Johnson - August 2005 • WDW Trip Reports

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Johnson - August 2005

We left close to 9:30 pm, and though it had been a long day for Chris, the trip down was pretty uneventful. We got to the Comfort Inn Maingate West, not quite sure what it would be like, but ended up pleasantly surprised. It's a fairly basic hotel, but one I would stay at again in a case like this. The room was a bit bigger than that of the value resorts, it had a King Bed and what looked like a pullout sofa. The layout is pretty similar to the values, as far as the bathroom, vanity and "closet" area goes, and it had a fridge and a microwave, as well as free high-speed internet. The hotel has a small pool, and is very clean, and pretty new looking.
After checking in, I got us settled in the room, while Chris headed out to a 24-hour McDonalds to get us some dinner. Yep- 2 am, and we were just getting around to eating. After we ate, we pretty much crashed. Chris had arranged a 12:30 check out (normal time is 11 am), and we pretty much rolled out of bed at noon, and loaded the car back up.
The hotel is about 10 mins away from property, with many of the others on 192. If you're driving, you'd take Sherbeth Road to enter Disney by Animal Kingdom. We quickly found our way to the Epcot area, and over to the Beach Club. Chris unloaded the car with the valet while I headed in to get us checked in. The magic began as soon as I walked through the doors.
There was a bit of a line at the front desk, and while I was waiting to check in, I was approached by one of the roaming Cast Members, to make sure that I was there to check-in. I think it was pretty obvious that I'd just rolled out of bed and hadn't yet woken up, because he started teasing me about having a bad day. I explained that we'd driving in pretty late and had stayed offsite, and he "scolded" me for not calling them and heading right onto property. We talked a bit, and he left me laughing, and way more awake than I'd been when we started talking.
It was my turn, and I headed up to the counter, where I encountered, Allen, a very friendly, happy Cast Member. Just as I approached the counter, Chris materialized behind me, and Allen immediately started "questioning" him about following me. After assuring him that Chris was with me, and not just trying to sneak into my room, I handed over my license to get checked in. Allen noticed what city we live in, and as it turns out, he was planning to come here on vacation the following weekend. He asked us if there were any "must-sees", and we told him about our favorite restaurants and things to do. He pulled a list out of his pocket, and asked us what we thought of some of the restaurants, and we pointed him to the best ones. Then he hit a few keys, started to say something, and then changed his mind, saying, "I'm going to do something for you" He told us he'd be right back, and then walked over to one side of the counter. He came back by, handing me an envelope, telling me that it was left by someone for me, and that he'd be back in just a few minutes, and disappeared into the back room.
While we were waiting for Allen, I opened my envelope to find a Magical Moments certificate from the CRO Cast Member who'd made our reservation, wishing me a Happy Birthday. It was such a sweet surprise at check-in! Allen came back shortly, and informed us that since we were so nice and helpful to him, he was going to take care of us, and had upgraded us to Concierge!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Both Chris and I were in total shock- I couldn't believe it, and we were both thrilled!
Allen completed the check-in process, and after thanking him profusely, he took our luggage ticket, and then directed us to the elevator to get up to the 5th floor, where the Concierge rooms are located. As we set off across the lobby, still in shock, we were stopped by one of the survey Cast Members asking if we were checking in. We told him that we were, and after a few more questions, he asked if we'd be willing to keep a "trip diary" for them during our stay. I love filling out forms and surveys, and I'm always happy to help Disney with research, so of course we agreed. He handed us the official blue diary notebook and two Tigger pens, and wished us a wonderful trip. We made our way across the lobby, and onto the elevator. Chris put his room key into the slot, and we headed up to the 5th floor.
When we got off the elevator, we were greeted by name by the Concierge Cast Member, who gave us an information sheet explaining what they offered, and a schedule of the offerings throughout the day. She showed us the lounge and then directed us to the hallway that lead to our room. Chris and I set off to find the room, which was a bit of a walk, all the way down one hallway, and partway down another, practically jumping up and down in excitement the whole time. We found our room, and headed inside to settle in.
The room itself was a standard room, with the usual things. When you first entered there was a dresser in an alcove on the left, with the closet just beyond that. The closet held the safe, waffle-weave bathrobes, and extra pillows. On the right was the vanity area, with two sinks, a blowdryer, magnifying mirror, and adorable toiletries. (When you stay Concierge, you also get a toothbrush and toothpaste in addition to the normal soap and lotion) The bathroom was just off the vanity area, with a marble tiled shower with built in shelves. If you continued forward into the room, on the right were two queen size beds, with a nightstand between them. In the corner was a wall-mounted table. On the left was a long dresser that held the fridge and had the tv on top. Past the dresser was a desk, with a pull out table underneath it. The desk had a built in power strip and internet connection. We also had a balcony with two chairs, and a view of the front of the resort. On top of the desk was an adorable lamp, which featured Mickey sitting on a lifeguard's chair.
