WDW - Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. – My August 2011 Trip Report

WDW - Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. – An August 2011 Trip Report

Welcome to my trip report! First, about the title. Reading the WDW boards lately one would think that Disney World was coming apart at the seams; Overrun by vicious gangs of Brazilian tour groups, Pop Warner boys and cheerleaders. Filled with broken down, outdated rides run by snarly cast members. The resorts infested by bedbugs, nasty housekeepers, and moldy shower curtains. The Restaurants serving up Dogfood burgers and steaks served with the leather hides still attached. The fireworks shows reduced to open fire pits and a few boxes of sparklers.

To be totally honest and sarcasm aside (kinda), I was really getting concerned about this trip. I had gone to great lengths and compromise ( see my Pre-trip report) to make this trip a reality. Now I was worried that once my family would see first hand the crumbling vestige that was once our favorite place on earth; this would seal this trip’s fate as our last one to the World. Well, I’m happy to say, with photos as proof – the rumors of Walt Disney World’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

First Day and intro to our family;

Our countdown was over. The paper chain in Toni’s room that started at day 178 was now down to day zero. It was 4 in the morning on August 6th and I woke up Toni and we tore up that last chain and started to get ready for our trip. By 4:30, Toni and her brother Sterg, were ready and waiting.

I have a good friend that happens to own a limo business, so we hired him to drive us to Philadelphia International. The limo came at 5:00am. This is my wife Val and my oldest child, Alexandra, getting spoiled in the limo.

Sterg and I on the other seat…

While Toni caught a few z’s.

Everything was going fine. We were making great time on the Turnpike until we were detoured off of it an exit too soon. Unfortunately, this was only the first of our several delays that morning.

 

[fractal]

We left the trail of water "other Dad" was literally leaving in his wake and skipped over to the Forbidden Mountain. We grabbed FPs and decided to go watch the Insects complain about their lot in life. We entered the Tree of Life and waited for the show to start. Thankfully, the kids were getting along fine that morning.

I love this show. I was worried that some of the effect would be down, but everything was up and running. The stink bug was great, the acid caused many shrieks and Hopper appeared with his normal attitude. Toni was clutching my arm and sitting on the edge of her seat anticipating the next "trick". Is there any other show that can cause the pandemonium of ITTBAB when the fog fills the rooms, the hornets are released and the army of black widows dangle over the crowd's head? Toni and Alex were literally screaming, joining the rest of the audience. Even after seeing it many times, I get freaked out a bit. It's a great show!

A giant lizard showed up and helped us escape from Hopper's evil plans. That adventure made us all hungry so we ate lunch at Flametree BBQ. This is one of my favorite QS. I ordered the grilled chicken salad. The kids had ribs. It was very good.

I wish I would have taken pictures of the dinning area behind Flametree. It is just another example of the time and thought put into every nook and cranny of the park. An assignment for my next trip. Looming over our peaceful lunch and surroundings was our next dangerous destination...

 

[bmarkelon]

Wow, I had so much of your report to catch up on....story of my life since our trip and then Irene, too much to catch up on. I absolutely love it, the teenager antics and attitudes (nice for a glimpse into our future), the great one on one time with your youngest, Micheal Bolton and the "other dad". All of it, fabulous reporting and photos! Our daughters have the same taste in fashion, saw Toni sporting an outfit from Justice and then a romper from Old Navy that Alexa has! :sohappy:

 

[fractal]

I am really enjoying this trip report!

Thanks!

OK- now I thought all of Sterg's joking around with the name Fractal was pretty funny- especially the call, but this- oh wow- this really topped it all!!! :ROFLOL: DH is sitting here looking at me all funny b/c I just keep giggling. I'm going to think of this every time I hear anything Michael Bolton!

Of course I grew up in central NJ and not the Bronx, but I could totally hear the Bronx guy in my head and found myself falling back into my now dormant accent while reading. Just seeing the word "tawk" makes me so happy

I feel your pain with Fantasmic. We didn't see the show this trip, but last trip I tried a few early pictures, but even my pictures of the packed house pre-show were a blurry mess. I too should have just switched to automatic settings! Yours still turned out MUCH better than mine!

Can't wait to read more!!! :wave:

Picture him going "Fractal!,Fractal!" while pumping his fist. It was rather funny.

New Yowkers are the best when they are out of their element!

Thanks!

I had tears in my eyes laughing at the MICHAEL BOLTON story! You all remind me so much of my family, except its my poor father with three daughters lol

Thanks, it was really funny. We Dads complain a lot but deep down we love it!

Yeah - it's too bad they couldn't stay young forever. Is it just me or do they not grow up WAY too quick! Miss the days when they didn't have their faces buried in their phones or computers constantly and actually enjoyed doing family activities - AS A FAMILY!!! :ROFLOL:

Reading your trip report here the past few days brought back all my memories of our past trips - the good memories as well as a couple of the not so good ones! :lol: And that was exactly my mindset when thinking we might be best to wait 2-3 years actually. The prospect of getting to see the Fantasyland expansion finally completed and getting a chance to experience it definitely appeals to me! Here's hoping!!!

And thank YOU again, for taking the time and putting so much effort into this wonderful trip report. It's been a real pleasure reading it and looking at all your terrific pictures! Feels like I am right there again! Thanks on the avatar pic. I don't know why, but as simple and as stupid as it is really, it actually is one of my fave WDW vacation pictures for some reason. I was laying on a chair at Blizzard Beach back on our March 2009 trip thinking about how cold and snowy it was back home at that very moment and just HAD to take that picture. Everything just seemed so perfect and right with the world while laying there. That, and I was kinda just fooling around with the camera and it struck me that if I would have had a beer next to me, it would have looked like the perfect beer commercial! :ROFLOL:

Thanks! :wave:

I actually thought it was Typhoon Lagoon. Great picture to look at to get the spirits up!

 

[fractal]

50's is one of our FAVORITE places to eat in the world!! The first time we went we had Cousin Cliff... He was really good. Then we had Aunt Elaine and she was the best... Kept telling my aunt to stop playing on her walkie talkie. lol.. This last time we had Cousin Amy and she was pretty good as well. I think how in character your waiter/waitress is can definitely impact the experience. We're eating there on 11/12... Can't wait to see who we get!!!

OK - "walkie talkie" is hilarious! :ROFLOL: We really enjoyed it! Thanks for following along and STILL waiting for your TR update!

Oh my word, the Michael Bolton story is hilarious!! I thought it was Michael Bolton too! Who is it? I must have missed People Mover's post.

Your trip report has me constantly laughing. I think your pictures are great. Especially for a newbie to manual.

The Fantasmic shots are tricky for anyone. I have one piece of advice for night time shots. Figure out how long you can hold the camera steady. In other words, how quick does the shutter speed have to be for you to avoid blur. Depending on how heavy the lens is, I usually aim for at least 1/160. Some people can hold it still longer than that, but not me. If there's a lot of movement in your picture it needs to be even faster. I start with that and then adjust everything else. If I can't get the ISO high enough, and the f-stop wide enough to expose correctly with my shutter speed, then I don't bother. You need a really fast lens for some of these shots. Auto with that horrible pop up flash just won't help.

Another trick is to learn how to read your histogram. Sometimes something looks good on that little tiny screen, but blown up, as you said, not so much. Your histogram can tell you if you are over or under exposed.

Trust me, you will get faster. When I started out, I couldn't believe how long it took me to find the correct exposure. I read about how people would start with the settings close to right and adjust from there. I thought, "How the heck do I even start close? I have no earthly idea!" But it comes with time. You will reach a point where you can look at most scenes and know immediately about what you are going to dial in.

Okay, sorry, that was probably way more information then you wanted!:lol:

Back to the report! I'm loving it!

