Day 6 - Part 6
When we left off last time, we, the intrepid Animal Kingdom adventurers, had completed a safari and had our pictures taken by Photopass paparazzi. At that point we noticed that Expedition Everest was back up and running, so decided to give it another try and started walking. Of course Judy wasnt planning on riding, but Lauren, Marlene, James, and I wanted to tempt our fate with the Yeti yet again.
When we reached Expedition Everest, we went to the fastpass entrance and realized that the line extended out the door and into the street. People passing through the area, going from Dinoland to Asia and vice versa, literally had to pardon me their way through the line. We got in line (briefly, but Im getting ahead of myself) and kind of scratched our heads at the whole situation. Apparently since Expedition Everest had been out of operation for a while, everyone who had been holding fastpasses for the last couple of hours had descended upon it at the same time. It was kind of funny to watch people arrive at the entrance door, and then to follow their eyes tracing the line in search of the end. They all had a look of disbelief (as Im sure we did) when they realized what the situation was.
Well, we didnt think that this was what fastpass was all about, so we sure didnt want to wait in that huge line. I think one of the kids suggested that we try the Single Rider line again since it worked so well in the morning, so we got out of line and went to the Single Rider entrance. The Single Rider line was definitely longer than it had been in the morning, but seemed like it would be faster than the fastpass line. (According to the timestamps on my pictures, it was only 16 minutes between our photopass pictures at the end of the last chapter and my first ride picture on Everest, so that seems pretty fast!) I kind of watched the fastpass line to see if I noticed anyone who had been around us in line, to see if wed made a bad choice in switching, but I think we got through before we would have otherwise.
Even though we had to split up (being single riders), we all made it onto the same train. In this next picture I can see James about 4 rows back, just above the head of the guy whos wearing his visor backward and holding his hands up in the foreground. And Lauren is 3 rows behind James. I guess I wasnt able to get a shot with Marlene in the picture, being turned around on a speeding rollercoaster and all. Ill have to work on that.
Then I decided to just reach up over my head and take a blind shot to see what Id get. I wonder what the girl behind me in the Minnie hat was thinking?
We reached the top and I took yet another picture of the broken tracks. I don't have enough of these in my stockpile of photos.
I looked around and thought to myself, What havent I taken a picture of up here yet? Then I saw these yeti footprints in the snow.
Those footprints have to be a little scary to young riders who might be wondering if the yeti could be real. Good job imagineers!
Lets see if Ive gotten any better at taking pictures while riding a speeding rollercoaster in the last couple of minutes.
Nope, guess I havent improved.
We loved our ride as usual, and I took a couple of redneck pictures of our ride photos.
James. Im not sure if he was putting this face on or what.
Lauren.
Me. (Somebody better tell this guy that this is the part of the ride where youre supposed to look excited, or scared, or
.something!)
Marlene (2nd row, left side).
James complained about having to ride with a rather large gentleman. It was pretty funny, especially if you remember back to his experience with the large, sweaty guy at Hyperspace Hoopla.
Anyway
after that, Judy and Marlene had had enough adventure and decided to head back to Kidani. James and I wanted to stay to use our Kali fastpasses. Lauren wavered between the two choices for a moment before deciding to stay with James and me. So we split up, with Judy and Marlene heading for the exit and James, Lauren, and I walking toward Asia.
We still had about a half hour before our fastpass time, so we hung out for a little bit watching the monkeys.
I didn't notice it while we were there, but now looking at these pictures, it looks like I captured "The Amazing, Headless Monkey". Hmmm, didn't I take a picture of an Okapi with too many legs earlier in the day? Does anyone know if Disney is on nuclear power?
Then we hung out at the fountain thats kind of across from the Kali entrance. I think I mentioned in last years trip report that kids really like this fountain and how the water looks like glass. It just begs you to stick your finger into it and break the flow...as Lauren and James demonstrate.
The minute our fastpasses became eligible we entered the fastpass line for Kali River Rapids. (No sooner than our fastpass time, since we watched the cast member turn some people away who tried to enter a minute before their appointed time.) We still had 2 extra fastpasses, so I told James to look for a group of 2 people in the standby line. He found 2 girls who were very happy to accept the fastpasses and they scooted under the rope to speed down the fastpass lane behind us.
Our joy at zipping past the poor schlubs in the standby line was shortlived though. As we got near the loading area, a guy walked past us in the opposite direction and said that the ride was closed due to lightning. He kind of sounded like he was joking though, and Lauren and James said, Yeah, right! and we kept walking. I was thinking that the sky looked pretty ominous and he could be right, but we hadnt seen anybody else leaving the ride
yet. We got to the loading area and sure enough, the cast members were sending everyone away.
We trudged our way back through the fastpass lane and went back to the fountain, which is under cover, to wait the storm out with hopes that it would be one of those Florida 10-minute showers. We sat down on the ground with our backs against the wall, and while we waited we played the Disney trivia game that is part of the Disney Parks Mobile Magic phone app. It was a good little time-killer. This might be the only time I mention that application, so maybe I should give my assessment of it here. I think it was $10, and had some beneficial aspects such as showing ride wait-times and whether fastpasses were still available. It also had the trivia game, which was handy during this rainstorm and I remember we played it on one of our long bus rides. On the negative side, the app steered me wrong earlier in the trip by recommending a bus route through Downtown Disney, which was an excruciatingly long trip. And in general, it seemed that if we had a question while in the parks, such as a particular show time or where something was, it was faster to consult a map or even find an Information desk or something than to consult the phone app. It took a long time to boot up -- I think partly because of the GPS that identifies what park youre in, but a lot of the time that worked against it (in my opinion) because I wanted a quick answer. Bottom line though, for $10 Id get it again.
The shower turned into a downpour and little by little, a person or two at a time, more people began seeking refuge under our roof and it began to get crowded. We even had to stand because we were taking up too much room seated against the wall. Its a weird personal space situation when youre seated and everyone is closing in around you, standing. At about 3 oclock, after wed given the storm about a half hour to blow over, we concluded that it wasnt going to happen any time soon. And even if it did, who knew how long it would be before Kali River Rapids was up and running again? The rainfall reduced enough that we decided to make a break for the exit. I packed my camera inside of a ziplock bag in my backpack to make sure itd stay dry, and we set off on a fastwalk/jog for the front of the park.
As we passed the monkey area, several people were watching a mother monkey who had her baby clinging to her. I unpacked my gear and took a quick picture, but unfortunately couldnt get one where the baby could be seen very well.
I packed my camera back up and we set off again. I remembered that I still had our original Expedition Everest fastpasses that wed gotten early that morning and thought that maybe I could provide someone with a little pixie dust by offering them. I told the kids to look for people entering the park who looked like they might be candidates for a thrill ride. We actually had trouble finding someone, since most people were leaving the park. As we got to Discovery Island I passed a guy going the opposite direction and I said, Hey, would you like some fastpasses for Expedition Everest? His immediate reply was, How much?
(What, does he deal with a lot of ticket scalpers or something?) I wish I could have come up with something witty, but I was kind of taken aback, so just said, Nothing. Theyre free. So, he happily took them and said, Thanks!
About that time the rain was picking up a little more and we needed a breather, so we ducked into Island Mercantile for a few minutes. We looked at the merchandise a little, but as soon as we caught our breath we started off again, for the final mad dash to the buses. Once under cover, I thought Id take a picture to give you a feel for the moment. Has anyone else experienced this at Disney? Yeah, I thought so.
When we got back to the suite, the kids all immediately went down to Community Hall. Judy told me about a funny scene that she and Marlene watched take place out on the savanna. A couple of giraffes had found a good spot to take refuge under some trees, but an aggressive zebra came along and literally kicked them out. We missed that action, but I took a couple of pictures of what the rainstorm looked like from our balcony.
A little bit later I got a text from Cherie (BlueyedGirl on the DIS) that she and her family were in Community Hall, so Judy and I went down to meet them. Id followed her trip reports, particularly when she traveled back in the early part of 2010 and met up with Jordan, Rosie, and Cherie (Winkers). When we arrived, James was already playing on the Wii with Cheris son, and we adults chatted for a little while. Of course I didnt want to let the moment pass without photo documentation, so I handed my camera off to Marlene to take a couple of pictures. She shot off a couple of quick frames holding the camera normally, then turned it sideways for a portrait-style shot. Cherie joked, Man, shes like a Photopass photographer.
Cherie, her husband and son are a wonderful family and we really enjoyed talking with them. Our conversation ranged from food allergies, to the oil spill in the Gulf, to DVC, and to our similar experiences of getting rained-out at Typhoon Lagoon (they had been there on this day).
As we talked, Cheries son needed a little help at the pool table, so I got an opportunity to photograph a father and son moment.
Eventually they made their way over to the foosball table, where James holds court.
I think we were in Community Hall for about an hour, although it sure didnt seem like that long with the good company we had, talking and playing games. Cherie, I sure hope our paths cross at Kidani again sometime!
Up next: Boma
need I say more?
Correct! 
to the Dis!
That is one crazy rain! Did it ever let up, while you were in Community Hall?
I didn't even know the community hall was a game room! I guess it is a great idea with all the rain they get. 
Maybe they were just trying to get their numbers up? Why not just join a thread you are interested in and get to know people??
If they choose not to utilize.....more for me!! 
