Pre-Trip Fractal's Aug '11 Pre-trip report & '07,09 trip flashbacks

PartOfYourWorld · Apr 27, 2011

The Beach club is a beautiful resort I have to agree! I've been there but never stayed there, I think it would be too "homey" considering I'm from NE and it reminded me alot like Cape Cod. Not exactly Disney feeling for me personally.

But Beaches N Cream=amazing.

Can't wait to read more of the PTR!

fractal · Apr 27, 2011

We checked in but our rooms were not ready; so we did what we did last trip. Left our carry-ons with the bell hop and went to catch a bus to MK! This time we were in the park by 11am.

Our first stop - take a pic in front of the castle of course.

and elsewhere...

Then we headed to Adventure land and walked onto PoTC (sorry no pics) and then walked onto Jungle Cruise.

Some of the animals were just "lion" around...

and some people literally lost their heads!

This guy is a dentist's dream.

The elephants splashing around and having fun...

Holy smokes - I forgot to put in Haunted Mansion - which also was basically a walk on. What a terrific ride! We would end up going on HM 4 times during the course of this trip. I can't wait to see the new queue area in August.

Waiting to enter...I couldn't help blurting out a few "moo-hoo-hoo-haa-haa's" while pushing the crew in.

and talk about a "doombuggy"...

So right off the bat we walk on three classic rides, each favorites of mine. We missed the JC last trip and for me it brought back memories from my trip to MK when I was 9. I loved the ride then and had even managed to convince my parents to buy me a rubber alligator from the gift shop.

fractal · Apr 27, 2011

As an aside. Before going on this trip I spent a good bit of time on this site and was really impressed by the photography displayed here. There are certainly many talented photographers here and guys like WDWFigment and SIRisonS inspired me to take more photos and to be more creative with the camera. In 2007 we took about 150 shots, most of them were the kids in front of something. In 2009 we took 400 shots and some didn't have anybody in the picture - Imagine that!

So a big thank you to all the photographers on this site for helping me come out of the box a bit. I hope to up the ante even more on our August trip and I even picked up the book on "Exposure" that Tom recommended (now I just have to read it).

OK - back to the trip

After JC we strolled over to Frontier Land only to find out that Splash Mountain and BTRM each had long lines. If we were smarter we would have picked up a fast pass - or it may have been the hunger pains and the realization that we didn't eat for over 7 hours that blinded us and had us search out the nearest eatery. We found Peco Bills and after dodging a few birds, we had an enjoyable enough lunch. After lunch we got the call that our room was ready ( great! ) and we decided to go back to the resort - check things out and freshen up.

When we got to the room our luggage was already there ( good ) but we did have a bit of a problem. As a family of 5 we needed a room with a day bed, which we requested and were told we would get. The room we got did not have a day bed ( bad ). So I grabbed a bellhop outside the room and explained the situation. He immediately called a manager and long story short, we got a new room. The room itself was nicely appointed and the beds,sheets and pillows were heavenly. In fact, Val claimed that the pillows were the best part of the trip - for her anyway. ( I would end up ordering her one of this pillows online as a Christmas gift ).

So we freshened up a bit and were ready to check out the resort and the infamous Storm Along Bay pool when a really nasty storm swung through and Storm Along Bay really lived up to its name. Time to chill out in the room and watch some "top 10 things to do", which is exactly what we did for about an hour or so.

fractal · Apr 27, 2011

PartOfYourWorld said:
The Beach club is a beautiful resort I have to agree! I've been there but never stayed there, I think it would be too "homey" considering I'm from NE and it reminded me alot like Cape Cod. Not exactly Disney feeling for me personally.

But Beaches N Cream=amazing.

Can't wait to read more of the PTR!

Yes-Beaches N Cream! We discovered to our delight that ice-cream cones are considered "snacks" on the Dining Plan. It was great hanging out by the pool and hitting B&C for a mint chocolate chip cone!

thanks!

fractal · Apr 28, 2011

So after the storm passed and the rain stopped we managed to check out the resort. The pool did look awesome and the kids wants to "take it for a spin" but alas, the pool was still closed because of lightning in the vicinity.

I managed to take some pics at the time.

This is the courtyard area out of the back entrance. The landscaping was immaculate and always seemed to see somebody sprucing things up.

The beach and lighthouse.

and the Pirate ship slide.

This is the pathway leading to the bus stop area.

fractal · Apr 28, 2011

After checking out the resort some more we started to get ready for our dinner at Raglan Road. I scheduled an early dinner because of it being a travel day I thought we would be famished - and we were. So we did a bit of scrambling to change clothing and such for an evening out. By the way, this wasn't easy for 5 people in one motel room and one bathroom. Although the room was bigger than PORS - the kids were also bigger - and with Alex now 15, privacy was becoming more of an issue.

