I found a conference ... AT DISNEYWORLD!

[Mum from oz]

Sounds like a great start to your trip. You got a lot done on your first day!!

 

[Fairy Floss]

Monday, 20th

Today is Animal Kingdom day!
Got up and looked out of the window toward AK ... I can see it!!!

Looking straight ahead I can see Magic Kingdom!

EMH ... Open at 8am
Grabbed a granola bar to munch on on the way to the bus
Bus arrived quickly
We arrived just after 8
Stopped to have photopass photos taken & lost my sunglasses
Went straight to Kilamanjaro Safari

Then Pagani Forest trail

Bought some new ears (ended up choosing the leopard spot ones)
FP for Expedition Everest

Triceratop spin
Dinosaur
Expedition Everest - oh my! What can I say? It goes so fast!
Got to Flame Tree for opening
Got to cheer for the ribs
I had the ribs, DH had ribs & chicken. ( sorry! No photos.... Devoured it before I could think about snapping a pic)
The ribs were so good! The baked beans were even better!!
After lunch, grabbed a fast pass for Kali River Rapids

Saw its tough to be a bug - this was quite good. Great effects! Loved the spiders dropping from the ceiling and things poking into your back.
Maharaja trek - lost my visor (hat)
Nemo show - gorgeous colours but I was so tired ... I kept nodding off - decided not to do Festival of the Lion King because of this
Donned our ponchos and rode Kali River Rapids - what fun!
Finished by 3.30
Went back to our room and had a nap

Tally for the trip
Lost..
Camera case
Sunglasses
Visor

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Jam packed day - sounds like the day we spent there though we did fit in Festival of the Lion King while DH recovered from motion sickness after EE! but Kali River Rapids were down for some of the day and we ended up missing them. Mind you we opened and closed the park (and then had dinner at Boma). Because we love animals and I am a sucker for theming which I thought was so good in this park, it was one of our favourites. Sounds like you had a great day despite some evil voodoo stealing all your bits and bobs.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Another full day! I like AK; and it has enough rides, shows and animals to keep me happy there for the day.

Nice views from your hotel.

 

[Minniemum]

Hi Fairy Floss

Just saw the title of this TR and just knew it had to be you!

You really timed your trip well by ticking off the conference and getting a day at the Flower and Garden show.

Loving the photos although I almost didn't recognise you without your ears on. . The views from your window to AK and MK Everyone should get to wake up to a bit of Disney at least once in their lifetime.

Can't wait to read/see more

 

[Fairy Floss]

Monday 20th (night)

Woke up at 6 to lightning, thunder & rain
Decided to go to Epcot for dinner and to check out some of the countries we didn't get to yesterday
The boat wasn't running due to the storm so we walked
To keep dry - we walked along the conference centre then cut through the yacht club car park
Went to France and had a quiche each and split a blue cheese salad
A couple of glasses of wine went own very nicely
DH had a citron tart and I had a creme brûlée with coffee (the best so far )
Checked out France - the film they showed bought tears to my eyes - reminded me of places we went on our holiday last year
Went to China - the pavillion is so similar to the Temple of Heaven.

And this is the real one

Their film reminded me of our time holidaying there
Decided I should have just come to Epcot for holidays ...
Checked out Mexico

Checked out Morocco too -the theming is so good!
Ended up at Japan when Illuminations started - so watched the fireworks again

 

[PrincessInOz]

DH had a citron tart and I had a creme brûlée with coffee (the best so far )

You surely don't mean the coffee???? Really?





Another great night. I assume that the conference was on during the day. What did DH do with his time?

 

[lovethattink]

The view from your room was fabulous. How high up was your floor located? I can also see Coronado Springs. Looks like a fun day at AK.

How did you like the new bakery at France? I haven't been there since before the refurbishment. Were the selections different?

I love the movie at France too, especially the music.

