TR Bonus - 10/20-24/18 "I hope you like pictures of food” - New TR LINK added 3/12

[Mickey.MAC]

thanks for sharing, great pics!!

i love the BC and AKL as well, they are the best

have u tried the Poly?

what photo sharing website do you use to upload your photos?

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Ugh on ‘Ohana. 45 min behind just seems insane. And then not to have the character interaction is just adding insult to injury. But sounds like you made the best of it. Lyft is so worth it as a time (and sometimes mood) saver. Nothing like a Disney nap! Looks like a fun evening at the MK!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Joining in! That breakfast does sound miserable to be there for 2 hours! I agree on trying for the first spot of the day if you are going to do those character meals! Much less people and better character interaction.

Mozzarella sticks on a burger? Yes please!

Glad you had fun that evening in the Magic Kingdom but ugh on crowds at the fireworks.

I'm with you on the Lyft/Uber/Taxi. We do that for our own sanity sometimes.

 

[skier_pete]

Now it's my turn to be late to the party! I will have to come back and catch up, but at least I finally made it over here to sign on and read along.

Well, happy to have you along! We probably were within a few hundred yards of eachother at one point on our first day. (Assuming you didn't leave BLT before 9 AM!) We should've met for breakfast.

it was nice for your daughter to have a friend along especially at that age.

It was really great. Her parents kept thanking us for taking her, but we really wanted to thank them too!

thanks for sharing, great pics!!

i love the BC and AKL as well, they are the best

have u tried the Poly?

what photo sharing website do you use to upload your photos?

We were at the Poly 3 years ago. It's my favorite - but the points are high. WE could've stayed there but DD wanted AKV.

I use Flickr. I used to use Photobucket, but then they went from free to really expensive, so a lot of my older TRs have dead pictures in them.

Ugh on ‘Ohana. 45 min behind just seems insane. And then not to have the character interaction is just adding insult to injury. But sounds like you made the best of it. Lyft is so worth it as a time (and sometimes mood) saver. Nothing like a Disney nap! Looks like a fun evening at the MK!

Yeah, I wasn't real thrilled with Ohana - it wasn't really bad enough to bother to complain, but it was close! And we had a fun enough time and got to see Lilo and Stitch at least.

Joining in! That breakfast does sound miserable to be there for 2 hours! I agree on trying for the first spot of the day if you are going to do those character meals! Much less people and better character interaction.

Mozzarella sticks on a burger? Yes please!

Glad you had fun that evening in the Magic Kingdom but ugh on crowds at the fireworks.

I'm with you on the Lyft/Uber/Taxi. We do that for our own sanity sometimes.

It wasn't miserable, we spent the time in the gift shop and the time went pretty fast. I just think they need to find a way to get the characters around to everyone in 45 minutes.

The Mozz on the burger was way better than we thought it would be. Definitely big thumbs up.

As far as the crowds for the fireworks go, I don't think it was unusual. It's the bad part of the projection show is now everyone wants to be in front of the castle. We actually were on one of the spokes and our view of the fireworks was fine and it wasn't remotely crowded, but you totally missed the stuff on the castle. I really kind of want to see the show from Top of the World next month instead of in the parks. We'll see what our friends are planning.

 

[franandaj]

We were originally planning to arrive on Saturday morning, but when we ended up booking our flights, it turned out to be significantly cheaper to arrive on Saturday night.

The lesson: Gadgets trump pools anytime.

I arrived at the park and was just getting to security at 9 AM

And we were boarding our Mears van to the port.

Splash Mountain Selfie!!!

I can't even remember the last time I rode Splash Mountain, but I know that I got my butt soaked!

Our first time seeing the new auction scene.

I still don't like it.

We got to the Poly about 5 minutes before our reservation, but they were 45 minutes behind on seatings! The lobby was LOADED with people waiting.

That sucks, you could have rode the Jungle Cruise. Too bad you can't track that on the app!

I had to get this Trader Sam’s mug shirt:

Earlier that week, we drove out to DL just for the purpose of buying the shirt. Fran waited in the car in the spots reserved for people checking into the hotel while I went into the gift shop to buy the shirts. Then we turned around and went home.

