Well we bookend our trip with park visits to EPCOT.
Arriving at a little after 9:00 AM we enter the park and head straight to Test Track to design our virtual concept vehicle and see how it performs on the TEST TRACK. Remember it will tested on the following criteria:
1. Handling
2. Maneuverability
3. Efficiency
4. Power
Well, we have our luggage picked up from our villa by the Disney staff to be delivered to our new resort at 8:30, another free perk for staying on property. So off we head for our final day at the Magic Kingdom Park.
Well not much happening today, we are tired and it is still on the cold side threatening to rain all day.
We have an 8:30 breakfast reservation at The Polynesian’s “Kona Café”, so we jump on the bus transportation to the Magic Kingdom and walk across the front of the park to gain access to the transportation for the resorts. It is too cold for the boat so we climb the ramp to the monorail for the trip around Seven Seas Lagoon. Although everyone raves about the Tonga Toast at the Kona Café it just looks too heavy and sweet for us so we both decide on the Big Kahuna breakfast platter. The platter consists of French Toast, Pancakes, Eggs, Home Fried Potatoes, Ham, Bacon, and Sausage. This is still a large filling breakfast and a lot of food but the large bread-roll smothered in a sweet topping would be a heavy gut buster for us. I asked to change my French Toast for additional pancakes and the ham for additional bacon, just perfect now. Filled up for the day we should only require a late lunch to keep our tummies happy for the rest of today.
We take the monorail back to catch our resort bus transportation and we hardly stop in the line to wait for the next bus when a private Disney van pulls up, the driver gets out opens the side door and say’s our ride is ready. What??? Our driver explains that due to the buses schedules of getting guests to the parks in the morning this van service is provided to return people to the Resorts if it is needed. Wow, a private van / limo ride back and a wonderful talk with our diver. Returning we start a load of laundry and do some packing as we are changing hotels tomorrow for our last two nights.
We start our walk to Disney Springs and proceed across the pedestrian bridge that provides access between Saratoga Springs Resort and the Disney Springs shopping area.
The bridge drops us off near the Transportation Stop and we visit The Art of Disney, Disney Days of Christmas, Spice and Tea Cooking shop, Once Upon a Toy Store, and The World of Disney Store.
A steady rain starts about 11:15 AM as we are in Once Upon a Time and by the time we leave the Disney Store it coming down little harder and does not look like the rain will let up much at all today.
Wanting to go over to “Cookes of Dublin” for our only other meal today we decide to stay close to this side of Disney Springs as the rain is just coming down too much for us today and we head to “Earl of Sandwich” before we get drench in the rain. We to get our sandwiches to go and eat back at the Villa; the rain lets up into a drizzle as we start our walk back at 1:30 PM.
Back to get out of our wet clothes we walked 3.5 miles and 8,779 steps today. Sitting at our table to eat our sandwiches. I got the All American and Jodi got the Chipotle Chicken Avocado, as always-great sandwiches especially when we warm them in the oven.
Now it is time to finish our laundry and packing as the rain continues to fall outside. We then rest and complete our routine. We will have our luggage transferred to our new room at All-Star Music Resort in the morning as we go for our third and final day at the Magic Kingdom.
We head back for our second day at the Magic Kingdom. We arrive at 8:45 in 38-degree weather, rather cold today as it had been in the high 70’s and low 80’s for the first part of our visit.
No problem with the security line today and we waltz right into the park. Heading down Main Street we finally come to a stop at the hub. Until the park officially opens at 9:00 we can not proceed any farther into the lands. We are heading to FrontierLand so we stay out in the main hub where there is nice warm sunshine instead of waiting with all the others in the cold shade.
Well rested we actually get to the park about 8:30 this morning. The gates were open and you could enter the park to explore Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards.
We could not go on the exciting drive thru the streets of LA on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster this trip but this is usually our must see first attraction in this park. Our grandson and granddaughter have just loved this roller coaster ever since they were tall enough to ride it, and this is an attraction that we come back to several times during the day when they are with us. This indoor coaster launches you at 57mph and 4.5g’s in 2.8 seconds as you twist, turn and invert with Aerosmith playing through the speakers. “ROCK ON!!”
We are up at 6am to eat breakfast and start our morning routine prior to leaving for the Magic Kingdom. Leaving our room at about 8:30 we walk to the transportation stop and arrived at 9:10 on our Disney Transportation bus to a massive line at security that handles the bus and ferry passengers. We notice the center security line, which services only the monorail passengers, is almost empty so we hightail it over to the center of the park entry and get right into the park.
Entry walkway
Passing through a crowded Main Street we head straight for the wildest ride in the wilderness “Thunder Mountain”. We have found that if we get to Thunder and Splash Mountains early they are basically a walk on rides and 2 of the high wait time rides are crossed off our list (there was one time we got to stay on Thunder Mountain for another trip as there was nobody else in line, always ask if possible).
My grandson using the Magic Band at Toy Story Mania FastPass +
Day 1 EPCOT at Walt Disney Word, Florida
The symbol of EPCOT
DIsney World Bus Transportation
We arrived right around 9am on the Disney Transportation bus from our 1-bedroom villa at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort to a crowded security checkpoint we had to negotiate before entering the park (bag check and random body metal detector checks).
After passing security we scanned our Magic Bands and head straight for Test Track, a ride that lets you design your vehicle at a computer station and then input into your ride vehicles computer to put it through it’s paces as you hit speeds of up to 65 miles per hour on hills, hairpin turns and straightaways of the ride circuit.
2008 Honda XR650L
Wow this turned out to be a great ride. I want to thank Scott and Tom for getting me off my duff to get out on this adventure. Our inmates for this trip were Tom, from Prescott, who is riding a Honda XR650L, Bill on a Honda 650 XRR, Kim who is riding a Kawasaki 250, Scott on a Yamaha 250WRX, and myself on a Honda XR650L. All of us are moderate to excellent riders (2 of us, Tom and I, raced AMA District 37 desert series), the youngest is pushing 56 (Scott), & Tom broke 70 some time back.
I rode from Orange County, CA, yes on the XRL, to Vidal Junction, CA where I was to meet Tom and continue off road as much as possible to Prescott, AZ. My ride started early at 4:30 AM and headed over the mountains on Ortega Highway between San Juan Capistrano and Lake Elsinore. It was a cold foggy ride over Ortega with visibility probably at about 50 feet at times. Soaking wet I arrived in Elsinore and stopped at the first place I could get something to eat and go inside to get warm, OH BOY Mac D’s. After breakfast it was still foggy as I followed 2 lane roads to Beaumont where I had to jump on Interstate 10 and slab it till I reached 2 lane Highway 62 thru Joshua Tree 25 miles later.
It had been a long time since my son, Shaun, and I were able to go on an adventure together. He had moved up to Portland, Oregon and his work schedule did not let him get down here to SoCal very often. So we made a plan when he did come down to take at least a day ride together. I had taken him out to Calico Ghost Town in my 4×4 to visit the town and surrounding area when he young so I planned a loop route from the Calico Ghost Town area east of Barstow, CA for our motorcycles that would visit several mining sites around the ghost town and visit the crash site of 2 military aircraft in the 60’s.
We left before sunrise for the 2-½ hour drive to our starting point located on Mule Canyon Road. We got there as the sun was breaking over the mountains and started to unload. Shaun would be riding my licensed Honda XR600R and I would be on my licensed race bike a Husqvarna 250.
TVP Journeys 
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