Too much BBQ on the menu! An Aug 2018 Trip Report *Day 4 continued - 8/14*

[MinnieWebster]

So, trying to plan our Thanksgiving trip. We were at 180 days to book ADRs on June 1, which was rather interesting with no clear plan of which parks we would be in on which days. We wanted to try for lunch at BOG, Le Cellier, Yay & Yeti, and Rainforest Cafe. I was able to get 3 of them no problem, but was surprised that Le Cellier was the restaurant that I couldn't find any time on any day available. Eventually realized that Disney must not have had them loaded yet, and they became available a few days ago, so I was able to book a couple.

Going back and forth on doing a CP dining package. It would help if we knew all of the narrators for our stay, so far all we know is Whoopi Goldberg on our last night, which we'll be going to. She's one of my favorites. Also hoping that NPH will be that week we are there

DH decided we should upgrade our 7-day PH tickets to 10-day PH (our stay is 9 nights/10 days), because we would want more park time with the busier crowds for the holidays and SW:GE. I knew the plan for resort-hopping or relaxing 1 day would never last. DH is one that always wants to keep moving, and if he's at Disney, he wants to be in the parks. We will be spending one day at TL, as my dad's favorite thing is the water parks. But we can now go to a park after TL

Of course, since our tickets are now 10-day PH, DH is now wondering if we should just upgrade to AP, since I will want Memory Maker for this trip (since my parents will be with us. Probably not as important if just DH and I, although I still like getting to download the ride photos), and discounts on merchandise and dining.... and we could go next year....
We called my parents tonight to pitch the idea to them, and they have agreed to think about it. My parents know how DH can be when it comes to Disney, so, moral of the story, we (DH and I at least) will be upgrading to AP!!

Any suggestions about the dining package? We haven't done one before, but are considering it this time, since it's my parents first time going during the holidays and seeing CP. Restaurants we are currently thinking about are Biergarten, Ale & Compass (probably most likely the breakfast), Garden Grill, or Via Napoli.

 

[MinnieWebster]

Day 4

This was Monday, August 20, so we were headed to AK to take advantage of the EMH. We didn't wake up as early as we wanted to, but early enough to be at the bus stops by 6:30am. The app didn't list a time for the next bus, it just stated "every 20 minutes". We waited for almost 20 minutes before deciding to get an Uber. There still hadn't been a bus to the park by the time we were picked up a few minutes later and we were dropped off right at 7am.

The process for RD this morning was quite different from other times that we've done RD at AK. Instead of being let in through the tapstiles about 45 minutes early and then being held at the bridge to Pandora, no one was allowed to go past a line formed by CMs at the ticket counters until a few minutes almost 7:15, then we were allowed to line up at the tapstiles. 10 minutes later we were allowed into the park, but CMs were lined up before we reached the Tree of Life, held there for a few minutes, and then led into Pandora. A lot more being held in lines, but it worked out fine and DH and I were at the front of the group heading into FOP before 7:40am. Then we went to NRJ, which was still a walk-on, as it was just barely 8:00.




Still don't know what's up with these pictures being sideways... or why they are facing different directions...

After our boat ride, we headed into Africa only to discover that the safari was currently closed. So we walked over to Asia to take a ride on EE. This was walk-on, so we did it twice. We both really enjoy this coaster, but it does make DH dizzy, so we don't usually do it more than twice in a row anymore.

Love DH's poses in these pics

Dinosaur was next! Love this ride too. So fun.


Then we made our way back to Africa, hoping to get a safari ride in while it was still early. The standby wait time was posted at 35 minutes and jumped to 45 minutes as we got in line, so we wandered through Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail.



Up next, more AK.

 

[MinnieWebster]

I know I need to come back and do more updates, I will try to do that this weekend. But I just have to share some news, and we aren't telling family yet.
Found out a couple weeks ago that I am pregnant! Yay!! We've been trying for a baby for several years now, so we are super excited! Of course, this means I will be about 23-24 weeks pregnant during our next trip to the World, so a different kind of trip than we're used to. DH is still trying to wrap his head around the fact that I won't be going on any coasters with him and my parents I told him I can still have lots of fun even without some rides. That includes both new rides for SW:GE, since RotR will open during our trip, but I'll get a chance to ride them on later trips.
Any suggestions for this first time mama at Disney?
Toying with the idea of having Mickey (and Minnie) help do a gender reveal while we are there. I watched a video of one at DL the other day that was super cute!

 

[MinnieWebster]

Day 4 AK Continued...

After our walk through Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, we went back to Pandora to use our FP+ for FOP, which had a standby wait of 165 minutes! We were in the first video within 10 minutes of scanning our bands. After that awesome ride on our banshees we walked back over to Asia. We still had a little time to kill before our FP+ for Kali River Rapids, so we walked through the Jungle Trek



Up next it was time to use our FP+ for Kali. When the wait time is low, DH likes to ride this as many times in a row as possible. I think our max was 8 or 9 times once. You have to be okay getting really wet to do that and not care if people look at you like you're crazy
It's finally time for some food!! We were at Yak & Yeti and in line a few minutes before they opened the doors at 11am. We were seated pretty quickly and it didn't take too long to get our food:


We ordered the Firecracker shrimp (from the small plates section), Garlic noodles and fried rice (from the "sides"). The garlic noodles were a lot spicier than I remembered from the last time we had them, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I had the first time. DH thought everything was really good though.

After we finished our meal, we went over to the new UP show, where Russel and Dug helped present some birds. It was a pretty cute change from Flights of Wonder.


Around 12:30pm we headed toward the front of the park, as it was time to head to our next park of the day.


I think I've heard it's not sticking around though... Disney's website it will go on a "brief hiatus in mid-September" as they do some updates. So maybe it'll still be around with a few changes for our next trip. I enjoy watching all of the birds.

 

[disneyAndi14]

Congrats on the baby news, ahh so special! I wish you the best!!

I think a gender reveal with Mickey and Minnie would be so special!

 

[ariane37]

OMG I was going to say I can't believe how far behind I was but man am I happy I decided to play catch up tonight! Congratulations to you and DH that's wonderful news I'm thrilled for you❤ and I wish you an easy and enjoyable pregnancy xoxo!

I don't have any advice for going to Disney pregnant as I never did it lol but I do suggest booking a CP dining package if you haven't yet. It gets busy during Thanksgiving (really my favorite time to go) and if the narrator is any type of popular the line to get in will be long.

Love all those special PP pics!