Our Wonderfully Magical Truly Exciting and Never Dull Trip! I FINALLY FINISHED!! #60

[ericafny]

Cast of Characters:

Myself - 27
DBF - 26

Trip Details:

July 26 - Aug 4 2006
2 nights at ASsp and 7 nights at Dolphin

Day One – Pre-Trip/Arrival – What’s wrong with All Star Sports?

We woke up at 7:00am because DBF had to be at work at 8:00am. He was working a half a day and then it was off to the airport for our 4:20pm flight to Orlando! There was sooo much to do and while he was at work I had to do it all!!!

I drove him to work because he left his car at his parents house while we will be away (it will be safer there, trust me). Once I dropped him off I was a busy bee buzzing around and trying to get everything ready. Oh yeah, did I mention I was SICK?!? I had the worst stomach ache/nausea I had ever experienced. I am not sure what was wrong with me but it started after I had a Mocha Frappacinno from Starbucks the night before (damn that Starbucks!) So despite me being sick I was still the happiest person because I was going to DISNEY!

I finished up my chores (which included cleaning the fridge, taking the garbage out, finish packing, getting myself ready, and unplugging all of the appliances in my house-yes I am a nut!) At 12:00pm I arrived to pick up DBF. A quick bite to eat back at our place before it was time to head to my mother’s so she could drive us to the airport.

We got to the airport at 2:45pm, plenty of time before our flight was to leave. We flew JetBlue and used one of those automated kiosks at the airport to check-in. Let me tell you, if your airline has this---use it! Especially if there is a long line at the check-in counter. Within minutes, we were checked in and then directed to a separate counter to have our luggage weighed and tagged. The whole process seriously took about 15 minutes. Very convenient!

Our flight was actually very smooth and we were early arriving to Orlando so we had to sit in the plane before we could get a gate to deboard. It was raining when we got there, but we didn’t care because we weren’t planning on doing anything that night except walking around the hotel.

Once off, we headed to check-in with Magical Express. If I could give another piece of advice here to expedite the speediness of your arrival it would be to know where you are going! There were no signs pointing people in the right direction for DME. We had landed at 7:05pm so I am not sure if maybe it was during the day it would have been different, but I am not sure. There was NO ONE waiting at the DME counter and we were checked-in and waiting in line for our resort in about 5 minutes. Of course, we then sat on the bus for about 25 minutes to wait for more people to board. The bus was going to Pop Century first, then the All Stars (Sports, Music, and Movies in that order). We were the only people getting off at ASsp and I began to wonder why…(oh yes I know why and if you keep reading you will find out)

We arrived and the lobby was buzzing with people. Personally, I thought the lobby was really neat with cool themeing. There were two people in front of us at check in, and the line moved pretty quickly. Now, since we were only staying at this resort for two nights and one day I didn’t request a specific section because I didn’t really care. I figured ‘whatever we get we get’. We were assigned Touchdown Building 10, room 0141, Football---Did I mention how much I HATE football…I didn’t care at this point though because it was 9:30 and we hadn’t eaten since 12:30 (unless you count the snack on the plane, but I wouldn’t if I were you), and I wanted to see the room and get some food! Our room turned out to be pretty nice, on the first floor in the back of the building (which meant no noise at night except for the people in the room next to us). I know I didn’t pay extra, but correct me if I am wrong here, is Touchdown Building 10 a preferred location? We were steps away from the main building. We had a king handicapped room. Here are some pictures:
Bed with star light above it:

Decorative light above table and chairs:

Handicapped bathroom with roll-in shower:

and this was a towel animal that was waiting for us in our room when we arrived:

After checking out the room we headed to Stadium Hall to get some food. It was about 10:00pm and this place was CRAZY!!! There were a million teenagers running around, at least a million, possibly a trillion. OK, maybe I am exaggerating a bit here…but there were a lot! Oh yes, and they were from that Infamous place called Brazil, and oh yes they were part of one of those infamous tour groups….(insert horror music here)…. Note: I am not saying that people from Brazil are bad. I am sure, in fact I know they are quite good! It is just a little known fact here on the DIS Boards that those teenagers from the Brazilian tour groups are quite rowdy and rude. Sorry if I offended anyone, not my intention…On with the report…

OK, it wasn’t that bad, but it wasn’t good either. To get to the drink area I had to wait in line…ehhh….not my kind of hotel! But that night I had a veggie burger w/cheese and fries and DBF had cheeseburger and fries. Mine was pretty good and it came on a whole wheat bun. DBF said his was good too. Note: I do not eat red meat, however I do eat poultry. I have to say that Disney has really come a long way in offering ‘healthy’ choices to those who do not wish to eat burgers and fries all week long…more on that later.

