Trip Report [ 4/28, 4/29, 4/30 ]

First off, we live about an hour and a half away, but we decided to spend the night instead of driving in on Sunday morning. It was well worth it.

We checked into All-Star Movies (I know, but it was last minute and the cheapest) around 5:00 or so. We stayed at the Mighty Ducks and it's actually a good one to stay at, as you're five minutes walking distance from the check-in/restaurants and the buses. Room was nice enough for one night. Despite this, the grads were all out in full-force but it was kinda fun, albeit a TAD noisy but really not that bad.

I didn't feel like sitting around the room all night, so I myself hopped on a bus to MGM (it was Grad Night so DisneyWorld closed at 7:00 and I was seeing Animal Kingdom tomorrow). Buses are very convenient. I loved them. First time staying on resort property and taking buses. I know some gripe about them but it was heaven for me, who's used to driving.

Got to MGM around 6:30PM and although the brochure I picked up at the resort said MGM closed at 8:30, I was happily surprised to see it was open until 10:00! Must of been because of Grad Night at Disney. Anyway, I got my Florida Resident's Annual Pass! Yahoo. I was shocked though at how PACKED MGM was. I mean it was SUMMERTIME packed. Tower of Terror boasted an 80 minute wait time and FastPass was no longer operating so I said screw it and got in line. It wasn't nearly that long, probably a half an hour or so or 60 minutes AT MOST. After that, the time said 50 minutes, which made more sense. Anyway, after that I ran to Rock 'n Rollercoaster, but the wait time was 90 minutes, or so, and I didn't think of the single rider line, so I said screw that and left. I went to Star Tours and that was basically walk on. Been a while since I was on it. Good ride, could use a bit of updating but still super fun. After that, it was getting later and I was tired. I considered going to Phantasmic (never have seen it) but instead went to MuppetVision3D, which had a 5 minute wait time. I still love it. After that, I hopped on the bus and went back to the resort.

Next up ... spending my birthday at Animal Kingdom!

 

[Kman101]

Sunday, April 29th

(WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC INTENSIVE!!!!!)

My birthday! And no ... I didn't get a birthday button. I probably should of but I didn't, lol.

So anyway, we woke up early at the resort and got to Animal Kingdom around 8:30, and they let us in the park at 8:45 and we made our way up to the Tree Of Life where the opening show was going to take place. I actually went with my mom, and it was her first time at Animal Kingdom. My second time, as I went when it first opened in 1998 and I remember that Asia wasn't even really open.

Anyway ... watched the opening show and it really does get you in the spirit of things.

After that, we made our way to Africa as I wanted to get a FastPass to Kilimanjaro Safari, which ALREADY boasted a 20 minute wait time (less, I'm sure but still ...). But first, I saw Baloo and had to get a picture:

After that, we grabbed out Fast Passes to Kilimanjaro Safari and headed off to the Pangani Trail to kill some time until our Fast Pass return time came up.

I personally really enjoyed it. We saw a ton of apes, fish, and not to mention a cute meerkat:

That killed just enough time to make our Fast Pass return time to Kilimanjaro Safari. I have to say, I love Fast Pass. So convenient.

So, onto the Safari we go! It's always a ton of fun although it's VERY hard to get pictures! Ugh. But we were lucky to hit it early (I read up on all the park tips on the boards and at various Disney fan sites) so almost all of the animals were roaming and out. It was awesome.

I'm particularly proud of these two shots:

So, after that, we headed to Camp Minnie/Mickey to catch Festival of the Lion King, but on the way, I just had to get a picture:

God ... the brilliance of zoom and digital camera!

Onto the Festival of the Lion King. Probably one of my favorite Disney shows EVER. Just amazing and so much fun!

Up next ... Character Landing ... Dinoland ... Dinosaur ... Flame Tree BBQ ... Nemo and EVEREST!!

 

[Kman101]

PART TWO ...

