Eighteen Again! - Final thoughts added 7/24 COMPLETE!! About This Page:

[magic mickey]

Great trip report. It's always fun to see a celebrity. Can't wait to read more.

[lauren-roxy]

Great update Sharon and I love your pictures, especially the ones of the parades!! Thanks for sharing your secret spot, I promise to always make room for you!! Your rooms are beautiful!!! How cool to see Dennis Rodman, I am a little disappointed that he is dressed so normal though, well except for the umbrella! Can't wait to read more!!!!

[angiek1024]

Just getting caught up with your report. Sounds like you are having a great time. Glad you got a shot of Dennis Rodman. How Cool! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[SHEANA1226]

How cool seeing Dennis Rodman! I also love the pina coladas at O'hana! Waiting for the next update!

[MAria R]

Great updates!!! I am going to have to try a pina colada at O'hana, I keep hearing so many good things about it.

[luvnwdwgal]

As always Sharon, I love your trip reports! I'm looking forward to staying at the Yacht Club in September! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Can't wait for more!!

[PrincessSharon]

Day Five – Monday, May 29
Floating in Paradise

I woke up first, so I got ready and then spent some time on the balcony.








We were headed to Typhoon Lagoon today, so we decided we didn’t really need an early start. When Erica woke up, we got ready and headed to the bus stop. We had to wait about 10 minutes for a bus, but it was empty when it showed up. We spent the time waiting talking about how much fun Erica had when she went to Grad Nites. I tried not to be jealous, but my senior outing was to a local state park. She had some really cool Grad Nite mickey ears, but she never ended up wearing them.

When we got to TL, we found very short lines at the turnstiles and were inside in practically no time. I had a waterproof single use camera, but the pictures didn’t really come out so great. I think putting them through the x-ray at the airport was the culprit.




We were hungry, so we decided to get one of my favorite WDW treats – the cinnamon mini donuts that are only at the water parks (as far as I know). We got a dozen to split and pigged out on them.

We left our things on a chair, then we decided to float around in the lazy river for a while. While the slides and such are fun, this is really my favorite thing to do at a water park. I could float around all day. We made three complete laps.










I asked Erica if she wanted to try any of the slides (like Slush N Gusher), but she wasn’t into it. She did want to hit the wave pool, so we headed there. I took this picture somewhere but I don’t remember where it was. It was either on the lazy river or on the way to the wave pool.



The mystery spot




I really am not a fan of wave pools myself, but what I like about the one at TL, there is a little rock you can sit on and still feel the waves, but you don’t get thrown around (or anyone thrown into you). I let Erica know where I’d be, then asked her if she wanted me to hold her sunglasses. She said they were snug fitting, so she’d keep them.

She went out and I sat in my little spot and cracked up every time a wave came. If you’ve never been to TL, you don’t understand this, but each time they send out a big wave, it makes a “whoosh” sound, which is immediately followed by everyone screaming. This is a great source of amusement to me, so I enjoyed my time in the wave pool immensely. I was joined at different times by parents of little ones who didn’t want to go too far in, and it was fun to watch the reactions of the babies.

After a bit, Erica came to me and said “Guess what?” and I said “You lost your glasses.” She sheepishly admitted that she had, but then said she’s glad they were only $3. She says she never pays a lot for sunglasses because she always loses them (something I can relate to ). She headed back out for a few more waves, and I sat and chuckled at the “whoosh … aaaah!” Not long after Erica went back out, a pair of sunglasses washed up to my little spot. I picked them up, but they weren’t Erica’s, so I put them on top of the rock. There was another pair there, and a guy came along and goes “Here they are!” So Erica definitely wasn’t the only one who lost her sunglasses that day!

When Erica came back again, she was ready for lunch. I asked her if she wanted to eat somewhere at TL, or head back to the YCR and eat at Beaches and Cream, then hit Stormalong Bay after. She’s a smart cookie and chose B&C/SAB, so we headed out.

We waited 15 minutes for a bus, so we must’ve just missed one. When we got back to the YC, we headed to the room for a bit, then went down to B&C. It was pretty busy at that time, so we requested counter seats. Erica wanted to check out the arcade, so we went in there for a bit. She told me how she and Brooke always play Dance Dance Revolution, even though they don’t really know how it works. She did say that they’ve pretty much figured it out by now.

Our little buzzer thingy was going off within 10 minutes, and we grabbed our seats at the counter. There is a picture in the elevator that made me hungry every time I looked at it, so I got an order of onion rings for us to split, and we both had cheeseburgers. I had hoped that we would try our hand at a Kitchen Sink, but I wanted food first, so I knew there’s no way we could even put a dent in one. She got a Milky Way sundae and I had a Mud Slide. Erica really liked the idea of a Kitchen Sink, so we agreed to come back later in our trip for just ice cream.