We walked around the hotel afterwards and passed in the front of our building by the ‘football field’. The entire Brazilian tour group was out blasting music and playing…football (the American kind). I felt really bad for anyone whose room was over there, as they were probably not getting to sleep anytime soon.

We walked back to the room and went to bed…A long day and we needed our rest! Next up is Animal Kingdom and my review of EE…

 

[Alicnwondrln]

nice start

 

[Bev J]

Good report so far, will be reading the rest as you post it...
My DD also does not eat red meat (or fish) so I will be very interested to see how this worked out for you.

Bev

 

[ericafny]

Thanks guys!

Bev-I will post everything I ate and where I got it. I had no problem at all with food!

 

[2infinity&B-ond]

great report so far...can't wait for the rest!!!

 

[PoohGal05]

Good start on your report! Can't wait to read more!

 

[SleepingBeautyDreamr]

Very good start. I am looking forward to more

 

[ericafny]

Thanks to everyone that has responded so far! Tomorrow is back to work but I will try to have the next installment up by either tomorrow or Tuesday...

 

[ericafny]

Day Two (Part 1) – Expedition Everest is not for us!

The alarm was set for 7:00am but I popped out of bed at 6:40am because I WAS IN DISNEY WORLD!!! We got ready and headed to the food court to get some breakfast. I was still not feeling right so I had a croissant and some fruit salad. DBF had a western omelet with home fries and toast. He said it was good but the home fries were cold.

After breakfast we headed to the bus stops to catch the bus to AK. We arrived just in time as the AK bus was pulling up. The bus was not crowded. As we were pulling into AK I got very excited because you can see Everest! It looks so real it is incredible.

We got to AK at 8:40am, the park opened at 9:00am. They were letting people in up until Discovery Island. I have never been to a park opening before and there were so many people standing around. It was a sea of people…then…all of a sudden….out of the mist and trees came…a bus with Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, and Goofy!!! What a great way to start your day! I thought the opening ceremony was cute, however we were pretty far away and I had a hard time hearing what the characters were saying. Folks if you want to have your kids enjoy this you probably need to be pretty close and have them sitting on your shoulders. Once the bus came out about a dozen or so kids popped up on their parents shoulders. We have this on video and it is actually quite funny.

After the park officially opened, it was mad dash of people going to the right of the Tree of Life. I could have sworn an old lady tried to trip me with her cane! But seriously…everyone was obviously making their way to Everest…and so were we. We got there and the standby line was probably about a 30 min wait. The fast pass line was about a 15 min wait. No, I am not talking about fast pass return time, I am talking about the LINE TO GET A FAST PASS. We got ours and it was a return time of 10:05-11:05. We had an hour so off it was to Dinosaur (my favorite ride at AK!!!). We got to Dinosaur and there was absolutely no one there. I think we were two of maybe 10 people that thought to go over to this ride. If I must say one thing about Disney putting a new ride at their newest theme park it is this: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! (ok…technically that was three things, but after a week and a half in Disney who is counting?) By putting in a new ride it virtually eliminated the wait times for their other big ticket rides. Some advice for you parents with the little ones and who aren’t interested in riding Everest…when park opens go directly to It’s Tough to be a Bug (5 min wait) then go to Dinoland (no one there when we were there!). We rode Dinosaur and I don’t know why but this ride is soo much fun! Say what you will about Disney skimping on the set of that ride, but I think it is truly good clean fun! After we got off Dino we wanted to head back towards Asia and decided to do the Maharaja Jungle Trek. We didn’t do that last time we were at AK because, well, I didn’t know it existed! I think I like this trail better than the Pangani Forest one because I found the animals here to be more exotic. Here are some pics of some of the animals we saw:

This is a Kimodo Dragon

Two bats sharing an apple (the guide said that its very rare they share food...and he also told us they only eat fruit and vegetables!)

A tiger taking a nap

One thing I will mention is the effort Disney puts into really making this experience a learning one. I found the guides at each viewing point to be very knowledgeable and ready and willing to answer any question you may have for them. One thing I learned is that all of the animals featured at Animal Kingdom are endangered species. Very interesting…

OK, one with the report. Finally, finally, it was time to ride Everest. We got to the FP line and zipped and zoomed our way to the loading area. I agree with those that say going on the FP line does not allow you to take in the magnificent cultural artifacts that are placed in the queue for you to look at. I wish the standby line wasn’t so long (by this time about 70 min) so I could stroll through leisurely and take in the themeing. No bother though, and onto the ride we go…

The trains come and load pretty quickly, which means they must have at least 4 of them running. We sat somewhere in the middle of the train, which is fine for me as I am becoming not so much of a thrill seeker in my old age (read on to find out about the Dueling Dragons fiasco at IOA). The ‘outside’ part of the ride is neat and gives you a sense of calming. Once you start to climb the hill though, anxiety sets in because it is a slow decent, and that music is playing, and you can slightly hear a yeti roaring in the background…oh no wait, that was my stomach…but seriously it is a slow climb up the mountain. Once inside everything then happens so quickly. You see the broken track, you go backwards in the dark (oh no here comes the nausea), you stop and see the yeti break the track, you go down the big hill, you come up again, you see the yeti (he is uggggly!) and then its done.

Here is my honest opinion of the ride---not as good as I had hoped for. I mean, with all of the money Disney spent on this ride, sending their imaginers to Nepal to do research, I feel it could have been (a) a little longer (b) a little smoother and (c) their should have been more ‘yeti time’. Those who love the ride, I hope I am not offending. Just think of it this way: I am one less person that will be standing in line between you and the ride. Oh yeah and one more thing, that ride made me nauseas!

After EE, it was pretty hot so off to Kali River Rapids we went. Now last year by this time (around 11am or so) the standby line for Kali was well over 60 min with FP’s being issued for 4pm or later. This time the standby line was 20 minutes with FP’s being issued for sometime around 12pm. Once again, that Everest making its presence known! Kali was good, and we got pretty soaked! We walked past that tea stand once off Kali and I wanted to try it so I decided to get the iced green tea with ginseng. The tea was delicious however I tried to use my Disney Rewards Card there and they told me the tea stand was not owned by Disney and I couldn’t use it. So now you know people, can’t be charging anything to the room or using those Visa points to buy things from this tea stand!

Next up the rest of our day at AK and dinner at Portobello Yacht Club (small dining review included for no extra charge!!!)

 

[dwheatl]

You're off to a great start. I looked for you, but obviously the Dolphin was packed with conventioneers.

 

[lauren_elizabeth]

Reading your trip makes SO excited to be going back to Disney!
Can't wait for more!

 

[Liz]

I'm enjoying your report very much! Thanks for the review of EE. I'm still trying to decide if that's one I'll do next time. Not a roller coaster fan at all but I'm curious to try it. How bad is the drop compared to Splash Mountain (which I hate)? Thanks!

 

[ericafny]

You're off to a great start. I looked for you, but obviously the Dolphin was packed with conventioneers.

I looked for you too

Those conventioneers were EVERYWHERE!

 

[ericafny]

I'm enjoying your report very much! Thanks for the review of EE. I'm still trying to decide if that's one I'll do next time. Not a roller coaster fan at all but I'm curious to try it. How bad is the drop compared to Splash Mountain (which I hate)? Thanks!

Thanks Liz! I am enjoying writing it. The drop on EE is much steeper than the drop on Splash Mountain. In fact if you do not like the drop on SM then I would not suggest riding EE as there is a part where it goes backwards. Hope that helps.

I will try to get the next installment up by Friday (I hope...)

 

[heaven2dc]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! How cool that cat looks - can't wait to see AK for our first time. I'm wondering as well how I'll like EE - the backwards part seems like it might be a little nauseating - will see!!

 

[Ltl Mermaid]

I am loving your report thus far!! Did you ride Kilamanjaro Safaris while you were at AK?? How was the wait for it?? Thanks for the enjoyable report!

 

[MickeyNicki]

Loving your report, you have given me great advice to tackling AK when we go in October!

 

[tammyandtommy]

Loving youre trip report! Keep up the good work its only day 2

 

[ericafny]

Day Two (Part 2) – Rest of AK and Adventures in getting to DTD

I had some extra time (yippee!) so I decided to write more of my trip report…now lets see where was I….

Oh, right after I got my iced tea (which was very good and refreshing!) we sat down at these few tables near the water across the way from the Tree of Life. I am not exactly sure where it was but it was on the way from Asia to Africa and near a hot dog stand. It was nice and cool due to the shade of the trees and there was also a slight breeze blowing in. While sitting we saw a small alligator (or crocodile, I never know which is which) floating in the water. Here is a pic:

And here is a pic I got of the Tree of Life from where we were sitting:

We then made our way into Africa and there was an African drum band performing at the bar next to Tusker House. We stopped there to watch for a little bit. (Side note: We did a lot of ‘stopping to smell the roses’ this trip as last year we were kind of rushing around not taking things in. I have to say that I enjoyed myself much more this trip because I was more relaxed and had the attitude of ‘I’ll get to do everything so there is no need to rush’. If you take one piece of advice from me then let it be this, take the time to stop and explore the things that are ‘off the beaten path’ or the little side shows, or anything else Disney has in order to enhance your experience at the parks. You will come to see just how truly magical this place really is.)

We headed to Kilamanjaro Safaris and got FP’s for it. The wait wasn’t too long, about 35 min, but we also wanted to do the Pangani Forest Trails so we figured we would go with the FP’s. Like I had mentioned before, we had done Pangani Trails last year and while it is still interesting and the animals are beautiful, I still think it isn’t as good as the Maharaja Jungle Trek. Still, we saw some cool animals. I didn’t take any pics though, most of them were lounging in the shade due to the extreme heat. After we were finished with the trail we handed in our FP’s and rode the safari. I always enjoy this ride and have heard stories of DIS’ers all going on together and reciting the whole ride (‘Simba One, Simba One’)…As I was on it this time I thought how cool would that be! But alas, I seemed to be on with no one like that, and even my tour guide didn’t seem too into it. We did see some animals though.

After Kilamanjaro, we were STARVING! It was almost 1pm and I feared that my plan to eat at Tusker House would be foiled due to the time. However, we managed to eat there unharmed (and got a nice table outside in the shade too!). Except for the obnoxious 8 year old campers that were sitting behind us on a camp trip, the experience was quite pleasant. I had read about Tusker House here on the boards and knew that was where we would eat lunch when we went to AK. I just had to try it! I am so glad we ate there because the both of us LOVED LOVED LOVED IT!!! We both had the ½ Rotisserie Chicken with mashed potatoes and veggies. It was very good! The chicken was not dry, but very juicy and the potatoes were very creamy. The veggies tasted very fresh too. I highly recommend this place and will definitely be eating there again on my next trip.

While we ate we discussed what we wanted to do next. I wanted to see a show and heard Festival of the Lion King was in an air conditioned theater. We decided to check it out and made our way over to Camp Minnie-Mickey when we were finished eating. I have to tell you something funny here. I don’t think DBF understood that we were supposed to be in a ‘camp-like’ environment over in that part of the park. He kept asking me why we were being called campers, and thought the CM’s thought we were part of a camp or something. Once I explained it to him he was like ‘ohhhhhhhh’…

I kind of liked this show. The talent Disney recruits for its shows has and will continue to be top notch, but for some reason this show seemed to have exceptionally good talent in it. The voices of the 4 ‘hosts’ were amazing and the acrobats (is that a PC term or are we calling them something else now?!?) were very good too! All in all I am glad we decided to see that and you parents out there with the little ones, definitely take them to see this because at the end the kids can get up and dance around with the performers. Just be sure to try to get in the front for that though.

After the show it was thundering and raining pretty bad so we decided to head back to ASsp to relax and get ready for dinner at the Portobello Yacht Club. Once again we arrived back to the ASsp and the circus that ensues there. It was raining, but of course the hotel was crawling with people. DBF took a nap and I wrote some notes for this here report that I am writing. I also watched some tv and may have dosed off myself for a few minutes.

