Hijinks & Shenanigans but not much Mayhem@The Dark Side+Disney:Link to DL/Hawaii TR

[natebenma]

After visiting the animals on the Maharajah trail, we decided to make our way out of Animal Kingdom.

We passed by the lockers for Kali River Rapids- this is the first time we have seen them.






We made our way under here





into Dinoland, USA





We checked on the wait time for Primeval Whirl, and it wasnt too bad, so we rode again.


















Once again, we managed not to hurl, but the ride did take its toll.

As soon as we got off, Ben started complaining that something was in his eye and it really hurt.

He started squinting.

He started rubbing.

He started whining.

We continued to walk to check out the Dinosaur ride. Wait time was 30 minutes and Ben was in no mood to wait.

We were at a crossroads. Ben was miserable. I looked at a map to see where First Aid was located and discovered it was all the way back on Discovery Island, close to the bridge to Africa. We debated whether it was worth it to walk back there and if they would be able to do anything to help Ben.

We decided to continue to the exit of the park and the bus stop. I wet a cloth and gave that to Ben to put over his eye.

According to my notes, we arrived at the bus stop around 11. We had a lunch reservation at Sci Fi at 12:40. Ben was still pretty miserable and we decided we would keep to our plan of going to HS and if Ben was still in distress, we would find First Aid there.

At the bus stop I distracted him by scrolling through the photos we had taken that morning and looking at pictures with him. Finally the bus arrived, probably after 20 miserable minutes of waiting.


This was a bummer of an ending to what had been a pretty decent morning:

EMH Rope Drop at AK- Primeval Whirl, Dinosaur, Ben conquers EE, a pretty decent safari, an awesome fruit and cheese snack, another ride on EE, active tiger on the Maharajah Trail and another ride on Primeval Whirl. Plus two Photopass stops with excellent pictures and no complaining from the troops!


We hoped Bens discomfort would not put a damper on his enjoyment of the rest of the afternoon.


Next Up: Will the afternoon go down from here?

.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

You had such a great morning, I hope Ben was ok. We love Sci-Fi I'm going to get a reservation for Feb. we haven't been all together there since April.
There needs to be more than one F.A. Station in the parks. One at entrance then another on the other side of park.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[mickeystoontown]

Aww man, poor Ben. What a crappy way to end the day at the park. But, the poor guy couldn't help it if something was in his eye (or had been in his eye). Hoping that the next installment finds him better.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Dee, don't you know walking under a Dinosaur is bad luck?

Oh dear, I hope whatever is ailing Ben can be overcome.

 

[KatMark]

What a great morning and you accomplishes do much in a short time!!!

Sorry that Ben got uncomfortable with his eye; I hope it is rectified before lunch at the Sci Fi.

You would think with the size of the parks that they would have more than one First Aid Station in each park.

 

[MEK]

You did get a lot done in a short period of time. Despite that, I am sure whatever was in Ben's eye was doubly annoying because he was tired. I hope his eye was feeling better by the time you finally got to HS.

I haven't ridden the Primeval whirl in quite awhile. I think I better give it a try again soon.

 

[natebenma]

Thank you all for your concern about Ben! I won't leave you in suspense until my next update. Fortunately, somewhere between AK and HS, he started feeling much better. We did not have to seek First Aid (which is just inside the entrance) when we arrived.

You had such a great morning, I hope Ben was ok. We love Sci-Fi I'm going to get a reservation for Feb. we haven't been all together there since April.
There needs to be more than one F.A. Station in the parks. One at entrance then another on the other side of park.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Sci-Fi was one of the boys must-do meal requests.

I was shocked that there was not a First Aid station near the entrance/exit to AK. There definitely should be more than one in a park that large!

Aww man, poor Ben. What a crappy way to end the day at the park. But, the poor guy couldn't help it if something was in his eye (or had been in his eye). Hoping that the next installment finds him better.

You can't keep Ben down for long!!!

I was so relieved when he said he was fine.

Dee, don't you know walking under a Dinosaur is bad luck?

I do now!

Oh, oh! We are planning on dinner at T-Rex later that evening. Hope we are careful.

Oh dear, I hope whatever is ailing Ben can be overcome.

Maybe it was pixie dust in his eye. His discomfort seemed to go away as quickly as it had come.

What a great morning and you accomplishes do much in a short time!!!

We did have a great morning! Since the Disney part of our trip was so short we considered skipping AK, but I'm glad we didn't. We did everything the family wanted to do except for Kali. It was a shame that we didn't see any shows, but the boys don't want to watch those anyway.

Sorry that Ben got uncomfortable with his eye; I hope it is rectified before lunch at the Sci Fi.

You would think with the size of the parks that they would have more than one First Aid Station in each park.

I was pretty surprised to learn that there was just one First Aid station at AK.

I'm glad we were able to skip it though and Ben started feeling better on his own.

