Put On Your Sunday Clothes, There's Disney World Out There! - Wilderness Lodge

[TheLittleKatie]

Day 3
Monday 22nd January 2018
Part 1 – Animal Kingdom / Pandora! (1)


Good morning!
Today is the day we get to see Pandora for the first time ever!
We got up at 7am and we went down to the buses for 8am.

It’s another beautiful morning in sunny Florida!

This was our first time using the Disney buses since staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge last year, where they were not great…
Luckily there was a bus waiting for us at the stop!
So we hopped on, and it took us and just one other family to Animal Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours!

On the ride I asked what Jamie’s maximum wait time was for Flight of Passage.
He said he didn’t know, but it should be fine because we were getting there early…
LOL OK DEAR.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom at 8:20am and it was very busy out front…
We headed straight towards Flight of Passage…
And noticed that the end of the line was on the Pandora walkway…
And there was a cast member there saying the wait time was…
3 HOURS.

At 8:30am!
Jamie was horrified!
We had two fastpasses later in the trip so we decided not to waste an entire morning standing in line right now.

We moseyed around and took some photos of this beautiful new land!

Jamie wanted to play the drums but..

We had a look at the menu at Satu’li canteen and it looked very interesting, so we decided to come back a bit later on.

Since it was nice and early and cool out, we went to ride the Safari, as the animals might be a bit more active at this time of day!

The wait was posted at 10 minutes but we walked straight on!
Our safari guide today was JENNY!
The time before last we had Janet, who for some reason we called Jambo Janet.
Then last time we had Jambo Jason.
And now we have Jambo Jenny!
They always begin with J!
Disney is a magical place.
I think we all know what Jamie’s next job should be

Proceed with caution please Jambo Jenny.
These devil cows are quite harrowing.

We saw all three lions, yay!

After a successful safari we walked through the Gorilla Falls Trek.

The Gorilla enclosure was a bit misty but we could just about see them, including the baby!

The baby was SO CUTE!
He got up, sat in a bucket, then fell out of it backwards

Maqnifique!

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[TheLittleKatie]

Day 3
Monday 22nd January 2018
Part 2 - Animal Kingdom / Pandora! (2)

We headed back to Pandora and had a look in the shop.
A cast member showed us the Banshees that are up for adoption.
I thought they were fun but a bit.. underwhelming?!
Particularly for the price!
Do these sell well?

Photopass!
This is currently the background on my phone

At 10:05 it was time to use our fastpass at the Na’Vi River Journey!
They have teeny tiny boats!

I didn’t get many good photos, the video clips are better!

This is a beautifully-made ride, with great music, sounds and effects.
My favourite is definitely the shaman at the end.
I’m a big fan of how realistic animatronics are becoming, and I was disappointed when it looked like they were going down the route of projecting faces onto the blank heads, eg. Frozen Ever After and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.
But I was so pleased to see that they didn’t do that with the shaman, she’s amazing!

That being said, there is no way I would wait in the 75-90 minute line that we saw this at all day.
It’s a very short kiddie ride.
But I think it was a fastpass well spent and I’m glad we got to do it!

After the ride we realised we were hungry, so we went to get lunch…
At 10:30am
But it’s fine because we had a big dinner tonight so we figured we’d be nice and hungry for that!
Calling this “brunch” makes it a bit more acceptable, right?

We got brunch from the Satu’li Canteen in Pandora!

I got the beef with rice and black bean vinegarette.
A totally normal brunch item.

And Jamie got the beef with salad and chimichurri!

This was GREAT!
We shared each dish and they were both delicious

Satu’li Canteen is a very unique new counter service restaurant.
I’m glad it’s more than just burgers and hot dogs.
Disney are doing great with their fast food options

We were the only people eating at the outdoor seating area so it was a quiet and peaceful brunch

Thumbs up, Disney!

We left Pandora and headed over to DINOSAUR!

Dinosaur was closed through our whole trip last year so I was super excited to ride again!

