Trip Report Thanks for the adventure! F&W rookies!

Hello fellow Disney lovers!

Welcome to my 2nd trip report

When: Sat. September 23rd to Wed. September 27th

Where: Construction zone CBR

Who:

DH (Chris) and myself (Megan).

No kids! No kids! No kids! We left the boys with their grandparents...gasp! Some random lady could NOT believe we'd do such a thing. Details on that later!

Why: Celebrating 10 years of wedded bliss!

We had a jammed pack 3 days in the world and am happy to report we fit just about everything that was on the itinerary. It was HOT but sunny the entire time so no complaints here.

We ate and ate and ate some more...get ready for some food por pics! Without the kids, we were able to try signature restaurants and rides with height restrictions

Up first: Flying Allegiant...would our glued, rubber banded and duct taped plane make it to Orlando??

 

[lostpro9het]

We were having a great time, the setting, the food, the wine all was good except for the baby crying at the table over from us.

My issue is that if you are at this stage in life, then dining at a gourmet restaurant is not in the cards. Seems selfish.

A-Frickin-Men!!

 

[PrincessL]

Last day! Going to try and finish this up.

We had relaxed plans this morning because after doing two days of rope drops to close I didn't know what kind of shape we'd be in!

We slept in until 8am We decided to try the resort breakfast tent since we still had more QS credits than we were going to be able to use. This was served buffet style for $13.99 per adult. I don't remember what the kids was but remember thinking both seemed more than reasonable for Disney.

It had a nice spread. A variety of hot items like island crepes and cheesy potatoe caserole along with the standard Mickey waffles and sausage. The buffet also had a decent fruit and pastry selection.

Overall, I'd say it was a good value.

The ambiance on the other hand...quite disappointing. I know they have to feed people somehow and this is a fine temporary solution. This is Disney though and the bar for standards is always high!

There was, I'm going to guess recording as we never saw a CM with a microphone, wishing happy anniversary and then singing a Jamaican version of "At Last" with no music. It just seemed odd to us this early in the morning. Some light music in the background would have been all that was needed.

We also recognized a couple from dinner the night before. What are the odds that we had the same reservation time at CG and staying at the same resort and eating breakfast at the same time and place again?!

This was not a big space and was glad that we seemed to be with the early crowd as the line to get in was pretty long when we left.

Then we had some decisions to make...

We had a must FP at 3pm...our entire itinerary was pretty much based around it and decided to go ahead and spend a leisurely day at AK!

We have always treated AK as a half day park...hit the highlights and head somwhere else. Not today! We were going to soak in all the details.

First stop was a ride with an infamous yeti we had never visited. Last trip our two oldest were tall enough but we just didn't know if they were ready for this.

I'm glad we didn't use a FP and got to enjoy this queue and get the full story!

Scene of the crime.

We waited a few extra min. for front row.

This is genuine fear on my face folks. Everest is unlike any coaster I've ever been on. It was awesome and we had been missing out. Boys are going to love it.

DH went on again in the single riders line. I spared everyone all my screaming again

Next: more AK

 

[PrincessL]

Pictures get a little spotty here. We were taking our time and soaking up the details.

We didn't have any FPs until later but moved up our Kali River FP since we were in the area. It's nice that they have the free lockers. Thus, the reason for no pics as I left my phone in there.

Is it just me or is the queue for this really long? Maybe in the height of summer I could see the need but the wait time never seems to be that long. It was a pretty walk though. Our FP was completely unnecessary.

It's a fun ride but we were hoping to get more wet than we did as it was way hot and humid. No one really got wet in our raft.

It was then a little after 11am. DH and I weren't that hungry yet but I talked him into Flame Tree before the lunch crowds.

DH got the BBQ pork and I got the ribs and chicken...AH-Mazing every time! The cornbread seemed different this time.

I'm now going to bombard you with ToL pics because this is the first time we've been to AK when the path around the tree has been open and I've always wanted to check it out.

Good-day mate!

We couldn't find the entrance by It's though to be a bug so we had to ask a CM and walked down to the other entrance. Or is this the true entrance...idk!

Neat to see this shark fish (did not write down his name) not in an aquarium.

Mr. Kangaroo is hiding in the brush because Mr. Vulture was playing with this stick like he was a puppy. It was quite the site and random.

ToL is huge!

The carvings are just incredible

Next: Missing dog.

 

[PrincessL]

More ToL...

We had the entire path to ourselves. It was eerily quiet yet relaxing to be out of the crowds.

DH looks like he's posing for his senior pictures

We stood her for a bit. It was cool, refreshing and quiet!

As we exited we noticed a lonely Russell. Lonely as in there was nobody in line and lonely in that he was missing his pal

Why did they take Doug away?? He was my favorite

Look how cute he is!!

This was 2015:

They need to bring Doug back...squirrel...period!!

Let's get a petition started

Next: more leisure time.

 

[Rista1313]

Are those the froggtog mini's? I bought some because I don't like the big bulkiness of the regular ones. I was curious at how good they worked?

 

[PrincessL]

Are those the froggtog mini's? I bought some because I don't like the big bulkiness of the regular ones. I was curious at how good they worked?

These are the Frogg tog Chilly Sports ones. They worked quite well and I would recommend them!

 

[Rista1313]

These are the Frogg tog Chilly Sports ones. They worked quite well and I would recommend them!

I'm pretty sure that's the same ones I bought, thanks for the info! I overheat so fast these days =/

 

[PeppermintPatty]

"I've been wanting to ask you guys why two adults would come to Disney alone? You must not have any kids!"

"Well, actually we do, we have 3 boys"

"Really? Where are they?"

You could hear the judgy tone from the nosey lady with 1st visit button on

1. None of her business.
2. None of her business.
3. None of her business!!!!!

You shouldn't have let her upset you like that. We have gone to WDW without our kids a couple of times. Big deal. What's wrong with that? Your kids, your money, your decision! This makes me so mad!!!!

 

[PrincessL]

"I've been wanting to ask you guys why two adults would come to Disney alone? You must not have any kids!"

"Well, actually we do, we have 3 boys"

"Really? Where are they?"

You could hear the judgy tone from the nosey lady with 1st visit button on

1. None of her business.
2. None of her business.
3. None of her business!!!!!

You shouldn't have let her upset you like that. We have gone to WDW without our kids a couple of times. Big deal. What's wrong with that? Your kids, your money, your decision! This makes me so mad!!!!

Thank you! Absolutely nothing is wrong with it and it was none of her business. I just wish I was a quick thinker on my feet, I always think of what I should have said after the fact. I felt guilty for the duration of PPF and that was about it! We will not hesitate to go back again the two of us We had so much fun!

 

[fractal]

Love that you explored the Tree of life!

 

[TheMouseFan]

Love the Tree of Life pics! One of my favorite things to photograph!

 

[blreinsel]

I agree with you 100% about your Cali Grill experience. What a bummer that it happened at such an amazing restaurant! The mushroom risotto was SOOOOO amazing. I wish they'd bring it back!

Loving your relaxing AK morning. I've really come to love and appreciate AK in the last few months.

 

[Bullseye1967]

Our first flight was Soarin!

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I'm usually strictly a tennis shoes wearer when at Disney. On this day though, I was wearing sandals because I had to do an outfit change before our dinner reservation and I didn't want to be lugging them around later.

You may be asking, "why is this worth mentioning??"

Getting there...I had never ridden Soarin with out my shoes on!!! It definitely felt more freeing and added to the expirience for me. Idk if that is a thing but try it if you haven't

After our amazing flight it was on to our 2nd flight. In the beginning I was excited to be able to try things that the boys aren't quite ready to do. Mission Space Orange was one of them...for DH. I was taking one for the team.

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This should have scarred me off Then having to move waiting rooms because someone lost their cookies on their flight should have def sent me to the chicken exit. But, we were committed...

NEVER again!

I felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest the entire time and like I was about to discover that I did have a heart condition (I don't). But I never want to feel like that again. DH agreed.

We needed a min to shake that off but we didn't have a moment to spare. It was time for our 3rd flight. Which we were both guaranteed to enjoy! Any guesses?

It was time for our beverage seminar!

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3rd flight

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Japanese beer! It was some unique good tasting stuff! They use part of their sake making experience into making this beer. It is pretty new as Japan had laws in place that only large batch brewing was legal and this is a craft beer. It was all very interesting. It is now available mostly a specialty wine and liquor stores.

I'd say it was worth the $16 per person to sit in the air condition pavillion alone!

We then looked around at some of the F&W merch. Nothing really spoke to me.

Then toured the Geridelli room. Free chocolate square for just for visiting!

I though these chocolate sculptures were pretty neat.

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We had a little more time before dinner so we head to WS and decided to get a special treat from here:

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Carmel corn and grapefruit beer great combo We caught the end of the live music too. Bonus as I didn't think we were going to have time to fit this into our plans.

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Everclear, they were pretty good. Said thier crowds were a little more pastel these days

Next: Wish we remembered more from those 9 years of French we took!

@blgauger did you see this?

 

[Bullseye1967]

All caught up. Great ToL pics!! Sorry about the bad experience at CG. Thanks for the great TR so far.

 

[PrincessL]

I agree with you 100% about your Cali Grill experience. What a bummer that it happened at such an amazing restaurant! The mushroom risotto was SOOOOO amazing. I wish they'd bring it back!

Loving your relaxing AK morning. I've really come to love and appreciate AK in the last few months.

So they did have mushroom risotto! When I was stalking the menu it only ever showed the tomatoe. Hopefully it's seasonal and they bring back the mushroom...makes much more sense with the steak!

 

[PrincessL]

Love the Tree of Life pics! One of my favorite things to photograph!

I could look at the carvings and find new animals all day!

 

[PrincessL]

All caught up. Great ToL pics!! Sorry about the bad experience at CG. Thanks for the great TR so far.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[PrincessL]

It was getting HOT and we worked up quite a sweat. We decided to take a shopping and snack break.

I really wanted a safari hat but DH kept making faces when I'd try one on and asking when else I'd ever wear is besides AK? Good point, but with my new found love for AK it would be more often!

The slushi was very refreshing. If only I could have added a shot of caffeine

We still needs some a/c though because the heat was starting to get to us. I suggested a show.

I'm probably in the minority but I prefer the Nemo show. DH disagrees. Who won this discussion...

DH because Lion King was closest and a show started in 10 min

It was great timing as we were one of the last into the theater so they were ushering us towards the reserved seating that wasn't being used.

We were 5 rows back in the Warthog section. By far the best seats we've had for this show!

Hmm...this show is much better than I remembered. Without kids hanging on you, asking for a snack, whining or annoying their brothers....you can actually enjoy the show!

I may have to revisit this liking Nemo better thing as it is geared more towards the smaller children (bubbles falling from the ceiling etc) and may have something to do with why I've always preferred it May be on to something here!

Next:One of the reasons this trip even existed!

 

[PrincessL]

For real finishing this up today! Thanks for hanging with me, here's my excuse

We are new to cats so any advice with kittens is appreciated. Lol!

We are obviously animal lovers so it's no surprise that Kilimanjaro Safari is always a must when visiting AK. We usually plan for this first thing in the morning though. It was hot so I don't blame them for finding some shade and not moving much Here's a few pics but like I said not a ton of action.

These are a prop right?

We headed back toward Lion King as there is a nice path to the left that leads you to the new Pandora and we were excited to finally check it out!

We did a family trip the week of Memorial Day which was also the opening of Pandora. We decided for that trip to stay clear of AK all together. Thus, was one of the main inspirations for this trip...that and F&W of course!

Was this a sign that we were headed in the right direction?

Or leftover from Irma?

This path was a nice quiet way to enter...

Wow, the details


Next: This new land is impressive.

 

[PacNWTigger]

Congrats on the new family member! The biggest piece of advice I can give you regarding kittens is to have a couple of litter boxes on hand for them. You can get rid of them as they get older, but it will save you from picking up messes all over the house. Your little one looks a little bit like my Mo.

Baby Mo

Big boy Mo