Chris decided he would head down to see what was in the Concierge Lounge while I waited for the bellman. The Concierge Desk is staffed from 7 am until 10 pm each day. They have 5 daily offerings in the Lounge. From 6:30-7 am there is Coffee. 7-10:30 am you'll find Sunrise Starters. At 11:30 until 4 pm, they feature Seaside Snacks. They reopen the Lounge at 5 pm until 7 pm for Twilight Treasures, and then have Regatta Delights from 8-10 pm. It was Seaside Snack time, and Chris returned with some cookies, chocolate chip and sugar, and two sodas from the Lounge. The bellman arrived just after he did, so after a quick snack, we headed out into the parks for the day. We also stopped by the Lounge to grab another cookie ;o)
We decided to head to Epcot, since we were right there. We walked from Beach Club to the International Gateway, and after going through a bag check, we were inside the parks. We debated what to do, and decided we'd head straight to Soarin'. So, we made our way down through the UK and Canada, and then took the Rose Walkway to the Land. We got inside and found the wait for Soarin' was more than an hour, so we decided to grab Fastpasses. They were for 7:30 pm, but we figured they'd be good to have. Then we headed back out, into the hot sun. I had noticed that there were some new cross-stitch patterns on the website, for the 50th Anniversary, so we headed to the Gallery to check them out. It turns out that there's actually one that isn't on the website, it's a Tinkerbell picture, taken from a series of lithographs showing Tink in the various seasons. Since I couldn't decide which one to get, we headed back out, and hopped on Spaceship Earth.
When the ride was done, we had another quick conference on what to do, and decided we'd head over to the Magic Kingdom, to see Cinderellabration, and the "new" Castle. Before we left, though, Chris made me get a birthday button. We headed out, and hopped on the monorail. When we got to the TTC, we transferred to the Magic Kingdom monorail, but decided before it set off that we wanted to see if Kona was open for lunch. That question was actually answered by the monorail spiel, so we hopped off at the Poly, and made our way to the podium at Kona.
I'd eaten here earlier in the year with friends, but Chris had never been, and was anxious to try the menu. Chris decided to get the Big Kahuna Burger with American Cheese. I got the Island Chicken Sandwich, grilled chicken breast with apple smoked bacon, swiss cheese, curry mango mayonnaise and fried onions on a Kaiser roll. Both were wonderful, and very filling. We couldn't pass up a dessert though, and decided to split the Kilauea Torte. It's a chocolate torte, like a dense, fudge brownie filled with warm, melted chocolate and served with ice cream. It was amazing.
After paying our lunch check (love the DDE!) we headed back out to the monorail, and made our way off to the Magic Kingdom. Chris and I decided that since it was so hot, we'd head down Main Street through the shops, so we didn't actually see the Castle until we emerged next to Casey's. I LOVE the new Castle decorations! It's even more beautiful and fairy-tale-ish than it was before. As we were heading past the Tip Board, a CM called out Happy Birthday to me, and then teased me for wearing the Epcot Birthday Button instead of the MK one, while handing me a MK one. Chris took a few pictures of the Castle, and then I made him sit down in the hub to see the various castles as they passed through the stained glass above the arch.
Once we'd seen all of them, we set off, heading up the path and through the arch of the Castle, to the shop underneath. I love all of the gallery stores, and can spend hours wandering through them. After we'd finished browsing that one, we made our way to Tinkerbell's Treasures, where I tried on a variety of princess crowns. Then we continued on our walk, taking in the wonders that comprise Fantasyland. It never fails, while on a trip, it just hits me how truly blessed we are that we can spend so much time in such a Magical place- even without going on the rides, there's plenty of things to see and do to fill the afternoon. We made our way over to Liberty Square, stopping in the Jams and Jellies shop, and then continued on through the Square.
I drug Chris through the Christmas store, before we made our way back towards the hub. We decided that we'd watch Cinderellabration from the benches on the bridge, and settled in to see the show. It was a short wait- and an adorable show! It continues the story of Cinderella, showing her coronation. The show was imported as a "gift" from Tokyo Disney for the Anniversary and features tons of characters. It's definitely a "must-do" for any Princesses. After the show, we headed back towards Main Street. Chris stopped to get us a drink, while I found a spot to sit and people watch.
He joined me a few minutes later, and we spent a while resting, and debating what to do with the rest of our time in Disney. We normally don't plan out our trips that much in advance, and this one was even more "laidback" than usual. We literally had no plans, other than the hotel reservations. So, we talked, and decided it was so hot, that we'd head back to the hotel to rest and clean up, and then go to dinner somewhere. We made our way out of the park, to the monorail, then transferred at the TTC. Once back at Epcot, we took the walk back to the International Gateway, and back to the Beach Club.
We headed back upstairs to our room, with a quick stop in the Lounge on the way. We grabbed a drink, and some snacks from the evening offering- they had a spinach dip, pitas and hummus, a soup, cheese, fruit and crackers, pizza rolls, and a sort of roll-up sandwich. We entered the room to find that Mousekeeping had already been there to turn down the beds, close the curtains and dim the lights. They'd left the television on, so we were greeted with soft Disney music. In the room, I basically just rested Chris and I debated what to do for dinner, and he called and made a PS for Artist Point. Chris headed back to the lounge to try the dessert offering. He came back with a few choices for me, some cookies, a small sponge cake soaked in something, a square of tiramisu, and a cream puff. All of the desserts were bite sized, so you could try a variety of them.
