The horse girl, her big guy and WDW..a trip report! Update 8/4-Day 10, pg 26!

[DisneyJo]

Just thought I'd say Congrats Tara

 

[Eventer98]

Just thought I'd say Congrats Tara

Thanks!!

 

[Eventer98]

Day 4, part 1

Rise and shine DH!! Yeah right. I got up easily when the CELL PHONE alarm went off…in fact, I can jump out of bed 9/10 mornings. I just rock like that. I showered and wrote out some postcards. Around 7:30 I woke up DH and told him I wanted to be at the bus stop by 8. He eventually got up and we made it down there by 8:02. We had our first breakfast to get to!! I thought taking the bus to AK and then a bus to AKL was the fastest way. We are super close to AK…much closer then the TTC. Our bus came right away and we were on our way! Once we were dropped off at AK we waited about 20 minutes for a bus to AKL. No worries..we were still 45min ahead of schedule. It was our first trip to AKL…I liked it a lot but we were both glad we didn’t buy into AKL. It just isn’t our “style.” Not that I know what our style is really but this wasn’t it. We are going to stay there someday on DVC points though. We found the podium for Boma and checked in. She said it was no problem that we were early and would have a 10 min. wait. We had no sooner sat down then the buzzer went off. We were shown to a table with Carla as our server. Carla was nice, but like Brenda, not overly friendly. She did her job but nothing extra. Once again, we had no idea how much to tip at buffets. They bring you drinks and clear your plates but do they get 18%?? If we did 18% the tip should have been almost $6. I thought $4 was enough but DH left $5. Who knows.

The food was pretty good. I didn’t take pictures b/c we all know what the breakfast buffet pics look like. Plus, I was hungry and forgot!! I got a waffle (no Mickey waffles here), a piece of raisin French toast, scrambled eggs, potatoes, oatmeal and banana bread. All of it was yummy!! I also had the “house” juice..a guava, something, orange juice mix. It was good but I like more pulp in my OJ. DH had about the same things as me and said it was all delicious as well. I like my scrambled eggs runny…I guess “soft” is the term you are supposed to use. So usually I find a buffet with eggs way too dry. But these were good!! I was happy with them. We ate pretty quickly and headed over the bus stop and then on to AK!!! I also had to pick up a birthday pin since it was MY BIRTHDAY!! I know you are dieing to know if DH remembered. I want to say no and he wouldn’t have until I picked up the pin. But I can't. I think the only reason he did remember was because I said he had to get up and get moving b/c it was my bday and I make the rules today!! I shouldn’t have said anything!!

After a quick ride to AK we lined up at the gates.

It wasn’t too bad….I think we missed the first rush of the AM. Our first stop was Guest Relations to get my birthday pin!! I expected a long line like at Ak but it wasn't bad at all!!

Then we headed right to my favorite ride...EE

to get a FP and then planned on riding Dinosaur. Of course the stampede was on for EE so we tried to take a few shortcuts here and there. But overall we were unsuccessful and the FP return time was for 1pm. We headed over to Dinosaur where I thought we would have a long wait but it was less then 10 min. Question..why do people insist on video taping a stationary object??? The family in front of us, who were picture happy, just stopped in the line and videotaped the dinosaur fossil in the ride lobby.

Not pictures. No video with them in it. No commentary. Just plain old videotaping. Like the dinosaur is going to start moving at any time. Thanks for holding up the line Speilburg. This leads into another pet peeve. People who stop, DEAD stop, in the herd for no reason other then to speculate on something. If no one is behind you, or maybe just a few people, sure….talk amongst yourselves all you want. When the cattle are mooing please keep moving. Stop to the side. It’s really not rocket science. I can’t tell you how many people I ran smack into b/c they pulled the dead stop move.

