A Split Stay POP and AKL Solo Trip Report (10/21-10/31) w/ lots of PICS! ***New 3/13

[Kathy Jetson]

We did the backlot tour for the first time with ds6 I knew he wouldn't really care about the driving around part but he would like the flood and the fire and the water part in the beginning well when we got to the first part they said that was down for the day so we just looked at the set and moved on bummer but we'll try again in Oct.
Congrats on your May trip will it be solo again or are you going with someone?
Did you get a picture of the creepy guy I'd love to see him. We did this for the first time this year and loved it we can't wait to do it again next year (we did pluto). We didn't get a creepy guy
Can't wait for more.

 

[Quacktatty]

Your drawings turned out great!

Thanks!

That's so exciting!!!! I loved POFQ when I was there last year. Hope it's as good to you as it was to me. If you want to be close to the main building, request building 4 or 5

I was in building 3 in 2007 and that seemed pretty close to the main building too and a quick walk to the buses. But then again, POFQ isn't that big so it's not like anything is so far away.

So that's where they hide the Epcot topiaries from the Flower and Garden festival! Actually Bambi and Thumper look ready to go back out on display. The festival is coming up in a few months!!!!

That's the weird thing - I actually saw where all the topiaries are stored when I took the Backstage Magic tour - not sure why Bambi, Thumper and baby Simba were at DHS

Congrats on your May trip will it be solo again or are you going with someone?

Another solo trip! Although funny enough, my mom will be there for a work trip for a few days during my trip and my old boss is probably going to be traveling with her family that week. So maybe I'll be meeting up with people after all!

Did you get a picture of the creepy guy I'd love to see him. We did this for the first time this year and loved it we can't wait to do it again next year (we did pluto). We didn't get a creepy guy
Can't wait for more.

No pictures of creepy guy - he was too creepy for my camera

 

[Quacktatty]

I arrived at Animal Kingdom and started on a slow walk to Africa.

Did you know you can see Asia from Africa? The visibility was crazy good this day

Once in Africa I grabbed a fast pass for my favorite ride - Kilimajaro Safari. The standby was only 20 minutes, so I decided that I might as well ride while I was in the area.

In reality, there was no line to speak of. People were just walking incredibly slow - probably to get out of the heat! I took advantage of this and used the opportunity to get a bunch of photos.

I want this thermometer for my house

The CM was pretty good and very nice - this would turn out to be a good thing...

We saw some Okapi butt

A beautiful Pelican

A rare close up sighting of a Bongo - they are usually shy and hiding in the forest.

Once out on the open savanna we didn't get very far. We made it about half way when the truck stopped. There was an Ostrich blocking the path about 3 trucks ahead of us and he wasn't going anywhere. While we sat waiting for the Ostrich to decide what he was going to do with the rest of his day, an Impala watched us the entire time - he was pretty cute.

We also got a few good view of the giraffe - although they were pretty far off in the distance - probably checking out what the Ostrich was doing.

We also got to see one of the newer additions to the Safari - a Water Buck. I thought he was pretty cute.

It was a good 10 minutes before we started moving again and the whole time the CM entertained us the best she could by telling us about the animals and taking questions from the other guests. When we found the offending Ostrich he was happily eating some feed out of a bucket that the animal trainers had to drive over to him. Apparently this one particular Ostrich really likes to play games and often gets his way when the CMs have to come out and give him a bucket of food.

The rest of the safari was pretty uneventful although the animals were very awake and moving around - even the lions.

After the safari, I decided it was time to lunch. I made my way over to Pizzafari, a place I had never eaten at before. I liked it although the wait was kind of long.

My fastpass time was up for KS, so back I went - I won't bore you with anymore pictures An interesting thing I noticed while the trucks were boarding, there were people staying on for multiple rides. The line was so short that they weren't even making people get off the trucks! I was liking these October lines!

I didn't have too much else I wanted to do in the park, but I thought a ride on Everest was in order. I slowly walked to Asia and approached the Single Rider Line which was CLOSED! I was not too happy, until I saw that the Standby wait was only 5 minutes. I have only been through the whole queue once - in 2008 during the Extra Magic Hour Evening. I took my time and got a lot of pictures, much to the chagrin of the people in line behind me.

I loved this sign

After my ride I browsed the gift shop and purchased a couple "must haves" - an Animal Kingdom T-Shirt and some Tibetan Prayer flags. My last set of Prayer Flags were blown away during a Tornado we had in June. My plan now is to buy a new set each trip and hang them on my porch. I think they'll look really nice as they fade and will be a special reminder of all my trips.

 

[jenbear123]

I didn't even know they sold prayer flags! I just might have to get me some next time. That is if I get up my courage to go on EE. Perhaps that will be my reward for going on it...

Love your safari pics. You really got some great shots, all thanks to that stubborn ostrich

 

[Kathy Jetson]

I didn't know they had prayer flags either how much are they? I'm already thinking about where I can hang them. Smart Ostritch I guess he knows how to get fed when he wants it.

 

[Stefy]

I hate it when you can't sleep and just toss and turn, but maybe it was your subconscious' way of telling you about your message and car window.

