What? That’s horrible!
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Would love to know if 4 parks kicked your arses. That’s the part I didn’t expect. It felt fine in the moment, but took two days to recover. 
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Yep. Including tax. Gross right?
More to come on that
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Was that G+ and $LL for Tron and GotG? If so, then not bad, if not, then bleh!
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She said for two people, so I assume the Genie+ price was $31 including tax (I’m guessing ~$28 pre-tax).
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Bleh!
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G+
ILL for GotG was $31.96 and Tron $42.60 
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Bleh!
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$42 for one ride? That’s insane! Count me out.
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What an epic day!!
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Yeah if we weren’t short on time I would not have done it. I still don’t mind paying for GotG; usually I buy the ILL and wait in the VQ line so I can ride twice. But that ride is light years better than Tron.
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Day 3
No alarm. Coma sleep for about 10 hours. When we finally woke up I hobbled to the minibar to heat up a breakfast sandwich. DH declared I looked like Quasimodo the way I was moving. No blisters for either of us but some hot spots and general foot, leg and back fatigue.
We headed down to the pool around 11 am, and I was happy there were lounge chairs available. The construction on the main building made for a less than optimal view but honestly, it’s not a big deal to us. We don’t spend a lot of time gazing at the landscape.
We did a lot of nothing for a few hours. I did a tour of the shops and picked up some gifts. Then, we headed to the Poly for our very important goal for the day: Trader Sams. We arrived about 1:30 pm to get in line with about a dozen or so people in front of us. DH volunteered to keep our spot in line while I checked the shops for anything I might “need”. During my lobby/shop tour Chip appeared! It was so neat. I absolutely love surprise character appearances. Closer to 2:00 pm I mobile ordered Captain Cooks, determined to get the Coconut Curry Meatballs I ordered but did not receive in August.They took our name down at 2:15 pm, we picked up our food (the nachos for DH) and got a seat outside at the tables that become Trader Sam’s Tiki Terrace.
The meatballs were really, really good and upon finishing I started panicking about our 5:45 pm dinner at Narcoosee’s. What if I’m not hungry by then? DH was surprised by how huge his nachos were as well. We mulled it over and decided Narcoosee’s would be another time. I hoped I could digest enough to have a drink at Trader Sam’s!
TS called us at 3:03 pm and we were seated at a table with another party of 3. Our drinks were very good (and very strong, a rarity in WDW) and we loved the bar. We got to see every interactive drink effect and DH was crestfallen when they were out of the Zombie mugs to take home. I got my little Tiki guy mug though! We both had eyes for the Nautilus mug and it’s really great that they were out of that too.
For the first time as an AP, I left DH to get home on his own accord. I decided to go to MK real quick. I had been looking all day for the perfect pair of ears to give away to a liner and none had felt right! I arrived at MK at 5 pm and it was crazzzy there with partygoers arriving. Good news, non-partygoers we directed to a specific set of taps so getting in was simple. I headed to the Emporium and was back at the boat dock at 5:20 pm, ears acquired.
I took this picture waiting for my boat to depart for GF. I was dying at the guy in grey “supervising” the docking. If any of you follow “thedad” on IG, it felt like that.
Back in the room we used our ample seating area for some game time! DH bought Critters at War a couple weeks back and we had played once at home. He smoked me. I’m happy to report I came back and used the magic of Mickey to fuel my victory!
Now we were considering our next feeding. I tried to get on the walkup list for GFC, but it kept giving me an error, so we just walked over. They took our name and texted us less than 10 minutes later.
This chicken. I am so hungry looking at it again. The vinaigrette is a lovely contrast to the buttery bready goodness of the chicken and the potatoes were also delicious. I almost finished it! Paired with a Yeungling because Florida (we don’t have it in IL). DH had a steak which he really enjoyed - it was cooked truly rare. I’d go back to GFC in a second.
Our final event for the day was our beloved Electric Water Pageant. I liked this photo I took from the boat dock at GF. And this, my liners, was our rest day. Tomorrow, Wild Africa Trek and the unfortunate end of our magical getaway.
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We have it in Indiana - does the distribution stop there?
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The states in red are ones served by DG Yuengling. The ones in brown are supplied by The Yuengling Company (a company which is a joint venture between DG Yuengling and Miller-Coors)
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Excellent, excellent map. We associate it with Florida because the first time we ever had it was on spring break in college - we drove down to St. George Island. So it’s also nostalgic for us.
