November 6-13, 1999
Cast Of Characters: Mary Virsila, 40; Amanda Virsila, 12; frequent visitors
Planning the trip:
My name is Mary Virsila and I have been to Walt Disney World 5 times since 1992. Ever since that first visit I have been hooked on the magic. Previous trips have been with my son and daughter, but this trip was just my daughter, Amanda, 12 years old, and myself. My husband does not like going to parks like WDW and he likes to hunt in November. All but my first trip have been in November. I find that the weather and crowd levels are ideal this time of year. . For this trip I made reservations back in September of 1998 and I made them for November 13-20, 1999, when my husband would be up north in Michigan deer hunting. I booked 7 nights at the Wilderness Lodge Resort for the Magic Kingdom Club rate of $176. 71 per night. That is a savings of almost $50. 00 per night. I was thrilled.
My last trip in Nov. 1996 I could not obtain a MKC discount for the Wilderness Lodge, but we stayed there anyways. We absolutely love this hotel, it is so beautiful and relaxing. Around the first of January I found out that my husband was going to go on a special deer hunt way up in Canada for the week earlier in November. Right away I called Disney to change my reservation for Nov. 6-13 instead. I was very relieved that I was still able to get a woods view room at the same MKC rate. Around the first of April I went down to my local AAA branch office to book my airfare. Every trip I have flown Spirit Airlines. They always have the best price and their flight times are great too. For this trip the airfare ran $176. 50 for each of us flying out of Detroit Metro Airport.
In the spring we purchased our first computer, and a whole new world on the internet opened up for me. I cannot believe all of the information that is available on WDW. I spent many hours exploring many different websites, finding many I loved . As each month got closer to November, I began to finalize my day to day itinerary. For me, all of this planning is half the fun of the trip. When going to WDW , there is so much planning you can do. I like having everything planned ahead, which parks we will visit each day, where we will eat each meal, which parades or nightime show we will see. I am so looking forward to all of the new things since my last visit. I have learned so many new tips from reading other trip reports, I am looking forward to putting them to use. As you read this trip report, I will tell you the tips as I go along. One of the new things I am looking forward to is E Nights at Magic Kingdom, which are special nights that the MK stays open for 3 hours past closing, and only Disney resort guests can purchase the special ticket for $10. 00 per person. The dates are only posted about 2-3 weeks ahead of the new month, so I am anxiously awaiting the E Night dates for November. I have checked dates for the previous months and tuesdays and fridays seem to be popular. I have left my tuesday evening free on my itinerary hoping that will be an E Night. If I have to I can change things around a little.
Around the first of October my AAA travel agent calls me and informs me that Spirit
Airlines return flight has been changed from 7;30p. m. to 11;45a. m. I am a bit disappointed that I will lose that whole day of park time I was planning on. Every trip I have gone on to WDW we have returned home in the evening, giving us the whole day to go to one of the parks, now I must refigure my itinerary a little differently. I was planning on purchasing a 7 day park hopper plus pass, which was going to be cheaper for me than getting a length of stay pass for our time there. I have come up with a new plan and can purchase a 6 day park hopper plus pass with my MKC discount for around $259. 00 each with tax. I have planned our itinerary using up all of the days on this pass, plus using up the plus pass days. With the money I have saved using this pass, we will be able to do our E nights and also the trail ride at Fort Wilderness.
It is now the third week in October and the E Nights have been announced for November. True to the pattern I have seen, Tuesday Nov. 9 is an E Night, but also Friday Nov. 12 is an E Night. I am thrilled, 2 E Nights for the week we will be there. I have heard so many good things about E Nights, I can hardly wait. A week or so later there is an E Night update on one of the websites I check frequently. The date has been changed from Friday Nov. 12 to Thurs. Nov 11. I can live with that, just a little switching around. Now all I can do is wait and get packed up. Usually I get stressed out packing, but this time I started way ahead and it worked out much better. In fact the day before we were to leave, I was done. Saturday cannot come soon enough for me.
Day to Day Itinerary:
Saturday: arrive, MGM Studios, Magic Kingdom
Sunday: Epcot
Monday: Blizzard Beach, Fort Wilderness, Downtown Disney
Tuesday: Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom E Night
Wednesday: MGM Studios
Thursday: Magic Kingdom, Blizzard Beach, Epcot, Magic Kingdom E Night
Friday: Animal Kingdom
Saturday: Leave in morning
Day 1: Saturday November 6
It is now Saturday morning, my alarm was set for 5:00 A.M. I have my clothes laid out ready, so it does not take long to get ready. I have to get Amanda and my husband up. My husband leaves on his hunting trip tomorrow morning, so he takes us to the airport. We leave at 5:50 and arrive by 6:30. Our flight is scheduled for 8:05 takeoff, but I have learned there are usually slight delays. Everything goes smoothly and we are in our seats on the plane. There is a half hour delay taking off, so we leave around 9:00. The flight is 2 hours and 2 minutes going down to Florida. We have a very smooth flight. We get our bags and we find out they moved all of the shuttle company booths down to the next level, so it takes a little while to find them. I am using Transtar Shuttle Co. for this trip because they had special millennium rates posted on their website which were by far the cheapest. $18. 75 adult, $12. 75 jr. round trip from Orlando Airport to Disney's Wilderness Lodge. We find the Transtar booth and purchase our tickets so we can get there. It was a good thing I brought a copy of the special rates off their website, because the agents didnt know anything about them. Of course with it in black and white on paper, they had to honor it. We climb aboard the shuttle van, and wait for others to fill up the van. It doesnt take too long, and our stop is the fourth stop. We finally drive under the WDW welcome sign and I cant believe we are finally here. We pull up to the Wilderness Lodge and it is as beautiful as I remember it. It is so exciting walking through those front entry doors into that lobby knowing we have a whole week ahead of us. Amanda sits with the luggage and I check in. When I made the reservation I requested my room to be located in the same area when we stayed last time. In reading one trip report they said to talk to the room controller five days prior to arrival date to again request room preference. I did that. When I check in they did not have a room available off the lobby
facing the MK, which is what I had requested. They have a room off the lobby facing the new villas construction room #5096. I ask if when a room becomes available can I move. After some checking I am told a room will be available tomorrow. Great, I can live with that for one night. I purchase my 6 day park hopper plus passes using my MKC discount. I check on E Night passes, but I can only get the Tuesday pass so far, and I will have to get the Thursday pass in a couple of days. They only release them so far ahead. Next I check on availability for us to be the flag family one morning. Another great tip I learned off the internet. She gets out the special book and I pretty much have my pick of the week. I decide for Saturday morning, our last day. I figure it will be something special to look forward to, but Amanda doesnt look forward to getting up early for it.