After that, I noticed Meet and Greet spots for Pluto, Goofy, Minnie and Mickey, so I ran to take pictures! And does anyone know where Donald is? He was nowhere to be found in the park, unless he trades out one of the meet and greet spots or is he located in Rafiki's Planet Watch, cause that's the only spot I didn't bother going to?

Anyway .. I got good close ups of Pluto, Goofy and Minnie but left them off because of the 10 image post rule. And no, none of the folks in the pictures are my family! LOL. I got pictures when I could and didn't care who was in them.

We then made our way to DinoLand!

I ran over to Dinosaur and got a FastPass. I spotted Character Landing and decided to go down and get pictures of Pooh, Eyeore and Tigger. The area looked familar and it seemed like an old queue line for a ride, I'm assuming it was the old River Cruise? Anyway, Tigger came out right as I was going in so that was kinda cool.

Then it was off to Flame Tree BBQ for lunch! It was good, not great. Beans and corn were better than the chicken, lol.

After lunch, my FastPass time for Dinosaur came up. It was kind of a waste of Fast Pass cause it was virtually walk on, but still, it was handy because I was able to not worry about waiting if I had to, etc.

And it's worth noting that it's a VERY good ride, very underrated and I'm shocked it's not that popular anymore, although with the Safari, Everest, Lion King and Nemo, I can understand why and the ride is actually shoved out of the way and you can easily miss it wandering around DinoLand.

It's also worth noting that an early showing of Finding Nemo: The Musical had lines wrapped around Dinoland. I figured we'd never get in. So, we waited for the next show... and we got in line about an hour before the show started and we were near the very beginning! Yay. I had never seen it so I was excited.

It was extremely good and the performers were amazing. Huge thumbs WAY up and I can understand why it's popular. An amazing, amazing show.

And I bet you're wondering ... where's Everest? Well, I almost didn't do it! Not out of fright but more or less timing of everything else. Nevertheless, I made my way ... I was pretty nervous. I got in the Single-Rider line and it was virtually walk on, maybe 5 or 10 minutes but it flew by.

Let me preface this by saying it's been years since I've been to any theme park (probably 8 years, even though I live less than two hours away) and as a kid was never a rollercoaster fan. I also am not fond of heights but I said screw it and rode it and it was the best ever. I had no problems riding it and it was the time of my life. I'm now a huge rollercoaster fan. Even with a minor fear of heights the ride didn't bother me in the LEAST. Amazing ride.

Unfortunately, that was the end of the day ... what a way to end it! We were actually heading home that day and I wanted to do Kali River Rapids but decided not to and I didn't want to get soaked, so, I skipped it

Overall, a fun day at Animal Kingdom. I have to say it's probably my second favorite park. I had an absolute ball.

CROWDS: Moderate to heavy. It was Grad weekend, and a Sunday, so ...

WEATHER: Fantastic. Sunny and breezy. Amazing day.

WAIT TIMES: Varied, but Everest was about 20 minutes around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Dinosaur was 20 minutes all day. Kali had about a 30 minute wait. Kilimanjaro varied but it was also mostly around 20-30. I'm sure at peak periods it increased, but overall, despite huge crowds (more than I expected), the wait times WEREN'T bad, unless I timed them well enough to not wait that long.

Up next ... we came home, but I wasn't about to let my Annual Pass go to waste ... I WAS GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!

 

[CTXRover]

I love looking at your photos. Keep up the great work!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Nice report and pics - thanks

 

[Monty]

Nice report!

I know Donald is at Breakfastosaurus and I think he's in the parade [I've never really been much on parades :shrug:]. I don't think I've seen him anywhere else in AK.

 

[Kman101]

Thanks for the feedback guys! I just found it weird Donald wasn't anywhere in the park signing things. Weird. He's one of the main characters. I just love taking pictures of the characters so that was kind of my mission. Grab all the characters I could.

So ... onto Disney World!

Monday, April 30th

Don't worry though, this isn't as graphic intensive as Animal Kingdom because I guess my camera wasn't on the charger and it didn't charge.

