WDW/DCL Western Caribbean Honeymoon Extravaganza!! DONE!!! - PG 51!!

[PopArtGal]

I know. The crowds are so long at DHS.

They need something. I don't know what, but they do.

It's missing something that the other parks have.

 

[tinkerbell60]

I agree - they need something else at DHS. Maybe something more interactive over on the Streets of America - the KP missions at Epcot are great - that section is just so boring over there........and you are right Nikki - you crisscross that park constantly - they need a shortcut from Hollywood Blvd over to ToT and RnR.

 

[anetnmike]

I agree, DHS does nothing for me. DS likes the stunt shows and he LOVED Toy Story Mania (we had a similiar experience with the wait last Feb.) DH likes TOT. I could happily spend several days in Epcot exploring every nook and cranny (in fact I have!)

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I know. The crowds are so long at DHS.

They need something. I don't know what, but they do.

It's missing something that the other parks have.

I agree - they need something else at DHS. Maybe something more interactive over on the Streets of America - the KP missions at Epcot are great - that section is just so boring over there........and you are right Nikki - you crisscross that park constantly - they need a shortcut from Hollywood Blvd over to ToT and RnR.

I agree, DHS does nothing for me. DS likes the stunt shows and he LOVED Toy Story Mania (we had a similiar experience with the wait last Feb.) DH likes TOT. I could happily spend several days in Epcot exploring every nook and cranny (in fact I have!)

Yay! I'm so glad you all agree with me about DHS. To be honest, we spend the morning of our 3rd day there and one other not-even-half of a day there and we were just like, "let's get outta here!" If it weren't for my sister making the PLAN for our mini-trip in Oct, I'd skiip it altogether next time!

 

[PopArtGal]

I wish I could skip it, but I love ToT

 

[Timon]

Just caught up on your TR!

Love the Disney touches at the wedding What a beautiful bride you are!!!

Love all the pics and I can't wait for the rest

 

[BippityBoo]

DHS is totally confusing!! At first, I thought it was just me, I thought I did not plan good enough. I felt the same as you, walking from one side to the next...we also got lost by the Muppet Movie thing. I was totally confused with the maps as well!!

Cant wait to hear about AK!!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I wish I could skip it, but I love ToT

I KNOW!! That's exactly how I feel!

Just caught up on your TR!

Love the Disney touches at the wedding What a beautiful bride you are!!!

Love all the pics and I can't wait for the rest

Thanks!!!

DHS is totally confusing!! At first, I thought it was just me, I thought I did not plan good enough. I felt the same as you, walking from one side to the next...we also got lost by the Muppet Movie thing. I was totally confused with the maps as well!!

Cant wait to hear about AK!!

Oh, AK is where it's AT!! Ok, I wasn't going to....but I think you just inspired me to get started on the rest of the day at AK right NOW! (Especially considering that my guide said the Cosby Show was on and it turned out to be Married with Children. I have 30 mins before Big Brother!)

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Day 2 - July 21, 2009 CONT.
Animal Kingdom EMH​

We were out of DHS and on our way to AK by noon. We headed straight to Everest, after stopping for a Photopass pic, of course! Hey, I pre-ordered that cd and book, I'm stopping at EVERY Photopass photog I see!!

We headed STRAIGHT to Everest because we knew our chances on getting a FP were running out FAST! But of course, we HAVE to stop at the next Photopass Photog again!

Another thing that we absolutely needed to do this trip was eat at Flame Tree BBQ! We never did before, can you believe it?? So we made it a point to go there directly after getting our EE FP, which, by the way, was for 6:00!

We could tell right away that this park was PACKED! It was so crowded, it was hard to even get around. But we eventually got to Flame Tree and picked an excellent spot to eat. I can't believe how gigantic the eating area for Flame Tree is! I walked in the back and you can just keep going and going! There must be 10 seperate areas you can pick to eat in! I picked the one with the great view!

I had the ribs and Tom had the pulled pork sandwich, which just happens to be one of his favorite things ever! Tom also got a Safari Ale, which I don't think he especially loves over any other beer, he just likes that it's called "Safari Ale." We're VERY into themes!

After lunch, we walked through the Maharaja Jungle Trek. (I KNOW I spelled that wrong but I don't feel like looking it up at the moment. ) There we saw some bats and tigers.

Oh look! My bike!

I noticed a few other bikes around AK that day. I wonder how many there are in all.

We walked around aimlessley for a few hours, just trying to fight the crowds. The Brazilian tour groups were out in full force at the AK this day. Seriously, they were EVERYWHERE!

After a little while, we realized that two hours had definitely passed since we got our EE FP, so we went to get one for Dinosaur. Well, much like Toy Story Mania that morning, Dinosaur had a line JUST to get a FP! I couldn't believe it!! I have NEVER seen that before! But we waited and our return time was for even before our EE return time.

Next we saw It's Tough to Be a Bug with no wait. Then we wandered over to Camp Minnie-Mickey, where it was surprisingly pretty empty! I think the parade was going on.

We got pics with Pocohantus, some bear and that monkey from Tarzan.

Then we met the MAN, Mickey Mouse! We showed him our rings and posed for a pic.

As we exited that area, the crowds hit us again worse than ever!! Here are some shots just to give you an idea of just how many people were around!

And here's one of the culprits!

Once Tom made became a "conservation hero," he had enough buttons to officially qualify as flare. Or is it flair? Either way, he was proud of it.

Next, we were on our way to Dinosaur. Of course, it broke down a couple of times while we were in line and our wait was probably about 1/2 hour.

I LOVE this ride! Not my BEST pose, but I tried.

We took this shot on the way back to Asia.

I have wanted to see Finding Nemo: The Musical since it opened but everytime I pass that loooooong line, it never seems worth it. Well, as luck would have it, we happened to walk by and the CMs were announcing "last call for Finding Nemo!!!" We went RIGHT in! We had to sit in the nosebleed section, but at least we were there.

We rushed over to EE because now our FPs were up and what do you know....IT'S BROKEN!

Up Next: Dinner and AK at night.....

 

[BippityBoo]

Yay!!! Great update! So happy I could inspire you to write about AK

So much to say...first LOVE all of your photopass pics! Especially the second one with Everest in the background, it's beautiful!

Second, what a great tip about Flame Tree BBQ. We did not eat there but the view and table selection sounds ideal. Must try for my next trip

Third, the wait for Dino and EE seems crazy...and the crowds were SO BIG! I have never seen AK like that!

Last...cant believe EE was BROKEN! Otherwise..looked like a great day despite the craziness! Can't wait to see where you ate

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Yay!!! Great update! So happy I could inspire you to write about AK

So much to say...first LOVE all of your photopass pics! Especially the second one with Everest in the background, it's beautiful!

Second, what a great tip about Flame Tree BBQ. We did not eat there but the view and table selection sounds ideal. Must try for my next trip

Third, the wait for Dino and EE seems crazy...and the crowds were SO BIG! I have never seen AK like that!

Last...cant believe EE was BROKEN! Otherwise..looked like a great day despite the craziness! Can't wait to see where you ate

Yay!!!! i LOVE your responses! It's nice to hear specific things that you like about the TR or find helpful! And don't get too excited about dinner, it was nothing special, really!

 

[YoNoSe]

A few more thoughts from DH -

Hollywood Studios -
I won't restate what Nik and other have already said, I look at it this way - I am a huge Star Wars fan. I am a pretty big Indiana Jones fan. Love the Muppets. Toy Story 2, to me, is a better sequel than Godfather 2. TOT is in my top ten WDW attractions.
SO WHY IS THIS PARK SUCH A DRAG?!

I'm never more aware of the heat, the crowds, and the walking than I am when I'm in DHS. It just feels like the least cohesive experience in WDW. I don't know what the solution is (and I hate non-constructive criticism). Maybe it just suffers by comparison. Oh, well, everyone has to have a fourth favorite park.

I did enjoy Toy Story Mania. It made me wish they'd refurb Space Ranger Spin, which is simultaneously one of my favorite and most frustrating attractions. The accuracy of that blinky red dot is HIGHLY questionable.

Beaches and Cream -
Thumbs up! I was expecting a little more from the burger but by the time the ice cream showed up my expectations were totally exceeded!
I like the decor a lot, too, and we had a very nice waitress. Plus, raspberry Coke? Okay!

The Adventurers Club -
I could write pages about how much I love TAC but I'll just try to be positive about it - it's a miracle it existed and I'm really glad I got to experience it. It was in a class by itself on PI and it deserves a place in WDW. Whether or not that happnes I don't even want to speculate because I don't want to get my hopes up.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Day 2 ~ July 21, 2009 CONT.
Animal Kingdom at night!!​

So EE was broken down for a while, but eventually it was up and running again, so we were able to get our ride.

After our ride, we decided on having dinner. We weren't that hungry so we just went to the Anandapur Local Cafe (Yak and Yeti counter service). We always split a soda and I wanted water too so I decided to get a kids meal JUST because I wanted the small water bottle...and probably also because I wanted fries. I got the Chicken Bites. Tom got pork egg rolls and chicken fried rice. I had some of the rice and it was delicious!

At this point, I was starting to get excited because we had been at the AK for so long and it was finally getting darker out! I didn't think we'd make it!

We walked over to DinoRama and if there's a prop, I'm on it!! Tom was convinced that this cut out was NOT to put my head through for a picture, but why not??

It was pretty impossible to get a good picture of this but this is right in front of Chester and Hester's gift shop. If you are looking at the store from the bathrooms, on the back of these signs it says, "When in Florida be sure to visit Epcot." Isn't that funny?

I have to say that as soon as the sun went down, the crowds cleared OUT! It was like a completely different place! I imagined it was because those tour groups most likely don't stay on propery, therefore, don't stay for EMH.

