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Trip Report Tu in ‘25

Ever just the same
Ever a surprise
Ever as before
Ever just as sure
As the sun will rise
Tu in ‘25

These lyrics came to mind when I thought about my trip reporting. (I also thought, Here we go AGAIN but the above sounds much more poignant.) It’s now that time of year when my Disney trips are frequent. And this Disney Senior loves sharing her visits with y’all because your engagement makes it fun!

Yes, there will be stuff that’s the same. Yes, there will be surprises (too soon for the reveals). And yes, there will be sun rises!

Spring break countdown is at 4 days.

Since this intro needs a picture, here are Tu.

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Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Saturday, con’t

The interior of our room was fine in terms of functionality but generic in themeing. All value resorts look identical from the inside. Is this All Star Movies or All Star Music? Is it All Star Sports or Pop Century?

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A little more of this would be nice. At least the poster is Toy Story themed.

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Although I will admit I do not miss the busy bedspreads. But a themed wallpaper border does differentiate the rooms and gives a hint of what section or building the room is located in.

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However with my first Art of Animation stay (in a Nemo suite) booked for next year, I’m certain my desire for room themeing will be met…..and then some! 🤣
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
lindawdw said:
We used to stay at Pop Century for many years before buying into DVC and really loved our time there. It might be generic inside but it does have a fun Disney theme! You will definitely be immersed in Disney theming at AOA!
Click to expand...
The interior of the Pop rooms were also themed by decade until the first generic refurbishment in 2017. Note the wall poster from the Seventies.

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My 2026 AoA stay is not with members of my immediate family. 😉
 
lindawdw

lindawdw

Well-Known Member
Tuvalu said:
The interior of the Pop rooms were also themed by decade until the first generic refurbishment in 2017. Note the wall poster from the Seventies.

View attachment 888963

My 2026 AoA stay is not with members of my immediate family
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Tuvalu said:
The interior of the Pop rooms were also themed by decade until the first generic refurbishment in 2017. Note the wall poster from the Seventies.

View attachment 888963

My 2026 AoA stay is not with members of my immediate family. 😉
Click to expand...
I certainly remember that style room at Pop although I have to say that I really liked the refurbishment they did after that! Who are you going with for your AOA stay in 2026?
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Saturday, con’t

Em and I had to pivot from our original plan for the afternoon. We had considered going to Typhoon Lagoon with our free water park pass, but ongoing cloudy skies and a little light rain nixed that! Instead, we had #ShirleyStatus on a bus to AK.

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@Zipadeelady I haven’t given up on your favorite park yet, but weather conditions do make or break my enjoyment. I was hoping the cool breeze would make touring pleasant and we’d be spared the heavy rain Woody and I were trapped by in August.

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Faces filled with optimism!

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Em and I were starving since the brisket and egg tacos had long worn off. While on our way to Satu’li Canteen, we stopped to watch a gorgeous duck with the same coloration as Em’s cat Astrid. He’s pretty hard to spot in my pictures!

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We had mobile ordered our very late lunch/early dinner and walked straight to the counter to pick it up. Both of us had the beef (which was very good and similar to how it used to taste way back when); I had the noodles, Em the salad.

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MDE revealed long wait times so after we finished our meal we decided to walk around and explore. I’d never noticed this lovely stream in Pandora before.

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Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Saturday, con’t

Tu and Em were feeling a bit mischievous and headed towards Asia, stopping first to watch the white cheeked gibbons play. They camouflage well!

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I clearly had not done my research before I’d suggested, “Let’s go squirt the unsuspecting raft riders on Kali River Rapids.”

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Scratch that form of entertainment off the list! :cautious: :angelic:

We continued on to Everest where the standby wait had dropped to a manageable 30 minutes. I offered to wait with Em but she wasn’t up for riding today.

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Continuing our trek, we passed the Finding Nemo theater. We’d just missed the start of the next show. Our path led to the former Dinoland area, which is now a walkway of walls.

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Dinosaur was down and had been all day. That meant the park had a grand total of four operational rides: Everest, Na’vi River Journey, Flight of Passage and Kilimanjaro Safaris. And all except Everest had hour-plus waits.