Now that we were well rested, showered up, and ready for dinner we made our way to the bus stop (once again passing through the craziness that is a food court) and were first in line for the bus to DTD. After a few minutes some more people got on line after us, then some more, then that big Brazilian tour group I was telling you all about. At this point we had been waiting over 30 min, the line was long, and had seen 2 DTD busses pass by us on the outer road that leads to the other All Star Resorts. What was going on?!? A bus finally arrived after almost 45 minutes. It was full of course and we had to stand. I actually felt bad for the leader of the tour group because she couldn’t get all of her group on the same bus and started arguing with the bus driver. She had every right to though because we were waiting for so long and then a full bus shows up. After that small bump, we were on our way, or so we thought…the bus driver then proceeds to stop at ASMu. Let me tell you folks that the bus was full. I felt like I was on a NYC subway car, that’s how full. The bus driver refused to move because she thought there was room in the back and kept asking people to move back. We kept screaming ‘there is no more room’. Finally after 10 minutes she closes the door. And then, yup you guessed it, she drives to ASMo to pick up some more people! Is she insane?!? (yes I believe she was). Some people got off there, making the bus at least bearable. But no folks, she doesn’t stop there, she goes BACK to ASMu and picks up the rest of the people there. Once again, packed in like sardines we are. The ride to DTD wasn’t pleasant either and I think she took the long route just to piss people off. We arrived at DTD at 7:30. We left ASsp at about 6:15. Not Cool.

Our ADR was for 8:30 and I wanted to check out the newly redone World of Disney store. I don’t remember this being there from last year, so correct me if I am wrong people, but Stitch is now standing on top of the building and spitting at people. Are they kidding? Who wants to be spit at by that wretched thing? I walked around to another entrance just to avoid this awful site.

Once inside I explored the pirate room and the princess room (formerly the Alice in Wonderland room) which I had loved! They did a good job with redoing the store, it seems more organized now. The Bibbidy Bobbidy Boutique is smaller than I thought but closed in and private so your little princess (or prince, I hear they will do makeovers for little boys too) can be pampered in peace. It was extremely crowded and we were getting hungry! We checked our watch and it was 8:00pm so we decided to see if we could get seated early for our ADR.

We checked in with the hostess and got sat about 10 min. later. I requested an outside table and received one. It was nice to sit outside and look out onto the water. The restaurant was pretty crowded and our waiter seemed slightly overwhelmed. Altogether though the service was pretty good, and I must say that I am probably not the best person top ask being from NY and used to getting everything in under 15 min. flat. We NY’ers don’t exactly eat a leisurely dinner.

On with the food. We both got a glass of wine. I asked the waiter for his suggestion on which Pinot to order and DBF did the same for his Merlot. The waiter’s suggestion was excellent and it was a great start to a great dinner. We then ordered calamari for appy and also were served bread and roasted garlic. The calamari was really good and crispy. It rivaled some Italian restaurants back here in NYC. For main course I had farfalle with chicken, asparagus, and peas in a cream sauce (minus the chicken) and DBF had Eggplant, Zucchini, with fresh mozzarella. DBF loved his dish and thought it was excellent. I enjoyed mine, however it was slightly bland. I would however order it again. We were too stuffed to order dessert. All in all it was one of the better dining experiences we had on our trip. It was pricey though, but worth it. All in all I give the restaurant an A-.

After dinner we walked around DTD and PI for a little bit. We aren’t exactly club people so we didn’t want to go into any of them in PI. We were thinking about doing the comedy club, but the line was long and we were tired from our long day. I noticed they are doing lots of construction at PI. I am curious to see what they are going to do with it. I had heard about a major overhaul of the place but what more could they do?

I wanted so badly to get ice cream at Ghiradelli however the line was out the door. We decided to head back to get our stuff together because tomorrow we were transferring to the Dolphin!!!

Up next the weird maid service at the Dolphin…

 

[dwheatl]

I loved the part when DBF wanted to know why they were calling you campers. Also, I'm glad to know they still have some wild alligators hanging out at AK. We saw some 4 years ago, but none this time.