puffkin
DVC Owner- SSR & AKV
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2001
- Messages
- 9,848
Cast:
Woody- planner, 23-year Accountant/Disney nut- 4th trip
Buzz- 25 year old fiancé and Billing Coordinator/night college student- 3rd trip
Dates: July 19th July 26th, 2003
Thursday July 24th:
After getting to sleep in yesterday, we got back to our routine of early morning touring. Our Mickey wake up call came at 7 a.m. today we got ready for a morning at the Animal Kingdom. Today we had a priority seating for Donalds Breakfastsaraus so we needed to get to the park a little early. We were at the stop by 7:45 and we waited about 15 minutes for a bus to the AK.
We got to the park right at 8:30 and were ushered inside the entrance to the park with no problems. However, from here, the whole breakfast got chaotic. First we checked in with a CM standing there. She then told us to stand in front of some nice plants where a photographer took our picture. Then we stood around and waited until a CM called out our name. We were then herded with a group to the restaurant in Dinoland. Our entire group was seated in one section of the restaurant. The same person who led us through the park was also our quasi waitress. I use this term loosely because we barely saw her and she didnt do much.
The characters werent in our room yet, so we headed to the buffet. There was a cold buffet with fruit, cereal and pastries in one room, and a hot buffet in another. We both sampled the cold buffet first. I LOVED the glazed doughnuts! They were the best glazed doughnuts I have ever had. I am not ashamed to say that I had 3 of them. We both sampled the hot buffet as well, but neither of could find the syrup. After getting our hot food, Goofy and Pluto stopped by our table and we got pictures. We made a second trip to the buffet (still couldnt find the syrup) and then a girl dropped off a package of photos they made from the picture we had taken up front. We ended up just getting one photo, since it is rare for us to have pictures with the two of us together.
It was very chaotic in this restaurant and we both felt very rushed. They kept herding in new groups of people and there wasnt a lot of space to move around. We had to wait awhile for Donald and Mickey to get to our table, and it felt like they were rushing to get our tables cleared for the next group of guests. The characters spent minimal time with each table. While the food was good, this was definitely one of our least enjoyable character dining experiences.
After Mickey and Donald visited our table, we left and headed into Dinoland. Chester and Hester were walking around and I thought they were hilarious. They were designed to look like tattered old campy characters you would see at your local carnival. They kept going behind unsuspecting kids and putting their whole mouth around the kids head. Daisy Duck was also out, and I got a picture with her. We rode on Primeval Whirl with a 10 minute wait. This ride seemed different to me than last year. Did they change it? On the top part, we just whipped around the turns. Then we went down a hill, and on the middle part, our car started to spin. I thought last year, the car spun the whole time. Anyway, we had a good ride, although I wouldnt wait real long for this attraction. We noticed that Triceratops Spin had no wait, so we headed over there and got on the next ride.
We then headed to Dinosaur and rode with a 10 minute wait. It never ceases to amaze me at how many parents take their kids on this ride not knowing how scary it can be. Parents should definitely ride this one first before subjecting a kid to it. Buzz and I got a huge kick out of the photos at the end. Buzz and I left Dinoland and grabbed fast passes for Kali River Rapids on our way to the Tree of Life.
I had bought a wooden giraffe last year, and liked it so much that I wanted to purchase another one. So, Buzz and I walked down to the shop in Harambe, and I picked one out. On our way back to see Its Tough to Be a Bug, Flick and Princess Atta were out, so I got a picture with them. If the lines for the characters are short, Buzz will take my picture with the character, but he refuses to be in the picture. We also saw Lilo and Baloo signing autographs. We waited in the standby line for Its Tough to Be a Bug (20 minutes). This was a nice change, because we always did fast pass on this attraction before. It was nice to see some of the detail of the Tree of Life that you miss when you whiz through the fast pass line.
After an enjoyable Bugs show, we headed back to Kali to use our fast pass. Going on this ride was a big step for Buzz and I. We both hate rides where there is a soaking potential, so we had always skipped Kali in the past. However, I decided that we should give it a chance, so we came prepared. We changed into flip flops and stowed our sneakers in our bag. We ended up waiting about 10 minutes in the fast pass line. I thought this queue was very well done, and the wait went fast. I ended up getting drenched on this ride, and Buzz got moderately wet. It was a fun ride, but way too SHORT! I changed into dry shorts in the restroom, and then we headed out to the busses. The same characters that were out front on Tuesday were signing autographs as we headed to the bus. We waited 2 minutes for a bus, and after stopping at Blizzard Beach, we were soon back at POR.
