Disney Day 9: What is the meaning of down day?

Today was our second scheduled “down day” aka a day to relax, unwind, etc. But now that it’s over we’re exhausted and wondering how our best laid plans went out the window? We did try to sleep in, but somehow the alarm clock went off at 7am which woke Sean up. He did go back to sleep but not for long. Ugh! We took our time getting ready, and went to 11:30am mass. Man, it was packed!! We had to walk about half a mile to get from the parking lot to the church. Yikes!

After church we went to Downtown Disney to pick up a few packages and grab lunch. While there we talked to the Disney Vacation Club booth and found out we could view models of the newest resorts over at Saratoga Springs, so we decided to take advantage of the opportunity. We were able to see the Bay Lake Tower model which just recently opened next to the Contemporary near the Magic Kingdom. Super contemporary and sweet!! I think we’ll stay there soon to enjoy the views of the Magic Kingdom and the short distance to the park. Jeff wants to come back for his 40th birthday (18 months)… just enough time for me to plan a vacation of a lifetime!! LOL

Next we decided to head over to Hollywood Studios. We had forgotten to get a Photopass (professional photo) of the three of us in front of the hat. Plus, there was something we wanted to pick up at a gift shop. While we were there we decided to go see the character meet ‘n’ greet for the movie Up. Since we missed Russell a few days ago, we really wanted to meet him and get his autograph. And by golly he was there!! Our fingers were crossed in line that he wouldn’t suddenly need to leave for an Expedition Explorers meetings or something. But nope! We met him, got his autograph and a family photo with the whole cast!! Persistence pays off.

One our way out of the park we happened upon the singing crew Mulch, Sweat and Shears. So we stopped and listen to them for a short time. Great tunes from the 80s!! And the MC took notice of Jeff calling him Teddy Roosevelt. There is a resemblance, though I’d never thought of it before. What do you think?

Last stop of our day was back to the Wilderness Lodge, this time to have dinner at the Whispering Canyon Café. YUMMY!! Jeff and I had the all you can eat skillet which included pulled pork, beef brisket, roasted chicken, short ribs, mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. Oh, and all you can drink milk shakes. Wow, were we full by the time we were done. Sean shared our meal and loved all the interaction, noise and general foolhardy nature of the place. It’s a place we’ll visit again for sure.