Trip Report When can we do this again? A Fractal family Odyssey. *COMPLETED*

Definition of odyssey:

• : a long journey full of adventures
  
  
• : a series of experiences that give knowledge or understanding to someone

Not too long ago I had a lot of doubt this trip would ever happen. The financial cost of higher education, the fact my wife Val wanted to go anywhere BUT Disney, the crazy and conflicting schedules of the kids, made the odds of keeping our 2-year WDW trip tradition a large long-shot. But maybe things do happen for a reason...

A great deal came our way and before we knew it we were on our way back to the World. Not without a major sacrifice however as my eldest daughter Alexandra had to miss the trip due to her schooling ( she graduates this Friday as an Registered Nurse!). She is a bit of a kindred spirit to me with a personality closer to mine than the other two, so I knew I would miss her dearly on the trip.

Here she is at Christmas with my Mom (Yia-Yia).

Speaking of Yia-yia; she will join us again at WDW! We had a great time with her on our 2013 trip at the Poly. We would meet up with her, my Sister Marina (here with me)...

and my two nieces; Courtney...

and Mia...

at the Yacht Club on the second leg of our journey. The first part of our trip took us to my in-law's (Al & Sue) who moved to Florida (Tampa - St. Pete area) last year. They would also join us at WDW!

Here they are from a 50th anniversary party we had for them last Winter...

It was early evening Thursday July 20th when we began our Odyssey. My good friend Wally picked us up to take us to the Baltimore (BWI) airport.

Excitement was building for our trip but the real Disney excitement would come later.

Sterg and Toni occupied the back seat. They were almost late for the pickup as they decided a last second Starbucks run was in order. Sterg ended up paying for that about an hour later as his bladder protested strongly.

Val was next to me and could barely contain her enthusiasm.

Not only was she not fully in favor of another Disney trip, she was (rightfully) concerned with the potential problems, complications, and stress of merging these 3 parts of the family together in the already chaotic environment of managing reservations, room assignments, getting to the parks, fastpasses and dinner plans. I had much of the same worries, which were also amplified by the fact Yia-Yia and Al would be using electric scooters during our time at the World. But hey, it's Disney, what could go wrong?

 

[fractal]

We didn't know this at the time, but one can go directly to Pandora through Africa. Past the Festival of the Lion King there is a pathway that leads you into the back of Pandora near the Cantina and entrance to Flight of Passage. On this day we went back towards the hub then made a right to enter this strange and beautiful planet. Tiffins, the new signature restaurant in AK sits right before the final bridge to Pandora on the right.

This plant/animal is the first thing that catches your attention as you arrive on the planet. Since I was using my 85mm lens (and didn't feel like backing up into the crowd) I needed two shots to fit it in.

These yellow pods could be found all throughout the Pandora landscape. They reminded me of the pods in Alien. You can even see some kind of goop is oozing from it.

Streams and falls are plentiful (and beautiful).

As are strange plants and vegetation.

Not to mention some peculiar creatures.

This would go well with some drawn butter.

These guys were active. They slowly moved around in their little lagoon, periodically shooting water in the sky from their nozzles.

More alien life.

While Navi River journey is located on the left as you walk in Pandora (from the conventional entrance), Flight of Passage is down to the right, at the bottom of the "valley". You wind your way down to get to it; it's not easy to find and maybe that's intentional. When you arrive you are rewarded with a great view of the mountains and amazing landscape.

 

[Gurt]

One of the most appealing things in the world - Mickey balloons on Main Street!

I really wish I would have noticed the shadows the balloons made - a full shot of that would have made a great photo! Next time.[/QUOTE]

I really love these balloon shadows @fractal the first thing I thought was it's real life 'Up'

 

[fractal]

Directly to the right of the FoP entrance (as you look at it) is the gift shop and the armored doo-hickey.

Further to the right is the Sutu' Li canteen...Hey, this guy has my shirt!

It was hot and humid but I was happy! These are my new glasses. I gave up on contacts a couple years ago as I realized that I ended up having to use reading glasses at work and to view my phone. With contacts in, I was wearing glasses more that I would when wearing prescription glasses. As you can see, my glasses have "transition" lenses that conveniently get dark in the sun. They were great for this trip! I could see and not be blinded.

