Off to bed, our first trip report

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Ok, as it was DD's birthday she had the choice of parks to go to. She decided on the morning in HS and then onto Epcot for the afternoon. Dinner was booked for 8:00 in T-Rex so her plan worked out well. But DS decided to have a sleep in again this morning, so we didn't get off till nearly 12:00 again. DD really wanted to check out TSM again, though I had warned her on the way that the FP were most likely gone, and of course they were. She was a bit disappointed but not too much. Stopped off in Narnia on the way back and it was a real disappointment, very poor compared to all the other shows that we had seen. Decided to try the One Man's Dream then and that was really interesting and made you really appreciate how far Walt was ahead of his time in so many things. You just have to wonder what he would have achived had he not died so young. After that headed off to see Indiana Jones stunt show which the kids really enjoyed, DW & I enjoyed but think that Lights, Motor, Action is better and would recommend you should see Indiana first then Lights. lunch was in Backlot Express which was pretty good for fast food.

After that did the Little Mermaid show with DD as DW and DS went off dancing by the stage. Little Mermaid was quite good and I think that DS would have really enjoyed it, but he refused to go as it was 'for girls'

Had a look at the Jedi Training as we passed by and the kids really want to do it, can't blame them, looks great fun. Went to see American Idol Experience, as audience not participants I stress, amazed at how close to the real thing it seems and yet again the work and detail that goes into it. DW reckons that it's as close to the real thing that you can get. The three auditionees were good and there was one clear winner, will have to keep an eye out for her to see if she gets the golden ticket and makes it to the live shows.

at this stage it was getting quite late so headed Downtown to have a wander before dinner. To be honest Downtown doesn't really do it for us, shops not great, lots of places to eat but T-Rex will be our one and only eatery here. La Nouba though is brilliant as mentioned earlier. Now, T-Rex, what a madhouse but again great themeing and food was surprisingly good. Only issue was that DS has a nut allergy and for the most part the chef's came out to our table and explained what he could and couldn't have. Here they didn't even know. Now this wasn't a big issue as we knew what he was eating would be fine, but DD wanted the Volcano dessert, so I asked the waiter and he said it would be fine, provided that we were ok with the fact that the cake was made where nuts were used but no nuts in it. That's normally fine as his allergy is not that sensitive. When the dessert arrived there was a very poor 'happy birthday' type song, but the main problem was that there was a biscuit type crumb over the ice cream and as soon as I tasted it I knew there was peanuts in it. called over the waiter and he was very apologetic that he had forgotten that and took it away to be replaced by one with no sprinkling of crumbs on it. Also had an apology from a manager that was around, but really un-impressed with this. But overall, despite this near miss, was a good meal and reasonably priced, $140 including 2 appetizers, 4 mains, volcano dessert and 2 beers.

Thoughts for the day:
You can't see and do all of Disney in 14 days, so we'll just have to come back
T-Rex, loud, VERY LOUD, but kids love it and food/value is above average
Always, always, double check allergy information
Disney shows are generally great, but skip Narnia

tomorrow we're off to AKL, doing AK park also, will let you know, have high hopes for both, hope we're not disappointed

 

[luckylady]

Wow I'm surprised that they sliped up with the nuts. HAven't been to T-Rex they are always so busy when we go by glad the kids liked it. Agree with Narnia I didn't like it and was really disapointed by it. Not up to Disney standerds(sp). Have to admit tho we have gone for 15 days and by the end of week one I was ready to go home even tho BC-CL was nice.By now you are at AKL. Hope you got a great room. Take time to explore this resort it's great and do the kids activities. Oh a short cut to the bus, go through the store. Door will be almost right there.

 

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Been a hectic few days, trying to fit a lot in, which has let me fall behind a bit. Tomorrow is our last day and we have an early start for the Sunrise Safari, so not going to catch up tonight, will try and get back to it either tomorrow or whilst sitting around in the airport

 

[luckylady]

Enjoy your last day. Have a safe flight home.

 

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Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to AKL we go! Or rather we would if DS would ever wake up, boy he is sleeping these days! (see the last day post for some more of this). Anyway eventually sent our bags off packing with the bell hop, and headed off in the car to the park. Have to say a very un-impressive sign to great people, nice background but the writing itself is very Courier New point size 200, if you get what I mean. Into the park and first impressions was that it's really cool and shaded, can imagine it would be a nice place to be on a hot summers day.

Wandered around for a while, took in 'A Bugs Life', which is a really great show, we all loved it, though DS was a bit scared in places. Had lunch in the Flametree BBQ, kids loved the ribs and chicken legs, so much so we planned to go back later and get some to takeout. Watched the Jammin Parade which is good fun and then rode Dinosaur, yet another really well done ride, beginning to run out of adjectives to describe Disney, the only disappointment we've had is Narnia! DS bought a pack of Dinosaurs as a souvenir for himself and then we stopped at Flamtree (they were closing at 4:30) to pickup our takeout before heading to the Nemo Show. Here we go again, another great show loved by all. When leaving I noticed that DS dinosaurs were nowhere to be found, so we headed back to Flamtree on the off chance. All locked up but I knocked on the door hoping for the best, a CM came out and when I explained that DS may have left his dinosaurs behind, she went to check with a manager who duly arrived with them in her hand. DS was so happy and DW and I were impressed that someone handed them in. Just a tiny piece of magic for DS.

Back then to AKL to check in. Got room 4313 but were not happy with the bunk beds so we inquired on getting it changed which was no problem, so moved to 4511. First impression on the room was that it was quite a bit smaller than the Poly but what a view! Immediately saw some antelope followed fairly shortly by a couple of giraffe. Kids were thrilled

Now, we were staying CL again here, and as anybody who has read the rest of the posts knows, CL is not worth it in our opinion. But here it's even worse. We were on the 4th floor, a little over half way around the block, and it's a fair old trek back to the CL lounge on the 6th floor, at least in the POLY you're never going to be very far away from the lounge. So I'm afraid it's another minus for CL from us.

Off to Jiko for dinner and sadly the food part was a let down again, no issue really with the adults food, it was the kids options again. And although it's nice, we think too expensive at 2 TS credits for what you get.

Thoughts:
AK park really liked what we saw so far
AKL fabulous hotel, great theming, but sprawling, although the POLY is also spread out, it somehow feels less so due to the separate buildings, I know this doesn't make much sense but that's how it feels to us
Gotta see 'It's a Bug Life'

 

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By unaminuous vote, it's Epcot today, last time at this park (for this trip anyway). What is becoming the usual lateish start, so grabbed some FP for Soarin and went off and did 2 of the Kim Possible missions, yet another clever well thought out way to pass time, ala Disney. Ended up in Norway so did Maelstrom, interesting but a one only for us I'd say. Grabbed some lunch on the hoof, picked up FP for Test Track and did Mission Space as a walk on on green before heading back to the hotel for an afternoon rest.

When we arrived back, just happend in on Sum of all Thrills in Innoventions. Super cool, DD loves roller coasters anb the idea of designing her own and then riding it in a simulator, pure heaven. Next thing is to access the ride from the internet when we get back and take it from there.

So sad, , rode Soarin and Test track for the last time, and headed to Boma for dinner. Now that's a meal! Loved by all the family. Seems that we like the buffets, O'Hanas, Chef Mickeys and now Boma, not for the quantity though, it's just the choice and mainly the fact that the choice is also there for the kids.

Thoughts;
Sum of all thrills and Boma, must do's

 

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Sadly the end is near, decided on MK for the 2nd last day. Initial plan was to spend 1/2 day, take a break and then either come back here or head to HS or Epcot, but we were really enjoying it so decided to push on through the day with no break and squeeze in as much as we could, there was still (and still is) lots to do here.

Headed to Big thunder and grabbed FP for later. Took the train around to Mickey's Toontown fair and wandered through there. DW & DD headed into Minnie's house, DS refused . Somehow missed Mickey's house, which I'm sure he would have liked, next time. Wandered through Fantsyland and did It's a small world, definitely worth a look, and just had to do the Teacups, pretty standard spinning ride. Grabbed FP for Space Mountain for DD & I, had a brunch in Cosmic Rays, which was ok, nothing special but pretty good value and food overall. Rode Speedway which both kids really enjoyed, and then took the train back to Main St and walked back towards Liberty Square and took in The Hall of Presidents. Very informative for us non-US people and am sure would be enjoyed by all. DW & DD wanted to do the Haunted House, DS no way, so he and I wandered around, grabbed FP for Jungle Cruise (not really needed as FP time was only 35 mins, walk on about 15m, but wanted to wait for DD and DW). Went through Swiss Family Treehouse (worth a look), then joined back up (DW a bit disappointed with the Haunted House, DD a bit scared!) and did Big Thunder for the last time (this was our first ever Disney ride so we were all a bit sad).

Went back and did the Jungle Cruise which is great fun and then Pirates of the Caribbean, which is good but a bit scary for smaller kids. DW & DS then went to Monsters Inc, which he loved, while DD and I did Space Mountain. At this stage it was about 6:45 so we tried to get something to eat with the plan of watching Wishes at 8:00 but couldn't find anything that we fancied in the park. DW had the idea of trying O'Hana's on the Poly, with the idea that if that didn't work out, we'd grab something from Captain Cooks and eat it at the beach whilst watching Wishes, which is what we ended up doing. From there we just took the short walk to the MK parking lot (had driven up this morning) and drove home, aka AKL (I really like the way they say welcome home each time you get back to the Hotel, naff I know but I like it)

Thoughts:
A lot done today but so much more to do in just MK
Oh yeah, can't remember when, but we also caught the Princesses Parade (if that's what it's called)

 

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Early start on the last day, had the Sunrise Safari booked, which meant meeting in the CL lounge at 6:45 to 7:00am. Left the hotel at about 7:30 in a bus and were brought the back way into the park, so say a lot of the animal houses and got some info from out guide. We then transferred to the normal Jeep/Bus that they use for the Kilimanjaro Safari (each worth $250,000 and they have 42!!!!). The route is the same as the normal safari but they stop constantly for pictures and you get a private guide. If you get the chance (I think you have to stay CL at AKL to book it), do it. It was brilliant. At one stage we had a baby Giraffee with his head almost inside the bus (the driver had to move as they don't want the animals getting used to being that close to the vehicles), later we stopped right beside a group of Rhinos (about 8 or 10, including one baby) which were less than 30 feet away. What did we see?

Black and White Rhinos
Giraffee
Many, many types of Antelope
Elephants
Cheetah
Lions
Hippos
Warthogs
Ostrich
Many types of birds like Flamingos, Vultures, etc

I think the only thing that we didn't see were the crocodiles.

Unfortunately we were stopping so much that the real Safari caught up with us so we were cut short just a little bit and had to speed through the end, but I don't think we missed much. Afterwards we were brought to Pizzafari for a buffet breakfast which was tasty and plentiful.

Walked up to Expedition Everest to get FP for later, stopped off at the Flights of Wonder on the way back, really great fun and DD was thrilled that she got picked to go on stage and do one of the demonstrations. Took the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, which kids loved and then wandered over to do Lion King, another great Disney show, loved by all. Back then to use the FPs for EE, DS was a bit scared on it but DD & I loved it, DW could take it or leave it. Definitely one for when we go back.

At this stage we decided on a last attempt to eat in Chef Mickeys as kids loved it, took a bus to the Contemporary, arrived at 4:40 (20min before opening) and were told we'd get a table but it could be an hour, turned out to be only 30mins so happy days. Kids had a blast and all enjoyed the meal. As dinner was early we all voted on one last visit to Epcot, our favorite. Too late to do Soarin or any rides, so we went on Spaceship Earth which was good. Was doing some last minute shopping and there was an offer on deluxe pin trading sets which are normally $49.95 going for $15.95 if you spent $40 or more. When we were paying the cashier offered me 2 sets for the kids, even though we were spending only $45 or thereabouts, so we took them, and the kids had a blast for the next hour or so, even DS who is normally shy and reserved was 'harassing' any CM that he saw with pins

Bye bye Disney, we'll miss you, but will be back.

 

[luckylady]

Sounds like a wonderfu; last day. Don't worry about DS not wanting to go on HM. My youngest didn't ride it til he was...gasp 18! Now he like it and thinks it's funny. Kids.Hope your plane ride home was a good one.

 

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Slept in till about 11:00 and left the hotel at about 12:00. Fairly uneventful trip to the airport, with the obligatory stop for more last minute shopping at the Florida Mall. Arrive and checked in about 3 1/2 hours before the flight. When we went through security we were brought to one side as we had been selected for a random more thorough search. This was basically a pat down, those new machines did not seem to be in operation by the way. Nothing that worried any of us anyway, fairly non-intrusive. The one good thing was that we got to skip the big lines, so I wonder if the girl that checked us in picked us on purpose, she had hand written SSSS on the boarding card, as I was having a bit of fun with her and basically just being nice as she seemed to be having a stressful day. Either way she did us a favor and we had no problem with it. But when we got to boarding the plane, we were pulled aside again. as the TSA agent began to explain the procedure I mentioned that it was no problem, we had done it earlier. He seemed a bit surprised at this and called over a supervisor, who explained that as the boarding card had not been punched they had to do it again. So I showed him the punch, and asked 'This Punch?'. He quickly apologised and had the other agents stop the pat downs. So much for security observation skills

Anyways got on the plane, Virgin Atlantic 747, and have to say, it's been a while since I used them, DW and the kids were with them more recently, but they have gone way down hill. The meals were almost inedible, the service was lousy, twice, at dinner and breakfast, they didn't offer DS any drinks and when I called them back it was like I was disturbing them! We were missing one of the pack with the blindfold thingy etc and again it was like I was looking for something out of the ordinary. And it wasn't like they were short staffed, there was plenty of them.

Arriver in Gatwick on time, killed 2 hours and boarded the Aer Lingus flight for Dublin. All the bags arrived safely and got a taxi no problem, so all in all, uneventful.

Now sitting at home, just caught up on the last few days posts. Planning to do some summary ones on each of the parks and hotels for other future first timers over the next couple of days, pay back for all the useful information that we got here .

So once again thanks to any and all that helped on the planning on our first trip, I am in no doubt that all the advice helped immensely in making for a wonderful first visit and a great holiday.

Paul