one_cat
Jack, you have debauched my sloth.
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2000
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The Cavness second annual Anniversary trip. Day 2.
Cast of Characters:
Me Father of 2 just got a job so Im happy again.
DW Mother of 2 DH just got a job so shes happy again.
Saturday.
What a glorious Florida day. Today was forecast to be snowing in Minnesota 90 and sunny in Orlando. Oh how I miss the sun.
Today we decided to visit Animal Kingdom. We hadnt been there in years. To tell the truth we never liked Animal Kingdom much it always seemed to be hot and there wasnt much to do. But with the changes we had heard about, the reworking of Dinoland, the river raft ride and the new rollercoaster, we wanted to see what it looked like now.
We ate breakfast at the Boardwalk Bakery DW had 2 croissants, I had a bagel and cream cheese. This would become a tradition during our vacation. DW believes the bagels at the Boardwalk bakery are the best bagels anywhere. She will miss them during the next year.
On the way to the Animal Kingdom we met a lady on the bus from California who was with a group from Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo gives a trip to Disney World to all their top performers. The lady we met works in their customer service department and it didnt take long to realize why she had won. What a totally nice person. Wells Fargo did a terrific job the first day they had each been given 500.00 for spending money besides the hotel and the park passes and food. They had banquets every night. They were having a great time. She said the first day they had visited Downtown Disney then had a tough time getting away to go anywhere else though they did try out RNRC. That turned them off roller coasters for the rest of the trip. LOL.
At Animal Kingdom we headed to DinoLand to check out the new roller coaster. Im sure there are mixed reactions but we were disappointed. It was basically a short Mad Mouse rollercoaster with a little spinning at the end. We wouldnt wait in line to ride it. We took a few pictures at DinoLand then headed to Kali River rapids.
We had never ridden Kali River Rapids before. What a fun ride. You will get wet you may get soaked. We both got wet but with the 90 degree temperatures it was really refreshing. Thats not what the lady sitting across from us thought. For some reason our raft just liked her. Every time we flowed under a waterfall or down a waterfall the raft just happened to be situated in such a way that she got dowsed. Over and over again. She laughed good naturedly at first but soon her smile became a bit fixed. At the end she was absolutely sopping wet from head to toe. DW and I were only a bit wet it felt great in the 90 heat.
DW suggested we go early to the Celebration of the Lion King so we could get good seats. Boy was she right. There was a huge line. But we did get good seats. The people sitting next to us waited through the entire line got good seats then left before the music started. I havent figured that one out yet. We sang along as Simba and the gang celebrated the Circle of Life. We really enjoyed the monkey acrobats, and the bird as she swung from a wire. The Lion King show is seriously a great show and we enjoyed it very much.
As we left the Lion King show we watched some street performers a drum corps. I say this on every trip report but it is true. The magic of Disney is that around every corner is something new.
Time for lunch. We ate at the Flame Tree Barbeque. This was probably the best deal we found all weekend. The food was good, plentiful and very inexpensive. The ribs were very good. DW had a chicken sandwich which she also enjoyed.
Time to shop. DW cant enter a park without doing some shopping. Thats my payback for making her ride the rollercoasters. CMs still make the magic at WDW. I saw one in action. A guest was complaining to a CM at the shop that they hadnt been able to make Priority Seatings at the Rainforest Café. This CM
rather than just shrugging it off took a serious interest in what I would have considered a minor problem. She asked what time they wanted to eat and what time they had called. I got the real feeling that she was going to take it upon herself to make sure that the right people knew there was a problem. It made the guest feel great also that she had been listened to.
Time for the parade. We staked a spot and as we waited we talked to a man from Washington DC who, in his 60s, was taking his wife to Walt Disney World for the first time. She was thrilled and they were having a terrific time.
I dont know which 100 year parade I like best, they are all so unique and beautiful. The Animal Kingdom parade is bouncy and fun. One of the puppeteers tried to swallow my camcorder with his puppet. We got a kick out of watching the kids as the characters talked to them and danced with them.
It was getting late. We had planned to leave Animal Kingdom by 2:00, it was now 4:30 so we headed for the gate, the bus and a ride back to the Boardwalk. On the bus we talked to a little girl who was at Walt Disney World with her grandparents. Halfway to the hotel she decided that she wanted to sit next to us instead of her grandparents. She was 6 years old and so very cute. We almost got ourselves in trouble asking her if she was going to go swimming back at the hotel. Apparently Grandma and Grandpa had other plans. (a nap I think) She never sat with us, but we had a good time chatting.