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I stole the map from the Yuengling Web site 
Their beer is so popular in Florida, they decided that their second brewery would be in Tampa.
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Day 4
WAT was our big splurge for the trip. It comes so highly recommended but I was a little nervous it might live up to what I imagined it could be. I had no reason to be nervous. It was awesome.
Henry and Hans came to the training session and we watched them eat watermelons 10 feet below us. They are so simply HUGE and DH’s favorite animal.
Hippo photobomb!
On to DH’s least favorite animal, the crocodile (also alligators). He’s seriously afraid of them and was horrified that I stopped on the bridge to take an overhead picture.
Check the guy on the right. He’s living his best life. Just being a gigantic croc, all settled in the sand, warm in the sun. I think he is goals.
The guides explained that they had a lot more crocodiles at the start (20 something I believe) but as they grew, they had to send some to live elsewhere because they were outgrowing the habitat! They expect some of the guys they have now to get even bigger.
On the savannah in our smaller than KS vehicle, we got some amazing views of giraffes and the zebras, including both young ones. Lunch was after this, although they call it a snack, it definitely sufficed as a lunch. Lunch with an awesome view! I learned that one of the elephants is expected to give birth soon, and I’m really hoping to book Caring for Giants in January so my sister and I can possibly see the not-so-little one. Elephants are my favorite.
As we headed to our vehicle to conclude the tour it started to rain. They handed out ponchos which I took, because you never get free things in Disney. It didn’t last long but I think it definitely had an impact on our animal viewing on the way back. We saw both the male and female lion out on the rocks and all 3 jaguar ladies, plus a couple rhinos.
We had some time to spare before we needed to go to the airport (or so I thought)…so we rode EE x2 (we are finally at the point where we know when the photos are on a lot of the rides, so we come up with poses to do for them). After that, we grabbed a walking beverage and wandered the trails we hadn’t hit up yet by the Tree of Life and I started moping.
When we arrived at the airport, the parking structure was full. We were diverted to a remote lot and ended up parking approximately 2 minutes before our Turo rental was “due”. Then we waited for a shuttle to the terminal. Bag drop off was fine (just some small rearrangements, I have an uncanny ability to go over 50 lbs) but security was nutty! This is 3 pm on a Wednesday. We had about 10 minutes to grab something to eat before boarding. Definitely closer than I prefer and not what I was expecting.
Health status upon arrival home:
Children were ok. Both with slight coughs (still) but pink eye eradicated.
The day after returning home I had a wicked sore throat, which turned into a full head and chest cold. DH followed a few days later and is still pretty sick. He’s got a dr appt today. The kids appear to have what we have and are coughing a bit but pretty unbothered by it. Basically, this is status quo. Winter has indeed arrived.
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Glad you enjoyed WAT. Sorry you got sick!
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Final Thoughts
What a great trip! It is surreal to me that I’m making all these visits in one year and i’m positively giddy about it.
DH is not looking to repeat a 4 park day anytime soon but he never complained. He knew it made me so happy. I’m keeping that day as a badge of honor, especially with the difficulty factor of 2 pm park hopping. I do look forward to doing it again when park hopping restrictions are abolished, although it might be a solo adventure.
WAT was terrific and hold me back from doing it again! I’m definitely doing some kind of tour in January with my animal-loving sister.
Part two of my post-Disney depression coping plan is very much underway. I’m back in Orlando in a couple weeks for a “not a bachelorette party” redo with my bestie. I had a whole surprise plan for her last year before her wedding, but she got covid and was pretty sick (baseline immunocompromised…it stinks). So we are doing 3 nights at Sapphire Falls and the OI event at UO/IOA, soaking up some sun, heading to EP using an after 1 pm contix to do GotG, cookie stroll, and probably Duck Tales, and a morning in DS with brunch and Gideons. She departs after that, but I’m staying 2 nights at the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista and doing some solo stuff. That planning is what I’m working on now.
And the third, secret extra that I forgot to do in August but will never forget again: ears giveaway! I love ears, I love liners, and I picked these ears because they feel fancy and the velvet is very holiday. Even if you’re not going to be in TMMPOE (can we start using that?) for the holidays, I still want to spread some festive pirate cheer to you. If you’re interested, send me a DM by Friday 11/10 at 7 pm EST. I’ll use a random number generator to pick the winner and get those ears shipped off to ya.
Thanks for following along and have a magical day!
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Great report! Glad you had such a wonderful trip and can keep the magic going with planning. Sorry about the illnesses, it sure seems to be the norm now. Thanks for sharing!
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