August 2010 Walt Disney World Trip Report - Day 8 & 9

9/5 & 9/6 – Last Days and Trip Wrap-up

We slept in a little after being out late the night before. My mother drove up from Tampa in the morning. We spent some time swimming and participating in some of the activities around the resort. 

In the evening we ate dinner at LeCellier, which was excellent (as always). DD loves steak and mushrooms (what 7-year-old likes mushrooms – weird kid), so we split a side order of mushrooms, which is way too much for one person, two people and probably three. The mushroom filet and mushroom risotto completed my mushroom trifecta. 

After dinner we went back to the hotel to start packing things up. We had an 11:20am flight the following morning. The morning was uneventful and, despite the ridiculous backup at security at the airport (when is that NOT a madhouse?) our travel home went very smoothly.

On the way back home DW and I talked a little about the trip, and we agreed that with all of the special experiences that we had, the fantastic (albeit hot) weather and the nonexistent crowds, there would be no way to top this trip – it simply, and literally, couldn’t get any better. But we’ll certainly give it a try – we’ve got vacations planned for May and October 2011 to get the biggest bang for our Annual Pass buck!

Thanks for reading! I promise to get our next trip report in a lot more timely fashion...

August 2010 Walt Disney World Trip Report - Day 6

Epcot – 9/2

Because DD was up past her bedtime at Simba’s Cubhouse last night, we planned for a sleep-in morning and spending the afternoon at Epcot. Indeed, we got up at a leisurely pace and got to Epcot a little before 11:00am. Our first two stops were to grab FastPasses for Soarin’ and the Kim Possible World Showcase Adventure.

Because we still had a little time before World Showcase opened at 11:00am, we hopped on Living with the Land, which had its typical 0 minute wait. DW and I hadn’t been on it forever, and DD had never been on it, so it was a great chance for her to learn about growing pumpkins shaped like Mickey ears.

It must have been very confusing to me at the time…

August 2010 Walt Disney World Trip Report - Day 3

Day 3 - Pixie Dust at Epcot

After the room-shuffling of the previous morning, it was nice to be able to just wake up, have some breakfast and get ready for Rope Drop at Epcot.

Staying in a DVC studio means having a kitchenette, which includes a medium-sized refrigerator, microwave, toaster and coffee maker (picture courtesy of allears.net).

We use the Disney Dining Plan for lunch and dinner, and prepare a light breakfast in the room – usually bagels or english muffins, cereal, some fruit, that kind of thing. What’s unique about having breakfast at Animal Kingdom Lodge is doing so overlooking the savanna.

  

August 2010 Walt Disney World Trip Report - Day 2

Day 2 – Check-in to Kidani and “Let the Adventure Begin” at Animal Kingdom

I woke up about 6:00am, showered and headed over to Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village to check in. I had used a similar strategy in February to snag an available room by being early to check in. When I arrived I had to wait about five minutes behind another guest checking in, and then it was my turn.

The front manager was training one of the new Cast Members on the check-in procedure, and he asked if it would be OK if she checked me in with him right there to help. I said it would be fine.

It took a little longer than usual, especially since we had done Online Check-in, but the best news was that we had gotten our request for a room close to the pool on the Sunset Savanna.  They told me we would be on the same floor as the lobby, just a handful of rooms away from the Lobby, and that it was a great location. The room wasn’t ready, though, so we’d have to wait to find out exactly what room we’d be in.

Armed with my packet of check-in material, I headed back to Pop Century to finish re-packing, gather up the family, and head over to our park for the day - Animal Kingdom.

We got there about 8:30, plenty of time for a Photopass picture in front of the Animal Kingdom sign. The photographer told us to make claws and growl, so we did. As you can see, I really wasn’t into it so much, while DD give it her all…