Trip Report Melting! Wilderness Lodge in August

Hi friends!

We left the World a week ago, and spent a few days in St. Pete before getting back home Wednesday. I brought a nice little head cold back with me, so I've been lazy. I got all my pictures edited, so here we gooooooo!

Cast: Me & R (29 & 28)
Resort: Wilderness Lodge, standard view
Dates: August 9-13
Why?: R had a work trip from the 13-16th so we tacked on a WDW trip!

This trip was the first time we hired someone to come house/dog sit instead of taking Chipper to a family member's house. One of my student photographers stayed with him, and it went well (as far as I know...he is still alive and acting normal, so). This was right before we headed out to the airport.



I'm sure he didn't miss me making him take pictures.

We left the house at about 9:30am to head to Memphis. Our flight got delayed a bit. It was good because it gave us time to stop and get gas before we got to the airport (better than getting it when we're anxious to get home on the way back). We took off at 12:55. I was a little worried about making out Flight of Passage FP that evening, but I had my fingers crossed!

Flight was a little bumpy, but thankfully on time. We had our room text when we landed! Woot!

There was almost NO ONE at the Magical Express line, so I was worried there wouldn't be many busses. It took about 20 minutes to get on one and get going, so that's not terrible.



On our way!



We made it!



It rained all the way there, but it stopped by the time we arrived. We got there at 5:30 and headed to the room.









The room was nice enough. It wasn't spectacular, but we liked it! The best part was that we could see the castle from the balcony!



It's itty bitty in the picture, but it was a nice view! Unfortunately, we never got to watch the fireworks from the room. We almost made it the last night, but the bus was too slow (a theme on this trip).

The balcony was so tiny, and there was some kind of a truck bay outside so it was loud. I didn't spend much time out there because of those things and the heat, but it was still a cool view :)

Up next: Will we make FoP?
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Love all the parade pictures, they are amazing. We have yet to do the Hoop dee do, would you say kids ages 4 and 6 would enjoy it?
I think they would have fun! There are some jokes that would be way over their head, but they would still pick up on the fun vibes. Maybe someone else who has gone with young children will chime in on that though!

I have to admit, at first I was like, OMG, She BROKE her arm on the ride. . .
Yeah it looks broken for sure! Apparently (judging by the responses) many people have this oddity :hilarious:. My arm just bends in some weird ways.

We went to Hoop last trip and I thought my husband would absolutely hate it and it ended up being his favorite thing about the trip. I booked it for our upcoming trip as a surprise, I told him it wasn't going to work with our schedule (which isn't a full out lie, it wasn't going to work but then I convinced him we should add another day on to our trip). I'm excited to see his face when we go. Hopefully my 21 month son won't be too terrible during dinner...
I wasn't sure what to expect, but we were the same way, it was our favorite part of the trip! So fun that you're surprising him :inlove:

I have no idea on how I am going to afford this (or convince my wife and girls) but I think I have come to the conclusion that I need you and @fractal to capture our next trip to WDW. Now, this trip may not happen until the 50th or the following year so there is plenty of time to make the necessary arrangements. I may need you to share a room (2 beds of course) and I may be able to spring for a backpack full of peanut butter crackers for rations, but I need to make this happen. Both yours and Fractal's pictures are AMAZING and as I told him on his trip report, they bring back all the good memories and stoke the fires for a return. As we get closer to a possible date, I will contact you both to discuss arrangements. . .
I am in! If I still have an annual pass at the time, maybe I'll get my own room :hilarious: I usually get a pretty good discount. I'd be alright sharing with @fractal as long as he promises to bring Yia Yia!

Did you make the bug thunder mountain shirt? My daughter would love it!
I did! I started screen printing Disney shirts recently as a creative outlet, and I am donating a portion of my sales to Give Kids the World. I'm selling them at kristimcmurry.etsy.com. I'm always open to new color ideas too, so if you think your daughter would like a different color, definitely let me know.
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Our plan after Hoop-Dee-Doo was to take a boat to Contemporary then monorail over to the Poly for a meet-up. Unfortunately there was lightening in the area, so the small boats weren't running. Instead we took a boat to Magic Kingdom (way longer) and got on the monorail to the Poly (one extra stop than Contempory...ugh). We were in bag check behind a guy with a full suitcase. WHY?!!! Thankfully we were able to go around him. I was afraid we'd been there all night.

After like a 40 minute commute, we finally arrived at the Poly to meet up with @blgauger and @Doc Disney with their fiance and mom, respectively. I was so excited to FINALLY meet them! Unfortunately we had to say hi real quick and then run to the bathroom because the commute was so long and the sangria from Hoop-Dee-Doo was catching up to me.

When we finally got to hang out and talk, R and I ordered a Lapu-lapu to share (sorry no picture...I was just distracted).

We enjoyed talking Disney for a while, but I didn't enjoy the Lapu-lapu :cautious: I think I compared it to dishwater :hungover:. I will not be getting that again! It was not only unpleasant, it was expensive and made my hands all sticky. Oh well, cross it off the list.

After hanging out for a little while (unfortunately without a table...Friday nights. :rolleyes:) we took a quick picture and then headed out.




We took one with Mary too! I feel like she's just as much a part of these forums since she's always in @Doc Disney's reports.

It was seriously such a treat to hang out with these wonderful people! I wish I could see them on every trip. I mean technically I could see @blgauger on every trip....and maybe I will :D


We got tickled at something...who knows?!

Since Meg and her mom were heading to Contemporary, we rode the monorail with them. When we got to the MK, about 100 people got into our car.



I exaggerate....but only a little. It was cramped! All of us got off at the Contemporary. Meg and Mary headed to their room while R and I headed out to the boats.

I don't think we waited very long, and we were back at the resort before 11pm. Not too bad! We only had one more full day! :cry:
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
On our last day, I was up at about 7:15. R wasn't feeling great, so I headed out to explore the resort...I figured I may as well. All I took with me was my phone, but I was wishing I'd taken my camera.





Eventually I decided to grab some breakfast. I got me some banana foster's pancakes and coffee.



This stuff was GOOD.

As I was eating, R texted that he was getting ready, so I headed back up to the room once I had my fill. Unfortunately I only drank a little of the coffee, so I felt like I wasted it. :(

We headed out around 9, and for once didn't wait too long for a bus. We got to AK at about 9:30am, and went straight to the safari for our FP. Here are some of my pictures...






The giraffes are so cute...I can't :inlove::inlove::inlove:






One of the cheetahs was up walking around...that was a first!





This was the best part! The lion was yawning for us! So adorable...it was the most action I'd seen from the lions ever.




These two ostriches were fighting. They just used their heads...it was weird.

Up Next: More pandora!
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Our plan after Hoop-Dee-Doo was to take a boat to Contemporary then monorail over to the Poly for a meet-up. Unfortunately there was lightening in the area, so the small boats weren't running. Instead we took a boat to Magic Kingdom (way longer) and got on the monorail to the Poly (one extra stop than Contempory...ugh). We were in bag check behind a guy with a full suitcase. WHY?!!! Thankfully we were able to go around him. I was afraid we'd been there all night.

After like a 40 minute commute, we finally arrived at the Poly to meet up with @blgauger and @Doc Disney with their fiance and mom, respectively. I was so excited to FINALLY meet them! Unfortunately we had to say hi real quick and then run to the bathroom because the commute was so long and the sangria from Hoop-Dee-Doo was catching up to me.

When we finally got to hang out and talk, R and I ordered a Lapu-lapu to share (sorry no picture...I was just distracted).

We enjoyed talking Disney for a while, but I didn't enjoy the Lapu-lapu :cautious: I think I compared it to dishwater :hungover:. I will not be getting that again! It was not only unpleasant, it was expensive and made my hands all sticky. Oh well, cross it off the list.

After hanging out for a little while (unfortunately without a table...Friday nights. :rolleyes:) we took a quick picture and then headed out.




We took one with Mary too! I feel like she's just as much a part of these forums since she's always in @Doc Disney's reports.

It was seriously such a treat to hang out with these wonderful people! I wish I could see them on every trip. I mean technically I could see @blgauger on every trip....and maybe I will :D


We got tickled at something...who knows?!

Since Meg and her mom were heading to Contemporary, we rode the monorail with them. When we got to the MK, about 100 people got into our car.



I exaggerate....but only a little. It was cramped! All of us got off at the Contemporary. Meg and Mary headed to their room while R and I headed out to the boats.

I don't think we waited very long, and we were back at the resort before 11pm. Not too bad! We only had one more full day! :cry:


Awesome WDW meetup!

Love the safari pics, especially the cheetah up and moving and the lion (which was always hiding for us)!
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Awesome Parade photos! You can't post too many. :D


I agree re: Hoop-de-doo Review. So much fun!
I so wanted to do that last Summer, but DS won't eat chicken or ribs or any of the fixins, and it is a 2 credit meal on the dining plan...not worth it if DS won't eat anything. Maybe next time. What are the songs? Are they well-known American folk songs? Disney songs?
Would foreign (but English speaking) children enjoy the show or is it geared toward Americana? Like, we went and watched Voices of Liberty, and every time they said "You'll all know this one" , DD was like ???? She didn't grow up with things like Oh Suzanna. Would my kids get the jokes?
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
I so wanted to do that last Summer, but DS won't eat chicken or ribs or any of the fixins, and it is a 2 credit meal on the dining plan...not worth it if DS won't eat anything. Maybe next time. What are the songs? Are they well-known American folk songs? Disney songs?
Would foreign (but English speaking) children enjoy the show or is it geared toward Americana? Like, we went and watched Voices of Liberty, and every time they said "You'll all know this one" , DD was like ???? She didn't grow up with things like Oh Suzanna. Would my kids get the jokes?

No "Disney" songs. Mostly American folk songs with different lyrics. There are a bunch of funny skits. It can be a bit goofy at times but we found it very entertaining.

If they food is not appealing then 2 credits is not worth it. There is unlimited beer and wine though! :D
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
@Songbird76 - my DD loves it and the first time we went her English wasn't all that great (she was 6 at the time). And the next time we went to WDW she asked to go back. It has now become a tradition to go on each trip.
Oh great! Thank you, that is great to know. I really want to do this on our next trip!! DD is 11 now, and DS is 9, and they are both fluent in English now, though DS still uses Dutch grammar and has an adorable accent. But they understand everything, so if they can actually get the humor, I think this would be SO much fun!
 

MinnieM123

Premium Member
RRRROOOOAAAARRRR!!! Love this photo! (Actually, I love all your photos!) :happy:

36691157105_a52019efc4_b.jpg
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I so wanted to do that last Summer, but DS won't eat chicken or ribs or any of the fixins, and it is a 2 credit meal on the dining plan...not worth it if DS won't eat anything. Maybe next time. What are the songs? Are they well-known American folk songs? Disney songs?
Would foreign (but English speaking) children enjoy the show or is it geared toward Americana? Like, we went and watched Voices of Liberty, and every time they said "You'll all know this one" , DD was like ???? She didn't grow up with things like Oh Suzanna. Would my kids get the jokes?

I've been trying to remember what songs they even sing, and I can't think of a single one. You definitely don't need prior knowledge to enjoy it, it's just completely goofy and silly humor. They have the exaggerated Southern accents and everything :joyfull:

I would be hesitant to do it if your kids won't eat the food though. It would be an expensive show without all the food and drinks!
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We headed over to Pandora after our Safari. The line for FoP was sooooo long! I've seen posts where it was longer though. I just would not want to wait that long outside in this heat. Yikes.



This isn't quite to the bridge that goes back to Africa, but it's darn close.

We still have some time before our Navi River FP, so I stopped to watch the drummers.







It was miserably hot in the sun, and R had waited back in the shade while I watched this. I wanted to watch the whole thing because I was enjoying it, but I felt like I was being fried out there.

It was only about 5 minutes before our window opened, so we hopped on in the line.












This ride was BEAUTIFUL! It's true, there's no story, but there's just so much to look at that I don't really care. I wouldn't wait in a long line for it, but I'll definitely be interested in doing this again once the lines get more reasonable. I was just in awe of everything! It really was just like being in a scene from the movie. And the animatronic HOLY MOLY!!! That thing looks creepily real....like if I didn't know it was an animatronic, I would have believed it was just a really large person up there. So impressive!

Up next: More AK.
 

sheriffwoody

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After Navi River Journey, we stopped and took a few selfies.



The light made him look a little bald, so we tried to fix that.



It went well...



I also had R take one of me in my purple tank. I liked this one better than the other one because it was a size bigger. I like the tanks looser!

We were hungry, so we stopped in Satu'li Canteen. I let R have his way and get rice with his beef bowl. It was meh...I like the potato hash better. We also tried the blueberry cheesecake stuff. I enjoyed it!




Next up we had to get some more photo pass pictures!




We headed back toward Africa for the Festival of the Lion King. I'd really been looking forward to shooting this. Unfortunately, we sat way up top, so I didn't get any great shots, but these are fine. I just like getting closer shots that show facial expressions. I still enjoyed the show immensely!















Up next: More FotLK
 

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