We haul our bags up to the room, and come right back down for lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe. By this time its past 1:30 and we are very hungry. I order a water with double lemon and the waitress asks so you want to make lemonade. She brings me a mug full of lemon wedges with water and Amanda has a sprite. I order the apple roasted chicken salad sandwich on a maple pecan roll with potato salad, Amanda orders the childs chicken finger plate. The restaurant is very uncrowded, and our food arrives very fast. It is very good. Our lunch bill comes to $16. 97. I like that they have a ala carte menu to go along with the all u can eat skillets. Sometimes you dont always want to eat a ton of food, and their sandwiches are very good. Now we go back up to the room to change for swimming, which is Amandas favorite activity in Florida. I hot tub it while she swims awhile. I sit in the hot tub and look around the courtyard and I cant believe it has been 3 years since we were here. Everything looks so familiar, it is like being home, but much more deluxe.
After an hour, we change to head for the parks. Our first stop is MGM Studios. We arrive around 4:45 and we head straight to rock n roller coaster to get a fastpass. Our pass is good from 5:45 to 6:45. Now we ride tower of terror. It only has a 10 minute wait. We are anticipating a triple drop but it drops 5 times all together. We love this ride. We still have some time to kill so we check the tipboard at the corner of Sunset and Hollywood, and the great movie ride has no wait. I like this ride because of the wizard of oz segment and it is relaxing. We ride it and it is now time to return to rock n roller coaster. The fast pass works great. You get your fast pass ticket and return to ride during the hour printed on your ticket. There is a special fast pass entrance and you get to go to the front of the line. There was an hour wait in the regular line, but we went and rode two rides during that time, sure beats standing in line. I am very apprehensive about this ride because I dont do well on anything that goes upside down, but this ride sounds so awesome I have to experience it at least once. I have taken a motion sickness pill for good measure. We now enter the recording studio with Aerosmith. They look like they are really there. Their manager comes in and tells them they have to get to their concert, and before they leave Steven Tyler decides we the fans all need backstage passes. They zoom off in their own limo and the manager orders a super stretch limo for us. We now enter the loading area and the super stretch limo coaster looks so cool . We get in and are secured. There is padding all around your head with speakers playing Aerosmith music. Our limo goes screeching around the corner and sits. The limo is rumbling, waiting for the blast off. We do blast off and it is unlike anything I have ever experienced. You go upside down 3 times during the ride but it is very smooth and fast. It is such an awesome ride, I cant believe it. I dont feel sick, Im so relieved.
Now it is a few minutes after 6:00 and it is time to get our seats for Fantasmic! The amphitheatre is already 3/4 full but we sit in the Ursula section up at the top. They turn out to be good seats for the show, which is utterly fantastic. I video tape the show, cant wait to see how it turns out. Now we fight the mobs of people out to the Disney bus stop for we are now on our way to MK for Main Street Electrical Parade. Of the whole week we will be here this was the only night the MK was staying open until 11:00 with two parades at 8 and 10. The later parade is always much less crowded when there are 2 parades scheduled. Plus it gave us enough time to see Fantasmic! before heading over to the MK.
The bus line is long for MK so we instead take the Polynesian bus and transfer to the monorail when we get to the Poly. As we arrive to the MK the 8:00 parade has just finished and we have to fight the mobs of people who are now leaving the park. We do make it to Tomorrowland where we eat at Cosmic Rays. It has been a few hours since we had lunch. I heard they toss the giant salads fresh so I order a Caesar salad with creamy turkey soup. Amanda agrees to split the salad because they are huge and she gets a side order of fries and a sprite. Total $11. 44. Everything is delicious, the salad is indeed huge. We can barely see the fantasy in the sky fireworks that start at 9:00. the awning blocks most of them, but we are planning on seeing them later in the week. After eating we head over to Liberty Square to stake out a parade spot. It is not crowded at all so we plop down right in front of the hall of presidents. We have a half hour to wait, which isnt to long. We can hear the music before we see the floats coming over the bridge. We have only seen the Spectromagic parade at MK so we have looked forward to seeing something different. It is a great parade with fun music. When the parade is done we proceed to Frontierland to ride big thunder mountain railroad, one of Amandas favorite rides. There is no line waiting, we we are on in a flash. By this time the park has emptied out . I cant talk her into going on splash mountain tonight, she is getting very tired. We have been up since 5 and we have squeezed a lot in our first day. We walk out through the park and it is very relaxing without the crowds. I love taking the boat back to the WL. Its 11:30 when we get up to our room and the beds look so good. I like being able to set your own wake up call, cant wait to hear Mickey in the morning.
Day 2: Sunday November 7
Wake up comes for 6:45a. m. . I like to get up ahead and have time to get ready for the day. I grab my WL mug which is from last trip and head down to roaring forks for some coffee. I miss that lobby coffee bar already. I wake Amanda up by 7:30. After we get ready our luggage will be stored until we come back later and get our new room. We are off to Epcot by 8:30 and we arrive in just a few minutes. I have looked forward to all of the new millennium things and the food and wine festival. We get a locker first thing to store our extra clothes for later. We will be here all day, and hopefully we will be dining outside at the Rose and Crown to watch Illuminations. First we head straight to test track, another new ride I have eagerly looked forward to. We get in line which is moving pretty fast and we are on in 10 minutes. We love it. I run my video camera during the whole entire ride, cant wait to see that video. We get in line again, this time it take about 25 minutes. I request a front seat in the car this time and we get it. Now we head over to the land pavilion to sunshine season food fair to get some breakfast. I decide on a giant chocolate chip cookie, I have heard their cookies are great, and coffee, and Amanda gets a slice of cheesecake with strawberry topping and a lemonade. Total is $9. 00. We are ready to go now. We decide to take a look around in the new Mousegear store and we see many things we want to buy. We restrain ourselves because tomorrow we are shopping at Downtown Disney where I can get my MKC 10% discount.
