Trip Report I Vowed Never Again ~ Yet Here We Are! *COMPLETED*

Wait, what?

WDW-obsessed Tuvalu actually vowed never again ?!?!

Must. Read. More.


Clickbait!

But there is truth in my statement. I did vow not to visit the world whenever our spring break...always the first week in April....aligns with Easter. The first week of April typically brings heavy crowds since most southern school systems are out. I can handle heavy. But add in additional volume from schools that coordinate their break with Easter and “heavy” becomes INSANE. (Not quite the insanity of Christmas week....I am smart enough to avoid that, thanks to a one-day trip in 1994.)

But I’ve BEEN THERE ~
In 2009 (during the recession) when it took 40 minutes just to get through the Epcot parking booth....and the line for the boat ride in Mexico was out the front door of the pavilion....and Magic Kingdom was closed due to capacity.

In 2010 when the mid-morning standby wait for Test Track was 240 minutes (that’s 4 hours, people!) and the wait time for Nemo (Nemo!) was 150 minutes.

In 2015 when we watched the 6:45 am MK Welcome show in the dark because we wanted to ride a few attractions before the hordes descended.

Long lines to use the restrooms (always filthy because attendants couldn’t keep up); no available tables in quick-service locations, forcing guests to sit on the ground outside the restaurants; and a general atmosphere of cranky/angry guests who didn’t like dealing with the multitude any more than I did.

So I declared, DONE THAT!

Or so I thought.....

My darling daughter Em lives for spring break. As a student she vacationed (Disney or beach) every year but one ~ and there was nearly a mutiny! Now that she’s a teacher, going away for spring break has reached an even higher level of importance. With this year’s Easter/spring break overlap, we began researching other warm-weather destinations.

Guess what we discovered. Transportation, resort and dining costs were cheaper if we went to WDW! And having APs means our entertainment would be free. Em’s teacher budget would not be strained. The practical side of me could not argue....and the mom side of me could not disappoint my daughter.

We leave on Monday. We’re prepared. And we’re gonna be LIVE!

A few Magic meet-ups are in the works. Hope to keep them a surprise (as long as @Zipitidoda doesn’t spill the beans! )

Despite declining MagicBands for our upcoming stay, these arrived in yesterday’s mail ~

Yeah, like we’re gonna wear the UGLY gray ones.....

See Ya Real Soon!

 

[bee]

Sorry to hijack your thread, @Tuvalu...

Agreed on all the above. I did have a silly thought though. Instead of someone booing or cheering one of the more current presidents and getting hauled out of there by security, wouldn't it be bizarre if someone cheered and made a big deal for one of the lesser known ones, like William Henry Harrison? Everyone would be looking at the person, trying to figure out why the heck someone was making a "scene" about William Henry Harrison?

This reminded me of THIS Hamilton parody:



@LisaBelle @Zipitidoda

 

[Zipadeelady]

Sorry to hijack your thread, @Tuvalu...



This reminded me of THIS Hamilton parody:



@LisaBelle @Zipitidoda

Love it!

 

[Tuvalu]

Sorry to hijack your thread, @Tuvalu...



This reminded me of THIS Hamilton parody:



@LisaBelle @Zipitidoda

Perfectly fine when it’s as funny as that was!

 

[Tuvalu]

Once in Harambe, Em and I headed for Kilimanjaro Safari. The FP line was longer than we expected. However, we got lucky and were able to skip ahead of several parties when there was a call for “party of two.”

I had a flash of regret for raising my hand when I considered we might have to share a row with strangers. AWKWARD! But my fear was short-lived when we were instructed to climb into a Jeep with truncated seats in the first two rows.

Have to admit it was kinda cool! #ShirleyStatus

Lots of hippos in the pool.

The Wild Africa Trek participants were gazing at the hippos from the other side of the road.

 

[Tuvalu]

The savannah awaits us!

Happy that the wild dogs were asleep. I find them a bit scary when they’re active.

Hands-down giraffes are my favorite!

(Love the camouflage in this shot!)

Ready for some fun facts that our guide shared?
* Giraffes sleep standing up for 30 minutes each day in 5 minute increments
* Giraffes eat for 20 hours a day
* A group of giraffes is called a tower

Elephants are amazing animals too.

While giraffes are busy eating 20 hours a day, lions spend 20 hours a day sleeping.

(Shouldn’t the song actually be titled, The Lion Sleeps Today ?!)

 

[Tuvalu]

The Fitbit was getting another good workout today. After our safari, we walked the same path from Harambe back to Pandora. Time to use our Flight of Passage FP!

Our one and only banshee ride was last summer. We had purposely avoided any descriptive media of FoP and therefore had no idea what to expect. We only knew the ride was impressing the masses.

We found the pre-show a little odd and thought the male actor was lame. The ride itself? Em and Woody thought it was great and worth the accolades the attraction was receiving. I have motion sensitivity issues and since I did not want to risk feeling ill, I spent most of the ride with my eyes closed.