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We soon learned we should not have chosen to head down the walkway of walls.

It dead ends!

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So we turned around and went back the way we came.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Saturday, con’t

AK was struggling to keep us - and many wandering others - entertained. Though we typically would not wait an hour for the safari we had nothing else to do. The optimism in our faces before entering the park was fading away.

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Em tried to be cheery.

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I took that picture immediately before an announcement apologizing for the long delay due to animal stoppage. As we moved along we noticed we could not hear any approaching Jeeps, meaning all were stationary somewhere on the savanna. We moved forward through the queue further than we expected based on the posted wait time, supposing that lots of guests had already bailed. We were almost to the load zone when we heard the arrival of the first few Jeeps. The CMs were clapping.

We were seated 35 minutes later.

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It began to sprinkle as our journey began. And we just missed the hippo jumping out of the water.

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There wasn’t a whole lot of animal activity today, but we enjoyed the giraffes and cheetahs.

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The female lions were sleeping….

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….as the male yawned. (Would have preferred a roar!)

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The former sprinkling had now become full-on rain which led to a funny finale - six goats huddled side-by-side under the roof of the shelter, trying not to get wet! As much as I wanted to get a picture, I couldn’t.

So yet again, it rained on my (AK) parade. Em and I joined the mass exodus since there was no reason to stay.

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Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
Original Poster
Saturday, con’t

We lucked out with transportation as the AS Movies bus arrived the moment we got to the gate. We popped into the food court upon our arrival at the resort and picked up a couple of sweet treats and items for breakfast the following morning.

We opened our room door and saw this -

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A Pack ‘n Play?

Em and I joked that it must have been meant for Tuvalad, who was currently at Dollywood, not Disney World!

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I called housekeeping and this was the exchange:

“There is a Pack ‘n Play in my room that I did not request.”
“Are you sure you don’t need it?”
“Yes, we are two adults.”
“Are you traveling with someone that does?”
“No, we are a party of two adults.”
“Are you sure someone in the adjoining room doesn’t need it?”
How would I know?!! I was tempted to shout. Instead I replied with a polite, “I have no idea.”
“Ok. I guess we’ll come get it.”

Em decided it was not necessary to wait for a knock on our door. She dragged the Pack ‘n Play outside, positioning it in a covered area between our room and the next. Then she deadbolted the door so we would not be disturbed.

We turned on the television to catch up on some shows and enjoyed our sweet treats.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I proudly present my dinner -

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A cookies and cream cupcake. Worth every calorie.
 
fractal

fractal

Premium Member
Tuvalu said:
Saturday, con’t

AK was struggling to keep us - and many wandering others - entertained. Though we typically would not wait an hour for the safari we had nothing else to do. The optimism in our faces before entering the park was fading away.

View attachment 889135

Em tried to be cheery.

View attachment 889136

I took that picture immediately before an announcement apologizing for the long delay due to animal stoppage. As we moved along we noticed we could not hear any approaching Jeeps, meaning all were stationary somewhere on the savanna. We moved forward through the queue further than we expected based on the posted wait time, supposing that lots of guests had already bailed. We were almost to the load zone when we heard the arrival of the first few Jeeps. The CMs were clapping.

We were seated 35 minutes later.

View attachment 889137

It began to sprinkle as our journey began. And we just missed the hippo jumping out of the water.

View attachment 889138

There wasn’t a whole lot of animal activity today, but we enjoyed the giraffes and cheetahs.

View attachment 889139

View attachment 889140

The female lions were sleeping….

View attachment 889141

….as the male yawned. (Would have preferred a roar!)

View attachment 889142

View attachment 889143

The former sprinkling had now become full-on rain which led to a funny finale - six goats huddled side-by-side under the roof of the shelter, trying not to get wet! As much as I wanted to get a picture, I couldn’t.

So yet again, it rained on my (AK) parade. Em and I joined the mass exodus since there was no reason to stay.

View attachment 889144
Click to expand...

No wonder you don't like AK! I do have to say, being able to get a photo of the male lion yawning like that would have made my day.
 

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