The Promise of Spring: Flower & Garden Festival 4.0 -- A Cam and Luke TR COMPLETED 8/27 - Page 39 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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For this trip I was able to get the reservation the day they were first opened up so fairly close to the 180 days mark, I think. But I'm trying right now to get one for the November trip. Park Hours are not up and neither are show times, so no reservation are being taken yet for ROL dining packages. September and October just opened up in June with a shortened schedule of Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. In the spring it was showing every night.
Your photos and descriptions of ROL were amazing! I'm so looking forward to seeing it. I'm waiting on packages to come out for November as well. (We're going at the end of November.)
Beautiful pictures of ROL. It'll be another year til I get to see it. My daughter was there when you were but she didn't stay for the whole thing. They had to leave before it was over for some reason.
That was a long wait for a bus back to AKL. At least it's close .
Liz
Thanks! Too bad they had to leave early as the finish is incredible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wheezie
Your photos and descriptions of ROL were amazing! I'm so looking forward to seeing it. I'm waiting on packages to come out for November as well. (We're going at the end of November.)
Thanks! I keep telling myself that it will probably be next month before there is any chance of seeing times and getting ressies for November, but I keep checking anyway.
NEXT: Oops! No alarm! Oh well, it’s raining hard anyway.
Day 2 Part 1 Tuesday, May 6, 2017
Right before we went to bed last night, Luke and I discussed setting an alarm, and even thought Luke had set one on his phone. But the alarm this morning never sounded. I woke up before Luke, but hated to disturb him, so I headed out to the balcony to see which animals were up and about, mainly just the Roan antelope. At this point it felt like it was going to be another very hot day.
Back in the room, I climbed back in bed and checked e-mail and uploaded photos, waiting for Luke to wake up. Just after he awoke, I asked what he wanted to do. We had planned to meet Sharon at Epcot for the morning before she had to meet up with DME at her resort. He asked if I’m mind doing a load of his shorts has he only had one clean pair left for today. So I sent Sharon a text that we were planning on still eating lunch at Epcot, hoping to arrive there between noon and 1:00. Sharon sent back that she had to be back at OKW around 2:30, so hopefully, our paths would still cross. I then headed down the hall, across the walkway over the lobby, and into the laundry with a load of shorts. I put these in a washer and returned to the room to get ready. Unfortunately, shortly after I started getting ready, I heard something outside I was not expecting, torrential rain. I asked Luke what he wanted to do now. To which he replied, “I don’t really want to go out in the rain. It would have meant getting soaked. I sent Sharon a text that our plans had changed and we’d be staying at Jambo House and eating lunch at The Mara. I hated to miss out on one more chance to see Sharon, but we were both tired from the long day yesterday and just didn’t feel up to getting wet. I went back at some point while we were getting ready to put the shorts in the dryer, and then returned when they were dry. Around 11:30 once the laundry was finished , and Luke and I were both cleaned up, we headed to The Mara for some lunch. I had a ham sandwich with fries and Luke had the chicken sandwich with fries. Sorry I have no photos, but in the place of those, I’ll share an embarrassing story on myself from lunch. I went up to refill my drink. Everything was fine, the cup was refilled. I took a sip through the trusty paper straw, and then my nose tickled, I sneezed, and Coke went all over the floor. Remember no lids at AKL or AK. The embarrassing part was that the Coke I was attempting to swallow sprayed out as well. Thankfully, just on the floor. Remember no lids at AKL or AK, so part of my refill splashed onto the floor. What a mess!
Before heading back to the room, we stopped at Zawadi, the gift shop, to resupply our 2 liters, juice and Pop Tarts. I had been eyeing a cream-colored Animal Kingdom Lodge t-shirt every time we’d been in here, and finally decided to buy it. Then as we were checking out, I noticed one of those little baskets with the little wooden animals in it. I picked out one and then another and finally a third. Luke joked with the CM to check me out faster before I bought the whole basket full.
Earlier when Luke and I realized we’d be heading to the park much later than previously planned, I had reworked our FastPass selections on the website. We lost Frozen Ever After, which we knew would happen. But in a different order we were able still to get Mission Space and The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Making up for losing Frozen Ever After, we scored a late afternoon FastPass for Soarin’. I like Frozen Ever After, but I love Soarin’ so this was an excellent trade off. The rain also had a bonus effect. It cooled down the heat. It was actually pleasant out now. Even if it was only for today, we were going to enjoy it.
Finally, we were ready for some park time. We reached Epcot around 2:25 and made our way to the Annual Pass entrance, which looked like this today. At this time of day we walked right up to the Magic Band scanners.
