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Walt Disney World Day 8 Report

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Trip Log:

Started off my last morning packing up and then checking the suitcases in and dropping the carryons with bell services. Then we were off to the parks. First stop today the Animal Kingdom. Hiked out to Kilimanjaro Safari. It had a posted 20 minute wait but looked longer. Our guess was right it was longer, 45 minutes. After our safari strolled through Gorilla Falls. Decided to head to the Magic Kingdom for lunch since we received a notice that Frozen was down (we had a FastPass+ there). As I wandered up Main Street USA watched the trolley show then went to the Columbia Harbour House for lunch. After lunch walked through the Street Party on my way to Tomorrowland and a final voyage on the PeopleMover. Decided to head for the exit and hop a Ferry Boat to the Transportation and Ticket Center then the Epcot Monorail. Took a bus from there back to Pop Century. Did a loop of the resort then walked out and boarded an earlier Magical Express bus to the airport. Grabbed dinner at the food court before going out to the gate. Plane departed on time. Arrived at LAX a little early but then had to hike a long way to get our bags. Found our shuttle, car, and headed for home.


Thoughts & Observations:

  • The final day of the trip always comes too fast. We did the regular drill of packing then the airline check in and bell services for the carry ons. The airline check in was a breeze. No one was there. So we had several people helping us.
  • After dropping everything we decided to head for the parks. The Pop Century bus stops were busy as usual. We made it onto the second bus that showed up for Animal Kingdom. Upon arrival we were greeted by long lines to enter the park. Seems they were having problems and almost every person was needing a guest relations CM to help get them in.
  • My street of bad luck continued out to the Safari. It was posted at 20 minutes but was backed up to the door so we knew it would be longer. Turned out to be 45 minutes. We had an entertaining guide but there were almost no animals out this time through.
  • Plan A was to head to Epcot to use a Frozen FastPass but received an alert it was down and we could use our FastPass+ for anything at Epcot or wait. Since we had done everything there we instead headed to the Magic Kingdom. We walked out and right onto a bus. So we did not loose a lot of time today hopping between parks.
  • The Main Street Trolley show was just getting underway as I walked in. They were using a horse drawn carriage for the show.. no trolley today.
  • Had a relaxing lunch at the Columbia Harbour House. I really do enjoy eating upstairs there. OK views out into the park and relaxing for a counter service location. Then went for a final trip on the People Mover before taking the long way back to Pop Century (we opted to take the Ferry Boat then Epcot Monorail to catch a bus from there).
  • We picked up our bags, changed and prepared to go. We walked out 20 minutes or so early and there was a bus there just about to pull away. The driver asked our time and said we could jump on his bus if we wanted to. So we did, figuring it better to do that than just wait out there.
  • At the Airport grabbed dinner and then headed for the gate. TSA lines were only about 10 minutes, we used pre-check which saved only a couple minutes today.
  • As we waited for our flight Delta changed the gate three times in less than five minutes. We had chosen a seat that happened to be in the middle of them so we did not move but it was fun to see the alerts showing up.
  • The return flight we had an older 737. The plus was that meant more leg room. But the down side was it was more run down, old seats and the DishTV was not working either. The flight had a lot of empty seats so we could spread out. The plane left on time and we got in just about on time. It was a long flight today due to a steady headwind the entire way. Overall it was fairly smooth though.
  • We pulled into a far gate at terminal 6 and had to walk to terminal 5 baggage claim. This was a long hike through the tunnels of LAX which are fairly depressing. After sitting for over 5 hours it was nice to stretch my legs but I did not need to walk that far. By the time we reached baggage claim our bags were on the carrousel so that was quick and we walked out and I started to text the parking lot shuttle and it showed up before I could hit send on the message. Traffic was smooth going home too.

Pedometer Information for the day:

Steps 14,617
Miles 5.5
Moderate 10,652
Walking Time 94

 

WDW Pictures

Animal Kingdom & Magic Kingdom
Quick trips to the Animal & Magic Kingdoms and a look around Pop Century before heading for the airport.

 

Other Picture sets from today: