Note: Min's trip report is in Coral and Bill's comments are in Blue. In the Gallery links, pictures without a border link to the specific picture and those with a border link to a gallery of related pictures.

Click to Read:  Intro & Prelude  - Part One  - Part Two  - Part Four

May 15, 2004 - Saturday

This morning we were up and about at around 7:00. I was still not feeling well. We met our moms at the bus stop at about 7:45 and caught the bus to Animal Kingdom where we caught another bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had a PS at Boma for breakfast.

Ummm... Boma for breakfast good...  :)

I started with some light stuff because my stomach was still bothering me. Bill and the moms dug in with gusto, well at least Bill did. Our moms stuck with some the conventional dishes while Bill went straight for the curry sausage biscuit dish and the pork loin with Boma mustard.

I was just adding a little spice to the morning...  :)

I was hungry and watching the others eat didn't help, so I got some money from Bill and went to Zawadi Marketplace where I got some Pepto. After I took some, I felt so much better. I went back had a little more to eat.

The food at Boma was great as per usual. I felt bad for Min and was glad the Pepto helped.

After breakfast, we took a walk around the lobby. Nancy told my mom about when we had stayed here back in December. Then we took a walk through Zawadi Marketplace before catching the bus back to Animal Kingdom. There was a huge crowd waiting to get through security and we planned for a wait as they only had one of the security pavilions opened. Just as we got in line, they opened a lane in the second security pavilion and we were able to go right to the front of the line.

Yep, a little bit of Disney magic... crowd control at its finest...  :)

Once through the gates, we picked up a schedule to plan our morning. Three things on the "to do" list: Festival of the Lion King, Tarzan Rocks and It's Tough to be a Bug. The schedule matched up with us seeing Tarzan, then Lion King then It's Tough to be a Bug. We walked around Discovery Island a little bit and Bill took some pictures of the kangaroos and ring-tailed lemurs. Then we headed for the Tarzan Rocks theatre.

I let the girls go on ahead while I took a walk through the seating area behind the Flame Tree Barbecue to get some photos of the Expedition Everest construction. Then before going into the theatre, I took a walk across the new bridge and got some closer shots of the construction.

The moms and me found seats in our favorite place for the show. Bill caught up with us just prior to the start of the show. We got to see a new male singer, Rich, and our moms really liked the show but both said it was a little too loud. 

I would rate Rich with Jerry, who was the male singer on our last trip.

After Tarzan Rocks, we headed for Camp Minnie-Mickey and Festival of the Lion King. We were walking at a good pace because we only had about twenty minutes before the start of the show. As we crossed the bridge from Discovery Island into the Camp Minnie-Mickey area, a lady with two school-aged children rushed by us telling her kids to hurry or they were going to miss it. Bill asked her what she was going to miss and she said the Lion King show. He just smiled and told her that that was where we were going too and that she had plenty of time. She just kept rushing with kids in tow. When we got to the theatre, they had not even opened the doors for the next show.

After all the rushing, the lady and her kids were only a couple of people in front of us... I smiled and waved...  :)

We got to be Warthogs this time, a first for Bill and me. Now we can say that we have sat in every section of the show theatre. I liked the view from the Warthog section. We were also only a couple of rows from the front of the section and were much closer to the performers that we had been on any of our previous visits. Festival of the Lion King was great as usual and my mom loved it.

Well two down and one to go from Linda's "things to do" list...

As we were crossing back on to Discovery Island, I "hit the wall" and knew I needed to rest. The lack of sleep last night was getting to me. There would be no It's Tough to be a Bug for me today. We discussed what we would do. Nancy wanted to go on touring the park and Bill said he wanted to see some animals. The two of them decided stayed at the park while my mom and I decided to go  back to the resort.

I knew Min wasn't feeling well and need to rest... it really eased my mind that Linda was going back to resort with her... after all, who better to take care of you when you are not feeling well than mom...

I was upset that Bill decided to stay at the park but didn't say anything and fumed a bit as my mom and I headed for the bus stops.

I did not know how Min felt until I started working on the trip report and saw her comments... oops...  :(

Back at the resort, we stopped at the food court and grabbed a sandwich. Since I had not ate a lot at breakfast, I was very hungry and it hit the spot. I went back with my mom to her room and took a nap. 

Guess it is my turn to pick up the story, again...

Oblivious to Min's feelings, mom and I continued our park trek. We decided to bypass It's Tough to be a Bug for now and headed back towards Asia, Kali River Rapids was beckoning. We ducked into the Beastly Bazaar and had a look at their wares then continued on towards Asia. As we walked, we decided against going on Kali and instead headed for Africa and the safari. After a brief pit stop, we arrived in Harambe and checked the wait time for the safari. It was about 45 minutes, so we picked up fastpasses and headed for the Pangani trail. Mom enjoyed waking the trail and seeing the animals. She especially loved the aviary and had me take some pictures of the birds. The gorillas were the highlight of the trail, of course. When we were at the front of the gorilla enclosure, we saw the female walking around picking up things off the ground. After watching her for a few minutes, I realized she was picking up the primate biscuits that I had seen on a previous visit to Rafiki's Planet Watch. After grabbing up a bunch of the biscuits, she disappeared over the hill. When we got to the back of the enclosure we saw her sitting enjoying the fruits of her labor. We were also entertained by the bachelor troop. One of them had what looked like the front of a large plastic wheelbarrow. When one of the other bachelors would come near, he would put the bucket on his head and make a run for it. It was like a game of keep away and all the others were after him. A check of the watch showed that we where in the window for our fastpasses, so we headed for the safari. We chatted with a couple while we were waiting to board our safari vehicle. They had their two year old son with them and asked about the Tarzan Rocks show. I told them it had a lot of action and mom said it was good but very loud. A lot of animals were out and about on the Kilimanjaro Safari. I even got a few photos of some of the animals I had not gotten before including the "ghost of the forest", the bongo. After the safari, we walked through Mombasa Marketplace and Ziwani Traders. I saw a shirt I really liked but passed on buying it. Then it was out of Africa and back to Discovery Island. We walked through Creature Comforts and Island Mercantile before heading over to It's Tough to be a Bug. Our adventure as honorary bugs was once again very amusing. Mom decided to buy some of the drink toppers for some of the grandkids and great grandkids. They turned out to be both a cup and drink topper. She ended up getting one of each, a lion, a tiger, a gorilla and an elephant. We put three of the four in a bag and mom got a drink in the four one. The bag was kind of heavy, so I got to carry it. Luckily, we were on our way out of the park. I called Min to let her know that we were coming back to the resort. I definitely wanted to shed that bag before going to Epcot. After a quick bus ride, we were back at the resort. Mom took the bags and headed for her room and I went to my room to catch up with Min.

Nancy and Bill called and said that they were coming back to the hotel instead of meeting us at Epcot. Bill got back to the room and changed clothes then we went up to the moms' room. While waiting for the bus to Epcot, we got to meet a couple of little princesses.

One was dressed as Cinderella and the other... well... I think she was dressed as Snow Belle-rella...  Her mother described her as a free spirit and I could definitely see why... :)

The princesses and their "subjects" were going to 1900 Park Faire for dinner with Cinderella and her friends. Knowing that the bus stop we were waiting at was for Epcot and Disney Studios, we asked them which bus they we waiting for and they said Epcot. Bill asked how they were planning on getting from Epcot to the Grand Floridian and they said by monorail. He explained that it could be done, but would mean taking the bus to Epcot, then the monorail to the TTC and then the resort monorail to the Grand Floridian. They thought that the monorail from Epcot went to the resorts at the Magic Kingdom and Bill explained that that was not the case. After a few more minutes, Bill had explained to them about catching the bus to the Magic Kingdom and then the resort monorail to the Grand Floridian. Which turned out to be pretty convenient for them since the bus to the Magic Kingdom was just pulling into the loop in front of the bus stops. They thanked us and hurried to catch the Magic Kingdom bus.

Glad we could be of assistance...

We got the bus to Epcot. Then made a quick pit stop at the restrooms right outside the gate. Bill started taking pictures of the International Flower and Garden show before we were even in the park.

Well, the peacock was outside the park...  :)

After a quick security check and a couple more pictures, we boarded Spaceship Earth, one of the things on my mom's "to do" list. Then we walked over to Ice Cool Station and sampled the beverages.

