[Dana]

Friday, January 30th

Warning to the readers: this may go on to long. Lot's of insignificant details about everything.

Departure

We woke at 6am anxious to get on our way. After dressing and "doing our thing", we had about 20 or more min to kill before our driver was due to pick us up. As ususal, I start to panic about forgetting some important item and begin to open each suitcase for on last look to check. The driver comes as I get to the second of three suitcases. Sitting in my driveway is a long dark blue limo that I was told I couldn't get. I don't know who was more shocked, Sara or me! My Mom runs to find a camera as I began to get the bags to the steps. The driver who is quite handsome, comes and grabs my bags and trecks down the icy driveway to load them into his trunk. Sara sprints out the door and the driver opened the door for her and said "Good morning Princess. May I drive you to the airport?" Wow! He was great! We got to the Philadelphia Airport in no time with little traffic. He dropped us curbside and I began to juggle suitcases and a DD. He offeres to take them into check-in and I said no forget it ...no biggie. He will get a ticket and I don't want him to get into trouble for me. Philadephia airport is pretty hustle and bustle and will slap you with a ticket quick for parking and holding up everyone..lol Sara took the smallest of the three and the carry-on bag and I tried to lug the HUGE one and the medium size one. They are wheelers and not heavy to pull, but awkward. We check in no problem and begin to head to our gate. First a quick stop at security which is usually a breeze here. Not today. People DO NOT listen and read the directions and are upset when they have to take off their boots etc. the line was backed up becauase of a entire group's stupidity and ignorance. Sara and I had our security routine down to a science and began to load our trays onto the Xray machine. The man behind the counter stopped us and took Sara's tray (in my mind I'm like...now what?) he takes sara's jacket and covers up her stuffed penquin's eyes and said "this way he won't be scared." What a great guy! We found our assigned gate with ease and began our wait. Then all heck breaks loose. Just at boarding time we hear an announcement "Attention ladies and gentlemen: This plane has been grounded!" WHAT!!!!! Moans and cries of frustations errupted from the crowd forming around the desk. Sara is in tears not understanding what is going on. She just thinks we are not going. A bit later, there is another announcement and they say our flight has been combined with another 3 gates down. Problem is only the first 50 can go...hmmm Want to see a mother drag her child down a hall by her arm? I plowed over people to get to that gate and I know I took out a few...don't care. I am ususally a very generous and kind person, but the next flight was at 8pm that night and went into Tampa and you had to get ground transportation to Orlando that is almost 2 hours away...not me. I was second in the line. I was not giving up these seats and losing more time. There were many crying children and frustated people who got bumped and as much as my consious was calling for me to give up my seats, I ignored it and got on. The plane finally took off t 11:30. An hour and fifteen mins. later that planned, but not to bad. We should land at 2pm. and be at AKL by three. As long as the luggage makes it! Poor mickaholic will be waitng for over an hour. She was coming to meet me at 2pm. Janice (llama) is expecting my call and everyting is running behind. It can't be helped.

Now, how to kill time on the plane. For Sara it was no biggie. She got to sit next to a girl her age and they had a blast for the entire flight. I won't be hit with the normal "what time is it? How much longer?".

