Let's see what this family does flying solo - the POST trip report!

[nilla]

Next up was Voyage of the Little Mermaid, which is one of my favorite shows in WDW. Of course, the kids and Kristin love it, too. Disney's use of blacklights in its attractions rivals even my college dorm room, and this one is no exception.

After that it's off to Walt Disney: One Man's Dream. I got to see all but the movie of this last year when Kristin and the kids saw VotLM, and I went off to grab FPs for TSM (three acronyms in one sentence - I've earned my ears!). I loved the models of the landmarks and attractions, and I'm a sucker for antique memorabilia. The whole family's checking it out this year, which leads to one of our favorite moments on the whole trip.

Emily loves to play pretend. At any given time, she's my wife, my teacher, my mother, etc, etc, and right now, she's a Cast Member. She's giving me a tour, and it's HILARIOUS. Kristin asks her how she became a cast member, and she says her husband is a Cast Member. But he died. Not surprising, since the death of family members is a recurring theme in her charades. I wonder if that has anything to do with one too many Princess movies?

Dylan, on the other hand, does not play the pretend game for even a second. At one point, I point to a picture of ToT and ask what it is. When Dylan tells me, Emily says, "that's my friend. He's another Cast Member," which doesn't go over well with Dylan. We once had him almost on the brink of insanity by insisting that Emily's claim that he was her husband was true (I kept calling him "Dad"), so we don't exactly respect his reluctance to play along. Yeah, we're horrible, but we'll pay for the therapy when he gets older. For now, though, he's on his own, so he goes over to the step by the theater for some Budhist-like meditation (yes, you read that right). Emily wraps up the tour, and it's inside for the movie...

...Wow. That was fantastic. A hidden gem that I would imagine most people pass over. If you haven't seen it, make sure you do. I got a kick out of the "bad, old Mickey" costume at the Snow White premiere, but in all, it was a very interesting film that made us more greatly appreciate the man who has done so much for our happiness.

 

[nilla]

After hearing the kids ask for about the 537th time, I finally take their side and suggest we go to the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" (or "Microkids", as it's called in Japan) movie set playground so they can run around and we can wonder where on Earth they are.

Emily, as always, makes friends anywhere she goes, and this is no different. After running around for a while, she finds none other than the girl from the plane (whose name I still forget). The two get a kick out of getting squirted as I talk to her parents, who are also staying at CSR.

Actually, they were supposed to stay at CSR, but they accepted the offer to upgrade to Saratoga Springs that we declined and said the suite was amazing. Great for them, but we put theming above most other factors when it comes to judging a resort, so we don't regret our decision one bit. Glad they're enjoying it, though.

We part ways again, and head out toward Mama Melrose, stopping first to find the elusive-to-Kristin umbrella from "Singing in the Rain". Neither of us has seen that movie, but look - real water!

Ok, so you can't see real water in the picture, but trust me, it's there. You just have to step on the metal piece really, really hard.

After that, the kids get their pictures taken with Lightning McQueen and Larry the Cable Guy...a neat little character spot, for what it is. Then it's off to Mama Melrose for our Fantasmic Package dinner.

 

[nilla]

***Waring - this post is not for the squeamish!***

Rewind to last year. It's the beginning of the swine flu (back when it was still called swine flu) scare, and we were only a few weeks away from our yearly trip. Kristin was freaking out. I told her it hadn't hit WDW yet, so there's no need to panic. Then, one day, I get a call at work. She leads off with, "can I panic now?" First case confirmed at WDW. Damn. I don't want to cancel the trip. I'm really, really skeptical when it comes to hysteria of any kind, so I tell her to wait to see how it plays out. Our departure date comes, and there is no epidemic in WDW, so we head out. We stayed overnight at a hotel in Philly to make the morning flight much more tolerable. We hit the hotel pool before bed, but unfortunately, Dylan's buck teeth cause him to drink several gallons of pool water before we're through. We hit the sack, and all is well until Dylan springs out of bed saying he needs to throw up. I try to get him to the bathroom in time, but no dice. BWAAAAAH all over the carpet, just outside the bathroom. Guess who gets to clean it up?

So now what do we do? We rationalize it by saying he probably just drank too much pool water. I really, REALLY don't want to bail on this trip, especially now. He boots again later on, but we give him an Immodium before the flight, which miraculously works.

The flight was delayed, so we got down to Orlando too late to hit any parks. Hey, look at that large group of Mexican high school students, all wearing surgical masks in the MCO airport. We almost forgot - we have to worry about swine flu, too.

The next morning, Dylan seemed ok when we woke up, so we headed for Magic Kingdom. We hit a few rides early on, then had lunch at Pecos Bill's Fall Off Your Chair Cafe, where I realized something was not right. While I'm not exactly huge, I can eat with the best of them, but today I was having trouble finishing my bacon double cheeseburger. It was like it was just sitting in my stomach. We went on Haunted Mansion, and I started sweating badly. I thought about where I'd throw up if I had to. We got off the ride, and I kept it quiet for the time being, praying that once the food digested, I'd be ok.

