My First Solo Walt Disney World Trip : Day 4

By Nick
 
Monday, January 4th, 2016 

I woke up early feeling a whole lot better than the morning before, and headed to Disney's Animal Kingdom for the 8am Extra Magic Hour.

I headed right for Kilimanjaro Safaris, which was very uneventful as it was a very chilly morning. The most exciting thing was the male lion was actually up and a bit active. I still have not heard him roar though!

I took a walk through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. I walked around the newly opened Harambe Market snapping pics before taking another unremarkable ride through the safari.

I walked a couple of laps around the park, which is when I discovered Maharajah Jungle Trek and The Tree of Life Garden (which used to be Discovery Island Trails) were closed due to the cool weather!

I then headed to a show that I haven't seen in years. And, okay, I'm just going to say it, unless I'm with others who REALLY want to see it, it will be several years before I return. I know, it's the most popular live show in Walt Disney World, but I just don't get the big attraction of Festival of the Lion King!

I used my FastPass for Dinosaur before crossing back across the park where I had lunch at Harambe Market. Man, was it crowded! I'll have a full review in a future post.

I took a walk over to the newly opened Thirsty River Bar and Trek Snacks next to Expedition Everest and had a beer before walking over to It's Tough to Be a Bug, which was down.

I decided to go to Disney's Hollywood Studios, which was packed, I expect because Disney had extended The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights for few more nights. Even The Great Movie Ride was an hour wait!
I went into Star Wars Launch Bay and went to the Disney Visa Darth Vader Meet and Greet, where there was literally no wait.
I walked in and met the Dark Lord of the Sith, and he told me I gave the Rebellion another reason to be afraid! I told him I was in the Rebellion, and ran away!

I walked around the Launch Bay taking photos and had a great conversation about the entire Star Wars saga with a Cast Member there. I walked over towards Star Tours to watch Jedi Training: Trials of the Temple, and I am sorry to say I feel it has lost a lot of it's humor. Perhaps I just didn't see the right Jedi Master, but this show was nowhere near as funny as I've seen in the past.

I went over to the Tune in Lounge, which is the bar/waiting area for 50's Prime Time Cafe, and was happy to find an empty seat at the bar next to a father and son from California and discussed craft beer for about an hour. And I had one of my favorite dinners, the fried chicken! Man that is good stuff!

I walked over to catch The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights again, before heading back to the Polynesian for the evening.

Throwback Thursday: Walt Disney World-May 2009 - Part 3

By Nick 

Part Two of this Walt Disney World trip report from May of 2009 that I wrote for the DVC News Forums can be found here.  Any commentary I make will be in italics.

Who: My wife, Barbie, my friends Todd and Meghan, and their baby, our Godson, Flynn who was 16 months old, and me.

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Woke up to overcast skies, but at least it wasn't raining.

We had reservations for 810AM Tusker House at the Animal Kingdom for Donald's Breakfast Safari.







There was a pretty good selection of the typical breakfast fare.
The characters were Donald, Mickey, Daisy and Goofy. Flynn was more comfortable with the characters,and even laughed and pointed at Goofy.

After breakfast, we made it just in time for rope drop for the Kilimanjaro Safari.
Because it was still overcast and cool, we saw more animal action than I've seen before.

We then did the Pangani Forest Trail, followed by the Conservation Station, where Flynn enjoyed petting the goats and sheep.



By that time, a miraculous, and short lived thing happened. We had blue skies and sun.

The park was packed by then, people taking advantage of the first sun in days.

So we walked toward Asia and Everest.

We stopped and watched the Flights of Wonder show which was just starting.

By then, Flynn was getting sleepy, so we headed to Everest and got FastPasses.

It was actually warm and sunny, so we headed back to the rooms to swim, and to give Flynn a break from the heat.

When we got back, I called lost and found. My card had not shown up, so I had it canceled. We had enough cash for the trip, but I use the card for Disney points. Visa said the would issue one, and our room was even charged on the new number. So, no big deal, really.

Todd and Flynn stayed behind to nap, and Barbie, Meghan and I went to the pool.

The water was freezing, due to the previous nights rain, according to the lifeguard.



The girls jumped in and then right back out, but I stayed in and swam until I was kicked out because
of the incoming storms. And boy did it storm!



We got a couple double cheeseburgers with fries and pasta salad, and 6 beignets at the Sassagoula Floatworks, and brought them back to the room for lunch. We sat and watched it rain. And rain. Etc.

Finally, it slowed up a bit, and we decided to head back to the AK for EMHs (extra magic hours), to try and catch the 4:45PM Nemo show.

When we got off the bus, it started to rain so much, it was like being in a shower, except wetter.

We finally waited at one of the stores till it passed for the most part, and made our way to the theater.
Afterwards, we headed over to Dinosaur, where Todd, Meghan and I rode, while Barbie stayed with Flynn.



Barbie is not a fan of the ride. (She's since come to her senses!) I love it however. Then, a small miracle. It stopped raining just long enough for Barbie and Meghan, then Todd and me, to ride Everest. Walked on.

Literally, the moment Todd and I walked out the exit, rain.

We had dinner at Yak and Yeti. Barbie had her usual, Crispy Mahi Mahi. I had steamed mussels and lettuce cups, and a couple margaritas.

All very good as usual, but service was slow, especially considering they were perhaps only half full.
By now it was almost 8PM, and we headed back to our room. In the rain.

Please stop by for more rain next Thursday!

McDonald's Happy Meal Animal Kingdom Toys Part 2

By Nick 

In yesterday's post, I shared 6 of a set of 12 Animal Kingdom McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys from 1998. If you missed it, please feel free to check it out. I’ll wait.

Back? Good!

So, let’s take a look at the remaining toys.

First, we have a dragon! Why a dragon? There aren’t any dragons at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Well, back when the park first opened, there was a planned area called Beastly Kingdom, which would have featured mythical creatures, such as unicorns, and, of course, dragons. In fact, the original logo for the park prominently features a dragon.

 

 

 This toys wings flap when you press in the button on his chest. I assume this is supposed to be a push and release feature, but, as I mentioned in my last post, these toys were a little the worse for wear when I received them, and the button sticks on mine. 

 

 

Next up, we have a couple of clip on type toys. 

First this Crocodile:

And this Lemur.

Then we have a couple of pull and release toys.

The Rhino does not work unfortunately, so, no charging.

The Cheetah does leap into action however. Well, he actually stays crouched and lunges, but at least he works, so I’m not complaining!

 

Last, but not least, we have a squirt gun Elephant.

Just put water in the hole on the back of his neck.

This works amazingly well, shooting water at least 15 feet!

Doing a little more digging, I discovered there is actually an exclusive Tortoise toy that was available at Wallmart McDonald’s locations. If I come upon it, you will be among the first to know!

Christmas Decorations Around Walt Disney World

By Nick

I love Christmas. Always have. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I love Christmas decorations.
On our trip to Walt Disney World last week, I took pictures of many of the decorations around Walt Disney World, and thought I'd share some of them.

Let's start with the resorts. We stayed at the Villas at Disney's Wilderness Lodge.

The Wilderness Lodge lobby is arguably the most festive and dramatically decorated on property.

Right off the main lobby:

A wreath behind check in:

Even the Wilderness Lodge Mercantile windows get in on the act:

The entrance to Whispering Canyon Cafe:

The decorations in the lobby of the Villas, located a very short walk from the Lodge itself, are the perfect fit for this mush smaller, cozy area.

Over at the Grand Floridian you'll find a pretty impressive display with a large tree and the Gingerbread House.

A Frozen gingerbread display over at the Contemporary.

The Boardwalk Resort has a Gingerbread Cone stand!

The Boardwalk hallways off of the main lobby:

On the Boardwalk's green:

The Yacht Club has a very nice train layout and nautically themed tree.

The Beach Club has a gingerbread carousel.

Now, let's hop on a bus, boat or monorail and head to the Magic Kingdom, where you will of course find Cinderella Castle covered in ice.

Between the night of Thursday the 11th and Friday the 12th, a giant tree miraculously appeared at the entrance of Main Street! 

Just a few of the windows of the Emporium.

On the day we went to the Animal Kingdom, it was drizzling, and I only got a photo of the large tree at the entrance.

Disney's Hollywood Studios also has a large tree at the main entrance, as well as the very popular Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights.

All the parks have touches of the holidays in shops and restaurants. This is inside 50's Prime Time Cafe.

Probably the most festive park is Epcot, because of the Holidays Around the World activities at the World Showcase Pavilions.
There are also festive touches at the entrance and through Future World, primarily in character topiaries.

On to World Showcase.
The tree:

The UK:

France:

Germany:

Inside Biergarten

Norway:

At the American Adventure, you'll find Santa and Mrs. Claus.

Please stop back on Christmas day for more about the Epcot Holiday Storytellers.