Here in Disney... with Pics!!!

[asa'smom]

Thanks for posting. It's getting us even more in the spirt for our up coming trip!
Have a wonder trip!

 

[nhpooh]

Thanks for posting and the pic's are great. You are missing the lovely weather up here. Snow this morning, not sure how much CT got we only got two inches. But it's really cold, about 28 and more snow on the way. I need to here your reports, it keeps me warm .

 

[melissa6631]

Totally off subject--- but are your dogs mastiffs?? LOL

 

[Timon]

Enjoying your reports! Sounds like our recent trip....go to Disney, eat at Wolfgang's, have a margarita LOL

No Ken's sauce??? NO!! I fell in love with that sauce just a month and a half ago! In fact, it's what made it possible for me to enjoy so many chicken strips this past trip! (in past trips, there have been no dipping sauce and I can't eat them without it!) They also had it on the Disney Magic, it was SO good!!

I am sorry they don't have it anymore...I know how I would feel
Did you ask a CM about it yet? Maybe they could point you in the direction of a place that still has it and you can hijack their supply???

Keep your pics coming..loving them!

 

[never_enough_pooh]

First, to Melissa6631, yes my dogs are mastiffs!! They really are such sweeties! (Vet bills are always fun, though, cuz most meds, etc go by weight!!). Both dogs weigh about 165 lbs each!!

Yesterday(Saturday), we checked into AKL. We always stay @ AKL, and we always overlook the Arusha Savannah/Zebra Trail. We usually request the 2nd to last block or the last block, but this year, I decided to leave the block up to fate. So.... we check in, and the hotel is completly full!!! We did get our request of the Arusha Savannah/Zebra Trail (oh yeah, and adjoining rooms). However, they put us in the first block on the 3rd floor (right by the rock). Unfortunatlly, that view was pretty crummy... no animals and a big dirt patch below us, AND a big pole obstructing our view!!!

We decided to go down to the front desk, and see if we could perhaps change our room location (but stay on the same Savannah). There were no rooms available for that night, but we could switch tomorrow (Sunday). Well, we will try not to unpack too much!!

Here are some pics of AKL...

Here is our new room at AKL:

1st on the agenda.... Animal Kingdom park..... More to follow later!!

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

Another totally off topic post here....if you really love the Ken's sauce and can't get it where you live, they sell it at all the grocery stores here. Since you're driving you could stop off and pick some up if you want. Love your new view and hope you're having a great time!

 

[mickimgm]

OMG! I love your mastifs. We have one, plus two small dogs. I was scrolling down your pictures and had to go get my husband to see your dogs. He could care less about the disney pictures but he sure loved looking at your mastifs. He wants another but our house is too small Brigit weighs in at 155. What do yours weigh?

 

[never_enough_pooh]

Hi All!

Yesterday (Saturday), we went to Animal Kingdom Park. The weather was in the mid 70's during the day, upper 40's at night. Plenty of Sunshine!

The park really wasn't that busy. The only attraction that had a 30 minute wait was the Safaris.
We walked right onto ITTBAB, dinosaur, flights of wonder, etc!!

We took some great pics of EE... it really is coming along nicely!

We were told by a cast member that EE should be in soft openings in Feb or March of '06 with a scheduled "official" opening in April of '06. They said that they have already been doing some test runs on the tracks, and the only thing that they really have to do now is some interior work!!! I guess my high hopes for a soft opening in Dec are not going to happen!!

After park closing, we headed back to the resort to get ready for our dinner at Jiko... our favorite!

One of the yummiest items on the menu is the filet mignon and red wine sauce with mac and cheese:

They also let you order just mac and cheese if you don't want the filet mingon:

Here is the short ribs.. they were so tender!!!

Let's also not forget the yummy Zebra Martinis! (Hey, again, I'm getting my fluid, AND some calcium!!)

After Jiko, we went and toured some of the AK area hotels. We went to the AS sports, music and movies. They pretty much had the same layout inside, except for a difference in the color scheme:

Coronado Springs Resort:

Stay tuned for tomorrow, as I review our day today! (Epcot during the day, and MGM at night!)

 

[never_enough_pooh]

OMG! I love your mastifs. We have one, plus two small dogs. I was scrolling down your pictures and had to go get my husband to see your dogs. He could care less about the disney pictures but he sure loved looking at your mastifs. He wants another but our house is too small Brigit weighs in at 155. What do yours weigh?

Ha ha!! I'm the same way!! I just love dogs, and seeing photos of other peoples dogs!

Sassy (the mastiff sitting down) weighs 160 lbs, and Buster (the one standing) weighs about 165 lbs. Buster had torn both of his ACL's over the past 2 years (he is the klutz of the 2!!). Fortunately, he had recovered very well!!

