[PapaPumba]

Now it was Tuesday, the 12th, and after 3 mornings in a row of early wake-ups, we planned this as "sleep in" day. Good thing we did, because with the night before we really didn't get everyone to bed until after midnight. The kids slept until almost 8:00 which, considering the excitement, was pretty good for them.

Again it was a bit overcast and it made for a tough decision. Like I said earlier, we had some budget issues and I wasn't able to spend $1100 in advance to get us all park hopper plus tickets. But thanks to a DC tip I knew that I could get a discount on the single day tickets if I bought them all at once, so the first day at the MK I bought 3 adults and 1 child, 3 day single-park and it all came out to $622. That worked out great for us. We had planned on possibly doing Typhoon Lagoon this day, just me taking the kids so DW could sit by the CBR pool and read and relax.

Well, when its cloudy and damp and you're looking at spending $100 for 5 hours at a water park, you think real hard about it. We swim at home from May to October, DD is on a year-round swim team, and we live about 45 minutes from Six Flags Hurricane Harbor, so we opted for plan B which was to play some miniature golf at Fantasia Gardens.

DW stayed home, and then we started off on a 2-mile bus trip that took us almost an hour. I should have looked closer at the map. One of the guides in the room said to take a bus "from all resorts" to Downtown Disney, then switch to Swan Bus, then walk to Fantasia Gardens. So that's what we did. However, the bus stopped first at Typhoon Lagoon, where other "good" parents were taking their kids despite the clouds and cool temps. That generated a few frowns. Then we got to Dntwn Dis and waited another 20 minutes for the Swan bus, which, of course, stopped at Typhoon for another drop off. Finally made it to the Swan, passing right past the CBR main entrance from which we left 50 minutes prior. Walked over to the golf and got right on.

Luckily the course was nearly empty and we were able to play very leisurely and even play some of the fun holes 2 or 3 times. We finished up and then I asked the CM about a better way to get back to CBR, even if it meant walking. No walking allowed (no sidewalks) but he told us to grab the ferry to MGM and bus to CBR. Perfect! Free boat ride! Worked great and we were home in about 25 minutes. The clouds started to break and by 3:00 we had blue skies and headed for the pool. Spent a good 2 1/2 hours swimming and got our first good tan of the trip. Cleaned up and headed for our PS at Chef Mickey.

It was NSSHP night at the MK, and the crowd for the MK bus was pretty good, so we took the EPCOT bus, transferred to the monorail, transferred at TTC and still made it in plenty of time. It was fun to see all the kids in their costumes. My kids are lukewarm on Halloween in general, so they didn't feel they were missing anything by not going to the party.

We got to Chef Mickey's, had our PS for 8:00 and got seated around 8:15. Not too bad. The place was crowded, but as usual the CM's kept smiling. The characters made the rounds and we had a nice table. Eating dinner that late meant there was really no rush to turn our table, so we just took our time. It's amazing how a few bottles of Sam Adams can drown-out all of the noise!!! We did a little shopping on the concourse, watched Red Sox and Yankee fans taunt each other in the bar, and then headed back on the monorail to beat the exiting NSSHP crowd. Luckily we did, because it started to rain again while we were on the train. All in all, a great non-park day that we all enjoyed. It was just great to have a pretty loose schedule for a day. Got everyone to bed to get ready for MGM.

[Dopey]

Papa Pumba, When you were in AK, did you see "DeVine"? I am wondering if they are around in the "off-seasons".
It sounds like you've had a really nice trip so far....

[Disnyfan83]

Sounds like another great day!! Sorry for all the rain and long bus trips! The bus system can be tedious at times there (We had similar problems with buses trying to get back to our hotel after Chef Mickey's). We haven't tried Mini golf yet - we may have to do that next time too!! We are a VERY competative mini golf family!

[PapaPumba]

The golf was fun... and only about $10 per person. They have a gardens course, which is what we did, and then what they call the "fairways" course, which actually looks like a miniaturized golf course complete with waer and sand. More challenging!

[EmpressJenny]

Originally Posted by Dopey

Papa Pumba, When you were in AK, did you see "DeVine"? I am wondering if they are around in the "off-seasons".
It sounds like you've had a really nice trip so far....

I think I did last month! I wondered what that was! Was it like woman in leaves with a green face and long legs in the trees along the pathway?

[Dana]

Good thing you asked the CM about the transportation. An hour to go two miles in insane. You sounded like you had fun even with the small overcast. Thanks again for reporting.

[royorb1]

Can't wait to hear about MGM!!

[Dopey]

Originally Posted by EmpressJenny

I think I did last month! I wondered what that was! Was it like woman in leaves with a green face and long legs in the trees along the pathway?

Yes, Empress, that's what I mean. I have read a lot about this one and wanted to catch it if possible. How did you like it?

[EmpressJenny]

It was really cool, Dopey, I didn't even know it had an official name. Pete took video of it, so as soon as I can get a still from the tape I'll post it on here.

[Dopey]

Empress, there are pictures of this creature on several web sites, including allearsnet but they seem to be "official" pics. It would be great to see what you got there. Thanks

[slist]

Originally Posted by Dopey

Papa Pumba, When you were in AK, did you see "DeVine"? I am wondering if they are around in the "off-seasons".
It sounds like you've had a really nice trip so far....

I was at AK on October 1st and I saw DeVine...it was the first time for me and we have gone both on and off season. It was very exciting.....