7 AM Extra Magic Hours? We're in!...NEW 12/27 p. 31

[MHTeacher]

I always find that I take 700 pictures too many during the safari! I don't know how it happens---I tell myself not to take so many, and then when it's finished, I've got way too many!

Love being able to sit on your balcony and watch Illuminations!

 

[marDgreen88]

You got some great giraffe pictures! I love giraffes. I've fed some at my local zoo before though and their mouths are quite nasty.

My other favorite is the elephant too! Even though they're so huge and could potentially do some serious damage they just seem so gentle. And they're just adorable!

The Dinosaur at the end is the worst one!!! Omg.

Seeing fireworks from your room has to be the coolest thing ever. So awesome! Could you hear the music at all?

 

[OhMari]

Great shots of Illuminations. You really can't see them from the walkway on the Boardwalk, unless you are way over by the Swan/Dolphin Area.

My dd had her tonsils out on Wednesday, and I've been down in the area again. My kids are killing me with all these medical things-lucky for me I have 4 weeks of vacation.

 

[Caretames1]

Almost done with school here, a week left for us! YAY

Personally, I think all the animals love to get their butts on film!

How nice you could see the fireworks right over the hotel every night! I see the perks of some resorts!

 

[wdwgirl03]

What a wonderful day!

I didn't even think about the fact that you'd have that view at night of the fireworks. That is very very neat.

It was a great day. Very successful and of course a lot of fun.

We enjoyed being able to see the fireworks from our room.

Wow, you really did have a great seat on the safari. You got some great pictures.

I think that elephants think they're butts are cute, which is why they always want you to take pictures of them.

Oh to be on the balcony of the Boardwalk to watch fireworks right now....

haha yeah, my dad knows to let me sit on the end so I can take all the pictures.

I know, right??? I want to go back.

Hi Sarah, you are so lucky to have finished up your last full week of the school year. And with the weather being so nice, I'm sure it is hard to keep the kids on task.

Your safari pictures are really good, I also like the giraffes. It is fun to try to get a good picture of them. EE is my favorite ride at AK, but I do also like the park in general. So different from the other parks.

What a great view you had of the Epcot fireworks, how fun to see them while relaxing on your balcony. I would think that is one of the highlights of the resort location and room view. I almost think I could enjoy just staying at the Boardwalk without visiting a park. It is so beautiful, day and night!

R u watching Donald Driver on Dancing with the Stars? If not, don't miss it next week, it has been fun to watch him dance. I loved to see Aaron, Clay and the coach last week, wonder who will show up this week?

have a great weekend

So far the kids have been surprisingly OK. I bet that will change though now with short weeks the rest of the year!

I agree-I think that's why I like the Animal Kingdom so much. It's a nice change of pace from the craziness of the other parks.

It was definitely a highlight. So glad we ended up with that Boardwalk view. Amazing!

I have not been watching Donald Driver but might have to turn it on tonight. I did hear that Aaron, Clay, and Mike were there. That's great.

Great safari pics! I love giraffes, and the cheetahs are so pretty!

Mmm, the Flame Tree BBQ is so good! I'd love to try the ribs there someday, but I'm not sure how I'd feel about gnawing on some ribs in the middle of a park!

Yay, Illluminations! I remember in October, we were leaving the Boardwalk and I saw Illuminations in the parking lot, it was so cool!

It was cool to see 2 of the cheetahs out.

haha, you should just try the ribs. My dad really liked them.

Yeah, I remember a few years ago when we went to the Boardwalk one night we were able to see the fireworks. It is pretty neat.

You got some great animal shots! I love the giraffes, too, and I'm always amazed at how close some of the animals can get sometimes.

Mmmmm...love me some Flame Tree BBQ!

Congrats on finishing up the school year!

I know, I think that's why the safari is so amazing. How often do you get to see those animals up close?

We've still got 3 weeks of school left but it's probably going to fly by!

I always find that I take 700 pictures too many during the safari! I don't know how it happens---I tell myself not to take so many, and then when it's finished, I've got way too many!

Love being able to sit on your balcony and watch Illuminations!

That's how I am too. Though sometimes I get so mad because an animal will be right next to me but somehow I don't get a good picture.

You got some great giraffe pictures! I love giraffes. I've fed some at my local zoo before though and their mouths are quite nasty.