We didn't really "do" anything else the rest of the night except walk around and enjoy the beauty of AK at night. It was everything I thought it would be! The line for EE was still kind of long so we didn't ride anything but we still had a great time taking pics!!

It's not exactly photopass quality but I set up my camera on night setting, automatic and was able to take this one of the two of us.

I never really paid much attention to this sign, but it looks pretty cool all lit up.

Can you see EE in the background? It wasn't lit up nearly as much as I thought it would be.

Although EMH were until 11, we were very tired from our long day and felt like we had accomplished what we wanted to do at AK so we left around 9:30. I snapped this on the way out.

It was only us and one other woman on the bus ride back. We chatted with the bus driver the whole time. We made a stop at the Contemp and the woman mentioned something about making it back for Wishes. Hmm, interesting. You know we CAN see Wishes from the Poly beach. It was like 9:58. "Don't worry, I'll get you back in time!" says the awesome bus driver. Our response, (while thinking about the recent accident) "Don't rush!!!"

Well, he dropped us off just in time. By the time we got to the beach, Wishes already started but it was still cool to see it with the music piped in!

We got to our room to find a large elephant towel animal in our room!! Perfect ending to an evening in Animal Kingdom!

Up Next: MK and EPCOT with TWO table service meals!

 

[WLfamily]

Lovin your report Nikki! I guess I am the lone ranger here because my family loves DHS! We have just the total opposite opinions of you guys. Epcot drives us insane! We always say we are going to give it another try and hate it even more when we do. We have all decided to skip Epcot from now on because it puts us all in such a bad mood. The comments Tom made about feeling the heat, and the concrete below your feet when he's at HS is how I feel about Epcot (maybe he didn't say that feet part but I feel that way!)

My kids loved HS so much we spent two days there this time. We love the layout and the atmoshpere. Can't say enough about TSM, and we like the shows. I do agree that another ride or two wouldn't hurt the place. Oh well, like Tom said, everyone has to have a fourth favorite and ours is Epcot.

I agree about the body to body people this time at AK, what was with that? I wanted to stay until sundown because the park is so pretty at night, but dd was having a meltdown from the heat and crowds.

Lovin your pics!! Keep'em coming!!

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Epcot drives us insane! We always say we are going to give it another try and hate it even more when we do. We have all decided to skip Epcot from now on because it puts us all in such a bad mood. The comments Tom made about feeling the heat, and the concrete below your feet when he's at HS is how I feel about Epcot (maybe he didn't say that feet part but I feel that way!)

Epcot if our absolute FAVORITE!!! Well, to each his own. I guess that one of the great thigns about WDW, there's something for everyone.

 

[PopArtGal]

Great pics of AK! It looks awesome at night. We didn't get to AK this trip. But I didn't mind. There's always next year hehehe

That Chicken fried rice looks very yummy.

 

[anetnmike]

that was nicely put Nikki, I am not sure I could have been so kind ( I LOVE Epcot!)
AK looks really cool at night!
Thanks to your awesome pictures and report I have successfully talked DH into a NWJ at Beaches and Cream on our trip in Nov! A trip to DTD is as close to the World as we had planned to get until that! ( the man simply cannot resist ice cream!-especially something with chocolate and peanut butter) Thanks!!!!!!

 

[PopArtGal]

Oh and about DHS, I forgot to say that we normally go there for sci-fi, but were REALLY not impressed with our last meal there. We won't be going again. We'll try some other place.

 

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Great pics of AK! It looks awesome at night. We didn't get to AK this trip. But I didn't mind. There's always next year hehehe

That Chicken fried rice looks very yummy.

AK is WAY above DHS for me at this point. I don't think I could ever skip it! It was totally awesome at night. I'm so glad we stuck it out!

that was nicely put Nikki, I am not sure I could have been so kind ( I LOVE Epcot!)
AK looks really cool at night!
Thanks to your awesome pictures and report I have successfully talked DH into a NWJ at Beaches and Cream on our trip in Nov! A trip to DTD is as close to the World as we had planned to get until that! ( the man simply cannot resist ice cream!-especially something with chocolate and peanut butter) Thanks!!!!!!

Glad I could help!! You will not be disappointed! So, wait, you are going to DTD and Beaches and Cream but NOT the parks?

Oh and about DHS, I forgot to say that we normally go there for sci-fi, but were REALLY not impressed with our last meal there. We won't be going again. We'll try some other place.

Same thing with us. Sci-Fi was the only thing that kept us going but even that's not enough anymore!

 

[Born 2B a Princess]

Add me to the list of people who think DHS is a very confusing, poorly laid out, HOT park! But it's DH and the girls' favorite park. Go figure. It's my least favorite park. It could use some more attractions and better layout. The crisscrossing drives me crazy and I always feel like I'm lost. If I had to rank the parks, I think for me it would be Epcot, MK, AK, DHS. But I'll be more than happy to spend time in any of them!

Loving your TR, Nikki -- and I love Tom's input, as well!!