While munching, I looked at Chris and asked what he thought of scrapping Artist Point and hitting the pool followed by Beaches and Cream. He loved the idea, and so he called and cancelled the seating at Artist Point. We changed, threw on some cover-up clothing, and made our way down to Stormalong Bay, the waterpark complex shared by the Yacht and Beach Club. We wandered around a bit, taking in the various options, crossing over bridges here and there, before dropping our stuff on a chair by Hurricane Hannah's. The first thing we tried out was one of the sand bottomed pools. After walking on the sand for a few minutes, we decided to head over to the lazy river area of the pool. So, we got out, and made our way to the area. Since it was close to the pool closing, you couldn't rent tubes, but they were just floating in the pool. After waiting a few minutes, I got a tube, and after some maneuvering, got myself onto it, and was drifting in the current. A portion of the pool makes a large circle, with the depth varying from about 4 feet to 8.
Chris decided he had to try the waterslide, so he'd set off to do that. When he met back up with me, he found a tube, and then informed me that the slide was "awesome" and one of the best he'd been on. Then he said he loved this hotel. We floated around the lazy river for a while, until we got the 10-minute warning for the pool closing. We exited the pool, dried off and then got dressed. We headed out of the pool complex, and got on line to get takeout from Beaches and Cream.
The line was fairly long, so Chris asked how long the wait was to be seated, and was told 5 minutes. We got a pager, and Chris ran back up to the room to get the DDE card, and put on some dry clothes. I was seated just as he was returning, and in short order, we had ordered our food. Chris got a rootbeer float, and a cheeseburger and fries. I ordered a Liquid Sunshine (orange sherbet, vanilla ice cream and seltzer), and a burger and fries. We chatted and ate, and then decided to get dessert to-go. We both got strawberry shortcake, mine with no ice cream, his with no sprinkles. I left Chris to pick up dessert and pay the check while I ran to the gift shop before it closed. We had decided to go to Typhoon Lagoon the next day, and I wanted to buy one of those water-proof containers to hold our keys, passes and some money.
I got to the shop, and quickly found what I needed. I decided to pick up some moleskin too, and then got in line to pay for my purchases. At this point, I realized I actually didn't have my wallet with me- thankfully I had my room key, and I just charged everything to the room. Then I headed back upstairs, using the key to get to our floor.
Everything was quiet, and so I took my time heading down to the room, just taking in the whole day. Disney really is amazingly magical. I got settled in the room, and Chris showed up about 2 minutes behind me. We showered, got changed and settled in for the night. Then I enjoyed my strawberry shortcake, and climbed into the wonderful pillowtop bed, and drifted off to sleep.

We had set a wakeup call for 11:30, but we both decided we were too tired, and just rolled over and went back to sleep. We finally woke up around 12:30, and quickly got ready for the day. Our plan was to head to Typhoon Lagoon, as Chris had never been before. We got dressed, put on sunblock, and packed a small bag for the park, and called down for the car.
The car was waiting for us when we got downstairs, so we hopped in and set off towards Downtown Disney. We parked, kind of out in the middle of nowhere- I had no idea how big the parking lot at TL was, until we hiked through half of it to get to the gates. But, we were there shortly, and after showing our APs to get an admission discount, we headed on inside. The lines for the locker was literally wrapped around to the back of the store, but it kept moving fairly quickly, and in short order we had our locker, and were tossing things inside. We kept out our towels and the sunblock, and then we made our way up the path and into the main area of the park.
We put our stuff down on a chair near the hot dog place, and then set off for the wave pool. Chris has written a fairly comprehensive description of the day, and I'll paste that below- and just kind of gloss over my day, since as usual, I spent a lot of time waiting for him to finish things. He played in the wave pool for a bit, and then we headed over to the lazy river, where we waded through the crowd and found some tubes. We floated around a few times- though we nearly had to abort the whole trip.
I wear contacts, and though they aren't normally a problem, each time we passed the water "guns" that guests can control, I lost one. I'm not quite sure how, since I was also wearing sunglasses, but, first the left one, and then the right. I knew they weren't in place, and was actually able to catch them and get them back in- which is quite a miracle. I literally can't see past the end of my nose without them, so we'd have been in some serious trouble if I hadn't caught them. Chris would have had to carry me back to the room. But, all was well, and the day was not ruined- though I'll probably pack spare contacts for the park next time.
We hopped out at the Shark stop, so Chris could go snorkel. I tried snorkeling last year, and it wasn't terribly successful. I somehow got across the shark reef without seeing a single fish, or even really noticing that there's a giant submarine on the left. So, I just decided to sit it out this year, because after realizing I'm not good at it, I also remembered I don't like fish anyway, so it wasn't the best plan in the first place. I pointed Chris towards the front of the line, and then wandered my way towards the exit. The line was pretty long, but I actually managed to get to the exit of the pool, and find a little rock ledge to sit on. Somehow I escaped the attention of the lifeguards who kept telling people to clear the exit, and so I sat and watched Chris in line.
A few things to note, if you're going to do the swim, there are lifeguards actually floating in the pool, in case you need help. You have to keep your arms moving, or you really freak the lifeguards out, cause you sort of look dead. When you're getting out of the reef, be careful where you step, because there are sometimes stingrays on the ledge. And, if you have a little one, they have rafts you can "tow" them on, across the lagoon. The kids lay face down, and they have a built in "window" so they can see stuff too. The little ones get a life jacket to wear, of course, but I don't know if there's a minimum age for the rafts.
