"Look at all these sunny balls!" - WDW/Uni TR Feb 17-26th 2018 (6/18 Wrap-up and DVC review)

[mamamelody2]

Joining in!

We're going in September and taking our 2 boys age 15 and 12. I am concerned about the 15 year old's attitude. I hope it works out okay! LOL. Teens. You just never know how it's going to go!!

 

[skier_pete]

Joining in!

We're going in September and taking our 2 boys age 15 and 12. I am concerned about the 15 year old's attitude. I hope it works out okay! LOL. Teens. You just never know how it's going to go!!

It'll be fine. They'll be surly at times, but then for some of the time they will forget about being surly and actually be having fun.

 

[Majordis]

Thank you, and thanks for joining in.



As a child I was terrified of clowns, and the clown slide find rather disturbing, but mostly i just dont look at it. The lack of QS didn't bother me as much as I thought - really boardwalk bakery is the QS and it really not that far to get there!

My wife would probably kill me if she knew I aired our dirty laundry, but I do think it is a pretty common occurrence at disney. People spend a lot of money and they are hot and tired. My wife and i deal poorly with the heat, but in florida I know it's just part of the deal. She was really bothered by it this trip. It also really messes up her hair with humidity which i know gets her all upset. I try to be patient. Nothing like a cool alcohol slushies to make all the adults feel better!

Sigh, I also battle the Florida humidity. By the time we get from the room to the resort bus stop, my kids say "Mom you have vacation head again"

 

[Davleigh]

Loving your report! We did a split trip last June and visited Universal for the first time. I am not a Harry Potter fan but my son is and it was his graduation trip. All in all, he liked Harry Potter and we loved the Hulk. Otherwise, I spent the entire time wishing I was at Disney and being a little grumpy about the additional costs of Universal. I'm not a huge fan of the simulated rides and, to be honest, thought that I was going to straight up throw up on The Simpsons!

Boardwalk looks amazing! I would love to stay there one day!!

 

[Davleigh]

Loving your report! We did a split trip last June and visited Universal for the first time. I am not a Harry Potter fan but my son is and it was his graduation trip. All in all, he liked Harry Potter and we loved the Hulk. Otherwise, I spent the entire time wishing I was at Disney and being a little grumpy about the additional costs of Universal. I'm not a huge fan of the simulated rides and, to be honest, thought that I was going to straight up throw up on The Simpsons!

Boardwalk looks amazing! Hoping to stay there someday!

 

[Majordis]

Loving your report! We did a split trip last June and visited Universal for the first time. I am not a Harry Potter fan but my son is and it was his graduation trip. All in all, he liked Harry Potter and we loved the Hulk. Otherwise, I spent the entire time wishing I was at Disney and being a little grumpy about the additional costs of Universal. I'm not a huge fan of the simulated rides and, to be honest, thought that I was going to straight up throw up on The Simpsons!

Boardwalk looks amazing! Hoping to stay there someday!

I could have written this post. This is exactly how I felt at Universal. I am glad we tried it but Hulk and Harry Potter were the standouts. Didn't care for the simulators. Back to Disney for us

 

[khertz]

That clown pool is horrifying. I don't think I could enjoy myself with that thing staring at me!!

Beaches & Cream!! I don't know how we have missed out on this place for so long, but we absolutely loved it for the DIS Mega Meet when we ate there the first time. I had heard many times how small it is in there, but it really doesn't prepare you mentally for seeing it the first time! It's so tiny! I totally agree with you on the kitchen sink. The pics I have seen of the ice cream soup left in the bottom grosses me out.

So cool and random to run into friends in DHS! The CMs at TSM are so great. We had almost the exact scenario (even with me initially refusing the re-ride!) and it's great how they just get you right back on. That ride really hinges on everything working properly to enjoy it.

Somehow I completely miss that they are even doing this movie show at DHS. I guess it's been way too long since I planned a WDW trip!! It looks really cool though.

Good call on hustling out of the park. Staying till the end is a rookie mistake!! lol

 

[Clio]

I just found your report and read it all tonight. Teenagers are so much fun, not.
Universal isn't my favorite place. Although, we do go every other trip.
I've always wanted to stay at Boardwalk but haven't gotten around to it yet.
I can't wait to read more.