After we finished, we headed out to SAB. We got our wristbands and spent some time exploring.
















My self-portrait






We spent a few hours in SAB enjoying ourselves, then I told Erica I was heading back to the room for a shower and she should come up in about half an hour. She was sure she’d get lost, so I told her I’d come back and get her when I was done. Once we were both ready, we headed to the bus stop.

Tonight was EMH at AK, so that’s where we decided to go. A bus arrived within 10 minutes, which was about par for the course for us the entire trip. When we got into the park, we headed directly to Everest. The standby line was surprisingly only 20 minutes long, so we got on it. The FPs had all been distributed for the day, so I was happy to see we’d get to ride it without much of a wait.

I got a few quick pictures of the queue …






… and then I got a few pictures of the ride.













That’s not the best picture of the Yeti, but it’s the best I could do at that speed

One of our favorite things to do is make funny faces or poses for the ride photos, so I let Erica know where the camera was (the last time she’d ridden it, it was still in previews and the ride photo wasn’t operating yet). She made a funny face, but I couldn’t pose since I had just snapped the picture of the Yeti. Erica liked her pose, so we took a ghetto ride photo.




We headed to Dinosaur next, but the standby was 30 minutes (and no more FPs), so we decided to skip it. Erica didn’t want to ride Primeval Whirl or Triceratop Spin, so there weren’t too many other options. It’s Tough to Be a Bug was open, so we went and saw that. It was the first time in a long time that I’ve been in there with a nearly full theater. EMH certainly brings in the crowds!

We were kind of hungry, so we headed to Flame Tree Barbecue. The line wasn’t as bad as I expected, but it was still pretty long. And it must have been almost 9:00 at that point. We got the ribs to split and found a quiet table overlooking a little pond.

I figured Dinosaur would have a shorter line by now, but when we got over there we discovered it had actually grown to 40 minutes. So we doubled back and figured we’d try Everest again. Erica was willing to ride the single riders line if necessary. I grabbed some shots of Dinoland at night on the way.






EE was showing a 50 minute standby, but we thought the wait wouldn’t be that bad. There was a huge line in the Fastpass entrance and the single riders line wasn’t open. The actual queue looked pretty empty, so we decided to chance it. It ended up being about a 35 minute wait, but we got the back row, which was so much fun.

After EE, we were done for the night, so we headed out. I think AK is a beautiful park, and I really love how it looks at night, so I tried to get a few pictures.







When we got to the bus stop, we were horrified to see that our line extended all the way past the next bus stop. Apparently it had been quite some time since a bus had last arrived. OK, small rant. I really hate that 5 resorts share a bus, no matter how close they are to one another. I really believe Disney should split the route into at least 2 buses.

After about 10 minutes, two buses pulled up at once. Luckily, we made it on to the second bus, but we ended up standing. I would guess there was an entire busload of people still standing at the bus stop when we left.

We stopped at the Swan & Dolphin and no one got off at either resort. Are they not eligible for EMH? When we finally pulled in at the YCR, I was ready to be off that bus! It looked like a bunch of the college kids were going to Downtown Disney that night. We’d planned to go to DTD the following night, so Erica hoped they’d be there again.

We just hung out in the room watching TV for a bit, then went to bed at about midnight.

Up Next: The World’s Youngest Pervert

[MAria R]

Great update!!!!

[Colexis Mom]

Great update Sharon [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]

My DH lost his glasses (that he desperately needs to see anything) in that wave pool, and thankfully they brushed up against some guy and he held them up and started yelling! I'm glad Erica's were only $3!!

Fantastic pictures of Everest and AK at night! Boy, how crowded though [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img] [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img]

More please [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[mattnkatsmum]

It's nice to see Typhoon Lagoon feature in a trip report. I'm so envious of your trip to the Beach Club. Stormalong Bay looks amazing!

[kimkdmm]

It looks like you had a great day at Typhoon Lagoon!! I [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/love.gif[/img] your pictures of EE and Animal Kingdom at night...very [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img] Looking forward to more!!

[FanOfMickey]

Another great update Sharon!! I am thourougly enjoying your trip report, like I always do [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
The room's at the Yacht Club look beautiful, I love how light and airy it looks.

[WishIwasinDisney]

Great update Sharon, I know exactly what you mean about the bus problem there. We stayed at BC last October and they were always packed, we didn't sit once on a bus for 8 days! They really need to do something about that. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

[KandJluvdisney]

great update of tl and great pics of sab
I am so jealous
more please

[Caldercup]

Terrific updates, Sharon. I loved your self-portrait!!
More please...
Eileen