Trip Log:

Started off the day with a 6:00am wake up call and headed for the golf courses for a quick nine holes on the Oak Trail Course.  After our round back to Pop Century  shower then headed off for EPCOT.  Spent some time roaming around Future World and grabbed a bite at the Electric Umbrella.  Took the Friendship Launch over to Germany to visit Italy since they were celebrating their liberation day. Spent some time exploring Italy before trekking off through World Showcase, through Germany, the outpost, China and back to Future World.  Decided to head to the Magic Kingdom to play Sorcerers. Picked up some cards and then made my way up Main Street and into Liberty Square.  Finished up my first game (again) and then decided to head to Main Street to start on my second one. Did a couple windows then had to get going.  Took a bus back to Pop Century to change and then hopped on another to the Animal Kingdom and a third to get to the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Spent some time roaming around Kidani Village before boarding another bus to Jambo house. Hung around the lobby area and overlook for a while then met the All Ears gang to head out to the Summer to Remember media event dinner.  It was a Phineas and Ferb BBQ out at Fort Wilderness.  Boarded a bus that took us to the event.  Ate a good meal and caught up with everyone then boarded a boat over to the Magic Kingdom.  Finished up my second Sorcerers quest before making my way out to Storybook Circus by way of Tomorrowland.  The Dumbo line was short so went for a spin, a 10 minute wait.  Then strolled back through Fantasyland stopping to ride Pooh as well as Snow White along the way.  Pushed through the Electrical Parade exit crowd to find a spot for the Magic, the Memories , and You!  After the show made my way toward Town Square to catch a little of Wishes before heading to the bus and back to Pop Century to call it a night.

Thoughts & Observations:

• An interesting factoid to start off with. The Cab driver left the meter on and a ride from Pop Century to the Club House at Shades of Green cost $15.40
  
  
• Today marked Italian Liberation Day and the Italy pavilion in World Showcase was celebrating. They had banners up, some activities for kids, and a trivia/scavenger hunt for anyone. I thought it was a nice way to mark the day and really enjoyed participating.
  
  
• Since we arrived at World Showcase just after it had opened it was great to walk around and have no real crowds to deal with.
  
  
• Today ran into my first bug with the Sorcerers game. It lost track of where I was and I had to redo the last portal I visited. IT was not a big deal, but it did take some time.
  
  
• I received an invite to be a guest this evening at the summer to Remember Media event kickoff BBQ, thanks to our friends over at Allears.net. I received the invite while in EPCOT and was to meet them over at the Animal Kingdom Lodge but I needed to stop by Pop Century first for a couple items. I allocated a good 2.5 hours to do this since I had been having some bad transportation luck this trip. Well this time everything worked like clock work. I exited the Magic Kingdom and walked right onto a Pop Century Bus and it pulled away. Stopped by the room, got my gear together and walked right out and onto a bus to the Animal Kingdom where I was let off right next to the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus that was waiting. So in the end it took me less than an hour from Main Street to Kidani Village.
  
  
• Since I arrived way ahead of schedule I hung out at Kidani Village for a while watching the animals then took a bus to Jambo House and did the same. It was a nice peaceful afternoon and the animals were fairly active.
  
  
• The BBQ was hosted by Phineas and Ferb and was held at Fort Wilderness, the venue where Mickey's BBQ is held during the summer. This was the kickoff for their event so no news was made, but they gave an overview of the weekend ahead for the media and their guests.
  
  
• I really enjoy spending some time at Fort Wilderness each trip. It is a great change of pace from the parks and other resorts. This trip I had intended to come out to Trails End for dinner (still extremely disappointed that they stopped the buffet lunch.. that was one of our favorites.). But since this event was out there and I was lucky enough to attend a couple other events over the next few days I had to skip the meal this trip. If you have never been out to the area I highly recommend it. During the day the ranch area is alive with activity and you can walk around to see the horses and other livestock.
  
  
• The guests of honor were the creators of Phineas and Ferb, Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh as well as Vincent Martella the voice of Phineas. There was plenty of time for those who wanted pictures or brief interviews with the team and they hung around the entire event. This was my first time eating at the BBQ location and from those I spoke with most of the menu we had was the normal fair and I really enjoyed the selections.
  
  
• After eating and visiting I decided to take the boat over to the Magic Kingdom. The park felt like there were a lot of people moving around but attraction wait times were very mild to almost nothing. I rolled through several more Portals for the Sorcerers game and then visited some attractions.
  
  
• Went for a spin on the new Dumbo. The experience was the same as the old Dumbo just the opposite direction and some new sites. The new lighting and fountain around the base are a great touch. I had intended to go during the day to get a better view at all the construction but timing/patience never seemed to line up so this one night time ride is all I did.
  
  
• Since Winnie the Pooh was a walk on I finally made it through the interactive queue and went for a ride. The queue had quite a few activities and was well done. With no crowd it was great to be able to go around and experience everything and the couple kids in the area were running back and fourth and having a blast.
  
  
• Went for one last ride on Snow White. I thought it was interesting that they kept it open even though most of the area had already been cleared for fireworks. They had several cast members along the queue area to make sure you stayed in it and after exiting they kept you moving. This makes sense to keep the attraction open as long as possible but was surprised they would.
  

Pedometer Information for the day:

Enough with the text.. onto the pictures

Click Here