Two Party Trip Report, 3-7 June **Updated 6/10** COMPLETE About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update Lisa Sorry about the bus fiasco early in the AM Great pictures too! More please

[ArielsMomto2]

Great updates. Thanks for sharing.

[lindawdw]

I'm really enjoying your TR Lisa! Sounds like a good time is being had by all! I love the OKW and its spaciousness too. I've only stayed there once but would love to try it again sometime. Looking forward to reading more.

[tkd lisa]

Wednesday, June 6th:

Plans for the day – AK at 8:00 for morning EMH. I expected to focus on the animal trails today since we were supposed to have seen Lion King on the evening EMH, and ridden EE. We planned lunch for everyone in our villa, with the boys staying with my family for some pool time while my friends went off on their own. Then we would finish up World Showcase and watch Illuminations.

What really happened? When my friend left the night before, I reminded her that AK had early hours the next day. I asked if they wanted to skip it, but her older boys really wanted to do EE, so I told her we planned on driving to the park, since bus transportation to AK can take a long time. She said they might drive, and they would go to Typhoon Lagoon after they hit the big rides at AK.

I was up at 6, and got the family up by 7. We all had a light breakfast, then hopped into the van about 7:50 to head to AK. I missed a turn, and we detoured through Celebration, but we were in the park by 8:20. DS took off on his own, and I left DD and Mom to wander toward Asia, while I cut through Dinoland to grab FPs for EE. They were valid for 10:40, but the note at the bottom said we could get new passes at 9:45. I met up with Mom and DD at the entrance to the Maharajah Jungle Trek. We had to wait a little bit there for them to open up. They were having some problems clearing the safety check list. I hope you’re ready, because I took a lot of pictures in here!



First we saw the bats. They were giving them their medicine, which they do by putting it into a piece of fruit on a stick then hand feeding that fruit to the particular bat who needs it.



We also saw this huge gila monster. He is 8 years old, and they live to be 30, growing bigger and darker all the time.



The tigers were resting up against the wall.



Then we went to an open area that had deer and peacocks. The male had his plumage spread, but he was too far to get a good picture. The female was right below the observation area though.





We went on to the bird area. I was fascinated by the fountain and the birdhouses.







At the trail exit, I snapped this picture of mom and DD. My mom has a friend from Thailand, and she wanted to send her this picture.



After this, we headed over to Africa. DS called from dinoland to check on our friends, but they hadn’t called yet. I posted my mom and DD near the FP distribution area while I went after 4 safari passes. The lines were pretty crazy, and a CM was just asking “How many”, and handing them to you. I made my way back to mom, and I have to admit to a little cheat of the system. I asked her to go back with the passes and get another 4 so our friends could all ride together. Once she was back, we had passes for their thrill rider to go on Everest, while the whole family could go on the Safari at 11:45. DD decided to head over to Conservation Station.

Mom and I went on Pangani Trail next. I haven’t been on this trail since Jan 03. They usually do it while I’m getting FPs for some ride or another. Once again, I took quite a few pictures.
The gorillas were quite active in the area behind the glass. There was a mom and adolescent, and the adolescent was just cutting up until the mom made him quit.



Then he headed over to play with this stick. I just couldn’t resist this pose.



Over to the side was this quiet gorilla, munching away on some leaves.



We skipped the mole rats, because it was pretty crowded. But I got this absolutely beautiful waterfall picture on our way out. I love it!



DD called to say she was on the train just now heading toward Conservation Station. I’m not sure what took her so long, but our friends had called and were just now entering the park, and were in line for It’s Tough to be a Bug. I called DS to meet us at the exit of the ride. Once they came out about 10:45, we realized it was DF and her younger two. The older ones and dad had stayed to finish showering, but were on their way at the time. DS headed to the park entrance with the EE FPs. The rest of us headed toward Dinoland to catch the Finding Nemo show scheduled at 11:30.

We made it into the show, and were seated at the bottom of the upper section, just outside the exit door. DD called and said she wanted to join us, but I told her she wouldn’t make it in time. She ended up staying at Conservation Station until the show was done. The youngest really enjoyed the show. I think the older one wasn’t quite so thrilled, but he was glad that he didn’t get wet.

The older boys had finished EE by this time, and had stopped by Kali to pick up FPs. They only had 3 passes with them, so I sent everyone over toward the Safari while I stopped to get FPs for the rest of the family to ride Kali. There was a herd of people there, and just as I was one person away, all the FP machines stopped working. The CM who was there didn’t normally work in the area, and he didn’t handle it well at all. He gave passes to one entire line, and ran out just as he moved over to our machine. Meanwhile, another CM came up, and they figured out that the whole FP system was down.

