The Skeptical First-Timers made it back home, here's the TR! Completed!

[skier_pete]

Hey - I just realized that we were at AK the same day (Friday the 18th?) How did we miss out on that? I'll have to go back through my pictures...

 

[FosterA]

Hey - I just realized that we were at AK the same day (Friday the 18th?) How did we miss out on that? I'll have to go back through my pictures...

I'm sure we passed each other more than once!
I thought AK was great with little lines or no lines all day yet there were lots of people milling around and the walkways always felt so crowded. What did you think of AK this day?

 

[Sam33]

I love your TR!
I'm dragging my mom along for her first trip and she's apprehensive. I hope she gets it more than your husband!
Although, me and my dh are also beer snobs and had issues in WDW! He's less of one, but I won't drunk beer I can see through and we quickly figured out that even in Epcot, almost everything was a lager! I had to drink girl drinks all day (I know I"m a girl, but I still prefer beer!) and sugar makes me sick!
DH was so excited to find dogfish head IPA at a sit down we had to take a picture!

Also, the out of the womb smoking ribs thing made me laugh hard! We're not Texans, but my dad's spent 10+ years mastering rib smoking techniques so I don't even try to order ribs elsewhere!

 

[skier_pete]

I'm sure we passed each other more than once!
I thought AK was great with little lines or no lines all day yet there were lots of people milling around and the walkways always felt so crowded. What did you think of AK this day?

AK Always feels that way. It definitely wasn't very crowded that day...but it sort of always feels crowded walking around the main hub. Since we don't ride much there, we don't see too much evidence of the lines. If you saw any of us, it would've been DD, who had her face painted as a tiger that day. She was hard to miss! You mentioned wanting to rush your family through the Oasis...since it was our 2nd AK day I was doing the opposite...allowing the family time to explore the Oasis, though my "RIDES FIRST" mentality was screaming in my head..."Why aren't we on a ride?" But since I'm the only one that rides EE - I don't even bother with FP - I just do single rider, it's faster.

 

[Moodyzblu]

Loving your report ! Sorry about the luau .. I've never done it and am glad to get an honest review. Also sorry you were getting sick !

Can't wait to hear how the rest of your day at AK went.

 

[swwake]

Glad you finally got everyone going, Aimee. Cracks me up that you said you're traveling with "grandmas"!

I know, right? Alooooooha.

I think, though, for that price, I could convince my husband to put on a loin cloth and twirl some fire.

I am sorry the luau was not as good as you had hoped. I think David needs to take you to Hawaii so you can see a real one!

So where actually are you going to put David's new collection of WDW glasses in your house...I think you need to have custom plaque made that says..."How I Survived My Wife's Trip to WDW!"

I totally agree he needs to take Aimee to Hawaii.

And I wasn't wondering where y'all were going to store/display the mug/cup/skull collection. I was actually wondering where you were going to pack it for the flights home!

 

[FosterA]

I love your TR!
I'm dragging my mom along for her first trip and she's apprehensive. I hope she gets it more than your husband!
Although, me and my dh are also beer snobs and had issues in WDW! He's less of one, but I won't drunk beer I can see through and we quickly figured out that even in Epcot, almost everything was a lager! I had to drink girl drinks all day (I know I"m a girl, but I still prefer beer!) and sugar makes me sick!
DH was so excited to find dogfish head IPA at a sit down we had to take a picture!

Also, the out of the womb smoking ribs thing made me laugh hard! We're not Texans, but my dad's spent 10+ years mastering rib smoking techniques so I don't even try to order ribs elsewhere!

How fun, I hope your mom "gets the magic"!
All this rib talk is making me hungry!

AK Always feels that way. It definitely wasn't very crowded that day...but it sort of always feels crowded walking around the main hub. Since we don't ride much there, we don't see too much evidence of the lines. If you saw any of us, it would've been DD, who had her face painted as a tiger that day. She was hard to miss! You mentioned wanting to rush your family through the Oasis...since it was our 2nd AK day I was doing the opposite...allowing the family time to explore the Oasis, though my "RIDES FIRST" mentality was screaming in my head..."Why aren't we on a ride?" But since I'm the only one that rides EE - I don't even bother with FP - I just do single rider, it's faster.

nope, don't remember a tiger girl. I love AKn I can totally do 2 days there and so many people say it's a half day park.

