Today is Animal Kingdom in the morning and Epcot in the evening.  Kristen's favorite park is NOT AK, so she decided to sleep in a bit this morning.  But Brinn, Maddy and I were up and ready to go.   We grabbed a very light breakfast before jumping on the bus since we are doing Donald's Safari Breakfast around 10:30am.  Kristen will meet us before then but still get some sleep in time first.

The bus was there just after 8am, and it was only us and one other family.  We also stopped at the Grand Floridian, but nobody was waiting there.   Then it was straight to Animal Kingdom were we arrived around 8:30 or so.  Not terribly busy yet and they didn't let you through the turnstiles until about 8:45 or 8:50. 

Then it was off to wait for rope drop at the cross roads in front of the tree of life.  Soon Minnie, Goofy and Pluto arrived to start the day and we headed for Expedition Everest (EE).  Our intention was to grab fastpasses and then ride, but the Fast Pass machine was messed up and it took a CM forever to get us our pass.  Grrrrrr.  Oh well, by then the line was a mile long and we decided to go do Dinoland instead. 

Maddy and I rode Primeval Whirl but Brinn thought the one drop was too steep!  But shes still thinking about doing EE....  Shrug... Tween - YOU figure them out, 'cause I sure can't!  ;-)  So, Brinn got piled with camera bags, etc and off Maddy and I went.  It was a complete walkon, and a good ride.  We had the 4 person car to ourselves, and laughed pretty much all the way through.  At the end the CM offered to let us ride again, but I passed because I thought I could convince Brinn it was not that bad.  No dice.  Once that child decides something, it could be written in stone for all she's willing to consider any ulterior details like, 'that drop is nothing and you should go!'  ;-) 

Maddy was all for riding again, but I had a touch of a headache and its not my favorite coaster...  So we headed for Dinosaur instead.  THIS is fun AND has air-conditioning!  :-D    Win- Win!  Another walk right on through and on the ride.  Both girls will do this one but BOTH covered their eyes all the way through!  So, I was telling them what they missed, and Brinn wanted to ride again and said she MIGHT open her eyes a couple times to see a few things.  Maddy didn't want to ride, but didn't want to stay with the bags even more.  So, off we all went again to ride.  And..... They BOTH covered their eyes all the way through AGAIN!  D'oh!!!   LOL   Ah well... What do do....  :-D

As we were heading out the phone rang and Kristen was in the park.  We met her and walked on the EE where our Fast Pass time of 9:50 was just past.   Brinn was STILL sounding like she was going to try it.  Scared.  A bit whinny, but still at least thinking about it.  We even saw the drop again and since its not STRAIGHT down but around a corner it looked maybe - kinda- sorta- a little - possibly something she might do, maybe.   :-D  LOL  Oh, the drama!!!!

We only had three fast passes so no problem if she didn't want to go because then Kristen could ride.  BUT she didn't give up that Fast Pass!  We sent mom off to get four more EE passes on the outside chance Brinn would love it, and then we could all do it again in the afternoon after breakfast.  On through the Fast Pass line we went with Brinn fretting all the way.  A couple, "I can't do this", but nothing too bad and soon she was locked in the seat with no chance of escape.  I was NOT to remove my hand from her at ANY time and then we were off.  She freaked a bit at the first little drop, but realized it wasn't bad.  Then the BIG CLIMB was a bit daunting for her, but I just keep saying, "Check out the view!" to distract her building worries.  Not that it worked, but *I* liked the view!  :-D 

And then we were moving!  The backup portion comes up fast after that climb and that brought another short panic attack.  WE'RE NOT GOING DOWN THAT HUGE CLIMB BACKWARDS ARE WE???  LOL - no, no, no - but I could see how she might think this!  :-)  All was fine with the backwards portion ... THEN the big hill.  Talk about the anti climax.  She was FINE.  No problemo, and loved the rest of the ride.  She got off all smiles AND was glad Kristen had fastpasses for another ride later that morning.  :-D  There is officially one less bag holder for EE in the world!  Woooo hoooooo!!!!   She got to pick out a 'prize' for being brave, and liked the small stuffed (and cute) Yeti doll.  Maddy had to have one too of course.  I didn't mind as long as I don't have to carry them around the parks all day!  That is their job!  ;-)

It was time to head to Africa for breakfast and our 10:30 reservation.   We saw Devine on the way and stopped for a few photographs of her.  The park seems to be busier than the MK has been the last couple days, but I think a lot of that is these small, thin pathways.  The line rides aren't too bad yet.  We are seated for breakfast right away, and this is quite a bit like Donald's Breakfastosaurus to me.  Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Mickey are there.   WAY too much food and we left stuffed!   Very good and fun characters, but the tables are packed in VERY tight, and the characters are in an obvious hurry.  I can't say I'd hurry to do this meal again anytime soon.

It was now time for our return to Everest, but we were a little too full.  So, we headed to Kali River Rapids and grabbed more Fast Passes for that ride.  We'd do it right before we head back so we aren't wet in the park for very long.  Then we headed into the Maharaja Trek to see some animals.  Most everything was around except the Tigers.  They would not be out for a couple hours, so we'd have to miss them today.  But the Kimono Dragon was out and actually moving around today.  And there were lots of bats today as well.  Only saw a few birds though.  But the ones there were having fun diving past the ducking tourists!

We headed off to ride Expedition Everest again and this time the whole family went together!  Brinn rode with mom and saw this as another tooth brush moment!  ;-)  So, they sat behind me and I got a couple shots of Brinn on the way up the big climb.  Then it was on down around and backwards for another great ride.  Brinn was all smiles this time - even in the group shot.  Now if I can only get that girl on Splash and Tower of Terror I think we'll have beaten down all the phobias.  Well, except Primeval Hurl - which I don't mind missing!  ;-)

We'd killed enough time to be in our Kali River Rapids Fast Pass time so we headed over there.   The standby line was at about 45 minutes at 12:30 and we sure passed a lot of people as we walked in.  We knew we'd get wet and we were not disappointed.  I think Kristen and Brinn got the worst of it, but no one was drenched.  We then headed out of the park after grabbing a couple waters and frozen soda's to enjoy on the way. 

Outside the park we found Pocahantas for a quick picture and then it was off to wait for the bus.  Took a while to arrive and the drive back was long with a stop at Blizzard Beach.  But the bus was not full and we could sit the entire way so all was good.  The clouds were starting to roll in, so we changed quickly and headed straight out to the pool.  The girls rode the slide a few times, and we all enjoyed swiming around in the pool until the rain started.  It was coming down pretty good, but no thunder or lightening so they did not kick us out of the pool.  The cool rainwater felt great and it was fun since most everyone left the pool.  Guess they didn't want to get wet...  ;-)

After a while I headed back to the room for a shower and some Trip Report time.   The girls showed up a while later and now its time to get ready for our evening at Epcot.   We aren't arriving until pretty late in the day, and have a dinner at San Angel Inn at 7pm.  But we'll find a few things to do before park close! 

The bus came along pretty quickly, and this time we had the ENTIRE bus to ourselves, even after stopping at Fort Wilderness on the way to Epcot.  Not to bad.  :-D   Maddy was a bit put out because Mom, Dad AND Brinn were all on our cell phones calling family and/or friends with our spare few minutes.   I handed over the phone to her though so she could chat with Grandma for a few minutes!  ;-) 

The ride there seemed to take quite a while, but we eventually arrived and realized this was the FIRST time we ever took a bus to Epcot!  I've never walked from back there before!  Since we stay in the Epcot resorts so much, we hardly ever hit the front entrance, but even then we drove and parked or took the monorail.  Just a bit of meaningless trivia that we found interesting!  :-D  That and its a haul back to those busses!  ;-)

We headed through security and the ticket readers pretty quick and stopped for a Photopass shot in front of space ship earth.  Maddy got cranky when we repositioned her for the shot, and the photographer noticed and gave her a good natured hard time.  Being HERE is lots more fun than being home this fall in school, he said.  :-D  I just liked that she found out it isn't only family that notices when she is like that.  She was embarrassed.  ;-)  Yeah for Photopass!  LOL

We headed on into the park and we won't go into the family opinion of the Leave a Legacy monuments other than its NOT a good one.  Enough said...  ;-)   And ON to Space Ship Earth.  The girls got to ride the refurbished version at MouseFest, but I missed it due to Mega Meet duties.  It really is pretty good, although I miss the newer and more up to date technical displays.  And isn't that 70's computer room scene pulled from some old attraction?  I know someone posted a picture of the black woman in the mini on the site not too long ago...  I thought someone said it was from Horizon's or some other old attraction...  Might just have been this one!  :-)  I need to pay better attention!

