I’m bringing my Disney World trip reports to an end today, but stay tuned for lots of fun this weekend as I blog my daily recaps of the D23 Expo!

Day 5

By the time Day 5 in Disney World rolled around, some of my least favorite Fibro symptoms had set in, so we got off to a bit of a slow start that morning.  We had dinner reservations that evening at Akershus with the Princesses, so our original plan had been to spend the day touring Epcot, but Toy Story Mania had alluded us thus far and we could hear it calling our names.  So, off we went in hopes to make it to the Studios in time to beat the rush or snag a Fastpass for early afternoon.  Apparently, however, this was a bit of a misguided approach, as by the time we scurried back to Pixar Place, the wait time was around 120 minutes and Fastpasses were being distributed for close to park closing time.  Bummer. 🙁

At this point we were just seven cranky, tired, hot, and hungry travelers, which probably made a certain Cast Member’s rude interruption of our conversation that much more appalling… as we were having a conversation among our party about the super long wait time, the Cast Member felt the need to insert his opinion about how we didn’t know what we were talking and even went so far as to scoff at Disneyland when we said we missed the lighter crowds there, “That’s because no one wants to go to Disneyland.”  Perhaps this Cast Member, along with the scads of other rude Cast Members we encountered in the World, need to go back to Traditions class and remember Walt and his vision for his theme parks.

Irritated and frustrated, our friends stayed in Pixar Place for photos with Buzz and Woody, while my mom and I headed to Star Tours to grab Fastpasses for a more reasonable time, and find that soothing balm that is Coffee.  Rejuvenated and re-caffenated, we all thoroughly enjoyed a ride-through on the Backlot Tour before returning to Star Tours for one last journey through the galaxy.  My hope had been to “go” to Naboo on Star Tours, and while the first trip had been awesome, I had fingers and toes crossed that this would be my chance… and, after a quick breeze through Hoth, we were off to Naboo! It was just as awesome as I thought it would be. 🙂  And, before everyone starts thinking that I’m an absolute loon with an affection for Jar Jar Binks, it was actually the underwater imagery of Naboo that appealed to me. 😀  It was so beautiful and the effects when the sea creature tried to eat our Star Speeder were way cool!

After Star Tours, it was time for the kiddos to head back for naps, but my mom and I stayed at Hollywood Studios for one of my absolute must-do’s… One Man’s Dream.  I hadn’t seen this exhibit since it’s refurbishment by D23 and I was excited to see what had changed.  I was, actually, really glad to see that most everything had stayed the same with the exception of a few new displays that were wonderful.  That D23 window display was amazing… I took lots of pictures just so I could go back and find all the tiny details that I had missed the first time!

After a quick stop in the Animation Gallery (and a great Vinylmation trade for an Urban 4), we headed back to the French Quarter to get ready for Akershus.  Unfortunately, getting to Akershus was easier said than done, as it took almost an hour to get there on the bus, and I ended up running through Future World to check in before we were too late.  As it turned out, there was no need for running because I couldn’t check in without my whole party being there.  Thankfully, we still made our reservation, but we had to wait extra long for a table because we were late.  So, maybe I already had a sour taste in my mouth when we were finally seated, but I have to say that I was largely underwhelmed by Akershus.  The tables are packed so tight that it was barely passable to get between our table and the appetizer buffet, only the kids were able to take pictures with the princesses because they were so rushed, and they were completely un-helpful when a problem with one of dining plans prevented part of the meal from being covered by the plan.  I had heard such great things about Akershus, so I was really disappointed that it didn’t live up to the hype.

We spent the rest of the evening strolling through part of the World Showcase and exploring The Seas with Nemo and Friends pavilion.  The girls really loved the Seas, so that was lots of fun, but it had been a long day, and I wasn’t really feeling the Disney Magic by that point.

This is really the first negative trip report I’ve ever written, and it seems unfortunate that a series of rude Cast Members and Disney blunders dampened my spirits for the day.

Day 6

Day 6 started at nearly Dawn with a 7:15 am reservation for Chef Mickey’s, which was a bit of a scramble as well.  Our friends made it with plenty of time to spare but my mom and I ended up running so late that everyone else had been seated before we got there!  Thankfully, however, the folks at Chef Mickey’s were happy to accommodate our incomplete party and even allowed us to re-take our group photo so we could all be in it.  The entire Chef Mickey’s experience blew Akershus out of the water, and I was so happy that we got a reservation with late notice… even if it was early in the morning!  The characters spent lots of time at our table, played with the kids, took loads of pictures, and signed all of our autograph books and Vinylmation.

Full and happy, we set off to check out of the French Quarter and finish up anything we missed at Epcot.  While we still didn’t get to see everything, our time at Epcot was really great and a super way to end our trip.  And with the first signs of rain we had seen on our whole trip (!) we set off for the airport, and waved good-bye, and hopefully see you real soon, to the World.

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