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Trip Log:
Today was a visiting day for us.. we met friends and relatives. Started off the morning with exploring Bay Lake Tower and taking some pictures of the grounds. Then returned to the room and visited with some friends. Decided to take a boat over to Wilderness Lodge and ate lunch at Geyser Point. Took a quick look around and then back on the boat to the Contemporary. Decided to head over to the Magic Kingdom for a couple hours before our relatives showed up. Caught a performance by the Dapper Dans in Town Square then had an hour until the parade so booked a FastPass+ for the Jungle Cruise and walked that way to use it. After the cruise walked over to Frontierland and found a spot for Festival of Fantasy Parade. Then made my way to Main Street and out to the Monorail. Returned to Bay Lake Tower and rejoined the group to visit. Decided to head to Disney Springs to look around and eat dinner. Ended up at Deluxe Burger. Then returned to Bay Lake Tower. Weather looked iffy but I decided to walk over to the Magic Kingdom and found a spot for Happily Ever After. About 1/3 the way into the show the skies opened and it started to pour. I gave it a minute or so then called it a night and headed for the front of the park. Boarded a Monorail back to the Contemporary and walked over to Bay Lake Tower to end my evening.
Thoughts & Observations:
- Was pleasantly surprised that we received a Full Cleaning service today vs just Trash & Towel service. It was a very thorough service and we were very appreciative that they went above and beyond.
- For lunch we wanted to stay close to the resort since we were expecting more visitors in the afternoon so we opted to take a launch over to the Wilderness Lodge and try out Geyser Point. The boat service was fairly slow and inefficient. As we walked out to the Pier both boats were just leaving. So it was a long wait for them to return. It would be nice to see estimated arrival times in the app, then again I could have looked out our balcony and noticed where the boats were too.
- This was my first visit to the lodge since the new areas opened. We were hungry so went to eat first vs looking around. This turned out to be a poor choice as it was raining when we left so I did not really have a chance to take a lot of pictures.
- Geyser Point has a quick service counter and bar/lounge area. In the bar/lounge area you can order from the bar or from the counter service menu. We opted to take a table in the lounge area and order off the menu. In hindsight this was a very wise move as a storm blew in while we were eating. So we were well protected inside.
- We had a great meal at Geyser Point. It was standard counter service fair but slightly different than other locations. I had the chicken sandwich and waffle fries. Having a view of the lake and storm when it rolled through was nice too.
- The return boat to the Contemporary was even slower. The small launches were offline due to the recent storm (they said they are stopped for 30 minutes after a nearby lightning strike). So they were running one of the larger boats which took a while.
- While on the boat we were notified our afternoon visitors were behind scheduled, so I decided to head to the Magic Kingdom for a couple hours. Booked a FastPass+ for the Jungle Cruise as I walked to the park. Arrived and found the return line backed up well outside the queue. The standby was posted at 85 minutes. Since I had no where to be I decided to wait. It took quite a while to work my way through the queue. I noticed the Standby line was extremely short, under 30 guests on that side but the ratio seemed to allow only one group from that line per boat. So they were barely moving. I don’t understand why they cannot adjust the FastPass+ system and cut back on distributions for windows when it is over crowded on the return line. This seems to happen often at WDW.
- Watched the Festival of Fantasy Parade from Frontierland. With the Maleficent Dragon out due to damage from a fire they have replaced the unit with a standard float and added Princess Aurora to ride the float with the prince. The three fairies remained but all other performers were cut from the unit. This was a very disappointing solution. Hopefully they are working on another alternative or the dragon returns quickly..
- For dinner we decided to go to Disney Springs. As we boarded the bus I had second thoughts since it dawned on me it was a Friday evening but we still went. The bus ride was extremely long and we seemed to hit every light on the way.
- Decided to eat dinner at D-Luxe Burger. I had never visited before. We had great timing and there was no line when we entered. I thought it was a great burger. The fries were ok.. they were not that good as they cooled down.
- The bus ride back to the Contemporary was just as lengthy of a time proposition.
- The radar showed passing rain bands coming this evening but some gaps in between. So I decided to take advantage of one of the gaps and head to the Magic Kingdom and hope to see Happily Ever After. I waited about 30 minutes for the show and there were occasional drizzles but not much rain. The show started and the rain stopped. But then about 1/3 the way in it started again then the skies opened and a lot of water came down. When it got to the point I could not see the shells going off I decided to throw in the towel and head for the exit. I used the east side by-pass which was not crowded at all. The problem was the water. There were small rivers and lakes throughout and the rain was falling so hard it was splashing everywhere. Eventually I made it to the cover of the resort line queue and then boarded the first train that pulled in.
Pedometer Information for the day:
| Steps |
15,768 |
| Miles |
5.9 |
| Moderate | 11,088 |
| Walking Time |
99 |
Addition Blog Picture Posts from today:
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