The video you make coming down at the end if fun, and we had a great laugh watching that.  Too bad you can't send the video home!  :-)  That would be great.  We did send home the video postcards though and it was very impressive the way they located our cards automatically.  Must use face recognition software. 

After playing in the after show area for a while we headed out toward World Showcase.  It was getting close to dinner time and so we walked over past Test Track and Odyssey building right to Mexico.  We had some time to wander in there a bit and do some shopping.  The girls found a couple things they HAD to have and we hit the video postcard machine while Maddy worked on her Kidcot mask.   Brinn made a tooth brushing diver - even though it was a boy with her face doing a topless dive!  :-O  OH the things people will do for good oral hygiene.    :-D  

I had checked in for dinner a while back and the line was a long one.  I saw several people try for a walk up reservation and no dice.  Fully booked.  Looking back, this should have clued me in to what was to come, but sadly I had hoped for the best I guess.  Anyway - out beeper went off and we headed back to the San Angel Inn checkin desk to be seated.  We were quickly at our table and there was no real problem until dinner arrived.  Up until then everything was fine if a bit slow. 

**** Unhappy rant starts here.... bypass if you only want happy reading!  ****

OK - I know that at least Moley and Frogman are still reading.  They love dirt!  :-D  Well, it boils down to lousy food and lousy service.  Once those plates of food were on our table that waiter was gone like the wind - and not to return until bill time.  Kristen and I both had a mexican steak dish.  The mexican parts were fine - very good in fact - but the steak was terrible.  Grizzle in every bite.  Overcooked.  Not inedible, just not what we expected in a nice restaurant.  Since we was not around we did not get to express our displeasure and basically sucked it up and ate what we were given.  The kids had Quesadas  and while those were good, the side dishes were NOT edible.  The veggies were WAY overcooked, the rice dry and hard.  The fruit cup for dessert - hot.  All symptoms of sitting in the window under hot lights way too long.

When waiter Jorge finally returns and asks if we want dessert, I say NO - just the bill.  I said we were very disappointed this year with the steaks and the kids meals.  He asked if I'd like to see a manager and I said, yes.  I explained our displeasure to Claudia who was so totally unsympathetic I became REALLY annoyed.  Supposedly it was OUR fault for not coming and finding him or her BEFORE we ate anything.  And when I expressed my displeasure at paying an 18% gratuity to a waiter that never returned to our table for ANY followup service, she said my only opinion was to NOT use the Disney Dining Experience card and then not leave a tip.  What I WANTED to do, was to just reduce the tip to 10%.  I didn't ask for money back on the food or anything else.  She acted like I was trying to get the entire meal for free.  Grrrrrrrrr.....  NOT happy, and while we always enjoyed this restaurant in the past it will be a LONG LONG time before we ever return.  The lousy food and service isn't likely to change with that managment in place and if they are always booked solid they probably see no reason to change.  But they won't get my money again.

End rant.   :-)   Ok - well mostly ended.  After dinner I was definitely out of sorts.  Cranky, feeling a bit sick and the heat was REALLY bothering me.  We made it to China before I said lets head back.  I wanted to beat the Illuminations crowds on the busses and Illuminations was to start in 15 minutes.  We'll watch Illuminations when we AREN'T riding busses home again!  ;-)   Then to top it off BOTH kids were sick to their stomachs half the night.  :-(   So, poor old Disney Studios is getting pushed out again so we can sleep in Tuesday morning....

Guess all the days can't go perfectly, but I'm sure things will get back on track tomorrow!  :-)