Another thing on Linda's "to do" list...

We walked around the fountain promenade while Bill took some more pictures then headed over to the Imagination! pavilion. While Bill was taking pictures near the Imagination! pavilion, I had a brush with fame, I think. I saw Mick Foley with his family. If you have never watched professional wrestling, you are probably saying "Who is Mick Foley?" Thanks to Bill's former roommate, Sean, I had been exposed to quite a bit of professional wrestling when I first started dating Bill, so that is how I know Mick Foley. By the time Bill had finished with the pictures and I had told him about seeing Mick Foley, he and his family were quite a ways away. Bill did not want to chase after him to see if it really was Mick Foley, but he did agree that the guy's shaggy hair and shambling walk reminded him of Mick. Oh well, I saw a star at Walt Disney World, or at least I think I saw a star.

Well... he is a star... if you follow WWE wrestling...  :)

Up next was Journey Into Imagination with Figment. Nancy loves Figment almost as much as she loves Stitch. On our way through the gift shop after our journey, she got a Figment plush.

One of the bigger one, too... my mom, the kid at heart...  :)

Since it was getting close to time for our dinner PS at the Garden Grill, we headed over the The Land pavilion. Bill and I got in line for Living with the Land while our moms took another pit stop.

Too many samples at Ice Station Cool...  :)

After our boat ride, we checked in at the Garden Grill. Bill asked if our favorite server, Steve, was there and they said he was, so we asked to be sat at one of his tables. After about a 25 minute wait, we were shown to our table and a few minutes later, there was Steve. He thought we looked familiar and after a few hints, he remembered us from our last visit. He even remembered that Nancy had been with us on one of our previous visits. We chatted for a bit then asked him to check and see if Allison could stop by the table. Steve left to get our food and a few minutes later Allison stopped by the table. We introduced her to our moms and spoke to her for a few minutes. Then Steve brought out our bread and salad and Allison excused herself saying she was needed elsewhere. A little later, Allison brought the manager, Susan, by to meet "her table" as Steve called us. Steve brought out our food and Susan and Allison said their goodbyes. The food was great and the characters were, too. The dessert was a hit, especially the extra ice cream.

We asked Steve for a little extra cinnamon ice cream... and boy did we get extra cinnamon ice cream...   :)

After dinner, we left The Land pavilion and walked over to our favorite spot for watching Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. We only had about a twenty minute waited before the show started.

Yep, the boat dock by Mexico... we sit on the side of the planters away from the lagoon. A couple came by while we were waiting and looked around. After finding no place to sit on the opposite side of the planter, the man asked if these were good seats and I told him they were great seats. The lady looked at him and said something about them looking away from the lagoon. I just smiled and said trust me. We chatted for a bit before the show, it turns out that their daughter is a cast member at WDW. She is part of the college intern program. When the show started, I stood up, turned around and stepped up onto the planter ledge. The couple did likewise. The guy caught my attention and nodded his head. 

The show was just as awesome this time as has always been for me. Our moms liked it, too. It is Nancy's favorite park closing show.

Mine, too... guess I take after my mom...  :)

After the fireworks, we headed out to the buses. We ended up right at the point in line where we could stand or wait for the next bus, Bill got a bit frustrated with us trying to decide to stand or wait. He boarded the bus and we followed.

Epcot to Port Orleans is a hop, skip and a jump... not too far to stand...

Well we experienced a nice little bit of Disney magic, a nice couple gave their seats to our moms.

A very gracious gesture... I shook the man's hand and thanked him when we got back to the resort...

At the resort, we made our nightly drink stop, then headed for our room. When we got back to our room, we called the moms to let them know what time to be up in the morning. We decided to skip the Magic Kingdom as we had originally planned and go back to Epcot. After talking with our moms and getting things planned for tomorrow, we were soon off to sleep.

Not too bad of a day... wish Min had felt better, but she seemed to get a second wind after her midday break... The couple on the bus were wonderful, it is the first time in a long time that I can remember someone giving up a seat for Min or someone in our party...

Click to Read:  Intro & Prelude  - Part One  - Part Two  - Part Four