~When I First Felt The Magic...FINALLY!~ April 2010 Trip Report

[PlutosRHM55]

Awesome update Timmy!
SORCERER MICKEY REPRESENT. <3
I've always loved Fantasmic myself. It never gets old! I recorded the WHOLE thing this year while my mom took pictures.

Thanks Val! I'm glad you liked it.

Haha, Sorcerer Mickey is the best Mickey there is Seriously, he is, not just re-iterating you, he is.

Fantasmic is such a great show. There is nothing out there like it. And DID YOU SERIOUSLY RECORD THE WHOLE THING?! Now, you have to update your TR now, I want to see that video!!!! If you don't... let's just say a few characters will be missing from the Disney Parks hehehe

I finally got the chance to catch up on this!
I love that you guys love the great movie ride It's a good one!
And you ran into so many street performers that day! Wow! That's awesome!
I booked Sci Fi for my Christmas trip... I hope it's not a mistake. I think it'll be fine.. I really want to eat there again. Oh well.. I guess we'll see how it goes!
I'm glad you enjoyed fantasmic! I haven't seen that show in SO LONG! i should really go.

WOOT! WOOT! Glad you caught up

The Great Movie Ride is awesome! I think that may have been one of the rides on this trip we rode the most, possibly the ride we rode the most LOL

The Street Performers were EVERYWHERE that day. I had to drag my mom away from them so we could go on some rides (Remember I was a noob). There was no escaping the Citizens of Hollywood MWAHAHAHA

I think SciFi is something you should just try and see how it goes. I've heard so many people glorify the place and go back for the atmosphere (It is really cool when you first walk in there), so don't just take it from me. Also, I sorta liked it after I got out, but looking back on it after the other ADRs we had, I feel it wasn't totally worth it. You get a lot more out of other dining experiences, but if you liked it the first time, you'll like it the second

Fantasmic is a must-do for me now. I missed it on my last trip () and I regret it, especially after watching it on YouTube when I got home. It will go into my planning for future trips now, indefinitely. Take my word for it, don't miss it and though I said this in the TR, get there early. I didn't see it on my last trip, but I almost did (long story), I was there and it was only minutes before the show and the line was almost all the way down Sunset Boulevard.

I hope I didn't ramble on too long in this reply LOL

 

[Mickeysgirl34]

Thanks Val! I'm glad you liked it.

Haha, Sorcerer Mickey is the best Mickey there is Seriously, he is, not just re-iterating you, he is.

Fantasmic is such a great show. There is nothing out there like it. And DID YOU SERIOUSLY RECORD THE WHOLE THING?! Now, you have to update your TR now, I want to see that video!!!! If you don't... let's just say a few characters will be missing from the Disney Parks hehehe

TRUTH.

Hahaha. I'll have to see if I can upload it.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

TRUTH.

Hahaha. I'll have to see if I can upload it.

YEEEESSS!!! I suggest YouTube.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

CHAPTER 10: WAKING UP TO THE BEAT OF THE DRUMS

So, for anyone who saw the little reference in the title or remember the outline of days I had at the beginning of this TR, today was Animal Kingdom Day! Yep, finally the resort closest to us came on the third day, WOOT! WOOT!

So, I think this morning I ended up getting every one up at a decent time, well except my dad. He was being the killjoy (or should I say bump-on-a-log ) again and woke up just as we were all ready to go! He told us he would go meet us at Animal Kingdom later. We all didn't really want to leave him, but he would be there soon enough. Wasn't going to stop our fun right?

So, we went out to the bus stop and, for anyone who hasn't stayed at one of the AKL resorts, they have some nice little theme music playing while you're there and every morning, on our balcony (our room was right above the bus stop area) and at the bus stops, they'd have really cool African drum music playing. They also played this stuff in the elevators (ELEVATOR MUSIC <3) It was pretty cool and I think today we ended up dancing to the music just because we're goofy like that.

We got out to the bus stop and went to the one for the bus to Animal Kingdom. There wasn't really anyone around this morning, so nobody was waiting in line for the AK bus. We did have to wait a bit longer though for the bus, even after many Downtown Disney buses came by (I think), but it did arrive and we got on.