Stitch came by really early at the beginning. But he really just posed for a quick photo, didn’t even offer to sign our book, and there was maybe 15 seconds of interaction:

That totally bites!

WE finally got called for seating about when they said - the text I received says it was 11:52 AM

You were having breakfast at about the time we were in line to be seated for lunch!

We had a bit of a debate as to whether the waffles were prepared on site.

That is some waffle making operation!

The food was fine, but it is ridiculous to spend all that money and time, and only really get a good character interaction with one out of the 3 characters in the restaurant.

Yes it really is. I really like 1900 Park Fare, you get very good character interaction and they have strawberry soup. I don't care for eggs that I know were cooked in a batch. I want an omelette station or a benedict so that I know it's a real egg.

Step totals: 20,350 steps (8 miles)

I would be dead for the next three days!

Well, happy to have you along! We probably were within a few hundred yards of eachother at one point on our first day. (Assuming you didn't leave BLT before 9 AM!) We should've met for breakfast.

Yes we were, and we didn't leave BLT before 9AM, but pretty much within 5 minutes after! We wanted to maximize even moment we could be on that ship!

 

[skier_pete]

That sucks, you could have rode the Jungle Cruise. Too bad you can't track that on the app!

Well, the problem was that you needed to check in first. If we had stayed and rode JC, we would've been late. Much like the Doctors office, they can make you wait as long as they want, but if you're 10 minutes late - out the door you go with a no-show fee!

Yes it really is. I really like 1900 Park Fare, you get very good character interaction and they have strawberry soup. I don't care for eggs that I know were cooked in a batch. I want an omelette station or a benedict so that I know it's a real egg.

1900 Park Fare always had great interaction the dinners we've done. Never done breakfast, but would like to try it one day.

I would be dead for the next three days!

I was pretty dead by the end - especially to trudge back down the endless hallways. It wasn't even our #1 day though. My feet still hurt 3 weeks after we got home.

Yes we were, and we didn't leave BLT before 9AM, but pretty much within 5 minutes after! We wanted to maximize even moment we could be on that ship!

SO CLOSE!!! This is why it always stuns me when we run into someone we know. You can have people you know all around you in Disney World and never have any chance of seeing them. Yet we've run into people at WDW at least half a dozen times that we didn't know were there.

 

[skier_pete]

Day 3:

So one good thing about being DVC members is we lucked into being able to upgrade our Gold Annual Passes to Platinum Plus Annual Passes for free, giving us access to the water parks. While we enjoy the water parks, we tend to only tolerate them for so long, so not a big fan of buying 1-day tickets, but in this case we only had to upgrade BFF’s ticket to the water park and more, which I think cost about $20. So we decided we would try each of the water parks once. Because we were at AKV first, we went to Blizzard Beach first. While we wanted to get there for “rope drop” at 10 AM, we also wanted a bit of a lazy morning, so rather than take Disney transportation, we went with our 2nd Lyft ride – this time only $7.50. It also allowed us to skip the “two buses” to BB, so we left the hotel about 9:40 AM and still got to the water park just as they were opening. This also allowed us to make some pancakes for breakfast!
I had a water camera with me, but for some reason failed to take many pictures. We found a nice spot in the shade for our stuff, and headed for the chairlift to day the family raft ride Teamboat Springs



We did this twice, and then hopped into the lazy river. I love the lazy rivers at Disney, but I do have to say today this one got rather crowded.







We went all the way around but lost DW in doing so. The girls and I got off to do Runoff Rapids. I then left the girls and floated back to the seats. I was there about 5 minutes when the girls came back. I got them one of the best snacks at WDW – the fresh fried mini-donuts. One of the great secrets of WDW!



We also got some frozen drinks (mine may have had some alcohol in it). We sat around for a while waiting for DW to return. Eventually, the girls went and did the Toboggan Racers, but by that point had decided they had had enough of the water park. (One possible reason – nobody had their phones!!!!)

DW finally returned, and we got a thing of donuts for her and I, and at that point, no one wanted to stay longer, so we went back to the hotel. We spent the afternoon relaxing, and finally found some animals hanging out on our Savannah.







The girls had taken to call our Ostrich “Oliver” but while we were watching, he sat down in the corner and laid an egg! So Olivia it was! The Ostrich pretty much ignored the egg, but we called down to the lobby to let them know. In an hour or so the egg was removed. I later talked to one of the Animal caretakers and they said all the Ostriches were female and they lay unfertilized eggs all of the time.







