"There's Nothing To Do At Disney World!" Jan '17 Weekend TR **05/19 X2**

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I took a quick peak this morning....

This one sounds yummy! I think it will have to go on my list for our September trip!
Tikiti Punch
Snow Leopard Vodka and thirst-quenching Watermelon Lemonade

 

[ArielSRL]

I took a quick peak this morning....

This one sounds yummy! I think it will have to go on my list for our September trip!
Tikiti Punch
Snow Leopard Vodka and thirst-quenching Watermelon Lemonade

Yep, definitely on my list!

 

[tinkerbell1991]

Oooh this is making me excited for our upcoming trip

 

[MarieLightning]

Okay, if we put your two meals together, this is my ideal meal - pulled pork and rice with lemonade? I mean, it'd be like the only thing I would eat all day, but it'd be worth it. Goals.

I'm not big on fried rice, which is sad for me because it is a really good deal Amber would definitely recommend it though, and I really enjoyed the pulled pork. It doesn't have BBQ sauce like a lot of pulled pork sandwiches typically do in restaurants, it's just got the smoky flavor to it but it's really good.

Because you are awesome people. And I'm still traumatized from the begging ducks last April.

People feeding any animals on Disney property always make me so mad. I get super passive aggressive about it, too.

Love it! Have you tried it at night? Like its awesomeness x10!!

We haven't, actually, but it's definitely in the plans! August was the first time we'd been where AK was open later, and we didn't end up staying late. And then this time we just didn't have the time for it. I'm sure it must be awesome though!

I should do this next time but I'll be a single rider (no other tall enough thrill riders in my family...boo!). Not that that should matter. I guess they would just fill the seat with another single rider.

I don't know that it's actually possible to request front row for single riders I mean, it would definitely be worth asking, but it's technically already a separate line of its own. Do let me know what happens if you do request it though!

I am a huge flavored lemonade fan. They have several "adult" flavored lemonade drinks at AK that I would love to try!

I looove both the Mandarin Lemonade at AK and the Pomegranate Lemonade that they serve around the rest of the parks. It's always a treat for me to have either of those. And, well, the Grey Goose Vodka drink at Epcot, too

Is this near the Flame Tree seating? Maybe we should check it out in June.

It is! That seating area is so expansive, we'd eaten there two or three times before and this was my first time noticing it.

 

[MarieLightning]

I took a quick peak this morning....

This one sounds yummy! I think it will have to go on my list for our September trip!
Tikiti Punch
Snow Leopard Vodka and thirst-quenching Watermelon Lemonade

I'm not big on Watermelon, but I am a big fan of the flavored lemonades so I'm sure if it's a flavor you like it would be really yummy and refreshing!

Oooh this is making me excited for our upcoming trip

I'm more than happy to be of service

 

[happybear025]

I'm loving your trip report, thanks for sharing ))


You have tooooooons more patience than me. That morning! The cold wait for the taxi, the anxiety of the flight, the broken down airport train (!) I think I 100% would have been in tears! You're a saint


Love your spontanity, spontaneous trip to Disney? Sounds like a total dream -

Can't wait to see the after hours event!

 

[MarieLightning]

I'm loving your trip report, thanks for sharing ))


You have tooooooons more patience than me. That morning! The cold wait for the taxi, the anxiety of the flight, the broken down airport train (!) I think I 100% would have been in tears! You're a saint


Love your spontanity, spontaneous trip to Disney? Sounds like a total dream -

Can't wait to see the after hours event!

Thank you for joining in!

Oh trust me, I was an anxious wreck all morning, but I was trying to keep myself from freaking out. If I hadn't known that there had to be more seats on that plane, I definitely would have cried. 100%.

It was sooo great! And it was nice to have it be a bit less planned, in a sense. We do usually plan our trips pretty extensively, even when we say we won't. With this one, we really couldn't plan all that much, with so little time.

Hopefully the After Hours Event updates will be coming along shortly! Things have been a bit busy, but I'm just about to post three updates, so that's at least getting me closer!

 

[MarieLightning]

Day 1, Part 3 - "Open Your Eyes!" "No!"

Because of timing, we decided to start our time in Dinoland by doing something we hadn't done in aaaages.

Primeval Whirl!

The last time we'd done it dated back to May 2014. We'd skipped it in September 2014, then it was down for refurb in November 2015, and back in August, we never even made it into Dinoland because Dinosaur was down.

Of course, Amber's not a big fan of it as a starter, because she gets motion sick very easily, and as such anything that spins has the potential of making her feel queasy.

But you know. She takes me on Dinosaur. I take her on Primeval Whirl. I think it's a fair trade.

It was a bit more jerky than we both remembered, but a lot smoother than a similar ride at the Six Flags in Montreal, and Amber made it off still feeling pretty well, so that was a win!

Signage appreciation...

Amber loves all of those. She's always cracking up at them - and I gotta admit, some of them are pretty witty.

But now actually came time for us to leave the fun, light hearted section of Dinoland and head to see some much more serious Dinosaurs.

We actually went in through the path you usually exit from, because we were over that way, and as such for the first time we noticed this fountain.

Ugh, Dinosaur. My Disney World nemesis.

Listen, I get it. They're fake dinosaurs. They can't hurt me.

Do I care? Nope. Not a bit.

And that chapter title? Actual verbatism. I have yet to make it through an entire ride of Dinosaur with my eyes open.

We made it, though!

Here's proof.

Just in case my writing this report wasn't enough.

After surviving a bunch of giant plastic carnivorous dinosaurs and an extiction causing asteroid impact, we started heading toward our next FastPass.

Which required us to trek all the way across the park, because we're such good planners.

Over to Africa!

I have such love for the Harambe Market area.

Seriously, sometimes I'm still struck by the incredible theming all over Walt Disney World. Like... how can anyone ever ask questions such as, why do you keep going back?

Like, how can I not?

Especially when it contains something such as...

Festival of the Lion King!

We do typically use up our FastPasses for shows at Animal Kingdom, at the very least for FotLK, and with our limited time spent in AK this trip, it was a no brainer. I just gotta have those up close seats so that I can give way to all my feels. And trust me. There's a lot of them.

We got there a little after they'd started letting people into the queue.

We actually spent most of our wait chatting with two other couples who were in line, which was nice. We actually did some pin trading as well, and then we parted ways as we were let into the theater.


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[MarieLightning]

Day 1, Part 4 - "It's The Circle Of Life"

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.

As far as I'm concerned, Animal Kingdom holds the best two shows on property (like, not talking about nighttime shows here, but performance shows).

We actually haven't seen Finding Nemo: The Musical in a while, so we'll need to fix that, because I do love it (just go with the floooooooow).

But Festival of the Lion King is just not something I can ever skip, even if we're only there for a few hours, like on this day.

It makes me super emotional, and I never even want to leave the theater once I'm done. Honestly, if I were to win the lottery someday, I think I'd pay for a VIP tour guide and then just request to stay seated the whole day through and watch every single showing. I'm 99.99% sure I wouldn't get tired of it. Although, okay, maybe I'd need to leave for food and stretching at some point.

Amber also loves it, though not quite to the same obsessive level as me. Once is good enough for her.

With the show ended, it just about completed our goals for the day in Animal Kingdom. We wanted to take a quick nap upon returning to the resort, before heading to the Magic Kingdom for the night, so we'd hoped to be out and back at the hotel around 3.

We did, of course, make time to stop for pictures in front of the Tree of Life, because, well, it's law.

And we are not law breakers.

Can't forget the frame shot.

With that taken care of, it was legit time to head out of the park.

We still hadn't received a text or email to indicate that our room was ready, but we figured by the time we made it back to the resort that should be taken care of.

We didn't have to wait very long for a bus, which was good, and there weren't very many people on the bus. There was a family that made us very antsy and annoyed, though. All the adults were sitting way out in the back - meanwhile, the two kids were in the front area, doing pretty much as much running around as one can on a moving bus when there's a bus driver paying attention. They kept switching sides, laying across the seats, etc. Like, it's not a ride guys.

Amber was definitely bursting with wanting to tell them off, but she kept herself from doing so, and thankfully we were soon back at the resort.

By which time, we had still not received a text, but it was still just a little before 3. So, into the lobby we went.

We went into the gift shop to browse a bit, and we completed the song of the day to get this nifty little paper.

We looked around until it was a bit past check in time. Having still not gotten anything, we decided to go up to the front desk and ask, because we did want to have at least a couple of hours for resting if possible.

Speaking to a Cast Member did the trick, and within a couple of minutes we had our room assigned and were off to find it.

We took the long way so that we could see a bit of the resort, since we wouldn't really have much time to explore later on.

Which, ultimately, meant going through the Lion King section.

And since Amber had done all the posing with the Cars section last August, I decided to get in on the action.

Oh no, hyenas!

Can't leave out Zazu, of course.

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[MarieLightning]

Day 1, Part 5 - "That's What We Get For Being Lazy"

It was definitely a bit of a trek to get to our section, but really, not that much worse than being in the Rock, Country or Broadway buildings at the All Star Music.

Finally, the Little Mermaid buildings loomed in the distance!

We had to take pictures of a-plenty gadgets and gizmos.

I really love the landscaping, how it is made to look like you're actually under the sea.

This is as close as we got to Ursula and Triton.

We didn't even end up going to take a picture of Ariel. She was too far away. We wanted some rest. You get the gist.

Of course, there was time for this shot though.

Our lovely view of the parking lot.

And our room number!

I mean, as far as being in the Little Mermaid rooms goes, it wasn't a terrible location. We could have been a wee bit 'closer' to transportation, but it hardly made a difference at all. We were on the ground floor, which we had requested, so we were satisfied with it.

We went in with no MagicBand issues, so that's always great.

I do love those beds. Well, not the size, but the theming.

We, of course, took some obligatory pictures of the room.

I always love all the little touches in Disney hotel rooms. Honestly, I don't think I could ever stay off property because of those. There's just so much magic to even just being in a Disney resort.

Awesome shower curtain.

Awesomer shower.

And of course, carpet details!

Now, at this point, we called for our luggage which we had left with bell services. They said they would send someone as soon as possible.

Amber took a quick shower while I rested a bit in bed, hoping the 'as soon as possible' would be pretty soon.

Unfortunately, it did not. They didn't end up coming until past 4. Which, of course, we could have avoided if we'd just stopped by and picked up our own bags, so that was really our fault for being lazy.

I still did manage to sorta doze on and off while waiting for them to show up, and then took a power nap until 4:40 after they dropped the bags off. Meanwhile, Amber took a proper nap.

The power nap was very short, and soon the phone rang for the wake up call.

We gathered our things quickly and headed back out.

This time, we took the 'short' way, going along the parking lot.

It ended up being about a six, seven minutes walk, so not terrible.

Now, I gotta say...

Those family suites buildings, guys.

It's super great when you're within the section itself, with all the big icons and decorating around you.

And they do have these super cute sketch touches on them.

But man are they ugly. Basically big blocks of concrete.

I guess that's what you get when you put inside entry rooms at a Value resort though.

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[ArielSRL]

Primeval Whirl!

Ugh, can't do it. I tried the one in Disneyland and it made me so sick. Yuck.

Of course, Amber's not a big fan of it as a starter, because she gets motion sick very easily, and as such anything that spins has the potential of making her feel queasy.

This is exactly what I am talking about. I am not the easiest person to get motion sick but I do get it in the backs of cars on long trips, motion simulator rides, rides like the teacups, etc. So no, just no for me.

Ugh, Dinosaur. My Disney World nemesis.

I like it well enough but because my kids are really too little, I've been avoiding it lately. Glad you tackled it though!

Seriously, sometimes I'm still struck by the incredible theming all over Walt Disney World. Like... how can anyone ever ask questions such as, why do you keep going back?

Like, how can I not?

Totally agree! I think a lot of those people haven't gone, so I can sort of understand. It's the ones who go and don't "get it" that confuse me. They obviously are not very aware or aren't noticing the little things!

It makes me super emotional,

Do you ever watch Disney vlogs? Ashley from SeeYaReelSoon ALWAYS cries at the Lion King show!

Can't forget the frame shot.

Love it!!

We didn't have to wait very long for a bus, which was good, and there weren't very many people on the bus.

Score!

There was a family that made us very antsy and annoyed, though. All the adults were sitting way out in the back - meanwhile, the two kids were in the front area, doing pretty much as much running around as one can on a moving bus when there's a bus driver paying attention. They kept switching sides, laying across the seats, etc. Like, it's not a ride guys.

Uh, what?? Do your job, parents!

Amber was definitely bursting with wanting to tell them off, but she kept herself from doing so, and thankfully we were soon back at the resort.

I completely understand. It's like double motivation because I'm a teacher!

We went into the gift shop to browse a bit, and we completed the song of the day to get this nifty little paper.

So cool and fun!

And since Amber had done all the posing with the Cars section last August, I decided to get in on the action.

Nice!

Finally, the Little Mermaid buildings loomed in the distance!

Love me some Little Mermaid (hence the screenname)

I mean, as far as being in the Little Mermaid rooms goes, it wasn't a terrible location. We could have been a wee bit 'closer' to transportation, but it hardly made a difference at all. We were on the ground floor, which we had requested, so we were satisfied with it.

I really would like to stay here one day but I will freely admit I'm sort of a Disney resort snob. I have stayed in a value before (once or twice) but its been a long time. We used to do moderates a lot but I have done deluxes the last few times. I'm not sure I can continue to afford that though. I would definitely consider the LM rooms for like an adults only couple trip or maybe a girls' trip with friends but I truly do not like the bed size and the no coffee maker in the room thing. But ya know what, I'd stay wherever I had to, to get in some Disney time.

I always love all the little touches in Disney hotel rooms. Honestly, I don't think I could ever stay off property because of those. There's just so much magic to even just being in a Disney resort.

Another thing I am in agreement on. I know there are rental homes out there that are cheaper but I just love, love, love staying on property.

Unfortunately, it did not. They didn't end up coming until past 4. Which, of course, we could have avoided if we'd just stopped by and picked up our own bags, so that was really our fault for being lazy.

Hindsight is 20/20.....

Looking forward to more!

 

[MeghanEmily]

I'm so with Amber about Primeval Whirl! Nausea-city!

Love your photopass pictures! I'm also a FOTLK fan, but I always prefer Nemo. Definitely two of the best shows on property, for sure!

Your AoA pictures are super cute - I'd like to stay there sometime, but I can never seem to justify staying there over Pop Century when it's a little more expensive and the standard rooms are so far away from things, but the theming looks amazing!

 

[coloredimage]

As far as I'm concerned, Animal Kingdom holds the best two shows on property

So true!


Also I hate Primeval Whirl - I used to have to do it because nobody would do it with my friends when we went on family vacations (they're both younger than me so once I hit teen status I became the de facto "well, you guys can go on x with Elle!" when the adults didn't want to ride certain things) and I'm so glad that I'm an adult now and can blissfully walk past and say "not today, Primeval Whirl!" Also, I'm pretty sure it gave ma concussion once. (we have that same sort of ride at Six Flags here and I did it once. Never. Again.)

 

[MarieLightning]

This is exactly what I am talking about. I am not the easiest person to get motion sick but I do get it in the backs of cars on long trips, motion simulator rides, rides like the teacups, etc. So no, just no for me.

Yeah, she cannot do the teacups, at all. She's usually fine with motion simulators for a ride or two, like Star Tours, but after the second one she'll get a bit woozy. Cars are not good, though. If the ride is bumpy or the driver has a bit of a jerky driving style, she can get motion sick in five minutes.

I like it well enough but because my kids are really too little, I've been avoiding it lately. Glad you tackled it though!

I'm a big scaredy cat, really, is what it is. Amber loooves Dinosaur though, so I'll usually do it with her at least once.

Totally agree! I think a lot of those people haven't gone, so I can sort of understand. It's the ones who go and don't "get it" that confuse me. They obviously are not very aware or aren't noticing the little things!

Pretty much. Some people just don't even try, though. They go in unprepared, or they go in prejudiced, so of course they come away disliking it. I remember someone telling me how they didn't enjoy it because they had to wait all the time and there were no restaurants to eat at. They went in July and made no ADRs because 'you shouldn't have to plan a vacation'. Like... just do the minimum, dude.

Do you ever watch Disney vlogs? Ashley from SeeYaReelSoon ALWAYS cries at the Lion King show!

I do sometimes watch Disney vlogs, though I wasn't super big on the SeeYaReelSoon vlogs. I should give it another try.

I completely understand. It's like double motivation because I'm a teacher!

Hers comes from the fact that she used to work in an amusement park, so she's always wanting to tell kids off for sitting on chains, running, smoking in non smoking areas (although really that'd be anyone..), etc.

I really would like to stay here one day but I will freely admit I'm sort of a Disney resort snob. I have stayed in a value before (once or twice) but its been a long time. We used to do moderates a lot but I have done deluxes the last few times. I'm not sure I can continue to afford that though. I would definitely consider the LM rooms for like an adults only couple trip or maybe a girls' trip with friends but I truly do not like the bed size and the no coffee maker in the room thing. But ya know what, I'd stay wherever I had to, to get in some Disney time.

Yeah, as of now Deluxes are still out of our budget, although we are strongly considering joining DVC. And once Amber is out of school, we'll have a higher budget for vacation, too. But we have done a couple of moderates, and we're usually still okay going back to the values. We'll see how we feel about it after June, though!

Another thing I am in agreement on. I know there are rental homes out there that are cheaper but I just love, love, love staying on property.

I know! Plus, it's just the convenience. I hate driving, so I wouldn't want to rent a car. I enjoy the Extra Magic Hours, both morning and evening with their own merits. Honestly, it just makes it a stress free vacation, and I wouldn't want to give that up.

 

[MarieLightning]

I'm so with Amber about Primeval Whirl! Nausea-city!

To be fair, we had forgotten how much it does spin Although I don't mind it.

Love your photopass pictures! I'm also a FOTLK fan, but I always prefer Nemo. Definitely two of the best shows on property, for sure!