We went on IASM, and it was not ok. Kristin looked at me, and I gave her a thumbs down and a "heave" motion. I started looking for emergency exits. I seriously thought I would be either chumming over the side of the boat or making a run past the hula dancers before all was said and done. Fortunately, I made it out ok, and we agreed to head back to Wilderness Lodge.

We had just made it out of Adventure Land when it hit me. I needed a bathroom, right now, BAD. None in sight. Garbage can? They're all "side entry" - not going to work. I find a railing with a small dropoff and some bushes on the otherside, so over I lean and let it all out. Awful. I'm puking in the Magic Kingdom, in a place that I will forever refer to as "Jon's Pukeful Spot".

We got back to WL and I went right to bed. Kristin took Emily to the Cindrella character dinner at the Grand Floridian while Dylan stayed back with me and played Nintendo DS. For any of you who have been bedridden at WDW, I'm sure you'll agree when I say it completely sucks. I didn't want to watch any Disney propaganda because it was just too darn depressing, so I watch what seemed like 5 straight hours of the Spiderman cartoon on Disney XD. ENOUGH SPIDERMAN ALREADY. I don't think I've watched anything with the webhead in it since.

I made a few more trips to the bathroom that night, and Kristin returned with a story of how Emily threw up on her plate at dinner. OMG. This is horrible. Kristin is now terrified that she's next.

The next day we slept in, and when we woke up, I demanded we go to Epcot, since I could not sit in that room any longer. We managed to make it through the rest of the trip vomit-free, but my appetite was sparse for Askersus, Chef Mickey's, Ohana, and Mama Melrose, which is why I am telling you this story to begin with. I am really looking forward to being able to actually eat this year, since the dinners are half the appeal for Kristin and me.

Oh yeah, and we never got swine flu.

 

[nilla]

Inside Mama Melrose, and my stomach is in fighting shape. I'm ready to go. We're there early again, so we're seated right away. Kristin gets some girly drink while I go with the theme and get a Moretti, which isn't a bad beer in its own right. She ordes the Shrimp Pipettes, which are not as cool as the band "The Pipettes" (look them up!), but are still really good. I get the Seafood Fra Diavlo, which is excellent. The service is really, really slow, and Dylan is really bothered by the fact that we didn't get bread, but Kristin and I see it as a blessing since he usually just fills up on bread and doesn't eat his meal anyway. Didn't matter, though, since the Grilled Chicken Strips he did get don't fall into either of the Grilled Cheese or PB&J food groups his diet is taken from exclusively. Nonetheless, we have fun, as is evidenced from these photos:

Aren't we awesome? We finally got out of there and hit TSM and finally RnR.

"Clueless guest moment" as we got out of the "studio", and the girl in front of us said, "oh, it IS a roller coaster!" I was surprised, too, since I was 99.9% sure the "Rock 'n Roller Coaster" was a carousel.

Ok, let me pause for a moment to rant - It's "Rock 'n Roller Coaster". NOT "Rock 'n Roll Roller Coaster". Get it right, or get out of Disney. Almost as bad as when I heard someone refer to Splash Mountain as "the flume ride" a few years back, and only slightly worse than when I hear EE referred to as "Mt. Everest". What's the big deal, you say? What's your name? Bob? Ok, how about I call you "Bill" from now on? How do you like that?





Anyway......this ride is awesome, even if it isn't what you might expect from WDW and doesn't really fit the Hollywood theme of this park. I'm not sure what song they played when we were on, but I was a little disappointed that it was not "Love in an Elevator", as that was what was stuck in my head in the days leading up to this moment. I did get Dylan in on the joke later by acting like they did play that song, which led to some moments reminiscent of the old Kevin Nealon elevator sketches on SNL ("gonna go BACK in time!"). What can I say, we're easily amused.

Ok, now that's done - let's go see Fantasmic! Finally! The moment has arrived - we're not missing it this year!

 

[nilla]

Failed to mention (again) that we ran into our first Disboarders of the trip on this day, walking by the skyscraper replica. Kristin spotted them by their telltale green Mickey paint samples, which we oddly enough do not carry. Always great to talk to our "brothers and sisters". We discuss the crowds, which if I haven't mentioned are quite overwhelming today, by late April standards.

Ok, now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

 

[nilla]

Inside the theater, and we wait. Finally, it gets dark enough to start, out comes the star, and we're on. Pretty cool show - the water effects are really neat, and the giant dragon and snake are really cool. Mickey kicking **** was great, too ("Hey, Dylan - it's ON"), and I always like when they tie in multiple movies and characters into one show (e.g., Philharmagic). HOWEVER...I don't know if it was enough to make it worth enduring the spike in attendance on the days it shows. I can see it every other year and be find. Truth be told, I might have enjoyed VotLM more than this.

