That is too funny. I need to remember this if we ever go back (after our October trip).
No but now I wish they had!!
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Love 1900PF but not strawberry soup! Lady T asked my DS11 if he had a castle. He told her he had 12, and she shouted over to Prince Charming to tell him to invite him to the next ball!
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Thanks for sharing your trip report thus far. It has been very entertaining to read; both the ups and the downs. I appreciate your honestly in everything because even the best laid plans can go astray. Seems to me like you handled everything with grace though!
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Thank you! I certainly tried!
Totally get where your coming from … I’m a vet and can empathise with your hubby and my wife with empathise with yourself … I have occasional mood swings and struggle with crowds … my wife is my rock and she would describe me as a pain in the arse but we compliment each other and balance out … god help me at WDW … keep the reports coming
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I use a ECV and I do my best to thank people who make room, hold doors, and go out of their way to help. But the people who cut in front of you and STOP I just want to run them over, at the same time that is one of my biggest fears that I will run over some kid who runs in front of me over.
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Remember you can always stop by first aid for allergy relief.
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Seriously love the report! Am now wondering if I can reconfigure a day in order to fit in 1900 park fare. Would love to see Drizella interact with my DS10 and DS13. That would be fun!
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We are mindful of the ECV’s- they aren’t able to stop on a dime and we are certainly more able to maneuver than you can when you’re in one! I honestly think strollers can be more aggressive than most ECV’s- I can’t even tell you how many distracted stroller pushers we saw. You’re pushing your toddler, put down the phone!!
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I pushed for him to actually talk to his doc before we left to consider even Ativan for the anxiety in the crowds. Because he had never been he kept comparing the crowds in his head to the ones at local amusement parks, which we had only gone to during off season while it’s low. (Who wants to ride coasters when it’s 45 degrees? Not too many people, that’s who.) Next time he may take the suggestion- the crowd combined with the heat did it to him those first two days.
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It is seriously my favorite character meal! If you can work it out, go for it!
Thank you and thank you for your trip report.
And yes put down the G D PHONE. I was on my phone checking TP and FP but I pulled over out of the way or atleast out of the way when I pulled over. I can’t help it if after I’m pulled over people who were not there want to get by walk around me that is why I pulled over. That’s right they would see I was pulled over if their faces were not in their phones.
Ok I feel better thanks
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Amen! I would check TP and MDE for fast passes, but realized that if I’m looking at my phone, or even through the lens of my camera on my phone (when trying to get a video), I’m not actually experiencing the vacation I busted my butt to pay for!
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Yup…I’m on pretty specific stuff, but if I forget anything I’ll make sure to utilize them.
I feel the EXACT same way! Especially bad at the end of the night. Last trip I was with my BF so he could kind of ‘block’ for me, but going alone this trip, so that is going to be a bit nerve-wracking
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If you take the busses be careful one time the driver hit the neutral switch and while I was on the monorail every turn my scooter was rolling all over.
It’s been 3 days…I am going through withdrawals! LOL Have been thoroughly enjoying your trip report and check back often hoping to read the next update. Happy weekend!
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Day Four: During which we make stir fry, and The Miracle happens…
Sorry for the late(ish) entry- work had this annoying way of keeping me distracted today. I find that to be rude, don’t you? Sheesh!
Today’s agenda was strictly Animal Kingdom for the four of us, but with no evening plan DD and I would likely park hop. I wanted us to be there at rope drop, which fortunately for all involved wasn’t until 9- that’s like sleeping in when you’re on Disney Time!
We had fast passes for Everest, FoP, and Kali River Rapids, in that order, following breakfast at Tusker House. Despite a semi early night the evening before due to rain and not being at the bus stop until 8:15, DSS was practically falling asleep on the bus on the way to the park. So I swapped Kali’s FP to before breakfast, knowing we wouldn’t go on it that early, because there was no way he was going to make it till 3.
After getting through the tapstiles, we made it straight for the safari. We were on the truck quickly and saw a ton of great animals out! We were able to get great pictures of some that were pretty close, and even the lions were awake. I had heard that first thing in the morning was the time to take the safari, and this proved to be VERY true! Though I could have done without the giraffe’s backside right by the side of the vehicle… 
After this we headed back towards Tusker House to check in for breakfast. I’ve had lunch here before and scheduled breakfast for 10:15, anticipating being sat a few minutes late and then perhaps maybe being able to catch some of the lunch crossover. The mac and cheese that they have at Tusker House- drool worthy. I’ve been trying to replicate it at home and have fallen short every time. However, this day, we were sat on time.
I knew that Ohana did a dance party with the kids, but didn’t know that Tusker House did- DSS and I had fun dancing through the dining room with Daisy after we grabbed our plates. This was also DBF’s first time drinking POG juice- and now he knows why I search for it at the grocery store! I chose to try some bobotie (I hope I spelled that right!) this particular morning to take advantage of the themed food and it was better than I expected- as much as I tease the boys I’m not a horribly adventurous eater. But there are plenty of “safe foods” for everyone on this buffet- don’t let the African themed foods scare you away from it if you’re considering it on a trip. Though I may go ahead and schedule lunch so I can mash some of that mac n cheese because dang it is GOOD. (We caught some of the crossover, but not a ton of it unfortunately).
The other aspect of this meal that’s important to most is the character interaction. You get Goofy, Mickey, Donald and Daisy at breakfast and lunch. Daisy does the dance through the restaurant, and all of the characters are great. DD was able to catch Goofy- DSS and I missed him when we were in the dance party. We didn’t stress too much because he met us at the BBQ a couple of nights before, but it is fun seeing them in their Safari gear!
After fueling up, we headed to Asia. We made note of Starbucks and were considering coffee- DD and I are fans of iced ones since it already felt like it was 8 million degrees, but decided to hold off until after EE.
I had mentioned that today is the day we became stir fry. I believe it’s universally believed that AK is the hottest park, and I will concur that is definitely the most humid- which when you consider the foliage makes sense due to the increase in O2 output, right? Personally, my lungs tell me it’s more humid there- I have asthma and humidity is a trigger. But the other aspect to the park that I had heard on a podcast is that it is built to be shaped like a bowl- a rather large bowl mind you. Which explains that slight uphill hike feeling you experience heading OUT of the park. SO, DD and I choose to call this park the Wok. Because you go in and just COOK. I had told the boys this tidbit of information earlier in the day, and let them know that I had cooling towels in the park bag just in case they needed or wanted them. AK and WS is typically where I feel it the most when I’m down there.
Another little tidbit of how our family functions is important to insert here. While DD, DBF and I had been planning (emphasis where you think it should go based on what you’ve read so far) this trip for some time, we didn’t know what we wanted to tell DSS. We knew he’d be excited, but it was booked nearly a year out, so we didn’t want the “when do we go?!?!” happening for that long. SO, we lied to him. We told him we were going to Nepal. And AK is the park that inspired this lie, which is why I’m putting it in here. We had a whole thing going. We were going to stay in a little hut by a river to go to the village by boat if we needed supplies (POR does have a boat to DS, after all) and we were going to have a hiking expedition in the Himalayas, eat at a local place called Yak and Yeti, have goat milk, hunt for the Abominable Snowman etc. The entire family was in on it- he got books for Christmas about Nepal, a hat that was made in Nepal to wear in the winter, the whole shebang. So when we broke the news to him that we were going to Disney around 90 days out, he was actually a little disappointed at first. But as we were walking through Asia, and I pointed out all of the things I had been teasing him with, I could see all of the pieces click into place. He realized that I wasn’t totally lying to him, just stretching the truth…and he laughed about it.
So we hit EE, and had quite a bit of time before we needed to be at FOP. So we headed over through DinoLand- an area of the park that DD and I typically bypass. Someone once pointed out that the lights under that giant dino look a little like nipples on a cat and I can’t think of them any other way now- it’s so disturbing. The wait for Primeval Whirl was over 30 minutes, so I convinced him that it wasn’t worth waiting for (it isn’t, let’s be real) and we headed to Dinosaur which had the benefit of a 20 minute wait, and an air conditioned que. DD hates this ride. I mean, she literally took this one for the team. While most times on the ride pictures she works really hard to look bored (it’s a mood she has to channel) on this ride picture, it was NO act. I told her I appreciated her willingness to do this, since it was first timers and they liked it.
After Dinoland (we passed by Donald at the Bash- he looked great in his costume!) we hit the Starbucks on the way over to Pandora and got some iced coffee and cooled off a little, then made our way to FoP. We still had some time before our FP so we poked around and the boys got some really cool pictures. The only problem is it was just so stinking melty outside. Just before we tapped in for our FP, we overheard a guest berating a CM about the wait- full on Entitlement mode- and how dare Disney make him wait for over two hours to ride this ride! What was she prepared to do to compensate him, his time was very valuable you know. We felt awful for her- she tried offering FP to him, but he was so beyond agitated I’m not sure what was going to fix it for him. DBF looked at me and said he was so grateful for the work that went into getting the FP’s I got- and wondered how in the heck people don’t do a little research before their trip to WDW. I realized that Liners really do have a huge advantage- even if you don’t get every FP you hope for just having the touring plan ahead of time and looking at the park layout puts you so far ahead of the average person who can’t be bothered to do so! Anyway, FOP was, of course, amazing and it was the highlight of the day for them at AK.
After this, everyone was ready for a break from the heat, and we headed back to the resort for a break and grabbed QS at the food court for late lunch. There was no plan for the evening, so it became day one of laundry. DD and I opted to head to MK for a while, and on a whim DBF decided he needed a Mickey Pretzel. Like, NEEDED one. And of course you can’t get those at the resort food courts, so the boys were going into the MK with us just to get them! So while DD and I scored a FP for BTMRR at 9:15 (right during HEA!! YES!!), I found one for the boys to do Buzz Lightyear again. The boys were initially going to just get the pretzel but with that news they snagged the FP and headed to TL once we got there. DD and I did pics at the purple wall (17 and all) and ran into them after- evidently the ride went down somewhere and the FP line alone was easily about 45 minutes, they opted to skip it. They found their pretzel cart and split off again, while DD and I headed back through Fantasy land to explore and got LeFou’s Brew, which I don’t think is quite as good as frozen Butterbeer but it’s still a tasty treat when it’s hot out. Finishing out Fantasyland it was starting to get dark- not as in sunset dark but rain storm rolling in dark. I was holding out hope that it would blow over, but just in case we headed up through Main Street, and did some shopping to kill time, if it blew over great and if not we’d be that much closer to the front of the park. Sure enough, there was no blowing over of the storm. At all. Trapped running through the rain we were! So we headed back to the resort after a couple of purchases (my obligatory Pandora charm and she snagged something as well) to end the night.
Coming up: Our Epcot day- and pointing out that they indeed become Disney People! And maybe even a date night in there… Thanks for following along!!
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