We landed in Orlando in a little over 2 hours. All the time sitting has me wound tight and I practically sprint off the plane. By the time I get off and get to baggage claim it's after 2pm. I know mickaholic is waiting and I hate holding people up! The Tiffany driver was waiting as planned and asked if I needed help getting the bags to the curb. This woman was smaller than me and there was no way that I was asking her to carry my bags. I'll do it I say. Grab the car from parking and I'll meet you. I don't have time to play princess and make people wait on me. The purpose of me having the car is to get there as fast as possible. We were loaded and ready to go. As soon as we arrived at AKL, I jump out of the car and had the bags out of the trunk as soon as she popped it. Lugage guy took them and my name for after check-in. I whisked Sara off through the doors and didn't even take a second of time to look at the exterior of the building (I was in rush mode and notcied nothing!) Alma (mickaholic) is waiting in the doorway. I recognized her from her Mousefest group picture. Quick intorduction and I sped to registration. Alma must have thoght me rude, but once I am in "rush mode" I am not very concious of manners. I plant Sara in line, tell her to stand there and trot over to the pay phone to call Janice (llama) and set up a meet. As soon as I hear her voice on the phone, I am forced to smile. I have been wating for what like feels forever to meet my friend and was suddenly taken aback by how close I was to doing so. We agreed to 4pm in front of the RnR in MGM> I hang up the phone with a smile and run back to registration where Sara and ALma are waiting and we were next in line. The CM sensed time was of importance..lol I am very obvious of how little time I have.....she did it all very fast. She put us in the savannah without me remembering to ask for an upgrade and we were assigned to room 4581 in the Zebra trail. She went in the back and came out with a black WDW bag and my vouchers for my pins and laynards. Sara noticed a tinkerbell note on the bag. It was from Janice! What a sweetie. We left Alma in the lobby and sprinted up to the room to see it real quick and drop off our carry-on bag. Sara was givien the choice between a queen and bunk beds and opted for bunk beds (she never slept in them before) and she was really wanting to see them. We got up and opened the door. I have no descrition for the beauty I saw. These rooms are gorgeous. We went straight to the balcony and looked for "our animals" and couldn't see many becasue of the darkenss that was starting to fall. A quick call to NJ to tell my father we are there and Sara and I were out the door to get Alma. We headed back down and realized how far away we were from the lobby. I really didn't care at this point...FREE upgrade was on my mind. We colected Alma and went directly to the bus stop. The wait was very short to MGm and off we went. I finally got a chance to talk to Alma and we discussed DC and other things as we waited to get to MGM. It's past four when we arrive and I am late again! The anticipation of meeting Janice is building and I start to become a bit nervous. It's hard meeting people like this. I start to worry if she will like me and we all head down to RnR. Standing by the entrance of the ride is a man, woman and a younger version of the woman. I yell over "janice?" I see the smile and start to run over. I hugged her like I have known her all my life and this is strange becasue I am not a "touchy feelly" kinda a gal. We make breif introductions around and head straight for the ride. ALma waited for us in the gift shop. In what felt like seconds we were on the ride and ready to ROCK! As soon as the limo's wheeled squeeled and hit that first loop, my vacation had officailly begun. After RnR, Janice, her husband Neil, and I went on TOT. Sara stayed behind wanting to hang out with Emily (janice's 19 year old DD...very cool) and Alma and wait. She sent me as the guinea pig and promised to try it later in the trip. It was my first time on this ride and I had no idea what to expect. The line was nothing and the only wating we did was to walk to the library and watch the short film. VERY COOL RIDE!!! It will run a close second to RnR as my favorite by the time the trip is over.

After the ToT we all head over to the Brown Derby for our dinner PS. This is definately a good spot for adults looking for some alone time. The romance is here but lost on me and my DD. I am so glad that I tried it however, brecasue new things are fun. Our server brought us drinks and bread as we debated the menu. Neil and I had the steak while Sara had Chicken Fingers, Janice the Cobb salad, Emily crab cakes, and Alma had the cobb salad and french onion soup. It was a decent enough meal but one of those been there did that kind of places. We all had dessert. Me Apple pie thingy (cheese on it threw me for a loop), sara the burried treasure, Emily and Janice the Pineapple cake, Alma the chocolate cake, and Neil a cappuchino (sp?). Alma whipped out her Disney Dining card and saved us 20% on the meal, but I snatched the check and opted to treat my new friends.

After The Brown Derby, Neil, Sara, Emily and ALma went on the Great Movie ride while me and Jancie took some time to chat. We all headed for Muppets 3D when they were done and by then it was time for the park to close. It's starting to rain AGAIN anyway. It stopped for a breif time or lightened up. I don't remember at this point. Rain was going to be a constant in this trip according to the news.

Janice, ALma, Sara and I went back to the AKL via bus while Neil dropve Emily back to OKW to pack. She was leaving the next day and had to be up early for a flight. After a little confusion of where the stop was, we were quickly on our way. We were meeting Trish (trishb) at 7:30 in the lobby and we again were starting to run short on time.