The fam however liked to make fun of my "transitions" thinking they made me look dorky. "Look out, Pop's got the transitions on". As if wearing them was going to make me a threat to society.

The rest of the crew soon arrived including Sterg. He was given a steroid shot, some ointment and medicine. The sun and heat were not helping his rash, but we also thinking he might have been bitten by something or had a shell fish reaction (or perhaps a combination). He felt fine and didn't want to miss too much. The scary thing is being told if he had trouble breathing to call 911.

Yia-yia was ready and game for tackling Pandora. We were debating whether to have her ride FoP but she vetoed any debate as she wanted to go on.

Mia (with her pirate bandana given to her by the bus-driver) and Yia-Yia. Mia was enjoying the family interaction while asking a million questions about FoP.

More photos while waiting for our window to open.

Yia-Yia was absolutely amazed by the area. She continued to point towards different spots "How did they build this?" she asked me continuously shaking her head.

and believe me, it's not easy to impress Yia-Yia.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Excellent shots of the animals. And good luck with the hippo, they are usually underwater or just barely sticking out of the water. I'm very jealous of your wild dogs and cheetah shot too, the dogs are usually at a bad angle for me and the cheetah is usually sleeping. So cool to see your pictures.

 

[LieutLaww]

Really can't wait to visit Pandora in Oct !

 

[Matt and Kelly]

You've done a great job capturing the detail throughout AK. Disney has done such a great job with the themes and attention to every detail in that park. Very much looking forward to seeing what they have done with Pandora in person but these pics make the new area look stunning.

Cool to see the photos of the Maharajah Trek. In all our visits to WDW we've never walked that area. Thinking that will change this year.

 

[Bob]

We didn't know this at the time, but one can go directly to Pandora through Animal Kingdom. Past the Festival of the Lion King there is a pathway that leads you into the back of Pandora near the Cantina and entrance to Flight of Passage. On this day we went back towards the hub then made a right to enter this strange and beautiful planet. Tiffins, the new signature restaurant in AK sits right before the final bridge to Pandora on the right.

This plant/animal is the first thing that catches your attention as you arrive on the planet. Since I was using my 85mm lens (and didn't feel like backing up into the crowd) I needed two shots to fit it in.

These yellow pods could be found all throughout the Pandora landscape. They reminded me of the pods in Alien. You can even see some kind of goop is oozing from it.

Streams and falls are plentiful (and beautiful).

As are strange plants and vegetation.

Not to mention some peculiar creatures.

This guy seems would go well with some drawn butter.

These guys were active. They slowly moved around in their little lagoon, periodically shooting water in the sky from their nozzles.

More alien life.

While Navi River journey is located on the left as you walking in Pandora (from the conventional entrance), Flight of Passage is down to the right, at the bottom of the "valley". You wind your way down to get to it; it's not easy to find and maybe that's intentional. When you arrive you are rewarded with a great view of the mountains and amazing landscape.

Can't give these photos enough <likes>.

 

[MinnieM123]

Sounds like the heat and humidity are brutal down there. (I don't handle heat well--I always retreat back to my hotel if it's hot, for about 4 hours in the afternoon--and then return late day to the parks.) I don't know how you and your family tolerate the heat so well.

I'm on vacation this week (just a staycation--no travel plans). So I was watching TV this morning and saw a show called The View. They were broadcasting "live" from Animal Kingdom today--stage was set up in front of the Tree of Life. I'm not that familiar with the show, as it's on when I'm usually at work. But there were 5 women on a panel discussing different things. One of them, Joy Behar, made reference to the intense heat a few times--looked like she was really struggling. They didn't have any cover over the stage area--they were under the direct sun.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Sounds like the heat and humidity are brutal down there. (I don't handle heat well--I always retreat back to my hotel if it's hot, for about 4 hours in the afternoon--and then return late day to the parks.) I don't know how you and your family tolerate the heat so well.

I'm on vacation this week (just a staycation--no travel plans). So I was watching TV this morning and saw a show called The View. They were broadcasting "live" from Animal Kingdom today--stage was set up in front of the Tree of Life. I'm not that familiar with the show, as it's on when I'm usually at work. But there were 5 women on a panel discussing different things. One of them, Joy Behar, made reference to the intense heat a few times--looked like she was really struggling. They didn't have any cover over the stage area--they were under the direct sun.

The View shows originally taped and aired in March, it was set up when hubby and I went in March. We saw Joy and another host (I don't know her name) in the safari hat/ears filming one of the segments. I took a picture of it just because we were passing by.

 

[fractal]

Finally time for Flight of Passage!

The fast pass line doesn't allow you much time to appreciate a close up look at the Pandora "mountain side". But 180 minutes is a bit too much time. Before I could say "Chromatic Aberration" we were inside the "mountain" and quickly placed in one of three rows. There was another corridor to our left with another three rows.

The other thing we missed with Fast Passes was the complete queue line including the "lab". Sorry - no floating Avatar!

Mia was ready.

*SPOILERS FROM HERE ON*

The pre-show does a fairly good job of explaining what is about to happen. Honestly, I believe if you didn't see the movie you'd be able to figure out what was going on. The "decontamination chamber" and effects were very "authentic" and convincing.

Unfortunately, this guy almost ruins it. He is awkward and his speech very annoying. In contrast to the Dinosaur pre-show which is informative, smooth, witty yet still believable; this guy makes it painful. You almost, almost feel bad for him. It was like they gave him the script on the spot, recorded one take and went with it. He must have said "uh" 10 times.

Dr. Jackie Ogden, however seemed more up to the task.

After being paired with a compatible Avatar we were filed into our "flight" room.

I managed this photo of the ride vehicles before having to put away my camera.

I made sure Yia-Yia was in properly and was holding on to her handles, secured myself with the special glasses on (which fit well enough over my own glasses), and waited with anticipation for this new ride experience.

It begins with a feeling of energy flowing through the "bike" and you, then the doors in front of you slide up to reveal what is a huge screen but to you it's a new "reality". I never perceived it as a screen, which really helped sell the experience.

You are quickly sent through some sort of portal and emerge within the viewpoint of a Avatar/Navi on top of a banshee. You are following a guide, another Navi on a banshee, and taken on an exhilarating ride through a strange yet beautiful world. The bike moves up, down, tilts forward and back and side to side to make you believe you are really flying. The glowing green seat you see in the photo above does expand and contract from time to time to mimic the breathing of the flying beast. It was flat out awesome! I was laughing, hooting, wowing, wooing, and more. It was also a nice long ride - almost perfect amount of time. You visit different landscapes and areas of the planet and have many thrilling experiences. At the end you return back through a portal and the ride ends.

As the doors slid back down I took off my glasses and looked over at Yia-Yia who was still looking straight ahead.

"Mom, what did you think?" I asked.

"Christo, I don't believe my eyes. That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. How did they do that? I was flying. I don't believe it." She wouldn't stop talking about it! For a good while she really believed she actually did fly!

So how do I rate this ride? It's the best I've ever gone on. I was never on Harry Potter so I can't compare, but this was just incredible. If you go in as a skeptic and try to figure out how it's all done, it will take away from the experience. At least for your first ride, buy into the experience. Believe your are really being transported into a Navi Avatar, stir up your imagination and let it run free. I promise you you will be blown away.

Congrats to Disney and the Imagineers. They hit it out of the park! The rest of the group unanimously felt the same.

After FoP, the thrill junkies (who captured a new FP) wanted to squeeze in another ride on Dinosaur before dinner.

I was a bit worried for Mia as this was her first time on this.

Sterg was lovey-dovey with his Mom, who took care of him that day.

Here we go again...

Starting to get half decent at this...

Definitely NOT our Dino!

Mia did great and kept her eyes open the entire time despite being scared out of her wits!

After Dinosaur we were once again hustling; this time to AKL Jambo house for a Boma buffet!

 

[fractal]

In our quest to try some new restaurants and see other resorts we decided on Boma at Jambo House. We have been to Kidani village and Sanaa, but never Jambo House. So off we went, but unfortunately not without some more drama.

We came in two groups. The ECV pair with Marina, Sue, Mia and Sterg was first. Then myself, Val, Toni and Courtney were in the next bus.

Well...after we got off the bus, Toni and Val wanted to get a photo of Toni with her giraffe shirt on with a real giraffe in the frame. It was for a cousin of ours who designed the giraffe shirt and asked us to do that. In our minds I guess we envisioned the Jambo layout to be like Kidani so we went to the far end of the lobby anticipating the restaurant to be there. When it wasn't I decided to find it and went towards the front of the lobby, while Val and the girls continued on their giraffe photo quest.

I found Boma, then found the rest of the group, waiting "impatiently".

"Where's Val and the girls?" i was asked as if in an interrogation.

"They'll be here in 2 minutes." I replied, not wanting to tell them what all of a sudden seemed like a dumb idea.

"But where are they?" Asked again. "I hope they'll keep our table!"

"They will." I reassured. It's Disney. We were now 10 minutes past the reservation.

"Where are they?" one more time with just a twinge of anger.

"I said they will be here in 2 minutes!" I said maybe a little angrier than I wanted. "You can ask them when they get here."

10 seconds later they arrived. Was it really worth all that drama? No. Were people rightfully annoyed. perhaps. Did some people overreact. I believe so. Did it kinda put a glum mood over the first part of dinner. Absolutely.

The good food in the buffet slowly made the dark cloud of drama disappear. Everyone was able to find a lot that they liked and it seemed everyone found their own different favorite. A full day in the parks really built up the appetite and Boma hit the spot. Did I like it over Sanaa? No. The food at Sanaa is better, as well as the atmosphere. It's tough to beat. But Boma was good enough and on this night served it's purpose to feed the angry mob and turn them gentle.

This is the only photo I took in the restaurant (I was that bothered!).

But I did take myself back to the lobby and was charged with getting a "real" photo with Toni, her giraffe shirt and a real giraffe.

and I did just that!

In fact, a few...Using different apertures on different focal points and depths of field.

I kinda like this one with the carved giraffe.

other photos...

Notice Mia with my sister's DSLR? She would forget it in the bathroom later. We did go back and find it.

Jambo House is a stunning resort, outside...

and in.

quick pose.

This CM was doing a great job entertaining the children (and Adults!).

goodbye Jambo House.

Up next - trying to capture bioluminescence on film...er...SD card.

 

[Songbird76]

We didn't know this at the time, but one can go directly to Pandora through Animal Kingdom. Past the Festival of the Lion King there is a pathway that leads you into the back of Pandora near the Cantina and entrance to Flight of Passage. On this day we went back towards the hub then made a right to enter this strange and beautiful planet. Tiffins, the new signature restaurant in AK sits right before the final bridge to Pandora on the right.

This plant/animal is the first thing that catches your attention as you arrive on the planet. Since I was using my 85mm lens (and didn't feel like backing up into the crowd) I needed two shots to fit it in.

These yellow pods could be found all throughout the Pandora landscape. They reminded me of the pods in Alien. You can even see some kind of goop is oozing from it.

Streams and falls are plentiful (and beautiful).

As are strange plants and vegetation.

Not to mention some peculiar creatures.

This guy seems would go well with some drawn butter.

These guys were active. They slowly moved around in their little lagoon, periodically shooting water in the sky from their nozzles.

More alien life.

While Navi River journey is located on the left as you walking in Pandora (from the conventional entrance), Flight of Passage is down to the right, at the bottom of the "valley". You wind your way down to get to it; it's not easy to find and maybe that's intentional. When you arrive you are rewarded with a great view of the mountains and amazing landscape.

Thank you! That last picture is the most impressive I've seen from Pandora. Everyone kept saying how amazing Pandora looks, but from the pictures and videos, I just didn't see how it was so different from some real life destinations that actually exist...it didn't look "other-worldly" to me. NOW I see it. Beautiful.

 

[Tuvalu]

100% agree on your observations of the "Uh" guy in the FoP pre-show.

Do you suppose the Imagineers were trying to "connect" with the under-30 crowd? Or - for anyone who has seen Avatar - does he reflect a scene/tone from the movie itself?

In either case, big thumbs down from me.