 

[skier_pete]

Loving your report! We did a split trip last June and visited Universal for the first time. I am not a Harry Potter fan but my son is and it was his graduation trip. All in all, he liked Harry Potter and we loved the Hulk. Otherwise, I spent the entire time wishing I was at Disney and being a little grumpy about the additional costs of Universal. I'm not a huge fan of the simulated rides and, to be honest, thought that I was going to straight up throw up on The Simpsons!

Boardwalk looks amazing! Hoping to stay there someday!

We dreamed of staying at Boardwalk on our 2000 trip - so it took us 18 years - but dreams do come true!

I think a lot of people feel that way about Universal. Some love the simulators and getting tossed around. Others, not so much. I do admit the Hulk is my very favorite roller coaster, though also admit I haven't exactly traveled the world to try different ones. I though Rip, Ride Rocket was a lot of fun, too. But as I approach 50, the number of times I can ride a coaster is limited. And even the Forbidden Journey ride I get off of it woozy every time.

I could have written this post. This is exactly how I felt at Universal. I am glad we tried it but Hulk and Harry Potter were the standouts. Didn't care for the simulators. Back to Disney for us

We need to form a club!

That clown pool is horrifying. I don't think I could enjoy myself with that thing staring at me!!

It wasn't that bad...though I suppose if you have to stare at it waiting for your kid to come down the slide....*shudder*.

Beaches & Cream!! I don't know how we have missed out on this place for so long, but we absolutely loved it for the DIS Mega Meet when we ate there the first time. I had heard many times how small it is in there, but it really doesn't prepare you mentally for seeing it the first time! It's so tiny! I totally agree with you on the kitchen sink. The pics I have seen of the ice cream soup left in the bottom grosses me out.

Beaches and Cream is good and fun and honestly the price is not too bad - but I also have to say there is nothing spectacular about it that makes it a must do every trip. But you definitely can't go wrong with it.

And to that ice cream soup.

So cool and random to run into friends in DHS! The CMs at TSM are so great. We had almost the exact scenario (even with me initially refusing the re-ride!) and it's great how they just get you right back on. That ride really hinges on everything working properly to enjoy it.

It's the weirdest thing how many times we've run into people we know at WDW. This maybe the 5th or 6th time. I don't run into people that often at the local Wal-Mart!

Somehow I completely miss that they are even doing this movie show at DHS. I guess it's been way too long since I planned a WDW trip!! It looks really cool though.

Good call on hustling out of the park. Staying till the end is a rookie mistake!! lol

Oh, wait'll you see my rookie mistake the next morning!

I just found your report and read it all tonight. Teenagers are so much fun, not.
Universal isn't my favorite place. Although, we do go every other trip.
I've always wanted to stay at Boardwalk but haven't gotten around to it yet.
I can't wait to read more.

Thanks for joining in. I enjoy so much hearing comments from everyone!

 

[jchurch0409]

All caught up! I am really enjoying your report!

 

[skier_pete]

All caught up! I am really enjoying your report!

Thanks!

 

[skier_pete]

Before I post my next update - I just want to say thanks to everyone for responding so positively and posting your comments. It's great to get some feedback that people are liking what I'm posting! So...on with the next update...

Day 5

Not to brag, but I don’t make many mistakes when it comes to Disney planning. I am constantly tweaking our plans, so constantly going over the park schedules and I usually do not come across an unexpected situation. Well, screw-ups happen to even the best of them, and today was mine.

See, I was really nice to the family this trip, and after our early mornings at Universal I had only planned TWO rope drops at WDW the whole 7 days we were there. I think that’s pretty reasonable. One of them was today, we had essentially planned a special trip to DAK this morning, mostly to do two things (1) ride Navi River Journey at rope drop and (2) see the tiger cubs. I thought we would also ride the safari ride as well.

