Our Dream Disney Vacation - Day Four

On this very relaxing day we woke up excited to go see some animals. After getting around, hopping the bus to AK, and waiting at least 45 minutes at the turnstiles to get into the park, we were walking towards the Tree Of Life. It feels like the Running of the Bulls when you're on target for Kilimanjaro Safari. Luckily we were in one of the first ride vehicles of the day! Our driver was an older woman who was incredibly lively. Probably the best driver I've ever had.

Our crew took a walk to Expedition Everest so Matt and I could hop on quickly via the single rider line. We basically walked right onto the ride. Time was tight but we made it to the restroom just before Finding Nemo: The Musical's first show of the day. I was really excited for Diane to see it. It's my favorite thing in Animal Kingdom hands down. We sat right by the walkway... my favorite spot to see the show. In the last 2 minutes of the show I end up a blubbering mess no matter how hard I try and hold back. It's just so dang happy! :)

We trotted over to Restaurantosaurus to grab some lunch. I've never eaten here before but the menu looked amazing. My Vegetable Subosaurus was crazy good. I just picked off the mushroom (yuck). It came with sweet potato fries that pretty much were like crack. My madre got the Angus Bacon Cheeseburger and she said it was one of the best burgers she'd ever had at Disney World. Matt and Diane both ordered the Shrimp Po Boy. And OH BOY was it good. We all agreed that Restarauntosaurus was a must do before the trip was over.

I had to convince the gang that we needed to leave the park and go back to the hotel in order to get around for our spa day. Yes! I said OUR spa day! If you read my planning posts previously you'll know that I was under the understanding that it was just me that was going to get a massage at the Grand Floridian Spa. To our surprise, on our second day we received not one but FOUR vouchers for a Swedish Massage. Not only that... but we'd be receiving our massages at Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa instead of Grand Floridian Resort & Spa. From what I've read Saratoga's spa is actually much nicer than the Grand Floridian's.

We changed our clothes back in the room and then hopped on the monorail to Magic Kingdom. From there we walked to the bus stop to get transported to Saratoga Springs. After waiting five minutes we were all talking about how we were going to be so early and would have to find things to do at the resort. But, we ended up waiting for a half hour for a bus. At this point we were sweating bullets hoping we made it to our reservation on time. The vouchers said 3:30 p.m. I knew it would take a while to actually get to Saratoga Springs from MK and that it did. Of course once we were at the resort our bus stop was the last one.

Upon first sight of Saratoga Springs I wasn't terribly impressed. It was pretty blah looking and I'd remembered seeing the rooms online before and thinking they looked really tacky. It took us a few minutes looking at a map to figure out exactly which building we needed to go into to find the spa. The layout of that resort was cooky. Once we found the correct building we actually ended up with about 15 minutes to kill before our arrival time so we took a potty break and then headed up the stairs to the spa.

Checking in was quite the pleasant experience. The staff was among the most friendly I've ever seen anywhere on Disney property. They were saying how they'd heard about my big win and were totally envious. We were then told the names of our massage therapists and our appointment time... 3:00. Uh, it was like fifteen minutes until 3:00 at that point. We thought we were just really early but turns out there was a discrepency with the appointment time.

It's worth mentioning that there had been a running joke that I was going to end up getting a male massage therapist. Well, it happened. We determined before our appointments that they all had females and I had the male. I'm glad it was me rather than my mom though because she was insanely nervous for this experience. To the point that she almost bailed. She "didn't want some strange man rubbin' lotion on her!" HA!

After we changed into robes and slippers in the locker room we all met up in the waiting room and grabbed a glass of water and a magazine. Within five minutes my mom's massage therapist came for her. We were so glad she got called first so that way she wouldn't have to sit there being a nervous wreck. Trust me... she was. Then Diane got called. Then Matt. And then I heard the door open and a soft manly voice said, "Stacey?" I turned and thought to myself, "Whoa!" Yes folks. They didn't give me a big, old, hairy massage therapist with bad teeth. But they assigned me to a young and adorable guy that made me blush insanely.

The treatment room was really relaxing right away. Damian gave me the run down since it was my first massage ever. He said, "Now, I don't know what you're wearing under your robe but..."

I blurted out, "Oh! I just left my underwear on but I can take them off if you want!"

I then realized I just offered to take my underwear off for a total stranger. My face got hot again and Damian chuckled and replied, "That's totally up to you and what you're comfortable with!"

For the record... I left my underwear on for fear of looking like I was trying to seduce him or something since I clearly already stated how willing I was to strip down for him. Ugh. Stacey, Stacey Stacey...

I'll review the entire experience in more detail at another point but I can say that it was one of the most relaxing experiences in my whole life. Damian used medium to heavy pressure with me which was perfect. I have the most messed up back in the world and his magical hands made me feel loads better. The time flew by so quickly and before I knew it I was putting my robe back on my now oily bod and waiting for Damian to bring me some fresh water.

Down in the locker room there was a hot tub, sauna, and steam room to use but we didn't really care to use them so we passed. I saw my mom come down the stairs and she looked like she had just gotten three days worth of sleep. She loved it! :) In fact, everyone had such an enjoyable experience that we all said we'd return if we had the extra money during a future trip.

We bussed back to Magic Kingdom and then hopped the monorail to get back to the Polynesian. Everyone showered and got around to spend the rest of the evening at Downtown Disney. I really wished that we would have gotten pictures of us that night. We dressed a little nicer than park clothes since we were going to see Cirque du Soleil.

I was so freaking pumped about dinner at Earl of Sandwich. It's such a good deal and the food is amazing. Matt and I both ordered the Mediterranean Tuna Salad Wrap. Normally I order the Caprese Salad Wrap but I felt like something different. I made a great choice. It was delicious. I honestly can't remember what Diane and my mom ordered but I know they loved whatever they got. I also couldn't pass up that delicious looking potato salad. I L-O-V-E potato salad. And Earl of Sandwich didn't disappoint.

After dinner we browsed tons of shops before we hit the theater.  The folks at the spa had told us they heard we had good seats for the show. How they knew this and we didn't I will never understand. I picked up our tickets from the box office and noticed we were smack dab in the middle about half way up the upper tier. I didn't know that the theater was going to be so small! That means that truly there is no bad seat in the house. The seats are crazy small though and I was basically sitting on top of the guy next to me... a middle aged hispanic man that dressed as though he was about ready to fight a bull.

La Nouba was simply outstanding. I've never seen anything like it. It was so interesting watching the story unfold and figure out what each character would do. The performers are so talented. Had we actually paid for the tickets ourselves I would have felt like we got our monies worth ten times over.

We walked to the bus stop at the West Side/Pleasure Island and within five minutes a bus came. I am pretty sure I fell asleep on the way back to the hotel. I was really exhausted after this very exciting day. We all hit the hay and got rebooted for a day at Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Next up... I audition for American Idol Experience!