Am I blue today, you bet! Got back last night from nearly a full week at Walt Disney World.
Arrived at the Wilderness Lodge mid-afternoon on 7/25. Was welcomed home and it was GREAT to be back! The icy lobby was a welcome reminder of trips past. My favorite hotel appears to be in pretty good shape. The rest rooms near Roaring Fork were being renovated the whole time we were there. And of course, boats go to Ft. Wilderness before heading to Magic Kingdom. And there were still some really wierd bus routes, but otherwise, all was well.
Started at Epcot late that afternoon, was disappointed to see Wonders of Life closed. I was hoping for another crack at Body Wars and Cranium Command, after learning it had been open a couple of weeks earlier. O well. Got a Fast Pass for Mission:Space and heading off to the Universe of Energy and Spaceship Earth. Looked like a couple of new scenes on the way back down in Spaceship Earth, minor, (At least since I was there last June.) Was happy to see a line for the attraction when we returned on Wednesday.
Didn't notice any change with Ellen. Mission:Space was still fantastic. Grabbed quick bite at Electric Umbrella and saw Canadian movie and caught a performance by Off-Kilter and then watched Illuninations. Still my least favorite closing show.
Headed to Animal Kingdom on Monday morning. First time we've done KS first thing. Actually saw a zebra chasing three rhinos!! (and they were hauling it, too.) ((Or maybe the zebra just joined the Rhinos for their morning run.))
Followed that with two trips on Kali, my second favorite ride in all of WDW!! Got soaked the second time through. My wife got it on the first trip!
Dinosaur went well. Ate at Tusker House and headed back to hotel for break.
Went back to Epcot after a rest. Wonders of Life still closed. Saw Figment, the boat rides in Mexico and Norway, the movie in China and ate in Germany. Caught in awful thunderstorm. Also saw American Adventure. Nothing was crowded.
Tuesday headed to Disney-MGM. Even getting there at 8:03 a.m., Only got Tower of Terror done before 9. Wait was already 25 minutes when we got there. I think I remember 5 drops on our ride. Got a fast pass for Little Mermaid and picked one up for RRC just before going in to see Ariel. Noticed the little side scene with Sebastian has been dropped from show (where the puppet is in the little side pocket.) Seemed like I missed one of the inversions on RRC, but I'm sure it's still in there! Saw great movie ride. The gangster car was already out and just lit up at the appropriate time. Ate at Backlot Express and headed for hotel. Came back after a rest and did Backlot Tour, where I was the intrepid engineer in the bottom of the P-T boat when 800 gallons of water got dumped. My wife and kids made a wonderful captain and deck crew! Heard a poor woman ask as we boarded trams if this one went by the Wizard of Oz set. Saw Indy and they dropped the airplane scene at the end, citing something about the rain just before the show. Did Star Tours and Sounds dangerous before heading off to the 10:30 p-m version of Fantasmic! Still wonderful!!
Wednesday morning was back to Epcot where we finally got into Test Track (Which was consistently more than an hour on Sunday and Monday (Sunday evening it was 2 hours w/o Fast Pass.) Don't understand this since Mission:Space is new. Of course, some people scared off of Mission Space and Test Track is longer).
Headed to Magic Kingdom that afternoon. Saw what I hope is NOT my last chance to see Timekeeper and Carosel of Progress. Timekeeper had decent crowd, COP less so, although the theater that emptied just before we boarded was good-sized. Saw Hall of Presidents and Country Bears before starting the E-Ride tour. (If there is a better performance than Big Al doing 'Blood on the Saddle," I don't know what it would be, other than MSEP, of course!!
Did Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain before heading to Mickey's Philharmagic! It was wonderful (Our first time seeing it). Then on to Haunted Mansion, where the death certificate lady was not working at the end of the ride).
A couple of spins on Big Thunder and a couple on Splash Mountain (The best ride anywhere period!!) The little rabbits still don't talk just as Brer Rabbit is leaving (and the shadow of him going over hill was also missing. One of the fish was missing as was the looping Brer Rabbit. Leaping Fountains also still not working. Worst of all, there was no waterfall coming down the side of the mountain after the big drop, just to make sure those on the right side of the boat are wet. Still only marginal air conditioning blasts as you come around up to the station. I fear Disney is trying to make the ride less traumatic.
Thursday was recovery day. Headed to Animal Kingdom about midday and saw Tarzan Rocks and Festival of Lion King (First time I have ever been in Camp Minnie-Mickey!) Both great shows! Went to Epcot and caught Living With the Land, (Still overrated, from a Fast Pass point of view) and Living Seas. (Didn't see that Nemo adds much, wish they would spend some money here) Caught two performances by Voices of Liberty and one by American Vibe, which has added musical instruments and an almost all new cast since I had seen them).
Friday caught the ESPN College GameDay taping and Who Wants to Be a Millionarie and stayed to play the game (got on leaderboard once, but was bumped off by a missed question. Also caught the late evening version and was in Fastest Finger seats and hoped to appear on the show, but Maryland Coach and my family were apparently left on the cutting room floor when they put the show together.
Made it to Magic Kingdom for E-Ride night and essentially repeated the Wednesday program. I was not overwhelmingly impressed with Wishes. We watched from Tomorrowland and maybe we just didn't have a great audio feed. But I didn't see a significant improvement over Fantasy in the Sky. However, the death certificate lady was working at Haunted Mansion and both jumping fish and Brer Rabbit were fully functional at Splash Mountain. Still no waterfall and no two blasts of icy air at the end!
Headed back home Sunday, wonderfully tired.
Got to run. I'll try to get back on later today or probably tomorrow afternoon if you have any questions. This is my first trip report. By the way, Expedition Everst looks awesome!!, as do sets for Motor Stunt Show. And the Soaring Building doesn't stand out as badly as I think we feared.
No great breaking news in this, but I thought I'd let you guys know how things looked last week. Sorry to miss the Meet. Now again hold annual passes, so we'll probably make a quick trip at Christmas!!
Arrived at the Wilderness Lodge mid-afternoon on 7/25. Was welcomed home and it was GREAT to be back! The icy lobby was a welcome reminder of trips past. My favorite hotel appears to be in pretty good shape. The rest rooms near Roaring Fork were being renovated the whole time we were there. And of course, boats go to Ft. Wilderness before heading to Magic Kingdom. And there were still some really wierd bus routes, but otherwise, all was well.
Started at Epcot late that afternoon, was disappointed to see Wonders of Life closed. I was hoping for another crack at Body Wars and Cranium Command, after learning it had been open a couple of weeks earlier. O well. Got a Fast Pass for Mission:Space and heading off to the Universe of Energy and Spaceship Earth. Looked like a couple of new scenes on the way back down in Spaceship Earth, minor, (At least since I was there last June.) Was happy to see a line for the attraction when we returned on Wednesday.
Didn't notice any change with Ellen. Mission:Space was still fantastic. Grabbed quick bite at Electric Umbrella and saw Canadian movie and caught a performance by Off-Kilter and then watched Illuninations. Still my least favorite closing show.
Headed to Animal Kingdom on Monday morning. First time we've done KS first thing. Actually saw a zebra chasing three rhinos!! (and they were hauling it, too.) ((Or maybe the zebra just joined the Rhinos for their morning run.))
Followed that with two trips on Kali, my second favorite ride in all of WDW!! Got soaked the second time through. My wife got it on the first trip!
Dinosaur went well. Ate at Tusker House and headed back to hotel for break.
Went back to Epcot after a rest. Wonders of Life still closed. Saw Figment, the boat rides in Mexico and Norway, the movie in China and ate in Germany. Caught in awful thunderstorm. Also saw American Adventure. Nothing was crowded.
Tuesday headed to Disney-MGM. Even getting there at 8:03 a.m., Only got Tower of Terror done before 9. Wait was already 25 minutes when we got there. I think I remember 5 drops on our ride. Got a fast pass for Little Mermaid and picked one up for RRC just before going in to see Ariel. Noticed the little side scene with Sebastian has been dropped from show (where the puppet is in the little side pocket.) Seemed like I missed one of the inversions on RRC, but I'm sure it's still in there! Saw great movie ride. The gangster car was already out and just lit up at the appropriate time. Ate at Backlot Express and headed for hotel. Came back after a rest and did Backlot Tour, where I was the intrepid engineer in the bottom of the P-T boat when 800 gallons of water got dumped. My wife and kids made a wonderful captain and deck crew! Heard a poor woman ask as we boarded trams if this one went by the Wizard of Oz set. Saw Indy and they dropped the airplane scene at the end, citing something about the rain just before the show. Did Star Tours and Sounds dangerous before heading off to the 10:30 p-m version of Fantasmic! Still wonderful!!
Wednesday morning was back to Epcot where we finally got into Test Track (Which was consistently more than an hour on Sunday and Monday (Sunday evening it was 2 hours w/o Fast Pass.) Don't understand this since Mission:Space is new. Of course, some people scared off of Mission Space and Test Track is longer).
Headed to Magic Kingdom that afternoon. Saw what I hope is NOT my last chance to see Timekeeper and Carosel of Progress. Timekeeper had decent crowd, COP less so, although the theater that emptied just before we boarded was good-sized. Saw Hall of Presidents and Country Bears before starting the E-Ride tour. (If there is a better performance than Big Al doing 'Blood on the Saddle," I don't know what it would be, other than MSEP, of course!!
Did Buzz Lightyear and Space Mountain before heading to Mickey's Philharmagic! It was wonderful (Our first time seeing it). Then on to Haunted Mansion, where the death certificate lady was not working at the end of the ride).
A couple of spins on Big Thunder and a couple on Splash Mountain (The best ride anywhere period!!) The little rabbits still don't talk just as Brer Rabbit is leaving (and the shadow of him going over hill was also missing. One of the fish was missing as was the looping Brer Rabbit. Leaping Fountains also still not working. Worst of all, there was no waterfall coming down the side of the mountain after the big drop, just to make sure those on the right side of the boat are wet. Still only marginal air conditioning blasts as you come around up to the station. I fear Disney is trying to make the ride less traumatic.
Thursday was recovery day. Headed to Animal Kingdom about midday and saw Tarzan Rocks and Festival of Lion King (First time I have ever been in Camp Minnie-Mickey!) Both great shows! Went to Epcot and caught Living With the Land, (Still overrated, from a Fast Pass point of view) and Living Seas. (Didn't see that Nemo adds much, wish they would spend some money here) Caught two performances by Voices of Liberty and one by American Vibe, which has added musical instruments and an almost all new cast since I had seen them).
Friday caught the ESPN College GameDay taping and Who Wants to Be a Millionarie and stayed to play the game (got on leaderboard once, but was bumped off by a missed question. Also caught the late evening version and was in Fastest Finger seats and hoped to appear on the show, but Maryland Coach and my family were apparently left on the cutting room floor when they put the show together.
Made it to Magic Kingdom for E-Ride night and essentially repeated the Wednesday program. I was not overwhelmingly impressed with Wishes. We watched from Tomorrowland and maybe we just didn't have a great audio feed. But I didn't see a significant improvement over Fantasy in the Sky. However, the death certificate lady was working at Haunted Mansion and both jumping fish and Brer Rabbit were fully functional at Splash Mountain. Still no waterfall and no two blasts of icy air at the end!
Headed back home Sunday, wonderfully tired.
Got to run. I'll try to get back on later today or probably tomorrow afternoon if you have any questions. This is my first trip report. By the way, Expedition Everst looks awesome!!, as do sets for Motor Stunt Show. And the Soaring Building doesn't stand out as badly as I think we feared.
No great breaking news in this, but I thought I'd let you guys know how things looked last week. Sorry to miss the Meet. Now again hold annual passes, so we'll probably make a quick trip at Christmas!!
