Cast of Characters
Me 26 Year Old Disney Fanatic from Marlton, NJ
Kristen 29 Year Fiancee and fellow Disney Nut from Marlton, NJ
Mom I get to go to Disney every week, hahahah Thonotosassa, FL
RJ 18 Year Old brother who prefers thrill rides, but still loves Disney Thonotosassa, FL
Guest Appearance
Dad I guess I will just grab a pretzel for dinner. Thonotosassa, FL
Day 4 started out in the same way, Mickeys wake up, get dressed, eat some food and wait for our car at the valet. It is great not having to walk to the car, but having to wait a couple of minutes near the lobby almost defeats the purpose. We will have to stay at another resort one of these days where we can park our car outside our room. Car finally arrived and we were on our way to Animal Kingdom. The parking lot here drives me nuts, you have to drive around the whole thing to park your car. Can you tell I am an impatient person? We were there relatively early so we opted to walk instead of waiting for the tram, there is my impatience rearing its ugly head again. It didnt matter that our feet were already sore and the day had just begun, there will be no unnecessary waiting! OK, we have a plan at Animal Kingdom: we always walk briskly to the safari and pick up a fast pass and then head all the way to the other side of the park to ride Dinosaur. Well, the first part of the plan worked great, but when we got to Dinosaur there was a cast member out front informing us of the bad news. The dreaded line of The attraction is experiencing technical difficulties. Well we got a group picture with some silly looking dinosaur that was a first for us. With Dinosaur closed we headed to the new carnival area of Dino Island. We rode Primeval Whirl and enjoyed it as usual, but I agree with many people that this area should have been used for something else. Carnival games and neon attractions just dont fit with the rest of the park, which is so much more natural looking. There is my two cents for the day, ok, probably not for the whole day. After snapping a few photos, we headed for Its Tough to be a Bug. We got to the staging area just before the doors were opening which was perfect. This is by far my favorite 3-D movie; I love the animatronics and all the extras that are added to an already flawless 3D presentation. This is an attraction not to be missed, plus you get to check out all the cool animals carved in the tree of life while walking to the theater. It was about fast pass time so we headed back to Africa for our trip though the African Savannah. The normal line was very long by now and we were thankful that we scored an early fast pass. The animals were pretty scarce at this time of day except for an elephant and some giraffes that were in clear view. I love seeing all the animals, but it is about time to either change the ending or just do away with it. I think we are all tired of Big Red and Little Red. We didnt do any of the walking tours of the animals this visit, plus the park was getting way too crowded. It was almost time for lunch, but we wanted to see if Dinosaur had opened yet. Here we go again to the other side of the park. Of course it is not open yet, but there is a Lion King show time approaching so we head to that instead. We had decent seats, at least there was nobody standing up in front of us, unlike a poor kid a couple of rows down. Some people are just so inconsiderate. Anyway, we were the pig section, which was fun snorting on queue. Kristen enjoyed the show tremendously. It was a little too much singing for me, but I liked it nevertheless. The best part was after the show everyone was trying to leave, but we headed over to Camp Minnie Mickey and got pictures with Goofy and Minnie Mouse with no wait. I know we are a bunch of big kids. Now it was lunchtime and we were both pretty starving. Our two choices were the Flame Tree Barbecue and Tusker House. Tusker House won out only because we could sit and eat in air conditioning even though Flame Tree smelled incredible. Lunch was good especially for counter service and we actually got to watch some acrobats from our window performing right outside while we ate. After lunch we decided to head out because everything was getting too crowded. The revised plan was to hang out at the room for a bit and head over to Typhoon Lagoon for some water park fun.
Before we knew it, we were waiting at the valet for our car AGAIN! It looked like a lot of people were checking in which did not help our wait time at all. By 3:00 we had arrived at Typhoon Lagoon and we got a spot in the second row. We love getting to the water parks late because most people are either leaving or just lying on the beach exhausted from the days activities. We easily found 2 chairs together and laid our stuff out and we were off to the tube rides. We rode the shorter one first because the wait was less and we were anxious to get wet. Even when it is 80 plus degrees outside that first blast of water is always a shock to the system. We both had a great time for our first ride and we got in line for the longer version. The line was considerably longer, but once we got our tube it went by fast. There was also a little kid having a water fight with the lifeguard. The kid turned around and kicked water at me and to his utter shock I kicked a much bigger wave back in his direction. Fortunately instead of crying, he had a look of shock and then giggled about it. Waiting for the tubes became an event for this ride. The walk to the top is long, but I love the landscaping of this park, everything looks natural and it makes you feel like you are just climbing up a mountain instead of a man made water park. I like the longer slide much better because it is faster and smoother, but instead of heading to the body slides we grabbed tubes for the short side because there was no wait. After another enjoyable trip down the falls, we headed for the body slides that are both our favorites. Kristen chooses to sit up straight on the slide and glides down to the awaiting pool, while I get on my back in a full on aero position. My goal is to get to the bottom as fast as possible, it must be a speed thing. We did this about 4 times since there was no wait. We started to get pretty slow walking up the stairs by the last time, but we made it. Now it was time for me to hit the wave pool, Kristen is a small girl so instead of getting trampled out in the waves she hangs out by the shore and watches me go nuts. I did not have my goggles with me so it was pretty hard to catch the waves, but I got a few short rides regardless. I loved it when the park first opened and they rented rafts. The rafts were the best time; I never wanted to get out of the water. I assume they did away with it because people were probably getting very hurt. The pool without the rafts is still a blast, but a lot more work. After I thoroughly exhausted myself we packed up and headed out. I got a new mug instead of $2 for my locker and we were on our way back to Boardwalk, something else Disney for our house!
Ok we had 2 hours to relax before our 7:30 California Grill reservations. We did just that, lounge around the room and watch TV. Both of us were anxious to try what is commonly called the best restaurant in Disney and also to see the view. Driving to the Contemporary is interesting because you go through the Magic Kingdom ticket gates. We actually drove right by the hotel parking lot the first time and had to make a couple of U-turns. It was my silly move for the day. The Contemporary is a very cool hotel and we will have to stay there one day. We took the elevator up to the restaurant and it looked pretty crowded up there. We wanted a window seat but after hearing the person in front of us ask and told that it would be a 2-hour wait we decided to skip it. The view from the restaurant is amazing, we had the pleasure of watching the sun set and it was magical. Unfortunately the meal was a disappointment (read more in my dining reviews) but we enjoyed seeing the castle change different colors as the sun descended into the horizon. We had planned to hang out on the observation deck to watch the Halloween fireworks, but it was much too chilly out there and we headed for the shops in the hotel. We love shopping! It is interesting how each hotel caters to a different type of person with their merchandise, for instance the Contemporary has a lot of high priced designer clothing and art work. At this point we were all dressed up with no where to go, but instead of heading to Pleasure Island we wanted to try JellyRolls at Boardwalk. JellyRolls used to be free for DVC members, but that perk no longer exists so we reluctantly paid the $6 cover charge. The place wasnt crowded yet and we were able to get a seat, unfortunately for us we were the youngest ones there. This did not help in the song selection. Both of us were not really enjoying ourselves; part of the attraction of a request piano bar is to be able sing along with the performers. This did not happen for us. Dont get me wrong, the performers were good, but if you happen to be a 20 something year old person stick to Pleasure Island. We wont be returning to JellyRolls. After a quick jaunt around the boardwalk, we called it a night and hit the beds.
It was another great day even with the disappointment of the California Grill and JellyRolls. Plus, the latter was not there fault at all.
Me 26 Year Old Disney Fanatic from Marlton, NJ
Kristen 29 Year Fiancee and fellow Disney Nut from Marlton, NJ
Mom I get to go to Disney every week, hahahah Thonotosassa, FL
RJ 18 Year Old brother who prefers thrill rides, but still loves Disney Thonotosassa, FL
Guest Appearance
Dad I guess I will just grab a pretzel for dinner. Thonotosassa, FL
Day 4 started out in the same way, Mickeys wake up, get dressed, eat some food and wait for our car at the valet. It is great not having to walk to the car, but having to wait a couple of minutes near the lobby almost defeats the purpose. We will have to stay at another resort one of these days where we can park our car outside our room. Car finally arrived and we were on our way to Animal Kingdom. The parking lot here drives me nuts, you have to drive around the whole thing to park your car. Can you tell I am an impatient person? We were there relatively early so we opted to walk instead of waiting for the tram, there is my impatience rearing its ugly head again. It didnt matter that our feet were already sore and the day had just begun, there will be no unnecessary waiting! OK, we have a plan at Animal Kingdom: we always walk briskly to the safari and pick up a fast pass and then head all the way to the other side of the park to ride Dinosaur. Well, the first part of the plan worked great, but when we got to Dinosaur there was a cast member out front informing us of the bad news. The dreaded line of The attraction is experiencing technical difficulties. Well we got a group picture with some silly looking dinosaur that was a first for us. With Dinosaur closed we headed to the new carnival area of Dino Island. We rode Primeval Whirl and enjoyed it as usual, but I agree with many people that this area should have been used for something else. Carnival games and neon attractions just dont fit with the rest of the park, which is so much more natural looking. There is my two cents for the day, ok, probably not for the whole day. After snapping a few photos, we headed for Its Tough to be a Bug. We got to the staging area just before the doors were opening which was perfect. This is by far my favorite 3-D movie; I love the animatronics and all the extras that are added to an already flawless 3D presentation. This is an attraction not to be missed, plus you get to check out all the cool animals carved in the tree of life while walking to the theater. It was about fast pass time so we headed back to Africa for our trip though the African Savannah. The normal line was very long by now and we were thankful that we scored an early fast pass. The animals were pretty scarce at this time of day except for an elephant and some giraffes that were in clear view. I love seeing all the animals, but it is about time to either change the ending or just do away with it. I think we are all tired of Big Red and Little Red. We didnt do any of the walking tours of the animals this visit, plus the park was getting way too crowded. It was almost time for lunch, but we wanted to see if Dinosaur had opened yet. Here we go again to the other side of the park. Of course it is not open yet, but there is a Lion King show time approaching so we head to that instead. We had decent seats, at least there was nobody standing up in front of us, unlike a poor kid a couple of rows down. Some people are just so inconsiderate. Anyway, we were the pig section, which was fun snorting on queue. Kristen enjoyed the show tremendously. It was a little too much singing for me, but I liked it nevertheless. The best part was after the show everyone was trying to leave, but we headed over to Camp Minnie Mickey and got pictures with Goofy and Minnie Mouse with no wait. I know we are a bunch of big kids. Now it was lunchtime and we were both pretty starving. Our two choices were the Flame Tree Barbecue and Tusker House. Tusker House won out only because we could sit and eat in air conditioning even though Flame Tree smelled incredible. Lunch was good especially for counter service and we actually got to watch some acrobats from our window performing right outside while we ate. After lunch we decided to head out because everything was getting too crowded. The revised plan was to hang out at the room for a bit and head over to Typhoon Lagoon for some water park fun.
