If You are Going to Jump at the Finish Line, Be Sure You Stick the Landing – A 2018 Dopey Run TR

[evre13]

So excited to follow along in real time (and not lurk and be jealous after the fact)!

 

[Ariel484]

YEAAAHHHHHHHH

Hi

 

[ZellyB]

Flight of Passage - Could it really be as good as everyone says??

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It was a short walk from the lobby down to the Poly bus stop where we got lucky enough to find an Animal Kingdom bus just pulling up. Hooray! We had about 45 minutes until our FP+ window opened up for our first ride on Flight of Passage. On my first attempt at 60 days out, I hadn't been about to get a FP for the ride on arrival day, but then a few weeks before we left, suddenly a bunch of availability popped up and I was able to secure on for the afternoon on the day we arrived. In pretty short order we arrived at my favorite park, Animal Kingdom.

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It was overcast and fairly cool, but we had on sweatshirts and long-sleeved shirts under that along with our jeans, so we thought we'd be warm enough. I also had my jacket with me. We got into the park and walked over to Pandora right away. We didn't have a lot of time to wander about and the park was very crowded, so we spent some time looking around (sorry, I was all excited to be there and took no pictures!) before heading to the FP+ line. There was a group of 5 in front of us talking with the CM manning the Mickey head scanners explaining that only 3 of the 5 had FP+, but could they all go through anyway. She told them twice that actually all 5 of them needed FP+, but then she proceeded to let all 5 of them go on. HUH? The standby line at that point was well over 3 hours long and I couldn't believe she'd let 2 people without FP through. I kept thinking that maybe they would get stopped at the second scan point, but it never happened. So weird. At any rate, we got on the ride within about 10 or 15 minutes and OMG! What an amazing ride. Turns out all the enthusiastic reviews were well-deserved. Absolutely incredible.

We finished the ride just in time to head for our first ADR of the trip. A Rivers of Light Dining Package at Tiffins. We checked in and got seated shortly and set about enjoying a tasty meal. We started out by sampling the beer flight.

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We both agreed the Kungaloosh Spiced Ale was our favorite. We had a tasty bread selection provided and I got the grilled octopus for the appetizer and Chris ordered the cheese plate.

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Both were very tasty!

Next up for the main course I had the swordfish and Chris ordered the Wagyu strip loin.

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Again, both were very good. There was a pretty spicy rub on the swordfish that I enjoyed, but the server did warn about it and said you could get it without the spice if you were so inclined. My fish was a bit overcooked around the edges though, so it got a bit dry and crumbly. Chris's steak was quite good, but the star for me was the Carrot-Coconut Purée with my fish. I could have made a meal out of that and it's funny because normally I don't love carrots nor coconut, but the combination was delicious!

For dessert, I got guava mousse and Chris the chocolate ganache. Both were good, but not necessarily great. We didn't end up finishing either one.

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Overall it was a very good meal with great service and the restaurant itself was really nice. I'd probably consider eating there again, although it was quite pricey.

With our meal behind us, it was time for a quick safari ride. The temps had continued to cool and the wind had picked up, so it was a bit chilly on that ride.

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We had a bit of time to get in our last FP which was for Expedition Everest, but it was getting close to Rivers of Light showtime and by that time quite chilly, so we opted to skip it and just head for the RoL theater. We found a decent spot in the dining package area and waited for the show to begin. We were both pretty cold by this point and fairly miserable while we waited, but once the show began, we really enjoyed it. I'd heard the show wasn't that special, but we thoroughly enjoyed it and found the floats and projections to be pretty awesome. I'd definitely watch it again - but hopefully on a warmer night!

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Once the show concluded we headed straight out of the park and to a bus to take us to find our room at the Poly and get settled in for the night!

Up next: Disney Polynesian Style and, seriously, what the heck with this weather???

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[ZellyB]

So excited to follow along in real time (and not lurk and be jealous after the fact)!

