[mj7379]

I'm sorry that I stopped writing my trip report but last week and the beginning of this week was really busy at work and I just couldn't find the time. So, I'm going to start where I left off on Wednesday August 14.

We start out the morning early and went to Animal Kingdom. When the gates opened we headed right for the safari and were glad to see that all of the animals were out and could be easily seen. We then went to the Tarzan Live show which neither myself or my 7-year-old daughter Paula was impressed with. From there we did It's Tough To Be a Bug and it had some new twist to it (but I won't tell, don't want to ruin it for anyone going soon.) We then got a PS for the dinosaur ride and while we were waiting had lunch at the restaurantasaurses (sp?). Not at all what I expected, it was just a McDonalds in disguise. After lunch we went on the dinosaur ride which was my favorite in the park but Paula hated it. A little to scary for her. The last thing we did before we left was the new spinning ride (forget the name). Luckly we got on it because it started to thunder and lighting right after we got off and they closed the ride.

This was the end of our day at Animal Kingdom, but now we were off to Epcot. We arrive a little earlier due to the rain then we planned so we spent a good hour or so in the learning centers and had a blast. We where having so much fun sending picture emails to our family and playing interactive games that we were almost late to the Ice Cream Social.

The Ice Cream Social had to be one of the highlights of our vacation. There were only about 5 other families in the whole restuarant. It was great, the characters (Mickey, Goofy, Chip, Dale and Pluto) spent a lot of time with Paula especially Mickey who played tic-tac-toe and the word search with her. I also liked that the resturant rotated while you eat showing you a sceen from the living with the land ride.

After the ice cream social we spent the rest of the day wandering around Epcot having a blast with all that there is to do there. We ended the day with Illuminations which was just out of this world.

oh, and I almost forgot to stay something about the parade. This was one of the only ones we saw and I thought that it was great. I also wanted to say that if anyone gets a chance you really should go to the bakery in France that pastery there was wonderful.:)

[dab]

Great report mj7379! Sorry to hear you didn't like Tarzan. I've never caught that one and was looking forward to it on our next trip... maybe I shouldn't waste my time. About Restauantosaurus... it is truly great at breakfast with Donald and the gang with a pretty good buffet (not at all fast food fare) but you are right about lunch - it is a dressed up McD's.

Epcot -I love the Garden Grill for dinner and think we'll try the ice cream social next time. I've heard such good reviews! Yummy!

Illuminations is my fav. parade too. I love how the characters interact with the kids and catching the dreams is a really cool touch. The drums.... oh man, that is the coolest part!!

[mj7379]

Thursday August 15

Thursday started out with us getting Paula to the Grand Floridian because she was going on the pirate cruise. after getting her all signed in and off on the boat we decided to walk around and check out the resort. We had breakfast in the cafe and all ordered olmets which were GREAT!!! The also make their own bread and I had the most wonderful rye toast ever.

After breakfast we looked in the stores and sat by the pool until Paula was back. If you have even thought about letting your kids do something on their own I would recommend this. The boat came back to the resort with every child singing the Pirate song from the Pirates of the Caribbean. Every child also got off the boat with a big smile, a bag full of loot from the treasure and a story to tell. Paula couldn't stop talking out this for the remainder of the day.

From here we got on a bus an headed to MGM. We hit RnR coaster first (Paula's favorite), the Muppets 3-D Vision (which Paula was actually not afraid of, she hates 3-D movies), Who Wants to be a Millionaire (we thought this was a lot of fun), and Star Wars (thought it could be better) all before dinner.

For dinner we ate at the 50 Prime Time Cafe, another highlight of our vacation. The waiter we had (Uncle Dave) was great. He put a bib on my sister and one young boy had to sign I'm a Little Tea Pot because he was caught several times with his elbows on the table and the girl sitting next to us didn't eat her veggies and Dave made airplane sounds (along with everyone in our room) and made her eat a big spoonful of them. We took a picture with him and will send him a copy to put in his photoalbum.

After dinner we went on ToT, the backlot tour and did a little shopping. Then it was back to the resort for a little swimming and relaxing.

[mj7379]

Friday August 16

We started the day by going to Blizzard Beach, just me and Paula. It was very crowded, maybe due to the day being the first really hot and sunny one all week. We did a few of the slides and the lazy river. I enjoyed Typhoon Lagon better but again that might have been due to the amount of people there.

We went back to the resort for lunch and a nap because we were doing the E-ride night later on and knew we would be tired. Around 4pm we left for the MK and got there just in time for our PS at CRT. The resturant was beautiful and Cinderella was sitting right inside so we all got pictures with her before dinner. The food was ok but we did get to see Peter Pan outside on the balcony (the show was going on in the front of the castle and I guess he was just waiting) we had a great window table.

After dinner we did fantasy land and a couple of the rides that weren't part of E-ride night. Then we looked for a good seat for the light parade (and we got great ones). The parade was wonderful (have never seen it before) and well worth the hour wait. After the parade we went to Mickey's Toon Town Fair and saw Mickey and Pooh and Friends with no wait, in fact no one was even there. We walked out of Mickey's tent just has the fireworks were going off and had a great view.

We spent the remainder of the night riding all the great rides with no lines. The $12 for E-ride night was well worth it and I would do it again. We left around 12:15pm having done everything in the MK in only half the time it normally takes us.

Then it was off to bed and were we TIRED:)

[dab]

Keep the reports coming mj7379. I am getting so excited and will definately call to book a PS for 50's Prime Time. I know it was one of Mickey's top picks too and now I can understand why. Sounds like so much fun.

[LRTJS]

I have so enjoyed reading your trip reports. I am gald the ice cream social went well for you. I was a little disappointed. It was raining during our PS and many people just dropped in so the place was pretty full. The characters just came up to my GD, hugged her and on they went. But, the ice cream was great and she was very happy! My GD did not like the 3D movies either. The pirate ship ride sounds great. I have not heard of that one. There are so many things going on at Disney it seems I hear something new every day.

[ilvminnie]

Great reports, mj7379. Glad to hear you had such a great time. 50's PrimeTime is one of our favorites, too. But DAB, don't give up on the Tarzan show. We loved it. Saw it twice last trip & looking forward to another couple of times this trip.