Zip-ah-de-doo-da, Zip-ah-dee-EH! Two Canadians Visit WDW for the 1st Time - COMPLETE!

[fallonkendra]

I love your pictures with the Beast! BOG is probably my favorite restaurant ... it's such an amazing place to eat and the staff there is incredible.

That selfie photobomb is hysterical. People are funny. And I love your safari pictures!

Thanks Sarah! That ended up being only our first time to BOG on this trip, we really enjoyed it there. I thought the interaction with the Beast was great, since we weren't rushed at all.

I took so many pictures on the safari haha. I loved it, I love animals so much.

I'm so adding BOG to our list for next trip, I can't wait!

We both said we would go back there for supper again in a heartbeat! I would have been so sad if I hadn't found that open reservation for it!

Your review of Be Our Guest makes me even more psyched to try it in May!! I'll be getting the steak and grey stuff also!!

Good choices!

 

[westcoastfldisneygirl]

How cute are you! I am loving the trip report! I literally LOLed at the crane eating the steak! Not because it happened, but because that picture is hilarious, and was taken at perfect timing! That was nice of the cast member to offer you something.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[fallonkendra]

How cute are you! I am loving the trip report! I literally LOLed at the crane eating the steak! Not because it happened, but because that picture is hilarious, and was taken at perfect timing! That was nice of the cast member to offer you something.

Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for reading! I couldn't help but laugh about the crane afterwards, but when it first happened I was terrified haha.

 

[Dentam]

I just found your TR and am following along! We love DL as well since that was the first park we visited and being from Oregon, we grew up going there. It wasn't until I was in college that we first visited WDW. I love both, but there are definitely rides that are better at DL and others that are better at WDW.

Anyway, I'm loving your TR so far - so much fun to read along!

 

[fallonkendra]

I just found your TR and am following along! We love DL as well since that was the first park we visited and being from Oregon, we grew up going there. It wasn't until I was in college that we first visited WDW. I love both, but there are definitely rides that are better at DL and others that are better at WDW.

Anyway, I'm loving your TR so far - so much fun to read along!

Welcome! Thanks so much for reading along!

I also love both parks, and you're so right! POTC is better at DL, but I preferred Splash Mountain at WDW (just for one example...)

 

[fallonkendra]

Day Three - Part Two - More Fastpasses and Tusker House!

After our safari was over, we were already in the window for our second Fastpass, which of course was on the other side of the park... So, off we went to Dinoland! We entered the fastpass line for Dinosaur, and only waited about 10 minutes before we were time traveling back in time. This ride reminded me a lot of the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland, it uses the same technology for the ride vehicles. But, there really is no comparing the two - Indy wins hands down. I kind of feel like Disney cheaped out when making Dinosaur, just making a lot of it dark. With Indiana Jones, there is so much detail put into the entire ride, and everytime I go on it I notice more. Don't get me wrong, Dinosaur was still fun though!

Here's our ride photo (we're in the bottom left hand corner, I'm holding on to my headband):

​

After re-entering 2016, we still had time before our next Fastpass. We saw that Primeval Whirl only had a 20 minute standby time, so we jumped into line for that. The posted wait time was pretty much exact, and 20 minutes later we were getting onto the ride where I snapped these pictures:

​

The ride itself was a crazy-mouse style roller coaster, but the cars actually spin a bit. I'm not a huge fan of this type of ride, but this was one of the better ones I've ever been on. By the time we exited the ride, it was within our window for our third (and final) Fastpass of the day. But first, let me backtrack a bit.

As we were walking over to DinoLand, I wasn't feeling 100% and stopped to use the bathroom before we went on the ride. Before getting in line for Primeval Whirl, I went to the bathroom again. I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease in February 2013, so I've had this for a few years now. It sucks, but I'm determined to not let this disease dictate my life. A lot of people are affected way worse than I am - I travel a few times per year, I go to sports events, concerts, festivals, etc and I've continued working full time (when I was first diagnosed, I was so sick I ended up being hospitalized for 10 days, and my doctor would not clear me to return to work for over 3 months, but the company I was working for promised me my job would be waiting for me when I was feeling up to coming back - it was, and I just hit my 5 year milestone with them - just a little tangent because I'm so grateful!).