Back at the AKL, we began to search the lobby for Trish. I have to admitt that I am not good at this meeting up with people I don't know thing. How the heck was I going to find her in this growing crowd of people in the Lobby? I checked in at the desk to see if I had any messages. When I returned to the group, I saw a lone woman with a foot boot and went over to check her out. After a few seconds of standing there, I said "are you meeting someone?" It was HER!!!! I drug her over to our little group and made all of the introductions. I threw her off with wearing jeans...she remembered that I didn't feel comfortable wearing them in the parks. We took a group picture and then trish was off to enjoy her only solo night in EPCOT.

We dropped Sara in the game room and took a walk over to the pool bar where Janice and I had a wine. Alma had to drive very soon and opted to not drink. We talk a bit and then decided to call it a night. I was anxious to unpack and get Sara settled. We grabed Sara who was waiting by the door broke...spent everything I gave her already! lol so much like her Mother. Alama went into the Mara to buy her mother a Zebra Dome and Sara and I walked Jancie to the lobby to meet Neil. We found him quickly and I asked them if they wanted to check out the room. I took them up for a quick tour and we discovered that they were hanging out for the day tomorrow and we decided on meeting in MK at 10:30 in front of Phillarmagic. We said our goodbyes. Sara and I never called for our luggage and now had to get it. I called housekeeping to order a fridge. Our room was so far away that the mug thing made no sense. We then called for our luggage. As soon as it arrived, we went straight down to the gift shop to get some postcards. When we got back, our fridge was there and we filled it with the waters we bought at the Mara. I bought four and just kept refilling them. They earned their $2.50 by the end of the trip. Sara grabbed a shower as I unpacked. My turn was next. She fell asleep as I started on my postcards. I had all but 20 done and decided to call it a night. The rushing and stress started taking it's toll and I was just plain ol' tired. On the way back to the room that night after everyone had gone, I finally had a chance to take in the beauty of this resort. My, it's just plain beautiful. Anyone would just gasp at it on first site. I picked a winner for sure and was patting myself on the back for choosing it.

End of Day one.

Highlights: Meeting my DC friends, riding RnR, free upgrade
Downers: Plane aggravation and running behind all day.

[LAURENGOLD]

Dana-

Sounds so great!!!!! I had goosebumps when you talked about meeting Janice. Besides the plane it sounds like a great first day, I can't wait to read more.

:heart Lauren

P.S.-Devyn just got her card from Sara, she's carrying it around everywhere, she loves it!!! Thank-you.

[MickeyRon]

WOW... I am exhausted just reading that! Awesome report... looking forward to the rest of the tale!

[teatah14]

Dana,
Your report is AWESOME! I was laughing at the part about the Philly airport. That is where we fly out of also & it is always a disaster. They never make the flight easy. We are leaving at 6:15am in December & are hoping to miss some of the hassle.

I can't wait to read more!

Kristin
:heart :)

[Dana]

As tired as I was, I had a really hard time sleeping on my first night. It was a mix between being over-excited about being in WDW and strange bed syndome...lol After maybe 3 hours of solid sleep, I was up before the alarm by 5:45am. I jumped from the bed eager to start my first full day at WDW. Sara had other ideas. She played the "10 more min." game until about 6:30...she is a pain to wake up. I was dressed and filled out some more postcards before I finally threatened to leave her in the room. She reluctantly woke from bed and started to get ready at a snail's pace. I was pacing the room like a caged animal when she finally got done and we were off. We went straight to the busses and arrived at MK about 7:55.....ps at CRT was at 8. We were starting to run late and my rush mode started to creep in. We went through security quickly. There weren't many people there that early and we started in. As we made the turn on to Main street, I stopped in my tracks. As the feeling of being home crept in at the site of the castle, my eyes filled with tears. Rush mode off....ahhhhh We savored the moment and allowed the photographer to snap a shot and headed our way down to CRT. There were two ahead of us in the line for the podium and we waited to be seen. The CM at the podium checked my PS and then gave me a handful of pixie dust. She said stressed mommies need it more than the kiddies...lol she was great. This put my day right in a good place. We were seated in a short time and managed to get the seat rigth in fron of the window! What a great view! It was then that I discovered that Sara who ws uninterested in characters wanted an autograph book....hmmm The server overheard us and brought us a pen and a book. I said to her " you don't happen to have a camera to you...I left it at home!" Now, please note that my paranoia for checking my bags was on the mark. I knew something was missing. She brought me out a disposable camera and our breakfst soon after. The Princesses present were Cinderella, Mary Poppins, Auroa, and Snow White. The meal was as usual very good and we were done and saw each princess by 8:45. When I got the bill my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the camera cost $17.95! Oh well...shouldn't have forgotten it. We were headed down to the lobby area and were surprised to find the fairy godmother there. She spent a lot of time with Sara and every kid that seen her. She was excellent! As soon as the rope dropped, we headed straight for Tinkerbell's Treasures to see if Sara could get to wake Tinkerbell...nope. Another quick Mom had her girls there. I'm glad they got the chance though, becasue they were very little and thought it was awesome. It may have been lost on Sara. Unfortunately the lady behind the door accidently woke Tink before the girls had a chance to tap the box. They did it over again and the lady still woke her up to early...new CM maybe. Didn't matter to these two little ones who were thrilled with the job of waking her. Sara and I made a quick trip to ride Pooh and discovered that it was going to be closed for an hour or so and that would would have to come back. We then went for Snow White, Tea Cups, Indy Cars and back to Pooh. Still not open...hmm went in to the shop for a looksie and no Pooh when we were done. We went to go check the line for Buzz and realized it was almost time to meet Janice and Neil. We deemed it Neil's day for being such a good sport for putting up with Janice's crazy internet friends and were determined to show him some fun. We got to Phillarmagic with some time to spend before our agreed time. The shop next to it was very cool with all it's "small world" merchandise. As soon as they arrived, we went straight in to watch Phillarmagic. What a great show! This is definately my new favorite beating the Muppets and the Little Mermaid who were the champs before. After Phillarmagic, we went over to "it's a small world" for Sara and Neil then to The Haunted Mansion. Sara made it all they way up to the room and changed her mind. No pressure from me. We went to the exit and waited for Jancie and Neil to ride. After that we did Jungle Cruise (very funny tour guide), Treehouse, Splash Mountain and stopped for me and Sara's first Turkey leg. OK...I had no idea of how big these things were and got me and Sara our own...HOLY COW! or should I said Turkey! They were huge. Neil kidded Sara about being able to finish and she swore she could. I was bored with it after a bit and opted to feed mine to the birds. Sara and I later would regret this lunch. We both became discusted by the smell of these from trying to eat one. I will never eat them again...turkey leg overdose for both of us! The rain was on and off through out the day, but nothing tragic. We headed over to Pooh once more after our lunch and I grabbed a fast pass for me and Sara. Neil grabbed a fast pass for buzz for me and sara with his and Janice's tickets. They had to go check into their hotel for the night and swap rentals in a bit. We all went on COP and the People Mover. First time for both for me and Sara and we were pleasantly surprised. Sara loved COP. We all headed over to buzz and tried to wait out stand-by and me and Sara were going to save our fast passes for when Jancie and Neil left. We were spolied from not waiting at all and decided to forget it. Sara and I were tired and cranky and bickering at this point. It was a long day already and we still had dinner at O'hana later. After Neil and Janice left, I talked Sara into leaving for a break at the resort. By now the rain was really coming down and I had enough of the rude people.....not getting into them. Sara was asleep in the bus before it even drove off. We headed to our room where Sara said she had a horrible headache. I gave her an asprin and she slept as I grabbed a much needed shower and break form it all. After a bit, I woke Sara and got her moving. When we started down to the busses, we notcied the rain was really coming down. I had no desire to transfer busses and stand in the rain, so I opted to take a renegade taxi to the Polly. $14 + tip later, we were there in 15 min flat...they drive a little quicker than the buses. We had plenty of time before our 5:40 PS and began to look around this resort. What a lovely place. It is on my list of places to try for sure! Janice and Neil came and we were seated right after. O'hana was deemed our favorite meal for the trip. WE had a great time. I set this up as Sara's surprise birthday meal and the server completed our night with a cupcake and a Birthday song from a Hawaiian man. I don't know what was more fun, that or the coconut races or the hula contests. Neil and Jancie treated me and Sara and it was a very thoughtful gesture. The night was made better for sharing it with them. After dinner, we shopped while Neil went to pull the car around. What a sweetie he is. Sara really liked him and if I'm not mistaken, she was quite smitten. We said our good-byes at the AKL. I hoped they liked us. We certainly enjoyed them. I am so glad that I got this chance to meet up with her.