You did get a lot done in a short period of time. Despite that, I am sure whatever was in Ben's eye was doubly annoying because he was tired. I hope his eye was feeling better by the time you finally got to HS.

I think that is a pretty accurate insight into why Ben was in so much distress. In the past 5 days we had arrived in Florida, started at the theme parks at Universal at 7 am and we were pretty active most of past 4 days, so yes, he was pretty tired.

I haven't ridden the Primeval whirl in quite awhile. I think I better give it a try again soon.

I'm always afraid I will get sick since I don't do well on spinny rides, but so far so good. The ride is pretty whip-lashy though.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

So glad that Ben was better by the time I got caught up on you TR and his pain didn't spoil the whole day

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Hi, Dee! I'm thrilled you took another trip to the World (both of them!). Your original Universal/WWoHP trip report was so incredibly helpful when we went in 2012 - I used many of your excellent tips!

I can't wait to see what's up next! (And I'm glad Ben's eye was okay!)

 

[teekathepony]

Oh Primeval Whirl. I just can't do it! LOL
Yikes, not cool about Ben's eye. Glad to read he was feeling better soon. I had to go to first aid with something in my eye a few years ago! They were great, gave me some drops and an ice pack. I am glad he didn't have to go there though!
Great wrap up, sounds like an awesome morning other than the eye!

 

[JanetMom]

Thank you all for your concern about Ben! I won't leave you in suspense until my next update. Fortunately, somewhere between AK and HS, he started feeling much better. We did not have to seek First Aid (which is just inside the entrance) when we arrived.

Well you took the suspense out of that cliff hanger far too early. (But so glad to hear he started feeling better!)

 

[natebenma]

So glad that Ben was better by the time I got caught up on you TR and his pain didn't spoil the whole day

Yes, I was relieved when Ben was ok. If his eye continued to bother him, it would have been a loooonnngg afternoon. It was still a long day with a lot left on the agenda (HS, Beach Club, DTD, T-Rex), so I was really glad that he was feeling up to keeping the plans we had scheduled.

Hi, Dee! I'm thrilled you took another trip to the World (both of them!). Your original Universal/WWoHP trip report was so incredibly helpful when we went in 2012 - I used many of your excellent tips!

I can't wait to see what's up next! (And I'm glad Ben's eye was okay!)

Good to see you here! We had an awesome trip back to Dark Side and the World, which I may have mentioned that my 15 year old declared to be "The best vacation ever!"

I am so glad you found my prior report helpful. I started this report with a few Universal updates, but then moved on to the Disney portion. Over on the Universal trip report boards, I was working on a report there, but I think it died of neglect! I did get through descriptions of everything we did in the Studios, but I haven't even started on our fun at Islands of Adventure.

Thanks for reading!

Oh Primeval Whirl. I just can't do it! LOL
Yikes, not cool about Ben's eye. Glad to read he was feeling better soon. I had to go to first aid with something in my eye a few years ago! They were great, gave me some drops and an ice pack. I am glad he didn't have to go there though!
Great wrap up, sounds like an awesome morning other than the eye!

I am always worried that riding PW is going to be a mistake, but so far, so good. Astro Orbitors, however, I will never do again. Probably.

I am glad to hear your experience with first aid was helpful, although I so did not want to make that part of our touring plan!

Well you took the suspense out of that cliff hanger far too early. (But so glad to hear he started feeling better!)

I know, right!?!

That's how I lost my job as a soap opera writer.

 

[momabbate]

Glad Ben's eye cleared up!! Love that you gave him a wet towel to hold on his eye. That is always the first thing I do. I get the littlest thing in my eye and it hurts like crazy. I think the moisture from the towel helps draw it out. Back when I was in school the nurse could never find anything in my eye, so always gave me the towel.

 

[eandesmom]

Oh poor Ben! I'm glad you didn't leave us in suspense and the offending object somehow resolved itself. Whew!

I had no idea there were lockers near Kali.....

 

[natebenma]

Glad Ben's eye cleared up!! Love that you gave him a wet towel to hold on his eye. That is always the first thing I do. I get the littlest thing in my eye and it hurts like crazy. I think the moisture from the towel helps draw it out. Back when I was in school the nurse could never find anything in my eye, so always gave me the towel.

It was quite a relief to him and to me!

I am a big believer in the magic of a wet towel! My son Nate, when he was younger, would cry out for a wet towel when his eye would bother him. "Wet cloth! Wet cloth!"

Oh poor Ben! I'm glad you didn't leave us in suspense and the offending object somehow resolved itself. Whew!

I had no idea there were lockers near Kali.....

I thought I would be back to update before now, but since I didn't I'm glad I gave away the ending so that Ben didn't have to suffer his eye injury in cyberspace for the past week or so!



The lockers are "fairly" new. I don't think they were there during my June 2012 class trip, but were added sometime before July 2013 obviously.

