Mega trip: 7/19-7/31 (or 8/3)

Day 2

7/20:
The plan for the day is to wake up early, eat breakfast, and head on out to Typhoon Lagoon for the first half of the day. Alarm clock goes off at 5:30am...this is going to be a very active vacation.
We're all up and out the door by 6:30am and catch the first bus headed to the FtW Settlement at 6:35am. Bus driver asks where we're headed as EMH is at DHS this morning. We politely tell him that we are headed to Chef Mickey's via boat launch to the Contemporary and he questions if boats are running that early...never fear, we did our research and a quick radio call by the driver confirmed that our information was correct. We arrive at the boat launch to find that the first boat at 6:40am was waiting for us because of the driver's call. We are able to check in right at 7am for our 7:15 ADR. The meal was okay, but we all know it's the fab 5 that brings us here and not the food. Still well worth the one DDP credit, but I'll probably pick a different location next time...maybe the perpetually rumored Pixar character b'fast will be reality by then.
After b'fast, we head down stairs and catch a bus to Typhoon Lagoon. The skies are cloudy, and it looks like rain...but then it's Florida and we're prepared to get wet anyway. For the slides and attractions the boys want to drag me on, it only took two hours to complete since we were there right at the 9am opening. The Grandparents took the opportunity to lay on the beach and then joined us around 11:30 in the lazy river. By 12:30 we're back on the bus to FtW to change and move on.
We have a 7:30pm ADR at Teppan Edo and arrive at Epcot with enough time to pick off several attractions and start walking through some of World Showcase.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, our home airport was DFW and for I'm having to miss an imporant opportunity today...Paul McCartney tickets at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium just went on sale today and I'm missing out. No worries though, as I'm happily surprised to see not only Paul, but John, Ringo, and George performing at the UK pavillion. A great show that we just happened to stumble upon.


We continue on from UK and use snack credits in at the bakery in the France pavillion. Grandma and I each order a creme brule, the kids get a chocolate moose and an eclare. We purchase bottled water for them (don't want to waste snack credits on bottled drinks) and head out into the heat to get three Grand Mariner Orange Slushes for the GPs and me. Well worth the cost. We also catch Mo'rockin perform before heading to the Japan pavillion.
We check in at Teppan Edo around 7:15 and are seated by 7:45.

The service moves along quickly, but we end up getting outside to watch Illuminations from the Japan balcony about midway through the show. No worries, the boys got to see a few fireworks and we'll have another chance to see Illuminations later in the week. Teppan Edo was a great meal, although I felt some of the other chefs in the room were performing more to kids than ours was. Still no worries from us as the boys not only enjoyed the show and the food so much that they still talk about it, they also tried some foods that they had not tried before...a big goal of mine on this trip. The long walk and bus transfers back to FtW put us back in the room around 11pm.

Enjoying the report!!! Can I ask your honest opinion? How did you like FW? I think I have about 6 people going in Dec of 2010 and was thinking of trying the cabins? We are not really out door people, but for the price it seems right?

Great TR so far! Stayed in the cabins last year and loved them, although we rented the golf cart - my hubby's favorite ride. :lol: So nice and quiet there too. Looking forward to more! :wave:

Great report! I really like the British Invasion picture. And I love that one of your goals is to get your kids to branch out and try new foods.

Can't wait to read more!

Nice TR, I can't wait to read more.

Enjoying the report, looking forward to the rest of it. We did FW in 2005 ( our very first trip to Disney) we loved them! It was like having a small house.

disneygirl1 said:

Enjoying the report!!! Can I ask your honest opinion? How did you like FW? I think I have about 6 people going in Dec of 2010 and was thinking of trying the cabins? We are not really out door people, but for the price it seems right?

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For six people it will be a tight fit, depending on how long you are going for. Actually, my one very minor complaint about the cabins is the lack of closet space. It's no different than your average nook with luggage stand that you'd find in any hotel room. There are enough drawers outside of the filled ones in the kitchen area to allow for everyone to have a little space to unpack, but we found ourselves living out of the suitcases for the most part until midway though the trip where we were able to shift our clean clothes out of the suitcases and begin using the bags for dirties. With every day of our trip being highly active, the cabins were the perfect end-of-day escape from the rest of our vacation. On six different occasions we even saw free roaming deer outside...the boys would make a sudden pointing movement that would scare them off though so no pictures. With your planned trip in December, the crispness in the winter night air will play perfectly to the nightly campfires. I usually stay at one of the deluxe resorts, and can honestly say that in the future if I don't end up trying a DVC resort I'll be back at the cabins.