Thanks! We had several really funny moments during our trip.

and Thanks for the tips - I can use all the input you can throw at me so don't be shy and I have thick skin.

LOL at the Michael Bolton story :ROFLOL:

Your family seems like so much fun; I am seriously enjoying your TR!

Disneyfalcon, the singing voice of Herc is actually an actor named Roger Bart (the speaking voice is Tate Donovan). Michael Bolton recorded Go the Distance for the end credits. Hercules was my favorite movie my senior year of high school, so I am a geek and know random bits of trivia

Can't wait for the rest of your TR, but I won't heckle you to post faster :lol: Until I started mine, I never realized how much time it takes!

Thanks! Yes TR can take some time, and this work stuff can be so inconvenient!

I think I need to ask for Uncle Tim's section at the 50's Prime Time Cafe next month. Last time I was there, I didn't get the full 50PTC experience.



I can picture the 15 people coming out of nowhere and getting right in front of you.

And you could definitely use the beer by that point. I guess we all know why they're strategically placed there.



So I'm reading this hilarious boat ride post and thinking to myself, "Isn't it Roger Bart? I have 'Go the Distance' on my iPod." I must have missed the earlier post where someone pointed out that Michael Bolton isn't the correct answer.

It is Roger Bart! It still cracks me up thinking that the only reason I knew the answer was because Codie was our co-captain a few nights before. It just all fell in place.

 

[fractal]

MICHAEL BOLTON!!! lol

Who was the voice of Simba? - "MICHAEL BOLTON"

What year did Disney Hollywood Studios open? - "MICHAEL BOLTON!"

What was the park called then? "MICHAEL BOLTON!"

It was a riot! We have now adopted that as our answer to any question we don't know or sometimes do know.

I'm really enjoying your report!

Thanks much!

If we had rewards for best trip reports, I'd have to cast my vote for factal's... His reports are making me wish I was leaving today and not 21 days from now...

Thank you for taking the time you share your vacation memories with us... The pictures are awesome!!!!

You are too kind and I am undeserving of that one. 21 days - I'm still jealous of you!

You are welcome. It's extending my vacation in a way. Thanks for following and commenting!

All caught up!!! Greaet report! We just got home last night and already planning the next trip!

Thanks and that's awesome!

Wow, I had so much of your report to catch up on....story of my life since our trip and then Irene, too much to catch up on. I absolutely love it, the teenager antics and attitudes (nice for a glimpse into our future), the great one on one time with your youngest, Micheal Bolton and the "other dad". All of it, fabulous reporting and photos! Our daughters have the same taste in fashion, saw Toni sporting an outfit from Justice and then a romper from Old Navy that Alexa has! :sohappy:

I'm happy everyone is safe and sound. It's been raining buckets here for the last 4 days and more rain is coming.

Get ready for the teen years! Toni loves Justice and Val gets good deals at Old Navy. I, of course am oblivious.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Sorry Dude, that's what you get for messing with Shiva.

Okay this just made me literally laugh out loud :ROFLOL:

 

[popsicletrees]

Very much enjoying your trip report! I love the banter, the witty remarks, and your love of Disney and wanting to share it with your family. Plus, reading about your adventures with Toni (as well as her interactions with Sterg) makes me that much more glad that I too was the baby of the family. Looking forward to much more!

 

[fractal]

After lunch we crossed back over the bridge to Asia and made our way to EE. I made the kids pose in front of the "altar" and showed them how it corresponded with the Everest Mountain Range behind it.

They all thought that was "pretty cool!"

EE is another amazing example of Disney themeing.

We used our Fast Passes - Alex and Sterg got front row while Toni and I were right behind them. It started to rain again which added another dimension of rain drops pelting your face. Despite that we had a great time!


After EE we hustled over to Dinosaur. The standby was 20 minutes so we went on. The queue in this ride now will always remind me of a conversation we overhead while waiting in 2009. It went something like this.

SISTER

"We are learning about the Dinosaur extinction in school right now."