It's amazing how well they get along with the little dogs! The pugs really are the "rulers". The pug that is seen on the top of the stairs (in the pics) likes to "mark" his territory on Sassy. He really is a silly dog!!

 

[never_enough_pooh]

Another totally off topic post here....if you really love the Ken's sauce and can't get it where you live, they sell it at all the grocery stores here. Since you're driving you could stop off and pick some up if you want. Love your new view and hope you're having a great time!

Guess what??? I found the Kens Dressing in MGM tonight!!! I made sure I had chicken tenders for dinner!!!!

 

[nomie74]

Great pics, I don't know how I'm going to wait a whole year to our trip next dec. Hope you are having a great time!

 

[nhpooh]

Great pic's thanks for the update. Have fun at Epcot today. You were brave to drive down. I did that when I was little with my parents. That ride turned me off of driving down. We fly down out of Manchester,NH. Look forward to more pictures and your report.

 

[never_enough_pooh]

Great pic's thanks for the update. Have fun at Epcot today. You were brave to drive down. I did that when I was little with my parents. That ride turned me off of driving down. We fly down out of Manchester,NH. Look forward to more pictures and your report.

Tell me about it!!! It really wasn't' too bad, as we all had about a 5 hour stint at driving at one time. However, if we do it again, I'm not sure I would drive straight down again without stopping to sleep!! By 1:00 am, I was certain I wouldn't make it another 13 hours in the car!! I was really glad to see that there were so many rest stops along the way open 24 hours. We went I-84 to I-81 to I-77 to I-26 to I-95. It really was a very pretty mountainous route with very little traffic, but long!!!!

 

[lillygator]

thanks for sharing - I love seeing all the decorations!

 

[never_enough_pooh]

Hi All!

Yesterday, (Sunday) we went to EPCOT during the day, and MGM for EMH at night.

We started off our day at 9:00 am at the Mara in AKL for Breakfast. We made it to the EPCOT bus stop by 10:00 am. On a side note, have you ever noticed that the bus you want is always the last bus to arrive??? I told DH that next year, I’d like to be spontaneous, and simply go to the park of whoever’s bus is there at bus stop arrival. Now, DH KNOWS that I really could never do that, so he simply laughs!

After about a 10 minute wait, our bus arrives!!

We climb on board to begin our journey! The bus is full, but not full enough for standing room only.

We arrive to EPCOT and get to the gates at about 10:40 ish. The weather was absolutely gorgeous!! Sunny as can be, almost 80 degrees at the peak of the day! I ended up wearing jeans and a short sleeve shirt, and I was comfortable. It definitely was short sleeve weather, but I don’t know about shorts, as the morning and evening were both in the 50’s.

We go find our Leave a Legacy plaque from last year!

Okay…. off to get a fast pass for Sorain!! We grab MIL and FIL’s AP’s so that we can walk a bit faster (we leave then at the camera store so that they can look at their photos from yesterday… of course they purchase a bunch of them….. gotta love that photopass!).

We admire the decorations along the way....

We get to the Land, and, of course, that is where everyone else in the park is also heading! It’s funny… before Soarin, hardly anyone went over to the Land. Now it is everyone’s first stop!

By this time, there is already a 50 minute wait. We grab Fast Passes with a return window for 1:39-2:39 pm. Not too bad! We have lunch reservations for Biergarten in EPCOT for 1:00 pm, so that return time is perfect!!

By this time, TT also has a 50 minute wait. We decided to head over to the Worlds. We make it over to the Worlds at about 11:15 am. They are practically empty!! We follow our tradition of stopping at each world and have our photo taken. It is really nice to see all the worlds do something for the Holidays!!
MIL absolutely loves the ride in Mexico, so we start there!
Norway:

EPCOT tree from the worlds:

Crowd level non existent!!

By the time we make it over to Germany, it is 12:50 pm… 10 minutes until our dining reservations at Biergarten! I check in.

We are seated right on time, in the front row! For those who are not familiar with Biergarten, the tables seat 8, so generally you are seated with another couple. We order our drinks, and head up to the buffet.
Yummy!!

The Chicken Schnitzel was really good!!! I’m not a big fan of sauerkraut and sausage, but everyone else was, and said it was really good!

At about 1:20 pm, the entertainment starts!! The German singers include a holiday version of their show. It was really nice!

All in all, the Biergarten was a great experience! I would recommend it again! Plus, they had REALLY good desserts! I had this Strawberry dessert that was soooooo good! (hey, the strawberries count as my fruit!!!!)

After lunch, we head over to the Land to use our Fastpass. The line is now 70 minutes long. We walk through the fast pass line and peer over to the standby line.

Glad that is not us!!

This was my first time on Soarin…. I absolutely had to have the first row, as others have mentioned that you can see feet dangling in front of you on the other rows. I got the first row!!! This ride was absolutely amazing!! I won’t give anything away, but I totally came off the ride in such a calm and relaxed mood. Plus, you know it’s a good ride when everyone claps at the end! I really felt like I was thousands of feet up in the air! MIL had her eyes squinted the whole time, as she tends to get motion sickeness. She came off feeling fine!

We now head over to grab a FP for TT. It is now 3:00 pm, and we are able to get a FP for 4:15 pm. Not bad!!! As a side note, the only 2 things that really were busy in EPCOT were TT and Sorain. The rest of the park was actually very quiet! We go over to Imagination while we are waiting for our FP return time. I always get that song suck in my head “A dream can be a dream come true….”. I, of course, drive DH crazy after the end of that ride!

We head back to TT at 4:05 pm. The is a HUGE line for the FP return!!!

There is nobody in line at the standby line, but it still says 70 minutes (who knows what the inside of the ride line looks like!!!) We decide to leave EPCOT to head back to the hotel for a bit, as the FP line is getting longer and longer and longer! (I wonder if the ride had broken down?). Oh well… we have another day in EPCOT this week!!

Pics of ride wait times as we leave around 4:20 pm:

We head back to the hotel for a bit to rest for EMH at MGM!!

 

[nhpooh]

Thanks sounds like you had a great day. Have fun today too. I love Soarin too, we had done it at DL and couldn't wait for it to open at WDW. I see the crowd levels are down isn't it great when that happens. That is why we try and go in the off seasons. Look forward to todays report.

 

[disneyaggie]

I'm in a major blue slump here...am looking for a little brightness in the world right now!!

Here's a hug for you! Hope you get to feeling better!

 

[John's Mom]

I'm really enjoying your thread. I look forward to reading each new addition. Great pics too!

Do you remember what your second room number was at the AKL? Looks like a great view.

Kathy

 

[never_enough_pooh]

I'm really enjoying your thread. I look forward to reading each new addition. Great pics too!

Do you remember what your second room number was at the AKL? Looks like a great view.

Kathy

Hi!

Our first room was 3411. (1st block).

We are now in the 4th block... 3520's.

 

[never_enough_pooh]

We stop at the hotel to refresh, and this is what I am greeted with…. Ah…… so relaxing!

We head over to MGM for EMH. We get there around 7:00 pm. The crowds are soooo busy!! We decided to eat, and the line for CS is about 15 people deep in each line.. I thought EMH nights would be quiet??

We eat, then grab our wrist bands. By this time, it looks like Fastamistic is starting, so most of the crowds start to dwindle.. yeah!! We grab a FP for TOT at 8:20 pm, and the FP is for 8:55 pm!! Yeah!! The standby wait is for 25 minutes.

We walk over to Rockin Roller Coster. Wait time was 20 minutes.It actually only took about 15 minutes! We ride Rockin Roller Coster…. It is just as good as I remembered it!! I come off feeling a bit shaky and sweaty (as I always do!!). Yeah! Time for our FP for TOT!!

By this time, there is NOBODY in line for TOT.. not even for Stand by! This is great! We ride TOT….Oh my goodness! It really seemed like it went up and down even more times than I remember! I decided after riding those 2 rides.. it might be time for a break! By this time, it is after 9:00 pm. We head over to view the Osbourne lights. There is hardly anybody here! This is great!!!

There was even “snow” falling! Well, I caught a piece of snow in my hands, and it actually felt pretty “goopy”, so I don’t know what it was actually! The lights were absolutely amazing!

We head over to see the Muppets 3-D show. Again… hardly anyone here!! You know how they usually tell you to keep moving down the row to the end of the row? This time they actually said, “sit where you would like!”. I couldn’t believe how low the crowds got as the night went on!

On a side note, during the early evening (8:00 am), we did encounter a lot of the Pop Warner kids in MGM at the headliner attractions. Not enough to really impact the ride lines, but boy do I feel bad for those chaperones! The energy those kids had was amazing!!! (ha ha!)

At 10:45 pm, we head back to the bus stop. We were the first in line for the AKL bus! By the time it came, it was full, standing room only. You would not believe the line for the Pop Century and Port Orleans bus!! It literally was hundreds deep. The line wrapped around the information booth at the beginning of the bus stops, but their stop is much farther down (we were number 8, Caribbean was number 9, the line for for either stop 10 and/or 11)!

Well, time to head back to the hotel! All in all, the EMH hours worked out nicely with very little waits for rides.

Today, we are off to MGM for the full day, followed by 50’s prime time for dinner!!

Today is scheduled to be 80 degrees with a low of 60 degrees!