Practicing to be Parents - 6 nights at AKL:TR w/pics! UPDATED!! DAY 4 w/Harry Potter

[DLR29]

We were at AKL also from 6/26-6/29! I love all of your pics!

 

[DisneyBelle27]

What a great fun trip report! I love the title--in hindsight, my wife and I should have gotten a little practice before we jumped into it.

We're also huge AKL fans. So glad that you ended up with a savannah view on your first trip--seeing zebras and giraffes outside the windows always reminds me that we're on vacation.

Thanks for thinking my TR is so fun! And I'm sure when we do have a kid we'll still wish we had tons more practice

Seriously, nothing was better than waking up, looking out the window, and seeing African wildlife! So awesome!

Yay!!! Love seeing all the AKL pics

Thanks! I'm pretty sure I still have a couple more left so prepare yourself!

Wow your pics of AKL are beautiful!! Your selling me on this resort more and more lol.

How cute that her first Disney ride was the Jungle Cruise, an awesome first disney experience!

Can't wait to hear more

So glad you are enjoying my TR! I just absolutely loved AKL and had to take about a million pics!

Yeah, I don't know how much she really appreciated Jungle Cruise since she is only 17 months old... ...but at least her parents will be able to tell her, "Emma, your very first Disney ride was Jungle Cruise!"

We were at AKL also from 6/26-6/29! I love all of your pics!

Thanks so much and welcome to my TR! That's really funny, we might have passed right by each other! I hope you had as awesome a time as we did!

Hopefully I'll have Day 4 up sometime tomorrow......

 

[thumper*]

I have to agree with you about Universal studios.....we went the first yr they were open I think we stayed a whole 2-3 hours.

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Ok, I know it's been a long time, but I swear I am updating today! We've had a busy weekend with my DH's family. Some of his family are friends with Matt Scannell, the lead singer from Vertical Horizon, so my DH and I went to Mohegan Sun (casino in CT) to have dinner with Matt, his family, and my DH's uncle, and then saw them perform. What a great show!!! Sunday we spent at my DH's parents' house in CT watching the British Open. Now I'm not a huge golf fan but I enjoyed this open because on our honeymoon we went to the British Open at St. Andrew's and that's where it was this year!

Anyway, update coming soon, I promise!!!

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Day 4: Braving the Wizarding World and AK at night

Well, today was an early day, and I'm sure you can understand why. We had been hearing horror stories about the crowds at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure and wanted to get there nice and early! We had even changed our vacation plans because of WWoHP. Originally, we were going to go on Sunday but decided that it might be tiny bit less crowded during the week so we swapped it with our MK day.

Anyway, we arrive at the park and get in right around opening.

We start walking around the park and right before we get to the comic book area, the line for WWoHP starts.

oh no! that dude's gonna be eaten!

The employees there tell us that the wait is estimated to be 2 hours just to get into the Harry Potter area. So we get in line and it actually only takes 50 minutes! Still long, but it certainly seems better when you were expecting 2 hours!

Finally we arrive and it is amazing!

We are huge Harry Potter fans and were really excited to stroll through Hogsmeade and check out Hogwarts! And lookwise, WWoHP really delivers. It looks just like the movies. The problem is, of course, I took about a million pics, so I'm going to do my best to pick and choose!

So my DH and I get right in line for the new ride, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Right away, we notice a difference between Universal and Disney. The beginning of the line for this ride is just plain stupid! Everyone lines up outside, but this line is only for the lockers, which are located inside! So if you have no bags you have to know that you can 'cut' this part of the line since it's only for lockers. But, they don't really do a good job of letting you know this! Not to mention, the locker rooms are just a mess because they are crammed inside. The wait time said 90 minutes but it only took 60, and was sooooo worth it b/c the rooms in the castle are amazing!!!

the greenhouse - the most boring (and hottest!) part of the line, before you get inside

And finally, we are about to enter!

house points

the entrance to Dumbledore's office

My DH points out the 'Fear of Heights' warning, which is a fear my DH has!

The hall of portraits. The moving portraits were really cool but, unfortunately, they don't come out in pics.

Dumbledore's office.

Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Gryffindor Common Room

The Sorting Hat

So the ride itself is awesome! It blends animated sets with screens and simulator movement. It really is a lot of fun! After my DH and I ride it, we get some Butterbeer! Yum!

While Dom and I were in line and riding, Ben, Blair, & Emma checked out the 3 Broomsticks, and said it was pretty good. Once Dom and I were done, there was a line just to get in so we decided to skip it this trip.

Day 4, continued in the next post

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Ok, Day 4, continued.

Butterbeer cart. Yeah, we waited in line to buy Butterbeer but it was very tasty! We got 1 regular and 1 frozen and split them. The foam is delicious!

So next, Blair gets in line for the ride. She meant to get in the single rider line, but because it's dark and the staff is not that great, she accidentally gets in the regular line, but that's ok, b/c she got to see the castle rooms! After a while, Ben gets in the single rider line and we watch Emma while we're waiting for them to finish.

I'm so proud of my DH! It's actually great to see him with Emma, because I can tell he's going to be an amazing dad!

We didn't ride Flight of the Hippogriff but I took a stroll up the line to see Hagrid's hut.

Ben and Blair both enjoyed the ride very much. Unfortunately, at this point, there were lines just to get into the stores and forget about the registers! It really was a shame because Dom and I were planning on spending a bit of money on souvenirs here, but we just couldn't wait on the lines. Emma was getting tired and we had a 4:30 reservation at Boma. At least Blair and I got to ride Dragon Challenge before we left.

So we left the park and figure we will have to return again, in a year or 2 when it's less crowded, so we can do some serious shopping!

I keep Emma occupied in the car ride back so she doesn't have a meltdown!

We get back to AKL and have time to relax a little before our early dinner. I had planned dinner early because AK was having evening EMH and I have always wanted to see it at night!

zebra seen from our balcony

The in-room babysitter comes for Emma (Ben and Blair were very pleased with this service, for anyone who is considering it!) and we head off to Boma. This was our first time and it was awesome! I love trying new and exotic food and there were so many choices here! DH and I split a nice bottle of sauvignon blanc (my fave kind of wine!). Among other things, we tried lavash bread, fufu, bobotie, pap and chaka laka, watermelon rind salad, falafel, prime rib, and salmon. It was delicious! And, the desserts were fabulous! Zebra domes are awesome but don't overlook all the other desserts as well. They were fantastic!!!

So Ben and Blair decide to stay in and relax while Dom and I are off to AK! It is one of my fave parks and I've always wanted to see it at night. Now I love taking photos and I really want a digital SLR camera but I can't bring myself to spend the money so in the following pics I was just messing around with the manual settings on my Canon Powershot.

This park is absolutely beautiful at night! It is very atmospheric! Dom and I rode Dinosaur and I rode Everest and I had a blast just wandering around and taking pics!

it's definitely dark in this park at night!

the tree and Everest positively glow with a slow shutter speed!

scary giraffe!

So overall, day 4 was a fantastic day! We had soooo much fun!!!

Next up will be Day 5, A Whole Day in Epcot

 

[DisneyBelle27]

I have to agree with you about Universal studios.....we went the first yr they were open I think we stayed a whole 2-3 hours.

Yeah, there's so much potential but I really feel that there's just not that much to do! Harry Potter helps at least. But they are just no Disney!

I forgot to mention in my Day 4 update a not very good employee experience that our friends had. While we were waiting in line for the ride our friends waited to get into the 3 Broomsticks for some food. The employee at the door (dressed in wizard robes and everything!) started complaining to our friends about the job, and her boss, and how she was supposed to keep people from going in through the out door but it was just impossible, and our friends were just so disappointed!!! There was no attempt at being in character or anything. All Ben could say afterwards, was, "That would NEVER happen at Disney!" It was pretty disappointing!

 

[lissiesmum]

Wow, amazing photos of WWoHP! I can't wait to see it for myself I'm thinking 2012 will be a good year, then save WDW again for the big Fantasyland refurb in 2013! Thanks for the great details and photos of your trip report...looks and sounds like you had so much fun! I can't wait to be sitting in Boma myself eating my way through all the soups and desserts again! The nighttime photos of the AK are so cool! I'll have to try to plan an EMH night there in April!

