Cast: Me, 41 newly single mom, new Florida resident, 7th trip to the World
DS, 12 1/2, not a thrill rider, 5th trip to the world
DD, almost 14, thrill seeker extraordinaire!, 6th trip to the world
When: 19 Feb
Why: Because for the money we would have spent going to the State Fair, I decided to go to Disney and activate our seasonal annual passes! Plus we've heard a rumor that Ex. Everest will close down just before the official April opening, and we were afraid this would be during our March 18-24th planned trip.
We live in the Tampa area, so we're blessed with a one hour commute to WDW. Something I'm very greatful for!
We left the house about 6:45, and made it to the gates at Animal Kingdom about 7:55 (8:00 park opening). Only one ticket window open (had to exchange our vouchers), so we got into the park about 8:15.
Animal Kingdom:
I made a wrong turn, so we took the long route (through Africa) back to EE. We all walked through the standby line, which was really nicely themed. Just when we got into the loading area, they called for two riders. We waved frantically, explained that DS wasn't riding, and we were next in line for the back seat. As we stopped in the tunnel, DD said "Mom, does this go backwards?" I said "Oh yeah, it does." I really HAD forgotten! The ride itself was very smooth, and the drop really didn't seem very big. In fact, I kept expecting another one, since I couldn't believe we were all the way down yet!
My personal opinion?? It was a fun ride, but at least from the back seat, I wasn't bowled over by it. I personally wouldn't wait in a big line for it. But it's probably a ride I'll get a fast pass for each time I'm in the Animal Kingdom. Now it might be different in the front.
We met up with DS in the dump shop, and asked what he wanted to do. He picked Primevil Whirl, so we headed over to Dino-Land, for a walk on ride. DD stopped to pin trade along the way (she did this throughout the day, so I'll just make an overall statement that she enjoyed the pin trading, and mostly traded with CMs). After PW, we decided to head over to Epcot with the primary goal of riding Soarin.
EPCOT:
We got to Epcot by about 9:10 (park opened at 9), grabbed fast passes for Test Track, then headed over to Soarin for the standby. When we walked in, the wait said 30 minutes, which was probably pretty accurate. The queue for this line isn't really all that interesting, which kind of surprised me. I kept the kids from messing with each other too much by playing things like "concentration" and "bubble gum, bubble gum" in line. Got to LOVE that scouting background!
On to the ride. I have to say that this was the absolute BEST ride I think I've ever riden! My kids were absolutely thrilled with the effects! They kept commenting on what they were seeing and smelling. And when we went over the aircraft carrier, they said "Mom, there's the Hawkeye! That was your plane, right!" I used to manage the production of that plane.
We got off, and grabbed fast passes (1:10 return time). As we were walking out, the kids kept saying how much they enjoyed the ride. They talked to the people in the standby saying "It's worth the wait!"
We then headed over to use our TT fast passes. Quickly heading through the line, we made it into the front row of our red vehicle. DD likes the bump test for some reason, and DS couldn't believe we were really going 64 MPH.
We went briefly through Innoventions, then over to Mission Space hoping for a quick standby. Unfortunately, it had gotten pretty crowded by this time, and MS was a 60 minute standby. We tried the Energy adventure, but people were lining up outside for that, so we headed over to the Imagination ride with Figment. We walked right onto that one, then went to the Living Seas.
After spending about 20 minutes in there, we headed over to the Land with the goal of riding Living with the Land until FP time. But everyone else had that idea, and the Timon and Pumba movie was starting in 5 minutes, so we headed into the movie.
30 minutes later, the FP was active, so we headed into Soarin. Standby was 100 minutes by that time! While waiting to load, we debated over our lunch plans. I had originally thought about walking to Beaches and Cream and getting something there on our way to MGM. But DD thought that the food court in the Land smelled pretty good. DS was still pushing for B&C, but I told him if all he wanted was the ice cream there, we could still get that after we had eaten lunch. We finally got the bright idea to eat at counter service in Japan, since DD loves Japanese food, and I knew DS would eat the teriyaki chicken. With that finally solved, we were up to boarding time, and took our second trip over California. DS was able to snag the last front row seat, I was in the 2nd row and DD was behind me (we filled in a nearly full car!) Another great trip! And yes, I would stand in line for this attraction!
Out of the Land, we stopped by Club Cool, and tried the sodas. I hadn't mentioned anything about any of them, so when DD came up and said "Mom, DON'T try the Italy one!" I had to laugh! The kids' favorites? DD liked Japan the best, followed by China, then Germany. DS liked Germany best, and said China's was okay.