Dylan is also a bit disappointed, because I think he was expecting an epic battle between Mickey and all of the villains, and he really just took down the dragon, quite easily to boot. I guess I can agree to some extent, though I didn't quite expect as much action as he was hoping for.

NOW...I remember a post last year from someone who suggested that the show by done to the music of Iron Maiden. I think just about everyone thought the poster was nuts, but man, I'd MOVE to Hollywood Studios if that happened. I'd live inside the hat. I'm serious. Merging Disney and Iron Maiden to me would be like mixing peanut butter and chocolate. I would probably pass out.

Back to reality. We didn't get the best pics, but we got this one, at least.

After the show, we hurried out of the ampitheater, and Dylan and Kristin rushed over to ToT. Emily and I agreed to meet them in the gift shop, which was easier said than done. We stood by the wall across from the gift shop as the masses poured out of Fantasmic, waiting patiently. Emily asked how we were ever going to get across. I parked the stroller, picked her up, and said "watch this", before walking directly against the grain of the thousands coming down the street. Our job as parents is to teach our kids lessons that will help them in life, and today, I taught my daughter that if you just walk with a demeanor that says "I'm not stopping", people will move for you. Hopefully she will remember this when she brings her kids to WDW.

Inside the ToT gift shop, where I find an awesome book about Nightmare Before Christmas. Emily again plays Cast Member as she arranges the "Hollywood Hotel" shampoos and candles. It's taking Dylan and Kristin forever to come out - hey, it's the Mexican cheerleaders we saw on the Magical Express! And they're in full cheerleader garb, unlike their less-dedicated American counterparts, who wear street clothes. Now THAT'S cheerleading!

Dylan and Kristin finally come down, and Dyl says ToT at night is an absolute must-ride. We still have two FPs from earlier, but we opt instead to call it a night, but not until after blowing some more cash on random Disney merch that I can't recall right now.

That's it for HS. We have another half day planned for it next week, but do we really need to do anything else here? We missed the Muppets, but they'll be under refurb at that time. We saw Indy Jones, Beauty and the Beast, and the Backlot Tour in prior years and don't really NEED to see them this year. Kristin suggests a day of all pool, no park, which is like nails across a chalkboard to me. I don't even want to think about it. We agree that we'll play it by ear, but for now, it's off to the buses and back to CSR. Magic Kingdom tomorrow!

 

[kristin t]

I could have definitely lived without the graphic description of the stomach bug of 2009, but it is your TR, so write as you wish!!
We're off to Animal Kingdom tomorrow - we still have one more day before Magic Kingdom.

 

[nilla]

I hate to let my readers down, but I will not be posting this evening (with the exception of this post). Turns out I've been staying up way too late this week doing this TR, and it's starting to take a toll on me in the morning.

I will be back tomorrow, and by request from the lovely kristin_t, will be including more pictures in the report. To appease her for tonight, I'll post this HS photo that she loves:

Also, one of the items we saw on Cast Member Emily's guided tour, the model of Belle's castle from Disneyland Paris. I want to go to DP in the worst way, mostly because of Phantom Manor and, to a lesser extent, that parks version of PoTC.

And finally, since this WAS taken in HS, I have an excuse to add this beauty to my TR once again.

Back tomorrow for an account of our day at Animal Kingdom (NOT Magic Kingdom - thanks, Kristin!) and some more general silliness.

Good night!

 

[nilla]

I'm back, well rested, and ready for some more reportin'! Meanwhile, back in Orlando...

We woke up the next morning and hit the bus stops in good time, but waited forever for a bus to Animal Kingdom. Eventually, one came, and we still managed to get to AK just after rope drop. A CM in the front told us we were selected to receive passes to the morning show of Festival of the Lion King, which everyone knows is about as much of an honor as getting bonus FPs to Philharmagic when getting FPs for Winnie the Pooh. Nice try, buddy, but we're going to Expedition Everest like everyone else!

We hiked up to EE by way of Finding Nemo: The Musical, and passed a placard on the way indicating that DiVine was indeed "in the house", which is huge to us, since we've been looking for her for the past two years. We reach "Mt. Everest" and the standby line was surprisingly short. Kristin and Dylan got in line and asked for Rider Swap passes. The CM was feeling optimistic and asked to measure Emily, who not surprisingly came up an inch short. We got the RS passes, then Em and I went over and got FPs while Dylan and Kristin rode. We watched them come down the hill, then swapped riders as I rode with Dylan. EE is such a great ride, even if it's only really implied that there's a yeti on the last run.