I got to the Magic Kingdom around 9:30 and finally got in around 10:00 (parking lot was PACKED and I had to wait through TWO trams before I could board -- it was insane). Then of course the monorail, which was packed as well.

I made my way to the main gate and my god you'd swear they were giving the park away. It was SUMMERTIME busy. Once in the park though, it ACTUALLY wasn't that bad. I did see Chip and Dale skipping by the railway station but couldn't grab a photo fast enough.

Got in and snapped a photo (this will also give you a good idea of the early morning crowds):

I made my way around where I immediately saw Daisy and Pluto signing autographs by they Disney statues. I snapped photos but am leaving them off because of the 10 image rule.

Made my way around and there was Pinocchio and Gepetto signing autographs. Also signing autographs were a cat and a fox. I'm drawing such a blank on their names!

Made my way to Adventureland and Jungle Cruise was already a 20 minute wait. Not bad but I decided not to wait and instead walked to Pirates of the Caribbean and saw Capt. Jack giving his pirates show outside. Pirates was a 5 minute wait so I ran on, just missing Peter Pan, who was just coming out (so I didn't get a photo).

Pirates was a lot better thanks to the refurb and it being more "Pirates movie" like. A lot of fun. And although we already knew this, Swiss Family Treehouse was closed for refurb and actually people were very disappointed by it's closure so it's still a popular attraction. I did grab a photo of Aladdin's Magic Carpet Ride.

After that, I made my way around to Frontierland. Both Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad had about a 10-20 minute wait time. I grabbed a Fast Pass to Splash and made my way onto Big Thunder Mountain. It was said to be 20 minutes but it was more like 10. Very very fun. Loved it. I considered going into the Tiki room but opted not to.

After Big Thunder Mountain, I grabbed a hotdog and then watched Woody's Cowboy Roundup.

Once I had enough of that, I noticed Country Bear Jamboree had a showing in about 5 minutes so I ran inside. I still love this show and am glad it's still around. It was also still very popular and had full attendance. You could tell the audiences love them, although, IMO, the show could be a little longer. Not much but just a few minutes longer. You never really get a chance to get TOTALLY into it when it's over.

On my way out I spotted Brer Fox and Brer Bear signing autographs right around the Country Bear area (it doesn't make sense those two sign autos but yet Brer Rabbit is nowhere to be found).

After that, I ran back to Splash Mountain. Got a little wet but it dried as I made my way to Liberty Square.

Grabbed some photos of Tom Sawyer's island port and raft ride and then of the Ferryboat as well as the Hall of Presidents. Made my way to Haunted Mansion which also had a wait time of about 20 minutes so I ran in line and it wasn't long at all until I was inside and riding the ride.

Woo. I still love it. I'm dying for the refurb though to see what the enhance and make better. Ride was a tad jerky so I hope they fix that but overall, a load of fun.

Made my way to Fantasyland and had to snap a photo of the old skyway. I heard it used to be a Meet and Greet for Snow White and Dopey. It's the perfect place, the design of the building is so fitting. Anyway ... snapped pictures of some of the rides (it's a small world, Peter Pan's flight, Winnie the Pooh, Mad Tea Party, etc.) Happened by Mickey's Philharmagic and having never seen it, saw the 5 minute wait time and ran inside. Very cool show although like it's been said, maybe not the best one for really young kids. Some were quite frightened. Going inside I spotted Mary Poppins nearby but wasn't able to snap a photo.

After that I spotted Cinderella's evil Stepmother and Stepsisters signing autographs near the castle and the kids were loving them.

As I was making my way to Mickey's Toontown Fair I snapped photos of Pooh and Tigger signing autographs near Pooh's Playful Spot.

I didn't do a thing in Toontown so I made my way to Tomorrowland.

Grabbed a fast pass for Space Mountain and walked around a bit. Stitch had a 5 minute wait time and I almost went in but opted not to. Buzz Lightyear varied but it was a short wait as well. I didn't do that either. I made my way to Carousel of Progress. It's always been a favorite of mine so I had to do it. I saw Buzz signing autographs near there but that's when my camera died! I was so disappointed! Anyway, went into Progress and loved it. Not a lot of people inside, which is sad but it's still open!! After I came out I saw Stitch near Buzz.

Realized the time was perfect and hopped onto Space Mountain. It was actually my first time riding it and it was a blast. I had a little time to kill before the parade so I went back to Fantasyland and hopped on Snow White's Scary Adventures which had a 5 minute wait time. (It's worth noting that both Pooh and Peter Pan had 40 minute wait times. I really wanted Peter Pan, but skipped it. I refused Pooh because I love Mr. Toad, although I kinda wanted to see what it was like now)

With that, I had made my way back around to the front of the castle for the Parade. How I wish my camera was charged! It was a wonderful parade. I love the song.

Stuck around and watched the Dream Along With Mickey show. First time seeing it and I was right up front. Again, how I wish I had my camera charged!! Anyway, it was an awesome show. Very fun and the kids loved it.

I was going to head out of the park but I noticed a hoard of people so I said screw that and made my way back to Adventureland and spotted Aladdin, Jasmine and Genie signing autographs by the Agrabah store near the Carpet Ride. Couldn't take a photo of course

To kill some time before my FastPass return to Jungle Cruise, I hopped on the riverboat and rode around Tom Sawyer Island. Launched at 5:30 and made it back at 5:45, five minutes before my return time was for Jungle Cruise! I hopped right on Jungle Cruise and it was a blast. The driver was having a ball, which was nice to see. And so, that concluded my day at Magic Kingdom! It was so much fun. If you time things right, you can see nearly all of the characters signings.

CROWDS: Heavy but yet a lot of the rides were near walk on, so that was strange. Maybe I just lucked out by hitting them early?

WEATHER: Perfect. Sunny, a little cloudy but beautiful. Extremely hot, had to of been 90.

WAIT TIMES: Varied, but mostly they were around 5, 10 or 20 minutes if timed right. Pooh and Peter Pan were pretty much 40 minutes all day. Dumbo, Tea Party and Aladdin all had long lines. Space was around 30 minutes and probably longer at peak times, same for Splash and Thunder.

So, despite the huge crowds, if timed right you can almost hop on any ride, which surprised me, seeing as it was like summertime at the park.

 

[mouselvrmom]

Great trip report! It's odd you didn't see Donald. We have always seen him on a trail at camp minnie-mickey. He's usually there. Maybe he was just taking a break that day.

 

[Kman101]

I'm so having withdrawls already! LOL

I was amazed though. The crowds were HUGE and there was next to no wait at almost all of the rides, although I'm sure certain times had longer wait times than others. I think I hit a few key rides during early showings of Dream Along With Mickey.

I also went by myself. First time at Disney by myself (I went to Animal Kingdom with my mom) and it was great. I was so busy I didn't even notice I was alone, well, except at times waiting in lines but I enjoyed people watching and watching the little kids getting a huge kick out of everything.

I was also smart and managed to grab a REALLY good spot for the parade (still mad at no charged camera) by the gazebo at the entrance to Frontierland and I also had a front row spot to Dream Along With Mickey. IMO, best way to do that is get a spot for the parade by the castle and then basically just hang around for the Dream Along show.

Overall, I'm amazed at how lucky I was getting in next to no lines, seeing virtually every attraction I wanted to ... etc. I remember as a kid missing SO much and now doing almost everything. I guess being by yourself has advantages. I basically just lucked out all day, walking around the park and using Fast Pass (best thing ever). Getting a fast pass for a popular ride and then hitting a lesser attracted ride (such as Carousel and the Riverboat) to wait for your return time is a good way to do things you might not be able to by waiting in line.