My other favorite is the elephant too! Even though they're so huge and could potentially do some serious damage they just seem so gentle. And they're just adorable!

The Dinosaur at the end is the worst one!!! Omg.

Seeing fireworks from your room has to be the coolest thing ever. So awesome! Could you hear the music at all?

You can feed the giraffes at our zoo too. I've never done it though...not sure how I'd feel about that. You're right, their tongues are gross!

Hey, you are like my twin. LOL. The elephants are so cute. I was hoping to see the little baby. Which maybe I did. There was a new one born last year and I remember seeing pictures of him-he was so tiny! That's what I keep expecting to see-well obviously the baby wouldn't be that small anymore.

YES! We could hear the music-some nights it seemed louder than others. I have a video I took so when I get to the end of day 2 you'll get to see it.

Great shots of Illuminations. You really can't see them from the walkway on the Boardwalk, unless you are way over by the Swan/Dolphin Area.

My dd had her tonsils out on Wednesday, and I've been down in the area again. My kids are killing me with all these medical things-lucky for me I have 4 weeks of vacation.

It's not as easy to see them but I think you can catch some of the higher ones. A few years ago we were able to see them when we were at the Boardwalk.

Hope your daughter is recovering!

Almost done with school here, a week left for us! YAY

Personally, I think all the animals love to get their butts on film!

How nice you could see the fireworks right over the hotel every night! I see the perks of some resorts!

Wow, you guys end early! When did you start?

LOL, you could be right about that.

Yep, the Boardwalk view is definitely one of them at the BW!

 

[brookelizabeth]

You got some wonderful shots of the giraffes! I don't think I have ever seen them that close.

Perfect way to end the day with Illuminations from the balcony.

 

[Angies1274]

Love your safari pics!! Especially of the giraffes...they're my favorite!!

That's so cool that you could see Illuminations from your balcony.

 

[wdwgirl03]

You got some wonderful shots of the giraffes! I don't think I have ever seen them that close.

Perfect way to end the day with Illuminations from the balcony.

Really? It seems like a lot of the times we've seen them walking right by our jeep. So cool.

Yes it is!

Love your safari pics!! Especially of the giraffes...they're my favorite!!

That's so cool that you could see Illuminations from your balcony.

Glad you liked the safari pictures. It's hard not to like the giraffes.

It was so neat, watching the fireworks and watching the people down on the Boardwalk at the same time.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Monday, April 9, 2012

In keeping with our recent tradition, our plan for Monday was to visit Hollywood Studios, aka my sister's old workplace. Now that she's done the CP and worked at DHS, I'm going to have a hard time not thinking of Emma whenever we go there. I think part of it is that I'm so jealous that she got to work in Disney World.

DHS also had Extra Magic Hours that morning, but not until 8:00 so we got to sleep in a little bit. Once we were ready, we started walking over to the park. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it sure was nice just being able to walk to DHS and not have to worry about a bus. Plus, the scenery is not too shabby either.

Before long, we saw one of my favorite sights in all of Disney World. How can you not get excited when you see this in front of you?

While it wasn't as dead as it was Sunday morning at the MK, there still were not that many people waiting at the gates. As I was standing there, I had a fun conversation with a man and his son. The father was asking me if I had ever been there before and if I had been on RNRC/TOT. His son, who was probably 10 years old or so, was so excited to ride but the father was pretty hesistant. He didn't sound too thrilled when I told him about the launch at RNRC! Random story, but it's always fun talking to other guests and sharing my Disney knowledge

Once the park opened, our plan was to go to Toy Story Mania right away (no surprise there!). When we got through the turnstiles, we noticed there was no rope holding people back which actually made the walk to TSM a lot easier to deal with.

THe picture makes it look like we were some of the first ones in the park, but there was a fair amount of people ahead of us at the gates.

As we were walking, I heard one of the greatest quotes ever. There was this mother and her young son walking in front of us. The mother was obviously trying to get her son to ride the Tower of Terror, so she bent over and asked him, "Do you want to ride the Tower of Fun?" I wasn't the only one who thought that was hilarious because I heard this other guy saying how that was great. I wonder if the kid ever did ride...and if he did, hopefully he wasn't scarred for life from the "Tower of Fun."

Anyways...the walk to TSM was a lot less stressful when it wasn't a huge stampede.

And also, now that they have the new fastpass policy, the lines for fastpasses were virtually nonexistent. There were maybe 1 or 2 people at each kiosk. Good for us, because that meant we'd easily be able to get one when we got off the ride.

The ride was great as always. I thought I might've actually beat my dad (finally) but no, he came from behind and got me at the end.

After getting our fastpasses for a second ride we went back to Sunset Boulevard. First up was Rock 'n Roller Coaster. We decided to do single riders. Remember the father I was talking to before the park opened? I saw his family in line, so his wife and son obviously convinced him to go on. Wonder if he liked it...

Entering the studio...

Luckily this time the single rider line was more efficient than it has been on past trips so once we were done there, it was off to Tower of Terror. So we were able to do the three major attractions relatively quickly. Now that we had those out of the way, we could do some of the other things. Dad wanted to ride Star Tours, which I was fine with (now that I had finally done it last October...) so we headed over there next.

Some random palm trees...

When we did Star Tours in October, I thought it was pretty cool. But for some reason this time, shortly after the ride started, I started feeling sort of funny. I wouldn't say I ever felt like I was going to be sick but it had me a little worried. So needless to say I didn't enjoy it as much this time (I don't even remember what scenes we had...maybe one of the trench scenes?). Luckily I felt a lot better once we were off but it was strange that I had two different reactions to it.

Needing something a little tamer, we went to the Great Movie Ride for a "Spectacular Journey Into the Movies!"

Two of the few movies I'm familiar with on this ride...

Does anyone else think it's funny how in the Munchkinland scene the CMs tell you to sing along to "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" but nobody ever really does? Or maybe it's just the trams we're on. Maybe other people are more fun. LOL.

By the time we were done with the Great Movie Ride, it was almost time for our fastpass return at Toy Story Mania!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I certainly hope that little boy was not traumatized if he rode the Tower of Fun. I am all for telling kiddos the truth about rides. That way, they can't hate me if it takes them by surprise.

That's crazy that there was no line for fastpasses. It shows that people are more savvy with it then we would think.

 

[marDgreen88]

Tower of Fun. That's great!

It's awesome to see that they've done something about the mob scene at TSM. I feel like it was getting dangerous!

HAHAHA my row of people on GMR were the only ones singing along! We basically sang the entire song. Everyone else seemed uncomfortable.

 

[lmbcdb]

Great trip report so far - love the "tower of fun" quote.

Also LOVE the picture in your first post. Do you have a high-res version you could share?

 

[Maestra99]

LOL @ Tower of Fun!! Hopefully the kid really did find it fun and not just terrifying!

Great day at DHS! Interesting to hear the FP lines are shorter now with the new policies. I've been wondering how/if it would all really be affected. Reading everyone's TRs where they arrive at RD and get so much done quickly is really inspiring me to try harder to make some RDs on my next trip!

 

[Caretames1]

Wow, you guys end early! When did you start?!

We start day after Labor Day, but we lost our Spring Break week, and now no 3 days off at the end of October for State Teacher Convention.



Tower of Fun!?! No thanks!

Awesome that you got all the major rides done so early!


I've heard that Star Wars does affect people differently, I guess something about the visiual aspect of it.

 

[Nermel9]

Haha, the Tower of Fun! That's cute! Except if that poor kid didn't like it, I'm guessing he'd be pretty mad at his mom for tricking him like that!

I love the new process they have for TSM...although, I read the other day they did an actual rope drop at DHS, so I hope they are not going back to the old way!

Star Tours is awesome, but sometimes I feel a little queasy when it's over, which is weird, because I don't get motion sickness ever. Not even on Mission Space!

Haha, ugh, yeah, they need to get over the trying to get people to sing along to Follow the Yellow Brick Road, it's kind of painful to listen to these poor CM's on the GMR...

 

[MHTeacher]

Tower of Fun?!?! That's great---I love it!

BTW-I always sing "Follow the yellow brick road" when I'm on GMR!

 

[wdwgirl03]

I certainly hope that little boy was not traumatized if he rode the Tower of Fun. I am all for telling kiddos the truth about rides. That way, they can't hate me if it takes them by surprise.

That's crazy that there was no line for fastpasses. It shows that people are more savvy with it then we would think.