We then headed over to Dinosaur and recreated a classic photo we took of Dylan a few years back:

I had warned Emily that this ride was loud, bouncy, and had dinosaurs that say "raaar", but she assured me she "likes raaar dinosaurs", so we rode. There was hardly any line, so we were on in about 5 minutes. Emily made a quick pin trade before we made it to the end of the queue. We asked if we could have the front, and I ended up with the front right seat, which is the best seat on that ride since it puts you right up against the carnotaurus at the end. I love dark, scary stuff, so naturally, I LOVE this ride. Dylan rode last year but was a bit scared and passed on a second ride, but was fine this year. Emily, much like after ToT, was not visibly shaken, but declined an offer to ride again "until she's 5 or 6".

We headed over to Chester and Hester's, where Kristin and Dylan rode Primeval Whirl, while Emily and I hit Triceratops Spin. No line for TS after we got off, and Kristin and Dylan were still in line for PW, so we rode again. We then watched for them by the fence, but couldn't find them, so we rode TS AGAIN. Emily loved it. I thought about riding it for a fourth time, but was then saved by the rest of our party.

I did not ride Primeval Whirl on this trip, and while I don't really mind it, it's not a "must do" for me. For those of you who have ridden it and enjoy the "spinning wild mouse" sensation, let me suggest to you the Fairly Oddcoaster (sing it - "Oddcoaster, Fairly Oddcoaster") at the Mall of America in Minnesota. INSANE. Think Primeval Whirl, but with non-stop spinning and a track that doesn't follow any uniform pattern. At any given time, you have no clue where you are.

But enough about the MoA, we're in Animal Kingdom! What's next?

 

[nilla]

Kristin took the kids into the Boneyard, while I headed over for FPs for the Kilimanjaro Safaris. I took the ultra-secret path that runs behind the Tree of Life and past the "It's Tough to be a Bug (when your show terrifies children)" exit. I guess it's not really a secret, since most of you here probably know it and use it already, and even less of a secret know that I'm telling you about it. Nevertheless, it's not very crowded, except the ITTBAB is letting out right now and I have to swim upstream to get past. I find a CM and ask about DiVine, but she is not sure where she is. She does tell me that DiVine is pretty freaky, so I'm all the more intrigued now.

I walk past a Macaw standing on the fence to its pen and wonder if he really should be out that far. Eventually, I make it to KS, get the FPs (behind someone who doesn't know how to use the FP machine, of course), then head back down the no-longer-secret path back to Dinorama.

When I returned, we had a bit of a miscommunication when I called Kristin and asked if she was still in the Boneyard. No, she said, they're in the Dig Site. She tried to explain where it was. "Is it in the Boneyard?", I asked. No. It's the Dig site. For god's sake, do I need to enter the Boneyard to get to it? Yes. Ok, so it IS in the Boneyard. But not exactly. I'll call this one a draw. That only took about 3 minutes to figure out.

I passed some knucklehead street performers, then got over to the Dig Site and had my first "Crocs are awful in this situation" experience. Within seconds, my awesome purple and gold footwear was filled with tiny, jagged pebbles. The kids were having fun, though, and I really think Dylan would've tried to unearth the entire mammoth had we let him. Having ten park days, we really tried to let the kids have more time doing free play stuff like this rather than just running them from attraction to attraction like we normally do.

We dumped the rocks out of our shoes, got more rocks stuck to our bare feet, wiped off our bare feet, dumped the rocks out again, and headed out. I'm noticing that the loop tape in Dinorama is kind of short, so the CMs must get mighty tired of R.E.M..

 

[nilla]

Technology footnote:

Almost all of the photos in this TR were taken with our tiny Canon Power Shot SD870 IS, which takes some awesome shots provided there is sufficient lighting, but is not quite as hot at night or in darker places. However, the two pics of the Boneyard - sorry, Kristin, I meant the Dig Site were taken with the still photo function of our Sony HDR-XR150 Handycam, purchased just days before we left for Florida. While the stills we get with this camera don't measure up to the Canon, it does take some decent night shots, especially of fireworks, since it has no flash to glare things up. Of course, we didn't buy it for stills; we bought it to replace our old 8MM camcorder.

We brought the 8MM on every trip up until this one, and either it stayed in the room or added 75 pounds to the diaper bag. Even when we did take it to the parks, it was too bulky to want to use that often and we were constantly worried about running out of tape.

No more. The new camcorder is tiny, takes unbelievable HD video, and best of all, has a 120GB hard drive on it so space is not an issue. We ended up taking over 300 still and several hours of video. Highly recommended if you're looking for such a thing. It did run us close to a grand when we added in the Best Buy Super Spectacular You Can Spike This Camera Like a Football and We'll Still Fix It For You warranty (which was over $100 in itself), but so far, it's been worth every penny. We also don't ever have to worry about whether the tape is queued up, and can easily watch the videos at any time. Highly recommended.