I don't know the details- I think they are for use free of charge while you are on the ride, like the evil Universal lockers, but I am really not sure. Key or combination? Anyone know?

I don't know if this would still keep me from using my famous Ziploc Big Bag though.

 

[natebenma]

Bens eye was feeling better by the time we reached Hollywood Studios, but I must have been preoccupied with the situation because this is the only picture I took before we arrived at Sci Fi.






We knew it was a long-shot, but on our way we peeked at the Tip Board to see what the Toy Story FP circumstances were. As expected, FP were either gone for the day or the return time was too late for them to be of any use to us.

Nate, Ben and I proceeded to the restaurant while Mark went to get Fast Passes for either Tower of Terror or Rock-N-Roller Coaster. Based on timing, he returned with ToT FP valid for 1:50 to 2:50.

When Mark caught up with us at the restaurant, we checked and waited a few minutes for a table. We actually prefer a regular table where we can face one another to the front and back seating in the cars, so we asked for that.















I spy with my little eye one of Mickeytoontowns custom-made backsacks




Here we are!





This was one of the meals we scheduled that helped me to convince Mark that the Dining Plan was not the best idea for us. I reminded him how much food we get here and that it probably made sense for us to split a burger and then share a hot fudge sundae.

After being seated, we reviewed the menu and we all decided on burgers. A smart choice. My first time dining here I ordered the Shrimp Pasta and that was the single nastiest thing I have ever eaten at Disney.

Ben loves Caesar Salad and wanted to order that AND a Picnic Burger:


The all American Picnic Burger - Flame Broiled Angus Burger patty topped with grilled hot dog, sauerkraut and sauteed onions, drizzled with ketchup, mustard and crowned with a pickle spear. Served with a choice of cucumber salad or french fries

Um. No.


A plain burger (sans hot dog), Caesar Salad, Oreo shake and dessert is MORE than enough for one person.

Nate ordered a burger with fries, chocolate shake and turtle cheesecake.

Mark and I split a burger with cucumber salad, I had iced tea and he had lemonade. We planned to split a hot fudge sundae.


Bring on the food!









Angus Chuck Burger - Flame-broiled beef patty topped with your choice of Cheddar or Swiss cheese, sauteed onions, mushroom, or crispy bacon and served with a choice of cucumber salad or French fries.






When it came time to order dessert, Nate wanted this:

Out-of-This-World Turtle Cheesecake - with Heath Bar, Pecans, Chocolate Chips, Caramel Sauce, and topped with Whipped Cream





We were hoping after the burger and salad and knowing that we had a big meal at T-Rex for dinner that Ben wouldnt need dessert. But he saw the description of the candy bar dessert and had to have it- I just checked the menus on the DIS and All Ears and I dont see it on either listing:





We agreed to let Ben get this, on the condition that he share it with me and Mark. So we didnt end up ordering the fantastic Sci-Fi Hot Fudge Sundae. Mark was actually pretty disappointed about this, which is unusual for him.

The candy bar thing really wasnt that great. If I recall correctly, it seemed a bit stale.

So was our meal Out of this World or Did We Boldly Go Where No Man (or Woman) Should Go?

Neither. It was OK. Decent, filling, but nothing special.

But we will probably be back again because the kids love the experience.

Next up: The Service is Really Going Down at this Hotel

 

[KatMark]

I'm glad Ben's eye was better when you got to the Studios. Too bad no fastpasses for TSM.

Dee, I have to agree with you on the food at Sci Fi. You can easily share it between two people. Mark and I did that in December (although he wasn't feeling very well the day we went anyway).

And I am so with you on the Shrimp Pasta there...the worse thing I hav EVER in my life eaten at Disney or just about anywhere else.

Boys will be boys and need their food AND desserts.

The burgers look good and you are always safe ordering those at Sci Fi.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Oh your food does look good! I've only eaten in Sci-fi once and while I too thought the portions were huge we didn't think to share . It's not that common here to share meals so I always wonder if it's really ok or will the waiter just think I'm being cheap We also didn't know that we could get hitchhikers in the back of our car and when we did it kinda spoiled the experience so I think I would agree a normal table is probably best for my family too

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Haha, even though you already know the result, you still have to check those FP times. You just have to.

Never have eaten at Sci-Fi, but I do so get a kick out of the seating in all the photos I've seen. It just makes me giggle to see everyone (well almost everyone) facing the same direction. Just looks strange to me.

It seems most people give this place a thumbs up for atmosphere and an "OK' for food. It appears you continue that trend.

 

[teekathepony]

I totally agree about Sci-Fi, incredible theming and so cool, but the food... ehh. That candy bar dessert looks good, so disappointing that it wasn't. I think the only thing worse than a disappointing dessert, is a dessert that looks and sounds really good and isn't. Boo.