Saturday, February 25, 2012

Day 3 - Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, resort time, and Studios

We make good use of our park hoppers  lol

We started out this morning with breakfast in our room - we brought PB & Jelly with us and tons of bread - so we decided to try that for breakfast today.  Didn't cost us anything and it stuck with us for a lot longer and we all felt great!! 




Headed out Animal Kingdom a little after 8, the bus was pulling up as we walked out, so we took it :)  By the time we got to the park, they were allowing people in the front gates to wait for rope drop - there was no show this morning though???  So we headed over to Expedition Everest - we were on the first ride of the morning - that is an excellent way to start your day!! Talk about adrenalin!!!  It was still walk on (and we always take back seats) so we went again.  After the second time though, much like Test Track - I must chill lol - we grabbed fast passes and headed over to go "on safari". 

Ready to ride - first of the day

Andy gets so nervous


We saw so many animals - many more than we ever have before! I don't know if it's because it was warmer than it usually is when we're there but it was awesome!! You couldn't even count the giraffes, there were so many of them!!  If it weren't against the rules, you literally could have reached out and touched them!  Even the lioness was out!! We even got to see a little baby Rafiki playing - it was absolutely adorable!! 




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After our safari, we strolled through lots of shops as we made our way to Dinoland USA.  Last year, one of our favorites, Primeval Whirl, was closed.  The boys were very excited to ride it until they spotted a DVC salesman with pins they wanted.  He was booking an appt with someone though, so we had to wait, and wait, and wait... They were not about to miss out on these pins lol  The family finally walked away and they made their trades.  Bob had a coffee at this point and he is a touch too tall for comfort on this ride - so it was just the 3 of us.  No line again and we were boarding in minutes.  I do love this ride but again - can't take it more than once and can they make the exit any longer???  I thought Big Thunder was bad ;)  The boys wanted to go again in the worst way though, so we sent them off - gave me a chance to get a picture of them in the time machine.


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They finally came back to us and we played around with the fun mirrors - got some laughs there since Andrew is such the ham.  Our fastpass was ready for Everest, so back we went for ride # 3. 

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We took some more pictures and headed back out to the bus stop, which took forever and we decided we were driving here from now on.  We went back to the resort and had lunch (in the room again) and headed back over to Magic Kingdom - it was nice and warm and we wanted to ride Splash Mountain (my favorite!!) plus Eli Manning was going to be there since he won the Superbowl and we wanted to see him.


We got to the park and the Celebrate a Dream Come True was about to start - so we grabbed a spot on the curb in front of the Castle to watch that and wait for Eli.  It was going to be a little while so I sent Bob & Andy over to pick up fast passes for Splash Mt.  Why on earth I did that is beyond me - I should know better, but I'll get into that later lol.  While we were sitting there, a man came up behind me in an electric scooter and he didn't know how to use it and ran into me - it hurt - A LOT!  He felt bad and said, "I'm still going forward" - I told him I could tell since it was pushing me off the curb (if he wanted my seat, he could have asked lol j/k).  He felt really bad and I certainly didn't hold it against him but I was in some pain... It seemed like forever before the guys came back - Austin kept saying, "you should have sent me" - ummm, I tried and you didn't want to go.... They finally returned and gave me the tickets and fastpasses and I put them away.  The parade didn't start exactly on time but people kept it interesting.  There were tons of Giants fans (which we are NOT but it was still fun) chanting and cheering.  We want Eli was one cheer and just Eli, Eli over and over.  Finally the procession started and we got to see him.  Andy loves quarterbacks and he was very excited to see a Manning!!    We were close enough to touch him!!  It was very cool - wish it was Colt McCoy, but it was still cool :)


Our fastpasses weren't good for about 30 more minutes so we hit Pirates and picked up some more Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom spell cards - who knew this would become such an obsession???  Then on to Splash Mt!!  I could ride this ride all day - I love the music (it's my ringtone) and the characters, and overall, just the way I feel while I'm on this ride. I could do without the sprayers that get you extra wet, but we actually didn't get it too bad - not like the couple in the very front of our log - felt kind of bad for them actually - we were virtually dry and they were drenched!!


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Since we were here last night and have to be back here at 7 tomorrow morning, we decided to go back to the resort for more swimming.  We don't do that usually but we felt like we had to take advantage of the awesome pool that we were gifted the use of!! Instead of going to the bus stop though, we hopped on the monorail to the TTC and then got on the one to EPCOT and walked through to our resort.  Had a little chat with Nessa on our way through the International Gateway.  Got our bracelets for the pool and went back to change.  I decided not to swim so I could bring my camera down and get pictures.


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Hollywood Studios has extra magic hours tonight so we decided to head over there for dinner. On our way out, they were starting the nightly campfire on the beach.  They give out marshmallows and sticks and you can roast your own or the CM's will help you out.  They also had the big movie screen up - they show a nightly movie on the beach.  We never got back in time to watch one but it's cool that all the resorts are now doing this - even the All Stars are - each resort shows a different movie each night. 










We hopped on the boat and headed over to HS.  Did some vinylmation trading and grabbed pizza on Sunset Blvd.  Austin wanted to ride Tower of Terror and it was listed as a 20 minute wait. Andy wasn't ready for it just yet and I wasn't going to argue with him.  So we split up and Andy had some mommy and me time.  We did photopass pictures on Sunset Blvd and headed over to draw at animation.  We got there and he did the trader box and the dance party was starting for resort guests only.  He loves to dance so we decided to go in there instead of drawing again.  We danced with Pluto & Goofy until the others showed up.  We had been going strong for 3 days, not to mention some long travel days, at this point so we talked the boys into going back to the resort for ice cream.  Andy wanted a Mickey Bar and Austin likes the Mickey ice cream sandwiches.  Bob was going to go to Beaches and Cream but decided to buy a beer instead - yeah, $5.99 for one bottle of Budweiser.. He even brought the bottle home lol 



We turned in early since we have to be checked in at the Ticket and Transportation Center at 7:15 tomorrow for our say yes to education tour!!

The ship in the background is the waterslide into the pool - so cool!!!

Sale on Wii Mote charging station

If your house is anything like mine - batteries, even the rechargeable ones, seem to go quick!  I just saw this posted on one of my money saving lists and wanted to share!  Get the Inductive Charging Kit for Wii - Memorex Quad Inductive Charging Kit for Wii for just $13.99 with FREE shipping through Buy.com. (list price $29.99)  I have purchased from buy.com in the past and been pleased.  I have not yet made this purchase but plan to!!

http://www.buy.com/prod/memorex-quad-inductive-charging-kit-for-wii-black/217184223.html