Eventually Chris got out, and then I convinced him to do the swim on the other side of the lagoon. This time, I found myself a chair in the shade, overlooking the reef, and sat and waited. Since he has no hair, I could pretty well track him through the lagoon. The highlight of this for me was when a little girl was standing with her mom, watching the people swim, and then yelled out excitedly," Mom! I found Dory!" (a fish that looks like Dory from Finding Nemo) She was adorable- and it was great to see how happy she was with her discovery. I guess there are characters everywhere.
After a while Chris emerged from his other swim, quite chilly. Well, he wasn't cold, because it was like 200 degrees, but if you touched him, it felt like an ice pack. Anyway, we decided to explore the area, and got in line for the family raft ride. There's not much to be said about the ride- it's short, but ok. Then Chris decided to try the Storm Slides. I discovered that there are two waiting areas set up, one at the bottom of Humunga Kowagunga, and one at the bottom of the StormSlides. There's some bleacher type seating built, and that's where I found him after he was off. He'll pretty much take the rest of the day from there, so with no further ado, I give you my husband's day:

Typhoon Lagoon - A Simple Idiot's Tour

Since our return from TL my wife has notified me that I will, indeed write a trip report on our day at TL. Since she is my one and only love and since my happiness hangs on the very ebb and flow of her mood....well....you get the point.
Let me start by saying that in our 13,000 trips (give or take a few) to the "World" I have never been to TL. Jess was fortunate enough to spend some time there earlier in the yea. After reading quite a bit about TL and its accoutrements and seeing as how it was August and small animals were bursting into flames in the shade, now seemed as good a time as any to plan a trip to a water park.
We decided to venture to TL on Tuesday, which was the second day of this particular little adventure. We headed out from Beach Club around 1pm and made our way to TL. After parking in the lot and determining that neither one of has had the slightest clue which direction to head in I approached a cast member who laughed at my idiocy and pointed to the "promised land". We bought tickets and headed in to get in line for a locker rental. After waiting in an interminable line, we finally got our locker and headed out to place our stuff in it. Jess had insisted on buying one of those water-tight things to store our AP's, cash and a credit card in. You know, the kind that you put around your neck so that it can strangle you on all of the water slides. We made our way to the "beach" at the wave pool and commandeered a single chair on which to put our towels (we brought our own from BC and sun block.
I waded into the wave pool and stood there like a sheep with all of the other sheep. By the way, I loved getting wacked in the skull by wave after wave (see title of report). After about ten waves I realized that they were waiting until I got OUT of the pool to sound the little foghorn and unleash one of the "beast" waves so I gave up and went to find Jess. We made our way across the path to the Lazy River and joined the throng of people ready to deck each other for a tube. Good God what a spectacle of humanity. I never thought that I would see grown men ready to uppercut a nine-year-old girl so that he can float comfortably.
We finally found tubes and made our way into the comfy gridlock that was the river. I have to say that we both really enjoyed floating around aimlessly, hanging on to each other. It was great to just lay back, be together, and not have to worry about anything other than which stop we were going to jump out at. Well, there is one other thing to worry about and if you've been in the Lazy River at TL you know exactly what I'm talking about. Yep, it's the three outboard motors that are mounted to the deck on a swivel with a water cannon coming out of the propeller. Just what I was hoping for...a continuous water pistol placed in the hands of any random demented kid (or adult for that matter) who wants to try squirting water into my mouth as I float by, content to sleep and drool on myself.
We decided to jump out at the stop closest to "Shark Reef" as I had been dying to try this. Jess opted out as she didn't really dig it when she was at TL earlier in the year, so I hopped in line by myself. I waited for a few minutes and got to the equipment counter where I opted for a lifevest. Yes, I can swim but I thought that this would be one less thing to worry about during the whole experience. Now, I know that, when Jess did this before they were given snorkels. We were not so lucky so we only got masks. It took about thirty minutes to get through the line when we were finally given our brief briefing (you liked that, didn't you?) by a CM named Shamus. Shamus walked us through the whole list of rules, "Please move forward at all times", "Don't touch the fish", "Don't dive below the surface", "Don't touch the fish", "Please don't kick while you are in the water", "Don't touch the fish"....you get the idea. We were then allowed to get into the water where I ever-so-briefly became a woman (Yeah, it's that cold) and we were left to our own devices. Here is the thing with "Shark Reef"; it is a great attraction with a great premise, but when it is so crowded, as it tends to be in the dead of August, it detracts from the experience. There were so many of us in the water and I spent so much time trying to keep the guy in front of me from putting his foot through my eye socket (no kicking, yeah right) that I really didn't get to enjoy things as much as I would have liked. I got to see quite a few fish, a very large stingray and even two hammerhead sharks but it all went by so fast and so noisily. I reached the end of the reef and was immediately greeted by Jess who said "You know, for $20 you can dive on the other side of the lagoon and spend a half hour just puttering around in there?" I said that I would probably like to do that next time but she was persistent as she knew that it was something that I would love. She whipped out her credit card, I relented and signed up for the SAS dive.