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I'm glad you like Boma, even though the first part of your meal wasn't off to a great start. I did notice Kona longboard beer in the photo, whoever was drinking that has good taste!

I also agree with your appraisal of the guy in the FOP pre-show, he isn't that good. It is like he is trying to be secretive and there isn't anything to be secretive about. And he desperately needs to shave. The lady that is Dr. Ogden was good and if I remember correctly from a D23 Expo presentation she is a Disney Imagineer who I think had something to do with the attraction.

 

[Plowboy]

Finally time for Flight of Passage!

The fast pass line doesn't allow you much time to appreciate a close up look at the Pandora "mountain side". But 180 minutes is a bit too much time. Before I could say "Chromatic Aberration" we were inside the "mountain" and quickly placed in one of three rows. There was another corridor to our left with another three rows.

The other thing we missed with Fast Passes was the complete queue line including the "lab". Sorry - no floating Avatar!

Mia was ready.

*SPOILERS FROM HERE ON*

The pre-show does a fairly good job of explaining what is about to happen. Honestly, I believe if you didn't see the movie you'd be able to figure out what was going on. The "decontamination chamber" and effects were very "authentic" and convincing.

Unfortunately, this guy almost ruins it. He is awkward and his speech very annoying. In contrast to the Dinosaur pre-show which is informative, smooth, witty yet still believable; this guy makes it painful. You almost, almost feel bad for him. It was like they gave him the script on the spot, recorded one take and went with it. He must have said "uh" 10 times.

Dr. Jackie Ogden, however seemed more up to the task.

After being paired with a compatible Avatar we were filed into our "flight" room.

I managed this photo of the ride vehicles before having to put away my camera.

I made sure Yia-Yia was in properly and was holding on to her handles, secured myself with the special glasses on (which fit well enough over my own glasses), and waited with anticipation for this new ride experience.

It begins with a feeling of energy flowing through the "bike" and you, then the doors in front of you slide up to reveal what is a huge screen but to you it's a new "reality". I never perceived it as a screen, which really helped sell the experience.

You are quickly sent through some sort of portal and emerge within the viewpoint of a Avatar/Navi on top of a banshee. You are following a guide, another Navi on a banshee, and taken on an exhilarating ride through a strange yet beautiful world. The bike moves up, down, tilts forward and back and side to side to make you believe you are really flying. The glowing green seat you see in the photo above does expand and contract from time to time to mimic the breathing of the flying beast. It was flat out awesome! I was laughing, hooting, wowing, wooing, and more. It was also a nice long ride - almost perfect amount of time. You visit different landscapes and areas of the planet and have many thrilling experiences. At the end you return back through a portal and the ride ends.

As the doors slid back down I took off my glasses and looked over at Yia-Yia who was still looking straight ahead.

"Mom, what did you think?" I asked.

"Christo, I don't believe my eyes. That was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. How did they do that? I was flying. I don't believe it." She wouldn't stop talking about it! For a good while she really believed she actually did fly!

So how do I rate this ride? It's the best I've ever gone on. I was never on Harry Potter so I can't compare, but this was just incredible. If you go in as a sceptic and try to figure out how it's all done, it will take away from the experience. At least for your first ride, buy into the experience. Believe your are really being transported into a Navi Avatar, stir up your imagination and let it run free. I promise you you will be blown away.

Congrats to Disney and the Imagineers. They hit it out of the park! The rest of the group unanimously felt the same.

After FoP, the thrill junkies (who captured a new FP) wanted to squeeze in another ride on Dinosaur before dinner.

I was a bit worried for Mia as this was her first time on this.

Sterg was lovey-dovey with his Mom, who took care of him that day.

Here we go again...

Starting to get half decent at this...

Definitely NOT our Dino!

Mia did great and kept her eyes open the entire time despite being scared out of her wits!

After Dinosaur we were once again hustling; this time to AKL Jambo house for a Boma buffet!

Great ride review. FOP being a simulator type ride, did you experience any "motion" issues? Just wondering as we will be there in December and I am a bit susceptible to that sort of thing. I suppose one can just close their eyes if you feel it coming on, but that sort of defeats the whole purpose then doesn't it?