I'd also probably go all of the time the last week of April. You have the crowds but yet the lines for the rides aren't bad at all so you get the ambience and the lesser wait times. I'd suggest checking out the parks around this time if you can. Although the weather was a bit much at Disney (at Animal Kingdom it was breezy and there was tons of foliage so you had a lot of cover), you had the summertime feel for the springtime crowds!

 

[Kman101]

Well, screw withdrawls ... I went back on Wednesday.

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2007

I was supposed to be working that day, went in at 6am and as they were cutting hours, I left at 8am and on the spur of the moment headed for the parks again!

I got to Disney around quarter of 10 and WITH A CHARGED CAMERA made my way around the park.

I really didn't do much of anything as I had done really all I wanted to do on Monday. Hung around Tomorrowland a lot and got pictures of Sitch with Push the talking trashcan. Buzz wasn't out today it seems.

Caught the end of the first Dream Along With Mickey and snapped a few photos. Crowds were a lot less than on Monday, with wait times still just around 20 minutes.

Like I said, I didn't do much. Oh, I did finally grab a photo of Chip and Dale, who were still greeting guests at the Railroad station by the entrance. Saw Clara the cow, and the other one. Forgot his name.

I guess, in terms of character greetings, they alternate, because unlike Monday where the evil stepsisters and stepmother were by the castle, only the stepmother was there.

Oh ... almost forgot, I managed to come across Belle's Storybook area (which I missed last time) and snapped a few photos. And for lunch, I had one of those huge turkey legs. Very very good.

Oops, forgot this too! Chicken Little was out and about right by the Mickey's Toontown sign.

After that, I hopped on a bus to MGM, determined to do all the things I missed on Saturday night.

 

[Kman101]

Got to MGM around 11:30 and caught the 12:00 showing of Beauty and the Beast. Still a wonderful show. Very fun. Was able to see Four For a Dollar before the show and they are wonderful. Amazing voices.

After that, I mostly wandered around, snapping photos. I noticed there was a 2:45 showing of Lights! Motors! Action! and decided to see it. It was PACKED. It's very popular. Overall, I was pretty impressed. It's a fun show.

What I found neat was that you could see all of the MGM landmarks over the buildings used, such as the Tower of Terror, the Hat, Chinese Theater and the forgotten Earful Water Tower.

After that I managed to stumble upon Mulch, Sweat, & Shears. Fun show, but I didn't hang around for it all.

Happened by the Monsters Inc. area and saw Sully come out for photo ops.

I almost forgot, yet again, about the Great Movie Ride and had to hop on and watch it. It wasn't busy but our cars were totally full. I forgot a few aspects of it, so it was fun, as always.

After that, I went to Rock N' Rollercoaster, having never rode it, and it boasted a 30 minute wait time so I ran through the single rider line and it was pretty much walk on for me. I love it. The ride was so much fun but it went by way too fast. VERY short. Overall though, so much fun.

After that I happened back around to LMAX and found Kim and Ron Possible, the Playhouse Disney crew (Jojo and a character from Little Einsteins). Snapped a photo of Kim and Ron and skipped PD. Saw the Power Rangers, all five were out signing autographs and posing. I used to love them as a kid so I had to get photos, but I don't watch anymore so ...

Happened by Al's Barn and saw Woody and Buzz, so I finally got a Buzz photo.

After that, wound up by the Sorcerer's Hat and saw Jasmine, Snow White, Minnie, Goofy, Meeko, Mary Poppins, Queen of Hearts, White Rabbit, Jafar and Snow Queen (I can never spell her real name right so I'm not going to) signing autographs and posing for pictures.

I thought this was a really good shot:

It was around 5:00 and I was going to leave but was bound and determined to see Indiana Jones. I made it into the theater and it's always such a fun show. I love it. I'll be so sad if they ever get rid of it.

So, it was fun doing the things I didn't on Saturday night (due to the late time I went)

 

[Kman101]

Sigh. I'm addicted. Thank god for my Annual Pass!

