Trip Log:

Started off this picture perfect morning exploring Kidani for a few minutes.  Walked over to the pool area and an animal outlook.  Then made my way to the bus stop and hopped on one to Epcot.  Took some pictures of the Future World Topiaries and made my way to the Seas with Nemo and Friends.  After exploring the deep blue world it was time to surface and wandered through the butterfly garden and around to the other side of Future World stopping for more topiary pictures.  Made a quick walk through the garden center then walked back across to the Land to see how busy it was.  It was too busy for me, so I headed for World Showcase while some of my group stopped for lunch (others were at Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach today).  I grabbed a new MIB booklet and set off to do the mission on the Canada side of World Showcase.  Walked by Canada and stopped in the UK for the first part of the mission.  Continued on to France for the second.  Then walked by Morocco and Japan on my way to the US to wrap up the mission.  Along the way took pictures of the Flower and Garden displays.   After completing the MIB mission grabbed lunch at the Liberty Inn and then went into the American Adventure.  Walked through the gallery then caught a performance of the Voices of Liberty before going into the main show.  Afterwards continued on around World Showcase walking by Italy, Germany, China, Norway, and Mexico.   Headed for the monorail and decided to ride round trip to get Flower and Garden picture then headed for the TTC.  The plan was to take the express monorail but that was closed.  So plan B was the ferry but that looked a madhouse so went to plan C which was the resort line which turned out to be easy.   Made it to Main Street and found a spot for the parade with about 10 minutes to spare until the parade would arrive.   Watched the Festival of Fantasy then pushed through the crowd and up Main Street USA and into Fantasyland.  Played a couple stops of the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom then walked out by the Mine Train before returning to Main Street and exiting the park.  Caught a bus to the Yacht Club to rejoin my group for dinner at Yachtsman Steakhouse.   After dinner walked back to Epcot and started to stroll around World Showcase.  Made it to Germany and then I decided I wanted to try and catch the 7:30 Off Kilter set.. problem was I only had 10 minutes to do it.   Walked quickly the rest of the way around and made it with about 2 minutes to spare before they took the stage.   After the set hiked back to the American Gardens Stage and watched the opening of the Starship set before deciding I had seen enough and quickly walking to the United Kingdom to catch the end of the British Revolution set.  After their performance wandered around and made my way to the Fastpass+ viewing area for Illuminations.  Enjoyed the show then joined the masses heading for the park exit.  Walked onto a waiting bus and returned to Kidani.  Stopped to take a look at the savanna before heading back to the room to pack up and get some sleep. 

Thoughts & Observations:

• Today was a perfect weather day.  It was not raining, we had blue skies, and the temps were mild.  Best day of the trip, too bad it is my last full day at WDW this trip.
  
  
• I arrived at Epcot just after opening and there was a steady stream of guests entering the park as to be expected given the bad weather we have had all week.
  
  
• I stopped by the Seas with Nemo and Friends and walked right onto the attraction.  Thought it was interesting the number of guests I saw using their FastPass+ to gain entry this morning.  It saved them some steps and that time but nothing else.  Seemed like that could have been used elsewhere later more efficiently/effectively.
  
  
• Spent a good portion of the day walking around and taking in the Flower and Garden Festival.  Everything looked great and was in incredible shape.  Talked to several horticulture cast members and they said the rain had helped to extend the life of the flowers and going into the final days it was in great shape.
  
  
• Walked through the garden center.  I opted to skip the presentations.  I wanted to see the Making of Video but all I saw in there were commercials for HGTV shows and after a couple minutes my patience waned and I moved on.
  
  
• Today I did the second operation for the Muppet Investigation Bureau visiting the United Kingdom, France, and ending at the American Adventure.  Just as I had found with the other side they were integrated well in the pavilions and I enjoyed the game.  Some of the cast members today did not seem as into the game as yesterday and more of a matter of fact and gave out the stickers.
  
  
• Made a point to catch the Voices of Liberty.  I always enjoy their concerts and highly recommend it for anyone visiting.   I usually try to catch them several times in a trip but this trip I only managed this one performance.
  
