The "why do we keep trying to cram all this stuff into one trip?" report!

[Seewhatimesdone]

Hey everyone

You can check out my PTR here:
Pre-trip report
But I can assure you that the TR will be better

So for some reason we think that we can take these short vacations to WDW and cram everything in. We only had three days to do four parks and MNSSHP Technically our vacation was five days but two of them we spent flying across the US and the first flight was not so good But more on that later.

It was a great trip overall. Lots of laughs, new experiences and lots of new restaraunts. Nevermind that we're both exhausted and sick (mom's got a sinus infection and bronchitis ) That's right, we had such a hardcore trip that we're still recovering. But we decided next year that it will be AT LEAST ten days or it's no deal. We need breaks, breaks=good. We had some unexpected things happen but such is life. Without further ado, let's get this show on the road!


Oct. 23rd
We wake up at four AM. That's right, it's an early flight but both us are too excited to care. We made sure everything was packed the night before but we checked again just to make sure. The cats have enough food and water to survive while we're gone and we're out the door! It was nice and chilly out but we hopped in the car and turned on the heater full blast. I put on some Disney tunes to get us in the mood while we were driving.

We got to the airport and i'm acting all giddy and annoying trying to hurry my mother up and get to security. The line was actually pretty big; it moved fast but why are there so many people at the airport at 5 AM on a thursday We didn't get it. We got through with just enough time although we were cutting it a little close. We decided we'll have to just skip breakfast and get ready to board. But what's this? As we approach our gate the door is closed and there's no plane! Uh oh, we'd better get in line and figure out what's going on...

 

[tiggerwannabe]

Thanks guys! I'll start working on the TR tonight. I think I took too many photos

Welcome home and tell me this...

exactly how many pictures is too many?

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

Alright everyone, the TR is really bare right now but here's the link

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=28431709#post28431709

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

I'm really worried as we approach the desk, and rightfully so. Apparently the weather in Houston was bad the night before and so there was a chain reaction of cancelled flights because the pilots had to get a certain number of hours before they could fly. Even though we are the second largest city in California our airport has a small number of flights and not enough staff. I should have known better than to have us go through Houston. I used to live there and the weather can be somewhat unpredictable but I hadn't even thought about it. Everything was booked except for one flight. We would be leaving two hours later and flying into Minneapolis. That was fine, but then we would have to wait five hours until our next flight into Florida

I was so frustrated! After all the planning one small thing messed everything up. I was really upset. I knew that there was nothing I could do and being angry wouldn't help but I just couldn't help it. So I had a huge hot chocolate and pastries from Starbucks to help calm me down. It actually helped a lot Mom and I booted up her laptop and tried to look and see if there were any flights the lady had missed. There was one but we'd have to pay about 250 extra and we would only have a half hour to make it onto the plane. Needless to say we didn't make it because our flight arrived a half hour late
Here's mom looking sad that our flight was delayed.

By the time we got into Minneapolis we both just wanted something to eat. First I sat down and called Fort Wilderness to cancel the Haunted Carriage ride. I was so bummed we couldn't make it. He was very nice and didn't charge us for the short notice cancellation. Then I called the car rental and CBR to tell them we'd be late. Then we headed to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Shop to get some tasty chocolates. This helped ease the pain too We had dinner at a little southern restaraunt. I was too tired and aggravated to take pictures but I had some chicken and mom had a chicken burger. It was definately comfort food. Then we wandered around a bit, I got some chapstick, mom got some nail files Then we headed to the gate.

Luckily I discovered that my mom's laptop had pinball on it so that passed the time too (We brought the laptop so I could upload photos so we would have room on the camera for more- we only have one chip and I didn't know how much it would hold).
Here's out my window; we're waiting for this darn plane to take off!

Our reading material - mine and then mom's

The flight landed a half an hour late and we headed downstairs to get our car rental at about 12:30 AM. The woman at the counter was trying to offer us something more "sporty" and I admit I might have been a little short with her. But come on, it's 12:30 in the morning and I just want out Hyundai! We found our car and threw our stuff in the back. We also brought our own GPS with us but it was acting up so mom went back inside to get a map just as I got it working

We found the hotel in about twenty minutes and got checked in. Both of us were pretty crabby and snapping at each other but we were exhausted. We found our room in building 39 and Trinidad South; I was too tired to take pictures and decided I would do it later. Here are the pictures I took the next day - please excuse our stuff strewn about.

There was a cute little bird towel animal waiting for us.

I came back to find my stuffed animal doggy with another friend

I took a quick shower and we both crawled into bed. At this point it was about 2:00 AM and we were getting up at 7:00 AM to make rope drop at Animal Kingdom. I was bummed that we had to miss our carriage ride and we didn't see downtown Disney but I was just glad to be there.

Next up, Animal Kingdom!

 

[tiggerwannabe]

What a Great Start! What a horrible delay~

I really am looking forward to more~

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

What a Great Start! What a horrible delay~

I really am looking forward to more~

Thanks for reading! I think next time I won't schedule anything on the flying day just in case. Lesson learned!

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

Oct. 24th

So we were up bright and early at 7 to get to rope drop. I'd never done it before and let me just say how worth it it is! It was raining pretty heavily so we stopped in at the little shopping center at CBR and got some ponchos, an umbrella, and a couple of banana's for a quick breakfast.

We were able to find our way there pretty easy thanks to the GPS. Since it was so early we got great parking and could walk right to the entrance!

My mom had only been here once about eight years ago It was right after it had opened so there were less things to do. I really wanted her to see it now. I have to say that I was definately able to appreciate it more this time too. I think i'd say it's my second favorite park now next to Epcot. We were only planning on staying about a half a day but we had so much fun that we spent a few hours extra. Here we are getting ready for the rope drop!

It was quite humid but we lived in Houston last year so that didn't bother us at all. It was actually a nice break from the really dry weather we get in California. We're originally from Seattle so the rain didn't bother us either. The only thing I was worried about was that the animals would be in out of the rain but we didn't miss any of them Unfortunately I only brought sandals so we had to walk slower than usual so I didn't slip in them But the rain let up later and my feet dried off, even if they were stained a redish brown on the bottom the whole trip

First up was Everest!

I love all the things you get to see while waiting in line. But we didn't have to wait at all, we walked right on!

This was mom's first time on!

She thought it was awesome. After riding it we went two more times! We figured three was a good number After that we headed over to Dinosaur

Aladar! I asked my mom jokingly as we were walking over if I could have one and she wasn't listening to me and just responded "mhmm"

The ride kind of reminds me of the Indiana Jones ride but with Dinosaurs

After Dinosaur we hustled over to the Nemo musical. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside but seriously, this was one of the coolest things i've ever seen. I don't even know how they would begin to even stage something like this. Mom and I both got a little mystic. Darn that Disney magic! *shakes fist*

We decided to just wander around for a bit. There was still hardly any people there. Most of the people we saw on this trip (or should I say heard) were from the UK. I guess this is a good time to go with the F&W festival and lower crowds.

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

I love the attention to detail and all the thought they put into this park.

I saw a lot of bicycles during the trip

A monkey!

This tree is so beautiful. I didn't notice until this trip that there were different animals carved into the back

Everest as we were walking away

Everest was so beautiful that I couldn't help but take lots of pictures of it! Next up was Kilimanjaro safari. Last time I came the line was so long we didn't go on it but this time we just walked up! I swear, this rope drop is great. This ride is sooo awesome. We were so close to the animals.

Some hippos

Forgive me if any of my photos are blurry, the car was moving quickly

I saw this awesome guy swimming along

The driver said that this tree was named something in African that meant roots because it looks like it's upside down

I couldn't believe how close we were to the giraffes! They're my favorite animal

Lots of flamingos

I saw these guys in the distance

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

And then this guy went right by us! Rhino butt!

Here's a lioness taking a nap

Oh my gosh this was so funny. This guy was sleeping with his leg up

Oh no, the poacher camp!

Don't worry though, we caught em'

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

After that we decided to get some lunch. We thought we'd try Yak and Yeti

I had heard mixed reviews but I have to say we loved it. It was one of our favorite meals of the trip. I think it was because I had read some reviews and knew what to order.

We got some nice, warm, green tea to start. It was nice and cozy because it had just started to rain hard again

Then we decided on the dim sum basket for two

This was so delicious. In fact, next time we go we decided to get a basket each for our entree. On the left were pork dumplings, in the middle were two sticky buns with sweet pork in the middle, underneath those were some pork wontons, and on the right were shrimp dumplings. There was a nice, tangy dipping sauce. Everything was delicious.

Mom got the tandori chicken.

She gave it 3 and 1/2 stars. The flavors were good, very Indian but the chicken was just a tad dry. The rice was delicious though, it had this really good coconut flavor. She gave the rice 5 out of 5 stars.

I got the honey chicken.

It was really good! I'd give it full stars. The sauce was really tangy and the chicken was nice and moist. The vegetables were good too. The brown rice was fine but I'd go with the Jasmine rice.

Then, the best part of the meal. The cream cheese and pineapple wontons with vanilla ice cream. I'd read really good reviews but they just don't do it justice

They were so delicious! It was great if you got the wonton, a bite of pineapple and the sauce all together. And then the ice cream after was really refreshing. Definately get this!

After lunch we were really full so we headed off to do some walking on the trails.

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

The first trail we did was the Pangini forest trail

Here's a termite nest

This dude was huge

A turtle swimming around

Naked mole rats...weird creatures

These guys were called pancake turtles. I can see why

Ewww

A lovely waterfall

The fish underneath the waterfall. I love how you can see through the glass

Alligator and hippo skulls

This is kind of hard to see but there's a hippo snoozing in the water

Here he is from above the water

This meerkat was keeping a sharp lookout

Another guy digging

 

[Cruisin]

Hey there

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us.

I'm really enjoying looking at your pictures.

It's the next best thing to being there

 

[Lei]

Heyyy great pics! Waiting for more

 

[geffric]

great trip report and great pictures.. thanks for sharing/.. I am sorry that your plans were changed by the airlines.. hope your trip made up for it..

 

[heaven2dc]

Love your pics & TR! I would have been so bummed with having to wait 5 hours but what can you do, right?

I loved AK when we went there this past February but didn't get to go right up to the Tree of Life. You mentioned you didn't know there were animals carved on the backside. Is the whole tree carved with animals? (I thought it was but wasn't 100% sure.)

Your lunch plate at Yak & Yeti looks delicious - I will definitely have to try it now!

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

Hey there

Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us.

I'm really enjoying looking at your pictures.

It's the next best thing to being there

Thanks for reading!

Heyyy great pics! Waiting for more

There's more coming!

great trip report and great pictures.. thanks for sharing/.. I am sorry that your plans were changed by the airlines.. hope your trip made up for it..

It did, we had a great time. Thanks for reading!

Love your pics & TR! I would have been so bummed with having to wait 5 hours but what can you do, right?

I loved AK when we went there this past February but didn't get to go right up to the Tree of Life. You mentioned you didn't know there were animals carved on the backside. Is the whole tree carved with animals? (I thought it was but wasn't 100% sure.)

Your lunch plate at Yak & Yeti looks delicious - I will definitely have to try it now!

I'm not actually sure if it's the whole tree, I couldn't get a good look at it from the front because it was so far away. Yak and Yeti was so delicious, you have to give it a try!


I'll post again when I get home from class tonight. Thanks for reading everyone!

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

Alright, so we're continuing on with the trails!
I couldn't believe how close this HUGE silverback gorilla was!

Here I am looking like an idiot on this bridge

Cool fountain

We finished the Pangini forest trail and it was on to the Maharaja jungle trek

What a life this guy leads eh?

The CM was impressed that I knew what this guy was before she said anything. It made me feel smart It's a...

Tapir!

Then we went into the bat house

There was a giant centipede!

Looking into the bat room

Sleeping bat

Bat skeleton

Then we moved on to see the tigers

 

[Seewhatimesdone]

Here was another one of those cool bikes

This is one of my favorite photos from the trip. The CM said they were prayer flags. When they finally disintegrate it means your prayer has been answered

Cool wall artwork

I loved this sign

One last shot of everest before we head over the Epcot

The rain was starting to let up as we drove over to epcot. But our GPS gave us directions to the employee entrance!! Darn no good GPS *shakes fist* The security guard just laughed and gave us directions I did get this picture though!

I just have to say, Epcot is my favorite park but now I love it even more with the F&W festival. I wanna go every year! There was so much going on and so much good food I want to do one of the special classes someday

 

[addictedtothemouse]

Hi, I followed over from your PTR. Great update so far. That sucks about the delay on your flying day. You don't look like an idiot on the bridge, you look like someone who's there to have fun.

 

[ibouncetoo]

Really enjoying your report. Can't wait to hear about your F&WF adventures!


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