 

[nilla]

After that, we took our highly-recommended camera and headed over for lunch at the Flame Tree, which is Sunshine Seasons's toughest competition for favorite counter service. Kristin and I both got the ribs, and the kids got hot dogs, and everyone ate reasonably well. We walked down to the waterside seating, and though we couldn't seat ourselves up by the fence, we still got a great view of EE. We didn't notice any gators or turtles in the water like we did other years, but there were several ducks hanging around waiting for someone to drop something. At one point, someone at another table did drop a french fry, and a duck snagged it, but was chased by a white ibis (I think) that had just showed up as well. The duck ran like heck and quickly downed the fry. Pretty humorous to watch.

As the kids and I finished up, Kristin ran off to get more FPs for Expedition Everest. I took a picture before we left...

...and then it was off to the Safari. The driver this year was a bit more of a mellow driver than the one last year, which I know because my butt did not leave the seat. Last year, I swore I was going to end up outside of the jeep if I wasn't careful. The Safari is interesting, though they do not tell you the average incubation period of ostrich eggs. I'm guessing it's at least four years, since I can recall seeing those same eggs by the side of the road every year we've ridden this thing. Kristin pointed out the "hidden Mickey island" where the flamingos were hanging out, and we did get to see most of the animals.

Got a call at this time from my Sister-in-Law in California, who was here with us last year. She wanted to know if we were eating Dole Whips, but I told her MK wasn't until tomorrow. That time would come.

We exited the safari and walked through the Pangani Trail. My gorilla Spidey sense is going nuts now, so we can't be far...

 

[nilla]

Down the trail we go, and suddenly, there they are. Oh....my....god. This is the best part about AK, hands down.

Those of you who know me know that I am a HUGE fan on non-human primates. Let me again emphasize HUGE. Monkeys, baboons, orangutans, chimps...I love them all, but probably number one on my list are gorillas. I want a pet gorilla. I don't care if they would probably make awful pets; I want one anyway. My one big regret in life is that I did not pursue a career in primatology. I would've been good.

I've often thought that if I can just get one of these gorillas over the dropoff, I can put sunglasses, a hat, and a Hawaiian shirt on him and get him out of the park unnoticed. Hollywood says it's possible, so why not?

Unfortunately, those dreams may never become a reality, but I can still enjoy watching the apes here. Oh, and did I mention there's a baby ape this year? Yes, you read that right. You probably already knew that, but let me tell you again - THERE IS A BABY APE HERE THIS YEAR. Just born a few months ago. Yes, it's true, I really, really love gorillas.

I walk out onto the bridge, and it's gorilla heaven. They're literally everywhere this year. Other years, they were mostly hiding, but you could find a few. Not this year. They're out in the open, for all of us to bear witness to their gorilla awesomeness.

The left side of the bridge is loaded with seniors/cheerleaders/bandos or whatever they are, I like the term "punk kids", and they're playing the role, beating their chests at a large ape. He takes a few steps and plops right down facing them, like "WHUT?"

Just look at that picture and tell me he's not thinking "what a bunch of idiots". Others walk and sit around, doing their gorilla thing. The only way I feel I can quantify the creatures this year is by saying there are "mad apes" out today.

As I snap some stills, Kristin is shooting video on the other side. Apparently, the mom and the baby are at the top of the hill. I spot them now, too, and it's soooooo cool. The mom is face to face with the baby, feeding her. I kid you not. It's the greatest thing ever. Now it looks like she's kissing her. Unbelievable.

So unbelievable, in fact, that it's not true, since that's NOT the mom and the baby gorilla, but another gorilla and her hairy arm. Oops! We were gushing out loud the whole time, probably confusing some other guests as well. Our bad.

But not to fear, because that one over there is DEFINITELY the mom, and there's no doubt, there's the baby. She's "being careful with the baby's head" (like we always tell Emily to do with her baby dolls), and the baby is SOOOOO cute. This is amazing.

Now she's walking with the baby. Right now (in the present) I am worried that I cannot properly convey how much I love this.

We spot a huge silverback sitting over near her, and a CM answers our question about whether he's the dad by saying, "of course! You don't think he'd let any other males that close to the baby, do you?" Ok, so I'll admit that I didn't know for sure if gorilla dads were deadbeats or not, but apparently they're pretty stand-up apes. This guy goes to town on whatever plant he's eating, and it's all on video. I can enjoy this forever, thanks to our new Sony HDR-XR150 Handycam. Highly recommended!

Sadly, my fun must come to the end. I could stand here all day, but there's so much more we still haven't seen.

That's it for tonight, but be sure to tune in tomorrow, when I tell about a run-in with a certain half plant/half human creature you can only see here. Good night!

