DisneyJade
Two decades on the DIS, lurking and learning
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2002
Cast: Jade Disney Planner (1st trip as an adult)
Yorke Disney Skeptic (1st WDW trip DL aficionado)
WHOOPS! We overslept and missed early entry to AK.
I woke up well rested and blissful from our perfect first-full-day. Yorke, however, woke up cranky and tired. I think he may have gone back down to the bar to drink some more after I fell asleep.
He seemed pretty hung over.
I decided we should stay on schedule even though it was after 9am. So we headed to AK and we were still able to walk on to everything! Now, I have to say here AK completely exceeded my expectations!!!
I had read some conflicting reports about the park as a whole, and there didnt seem to be a whole lot of rides, so I only planned a half-day there. We could have easily spent two full days.
We both agree AK is our favorite park by far. You dont have to rush around to get from this ride to that just to fit it all in. Its so much more leisurely and no matter where you are there is something to see. So, on with the itinerary! As per all the guidebooks and DIS board tips, we headed straight for the Safari (and walked right on!) We saw lots of animals
and I got a few good pics, but next time I think Ill stay at the AK lodge and do the sunrise safari.. Given more time, I would have ridden the safari over and over again, but Yorke wanted to keep moving. We grabbed some coffee and cinnamon rolls from Kusafiri coffee shop, and I bought some souveniers. Then we wandered through Maharaja Jungle Trek and Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. Both attractions are so nice because you make your own pace and can chat as you wander through
i.e. spend quality time together while also getting your moneys worth. We headed to ITTBAB, but we got lost (easy to get lost in AK) and ended up at Dinosaur
what a great ride! Another one thats too short to wait in line for hours for, but once youre on it its sooo cool!! I wasnt interested in the Carny-type games, but Yorke wanted to win me something, so I had to let him. He wrung the bell on the strong man game and got me a stuffed snake. ITTBAB was the last item on the to-do list so we did that. It was a great show
but I cant decide if it beats Honey I Shrunk the Audience or not. Then, it was time to go, but we both wanted to dawdle, so we kept coming up with reasons to stay (check out this gift shop
oh, darn, were lost again)
Finally, Yorke announced he really wanted to ride Kali River Rapids even though it was freezing out. I figured, since we were going back to the hotel to eat and rest anyway, we wouldnt be wet for too long and what are the chances well get soaked anyway? Well, you guessed it. We were right at the bottom of the car when we went down the big drop.
I got completely drenched and Yorke was almost as soaked as me. Thankfully, wed stuffed our sweaters and coats into the center dry compartment, so we had something warm to put on. We staggered out of the park wet and miserable and headed back to the hotel.
At the hotel, we changed into dry clothes and grabbed a bite to eat. Then Yorke decided to take a short nap. After an hour, I knew it was getting too late to ride all the rides we wanted to at MGM, so I woke him up. This is where the trouble begins.
He got irate and starting ranting that he needed sleep and this is his vacation too and why couldnt we do MGM tomorrow
I, being the trip planner, informed him that we couldnt do MGM Fantasmic tomorrow b/c we had to do ToD and Fantasy in the Sky fireworks.
We were fighting pretty bad at this point, so Ill skip past the expletives and get to the point. He wanted to sleep and skip MGM and felt I was ruining his vacation by not letting him relax. I wanted to skip the sleep and go to MGM since we were on a tight schedule and felt he was ruining my vacation by making me wait around for hours while he slept
and then not coming with me at all! I could have gone to MGM by myself hours ago!!
Anyway, we sort-of compromised. I would give him another hour to sleep and then he would wrap up the day with me at MGM. I killed time by calling home and browsing the gift shop for postcards. Woke Yorke up around 4pm and we got to MGM by 4:30. This we the first time wed been at the parks so late in the day, and it was a little more crowded. We went straight to Tower of Terror and had our longest wait of the trip at 15 minutes. It was tough to enjoy this ride because Yorke and I werent even speaking, let alone cuddling up on scary rides. So, I had only the safety bar to cling to. L After that, we went to RnR, but the 25 wait was too long for our taste, so we skipped it. Then we booked it over to Millionaire only to just miss the last show of the day. At this point, Im fuming because its all Yorkes fault that were missing these rides because he had to sleep the day away.
We rode the Great Movie Ride in silence. When it was over, we both agreed it was pretty boring.
FINALLY, it was time to grab a seat for Fantasmic. We headed into the theater at 6:15 b/c Id heard you have to get there that early to get seats. Well, suffice it to say, a third of the seats were still empty when the show started. We could have walked in at the last second. So even though he didnt say anything, I could tell Yorke was mad at me for making him sit outside in the cold for 45 minutes when we could have just as easily ridden a couple more rides before the show started.
Oh well. I escaped his scowl by getting in the long line for pretzels and hot chocolate. I was pretty disappointed. See the dining report for more info and a RIP OFF ALERT, but I will say this much: they were running out of hot chocolate, so they only filled the mugs about half-full. The show was stunning!! Even better than I expected. I kept wishing my parents were there b/c they would have absolutely raved over Fantasmic.
Getting out of the theater after the show was a NIGHTMARE. Even with minimal crowds, the crush to exit was horrendous. There is only one way out, so it created this terrible bottleneck of people. It could be hard to keep track of kids in that mess. Heres a tip though. Once you get out onto the street part of MGM use the sidewalks. For some reason, in both MGM and MK everyone sort of herds into the street like cattle, and the sidewalks are wide open. We must have passed about 500 people by just strolling down the sidewalk instead of cramming into the street.
Back at the hotel, Yorke and I were still tense and barely speaking, so we decided to can our plans for Pleasure Island just one more thing to cram into the last day. We grabbed some dinner at the food court and took it back to the room .See Dining Report Despite his long nap earlier, he was in his PJs and starting to snooze by 8:30pm. I went down to the bar, had an overpriced drink and called my folks to complain.
The weather today was cold, but thankfully it didn't rain like it was supposed to.
Buses were nice and smooth again.
Tomorrow: The last day. Can Jade and Yorke salvage the vacation?
Yorke Disney Skeptic (1st WDW trip DL aficionado)
WHOOPS! We overslept and missed early entry to AK.
I woke up well rested and blissful from our perfect first-full-day. Yorke, however, woke up cranky and tired. I think he may have gone back down to the bar to drink some more after I fell asleep.
I decided we should stay on schedule even though it was after 9am. So we headed to AK and we were still able to walk on to everything! Now, I have to say here AK completely exceeded my expectations!!!
We both agree AK is our favorite park by far. You dont have to rush around to get from this ride to that just to fit it all in. Its so much more leisurely and no matter where you are there is something to see. So, on with the itinerary! As per all the guidebooks and DIS board tips, we headed straight for the Safari (and walked right on!) We saw lots of animals
At the hotel, we changed into dry clothes and grabbed a bite to eat. Then Yorke decided to take a short nap. After an hour, I knew it was getting too late to ride all the rides we wanted to at MGM, so I woke him up. This is where the trouble begins.
Anyway, we sort-of compromised. I would give him another hour to sleep and then he would wrap up the day with me at MGM. I killed time by calling home and browsing the gift shop for postcards. Woke Yorke up around 4pm and we got to MGM by 4:30. This we the first time wed been at the parks so late in the day, and it was a little more crowded. We went straight to Tower of Terror and had our longest wait of the trip at 15 minutes. It was tough to enjoy this ride because Yorke and I werent even speaking, let alone cuddling up on scary rides. So, I had only the safety bar to cling to. L After that, we went to RnR, but the 25 wait was too long for our taste, so we skipped it. Then we booked it over to Millionaire only to just miss the last show of the day. At this point, Im fuming because its all Yorkes fault that were missing these rides because he had to sleep the day away.
FINALLY, it was time to grab a seat for Fantasmic. We headed into the theater at 6:15 b/c Id heard you have to get there that early to get seats. Well, suffice it to say, a third of the seats were still empty when the show started. We could have walked in at the last second. So even though he didnt say anything, I could tell Yorke was mad at me for making him sit outside in the cold for 45 minutes when we could have just as easily ridden a couple more rides before the show started.
Getting out of the theater after the show was a NIGHTMARE. Even with minimal crowds, the crush to exit was horrendous. There is only one way out, so it created this terrible bottleneck of people. It could be hard to keep track of kids in that mess. Heres a tip though. Once you get out onto the street part of MGM use the sidewalks. For some reason, in both MGM and MK everyone sort of herds into the street like cattle, and the sidewalks are wide open. We must have passed about 500 people by just strolling down the sidewalk instead of cramming into the street.
Back at the hotel, Yorke and I were still tense and barely speaking, so we decided to can our plans for Pleasure Island just one more thing to cram into the last day. We grabbed some dinner at the food court and took it back to the room .See Dining Report Despite his long nap earlier, he was in his PJs and starting to snooze by 8:30pm. I went down to the bar, had an overpriced drink and called my folks to complain.
The weather today was cold, but thankfully it didn't rain like it was supposed to.
Buses were nice and smooth again.
Tomorrow: The last day. Can Jade and Yorke salvage the vacation?