Trip Report Even the Ostrich Wore a MagicBand! An August 2013 TR

Welcome back! Some of you may remember reading about my trip a couple months ago filled with cupcakes, cupcakes, and rain (this exciting adventure can be found here). That trip was our introduction to the summer- now it’s time for the real-deal vacation! Before we get on with our adventure, here’s a little info:

Who: Me, Trolley (or Emily), my Mom (@Tuvalu), Dad, and a special appearance by Big Brother at the end of the trip!

When: August 3-11, 2013

Where: Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge and Disney’s Polynesian Resort (go big or go home, in my opinion!)

MagicBands: Prior to leaving for our vacation, I was out of the country for two and a half weeks. While abroad, I got an email from Mom saying we had been selected for the trial of MagicBands and she wanted to know my opinion about participating. Before I had a chance to answer, I got another email saying my band was pink and our FP+ reservations were booked. I totally would have given my mom the green light, but I guess she was so excited to get selected for something, she jumped the gun . Our MagicBands arrived FedEx in a cool package. Initially, I was not in favor of wearing the MagicBand or participating in FP+. However, keep reading and my opinion may surprise you…





Alright, enough talking. Everybody neat and pretty? Then, let’s get on with the show!

August 3: Arrival Day!

We were on the road by 6:20 and made a quick Chick-fil-A stop in Macon (gotta have my biscuit fix!). We didn’t stop again until Gainesville where we lunched at Sonny’s BBQ. Full bellies later, we were back on the road and arriving at WDW in no time.

We arrived at Animal Kingdom Lodge around 2:30. It was a very unusual choice for us, considering we don’t really like animals or Animal Kingdom, but I have this weird desire to stay at every non-DVC resort on property. With the AKL stay, I will have conquered every deluxe! I’m not going to lie, the lobby is beautiful. Not quite Wilderness Lodge standards, but pretty close.

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

We checked in and then took the long route to our room. Seriously, it took us a good 7 minutes from the lobby to our room (and we are fast walkers!). We were disappointed that we did not overlook the main savannah, however the Sunset Savannah turned out to be an awesome view.



We could hear the noises they use to call the animals in to eat and then we would laugh as a certain type of animal would go galloping towards the fence.



There they go!











This sign cracked me up:



We couldn’t hang around the hotel too long- we had some FP+ reservations! We popped on our MagicBands and drove to the Studios. While on the tram from the parking lot, we joked about how soon someone would ask us about the bands. Wouldn’t you know that someone sat down next to us at that moment and started talking to us! Entry into the Studios was a breeze, just tap the band, scan your finger, and walk right in! Since we are Passholders, we still have our tickets and could have used one of the turnstile entrances as well. However, there were only about two and the touch-to-enter system is very easy.



Introducing traveling Mike. He traveled to Europe with me, so it was only fitting he come to the World!

Our first FP+ selection was Great Movie Ride. The standby line was only 10 minutes, but the cast members got so excited when they saw we had MagicBands. This was a theme that lasted through the rest of the week- Cast Members loved working with the new technology. It was odd for them to personally thank us by name, as your name encoded on the band shows up on the CM screen.



They were only running one car, so we had the Gangster scene. We had a great male gangster (I always get sick of the Grandma Gangsters!).

Our next FP+ was for MuppetVision 3D.



As soon as I took this picture, the skies opened up and it started pouring. We ran into Muppets, but our MagicBands were useless as bunches of people flooded in the FP+ entrance behind us. The CM didn’t care if we scanned our bands or not. When the movie ended, it had stopped raining so we headed to the ABC Commissary for dinner.

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

We must have taken the long way because we ran into my favorite comedian (plus Mike!)



I’m not a huge fan of the CS locations at DHS. However, we desperately wanted to eat inside due to the iffy and hot weather, so the Commissary it was! It was very quiet, which was nice, and we all found ourselves sucked in to the behind the scenes TV aired.


Oh, hey MagicBand!

I had the kids turkey sandwich, which was such a delight to find on Goldfish bread! My mom had the Asian Chicken Salad, which she really enjoyed, and my dad had the burger. It probably was good, I don’t remember him saying that it wasn’t.







I really wanted some ice cream for dessert, so we headed to Hollywood Scoops. Usually I would pick Dinosaur Gertie’s, but that’s only open once in a blue moon. I really wanted chocolate ice cream in a cone, which is what I ordered, but it came in a cup with the cone stuck on top. Hmm…



So I made my own ice cream cone by scooping the ice cream onto the cone. Problem solved.

