Double the fun : East & West coast Disney & Universal parks - UPDATED 1/14 About This Page:

[clio]

I'm glad you're back. The Electric Parade is my favorite parade at Disney World. I haven't seem the Osborne lights in a long time and probably won't either. I work in retail and Christmas is our busy time.
Liz

[Cam22]

Great update! I especially like this one and the Osborne Lights are a favorite!

[scrappyjae]

Geez....what was with the CM's yelling at everyone to move on. We have seen the lights twice and even though it was crowded we were never yelled at to move on. What a shame.

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

I'm so glad you're back to share more of your trip! I know it's a lot of work to write up your trip report, but I really do enjoy reading it!

Your teaser for the next entry doesn't sound good...bed-ridden?! That's not good!

Thank you - glad to hear you've been enjoying my entries I don't mean to be so slow in writing them up (one of my New Year's resolutions is to finish the report by the end of this year ), it's just one thing or another getting in the way. At the moment the main culprits are tiredness from work and learning to drive (another of this year's New Year's resolutions. Got my learner permit only just yesterday )

At the risk of spoiling my upcoming entry, it was Nest who was bed-ridden The two of us now joke how he made his sore back up so he didn't have to get up at 4am to go on the hot air balloon ride with me

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by chezp

I've seen the Osborne Lights packed with people like that and it is no fun.

I know exactly what you mean! I'm glad Nest and I got to view them at a more relaxed pace, a couple of nights later

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Sorry the lights was crazy with people! Great pictures though!

If we ever manage to make it back to WDW during the Christmas season again, we'll know not to attempt to see the lights right on their advertised opening time!

Glad you enjoyed the pics - thank you!

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by clio

I'm glad you're back.

Cheers!

Originally Posted by clio

The Electric Parade is my favorite parade at Disney World.

Mine too!

Originally Posted by clio

I haven't seem the Osborne lights in a long time and probably won't either. I work in retail and Christmas is our busy time.
Liz

Sorry to hear you haven't been able to see the Osborne lights in a long time, and don't expect to in the future, either I understand how Christmas is probably the most busiest time of year for the retail trade, and I don't expect supervisors would willingly let their staff go off on leave during that time

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by Cam22

Great update! I especially like this one and the Osborne Lights are a favorite!

- glad you liked it! I found it a bit hard to write, because of the negative components involved.

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by scrappyjae

Geez....what was with the CM's yelling at everyone to move on. We have seen the lights twice and even though it was crowded we were never yelled at to move on. What a shame.

Nest and I certainly weren't expected to be yelled at and herded like cattle at WDW! I've tried looking at it from the staff's point of view, and perhaps they were trying to prevent bottle-necks? But then, I don't know. Whatever it was they were trying to achieve, I'm sure there could've been a more pleasant way of going about it

[Big Sister]

DAY 15: Tuesday, 23 November 2010

A bed-ridden day for one, a packed 17+ hour day for another

"Got up early for balloon trip but my back was so owy and I could hardly move properly. So Teddy went without me because I didn't want Teddy to miss out because of me. All I did was lie in bed and watch TV. Teddy got back and had visited the food court and bought me some lunch. I told Teddy to go to the parks so Teddy didn't have to stay in the room all day. All I did was watch a marathon of Kid vs Kat (which literally went from when Teddy went to the park until she got back, which was about 7 hours, and it was still going for a while afterwards.) I also watched Swift Justice with Nancy Grace, Judge Joe Brown, Judge Judy, and some other court shows."

That was poor Nest's journal entry for the day It wasn't obvious how he had injured his back, but when I woke him up at 4am to get ready for our hot air balloon ride over Orlando, he could hardly move and broke the bad news that he wasn't able to come on the excursion with me I felt so sorry for Nest and how he wasn't able to move without experiencing pain (I've put my back out myself, so I knew exactly what he was going through), that I strongly wished I was able to cancel the ballooning excursion and just stay 'home' and look after him (not that there would've been much that I could've done.) Unfortunately, time dictated that the shuttle was already on its way to pick me up, so it was too late to cancel. Even if I did have a number to ring, I doubt I would've received a refund due to the last minute. Besides, Nest was adamant that I go ahead and enjoy myself.

