wdw1972
05-25-2008, 01:00 AM
DAY 2 – Saturday 5/24/08
Who: Sue (49), DVC member
Plan: MK or AK extra magic hour, LeCellier, Epcot
Actual: I slept really well, not waking up until the alarm went off at 6am. 6am seems like a terrible time to get up on vacation, but oh well. I’ve yet to hear a peep from any neighbors or people in the hallway or outside, which is just the way I like it! I showered, dressed, and toasted an English muffin to eat with my cappuccino. I was out the door just before 7:30, on my way to the bus stop.
Although Animal Kingdom was the only park opening early, we saw 2 Magic Kingdom buses. The cast member explained they run early to get people to their character breakfasts. The AK bus was next, and it arrived empty. After loading us up we stopped next at the Swan, and then the Dolphin. By this point there wasn’t room for another person, and the driver repeatedly told people to push all the way back to make room.
We got to AK right about 8, and it was pretty busy at the turnstiles. I chose one off to the right, and a mother and teen daughter was ahead of me. The lines eventually break into 2, as there are 2 turnstiles. I just watched the mom hop from one to the other, just cutting right back in front of me or the person in the other line. She’d move to the left, but if that line slowed she’d hop over to the right. Finally as we were almost there she was in my line (directly in front of me, directly behind the guy inserting his pass), and her daughter was in the other. The guy with the pass had trouble, so she hopped back over with her daughter, then the guy got through so she hopped back over in front of me and nearly knocked me over with her backpack. Then she gets through, and pauses IN the turnstile. I already had my pass almost inserted, and she’s standing there telling her daughter (who was directly behind the person inserting their pass over there) to come over. I snarled at her – “Just go on in”. She was stunned, and stepped aside, then turned to me and said “how Ruuuuuuuuuude”, lol! It wasn’t worth the breath to try & explain that she’s the rude one, so I just went on my way.
My first stop was Primeval Whirl, which had no wait at all. When I came back around the cm asked if I wanted to ride again, so I stayed on for a 2nd ride. She asked again after that, but I decided to head elsewhere – I like it, but twice is enough. I walked over to Harambe and was a sweaty mess by the time I got there. It’s SO hot here today! The standby time for Kilimanjaro Safari was 10 minutes, and fastpasses were being issued with a 15-minute return, so I just got in the standby line. It never stopped moving, and soon I was on the safari vehicle.
Unfortunately, I was seated in the middle of a row – they filled it up with a party of 2, then me, then another solo. I wasn’t able to take any photos because whenever something worth photographing was nearby I was blocked by the girl next to me. The white rhino was right next to the truck, and the male lion was sitting up proudly for all to admire.
When the safari ended I decided to leave the park, as it was way too hot for anything that isn’t air conditioned. At the bus stop area it took 25 minutes for the Epcot bus to arrive – and there were already 2 parties waiting when I arrived. On the plus side, we were dropped off at the very closest bus stop, which was nice.
Entering Epcot was a mob scene, but inside the park it wasn’t busy at all. It was shortly after 10 and Soarin’ was up to a 40 minute wait, and Spaceship Earth had a line, but otherwise it wasn’t busy at all. I walked right onto the Nemo ride, and about halfway through heard the voicemail chime on my cell phone. When I got off the ride I tried calling the voicemail as I stood right by the exit doors, but even there I could not get a signal. I had to step outside and a little bit away from the building before I could get SB’s message. I called him back, and chatted briefly before he had to have his players take the field for warmup work.
Next I went over to the Land, and decided to ride Living With the Land since the line was very short. It was a bit warm in there, but otherwise enjoyable. The aqua farming area smelled pretty fishy, and several of the little alligators were holding their heads up. Usually they’re just laying down when I’m in here. After the ride I picked up a fastpass for Soarin’, which has a time of 12-1pm but I’ll use it later in the day when I return for the evening.
Back outside I decided my focus would be air conditioning, so I rode the ride in Imagination. I was the only person on the group of 4 cars, lol! What can I say – the ride isn’t great but I got to sit in air conditioning for 10-15 minutes. The tip board was still saying Spaceship Earth was only 10 minutes, so I walked over there and realized it was at least twice that long. So, I didn’t stay! I thought about Ellen’s Energy Adventure, since it is air conditioned, but the line wasn’t moving and I was curious when I saw the Wonders of Life pavilion was open as a festival garden center – I think it was called Garden Town. I don’t garden, but standing outside in the heat was less appealing than a gardening exhibit at this point so I went over there!
To my surprise, they had a lot of stuff in there, and it was really nice. Some people were doing a gardening seminar, and there was an empty space with chairs where something else would be happening later. The little snack bar is open, and they had a nice little menu. The cast member said they’re the best kept secret in Epcot these days. I told her I might be back for dinner. The area that was dedicated to DVC during Food & Wine is now used for art with a flower & garden theme. Overall, it was a pleasant diversion and got me out of the heat & humidity for a while.
By now it was shortly after 11, and my LeCellier reservation was for 12 noon. I walked to World Showcase, starting in Mexico. I’d brought my camera along and took several photos along the way. I’ll post the link at the end of the report. In Mexico I did the boat ride, sitting behind a nice couple from Kentucky. He turned around to ask if this was my first visit, and we just struck up a conversation – he was so nice I didn’t hold it against him for calling me “ma’am”, lol! This was his 2nd visit, and his wife’s first, and he didn’t know anything about Soarin’ but I stressed they should go get fastpasses before they were gone!
About 11:30 I called the person from the DIS board I was meeting for lunch, but I must have entered her phone number wrong because I got someone who clearly did not want to have lunch with me – oops! Either that, or she had second thoughts, lol! I continued walking around, and stopped to ride the Maelstrom since there was no line there either. As I passed through the USA the real Susan (from DIS) called, and we met outside LeCellier once I got over there. They’d confiscated my axe when I entered Epcot earlier, so there was no axe murdering going on at this lunch!
We were seated almost immediately, and had a good lunch (food & service). We both started with the cheese soup – excellent as always. I skipped the wine and just had ice water, thinking I’d be less full if I got something in addition to the soup. I ordered the spicy chicken chipotle sausage appetizer as my meal, and Susan had the prime rib sandwich. I’d never tried the sausage before, and it was basically a sausage – very spicy sausage! It came on corn polenta, which was pretty good. It’s not something I’d order again, but I ate about half of it and was glad I’d tried it. Maybe next time I’ll try the tomato stack. We were both too full for dessert, so we settled the check & headed outside to find clouds, thunder, and occasional lightning. This certainly seemed like a good time to head back to the resort & listen to SB’s game! It was nice meeting Susan and having lunch together – and we both lived to tell about it. Well, you at least know I lived – you’ll have to take my word for it that she’s not dismembered and buried in the Canadian garden area, lol!
Who: Sue (49), DVC member
Plan: MK or AK extra magic hour, LeCellier, Epcot
Actual: I slept really well, not waking up until the alarm went off at 6am. 6am seems like a terrible time to get up on vacation, but oh well. I’ve yet to hear a peep from any neighbors or people in the hallway or outside, which is just the way I like it! I showered, dressed, and toasted an English muffin to eat with my cappuccino. I was out the door just before 7:30, on my way to the bus stop.
Although Animal Kingdom was the only park opening early, we saw 2 Magic Kingdom buses. The cast member explained they run early to get people to their character breakfasts. The AK bus was next, and it arrived empty. After loading us up we stopped next at the Swan, and then the Dolphin. By this point there wasn’t room for another person, and the driver repeatedly told people to push all the way back to make room.
We got to AK right about 8, and it was pretty busy at the turnstiles. I chose one off to the right, and a mother and teen daughter was ahead of me. The lines eventually break into 2, as there are 2 turnstiles. I just watched the mom hop from one to the other, just cutting right back in front of me or the person in the other line. She’d move to the left, but if that line slowed she’d hop over to the right. Finally as we were almost there she was in my line (directly in front of me, directly behind the guy inserting his pass), and her daughter was in the other. The guy with the pass had trouble, so she hopped back over with her daughter, then the guy got through so she hopped back over in front of me and nearly knocked me over with her backpack. Then she gets through, and pauses IN the turnstile. I already had my pass almost inserted, and she’s standing there telling her daughter (who was directly behind the person inserting their pass over there) to come over. I snarled at her – “Just go on in”. She was stunned, and stepped aside, then turned to me and said “how Ruuuuuuuuuude”, lol! It wasn’t worth the breath to try & explain that she’s the rude one, so I just went on my way.
My first stop was Primeval Whirl, which had no wait at all. When I came back around the cm asked if I wanted to ride again, so I stayed on for a 2nd ride. She asked again after that, but I decided to head elsewhere – I like it, but twice is enough. I walked over to Harambe and was a sweaty mess by the time I got there. It’s SO hot here today! The standby time for Kilimanjaro Safari was 10 minutes, and fastpasses were being issued with a 15-minute return, so I just got in the standby line. It never stopped moving, and soon I was on the safari vehicle.
Unfortunately, I was seated in the middle of a row – they filled it up with a party of 2, then me, then another solo. I wasn’t able to take any photos because whenever something worth photographing was nearby I was blocked by the girl next to me. The white rhino was right next to the truck, and the male lion was sitting up proudly for all to admire.
When the safari ended I decided to leave the park, as it was way too hot for anything that isn’t air conditioned. At the bus stop area it took 25 minutes for the Epcot bus to arrive – and there were already 2 parties waiting when I arrived. On the plus side, we were dropped off at the very closest bus stop, which was nice.
Entering Epcot was a mob scene, but inside the park it wasn’t busy at all. It was shortly after 10 and Soarin’ was up to a 40 minute wait, and Spaceship Earth had a line, but otherwise it wasn’t busy at all. I walked right onto the Nemo ride, and about halfway through heard the voicemail chime on my cell phone. When I got off the ride I tried calling the voicemail as I stood right by the exit doors, but even there I could not get a signal. I had to step outside and a little bit away from the building before I could get SB’s message. I called him back, and chatted briefly before he had to have his players take the field for warmup work.
Next I went over to the Land, and decided to ride Living With the Land since the line was very short. It was a bit warm in there, but otherwise enjoyable. The aqua farming area smelled pretty fishy, and several of the little alligators were holding their heads up. Usually they’re just laying down when I’m in here. After the ride I picked up a fastpass for Soarin’, which has a time of 12-1pm but I’ll use it later in the day when I return for the evening.
Back outside I decided my focus would be air conditioning, so I rode the ride in Imagination. I was the only person on the group of 4 cars, lol! What can I say – the ride isn’t great but I got to sit in air conditioning for 10-15 minutes. The tip board was still saying Spaceship Earth was only 10 minutes, so I walked over there and realized it was at least twice that long. So, I didn’t stay! I thought about Ellen’s Energy Adventure, since it is air conditioned, but the line wasn’t moving and I was curious when I saw the Wonders of Life pavilion was open as a festival garden center – I think it was called Garden Town. I don’t garden, but standing outside in the heat was less appealing than a gardening exhibit at this point so I went over there!
To my surprise, they had a lot of stuff in there, and it was really nice. Some people were doing a gardening seminar, and there was an empty space with chairs where something else would be happening later. The little snack bar is open, and they had a nice little menu. The cast member said they’re the best kept secret in Epcot these days. I told her I might be back for dinner. The area that was dedicated to DVC during Food & Wine is now used for art with a flower & garden theme. Overall, it was a pleasant diversion and got me out of the heat & humidity for a while.
By now it was shortly after 11, and my LeCellier reservation was for 12 noon. I walked to World Showcase, starting in Mexico. I’d brought my camera along and took several photos along the way. I’ll post the link at the end of the report. In Mexico I did the boat ride, sitting behind a nice couple from Kentucky. He turned around to ask if this was my first visit, and we just struck up a conversation – he was so nice I didn’t hold it against him for calling me “ma’am”, lol! This was his 2nd visit, and his wife’s first, and he didn’t know anything about Soarin’ but I stressed they should go get fastpasses before they were gone!
About 11:30 I called the person from the DIS board I was meeting for lunch, but I must have entered her phone number wrong because I got someone who clearly did not want to have lunch with me – oops! Either that, or she had second thoughts, lol! I continued walking around, and stopped to ride the Maelstrom since there was no line there either. As I passed through the USA the real Susan (from DIS) called, and we met outside LeCellier once I got over there. They’d confiscated my axe when I entered Epcot earlier, so there was no axe murdering going on at this lunch!
We were seated almost immediately, and had a good lunch (food & service). We both started with the cheese soup – excellent as always. I skipped the wine and just had ice water, thinking I’d be less full if I got something in addition to the soup. I ordered the spicy chicken chipotle sausage appetizer as my meal, and Susan had the prime rib sandwich. I’d never tried the sausage before, and it was basically a sausage – very spicy sausage! It came on corn polenta, which was pretty good. It’s not something I’d order again, but I ate about half of it and was glad I’d tried it. Maybe next time I’ll try the tomato stack. We were both too full for dessert, so we settled the check & headed outside to find clouds, thunder, and occasional lightning. This certainly seemed like a good time to head back to the resort & listen to SB’s game! It was nice meeting Susan and having lunch together – and we both lived to tell about it. Well, you at least know I lived – you’ll have to take my word for it that she’s not dismembered and buried in the Canadian garden area, lol!