Trip Report *COMPLETE* I always thought I’d be Simba… turns out I’m Zazu

We’re back! Well, we’ve been back since Saturday, but trying to settle back into normal life has taken some time. But, before the holidays fully kick off, I wanted to get started on the TR!

First an intro (I did did a PTR but plans changed quite a bit)-

There’s C (8), me, my wife K, and L (3). This was C’s 4th trip, and L’s 2nd.

When: December 3 - 10
Where: AoA Lion King suite

We were also joined by my in-laws for the 3rd-8th.

This trip was different in a lot of ways. Our last trip was August 2020, with hardly any entertainment, extremely limited hours and dining, masks everywhere and of course no crowds. That was also L’s first trip. Yes, we took a one year old to WDW during a pandemic. Can’t wait for him to be a teenager and give us an eye roll for that one!

So in a lot of ways, this was L’s first real trip - with characters, waits, fireworks, and having his own thoughts/desires. Which was awesome. What wasn’t awesome was that he and his sister realized the fun in getting on each other’s nerves right before this trip. But, they also had some incredibly sweet moments between the two of them.

This was also our first trip with no Magical Express (which I hated even more than I expected), and with Genie +. But, we didn’t use Genie + because we also got DAS for the first time. I’ll put more detail on that in a separate post because it’s not all peachy and maybe could trigger some I suppose.

Anywho, so it was different. Bad? No, the opposite. I think that what hit us the most was realizing that as we return more to WDW and as our kids grow, the way we vacation changes a bit. We did a lot of new activities, and that was by far my favorite part of this trip.

 

[Spash007]

We got off around 9:45, and there was a FotLK show starting at 10 so we hightailed it over.

One of my problems in this park is I hate back tracking, and when both attractions in Africa are a time commitment, if you miss out on the show window, you might have no choice but to back track.

Anywho, we got in just in time.

Our last time watching was in 2020 for the reduced show, so it was great to see it back fully.

Especially missed the tumble monkeys!

An added bonus - one of the narrators was meeting outside after the show!

We had a reservation at Tusker House at 11, so I took the kids over to Gorilla Falls while the rest sat for a bit.

I learned that the map of the trail was not to size on the app, and after hardly gotten far into the trail in 10 minutes, turned around and headed back. Apparently I also took no pictures, but I do remember the kids were starting to get difficult on this trail so that was probably why.

After a quick restroom break, we checked in at Tusker House and got seated almost immediately. Even better, Daisy walked up before we even sat down!

Followed soon after by my favorite - Donald

 

[Spash007]

Having characters show up right when you sit down is such a stress relief! No worrying about missing them when getting food.

I just noticed Donald’s Holly decorations on his hat.

Soon after Goofy came dancing into the room

Our waitress came over and told us that Mickey just started in the other room and we should have time to get food.

I always like Tusker because I’m a bit more of an adventurous eater than the rest of the family, and this satisfies all of us. As to what specifically I got - your guess is as good as mine, but let’s go with a bit of everything.

The butter chicken was really really good, and so was the beef.

The kids stuck to more familiar flavors, and overall enjoyed it. The corn dogs were a big hit in particular (although the kids like to take off the breading )

We were hoping to have a combination of lunch and breakfast food at 11, but they apparently already switched over.

As we were eating, the main mouse came by and was full of hugs.

As I was getting desserts with L, Donald came back a second time.

 

[Spash007]

Followed shortly by his girl.

And as we were finishing dessert, Goofy came for one more visit.

This has consistently been one of our favorite character meals, between good food, great interactions, and plenty of character visits.

As we left, we let the kids explore a bit.

And wouldn’t you know it, Rafiki and Timon soon came by.

We then headed over to Pandora.

In Pandora - we split up. I took L and K’s mom on Navi, while C, K and her dad went on FoP.

L was being super goofy in line.

I’ve always enjoyed Navi. Wouldn’t wait an hour for it, but I find it relaxing.

Meanwhile, our last trip I was not impressed with FoP. I know, I know, super unpopular opinion. The fact I could see the people around me ruined the immersion, and the “breathing” of the banshee felt like metal clunking against itself.

This said, last month I went back on it and realize how crazy I was to pick Navi over FoP. I’m thinking that on our 2020 trip the fact I had a mask on brought my focus to the side of my face, which then had me looking around.

 

[heatherhy01]

I’ve always enjoyed Navi. Wouldn’t wait an hour for it, but I find it relaxing.

