diswedwish
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 14, 2002
- Messages
- 812
Animal Kingdom/Cirque Day - 1/6
Another early wake-up call from Mickey, much to DH's dismay... He was a bit more bouncy this morning since AK is his favorite park. Again, no need to panic about the bus situation, one was ready and waiting almost as soon as we arrived at the bus stop. We arrived around 8:30 for our 8:50 PS for Donald's Breakfastosaurus - soon to be renamed Donald's Pukeosaurus by DH... We were lucky enough to find the Christmas tree still in front of AK and had our picture taken by it (more on that later). Then we lined up for our $-making-scheme-picture and off we went to Donald's.
We arrived to find it a bit more crowded than we'd expected. This was our least favorite character breakfast - probably a combo of the atmosphere, okay but not great food, and the characters just being so busy! We also really didn't like how they print out your pictures and try to sell them to you - I didn't know that they did this. How many reviews did I read and never picked that up?! So we ate, snapped a few pictures with the rushed characters (we felt bad for them!!), and headed out into the park.
We got on Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl before being accosted by Hester. She enjoyed attacking DH, he was having a good time as well. It was funny to watch people going by Dinoland - they were so surprised when either Chester or Hester came after them
Then it was off to Asia for Maharajah Jungle Trek. We spent a long time in the aviary talking to one of the CM's who trains the birds. She was telling us all about the red and green parrots (uggh, I'm bad I can't remember their exact name) and how they didn't like to fly, how they teach them, how the male feeds the female so she rarely flies.
If you like animals, do yourself a favor and just take your time in AK!!! We didn't so much this day, but did later in our trip. There's so much there if you only take the time to look. Our favorite parks are MK and AK - very different in terms of rides, but both are just packed with things to do. There are cast members by each of the animals on the trails and they are more than happy to talk with you about their charges. Everytime we go there are different things that we notice, the paw prints in the pavement, different birds, really appreciate the different areas of the park, etc.
Anyway, with that said, I just felt rushed here today and didn't enjoy it as much as later in the trip. I wanted to get in so many things before our late lunch, and you just cannot experience AK commando-style
We got to go on everything (except Kali, we can never convince ourselves to get that wet), saw Flights of Wonder and FOTLK, saw a few characters, but it just wasn't as fun when you don't take the time to wander!
So, after our mission was accomplished, we headed to the front of the park where I had my first "I hate people" experience of the week. We were waiting for a few minutes in line to check out our picture in front of the Christmas tree, when a couple completely walked ahead of us. I said something to DH about not believing that they just walked in front of us, they heard me turned around and said "oh, I didn't realize" - the shop isn't *that* big that you could miss the line - lol. They didn't move aside however, and I walked (okay stomped relatively quietly) out of the shop and tossed out the little sheet with our photo # on it, went to the bathroom, and started crying a little. Don't know why that got to me so badly, I guess it had just been a push-shove type of day with people and that was one too many. So anyway, I tried telling myself to stop being a baby and we walked out front and another CM took our picture with our own camera in front of the tree. So there, got it anyway and it was free
We headed into Rainforest around 3 where we had an enjoyable lunch. Okay we stuffed ourselves, but at least DH ate half of mine for me We like Rainforest; it's not the greatest food in the world, and it's loud, but we like it anyway! Then we headed back to POR, changed for Cirque and sprinted for the bus. I also discovered the #1 downside to the Gold Plan for me. Apparently my bladder is about the size of a pea, and you drink a lot on the Gold Plan - the coffee with dessert never helps. Do you know how long the bus ride from AK to POR with a stop at BB on the way is? DH and I do... As soon as the bus door opened at POR I sprinted to the lobby - didn't even make it to the room. That was a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong bus ride for myself and DH who had to sit next to me fidgeting saying "are we there yet, we've got to be there soon". I honestly wished for Depends at that point, didn't think I'd make it...
No problems exchanging our vouchers for real tickets, even though it was slightly after 5. When they say that they'll sell your tickets if you don't pick them up by 5 they probably don't mean that exactly at 5 your tickets are gone, but I was terrified we'd lose our seats... Me, worry? Never... We were in the front row on the side, loved our seats, loved the show. If you've never been go, go, go!!! In the middle of the trapeeze act DH asked me how on earth I could watch it - his palms were sweaty and everything Very funny.
After Cirque we headed for DisneyQuest so DH could play the boxing game he loves so much. Everything else was crowded, so I grabbed a computer and emailed home while he exhausted himself knocking people out. Another tip: don't expect to eat a huge dinner after over-exerting yourself playing the boxing game. It was a good thing we had to wait at Fulton's, DH did not want to even look at food when we left DQ. At this point my feet were killing me. Remember the first night and my sandals? I'd been just fine and dandy with sneakers, but my sandals did not make my feet happy at all... So we hobbled to Fulton's around 9:30 - I was okay, but it hurt like anything...
There's a sentence in Passporter about the fish being flown in fresh to Fulton's and how it must have flown first class - lol We saw the air bill right inside the door and it reminded me of that... We could never have afforded this had we not been on the plan. We managed to wrack up $262. that night, it was good, but not that good - lol!!! DH loved his Alaskan king crab claws, I was dying to see if Australian lobster tails ($55) were any different than regular ones. Not to my unedumacated palate, but now I've tried them If you go, get the milk chocolate creme brulee, it was soooooooooooooooooooooo good. We had a lovely time, and then I realized that I had to walk to the bus stop with my sandals and blisters.
So I hobbled through DD, DH carried me piggy-back for a while, then I tucked the strap under my big toe so my blisters weren't hit by the fabric, and very ungracefully drug myself to the bus stop. Not a pretty sight - lol! Once we were at POR I took the stupid things off and resolved to only wear sneakers the rest of the week. We opened the door and sacked out until the next day.
Another early wake-up call from Mickey, much to DH's dismay... He was a bit more bouncy this morning since AK is his favorite park. Again, no need to panic about the bus situation, one was ready and waiting almost as soon as we arrived at the bus stop. We arrived around 8:30 for our 8:50 PS for Donald's Breakfastosaurus - soon to be renamed Donald's Pukeosaurus by DH... We were lucky enough to find the Christmas tree still in front of AK and had our picture taken by it (more on that later). Then we lined up for our $-making-scheme-picture and off we went to Donald's.
We arrived to find it a bit more crowded than we'd expected. This was our least favorite character breakfast - probably a combo of the atmosphere, okay but not great food, and the characters just being so busy! We also really didn't like how they print out your pictures and try to sell them to you - I didn't know that they did this. How many reviews did I read and never picked that up?! So we ate, snapped a few pictures with the rushed characters (we felt bad for them!!), and headed out into the park.
We got on Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl before being accosted by Hester. She enjoyed attacking DH, he was having a good time as well. It was funny to watch people going by Dinoland - they were so surprised when either Chester or Hester came after them
Then it was off to Asia for Maharajah Jungle Trek. We spent a long time in the aviary talking to one of the CM's who trains the birds. She was telling us all about the red and green parrots (uggh, I'm bad I can't remember their exact name) and how they didn't like to fly, how they teach them, how the male feeds the female so she rarely flies.
If you like animals, do yourself a favor and just take your time in AK!!! We didn't so much this day, but did later in our trip. There's so much there if you only take the time to look. Our favorite parks are MK and AK - very different in terms of rides, but both are just packed with things to do. There are cast members by each of the animals on the trails and they are more than happy to talk with you about their charges. Everytime we go there are different things that we notice, the paw prints in the pavement, different birds, really appreciate the different areas of the park, etc.
Anyway, with that said, I just felt rushed here today and didn't enjoy it as much as later in the trip. I wanted to get in so many things before our late lunch, and you just cannot experience AK commando-style
We got to go on everything (except Kali, we can never convince ourselves to get that wet), saw Flights of Wonder and FOTLK, saw a few characters, but it just wasn't as fun when you don't take the time to wander!So, after our mission was accomplished, we headed to the front of the park where I had my first "I hate people" experience of the week. We were waiting for a few minutes in line to check out our picture in front of the Christmas tree, when a couple completely walked ahead of us. I said something to DH about not believing that they just walked in front of us, they heard me turned around and said "oh, I didn't realize" - the shop isn't *that* big that you could miss the line - lol. They didn't move aside however, and I walked (okay stomped relatively quietly) out of the shop and tossed out the little sheet with our photo # on it, went to the bathroom, and started crying a little. Don't know why that got to me so badly, I guess it had just been a push-shove type of day with people and that was one too many. So anyway, I tried telling myself to stop being a baby and we walked out front and another CM took our picture with our own camera in front of the tree. So there, got it anyway and it was free
We headed into Rainforest around 3 where we had an enjoyable lunch. Okay we stuffed ourselves, but at least DH ate half of mine for me
We like Rainforest; it's not the greatest food in the world, and it's loud, but we like it anyway! Then we headed back to POR, changed for Cirque and sprinted for the bus. I also discovered the #1 downside to the Gold Plan for me. Apparently my bladder is about the size of a pea, and you drink a lot on the Gold Plan - the coffee with dessert never helps. Do you know how long the bus ride from AK to POR with a stop at BB on the way is? DH and I do... As soon as the bus door opened at POR I sprinted to the lobby - didn't even make it to the room. That was a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong bus ride for myself and DH who had to sit next to me fidgeting saying "are we there yet, we've got to be there soon". I honestly wished for Depends at that point, didn't think I'd make it... No problems exchanging our vouchers for real tickets, even though it was slightly after 5. When they say that they'll sell your tickets if you don't pick them up by 5 they probably don't mean that exactly at 5 your tickets are gone, but I was terrified we'd lose our seats... Me, worry? Never... We were in the front row on the side, loved our seats, loved the show. If you've never been go, go, go!!! In the middle of the trapeeze act DH asked me how on earth I could watch it - his palms were sweaty and everything
Very funny. After Cirque we headed for DisneyQuest so DH could play the boxing game he loves so much. Everything else was crowded, so I grabbed a computer and emailed home while he exhausted himself knocking people out. Another tip: don't expect to eat a huge dinner after over-exerting yourself playing the boxing game. It was a good thing we had to wait at Fulton's, DH did not want to even look at food when we left DQ. At this point my feet were killing me. Remember the first night and my sandals? I'd been just fine and dandy with sneakers, but my sandals did not make my feet happy at all... So we hobbled to Fulton's around 9:30 - I was okay, but it hurt like anything...
There's a sentence in Passporter about the fish being flown in fresh to Fulton's and how it must have flown first class - lol
We saw the air bill right inside the door and it reminded me of that... We could never have afforded this had we not been on the plan. We managed to wrack up $262. that night, it was good, but not that good - lol!!! DH loved his Alaskan king crab claws, I was dying to see if Australian lobster tails ($55) were any different than regular ones. Not to my unedumacated palate, but now I've tried them If you go, get the milk chocolate creme brulee, it was soooooooooooooooooooooo good. We had a lovely time, and then I realized that I had to walk to the bus stop with my sandals and blisters. So I hobbled through DD, DH carried me piggy-back for a while, then I tucked the strap under my big toe so my blisters weren't hit by the fabric, and very ungracefully drug myself to the bus stop. Not a pretty sight - lol! Once we were at POR I took the stupid things off and resolved to only wear sneakers the rest of the week. We opened the door and sacked out until the next day.
