So many parks, so little time.

[SummerInFL]

Needing a long over due sabbatical, my mother and I piled into the car and drove over to WDW for the weekend. With family from everywhere coming into town, it was the perfect opportunity for us to have a good time.

Should you wish to see all the photos I took this weekend, please visit HERE.

We arrived to our lovely room at the Radisson World Gate. I had booked it through the travel link on Mice Chat for an unbelievable rate of $49 a night. We were extremely satisfied with our hotel, it was right next to Animal Kingdom on W 192. It had free Wifi, refrigerator, pool, tennis courts, basketball courts and sleep number beds! We will definitely be going back there for our next trip!

Comfy beds!


View wasn't bad either!




Let's get to the parks! Animal Kingdom was calling us!


We stopped by Guest Relations to load up the gift card and I see Rixter peering through the bars. What luck!

So we joined our CA crew and set off on a DAK adventure!


It was a very lively day for the animals, we saw many along the way.


Well maybe not this guy, but he looked comfy!


So many paths to explore and get lost in.


We found ourselves getting lost in the beauty of the Tree of Life, it's such a great path!


Ducks? I think. LOL


It's so much fun finding all the animals on the tree, there's always something new to discover!


To those people that say there just isn't enough shade at Animal Kingdom I say you just aren't looking hard enough.




As it was lunch time the gang headed over to Yak and Yeti to eat.

Say hi DoomBgi!


The food selection was excellent and the company unmatched!




And the atmosphere there is just amazing.




Yummy Chicken!


After filling our bellys we headed over to the Flights of Wonder show. There was a little bit of concern that the show wouldn't go on due to the rain, happily, this wasn't the case.


It's Poncho Man!


And his sidekick Slicker Rick!


So we sought refuge from the rain in hopes of making it back in time for the show and took on It's Tough To Be a Bug!


And as luck would have it, the heavens parted and made way for us to partake in the wonderful Flights of Wonder.








This guy was CRAZY funny!


He sang us 2 pretty songs.


I think owls are probably my favorite bird, they are incredibly stunning.



I always tear up when they bring out Hope, darn inspirational music! LOL


It's Safari time!!


I got a lot of the same pics as Fishy as we were both sitting in kind of the same place, so I won't post very many here.


Yeah, I'm talking about you!


We had a minor traffic back up as some animal was blocking the way, that happens from time to time.


I saw this guy hiding in the bushes staring us down, I was feeling a little apprehensive.


Success! At least we didn't get stuck here. I'm having flashbacks to that movie Romancing the Stone.

Ira: Look at those snappers, will you!
(Everyone under the age of 25 just went, "Huh?")


Excuse me, coming through, outta my way!


Upon exiting the parade was just starting to go by, what luck!




Rafiki!!!




All aboard! It's time for Rafiki's Watch Planet!!




Rafiki is awesome.


It's near closing time and we haven't used our Everest FP's??! Train please!


While the sprint walkers of the group ran ahead to ride Everest, the rest of us took a nice leisurely stroll back.


But wait there's more! Stay tune as we park hop it over to DHS for some Star Wars Hoopla fun!

[SummerInFL]

After a hop and a short drive to DHS we all caught the tram.


After much deliberation some of us went to see the last American Idol show, while the rest of us went to the Star Wars Hoopla. I will say that I've never seen this show and after hearing a little about it I was expecting it to be extremely corny and wrong. It was HILARIOUS and they did such a great job keeping everyone entertained. I'm never going to get the image of Darth Vadar doing the MC Hammer out of my head, next year I'll have to go earlier and get a better spot.













*sings* We fight we break up, we kiss we make up.






After the show Doombgi wanted to head over and check out the exclusive Star Wars merchandise. I was happy to find the store was being held in the old sound stages.


They had standees all over the park which I can only imagine were used for character meet n greets. I had no idea how extensive this event is, I was very pleased to see the lengths they went for it.



For all the historical geeks, those windowed areas above were for the old Backlot Tour, it was the walking portion that allowed people to see shows being made from above.


Now I'm not a huge Star Wars fan, I like the films but even I thought this was pretty cool.


So after a little shopping we met back up with the group and we all headed over to do RNRC and ToT.







After a big drop on ToT we all headed to DTD for dinner. It was time for Earl of Sandwich. Mmmm, good stuff!






I did take a very short video.
MOV04784 videos from amusement parks videos on webshots

First day down, two to go!

[aashee]

Great report Summer!!!

[Mouse princess]

Nice trip report Summer!!!

[mikeland]

Wonderful TR!!! It was great to see you again.

[yoyoflamingo]

Great report! Hopefully we'll get to see you when we head out in July!

[joanna71985]

Love the pictures!

[SummerInFL]

Day 2


My mother and I headed over to Kona Cafe at the Polynesian for breakfast. I had never eaten there and I'm told that the Tonga Toast is amazing.

So off to the Polynesian we go!








The toast was a little too sweet for me but I can see why everyone likes it.


They had this excellent sculpture of Lilo and Stitch made out of chocolate on display. Amazing detail!


Catching the monorail I soon found myself on Main Street.




I decided to head over to Liberty Square, no destination in mind really.








1st Stop, the HM.


Some people were already getting into the Gay Days spirit.


Well, I figured I'd hop the train over to Toontown and make my way to the meet.

All aboard!


As there was no line for Pooh I decided to stop by the Hundred Acre Woods.



Then Snow White.


The day was actually very nice, the cloud cover kept the hot sun at bay and created just enough of a breeze to stay cool.




Meet time!!






Then we headed over to the Columbia Harbor House for lunch, from upstairs we have a great view of the area below. It was a great location for checking out all the hot men.

Oh hey, Fishy, whatcha doing?


Since we were there, we did another run through of mansion.


As Dusty had never ridden WDW's riverboat, we all headed over for a trip around the Rivers of America.




















Seems we couldn't get enough of boats so we headed to Jungle Cruise next!


Mikeland


Doombgi looking all stylish.


As tradition dictates we headed over for the annual parade viewing.

Everybody all at once! Awwwww...





Dusty enjoying the music a little too much.










After shopping for a bit on Main Street, we boarded the train for Frontierland, grabbed some FP's for Big Thunder Mountain and then took in Country Bear Jamboree.




Then it was Mickey's Philharmagic. I have no idea what Dusty is saying right here but he seems very passionate about it!


We took the train a lot that day, more loops than normal. When and what times I can't seem to recall, so I'll just say a lot. LOL

Our FP's were up so a group of us went on BTM.


It was here I had to depart our good friends, as I had family down from Chicago and had to meet them for dinner at Tony's.

Ciao!


No matter what your affiliation is politically, WDW is no place for this junk.


Tony's is such a lovely restaurant and the food is really very good. I highly recommend at least one visit while in the world.






I ended the night with dinner and went back to the hotel for a nice dip in the pool, the jacuzzi was also great after a long day on my feet.

Epcot tomorrow!!!

[SummerInFL]

Day 3


Epcot!! Yay!!!!


I told my mother to look amazing and imagine something. I guess she could only go for drunk and wobbly. LOL
(And before you berate me for saying that, she said that herself.)


They have a great Art of Disney store at Epcot, I just want to take every painting home.


We did a little shopping in Mouse Gears, I bought myself a hat. Whatcha think?


So I thought the meet was at 11:00 a.m. and we had checked with The Coral Reef restaurant for lunch at 11:30 p.m. We got in to Coral Reef but not before I found out the meet was really at noon. Sadly we were late for the meet!

As I had never eaten at the Coral Reef, this was a great opportunity and I'm glad we took it!


The atmosphere is AHmazing and the food was simply devine. I think it would be a great place for a romantic dinner.






As we weren't incredibly hungry, we went for the Appetizer for Two, I LOVE sea scallops and these were no exception.


After a brief stop to say goodbye to the gang, mom and I headed over to WS to explore.


We basically hit each country in order.

Mexico first.




Then we stopped at my favorite pastry shop in Norway for some rice pudding and Voss water.




Then we conquered the vikings in Maelstrom.


China was next as we took in Reflections of China and watched a woman play a Guzheng. The music was amazing and she did such a great job.


Reflections of China








We stopped and I gave Budda a dollar and made a wish, let's hope it comes true.




As clouds were heading our way and the air smelled like rain, we headed towards shelter.


It rained for two seconds and we were off again, craving a pretzel in Germany.


As we sat down in Italy to rest our feet, this squirrel came up looking for food. Now I know that you aren't supposed to feed them and I'm not saying I did share but I'm not saying I didn't either.


So we met up my family and headed over to Beirgarten for dinner. Now I have to be honest, the last time we went I wasn't a fan of the food. It was not very good but this time around I have to say it was delicious. Don't know what they changed but this is now off my "won't eat there" list.


OY! OY! OY!






















With one last trip through Space and a glimpse into the future, we settled into the car and headed home. The weekend couldn't have been any better and to have the wonderful company that we did just made it all the more special. Love you guys, we had so much fun, I wanted to do even more than we did, just wasn't enough time!

Until next year.



The End

[Coheteboy]

Thanks for all the Star Wars photos!

[Mouse princess]

We had the same experience at Beirgarten. We had eaten there a few years ago and I just wasn't crazy about it. We decided to try again on our trip just past- mid May and the food was really good. I don't know what changed, but it definetly changed for the better.

[WheresMickey]

Great report Summer!

[Xharryb]

Great pics Summer!

[NeverNeverland]

Originally Posted by SummerInFL

The toast was a little too sweet for me but I can see why everyone likes it.


They had this excellent sculpture of Lilo and Stitch made out of chocolate on display. Amazing detail!

Doombgi looking all stylish.

OMG!!! I cannot wait to have that tonga toast! I had noooo idea it looked o yummimlious! Mmmmm.

And it's good to see doom bgi has gained some weight since he looked so "stick" thin at macaroni Grill (See Fishy's report). Looking good in that ge and sparkles

TY for the report Summer! Looks lie it was al ot of fun!!!

[royaldisneyfan]

Great TR!

Great pics of all the parks! Magic Kingdom set were my favorites!