Love the Donald and Pooh Bear pics, can't wait to try out the Animation Academy this year

 

[Quacktatty]

I didn't even know they sold prayer flags! I just might have to get me some next time. That is if I get up my courage to go on EE. Perhaps that will be my reward for going on it...

Love your safari pics. You really got some great shots, all thanks to that stubborn ostrich

Hehe...you CAN get into the shop without going on EE if you really want

I didn't know they had prayer flags either how much are they? I'm already thinking about where I can hang them. Smart Ostritch I guess he knows how to get fed when he wants it.

I think they are $10 or so. Not bad at all.

I hate it when you can't sleep and just toss and turn, but maybe it was your subconscious' way of telling you about your message and car window.

Love the Donald and Pooh Bear pics, can't wait to try out the Animation Academy this year

AA is lots of fun!

 

[Quacktatty]

It was pretty hot out so I was about ready to leave AK for the day, but thought I might see what the Jammin' Jungle Parade was all about. This would be my second day time parade this trip - truly a record for me since I'm not a parade person.

I got a spot in the Oasis right next to the tip board. There weren't too many people lined up so it was easy to get right up to the front.

I guess I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story

These animal things were so much better than the MK floats!

Dancing Chip and Dale - Chip gave me a high five when he passed!!

This bird tried to eat me

Is it just me or does Timon always look a little drunk?

I liked this parade much more than the MK Share a Dream Come True parade (although the song is catchier for that one!). I think because it was more my style - more about the animals and less about the characters although they were still included.

After the parade I left the park, with everybody and their brother, but it wasn't too bad. I did stop and get a Mickey Bar to make the walk a little easier

Turns out that my Mickey Bar stop put me at a little bit of a disadvantage...I JUST missed an AKL bus. However, missing the bus gave me time to notice that half the Mickey Bar chocolate ended up on my shirt. I was pretty proud that I made it 8 days without getting chocolate on myself. Of course, I did spill coffee on day 2...

In the end I'm kind of glad I missed the first bus. I got on and grabbed a seat across from the back door of the bus. It soon was clear that the bus was going to fill to standing room only and that's when I saw a group of mentally disabled young ladies get on the bus. I offered my seat to one of them and she gladly accepted. She introduced herself to me with a smile and a handshake and then we had a nice conversation all the way back to AKL.

This was one of my first experiences with the Kidani bus issue as I will call it. The AKL bus stops at Kidani Village first before going to Jambo house. This confuses the bejeebus out of everyone. Each time I rode a bus back to AKL, I ended up telling someone to stay on the bus if they wanted to get to Boma. They do make announcements on the bus, but it can be hard to hear when the bus is crowded and people sometimes miss what is really being said. A lot of folks don't know that there are two separate buildings for AKL, or what DVC is, or that they really want to be at Jambo house. Luckily, there are usually some helpful people on the bus to stop someone from getting off too early!

Since it was hotter than Hades, a swim was in order. I got changed out of my chocolate clothes and into my bathing suit and headed down...only to find out that the pool was closed I was so mad. This was the one day so far that I had wanted to swim and I couldn't. Instead, I went back to the arcade where I spent a long time playing POC pinball.

I was supposed to have dinner with my new DIS friend Connie on this evening and her friend Kim, but they never showed for our dinner reservation! They got caught up in EMH excitement at Epcot and so I ended up being on my own for dinner. This wasn't a bad thing however because I had a great dinner at the Cooking Place at Jiko. It was an experience I'd love to repeat in the near future! I left Jiko so full that I more or less dragged my bloated body back to my room - very appreciative of the short walk! I had no trouble sleeping this night!

 

[Stefy]

Loving the Jammin Jungle Parade, have never watched it the two times we have been. Are the floats a Lion King theme? They look awesome

 

[praisehisname]

My fastpass time was up for KS, so back I went - I won't bore you with anymore pictures

Were the animals more active for your second trip?

I liked this parade much more than the MK Share a Dream Come True parade (although the song is catchier for that one!).

Looks like a fun parade!

I got changed out of my chocolate clothes and into my bathing suit and headed down...only to find out that the pool was closed

Were they cleaning up from a code brown?

 

[Quacktatty]

Loving the Jammin Jungle Parade, have never watched it the two times we have been. Are the floats a Lion King theme? They look awesome

I'm not sure if they are a Lion King theme or what - maybe just African/Animal themed.

Were the animals more active for your second trip?

Were they cleaning up from a code brown?

I don't think their activity was too different since the rides were both very close together.

Could have been a code brown I guess, but I don't know for sure. I never did get into that pool though!

 

[Quacktatty]

I took it a little slow on this morning and didn't arrive at Epcot until a few minutes after ropedrop. I had plans though, so it wasn't a big deal.

I started towards the Land

Soarin' didn't have a terribly long line, but I grabbed a FastPass anyway and decided to do Living with the Land instead. Living with the Land is one of my favorite rides and there is never a line, a definite plus!

I came :this: close to getting the whole boat to myself, but no such luck. It certainly wasn't overflowing with people however.