Being careful to put the "privacy please" sign securely on the door handle as I left our room so Nest wouldn't be disturbed by mouse cleaning services while I was gone, I walked through the deadly quiet and deserted courtyard of the Pop Century Resort, and out to the front of the hotel where the Orlando Balloon Rides shuttle was waiting for me. I explained to the driver how Nest wouldn't be joining us due to a back injury, which he was totally fine with much to my relief (I don't know why I was worrying that he wouldn't be ok with it), and I hopped into the shuttle and took a seat. There was one guy in there already. He was talking so much to the driver as we proceeded on our way, that I thought he was another member of staff (but it turned out he just loved talking.) Our last stop before heading for the balloon launch site, was the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa, where we picked up a retired couple.

The balloon launch site was a field in the middle of an industrial estate. The sun still wasn't up at that stage, and there were security lights still on, illuminating the warehouses and low-lying fog. Everyone got out of the shuttle and approached a big basket on its side, where a blue and white striped balloon was spread out in front of it, and a heavy duty fan standing nearby. There were people already on the scene, who must've been picked up from different areas than the one my shuttle had come from (obviously!) I felt extremely self-conscious being one of only two single people in the entire group, and began to feel really sad that Nest wasn't with me to experience such a special excursion. Everywhere I looked, there were families and couples gathered around, so to keep my mind off being alone, I busied myself with taking photos so I would have something to show Nest afterwards. The only other single person in the group (the guy who talked a lot), asked if I could take his photo in front of the balloon, and then returned the favour.

Our pilot called for two strong men to hold the balloon open while he aimed the heavy duty fan in the correct direction, to inflate the balloon. It was a very time consuming process (inflating the balloon, that is, not finding two strong men), and once the balloon had inflated to a certain level, it no longer needed to be held open, so the guys could give their arms a rest. The balloon we would be riding in, was blue and white striped. Soon after our balloon had begun to be inflated, a multi-coloured balloon from the same company, was set up beside us and more passengers arrived.

By the time our balloon was fully inflated, the sun had begun to rise and the area didn't seem as eerie. I soon forgot about being self-conscious about being alone, when it came time to get into the basket! I didn't have Nest to help me, and I found it quite challenging to get myself up and over into the compartment I'd be travelling in. All I was thinking at that stage, was, 'Please don't embarrass yourself by falling!' Luckily, others around me must've been able to read my thoughts, and assisted me without having to be asked.

The last time I was in a hot air balloon (flying over the Australian outback up in the Northern Territory back in 2003 with friends), I was worried about my hair catching fire from the gas flame used to make the balloon go higher and higher. I was really pleased to see that this time, all of us had the protection of metal plates to shelter ourselves from the gas flames and resulting heat with. It seriously made a lot of difference and gave me one less thing to worry about - I needed to use all my concentration on taking the best photos possible, seeing as my personal photographer was laid up in bed with a sore back back at the Pop Century Resort.

It must be incomprehensible that someone with an aversion to heights, would book a hot air balloon ride! As the balloon lifted off, I was fine. As the balloon levelled off, I was fine also, as it seemed to be drifting along the tree-tops at such a low height, and had me thinking about why was I so frightened on my previous balloon ride. It wasn't until we went up a lot higher after a period of travelling at such a manageable height, that I took a sudden interest at the interior of the basket I was standing in. As I didn't want to be staring down at my feet for the remainder of the flight, I forced myself to look at the scenery through the lens of my camera (you know how when you record events through the lens of your camera or video camcorder, it doesn't always feel as if you're there, as you're not looking at the scene with your own eyes.)

Interesting sights I took in via my camera during the flight, were:

· The sun breaking over the horizon;

· The reflection of the balloon as we drifted over lakes (I was even waving at the reflection in one of my shots (hopefully no one noticed at the time ), but I just can't seem to locate it now);

· In another lake shot, I noticed how the lily pads had gathered into the shape of a heart;

· Treetops of various types and differing colours;

· Hides in tall trees;

· Herds of deer*;

· Hares racing through the undergrowth;

· WDW from a distance! (I had been hoping to get a lot closer than we did, but the wind direction hadn't been right for such a wish);

· A highway stretching all the way to the horizon;

· A train track;

· A 'busy' (ie. messy ) farm property;

· A super new (perhaps even exclusive?) looking suburb;

· A man down below, asking if it was cold up where we were (it wasn't); and,

· A school and racetrack under construction.

In case those photos didn't interest my brothers, as a joke, I also took a photo of a field with piles of dung heaped up all over the place, certain that it would generate some kind of discussion between them

We landed in a big vacant field in the middle of nowhere. It featured a big pond, and was surrounded by forests of trees. The company shuttles were there waiting for us, and our pilot and the guys on the ground began communicating via radio about the best place to land. As we swooped over the last lot of long grass towards our landing goal, I could see definite paths that had been made by animals, and began wondering what kind, coming to the conclusion that it most likely would be hares, as that was the only animal we saw most frequently during our flight.

Our landing target was the trailer on the back of one of the shuttles, which was surprising, as it was such a small target. Apparently they prefer this, as that means that everyone doesn't have to help get it back on there after landing (sounds good to me, as I'm such a weakling!) The pilot and ground crew succeeded in the perfect landing. The guy on the ground in charge of the guide rope, was so small and skinny, I was surprised he had the strength to help position such a large heavy balloon! Perhaps he was all muscle and not fat, like my third bro. At one stage, he seemed to be almost lying flat on his stomach in an effort to manipulate the balloon!

If I thought getting into the balloon basket was a challenge, then getting out was impossible without asking for help - I was so embarrassed! But at least I didn't fall out and crash loudly onto the trailer bed like I heard someone else do!! And that was before the champagne was broken open and distributed! Luckily, they weren't hurt. As we all gathered safely on the ground around the basket, some hillbilly type music started up quite loudly from somewhere on the other side of the tree barrier. As we were in the middle of nowhere, it kind of reminded me of a setting of a backwoods horror movie. Thankfully, I was distracted from this thought when we were all asked to help deflate the balloon and fold it up, enabling us to partake in refreshments afterwards. If Nest was with me (or my second brother), they would say that I alone would just have to sit on the balloon, and it would be deflated in an instant

Once the balloon had been correctly packed away, the crew brought out an esky containing sodas, orange juice, and big bottles of champagne. The children had soda, while the majority of adults (including myself) had bucks fizz (orange juice mixed with champagne), or just straight champagne. Beverage in hand, we all toasted a successful and most enjoyable flight, and then the pilot finished off the toast with the balloonist's prayer

Drinks finished, we divided into the shuttles and set off for a breakfast buffet at a nearby hotel, of which I unfortunately cannot remember the name of. In addition to the people I travelled with that morning, were a young couple. I remember this in particular, as the woman's husband began snoring in the back of the shuttle, which really embarrassed her, as I heard her trying to wake him up under her breath in the hope that we wouldn't hear, but it was impossible not to (despite the guy who talked a lot, talking a lot )

Even though I was hungry, I began wishing at that stage that I could just go straight back to the Pop Century Resort to have breakfast with Nest instead, as I began to stress out about having no one to sit with due to people already being in family groups, and I'm simply no good at making small talk with people I've never met before. Much to my intense relief, the retired couple from the Grand Floridian invited me to sit at their table once they realised I was by myself, and the guy who talked a lot, joined us soon after. Thankfully, he made up for my lack of conversation, as it was really hard to get a word in edgeways He wasn't an annoying chatterbox, just a guy very enthusiastic about life and all the travel opportunities it affords. He was from Egypt, and told us to just call him Simon, as his real name was difficult to pronounce. His accent reminded me of Sacha Baron Cohen's character, Borat, especially when he said, "Have you been to Barcelona? It's very nice." The retired couple, Clive and Leslie, were really nice and from England. They too, were seasoned travelers, and I was enthralled at their past travels and upcoming travels. They even told me about a day trip to Miami they did a few days before, that I had been planning to do with Nest, but wasn't able to fit into our itinerary. They said it was a really good tour, but quite tiring towards the end.

As for breakfast itself, I had two small waffles with syrup, a pikelet, and a small sausage, which turned out to be quite spicy. Towards the end of breakfast, our pilot came around and presented us with our flight certificates, which had the balloonist's prayer printed on the back. Then we hopped into the shuttles we came to the launch site in that morning, and were taken back to our respective hotels.

I couldn't believe that by the time I got back to the Pop Century Resort, it was 11.15am! I had been up for a little over seven hours by that stage! It just shows how much you can achieve if you get up early enough As soon as I got out of the shuttle and thanked the driver, I rushed back to our room to check up on Nest. He was laying in bed, watching television. He was also starving, and had been waiting for me to return so I could get him something to eat. (I had left him with some emergency snacks on the middle bedside table, but they hadn't lasted long.) I seriously didn't know that I would be gone for so long, and immediately set back out to Everything Pop on Nest's behalf. Before going to the food court, I went to the shop, as Nest had also asked me to pick him up a new journal, as he had almost filled up the one he had brought with him. While in that section, I also picked up some more pins, postcards, postage stamps, and a container of puffy Mickey cheese crackers.

