And I think to myself: "It's a wonderful World!" UPDATED: (post 238 & 239)

Good evening Lee!

Have just finished catching up with your TR :) still great!! :goodvibes

I've been reading bits here and there on my phone while in lectures, and it definitely makes my classes more bearable :lmao:

Can't wait to read more!
 
Good evening Lee!

Have just finished catching up with your TR :) still great!! :goodvibes

I've been reading bits here and there on my phone while in lectures, and it definitely makes my classes more bearable :lmao:

Can't wait to read more!

Lol, don't you dare report me to your Professor :lmao:

I am not keeping this thread as up to date as I would like to. It is so annoying because I so enjoy typing it and getting the photos together so I am constantly distracted. A TR is great for reliving the memories. This was a great trip and the next post is one of my favourite days - don't know why, but it was just great and one of those days that stands out in the trip.
 


Come on Lee :)

Im relying on you to finish this trippie before I leave !! :rotfl2:
 
Come on Lee :)

Im relying on you to finish this trippie before I leave !! :rotfl2:

:lmao:I'm typing it, I'm typing it!

I haven't had my laptop this week courtesy of a school project :rolleyes1 My good intentions of typing a few days of the TR last weekend amounted to nil. Next post will be up today. ;)
 


Animal Kingdom, including evening EMH

We were up and getting ready by 7 am. Being at the parks early is always a must if you want a good head start, but I find the especially true for Animal Kingdom if you want to do the headliners and characters with minimal wait times. We decided to skip breakfast and get something late morning at the park and we took the bus at around 8 am. Just as well we skipped breakfast. This was one of the few times we stopped at all the Riverside stops and it seemed to take quite a while to get there. However we made it in time to see the opening show and follow the rope through as the park opened. We knew where we were going and made our way directly to Expedition Everest. DD was hurrying me along as I took a few photos on the way. I love the vibrant colours in this park and by 9.30 am I knew that glare from the morning sun would throw a small challenge into the mix.

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We walked straight onto Expedition Everest.

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DD wanted to go again straight afterwards so we did one quick ride before I refused her request for a third. Besides, the line which we had just walked through for the second time was now standing at 10 minutes and we needed to get moving so I suggested we grab FPs and head straight for Kilimanjaro Safari as planned, while it was early. On our way to Africa we met Terk and King Louis so we stopped for a quick meet n greet.

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When we were finished I was trying to put a juice into my backpack and turned to speak to DD. Suddenly I had a sense of someone’s hand fiddling with my bag and I whipped around to see King Louise with his huge hands, sort of swatting at it. It was so funny, with DD laughing, “Did he scare you mum, did he scare you?”

The posted wait time for the Safari was 15 minutes but we moved through the line in less than 10 and were soon on our bumpy way. Not for long though. We came to a sudden stop. And we waited .... and waited ...... 10 minutes, 15 minutes... It turned out there were some white rhino in the road further along and everything came to a complete standstill until whenever they decided to move. I tried to just relax and accept that there was nothing we could do about it, but my mind was occupied with how this lost time was going to affect our park touring for the morning. I must admit, I think I am best suited to commando touring. That is my usual strategy for the first part of the day. Once we have done everything we wanted to do, then I am happy to sit and take in the surroundings, revisit anything we care to see or do again. We finally got moving and got to see plenty of animals. DD managed to get quite a few pictures with her compact camera. I ended up deleting the majority of mine because with no VR in my lens and the roads (if you can call them roads) on the Safari it is virtually impossible to get a clear shot. I got a few nice ones though and I know about the challenge of photos on this tour so it didn’t matter. Here are some of DD's pictures:

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It must have been a good 45 minutes or longer before we exited the Safari and decided to ignore our FP return time and carry on with our plan by visiting Camp Minnie Mickey and doing the character trails. We skipped Minnie and Mickey as the lines were ridiculously long by this stage and we spotted Thumper and Miss Bunny, who we haven’t met before so we opted to go say hello. We said goodbye to the bunnies and walked through the Pangani Forrest trail.

