AGLET – We're Gonna Tour The World Together! Updated 11/9!!!

[tinacaplan]

Another brilliant and hillarious update. Nope. Didn't see Captain EO coming. We saw it last February and I had some murky recollection of it from my childhood. Oh. My. Word. Just so, so bad. And, to top it all, we had Max with us and he was scared out of his mind. I felt like the world's worst mother for exposing him to all of that at such an early age.

But you are correct about the fountains. They are super cool. I've never seen the timeline, but I'll look for it when I'm there. I'd be into that, I'm sure.

We always seem to leave plenty of time when travelling on Disney motorcoaches. Love that you used that term. I can hear that announcer now...

Looking forward to your review of Sanaa, especially since I know you like Indian food.

 

[3prettyprincesses]

Fab update Sara!

Oooh, Michael Jackson! I may or may not have had a poster of him in my room as a young girl..."just beat it, beat it, no one wants to be defeated"

We've yet to see Captain EO, I don't know why. Maybe because it gets consistently cheesy reviews? Especialy after hearing Wingnut's glowing review.

Well of course you stopped to visit Figment! Of course. I love this ride too and basically force my family to ride with me. They're very meh about it but I just love it!

Love your jumping fountain pic! We love that area too and always spend time just watching it jump.

I love that area with the timeline pavement too. I'm sure it has some other more official title but I've no idea what it is. It's cool though. I was pointing them out to my girls and explaining them, I guess that's the homeschool mom in me. A field trip!

That's a great picture of you too, sitting on the ground. Very princess like.

Ah, Spaceship earth! I knew you'd make it over there soon. I agree Jeremy Irons has a more expressive voice, kinda like Alan Rickman. But Judi Dench isn't too bad but I prefer the old one too.

Love your swiss cheese picture! How weird that it photoshopped that way. I have to agree that it's odd to have Wingnut eating in an aquarium while you're across the table eating at the Alps? I guess in the future eveyone will be wearing argyle and able to eat at various locations silmutaneously?

Looks you managed to have a great arrival day despite those pesky marathon cones. Looking forward to the next update, these are so much fun to read.

 

[JulieAnn]

Great TR - subscribing so I can catch your Disney happiness for our May '12 trip!
Captain EO, meh... we didn't love it last May and I highly doubt i'll get my kids to watch it this may...

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I was almost right with my Future World prediction!

I have no memory of Captain EO from the 80's and we haven't seen it yet since it's return...maybe on our next trip!

I love the Imagination area too, I love the fountains, I remember them from when I was a kid!

Ahh, Spaceship Earth! I actually don't care who's narrating, I just love that ride!

Hope you didn't have to wait too long for your motorcoach!

Hahaha that's true!! You were in the right vicinity!

You should see it, if only for a laugh. It's pretty 80's-tastic.

The Imagination area is just so fun and spunky I think. Even the area music makes me feel like I can accomplish awesome things!

Great update. So great that I am going to borrow it when I get to the Captain EO part of my TR. Looking back all I can remember is it was over the top 80's and I was in my 20's in the 80's. that was my prime. Shouldn't I remember everything 80's?

NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You even knew the song. I am totally impressed. That Captain EO movie was just plain dumb, but it WAS Michael Jackson and everyone was super skinny, so for that reason I watched it.

I totally love that picture of you! That's awesome (too lazy to cut and paste it). I hope you have it framed because you look adorable.

I hope you loved Sanaa.

Tell wignut to put his tongue back in his mouth!

Hahaha thank you!! It truly is over-the-top 80's! It even includes the upbeat "getting to work" theme music during the preshow!

Probably the funniest part of it was literally the first Monday we went back to work after our trip, Wingnut texted me like, "you will NEVER believe what just came on my online radio" and it was We Are Here to Change the World from Captain EO!

Thank you!! I promise I will post about Sanaa in the near future!

I swear, he's making that face in around half of our vacation pics...

I have never seen Captain EO, but I am so tempted! I kind of like things that are pointlessly odd.

Granted, I never went on Spaceship Earth when it had Jeremy Irons, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE Dame Judi Dench! I was so excited to know I'd hear her familiar, comforting voice the first time I rode! There's just no way it could get any better than that. Maybe. Now going to find a video of his voice...you know, just for research purposes...

You're right--your photo is Swiss cheesy! Makes me laugh. I have one to compete, though. It'll be up on this day of my TR, and it is possibly the worst SE picture EVER. I love it. Having a bad photo kind of makes the ride even more worthwhile!

Oh you SO should! Pointlessly odd completely summarizes this one!!

Judi Dench certainly isn't bad, but I just LOVE the Jeremy Irons version. (There's no video in this version, but this is the best audio I could find. Part 2 of the audio. 1:24 is my absolute favorite line.)

Hahaha idk why my photo always comes out so weird! But it is kind of funnier to have a bad picture!

What is Spaceship Earth I have never been there (fear of the unknown )

The ride inside the giant Epcot ball! Don't fear the unknown, especially in Disney! There's fun things around every corner! (Or, in this case, inside every geodesic sphere)

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Hahaha, I think we've all been there where we ask the same question of Captain EO. Really? All that talent and THIS is what they come up with?

I miss Jeremy Irons narrating Spaceship Earth. ACTUALLY, I miss Walter Cronkite narrating SE. I like Judy Dench, but it's not quite the same.

Hahaha literally, Wingnut just kept saying that for at least an hour later. "Really? Really???"

I agree. It's definitely not bad. But I miss the old version!!

I just love Spaceship Earth. I can't wait to see what you thought about Saana and AKL since we are going to be there in 63 more days !!! You look much warmer on this trip than you did last trip. It has been a very mild winter. My cousin in Colorado just got 18 inches of snow so it makes you wonder what might be coming east. But for now, I have tennis plans for Sunday - yay.

AKL and Sanaa coming up soon!! Your trip is coming up so fast, that's awesome!

We were SOOOO much warmer this trip, thank goodness!! It was fantastic to not have to wear our winter coats this time!

Wow 18 inches of snow is a lot! Let's hope it just all magically disappears before it comes east! Have fun at tennis!!

I used to Love Captain EO back in the day. I actually had a stuffed "Hooter" (the elephant) he was so cute. We missed it when we were there in May, it wasn't a big priority but I had hoped we would have time.

I miss Jeremy Irons, too but I will say that I am partial to the Walter Cronkite version.

Awwww a stuffed Hooter, that's awesome!! It is a bit of a time undertaking, they seem to want to make you watch the whole pre-show! Hopefully you'll get to see it at some point!

Being a HUGE MJ fan, I was so excited to see Captain EO last December. When the show was over I was like huh? Maybe in 1985 (or whenever it was made) it was cool but really?

Loved your S.E picture.... i know a good chiropractor if you need one.

Hahaha that's kind of what our reactions were too! Like...wow, things were REALLY different then!

I think my little SE person needs more than a chiropractor! That shoulder blade looks like it's about 2 feet more to the left than it should be!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Another brilliant and hillarious update. Nope. Didn't see Captain EO coming. We saw it last February and I had some murky recollection of it from my childhood. Oh. My. Word. Just so, so bad. And, to top it all, we had Max with us and he was scared out of his mind. I felt like the world's worst mother for exposing him to all of that at such an early age.

But you are correct about the fountains. They are super cool. I've never seen the timeline, but I'll look for it when I'm there. I'd be into that, I'm sure.

We always seem to leave plenty of time when travelling on Disney motorcoaches. Love that you used that term. I can hear that announcer now...

Looking forward to your review of Sanaa, especially since I know you like Indian food.

Thank you!! Hahaha yeah I knew that one was going to come out of nowhere! Awwww it does get a bit unexpectedly loud, I'm sure you didn't expect that! At least there's a ton of other fun things to do around Epcot to forget all about EO!

The timeline is kind of a ring of plates on the ground when you're walking towards The Land from the main "hub" of Future World. They're easy to miss, but they're really cool to stop and look at.

We always leave a ton of time too for the transport! Hahaha I'm on a roll with the YouTube tonight, here you go!

Sanaa review coming up (fairly) soon, I promise! I'm REALLY excited to share this one!

Fab update Sara!

Oooh, Michael Jackson! I may or may not have had a poster of him in my room as a young girl..."just beat it, beat it, no one wants to be defeated"

We've yet to see Captain EO, I don't know why. Maybe because it gets consistently cheesy reviews? Especialy after hearing Wingnut's glowing review.

Well of course you stopped to visit Figment! Of course. I love this ride too and basically force my family to ride with me. They're very meh about it but I just love it!

Love your jumping fountain pic! We love that area too and always spend time just watching it jump.

I love that area with the timeline pavement too. I'm sure it has some other more official title but I've no idea what it is. It's cool though. I was pointing them out to my girls and explaining them, I guess that's the homeschool mom in me. A field trip!

That's a great picture of you too, sitting on the ground. Very princess like.

Ah, Spaceship earth! I knew you'd make it over there soon. I agree Jeremy Irons has a more expressive voice, kinda like Alan Rickman. But Judi Dench isn't too bad but I prefer the old one too.

Love your swiss cheese picture! How weird that it photoshopped that way. I have to agree that it's odd to have Wingnut eating in an aquarium while you're across the table eating at the Alps? I guess in the future eveyone will be wearing argyle and able to eat at various locations silmutaneously?

Looks you managed to have a great arrival day despite those pesky marathon cones. Looking forward to the next update, these are so much fun to read.

Thank you!!!