For Nest's lunch, I bought chicken nuggets with fries, a fruit cup, a container of carrots and celery, a strawberry yoghurt, and a big bottle of peach 'n mango juice. I didn't get anything for myself, as I had already recently had breakfast. On delivering Nest's breakfast, he tucked into it straight away, and mentioned that he had liked the photos I had taken that morning, which he looked at while I was out gathering food.

*On that note, I looked back on them myself. Remember earlier when I said I had seen deer from the balloon? On enlarging that shot to get a better look, I found out that the deer turned out to be donkeys!! On sharing the story with Nest, we laughed so much!

After a while, Nest became very insistent that I go to the parks. I said that I wanted to stay in the room and look after him, but he said I should go out and enjoy myself, otherwise he'd feel bad that I'd be missing out on a day's worth of fun. He suggested I could go and spend the day at Epcot, seeing as I'd never been before, as I hadn't managed it in 2005 during a week's trip to WDW with a friend.

As I walked to the bus stops out the front of the hotel, I suddenly realised I had the whole 'World' at my feet for the remainder of the day, and that there were so many possibilities available to me. As much as I appreciated Nest's suggestion that I go to Epcot, I ended up at the bus stop for the Animal Kingdom, as I couldn't wait to ride Expedition Everest, the Animal Kingdom's new (to me) rollercoaster for the very first time , as the reviews I had read sounded so awesome.

The bus trip to the Animal Kingdom took around fifteen minutes. As I got off the bus at the Animal Kingdom station, I was met with the sight of lush greenery, which went really beautifully against the wonderfully blue sky. It was a bit of a walk to the park's entrance, but I didn't mind, as it was such a lovely day and I felt I had all the time in the world.

As I approached the entrance, a big Christmas tree came into view. It was decorated with African animals, the occasional Disney character, woven objects, purple, orange and blue baubles, and gold, silver and blue mosaic shapes such as stars and Mickey heads. There were also fairy lights present, but I couldn't tell exactly what colour they were due to the daylight - my guess was silver and orange. At the foot of the tree, were piles of brightly wrapped presents.

I left charging off in all directions to the other park guests, and calmly made my way to the information stand to get a guidemap. As I wanted to end up in the Asian section of the park, I headed off to my right, looking at all the animals along the way. I saw a really unusual animal called an exotic boar. I was concerned when I saw how his curvy tusks went from his bottom lip to up over his snout. It made me wonder if it was difficult for him to eat, as they met in the middle of his forehead, and it looked as if it would've been difficult for him to open his mouth all the way up. I took a photo to show Nest, to share my curiosity, and because his favourite animals are all kinds of pigs.

I continued on my way, crossing over a small bridge with a river running serenely under it - it was beautiful! Up ahead, was the Tree of Life, the Animal Kingdom's icon. As I took the path curving to my right, I came face-to-face with the eatery, Flame Tree Barbecue, which was on mine and Nest's list of places to eat at. Just the thought of it made me quite hungry, but I can't remember why I didn't end up stopping there after all, though I do recall the queues being quite large.

I could've continued on straight ahead into Asia, but instead, I took a sharp right and detoured through DinoLand U.S.A., to have a late lunch at Restaurantosaurus, another eatery on mine and Nest's list. A bit after 1pm, I sat down to a meal of a vegetable subosaurus with sweet potato fries and a bottle of water. My vegetable subosaurus consisted of grilled vegetables, mushrooms, onions, and provolone cheese served on a toasted roll. The sweet potato fries were a totally new thing for me, and were served with sweet 'n sour sauce. The fries were nice, as long as they were eaten while still hot. I felt a bit self-conscious sitting by myself, so I pretended to be really absorbed in the park guidemap, even though I knew exactly where I was going next.

I really love Restaurantosaurus - it is so fun and casual! Approaching it, it looks as if it's two storeys high, but once you get inside, you realise it just has a really high ceiling. I loved the Santa and reindeer light shapes set up on the roof, as well as a picnic table and esky. And every single lamp post lining the walkway up to the door, was decorated with strands of red, green and silver tinsel.

Inside the restaurant, was just as funly themed (is "funly" even a word? Well it is now ) There were humourous posters, pictures and interesting objects everywhere you looked. It reminded me of a place where a group of humourous archeologists may set up shop. I sat in a section of the restaurant called The Hip Joint. The dinosaur advertising this fact, had workman's boots as feet, and shovels as back plates (I'm sure that there's an academic word for them, but I do not possess it )

As soon as I had finished my lunch, I got on the move once again towards the Asian section of the park. As I walked through DinoLand U.S.A., I was happily taking photos. The last time I was in this park back in 2005, it was an overcast day, so seeing the park against a beautiful blue sky and surrounded by sunlight, was a new experience for me. The park looked so fantastic, and the large yellow diplodocus looked great against the blue sky.

Leaving DinoLand U.S.A., I walked across a bridge leading into Asia. The view I was met with of the Expedition Everest mountain, was simply awesome! The views across the lake were simply beautiful also - the water was so still, that the nearby scenery was perfectly reflected in it. And even though I was to spend the next three hours or so in queues waiting to experience two of the parks headline attractions, you wouldn't have guessed it from the scenery photos I took, as no people were present in them. To illustrate the difference, I also took a few shots of the crowded areas of the park. As I only had myself to take into consideration while in the park that day, the crowds surprisingly didn't worry me as much as they would've if Nest had've been with me (I always want things to be super perfect and magical in the parks when Nest is with me.)

There were a lot of people at the viewing area of Expedition Everest, to watch the cars of people slowly entering the mountain at a point at the side, and come screaming out at an exit point facing the viewing area head-on. I took a few shots of the spectacle, wishing I had a more powerful camera so I could zone in on the people's excited expressions.

I walked around to the entrance of Expedition Everest, but on seeing the lengthy waiting time, decided to go around to the Kali River Rapids first. The Kali River Rapids are a white water raft ride. As excited as I was about experiencing Expedition Everest for the first time, I thought it would be sensible if I rode the Kali River Rapids first, as I knew I'd get very wet, and wanted to give myself time to dry off before the sun went down.

Thank goodness there was loads to look at while waiting in the queue, as it took ages to get to the front of the line. Even though the estimated waiting period was listed at 40 minutes, I seriously felt as if I was waiting for over an hour. To while away the time, I took quite a lot of photos, such as:

· Many bells with pieces of see through red material edged in glittery gold, tied around the dingers (it was such a pretty sight!);

· A giant cat statue;

· Eroding statues in among the outskirts of the nearby forest;

· A snake themed water feature with a tall plate of fruit opposite, and a monkey statue nearby;

· A very beautiful multi-coloured lantern chandelier. The lanterns were yellow, pink, blue, and aqua green. They were set on little clear plate settings with little beads hanging down around each plate. There was a gold globe located on the bottom centre plate. The section of the ceiling the chandelier hung from, was really beautiful, and surrounded by four brightly coloured green, gold, red and blue birds. The room the chandelier was in, had beautiful murals painted on the walls, depicting various Asian (I assumed) folktales;

· Wooden puppets (birds, winged frogs, pegasus, snakes, butterflies, cattle, dragons, people) hanging from the ceiling in another section of the queue; and,

· A large collection of empty birdcages.

Once I reached the outdoor section of the queue, there were strands of ragged coloured flags hung up all around the place. I loved the section of the queue where I was able to see tyre loads of people coming back from their white water raft adventure, thoroughly drenched.

I was so excited on having reached the front of the queue after having waited in line for so long! I boarded a tyre with a group of teenage girls, and did my best to jam my bag in the centre storage section. I can't remember the route we took, in detail, as unfortunately this was the only time this holiday I was to ride this attraction, but I do remember it was a lot of fun, there was a lot of splashing, not to mention squealing As difficult as waiting in line is, the wait was definitely worth it to experience this attraction!

My next planned stop, was Expedition Everest, despite what it's posted waiting time was! My time to experience such an exciting and new attraction, had finally come! Like with the Kali River Rapids, Expedition Everest's queuing area had a lot to look at. Part of the outdoor queuing area was sheltered, and hanging from the ceiling were various shaped bells, which resulted in various types of rather loud tolling sounds. The younger people in line thoroughly enjoyed ringing said bells, which I noticed irritated an older man in front of me When everyone's backs were turned, he let rip on one of the bigger bells, which I think made him feel a lot better

One of the outside queue views, looked onto a courtyard featuring a multi-faceted yeti statue, with strands of ragged coloured flags hanging above. The floor of the courtyard was thickly covered in pennies ... probably a result of people trying to land them in the goblets sitting on a large stone block.

Indoor queue scenes were fun to look at too, such as knitted coloured socks hanging from the ceiling, and a cupboard full of white fluffy yeti soft toys. Oh, and I found the museum section dedicated to all things yeti, super interesting also, but unfortunately, the queue began to move quickly by this stage, to be able to take it all in properly (since when has anyone complained about a queue moving too quickly?! ) In the boarding area, were a series of photos perhaps from the Imagineers expedition to Asia to research the attraction.

My riding companion was a little boy, probably around 10 years old. His level of maturity surprised me (usually I keep to myself unless spoken to.) Before setting off, he asked me if I had ridden Expedition Everest before, and afterwards, he asked me how I had enjoyed it and what I thought of the yeti. He even helped me spot our souvenir photo through the crowds of people, presumably before setting off to ride it all over again.

The ride itself was absolutely faaaaaaaaaaantastic! I simply could not wait to get Nest to go on it! On the slow ascent up into the mountain, there were beautiful views to take in whether you looked to your left or right. Looking straight ahead, you could see the approaching dark mountain tunnel ... and the head of the person sitting in front of you Soon, we found ourselves speeding through the large dark tunnels of the mountain. At one stage, we slowed down, and saw a shadow of a huge irate yeti, crossing a bridge. We then sped on forwards, and exited out into the bright sunlight, coming to a sudden halt at the end of a destroyed track If all that wasn't thrilling enough, we then travelled back the way we had come, in reverse! It was so awesome and fast!! We did come to a halt once more somewhere within the bowels of the mountain, where we came face-to-face with a seriously monstrous yeti, which seemed to move towards me as we resumed on our way ... not quickly enough, for my liking, despite knowing the yeti was just an audio-animatronic! Boy, was I genuinely screaming at that point! (I didn't know at the time, that the yeti had broken down and didn't actually move. It must've been some trick of the light that made me think it was coming for me ) As much as I love the rollercoasters in the Magic Kingdom, my new favourite rollercoaster at WDW is most certainly Expedition Everest! I don't think I could ever get sick of riding it, working yeti or not!

The souvenir shop for Expedition Everest, Serka Zong Bazaar and Photos, was great, though I just came out with a fridge magnet and two postcards. It was 4.30pm by that stage, as I set off for my next adventure, which was to be Dinosaur - ROAR!

As you can imagine, the Dinosaur attraction was located in DinoLand U.S.A., so I walked back the way I had come earlier that afternoon, and headed towards The Dino Institute. As I was crossing the bridge from Asia into DinoLand U.S.A., a family asked me to take their photo with Expedition Everest in the background. Unfortunately, they handed me a Smart Phone to take the shot, which I had no idea on how to use Naturally, I was shown which button to press, but when I pressed it, nothing happened It turns out I had to press the button really hard, and by doing that, the frame moved slightly and chopped the tip of the mountain off - noooooooo! I explained what happened and took another shot, before hurrying away totally embarrassed at my lack of technology know-how.

The Dino Institute was surrounded by lush greenery, with the occasional dinosaur statue here and there. There was a warning sign out the front of the Institute itself, warning of dark places and scary dinosaurs. I was to be reminded of just how dark these places were, and how scary the dinosaurs were, first-hand in just a moment! Much to my surprise, the queue for this attraction wasn't bad at all compared to the previous attractions I had been on that day. Entering The Dino Institute, I was pleased to see that nothing had changed since my first visit back in 2005 - it was very comforting (I'm not good with change, unless it's for a very good reason.) Please note that this will be the last time I use the word, "comforting", in relation to this attraction

From the foyer, a group of us were admitted into a debriefing room, where we watched a short video informing us of our mission to travel back in time and retrieve a particular dinosaur (non-carnivorous) before it became extinct due to a predicted meteor storm. Leaving the debriefing room, we made our way through corridors, across metal platforms like you find in factories, and down many flights of stairs.

Before I knew it, I was buckled securely into our expedition vehicle, and off we bumpily set into the waiting darkness. Boy, what an intense ride it turned out to be! It was very very bumpy, very fast, and genuinely scary! As the Prehistoric Age we had travelled to was so dark, it was hard to see things, and there were dinosaurs coming at you from all directions unexpectedly, and at one stage I even remember a falling log! Another thing the darkness assisted in, was making me find all the weird noises seem all that much scarier, seeing as I wasn't able to tell what their source was straight away. We still found ourselves in the Prehistoric Age as the predicted meteor storm hit (there must've been a miscalculation with the time travelling machine), but made it back to present time Florida before things got too serious - phew!

