Back to Back trips in August-The How Could You's Ride Again!- Final Thoughts 4/14

[RGirl]

Loved your early-morning AKL photos!!!!

Whoa - that was one nice laundry room. WAY nicer than the one at the BW!

What a fun DHS morning! And yummy treats too. Mmmmm

Love the pics of your DD with the umbrella - so cute!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

I LOVE the Star Tours ride, but it doesn't love me.

The newer version bothers me a little more than the older one, but not so bad that I won't go on.

I don't think I've even ever gotten the racoon on TSM!

That umbrella is a great spot for getting fun pictures.

It really is. There was no one back there. It took a bit for me to find it as well.

Can't wait to see who you meet at Animation.

Coming soon.

Loved your early-morning AKL photos!!!!

Whoa - that was one nice laundry room. WAY nicer than the one at the BW!

This was the nicest one I've seen so far, though I didn't go in the one at the Poly when we stayed there.

What a fun DHS morning! And yummy treats too. Mmmmm

I think I am still sitting on said treats today.

Love the pics of your DD with the umbrella - so cute!

Thanks. She had fun playing there.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

We headed on into the Animation Building. The line was too long for drawing a character, so we headed into a line for a meet and greet. Just who would we be meeting? Someone we'd never met before!

The girls were excited to meet Ralph and Venelope!

Sorcerer Mickey was also greeting, but the girls didn't want to wait in that line.

We continued our tour in the Animation building. The displays were all of Monsters U, of course.

Sorry for the glare.

The artists were in the workshop. Check out the cell she is working on-

Wishing your office could look like this?

Check out the detail.

Our original plans had us staying in the park for the entire day, but it was HOT! We had a lunch ADR to take care of and then we decided we would go back for a rest or a dip in the pool.

continued in next post.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

I had an entire post ready and something happened and BOOOM! it was gone!!

So I will try to recreate my post.

Our ADR was for 1pm, but we were about 30 minutes early. The hostess assured us it wasn't a big deal, but there would be a little wait. No worries. We were in the air conditioning and had a seat. They had some water jugs with lemons in it in the waiting area for guests to help themselves. I don't think we waited all that long (if we'd agreed to a plain table, we could've had a seat sooner, but we wanted a car).

It looks really neat in there. Very much like a real Drive-In Movie Theater. (if you are old enough to remember what those looked like!)

We were seated in a cool car and treated to movies on giant ants and monstrous lizards.

DD had to laugh when I told her we actually watched those movies when I was a kid. Hey, it was the only thing on TV back in the old days when the only channels your TV got were 2, 5, 7, 9, 11 and UHF (32 and 44). Those trashy movies were Saturday and Sunday afternoon staples.

While it was pretty neat in there, it was awfully dark and difficult to read our menus. As you can see in this "poor" photo of the girls, the only light to read by was under the dash of your car.

Our waitress, as I recall, wasn't very pleasant at first. She seemed rushed and in a mood. She took our order and then walked off. The girls ordered Kiddie cocktails and I'd asked for a diet Coke. She'd left our menus sit on the table and when she brought our food out wanted the menus back then. I can't recall if she grabbed them or if Pam went to hand her one, but in the rush, the leg of my one appetizer was promptly upended and there were chicken wings tossed off the table into the seat. I jumped out of the way trying to avoid the BBQ sauce. Sauce did hit the camera bag. After that, the waitress' mood improved and she went and got some wet towels for us to clean up. Then she brought out an entire new order of wings.

K2 had the burger and tomato soup,

DD had a kids meal burger and ordered a shake for dessert

I had the BBQ chicken wings and Spinich Artichoke dip and I don't recall what Pam ordered.

The food was all good, not awesome, but good enough. We settled our tab and decided to head out of the park to go back to the resort. Our guide had listed this day as being a "least crowded" day at DHS, and he knew what he was talking about.

Too bad he didn't know how HOT it would be!!

Let's head out!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

continued from previous post.

We headed back to our resort to relax and take a swim. K2 decided to stay in the room and nap. The rest of us walked over to Kidani to check out the pool over there.

The slide over here is much better than the slide at the Jambo pool.

And they have a really nice splash area for the younger kids.

You can see DD having a bit of fun.

The pool bar...

And one last photo from the Kidani pool photo shoot.

I know I took a dip and relaxed and caught a few rays, but after about an hour or so, was ready to head back over. So we made the trek back to Jambo and up to our room. K2 was still resting/sleeping. Pam decided to stay behind and let her rest. DD and I changed and headed off to the bus to go back to DHS for some more fun.

Our poor selfie while we waited for the bus. We had just missed a DHS bus and had a bit of a wait. And the rain began while we waited.

Would it continue into our evening? Come back to find out!!

 

[pamelasu1]

I had the BBQ chicken wings and Spinich Artichoke dip and I don't recall what Pam ordered.

I think I had the chicken wings, too...which is why you didn't take a picture of them. And I might have had the sugar free brownie and ice cream dessert? I can't remember for sure!

 

[pamelasu1]

I know I took a dip and relaxed and caught a few rays, but after about an hour or so, was ready to head back over. So we made the trek back to Jambo and up to our room. K2 was still resting/sleeping. Pam decided to stay behind and let her rest. DD and I changed and headed off to the bus to go back to DHS for some more fun.

K2 and I are WIMPS compared to you two. Oh my goodness, it was hot this day! That walk back from Kidani felt like a trek across the Sahara desert! But I do love the slide there, and it was well worth the trek over. I am dying for the next installment, because I totally can't remember what we did that night, lol! If had kept notes, I could have finished the TR with our last few days there after you guys left. I guess I am a loser and a wimp, lol!!!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

K2 and I are WIMPS compared to you two. Oh my goodness, it was hot this day! That walk back from Kidani felt like a trek across the Sahara desert! But I do love the slide there, and it was well worth the trek over. I am dying for the next installment, because I totally can't remember what we did that night, lol! If had kept notes, I could have finished the TR with our last few days there after you guys left. I guess I am a loser and a wimp, lol!!!

Ha!!! When I start to talk about it, you will remember!!! I am sure of that!

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Great update!

THanks!!

 

[RGirl]

I enjoyed seeing the Animation Building pics (and character pics!) - we have never been in there!

I always think Sci-Fi looks like so much fun. If I can ever get us to give up HBD or do a second DHS lunch (as we did this time with MM), I think this would be the next place we would try - just for the fun atmosphere! I’m glad you were able to narrowly avert a chicken wing disaster!

I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen pics of the Kidani pool area before. It looks great!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

I enjoyed seeing the Animation Building pics (and character pics!) - we have never been in there!

As much as Willow loves to greet characters, I can't believe you've missed this spot. There are always 3 different characters greeting in there. I forgot to mention the Incredibles were in there as well. We didn't want to meet them.

I always think Sci-Fi looks like so much fun. If I can ever get us to give up HBD or do a second DHS lunch (as we did this time with MM), I think this would be the next place we would try - just for the fun atmosphere! I’m glad you were able to narrowly avert a chicken wing disaster!

We hadn't been there in a long time, so I wanted to give it a shot again. I would want try MM or 50s Prime Time before I would want to return.

I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen pics of the Kidani pool area before. It looks great!

It is a really nice area. Smaller than Jambo at the main pool area and not as many places to lie in lounge chairs. But a great spot for a swim and a fun slide.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Our DHS day continued with DD and I arriving back into the park around 5. I have no notes, photographic evidence and no receipts, so as best I can recall we browsed in a few shops. I do recall we were given a couple of FPs for RNRC by people who were heading out of the park. And I believe this is when DD bought herself a nice Mickey head lanyard for school and maybe a couple other things. We like the shops along Sunset.

Pam and K2 were not that far behind us in returning to the park since we'd had to wait so long for the bus. We headed off to ride GMR. Which sequence would we get?!!

About this point, I knew........

Yep!!! Hijacked by Gangsters!

I can't remember ever getting the Cowboy side. Come along for A Great Movie Ride.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road!!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

continued

After our GMR it was time to use our FP+s for TSM, and since I have no photographic evidence from this trip through, I am guessing I didn't do so well!
. Next up was our FP+ for RNRC.

As we were heading back down Sunset, the clouds were looming large!

We were really hoping the rain would stay away so we could see !Fantasmic tonight. We were able to get a FP+ for this show and were excited to see where it would put us in the theater. It also meant that we did not need to line up early for the show. = ride some rides!!

I LOVE this photo of the 4 of us on RNRC

DD and I had the FP that were given to us earlier, so we went around to ride again. This one cracked me up. The people in front of us look to be in pain!

We still had a bit of time, and the line for TOT wasn't all that long so.........
We practiced our planned pose..

Not too good..

Hmmmm. Try again!!

And K2 strikes again!!

By the time we got off the ride, it was about 7:45pm. We needed to head over to get in our line. We were supposed to be let it at 8:00, but those dreaded clouds were now producing some lightening off in the distance. Shows don't go with lightening around. I think we were told they had to wait 30min from the last strike. Meanwhile, we struck up a nice conversation with a family next to us in line. We proceeded to sit down and carry on our nice conversation. It did drizzle a bit as well but I don't think it ever rained really hard. We put on our ponchos for a bit. Then it became sauna-like. Nothing quite as fantasmic as sitting inside a plastic bag in a large group of people.

