Trip Log:

Arrived at MCO on time, around 6:15am. Walked down toward the first level (goofed up and headed to the B side instead of A, but was directed to the right spot by a Disney CM) and to the Magical Express welcome center. Checked in and queued up for a bus. The four of us were sent right on a waiting bus and we pulled out for Pop Century. We were checking into the Resort by 7am and as luck would have it they found a room for us to get into that early. Dropped our bags and then headed for breakfast. After breakfast did a little unpacking from the carry-ons and then off to Downtown Disney. We walked over to Crossroads to go grocery shopping and then back to the Marketplace to catch a bus back to Pop Century. The entire excursion took about 90 minutes, not too bad. When we returned to our room the luggage was already there, Magical Express worked perfectly. At this point we split up. Two rested/caught a nap after the red eye while the other two of us headed for the parks. Went to the Magic Kingdom, bought our annual passes and headed into the park. Main Street was crowded but once we turned into Adventureland the crowds dissipated. Went for a ride on Pirates since there was no wait then visited the Tiki Room. Decided it was lunch time and we really didn't’t know what we wanted. We ended up walking out of the park and taking the monorail over to the Contemporary to grab something at the Food Center. After eating continued on the monorail to the TTC and then onto EPCOT. Entered the park and roamed around Innoventions and Club Cool before meeting up with the rest of our group. We walked around World Showcase ending up at the American Pavilion for a funnel cake and to catch the Fife and Drum Corp. Continued on our tour and boarded the Friendship Launch by Germany to save some walking. Once back at Futureworld headed out of the park and hopped a bus over to Animal Kingdom. Entered the park and wandered out toward the Safari to grab a Fastpass, none were left for the day. so doubled back and lined up for the 4:30 Lion King show. After the show headed back to the Safari (it was not after 5 and only resort guests could ride since it was a Magic Evening). There was a 20 minute posted wait but really no wait at all, we walked on and had four rows to ourselves. Walked through the Pangani Forest before heading back across the bridge and around Discovery Island. Grabbed dinner from the Flame Tree BBQ and Restaurantosourus(sp?). After eating walked by Everest, it was posted a 20 minute wait so the Geek’s brother took a ride.. it was really a walk on too, he was on with only one pause. After his ride we finished our loop and ended up in Asia. Not much going on and it was now 7:00pm and the red eye was starting to catch up to us. So we headed for the entrance and the bus back to Pop Century to call it an early evening. Got back to the Resort around 8pm.

Thoughts & Observations:

• This was our first opportunity to give the Magical Express service a try and we were pleasantly surprised by it. Not sure if this was due to the service having been around for a year now or just luck with the timing and early flight arrival. but everything went smoothly. We arrived at the Welcome Center and checked right in, no wait, and walked out to a bus that pulled out as soon as we were on board. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't a Magical Express bus but instead an unmarked Mears bus, but still no wait wasn't worth complaining about. It took us straight to our resort since the four of us were the only people on board. We chatted with the bus driver and enjoyed the ride. Our bags arrived in our room by 11am with no problems at all.
  
  
• Upon arrival at Pop Century we checked in and as luck would have it they found two rooms for us and let us check in (it was just after 7am).
  
  
• We ate lunch at the Contemporary Food/Fun Center since we were en route from the MK to EP. I always forget that this place does not take the Disney Dining card. anyway's the CM was quite rude when I tried to use the card. Usually they just say you cannot use that here, she was quite rude saying they have never accepted it and basically made me feel "dumb" for trying to use it. Also learned they changed the fries here. They are just regular fries now. I do not know how to describe them but they are definitely not as good as they used to be, much more generic now.
  
  
• The Magic Kingdom crowd was strange. When you walked in the park it felt very crowded. There was a lot of congestion on Main Street, not sure if its due to all the character photo lines or what. but the place felt packed. Once you got past center street though the park opened up and felt much less crowded and what we were expecting for a late April day.
  
  
• Its been a couple trips since visiting the Tiki Room so decided to give it another try. And after watching the show it will be a long time before I see it again at WDW. The Under New Management show just grinds on my nerves. It reminded me of how much I hate it and wish they would bring back the old show or at least modify this version.
  
  
• Went for a ride on Pirates since it closes down for Part II of its rehab in a few days. Everything looked about the same as last year from what I can remember. But I do think it looked cleaner and a bit better lit (but that is really subjective). I thought I also felt a new effect in when the cannon balls were landing. It seemed as if they were blowing air across the boat. Also the sound seemed crisp and clean. My guess is the new speakers creating this. Overall it seems to be looking great and I cannot wait to see how Disneyland's looks when it comes back.
  
  
• The new Club Cool at EPCOT is ok. I liked the Snowcat and Ice Caves of the old Ice Station Cool it seemed much more interesting, but Club Cool fits better with the Innoventions theming and serves its purpose. We did notice quite a few machines had problems and were not working.
  
  
• We spent the evening at Animal Kingdom and decided to take advantage of the Extra Hours of Magic. The park was open until 8pm (3 hours after regular closing) for resort guests. We road one of the last Safari's of the day and the CMs were great. They saw we wanted to take pictures and placed us in the back of a truck with 3 or 4 empty rows in front of us. Thanks!!
  
  
• Everest looks amazing.. you will see this in the pictorial updates. The Geek's Brother Road and really enjoyed it. He gave it two thumbs up.

Pedometer Information for the day:

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