We got ready and hustled down to catch a bus to DTD. We waited about 20minutes for a bus as it started to rain again. By the time we were dropped off at DTD the rain turned heavier. We dodged the rain drops and made our way to RR. Our reservation was for 4:45. We heard many good things about RR - especially the entertainment. Visions of Irish-Pub bands playing U2 and Van Morrison danced in my head. I quickly learned upon arrival that if you are going to RR for the entertainment do not go on a Sunday @ 4:45 in the afternoon. The place was literally dead. Nobody at the bar and except for a couple sitting in the back, we were the only ones there.

From what I recall, I enjoyed the food ( next trip I need to take more food pics ) but wasn't blow-away by it. The atmosphere was (besides the lack of people) was well done. Lots of neat woodwork, open ceilings and stained windows...

Here's a picture of my lovely daughters spoiled by my big fat head...

and one of Father and Son...

and then the entire crew...

mamamouse · Apr 28, 2011

I see ure online that makes me hopeful for more tr Lol

fractal · Apr 28, 2011

As we were walking out of Raglan Road we discovered that the rain had turned into a monsoon. I mean it was pouring. The place was also starting to fill up and we decided to spend time in the gift shop to wait out the rain. Well, the rain didn't let up. In fact it seem to get worse and the wind was really picking up. We had brought ponchos but left them in our room.

So we hung out in the lobby - which was now crowded with others waiting out the rain and others waiting for their table.

Now Alex and Sterg, being your typical 15 and 12 year olds, started to find humor in everything. It was at this point that an older couple came into the lobby from outside. She was pushing him in his wheelchair and they were completely drenched. These two thought this was funny - which got me very p*ssed off. So after I grabbed them by the back of the neck a little harder than normal they straightened up. Toni, the youngest, went right up to the lady and asked her why her husband was in a wheelchair. She explained that he had an operation and needed to be in a wheelchair for awhile but hopefully he will be able to walk again someday. They both started talking to her and they turned out to be a wonderfully engaging couple. The were from Alabama and often came to WDW for vacation. Soon after, the "too cool" kids came over and got in the conversation. Before we knew it, a half hour had passed, their table was ready and the rain had slowed enough to go outside. We left RR with some new Disney friends and Alex and Sterg left with a valuable lesson in life.

After dodging more rain drops we ended up in the World of Disney store. Everybody got a shirt including matching shirts for Sterg and I which we would sport together later in the trip.

We popped in a few more stores then headed to the bus stop. The buses were very slow, there was a long line and the off and on rain didn't help. We did end up making more Disney friends while waiting - a family from North Carolina. We enjoyed their company for the 30 minutes or so it took to get on a bus. When we got back to BC everybody was pretty spent and we retired for the night.

Looking back - I wish we would have taken pictures of our new Disney friends and the pouring rain. We won't be making that mistake in August.

fractal · Apr 28, 2011

mamamouse said:
I see ure online that makes me hopeful for more tr Lol

hey, thanks!:wave:

Hopefully will get to add some more tomorrow.

fractal · Apr 29, 2011

The next morning we got up, grabbed some breakfast bars and headed to Animal Kingdom. Based on our trip in 2007, we loved AK. EE was to me the best attraction I was ever on. We also enjoy taking our time and appreciating all the details and beauty of the park. I was a bit leary that morning, however, knowing that my beloved Yeti was immobilized behind disco lights.

Once in the park I was determined to take a good amount of pictures. I started snapping away at some wildlife.

We emerged from OASIS and was set up to take a picture of the tree of life when my camera went dead. Yep, I forgot to charge the battery the night before. :brick: After taking some abuse, I convinced the crew to take in "It's Tough to Be a Bug". On our last trip I had to carry a hysterical 5 year old Toni out of the show. On this trip she was brave enough ( or forgot about ) to face Hopper again.

I love The Tree of Life. I think it is underappreciated. The paths are attractions on their own. We had a good time spotting out the different animals carved into the tree. The show itself was great. Hopper was again his evil self and Toni actually had a hoot. In fact it was 15 year old Alex who ended up nearly on my lap when the room filled with smog! I also believe that show is underappreciated. Before the Yeti, I believe Hopper was the largest AA in the world. I find the show entertaining and impressive on a technical level.

From there we broke up a bit. Alex and Sterg ran to get Fast Pass tickets for EE and the rest of us headed to Dinoland.

Coming up - More scares and a major dissapointment.

fractal · Apr 29, 2011

We all met up in front of Dinosaur and got in line for our countdown to extinction. This ride is a hoot. I know it's jerky, I know it's dark and I know it's loud but I think it's scary and a lot of fun. So did everybody else.

From there we headed to Hector and Chester's. The kids got in line for Primevil "hurl" but we yanked them out when we saw how long the line is. Is that ride that popular or is the capacity that low??? We still had some time before our fastpasses so Val decided to take Toni to see Nemo (which was about to start ) and Alex, Sterg and I went in line for EE ( about 20 minutes ).

I love the queue there and I am one that will ring the bells. I believe that is their purpose. The displays inside the building are fascinating, realistic and do a good job setting up the story. The ride itself is very good - although I must admit to getting a bit queezy going backwards in the dark ( something that didn't happen 2 years before). This is what happens as you get older I suppose. Next trip we will bring dramamine.

Then the biggest dissapointment of the trip. The greatest theme park attraction moment in history was gone - in it's place was a dormant Yeti that I barely saw through the blinding Saturday Night Fever effects. It was pretty sad and really bummed me out. The kids still loved the ride and wanted to ride it again. I actually passed and gave my fastpass to some kid - I was that upset.

I will get over this and plan on riding EE a few times in August. I will appreciate it for what it now is. A very good overall rollercoaster experience. But I will always miss what I thought was the very best attraction.

Here is a picture of EE I took later in the trip.

fractal · Apr 29, 2011

I was hoping Val would enjoy the Nemo show but she said it was just "ok". She wished that they would have went to see Lion King instead. Toni said she liked Nemo but it didn't seem like she was blown away.

So we still had time to wait before the EE fast passes and we had time before our dinner reservation at Yak and Yeti. It was about 3 or so in the afternoon and we had a late "breakfast bar" breakfast and no lunch. We decided to go to Y&Y and see if we could move our time up for dinner. It was no problem. We enjoyed Y&Y. I got the feeling of entering an out of the place Bar/Inn/Restaurant somewhere in Asia. The kids loved the food and dessert ( really need to take food pics next trip!). This is the only restaurant we will be going back to on our next trip.

After Y&Y, the rest of the crew used their EE fast passes and I worked the video camera ( which was charged ). After that we made our way out of the park for some "Storm-Along-Bay" time.

fractal · Apr 29, 2011

Storm-along-bay.

We spent a good amount of time at the BC pool. I'm going to lump it all together here. The pool is expansive. It stretches from the BeachClub all the way over to the Yacht Club. You needed to show your room key when entering the area to get a colored bracelet. Then you could go anywhere in the pool area. There where several "zero-entry" spots and the bottom of the pool is indeed sand. It seemed a bit weird at first to see children sitting near the edge of the pool in a few inches of water and building sand castles. I enjoyed the feel of the sand on my feet. Towards the center of the pool there was an area marked off called "sinking sands" ( I think) here you sank into the sand - maybe up to your shins - it was an odd feeling but I ended up spending a bit of time there. I found it relaxing is a odd way.

There were waterfalls, bridges, and little "coves" that created a circular motion in the water. The pool did get surprisingly deep at points - thru a "lazy river" area. I was caught by surprise as I had Toni on my back and next thing I knew I couldn't touch bottom. This got a bit hairy as the current kept pushing you and you couldn't really go backwards,

only forward into the deeper part.

During the day a CM ( ours was named Raul) would play music and get the kids (and some adults) involved in different games. It was fun and my kids had a blast. The thing they enjoyed the most, however, was the pirate ship water slide. I didn't get a chance to go down it but they gave it raving reviews. They also loved the CM at the top of the slide. Some photos...

Beaches and Cream was right behind the pool and was easy to grab a cone and sit by the pool.

mamamouse · Apr 29, 2011

goodstuff keep it comin

fractal · Apr 29, 2011

The next day I woke up early. I was going to head down to the market place for some breakfast. Toni woke up as well so the two of us headed down while everybody else slept. This would become a ritual for the rest of the trip.

The Marketplace.

For breakfast you had a selection of sandwiches, yogurt and fruit parfaits, pastries and other items. The place is really too small to accommodate the number of people in the resort and when it gets crowded and guests expect to get in and out of there - let's just say that tempers start to fray. Toni grabbed a danish and I my coffee and we headed to the Atrium. We found a table for two in the breezeway and enjoyed breakfast together. I took this shot of Toni munching on her danish.

We went up to the room and Sterg and Alex had gotten up and ready. The plan was to hit the Studios in the morning, let Val sleep in and "relax" then she would meet up with us there. So off we went.

We got there for rope drop and followed the crowd to Toy Story Midway Mania. As we approached we saw a huge line formed and I thought to myself, I need to find the fastpass machines. Then I realized the line was for the fastpasses! I made a quick decision to bypass that line and head for the attraction line. We ended up having about a 40 minute wait - which is tough first thing in the morning when you are primed to go. But the line for the fastpasses was likely 20 minutes. I don't know if I would have done it different knowing all that.

Mr. Potato Head was a hit with everybody.

I thought the ride was great and wanted to ride it again - but I really don't understand the mass hysteria to get there first thing and the lines. I don't think it's worth waiting more than 40 minutes for. After TSMM we got fastpass for it and hopped on the Backstage tour. This was the first time we rode this and from reading about it my expectations were pretty low. I actually enjoyed it. The filming of the boat scene was entertaining and catastrophe canyon was exciting. I guess not know what I was missing helped.

On the backlot tour tram...

I may volunteer for this in August...

CatCanyon

fractal · May 2, 2011

After the backlot tour we met up with Val. I love going "commando" but she would rather just take it easy - so heading out early with the kids and having her meet up later was a great compromise. We took some pictures and started to make our way to Tot.

Oh and by the way, Remember when Sterg and I bought matching Disney shirts? Today was the day we brought them out.

In front of the "apprentice" and the magic brooms...

with the kids...

I really like this next pic.

We all got in line for Tot - it was about a 25 minute wait. This gave us a chance to take in the queue. I really love the atmosphere with the creepy "old-time" music playing, the mist spraying and the periodic screams coming from above. The ride was great as always. Next we decided to go to an Aerosmith concert!

fractal · May 2, 2011

The wait for RRRC was 50 minutes. I really hate waiting that long for any ride. The single rider line was an option but we really didn't want to seperate ourselves from Toni. It was time for another compromise. Alex, Sterg and I did the single ride line and Val and Toni went back to visit Mr Serling at the Hollywood Tower Hotel. Toni wasn't exactly thrilled with the plan but we did promise Toni that we would come back later to ride RRRC with her if she would smile for a picture. There's a little smile in there somewhere...

The pre-show looked good. I was looking for signs of "aging" in the video of the Aerosmith gang but didn't find any. I did have to remind Alex that there really is NOT a concert at the end of the ride. :ROFLOL:

This was the first time we had used the single ride line @ Disney. It cut the wait time in half. I would have enjoyed riding together more but I rode with a pleasant young lady who was not nearly as self conscious as I was in screaming and laughing. It's a great ride! The launch literally takes your breath away. I like the rest of the track with the loops and drops combined with the music - it did however, seem darker than the last time. :shrug:

After the ride in Steven Tyler's limo we met back up with Val and Toni. It was now mid afternoon and we were getting hungry. We were not in the mood for anything along the strip so we decide to see if we could get into Sci-Fi for a late lunch. It was not in the plans and we would have to pay out of pocket but a sitdown meal in a cool, dark place seemed well worth it on a 90 degree plus day.

The wait to get in wasn't too bad. We climbed into a car and ordered our meal. The food was decent enough. For all the bad reviews I read about the food there I've never had an issue. I think it's all about expectations. I was starting to get tired of the same "loop" showing on the screen. I think an update is in order. Plenty of cheesy "monster movies" out there to choose from.

bmarkelon · May 2, 2011

Love it! I love your trip flashbacks. We do this together as a family when talking about upcoming Disney trips. I always break out the past Disney photo albums. It's definitely part of the build up for us too! We'll be at BLT August 10-21!! Can't wait. I look forward to the kids being a few years older so we can try out Beach Club. Right now, 6, 4, and 1....we've gotta keep sticking close to Magic Kingdom!!
Keep it coming, it's quite enjoyable. :sohappy:

mamamouse · May 2, 2011

YAY an update!!!!!:sohappy:

fractal · May 2, 2011

bmarkelon said:
Love it! I love your trip flashbacks. We do this together as a family when talking about upcoming Disney trips. I always break out the past Disney photo albums. It's definitely part of the build up for us too! We'll be at BLT August 10-21!! Can't wait. I look forward to the kids being a few years older so we can try out Beach Club. Right now, 6, 4, and 1....we've gotta keep sticking close to Magic Kingdom!!
Keep it coming, it's quite enjoyable. :sohappy:

Thanks! I've never done a trip-report and I thought combining some "flashbacks" into a PTR would be a great way to "cut my teeth".

Unexpectedly, this projects has also been a good planning tool for me. Reviewing our past trips has been a great way to identify things that worked and things that didn't. I've also started to make a list of things we will do on the upcoming trip that we missed before.

BLT looks cool and seems like a great place for the ages of your kids. Maybe we'll unknowingly bump into each other in August!