Woke up at 7:30am to begin the process of showering and getting medically ready for the day. Beth described her feet as "pure soreness" and I had four blisters on his feet, including a rotten on my right heel. We then packed our bags and left the hotel room for the last time.
We checked out with the same cast member we checked in with and left our bags with the bellhop. We would have to return to Pop Century to take the Magical Express Bus back to the airport this evening.
We checked out with the same cast member we checked in with and left our bags with the bellhop. We would have to return to Pop Century to take the Magical Express Bus back to the airport this evening. But that's the evening, now it was time for fun. We got on the packed bus around 9:30am and made our way to Animal Kingdom. Our goal was to ride Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safari before our noon ADR at Yak & Yeti.
After entering the park we made a beeline to Expedition Everest and waited in the standby line for 10 minutes. Even like the thirdtime, Everest is so much damn fun. After getting off Everest, we made our way to the Africa section of the park. On the way, we caught part
of the show of DeVine.
We sat and watched DeVine as she did her moving plant thing around the path. She is one of the quasi-hidden gems of the Animal Kingdom.
We grabbed a fast pass for Kilimanjaro Safari and wandered the African pavilion. We browsed the shops and watched Tam Tam Congo perform a tribal drum show. We made our way to the safari a few minutes early and proceeded to wait for 20 minutes to get on the
trail. The safari was cool. We saw all types of animals and more importantly enjoyed getting off our feet with some breeze blowing our way.
The driver had a crisp dry humor which is nice for a change.
We made our way back over to Asia for our noon ADR at Yak & Yeti with the hunger of five tourists. We were seated right away in the main dinning area. Beth had a protector watching over her during lunch.
We had normal fare Chinese food. Decent food and decent portions. We did enjoy a "Big Bamboo."
It tasted like an alcoholic version of V8 Splash and I enjoyed it very much. When we left the restaurant I left my big clunky film camera sitting next to my chair.
After entering the park we made a beeline to Expedition Everest and waited in the standby line for 10 minutes. Even like the thirdtime, Everest is so much damn fun. After getting off Everest, we made our way to the Africa section of the park. On the way, we caught part
of the show of DeVine.
We sat and watched DeVine as she did her moving plant thing around the path. She is one of the quasi-hidden gems of the Animal Kingdom.We grabbed a fast pass for Kilimanjaro Safari and wandered the African pavilion. We browsed the shops and watched Tam Tam Congo perform a tribal drum show. We made our way to the safari a few minutes early and proceeded to wait for 20 minutes to get on the
trail. The safari was cool. We saw all types of animals and more importantly enjoyed getting off our feet with some breeze blowing our way.
The driver had a crisp dry humor which is nice for a change.We made our way back over to Asia for our noon ADR at Yak & Yeti with the hunger of five tourists. We were seated right away in the main dinning area. Beth had a protector watching over her during lunch.
We had normal fare Chinese food. Decent food and decent portions. We did enjoy a "Big Bamboo."
It tasted like an alcoholic version of V8 Splash and I enjoyed it very much. When we left the restaurant I left my big clunky film camera sitting next to my chair.We were out of the restaurant for about 45 seconds before realizing it was missing and I dashed (in his hobbling sort of way) back to restaurant. Our awesome waiter met me outside the entrance and handed over the camera saying, "How did you forget this beast?"
After apologizing to his camera for leaving her behind, I forced Beth back towards Everest so I could buy a "happy" yeti.
The happy Yeti now resides in my car and look for the continuing
adventures of the "happy" yeti.
At this point, we decide to leave Animal Kingdom and we take our time to leave for two reasons. One, we wanted to enjoy the immersive themeing one last time before we left and two; I was limping pretty badly now. It had to be the Disney magic that kept me from swearing on every step as he walked about.
We took a picture in front of the Tree of Life before leaving Animal Kingdom and getting on a bus to the Ticket & Transportation Center.
We had taken so many different methods of transportation around Disney World and the ferry to the magic Kingdom would be the last unique method. Unfortunately the ferry was pulling away as we walked up to the docks so we waited 15 minutes for it to come back. While waiting, a two-year-old British boy gave Beth "the eyes" whilesucking on his pacifier the whole time. Very funny.
We rode the ferry over and made our final game plan for the Disney trip. We wanted to relax and savior the magic, hit up one or two big rides and do some last minute shopping. Beth got fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain as Scott rested. We grabbed a Dole Whip float
(Scott) and a root beer float (Beth) and took refuge in the shade in Liberty Square. A high school marching band paraded by and some ducklings paraded by us as well. I made sure to not move my feet as to not squish any creatures moving about my sore feet.
We then relaxed on a cruise around the Rivers of America on the Liberty Belle. Beth slept for most of the 15-minute cruise and I barely stayed awake myself. After getting off the boat, Beth realized I somehow got bird poop on his shorts.
It cleaned off with no issue, but there was some discussion about why the birds were hating on me this trip.
We then walked over to the Hall of Presidents for a quick nap in the cold air conditioning. I kinda watched, but Beth was out like a light. We wandered a bit before going over to Big Thunder Mountain and using our fast pass. From Big Thunder Mountain, we took the Walt
Disney Railroad from Frontier land to Toontown Fair and onto the station at Main Street USA. I took his final picture with my Mamiya from the station platform that gave us a great view of Main Street with the Castle in the background.
We went to the emporium and did some last minute shopping.
