June comes before August & the APs will still be valid! I think we're done here!

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

This morning we went to AK. It was hot. Africa hot. STEAMY.

We rode Everest (posted 15 minutes stand-by, but I don't think it took that long), Primeval Whirl (walk-on), Dinosaur (posted 20 minutes but it also was not that long), we used the DVC "instant" FPs to ride the safari. Those are HANDY. Each person in your party gets an instant FP when you tour BLT. It is valid to use 3 times. You pop it in and you get a FP for immediate return. We made it through the safari line in 10 minutes. Saw the baby giraffe and the baby elephant. SO cute!

After the safari we walked the trail to see my gorillas.

From there we got some milkshakes (which required spoons). The character greeting trails were WAAAYYYY long so we skipped them.

We watched Tough to be a Bug, then we came back to the hotel. We grabbed lunch at Mara. I do NOT recommend going to Mara at 1 PM because the line was really long. We should have eaten at the park.

I called Hard Rock to ask them what the problem seems to be with their billing. The girl said all of those charges are just holds that will drop off. Oh, well, that's nice. Holds that are currently tying up $500 of the credit line. No, we don't need those funds, but we ARE on vacation. What if we DID need access to that money? We left Hard Rock owing $49.69 and they have almost $500 of our credit line locked up. I am NOT impressed.

The DVC van was waiting for us when we went outside. We got to SSR, signed our documents, had some tasty ice cream and had a family photo taken, then back to AKL. The DVC sales office had no air becasue of a lightning strike last night. It was warm in there. Not stifling, but warm. Our guide said some of the guest buildings also had no air. THAT would suck. We got another spiffy blue fiber-y bag to carry our giant folio of paperwork in, and we got 3 more of those instant FPs. YAY!!!

 

[Tammi67]

That cake looks LUSCIOUS!!!!

Nicholas said to tell DS that he was impressed with his Buzz score!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Nice shot!!!!!

Cake looks awesome! And huge! YUM!!!

Great Buzz score. I can only do that if the ride breaks down in the right spot.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

DS wants this toy. We can't recall the exact price, but it is about $250. He will NEVER own this toy.

 

[tmfranlk]

I want that toy too! But, yup! There is no way I'm spending that much. Even Dumbo is too high.

The cake looks great too!

Still need to go back and catch up on a couple of days, but looks like lots of fun all around! Congrats on the DVC add on.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Tia, I think DS said Dumbo is around $80, so yep, too much!

We went to AK for dinner at Yak & Yeti and PM EMH. It was HUMID!!! Very sticky.

Dinner was OK. DH says he is done with Yak & Yeti so we'll be doing dinner at Tusker House or maybe Boma on our future AK evenings. I'll post pics tomorrow. There wasn't anything wrong with dinner, it just wasn't fabulous. And they don't take TiW so we had to settle for a 10% AP discount. Oh, and there was a kid SCREAMING a couple of tables away. I have actually never seen a kid throw a fit like that in a restaurant. One of the hostess ladies came up to their table and she must have told them to take him out, because the mom got up and went outside with him. Not sure why that didn't occur to her without being TOLD, but whatever.

We managed to see Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and Goofy before the character lines closed for the day. We rode Everest and the dinosaur Dumbo ride. After that we planned to see Mickey & Minnie, but they had been cancelled due to weather. Seriously?? There was lightning. Everest was running, so a coaster full of guests on a metal track was OK. 2 characters standing THREE STEPS away from the door to a shop had to be cancelled. Right. Good call.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Early entry at MK this morning, dinner with friends at Yachtsman tonight!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

A few more thoughts while I wait for DH to finish in the shower.

The charge for the breakfast at Hard Rock has now hit the account. You would THINK all those "holds" would drop off. Nope. Still pending.

I had some cake before bed last night. It was yummy. But the fondant stuck to the box so it is looking pretty rough. Take ALL of your cake photos before you leave the restaurant!

 

[Aristocath]

I've been busy so I've missed about three pages of posts! Had to catch up. Congrats on the fifty points. Love the cake. And outstanding picture from the HM.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Well, today hasn't gone the way we thought it would at all!

We got to MK at 8 AM. We rode Buzz, Tea Cups, Pooh, Small World. The wait for Snow White was 20 minutes, Peter Pan was 35 AT 8:30 AM!!! Haunted Mansion was posted 20 but it looked like a longer wait than that.

The line for Big Thunder was across the Frontierland Bridge, the Splash line was going up the hill towards Pecos Bill's. But we walked on Pirates and had the whole boat to ourselves. Go figure.

