Why Does Disney Hate Maleficent? An October 2012 Disneymoon TR! Updated 01/31/13!

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Ohhh!!! Ohhhh!!!!!! I know the answer to this one!!!!!

I was THERE Oct. 6 (and one resort over, at Riverside). That morning, the buses got all sorts of screwed up. I think we waited more than 30 mins for the stupid DHS bus to come. Which, of course, meant that everyone waiting at the bus stop was going to DHS, since every other park bus had come through at least twice. This also effectively ruined any chances of getting there for EMH. So, going off of our experience, and the fact that I think we shared this bus with POFQ, it wasn't that the people had deliberately chosen to go this late, it was just that no bus had come before then. *takes a breath* It also didn't help that that was the morning we accidentally overslept. Because, you know, in Disney Time 7:45 is waaaay too late in the morning

In other news, anxiously awaiting the next update

 

[RachVH]

I love your early morning shots at the resort! Everything looks so peaceful.

I know, right? And thank you! We really did love POFQ and it would take a pretty awesome deal for us to considering changing or even upgrading to a deluxe. The resort was pretty close to perfect. And I enjoyed the quiet stillness every morning on my run to refill our mugs.

Ohhh!!! Ohhhh!!!!!! I know the answer to this one!!!!!

I was THERE Oct. 6 (and one resort over, at Riverside). That morning, the buses got all sorts of screwed up. I think we waited more than 30 mins for the stupid DHS bus to come. Which, of course, meant that everyone waiting at the bus stop was going to DHS, since every other park bus had come through at least twice. This also effectively ruined any chances of getting there for EMH. So, going off of our experience, and the fact that I think we shared this bus with POFQ, it wasn't that the people had deliberately chosen to go this late, it was just that no bus had come before then. *takes a breath* It also didn't help that that was the morning we accidentally overslept. Because, you know, in Disney Time 7:45 is waaaay too late in the morning

In other news, anxiously awaiting the next update

Oh my goodness that is awful! I apologize for assuming that all of the people waiting for the DHS bus were all late! I can't believe that there would be so much of a screw up with buses, especially buses going to the park that had EMH that morning. I would have been so angry! Hope you were still able to have a good day and get over what would have had to have been an aggravating morning.

 

[sheila <3 WDW]

Great report so far! We are staying at POFQ for the first time in March and are celebrating our 10 year anniversary! Can't wait to read more about your trip!

 

[RachVH]

So, there we were, in back of a whole lot of people waiting patiently for about 15 minutes for AK to open for the day. First, we had a couple of pictures taken. I refer to my look on this day as "Disney Sherpa Chic" because I was carrying my vera hipster, with carrabiners attached which held my brita water bottle, Ry's water bottle, and also flip flops for both of us in case we road Kali that day. It was quite the look:

After we documented the start of our day, I began to determine our plan for attack. The cm's had already started to split the crowd into two groups, those heading for the safari and those headed for Everest. We knew we were headed for Everest, so we started out following the crowd around that side of AK. Then I took us around to EE via Dinoland, along with several other people. By powerwalking the entire way we were able to reach EE just ahead of the mass of people walking behind the rope. I starting joggin galong with a mother and her maybe seven year old son. I cm called out to us, "No running!" and the mom responded "That's easy for you to say, there aren't 500 people trying to get in line ahead of you!"

We walked on our first ride and I have to admit I was a little nervous. Not for myself, but for Ryan. He's not a big rollercoaster person, and this was going to be the test run. His verdict?

He loved it! From watching Stacy in our room he was under the impression you went all the way up to the top and then came all the way back down backwards. Because the ride actually kept changing directions he really enjoyed it. We took two quick rides on Expedition Everest and on our second ride I took a few pictures along the way.

We both loved EE and for the entire trip it stayed on our list of favorite rides.

After EE, we walked over and grabbed FP for the safari:

Not a bad return time considering we had already ridden EE twice! FP in hand we headed over to Dinosaur.

Now neither of us had ever ridden this ride before, and I didn't really know what to expect. It gets mixed reviews from people, so I didn't really have high expectations. Well, maybe that was a good thing, because we really liked it! I mean, it's not the greatest of rides, but it's fun! With three rides under our belts and only a little over an hour in the park, we headed toward Kilimanjaro Safari.

Up next, our trip on the Safari!

 

[RachVH]

Great report so far! We are staying at POFQ for the first time in March and are celebrating our 10 year anniversary! Can't wait to read more about your trip!

Welcome! Congratulations on your anniversary! I hope you love POFQ as much as we did.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I'm glad that he enjoyed EE! I've ridden it before, but I still haven't made up my mind how I feel about it lol You got quite a bit accomplished that morning, which is always nice too!

 

[beachta1]

Just joining your TR! I'd love to have a disneymoon. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[wiigirl]

Great TR....Congrats on your Disneymoon!

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Oh my goodness that is awful! I apologize for assuming that all of the people waiting for the DHS bus were all late! I can't believe that there would be so much of a screw up with buses, especially buses going to the park that had EMH that morning. I would have been so angry! Hope you were still able to have a good day and get over what would have had to have been an aggravating morning.

Haha, it's okay. Had we been in your situation, I'm sure we would have thought the same thing. We just happened to be one of those poor souls at the DHS bus stop. The day turned out a lot better....but that might be because we spent the afternoon DATW

 

[SimplyGoofy]

What a great start to your Disneymoon report! I LOVED your alternative trip report titles - I always have to join a report when they make me laugh out loud.