Anyways, we were off to Expedition Everest! I absolutely loved this ride! I wasn't feeling great, but I was still able to really enjoy our search for the Yedi. I also love our ride picture from this:

​

Yes, Luke was playing the air drums.

When we got off, we decided to head back to Africa. We were still about 45 minutes away from our reservation time at Tusker House, but I wasn't feeling good and was not up to going on another ride at that moment. We tried to find the Fastpass Kiosk that was shown on the map we had grabbed as we entered the park, but we kept walking past where it should have been and could not find it. I was feeling worse and worse, and knew I needed to get food and water into my body ASAP. We were still half an hour away from our lunch reservation time, but we went to check in at Tusker House anyways and ask if we could get in early. Luckily it was not a problem, and 5 minutes later we were led to our table. I ordered a glass of water because I was feeling extremely dehydrated and went straight to the buffet to start grabbing food. Sometimes when I'm feeling like this, I'm able to revive myself by eating and getting rehydrated.

Since I wasn't feeling good, and my main focus was on getting food into my body, I did not take a picture of mine or Luke's first plates of food. I do know I didn't fill my first plate, I think I focused mainly on the salad section and just started eating. We did not have to wait long before the first character approached our table - I had already drank an entire glass of water by this point so I was feeling slightly better (at least enough to stand up and take a picture).

​

I ended up going back to the buffet two more times for food, and I actually remembered to take a picture of one of them:

​

When I went up for dessert, I couldn't decide on what I wanted, so I think I grabbed one of everything, and then split the plate with Luke.

​

There were 4 characters in total who visited our table during our meal, all of whom were dressed in Safari outfits - Mickey, Donald, Daisy and Goofy. Since the restaurant was not even close to being full, we ended up seeing a couple of the characters 2 or 3 times.

​

I just realized I did not get a picture with Goofy. Oh well. At one point during the meal, Goofy actually came into the room where we were and tried to gather all of the kids to join him in a little parade, clapping their hands and dancing around the room. There were only like 3 kids who actually went up, and Luke felt bad, so he went and joined them. He followed Goofy around the room twice clapping his hands and laughing, while I taped the entire thing. Have I mentioned I love him? Haha.

The food was amazing here, Luke is still talking about it and wants to make sure we have an ADR for Tusker House on our next trip to WDW (which might be sooner than expected, but I'll get to that in another post...). I managed to eat a lot of food, but I still was not feeling well at all. I actually had to make 3 trips to the bathroom during our meal

After scanning our magic bands for a table service credit each, and paying the tip out of pocket we left. If we were paying out of pocket, it would have cost $41.99/each or $89.44 for both of us after tax.

I still was not feeling good, and had to make yet another bathroom break shortly after we left the restaurant. We decided to get in line to go see Festival of the Lion King, but before the doors even opened I decided I couldn't do it, and I was full-out sick. After yet another trip the bathroom, I sadly had to call and cancel our supper reservation for the night - at 1900 Park Fare I was so excited about going to see the Grand Floridian, and now there was no way we could make it work into our schedule - I was really sad, but I know my body well enough to know it was not an option for tonight. At that point, we decided to call it a day and just go back to our hotel room - it was only about 2:30.

On our way out, we stopped to take a few pictures of these guys:

​

I also stopped to snap a few pics of the tree just outside the park before we boarded our bus.

​

Up next: Nap time and Intermission Food Court

 

[ariane37]

Oh man, I truly feel for you getting sick at Disney. It happened to me back in Nov, I got hit with a terrible stomach bug and on Thanksgiving day no less. Even though that could happen to anyone and you never know when it'll hit on vacation, you have to live with that happening on a regular basis Much more chance of you getting ill on a vacation than your average person. Really, it stinks and I hope to read in your next update that it didn't last long

Love the outfit you're wearing this day, BTW!

 

[fallonkendra]

Oh man, I truly feel for you getting sick at Disney. It happened to me back in Nov, I got hit with a terrible stomach bug and on Thanksgiving day no less. Even though that could happen to anyone and you never know when it'll hit on vacation, you have to live with that happening on a regular basis Much more chance of you getting ill on a vacation than your average person. Really, it stinks and I hope to read in your next update that it didn't last long

Love the outfit you're wearing this day, BTW!