Soundstage'95CP said:

we even saw free roaming deer outside...

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You mean Disney didn't charge you. :lol:

great trip report, can't wait for more. we're staying in the cabins for first time in december!

Day 3

7/21:
The plan today was going to start with waking up early enough to get to morning EMH at MK with an early lunch at Pecos Bills followed by our Fantasmic Dinner at the only time I could get an ADR...3:40pm. But, it was just after 11pm when we returned from Epcot last night and we were tired. So, we changed the plan a bit. The alarm goes off at 6:30am, a little later than yesterday and we head to the Settlement bus and the marina around 7:30. We figured that since we were starting a little later, we might as well skip lunch today because of the early dinner ADR and have a counter service b'fast at a reasonable time this morning. We catch the boat over to the Contemporary and we each choose the Bounty Platter at Contempo Cafe. With the two drinks that come with b'fast on the dining plan, we're quickly figuring out that with the boys ordering counter service off the adult menus we're avoiding spending $60-$70 on average just on counter service meals. This DDP is definately going to save us big $$$ by the end of the trip.
After b'fast, we go up one level and do the monorail shuffle between the MK and Epcot lines to arrive at Epcot just in time for the 9am opening. A brief but organized mad dash after exiting Spaceship Earth to Sorin' and we are able to do it twice within the first hour and a half of park opening, finishing out the Land pavillion attractions between the two Sorin' rides to allow for our Fastpass time to come up.
We then head over to the other side of Future World, stopping for some samples of Coke products on the way. Now a side note here is that I haven't had a soda in well over a year...it's just my way of trying to cut back on calories. But, I decided I'd go for some and went straight for the Beverly figuring what better way to keep my desires for an ice cold Coke from flaring up on this trip. I've had it before and I remembered it being a vile bitterness from first sip until the aftertaste is washed away by something else. My memories of the aftertaste were spot on and it did indeed keep me from ordering sodas for awhile longer.
Around noon we decide to start making our way to the Studios for our early dinner Fantasmic package. It's hot and humid without any clouds in the sky and we don't want to walk any more than we have to, so we take the boat from the International Gateway.
After doing a few attractions, including the air-conditioned Muppets show, we decide to check in for dinner at Mama Melrose early...around 3:15. We are seated immediately and are told of what would be the one benefit of getting the Fantasmic dinner package on the DDP. No, it's not the roped off seating for the 9pm show. They suggest you get there 90 minutes before showtime even with the seating voucher. It's this: on the regular DDP for a Fantasmic dinner package, your meal includes an appetizer (it's the only way to have an appetizer included with a regular DDP meal unless you eat at a buffet). Mama Melrose is usually a stop for me and ever since the Fantasmic package this is always my choice over Hollywood & Vine or the Brown Derby. I've been to the Brown Derby before and while I enjoy it a lot, I don't think it warrants two dining credits. If only Primetime or even SciFi were part of the Fantasmic packages. But, the meal at Mama Melrose was good as always. It's just not a restaraunt that stands out like Teppan or some of the other places we'll be dining at later in the trip.
After dinner we're given the Fantasmic voucher and told to be in line at least 90 minutes before the show at the entrace next to the Beauty and the Beast show on Sunset Blvd. Last time, the Fantasmic vouchers had us enter through a separate entrace close to the front of the park, but no longer. People, several of them with vouchers and moreso without, were trying to jam their way up to the front of the Fantasmic line trying to figure out where to go. CMs were telling people with vouchers to stay to the right when they let in. They were also telling people needing extra assistance to do the same. So, people with strollers, electric carts, and large groups that had Fantasmic vouchers were all trying to use the same small space to the right of the large tour groups to enter the stadium...please Disney, bring back the separate entrace for voucher holders allow this coveted space on the right side of the entrace to go back to being exclusively for those needing the extra assistance.
The show was great as always, but still not as good as the original in California. We're back at the hotel again by 11pm.