Happy you are here!

YEAAAHHHHHHHH

Hi

HEY, girl, hey!!

 

[rteetz]

Glad you like FoP, RoL and Tiffins! I’m a big fan of all three of those. The Waygu strip is one of my favorite dishes. Watching RoL in the cold is definitely not that fun.

 

[SarahDisney]

Hi! I'm late but I'm here and following along!

I'm glad FoP lived up to expectations!

I'm really glad you enjoyed Rivers of Light. From everything I've seen, it does look pretty cool.
Definitely something for warmer weather, though (all the night shows at Disney are)

 

[surfde22]

I’m here for the party. Have to live vicariously through trip reports since I couldn’t make marathon weekend this year.

 

[roxymama]

Mmmmmmm purée....and beer....and bread....mmmmmmm

 

[kski907]

My troop also loved Rivers of Light. We actually did the standby line, only 1hr wait, as DD had read that the standby que was very cool and wanted to see the avatar in the tank, curious do you still get to see that with fast pass.

 

[amazingact21]

Joining in! Looking forward to reading about all the races and how the weather affected them.

I'm glad Flights of Passage lived up to the hype. Everyone swears it's an amazing attraction.
Dinner at Tiffins looked delicious, and I liked that the dishes you ordered weren't necessarily the standard items you see on a Disney menu. It's refreshing to be able to get some variety!

 

[TeeterTots]

So sad I didn’t get to FoP this trip! Looking forward to it in April for sure!
Both meals look yummy! Purée yum-o! It looks like you had a nice visit despite the cold and crowds.

 

[baxter24]

Haha I looked the same way trying to close my suitcase with all my extra layers for all four race mornings! By the morning of the marathon, I was really tired of standing in the cold for the fourth day in a row.

I met a lady on the bus the morning of the 10k who says she ended up waiting close to five hours for Flight of Passage. I was lucky enough to get a fastpass and agree that it was amazing!

 

[Anisum]

That grilled octopus looks delicious! I will say going to Rivers of Light on Thursday meant we had mylar blankets we planned to use the next day so we stayed fairly warm. I was also lucky enough to get a fastpass and I too enjoyed Flights of Passage a ton.

 

[Sailormoon2]

I have to agree that FOP is definitely worth the hype (a bit much for the motion-sickness-challenged, like me)!! Tiffins sounds fantastic, admittedly anywhere I can get an alcohol flight is in good standing with me
Our safari was chilly too, but I think the cooler temps make for far more interesting animal interactions, our jeep kept getting crossed by giraffes, had I reached out my hand I could have pet them!

 

[ZellyB]

Glad you like FoP, RoL and Tiffins! I’m a big fan of all three of those. The Waygu strip is one of my favorite dishes. Watching RoL in the cold is definitely not that fun.

I know you are a kindred spirit with me in our shared love of all things Animal Kingdom!

Hi! I'm late but I'm here and following along!

I'm glad FoP lived up to expectations!

I'm really glad you enjoyed Rivers of Light. From everything I've seen, it does look pretty cool.
Definitely something for warmer weather, though (all the night shows at Disney are)

Yay! Glad you are here. FoP was incredible. I had high expectations and honestly, the ride exceeded them.

I’m here for the party. Have to live vicariously through trip reports since I couldn’t make marathon weekend this year.

Welcome! We'll be missing it next year and I'm already bummed about it.

Mmmmmmm purée....and beer....and bread....mmmmmmm

Seriously, I was tempted to lick my plate that purée was soooooo good.

My troop also loved Rivers of Light. We actually did the standby line, only 1hr wait, as DD had read that the standby que was very cool and wanted to see the avatar in the tank, curious do you still get to see that with fast pass.

We never did do standby since the line was always insane when we were there. I'm hoping on a return trip that the lines won't be so bad. We both decided we'd willing wait up to 90 minutes for it to have a chance to see the whole queue. You don't get to see the avatar in the tank with FP+ sadly.