Mee too!! I love it between the music and the different sounds. I found it relaxing too!

 

[Tuvalu]

Precious picture. Frame-worthy!!

 

[Spash007]

Mee too!! I love it between the music and the different sounds. I found it relaxing too!

Especially on hot days - it’s so nice and cool in there!

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Precious picture. Frame-worthy!!

It’s funny - I completely forgot about this picture until writing this. I think I might frame it for Mother’s Day - K has a similar picture of her and C on her dresser and I was just thinking I need to find one of L!

 

[Spash007]

All day virtual meeting = lots of time to update!

Finishing up with our rides, we met up near the restrooms and took turns. I was extremely thirsty this day and the Night Blossom sounded like it would hit the spot.

And boy did it! I have a strange affinity for boba balls (while K cannot stand them), and the rest of it was so refreshing. The four of us split this, and it was exactly what was needed as we walked around Pandora.

Has anyone else seen this interesting sign near the restrooms? A little adult and tongue in cheek.

It was just about 1:30 and we were starting to drag. Our plan was to hop to MK for fireworks (one of only 2 nights this week we could see them), and then MK was open pretty late after the fireworks. Later in the week we figured we would hop back to AK for Dinoland and to head up to Rafiki’s.

On the way out, we walked through Discovery Island and saw the mostly really cute (and just a little bit creepy) winter puppets.

I should clarify - the animals weren’t creepy. Some of the handlers were in the way they completely ignored other people, as if pretending that the animals were there of their own accord. The bird guy did just that, and just completely ignored any attempts at human interaction. Made for a bit awkward of an interaction. So awkward the pictures came out horribly because the kids were just confused - do you look at the person? At the fake bird? What is going on??

We got back to AoA a little after 2, and everyone wanted a nap. The skies were getting a bit cloudy, and for a late night, we knew the kids needed to rest. Problem is is that if I nap, I wake up more tired and usually with a massive headache. So instead I decided to do something I NEVER thought I would do - go exercise at Disney. With everyone in bed, I took my chances with the weather and decided to walk around Hourglass Lake, and go explore Pop a bit.

I loved reading all of these signs on both sides of the lake -

 

[Spash007]

I saved taking pictures until I got over to Pop. As you can tell, the sky was pretty gnarly, but the radar looked okay. Worst came to worse, I could take the Skyliner Bridge back, or take refuge in the lobby. But, I also really don’t mind getting a bit wet if I knew I could change soon, so I wasn’t all that worried.

My parents recently gave L my old Mr Potato Head (aka they are cleaning out their house and pass on my stuff). L thinks it’s the coolest toy, and would love these now.

I was beginning to regret my gamble seeing these clouds. But, I loved just taking my time and taking pictures. I see the appeal @fractal !

The other side of the sky was bright blue. So I was really hoping I was right, and the storm would miss us.

My dream car is a 1966 Corvette. One day!

I stepped inside the lobby to see how it compared to AoA. As expected, similar.

I knew that the Little Mermaid rooms were built back when AoA was supposed to be the earlier part of Pop, but wasn’t sure about the lobby. Unless they just figured to keep the plans the same.

I’ve realized I really love palm trees. @Darstarr maybe it’s a LI thing? Being close to the beach but without palm trees?

Love the colors in the tie dye!

 

[Tuvalu]

You’ll find this interesting.

Disney’s Pop Century Legendary Years - The Resort That Never Was

Disney's Pop Century Legendary Years in Disney World was left abandoned for years before being redesigned at Disney's Art Of Animation Resort

www.worldabandoned.com

 

[Spash007]

I think this was my favorite part of the resort.

Love these stairs!

I still hadn’t gotten rained on, and made it back to the water to walk back.

I could probably sit and take pictures of the Skyliner and it’s reflections for hours.

All in all, I spent close to an hour walking around. It was tiring and a bit hot, but it was so peaceful. Again, I love my kids, but being around them 24/7 can be… different (especially since both L and C are quite talkative. At least I was quiet when I was a kid because my sister was the chatty one.)

After going around Pop, I see why people love it. The level of detail is amazing, and the sheer number of decorations is astounding. There is always something to look at! That said, and don’t hate me for this, it’s not for me. It’s a bit too over the top for my taste. I could see staying there for a short trip, a race weekend, etc. But for an extended trip, it’s just a bit too busy for my own taste.

