Yet Another Hotel...and Some Animals...and Some Shows...(Day 9-3/13)

We slept SO good last night.  None of us wanted to get up.  Unfortunately, not only did we get in late the night before, today is Daylight Savings, so, we lost another hour.  We REALLY loved the resort and wanted to stay and enjoy it.  But, we packed up instead and headed out yet again.

We woke up so late, it was lunch time by the time we packed up and left the hotel.  So, we decided to hit Steak 'N Shake one more time.  It did not live up to our expectations.  The waitress kept complaining that they were running so behind because they were severely understaffed.  One guy even came in from the drive-through and said he'd been waiting for his food for over 20 minutes!!  When we were finally able to get out of there, we could see at least 6 employees sitting outside smoking and chatting.  Really?  We headed out to Port Orleans-Riverside resort in hopes of checking-in.  But, no such luck.

So, we parked the van, grabbed our stuff, and caught a bus to Animal Kingdom.  Dave and Owen took off to wait out the line at Expedition Everest and Liv and I walked around Asia checking out all the animals.  Dave and Owen took WAY longer than anticipated and it was SO hot and humid!!  We kept hoping for rain because it was so stifling.

Liv and I headed off to do the Jungle Trek while Owen and Dave went to wait in line for the Mount Everest ride.  It was so stinking hot and miserable and their 30 minute wait was over an HOUR!!  Liv and I were bored outta our minds and dying.

Apparently, Owen wasn't a fan of the ride, you can kind of get that from his photo, hahaha!!!

Dave really wanted to do the Jungle Trek, so, Liv and I headed off to find Pocahontas.  Unfortunately, with her mom's sense of direction, we got lost.  So, we stopped to visit with Baloo and King Louie instead.

When Dave found us, we realized that Pocahontas wasn't even in the park for another couple of hours.  So, we stopped for some family photos and then we opted to meet Goofy and Pluto on our way out of the park.  Unfortunately, it took FOREVER.  So, Dave took the kids for a spin on the Triceratops Spin while I held their place in line.  They both love that ride.

We hadn't heard from the hotel still and we had Fast Passes to make at Hollywood Studios, so, we hopped a bus over to the other park.  Liv and I headed straight for the Disney Jr. Stage show and Dave and Owen for Indiana Jones.

We were really afraid that we'd be late to the show since it was all the way at the back of the park.  But, we actually arrived about 5 minutes before our fast pass started.  So, we hopped in line to meet Sofia the First.

The Disney Jr. show was more interactive than I remember.  Liv's doing the Hot Dog dance with the Mickey Mouse Club gang in the picture below.  She LOVED the show.  I did NOT enjoy it...they make you sit on the floor and then they bring the puppets up out of a 3 foot high stage.  So, unless they're standing at the front of the stage, you can barely see the characters...such a poor approach.  Don't know why there's been no effort to improve it.  It's a very popular show with the teeny crowd.

Dave and Owen's Indiana Jones show started 20 minutes after ours did, so, I figured we had time to kill.  So, we took advantage of it and Liv met Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates and Doc McStuffins.  She was thrilled.  We debated stopping for a picture with Minnie, but, the line was long and we decided that would be pushing our luck.

Unfortunately for us, we still had a LOT of time to wait.  So, we  got a snack, an ice cream cone for Liv that looked too big for her...but, she proved me wrong...and a cinnamon and sugar funnel cake for me that I had trouble saving enough to share with Dave and Owen!

Our next stop was Star Tours, although, Dave opted out of it.  It's one of those rides where you sit in a movie theatre style seat that's on a platform that shifts along with a 3D movie.  First of all, this one wasn't 3D last time and second, they've updated the entire show with new characters from Star Wars 7 (or so I've been told) and new twists and turns.  It was INTENSE and for the first time, I felt a little nauseous.  There were a lot of these shows last time and I LOVED them...it may have gotten a little too real for me though! ;O)  Of course, it would have been a lot more enjoyable if I didn't have to keep reminding Liv to close her eyes when it got to be too much for her.  She toughed it out like a man, but, she definitely did more than she was comfortable with while we were there.

After the ride, we had lunch at ABC commissary and then we decided to do a little looking around.

Because of the weird Tiered Fast Pass System at Hollywood Studios (actually, this annoying system is at all the parks except Magic Kingdom), our last Fast Passes were Aerosmith for Dave and Owen, and the Fantastic show for me and Liv.

After the Expedition ride at Animal Kingdom, Owen was hesitant to ride any more extreme rides and decided that Aerosmith would be too much.

So, we ended up all heading over to the Fantasmic show.  Because Liv and I had a Fast Pass however, we split up and separated before the show.  On top of that, my cell phone was long since dead.  Liv and I ended up with some pretty crappy seats on the far left of the stadium, but, down close to the action and without any big heads in front of her.  Unfortunately, she decided she had to go to the bathroom RIGHT before the show started and we had nobody to save our seats without Dave and Owen.  Since there aren't actually any Fast Pass seats, the hoards of people flooding in took our seats.  We ended up at the very back of the stadium in the overflow area and could see nothing happening down on the water, just the fireworks.  I was SO mad at her since I had BEGGED her to try right before we went into the show!!!  I do not like this show in the first place and would have been far happier riding the rides while everyone else watched the show.  Liv seemed to enjoy it regardless though, so I guess that was the important part.

Afterwards, we waited out the crowd and Dave and Owen found us at the back of the stadium.  We had our hearts set on watching the Star Wars themed fireworks, Symphony in the Stars.  It was worth the wait, it was UNBELIEVABLE!!!  Definitely a not-miss.

But, we were really glad to go home afterwards and check out our new digs. 

Based on something the girl said at check-in, we were suspicious that we had been upgraded again.  When we got to our room we were not disappointed!!  We had been upgraded to a "royal" rom.  SO much fun!!!  The only difference is in the decorations and the fireworks headboard....but, that added about $40/night to the bill, not something I could justify!!!  So thrilled that we got it anyway!

Pictures to come...

High:  84
Low:  79

Steps Taken:  19,042
Distance:  8.2 miles