September trip report 2015

[susanm]

Since I was in Disney for 21 days this report may take a while. I did keep a journal (which is at home right now) but I figured I could start.

I left on September 12th at 6am from Avoca (local airport) and got to Charlotte around 8am. My flight to Orlando from Charlotte was not until 11:55am. I usually get the 9am flight but this time, for some reason, that flight was over $100 more. so I took the later flight.

Got to Orlando, got my Magical Express bus with a very short wait. There was a bus there and some people on it already, so by the time I got on it was ready to take off. Got to Pop Century and checked in. I got my room number and headed off to find my room. First problem started...the room was in bldg. 5 which is a preferred room but in the back of the building, near a smoking area. BOOM... back to the desk. there were no rooms left to be moved... so I started.. I asked for a preferred room with pool view - if possible the Tramp bldg. since I stayed there last year and loved the location...small quiet pool, a short walk to Art of Animation, the food court and buses. Apologies but no room to move, and after the CM talked to a manager, they said I would be moved the next day. I explained I had a tour planned and HAD to be at the Magic Kingdom by 8am. no problem...just leave everything packed and they would move it.. now my food delivery came and I had to pack all that stuff up too. So now I had to find clothes for tmw, pj's toiletries etc without taking my bag apart. got up in the morning, put clothes in my bag - got the food from the fridge (mostly fruit and cheese sticks and soda) put it back in the boxes in the morning and headed out. Sunday was my Keys to the Kingdom tour. Mary Catherine was the guide. she was amazing. our tour had about 15 people. she was very friendly, knowledgeable (aren't they all?) and made the tour very interesting. the first thing she asked was who signed up for the tour just to go into the utildors? every hand went up. her answer "Good. we will save that for last " no quitters on the tour...lol we had lunch at Columbia harbor house..i have always wanted to eat there too..we went right upstairs to a small room, and there were name tags with our lunch waiting for us (we got to choose what we wanted (5 choices on the list) along with a really nice keys to the kingdom pin. We got to go backstage to see the parade lineup and the area where they work on floats that need updates before the parade. We rode the haunted mansion, carousel of progess, and small world. All of the rides we did of course had ties back to Walt. After the tour I did a few rides, saw the Festival of Fantasy parade then skipped out since during the day I got a voice mail with my new room number. so I knew I had unpacking to do and was concerned about the food not in the fridge. got back and went to the new room - still the back of the building. got there and my band would not open the door. BOOM back to the desk...seems who ever left the message left the wrong number. the CM at the desk checked and got me my new room number. much better. was in the Jungle Book bldg., near the farther end...BUT actually a few steps from the bridge over to AoA. spent the night getting comfortable, unpacking - getting soda and the food in the fridge, chilling out and read a lot of my GAME OF THRONES book 3 that I have been trying to read for a month..(working so much had no time to sit and read). relaxed for the rest of the evening. grabbed a chicken dinner at POP..wow... again a meal way too much for me to finish. chilled out and tried saving energy for the rest of my trip

forgot to put in.. saturday after trying to get my room changed and finally taking off, i headed to disney springs. did a little shopping but first took a taxi over to the outlet mall. hit the disney character shop...didnt find much there...dont know if it was the time of year, end of the week or just stuff was picked over but there was really not much there. found a few disney memo tablets but that was about it. no adult polos, hoodies, or even anything for a 2 yr old little girl. was going to try to go back a different day but never got there. i guess, like all outlets, it is a hit or miss thing.

[sydney]

Yey Susan- a trip report! Wow, 21 days- you must have been in heaven! So I figure if you do one day a week on your report, that will last me till I leave for our trip , in about 20 weeks:) Keep it coming!

[susanm]

Monday morning (2nd full day) had breakfast at Pop and headed off to the Animal Kingdom. hot as like every day i was there...forgot my cap so stopped to buy a new baseball hat-picked an animal kingdom one since i didnt have one and hit the park running.
Went to the Kilamajaro Safari first, then, since The Lion King is close by went there for the first show. found the new Zuri's sweet shop so grabbed a carmel apple and a water and found a spot to sit for a while. back up and moving did Flights of Wonder, Nemo, Tough to be a Bug, walked the Pangani trail.
Since the animal kingdom really seems to make the heat seem worse i was already overdone.
skipped out around 430p and went over to Old Key West to check our Olivias. the tomato/mozzerella salad was amazing. then had the scallops with polenta.. awesome had to ask what was so different about the polenta...they use their own tomato jam in it. makes it delicious. was going to get a soda but the server recommended the iced tea since he could add rasberry sauce to it...fantastic. checked out the store there Conch Flats.. of course had to shop...got some dorito scoops and salsa, some post cards to send home...shout for the laundry (forgot to put that on my delivered order) and another stain remover. headed back to pop and crashed for the night.

Tuesday (3rd day) had a quick cereal in the room, walked over and around AoA, took some pix and took the bus from Aoa to studios. went right to toy story mania, walked on, then used my fast pass and walked on again.. saw One mans dream-the little mermaid and while shopping ran into friends from the resort. we had been on the same bus several times. so we spent some time comparing days. then did the frozen sing along- grabbed a frozen cup that had a slushy drink-lights motor action-muppets 3D then had lunch at a favorite -- PIZZA PLANET. walked around for a while, thru some shops had a mickey pretzel and did rock and roller coaster and killed time waiting for fantasmic. back to pop to crash.

wednesday - (4th day) overslept a little (for me...didnt wake up until about 715am) got moving quickly- skipped breafast and got the first bus to epcot fo the Destinations Discovered tour. met a couple Dorothy & Stacey - we were the only 3 on the tour...it was great...almost like a private tour.. such nice people. we got the tour of World showcase with a lot of emphasis on the architecture of the countries and how different buildings in each country represent either several periods of the history or different areas in that country. we had lunch in morocco. Dorothy and I were a little nervous about that - Stacey was ok with it...his wife said - didnt matter he eats anything..we had a pre ordered meal - chicken couscous...it was surprisingly good. we expected it to be very spicy but as it turns out...the sauce came in 2 bowls..one was a chicken broth and the other was a spicy sauce..you could take your choice...will go there again. our tour guide was Yi Fee who was from China so of course when we got to china we got an extended course on the history there. of course with only 3 guests we got to ask tons of questions that you always wish you had a CM to answer for you.. after Canada she asked if we wanted to do soarin before the tour was over...so of course we said yes...and we went thru the back way...WOW..from Canada to soarin took us about 5 min walk...thru the back way it is way shorter than going thru the rest of world showcase to future world. after the tour was done, stacey asked if i would like to go to the heward packard lounge. i had heard some businesses have lounges around the park so i said ok.. the HP lounge is above test track. he signed us in and we went upstairs. we got free sodas and snacks. there were some really comfortable chairs, a computer if you wanted to check anything online, a big screen tv and a new computer game. looking thru the windows i could see the boarding area for mission space. after a nice rest we stopped at a disney photographer and had a pix taken to remember the minute. an amazing day and now i have 2 new friends. after we split up i did universe of energy and spaceship earth yhen went back to world showcase and had dinner at via napoli. the last surprise of the day was our tour guide told us...they reserved a spot for us to view illuminations right in front of italy. when i was done eating i went to the roped off area and my name was on the list so i got a front row seat (there was a bench there) for illuminations skipped out and called it a night. more to come

[ilovdisney]

Wow you got a lot done. Glad your doing a trip report. I love reading them. Can't wait too read more.

[susanm]

side note

Despite the really high temps it was a carry on.. i spent too much time planning this trip and i will admit the heat did slow me down. should have ordered a case of water with the groceries but didnt think of it. any place that sold cup soda would gladly give you a cup of ice or water or ice water.. so i ended up carrying my resort mug with me every day so i could get cups of ice all day.. helped a lot. i would buy a bottle of water and put a little in on top of the cup of ice and the bottle would end up lasting a long time.

