Rope Drop is Tip #1!! A June 2016 TR...updated 10/31 pg 19 post 373 THE END!

[ArielSRL]

I got the video posted above, but here's the link so you don't have to scroll back up:

Great update!

Thank you!

It looks really busy in this photo!

It was definitely crowded but just keep in mind that we probably entered with the masses. It was around 10am, 1 hour after opening...so everyone was getting there around the same time as us! If we had gotten there at, well before, rope drop I bet there wouldn't be nearly that crowd going in. But you're a Disney vet, so you already know that and are smart enough to take advantage. Do I STILL sound bitter??? LOL

Was the JB package included in the Dining Plan? Interested to see what happens later.

Yes, it was and it was still just 1 credit. So we were "paying" the same regardless.

You do have some food photos - I can see Mickey waffles and a boiled egg on the plates on the table. It would be stressful enough getting the children settled, dashing off for food to take back to the table whilst watching out for characters. You've got the most important photos the ones with the boys with the characters. They look like they really enjoyed it!

I didn't even think about the food shown in the character photos...lol. I'll have to look back to see what we ate and remember this for the next time I didn't take food photos. And yes, it really was stressful to get the boys some food, then myself, my parents getting their food, timing it right so we are at the table when the characters came, making sure the boys were eating something, and eating ourselves. Whew! I'm tired just typing that!

But yes, you hit the nail on the head. The boys truly enjoyed it and I did get the photos of those memories!

I have a feeling you'll be to the parks like 1.5 hours before RD every day next June lol!!

You may very well have just given me an idea...lol!

Glad you enjoyed TH. We haven't been there since 2012, but we've done lunch and breakfast and always enjoyed it. If Chris didn't want GG breakfast in November I probably would have suggested TH but I really don't need another character meal!

It really was a good meal. If we go back to the DDP or when the boys start eating enough to justify the cost, then we will revisit!

 

[Princess Leia]

I got the video posted above, but here's the link so you don't have to scroll back up:

Thanks for reposting link - that's so kind! Great dancing from the boys!

It was around 10am, 1 hour after opening...so everyone was getting there around the same time as us! If we had gotten there at, well before, rope drop I bet there wouldn't be nearly that crowd going in. But you're a Disney vet, so you already know that and are smart enough to take advantage. Do I STILL sound bitter??? LOL

It can get busy at rope drop too but it is definitely worthwhile but does get hard to keep doing over a 14 night stay. Bitter?..no don't detect that at all!

Yes, it was and it was still just 1 credit. So we were "paying" the same regardless.

Makes sense to keep options open then - we were the same with Fantasmic dining plan in 2015 with it being included in the dining plan.

 

[kastoney]

We were fully embroiled in the Rivers of Light Drama too. It was supposed to open in April during our trip, but we all know how that goes. We've got a fast pass to see Jungle next month. I have no idea why as i 've heard absolutely nothing good about it, yet like a disney lemming when there is a new show I must follow What are the rumors now? I haven't been paying too much attention lately.

Glad you all enjoyed Tusker House. We don't typically do character meals, but this is the one we've found we where the food is worth the price. Except of course for the little ones. That price will never be worth it. Good call in not going the dining plan route for your boys.

 

[ArielSRL]

We were fully embroiled in the Rivers of Light Drama too. It was supposed to open in April during our trip, but we all know how that goes. We've got a fast pass to see Jungle next month. I have no idea why as i 've heard absolutely nothing good about it, yet like a disney lemming when there is a new show I must follow What are the rumors now? I haven't been paying too much attention lately.

Rumors are JB show is done after Sept 5th. And ROL is starting up mid Sept maybe? Idk. I've heard they've fixed all the technical difficulties...so, we'll see!

Glad you all enjoyed Tusker House. We don't typically do character meals, but this is the one we've found we where the food is worth the price. Except of course for the little ones. That price will never be worth it. Good call in not going the dining plan route for your boys.

It was a nice meal but yes, the character buffets are so expensive (and the food is usually just average). Of course, the price is for seeing the characters and it's nice not to have to stand in so many character lines. We did 5, I think, in June. I think we will do 2 or 3 next June.