Loving your report ! Sorry about the luau .. I've never done it and am glad to get an honest review. Also sorry you were getting sick !

Can't wait to hear how the rest of your day at AK went.

Thanks for reading along I'll probably write more on the AK day tonight or tomorrow when I'm off

Glad you finally got everyone going, Aimee. Cracks me up that you said you're traveling with "grandmas"!




I totally agree he needs to take Aimee to Hawaii.

And I wasn't wondering where y'all were going to store/display the mug/cup/skull collection. I was actually wondering where you were going to pack it for the flights home!

Yes! he owes me a trip somewhere and he can't act like a dud/grump on it! Hawaii would be nice, never been there!
Well his skulls/mugs actually fit in his suitcase which I'm surprised. We sort of packed light on the way there in anticipation of bringing home some stuff. I wouldn't have predicted skulls though

 

[glennbo123]

Okay, I'm caught up.

I love reading first-timers' reports and hearing how every ride is "the best one yet" and each new experience and detail is amazing. (From those who get it, anyhow. )

You obviously did your homework, so kudos to you.

I can understand your apprehension to get to rides that you know will have long wait times, but it's still neat to read how your family is enjoying spending time in areas that don't even get called "an attraction" (like the Oasis) much of the time. In a way, it's kind of neat that you were the only one who planned and knew what to expect.

Now on the other hand, lounging in bed on a Disney day is a huge waste in my opinion, and it's a shame you couldn't have gotten them (and your friends) out the door much earlier.

Oh well. I know you tried.

Thanks for reading my TRs! I should be starting a new PTR in a few weeks, so be on the lookout.

 

[momabaarjo]

Okay, now I have noted about the Oasis...I had planned time in the Oasis as we leave the park, so maybe if we have issues I can tell them that. They day we are going to AK the EMH start at 7:00 am ! And yes I am planning on being there at 7:00 am...after a few days at Universal being in line at 6:30 am for Harry Potter early hours I am hoping this will not be an issue. The great thing is that AK has evening EMH until 8:00 pm...but the bad thing is the crowd level is near capacity!

I love the picture in front of the tree! I am hoping you also have a vertical in front of some tree of the family...expect a gift this week in the mail! I can't wait to see all the trees!

Laundry on vacation...yuck, but I love how you used the time before the family got up to do it until late at night or breaking touring to get it done. I am so thankful I rented the Villa so that I can just do a load here and there in the room without worrying about the laundry room!

I am so sorry you did not feel well...I am hoping that in the new few reports you are back to good so you can really enjoy the time! Or maybe being sick calls for a Do-Over with just you and Allison! Let your boys get on a boat with a fishing pole somewhere....

 

[debrapagliasotti]

Yep! They brought out 4 little pyramid things on one tray for us. It was like a chocolate mousse I think. Really good

Glad to hear they still have it. My DD will be happy.

 

[FosterA]

Okay, I'm caught up.

I love reading first-timers' reports and hearing how every ride is "the best one yet" and each new experience and detail is amazing. (From those who get it, anyhow. )

You obviously did your homework, so kudos to you.

I can understand your apprehension to get to rides that you know will have long wait times, but it's still neat to read how your family is enjoying spending time in areas that don't even get called "an attraction" (like the Oasis) much of the time. In a way, it's kind of neat that you were the only one who planned and knew what to expect.

Now on the other hand, lounging in bed on a Disney day is a huge waste in my opinion, and it's a shame you couldn't have gotten them (and your friends) out the door much earlier.

Oh well. I know you tried.

Thanks for reading my TRs! I should be starting a new PTR in a few weeks, so be on the lookout.

I agree!! I can sleep at home! Too bad the rest of my family didn't feel that way.
Yay for a new PTR! That means you'll be going back. I'm so jealous

Okay, now I have noted about the Oasis...I had planned time in the Oasis as we leave the park, so maybe if we have issues I can tell them that. They day we are going to AK the EMH start at 7:00 am ! And yes I am planning on being there at 7:00 am...after a few days at Universal being in line at 6:30 am for Harry Potter early hours I am hoping this will not be an issue. The great thing is that AK has evening EMH until 8:00 pm...but the bad thing is the crowd level is near capacity!

I love the picture in front of the tree! I am hoping you also have a vertical in front of some tree of the family...expect a gift this week in the mail! I can't wait to see all the trees!

Laundry on vacation...yuck, but I love how you used the time before the family got up to do it until late at night or breaking touring to get it done. I am so thankful I rented the Villa so that I can just do a load here and there in the room without worrying about the laundry room!

I am so sorry you did not feel well...I am hoping that in the new few reports you are back to good so you can really enjoy the time! Or maybe being sick calls for a Do-Over with just you and Allison! Let your boys get on a boat with a fishing pole somewhere....

I agree, we need a do-over!! I'll let David regroup for a month or two and then I'll start with my pestering. I mean, afterall, there should still be another skull or mug to collect that he missed the first time!

gift in the mail?? seriously? How do you ever have the time!

Glad to hear they still have it. My DD will be happy.

 

[FosterA]

DAY 4-part 2

So after everybody got their fix of looking at the Christmas tree at the entrance we got started on through the Oasis. Of course it is stunning and there’s tons to look at. I think 2 days at AK would be great. One to do rides and one to just look at stuff! I was trying to act cool and let everybody take their time so I wouldn’t be annoying but of course, deep down, I was flipping out about getting to the Safari or EE!

Allison went nuts in the Oasis and wanted to look at every single thing and take lots of photos. Ian was just so-so during this little walk. He kept walking past me and asking “when are we going to do Expedition Everest?” every 4 seconds or so. I had to keep swatting him away because he was like a pesky fly in my ear most of the day buzzing "Expedition Everest Expedition Everest...". David was his usual self…just sort of meandering behind us, acting like it was just another day in the neighborhood. Not miserable, but not overly enthusiastic (you know, his usual)

Anyway, I think the Oasis is stunning and of course we had perfect weather so it was just so nice to walk through all that. Here’s a couple pics:

Since I had the app on my phone that told me current wait times, I was able not to spazz too much since I kept checking and Safari was still only a 5-10 minute wait. I decided while we were in the Oasis that we would do Safari first. See, I really didn’t have a “touring plan” ever on this trip. Basically I had the “best park” picked for each day and knew the top 5 or so popular things to get to first, and I sort of memorized the map of each park so we wouldn’t be zig zagging too much. That was the extent of it. I knew that EE or Safari needed to be done first and I just sort of decided as we got there which one to go for. Safari seemed closer so that’s where we headed after Oasis.

Once we got up to the area with the big Tree of Life, we all just ooohed and awwwwed. So cool!! I would have thought that David would say something about how cool it was but did he? NO!! What’s wrong with him?? He did the usual which was me saying “check it out, isn’t that cool how they did that?” followed by him saying “yeah, it’s pretty neat”. I just wanted to beat him over the head because I just don’t understand how somebody could look at that and not be like “wow!” Because he was such a dud, I told him to run and go get Fastpasses for EE. He had no idea where EE was but I said to look for the mountain, you can’t miss it! He took all of our tickets (including our friends’) and I shooed him off in the direction of EE. I told him to meet us at the Safari when he got back. He’s like “where’s that?” I’m like “look at the signs, you’ll figure it out”. I handed him my wadded up map and sent him off. Don’t think I’m mean and hate my husband please. We’ve been married 15 years and he’s my best friend but this was Day 4 and I sort of was getting irritated with his moping along.

Posting the following pic brings back memories. Allison was mortified that her brother was wearing flip flops with jeans this day! Naturally Allison is the fashion consultant of the house. She said David looked dumb this day too since he was wearing a windbreaker and it was too hot for one. Good times

So after we all gawked at the tree and such, I had to herd all the cats on over to Safari. On the way I ran into walls of people and started to freak out that maybe my app was wrong because certainly the wait must be longer than 10 minutes! This is some of the crowd at 10:30 when we finally got out of the Oasis:

Well, like it was all day at AK, lots of people clogging up walkways but little to no waits!! Whew!

David made it back from fetching the EE fastpasses and met us at the entrance of the Safari. It took awhile to wind through everything to get up to it and then we just waited for 2 or so jeeps to come by before we loaded. I think this attraction is just the most coolest fabulous attraction at WDW. I just love it because it’s done so well! I’m not even a huge animal person and don’t like zoos and stuff but the way they did this attraction is great! The kids were all pumped up and of course Allison, like me, was able to appreciate all the theming and detail that was put into this. Just the loading area alone is loaded with all sorts of neat detail. Everybody really enjoyed this ride and the kids had a great time! Ian really looked worried at the part where the bridge is shakey and they act like it might fall down. David liked this “ok” (did you expect me to say anything different?) Allison had the camera and took a few pics:

Well, it was dumb to have only done one attraction before it was time for lunch but that’s exactly what happened! We still had some time but we had a 12:00 reservation at Yak and Yeti so really we just had some time to look around but not enough time to get to EE or start watching a show or anything. We headed in the general direction of Yak and ran into Devine. Super cool! Allison says she wants to work at AK for sure one day and would love to be Devine.

Ok, I’ll continue really soon with the deets on Yak and Yeti and about the rest of the day!! Will Ian ever get his fill of EE? Will I throw David off Mt. Everest? Will my touring friend, Erin, fall asleep on a stone ledge and be so zonked out that security comes by to make sure she's alive?

 

[204charity]

Lol can't wait to hear about poor Erin!

 

[swwake]

Oh my goodness the cliff hangers.

You got some great photos - hard to get the lions. And Devine is actually usually hard to find. In 2008, I looked for her every day we were at AK and never saw her. In 2010, I found her while I was touring solo (Chris was visiting clients), but when he got back to me, we couldn't find him. So he's never seen her. I just love her!

 

[Moodyzblu]

lol .. great way to end your latest installment ! Love the pics .. AK is my all time favorite park. I could just walk around there all day long.
Looking forward to your next update !

ETA .. good job on being able to see Devine ! She is very elusive.

 

[okw19]

I can't believe you haven't slapped someone yet I'd be getting irritated too if we had only done one thing by lunch time. At least you had enough time to take in all the details instead of rushing through. AK is so beautiful!

 

[skier_pete]

You should've told DH the tree is actually built from an oil derrick. Maybe that would have gotten his engineer mind spinning. You clearly know your husband better than I, but is he maybe just not the "jump up and down...ooh and ahh type". Just cause he's not talking about how wonderful everything is doesn't mean he didn't enjoy himself. (Us men gotta stick together sometimes!)

The most amazing thing to me about the safari is that they literally built EVERYTHING. That was a flat cow pasture when they started construction. All the hills, lakes, cliffs, baobab trees were constructed and all the plants as throughout the park - were planted...just astounding what it took for a single attraction like that. Partly why the park ended up so underbuilt when it opened. (no Everest, and no Primeval Whirl / Triceratos Spin 10 years ago.)

SkierPete

 

[B&WMickey]

DAY 1-part 5

Great TR so far.

I saw your post over on my TR. We were there the Saturday before you arrived and left after 7 nights. I’ve been following your TR too. It's great following someone else's TR from the same time we were there and hearing a different perspective. We really liked this time of year and would definitely go back.

We were at MVMCP the same night you were. I'd be willing to bet we were within 50 feet of where the above picture was taken.

We were also at DHS the Thursday you were but I don't think our paths crossed that day.

 

[sandieb]

I kept checking the first page to links for the 4+ days, and was diappointed to see that it wasn't avaiable. You have an entertaining TR. Also, GUYS DON'T SHOW A LOT OF EMOTION! You do get that, right? I've dragged my husband down there for years and he is al blah about most of it. So for next year I said "let's plan a different vacation" and he said, "why, I love it WDW."
THIS IS THE ABSOLUTELY THE BEST KEPT SECRET. It goes to show that guys are emotion challenged! Anyway, glad I found you have kept at it. the TR are a way of enjoying the fun inbetween trip!

 

[reelmom]

I kept checking the first page to links for the 4+ days, and was diappointed to see that it wasn't avaiable. You have an entertaining TR. Also, GUYS DON'T SHOW A LOT OF EMOTION! You do get that, right? I've dragged my husband down there for years and he is al blah about most of it. So for next year I said "let's plan a different vacation" and he said, "why, I love it WDW."
THIS IS THE ABSOLUTELY THE BEST KEPT SECRET. It goes to show that guys are emotion challenged! Anyway, glad I found you have kept at it. the TR are a way of enjoying the fun inbetween trip!

My DH is the same way. Everytime we go to Disney, it seems like he could care less that we are there. We went to Chattanooga this past October for a long weekend trip per his request. We had fun but on the way home he said,"We should have gone to Disney like we always do." I was shocked. The brainwashing has finally been completed!

I am loving your TR and can't wait to read your next update. I hope that your DH really enjoyed himself and wants to go back again.