  
• Since the weather was good and I had time I wanted to get pictures of the large Flower Beds from the Monorail.  So this meant an extended Monorail trip from Epcot to the TTC and back and since I was heading to the Magic Kingdom back again to the TTC.  This really seemed like a long time on board the monorail.
  
  
• At the TTC the Express Monorail was closed and the Ferry had a large line.  My plan had been to take the Ferry across but with the large crowd that did not look pleasant so opted to take the Resort line.
  
  
• Saw the Express Monorail was closed due to a problem with Monorail Orange.  It was just out of the Magic Kingdom stop and and a diesel tow was out.   When I left the park at 4:30 (about 90 minutes later) they were just towing it away.  They were pulling and pushing, two diesels attached.   It was a very slow process as it worked its way backstage.
  
  
• Arrived on Main Street about the time the Festival of Fantasy Parade was stepping off in Frontierland so I found a spot with a great view of Main Street to catch the parade.   The parade paused as the finale passed by.  Maleficent was having problems over by the train station.  From my vantage point I could not tell what was going on.  It seemed to be going forward/backward trying to straighten out.  I could not work my way over to get a picture or worthwhile video though.  After a few minutes they got it moving properly and were on their way.
  
  
• As I walked up Main Street caught the Dapper Dans performing.  They asked: Why do you not want Elsa on your team for tug of war?   Because at some point she will just let it go…
  
  
• I walked through Fantasyland and made several Sorcerer of the Magic Kingdom stops since there were no lines.
  
  
• No signs of life at the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train either, guess no soft openings during this trip.. 
  
  
• Saw the longest waits yet for Anna & Elsa iat the Fairytale Hall.  They had a posted wait of over 300 minutes.  Has anyone waited that long?  How accurate is that number??
  
  
• Took the Bus to the Yacht Club for dinner.  It took almost 40 minutes from when I reached the bus stop until I was walking into the Yacht club.   Made it with 15 minutes to spare for my dinner reservation.  
  
  
• Dinner this evening was at the Yachtsman Steakhouse and it was great as usual.  The service this trip was top notch as you would expect.  (In December we had sub-par service.. first time in as long as I can remember at Yachtsman). 
  
  
• After dinner decided to do some walking and circle World Showcase catching some of the shows.  The original plan was to just relax but since it was my last night wanted to catch a couple.. so ended up walking around a lot to fit them in. 
  
  
• Off kilter this evening did not have any bagpipes in the show.  I missed them.  The performance was entertaining, just different.
  
  
• Caught some of the Starship starring Mickey Thomas Flower Power set and thought it was worse than last night. 
  
  
• Watched most of a British Revolution set in the UK (I was a bit late to arrive).  They were ok, but I still miss the British Invasion.  I like the Beatles music better than most of the rock the new group plays.
  
  
• I had a FastPass+ for Illuminations this evening.   I grabbed it mid day because I saw no attraction times that worked or seemed interesting and I enjoy Illuminations and the spot they use for FastPass+ is one of my favorites.    The process was seemless, but I found it odd that there was not more signage to guide guests, or did I just miss it?  I knew where it was from the other night when I tried to access the area.
  
  
• The one thing that stuck out to me about the experience is how many Cast Members it took to run the area.  I counted about a dozen.  There were a handful scanning bands and checking guests in.  Then several stations at each entrance point to the area to keep others out.  This seems like a lot of hours and money to devote to something.  The crowd in the area was about on par with what I usually found in the area before FastPass+ took it over.  So it was not too crowded. 
  
  
• Leaving Epcot this evening was very slow.  The bus showed up and sat there as more and more guests boarded.  This was the first very full bus of the trip to Kidani.  What a change from other resorts where it seemed every bus was packed.   Not sure if it was our timing this trip or just the nature of the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  Also interesting to note even though it was full only a couple people disembarked at Kidani almost everyone was going to Jambo house.
  

Pedometer Information for the day:

Part I: A look around the pool area of Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Kidani Village.

Part II: A walk around Epcot enjoying the picture perfect day at the Flower and Garden Festival.

Part III will feature a visit to the Magic Kingdom then back to Epcot for the evening.