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So with all of my trips to WDW, there is always a period of reflection. Where I look back on the time spent, think about some of the things I wished I would have done, you know....pine away for days gone by.

Since I usually only go yearly - twice a year if I am lucky, I find there are lots of things I miss when trying to fit everything in. If only I were a Florida resident, these regrets if you will would never exist. But what are you gonna do? All I can do is put them back on my list and make sure I hit them "next time."

1. Tomorrowland
It's craziness but I feel like we zoomed right through Tomorrowland on our first night to hit the TTA and I swear we never went back there. This makes me sad. I really wish we had taken some more time to explore Tomorrowland. It is safe to say it is my least favorite land, but I still love it. So I definitely need to get to know it much better. Regret # 1 is that I didn't slow down and mosey around this land. I would have liked to get a snack here, definitely wish I would have gotten on Space Mountain, and it flat out sucks to miss the Carousel of Progress. Damn you New Fantasyland, why did you take up so much of our time this trip?

2. Starbucks in Epcot
I love Starbucks! What is my problem??? We walked by this Starbucks on our way to somewhere that I can no longer recall. I remember saying, "we need to go into that Starbucks for a beverage on our way back." Do you think we ever made it in there? Of course not. It's the classic "let's make sure we do that on our way back through" comment that almost never seems to actually happen. I might as well of said, "we are never going in there, ok? Everyone good? Awesome! Moving on...." Long story short - totally bummed I didn't get my favorite Valencia Orange Refresher from the new location. Luckily since it's brand new I would assume it's not going anywhere any time soon. So put it back on the list for next year.

3. Fort Wilderness
For some idiotic reason I had thought we would have so much time to fit everything in that I needed to make additional plans for our "down" times. Yeah right! What down time????? Months before the trip I had been talking about how I would like to go over and visit Fort Wilderness. Maybe take a carriage ride, maybe a horse ride, maybe just stroll around and check things out. The possibilities were endless. I have only been to Fort Wilderness once and it was for the Hoop De Due Review in 2003. I don't remember much about the resort as we arrived in the dark, went to the show, and left immediately after in the dark. I wanted to get to know the resort a little more, decide if it was ever a place I might stay, etc. You might have guessed already, but we never made it. There were so many in park experiences that we had still wanted to do. It didn't make sense to use up valuable time at a place that didn't require a ticket. *Sigh* Maybe someday.

4. World Showcase Movies
I absolutely love all three World Showcase movies. Impressions de France is my favorite, followed by O'Canada at a close second, and lastly Reflections of China. I am sad to say, we did not watch one of them. Granted, we were mighty busy drinking at La Cava de Tequila. Perhaps a movie that wraps around your head with the use of several screens might have ended in disaster this time. But regardless, I am actually disappointed in myself that I did not at least get to Impressions de France. I seriously need two weeks next time guys, this is ridiculous!

5. Food Trucks at Downtown Disney
I have been listening to the news about these food trucks for what seems like forever prior to our trip. I was so excited to get my snack on and try several of the options. I was really excited about it. The times we were in Downtown Disney, not only did I not try any of them, I never even looked for them or saw them. Epic fail!

Am I alone on this type of reflection? Do you ever leave the World and think about all of the things that could have been?
Yeah yeah I know. I am super lucky to have even went, and I tell myself this all the time. But damn....why is there so little time when you actually get there?

Saturday, December 7th, 2013

I have to shed a tear now because this will be our last full day at WDW.

We really had no set plans on this day other than our dining reservation that evening at The Turf Club at Saratoga Springs. Sometimes it's nice to not have a plan on the last day. It gave us a chance to think about what we missed and make sure to try and fit it in.

We all agreed that we wanted to go back to Animal Kingdom. This might be surprising to some, but due to the Wild Africa Trek on our first day, we didn't really get to some of the things we wanted to do.  Well and I just flat out love this park!

And while examining the Tree of Life a little closer, I noticed a new animal carving that I had never noticed before. Some of you may wonder where I have been, but I will admit I had never seen this particular animal near the base of the tree. This is part of the reason I love this tree so much, I see a new animal on every trip!

So our first order of business was to wander more around the tree. We wanted to go through all of the Discovery Island trails and see what we could find. I absolutely love these trails, there is never anyone back there. They really are one of my favorite parts of the Animal Kingdom and a great place to get away from the crowds. I was disappointed however that my favorite trail that takes you past the kangaroos and up toward the front of the tree was closed off. Not sure why or what they had going on, but we couldn't get the up close views I had hoped for. I also noticed the giant catfish looking thing was gone and his/her stream was empty. I hope he/she is coming back.

Next stop - some shopping in Asia and the Maharajah Jungle Trek.