Day 4

7/22:
Alarm goes off at 5:30. Today is going to be a great day. The last time the GPs were at WDW was way back in 1995 (back when I was a CM on the WDWCP...hence the user name). Back then Animal Kingdom did not exist. Heck, I've only been there twice prior to this with my boys and they were too young to remember. One of the reasons this trip is happening when it is is because we were celebrating something...the boys are finally tall enough to ride everything at WDW that they want (still a few inches to go for Universal, but no loss in my book). The first time I went to AK, it was a new park and I didn't enjoy it much. It looked fake and very fabricated in contrast to what was being promoted. The trees were all young and it felt like a Disney-ized zoo built on a cow pasture...it even felt hotter here than the other parks in the summer heat than the other parks due to the lack of shade and air-conditioned options. That first time, the park was truly a half-day park for me.
Fast forward two years later to my next visit to AK, and the trees and other vegetation have grown tremendously. I finally felt that escapism walking through the park that I felt at the others. It became a truely emersive experience and became my favorite park that trip.
So, we're out the door for the first bus to the Outpost at 6:30am. Timing of the buses couldn't have been better today. We arrived at the Outpost just as the AK bus was pulling up behind us and we were at AK by 7am. It's an EMH morning at AK, so we only have to wait 45 minutes before they let us in up to the rope.
The plan for the day is to spend the morning at AK, have lunch at Flame Tree, and head to Downtown Disney in the afternoon for Disney Quest and shopping. We'll have one of our two out-of-pocket dining experiences tonight at DTD, but haven't decided where at this point. Of course, I know where I want to go, but was willing to allow myself to go elsewhere if the GPs or the kids wanted something different.
The day at AK starts with the safari, followed by back-to-back runs on Everest. Wow, that's a great coaster...despite it clearly running in B-mode from what's described in other forums. No smoke effects, no movement from the yeti. The first time we experienced it, we used the stand-by line which allowed us to fully experience the attraction. I'm glad we did this as the line is really half the attraction in itself and the experience would have been lacking without it. The second time though we used Fastpass. Next we walk one of the two nature trails, where the boys are amazed by two things...the size of the bats and the fact that there's no glass between you and them.


It's hot and appoaching 11am and time for lunch. Knowing that Flame Tree is outside seating, we decide to go to Pizzafari instead...it was on our list for later in the week anyways as one of the places the kids chose.
Pizzafari is one prime example of why, when you have pizza-loving kids on the DDP, you should order off the adult menu. There's a kids menu with pizza on it, but the size is roughly half that of the adult menu. If your kids love pizza as much as mine, it only makes sense to get them the larger portion at no additional cost on the DDP. So, that's what we did. They had a couple bites each of the salad, but the pizza filled them up...the kids menu version would've left them still hungry. However, understand that when I say they were full that they are kids...they always have room left for dessert. It was here that we learned that we were ordering our drinks at counter service just by telling them what you want. When you do this, they will always give you the regular size. It was typical July Florida heat out and we were thirsty. We asked if we could get large drinks and found out that we could as it was included with the meal if we wanted. So we did...from here on out. It really helped us by not having to buy even more bottled water than we did.
After lunch we see a few more things on our stroll over to the Nemo show that started at 1pm. We get there about an hour before show time and are only in line a few minutes before they let in. The past two trips, I've missed this show. It was something I will not miss again on future trips as it was very entertaining.
After Nemo, we decide to leave AK and start our trek over to DTD. To do this, we know we have to transfer to a resort first before going to DTD. I decided to take us to POFQ for two reasons. First, it is the only place at WDW to get true N'awlins style beignets and second, we can then take a water taxi to DTD rather than getting on yet another bus. It was the first time the boys had beignets and they had fun with all the powdered sugar that comes with it. They also opted for milkshakes for drinks, so they were very full of energy for our evening at DTD.
We take the water taxi from POFQ to the Marketplace and then the red-flag water taxi to the West Side. The boys have no idea what Disney Quest is until we get inside. Needless to say, they enjoyed it. Our favorite thing there was the Pirates attraction on the first floor. While inside DQ, we decide that Raglan Road will be our choice for dinner. It's the place I wanted to try and it took little persuasion on the rest to go here. With as loud as it is in DQ, we didn't want to go to T-Rex afterwards. I make a call to Disney Dining and secure an ADR while we continue to play games in DQ. The online thing was only available to travel agents when my 90 days came around. I would've loved to have tried online ADRs here as it was so loud in DQ I had trouble hearing the CM over the phone. Maybe Disney could work on a mobile app for ADRs next. Something that would allow for last minute ADRs if available, but more importantly last minute cancelations if you suddenly realize you can't make an ADR.
Raglan Road is perfect as far as I'm concerned. The band and the dancer were great. It wasn't too loud, but loud enough. The food was awesome, and the Bailey's Creme Brule was to die for. In my mind, this is the best meal of the trip so far. If I had the night to myself, I could easily spend all night sitting at the bar just enjoying the atmosphere and entertainment...my kind of place. We do have shopping back at the Marketplace side ahead of us though, so I forego the whiskey flight on the menu and move on un-inebriated.
We leave DTD around 9:45...just as the first of the rains start to fall. Back at the room around 10:15pm to rest up for what I hope will be the most exciting day yet tomorrow.