For $20 you get a small scuba or "pony" tank that is strapped to a buoyancy vest (for to keep you at the surface) and thirty minutes of unbridled "FOR GOD'S SAKE, DON'T TOUCH THE FISH!!!" fun. We were given a briefing by a very pretty, very tan and very ANGRY cast member who, again, told us to chase as many fish as we wanted however as soon as we touched one a Floating Fuhrer would promptly eject us from the lagoon. I was fitted with my tank, regulator (btw, when you sign up, you are given a rubber mouthpiece that has been sterilized and that fits over top of the regulator; hence you are not sharing fluids with the person before you) and waited in line to enter the water. I had a similar reaction to the water and was then faced with the task of getting used to breathing through the scuba gear (which I have never done before). In the first eight minutes I think I almost killed myself twice and probably consumed at least half of my oxygen. Finally, the reasonable (albeit, very tiny) portion of my brain was able to beat the "Bill and Ted" portion of it into submission long enough to realize that the reason I was having such a hard time is that I was taking a deep breath through the regulator and holding it instead of breathing normally.
After about two minutes of learning how to breathe as normally as possible through the regulator, I began to really enjoy myself. There are tons of small fish in the lagoon along with some large fish, several stingrays and a few sharks. There is one particular area of the lagoon where the small fish gather into a very dense school and basically swim in a circle. I learned that if I swam into the circle the fish would scatter immediately, but if I stayed there, kept very still, and took slow, shallow breaths to minimize the bubbles coming from my regulator, they would soon gather back into the same spot. I was then left floating, legs down in this spot with all of these tiny fish swimming around my legs..very, very COOL! Those of you who have been to TL may already know that the large, sunken sub that divides the Shark Reef lagoons has a walkway down inside of it so that you can view the fish through the portholes at a below-water level. I, unfortunately, did not realize it until, at one point when I was following behind one of the sharks, I wheeled around and was face to face with a smiling, pointing kid. Now it really wouldn't have mattered if it was a man, woman, goat, or Vida Guerra behind the glass, the point is that I didn't expect to turn and see someone looking back at me so I was a bit taken aback. I swam around for a while and was even lucky enough to get so close to one of the sharks that, when he turned to head in the opposite direction, he brushed against my leg..SWEET!
At long last, my time was up and I left the lagoon, shed my gear and returned to Jess where I told her how much fun I had, much like the grinning, sputtering, goof that I am. We headed out of the reef area in search of slides and such. We happened upon the Family Raft Ride (sue me, I don't remember the name) and got in line. We didn't have to wait very long before getting a tube (incidentally, I think that they made those tubes so hacking big to amuse the CM's while they watch you try to push it up the steps) and hitting the slide. This was really cool for me, as it isn't often that Jess gets on rides with me. I really liked the ride but I was a little disappointed that it was so short. This one is a good slide, you don't get drenched and it isn't so treacherous so that you can't take everyone with you. It truly is a "Family Raft Ride".
We then set out for the body slides (Storm Slides) which I would most definitely be doing on my own. I headed up to wait in line and decided to try the right-most of the three slides. Now, most of you probably already know this but if you don't, write it down...If you like body slides and you like to do them fast, then the absolute, hands-down best way is to arch your back so that you are riding on nothing but your heels and your shoulder blades, try it and then send me a Swiss Colony Beef Log at Christmas for giving you such a handy tip;) Did I mention that we had followed the advice of lots of people (all of whom will be receiving their own fruity-loaf bunt muffins for the holidays) and bought water shoes for this occasion? For those of you who do not have these, buy them. $5 is more than reasonable for not having to dance around on 4000° concrete all day long. Unfortunately, as I was climbing to the top of the body slides I realized that I was going to go nowhere fast if I wore the shoes, so I was forced to hold them as I slid. No biggie, the slide still rocked and I loved it! So I already know what you're thinking, "Tell us Chris, how were the speed slides?!?!?!" and you know what? I have no idea how the speed slides were. Sorry folks but an instant colonic, complete with netting and Speedo (no, not a tiny Speedo, eeewww) fabric is not my idea of fun...now standing at the bottom of the speed slides and waiting for girls in bikini tops, THAT'S fun, but the thought has never, ever, more than ten times crossed my mind (calm down everyone, it's a joke and YES Jess does think it's funny).
After the body slides I decided that food was a good idea. The first place that we came to was a tiny kiosk simply labeled "Mini Donuts". Sweet mercy, a place that sells funnel cake donuts along with white chocolate, raspberry and fudge dipping sauces. The heavens were truly smiling upon us this day. Anyway, I then set out to find the mecca, the mountain, the penultimate, yep Crush-n-Gusher. For those of you who have not read about it, CNG is, basically, a water roller coaster. You ride in a two or three person tube and go through a series of dips, drops, twists and turns, all the while being propelled by huge jets of water. This is very, very cool. I waited at the bottom for my two-person tube (single riders sit in the back position of the tube with their feet in the front spot) and headed up the stairs.
The line wasn't terribly long and CNG has three separate tracks (I chose the "Coconut Crusher" which I hoped was not a harbinger of things to come) so the wait was fairly short. For those of you who've done tube rides before, I'm sure you'll agree that the most aggravating part is trying to get into the tube at the top of the slide while it is sitting in the water. More than once, I've found myself starting a tube slide with one leg in the tube, one leg out and my head banging on the seams of the plastic all the way down. Truly, this is great fun. The Disney Imaginears have come up with an amazingly simple yet really effective way of getting into your tube easily. There is a large belt on which your tube is placed. You get in your tube and, when the coast is clear at the bottom (signified by a red or green light) the CM presses a button that advances the belt a half turn forward, painlessly sending you out into the slide. As for the ride itself, WOW! It is so cool to hit the bottom of a dip and have a jet of water fire you back to the top of the hill in front of you. I highly recommend this one to all of you!!! I climbed out and found Jess at which point we headed back to the Lazy River for a bit. This was the best way possible for us to end the day and again, I had such a great time just floating around hanging on to Jess. We climbed out and headed for the locker rooms to change for the ride home then headed out and back to the resort to decide what to do with the rest of our day. I hope that you made it this far and that I haven't offended you too much! Take care and have fun!!!