I never realized pineapples grew like this

They were harvesting the lettuce for the restaurants around Epcot - cool!

After the ride was over, I went back to Soarin' where the line was only about 5 minutes. I got in line instead of using my FastPass and was able to walk all the way until boarding. I love the soundtrack for Soarin', I gotta try and find it on iTunes or something.

After Soarin' I decided to sign up for the Behind the Seeds tour. I have always wanted to do this, but never really got around to it. It's great because it's very cheap and you don't have to schedule it ahead of time. Since I had some time to kill before the tour started at 10:30 I went to Sunshine Seasons for breakfast.

The tour met up right outside Soarin' (near the bathrooms) and there were quite a few people waiting. I think it was about 10 of us total. The girl doing the tour was very nice, but she had some serious crazy hands. Every time she spoke it was at about 100 miles per hour and with the hands going at the same speed. It was funny but kind of distracting.

We started off by going backstage to the bug room. She told us all about how they have these tiny little beetles that eat the other parasites. We also watched a video and then got to see them up close (using a magnifying glass).

After the bugs, we went into the greenhouses - basically what you are seeing as you float through on your boat while riding Living with the Land - except from the other side

This plant was really cool - it looked like a regular fern...

But when you touched the leaves, it retracted and shriveled up to protect itself

We got to see a lot of the plants up close, but couldn't touch them

The alligators looked hungry but they actually only eat every other day

We got to feed the Tilapia....they get crazy when they are eating. We were practically getting splashed

I might grow bananas in my house because I really like these flowers

The whole thing lasted about an hour and 10 minutes and we were let back out by Soarin' where we started. The line was now much longer so I used my fastpass. I seem to remember that I got pretty good seats both time I rode so yay me!

 

[jenbear123]

I didn't realize how good the Behind the Seeds tour is. I'll have to make some time one day to go do it. That's so neat with the fern shriveling up to protect itself.

Bonus on the short line for Soarin'. Sounds like you were on a roll.

 

[Stefy]

Wow the tour looks pretty cool and informative. That flower is huge on the banana plant and love the pic of the pineapples, I didn't know they grew that way either.

 

[Quacktatty]

That's so neat with the fern shriveling up to protect itself.

That was really cool...I want one of those plants for my house!

Wow the tour looks pretty cool and informative. That flower is huge on the banana plant and love the pic of the pineapples, I didn't know they grew that way either.

I know...why did I think they were from trees?

 

[Quacktatty]

I left The Land and made my way toward The Seas, a ride on Nemo was in order! As I walked through the line, a family in front of me was none to happy about the looooooong queue. Yes, it was empty as always, but it's a long walk anyway. The little girl from the family called back at her dad, "Is this the WHOLE ride???" She sounded uber annoyed, and I didn't blame her. Dad assured her that it was not in fact the ride and she seemed happier, but still not overjoyed to still be walking.

After Nemo, I went up to the second level to the Manatee viewing area. There was a CM giving a talk and feeding them lettuce. They are fun to watch.

I didn't stay for too long, just to hear the end of the talk and I was on the move again. I walked to Innoventions - I wanted to play The Great Piggy Bank Adventure. I had heard a bunch of really great reviews about this and after playing the Waste Management game on my last trip, I figured this would be something I would enjoy.

You start out in a little room where you fill out some information about yourself and what your spending goal is - a college education, retirement, a dream vacation or an extreme bedroom makeover. I chose retirement because I'm a responsible young adult

After you pick all your stuff, you open a drawer and get your piggy bank

Your piggy bank comes with you as you play a series of 4 games designed around savings. They are pretty simple games, since this of course geared towards kids, but still fun. My favorite was the one where you direct your piggy on a cloud through the air picking up change.

When you get to the very end, you take the pig to the weigh in station where you find out if you have saved enough money for your goal. Of course, I was successful - I guess I'm ready to retire now...or in 40 years....

I was having lunch at Le Cellier so I walked back in that directions, stopping to ride Journey into Imagination along the way. Never a line at this one!

Lunch was great, but afterward I was feeling pretty tired and ready for a nap or something. I took in a few more attractions before calling it a day.

Spaceship Earth was my last stop as always and I more or less slept through the whole ride, very relaxing. I did wake up to take this picture.

Soon enough I was back at AKL for a nice relaxing afternoon.

 

[Kathy Jetson]

I thought pineapples grew from trees too. Cool fern that retracted to protect itself. We didn't make it to Innoventions last time so we'll do it first thing this year. Enjoying your trip and waiting for more.

 

[Stefy]

I know...why did I think they were from trees?

Maybe *** they look like a tree You think of them like coconuts.

Great update, The Great Piggy Bank Adventure looks like fun, good job on saving lots for your retirement

 

[praisehisname]

I can see her hands going a mile a minute here! The tour sounds really interesting!

 

[jenbear123]

I love the Great Piggy Bank adventure. I did the dream vacation the last time. It was pretty easy to save up for that. Retirement is apparently the hardest one. Good job on saving up enough money! Now if only that could happen in real life

Hey, are you planning another trip anytime soon?