Somebody's Gonna Pee in a Cup, West Coast - Link to new TR 1/21

[glaserjm]

That is a bummer about Restaurantosauras. I feel like most of us try really hard to give the benefit of the doubt to the CMs (and obviously the one helping you was trying hard as well) but it's just disappointing when something as simple as an order of fries can be turned into such a debacle. I hate when common sense does not overrule the "system".

Totally agree about AK being a 1/2 day park. I feel like even when we've really tried to explore more in depth, we just never stay past lunch. On our upcoming trip it has evening EMH which I think we'll check out and it will be the first time we've been in that park after 1 PM!

 

[afwdwfan]

The whole family did wonderful to make rope drop at AK. Your DS did go going on EE as there are many adults who won't go on it. At least he loes the stuffed yeti.

Yeah, we didn't get FP+ for EE since we planned to be there for RD, so I'm definitely glad we made it.

I'm glad he rode. And thankfully doesn't seem to traumatized. But he did want to know why the Yeti tore up the track.

Your pics of the animals came out great. It is very frustrating dealing with managers of restaurants when they act like they could care less about their customers.

Thanks... DW took them.

It was frustrating to hear her saying something like that. I don't know if she meant she'd take care of it so he needs to do his job, but I'm glad the CM at the counter stuck with it and got me our fries!

Stupid, stupid Yeti. As you know, I've been there. (and also bought the stuffed animal )She'll go on it now so there is hope for you in the near future!

Where do you think I came up with that idea.

I lack originality.

That lunch ordering sounds like a nightmare. Wow. I wish that you'd at least raved about the food after that.

Unfortunately, I can't quite rave about it. It was good, no complaints from that end of things, but it was by no means anything to rave about.

The safari is always a nice break in that park. Honestly after all these trips I could skip it though. I'm with you guys. AK is a half day for me.

Yeah, even safari can be very hit or miss. They rush through it so if animals are out, you can't exactly watch them for long, and there's always that gamble that there may not even be many out and about.

You guys got a lot done at MK that morning. Normally, I'm a big proponent of driving to the parks, but the more I stay on property, the more I appreciate that direct drop off to MK. It can save a ton of time not having a hop a tram and then a monorail/ferry.

I almost always prefer to drive. Except for MK. If you can't get there early and park close to the TTC, it is just almost not worth messing with the hassle of the tram and monorail.

Cutting in line at the treehouse? Really, Andy, you should be more considerate.

I know... someone somewhere is writing a TR about that ******* that was in such a hurry to see the treehouse that he felt the need to cut.

Your visit to WL sounds wonderful. Nothing like seeing your favorite resort decked out for the holidays to make you feel "at home."

This is just one of those things we never can skip out on.

I couldn't believe your boat dock adventure. What was that skipper thinking? Crazy!
Glad it wasn't more serious. Nothing like a small boating snafu to wrap up your MK night.

I'm not sure he was thinking. That might be the problem!

At least it gave us a funny story to tell.

Poor DS. Expedition Everest is a pretty intense ride from a kid's perspective. And online videos don't really do it justice. But, at least now he can say that he did it. I' sure it'll be something that makes him proud down the road.
But, yeah, it probably was a good thing he couldn't go on Space. That ride makes EE look tame as far as darkness and intensity goes.

True. I wasn't really worried about the intensity of the ride itself... he loves that part. I just wanted him to see the Yeti and know what to expect. Clearly, we didn't get to the part with the silhouette of the yeti ripping out the track, because that was what set DS off.

But yes, I think it was best he missed SM, because the darkness in there would have been more than he could handle sitting in a seat by himself.

I don't blame your DW one bit for her reaction on Dinosaur. I'd be the exact same way.

Geez, how hard is it to get some fries? It's not like you were asking for extra. You just wanted what you ordered. I feel like the quick service restaurants have gone downhill over the last few years. Not enough CMs that care trying to serve more and more guests on a daily basis. Either way, still shouldn't have been that hard. By that point, I'd have been grumpy because my other food was getting cold.

Oh well...it was what it was.

It was frustrating, but I did appreciate the CM who was delivering trays trying to make things right. It was the comments back to him from other workers that bothered me more than anything.

He was getting enough negativity from them, yet still being nice to me and trying to make it right. You can't take it out on a guy who is trying...

Afternoon naps are a must sometimes!

Unfortunately, I'm finding that to be the case. It goes against every fiber of my being though.

Spoiler: I at least kicked that habit when we got to Disneyland.

 

[afwdwfan]

That is a bummer about Restaurantosauras. I feel like most of us try really hard to give the benefit of the doubt to the CMs (and obviously the one helping you was trying hard as well) but it's just disappointing when something as simple as an order of fries can be turned into such a debacle. I hate when common sense does not overrule the "system".

Yeah, that was the worst part! It wasn't like we were asking for something extra special and specific! Just take 2 seconds to scoop an order of fries!!! I was appreciative of the CM earning his ears who was at least trying to make things right.

Totally agree about AK being a 1/2 day park. I feel like even when we've really tried to explore more in depth, we just never stay past lunch. On our upcoming trip it has evening EMH which I think we'll check out and it will be the first time we've been in that park after 1 PM!

I know. I think I'd like to see an evening EMH there and maybe ride Everest at night. But that park and the amount of walking in it... just kind of burns us out, I guess.

I'm not sure how I'll handle it once they do their night time show. I really don't want to have to dedicate a whole day to the park since that will mean less time for MK or EPCOT. I guess we'll have to see how Avatar and the new show impact the crowd flow and lines there.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

And in an unlikely change of events, we were parked and standing in line at the turnstiles a good 20 minutes before they started letting people in.