 

[vamassey1]

Beautiful Tree of Life photo! And I loved the boys dancing. It's these fun little things that make Disney worth it. AJ and Will looked like they enjoyed their meal and characters. I have to agree that the price they charge for little ones for character buffets aren't worth it. I've been paying for adults for so long I haven't looked at that. I hope everyone enjoyed FOLK.

 

[ArielSRL]

Beautiful Tree of Life photo! And I loved the boys dancing. It's these fun little things that make Disney worth it. AJ and Will looked like they enjoyed their meal and characters. I have to agree that the price they charge for little ones for character buffets aren't worth it. I've been paying for adults for so long I haven't looked at that. I hope everyone enjoyed FOLK.

Thank you! Yes, they got so much into the dancing! They really enjoyed that and meeting the characters!

Yes the prices are ridiculous! In some ways it can make the DDP worth it bc the cost of a day on the DDP for a kid is how much the buffet costs...but they just don't eat enough, so we'll just drop some of the buffets while paying oop.

 

[ariane37]

Rumors are JB show is done after Sept 5th. And ROL is starting up mid Sept maybe? Idk. I've heard they've fixed all the technical difficulties...so, we'll see!
.

I'm not keeping up on the ROL rumors since I still have awhile until I book our FP's for November, plus I don't think I'd believe anything I hear anyway based on what happened in the spring lol! But that'd be nice if it opened in Sept. and we got to see it. I just don't want it to open right before we get there in Nov. because I don't want to have our FP's booked and then have to scramble to book that one.

 

[ArielSRL]

I'm not keeping up on the ROL rumors since I still have awhile until I book our FP's for November, plus I don't think I'd believe anything I hear anyway based on what happened in the spring lol! But that'd be nice if it opened in Sept. and we got to see it. I just don't want it to open right before we get there in Nov. because I don't want to have our FP's booked and then have to scramble to book that one.

So I heard they were initially shooting for Nov but they've gotten it squared away and will be opening it up sooner than expected. But yes, like you, I've been on this train before, so I'll believe it when I see it.

 

[ArielSRL]

Day Four 6/7/2016 ~ Animal Kingdom (part 2)

So we left Tusker House and even though we had plans to see Flights of Wonder, we went ahead to Festival of the Lion King since we had missed that earlier and it was right there. It was raining on and off so I had to cover the stroller when I parked it. We headed to the line and Mom just stayed on her ECV so we were able to get an upfront spot for the show. It was around noon at this point. The show was amazing as usual:






When we left there, it was again raining off and on. I took a few shots of the area:



Then we decided to head to Its Tough to Be a Bug, which actually was on our touring plan! We decided to stop for some Photopass photos and I just now realized we never got them on our Photopass account! And we actually waited quite a bit for them! Oh well.

After the (lost) photos, we headed into ITTBAB around 1pm. Here’s a few shots of the boys in line:



The line wasn’t horribly long but it certainly wasn’t short. However the show sure was. I swear I don’t remember it being that short. In any case, after that, we decided it was time to head back to the resort for a break.

Continued in next post...

 

[ArielSRL]

*Continued* Day Four 6/7/2016 ~ Animal Kingdom (part 2)

But not before I grabbed an adult beverage:


Sad to say I don’t even remember what this was. I looked online and I think we stopped at Terra Treats but there is no alcohol listed on the menu so I could very well be wrong.

Also, at some point – I believe between FotLK and ITTBAB, we got both AJ and Will a hat and we purchased another autograph book as our other one was almost filled up. AJ chose a Sorcerer Mickey ear hat that I don’t have any photos of and Will chose a Lightning McQueen baseball hat with ears:



Cars is his favorite Disney movie - note the shirt, so its appropriate.

Ok, so as you can see in the photos of Will, we were back at the resort for our break, so I think I will stop here.

Tonight is my last night of Summer Break. The alarm will be going off tomorrow morning at 5:30 and I have to be at work at 7:30 for the start of pre-planning week. Blech. Well, I guess there was no helping it. Just means the time to our next trip is passing. 307 days, if you are wondering. Hopefully it will go faster than it sounds like it will…lol.