I had had such a fantastic time in the Animal Kingdom that day, but as I had experienced all the attractions I had been busting to, I decided to move onto Disney's Hollywood Studios next to hit their headline attractions. As I was making my way to the exit, a duck came into landing near one of the stores, virtually crashing into a park guest, who had to duck to avoid a collision. Everyone nearby burst out laughing when a man yelled out, "Duck!", as in, "Watch out!" Also on my way to the exit, I noticed that some outside lights had began to come on. There were cute little mushroom-type lights close to the ground in amongst the gardens, and lanterns on curved bamboo poles lining the walkway - both types were really pretty and added to the great atmosphere.

I caught the bus to Disney's Hollywood Studios. My plan on reaching my destination, was to ride the Rock 'n' Rollercoaster (something both Nest and I were still to achieve at that stage of our holiday), followed by the Tower of Terror. However, when I reached those attractions, their posted waiting times were 80 minutes each As it was night time by that stage, and I still had Epcot to visit for the very first time, I didn't have the time to wait in lines for that long, so I cut my losses and headed for Epcot. But first, I ducked into the Tower of Terror gift shop and picked up some t-shirts, pins, and a book on Rod Serling for Nest and myself, so that my trip to Disney's Hollywood Studios wouldn't have been a total waste of time that night.

The boat to Epcot left the dock just as I found the way I was meant to be going. Looking at things positively, at least I was first in line for the next boat While waiting for it to turn up, I began to read my book on Rod Serling to pass the time. As I read, I was conscious of these weird little farty noises going on in the background. I was still the only person waiting for the boat, so it was nobody behind me with a flatulence problem (and it certainly wasn't me!! ) After a bit of looking around, I found the source of the noises - a small flock of ducks settling down for the night - I wasn't alone after all!

The boat to Epcot turned up in about 20 minutes. I was so tired by that stage, that I just wanted to go back to the Pop Century Resort, get Nest some food, then go straight to sleep. I felt indebted to go to Epcot though, especially as Nest had suggested I do just that, so I boarded the boat and took an outside seat in the hope that the breeze generated by the boat would keep me awake. Unfortunately, it didn't, and I kept on jerking awake with people staring at me - hopefully I hadn't been making any weird sleeping noises! When I wasn't sleeping , there were great views to be seen from the boat, made even more exciting by the fact that it was night time and sights were illuminated by pretty lights. The boardwalk promenade at Disney's BoardWalk Inn and Villas Resort, was fantastic and beautifully lit up. There looked like there was so much to explore and experience there alone! I had also noticed that there were walking paths along the lakeside, which must be wonderfully relaxing to have access to after a busy crowded day in the parks.

I entered Epcot for the first time ever, through the International Gateway entrance of the World Showcase section of the park. I felt totally disorientated once inside, and despite having a guidemap, had no idea where I was I had to concentrate really hard to locate my position on the guidemap as I was super tired. Running on the last of my energy reserves, I decided to experience the closest ride, before going back to the Pop Century Resort. At the time, I worked it out to be the Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros over at the Mexican pavilion, but on closer inspection of the guidemap while writing this entry, the closest attraction turned out to be Journey Into Imagination with Figment, located in the much closer Future World West section of the park.

Despite the increasingly late hour, Epcot was quite crowded. Consulting my guidemap one last time to make sure I was going in the right direction, I walked as quickly as I could through the crowds of people, keeping an eye out for the Mexican pavilion, which was in the shape of a Mayan temple. I stopped stressing out and hurrying on reaching the pavilion, and was met with the beautiful sight awaiting me inside - a Mexican village at night, with a water feature in the foreground, strings of lanterns strung across the bustling marketplace from one side of the street to the other, and a Mayan temple and erupting volcano in the background. It was all so fantastic, beautifully lit up, and exciting. I totally looked forward to exploring it at a more leisurely pace, in a few days time.

In the meantime, I hunted down the Gran Fiesta Tour starring the Three Caballeros, and joined the line. There wasn't much of a wait at all, and I soon found myself floating down a river in the darkness, with the Mayan temple and volcano on my left, and the bustling village on my right. It was surprisingly relaxing after having been on my feet all day, that I prayed I wouldn't fall asleep once again, like I did on the boat to Epcot - what a sight that would've been! I needn't have worried for long, as soon afterwards, my ears detected the highly infectious and totally memorable Three Caballeros song, and our boat entered complete and utter mayhem and excitement