 

[nilla]

Upon exiting, we found ourselves in my second-least favorite part of WDW, the path between Asian and Africa. Even with the relatively light crowds, this place is a bottleneck. Even worse, for some reason, no one is moving - holy crap, it's DiVine! There she is, hiding up by the trees!

How cool is that? Hold on - she's coming out onto the pavement now. If you've never experienced this, she's sort of like those skinny-legged things the Gelflings rode in Dark Crystal, only she's green, covered in plants, and almost completely camoflagued. She turns our direction, and I start backing the stroller up. Oh my god - she's coming right at us, and it's hard to push back against the crowd! We're gonna die!!

We finally get out of the way, and not a second too soon - I swear she would've stepped right on us had we didn't. The CM wasn't telling us to move, either - it's sort of like an unspoken "don't you see the bizarre plant lady coming your way? If you don't move, that's your problem." Funny thing is that this makes me love her even more. She goes back into the trees, and we're awestruck. That was everything we imagined it would be, and more.

We stop for a PhotoPass shot with the ToL in the background. Kristin bought the CD package prior to the trip, and damned if she's not going to get her money's worth out of it! I then spot Flick from A Bug's Life, but Kristin doesn't want to go meet him. "But we never got his autograph!", I argue. Every year I want the kids to get as many obscure autographs as possible, and this a golden opportunity, but I'm overruled, and we move on.

We checked out Flights of Wonder next, which we had never seen, and enjoyed it thoroughly. The "ornithophobic tour guide" was a riot, and those birds can sure perform. I wonder if any of them ever just flew on and didn't stop, heading out into the open sky to freedom. Then again, they probably have a pretty sweet deal here. This is a great show, if you haven't seen it. Actually, it's a great show, even if you have seen it. Dylan's favorite was the lizard-spiking bird, whose name I forget. We passed on this show for four straight years, but will probably be sure to hit it again next year.

 

[nilla]

More animals to come as we enter the Maharaja Jungle Trek. The kids are fighting over the bird guide sheet. We moderate until I realize that there are about fifty of them there, and they can each have their own. Silly parents - too busy yelling to actually try to solve the problem!

The first animals of note are the bats, who one day will learn how to get through these bars and take their place as the true rulers of Animal Kingdom. Man has ruled this world as a stumbling, demented child-king long enough!!



Ok, ok, I'm done channeling Mr. Price...for now. The bats probably won't get out, but they probably don't care. They probably don't care about much., really. They certainly don't care about modesty.

Lovely! Ok, let's move on and check out the tigers. Like most big cats, tigers don't really do anything. I once saw one dive into the water at the Philly zoo, and actually saw a very angry female launch a pee stream through her cage, ten feet out and right on the guy in front of me. It was pretty impressive, and I was happy I wasn't standing up front. But that's about it.

Fortunately, these tigers don't have to relieve themselves right now, or get up, or do anything. They do look cool, though.

As we exit, Dylan and Kristin document another Hidden Mickey.

Ok, enough animals - back to Expedition Everest!

 

[nilla]

We got some ice cream for the kids, which is better than most attractions as far as Emily is concerned.

Ok, so they don't look happy, but trust me, they are. We then got some more Photo Pass shots (smile, now wave, now make animal claws!), then it's up to the mountain we go.

We hit Double E armed with 8 Fast Passes, which means Kristin will ride with Dylan twice, and I will ride with him twice. Lucky kid. I told him there'll be no more riding this ride six times in one day once Emily's big enough to ride, so enjoy it now!

Kristin and Dylan asked to wait for the front, a process which is handled in a much more orderly fashion than I've seen at other, non-Disney theme parks: rather than stand in line at the front, spilling back into the rest of the queue, the CMs have you stand behind a line near the back until it's your turn. Worked great, and we only had to wait one extra train at most to get up front.

Kristin got some great shots from on the ride, up at the top of the first hill:

...and going down the last one:

I rode with Dylan next, again getting the front. This was my first time riding this ride up front...wow. The top the first hill is great, and I just noticed the owl who comes out from the side at the end of the track. What an experience!

I tug out again, and Kristin and Dylan opted for the back this time. Dylan wanted the back again when I rode with him the next time, and I reluctantly agreed.

If you ask me, people who say the back of the roller coaster is better than the front are just people who are too scared to ride in the front. I've never been on a coaster that was even close to as good when riding in the back as it is when you're in the lead car, nothing but track in front of you...


...until now. I was able to look back through the engine at the top of the first hill to watch the track shift, then down we went. Whoa. This is crazy enough normally, but in the back, it was nuts! Dylan used to think you go upside down in the dark at that part, and while I informed him otherwise, it sure does feel like he's right. The last hill was pretty intense, too, and we got our best view of the yeti this year. I do miss the days of him actually swinging his arm down, but what can you do? It's not worth shutting the ride down for a year to fix it.

So what can I say? I like monkeys but I'm not a Monkee, and my wedding band has diamonds in it but I'm not Neil Diamond, but still, I'm a believer in the back car of Expedition Everest.

 

[nilla]

We watched Festival of the Lion King next, and decided that we will alternate between that and Finding Nemo: The Musical from year to year from now on. The wait is a bit long for the kids, who I remind that they are very lucky that their mom plans it out so we never have to wait more than about 20 minutes for anything. "When I was a kid, I waited 2 hours to ride Spaceship Earth!" We do have entertainment for them in the form of Hidden Mickey and Hidden Magic books, but of course, whichever one Dylan has is the one that Emily wants, so it's a battle. They do manage to entertain themselves with the giant misters in the queue, though. This park is humid as usual, though not too bad since it's only in the mid-80s.

The wait isn't too bad in the eyes of someone who once waited 2 hours to ride - well, you know, and FotLK is a very impressive show. Both kids love to watch gymnastics, so it's a hit with everyone.

We head out of the park and off to the bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge. Dinner is at Jiko tonight, which counts as two meals on our dining plan. Since we got in late on Wednesday, we have an extra full service in our dining plan, so we're living it up tonight! We arrive at AKL and head right for the restaurant.

Rather than sitting by windows our out in the open area at all, we are taken back into what Kristin calls the "wine room", a circular room with blinds separating it from the rest of the restaurant. The only others there when we are seated are a couple in their 40s without any kids, so we're worried. We're fully expecting, "I don't like this food!", "DYLAN! I want the orange crayon!", and all of that other nonsense all of you with young kids know all too well, and that this couple is probably trying to avoid by coming here.

The waitress comes over and it turns out she is from PA originally, a small town in the Poconos called Lake Ariel where we have friends. I heard somewhere that it's a small world after all, and whoever said that wasn't lying!

Kristin and I split a bottle of South African red wine (complete with bottlecap!) and a bottle of Perrier. I'm not a big sparkling water fan, but I'll try anything, so I give it another shot. Kristin's right - it does have an interesting palette-cleansing ability to it, which I do like.

So what's all this talk about sparkling water? You're at Jiko, for god's sake! What did you order??

Ok, ok. Sorry for the digression, but the sparkling water will actually come into play in a hilarious way in just a few days (hey, that rhymes - unintentionally, too!). But for now, it's the Oak Grilled Filet Mignon for both of us, and it was DELICIOUS. Great piece of steak, and while putting it on top of mac 'n cheese might sound a little...well, cheesy, this is some of the best mac 'n cheese I've ever had. Emily gets the mac 'n cheese as her meal and loves it, and Dylan gets a grilled cheese. He also gets celery sticks and LOVES them, which is classic Dylan - we finally get him to try something different, and he loves it. He tears into it, eating every last bite. Then, he never eats it again. It's happened more times than we can count.

We all loved this meal, and it was a nice diversion from the usual family-oriented restaurants we go to on the other nights. So how were the kids? A+, not getting in trouble once and acting quiet and respectful the whole time. It was a nice surprise, and one that actually would earn them some leverage the next night.

After dinner, we headed back to CSR via taxi, rather than worrying about taking a bus back to a park and then to CSR. Well worth the $15 or so for the ride.

That evening, we finally hit the pool. Dylan loved the slide, and Emily made a friend. We swam for a little over an hour, then headed back to the room. The pool at CSR as huge, and the slide beats the ones at POR, POFQ, and WL, hands down.

We got back to the room, and I FINALLY found out who the Vikings drafted. Not being much of a college football fan, I didn't know who the guys were anyway. Oh well. I can read up on that when I get home.

Dylan and I check our step counters that night, and he's logging about 30,000 steps a day, with me putting in about 20,000. He's being a real trooper so far, and I think the Pokewalker is playing a big part in that. Rackin' up those Health Miles!

We hit the sack, this time without a wakeup call. Magic Kingdom is open until 2 AM tomorrow, and we plan on staying out as late as the kids will tolerate, so there's no rush to reach the park for rope drop. We will just have to settle for letting Flighless Duck and Mouse Ears Jenny be the family of the day, AGAIN. Oh well.

That's all for now. Up next...we've been in Orlando for four days, and we STILL haven't seen the Magic Kingdom? No more!

Good night!

 

[nilla]

I think I should clarify something.

After getting yelled at by Flightless Duck at lunch today ("YOU REALLY LIKE VOYAGE OF THE LITTLE MERMAID MORE THAN FANTASMIC???"), I feel like I should explain myself.

Show for show, Fantasmic blows VotLM away. The projection on the water is amazing, the special effects are top notch, and it's PACKED with characters. The Pocahontas bit was very well done, Sorcerer Mickey is one of my favorite characters, and the snake and dragon were very, very impressive.