DOS and DYS on the bus:

The bus ride definitely felt shorter than the one to MK and about the same as DHS, so we were there in minutes. Once we got there and found our way out of the weird bus loop (seriously, that is just WAY too far away from the park), we took the obligatory Animal Kingdom sign photo:

We went to the entrance, put our tickets through and soon we found ourselves inside the Animal Kingdom. This was one of two parks (the other being Hollywood Studios), my parents had yet to experience from their various past trips (*jealous*), so it was a new experience for all of us. We walked past some CMs holding some little critters in cages (My mom was all freaked out ) and went to go grab some park maps. We found out they were in different languages, pretty cool, so my sister took the initiative and got one in Spanish to give to my Spanish teacher (whom was the worst teacher EVER!) and then went on our way.

Our plan of action originally was to go to Kilimanjaro Safaris because we heard that you want to go on that in the morning to see the animals. They never come out in the afternoon because of the heat, but since my dad wasn't there, we leisurely made our way over to the Tree of Life where we ended up going by "It's Tough to Be A Bug". I was interested in checking out another 3D show, so I pulled everyone in that direction. DYS was a bit hesitant, but I assured she would be fine.

When we got through the crazy long queue finally to the pre-show area to pick up our cool Bug-Eyed 3D glasses, DYS was even more apprehensive, to the point she was becoming hysterical. My mom and I tried to calm her down, but she really didn't want to see the show now. I think it may have been some of the posters she read on the way in, including one alerting to loud noises and points of complete darkness. We continued to try to persuade her, even some nice older guests tried to help us, but it was to no avail. My mom let DOS and I go on while she took DYS out to the exit. We sat with the group of older people who were very friendly and welcoming to us. We went into the theater right after DYS's breakdown and the show began...

I feel like the unpopular opinion on here, but I really REALLY enjoyed that show. I mean, PhilharMagic was fun and cute and all, but this just added a whole new level. DOS and I were so legitimately scared during the show, but we laughed so much by the end, it was great. This progressively became one of my favorite shows in Disney. We told my mom all about it and were so happy DYS didn't come in with us, she would've FLIPPED! We were about to go in again when my dad came around, but he was waiting for us by the Safari ride, so we headed that way.

We got a bit lost then, since we were new to all of this at the time and Animal Kingdom is so hard to navigate through with all the trees, but we finally got to Africa and Kilimanjaro Safaris. My dad ended up not being there, so we had to wait a bit when he finally showed up. We jumped right into line then.

The wait was a bit longer than the time it said outside, but we dealt with it. It wasn't exactly an enjoyable wait for this ride, with nothing really to do, but we got through it all. We got split up a few times during the waiting process, but we did end up together again. On the ride, we all ended up fairly close to the front and got to see a lot of the animals. DOS took the pictures and didn't have a great grip on the camera, so everything is a bit blurry, sorry:

It was a nice safari, overall and I thought the end was very cute. WE SAVED A BABY ELEPHANT! ^_^ When we got off, the day was definitely in full fruition and the sun was beating down on us. This was probably the hottest day yet and so... where do we head off to? Stay tuned.

CHAPTER 11: WHO KNEW ASIA WAS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF DINOSAURS? coming soon!

 

[Vwdiva93]

I'm all caught up now!

Wow that really is cool that you had African drum music playing outside the window, sounds very relaxing!

Yay for your first time at AK!! Haha yeah that bus loop is insane isn't it!

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who had a bad Spanish teacher. I took Spanish all 4 years of hs, and only one of those 4 teachers actually taught me anything useful!

I really like It's Tough To Be A Bug too, I've only seen it once but I definitely enjoyed it! And that's saying something because I absolutely hate bugs! lol
Glad you had a good first safari ride too. Can't wait to hear more!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm all caught up now!

Wow that really is cool that you had African drum music playing outside the window, sounds very relaxing!

Yay for your first time at AK!! Haha yeah that bus loop is insane isn't it!

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who had a bad Spanish teacher. I took Spanish all 4 years of hs, and only one of those 4 teachers actually taught me anything useful!

I really like It's Tough To Be A Bug too, I've only seen it once but I definitely enjoyed it! And that's saying something because I absolutely hate bugs! lol
Glad you had a good first safari ride too. Can't wait to hear more!