We rode Magic Carpets (walk-on) then went to do Space with our DVC FPs. Space was broken so we got a pic with Chip & Dale and by then it was working again. We rode TTA, then we did Carousel of Progress (walk-ons). By then we were done. It was so hot and humid the air was almost too thick to breathe.

We saw Scoop on Main St. so we traded some pins and we were out of the park by 11 AM.

I always say I can't discern crowd levels, but let me tell you, it was CROWDED!!! But in a weird way.

Now, while we were on Small World I could feel my phone ringing. It was Ricardo, calling to say his dad is ill again so he won't be at Yachtsman tonight. We texted our friends to let them know, but we were still planning on dinner.

On the way back to the lodge we decided to get off the bus at Kidani. I wanted to look at the models because I think we will stay there next year. The bus situation was GREAT last week, but now it is getting ugly. It would be good to be first on and first off.

We looked at the model, we looked at the arcade, we looked at the community hall, the library, and the activities board. Then I went down the stairs to look at Sanaa. And we decided to stay for lunch!

While we were eating my friend sent a text that he got called into work tonight, so they can't meet us for dinner. OK, we'll cancel Yachtsman!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Dinner at Yak & Yeti

Fried green beans (these were not as delicate as the ones from PF Chang's)

Pork Egg Rolls

Honey chicken

Crispy mahi mahi

Kids meal chicken nuggets (not sure how he ended up with double apple sauce)

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Lunch at Sanaa

Kid's cheese toast and tomato soup appetizer

Tandoori chicken (It was SOOOO good!!)

Kid's cheese pizza and apple slices

Shrimp curry, short ribs, and basmati rice

 

[Dizney73]

oooo... That Tandoori Chicken looks so good!!! Is this normally a very crowded time of the year? I know schools across the country just got out recently but still I never thought that June 15 would be so crowded!

 

[starann]

That stinks about dinner! Are you going to re-plan Yahtsman? I know you were looking forward to meeting up with Ricardo.

 

[tmfranlk]

Sorry about Yachtsman!

Sounds like MK was a busy today. Was it supposed to be according to your planning? (Though big waits by 8:30 is already really crowded in my book.)

Hope the weather is treating you better at least.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We have never been here in June before, so I am not sure what date the crowds really roll in.

Star, no, we are just going to do Yachtsman next year. We are really hitting the food "wall" where none of us are really hungry.

Tia, crowd level was supposed to be a "6" today by the new crowd calendar.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We went back to MK this evening. We got there around 5:30 PM. We got a FP for Buzz, rode Peter Pan with DVC FPs (wait was 50 minutes, regular FP return was 11 PM), rode Big Thunder with our FPs from this AM. Pirates was still a walk-on so we rode that, then we went to the Tiki Room, then back to ride Buzz with the FPs.

By just after 7 PM there were people on the curbs for the 9 PM parade.

For the first time ever I heard them announce over a PA system that MK would stay open an extra hour tonight. Odd. And crowded.

DS INSISTED on getting dinner at that blasted Noodle Station. He had broccoli beef, DH had orange chicken.

The fireworks were really lovely. I never had strong feelings about "Wishes" one way or the other, so the new show was nice.

 

[Tammi67]

Elizabeth - I just looked to see what TGM said about yesterday. He gave MK a red in the AM and a yellow with caution in the PM. I guess he was spot-on.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Elizabeth - I just looked to see what TGM said about yesterday. He gave MK a red in the AM and a yellow with caution in the PM. I guess he was spot-on.

Hmm. Does he ever recommend AM EMH as "green"? Just curious. I have never used TGM.

We're supposed to be going to Epcot today but I think we may go a little bit later. It would be nice to get the Disney Visa photo, and we might hit Welcome Home Wednesday.

 

[tmfranlk]

Hmm. Does he ever recommend AM EMH as "green"? Just curious. I have never used TGM.

We're supposed to be going to Epcot today but I think we may go a little bit later. It would be nice to get the Disney Visa photo, and we might hit Welcome Home Wednesday.

I don't think he ever does. I've seen a yellow before, but that was tagged with a "go at rope drop and get out early" kind of thing. Also, I think that it tends to be when there weren't a lot of good options for the day or week or it's a really slow week.

Your MK night sounds much better. Glad you enjoyed the new fireworks. I may have to go find a video of them somewhere. Can't wait all the way until next year to see them! (If they don't change them again, of course.)