We drove back to Beach Club, leaving the car with the valet, and headed up to the room. When we got to our floor, we stopped by the Concierge and asked them to make us a Priority Seating for 9 Dragons for dinner, at 8:30 pm. Not a problem, two minutes later, we had a PS, and were on our way to the lounge to see what sort of snacks they had. Today they had a soup, a type of dip, the fruit, cheese and crackers and some uncrustables. I grabbed half of an Uncrustable and some cheese, a can of soda, and we headed back to our room. After dumping our stuff, I hopped in the shower to get cleaned up and it was at this point I realized that our sunblock hadn't worked as planned. We'd only been out for about 3 hours, so I shouldn't have had to reapply- but I was burnt.
In following tradition, I can't get a sunburn like a normal person. The tops of my shoulders, bottom of my back, the backs of both hands, and for some reason just my left earlobe (no, not the right one) were all burnt. It hurts to wash your hair with sunburnt hands, let me tell you. But, in any event, after torturing myself, I stepped out of the shower to discover a monsoon was taking place outside. I looked at Chris, and we quickly decided that 9 Dragons just wasn't going to happen. He took a walk down the hall to the Concierge, but there were about 90 people in line, so he came back with more soda, a few desserts and some cookies in hand, and just called the dining line. He cancelled our 9 Dragons seating and got us booked for Yachtsman at 9:40 instead.
WE relaxed in the room. I think he may have made 3 or 4 more trips down the hall to the Concierge, a few trips to get more to drink, and a few to see if she was still swamped. We'd fallen head over heels for the Beach Club, and had decided to see if we could switch our last night over, instead of heading to Boardwalk. We'd been told we could, then when they tried to make the switch, no rooms were available. They'd told us to check back, and we went back and forth a few times, trying to get an answer nailed down. On his last trip back, Chris learned that not only had they found us a room, they were going to allow us to remain in the one we were already in. Another birthday bonus from Disney! They really did go out of their way to sprinkle magic for us.
Eventually it was time to head downstairs for dinner. Since we were both burnt, we went down a little early, and stopped at the gift shop to buy some aloe gel. Incidentally, there is now a small deli area in the Beach Club gift shop, known as the Marketplace. It's open until 11 pm, and you can get all sorts of sandwiches and baked goods. Then, we headed down the hall and over to Yachtsman.
Yachtsman is one of our favorite restaurants- the food is always wonderful, as is the service. And, they have a dessert sampler, which always gets bonus points with me. After a short wait, we were seated. We both opted to skip the appetizers (mostly because I really love their onion bread) Chris chose the Charred Angus Bourbon Strip Steak, a 12-oz New York Strip Steak, Marinated in Bourbon, served with Mashed Potatoes. I, as usual, ordered the Yachtsman Filet Mignon, an 8-oz filet, served with Mashed Potatoes and a Cabernet Wine Sauce.

The food came fairly quickly, and was excellent as always. We spent a long time just chatting. Eventually we were both stuffed and it was time to order dessert (when I say stuffed it's relative, because I always leave room for dessert). We decided to get the Dessert Sampler Platter for Two. It took just a few minutes to arrive, on a plate designed to look like an artist's palette. We had a crème brulee, a lemon square, a raspberry sorbet, a piece of cheesecake, and the Jack Daniel's Mousse Cake, which is my favorite.
After dessert, we paid our check, and then took our time heading back to the Beach Club side of the resort. We headed back upstairs, and just hung out, enjoying our time in Disney. Chris's schedule had been so hectic, we'd barely seen each other in the last few weeks, so it was wonderful to be able to just be in the same room and watch tv for a while. We went to bed with no plans other than to maybe have lunch at 9 Dragons the following day.

We slept until about noon today, other than a small break when Chris got a phone call from work, and wandered down to the Lounge to grab a few donuts and some drinks for us. We ate and then went back to sleep for a while, and when we finally got up, we had no plans whatsoever for the day. We were thinking maybe we'd go to 9 Dragons for lunch, but decided after getting ready to head to Animal Kingdom for a bit.
We called down to have the car brought around, and were on our way to AK in just a few minutes. After parking the car, we took the tram up to the front gate, and saw that Jane was out. I took the bags and sent Chris through the "bag-free" entrance to get her autograph and then met up with him after I was through security.
I was pretty wiped out today, and knew I wouldn't be able to walk much at all, so we decided to just start off with the chair, knowing the heat wouldn't help the situation. So, after getting some wheels, Chris and I set off, map in hand. We made our way to Camp Minnie-Mickey, and got in line for the 2:20 Lion King show. It really was hot out, and poor Chris nearly passed out while we were waiting to be let into the theatre. Looking back, it's amazing that neither of us did, because we weren't great at making sure we were hydrated. But, once inside the air conditioned theatre, he recovered, and we quickly settled in to our elephant roles.