thursday (5th full day) started a little later and did some laundry before i left. by the way $2.50 for disney machines--washers & dryers are the same price. had breakfast at Pop while waiting for the dryer. i ended up buying just sides most of the time grits-eggs-potatoes etc because the full breakfast was more than i can eat--especially early in the morning.
after the laundry was done i headed over to the MK. got to the harmony barber shop and got my haircut and some pixie dust. my appt was for 4pm (after the parade) but they took me early so i was done in time to find a place to sit for the parade. talked to a nice family of 3 who are from allentown...not that far from where i live.. started down main street and against my better judgement i went into starbucks ---dont get me wrong. i worked at the barnes & noble across the street from where i live for 8 years part time and loved several of the starbucks teas and frappicinos. but i dont think starbucks belongs in wdw. sorry buy my own opinion...but i stopped in anyway since iw as trying to stay away from soda. got my favorite drink...passion tea with lemonade..extra sweet light on ice. did some shopping and got an hoodie and the special..a backpack for only $9.99 which i ended up giving to the friend who came later - since i bought a better/bigger one anyway. went to crystal arts and ordered 4 of the tall soda glasses with the castle and tinker bell on in..had the year 2015 engraved on it and had them shipped home... got mickey ears for my friends grandson who was coming in monday night and was told by a cm in the CHAPPEAU about a new card game that was going on...SAFETY CARDS.. need 21...get 3 at a time from 7 places all in the front of the park.. the chappeau, city hall, the carts on either side of the entrances, the candy store, the movie theater and i couldnt find the 7th place. stopped at the fire hall to start the socerers game and was sent to adventureland. the game seemed to be a lot of back and forth and it was too hot so i gave up and went to Pecos Bills for something to eat. was finished eating just in time to see Capt Jacks show, did tiki birds, country bears jamboree, hall of presidents then left the MK. was very hot and i had a tour again tomorrow. not a beer drinker but it was so hot i grabbed a bud light ($6) on the way back to the room. took a cool shower then spent a few hours trying to finish up the book i was reading GAME OF THRONES BOOK 3.. and i did...finish it. the room was so cool after the day in the sun. takes a few days to get comfortable with it.

friday (6th full day) messed up my time on this one. got to epcot around 8:15am thinking the tour was 830a but it was 9am. so walked around a little in future world but really didnt have that much time so couldnt go too far. tour Undiscovered Future World started at 9am and we had a bigger group this time...about maybe 15. i do like the new way disney does the tours. everyone gets a headset so even if you are not close to the tour guide you get to hear everything thru the headset.. especially me...with my bad knees i would often find myself at the back of the group. this tour we got to see a lot also.. did a lot of backstage time...saw costuming room, makeup room, rode soarin again and had a snack time at the land. the tour was finished a little after 2pm. again we got a pin from the tour guide. after the tour i went over to world showcase... did the american adventure, got some candy from japan. looked like it was going to rain so i took a friendship boat back to the front of world showcase. stopped for a hot dog on the way out. did spaceship earth before leaving the park. got back to pop century then chilled out for a while. later went to the food court and wasnt that hungry so got a kids meal (chicken leg) for dinner. grabbed milk & a banana for breakfast in the morning. called it a night

[susanm]

Saturday (7th full day) left early for studios. did Rock & Roller Coaster 2x, had a light breakfast at Starring rolls, then had a fast pass for Toy story mania. went over and did start tours, the great movie ride. the crowds were building up by now. did stand by for the Frozen sing along (love that show) did muppets 3d and had a late lunch at pizza planet. grabbed a popcorn and headed back to the room. the MK was opened until 1am so was planning on a nap then maybe heading over to MK for a few hrs of maybe light traffic. didnt happen. took a shower to cool off, and a nap...woke up around 830p and decided to just start tomorrow morning.

