Trip Report "Where Are All the People?" A September Trip Report Brought to You by Hurricane Dorian

Hi there! My dad and I have been home for a little under a month, so I decided it was probably time to bite the bullet and write this report!

This trip was...different, for a lot of reasons. Considering I was coming off my 30th birthday trip with my mom in April that I've ranked as one of my top three favorite WDW trips ever (TR here!), this trip with my dad had a lot to live up to! We had some epic, awesome moments, some extreme fails, and lots of little moments in between! And it was HOOOOOOOT.

WHO: My dad (Matt) and me (Carrie) — we left my mom home for our very first father/daughter trip!

WHEN: August 30-September 8

WHERE: Port Orleans French Quarter

WHY: Cause it seemed like a good idea at the time...

(Remember these sweaty, sweaty faces...)

As I mentioned in the PTR, originally, my dad and I were planning a trip to Disneyland. But then we heard that Galaxy's Edge would open there first, in the Spring. So we decided that it would be way too crowded for a while, so we'd put DL off until another year. I mentioned that WDW hadn't been too crowded at all when my friend B and I were there the week of Labor Day in 2017 and that the crowd calendars were mostly showing 1s and 2s for that week in 2019. Since we had to leave our 2018 Christmas trip four days early since we were all very sick, wouldn't it be nice to have a WDW do-over before Galaxy's Edge opened in the late fall (which is WHAT THEY HAD ANNOUNCED)? Since we all know "late fall" for Disney means like December 20, we'd beat the GE crowds and have a hopefully pretty chill week. The only thing we'd have to contend with would be the heat.

We sort of ran around like chickens with our heads cut off when they announced the GE opening dates (it was opening the day before we checked in), and debated canceling. But we'd already booked our flights, and we figured we'd just try to avoid the inevitable crowds and still have fun. This was before GE had opened in DL, so we were still expecting huge crowds.

What we got turned out to be way different.

Please join me on a trip filled with plans rearranged on the fly, surprise private tours, a literally EMPTY Magic Kingdom, more humidity than Tatooine on a bad day, and a little thing called Hurricane Dorian. Oh yeah, and we did hit up a galaxy far, far away, too.

 

[chimchimcheree]

What's Cletus's Insta handle? Gotta give that smooth dude a follow!

 

[carriehpotter]

So awesome that you got a private trek!

I couldn't believe it at the time, and still can't, TBH. It was so amazing.

What's Cletus's Insta handle? Gotta give that smooth dude a follow!

It's cletus_the_african_bullfrog. I also immediately followed, haha. The captions are all really funny!

 

[carriehpotter]

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31: ANIMAL KINGDOM (continued)

**Spoilers for the Wild Africa Trek continue from last post**

After checking out the hippos underwater, it was time for us to go backstage! We went through a gate right next to the meerkat exhibit, and once I expressed that meerkats were my second favorite animal in AK, we hung out for a bit and got a bunch of facts and pictures!

(The meerkats kept an eye on us the whole time. I imagine it's because they aren't as used to seeing people from that angle?)

We grudgingly left the meerkats to their scurrying, sniffing, and flinching (any Lion King 1 1/2 fans here?) and made our way deeper backstage. I was actually a little surprised at our trail. We really were "off-roading." It was uneven and there were roots, rocks, and fauna we had to get around. A few parts were actually (IMO) quite steep. Now, I'm not a big hiker because of my two ACL-less knees and I made it, but there were points where I was like...I gotta slow down and concentrate here, haha. But Christina and Paula were totally fine with that and we'd all started developing a fun, jokey rapport. It was Paula's first Trek after a long vacation, and she stumbled a few times. She kept looking back at me saying, "You didn't see that" or "I did that so you wouldn't!" It was funny. But if you have any walking difficulties, I'm not sure this would be a good fit. I'm not sure if they have an alternative path, but I kind of got the impression that they didn't.

Soon, we made it to our first big animal encounter. The hippos! A hippo expert met us there with a big bucket of lettuce, and we all had to hook our big carabiner clips to a heavy cable and then pull the cable behind us along the track it was on into the little hippo area.

This was super cool! The hippo expert explained that the hippos didn't always cooperate and they'd never force them to do anything. But we were lucky. The father/son duo (which is rare, as most males once they reach maturity would fight with their dads for dominance and end up leaving on their own--but these two were both adults and co-existed peacefully) did come over and they did go on either side of the protruding log like they were supposed to! They got a bunch of lettuce for their trouble. We got a bunch of fun facts and backstory, and were able to ask any questions we wanted.

UP NEXT: Two very high rope bridges and crocodiles!

 

[carriehpotter]

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31: ANIMAL KINGDOM (continued)

*Spoilers for the Wild Africa Trek continue from last post**

We bid our new hippo friends adieu and made our way back into the forest surrounding the safari. It was time for the part of the Trek I was most nervous about: the rope bridges.

The thing is, I'm actually pretty afraid of heights (and so is my dad). Plus, I knew there were supposed to be gaps in the planks, and I'm not the most sure-footed. But the desire to do the rest of the tour outweighed these fears. Until we actually got to the bridges, haha. I decided to go first, just to get it over with. We were told we could stop on the bridges, take pictures, look around, whatever. I didn't plan to do any of those things. I just wanted it over with!

Paula went first so she'd be there to take pictures of us, and then it was my turn. The first bridge goes over the safari vehicle road, and the second goes over the crocodiles. I will be honest. I held onto those two cables on either side with a death grip and looked down the whole time. I tried to stop in the middle to look around on the first bridge, but I only managed a few seconds. It was a pretty shaky bridge, especially once my dad started across behind me.

(When you get almost to the end, it's time to stop for a picture.)

While I started the second bridge, my dad was on the first bridge. He said he was fine until the very end of the second bridge, when he suddenly actually processed how high up he was, haha.

(I thought this was a pretty neat shot!)

UP NEXT: The second bridge and finally crocodiles!

 

[carriehpotter]

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31: ANIMAL KINGDOM (continued)

*Spoilers for the Wild Africa Trek continue from last post**

The second bridge was over the crocodiles, which didn't make a difference to me. I was much more scared of the bridge than I was of the crocodiles!

As I neared the end, I actually got up the courage to stop long enough to check out the crocodiles and take a quick pic:

Then I finished the bridge, feeling very relieved. But my arms hurt for a few days due to how hard I held onto those cables!

Dad finished up, too, and I took a paparazzi shot of him getting his picture taken.

(Inception...)

We got unhooked from the safety cable system and almost immediately re-hooked ourselves in, like we had for the hippos, to check out those crocodiles we'd just walked over.

A crocodile expert was there waiting for us, and we learned a ton of things I remember not knowing about crocodiles (which I again don't know since I forgot ). We asked some questions and one of the crocodiles actually moved a few "steps," which was cool.

UP NEXT: A safari and a WHOLE LOTTA GIRAFFES.

 

[Rista1313]

These are incredible pictures... I've never seen a hippo that close up. Look at those teeth!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Late but here. Loving all of the Wild Trek pics and info.

 

[riverside]

I would love to do that Trek but like you I'm afraid of heights. Based on other things I've done in life to avoid heights I just know I would not be able to walk across those bridges. Do you know if there is an option for wimps like myself to do the trek but be able to avoid the bridges?
Great pictures!!

 

[carriehpotter]

These are incredible pictures... I've never seen a hippo that close up. Look at those teeth!

I know, right!! We were super pleased with the photos! All the photos taken come with your tour (you're given a download link at the end), and we had 101 pictures taken on our Trek and it also came with an additional 50 stock images. But all the ones I've used so far have been ones taken by our guides!

Late but here. Loving all of the Wild Trek pics and info.

Glad to hear it! It was a truly amazing experience!

I would love to do that Trek but like you I'm afraid of heights. Based on other things I've done in life to avoid heights I just know I would not be able to walk across those bridges. Do you know if there is an option for wimps like myself to do the trek but be able to avoid the bridges?
Great pictures!!

I'm not sure, honestly. I don't think there's another way to get across what is essentially the safari ravine without going across the bridges. There might be a way to wait and only do the safari portion? But then you'd miss the up close looks at the hippos and crocs (honestly, I didn't care as much about the crocs, but the hippo part was super cool!). Honestly, what kept me going were two things: 1) Disney straps you into this super heavy duty safety system and they very carefully explain everything to you and why it works and what it's doing. There's also a big, strong looking net underneath each bridge. 2) There are also gaps in the planks on the bridge, and that may make it worse for some people, but I actually found focusing hard on not misstepping and just taking each set of planks at a time really helped me almost forget about the height. When I stopped on the first bridge to try to look around, I immediately remembered, so I won't recommend that . It's not for everyone, as I know some fears are worse than others, but I am very thankful I got over my fear just long enough to do the whole tour!

 

[carriehpotter]

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31: ANIMAL KINGDOM (continued)

**Spoilers for the Wild Africa Trek continue from last post**

After the crocs, it was time to shed our gear. It felt great, as you don't realize how heavy it all is until you take it off! We refilled our water bottles at a cooler (did I forget to mention those? We were given nice metal water bottles branded with "Wild Africa Trek"). We walked to a private loading dock where our safari vehicle waited. Instead of rows, it has one long U-shaped bench around the perimeter. Our guides gave us ice-cold "polar towels" (like Frog Toggs, but they're more wash cloth sized), which felt awesome. Then we ventured onto the savannah!

This part was really cool because we had more freedom than the traditional safari vehicles. Anywhere there was a wider road or pull off, we could stop. They have set places they stop, but they also tailored it to our interests (not sure what would have happened if it wasn't just us!). First we stopped by the African Spotted Dogs, and it was nice to actually have time to look at them!

Then...what was that? In the distance? Could it be.......GIRAFFES!!??

Our tour guides already knew my preference for the world's tallest mammals, so we pulled over to check them out and stayed for a while! We learned all about George, the lone adult male giraffe, and how he's been to several different accredited zoos to help start giraffe families. They also gave us a play-by-play of the birth that had happened on the savannah, in front of guests, since that baby was out and frolicking.

Here are far too many giraffe pictures because they're the best and it's my trip report so I'll include 6 giraffe pics if I want to!!

(That baby was born in front of guests on the safari! I would literally have died of excitement.)

I swear they took our picture with the giraffes behind us, but it wasn't with the other pictures on the website, so oh well.

UP NEXT: More animals and a private dining experience for the ages!

 

[riverside]

I'm not sure, honestly. I don't think there's another way to get across what is essentially the safari ravine without going across the bridges. There might be a way to wait and only do the safari portion? But then you'd miss the up close looks at the hippos and crocs (honestly, I didn't care as much about the crocs, but the hippo part was super cool!). Honestly, what kept me going were two things: 1) Disney straps you into this super heavy duty safety system and they very carefully explain everything to you and why it works and what it's doing. There's also a big, strong looking net underneath each bridge. 2) There are also gaps in the planks on the bridge, and that may make it worse for some people, but I actually found focusing hard on not misstepping and just taking each set of planks at a time really helped me almost forget about the height. When I stopped on the first bridge to try to look around, I immediately remembered, so I won't recommend that . It's not for everyone, as I know some fears are worse than others, but I am very thankful I got over my fear just long enough to do the whole tour!

Darn--I don't think I could do it. The gaps in the planks would freak me out. I don't even like to walk up steps that don't have the back part in them.
Thanks for all the info!!

 

[Swissmiss]

Reading about your experience, I think I need to make it a personal goal to get over fear of heights long enough to do this trek!

 

[Nunu]

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31: ANIMAL KINGDOM (continued)

*Spoilers for the Wild Africa Trek continue from last post**

The second bridge was over the crocodiles, which didn't make a difference to me. I was much more scared of the bridge than I was of the crocodiles!

As I neared the end, I actually got up the courage to stop long enough to check out the crocodiles and take a quick pic:

View attachment 417318

Then I finished the bridge, feeling very relieved. But my arms hurt for a few days due to how hard I held onto those cables!

View attachment 417316

View attachment 417317

Dad finished up, too, and I took a paparazzi shot of him getting his picture taken.

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View attachment 417321

View attachment 417322
(Inception...)

We got unhooked from the safety cable system and almost immediately re-hooked ourselves in, like we had for the hippos, to check out those crocodiles we'd just walked over.

A crocodile expert was there waiting for us, and we learned a ton of things I remember not knowing about crocodiles (which I again don't know since I forgot ). We asked some questions and one of the crocodiles actually moved a few "steps," which was cool.

View attachment 417324

View attachment 417325

View attachment 417326

View attachment 417327

UP NEXT: A safari and a WHOLE LOTTA GIRAFFES.

Love that last picture of your dad on the bridge looking up and smiling!

French Quarter is beautiful, and what can I say about those beignets?

Here! and enjoying your TR.

 

[riverside]

Reading about your experience, I think I need to make it a personal goal to get over fear of heights long enough to do this trek!

When you conquer that let me know your secret!!

 

[Swissmiss]

When you conquer that let me know your secret!!

Promise!

 

[DryerLintFan]

I'm counting down the tears that my daughter is old enough to do the Trek with me!! Great photos!

 

[carriehpotter]

Darn--I don't think I could do it. The gaps in the planks would freak me out. I don't even like to walk up steps that don't have the back part in them.
Thanks for all the info!!

I'm sorry. I'd definitely still call Disney to make sure! They may have protocols in place for people who can't get over the bridges!

Reading about your experience, I think I need to make it a personal goal to get over fear of heights long enough to do this trek!

It is pretty fantastic, I won't lie. But maybe they do have an alternative for people who don't want to (or can't) cross the bridges? I'm not sure.

Love that last picture of your dad on the bridge looking up and smiling!

French Quarter is beautiful, and what can I say about those beignets?

Here! and enjoying your TR.

Me too!

We were very pleasantly surprised by French Quarter. It was the first time we'd stayed at a moderate since I was 10 and I didn't know what to expect, but we really loved it! Like you said, it's so beautiful there, and the food court was awesome!

I'm counting down the tears that my daughter is old enough to do the Trek with me!! Great photos!

Yay! That's so exciting. It's really so much fun!!

 

[Katiekitten]

Following along, glad you enjoyed the trek!

 

[carriehpotter]

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31: ANIMAL KINGDOM (continued)

**Spoilers for the Wild Africa Trek continue from last post**

We finally moved on from the giraffes and slowly puttered along, checking out other animals along the way:

(Ankole cattle. There was one male and four females, I believe. The females were different colors and the male was all brown.)

(The elephants were a bit shy...)

I learned a fact on the Trek that really surprised me, but probably shouldn't have. You know that one of the things that is always mentioned without fail on every safari are the baobab trees, right? Well, they asked my dad and I if they were real or Disney magic. I'd always assumed they were real and said that, but *SPOILER ALERT* they are actually made of concrete!! To get to the size of the Disney baobab trees, the trees would have to be hundreds, if not thousands, of years old.

Then it was time to go to the "boma," that building that overlooks the savannah, for our breakfast. I took a pic of it on a later safari:

We used the restroom (the first opportunity to do so for about two hours...be warned!) while our guides got our table ready. Then we walked over for our private dining experience. We had a carafe of POG juice (score!) and adorable tins full of goodies. My dad, Mr. No-Tree-Nut, had a special tin that subbed out two things that did, or could, contain tree nuts.

(My dad didn't get the fig stuff on the bottom right of the left container and the granola on the top of the right container.)

The flower was edible, and while I've always avoided edible flowers, I figured while in Rome, or in this case, Africa! It tasted like nothing, really. In my canister, there was: granola and yogurt, fruit salad, brie and dried apricots (SO. GOOD.), different meats with pitas, a salmon roll up thing (the BEST thing) on a slaw (the slaw not so much) and dried fig with nuts (didn't care for that at all). Overall, it was actually pretty filling and definitely delicious! The chefs at Animal Kingdom Lodge design and prepare this food, after all.

Also, you can bet we drank every last drop of POG juice.

It was kind of bonkers having the entire boma to ourselves:

Our view:

UP NEXT: Finishing up the Trek!

 

[carriehpotter]

Following along, glad you enjoyed the trek!

Welcome! It was truly fantastic!!