Wait...WHAT???

DS was being carried out by FiL.

And had no interest in being put down.

I had told him that there was a Yeti before he rode. Again, trying to at least make sure there are no surprises. We even showed him the video on Youtube. But when he saw the silhouette of the Yeti on the wall tearing out the track, that was apparently it. He was done and wanted out of there.

Poor guy. He definitely gets props for riding it.

On our way out of Asia, we stopped and bought a small stuffed Yeti for DS as a reminder that he rode a scary ride and survived it. He loves his little Yeti, and I think he’s proud of himself now, but he made sure that it was perfectly clear that he didn’t want to ride any more rides with a Yeti in them.

I survived the time my parents tried to kill me!

So I guess he didn't get on the Matterhorn, then?

I have to say, it was a good show. I’m definitely glad I finally saw it. I might be villified for saying this, but it didn’t really live up to the hype, to me. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed it, but I don’t think it is something that we’ll need to do every trip, by any means.

But part of my opinion may be a little bit clouded because of the kids. They weren’t into this show at all, and it was getting a little frustrating trying to keep them distracted. It reached a point where I just wanted the show to end so we could get out of there and move on to something else. I think anybody who is a parent, can totally relate to this.

Definitely. If you're just playing referee with your kids, that'll dampen your enthusiasm for just about any experience. Anyway, I'm a firm believer in the Rides >>> Shows/Parades principle anyday.

Our usual lunch spot in AK is Flame Tree BBQ. But that is also the only place I’ve ever had lunch at AK. We thought we’d change it up and try something different.

Famous last words. If it ain't broke...

And let me just say, this turned out to be a mistake. Wow…. Definitely should have stuck with Flame Tree.

...don't fix it. Sorry it was such a frustrating experience. I guess this will only enhance Flame Tree's reputation!

I have a hard time picking on the CM who was helping me. He was earning his ears and you could see he was visibly flustered by everything. He was nothing but polite and kind to me, so I certainly appreciated his effort. In the end, he did take care of me, but it was a much longer process to get our food than it should have been.

Seems like the manager didn't really listen to the problem there.

DW is somewhere in that seat next to me... I'm not sure she looked up that entire ride.

When we came out, the kids were just being whiny and grumpy and clearly needed naps.

And DS didn't want to ride?

Sounds like you made the right call to head out.

So, you're saying he's gonna grow up? I guess we all have to sooner or later.

No, I said he was aging. There's a difference.

 

[afwdwfan]

Wait...WHAT???

I know... miracles do happen.

Poor guy. He definitely gets props for riding it.

Yeah, I was proud of him. I just told him what it was and left it up to him. Truthfully, I was surprised that he was as freaked out by the Yeti silhouette as he was. Of all the things on that ride, that's probably one of the last things I'd think about as triggering that kind of fear.

I survived the time my parents tried to kill me!

So I guess he didn't get on the Matterhorn, then?

Hey, it was his call to ride!

And nobody rode the Matterhorn... stupid refurbs...

Definitely. If you're just playing referee with your kids, that'll dampen your enthusiasm for just about any experience. Anyway, I'm a firm believer in the Rides >>> Shows/Parades principle anyday.

Agree 100%

Famous last words. If it ain't broke...

Should have known better...

...don't fix it. Sorry it was such a frustrating experience. I guess this will only enhance Flame Tree's reputation!

Unless for some reason we feel the need to try Pizzafari next time.

Seems like the manager didn't really listen to the problem there.

I would think that had to have been the case. I wasn't impressed by her comment though.

And DS didn't want to ride?

Sounds like you made the right call to head out.

He wasn't even given the option and I made sure to discourage any thought he had of wanting to ride. When he asked about it, the phrase "chased by a man eating dinosaur" might have been used.

No, I said he was aging. There's a difference.

Good point.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Moral of the story, the kids who get a part get some one on one attention from Belle and their parents will most likely enjoy the show more than other adults in the room. Just keep her close in the workshop and make sure she's in clear view of the CM in the wardrobe room so she can get a part!

Thanks. I haven't had a chance to check out this attraction yet and so its hard to find the balance of enough knowledge to be prepared and spoiling a new thing for you. This was quite helpful!

 

[vamassey1]

And in an unlikely change of events, we were parked and standing in line at the turnstiles a good 20 minutes before they started letting people in.

Fabulous! You all made rope drop! We're going Easter week and AK opens at 8. I'm really hoping everyone in our party makes rope drop.

DS was being carried out by FiL.

Poor little one. I hope he gets over the trauma someday. My youngest was 3 the first time we took her. Our first park was MK and her first ride was Jungle Cruise. Harmless ride, right? Not to her. All she could remember was the red glowing eyes of the tiger in the cave. On our next trip 2 years later she refused to ride and pitched a fit in line saying she had to go to the bathroom right then. Dark rides make big impressions on little ones.

And look! We actually have an attraction that has some photographic evidence!!!!

Great pictures and I'm really impressed that aren't all the backsides of animals.

I might be villified for saying this, but it didn’t really live up to the hype, to me.

I'm sorry it wasn't the best. Hopefully in a few years when the kids are older it will be more relaxing.

Our usual lunch spot in AK is Flame Tree BBQ.

Love this place!

Dinoland was a fun area, so we headed over there to check out Restaurantosaurus.

I've never eaten here and was thinking about trying it Easter week but now maybe not.

DW is somewhere in that seat next to me... I'm not sure she looked up that entire ride.

