Sept 8-12th Free Dining

Hello everyone!! I just got back from WDW at 12am this morning. I have been tired throughout the day and haven't felt way at some points. I think it's because of being tired and eating way too much food. The Dining Plan is a great value, but is still too much food. I am very glad we got to try it out for free.

This was my 10th trip to WDW. My 2nd trip this year and my 3rd trip within 12 months. I have never written a trip report, so bear with me, and I will try and do my best. I took notes on my trip last October so that I could write a trip report, and I never did. This time, I did not take notes, but I am writing a trip report.

I will also review the places we ate at. The TS places were Kona Cafe, WCC, Marrakesh, and Citriocos for lunch (booked as the Grand Floridian Cafe).

First, I will introduce you to the members of this trip:

Me - 16 years old, avid Disney fan, good student who did most of her school work before she left so she could have a great time at WDW. I love to be with my family, and I have to stop myself from hurrying my family members when they are walking slowly or can't make up their mind. I planned the vacation, and my family knows to turn to me when it comes to Disney. I have also worked on planning parts of a possible honeymoon to Disney for my brother and his fiancee.
Starting weight on Saturday morning - 119.5 lb End weight this morning (Thurs)- 126 lb. Yes, I can't believe I gained 6.5 lbs in 5 days either, but hopefully I will get it off soon even though I still haven't eaten my food from Goofy's Candy Company.

My mom - wonderful mother who is always fun, understands when we need to make it somewhere on time, very worried about gaining weight on the Disney Plan (she gained less than me at 4.5 pounds)

My brother - great guy, will try and annoy me and his fiancee often, cleans his plate and sometimes everyone elses

Brother's fiancee - sweet girl, likes to look around a lot, enjoys Disney, but I don't think she understands my obsession

My grandmother - wonderful woman who loves us grandkids very much (my mom is her only child, and my brother and I are her only grandchildren). Her birthday this trip, turned 78 or 79 (dispute between her mom's record and possibly changed birth certificate) She kept us with us very well. We did have to slow down a bit for her, because she doesn't want a wheelchair and doesn't need one as of yet. She really doesn't walk any slower than brother or his fiancee.

My grandfather - did not go on this trip, but he deserves to be mentioned because he has been a large benefactor for all Disney trips. He is the most wonderful man in the world. I couldn't ask for a better grandfather. (sorry, this has me crying)

I may get some pictures on here, but as of now I don't know how to hook up the new digital camera, so they may or may not get posted.

Let's start with the trip down. We drove 500 miles to WDW in 8 hours. We were supposed to leave at 6am, but left at 6:15 and had to turn around to get my brother's shoes, so we finally left at 6:35. We arrived at All-Star Music a little before 3pm. We had a nice drive except for one downpour near Jacksonville. I ate a piece of toast and an apple in the van, because I wanted to be hungry for WCC.

Our ADR was for 4:30pm at WCC. We had to hurry out of the hotel room, but we arrived at WCC in plenty of time. We checked in before our ADR time and was seated right at 4:30pm. Their sign said they opened at 5pm, so I guessed they opened early for free dining.

I have to stop right now and go walking. I really need the exercise. Sorry to leave you hanging. I will continue this report ASAP.

We were some of the first people in the restaurant, so it was very quiet. We were seated and given a menu even though I already knew what I wanted. I asked the server if the bottomless milkshakes came as a drink. I knew they were supposed to, but he didn't offer them. He said yes and I got one of the best strawberry milkshakes I have ever had. I tasted my brother's vanilla and it was very good also. I did not like the chocolate one my brother's fiancee (from now on known as Laura) had. It was kinda strange. I think she liked that it was different. GM and Mom loved their vanilla shakes also. I liked my strawberry one the best. I had a little over one and a half. We all ordered water also. Just a note - our service here was great and it was not loud. I different even realize the restaurant was filling up until I turned around to watch them sing happy birthday to someone. They also sang happy birthday to my grandmother and offered to let her lead the pony ride, but she wouldn't do it. I know a lot of people have complained about terrible service with the dining plan, but all of our servers were great (except Morocco was just fine, nothing wrong, but nothing wonderful).

Next, we all ordered the skillet. I really enjoyed it, but I don't think it will worth the money. The salad was ok. I didn't want to fill up on the salad, and I love a really good salad. I really like the mashed potatoes and the chicken. The rest just fine. Nothing was bad, but nothing was absolutely fantastic. I did eat a lot of potatoes though. Laura and my mom really liked the pulled pork and my mom loved the shrimp. Then on the desserts, my brother, mom, and I ordered the Kahlua chocolate cake, and Laura and GM got the Apple pie and ice cream. I really liked my cake, but there are other desserts I like better. My brother adored the cake. My mom didn't like it, but she doesn't like coffee and since Kahlua is a coffee liquor, I guess that is the reason why. Laura liked the apple pie, but my grandmother hated it. I tasted the pie and didn't like the bite that I had. They also brought my GM a birthday chocolate cake that she didn't like and that I tasted and thought was just ok. The gummy worms around it were hard. I only ate one. We walked around the WL and thought it was a very beautiful resort. I would like to stay there sometime. The landscaping was gorgeous.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ictures007.jpg

Next, we wanted to visit Port Orleans. My brother and Laura were thinking about staying there on their honeymoon. I had heard it was a nice resort and very romantic. We were very disappointed. I didn't like the atmosphere at all and neither did anyone else. Needless to say, we didn't stay there long and neither will my brother and his fiancee. Then, we went to AKL. In June, my mom and I had eaten at Boma and really, really liked it and then we spent a few hours looking around, so we wanted to take the rest of the family. We had a lot a fun and even bought Zebra Domes with our first snack credit. I ate one, brother had two, Laura one, and GM and mom split one. We had went to look at the animals and left my GM at the Mara. While we were gone, they had brought her a cupcake and sang happy birthday. The plate was still there and looked beautiful. She said the cupcake wasn't very good, but she was also very full. My mom bought my GM a refillable mug for her birthday because she drinks coffee every morning. Then, we went back to our hotel and upgraded our tickets.

We couldn't decide exactly what we wanted to do with our tickets because we didn't know you had to upgrade them within 14 days even if you have no expiration. Finally, my mom decided on going ahead and getting a 10 day no expiration park hopper and got Laura and Ryan (brother) a 7 day no expiration, park hopper in case they came back for their honeymoon or any other time. My GM got a 3 day park hopper, and I had days left over from another trip so I was keeping my 1 day on my room key and using another ticket. Finally, we went to bed.

A teaser - all does not go according to plan with my ticket.

A side note - there was an offer in the room to book free dining for next Sept if we booked before we checked out. We ended up not booking because we had no idea what would be going on next year, my brother would be married, we would have to make a $400 deposit (keeping in mind we just spent a lot on tickets so we could go cheaper later), and we didn't know when we could go. We decided to wait. Hopefully, they will make the offer to the public if we want to go. I also knew that free dining would not include tip and it would cost $20- $30 in tip per meal that we really didn't need to begin with.

The Dining Plan would have cost us $830.49. That in itself it amazing. Then I figured up the actual amount of food we ate or brought home. (I have several snacks to be eaten and a couple of Wolfgang Puck meals.) The total value of our Dining Plan was $1298.40 (or very close to it). Almost $1300 worth of food - for FREE. That's absolutely insane. I am so glad we picked that time to go.

Whispering Canyon - 5 TS credits - $213.34
Zebra Domes - 1 snack credit - $4.04

I just remembered the cornbread from Whispering Canyon. It was amazing. The second best cornbread I have had in my life and it wasn't far behind the first. I could go for that cornbread anytime.

P.S. Sorry about the sideways picture.

I will about with Sunday at the Magic Kingdom hopefully tomorrow.

COOL!! i cant wait to hear about your tickets...LOL and i really wish i had booked in Sept now.. because we so need a vacation now and i pad to pay for our dining

Sunday at the Magic Kingdom

I had heard recently that Sundays tended to be very crowded at the Magic Kingdom and that was the case last October. However, we had short wait lines here all day. I had found out about the Little Ones Travel Time on the times guide they gave us when we checked in. We had planned to be at the Magic Kingdom at around 8:30am, but then we decided to wake up 30 minutes early and get there at opening. We walked into the MK about 8:10. My GM had to use the restroom, so we did that first and headed to the only part of the park that was open, Fantasyland. I thought it was going to be very crowded, but we walked right on The Many Adventures of Winnie-the-Pooh. Laura loves Pooh and my GM needed to pick up a Pooh for a friend's little girl. I knew that it would bug her until she bought the Pooh, so I told her to go ahead and buy it. Laura also bought a hat for her nephew. At first, we waited for someone to come to a register to check them out, then I remembered that there was another register, so we went to it. It was taking a while for the older lady to check them out and get everything ready for the stuff to be shipped to the room. I was a little annoyed because I knew we had to do Fantasyland before the crowds set in. As the lady was finishing the order, Ryan saw Pooh and Tigger, and wanted for him and Laura to go see them. They weren't giving autographs or taking pictures, they were just playing with the kids. I walked over to them and said, Let's go ride something and hopefully we can see them later". (We ended up not seeing them later, but Laura said she really didn't want her picture made.) :rolleyes: Then, my brother points out the Mad Hatter and I have to explain that they aren't giving pictures and that we need to move on. My mom was upset that I was getting upset, but really I was in the wrong. I guess I should have just let them stand there and lazily look around, but I never there were things I wanted to ride in Fantasyland! We then do Snow White, Peter Pan, and IASW with no wait. On the way to Frontierland, we pass by HM. I was hoping for a soft opening, but there was still scaffolding up. We moved on to Splash Mountain, which my mom was smart and didn't ride it because she didn't want to get her hair wet that early in the day. My hair was fine after the ride, but my brother, his fiancee, and I were soaked. This was at 9:30 and I wasn't completely dry until after 1pm. Next time, we won't ride so early in the morning even if there isn't a wait. We rode a second time while we were already wet, but this time the timing was off on the other log's splash so I barely got wet. We then did Pirates -pirate- and Jungle Cruise.

At this time, I say to my mom, "I used my resort key this morning." She gives me a confused look, and then recognition set in. Oh no! We had talked for months about how I wouldn't use my resort key for entry and would use my older ticket. In all the excitement that morning we had forgotten. We were both trying to say it was our fault, but in truth it was a combined effort. I should have caught it before I used the ticket though. It didn't matter, but I knew that I wanted to upgrade that ticket so that I would be paying less per day. We decide to try and upgrade at the Polynesian.

We were hungry and wanted to eat early anyway, so we were at Pecos Bill at 10:45. The lines were already long, then I remembered seeing on the internet the they were supposed to have a do it yourself ordering for credit cards and the Dining Plan. I walked to the other side and found the machine and ordered. My brother and I had double bacon cheeseburgers and my mom and GM split one. We all had peanut butter brownie mousse for dessert. The mousse brownie was surprisingly very, very good. Laura had the pulled pork sandwich and requested apple slice, but got both apple slice and fries. We all had bottled water. My brother ate Laura's fries and some of my mom's and GM's. Later on, we had our picture made and did Tomorrowland. We split 2 hot fudge sundaes from Auntie Gravity's around 2pm. (Laura didn't have anything.) At little after 4:30pm, we started making our way out of the park for our ADR at Kona Cafe.

Next up, our wonderful dinner at Kona Cafe.

so where and how has these quick do yourself ordering???? thats news to me!!!!

you sound alot like me!!! lets go lets go.. while their isnt any lines.. and not stops to smell the roses!

I love your trip report! Very detailed, it makes it very easy to imagine wer're with you. We were there in March and I really needed a WDW fix. Thanks. We look forward to more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chrissy&Tayen

so where and how has these quick do yourself ordering???? thats news to me!!!!

you sound alot like me!!! lets go lets go.. while their isnt any lines.. and not stops to smell the roses!

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I want to stop and smell the roses.. just not when there are short lines, we're not tired, and it's cool outside, so we can walk a little quicker.

The do-it-yourself ordering was to the left of the regular ordering lines at Pecos Bill. It was very easy to do, and it seemed that you would have to try very hard to make a mistake. My recipe was printed out, and I took it to the counter and received my food in the same amount of time as everyone else.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by disneycrazy1956

I love your trip report! Very detailed, it makes it very easy to imagine wer're with you. We were there in March and I really needed a WDW fix. Thanks. We look forward to more.

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Thank you! I will have more up tomorrow.

I just thought about something I forgot to mention. I saw girls inside the new Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique in Cindy's castle on Sunday morning as soon as we reached the castle (8:30 ish?). I keep seeing that it was supposed to open on Monday, but I now that I saw some girls in there on Sunday.

Before my review of Kona, I wanted to mention that I got to ride Space Mountain with the lights on!! We were in line for Space Mountain and noticed that it seemed a lot brighter in there. We then realized the lights were on. My brother lifted me to be able to see better. (I'm only 5'4.) We kept saying if only we had been a couple of minutes earlier then we would be out on the track. About 5 minutes, they told people that it would be awhile before the ride was up and running, and they asked everyone to leave the queue line. We got return fastpasses for any ride in the MK. So, we rushed over to the TTA. We were so excited. I was trying to explain to my mom that we quickly had to get on because Space Mtn could be fixed any minute. My GM actually rode, so I was very happy about that. (She usually won't get on rides that don't stop.) My GM, bro, and Laura get into one car, and my mom and I got into another car. Then, all of the sudden my other family members started moving away. We had gotten on two separate trains!! It was very funny, but we were a little disappointed not to get to ride with one another. I was so happy to see Space Mtn with the lights on. My mom didn't realize until we entered SM what I was talking about with the lights being on. It was very cool even though it just looks like a ride track.

We had sat my GM down briefly near the train station, (I don't remember why) and when we got back, some CMs were singing happy birthday to her. It was then time to take the monorail to the Polynesian. We checked in at Kona as soon as we arrived. It was a few minutes before 5pm, so we used the restroom, freshened up and then my mom and I went to upgrade my ticket at concierge. After the trainee tried and tried to upgrade my ticket, his trainer finally asked it we were staying at the Poly. We answered, "No", and she replied that we had to upgrade at the resort we were staying at or at guest relations. Oh. Didn't know that. But it wasn't a problem. So, my mom and I walked back upstairs (took the stairs to burn more calories) and saw that everyone else was already seated in the restaurant right beside the railing the separates the lobby and the restaurant.

Now, for our excellent meal at Kona... We started off ordering drinks. We all got water, and then my mom and GM ordered tea and I got a raspberry smoothie. We our waitress returned with drinks, she took our appetizer orders - 4 orders of crab cakes and 1 order of pot stickers. I tasted my raspberry smoothie and didn't like it. My mom liked it, and my brother drank a lot of it. Our waitress brought our appetizers which we very good. I didn't care for the salad with the crab cakes because it had no dressing, but the crab cakes were superb and were more crab than cake. I tasted Laura's pot stickers, (she's usually the one to get something different from us.) and I liked them a lot more than I thought I would. Next, we ordered our entrees. 4 filet mignons and 1 macadamia mahi-mahi (also Laura's). My filet was cooked perfectly. My only complaint was that I wasn't a big fan of the char-crusted part, but it was still very, very good. The mashed potatoes were outstanding! I don't know how Disney makes their potatoes so good. It also came with asparagus which was very good, but I had to save room, so I didn't finish them. I ate every bite of my mashed potatoes and filet. Everyone agreed with how good the food was. Laura liked her mahi, but didn't eat the rice with it because it was just rice. We all ordered the Kilauea Tortes. The waitress asked if we wanted vanilla ice cream on the side which we couldn't turn down. They were very good. I have had better desserts though. I ate everything that the "lava" chocolate touched, but I had to leave a little. They decorated my GM's to say Happy Birthday. Our waitress also asked about after dinner drinks. My bro ordered a Cafe mocha which he likes and I tasted. I thought it was good. I also saw were they had a cappuccino smoothie, and I wanted one. The waitress had said earlier that if I wanted a different smoothie since I didn't like mine, that I could have another one. (She had specially asked me if I liked my smoothie; I wouldn't have told her that I didn't unless she asked.) I felt bad if I got another though, so since Laura wasn't getting a drink, I had her order one for me. The waitress found the smoothie was for me later, but it didn't matter. I thought the cappuccino smoothie was delicious.

We left Kona very stuffed and very happy about the food. We shopped at Trader Jack's where I bought a calendar. We then took the monorail back to the MK where we finished up the night. I upgraded my ticket at Guest relations, and so did Laura and Ryan. They made theirs a 10day PH NE with Water Parks and Mora. They thought they would use the admission for Pleasure Island or Disneyquest since the plus options don't expire even when you run out of days when you have no expiration. The park was opened till 12am for resort guests, but we were finished by 11pm. We had to wait at the bus stop for a very, very long time. We have never waited that long for a bus. It was very hot and we waited for over 30 minutes. We were happy to make it back to the room in time to be in AK by 8am the next morning for EMH.

