AoA is fantastically themed. The Lion King scenes: Pride Rock and Elephant Graveyard were great. We headed towards the other end, Cars. OMG! We were almost in hysterics with the Rusteze road signs and the Cones around the pool.
We were now faced with the age old problem. How to get from one resort to another via WDW transport? We opted for a bus to Studios then the boat back to the Yacht Club. Our driver to Studios confirmed that the Friendship boats were running again but at Studios we saw Friendship VIII was about to leave so walked back. We made it to The Boardwalk's pool before the rain came again. So we used the cut through and had a look inside the gallery. Some very nice pictures a couple that I would like but three things were against me: cost, shipping back to UK, not got a wall big enough :(. As we left the gallery, a Studios boat was approaching, as was Friendship VIII. We took the boat that was headed to where we had walked from in order to get back to the hotel :confused:
That has given me some time to sit on our balcony, watching the rain and typing up today's events before taking the car over to the AKL for diner in Boma.
It's been a while since we have dined at Boma. The first thing that we noticed is that they've improved the lighting as you now see to eat. The food is still good, but everything is on the soft or creamed side. The selection of deserts has improved and we were glad to see that Zebradomes were still on the menu.
We made it back to the Yacht Club in time to walk over to World Showcase for IllumiNations where we had a perfect view on the bridge under which the IllumiNations Cruise boats moor. One of the boats was a birthday booking and everyone on the bridge burst into song. My only criticism of IllumiNations is that the propane barge is too dominant. 300 gallons of burning propane is too bright and draws you eye away form the other things going on. We then walked back to our room nicely deafened by the $20k+ show. As we went through the exit turnstile at International Gateway, we noticed that the username on the turnstile was "TOODALOO". I like that sense of humour. :)
Tomorrow we'll be heading off to Hogsmead at Universal Studios.
We were hoping to get the 08:00 flight to Napa Valley, Yosemite et al, but an unexpected phone call from my parents delayed us. Hakuna matata! There are several flights today. We still made the 08:30 after getting a 09:05 to 10:05 Fastpass. The standby line was only 10 minutes, so two stand bys, the 09:05 Fastpass, got another Fastpass for 09:55 to 10:55, The Land, Nemo then the 09:55 Soaring' Fastpass all by 10:20. Not bad going at all! We then had a snack from Sunshine Seasons but they had sold out of Danish pastries so a carrot cupcake had to suffice.
As we left The Land the sky sounded like it had a mild stomach upset (growling). We stopped in Cool Zone for the second Beverley fix of the trip. It then started to spit with rain so we decided to do some resort visits.
We took a bus to POFQ with the aim of taking a boat to Downtown Disney for lunch at the Earl of Sandwich. POFQ is very picturesque but the boats had been suspended due to T'Storms. So we had to catch a bus. We alighted the bus at the Marketplace to find the rain getting heavier. Found the Earl of Sandwich, which was full inside. I had the Italian and DW the Caprese. As we were eating, al fresco but underneath the porch, the heavens opened and the storm came within 1 mile (4 seconds between lightening and thunder). We ate slowly and when the rain eased off headed back to the bus stop via Mickey's Pantry and The Art of Animation shop. The latter appropriate as we were heading to the resort of the same name. The bus to AoA stops at Typhoon Lagoon. As we were approaching the entrance the park's sound bite started play but since we were the only guests on the bus and Typhoon Lagoon had been closed due to the storm, the driver tried to turn off the message. The end result was that instead of silence two messages played simultaneously. The two line CC system didn't know what it was spelling out.
AoA is fantastically themed. The Lion King scenes: Pride Rock and Elephant Graveyard were great. We headed towards the other end, Cars. OMG! We were almost in hysterics with the Rusteze road signs and the Cones around the pool.
We were now faced with the age old problem. How to get from one resort to another via WDW transport? We opted for a bus to Studios then the boat back to the Yacht Club. Our driver to Studios confirmed that the Friendship boats were running again but at Studios we saw Friendship VIII was about to leave so walked back. We made it to The Boardwalk's pool before the rain came again. So we used the cut through and had a look inside the gallery. Some very nice pictures a couple that I would like but three things were against me: cost, shipping back to UK, not got a wall big enough :(. As we left the gallery, a Studios boat was approaching, as was Friendship VIII. We took the boat that was headed to where we had walked from in order to get back to the hotel :confused:
That has given me some time to sit on our balcony, watching the rain and typing up today's events before taking the car over to the AKL for diner in Boma.
It's been a while since we have dined at Boma. The first thing that we noticed is that they've improved the lighting as you now see to eat. The food is still good, but everything is on the soft or creamed side. The selection of deserts has improved and we were glad to see that Zebradomes were still on the menu.
We made it back to the Yacht Club in time to walk over to World Showcase for IllumiNations where we had a perfect view on the bridge under which the IllumiNations Cruise boats moor. One of the boats was a birthday booking and everyone on the bridge burst into song. My only criticism of IllumiNations is that the propane barge is too dominant. 300 gallons of burning propane is too bright and draws you eye away form the other things going on. We then walked back to our room nicely deafened by the $20k+ show. As we went through the exit turnstile at International Gateway, we noticed that the username on the turnstile was "TOODALOO". I like that sense of humour. :)
Tomorrow we'll be heading off to Hogsmead at Universal Studios.