My youngest who is 15 now never looks up and keeps her ears covered the whole time, but she still rides it.

We got back to the resort and just like the day before, everyone, including me, laid down to take a nap.

Those early mornings and long days really catch up with you. I'm hoping we can make it without naps but we'll just have to wait and see. There are a few attractions that make for good naps.

 

[Dugette]

But part of my opinion may be a little bit clouded because of the kids. They weren’t into this show at all, and it was getting a little frustrating trying to keep them distracted. It reached a point where I just wanted the show to end so we could get out of there and move on to something else. I think anybody who is a parent, can totally relate to this.

Totally understand this. I have seen Festival of the Lion King in the past (pre-kid days) and really enjoyed it. We went on Izzy's first trip, though, and it was fun for a bit until she got bored. Then it was work. Lots and lots of work. Couldn't wait for it to end.

Sorry about your lunchtime lack of service! At least the food was decent, but how frustrating!

 

[MEK]

I think its awesome that your son tried EE even if he didn't love it. He will. It's really hard to gauge when kids are going to start loving thrill rides. Nice that everyone got to ride even before your first FP+. Way to optimize the day.

Nice safari action!

FOTLK is one of those shows that I don't see every trip either. It's cute and I like the new theatre, but I really prefer Nemo. Nemo is just cool! It's hard to keep kids entertained for 30 minutes when they really aren't into the show. I remember those days like it was yesterday.

OK - I see above that lunchtime did not go well? I need to go back and read about that. I started reading your update a couple of hours ago but got pulled away. Now I'm trying to post before I forget.

 

[natebenma]

Sorry to hear about your son's scary ride on EE!!! We were there, but with a much older kid. When Ben was 7 we rode and he got a little plastic Yeti toy as a reward for his bravery. But it was a few years before he would go again.

Great animal pictures from the safari. Nice picture of your son smiling, enjoying this attraction.

I like the shot of the lioness head.

The Lion King show is a smidge too long for little ones! I think the beautiful "Can you feel the love" probably does them in. Not enough animals in that one.

We have not been to the dinosaur restaurant (not going to attempt to spell Restaurantosaurus)- may end up there or Pizzafari with the teen boys in June, though. We didn't have great luck taking my group to Flame Tree during my older son's class trip.

:

 

[ursalita]

Finally we know the reason for the TR title! I never guessed. I thought for sure it was some kind of reference to a bathroom emergency.

You've had quite the eventful trip!

Congrats to DS for surviving his Everest ride and scoring a Yeti!

I hope Flame Tree BBQ is reopened by the time we visit in April, I'm looking forward to trying it. Now I know to what to avoid at AK.

 

[afwdwfan]

Fabulous! You all made rope drop! We're going Easter week and AK opens at 8. I'm really hoping everyone in our party makes rope drop.

Good luck.

Poor little one. I hope he gets over the trauma someday. My youngest was 3 the first time we took her. Our first park was MK and her first ride was Jungle Cruise. Harmless ride, right? Not to her. All she could remember was the red glowing eyes of the tiger in the cave. On our next trip 2 years later she refused to ride and pitched a fit in line saying she had to go to the bathroom right then. Dark rides make big impressions on little ones.

It can be funny, the things that set them off.

Great pictures and I'm really impressed that aren't all the backsides of animals.

Sometimes the cooperate, I guess.

I'm sorry it wasn't the best. Hopefully in a few years when the kids are older it will be more relaxing.

Yeah, we'll try it again sometime. I'm sure we'll enjoy it more when they're older.

Love this place!

I've never eaten here and was thinking about trying it Easter week but now maybe not.

I don't know... the food was fine. Service there, as with anywhere else in WDW lately, is likely hit or miss.

My youngest who is 15 now never looks up and keeps her ears covered the whole time, but she still rides it.

Those early mornings and long days really catch up with you. I'm hoping we can make it without naps but we'll just have to wait and see. There are a few attractions that make for good naps.

Ellen's Energy Adventure is my favorite for a nap.

Totally understand this. I have seen Festival of the Lion King in the past (pre-kid days) and really enjoyed it. We went on Izzy's first trip, though, and it was fun for a bit until she got bored. Then it was work. Lots and lots of work. Couldn't wait for it to end.

That's pretty much exactly what our experience was.

Sorry about your lunchtime lack of service! At least the food was decent, but how frustrating!

Yeah, it was frustrating. But it all worked out in the end, so it is what it is, I guess. At least the front line CM was good about making and effort to provide good customer service.

I think its awesome that your son tried EE even if he didn't love it. He will. It's really hard to gauge when kids are going to start loving thrill rides. Nice that everyone got to ride even before your first FP+. Way to optimize the day.

I think he loved the thrill ride part, just not the Yeti part.

That was our plan. The way AK is, it just didn't make sense to FP both EE and Safari. We'd spend more time waiting for one of the FP to become good than we'd spend in line at RD.

Nice safari action!

Yeah, it was cool that morning, so I think that helped with the animals.

FOTLK is one of those shows that I don't see every trip either. It's cute and I like the new theatre, but I really prefer Nemo. Nemo is just cool! It's hard to keep kids entertained for 30 minutes when they really aren't into the show. I remember those days like it was yesterday.

I still haven't seen Nemo yet. I guess we'll probably try to make that a priority next time.

OK - I see above that lunchtime did not go well? I need to go back and read about that. I started reading your update a couple of hours ago but got pulled away. Now I'm trying to post before I forget.

It wasn't a disaster. Just took a long time to get our food. I know what you mean. I don't know how many times I've read an update, thought I replied and then found out later I didn't.