Now that everyone is probably thinking I’m a snob lol, I’ll continue on.

We were planning to get to MK around 5 to get a few rides in, grab a QS dinner and watch Enchantment before taking advantage of the later hours. Everyone was still resting, so I hoped in the shower, and turned on Naked and Afraid (such an addicting show!) before waking people up.

Leaving the room went mostly without a hitch, and we scanned into MK a bit after 5. And I present to you the problem with going during party months - every single person seemed to be in MK to catch Enchantment.

Waits were through the roof, and walking through with the stroller was tough. Not being our first time, we should have expected this. But we needed a moment to re-group ourselves and our expectations.

As we took time to ground ourselves a bit, we started realizing that we were not just in a mob, but people were actually lined up. Duh, check the entertainment schedule. The newish Adventure calvacade was coming through soon. Perfect! So we found a fairly empty spot, and just sat on the curb waiting for it to come by. This was clearly going to be a roll with it kind of night, and this seemed to be just the way to start it.

 

[Spash007]

You’ll find this interesting.

Disney’s Pop Century Legendary Years - The Resort That Never Was

Disney's Pop Century Legendary Years in Disney World was left abandoned for years before being redesigned at Disney's Art Of Animation Resort

www.worldabandoned.com

I knew the general history of 9/11, but never realized they built the lobby! I was looking forward to the Legendary buildings the most - it would have been amazing to see the theming of the earlier decades!

 

[Swissmiss]

C’s AK dress is too cute! (I want one for myself )

 

[Spash007]

While waiting for the cavalcade to make its way to Main Street, I booked a DAS for Small World, whose wait was 40 minutes and was still one of the lowest in the park.

Around 5:20, the Cavalcade appeared.

My picture game was off for this. If I remember, I think C may have had my phone, and the pictures do seem to be from a slightly lower angle.

The kids were very excited to see Mirabel in the parks (but are not happy with the news that she’ll be replacing Merida)

Bert has always been one of my favorites

The next showing of Friendship Faire (or whatever it’s called now) was about to start, so we headed a bit closer to the stage.

We tried to get the statues to work with the MB+, but once again failed.

 

[Spash007]

C’s AK dress is too cute! (I want one for myself )

Thank you! C is at that age where the cutesy Princess outfits don’t appeal to her anymore, so we were happy to find this one in her size!

 

[Spash007]

The show itself was cute. But definitely felt a bit long having to stand and hold the kids so they could see. Luckily we had a really nice family in front of us who when they saw we had little kids, let C move up with them because they had a clear view point.

We were far enough back that pictures were not great haha.

At this point, we headed back to Small World, taking our time as the crowds were pretty dense.

This was also the “golden hour”, and the park was gorgeous.

We made it over to small world, which I think is always great. It’s K’s mom’s favorite, and this was going to be their last night, so we were glad we could do it again.

K’s feelings though -

Especially as the boats were super backed up, and our boat broke into song!


Out of order now, but I always need to get a picture of these guys to harken back my drum line days

Interesting to think this is the first time since small wall was built that England has a new monarch

I miss the personalized goodbye

After this, we booked another DAS for Buzz, as that also had a 40 minute wait. On the way, we decided to stop into Philharmagic as there was nothing else with a shorter line.

Here is where my night started going a bit downhill. As we were walking to the Theater, the previous show let out and we were in the middle of a mob. I have literally never seen a moving crowd this bad at Disney. I could tell it was the anxiety kicking in, but C and K were up ahead, my in laws were behind and I had L. I quickly scooped him up, and aware that it was anxiety, I just used him as a little bit of a weighted blanket almost to calm myself.

I knew it would be ok, it’s just people, but I was also glad that I was aware of why I was getting extremely uncomfortable. In the theater all was ok. I did decide to wear a mask inside, and I realized I think it was because I felt the need to exert control on something at this point.

We really enjoyed the show. We have not seen it since 2017, when C was 3 and we had to leave with her screaming bloody murder because of the dark and loud noises. We’ve learned, so we gave L headphones to make it a bit quieter and had our phones on our lap to give him light to look at.

Once done, we decided to head to the hub to check on crowd levels in case going to Buzz wasn’t a great idea. It was a bit before 7, and fireworks started at 8:15 so we were really hoping we would be ok to not stand for an hour.

