Trip Log:

Started off the morning bright and early with a 6am wake up call to get to the golf course for our 7:30 tee time at Lake Buena Vista.  After our round we headed back to the Contemporary for a quick shower before lunch.  We walked over to the Magic Kingdom bus stops and hopped a bus to the Boardwalk and ate lunch at the ESPN Club.  Went out to take the boat over to the Studios but just missed it so walked  to the Swan and Dolphin to board (we beat it there with a couple minutes to spare since it had to go over to the Yacht/Beach Clubs first).  Rode the boat to the Studios.  Strolled up Hollywood Blvd and walked around to One Man Dream.  Spent some time looking at the exhibits and then watched the film.  After the movie stopped by the Great Movie Ride.  After our trip through the Movies stopped by the Muppets on our way to the Lights, Motors, Action show.  Grabbed a quick drink at the Backlot Express on the way to the front of the park, also took a peak into the Cheer/Dance competition that was going on at the Indiana Jones Stunt show stage.  Next up a bus ride to the Animal Kingdom.  Hiked out to the Safari and then went for dinner at Flame Tree BBQ before catching another bus over to the TTC and the Express Monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  Once in the park took the train out to Toontown and walked along the trail to Tomorrowland.  Had 20 minutes to kill so had some ice cream in Tomorrowland and then walked to the front of the park, by way of the backstage walkway which was open.  Watched Spectro Magic from the train station and then bee lined it for the Resort Monorail back to the Contemporary.  Got something to drink at the Grab and Go and then out to the observation area (or whatever it is called on the 4th floor) and watched Wishes.  After the show hiked out to the Bay Lake side of the Resort and caught the end of the Electrical Water Parade before going back to the room to call it a night.

Thoughts & Observations:

• We started off the morning with a wild cab ride to Lake Buena Vista.. it was sort of a cross between Test Track and Mr. Toad Wild Ride... We had a good round at Lake Buena Vista, nothing newsworthy to discuss except they are working on the Tree Houses, no real visible changes, just some fences right now.
  
  
• We ate lunch at the ESPN club, which was pleasant since was not crowded, but the service was extremely slow...
  
  
• While at the studios we decided to take in the Great Movie ride and its really starting to look run down in spots to me, not sure if its the out dated technology, the films, or just the attraction itself, but it could use some new life. We sat in the front row which was a nice treat to have an unobscured view as we rolled through.
  
  
• The Studios this weekend were taken over by Dance and Cheerleading squads from around the world. They were everywhere and of all ages. It made for some unpredictable wait times and the only real effect on most people was it caused the Indiana Jones Stunt show to not be performed for a couple days and some longer lines at peak times for food and restrooms. We poked our heads into the competition (it was open to anyone as long as you followed their rules of no video cameras or telephoto lenses). I was quite annoyed with an over cautious CM working the competition. I was asked not to take pictures even though I was using a wide angle lens.  The rules are no telephoto or video (which makes sense) but the CMs do not understand lenses and asked me not to take pictures with the SLR, but would let the person next to me with the point and shoot (which had a 12x or so zoom and I had a 10-22mm wide angle lens which meant in my shot you got about half the arena, you could barely even tell there were people on the stage, as you will see in the photo update, I did get one off before getting yelled at). I even offered to let the CM take the a couple pictures for me (since all I wanted to show was the audience and stage set up) and she looked at me like I was crazy and just kept saying no pictures with a big camera.
  
  
• We watched Wishes from the 4th floor (I guess its a deck?) of the Contemporary, since you are no longer allowed up to the California Grill to watch unless you are eating there. I thought the view was decent but when you were in the corner nearest the Magic Kingdom the A/C unit was so loud you could not hear the sound track (which was being played and if you stood on the other side of the area, closer to the construction, you could hear but the view was not as good.
  
  
• I thought they started the second running of the Electrical Water parade a little too close to the end of the fireworks. You could not really get into a good position to see it.
  

Pedometer Information for the day:

Enough with the text.. onto the pictures

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