I have read on the internet that you can send photo postcard e mails and you can make 10 second video e mails over in Innoventions, so we head over there next. We didnt tell anybody, so it will be a surprise. We find the photo postcard e mail machines and they are simple to use. We send 3 to family and friends. They also will be sent to our own e mail at home. We look around and we find the video e mail. This is more complicated. so a cast member does everything for you. They tell you when to go and you have 10 seconds to say and do anything. We also sent 3 to the same e mails. This was a lot of fun, but Amanda got a little camera shy and I had to do all of the talking. We exit Innoventions and enter into ice station cool where you can sample different cokes from around the world. On the internet I have learned that the coke named Beverly tastes really awful. After we get inside I tell Amanda that Beverly is suppose to be good so she will sample it. As she fills her cup I quick get the camcorder ready. She takes that first big drink and she starts to spit and sputter. I am laughing so hard and she is drinking other cokes to get rid of the taste. I taste a drop of Beverly myself and it is very bitter. It is fun tasting different cokes. We look around at the Epcot pin station and we buy the Epcot 2000 logo spaceship earth pin and an animal kingdom pin. We learn some good tips on some pins to keep on the lookout for to trade. I buy a nice iridescent 1999 Disney postcard to send to my work and I get it stamped with the Epcot 2000 logo. I get one for us to keep also. We come across a Minnie pin with no spots and we trade for it. That was one we were told to look for. The pin trading is going like crazy. We break down and buy a lanyard, our pin collection is growing. By this time its around noon so Amanda wants her favorite pizza at pasta piazza. They have changed from deep dish to a Mickey shape. I get her a pizza, couple of breadsticks, and a pop about $8. 50. She shares a few bites with me. I am waiting to sample around the food and wine festival. We make our way there next and I sample a meat turnover from Brazil, and I try a glass of wine. I put in my request for an outside table for illuminations at the Rose and Crown, and they tell me to show up a little early for our 8:00 priority seating. Another great tip off the internet. They say if you request an outside table for illuminations and time your reservation just right that they will try to accommodate your request. I am hoping it all works out.
The band Off Kilter is about to start playing, so we stay to watch. I have heard they are good. They are. They play a very energetic Celtic music. We leave to tour Millennium Village. Amanda is not too thrilled, but I want to see it. It is a bit different than I thought it would but it was great to see. It did not take us too long to zip through. We want to ride test track again but the line is over an hour long and we dont want to wait that long. We browse around in Mousegear again, it is such a huge store. Amanda is looking at sleep shirts. Afterwards we go next door and see Goofy.
It is now getting to late afternoon so we make our way around world showcase starting with Mexico. I sample another wine, chicken satay, dimsum, and plum wine. This is a lot of fun. By the time we get around to Morocco it is almost time for the 6:25 Tapestry of Nations parade. This is a good spot because around world showcase the parade begins in Mexico, Germany, and Morocco and moves clockwise. We have a good view right in front of Tangerine Cafe. You can hear the clocks ticking, and then you hear the drums.
The large tall puppet figures start to come out. They dance and sway in the wind. There are many different designs and many different drums. It is a great parade, and when it ends in Morocco we follow it around. We go back to test track thinking the lines may have died down, but no such luck, still an hour wait. It is after 7 and our Rose and Crown dinner is coming soon.
We arrive to the Rose and Crown about 7;35 and again request an outside table. When we are seated it is outside against the low wall along the water. It is perfect. Our waiter s name is Lee and he talks the English accent, but then so far they all have. We order the fruit and cheese plate for an appetizer. Everything but the blue cheese is good. It is hard to decide on the entree, but I make up my mind and order the fish and chips, Amanda orders mashed potatoes and chips. She doesnt really like meat anymore. She loves the mashed potatoes and gravy, they are really fancy, all piped in the bowl. My fish and chips are very good. We finish our dinner and I order the strawberry trifle for dessert. Illuminations is almost set to begin and it is so nice sitting by the water and not having crowds of people all around you. We have the most perfect view for the show, I cant believe it. Totally Unobstructed view. Illuminations 2000 is a fantastic show, I capture it with my camcorder. After the show is done, I proceed to enjoy my trifle and coffee. Our bill only totaled $27. 14 for this fabulous dinner with the great view. I will definitely do this again.
By now its around 9;30 and the crowds have thinned greatly. We stroll out of the park enjoying that 2000 logo all lit up. It is so cool, I think Disney really outdid themselves this time. The wand looks just like a sparkler flashing in the sky. We make a quick stop into Mousegear so Amanda can buy the sleepy sleep shirt, she cant wait until tomorrow. We get to the WL bus stop and a bus comes along shortly. When we arrive back to the WL I must find out what our new room will be from the front desk. It will be #6085. We go up to the room and a bellman brings our luggage. Now we can finally unpack for the week. The location is exactly where we were the last time but up one floor. I love being able to walk out the door and look down into the lobby. The fireplace sitting area is just down one flight of stairs. The view from our balcony faces toward the MK and the Grand Floridian Hotel. We can watch the monorail zip by as it comes from the Contemporary Hotel, which I have a view of from my bed. It looks nice all lit up at night, nestled on the other side of the tall pine trees. Amanda falls asleep in her new Sleepy sleep shirt.
Day 3: Monday November 8
Mickeys wake up call came at 6:45. I like that time because it is light out and from my bed I can look across the trees and see the Contemporary shining in the sun. What a way to wake up. I am letting Amanda sleep in until 9:00, so I will use the extra time I have to enjoy the WL and do a load of laundry. I am glad I remembered laundry soap, dryer sheets, and quarters. I always like doing a couple of loads throughout the week, so dirty clothes do not pile up. While they were running their cycles, I walked all around the grounds just enjoying the view. Since I was already dressed for Blizzard Beach, the hot tub was empty and looked so inviting I decided to hop in. Another nice family joined in and we chatted away about the parks and everything. As we were discussing our favorite places to eat, we both agreed that Tonys Town Square at MK was our favorite WDW restaurant, especially for breakfast. The time just flew by, and before I knew it , it was already 9:00.
I came back to the room and woke up Amanda. She is always good about getting up, which make things easier. After she got ready, we went down to Roaring Forks to get breakfast. I got an apple turnover, and she got a juice, yogurt, and a bagel. total$9. 50. We took our food and sat out in the courtyard near the pool. It was a beautiful morning, wish I could spend every Monday morning that way. We arrived to B. B. a little after ten. Every time we go to B. B. we always stash our things in the same spot near Avalunch. I do not find it necessary to rent a locker. We only bring what we need, and our things have never been bothered.