I quickstepped over to the Safari area, and met up with the younger group just as they got to where the older boys were waiting. And miracle of miracles, that’s just when DD got out of the Conservation Station! We decided to head back to our room, while our friends rode Safari. They were trying to decide if they wanted to use the FPs they had for Kali, or just head over to Typhoon Lagoon. They hadn’t brought their swimwear, so they had to go back to Ft. Wilderness first on the bus. We left them with the idea that they would call and let us know if they would join us for dinner at the villa.

Once we were on the bus, DD asked again about going to RFC. DS wanted to stay in the room, but the rest of us decided that was a good plan for lunch. Mom wanted to pick up some fudge at the candy store down there anyway. The three of us just missed a boat, so we took the bus, and got to RFC about 1:45. We were seated pretty quickly in the Elephant Room, and ordered lava nachos, a monsoon grill and a coke (water for Mom and me), which we all shared. The food took a little while to come, and I was starving by this time, but eventually we were all full. Total with Safari Club discount, tax and tip was $43.

When we went out, the sky looked awfully threatening. Mom went to the candy store, while DD and I headed to the pin store to look again for her matching “Best Friends” with Copper and Todd pin. This was a two pin set, with one pin saying “best” and having Copper while the other says “Friends” and has Todd. It’s from the Fox and the Hound, which was one of DD’s first movies. She’s been looking for this since March, and hasn’t been able to find it, and today was no exception.

We met back up with Mom, and dodged the rain back to the bus stop and the villa. Just after we got in, it really opened up! I hadn’t mentioned that our patio overlooked one of the greens of the golf course, and they were doing some maintenance work on it. Mom spent about an hour watching them moving big piles of dirt around while I took a little nap.

Our friends called about 5:30, and said they’d be over at 7 for dinner. They had gotten to TL just as it was closed for rain, so it was a big washout for them.

We had a nice evening sharing a meal and playing cards, while the kids watched movies and told ghost stories. They headed back to camp about 9:30, and we were all asleep shortly after 10. It was still pouring rain, which made for nice sleeping weather.

Before they left, I suggested that our friends try to hit the water park in the morning. Given their timeframe to get to a park, trying to take a mid-day water park break just wasn’t working. We had lunch ADRs at Sci Fi for 1:50, and I thought they would have enough time for the water park before that.

Up next: Our last day, MGM and Sci Fi for lunch.

[tkd lisa]

Day 5, June 7th, the end

Plans for the day: Meet at MGM at 9:00 opening. Split into two groups. One thrill rider set, one Playhouse Disney, etc. Catch Lights Motors Action before lunch at Sci Fi. Party 2 heads to a water park, while Party 1 heads home. Party 2 comes back for Fantasmic.

What really happened:

I didn’t set a wake up call today, but was up around 7. I had my devotions, and finished packing. I had been doing laundry through the week (I LOVE having that in the room!), so most of it was clean. I fixed pancakes and bacon for everyone, and sent the kids out about 8:40. I told them they could go to MGM or EPCOT, but they had to go together. They chose MGM since they hadn’t been there yet. I called engineering to let them know we had a leak under our kitchen sink. It had soaked the extra paper towels and the dishwashing soap, but it wasn’t so huge that the mousekeeper would have noticed. I think it happened when we were washing up from dinner the night before.

Mom said she wanted to go to EPCOT, so after we got the van loaded, I dropped the cooler at bell services and we took the bus, which came up just as we got there. We were in the park about 9:25. Once inside, we walked right into Space Ship Earth. We hadn’t ridden it yet, and we wanted to go before it was closed for renovation. The only other must do was Soarin, so we just decided to go despite the line. It was posted as 60 minutes, which was quite accurate. We had a very nice chat with a British family in front of us. The parents had both been in the RAF, and they were just finishing up a two week stay at Pop Century. It was very pleasant getting to know them a bit, and it passed the time quickly.

We finished up right at 11, and headed through World Showcase to get a snack. We got a cream puff in the French Bakery, then headed over to the Yacht Club to catch the boat to MGM.

The kids had called a couple of times, and were having a good time at MGM. DD had ridden ToT, Great Movie Ride, and just wandered around the park. DS had ridden RnR, and been in the animation studio. They were both waiting for us over by Indiana Jones. DD bought a neat necklace that she says is “one of a kind”. Oh well, she likes it and that’s what counts, isn’t it?

