Clairebear & Tomouse PTR with possibility of magicbands?!

[Claire Bear]

Sunday 25th - AK

I've only ever been to AK once and I did enjoy it but I remember one day there was enough. I think we might have a lie in before heading to the park. I've made a FP for the safari at 11:25am, I read the animals are more active in the morning so hopefully this will be early enough. I also have FP's for Expedition Everest, this wasn't open when I went in 2005 but I saw it being built and I remember thinking it was soooooo high! Tom isn't sure about EE but I told him he'll be fine! Then I have a FP for Dinosaur, I've never been on this either.
I also want to see Its Tough to be a Bug, I loved this last time so really want to see it again and I'd like to go on the Kali River Rapids however, I know there are long wait times for it plus I don't want us to get soaked before we go eat at Yak and Yeti!!

Our Yak and Yeti reservation is for 5:15pm. There are a few things on this menu I want to try so I don't know how I'm going to decide! AK closes at 6pm on this day so after dinner we'll leave the park.

In the evening we might wander round the BoardWalk or we might head to MK for evening EMH, although we'll have been there the night before so we'll see how we feel. Maybe we'll even go for night swim in SAB!

 

[wifey]

They are rumoured to be opening the parks main attractions earlier in AK, things like Expedition Everest , Kilimanjaro Safari etc so onsite guests can get to see some of the animals and rides earlier than usual so do try to make the best of the extra time if you can . The safari first thing on a morning is amazing and the Pangani Forest Trail will be great too the animals should feel happier to roam around and show off their natural behaviour to the park guests. As the day goes on and the heat rises they all slow down and hide in the shade so not great for taking photos of the animals. I can spend ages watching the tamarind monkeys and the gorillas and hippos or the elephants or tigers and see their beautiful souls. Enjoy your day there Claire Bear.

 

[Claire Bear]

Monday 26th - ???


We have kept this day as a fairly clear day in terms of plans. I'm not sure if we'll want to head to a park or not. We may go to a waterpark, go shopping or spend time at the resort. It'll be nice having a day where we can just see what we fancy. If we decide to go to a park hopefully we'll be able choose FP's on the MDE app.

In the evening we have a reservation for the Yachtsman Steakhouse (So does Wifey!) as a treat! Tom and I both love steak so I'm sure we'll enjoy it, plus it's at our resort so it's very accessible! I've already decided what I'm ordering, I want the NY strip with a peppercorn brandy sauce and a potato gratin, followed by the crime brûlée, yum yum!

After the meal we might watch the movie on the beach which will be Lilo and Stitch! I really like this film, my favourite quote is when Lilo is on the phone to Bubbles and says "Oh good, my dog found the chainsaw!" Haha.

Or if we don't fancy the movie maybe we'll go to HS for EMH which are till 12am.

 

[Claire Bear]

They are rumoured to be opening the parks main attractions earlier in AK, things like Expedition Everest , Kilimanjaro Safari etc so onsite guests can get to see some of the animals and rides earlier than usual so do try to make the best of the extra time if you can . The safari first thing on a morning is amazing and the Pangani Forest Trail will be great too the animals should feel happier to roam around and show off their natural behaviour to the park guests. As the day goes on and the heat rises they all slow down and hide in the shade so not great for taking photos of the animals. I can spend ages watching the tamarind monkeys and the gorillas and hippos or the elephants or tigers and see their beautiful souls. Enjoy your day there Claire Bear.

Thank you for this info, do you think we'll just find out when we're at WDW if AK is opening earlier? Can you just go on the trail at any time without queuing? I don't remember going round the trail in 2005. I do go to a lot of zoos here as I love animals, giraffes are my favourite.
I fed this giraffe at South Lakeland zoo which was fun:

This spider monkey actually tried to jump in my jacket pocket!!

 

[Scrap_Vamp]

Not sure about peanut butter milkshake but I will definitely try a grey goose slushie! I have read about loads of snacks that sound yummy at Epcot particularly from the caramel place. Do you have any favourites??

I wasn't sure about the milkshake either but Carl ordered it once on the server's recommendation and we were both hooked! Sometimes we even grab a takeaway one, lol!

We love School Bread from Norway, and would love to try the other pastries at the Kringla bakery as one of our friends is Norwegian

Churros from Mexico are another typical one we get, and you've already mentioned funnel cake

 

[Scrap_Vamp]

With regards to Animal Kingdom we can easily spend two days here! We ride everything at this park and see all the shows. EE we often ride 5 or 6 times (FP and single rider lines).

We love all the animal trails - can spend an hour watching the gorillas on Pangani and another hour watching the tigers on Magarajah Jungle Trek. There is also a trail through the Tree of Life gardens (entrance is near to ITTBAB) which leads to other animal areas as well as giving a great view of the tree.

Don't miss Finding Nemo The Musical - it is incredible and always makes me cry!

 

[edinburghlass]

There is a piece about Animal Kingdom opening 15 minutes earlier with no rope drop at the Tree of Life now by Josh at http://www.easywdw.com/ This doesn't seem to just be guests staying onsite but everyone. Josh also recommends AK as a late afternoon park for a couple of hours before closing although we have never been at that time. The train up to the petting area is interesting too and gives your legs a rest for a bit and plenty of things to see up there.

We were lucky enough to see Devine in May, gave us quite a fright when she appeared from beside a tree.

http://www.studioscentral.com/column/world-of-opportunity/“divine”-visit-disney’s-animal-kingdom

Can highly recommend the bacon wrapped meat loaf at WPE, it is to die for. We were staying at POFQ and had dinner there a couple of times and breakfast once, so easy with the boat to DTD.

 

[Claire Bear]

With regards to Animal Kingdom we can easily spend two days here! We ride everything at this park and see all the shows. EE we often ride 5 or 6 times (FP and single rider lines).

We love all the animal trails - can spend an hour watching the gorillas on Pangani and another hour watching the tigers on Magarajah Jungle Trek. There is also a trail through the Tree of Life gardens (entrance is near to ITTBAB) which leads to other animal areas as well as giving a great view of the tree.

Don't miss Finding Nemo The Musical - it is incredible and always makes me cry!

Thank you for sharing. I'm not sure how long I can get away with dragging Tom round seeing animals for as I make him go to zoos here, saying that we've only been to Chester Zoo, Flamingo Land and South Lakes zoo this year so far!
I did think about watching the lion king show, I'll make a note about the Nemo one. Maybe we can go back to AK in one of the spare afternoons if we feel we've missed bits.

 

[Claire Bear]

There is a piece about Animal Kingdom opening 15 minutes earlier with no rope drop at the Tree of Life now by Josh at http://www.easywdw.com/ This doesn't seem to just be guests staying onsite but everyone. Josh also recommends AK as a late afternoon park for a couple of hours before closing although we have never been at that time. The train up to the petting area is interesting too and gives your legs a rest for a bit and plenty of things to see up there.

We were lucky enough to see Devine in May, gave us quite a fright when she appeared from beside a tree.

http://www.studioscentral.com/column/world-of-opportunity/%E2%80%9Cdivine%E2%80%9D-visit-disney%E2%80%99s-animal-kingdom

Can highly recommend the bacon wrapped meat loaf at WPE, it is to die for. We were staying at POFQ and had dinner there a couple of times and breakfast once, so easy with the boat to DTD.

Thank you, I like the idea of going in an afternoon to spend a couple of hours there. I just read about Divine, I'm not sure about her! She looks a bit freaky to me!
I like the look of the menu at WPE so I definitely want to try it, then I'd quite like to get the boat to POFQ as it was one of the resorts we thought we might like to stay at in the future.
By the way I love Edinburgh, going in October - and I'll be going to the zoo there (Again!).

 

[wifey]

We have stayed at POFQ it's an excellent Disney resort, very small yet quiet and away from the hustle and bustle and close to DTD the river boats are cool. Make sure to take a walk up to Riverside it's beautiful too. Both sides are set in wonderful grounds and you can see turtles and rabbits if you take the time to find them, the food at both locations is very tasty and good value they care about the food there, we even saw them encouraging the kids to decorate the cookies (to take away)in the food courts . The greeters are funny but polite and I love the decorations in the lobbies and seating areas. Very romantic and you really don't hear that much noise there I think you two will love it too.

