Trip Log:

Started off the morning with a pre-dawn wake up call and trek out to Oak Trail for a quick nine holes before it heated up this morning.  After our round back to Pop Century for showers then off to the Animal Kingdom.  Grabbed a Fastpass for the Safari then wandered through Pangani killing some time.  Returned and used our Fastpass.  Ate lunch at the Tusker house for its character meal.   After lunch made my way to the park exit and hopped on a bus to the TTC where I transferred to the EPCOT monorail.   Once on the ground at EPCOT walked to the Land to meet up with my group and went on Living with the Land.   Next up the Test Track All Stars.  Took the Friendship Launch across to Germany then hiked around World Showcase going past the Outpost, China, Norway, and Mexico.  Stopped to listen to Off Kilter in Canada and then worked around to catch Mo Rockin in Morocco.    Arrived at the American Adventure just before the 6:30 Flower Power Concert.   Watched the concert then walked over to the Beach Club to catch a bus to the Magic Kingdom.   At the Magic Kingdom picked up some Sorcerers cards and made my way to Tomorrowland to grab a quick bite to eat then to Fantasyland to play Sorcerers.  Just before 9pm pushed through the crowds to the train station to find a spot for the Main Street Electrical Parade.  After the parade it was time to head back to Pop Century to pack up since I head for home tomorrow.

Thoughts & Observations:

• The golf courses were much busier this morning. There was a MAAC tournament going on at the Magnolia. Plus the warmer weather and Friday seemed to combine for a much busier morning. Even the Oak Trail course had a lot of guests on it. Something else I noticed this trip is most of the groups were adults. I only saw a few kids on the course this time around. Guessing because of our early tee times, our latest one was 7:30am.
  
  
• First park of the day after golfing was the Animal Kingdom. The park had quite a few more guests roaming around and crowding the walkways than the other days, but still not what I would call crowded. Wait times were about average for the attractions with the Safari just about 40 minutes.
  
  
• I was invited to join the Allears.net gang for lunch at the Tusker House. This was a character meal hosted by Donald. I had not been to a character meal in years so I was looking forward to opportunity. We had a late lunch time and were seating close to 2pm. I was surprised by the number of guests with a similar time, but I guess a lot were looking for a late lunch/early dinner.
  
  
  • The Food: I was really impressed with the large selection of food. As I walked around I realized that every station had something different and only spotted a few repeats, but all the main dishes, etc.. were unique to each station. There seemed to be plenty of variety too. I am a fairly picky and plain eater and I was able to find plenty to fill me up ranging from chicken to beef to mini corn dogs. I thought the corn bread and fresh rolls were great!
    
    
  • The Dining Rooms: If you are familiar with Tusker House from before it is arranged the same way still. We were in the smaller room to the left when you enter. The other side featured 3 rooms connected to make a large room. Our room seemed a little louder to me with sound echoing off the walls but it seemed less chaotic since there were less guests in it.
    
    
  • The Characters: Donald greeted you outside and Mickey, Daisy, and Goofy all made the rounds inside. The process was fairly orderly with them entering and making their way around the room. We were the last table in the room and I still felt like we had plenty of face time with the characters. Toward the end of the meal once things were winding down they seemed to hang around more.
    
    
  • The Service: I found the service to be great. Our waitress was on top of things clearing plates and bringing drink refills. She was also there to answer questions too.
    
    
  • Before being seated they took everyone's photo with Donald. Then as you were finishing up eating they came around to show you your pictures and give you the chance to buy them. I was really surprised they were not also using Photopass with these. The tracking was all done by table number. The price was just over $30 after tax and included one 6x8, four 4x6 and one 4x6 character photo.
    
    
• After lunch I headed to EPCOT to meet up with the rest of my group and check out some of the live entertainment I had managed to miss all week. First up was the Test Track All Stars. This group performs out front of the construction walls near Test Track and features a handful of singers. I thought thought the selection of music was a bit odd, but I did enjoy the classic car songs and Chevy music. I thought the story line was a bit over the top but luckily it was not stressed that much and the music carried the show. I found this to be an odd choice to fill the gap for an attraction that is being worked on but it was nice to have live entertainment in the area. Here is a video of the show:
  
  
  
  
• Next up I made a trek around World Showcase to check out the acts. I unfortunately missed the acrobats in China. But I did make it around to see Off Kilter which was fun as usual. Then caught a little of the Mo Rockin set on my way to the American Gardens stage for the concert. I always enjoy walking around EPCOT as the sun is setting and it is cooling off and you can take your time and enjoy the live entertainment.
  
  
• The headliner at the Flower Power Concert this weekend was Chuck Negron, formerly of Three Dog Night. I did not enjoy his show... I was a little disappointed in the song selection and I thought he did not pull it off that well. He was the only original member and the rest was his band not Three Dog Night. Here are a couple video clips from the performance:
  
  
  
  
• After the concert headed to the Magic Kingdom. Arrived to find a long back up at the bag check. Seems they only had three CMs checking bags (and two standing by the no bags line). After several minutes a lead came over and started checking bags himself to get the lines moving.
  
  
• I spent some more time playing Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom with the goal of finishing before I head home tomorrow. Due to some rather long lines only made it through one Villain this evening. I did notice quite a few odd-duty cast members enjoying the game.
  
  
• It was Friday night so the Magic Kingdom was a live with activity. As I walked around something seemed lacking to me. I finally figured it out, there was no live entertainment options. Disneyland always has the Tomorrowland Terrace performer and during the early part of the evening the Billies and many times some group at Plaza Gardens. There was nothing going on at the Magic Kingdom till the parade.
  
  
• Speaking of the parade, watched the Main Street Electrical Parade to round out my evening. Always great to see it traveling down Main Street. Wonder if/when it will ever find its way back to Anaheim??
  

Pedometer Information for the day:

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