 

[Minnie1986]

Thanks for the excellent pics of Ohana (and all the others) . We are eating here for our first time in October and it really has me looking forward to it even more.

I was about to say the same thing. I'll be going for the first time next month.

 

[Minnie1986]

After dinner, Yia-Yia decides to see what's "under the hood" of these ECVs.

While everyone else made their way to the monorail, I took some photos of the Poly.

I had a lot of unfounded animosity against this guy due to his role as the replacement for the old waterfall area. It's really not his fault they decided to tear that down; I'm quite sure he had nothing to do with it actually. So in the general spirit of forgiveness & goodwill I was feeling that evening I decided to no longer "hate" tiki-man and accept him as part of the new Poly lobby. It also made me feel better when taking his photo.

Getting ready to board.

We all fit in one cabin (barely).

back at MK.

then a race to the buses. Yia-Yia turned up her speed much to my concern. She really thought it was a race.

Then bragged about beating Al (and everyone else) to her grandchildren!

Waiting at the bus pick-up...

Your mom might be my new favorite person ever. So funny! Reminds me of my own grandmother.

 

[DryerLintFan]

It was a bummer. But Val ordered me new ones while dinning at Ohana's to be sent right to Yacht Club.

Sweetest thing ever

Spoiler

Either that or you complained too much and she was tired of hearing about it

 

[Bob]

In our quest to try some new restaurants and see other resorts we decided on Boma at Jambo House. We have been to Kidani village and Sanaa, but never Jambo House. So off we went, but unfortunately not without some more drama.

We came in two groups. The ECV pair with Marina, Sue, Mia and Sterg was first. Then myself, Val, Toni and Courtney were in the next bus.

Well...after we got off the bus, Toni and Val wanted to get a photo of Toni with her giraffe shirt on with a real giraffe in the frame. It was for a cousin of ours who designed the giraffe shirt and asked us to do that. In our minds I guess we envisioned the Jambo layout to be like Kidani so we went to the far end of the lobby anticipating the restaurant to be there. When it wasn't I decided to find it and went towards the front of the lobby, while Val and the girls continued on their giraffe photo quest.

I found Boma, then found the rest of the group, waiting "impatiently".

"Where's Val and the girls?" i was asked as if in an interrogation.

"They'll be here in 2 minutes." I replied, not wanting to tell them what all of a sudden seemed like a dumb idea.

"But where are they?" Asked again. "I hope they'll keep our table!"

"They will." I reassured. It's Disney. We were now 10 minutes past the reservation.

"Where are they?" one more time with just a twinge of anger.

"I said they will be here in 2 minutes!" I said maybe a little angrier than I wanted. "You can ask them when they get here."

10 seconds later they arrived. Was it really worth all that drama? No. Were people rightfully annoyed. perhaps. Did some people overreact. I believe so. Did it kinda put a glum mood over the first part of dinner. Absolutely.

The good food in the buffet slowly made the dark cloud of drama disappear. Everyone was able to find a lot that they liked and it seemed everyone found their own different favorite. A full day in the parks really built up the appetite and Boma hit the spot. Did I like it over Sanaa? No. The food at Sanaa is better, as well as the atmosphere. It's tough to beat. But Boma was good enough and on this night served it's purpose to feed the angry mob and turn them gentle.

This is the only photo I took in the restaurant (I was that bothered!).

But I did take myself back to the lobby and was charged with getting a "real" photo with Toni, her giraffe shirt and a real giraffe.

and I did just that!

In fact, a few...Using different apertures on different focal points and depths of field.

I kinda like this one with the carved giraffe.

other photos...

Notice Mia with my sister's DSLR? She would forget it in the bathroom later. We did go back and find it.

Jambo House is a stunning resort, outside...

and in.

quick pose.

This CM was doing a great job entertaining the children (and Adults!).

goodbye Jambo House.

Up next - trying to capture bioluminescence on film...er...SD card.

That photo of the AKL lobby is brilliant! Next trip you have to dine at Jiko!

 

[hanwill]

I agree about FOP. It's now our favorite ride. And it seems everyone elses as well. When we all rode it, we got off and would have totally waited in line again... It's a great ride and will always have a long line. The bonus is that now Expeditiion Everest is now a much shorter line.