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Who: Myself - Stacey (age 33) - 6th trip to WDW
Sister - Karen (age 36) - 10th trip to WDW
When: October 7-10
Stayed: Animal Kingdom Lodge
Temp: Hot, Humid, Low 90's
This trip was a gift to me from my sister. She rocks! Anyway, I've only stayed at the All-Stars before, so this was a real treat. She lives in NY, I'm in NC but we coordinated our flights so that we arrived in Orlando within 20 minutes of each other and she was waiting for me at the gate. We ran through the airport because we were so excited to get to the world. We grabbed the shuttle that was leaving the quickest - BIG mistake. It wasn't any of the big-name shuttles, I don't even remember what the name was but the van kept shutting off while we were driving and then we got pulled over for speeding! Not a good start to our day. It was only 11 in the morning, but
this guy was holding us back. We finally arrived at the AKL at 11:45. The place is beautiful. A far cry from the All-Stars. We were checked in by "Junior" (yes, his real name) and he gave us our savannah view room and told us that it was an excellent room. He neglected
to mention that it was at the very end of the Kudo trail and was quite the hike. But, the view was incredible. At that time of day there were no animals out so we were a little disappointed but gladly ran back out of the room and hopped the next bus to AK.
We ate at the Flame Tree (Karen had never been to AK before so I had to let her experience the BBQ). Now, what I should mention here is how different we are. Karen is a daredevil - a free spirit. I am a chicken. Very conservative. I am happy doing the kiddie and slow paced rides. Karen isn't happy unless she's been upside down, in the dark or dropped or just plain scared silly. So when she planned this trip I had to sign a "contract" stating that I would go on everything that she wanted. I agreed because I wanted to go so very badly. So anyway, after lunch she takes me on "Dinosaur". I went on that back in '98 when it was "Countdown to Extinction" and nearly cried. My 10 year old son LOVES this ride. But I was a big girl and went on. Next we did the spinning roller-coaster (PrimevialWhirl?) Yes, I was feeling brave now. Then we walked over and on to the Rapids. Now THAT
was a fun ride. We got totally soaked but being that it was 90 degrees out, we didn't mind. We shopped a little and then decided to head back to the Lodge and go for a swim and relax in the jacuzzi. The pool at the lodge is a little plain, but still wonderful. Just to sit and look at the building is a nice view. Before we left we went to watch the giraffe's eat. Very cool. They were so close! Then we went back to the room to change and then head down to Boma's for dinner. It was so nice to eat a peaceful meal and enjoy good conversation with eachother. The food was wonderful (although I'm not sure what all of it was). After eating way too much we headed over to EPCOT. It was late and we rode SSE and then ran over to T.T. which we got to ride 3
times in a row because we were like the last people on line. We could've gone for a fourth, but the ride broke down. We missed the fireworks and took a boat over to the Boardwalk. I'm not really sure why, because we didn't eat or want to do anything, we just wanted to see it. To get back to the Lodge would've taken too long with Disney transportation, so we took a cab back. It was well worth the $9.
So for my first day, I felt exhausted but thoroughly giddy. Tomorrow it is off to MK. That is our favorite park. The dream is to skip arm and arm down Main Street together wearing mouse ears. We'll see if that actually happens.
Day 2: Wake up call: 7 a.m., on the bus: 8:30 a.m. to Magic Kingdom.
Karen surprised me with matching, sequined Minnie Mouse ears. I really didn't think she was serious about us wearing mouse ears while skipping down Main St., but apparently I was wrong. We got a lot of strange looks on the bus. Most people were amazed that 2 women on vacation with no children would actually choose to go to WDW. I think they're the crazy ones. The last time Karen and I had been together in WDW was 1982! This was like a 20-year reunion!!!
We arrived at MK at the exact moment of opening and there were NO LINES!!!! I knew this was going to be a good day. We ate breakfast at the Main St. Bake Shop (and if anyone has the recipe for the French Toast loaf, I'd love a copy of it). We enjoyed people watching and were amazed at how light the crowds were. Next it was of to Buzz Lightyear. She had never been on it before. That's always a lot of fun. Then we hopped on to the TTA. We had to make sure breakfast had settled a bit before going on Space Mtn. It was my first time and I was SCARED!!! Remember, I'm the chicken, She's the daredevil. I actually enjoyed it. I kept my eyes closed most of the time, but I still enjoyed it and was proud of myself. We skipped over to Fantasyland and rode Snow White and Peter Pan (again, she had never been on these). We headed over to the HM and just laughed ourselves silly the whole time. I was still amazed that we were just walking on everything. I noticed some changes in the mansion since last year. I guess that was part of the rehab. We left there and she dragged me over to Splash Mtn. Of course, there were no lines here either so I had to confront more fears head on. This was the BEST ride. I can't believe I'd been such a big baby for so long and missed out on some incredible rides all these years. We just laughed all the way over to BTM but there was a little bit of a line so we did a FASTPASS and hopped on the WDWRR and took a ride around to Main St. After another skip down the street we headed over to the Pirates and walked right on that too. We did a little shopping and then walked right on to BTM and had the front seat. Another pleasant surprise. We decided that we had done all that we wanted to for the time being and picked up our pictures that we had taken in front of the castle and took a ride on the Monorail. We were back at the Lodge by 1:30. It is amazing how much you accomplish when there are no children.
We put on our bathing suits, had a light lunch at the Mara (not that
impressive), soaked in the jacuzzi again, swam and just relaxed. Very
refreshing. We had to run inside at 3:30 due to a downpour. By 4:30 the sun was back and we took the bus back to MK and then hopped a boat over to WL for dinner at Whispering Canyon. The food was ok. We had an obnoxious waiter who, after hearing me whine that I didn't want to do ToT or RnRRC at MGM the next day, made me get up and announce to the entire place that I really WANTED to go on these rides. Did I mention that public speaking isn't my thing either? There went his tip! After dinner we went back to MK and did all 3 mtns again. I was so brave. On the way out, we stopped for ice dream sundaes and then went back to the lodge for the mile hike back to the room. My legs are killing me!!
This was truly the BEST day. It was almost like going to MK for the first time thanks to my DS dragging me on all the big-kid rides. Tomorrow it's off to MGM
Part One, Part Two
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