Trip Report COMPLETED: Not even first world problems can hold us back: Live Trip Report

Very brief pre trip report can be seen here:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...est-but-settling-for-wild-africa-trek.898851/

We left Tifton around 4:20am only stopping once along the way for some spicy chicken biscuits. We arrived inside the bubble by 8:00 and headed straight for WL! We arrived at the lodge and dropped off some luggage for bell services:

I parked the car and we made our way for check-in. Being that it was barely 8:30, we just wanted to make sure we got a text telling us our room was ready. After about 6ish minutes with a wonderful CM, Sarita, she told us they would text us when our room was ready and asked to confirm our number and email. In the time it took us to say hi and confirm our contact info our room became available!! She arranged for bell service to bring the luggage up and we went up to check out the room. Let's do this!

Love the detail in the elevator:

We had a standard view room and if you didn't look down, we had a pretty great view:

Once we were done with the room we made our way to the boat to take on MK for a bit:

First thing we had to do is visit guest services to purchase our APs and TiW card. Seems like many folks were having issues with bands/passes because the line for GS was pretty long. After about 15 minutes in line and another 15 minutes with an exceptional CM, we were armed with linked APs and a TiW card. We quickly made some FP+ pics for BTM, SM, and Buzz.

The DW says it feels like a 6 for the crowds, I was thinking 7.5:

Of the way to BTM we couldn't pass up a 5 minute wait for pirates:

Hit up HM on our way to SM via FL:

We're still shaking off the ride photo rust here but don't worry, we'll step up our game:

Lunch time, Pecos Bill is what it is but had to try the new waffle fries, these are the BLT ones:

Disney says $8, but they really should be priced around $5. They tasted pretty good but we wouldn't do them again due to the cost : portion ratio.

All filled up we decided to head back to the lodge for some pool time and rest before we hit up AK and then our ADRs at The Wave. Enjoyed these by the pool:

Island moonshine on the right on the right
Captains mai tai on the left.
Both were ok.

We're headed to AK now the dinner at The Wave followed by MK til 2am for dessert...

 

[lostpro9het]

This turtle looks like he's had a rough day.

He was actually pretty alert. This was him sprinting from his food area to his watering hole.

 

[bucklepants]

Loving your TR!!!!! Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[FlaggNL]

Wow what a great TR!! Thanks for sharing this live!! Seems like a more than wonderful trip!

 

[littleroo]

Thanks for taking us with you! Loved it from start to finish!

 

[lostpro9het]

I'm not quite finished yet. I still have a few photos and a closing thoughts from the trip before I wrap this one up. Still adjusting to the real world but should have this report finalized this week. Here are a few from our final morning:

 

[mrdrift]

Love the pictures from the rides, very funny. Following along.

 

[fractal]

OK - Great Report! Love the humor and all the ride pictures. Sanna is great and I'm now more tempted than ever to book AKL for our next trip.
Golden Monkey - great beer and has high alchohol content. Must be careful, as I've discovered or the Golden Monkey can whack you for a loop.

Looking forward to the wrap!

 

[littlered]

we arrived on the 3rd, the cheerleaders were annoying

 

[WDW_Jon]

Not usually into trip reports but I've enjoyed this! Good work!

 

[lostpro9het]

we arrived on the 3rd, the cheerleaders were annoying

Fortunately not many, or any, stayed at WL or AKL so we only had to deal with them in a few queues.

Not usually into trip reports but I've enjoyed this! Good work!

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[lostpro9het]

Still working to close this report out but thought I would share what we found close to home. We had never had either of these two brews before our trip but were blown away by them. Low and behold our local Kroger carries golden monkey(which we had at Kidani's pool)! Had to go a little further to a beer shop for the Trois Pistoles(the draft we had at Le Cel and Canada)

Should close this out this weekend, still adjusting to normal life...

 

[Maelstrom Troll]

Great TR and thanks for all of the beer reviews. I love Unibroue's la Fin du monde, but haven't tried the trois pistoles. Golden Monkey looks good as well since I love high alcohol Belgians/ Belgian style ales. The Moretti beers are alright with the la rossa being much better than the regular Moretti. Both still have a rusty character which I don't much care for.

I liked all of your funny ride pics, definitely some great ideas for when we venture back (prob 2017). Thanks for letting us tag along!

 

[lostpro9het]

OK, so here it is just a little over week since we returned. The shock of the real world took its toll J. Well as you could see we ended our week with a quick trip to AK. We got up about an hour and a half before rope drop, cleaned up, packed, and said goodbye to the savanna then headed to the car. Another thing I like about AKL is while it has a perceived secluded locale it is still a short 5 minute drive to the best coffee on earth, as well as some of the touristy spots known to man! Since we were just 5 minutes from Dunkin Donuts on 192, we decided to swing by Dunkin before AK rope drop. Fueled up on donuts and coffee we, in the span of 1.5 hours, road dinosaur, PE, EE 4 times, walked both animal trails, and grabbed the DD a pineapple dole whip from Tamu Tamu, sans the rum of course. With that, we kissed AK goodbye, gassed up and headed home before 11am. We were fortunate enough to make it home in outstanding time despite this happening:



http://www.cbs46.com/story/29014234/plane-crash-closes-i-285



Around the same time we left AK, a plane crashed on the highway near the route we were headed! There would be no way for us to avoid the aftermath as it would affect GA400, I-85, and I-75…or so we thought. In the time it took us to get from Orlando to Atlanta they had cleared most all of it and traffic was flowing brilliantly. We were checking the local traffic app the entire trip home and could not believe it when it indicated traffic was clear. To give perspective, the previous Friday when we were on our way to Orlando, it took us an hour to get from the north side to the south side. On the way back it took us about 30 minutes to go from the south side to the north side…with a plane crash!



