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Monday, October 29, 2012

Saturday - October 27th - Day 8

Well the dreaded check out day is upon us.  I knew Darla and Deb were leaving early, probably before we got up. I heard some voices around 2:30 but thought I was dreaming. Turns out, that was them leaving to get on the road before traffic.  In fact, when we were in the Magic Kingdom, I got a call from her and they were already at the New River Gorge in WV!

We both got up around 6:30 or so and had a breakfast scheduled at 10 at Kona Cafe at the Polynesian. I had packed some the night before so I mostly had to put everything in the suitcase. By the time we both did that, it was around 8:30 or so and we took everything over to the Magical  Express desk, checked in our luggage and waited for a bus to the Magic Kingdom.  While waiting, I heard some people next to me talking about going to the Mickeys Backyard Barbecue at Fort Wilderness and that it was an hour bus ride to get there! Of course, I had to speak up. I said, an hour bus ride from where? From ANYWHERE! I said, well. the fastest and easiest way to get there is to take the boat over from Magic Kingdom and it would drop you right off at the Settlement area which is a short walk to the Barbecue area.  They did not even know a boat went over there from Magic Kingdom! I said it is about a 15 minute ride, tops.  Disney is big but it is not THAT big that a bus ride would take that long! Even with waiting time, it is usually not that long. I have since heard that Disney is revising their busing and resort-resort may be in the works and supposedly, the bus stops will be equipped with LED tv's showing the estimated bus arrival time.

When our Magic Kingdom bus finally arrived....I heard someone say my name and I immediately knew it was my friend, Teresa ! We knew our trips crossed over somewhat and was hoping to meet up at some point. It was just funny to see each other on THIS particular bus, perfect timing!  This made the bus ride go even faster and we arrived in no time.  Upon our arrival, Joe and I hopped on a monorail and rode it over to the Polynesian, arriving around 9:15 or so.  Since we were early, we looked around the resort but stayed inside since it was cool and windy today.
It is very hard for me to walk PAST magic kingdom!
taken from monorail
Bay Lake Towers from monorail

At the Polynesian



I checked in at Kona about 9:30 and was told it would be awhile. I remembered that Allison Jones, owner of my host agency, Destinations in Florida, was having a breakfast with some fellow agents this morning, but being our last day and depending on Disney transportation, I was not sure if I could make it.  Since we were early for our reservation, I looked around and sure enough, there was Allison and part of our great team, seated towards the front! I went over and told her who I was and we had a great chat and I got to meet a few of the others as well!  Up to this point, we had only talked on the phone so it was great to actually meet in person!  Our table ended up being right next to them so we were seated and while waiting, we took a group photo!
Destinations in Florida/Explore agents
Of course, when it came time to order, we both got Tonga Toast!
Tonga Toast
This was even better than I remembered it to be. I should have taken a picture with the bananas that are inside showing. Oh my, sugar overload and worth every calorie!

After breakfast, we decided to not get off at Grand Floridian, I really wanted our last few hours to be in the park. We also wanted to see if we could catch up with Teresa and her husband.  We hopped on a monorail and arrived at the Magic Kingdom and I got thru security extra fast. You really need to scan the crowd and look for the shortest line, with the least amount of backpacks and NO STROLLERS! I also noticed the left side of the turnstiles, the line was practically non-existent.  I found a turnstile with the left side line being really long and NO ONE in the right side at all. So I entered there. We immediately headed back to Fantasyland to see what was going on. Again, no luck getting in. It was Imagineer and their family's day.

hub area not too crowded

i love the openness of this area now
inside Ye Old Christmas Shoppe
Blustery day at Magic Kingdom
With no luck in Fantasyland, we decided to ride Pirates to see if we could see the new mermaids along side your boat.  I ran right in to Teresa and her husband right outside Pirates so we decided to ride together! The line was maybe a 5 minute wait. We got to see the mermaids this time cause I knew where to look! When we came out, the "good" Captain Jack was outside doing his show.





Yes, we decided he was definitely the "good" Jack Sparrow. He even sounded exactly like him.  In the crowd, we noticed this extremely cool haircut!

The Speese's
At this point, after Teresa and I had our Jack fix, we decided to part ways. We had a couple more hours to spare; we walked back over to Fantasyland "just in case" but no luck. Not even in seeing Gaston!  At this point, my phone rang and I was very upset to hear that a guest of mine that had just checked in on Tuesday had an appendicitis attack at Epcot and then her appendix burst and she was having emergency surgery in Celebration Hospital. Once I got back to Old Key West, I set up my laptop and made some phone calls to see about getting their flights changed and extending their stay (checking out on the 29th).

