GazerBeam and Edna's under-the-wire trip report (with pics) 9/27-10/5 2008

[GazerBeam]

Hi Everyone,

Just got back yesterday and I'm starting to work on a trip report. This page is mostly a place holder for an index. But rest assured, it will be an exciting tale filled with memory holes and spelling errors. We have lots of pictures, and couple of videos. I'll try to keep it from becoming a running list of all the things we did and try to concentrate on bigger picture things.

Next installment: Boring Background Information

GB

 

[GazerBeam]

As promised, here is some boring background information.

Edna's a bit more of a Disney veteran than I am. She went once as a kid, literally months before Epcot opened and still hasn't forgiven her parents for it. She went again in college on a spring break trip in a smelly conversion van and a stay at the 'effing econo lodge'.

I had never been. Growing up, my parents rented a cabin on a nice lake here in New Hampshire and we spent our summers swimming and boating.

We're both in our mid thirties, and have no kids.

Edna and I met in college, and whenever we'd hear of someone taking a trip down there (for a honeymoon, or any other reason) she'd always try to suggest that we go. She never really got very far with me, I was scared to fly, and I thought it was a lot of money to spend to stand in a lot of lines. In March, 2006, we had to be in central Florida for other reasons. Edna suggested we go down a few days earlier and do the touristy thing. Put simply, it was a life changing experience. It got me over my fear of flying, many of my food issues (I used to consider myself a 'picky eater' and now I'll try anything). It also exposed me to some high and fast rides that were, at the time, a big stretch for me, especially given my fear of heights.

GazerBeam and Edna at the Epcot Rope Drop, March 2006

When we got home I was in a serious post trip depression. Some of that is normal letdown from doing anything fun and different. But it was more than that, I really felt that I hadn't completed the experience, that I had only one potato chip, but I needed the whole bag.

I suggested to Edna that we look at a trip in early December (a highly recommended time according to the unofficial guide). She said "sure, we can probably make that work". Later that day , I was checking the crowd calendar for December in the book and noticed that someone had already highlighted those dates...

Our December, 2006 trip was great. We had friends down for a chunk of it, and Edna and I did a week at the parks, stayed at Carribiean Beach, saw Cirque du Solei, and ate at some amazing places. We even squeezed in a 3 day Disney Wonder cruise at the end. I was sad when it was over, but I felt that if I had an extra day down there I wouldn't know what to do with it.

After Christmas, we talked about going back in December 2007. In searching for hotel rates, I realized I was eligible for the teacher discount at the swan which was $159 a night. So we booked Thursday through the next Sunday, realizing that we may drop days off of either end. We had a different friend who wanted to come so we made dinner reservations with her in mind (less expensive).

In February, I got a card in the mail at work for the 2007 college IT conference I sometimes go to. Turns out it would be in Orlando. The Hilton at DTD to be exact. So we figured we could get this trip in as well, since work would be subsidizing part of the airfare and lodging. I convinced a friend and colleuge from a different institution to make the trip. as well as someone I worked with. The December trip was still on, and because of that we'd get an annual pass and a DDE card.

I'll probably reference all the previous trips later in the report, but both 2007 trips were quite fun, and for different reasons. We returned home on December 7, 2007 with annual passes that expired on October 7 and 10, and a DDE card that was good until October 31. It seemed inevitable that we'd make another trip in 2008.

Next installment: Tedious Trip Planning

GB

 

[GazerBeam]

We probably weren't home for too long before we started talking about the next trip. Edna had some desire to go in February, but I honestly thought that was too soon. If we went in February, we'd need to go again in 2008, and while I might have wanted to, it didn't seem like the right way to do it. We talked about May or June, possibly for star wars weekend, but we had some other plans to travel during that time frame. The summer is too hot, so we started looking at September, or the very first days of October.

I pulled out the Unofficial Guide's Crowd Calendar, and looked at the available dates for the teacher's discount at the swan and dolphin. September 27 through October 5 looked pretty good, and it just so happens that the Epcot Food and Wine Festival starts the day before we'd get there. The Swan had some nice rates, $199 a night, so I booked that. I also worked with a Disney specialist travel agent and booked the Wilderness Lodge for the same dates. Those rates were higher, averaging about $235 a night, but we were hopeful that we'd get some good AP discounts that week as it got closer.

Airfare

We like Jet Blue, and were ahead of their booking window. I wrote a little script that would check the Jet Blue site and email me when bookings for our trip opened. When they did, I booked the tickets right away. $75 BOS to MCO, and $115 MCO to BOS. That would be hard to beat on any other carrier. We were scheduled to leave Boston at around 1:30 and arrive at 4:30. The return times are almost exactly the same. Part of me wants to leave earlier and return later but honestly those mid day departures are easiest on the schedule.

The one downside of booking early is you lock in the dates well before AP discounts would be announced, but we're willing to do a split stay or even switch resorts if necessary.

Preliminary Touring Plans

One of the biggest tricks of planning any disney trip is putting the pieces of the puzzle together. I try to have us in the best parks for the day according to the unofficial guide, and have us attend the EMH parks in the evenings, or at least see each park on a night it is open late. And to make that happen, I need to have our ADRs be near (or in) our evening parks. This would require some predicting of park hours because disney wouldn't release october hours before my ADR window opened up. But they generally do things the same from year to year, especially during the quieter times of the year.

Where we wanted to have dinner wasn't too difficult. On the December 2007 trip, we were supposed to come with a friend who would be travelling on a budget, so I picked a lot of lower cost places over the more expensive ones we were excited to try (Mama Melrose over the Brown Derby, Whispering Canyon instead of Artist's Point, etc.) In the end, that friend bailed. So the rest of us were stuck with some less than desirable ADRs. I wouldn't make that mistake again, and I planned this trip for Edna and I. If anyone else came around, that would be fine, but they'd eat where we were eating or they'd be on their own.

Tours

On all of our previous trips, we had always wanted to do a behind the scenes tour at the Magic Kingdom or Epcot. We never had the chance because we were always with other folks who either weren't interested or didn't want to spend the money. This trip looks to just be the two of us so I booked the Keys to the Kingdom tour on Tuesday 9/30 (at 9:30 AM, hopefully enough time to get a fast pass to space mountain) and Undiscovered Future World on Friday, 10/3 at 9am. The AP saved us 15% on each.

Dining Reservations

Since I was sitting on a WL reservation, I'd be able to make my ADRs for my whole trip on the 180 day mark. So at around 8:30 that morning, I called Disney dining. I had to wait five or ten minutes for a CM but I got someone who was super helpful. He took my confirmation number to make sure we were eligible to start booking, which we were. I went through the list of our ADRs and got pretty much exactly what we wanted until I got about halfway through, when I started hearing the canned survey they do after your call has ended. So somehow I got disconnected on disney's end. I had to call again, and wait for another CM, but she took the rest of my ADRs without any difficulties.

We did a few things differently this time. Most importantly we decided not to schedule a dinner on our arrival day. With the later arrival, making any ADR would be trickey and we decided we'd be just has happy snacking at food and wine, or getting counter service at epcot. This way we'd be free to do as much or as little as we wanted on our arrival day.

Here are the ADRs I made:

Breakfast:

10/1 10:30 am Spoodles
10/4 8:05 am Crystal Palace
10/5 9:30 am Kona

Dinner:

9/28 5:30 pm Artist's Point
9/29 6:25 pm Kona
9/30 8:45 pm Raglan Road
10/1 9:00 pm Jiko
10/2 7:00 pm California Grill
10/3 6:00 pm Le Cellier
10/4 6:00 pm Flying Fish Cafe

Of all these, most are repeats for us. We've never been to Spoodles and heard good things about their breakfast. We were interested in the idea of getting into the Magic Kingdom before the park opens for breakfast, and the Crystal Palace seemed like the best fit for us, and we both like the Pooh Characters (though I still find the character concept a bit strange). Jiko is the only new dinner on this list. We've been to Boma three times before and always loved it, but Jiko looked like a nice change of pace.

Hotel Dilemma

In late July, I thought to check the rates at the swan for our dates again. I was mostly looking to see how much they had gone up. To my surprise, they actually went down $50 a night to $149 (except for the last saturday which was still $249). I'm no dummy, so I rebooked online, and sent an email to cancel my previous reservation. That just made the swan much more appealing. Being close to Epcot and the Studios, especially during food and wine is a huge advantage. But the swan has no fridge, charges $10/day for parking, and a $10/day resort fee, which I really have problems with. So we were still hoping for good rates at the WL or AKL, something in the $170/night range.

In late august, I checked again, and the saturday night went down to $199. I rebooked and cancelled again.

I also looked at the hilton at downtown disney. I stayed here for a conference last october and it is a very nice hotel. Being close to downtown disney is great, and the hilton is eliglble for extra magic hours. We could get a two double bed room for $94/night. Free parking, no resort fee, but no fridge. It was something we'd have to consider.

AP rates for our trip came out in late august. And honestly there was nothing there worth persuing. The AP rates were higher than the AAA rates I already had, and there was nothing at any other resorts we were really excited about. Edna and I talked for a while about what we wanted to do. We looked at the pros and cons of each resort. Even though the hilton was the cheapest, we ruled it out first. If we stayed there, we'd have to drive everywhere, except for the one or two times we'd go to downtown disney. And even though we'd get EMH access, the busses drop off at the TTC, so it would be faster to drive there and take the monorail to the park entrance.

Picking between the swan and the WL was a bit harder. The parking fee at the swan bothered us, as did their resort fee. But I thought back to our trips to the moderates, and we were much less likely to venture out late in the evening if we had to drive somewhere given the hassle of parking at the parks, taking the tram, and then fighting the crowds trying to get out. I remember desperately wanting to see illuminations on our last night in december, 2006, but not really having the energy to venture to the park. So we decided on the swan, because we wanted to be close to epcot.

Rental Car Dilemma

The parking fee at the swan got us wondering if we really needed a rental car. Personally, I don't much like driving, especially in unfamiliar areas, and I tend to push that off on Edna. And while she doesn't seem to mind, it is one more thing she has to worry about. We rarely drink at home, but on vacation we might want one or two with dinner. Driving means one of us can't. Add that to the $10/day parking fee, and considering that there would be days where the rental car would just sit in the lot, we decided to forgo getting a rental car. We'd take a town car from and to the airport, use disney transit (or walk) to get to and from the parks, and take taxis to get to our far away dining destinations. The taxis have me a bit concerned since I have never done this at WDW before, but it seems there are always cabs at the resorts waiting to take you wherever you need to go.

Dining Dilemma

Not having a rental car did cause a couple small dining problems based on my early ADRs. First, we had a kona breakfast on our departure day. Without a car, we'd have to check our luggage with bell services, get to kona, have breakfast, and get back, and get our luggage, all before the towncar would pick us up. I had a spoodles breakfast on wednesday, which was supposed to be our rest day. This would have been a much better choice for our departure day since it was so close to our hotel.

On the first sunday of our trip, we were scheduled to go the Animal Kingdom in the morning, have dinner at Artist's Point, and go to the studios for the evening EMH. This wouldn't be a problem if we were staying at the Wilderness Lodge, or if we had a rental car. But without one, we'd be scrambling, especially if we didn't want to tour the studios in the same clothes we'd wear to Artist's Point, requiring another transfer to the swan. I talked to Edna and while we really enjoyed Artist's Point, things would be simpler if we could switch that with the Brown Derby at the Studios. It would save us transportation time, and we'd be comfortable having dinner there if we were wearing shorts. And it is one of the few places we haven't been. If we couldn't make the switch, we'd make Artist's Point work.

So, 15 days before our departure, I called disney dining to see what I could move. I wasn't worried about the breakfasts since I have changed without difficulty just days before. I also wanted to confirm our existing ADRs to make sure they weren't lost when I cancelled our WL reservation. So I called, all of our ADRs were in order. I was able to switch Spoodles for Kona on wednesday, 10/1, for the same times (10:30), and was able to switch Kona for Spoodles at an earlier time (8:30). Perfect.

For switching Artist's Point to the Brown Derby, I was able to get 6:50 at the brown derby. Which would be a little close if we expected to see fantasmic at 8, but honestly, we've both seen it twice, and we really don't think it is a can't-miss attraction. So I took the 6:50. We'll show up a little early and if we get through dinner in time, great. If not, we'd be just as happy riding on star tours a few extra times.

Pixie Dust

Surfing the DISBoards one day in late august, I checked the Illuminations cruise sharing thread, not expecting to find anything. Someone was offering spaces on the 10/1 cruise, but we had late dinner plans at Jiko that night, something I wasn't willing to give up. Our evenigns were so heavily booked that it would be difficult to fit in a cruise. But I checked again, and someone else had six spaces on a cruise on 10/4, which is our last night there, and we have no other plans than to have dinner at Flying Fish, and maybe make our way into the park to watch illuminations one last time. I PMed the poster and asked if she still had spaces and what the price was. Indeed, she still had two spaces and was asking for $30 each. What a deal. So I grabbed two spaces and sent a check right away. It is something we've never done before, and would probably never have the oportunity to do, and it really could be the perfect ending to our trip. I'm just hoping for good weather that night.

In the last days before we left, I sent some room requests to the agent for the hotel, specifically something away from construction (which we saw the previous december, it was bad enough we had to change rooms), a king bed if available, and for them to clean out the minibar for the flat $20 rate if that is something they could do or still did.

Edna had the last minute idea to schedule a spa treatment at the Grand Floridian on our rest day. Somehow she convinced me to go along with this idea, and she signed us up for a leg and foot treatment. By our rest day, this would probably be most welcome. So she scheduled it for 12:30 on wednesday.

Then it was time to pack and put everything at the house in order.

Next installment: Arrival day (with pictures)

GB

 

[jmskinner]

Thought I would join in. My DH thinks I plan a lot, but he needs to check out your planning. I basically pick a hotel and make ADR's and base park days off of ADR's. But I bet you had a great trip, so I'm waiting to find out.

 

[GazerBeam]

Leading up to our departure, we were watching the local weather. In our December trips, we're always worried about snow in Boston. With a September trip, what could be the problem? Maybe a tropical system in Orlando will delay things, but there was nothing forming that could be in Florida by Saturday.

But there was something that could be in Boston, the remnants of a tropical system that came ashore over the Carolinas, and followed the coast, bringing heavy rain and wind into Boston for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Oh, and hurricane Kyle was out in the Atlantic, threatening to hit New England. I fretted about this all week, watching the Jet Blue site for changes or advisories. They never came. Fridays flights all came and went. Friday night brought heavy rain and wind, but we awoke Saturday to grey but dry skies and no wind. We loaded the bags in the car, drove to the remote airport parking, took the shuttle in and checked our bags, and cleared security.

Looking out the window, things seemed to be holding steady. It was starting to rain slightly, but we boarded the plane, and took off right on time.

The flight was uneventful. We had a college age girl in our row. She used her table try to take a nap on. Something I had never considered before, I usually just sleep sitting up which isn't difficult for me, though I can usually only sleep for about 20 minutes like that.

On the flight we had a chance to talk about what we were excited to do and see. I had one goal, to try something new every day. It could be a new ride, or restaurant, or really anything. Easy to do at Disney world, but I didn't want to get in the habit of doing the same things every trip. Edna liked that idea, but had another one; to eat (or share) one Mickey ice cream bar each day.

We landed in Orlando at just about 4:20. Got off the plane and went to baggage claim, where our driver, Carlos, was waiting for us. We introduced ourselves, picked up our bags, loaded the car, and we were off. Carlos took the north exit out of the airport (rt. 535, and I 4), which we haven't seen before. We had a 30 minute stop at the publix, and got some water, sodas, and a few snacks, but nothing too crazy. We were out of there close to 5:25 and were probably checking in to the swan at 5:45. Richard checked us in and was very helpful, and even scored us an upgrade to a king room with a balcony overlooking the resort. He said it doesn't happen often. We were pretty excited, mostly to have a couch to sit on. He told us all the Disney stuff we already knew, but when he mentioned the extra magic hours, he said we'd need a room key for each person, and asked again, if we'd need any extra room keys in a way that indicated he wouldn't rat us out and charge us for a third person. Which we appreciated but we assured him we didn't have any moochers.

View out our window

View from the balcony

Panorama of our room (taken on a later day, more on Pooh and his hat to come)

We did some quick unpacking. We weren't sure what we wanted to do that evening, we had a couple of choices. We could head to the Magic Kingdom, which was open until midnight, or we could go to Epcot, which closed at 9, or we could do both. We decided we'd start at Epcot, get some tasty Harry Ramsden's and maybe check out some of the food and wine offerings.

It was off to the boat. The folks in line in front of us were clearly going to the Bocuse d'Or Gala at the World Showcase Pavilion. Us poor kids were just going to be happy with the Food and Wine booths. After a short ride to the IG, for the first time in almost ten months, we were through the turnstiles and inside Epcot! There is something very special to me about entering at the International Gateway, especially in the afternoon or evening. I really enjoy how it dumps you off into the UK. Such a great view and there is usually a lot of activity there.

The first stop was the Yorkshire County Fish Shop for some Harry Ramsden's.

We're finally here!

In New England we can get some great seafood, but for whatever reason, we love Harry Ramsden's. But we restrained ourselves and just got one order to share. We wandered over to the courtyard where the British Invasion play, and sat on the fake steps on one of the buildings, just glad to have arrived safe and sound.

We talked about our plan for that evening. For once, we took my own advice, which is 'arrival days can kill trips before they even start' (a lesson we have learned the hard way). Edna suggested, and I agreed that we should just hang out at Epcot, see IllumiNations and head back to the hotel instead of burning out at the Magic Kingdom on our first night. I was happy to trade a night at the Magic Kingdom for a night at Epcot even if it meant three less hours in the park.

After dinner, we decided to head down to Future World to see if we could sneak on any attractions. On the way there, we took the time to take in one of the fountain shows at the Fountain of Nations. This has always been one of those little extra things that I never seem to take the time to appreciate. I always enjoy these, especially when it is set to the 'regular' music, and not the holiday music.

From there, we went around to the Future World East tip board. At this point I don't really remember the wait times; they weren't crazy, but longer than we'd want to wait. I was hoping to get on Living with the Bland (actually one of my favorite attractions) but it isn't one of the attractions that stays open past the future world closing.

We stopped and shared a mickey bar, well on our way to one a day.

We wandered all the way down to Space Ship Earth, to ride that for the first time in almost two years due to its rehab in 2007. Having only ridden it once, I really can't say if I like it better or worse, but the general theme remains the same. It is still a nice, relaxing, fun ride, and the interactive 'future' that you create is a nice addition. The project tomorrow stuff is neat, and we especially liked seeing where everyone who was getting off the ride was from. Not surprisingly, mostly from the east coast of the united states.

After leaving Space Ship Earth, we went back to World Showcase and Edna got a Dulce De Leche which we also shared. The sign outside had Malestrom at 5 minutes, but when we got to the end of the line we could tell it was more like 10 or 15, more than we wanted to spend. So we left, and Edna stopped for a samosa from the India booth. From there we started looking for a spot for IllumiNations. We usually get burned on this, waiting too long to find a place, or picking one with a tree overhead or something blocking our view to the fountains and the led globe. I wanted to try something on the east (Mexico) side of world showcase, thinking it might be less crowded since it is farthest from the exits. We had about thirty minutes before the show, and we settled on a little part of the promenade that juts out from Germany. There were a few people there but it seemed like we'd have a straight line to the globe and fountains, and no obstructions overhead.

Edna needed a drink after her samosa, so I defended our spot and she wandered out to the Italy booth and ordered a creme puff and a 'virgin primavara' smoothie but somehow ended up with the baked ziti. Which she brought back to me. It was good but but nothing special. I did finally notice when the light the lanterns for IllumiNations, just after the 15 minute warning. I'll talk a lot about IllumiNations as I work on this report, but it is one of my favorite things at Disney world. Our view was pretty good, though it would have been better if we were right up to the railing. For showing up 20 minutes before showtime, it would have been hard to beat.

After the show, we walked very slowly through World Showcase, just enjoying the atmosphere. By the time we got to the boat dock, the line was pretty long, and given that the swolphin is the last stop, we figured we'd get back much faster if we just hoofed it. We stopped for a little rest at a table across from the board walk bakery. There was quite a line outside the EPSN club, which reminded us that it was the last night for the Pleasure Island night clubs. We had talked about going to the Adventurer's Club for the last night, since it was something we had never done before. But the reports of the crowds there for the past couple of weeks made us rethink it.

We finished our walk back to the hotel and were asleep by 11.

The day in review:

Mickey Bar: Check.

New thing: First time on Space Ship Earth after the rehab.

Thought for the day: PI Closing.

I was really surprised and disappointed when Disney announced they'd be closing all of the Pleasure Island clubs earlier this year. I was not surprised that the Rock and Roll Beach Club closed back in February, but I was expecting the rest of the clubs to close gradually, and I thought at least some of the clubs would remain. The Adventurer's Club and Comedy Warehouse seemed popular enough that they would stick around. I also believe there is demand for one or two dance clubs on the property, and I really expected Mannequin's and possibly 8-Trax to remain open in some form (either re-themed, or combined into one bigger club).

Edna and I aren't dance club people. But we can frequently be found at PI late at night at Raglan Road. I've also been to the Sosa Cigar bar, neither of which are closing. But we loved the idea of a place for grown-up fun late at night. It sounds like the future of PI is just an extension of the marketplace, with shops and heavily themed chain restaurants. It isn't much to get me excited about. But the clubs simply weren't making enough money and Disney decide to pull the plug.

Walking back to the Swan, we noticed that Atlantic Dance was having a '21+ Video Dance Party'. I wonder if the death of PI will resurrect Atlantic Dance.

Next installment: Animal Kingdom / Studios Evening EMH

GB

 

[GazerBeam]

My DH thinks I plan a lot, but he needs to check out your planning. I basically pick a hotel and make ADR's and base park days off of ADR's. But I bet you had a great trip, so I'm waiting to find out.

Do I come across as that obsessive? It doesn't feel like that much planning when we're working on it, and most of it is done 7 months out, and just gets fine tuned in the final weeks. We did have the last minute curve ball of no rental car which did require some extra work.

But yes, everything went great. Thanks for reading!

GB

 

[jmskinner]

Great pics of Swan and Dolphin. Since they offer military discounts I have thought about staying there, but haven't done so yet. It looks nice though. Ok, now you have me thinking. DH and I have thought about trying to get away one night while his Mother is here Thanksgiving since she could possibly watch our kiddo, I might have to check out the Swan and Dolphin and see how much that would be. Riding the boat or walking to Epcot sounds really nice.

Looking forward to the rest!

 

[GazerBeam]

We awoke at 7:30 to sunny skies and our first full day of vacation. I didn't sleep well the night before, probably due to over stimulation of the previous evening at epcot. I got up first and started my new ritual of slathering sunscreen on myself before getting dressed, and eating a couple granola bars. While Edna got ready, I packed the backpack that would become my constant companion for the next week with bottles of water, our ponchos, dry clothes for our ride on Kali, a couple of borrowed hand towels from the hotel, sunscreen and a few other odds and ends.

Edna asked me to spray her arms with sunscreen out on the balcony. When I opened the door, I felt something hit the brim of my hat, and fall off. "What kind of gross bug was that?" I asked myself. Looking at what landed on the floor of the blacony, it was a little tiny green frog who then hopped onto the railing until we were off the balcony.

With our preparation finished, we headed out to the bus stop. We've never taken the bus to the Animal Kingdom so we weren't sure when the bus would get there or how long it would take. We were at the bus stop at 8:15 and the bus was there by 8:20. By 8:35 we were off the bus and heading to the turnstiles. Shortly thereafter, I realize that I had left my park ticket back in the room. A moment of panic set in, but then I remembered that they can reprint annual passes at any ticket booth. So I left Edna in line and I went back to the nearest booth. "Hi, I'm an annual pass holder, and I seem to have left mine behind" I said as I handed the cast member my ID. "I'd be glad to help you out with that", she said, and in less than 5 minutes I had a new pass.

I wasn't sure what the ethics were of going back to my space in line where Edna was. It is what I ended up doing and didn't feel too guilty since I was there originally and Edna was still there. If it were someone else in my situation I'd insist that they go back to their place, even if it was in front of me. So I did and nobody said anything or threw any punches. "All's fair in love and lines" as an off-duty cast member said to us after I had asked if we had separated her from the rest of her party during one of many line merges (which we hadn't).

We talked about our plan for the day. I am kind of a ride wimp, and honestly, Everest is even a little fast for Edna, so we decided to head to the Safaris first, we'd do most of the attractions in Africa, Asia, and try to see the Nemo show, and hopefully punch out of there before the afternoon crowds build. Not that it would be that busy that day, but that park handles crowds very poorly, and it feels busy even on the quietest days. We also noticed on the times guide that Kali wouldn't be offering fastpass this week, so we'd have to play it by ear.

They let us through the turnstiles at about 8:50. Not thinking too clearly, I went on my own hoping to get an early fast pass to to the Safaris, but of course, I hit the rope drop on Discovery Island. Edna and I regrouped and watched the rope drop show, which was something we've never seen before. It was cute.

The Adventure Begins

So at 9 AM, they let us through. I picked my way through the crowd to get a quick fastpass to the Safaris. When I came out of the fastpass distribution area, Edna was coming up to the queue entrance, and I rejoined her and we rode standby. There were lots of critters out that morning, one of our better experiences on the Safaris. The giraffes seem to be hit or miss, and we've only seen any once before, but there were several out this morning and even a baby.

The savannah

Giraffe very close to our ride vehicle

Elephants out and about

The 'collapsing' bridge has returned after having been removed from the show for the past year (or at least when we have ridden). It adds a mild thrill to the ride. And as aways, "Little Red's Okay!"

The best thing about the Animal Kingdom is probably the theming and attention to detail. I especially like the 'water truck' that is near the Safari exits. And my favorite bathroom in all of WDW is the one in Harambe. The outside of the building is pretty run down, and when you go in, you honestly expect a rundown bathroom. Disney would never do that, but the spotless bathroom still somehow fits in with the theming of the area.

The next logical step was to walk the Pangani Forest Trail, which we always enjoy. All the usuals were out

Gorilla posing for us

An okapi

We even sighted into the elusive Dream Squad along the way, who were handing out dream fastpasses!

Dream Fastpasses!

Which is something we've never won before. We won dream ears outside Innovnetions West at Epcot last October. We'd rather have fastpasses to Epcot or the Magic Kingdom but we'd certainly take them and use them.

Our next move was to head to Asia and check on the Kali waits. On our way over, we passed the mostly empty character greeting area. Edna asked the photopass photographer who might be coming by, and she said "King Louie and Baloo". Well Baloo is one of Edna's favorites and every time we walk by there, they are doing meet and greets, but the lines are allawys too long. So we decided to stick around (we were second in line). A nice couple even ofered to take pictures of us if we'd do the same for them, which we gladly agreed to.

Visiting with King Louie and Baloo

I personally have trouble with the characters, it is strange they don't talk, and I'm always a little uncomefortable around them. It isn't the most important thing to Edna either but she has a little more interest in them so I go along. I'm sure I'll get more comefortable with them the more exposure I get.

After, I realized that we should have given our extra Safaris fastpasses to the nice people who took our pictures, but it just didn't occur to either of us until it was too late.

We continued on the walk to Asia. I went into the Kali fast pass return area to see if we could use our dream fast passes, and the CM said we could. So we decided to wait and ride in the highest heat of the day. Instead we walked the Maharajah Jungle Trek and saw some kitties and bats.

A large bat

At this point in the day we were starting to get hungry but it wasn't even 11am yet. Knowing how crowded the counter service places get during the lunch rush we decided to go over to Flame Tree and grab something. Outside the Viliage Beatniks were playing. I wish I had more time (or could force myself to take the time) to listen to the great live acts they have in the parks. But we're always trying to get everything in, especially at a park like the Animal Kingdom, when we only have about 5 or 6 hours there for an entire week.

For lunch, we split the chicken, and got some onion rings. I love that Flame Tree still accepts the DDE card, so I saved 20% on our lunch. Not sure if that will continue into 2009 now that Tuskar House is a buffet. Lunch was great, and we didn't feel stuffed from everything. The problem with Flame Tree is the constant threat of duck attack:

An aggressive duck, ready to attack. Okay, maybe not

We don't ever feed them, knowing how bad people food is for ducks. It also makes them more agressive. They sure are cute though.

After lunch we walked over to the Nemo show. I'm generally not a huge fan of theater shows in the theme parks. They generally eat a lot of time out of the day. You've got to get there early and wait for the doors to open. Once you are in the theater, you have to wait for it to fill and for the show to start. Then it takes forever to get out of the theater and on to your next destination. But we lucked out here, because when we got there, the theater was already opened. We just went in and found seats and only had to wait about 15 minutes for the show to start. I think Nemo is the best theater show at WDW. I like the puppetry, but also that you can see the puppeteers. They did a nice job with the music as well. On the way in and out the steel drum band, Tropicals, was playing. Again, wish I could have stopped and listen but it just wasn't on the schedule. Sigh.

We headed back to Asia and stopped at one of the rest rooms to change into our synthetics for the wet ride down Kali. I actually only needed to change my shirt but Edna needed to change her shorts as well. Synthetic clothes don't absorb as much water as cotton, and dry faster so we think this was a smart move. We went through the Kali queue, using our dream fast passes, and got on the ride in about five minutes. It is a fun ride and we got drenched, but at least we were prepared for it.

We toweled off and changed back into our street clothes. I was starting to feel a little unsteady, as if the ground was moving. It was not an unfamiliar feeling to me, I felt that way for about a week and a half after our three day cruse a couple of years earlier. I attributed it to just being tired from all of the activities of the past two days. We stopped for a frozen lemonade and a fresh bottle of water which helped perk us up. You can now get paper straws at the Animal Kingdom so we took advantage of that. I haven't used a paper straw in at least 25 years and it was strange how well I remembered it.

We walked back to Africa and got on the safaris using our dream fast passes. Surprisingly there was still a lot of activity on the savannah. After, we gave our fastpasses away and decided to call it a day, checking out the two shops on Discovery Island on our way out. Edna was looking for pressed pennies, and we also found a neat clean/dirty indicator for the dishwasher.

The bus back took a little longer, mostly because it waited at the stop for some time. But we made it back to the swan, and took a much needed nap.

Next installment: Studios Evening EMH

GB

 

[jmskinner]

That's great that you got Dream Fastpasses. And that giraffe was really close. We have never walked the Pangani Forest Trail. On my to do list.

I agree, Nemo is the best show. We really enjoyed it. Your right about how long it takes to actually see a show.

 

[GazerBeam]

Hello readers (reader?)! Sorry for the delay.

We had a 6:50 at the Brown Derby for dinner. We were excited to try it because we have never been and have heard generally good things. Corey was our waiter and took good care of us, and he even took our picture:

At the Brown Derby

Inside of the Brown Derby

We shared the crab cake appetizer, which was good. Edna has the chicken with date and lime chutney. It was good, but she said the flavors were about heavy handed. I had the seared ahi tuna, which I thought was excellent. Edna sampled it and thought it was very good as well. For dessert we shared the pistachio cheesecake with a dark cherry puree, which might have been the best dessert of the trip.

We were out of there shortly before 8. We could have bolted to Fantasmic but we decided to pass. Honestly we don't get the hype about that show. It isn't bad but it is, for the most part, characters and movie clips. To us, it is isn't a can't-miss attraction.

We thought we might find a short wait for Toy Story Maina, and headed over there. The wait was about an hour, so we figured we'd come back to it. We walked through pixar place to the backlot area. It is nice that this part of the park is finally opened up again. There are a lot of dead ends at the studios and there is now one less. We came out on the Streets of America and realized we had never been there outside of the month of December. Seeing it without the osborne lights was a bit sad and depressing. When the lights are off, there is nothing to see out there and we honestly felt like we had wandered into a 'bad part of town' and should keep moving.

We came up on the muppets and went in just before 8 (the last showing before the EMH started), so no check of room keys. I love the muppets and really wish there was more of them at the studios, or at any of the parks. I'm in my mid 30s and grew up watching the muppets show in their various forms. The MuppetVision show is good, and has some great lines. We missed the preshow which is funny, but not critical to us. But I still haven't taken the time to look for the key under the mat, I actually don't even know where the mat is.

After the muppets we wandered down toward star tours and took a spin on that. There was no wait, so we took our time going through the queue. Edna couldn't resist snapping a picture of me with an old friend:

In the Star Tours queue

We like Star Tours. It is in need of a new film, but the experience is pretty good. Actually this is one of two rides I'd really like to see the ride operate from the outside (the other being mission space).

After, we had our required mickey bar and stopped for a rest on a nearby bench. There was some sort of kids 'dance party' that evening at the Animation Courtyard. They were playing very loud music over the speakers louder than we have ever heard in any of the parks. I'm not sure if this is an effort to make the park more exciting at night, or simply to keep people awake.

We went to check on Rock and Roller Coaster, but the wait was too long for Edna (and I wasn't feeling up to it). We checked on Toy Story Mania and it still had a 40 minute wait. The last thing we wanted to ride that night was the Great Movie Ride. I have mixed feelings about this ride. It is long, but it is generally well done. I can't help but wonder if this will be the new Jungle Cruise in a few years, with the CMs making fun of it the whole way. We're starting to see that happen, our 'skipper' pointed out some mummies in one scene and said that they 'were the original (w)rappers'. Groan.

I later learned that there are two versions of the ride, and sometimes you get hijacked in the bank robber scene, as opposed to the gangster scene, which is the only one we've seen. We'll need to ride a few more times in the future until we see that one.

We exited through the gift shops. I bought Edna a stuffed Pooh bear because I got her an Eyore on our first trip and a little piglet last december. Edna saw some new designs for the travel hair brushes they sell. Finally they offer one for a boy with mickey on it. It is actually a great brush for travel, so good I bought a Tink one last year. As I explained this to the cashier who overheard the whole discussion, she did not believe that I had a tink brush.

Finally, we went into guest relations to get a $50 gift card to use at the Food and Wine booths the next day. Much easier than using cash, helps with the budget and helps cut down on the pockets full of change.

We jumped on the boat to the swan and were back before 11. We had another big day tomorrow so we tried to get to sleep quickly.

Mickey Bar: Check.

New thing: Riding Kali River Rappids.

Thought for the day: Unfinished Parks.

It is coincidental that we ended up in the two 'half day' parks on the same day. If we had ridden Toy Story Mania, I would have been happy to not return to the Studios later in the week. Maybe in the future we'll plan it that way.

Both parks rely heavily on theater shows to fill guests' time, and as I've mentioned I don't care much for most of them and rarely feel the need to repeat them. The studios needs more on the backlot (preferably Muppet themed). The Animal Kingdom needs at least one whole new land, either Beastly Kingdom as is often rumored, or an Australia / New Zealand area showcasing the very unique animals and native culture of that land. I'd probably feel differently if I was tough enough to ride Everest, Tower of Terror and the Rock and Roller Coaster. But while I've come a long way in my ride tolerances, I'm just not there yet. For now, the positive side is I can clear these parks from a schedule quickly.

I don't want it to sound like I don't like these parks, I actually like both of them quite a lot. But they just don't compare to Epcot or the Magic Kingdom in terms of how much time you can spend there.

Next time: Epcot

GB

 

[GazerBeam]

Great pics of Swan and Dolphin. Since they offer military discounts I have thought about staying there, but haven't done so yet. It looks nice though. Ok, now you have me thinking. DH and I have thought about trying to get away one night while his Mother is here Thanksgiving since she could possibly watch our kiddo, I might have to check out the Swan and Dolphin and see how much that would be. Riding the boat or walking to Epcot sounds really nice.

Looking forward to the rest!

Hi jmskinner! Thanks for reading!

You should really consider the swan or dolphin. I like the swan a bit better (smaller and two bed rooms have queens instead of doubles). Neither compares to the theming of the disney resorts, but the prices, with the discounts, and when compared to the disney epcot resorts can be pretty cheap by comparison. The swan for this trip was less expensive than the rack rates at the moderates for that time of year.

Do check out the pangani trail (and the one in asia if you haven't). Lots to see and you can spend as much or as little time as you want on what you find interesting.

GB

 

[jmskinner]

Great pics. I don't guess I have ever seen pics of the Brown Derby's interior.

I will agree with you about AK and DHS. They do need more and totally agree about the ST film.

Oh, and I didn't know about the different hitchhikings on the Great Movie Ride until we were on it, previously got taken over in the gangster scene, so when that didn't happen I thought that maybe they were shorthanded or something. Then got to the bankrobbing scene and we were taken over. Funny thing was, the cowboy taking us over, was the same as the gangster that had taken us over a couple of months earlier.

Oh, still working on the DH about possibly staying at the Swan. He is giving me some flap about getting away for an evening and going to a theme park. I've tried to explain I would like to just go and walk around the World Showcase and be able to drink and enjoy ourselves. I have a month to work on him. Thanks for the recommendation though.

 

[MossyCastle]

enjoying your report, subscribed........