Continued in next post...

 

[skier_pete]

Day 3 continues with evening at Animal Kingdom!

Today the rain decided to hold off until later, but we had FP at AK, so we headed out to the park with the threat of rain hanging over our heads. Stopped to see a few more animals on the main savannah. I really wish we had gotten a room here.



Off to the park – but now they’re happy they have their phones!



We made it to the park and it wasn’t yet raining, but you could tell it was coming. We stopped for a few photopass spots.







When we got to Pandora, they were also doing a photopass shot. But what I don’t understand is they always have people look at the camera and then point up, and this looks stupid to me. So I suggested we actually LOOK UP too. I think this picture makes a lot more sense.




Pandora is a cool land, but it’s really all about the Flights of Passage, which we had our FP for.





The ride is fantastic – but not really opportunities for pictures. We got off the ride, and needed a potty break over by Satu’li Canteen, so we decided to go inside. We weren’t yet hungry enough for dinner, so we instead got a dessert and drinks. I got the green beer.





It rained for maybe 40 minutes and finally started to taper off. We had a FP for Dinosaur. DD rode it once and didn’t like it. BFF never got to ride it. I personally don’t really like it much, and neither does DW, but for BFF we went for it.



You can tell how much DD loves this ride…



We stopped into Chesters and Hesters, and BFF could not resist getting a stuffed Stitch’s girlfriend. (Not sure of the characters name.) DD picked up a Sum Sum of the Monster’s University character “Art”.
We had one last FP and it was for Expedition Everest. DD has ridden it a few times, and actually I think likes it. DW doesn’t (she did NOT have a good ride) and BFF was tricked into riding it previously, but was up for another try – sort of.





The girls tried to prove they were too short for the ride…but no go.



Here’s our ride photos.




We were going to have dinner at Pizzafari until we realized they only had crappy Disney Pizza, not the better flatbreads, and then they weren’t even open for that – only the new “Family style” meal. So we decided to just head back to the resort. DW got the roasted chicken:



The rest of us got the flatbread pizzas:




We also shared a package of Zebra Domes again. This was about 8 PM, but we went back to the room after this to relax. We actually had an early start planned for the next day.
Ride total : 3 at AK, 3 at BB (4 for the girls).
Step totals: 11,549 steps (4.3 miles) but doesn’t count BB since no step counter due to water.

Next time - how early is too early??

 

[rteetz]

I haven't been to a WDW water park in a long time. Maybe sometime soon I will get back there. They are always a fun way to cool off though.

Going back to the room and seeing all of those animals seems pretty great.

Looks like a great AK day! I hope you get to try the food at Satuli soon. It really is one of the best quick services on property.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I’ve thought about going to Blizzard Beach just for those donuts! Pretty cool to see Olivia the ostrich lay an egg! Score on the FoP fastpass! I had a hard time getting one for my trip later this month. The popularity shows no sign of slowing down but well-deserved... such a cool ride. Dinosaur scared the daylights out of me the first time I rode it, so I feel your daughter’s pain.

 

[tammy]

Another fun day! We haven't been to the water parks in years. we should go again just for the donuts!

 

[Tinker326]

I have not been to BB since 2000!!! And I've never been to TL. (can ya' tell I don't like to hang in swim suits?). Maybe someday we'll get there.

FoP is so amazing. I don't even like Avatar and I can't help but love the theme and the ride. We had a serious debate in the house to make a go of WDW for Spring Break next year and the biggest push in the pro column was this ride. As a spoiler- ultimately we decided against it.

And Everest- how I love thee. Remains my favorite ride. I try to make it a goal to ride it about 10 times a trip (love the single rider line).

Looks like you guys had another great day & I bet that water park helped with the heat!

 

[Lesley Wake]

The girls had taken to call our Ostrich “Oliver” but while we were watching, he sat down in the corner and laid an egg! So Olivia it was! The Ostrich pretty much ignored the egg, but we called down to the lobby to let them know. In an hour or so the egg was removed. I later talked to one of the Animal caretakers and they said all the Ostriches were female and they lay unfertilized eggs all of the time.

Crazy you got to see one laying an egg! When I did Wild Africa Trek they explained that the ostriches lay eggs all the time and thats why there is the "fake" cluster of eggs near the end of the Safari - to encourage them to lay there so the keepers don't need to search all over for them (though its only partially successful). Any eggs they do find, they end up making art out of the shells and sell it at AK and AKL!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Hi Pete, I'm a bit late to the party, but joining in!

We were going to have dinner at Pizzafari until we realized they only had crappy Disney Pizza, not the better flatbreads, and then they weren’t even open for that – only the new “Family style” meal.

Just a note on the Pizzafari Family meal. I hesitantly did this on my August trip, and it was one of the best meals we had. The pastas and dessert were good. The big surprise was the pizza, it is very different from the usual QS junk. It seemed to be fired, more like a Via Napoli pizza. I don't know why they can't do this with their regular pizza.

 

[skier_pete]

I haven't been to a WDW water park in a long time. Maybe sometime soon I will get back there. They are always a fun way to cool off though.

Going back to the room and seeing all of those animals seems pretty great.

Looks like a great AK day! I hope you get to try the food at Satuli soon. It really is one of the best quick services on property.

It is fun to see the animals - but much of the day we didn't see any animals. In fact this was one of the few times we saw animals on our savannah. We were told they only really come over to our end around 4:30 PM, because that's when they put the food there. I also don't think the view is that great of the animals from the 5th floor DVC rooms in Jambo. I'd rather try a lower floor at Kidani next time we do a Savannah view, but even more likely is we won't pay the DVC upcharge (more points) for Savannah view. In fact, DW and I have found we prefer the value rooms at Jambo (when you can get them) because they are located very close to the lobby/pool/restaurants. On my priority list of room locations "close to amenities" trumps every other location incentive - including view.

I do want to try Satuli.

I’ve thought about going to Blizzard Beach just for those donuts! Pretty cool to see Olivia the ostrich lay an egg! Score on the FoP fastpass! I had a hard time getting one for my trip later this month. The popularity shows no sign of slowing down but well-deserved... such a cool ride. Dinosaur scared the daylights out of me the first time I rode it, so I feel your daughter’s pain.

Yep - just for the donuts is completely valid. It's a consideration on our upcoming trip next month.

We got lucky with the FoP FP+, they weren't available at our 60+10 day, but a few days later we saw on facebook they had opened a bunch of times, so we snatched one up. We had originally had one for the last day of the trip, and originally kept them both, but in the end, we canceled the second one.

Another fun day! We haven't been to the water parks in years. we should go again just for the donuts!

Oh the water parks are totally worth it. I love Typhoon Lagoon. BB less so.

I have not been to BB since 2000!!! And I've never been to TL. (can ya' tell I don't like to hang in swim suits?). Maybe someday we'll get there.

FoP is so amazing. I don't even like Avatar and I can't help but love the theme and the ride. We had a serious debate in the house to make a go of WDW for Spring Break next year and the biggest push in the pro column was this ride. As a spoiler- ultimately we decided against it.

And Everest- how I love thee. Remains my favorite ride. I try to make it a goal to ride it about 10 times a trip (love the single rider line).

Looks like you guys had another great day & I bet that water park helped with the heat!

See above - TL totally worth a visit. And I agree about Avatar, the movie is decent but nothing that I go back to ever. The ride is super fun.

10 times on Everest - I don't think I could even do that. DW decided this was the last time she would ever go on it, so back to by myself from now on!

Crazy you got to see one laying an egg! When I did Wild Africa Trek they explained that the ostriches lay eggs all the time and thats why there is the "fake" cluster of eggs near the end of the Safari - to encourage them to lay there so the keepers don't need to search all over for them (though its only partially successful). Any eggs they do find, they end up making art out of the shells and sell it at AK and AKL!

When I asked a keeper later in the week, they said it happens a lot, but all the Ostriches are female, so they aren't fertiziled. They did mention using the shell. I asked if you could order an Ostrich omelet. They just laughed.

Hi Pete, I'm a bit late to the party, but joining in!


Just a note on the Pizzafari Family meal. I hesitantly did this on my August trip, and it was one of the best meals we had. The pastas and dessert were good. The big surprise was the pizza, it is very different from the usual QS junk. It seemed to be fired, more like a Via Napoli pizza. I don't know why they can't do this with their regular pizza.

It's not that it didn't look good, it was just more food than we really wanted.

 

[khertz]

Oh man...waiting that long at 'Ohana is a total bummer! Especially when you follow that up with some lackluster character interaction. We have only done it super early and even then it took a little while to be seated. Being 45 minutes behind is insane! Pretty cool that they have all those waffle makers going at once though.

Lyft is totally worth the price if it means skipping multiple modes of transportation.

Fun pics from AK and wow you had so many animals out on your savannah! How cool that you got to see an ostrich lay an egg. Not something I ever thought I'd want to see but it sounds like an interesting experience. We actually have a savannah view for our pre-cruise night, so hopefully we are lucky seeing some animals!

 

[franandaj]

So how did you make pancakes in a studio?

Those donuts look pretty good!

Interesting fact about the Ostriches and their eggs.

Sounds like you got in the big rides and missed the rain. Bonus!

Your dinner looked good. While the family meal sounds delicious, it's expensive and way too much food.

 

[skier_pete]

Oh man...waiting that long at 'Ohana is a total bummer! Especially when you follow that up with some lackluster character interaction. We have only done it super early and even then it took a little while to be seated. Being 45 minutes behind is insane! Pretty cool that they have all those waffle makers going at once though.

Lyft is totally worth the price if it means skipping multiple modes of transportation.

Fun pics from AK and wow you had so many animals out on your savannah! How cool that you got to see an ostrich lay an egg. Not something I ever thought I'd want to see but it sounds like an interesting experience. We actually have a savannah view for our pre-cruise night, so hopefully we are lucky seeing some animals!

Eh, it's mostly just cool from a standpoint of "Hey, is that an egg down there?". The ostrich sits down, and then gets up, and there's an egg there. Not all that egg-citing! (See what I did there?)

Are you Kidani or Jambo for your pre-trip stay? I assume since it was a somewhat last minute thing probably Kidani. Most of Kidani views out to Sunset - which is this main savannah, and usually has a lot of animals on it. Pembe doesn't have giraffes, but has Okapi. I've only seen that one from the pool over there.

So how did you make pancakes in a studio?

Those donuts look pretty good!

Interesting fact about the Ostriches and their eggs.

Sounds like you got in the big rides and missed the rain. Bonus!

Your dinner looked good. While the family meal sounds delicious, it's expensive and way too much food.

Re: Pancakes in the studios - DW insisted on buying a hot plate to bring along with us. It takes forever to heat though, but it did make some pretty effective pancakes. (We only had crappy syrup packets though - I'm a total "pure maple syrup" snob.

We did mostly miss the rain, here! I'm way pass running around in the rain to get to rides. A little drizzle OK, but the downpours keep me inside. (Wait'll you see how it affected our Halloween party.)

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

I rarely post on trip reports but I was there the same time as you - my daughter (26) and my grandson (almost 3) and me. We left on Saturday the 1st, though. We stayed at the Poly.

It was SO miserably hot. We're from GA, and with an inside job Monday - Friday I tried to condition myself by going outside more, but I was still miserable. I'm having my own private summer, too, so that didn't help.

We thought the crowds weren't bad at all, but the heat just sapped our energy and we rarely went to a park again after going back to the room for a nap. We did make good use of the pools almost every afternoon/evening, though! My daughter and I are Disney vets, so we were just glad to be there. We could lie in bed and watch the monorail go by, which THRILLED my grandson.

ETA: I just noticed your trip list. We were there February 2018 too, LOL!

 

[khertz]

Are you Kidani or Jambo for your pre-trip stay? I assume since it was a somewhat last minute thing probably Kidani. Most of Kidani views out to Sunset - which is this main savannah, and usually has a lot of animals on it. Pembe doesn't have giraffes, but has Okapi. I've only seen that one from the pool over there.

We are Kidani for both stays which will be new for us so I’m excited to check it out. That’s great to hear that we should be able to see a lot of animals. I was just looking at pictures of the pool and splash area there and it looks really amazing. It works perfectly for us since all we want to do the day we get off the ship is play around in the pool and have a resort day before driving home Sunday.