Awesome, glad to see you all caught up, Clarice

Oh, it was really cool. It actually was more-so intense drum playing so at points it was like "What is that?" than "Oh so relaxing" LOL

I just don't get that bus loop at all. I mean I get EPCOT's and Magic Kingdom's, but DHS's is nice and close and this is a ways away. I mean, you can't even see the entrance to the resort.

Well... so far she's been my only bad Spanish teacher. I practically lost a whole year of learning because of her. Thank goodness she liked me (she gave me an A, because of my efforts, go figure! Hahaha) But she was just an awful teacher. I mean, she let us use translators, which you so needed in her class, but that's not good, and I got a lot more out of the year before and my first year in High School than with her (she had a hard act to follow). And know what? She's a darn English teacher now! That really says something (though English is an awesome class )

LOVE, LOVE, LOOOOOOVVVVEEEE THAT SHOW!!! I just love Disney's 3D shows, there really is nothing like them. I could just ride that over again and come out all smiles everytime. I love the end where they have the "maggots, mites, roaches, etc. leave the theater" and you feel them crawling under you and everyone in the theater screams. I always just laugh. Hahahaha

I'll update ASAP!

 

[sue_88]

Enjoying the report!
I love the 3D movies. They are some of my favorite attractions. Although I think Toy Story Mania is my current favorite thing. I would really be happy if I could build a copy of it in my backyard.
I'm looking forward to reading more of your trip!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

CHAPTER 11: WHO KNEW ASIA WAS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF DINOSAURS?

So, as we said, it was a very hot day and just as if you were in Magic Kingdom on a hot day, you go to Splash Mountain, but when you are at Animal Kingdom, you go to Kali River Rapids. I've really wanted to do this ride since all the raft rides sound like tons of fun. Of course, it was delayed when we saw the wait time of 50 minutes. It was a bit long so we grabbed Fast Passes and headed further into Asia to... guess where? Expedition Everest.

I had contemplated that ride for most of the trip. I really wanted to try it, but then I would get all nervous and stuff after thinking about it. I'm strange like that Hahaha But after Space Mountain, I was going to just push on through. There was not a long way, only 20 minutes, so we just hopped right into line. Our decided seating arrangements were my mom and I, my sisters together and my dad all by himself again hehehe

Getting through the line, we finally made it up to the loading dock and got ready to go on the ride. The adrenaline was definitely pumping. I was so nervous, but as with Space Mountain, I would be glad that I did it in the end. Our train came around the corner and soon enough we were off in search of the Yeti!

Now, I'll just skip the ride and go on ahead and say... I LOVED IT! I mean, it was nervewracking at certain points, especially where "there doesn't seem to be any track", but I overall enjoyed it, though I totally missed Disco Yeti. Seriously, they should really get that in a better state Well, Disney has A LOT to do, so we can only be patient. :/ Still, this is my favorite ride in Disney to date.

Once we got off, we still had a bit of time before our FP was ready, so we wandered around a bit. I don't really remember exactly where we went, but I think we may have just relaxed or watch the monkeys in the little "jungle gym" thing by the area hiding KRR. But we got to Kali River Rapids soon enough. My mom got nervous because she had her purse and a bunch of other stuff with her and didn't know if she could bring it with her, but I assured her, there is a place to put them on the ride Thank goodness it wasn't in the wet zone during the ride *deep sigh*

The ride was great... I wouldn't say amazing since it was fairly short and unless you went backwards down the big drop, you would get soaked and of course that wasn't us, but the older couple we were with. The people who rode with us were all very nice by the way. My mom made a few more friends Well, we sorta all did, but my mom was the only one engaged in conversation hahaha In conclusion, Kali River Rapids would be something I would do again.

Once we got off, we decided to leave Asia, so we headed back towards Expedition Everest and went into Dinoland USA. We entered from the end near Finding Nemo: The Musical, so we found ourselves in Chester & Hester's Dinorama. There, we saw Primeval Whirl and decided to go on that. My dad sat this one out. We went on the left side track. It was fun, but I think my mom, sisters and I all had bruises on her hips after the ride. They need some more padding I also almost tripped when I was walking through the exit. Hahahaha I'm such a klutz.