I love the Flower & Garden Festival, which translates into many photos. Luke and I find yellow flowers so beautiful and have quite a few in our own yard. Thus, the reason for the next photo, a flower that would look awesome in our yard.
On our way to our first FastPass, we caught sight of the Pollinator Paradise garden.
Sorry this one is blurry. I didn't check my settings because I was in a hurry to capture this gecko on the landscaping.
Then we walked a little further to board a clam shell off to see Nemo and Friends. Once we’d spent time with Nemo, we spent a little time exploring The Seas. Since it wasn’t crowded in here, I actually got some neat shots.
An eel was first up.
Then a clownfish.
Plus a lot more.
NEXT: The mission if you choose to accept it is to locate every single garden in the F&GF.
Too bad you missed seeing Sharon again, but a dry and relaxing start to the day is a very good thing. I'm glad the rain cooled things down a bit as well.
Rain in WDW is just no fun!:At least it cooled things down a bit!! Sorry that you missed meeting Sharon. She looks so fun and I would love to meet her myself some day!!
That was very big of you to share your lunch debacle!! Beautiful photos from the F&GF and of the Living Seas marine life!!
Too bad you missed seeing Sharon again, but a dry and relaxing start to the day is a very good thing. I'm glad the rain cooled things down a bit as well.
My thoughts exactly -- being rested and dry was the best way for us this day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tara O'Hara
Rain in WDW is just no fun!:At least it cooled things down a bit!! Sorry that you missed meeting Sharon. She looks so fun and I would love to meet her myself some day!!
That was very big of you to share your lunch debacle!! Beautiful photos from the F&GF and of the Living Seas marine life!!
I was thankful to have a cooler day. : ) I felt like a kid at the moment of the sneeze. Yuck!
Glad the rain broke the heat - even if it's only for that day.
That IS a gorgeous yellow flower!
Too bad you missed Sharon, but seems like you needed the rest (and Luke needed some clothes!)
Too bad the torrential rains changed your plans and weren't able to meet up with Sharon! Unless it was a thunderstorm I would have probably headed out to the parks and grabbed my poncho! But then again the two of you were quite tired from such a long and active day yesterday in the AK which is understandable. There's always a recoup day we all need in "The Bubble". Only so much you can do and it catches up with you!
Too funny with your Coke incident! At least you weren't asked to mop the floor! Glad you were able to do some reworking with the FP+s. I haven't ridden Frozen yet but my guess is I'll take Soarin' over it as I just love the new version and glad I got to experience this last October a few times!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
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Shame you missed seeing Sharon, but I completely understand. I'm sure we've all seen torrential rain like that in Florida and it's no fun to be out in.
Sorry that you had to miss seeing Sharon but it was a good move to get your laundry done and to stay dry as that rain did come down that morning. We enjoyed staying in our room until about 11:00 am. The sticky coke spill must have been quite the mess. Did you take a picture of your t-shirt and wooden animals purchase at the gift shop? I enjoy seeing all your purchases at WDW. BTW, I think this day was May 2nd.
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Just got caught up. Oh my, that fish! Was it hard to eat? I'm glad you enjoyed ROL. I think it's a nice addition to AK. Rain at Disney is no fun, but at least you got the laundry done and were able to relax a little,
Stunning pictures of RoL! Amazing! Thanks for the rundown of the storyline. Sorry the rain affected your plans with Sharon. It looks like a nice relaxing start to your day at Epcot!!
The Florida Rain is always around, but changing the schedule is sometimes a necessary thing. I do enjoy being flexible. All the aquarium photos are great.
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It would have meant getting soaked. I sent Sharon a text that our plans had changed and we’d be staying at Jambo House and eating lunch at The Mara. I hated to miss out on one more chance to see Sharon, but we were both tired from the long day yesterday and just didn’t feel up to getting wet. I went back at some point while we were getting ready to put the shorts in the dryer, and then returned when they were dry. Around 11:30 once the laundry was finished , and Luke and I were both cleaned up, we headed to The Mara for some lunch. I had a ham sandwich with fries and Luke had the chicken sandwich with fries. Sorry I have no photos, but in the place of those, I’ll share an embarrassing story on myself from lunch. I went up to refill my drink. Everything was fine, the cup was refilled. I took a sip through the trusty paper straw, and then my nose tickled, I sneezed, and Coke went all over the floor. Remember no lids at AKL or AK. The embarrassing part was that the Coke I was attempting to swallow sprayed out as well. Thankfully, just on the floor. Remember no lids at AKL or AK, so part of my refill splashed onto the floor. What a mess! 
:At least it cooled things down a bit!! Sorry that you missed meeting Sharon. She looks so fun and I would love to meet her myself some day!! 
At least you weren't asked to mop the floor! 
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