Trip Report Completed: Anything can happen on Castaway Creek!

The primer of this adventure can be found over here.

So where to begin, well it seems like every Disney trip we take the “Vacation Creep” occurs. Vacation creep is the pull to add more minutes/hours/days to your trip as you get closer to your trip, we’re terribly bad with this, see POP add on in the PTR . So about a week before we were scheduled to leave bright and early on Thursday morning we rationalized the idea to leave the night before and stay over in Tifton, about half way, so as to be better rested for the evening time when we were to attend the DVC Beach Bash. Makes sense right? With this being just a long weekend trip I was less concerned about taking extensive notes and a ton of pictures like my last live TR and tried to go with the flow more, still many pics and stories to share but a little lite compared to TRs of past. So let’s get to this…



Wednesday:

We were all packed the day before so I loaded us up after work and we made for Tifton about 7:30. We had an uneventful trek to the Comfort Inn and Suites in Tifton. Nothing much else to report about this and no pictures either because, let’s be honest, it’s Tifton…



Thursday part one:

I promised the ladies if they could be up and ready to leave by 07:00 we could hit up Cracker Barrel for breakfast, the DW is nuts about this place, rather than the free Comfort Inn breakfast. So we almost had Cracker Barrel to ourselves and were in and out by 7:45 headed to Orlando! Armed with our trusty SunPass we cruise through the tolls pointing and laughing at the rubes stopping to pay, granted we were those rubes a little over a month ago but we can move past that. We did experience a little confusion as we approached the last toll booth and all the SunPass signage disappeared and we started seeing “EZ Pay” signage. Not wanting to get a ticket we donned our best rube looks and approached to toll booth when the attendant said we were all good and waved us through. So it seems EZ Pay = SunPass for those wondering. Finally we approached Western Way and navigated to POP. This place was BUSY! Lots of hustle and bustle going on. I move to the counter to see our room was ready since it was so early

YES! Room 9427 is ours and good to go! So we make our way to the room and unpack our overnight bags. Not 10 minutes after we check in I get a weird call.

After that strangeness we decide to play “Park Bus Roulette”, first bus to arrive wins us! Animal Kingdom FTW! A short bus ride to AK and we’re there.

We decided not to overdo it so we took our time and looked around and did some people watching before heading to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. Here is a little then and now for ya:

DD Then (2008)

DD Now

I’m pretty sure she hated posing for this…

A little emo alpaca for ya

We started feeling the pull for lunch and I suggested we walk up to Rainforest café and see if they have any availability. While they looked busy the wait was only 20 minutes so we looked around the shop for a bit.

Just under 20 miunutes and they were calling our name:

The DD went with a turkey wrap while the DW and I split a salad the Caribbean meat plate. Neither entrée was anything worth writing about so I’ll leave it at that. We won’t be back to RC and have already canceled our ADR for Christmas week. This place, outside of the theming, is nothing special. The DW and DD also said the bathrooms were pretty bad. We weren’t put off by this experience in the least, however, and decided to make our way back to POP to rest up before our DVC Beach Bash.



Up next: some things cannot be unseen on Castaway Creek…

 

[FlaggNL]

Finally got time to catch up! Great start of the TR! Thanks for sharing!!

 

[lostpro9het]

Ok, sorry about the delay I’ve been distracted by work and some “other” news I’ll share soon. I need to get on the ball and wrap this one up because I need to get on our next PTR!



Anyway, I left us off with a mediocre Kona experience that was saved by the Lapu Lapu. So here we are on our final full day in the bubble. We chose to make rope drop at HS today. We were armed fit FP for ToT, TSMM, and ST. We figured we’d single rider RR. An uneventful rope drop and we made for RR only to find that it was closed…again! I neglected to mention earlier that RR was also down just the other day when we were here! No biggie, ToT actually had a 10 minute wait so we chose to do one standby before using our FP.

Here you can see a poor Brazilian tour director collecting passes from her group as they enter the FP+ queue. We saw more than a few Brazilian groups this trip and they were noticeably well behaved and civil. She was probably managing 30+ kids at this moment.

On our way to TSMM we decided to take in the revamped TGMR. We hopped in a tram with a CM who was earning her ears and was being evaluated by a suit. I’ll give her this; she knew her lines so well it was like she was reading from the script…the whole time. Monotone robots do not make for entertaining guides. Other than the opening movie and the ending movie the ride appeared unchanged or even freshened up other than the Wicked Witch actually holding a broom and not a mop. So after TGMR, me dominating TSMM, and saving the rebel spy we made our way for Indy. It was a packed house. I think we’ve seen this experience far too many times and now take more joy in watching the newbs experience it for the first time than the actual show itself. We had a pair of young boys seated in front of us who clearly have never seen the show because they jumped at every exciting moment believing the danger was real. Earlier on we noticed that there had been no wait for ST so we changed our FP to LM and did standby for ST. Our FP for LM came right as Indy was ending so we headed over there for a nice 10 minute AC nap for me and a singalong for the DW and DD. This experience is in need of some freshening up but at least the AC was nice. It was lunch time now and we were ready to eat. We’re not big fans of the HS dining options and would have been just as happy to catch a boat to EC or the boardwalk for good food but the DD just HAD to have a turkey leg. So, we hunted down the spot and got her a leg. That thing was HEAVY! We shared it and a pretzel dog. DW and I also shared an Orange Blossom Pilsner.

After our lunch we were ready for some rest before the evening so we made for Kidani.



Up next: Parents trip to AK and Sanaa

 

[lostpro9het]

So after arriving at the Lodge the DW and I decided we’d like to hit up AK so we can get the AK Starbucks mug, thus completing her collection, but the DD wanted to rent a few movies and hang out. So, we made for the shop and checked out a few DVDs then parted ways as the DW and I made for AK via our car. The parking lot for AK was pretty lite and we decided to park and walk. We actually beat the tram to the front of the park which was rewarding. We made for the Bucks straight away to get the final piece of the set.

Now the DW has them all! We decide that two of these would be used at home and two of these would be used at our “other” home, AKL ;-).

While checking out we noticed some cool looking conservation pins the CMs were wearing. We inquired about them and were told simple donations would get you one. So I handed the CM $5 and said we’d take one. She said “Here are two”!

The picture doesn’t do it justice. These pins have a reflective quality to them that really make them shine.

After securing our mug we made for the ToL. We never really paid particular attention to the backside of the tree until today. There really are some fantastic carvings and scenery back there.

We then set on the Maharajah Jungle Trek for some shade and sites. We passed some wild fruit along the way

And of course some wildlife

It was starting to get real hot now and we were ready for some pool time so we made for the car and the short drive back to Kidani.

About 20 minutes later we were back and in our swimsuits heading to the pool when a sizable roar of thunder had struck. Sure enough when we arrived at the pool the sky opened up and there was already a sign up stating the pool had been closed, well dang! We made our way back to the room when I got a text from an old friend who just so happened to be in the bubble this weekend too. They would be having dinner at Boma later on that evening and asked if we would like to join them. We already had ADRs for Sanaa but decided we would meet them after dinner. We had already decided we didn’t want to go to any parks this evening so this worked to our advantage as it gave the DW and I an excuse to check out Victoria Falls since the DD was disinterested in my friends and would rather watch DVDs in the room and relax.

Up next: Sanna and Victoria Falls

 

[lostpro9het]

So well before this trip happened we had planned on trying out Chef De France as it looked decent and we thought we could find something the DD would like to try there. After another outstanding experience for lunch at Sanna and the fact the CDF isn’t on TiW for dinner we opted to change this ADR the day before to Sanaa. No regrets!
Another fine view

Of course we have to start things out right with bread service. We noticed after lunch the other day that we don’t make use of all the accompaniments so we each picked the one we liked the most and shared those:

DW went with a Mojito

I’m a big fan of Boulevard’s Sixth Glass and never tried Tank 7 so I had to give it a go. It was very good, tasted like an IPA without being an IPA. I liked it so much we had our growler filled with Tank 7 yesterday too!

DD went with another Mango smoothie but I neglected to get a pic, sorry.

I’m usually all about tapas when I try new experiences but tonight I broke away from that and also didn’t… The DW and I each went with different versions of the Potji. DW chose Butter Chicken and Durban Shrimp with Five-Grain Pilaf

I went with the Butter Chicken and Spiced Lamb with Basmati Rice

DD went with the Tandoori Chicken

All I can say is the Butter Chicken was AMAZING!! I have never had it before and do not have anything to compare it to but it blew me away. The DW and I both loved our meal and the DD felt the Tandoori was ok, she probably wouldn’t get it again. For us Sanaa smashed it again! Love this place. With our bellies full we made for our room to relax before meeting up with my friends.

It was getting close to our meeting time so the DW and I decided to head over to Victoria Falls while our friends finished dinner. Thank you TiW for saving us here yet again! Can’t beat the freedom you get with this discount card!

