puffkin
DVC Owner- SSR & AKV
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2001
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Buzz and Woody Return Day 4
Cast:
Woody planner, 22 year old recent college graduate who is obsessed with Walt Disney
World, third trip
Buzz 23 year old fiancé who just wants to go on vacation, second trip
Dates: June 1st June 8th, 2002
Our story:
Tuesday - June 4th
Our plan was to get to each park by opening, and so far we were doing great. Once again, we had the Mouse call at 7:28 am with our wake up call. As usual, I ran for drinks while Buzz showered. Buzz would watch ESPN every morning (had no idea what was going on in the world except for sports scores) but I love the WDW channels. So, I would usually have the WDW or Cruise Line channel on to drive him nuts.
Anyway, we were at the bus stop by 8:30 and waited about 5 minutes for a bus. It was packed, but we squeezed on and were off to the Animal Kingdom. We must have got there right as they were opening the gates because the lines were tremendous. After we got through security, we got in the line on the far right. It, as well as all the other lines, did not appear to be moving. I suddenly remembered that the Rainforest Café has its own entrance, so we got out of line and headed through there. Not a sole in sight and we were in the park in no time.
On our last trip, we had planned on spending a whole day at the Animal Kingdom. However, it was just so hot in that park that we only made it to lunch time. This year, I planned two mornings here to beat the heat. Therefore, we didnt have to make a mad dash to Kilimanjaro Safari today. Instead, we went against the grain and headed to Dinoland. I would highly recommend this strategy. This half of the park was empty and we got a lot accomplished before the crowds hit.
We grabbed a fast pass for Primeval Whirl. We then rode it because it was a walk on. This ride looks really neat, but it wasnt very thrilling. When the car spins, it is fun, but it doesnt spin very often. I wouldnt wait real long for this ride. We went twice in a row because there was no one in line so they didnt make us get off. After this, we did Triceratops Spin and walked right onto a loading ride. I actually liked this ride better than Dumbo because it was longer. Another tip for parents, if you do Chester and Hesters Dinorama first thing in the morning, not only will you have no crowds, but the midway games are not open. This can save parents the hassle of listening to their kids beg to do the expensive games.
Crowds were still at a minimum, so we headed over to Dinosaur. The CM outside was trying to get people to go in. We waited about 3 minutes. We both liked this ride, but it must be very scary for children. The girl in front of us was terrified. Even if your children love dinosaurs, I would definitely ride this ride first to make sure it is suitable for them. After all, every kid is different.
We hadnt gotten to walk any of the nature trails last year either, so we headed over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek. We saw a dragon, some huge Malaysian rodent, HUGE bats, tigers, and lots of birds. I especially liked using the bird guide they hand out to identify some of the birds we saw. We spent about 45 minutes on the trail observing the animals. It frustrated me so much when people would glance at the animal and then rush by. I feel like they are missing the whole point of the attraction and the Animal Kingdom. I think that the Animal Kingdom is Disneys best themed park. Every where you look, there are tiny hidden details. I am glad we took the time to slow down and notice some of them.
After the Jungle Trek, we got in line for the 11:00 showing of Flights of Wonder. I got a frozen banana and coke ($5) while we waited. This show did not get very full, but we really enjoyed it. I know they are completely different types of shows, but I liked this one much better than the Festival of the Lion King. Among others, we saw a toucan, macaw, hawk, bald eagle, owl, and crown prince something. The birds did tricks that they would naturally do in the wild. We especially liked the bird named Sluggo (or something like that) who would bash his food on a rock. Buzz thought this was very funny. I highly recommend this show.
After Flights of Wonder, we had a little time to kill before our Rainforest Café PS at 12:45. We browsed through some of the shops and did the 100 years of magic kiosks at Disney Outfitters. I really love these kiosks! On our way through the Oasis, we stopped and looked at a lot of the animals. At the spoonbill and scarlet iris exhibit, Buzz dropped his sunglasses in the cage. I was able to reach in and retrieve them though.
The Rainforest Café has got to be the most confusing place to check in. We finally made it through the line and were seated immediately for our PS. I liked the décor of the restaurant, but the service was so SLOW! I was very irritated when our appetizer came out with our meal. I had a Rainbow Colada and Plant Sandwich. Buzz had a Blue Lagoon drink, the Rasta Pasta and we shared the Fried Cheese. The food was fine, but we probably wont be returning again because of the service. Our bill was $55.86 with tip.
We made the long, hot walk back to the bus stop and waited about 8 min. for a bus. We were back at the resort by 2:15 and took a well deserved rest in the A/C comfort of our room. After a shower to rinse off and a change of clothes, we headed out to the bus stop by 4:30. We had originally planned on doing the Magic Kingdom tonight and then E-ride night. However, when Spectromagic was moved to Monday night, we had to skip World Showcase so we went there tonight. We waited about 5 min. for an Epcot bus and were on our way.
We had missed the Living Sea pavilion yesterday, so we decided to do this first. It was very crowded so after a quick spin through the main aquarium area, we left. It seems as though a lot of stuff is closed here because there was really nothing to see. I hope that they can add more stuff soon, because the pavilion was kind of boring. We then headed to the World Showcase and caught the last 5 minutes of Off Kilter's performance. Buzz and I decided to go to the Rose and Crown pub and try the Imperial Sampler. They give you a six ounce glass of five different British beers. They were Bodings(?), Guiness, Bass Ale, Harps Lager, and Tenets. We liked the Bass Ale, Harp Lager and Tenets the best.
We didnt see any of the movies in Epcot last time, so we headed to France for Impressiones de France. We waited about 10 minutes for the show. The theater was only about a quarter full. I thought the movie was very well done; Buzz didnt have much of an opinion. We were both hungry by then, so we headed over to the Liberty Inn while we watched Tapestry of Dreams. Buzz does not like Tapestry for some reason, so I have yet to see it in its entirety. At the Liberty Inn, Buzz had the Grilled Chicken and Fries while I had a Cheeseburger and Fries. With two sodas, our bill came to $16.92.
We then headed back the way we came and saved the rest of the countries for next time. We stopped to watch the candy maker in Japan, which is really neat! Make a point to do it on your next trip. She made a dragon, unicorn and hummingbird while bopping around to techno music. We then browsed in the shops in the U.K. before stopping to get a cinnamon and sugar Beavertail at Trapper Bobs in Canada ($3). This is my favorite snack in all of WDW!
It was soon time to leave Epcot for the Magic Kingdom, but I decided to ride Spaceship Earth one more time since there was no wait. Buzz didnt want to, so he browsed in some shops while I rode. I was so excited because I found my first Hidden Mickey! It was in the painting scene near the top, I saw it and almost screamed. Too bad Buzz wasnt with
We exited Epcot and waited about 2 minutes for the monorail. At the Transportation and Ticket Center, we got right on a waiting monorail and were in the Magic Kingdom by 8:45. We got our wrists bands for E-ride night at City Hall with no wait, and then we walked through the Emporium on our way up Main Street. We stood on the bridge outside the Crystal Palace to see Tink fly from the castle when the fireworks started. Then, we headed to the Country Bear Jamboree for our first E-ride attraction.
They started the Country Bears right after the fireworks ended, and it was about half full. We had never seen this before, and I thought it was all right. Our crowd was really rowdy, and cheered for everything. After the show, we headed for the Haunted Mansion and had about a 5 minute wait. I had been very disappointed with E-ride last year because it was very crowded. I was under the impression that the rides would be a walk-on, which wasnt the case at all. This year, I was hoping for the same amount of crowds as last year or less. Well, so far so good, so we headed over to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Well, guess what, we found everyone else! There was a 25 minute wait posted for Splash and a 20 minute wait posted for Big Thunder. We did Splash first and it took the whole 25 minutes. We got stuck near the bottom, and it took about 5 minutes to start moving again. I ended up getting drenched, but no one else in the boat got very wet. We then did Big Thunder Mountain with about a 15 minute wait. I like this ride, but we never have ridden it during the day, so we miss so much detail. We will have to do this ride during the day sometime. After this, we decided to leave the crowds in Frontierland and head on over to Tommorowland.
Well, Tommorowland was even busier! On the way, we saw that the characters were out in front of the castle, and even they had long lines. We hopped on the Tommorowland Transit Authority with no wait and relaxed a bit. We then rode Space Mountain on the left coaster with a 15 minute wait. The crowds had died down slightly, so we were able to get on Buzz with a 5 minute wait. I beat Buzz for the first time, but I decided it would be better not to gloat.
By then it was 11:45 and we didnt feel like doing Alien or the AstroOrbiter so we took a leisurely stroll down Main Street. Again, I was slightly disappointed with our E-Ride experience. I appreciated the fact that we got to tour the MK when it wasnt as hot or crowded, but I still felt kind of cheated. Yes we did get to do most of the major attractions in less than 3 hours, but we still had significant waits. We usually didnt wait as long during the day for rides as we did during E-ride. I will seriously consider not doing an E-ride on our next trip since we can do more of the big attractions during the day now that we have seen most of the minor attractions. When we got home, I found out that our E-ride night had been sold out, so this could be part of the problem. Maybe they have finally caught on
Anyway, a bus was pulling up to our bus stop as we were walking there, so we hopped on and were back in our room and in bed by 12:30. Tomorrow is a non-park day, so we will have a chance to recuperate.
Click here for Buzz and Woody Return- Day 5
Best and Worst of the Day:
Woody-
Best- being able to relax and really enjoy the Animal Kingdom; the candy maker in Japan
Worst- the crowds for E-ride night
Buzz-
Best- Flights of Wonder show
Worst- service at the Rainforest Café
Cast:
Woody planner, 22 year old recent college graduate who is obsessed with Walt Disney
World, third trip
Buzz 23 year old fiancé who just wants to go on vacation, second trip
Dates: June 1st June 8th, 2002
Our story:
Tuesday - June 4th
Our plan was to get to each park by opening, and so far we were doing great. Once again, we had the Mouse call at 7:28 am with our wake up call. As usual, I ran for drinks while Buzz showered. Buzz would watch ESPN every morning (had no idea what was going on in the world except for sports scores) but I love the WDW channels. So, I would usually have the WDW or Cruise Line channel on to drive him nuts.
Anyway, we were at the bus stop by 8:30 and waited about 5 minutes for a bus. It was packed, but we squeezed on and were off to the Animal Kingdom. We must have got there right as they were opening the gates because the lines were tremendous. After we got through security, we got in the line on the far right. It, as well as all the other lines, did not appear to be moving. I suddenly remembered that the Rainforest Café has its own entrance, so we got out of line and headed through there. Not a sole in sight and we were in the park in no time.
On our last trip, we had planned on spending a whole day at the Animal Kingdom. However, it was just so hot in that park that we only made it to lunch time. This year, I planned two mornings here to beat the heat. Therefore, we didnt have to make a mad dash to Kilimanjaro Safari today. Instead, we went against the grain and headed to Dinoland. I would highly recommend this strategy. This half of the park was empty and we got a lot accomplished before the crowds hit.
We grabbed a fast pass for Primeval Whirl. We then rode it because it was a walk on. This ride looks really neat, but it wasnt very thrilling. When the car spins, it is fun, but it doesnt spin very often. I wouldnt wait real long for this ride. We went twice in a row because there was no one in line so they didnt make us get off. After this, we did Triceratops Spin and walked right onto a loading ride. I actually liked this ride better than Dumbo because it was longer. Another tip for parents, if you do Chester and Hesters Dinorama first thing in the morning, not only will you have no crowds, but the midway games are not open. This can save parents the hassle of listening to their kids beg to do the expensive games.
Crowds were still at a minimum, so we headed over to Dinosaur. The CM outside was trying to get people to go in. We waited about 3 minutes. We both liked this ride, but it must be very scary for children. The girl in front of us was terrified. Even if your children love dinosaurs, I would definitely ride this ride first to make sure it is suitable for them. After all, every kid is different.
We hadnt gotten to walk any of the nature trails last year either, so we headed over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek. We saw a dragon, some huge Malaysian rodent, HUGE bats, tigers, and lots of birds. I especially liked using the bird guide they hand out to identify some of the birds we saw. We spent about 45 minutes on the trail observing the animals. It frustrated me so much when people would glance at the animal and then rush by. I feel like they are missing the whole point of the attraction and the Animal Kingdom. I think that the Animal Kingdom is Disneys best themed park. Every where you look, there are tiny hidden details. I am glad we took the time to slow down and notice some of them.
After the Jungle Trek, we got in line for the 11:00 showing of Flights of Wonder. I got a frozen banana and coke ($5) while we waited. This show did not get very full, but we really enjoyed it. I know they are completely different types of shows, but I liked this one much better than the Festival of the Lion King. Among others, we saw a toucan, macaw, hawk, bald eagle, owl, and crown prince something. The birds did tricks that they would naturally do in the wild. We especially liked the bird named Sluggo (or something like that) who would bash his food on a rock. Buzz thought this was very funny. I highly recommend this show.
After Flights of Wonder, we had a little time to kill before our Rainforest Café PS at 12:45. We browsed through some of the shops and did the 100 years of magic kiosks at Disney Outfitters. I really love these kiosks! On our way through the Oasis, we stopped and looked at a lot of the animals. At the spoonbill and scarlet iris exhibit, Buzz dropped his sunglasses in the cage. I was able to reach in and retrieve them though.
The Rainforest Café has got to be the most confusing place to check in. We finally made it through the line and were seated immediately for our PS. I liked the décor of the restaurant, but the service was so SLOW! I was very irritated when our appetizer came out with our meal. I had a Rainbow Colada and Plant Sandwich. Buzz had a Blue Lagoon drink, the Rasta Pasta and we shared the Fried Cheese. The food was fine, but we probably wont be returning again because of the service. Our bill was $55.86 with tip.
We made the long, hot walk back to the bus stop and waited about 8 min. for a bus. We were back at the resort by 2:15 and took a well deserved rest in the A/C comfort of our room. After a shower to rinse off and a change of clothes, we headed out to the bus stop by 4:30. We had originally planned on doing the Magic Kingdom tonight and then E-ride night. However, when Spectromagic was moved to Monday night, we had to skip World Showcase so we went there tonight. We waited about 5 min. for an Epcot bus and were on our way.
We had missed the Living Sea pavilion yesterday, so we decided to do this first. It was very crowded so after a quick spin through the main aquarium area, we left. It seems as though a lot of stuff is closed here because there was really nothing to see. I hope that they can add more stuff soon, because the pavilion was kind of boring. We then headed to the World Showcase and caught the last 5 minutes of Off Kilter's performance. Buzz and I decided to go to the Rose and Crown pub and try the Imperial Sampler. They give you a six ounce glass of five different British beers. They were Bodings(?), Guiness, Bass Ale, Harps Lager, and Tenets. We liked the Bass Ale, Harp Lager and Tenets the best.
We didnt see any of the movies in Epcot last time, so we headed to France for Impressiones de France. We waited about 10 minutes for the show. The theater was only about a quarter full. I thought the movie was very well done; Buzz didnt have much of an opinion. We were both hungry by then, so we headed over to the Liberty Inn while we watched Tapestry of Dreams. Buzz does not like Tapestry for some reason, so I have yet to see it in its entirety. At the Liberty Inn, Buzz had the Grilled Chicken and Fries while I had a Cheeseburger and Fries. With two sodas, our bill came to $16.92.
We then headed back the way we came and saved the rest of the countries for next time. We stopped to watch the candy maker in Japan, which is really neat! Make a point to do it on your next trip. She made a dragon, unicorn and hummingbird while bopping around to techno music. We then browsed in the shops in the U.K. before stopping to get a cinnamon and sugar Beavertail at Trapper Bobs in Canada ($3). This is my favorite snack in all of WDW!
It was soon time to leave Epcot for the Magic Kingdom, but I decided to ride Spaceship Earth one more time since there was no wait. Buzz didnt want to, so he browsed in some shops while I rode. I was so excited because I found my first Hidden Mickey! It was in the painting scene near the top, I saw it and almost screamed. Too bad Buzz wasnt with
We exited Epcot and waited about 2 minutes for the monorail. At the Transportation and Ticket Center, we got right on a waiting monorail and were in the Magic Kingdom by 8:45. We got our wrists bands for E-ride night at City Hall with no wait, and then we walked through the Emporium on our way up Main Street. We stood on the bridge outside the Crystal Palace to see Tink fly from the castle when the fireworks started. Then, we headed to the Country Bear Jamboree for our first E-ride attraction.
They started the Country Bears right after the fireworks ended, and it was about half full. We had never seen this before, and I thought it was all right. Our crowd was really rowdy, and cheered for everything. After the show, we headed for the Haunted Mansion and had about a 5 minute wait. I had been very disappointed with E-ride last year because it was very crowded. I was under the impression that the rides would be a walk-on, which wasnt the case at all. This year, I was hoping for the same amount of crowds as last year or less. Well, so far so good, so we headed over to Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
Well, guess what, we found everyone else! There was a 25 minute wait posted for Splash and a 20 minute wait posted for Big Thunder. We did Splash first and it took the whole 25 minutes. We got stuck near the bottom, and it took about 5 minutes to start moving again. I ended up getting drenched, but no one else in the boat got very wet. We then did Big Thunder Mountain with about a 15 minute wait. I like this ride, but we never have ridden it during the day, so we miss so much detail. We will have to do this ride during the day sometime. After this, we decided to leave the crowds in Frontierland and head on over to Tommorowland.
Well, Tommorowland was even busier! On the way, we saw that the characters were out in front of the castle, and even they had long lines. We hopped on the Tommorowland Transit Authority with no wait and relaxed a bit. We then rode Space Mountain on the left coaster with a 15 minute wait. The crowds had died down slightly, so we were able to get on Buzz with a 5 minute wait. I beat Buzz for the first time, but I decided it would be better not to gloat.
By then it was 11:45 and we didnt feel like doing Alien or the AstroOrbiter so we took a leisurely stroll down Main Street. Again, I was slightly disappointed with our E-Ride experience. I appreciated the fact that we got to tour the MK when it wasnt as hot or crowded, but I still felt kind of cheated. Yes we did get to do most of the major attractions in less than 3 hours, but we still had significant waits. We usually didnt wait as long during the day for rides as we did during E-ride. I will seriously consider not doing an E-ride on our next trip since we can do more of the big attractions during the day now that we have seen most of the minor attractions. When we got home, I found out that our E-ride night had been sold out, so this could be part of the problem. Maybe they have finally caught on
Anyway, a bus was pulling up to our bus stop as we were walking there, so we hopped on and were back in our room and in bed by 12:30. Tomorrow is a non-park day, so we will have a chance to recuperate.
Click here for Buzz and Woody Return- Day 5
Best and Worst of the Day:
Woody-
Best- being able to relax and really enjoy the Animal Kingdom; the candy maker in Japan
Worst- the crowds for E-ride night
Buzz-
Best- Flights of Wonder show
Worst- service at the Rainforest Café
.
