DAY 2 SUNDAY 22nd OCTOBER 2006
The Cast:
Heather the trouble and strife er, I mean my dear wife (mad about Winnie-the-Pooh)
Daniel my 15 year old son (mad about Jack Skellington)
Rhiannon my 13 year old daughter (mad about Tinkerbell)
El Tel Me, so old I need to be carbon-dated (just mad in general)
Ah...the benefits of jetlag...I was up at around 6am this morning feeling like I couldn't sleep another wink. This was particularly beneficial at AKL because its a good time to catch the various animals from your balcony.
Oh boy, this hotel is fantastic. Strangely, I wasnt expecting it to be quite as good as this even though Id read all the information beforehand. There is something about experiencing it first hand. By the way, a number of people say the hotel and rooms are too dark. Not in my opinion, they may not be bright but they are certainly not gloomy.
The plan was to go to Animal Kingdom today. It should be light on crowds and the jetlag-induced early start will allow us to see more animals on Kilimanjaro Safaris for the reason stated above. However, best laid plans of mice and El Tel, and all that . First Choice had not delivered our Orlando Flextickets to Reception as promised, so we had to stay for the welcome meeting with their rep (which after the first one with Virgin, we now think is a waste of our time). Heather and Rhiannon wanted to look around the hotel so they graciously suggested that Daniel and I go on to AK and we would meet up at midday (thats one of the big benefits of staying at a WDW resort for me you are not tied to one person, me, to travel to the parks).
I went with Daniel to AK. He was hungry so we went to Tusker House Restaurant as for breakfast rather than Kilimanjaro Safaris. This is a nice location for breakfast, and a nice place to sit outside too:
The deviation from the plan turned out to be typical of what happened during the rest of our holiday but I was determined to go with the flow this visit rather than get stressed sticking to a rigid timetable.
Thinking that, to be fair to Heather and Rhiannon, we would do Expedition Everest and Kilimajaro Safaris as a family, Daniel and I headed over to ride Dinosaur (not such a favourite with the girls). Blimey! It was darker and bumpier than I remembered, but still good fun. We then rode Primeval Whirl which was a really good way of stirring up breakfast. Im really not too sure about this area of the park; it doesnt seem to fit the theme too well. We then headed off to have a look at the big one Expedition Everest. There were 30min queues and I didnt want to upset Heather by riding it without her, but Daniel took the single rider line to try it out -I later wish I had too. Daniel thought it was fantastic.
We then headed over to Kali River Rapids for a quick spin before meeting up with the girls. Its good fun I love seeing others get wet and their reaction to me getting soaked - but I do find it too short. Whilst exiting we saw Heather and Rhiannon in the queue to get on, so Daniel and I nipped over to one of the carts and got some Premium Mickey Bars for us all.
We headed back together to ride Everest but the wait had risen to 50min so we decided to come back later (in fact it had broken down and remained that way for the rest of the day).
Having done the animal trails before on previous trips, the ladies werent too fussed about doing them, so we all ended up riding Primeval Whirl (except Rhiannon) and Dinosaur again. So much for my earlier logic!
We had got to lunchtime so we headed over to my planned lunch spot Flame Tree Barbecue. This is a really nice location for lunch and the food was great for a counter service meal. We got a table overlooking Discovery River where Mickey, Minnie and Goofy cruise around in a boat. Here are some photos:
The jet lag had started to get to Heather at this point, and she wanted to go back to the resort. There was still a lot to see, and we hadnt ridden Everest, but I was sure we would get another shot at it so didnt mind. On the way out Daniel and I popped in to watch Its Tough to be a Bug (Heather and Rhiannon didnt want to they arent keen on the creepy crawly bits). I enjoyed this show, Daniel surprised himself by loving it too (he is letting his street cred drop).
We lazed about at AKL until it was time for our 6pm ADR at Boma. Here are a few shots of the lovely AKL:
The food at Boma was very good something for everyone Id say though (shock, horror) I wasnt keen on the zebra domes. I was absolutely stuffed ooh my tum. I can see this dining plan is not going to do my waistline any good!
Heather and Daniel succumbed to the jetlag and decided to give up for the day. Rhiannon had got her second wind, so we decided to make the most of the evening Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom. I picked up my camcorder and we took the bus to MK.
We got to MK just before Hallowishes, so we set up in front of the Crystal Palace to watch it (and in my case, video it). Then DISASTER struck: whilst putting the camcorder up to my eye my contact lens popped out and fell on the floor (its never done that before). We desperately scrabbled around for it. Other kind people joined in to help. One lady called out Ive found it. My hopes rose. She handed it over. It was just a broken shard. My heart sunk. What was I going to do? I had a pair of glasses but hardly ever wore them - how was I going to swim, would I be able to ride coasters without my glasses flying off?
I watched a semi-blurry version of Hallowishes an interesting effect. Determined to make the most of things, I took Rhiannon round to Pirates of the Caribbean. Im going to get flamed for this, but Im not a big fan of POTC. Rhiannon didnt used to be, but the addition of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack has changed that. I must admit that I found the changes improved the ride for me too. We then rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the dark an experience to be recommended. The lack of clear vision added to the surprise element. We then headed to Haunted Mansion to ride that (this ride is growing on me since I read all about it on the fan website. This is the first time Ive seen the hanging man in stretch room. I dont know why I missed it before. We finished off by visiting the Winnie the Pooh and Buzz Lightyear rides. Despite my disability I got a score of 193,000 on Buzz mainly because I had found out which targets scored highest.
We headed back to the resort and bed having had a fun time at MK, but I started to get a bit miserable about my contact lens and how its loss was going to ruin my holiday.
Find out what happened next in tomorrows soporific instalment.