We walked around a bit more and took a few more photo. Jasmine and Aladdin were out greeting guests.

We decided to get the train at Frontierland Station and ride around to the new station in the Casey Jr. area and then walk down Main Street from there.
Splash Mountain
Tom Sawyer Island
Taken from the train:
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Character greeting area
How adorable are these kids.
Mini Mary Poppins!
Fairy Godmother
Can never resist a castle view.
The moat

We headed down Main Street via the Emporium. It really was not very crowded today but people were still pouring in.  Joe and I bought a Mickey cookie and shared it as we sat on the rockers over near Tony's.  I was admiring some of the windows on Main Street and the Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it parade went by.
making the goodies in the bakery


window on main street



courtyard to the right of Tony's

We said goodbye to Magic Kingdom and waited only a few minutes for an Old Key West bus.
taken thru the bus window
This brings an end to our Food and Wine Festival trip.  It was practically perfect in every way with the exception of Joe's hospital visit and also hearing the bad news about my guest being admitted to the hospital. I am still working on getting things rearranged so she can fly home when she is able. I know she will be good as new in no time but I just feel so bad that it happened at all, especially while on vacation with her family.

We really had a great time seeing all of our Disney friends, all of whom we met online back in the mid 90s. It is always fun when our trips align/overlap and we are able to catch up in person instead of online! Everyone got to spend a little time with each other at one point or another. Our chance bus meetings with Barbara and Teresa were added bonuses!  A HUGE thank you to Darla for inviting us along with them. We had so much fun laughing and talking and staying up late working on trip reports and all being online at the same time. It surely does help that Darla's sister., Deb, likes to watch FOX news, lol.  We had some great discussions! Our next trip is during Easter break and Darla and Deb will be down there at the same time; no doubt we will have more laughs and the writing of trip reports. We are staying at Villas at Wilderness Lodge for that trip.  Until then, thanks for reading along!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Friday - October 26th - day 7-last full day

We had decided to have breakfast at Olivia's this morning...I had a mickey waffle, Joe had an omelette. It was nice in there and you can always walk up and get a reservation.
Olivia's
My Mickey Waffle
When we arrived at the Magic Kingdom, the Fall Trolley Show was going on...not quite the same as the original but it is still a great little show.  We watched it for a few minutes and casually walked down Main Street enjoying the Disney Details.
Main Street Trolley Show
Roy and Minnie
Going back to the garage
Not very crowded today
Window on Main Street
Window on Main Street
Frank G. Wells' window on Main Street
The "Indian"
Joe and Casey
Crystal Palace
Where is everyone?
We made our way back to the new FantasyLand area but today was a cast preview only. Doesn't hurt to make sure and Magic Kingdom was relatively uncrowded so we hung around and rode a few things and just enjoyed the day, although it was VERY windy!
Back of castle
You can see from the pictures that it was an empty Magic Kingdom, at least for now.  Of course, the Tremaine sisters were out causing problems, lol.
The Tremain Sisters

I saw some construction happening on the Mine Ride and zoomed in to see what they were up to.
Hard at work on mine ride

We walked thru the Circus Souvenir Shop looking for something in particular but I did not see it after walkingn the whole way around the store.  Lots of cute things in here though...love these costumes and the theme!

We walked toward the train station and took the "back road" to Tomorrowland. It was SO nice and quiet and peaceful back here. I wish there were some benches along the way.  Alot of people do not even know this area is here and I like it that way!


We walked right in to Carousel of Progress.  I was annoyed by some people behind me who were digging in their crackling bag for food and then talked throughout the show and the dad was checking his cell phone, which lit up the area around him. I turned off my outer display and used the viewfinder for pictures.
Got stuck in this "time period" twice
You don't even have a car phone!
When we came out of Carousel, we walked over to People Mover but the line was all backed up for some reason and no one was going up the walk way.  Instead, we went over to Buzz and got some fastpasses for 40 mins. later.   Well, Joe did but apparently, my pass is demagnetized and she had to give me a special Fast Pass Ticket that is good for the day for any fast pass, anywhere.  I glanced over at the People Mover line and it had gone down so we did end up riding it.

Afterwards, we decided to walk through the Tomorrowland Terrace area and go to the ice cream shop. Barbara had mentioned the kids cone was just right and it just sounded good to me. We were the only ones in the shop!


Looking out to Main Street

We took our ice cream to the upper seating area at the Terrace and from there I could see and hear the Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it Parade.

It was now time for our Buzz Fastpasses so we walked around the corner and walked right in, really, never stopping til we were on the ride. We should have got our own separate cars though....Joe never turned the direction I wanted to go!


Back down Main Street we went and decided to leave the Magic Kingdom for now.

We admired all the goodies in the Confectionary and somehow resisted buying any!


I love these glasses
so many goodies!
It was really starting to cloud up but there was still beautiful skies over Main Street!

I was struck by the beauty of this sky!
We took a bus to Port Orleans Riverside...one of my clients is checking in tomorrow and I want to be sure everything is just right on their reservation.  What better way to do that than in person! This is my favorite moderate resort and we have stayed here many times before DVC.
Port Orleans Riverside
The Mansions are beautiful!
We looked around and had lunch in their food court and then took the first bus that came along..it happened to be a studios bus.  When we got dropped off there, we literally walked off that bus and the OKW bus was waiting! Our bus luck is changing!  When we got back, Darla and Deb were out on the porch so we sat out there for a good hour or more talking and laughing. I should have been taking a nap but it was too much fun to sit out and talk and hope the person above us did not spit down on us as I looked over our railing, lol.

Our plan for the evening was to walk around the World Showcase and munch here and there...Joe wanted to try the sushi and I was just along for whatever looked good to me.  It was VERY windy...I wore my hair up in a little bun on top of my head and put on one of those little tiaras like they wear at Bibbidi Bobbidi, lol. Darla probably posted a picture. As we were walking towards World Showcase, Joe looked over the bridge railing and noticed a HUGE turtle looking up at us!

Looks prehistoric!
This time we started on the Canada side.  I got the yogurt dessert instead of the trio, as it was my favorite from the other day.
This was a bargain at $1.50!
Joe got the shepherds pie again, from Ireland.  I don't think I would like that but it sure does look good. I snapped a couple pictures while I waited for him.


It was at this point, I noticed a girl walking in front of me...very pretty and with a very good looking guy. I knew she was SOMEBODY but could not place the face.  I heard someone say..hey..that is Vienna from the Bachelorette and then I realized THAT is who that is!  Was not sure if this guy was on the show or what as I did not watch that season that much til the end.  They did not have a VIP person with them, they were just walking through the crowd like everyone else.
there was a rainbow in the sky and I acted like I was taking the rainbow picture!
We made our way over the bridge in to France and it was obvious World Showcase is much busier at night during the Festival...Illuminations will do that!  Between scooters and strollers and people having a bit much to drink...Illuminations was not happening for us tonight.


 Joe tried a few more things at the stand..sushi being one of them, in Japan.  I had the beef teriyaki sandwich, very small but very good!  You really had to be holding on to your food tonight...the outer bands of Sandy were blowing anything not nailed down!
Japan
Sukiyaki Beef and Sushi
We were still hungry since we had only a small lunch and I remembered Barbara mentioning the grilled steak in America.  The pavilion was practically empty so we walked in there...to get out of the wind...and to check out the steak.  I got mine minus the broccoli (grapes instead).  We were one of only a few tables taken in there. It felt good to sit down and relax and not have to anchor everything down!  Sister Hazel was playing across the way but I had only heard of the one song...the seats were empty there!

Grilled Steak in America
We made our way around the world..more/less just navigating the crowds.  Joe thought we had to use up our gift cards here and only here but I explained they are good anywhere in Disney.  He wanted something sweet but I did not...we stopped in the Norway bakery and he got a chocolate drizzled pretzel.  I had a tiny bite...eh...glad I did not get one.
Germany
World Showcase IS beautiful at night!
China
Pretzel from Norway
Mexico
As we were heading out, lots were heading in.  I was just hoping a bus was there for us!

Not sure why there is no space between those pictures because I did put spaces in!  Oh well..this is the last report before leaving for home. The rest of the report...Saturday we are here til 2...will be posted from home along with Saturday pictures.  We said our goodbyes to Darla and Deb as they were leaving very early...I heard them around 2 or 2:30 a.m. leaving.  We are having breakfast at Kona Cafe at the Poly and then checking out Magic Kingdom for one last ditch attempt to see if Fantasyland will be open for a little bit. If not, there's always next time, which for us, is March! Stay tuned....