So now were home, and in the course of a week so much has happened! First, around Tuesday we got our AP bands in!

Then on Wednesday morning we were notified that our resale contract for AKL finally had the estoppel paperwork cleared! It had been over a 2 months since we signed our buyer agreement and wondered how long this was going to take. Our agent emailed us our closing docs for signature. Being excited newbs, we immediately printed and signed the docs and went to the bank to have the cashier’s check created. Literally, in less than an hour from receiving the closing email we had an overnight envelope headed to Orlando! On Thursday they confirmed they received the envelop and on Friday we closed!! Now we just wait for the points! Still riding the DVC high!!



Ok, ok, ok back to closing this trip report. So, some takeaways that we have from this trip:

While this is our 4th trip since FP+ came along we learned that if you attempt to reserve your FP day of, or even a couple days before, you can most certainly forget about getting a 7DMT, and maybe even TSMM on most days. We had always planned our FP 30+ days in advance before but since we allowed our Aps to expire we did not have a valid ticket to reserve with despite having room reservations. Now that we can take advantage of the DVC AP renewal rate I don’t see us letting our Aps lapse again for a while, unless the discount goes away.



Le Cell is just bad, especially to be a sig. The DW and I had a mediocre experience 2 years ago and decided to give it another chance but won’t make that, mistake again. At least it wasn’t a total loss as it did open our eyes to a fantastic brew.



Resort dining is awesome! It’s becoming more and more clear that the best food options in the bubble are at the resorts. Il Mulino, The Wave, Sanaa, Kona Café, Yachtsman, and even Beaches & Cream have some of the best food options and, dare I say, value on property. Outside of a few QS locations I’m not sure we sit down for food at the parks much anymore. I’ve heard awesome things about the Brown Derby and we’ve yet to experience so We may give that a go in the future but that’s about it.

Selfie sticks may be the new scooter. While there are still plenty of scooters around, the amount of selfie sticks in use is significant. I predict a newsworthy bodily harm accident in the near future involving a guest accidently walking into someone/something while walking and taking a selfie.



We purchased Memory Maker for this trip. This would be the third time we’ve opted for this and when you take away all the stock photos they include I think we were close to 300 pics, maybe more, and half a dozen videos. We were actually involved in the early testing of MM two Christmases ago and it was a nightmare then, lost photos, other people’s photo’s showing on our account and having to tap a card AND our band. They have come a long way and improved on everything about this! Pics show to your account in minutes, unless they are shirtless pics, and you no longer need to tap for the ride photos, a huge plus!



We may move from being studio people to 1-bedroom people. The limited availability of decent eating is become more noticeable and now we are considering going 1-bedroom for the full kitchen and cooking our meals, maybe reserving 1 or 2 meals at a sit down. We are still thinking that one over.



The magic is still there, at least for us. We’ve gone at least 8 times in the last 3 years and it’s still awesome for our family. We have no problem getting immersed in the theming and magic while forgetting about reality. The parks and resorts are always spotless and we still enjoy the busses, as much as anyone can.



Moving forward, thanks to some banked points in our contract, we plan at least three more visits this year. We are hoping to get in a 3-4 day weekend trip in July followed by an anniversary trip for the DW and I in September then a week during Christmas.



I’m not sure I’d ever do a live TR again. While it was a little fun it was also a major labor! The amount of time I spent on my phone was almost regrettable but I also know how it feels to be on the other side of the forum enjoying a good TR. It would probably be a while while before I’d ever do a live TR again but will continue with post trip reports as they are less demanding.



Well that’s it folks! Thanks for following along. I hope you enjoyed it as much as we had living it. I’ll leave you with a few MM shots to remember us by:

 

[lostpro9het]

One more thing!
The Wild Africa Trek, I highly recommend this tour to anyone looking for a unique disney experience. While I personally still rate the Epcot Seas Aqua Tour my #1, this is still the DW and DD favorite and a very close second for me. The price can seem a but high but you do get 3hours of tour, a unique lunch experience, a water bottle and all the picture they take during the experience. Lots of fun!

 

[lostpro9het]

True story, almost exactly one year ago today we ate at Teppan Edo and had a chef named Naoki. We remember him because he chatted us up when he learned we were from Georgia. He mentioned he was stationed at Fort Benning and knew of a local camp near us. Well the DW and I just so happened to be talking before dinner how neat it would be if he cooked for us again. Well, a little Disney magic and bam...
Naoki!

While looking through some photos today I came across our first meeting with Naoki that I had to share!!

Still hard to believe that we had the same cook on consecutive visits but a year apart!

 

[Bedknobs and Broomsticks]

Love the WAT photos! You have a lovely family. What time of day was your trek?

 

[lostpro9het]

Love the WAT photos! You have a lovely family. What time of day was your trek?

Thanks! Our trek was on Tuesday May 5th at 12:30.

 

[P_Radden]

I'm a little late here, but...Awesome report!! Looks like you guys had a great time. Your ride photos are great too haha! I look forward to reading your other reports.

 

[lostpro9het]

I'm a little late here, but...Awesome report!! Looks like you guys had a great time. Your ride photos are great too haha! I look forward to reading your other reports.

Thanks so much! I hope the others are just as enjoyable!