We met up with the kids about 11:30, and Mom and DD went into the 11:45 Indiana Jones show. DS headed back to the animation studio, after a tour through the Star Tours store. I went down to get FPs for RnR (good for 4-5pm) for our friends. After that I rode ToT by myself. It was about a 30 minute wait. I had the best drop sequence! I normally hold on pretty tightly, but this time, I put my hands up and just floated!

When I finished up, Mom and DD were done with Indy, and we headed over to One Man’s Dream to get out of the heat. It was in the mid 90s with high humidity this morning. Perfect day for a water park! I did some more pin trading, and about that time, our friends called from the gate to say they were here. It was about 1:30 by this time, so we all headed over to Sci Fi for our ADR. While we waited to be seated, I asked DF if her boys were going to want to ride Star Tours, and she said yes. So I took their passes and got FP for that. They were good for 2:45-3:45.

We were seated fairly quickly. They put the kids in a standard car, while us adults got a “stretch” limo kitty corner from them. Earlier that morning I had realized that I put the cash for this meal in the van when I packed up. Mom and I figured out that we had just enough cash between us to cover our expected bill, but our server was able to split the checks up even though I was using DDE, so I just put it on my Visa. We actually had two servers, one for each car, but it worked out okay.

DD had her standard Penne Pasta and a coke. DS had ribs and a cookies and cream milkshake. I had never actually picked a meal at this restaurant, since we usually just eat what’s leftover from the kids. But since we were at different cars, we decided to get something just for Mom and me. She wanted a reuben. I don’t eat sauerkraut (or 1000 island dressing), but I realized they could put it on the side, so that’s what we got (along with water). It came out already split, with some fries and a pickle on each plate. I had never had a reuben before, and it was pretty good since it didn’t have that yucky stuff on it!

I snuck over and grabbed these pictures of the kids. They were really engrossed in the movies, and were good as gold!





Our friends had gotten 5 passes to ToT from someone as they were coming through the gate which were good at 2:30. The boys came to our table and they figured out that there were enough passes for DS to ride with DFH and the bigger boys on ToT and RnR. They headed out to use the FP while we finished taking care of the bill, and waiting for the youngest to finish his ice cream. We all went onto Muppetvision 3D, and timed it perfectly walking in just as they were loading the theater. Our seats were more centered this time, so the effects were better. Once this was done, we figured the boys were just finishing RnR (it was about 4:15), so I said goodbye to my friend, and we headed to Sunset Blvd to wait for them. And wait, and wait, and wait some more. It was about 4:50 and they still weren’t there, nor was DS answering his phone. Finally about 4:55, he called and said “Mom, me and Danny (DFS1) are over by Indiana Jones, and we don’t know where his dad is.” I told them to stay put, and headed over to meet them. About that time, DF called and said “Have you seen Danny?” Apparently after the ride, DFH and DFS2 went to the bathroom, and the older two decided they didn’t have to wait. I got everyone reunited over by Star Tours, said goodbye again, and we headed out to the buses.

We picked up our cooler, and were on the road by 5:30 and home by 6:45. It was a really good trip. The warmer weather definitely affected us. We also aren’t used to being in the parks during the heat of the day. Our next trip will be camping in July (8th through 13th), so I figure I might as well get used to it. I’ve attached a few random pictures I hadn’t already posted.

Hope you enjoyed the report. Look for my next pre-trip report probably next week.


The display in the toy store in Germany


The big bathtub that got lots of use in our villa!


Master bedroom


While we were waiting for the double decker bus.


View of Tom Sawyer Island from the Liberty Belle.

[DyanKJ130]

Great updates! Great TR! Great photos!! for sharing it with us! Can't wait for the next one!

[Colexis Mom]

Great updates Lisa And great report as usual! Thanks for sharing it with us, and I look forward to the next one

[JaimeandChad]

What a great TR, can't wait for the next one!

[ArielsMomto2]

Great trip report. Thanks for sharing and can't wait for the next one.

[ariel14]

Great trip!!!!
Thx for sharing!!!!

[iamgrumpy]

Great TR love the photos!

[tammyd_rn]

Lisa thank you for taking the time to share your trip report with us.

[PrincessSharon]

Another great TR, Lisa! for sharing it with us. I'll be watching for your pre-TR (and things are back to normal because I'll miss you by a few days again ).

[wdwlovers]

Great TR! More please!

[luvnwdwgal]

Great trip report! Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to your next one!