We made it down to the bus around 8:10 (our FIRST bus-ride of the trip amazingly) and were over to the park by 8:35 AM. But that’s when I noticed there were (a) way too many people around and (b) they were already letting people into the park. I looked up on my app, and wouldn’t you know it, at SOME point in the last week Disney decided to extend the morning opening from 9 AM to 8 AM. Now this is something I was checking on regularly leading up to this trip, and I KNOW I had checked not long before we left – but Disney pulled the rug on me and must have changed it after I last checked, and I certainly didn’t look since we arrived in Florida.

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“Why are there so many people here already?”
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So – with nothing we could do about it, we proceeded to the Avatar land and went to the Na’vi River ride.
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The wait was listed at 65 minutes. DW and I didn’t really want to wait, but DD wanted to since she hadn’t ridden it. As we stood there, with the line barely moving and still not yet within the queue, the wait on the sign went to 70 minutes, then 80 minutes, then 85 minutes. At that point we said “Sorry” and convinced her to get out of line. Instead we wandered around the land a little and checked out the store. It’s really is an impressive area – very well themed, but boy I hope the next round of movies are more interesting than the first one.

We decided since the wait for the Safari was listed at 20 minutes we would head over there. In fact, the wait was more like 10 minutes, and actually shorter than it often used to be at rope drop. I am not sure how anyone that likes animals can’t like this ride. We’ve done it so many times and it still never gets old seeing these animals in a somewhat natural environment. I focused on trying to get some good shots of the animals – and I also actually sat down and trimmed the pictures this year!

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Bongos – the ghosts of the jungle!

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The Giraffes were remarkably hard to shoot today – just not hanging out in very visible spots. This was the best shot I got.

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The bull elephant was either scratching his head or building a telegraph line. (Look it up kids.)

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Shockingly saw TWO of the cheetahs, and one I was even able to get a decent picture of…

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From here DW wanted to do a little shopping in Harambe. DD and I sat outside and listen to the African band playing. Eventually we decided to make our way over to the Maharaja Jungle Trek to see the tiger cubs. The Komodo Dragon was also out and about.

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Once we got to the Tiger enclosure – we saw the dad tiger up close, but the momma and cubs were way in the back of the enclosure, and were blending in pretty badly with the back wall, so I took some video, but the still photos just didn’t come out well. Here’s dad though.

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Is THIS why they call them Water Buffalo? By the way, the CM said their names were Blanche, Rose, and Dorothy. If you don’t know what that’s from well you’ll just have to look it up…

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I had decided to ride Everest single rider, but the single rider line was showing 25 minute wait, which was more than I really wanted to wait, so I figured I’d come back another time.

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DD really wanted a churro – and we were finding them a bit hard to find at WDW. We used the app and found one location in Dino-land, but it turned out they didn’t open until 11 AM. Meanwhile, DW and I had a Mickey Bar while we waited. No one wanted to ride the Chester and Hester rides, so we waited 10 minutes for the store to open so DD could get her churro.

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With that snack, we headed out of Animal Kingdom with only a single ride under our belt. Because we had lunch plans – or should I say dejuener…

until next time...

 

[piglet1979]

Great Safari photos. I love that ride and would ride it several times a trip if i could. DH would hate me by the end of the trip I did this. He hates zoo's.

 

[tammy]

Another great update.

 

[Cornucopiaoflove]

I love that the water buffalo are named after Golden Girls. Now the theme song is stuck in my head, though!

 

[skier_pete]

Great Safari photos. I love that ride and would ride it several times a trip if i could. DH would hate me by the end of the trip I did this. He hates zoo's.

We often do it twice a trip, especially now with the night safari that has a different feel to hit. See if you can convince him to do a day one and a night one.

Another great update.

Thank you very much!

I love that the water buffalo are named after Golden Girls. Now the theme song is stuck in my head, though!

Oh, me too now! One of the great things that set the animal sections of DAK apart from a zoo besides the quality is that almost every exhibit has a cast member that is knowledgable about the animals. And I have to say, with Disney's cost cutting ways I keep expecting this aspect of AK to disappear - especially since very few people stop to talk to these CM. However, we should all take advantage of these CM and ask lots of questions. They are there to educate and also give you some fun information - and occasionally get a song stuck in your head.

