JULY 2012 TRIP REPORT PART 4

[susanm]

Saturday got up early and headed for the animal kingdom. got there too early ...i thought Rainforest would be open but it wasnt yet...so i went to the shop and got a RFC windbreaker (and on the sale rack too ;D ) looked for Dawn but she wasnt there so i got my table and had breakfast. had the Bandits Breakfast (eggs sausage potatos ) and headed out to the park. didnt actually get a lot done..missed many things...went right to kilamajaro safari, sat with a really nice woman and her daugher (8) who were on their first disney trip and she asked for suggestions...went thru bugs life, pangini falls, lion king show and picked up a really nice small aluminum thermos. keeps stuff really cold too.
about now the heat was bothering me so the plan was to go to art of animation for late lunch. stopped at RFC on the way out hoping to see Dawn but, no luck. went to art of animation and had lunch...wow, they had different things...got a chocolate mickey tart filled with fruit, acorn squash and a bowl of pineapple...i know crazy lunch but really the heat takes away your appetite. got the bus to downtown disney then (was the next bus in so what the heck..more shopping) walked around for a while then stopped at the art of disney to look (again) at the watches...saw one in the art of disney at the main st cinema the other day...and they had the same one...it was a limited edition (only 150) and i had asked at the MK if they had #60 since it was my birthday (i know crazy) but they didnt...next choice was 76 (birthday july 6) no luck...so i got #12 (like in 2012), by now needed a rest so headed back to resort...picked up my deliveries at maestro mickeys again (by now the CMs are addressing me by name) got more cheese sticks and went back to my room...getting exhausted by now. felt really good to get back to the room, take a cool shower, and just chill out and watch tv ...and posted some pix on facebook....YAAAAA NOOK AND DISNEY FREE WI FI NOW

[susanm]

SUNDAY 7/8

stopped at the front desk on my way out to check and pay the phone bill since i had been using the one in the room. figured it would be better to straighten it out now than have to wait my last day.
went to the MK to meet my friend. she left a message for me to meet here at the main entrance to the MK between 8:15 and 8:45 am when i tried to call her back there was no answer . anyone who has been to the MK knows what the main entrance is like at park opening.... so i saw the train come in and tried to video it but the adult in front of me kept waving her arms so ...erased the video... hung around until 945am waiting for her and then went to guest services to see if she left a message for me. nothing...called my room to see if there was anything there...nothing...went back out to the main entrance ..out one side and back in the other and no friend. so i headed down main street, had more pix done by photopass, then stopped at MAIN STREET BAKERY for breakfast...had the egg crouissant ...very good except i dont like that kind of bacon they put on but it came right off. headed back to do my fav rides, jungle cruise, magic carpets, jungle cruise tiki birds....walked past ALOHA ISLE thinking...i will be back later and moved on..stopped at Pecos Bills and had corn on the cob onion rings and a dring....went back to the haunted mansion and stopped at hall of presidents again. caught the celebrate parade/show and headed out of the park... the tour groups were all over the place and the heat was crazy so i took the bus to DTD again (becoming a favorite place to shop)and on the way for a taxi went thru shops but got hooked in Basin...love that store but didnt want to carry stuff so wanted to stop on the way back...(taxi stop is behind Basin) and got a taxi (cheapest from DTD) the the Premium outlet mall. stopped at the character warehouse (of course) and got a polo, henley and a long sleeve denim shirt all for $27..wow...great discounts...walked around a while but nothing caught my eye so got my taxi (about 2 hrs later) back to DTD. went into basin and found lots of stuff but ended up with just bath bombs and a jar (almond) sea scrub..love that stuff, but did get the website so i can order stuff now. walked back to the bus stop browsing in all the shops on the way...again, by the time i got back to the resort my knees were starting to ache (tried not to push once the pain starts) and relaxed the rest of the night. Had to pick up more batteries on the way back, my rechargables died on me...charge them all night but then no power when i put them in the camera...had to keep buying batteries...and so stupid i didnt think to get some at the mall while i was there...disney only had the cheaper ones...no duracell or energizers..picked up more string cheese. got the steak dinner at the food court and took it back to the room. thought i was back early, but it was 9pm by now...too late for me to be bothered going back to the park...tomorrow is another day

[susanm]

7/8 MONDAY

Slept a little later, had breakfast at the resort (thought the groups would be gone, but no such luck...they were all over the food court) and finally got my Mickey waffle for breakfast. headed out for a late start and got to Epcot about 11am. went right to Spaceship Earth, Univerise of Energy, Mission Space, Seas with Nemo and did Journey into Imagination, the ride and Captain EO. wasnt too crowded, but i guess everyone was already over in World Showcase. Went to the Canada side and saw O Canada stopped in the UK for lunch..had the fish & chips...wow were they really good and i dont like fish (until now anyway). sat at an outside table and relaxed, played on my nook for a while and called a friend about my ride home. it looked like it was going to pour rain and i was waiting to see whant was going to happen..which way i should go...but it passed over so i moved on...went to see Impressions of France and was going to go into the bakery but the lines were out the door must have been snack time for everyone else. moved on to Italy, Germany and Morocco checking out all the shops. headed back to the bus stopping at Mouse Gears again & left. grabbed a veggie pizza ( a new fav) and went back to the room to relax. another long day.