After that, DYS wanted to go on Tricetop Spin. I really didn't want to go on it, but she did, so we got in line. Then DYS saw the ride going and thought it looked boring, so we hopped out of line, and continued on through Dinoland.

My dad and sisters ended up playing one of the sideshows and my dad won a bear. He offered it to my mom, but she didn't want it and so DYS got it. The funny thing was, it wasn't anywhere near related to Animal Kingdom hahaha The theming of the bear I mean.

We soon found ourselves in DINOSAUR territory...

No not there, over here--

There we are

And of course, the whole family:

See the bear?

I was a bit nervous about this ride, more than EE, so I wanted to sit it out. So my mom and DOS went on, while my dad, DYS went to find shade by the FP kiosks area. The bear was passed around while we waited for my mom and DOS. My mom had the camera so she took some pictures of her and my sister while waiting in line:

After awhile, we then headed over to the area behind the gift shop where my mom and DOS would exit to catch them as they got out. We waited a little bit when they finally appeared. We had to wave them over and they said the ride wasn't that bad. It just was loud and very bumpy. I thought that was enough for me, so my dad and I walked on.

The wait was fairly uneventful, a bit long, but uneventful, so I'll just skip to how I felt about the ride... I enjoyed it. It wasn't as scary as I thought. I mean, at certain points, I was a bit scared. The end was pretty intense and when you just barely miss the Pterodactyl, but it was fun all the same. The part where the T-Rex chases you was pretty cool, that's what you call taking Animatronics to a whole level. It wasn't my favorite, but I really liked it. Definitely a must-do for me

After our rides on DINOSAUR, we then slowly made our way back to Asia for our ADRs that day. Along the way, we saw some more animals:

We also saw these guys, who I heard are no longer working in the parks. Glad we got to see some of them:

We didn't stay around because we needed to get to our ADR, so off to another exotic meal we went!

CHAPTER 12: INTO THE JUNGLE WE GO HUNTING FOR FOOD AND ADVENTURE, HOPING TO FIND NEMO coming soon!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Enjoying the report!
I love the 3D movies. They are some of my favorite attractions. Although I think Toy Story Mania is my current favorite thing. I would really be happy if I could build a copy of it in my backyard.
I'm looking forward to reading more of your trip!

Glad you are enjoying the TR so far!

Oh, I love the 3D movies! Disney just does them the right way. Oh, that would be awesome to have TSM in my backyard

I hope you enjoy the rest.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Subscribing to catch up!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Subscribing to catch up!

, Sarah!

Hope you enjoy it!

 

[Vwdiva93]

That's awesome you went on EE! Although it's not my #1 ride at Disney, it's definitely a close second, I LOVE the backwards part. I agree though, they really need to get that yeti fixed!

And oh man Dinosaur scares me so much! I mean I love thrill rides, but I definitely scream a ton on that one

Can't wait to hear where your ADR is at!

 

[mimiloveswdw]

So I'm a bit late but I'm joining in now!! I've just finished reading the first full day, but I'm going to go back and read some more You know, for a guy that "doesn't like Disney" your dad looks awfully happy in all the pictures

UGH thank goodness you made a point to say the bus ride from AKL to MK is only like 15 minutes. I read a review that said it was "a good 30 minutes away" and I got so mad. Not enough love for AKL around here. Makes meh sad.

I liked reading your experience of the day you left I always feel so awkward that day because I'm always the first one dressed and ready to go, so I end up watching random TV and trying to talk to my half-asleep, NOT morning people family members. Oof. Still great though!

Anyway, I'm here now reading along!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

That's awesome you went on EE! Although it's not my #1 ride at Disney, it's definitely a close second, I LOVE the backwards part. I agree though, they really need to get that yeti fixed!

And oh man Dinosaur scares me so much! I mean I love thrill rides, but I definitely scream a ton on that one

Can't wait to hear where your ADR is at!

I LOVE EE! If I could marry a ride in WDW, that would be it. And yeah, that Yeti really needs to be fixed. I heard they fixed it up a little two months or so ago, but then I heard people were still complaining. I got to talk to my CM friend about it.

It is very intense in that ride at certain points. I mean, it jerks, you have the guy screaming his head off through your time rover being all "YOU'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT! YOU'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" And all your senses are just assaulted... no, that's not the word, attacked with all this stuff coming at you. It's still very fun.