Ok…again I am stepping off my soapbox. We made it onto the ride..it was must scarier this time then last year. Maybe b/c I knew what to expect!!! My dad would probably call this ride his favorite. It’s a good one!! We had already made the decision to skip Finding Nemo, the Musical. No thanks. The concept of heads next to puppets kinda freaks me out. I know I shouldn’t judge until I have seen it but hey, another time. FOTLK was on our list though since we missed it last year!! On our way to the show we stopped to take in A Bugs Life. Another great show!!! I love the ending but I won’t give it away here. Too short though..like all those great 3-D shows usually are!!! We had the second row. Avoid it. We were too close and it was hard to take it all in. I think row 5 and back would be perfect. When it ended we noticed we could finally get another FP so we headed to the Safaris. The standby line was 90 minutes. It was at this point that DH said we were never coming in peak season again. I told him the week after Xmas and spring break were worse…..he pointed out that the week of Christmas is when his family wants to come in a few years. We won’t be joining them unless they want to come the week before Xmas!! Isn't that convenient?? Actually, most of our future DVC stays will be in Jan. Cheap points, less bovines and cooler weather. DH stopped for some water while I grabbed a FP for about 2pm. Then my ticket stopped giving me FPs!! DH’s went through A-OK but mine kept coming out. Embarrassing b/c all the people behind me were sweaty and impatient. The CM finally brought me over a FP ticket that I can enter in any machine and get a FP. But it would only be good for that day only. Still neat-o. I met DH in the refreshment line and got an apple for a snack. WDW has my favorite apples for snacks..Red Delicious. Yum!!

Next up EE and KS!!

 

[twob4him]

Just thought I'd say Congrats Tara

Thanks!!

How the heck did I miss this????????????????????????


Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is this a Disney souvenier???? Nevermind....don't answer that!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hey Tara,

Just found your report tonight while at work. Your trip sounds great so far. I am so jealous that you have DVC, I hope someday to buy into it. I noticed in your sig that you are expecting. Congratulations! I had noticed in the pre-trippie part of the report that you had been trying to get pregnant so you must be really excited!

I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

 

[DisneyJo]

1pm for EE wow those FP's go quick I totally agree with the stop dead people they really p me off!!!

I didn't want to comment about your disney souvenir like Cathy did

 

[twob4him]

1pm for EE wow those FP's go quick I totally agree with the stop dead people they really p me off!!!

I didn't want to comment about your disney souvenir like Cathy did

Ya but you were thinking it....

 

[KatGarcia]

As someone who lives in a place overrun by tourists who tend to stop dead center on the sidewalk and stare at things- I'm with ya sista! I can't stand when people don't pay attention on the lines! Everyone would get there faster if they just paid a little attention!

 

[Eventer98]

How the heck did I miss this????????????????????????


Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is this a Disney souvenier???? Nevermind....don't answer that!

Yeppers..Mickey threw a little something else into my suitcase!!

Hey Tara,

Just found your report tonight while at work. Your trip sounds great so far. I am so jealous that you have DVC, I hope someday to buy into it. I noticed in your sig that you are expecting. Congratulations! I had noticed in the pre-trippie part of the report that you had been trying to get pregnant so you must be really excited!

I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!

Thanks for reading and the happy thoughts!! Money will be tight with the DVC but we are glad we did it...I hope you can too someday!!

1pm for EE wow those FP's go quick I totally agree with the stop dead people they really p me off!!!

I didn't want to comment about your disney souvenir like Cathy did

Yeah those dead stoppers kill me!!!

As someone who lives in a place overrun by tourists who tend to stop dead center on the sidewalk and stare at things- I'm with ya sista! I can't stand when people don't pay attention on the lines! Everyone would get there faster if they just paid a little attention!

I don't know how you survive in NYC...it must be even worse there with all the foreign languages too. My hat is off to you!!!

 

[Eventer98]

Day 4, part 2

It was time to ride EE!! Finally!! This is my favorite ride in all of WDW…I think?! Yeah, it is!! The fast pass line went by quick and we were off..in the last row!! I knew we were in for a bumpy ride. I love this ride more each time I ride it. I knew there was a hill on the ride somewhere but couldn’t remember where. I won’t ruin it for you guys but it definitely wasn’t where I remembered it to be!!! Excellent.

We then crawled over (it was hot!!) to FOTLK. On the way over we saw these guys in Camp Minnie Mickey!!

We had missed FOTLK last year…I have no idea why. It was awesome though!!!! DH liked it to which says a lot..he does not like the musical diddies, hence the nap in Beauty and the Beast.

By this time our FP’s were up for KS. We knew chances were slim of seeing any animals since it was so hot at around 2pm! While we were in line a CM asked if I had heard Goofy’s birthday greeting yet. I cautiously said no…she dialed a number and put me on the phone…it was a recording of Goofy singing Happy Birthday! Super cute. Then she let us and another couple on the ride…ahead of like 20 people!! Claiming she needed two groups of two but I am sure she could have found that further up then us.

The safari was great!! I think we saw the most animals on this one then any we did last year. I won’t put all the pics on here since everyone has seem the same old pics before but I will add a few for drama.

We had a really good “guide” too. We wanted to ride again but the FP time was hours away. At this point we decided to call it a day. We did some shopping and headed out. We figured we could hit KRR and the M.Jungle Trek on Thursday. We were super hot and exhausted!!! We also had the Luau at the Poly that night and wanted to rest up a bit.

But on the wedding wishes note….we continued to get a ton of them throughout the day from CM’s and the occasional guest. It made us feel great the first few days but now we were kind of sick of saying thank you. DH wondered when we were going to start getting more free stuff. And no dream team sightings yet again.

When we got back to our room this was waiting for us!!

How cute!! I knew I would have to deflate the balloons the next AM in order to get over to SSR. But that was ok…I would have to anyway to save them in my memory box. No towel animals though. Dang. DH took a nap while I fiddled around and we eventually headed over to the Poly via the MK bus around 6. The dinner was at 8 but I wanted to see if my relaxing lounge singer was doing his thing!!!
He was! We sat for about 30 min, shopped a bit and then headed through the back doors and along the beach to Luau Cove. We checked in and did the obligatory picture pose they make everyone do. The gave us leis for it but I knew we wouldn’t buy them. We did last year at HDDR and I think they are overpriced. $30 for the small package I believe. Anyway, neither of us had done the Luau before but I thought it would be fun. I didn’t realize that we were eating outside. I mean I must have known this since I knew it could be canceled due to rain but it didn’t click in my head. DH hates eating outside..in fact he has a phobia about it. I think it has to do with the bugs. So he wasn’t too pleased when were were seated a few minutes before 8. He got over though. He’s just like a kid…if you ignore the obvious sighs he stops!! We were seated in the front row but to the side.

DH is so excited he cannot control himself!

I thought it was definitely a great seat for tier 2. I was sure we would be on the upper level. Our waitress (forgot her name!!! I didn’t write them down!) was great…very attentive and the salad, bread and pineapple were already waiting for us when we sat down. The dressing on the salad was excellent!! I have clue what kind it was…look it up on allears. The bread was coconut-pineapple and also delicious. Nice and warm!

Salad, pineapple, bread

Chicken, veggies, rice, ribs

At about 8:15 the show started . I had heard there were like 3-4 acts and they were all super cheesy until the last one. And cheesy they were. Like, “I can’t believe Disney thinks this is well written” cheesy. They brought out our platter of food while the show took a break. The ribs were excellent, veggies were great and then chicken was your reg. baked chicken. I hate chicken if I can’t have ketchup (I didn’t want to ask) so I muddled through it. It was good though. The Hawiian rice was good too. I also hate rice unless it is sticky/pasty high school cafeteria rice. That stuff is the bomb!! But this rice was pretty good..I thought it would be dry but it wasn’t!! The show continued and it got a little better b/c there was more dancing. Finally, they brought out desserts before the final act. I forgot to take a pic!!! The horror!! I’m sorry!! It was a chocolate truffle in the shape of a volcano with some sort of chocolate crust bottom and raspberry sauce on top, aka lava. It was a tad too chocolaty for me (I think anything more then a Hershey bar is too much chocolate!!) but I ate it all of course!

Misc. pics

The final act of the show was awesome!! The fire dance alone was worth the meal price ($109 for tier 2) He dropped the fire wand twice but you hardly noticed. He kept going too..I wondered when he would stop and catch his breath!! I tired to take a lot of pictures throughout the night but my flash just wouldn’t go far enough. Overall it was a great show and we will go again..probably switch it up every year with HDDR. As the show was ending Wishes was starting and we caught the last few minutes from the beach. WOW!! I think I will view Wishes from there all the time now…except there wasn’t any music.

