Thursday, 05/18

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=82 style=" border-bottom: 1px solid #999980;" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="792890903.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="6" COLOR="#333399" FACE="Monotype Corsiva" ><I><B>SuiteDisney</B></I></FONT><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Walt Disney Script v4.1" ><B> </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000066" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>  </B></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>  </B></FONT><B>|</B><B>    </B><A HREF="saturday_night_arrival_0513.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Saturday Night Arrival (05/13)">Saturday Night Arrival (05/13)</A>   |   <A HREF="sunday_0514.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sunday, 05/14">Sunday, 05/14</A>   |   <A HREF="monday_0515.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Monday, 05/15">Monday, 05/15</A>   |   <A HREF="tuesday_0516.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tuesday, 05/16">Tuesday, 05/16</A>   |   <A HREF="wednesday_0517.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wednesday, 05/17">Wednesday, 05/17</A>   |   Thursday, 05/18   |   <A HREF="friday_0519.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Friday, 05/19">Friday, 05/19</A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=398 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="e8590903.jpg"> <div> <I><B>Thursday, 05/18</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.suitedisney.com/wdwphotos/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.suitedisney.com/wdwphotos/"><B>WDW Photos</B></A></div> <bR> <div>  <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script>  </div> <bR> <div> We decided that MGM would be our start today and we hopped on the boat from the Boardwalk.  After an uneventful entrance into the park as it opened, we went straight to our favorite rides.  We got a Fastpass for TOT and decide to also go straight on the ride as the line was not long.  What a great ride….the air time we experienced was maybe the best I ever had on this ride….awesome!  From here, we hooked up with Jim and we had Jim get a Fastpass for TOT too.  Laura wanted to take some pictures (insert Gomer Pyle's voice here…Surprise, Surprise, Surprise) and Jim and I headed over to Rock n' Roller Coaster.  This is my favorite at MGM and it was great as ever.  The only thing I don't like about the ride is it is too short.  After the ride, the line was short, so Jim and I went on RnR again while Laura grabbed a seat and called Tony (Mhopset).</div> <bR> <div> After the second RnR, it was time to do Fastpass at TOT.  While in the library for the pre-show, a pack of school girls shrieked very loudly when the lights went out…it was ear piercing loud and very annoying.  We knew at that time that being on the ride with them could be miserable and it looked like it was going to happen as they followed us as the line split.  When we approached the front of the line to get on….we were stopped and needed to wait for the next ride and it would be the three of us and the school girls.  At this point, the CM noticed Jim said `oh shoot' as he closed off the line and realized we would rather ride without them….so he took us to another line and we got right on without them…that was very nice of the CM.  We were then able to enjoy our ride with our own shrieks…and not those of the screaming kids…pretty cool!</div> <bR> <div> Next we went looking for the Imagineering book of MGM….we already owned books for the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT…but after checking out several stores at MGM, no store had the book. We decided to leave MGM and go to lunch.  We took a boat ride to the Swan & Dolphin as we were going to go to Fresh. We had been there a couple of times for both lunch and breakfast and this was a first for Jim.  Fresh for lunch, has a buffet but it is a little different than other buffets as it is sort of cafeteria style as you ask the chefs to dish you up what you want.  This day they had ribeye steaks, corn crusted chicken, ribs, and I think mahi-mahi for the main entrees.  They also had a variety of salads, soups, mussels, and other hot items.  In addition, they had a dessert bar where the portions are real small but you can try as much as you like.  Overall, it was good but not great.  I think breakfast is a better here but we hadn't been for a while so it was something different.</div> <bR> <div> After lunch, we walk on back to the Boardwalk and Laura and I head back to the room while Jim heads on over to EPCOT for a `garden' purchase of some kind.  Before heading back to the room, Laura and I decide to head to Downtown Disney to do some shopping and see if we can find the MGM Imagineering book…which we finally find out that it was not published yet…we'll get it next time.  After Downtown Disney and shopping, we head on back to the resort.  Laura opts to take a nap and I head on down to the pool for a relaxing drink and dip.  I called Jim while at the pool to see what time he wanted to head over to Jiko for dinner but he was not feeling well and decided he wanted to skip it.  I don't blame him; it surely is not worth it to go to an expensive restaurant if you are not going to enjoy it. I headed back to the room myself and took a nap too and get an hour or two of shuteye.  </div> <bR> <div> After a very uneventful afternoon, for dinner we decided to stay close to the resort and ended up going to the Big River Brew Works.  We have been here twice and overall it was unremarkable but we decide to try it one more time.  A chicken/cashew salad caught Laura's eye while I had a rack of ribs, a salad, and some sautéed squash. It was actually much better than it ever was before and food-wise, was a pleasant surprise.  Though it was somewhat a bummer as this restaurant is actually a chain restaurant and doesn't take any of the discounts for dinner…that is, no dining plans, dining cards, or DVC discounts…if I had known that before dinner, I probably would not have gone here.  Oh well, live and learn.  After dinner, Laura wanted to start doing some packing of clothes and that did not sound too thrilling to me.  So I headed onto the Boardwalk porch off of the main lobby and lounged around there and made a few phone calls and did some people watching.  After a little bit, I headed back to the room where we got a hold of Kelly, Kitty, and Jim and we all decided to head on over to the Magic Kingdom to see the fireworks.  </div> <bR> <div> I drove us over to the Grand Floridian where we then hopped on the monorail.  It was a little after 8:00 and Main Street was crowded with people getting seats for the SpectroMagic parade.  Kelly & Kitty had not eaten so we headed over to Noodle Terrace but unfortunately, that was not open.  We decided to grab some seats here and Kelly headed out to get her and Kitty some dinner from Cosmic Rays.  We all just had a laid back evening as all of our asses were dragging after a pretty active week.  We sat around and `shot the shit' for an hour or two and ended up watching both the parade and Wishes from here.  Afterwards, we just took a leisurely stroll out of the park and headed on back to the resort for the night.  Overall, a very lazy day for us but it still is nice to have a day like this from time to time to recharge the batteries somewhat.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>