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Wow, amazing photos of WWoHP! I can't wait to see it for myself I'm thinking 2012 will be a good year, then save WDW again for the big Fantasyland refurb in 2013! Thanks for the great details and photos of your trip report...looks and sounds like you had so much fun! I can't wait to be sitting in Boma myself eating my way through all the soups and desserts again! The nighttime photos of the AK are so cool! I'll have to try to plan an EMH night there in April!

Thanks! WWoHP is definitely aaaaamazing...but should be even better at a later date when there are less people! And AK at night is really awesome but you have to be aware of sunset times. It's possible that at certain times of the year, evening EMH won't really include full darkness. But, if the opportunity is there, go for it! It's a gorgeous park to begin with, and getting to see it at night adds a whole new element!

 

[thumper*]

Your pics are just amazing...esp AK @ nt. Glad you had fun.

 

[tiggrbaby]

Fabulous pics!

 

[mermaid764]

I love your pics of AK at night...I love the scenery in that park, it's just themed so well.

And holy about the crowds at Harry Potter... I"m glad we made the decision to wait another year or so before trying that one.

Looking forward to hearing more

 

[kate_wdw]

Your latest installment was fantastic! I loved hearing your take on and seeing your pics of the WWOHP and seeing your nighttime pics at AK. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Your pics are just amazing...esp AK @ nt. Glad you had fun.

Thanks so much! Now I just need to work on the DH about getting a nice digital SLR...hmmm....birthday? Christmas?

Fabulous pics!

Thank you! I LOVE taking pictures!

I love your pics of AK at night...I love the scenery in that park, it's just themed so well.

And holy about the crowds at Harry Potter... I"m glad we made the decision to wait another year or so before trying that one.

Looking forward to hearing more

Thanks! Yeah, AK really has some of THE best Disney theming in my opinion!

And yeah, good decision about waiting. While we don't regret going when we did (it was fun to get caught up in all of the excitement of it being newly opened) we definitely need to return in a year or 2 once the crowds have died down. Seriously, we wanted to give them our money for souvenirs and we couldn't do it...bad planning on their part!

Your latest installment was fantastic! I loved hearing your take on and seeing your pics of the WWOHP and seeing your nighttime pics at AK. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

Thanks so much! And welcome to my humble TR, make yourself at home! I feel like we're all family here! We do have almost the same name

Day 5 should be up tomorrow so stay alert, the world needs more lerts (wow, yeah, I know, worst joke EVER, sorry!)

 

[DisneyBelle27]

By the way, in case any of you haven't heard, and if you care, Guillermo del Torro (director of Pan's Labyrinth and the Hellboy movies, and 1 of our fave directors) just announced he's making a Haunted Mansion movie (1 of our fave rides) and it's gonna be kinda scary (we love scary movies)! Can you tell we are excited!!! Just thought I'd let you guys know!

http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2010/07/haunted-mansion-inspires-new-movie-by-the-walt-disney-studios-and-guillermo-del-toro/

 

[Mommy2BnB]

Subbing. Enjoyed your report so far....can't wait for more. Glad to hear about WWoHP.

 

[DisneyBelle27]

Subbing. Enjoyed your report so far....can't wait for more. Glad to hear about WWoHP.

Welcome to my TR, and thanks!

I haven't had a chance yet to get to the next day...we went to an awesome Rush concert yesterday and the DH and I are relaxing together today, but I should have the next update up tomorrow!

 

[Sassagoula Billy]

I hope to one day see AK at night. Your pictures are lovely, thanks for the report.

 

[DisneyBelle27]

I hope to one day see AK at night. Your pictures are lovely, thanks for the report.

Thanks Sassagoula Billy. AK is DEFINITELY worth seeing at night. It really is MAGICAL. Stay tuned for the next installment, tomorrow

 

[DLR29]

Mmmmm we stayed at AKL and had dinner at Boma. It was so delicious (especially those zebra domes...). And we also went to AK for evening EMH and the park is just completely different at night. It's definitely an experience worth a trip, plus the crowds were surprisingly low. I love all of the pics.