We always ride the chair lift up the mountain first thing, then ride the raft ride down. Waiting for us at the end of the raft ride were photographers in the water taking pictures of every raft. I think that is going a little too far. I dont mind having pictures taken in the parks, then choosing if you want to buy them, but who wants to be all wet in the pictures. I always bring my own waterproof camera to the water parks and usually get some fun pictures while we are there. We did some of our favorite slides, then did the new downhill double dipper. We waited about a half hour in line, and it moved slow. Only two people slide at once. It is a very fun slide, and you really fly on those tubes. We would have rode more than once, but the line is too slow. We left the park around 1;15 to go back to the WL.
After we changed, we were now ready to take the boat over to Fort Wilderness. We are having lunch at Trails End Buffeteria. It is around 2:30 in the afternoon and it is very uncrowded. They only have a buffet for their meals. We are very hungry, so all we have to do a grab a plate and dig in. They have really cool big pewter plates. They have salads, soup, fried chicken, sloppy joes, foccia sandwiches, pizza, vegetables, and cobblers for dessert. All in all everything was pretty good. The fried chicken was fantastic, so were the cobblers. The buffet was $8:50 each, so with beverages our bill came to $19. 00.
Outside of pioneer hall there is a pressed quarter machine making 1999 Mickey's. We made a couple of them. We then needed to catch the chip or dale bus to go to the horse barn for our trail ride. This was something Amanda really looked forward to do. She has only ever been on pony rides, never a full size horse. This cost $23. 00 per person. After all the people with reservations showed up they started bringing the horses out into the corral. Amanda was the first to get a horse, and his name was Rocky. He seemed a little antsy to get going. My horse was named J. D. It has been many years since I have been on a horse, and it has only been a couple of times. Our trail guides were named Phyllis and Bob. We started walking along the trail, the horses seem to know pretty much what to do. One horse kept trying to eat in the bushes. His name was Ragin' Cajun. It was a relaxing ride through the woods, and we even saw a deer. It lasted about 45 minutes. Afterwards we hopped on the chip bus to go back to the boat, to go back to WL. First, we stopped in at Meadow Trading Post to shop a little. By the time our boat was heading in to the WL dock it was getting almost dark. Now we have to get ready for our evening at Downtown Disney.
At 6:30 we watched the MK fireworks from our balcony, which was one of the reasons I wanted our room facing that way. I love just being able to sit and relax and enjoy them in complete privacy.
Now we are off to DD, we have lots of shopping to do. Our first stop is Ghiradellis and we make a couple of purchases. One of my favorite perks of being a Disney resort guest is the room delivery of any pkg. I love to shop and make my purchase, then tell the clerk package delivery please. It is so nice not to have to carry around your packages with you. Next stop is the Christmas store where I plan to purchase some ornaments for friends and family. Now on to the World of Disney store. It is quite crowded. It is hard with the store being so big, you dont know where to begin. Amanda and I separate to shop. It takes us a couple of hours, but we get just about everything I want except the Mickey 2000 WDW logo Berber sweatshirt I saw at Mousegears. I am a little disappointed because it was $58. 00 and 10% off would be nice. I even ask and they do not have it. I find a really nice talking Buzz Lightyear for a Christmas gift. Amanda finds another sleep shirt, goofy slippers, I find a nice ribbed tee with a small WDW2000 logo, a really nice Epcot spaceship earth 2000 logo t shirt, and I even find a WDW 2000 logo mouse pad. Now every time I use the computer it will bring back memories of the trip. Tomorrow there will be a lot of packages being delivered to the WL.
It is now around 9:30 so we head on over to Pleasure Island to eat at the Wildhorse Saloon. We sit upstairs, so we can look down on the entertainment. Amanda orders a large chicken Caesar salad and I order a Chicken finger salad with lots of goodies in the salad. Our salads come with cornbread and a honey pecan butter. This is to die for, one of the best things I will eat all week. That butter was so good, it was like eating dessert. The salads were huge and very good. Our bill only totaled $22. 55. Now onto the west side which is new for us. We get there and most of the shops are closed. I am disappointed. I thought they would be opened late. The Virgin Records Megastore is open though until 1. We browse around and I get a couple of T-shirts for Christmas gifts. Its now 11:30 so we head back to P. I. for the Countdown to midnight fireworks show. We have done this before and it is a blast. I love the confetti cannons that shoot confetti over the whole island. They have a millennium show this time and it is good. We are getting very tired so we walk to the bus stop to get back to the WL. Its 12:30 when we get back to our room. Gotta rest up for Animal Kingdom tomorrow.
Day 4: Tuesday November 9
I originally planned on arriving to AK when they opened at 8:00, but after our late night I decided to sleep until 8 and arrive by 9. Amanda was dragging, so on the way in we stopped into Rainforest Cafe to get her a Fruity Smoothie to perk her up. It did a little. We proceeded back to Africa to get fast passes for Kilamanjaro Safari. Our pass said 9;45 TO 10:45, so during the wait time we stroll through the Maharajah Jungle Trek.
Everything is so lush and beautiful. We see a komodo dragon, then we come upon the giant fruit bats I have heard about. They are quite interesting to look at. Theres bunches of them hanging all over the place, some with there wings spread out. We see some Asian deer and goats before we get to the ancient temple ruins where the tigers are. We only see a couple and they are sound asleep. We come to the end of the trek and it is now time for our safari. We enter through the fast pass entrance and it only takes 10 minutes to get on the jeep. Every jeep has its own driver and they all speak with the South African accent, which is almost British. They narrate as you go along, pointing out different animals over here or there. You forget that you are in Florida, it seems so real that it is Africa. We saw lots of animals, but none were close to the roads. I was hoping a giraffe would be close by, they are my favorite. It is a bouncy, sometimes wild ride, especially when they start the elephant poacher story. It is hard to take pictures and run a video camera. You are always on the move, sometimes very fast. We plan on another safari later in the week.
We are getting pretty hungry now, we didnt have breakfast, so we decide on an early lunch. As we wander back through safari village we see Pizzafari. I have heard the food is good and it is a very visually interesting place to eat. I order the grilled chicken salad and Amanda orders an individual pepperoni pizza, with beverages it totals $14. 85. It is so nice out, we decide to eat out on their terrace. You can feel it really warming up. I have read that it tends to feel warmer in AK because of all the vegetation, its like a rainforest. I would hate to be there in the summer when the heat is unbearable. So far I really like AK. The only fault I really find with the park is the pathways are on the narrow side. I am sure when they designed it, it looked good. In reality, they tend to get congested easily.
After lunch we are near the entrance for Its tough to be a bug 3D movie, so we do it. It is so neat the way you wind around and around the tree of life to get to the theater, which is underneath it. The animal carvings are utterly amazing, everywhere you look there are beautiful animals carved out. Eventually you end up underneath the tree and enter the theater. The movie is a riot, just full of special effects. We enjoyed it very much. Now on to dinoland to ride Countdown to Extinction. We arrive to the line and we are going to get a fastpass, but the regular line is only 15 minutes long, so we just get in that. This ride is really a wild and crazy one. If you werent buckled into your seat, you would fly out of the jeep for sure. It has so many sharp turns and it goes really fast. We loved this ride.
We now head back over to Asia to ride Kali River Rapids. I have really looked forward to this ride, I love any ride with water. It has an hour wait, so we get a fastpass. During our waiting time we do some shopping in Safari Village. I really like the Island Mercantile shop. We decide on a really cute t shirt with animal fur shaped like Mickey's head. Amanda likes a different AK shirt with the tree of life and bunches of animals. They also have that Mickey 2000 logo Berber sweatshirt I wanted but didnt have at DD so I get that too. Another package delivery to WL. We stop by at Flame Tree BBQ for a snack of cheese fries. We sit along the discovery river. They have lots of tables scattered all around. It is now time to go ride Kali River Rapids. We are sitting on the raft in no time. While we walked through the line, we put on clear rain ponchos I had picked up at the dollar store. I heard so much about how wet you get on this ride, I decided that the ponchos would be easier than bringing a change of clothes. The raft is pretty wet, but we get buckled in. We start flowing downstream and through a rainforest. Everything is lush and beautiful, but you never know when you might get wet. Now we float past the logging camp and I am anticipating the waterfall drop. Before we know it we are going over, we do not get that wet. Just when you think it is pretty much over, then surprise. I wont tell what it is. Amanda for some reason doesnt like these kind of rides. She only rode this one because I begged. She loves water and she loves to swim, but she doesnt like raft and log flume rides. Me, on the other hand absolutely love all water rides. After we got off the ride, we threw away the ponchos. They did their job, and for only $1. 00 for two, I wasnt about to save them.
It is now around 4:00 so we wander out of the park. We need to take the bus back to WL to change into warmer clothes for evening . We will be going to MK for E night. From the WL we take the boat to MK. After entering, we go next door to city hall where you exchange your E night tickets for a special wristband. Now we are all set for the rides.
We are now having dinner at the Crystal Palace. There are a lot of people waiting to be called. I let the hostess know we are here, and we wait too. It takes about 20 minutes. I had made the priority seating for 5:30, figuring it would give us plenty of time to eat before E night starts at 7:00. The Crystal Palace is very bright and beautiful inside. They have the Winnie the Pooh characters roaming around. They have a huge buffet, cant wait to start. Besides numerous salads they have peel and eat shrimp. Yum! On the hot food bar all of the dishes are in skillets and everything is labeled. There is quite a variety to choose from. One by one, Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger all stop by and visit. Amanda missed Tigger, she was at the buffet. From our table we could see the fantasy in the sky fireworks. The desserts were fabulous, so many to choose from. Our bill came to $32. 00 for one adult and one child buffet.
Now it is time to ride. We go over to Tomorrowland first and we encounter crowds of people leaving the park. Once we get to Tomorrowland, it is much less crowded. We ride the new Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin ride first and we have a riot. It is a very fun ride. We score lots of points shooting at all of the targets. Now we head in to ride Space Mountain. There is very little lines and we are on in no time. So far E night crowds are great. We go in for a show of Alien Encounter and the place is practically empty. We are in the front row. I love the special effects they use. We go back and ride SM and Buzz again. I love that there are hardly no lines. Now we walk to Frontierland and there are hardly any people around. It is fantastic. The castle is all lit up. When we get there Splash Mountain is down so we ride BTMRR. We ride it a couple of times with no wait. Finally splash Mountain is running. I have waited 3 years to ride my favorite ride. We do not have to wait in line. It is now getting close to 9:30 and we are getting tired. We hop on the monorail and get off at the Contemporary. From there we can catch the blue flag boat over to the WL. That boat runs until 10:00 so we just make it. During E night hours the regular WL boat from the MK does not run, so you would have to bus to TTC and then transfer to a WL bus. I prefer the boats, they are more relaxing and everything looks so pretty lit up from out in the water. I love all of the different lanterns the WL has. We get up to the room and crash. Amanda is so tired, she is asleep in no time. She now alternates between her 2 new sleep shirts. Looking forward to our day at MGM tomorrow.
Day 5: Wednesday November 10
My wake up call comes at 6:45. I have decided to let Amanda sleep in again. I had planned on arriving to MGM for early entry, but she is getting wore out, so some extra sleep should do her some good. I figure that a couple of hours of lost time in the park is really no big deal with being here all week. We will get there in the late morning. After I get my coffee, I sit and relax on the oversized ottoman in front of the 4th floor fireplace. My first time this trip. It is more secluded than the 5th floor one. The week is flying by so fast, I cant believe it is half over already. I try to soak it all in, it will be 2 or 3 more years before the next trip. I decide to do another load of laundry. When I get to the laundry room, it is quite busy already this morning. I decide to do my video tour of the lodge while the clothes are getting done. I start at the room and work my way down into the lobby, then outside all around the grounds. The last trip I didnt bring the video camera, so this time I want to capture everything I can. I like to tell people all about the WL, but it will be easier to show them. I even discovered a huge front porch at the front of the lodge at the 4th level. There are tables and chairs, even rocking chairs.
By the time the clothes are done Amanda has woke up. Its only 9:30. I go to roaring Forks to bring breakfast back to the room. I get a breakfast pizza, and I get Amanda a croissant, yogurt, and juice, $11. 25. We relax and sit out on the balcony and eat. It is so peaceful and quiet. It was kinda nice for a change getting a late start. I am such a die hard, I dont like to waste a minute. We do arrive to MGM by 10:30, which really isnt that late.
First thing we get a fast pass for rock n roller coaster. Surprising it is getting backed up, and our pass is not good until 12:45 to 1:45. Our lunch is scheduled for 12:30, so we may make it after that. I really dont want to ride on a full stomach, so we will see how it goes. We head over to TOT which has a short wait. We ride in no time. One thing we have discovered every time we go in to line up is that hardly no one ever goes to the left line when you are entering the building. It always has a much shorter line. People tend to follow each other, not paying attention. Now we make our way to the back of the park to see Muppets 3D. We always enjoy this movie, even though they are due for a change. The park seems to be a little crowded , probably due to early entry. It is now after 12, so we decide to head on over to the Prime Time Cafe for our lunch. We sit at the bar and order pops while we wait for our table. Aunt Kathy brings us to our table and Uncle Bob is going to be our server. When we tell him we are going to the rest rooms, he writes us a potty pass and does it very loudly announcing we are from Michigan. When we order I decide on the dads combo platter, Amanda orders the cheese nachos with a side of mashed potatoes and gravy. We also order a strawberry milkshake because I have heard they are awesome. Our food comes pretty fast and the portions are huge. On my combo platter are deep fried mushrooms, onion string things, and chicken fingers. Everything is great. When he brings the milkshake he divides it into two glasses for us. It is the most delicious milkshake I have ever had. We are so full, but we clean our plates, so we cant get yelled at. The total came to just over $30. 00, with our MKC discount. This was our first time here, we usually eat at the Sci Fi, but we will be back for sure.
We walk to rock n roller coaster and it is 1:45. We just make it using our fast pass and we obtain another fast pass for later. Surprisingly, all of the food I have just consumed stays in my stomach. Whew, I was worried. We relax and do a little shopping in the pooh store. I find a cute pair of Eeyore earrings that match my jacket, and Amanda finds a furry Tigger journal. We obtain a couple of more pins, I like the Mickey tower of terror one. Its now around 3 so we stake out our spot for the Mulan parade which starts at 3:30. We decide to sit along the curb right at the beginning of Hollywood blvd. When the parade starts, to my surprise it begins just around the corner. We have a great spot for viewing. The parade is short, but is a lot of fun. After it is done we go for the Doug Rocks show. It is pretty good, the theater was filled to capacity. It is now time to use our other fast pass, then ride TOT again. I love that they are right next to each other at the end of Sunset Blvd, then the entrance to Fantasmic! is right there also. It is 6:00 when we are heading in to get seats for the show, but before we get to the theater we are told it is standing room only. They have blocked the entrance and there are a lot of people waiting in line. We are tired and cant stand the thought of waiting for an hour for the show to start, then standing through the show. I decide we will come back at the end of the week. Amanda is glad.
We walk to the boat launch and wait for the boat to go to the Boardwalk resort. We arrive to the boardwalk and there is a lot of activity everywhere. We go into the bakery so I can purchase these nifty pretzel like cookies to bring home. We had discovered them the last trip, they are huge and so good for $1. 95 each. We are eating dinner at the ESPN Club, so we go there next. There are plenty of tables in the bar area, with TVs galore. I order a pulled pork BBQ sandwich and Amanda gets a Caesar salad. The sandwich is huge, full of so much pork I must eat some of it with a fork. It also comes with fries and coleslaw. It is a great sandwich and what a bargain at only $7. 95. Our bill is only $17. 00. I would highly recommend ESPN Club. They also have a logo merchandise store. I find a nice t shirt to bring back for my son at home.
We proceed to the bus stop, so we can get back to the WL. Its only around 8 or so, we will be getting back earlier than planned. I figure on a TTC bus, but a MK bus comes along and drops off a few people. I go and ask the driver if he is returning to MK. He says yes, so I figure from there we can get the boat back to WL. To my surprise, because I mentioned we were going to WL, he so nicely tells us he will take us directly there. What service, I cant believe it. Plus we were the only ones on the bus, it was so peaceful. We were back to the WL before 8:30. Amanda would have more time to swim, and I just soaked in the hot tub. We watched the electrical water pageant. When I had made priority seatings I had made one for Artist Point in the WL so we could do dessert and coffee. It was for tonight at 10. We dress up after and it was so nice to just have to walk down there. It was pretty empty, with just a few people dining. I order coffee and Amanda gets a milk. I order this really neat dessert made from coffee soaked biscotti, then it has a cream sauce made from baileys and kahlua, and topped with chocolate shavings. Amanda ordered the apple tart with cinnamon ice cream. Everything was delicious. This was our splurge for the week. Amanda didnt really want to go, but I made her. The bill came to $14. 47 Later on we sat in front of the fireplace in our PJs. Its now time for bed, early to rise tomorrow.
Day 6: Thursday November 11
We get up and get ready, and we make it down to the boat dock by 7:30. I love taking the boat to the MK. It is a little nippy this morning, but it is refreshing. When we arrive to the MK for early entry, I have to stop by city hall. I need to make reservations using my magic passport to sit in a special reserved section for tonights fantasy in the sky fireworks. I dont know where it will be, but I figure anything they have reserved is going to be much better than being with the crowds. Now that we have that taken of, its off to ride the New Adventures of Winnie Pooh back in fantasyland. We get on in no time, and you can smell the honey. You sit in honey pots while you ride. It is so much fun and enjoyable, many small children will for sure love this ride. We take some pictures near the castle and there is no one around. We walk back down main street to have breakfast at Tonys Town Square, one of our favorite restaurants. It is such a warm and relaxing place to eat and start your day. I have my favorite, Tonys Italian toast and Amanda has juice, a bagel, and a side of bacon. They bring you a complimentary jumbo sweet roll which is very good. They used to bring you a basket of cinnamon rolls, but alas things change. We enjoy our food very much as always and our bill with MKC discount is only $12. 00. When we step out of Tonys we see that town square is full of characters. Dopey is right there, so Amanda decides to visit. Then we visit the splash mountain bear and fox. At least there is lines formed for each one.
We leave MK and take the boat back to WL. The plan had been to make our second visit to Blizzard Beach, but since Amanda was getting tired, I gave her a choice. Go to BB or stay and swim at the WL. She chose the WL pool. I also swam in the pool for the first time this trip, and it felt pretty good. I also did a long soak in the hot tub and had it all to myself. It was nice hanging around the WL all morning, and no stairs to climb like at BB. Plus with no other water park open this month, BB is more crowded. I hate waiting a 1/2 hour or more to slide.
We left the WL around noon to get to Epcot. The original plan was to go from BB to Epcot, so staying at the WL made that much easier. We arrive to Epcot by 12:30 and we have a couple of hours before lunch in Japan. Test track has a hour wait so we go into Innoventions to send more E mails. We do the photo postcard e mails, when we arrive to do the video e mails, the machine is down. Oh well, we enjoyed it the other day. Amanda wants to play some sega, so I shop in Mousegear a bit. I love that store, it is almost as great as the world of disney store at the marketplace, but with no MKC discount. I decide to get Amanda a t shirt and matching tote bag and keep it for Christmas. I head back to retrieve her from those sega games. I talk her into trying the singles line for Test Track. It takes only 15 minutes and we are in the loading area. I figure we wont be in the same car and we arent. We have rode twice before and it sure beats waiting an hour. When we are done, Amanda is mad at me because she had to ride with some Brazillians who did not speak English. She says she is never doing the singles line again. It worked out good, she just wanted to ride together. The overall wait was much shorter.