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It was late morning by now and DD was complaining bitterly about being “starving”. Starving on a Disney Dining Plan! She desperately wanted to eat at Pizzafari again. I think she remembers the lovely GF pizza they always keep on hand to make for guests with special dietary requirements so we went to eat there. I didn’t order anything as I wanted to eat at Yak & Yeti but I knew that it probably wasn’t going to happen because I find stopping to eat a waste of time when there are more interesting things to do and it was unlikely we would stop twice. Still, I figured in a few hours I might be “starving” too and then we could go get a meal there.

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DD wanted to use our FP for EE so we trekked across to Asia and rode it again and grabbed another FP for later before heading back across the bridge and around to Dinoland. Just before we entered we noticed that the greeting Trail for the 100 Acre Woods characters would be opening for Tigger & Pooh meet and greets in about 10 minutes. There was nobody there except a CM so we stood and waiting. A line quickly built up behind us. Right on time Tigger came bouncing along to fetch the eager guests and lead us to the greeting spot.

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Continued in part 2
 
We were rather amused when a CM appeared halfway along the route and asked why we were all entering the exit, to which we all replied “We’re following Tigger!” :lmao:

It was time to enter Dinoland. I find this part of the park a little out of place. I think it’s the music and theming that make it feel ‘cheap’. The dino theme is fine but just too much like part of a regular theme park – maybe it’s just me.

We rode Triceratop Spin and Primeval Whirl, browsed in the shop and then we were thirsty.

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It was getting hot in the sun so it seemed like a frozen beverage would be in order. DD asked for a frozen Coke. I have no idea why we ordered it other than that it was cold. Neither of us like Coke, but it did taste good in its frozen form. Better still, I got one of my best souvenirs of the trip. I had been hunting for this since we arrived and MK was sold out so when I spotted the little guy on the counter I had to have him. I think he was just under $8 with tax but sooooo cute! I need to take another photo of him with his ears on though - he's sitting on the kitchen table at the moment.

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Feeling refreshed and now carrying the cute popcorn bucket that wouldn’t fit into my backpack, we headed back to Asia rode EE (AGAIN!! DD just couldn’t get enough of it) and walked through the Maharaja Jungle Trek, which was really enjoyable, as always.

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By now DD was struggling with the heat so the prospect of standing in a shaded queue for Kali River rapids looked very appealing to her – especially with a promise of getting soaked in the end. We were in front of a group of people who were obviously there for the first time and the one guy was hilarious. It was probably the most fun we had waiting for a ride the whole time we were there.:thumbsup2 He was adamant that he never gets wet on water rides; that only happens to other members of his party. :rolleyes1Tee hee! They were trying to decide where to go after AK so I gave them my park hours guide as they tried to decide what was worth doing. He asked what “Epics” ;) was and if there was anything there (talking about Epcot). There was a party at MK that night so I advised them that it would be a waste of time unless they left straight after this and got a ticket, which would allow them to stay until midnight, but without buying a ticket Epcot would be their best bet. They were very grateful but seemed to know nothing of Disney or what was even in the parks. They had seen EE and didn’t know it was a ride. I wished we had met them earlier – we could have taken them to the headliners and got them started as I don’t think they had done much that day. Anyway, with the one guy’s insistence that he would not get wet on KRR, we all decided to announce ourselves as a group of 8 and ride together. As our raft bumped over the big fountain we all got soaked .... except Mr Stay Dry, much to everyone’s amusement and he was making sure we all knew about it! :) Not to worry, as we came down the big shoot he disappeared momentarily under what looked like a tidal wave of water. He could have swam through the river and been less wet.:rotfl2: We laughed all the way through the ride so loudly that people on the bridge near the exit were turning to see where all the noise was coming from. By this time DD had hiccups, which made us laugh all the more. It occurred to me that we could try and behave, but that didn’t seem like much fun. We said goodbye to them.:lmao: was now 5 pm and the park was closing to regular guests with EMH until 8 pm. At DD’s insistence we rode EE again. :rolleyes: On entering the line I noticed two elderly ladies in scooters, one of whom had oxygen with her, entering the line. Brave ladies! When we arrived at the loading area we were directed to the very back car (front seats) and there were those ladies, in our car, but behind us. They were very nervous. It seemed their (grandchildren?) had told them this was not to be missed. :eek:Well we were all buckled in so it was too late for them to get out and the moment we took off they let out a wail. You could hear they were absolutely terrified all the way through the ride. On the big climb DD attempted to distract them by pointing out the lovely view, but they were beside themselves. From that point on, all we heard behind us was “OMG, OMG, OMG ....!” :scared1::scared1::scared1: I told them afterwards they definitely need to get their photo to prove to everyone they had been on. :thumbsup2What sports! We went into the shop to buy our photo before proceeding to Dinoland. I had promised DD she could go and play in the Boneyard and I didn’t mind sitting down and letting her have fun for a while so after a quick spin on Primeval Whirl we settled in the Boneyard for the next hour or so. On prior visits they have always had the Nemo show on at least one during EMH but perhaps because it’s a different season this wasn’t happening. :sad1: I had purposely left it to the end thinking we could do that, but having checked at 5 pm we were told that there were no more shows this evening so we ended up re-doing some favourites. Like EE for example. I think we spent the last hour riding it again and again.