I'll update ASAP! Thanks for reading!

So I'm a bit late but I'm joining in now!! I've just finished reading the first full day, but I'm going to go back and read some more You know, for a guy that "doesn't like Disney" your dad looks awfully happy in all the pictures

UGH thank goodness you made a point to say the bus ride from AKL to MK is only like 15 minutes. I read a review that said it was "a good 30 minutes away" and I got so mad. Not enough love for AKL around here. Makes meh sad.

I liked reading your experience of the day you left I always feel so awkward that day because I'm always the first one dressed and ready to go, so I end up watching random TV and trying to talk to my half-asleep, NOT morning people family members. Oof. Still great though!

Anyway, I'm here now reading along!

Glad to have you join! I hope you enjoy the rest of it. And yeah, my dad just tries to cover it up. When he's really uncomfortable, he usually laughs it all off. :/ If you were there, you could definitely tell his great disregard for Disney.

Did I say 15? Hmmm... maybe the thirty minutes would be better assumption. Now, I'm contradicting myself. I think MK was the furthest from that resort, well I thinks second to Epcot. I'm probably getting all this mixed up with ASMu. I'll just stop talking now Hahaha But AKL... I think it is a great resort. I would totally stay again. I don't care how far away it is from certain parks because the buses are very efficient there, so it all works out in the end

Hahahaha, that's how I totally was. I did take a little snooze on the way to the airport, but I'm pretty sure it lasted like 10 minutes I think we were all pretty excited that day since it was our first time, but everyone took it like a regular trip except for me Can you say "You know you're a Diser when..."? Teehee

I hope you enjoy the rest!

 

[mimiloveswdw]

Hmm yeah I stayed at Jambo House so maybe it was five minutes or so shorter, but I loved the busses at AKL. I used to stay at POP which is near AKL, maybe a little shorter to MK, but we had to stand ALL THE TIME so it seemed much further

Oh gosh, I'm a mess the morning before the plane. We usually have a VERY early flight, so it says a lot if I'm completely jumping off the walls at 3 in the morning

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Hmm yeah I stayed at Jambo House so maybe it was five minutes or so shorter, but I loved the busses at AKL. I used to stay at POP which is near AKL, maybe a little shorter to MK, but we had to stand ALL THE TIME so it seemed much further

Oh gosh, I'm a mess the morning before the plane. We usually have a VERY early flight, so it says a lot if I'm completely jumping off the walls at 3 in the morning

OOOOHHH... well I don't think being at Jambo House vs. Kidani Village makes a difference with the buses since they use the same buses, though there is that extra five minutes or so to get from resort to resort... but I never really counted it. :/ Still, great resorts

Hahahaha... my hair is the worst in the morning lemme tell ya. I have terrible bed head. With Disney, I have to get up extra early because the airports that our planes take off from are at least an hour and a half away. :/ I don't know how I always get so well put together then LOL And I see you are going tomorrow from your countdown in your sig. Have an awesome time!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

CHAPTER 12: INTO THE JUNGLE WE GO HUNTING FOR FOOD AND ADVENTURE, HOPING TO FIND NEMO

After saying hi to our alligator and drummer friends, we made our way to Asia for our AK ADR that day, which was... *drum roll*... YAK & YETI! Yeah, doesn't sound very appetizing, but it looked really cool when we were looking for ADRs. It's also one of the newer restaurants in Animal Kingdom we heard, so that's pretty awesome, but I think now it's not so new Hahaha

We were a bit early, so after checking-in we had to wait a bit until we got a seat. It seemed pretty busy since there were a lot of people in the waiting area, which wasn't much of a waiting area with nowhere to sit and the sun beating down on us through the windows. It was probably the longest 15 minutes of my life. Fast pass, please?

Finally, they let us in. We were seated basically at the center of the restaurant, well I'm pretty sure it was the center. This statue of... I don't know who it was, was right behind us and I'm guessing that symbolizes something. Our waitress was awesome! We seem to be having some great waitresses. She was very bubbly and gave us some great recommendations.

For our meals, I ended up taking one of the recommendations/special and know what it was? Salmon. Yeah, I was really into that this week. My mom got some sort-of Fish N Chips I think. I just know we all had seafood, minus DYS. DOS got one of her recommendations too, the shrimp, which she raved about it. My dad got scallops, which he enjoyed too. DYS got chicken fingers, no surprise there. It was pretty much a game of Pass-The-Plate this meal, everyone was trying someone else's food. It was kinda fun, though I didn't really enjoy this meal... I don't know, I think Sanaa set a high standard The sad thing, this was DYS's celebration day and they totally forgot about that and it was never mentioned. Poor thing, but I think she even forgot about it too, hahahaha

Here are some pictures taken during our meal:

With our stomachs full, we headed back out into the heat, hoping to ride a few more attractions. My dad and DOS decided they wanted to ride Expedition Everest a few more times, so they ran off while my mom, DYS and I had no clue what to do. We decided to stay within the Asia region so it would be easy to find us. My mom wanted to do one of the exploration trails. On our search, we did see these little fellas though:

We soon found the Maharajah Jungle Trek and decided to go there:

I still don't understand what the relation to Asia are the pink dresses. :/

Ooooo... BATS!

Ooooo... Tigers!

Some pretty birds

The Maharajah Jungle Trek was very fun, I must admit. I was a bit on edge about doing one of these, but it was very cool. That's so cool where the bats are that it is all open air. A few did fly overhead and scared my mom. It was pretty funny. Also, some of these animals you can't find in your regular local zoo, so it made it all the better

After our Trek through the jungles of Asia, we went off on our search to find DOS and my dad. We kinda just strolled around the general area of the Maharajah Jungle Trek for them to find us since they had just walked away from Expedition Everest. When they found us, they told us they went on it THREE TIMES! And got to sit up front, which they loved, especially being able to see all the track changes through the course of the ride

We still hadn't seen a show that day, so we picked this time to go check out Finding Nemo: The Musical. We had to make a bit of a hike for it, mostly because we had gone farther away from Dinoland than expected and had to go around to the front to find our way in.

When we finally crossed the bridge into Dinoland, we saw some more familiar faces. It was my mom's friend, Jill and her family! It was amazing how many friends we had down in Disney. We didn't notice them at first, but they started yelling to my mom and we turned around to see them. They told us about how their day was going. They had ended up staying at the Beach Club resort, which, ironically, was the resort that we turned down. When going through the DVC accommodation options before this trip, it was down to the Beach Club villas and Kidani, we all went with Kidani, not liking the style of Beach Club. But moving on... at their resort, in the pool (Stormalong Bay), her husband had lost his wedding band and they had sand on the bottom of this pool (?) and the CMs raked it all up just to find it and they did end up finding it. Just goes to show how awesome Disney is. They also told us how great the Finding Nemo: The Musical was and got into their EPCOT and Sea World experiences (they weren't being exclusively Disney). They raved about Soarin', so I'm sure that would be something we would be checking out on our EPCOT day the next day. After that little conversation, we said goodbye and went on our way.

It took us a bit longer than expected to find Finding Nemo- The Musical, going probably all around Animal Kingdom, without knowing it, but we found it and made it just in time for the show. We got fairly good seats, up in the back (not way back, but the back seats) and shockingly the show didn't start until 30 minutes after we sat down. We preoccupied ourselves with watching the Nemo that swam by in the bubbles that outlined the stage and soon enough, the show began. We sadly didn't have any pictures, but I did grab the camera at one point and filmed the scene where Bruce chases Marlin and Dory. Sorry, my mom's camera has no sound so it's pretty much a muted version, but the show nonetheless:



We all seemed to enjoy the show minus my dad. It wasn't amazing to us or anything, but it was cute and I loved where the back-up performers ran into the audience, bubbles rained down and such, added a whole other element to the production. Very fun!

After getting out of that show, we felt we had done a good part of Animal Kingdom and since it was closing earlier than the other parks we were at, we decided to head out. As we were heading out and going by the Tree of Life again, we saw "It's Tough to be a Bug" too. My mom really wanted to see it, DOS and I wanted to go on again and my dad was there to watch over DYS, so we went in. The show was just as fun as last time except I knew what happened when, so I prepared my mom, who continued to scream throughout the whole show. She really hated the part where the termites, roaches, etc. crawl under your butt. I must say, the show was more hilarious than scary with my mom around hahahahaha

On our way out, we took one last picture of the Tree of Life (Come on, you gotta get a picture of that):

Then, we slowly figured our way out of the park and to the bus-stop to come "home" for a very different kind of fun...

CHAPTER 13: NEMO FOLLOWS US TO THE SECRET WATERING HOLE coming soon!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Ignore

 

[PlutosRHM55]

CHAPTER 13: NEMO FOLLOWS US TO THE SECRET WATERING HOLE

After getting on the bus for another uneventful drive back to our resort, with little-to-no people on the bus, shockingly, we all went up to our rooms, clueless as to what to do for the many hours we had not being at a park anymore. Though, our decision was obvious once we got inside the hotel: Go to the pool!

When we got to our room, it was a mad rush to get to the bathroom. I wasn't as interested as everyone to go to the pool, so I just took the time to lay back while they all got ready, as did my dad who soon fell asleep. Once my sisters and my mom were ready they tried to persuade me to come, but I said I would come later with dad. With that, they left. So after I took a shower and got into my bathing suit, then waiting an hour for my dad to recharge and get ready, we were headed down to the pool.

When we got to the pool, there were very few people there. DYS was just running up to go on the waterslide when we were walking in. She seemed to be having a lot of fun and wanted me to come up, so after finding my mom at some chairs, I ran to find my sister and enjoy the pool, which I might add was really cool. There was the waterslide of course, but they also had a loop of sounds that made it feel like you were in the rainforest or near a watering hole. There was also a poolside QS to go to when we were ready to eat dinner, which meant we could stay at the pool for the rest of the night.

After putting my stuff down with my mom, I went to go find DYS and we went down the slide. She went first, so when I went down the slide she wasn’t there. I thought she had gone up to the top of the slide again, so I ran up and went down again, but she wasn't there so, when I got out of the pool, I found her here:

Totally ditched me for DOS. Geez! And because of this shock, I became really cold, with no towel on, so I took this moment to grab a towel and watch my sisters play with the kiddie toys while my mom continued to take pictures:

Once they had enough with all the baby toys, I went back into the pool again. It was funny how my sisters seemed to control the pool population And the energy as well, soon enough, we were racing up and down the slide again. Of course, this time around, my mom began taking pictures as well:

After that, my dad then came to join us and we had a bit of a pool photo-shoot:

Dun-a... dun-a... dun-a, dun-a, dun-a, dun-a

I stayed in the water a little while longer than I got out and grabbed hold of my mom's camera and just took some pictures of the pool area from our seating area:

Once I had dried off, I decided to go get something to eat. We found out here that they don't accept the DP, so we had to use our own money. There also was the fact we forgot our refillable mugs in our room, so everything was being paid for. I decided to get a chicken caesar salad and then a Root Beer. Sorry, no pictures, remember this was pre-DISBoards. So, after that, I sat down to eat.

It was starting to get dark and my sisters and my dad left the pool. After enjoying some food, I went back in for awhile and then they brought out this inflatable TV screen and started playing Finding Nemo. I decided to get out and dry off so I could watch the movie. I totally forgot how much I love that movie, especially with Ellen playing Dory I took out the camera again and began taking pictures of the pool at night.

It has a nice ambiance at night

After watching the movie for awhile, my sisters and my mom were getting tired and went to the room, my dad and I stayed for longer, enjoying the movie. It wasn't until we checked the clock and noticed it was 10, almost 11, that we decided to head back to the room. Everyone, except my mom was asleep so we basically went right to bed, though I wasn't ready just yet to rest, so I stayed up a bit, looking at park maps, checking out what we could do at EPCOT tomorrow. Then, I noticed it was starting to get late, so I tried my best to get to sleep, excited for more Disney fun and magic the next day

CHAPTER 14: IT'S A CHARACTER INVASION AT EPCOT! coming soon!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Great updates! I'm glad you ended up like the Maharajah Jungle Trek. The trails are really underappreciated. It seems if it's not a ride people don't really care. But I always like taking a stroll down the trails. You never know what you're going to see!

Looks like a fun time at the pool too. I love how a lot of the resorts play movies at night. Very cool!