Heading home
Wednesday came way way too fast!
We got up at the butt crack of dawn and got ready to head out. The other problem with the “included transfers via Magical Express” is that they over compensate how much time you need! They pick you up 3 hours prior to your flight – which during prime time is probably needed, but since it wasn’t prime time, it was an 8:30 am flight and we are Assent level… it was  a tad overkill…

We hoped to spend a bit more time with momClaudia before her flight, but were were through separate security points. :(
We said our good byes and see you soon there.

At security we were entertained with a joke from the TSA gal – someone asked her what TSA stood for, she told them, and their reply was – “oh,i thought it was ‘throw stuff away’”.  I’d say that was pretty stupid to say to the people that can keep your from making your flight! We politely laughed and gave our sympathy of what a mean spirited thing that was!

After security we saw the light at the end of the tunnel – a Starbucks! Disney apparently  doesn’t believe in Starbucks or they haven’t come to a deal that makes both companies happy, cause there are no Starbuckswithin Disney property. Sigh.
That caused momClaudia a bit of unhappiness…
So we stocked up on our favorite caffeinated beverages and headed to the gate – still 2 hours from take off…

We did get a bit of blogging done – hence you being able to read about my trip!  :)

It’ll be nice to be home and see phillip!

Tags: Disney

MomClaudia was waiting for us in the our lobby – be aware that there is no way to move between Universal Studios and Disney Property via anything but a cab! Poor mom was at a conference at Universal and was coming to spend the rest of her birthday week with us at Disney! Yeah!!! The only way she could get to us was via a $40 cab ride… oofa!

Then we headed to the Hollywood Theme Park! We rode most of the rides and saw most of the shows! 

The best ride was the new Toy Story Midway ride! It’s 3-D and you getto play games with a cool string pulled shooter!! I did pretty good!
We also got to eat at the 50’s sci fi drive in theater!!  Hubby loved it, momClaudia not so much – as she said – "I hate to eat in the car".Hahahahh!! And that was the theme! Luckily or unfortunately we didn’t have reservations so our "car" was just a table between the front and the back ends, the regulars seats are at really like being in a car.You sit 2 by 2!!

The best part – real cherry coke!!!  Mmmm!!!

We hit up the hotel bar for a night cap – momClaudia went with a mudslide martini and said it was rather tasty!

And then it was time for my tradition – Caricature!!!

This time I allowed hubby to join me in my portrait!!  Rick (the cartoonist) did a fabulous job! We did one with the 2 of us on the couch with Phillip on my lap and angel Terrance watching over us!
It looks really good! And it’s funny to see my weight fluctuate via cartoons! Can’t wait to get it framed and add it to the current collection hanging in the guest bathroom!

Then we hit the hay in anticipation of a full day at the Magic Kingdom the next day!

Tags: Disney

Sunday we headed to the Animal Kingdom Theme Park! We wanted to get there early, to ride the safari ride. I know it’s not africa and it’s really just a big zoo – but i was excited!!  We got there right after the gates had opened and we raced to the back to get in line or grab a fast pass! Luckily there was only a 10 minutes wait! Woohoo!!  Yeah me!!

We hopped into the "bus" and off into the African Safari we went!  The animals were all in view, all relaxing, having been fed an hour or so earlier!
We saw tons on elephants! A baby and a teenager to boot!!

We saw a cheeta, and a big old lion like from the lion king, sitting at the top of his area sunning himself!
It was really fun! After that, the Jungle Cruise ride at the Magic Kindom, is kind of a let down! ;)

We were able to get off the Safari Ride and grab a ride on the Mt Everst on the other side of the park! The ride was similar to The Matterhorn in Disneyland, but better, steeper, backwards and darker!  It’s a pretty cool park. Last time i was at Disney with the family we skipped it, definitely not too kid centric, but fun!

We had a nice – and really really expensive lunch at the Yak and Yeti – not to be confused with the dinner we had Monday night at the Yak and Yeti!
Yummy ribs, pho, and beef and broccoli as well as some asian appetizers! Mmmm!

On our way out we took a walk around the "tree of life". Which is the central item in the park. It is huge and all carved with a ton of different animals!

We were able to get everything done we wanted to get done by 1 o’clock – and that included a leisurely lunch!
We headed back to the hotel to let L head on home and meet up with the Birthday gal!!