A fairly quick stroll over to Japan, where we got in line for Yakitori counter service. It was starting to get backed up, and we all finally figured out that they were temporarily out of rice. I said "How about if I order, and you just leave out the rice? Can I get my food then?" Once we made it through the language barrier, that seemed like a plan to them! And wouldn't you know, just about the time they got the food on the plates, the rice was done. We ended up with a platter for DD, a bowl of miso soup, 3 side orders of teriyaki chicken, and two drinks. Total was just over $20. Not too bad for WDW food. DS ate the rice that came with DD's platter, and two orders of the chicken. I had one order of the chicken, and finished half of DD's soup. We left there full and ready to move on. One comment here though. The sushi selection in Yakitori is pretty weak. I think they have more over at the bar, so we'll have to check that out next trip.
We left through the International gateway, then walked down to Beaches and Cream. The weather was absolutely gorgeous (high 70s, with a little breeze most of the day, once the sun went down it was about 70 with a fair wind) so lots of people were using the pool. We went to the take out counter, and I got DS a waffle cone of vanilla. Down to the boat dock for a ride to MGM.
MGM
We made it to the park about 3:15 and headed over for FP's for Tower of Terror. This is DD's FAVORITE ride (although I haven't asked her if Soarin has taken it's place!). Standby was listed at 40 minutes, and our FP was for 4:00. So we pulled 3 FPs, and headed over to DS's choice. He picked the Animation Studios. DD hadn't done this before (she was thrill riding), but DS really liked it on our last trip. We watched the little movie, then made it into the animation academy, which none of us had done before. We drew the side view of Mickey. DD was sitting up front, while DS and I were in the back. DS apparently messed up about 1/2 way through because he quit. My drawing ended up looking a lot like Mortimer Mouse, but considering how bad I am at art, I was pretty happy! DD did a really good job, but she's the artist in the family! We had fun at some of the computer stations, then it was ToT FP time, so back across the park we went!
DD headed through the FP line while DS and I grabbed FPs for Rock N RollerCoaster. (6:00 return time) We met DD at the end of the ride. DS stayed there while DD and I used the other two FPs. By this time, the standby line said 20 minutes, but it was a walk on. Our ride sequence was really good this time, but we had a LOUD car, with lots of boys screaming.
DS decided he wanted to ride Star Tours, so back across the park we went. DS had passed on this our last trip, but decided it would be okay this time. We enjoyed our trip to Endor, and we were headed toward Millionaire, which is DS's main favorite thing at MGM. On the way, he saw the sign for the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, and decided that's what he wanted to do. My kids are probably a bit too old for this, but I let them do it for about 20 minutes. DD really just sat and watched (and helped the little kids over some of the obstacles, but DS enjoyed dodging the water. The playground was closing at 5:30, so we left there about 5:20, and headed back toward RNR, looking for ways to fill the time until 6. We saw the Making of Narnia, and headed into there. That was better than I expected, you see a little movie too. I thought it was just the props. After that, we rode the GMR, then it was time for the FP at RNR. I sent DD ahead with the 3rd FP, and took DS to show him where the end of the ride was. The plan was like ToT, where DD would meet us at the end, then she and I would ride. But the line, even for FP was pretty long, and we wanted to see the 7:00 Fantasmic showing. At about 6:25, there was a dad with a little boy watching the people come off the ride. I could hear him explaining the ride to his son (who was probably about 6 or so). He said "If you want to ride, when Mommy comes off, we'll get fast passes." So I handed him mine, and said "They're good right now. We won't be able to go again." The little boy was really excited to not have to wait. I know how once you actually get up the nerve, you just want to get it over with!
DD finally got off the ride about 6:35. We grabbed a turkey leg to share, then into the theater for Fantasmic. We sat down about 6:50, and had found okay seats filling in where there were openings. This was our first time seeing Fantasmic. It was absolutely great! We really enjoyed it! I have to say that it was probably way too intense for little kids though. It's really loud, and there's a lot of scary scenes in it.
We joined the herds of people heading out (MOOOOO!), and ended up walking all the way back to EPCOT. There was a pretty big line at the boat dock, and we probably would have been at least 3 boats back. As it was, we made it to Epcot before the first boat. Walked all the way through EPCOT, and back to our car at 8:50. Hit a little congestion on I-4 right when we got on, and made it home by 10:05.
Overall, it was a long day, but an enjoyable one. My kids were really good with each other, with very little of the typical teen aged bickering! The weather was awesome, and we got to do everything we wanted, and put several things on our "to do" list for our March vacation.
Hope you enjoyed reading about it.
DS, 12 1/2, not a thrill rider, 5th trip to the world
DD, almost 14, thrill seeker extraordinaire!, 6th trip to the world
When: 19 Feb
Why: Because for the money we would have spent going to the State Fair, I decided to go to Disney and activate our seasonal annual passes! Plus we've heard a rumor that Ex. Everest will close down just before the official April opening, and we were afraid this would be during our March 18-24th planned trip.
We live in the Tampa area, so we're blessed with a one hour commute to WDW. Something I'm very greatful for!
We left the house about 6:45, and made it to the gates at Animal Kingdom about 7:55 (8:00 park opening). Only one ticket window open (had to exchange our vouchers), so we got into the park about 8:15.
Animal Kingdom:
I made a wrong turn, so we took the long route (through Africa) back to EE. We all walked through the standby line, which was really nicely themed. Just when we got into the loading area, they called for two riders. We waved frantically, explained that DS wasn't riding, and we were next in line for the back seat. As we stopped in the tunnel, DD said "Mom, does this go backwards?" I said "Oh yeah, it does." I really HAD forgotten! The ride itself was very smooth, and the drop really didn't seem very big. In fact, I kept expecting another one, since I couldn't believe we were all the way down yet!
My personal opinion?? It was a fun ride, but at least from the back seat, I wasn't bowled over by it. I personally wouldn't wait in a big line for it. But it's probably a ride I'll get a fast pass for each time I'm in the Animal Kingdom. Now it might be different in the front.
We met up with DS in the dump shop, and asked what he wanted to do. He picked Primevil Whirl, so we headed over to Dino-Land, for a walk on ride. DD stopped to pin trade along the way (she did this throughout the day, so I'll just make an overall statement that she enjoyed the pin trading, and mostly traded with CMs). After PW, we decided to head over to Epcot with the primary goal of riding Soarin.
EPCOT:
We got to Epcot by about 9:10 (park opened at 9), grabbed fast passes for Test Track, then headed over to Soarin for the standby. When we walked in, the wait said 30 minutes, which was probably pretty accurate. The queue for this line isn't really all that interesting, which kind of surprised me. I kept the kids from messing with each other too much by playing things like "concentration" and "bubble gum, bubble gum" in line. Got to LOVE that scouting background!
On to the ride. I have to say that this was the absolute BEST ride I think I've ever riden! My kids were absolutely thrilled with the effects! They kept commenting on what they were seeing and smelling. And when we went over the aircraft carrier, they said "Mom, there's the Hawkeye! That was your plane, right!" I used to manage the production of that plane.
We got off, and grabbed fast passes (1:10 return time). As we were walking out, the kids kept saying how much they enjoyed the ride. They talked to the people in the standby saying "It's worth the wait!"
We then headed over to use our TT fast passes. Quickly heading through the line, we made it into the front row of our red vehicle. DD likes the bump test for some reason, and DS couldn't believe we were really going 64 MPH.
We went briefly through Innoventions, then over to Mission Space hoping for a quick standby. Unfortunately, it had gotten pretty crowded by this time, and MS was a 60 minute standby. We tried the Energy adventure, but people were lining up outside for that, so we headed over to the Imagination ride with Figment. We walked right onto that one, then went to the Living Seas.
After spending about 20 minutes in there, we headed over to the Land with the goal of riding Living with the Land until FP time. But everyone else had that idea, and the Timon and Pumba movie was starting in 5 minutes, so we headed into the movie.
30 minutes later, the FP was active, so we headed into Soarin. Standby was 100 minutes by that time! While waiting to load, we debated over our lunch plans. I had originally thought about walking to Beaches and Cream and getting something there on our way to MGM. But DD thought that the food court in the Land smelled pretty good. DS was still pushing for B&C, but I told him if all he wanted was the ice cream there, we could still get that after we had eaten lunch. We finally got the bright idea to eat at counter service in Japan, since DD loves Japanese food, and I knew DS would eat the teriyaki chicken. With that finally solved, we were up to boarding time, and took our second trip over California. DS was able to snag the last front row seat, I was in the 2nd row and DD was behind me (we filled in a nearly full car!) Another great trip! And yes, I would stand in line for this attraction!
Out of the Land, we stopped by Club Cool, and tried the sodas. I hadn't mentioned anything about any of them, so when DD came up and said "Mom, DON'T try the Italy one!" I had to laugh! The kids' favorites? DD liked Japan the best, followed by China, then Germany. DS liked Germany best, and said China's was okay.