I can't remember if it was that morning or on our last day when we rode TOT that there was a little girl and her mom riding with us. The little girl asked if it was scary and the mom said yes. LOL. So it's funny how some people will tell the truth and others don't!

There must've been a lot of fastpass hoarders before they started enforcing the return times. That's not to say we always returned at the exact time but we wouldn't save them until the end of the day.

Tower of Fun. That's great!

It's awesome to see that they've done something about the mob scene at TSM. I feel like it was getting dangerous!

HAHAHA my row of people on GMR were the only ones singing along! We basically sang the entire song. Everyone else seemed uncomfortable.

I know!! Too funny.

It was a lot nicer just being able to walk without trying to cut around people or have people skipping you in line because half of their group ran ahead and the others had to catch up.

LOL, well atleast you guys sang and it wasn't just silence. That's always strange.

Great trip report so far - love the "tower of fun" quote.

Also LOVE the picture in your first post. Do you have a high-res version you could share?

Thanks!

I actually found the picture on facebook so I don't have a high resolution image. I have it saved to my computer though (I had to resize it for the intro).

LOL @ Tower of Fun!! Hopefully the kid really did find it fun and not just terrifying!

Great day at DHS! Interesting to hear the FP lines are shorter now with the new policies. I've been wondering how/if it would all really be affected. Reading everyone's TRs where they arrive at RD and get so much done quickly is really inspiring me to try harder to make some RDs on my next trip!

I am very curious if that kid ended up riding!

Yes, you really should try rope drop. We've always found it to be really helpful, especially during peak seasons. So many people complain that it's so crowded but if you're not willing to get up early, then that's the price you might pay!

We start day after Labor Day, but we lost our Spring Break week, and now no 3 days off at the end of October for State Teacher Convention.

Tower of Fun!?! No thanks!

Awesome that you got all the major rides done so early!

I've heard that Star Wars does affect people differently, I guess something about the visiual aspect of it.

Oh really? Did you have any time off for Easter? It's interesting how different schools do breaks differently.

Yup, it's nice to get the big attractions out of the way and have the rest of the day to enjoy some of the other things.

Haha, the Tower of Fun! That's cute! Except if that poor kid didn't like it, I'm guessing he'd be pretty mad at his mom for tricking him like that!

I love the new process they have for TSM...although, I read the other day they did an actual rope drop at DHS, so I hope they are not going back to the old way!

Star Tours is awesome, but sometimes I feel a little queasy when it's over, which is weird, because I don't get motion sickness ever. Not even on Mission Space!

Haha, ugh, yeah, they need to get over the trying to get people to sing along to Follow the Yellow Brick Road, it's kind of painful to listen to these poor CM's on the GMR...

haha yeah, unless he really liked the ride.

My dad was saying something about that too-he saw that even the CMs were upset about it. I can't say I blame them-I wouldn't want to be at the front of all those people!

I'm going to have to try Star Tours again and see how I react. It is a neat ride but if I feel strange again I'm definitely not going to want to do M:S!

Tower of Fun?!?! That's great---I love it!

BTW-I always sing "Follow the yellow brick road" when I'm on GMR!

haha, I thought it was hilarious.

I sing too, just in my head.

I know you're already gone, but hope you have a great time on your trip!

 

[wdwgirl03]

OK, so I've decided to try to get creative with adding chapter titles to each update. I know a lot of people are doing Friends-like titles ("The One With..."). I was watching Cake Boss this morning (love that show!) and noticed that every episode has a list-like title. For example, the one I saw this morning was "Prize Cow, Pop Tarts and Patience". So why not try to make titles like that? We'll see how this works. haha

Monday, April 9, 2012 cont'd (part 2)...Piglet, a DIS meet, and Chocolate Mousse!

After riding the Great Movie Ride, it was getting close to our fastpass return time for Toy Story Mania. As we were walking back over there, a couple characters were out near the Sorcerer's Hat. I spotted one character who I have not met in a long time...Piglet! So of course I needed to stop, especially since there weren't too many people waiting.

Apparently I was looking at the photopass guy's camera when Dad took this picture...

Then it was back to TSM for our second ride!