Awww, how could you have skipped EO, especially with your old poster?? It's just totally hilarious in its cheesyness. You have to go, seriously!

I love Figment too! Wingnut is actually VERY patient, and will go on Journey Into Imagination several times a trip! (Yup, there's a spoiler )

I have no idea what the timeline is actually called either, but I love looking at it! It really is cool seeing all of the different inventions!

Jeremy Iron's voice really is just more expressive! But Judi Dench has fun with it, which I do like.

I swear, the SE futures really do love those argyle sweaters!! I guess eating in different "locations" could be useful, maybe. (Alright, I have no idea how this could be useful! )

Great TR - subscribing so I can catch your Disney happiness for our May '12 trip!
Captain EO, meh... we didn't love it last May and I highly doubt i'll get my kids to watch it this may...

Thank you, welcome!! Glad to have you here!

Hahaha we just love super-cheesy things like this. Wingnut, especially. I was actually a bit surprised when he excitedly suggested going back. But hey, it's not like I don't enjoy it either!

 

[Simba22]

Dang it!! I was totally gonna say Captain EO!! And I'm so glad that you like Figment! It's one of my favorite rides and I hate that guidebooks always trash it!

I miss the Jeremy Irons narration on SE too...although to be honest, before the refurb they did, I could barely hear any of it because the track was so loud.

Can't wait to hear about your dinner at Sanaa!

 

[Megablocks]

I've never seen Captain EO. One of my DIS friends saw it last year and texted me with, "that was the strangest thing I've ever seen in my life."

I LOVE the Imagination area! I remember seeing the timeline, next time I need to stop and look at everything.

So...you were at Sanaa that night? We were at Boma at 4:30!

 

[MeMom]

Seriously? This just doesn't look comfortable.

Yes, I believe you will require a chiropractor. Trent works for an awesome one, so let us know.....

I'm picturing Wingnut Junior doing this in a few years.
You will have to save this for when Senior tells Junior to get down because it's dangerous and rude.

 

[marDgreen88]

I think you've convinced me to go to see Captain EO.

Omg, your Spaceship Earth picture is hysterical. I mean who took a bite out of your head? HAHAHA.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Dang it!! I was totally gonna say Captain EO!! And I'm so glad that you like Figment! It's one of my favorite rides and I hate that guidebooks always trash it!

I miss the Jeremy Irons narration on SE too...although to be honest, before the refurb they did, I could barely hear any of it because the track was so loud.

Can't wait to hear about your dinner at Sanaa!

Hahaha you should have!!! I know, Figment gets such bad reviews, I'm like "but he's awesome!!"

This is true, the track used to be a lot louder. I can't pretend to look fondly back at that...

I've never seen Captain EO. One of my DIS friends saw it last year and texted me with, "that was the strangest thing I've ever seen in my life."

I LOVE the Imagination area! I remember seeing the timeline, next time I need to stop and look at everything.

So...you were at Sanaa that night? We were at Boma at 4:30!

LOL That's pretty apt!!

It's fun to look at the timeline, although it's hard during busier times, you're pretty much right in the middle of the Soarin' traffic flow!

Seriously??? Seems like we were on the same plan wavelength!!!

Yes, I believe you will require a chiropractor. Trent works for an awesome one, so let us know.....

I'm picturing Wingnut Junior doing this in a few years.
You will have to save this for when Senior tells Junior to get down because it's dangerous and rude.

Hahahaha thankfully I only look like that on Spaceship Earth!!

He so would! I'll have to keep this one on hand...

I think you've convinced me to go to see Captain EO.

Omg, your Spaceship Earth picture is hysterical. I mean who took a bite out of your head? HAHAHA.

Hahahaha yes!!! You just HAVE to once!

I don't really know what happened here!!

 

[LilAnn]

Wait, I've never even noticed the timeline stuff. Man, there is always so much to see at Epcot, I seriously discover something "new" each time I go.

I can't wait to hear about Sanaa. I really want to eat there one day. There's just so many places that I want to try, but some old favorites always call out to me.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

It wasn't long before our AKL-bound chariot arrived, and we hopped on-board.

Not literally. We took our seats in a calm and civilized manner.

Probably.

Can I divert for a moment to rhapsodize about the bus music? I truly adore how the Disney busses – sorry, motorcoaches – play destination-specific music. Like, for the Yacht Club, it's calm nautical sounds like seagulls and ocean waves. To Epcot, you'll hear lots of the songs from 4 Parks 1 World CD's, Ellen's Energy Adventure and World Showcase tunes. En route to DHS, movie themes.

The music going to Animal Kingdom Lodge has to be one of my favorites. It seems to be pretty similar to what's played over the lobbies and savannah viewing locations, and I just love the singing and the drums. It's just peaceful and wonderful and part of what makes Disney Disney.

