Disney Barbie's TR.July'09-14 nights at the Yacht Club! updated 11/21 pg6 COMPLETE!

[Mindy5767]

Hi Emma,

I'm here too. I think it is awesome that you took notes or somehow can remember things in chronological order. I may do a trip report, but due to my camera being ruined my first 15 min. in the MK, I'll be missing some information. That just figures. My receipts however are a chronological clue. Just thought of that. At least I'll know what I did from shop to shop, restaurant to restaurant.

Mindy

 

[disneybarbie]

Day 1 – Part 2: Yacht Club, dinner on the Boardwalk & a little something from the Disney Florist!

So... the limo won the ‘race’ to Disney World! we got to the YC at about 6pm – leaving DBFM, Tink, Belle, Steve & I waiting for about 20 minutes while DBFD and Gaston arrived in the rental car.
We got out the limo and had some photos taken next to it, they didn’t look great as the sky was really dark and grey (we must have just missed the afternoon’s thunderstorm lol), but we all agreed we didn’t mind the grey sky… we had arrived in WDW!

As we approached the doors to the hotel, a lovely CM approached us and said “you guys look like you’re here for some fun!” (I think this was because the three of us girls were still wearing our mouse-ears!).. and he asked for the party name so he could tick us off his check-in list

We didn’t mind waiting for the two men to arrive as the lobby is Beautiful!
The thing that struck me every time we walked into the hotel was the SMELL! I guess it is the wax they use to the polish the floors? But it’s amazing… I wish they could bottle it up and sell it in the hotel shop!
While we waited the lovely CM (I wish I could remember his name) brought us some large glasses of ice-cold water, it was so nice & just what we need – by now we’d been travelling for 18 hours!
Also a hotel manager came over to greet us and chatted to us for quite a while, he told DBFM about the resort & how great the location is for Epcot & DHS
Steve on staircase in lobby...

First hidden mickey!

Soon DBFD and Gaston arrived, they couldn’t stop talking about how great the rental car was (men! We did later nickname it ‘the Beast’.. it was like a big white van!!) … but Belle & Tink were quick to tell them that our mode of transport to the hotel was even better, and showed them photos of the limo!

We went to the desk and checked in (no waiting), an English CM served us (he was on the international college programme) and was really nice; I was a little worried at first as he said we had two reservations… I thought that meant we had two rooms for the 7 of us … eek ! I get on well with DBF’s family but we’re not that close!
Luckily it was fine though lol... we had two pairs of connecting rooms – 2091 & 2089 and 2079 & 2077.
A bell hop took care of our luggage and we went to explore the rooms!

Steve & I had 2091, nearest the lobby of our four rooms; we had a fantastic view of the wedding pavilion & rose gardens.. and just to the right we could see Storm Along Bay, Crescent Lake and in the distance the France Pavilion in Epcot
wedding pavillion

Crescent Lake

Storm Along Bay

rabbit & squirrel near the pavillion.. i thought they were cute!

The room was really spacious and so many cupboards & draws!
Soon the bellhop arrived with our luggage – so it was time to
turn on the tv and watched the WDW channel while we unpacked!
(some pics of the room, taken a few days later)

We got washed and changed – this made me feel really awake again, and ready to head out for the evening to the Boardwalk!

DBFD seemed keen to go to a park on the first night, but the rest of us were feeling a little exhausted – wanted to save our energy for a big day at MK the next day!
Also if we didn’t activate our tickets til the next day, we’d be able to use them on the last day of our vacation (which, unfortunately, wasn’t to be… stay tuned for day 15!)
So we went for a stroll around the lake, past the Beach Club and over the bridge to the Boardwalk. Apart from Steve & I, no one else in the party had ever visited the BW, and I think they were all really taken by the place!
I pointed out the walk way to Epcot and other things, before we got there – it had been hard to describe just how great a location Crescent Lake was.
We stopped in the Big River Grille, the wait for a table was 20 minutes, so we took a buzzer and had a drink at the bar while we waited. The boys really liked the micro-brewery there and tried some of the different beers available
We were seated outside, by now it was 8.45 pm.. so we had a lovely view of Illuminations over the lake at 9pm!
(Steve & Gaston at BRG... note G's tee-shirt, from his Disney Eve basket!)