As someone who's eaten early at Tusker House just to beat the crowds to the safari, I will agree that it's a crazy sight to see the MASSIVE crowd that is rushing behind you!

I look forward to the next segment!

 

[RachVH]

Just joining your TR! I'd love to have a disneymoon. Can't wait to hear more.

Welcome! We loved our Disneymoon and we were both happy that we went with our instinct in the face of everyone asking "really? Disneyworld? For a honeymoon? But that's for kids!" My parents went to WDW on their honeymoon two months after the Magic Kingdom opened in 1971. They celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary this past December, so we at least had them in our corner!

Great TR....Congrats on your Disneymoon!

Thanks, hope you will stick around. I know it's been slow going!

Haha, it's okay. Had we been in your situation, I'm sure we would have thought the same thing. We just happened to be one of those poor souls at the DHS bus stop. The day turned out a lot better....but that might be because we spent the afternoon DATW

Ah yes, DATW cures a multitude of ills.

What a great start to your Disneymoon report! I LOVED your alternative trip report titles - I always have to join a report when they make me laugh out loud.

As someone who's eaten early at Tusker House just to beat the crowds to the safari, I will agree that it's a crazy sight to see the MASSIVE crowd that is rushing behind you!

I look forward to the next segment!

Thank you! We had many lol moments on our trip, and I hope they translate in the retelling. Glad to have you aboard for the ride!

Next update coming up!

 

[RachVH]

After our rides on EE and one on Dinosaur, we were ready to slow things down a bit, so we headed towards KS. But, since we had some time on our hands before our FP were up, we stopped to say hello to some friends first!

First, we got some PP pictures taken, and some other people managed to sneak into the pictures.

Then, we met some new friends.

What can I say? I'm a hugger!

Then it was off to the safari! We didn't wait very long at all and we were on our way.

I won't bore you with all of my pictures (most of which aren't that great anyway as it is only a point and shoot.) But here are some of the highlights:

Baby elephants!

Baby rhino!

And...wait for it...the lion...

...walks around!

All in all it was a great first ride on KS. Was it my favorite ride? No, but we did enjoy it. After that it was off to lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue complete with a discount with our TiW card.

Up next, we meet some more friends and spend some time in the "Big Blue World"!

 

[ilovedisneyworld]

Great trip report! Looking forward to reading more.

 

[RachelNinja]

Yay for upgrading to APs! I did so much math to figure out whether or not APs would make sense for my husband and me. We went to WDW with my family in April 2012 and we knew we had our honeymoon in May 2012. We wanted to make sure it made sense, and it definitely did! Instead of using our no-expiration tickets in April, we bought the APs. We loved being able to hop during our honeymoon and not feel so bad if we missed a day or didn't get there super early. We went wherever we wanted to go mainly choosing based on what we wanted to eat, haha. Then we randomly decided to go again in December 2012, so we really got use out of it because we already got our money's worth from the two earlier trips. Haha, of course, now that we don't have any plans until next Feb 2013 (possibly!), we were like, "Uh, let's go back before our APs expire!" Haha. Too bad we have two weddings (our siblings) around the Easter break!

HOW CUTE that Ryan understood it was silly to go to DHS on EMH if you're going to miss it entirely!

Despite what people think about Dinosaur, it is one of my favorite rides! In the darkness, those animatronics look realistic, and I am definitely someone who will get nervous sitting on the outside of the time rover even though I've been on the ride SO many times (and seen a lot of how it works due to riding with someone who used a HUGE light to video record the whole thing).

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Despite what people think about Dinosaur, it is one of my favorite rides! In the darkness, those animatronics look realistic, and I am definitely someone who will get nervous sitting on the outside of the time rover even though I've been on the ride SO many times (and seen a lot of how it works due to riding with someone who used a HUGE light to video record the whole thing).

I am TERRIFIED of Dinosaur. I've ridden it multiple times and know what will happen, but the realistic dinos coupled with the darkness, and I get the heebie jeebies.
Course, the last time, we broke it. The first half of the ride went fine, and then our Time Rover came to a complete stop for a few seconds, and then when it started back up it was only going about 2 mph. It does make it sort of funny when the guy is screaming "Right! Left! THEY'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" and here we are just lollygagging right through the ride. They did offer to let us stay on and ride it again, and that time we made it all the way through......to have the ride break 10 feet from the exit platform. We decided not to risk it anymore. Though I will confess, I'm a bit odd in that I've always wanted to evac from a ride in Disney...just to see the back areas!

 

[RachelNinja]

I am TERRIFIED of Dinosaur. I've ridden it multiple times and know what will happen, but the realistic dinos coupled with the darkness, and I get the heebie jeebies.
Course, the last time, we broke it. The first half of the ride went fine, and then our Time Rover came to a complete stop for a few seconds, and then when it started back up it was only going about 2 mph. It does make it sort of funny when the guy is screaming "Right! Left! THEY'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" and here we are just lollygagging right through the ride. They did offer to let us stay on and ride it again, and that time we made it all the way through......to have the ride break 10 feet from the exit platform. We decided not to risk it anymore. Though I will confess, I'm a bit odd in that I've always wanted to evac from a ride in Disney...just to see the back areas!

OMG, I want to BRIEFLY get stuck on Dinosaur!!! I'd love to see the rides at a standstill or at a slower pace.