However...

Is it worth the long wait to see it? Maybe, maybe not.
Is it worth the difference in crowds on days it's showing compared to days it's not? Sometimes. But only sometimes.

VotLM is a neat, quick, entertaining show with a short wait time that we have deemed a "must see" year after year. While we loved Fantasmic, I would just as soon sacrifice seeing it for shorter queues in the rest of the park. It just wasn't good enough to make it a "can't miss" show for us.

Should you go see it? If you never have, absolutely. If you have, you make the call. I just think it's something we can check out every few years rather than every trip.

Hopefully that clears that up

 

[nilla]

We get to sleep in today, which means no wake up call. I'm sleeping with Emily, however, and she's decided she wants to sleep sideways at the top of the bed with her feet in my face all night. Add that to the violent grinding of her teeth and it was an on and off night for me. I finally had enough by about 8:30, so I got up and started to get ready. Magic Kingdom today!

This is our fourth park day, and we've been at each of the other three WDW parks, but STILL have not come face to face with that castle. We usually try to hit MK on the first day, second day at the latest, but crowd projections and EMH schedules have us waiting until day four. I'm pretty fired up at this point, because I've been fiending for the Haunted Mansion for a few weeks now.

As the others get ready, I make my usual run to El Centro for a Cherry Coke for me and an UNSWEETENED iced tea for Kristin. On my way, I took a few of what we call "artiste shots" (i.e., photos without any of us in them) of the walk over.

It's a bit overcast today. The ever-changing forecasts we followed last week were calling for scattered or isolated thunderstorms on at least a few of the days we're here, so this isn't entirely surprising. Hopefully it'll blow over. I'll post some bigger pics of CSR for all of you non-believers when I'm documenting a nicer day.

I get the drinks, double check that no one secretly slipped sweetener into Kristin's iced tea, and head back to the room. Everyone's up and moving now. Dylan hasn't been too bad to get going in the morning this trip, to be honest. We give him a muffin we bought at El Centro the night before, he watches some Playhouse Disney or WDW hype as he eats, then gets ready with very little fuss. Emily, on the other hand, is not wanting to wake up no matter how late it is, cries that Dylan is hogging the desk chair, does her famous "I can't walk" routine when asked to brush her teeth, and is in general very difficult.

She does have a cute moment today, though, when she walks over to the door and says, "guys! Look what they put here! The story of Pinochio. That was so nice!"

We finally get out the door a little after 10:00, and we're off to the Magic Kingdom.

 

[nilla]

The color coded, laminated trip planning card calls for us to arrive at 11:00. but we're here a half hour early. We walk up Main Street, hang left past the Crystal Palace (where we've never eaten) and Jon's Pukeful Spot, then up through Adventureland toward Splash Mountain, we're our plan is to grab FPs before hitting the Haunted Mansion.

We quickly flip up the gameplan again when we see that the standby line is only around 20 minutes for Splash Mountain, so we ditch the plan of just getting FPs and ride it right away. This is my favorite ride (as of the time I'm writing this), and it's near the top of the list for Kristin, Dylan, and Emily, too.

The first time I rode this, four years ago, I was expecting "you go up, you make a U-turn, you go down, you're done". Man, was I mistaken. It was this ride that made me really fall in love with WDW. The detail, the storytelling, and of course, the massive drop at the end hooked me instantly, but what really got me was that there was more to see after the big drop. Despite being in WDW when I was a kid, it was at that moment that I truly understood what WDW is about. The rest is history, and why I can sit here today saying "less than 51 weeks until we go back!" and still feel the excitement.

The kids sit up front, while Kristin and I are in the second row. We may as well be in the front, too, since an 8 year old and a 4 year old offer very little protection when a wave of water is coming right at your face.

The water cannon in the first turnaround is off again. I think I only remember one year it was on. We manage to avoid the second big splash opportunity; right before the next big uphill climb, where you get pounded by an aquamortar if another log happens to be coming down the hill when you're about to go up.

We spot the usual Hidden Mickeys, the "FSU" prairie dog, and then it's "time to be moving along". What a great buildup for a drop. I'm getting chills just writing about it. we reach the summit and over we go, where Emily suddenly puts her hands up and flails toward the side of the vehicle, Kristin grabbing her before she presumably flies out of the ride and right into the briar patch. Yes, she's nuts.

We're at the bottom now, and we're wet, but not drenched. I think what really gets you is that shot right before you go up the second hill. Nonetheless, it's not overbearingly hot today, so we're not in need for an all-out soaking. Moving on...

We spot the horizontal Mickey, then head back into the park. Kristin grabs FPs for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, another ride that requires us to brace Emily lest she get tossed around like a Pook-a-Looz doll. We'll ride that later, but right now, it's off to a large house in Liberty Square, where I hear some restless bones are about to etherialize...