sunday (8th full day) walked over the bridge (which was steps away from my room) and had breakfast at Art of Animation..just for a change of scene...and they do have more selections and a larger food court. then took the bus to the MK. found a CM Eduardo who was wonderful...asked him where could i get the last 3 cards..he had no idea but stuck with me...we went to several places and he wouldnt give up until i got my last 3 cards..then he walked be back to the chappeau. when you get there you have to ask for the MOD (the cm who started me told me this) and they come out and give you a wild card...and a free pin. (wow 3 free pins so far lol) the MOD took a pix of Eduardo & me and said it was going to be used for the CM info sheet to show other cm's about the cards and have them encourage collecting them. he didnt say i was the first to complete it but i was beginning to wonder...why he would take my pix... asked my first name and where i was from...
so any of my CM friends...let me know if the pix showed up backstage
then headed back to fantasyland. by the way, i had pre-purchased the memory maker so along the way all these days i was stopping for pix...(ended up with over 400 including the scenic ones disney threw in the package for free)... did mickeys philharmagic, then went back to gastons for the pork shank and a soda, did Peter Pan, hall of presidents and did more shopping. bought an Elsa costume for my great-niece and a star wars tshirt for her dady ( a late birthday gift) and had them mailed out. also had a set of frozen juice glasses sent to them with mom-dad-and porter engraved on the glasses of course porter got the elsa glass dad got olaf and mom got anna..saw the fantasy parade and shopped some more.. picked up kingdom keepers paperback book for me since i finished my other book..thought but wasnt sure..did have book 4 hard cover here at home but needed a book.
headed back to pop a little early. was trying not to do too much each day and wearing out....long way to go... got back to Pop and got a cheesy flatbread, strawberries (they now come with whipped cream and chocolate yumm) and went back to my room for dinner and some light reading. called it a day

[susanm]

monday (8th day) overslept a little-forgot to set the wake up call..was Baymax the whole time i was there.. so i skipped breakfast and headed right to the MK.. was an *am opening and wanted to be there for it. took the railroad (love those trains) back to splash mtn, which happened to be down, so i walked right on Big Thunder Mountain, saw country bears then went back and splash mtn was up...by the way- they do honor missed fast passes if it is their fault. my fast pass was like 910-1010 but thought since it was early opening i would try for a walk on...but it was later now and they let me thru since it wasnt available during my fast pass times. stopped at pecos bills again and had a burger, fries and love their corn on the cob...was the best until...more later.. walked over to Hall of Presidents then Haunted Mansion. i told a CM who was there i wanted to see the sign language interpreters and since there was lots of room she let me sit in the handicapped area right in front of them.. i did video tape them BUT....that is on the disc that wont play now...took a walk over to tomorrowland did carousel of progess, peoplemover and the monsters comedy show 3x after meeting the interpreters after the parade they told me they would be there at monsters inc...so hung around to see them again. on the way out i stopped to get the smaller KITCHEN SINK, that comes in the mickey bowl..love it..but way to much for one person..recommend sharing it... snacked a lot today--tea and cheese doodles, and an ear of roasted corn that they are selling in Liberty Square...very good...headed back to Pop and picked up cough drops and benydryl. took a nap from about 730-1045pm. my friend was arriving at orlando airport about 1055p and i told her i would meet her and her 3 yr old grandson where they get off the bus. headed up to the bus stop around 11 although i knew it would be a few buses before they got there. was sitting on a bench playing with my cell phone..changing wallpaper and ring tone..and later on when i realized i lost my cell phone (thank goodness i only have a tracfone and this is why) this was the last time i remember even seeing it. surprisingly after having to collect her luggage, and get thru the airport with luggage for 2 a stroller and a very tired 3 yr old they arrived at Pop around 1145p. i helped her with her luggage and we did a quick stop at check in..no one was there and i suggested in the morning on the way out there would be really long lines. so she got her magic band scanned and we were off to the room. after relaxing, getting the 3 yr old to bed and settling in, it had to be about 130p. so we crashed. MK tomorrow

tuesday (9th day) started the day a little later...got to MK around 10am and i helped my friend & grandson get the safety cards and free pins. spent a lot of time in fantasyland and adventurland. had tickets for MNSSHP for that night so we hung around...now there are stops around the park to show your tickets and get your party bands...maybe they were there last year i just dont remember it. walked all the way back to the main enterance last time. we got in line about 615p for pictures with the seven dwarfs...waited 2 1/2 hrs for just those pix. wow..did hear later the party was sold out for that night. we went to see the hocus pocus show but it was so crowded i couldnt see much...my friend is a little taller than me so she saw more than i did...the poor 3 yr old just sat in the stroller...he didnt see much at all. the saw the celebrate the magic(? the show with the lights and pix on the castle) we wanted to head down main street to see the parade but honestly we couldnt move for the crowds. finally as it started to break up we had a very slow walk down main st. of course we stopped at the emporium to pick up halloween souvineers. then just skipped out. i have been in the MK for July 4th, New Years Eve, Thanksgiving Day and during the Christmas week and have not seen such crowds...END OF THAT DAY.


WEdnesday (10th day) took an off day. went to the Rainforest at the AK for breakfast then headed back to pop to relax. late afternoon we headed to Disney springs for dinner and some shopping. i bought more mini bath bombs from Basin, some Polo's at world of Disney and got books 5 & 6 of kingdom keepers. spent lots of money and headed out.

thursday (11th day) walked over the bridge to Art of Animation for breakfast...and headed of to the MK. back to fantasy land and did small world,mickeys philharmagic, the carousel then went back to adventurland. Did aladdins carpet ride, tiki birds, jungle cruise country bears rode the steamboat and did haunted mansion again. lunch at pincchio house then headed to the back for the little mermaid ride. got dole whips on the way. got to Be our Guest for dinner (i had the triple sand and lamb dinner and of course the grey stuff for dessert). ran into my cousin and her family who just sat down at BOG as we were getting ready to leave. took a slow walk back to the front of main street...checking out stores of course. got caught in the rain waiting for the light parade..but then it is always worth it. left before wishes...trying to beat the crowds to the bus.

[Dave]

WOW! I get worn out just reading your trip reports. It sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Do you have pix?

[sydney]

I'm loving your reports so far! You do really get a lot done, but it seems like you also factor in some down time too, so that's good. Seems to be some pixie dust moments in there too.

One of my co-workers was there Sept.20-26 with her DH, DS, DD & DSIL, and DGD (2) and she said it was pretty hot too- and we're here in South Carolina. The night they did MNSSHP she said it was also very crowded.

The tours sound really neat. I think Ron and I would enjoy doing those when we start going by ourselves. Which do you think is the best one for the first time?

I was debating getting the memory maker for Taylor and his girlfriend when they go in Dec., but they're only going for four days and I figure it will be busy and they'll be running around too much to stop for many pics. I was also thinking about getting it for the three of us for our March trip, but I didn't want to have tons of great pics without Taylor. Now I'm thinking I might wait and get it when all five of us go. Since Taylor will be stationed in Florida, this shouldn't be too long off. You being by yourself for a good part of your trip I'm sure it was worth it. Do you think it's worth it for groups though?

I can't wait to hear more. Include some pics too if you can. The one you shared is wonderful!

[susanm]

HOPE THIS WORKS


s298.photobucket.com/user/ciocci52/slideshow/disney%202015

[susanm]

friday 9/25 opening of the food & wine festival. arrived at epcot and rode spaceship earth then headed over to the food & wine festival center. did some major shopping and had it sent home...salt shaker that looks like epcot garbage cans, shirt, 2 small cheese type trays, a baseball cap 2 pins.. then went and rode Ellens Energy adventure and went over to the land for lunch...then rode journey to imagination and saw Captian EO and headed over to future world..and the rain started stopped at the shop right as you come over the bridge for ponchos since the rain was quite heavy.. started at mexico, and rode the grand fiesta tour, and then went to norway...checked out the stave church (sorry malestrom wasnt there anymore--but happy i did ride it the last day it was running last year) rain let up then started again so we got to China in time to see the acrobats and then the film in the China Temple. On the tour the first week our guide was from China so we were able to spend quite a bit in the area and heard a lot about the country..awesome. anyway rain let up again so we had lunch sitting in front of the american adventure...we got the lobster rolls and then went to see the american adventure show. when we came out it was raining again so we took the boat across the lake and although raining it let up some so we went to the coke spot..had some samples then back to my favorite shopping spot MOUSE GEARS for more shopping. rain started heavy again so we skipped out and went back to pop for the evening.

saturday 9/26 off to studios early for breakfast at Hollywood & vine for breakfast with Jake and Sophia etc...for my friends grandson. was my first time there in years, since i havent had a little one, and we were the first group to sign in so we were the first ones to go in...ALONE... had a private photo session with the characters and even got a card stating FIRST FAMILY OF THE DAY...super cool. the breakfast buffet was pretty good...and the characters made a few trips thru...although maybe we were there a while...lol...when finished we headed over for the fast passes for toy story mania...then i found a spot to sit while my friend took her grandson to get pix with the toy story characters...i was sitting a while reading my book when they came out...never got to get pix...seems after about a 45 min wait as they were getting really close the little boy had to go to the bathroom so they had to leave the line...oh well...she didnt want to get back in line so we moved on.. did the muppets and then lights motor action...my friends grandson was really getting wild and over tired so she wanted to take him back to the resort for a nap...then a little pool time...so i headed out to do some resort hopping...went to wilderness lodge first and got a polo, hoodie and sox..then met my friend and grandson and went to the AK lodge and had dinner at the Mara.found a safari mickey watch there i just HAD to have lol..with transferring it was a long ride (time wise) back to POP.

