wickesy
<font color=royalblue>Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love y
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2006
Tuesday 24th April
Today was the last full day of our trip and there was only one place to go – Magic Kingdom. We were up at 7:30 and although we were out by 8:30 Dad had to go back to the room as he had forgotten to leave the Mousekeeping envelope out so we only arrived just as the park was opening.
I wanted to get a PhotoPass CD so the first stop was Exposition Hall where they were just opening up. There was a special offer on where you got 3 free 7x5 prints with every CD so we spent a while picking out the three that we wanted and putting borders on. The Cast Member then burnt our CD but when we checked it there were photos of a completely random family on it! We could only assume that when the PCs were switched off the previous evening a set of photos had been left in the queue and came out instead of ours. We had to go through and pick out our prints again but luckily the system had saved the borders on them so we were soon on our way with the correct CD.
We walked round to Fantasyland where we rode Snow White and then It’s A Small World. As we got off the ride we noticed that all of the Cast Members had rotated one position which we guessed they do at regular intervals to stop them getting bored doing the same thing all day.
From Fantasyland we went round to Haunted Mansion which was a walk-on and I managed to stand exactly in front of the correct door in the Stretching Room so we were first out to the ride vehicles.
After Haunted Mansion we walked round to Frontierland where I stood and watched the logs coming down the drop, still not believing that we had actually done it ourselves. We then walked round to the Briar Patch where we bought a Splash Mountain frame for the ride photo that we had bought a few days previously.
We then got on the WDW Railroad and spent a relaxing 20 minutes on a complete circle tour of the park after which we went round to Pirates of the Caribbean. Everybody seemed to be following the ‘Keep left if it is open rule’ so I dodged off to the right which was definitely the shortest queue when we got to the loading area although we did end up in front of a woman performing a dodgy rendition of ‘Yo-ho’ all the way round the ride!
After Pirates there was only one must do left on the list – a Dole Whip float. These really are as nice as everybody says they are, although it probably didn’t do my dodgy stomach much good.
After our floats I wanted to do Buzz Lightyear again but by the time we got there it was showing a 20 minute wait so we didn’t bother. Instead we went to the Main Street Emporium where we bought three frames for the 7x5 prints we had got free (nice marketing Disney – give them three free prints and make a fortune selling frames!)
Having done all we wanted to we made our way back to the hotel where we began packing for the journey home tomorrow. I had reservations for the California Grill as it was our last night but I decided I really wasn’t hungry so I went downstairs to the Concierge and asked to cancel them. He was very helpful and said that if he cancelled it there would be a $20 charge but if I went to the check-in area on the 2nd floor I might be able to speak to a manager who might waive the charge for us. He told me that check-in would be open from 5:00 and I decided to go back then, explain I had a dodgy stomach and see what happened.
As the afternoon wore on I decided that I really didn’t want to miss the California Grill + Wishes experience and I could get away with just having a main course so I decided not to cancel after all. It was around this time that whatever was upsetting my stomach decided to leave me ‘via the South exit’ and I spent the rest of the afternoon debating whether to cancel dinner or not.
At 7:30 we went down to check-in at California Grill telling the Cast Member we had a 7:40 reservation but in fact I was wrong and the reservation was actually 7:00! Luckily they were running late anyway so we were sent up to the bar for a drink and were seated at 8:00. We were seated in the enclosed area at the back so although it was a bit quieter round there we ended up with the same view we had from our balcony only a bit higher up! Dad had the Filet of Beef, I had the Roast Salmon and we had a glass of wine each. We then had a coffee each and Dad had a large whisky bringing the total bill to around $70.
As the coffee was being served it was just before 9:00 so we made our way out to the observation deck to watch Wishes. This was an absolutely fantastic location to see Wishes from and you really get to see the shapes made by the fireworks better than you do at ground level. Just one word of advice – when you walk out onto the deck don’t join the crowds by the doors, walk all the way along to the far end where there is a lot more room.
After our meal we made our way back downstairs and were in bed by 10:15.