Love your real and Disney's comparison photos. What a great opportunity you have had to visit both! I'd love to see the real deal sometime!

 

[Fairy Floss]

You surely don't mean the coffee???? Really?

Another great night. I assume that the conference was on during the day. What did DH do with his time?

Haven't got to the conference yet!
He had plenty of entertainment

 

[Rebekkap]

Unfortunately the ATO is changing the ruling on how much you can claim for "self education expenses" !

Much as I love Disney I don't really see why taxpayers (i.e. All of us!) should pay for people to go to Disneyworld when there are cheaper self-education alternatives within Australia. Tax deductions don't come from a magical money tree - they come from the pool of tax revenue, and the more people take out, the less there is for schools, hospitals, roads, etc.

I'm all for this cap, as there were pretty clearly people rorting the system to get a holdiay at the expense of the rest of us.

 

[Fairy Floss]

Much as I love Disney I don't really see why taxpayers (i.e. All of us!) should pay for people to go to Disneyworld when there are cheaper self-education alternatives within Australia. Tax deductions don't come from a magical money tree - they come from the pool of tax revenue, and the more people take out, the less there is for schools, hospitals, roads, etc.

I'm all for this cap, as there were pretty clearly people rorting the system to get a holdiay at the expense of the rest of us.

As I said before - It is mandatory that I do 20 hours of continuing education a year
The nett cost of doing this overseas is similar to the nett cost at home
Last year in Canberra - $1600 conference fee, $260 a night hotel, $300 airfares
This one... $1700 airfare, $250 a night hotel, $220 conference
Considering I stayed extra time in Disneyworld (bringing down the proportion of claimable airfare) my claim for this is actually far less than doing continuing education in Australia.

 

[Rebekkap]

As I said before - It is mandatory that I do 20 hours of continuing education a year
The nett cost of doing this overseas is similar to the nett cost at home
Last year in Canberra - $1600 conference fee, $260 a night hotel, $300 airfares
This one... $1700 airfare, $250 a night hotel, $220 conference
Considering I stayed extra time in Disneyworld (bringing down the proportion of claimable airfare) my claim for this is actually far less than doing continuing education in Australia.

To be clear, I wasn't suggesting you going to Disneyworld to do continuing education is a rort. I was just saying I agree with the cap being brought in, because people were rorting it - and for those where it is the case that they could do CPD more cheaply in their home town, which is a lot of people, then travel expenses are costing everyone.

 

[Fairy Floss]

Tues 21st

Up early again - vey excited!
Today is going to be a big one!
Grabbed a granola bar & popped through the concierge desk to arrange the shopping trip for tomorrow
Found my sunglasses while rummaging in my bag (it's big!) Oh well .... Daughter will love the Mickey ones I bought to replace them yesterday
1st stop - EPCOT (EMH)
Went straight to Test Track - wait time was already 25 min
BUT.... Single rider - no wait!
We don't need to be together!
Yay I did it twice and DH went on it 4 times!
Then we went on my favourite ride - Sum of all thrills (twice)
9.30 - we're on our way out - stop at the entrance for photos

Then on to the monorail to Magic Kingdom
Got off at the transportation centre - oh my goodness! So many people!
Caught the ferry across to Magic Kingdom

Caught the train around to Fantasyland

I wanted to line up for Be our Guest (seeing I couldn't get an ADR)
At 10.30 ish the line was already 1.5 hours long!
Decided to go to Gaston's Tavern and split a cinnamon scroll as a consolation

Then we went on the Little Mermaid ride

Then the Pooh ride
Haunted Mansion

Pjilharmagic
Went on the paddle steamer

Took this photo - love it!

Had lunch at Columbiar Harbour House (shrimp & fries & coleslaw) - had thought about the turkey legs - they must be good. So many people sitting and eating them

Then we did. The Peter Pan ride
Big Thunder Rail Road

And splash mountain - I thought this was all there was to the ride, but inside is so pretty and bright

 

[PrincessInOz]

That man with the turkey leg is looking straight at you! Wonder what he was thinking?

