 I
woke up around
5pm and we decided to blow off Brown Derby tonight.
Kristen was not impressed with the menu, and nothing else was
available when I made reservations. Stupid free dining.
(Won't be the last time I type that!!!) Since we
were going
to Hollywood Studios mainly for dinner we decided to hit Epcot instead.
But first, we stopped over to Yachtsmen
Steakhouse.
Yes, I knew it was unlikely, but figured it was still raining
right then so some people might not show for reservations.
Plus,
I thought they held back at least a few reservations for guests walking
up. Wrong. They made us wait 30 minutes but not
enough
cancellations to take us in. Oh well, saved me $200 bucks!
;-) But annoying that guests PAYING for dinner
have no
chance of getting in without a reservation. I tried for two
months+ before we left to get anything for several nights and NOTHING
anywhere.
They said to try a walkup but GOOD LUCK doing that.
While I'm glad others like free dining, its
nothing but
ANNOYING and painful for the 200,000+ DVC members out there...
I'll stop whining now. ;-)
 BUT
- old
faithful Beaches and Cream came through again! We
were
seated immediately at the counter (which the girls love) and enjoyed
another good meal. I passed on dessert tonight, but my burger
was
top notch. ;-) And the entire bill was less than
one steak
at the steakhouse, so I'll take the good with the bad. LOL
 After
that we walked over to Epcot.
On the way in Brinn
wanted a
sweatshirt she had seen in the store there. Since she can't
afford Disney prices, so talked mom and dad into a bit of financing and
sealed the deal. When we went up to pay, the CM - Ron asked
the
girls if they wanted to work for Disney someday. They
hesitated
but *I* said yes! ;-) He invited them behind the
counter to
wring up their purchase. It was fun and they enjoyed it
(although
I think Brinn was still stressin' over the amount of her purchase even
with the mom and dad financing) - no employee discount for them!
The girls got some valuable Disney work experience and a
Magical
Moment card as proof. :-)
 After
that, we hit France, Morocco and Japan and then the girls decided
they wanted to come back and pick out pearls at the stand in front of
the Beach Club. (Japan was too busy and Brinn thought their
pearls were too small and she wanted a blue one! LOL
- good
luck kid!)
So,
we headed back again. They both picked there oysters
with NO
big crowds around and we all enjoyed the process much more at this
location. AND Brinn turned out to be right! Well,
at least
she and her sister did well here! ;-)
 Brinn got a
6.5mm
Blue pearl (How the HECK did she DO that???) and Maddy got an over 8mm
white one. Nice haul girls! :-)
They were both
quite happy with them, and we had them made into pendants they can
wear. It was fun and still - counting Beaches and Cream
dinner,
Brinn's sweatshirt subsidy AND this purchase we still didn't drop as
much as we would have at the steakhouse. So, a cheap evening!
;-)
After that we headed inside. Got settled in for the evening
and
off to sleep. Tomorrow we venture off site to Universal.
|
|
Today
is Animal Kingdom day!
I like this park, but its
ALWAYS so hot and Kristen is not a huge
fan. We got moving pretty early and grabbed something to eat
in
the room again today. Then I called down for the car and we
were
off to the park. I like driving to this park as the bus is
always
slow it seems and stopping at Blizzard Beach not a good use of time.
Got the car, might as well use it. Besides, I'm
thinking
I'm heading to the Walkin today after we finish here because I'm still
feeling awful. :-(
We checked out
all the various displays and even got to see Rafiki and
Jiminy Cricket while were were there. (With amazingly short
lines!) :-) I'd say check it out if you
haven't been
back there in a while. It was a nice change and fun.
We all
enjoyed it. Jumped on the train back and found that the
crowds
had arrived. It was pretty busy walking back to Everest, and
we
stopped on the way to grabe passes for Kali River Rapids for later in
the day. But now it was time for scaling Mount Everest!
The
FastPass line was quick as always and we had a great ride. 
Brinn
and Maddy decided to do the single
riders line and I decided it
was walk-in time. I left Kristen with the girls and headed
out of
the park. Halfway to the car
I realized I didn't have my
insurance card with me. Double D'oh. BACK to the
resort
first, which was a good thing since I was all sweaty anyway!
Nice to cleanup for the docs first in that August Florida heat!
;-)
BUT
the eventual
arrival of the doctor saved the day. I was
worried they'd just say tough it out and charge me $300. But
she
listened to my history and prescribed a couple meds I'm sure will help.
I REALLY want to feel better before the cruise...
So, wait
again for discharge paperwork and then off to the connected and
overpriced pharmacy. ;-) That doesn't take my
insurance
card. Yay! (Note to self - just drive to
Wal-Greens next
time...) Whole experience - a little over two hours I think.
But the doc was good and I think the treatment will help.
We'll see. 