Tomorrow: “We’ll definitely stay here next year” Day 15
Today was the last full day of our trip and there was only one place to go – Magic Kingdom. We were up at 7:30 and although we were out by 8:30 Dad had to go back to the room as he had forgotten to leave the Mousekeeping envelope out so we only arrived just as the park was opening.
I wanted to get a PhotoPass CD so the first stop was Exposition Hall where they were just opening up. There was a special offer on where you got 3 free 7x5 prints with every CD so we spent a while picking out the three that we wanted and putting borders on. The Cast Member then burnt our CD but when we checked it there were photos of a completely random family on it! We could only assume that when the PCs were switched off the previous evening a set of photos had been left in the queue and came out instead of ours. We had to go through and pick out our prints again but luckily the system had saved the borders on them so we were soon on our way with the correct CD.
We walked round to Fantasyland where we rode Snow White and then It’s A Small World. As we got off the ride we noticed that all of the Cast Members had rotated one position which we guessed they do at regular intervals to stop them getting bored doing the same thing all day.
From Fantasyland we went round to Haunted Mansion which was a walk-on and I managed to stand exactly in front of the correct door in the Stretching Room so we were first out to the ride vehicles.
After Haunted Mansion we walked round to Frontierland where I stood and watched the logs coming down the drop, still not believing that we had actually done it ourselves. We then walked round to the Briar Patch where we bought a Splash Mountain frame for the ride photo that we had bought a few days previously.
We then got on the WDW Railroad and spent a relaxing 20 minutes on a complete circle tour of the park after which we went round to Pirates of the Caribbean. Everybody seemed to be following the ‘Keep left if it is open rule’ so I dodged off to the right which was definitely the shortest queue when we got to the loading area although we did end up in front of a woman performing a dodgy rendition of ‘Yo-ho’ all the way round the ride!
After Pirates there was only one must do left on the list – a Dole Whip float. These really are as nice as everybody says they are, although it probably didn’t do my dodgy stomach much good.
After our floats I wanted to do Buzz Lightyear again but by the time we got there it was showing a 20 minute wait so we didn’t bother. Instead we went to the Main Street Emporium where we bought three frames for the 7x5 prints we had got free (nice marketing Disney – give them three free prints and make a fortune selling frames!)
Having done all we wanted to we made our way back to the hotel where we began packing for the journey home tomorrow. I had reservations for the California Grill as it was our last night but I decided I really wasn’t hungry so I went downstairs to the Concierge and asked to cancel them. He was very helpful and said that if he cancelled it there would be a $20 charge but if I went to the check-in area on the 2nd floor I might be able to speak to a manager who might waive the charge for us. He told me that check-in would be open from 5:00 and I decided to go back then, explain I had a dodgy stomach and see what happened.
As the afternoon wore on I decided that I really didn’t want to miss the California Grill + Wishes experience and I could get away with just having a main course so I decided not to cancel after all. It was around this time that whatever was upsetting my stomach decided to leave me ‘via the South exit’ and I spent the rest of the afternoon debating whether to cancel dinner or not.
At 7:30 we went down to check-in at California Grill telling the Cast Member we had a 7:40 reservation but in fact I was wrong and the reservation was actually 7:00! Luckily they were running late anyway so we were sent up to the bar for a drink and were seated at 8:00. We were seated in the enclosed area at the back so although it was a bit quieter round there we ended up with the same view we had from our balcony only a bit higher up! Dad had the Filet of Beef, I had the Roast Salmon and we had a glass of wine each. We then had a coffee each and Dad had a large whisky bringing the total bill to around $70.
As the coffee was being served it was just before 9:00 so we made our way out to the observation deck to watch Wishes. This was an absolutely fantastic location to see Wishes from and you really get to see the shapes made by the fireworks better than you do at ground level. Just one word of advice – when you walk out onto the deck don’t join the crowds by the doors, walk all the way along to the far end where there is a lot more room.
After our meal we made our way back downstairs and were in bed by 10:15.
Tomorrow: “We’ll definitely stay here next year” Day 15
, thanks