[susanm]

7/9 TUESDAY - LAST DAY AT THE PARKS

had a mickey waffle again at the food court, and had to go to the front desk. i had received my reservation for magical express to the airport wednesday and my departure time was blank. found out the flight number was changed, but the time was the same, pick up was 155p so i headed to the MK.
went right to splash mtn (which was crazy every other visit) and i got on after about a 30 min wait, and this was about 930am. i did see why fast passes were always running out. coming in the gate at the same time, i noticed the head of the tour groups of kids was collecting everyones ticket. then they went ahead and would hand out fast passes to the group. one person went ahead and while everyone else took their time and did other rides the leader was getting fast passes. after splash mtn i went to big thunder mtn and there was the leader handing out BTM fast passes....and the machines were out of fast passes for the day... so i never got back there since the lines were about 90 min wait. did Country Bears again (was down on sunday) grabbed a hot dog in liberty square, then did Liberty Bell Riverboat, Hall of Presidents, back to Haunted Mansion. got a spot for the afternoon parade and video taped the sign language interpreters...i use the videos to improve my skills. took the monorail over to the grand floridian, walked thru shops there then went to Ghasparillas Grill for an ice cream. right outside the door is a little patio where you can see the lake and the top of the castle. sat, relax, posted on nook, and then took the launch (via the Poly) back to the magic kingdom. took two trips around on the railroad (it started to drizzle..wondering if it would rain...thunder in the distance) went thru some shops on main street then headed over to tonys to see if i could do a walk in since i cancelled my ressie last friday.. it was abut 345p and the cm said they wouldnt take ressies untul 415p since they didnt open until 430p so i took my nook, sat in a rocking chair on the porch of tonys, and relaxed, listened to the thunder and watched the people come and go. got a table right at 430p and had a great meal.. had the lamb and polento . was the first time i had polento and i really liked it. missed dole whip again. walked around and the found a spot by the railroad station on main st to tape the parade. sat nea a woman who was waiting for the rest of her family. we talked for about an hour waiting for the parade. by now, i was getting tired and knew i still had some packing up to do so i left after the light parade and missed wishes . (another reason to go back again)
got back to the resort, grabbed a milk shake at the food court and headed to the room to pack up. last day wanted another week

[susanm]

7/10 Wednesday


slept a little later, then packed up all the stuff that was left. went with one duffle bag, came back with 2 and a large shopping bag.
called for my bags to be picked up and they came really quickly. i had the automatic check out so i didnt even have to go to the desk..i didnt charge anything to the room and cleared up the phone call the other day so all was done.
went to curbside check in and all went crazy. United was my air home and they are on the list for curbside, can check your bags there then they got right to your flight....you can even get your boarding passes there...EXCEPT...since my flight number was changed they couldnt do anything wasnt their fault...my flight number wouldnt come up and even the changed number wouldnt come up...so i got nervous and asked to get on an earlier bus to the airport. it was after 11 by now and too late to go to a park and be back by 1 so i went to the airport. of course, now, on the way, the clouds open up and it starts to pour buckets right before we are getting off the bus. now i am so far away from the check in desk i have to get a little luggage cart .... $5 now to use one. had 2 duffle bags, the shopping bag with my big mickey gift and my birthday cake towel and elephant. i asked and the CM at the check in desk said feel free to take them...so i did...and my messenger bag...off to go down a level and across to the UNITED desk. got rid of my stuff and the woman asked if i wanted to go on the 225 pm flight since i was there instead of the 5 pm flight...ok.had time to stop at wendys in the airport and grab lunch...since i missed breakfast.....now, the flight from newark to pa was at 6 and this flight wasnt supposed to get in on time, would have to wait until 1-pm in newark...ok...wasnt planning on getting home until after 11 anyway...got to newark before 530p..(at gate 83) so the agent there said got there in time so go to gate 114 and catch the 610 plane...they got me a buggy since by now i only had about 20 min to get there...got there and the flight was moved to gate 85. another buggy and back again...got to the gate just in time...about 615p and.......the flight was delayed until 720pm then we sat on the runway for about 20 min until we could get cleared for departure...anyway, but the time i got to AVOCA airport (15 min from my house) I called my friend to pick me up, grabbed my stuff and got home...it was still only 9pm.. home two hours early...was worth the rush...and surprisingly my luggage was on the flight....so home by 9..not a bad day

[disnifiedmarge]

What did you think of Captain EO? It made me feel so nostalgic! Too bad you missed Dawn @ RFC-AK. She is so sweet and makes her fellow MT'ers feel so welcome!! I love so many attractions at AK, but we usually travel in July as well and it is JUST TOO DARN HOT! Many times I've had to cut a park day short because I get overwhelmed by that summer heat, esp @ AK for some reason.

[susanm]

i was surprised you could just walk on captain eo....aside from waiting for the show to start...wasnt that crowded at all...and you would think that the heat would have people coming in just to get out of the heat...but, i was there later in the afternoon so i am guessing that most of the crowds were already heading to world showcase. 2 girls in work said when they were there they did epcot in a day....wow...i was there 2 and still missed stuff...guess they just walked around...