Anyways. We're on the bus. Nothing very notable happens. We stop first at Kidani Village, and disembark (I'm on a roll with the bus terminology here, right?).

(Yes, that last one was on purpose too.)

We were pretty early for our reservation, so we made our way through the lobby, stopping in the gift shop, of course.

Wingnut: Wait! Why does this gift shop have Chef Boyardee???
Me: Because it's a vacation club resort.
Wingnut: That's awesome.

Sigh.

Moving away from the pantry section of the gift shop, we decided to go check out the animals for a little bit.

I stopped in one of the bathrooms on the way to the savannah, and found an awesome sink in there.



(Wingnut had gone to the bathroom as well, he was pretty impressed with the sinks as well, all like "Did you see the sinks in there??")

Blurry, but AKL has quotations painted on the walls.



Savannah time!!



Zebras!



Giraffes!





Zebras!



Giraffes!









(Apparently we were in the part of the savannah with the zebras and giraffes )

Pretty beaded lamps.



And more zebras!



Gira... no, wait. That's an ostrich.



It was just so peaceful and wonderful standing out there watching the zebras and wildebeasts and birds. I know I've always said that Wingnut and I would never consider staying at AKL because of the distance to everything (Epcot) but at that moment, I finally felt the AKL lodge love.

I tuned to Wingnut. "I know this sounds crazy, but I really want to stay here someday."

He reiterated our usual lines, that it's far from Epcot and DHS, and that the novelty of the animals would probably wear off.

"Yeah, I know. But this is just so nice."

"It is nice," he agreed.

We hung out for around a half hour or so on the little area overlooking the savannah, enjoying watching the animals and savoring that excitement of the first Disney day.

A few minutes before 5 (when Sanaa opens), we made our way inside, ready for our first dinner of the trip!

 

[LilAnn]

Apparently I commented too soon as you just updated. Anyways, you got some nice animal pics! I haven't seen the giraffes whenever I am out there. I do see many a zebra butt.

Nice sink, for reals.

Those beaded lamps are pretty cool. I just love all the details in the resorts.

 

[Joyciemc]

Your AKL pictures are making me nostalgic! I LOVED staying at Kidani, but we probably never will again (unless we do a trip without parks, which is totally possible for us, or a long split-stay) because of how far it is from everything... we tried to take mid-day breaks, and I felt like we missed both park time AND time to enjoy our resort. Though if we had a car with us, that might have changed things...

But it is sooooooooo nice and I absolutely loved our stay at the resort itself!

 

[mousescrapper]

Capt EO

Well at least you had fun...I love those fountains too...just realized we didn't see them last month whoops

No EP day could be complete w/out a ride through SSE...

I was thoroughly impressed too w/ the Savanah area at AKL as well...someday we may stay DVC there too...but I too get hung up w/ the need for the busses everywhere

Can't wait to hear about your dinner

J

 

[Jennifer48]

Nope, definitely didn't think Captain EO was your first stop!

I completely agree with you regarding the music on the Disney buses, ahem, motorcoaches. Really gets you in the mood before you've even hit your destination.

Kidani is our "home" so the AKL has a special place in my heart. Isn't that outlook just fun to sit out at? There usually is a CM with great knowledge standing out there answering questions and such.

I can't wait to hear about Sanaa. I want to dine there soon!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

I knew I couldn't be the only one who is impressed with bathrooms!

I think it's hilarious that foodie Wingnut was impressed with Chef Boyardee! But then again, who can resist it??

Can't wait to hear about Sanaa. Everyone seems to love that place!

 

[vassar36]

can't wait to hear about Sanaa....so glad I found your TR!!

 

[tinacaplan]

Probably the funniest part of it was literally the first Monday we went back to work after our trip, Wingnut texted me like, "you will NEVER believe what just came on my online radio" and it was We Are Here to Change the World from Captain EO!

Um...what do you have to your radio programmed to to make THAT happen?? And which service was it? 'Cause if I could make that happen..I SO want to.

Thank you!! Hahaha yeah I knew that one was going to come out of nowhere! Awwww it does get a bit unexpectedly loud, I'm sure you didn't expect that! At least there's a ton of other fun things to do around Epcot to forget all about EO!

It was more the fearsome Angelica Houston and the crazy nails!

I love the bus music, too! You are totally right. Its one of the things that makes Disney "Disney" for me and why I don't mind riding the busses in the slightest.

I would love to stay at AKL someday, too. We were "this" close to doing it last summer (club level no less), but went with the Beach Club in the end because of...yup, location. That and the fact that Max isn't a huge animal fan. I don't know...he's four. I'm afraid of how long it will take to get anywhere. I have a secret (OK not so secret) dream for a trip for Christmas week, which would simply involve staying at AKL and soaking up all the fun there. I even love how the lobby smells there. And the bathrooms...OMG...they are fantastic.