Canadave
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 25, 1999
- Messages
- 891
The CAST: DD1 (Brittany, 15 yrs. old), DD2 (Emily, 11 yrs. old), DW (Marylynn, let's just say early 40's) and myself (Dave,same)
Thursday Feb.5/04
Finally, the weather we've been waiting for...sunny, high of 84!!!
Today's a split-park day, as we try to do those things we missed earlier in the week...and do the things we love to do over again
We arrive at Animal Kingdom at 9 and check out a few 'spiders and snakes'...before heading to Kilamanjaro Safari...on the way to KS, we spot Flick...time for pictures/autographs
Now we've been on KS 5 times before, but on this trip, as we're crossing the rickety bridge, the driver's doing his schtick about it's poor condition...then the bridge shakes and creeks like it's about to collapse
...DW just about had a heart attack...we we're not expecting this effect at all...too funny
As we're leaving KS, the face painting booth is right there in Harambe...poor DD2 was so sad that she didn't get her face done earlier in the week...DW and I had did that "are you thinking what I'm thinking" wink when we had passed the booth on the way into KS, so much to the delight and surprise of DD2, we tell her to pick out which face she wanted...there was no line, so she sat right down...well, earlier in the week I had complained about paying $12 US for the face painting, but after seeing the work, it was worth every penny...the CM did a wonderful job and DD2 was so proud...we took a picture of DD2 and the CM and thanked her (I'm so mad at myself for not taking note of her name
because I would have loved to somehow get a message of thanks to her when we got home)...DD2 later bought a 'princess' picture frame and she put the picture of the CM and her in it.
We met DeVine on the way to the Maharajah Jungle Trek, so we got to enjoy her performance for a while...at the MJT, the animals were fairly active...I just love watching the fruit bats.
Earlier in the week, the Kali River Rapids was still on rehab, but it was now open...we all rode it with ponchos on (except DW...for some reason she didn't want to wear one
)...needless to say, we were all dry...and DW was soaked!!!
We then strolled over to Harambe and grabbed some food at the Tusker House...tasty and reasonably priced...we took our food out to the patio area and watched the African drummers finish their set...just as they finished, we turned around and the acrobats (I can't remember their name) were setting up for their show...front row seats!...they are excellent, except, much to our disappointment, they didn't do the limbo
...we had seen the show last time we were at WDW and the main guy limbo'd (sp?) under the bar at about 6 inches...wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it in person.
As we headed over to Camp Minnie Mickey, there was Flick AND Princess Atta...so off we go again for more pictures and autographs
Earlier in the week, the Pocohontas show was rained out, so we didn't want to miss it this time...it is such a cute show...DD2 was too old (by one year) for the 'front' rows, but she sat there anyway as the theatre wasn't completely full.
It had been a nice morning in AK, but now it was off to MGM...got there about 1:00...watched the street performers (skit about a spelling bee)...very funny...the actors are so good and play their roles well...DW and DD2 played at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area while DD1 and I did the Tower of Terror...a really neat trick I learned - I wear sunglasses with a cord attached. I had taken the glasses off when we got into the attraction and they were hanging around my neck...on the drops, the glasses would slowly rise and look like they were floating in front of my face...cool effect......anyway, after ToT, we walked over to RnRC and it was broken down ...so we meandered over to Indiana Jones and met up with the rest of the family
Indiana was as good as usual, but they have to do something about the exits after the show...it was so frustrating taking 10 minutes to get out...and walking by the entrance way that could have been used to help get the crowd out.
We grabbed a spot by Star Tours and had a great view of the Stars and Motor Cars Parade...we really like this parade...the cars are soooo neat....and you get to see so many characters...unfortunately you can't get their autographs
With all the construction going on around the Backstage area, it took us about 20 minutes to find the AFI building...very disappointing...the map gets you all excited about seeing all these villain costumes, but really there is only about 1/2 dozen...anyway, unless you have time to spare, this can be missed...on the plus side, it did lead us to the area where Sorcerer Mickey was, almost all by himself...so we took our time with him and DD2 and I got our pictures with him
We all went into the Walt Disney, One Man's Dream attraction...the girls scooted out before the movie and had some "sister" time on their own while Mom and Dad watched the movie on Walt...very nice tribute
DD2 was now ready to do ToT, so although she was scared, she said she enjoyed it and was very proud of herself...third time this trip for DD1 and I
...even though it was just running a short time ago, RnRC was broke again...DD1 and I were pretty steamed now, but DW made a good point: maybe it's safer not to ride it, because it breaks down so much....I don't think it would be much fun to be stuck in there.
We had a little time to spare, so we walked down to Hollywood Blvd. and watched some street performers...although the skit was a little silly (The City Works Crew....Roger,over), they had everyone laughing so hard...
We had originally planned to get pizza at the Pizza Planet and take it to Fantasmic, but it was the other side of the park...so we grabbed some pizzas at Catalina Eddies...a little pricey, but tasted good...while waiting for the pizzas, DD1 was getting impatient, so she went ahead and grabbed us a seat in the Fantasmic theatre...it was near the front in the middle, but a large pole directly blocked my site line to Mickey and the middle of the show...didn't have the heart to tell DD1...Fantasmic was amazing as always, but the dragon didn't appear...the Queen just grew really tall...that was very disappointing...the dragon is one of the best effects...also, there was 2 princess floats...aren't there supposed to be 3...anyway, I still get goosebumps when Mickey magically appears on the top of the mountain...so it's all worth it.
DD2 had really enjoyed the attention that she got this day with all the compliments on her face painting...and so many kids begging their parents to get their faces painted..."like hers"
Made it back to the hotel and the girls went for a swim and enjoyed an evening by themselves...DW and I changed and were off to Pleasure Island...we decided to use the bus...no worry about drinking and driving...not impressed with the bus system...maybe I'm just impatient... I was expecting a maximum 20 minute wait, but the bus was over a half an hour arriving...as we watched all the other buses come and go...plus side was that we had a great chat with a teacher from Minnesota while we were waiting...the down side was that it took us over 45 minutes by bus to go 5 minutes by car...finally arrived at PI at 9:00...we watched one show at the Comedy Warehouse...quality of 'funny' can vary from show to show, cast to cast...tonights was about a 6 out of 10...we had lousy seats but we sat and chatted with a young couple from Michigan...they had been to WDW many times, but this was their first time to PI (MIL came with them and was babysitting)...we gave them a couple of hints about the place and met them later at our next stop, The Adventurer's Club...the AC is a must for us...it can be twice as fun there if you intermingle with the cast...on past trips, we had checked out the other clubs, but usually when we get here, we are too tired to dance...and as usual, we were too tired to walk around, so we decided to enjoy the AC for the rest of the night...caught the bus at 1:00...much more efficient this time...between wait time and the drive, we were back at the PC in 25 minutes...
tomorrow is a day of shopping and rest...sort of...
Thursday Feb.5/04
Finally, the weather we've been waiting for...sunny, high of 84!!!
Today's a split-park day, as we try to do those things we missed earlier in the week...and do the things we love to do over again
We arrive at Animal Kingdom at 9 and check out a few 'spiders and snakes'...before heading to Kilamanjaro Safari...on the way to KS, we spot Flick...time for pictures/autographsNow we've been on KS 5 times before, but on this trip, as we're crossing the rickety bridge, the driver's doing his schtick about it's poor condition...then the bridge shakes and creeks like it's about to collapse
...DW just about had a heart attack...we we're not expecting this effect at all...too funnyAs we're leaving KS, the face painting booth is right there in Harambe...poor DD2 was so sad that she didn't get her face done earlier in the week...DW and I had did that "are you thinking what I'm thinking" wink when we had passed the booth on the way into KS, so much to the delight and surprise of DD2, we tell her to pick out which face she wanted...there was no line, so she sat right down...well, earlier in the week I had complained about paying $12 US for the face painting, but after seeing the work, it was worth every penny...the CM did a wonderful job and DD2 was so proud...we took a picture of DD2 and the CM and thanked her (I'm so mad at myself for not taking note of her name
because I would have loved to somehow get a message of thanks to her when we got home)...DD2 later bought a 'princess' picture frame and she put the picture of the CM and her in it.We met DeVine on the way to the Maharajah Jungle Trek, so we got to enjoy her performance for a while...at the MJT, the animals were fairly active...I just love watching the fruit bats.
Earlier in the week, the Kali River Rapids was still on rehab, but it was now open...we all rode it with ponchos on (except DW...for some reason she didn't want to wear one
)...needless to say, we were all dry...and DW was soaked!!!We then strolled over to Harambe and grabbed some food at the Tusker House...tasty and reasonably priced...we took our food out to the patio area and watched the African drummers finish their set...just as they finished, we turned around and the acrobats (I can't remember their name) were setting up for their show...front row seats!...they are excellent, except, much to our disappointment, they didn't do the limbo
...we had seen the show last time we were at WDW and the main guy limbo'd (sp?) under the bar at about 6 inches...wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it in person.As we headed over to Camp Minnie Mickey, there was Flick AND Princess Atta...so off we go again for more pictures and autographs
Earlier in the week, the Pocohontas show was rained out, so we didn't want to miss it this time...it is such a cute show...DD2 was too old (by one year) for the 'front' rows, but she sat there anyway as the theatre wasn't completely full.
It had been a nice morning in AK, but now it was off to MGM...got there about 1:00...watched the street performers (skit about a spelling bee)...very funny...the actors are so good and play their roles well...DW and DD2 played at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area while DD1 and I did the Tower of Terror...a really neat trick I learned - I wear sunglasses with a cord attached. I had taken the glasses off when we got into the attraction and they were hanging around my neck...on the drops, the glasses would slowly rise and look like they were floating in front of my face...cool effect......anyway, after ToT, we walked over to RnRC and it was broken down
...so we meandered over to Indiana Jones and met up with the rest of the familyIndiana was as good as usual, but they have to do something about the exits after the show...it was so frustrating taking 10 minutes to get out...and walking by the entrance way that could have been used to help get the crowd out.
We grabbed a spot by Star Tours and had a great view of the Stars and Motor Cars Parade...we really like this parade...the cars are soooo neat....and you get to see so many characters...unfortunately you can't get their autographs
With all the construction going on around the Backstage area, it took us about 20 minutes to find the AFI building...very disappointing...the map gets you all excited about seeing all these villain costumes, but really there is only about 1/2 dozen...anyway, unless you have time to spare, this can be missed...on the plus side, it did lead us to the area where Sorcerer Mickey was, almost all by himself...so we took our time with him and DD2 and I got our pictures with him
We all went into the Walt Disney, One Man's Dream attraction...the girls scooted out before the movie and had some "sister" time on their own while Mom and Dad watched the movie on Walt...very nice tribute
DD2 was now ready to do ToT, so although she was scared, she said she enjoyed it and was very proud of herself...third time this trip for DD1 and I
...even though it was just running a short time ago, RnRC was broke again...DD1 and I were pretty steamed now, but DW made a good point: maybe it's safer not to ride it, because it breaks down so much....I don't think it would be much fun to be stuck in there.We had a little time to spare, so we walked down to Hollywood Blvd. and watched some street performers...although the skit was a little silly (The City Works Crew....Roger,over), they had everyone laughing so hard...
We had originally planned to get pizza at the Pizza Planet and take it to Fantasmic, but it was the other side of the park...so we grabbed some pizzas at Catalina Eddies...a little pricey, but tasted good...while waiting for the pizzas, DD1 was getting impatient, so she went ahead and grabbed us a seat in the Fantasmic theatre...it was near the front in the middle, but a large pole directly blocked my site line to Mickey and the middle of the show...didn't have the heart to tell DD1...Fantasmic was amazing as always, but the dragon didn't appear...the Queen just grew really tall...that was very disappointing...the dragon is one of the best effects...also, there was 2 princess floats...aren't there supposed to be 3...anyway, I still get goosebumps when Mickey magically appears on the top of the mountain...so it's all worth it.
DD2 had really enjoyed the attention that she got this day with all the compliments on her face painting...and so many kids begging their parents to get their faces painted..."like hers"
Made it back to the hotel and the girls went for a swim and enjoyed an evening by themselves...DW and I changed and were off to Pleasure Island...we decided to use the bus...no worry about drinking and driving...not impressed with the bus system...maybe I'm just impatient... I was expecting a maximum 20 minute wait, but the bus was over a half an hour arriving...as we watched all the other buses come and go...plus side was that we had a great chat with a teacher from Minnesota while we were waiting...the down side was that it took us over 45 minutes by bus to go 5 minutes by car...finally arrived at PI at 9:00...we watched one show at the Comedy Warehouse...quality of 'funny' can vary from show to show, cast to cast...tonights was about a 6 out of 10...we had lousy seats but we sat and chatted with a young couple from Michigan...they had been to WDW many times, but this was their first time to PI (MIL came with them and was babysitting)...we gave them a couple of hints about the place and met them later at our next stop, The Adventurer's Club...the AC is a must for us...it can be twice as fun there if you intermingle with the cast...on past trips, we had checked out the other clubs, but usually when we get here, we are too tired to dance...and as usual, we were too tired to walk around, so we decided to enjoy the AC for the rest of the night...caught the bus at 1:00...much more efficient this time...between wait time and the drive, we were back at the PC in 25 minutes...
tomorrow is a day of shopping and rest...sort of...