Tags: Disney

Saturday night we decided to head to Downtown Disney for some adult time! 

Way back when – like the 90’s – i was here for a US First competition and remembered pleasure island being super cool, adult only, every night is midnight, lots of bars type of place.  Sigh… Alas that has gone the way of the wind. Poop!  I was hoping for a respite from all the children. Too bad for me!

All the bars are gone except one – the explorers and that didn’t seem to be open at 9pm…  And they had added on to downtown Disney – a whole additional arm of shops and a giant movie theater and the best place in the universe to get a slushy!!  Stop in at the Cauldron next time you are in the area!

As we walked around checking out the options for snack we decided on the Fulton Crab Shack. The place was hopping. To me days blur in Disney but we found out later that a Saturday night is still a Saturday night even in a giant resort! We attempted to belly up to the bar, but were only able to gain a small foot hold at the end with no seating! Hubby got a Pop Rocks Martini – super duper cool presentation! The fill the bottom of the glass with a whole packet of pop rocks, then the bartenders ducks and attempts to get as far away from the glass as possible as he pours the drink in! The little pop rocks went everywhere – hubby found some in his hair much later that night!

We eventually headed back to the hotel but did stop to get birthday ears for mom-claudia, since she was meeting up with us the next day and monday was her birthday!!  Pretty cool set up- you pick the base hat,the ears – bout 6 different styles, and they button onto the hat, and then there are all kinds of iron on patches to add! We thought it was great!

It was great day! And ended wonderfully!

Tags: Disney

Saturday we slept and slept and slept- gotta love vacation!!
Our only plan was to meet up with L and enjoy the florida winter weather!  (it was darn cold i tell you!)

We looked out at our "standard room" view. Which at this time was anempty animal enclosure! And my favorite, was the sign on the slidingdoor!

We headed out to see if we could scrounge up some grub before L came to see us! We found Mara – the snack bar- at the hotel.
Not great, not terrible, but they did have a yogurt parfait that became my breakfast choice for the entire time!

The weird thing was that the menu board was movie like and the food choices would come out at you…  strange.

We enjoyed the boat ride back to the Hollywood Park and took the bus back to the hotel – lots of time was spend on transportation

Tags: Disney

We headed off to the world of the mouse Friday afternoon!
Security was light! Yeah!
We decided to chill out at Chef Jimmy’s for an early dinner.
After a long flight which included a wee one that had colic or an ear infection and cried the ENTIRE 3 hour flight. Ugh!!!!
Really helped the determination to remain child free. The parents attempted to placate the baby but failed completely!!!
I don’t know why they flew with a baby that young in the first place, flew when it was in pain or sick, and flew in the front of the plane where the people that fly the most sit!!! (i know, snob!) ARG!!!  I really wanted to let them know what i thought of their lack of parental control but whosed out!

Our next joy was getting to wait for the magic express… ugh. Can’t say i would do that again, but one usually forgets how long and painful that whole bus process is between trips! (it was worse coming back – but that’s another post!)

We arrived at the property pretty close to it being almost the next day! Sigh!
We went to check in and Brian – from UNH – our Animal Kingdom host was less than thrilled to be on his shift.
He asked if our address on the license was correct and we said no – yes we have yet to update our addresses, shame on us.
And he gave a big old sigh, and when the other check in gal mentioned she had already printed a bunch of stuff for check in, he huffed that it didn’t matter that he had to do it all over again…  I guess having the wrong address is a big deal…

We arrived at our hotel room which was just down the hall from the main lobby and all the action – yeah!
We open the door and there are 2 queen beds. Hmmm…  I was pretty sure that i had booked a king and a trundle…  But alas our travel agent is not all that and a bag of chips – she even forgot to enter our frequent flier numbers so our seats were further back then they should have been… 
I returned to the front desk to chat about this…  They informed me that i had a "standard" room – a.k.a. – you bee a cheap ash and you get what you get!  I was perplexed by this…  Hubby and I don’t do well in a queen bed. We both seem to sleep – wide, so it’s really not a great arrangement…
She looked to see if there was a room with a king bed and said we could pay for a cot…  um, ok…  But alas, at 1am, no rooms available, but we could check the next day… sigh…  I have having to change rooms…

We fell into bed, pulled the fabulous black out curtains and attempted to sleep like the dead!

Tags: Disney