Surprise trip The good, the Bad and the “NO, You didn’t do that, did you?

[myhouseofmouse]

I never made it to Disneyquest and we had premium annual passes. LOL
I love Landscapes of Flavors. The surf and surf burger is the best.

Yeah, again, I don't think you missed much on Disneyquest.

I also thougth the burgers there were great, nice roll to compliment it at well.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Funny thing, of all the posts I read about the MB's, this was the first I read about saving time at the food courts. Makes sense, just wonder why it took so long for me to find out?

Thanks for your report, following along

 

[myhouseofmouse]

Funny thing, of all the posts I read about the MB's, this was the first I read about saving time at the food courts. Makes sense, just wonder why it took so long for me to find out?

Thanks for your report, following along

Yeah not sure either, but with larger families it can be a good way to save time and everyone enjoy a warm meal together. Even with only a family of four, it was nice to be able to divide and conquer.
Thanks for following along.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

Day 3 POR check in and off to Animal Kingdom

Woke up to the sounds of the ocean as the alarm went off at 6:30am (I thought the ocean sounds were a nice touch by Disney on the alarm, loved the details at AOA) It was a nice and refreshing night’s sleep and I felt fully refreshed from lack of sleep from the previous day. My son and I quickly got dressed and started to pack up the car, while the ladies slowly got themselves ready. Since we were only staying at AOA for one night we kept everything in the suitcases and only brought in what we needed for the single night. We pulled into POR about 7:45am and were feeling pretty good about being able to check in and be at AK for RP. That however quickly changed as to my surprise our room was ready at check in and again we had a 1st floor room. This time our room was in a “Preferred section” of Alligator Bayou. I was actually hoping to get a room in this section, since our last stay at POR was in the Magnolia Bend section. Now we were at building 27, I don’t really see this as a preferred room it was closest to the pool and not too far from the main building, but was a walk to bus and parking. I thought about asking to change to something closer to parking (and would next time) but was happy that the room was ready and so I kept it.

On the way out I tried to use one of those luggage carts so that I could unload the luggage from the car and get it all to the room in one trip. However I was told that I would need to get someone to assist me from bell services. So I checked in and waited for someone to help us. My DD asked why we have never used this service before. After we waited another 20 minutes for someone to help us, I answered “This is why!!!” What's funny is that the cart I wanted to use stood there the entire time. I understand that if bell services just let guest use these carts, then they would not have them when they needed them and people would probably just leave them al over the resort. It just slowed down the morning, but gave me a chance to sit and watch all the excited guests coming and going from the resort. My wife thinks I'm crazy, but I love people watching and Disney is one of the best places to people watch.

Finally someone did come over with a golf cart and help us get everything out of the car and onto the golf cart. He was really nice and helpful (he even gave short cut tips for getting to parking and bus pickups) and I gave him a little extra for dealing with the very heavy coolers filled of food and drinks. After we took a moment to admire the room, (which I liked even more then the AOA room for its simple rustic feel, I’ll get into the room and POR more later.) we headed off back to the car and off to Animal Kingdom. It was now 8:45am, so my plan to hit RD was not going to happen.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

Our Room:

Again, that extra sink really came in handy for getting the everyone (Let's be honest, the Two Females!!) ready in the morning.

Now where my DD is, is the pull out bed. We never tried it out, but it looks comfy and could easily be used by a child to allow you to use this room for 5.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

Day 3: Back story fill in.

We still ended up getting parked and to the front gates of AK by 9:10am and quickly headed off to Expedition Everest. (Note: we had no issues with getting in the park using our MB’s) Now before I go thru our day at the park, let me go thru some back story and plans. This will include why I put included the line “No, you didn’t do that, did you?” in advance to that I will try to explain myself so that no one will think to poorly of me and my family.

On our first day of the parks we planned to be at Animal Kingdom from 9am to 3pm, and then head off to Spirit of Aloha dinner show at the Poly. We were also taking part in the unofficial test for MB and FP+. I say unofficial, because we never got a formal invite for the test, but were able to complete everything via the My Disney Experience website. I was able to book all of my FP+ before they started to do the tiered tests, so we were able to get the FP+‘s for the attractions that we wanted to. I also planned most FP+’s for the afternoon, thinking that the morning hours we would not really need them and to save and use them for the more crowded afternoons. I also planned on using our key to the world cards to get paper FP- during our planning. I know that there are people out there that frown upon the so called “Double Dipping”, but as I have said earlier, our family has always taken full advantage of the paper FP system in the past and we whole use the paper FP system between 6-12 times PER DAY. So going down to only 3 FP opportunities was not something we were planning on doing if we had the opportunity. We are a thrill ride junkie family and we end up riding the thrill rides as many times as we can as each park and in the past have been known to do rides like Everest and Tower of Terror 3-6 times per day. This is just how we have toured the parks. In order to do that and other attractions in the parks, we have to lower the wait times by taking advantage of the FP system. (Even if this included me running off by myself to get FP’s and then meet back up with the family) I know this may seem crazy to some, but this is just how we have always done things, and enjoyed our times at the park. Now we have always gone to Disney during slower times, so besides rides like Toy Story and Soarin, there have always been plenty of FP’s for everyone and never seen the issues of FP’s running out. I have heard that this has changed because of the new FP+ system, but can honestly say that at least while we were there, that we did not experience this. During our whole week there, the only FP’s that we say run out were the ones that always ran out in the years past. We also noticed that they seemed to run out about the same times as previous years. So even though people will frown upon our families’ methods, I can honestly say that it had no effect on other families’ visits and touring.

With that said, I have to admit that not only did we do the “double dipping” but we quickly found out at AK, that we could also “Triple Dip”. Since we had room keys for the AOA, we were able to use our new POR room keys and our AOA room keys to obtain paper FP. We did not do or try the "Phone app trick" that would allow you to get as many Fb+ as you would like during your days, but did run into issues during the week while using th ephone app that would suggest that that trick could work out as well. If I offended anyone, I do apologize, but it is not my intention, but rather to maximize my family’s’ time at the park, enjoying the things that we do most. You will see this as the park touring starts and you see how we spend and enjoy our time at the parks.

Up next: Day 3 Animal Kingdom touring

 

[scottny]

No offense here. We used the fp+ and the paper fp's also a few weeks ago. Disney sent me a survey about it all when I got home and they got an earful. LOL

The room looks really nice.

 

[PrncessA]

Signing up...

DH wants to drive on our trip next December (17 hours) and I am not sure about it. I like the savings but I don't want to get to Disney with a husband who is exhausted. It looks like your drive went great though!

 

[myhouseofmouse]

No offense here. We used the fp+ and the paper fp's also a few weeks ago. Disney sent me a survey about it all when I got home and they got an earful. LOL

The room looks really nice.

I also made sure to fill out the survey as well. I thought interesting thought, that they hit or even asked most of the things that were a concern for us. Like they already know what the issues and hot spots are. Here's hoping that they listen and are able to make it a system we can ALL use to make our visits even better then they are today.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

Signing up...

DH wants to drive on our trip next December (17 hours) and I am not sure about it. I like the savings but I don't want to get to Disney with a husband who is exhausted. It looks like your drive went great though!

Yeah, for us it was all in the planning. Planning the route and the best times to leave and do the driving. Also, to help with that exhaustion thing, he will really need to have planned down time when you first get there to recharge the batteries. I can't tell you how important that (easy first day) was to have, to being able to tour and do the parks at the pace we do, for the rest of the week.

Also if need be, you can talk to my wife, she was not a fan of the drive ahead of time either, but now she too would do it again.

Thanks for joining in.

 

[scottny]

I also made sure to fill out the survey as well. I thought interesting thought, that they hit or even asked most of the things that were a concern for us. Like they already know what the issues and hot spots are. Here's hoping that they listen and are able to make it a system we can ALL use to make our visits even better then they are today.

I do hope they listen tot he surveys. I said we need different park in one day options and also more than 3 a day among other things.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

I do hope they listen tot he surveys. I said we need different park in one day options and also more than 3 a day among other things.

Both great suggestions, lets hope they listen to the feedback and keep us "Commandos" in mind.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

Day 3: Animal Kingdom:
Today at the park was supposed to be a cloudy day with a high of 74, so a good day weather wise at Animal Kingdom. This was also supposed to be the last big crowd day, as a lot of the crowds usually die off after today for the remainder of the week ahead. We did AK on this day when we were here back in 2011 and even though the crowds were heavy, it never seemed crowded. It did turned out to be the same this year, nice crowds but nothing horrible.

Now my 6 year old son just turned 6 and he also reached that wonderful 44inch milestone for Disney, (he is actually 46inches) which means he can now do Expedition Everest and Space Mountain. So we were very excited to get him on EE and see how he liked it. We missed RP by a little bit, but still headed off to Expedition Everest. When we got there, the wait was still at 20 minutes, so we jumped right in line and my DD used the wonderful queue line to build a little fear in our DS. He did great though, what started as "first-timer" nerves quickly changed into screams of joy by the end of the ride. When we got out of the ride, the wait time was posted at 30minutes and the fast time wait time was posted at a return 9:40am to 10:40am. This is when we decided to try out and see if the Key cards would work and got the FP- for that return time.

We then headed over to Asia to see the Monkeys and go thru the Maharajah Jungle Walk thru. This is one of those attractions we don't usually go thru. It reminds us too much of something we can do at our local Zoo and don't usually do it.
During this time we also had our first experience with using the Disney Mobile App. to make changes to FP+ that we had. For the day we had a 11:30-12:30am FP at Dinosaur and a 1:00-2:00pm at EE and a 2:45to3:45pm at Kilimanjaro Safari. Now because we were going to be at EE and was done there by 10:30am, we decided to move the Dinosaur time back to 10:30-11:30. This way we could hit that up and then head over to the 11:30am show of Lion King. We also moved our time for Kilimanjaro Safari up to 2:00 to 3:00pm to allow us to get that done earlier and maybe head out of the park earlier if needed. My first impression of using the App was great, even though the load time was a little slow, I was able to easily make the changes and get the times that I was looking for with no problem.

The rest of the morning went as scheduled. We went back to EE at 9:45am and rode it twice, then headed over to Dinosaur and rode that. Now my DS did not like this ride at all, he kept his ears covered thru the entire ride, he said that it was too load for him. (I did get a good picture of him though, through the ride photo.) After Dinosaur we headed off to catch my wife and DD favorite park show, "Festival of The Lion King". Surprisingly I think this turned out to be my Son's favorite show of the week. I guess it goes to show that it really has something for everyone to enjoy. Of course i made it a point to remind my wife that it would be the last time she would see it in this form, which did not go over well with her.

After the Lion King we headed over to Flame Tree BBQ for lunch. I really enjoyed the food here; I ended getting the Ribs w/ Baked BBQ beans and coleslaw. My wife had the Turkey Sandwich and the kids each got kids meals and everyone enjoyed them (Kid Drumstick meal and Hot dog) The only complaint was from my DD (who eats a total of 5 different foods) that the drumstick had a BBQ seasoning on it that she didn't care for. If you are in the mood for BBQ, i would highly recommend trying this out. Good variety of BBQ foods here. (Side note: Another great thing about Disney; you do not have to be a certain age to get a kids meal, our DD who is 13 eats less then my 6 year old son, so most of the trip, she ended up ordering off of the kids menu.)

After Lunch we headed over to the Tree of Life and enjoyed the Bugs Life Show there. We then made a pit stop and headed over the Boneyard playground and spent a few minutes there before heading off to EE. When we got there we notice that the Paper FP distributers were being giving out for 2pm to 3pm and the stand by line was reading 30 minutes (which was looked to be no more than 20 if that) so we break the law and decided to get paper FP and ended up riding EE 3 times in a row in about 20 minutes. All in all we were able to ride it 6 times on a crowd level day of a 6 and there were still plenty of FP’s left for others to enjoy.

After we got our fill of EE, we headed over to the safari and made another pit stop at the “Flights of Wonder” show that was about to begin. This is really cute Bird show, that uses real life topics and tricks that the birds would do out in the wild. (Sorry, no parrots riding bikes) It is not a long show with an “ok” human staged part. The birds are the real stars here though and as long as you can handle birds flying inches (Really, inches!) over your head. This is a good (not great) show to sit back and relax at. After the show we headed over to the safari and notice a huge line at both the Stand by entrance and FP Entrance. Not sure what was going on there. Maybe an animal took a nap on the road or the attraction was down for some point of the day. We decided not to stick around to find out and instead headed to park exit and back to the Resort.

Overall, a very good first day at the parks, I felt we got a lot done in 5 hours of touring. Highlights of the day would be the food at Flame Tree BBQ and being able to ride EE 6 times and each time listening to screams of joy coming from my kids. I have to say that is one sound that I truly love, “Screams of pure happiness” I have even, very carefully gone as far as taping them on some of these thrill rides, just so I can listen to those screams.

 

[myhouseofmouse]

A few Pics from AK:

Lion King:

Connor is not a big fan.

Sneaking a kiss:

 

[myhouseofmouse]

Side Note:

Forgot to mention, we have never done or even thought about doing the Photopass + thing for $150-$199. As you will continue to see this week, our family does not slow down enough for us to take advantage of the Photopass + system. (Even though I would say that I did notice a lot of Photopass Photographers around the parks. I know that this has been a complaint by some, but I thought that there was a good amount out and about. Quality is a different story; the few we did use had issues even holding the camera straight). . So we didn’t do Photopass +, but we did take advantage of the Attractions + Photopass which costs $50.00 and gives you the download rights to every Ride Attraction photo taken. This was a great product for our family since we ended up with 72 attraction photos, which would cost $15 a piece if purchased at the parks. The only downsides to this product is that you would have to wait in the Photo line for them to scan your card to add the photo to your account and you do not get any of the extra graphics on the pics that come with the purchased ones. For families that either usually buys a couple of these photos anyway or families that do a lot of thrill rides, I highly recommend this product. If you have more questions on this product, please let me know.

 

[scottny]

Great update and pics.

Brave man leaning over on EE. I hold on for dear life.

We do PP+ but we tour at a very leisurely pace. I don;t think we would do it every time though the last 2 trips we have.

 

[juligrl]

Day 2, finally here...
Now I say finally here, but honestly the drive went really well, better then expected and I actually enjoyed it. (As much as you can while sitting still for 16 hours.)

Following! Great TR! Just got back from a driving trip to Disney from Pittsburgh. Both my husband and I are Civil War nuts so instead of driving straight through, we took two days to drive down and another two to drive back so that we could get some Civil War sites crossed off our bucket lists. It was fun, but I was so eager to get to Disney that 16-ish hours in a car driving it straight through would've worked for me too.

We stayed at POFQ this time. We did stop over at AOA to check it out - very colorful! The Cars section looks so fun!

 

[MommaPeel]

I'm in and ready. Going to AoA in a Cars suite in December. I'm taking BF for his first trip to WDW. He grew up going to DL and thinks it is better. I am more excited than I have been in years and I can't wait. Until then, I read trip reports! Keep it coming!

 

[myhouseofmouse]

Great update and pics.

Brave man leaning over on EE. I hold on for dear life.

We do PP+ but we tour at a very leisurely pace. I don;t think we would do it every time though the last 2 trips we have.

Thank you, yeah we have never seriously thought about doing PP+ because we felt that our touring style would not work and make it worth it for us. for the $50.00 the attractions+ worked out great.