Everyone really enjoyed their meals, I had the mahi mahi salad which was delicious. We sat for a little while longer, but when it got to 10pm (3am in England!) we headed back to the Yacht Club.

We agreed to meet at 8am the next morning, and I encouraged everyone to set their wake-up calls (I knew they’d love being woken up by Stitch & Mickey in the morning!)

Surprise #3 !
Once back in the room, I had expected the Disney Florist to have visited with the surprise baskets I’d ordered for each room… “Embrace the Magic” for Steve, “Ears to You” for Tink, “A Pirate’s Life” for Belle & Gaston, and “Disney Welcome” for DBFD & M

However, nothing had been delivered… so I went down to the guest services desk to ask – two CMs went into the storage room to have a look for me.. a few minutes later they emerged, carrying all four beautiful baskets!
They got one of the bellhops to help me carry the gifts upstairs… first I went to Belle & Gaston’s room, I knocked on the door…. No answer?! It was only 10.30pm – I really didn’t think everyone would go to sleep straight away! … Knocked again (the bellhop had stayed further down the corridor, he wanted me to enjoy giving the baskets to everyone, he was really thoughtful & said I was cute for getting the gifts!) .. and a very tired looking Gaston opened the door in his pyjamas!!
I handed him the pirate hat filled treasure & goodies… he didn’t really seem to register what I’d just given him (!) he said thank you, and shut the door.
Pretty much the same happened with DBFM in the next room!!

So it wasn’t turning into quite the surprise I’d imagined! I decided for Tink’s just to save it for the next morning – thinking back I wish I’d asked guest services to have them put in the rooms the next day, while we were out at MK.. never mind!
I tipped the bellhop and went back in my room… thinking “well, at least I can give Steve his basket!”…. uh – no! he’d fallen asleep on the bed, all the lights & television were still on! I just couldn’t wake him either (later he blamed the beer tasting at Big River Grille & being awake for over 22 hours! ).. so I left the basket on the bedside table next to him… and he woke up to it the next morning, he was so pleased with it!…

So, all that was left to do was get ready for bed & set the wakeup call for 7am!!

Coming up… Day 2 – Magic Kingdom, lunch at Crystal Palace, our first Floridian thunderstorm... and later an ‘unscheduled’ visit to DHS!

 

[dwonders]

Sounds like you had a great time! Can't wait for more !!!

 

[MickeyisBeast]

Sounds like you had a great time! Can't wait for more!

 

[gemmybear83]

Great start Emma! Subscribing!

 

[Mrsdisneyb2b]

You've got vin hooked now to emma!

 

[disneybarbie]

Day 2 – July 10th – Magic Kingdom & Lunch with Pooh & Friends
“GOOD MORNING!! Nooooo Sleeping!” … what a way to be woken up in the morning, by Stitch and Mickey!! … well actually, they didn’t wake us that morning – thanks to the jetlag, Steve & I had been awake on-and-off since 4.30am… but it didn’t matter to us; we were in Disney World!! I did try to go back to sleep but it was so hard because a) my body was telling me it was nearly 10am (British Time) and I should be awake… and b) I was sooo excited about getting to Magic Kingdom and having our first day in the parks!!

So after the great Disney wakeup call at 7am, we worked out how to use the coffee maker, then showered & got dressed.. next I got my themepark bag packed (money, roomkeys, camera, mouse-ears, poncho, etc!) while Steve got Pal Mickey ready for the day (he decided Pal should wear his black tuxedo jacket for MK lol). Steve is usually very protective of Pal, and only he is allowed to carry him... but this vacation he let other people carry the little Mouse around the parks!
At 7.30 I knocked lightly on Tink’s door (we had interconnecting rooms but each room has a locked door)… and left her ‘Ears to You’ gift basket on the floor, while Steve & I hid near the wardrobe…. She opened the door & gasped “awww.. I love it!” … she especially liked the pink mouseketeer hat with her name embroidered on the back (I love the Disney Florist sooo much!!).