Jamie used the bathroom just before, and ran away from me when he came out...

NOW LET’S GO GET THAT DINO.

YAY it was so good to travel back to the end of the cretaceous period again

I lost my mind when I saw the photo though…
Unfortunately Jamie’s eyesight isn’t great, particularly in the dark.
That, coupled with the attention span of a goldfish, meant that he COMPLETELY MISSED the carnotaurus at the end!!!

How hilarious
I laughed so much at this photo.
He’s the only person in the whole car completely oblivious!

After Dinosaur we spontaneously decided to ride Primeval Whirl for the first time!
It was… nasty.

You need some strong core muscles to deal with this ride!
Otherwise you end up like me…

Next we did the Jungle Trek in Asia and saw the most precious tiger cubs ever!!
They were so playful and I got some great video footage!

We completed the Trek at about 12:15, so it was time to use our fastpass at Expedition Everest!

We spotted our names on the interactive posters in the queue!

Obviously being the queen of fitness that I am I’d just taken part in an epic snowman trek up a mountain.
Just roamin’ with the snowmen.

… While Jamie stayed home and drank tea.

He felt a bit emasculated by this.

We sat near the back of the train and Jamie actually saw the yeti!
He always misses it.
(Yes, he doesn’t notice the GIANT yeti.. he is a goldfish )

After riding Everest we got the train up to Rafiki’s Planet Watch!

And I got to visit my favourite little guy
I love him.

Jamie loves the cow but unfortunately it wasn’t very interested in us today.
Jamie hugged me and said, “it’s OK, I have another cow right here”

Not impressed.



We saw a cute pig sleeping with his tongue out

We had a look inside, and at 1:15pm we got the train back down the road and headed out of the park.


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[TheLittleKatie]

Day 3
Monday 22nd January 2018
Part 3 - Wilderness Lodge and Copper Creek Tour!


We walked over to the buses, where we spotted a Wilderness/Contemporary bus at the stop!
So we ran!

On the bus an adorable kid was walking around asking for everyone’s autographs in his autograph book!
It was precious.
I wrote “Katie – from England, UK!” as I think that’s my USP over here in the states

We arrived back at the Wilderness Lodge at 2pm so we had a bit of time before our DVC tour at 4pm.
So we did some exploring.

We found a little door like this one:

Which led out onto this nice terrace area at the front of the hotel!

If Jamie ever becomes a musician, this should be his album cover.

We went back to the room, had a coffee and watched some TV.

At 4pm we went down to the DVC area for our tour!

This piece of art that was on the wall in the room we had the presentation in.
I like it

Megan was our guide today and she was very friendly and knowledgable.
First she gave us a presentation on how DVC works, and the resorts, points and prices.
It did all seem to make sense to us, especially since I would love to take my future kids to Disney ALL THE TIME.
If any of you are DVC members I would love to hear about your experiences, and what you like and dislike about it!

After the presentation we got to see a deluxe studio, one bedroom villa, and two bedroom villa.
They were beautiful!!
I love the idea of taking our friends to stay in a one/two bedroom with the living space and dining table etc.
It would be so much fun!

For some reason I only took one picture, and it was of the bathroom

We were given this huge pack of info and catalogues and stuff to take away with us, as well as a $100 gift card and 3 extra anytime fastpasses as a “thank you” for our time!

It was definitely intriguing!

Let me know your thoughts on DVC!


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[TheLittleKatie]

Day 3
Monday 22nd January 2018
Part 4 – HOOP-DEE-DOO!


After our tour we went back to the room and got ready for our 8:30 dinner at…

HOOP-DEE-DOO!

Oh my good lord, this excites me so much.
We saw it for the first time last year and both absolutely LOVED it.

The boat picked us up, made a stop at the Contemporary, then headed to Fort Wilderness!