I was actually reading your November trip report yesterday, but I haven't got to you being sick yet (although I guessed someone was going to be based on the name of your trip report). I think I left off right after you had to move into a new room... I also made Luke read your review of Club Villian (that's all I've read of your January report so far). I told him that if that event is still going on when we go back, I really want to go to it!

Yeah, being sick at Disney is terrible Luke is so great about it, I've been upfront about it from the first time we met. He knows if we're on a long drive and I say I need a bathroom NOW, he speeds up a bit until he sees somewhere that will have a public bathroom (convenience stores/gas stations of course, grocery stores, most Winners', Old Navy's, PetSmart's, Michael's craft stores, etc all have public washrooms if you're ever in need haha).

Luckily it did only last that one day! I'll try and get my next update done up this weekend!

 

[fallonkendra]

Love the outfit you're wearing this day, BTW!

Thank you! The plan was to take off my Lion King hoodie as soon as I warmed up and just wear my Lion King dress, but since I was sick I was freezing cold the entire day. It was actually a little on the colder side the entire week we were there

 

[SarahDisney]

I love that Luke was playing the air drums on Everest

I always bring snacks (like nuts or fruit) and water to the parks with me. It doesn't help if you need a big meal, but for me, sometimes just having a granola bar or some nuts or dried fruit will help me feel better if I'm a little bit sluggish. I don't know if it would help you, but I just wanted to share that information in case it is helpful for you.

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun at Tusker House! I'm so entertained that Luke got up and danced with Goofy and the kids!

I'm sorry to hear that you weren't feeling well But I hope some rest helped you feel better!

 

[Dentam]

Oh, what a bummer that you got sick on your AK day! Also a bummer to have to cancel your dinner. I got sick during our last trip - really nasty flu type bug that had me in misery the last day and during the entire flight home so I feel your pain to a certain degree. I'm sorry that you have to deal with this on a regular basis. Happy to hear it didn't affect the remainder of your trip though!

 

[fallonkendra]

I love that Luke was playing the air drums on Everest

Sometime while we were standing in line for a ride, he would get this far-off look. Whenever I questioned him on it, his response was usually that he was deep in thought thinking of what he could do for the on-ride photo. What a goof.

I always bring snacks (like nuts or fruit) and water to the parks with me. It doesn't help if you need a big meal, but for me, sometimes just having a granola bar or some nuts or dried fruit will help me feel better if I'm a little bit sluggish. I don't know if it would help you, but I just wanted to share that information in case it is helpful for you.

I actually had snacks in our room, but I had forgot to pack any that day, and I couldn't seem to find somewhere that sold small snacks at Animal Kingdom I didn't want to ruin my meal, but I also knew to avoid certain things when I'm feeling sick (like popcorn - I love it, it does not always love me). I need to remember to pack granola bars for our next trip though. Thanks for the reminder!

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun at Tusker House! I'm so entertained that Luke got up and danced with Goofy and the kids!

Just another reason why I love him so much! He has not stopped talking about the food at Tusker House, it was actually one of his favourites from the entire trip!

I'm sorry to hear that you weren't feeling well But I hope some rest helped you feel better!

Me getting sick actually ended up being a bit of a blessing in disguise. Our original plans would have had us getting back to our hotel around 9pm, instead of the 3:15 it ended up being. Luke had to run the 10km race the next day, so going to bed at 9:30 or 10pm and then waking up at 3am would not have been good for him...

 

[fallonkendra]

Oh, what a bummer that you got sick on your AK day! Also a bummer to have to cancel your dinner. I got sick during our last trip - really nasty flu type bug that had me in misery the last day and during the entire flight home so I feel your pain to a certain degree. I'm sorry that you have to deal with this on a regular basis. Happy to hear it didn't affect the remainder of your trip though!

Luckily, we were able to juggle things around a bit, and were able to make another day at Animal Kingdom work (since we both really liked it!). I was sad about cancelling dinner at 1900 Park Fare, I really wanted to see the Grand Floridian up close - but I guess that just gives us something else to do on our next trip

Luckily - I've never been too sick on a plane. I'm sorry that happened to you, I can't imagine that's any fun at all.

 

[cgersic]

Day Three - Thursday, January 7, 2016 - Part One

We woke up around 8am (I know, I know, it's not a true Disney trip unless you're at the parks at rope drop, but I just like sleep way too much). After getting dressed, we headed straight to the buses. We were heading to Animal Kingdom! We had to wait less than 5 minutes for a bus to show up, and then we were on our way! I was really excited about this park, I love animals (which you might have figured out since Luke and I have 11 pets haha). The bus ride to Animal Kingdom from the All-Star resorts is so short!

[GALLERY=]DSCN0083 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]DSCN0084 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]DSCN0085 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

We actually had trouble getting into the park, my thumbprint wouldn't work. They needed to call over a supervisor, who had to reset it and then take my picture on her iPad to make sure I wasn't just passing off my MagicBand to someone else. I didn't mind that, I completely understand them taking those steps to ensure everyone is honest. Luckily, I had no more issues the rest of our trip, but I did need to have my fingerprint thing reset at Universal every time I entered. I guess I have weird thumbs haha.

After getting through, we set off into the park. That first view of the Tree of Life is almost breath-taking! I love how the parks were designed to play with your perspectives - the road which slants down towards towards the Tree, which is set up on a slightly higher piece of ground makes the entire thing appear so much larger than it actually is. The castle in Magic Kingdom does the same thing. (Yes, I notice things like that, it's my actual job to pay attention to small details haha). Anyways, enough of my jabbering, here's a picture of the tree:

[GALLERY=]DSCN0086 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

I really wanted to stop for Photopass pictures with the tree in the background, but we were running out of time on our first Fastpass of the morning, so we just had time to stop and snap the picture above before hurrying over to the Safari. We made it there with a few minutes to spare, but I was just happy we had made it! It took us about 10-15 minutes to get through the Fastpass line before we were boarding a truck. I loved this - and we saw so many animals since it was still early in the morning, and it was a little cool out. Some of the animals were really close to us! Here are some of my favourite pictures I took, starting with a sweet photobomb of our selfie:

[GALLERY=]Untitled by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]DSCN0088 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]DSCN0097 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]DSCN0103 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]DSCN0105 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]DSCN0111 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]DSCN0114 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]
[GALLERY=]DSCN0117 by , on Flickr[/GALLERY]

That is an AWESOME photobomb on the safari!!

 

[fallonkendra]

That is an AWESOME photobomb on the safari!!

It made me laugh so hard when I first looked at it! I loved it!

 

[Sam33]

Thanks for reading along! Other people's trip reports were so much help to me in the planning stages of this trip, so I knew I wanted to write one of my own!

Haha, my boyfriend is a HUGE Jets fan, our love of the Disney parks is actually directly related to the Jets. We flew down to Anaheim last year to see the Jets vs. Ducks in the first round of the playoffs, and decided since we were there, we might as well go check out Disneyland. It was love at first sight.

Myself, I was born and raised a Leafs fan, and the Oilers are my Western Conference team since I now live in Edmonton (and you'll find Luke decked out in Oilers gear at every game except when the Jets are in town). We're really hoping to be able to get tickets to the outdoor game in Winnipeg next October!

You HAVE to do whatever you can to get tickets to the outdoor game. I just went to the one in Denver and while crazy expensive it was one of the best weekends of my life! Highly recommend it. They are so awesome.

Also really enjoying your report We are doing Disneyland for the first time since we were kids (14 years ago) and we're WDW vets. Loving the direct comparisons

 

[disneywlf]

Just got to read your trip report and I must say that I love it! I am enjoying all of the details, your comparisons, and of course, your awesome photography of food and the characters (Beast and Tusker House were my favorites! ). I am sorry about your Crohns flare-up, but sometimes, food/drink is the best medicine when you feel crappy . Your trip report is definitely giving me some awesome ideas for my next trip (not sure when?), like trying Be Our Guest for dinner (I have only done lunch on my trips in 2014 and 2016) as the atmosphere and food looked amazing! Thank you for your awesome report and I look forward to reading more!

 

[fallonkendra]

I promise to get back to finishing my trip report of how our day went after leaving the park hours earlier than planned, but first - WE ARE GOING BACK TO DISNEY! We actually booked our flights already to go back during marathon weekend 2017, where Luke will be going for a half-marathon this time! I've already started a planning report here if you'd like to check it out!

Now, back to our 2016 trip...

Day Three, Part Three - Back to our Hotel

We arrived back to our hotel around 3:15pm. We made a quick stop at the gift shop to pick up the ornament we had bought the previous day at Magic Kingdom, then headed straight to our room. I immediately crawled into bed but was in too much discomfort to fall asleep right away. Luke decided he should try for a nap as well, since we knew we had a very early morning the next day for the 10km race. I eventually did fall asleep, and we both napped until a little after 6pm. After waking up I was feeling a bit better, but definitely not 100% so I knew I didn't want to go too far to get supper, so we decided to just eat at Intermission Food Court at All Star Music. Luke does not like carb-loading the night before a race like a lot of people do, so he chose the pot roast with green beans and mashed potatoes.

​

I went for the turkey with green beans and mashed potatoes.

​

We were using quick service credits, so I also picked up a chocolate muffin to eat the next morning and a bottle of Coke (which I also saved for later in the trip, as we had our refillable mugs on us). Luke picked out a Mickey rice Krispy treat and a bottle of milk and then used a snack credit on a yogurt parfait for the morning. We also paid out of pocket for a fun-sized box of cereal and some fruit for Luke for the morning before his race. Had we paid out of pocket for everything, it would have cost $11.99 (turkey), $10.49 (pot roast), $2.99 (coke), $2.49 (milk), $3.99 (muffin), $4.49 (rice krispie) = $36.44 + tax, so a pretty good use of 2 quick service credits in my opinion. The snack credit for the yogurt would have cost us $5.49, so that was an excellent use of one of those. I was determined to maximize the value of the dining plan whenever I could so it would justify the $61/day/person cost.

I thought everything was really good! I found myself being constantly surprised by the quality of quick service meals at Disney, especially at the food court at All Star Music (I assumed 3 star hotel, 3 star food but that was not the case!).

After eating I did feel a bit better, but we decided to call it an early night and we were both asleep again by 9pm - ready for a SUPER early morning wakeup the next day.

Also, in case anyone is interested in my breakdown of the dining plan up to this point (I actually like math haha):
(Let's just call it an even $60/day/person to make it easy, so $120/day is what we paid up front, and it is based on the # of nights you stay)

January 3rd - paid $20.10 out of pocket for late night meal at food court
January 4th - paid $11.97 out of pocket for Luke's breakfast, $3.49 snack credit for my breakfast, $24.69 quick service credit (Peco's Bill's), $86.50 + tax - 2 table service credits (Be Our Guest) + $13 out of pocket (2 beer) + tip
January 5th - $89.44 Tusker House 2 table service credits (tip out of pocket), $36.44 Intermission Food Court 2 quick service credits, $5.49 snack credit

So far: 2 nights, $240 paid for dining plan for 4 table service credits, 4 quick service credits and 4 snacks
Used: 4 table service credits, 3 quick service credits, 2 snacks
Total: $246 dining plan credits + $45 out of pocket (+ tips) - and we had not yet used our allotted credits.

I will try to update this information as I finish my trip report for each day - hope this is useful information!

 

[annie170]

Hi Fallon! I'm following along here and enjoying your trip report,

We love Tusker House. Food wise, it's my favorite character buffet meal. We try to book lunch around 11:15-11:30. That way we get the tail end of the breakfast items and the beginning of the lunch options. Then we need to be rolled out of there!

I'm sorry your crohn's acted up. It's awful when you're not feeling well on vacation.

I love how you do the breakdown with your dining plan. I'm one of those people who needs to get the most bang for the buck with the DDP also. I know dining plans catch a lot of flack, but I do like paying up front and not having to worry later.

I also agree with your assessment of quick service meals at WDW. I'm always pleasantly surprised by the selection and quality of most of the counter service restaurants.

 

[disneywlf]

Hello again Fallon! I have to say, I think that your QS meals look excellent, especially the Turkey Platter, which would be my pick for sure! I cannot say that I disagree with you and annie170 on the quality of QS meals, as I find them to be very good to excellent for the most part, as the quality is definitely high and the portion sizes are on the generous side. Can't wait to read more of your adventures fallonkendra!