48 hrs, 4 parks, 2 sisters - update 7/23 Day 3 The Long Awaited Conclusion!

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Joining in
Lovin the Animal kingdom pics!

Welcome! Thanks for reading along!

The Finding Nemo Musical is awesome.


I didn't know they stopped the Bill Nye pre-show at Dinosaur! How odd.

I was so impressed with The Finding Nemo Musical. I'm disappointed that I missed it until now.

I'm not sure if they've really stopped it, but I haven't seen it in my last 4 visits. Total bummer! Though, it's still one of my favorite rides.

I agree with you that Dinoland seems disjointed from the park. I never really thought about that before now, but you are so right!

And when they stop doing the pre-show for Dinosaur, I wonder??? I won't miss it, though, because once I've seen it, now I'm just ready to get on with the ride!

Maybe because we usually start with Dinosaur then move on, I didn't notice it either, but going the other way, and walking though the park with the elaborate and gorgeous theming and then going to Cheez-o-land It was really obvious to me this time.

I have no idea if they for-real stopped it or if I just have awful timing, but I haven't seen it in the last 4 times I've ridden. I thought it was just because there was no line - but we were in that room for quite a while - and nothing.

I agree - I liked it because when it was over that meant it was time to ride!

I have never been to Dino-land - just seemed to carnival-ly to me (not a word I know but couldn't think of what else to call it) I would like to try riding Dinosaur next time though. Plus I have never seen the Nemo show - you have convinced me to try two new rides!

Carnival-ly is the perfect word! I'm all about inventing words! I've never gone into the main Dino-land midway stuff either - it's so un-Disney. It makes me mad. Dinosaur is one of my favorite rides at Disney, and Nemo was amazing - you should definitely try them both!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

We had a totally un-eventful bus ride to DHS.

We arrived during the parade so the street was crazy crowded.

So we ducked into some shops to try to navigate through the crowd. We made our way to TSM to check the wait times (the board was blocked by the parade) It was 200 minutes, and the FPs were gone so we passed. Time was a premium on this trip, and we'll be back in December. I must say I like having the luxury of saying "I'll just catch it next time" and knowing that next time is just a few months away.

So we headed to Panic’s choice - the Animation Academy. The class was really crowded (well compared to January when there was us and one other family), They had people sitting on the floor and standing in the back. Plus the animator kept forgetting what character we were drawing and calling it different things. That was kind of funny. It wasn't as fun or personal as it was in January, but still really cool. We planned on going back.

Surprisingly, they both actually look like Eeyore.

Or as the animator said – Tigger… Actually they were horrible Tiggers now that I look at it

After the Animation Academy, the heat was really getting to me and I was just wilting. I suggested we go back to the hotel and hang out at the pool.

On our way out we decided to head to RnRc,

The wait was 90 minutes, but we hopped in the Single Rider line – and we were in and out in like 15 minutes.

Hells yeah!

I was in the car with a group of 3 13 year old boys. At the end of the ride they were giggling like girls. It was hilarious!

We decided we'd come back for ToT, possibly TSM, and
After RnRc, after dinner.

We headed back to the hotel to change and cool down before dinner.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

We got off the boat at the Yacht club an made our way to the Beach Club. On our way, we stopped by Hurricane Hannah's and got some drinks.

Panic got a Sun kissed Cocktail, and I got a poolside lemonade. Both were delicious and refreshing. And we headed to the room to enjoy them and cool off for a bit.

Soon, we headed for dinner. On the way, panic noted we forgot the rain ponchos, but we decided we'd be fine and kept going. We headed to the doc to catch the boat…

When I showed DH this picture – he was like “why did you take a picture of Panic fixing her wedgie” Haha… That’s not what she’s doing – I swear!

Soaking in the sun. But notice the dark clouds lurking

We were impatient and didn't want to wait for the boat, so we walked.

Along the way, we ran into this guy – Donald he’s not!

I generally refer to the swan and dolphin as the swolphin. So I get the two mixed up all the time. I originally headed to the Dolphin, but needed to be at the Swan.

Finally we reached our destination. Kimonos.

We wanted something light, and I always want to try the swolphin restaurants - but we're usually on the DDP, so we don't. This was a great opportunity to try it.

The place is really cute. Smaller than I pictured.