"There are actually a few theories on what killed them off, one of them is a meteor but there is also a theory that some virus killed them, what do you think"

YOUNGER BROTHER

"I think it was a meteor! Mom what do you think?"

MOTHER

"I always thought humans killed them. You know, they hunted them too much"


The kids burst out laughing and it took all we had not to do the same.

For those that haven't gone on Dinosaur - let me say that I think it is the scariest ride @ WDW. It's not the best ride, but I like it. So do Alex and Sterg. Toni will ride it, but she can't keep her eyes open. It seemed to me that some of the meteor effect were down. There was a 10-20 second period of time when we were in complete darkness. I don't remember that from the last time I rode it 2 years ago, but I may be wrong. It's a really good ride that can be great.

After Dinosaur the kids wanted to go back to EE and see how long the line was.



The standby was 30 minutes but didn't seem that long, and it wasn't. We were on the ride in about 20 minutes. I love the queue there and I'm upset I didn't take any pictures - so much wasted opportunity. :shrug: It was another great time. This time I sat with Sterg because it wasn't "fair" that I sat with Toni all the time. It's good to know I was in demand.




Our encounter with the B-Mode Yeti was over. I had them pose for a quick picture in front of Yak & Yeti. This was a favorite restaurant of ours last trip and it was hard not to book a dinner there, but we were all about "the new and different" this time.

At this point, Alex left us to go back to the BC gym and get in some treadmill time. Val, however was on her way to meet us at AK.

 

[disneygirl1]

OMG that story of the conversation in line at Dinosaur is hilarious!!! :lol: I love standing in line sometimes and listening to others conversations... The things I head leaves be shaking my head!!!

 

[Vtlsgns2]

Funny!

"Anybody know who the singing voice is for Hercules?" "Anyone?" "I have a little gift for the person that gets it right" Codie repeated several times...

"YESSS! That's right! Michael Bolton is the singing voice for Hercules! Everybody say YEAHHH! Sir, come up to me when you get off the boat for your gift. Everybody say YEAHH!

...AND - As somebody (PeoplemoverTTA) replied earlier in my thread, Michael Bolton isn't even the right answer. Which to me makes the entire thing even funnier. :wave:

:ROFLOL:

As I read that I was saying "Michael Bolton?" That doesn't sound right....

Too funny!:lol:

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Figures that the one guy w/o a poncho would get drenched. And of course if you got on a ride like that on a scorcher day when you wanted to get soaked- you'd come out bone dry!

I agree with Dinosaur...Kendall is tall enough to ride, but she might be in her teens before she can handle the fear factors. And man killing off the dinosaurs from excessive hunting :ROFLOL:

Can't wait to read more!!! :wave:

 

[fractal]

Sterg, Toni and I decided to cross off another "never done before" while waiting for Val. We entered Flights of Wonder and took a seat in the back right of the outdoor auditorium.

This was our view. I thought sitting higher would give us a better view, and in some ways it did. However, with the stage so far away, I would have been happier being closer to the action. The detailing of the area was impressive with large multi-colored fabric "drapes" providing shade.

The lead CM was the "bird expert" and she started by introducing different birds that would fly out on queue. There was another CM that acted as "comedy relief" and did a fair job. Some of the birds would fly into and over the crowd and back. This volunteer had a bird land on his arm.

We saw a majestic bald eagle.

and a huge condor - this is a "baby" one.

A hawk come over to visit our section.

Some other pictures during the show.

Overall, we enjoyed the show and I'm glad we spent the time. There is much more to AK than rides and the Tree of Life. The "Animal Kingdom is a 1/2 day park" crowd obviously doesn't have much interest in the shows, trails, and other animal exhibits. If you do enjoy those things, AK is easily a full day park and maybe more.

After Flights of Wonder we headed over to Africa to meet up with Val.

 

[fractal]

We met Val in front of Kilimanjaro Safari. This is one of Val's favorite attractions. We didn't have FPs so we waited 30min in standby.