Bought a few things and then walked over to the main street firehouse to see what patches they had on display. We then headed outside to see the flag retreat at 500pm. Disney, with the help of an Iraq-war USAF
veteran, retired the colors with patriotic fanfare. I hummed along when they played the Air Force song. It's a moving ceremony and we wish people would stop and watch instead of almost walking through the whole thing to try to get a picture.
Oh well.
I stood around and tried to take in the essence of Disney for the last few minutes there. The Pirate and Princess Party was starting up for the last moments we were there. Lots of kids dressed up as princesses and others screaming out ARGH in full pirate attire!
Beth literally dragged me out of the Magic Kingdom at 530 to get on the bus back to Pop Century. We arrived at the resort fairly quickly and made a beeline to the poolside bar to have a Beach Bum Beer (Scott) and a Captain's Mai Thai (Beth). After we finished our drinks, we picked our packages from the gift shop and our bags from the bellhop and got on Magical Express around 645pm for the long depressing ride away from the magic.
We arrived at MCO around 740pm and dropped our bags at Southwest. Had a lovely dinner of Sbarro pizza. Waited and waited for our plane to finally leave at 930pm. We got a row to ourselves and Beth slept for most of the ride home as I listened to "This American Life" dissecting how the sub-prime mortgage crisis happened. Exciting right?
We got home around midnight. Momma and Papa Bort picked us up and Momma did some serious surgery on my poor helpless feet. We then slept, oh boy did we sleep.
Total hours awake: 18 hours
Bye Bye Disney
See you when we have kids who are old enough to not need a stroller or leash or cry at the drop of a hat or are under 48" tall (hopefully they get the Bort tallness and dark skin) or randomly run into a crowd or walk into people with big cameras or just find a way to get under my feet like the damn dogs.
And they better not need as much sleep as Beth does!
After apologizing to his camera for leaving her behind, I forced Beth back towards Everest so I could buy a "happy" yeti.
The happy Yeti now resides in my car and look for the continuingadventures of the "happy" yeti.
At this point, we decide to leave Animal Kingdom and we take our time to leave for two reasons. One, we wanted to enjoy the immersive themeing one last time before we left and two; I was limping pretty badly now. It had to be the Disney magic that kept me from swearing on every step as he walked about.
We took a picture in front of the Tree of Life before leaving Animal Kingdom and getting on a bus to the Ticket & Transportation Center.
We had taken so many different methods of transportation around Disney World and the ferry to the magic Kingdom would be the last unique method. Unfortunately the ferry was pulling away as we walked up to the docks so we waited 15 minutes for it to come back. While waiting, a two-year-old British boy gave Beth "the eyes" whilesucking on his pacifier the whole time. Very funny.We rode the ferry over and made our final game plan for the Disney trip. We wanted to relax and savior the magic, hit up one or two big rides and do some last minute shopping. Beth got fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain as Scott rested. We grabbed a Dole Whip float
(Scott) and a root beer float (Beth) and took refuge in the shade in Liberty Square. A high school marching band paraded by and some ducklings paraded by us as well. I made sure to not move my feet as to not squish any creatures moving about my sore feet.
We then relaxed on a cruise around the Rivers of America on the Liberty Belle. Beth slept for most of the 15-minute cruise and I barely stayed awake myself. After getting off the boat, Beth realized I somehow got bird poop on his shorts.
It cleaned off with no issue, but there was some discussion about why the birds were hating on me this trip.We then walked over to the Hall of Presidents for a quick nap in the cold air conditioning. I kinda watched, but Beth was out like a light. We wandered a bit before going over to Big Thunder Mountain and using our fast pass. From Big Thunder Mountain, we took the Walt
Disney Railroad from Frontier land to Toontown Fair and onto the station at Main Street USA. I took his final picture with my Mamiya from the station platform that gave us a great view of Main Street with the Castle in the background.
We went to the emporium and did some last minute shopping.
Bought a few things and then walked over to the main street firehouse to see what patches they had on display. We then headed outside to see the flag retreat at 500pm. Disney, with the help of an Iraq-war USAFveteran, retired the colors with patriotic fanfare. I hummed along when they played the Air Force song. It's a moving ceremony and we wish people would stop and watch instead of almost walking through the whole thing to try to get a picture.
Oh well.I stood around and tried to take in the essence of Disney for the last few minutes there. The Pirate and Princess Party was starting up for the last moments we were there. Lots of kids dressed up as princesses and others screaming out ARGH in full pirate attire!
Beth literally dragged me out of the Magic Kingdom at 530 to get on the bus back to Pop Century. We arrived at the resort fairly quickly and made a beeline to the poolside bar to have a Beach Bum Beer (Scott) and a Captain's Mai Thai (Beth). After we finished our drinks, we picked our packages from the gift shop and our bags from the bellhop and got on Magical Express around 645pm for the long depressing ride away from the magic.We arrived at MCO around 740pm and dropped our bags at Southwest. Had a lovely dinner of Sbarro pizza. Waited and waited for our plane to finally leave at 930pm. We got a row to ourselves and Beth slept for most of the ride home as I listened to "This American Life" dissecting how the sub-prime mortgage crisis happened. Exciting right?
We got home around midnight. Momma and Papa Bort picked us up and Momma did some serious surgery on my poor helpless feet. We then slept, oh boy did we sleep.
Total hours awake: 18 hours
Bye Bye Disney
See you when we have kids who are old enough to not need a stroller or leash or cry at the drop of a hat or are under 48" tall (hopefully they get the Bort tallness and dark skin) or randomly run into a crowd or walk into people with big cameras or just find a way to get under my feet like the damn dogs.
And they better not need as much sleep as Beth does!
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