Their summer special drink was a sangria. It was yummy. They had a sangria special drink, which we got. It was yummy. Normally I'm not a sangria fan, but this was made with plum wine instead of regular wine, so it didn't feel so weird with fruit in it.

We got a Dragon Roll (house speciaity) a Bonsai Roll and a Spider Roll. Along with Salmon and Conch Nigiri.

We were still a little hungry, so we shared a bowl of red bean ice cream. It was pretty good.

We discussed whether we should go back to the hotel to grab the ponchos or just head to DHS; however, Mother Nature had other plans for us....

 

[Tri-Delta4Life]

TOTALLY agree that Dinoland doesn't really seem to go with the rest of AK! I've never really "got" Dinoland... just not my thing I guess, but I love the rest of AK!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

TOTALLY agree that Dinoland doesn't really seem to go with the rest of AK! I've never really "got" Dinoland... just not my thing I guess, but I love the rest of AK!

I agree. I would love to see them do something else with that area, it's such a waste.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Just as we were finishing up, it started to POUR rain. Like standing under a waterfall kind of pouring. Why didn't we bring those ponchos?

So we set out to explore the Swan.

We waited about a hour, and then made a break for the dolphin. It was still storming out and we got pretty wet. We wandered around the Dolphin for a while, and tried to hop on a bus to anywhere else, but that wasn't working either.

I know there are worse problems to have, but we were trapped at the Swolphin and wanted out!

So we made a break for it. We walked from the Dolphin to the beach club and got soaking wet. Lovely.

As we approached the beach club, we were greeted by an angel from heaven. AKA a lifeguard handing out nice dry towels.

I found it hilarious that in a storm they station lifeguards at every door. I know it's to give them something to do, but it's just funny to me - like they're there to save someone from floating away in the rain.

So, dripping wet, we headed to the room. I stopped at the marketplace to pick up a bottle of wine, while panic went straight to the room. She was wearing a white top and regular shoes. While me in my new crocs and black top didn't have either of those problems.

I also picked up a container of cotton candy for my mom because she loves the goofy cotton candy. She says it's the best kind.

So I go to the register with my bottle of wine and cotton candy, and the CM looks at me warily and asks "you're not having these together are you?" I realized how weird my items looked together, and contemplated telling him it was a new cocktail concoction I'd made up, but decided against it. I said no, I was taking the cotton candy home. He laughed and said that was good, because he would have let me buy them if I had be having them together. (kidding of course)

So I made my way back up to our room, and Panic had changed into dry clothes. We cracked open the bottle of wine, and she tried on all the clothes I brought for her - taking just over 1/2 of them.

Afterwards, we finished the bottle of wine out on our balcony. It was shielded from the rain, so we didn't get wet, and the rain had cooled off the air quite a bit, so it was nice. It was still storming though, so we figured Fantasmic would be canceled.

Will I ever get to see Fantasmic again?

It was only about 8, so we weren't ready for sleep by any means... What to do?

 

[meeko_33785]

I knew the rain would be coming. Hoping you still enjoy the rest of the evening despite it.


The wine and cotton candy episode was great.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Well, pooh on the rain! I can't wait to see what you girls get into!

 

[tksbaskets]

Nice installments! Yes 8 pm is WAY too early to sleep. What did you and your sis do??????

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

I knew the rain would be coming. Hoping you still enjoy the rest of the evening despite it.


The wine and cotton candy episode was great.

Yeah we knew the rain was coming too. If we had just gone back for the ponchos in the first place, the night may have gone much differently.

I didn't really think about how weird I must have looked until the CM said something. Now whenever I ask for a glass of wine at home, DH asks if I want cotton candy with it

Well, pooh on the rain! I can't wait to see what you girls get into!

Yeah... Pooh... that's what we were saying

The next installment is on it's way...

Nice installments! Yes 8 pm is WAY too early to sleep. What did you and your sis do??????

Yeah, even after our late night the night before, it was still to early.

The next update will be up shortly!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

As we sat on the balcony, we discussed what to do. Neither of us really wanted to brave the storm and go back to DHS - the boats were still grounded so we'd have to walk.

We discussed going to Downtown Disney, to either Disney Quest, La Noubia, or to a show of Toy Story 3 (it was opening weekend) but we decided that everyone would have those ideas. And we were kind of bummed about the storm, so we didn't want to deal with crowds.