Sorry to hear about your son's scary ride on EE!!! We were there, but with a much older kid. When Ben was 7 we rode and he got a little plastic Yeti toy as a reward for his bravery. But it was a few years before he would go again.

Yeah... maybe we should have discouraged it. Truthfully though, he likes coasters and could see it and definitely wanted to ride it. If it just weren't for that silhouette of the yeti ripping out the track, I think it would have been just fine. It seemed to be that one image that really bothered him.

Great animal pictures from the safari. Nice picture of your son smiling, enjoying this attraction.

We promised him there were no yeti's on the safari!

I like the shot of the lioness head.

About as good a picture as we ever get of a lion!

The Lion King show is a smidge too long for little ones! I think the beautiful "Can you feel the love" probably does them in. Not enough animals in that one.

It almost did me in too...

We have not been to the dinosaur restaurant (not going to attempt to spell Restaurantosaurus)- may end up there or Pizzafari with the teen boys in June, though. We didn't have great luck taking my group to Flame Tree during my older son's class trip.

I wouldn't discourage anyone from Restaurantosaurus. I did think it was an interestingly themed building. And the food wasn't bad. Service can be hit or miss anywhere, I guess.

Finally we know the reason for the TR title! I never guessed. I thought for sure it was some kind of reference to a bathroom emergency.

That would have been something more appropriate for the road trip. But we never had to resort to that. I promise!

You've had quite the eventful trip!

The things memories are made of.

Congrats to DS for surviving his Everest ride and scoring a Yeti!

Yes, he was brave to ride it. He didn't cry or anything, he just made it clear he didn't want to ride again.

I hope Flame Tree BBQ is reopened by the time we visit in April, I'm looking forward to trying it. Now I know to what to avoid at AK.

Yeah, we should have done Flame Tree. I forgot to mention it, but part of the reason we didn't go was because we ate virtually the same food the night before at WCC. I like to get the ribs at Flame Tree and after being disappointed by the ribs at WCC, I just wasn't feeling it.

 

[glennbo123]

On our way out of Asia, we stopped and bought a small stuffed Yeti for DS as a reminder that he rode a scary ride and survived it. He loves his little Yeti, and I think he’s proud of himself now, but he made sure that it was perfectly clear that he didn’t want to ride any more rides with a Yeti in them.

I swear, they've sold more yeti's that way! My son has one too.

I love that you took a picture of a duck on the safari.

I have to say, it was a good show. I’m definitely glad I finally saw it. I might be villified for saying this, but it didn’t really live up to the hype, to me. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed it, but I don’t think it is something that we’ll need to do every trip, by any means.

I agree that it's not an every-trip kind of show, but between it and Nemo, it's my preference.

But part of my opinion may be a little bit clouded because of the kids. They weren’t into this show at all, and it was getting a little frustrating trying to keep them distracted. It reached a point where I just wanted the show to end so we could get out of there and move on to something else. I think anybody who is a parent, can totally relate to this.

Oh yeah. I remember those days.

I have a hard time picking on the CM who was helping me. He was earning his ears and you could see he was visibly flustered by everything. He was nothing but polite and kind to me, so I certainly appreciated his effort. In the end, he did take care of me, but it was a much longer process to get our food than it should have been.

Sounds like he (or she) should be commended! They were fighting an uphill battle and stuck it out for you. The manager, and the overall system, on the other hand...

Where is her head? She has completely "turtle'd"!

And you're not even looking in the direction of the scare!

 

[KatMark]

Who’s Afraid of the Disco Yeti?

We woke up early Tuesday morning. Yes, we’d had a late night in MK, but we made the right call to get out of there well before the closing time at midnight. We had big plans for today, so we had to get moving!

Everyone woke early? I'm impressed.

Our destination for the day was AK. And in an unlikely change of events, we were parked and standing in line at the turnstiles a good 20 minutes before they started letting people in. A gentleman and his daughter in line next to us started chatting with us. Turned out they live about 30 miles away from us. She was a senior in high school and they had just planned a last minute father daughter trip right after she finished her finals and they flew down to go to the parks for 4 days. They were nice and we enjoyed chatting with them for a bit before we got into the park.

Always nice to have a conversation with fellow Disney lovers while waiting to get into the park.

Once we were in the park, our first destination of the day was Expedition Everest. We headed over and I was planning to grab a rider switch pass and let everyone ride, but I went to park the stroller and in the time it took me to do that, they’d already got into the line. So DD and I stood outside and waited. DS did go ride this one with them. He was feeling a little bit taller and managed to meet the 42” requirement.

Oops...someone forgot about the rider switch pass process.

DD and I stood outside watching as the cars went past, and when we saw our group riding, we headed into the gift shop to meet them.


DS was being carried out by FiL.

And had no interest in being put down.

I had told him that there was a Yeti before he rode. Again, trying to at least make sure there are no surprises. We even showed him the video on Youtube. But when he saw the silhouette of the Yeti on the wall tearing out the track, that was apparently it. He was done and wanted out of there.

I don't blame him at all!

I asked him if he wanted to ride again, even though I knew the answer. DW and I instead headed into the queue. Despite not having a rider switch pass, we still only waited maybe 5 minutes.

I DO NOT KNOW WHY YOU ARE SMILING ON THAT RIDE!
​

On our way out of Asia, we stopped and bought a small stuffed Yeti for DS as a reminder that he rode a scary ride and survived it. He loves his little Yeti, and I think he’s proud of himself now, but he made sure that it was perfectly clear that he didn’t want to ride any more rides with a Yeti in them.

How come no one ever bought me a Yeti after riding that awful ride?

Our first FP+ for the day was for the safari, so when we finished up at EE, we made our way over to Africa. It was no time at all before we were on a truck and enjoying our safari.

And look! We actually have an attraction that has some photographic evidence!!!!

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You got some really great safari pictures this trip, Andy.


When we got back to civilization, we started to get the stroller, but a CM was standing there directing people over to the gorilla habitat near the exit. We didn’t get to see any babies, but there were a couple of mature gorillas out playing and putting on a bit of a show. We stood and watched them for a while, but it was getting close to time for our next FP+, so we had to get going.

Love the gorillas.

After a quick restroom break, we were off to do a new attraction for us… Festival of the Lion King.

I have to say, it was a good show. I’m definitely glad I finally saw it. I might be villified for saying this, but it didn’t really live up to the hype, to me. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed it, but I don’t think it is something that we’ll need to do every trip, by any means.

But part of my opinion may be a little bit clouded because of the kids. They weren’t into this show at all, and it was getting a little frustrating trying to keep them distracted. It reached a point where I just wanted the show to end so we could get out of there and move on to something else. I think anybody who is a parent, can totally relate to this.

When the show ended, I went to get the stroller and met everyone else next to Tusker House to load the kids back up and head off to our next adventure. Nobody was really in the mood to walk the animal trails, and it was just about time for the restaurants to open for lunch. We decided since we wanted to take a long break, we’d just grab some lunch and then probably head out of the park.

Our usual lunch spot in AK is Flame Tree BBQ. But that is also the only place I’ve ever had lunch at AK. We thought we’d change it up and try something different. I always thought that Dinoland was a fun area, so we headed over there to check out Restaurantosaurus. It just made sense because we also had FP+ for Dinosaur if we felt like riding after lunch.

And let me just say, this turned out to be a mistake. Wow…. Definitely should have stuck with Flame Tree.

We were in the restaurant early in the day. It hadn’t been open for lunch more than 15 minutes or so. There was hardly anyone in there at all. But the service left something to be desired.
When the CM gave me our tray, there was no drink for the kids meal. I pointed it out and he turned to go get it for us. At this point, I figured I should take inventory of our tray. I found that they also left off a dessert, and they didn’t put any fries in the bucket with the kids meal. I pointed this out to the CM manning the line and he grabbed our dessert and went to the meal prep area and asked for an order of fries.

Apparently, it takes a direct order from Mickey Mouse himself to get an order filled that isn’t given to them through the automated system. The CM helping me kept asking for another order of fries. The guy who was putting the orders together told him he couldn’t do it. A manager came over to the CM helping me and told him to forget about it and get filled trays to other customers. I don’t know if they thought someone was just asking for a side of fries that wasn’t actually paid for or what, but the CM helping me seemed to be the only one interested in filling our order. The manager never came and talked to me, but I heard her comment and I might have taken it the wrong way. Either way, I was determined to stand in that spot and hold up a line if I had to until I had my full order on my tray. I might have been “one of those guests” at that point in time to others behind me… Although, I never resorted to rudeness or name calling or anything like that. And I was still polite with the CM the whole time.



I promise.

Eventually, the trays started stacking up on the counter, because the CM helping me was appareantly taking the same passive aggressive stance I took and refused to move until they gave him the fries he’d asked for about 900 times. Once he finally got them, he put them on my tray, I smiled, said thank you and went to find a seat.

I have a hard time picking on the CM who was helping me. He was earning his ears and you could see he was visibly flustered by everything. He was nothing but polite and kind to me, so I certainly appreciated his effort. In the end, he did take care of me, but it was a much longer process to get our food than it should have been.

I found everyone else sitting at a table. MiL and FiL had gone to another line and I think they were about half done eating by the time I got there. The meal itself though, wasn’t bad at all. I had a burger, which I enjoyed. It was definitely on par with Pecos Bills and they had a small toppings bar in there as well. I think we all enjoyed our meals, and DS loved getting a bucket and shovel, but the service definitely made us wish we had gone somewhere else for lunch.

That's too bad about the service. We've never eaten there but want to try it some time. We'll be eating at Yak & Yeti for two of our three trips. Unfortunately, it will be a while before we go back to Flame Tree after our experience in September.

After we finished eating, we headed off to ride Dinosaur. We had FP+ so MiL and FiL went to ride first while we kept the kids occupied. DD was getting antsy so we thought of taking the kids to ride the prehistoric Dumbo, but we were also afraid to leave MiL and FiL to have to look for us when they got off the ride, so we stayed and waited. Thankfully it didn’t take long at all. Then DW and I completed the hand off and went in to ride.

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DW is somewhere in that seat next to me... I'm not sure she looked up that entire ride.

Are you sure?

When we came out, the kids were just being whiny and grumpy and clearly needed naps. We decided to call it a day at AK and head back to AoA for a nice long break before our evening at MK. AK definitely lived up to its half day reputation for us, as we were out of there by just after noon.

We got back to the resort and just like the day before, everyone, including me, laid down to take a nap. I think we all slept at least a couple of hours. And we'd need it for this evening!

Wow...two naps for you. And a couple of hours to boot. Can't wait to hear what the evening plans entail.

 

[Steppesister]

No, I said he was aging. There's a difference.

Good point.

Ouch. I"m not sure which one is "better".

 

[afwdwfan]

I swear, they've sold more yeti's that way! My son has one too.

They know their target demographics, that's for sure.

I love that you took a picture of a duck on the safari.

DW took the pictures. But yes, I laughed when I was looking through them and saw that one.