I think since it was just the two of us, a CM let us go to the front of the line to help fill a car. So another CM directs us to our row. I got in first and Dad was behind me. As we're waiting for our car, Dad starts tapping me on the shoulder. He then says to me, "Isn't that Rachel?" I turn around, and sure enough, it is Rachel (aka RachelNinja on the DIS) and her fiance Howard, aka HowWeird on the DIS (though now husband-and the two of them are celebrating their honeymoon in Disney World right now! I am anxiously awaiting a TR because it was their first time staying onsite!)!!!!

Rachel and I are both teachers and a couple years ago, we started posting on each other's PTRs. We were both going to be in Disney World on our spring breaks so we decided to meet up. This year, we were going to again be there at the same time but hadn't arranged to have a mini DIS meet, so it was pretty funny that we happened to be at the same ride! Anyway, Rachel and Howard were just about to get off, so Dad and I both shouted "RACHEL!!", in hopes to get her attention. It worked, and she signaled for us to meet her outside when we got off.

I'm pretty sure Dad beat me again but oh well, I was excited about seeing Rachel, Howard, her brother, and mom. We gave each other a hug and chatted for a bit. I know Rachel was very excited about getting their APs for that trip and their honeymoon! Since we ran into each other, I thought it would be fun to go do something together (a couple years ago we all rode BTMRR which was fun, hehe). At that point Dad and I didn't really have any plans since we had done all the major attractions. I suggested either the Backlot Tour or the Animation Academy. We all decided on the Animation Academy so we walked to the Animation Courtyard for the drawing class!

When we got there, the little holding area was pretty full but luckily we were all able to get into the next class. Rachel and I sat next to each other and I remember her saying how she was afraid she was going to mess up. I thought that was hilarious because that's how I always feel too. I know it's just for fun but I get a little nervous! LOL.

Now, what character did we get to draw? It was one of the classic characters and he's a bloodhound (trivia question our instructor gave us!). Yep, we drew Pluto! Our instructor started off by asking which shape we needed to draw first. Well, when the instructor held up the sheet with Pluto on it, you know, Pluto's got kind of a long head. I ended up shouting out, "OVAL!" Some other people must've said circle because he said, "that's right, we're going to start with a circle." Or something like that. We've done the Animation Academy a bunch of times and you ALWAYS start with a circle. So I don't know why I decided to say oval. Oh well. As we were drawing, I didn't really think mine looked that great, but here's the finished product. The more I look at it the more I like it. The thing that's awesome about the class is that even the world's worst artists (people like me and my dad...) can create a good drawing, especially if you get a good instructor. The guy we had was great!

I tried to do my best imitation of a Pluto autograph on mine...

I have to say, out of our little group everyone had a good drawing.

When we were done, Rachel and her family decided to go get some lunch, so we said our good-byes. But not before Howard could take another picture of Rachel and me. Rachel, hope you don't mind if I use this!

It was so great seeing Rachel and Howard again. They're both so nice and it's fun talking Disney with them. Gotta love DIS friends.

As it turns out, Dad and I decided to go get lunch too but we were on strict orders as to where we should go. As many of you know, my sister Emma did the CP last fall and worked in QSFB at Hollywood Studios. I was a little hesitant to post her exact work location while she was on the program (though a few of you might know), but now that she's done hopefully she won't mind. She worked at ABC Commissary and before we left, she told us we had to go eat lunch there. So that was our next stop!

I don't normally take a lot of restaurant pictures, but since that was her "home" I had to this time.

I just got a cheeseburger-not sure what Dad got. But we also ordered a chocolate mousse, which Emma always talked about. Yum!

Lunch was good and it was fun visiting my sister's old workplace. I still think it's crazy that she used to work in Disney World! I know she misses it a lot (and is eager to apply for the CP again) but lucky for her, she atleast gets to go down next week for a few days to meet up with her old roomies. So jealous.

A couple other random shots I took:

up next: Backlot tour and some cars!

 

[brookelizabeth]

What a fun DIS meet! Gotta love the unexpected ones.

We haven't tried ABC Commissary yet, for a while it was getting such poor reviews, but lately I've read a lot of positive ones. Perhaps Emma made it better! It's so pretty in there, we just might have to try it soon! That mousse looks yummy!

 

[dawnbu40]

Your Pluto is so good! My drawings there never turn out!

We have never tried eating at the commissary since it always gets bad reviews on here. It was nice to read that you enjoyed it