Chris had never seen the show, and he had a ball watching the various performers throughout it. Afterwards he raved about the show, and decided he was glad we'd come to see it. Then we set off to find Lucky. We stopped at the Tip Board to ask a Cast Member, who told us he was on his way to Hong Kong, so it was probably good we hadn't really looked too hard. After grabbing a drink, we headed out of the park, and back to the tram to get to the car.
We'd decided to continue on in our quest to see new things, and so headed off to MGM, to see the new Lights, Motors, Action! Stunt Show. After the usual routine, parking the car, taking the tram, security, etc, we were in the park, and after getting another chair, we grabbed a map. It was about 4:10, and the last show was at 4:40, so we set off right away to the back of the park.
A lot of the queue for this attraction is outside and in the sun, so while it's good to get there early, it can also be a long wait. It didn't take all that long for us to be under the bleachers in the stadium, and waiting to be admitted, but when we reached that spot, they made an announcement that the show was being postponed until 5:20, and that the wait would be in line, not in the theater, so you'd be outside in the sun. Chris and I decided to wait it out, since this is what we'd come here for, and after about a 15 minute wait, they began loading us into the stadium.
Since I was in a wheelchair, we had a bit of a different perspective in the loading of the attraction. The way they do it if you're in a chair is to take you a few at a time to an elevator, and bring you up to the midpoint of the stadium. Here there is a series of "broken" benches that can seat on or two people, with space for two wheelchairs in between. They park the chair next to the bench and one member of the party can sit on the broken bench. The first two rows of bleachers in front of the chairs are reserved, and this is where the rest of the party would sit.
So, Chris and I settled in for the show. While you're waiting, there is a big screen that shows trivia questions, and Chris did pretty well. I will say at the beginning that I wasn't really expecting to enjoy this show, it's really more up Chris's alley than mine. But, I ended up really liking it. There are a lot of intricate chases and stunts, and it's really cool that they show the "how-to" of it all as well, instead of just going for the "wow" factor. Chris really loved the show, and again couldn't stop raving about it. After the show was over, we joined the queue to get on the elevator, and were quickly on our way back through the park.
It was hot, sticky and just generally yucky out, so we decided to head back to the hotel and rest for a bit. We again decided we'd make a priority seating for 9 Dragons for dinner. We left the car with the valet, and headed up to the room, after a quick stop in the lounge for some snacks. They had tea style tuna sandwiches out, as well as uncrustables, fruit, cheese, and cookies. And, of course, we grabbed a drink, determined to stay more on top of hydration.
When we got back to the room, the maid had already been in to turn it down, so we were greeted by a cool, dimly lit room with soft music. Heaven after the hot parks! We also had a phone message that said there was an issue with us staying in the room, so Chris made a quick trip to the Concierge, and found out it was an error, and it was quickly resolved- we could stay! It was official!
Just as Chris was about to call to make a seating at 9 Dragons, we kind of looked at each other and were like, nah, let's eat somewhere else. So, we had a quick summit, and ran down the list of where we've eaten and where we still wanted to. As it turns out, Bistro de Paris was at the top of both of our lists, and since it was actually my birthday, we decided to splurge a bit and see if they were available. Chris made the call and got us an 8:30 seating, the latest they had. So, we puttered around in the room until it was time for us to head down and make our way to Epcot.
We opted for the chair for me again, as I was getting stiffer as the day went on, and the walk over to the International Gateway wasn't as easy as we'd hoped. So, we made a quick stop to pick the chair up, and then headed over to France. We were still a bit early, so we made our way into Morocco and wandered through the shops to pass some time. It's kind of funny, on our first trip, I had very little desire to even go in the Moroccan pavilion, but now it's very high on my list of places I want to see. The more I learn about it, the more I love it.
We made our way back to France, and following the instructions from the dining line Cast Member, headed to the Chefs de France podium. The Cast Member instructed us to head through the restaurant, and check in at the other podium- and after a bit of confusion (there are stairs in the restaurant, so if you're in a wheelchair, you'll need to actually head outside, and around the back), we were checked in. Bistro de Paris is located upstairs, it's directly above Chefs de France. There is a curving staircase, and had I known what was in store, I'd have just made my way up the steps, and left the chair downstairs. But, I didn't know- so instead I had an adventure.
When our table was ready, the Cast Member opened a door and Chris wheeled me into the "elevator" to get me upstairs. I put elevator in quotes because it's not, in fact, an elevator, but actually a dumbwaiter. This I know because I spent the next 3 minutes staring at the operating certificate while waiting to get upstairs. If you're claustrophobic- this is NOT someplace you want to eat. I'm not, but was more than ready to be out of the thing by the time I got upstairs. There is literally only enough room for a wheelchair, and you move up on a hydraulic lift, very similar to the lift on a moving van, or on a bus. It really does take about 3 minutes to get upstairs, and in the meantime you are in this little metal box. Chris and the restaurant manager were actually upstairs, leaning on the door, looking down at me and talking (Chris of course telling me to hurry up), while I was slowly ascending to the second floor.
Anyway, that aside, we headed into the restaurant, and were seated. It's hard for me to describe the inside of the restaurant, we were seated not far from the foyer, and I ended up sitting with my back to the rest of the dining room. It's a dark, intimate setting, very romantic. And, unlike most of the tables for two at Disney, the table was really spacious. Our waiter was Sebastian, and he was wonderful- he is from the South of France, so at times we had a bit of trouble understanding him because of his accent.
Bistro offers a Four Course Tasting Menu, it's $95 per person including the wine pairings and $60 per person without. Chris and I decided to go for the tasting menu, but to skip the wine. Each course had two choices, so we got one of each, to sample everything. You can also add an additional cheese course, which we decided to do, it's $5 per person.
The meal started with an Amuse Bouche, in this case it was a piece of roasted duck with vegetables and balsamic. Looking back, I'm not quite sure how it's a four course menu, even taking out the Amuse Bouche and the cheese, we had 5 courses- but that's neither here nor there.
The meal progressed at a leisurely pace, with Sebastian checking on us throughout the various courses to make sure all was well. We were also given a baguette which was really yummy, to accompany the meal.
For the first course we had a choice of Rare seared tune with Jamaican pepper, sauce of lemon confit and Banyuls vinegar, arugula coulis and a crunch vegetable salad or North atlantique crab claws and baby mix salad, Smoked salmon thinly sliced on a crispy baguette with aromatics, horseradish mousse. I started with the crab claws and Chris with the tuna. Neither of us had had rare tuna in the past, but both enjoyed it quite a bit. The crab claws were not quite what I had expected, living in Savannah, when I heard crab claws, I was expecting large claws full of meat, but these were really tiny. Almost miniature, and though they were opened, it was hard to get the meat out of them. On top of the horseradish mousse were young salmon eggs. I generally consider myself adventurous when it comes to food, but there are a few things I simply can't conceive of eating. Caviar and sweetbreads top the list. Chris, on the other hand, actually tried one of the eggs, and pronounced it "okay" So, we all have to give him a round of applause, because I wouldn't even attempt it.
The next course was a choice of Seared scallops with fleur de sol, mashed golden potatoes with cream and chives, fried onion rings and dried Bayonne ham, lemon confit butter; or Artic char cooked menuiere, fresh pasta and seared golden shanterelle, chicken au jus with sweet garlic and Porto reduction. I started with the scallops which practially melted, they were just wonderful. I also fell in love with the mashed potatoes, they were so yummy. The Artic char was quite good as well, we learned it's a fish similar to salmon, and we both enjoyed it.
Then came the Trou Normand: Green Apple sorbet and apple liquor. I'm not a fan of green apple as a rule, but this was really good. Very potent as well. We were each presented with a martini glass with a scoop of green apple sorbet floating in what was essentially a green apple liquor slushie, garnished with a dried apple ring.
Next up was a choice of 'Due Breton farms' pork tenderloin grilled, rutabaga confit and royal trumpet mushrooms, crispy morteaux sausage and apple cider vinegar juice; or rack of lamb roasted, vegetables of ratatouille confits and fried fresh herbs, juice with lemon thyme. Both were very good, though I preferred the pork to the lamb. Chris didn't care much for either one, he said they were both good, but neither one of us are big on lamb, and pork isn't a favorite of his either. The new thing with this course was that neither one of us had had rutabaga before. Since I started with the pork, I tried it first, and he asked what I thought of it. I told him it tasted like a cross between a pear and a potato. He looked at me like I had two heads until he tried it and said "That's exactly what it tastes like"
It was time for the French cheese assortment, with different coats and goats served with mix salad toasted bread, pine nuts and chives. This is where we lost Sebastian because of the accent. I know one of the cheeses was Camembert, but I have no idea what the other two were. The Camembert was good, I usually like it. The other two cheese, one was much softer almost butter like, very, very good. The third was a bit harder, sort of like a swiss in consistency, but with no holes, and tasted flowery
After the cheese came my favorite course- dessert. With the tasting menu, you get a Desserts assortments: coconut crème brulee, mango and passion fruit sorbet, warm chocolate cake with 70% dark chocolate, fine tart of strawberries. All of it was incredible- the crème brulee and the chocolate cake were my favorites. Each was a little sample size, and in the center of the plate was a lemon granita. Chris asked me what it tasted like, and all I could come up with was a "Pledge snowcone". I was also surprised with a piece of chocolate mousse caked, topped with berries and a candle, with Happy Birthday written on the plate in chocolate. I couldn't resist trying it as well, and it was wonderful! (Remember, I'm the girl who doesn't like chocolate!)
After taking care of the check, it was back in the box with me, for my long trip back to earth. It was late when we finished, way past park close, so we had the place to ourselves as we made our way through the deserted streets in the darkness. It's such a different world at night, with the dark stillness, just a feeling like there was magic in the air, and the perfect way to wrap up the day. After dropping off the chair, we made our way slowly back to the Beach Club with the fireworks of Fantasmic lighting up the sky. Paired with the lights and romance of the Boardwalk at night, I couldn't imagine a more perfect place to be.
Chris and I returned to our room and I was totally surprised to find a 6 inch tall white chocolate Mickey statue surrounded by four perfect tuxedo strawberries! I later learned that it was a surprise from Robin, for my birthday- it was adorable, and a wonderful surprise. We settled into the room for the night, and just hung out enjoying our last night.
Since Bistro was actually our first meal of the day, we ended up ordering a club sandwich from room service, with some fries and a piece of cheesecake for Chris. We split the sandwich, and topped off a yummy meal and a perfect day with chocolate covered strawberries.

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