Here were my plans for Wednesday, day 2.
I planned on opening AK and going to morning EMH. Then I'd be heading to MK for my FP+ and BOG FP+ as well! After that, I was planning on hitting up the **************.net meetup at (what I thought was) 3:30 p.m. Little did I know that today would be a
four park extravaganza that had me popping all over the place and getting a ton done! This would probably be my busiest day.
I had the following FP+ for today:
BTMRR: 3:25 p.m.
HM: 5:05 pm
Space: 7 p.m.
Would I use them or not? So far, I'm 1 for 3.
I was up and at it early, since AK opened at 8 a.m. I grabbed a breakfast bar, chugged some diet coke, and ran down the stairs (hey, it was still early enough in the trip I was taking the stairs).
I came out at the wrong place (whoops. I kept doing this my whole trip), so I took a little photo tour.
At about 7:20 I was heading for the bus stop (finally)...
where I proceeded to wait.... and wait.... and wait....... and wait......
There was an employee of BWV just hanging around at the bus stop. That seems like a dangerous position, since really he was just hanging around talking to Guests -- and we were all getting increasingly irritated as MK bus after MK bus picked up for a 9 a.m. opening but no AK bus showed for a 8 a.m. opening.
FINALLY a bus showed (after much grumbling and the start of a real line of complaints from quite a few people) and we were on our way to AK. This was my first encounter with the buses not being the best, but it would not be the last.
It took 25 minutes for an AK bus to come AFTER I arrived at the bus stop, and others had been waiting before me. I wonder how long it actually took between buses? As it was, this bus was dispatched especially for us, as evidenced by the "DAKW" on the front windshield (I was told the "D" stood for "dispatched").
Ack, we're gonna be late!
We finally made it to AK. I really thought that arriving with 40 minutes to spare would get me to the park in time for "rope drop", but instead I was here at 8:06 a.m.:
Ok, not too too bad. A few pictures:
I decided to go to Everest first, then to Dinosaur, and then try to see ITTBAB. This is all I really care to do at AK. I don't have the patience for the Safari, as the idea of getting stuck on a ride because an animal decided to nap in the road kind of freaks me out. I have a rule - don't depend on a live animal.
So I was on a mission.
I just love this ride! I pulled one FP- for it, and then rode again via standby line.
I then headed over to D!. I know most don't like Dinorama, but I really DO. I love carnivals and theme parks, and this just reminds me of those days as a kid, only better. I love the dinosaurs and the goofiness of it.
I also pulled a FP- for D!, and rode.
Not our dino.
I now had a FP- for both EE and D!, so I went back on D! again. My D! FP- came due before my EE one, so I went ahead and rode D! again.
Ok, time to head back to EE.
I was already a little tired of criss-crossing back and forth and decided to just go try to catch ITTBAB. But first, a few pictures of EE, since it's so super-cool.
I know it's not too intense, but I love this coaster!
I saw this and immediately thought of Danielle (IheartDDuck on the Dis):
These yetis looked pretty sober though.
Back for another ride at D!, no line. I held on to my FP-.
I did get into the next showing of ITTBAB; I walked right in, which I LOVE.
You have to admit this is a gorgeous park:
A crowd picture:
It was now only 9:30, but I had ridden EE 3 times and D! 3 times, as well as done ITTBAB. I was feeling tired, so I decided to leave the park and go back for a quick nap before heading to MK. I love my Disney naps!
But here is my second encounter with BWV buses that would leave me with a bad taste in my mouth.
It was a bit chilly out this morning. I thought I'd be fine in my short sleeves and long pants, but I was a bit cold. Oh well, I was leaving. I got to my bus stop and a bus was there! Score!
I waited for the people to get off the bus. Then the bus driver told me they were changing drivers. Oh, ok.
I waited.
And waited.
This seemed to be common for them to change drivers at AK, as this happened to me last trip too, so I just stood in the chilly air in my short sleeves and waited for them to tell me to come aboard.
After about another 10 minutes, the new driver leaned out the door and said "I'm not going to BWV, I've been dispatched elsewhere." He then shut the door and left.
W.
T.
F.
Seriously? All right, well, what can I do but wait?
And I waited.
And I waited.
After about 15 more minutes, another bus pulled up. The people got off and I gratefully went to get on. The driver told me that she was also not going to BWV; she was switching drivers as well but the bus wouldn't be going to BWV once they switched.
WHA....!?
I was really getting irritated now. I'd been waiting almost 30 minutes at this point and had seen two buses come and two buses go. The woman took pity on me and said there had been a bus dispatched for me since I'd been waiting so long. I told her I was very unhappy to see two buses come and go and that I was cold. She talked to the other driver as more people walked up to the BWV stop. Finally, they told me they could take us to the BWV; the two women getting on the bus didn't care where they went, they just wanted to get to DTD so they needed to get to a resort to do so. I wanted to warn them that BWV was probably not the bus-friendly resort they wanted, but perhaps I'd just had bad luck so far!
About 10:30 a.m., and I was back in my room - one park down, three to go. But what's this? My bedroom TV is still not fixed! I NEED TV TO SLEEP, PEOPLE!
Another call to the front desk, and an hour later....
Ah, bliss.