We decided to skip lunch today, and headed back to the room for a nap. We slept about an hour, and then headed down to the quiet pool for about an hour. After changing, we headed to the food court for dinner. Buzz had the foot long hot dog and fries, while I had the Nacho Supreme ($11). We then hopped on a bus that was pulling in, and headed to MGM for the evening.
When we got to MGM, Buzz decided that he wanted to go to the ESPN Zone on the Boardwalk and play some of the games that he had seen there the other night. So we hopped onto a boat that was just docking and got off at the Boardwalk. A DIS member (whose name I cant remember) was working at the ESPN Zone and introduced himself when he saw my green ribbon on my bag. Buzz played his games, and then we waited about 3 minutes for a boat back to MGM.
Once in MGM, we rode the Great Movie ride with no wait. Once again, we got the gangster scene. We have never managed to get the cowboy scene. We then headed over to Star Tours and rode with a 10 minute wait. I think this ride is pretty good; it has grown on me over time. I wanted to see Fantasmic tonight, so we headed in that direction. I wanted to squeeze in a ride on the Tower of Terror, but the wait was posted as 45 minutes, so we decided to head into Fantasmic instead. We grabbed 2 popcorns and a soda ($7.60) before heading into the amphitheater.
We were seated around 8:10 p.m. and we were in the Hades section, which is the second to last section on the left side of the theater. I am glad we came in when we did, because the remaining seats filled up quickly. We got to experience a very impressive lightning storm as a thunderstorm rolled pass. Once, when the lightning got pretty intense, quite a few people decided to leave. The storm ended up passing by, and the show went on as planned. The show was as good as always, and I am glad that we were able to see it tonight since it ended up getting cancelled on Friday night.
We poked around in some of the shops until the crowds died down and then headed to the busses. It started to pour just as we reached the stop, but a bus was there loading, and we managed to squeeze on. We had a very entertaining bus driver named Will who told all kinds of jokes and trivia during the trip. We were back at POR, showered and in bed by 11:15 p.m.
Stay tuned for Buzz and Woodys Summer Escape-Day 7
Best and Worst of the Day:
Best
Woody- Getting to see Fantasmic
Buzz- Buzz boycotted this question today
Worst
Woody- Our rushed breakfast at Donalds Breakfastsaraus
Buzz- Buzz boycotted this question today
Woody- planner, 23-year Accountant/Disney nut- 4th trip
Buzz- 25 year old fiancé and Billing Coordinator/night college student- 3rd trip
Dates: July 19th July 26th, 2003
Thursday July 24th:
After getting to sleep in yesterday, we got back to our routine of early morning touring. Our Mickey wake up call came at 7 a.m. today we got ready for a morning at the Animal Kingdom. Today we had a priority seating for Donalds Breakfastsaraus so we needed to get to the park a little early. We were at the stop by 7:45 and we waited about 15 minutes for a bus to the AK.
We got to the park right at 8:30 and were ushered inside the entrance to the park with no problems. However, from here, the whole breakfast got chaotic. First we checked in with a CM standing there. She then told us to stand in front of some nice plants where a photographer took our picture. Then we stood around and waited until a CM called out our name. We were then herded with a group to the restaurant in Dinoland. Our entire group was seated in one section of the restaurant. The same person who led us through the park was also our quasi waitress. I use this term loosely because we barely saw her and she didnt do much.
The characters werent in our room yet, so we headed to the buffet. There was a cold buffet with fruit, cereal and pastries in one room, and a hot buffet in another. We both sampled the cold buffet first. I LOVED the glazed doughnuts! They were the best glazed doughnuts I have ever had. I am not ashamed to say that I had 3 of them. We both sampled the hot buffet as well, but neither of could find the syrup. After getting our hot food, Goofy and Pluto stopped by our table and we got pictures. We made a second trip to the buffet (still couldnt find the syrup) and then a girl dropped off a package of photos they made from the picture we had taken up front. We ended up just getting one photo, since it is rare for us to have pictures with the two of us together.
It was very chaotic in this restaurant and we both felt very rushed. They kept herding in new groups of people and there wasnt a lot of space to move around. We had to wait awhile for Donald and Mickey to get to our table, and it felt like they were rushing to get our tables cleared for the next group of guests. The characters spent minimal time with each table. While the food was good, this was definitely one of our least enjoyable character dining experiences.
After Mickey and Donald visited our table, we left and headed into Dinoland. Chester and Hester were walking around and I thought they were hilarious. They were designed to look like tattered old campy characters you would see at your local carnival. They kept going behind unsuspecting kids and putting their whole mouth around the kids head. Daisy Duck was also out, and I got a picture with her. We rode on Primeval Whirl with a 10 minute wait. This ride seemed different to me than last year. Did they change it? On the top part, we just whipped around the turns. Then we went down a hill, and on the middle part, our car started to spin. I thought last year, the car spun the whole time. Anyway, we had a good ride, although I wouldnt wait real long for this attraction. We noticed that Triceratops Spin had no wait, so we headed over there and got on the next ride.
We then headed to Dinosaur and rode with a 10 minute wait. It never ceases to amaze me at how many parents take their kids on this ride not knowing how scary it can be. Parents should definitely ride this one first before subjecting a kid to it. Buzz and I got a huge kick out of the photos at the end. Buzz and I left Dinoland and grabbed fast passes for Kali River Rapids on our way to the Tree of Life.
I had bought a wooden giraffe last year, and liked it so much that I wanted to purchase another one. So, Buzz and I walked down to the shop in Harambe, and I picked one out. On our way back to see Its Tough to Be a Bug, Flick and Princess Atta were out, so I got a picture with them. If the lines for the characters are short, Buzz will take my picture with the character, but he refuses to be in the picture. We also saw Lilo and Baloo signing autographs. We waited in the standby line for Its Tough to Be a Bug (20 minutes). This was a nice change, because we always did fast pass on this attraction before. It was nice to see some of the detail of the Tree of Life that you miss when you whiz through the fast pass line.
After an enjoyable Bugs show, we headed back to Kali to use our fast pass. Going on this ride was a big step for Buzz and I. We both hate rides where there is a soaking potential, so we had always skipped Kali in the past. However, I decided that we should give it a chance, so we came prepared. We changed into flip flops and stowed our sneakers in our bag. We ended up waiting about 10 minutes in the fast pass line. I thought this queue was very well done, and the wait went fast. I ended up getting drenched on this ride, and Buzz got moderately wet. It was a fun ride, but way too SHORT! I changed into dry shorts in the restroom, and then we headed out to the busses. The same characters that were out front on Tuesday were signing autographs as we headed to the bus. We waited 2 minutes for a bus, and after stopping at Blizzard Beach, we were soon back at POR.
We decided to skip lunch today, and headed back to the room for a nap. We slept about an hour, and then headed down to the quiet pool for about an hour. After changing, we headed to the food court for dinner. Buzz had the foot long hot dog and fries, while I had the Nacho Supreme ($11). We then hopped on a bus that was pulling in, and headed to MGM for the evening.
When we got to MGM, Buzz decided that he wanted to go to the ESPN Zone on the Boardwalk and play some of the games that he had seen there the other night. So we hopped onto a boat that was just docking and got off at the Boardwalk. A DIS member (whose name I cant remember) was working at the ESPN Zone and introduced himself when he saw my green ribbon on my bag. Buzz played his games, and then we waited about 3 minutes for a boat back to MGM.
Once in MGM, we rode the Great Movie ride with no wait. Once again, we got the gangster scene. We have never managed to get the cowboy scene. We then headed over to Star Tours and rode with a 10 minute wait. I think this ride is pretty good; it has grown on me over time. I wanted to see Fantasmic tonight, so we headed in that direction. I wanted to squeeze in a ride on the Tower of Terror, but the wait was posted as 45 minutes, so we decided to head into Fantasmic instead. We grabbed 2 popcorns and a soda ($7.60) before heading into the amphitheater.
We were seated around 8:10 p.m. and we were in the Hades section, which is the second to last section on the left side of the theater. I am glad we came in when we did, because the remaining seats filled up quickly. We got to experience a very impressive lightning storm as a thunderstorm rolled pass. Once, when the lightning got pretty intense, quite a few people decided to leave. The storm ended up passing by, and the show went on as planned. The show was as good as always, and I am glad that we were able to see it tonight since it ended up getting cancelled on Friday night.
We poked around in some of the shops until the crowds died down and then headed to the busses. It started to pour just as we reached the stop, but a bus was there loading, and we managed to squeeze on. We had a very entertaining bus driver named Will who told all kinds of jokes and trivia during the trip. We were back at POR, showered and in bed by 11:15 p.m.
Stay tuned for Buzz and Woodys Summer Escape-Day 7
Best and Worst of the Day:
Best
Woody- Getting to see Fantasmic
Buzz- Buzz boycotted this question today
Worst
Woody- Our rushed breakfast at Donalds Breakfastsaraus
Buzz- Buzz boycotted this question today
