A Double Dose of Disney

[LuvCuteBoys]

Before the Magic

Last Saturday (Feb 7th) I returned from my second trip to WDW in less than a year! Hence, "A Double Dose of Disney". I don't have a report for the first trip... but that trip is what prompted me to go again.

My whole family went in April 2008 (there were over twenty of us). It was an incredible time and when I got back home, I was so sad. So I immediately started planning a second trip... a solo trip this time!

I booked the All-Star Music Resort for February 3rd-February 7th. I had never stayed on Disney property before, so I was really excited. I knew it would make everything sooooo much easier, and I was right.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Day One (February 3rd)

Part of what the reason I took the plunge and decided to go to WDW again was knowing how easy it would be! All I needed was to have someone take me to the airport and everything else would be taken care of. Gotta love Disney

Anyway, I got to Orlando around 3:00pm. I loved the fact that I didn't have to wait for my luggage! Made me feel all important

My sister had warned me that I might have to wait a while for a Magical Express bus. Maybe it was because I was there in the off-season, but I didn't have to wait at all.

Check-in at my resort (All-Star Music) was a breeze. My room was in the Jazz building... just a quick walk around the pool. I was sooo excited when I got in my room and saw a Mickey head made out of towels on the bed:

There was also a towel animal on the table... and I loved the table! A nice round table with Mickey heads all around it. I want one!

Less than an hour after landing at the airport, I was standing at the bus stop waiting to go to Downtown Disney! It couldn't have been easier.

After wandering around Downtown Disney for a couple hours I had dinner at Planet Hollywood. I had the best Pasta Carbonara. Yummy!

I debated seeing a movie, but decided to go back to my room early because I knew I had a full day ahead of me.

I couldn't believe I was actually at Walt Disney World!

On the schedule for tomorrow... Animal Kingdom!

 

[3princesses+aprince]

HI I found your trip report. Can't wait to hear about your first full day.
I love the towel animals, I so hope we find some when we arrive.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Day Two, Part One (February 4th)

When we went to WDW last April, we spent our first day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was really hard trying to coordinate everyone, so that day was kind of chaotic. There were things I wanted to do that didn't quite work out and at the time I found the park kind of hard to navigate. I frequently felt disoriented.

Before that trip, I bought a new camera. It was the first (and only) digital camera I owned and I didn't play with it enough before going on the trip. I didn't get ANY pictures on Kilimanjaro Safari, because the vehicle moved too quickly and I didn't know what I was doing.

So when I was planning my solo trip, there were some things I really wanted to do. "Get good pictures" was one of those things!

In the fall, I joined a Fantasy Football league with some friends. I wound up winning the whole thing(!) so I decided to use part of my winnings to take the Backstage Safari tour at AK. I was really excited. I thought it would be a neat way to get a different perspective of the park.

So... on Wednesay morning I got up very early to make sure that I was at the park on time. I had a quick breakfast at the resort and then hopped on the bus.

(Just a quick note... It was COLD. And that's coming from a Buffalo native! I didn't even bring a jacket with me, and I could have used one. I normally enjoy the cold, but it was really windy. So last year I was desperately trying to stay cool and this year I was rubbing my hands together to stay warm!)

Our tour guide's name was Julie. She took us behind the scenes where we hopped in a van. First stop was the White Rhino barn... I even got to pet one! That was sooo cool. His skin felt sort of like leather. And we learned that the White Rhino is misnamed. I don't remember what language it is, but the word for "wide" sounds very similar to "white". And the word "wide" was used to describe the rhino's mouth.... it's very wide and has teeth only on the sides. So that was my trivia for the day

We then stopped by the Elephant barn where we got to watch a baby elephant play around. It was pretty cute. We weren't able to get as close to the elephants as we were the rhinos because the elephants are more afraid of people.

We toured the veterinary clinic and the nutrition center, which was like a huge kitchen. Very cool!

After watching a quick video and having a snack (and a WARM beverage!) we took a special ride on Kilimanjaro Safari. Instead of hearing the "storyline" that is part of the normal ride, Julie just pointed out the animals and talked about them. And luckily, I had played around with my camera enough to get some good pictures. These are three of my favorites. The first two used my zoom lens, but the third one did not. I was actually that close!

The tour was really worth the time and money. I'm so glad I decided to go for it! Next post will cover the rest of my day at AK.

Thanks for stopping by

 

[pooksma]

Beautiful photos from AKL. I am looking forward to seeing and reading more.

 

[MyMuse]

Looking fwd to reading your solo trip report!

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Day Two, Part Two

Hi to everyone who's reading along! How fun!

So anyway, after my Safari was over I immediately went to get a Fastpass for Expedition Everest. I am not a roller coaster person. But my sister loves EE and she told me to try it, so I agreed.

At this point, my initial observation that Animal Kingdom is hard to navigate has not changed!! I wandered around for quite a while before I figured out where I was trying to go.