[MickeyMamma]

Enjoying the report!!!

About the camera - we did that on one of our trips. Well, we had the camera, but the battery died immediately and it was the kind that is hard to find. Our disposable cost us $18.95 so you got a bargain! ;) LOL

I loved staying at AKL too, but it sounds like you get a GREAT upgrade. I hope you ate at some of the restaurants there too!


Quick question: What is this about waking up Tinkerbell? I haven't heard about that.

[tiggerlover1971]

great trip report Dana I cant wait to hear more

[vet51]

We've done the Philly Airport thing too. We were almost on the runway leaving Albany NY for Philly when the pilot announces that Philly's closed because of fog. We were lucky we had an hour and a half layover. We made our connection by about 20 minutes after we took off almost an hour late. Flights always seem to be a problem, it makes getting there sweeter. Sounds like you had a wonderful adventure.

[Dana]

After Janice and Neil left us at AKL, Sara and I stopped in at the Mara. I wanted a few beers to bring up to the room and unwind with. The Mara was pretty crowded, but not too bad. I grabbed 4 Coors Lights and Sara got a brownie. When I finally got up to the register to pay, the woman said to me (this is a quote) "I do not see four adults with you". I looked at her and was very confused by her words. I asked her what she meant and she said...loud enough for the growing line to hear " there is a sign stating that you are only allowed to have one beverage per adult. If you think you NEED that much, you should go to a bar or something" Now I start the countdown from 20 in my head. Sara is slowly easing away waiting for the boom of my temper. I was in shock and had no reply. I have never had a CM talk to me with such rudeness and was frankly just shocked. I went over to where I got the beer to put the 3 too many away and couldn't find this sign that must have been huge for her to treat me with such rudeness. Sara pointed out a 2inch sign in between the two coolers. I put ALL of my stuff away and gave Sara money for her brownine. I went outside to wait. I was angry and didn't trust myself to talk. I was talking to a great CM outside who informed me that they sell packaged goods in the gift shop on level three. I am still angry. Why couldn't this other cast member have just said this instead of making a broadway production out of this? Sara comes out and I head up to the Gift shop. I only wanted two beers to drink and then keep the rest for other nights. I am hardly a party animal. I get my six pack and still am upset by the CM. Yes, I know I was being a little too sensative, but it was embarrasing. I went to the front desk and proceeded to tell the CM behind the counter what just happened. I also told her what I do for a living and that it was not my intention to get the woman in trouble, but perhaps someone at a supervising level can show her a better way to handle this paticular situation should it ever happen again. She apologized...no need I kept saying. I just wanted you to know how she handles that situation. I felt much better after this conversation and went up to my room. Sara and I did showers and I wanted to finish off my postcards. I got a call in my room from one of the managers at the Mara wanting to know what happened. I explained what happened to him and said the same thing to him that I said to the CM at the front desk. He wanted to know how he could make it better. I told him I didn't want anyting, but thought he should address her customer service skills. I wasn't looking for a freebie. He gave me his direct number to call if I had any more problems. I didn't even write it down. I didn't want anything. I just wanted her to know you don't talk to people like that for no reason.

With this whole issue behind us, I wanted to unwind and relax. Sleep may or not come tonight and maybe a few beers would help me. 2am and 3 beers later, I was sound asleep. I added one to my usual two...lol Man she had me angry.

[tinkerbell]

wow!!

1. I am so glad we drive !
2. you reminded me how beautiful the AKL is now I am wondering what we could get a room for in march.. DH loves the AKL so much it might be worth it to surpise him this time :)
3. it was so wonderful reading about you and llama
4. I had the same problem years ago with a couple of bottles of
wine .. but not the rude CM. I was just told that I would have to get a bottle of wine from the store. thats a weird thing but heck no weirder then the fact that we live in a dry county yet as long as you have a *membership* you can drink at El Chico's, Applebees and the other clubs around town.

[ajbdk5]

I just LOVE to hear about DC Friends meeting!:)

Sounds like everyhting , except the rain, was magical!
I can't wait to read more!

[Dana]

I slept to a big ol' 6:15 am. We had a PS for The Princess Stporybook Breakfast at 8:30 and had more than enough time to get ready and get Sara moving. Sara played the "10 more min " game until 7am and again finally got up after threats of me leaving without her. She wanted to get her laynard and pins at our gift shop with her vouchers. We were ready to go and went down to get her stuff. She had it out and on with the pins attatched in a flash. She then picked out 2 more that she NEEDED to have for trades. She took to the spirit of trading very quickly and was a pro by the end of the day. We went to get our bus and were at EPCOT quickly. My GOd that place is imense. We had to rush to get to the breakfast. Once getting to Norway we were met by a huge crowd wating to get in. We were seated in about 20 min in this little table slammed up against a wall. We were surrounded by tables with little or no room to move. I didn't like the layout of this place and disliked it even more when another server sat two children against the wall behind my chair forcing them to climb over to get their autographs and pictures. The Mother of these girls took no thought in how uncomfortable I was getting bumped and banged each and every time a princess came. Sara had the same situation on her side. We ate FAST. I wanted to get out of there. She saw Jasmine, Belle, Snow White and Auroa and we had enough. It took forever for me to get the attention of my server for a check and when it finally came, I asked about my $15 deposit. They claim I didn't give a deposit even though I KNOW it was deducted from my bank account. The manager came and told me again that I didn't pay....fax her proof and she will put it back in my account...I can't repeat what I whispered she could do with the $15 proof. We left and I was fine. Sara was relieved that this was not going to set me in a tissy. We were back off to Future World to explore. We went immediately on Mission Space. I didn't get sick, but just didn't want to go on again. I didn't like the claustrophic feeling, but Sara loved it and went through to do it again while I waited. We went on to Test Track and then to The Imagination Pavilion. We had tons of fun with the Honey I shrunk the audience and Figment was special too. We skipped the land and went straight for the living seas. We spent an hour and a half exploring. Sara loved it and I loved seeing her so excited. We decided that now would be a great time to stop for a breather and head back to AKL and grab some lunch. The bus took a little longer than usual and we got back to our resort at 2pm. We grabbed some lunch and headed up to the room to eat. The weather was starting to break and I let Sara take a quick swim before we started to get ready to go back for some of the countries and Illuminations. We stopped at the front desk and made a PS for 8pm at LeCellier. We stopped in our Gift shop and Sara picked out a pin from their pin trading book and now had a total of 9 pins that changed so much I forget which ones she had at that paticular time...lol We landed back at EPCOT at about 6:45 and made our way up the right hand side of the countires. We located LeCellier easlily and worked our way up from there. Sara was a pin buying/trading machine tonight. She was having a blast at it. I bought a few things here and there and before we knew it, it was 8pm and we had to head over to LeCellier. After being seated in a lovely table not crammed up against any wall, we soon were served breads and drinks by Micheal our very perky server. I picked the cheese soup starter and 7oz steak RED rare steak and cheese potatoes and Sara got macaroni with no sauce. The food was delious! I loved this meal. After eating, sara had the campfire smores and I splurged and had this "evil" chocolate cake that I am sure forced me into sugar shock but it was so good! Directly after eating, Illuminations was getting ready to begin. What an excellent show! We watched until it looked like it was ending and ran for the busses before the crowd. We were crammed in like sardines but made the first trip back to AKL. We had a great time. I had some calls to make once we got back and Sara wanted to go to the arcade for some fun. I sent her on her way with some cash and I made some calls. We didn't have any PS's for the following morning and planned to sleep in till 8am and then head over to MGM for opening. We stayed up laughing and being silly until to late and finally drifted off to after midnight.

By now each animal had a name in our savannah and Sara had to tell them goodnight every evening and good moring at the start of each day. Lincoln is what she named this huge bull like animal and he was our favortie.

End of day three...

[tinkerbell]

aww I cant believe you only went on Mission:Space once!!!! but I am so glad Sara loved it .. told DH last night .. Epcot will be our first park when we arrive and M:S our first ride next month!!!

[Dana]

This is a day that Sara and I always look forward to. MGM is our favorite park. We were on hand for opening after a similar morning as the ones before except I did sleep until 7:30! We raced to our favorite RnR and rode three in a row with no wait. Then it was the moment of truth.....Sara rode the Tower of terror and closed her eyes a bit. We went right back on and Sara kept her eyes open for the entire ride and loved it even more. We went to do the Great Movie ride and by now it was 11am. We skipped breakfast and decided to stop and grab something at the ABC commissionary. Sara had the fish n chips and I had the Cuban sanwich with banana chips. Both were great. Sara met Selley and Mike from Monsters inc. right outside. We headed to Muppets and Start Tours and went back to steak a spot in the shade for the parade. We got a great spot on the curb in front of the shops in the shade. Today's weather had us in shorts and a T-shirt and we loved every second. We took turns looking in the shops and Sara swapping pins. Finally the parade began. I got to see Hades and was very excited when he pointed his finger right at me...ok maybe not me, but I want to believe it was for me. After the parade it was time for our PS at Momma's. We made a stop at the restroom to spruce up messy hair and off we went. This also was a great meal. Our server Dori, was excellent and took great care of us! We started off with bread with a pesto sauce and a four cheese flat bread to share. We soon got our meals. Sara got chicken nuggets and FF (her usual) and I got Chicken Parm....yummmy!! We again indulged in dessert. My diet was shot by this time so I went for it. We both had awesome cheesecake. This meal is WELL worth the $40 it cost for both of us. I could not manage to finish most of it, but for a larger family it would be ideal. Sara went right to the playground for a hour and I sat on the bench trying to digest that meal. We both bought sweatshirts. It was getting chilly and I knew Fantasmic! would be very cold in just a T-shirt. We took the special entrance and got seats in the very first row. The show as usual was great! Perfect way to end your day at MGM. The exit was a little confusing. They had the same route for us to exit, but opened the gate and everyone came through the same way. It was a mess and something I was hopeing to avoid. I walk as fast as a normal person jogs and was passing people with Sara in tow. We were back at the stop and on the bus quickly. We had a PS for the Crystal Palace for Breakfast in the morning and I was anxious to get some much needed rest. What long day.

We did our showers and watched some TV and I was out cold in less than an hour. The TV was still on when I woke at 6:30.


End of Day four....

[Dana]

We were up and out quickly. We had a 8:20 PS at the Crystal Palce and were there way ahead of schedule. Sara gave me no complaints this morning and was moving quickly. I love this character meal! We got a great seat and had seen Tigger, Eeyore and Pooh before we even got food...lol Good timing for a change was nice. We ate a great meal and Sara went up to the buffet's center to meet Piglet who was greeting guests that day. We were done well before rope drop. At the rope drop, we headed straight for Pooh and got on right away. After Pooh, we went to Buzz (I won and yes, I did the in your face dance to celebrate my victory), then on to Space Mountain for a few rides on that. After Space, Sara wanted to do COP again so she did as I waited outside. She really liked that one. We headed back into Fantasyland for one more turn on Phillarmagic and then started to head to the castle. We caught Cinderella's Surprise Celebration on our way and then kissed MK goodbye. We went over to the monorail and made our way to EPCOT to go through the rest of the countries. Sara got a Kid Cot mask and was having fun collecting the stamps from each country. We made our way over to the American Pavilion and stopped for lunch. Very decent food. We got a great seat outside by the brick wall to people watch as we ate. After eating we made our way back around and seen some pretty decent musical numbers in Moraco and headed to our exit. We went back to the resort with intentions of seeing Spectro and Wishes that night in MK. After getting back to the AKL, Sara had a change of heart. She wanted to spend our last night at the resort. I was upset at first and then remembered that it was her trip too and said...ok. We went down to the pool and hung out for hours. I got to see all the different animals who were eating at the time. We then made a reservation for Sara to spend an hour at Simba's kid club. I took her back there after her shower and went upstairs to take mine and to pack. I went to get Sara at around 7pm and was starting to feel hungry. Sara had dinner at the club so she was going to get a dessert. I had the chicken dinner with rice and stewed tomatoes. This was a great meal! We went up to the room to eat and then headed down to the arcade to play. Sara and I stayed up very late and had a really good time and even though I really wanted to see Wishes, I am glad that we spent that time at the resort to have some fun. It was a great day.

End of Day 5....