Post by disnifiedmarge on Dec 30, 2012 20:05:46 GMT -5
Thursday 12/27/12 Day 7
We wanted to have a free-wheeling day and just let the day evolve, so we canceled our dinner reservation at Coral Reef. We love that restaurant but we just didn't want to have to be anywhere at a certain time today. It felt good to go OFF GUIDE. I called my sister, who follows our guide and my Faceboook posts, to report the change in plans.
By about noon we were on our way back to the Animal Kingdom. Because we left AK for our dinner reservation at Sanaa last night, there were still a few things in that park we wanted to do. Upon arrival I took pictures of the AK Christmas tree. I mean when do you see animals as Christmas decorations? Only here!
Of course we headed straight back to Expedition Everest, because 4 rides and a mountain rescue were not enough! We got fast passes that would be good at 4:30, and got in the single riders line for our first ride. We were on in 15 minutes and had a great ride. I cannot emphasize enough that this trip is making me want to ALWAYS visit Disney in cooler weather. It is by no means cold, but its chilly enough to need a sweatshirt most of the time. We have so much more energy than we do in the July heat & humidity.
[img src="http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff331/DisnifiedMarge/51880EC1-3278-4BC5-8695-3070505F7929-259-0000002A302DF2AE.jpg"][/IMG]
We hadn't eaten yet today, so we stopped in at the Restaurantosaurus in Dinoland for a quick service lunch. I got a burger and Mickey got a veggie sub. The food was very good for counter service type food. While we were in Dinoland, we jetted back to get fast passes for Dinosaur later on.
Next we headed over to Camp Minnie-Mickey to see Festival of the Lion King. We haven't seen it since 2003, and it was delightful- very colorful and energetic. It reminded me of a combination of a broadway musical and a cirque de soleil act. Well worth the half hour of sitting on metal bleachers. We were lions.... Could you hear us roaring?
We trudged back up the hill (Im climbing) and went back to use our Dinosaur fast passes. We were on in 10 minutes and the regular line was 70 minutes, so we were grateful for the FP's. That is such a fun ride, and pretty topsy turvy wild too! I was thinking my friend and chiropractor Debby should set up a little chiropractor tent right outside the exit of Dinosaur...she would do well! We landed in a gift shop at the exit to Dinosaur where Mickey found a lot of candy. She was pretty happy about that , because apparently our trip was not complete without sour patch kids. We tried on lots of silly hats and had fun in there. Also I called Mom because she gave me the weather report for our Saturday travel day and I had to tell her AGAIN that we were not coming home until Sunday. :-)
Now we were off to the Maharajah Jungle Trek, the scene of our 2008 trek through the bamboo to win dream fast passes for the day in AK! We love it back there, and saw the tigers and many beautiful birds. Jaynie would love it here. We skipped the bat part though, I am not that fond of flying rodent things.
[img src="http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff331/DisnifiedMarge/3B30C149-BDDB-4216-968F-FF5D63C1D3FF-259-0000002A6083A344.jpg"][/IMG]
Next we spent about 15 minutes watching the Siamangs play around up on the ropes. They were snacking on tree leaves and climbing and playing. I got some good photos and a little video clip there. Even they have more energy in the cooler weather!
[img src="http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff331/DisnifiedMarge/99E77442-BE85-48CE-A69C-B466662C7FC1-259-0000002A4DBD1CC0.jpg"][/IMG]
By now our EE fast passes were valid, so we went back to Anandapur for another ride to find the Yeti. Mick found a great hat in the gift shop and we had fun taking silly Yeti pictures in there.
We were feeling done with the Animal Kingdom by now, so we made our way over to the buses and headed to Boardwalk to the ESPN Zone. We sat at the bar (exact same seats as summer of 2010) and had a couple of Sam Adams Winter Lagers and some dinner. I had the pulled pork and Mick had the chicken Dingers, which for some reason she kept calling Dingles. You gotta love her. After our meal we bought 2 new Sportscenter tee shirts in the gift shop, because you can never have too many of those.
There was a full moon over Epcot, and we really enjoyed our nighttime stroll over via the International Gateway. The world showcase was gorgeous with all the countries lit up. The park was the busiest we have seen, and we heard from Mickey's friends who stayed off property that Magic Kingdom was at capacity and closed earlier in the afternoon.
We made a left and walked over to the San Angel Inn in the Mexico pavilion and made a quick stop at the Cava del Tequila for a flight. It was dee lish. Then we made our way over to Gran Fiesta for a boat ride through Mexico with Donald & friends. I still think of it as the river of time, and love the beginning part where you drift past the dining room on one side and pyramid on the other.
[img src="http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff331/DisnifiedMarge/D9B6C5B5-51C8-4149-897D-3043988AEEC6-143-0000000BE9BB5E95.jpg"][/IMG]
Our feet were dragging by now, so we made our way up to Spaceship Earth, taking some pics of the full moon over the Ball. I didn't have the energy to wait 20 minutes to ride again, so we went out to the buses and headed for OKW around 10 pm. What a wonderful day!
We wanted to have a free-wheeling day and just let the day evolve, so we canceled our dinner reservation at Coral Reef. We love that restaurant but we just didn't want to have to be anywhere at a certain time today. It felt good to go OFF GUIDE. I called my sister, who follows our guide and my Faceboook posts, to report the change in plans.
By about noon we were on our way back to the Animal Kingdom. Because we left AK for our dinner reservation at Sanaa last night, there were still a few things in that park we wanted to do. Upon arrival I took pictures of the AK Christmas tree. I mean when do you see animals as Christmas decorations? Only here!
Of course we headed straight back to Expedition Everest, because 4 rides and a mountain rescue were not enough! We got fast passes that would be good at 4:30, and got in the single riders line for our first ride. We were on in 15 minutes and had a great ride. I cannot emphasize enough that this trip is making me want to ALWAYS visit Disney in cooler weather. It is by no means cold, but its chilly enough to need a sweatshirt most of the time. We have so much more energy than we do in the July heat & humidity.
[img src="http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff331/DisnifiedMarge/51880EC1-3278-4BC5-8695-3070505F7929-259-0000002A302DF2AE.jpg"][/IMG]
We hadn't eaten yet today, so we stopped in at the Restaurantosaurus in Dinoland for a quick service lunch. I got a burger and Mickey got a veggie sub. The food was very good for counter service type food. While we were in Dinoland, we jetted back to get fast passes for Dinosaur later on.
Next we headed over to Camp Minnie-Mickey to see Festival of the Lion King. We haven't seen it since 2003, and it was delightful- very colorful and energetic. It reminded me of a combination of a broadway musical and a cirque de soleil act. Well worth the half hour of sitting on metal bleachers. We were lions.... Could you hear us roaring?
We trudged back up the hill (Im climbing) and went back to use our Dinosaur fast passes. We were on in 10 minutes and the regular line was 70 minutes, so we were grateful for the FP's. That is such a fun ride, and pretty topsy turvy wild too! I was thinking my friend and chiropractor Debby should set up a little chiropractor tent right outside the exit of Dinosaur...she would do well! We landed in a gift shop at the exit to Dinosaur where Mickey found a lot of candy. She was pretty happy about that , because apparently our trip was not complete without sour patch kids. We tried on lots of silly hats and had fun in there. Also I called Mom because she gave me the weather report for our Saturday travel day and I had to tell her AGAIN that we were not coming home until Sunday. :-)
Now we were off to the Maharajah Jungle Trek, the scene of our 2008 trek through the bamboo to win dream fast passes for the day in AK! We love it back there, and saw the tigers and many beautiful birds. Jaynie would love it here. We skipped the bat part though, I am not that fond of flying rodent things.
[img src="http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff331/DisnifiedMarge/3B30C149-BDDB-4216-968F-FF5D63C1D3FF-259-0000002A6083A344.jpg"][/IMG]
Next we spent about 15 minutes watching the Siamangs play around up on the ropes. They were snacking on tree leaves and climbing and playing. I got some good photos and a little video clip there. Even they have more energy in the cooler weather!
[img src="http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff331/DisnifiedMarge/99E77442-BE85-48CE-A69C-B466662C7FC1-259-0000002A4DBD1CC0.jpg"][/IMG]
By now our EE fast passes were valid, so we went back to Anandapur for another ride to find the Yeti. Mick found a great hat in the gift shop and we had fun taking silly Yeti pictures in there.
We were feeling done with the Animal Kingdom by now, so we made our way over to the buses and headed to Boardwalk to the ESPN Zone. We sat at the bar (exact same seats as summer of 2010) and had a couple of Sam Adams Winter Lagers and some dinner. I had the pulled pork and Mick had the chicken Dingers, which for some reason she kept calling Dingles. You gotta love her. After our meal we bought 2 new Sportscenter tee shirts in the gift shop, because you can never have too many of those.
There was a full moon over Epcot, and we really enjoyed our nighttime stroll over via the International Gateway. The world showcase was gorgeous with all the countries lit up. The park was the busiest we have seen, and we heard from Mickey's friends who stayed off property that Magic Kingdom was at capacity and closed earlier in the afternoon.
We made a left and walked over to the San Angel Inn in the Mexico pavilion and made a quick stop at the Cava del Tequila for a flight. It was dee lish. Then we made our way over to Gran Fiesta for a boat ride through Mexico with Donald & friends. I still think of it as the river of time, and love the beginning part where you drift past the dining room on one side and pyramid on the other.
[img src="http://i537.photobucket.com/albums/ff331/DisnifiedMarge/D9B6C5B5-51C8-4149-897D-3043988AEEC6-143-0000000BE9BB5E95.jpg"][/IMG]
Our feet were dragging by now, so we made our way up to Spaceship Earth, taking some pics of the full moon over the Ball. I didn't have the energy to wait 20 minutes to ride again, so we went out to the buses and headed for OKW around 10 pm. What a wonderful day!