Just before 8pm we all met in the corridor outside our room, and then headed down to the YC bus stop!!
Apart from Steve & I, the others had never been on a Disney bus before, so it was a novelty for them! Gaston had mentioned something last night about us driving to MK.. and I had to say “oh no no, we get the bus there! – it takes you right to the entrance too!”.
We waited less than 2 minutes at the bus stop until the MK bus arrived… this continued throughout the vacation actually, the longest we ever waited was 10 minutes :-D

The bus journey flew by and soon we were near the entrance of MK – DBFD was impressed that we got to miss out the car park then monorail/boat which they had had to do on their last trip to wdw.
I love that the buses play the Mickey Mouse March as you approach the bus stop!

We were there about 8.30am so had a little wait until the opening ceremony – the sky was a bit overcast but it was warm.

We got through the turnstiles, no line at all, at stood to the left-hand side of the station… DBFD & Gaston moved right to the front… but Steve & I suggested we all stand back a bit so that we’d have a great view of the opening

I love the opening ceremony at all the parks – particularly MK’s as it has the fantastic “welcome medley”!


Once in the park, we headed to Frontierland to ride the two Mountains first (alas, no Space Mountain this trip.. can’t wait to try the new version in December tho!!). I am always overwhelmed by the sight of the Castle when I turn down Main Street – I got a lump in my throat, luckily my big sunglasses covered my eyes!… there was no time to stay and enjoy the moment though as DBFD & Steve were walking quickly to FL!
I noticed a few buildings on MS had scaffolding around them, but in true Disney style, the scaffolding & boards were painted to look like the buildings, so it wouldn’t cause too much disruption to guests’ photos

We got to Splash Mountain first, wait time was minimal so we got straight on… I love SM!! The main drop is fun, but I also love all the animatronics and the story that goes with the ride… Tink couldn’t remember the ride very well, so at every little drop she’d say “is this it? Is this the big drop?!”
We all got a little wet, but the sun was coming out so it was fine!
Next to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad – this had no wait too, and was faster than I remembered?!

We headed to Adventureland next, the park didn’t feel too busy at all yet. A pirate CM outside the new Pirates League shouted over to Tink, Belle & I and gave us a sticker each, mine had Minnie dressed as ‘the redhead’ from PotC on it!
We got FPs for Jungle Cruise.. and then rode PotC – another favourite!
A little something annoyed me on this ride though, as DBFD & Gaston were taking FLASH photos throughout the ride!! I really hate it when people do that, I worry about the animatronic characters?! But I didn’t feel like I could say “please stop taking photos!” to them?? I guess they didn’t know the rules on flash photography in rides.

We stopped at the hub for a photopass picture (I’d preordered the cd so wanted to make sure we got as many photos as possible during the vacation!)

We still had a little time before our Jungle Cruise FPs started, so we went to the Main Street bakery for breakfast…. Mmm! I’d never eaten here before although heard such wonderful things about it.
I had an orange juice and a choc chip cookie (gotta love vacation breakfasts!) which was great – the others had cookies or cinnamon whirls, juices & coffees. We got a couple of tables near the Plaza restaurant… and just as we sat down to eat, the Main Street singers came by and sang a few songs on the Tram! DBFM asked me if I’d arranged it!! Lol.

Back to Adventureland next to ride JC… this was new for everyone except Steve & I, and they really enjoyed it – especially the skipper – we had a really great CM on our boat! DBFD even got to be part of the show … he had to ask the skipper “What makes a great comedian?” … but right in the middle of saying this, the skipper said “TIMING!” … it was really funny (maybe you had to be there though?!)
When we got off the ride, DBFM said “oh that captain was excellent, I bet he doesn’t keep up that spiel all day though!” …. I explained that it was part of the ride & all of the CMs act like that all day, with the corny jokes! I’m not sure she believed me though!!

We decided to head back towards Fantasyland, via Liberty Square – on the way there we saw Donald Duck (in his ‘coon hat!) so Tink wanted to stop for his autograph & a photo… Gaston, Belle & I also met him, he was so cute – I got a big hug!

Next we rode Haunted Mansion – again, practically no wait.

This is me near the graveyard outside..HM is another MK favourite for Steve & I!

After the stretching room we got split up as there were a lot of people… DBFD got left behind the rest of us so had to ride it alone!
I’d noticed by now that he was quite quiet and seemed, maybe, a little bored? You see, he’s really into roller-coasters and ‘big’ rides.. so MK isn’t the best park for him

Next we headed to Fantasyland, this definitely felt busier (had to miss out my Dad’s favourite, Peter Pan’s Flight, as the line was 45mins!), first we went to Philharmagic but were told that Donald had “lost the orchestra” so the show wasn’t on for a little while – so instead we went to get FPs for Winnie the Pooh; and a little pixie dust must have been sprinkled on the machines… as we all got two FPs back… one for Pooh, and the other for Philharmagic!!

We headed to Tomorrowland,

I would’ve like to do something else in Fantasyland, but the others aren’t really into the ‘kiddie’ rides (as they call them!) … so next up was Buzz Lightyear – the family love scoring games, so this is a must-do for them! I sometimes do really well on this, other times I barely hit anything! I prefer TSM now as I feel like I can control the gun more!
Next up was Monsters Inc Laugh Floor… (new for everyone except Steve & I) which we really enjoyed – the new interactive shows at wdw are so clever and entertaining!

By then it was time to return to Philharmagic with our Celebration FPs… this is an amazing 3D show (make sure you use your nose as well as your eyes! )
Again, the family hadn’t done this one before & really liked it (see…. The ‘kiddie’ rides are good!!)
Then we just had time to ride Pooh … perfect intro for our lunch….. at Crystal Palace!!

We got to CP about 15 mins early, and waited on the veranda… it was getting warm so we were glad to hear a CM announce Winnie the Pooh was ready to meet our party!
I’ve been to this lunch buffet three times before (last time was 2006 with Steve) and love it – the food and selection are excellent, and there’s the added feature of the characters!!
We had mickey confetti & streamers sprinkled on our table…. I think this was because I’d mentioned it was DN’s (Cinderella) first trip to wdw when I made our ADRs… although now she wasn’t with us .. this happened at some of our other meals too, although nothing was mentioned about the First Visit – so luckily there were no awkward or sad moments for the group.

I wasn’t sure how much the characters would interact with a party of 7 adults.. but I really didn’t have to worry! …
First we met Eeyore, he was so cute (probably my favourite Pooh character!) as he left our table, he reached out for my hand.. next thing I know, I’m being walked over to meet another table of guests!! It was so funny! I just said ‘Hi’ to them, then ran back to our table!
The server suggested to go up to the buffet just after seeing each character, to ensure we didn’t miss any of them (this was great advice, as Steve & I had missed meeting Pooh bear last time we ate here!)
Next was Pooh, he must have been visiting tables a little too slowly – as soon Tigger had caught up with him – and they had a playfight at our table!!

Tigger was crazy & fun….

We met Piglet too..

The little parade happened twice during our meal…. Children were encouraged to join the characters to march around the restaurant, while the adults waved their (green) napkins over their heads, to ‘recreate’ the Hundred Acre Wood !
Eeyore stopped by our table while he marched past to tap me on the head!
Overall this was a great first-day-lunch … everyone loved the food, and even DBFD secretly enjoyed meeting the characters… I think the character meals are a great way to spend a bit more time with them.