The mayhem started with two birds on a video screen, beginning a musical show, before realising the third member of their band, Donald Duck, was missing, so off they set to find him. We followed them through various famous Mexican sights, on their mad hunt for Donald. Each famous sight the two birds visited, they kept on missing Donald by a few seconds, as he played the enthusiastic tourist. We took a break from hunting for Donald, as our boat entered a super bright Mexican village done in the same style of It's A Small World, which was fantastic. We then rejoined the hunt for Donald through more famous Mexican sights, the sunset scenes being particularly stunning. Then we floated through a more realistic Mexican village (ie. not a bright audio-animatronic populated village like before) in a night setting. The video screens depicting the search for Donald, were set within the village buildings. My favourite scenes were of the musicians dressed in trim black and white costumes with matching hats, and women in colourful costumes, dancing, both scenes which were covered in falling balloons and streamers - they were so colourful and festive! The two band members eventually caught up with Donald (much to his dismay ... he mustn't have seen all the Mexican sights he had been planning to! ), and they all finally performed a musical number on the stage as we left the village, with beautiful fireworks erupting overhead, and the city at night off to our right. This ride instantly became one of my firm favourites, and I couldn't wait to get Nest to experience it with me when he was better!

Speaking of Nest, on having reached my goal of experiencing one attraction at Epcot that night, I then set off back to the Pop Century Resort after having spent almost the last eight hours in the parks on his insistence. I headed off in the direction of the bus station outside the front entrance of the park, only stopping to take a few night shots of Spaceship Earth, the park's icon (it was softly illuminated with coloured lights against the night sky - it looked wonderful), and a rather shonky shot of the sparkling sidewalk.

On arriving back at the Pop Century Resort, common sense told me I didn't need to go back to our room first to check if Nest wanted me to get anything to eat, and headed straight to the food court before it closed. I bought as much food as I could balance on the tray, as not only would Nest be hungry , but I was starving also , as I hadn't eaten anything since my 1pm lunch at Restaurantosaurus I bought Nest his favourite chicken parmigiana dish, an apple juice, and a big holiday snowman rice crispie cookie. For myself, I bought a container of beef and broccoli, and a bottle of Coke. To share, I bought a large cheese pizza, a container of grapes, another container of puffy Mickey cheese crackers, and a slice of tie dye cheesecake each. I only just made the food court before it closed (it was 8.50pm) - I bet you they were pleased that they stayed open until the last minute when I came along!

It was great to see Nest after all that time away! He was still laying in bed watching television, his back still giving him trouble. He was really pleased to see me, and that I had so much food with me. It was as if it were party time! I got a new lease of life, was no longer tired, and told him all about my day and gave him my camera so he could view the photos when he felt like it. We watched a fantastic episode of Funniest Home Videos over dinner. We screamed with laughter at the raccoon raiding somebody's fridge, as he was grabbing things with his front paws, and trying to keep his balance and the fridge open with his back legs - it was so hilarious! Other clips we laughed at, were of a squirrel raiding a bird feeder, and have it suddenly spin around really fast while he was still hanging on, and of some men going fishing, and one of them casting a line, and having the hook get the other guy in the bottom - what a shock!

Even though I was sad that Nest was laid up in bed all day with a bad back, I was happy he had made me go and experience the hot air balloon ride, then encouraged me to spend the rest of the day in the parks, as I had achieved so much and had a lot of fun as a result.

Next Entry: Backstage Magic Tour (take 1), followed by dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table

[chezp]

So sorry Nest missed out on this day. What amazing photos from the balloon!

[Colexis Mom]

Sorry that Nest couldn't join you today! It looks like you had a great time on the balloon ride and at AK and Epcot! Love the pictures!

[Dlandmom2]

What a fun day! I'm sorry Nest wasn't feeling up to experiencing it with you, but hopefully he had a chance to rest and get his back feeling much better.

I'm not sure if you know this, but on some of the major rides, they have single rider lines. Expedition Everest is one of them. It's usually a much quicker line. Sometimes friends will get in the single rider line together if they don't mind being split up to fill up single seats here and there.

Your teasers are always great...now I'm wondering why it was the Tour Take 1! I've never eaten at Cinderella's Royal Table, so I'm looking forward to that review as well!

[Cam22]

So sad that Nest's back caused him to miss out on the whole day! The balloon ride looked so awesome. Great time at AK, too!

[Big Sister]

Originally Posted by chezp

So sorry Nest missed out on this day. What amazing photos from the balloon!

I was sad Nest couldn't join me either I know he has always been interested in going on a hot air balloon flight, but unfortunately it just didn't work out this time. I have offered to plan another hot air balloon flight one of these days, but after he found out the required departure time, I don't think he's all that interested anymore