Before we knew it, we were waiting at the valet for our car AGAIN! It looked like a lot of people were checking in which did not help our wait time at all. By 3:00 we had arrived at Typhoon Lagoon and we got a spot in the second row. We love getting to the water parks late because most people are either leaving or just lying on the beach exhausted from the days activities. We easily found 2 chairs together and laid our stuff out and we were off to the tube rides. We rode the shorter one first because the wait was less and we were anxious to get wet. Even when it is 80 plus degrees outside that first blast of water is always a shock to the system. We both had a great time for our first ride and we got in line for the longer version. The line was considerably longer, but once we got our tube it went by fast. There was also a little kid having a water fight with the lifeguard. The kid turned around and kicked water at me and to his utter shock I kicked a much bigger wave back in his direction. Fortunately instead of crying, he had a look of shock and then giggled about it. Waiting for the tubes became an event for this ride. The walk to the top is long, but I love the landscaping of this park, everything looks natural and it makes you feel like you are just climbing up a mountain instead of a man made water park. I like the longer slide much better because it is faster and smoother, but instead of heading to the body slides we grabbed tubes for the short side because there was no wait. After another enjoyable trip down the falls, we headed for the body slides that are both our favorites. Kristen chooses to sit up straight on the slide and glides down to the awaiting pool, while I get on my back in a full on aero position. My goal is to get to the bottom as fast as possible, it must be a speed thing. We did this about 4 times since there was no wait. We started to get pretty slow walking up the stairs by the last time, but we made it. Now it was time for me to hit the wave pool, Kristen is a small girl so instead of getting trampled out in the waves she hangs out by the shore and watches me go nuts. I did not have my goggles with me so it was pretty hard to catch the waves, but I got a few short rides regardless. I loved it when the park first opened and they rented rafts. The rafts were the best time; I never wanted to get out of the water. I assume they did away with it because people were probably getting very hurt. The pool without the rafts is still a blast, but a lot more work. After I thoroughly exhausted myself we packed up and headed out. I got a new mug instead of $2 for my locker and we were on our way back to Boardwalk, something else Disney for our house!
Ok we had 2 hours to relax before our 7:30 California Grill reservations. We did just that, lounge around the room and watch TV. Both of us were anxious to try what is commonly called the best restaurant in Disney and also to see the view. Driving to the Contemporary is interesting because you go through the Magic Kingdom ticket gates. We actually drove right by the hotel parking lot the first time and had to make a couple of U-turns. It was my silly move for the day. The Contemporary is a very cool hotel and we will have to stay there one day. We took the elevator up to the restaurant and it looked pretty crowded up there. We wanted a window seat but after hearing the person in front of us ask and told that it would be a 2-hour wait we decided to skip it. The view from the restaurant is amazing, we had the pleasure of watching the sun set and it was magical. Unfortunately the meal was a disappointment (read more in my dining reviews) but we enjoyed seeing the castle change different colors as the sun descended into the horizon. We had planned to hang out on the observation deck to watch the Halloween fireworks, but it was much too chilly out there and we headed for the shops in the hotel. We love shopping! It is interesting how each hotel caters to a different type of person with their merchandise, for instance the Contemporary has a lot of high priced designer clothing and art work. At this point we were all dressed up with no where to go, but instead of heading to Pleasure Island we wanted to try JellyRolls at Boardwalk. JellyRolls used to be free for DVC members, but that perk no longer exists so we reluctantly paid the $6 cover charge. The place wasnt crowded yet and we were able to get a seat, unfortunately for us we were the youngest ones there. This did not help in the song selection. Both of us were not really enjoying ourselves; part of the attraction of a request piano bar is to be able sing along with the performers. This did not happen for us. Dont get me wrong, the performers were good, but if you happen to be a 20 something year old person stick to Pleasure Island. We wont be returning to JellyRolls. After a quick jaunt around the boardwalk, we called it a night and hit the beds.
It was another great day even with the disappointment of the California Grill and JellyRolls. Plus, the latter was not there fault at all.
