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Are You Ever Coming Home?...No! I am playing with Wizards,Farkles & Sparkling Friends


jenseib
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Mickey headed over and it was my turn.

 

36090269121_3e2143c78a_z.jpgak70by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

And then Donald.

 

36183579666_858813cda0_z.jpgak71by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

And our waitress stopped over again and took one of the 3 of us.

 

36183579366_d0d5ab5fba_z.jpgak72by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

Time for some desserts!

 

36090270311_b865081d28_z.jpgak62by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

It had been looking like rain for a while and of course as we were finishing dessert it started to pour. Now we were not upset about the rain itself. We were hot and the rain would feel a bit decent, but I didn’t want to get soaked. But what really was the annoying part is we had planned to go and take the bus back to POR after lunch to take a little rest and freshen up and with this rain people were all running towards the buses to leave. UGH!

 

We finished up our late lunch and paid the bill. This is one pricey meal. Again, we were ONLY doing it for the River of Lights package. Claire is over the character meals for the most part right now, and honestly, for us, the food choices were not desirable…BUT of the 3 choices to choose from for the ROL package, this one is the one I knew would work the best for us.

 

We used the restroom and then we put our ponchos on and covered our valuables and headed out into the pouring rain….and I mean POURING!

 

The water wasn’t draining fast enough and we were walking through some puddles that were a couple of inches deep. ICK!

We made our way out of the park and headed to the bus. I totally misread the sign and started down the wrong lane and then had to back track again.

 

We made it to the bus stop and got in line and soon were on a very very full bus. We had to stand, which was fine, but it was the longest bus ride ever. We talked with the people around us. One lady had some anytime fastpasses for AK that would expire in a few days, but they were not coming back to AK again. She asked if I wanted them and I said sure. I was hoping they would be good in Pandora, but of course they weren’t. It was my understanding that they got them from Flight of Passage as they were about to load and the ride went down. I would have thought the fastpasses would have gotten them back on that ride if that was the reason they got them, but they specifically said they were not good in Pandora.

 

I swear our bus driver took the longest possible route back to POR. LOL. It just seemed to take forever..and we were standing with wet feet and shoes….at least I had good conversation.

 

We had to stop at French Quarter first, then our bus stop was to be 2nd after that…..but the bus driver took a poll and asked how many were going to each bus stop and that ended up making my bus stop now 4th I believe. UGH!

 

We finally did get back to Riverside though. I think once the bus left Animal Kingdom, the actual ride time to get to our bus stop was over 40 minutes.

 

We headed back to the room and crashed. We took our wet shoes off and laid them out to start the drying process. We were not too wet, but I think I changed my shirt.

 

Now we were tired and it was a long day already from the heat, but we had the ROL package and I really wanted to see the show. I would not really have a chance …at least in my mind at this point….to see them after our cruise…so it was now or never. It rained off and on and I decided to head up to the lobby and ask if they knew if the show would be cancelled. I also had my docs (which I never opened because I didn’t need anything in it) at the desk waiting for me, so I picked those up too.

 

35049300474_49e5938221_z.jpgpor7by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35719623162_dd0ffbf214_z.jpgpor8by Jenseib, on Flickr

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36097255571_bb50bf9904_z.jpgpor83by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36097255411_5093c0c837_z.jpgpor84by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36065031322_e364a4b1dc_z.jpgpor85by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

He called over to Animal Kingdom and they said at this point the show is going on. They wouldn’t make the call till 15 minutes before the actual show and it really only would be called off if lightening was in the area. Great! We would head back in a little bit then.

He handed me my documents envelope as well and I headed back out.

 

 

36065030872_80b767b9a3_z.jpgpor86by Jenseib, on Flickr

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36065029942_a8e86f2a02_z.jpgpor96by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36065029762_32c4003c8b_z.jpgpor97by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

And then it started to sprinkle again.

 

36065029292_45542af002_z.jpgpor98by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35049300564_f9a67e403a_z.jpgpor6by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

When I got back to the room, we got ready to head out once again. We then headed to the bus stop to wait. We did not have good bus mojo this trip. We always seemed to just miss the bus. Claire actually forgot something and had to run back to the room and a bus came and went. UGH! So we waited quite a while for the next one.

 

The sun started shining and we were happy and just about to take off our ponchos when we arrived at Animal Kingdom….good thing we didn’t…we got another rain.

 

36090608511_f1dc63dd10_z.jpgak73by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

It was like the skies knew we had just walked in and wanted to be sure we knew it was the boss. We did find some people enjoying the rain and dancing like they didn’t have a care in the world.

 

 

35832298600_958702681f_z.jpgak63by Jenseib, on Flickr

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One guy really had some moves.

 

35832299620_e81955d93f_z.jpgak64by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

We found the spot to enter ROL, but it wasn’t quite open yet, so we headed off to the restroom and each got a pop and then they were just opening when we got back. They told us the concrete seats tend to be dryer than the wood ones, so we headed to those.

 

36138006241_8a19db29ac_z.jpgrol40by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

We really did get a good seat and we didn’t mind waiting for the show to start.

 

35877707710_274a4d1541_z.jpgrol41by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

There were 2 shows tonight and we were at the first one.The rain really scared people away. This stadium did not fill up, which is rare. Often they have to turn standby people away and tonight most of those sections were open as well as the fastpass and dining package sections.

 

35447723603_2fcb82d0f2_z.jpgrol3by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

Of course we would have never known that a few months ago when we made our dining reservation.

 

35447723673_2ac648d683_z.jpgrol2by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

Claire asked if this boat was part of the show….I toldher I thought it was just a decoration….I was wrong. LOL.

 

 

35877707450_c74eb77d1f_z.jpgrol43by Jenseib, on Flickr

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As we waited for the show to start they would shine shadows of animals walking across the tree line. It was almost impossible to get a good picture, but it was neat.

 

35439507914_6de75fbc70_z.jpgrol44by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35877707130_7cbb6132c2_z.jpgrol45by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

As you can see, the stands across the way are not full at all.

 

36085164132_5d5599e25e_z.jpgrol1by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

As show time got closer, they started putting some floats in place and some were lit up.

 

36085163802_c381e1afa3_z.jpgrol4by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36085163752_4e0114ceac_z.jpgrol5by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36085161382_e43168bc3f_z.jpgrol6by Jenseib, on Flickr

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The show then started. I did video a lot of it, but I think I missed the very beginning …I think about 11 minutes of it. I took a lot of pictures too.

 

35877707020_b03fcaba57_z.jpgrol47by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

video

 

As soon as the boats started to move, Claire was quick to let me know she was right and I was wrong!

 

35439507404_90e88002fa_z.jpgrol48by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35877706850_39128fe4bd_z.jpgrol49by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36085163542_357336d927_z.jpgrol7by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

 

35877706720_5280e60631_z.jpgrol50by Jenseib, on Flickr

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36138006821_fd945b0855_z.jpgrol37by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36138006581_a8343c12d2_z.jpgrol38by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36138006461_95988dd612_z.jpgrol39by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

We thought it was amazing and were so glad we came back and braved the rain to watch it. It was worth waiting the extra year to see it. I would probably compare it to World of Color at California Adventure, but still very different.

 

We looked at the app and Flight of Passage was now showing about a 60 minute wait. Let’shead that way…..except wait…we have those fastpasses so let’s use those to ride Expedition Everest in the dark! I have NEVER been to Animal Kingdom past sunset before and I have always wanted toride EE in the dark.

 

We quickly got in our car and were off and Claire got scared. She said that the ride was way more scary in the dark than in the day. I was kind of surprised…but she had a death grip on my arm the whole ride and it kept getting pinched as we moved around. I told her to let go, but she wasn’t going to. LOL.

 

36090607581_b8c7da14a1_z.jpgak76by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

It was super fun!!! We loved it and would have done it again, but we wanted to get over to Pandora.

 

36090607911_d5dd052f65_z.jpgak75by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

 

36090608211_6f77571d1d_z.jpgak74by Jenseib, on Flickr

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Taking the new back way over there.

 

36037876472_b83e30fda6_z.jpgpandora111by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

The app had updated to 80 minutes while we were in line for EE, and still showed 80 minutes, but when we arrived it was showing 120 minutes at the actual line. That’s 2 hours. UGH! Claire said she would be willing to wait that long, but I was tired and I knew we had a busy day tomorrow heading over to the port and boarding the ship. In the end I said no. I just couldn’t see waiting 2-3 hours since we had already rode it once.

 

We did walk around and I tried to take pictures, but my camera and phone could not capture the beauty of the place at night.

 

35400728943_9295d75b89_z.jpgpandora112by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35400732273_d34cb848a2_z.jpgpandora113by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35400732083_2d7473ed86_z.jpgpandora114by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35400731833_b0eae5a259_z.jpgpandora115by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

 

36139154476_f84ea1434f_z.jpgpandora105by Jenseib, on Flickr

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Everyone I had talked to said we had to see Pandora at night….they raved just how beautiful it was. I did think it was beautiful, but I was actually underwhelmed. Sadly, I think all the hype others gave it made me expect more. Don’t get me wrong, it really is pretty, but I expected more.

 

35400731433_be51500fb4_z.jpgpandora116by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36139154896_77f26855d0_z.jpgpandora104by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

The Navi River Journey was showing about a 30 minute wait, so we decided to hop in line for that.

 

35400731163_69ddc4e655_z.jpgpandora117by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

We started talking to the family behind us. We found out they only live about an hour from us. Such a small world! They knew some dairy farmers that I believe my husband knows and we talked about some local things. They were such a nice family.

 

The ride was great and I did not take many pictures this time around so that I could just enjoy it all.

 

36037877002_7de7a40e3a_z.jpgpandora106by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35400730573_19e817d0a1_z.jpgpandora119by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36070321831_300f65b9e0_z.jpgpandora120by Jenseib, on Flickr

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36037876872_61f2273915_z.jpgpandora107by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36070324081_f331dfa546_z.jpgpandora121by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35400733603_6e451ce33a_z.jpgpandora108by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

We just walked around to take it all in and see the different lighted areas.

 

35400733193_7cf6231b10_z.jpgpandora109by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

Again, I can’t stress enough how bad my pictures turned out. This is one place where it would be worth it to bring my 35mm camera.

 

35400732713_ebd0887df4_z.jpgpandora110by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35400729633_8e884b5b5b_z.jpgpandora126by Jenseib, on Flickr

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We went into the gift shop to look around.

 

36070323651_964099c408_z.jpgpandora123by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

You can make your own avatar doll. I heard later that these babies are like 75 plus dollars!!!!

 

35400730033_5f198fcbfc_z.jpgpandora124by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

After looking around a bit….and cooling off…we headed back outside.

 

35400729383_cb9e55dbf6_z.jpgpandora127by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35400729143_91d1625864_z.jpgpandora128by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36070320481_6ec8500ff3_z.jpgpandora129by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

The extra Magic hours for Pandora were going to start shortly, but we decided to just head out. We didn’t want to wait that long for FoP and we did the River ride and looked around, so it was better to head back.

 

I was hungry and wanted a snack…and found nothing but popcorn available, which was not sounding good, so we headed out to catch the bus.

 

 

36138573651_5af2f7e0a2_z.jpgak77by Jenseib, on Flickr

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35877733220_298542cf25_z.jpgak78by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

We made our way to the bus stop and it was just a short ride back this time…Yay! I still wanted a snack, so I went in search of a vending machine and found one not too far off. It was in this little room with glass French doors. I got a few things and turned around to leave and there was a guy right there at the door. It scared the crap out of me. It was like a scene from a horror movie. Luckily it wasn’t a horror movie and he was just trying to come in to get some ice....which I am not sure how he planned to do that with me in the room as it was really small.

 

 

I headed back to the room and kind of packed up our suitcases and got our clothes out for tomorrow. I also planned to do a load of laundry in the morning, so I gathered our things together for that. I then told Claire it was time to turn off electronics and go to sleep.

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Day 4, June 28,2017, Boarding the Fantasy

 

Today was the day! This was the day this whole trip had been based on….cruising for 10 nights! Woohoooo!!!!

 

I had been messaging between all my friends over the course of the last few days and also had been following the facebook group. You know that rain we had yesterday….it was really really bad in some areas and many of the people who had flown in yesterday were having trouble landing. Some flights had been redirected to Tampa and then either had to have the passengers get a rental car to get to Orlando (or Port Canaveral) or they refueled and waited it out and then flew to Orlando once the storms passed. Others said they had been circling the airport for an hour or 2 before they could land. It made me really happy we had come in the day before.

 

I got up early and showered and gathered the laundry I wanted to do and set off to find the laundry room

 

35724479090_c6c0a8d7fc_z.jpgpor41by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

It was basically just around the corner.

 

36115423155_cd11db6165_z.jpgpor42by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36115423055_767d3219bf_z.jpgpor43by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36115422945_ef09ea6827_z.jpgpor44by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

I headed inside and started my load.

 

36115422815_f24c73124f_z.jpgpor45by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

Just an FYI, they no longer take cash....you must use a credit card to pay for the machines.

 

 

36117897425_2c607554d2_z.jpgpor46by Jenseib, on Flickr

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35309600153_12a33c07a0_z.jpgpor47by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

I assume this was the towel cart for the pool that just had not been pushed out yet for the day.

 

36117897195_2f0f84e932_z.jpgpor48by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

And there is a vending machine to purchase your laundry needs if you didn’t bring any with you.

 

35972887242_06ef0b4a62_z.jpgpor66by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35277404844_2ddf65634e_z.jpgpor49by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

If you want to sit with your laundry….you can snack as well.

 

35948888442_5d89ba990f_z.jpgpor50by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

I headed back to the room and got everything kind of reorganized and packed. I got Claire up and told her to get showered and ready for the day and I went off and put my clothes in the dryer when the time was right.

Then I headed up front to wait for the Alamo shuttle to take me to get my car.

 

 

35948888152_1626e6efbe_z.jpgpor51by Jenseib, on Flickr

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35948887902_6c13eb4eee_z.jpgpor52by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

35948887622_e59e94a036_z.jpgpor53by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

I went up about 15 minutes or so early. I just had a fear of them coming early and me missing the shuttle.

 

35984107161_e7bffd12aa_z.jpgpor54by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

So I took a few pictures while I waited.

 

35984106951_19765c24f4_z.jpgpor55by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

36118458605_09f3b20c92_z.jpgpor56by Jenseib, on Flickr

 

 

36118458445_e41d8fd50d_z.jpgpor57by Jenseib, on Flickr

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