Glad you found your sunglasses. Seems like you crammed in a lot of rides.

 

[Fairy Floss]

21st (continued)

It started raining quite heavily
So we went on the Jungle cruise (I wish we hadn't) - the constant tirade of bad / corny jokes was really irritating
Rode the Magic carpets
Saw Jasmine / Ali
Pirates of the Caribbean
Went to Sleepy Hollow and got a funnel cake with cinnamon sugar
Oh my!! So much fatty, sugary goodness!!
Why don't we have them here?
(Forgot about food porn today - so I stole this pic from the Internet)

Did the Buzz Lightyear Ranger spin ride (so much fun!)
Had a photo with Mickey

Split a taco salad and chilli fries at Pecos Bill's and bought another set of ears

All day, I managed the fast passes really well
I either got my next fast passbefore using the last or got another right on the 2 hr mark
This worked really well - we didn't stand in queue for more than 15 min the whole day
I managed to lose my lens cap though !!
Then we went to Tomorrowland Terrace for the Wishes fireworks dessert party
Thanks to Dis, I booked very soon after the bookings opened. I think I must have been the first booking for this night because we had the best table!
1st table right on the left at the front!
We could have stayed at our table and watched everything from our chair
There were lots of little cakes, tarts, chocolate strawberries, cookies and ice cream. Also, there was hot chocolate, coffee, tea and soft drinks
First up, there was a show where scenes from Disney movies were projected onto the castle
Then we watched MSEP with no crowds from our balcony
After 3 nights where Tink didn't fly, she FLEW right over head!!!
Then Wishes with no pushing or jostling. It was so lovely and civilised

After Wishes, we had another go on the Buzz ride and went to the Tomorrowland people mover
A man gave us 5 fast passes - valid for a week because Space Mountain had broken down and he wouldn't be able to use them
By this time, I was exhausted!
Made our way to the bus back to the hotel
Lost tally:
Lens cap
camera bag
Visor

 

[PrincessInOz]

Don't you like the back side of the waterfall? Or seeing elephants swim with their trunks?

Love your ears. You'll have to bring them to the next Melbourne meet.

Glad to see you got a great spot for the Dessert Party.

 

[lovethattink]

As I said before - It is mandatory that I do 20 hours of continuing education a year
The nett cost of doing this overseas is similar to the nett cost at home
Last year in Canberra - $1600 conference fee, $260 a night hotel, $300 airfares
This one... $1700 airfare, $250 a night hotel, $220 conference
Considering I stayed extra time in Disneyworld (bringing down the proportion of claimable airfare) my claim for this is actually far less than doing continuing education in Australia.

Are you able to use any free CE websites for your hours? I fully utilize freece.com here for my CE. I pay for the extra perks but that's only $79 per year and they report all my hours to my state board. I have to get 10 hours of live CE and 20 hours of approved CE otherwise every 2 years.

You covered much territory in a day. I love the picture with the bird and the firework pictures from the dessert party. Your new ears look great on you.

I'm forever losing lens caps. Dh ended of finding me some cheap ones online. They grab the camera really tight and don't fall off like my Nikon ones.

 

[Minniemum]

You seem to being doing a great job working the FP's. Helps when you get a few freebies too!

Bummer about BOG but there is always next time, right?

Between us I think we could have our own lost property department. Last year I even managed to lose my prescription glasses at BB.

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Wow you covered the bases-needed all that sugary goodness to keep your motor rolling! LOVE the heron pic...so how many pairs of ears do you own now??

 

[Fairy Floss]

Wow you covered the bases-needed all that sugary goodness to keep your motor rolling! LOVE the heron pic...so how many pairs of ears do you own now??

I got 4 new pair + my Paris pair = 5!!

Need another 2 ( next year!) so I have one for each day of the week