 

[fractal]

I saved taking pictures until I got over to Pop. As you can tell, the sky was pretty gnarly, but the radar looked okay. Worst came to worse, I could take the Skyliner Bridge back, or take refuge in the lobby. But, I also really don’t mind getting a bit wet if I knew I could change soon, so I wasn’t all that worried.

View attachment 703986

My parents recently gave L my old Mr Potato Head (aka they are cleaning out their house and pass on my stuff). L thinks it’s the coolest toy, and would love these now.

View attachment 703987

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View attachment 703989

I was beginning to regret my gamble seeing these clouds. But, I loved just taking my time and taking pictures. I see the appeal @fractal !

View attachment 703990

The other side of the sky was bright blue. So I was really hoping I was right, and the storm would miss us.

My dream car is a 1966 Corvette. One day!

View attachment 703991

I stepped inside the lobby to see how it compared to AoA. As expected, similar.

View attachment 703992

I knew that the Little Mermaid rooms were built back when AoA was supposed to be the earlier part of Pop, but wasn’t sure about the lobby. Unless they just figured to keep the plans the same.

I’ve realized I really love palm trees. @Darstarr maybe it’s a LI thing? Being close to the beach but without palm trees?

View attachment 703993

Love the colors in the tie dye!

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Nice shots!

 

[Spash007]

A bit of warning - this is going to get word heavy and have a bit of complaining before getting to fireworks.

So, over an hour before fireworks started we headed to the hub by the Fantasyland bridge. We could see the hub was crowded and let out a collective groan. Then a CM on the bridge caught our ear - “Fireworks are at 8:15 tonight. Many people are already lining up. If you want to watch them, I recommend getting a spot NOW”

Look, I get it. Get people prepared. But, causing a panic made that crowd worse. How many people would have went on one more ride had they not thought they HAD to line up. But, given the fact that a lot of people would continue to crowd in, we begrudgingly found a spot over next to the statue.

Since we hadn’t eaten yet, K and her parents went to grab dinner while I waited with the kids. My in laws wanted more spring rolls, and myself and kids wanted some waffles. We laid down a poncho to keep space for the 3 of them, and the kids laid on the ground watching something.

Here’s where it really went awry, and for the first time, I 100% blame the CMs. Around 7:15 they started yelling for people to move up and fill all available space. Including saying that if you see the ground, that means you’re not close enough, and telling people to get up off the ground.

People, following directions for once, all started pushing forward. I had to have the kids get up, but refused to move. Perhaps TMI, but this was the first time since starting to take anxiety meds that I was on the verge of a panic attack. If I move, will K find us? Will we have enough space? The What Ifs started creeping in and taking over. And being pushed from every direction did not help. For the first time in Disney, I wanted to just leave. But, jokes on me - I couldn’t get the stroller through the crowd even if I wanted to. So we stayed put and I refused to move. I tried texting K telling her what was happening, and was going to tell her to just forget the waffles, but they were already on their way back.

Luckily, and likely because we didn’t move, they found us fairly quickly. We had enough room but barely. It was to the point where once you stood, you couldn’t really shift your legs so it became extremely uncomfortable. And next to impossible to eat. By the time the show started, why in laws, who are not disabled in any means, we’re in a lot of pain from just standing there for over 30 minutes without being able to move.

Here’s the thing - Disney offers a DAS for a lot of reasons. Yet, for fireworks they don’t just not support it, but actively engage in behaviors that make it worse.

Anyway…. The fireworks eventually started and took some of the edge off (granted it’s no HEA)

Being so crowded, we also had to hold both L and C, so picture opportunities were very limited.

The show was…. Fine. I liked the projections and fireworks, but unlike HEA, the theme did nothing emotionally, the music renditions were mediocre, and there wasn’t the same connections between scenes as HEA. Could I also have been just in a bad mood? Probably.

After the fireworks, the park was going to be open for 2.5 hours longer. I’d parents were originally planning on staying, but after standing for long, they were in too much pain and decided to bail. We warned them that they may as well stay since the lines would be long, and sure enough it took them over an hour to get a bus.

Meanwhile, we waited a bit before making our way back to Fantasyland so we wouldn’t be swimming upstream against the crowds. When we did start to go, every single bridge from the hub was not moving. We couldn’t tell if it was just there were too many people, or if they were actually closed. But unlike earlier when CMs were every where telling people to line up, there was not a single CM in the hub. It was like we were in the Hunger Games or something. Very strange and frustrating.

Finally we just stopped in the middle of the hub, figuring we would see which entry point moved first. Sure enough, the castle opened up and we headed up that way.

I just honestly had a bad taste in my mouth at this point. I made a comment to K that it seemed like we had the B team of CMs this night, and they were just not concerned with the guest experience.

While standing in the crowd, I grabbed a DAS for Seven Dwarfs, so we headed there first.

Coming up: Can we save the night?

 

[RememberWhen]

A bit of warning - this is going to get word heavy and have a bit of complaining before getting to fireworks.

So, over an hour before fireworks started we headed to the hub by the Fantasyland bridge. We could see the hub was crowded and let out a collective groan. Then a CM on the bridge caught our ear - “Fireworks are at 8:15 tonight. Many people are already lining up. If you want to watch them, I recommend getting a spot NOW”

Look, I get it. Get people prepared. But, causing a panic made that crowd worse. How many people would have went on one more ride had they not thought they HAD to line up. But, given the fact that a lot of people would continue to crowd in, we begrudgingly found a spot over next to the statue.

View attachment 705195

Since we hadn’t eaten yet, K and her parents went to grab dinner while I waited with the kids. My in laws wanted more spring rolls, and myself and kids wanted some waffles. We laid down a poncho to keep space for the 3 of them, and the kids laid on the ground watching something.

Here’s where it really went awry, and for the first time, I 100% blame the CMs. Around 7:15 they started yelling for people to move up and fill all available space. Including saying that if you see the ground, that means you’re not close enough, and telling people to get up off the ground.

People, following directions for once, all started pushing forward. I had to have the kids get up, but refused to move. Perhaps TMI, but this was the first time since starting to take anxiety meds that I was on the verge of a panic attack. If I move, will K find us? Will we have enough space? The What Ifs started creeping in and taking over. And being pushed from every direction did not help. For the first time in Disney, I wanted to just leave. But, jokes on me - I couldn’t get the stroller through the crowd even if I wanted to. So we stayed put and I refused to move. I tried texting K telling her what was happening, and was going to tell her to just forget the waffles, but they were already on their way back.

Luckily, and likely because we didn’t move, they found us fairly quickly. We had enough room but barely. It was to the point where once you stood, you couldn’t really shift your legs so it became extremely uncomfortable. And next to impossible to eat. By the time the show started, why in laws, who are not disabled in any means, we’re in a lot of pain from just standing there for over 30 minutes without being able to move.

Here’s the thing - Disney offers a DAS for a lot of reasons. Yet, for fireworks they don’t just not support it, but actively engage in behaviors that make it worse.

Anyway…. The fireworks eventually started and took some of the edge off (granted it’s no HEA)

View attachment 705196

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Being so crowded, we also had to hold both L and C, so picture opportunities were very limited.

The show was…. Fine. I liked the projections and fireworks, but unlike HEA, the theme did nothing emotionally, the music renditions were mediocre, and there wasn’t the same connections between scenes as HEA. Could I also have been just in a bad mood? Probably.

After the fireworks, the park was going to be open for 2.5 hours longer. I’d parents were originally planning on staying, but after standing for long, they were in too much pain and decided to bail. We warned them that they may as well stay since the lines would be long, and sure enough it took them over an hour to get a bus.

Meanwhile, we waited a bit before making our way back to Fantasyland so we wouldn’t be swimming upstream against the crowds. When we did start to go, every single bridge from the hub was not moving. We couldn’t tell if it was just there were too many people, or if they were actually closed. But unlike earlier when CMs were every where telling people to line up, there was not a single CM in the hub. It was like we were in the Hunger Games or something. Very strange and frustrating.

Finally we just stopped in the middle of the hub, figuring we would see which entry point moved first. Sure enough, the castle opened up and we headed up that way.

I just honestly had a bad taste in my mouth at this point. I made a comment to K that it seemed like we had the B team of CMs this night, and they were just not concerned with the guest experience.

While standing in the crowd, I grabbed a DAS for Seven Dwarfs, so we headed there first.

Coming up: Can we save the night?

So sorry about your experience. I totally understand that “I just don’t want to be here” feeling. Hopefully the rest of the night goes better!

 

[heatherhy01]

Sorry you had such a bad experience. I too, had that happen once. I had left my family to go get a soda and came back to not being able to even squeeze between the people to get to them!

On another note, these photos are AMAZING!!!

 

[amjt660]

Can we save the night?

Max