Patty Winter's
Walt Disney World Trip
December, 2004
Day 5 (Monday, Dec. 6)(Click on any image to see a larger version of the photo. Click on links to see additional information or photos.) I slept till about 9:00 a.m. today. It's pretty obvious by now that I'm not going to have anything approaching a commando trip to WDW! I lay in bed listening to the radio for a while, read my email, arranged my towel animals on the bed for a group photo, then walked down to Riverside Mill about 11:00 to get breakfast.
Since I'm moving to Animal Kingdom Lodge tomorrow, I went to Fulton's (the gift shop at PO-R) and bought a lot of the souvenirs I'd taken notes on a few days earlier--a Port Orleans pin, some Disney World pens and note pads, a rolling carry-on bag with a Disney World logo, etc. etc. I had most of the stuff shipped home, but kept the carry-on bag and a few small items. I left Fulton's about noon and took the bus to the Magic Kingdom, arriving about 1:00. During my previous trip to WDW last January, I didn't make it to the MK, and I wanted to see Mickey's PhilharMagic. So I took the train from Main Street to Toontown, walked to Fantasyland, and got a FastPass for it. I then went over to the Haunted Mansion to pass the time until my FP became active. The posted wait time for the Haunted Mansion was 25 minutes, but I was not only on the ride, but all the way through and out the exit in less time than that.
I arrived back at PhilharMagic a little after 2:00. I can see why this show has become so popular; it's delightful. My next stop was Cosmic Ray's Café, where I got some soup and a brownie. I ate them while watching Sonny Eclipse's stage show, which was great corny fun. :-) (For those who aren't familiar with him, Sonny is the audio-animatronic alien lounge singer at Cosmic Ray's.) It was now about 3:00 p.m., and I still had some time before I needed to head towards the Grand Floridian to meet friends for dinner. So I went on the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (I want the PeopleMover back at Disneyland!!) and the Carousel of Progress. I had never seen CoP, so I'm glad it was open today.
After leaving the Carousel of Progress, I started slowly working my way up Main Street to exit the park. I ran across a performance by the Dapper Dans and the Toontown Tooners, so of course I had to stop and enjoy them for a while. I then checked at the Town Square Exposition Hall for a Magic Kingdom passholder exclusive pin; they didn't have any, but did have one for Animal Kingdom, so I bought that. About 4:15 p.m., I finally headed out of the Magic Kingdom. I took the boat to the Polynesian and sat in the upstairs lounge area near the waterfalls reading Deception Point for a while. The atrium at the Poly is so beautiful. I'm a sucker for waterfalls and creeks, and of course the tropical ferns and flowers are gorgeous. It's a great place to take a break.
When it got closer to dinnertime, I took the monorail over to the Grand Floridian (boats, monorails---life is tough :-)) and walked to Narcoossee's, where I met my net-friends Debbie and Mindy for dinner. The lobster on the menu looked enticing, but I couldn't eat a whole one. Luckily, I was able to add a lobster tail as a side dish to Debbie's entrée, so that worked out great. I also had the Romaine Hearts salad, and for dessert, one of the house specialties, a Key Lime Crème Brûlée. A delicious meal from beginning to end. We finished dinner about 7:00 p.m., then went out to the dock at the Grand Floridian and found seats to watch "Wishes," the fireworks show across Seven Seas Lagoon at the Magic Kingdom. By the time the fireworks ended it was well after 8:00 p.m., and Mindy and Debbie (who had just flown in that day) were tired, so they left to go back to Port Orleans. I stayed for the Electric Water Pageant, which I'd never seen. It was cute, although I was surprised that there were so few different designs. I also thought they might have some Christmas-themed light displays at this time of the year, but I guess they run the same show all year.
After the Electric Water Pageant barges floated by, I left the dock and caught a bus from the Grand Floridian to Downtown Disney, where I arrived a little after 10:00 p.m. I had originally planned to go straight back to PO-R and pack for tomorrow's move to AKL, but instead I decided to wander around the Marketplace for a while. I picked up another set of Mickey-shaped egg rings at Disney at Home, to go with the pair I bought last January. I use the egg rings to make small pancakes. Now that I have four rings, I can make more pancakes at a time. :-) I also bought a few things for my cat and for friends' pets at the Disney Tails store.
Although I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I rarely get near a Ghirardelli ice cream parlor, so I stopped in the one at DTD for a hot fudge sundae, then took the boat back to PO-R. I think it may have been the last boat of the evening, because it was nearly 11:30 by then. My final nighttime trip on the Sassagoula River for the foreseeable future. :-( I'll miss it! While I was out all day, another towel animal took up residence in my room at Port Orleans. I'm not entirely sure what this one is, but since it was "flying" above the elephant on the room heater, I'm guessing maybe a bird. Anyway, I hung it over the settee and brought the other animals over for a final family photo. They've really brightened up my room during my stay at Port Orleans. Of course, given that I'm moving to Animal Kingdom Lodge tomorrow, it isn't as though I'll lack for animals after tonight. In fact, I'll be switching from towel animals to real ones! I'm really looking forward to being at AKL, because of both the animals and the beautiful hotel itself. |
Pre-planning | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 | Day 6 |
Day 7 | Day 8 | Day 9 | Day 10 | Days 11-12 and Tips for Solo Visitors
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Last updated 2/5/06