Friday, May 4th

EPCOT!!

I know most do not agree, but I kinda like the wand ... lol.

After getting to the park around 2:00PM, it was PACKED. I mean, no joke, summertime packed. I was pretty shocked. Although, it was clear that there were TONS of schools visiting all of the parks the past few days so I'm guessing that was part of the reason. Plus, it seems Epcot had extra magic hours that night for resort guests so ...

I immediately hit Spaceship Earth. It's always a great ride but the track itself sounds so rusty and loud. It was quite distracting. I hope they fix that. It was pretty bad and it's even worse when I'm sitting there waiting for the cars to completely stop because the track is in such bad shape.

Anyway, Spaceship Earth was walk-on.

I wound up at Test Track and the crowd was atrocious and the wait time was at least 60 minutes (if not more; I can't remember). I was dying to ride it but that late in the day, I didn't want to wait. Do any of the Epcot rides have single rider lines? I remember seeing one that had a wait time of 20 minutes. I should of done it but oh well ...

Anyway, The Land was disgusting as well. Crowds were just downright horrible. Every ride in there had a wait time of at least 40 minutes or more. Soarin was at least 90 minutes. And nothing had FastPasses left except Mission: Space, so I grabbed one for that.

After that, I wound up by The Seas with Nemo and Friends and that was thankfully walk on.

It was actually really cute. Do I miss the old Living Seas? Of course, but I really liked Nemo and it fit.

After that, I hung around and looked at the aquariums and the Manatee area. A cute manatee was there but I wasn't able to get a picture fast enough before it swam away. In the aquariums was an amazing turtle (the little kids called him Crush, of course, very cute) and tons of dolphin who swam right by the glass. I always love hanging around the Seas.

I then finally made my around to the World Showcase. I forgot how massive Epcot was ... holy crap did I walk!

Saw Brother Bear signing autographs. I think near Canada but I can't remember. The heat was unberable and the crowds were atrocious so Epcot is a bit of a blur to me.

Walked around and found Belle and Beast and got a great shot of them:

Walked around to Morocco and found Jasmine and Genie signing autographs.

Made my way around and found Snow White and Dopey

Got around to Mexico and wanted to do the El Rio thing but the line for that was sick so I skipped that as well.

I kinda grew tired of Epcot so I hopped on the monorail to Disney World, lol.

Found Rafiki and Timon near the entrance to Adventureland and also caught Hook and Smee nearby and Buzz was out by Carousel of Progress. Got photos of all of them.

Realized the time I wasted in Disney and wanted to see the 5:45 America Gardens show, with Petula Clark but failed to get back in time (darn). I didn't really want to hang around that long but I stayed until the 7:00 show. And as a note, the line for the 5:45 showing had people waiting in line two hours early, if not more, probably. So, at 7:00, I saw Petula Clark. I'm young but love oldies so it was such a treat. I had a pretty decent seat (third row from the stage on the left hand side) but of course she stayed mostly in the center and on the right. I put my zoom to use and got a few decent pictures. A lot came out a bit blurry but it was a great great show. Petula got several standing ovations and it was amazing to hear people say they came just for her, and traveled just to see her perform. I don't know what I expected but I was surprised, and each show was PACKED.

Overall, I really want to love Epcot but the crowds and wait times were just way too overwhelming for me. I was very disappointed and agitated. I guess I was spoiled by Disney, Animal Kingdom and MGM having rides be basically 20 minutes or less. Is Epcot a better park to hit in the morning? I'd assume so ... I think I just picked a bad night to go.

 

[eagles]

loved your reports.


i was there from 26apr-04may. and i have to say my experience was totally opposite of yours as far as crowd levels went. we had zero waits for everything except for peter pan one day, that was about 20 mins but it was faster than that. heat was not bad for us at all, we knew it was hot (someone said it hit the 90's) but there was no humidity so it was a bearable hot (for us).

sounds like you had a great time!

 

[minnie2000]

Great report!:sohappy: