A Whole New World-Litterally-First Trip-AWESOME

[Elk Grove Chris]

Maiden voyage to Walt Disney World-what a blast!

We are Disneyland veterans, we usually go 3-4 times a year for 2-3 day stays. Our Daughter goes to college 20 minutes away from the Mouse House. We know Disneyland, every nook and cranny. Walt Disney World was always something we wanted to do and after about a year of planning we finally made it happen. Planning, wow, something we rarely do for DL (hence why this is an atypical trip report for here), for WDW, a must, especially for us rookies. All of the effort paid off, lots of help from the DIS Board and members-THANKS!

December 12-Saturday

Our Daughter (20) flew up the night before to join me (45), DW (46), DS (14), and my Mom (67) on a 10 day, 3 hotel, and 6 park adventure in Orlando. Our DD finished her last final about an hour online before we left. Our DS did his early, he missed 3 days of school for this trip. This was a somewhat tough decision as he just started high school this year, but he has always been an A student, so we were not that worried. But something we would likely only do this once at his age.

Our flight out of Sacramento was delayed 45 minutes (an unfortunate foreshadowing of things to come). We landed in LAX, made a mad dash to our next gate and arrived just as boarding started. Ooh, hope our luggage makes it (it did). Off to Orlando at 10:00 pm. I tried to prepare as best as possible to get us some sleep on the plane, ear plugs and eye covers did not help one bit. It’s amazing how many times a fasten seat belt buzzer can go off on a red eye flight.

December 13-Sunday

We landed Sunday morning at 6 am in Orlando. A five and one half hour flight and not even a bag of peanuts, not even if you wanted to pay for some, thanks United. Sacramento was 40 when we left, high today was going to be 80 in Orlando.

We had decided early on to get a rental car since we were going to be doing Universal for a couple of days and we have some in our group who we will just refer to as not morning people. So if we had to split up, we had options for mobility. I think except for one day all of our FPs were scheduled for afternoons, so if they wanted to sleep in they could (surprisingly, only once did they sleep in on a park day). I firmly believe in trying hard to hit it for rope drop, but in hindsight, I should have scheduled actual full days off from any activities. We had some breaks during the trip, but there was still walking involved for non-park days, for Disney Springs and City Walk.

I booked the rental car through Priceline, medium SUV for $25/day sounded good to me. Of course it was cheap, the rental company was not located at the airport (ACE). We had to wait almost 30 minutes for their shuttle bus. Once we finally got there, they had one person working the counter and there were already 3 people ahead of me. Once I finally got to the counter, they did not have the car I had booked, nor did the give me a discount for a lesser vehicle. I just wanted to get going and a mini-van would serve the same purpose, space-wise, so we took it and moved on. Not before a hard sale on pre-paying for tolls. Which, if you are just doing WDW and Universal Studios, you will likely only hit one toll road. Wow, 7:30 already, MK about to open.

Back to options, we headed to Saratoga Springs, knowing it would likely be too early to have rooms ready at 8 am, but worth a shot. Nopes. Easy check in though, very helpful CM. I had booked a room for DW and myself and one for the kids and my Mom for each leg of the trip. Check in was easy every time, all three resorts. They would send us a text when our rooms were ready. We ducked into a bathroom and changed clothes and then dropped off our luggage with the bell hop. In the back of my mind it feels like I am forgetting something.

We rented DVC points from a third party company (D), for Saratoga Springs and AKL. Very easy to do after I read multiple threads on the DIS. A little scary at first, but if you have firm dates, fairly straight forward. We saved almost exactly 50% off rack rates, worth the minimal stress.

Back in the van and off to the MK. So different than at DL, where we usually stay across the street and can walk to the park and be inside in less than 10 minutes. With a rental car, you have to park, walk or get on a tram, then get on a boat (never tried this) or the monorail to get into the MK, wow. I think my DS actually slept a bit on the plane, the rest of us were on fumes. It was already warm and humid to boot. I know a summer trip would have been too much for my Mom and we would have had to tone it down a bit for the rest of us too-though it seemed like summer weather almost the whole 10 days.

Wow is that castle huge. We kind of just soaked it all in for a bit. I will likely be doing some comparissons to WDW and our home park of DL through the report, only for reference to those who might be thinking of doing the West Coast thing. Please do not take offence if I degrade any sacred cows, not the intention here, just trying to give an honest opinion of differences (through obviously rose-colored DL lenses)-so take it all with a grain of salt if you would-thanks.

We needed coffee and some sustenance. We made our way to Gaston’s Tavern in Fantasyland for some cinnamon rolls. The rolls were huge, but a tad dry. Three rolls was way too much for the five of us, so we just ate the guts. Coffee was what we expected for Disney Parks. We are die-hard Peet’s coffee snobs, not fans of Starbucks, but will take that when the lines are not obscene, which was not the case this morning.

Ok, first ride of the day, Under the Sea-Journey of the Little Mermaid, About a 10 minute wait a little before 11.

Excellent queue, way better than DL. Ride had some subtle differences, about the same overall experience. Ok, I remember what I forgot now, my 50mm f/1.4 lens, so much for decent dark ride shots today.Not sure how I could forget something like that.

We walked over to It’s a Small World next, wait was about 10 minutes at 11:20. Overall, this section of Fantasyland seemed like it was done a bit on the cheap. The façade is so different at DL for this ride, so that likely stuck in my mind. The ride itself seemed shorter and not as much detail inside, no xmas decorations at all.

Overall, it seemed like the decorations for the season were not that prominent, but again we are used to a much more compact setting, so that may have played into our feelings on several things over the trip. Not bad, just different.

We wandered around a bit, looking at the cool buildings in Liberty Square. Amazing clouds today, beautiful skies. The sun would get blocked every once in a while and make some interesting shadows.

We headed to Tomorrowland to look around. Got a text our rooms would be ready around 12:30, game changer. I tried to move up some of our FP experience to no avail. We would stick it out for at least one, maybe two, then hit the rooms for some zzzzzzz’s. Really liking the MyDisney Experience App, easy to view stuff and make changes when available.

We wanted to do the People Mover since we no longer have that at DL but it was down.

We decided to use our FP for space around noon, but it was also down. We ducked into the Star Trader to check out some hats for presents. Ooh, People Mover was going again, ramp up was not. About a ten minute wait and we were on the ride.

SM was still down, got some pics with the lights on (at bottom of page in case you do not want to see).

We decided to walk a bit and check out the Haunted Mansion. Beautiful building, so different than the DL version.

The ride is a little different, I really liked the stairs part. No overlays here for the Nightmare Before Christmas, which I really like, but DL leaves it up way too long. About a 30 minute wait in the standby line at 12:30.

Checked the phone app, SM back up, so we backtracked to Tomorrowland. FP was good for anytime of the day I guess since the ride went down for a while.

Love the queue but the ride is bit bumpier than the DL version, almost like the Matterhorn-took about 15 minutes to get on ride. It seemed a bit faster than the DL version too, but not exactly sure on that, might have been a few more dips.

Outstanding Photopass guy on the bridge, having us and others go through all kinds of poses. Overall, I think Photopass was worth the cost, especially for a first visit, it just seemed that some of the parks needed a few more photographers, especially Epcot.

We were really on fumes now, made it to the Monorail at 2 to head to the van. Stopped at the Saratoga Springs gift store to see what we could grab for breakfast, some decent selections, grabbed some water too.

Made it to our room a little before 3, far end of the resort. We found the second resort entrance later, which was very convenient. We had a water view studio (room 9501), Mom and kids were a few doors down. We all showered and laid down for a few hours, dinner at Narcossee’s was at 7:30.

Checked phone for tomorrow's agenda, yay-near record highs of 85 predicted for tomorrow. Sure glad I checked the weather out before we left to prepare for packing. Looked for other camera lens, wow, I must have completely forgot it at home-nowhere in either camera bag. I cannot believe I forgot something like that, had a pretty extensive packing list, but when I looked back, only put down camera, so ya.

It was not easy finding our way from Saratoga Springs to the Grand Floridian. Very nice resort, we had wanted to stay here for a few days, but no rental points available 10 months ago. Very popular place, especially this time of year. Some people had done some serious decorating on their balconies.

Narcosee’s was right on the water and packed. We started with the calamari, nice and crisp. Pretty dark, pictures of food did not turn out well. I did not want to disturb anyone with the flash. We tried some South African Wine, a Pinotage (sp?), very smooth.

My DW and Mom both had the Key West shrimp and garganelli pasta, very good, ton of butter in the sauce. My DD had my Mom’s shrimp and shared the pasta from both plates. My DS had the pan roasted chicken, very moist. I had the seared ahi tuna, some of the best tuna I have had in recent memory, the ginger-kaffir broth was sublime.

For dessert, we all shared the Narcossee’s candy bar and the coconut and chocolate crème brulee. The electrical water pageant was going by as we had dessert. Fireworks rounded out the evening, we had to step onto the deck to see them though as a crowd had blocked most of the windows. Overall, our best meal of the trip all things considered.

Great first day despite the jet lag, Hollywood Studios bright and early tomorrow morning.


Spoiler-SM with lights on below:

 

[Disney127]

Following along! Have read some of your DL trip reports before. We visit DL annually but are headed back to WDW in March - last trip was in 2009. We are looking forward to seeing the differences between DL and DW. Like you mentioned, we usually stay in accommodations across DL and don't usually make plans. But for this trip, we have a rough idea of which park we will be in so that we can plan FP+ and some dining reservations. Can't wait to read more about your trip plus you always take such beautiful photos!

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

thanks Disney127

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

December 14-Monday-Hollywood Studios

First real issue of the trip-cell reception. Google maps is having a real hard time getting us to Hollywood Studios. We make it to security at 8:50, feels like an actual real security check now, I even get singled out for a random search.

Ok, let’s all hot foot it to Toy Story, oops its down.

Ok, let’s try Tower of Terror.

Yay-walk on. DW sitting this one out-not a huge thrill ride person. Building looks really cool, love the queue-about the same as DL. The ride is way different, major improvement over the DL version, love how you roll out and move from shaft to shaft. First drop not all that though.

Yeah, let’s do that again. Wait was about ten minutes to get back on and through. Second time through way better with drops, DL version is not random at all.

Rock n Roller is right next door, but 30 minute wait already, we decide to wait until later to use our FP.

We did the Great movie Ride next, about a 10 minute wait at 9:45. We all liked it, nothing like this at DL.

Ok, my Son and I have been waiting for this queue, Star tours, about a 20 minute wait at 10:15. My Son and I really dug the At-At Walker, but why cheap out on the back-side? Finish that bad boy up. Inside queue is very similar to DL, minus a few droids in second room.

First scene-Vader, second was Force Awakens scene, and then Boba Fett, Vader/Deathstar

We stopped in the gift shop, took some pics, yeah they got us. Pretty cool though how they can morph the whole family into a scene. Later we figured out they screwed up some photos we thought we had bought, looked at all the big ones but not the key chains. Four calls later, we finally got a live person (third-party vendor on these pics) and they said they would send us the right photos for the key chains (actually arrived two days after we got home-sweet).

We did the Muppet Vision next, cannot believe we never did this at DL, about 10 minutes worth of pre-show and we were in at 11:20.

Snack time-hmmm, could we do a walk up to Mama Melrose? No, we could not. Sure glad I did a lot of pre-planning and did reservations 180 days out for the spots we really wanted to eat at, but do miss a little spontaneity.

Pizza planet-pretty average stuff, but we didn’t want to get too full anyways as we were eating at Sci-Fi Diner for dinner. We all shared some pizza and salads-Ceasar salads were actually pretty decent.

We looked online to get some groceries. I had really punted on ordering some food/drinks to be delivered to our room-should have done that pre-trip-wasn’t meant to be as they could not do same day deliveries. We would look for a Walmart or something after we left the park.

We made our way to Lights, Camera, Action for the 1:00 show. Pretty full grand stand, decent show. I like how they show you the tricks of the trade.

Star Wars path of the Jedi was about a 10 minute wait at 1:50. My Son and I are diehard Star Wars fans, so this was cool for us, the ladies indulged us.

We had some free time before the Beauty and Beast show at 3, so we wandered a bit and looked in some shops. Margarita time for me, water for the kiddos. DW is not much of a drinker, but she had a few sips.

We made our way to the theatre and lined up around 2:40, decent crowd ahead of us already. Only rude guest interaction we encountered on whole trip happened next, as we had a family of, oh about 47, just push past us and everyone else. Of course they happened to sit right in front of us and had 3 toddlers cry almost non-stop for 10 minutes. But all was good as they muffled down once the play began. One thing we certainly did not miss on this trip were the narrow pathways at DL and the strollers catching our heels.

Some pretty good singing, the beast got a bit annoying with all his gruffing though.

Bathroom break, and oh, look, we are next to TOT again. Ok, 20 minute standby, yeah we can do that. Crowds not bad at all.

We used our FP for Rock n Roller Coaster next, around 3:50, pretty packed line, 20 minutes to get on ride. Standby was at 50 minutes. Pretty cool ride, too dark and fast to get any decent pics, especially since I left the fast prime lens at home-doh.

We had a FP for the Indiana Jones Stunt Show at 4:30, so we moved that way.

We did not really need this FP, the park was not super busy, but there was really nothing else to use it on for us. Pretty decent show, some audience participation. Small world, one of the guys picked was an actor in a play my DD is going to see next week (something, something , boots-forgot, they are checking out Lion King too) on a trip to New York (actual school trip-she is a fashion merchandising major and there are some major fashion shows they are really going there for).

Ok, back to the stunt show, yeah we liked that.

We used our FP for Start Tours next at 5:45, standby was only 20 minutes.

First scene was Storm Troopers-scene from new movie-BB8-then my favorite ending scene-Coruscant. We had about an hour to kill, let’s see how crazy it is over at the Osbourne lights.

It was crazy. Step, step, pause, step, step, pause kind of crazy for a solid 45 minutes as we made our way through. I was getting a little worried about our Sci-Fi Diner reservation at 7:00. It was a bit of a struggle to back track, they only let us through because of our reservation, they did not want people going against the mass of traffic. Nice display of lights for the season.

We were seated right at 7:00, awesome. We really like the look of this place and the odd cartoon and movies clips. We wish the reel was a bit longer as we got to see everything about twice. We knew this was more of a destination and ambience kind of place than a place for foodies-but we were pleasantly surprised at the food. My Son had the reuben, DD and DW shared the salmon sandwich, my Mom had the veggie burger (said it was quite good and very moist), and I had the Sci-Fi burger. All pretty decent fair. We did not try any of the desserts.

The park was closing in a few minutes so we made our way towards the front, stopping to pick up some peanut butter cookies for the kids at Sweet Spells. Pick up our packages and out of park around 8:15. Another good day in the books.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Dec 15-Tuesday-Epcot

We made it to Epcot around 7:40-not a huge crowd by any means. Guess who got a “random” search again, must be the Disneyland hat.

Oh, we found them, they were all over at Test Track (other half was likely at Soarin). Thirty minute wait right off the bat, ok, we can do that. Pretty interesting queue. WDW really does queues quite well.

We split our group down the gender lines, very different ride vehicles made. Fun ride, we would have to do this a few times for sure. Clouds everywhere again, but no rain, so that was nice.

Starbucks for coffee (we are really missing Peet’s about now) with about 102 of our closest friends. We chilled out a bit as we waited for Innovations to open at 9. Nice Christmas music playing all over the place but where are the decorations?

Mouse Gear was looming nearby, so we stepped in. Huge shop, lots to drool over. Ok, time to check out Sum of all Thrills. We were second group in line, about a 5 minute wait. Ok, kind of cool, maybe a little short on the ride part. I was more than a little surpised that my DW agreed to go on, but she did ok.

Did a little walk to the Seas with Nemo and Friends, about a 10 minute wait and we were on around 9:30. This is pretty similar to the Nemo Subs in DL, without the weird smells. We spent a good 45 minutes just checking out the fish afterwards, very nice displays.

We had a FP for Mission Space at 11, so back to Mice Gear for some more looks before it was go time.

Still pretty overcast, high was only supposed to be 73 today, but humidity was way up there. Very short wait with FPs and we were on Mission Space. Easy path for Mom and DW, me and the kids got the G’s. We all liked the ride, pretty intense for a few seconds there.

Ok, Ellen Energy show, let’s check that out. Short wait, maybe 10 minutes including pre-show. We all liked the show, fairly interesting.

We had another FP coming up, Test Track at 12:30. Pretty short wait, maybe 10 minutes, standby was up to 45. Another exciting ride in the books.

We had lunch reservations at Marrakesh, so we were off to Moracco. Sun was out now, seemed like it was pushing past 73 already.

Where are all the Photopass photagraphers? Pretty sparse in Epcot, I understand it is a huge park, but I could count on one hand how many I saw that day.

We made it to the restaurant right at 1:30. Tucked way in the back, it was not super busy in there.

We shared the flat bread with goat cheese and balsamic vinegar to start, really good. My Son was branching out now, he really liked the goat cheese.

I had the Sultan sampler, DS had the beef couscous, Mom had the vegetable couscous, and DW and DD shared the roast lamb.

Everything was pretty good. Service was excellent. Live music was nice as was the belly-dancing. They invited some of the younger kids up to dance, very cute.

We made our way slowly back out to the World Showcase and waited a few minutes for a boat back to the front. This was a nice way to get back after a large meal. It would be really cool if they had a train on the outside of the World Showcase so you could really get around faster if desired.

We used our last FP of the day for Spaceship Earth at 3:15, standby line was pretty short, maybe 10 minutes wait. We all liked the ride very much, turned out to be my DD favorite of the whole trip.

We left park at 3:45 to head back to the rooms to freshen up and grab sweatshirts for the xmas party at the MK.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Got back in our van and headed off to the Magic Kingdom at 5:30. Yeah, we should have probably gone in a bit earlier, it was PACKED. Some guests leaving already, a whole lot more like us coming in. There was a bit of a wait to get our party bands, seemed like they could have had a few more CMs helping out.

MS stroll was slow, very congested. Not snapping any pics, just trying to weave through traffic, popular event. We made our way slowly to Mickey’s Philharmagic, about a 10 minute wait at 6:30.

Peter Pan was about a 25 minute wait at 6:45, we really liked the queue. Ride was a little different, but pretty much same feel as DL, London scene seemed a bit bigger here.

Hot chocolate time at the Colombia Harbour house. Hot chocolate was good, cookies were quite sweet and only one kind was offered. We are not huge into characters, so we decided to make the most of our time on rides then check out the parade and fireworks.

We strolled over to Frontierland and got on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad after about five minutes (about the time it takes you to walk through the queue). DW sat this one out. I think most rides are better at night, but this one in particular at DL is our favorite at night. We all agreed that this ride was slightly better at WDW, the new effects on the DL version would be nice here.

Yeah, let’s do that again. Again, basically a walk on.

Three for three, all walk ons, sweet.

Ok, it was a little past 8 now, we had some minor rumblings in the tummy but no one really wanted anything substantial after that big lunch. We grabbed some popcorn on the way to Tomorrowland, and except for one poor unfortunate tooth (more on that later) it was enjoyed by all.

There are a large amount of people in the MK for this party, I wonder how it stacks up to normal attendance. Seemed pretty packed. We have done a few Halloween parties at DL and they seem way oversold, too cramped. This was not as bad because of the wide pathways, but was giving us the same vibe, but we are glad we did it.

DW sat out again as the rest of us made our way onto Space Mountain-about a 10 minute wait. We decided to make our way to the Hub to stake out a spot for the fireworks. We ended up behind the FP spot, pretty decent views as most people sat in front of us.

Awesome pre-show and fireworks were very good. The castle is utilized really well here. I did not bring a tripod, so the night shots are not the greatest, especially the fireworks, love me some long exposure shots normally.

We were hoping that a decent amount of people would head out after the fireworks, not so much. Seemed like quite a few people were sticking around with us for the 10:30 parade.

We moved up to right at the Hub, sat behind people who were seated right at the street. Pretty good spots and then they all stood up, huh? I thought everyone in the very front was supposed to say seated, guess not. Fortunately, my Wife found a secondary spot just to the right of them so she could see (she is fun size-so difficult to see around people most of the time).

Ok, who is up for some more fun? Well, a few of us were. My Mom and DW grabbed some bench, the kids and I headed back to Space for one more go. About 10 minutes and we were on the ride, yeah still a little bumpy. Ok, one more time, pretty short wait.

We headed back to the Hub and all made our way back down MS with the masses exiting. I think MK was open until 1 am, those who hung out had some pretty short ride waits for sure.

We made it back to the rooms as the clock struck 12. Good thing tomorrow was a rest day, everyone gets to sleep in. Another great day in the books.

 

[mamamary]

Am enjoying your trip report!

 

[a742246]

Excellent, excellent trip report! Great pictures! Thank you for sharing.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Am enjoying your trip report!

Thanks MamaMary

Excellent, excellent trip report! Great pictures! Thank you for sharing.

Thanks a742246

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

December 16-Wednesday-rest day

I was very surprised that I slept in, 7 am, pretty good for me. I am usually up at 5 am every day, even when on vacation. Grabbed some yogurt and watched the day emerge.

Everyone else slept to about 9, DD could go to noon if you let her. I am amazed she makes it to her classes on time from her apartment . We all packed up and were out the door around 9:30.

We wanted to go catch a boat to Disney Springs so we headed back towards the club house. Boats not running, bummer. Short van ride later and we were in Disney Springs. Lots of construction going on all over the place.

Coffee at Starbucks, awesome view off the back deck, lake and balloon.

We strolled a bit, grabbed some pretzels at Wetzels. Not much seating down that way. Some cool food trucks, oh, not open until 5 pm, interesting, thought this place would be busy enough for a lunch crowd the week before xmas.

Water taxi to the other part of Disney Springs, yes, we will have some of that, thanks Disney. We walked through the other parts of mall, looking for lunch ideas.

There were quite a few people lined up to rent these car boats.

And back to our starting point for lunch-Bongos, owned by Gloria Estefan, who knew. Cuban food, very good Cuban food. We started with empanadas and plantains. Empanadas were a bit dry, maybe slightly overcooked, good flavor though. Plantains nice and crisp. Great lighting by window, so some decent food pics for a change.

My Son tried the Cuban steak sandwich, DD had the Cuban sandwich, Mom had the avocado salad, I had the Cuban skirt steak, DW shared with everyone. Cubano steak with chimichurri sauce was hands down best dish.

After resting our tummies for a bit, we ducked into the Star Wars store for some presents for our nephew. Disney Springs will be pretty nice once all the construction is done. Minus the construction, surroundings and additional activities win out here over the DL version. However the DL Downtown Disney just has more of a Disney feel to it for some reason, maybe it’s all the cranes, or just our familiarity, or the connection to the Disney resorts in DTD.

Off we were at that point to the dark side, Universal Studios, start of that report: (http://www.disboards.com/threads/out-from-the-west-coast.3475696/). Slow traffic, two accidents on the way, yay, just like California. About a 30 minute drive and we arrived at Loews Royal Pacific around 4. Very easy check in, nice lobby, cool train and gingerbread town, and nice open atrium.

Back to WDW in a few days.

 

[6travel]

Great report and awesome pictures.

 

[KatherineDisney]

Beautiful photos!

 

[kpsutton]

Love your photos!! How much of a pain was it to take your camera in the parks with you? I'm going to assume it was a DSLR camera by all the great shots you were taking.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

Great report and awesome pictures.

Thank you 6Travel

Beautiful photos!

Thank you Katherine

Love your photos!! How much of a pain was it to take your camera in the parks with you? I'm going to assume it was a DSLR camera by all the great shots you were taking.

Yes a DSLR, Canon 7D, normally I bring three lenses, so shoulder pack weighs about 10 pounds total, but I am used to it. I used to carry everything in a full sized backpack and that was getting to be too much for my back. What was really frustrating was that I left the lens I normally use for dark ride shots all the way back in California.

Next few days of the trip will have to wait as I am driving my DD back to Disneyland tomorrow, well back to school for her which is pretty close by.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

December 18-Friday

We really loved the Wizarding World, I hope the California version is close to what they have in Orlando. We stopped at Walmart for water and some bagels.

Made our way to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Check in was easy-in our rooms around 5:30. It was a hike from parking structure underneath the first floor. We were staying at the Kidani Village.

Beautiful rooms, animals right outside, nice savannah view from our corner room on the fifth floor (7943). Mom and kids were a few doors down (7949). We unpacked, put up our xmas lights and freshened up for dinner.

Lobby was gorgeous, nice tree and there was interesting African art about. The walk over to the Jambo House was about 10 minutes (we took the shuttle on the way back). We had reservations for Jiko at 7:30. We had big boy pants on, but there were quite a few guests who had park duds on.

Jiko had a rather small lounge area compared to the main restaurant.

It was busy, lots of people trying to get into both restaurants (Boma is right across the way). We were seated about 7:40.

We tried the Taste of Africa, nice bread service. DW and DD shared the Botswana style short ribs, great flavor, Mom had the Sambusas, DS had the mac n cheese side and I shared the Nigerian spiced pork shank with him. We all agreed these were the best entrees we had the entire trip (overall experience at Narcossee’s on first night just edged this place out). As much as we wanted to, we just could not order any dessert. Service was excellent, from front desk to our waiter from Morocco. Excellent overall experience. Just disappointed how bad the pictures turned out.

We shared the shuttle with a lively bunch from Texas back to our village. Up to the rooms around 10.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

December 19-Saturday-Animal Kingdom/Epcot

Ok, our first attempt to using the buses. We were running late, got to bus stop at 7:52. Ooh relatively cold this morning-46. When we left it was in the 40’s at home, but we were used to 80 now. High of 66 today-sweatshirts all day probably. Bus stop was really only a few steps from the lobby, on bus at 7:55, at park security at 8:05-not bad at all.

Ooh, you can see the start of the construction for the Avatar section (Land?), looks pretty cool just hanging out there up in the sky. Oops, DW had to reset biometrics with her MagicBand, first glitch with them on trip, very minor problem. Oh, look, random search for me again.

Ok we were going to do Expedition Everest and there was a huge line.

It was so cold it was not running yet, they needed to warm up the tracks or brakes or something. There were a good 250-300 people in front of us. Line started moving at 8:26. False alarm, line stopped ten steps later. Total wait was about 30 minutes, half of that was just standing still.

Yeah, pretty awesome ride, pretty awesome queue also. This is nothing like anything DL has, way smoother and faster than the Matterhorn. The switches of going backwards and then forwards again was way cool.

We made it over to Dinosaur at 9:20, about a 10 minute to get on. Wow is this ride dark. It is compared to Indiana Jones ride at DL for ride vehicle, but ride is quite a bit different. I think if it was a little lighter so we could see the dinosaurs for a bit longer we would have liked it more. While not the smoothest of rides, overall IJA definitely wins out on this comparison (my favorite DL queue).

We did the Primeval Whorl next, short wait at 9:45. Nice little ride, DW even liked it for the most bit.

We did the Maharajah Jungle Trek at 10. The animal displays are done really well here, we enjoyed them quite a bit. I really wish I had scheduled more time for AK, we could have easily spent 2 full days at this park, right up our alley.

We did Flights of Wonder at 10:45, in line around 10:30. Very nice show, good entertainment and not crammed down your throat teaching moments, but enough to get the kids thinking (I am an environmental scientist-so I usually think these kinds of shows say too little about conservation-but this was just right).

Iguana Joe was pretty funny. When they brought the Bald Eagle out, he had to take care of some business. Joe quickly chimed in with, “and that folks is some Disney magic.” Fortunately, the bushes hid his business.

We made our way to Yak and Yeti for lunch, it was packed right at opening. No walk ups taken.

We shared the dim sum to start, pretty good, My Ladies shared the ginger salmon with udon, Mom had the vegetable lo mein, DS had the Kobe beef burger, and I had the chicken tikka masala. It was all pretty good for park food. Wish we had a little more options back home at Disneyland.

Expedition Everest standby was 65 minutes when we walked by.

We made our way to the line for Nemo show around 12:45. There were quite a few people already there, we filled the theatre once they opened the doors.

Ok, nice show, great sets, songs a little to be desired since this was not originally a musical. But we liked the show overall.

Out of park and back to rooms for rest at 2. I checked out the resort and took some pictures of the animals.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

We hopped into the van and headed to Epcot around 4, we had a dinner reservation for Biergarten at 7. Walked in around 4:30. Oops, had to reset biometrics for my MagicBand, pretty quick. Only issues we had with the bands happened today, two bands, two parks, very minor stuff.

What, random search for me again, come on. Ok, I will take off the Disneyland hat and get a WDW one.

I had heard it was not worth the time by some and others loved it, so we checked out Journey into Imagination. Uh, yah, not a fan, and this was with a FP, bummer. With the limited rides per park, sometimes the FP selections are not all that. We had told ourselves we would not do Soarin as we have done it so many times in DL and we wanted to wait for the new show. Standby was 30 minutes around 4:45, apparently the ride does have a following.

Kids teased me rest of day with that crazy song. We lost a FP for Test Track at 2 so we could rest more, could not get anything else scheduled but no big loss, we had done it several times already.

We used our last FP of the day for Mission Space a few minutes after 5, standby was up to 40 minutes. The Russian team next to us had a war chant going in line, not terribly loud, they were having a good time.

Viva la Mexico-such a short walk to cross the border. Very cool setting inside, bright colors of the market place.

We took the Grand Fiesta tour, short wait to get on. Cute little ride.

I wish we had spent a little more time in there, so many cool things to look at and vivid colors in the marketplace.

China was up next, the buildings in each land are done so well. We could have easily spent a full 3-4 days at Epcot just checking out each land. It seems like we just barely scratched the surface with the time we did have.

We arrived in Germany around 6:45 and checked in for our table. We were seated after about a 15 minute wait, lots of people back there, trying to get a table.

The entertainment was good, our server was good, the beer was good, and the ambience was fantastic. I do have a caveat here, I was born in Germany, Mom is half German, so we have had some good German food. Unfortunately, this was not one of those times, the only thing that was above average was the sauerbraten. We did get stuffed, there were plenty of options.

Ok, it was now 9:00, was this the night we would make it to Illuminations at 10:30, no, it was not. And its cold again, well, again, relatively to what we had been accustomed to the last week in Orlando, 50 degrees.

We made it back to our rooms at 10. Someone had dropped a MagicBand in the elevator. I took it to the front desk, hopefully it found its way to whomever had lost it.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

December 20-Sunday-Epcot

Epcot was open at 9 today, we made it to the parking lot by 8:40, not as early as I had hoped. Ok, they must be expecting some serious crowds today, they had us park up on the grass. Interesting fact I heard from the tram guy the other day, this is the second largest parking lot in the United States or maybe in the world (apparently there are pundits who emphasize a difference between lots and parking structures-all important for Guinness records I guess).

DW and DS both battling sore throats this morning, too many changes in weather for them, but they kept on going.

Ok, pretty sure I am the random guy security is looking for, because they found me again. And I was wearing a WDW hat today.

As we walked in a CM was walking by with a trash can that had bubbles coming out of it, pretty cool.

We made our way over to Test Track, standby test was 30 minutes at 8:57. Amazing how much the wait bumped up as we were in line, it went from 30 to 40 minutes in about 30 real seconds. There might be a few people here today.

Sun was out early today, nice. Standby was up to 50 minutes as we got off the ride.

Spaceship earth was next , 25 minute wait posted at 10. We did not actually get on until 10:40, FP line was gettting the love.

We did Living with the Land next, 30 minute wait posted at 11, actually was closer to 40. Lots of people in here, Soarin line was crazy, 140 minutes already.

Backtracked to Test Track to use a FP right before noon. Pretty quick going through FP line.

We hit the World Showcase aroun 12:30. We had a relatively early dinner back at the resort at 6, so we were thinking some snacks around the world. The sun got swallowed up by the clouds again. We were real lucky with the weather on this trip (other than the heatwave), we only had rain one morning while we were at Universal, and that was for only a few hours.

We stopped and got a crepe in France. It was ok, we were hoping for something for more than just sugar.

We stopped in Japan for some looks and eats.

We were done with snacks after two stops. We had beef noodles and chicken curry at the Katsura Grill.

We kept on strolling through the showcase.

America Adventure-pre show songs from the Voices of Liberty –amazing, just amazing talent.

Some more walking around the World Showcase.

We stopped in China next, also a really nice movie. It was a bit cooler today, high hit 72 degrees.

This was by far the most people we had seen on the trip so far (that would change tomorrow at MK). We left pretty early, out of the park at 4:30 to head back to the room and freshen up for dinner.

We took the shuttle this time, after about a 90 minute Siesta, to the Jambo House. We were seated for our reservation right away at 6:10. Boma was packed.

We are generally buffet snobs, we know it, but this was touted as one of the best in all of WDW. We were not disappointed. So many selections, quality selections, something for everyone. I just wish there were some spicy dishes. Easily the best selection of top quality desserts we have encountered at a buffet in some time. We did overdue it on the desserts for sure.

We would have to take the shuttle back, no way we could make the walk. Took a few trips for the van to take everyone waiting before us, worth the wait though. Mickey and Minnie were at the Kidani Village by the tree, we did not want to wait for pics, too stuffed. Kind of nice getting to bed before 10, especially since MK had an EMH tomorrow morning.

 

[ALEXandFAB]

Following along and LOVING your photos!