Who: Steve, 46, and Sue, 44, 11th trip to WDW
When: 9/30 till 10/10
Where: Old Key West/Hilton Head
Why: We own the perfect Florida car now, so LET'S GO!
Day 2 begins!
Sunday morning was sunny and HOT! (Do we see a pattern here?) No bad weather in the forecast so we were off! Today was AK day, a slight change in plans as this was originally an Epcot morning. We wanted to make it in time for Awakenings, another first! We rolled out of bed at: 8 AM!
This would be tight! Steve made coffee as I got everything ready to go. 2 quick showers and we were out the door at 8:35. Hmm...still a little tight, as even if the bus was waiting, we still had several stops in OKW. But wait!! We have our car!! Into the convertible, the top went down and away we went! We made it to AK by 8:50, parked really close and were in! We got to the inside just as Awakenings was beginning. Now, 2 things, first, I didn't realize that it happened in the park, by the bridge, so I initially though we missed it. But we got to see it. And second, I don't know why, but I didn't expect it to be so upbeat! I think the name inspired a more solemn opening, but when I saw Mickey and friends dancing around, I knew I had the wrong impression! It was a cute opening, and we were in! Our first stop was to Kilimanjaro Safaris, something we haven't done in years. We got there early, but there was still about a 10 minute wait! I guess everyone had the same idea! Still, it went fast, and we were soon on Safari! Last time we did this, it was afternoon, and we saw lots and lots of...nothing. Hot Florida sun and 1 PM ride times = sleepy animals (I really only needed to look at my dogs and my cat to prove that!
) But at 9 AM, the critters were awake! We saw lots and lots of animals and activity, including a baby elephant or two! It was really neat! After the ride, we took the Pagani Forest Trail. This was also fascinating, and we spent quite a bit of time there. We took the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, where I got my picture taken with Pocohantas!
We later found out that the mural in the front has about 18 Hidden Mickey's in it! OK, that alone makes it a need-to-go-back attraction! We loved this part, and also loved the "performing" animals at the petting zoo! I know they are not trained to perform, but the llama and one of the donkeys were really hamming it up for everyone! The llama would walk around making noises, and then stop when everyone left the fence. As soon as a new group appeared, he would start all over again! It was the cutest thing!
We left there and headed back towards Asia. Steve wanted to do Kali River Rapids. I don't like water rides where you get drenched (had a really bad experience with one at Universal) so I opted out. He headed off, called me from the line and said it was only a 5 minute wait! I went and bought a Mickey bar and set up on the bridge to film him. Sure enough, 10 minutes later, here he came! He got wet, but not drenched, and I caught it all on video! This was another first for us! We decided to head out for our 12 noon PS in Epcot at this point.
We left AK, deciding to leave our car there and took the bus to Epcot. The bus came promptly and we were off. We had a noon PS at Biergarten, early because we had early PS for MNSSHP that night. We got there at about 12:05, but there was literally no wait and we were seated soon. We were at a table with a group of 4 (2 couples) and a group of 2 (2 older ladies, one who lived in Florida and one who was visiting.) The lady who was visiting lived in Connecticut but had been born in Germany! She knew all the German songs, and also proclaimed the food "very authentic"!
Everytime she visited her friend in Florida, they always came to Biergarten! We ate far too much buffet, watched the show and literally rolled out of Germany! We walked around a little bit, and did both the Norway and the Mexico boat rides. I love both of these, but I think it may be time for an update! By now it was really hot, so we headed out of Epcot, took the bus back to our car at AK and drove back to the resort. It was nap time!
At about 4 PM, we both decided that there was no way we were going to eat a big meal that night. I had PS for CRT at 5 PM, early so that we would be in the park for MNSSHP. I called Disney Dining and cancelled, hoping my cancellation would help someone else out. We rested a little while longer, and then decided to head over to MK. We took the bus tonight, and got there just as the park opened for MNSSHP. Another first...we have never done MNSSHP!
It was most cool!
Even though I asked this question on our KTTK tour, I still don't really know how they transform it from the MK by day to a spooky Halloween place at night in only an hour! Hmm...must be the
dust!! The lights were green, the buildings were green and orange, the music was, well, spooky, and we had..TRICK OR TREAT BAGS!! Ok, it's been...I won't say how many years since I trick or treated, but I have listed my age, so you guys do the math!
Alas, we did not go in costume (ran out of time back home) but it was fun anyway! Trick-or-treat was fun, free chocolate is always good! We did a few of the Halloween things, like the Haunted Riverboat and listened to the storytelling, and of course, did the HM! It looked really neat all decked out for Halloween! We decided to do SM at night. If you have never done this ride at night, I would highly recommend it! the fireworks started as we reached the top, so we got to see some of them from a really neat vantage point. After that, we did Jungle Cruise again (another one that's great in the dark).
We headed back to Main Street to wait for the parade. we staked out our spot, and I was getting a little hungry. Steve had grabbed a turkey leg before SM, but I wanted something else. So I went into Casey's and got a hot dog, fries and a soda. Another first!
Can you believe that in all my years of going to WDW, I have never eaten at Casey's?? That's almost pathetic! But, now, I have! We ate (Steve shared my fries) and waited for the parade. Wait! What is that sound?
Is that the sound of horses hooves? Yes! And here comes the headless horseman riding full speed up Main Street!! How cool was that? Steve video taped that ride! Soon after the parade started, which was very...well...scary! Lots of villains, a Haunted Mansion theme complete with grave diggers, really awesome, as only Disney can do it! After the scary part, there was a more friendly parade, with alot of emphasis on the "Home on the Range" characters. That was cute, but I know we were partial to the spooky part!
We left MK after that, and took the boat to the Poly. Tonight was drinks at Tambu, the lounge there! (Another first) On the way to the Poly, guess what was in the lagoon? You guessed it, the Electric Water Pageant! I really love this show, and hope they never do away with it! We got to the Poly for our nightcaps. We ordered an Island Sunrise, not sure what was in it, but it was GOOD! This is a really neat resort. We have never stayed there, but it's on the list! After a few drinks, we took the monorail back to MK and grabbed the bus back to OKW. We lucked out, because the MK was open till midnight, so the buses were running. Otherwise it would have been a walk to TTC, a bus to DD, and then a transfer to OKW. So this worked out!
All in all, it had been another magical day!
Next...a wine tasting, dueling pianos and a very special night!!