- Joined
- Aug 7, 2000
- Messages
- 24,376
Just got back from a Magical trip to the World. Our Cast consists of Myself, the planner and Disney Commando, DH, doesnt care what we do, my Mother, who has come on a few trips with us now and always loves what I have planned, Cameron 7 and Colton 4. This was their 7th & 6th trips respectively so they have a good grasp of the place. I wont go into dining reviews here as I posted them on the Restaurant Board. I also went into more detail about the resorts on the Resort Board.
Monday
Today we were up bright and early to do Extra Magic Hour at Animal Kingdom. After we all got ready and headed over to the Food Court for breakfast we saw it wasnt so bright. Once again, it was raining, and pretty heavy right now. We ate in a deserted Food Court and were off to AK. As we waited for the bus, the rain let up. Maybe this was it for the rain?
We arrived at AK around 7:45 and that was when they started letting people into the park. We waited at the rope and watched the opening ceremony. This was different than in December. Before we saw Mickey come up at the Tree Of Life, but this time he was on the bus with the others. I dont know if that had to do with the rain, or if its a permanent change thats been made. The crowds were surprisingly low, but we guess that may have had to do with the rain too.
I had my plan of how to hit the attractions and I have to say it worked out very well. We went right to the Safari which we pretty much walked on. The animals were out everywhere. One gave us all a good scare as it ran right in front of the vehicle in front of us. We all screamed, but luckily there were no injuries. It was also now that it started raining again. This happened off and on, heavy, to misty until about 2:00pm.
Next it was on to Dinoland, where DM and the kids did Triceratops Spin and DH and I did Dinosaur. It was just 9:00 when we arrived at Dinoland, and again, these rides were walk ons. We were done on Dinosaur very quickly then we went to find the others. They had played some games and were going back on Triceratops Spin again, when we saw them, so we jumped on it too.
After that, it was off to the 9:45 show of the Lion King. This was amazing as always. Its one of the best shows Disney has to offer, especially if you like the Lion King and the music from it. It was here I saw a woman walk by with a green ribbon on her bag, but I didnt realize until she went by me. I never did catch up with her after the show, so if it was you
.
We did a lot of criss-crossing the park, but to fit in the shows, it was worth it. We headed back to Dinoland for Tarzan Rocks at 10:45. On the way we sent DH to grab Fast Passes for Kali River Rapids. He made it back on time and we all got to see the show. Unfortunately the roller bladers didnt come out into the aisle today. I had heard they dont if it rains out, so I assume that must be why.
Maharajah Jungle Trek was next. On this Trek we saw a tiger lunge and jump at another one. I actually had my video camera on, but not focused at the time. Once again, all the people watching screamed. This was becoming a scary visit to AK.
Our FP time for KRR was 11:10-12:10 and it was about that time, so we went on that next. DM had never been on it and wasnt so sure about doing it because of the "dip", but once she did it she realized it wasnt bad at all and she had so much fun she was glad she did it. Colton, who rode this in Dec, got to be the Captain of the raft again. You have to be 38 inches to ride, and if you are under 42 you get a special seat on the raft, the one with the bar in front of it. Since he measured about 41(Yay!, he would make the other 40 inch rides this trip) he got a special wrist band at the entrance that we had to show when boarding the raft. We all had fun here, and since we were already wet from the rain, getting wet here wasnt much of a factor, LOL!
The only other thing we wanted to do here was the Boneyard for the kids. We were going to go now, but Cam said he didnt even want to go because everything would be wet and they probably couldnt play. Since running around after the kids there isnt one of our favorites, we took Cams opinion and decided to take off.
We were back at ASSP by 1:00 and werent sure what to do. We usually swim on our midday break, but with the rain that didnt seem like much fun. We stopped in the food court where DH & the kids had lunch, DM and I got a drink and had some crackers we had brought with us(saving our appetite for dinner). After lunch the rain had pretty much stopped so we decided to take a dip in the pool. It actually started to clear a little at times so that worked well. We were hoping the rain was over for the day as we were doing the Fantasmic Dinner Package later on, and luckily that was the end of it(for today).
After the pool and washing up we headed to MGM for the evening. We had Priority Seating at Mama Melrose for 5:20 and arrived just before that. We had a wonderful meal as always. As we left MM, we saw there was no line at the Muppets and upon checking we found out a show was starting in about 1 minute, so we booked it in there. Perfect timing! Then it was on the one of our kids favorites, Indiana Jones at 7:45.
After that we headed towards Oscars to enter for Fantasmic, took a quick bathroom break, and we got there just a few minutes before 8:30 when we were told to be there. As we walked up something I noticed was people from the regular entrance were coming in the line for the FDP section and sitting over in the right hand side(FDP section). In the end the entire section filled up and CMs were telling people to move out of the last couple rows if they didnt have a pass (I guess those seats are handicap accessible). Some guests were getting upset that they did the package, saw what we saw(people without the package taking up their seats), and they were being told to go to standing room. I kept an eye on this and in the end I dont think anyone moved. Im sure if someone needed the seats people would have moved, but there didnt seem to be anyone. I think something should be done about keeping the 2 lines separate if that is whats going to happen. I know we were told to be at Oscars at 8:30, but I also know it took us about 5-10 minutes to walk up to the theater. I wonder if those people had gotten to Oscars right after us, right on time, but didnt make it up on time and maybe thats why the 2 lines merged, it was after 8:30. Just a theory. Anyway we did notice the CM yelling at the Guests and the Guests complaining and not happy. But Im sure the show changed the spirit of many.
As always, Fantasmic was amazing. This ranks right up there with Lion King as one of the best shows in WDW. After the show, we fought the crowds to get out of there and surprisingly we didnt have much of a wait for a bus. This was good as we were all very tired by this point and couldnt wait to crash(this seems to be a common trend for us every night in WDW).
Tomorrow, Epcot, and DH does his birthday surprise!
Unfortuantely I have no pictures for today. DH was in charge of the digital camera and with the rain he didnt bother at AK, and I dont think he remembered to take it with us at night. I will have more though.
Monday
Today we were up bright and early to do Extra Magic Hour at Animal Kingdom. After we all got ready and headed over to the Food Court for breakfast we saw it wasnt so bright. Once again, it was raining, and pretty heavy right now. We ate in a deserted Food Court and were off to AK. As we waited for the bus, the rain let up. Maybe this was it for the rain?
We arrived at AK around 7:45 and that was when they started letting people into the park. We waited at the rope and watched the opening ceremony. This was different than in December. Before we saw Mickey come up at the Tree Of Life, but this time he was on the bus with the others. I dont know if that had to do with the rain, or if its a permanent change thats been made. The crowds were surprisingly low, but we guess that may have had to do with the rain too.
I had my plan of how to hit the attractions and I have to say it worked out very well. We went right to the Safari which we pretty much walked on. The animals were out everywhere. One gave us all a good scare as it ran right in front of the vehicle in front of us. We all screamed, but luckily there were no injuries. It was also now that it started raining again. This happened off and on, heavy, to misty until about 2:00pm.
Next it was on to Dinoland, where DM and the kids did Triceratops Spin and DH and I did Dinosaur. It was just 9:00 when we arrived at Dinoland, and again, these rides were walk ons. We were done on Dinosaur very quickly then we went to find the others. They had played some games and were going back on Triceratops Spin again, when we saw them, so we jumped on it too.
After that, it was off to the 9:45 show of the Lion King. This was amazing as always. Its one of the best shows Disney has to offer, especially if you like the Lion King and the music from it. It was here I saw a woman walk by with a green ribbon on her bag, but I didnt realize until she went by me. I never did catch up with her after the show, so if it was you
. We did a lot of criss-crossing the park, but to fit in the shows, it was worth it. We headed back to Dinoland for Tarzan Rocks at 10:45. On the way we sent DH to grab Fast Passes for Kali River Rapids. He made it back on time and we all got to see the show. Unfortunately the roller bladers didnt come out into the aisle today. I had heard they dont if it rains out, so I assume that must be why.