Back at the Boardwalk we changed and went swimming in the Luna pool. Though the pool was crowded we got lucky and found seats near the pool. We struck up a conversation with the family next to us. They were from New York City, on their first vacation since 9/11. They said they were finally relaxing the first time in 9 months. She had lost a sister in the tragedy and more healing was definitely needed. Their daughter and son-in-law had moved to Colorado prior to 9/11. After the tragedy they decided to move home again to New York City to be closer to family and to be around people who understood the personal nature of the tragedy for them. Living in Minneapolis, the tragedy is not an everyday emotion for us anymore. Many days we dont even think about it. Its good for us to talk to people from New York City to bring back how important the disaster was and how important it is for us to keep the victims in mind..
We have stayed at the Boardwalk 4 times since joining DVC and strangely, I had never slid down the Luna slide. I guess I just had a hard tie picturing myself as a 35 year old guy standing in line behind a 4 year old on the slide platform. But isnt that what Disney is all about? becoming a kid again? I finally slid down the slide and it was a kick. I quickly figured out however that you dont want to lay on your back as you are sliding. Ouch.
Dinner tonight was at the San Angel Inn. I had always wanted to eat there. We met a very nice CM, Hugo who told us about his home and told us where we should travel in Mexico to see the real Mexico. DW has always wanted to travel to Mexico. I know I am going to have to take her there someday. The food was great especially the Margaritas. Is that food? The only problem we found was that it was so dark in the restaurant we couldnt see our food. My memories of that restaurant are of darkness trying to read the menus by the light of the candle
As we left the restaurant, Illuminations was just ending so we swam upstream through the crowd to the International Gateway then back to the boardwalk. DW didnt want to swim anymore we were both tired so we went to bed.
We had a really great time today. The weather was great, we met some really neat people, we got to see the new Animal Kingdom and still had time to swim in the pool. I liked Animal Kingdom much more than I had before, though I probably would not have chosen the styling for the new Dinoland, it is definitely an improvement over what was there before. Everything was shiny and clean, the people were nice, and over and over again we were impressed by CMs who went out of their way to make our vacation a little more special.
More later as I have time
The Cavness second annual Anniversary trip. Day 2.
Cast of Characters:
Me Father of 2 just got a job so Im happy again.
DW Mother of 2 DH just got a job so shes happy again.
Saturday.
What a glorious Florida day. Today was forecast to be snowing in Minnesota 90 and sunny in Orlando. Oh how I miss the sun.
Today we decided to visit Animal Kingdom. We hadnt been there in years. To tell the truth we never liked Animal Kingdom much it always seemed to be hot and there wasnt much to do. But with the changes we had heard about, the reworking of Dinoland, the river raft ride and the new rollercoaster, we wanted to see what it looked like now.
We ate breakfast at the Boardwalk Bakery DW had 2 croissants, I had a bagel and cream cheese. This would become a tradition during our vacation. DW believes the bagels at the Boardwalk bakery are the best bagels anywhere. She will miss them during the next year.
On the way to the Animal Kingdom we met a lady on the bus from California who was with a group from Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo gives a trip to Disney World to all their top performers. The lady we met works in their customer service department and it didnt take long to realize why she had won. What a totally nice person. Wells Fargo did a terrific job the first day they had each been given 500.00 for spending money besides the hotel and the park passes and food. They had banquets every night. They were having a great time. She said the first day they had visited Downtown Disney then had a tough time getting away to go anywhere else though they did try out RNRC. That turned them off roller coasters for the rest of the trip. LOL.
At Animal Kingdom we headed to DinoLand to check out the new roller coaster. Im sure there are mixed reactions but we were disappointed. It was basically a short Mad Mouse rollercoaster with a little spinning at the end. We wouldnt wait in line to ride it. We took a few pictures at DinoLand then headed to Kali River rapids.
We had never ridden Kali River Rapids before. What a fun ride. You will get wet you may get soaked. We both got wet but with the 90 degree temperatures it was really refreshing. Thats not what the lady sitting across from us thought. For some reason our raft just liked her. Every time we flowed under a waterfall or down a waterfall the raft just happened to be situated in such a way that she got dowsed. Over and over again. She laughed good naturedly at first but soon her smile became a bit fixed. At the end she was absolutely sopping wet from head to toe. DW and I were only a bit wet it felt great in the 90 heat.
DW suggested we go early to the Celebration of the Lion King so we could get good seats. Boy was she right. There was a huge line. But we did get good seats. The people sitting next to us waited through the entire line got good seats then left before the music started. I havent figured that one out yet. We sang along as Simba and the gang celebrated the Circle of Life. We really enjoyed the monkey acrobats, and the bird as she swung from a wire. The Lion King show is seriously a great show and we enjoyed it very much.
As we left the Lion King show we watched some street performers a drum corps. I say this on every trip report but it is true. The magic of Disney is that around every corner is something new.
Time for lunch. We ate at the Flame Tree Barbeque. This was probably the best deal we found all weekend. The food was good, plentiful and very inexpensive. The ribs were very good. DW had a chicken sandwich which she also enjoyed.
Time to shop. DW cant enter a park without doing some shopping. Thats my payback for making her ride the rollercoasters. CMs still make the magic at WDW. I saw one in action. A guest was complaining to a CM at the shop that they hadnt been able to make Priority Seatings at the Rainforest Café. This CM
rather than just shrugging it off took a serious interest in what I would have considered a minor problem. She asked what time they wanted to eat and what time they had called. I got the real feeling that she was going to take it upon herself to make sure that the right people knew there was a problem. It made the guest feel great also that she had been listened to.
Time for the parade. We staked a spot and as we waited we talked to a man from Washington DC who, in his 60s, was taking his wife to Walt Disney World for the first time. She was thrilled and they were having a terrific time.
I dont know which 100 year parade I like best, they are all so unique and beautiful. The Animal Kingdom parade is bouncy and fun. One of the puppeteers tried to swallow my camcorder with his puppet. We got a kick out of watching the kids as the characters talked to them and danced with them.
It was getting late. We had planned to leave Animal Kingdom by 2:00, it was now 4:30 so we headed for the gate, the bus and a ride back to the Boardwalk. On the bus we talked to a little girl who was at Walt Disney World with her grandparents. Halfway to the hotel she decided that she wanted to sit next to us instead of her grandparents. She was 6 years old and so very cute. We almost got ourselves in trouble asking her if she was going to go swimming back at the hotel. Apparently Grandma and Grandpa had other plans. (a nap I think) She never sat with us, but we had a good time chatting.
Back at the Boardwalk we changed and went swimming in the Luna pool. Though the pool was crowded we got lucky and found seats near the pool. We struck up a conversation with the family next to us. They were from New York City, on their first vacation since 9/11. They said they were finally relaxing the first time in 9 months. She had lost a sister in the tragedy and more healing was definitely needed. Their daughter and son-in-law had moved to Colorado prior to 9/11. After the tragedy they decided to move home again to New York City to be closer to family and to be around people who understood the personal nature of the tragedy for them. Living in Minneapolis, the tragedy is not an everyday emotion for us anymore. Many days we dont even think about it. Its good for us to talk to people from New York City to bring back how important the disaster was and how important it is for us to keep the victims in mind..
We have stayed at the Boardwalk 4 times since joining DVC and strangely, I had never slid down the Luna slide. I guess I just had a hard tie picturing myself as a 35 year old guy standing in line behind a 4 year old on the slide platform. But isnt that what Disney is all about? becoming a kid again? I finally slid down the slide and it was a kick. I quickly figured out however that you dont want to lay on your back as you are sliding. Ouch.
Dinner tonight was at the San Angel Inn. I had always wanted to eat there. We met a very nice CM, Hugo who told us about his home and told us where we should travel in Mexico to see the real Mexico. DW has always wanted to travel to Mexico. I know I am going to have to take her there someday. The food was great especially the Margaritas. Is that food? The only problem we found was that it was so dark in the restaurant we couldnt see our food. My memories of that restaurant are of darkness trying to read the menus by the light of the candle
As we left the restaurant, Illuminations was just ending so we swam upstream through the crowd to the International Gateway then back to the boardwalk. DW didnt want to swim anymore we were both tired so we went to bed.
We had a really great time today. The weather was great, we met some really neat people, we got to see the new Animal Kingdom and still had time to swim in the pool. I liked Animal Kingdom much more than I had before, though I probably would not have chosen the styling for the new Dinoland, it is definitely an improvement over what was there before. Everything was shiny and clean, the people were nice, and over and over again we were impressed by CMs who went out of their way to make our vacation a little more special.
More later as I have time
)