I agree that it's not an every-trip kind of show, but between it and Nemo, it's my preference.

I'm just not really a show person for the most part. That's probably part of my problem.

Sounds like he (or she) should be commended! They were fighting an uphill battle and stuck it out for you. The manager, and the overall system, on the other hand...

Yeah, he was the one who missed the dessert and the drink, but he was quick to correct those mistakes and was definitely trying to take care of us. But nobody else seemed to care at all.

Where is her head? She has completely "turtle'd"!

And you're not even looking in the direction of the scare!

I've never really thought the dinosaur was scary. I can always see it coming, so I've never understood why it gets that kind of reaction.

I just decided to ignore it and act disinterested for the picture. For once I actually succeeded in remembering what I wanted to do for one.

Everyone woke early? I'm impressed.

I know!

Always nice to have a conversation with fellow Disney lovers while waiting to get into the park.

I don't blame him at all!

He'll probably willingly ride it again at some point in the future though...

I DO NOT KNOW WHY YOU ARE SMILING ON THAT RIDE!

Because it is the only reason I go to AK!!!!

How come no one ever bought me a Yeti after riding that awful ride?

You misspelled awesome.

You got some really great safari pictures this trip, Andy.

Thanks... DW had the camera

Love the gorillas.

I enjoyed just standing there watching for a while.

That's too bad about the service. We've never eaten there but want to try it some time. We'll be eating at Yak & Yeti for two of our three trips. Unfortunately, it will be a while before we go back to Flame Tree after our experience in September.

I know a lot of people like Yak & Yeti. The menu just doesn't do much for us though. Next time I'm pretty sure we'll be back at Flame Tree.

Are you sure?

Well... not really, but she was there when we got on the ride and she was there when we exited...

Wow...two naps for you. And a couple of hours to boot. Can't wait to hear what the evening plans entail.

I feel like I was wasting valuable Disney time...

Ouch. I"m not sure which one is "better".

Me neither. But Mark has a pretty good head start on me. Maybe he has some insight.

 

[afwdwfan]

I Need to See Everybody’s Wristband.


Our plan for the evening was to go to MK for Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. We also had a 5:20 ADR for Cinderella’s Royal Table.

We woke up from our naps and had plenty of time to get ready for our evening at MK. DD had a Cinderella dress that she got for her birthday last year that she was going to wear for our dinner with the princesses, so we got her ready and we were on our way just after 4:00. We decided that since it was later in the day, we’d just take the bus so that we wouldn’t have to park near the back of the parking lot and deal with the trams.

We got to MK and they gave us our wristbands. We had some time to get to the castle, so we walked to the right on the bridge near the Merida M&G. DW saw a short line, and wanted to stop, but it turned out Merida was leaving for a break. We ended up making our way on around the castle and back to Fantasyland for a ride on the carousel.

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We were still a bit early, but decided to go check in anyway. We had hardly any wait before we were being welcomed by Cinderella. They said that since we had 2 dining plans, we could get 2 pictures included with our meal. MiL and FiL decided they didn’t want to be in the pictures, so we got one with just the 2 princesses, and then we got a family picture with our hostess.

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We were quickly seated and our server was soon over to take care of us. I know I’ve had some negative comments about some of our other dining experiences, but this was nothing but a positive experience. Our server was excellent, as was the food. Now of course, there’s a sticker shock element, and I’d say it is highly debatable whether the meal is worth the money or not. But from our experience, they certainly did all they could to make it a fantastic meal and excellent service.

Our table was right back by the window to Fantasyland. It was really a perfect place to sit as we watched FL make the transformation from daylight to night time.

Oh, yeah. And there were princesses. DD was in heaven. She hardly ate anything, because she was constantly turning around in her chair watching the princesses move through the room. DS even got into the spirit of it and took pictures with a few of them. And I have to say, all the princesses were in character and among the better character interactions we’ve had. Cinderella was phenomenal, and just chatted away with DD while we had our photo op with her. Snow White and Jasmine were somewhat unmemorable, to be honest, but not bad at all.

The first princess to visit our table was Snow White and DS reluctantly joined DD to pose for a picture..

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Next was Princess Aurora. She spent a few minutes with DD before taking some pictures. Aurora made sure to take an extra moment to pay attention to DS whether he wanted it or not. Aurora had almost finished with DD before I could convince DS to go get his picture taken too. DW had already put down the big camera so you get a crappy cell phone picture for that one. DS was wearing his cowboy boots, and Aurora won him over by noticing them and comparing them to the boots that Prince Phillip wears. He really lit up and I don’t think princesses were quite as uncool at that moment in time.

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Ariel was in rare form though. She spent quite a bit more time at our table than the others. She chatted with DD about all kinds of things. DD loved her, although, I’m not sure she’s even seen The Little Mermaid yet. They chatted for quite a while, but I really couldn’t hear much of what they were saying since it was on the other side of the table. Ariel posed for pictures with DD and then got up to move onto the next table.

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But first, she stopped to talk to DS… which none of the other princesses really did. She apparently noticed that he refused to take a picture with her when we were trying to get him to get up and go over there with her and DD. She asked him why he was being a shy goldfish and he instantly turned beet red, refused to look at her and just sat there smiling. She spent a little bit kneeling down next to DS talking to him and trying to get him to open up… but all he’d do is just smile at her. She finally stood up and then came the moment that I’m still trying to figure out… She looked right at me and said “you remind me of Sebastian, only less crabby.” before waving goodbye to all of us and turning to walk to the next table.