We finally headed back to CSR. For some reason we thought there were buses at TTC and decided to take a nice stroll there. Um no. SOG went there last year so that was why I was confused. So we took another monorail to MK and caught the bust there. My feet were killing me and we had just wasted 45 minutes on my mistake. Oh well. By the time we got back we fell into bed. But not before getting the message that we didn’t have to check out…our bill for charging privileges would be on our door in the AM. Sweet!! That means we could sleep in!! We still had to be up a little earlier to check in at SSR…so I guess we called 7:30 sleeping late. We were excited though to finally be going home!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I love Everest as well although I think Rock n' Roller Coaster is my fav and then Everest as a close second. FOTL is great isn't it! We had seen the Nemo musical earlier in the day and did not care for it so we were a little leery of going to see FOTL but we were happily surprised

Sounds like you had a great dinner. I'm glad that your DH got over his phobia of eating outside. I don't blame him for not liking to eat outside though, bugs flying around and getting in your food is nasty but I assume that Disney has some sort of bug killing system set up to prevent this?

How exciting, you get to check into your home resort in the morning. Can't wait!

 

[Eventer98]

I love Everest as well although I think Rock n' Roller Coaster is my fav and then Everest as a close second. FOTL is great isn't it! We had seen the Nemo musical earlier in the day and did not care for it so we were a little leery of going to see FOTL but we were happily surprised

Sounds like you had a great dinner. I'm glad that your DH got over his phobia of eating outside. I don't blame him for not liking to eat outside though, bugs flying around and getting in your food is nasty but I assume that Disney has some sort of bug killing system set up to prevent this?

How exciting, you get to check into your home resort in the morning. Can't wait!

RNRC is pretty close to first as well..same with TOT. It's just so hard to choose!!!!
DH even said we could swap the Luau out with HDDR and do one every year so he must have liked it enough to go back and eat outside!! The food was really good though so I think that counts a lot in his book.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[punkin413]

another great update! the luau sounds nice....although i have very disturbing memories from a luau we went to in honolulu when i was 9. it was the first time any of us had been to one and we were so excited. well, one of the male dancers didn't have on ANYTHING under his grass skirt and every time he twirled around you got to see his "stuff." i was only 9 and, needless to say, it was a very traumatic experience for me! my dad was fuming about it and complained to someone.....i don't remember who and i don't remember what happened. anyway, i guess i've never looked into doing the luau at disney because i'm afraid i'll have grass skirts and nakedness flashbacks!!!

can't wait to hear about SSR!

 

[DisneyJo]

Love the photo of your DH I haven't read any TR's before with the luau in so it's good to hear you enjoyed it

Dawn great story

 

[spongemommie05]

i have finally caught up on your tr it is great so far and can't wait for more.

 

[Eventer98]

another great update! the luau sounds nice....although i have very disturbing memories from a luau we went to in honolulu when i was 9. it was the first time any of us had been to one and we were so excited. well, one of the male dancers didn't have on ANYTHING under his grass skirt and every time he twirled around you got to see his "stuff." i was only 9 and, needless to say, it was a very traumatic experience for me! my dad was fuming about it and complained to someone.....i don't remember who and i don't remember what happened. anyway, i guess i've never looked into doing the luau at disney because i'm afraid i'll have grass skirts and nakedness flashbacks!!!

can't wait to hear about SSR!

What a hysterical story!!! We were in the front and I didn't notice that problem..I am sure WDW is a little more strict on the dancers undergarments!!

Love the photo of your DH I haven't read any TR's before with the luau in so it's good to hear you enjoyed it

Dawn great story

I had heard a lot of negative things about the Luau before we went but glad we still did..the food was so delicious!!

i have finally caught up on your tr it is great so far and can't wait for more.

Thanks for reading!!! I will update more on Wednesday!

 

[tinawv]

Great trip report and pictures. Can't wait to read more.

 

[Eventer98]

Great trip report and pictures. Can't wait to read more.

Thanks for reading...it's nice to have new people tag along!!

 

[roberrl187]

I'm really enjoying your report.

 

[Eventer98]

I'm really enjoying your report.

Thanks!