However I was not ready to give up on FoP. I read several articles and learned some interesting things and wanted to try again. I felt less nervous and more confident because I was no longer a newbie. During my first experience I was very tense ~ would I get sick? Was I sitting correctly on the banshee? Would the ride lock me in an uncomfortable position? Will the 3D glasses stay on?
(The answers to the above: 1. A little queasy 2. Not really 3. Yes 4. Yes)

I shared some of the info I discovered with Em. Skip ahead NOW to the next post if you don’t want any spoilers.

FoP has three levels ~ let’s call them basement, main and top. This was news to me, since I thought there was a single level. Last time we were in the basement. Today we were on main, and saw the stairs that led to the top.

I also thought that each “room” of 8 banshees had its own screen. Not so. There is one giant screen (like Soarin’) that the individual “rooms” share....and those “rooms” are on three levels (basement, main, top; similar to Rows A, B, C in Soarin’.) I looked to my right once the film started and could see levels of people experiencing the same flight I was.

While I don’t know how many “rooms” are in a theater, there are 4 theaters total, so there’s more capacity than you might think considering those 3 hour standby waits!

How did I fare this time? Well, I found the pre-show less annoying. I took my time getting settled on the banshee and was not tense when the restraints locked so I was more comfortable. And I discovered I could keep my eyes open for most of the journey and not feel woozy. A win!

Now a picture of the ceiling in the after-ride gift shop because this post was so text-heavy.

 

[Sillysidewalker]

Saturday, April 7

Our last day of vacation had dawned. Spending it at AK (our least favorite park) was an anomaly for us, yet necessary if we wanted a Flight of Passage FP at a reasonable hour. Seems the popularity of Pandora is forcing guests to put off AK until the end of their vacations....I wonder how Toy Story Land will factor into itineraries when it opens this summer. Scoring fastpasses is like playing the lottery!

AK had 7 am EMH and if we weren’t able to make a 7 am EMH yesterday at our favorite park, there was no way we’d make it for AK. We also had the added tasks of packing, dropping off luggage and obtaining boarding passes before leaving the resort. Knowing we could not accomplish the impossible, we opted not to rush around.

A final morning POFQ pic.
View attachment 281398
Neat playground for kids!

We fueled up with sugar (French toast and a muffin), did the aforementioned tasks and hopped a bus to AK.

No long entry line for us!
View attachment 281399

It was necessary to document this rare Tuvalu and TrolleyFollower AK sighting.

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Does anyone else besides me get a little woozy looking at “crooked frame” pictures?

Love these matching shirts!

 

[krause]

The Fitbit was getting another good workout today. After our safari, we walked the same path from Harambe back to Pandora. Time to use our Flight of Passage FP!

Our one and only banshee ride was last summer. We had purposely avoided any descriptive media of FoP and therefore had no idea what to expect. We only knew the ride was impressing the masses.

We found the pre-show a little odd and thought the male actor was lame. The ride itself? Em and Woody thought it was great and worth the accolades the attraction was receiving. I have motion sensitivity issues and since I did not want to risk feeling ill, I spent most of the ride with my eyes closed.

However I was not ready to give up on FoP. I read several articles and learned some interesting things and wanted to try again. I felt less nervous and more confident because I was no longer a newbie. During my first experience I was very tense ~ would I get sick? Was I sitting correctly on the banshee? Would the ride lock me in an uncomfortable position? Will the 3D glasses stay on?
(The answers to the above: 1. A little queasy 2. Not really 3. Yes 4. Yes)

I shared some of the info I discovered with Em. Skip ahead NOW to the next post if you don’t want any spoilers.

FoP has three levels ~ let’s call them basement, main and top. This was news to me, since I thought there was a single level. Last time we were in the basement. Today we were on main, and saw the stairs that led to the top.

I also thought that each “room” of 8 banshees had its own screen. Not so. There is one giant screen (like Soarin’) that the individual “rooms” share....and those “rooms” are on three levels (basement, main, top; similar to Rows A, B, C in Soarin’.) I looked to my right once the film started and could see levels of people experiencing the same flight I was.

While I don’t know how many “rooms” are in a theater, there are 4 theaters total, so there’s more capacity than you might think considering those 3 hour standby waits!

How did I fare this time? Well, I found the pre-show less annoying. I took my time getting settled on the banshee and was not tense when the restraints locked so I was more comfortable. And I discovered I could keep my eyes open for most of the journey and not feel woozy. A win!

Now a picture of the ceiling in the after-ride gift shop because this post was so text-heavy.
View attachment 281496

After reading about people describing the room I regret not looking around in there! I was totally oblivious to the 3 levels. I’m almost more excited to just look around the room next time than riding the actual ride!

 

[Tuvalu]

Love these matching shirts!

Thanks!

After reading about people describing the room I regret not looking around in there! I was totally oblivious to the 3 levels. I’m almost more excited to just look around the room next time than riding the actual ride!

It’s pretty impressive!

 

[krisri18]

The Wild Africa Trek participants were gazing at the hippos from the other side of the road.
View attachment 281464

Ah yes, the Wild Africa Trekkers in their native habitat. Check that one off in the Wilderness Explorers guidebook!

 

[DryerLintFan]

More to the point: just what exactly would the "smell" of a haunted mansion be?! (rotting corpses? )

So in the haunted mansion I've been in, it smelled like pledge and real life, because my friend lived in it, LOL. But I've also been in an abandoned haunted insane asylum, and it smelled.... musty. old. like a back yard shed would if you hadn't gone into it in half a decade or more.

There's a corpse hanging from the ceiling in the stretching room? Well....Guess I will have to distract DS if I convince him to do HM next time!!! Thanks for the heads up!

LOL, I love the word play. Head's up. Don't look up!

 

[Pardonmypixiedust]

“Drinks on me,” Big Hair said as he summoned the waitress.

I remembered the yummy Tropical Lifesaver I had at the California Grill. BLT is connected to the Contemporary, right? Surely the bars would have the same drinks?

“Can I get a Tropical Lifesaver?” I asked the server.

She paused and then replied: “I don’t think so. Our bartender is really old. He only knows basic drinks....and the specialty drink on the menu.”

Then the decision was made for me. “I’ll have a Monorail Yellow.”

We chatted until it was time for Happily Ever After, and then we went out on the observation deck.

The view was awesome! (So are Em’s pics!)
View attachment 280348

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We finished our drinks and then accompanied Big Hair to the MK bus depot where we said “Kwaherini”.
What a great day it was!

@Tuvalu you had me cracking up with the Seinfeld reference. I am sure @Big Hair had a good chuckle. Whenever I was at my dads when i was younger Seinfeld was on. EM those are great pics! I truly love that view if MK at night from TOTW!

 

[LisaBelle]

Sorry to hijack your thread, @Tuvalu...



This reminded me of THIS Hamilton parody:



@LisaBelle @Zipitidoda

Love this! Thanks for sharing @bee!

 

[Tuvalu]

Ah yes, the Wild Africa Trekkers in their native habitat. Check that one off in the Wilderness Explorers guidebook!

LOL, I love the word play. Head's up. Don't look up!

@Tuvalu you had me cracking up with the Seinfeld reference. I am sure @Big Hair had a good chuckle. Whenever I was at my dads when i was younger Seinfeld was on. EM those are great pics! I truly love that view if MK at night from TOTW!

It was a very fun evening!

 

[Tuvalu]

Our banshee excursion had worked up our appetites! We were excited for our first Satu’li Canteen meal.

The order/pay/pick up process went very smoothly. The CMs were very helpful and knowledgeable with answers to questions and allergy requests. I think other QS locations (*cough* Pecos Bills *cough*) can learn a thing or two from Satu’li Canteen.

The seating area is carefully arranged to prevent guests from “saving” tables or occupying tables while eating personal food. Brilliant!

Em and I both selected beef bowls. She had rice and I had hearty salad. The quinoa was unbelievable! I wish there was more of it and less “salad”. The beef was tender and full of flavor. Lunch was a definite !

 

[Tony the Tigger]

The seating area is carefully arranged to prevent guests from “saving” tables or occupying tables while eating personal food. Brilliant!

How? I’m not seeing it. (Just woke up.)

 

[Tuvalu]

How? I’m not seeing it. (Just woke up.)

Indoor seating is protected by a wall with the entrances guarded by CMs.

 

[Rista1313]

Our banshee excursion had worked up our appetites! We were excited for our first Satu’li Canteen meal.

View attachment 281759

The order/pay/pick up process went very smoothly. The CMs were very helpful and knowledgeable with answers to questions and allergy requests. I think other QS locations (*cough* Pecos Bills *cough*) can learn a thing or two from Satu’li Canteen.

The seating area is carefully arranged to prevent guests from “saving” tables or occupying tables while eating personal food. Brilliant!

View attachment 281761

Em and I both selected beef bowls. She had rice and I had hearty salad. The quinoa was unbelievable! I wish there was more of it and less “salad”. The beef was tender and full of flavor. Lunch was a definite !

View attachment 281760

How did Em like the chimichurri sauce? how was your sauce?

 

[Tuvalu]

How did Em like the chimichurri sauce? how was your sauce?

The chimichurri sauce has been replaced by "charred green onion" sauce which we both had. It was just okay.....not as good as regular chimichurri though. But the bowls are very flavorful without sauce. For some reason my sauce came in a separate container which was great since I ended up tasting it before dumping it on.

 

[Tuvalu]

AK may be our least favorite park, but it houses our most favorite gift shops! The stores offer more unique items, hard-to-find items and generally more interesting merchandise than in the other parks. Em and I took our time browsing after lunch.

Neither of our cars have antennas.....otherwise this little guy would have come home with us!

(I already have an Orange Bird antenna topper which sits on my kitchen counter. It makes me smile when I look at it! Adding the one above would prove too tempting for a certain furry family member who makes cat toys out of just about anything. )

Can anyone else relate?

We did buy matching purple spirit jerseys....which have gotten worn a lot over the past few weeks.
WHERE IS SPRING??!!