We stopped to check our PP photos on the way out and exited the park at 8.30 pm to head back to POFQ. I was suddenly feeling really hungry and realised I hadn’t eaten yet all day so when we got back the resort we headed straight for the foodcourt. The thought of a proper meal was very enticing and I asked if I could order just chicken instead of the rib and chicken since there was no option without the ribs. I thought it would be grilled chicken so I would be able to eat the white meat from under the skin. Well I was wrong. It was crumbed and deep fried and I didn’t have the heart to say anything because the sweet CM gave me not one, but two enormous chicken portions. The photo doesn’t do it justice. This meal could have fed a small family. The chicken wasn’t nice at all though. I dug through all the coating to get to the white meat and it was quite tough and chewy. Had it been paid for in cash or like (not free dining) I would have taken it back, but the sides were delicious and by the time I had eaten them I was full and happy. I felt awful tipping all that chicken into the trash though. I first paused and looked around to make sure nobody was looking – felt so guilty! The picture does not do it justice: this meal was HUGE!

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It had been a wonderful day and we headed back to our room to sit and look at all our photos before a shower and finally bed at around midnight.

Got it right: :thumbsup2

Again, getting to the park early. Things change each time and I think re-doing a special attraction over and over is something that can eat a lot of time out of park touring, but kids tend to do this and just going with the flow and enjoying each stage you're at makes it a lot of fun. I think we rode EE nine times in one day, if my notes are accurate. :scared1:


Could have done differently: :upsidedow

I wished we had done the Nemo Show in the day when we could have. We had purposely saved it for EMH based on previous experiences of low wait times after the park had closed.

Next up: Day 7 – Typhoon Lagoon and Magic Kingdom
 
Another great day again Lee
Are you Everest junkies or what?
Superb photo of Tove with Terk & King Louise - captured the moment brilliantly!
Funny stories of Mr Stay Dry & the white knuckle ladies :rotfl:
Keep'em coming!!!!
 
really great trip report i'm really enjoying reading. Loved the AK day its good to let kids do stuff over and over again. the first time we took my DD we rode the carosel over and over again we ended up staying on for 2 or 3 rides each time.
How far is the premium outlet i never really thought about going there till i've just read your report now it sounds like a great plan
 
:yay: An update !!:yay:

I think one of the very special things about wdw is the interaction with other guests !! Everyone is so friendly and we too have had many unexpected moments with other guests !!
Your story of Mr stay dry had me chuckling as when we first went on the rapids we expected a trickle of water and to get barely wet the americans on the ride were looking at us like we were crazy :lmao: They politely pointed out we should take our shoes off and put them under cover ! We told them it was fine and we would manage with a little bit of water :lmao: As soon as we turned the first corner e knew we should have took their advice and like you we ere laughing all the way round as buckets and buckets of water came our way !! :lmao::lmao::lmao:

My ds is also a big fan of EE and he rode more times than we could count !!

I cant wait for a new update x x x
 
brilliant update, love your photos, some really great ones there.

It is amazing how many people talk to you at WDW. Strangely enough we even found one lady my sister had seen down our local shops, yep she lived in our area :lmao:

Cool popcorn bucket :goodvibes
 
Another great day again Lee
Are you Everest junkies or what?
Superb photo of Tove with Terk & King Louise - captured the moment brilliantly!
Funny stories of Mr Stay Dry & the white knuckle ladies :rotfl:
Keep'em coming!!!!

Lol, Everest junkies :lmao: Actually Tove didn't rave about it last year. She rode once and said it was great but had no interest in doing it again. Before that she wouldn't do any form of rollercoaster.

Yes, both lots of people were funny. I think that was one of the things that stood out about this AK day - we laughed so much our sides hurt. :rotfl:

really great trip report i'm really enjoying reading. Loved the AK day its good to let kids do stuff over and over again. the first time we took my DD we rode the carosel over and over again we ended up staying on for 2 or 3 rides each time.
How far is the premium outlet i never really thought about going there till i've just read your report now it sounds like a great plan
Oh your DD went easy on you ;) I remember doing the teacups late on night when we got to stay on over and over. I can't do spinning in circles and after 2 or 3, the CM there actually came to escort me to the gate :sick: DD stayed on for a further 5 or 6 rides. :eek:

:yay: An update !!:yay:

I think one of the very special things about wdw is the interaction with other guests !! Everyone is so friendly and we too have had many unexpected moments with other guests !!

They were comical, the whole lot of them. It is fun to meet other people - all part of the experience for us. :thumbsup2

brilliant update, love your photos, some really great ones there.

It is amazing how many people talk to you at WDW. Strangely enough we even found one lady my sister had seen down our local shops, yep she lived in our area :lmao:

Thank you! :goodvibes Oh I always end up talking to people, lol! We keep in touch with a couple of folk we met there before. :goodvibes Standing in line and waiting for parades/fireworks is usually where you have time because you are planted next to the same people for a good while.
 
Found your TR on another page. We are going to stay at POFQ in Dec, so I have loved all the detail and pics you have. Can't wait to read the rest.:)
 
Found your TR on another page. We are going to stay at POFQ in Dec, so I have loved all the detail and pics you have. Can't wait to read the rest.:)

Welcome! :goodvibes I have been meaning to post more pics on the POFQ thread. If I posted them all here it would no longer be a TR :lmao: I think you'll really enjoy it. I would love to see what they do with it in terms of decorations over Christmas. It must be beautiful. Maybe you can let us know. ;)
 
Great pics Lee! :thumbsup2

It was time to enter Dinoland. I find this part of the park a little out of place. I think it’s the music and theming that make it feel ‘cheap’. The dino theme is fine but just too much like part of a regular theme park – maybe it’s just me.

I agree.


LOVE the popcorn bucket. I wish I'd seen this!

I think we rode EE nine times in one day, if my notes are accurate. :scared1:

Yikes! Rather you than me. I love thrill rides but I just can't enjoy EE. I think it's because it goes backwards. :sick:

Looking forward to more!
 
LOVE the popcorn bucket. I wish I'd seen this!

I actually had to look for it. I had seen pictures posted on the MNSSHP thread before we left and went to ask about it at MK the first day we were there as I couldn't find them and understood that they were not party-specific merchandise. The CM said they had sold out over the weekend and expected to recieve more stock but weren't sure when. It turned out they had some at AK though and I wasn't going to risk it so carted the bucket full of popcorn around with me for the rest of the day :headache: We never even ate the popcorn and I should have just asked for the bucket as I could have put things into it.

Funny, I didn't see them around at the party at MK. :confused3

Still to come: The ride I eventually tried that I will NEVER EVER EVER do again!

Yikes! Rather you than me. I love thrill rides but I just can't enjoy EE. I think it's because it goes backwards. :sick:

Ha, well if you decide to have children you may discover that the parent does not always have the final say .... or the last laugh :lmao: But you know this. ;)
 
I actually had to look for it. I had seen pictures posted on the MNSSHP thread before we left and went to ask about it at MK the first day we were there as I couldn't find them and understood that they were not party-specific merchandise. The CM said they had sold out over the weekend and expected to recieve more stock but weren't sure when. It turned out they had some at AK though and I wasn't going to risk it so carted the bucket full of popcorn around with me for the rest of the day :headache: We never even ate the popcorn and I should have just asked for the bucket as I could have put things into it.

It's so cute. It seems rather exclusive so I bet you're pleased you managed to snag one! :thumbsup2

Still to come: The ride I eventually tried that I will NEVER EVER EVER do again!

Oh dear, that doesn't sound too promising!

Ha, well if you decide to have children you may discover that the parent does not always have the final say .... or the last laugh :lmao: But you know this. ;)

:rotfl: So true!
 

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