When we arrived at Animal Kingdom on this morning, we decided that we might be in and out rather quickly since we just wanted to get to a couple of trails and the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Our thoughts were to head over to Downtown Disney at some point that afternoon. Since there isn't a direct bus to Downtown Disney and we would have to connect through a resort, we had wanted to possibly head over to Art of Animation for lunch and try out their food court that I have heard so many good things about.

That plan didn't exactly pan out. We were having a rather nice time at Animal Kingdom and once we got to the Maharajah Jungle Trek it was already after 11. Running out of the park and over to another resort just seemed like too much work at this point and we wanted a little more relaxation in our last park day. So we finished the trek and decided to have lunch at the Yak & Yeti Counter Service.

Oh and a moment of silence for the beautiful Komodo Dragon who just passed away last month.

I must admit, I am kinda glad we didn't leave the park to go to Art of Animation. True, I have been dying to get over there and check it out but I couldn't have been more pleased with my lunch at Yak & Yeti. Not only was the seating area just gorgeous, I really loved my meal. I decided on the Mandarin Chicken Salad. We had eaten like pigs all week and it actually felt amazing to have a light salad. It was just enough and not too much for me to feel refreshed and ready to take on the rest of the day.

After we finished, we were wandering by Flights of Wonder and saw that a show was beginning in the next 15 minutes. Score! There was also a margarita stand right outside of the theater. Double Score!
And as if it couldn't get any better, you can take beverages into the theater! Triple Score!

Now it was getting rather hot out, so you know that I jumped on the chance to have a cold beverage while seated in a shaded theater. The breeze coming through was amazing, and overall it was just a lovely time. Plus I love that show!

We decided we would head over to Harambe as our last stop, and then leave Animal Kingdom for the day. After listening to Radio Harambe for the last several months, I had the African Spice Cake on my list and I wasn't leaving until we had tried it. We still had quite a few snacks left on our dining plan as well, so it was only natural we would need to get the cake. So we ordered one African Spice Cake from Kusafiri Coffee Shop & Bakery to share. I will agree with Safari Mike and Dave. It was really delicious and a great snack choice. I will be returning to Kusafiri for sure! Oh and if you don't listen to Radio Harambe, you definitely should. Why are you still here? Go....Listen....

Next stop was Downtown Disney as we had been talking about riding on Characters in Flight all week. I was disappointed but not surprised when we got there that the prices had been raised since my last "flight." I went on the balloon in 2011 and I believe it only cost around $13. This time it was $18. Not cool guys....not cool. But regardless, the other members in my group had not been on it before so I was excited to give it another whirl. I really love that this is in Downtown Disney. It is so fun to see more of Walt Disney World property from way up there.

We took the boat from Downtown Disney over to Saratoga Springs a little early so we could take a look around the resort while it was still light out. This was a common theme this week. We would arrive to our reservation a little early, the place was dead, so we got seated earlier than expected. I pretty much think I didn't even need to make ADR's for the restaurants I chose this week. That could be a good thing, or it could be a bad thing.

But in this case, it was a VERY good thing. For two reasons. 1, The Magic Kingdom was going to be open late this night, we wanted to get in as much time as we possibly could so eating early let us leave early and get more time at MK. 2. I like the fact that this place was dead and it's apparent that no one knows about it because it is AMAZING! I will continue to go here and the less people who know the better.

Whoops...I just told everyone.

We decided to sit outside since it was a really pleasant night and even a tad on the chilly side, except indoors the air was up so high it was even chillier. The outdoor seating area was really lovely and I am excited to go back and sit inside on the next visit. For this meal I ordered the Grilled New York Strip and the best part of all was that it came with a lobster fondue to dip the steak into. It was really really good. A favorite meal of the trip. For dessert I ordered the Chocolate Espresso Torte. Another success.

Ending our last night in the Magic Kingdom just seemed right. And we intended to stay as late as we could, or until we felt like we might pass out. We had so much fun on our last night. The crowds were low. We were able to catch the castle projection show again but from much closer up. I can't say enough how much I love this show. We got to do Pirates again (my fav), see the Enchanted Tiki Room for the first time as it was originally and not under new management. Such an improvement and I was actually shocked how much I enjoyed the show. I truly thought I wouldn't care either way, but I LOVED it. Hopefully my new friends at The Enchanted Tiki Talk Podcast (listen to them immediately) will be proud of me!

We then went back to New Fantasyland and hung out by Gaston's Tavern and enjoyed some popcorn from "Popping Machine" cart (still the cutest cart I've ever seen!). We slowly strolled back out and made sure to go through the stores on Main Street and grab any last minute items we forgot to get earlier in the week.

And now I am sad again, because it is over. Well...it's been over for almost two months now but this re-hashing isn't helping guys!

Thanks for reading! Until next time!

Missed Day 5? Read it here:
A December Trip Report - Day 5