A fairly quick stroll over to Japan, where we got in line for Yakitori counter service. It was starting to get backed up, and we all finally figured out that they were temporarily out of rice. I said "How about if I order, and you just leave out the rice? Can I get my food then?" Once we made it through the language barrier, that seemed like a plan to them! And wouldn't you know, just about the time they got the food on the plates, the rice was done. We ended up with a platter for DD, a bowl of miso soup, 3 side orders of teriyaki chicken, and two drinks. Total was just over $20. Not too bad for WDW food. DS ate the rice that came with DD's platter, and two orders of the chicken. I had one order of the chicken, and finished half of DD's soup. We left there full and ready to move on. One comment here though. The sushi selection in Yakitori is pretty weak. I think they have more over at the bar, so we'll have to check that out next trip.
We left through the International gateway, then walked down to Beaches and Cream. The weather was absolutely gorgeous (high 70s, with a little breeze most of the day, once the sun went down it was about 70 with a fair wind) so lots of people were using the pool. We went to the take out counter, and I got DS a waffle cone of vanilla. Down to the boat dock for a ride to MGM.
MGM
We made it to the park about 3:15 and headed over for FP's for Tower of Terror. This is DD's FAVORITE ride (although I haven't asked her if Soarin has taken it's place!). Standby was listed at 40 minutes, and our FP was for 4:00. So we pulled 3 FPs, and headed over to DS's choice. He picked the Animation Studios. DD hadn't done this before (she was thrill riding), but DS really liked it on our last trip. We watched the little movie, then made it into the animation academy, which none of us had done before. We drew the side view of Mickey. DD was sitting up front, while DS and I were in the back. DS apparently messed up about 1/2 way through because he quit. My drawing ended up looking a lot like Mortimer Mouse, but considering how bad I am at art, I was pretty happy! DD did a really good job, but she's the artist in the family! We had fun at some of the computer stations, then it was ToT FP time, so back across the park we went!
DD headed through the FP line while DS and I grabbed FPs for Rock N RollerCoaster. (6:00 return time) We met DD at the end of the ride. DS stayed there while DD and I used the other two FPs. By this time, the standby line said 20 minutes, but it was a walk on. Our ride sequence was really good this time, but we had a LOUD car, with lots of boys screaming.
DS decided he wanted to ride Star Tours, so back across the park we went. DS had passed on this our last trip, but decided it would be okay this time. We enjoyed our trip to Endor, and we were headed toward Millionaire, which is DS's main favorite thing at MGM. On the way, he saw the sign for the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, and decided that's what he wanted to do. My kids are probably a bit too old for this, but I let them do it for about 20 minutes. DD really just sat and watched (and helped the little kids over some of the obstacles, but DS enjoyed dodging the water. The playground was closing at 5:30, so we left there about 5:20, and headed back toward RNR, looking for ways to fill the time until 6. We saw the Making of Narnia, and headed into there. That was better than I expected, you see a little movie too. I thought it was just the props. After that, we rode the GMR, then it was time for the FP at RNR. I sent DD ahead with the 3rd FP, and took DS to show him where the end of the ride was. The plan was like ToT, where DD would meet us at the end, then she and I would ride. But the line, even for FP was pretty long, and we wanted to see the 7:00 Fantasmic showing. At about 6:25, there was a dad with a little boy watching the people come off the ride. I could hear him explaining the ride to his son (who was probably about 6 or so). He said "If you want to ride, when Mommy comes off, we'll get fast passes." So I handed him mine, and said "They're good right now. We won't be able to go again." The little boy was really excited to not have to wait. I know how once you actually get up the nerve, you just want to get it over with!
DD finally got off the ride about 6:35. We grabbed a turkey leg to share, then into the theater for Fantasmic. We sat down about 6:50, and had found okay seats filling in where there were openings. This was our first time seeing Fantasmic. It was absolutely great! We really enjoyed it! I have to say that it was probably way too intense for little kids though. It's really loud, and there's a lot of scary scenes in it.
We joined the herds of people heading out (MOOOOO!), and ended up walking all the way back to EPCOT. There was a pretty big line at the boat dock, and we probably would have been at least 3 boats back. As it was, we made it to Epcot before the first boat. Walked all the way through EPCOT, and back to our car at 8:50. Hit a little congestion on I-4 right when we got on, and made it home by 10:05.
Overall, it was a long day, but an enjoyable one. My kids were really good with each other, with very little of the typical teen aged bickering! The weather was awesome, and we got to do everything we wanted, and put several things on our "to do" list for our March vacation.
Hope you enjoyed reading about it.
What a fantastic day,