The last princess to visit us was Jasmine. She didn’t spend a whole lot of time with us, and I can’t really remember any specific conversation she had, but DS was at least a little less shy and joined her for a picture.

When we finally finished our meal, we headed downstairs and back out of the castle. As we were leaving the castle, we walked out through the lobby where Cinderella was welcoming some more families to her castle. As we were walking out, DD got all excited and yelled “Goodbye Cinderella!” Cinderella turned and gave her a smile and a wave. The perfect end to our dinner experience.

As I said, the food and the service were both excellent. We had no problems or complaints on that end of things. But the character interactions we got and DD’s excitement for seeing the princesses made it worthwhile. It would be hard to justify the cost of that meal otherwise.

We headed out of the castle and decided to ride Dumbo since the kids had been asking to ride Dumbo all day. 7:00 pm hit and the party officially started as we were walking to Storybook Circus. The CM’s were out in force checking wristbands. They clearly stepped up the enforcement this year.

We rode Dumbo and the kids asked to ride Barnstormer while we were there. With the short lines I think we ended up riding 3 times with basically no wait.

We had some time before the parade would start, but we decided to make it a priority this time. At past parties, we’d just wait until a few minutes before the parade started and grab a spot in the back, but this time we wanted to get a front row view. We didn’t want to go to Frontierland since we wanted to get a good spot for Holiday Wishes, and that strategy hadn’t worked out well for us the previous night. I knew it would be too late to get a good spot on Main Street, but I figured we’d be able to get a good spot in Town Square. Fortunately I was right and we had plenty of room to grab a front row spot just in front of the Fire Station. MiL and FiL went and found a spot to sit down for a while before the parade, while I ran over to the popcorn cart for some popcorn and cotton candy.

It was still quite a while before the parade would start, but DS needed to use the restroom. I took him and while we were in there, a CM came into the restroom and said he needed to see everybody’s wristbands.

So I’m at a urinal thinking Ok, this guy must be standing at the exit just checking people as they go in or out.

Not exactly. I hear him ask a few more times, but from the sound of his voice I can tell he’s moving around the restroom. The next thing I know I hear him asking to see wristbands and he’s standing right behind me.

Well, you can either wait till I’m done or I can show you now but that would make things kind of awkward…

The restroom thing seemed very odd, but they really did a great job of checking wristbands all night. It seemed like there were more CM’s out doing it than they had in past years. The party we attended was the second last party, I think, and it was supposedly sold out. I’d never been to a sold out party before, and this one was by far less crowded than any I’ve attended in the past.

Before long, the crowd started filling in around us and then it was time for the parade.

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Our kids love Clarabelle on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so they were excited to see her. They’d actually been asking if they could see her since they knew everybody else from the show had been around the parks.

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Apparently that was all the pictures DW took of the parade…

We wanted to make sure we got a good spot for Holiday Wishes, so as soon as the parade ended, we headed down Main Street and ended up getting a spot in the street near Casey’s Corner. A perfect view for the fireworks. It didn’t seem like it was long at all before we were watching the projection show on the castle and then Holiday Wishes. Again, no pictures were taken of either of these. DD had fallen asleep, but she had been really excited about Tinkerbell all week… and our plan was to see her after the fireworks. So I tried to wake her up before she was completely out. I know… it is always a gamble doing that. You just never know how they’ll react to it or what kind of mood they’ll be in. I got her to grumpily watch the fireworks and pointed out Tink doing her thing. She perked up when that happened.

Continued next post...

 

[afwdwfan]

I Need to See Everybody's Wristband - Continued


After the fireworks, we headed back towards Town Square to see Tinkerbell. Our plan was to do that after Holiday Wishes, so we weren’t fighting the crowds quite as much and then we could hopefully head back into Fantasyland and find lower crowds for the characters there when people are going to the second parade.

We went in and saw Tink. Both kids were glad to see her.

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DS got back into grumpy boy mode though as we were leaving our M&G with Tink. He wasn’t very happy because she got glitter on him.

While we were there and the lines were short, we decided to see Mickey too!

The kids seemed a little stunned to hear Mickey talk to them…

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But that soon changed, and look who wasn’t scared…

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Mickey asked them to touch his nose. I don’t think he realized this would come back to bite him when we’d see him later.

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When we said goodbye to Mickey, we walked outside and saw Mary Poppins standing there. Well, while we’re on a character meeting spree, why not?

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It worked out perfectly. Nobody was headed to Town Square theater right after the fireworks, so we virtually had the place to ourselves. By the time we finished with Mary Poppins though, we looked and the posted wait times had already started to grow to about 15 minutes.

We wanted to head back to Storybook Circus again, but on the way, we decided to stop for some cookies. We went to Cosmic Rays and DW got in line for snacks, while I took the kids down to the dance party. Phineas and Ferb were out there dancing, and the kids just had a blast. There were a few kids out there, but it wasn’t very crowded so they were getting plenty of character interaction. Ferb walked over to DS and started doing the robot. DS then started doing it and it was almost like they were doing a robot dance off. I really wish we had gotten it on video, but truthfully, we were all enjoying just sitting down and eating some cookies while we watched the kids having fun. Before long, Phineas and Ferb had to say goodbye, so we decided we might as well head out too.

We had one more character that we really wanted to see and that was Santa Goofy. He had a long line when we were in Storybook Circus earlier, but our hope was that since people had started leaving the party and the second parade would draw more away, maybe it wouldn’t be quite as bad. Fortunately, it wasn’t. We had a little bit of a wait, but we were easily able to see Goofy!

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We looked around at some of the other character lines there, but they were all longer than Goofy’s line and we didn’t really want to see any of them that bad. We were about done for the night, but I had one request that I wanted to make sure we fulfilled. I figured this would be the last time we were in MK after dark and I still needed a night time ride on BTMRR. DW decided she didn’t want to ride, so we split up. DS, MiL, FiL and I headed to BTMRR, while DW and DD went to ride Under the Sea. They found a PP photographer on the way.

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After their ride, DD wanted to go see Ariel again. There was a posted 5 minute wait, but they walked in and saw her almost right away. And at least DD got some Ariel pictures without her grumpy brother in them.

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As they were riding and meeting Ariel, we were riding BTMRR. As I’ve said before, this is my favorite ride in MK. I love it in the daytime, but it is just a different ride at night. I don’t know why, but it just is. I’ve always got to try to ride it at least once during the day and once at night over the course of a trip. We had a good time and when we got off, I tried texting DW without success. MiL asked if we wanted to ride again.

Well, you don’t have to twist my arm.

But as we approached the entrance, DW called. They were walking past Liberty Tree, so we just headed up to the corner by Pecos Bill’s to meet them there. We headed to the exit, but the kids crashed in the stroller so we decided to go through the Emporium on the way out.

We had an ugly Christmas sweater party to attend the day after we’d get back home. All week, I’d wanted to find one of those Disney “Christmas sweater” T-shirts. We’d been looking in every store that we’d see them, but they only had S, M, and occasionally L. I need XL. I could have probably worn an L and been fine, but if I’m going to spend that much money on a shirt, I want one that has some room to shrink. We asked a CM in there if they happened to have anything other than the sizes on the rack. She came back with a few more L’s, but that was it. We looked all week and I never ended up buying a T-Shirt. Kind of a disappointment how they don’t stock anything 2 or 3 weeks before the intended holiday. As it turns out, the only souvenir I purchased for myself the whole week was an Art of Animation magnet. We usually also get a magnet with the year of our trip, but apparently with 3 weeks to go in 2014, they’d already turned the page on the calendar. We couldn’t find anything anywhere that said 2014, but they had large displays of anything and everything you could possibly want with 2015 on it.

While we were in the Emporium, DW bought a few Christmas gifts to be shipped back to the resort and then we headed out to get on a bus at about 11:30.

We got to the AoA bus stop and it was clear that we were going to be waiting for a while. There were so many people waiting that CM’s had joined the queues for AoA’s stop with the stop next to it and were standing there directing traffic. Both queues were full…

We saw 3 or 4 buses come and go before it was finally our turn to get on one. It was one of the new articulated buses. DW and MiL managed to find seats where they could hold the sleeping kids. FiL and I found a spot to stand basically in the pivot point of the bus. I sat the stroller down and stood straddling it to try to take up as little room as possible so we could cram more people in. This turned out to be a mistake, because as the bus turned the stroller was getting hit by a pole and driven into my leg. Yeah, the leg with the surgically repaired achilles. It was a miserable ride, and I ended up basically standing on one leg while hanging onto the bars for most of it. I didn’t realize it until we got back to AoA, but it also ripped a hole in the leg of my pants. So if you’re standing with a stroller and have to be in the area of one of those buses where they pivot, make sure you take a careful look to figure out which parts move together or against each other.

We got back to AoA after 12:30.

I knew that there was no way we’d get everyone ready to go for RD the next morning, so we made plans to just leave at around 9 and make the best of whatever situation we’d run into at EPCOT.

 

[natebenma]

Sounds like a great time at dinner and a really fun party with lots of characters. That is excellent that you got a picture of just the two Cinderellas. I also love the picture of the kids with Mickey- fantastic smiles!

Glad to hear that you had decent views of the parade, the projection show and the fireworks. And then you zigged when everyone else zagged so you had short wait times for all of the things you did!

Hurray for a ride with the hanging possums!

:

 

[RGirl]

Hi Andy!

Poor DS on EE.

Too bad about FotLK, but I completely understand. Both not being wowed by it (although liking it) and the effect that underwhelmed kids can have on an experience like that.

That’s insane about Restauranta-whatever - can’t spell that. I can’t believe it would be that hard to get fries anywhere! We have eaten there a couple of times (but many years ago) and enjoyed it as far as CS places go. But we have NEVER had an experience like that. I bet all your other food was cold by the time you were able to eat it too.

MVMCP and CRT??? Oh, I am in for this!

Love the pics with Cinderella - your DD looks so cute!!! Makes me all nostalgic for the first time Willow met her. In fact, seeing your pics, Willow just HAD to see the pics of the first time she met Cinderella at 3 years old. I’m so happy to read that you enjoyed CRT - we have always had such a great time there. The food may not be four-star, but it has always been good; service good; princesses amazing! Your pictures truly tell the story - I love that your DD and DS both had a great time!

“you remind me of Sebastian, only less crabby.”

What in the world????

OMG! Restroom wrist-band checks!!!!

Love the parade pics. I’m interested to see that they brought out life-size Olaf for the parade. I am sure he’ll be meeting in WDW soon (I’m assuming he isn’t yet as I haven’t seen anything about it, but I haven’t followed carefully) since he’s at DLR and apparently joining DCL soon.

Nice that the decision to wake up DD turned out to be the right one! Love the pics with Tink. And love DD’s stunned look seeing talking Mickey!

Oh my goodness! Mary, Bert AND a penguin??? Nice meet to stumble upon. WOW!

And Santa Goofy too? Y’all did well!

BTMRR! One of my faves (maybe my absolute fave in MK), and Willow loves it too. And at night! Perfection!