There was a really chatty woman sat behind us on the boat and we loved her.
She told us that her and her husband were from Michigan, and they own an RV that they keep in storage down here in Orlando.
So they just fly down here 4 or 5 times a year and park up their RV at Fort Wilderness!
What a great plan.
She was also excited that we were from England because she loved the royal family!

We got off the boat at 7:50 and checked in to Hoop-Dee-Doo!

They let us in at 8:30pm.
Last year we were sat on the very front row RIGHT next to the pianist.
I wonder where they’ll seat us this time…

HAHAHA!
Front row again!
WHY does this happen?!
Are there only certain places they seat two people?
Or is it because I’m always super eager and book as soon as the date is available?
Anyway, this was hilarious to us.

There was salad and cornbread (dinner cake) waiting for us on the table when we arrived.
We tried to order some beer but we only had our driving licenses, and apparently you need your passport or a copy of your passport to buy alcohol now.
We were disappointed, but then after searching through our emails I found a scan of Jamie’s passport, and he found a scan of mine!!!
Thank goodness we had just bought a house and we’d had to scan and email these to people.
We can thank our lovely house for being able to get “all-you-can-drink” beer tonight

Soon the show began!
We were happy to see that the three girls were the same actresses we had last time, and they were FANTASTIC last time.

We’ll have a good time toniiight!

Here’s the food!
You get fried chicken, ribs, mash, beans and corn, and it’s all-you-can-eat!
SO GOOD.
Jamie ate loooads of chicken!

I don’t remember many specifics, but we got lots of interaction throughout the show!
One I remember was when Dolly Drew was ruffling her skirt and doing high-kicks, she pointed at Jamie and said “look at the grin on that guy!”


Our waiter also did this to Jamie!

Here’s the strawberry Shortcake dessert!

Jamie had previously mocked me for dropping beans all over the table, but when he served himself some shortcake this was the result

We had a GREAT show!
There’s always such a fun energy in the room.
Maybe it’s the all-you-can-drink beer and sangria that’s constantly flowing.
But it was so fun.

There were a couple of really funny moments where the actors broke character!
Six Bits accidentally called Johnny “Jim” and they all mildly laughed but remained composed. But after Johnny said his next line Six Bits said “OK STEVE” and they all just lost it

There was also a guest in the middle of the room (who was later picked to be the fairy!) who had the funniest laugh ever, and it cracked all of the actors TWICE during the show

I find these kinds of moments so funny.
Like, if you think about how many times they’ve performed this show, for them to actually laugh means they’re enjoying this performance, and everyone is genuinely in a great mood

WE LOVE WASHBOARDS.

OH and my favourite part!!
Our waiter made a napkin into a bow/hat thing and was shaking my head around

But THEN.
Jamie goes, ”Ooh wait! Photo!”
Takes, what I think is, a normal photo of just me and my silly hat.
HE THEN HANDS ME THE CAMERA TO SHOW ME.
AND.

I HAD NO IDEA THEY WERE BEHIND ME.
I find that the most hilarious photo ever.
I look ridiculous just dancing around with a napkin on my head.
Completely oblivious that Dolly and Flora were posing behind me!
AMAZING!
What a great way to end the night

UGH I am so obsessed with Hoop-Dee-Doo.
It’s just fantastic.
Jamie and I both agreed that if we had just one day in Disney we would want to do Hoop.
WE LOVE.

After a great night, we got the boat back to the Wilderness Lodge, and went to bed at around 11:30pm.

GOODNIGHT!

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[RLGNC]

UGH I am so obsessed with Hoop-Dee-Doo.
It’s just fantastic.

Your love for Disney AND Hoop Dee Do comes through in your posts. Loved the update!

 

[Dentam]

Wonderful updates! I love Primeval Whirl - it's one of my favorite rides at AK!

I've never been to Hoop Dee Do but really want to now! Maybe I can convince my family to go during our January trip next year!

 

[Daisy1940]

I love your trip reports LittleKatie! Looks like y’all were having so much fun.

 

[Raeven]

HAHAHA!
Front row again!
WHY does this happen?!

We're doing it in Dec again and I'm so excited we booked Cat 1 so we'll be a lot closer than when we did it the first time.

Yum!

 

[cajunfan]

What a great photo from the top of Everest!

I need to do Hoop De Doo...its one of those things I have yet to do at WDW!

 

[ALEXandFAB]

OK first of all, that is incredible that you live 15 minutes away from Disneyland how often do you go? My friend and I are in early talks of planning a trip, FINALLY I look forward to riding BTM if it's better than the WDW one!

We go 1-4 times a year. Wish we could do more, but it's $$$.

You're going to LOVE the Disneyland resort. It's compact, but TONS to do! We've done a couple of staycations at the Grand Californian Hotel and it's so beautiful (very similar feel to Wilderness Lodge!). Do you know where you want to stay?

BTM and Space Mountain are both much better at Disneyland, IMHO. You're going to have a blast!

 

[cinderaimee]

My ADR date is coming up and I keep thinking about HDDR and just couldn't make a decision on it and then I click on your report to read the last update and it's all about HDDR! I think it's fate and you made it look like so so much fun!

 

[the2ndstar2theright]

So we hopped on, and it took us and just one other family to Animal Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours!

Empty Disney busses are the best!

He said he didn’t know, but it should be fine because we were getting there early…
LOL OK DEAR.

Oh Hymie...

We had two fastpasses later in the trip so we decided not to waste an entire morning standing in line right now.

Yeah, I don't blame you at all!

Unfortunately Jamie’s eyesight isn’t great, particularly in the dark.
That, coupled with the attention span of a goldfish, meant that he COMPLETELY MISSED the carnotaurus at the end!!!

Okay this is actually one of the funniest things ever!

We walked over to the buses, where we spotted a Wilderness/Contemporary bus at the stop!
So we ran!

Well what else would you do?

 

[MeghanEmily]

That's so interesting, did not know! And I've also just spotted the hidden Mickey in the plates in the bottom left!

Ooh, I'm only just noticing this now! Thanks!!

Ahh I love it so much!! I'm glad you're coming around to it! At least Wishes is still available in our memories/YouTube

Yes!! I definitely still bring it up on Youtube from time to time...or pull up the soundtrack while I'm on the treadmill, etc., etc.

On the ride I asked what Jamie’s maximum wait time was for Flight of Passage.
He said he didn’t know, but it should be fine because we were getting there early…
LOL OK DEAR.

Oh Hymie.

And there was a cast member there saying the wait time was…
3 HOURS.

At 8:30am!
Jamie was horrified!

That is absolutely bonkers. But I'm also not surprised.

The time before last we had Janet, who for some reason we called Jambo Janet.
Then last time we had Jambo Jason.
And now we have Jambo Jenny!
They always begin with J!
Disney is a magical place.

This is awesome!

A cast member showed us the Banshees that are up for adoption.
I thought they were fun but a bit.. underwhelming?!
Particularly for the price!
Do these sell well?

I thought the same thing. I really can't imagine spending that much money on a plastic tiny banshee. But my husband the geek informs me that apparently "shoulder dragons" (I had to google it...) are a big thing for comic-convention-goers, so maybe it's playing off this?

I lost my mind when I saw the photo though…
Unfortunately Jamie’s eyesight isn’t great, particularly in the dark.
That, coupled with the attention span of a goldfish, meant that he COMPLETELY MISSED the carnotaurus at the end!!!

AMAZING! This is hilarious!

What a stellar photo!

We tried to order some beer but we only had our driving licenses, and apparently you need your passport or a copy of your passport to buy alcohol now.

Right!? Super weird! It seems to be this way for anyone international. US licenses are apparently okay, but our Canadian ones weren't enough. When we were booking our Disney wedding, our planner told me to make that really clear to our guests so they weren't disappointed. So strange

I HAD NO IDEA THEY WERE BEHIND ME.
I find that the most hilarious photo ever.

This is fabulous!