We had a wonderful time at the MK and an excellent, restful, 2 hour meal at Kona. There were short waits, and we excellent weather. A very pleasing Disney day.

5 TS credits at Kona- $282.94
2 snack credits at Auntie Gravity's - $8.08
4 CS credits at Pecos Bill - $55.50

Awesome!!!! i cant wait for our trip.. you have me hyped up to hear more!

Monday at Animal Kingdom and MGM

We were up early and at AK right after opening for EMH. I headed for EE while my family took their time walking to Kilimanjaro Safaris. I grabbed fastpasses and then used the restroom. As I neared KS, I called my mom and asked where they were. They had jumped in line. I had to pass a few people, which I felt bad about, but it's not like my being there would cause them to be on another truck. My family really hadn't been in line for long, so I didn't have many people to pass. We saw a LOT of animals on KS. This was probably the best ride I have ever had on it. We saw a Hippo out of the water and some animal that was extinct in the wild. I enjoyed the slight change in story line. We were stopped for a couple of minutes because an animal was crossing the path a few trucks ahead of us. I wish it had crossed in front of us! The male lion was actually awake and shaking his head. The baby giraffes were so cute. I think we saw pretty much every animal on the savanna.

After our ride, I had hoped to get a smoothie from Tamu Tamu, but they weren't open, so we headed on to EE. We sat my GM down, and we used our fastpasses to ride, even though the standby line wasn't very long. We had a great time as always, but my mom wasn't feeling so well afterward. She gets motion sickness, but she doesn't mind feeling a little sick after EE because she loves the ride so much. So, my bro, Laura, and I rode again in the standby after I grabbed some more fastpasses in case the line was longer later. We were on the ride in 5 minutes. It was fun once again.

We next headed to It's Tough to be a Bug. It was fun as always. We had to sit on the very end, but that ended up not bothering us. I guess that means that all seats are good seats. (Unless you're unfortunate enough to sit behind someone who is seven feet tall.) Then, we headed back to EE for our fastpasses while my mom and GM headed toward Dinoland to sit down and wait for us. Everest was having technical difficulties, and they said they would honor fastpasses all day, so we found my mom and went to ride Dinosaur. It had no wait at all. That was fun until Laura had to decide if she wanted a Dinosaur for her nephew or not, which one she wanted, and she had to find one with a tag still on it. It wouldn't have been a problem, but we wanted to get in Primeval Whirl (which we had never done) before Finding Nemo at 11:30am. So, my mom offers to buy the dino while we go ride Primeval Whirl. On the way there, Laura decides she doesn't want to ride anything that spins, and she doesn't want to wait for us at the exit. I tell her to wait in line with us and then she can take a chicken exit. She ends up stopping somewhere and my brother and I can't find her. We go ahead and get in line and hope that she found my mom. The line was moving along and then it stopped. It was now 11am, and we were worried about making it to Finding Nemo. I then saw my mom walk by without Laura. My brother was very mad saying she was acting like a 5year old who needed her hand held. Finally, we saw her standing near the entrance.

At about 11:10, we get on the ride with a Japanese couple. They were very fun and funny. They may have thought the same about us. I thought it was a cute ride, but I would never wait in a long line for it. We pick up Laura at the exit and nows it's 11:15 and a lot of people have been let into the Finding Nemo theater. My mom looks relieved, but very frustrated when she found us. I was trying to ask her what was going on, and she said the people in line were standby and probably wouldn't get in. So I asked, "Where are you going?" She says something about a man and holding a place. I'm very confused but decide there's no time to discuss this and just trust her. At first, I thought she was just storming off. I'm glad I had already decided to follow her. We get close to the entrance, and my mom talks to a CM who allows us to come through the rope and enter the theater. My mom explains that she waited in line for 20 minutes and when she couldn't reach us on the cell phone (bad reception), she told the man that she was waiting on her children to come with her 78 year old mother and he sympathized with her and told her to come back to him and he would let us in if he was still there. I'm glad he was still there or we would have had to wait for another show, and we had planned to leave the park by then. My brother and Laura were still upset at each other, and my mom was telling my brother to apologize and he wouldn't do it. So, we just enjoyed the show. Laura really liked it and so did Ryan, but he's not into the artsy stuff so much and the crying baby and the people who talked through the rest of the show in Spanish really bothered him. They bothered me, but I tuned them out most of time. I know the crying baby couldn't help it, but eventually the baby and a parent left. For some reason, some Spanish-speaking people came down and took their spot, and they talked the rest of the performance. I have no idea what their problem was. All in all, it was still a great show and tension between Ryan and Laura has loosened. So, GM and mom headed toward Pizzafari and the rest of us rode EE again with our expired fastpasses.

We all decided to get separate things from Pizzafari and not share because when my mom and I ate there in June we shared a Chicken Parmesan sandwich that wasn't very big. We also didn't have a TS planned for that night. My mom, GM, and I ordered the chicken parmesan and it was huge! I did eat the whole thing and my grapes and the chocolate cake and the icing off another cake. I also tasted the apple blossom and didn't care for it, but my GM liked it better than Whispering Canyon's apple pie. Laura and Ryan had pizza, but Ryan wished he had gotten our sandwich. My mom gave him a good bit of hers. They liked the pizza, and now we know that we can split a sandwich from here. This time's sandwich was ten times better than June's. I will definitely return for that sandwich.

It was about 1pm, so we hopped on over to MGM.

A few pictures that I forgot to add..
Cute towel creations...
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ictures022.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ictures023.jpg

Happy Birthday dessert from Kona...
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ictures020.jpg

Wendy, Peter Pan, and me - They were great!
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ictures013.jpg

We arrived at MGM and the first thing my GM had to do was use the restroom. While she and my mom did that, I offered to go get fastpasses for Little Mermaid to guarantee that we get in. Then we decide to head toward Walt Disney: One Man's Dream, but first I check the wait for GMR. It's only 10 minutes so we hop in there first. This is the shortest I ever remember waiting for GMR. Since it was such a short wait, and we haven't gone western in a long time, we asked a CM if we could go western. They had no problem allowing us to do that, but we had to wait a couple of trains. That wasn't a problem, and I enjoyed doing the western show. I still think I prefer gangster though. Next, we did One Man's Dream and The Magic of Disney Animation. Laura really wanted to do the animation academy. I didn't think we had the time, but since she really wanted to do it, I didn't care, because the only other thing I HAD to do at MGM was TOT. (RNRC was closed for refurb.)

While she and Ryan were doing that, my mom and I were reading about different character concepts, and my GM took a break. I then walked back to the You're a Character stations. As a was messing around with that, Frozone walked up to me and scared me. He didn't mean to, but just imagine an over six foot tall blue person walking up next to you and look at what you're doing. I explained to him that I had just taken an awful picture on the computer screen, and he just shrugged his shoulders and pointed to the next thing I needed to press. I went through everything, and we answered the questions together. He was very funny. He then covered his eyes when he saw my picture. My mom saw the whole thing and wished she had had her camera. I then got a good look around the Art of Disney store.

We missed our fastpasses for the Little Mermaid, but we still walked right into a show. Then we were rushing over to see Indy, and my mom had to use the restroom. It also started to sprinkle, and Laura didn't want to mess up the drawing she made at the animation academy. So, we asked for a bag, my mom had hairspray to keep the picture from smearing, and I had a hair tie so she could roll up the picture and keep it closed with my hair tie. Ryan, Laura, and I got our EMH wristbands, and then my mom and GM were going to get them, but I said, "We're going to miss Indy if you do." My mom replied, "I don't think 2 seconds will make us miss the show." Then the CMs started having trouble and another family walked up. After waiting a couple of minutes my mom said we'll do this later. (What did I say?) I didn't want to be rude before, but I knew that it would take longer than it looked to get the wristbands, and my brother really wanted to see the show. My mom was still upset and we squabbled about which row to sit in. We were finally seated and were over our squabble a couple of minutes into the show. We all enjoyed the show, but my brother really, really enjoyed it. I'm not sure why he gets so enraptured by that show. He had a look of pure joy on his face throughout most of the show. The look on his face was worth the price of admission.

We were also a little upset by the fact that we wanted to eat at Backlot Express and they were going to close at 5:30, and we wouldn't be hungry as it was now 5pm and we weren't even beginning to get hungry. We checked the guidemap and realized that the only places open would be on Sunset Blvd and we really didn't care for those places. My mom keep saying she didn't care because she wouldn't eat anything. I was trying to explain that I cared and I knew that my brother would be very grumpy without food. I asked her about seeing if Mama Melrose's had anything open, so we could eat much later, but they didn't which ended up being for the better. She checked while my brother and I rode Star Tours. We then did Muppets 3D.

My mom and GM got their wristbands, and I got an EMH guide. I really wish they would give these out earlier in the day. We needed to know what food places would be open. We were all disappointed to find out that if we wanted to eat it would have to be on Sunset Blvd. I was kind of craving a milkshake, but Min and Bill's was already closed. My mom and GM said they didn't want anything, so my brother, Laura, and I settled on Italian sandwiches for Catalina Eddies. It really wasn't what I was wanting, but it ended up being a very good sandwich. We all got apple slices to go with it. They were surprisingly good. We all shared the apple slices with my mom and GM. My mom also ate Laura's apple slices that were left over from the day before. Laura got bottled water, Ryan got sprite, and I had been wanting to try chocolate milk for sometime in Disney World, so I decided on that. We had 2 chocolate cakes and apple pie for dessert. I liked the chocolate cake, but tasted the apple pie and didn't care for it. My chocolate milk was just ok. Right after we ordered our food, it started to pour down rain. The server was nice enough to put another plate over our sandwiches. Then, we had to go from umbrella covering to umbrella covering. My mom noticed our dilemma and was able to retrieve us with her umbrella. We ate and had to wait a while for the storm to slack up.

When the storm finally slacked up, Laura, Ryan, and I ran to the TOT. They still had their sprinklers running so it was hard to see to get through the queue line. There wasn't a wait though. We rode 3 times (Laura skipping out on the second time) and went back to my mom and GM. My mom couldn't decide if she wanted to ride or not. She loves the ride, but she says it really scares her. (She also gets motion sickness and has back problems, but TOT usually doesn't aggravate either of those.) We finally convince her that she will regret it if she doesn't ride. (When we got back home she said how glad she was that she rode it.) We headed back over there and rode again with no wait. They had to cancel the 8:30 Fantasmic and we had hoped to catch the 10pm, but instead we shopped our way out and left around 9:30, right when it began to rain again. I don't know if the 10pm show performed or not.

I found something very interesting in the shop that Lou talked about on the podcast where the artists create pictures and watches...
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ictures024.jpg
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...ictures026.jpg

Totals for Monday:
Pizzafari - $64.65 (5 CS credits)
Catalina Eddie's - $39.96 (3 CS credits)

Tuesday at Epcot and MK

We arrived at Epcot right after 8am for EMH opening. We didn't actually get into the park until about 8:15. There was a lot of people entering the park, but as soon as they dispersed into Epcot, it wasn't crowded. Unfortunately, my GM had to use the restroom, so we couldn't rush to Soarin'. I gave my mom a look, and she said," Oh well." I meant for it to be a look of disappointment, not a look of being upset. If you have to go, you have to go, even if it's at an inopportune time. I started thinking, "Maybe we should go to MS and Test Track first instead. Should I get fastpasses for Soarin' and then do the other side of Future World?" My mom told me to go ahead and go get fastpasses, but instead I wait for them to come out of the restroom. We decide to go ahead and walk toward Soarin' because the line should move pretty quickly, and it would take me a while to go get fastpasses on my own and then go to the other side of FW. When we neared Soarin' we saw that The Seas was supposed to be open. I decided to go get fastpasses while the rest of the family headed toward The Seas. I didn't think The Seas was supposed to be open, but we thought that might be the best course of action, because by the time we were done with The Seas it would be time for our fastpasses.

As I'm walking back out of The Land, I see my family. They say the sign was wrong and The Seas wasn't open yet. That was just as well because Soarin' was sporting a 20 minute wait. It took less time than that to walk through the queue line, but we ended up waiting about 20 minutes because we asked for front row. All the rows are good, but front is the best. We ended up front and center. I was very happy my GM got on the ride, but she did say she felt funny afterward. My mom kept telling my GM that we weren't moving much. I prefer a quiet ride on Soarin', but oh well, but GM needed the comfort and I would rather her be comfortable than me, since I've been on the ride before. I just wish she had been beside of my mom instead of me being between them. It didn't matter, because my GM may never ride it again, I rode it later on without my mom reaching over me.

Next, we did the clammobile ride and Turtle Talk. I really, really like Turtle Talk. I think it's better than the Laugh Floor. We looked around at the exhibits (unfortunately, I didn't get to see the manatees because they were cleaning the tank, but it was neat to see them clean the tank) It was then time for our Soarin' fastpasses. My GM opted not to ride again. So, she sat in Sunshine Season and got me a cup of water (thanks, GM!). This time we were given front row without asking. I was on the very end, and I thought I may not have a good view, but it was just as great as always. I thought it was neat that I could look to my left and look down at the floor when we came back down. It was kind of freaky to actually be able to get a good view of how high up you are.

It was then time for the Imagination pavilion. Laura had hoped that we would do HISTA, but unfortunately it was down for refurbishment. I hadn't known about that before we left. So, we did Journey into Imagination (which I actually really like) and then I met Figment (which I thought was cool). Now, it's time for lunch.

I had suggested before that maybe we should eat at Sunshine Seasons. We had already decided that we would eat in Mexico. My mom thought that I didn't want to eat in Mexico. I only suggested that we eat at SS because they were open earlier and they had a wider dessert selection, and since we were on the DDP we could take advantage of that. It was after 11, so the WS was open, and I was fine with Mexico. As we are eating my mom makes a comment that she doesn't think she would ever want to pay for overpriced Mexican food at San Angel Inn. I then remark, "You're paying for overpriced Mexican here." It just slipped out. We weren't paying for it anyway. She said, "You should have eaten at The Land." I try to explain that I didn't really mean it, and I was just making a true statement. (That didn't make things better.) I also said I was enjoying my food, and I wanted Mexican. It is true, though, that you can get better Mexican where I live for half the price. That squabble blows over quickly and then my mom wants photos of us. My brother takes a really bad picture of us, and I delete it from the camera. My mom claims she thought it was a good picture. I try to explain that she must not have gotten a good look at it because it really was a bad picture of all of us, especially me and my GM. (I think she may have thought it was a good picture of her, and she didn't care what anyone else looked like in the picture.) I also say, "It looked like we were having margaritas in Mexico." That gets a laugh and breaks some of the tension, but then my brother gets the camera and keeps taking a lot of pictures of me and is really making me mad. We unhappily (at least I am unhappy) make our way to the Gran Fiesta Tour. I enjoy my ride, and am over everything by the end of the boat ride. (You may see a trend here; if we get mad at each other, it's nothing big, and it blows over within a few minutes.)

As we near the unloading platform, Laura realizes she forgot her camera at the Cantina. That definitely makes everyone forget the past squabble (which I really did feel bad about because I started it). Fortunately, it was still there. I had grabbed fastpasses for Test Track , while my family had gone on to Mexico, but it wasn't time to us them yet. Laura wanted to do some shopping in Mexico, so she and Ryan stayed there for a bit, while mom, GM, and I move on to Norway. We look at the Viking exhibit and then I have to step into the bakery. I use a snack credit for a Cloudberry horn. It was delicious. My brother had to have a bite and decides to get himself one too. We leave my GM there and go to Mission Space. Laura and mom ride green, while brother and I go to orange. Our line is a little longer than green, but it's still shorter than it usually is. I realize it would have been a good idea to get more FPs for MS before we ride Test Track, but we had left the tickets with GM. I walked all the way back to Norway (it was a hot walk) and get the tickets. I meet my family at Test Track and my brother volunteers to go to MS for the FPs which are 15 minutes later than before. It was now 2 minutes after the start of the Test Track FPs, so we would have had to wait anyway. We have fun on Test Track and then we have 15 minutes before the MS fastpasses come up. Laura and mom head back to GM, while brother and I wait for FP time. We are then informed that orange is a walk-on right when our FP time rolls around. We thought it had had a 20 minute wait, and that it was better to wait 10 minutes than 20. Oh well. We use those FPs and walk quickly around to ride again with the other FPs. We hurry back to the family because we know they are tired of waiting. They actually didn't mind, but I hate to make them wait anyway. My mom and Laura had gone shopping in China, but my GM's back was bothering her, so she preferred sitting. We met back up with them, and then watched the acrobats in China. They were really amazing. We had an ADR in Morocco for dinner at 3:30pm. We were very lucky to be walking across the bridge when they announce that they would be closing it to bring in the Illuminations barges. That was prefect timing! I felt bad for my GM who kept asking when we would get there. I hated that it was such a long walk. I didn't mind because my brother and I were having a very interesting conversation, but I know it was a long, hot walk for my GM.

Next, our enjoyable meal at Morocco.

I need the meal report! lol