DW went with a Chocolate Martini, tasted like and adult Yoo-hoo

I went with a Habanero Margarita, pretty decent!

After meeting with our friends for a little while we decided to check out the store here at Jambo. All trip long our DD had been dropping major hints of wanting the Vera Bradley Mini Hipster in Midnight with Mickey pattern, of course, to match her backpack and duffel bag. She was allotted a budget on this trip and it was either get this one thing or get a couple other things. She opted to get a shirt for herself and a Disney mug for a friend at school. Of course Zawadi just had to have the exact bag she wanted and here it was our last night in the bubble. DW and I couldn’t pass on it so we decided to surprise her with it

Some observations about Jambo; this place is BUSY! When compared to the peace and quiet of Kidani, Jambo almost feels like All Star Sports during Pop Warner. It was loud and full of people. The views and theming are still spectacular but boy is it busy over there! For the trip back we decide to skip the van and time ourselves to see what the walk is like. Folks tend to make it sound like quite the trek but we were surprised to see that it only took us 8:07 from lobby to lobby and that included one elevator trip from the garage level to the lobby level at Kidani! We took a leisurely pace too; mixed drinks will do that to ya ;-) Anyway, we surprised the DD with her bag and she was most appreciative and we called it a night. We’ve got rope drop at AK in the morning before making the trek home!

Up next: AK and we’re outta here!

 

[lostpro9het]

So we did a great job of getting up and at it early. We made rope drop and got to see Divine and the birds taking flight

We had some FPs for EE, the Safari and Dinosaur. We didn’t need the FP for Dinosaur as it was walk on at rope drop so we hit that up and walked right on to PW before making our way over to EE for our FP. We then made the walk over the Safari only to find out it was down! I’ve never seen this attraction go down so I was surprised. I checked my email and sure enough we were given a golden FP for any experience at the park so we decided to go back to EE for another ride promptly followed by one more single rider trip for kicks. It was now time for our closing ritual, one final Mickey Bar to say goodbye and head to the Georgia Mountains.

You’ll notice the DD is wearing her purchase in this picture, I’m also pretty sure she is tired of me taking this pic but oh well.

We hit Joffery’s on the way out to the car to grab some caffeine for the trip. While there we overheard some CMs in Brazilian shirts talking. It seems they were tour guides for the tour guides. Based on their discussion, let us just say that neither were looking forward to their task for the day.

So here we are at the last of it. Like I said before, I decided to focus less on TR this time and more enjoying the time. That last live TR took way too much time and resources so I hope you enjoyed this Cliff’s notes version of our trip. We had a great time and look forward to our future trips.
Some winners form this trip:
Sanaa
Trattoria al Forno
Being DVC members(discounts/DVD rentals/Typhoon Lagoon)
SunPass
Some disappointments:
My cell phone's inability to take consistently clear pictures
Rainforest Café
Kona dinner
Having to come home

Like I said before, it’s been a crazy week at work which is why it has taken so long to finish this but the “other” news is we drank the Kool-Aid even more! We just found a 50 point AKL contract with the same UY as our current AKL contract; so we pounced. We’ve been talking about needing this for future visits as we have outgrown the studio lifestyle and need a 1-bedroom to accommodate the teenage DD. These extra points will allow us to get in a 1-bedroom for a week every year and still have a few to bank which is ideal for us.

Again, hope you enjoyed the trip and keep your eye’s peeled as the next PTR is coming…like soon... DW and I are headed back to the Bubble for our anniversary Surf and Turf trip in September that includes Jambo, The Dream, and BLT!

Until next time!

 

[sheriffwoody]

Fantastic report! Congrats on the additional contract.

 

[wdisney9000]

Good stories, great pictures and lots of BEER!!! Thats what Im talkin 'bout!

Great report, buddy and congrats on the bonus DVC addition! Youve got quite a collection of points now. Victoria Falls is awesome. Its nothing fancy or heavily themed, just a cozy atmosphere and the aroma from Boma adds a nice little touch. We neglected it on our first stay at AKL, but not the last two. For our upcoming trip we want to add a few extra days and it will most likely be AKL, and Victoria Falls played a big part of that decision.

We havent done Sanaa yet and after reading your reviews I thinks its a "must do" for us now. Love the coffee mugs your wife got. We always buy one every trip for my wifes mom and I think she would like one, or ALL of those, (ya, Im gonna copy your idea and take credit for it, haha!) We got her the the Tree of Life coffee mug a few years ago and it kinda started a collection for her.

We have one of those Conservation pins as well from a few years ago. Theyre pretty sweet. I was stumbling around the resort with a Sam Adams while my wife took a nap when I discovered them. I tried to find it and snap a pic but its buried in a Disney box and Im not allowed to rummage through those. We have about 3 Disney memorabilia boxes and if I so much as breathe on them, she somehow knows. Im allowed to play with the Disney fridge magnets and thats about it, lol.

Cant wait for the PTR! What days in October will yall be down there? I see your countdown at 37 days but Im too lazy to do the math.

 

[lostpro9het]

Cant wait for the PTR! What days in October will yall be down there? I see your countdown at 37 days but Im too lazy to do the math.

Right now we plan on being there between September 16 through the 22nd with 3 days on The Dream in the middle. I'm lobbying hard with the DW to head down a day early.

It would be a thread between you and I if I didn't share what I'm supping on as I type this. The local growler guy mixed this up for me:

It's one part High Seas Peg Leg Imperial Stout mixed with three parts Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale, pretty good!

 

[worldfanatic]

Enjoyed the Report.
And glad you dove deeper into DVC. That's never a bad move.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

Ok, sorry about the delay I’ve been distracted by work and some “other” news I’ll share soon. I need to get on the ball and wrap this one up because I need to get on our next PTR!



Anyway, I left us off with a mediocre Kona experience that was saved by the Lapu Lapu. So here we are on our final full day in the bubble. We chose to make rope drop at HS today. We were armed fit FP for ToT, TSMM, and ST. We figured we’d single rider RR. An uneventful rope drop and we made for RR only to find that it was closed…again! I neglected to mention earlier that RR was also down just the other day when we were here! No biggie, ToT actually had a 10 minute wait so we chose to do one standby before using our FP.

Here you can see a poor Brazilian tour director collecting passes from her group as they enter the FP+ queue. We saw more than a few Brazilian groups this trip and they were noticeably well behaved and civil. She was probably managing 30+ kids at this moment.

On our way to TSMM we decided to take in the revamped TGMR. We hopped in a tram with a CM who was earning her ears and was being evaluated by a suit. I’ll give her this; she knew her lines so well it was like she was reading from the script…the whole time. Monotone robots do not make for entertaining guides. Other than the opening movie and the ending movie the ride appeared unchanged or even freshened up other than the Wicked Witch actually holding a broom and not a mop. So after TGMR, me dominating TSMM, and saving the rebel spy we made our way for Indy. It was a packed house. I think we’ve seen this experience far too many times and now take more joy in watching the newbs experience it for the first time than the actual show itself. We had a pair of young boys seated in front of us who clearly have never seen the show because they jumped at every exciting moment believing the danger was real. Earlier on we noticed that there had been no wait for ST so we changed our FP to LM and did standby for ST. Our FP for LM came right as Indy was ending so we headed over there for a nice 10 minute AC nap for me and a singalong for the DW and DD. This experience is in need of some freshening up but at least the AC was nice. It was lunch time now and we were ready to eat. We’re not big fans of the HS dining options and would have been just as happy to catch a boat to EC or the boardwalk for good food but the DD just HAD to have a turkey leg. So, we hunted down the spot and got her a leg. That thing was HEAVY! We shared it and a pretzel dog. DW and I also shared an Orange Blossom Pilsner.

After our lunch we were ready for some rest before the evening so we made for Kidani.



Up next: Parents trip to AK and Sanaa

I love Orange Blossom Pilsner!

 

[FlaggNL]

Thanks for the final updates!! A more than great TR!

 

[blreinsel]

Always love your TR's.. this one was no exception! Excited for the next one.

 

[RyPat]

Aw man... now all I can think about is the Butter Chicken from Sanaa

 

[lostpro9het]

Always love your TR's.. this one was no exception! Excited for the next one.

Thanks! I was personally disappointed with the lack of detail on this one but the flip side is I had a killer time with the family! Just started the PTR for part two of the banked point saga here!

Aw man... now all I can think about is the Butter Chicken from Sanaa

You and me both! We may have to make an impromptu Sanaa stop in September while at Jambo so I can get some more!

 

[coachwnh]

Thanks for the Sanaa pictures. One of my favorites! Love the beer shots, too.

 

[blreinsel]

Thanks! I was personally disappointed with the lack of detail on this one but the flip side is I had a killer time with the family! Just started the PTR for part two of the banked point saga here!

Following the PTR of course! Also, I forgot to mention that I was laughing uncontrollably at your story about the breast feeding mom. I have the same feelings about it, and still can't wrap my head around her feeding while floating. There are things that you see at Disney that you just don't see anywhere else.