 

[Lesley Wake]

I lost my mind when I saw the photo though…
Unfortunately Jamie’s eyesight isn’t great, particularly in the dark.
That, coupled with the attention span of a goldfish, meant that he COMPLETELY MISSED the carnotaurus at the end!!!

I guess I can understand this - when we did it, we had no line, so my eyes still hadn't adjusted from being in the brightness to suddenly being in the dark!

We sat near the back of the train and Jamie actually saw the yeti!
He always misses it.
(Yes, he doesn’t notice the GIANT yeti.. he is a goldfish )

But I CANNOT understand this! How does he miss a huge Yeti?

HAHAHA!
Front row again!
WHY does this happen?!
Are there only certain places they seat two people?
Or is it because I’m always super eager and book as soon as the date is available?
Anyway, this was hilarious to us.

I think it's both! I think they assign tables in the order you book - we booked right away too so I'm excited to see if we're in the first row in December!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

What a fun night at Hoop De Doo! Looks like you got yourself a new tradition now.

I can't imagine standing in line for 3 hours for anything. I don't have a Disney trip in the works so it will be a couple of years before I'm back. I hope all the Pandora crazy lines will die down before I return.

 

[paradesintherain]

That view doesn't get old!

They're sooooo cute, and sooooo close!

BABY!

He's awake?!?! I didn't know that was a thing that happened

Completely unfazed

Do these sell well?

I think they do, though it's hard to imagine why

But I was so pleased to see that they didn’t do that with the shaman, she’s amazing!

She really is! The projected faces are kind of neat technology but nothing like the shaman.

We got brunch from the Satu’li Canteen in Pandora!

Excellent brunch choice.

It was… nasty.

That's the perfect adjective for Primeval Whirl. I suggest bonking heads with your ride partner when you board, then the pain of the ride doesn't even matter

Next we did the Jungle Trek in Asia and saw the most precious tiger cubs ever!!
They were so playful and I got some great video footage!

I'M SO JEALOUS! They were never awake or very visible for me, and now they're big and old

He always misses it.

My dad misses it too! How is it possible? He didn't even know there was a yeti there for the longest time

Jamie hugged me and said, “it’s OK, I have another cow right here”

So cool that the artwork is visible in the bedroom and bathroom

BEST seats!

WHY does this happen?!

I think it's because you're an eager beaver! Pretty sure earlier bookings get the better seats.

We tried to order some beer but we only had our driving licenses, and apparently you need your passport or a copy of your passport to buy alcohol now.
We were disappointed, but then after searching through our emails I found a scan of Jamie’s passport, and he found a scan of mine!!!

That's so silly, but glad it worked out in the end! The pitchers of beer really help make the cost more palatable

Too great! Hoop is such a fun show and you're right, the actors do all seem to genuinely love what they're doing!

 

[Pooh's-Honey-Pot]

Fellow Brit signing up!

I do not understand how you can take photos on EE!! I hang on to the bars for dear life!!!!

 

[SM1992]

Another fun trip report, your pictures are great!! We're DVC members and would gladly share our thoughts, but I don't want to bore everyone here. Private message if you'd like to discuss a bit.

 

[Steppesister]

There were a couple of really funny moments where the actors broke character!
Six Bits accidentally called Johnny “Jim” and they all mildly laughed but remained composed. But after Johnny said his next line Six Bits said “OK STEVE” and they all just lost it

There was also a guest in the middle of the room (who was later picked to be the fairy!) who had the funniest laugh ever, and it cracked all of the actors TWICE during the show

I loved all of your last update, but especially THAT! How hilarious! And if they're laughing themselves, you KNOW they love what they do. #notjustajob

 

[sjrec]

Love reading your updates! So much fun!
DVC members since 2003-have been very happy with our membership. We live on the east coast so have also stayed at the beach resorts in Vero Beach and Hilton Head.
I believe costs are much less if you buy through a resale company. For an idea check David’s Rentals.