.2 miles to the room, anatomically correct building in Morocco & Drinking Living Seas

[disnic75]

Ha! That is my nephew posing with the Mummy dude! In all the trips we have taken, I think this is the first time any of us have ended up in other people's photos that I've seen. Hilarious!

 

[pinkxray]

I'm joining in!

I love your pictures. As much as I love Disney, I really love US/IOA and most people don't have such awesome pictures. I can't wait to see you WWOHP pics. We will be checking it out for ourselves in less than 7 months. Are the crowds still insane like when it first opened?

 

[mickeystoontown]

What great pictures! You always take such good ones. Where in the world were all the other guests? It looked like you had the park all to yourselves.

 

[aprilisis]

I'm joining in!

I love your pictures. As much as I love Disney, I really love US/IOA and most people don't have such awesome pictures. I can't wait to see you WWOHP pics. We will be checking it out for ourselves in less than 7 months. Are the crowds still insane like when it first opened?

Welcome! Thanks! WWOHP was GREAT. The wait wasn't too bad- but it is the one attraction you would actually want to wait for.

What great pictures! You always take such good ones. Where in the world were all the other guests? It looked like you had the park all to yourselves.

Thanks, Lisa!!! Universal wasn't crowded at all in the morning. IOA was a little more crowded, but still not too bad.

 

[aprilisis]

Ha! That is my nephew posing with the Mummy dude! In all the trips we have taken, I think this is the first time any of us have ended up in other people's photos that I've seen. Hilarious!

That is SO funny!!! And I bet it only happens on the Disboards!!

 

[aprilisis]

I love this shirt:

We walked straight through to Harry Potter. (We skipped the “water” rides thinking we might get to them later on rather than walk around soaked all day.)

Continued in next post…..

 

[aprilisis]

I don’t want to ruin the surprise for anyone, so I won’t say much about it other than you WANT at least a half hour wait. The line area is a very long walk, but there is so much to see! We waited about 40 minutes, but it seemed much shorter. The ride was SOOOO worth the wait!!!! I loved it. It is pretty intense, though…my stepmom was done for the day after that ride. It is weird, too, because nothing ever affects her that way. She thinks it may be because she was still exhausted from the day before. She was fine for the rest of the week, too. We walked for a while after that…more photos:

Continued in next post….

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Hey April!
finally made it...

GREAT PICTURES! as always

WOW!! what a walk to your room!!! made me tired just seeing the photos...our room in Vegas was like that...and recently a friend was staying in the French Quarter the hotel was not even very big and we walked in circles all the way around the hotel to find her room

the food at Yachtsman certainly looks delish!

great pictures of US/IOA...I am really looking forward to seeing Harry Potter (and I don't normally look forward to the US/IOA parks, but, I think next time we do go we are going to add in a one day pass just of IOA.

looking forward to hearing more...
Connie

 

[disnic75]

That is SO funny!!! And I bet it only happens on the Disboards!!

I love your pictures! I always come home and realize I did not take nearly as many pictures as I wanted to. Mind if I borrow some of yours?

 

[ronnmel]

OMG!!! Is that Godiva chocolate martini as yummy as it looks? Where exactly at the Poly can you find it?

Those US and IOA pictures look awesome, but it's kinda weird for me to see pictures and not know where everything is and what everything looks like in real life. I'm so used to looking at Disney pictures and remembering my own trip.

Crowds seem to have really diminished for Harry Potter! I read a post from someone waiting hours just to get in the area... How were the crowds for you?

 

[MiaBella05]

What time do you think you got to Harry Potter? I heard that waiting till later in the day can make a big difference in crowd level!

 

[aprilisis]

Hey April!
finally made it...

GREAT PICTURES! as always

WOW!! what a walk to your room!!! made me tired just seeing the photos...our room in Vegas was like that...and recently a friend was staying in the French Quarter the hotel was not even very big and we walked in circles all the way around the hotel to find her room

the food at Yachtsman certainly looks delish!

great pictures of US/IOA...I am really looking forward to seeing Harry Potter (and I don't normally look forward to the US/IOA parks, but, I think next time we do go we are going to add in a one day pass just of IOA.

looking forward to hearing more...
Connie

Thanks! That walk was just exhausting at the end of the long days. I'm going to request a room closer to the lobby in December!
You will LOVE Harry Potter! It is a little scary, though- I definitely screamed a few times!

I love your pictures! I always come home and realize I did not take nearly as many pictures as I wanted to. Mind if I borrow some of yours?

Thanks!! Borrow away!

OMG!!! Is that Godiva chocolate martini as yummy as it looks? Where exactly at the Poly can you find it?

Those US and IOA pictures look awesome, but it's kinda weird for me to see pictures and not know where everything is and what everything looks like in real life. I'm so used to looking at Disney pictures and remembering my own trip.

Crowds seem to have really diminished for Harry Potter! I read a post from someone waiting hours just to get in the area... How were the crowds for you?

Thanks! The chocolate martini is in most lounges at the resorts in WDW, but this one was at the Tambu lounge in the Poly. It is one of my favorite places.
We got to Harry Potter at about 1:45 & the wait was about 45 minutes for the ride itself. It seemed much shorter, though. There was another long line to get into the wand shop.

 

[mickeystoontown]

There's a little tool button at the top that looks like a ruler (if it isn't there, go to the "tools" menu & check off ruler). You can change line to "path" in the ruler dialogue box. This is for the downloaded Google Earth program, though. (It is free to download) I love that program because people can put their photos wherever they take them on the map. I have a bunch up there!

Well, dummy me can't even find that little ruler. I even downloaded the Google Earth program. Oh well, guess I'll just have to break out the old pedometer.

I can't ever say it enough.....your pictures are always sooooo good. The leave me speachless (and you know that's virtually impossible to do).

I know that Hunter would love love love the Jurassic Park attraction and the Harry Potter section of the park. Wonder how busy it would be in May, 2011?

 

[aprilisis]

What time do you think you got to Harry Potter? I heard that waiting till later in the day can make a big difference in crowd level!

I got there at 1:45 & it was a Tuesday. The last 2 times I went to Universal, I went on a Tuesday & both times the crowds were low.

Well, dummy me can't even find that little ruler. I even downloaded the Google Earth program. Oh well, guess I'll just have to break out the old pedometer.

I can't ever say it enough.....your pictures are always sooooo good. The leave me speachless (and you know that's virtually impossible to do).

I know that Hunter would love love love the Jurassic Park attraction and the Harry Potter section of the park. Wonder how busy it would be in May, 2011?

In Google Earth, go to the "tools" menu & ruler should be in the drop-down menu...I think. Or- just tell me approximate addresses & I would be happy to measure it for you!

Thanks about the photos- I kind of felt like most of them were taken "on the fly" this time because I didn't want to make everyone stop a lot.

I'm not sure how it will be in May, but I will hopefully find out!! Are you staying at CBR in May/June?

 

[aprilisis]

My stepmom decided that ice cream would do the trick & make her feel better (and it did!), so we stopped at Hop on Pop Ice Cream Shop.

Continued in next post…..

 

[aprilisis]

Then we saw this- which is wrong for so many reasons…

Why would you go to an amusement park with a neck injury? Why would you bring your dog? Why would you dress like a pre-teen in your 40s??
As you can see, we headed out of the park & back to the room for a breather before our 8pm dinner at the Wave.

This lamp in the lobby totally creeped me out:

When we got back to the room, we saw these:

Then I began to TRY to get a good sunset/dusk photo, but it never really happened.

Continued in next post….

 

[aprilisis]

Shots from the lobby: (Have I mentioned that I want this globe???)

Can anyone tell me what kind of flowers these are? I love them!

Photos from the walk to the car & the drive over to the Contemporary:

Continued in next post…..

 

[aprilisis]

We got to the Wave a little early, so we sat at their bar. I was looking over the bar menu & noticed they had something that the restaurant menu did not have….edamame! I noted this & planned on asking for some when we were seated. Edamame is like a drug for me. I love it & I can’t stop eating it until it is gone.

After we were seated:

I asked if it would be possible to get the edamame- it was!! It had this sweet/spicy stuff on it that was just awesome. The heat built up more & more as I was eating it.

My stepmom had the Florida rock shrimp & lump crab cakes:

After looking at the menu again, I decided on getting 2 more of the appetizers rather than the vegetarian option on the menu. I got the citrus & avocado salad:

And flatbread (which I also stole from the bar menu):

Both were fantastic. My stepmom got the pork tenderloin with bourbon mashed sweet potatoes & warm spinach bacon salad:

After leaving the Wave, we decided to look in the shops & walk over to Bay Lake Tower to check it out. Sorry for the blurry photos.

Electric Water Parade!!!

Continued in next post….

 

[aprilisis]

I took a few night photos…

The next day we went to my favorite place to have breakfast- Boma! I LOVE the grilled tomatoes & the fresh fruit at the buffet.

I ate 2 plates of food & some fruit that morning. I waddled out of there!!

I actually took a photo of the tile in the bathroom. I was wondering if other people saw a flash & thought, “What kind of wacko takes pictures in the ladies room?”

Here is when the fun starts. (oozing with sarcasm) I had renewed my Annual Pass online during the “get 15 months” promotion & they mailed me an exchange certificate to pick up my pass. We headed to Animal Kingdom & I went to pick up my pass. The woman asked me if I had my old pass with me- I have NEVER needed my old pass to pick up the new one. She kind of gave me attitude after that. She then informed me that my pass would not be for 15 months because I would have had to pick it up by August. I NEVER noticed that in the “fine print” anywhere & I am the total psycho who always reads that stuff. I was kind of irritated because I never would have renewed it at that time if it wasn’t for that promotion. She also mentioned that for $40 I could have my renewal date in October instead of February. Only in Disney do I find myself happily throwing extra money at them. I was satisfied with the outcome (because I have an excuse to visit again next year!) & happily walked over to the turnstiles. By the way- this is about 30 minutes after getting to the park. My ticket said it wasn’t valid on that date. The woman working at the turnstiles asked if she let me through, would I please go over to Guest Services. I said “of course” because I had to straighten out my ticket. The people working at Guest Services were fantastic. They figured out that the woman who issued me from my annual pass had the February date as my “start date” of the pass- just in February 2011 & the expiration in October 2011. They have to call their “IT” department to change annual pass dates, but then were told to just reissue the pass. This was all another 40 minutes. They were very apologetic about everything. I’m not the impatient type & I don’t get irritated or rude in these situations because that NEVER helps anyone. Besides that- they were doing all they could to help me- I couldn’t ask for more than that! They ended up giving us 2 fast passes to use anywhere in AK anytime that day. Yay! We took right off & went through the trails around the Tree of Life. I’m convinced that I still haven’t seen them all. Some photos from the walk up to the Tree & then walk through the trails:

Continued in next post….though it may be a while. I'm hosting a blood drive at work all day tomorrow. I usually write my updates in a word doc at home & then just quickly post them from work, so maybe I will get something done tonight. I'll try!

 

[longing2Batdisney]

fun updates! so sorry you had all those problems with your AP's but sounds like it all worked out!