When we left CP there was a brief rain shower, so we decided to look in the shops on Main Street while it passed. Steve bought a little ball-marker for golf, with mickey on it (of course!)
The park was definitely busier by then (2.30pm) so we headed back to the YC …

DBFD suggested we went to DHS in the afternoon (off The Plan, aaah!!) because he couldn’t wait to ride ToT.
This was fine – I was a little worried we were doing too much on our first day… and that if he’d just told me how much he wanted to do ToT,
I could’ve planned our first day at DHS, rather than MK??
I couldn’t incorporate theses things into our Plan if no one told me what they liked/wanted to do (you’ll see this happened a few times during the vacation!) as they’d all said to me “you plan the vacation Emma, just tell us where to go each day!” …

A thunderstorm was passing over, so we walked around Stormalong Bay and checked out Lafferty Place – DBFD loves arcade games so he bought a game card for the vacation.

I went for a walk to find the shop, Fixtures & Fittings, it’s huge! Sells a great range of wdw merchandise, as well as YC specific items & groceries. I bought some drinks and a bag of crisps (potato chips!) for our room (Steve loves Lays chips, and we can’t get them in England). Then went to Guest Services in the lobby to cancel the BBB appointment & dinner at Akershush – the CM was surprised I wanted to cancel the BBB, he suggested that I went instead! He was concerned about Cinderella and asked if she was sick (thinking that’s why she wasn’t on vacation with us), I just said we’d had ‘custody issues’ so she couldn’t’ be with us.

So we left the YC and walked to DHS, it was still lightly raining .. so I was glad to have my new HSM umbrella (thank you little sis’ for buying this for me!)
We rode ToT twice, as the wait time was only 20mins… Gaston had never been on this before and he thought it was great – I was sat next to him on the first ride, and when the lift dropped he yelled so loud!!
Rock n Roller Coaster had a 60min wait time, so we left this (we’d be back on Monday anyway!!) and rode Star Tours (5 minute wait time) which was much better than I remembered, I love the theming of the area too!
By now it was 7pm and the park was closing (I believe that McDonalds had hired DHS for some evenings in July for employees?), so we headed back to the YC… freshened up in our rooms – then met at 8pm.

We walked around the Boardwalk, stopping at Spoodles Pizza window & Boardwalk To Go for a light evening meal – I had a slice of pizza & some of Steve’s onion rings.
We had one drink at the Big River Grille (boys still deciding which beer they liked best!) and headed home to the YC…. Needed to get a good night’s sleep before an adventurous day in Animal Kingdom.. followed by dinner in Japan!!

 

[gemmybear83]

Lovely first day Emma We have got an ADR for Crystal Palace for our first day too - can't wait!

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

Sounds like a wonderful first day for your trip, Emma! I'm like you with The Plan -- if people will just tell me what they want to do, I'll make sure it gets incorporated...but if they don't tell me and just want me to do it all, then I worry that I'm not capturing everything they want to do. I'm glad he got to ride ToT!

 

[MrsSpratt]

Hi, Emma!

Love the suprises, sorry about the group "vereing (sp?)" off of the plan - can't wait for more!

Mrs. Spratt

 

[DevonsDisneyMom]

Great update Emma!

 

[Mindy5767]

You really were in your groove. We seemed always to be backwards the whole trip. Apparently we need to arrive at WDW with jet lag. We live in the same time zone so that doesn't happen. We have a really tough time getting up early. I have never, in all my trips, seen the opening ceremony. I didn't even know they had one. Should have known. The day we arrive, we usually go to the parks in the afternoon after we unpack. We nearly always arrive on Sunday, which usually has very late hours for MK. We end up staying late, sometimes using EMH at MK so we get back to our room late. Then in the morning, we're exhausted and can't get up early enough. In fact, on this trip, it was always close to lunch time by the time we got into the parks. So my great plan to get there early, and leave by lunch time was foiled. We got to the parks around lunch time. It was hot and crowded by then. We'd do probably one ride, the wait was moderate. I won't even consider rides with more than a 30 min. wait. Then we'd have to eat lunch in the parks. On my original plan, we were to do what you did, then return to our resort for lunch in our villa. We wanted to do the pool, then return to the parks. Well, with our arrival time, we got lunch, then did some more rides. It was hot and crowded so we did fewer than we'd hoped. We then went back to the resort to use the pool, only to find it closing for lightning just as we got there. That happened 3 times.

Did you eventually adjust to eastern daylight time? If so, was it harder to get up in the morning? Can't wait to read more.

 

[disneybarbie]

Thank you to everyone who is reading so far!

Did you eventually adjust to eastern daylight time? If so, was it harder to get up in the morning? Can't wait to read more.

lol yes after a few days we adjusted to the timezone.. it does work to our advantage for the first days, as it's so easy to get up early.. but then we'd get really tired in the evenings and be ready for bed at 9pm (2am in England!)...
when I got home it took me nearly a week to readjust to Greenwich Mean Time, i needed a lot of lattes to help me through the working day!

I missed out one thing... when we were in DHS in the afternoon, we also went on The Great Movie Ride (another new ride for the family... they missed out soo many attractions last time they went to wdw!!). We didn't have the best CM and Gangster, they seemed really quiet although that might have been because we were in the back row of the car?!
I love this attraction usually, but it was clear that no one else in the party really cared for it .... maybe they were waiting for the big drop like ToT!



I'll get going on Day 2 soon!

Emma x x

 

[disneybarbie]

Here are some more photos from Days 1 & 2 (just got them from DBFD!)
Surprise "Disney Welcome" basket for DBFD&M

Waiting for MK opening.... hoola hoops to play with!

"...wrapped up in Pixie Dust!"

First glimpse of The Mouse himself!

'Naughty' flash photo in PotC

Tink & Belle trying on Jack Sparrow Hats!

Jungle Cruise... Sweitzer Falls

Me & my new BFF Eeyore!

Tigger goofing around!

Steve, Tigger & Me

Emma x

 

[WLfamily]

Great report Emma! I did the Great Movie Ride for the first time this trip. I thought it was fun too, but I'm like you I think I liked it more than the others. Oh well.

 

[disneybarbie]

Day 3 – Animal Kingdom, 3 trips to Mount Everest ... afternoon on the beach and then dinner in Japan!

Today we set the alarm for 6.30am - as we were going to go to Animal Kingdom for EMH! The early start wasn’t too much of a problem, as we were still adjusting to the time zone it’s easy to get up!
Soon we were ready, and Pal Mickey was dressed in his safari outfit! Met the rest of the family in the corridor at 7.20am and made our way to the bus stop – we were the second family there and within minutes the AK bus had arrived.
I love heading to the parks on the disney buses… just catching glimpses of attractions through the trees – when we saw Everest that morning, we all got so excited!

When we arrived at AK, the turnstiles were already open & guests had made their way to the Tree of Life – we just caught the end of the opening ceremony (Minnie, Pluto & Goofy on a brightly-colored safari car, with Mickey in a tree nearer the ToL!)
First we headed to Kilimanjaro Safaris… there was virtually no wait and we walked straight on, I think we were on the second truck of the day! We saw a lot of animals, including a cheetah which I don’t think I’ve seen before on the safari… unusually the Savannah was very quiet, no zebra or giraffe to see (I think they were still having their breakfasts!) and we only saw one male elephant, which was a shame for me because they are my favourite animals!

We successfully stopped the poachers & saved the baby elephant
After saying ‘Kwa-ha-reeni’ to our safari guide, we set of for Asia & Mount Everest.
However, as Steve and I marched towards the next continent… we turned around to find that we’d lost the rest of the group! We walked back and found them watching the gorillas..

Steve explained that we’d have plenty of time later to do the Trails & see the gorillas… so the others put their cameras away and we continued on to…

Stopping for a photo on the way!

Standby was only 20mins, so we got a FP first and then got in line.

I really love this attraction, every time I ride it I notice something new. The level of detail is amazing. Gaston remarked “why do Disney waste so much money on the queue lines?” !!! I explained that it was all part of the story-telling, that Disney don’t just build rides like other parks, but they immerse guests in stories…. I think I might have crossed over in to Disney-geek-territory at this point, as I don’t think anyone was listening!!

Next we rode Kali River rapids… again, the theming and story of this ride are excellent – I just wish it was a bit longer? There was no wait for this… I like how that the entrance & exit for the ride are next to each other… so people just about to get on the boats can see how soaked some riders are!!
Unfortunately.. Gaston & I got the wet seat!! We’d barely been on the ride for 1 minute & I was soaked through! At least on a hot Floridian day it’s ok to get wet

It wasn’t yet time for our EE FastPass, so we stopped for some breakfast at the tea stand in Asia – I had a lovely iced tea & an M&M cookie (DBFD asked for ‘smartie’ cookies when he ordered them as they are similar candies we have in england , the CM looked a bit confused!) .. and we found a lovely seating area nearby – really out the way. I had wishes it’d not been in the shade though as I wanted to dry out!
After breakfast we went on Kali again! This time it was Belle & Tink’s turn to get the soaking .. and then EE with our FPs.
This time Steve & I got the front row, never been there before! It was fantastic…. We could see right over the top… and then when it pauses (you see the Yeti tearing up the track above you) we could see a section of the track turning 180 degrees before we sped out the mountain, amazing!!
I was still so wet from the first ride on Kali that I put my poncho on the seat before I sat down!!
Everyone was loving EE so much that we got another FP straightaway! And headed to DinoLand USA ..

We rode Dinosaur next… less than 5 minutes wait for this – we were having an excellent morning, I really had worried before we came on vacation that the lines were going to be awful in the parks, but so far it was working out great!
Belle is not a fan of Dinosaur, and the ride photo was so funny – she had her hands over her face with fear!

We walked over to Chester & Hester’s.. Tink was keen to go on Primeval Whirl, but the line was 30minutes (30? We don’t ‘do’ lines that long!!) & no one else was really bothered – it is just a standard fairground ride after all.
I’ve never been that keen on this area of AK – it just didn’t seem to fit in the park & seemed a bit ‘lazy’ of Disney? However I recently read a really interesting article on the land, and it made me think again… I’m looking forward to going back in December and looking at the area in a different way.
http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2009/08/chester_and_hesters_dinorama.html
Next we went to ITTBAB - I love this! I really like the posters in the waiting area, and the insects ‘singing’ show tunes in the background. I have the ITTBAB finale music on a wdw cd (“we’re pollinators..” !) , so I know all the words… I sang along in the show, much to Steve’s embarassment
Honorary Bug .. Tink!

Next we did the two trails – Pangani in Africa and Maharajah in Asia. Everyone got some great photos on these trails – these were, again, new for everyone but DBF and I!

I would’ve liked to have gone to Rafiki’s Planet Watch but the park was feeling much busier, and it was getting near lunch time!

We ate at the Flame Tree BBQ … definitely a favourite CS at AK for me… the pulled pork always smells amazing! We shared 5 pork sandwiches between us.. this was fine, I was hungry but didn’t want to be full up all afternoon (especially as we had an ADR at Teppan Edo later!) – but DBFM only ordered two large sodas for the 7 of us… I don’t really like this as I could easily drink a whole one of those to myself in the Florida heat! After a few days, DBF and I would buy our own drinks throughout the days, we didn’t want to get dehydrated.

After lunch we left the park and got the bus back to the YC (there was a bus waiting for us at the bus stop… this always seemed to happen!).
Met some friends on the way out of the park...

 

[disneybarbie]

Everyone but Steve & I wanted to go to a supermarket to buy some drinks and snacks for the room…. We’d done this already at the YC shop, but I think the others really wanted to go for a drive in ‘the beast’ car, and wanted the cheaper price beers etc from Publix!
So while they ventured out of the World, Steve and I headed to Storm Along Bay

It was pretty busy at that time of day, but we found a load of empty sunbeds on the resort beach. It was so beautiful… if only it was really the sea and not a lake, we really wanted to swim in there!

The others returned from the supermarket and joined us on the beach & went in the pool.
I wrote my journal.. and after a couple of hours, I went up to our room to get ready for dinner.

We met at 6pm and strolled over to Epcot via International Gateway.. this was the first time the family had entered the park from this entrance, I hope they liked the ‘secret’ resorts entrance!

We stopped in the United Kingdom pavilion to watch the British Invasion band play for a while, then we went in the Rose & Crown pub for a drink. DBFD had a big surprise when the round of drinks came to nearly $60!
Tink tried to persuade the barman (from Nottingham, England) that she was old enough to drink in the UK, so couldn’t he serve her? … he wasn’t amused!
Unfortunately, when it was time to walk over to Japan… the rains came! No thunderstorm, just a heavy downpour… so we ran over to the pavilion & to Teppan Edo.
We were given a buzzer and waited about 10mins for our table.

DBFM was a bit nervous about eating Japanese food… she assumed it was all raw fish.. but I’d told her it wasn’t… I’d done a lot of research into menus & restaurants before making our ADRs, making sure that everyone would find something they liked to eat… I’d even given them the websites that have all the menus, so they could look before we got to wdw. But, once again, I was the only one of us to do any research/planning before arriving!!

Teppan Edo was a BIG success with the family! The food and service was excellent. Our chef (Kenta?) was so entertaining .. we had a table just to ourselves (Steve & I had been to TE last trip and shared a table with a large family!).

We finished dinner at 8.40pm .. perfect timing to see Illuminations!
We got a great spot just by Morocco, up against the wall – the park seemed relatively quiet. (Although the view was good, I knew that later in the vacation we would have an even better ‘seat’ for the show!)
The fireworks were beautiful.. this show is breathtaking, I listen to the soundtrack non-stop at home so it is great to listen to it while actually watching the fireworks

After Illuminations we walked back to the YC… time for bed, ready for another magical fun-filled day!

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

Great update, Emma! I'm so glad you had a wonderful day at AK -- sounds like the crowds were low and you were able to get a lot done! I'm glad you liked Teppan Edo, too. We love places like that (although we haven't been to TE yet).

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

A girl after my own heart!!! I organise things just like you. Last time we went (DH, me and DD) we went with my parents (experienced Disney people) and my In Laws and Nephew! Big mistake - the planning was all left up to me and I got quite upset when they had said "You plan it all" and then didn't want to take my advice when I gave it. One example was heading to Soarin for fastpasses (what does that take - 2 mins?) and them insisting we stop off to get Mickey's autograph where there was at least an hour queue! I had booked Character breakfasts for that! Tempers got a little flared several times during the trip with my parents stuck in the middle!

Next year it is 3 weeks at the GF for DH, me and DD and my parents are flying out to have the last week with us!! Hopefully my faith in my planning will be restored!!!

Can't wait to read your next installments!!

 

[Mindy5767]

I'm enjoying your detailed report. We just ate out on Sunday night at Benihana. I think they have one of those in London. It was rather expensive and just so-so. I kept telling my family "it would have been better had it been Teppan Edo!" "I wouldn't mind paying that price if it was a Disney meal." "Disney meals are always more enjoyable!!"

Thanks for the link to the story of Chester & Hester. It sure makes helps to increase our appreciation for that area. I never "got" that area before either, although I've been wanting to try the primeval whirl. But since DD7 is too small to go on it, I only have a chance when we're with other people who can stay with DD while DH and I ride. We can't leave DD7 standing by herself at the gate. This July trip we had all the adults we needed but it was CLOSED for renovation wasn't it? I read it was. I never went over that way because DD7 and DN10 were afraid to ride Dinosaur! Besides, we were too busy drenching ourselves riding Kali over and over!!