Then about mid-afternoon the sun came out and it was another beautiful day in San Miguel. So no post.
Instead, here's today's report on our 6 days at WDW following the 14-night TransAtlantic crossing.
Saturday
We rode to WDW via a private SUV which had been retained by two of the folks on the same cruise. A pleasant ride directly to our hotel, the Boardwalk Villas. Unfortunately, the bellhop put both of our sets of luggage on the same cart and when we needed to separate them [our villa was ready; our friends' villa was not], there were issues. Being the folks that we are, we sort of melted into the background, made our way to our villa, unpacked, and headed to the parks!
Food & Wine began the day before we arrived, so Epcot was packed. Still we made the circuit of the World Showcase and had a great time. Having Epcot within walking distance makes it a great temptation and we visited several times during our stay. After dinner at Chefs de France, where I spoke sharply to our waiter when he tried to upgrade the specific order I had placed in my high-school French, we again strolled around the World.
However, we were too pooped the first day off the ship and even left the park before IllumiNations! A first.
Sunday
Today was Mickey's Not So Scary Hallowe'en Party at the Magic Kingdom. Even though the whole park was to be open for the party, we managed to see most of it during the afternoon. We also managed to leave our Club 33 ball caps on the Thunder Mtn Mine Train ride, and it took a quick trip back to recover them - which we did, thanks to the helpful Cast Members.
The Party was crowded - about 10,000 folks even in a big park like Magic Kingdom is a lot. There was a special Villains show in front of Cinderella's Castle and the Hallowe'en fireworks [Hallo-Wishes] as well as a special MNSSHP parade (and lots of folks in rather imaginative costumes).
Disney had given free tickets to each of the participants in the Marathon earlier that day. Glad we did it; not sure we'd repeat it unless we were with folks who hadn't seen it. Dinner was a Thanksgiving meal (with all the refills you wanted) at the Liberty Tree Tavern. Surprisingly tasty (skipped the mac-and-cheese that was included on the menu for the kids). Missed meeting up with friends and table mates from the XAtlantic for the MNSSHP.
Oh, yeah - on Sunday morning we had breakfast at Kouzzina's with a friend from St Louis with whom we had sailed on Disney previously. She was at the World for a conference that began the next day and had emailed us about seeing Illuminations together on Saturday night. We were already at the party, so suggested breakfast Sunday instead. She was staying at either the Swan or Dolphin (both walking distance from the Boardwalk) so we caught up on everything happening in our families as well as enjoying a delicious breakfast.
Monday
Today we went to Epcot to visit with friends from Sunshine Rewards - a group that Michael was associated with and with whom we had sailed on a SR cruise. Before meeting up with them, we headed into the Future World section of Epcot and rode the boat ride in The Land and Spaceship Earth (love Judi Dench's narration).
Everyone goes to WDW at some time! We sat around with 6 SR friends in front of the French area and then moved to the British area, drinking Grey Goose slushes, martinis, and eventually ale from about noon to 4:00.
During this time Rick Howard, the owner of the travel agency we use for our Disney cruises, found us at Epcot on his way home to Vero Beach, so we had a quickie reunion in the midst of our SR reunion.
Dinner tonight was at Sanaa in the new Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge. Getting there on time was a bit tight, but we made it with a moment or two to spare. Of course, our table wasn't quite ready, so we headed into the bar where they did have Hendrick's gin (just no cucumber spears, for which the barkeep apologized).
The meal itself was fabuloso! A great wait person, super food, and a table next to a window onto the savannah so we could watch the animals (giraffes, antelopes, zebras) stroll around munching on the vegetation as we were munching on our dinner: our choice of 3 types of flat breads with our choice of toppings; three salads; Michael had chicken; I had two 'cooked-in-gravy' selections, with appropriate wines. Sorry - no room for desserts!
Getting around WDW resort-to-resort takes some doing. Transportation is set up for resort-to-park, so going from the Boardwalk to Animal Kingdom Lodge involved finding a park that was open late-ish on Sunday night - Hollywood Studios in this case, for which we took the boat from Boardwalk, then the bus to Kidani Village. We used Downtown Disney as our transfer point on the way home.
Tuesday
After walking over to the Hollywood Studios Park earlier in the day, riding the Hollywood Tower of Terror, and having a nosh at the Starring Rolls cafe, we decided to take the boat back to the Boardwalk.
The Flying Fish is hardly a cafe, and the service and food is impeccable. Imagine: me in a seafood restaurant - but the scallops in my appetizer were very, very fresh (courtesy of FedEx) and the rest of the meal was just as good. We even tried to finish a dessert between us, but it was tough!
We finally made it to IllumiNations tonight, another short walk to Epcot's World Showcase. A bit breezy and cool, but it brought me to tears as it always does. Even with those pesky folks trying to horn into our primo viewing space with their video camera. I hope Michael's jostlings made their tape annoying to watch!
Wednesday
Earlier we headed over to Animal Kingdom - one of our favorites. Like so many of our visits, we did not try to do everything commando-style. In fact, we only rode the Kilimanjaro Safari, had lunch at the Yak & Yeti restaurant (we may only eat the appetizers next time, they were soooo good), poked around a little (Michael found his T-Shirt: 'I rode Expedition Everest and screamed like a little girl!', then we headed home for a swim (Michael) and a nap (me).
Wednesday's dinner was at Shula's Steak House at the Dolphin Hotel. After a less-than-wonderful dinner at the Yacht Club Steak House on our last visit, we had heard that Shula's was the better of the two. And that $25-dollar coupon didn't hurt. They have no trouble charging for their food, but it was great - and the steak portions were huge. We should all be linebackers on Shula's Miami Dolphins!
We finally saw the scheduled fireworks show at the Magic Kingdom - Wishes - from the lounge at the top of Bay Lake Towers. [Don't ask how we got in without being registered guests.] And the margarita made with peppered tequila was great even if my throat continued to burn most of the night!
Thursday
Back to Epcot where we did Soarin' and Mission: Space, using the 'easy' ride - remember when the woman died after the extreme version? - and lunch at the new Villa Napoli restaurant in the Italian pavilion, would you believe? Real service, great food again, and wonderful sangria!
This was supposed to be dinner at the Brown Derby in the Hollywood Studios Park but turned out to be the Tequila Cave in the Mexico pavilion.
Friday
Today we tried breakfast at Kouzzina again. Same great food; not so wonderful service.
And then on to the airport. We had packed on Thursday when we needed to move from our 1-bedroom villa to a smaller studio - but at least they put us in a Boardwalk view for the same number of points as the garden view room we reserved - so getting ready to leave was a simple task.
At the airport we checked in for our non-stop flight to Mexico City and were on our way in a timely fashion with only about 30 - 35 people on the whole plane!
[Many thanks to Michael who helped me sort out our week's activities for this post.]
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