Amuch needed Disney fix - Trip report

[meldobe]

Day 9 - Friday 4th - Animal Kingdom - Temp 92

Not sure how we manage it but on each trip our day to Animal kingdom is usually the hottest on the holiday! We had planned two trips to this park so that we didn't feel like we had to rush to do all that we wanted to.

We arrived at 10ish the buses all stopped in a different place to usual as they were doing some building works so a short stroll across the grass to the entrance, there were so many clouds about today



We decided to head to Kilamanjaro safari first taking a couple of pics along the way





The wildlife here is so varied !!!!




We got a fastpass for Safari and had about 30 mins to wait so we went into the shops, watched some African dancing and got some water before heading off on safari

The giraffe had had two babys recently and our guide told us they were being quite protective of them and spending most of their time in this clump of trees








The park was so so busy today and the normal queue for the safari was huge and it felt as though the jeeps were going around much faster then usual im assuming in an attempt to keep the queues down, not many chances to get nice photos, but then as we got past the giraffe we saw the ostritches one of which stood in front of our jeep for at least 15mins, the driver called for some keepers but eventually after causing a traffic jam he walked slowly down the side of the jeep



We got a fastpass for Dinosaur and had lunch in restrauntersoarus


A quick phonecall home


Then Ma and Scott rode Triceratop spin while i wilted in the shade!

Onto Dinosaur which was great as always,we walked round to Expedition everest but all the fast passes were gone and the queue was 50mins so we gave it a miss, we were all thirsty so queued up to get a frozen berry drink but they were all sold out.

Next into its tough to be a bug - no matter how many times we go on this i still jump when that thing pokes you in the back! Even though we had come to Animal kingdom many times before we had never seen any of the shows so this time i managed to convince the others to line up to see The Festival Of The Lion King



We were in the giraffe section and really enjoyed the show it was good fun, we were all funned out by now so headed off home on the bus



Chilled in the room, showers etc then over to food court for dinner and cocktails at the bar.

Tomorrow - DTD and Epcot

 

[meldobe]

Day 10 - Saturday 4th - Downtown Disney + Epcot - Temp 89

Plan today was to go to Downtown Disney and do some shopping , first we got some personalised tshirts for my niece and nephew, next stop the christmas shop to order some personalised baubles in the christmas shop.

Bit disapointed that the choices are more limited now as to what you can have on the baubles, each year that we have gone my mum has got a bauble for my nephew saying "Pheonix 1st(2nd,3rd etc) christmas" then the year and pixie dust, this year we were told you can only have one name, the year and some pixie dust - was such a shame as it meant my niece wouldn't have matching baubles i guess they changed it to keep the time for each baubles production down bit of Disney magic disapeared.

We had a look in the other shops and enjoyed a yummy lunch in Wolfgang pucks - love eating here and it is fabulous value on the dining plan, we picked up our tshirts and got a slushie drink from Goofys shop using a snack credit they were very nice.



Camera was balanced on my bag and as you can see it slowly slipped



Over to pleasure island shops next and into Disney Quest - wasn't too busy so had plenty of goes on everything, i still miss it having the computors in here though, after finishing in here the plan was to go to the cinema but whilst queueing up for this Scott got bitten on the hand by an unidentified bug!! it really hurt and was very red, i had some hayfever tablets back at CBR and we headed off there.



It was about 5pm by the time we got back so Scott took a tablet and put some cream on his hand and we decided to head to Epcot for dinner - WOW is Epcot busy on a saturday evening!!!!

We wanted to have dinner in Japan so just let the crowd carry us along that way where we gladly grabbed a table for an escape from the throngs





We had a wander in the world but it really was super busy so we all agreed to head home and chill at the bar

Tomorrow - Art of Animation Resort + Cinema

 

[meldobe]

Day 11 - Sunday 6th - Art of Animation + Cinema - Temp 89

So as the weekends are usually very busy in the parks we tend to give them a miss, maybe have a meal in them but not use it as a park day so to speak.

Today we had a lie in and woke at 10am, Scott found the Chelsea match was being shown on the room tv so we watched that, put some washing on and headed out at 12ish to get a bus to Disneys Art of Animation Resort we had not visited here before and wanted to check it out. We got a bus to Hollywood studios then hopped on a bus to Art of Animation.

It is a great looking resort, lovely open reception area and a fab light



Food court was good and had a varied selection, i had a flat bread and cupcake


Scott had curry and a smoothie


Ma had a sandwich and a cake


Lion king area








Little Mermaid area










CARS area
















Swimming pool area was Finding Nemo


Must have been check in day here as there were massive queues of people at reception and could hear lots of complaining about waiting for an hour to be checked in.

Continued on next post.

 

[meldobe]

Continuation of Day 11

We got the bus to downtown Disney from here and the only downside is that the bus stops have no shade over them luckily they were empty but i can imagine just how uncomfortable it would be waiting in the full sun when its busy.

We wanted to pick up our $100 gift card that was part of the booking deal but had forgotten to take the paperwork and id with us on previous visits to downtown.





Had a wander in the shops and went into Disney quest for a drink and a go on the machines, then it was time to try the cinema again no bites this time so we went in to see Insidious 2, i love the way you get your food and drinks in this place so much quicker then the cinemas back home, film was very good, back to CBR about 9.30ish food from the food court and cocktails and cards at the pool bar.

Tomorrow - Hollywood Studios

 

[Verity Chambers]

Really enjoyed all your reports so far. Thank you!

 

[meldobe]

Really enjoyed all your reports so far. Thank you!

Aww thanks for reading, glad you are enjoying it, im enjoying reliving it although its making me wish i was going back already

 

[meldobe]

A couple of pictures that i forgot to add to Day 11

When we came out of the cinema we found these they were 3d in effect and looked great - unfortunately we were due some rain so they wouldn't last long, this is what i love about Disney you can go to the same place and always find something new

 

[meldobe]

Day 12 - Monday 7th - Hollywood Studios - Temp 88

Yes it was a trip back to the studios today
Found this stuck to the air con vent on the bus, we put it back before we got off.


It seemed as if everyone had decided today was a studios day too as it was sooo busy, we got to the park at 10.30 and of course headed to Toy story to get a fast pass but alas they were all gone

We had a quick wander and grabbed a fast pass for Rock n Rollercoaster - return time 3.55 - 4.55.
Beauty and the Beast show was due to start and as we had never seen it before we headed in and managed to find some seats although not all together, it was a good show but i think we all preferred the Lion King.

It was lunchtime by now and our tummies were rumbling off to ABC commisionary we headed - the cupcake this week was a witches hat, not sure what the frosting was not the usual topping of cupcakes, i spent ages trying to work out the flavour but no luck the only conclusion i came to was that it was Yummy ! absolutely pouring down with rain whilst we were eating, people were coming in dripping with rain it lasted a good 30 mins.



We had a walk and took some photos, we wanted to try and get pictures we had not taken before ( been to disney 9 times now)

Scotts one


My one


Ma's one










Had a look in the shops, looked at the books in writers stop, watched some interactions between the green soldiers and park guest they are fabulous and i love it when they sneak up on people.

Raining again so we sheltered in the Star tours shop

The obligatory hat pictures






Rain stopped so we headed out and over to Tower or Terror as we could now get another fast pass, still had time to wait for the first fast pass.

Time to ride The Great Movie ride and fortunately we went in just as it poured down again, good ride and we had the cowboy

Fast pass time woohoo Ma and Scott rode Rock n Rollercoaster



Next fast pass time for ToT we all rode this, ma suffers from claustraphobia and can't get in lifts( had hypnotherapy quite a few years ago so that she could get on an aeroplane) so she has only ever managed to get on ToT once before but today after a bit yes, no,yes,no she got on and loved it although not sure we will get her back on it next time though! more rain when we were on ToT.



This was our last trip to Hollywood studios this holiday so we had a last wander through the shops and streets and headed home - the end of the holiday was fast approaching

Back at the resort we turned the heating on to dry off after getting caught in the rain, got changed watched a bit of Judge Judy !!! and then Old Port Royale for dinner.

Tomorrow - Animal Kingdom lodge and Animal Kingdom

 

[petals]

Luvin the trip report and all your pics.

I loled at this "Ma is squashing Jimminy cricket as she thinks he is a know it all !!!???"

 

[Verity Chambers]

Ooh checked back and another installment! Looking forward to hearing about AKL as I love visiting it.

 

[meldobe]

Day 13 - Tuesday 8th - Animal Kingdom Lodge and Animal Kingdom - Temp 87

Today we decided to go to Animal kingdom lodge at 10.30ish and get lunch there for a change then go onto Animal Kingdom to look at the bits we didn't do on our first visit.

We had a lovely walk around looking at the animals and chatting to the guides.







I really love the theming inside here its so relaxing and feels lovely and cool.





Lunch was a vegie flatbread, chicken flatbread and chicken pita oh and zebra domes as a dessert.


After our very relaxed lunch we got a bus to Animal Kingdom

The Macaws were out, our plan was to see all the animals today so off we set towards the trails - but first stop was to pick up a fast pass for the safari.
On my camera wish list a Zoom lens!




On maharaja forest trails




A shape of a bat in the floor outside the bat enclosure


A really lovely guide was by the Tigers, gave us lots of information.






Fast pass time


Two different types of Giraffe


Spot the lioness


Spot the Lion




The driver on our safari was fantastic and told us loads of facts and info, his name was Everett and if you ever have him as your driver you will love it. He told us the difference between the two species of giraffe they have and that pelicans are one of only a couple species of bird that work together when hunting fish.

We walked around Pangani trail too.

We tried to get a frozen berry drink and yep you guessed it they were sold out again! so we got a frozen lemonade instead, bit too sharp for me.











Almost closing time so we said goodbye for the last time to Animal kingdom

Tomorrow - Magic Kingdom

 

[meldobe]

Luvin the trip report and all your pics.

I loled at this "Ma is squashing Jimminy cricket as she thinks he is a know it all !!!???"

I couldn't believe she was doing it, poor Jimminy, so pleased you are enjoying it. x

Ooh checked back and another installment! Looking forward to hearing about AKL as I love visiting it.

We really like AKL too think if we had the money we would stay a few nights there on our trips as its just so laid back yet classy.

 

[Verity Chambers]

I'd love to stay there too. We've eaten at Jiko and boma, so Sanaa is next on the list!!

 

[meldobe]

I'd love to stay there too. We've eaten at Jiko and boma, so Sanaa is next on the list!!

We've not eaten at Jiko or Sanaa yet but love Boma, see thats an excuse for another trip to Disney just to try the places i've not tried before

 

[meldobe]

Day 14 - Wednesday 9th - Magic Kingdom - temp 86

OMG!!! Magic Kingdom was heaving today, we had a single file walk up main street we headed towards pirates going through Adventureland, 50 min wait though so we carried on and were pleased to see jungle cruise was open so we got fast passes for later, we carried on walking round and found ourselves at the Haunted Mansion which had a big queue this is what we thought of it



We had a look in some shops after checking out some more queue times - think this year was the first time we had experienced queues longer then 20 - 30 mins all other sep/oct trips the queues were short or non existent bit of a shock to our systems!

Lunch was in columbia harbour house




We could see the Haunted Mansion queue from in here and it was getting bigger and bigger, lots of people were asking where to get a fast pass not realising that it was only the wristbands fast pass+ that were now being accepted for this ride - very confusing for people.

Fast pass time for Jungle cruise


Its a corny ride but fun all the same.
We walked back over to Splash to try for a fast pass but the return lane back up over the stairs and the return time was 7pm





We watched Country Bear Jamborie


Went to fantasy land to check out queue times


Tried Pirates again but it was now closed


we then went on Transit authority to have a sit down and decide what we wanted to do



Decided to have a last look in the shops and leave the park it was just too busy for us and we were not enjoying it - lightweights we are

So not wanting to waste our day we said goodbye to the Magic Kingdom and got a boat to Wilderness Lodge - we had never been here before so thought it would be good to check it out







We got a drink and relaxed outside for a while it is a lovely resort, then we got the boat over to the Contempory resort
The sky was looking a bit dark and we were hoping it would stay dry as we wanted to see the light parade from the Polynesian tonight.




The captain on our boat was great and told us all about the old water park that used to be on one of the islands, he also told lots of pirate jokes.



We had a look around the Contempery, shop and arcade etc - we stayed here when i worked for Disney also the Polynesian as it was cheap enough with the 50% off but alot had changed since then, still cool seeing the monorail pull into the building.

Back on the Monorail and got off at the Grand Floridian - very grand looking resort, a band was playing inside so we sat down to listen for a while, had a look in the shops and got a couple of pics







Next we walked round to the Polynesian - it was a really lovely walk which we had never done before, was getting rather chilly by now though


Contined on next post

 

[meldobe]

Day 14 continued

Made it to the poly and our tummies were rumbling so we went for counter service, lovely food in here and we would visit again.



I had a Cheese flatbread and the others had Chicken Noodles and of course a Dole whip for dessert mmmmmmm its worth the trip here just for that.

Only downside to this place is that it has limited seating and as it was getting busier in here we decided to give up our table and eat dessert outside Brrrrrr not the best idea as it was so cold






We went back inside to look around the shops and warm up a bit




Almost Wishes and light parade time so outside to the beach, it was pretty cold by now so would reccomend fetching a jumper if you plan to watch, we made do with towels from the pool

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Was really good to watch the show from here though, onto the monorail back to Magic Kingdom


And we got the bus back from there - CBR queue was empty but the Queue for Art of Animation was ridiculous it went past 3 other stops queueing systems and i felt so sorry for the guests waiting for a bus to there as it was going to be a really long wait.

Back to CBR.

 

[meldobe]

Day 15 - Thursday 10th - Epcot - Temp 88

Our last full day here we woke up to find this outside our door


We did some washing this morning



We love Epcot so always go there on our last day so off to the bus stop



Enjoying the sunshine



On the bus


We arrived at 11am and all fast passes for Soarin and Test track were already gone!!

We realised that we did not have many pictures of the 3 of us together i bought a gorilla pod thingy before we came out here but hadn't wanted to carry it in the parks but today we decided to use it in the hopes of having us all in some pictures.

We started our walk around the world Anti-clockwise


A wee look in the shop first to get some last minute ideas for presents (don't worry nobody was unlucky enough to get these glasses)


Canada


France


Morroco


Japan


USA


Italy


China


Norway


Mexico


We went back for lunch in USA and got to watch the band, after lunch we went into . . . . . . . . . . . .dum dum dum -Ellens energy adventure!!!! i know this ride gets alot of flak but we thought it was ok maybe a bit long.


We then went to have a look in the Food + Wine festival centre, they do wine tastings and food demonstrations in here, also had Ghiardelli chocolates fill a tin for $10 i think and you got alot in there in fact they were telling people the best way to pack it so that you got more in.

Seas with Nemo was next


Drink from Sunshine seasons


Then back to world showcase - clockwise this time
We were using up some dining plan credits so we got Sushi from Japan - very nice, Chicken wrap and Pistachio Baklava from Morroco - also very nice whilst sitting here we did online check in with the ipad it took a while but we managed to get seats in the Bubble woohoo we were sooooo happy!!

And finally a cheese Paneer from Africa, it was getting late by now and we had packing to finish so we headed out getting some presents in the shops along the way





Goodbye Epcot

Bus back to the resort packed some bits then resort bar for a last cocktail and game of cards.

Our little frog that was always outside our door each evening - boy do those little blighters make me jump when they move


Tomorrow - Downtown Disney and then Airport

 

[meldobe]

Day 16 - Friday 11th - DtD and then airport - Temp 88

So that was it our holiday was over, we packed our last bits and Bell services collected our luggage.

Bye room


Ma and Scott went to pay our bill for the roll away bed and check out whilst i had a walk around the resorts to take some photos



















We got the bus to DtD and had lunch in yep you guessed it Wolfgang pucks!

Guys you must know whats on the menu by now!!!!






After lunch we picked up a few more gifts, photo album, lady+ the tramp teddies for my Nephew, aerial toppers and a gorgeous Micky ring for me.



I knew i had been traveling with tweedle dee and tweedle dum




We used our last counter service meal to pick up a sandwich for later from Earl of sandwich - Spicy tuna wrap, Chicken ceaser wrap and Tuna + cheese melt planned to eat these at the airport or on the plane.

Back to the resort to wait for the Magical express




Magical express picked us up at 3.55 and we were on our way to the airport, very cloudy again today


We had a guess on suitcase weights again and none of us got close as they were only - Ma 17.6, Scott 17.6 and mine 17.2 no idea how they were still so light as we had bought so much stuff.

We had reserved bubble seats last night but as the flight was only half full we had been bumped to 45 HJK to evenly distribute the weight ah well maybe next time.

Had a look in the shops and got a Minnie teddy for my Neice, went through security, plane was delayed for an hour from 7.35 to 8.40 we ate our sandwiches whilst we were waiting,there was no water on the plane and the electrics were playing up but the video system was working once we took off, we arrived at Gatwick about 9.30 am.



Next Highs and Lows

 

[meldobe]

Just remembered this trip report and realised I didn't add highs and lows
Lows - high crowd levels much busier then any other September trip.
Highs - Being chosen for Backlot tours, eating at Bubba gumps, fantastic safari driver.
Just booked my next trip for 2015 which will include a 3 night cruise on the Disney Dream

 

[dixonsontour]

Really enjoyed your trip report thanks for posting.

Love all the posing in the pics