Trip Report Feelin' hot, Hot, HOT!

How on earth are we back already! But, that's the way it always goes when you go on vacation - you're back before you even know it! We had a great trip with many new experiences, new foods and great, great memories! We had an interesting flight down, a more interesting flight back (details later!) and if you hadn't guessed, it was HOT!

I'm still getting my notes and photos organized, so I will update this TR soon, but wanted to share that the "G" Family has a new addition!! Prior to our trip, we had filled out an application at our local Humane Society to adopt a kitten. We received a call on the Friday we were getting packed up to leave that our application had been approved and that we could pick up the kitten any time that worked for us. I explained we were heading out of town for a week and asked if we could pick her up after we returned and they of course said not a problem. So now we had something fun to look forward to upon our return! When we got home this past Friday, we weren't even in the door 15 minutes and we drove over to the Humane Society to pick her up:happy: Meet Belle:inlove::inlove:

Belle 1.jpg


Belle 2.jpg


Belle 3.jpg


She is just the sweetest thing and is very loved in our home!

Be back soon! I see lots of TR's I need to catch up on too:)
 

DisneyGigi

Well-Known Member
We had a really awesome server, Joanna – she was super attentive and very engaging. We started out with a beverage order – we chose drinks that weren’t included in the package – Brian and I each had a beer and Emily had a non-alcoholic mojito. She brought our beverages and bread and dipping oil.

View attachment 231854

Then she took our appetizer order (and would take our entree order once our appetizers were delivered). I had the Caprese salad

View attachment 231855

Emily had the mushroom flatbread

View attachment 231857

Brian had the calamari

View attachment 231859

My "salad" and Emily's flatbread were very, very good. I would not try Brian's calamari:hungover::hungover:

Entrees!

Emily had the chicken penne pasta with Alfredo sauce

View attachment 231860

And Brian and I both had the strip steak with four cheese macaroni.

View attachment 231861

Oh my goodness this meal was so fantastic!!! We were all stuffed at this point – I couldn’t eat all of my steak, but I did eat all of the macaroni! We all received the same desert – a trio of lemon cheesecake with passion fruit pearls, tiramisu and blood orange cake. We tried them all, but just couldn’t finish everything. I thought they all tasted very good.

View attachment 231862

We would definitely go back and do this again!

It was raining while we were having lunch, but it stopped just in time for us to head out of the park:happy:

View attachment 231863

View attachment 231864
I love Mama Melrose! The tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella were amazing. I hated it was shut down last minute and we didn't get to eat there this year. Hollywood Brown Derby was good too, but if we had to use the two credits it normally is, would choose Mama Melrose over it.
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I love Mama Melrose! The tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella were amazing. I hated it was shut down last minute and we didn't get to eat there this year. Hollywood Brown Derby was good too, but if we had to use the two credits it normally is, would choose Mama Melrose over it.
Have never done Brown Derby but would like to try it out some time just to try the grapefruit cake:hungry: But Mama Melrose sure was gooood!
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Tuesday, August 22nd

We set the alarm for 7:15 this morning – we wanted to try to get to Animal Kingdom early so we could get in line for Na’vi Journey before the line got too long and we had a Fast Pass for Flight of Passage later that evening. We were all up and at ‘em quickly as we were all excited to see Pandora – The World of Avatar.

We got down to the bus stop for AK and there were a few people there already, mostly waiting on benches but a few just standing around (maybe a total of 20 people between sitting and standing). Well up walks this family of four – mom, dad and two late-teen sons. She walks right to the line where the bus would load (the bus isn’t even there yet) and stands to get on the bus first. No concern for anyone else who had been there before she and her family:rolleyes:

The bus was there about 15 minutes after we got to the bus stop. The bus was already quite full because the bus goes to Yacht Club first, so there were no seats, we all just had to stand. No big deal, we did it many times that trip – I was just glad not to have to drive! We arrived at AK and the entitled lady and her men practically ran off the bus and sped walked past everyone as if trying to get to the front of the line again! Good luck lady! The line to get into the park was huge! Security was quick to check my bag, so that was good. And lo and behold, we made it into the park before the entitled lady and her family! Good thing she rushed so hard to get into the front of every line:hilarious:

Stopped for a photo in front of the Tree of Life

AK Random.jpg


:confused: That's not us (cute family though!)!! OMG I laughed so hard when we got home and I down loaded all of our Photopass photos and came across this lovely family's photos! But thankfully when I reached out to Disney, they were able to locate ours too!

Tree 3.jpg


We followed the mass of people heading over to Pandora and I bet 98% of the people went to Flight of Passage but we kept on going to Na’vi Journey! Our impression when we first arrived - WOW! We actually quite enjoyed the land. We had just watched Avatar about two weeks before our trip, so many of the details looked familiar to us from the movie.

Pandora.jpg


Pandora 1.jpg


The standby for Na’vi Journey said 15 minutes, but we walked right on – never even stopped once! There was a couple walking right behind us who had been in line for FoP but thought the line was shorter than what they had thought, but then realized it snaked all the way through the entire land, so they hopped out of line. Glad we weren't in that line - he said it was already listed at 180 minutes and it was only 9:00:jawdrop:

A few photos from the queue, not the greatest, but we were at a steady walk while taking them!

Navi.jpg


Navi 1.jpg


Navi 11.jpg


Navi 2.jpg


Our boat - it is small!

Navi 3.jpg
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
A few photos from inside the ride:

Navi 4.jpg


Navi 5.jpg


Navi 6.jpg


Navi 7.jpg


Navi 8.jpg


Navi 9.jpg


Navi 10.jpg


We enjoyed the ride. It's short, but also well themed from the movie. After the ride was finished, we decided to ride again because the standby line was still 15 minutes and again, practically a walk on with the exception of a few who had a Fast Pass for it. So happy we went on it twice in a row as the line was never less than 90 minutes the rest of the day.

We stopped for a couple of photos:

Pandora AM 1.jpg


Pandora AM 3.jpg
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We made our way over to Kilimanjaro Safari, past the Festival of the Lion King Theater. The line for FoP was all the way down to almost the theater! It was crazy....and HOT!!! We got into the standby line for KS and it was only a 10 minute wait - yay! There were plenty of animals out and about this morning.

Our ride

KS.jpg


Someone was playing in the mud!

KS 1.jpg


KS 2.jpg


Poor thing just wants some shade in this heat!

KS 3.jpg


KS 4.jpg


OMG couldn't you just sit and watch them all day!!:inlove:

KS 5.jpg


I see you!

KS 6.jpg


KS 7.jpg


Not the best photo, but you can see the baby elephant next to the mama:)

KS 8.jpg


KS 9.jpg
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Finishing off our safari

KS 10.jpg


Its amazing how close these creatures get to the vehicle.

KS 11.jpg


The sunlight was shining just right so the lions were in the shade, but tried to catch them!

KS 12.jpg


Lazy morning!

KS 13.jpg


The warthog behind the log is trying to dig a hole - it was so funny watching him!

KS 14.jpg


KS 15.jpg


Our driver said he was bit by an ostrich once while driving:eek:

KS 16.jpg


We really enjoy this - the ride can be awfully bumpy but the animals you see roaming around is just amazing.

After our 2 week safari was finally complete, we headed off to Asia to conquer a mountain!
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Still in line!

Better than hairbands, I guess?

EE 7.jpg


EE 8.jpg


EE 9.jpg


EE 10.jpg


At this point, the line stopped. I'm sure they announced the ride was temporarily closed, but with everyone talking in line we really couldn't hear what they said, so we decided to just wait it out for a bit. Emily studied the map while waiting (we never use them, but I always grab a couple for souvenirs:))

EE 11.jpg


I'm guessing we stood still for about 15 minutes. It wasn't terrible, but oh my goodness it was so hot in that queue:grumpy:

The line started to finally move and knew we were getting close when we see this!

EE 12.jpg
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We hadn’t been on Dinosaur in a while, so we went there next.

Dinosaur 1.jpg


Dinosaur 2.jpg


Dinosaur 3.jpg


The standby line was only 10 minutes, so we were able to get on quite quickly. But as we were heading into the first room, where the maze starts, a guy and his family opened up one of the chains and butt in line in front of a bunch of people! It was so rude!! The guy right behind him that he went in front of I think was about to start something, but the wife stopped anything before it started. Some people!

Dinosaur 4.jpg


Dinosaur 5.jpg


enhance.jpg


I have a love/hate relationship with this ride! I love the theming, etc. but holy crap the dinosaurs just scare the you know what out of me!!

After Dinosaur, we made our way all the way over to our favorite show on property:inlove:

AK 4.jpg
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Festival of the Lion King! Standby was pretty quick to get in, so we didn’t have to wait too long in the hot sun. We were in the Warthog section this time – every other time we were in the lion section! But it is fun no matter where you sit. (Ugh, my photos are not all that good, so I'll just post a few that did turn out)

FoLK.jpg


FoLK 1.jpg


FoLK 2.jpg


FoLK3.jpg


FoLK4.jpg


Not sure why, but the tumble monkeys weren’t doing their trapeze act this time. Just bouncing around on the trampoline, and only 3 were performing.

FoLK5.jpg


FoLK 6.jpg


FoLK 7.jpg


We decided it was time to head out and go back to the Beach Club and head to the pool. We were all pretty much starving at this point because all we had eaten was a granola bar earlier that morning, so we went to look for a pretzel. No pretzel to be found, so we settled on candied almonds on a cart right in Harambe. We were going to get a beer there as well, but they were out of beer, so we went to Dawa Bar instead and grabbed two beers for our walk out of the park. It was very busy there today!

We made our way to the bus stop and there weren’t a lot of people to get on so we were able to get seats. Noticed this family where the mom and two kids sat on one side of the bus and she kind of entertained them throughout the trip back while the dad sat on the other side and stared at his phone the entire bus ride back:( Hopefully he was working and took the time on the bus to do it so they could have quality time later.
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We hurried back to the room so we could change, but our room was being cleaned! We went in and asked if we could change quick into our suits, so we did it very quickly - I think we were in and out in less than 5 minutes! Took this while waiting for the elevator - I love all of the flowers they have scattered around the hotel:)

BC.jpg


We found three seats together and set our stuff down so we could head over to Hurricane Hannah’s and have some lunch.

We were hoping there would be a table in the shade since we didn’t want to eat our lunch out in the blazing sun, and thankfully there was! I sat and guarded the table while Brian and Emily went off to order lunch. There was a table of kids sitting next to me and they were swatting at a bee that was near them – the bee flew away and I told them that it did. Well then they started up a full on conversation with me! They were telling me that one of the kids got stung by a bee while on Expedition Everest and then asked if I had ever been on EE. I told them were just there this morning. They said they were in AK too and had been on FoP and loved the ride and tey weren’t even scared:)! It was a cute interaction with them.

Lunch! Brian and I had a chicken sandwich with arugula and sun-dried tomato goat cheese:hungry::hungry: Oh my goodness it was good.

HH.jpg


Emily got chicken nuggets. They are actually quite good as well!

HH 1.jpg


After our lunch we spent most of the afternoon in the pool. I mean why not when the weather is like this

HH 2.jpg


:in pain::in pain: After swimming in Stormalong Bay we decided to give the quiet pool a try since the main pool area was so busy. Brian walked down there to see how busy it was and said there were plenty of chairs there and some were even in the shade. So we packed up and walked over there. We took three chairs in the shade by the hot tub. Brian tried to take a nap. Emily and I walked into the pool, but the water was actually quite cold so we were only in for a few minutes and then went and relaxed on the chairs. We only stayed about 30 minutes but we actually were able to cool off a bit there. After our relaxation, we went up to the room to get ready to go into AK for the evening!

The bus to AK was pretty quick – we only waited about 10 minutes at the bus stop. We got to the park about 5:30.

AK 5.jpg


Should have taken this photo in the morning when we first got there.

AK 6.jpg


We had a FP for EE first, so we walked toward Asia.

AK 7.jpg


Our FP was up for EE:) FP line moved very quickly!

Everest PM.jpeg


We stopped and picked up a drink at the refreshment stand right outside of EE. I got a Himalayan Ghost, which is almost like vodka lemonade with some guava juice.

AK 8.jpg


Very, very good and refreshing. Brian got a beer. We strolled over to Pandora and just enjoyed the sights and sounds of AK!

AK 9.jpg
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
More of Pandora!

Pandora 18.jpg


Pandora 19.jpg


Pandora 20.jpg


Pandora 21.jpg


Pandora 22.jpg


Pandora 24.jpg


Emily went to look inside Windtraders again, she wanted to get a pin from Pandora. While she shopped I stood in line and got her a Lotus Blossom drink and Brian and I shared the Hawkes’ Grog Ale which is the green beer. It was very, very good! I liked the fruity hint to it.

Pandora 23.jpg


I think Emily liked hers too!

Pandora 25.jpg
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It was finally time to ride the ride we were most excited to for the entire trip – Flight of Passage!! We hoped into the FP line and standby showed 110 minutes at that point. We walked right into the building! I didn't take many photos while walking in as I just wanted to take in the details.

FoP.jpg


FoP 1.jpg


FoP 2.jpg


FoP 3.jpg


Once we got inside, we did have a little wait, but we chit chatted with a couple of ladies and a little girl about their trip. They had been on FoP like five times and that is pretty much all they had been riding that day – waiting in the hours’ long lines! But we made it in and OH MY GOODNESS this ride is so amazing!!! Unbelievable the way you are immersed into the movie. It is right there at the top of the list of our favorite rides, that’s for sure!!

After the ride, we wanted to check out Satu’li Canteen. We pre-ordered from my phone and told them we were “here”.

SC 7.jpg


We made our way inside the building and only had a few minute wait and we were told the order was ready! I took only two photos while we waited:grumpy:

SC 1.jpg


SC 5.jpg


I had the Slow-Roasted Sliced Grilled Beef Bowl with chimchurri sauce:hungry:

SC 2.jpg


Emily had the Chopped Wood-Grilled Chicken Bowl with the herb garlic sauce:hungry:

SC 3.jpg


Brian had the Cheeseburger Steamed Pods with vegetable chips:hungry:

SC 4.jpg
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We all shared the Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse:hungry:

SC 6.jpg


As you can tell by all of the :hungry: - everything was really, really delicious and reasonable!! Brian had a beer and I had a glass of wine and the entire meal came to less than $60.00. Would definitely eat there again!

We had some time before we needed to be at the Rivers of Light Theater so we went to do It’s Tough to be a Bug as we had wanted to do it earlier in the day.

AK 10.jpg


AK 11.jpg


The posters while you wait in the pre-show area:hilarious:

TTB.jpg


TTB 2.jpg


TTB 3.jpg


TTB 4.jpg


TTB 1.jpg


TTB 5.jpg


It is such a cute show, but the movements in my chairs weren’t working! That’s okay, I sat ahead for the stingers anyway!
 

gdisneyfans

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Made our way over to the Asia side of the theater for our Rivers of Light FP. We were seated in the top row which was nice, but they stuff you in line sardines. I was feeling claustrophobic, so I stood behind Brian and Emily and leaned on the rail until the show started! We only had a 30 minute wait.

ROL.jpg


So what to do while waiting? People watch! I couldn’t believe (well, yes I can seeing what we saw throughout the week) how rude some people are and the way to speak to cast members. Cast members, I’m guessing, are given a task and are told to handle the guests in a certain manner. Well, this one lady was yelling at the cast member directing everyone where to go as the theater was very full and they were trying to keep the seating somewhat organized so they could fit as many people in as possible, that they oversold the fast passes and was entitled to sit in the middle of the theater. That’s why they tell you to arrive at the theater within a certain window of the FP so you can get prime seating – don’t wait until less than 5 minutes before the show is about to start and yell because you don’t get a “good seat”!

On with the show!

ROL 1.jpg


ROL 2.jpg


ROL 3.jpg


ROL 4.jpg


ROL 5.jpg


ROL 6.jpg


ROL 7.jpg


ROL 8.jpg


ROL 9.jpg
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom