The Second Weekend

Friday night I left Tampa after a week of work and headed to Orlando for my second weekend in the bubble!

Last weekend was Saratoga, this weekend was Beach Club. I checked in and headed to the room. Did a quick change and quick pack of my backpack, and off I went to MK! It was going to be open until 2 a.m. -- could I last that long?!!

Hopped on the train when I got in to avoid the Main St madness. Got off at Toontown, and watched the train, Roy -- great looking train -- head backwards into the roundhouse for the night. Next time I'm in at WDW, I am definitely going to do the behind-the-scenes train tour!

Then took the scenic path to Tomorrowland. Did TTA, Carousel of Progress (it's not that bad), Buzz and Philharmagic three times! I always forget about Phil when I am asked what my favorite attraction is -- and that is officially it!! Then Thunder, Haunted and a Fast Pass for Peter Pan at 1 a.m.! Left the park at about 1:30.

Slept in the next morning, but still managed a 2-mile run out in front of Y&B. Good start to the day! Epcot in the morning - Nemo, Crush, Soarin', Imagination. Maelstrom was down, bummer.

Then bus to AKL, then bus to AK. Walked right up to the Rainforest bar for lunch, no ADR. You can almost always do that if there's one or two of you. Delicious and nice and cool! I had a big salad, although I love the barbecue wrap. Also managed to turn down dessert!

My mission for AK was to stop and smell the roses, I mean banana leaves, and get some pics -- just try to "see" more details -- and to see the parade, finally! In 10-12 trips to AK, I had never managed to see the parade -- and I love parades!

Strolled thru the Oasis, now called Discovery Island. Headed over to Dino-land. I really like the theming -- I think it's fun and funny. Then over to the bird show -- wonderful, wonderful show -- catch it if you've missed it!! Chatted with a Taiwan cast member while waiting for parade. I liked the parade, it had good music, the cast in the parade seemed to be having fun -- but as usual, it was blazin' hot and steamy at AK!

Then I headed over to Asia to see the tigers -- love them, could watch them for hours. For some reasons the gorillas make me sad, but I just love the tigers.

Mission accomplished! Back to BC for a quick dip in the pool, then back to the Studios for a few hours. Unfortunately, since it was about 8 p.m. when I got there (open til 10), the Streetmosphere characters were done for the day, and I never saw any Star Wars characters out either. And Toy Story Mania had a 90-minute wait, with all FPs gone for the day. So I meandered for awhile, did Little Mermaid, and then headed back via boat.

Sunday morning -- Father's Day -- hope it was a good one for all you dads! Today I ran 3 miles, first over to Epcot and then back in front of Y&B, then on to DHS and back and then along the boardwalk in front of Boardwalk, and back to Y&B. Sounds like it should be a 100 miles, doesn't it?!! It wasn't, it was 3 miles. (I set out hoping to do 5, but it was getting hot and sunny by the time I did 3.)

Finished packing, loaded up the car and drove to Poly to have a late breakfast at Kona. Quite yummy and no guilt. Then monorail to MK. It was fun to watch all the dads in particular today, and there were lots of mentions of Happy Fathers Day by a lot of the CM announcers at various spots.

Did TTA, Fantasyland carousel, the Tiki Room and had a Dole Whip to end the weekend!

Now I'm at the aiport, about to head back to Michigan and the real world.

And back to the real world of training!!