Thursday - October 25th - Day 6

We had breakfast in the room again and then headed out to Animal Kingdom. I noticed this egret looking for his breakfast!

Today is overcast and extremely humid; we were hoping for some great animal activity. We only really wanted to ride the safari and eat at Flametree Barbecue. We took our time getting there and getting our fastpasses.

We walked the Pangani Trail waiting for our safari time

Our fast pass time was only half an hour away so that gave us a chance to walk the Pangani Trail. It was practically deserted and so peaceful and quiet back there. I do not bother when it is overrun with loud kids and tons of strollers. At times, we could see no one in front or behind us! Perfect!

Okapi

Meerkat

Hard to get a good shot, she was always moving!

After the trail, we still had about 10 minutes before our fast pass time so we looked around in the Mombasa Market.  I saw this one lady getting a Henna tattoo on her hand. Very pretty, not sure how long it lasts but it was pretty.

We walked over to the fast pass return line and was on our jeep in about 10 minutes including walking time and waiting to board our jeep. We had a GREAT safari driver...he was very excited every time he spotted an animal. It was like it was his first safari ever....which made it more fun for us!

Black Rhino

Male lion

Ostrich

We got to see the new zebra's that were recently introduced to the savannah but they are afraid of the trucks still, so we were not allowed to stop.

We headed over to Flame Tree Barbecue and it appears alot of other people had the same idea.  I found a pretty short line...not sure what people do NOT understand about the double line concept..if you look around, you can usually find a short line and get waited on faster. I got the child's drumstick (which ended up being two, not one) and it came with carrots and grapes and I got a small water. I really wanted to try that key lime mousse so Joe and I both got one of those and he got the Ribs.  Wow, lots of food here..was glad I got a kids meal.

We headed back to the resort and an OKW bus was just pulling away as we walked up. I found a bench and in about 10 minutes, another bus came along. I had a headache and decided to take a nap. The humidity zaps the energy out of me down here. Joe decided to go sit in the hot tub near the pool and then do his weights in the workout room. Darla and Deb were having a lunch/dinner at the Ale house.  When I work up, I got a text that our friend's Patti and Ray wanted to stop up and I was so glad I got up in time to get the text! They were on their way back from lunch as well and then we called Barbara so all 8 of us met in our villa and spent some time laughing and talking. How nice it was to all meet up on this trip, if only for a little bit. We have known each other for years and years..having all met online...it is hard to get together like this so we really do cherish it when it all works out!

Our plans for the evening were to go to Wilderness Lodge and get the flatbread pizza at Roaring Forks and then boat over to Contemporary to look around and go up to the Top of the World Lounge for pictures. Patti and Ray were going that way, so they dropped us off at the lodge. We enjoyed the ride over in their beautiful van!

Patti and Ray

We walked in to the Wilderness Lodge...can never get enough of this place.

Wilderness Lodge Lobby

Philly cheese steak flatbread and cheese flatbread

our boat to Contemporary

Once over at the Contemporary, we walked up to the 4th floor and took the walkway bridge over to Bay Lake Towers, checked in for the lounge and were escorted to the private elevator with a few others.  I only wanted to take a few pictures outside, overlooking the Magic Kingdom.

taken from top of Contemporary

We decided to save the Poly and Grand Floridian for saturday; so we monorailed around to the Magic Kingdom and caught an OKW bus that happened to be waiting.  Seeing the costumes going in to the party was really cool; lots of Jack and Sallys.

Contemporary Lobby - Mary Blair mural

Party night at Magic Kingdom

Tomorrow we will no doubt get back to the Food and Wine Festival but not before breakfast at Olivia's. It is our last FULL day so I'm sure we will cram alot of fun in!

Wednesday - October 24th - Day 5

I did not sleep well at all last night.  I woke up around 2 with a backache and stomach pains. I wasn't actually sick...it was just enough to keep me awake. I decided when I woke up...it did not matter what time it was...and it ended up being 8:00! Unheard of for me but I must be needing the extra rest. I am beginning to wonder if I need to go on a gluten free diet...it is getting harder to find foods that do not upset my stomach.

We got to the bus stop around 10:30 or so...bad bus luck continues...every park came but what we wanted but when it DID get there...there is Barbara taking a picture of me waiting...we timed it perfect to ride over with them!  Everyone was rushing ahead when we got there but we took our time....going to Imagination first as it is always a walk on.  If it isn't, you are in trouble!

Saw the Segway Tour

Figment

After Imagination...Barbara and Roy wanted to see Captain EO...we decided to continue on to World Showcase and be there when it opened.  Maybe with less crowds, I could find that dessert stand! Success!

bad picture, cannot see the other one

Joe decided to get the Pork Slider at the Hawaii stand...everyone was raving about it. He said it was pretty good but a little spicy.

Pork Slider in Hawaii

I was snapping  pictures along the way as we made our way around the (left) Mexico side.

We saw Duffy greeting guests as we continued on. I stopped in Argentina and got my beef skewer again, Joe got the lamb shop in Australia.  We carried our goodies over to the water side tables in Mexico and sat there for a little bit but it was getting too warm and I noticed guests were going inside where the a/c was on. It is a sit down at night but was being used for counter service now.  My phone was dying so I went in there and it was literally deserted and I saw an outlet so we sat at the table nearest to it.  Joe got some Nachos that was enough for 3 people!  I could not help him eat it because nachos and I do NOT get along but I did manage a chip that did not have anything on it, lol.  As we were finishing up, people were starting to pour in and there were lots of tired kids with them...time for us to move on.

La Hacienda

We kept walking thru a very warm World Showcase...not like summer...but warm and it was much more humid today..thank goodness for that warm breeze.  We came upon Norway and it was a walk on..we literally walked straight on to a boat.

Norway

getting on Maelstrom

Going down the hill is the best part of this ride.

We stopped in the bakery on the way out and I got some school bread. We shared one as these are pretty big!

Not a bad price for how big these are

We saw Mulan in China and continued on and got Frozen Cokes in the African Outpost. It seemed like we were going from bench to table..table to bench but it was a warm one today and the breaks felt great. I did not want to go too much further so we looked around in Germany at the train display and then decided to take the boat over to the other side and head back to OKW for a much needed break.

Miniature train display

At the boat dock, since we had just missed a boat, I decided to play around with the fantastic zoom on my camera.

Mexico

Norway

America

Canada

bridge to France

The tiles on Spaceship Earth taken from Germany boat dock

Italy

We walked thru Future World and back to bus stop #9....so looking forward to a cool break with a glass of iced tea!

When we got back, Darla was out on the porch so we joined her and before too long, Deb was out there with us too.  Darla and I were laughing because the table was wobbling and I looked underneath and here the legs were all in the wrong position, no wonder it was wobbly!  I kicked the one leg back in to place and it snapped back to where it should be, no more wobble!  As wonderful as it was on the porch, I knew I needed to take a nap if we were to go to the Magic Kingdom in the evening. So I went and laid down for about an hour or so.  When I got up and we left for the bus stop, it must have been raining somewhere as there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky!

Our only mission at the MK was for Joe to get his shrimp at Columbia Harbour House and I was going to get the tuna sandwich.  It was drizzling when we got off the bus but you could see the sun still shining in the distance and it eventually did clear up.  We took our time getting down Main Street, lots of people were leaving (we thought).

Ice Cream Shop

On the way over to Columbia Harbor House who can resist the beautiful lighting on the castle.

After Columbia Harbour House, Joe wanted to ride the Haunted Mansion as he had never seen the new queue.  We took the left route in so he could do that. The line was moving well.

Next up was Small World since it was practically a walk on.

We were going to see Philharmagic but the line was outside the main room and it was not moving. Love this but we can see it later.  We left the line and made our way down Main Street via the hub street and then the stores. What a mob scene! Somebody in a wheelchair ran in to my ankles with the METAL footholders. Why she thought she could push thru a crowd that was standing still, is beyond me.  She did not even say she was sorry.  I only went this way to get a castle shot but it was not worth it!  At the head of Main Street they would not let you go any further since the Main Street Electrical Parade was starting but we were going out via the stores anyway!

There was no way to get closer...people were 6-8 deep. ugh.

these light up on each pole

We got off at Peninsular Road and walked thru the store. Joe was looking at some books on the high book stand and took one out and they all started falling! I hard them hit the floor and looked over and the more he tried to keep them from falling, the more fell! The CM came over to help him but it was useless! I ran out the door laughing and then ran back for a picture!  I laughed the whole way back to the room and told Darla and Deb what happened. We were all laughing when Joe finally came in.  It was so funny!

It was like an episode of I Love Lucy. They had them packed in so tight, by just removing one, the rest did not have anything holding them in.  Fun end to the day!