Finally our truck arrived and this time I was with camera.

Our driver was a bit too "campy" for my tastes. His routine was trying to be funny by making light of the script. I much prefer the realistic/serious approach the driver from the previous day took.

We get to see many animals one wouldn't normally see in Berks County PA.

Rhino.

and submerged "water horses".

The gators sunning themselves.

Don't forget the lotion buddy.

And here is what they ended up feeding the gators. Just kidding. This was a near extinct cousin of the antelope.

Wilde beasts. The tools of evil Scar.

Giraffes are just so cool!

 

[fractal]

"Simba One, this is Wilson. Come in Simba One".

As we made our way deeper into the animal reserve, we not only saw more creatures, but also helped Wilson stop some poachers.

The elephants were out and about.

The "upside down" tree.

The shrimp fed flamingos hanging out on a large hidden Mickey.

An Ostrich. We also saw several ostrich eggs on our voyage.

And look who was just "lion" around ( in my best Whoopie Goldberg voice ).

Departing our two-week safari, we explored the gift shops in Africa. I was in search of the Animal Kingdom CD ( music of the AK ). After a few stops I found it. I also discovered one of the gift shops was serving cold drinks and nice looking sandwiches. I found that interesting. We picked up a Mickey watch made with a "cheetah" design (Cheetahs never prosper) for my Mother-in-law. She loves "big" cats and she loved the watch.

We also picked this up for Alex, our Lion-King girl. When Alex was little she would literally watch Lion King over and over again. Once it finished she would point to the TV and say "again!". I knew every line to LK.

 

[fractal]

It was now time to get moving for Dinner. We had booked the early Hoop-de-doo Review show with Category 1 seating. With Alex at the Beach Club and us at AK we needed to coordinate our travels to meet at Frontier Hall.

I called Alex and told her to take a bus to MK. From Magic Kingdom she needed to take the boat to Fort Wilderness. The nice thing about having older kids is being able to send them off on their own from time to time. Regardless, as I father you are always nervous when they do that. These are the times you are glad your child has a cell phone.

For us, we took a bus from AK to Fort Wilderness. That drops you off at a central bus depot for the entire campground. We needed to catch another bus that took us to Frontier Hall ( after several stops ).

We passed by the Cabins @ Fort Wilderness on our way. I thought they looked nice - but Val said she wouldn't want to stay there. She went camping a lot as a child and had no desire to ever go again. Some funny stories but she would kill me if I shared. :lookaroun

Finally we made it to Pioneer Hall. It was a very warm and humid day. Shaded areas were at a premium.

The dock for the boats was about a football field away so it was an easy walk for Alex. With all of us together we checked in. The check in is outside in front of the Hall. I had picked up my tickets at the BC concierge desk the previous day. You hand these tickets to a CM, she confirms everything then sends you into another line for a family picture. They package the picture in a nice folder along with the picture of the cast and try to sell it to you for $30 during dinner (and after you've had a chance to down a few drinks).

At 5pm the doors opened to Pioneer Hall and a few CM dressed in jeans and red checkered shirts shout out a warm welcome. They picked a little girl from the crowd and since it was not Toni, she was not happy.

The little girl helped them ring the dinner bell and we were led into the Hall. Here's a picture of "above the stage" to give you an idea of the decor.

We were lucky enough to get a table right in front of the stage. I was excited at least, Val was a bit embarrassed. I've read that there isn't a bad seat in the house. I think the lower level seats on the side are not great. The seats above seem to give you a full view, but you miss out on any interaction with the cast. At that show, everybody was on the first floor.

They started you off with drinks. As part of the meal you get unlimited beer and/or wine. The cold beer hit the spot for me. We also asked for unlimited water. The combination of the two made things a bit uncomfortable towards the end of the show. :zipit:

Cornbread was then placed on the table. It was warm, soft and good.

