Trip Log:

Started off the day arriving at MCO a bit late (about 6:30am), I was at the Contemporary checking in around 7:30 and due to some delays grab a quick bite at the Grab and Go then off to the Animal Kingdom.  Arrived about 9:15, so missed the rededication, but I did make the Joe Rhode presentation at 9:45.  After the presentation headed for Africa and used Fastpasses for the Safari that a couple in our group went and got.  Once back we headed over to Flame Tree and grabbed lunch there and in Dinoland.  Then we checked on the rooms and they were ready so half the group headed back to the resort and the other half of us took a bus out to the Animal Kingdom Lodge, grabbed some pictures, then another bus out to Downtown Disney and hiked out to Goodings to buy some groceries.  Then we hiked back and took a bus from Downtown Disney back to the Contemporary.  Unpacked a bit and then we walked over to the Magic Kingdom.   Strolled through the shops on Main Street and wandered into Tomorrowland.  Noticed Monsters was loading so walked on.    Then stopped by Buzz which was down and the PeopleMover which was also down, so decided to grab some dinner in Tomorrowland.  After dinner walked through the hub and Liberty Square.  There was a 20 minute wait posted for Haunted Mansion but no line was visible, it turned out to be a walk on.  After HM walked along the River and out to the Train Station, rode around to Toontown.  Hopped out and arrived at the People Mover about the time they reopened it.  Went for a ride then strolled out to the hub, around and through the Castle then back to Tomorrowland for one more check of Buzz.  Still no luck so we headed back to Main Street and over to the Resort Monorail and back to the Contemporary to call it quits for the night/day. 

Thoughts & Observations:

• I managed to miss the opening, rededication of the Animal Kingdom due to delays with our flight out of Los Angeles, then a goof up with the Magical Express destination due to Disney upgrading us just two days before leaving, and then the same issues at the Contemporary when we checked in. In the end all was resolved but it meant I made it to Animal Kingdom at 9:15 instead of 8:45 as planned so I missed the rededication.

• I did make the Joe Rohde presentation at the Theater in the Wild. He spoke about the formation and the underlying foundation for the parks concept. I thought this was a great presentation and wish Disney would have advertised it a bit more. I saw mention of it on a couple websites (including the Disney World annual passholder site), but no where else and it was not listed on any park information and no signs were even up at the theater. If you did not know it was going on you would have no clue of what was happening at the theater. I would say it was probably 2/3 full, maybe closer to half since people were really spaced out it seemed. Most of the audience seemed to be cast members.

• The Earth Day exhibits around the park were nice little interactive tables and a nice touch. Again though if you did not stumble upon one there was not much information on them.
  
  
• This was my first stay at the Contemporary Resort, hard to believe that on my 19th trip to WDW over the past 26 years I have never stayed at one of the original resorts, but I had not... and this time happened by accident due to booking difficulties and Disney being Disney and fixing a disappointing situation (for info on this check out my forum posting on the reservation hassle). it was a bit surreal for me to be staying there. Over the years I have spent a lot of time at the resort, accessing the Marina, restaurants, etc.. but staying there was different since it was "your resort". I have only seen pictures of the original and old room decor so I have no real comparison but on the whole I have to say the rooms looked great and were huge (my last several stays have been moderate and value resorts). The CMs say they are the largest standard rooms on property still. Having a flat panel TV and computer in the room were great touches. I would have liked to have had the tree outside our room cut down, so my garden view would become a lake view but other than that no complaints about the room.
  
  
• In the middle of the afternoon we hiked out to Goodings from Downtown Disney to make a grocery run, only took about 90 minutes including the bus trips so well worth it, but it is a good hike (about 1.2 miles each way).
  
  
• It was sad to drive by Eagle Pines. There were signs up warning of smoke/fog and we saw some in the distance. It appeared they were burning the debris from the clearnings.Much of the course is gone (I have some really depressing shots from later in the week when we played Osprey).
  
  
• Saw that the Laugh Floor was boarding with no wait so stopped by, they made a bit point about no cameras and I saw several people get asked to stop taking pictures, wonder why? Seems to me if you are not using a flash why not?
  
  
• Something was going on in Tomorrowland. Buzz was down the entire time we were in the area and the People Mover was down and guests being taken off, then after an hour or so it came back up and we were able to go for a ride, but Buzz remained closed.
  

Pedometer Information for the day:

Enough with the text.. onto the pictures

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