 

[khertz]

Oh, wait'll you see my rookie mistake the next morning!

We made it down to the bus around 8:10 (our FIRST bus-ride of the trip amazingly) and were over to the park by 8:35 AM. But that’s when I noticed there were (a) way too many people around and (b) they were already letting people into the park. I looked up on my app, and wouldn’t you know it, at SOME point in the last week Disney decided to extend the morning opening from 9 AM to 8 AM. Now this is something I was checking on regularly leading up to this trip, and I KNOW I had checked not long before we left – but Disney pulled the rug on me and must have changed it after I last checked, and I certainly didn’t look since we arrived in Florida.

Oh no!! That's such a bummer when Disney changes things up at the last minute like that and ruins your best laid plans.

It’s really is an impressive area – very well themed, but boy I hope the next round of movies are more interesting than the first one.

While I still have yet to experience Pandora, I totally agree with you on the movies. I thought the first one sucked, so I can't get myself excited about the land or the sequels.

Nice safari pics! I can't believe you got such a good one of the cheetah. We hardly ever even see them, so I tend to forget they are even on the safari at all!

Glad DD got her churro! The things we do to keep the kids happy... lol

 

[skier_pete]

Oh no!! That's such a bummer when Disney changes things up at the last minute like that and ruins your best laid plans.



While I still have yet to experience Pandora, I totally agree with you on the movies. I thought the first one sucked, so I can't get myself excited about the land or the sequels.

Nice safari pics! I can't believe you got such a good one of the cheetah. We hardly ever even see them, so I tend to forget they are even on the safari at all!

Glad DD got her churro! The things we do to keep the kids happy... lol

RE: Pandora - I'm getting ahead of myself saying it, but the ride can now easily be considered the best ride at Disney World. I am not sure it's my favorite, I'll need some rerides, but it's impressive. Like almost Forbidden Journey impressive. "Soarin' on Steroids" doesn't do it justice.

RE: Safari - yes the Cheetahs are so rarely out. I did cheat-a little (see what I did there!) though by cropping that picture to make it look like it wasn't still in the back.

RE: Keeping kids happy. Yup, ranks up there with keeping wives happy.

 

[skier_pete]

Oh no!! That's such a bummer when Disney changes things up at the last minute like that and ruins your best laid plans.



While I still have yet to experience Pandora, I totally agree with you on the movies. I thought the first one sucked, so I can't get myself excited about the land or the sequels.

Nice safari pics! I can't believe you got such a good one of the cheetah. We hardly ever even see them, so I tend to forget they are even on the safari at all!

Glad DD got her churro! The things we do to keep the kids happy... lol

RE: Pandora - I'm getting ahead of myself saying it, but the ride can now easily be considered the best ride at Disney World. I am not sure it's my favorite, I'll need some rerides, but it's impressive. Like almost Forbidden Journey impressive. "Soarin' on Steroids" doesn't do it justice.

RE: Safari - yes the Cheetahs are so rarely out. I did cheat-a little (see what I did there!) though by cropping that picture to make it look like it wasn't still in the back.

RE: Keeping kids happy. Yup, ranks up there with keeping wives happy.

 

[franandaj]

Its been nearly a month since I commented. It's been crazy for me lately between out of town guests every other weekend (not all at my house, but at Disney). Between work and daily life I've fallen way behind on any TR that has more than bi weekly updates!

I'm not sure if youve been reading up on my TR but plans have changed for this summer's trip. It turns out we will be going home directly from our cruise, so our trips will not overlap anymore.

I agree with your assesment of Disney vs Universal. There is so much more to Disney than just the rides. Sometimes I don't ride anything when we go out to Anaheim.

Sorry you had to deal with hangry females. No meat and dairy is a tough one! You pretty much need someplace vegan.

Funny how you missed the change in Rope Drop times. I'm always checking the app mainly because I don't trust my own memory for opening times and such.

I saw your plea for comments, and sorry it took me a while to get back here, but in about six months I'll propbably get to what I've been up to in the bonus features on my own TR! Currently I'm still on December!