 

[fractal]

The salad was passable. When our waiter (who was very friendly and nice) came around to collect the salad plates, Val kept hers with a half eaten salad on. She wanted to save it to eat with the meal. This became a bit of a running joke because each time he would come by he would try to take the plate and she would stop him. One time he walked by, snuck up behind Val and tried to steal the plate. She caught him and jokingly smacked his arm. Turned out that she never did eat the rest of her salad.



The sides were not bad. The corn was saturated with butter. Being that I don't eat much corn, I thought it was heavenly. If you are a passionate corn lover it may disappoint because you really don't taste much corn. The food was served family style in small silver pails.

I thought the fried chicken was surprisingly good. I heard many iffy reviews of the ribs. My opinion was that they were ok. Nowhere near the best ribs I've had but not terrible.

Hey, I'm having fun!

I did get some complaints from Val and the kids on my scheduling of this meal the day after 50's Prime Time. They all had the fried chicken the night before. I tried to argue that they could have ordered something else @ 50'sPT but I lost the argument. They did have a point. If I had a chance to do it again I would have separated the two meals by another day - or I would have scheduled HDDR, with its limited menu, first.

As we were eating, the curtain was raised. Let the show begin!

This was our first time at HDDR so I have nothing to compare it to. It was also after they dropped the original song. Having never heard the original song I can't give an opinion. What I do think is that the show is silly, goofy and sometimes a bit stupid, but in the end it was fun. You hear some old sing-along-songs that they add or change lines too. Like "Old Suzanna". I thought the actors did a very good job. It didn't take long to figure out their different one-dimensional characteristics. They did come off the stage several times and interacted with the crowd. Children and Adults alike. It reminded me of a G rated Vaudeville type show.

 

[fractal]

Okay this just made me literally laugh out loud :ROFLOL:

Very much enjoying your trip report! I love the banter, the witty remarks, and your love of Disney and wanting to share it with your family. Plus, reading about your adventures with Toni (as well as her interactions with Sterg) makes me that much more glad that I too was the baby of the family. Looking forward to much more!

Thanks. The last child always gets away with more.

OMG that story of the conversation in line at Dinosaur is hilarious!!! :lol: I love standing in line sometimes and listening to others conversations... The things I head leaves be shaking my head!!!

I've heard some dooseys but I usually forget them. I remember that one when we get in that queue.

:ROFLOL:

As I read that I was saying "Michael Bolton?" That doesn't sound right....

Too funny!:lol:

That was a lot of fun!

 

[fractal]

Figures that the one guy w/o a poncho would get drenched. And of course if you got on a ride like that on a scorcher day when you wanted to get soaked- you'd come out bone dry!

I agree with Dinosaur...Kendall is tall enough to ride, but she might be in her teens before she can handle the fear factors. And man killing off the dinosaurs from excessive hunting :ROFLOL:

Can't wait to read more!!! :wave:

That guy was totally drenched!

I guess Fred Flintstone ate too many brontosaurus burgers. :lol:

Thanks for reading along.

 

[fractal]

The show went on!

The ladies has some nice singing and dancing routines that never got too serious.

After stumbling a bit early on with a few lines, "Six Pints" became the star of the show with his goofy and sometimes creepy humor.

We watched, laughed and tapped our feet while chowin' down.

It's the Hoop-de-doo-review - coming right at you!

The actors did come out to interact with the crowd. The "red-head" came off as more "wordily" and flirted with a few gentlemen - including yours truly.

 

[fractal]

It was soon time for dessert and the servers came out on stage, dancing with the cast while holding our strawberry shortcakes! :slurp:

Strawberry shortcakes were HUGE and tasty. The strawberries were fresh and plump, the whipping was good, but I found the "cake" a bit on the dry side. I was hoping somebody would show up with a bucket of vanilla ice-cream.

After dessert, the crowd got into the act with washboards and spoons. The kids loved this.

Next thing you know, the kids were getting in a dance line. Toni represented our table - Alex and Sterg being too cool for that sort of thing.

For her effort, Toni gained a new friend.