The Cast:
Heather the trouble and strife er, I mean my dear wife (mad about Winnie-the-Pooh)
Daniel my 15 year old son (mad about Jack Skellington)
Rhiannon my 13 year old daughter (mad about Tinkerbell)
El Tel Me, so old I need to be carbon-dated (just mad in general)
Ah...the benefits of jetlag...I was up at around 6am this morning feeling like I couldn't sleep another wink. This was particularly beneficial at AKL because its a good time to catch the various animals from your balcony.
Oh boy, this hotel is fantastic. Strangely, I wasnt expecting it to be quite as good as this even though Id read all the information beforehand. There is something about experiencing it first hand. By the way, a number of people say the hotel and rooms are too dark. Not in my opinion, they may not be bright but they are certainly not gloomy.
The plan was to go to Animal Kingdom today. It should be light on crowds and the jetlag-induced early start will allow us to see more animals on Kilimanjaro Safaris for the reason stated above. However, best laid plans of mice and El Tel, and all that . First Choice had not delivered our Orlando Flextickets to Reception as promised, so we had to stay for the welcome meeting with their rep (which after the first one with Virgin, we now think is a waste of our time). Heather and Rhiannon wanted to look around the hotel so they graciously suggested that Daniel and I go on to AK and we would meet up at midday (thats one of the big benefits of staying at a WDW resort for me you are not tied to one person, me, to travel to the parks).
I went with Daniel to AK. He was hungry so we went to Tusker House Restaurant as for breakfast rather than Kilimanjaro Safaris. This is a nice location for breakfast, and a nice place to sit outside too:
The deviation from the plan turned out to be typical of what happened during the rest of our holiday but I was determined to go with the flow this visit rather than get stressed sticking to a rigid timetable.
Thinking that, to be fair to Heather and Rhiannon, we would do Expedition Everest and Kilimajaro Safaris as a family, Daniel and I headed over to ride Dinosaur (not such a favourite with the girls). Blimey! It was darker and bumpier than I remembered, but still good fun. We then rode Primeval Whirl which was a really good way of stirring up breakfast. Im really not too sure about this area of the park; it doesnt seem to fit the theme too well. We then headed off to have a look at the big one Expedition Everest. There were 30min queues and I didnt want to upset Heather by riding it without her, but Daniel took the single rider line to try it out -I later wish I had too. Daniel thought it was fantastic.
We then headed over to Kali River Rapids for a quick spin before meeting up with the girls. Its good fun I love seeing others get wet and their reaction to me getting soaked - but I do find it too short. Whilst exiting we saw Heather and Rhiannon in the queue to get on, so Daniel and I nipped over to one of the carts and got some Premium Mickey Bars for us all.
We headed back together to ride Everest but the wait had risen to 50min so we decided to come back later (in fact it had broken down and remained that way for the rest of the day).
Having done the animal trails before on previous trips, the ladies werent too fussed about doing them, so we all ended up riding Primeval Whirl (except Rhiannon) and Dinosaur again. So much for my earlier logic!
We had got to lunchtime so we headed over to my planned lunch spot Flame Tree Barbecue. This is a really nice location for lunch and the food was great for a counter service meal. We got a table overlooking Discovery River where Mickey, Minnie and Goofy cruise around in a boat. Here are some photos:
The jet lag had started to get to Heather at this point, and she wanted to go back to the resort. There was still a lot to see, and we hadnt ridden Everest, but I was sure we would get another shot at it so didnt mind. On the way out Daniel and I popped in to watch Its Tough to be a Bug (Heather and Rhiannon didnt want to they arent keen on the creepy crawly bits). I enjoyed this show, Daniel surprised himself by loving it too (he is letting his street cred drop).
We lazed about at AKL until it was time for our 6pm ADR at Boma. Here are a few shots of the lovely AKL:
The food at Boma was very good something for everyone Id say though (shock, horror) I wasnt keen on the zebra domes. I was absolutely stuffed ooh my tum. I can see this dining plan is not going to do my waistline any good!
Heather and Daniel succumbed to the jetlag and decided to give up for the day. Rhiannon had got her second wind, so we decided to make the most of the evening Extra Magic Hour at Magic Kingdom. I picked up my camcorder and we took the bus to MK.
We got to MK just before Hallowishes, so we set up in front of the Crystal Palace to watch it (and in my case, video it). Then DISASTER struck: whilst putting the camcorder up to my eye my contact lens popped out and fell on the floor (its never done that before). We desperately scrabbled around for it. Other kind people joined in to help. One lady called out Ive found it. My hopes rose. She handed it over. It was just a broken shard. My heart sunk. What was I going to do? I had a pair of glasses but hardly ever wore them - how was I going to swim, would I be able to ride coasters without my glasses flying off?
I watched a semi-blurry version of Hallowishes an interesting effect. Determined to make the most of things, I took Rhiannon round to Pirates of the Caribbean. Im going to get flamed for this, but Im not a big fan of POTC. Rhiannon didnt used to be, but the addition of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack has changed that. I must admit that I found the changes improved the ride for me too. We then rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the dark an experience to be recommended. The lack of clear vision added to the surprise element. We then headed to Haunted Mansion to ride that (this ride is growing on me since I read all about it on the fan website. This is the first time Ive seen the hanging man in stretch room. I dont know why I missed it before. We finished off by visiting the Winnie the Pooh and Buzz Lightyear rides. Despite my disability I got a score of 193,000 on Buzz mainly because I had found out which targets scored highest.
We headed back to the resort and bed having had a fun time at MK, but I started to get a bit miserable about my contact lens and how its loss was going to ruin my holiday.
Find out what happened next in tomorrows soporific instalment.
great first day shame about e.e and the contact lense
Luckily, we saw loads of animals.