Then the herd began to move. And they moved us into a FP+ corral!! Where we sat once again-next to the same family! Finally, about 8:30 they let us go grab our seats.

We were seated right next to the dining plan people. Our section was nearly empty while the rest of the theater was packed! And I have to hand it to the CMs. They were doing an awesome job of getting hollered at as they refused to let general folks come sit in our FP+ area. And let me tell you, people were HOT!! I felt really sorry for the CMs.

This was our view:

I ran up to the food counter to grab some snacks (we hadn't eaten anything for dinner). I wanted a Mickey pretzel, but all they had were the large regular looking pretzels. I grabbed 2 of those and a drink ($13.07) and headed back to our seats.

Coming up....a great show!

 

[pamelasu1]

Yep!!! Hijacked by Gangsters!

I can't remember ever getting the Cowboy side. Come along for A Great Movie Ride.

K2 and I got the cowboys one time out of our many times riding GMR. I think it was our trip a year ago when we finally got it! We were so excited, but now I can barely remember it, lol!

 

[pamelasu1]

continued

DD and I had the FP that were given to us earlier, so we went around to ride again. This one cracked me up. The people in front of us look to be in pain!

K2 and I went and grabbed some food at Fairfax Faire while you guys rode again....which explains why we were not starved to death and forced to eat stale, expensive pretzels inside Fantasmic!

 

[Bunchkin]

Every time you post on FB with an update for your TR, I say to myself "I have to get on the DIS and read it"!! Finally, I'm reading!
Only caught up to page 12 so far.....

Great pictures! We haven't been to WDW is such a long time. It's nice to see the new stuff and all the changes.

OMG the cost of food! Being so close to DL and being able to bring a cooler full of stuff makes me forget just how much you can spend at the parks if you have to rely on them for all your meals. YIKES!!

Holy cow is K-dude tall! How often do you put that kid on the stretching rack??

We stayed at POP a week after they opened. We enjoyed it there. Of course since it was brand new the staff was on fire! We had towel animals up the wazoooo. It was also Christmas time and we had drove down and brought a tree and window decorations with. They turned on the lights on the tree, pulled the curtains behind the tree to highlight it and filled the window with all kinds of stuff including the kid's stuffed buddies they brought with. Disney Magic at it's best.

Promise to read more soon...............

 

[Tiggerrn2]

K2 and I went and grabbed some food at Fairfax Faire while you guys rode again....which explains why we were not starved to death and forced to eat stale, expensive pretzels inside Fantasmic!

Probably! But then K2 went in search of food later as well. And those pretzels WERE stale and expensive!

Every time you post on FB with an update for your TR, I say to myself "I have to get on the DIS and read it"!! Finally, I'm reading!
Only caught up to page 12 so far.....Yay!!!! You are here!!! Glad you have joined us and are catching up.

Great pictures! We haven't been to WDW is such a long time. It's nice to see the new stuff and all the changes.

OMG the cost of food! Being so close to DL and being able to bring a cooler full of stuff makes me forget just how much you can spend at the parks if you have to rely on them for all your meals. YIKES!!

Food prices are crazy, and you are SPOILED being so close to DL!!

Holy cow is K-dude tall! How often do you put that kid on the stretching rack??

He grew about 6 inches over the past year! I was buying new pants like there was no tomorrow! Couldn't wait for summer so he could wear shorts.

We stayed at POP a week after they opened. We enjoyed it there. Of course since it was brand new the staff was on fire! We had towel animals up the wazoooo. It was also Christmas time and we had drove down and brought a tree and window decorations with. They turned on the lights on the tree, pulled the curtains behind the tree to highlight it and filled the window with all kinds of stuff including the kid's stuffed buddies they brought with. Disney Magic at it's best.

The CMs are always awesome with the stuffed animals and such. When the kids are bigger, you don't bring all that along any more. Guess that's why is seems like less interaction.

Promise to read more soon...............

 

[emmysmommy]

I'm caught up again Linda!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE AKL! I love your view of the pool. It's a much better pool view than we had our first AKL visit but heck, the entire resort is stunning so I'm happy no matter. I never thought to go over to Kidani and check out their pool. I'll be back at AKL in a about 3 months so I'll keep that in mind.

Great job with the Disney trivia! And spelling that big long Mary Poppins word.

I ordered the buffalo chicken nuggets at Sci-Fi as well... and like you I say they were ok. Nothing great.

People suck sometimes. Why get upset with the CM who won't allow people without FPs to sit in that section. Come on people. It's good to know that the FP+ section is a great area.

 

[RGirl]

What a fun DHS evening!

I can't wait to hear about the show. It looks like you had a great view.