Soundstage'95CP said:

For six people it will be a tight fit, depending on how long you are going for. Actually, my one very minor complaint about the cabins is the lack of closet space. It's no different than your average nook with luggage stand that you'd find in any hotel room. There are enough drawers outside of the filled ones in the kitchen area to allow for everyone to have a little space to unpack, but we found ourselves living out of the suitcases for the most part until midway though the trip where we were able to shift our clean clothes out of the suitcases and begin using the bags for dirties. With every day of our trip being highly active, the cabins were the perfect end-of-day escape from the rest of our vacation. On six different occasions we even saw free roaming deer outside...the boys would make a sudden pointing movement that would scare them off though so no pictures. With your planned trip in December, the crispness in the winter night air will play perfectly to the nightly campfires. I usually stay at one of the deluxe resorts, and can honestly say that in the future if I don't end up trying a DVC resort I'll be back at the cabins.

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Thank you so much!! I apreciate your honesty!

Great report so far! Cant wait for the rest!

Day 5

7/23:
Alarm goes off at 5:15. A quick peak outside shows two things...it isn't raining and there's a deer about 15 yards from the window of the FtW cabin grazing in the woods. It's going to be a great day, and it also just happens to be my birthday. Happy 33rd to me!
The way I typically celebrate birthdays is by allowing myself to do the fun things I want with my boys. This morning is something special. I've booked a fishing excursion from the FtW marina at 7am. I've always wanted to try bass fishing in front of the MK and today that dream comes true. Even if we don't catch anything, just being on the lake in the morning air, relaxing with a rod and reel along with my boys and the GPs will make it perfect. The boat captian meets us at the dock right at 7am, and we quickly suit up the boys in life jackets and head on out. Our first stop is close to the boat launch at the TTC, giving us a great view of the castle off in the distance. Other spots would include near the water taxi launch at Wilderness Lodge and near the shores of the old Discovery Island. It was over by the old Discovery Island that we saw something really neat...a family of otters playing on the shores. For an island that has been abandoned and left to go back to nature, nature has really taken over with birds, otters, and more birds everywhere. We surprisingly caught a bunch of fish though. The adults caught and reeled in two each, while the 9yr old caught or reeled in 10 and the 7yr old caught or reeled in 12 fish including this 4.5 lb beauty.