We really need to see it again! We walk out of there with the songs stuck in our heads for ages, though. Not that it's a bad thing

Your AoA pictures are super cute - I'd like to stay there sometime, but I can never seem to justify staying there over Pop Century when it's a little more expensive and the standard rooms are so far away from things, but the theming looks amazing!

Yeah, the main reason we stayed there was because we booked it so last minute that all the other Values were sold out. I don't think the price surcharge is worth it, especially since they never offer discounts on the standard rooms, although I'm glad to have tried it and checked it off our list. And the property's theming really is awesome.

Also I hate Primeval Whirl - I used to have to do it because nobody would do it with my friends when we went on family vacations (they're both younger than me so once I hit teen status I became the de facto "well, you guys can go on x with Elle!" when the adults didn't want to ride certain things) and I'm so glad that I'm an adult now and can blissfully walk past and say "not today, Primeval Whirl!" Also, I'm pretty sure it gave ma concussion once. (we have that same sort of ride at Six Flags here and I did it once. Never. Again.)

Yeeaah that would suck, definitely. And yikes on the concussion! But yeah, they have a similar ride at the Six Flags in Montreal and it's a lot more rough and painful than Primeval Whirl so at least there's that for it

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

With that taken care of, it was legit time to head out of the park.

Great Picture!

The whole Art of Animation resort looks awesome. We took a visit on our last trip and it is a big resort. But we were staying at Caribbean Beach at the time, so it didn't seem that bad.

Look forward to hearing about Magic Kingdom!

 

[MarieLightning]

Great Picture!

The whole Art of Animation resort looks awesome. We took a visit on our last trip and it is a big resort. But we were staying at Caribbean Beach at the time, so it didn't seem that bad.

Thank you!

It is really awesomely themed. We haven't been to see the Finding Nemo section yet, but we've explored the Cars section thoroughly and then this trip saw more of the Lion King and Little Mermaid sections, and they are really all great. We've never stayed at Caribbean Beach, though it is in the plans for the future. We've done Riverside, but we were in a pretty good location so we didn't have to worry about the size of it too much. I'm curious to see how we'll deal with Coronado Springs in June, but I guess it'll again depend on where we are situated.

 

[1Grumpy9]

We didn't get a lot of time to walk around AoA, but we did get to see the movie under the stars there twice and we rented a siri bike and went around hourglass lake so we got to see more of the resort. I would love to stay at AoA, but the price is the determining factor since it is a value. We did love Landscape of Flavors to eat at a couple of times also.

 

[MarieLightning]

We didn't get a lot of time to walk around AoA, but we did get to see the movie under the stars there twice and we rented a siri bike and went around hourglass lake so we got to see more of the resort. I would love to stay at AoA, but the price is the determining factor since it is a value. We did love Landscape of Flavors to eat at a couple of times also.

Yeah, it's great to look over and all, but at the end of the day I just can't justify the price for it, especially for the standard rooms. Ultimately, even the family suites are sooo expensive. I'm pretty sure it's not that much more to do a cabin at Fort Wilderness, and that's on the Moderates level. I am really glad we tried it out, and there may come a time when we decide to go again so we can stay in a suite (probably if we were to share with people who would split the cost), but the price factor is just eesh.

Actually, because of the fact that Little Mermaid rooms are never eligible for discounts, when you compare for example... All-Star resorts with AP discounts, AoA standard rooms with no discount, and Caribbean Beach again with AP discount, the gap in pricing is lesser between AoA and CBR than it is between AoA and the All-Stars. Which is crazy.

 

[pkondz]

I think it's clear to see we just really can't stay away.​

Clearly!

No, we have not been granted with the power of time travel - and even if we were, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't use it. Can you imagine how much stuff you could mess up? Yikes.

Do it! And then go back and undo it if there's no improvement.

Somewhere in there, we went from, this would be a fun thing to do but alas it's not offered in June, to, what if we tried to go next weekend?

Hello!

Now, for the upcoming Friday morning departure, there were eighteen seats left.

It's not a lot, but then, it's a really close departure. We decided it was enough.

Makes sense... sure. No problem, right?

First person was a no go - she was headed to Winnipeg for the weekend.

Huh. Strange I didn't see her.

We're going to Disney in FIVE DAYS!

Woot!!!!

Amber may have squealed in the hallway.

Actually, not may. She did. Loudly.

I must have checked the flight load twice per hour for the rest of the week.

So that must've made the time go by quickly.

Our flight was leaving at 6 the next morning, meaning we should try to be at the airport by 3 - 3:30. Meaning we should get up around 2.

Ugh.... been there.