Sunday 9/27 a chill out day of sorts.. we did some laundry and had breakfast at pop. we wanted to have a slower day because we had dinner at chef mickeys today and the Pirates and pals cruise that night. we made plans to meet at the contemporary in time for dinner, they stayed at pop and i skipped out. since i had already bought more stuff than would fit in my bag i was off looking for a duffle to carry it home. started at disney springs but could not find anything, tried the grand floridian and still nothing...fot to the contemporary about an hour before our scheduled meeting time so of course i did some shopping. the cast member there told me as long as i have the tags on the things i bought, they could ship them from any resort...LIVE SAVING INFORMATION. found a nice Jiminy Cricket watch...never saw one before so had to buy it.

[susanm]

sunday 9/27 after dinner we still had quite a wait for the Pirates & Pals cruise... strolled around the Contemporary then found a place to sit and wait. lots of kids doing the cruise but more adults i think than kids. several cm's started setting up... pirate statues in the hallway for pix ...nice photo op.. then signed in and told which boat we would be in since there were so many people there were 2 boats. two pirates named PATCH and Patch opened the doors and wow..the food... several kinds of iced tea and lemonade..cotton candy cake ice cream cookies bowls of candy... then capt hook and smee came in and the line took a while for pix...then the pirate gave a last warning for bathroom break..and everyone lined up for our boats (we were boat 1 so we got out of the room first) we walked down to the dock and got in our boat. we circled the lake while our pirate guide Patch told lots of jokes..and played trivia with the kids giving out prizes to those who answered. at the end all the other kids got something too. we stopped to see the water pagent. really nice..i have seen parts of it but never the whole thing. really worth seeing...then we drove around a little more then parked in a spot right in front of the MK so we had a great seat for the fireworks...AWESOME.....then circled the lake again and back to the dock..where..SURPRISE...we were met by peter pan..who posed for pix and autographs. then it was back to the resort for the evening...by the time we got transfers and back to the room it was after midnight. al long but really fun day

[susanm]

9/28 monday breakfast at Pop and off to the Animal Kingdom. Started with the Kilamajaro Safari, then since the new theater for the Lion King show is so close we went there right after. did Tough to be a bug and over to the Tricops spin. we had lunch at Flame tree Barbecue right before heading over to the nemo show. then we headed over to Kali river rapids... we were so lucky, i guess because i was limping the CM sent us over to the handicapped area, where we walked right on.. a family of 3 mom dad and young son, and a care taker with 2 handicapped men were already on the tube so we filled it up and started out. my friends poor grandson got the wet seat...he was soaked. i did notice so many people get on the ride with ponchos... guess i dont get it...why go on a water ride if you dont want to get wet? anyway as we got back the CM who was there looked back and since there was no one waiting for the Handicapped tube (never knew there was one...but it pulls over to the side and you have as much time as needed to get everyone in and settled before merging back into the line) he asked if we wanted to go again....the shout of YES was so loud from everyone he just laughed and off we went again. poor kid, the same seat got the backwash on the next trip...the guy that was with the handicap group got a pix and i am hoping i can find it... the kid did a shock look because the water was really cold...as we were pulling in after the second turn, the young boy with the other group asked if we could go again...the CM looked around to see if there was anyone waiting for the tube and there was no one so he asked if anyone wanted to get out...no one did so we got a 3rd ride....wow what an awesome CM super nice.
after that and we were kind of wet...except my friends grandson who was soaked, we took a break...she took him in to the restroom for an outfit change and i shopped at one of the stands...bought animal kingdom towels...cant remember the price but it was something like 21.99 for one and $30 for 2 so i got one for me and one for my great niece...the fab 5 in a jeep dressed in safari outfits. then we stopped for ice cream at the Anandapur ice cream truck great soft ice cream and waffle cones but i got a cup since it was super hot and i knew it would melt before i could eat it...even the small cones are quite a bit to eat. we had fast passes for expedition everest earlier that day but when we went by it was down...now the line was super long something like 90 min wait...so we passed on it. we walked thru the Pangani forest trail.
about now we were pretty dry so we left the AK and headed again for Disney Springs... did a little shopping at World of Disney then went to TRex for dinner. didnt have a reservation so had to wait about 45 minutes but they have a cute bone dig area for kids and of course a shop to spend more money in. My first time there and i really liked it. very interesting for kids and adults ..got to take a walk around and see everything...rainforest cafe with dinosaurs. i had the fried shrimp and it was very good..pricey but for being in WDW i expected it would be. walked around a little and then headed back...again it was about 1030p by the time we got back to the room..another very long day.

9/29 tuesday Studios again... had breakfast at Pop and off to Studios. Had fast passes for Toy story mania, then did Walt one mans dream, the little mermaid, disney junior (another first for me since i thought it was for little kids...cute show though) then back to the great movie ride. back to pizza planet for lunch and spent a long time sitting there hoping the rain would let up.. over to muppets 3d and by then the rain was barely noticeable. over to indianna jones and because of the rain it was cut short...but the rain was letting up. we went over to hollywood blvd and took a slow walk thru all the stores...up one side of the street then stopped for snacks and drinks and restroom break before heading up the other side of the street. the up sunset blvd to the last show of Beauty and the beast. now the rain had completely stopped so crossed over to the sunset ranch market--found a table with an umbrella and spent some time there. had dinner right there and spent time relaxing until it was time to go in for fantasmic. had fast passes so we got in rather early. lucky we were allowed to sit it the top row (i asked since the downside to the theater is high steps and no railings) and lucky for us we were right in the middle. the good side is we were right in front of a bldg (might be contol -electrical-command bldg_whatever) so we could lean back...good since we had an hour and 1/2 to wait for the show to begin. down side there was a light pole right in front of us...but being able to lean back by this point was so worth it. by the time fantasmic was over, the mad rush began, we got separated by the stroller parking but caught up again at the exit. i am pretty sure the path they had people going down was backstage...but at one time i remember we would come out almost at the front gate...this time we came out by Beauty & the beast theater...huh...was a long walk to get only a short distance...but since there was not a seat to be had for the show..standing room only..guess it is to be expected...park closed at 730p and the show was 8p so it was the only thing going on so everyone from the park was there. funny that it didnt seem like the park was that crowded during the day - compared to other days - until fantasmic time...wonder sometimes where all the people came from. park was closed so off for the long walk to the Pop century bus and the long wait to get back to our room. downside to leaving at park closings...long lines at the buses and sooooo many people with jazzys and most buses only hold 2...and by the time their families get on the bus not much room for too many other people... a plus for disney..they did have a lot of buses there at closing...so it took a while but there was a lot of time used for loading up...back to the room it was after 10pm

[susanm]

time for some pictures hope this works


during my stop at the Grand Floridian this young man was playing in the lobby....side note...tablets instead of paper for his music lol



forgot to mention on 9/24 we had dinner at Be our guest.... love going into the library...was going to try something different...but ended up with the salad trio, lamb, and grey stuff... ok i am addicted

saw capt jack sparrows show about 5 times... i love it

current prices not so bad

a new favorite snack from sleepy hollow funnel cake and lemonade with rasberry foam

our room and ready for MNSSHP

right ourside our rooom

and to the left was the bridge to art of animation like being that close

[susanm]

met the young woman next to me while waiting in a very short line (fast passes) she was visiting some friends and she had been a CM on the student intern program...and they were trying to do the 48 in 24 (?) something like that .. guess it is a challenge thing where they try to ride 48 rides in 24 hrs...although you dont really have 24 hrs...and they had a ride waiting for them in the parking lot...since they have to go from park to park...i wished her luck wish i knew if the got it done


with my friend and her grandson..(i am in the back) we waited 2 1/2 hrs at mnsshp for this pix



the crowds at fantasmic 45 min before the show started video you have to click on