Oh and I do my trip updates on my work laptop and I never bring it home…so I’m not sure how I am going to work this. I guess I will have to bring it home with me a few nights a week and/or on the weekend. My biggest problem is remembering to bring it back. Oh well….I’ll get it figured out because I certainly can’t stop updating, now can I???

Up next: Day Four 6/7/2016 ~ Animal Kingdom (part 3)

 

[vamassey1]

NO you can't stop updating and leave us hanging. Sorry it's time to head back to work. How many days until your first break?

FOTLK is a family favorite and you had some great seats. Did the boys dance along? What was their reaction to the bugs in ITTBAB? I love getting someone in there that hasn't done it before. The boys picked out some cute hats.

 

[ArielSRL]

NO you can't stop updating and leave us hanging. Sorry it's time to head back to work. How many days until your first break

Our next day off is Labor Day...so a little over a month, but I'm taking Sept 1st off for Will's preschool open house and my mammogram! Fun times! After that, it's not til Nov (Election Day then the week of Thanksgiving) but I'll take at least one day off in Oct to take the boys to their well doctor visits.

FOTLK is a family favorite and you had some great seats. Did the boys dance along? What was their reaction to the bugs in ITTBAB? I love getting someone in there that hasn't done it before. The boys picked out some cute hats.

They did dance along! And they were great seats! I think Will sat on my lap so he didn't really notice much but AJ was quite surprised by some of the events in ITTBAB! It was just so much shorter than I remember.

Of course they never wear the hats at home!

 

[ArielSRL]

Totally planned to update tonight, even brought my laptop home but it won't connect to my internet here. Same thing happened at the beginning of Summer Break but once I took it to Disney and brought it home, it worked. Does this mean I need to go to Disney ASAP?? Or does it just prove Disney Magic exists?

I'm gonna ask the tech lady at work tomorrow if she can help. I'll keep you guys updated!

 

[ArielSRL]

Ok guys, I'm really having trouble updating this report. I have the update written but my work laptop will now, not connect to my home internet. I'll try to see if I can get the issue fixed with help from my tech person at work but that's not gonna be a priority the first week of school.

I copied the text and the photos onto a jump drive and tried to use my DH's laptop but he doesn't have Word on his computer (what??) so I can't open what I wrote. I may end up having to rewrite it on his computer but that's a last resort bc it's a lengthy update.

I may try to post some at work but again, the beginning of school doesn't leave a whole lot of time to do stuff like that. I'm also working to borrow my mom's laptop as she only uses her desktop now.

So, just know I have an update all ready to go, as soon as I can figure out how to get it posted. Ugh.

Edit: I may have it figured out thanks to hubby...going to try to post now.

 

[ArielSRL]

Day Four 6/7/2016 ~ Animal Kingdom (part 3)

So fyi, my laptop still won’t connect to the internet here at home. So I am writing this update on Word and will transfer the photos and the writing to my DH’s laptop and try to post it that way. So annoying but what can you do?

Last I left you we had headed to a break on our AK day. Based on the time stamp on my photos, I think we headed back around 6pm. AJ fell asleep, as evidenced by some of the Photopass photos:




We had Fastpasses to Meet Mickey and Minnie at the Adventurer’s Outpost. Unfortunately AJ never woke up before the meet so Dad, Will, and I went in while Mom stayed with AJ. I have a ton of photos from this meet, it was so precious. So I’ll post some, but not all, of them here:







Continued in next post...

 

[vamassey1]

How frustrating! I hope you can get it working.

Good luck with the first week of school. Danielle starts her senior year on Wednesday.

 

[ArielSRL]

*Continued* Day Four 6/7/2016 ~ Animal Kingdom (part 3)

Here are the Photopass photos:




The line didn’t take long but the meet took a few minutes because Will was just enthralled and it seemed Minnie was, as well!

However, we had a 6:45 dinner ressie to get to so we eventually had to end the meet and head out to Yak & Yeti.

Again it was raining on and off that day so it was fairly wet both outside the restaurant and inside the waiting area. I parked the stroller, Mom parked the ECV and in we went…probably a few minutes late but not many. I don’t think we waited very long before we were sat.

I got a drink that I think was the mango daiquiri but I’m not certain:


For my entrée, I got the Tempura Shrimp:


Mom got the Mandarin Chicken Salad:


Fairly certain that Dad got the Kobe Beef Burger:


I probably ordered Chicken Tenders for the boys to share and again they barely ate anything except Cheerios and Goldfish.

Moving on to dessert, I had heard so much about the Fried Wontons that I really wanted to try them even though the pineapple didn’t excite me all that much. I like it just fine but I’m not bowled over by it or anything. My other choice would have been the Mango Pie. But ultimately I decided to try the wontons:


They were good but I will always wonder what the Mango Pie tasted like.

Mom got the Chocolate Pudding Cake and it looks good:


My dad, the diabetic, let Will get an icecream sundae with his dessert credit since AJ had one, too. Guess what…they barely ate it. Have you figured out my reasoning behind not getting the DDP next year??? So frustrating that they didn’t eat much of anything this trip! What is wrong with these children??

All in all, I wasn't very impressed with this meal and don't plan on a return trip.

We had to wait quite a bit for our check, which was annoying because we had FP for the safari from 7:25-8:25 then the JB show at 8:25.

When we finally got out of there, I took a photo of the boys:

and off we went toward KS. We arrived probably at the end of our FP window and the line was long. It probably took us 15-20 minutes to get through the line, park the strollers, get to the handicap area for Mom to park the ECV and then get on the truck.

So here was the nighttime safari. My dad pretty much complained about how dark it was the whole ride but I really could see several animals. Maybe even more than during the daytime. However, it was really starting to get to that point where it was almost too hard to see anything. If we had gone around 8, or even 8:15, I think it would’ve been perfect. I actually liked the sunset thing, even though I have heard many negative things about it.

Obviously when we got done, it was too late to see the JB show that we had both Fastpasses for and dining package tickets for! Oh well. I didn’t mind missing it because of all the mixed reviews but it was just funny because we had covered our bases as far as seating options but didn't use either.

So, since I knew we were missing the show, I offered the option of riding EE at night while the show was going on so we wouldn’t have a very long wait. I had the extra FPs we could use but I heard there were no issued FP for that time period so I figured we couldn’t use them.

Continued in next post...

 

[ArielSRL]

*Continued* Day Four 6/7/2016 ~ Animal Kingdom (part 3)

We raced over to the entrance, stopping for a not-very-good photo of the tree:


Then we just made it to EE right before 9:20, right before the JB show was to end. I parked the stroller and the boys stayed with Mom in that section. Dad and I headed into the standby line. I don’t think we waited more than 10 or 15 minutes however, I later learned we could’ve used the extra FPs. Oh well.

No matter…this ride was ridiculously awesome at night. Here’s our ride photo and per usual, I am WAY into the ride and look wonderful….lol:


After the ride, we met back up with the rest of the crew and decided to head to Dinoland. The crowds for JB had dispersed somewhat and new lines were forming for the second show. I grabbed a photo of the boys:


Then we decided to ride Triceratops Spin. Here’s my selfie with my baby boy:


I guess AJ still thought Aladdin was the best one of these because he turned down a second ride. We looked around at the carnival games and AJ wanted to play some but my goodness they were expensive. He was quite upset but we were adamant that we weren’t spending the money for that. We coerced a photo out of him:


Then decided to head out. We had to pass the Boneyard and I knew if I let them play in there at 10pm (or later most likely), we would be there forever. So again I had to disappoint him. I hated that. Hopefully he has forgotten that and I’ll make sure to plan some time for it next trip (though I did plan time for it this trip but we all know how that went).

Got a photo of Will’s first trip button in the parking lot:


And one of our tricked out stroller:


We made it back to SSR around 11 and I made it to bed by 12:30pm.

Next up: Day Five 6/8/2016 ~ Epcot (part 1)

 

[patches07]

Gret up date ! Love all the pictures

 

[ArielSRL]

How frustrating! I hope you can get it working.

Good luck with the first week of school. Danielle starts her senior year on Wednesday.

Got it working!

Thank you! I met almost all my students on Thursday and it seems like a good group. It will just be crazy the first few weeks!

Good luck to her on a great senior year!

Gret up date ! Love all the pictures

Thank you!