The two hour fishing excursion was amazing. For our experience the $260 for the guided excursion was well worth it. It included a guide that would bait everyone's hook, cast off if needed, and help with the net as you reeled it in. It also included soft drinks and water. You must know that if you do this, it is very possible that you might not catch anything...and we were well aware of this. If we didn't, I'm not sure if it would be worth the cost for a two hour lake tour that you can see from a water taxi for free at any time, but with our experience it was very well worth it. We tipped our guide on top of the cost, but realized when we completed paying of the excursion afterwards that there was not a tip option on the charge slip. So, tips might be included...no worries if it was as with our added gratuity, our guide was well worth the extra recognition of a great job.
After the excursion from FtW, we took the water taxi over to the Contemporary and the monorail shuffle at the TTC to Epcot. The birthday promotion was registered online in advance of the trip, so all they needed to do at the ticket window was scan the bar code and check my id. I opted for the $75 fun card and we were off to finish out the part of future world we missed...The Living Seas. After the Seas, we start heading to where we're going to have lunch...Yorkshire Fish & Chips. We're first in line when they open at 11:30 and we pocket the small dessert of pre-packaged shortbread for another day.
From lunch we walk over to Beaches and Cream for dessert. There's a wait for a table, but with our vacation package booked through Disney we were given a 30 minute arcade card for use at any Disney resort. Being that at the Beach Club it is right next to B&C, we use it here while we are waiting for a table. It is also here that Grandpa pulls me aside and tells me that I have a phone call waiting on one of the resort hospitality phones. I pick it up and it's Goofy wishing me a happy birthday. Apparently anyone can arrange this for free just by calling and asking to be transfered to the birthday line. I hold the phone down by the boys ears so they can hear Goofy's message to me as well. It's at this time that I realize that between the boys and the GPs, there's going to be public humiliation involved any chance they get. So, I figure the kitchen sink will be made an extra big deal for the occasion...and it was as balloons were brought out with the sink and the usuall lights dimming and big announcement and singing were involved. Unfortunately, the public embarasment came with the youngest one accidently spilled a bowl of almost fully-melted chocolate ice cream (with toppings) in his lap. Thankfully the delux resorts have real towels in the restrooms to clean up.
After B&C, we head back to the cabin for a nap and refreshing and then it's off to Wilderness Lodge for a quiet meal at a relaxing place called Whispering Canyon. I've been there before, so I knew what to expect and despite the name and connotation the GPs were expecting with it, they had a blast. We all had the skillet, and it was amazing as usual. The desserts this time were taken to go and would sit in the fridge in the cabin for a couple days before we got to them. My only complaint about Whispering Canyon is that they removed Birch Beer (kind of like Sasparilla for those that don't know) from the beverage menu. The kids got the all-you-can-drink milkshakes though and were quite happy with it.
After dinner, it's back to the cabin where the original plan was to attend the campfire, but the incoming storm kept us inside and going to bed earlier than usual. Good thing too, because tomorrow it's early EMH at the Studios.

I am really enjoying your trip report! It is making me feel like I am right there with you, and is getting me sooo excited about planning my next trip! Cant wait for more!

loving the trip report! its getting me really excited for my september trip! can't wait to read more and see some more pictures

Day 6

7/24:
Wow, we're half way through the Disney portion of our vacation this morning. The alarm went off at 5:30 and we're on the bus at 6:30 headed for the FtW Outpost. We lucked out again on the busses as we arrive at the Studios right at 7am or the 8am EMH this morning. Later today, we'll be finishing off what we have yet to see at Epcot, but first we are going to get through as much as we can at the Studios, leaving only what we plan to skip...Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Best, Playhouse Disney, and American Idol.
We're right at the rope inside the Studios when they lower it and attempt to organize us as we are led towards Toy Story Mania. It's funny to watch as others try to use other paths to run past the CMs, but they catch them all. The only concern is that there are so many people headed to the same place and the path gets narrow at times (like the line in Haunted Mansion after exiting the stretching room). I have the park tickets for all five of us and when we are at the right point of being led by the CMs go right into the Fastpass line and print out return tickets for 8:50am. Then, it's into the stand-by line for the 10 minute wait so we can get two rides on it. If you've not experienced Toy Story Mania yet, I highly encourage you to plan on making it your first stop at the Studios right when it opens. By time we exited at 9am from using our Fastpasses, the posted wait was 80 minutes (that's right when the park opened for all guests). We later saw it peak at 110 minutes and were very happy that not only we got to experience it, but to do so twice.
From here, it's on to Walt Disney: One Man's Dream. I consider this to be a museum in stature, so I don't take any pictures here. If you haven't been, it's basically the history of Disney from the person to the company enterprise it is today. This exhibit has a very special meaning for me, and I'll come back and add a post relating to this later...after I can dust off and scan some old pics.
Today is also the hottest it has been so far on the trip. Looking at the weather app on the iPhone, it reads 95 degrees with 87% humidity.
But we trek onward and finish the morning at the Studios with the first of only two shows for the day of Lights, Motors, Action. The show was good, but I think they should leave some of the prop cars in a garage when shows aren't going on rather than placing them in prime viewing of the tram ride. Heck, when shows aren't going on, they should just let the tram drive through the LMA stadium to add more content to that tour. Anyways, back to the LMA show, it was so hot and, because there were only two shows for the day, so many people that I almost passed out in the heat. Those 20 inch fans whirling around thirty feet above us were doing nothing for air cirulation in the stadium. Note to Disney: if there are enough people at the Studios this week to warrant adding a second Fantasmic show each night, then you should also have more than two performances of LMA.



A side note of something we noticed at the Studios is that it seems like the larger tour groups are all issued Fastpasses in advance. I witnessed on a couple of occasions large tour groups where the tour leader had stacks of hundreds of Fastpasses for their group to ride at a certain time. I think this is actually a great idea because Disney then can preprogram the Fastpass distribution computers to not issue passes for a certain block of time so that these groups can ride. It keeps each individual in the group from having to line up at the machines to get the passes and just allows for better crowd flow for both the groups and the average guests. The problem comes in with what I witnessed at ToT. We're waiting around for our Fastpass time to come around and a large group starts entering the Fastpass line only a couple minutes before our window opens. The group leader pulls out a huge stack of passes and hands each person in the group one as they enter. The problem is that I noticed that their ride window expired several hours prior to the actual time. That creates a larger influx of Fasspast guests to stand-by guests in line and pings the stand-by line wait time up...in this case by 20 minutes (told you it was a large group).
Lunch at the Studios was at Pizza Planet...something the boys really wanted to do. Apparently everyone wants to eat here and there was nowhere to sit other than outside...those larger drinks came in handy here. This place seems so popular that I would almost suggest moving it and retheming Disney Quest to a massive Pizza Planet. They have enough dining space already set up and could even accomodate private party areas there if they wanted.
So after watching LMA, we decided to call the Studios finished for us and take the boat to Epcot's International Gateway.
Last time we were in the World Showcase, we made it half-way starting at Canada (bring back the Beaver Tails please) and ending at America before heading back to Japan for dinner. Today, we walk from France back around and pick up in Italy to finish the loop. Unless you're eating in Italy, there's not much else to do there but snap a couple of photos, walk though a couple shops and move on. We make it all the way to China before the heat and the hunger for dinner get to us.



We have a 6:30p ADR at Biergarten, but decide to check in just before 6pm. There's plenty of seats available and we're seated very quickly.



Biergarten offers something for everyone, but the draw here is the entertainment. The band performing was great. Granpa and I splurged and got a beer and we both finish half of it; his a liter of Optamator, and mine a half of Heffen Weiss (I hope I spelled those right). After the beers and a little bit of good German food, we walk over to the showcase plasa area and steak out a spot for Illuminations. There's a huge storm brewing in the distance and it appeared that Illuminations was performing in a reduced storm mode as it was starting to get quite windy when the show began and none of the pyrotechnics shot upwards with any great height. Either that or I'm just missing how much better the old version that was preceeded by Tapestry of Nations was. Don't get me wrong, Illuminations is still the best pyrotechnic nighttime show in the USA (outside of Disneyland, CA) and it was very exciting to see again.
After Illuminations, it's back to the cabin to rest up for our early morning character breakfast.

Day 7

7/25:
Alarm goes off at 5:15am. We are out the door and waiting at the bus stop for the first stop to the FtW Outpost by 6:15. We need to catch the first bus to both the Outpost and then to AK as we have a b'fast ADR for which we were asked to check in by 7:30 for (a 7:55 ADR). As we wait for the first bus to the Outpost, watching several busses come into FtW headed towards the settlement, we are joined by another couple at that are also going to AK for this morning's EMH. After the 5th bus passes in the opposite direction, they decide to walk to the Outpost. By 6:55 our bus to the FtW Outpost arrives and we eventually catch up with the people that walked to the Outpost. We must have just missed the first bus to AK, because the next bus didn't come until 7:40am. At this point, we are running late. This is our first bad experience with timing the busses and since we did leave with ample time before our ADR we were slightly upset that we were running late. I was looking forward to the walk from the front of AK to Tusker House past the rope where everyone was being held until park opening. This would not happen. Because of the little show that happens when the park opens and the time we eventually got to AK, they held us back until after the park opening ceremony while assuring us that there would be no problem in honoring a late ADR arrival. By the time we check in at Tusker House, it's 8:15am...two full hours after leaving our cabin. We're upset that it took so long to get there, but it wasn't going to spoil our day. Sometimes you get lucky with the busses, sometimes you don't. This time we did not. Now, I don't know exactly how the bus system works as far as the drivers being assigned a route, but it seems to me that if my home airport can track busses with a GPS and have a digital display counting down the aproxamate time until the next bus arrival, Disney could easily do that. At minimum, it would make sense to have more busses running a route for a park that has early EMH than a park that won't open for an hour later.
Last time we had Donald's Safari Breakfast at AK, it was held at Restarauntasurus. Tusker House was so much better. From the specialty juice blends, to the food and atmosphere, this was the best breakfast of the entire trip. While I will probably choose a different location than Chef Mickey's next time, Tusker House will remain on the list. Next time, however, I will plan it for a day other than an EMH morning to experience that before park opening walk that makes it more special.
After Tusker House, we walk the trail over by the safari that we hadn't done yet, and then take the train to Conservation Station. By the time we get back the park is super-crowded so we decide to head on back to the cabin to cool off and then over to MK for the rest of the day. The only things we have left to do now at AK are Dinoland, Festival of the Lion King, and the bird show. No worries, we still have plenty of time left in the trip to come back.
Over at MK, there are no huge crowds. No long waits. It's almost like the twilight zone was relocated here from DHS. Maybe it was just those large ominous clouds rolling in. We're able to do Haunted Mansion again with no wait, then head on over to Fantasyland and start getting stuff done there. Being that I have two boys, there's not much there that they want to do. We drag them on Small World and then start to head over towards Pooh, the Tea Cups, Toontown (or WDW's "temporary" version of it), and then Tomorrowland. We're staying for Spectro and fireworks tonight, so stopping off for some rest at the cabin before heading to MK was a good idea. It was when we were walking from Small World over towards the opposite end of Fantasyland that we finally saw a lot of people, just standing and blocking the walkway. It wasn't the line for Dumbo, or a snack cart however. It turned out to be one of the most magical moments I've ever experienced at WDW. There's no way to describe it. Like the old saying goes, a picture says a thousand words...so here's a few thousand for you:







Dinner tonight was at Pecos Bills. It was something that we were going to do earlier in the trip but changed to go to a different park. It was either going to be this or Cosmic Rays and opted for Pecos as it is the air conditioned option that is usually less busy.
Later this night, we watched Spectro from Main St. My impression of it was that something was off this night, but I wasn't quite sure what. The placement of floats were very far appart from one another. It just seemed very fragmented from what I remember in the past. With Disney though, I'll always compare any nighttime offering to the original Main Street Electrical Parade. I've seen Spectro before and it was good, but the last electrial parade I saw was the original over at California Adventure a couple years back. The original is still the best, sorry WDW.
We did enjoy Spectro and the fireworks afterwards. After the fireworks, we took the water taxi back to the cabins. Tomorrow it's an EMH morning at Epcot, but we're planning on going there after sleeping in a little bit. The boys want to ride Mission Space and Test Track again, and we still have to go through Norway and Mexico before calling this park done. The new plan is to pick up Fastpasses for Test Track, do MS stand-by, followed by lunch and then the last two countries on our list. We'll see how that goes tomorrow...

The side story of Walt Disney: One Man's Dream

A couple days ago we visited Walt Disney: One Man's Dream while at the Studios, a museum-type tribute to Walt and the company he created. From the characters to the parks, it's all here in a place that anyone that loves going to the parks can appreciate. I mentioned that I had a story here involving a couple pictures, so before we move on to recap the rest of our trip I wanted to share it with you.
What the average guest to One Man's Dream does not realize is that the stories of two people are told here. One, obviously, of Disney, but the other is only known to a few. You see, although his story is also told in the exhibit his name appears nowhere within the exhibit. It is the story of the storyteller, Renie Bardeau. Renie was Walt Disney's photographer for 40 years. The majority of the pictures in this exhibit were taken by him. He joined the compnay shortly after Disneyland opened and retired in 1998.
Here is Bardeau's most cherished picture:


His own description of the photo reads "One of the best-loved pictures of Walt Disney, this classic candidphotograph was shot by Renie Bardeau at Sleeping Beauty Castle, Disneyland, October, 1964."
For his work, he was honored the in the best way Disney honors people. With this, a window on Disneyland's Main Street USA:


The reason I know of the story of this storyteller of One Man's Dream is through my parents. They met and became friends with Renie after he retired to the Phoenix area. I've had the pleasure of sitting down with him and talking about his work a few years ago. Hearing of the stories of Marty Sklar at his Disneyland window dedication reminded me of this and the stories Renie told me (some that can't be repeated around the kiddos). Bottom line is that Renie is as big of part of this exhibit as anything else. Last time I visited WDW, One Man's Dream was there, but I had not met Renie yet. This was also the first time my parents have seen this exhibit. It was truly an amazing exhibit for it tells the tale of so many great people. And, for more info on Renie's career check out this 1996 LA Times article: http://articles.latimes.com/1996-09-08/local/me-43258_1_renie-bardeau

We still have six days left to cover, so let's get back to that...