 

[jkl2000]

Great to see your next TR!

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

Great to see your next TR!

Thanks for coming back!!

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

We headed to the BAH and the even uglier stage to catch some of the Monsters University show. I’m a Monsters inc. junkie so I was really excited to see Mike and Sulley.





We waited, and waited, and waited listening to a DJ play awful remixes and then finally Scare Supply came on. They were much better than the DJ.











Finally, the waiting paid off- guess who showed up to the party! Unfortunately, so did a mob of people so I got a lot of heads in my shot.








Sulley and Mike got down!

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

After Sulley and Mike left the party, we dove under the sea with Ariel. This is my favorite show at DHS and it was great tonight!



Ariel, you went up to the surface again, didn’t you?!





She’s got whose-its and whats-its galore!

Don’t underestimate the importance of body language!





Hey, pre-recorded Eric!





Cute fake-kiss to end the show!

 

[Tiggerish]

Woot, your next trip report!!

Love the photos of Travelin' Mike on the monster toss boards, too cute. And geez, you'd think they'd only put ice cream cones into a cup for small children...weird.

Looking forward to the rest.

 

[WDW_Princess24]

Loving the TR so far, I was actually there at the same time as you! Can't wait to hear about your experience with the magicband, im kinda on the fence with the whole thing.

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

Woot, your next trip report!!

Love the photos of Travelin' Mike on the monster toss boards, too cute. And geez, you'd think they'd only put ice cream cones into a cup for small children...weird.

Looking forward to the rest.

Thanks for reading! I was really surprised about the ice cream cone. It cost the same amount whether you got it in a cup or cone, so basically I got the cone for free. They gave a lot of ice cream, but still. Keep a lookout for more Mike pics!

Loving the TR so far, I was actually there at the same time as you! Can't wait to hear about your experience with the magicband, im kinda on the fence with the whole thing.

I was really unsure about it before we left. It wasn't so much the MagicBands that I enjoyed, but the FP+. We were always given plenty of time options if we wanted to switch our FP reservation, but I don't know when everyone is doing it if it'll be as pleasant. Thanks for reading- I hope you start a TR for your trip !

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

After Ariel, we headed to our final FP+ reservation- Fantasmic! My mom and I recently saw Fantasmic! in Disneyland (the adventure can be found here), so we really wanted to compare it to WDW. We had seen it several years ago, but couldn’t remember exactly why we didn’t like it then. SPOILER ALERT: We remembered.

We got to the theater about 20 minutes before the show and had our pick of a pretty empty section! It was great. The FP+ section is directly in the middle (better seats then the Dining Package!).




Oh, cheesy long and boring Pocahontas section- how I remembered that I really don’t like you!

Ok, Princesses are a little more acceptable!








Mickey’s dream is about to turn into a nightmare!

 

[jkl2000]

Wow, Fantasmic looks pretty cool to me. Not seen it yet!

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

Mickey’s melting from the fire!




Cue the happy ending!





Some imagination, huh?

Our review of the show? Meh. Now I remember why we never made the effort to see it again. I really want to like it, but it just doesn’t do a whole lot for me. I can’t exactly pinpoint specifically what it is I don’t like, but the whole show doesn’t give me a special feeling. Oh, and TDO- get rid of Pocahontas and give us Hook and Pan on the Columbia!

Overall, it was worth seeing with the MagicBands. When they are released to the general public, however, I don’t know if it will be as good of an experience (but this was a general sentiment we had throughout the week). We had great seats, limited wait time, and caught a tiny bit of Illuminations from the theater so it was a win-win!

We mosied out of the theater with 8,000 other fans and got to our car. We arrived back at the AKL to find no animals on the Savannah. Made it easy to go to bed!

Up Next: a Morning at AK and exploring the AKL!

 

[Tiggerish]

The first time I saw Fantasmic!, I started crying when the steamboat full of characters appeared. That was the best part of the show for me. But the rest of the show, as you say, wasn't special enough to bring me back more than a second time. And the Pocahontas section really dates it--that shows that F! hasn't been updated since 1995!!! We were at WDW in June '95 right as Pocahontas was about to be released, and they were just shoving her down everyone's throats to promote the movie, she was everywhere! So much so that we were turned off, didn't even see the movie in theaters.

Great photos, though!

 

[farrellbarrel]

Awesome photos so far! Cannot wait for more!!

 

[disneyfan1995]

Great pictures!!! Since when is Tiana on the boat at the end?

 

[fractal]

Great start! Love the pics and I agree with you on Pocahontas. AKL looks like such a cool place to stay.

 

[tare]

Love the cameras in use photo.

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

The first time I saw Fantasmic!, I started crying when the steamboat full of characters appeared. That was the best part of the show for me. But the rest of the show, as you say, wasn't special enough to bring me back more than a second time. And the Pocahontas section really dates it--that shows that F! hasn't been updated since 1995!!! We were at WDW in June '95 right as Pocahontas was about to be released, and they were just shoving her down everyone's throats to promote the movie, she was everywhere! So much so that we were turned off, didn't even see the movie in theaters.

Great photos, though!

I think it's ridiculous that the show hasn't been updated in 18 years and Pocahontas just isn't popular anymore. I don't blame you for not seeing the movie. The best part of F! is definitely the steamboat, I actually really love the music at the end. At least I got to take pictures during the show to distract me a little!

Awesome photos so far! Cannot wait for more!!

Thanks for reading!

Great pictures!!! Since when is Tiana on the boat at the end?

I have no idea when Tiana joined the boat, I hadn't seen WDW F! since 2010, and then it was way in the back of the theater. I assume probably sometime after Princess and the Frog came out? She's actually a pretty popular character.

Great start! Love the pics and I agree with you on Pocahontas. AKL looks like such a cool place to stay.

Thanks, fractal! AKL surprised me- I enjoyed it so much more than I expected. I would definitely consider it a lower-end deluxe (on par amenities/decoration wise with WL). Thanks for reading- I'm loving your TR!

Love the cameras in use photo.

Thanks for reading!

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

August 4: Hanging with the Animals

Having been out of the country for most of July, I was not able to run. I’m starting to train for the half marathon I’m running on Thanksgiving, so I desperately needed to get back into running mode. That being said, I was awake at the insane hour of 6:15 to head to the fitness center. It was a maze to get there, and I didn’t really know where it was. The first floor of AKL is only accessible from certain areas of the hotel, and it wasn’t from the elevator near our room. Needless to say, I had to walk all the way to the lobby and ask how to get to the fitness center- which ended up being outside around the pool to the right. I pretty much had my warm-up getting to there.

Three miles (ugh) later, I cooled down by strolling back to the room. While I got ready, my dad took some animal pictures off our balcony.


Hulllllooooo Zeeba Neighba! (Pearls Before Swine? Anyone?)

It was about this time that an ostrich walked by our room. My dad shouted, “Even the ostrich wears a MagicBand!” when he saw the tag on its leg was gray and looked just like a MagicBand. We had been joking how weird it will look with everyone wearing the bands, and now Disney was even subjecting the animals to it!

Finally we were all starving and headed to the Mara for breakfast. Even though we again had to take the walking safari to the lobby, go down the stairs and around the pool, I was pleasantly surprised with the food court. The size and number of tables were perfect, and despite the size it was pretty quiet. It still had the intimate feelings of a deluxe resort food court, yet the functionality of a value.

Mom and I split these two beauties:





The winner? The chocolate croissant. That thing was SO good! Dad had some sort of breakfast sandwich:



I also had a carton of my favorite Mickey milk. I don’t know why, but milk just tastes better when you drink it out of a carton with Mickey on it. Plus, I feel like a kid which is kinda fun too!



We finished our breakfast and then walked to the bus stop. The best thing about staying at AKL is the short and frequent busses to AK! We’re not huge AK fans, especially in the heat of August, but we figured we were so close and also wanted to spend a good part of the day at the AKL pool. When we arrived at AK, the first destination was for our FP+ ride on Dinosaur!





There was no line for Primeval Hurl Whirl, so my dad and I took a quick spin. It was super bumpy, but nice that we could spread out in the car and not share it with another party.



It was at this point that my mom tested the FP system. We had wondered if we would still be eligible for paper FP with utilizing the FP+. Turns out we could! She stuck her ticket in the Primeval Whirl FastPass machine and it spit out a good FP! We didn’t utilize this bonus at AK, but definitely used it later on in the week.

We rode Dinosaur, were almost caught in the meteor impact, and then headed to Expedition: Everest. It wasn’t quite time for our FP+ yet, so we rode as single riders. After that, we headed to the 10:30 show of Flights of Wonder. We used to see this show all the time, but haven’t in several trips so we decided it would be a good way to take a sitting break.