Pre-Trip Confirmations made, so here we go again.....

I just got back from my 'short trip w/ limited Disney' report a few weeks ago. I visited my daughter while my wife stayed back in PA. The wife is conserving some vacation time for one more FL trip. A review of the airfare found that we could pay less than $120 per ticket if I use some reward points. We figured that this will be the last FL trip until August or September since our daughter would be moving back home for the summer (off because she works for a school district). So we're going to fly out on a Friday morning in mid-May, and return home on Tuesday A.M. My daughter already booked our park reservations although she's having trouble landing a Saturday. As it gets closer we'll keep looking given the new Disney policy of releasing tickets 48 hrs prior if the reservation doesn't have a purchased ticket for that day. I'll keep everyone posted and log a bunch of pics.

 

[macefamily]

When ? When will the shows come back ?

 

[macefamily]

We were so happy to be back. During our past four visits we passed on the 60-80 minute waits for ToT. That queue just seems to stand completely still. We were fortunate enough to land a Fast Pass and walk right through to the boiler room. ToT is truly a favorite of everyone in our family. It looked like there were only one or two cars running. Seems like those ride vehicles are always broke down.

 

[macefamily]

After our ToT experience, the wife wanted to head to the Rockin Rollercoaster retail shop. She's a big pin collector, and she was looking for a certain 2021 pack that she couldn't find anywhere. One of the CM's told her that she just stocked a bunch of these pins in the RR store. So we made a beeline to the shop, and the wife bought six boxes of her pins. This was the first time I noticed this hidden Minnie made of guitar picks.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Time for a late afternoon meal. We ate at the Brown Derby for the first time. Kind of odd considering we've been going to the parks since the late 90's. I knew what I'd be ordering; the Brown Derby staple, a Cobb salad. Our plan was to have a light meal, get "dessert" from the outside bar and say hello to Ron. Then we will take a slow walk down Sunset Blvd. to Tower of Terror. We were able to cancel our RotR reservation, and we were able to substitute a Fastpass.





View attachment 563154View attachment 563158View attachment 563159View attachment 563162

The Brown Derby is one of those restaurants that I say I'm going to try next time yet never do. How was the Cobb Salad? That is what I would've ordered.

 

[macefamily]

The Brown Derby is one of those restaurants that I say I'm going to try next time yet never do. How was the Cobb Salad? That is what I would've ordered.

I've always liked a good Cobb salad, and I'd say this was one of the best. One thing I would suggest is to add the chicken, shrimp, or lobster. I just had the base Cobb, and it could have used a little more protein.

 

[macefamily]

We had a full day and it was still only late afternoon. We decided to pick up Bean from the kennel and take him to Lake Kissimmee for a nice Sunday afternoon walk. We didn't know what we were in store for

 

[cgersic]

Loving the pictures!! I so appreciate when other's photos show me something I've never noticed before.

 

[macefamily]

We've been to Lake Kissimmee before. It's beautiful. It was a pleasant early Sunday evening. There's several pavilions in the park. Every pavilion had a party. I saw one gender reveal, a few graduation parties, and an engagement party. My wife decided to take a seat on the bench waterside while my daughter and I took the dog for a walk taking in the sights. We probably walked a good mile.

My first trip to Florida was in 1994. On every trip since, probably about 35, I have scanned every pond, swamp and body of water trying to catch a glimpse of a gator in the wild. I did not want to go to Gatorland. I wanted to see it in the wild.

My daughter and I were walking for about a half hour. I was looking in every marshy area and top of the water. We got to the point where we agreed that we should turn around and go back. We took a few steps and I noticed something breaking the water. My adrenaline pumped. I think I said to my daughter, "Oh my gosh, could it be ?" The gator turned and started slowly moving to the shoreline. We were fine because there's a six foot wall between the water and the raised walkway. He had a big head so I'm guessing he had to be a 6 or 7 footer.
It took 27 years, but I had one of my wishes crossed off the list.

 

[macefamily]

After our exciting experience at Lake Kissimmee we looked for a pet-friendly restaurant in downtown Kissimmee. We found a few, but one that stood out with a great variety of foods and specialty mixed drinks was 3 Sisters Speakeasy. They had a great little outside seating area on the sidewalk. We ordered four appetizers that we shared: firecracker shrimp, quesadillas, fried pickles, and nachos. I had two different IPA's and my daughter had a margarita. It was a bit breezy and the sun was going down so it became chilly very quickly. My daughter had to run back to her vehicle to get a blanket for Bean. He and my wife snuggled up.
We would be spending our last day tomorrow at Magic Kingdom. We snagged a reservation at The Wave for breakfast. This would be our first time eating there as well.

 

[MinnieM123]

We were fortunate enough to land a Fast Pass and walk right through to the boiler room. ToT is truly a favorite of everyone in our family.

Really enjoyed the photos you took inside, particularly the 3rd one in the group, (head sculpture of a man). I'm trying to figure out who he is. Anyway, I never noticed that before, so it was fun to see something I've missed there, for years!

 

[Zipadeelady]

Tell your wife she's beautiful!

 

[meggo819]

He and my wife snuggled up.

Well that's just adorable!

 

[macefamily]

Tell your wife she's beautiful!

That hair is natural. Her mom turned gray at 32. My wife used to color her hair until five years ago. She just stopped and let the natural color take affect.

 

[MickeyCB]

I have scanned every pond, swamp and body of water trying to catch a glimpse of a gator in the wild. I did not want to go to Gatorland. I wanted to see it in the wild.

I too look at every body of water in Florida with the same goal in mind. I even watch the little roadside ponds from the Magic Bus on the way from the airport.
So during one trip ages ago, we were staying at the WL and were walking up from the boat dock in the back and I split off from my family and took the walk way to the right where there were some rooms with ground level patios.
This was way before the cabins were there and there was a pond right beside the patios. (No fence). There was a little girl out there and she points to the pond and says "look, it's a baby alligator"!
And sure enough there are 2 little eyeballs sticking up in the water and I took a picture with a very old cell phone.
When I got back to our room I showed my family and they made fun of me as they couldn't see the eyeballs and to this day insist I made the whole story up!

 

[MinnieM123]

I too look at every body of water in Florida with the same goal in mind. I even watch the little roadside ponds from the Magic Bus on the way from the airport.
So during one trip ages ago, we were staying at the WL and were walking up from the boat dock in the back and I split off from my family and took the walk way to the right where there were some rooms with ground level patios.
This was way before the cabins were there and there was a pond right beside the patios. (No fence). There was a little girl out there and she points to the pond and says "look, it's a baby alligator"!
And sure enough there are 2 little eyeballs sticking up in the water and I took a picture with a very old cell phone.
When I got back to our room I showed my family and they made fun of me as they couldn't see the eyeballs and to this day insist I made the whole story up!

I believe you! There are definitely gators. Some years ago, I stayed at WL and went out for an early dawn walk. I was on that wooden boardwalk (that headed down to the boat dock). Heard a swish sound ahead of me, and I saw a gator that was sliding off the dock and back into the water! Needless to say, I ran in the opposite direction!

 

[macefamily]

I too look at every body of water in Florida with the same goal in mind. I even watch the little roadside ponds from the Magic Bus on the way from the airport.
So during one trip ages ago, we were staying at the WL and were walking up from the boat dock in the back and I split off from my family and took the walk way to the right where there were some rooms with ground level patios.
This was way before the cabins were there and there was a pond right beside the patios. (No fence). There was a little girl out there and she points to the pond and says "look, it's a baby alligator"!
And sure enough there are 2 little eyeballs sticking up in the water and I took a picture with a very old cell phone.
When I got back to our room I showed my family and they made fun of me as they couldn't see the eyeballs and to this day insist I made the whole story up!

I hear ya ! When I first spotted the gator, my daughter said it looked like a log. I zoomed in with my phone to get the picture. It was probably about 15 yards from the shore.

 

[macefamily]

First time at The Wave for breakfast; last day at the parks...Magic Kingdom. The Contemporary holds a special place in our hearts because my daughter did her Disney College Program there as a lifeguard. She also had to do 14 hour shifts at the resort when Hurricane Irma hit. Disney released most full time employees to take care of their homes and be with their families while they leaned on the part time college kids to do the heavy lifting. My daughter served food to the guests and took care of their needs who were bunkered down in the Contemporary ballrooms. I also learned from a friend that many Floridians book rooms at the last minute at Disney during severe hurricanes because the resorts have been built to withstand the heaviest weather conditions.

 

[macefamily]

Breakfast at The Wave was very good. The Bloody Mary was not as good as Art Smith's Southern Mary, but what is. They had a nice mix plate with grits, home fries, Mickey waffles, eggs Benedict, sausage, bacon, and fruit. I don't particularly care for waffles so I traded my daughter for her grits and I gave her my waffles.
Off to the Magic Kingdom on our last day in FL probably for the next 3 or 4 months. But we still had a full Disney day in front of us so there was no need to be melancholy. I still love that initial "walk-in" when you scan your Magic Band and walk through the arches into the main courtyard. It never gets old.

 

[macefamily]

There's always a debate as to whether to take the left to Frontierland or take the right to Tomorrowland. I didn't even put the question out there. I took the initiative to just take the right turn and head to Tomorrowland.

 

[macefamily]

It seems like forever since we've ridden the People Mover. Finally it was back open and it seemed like everyone wanted to ride it again. It's never been that popular, but the wait was 45 minutes. When we finally got on, the ride stopped four times. One time it was down for a good five minutes so whatever they were working on for the past year apparently didn't help.