It is now time to start around world showcase for Japan. We arrive for our 2:30 reservation. We are seated with a family of 4, and a mother and her teen aged son. They are friendly and we chat throughout the meal. I order the sirloin and chicken combo, and Amanda orders the chicken off the childs menu because she will get a fruit salad and ice cream. I let her order some kind of fancy blended fruit drink and I order green tea. Her drink is very tasty. They have 3 or 4 different fruit combinations. We start off with salads with a ginger dressing and Amanda gets a fruit salad. The chef then comes out with all of the meats and vegetables. He starts doing some chopping and cooking on the large teppan grill in front of us. He asks how we want our meat cooked. I am a little disappointed that he does not put on more of a show than just your basic chopping and stir frying. Everything is very delicious, and the steak and chicken melts in your mouth. We are served bowls of white rice and we have 2 different sauces to try. It is a very relaxing lunch. Our bill comes to just under $25. 00. , The world showcase restaurants are much more reasonable at lunch. We planned the late lunch so it would be our dinner also, with just getting snacks later.
We made our way around trying some apple strudel from Germany and a cannolli from Italy. I sampled a couple of more wines. It was now time to leave Epcot and go back to MK for the fireworks and E night. We took the monorail and we were there in a flash. We entered MK and we had a little time before we had to be at city hall, so we browsed the shops a little, and got our E night wristbands. . When we got to city hall there was a large group of people already waiting. All together there was 33 of us using our magic passports. We were led down main street by a nice hostess and she took us to a reserved section right near the Tomorrowland terrace. We had a very nice unobstructed view of the fireworks. Tinkerbell went almost right over our heads, that was the closest I have ever seen her.
Afterwards we decided to eat a little something before E night would start. I wanted to eat at Columbia Harbor House so we get there and the place is deserted. Not a soul around anywhere. We move on into Frontierland and we see people inside Pecos Bills so we go in. We get some chili cheese fries with the chili on the side and a pop. They have a works bar, so I add some goodies to my chili. It is a good snack. We start E night rides, riding splash, and big thunder each twice. We then head over to Tomorrowland and ride space mountain and buzz lightyear twice each. We make a stop at the plaza ice cream parlor and Amanda gets a huge cone. I go next door to the Main St. Bake shop and decide on a cappuccino. It is now around 9:30 so we take the monorail to the Contemporary like we did the other night, and take the boat back to WL. I am determined to sit awhile in front of the fireplace, and I get so cozy and comfortable I fall asleep. When I wake up the lobby is deserted except the WL people doing their nightly cleaning. Time for bed.
Day 7: Friday November 12
Our wake up call comes and we get up and get ready. When we head out early there isnt much time to do anything else. Today will be our 2nd day at Animal Kingdom. We arrive about 8:00 just in time for our breakfast at Rainforest Cafe. It is not nearly as crowded as I thought it would be. I think many people do not know they serve breakfast. When looking at the menu off the internet I was drooling. We order a kids tonga toast which comes with a juice and a side order of bacon and sausage, and breakfast potatoes. We will share everything. The tonga toast is out of this world. They layer French toast in a casserole and put a walnut streusel topping over the top and bake it. On your plate they give you a large square of it which is 3 inches thick, then they put banana and strawberry slices all around it and pour syrup over everything. Sound good, it was the best breakfast concoction I have ever had. Our bill totaled $15. 00.
We proceed back to Africa to get fast passes for the safari. This time while we wait we take the train back to conservation station. It is quite interesting seeing the back side of Africa. We like the exhibits and Amanda likes petting the animals in affection station. We look around of course in their little shop and Amanda finds a great t shirt. It has pooh looking through a magnifying glass at a full size tiger saying Tigger is that you. The only problem is that they only have it in kids sizes and no adult. We ask about it and we are told to look around in other shops in the park. We will do that after our safari. We take the train back and go in for our safari. This safari was the best of the week. We pretty much see the same animals until we get out in the open area. There are a dozen or so giraffes in a large grassy area, some are sitting, eating and walking around. I am thrilled to see so many up close. I wish one would have come to the jeep. A little ways ahead there are many wildebeasts in the road and along the side in the weeds. Then a white rhino is blocking the road and our jeep must stop. He slowly moves and is on my side of the jeep, very close. It is so interesting to see these animals roaming freely about. He then walks slowly away. We see a few elephants and even the male lion is awake and looking around from his mountain top. I am so glad I have the video camera with me. It is hard to run the video camera because animals are on both sides and the jeep does not stop.
Now we are off to see if we can find that shirt, it is so cute. We shop in Harambe and no luck, just kids sizes. We do have fun taking each others pictures with safari hats on. We arrive in safari village and we decide to check out the Creature Comforts store. We walk in and ask the clerk about the shirt. She radios to someone in the back of the store. Low and behold after waiting for a few minutes, she comes out with one XXL shirt. We are happy. We buy it plus a cute safari Pluto shirt. It just goes to show that if you keep looking and asking you may get what you want.
We are starting to get hungry so we head over to Flame Tree BBQ. I am dying to try something they have BBQ so I order the combo platter and Amanda gets the cheese fries again. With our pop in a souvenir mug it comes to $13. 58 with a MKC discount. The BBQ chicken and ribs are fabulous. It also comes with coleslaw and corn on the cob. We sit again along the discovery river. We now head over to dinoland to do C. T. Extinction. We get a fast pass and go see the bug movie again while we wait. We go back and do C. T. EX. It seems more wild than the other day when we rode it. It is a good thing you are belted in, otherwise you would be thrown out of the vehicle. When we are done we grab another fastpass for after the Tarzan stage show, which is where we are heading to next. Its 12:30 and the show begins at 1:00. There is already a line up of people. They let us into the theater. If you can nab a seat along the rail, do it , and you will have a front row seat for the stunts. It is a very energetic show with good music. Afterwards we go back to use our fastpass.