Maharajah Jungle Trek was next. On this Trek we saw a tiger lunge and jump at another one. I actually had my video camera on, but not focused at the time. Once again, all the people watching screamed. This was becoming a scary visit to AK.
Our FP time for KRR was 11:10-12:10 and it was about that time, so we went on that next. DM had never been on it and wasnt so sure about doing it because of the "dip", but once she did it she realized it wasnt bad at all and she had so much fun she was glad she did it. Colton, who rode this in Dec, got to be the Captain of the raft again. You have to be 38 inches to ride, and if you are under 42 you get a special seat on the raft, the one with the bar in front of it. Since he measured about 41(Yay!, he would make the other 40 inch rides this trip) he got a special wrist band at the entrance that we had to show when boarding the raft. We all had fun here, and since we were already wet from the rain, getting wet here wasnt much of a factor, LOL!
The only other thing we wanted to do here was the Boneyard for the kids. We were going to go now, but Cam said he didnt even want to go because everything would be wet and they probably couldnt play. Since running around after the kids there isnt one of our favorites, we took Cams opinion and decided to take off.
We were back at ASSP by 1:00 and werent sure what to do. We usually swim on our midday break, but with the rain that didnt seem like much fun. We stopped in the food court where DH & the kids had lunch, DM and I got a drink and had some crackers we had brought with us(saving our appetite for dinner). After lunch the rain had pretty much stopped so we decided to take a dip in the pool. It actually started to clear a little at times so that worked well. We were hoping the rain was over for the day as we were doing the Fantasmic Dinner Package later on, and luckily that was the end of it(for today).
After the pool and washing up we headed to MGM for the evening. We had Priority Seating at Mama Melrose for 5:20 and arrived just before that. We had a wonderful meal as always. As we left MM, we saw there was no line at the Muppets and upon checking we found out a show was starting in about 1 minute, so we booked it in there. Perfect timing! Then it was on the one of our kids favorites, Indiana Jones at 7:45.
After that we headed towards Oscars to enter for Fantasmic, took a quick bathroom break, and we got there just a few minutes before 8:30 when we were told to be there. As we walked up something I noticed was people from the regular entrance were coming in the line for the FDP section and sitting over in the right hand side(FDP section). In the end the entire section filled up and CMs were telling people to move out of the last couple rows if they didnt have a pass (I guess those seats are handicap accessible). Some guests were getting upset that they did the package, saw what we saw(people without the package taking up their seats), and they were being told to go to standing room. I kept an eye on this and in the end I dont think anyone moved. Im sure if someone needed the seats people would have moved, but there didnt seem to be anyone. I think something should be done about keeping the 2 lines separate if that is whats going to happen. I know we were told to be at Oscars at 8:30, but I also know it took us about 5-10 minutes to walk up to the theater. I wonder if those people had gotten to Oscars right after us, right on time, but didnt make it up on time and maybe thats why the 2 lines merged, it was after 8:30. Just a theory. Anyway we did notice the CM yelling at the Guests and the Guests complaining and not happy. But Im sure the show changed the spirit of many.
As always, Fantasmic was amazing. This ranks right up there with Lion King as one of the best shows in WDW. After the show, we fought the crowds to get out of there and surprisingly we didnt have much of a wait for a bus. This was good as we were all very tired by this point and couldnt wait to crash(this seems to be a common trend for us every night in WDW).
Tomorrow, Epcot, and DH does his birthday surprise!
Unfortuantely I have no pictures for today. DH was in charge of the digital camera and with the rain he didnt bother at AK, and I dont think he remembered to take it with us at night. I will have more though.
I wish we had gotten a chance to really meet.