Joining in! Looking forward to reading about all the races and how the weather affected them.

I'm glad Flights of Passage lived up to the hype. Everyone swears it's an amazing attraction.
Dinner at Tiffins looked delicious, and I liked that the dishes you ordered weren't necessarily the standard items you see on a Disney menu. It's refreshing to be able to get some variety!

They had lots of things on then menu that weren't unique and I'd certainly go back to try some of them. Also, the nomad lounge that is attached looked like a great place to hang out and get some small bites and a drink, although it was packed when we were there.

So sad I didn’t get to FoP this trip! Looking forward to it in April for sure!
Both meals look yummy! Purée yum-o! It looks like you had a nice visit despite the cold and crowds.

Honestly, it was a really great trip even with the crowds. We are so lucky that we've been to WDW multiple times, so for us, we can be satisfied with just riding a few things and soaking in the magic.

Haha I looked the same way trying to close my suitcase with all my extra layers for all four race mornings! By the morning of the marathon, I was really tired of standing in the cold for the fourth day in a row.

I met a lady on the bus the morning of the 10k who says she ended up waiting close to five hours for Flight of Passage. I was lucky enough to get a fastpass and agree that it was amazing!

Later in our trip we returned to AK and again were luck to have a FP+ and on that trip the posted stand-by wait was 4 1/2 hours. Honestly, it's an incredible ride, but no way in heck I wait that long for a ride.

That grilled octopus looks delicious! I will say going to Rivers of Light on Thursday meant we had mylar blankets we planned to use the next day so we stayed fairly warm. I was also lucky enough to get a fastpass and I too enjoyed Flights of Passage a ton.

We should have been smarter and tried to get a blanket out of our carry on to take with us. We were just so excited to be there and anxious to make it for our FoP FP that we just dropped our bag and headed off!

I have to agree that FOP is definitely worth the hype (a bit much for the motion-sickness-challenged, like me)!! Tiffins sounds fantastic, admittedly anywhere I can get an alcohol flight is in good standing with me
Our safari was chilly too, but I think the cooler temps make for far more interesting animal interactions, our jeep kept getting crossed by giraffes, had I reached out my hand I could have pet them!

I worried for Chris on the ride since he also have motion-sickness, but he said he handled it okay. Definitely not something he'd want to ride back to back or anything, but he said he was okay for it. Alcohol flights are the best.

 

[Anisum]

We should have been smarter and tried to get a blanket out of our carry on to take with us. We were just so excited to be there and anxious to make it for our FoP FP that we just dropped our bag and headed off!

I understand that. We went 5k --> Hotel Bathroom --> FoP --> Shower/Nap in Hotel --> Safari & Rivers of Light. We definitely would not have had a blanket in the morning.

 

[run.minnie.miles]

I am jealous of every person that rides FoP... I can't wait!

We also enjoyed RoL! I know there are some negative opinions on it, but I really enjoy how different it is!

 

[ZellyB]

I am jealous of every person that rides FoP... I can't wait!

We also enjoyed RoL! I know there are some negative opinions on it, but I really enjoy how different it is!

That's how I felt. And I thought some of those projections were just incredible. The one with the giant tiger head that appears and lets out a big roar literally gave me goosebumps. And, I really don't think it was the cold.

 

[evre13]

I loved FoP in a completely unexpected way. I think AK is my favorite park as a grown up -- I do absolutely love the Magic Kingdom because how can you not, but I love my time in AK the most. I still haven't made it to Tiffins or to see ROL, so I guess I need to add that to my schedule for the next time I'm there.

 

[cadek]

Following along and can't wait to read more! I've been on a few Royal Caribbean cruises, but it's been years as I haven't gone since I have kids. I want to take them someday. It's nice that you got to enjoy some warmer weather, before the cold! I love the Poly and would love to stay there again someday.