If Divine scares you I should warn you that Disney are introducing a new person called Bamboo, not sure what that's all gonna be aboutI will wait and see. I am interested to see the new snack locations they are setting up in AK they are changing the locations of certain foods and availability to get you to eat in the restaurants.

 

[Claire Bear]

I don't think she'll scare me, it just seems odd! I won't notice any changes to snack places etc because I don't know what they were like before, I think I must have walked round with my eyes closed last trip, I don't remember trying any snacks in any of the parks!!
I showed Tom pictures of the rooms at POFQ before choosing YC and he wasn't keen on the decor but I thought the grounds were lovely and I like the idea of being close to DTD. Plus it'll be cheaper if we decide to come back to WDW! I also like AK but not sure about location. If we come with my mum we'll probably stay at OKW so we can get a 1 or 2 bed.
I've always wanted to stay at YC though, hope it doesn't spoil me too much!
5 days!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Claire Bear]

I really must go do some ironing and pack but ironing doesn't sound too appealing right now, I'd much rather play around on the DIS!

 

[edinburghlass]

Big news at Edinburgh zoo this week is the panda might be pregnant, should know in the next month. Bad news for you is if a baby panda is born it won't go on display until 1st January by tradition apparently.

 

[Tony Bush]

Hi Claire,

Discovery cove is wonderful, there's plenty of trip reports on this.. Mine is still on-line in here somewhere from 2002 . (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=313086) Its such a tranquil oasis, snorkeling with rays was amazing!


AK you can probably just have one day - you can safari and do the rides comfortably.

And I too have read that Wolfgang Pucks Express is the best value meal in disney for a QS dining credit. It's going on my list.

POFQ is where we are looking to book for 2014.

Tony

 

[Claire Bear]

Big news at Edinburgh zoo this week is the panda might be pregnant, should know in the next month. Bad news for you is if a baby panda is born it won't go on display until 1st January by tradition apparently.

Awww that's good news if she's pregnant. I was lucky to see a baby penguin last time I went, the mother had it in between her feet and she moved and I caught a good glimpse.
I wish they still had the giraffes though!

 

[Claire Bear]

Hi Claire,

Discovery cove is wonderful, there's plenty of trip reports on this.. Mine is still on-line in here somewhere from 2002 . (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=313086) Its such a tranquil oasis, snorkeling with rays was amazing!

AK you can probably just have one day - you can safari and do the rides comfortably.

And I too have read that Wolfgang Pucks Express is the best value meal in disney for a QS dining credit. It's going on my list.

POFQ is where we are looking to book for 2014.

Tony

Thanks Tony, your report only appears to go to the point where Chloe got the DC tickets. Love reading reports though!
I've bought a bigger memory stick to take more photos when we're there so I'll try to remember to take a few of POFQ and WPE.

 

[Tony Bush]

Strange... there are more on there, just not indexed... try this link http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=314223

That is the day , I think...

 

[Scrap_Vamp]

We love POFQ - stayed there on three occasions, including our wedding/honeymoon. It is beautiful, tranquil, and takes just a couple of minutes to get anywhere!

Last trip and next one are OKW due to free dining and (this time) having a much larger group

 

[Claire Bear]

Strange... there are more on there, just not indexed... try this link http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=314223

That is the day , I think...

Thanks tony, it sounds amazing! I like the tip of lying still to make the most of the stingrays, that will be cool. Like your comment about the Caribbean, hopefully I can keep trying to persuade Tom we should go at Easter!

 

[Claire Bear]

We love POFQ - stayed there on three occasions, including our wedding/honeymoon. It is beautiful, tranquil, and takes just a couple of minutes to get anywhere!

Last trip and next one are OKW due to free dining and (this time) having a much larger group

Did you find that you missed having a balcony at POFQ, the resort sounds lovely to me but that's one of the things that holds me back. How many of you will be going on your next trip?