We then decide to do an afternoon safari, so we get a fastpass for that. We take the train back to conservation station to trade for a couple of animal pins we saw earlier. The train ride is nice and relaxing. We come back and go on our safari. We see the least amount of animals on this one. I guess the morning safaris are much better. We still enjoy the ride. We stop in to Tuskers afterwards and share a slice of cheesecake, Amandas favorite. It is getting late in the afternoon so I stop back to Flame Tree BBQ and get a grilled chicken salad in a bread bowl to go.
We are now on our way to MGM so we can see Fantasmic! When we get there Amanda get some chicken fingers and I eat my salad. We dont have time to do rock n roller coaster, but we do Tower of Terror one last time. This was the first ride we started with when we arrived and now it will be our last. We head in to get seats for the show at 5:30. We are not taking any chances after standing room only wed. night. We get great seats in the Mickey section up toward the top again. right next to the aisle. The theater is half full, but people are pouring in. I think it filled up faster Wed. because it was an early entry day and it made the park a little more crowded. We buy some light up Mickey ears and get a Mickey bar rice crispie snack. Those things are so good, thick and chewy. Rosie comes out to warm up the crowd. We can see her better this time, we are closer to where she performs. She is a riot and the crowd just loves her. It is show time finally, but wait. There is a glitch with the program. They have to work on it. After a few minutes they send Rosie back out and the crowd goes wild. Finally by 7:20 they start the show. I am glad we see this show a second time, it is so fabulous. The only thing that would have been better was to ride rock n roller coaster one more time. Afterwards we got a jumpstart on the crowd and got to the bus stop pretty quick.
We arrived back to the WL by 8:30. Now the task of packing up. Boo Hoo! I am hoping I can fit everything we have bought into our luggage. If not, they are holding a big box at the mercantile so I can ship home. After some refiguring, I get all the big stuff to fit into our large suitcase, and the clothes to fit into the smaller ones. I use a large Disney shopping bag for Amandas collection of stuffed animals to carry on the plane. I get just about everything packed except what we will need in the morning. What a relief! I make a last stop down to the mercantile to get a couple of last things, and I tell them I will not need the box after all. They couldnt have been nicer and more helpful. I inquire about the WL logo pin, and I am given the number to call WDW Merchandise to check on it. Now it is time to relax. I finish off my bottle of wine and sit for awhile by the 5th floor fireplace. I hate to go to bed because when we wake up I know we have to leave for home. Cant put it off too long, or I'll be so tired tomorrow. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz .
Day 8: Saturday November 13
My last Mickey wake up call. It is so easy to get up early when you know youre going to have so much fun that day. I wake Amanda up at the last minute, all she has to do is get dressed. We have to be in the lobby by 7:15 to go up to the roof for the flag raising ceremony. We get down there and a very nice CM named Rebecca is our hostess. We take the elevator up to the 7th floor. Now up a flight of stairs and we are really looking down into the lobby now. Now we go up another flight of stairs outside and we are now on the roof. The view is amazing. You can see the MK, even the top of the tree of life at AK. There are five flags that need to be raised, 2 WL flags, 1 Mickey, 1 USA, & 1 Florida State flag. Rebecca helps Amanda with them while I videotape everything. It is a little cloudy and breezy, but you can still see for miles. Rebecca takes a couple of pictures of the two of us with my camera and we then had back downstairs. She presents us with a special certificate commemorating the flag ceremony and she also presents us with a certificate for breakfast at Roaring Forks. She tells us we can get anything we want.
We decide to eat now so we walk down to RF. It is not too busy this morning. We decide to get extra food for the plane ride home. I get the scrambled egg platter, fresh fruit, and a croissant. Amanda gets a sausage biscuit, bagel, and fresh fruit. We each get a juice and we even throw in a Mickey rice crispie bar. It totals a whopping $27. 14, but all we have to do is sign the certificate. We take our food up to the 5th floor fireplace where we can sit and relax. Our last time looking down into that lobby. We take our time eating, knowing we will have to leave soon.
Around 9:00 we go back to the room to gather everything up. I have one last look from the balcony. It takes us two trips to bring everything down to the lobby, so we can wait for our shuttle driver from Transtar. He is supposed to arrive around 9:40. He does and we get everything loaded up. He does not have any other pick ups, so we have the whole van to ourselves. Sure better than being packed in. It is so sad driving back through the WDW welcome sign. We arrive to the airport and get our boarding passes. We have a little time to browse some shops and we get a beverage before we get on the people mover. Our flight is a little delayed, so we do not take off until 12:50. Our flight home is smooth, and we land around 3:15. I call my parents to come get us, and we head down to baggage. It is pretty mild out, so we wait outside. The only good thing about coming home, is that we are off to visit some friends and relive our trip with them. They were suppose to be down there for the first two weeks in November, but they built a new house, so they postponed until next year. They cant wait to hear all the details of the trip, and we cant wait to tell them everything that we did. It made coming home a little easier. I hope you have enjoyed reading this trip report as much as we did living it. My goal in providing so many little details was to make your trip planning just a little easier.
Summary:
The weather was the best ever for this trip in November. It reached 80 or 81 everyday and not one drop of rain the entire week.
We very much enjoyed staying at the Wilderness Lodge again. For us, the theme of the hotel plays a big part of the vacation, not just a room to sleep in. We did make time during the week to enjoy many of the amenities the WL has to offer.
We enjoyed all of the new millennium stuff, my favorite being the Spaceship Earth 2000 Logo. I loved the way it sparkled at night, just like a giant sparkler in the sky.
We loved the new Tapestry of Nations Parade, Illuminations 2000, The Main Street Electrical Parade, Test Track, and Rock N Roller Coaster.
We loved Fast Pass and E night at MK.
I waited a whole extra year to see Animal Kingdom so Asia would be done. Im glad we did. I enjoyed that part of AK very much. The morning Safari seems to be the best. Breakfast at Rainforest Cafe was fantastic.
Other great meals we enjoyed:
Breakfast at Tonys Town Square
Lunch at The Prime Time Cafe
Dinner at Rose and Crown, ESPN Club, Wildhorse Saloon, and the Crystal Palace.
We pretty much stuck with our itinerary we came with, only making some changes to sleep in a couple of mornings. I like having a daily itinerary planned and all the priority seatings made ahead, it saves on all the decision making everyday while you are there. You only have to worry about having fun. All in all we saw everything we wanted to, and did our favorites more than once. Now, we will have to live on memories and reading trip reports until the next trip. If you have any questions or comments feel free to e mail me.
Mary Virsila
mvirsila@monroe.lib.mi.us
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