Garry's Trip Part 8

[gpullan]

Well i'm back in the UK and the memories are already becoming distant! [msnsad]

We had a fantastic 2 weeks which was enjoyed by all. To finish off the trip report, Thursday saw us at Animal Kingdom all day. I rang up the WDW-DINE people a few days before to see if we could get in for another character breakfast at short notice. The indian sounding lady on the other end of the phone said that she had one slot available at 8:20am for the Donalds Safari Breakfast. I was kinda happy with this, happy that we could get another one in but not so happy with 8:20am. To get up, get 5 kids ready, drive to the park, get parked, take the tram, have our possessions searched with a flashlight and a stick and then walk to the far end of the park for 8:10am check in, i don't think so!! Anyway i wasn't 100% happy with the timings but booked it anyway and then thought i'd go against what the dine lady had said and look on the internet (you can book them online now!) Anyway, 2 minutes of looking and i had a slot at 10:20am so the nice indian lady had told a little white lie, not sure why but there were obviously more slots available. I didn't bother calling them back to cancel as i wasn't happy with them for trying to put us in at an unpopular time (was that because i wasn't staying onsite? hmmm). So we checked in at The Tusker House at 10:10am and only had to wait around 20 minutes before we vibrated and proceeded to the restaurant. Now i hadn't told anyone what we were there for, other than just having breakfast so when safari Donald was outside the restaurant for our photo everyone was really surprised and pleased. Even then i did not tell them we were there for a character breakfast, just that it was a good coincidence that he was there! Only when we were sat down and Mickey walked through did everyone realise! It was a great sight! Breakfast was lovely, food similar to Chef Mickeys and everyone really enjoyed it. Daisy was by far the best character, she spent loads of time with us and the kids loved her. There had been a cold wind before we went in for breakfast but by the time we got out it was a glorious day and the afternoon was spent walking around the park and trying to do and see things we had missed in 2008. A great last park day was had by all.

We had plumped for Outback Steakhouse for our last nights meal and we.......oh i forgot to say, we got in at Mannys on Wednesday night! We called ahead at 4:30 and was told there was a 120 minute wait so please come at 6:30. We did and then waited another 30 minutes but were actually sat down, on a table for 8 (not two 4's) by 7pm. Yes, it was incredible! Best steak ever and the surroundings and atmosphere 2nd to none! Great meal, i had top sirloin with around a fields worth of salad! We even went for dessert and got 3 of the huge chocolate/ice cream things to share between 7 of us. Marvellous evening. Anyway, Outback was great too and only had to wait 5 minutes for a big round table for 8. Nice meal and nice pink lemonade. Well after that it was back to the villa for our last nights sleep there [msnsad]. We let the kids go in the pool til around 9:30 while we started packing. We had arranged a late checkout of the villa with the owner so the last evening wasn't as rushed as our last trip.

Friday morning was our last day so we set off out to have breakfast, the kids chose Golden Corral (not our favourite at all but the kids love it there!) We went to the one on Vineland Avenue as it was close to the outlet mall. After breakfast i dropped my wife, mum, niece and the babies off at the mall and i took the boys to Congo river golf on I-Drive. We did 18 holes and had a blast for an hour. I beat them both!!!! After that we drove a little way down I-Drive to the Helicopter tour place. 5 minutes wait saw us climbing into the helicopter for Tour #3 which took in all the Universal Parks, Discovery Cove, Seaworld, Aquatica, Epcot and lots more. We were in the air for around 10 minutes and we all loved the experience! Went and picked up the girls and went straight back to the villa to finis

[hazelk]

Gary

I must say I have loved reading your reports and will miss them, they have kept me going the last few weeks, we have another seven weeks to go before we head out to Florida, we are touring for the first two weeks and hopefully a relaxing last week in the villa we have booked at Sunset Lakes.

It is just my husband and myself this time, we had our sons and their girlfiends with us last year, this time it will be nice to do just what we want.

Manny's is wonderful, can't wait to go back there.

Thanks again.

[randyj]

Gary Glad you had a good trip we have 16 days to go can't wait, Bet your getting ready to start for the next trip LOL.

[lynnroy]

Thanks for all your reports Garry- I;ve really enjoyed reading them- only 4 weeks till we go.
I do feel for you being back at work though

[Gingemiester]

Great reports Garry. Makes interesting reading. Quick question, I read about booking online for the character breakfast at Animal Kingdom and thinking of doing this also. Even though the park doesn't open till 9am does the breakfast booking get you in earlier if you book it for before park opening?


Cheers

[normajohnp]

Get a big picture put on that cream wall Gary cos you are going to have to keep your nose well and truly stuck to the grind stone and get saving for your next trip. Photo`s on facebook are great.

[SDJ]

Will be missing your brilliant reports Gary. Hurry and book again so we have some great reading to do.

Sandra

[thistle1314]

Garry, my thanks for these reports. I've enjoyed everyone and picked up loads of great tips.

[1969steveb]

Really good reports Gary, we love the character breakfasts aswell, but think that the food at Universal's character breakfast was a lot better than Disneys. Did you manage to get to Bob Evans?

Steve.

[erowlands]

Really enjoyed the reports especially with the humour added in, we have six weeks to wait so this has helped us get a florida fix whilst still at home in the cold uk
Eric