After I got my FP, I decided it was lunch time. I had read great reviews on here for Flame Tree Barbecue, so that's what I decided on. I had a yummy pulled pork sandwich... one of my favorite comfort foods!

I headed over to Camp Minnie Mickey for the "Legend of the Lion King" show. The guidebook did not do this show justice. It was absolutely amazing and it ended way too soon. I love the Lion King music, and I could have watched those gymnasts all day long!

After the show was over, I headed over to EE. I wanted to slowly wander through the queue and look at everything but the people behind me had other ideas. I should have just let them walk past, because it turns out that I hated this roller coaster, too. *sigh* At least I tried it, right?

Well, turns out that I should have planned a little better. AK had Extra Magic Hours this night, so I didn't really need the FP. And while I was staggering off of EE, the last showtime for "Finding Nemo - The Musical". Grrrrr!!! I really wanted to see this, and I totally screwed up my planning. So that is one thing I still haven't done that I really wanted to do. Oh well... guess I'll just have to plan another trip!

I enjoy the animals so much at AK, but there aren't as many "must do" rides for me at this park. It's all about the wildlife for me. I did really enjoy "It's Tough to be a Bug" the last time I was here, so I decided to pop into that again. I adore the 3D shows at WDW. (I was disappointed to find out that "Mickey's Philharmagic" was closed for refurb while I was there.)

And can I tell you how much I love this tree???

Anyway, I decided to take a ride on "Dinosaur". In April, I rode this with some of my family and I can STILL hear the screams of "MOMMY!!! MOMMY!!! MOMMY!!!!" coming from my niece. So I rode it again, and I'm amazed at what a great (and LOUD!) ride this is.

I wandered around for a bit and decided to take full advantage of my park hopper and head over to the Magic Kingdom.

More to come! Thanks for reading

 

[pooksma]

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy EE. Its one of my favs but I really like rollercoasters...

Did you find EMH crowded? We went last August and it was nuts! We had never been to an EMH (night) at AK before.

 

[MyMuse]

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy EE. Its one of my favs but I really like rollercoasters...

Did you find EMH crowded? We went last August and it was nuts! We had never been to an EMH (night) at AK before.

I will not be doing roller coasters. I am deathly afraid of them.

Oooohhh, I wantd to see AK at night! As it stands right now, I will not have that evening free.

 

[MyMuse]

Sorry, double post.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy EE. Its one of my favs but I really like rollercoasters...

Did you find EMH crowded? We went last August and it was nuts! We had never been to an EMH (night) at AK before.

I hate the feeling of roller coasters... like your brains are being sucked out the back of your head. LOL.

I actually didn't do EMH at Animal Kingdom. I had already done everything I wanted to do and because it was so cold, they said the animals wouldn't be out. I wound up going to Magic Kingdom instead.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Day Two, Part Three

After finishing up at Animal Kingdom (and kicking myself for missing Finding Nemo), I debated going back to my resort and resting for a while. And then I got my brain back I knew as soon as I got to my room I'd want to go back out again... so I decided to head over to Magic Kingdom.

I forgot to mention that while I was standing in line for Dinosaur, I noticed that the tote bag I was carrying had a huge rip in it. I was worried that I was going to lose everything, so on my way out of AK I bought myself a new tote bag. I'll have to remember to take a picture of it, because it's really cute

So... I pop over to MK and realize that I'm starving. I headed over to Casey's Corner (I think that's what it's called) and had a quick dinner of corn dog bites and fries. (No healthy eating on this trip, that's for sure!)

I didn't really have a plan, since I just wanted to "take in the magic". It wasn't crowded AT ALL, so I managed to walk right on Pirates of the Caribbean. I just wandered around, taking everything in.

Check out the sky:

I wanted to check out the new Pixie Hollow meet and greet (I'm such a child!), and when I got there I realized why none of the rides were crowded. It's because EVERYONE was in line to see Tinkerbell. The wait was seventy minutes.

So I jumped into the Princess line instead I'm a scrapbooker, so I wanted some pictures of the characters and figured this was an easy way to do it. I got pictures of Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle.

I don't think I rode on anything else... I can't remember. But I was having fun just walking around, people-watching, and wandering in and out of the shops.

Eventually I decided to call it a day and headed back "home". I was greeted with a new towel creation:

How cute is that!

I was exhausted and happy

Up next... Epcot!

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Yea, I'm not too crazy about roller coasters, I don't know if I'll be doing EE. The only way I will is if my stepson begs me to go on. My dh will definately not, so i'll end up taking him on.

The sky in the castle pic looks so pretty.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Day Three, Part One (February (February 5th)

My original plan on this day was to go to the Magic Kingdom in the morning and then go to Hollywood Studios when I was done there. But I never stick to a plan, so I changed my mind.

I didn't get to spend a whole lot of time at Epcot when I went with my family. We had to leave in the middle of the day to take my brother and niece to the airport, so that took a chunk out of our day. I was really looking forward to wandering around World Showcase, so I decided to go to Epcot. My reasoning was that if I didn't get to see everything, I could go back on Friday since I've spent a lot of time at MK and HS already.

Remember when I said it was cold the day before? Well, I woke up and it was FREEZING. Literally. I flipped on the news while I was getting ready and they showed a clip of a group of manatees all huddled together trying to keep warm. Seriously, I was cold and I'm usually the one who is too warm.

I popped into the resort restaurant for breakfast... biscuits and sausage gravy. Yummy. I can't remember the last time I had that. (The stupidest things make me happy!)

So I stand outside for my bus and I think I waited forever. I think five Hollywood Studios buses came through before my Epcot bus finally made it! It was funny... I joked with someone else in line that I didn't know we needed a Fastpass for the bus.

I still got there really early. We waited in line and they finally let us in to the park... I was disappointed because I thought they did some kind of opening. So I headed over toward The Land so I could get my Soarin' FP. As I got closer I realized that they were only letting people in so far. A quick glance at the cell phone told me that it wasn't 9:00am yet.

There was a rope keeping people back, so I wasn't disappointed after all! Yay! Goofy, Donald, Pluto, Minnie, and Mickey welcomed all of us to Epcot. I was as giddy as a child.

Once they dropped the rope, I was able to make it Soarin' to get my FP. I probably didnt' really need it, because there weren't all that many people there but I decided to get it anyway.

I headed over to "The Seas with Nemo and Friends". This was my first time riding it and I think it's one of my favorite rides. It was sooo cute! When the ride was over I wandered around the aquariums.

Look! I found Nemo

Next up was Spaceship Earth. I walked right on and enjoyed the time travel.

By now it was Soarin' time. YAY!!! This amazes me. Probably the closest I'll ever get to California. Every time someone at work peels an orange, it reminds me of this ride!!

I enjoy taking pictures, so as I was walking around I took some random flower shots. I'm sure people thought I was nuts.

I rode Test Tack last time I was here and didn't really think it was that great. I'm not really a car person... LOL. I skipped Mission to Mars because the thought just makes me nauseous.

The Innoventions buildings were kind of neat.... I just kind of wandered through those. I was excited to go to World Showcase, so I was basically just killing time.

"Journey Into Imagination" was okay... it won't be a must-see next time I go. The "Honey I Shrunk the Audience" 3D show was good, though.

Next up... World Showcase!

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Love the character picture. I cannot wait to see those characters. Can't wait to hear about your world showcase day. My 9 yr old daughter is really looking forward to the WS.

 

[pooksma]

Day Three, Part One (February (February 5th)

I skipped Mission to Mars because the thought just makes me nauseous

I'm with you on that. DH loves it. Foolish man.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Day Three, Part Two

I could use a whole day just to wander around World Showcase. I honestly can't wait to go back and right now I'm having serious Disney withdrawal. I came home four weeks ago today

But enough with the gloom.

I enjoyed this SOO much. I wandered around the countries and saw a lot of the special shows, but I know I missed some of them. I don't have my guidebook handy, so this isn't really going to be in any particular order. Just some observations and memories!


Canada -- My neighbors to the North! Living in Buffalo, I'm closer to Canada than I am to any US city. I loved the CircleVision video they presented for this. So much beauty. I also loved the "host". He made a joke about getting a double-double from Timmy Ho's, which cracked me up. (Timmy Ho's is short for "Tim Horton's". It's a coffee shop in Canada and Western New York, named for former NHL player Tim Horton. A double-double means "coffee with two cream, two sugar". It's a staple around here and totally unheard of elsewhere.) I loved the gardens in Canada.

France -- I was originally a French major in college, and I loved seeing the movie. I also appreciated that it was a sit-down theater. Ha. I love CircleVision, but am pretty fond of sitting down. LOL. I think France would be a fun Soarin' theme.

I had grand plans to find Hidden Mickey's on this trip. I almost completely forgot, but I did snap this picture in one of the stores in France:

Japan -- I loved the shops here.

England -- I was really looking forward to coming back here to buy more tea!! How ridiculous is that?! I go to Disney World and bring back tea bags. LOL.

Morocco -- I ate lunch here after reading some good reviews on the Restaurants board. I got the chicken shwarma platter. Not sure if I spelled that right! Anyway, it was okay... I didn't really care for the way the chicken was cooked, but enjoyed the couscous and tabouleh... another spelling problem there. Ha.

Norway -- I rode "Maelstrom", which was fun. Last year they had a big Viking ship out front, but it's gone now. I heard that it was kind of falling apart.

I know I'm missing other stuff, but that's what I remember off the top of my head. I was excited to meet some characters that I hadn't seen before:

Belle and Beast (I liked the non-princess version of Belle):

Jasmine and Aladdin (probably my favorite of this trip... Aladdin was very friendly and told me it was nice to meet me. I'm such a child!):

Mulan and Mushu:

By the time I was done walking through World Showcase, it was time for the only ADR I made for the whole trip. I'll talk about that next time! Hehe.

Have a great day everyone!

 

[scottny]

Great tr and pics.