We had wanted to check out Jellyrolls, and discussed going there, but the big clap of thunder meant we'd have to walk, and we were both enjoying finally being dry.

So what to do? Go to a bar of course! We decided to stay close, so that meant we'd have 3 choices.

Panic put on her “clammin' ” pants. They were these weird pants I gave her that weren’t shorts, weren’t capris and to top it off - they were corduroy. But they’re so comfy. We decided they must be clammin' pants.

We walked to Martha's Vineyard, but it looked pretty empty (read boring) and the menu didn't appeal to us, so we kept walking.

Our adventure took us to Yacht Club, where we happened upon the Crew Cup Lounge

It was packed, with families and adults alike. A bit more lively indeed. Plus, we were lucky enough to snag a seat with a meat view!

Why are we here?

I needed to have at least one magical star on the trip!

I think Panic got a margarita, but I’m not 100% sure.

We decided we were kind of hungry, so we ordered the spinach and cheese dip.

I’m not sure if we were just really hungry – but this was soooo good!

That was some gooey-spinach-y goodness right there.

We also got the lobster salad sliders – which were also yummy. But I totally forgot to take a picture - oops! There were 3 of them, plus chips.

This was a great place for a late night - (or in our case - early night) bite!

We hung out for a while and chatted and people watched and decided to head back.

We thought the canoe chairs and lobster pillows in the lobby were totally weird

We back to the room, it was finally a reasonable hour (11:30) so we headed to bed, bummed we missed out on park time and were hoping for sunshine for our Epcot day!

 

[tksbaskets]

Looking forward to EPCOT day. I'd say two swingin' sisters staying out 'till 11:30 was respectable

 

[meeko_33785]

Sounds like you still had fun despite the rain. Here's hoping for more sunshine at EPCOT.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Great updates! So you guys did Eeyore at the Animation Academy. I am really tempted to start a thread called "post the character you drew" because my dad and I were talking the other day wondering how many different characters you could get.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Looking forward to EPCOT day. I'd say two swingin' sisters staying out 'till 11:30 was respectable

hmmm.... swingin' sisters... I think you just gave me an idea for a photo-op for december

Sounds like you still had fun despite the rain. Here's hoping for more sunshine at EPCOT.

It was this really strange feeling - we didn't want to waste any time, but at the same time, we knew we'd be back. But the pressure was on to find something to do - that's a weird pressure to have in Disney.

Great updates! So you guys did Eeyore at the Animation Academy. I am really tempted to start a thread called "post the character you drew" because my dad and I were talking the other day wondering how many different characters you could get.

That's a great idea for a thread! Our annimator said that they have a giant book and they try to switch the character every time so people can go multiple times and not repeat. There are a ton of characters to choose from -it would be great to see all the different ones available.

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Go ahead and make the Senior Portrait pose thread while you are at it! I'm just saying, I think you guys are onto a new trend here!

 

[RachelNinja]

Wow, I've been away for a while! My church's summer retreat kept me away for 4 days, and then starting a summer job teaching a prep course for the NYC Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) this past Monday has just taken a lot of my time. But I'm back to catch up on what I've missed!

I'm really intrigued by the concept of the Nemo show. When it first came out, I thought it'd be odd because of the puppets and the puppeteers. But then I realized that they do something similar for The Lion King on Broadway, and it's very easy to get lost in the story and forget HOW it's done.

Oh man, every single time someone gets a stuffed pretzel (either the jalapeno cheese or the cream cheese one), I drool. I want to try it so bad, but I know it'll give me a stomachache! AGHHH, I have to go with someone who likes it and gets it just so I can steal a piece instead of buying the whole pretzel and not being able to eat it.

My mom would've loved drawing Eeyore; that's her favorite! Weird and I drew ... um, what did we draw ... oh, angry Donald! Haha. I should really update my TR.

Mmmm, I'm so glad that Weird and I are going to get sushi this Saturday otherwise I'd be really upset looking at your pic and not having any myself! What did you think of the conch nigiri? I've had conch in chowder and fried, but I never imagined what it would be like that way.

Haha, I like the idea of the lifeguards' new job during a rain storm!

OY that's probably the best-looking spinach dip I've ever seen! HOW COULD YOU FORGET TO TAKE A PIC OF THE LOBSTER SALAD SLIDERS?!? AGHHH, I want to see them!!! Haha, I'm feeling a slight lobster craving because I saw an ad in the paper or something for lobster, and I started thinking about lobster rolls and lobster chowder.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Go ahead and make the Senior Portrait pose thread while you are at it! I'm just saying, I think you guys are onto a new trend here!

what did I tell you about encouraging us I just might have to do that.

Wow, I've been away for a while! My church's summer retreat kept me away for 4 days, and then starting a summer job teaching a prep course for the NYC Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) this past Monday has just taken a lot of my time. But I'm back to catch up on what I've missed!

I'm really intrigued by the concept of the Nemo show. When it first came out, I thought it'd be odd because of the puppets and the puppeteers. But then I realized that they do something similar for The Lion King on Broadway, and it's very easy to get lost in the story and forget HOW it's done.

Oh man, every single time someone gets a stuffed pretzel (either the jalapeno cheese or the cream cheese one), I drool. I want to try it so bad, but I know it'll give me a stomachache! AGHHH, I have to go with someone who likes it and gets it just so I can steal a piece instead of buying the whole pretzel and not being able to eat it.

My mom would've loved drawing Eeyore; that's her favorite! Weird and I drew ... um, what did we draw ... oh, angry Donald! Haha. I should really update my TR.

Mmmm, I'm so glad that Weird and I are going to get sushi this Saturday otherwise I'd be really upset looking at your pic and not having any myself! What did you think of the conch nigiri? I've had conch in chowder and fried, but I never imagined what it would be like that way.

Haha, I like the idea of the lifeguards' new job during a rain storm!

OY that's probably the best-looking spinach dip I've ever seen! HOW COULD YOU FORGET TO TAKE A PIC OF THE LOBSTER SALAD SLIDERS?!? AGHHH, I want to see them!!! Haha, I'm feeling a slight lobster craving because I saw an ad in the paper or something for lobster, and I started thinking about lobster rolls and lobster chowder.

I was wondering where you were hiding. Sounds like you're a busy bee... so I'll allow it this time

Have you seen the Lion King on Broadway? Nemo is very similar - Where the puppeteers really just blend into the show. I think it's very entrancing. Whereas the puppet in a show like Avenue Q where the puppeteers are just there I think is distracting - well for me at least.

The stuffed pretzels are so good. I hope someday you find someone who will eat the rest of it. I had to go dairy free for a few years - so I know how painful seeing all that cheese-y goodness and not being able to eat it is!

Yay for a sushi date! The conch nigiri was good. It's kind of a cross between clam and octopus - a very firm, somewhat chewy texture - but with the flavor that you're familiar with from other conch dishes. I'm a fan of nigiri like that - firmer - but I know some people aren't.

I profusely apologize for forgetting to take a picture of the lobster sliders. Please forgive me I totally understand your lobster craving, I was having one as well when we were down there - which is why we got those instead of the chicken ones. I was reading an article about a Maine Lobster bake in the magazine on the plane.

That spinach dip was crazy good. I've never seen spinach dip with the add ins like that - yummy!

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

I was woken up at 7 by mousekeeping knocking at the door. I got up and shooed them away - we're sleeping. Then at 8, I was re-awaken by a different mousekeeper who I again shooed away. I kind of felt bad for the poor mousekeeper who knocked on the door at 8:30, because I almost bit her head off. I exasperatedly told her that she was the 3rd person I'd told we were leaving at 11. She apologized and hurried away.

There were not DND signs for the door, so I just took my chances, but there were no more knocks on the door. Unfortunately, the damage had been done, and both Panic and I were wide awake.

It was still before 9, so we packed up and went down to the market place to get some breakfast. I got a bagel, Panic got a child's sized french toast sticks.

We then headed back to the room

We went to gather up our stuff and head over to bell services to drop our luggage off.

We both looked at each other - do we need the umbrella or ponchos? Naw, it's nice and sunny!

So with that we headed to Epcot. I love staying at the Beach Club and being able to walk to the park!

We got there around 10, so WS wasn't open yet, so we headed to Future World

 

[tksbaskets]

Bummer about missing your beauty sleep. What's with the no DND sign? Looking forward to EPCOT with you and your sister