"Circle of Life" themed Photo TR 6/19-6/29 UPDATE:9/24 On the Path Unwinding

[DLR29]

More to Do Than Can Ever Be Done (Monday, 6/21: Evening-AK EEMH)

Evening:
Since there is so much to do at WDW, we definitely tried to maximize our time at the parks, while still having some rest time. This included taking advantage of EMH on Monday night at AK. Without these extra hours, for sure we could not have done all that we wanted at AK. Actually, we did miss out on Flights of Wonder (which I really wanted to see), which proves that there truly is more to do than can be done (in 10 days).

Anyway, we boarded the bus around 3:45 and got to AK by 4:15.

Using a trick we learned from our last trip, we boarded the Safaris with a very short wait. Since Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade finishes in Africa, it actually blocks the entrance to the Safaris for a short period of time. This means that not very many people can access the Safari line during the parade which means immediately after the parade ends, the line is very short. This worked great last time and it definitely worked again for us, although we still waited 15 minutes…not bad at all for a summer afternoon on an EMH day. The animals were slightly active (or at least in viewing sight) and we even helped catch some poachers!

Poacher camp

The Safaris dumped us off at the Pangani Exploration Trail, so we went ahead and took it. We saw all kinds of animals such as naked mole rats (the picture didn’t come out well), lazy hippos, and adorable meerkats. The meerkats were the highlight, as they were busily burrowing and cycling in and out of the “watch duty” atop of the rock. Unfortunately, the gorillas had already gone in for the day as it was past 5:00. Oh well.

Best shot I could get of the hippos

Now for some cute meerkat (Timon) pics

 

[DLR29]

We walked back through Harambe, across Discovery Island and into Dinoland USA. 6 of us rode Primeval Whirl, while DD sat it out (not because of his knee, he just gets dizzy from walking in a circle) and DM (dizzy thing also). DB, DC12 and DC10 went in one car, while DU, DC13 and I rode in another. We were hootin and hollerin’ all throughout the ride as we went through the sharp turns at the top and then spun wildly at the end. And the line didn’t even take that long because they were running both tracks.

We got off around 6:05 and so we made a mad dash to FN:tM to hopefully snag some last minute seats. We actually found pretty good seats, but the theater filled up soon after we entered. We had missed this on our last trip due to the theater being filled, so it was great seeing it for the first time. “In the Big Blue World” la la la la…NEMO! The puppets looked amazing and the singing was phenomenal. A perfect Disney performance!

Then EEMH was about to start (7PM) but then I realized something….We had left all but 2 of our room keys in the room! Oh no! I totally forgot that each person needed the room key to go into the attractions. So I’m trying to figure out what to do, everybody is hungry, DC12 really wants to ride EE, and everything is going on at the same time. We knew that we had to get something to eat, so we went to Flame Tree BBQ.

While my family was in line I ran over to the ITtBaB entrance to ask a CM what we should do about our “predicament”. The CM was understanding and suggested going to Guest Relations and ask about it there. Anyway we had a yummy dinner of ribs at FTBBQ and then set off for Guest Relations. At Guest Relations they took care of everything and were very accommodating. They printed us new room keys (after confirming our SSR reservation) and nullified our previous keys. Then we were free to go on the rides at AK EEMH! By now it was about 7:40 so we trekked over to Camp Minnie-Mickey to see the 8:00 FotLK show. We got in and were assigned the lion section. I vividly remember this show being one of the most spectacular things on my last WDW trip. Needless to say, the second time around impressed as well! A true Disney gem and classic with some incredible singers, dancers and acrobats. One weird thing is that they actually encouraged flash photography???

Sorry a little blurry

 

[DLR29]

After being awed by the Lion King we went to Dinoland to ride Dinosaur.

It was super bumpy and EXTREMELY LOUD! You think you could get the same effect without killing everyone’s eardrums. I love the scariness of this ride but overall Indiana Jones is much better.

Up next was what all of the DCs and DU were waiting for for a long time: EE. By now it had gotten pretty dark and so it was also a new experience for our family who had never been on it at night either. The wait time said 20 min, it was more like 10. YAY! I love EE and everybody else did too. It’s such an incredible coaster with the drops and curves and the backwards part where you don’t know which way you’re going. We all came off of the ride grinning and laughing. DD and DM only rode once, but the rest of us ended up riding it 2 more times with extremely short waits both times. It started to sprinkle during the second trip so EE turned into a water ride for us.

It was about 9:30 by now and we were thinking about just heading off, but then I had a brilliant idea….Let’s go ride KRR at night! It was still hot and we had nothing to lose since we were just gonna go back to the hotel after. Even DM agreed to (and she does not like rapids rides). So we walked on to KRR (although the line took forever to get through) and rode through the eerie jungle at night. The only real exciting parts (the only parts where you get wet) are the geyser at the top of the lift and the drop. I, of course, was at the bottom of the drop and got DRENCHED along with half of our party. But it felt good on a warm Florida evening. Returning back to the loading dock, we asked if we could go again. They agreed and so we set off again. This time the other half of us got DRENCHED. We were laughing so hard and it was just such a great and memorable moment.

Finally EEMH had come to a close and we got off KRR dripping. As we waddled back to the bus we were still laughing up a storm. We were one of the last ones out of the park.

We boarded the bus and were freezing (because the AC in those Disney buses is insanely cold) but it was so worth it. We crashed hard once we got to SSR but we didn’t have to wake up early because the next day was our off day.

Coming up: “There’s Far Too Much to Take in Here”

 

[Goofy442]

Your photos are great, and the details that go with each photo is wonderful.

 

[mermaid764]

I'm joining in!

Your photos are awesome...what kind of camera did you guys use?

I've also looked at your dining review and am looking forward to reading more on it as well!

 

[Buzbon]

What a terrific trip review and the photos are great. Maybe we'll see you as a photojournalist on the travel channel.

 

[DLR29]

Your photos are great, and the details that go with each photo is wonderful.

Thank you! Yay another reader!

I'm joining in!

Your photos are awesome...what kind of camera did you guys use?

I've also looked at your dining review and am looking forward to reading more on it as well!

I have just a canon powershot and my mom has a slightly better powershot. But all of the pictures that I post are my pics, unless I say that they are my mom's. I really could get way better pics with a better camera. I will be entering a photo contest for a new camera, but I think I do ok for what I have.

What a terrific trip review and the photos are great. Maybe we'll see you as a photojournalist on the travel channel.

I really appreciate your kind words. Being a photojournalist for the Travel Channel would be a fantastic job for me. I do love to travel and photography has become one of my favorite hobbies.

Thank you all for reading and I will have the next segment up tomorrow.

 

[Sweet Pea UK]

Loving your report. Your narrative and pictures are amazing!

Can't wait to read more. We are staying at SSR on our trip next year (although counting down the days to this years trip) and I would love it if you had some pool pictures?

 

[donac]

Great report

 

[DLR29]

Loving your report. Your narrative and pictures are amazing!

Can't wait to read more. We are staying at SSR on our trip next year (although counting down the days to this years trip) and I would love it if you had some pool pictures?

Don't worry, I have lots of miscellaneous SSR pics that I will be posting eventually, including a couple of the pool. We loved the pool and went there every day (one day I think we went twice). Even though we stayed at the Grandstand, we never used that pool, although it looked nice too.

Great report

Thanks!

 

[DLR29]

There’s Far Too Much to Take in Here (Tuesday, 6/22: Morning-DTD, Evening-DTD)

Morning:
Our off day came (finally for DC13) and we “slept in”. Our version of sleeping in was waking up around 9, although DC13 probably would have slept until 12 if we had let her. We decided to go use counter service credits at WPE for breakfast/brunch. So we took the bus and got to WPE by 10:30 (breakfast ends at 11). The food for breakfast was AMAZING! You can read more about it in my dining review but if we thought that dinner was good here the other night, breakfast was incredible!

After brunch we only explored a little bit of DTD because there is truly far too much at DTD to take in. First was the toy store.

Then we went into the sports store.

At the World of Disney store they need maps or something because the place is like its own mall. We shopped in there for so long and I don’t even know if we went into all of the rooms!

DC10

Artsy fartsy pin shot

Here are a few just random DTD pics.

Then we took the boat from Pleasure Island back to SSR to take another midday break around 1:00

Evening:
After a nap and swim, we returned to DTD (relatively early, like 5:00) for dinner at Rainforest Café, although this was paid OOP because we only had the QSDP. But DM had been doing some surveys and got a few Rainforest gift cards (I think $75 worth), so this was our “nice” meal of the trip. We love going to Rainforest Cafes, we are the club members/card holders, and we always enjoy the thunderstorms.

No it's not real

After dinner we went to Goofy’s Candy shop to grab some treats with our dining plan.

Then we took the boat from Marketplace all the way over to West Side so we could see Toy Story 3!

DB and I had seen the midnight show with some of my friends, but the other 6 people in our party hadn’t seen it. We saw it in 3D and it was amazing even the second time around (actually DB ended up seeing it a third time when we got back home). And it was emotional for DM because I’m going off to college in about a month, so she could relate to Andy’s mom. Awwwwwww.

Finally we took the boat back to SSR and got back to our room by 9:30. We crashed because our off day was over and now it was back to the “waking up early” part. Here are a couple shots from the boat ride back.

We took a quick night swim and then went to bed.

Next up: "More to Find than Can Ever Be Found"

 

[mermaid764]

Another awesome update!

Your day at DTD sounds awesome and the Rainforest Cafe is always a great way to end a day.

That's awesome that your dad was able to get those gift certificates.

Looking forward to more

 

[Dizneydaz]

Great TR so far!

I'm impressed that you got up so early. We're from Ca too (near DLR) and we don't usually try to get there at opening. Mostly since we are there when it's not too crowded we don't really need to "beat the crowds" so much. Plus, we like to take advantage of the EMH eveings. Love those. When it was just my DM and myself we would get up at the crack of dawn but now that my DD10 is with us we take things in the a.m easier.

While leaving at 6:30 a.m. is hard to do I love getting to WDW in late afternoon. So much nicer than leaving at around noon and arriving about 11 p.m. It's not so much that we are more tired, it's just that by the time we get into our room it's really late by FL time and we aren't always ready to go to sleep (what with unpacking, eating, etc.) so much better to get there around 5 p.m.

Can't wait to read more and I will check our your DR. We too love WPE and last time on the standard DDP we feel in love with WPC as well.

 

[DLR29]

Another awesome update!

Your day at DTD sounds awesome and the Rainforest Cafe is always a great way to end a day.

That's awesome that your dad was able to get those gift certificates.

Looking forward to more

Yeah, it was a pretty packed "off day" but a day at DTD was exactly what we needed. Not hurrying around thinking about FP times and food lines. Glad you are enjoying!

Great TR so far!

I'm impressed that you got up so early. We're from Ca too (near DLR) and we don't usually try to get there at opening. Mostly since we are there when it's not too crowded we don't really need to "beat the crowds" so much. Plus, we like to take advantage of the EMH eveings. Love those. When it was just my DM and myself we would get up at the crack of dawn but now that my DD10 is with us we take things in the a.m easier.

While leaving at 6:30 a.m. is hard to do I love getting to WDW in late afternoon. So much nicer than leaving at around noon and arriving about 11 p.m. It's not so much that we are more tired, it's just that by the time we get into our room it's really late by FL time and we aren't always ready to go to sleep (what with unpacking, eating, etc.) so much better to get there around 5 p.m.

Can't wait to read more and I will check our your DR. We too love WPE and last time on the standard DDP we feel in love with WPC as well.

For me, the time change is not a big deal for me because I have a set goal about getting to the parks at rope drop and if I was really tired I would just nap during our midday break. However, I totally understand other people having issues with getting up early (i.e. my dad and cousin). I was on a mission to give everyone the best possible trip by seeing as much as possible, and if that includes waking up early every day so be it.

I do have to say that getting to Orlando in the afternoon was wonderful even if that meant getting up mega early that first day. Plus getting up that early helped us prepare for waking up early once we got there. Especially if you plan on going to a park the first day, you have to have good rest that first night. Thanks for reading too!

 

[DLR29]

More to Find than Can Ever Be Found (Wednesday, 6/23: Morning-DHS, Evening-MK)

Morning:
RISE AND SHINE EVERYBODY! We woke up at 6:45 for our second morning at DHS. And even though we didn’t get to DHS until right before rope drop, I still managed to weave through the crowd (go through the shop!) to be the third person at my respective TSM FP machine. Secured FP for 9:45-10:45. Then I ran back down Sunset Blvd. to join my family in doing the other “big 2” rides. RnRC again was closed, so we opted for ToT with a 15 min wait. So many giggles and good times on this ride!

A couple of cool misty shots from the queue (not altered at all)

Then we decided to wait in one of the longest lines of the whole trip…. It was a grand total of 30 min from the time we entered RnRC’s standby to when we boarded. DC12 loves this ride more than any other ride at WDW now. He even bought the picture!

By now it was time to use our TSM FPs so we walked down to Pixar Place and skipped a whole lot of line!

That's my score on the left!

Best score in vehicle!

We had some time to kill before the 11:30 IJSS, so 6 of us rode Star Tours even though it’s the exact same as the one at DLR. Everybody should get out and ride this soon before it closes in a couple weeks!!!! DM and DD do not like these kind of rides so they decided not to ride. Fortunately we only had to wait 10 min.

As it was reaching 11:15ish, we booked it over to IJSS. By the time we got there the stadium was almost completely filled, but we got lower left hand seats, probably 5 rows up from the front. They looked like just ok seats because of the first set, but I didn’t realize that the sets moved away, so they ended up being great seats! We missed out on this show last time we were at WDW, so it was very fun to watch all of the stunts.

We then grabbed lunch at Pizza Planet (not Backlot Express because the crowds from IJSS were all heading there), which was good. We exited the park, picking up the RnRC on-ride photo on the way, and arrived back at the resort by 1:30.

 

[DLR29]

Evening:
After a slightly lengthy midday break, we arrived back at MK at 5:00. I ran to get a BTMRR FP and met everyone else at Pirates. The PotC line was pretty long but it moved quickly and we were on in 25 min max.

Then we headed over to the Country Bear Jamboree. Since we do not have this at DLR, it was a must-do WDW thing for us.

We got into the holding area just as a show started, so we had to wait 15 min. But while waiting, a hoedown dance thing started up outside with some very rare characters. I snapped a couple of pics and then went back inside

Then CBJ started. DU started singing along to the catchy tunes and totally embarrassed DC13! It was funny even though the show is just ok. I have to say, I thought it was better than the last time I saw it 3 years ago. DM and DD loved it because for them it’s a classic. For the rest of us, it was a nice break in AC.

Before dinner, we hopped on BTMRR with our FPs. For being a mirror-image of DLR’s ride (and it is), I was still enjoying the ride a ton! I love the part where the train feels like it’s moving in a wave rocking motion (hard to describe) because it’s totally different than DLR’s. Good ride!

Then it was dinner time. Since we had such a great experience at Pecos Bills the last time we were at WDW, we had to go back!

The fixins bar was so yummy and all of the food was spectacular! Unfortunately for my dining review, I didn’t remember to get pictures until after the meal. Oops. I also ran all the way over to Buzz to get FP for later while my family was ordering the food.

 

[DLR29]

Anyway, after dinner we walked into Tomorrowland where we saw Monster’s Inc. It was funny because I hadn’t seen the show in 3 years and they’ve probably changed up some of the jokes. It’s really amazing how Disney can create a comedy show that appeals to such a wide audience!

DC12 and DB bored in line.

Next up was Buzz with our FPs. This Buzz is not as good as DLR’s because I found it harder to find my laser beam and you cannot physically remove the guns from the holsters, making it more difficult to aim. However, this ride/game is addicting and incredibly fun even still. And with FP we waited a solid 5 min.

Since we were hooked on the ride, we got more FPs for later and then we boarded the Tomorrowland Transit Authority (TTA). I wish DLR had this again because it’s one of my favorite attractions at MK. It’s relaxing, it has a nice view, it never has any line, and I love the part that goes into Space Mountain.

Continuing our Tomorrowland tour, we went over to the Carousel of Progress. Just like the Country Bear Jamboree, DU loved the nostalgia but DC13 was bored. I like this ride/show and its uniqueness and Walt’s touch. It’s incredible how they have preserved this attraction.

We returned to BLSRS for our last ride of the night with our FPs and waited again for 5 min. This time I improved (as I did later in the week too), but it’s still very difficult. Sorry about the face, Buzz!

Finishing off our evening at MK, we all got smoothies from Auntie Gravity’s. Mmmmmm the tropical smoothie was so delicious and perfect for a warm summer evening. We sluggishly dragged ourselves out of the park. Actually, since the parade was going on (and we had no desire, considering the Electric Parade came straight from DCA), we were directed backstage to exit. Very cool!

We got back to SSR at 10 and slept.

 

[BillyFan]

Yay, I found your WDW report! I always enjoy your DLR TRs, and I'm enjoying this one as well as your dining review!

 

[DLR29]

Yay, I found your WDW report! I always enjoy your DLR TRs, and I'm enjoying this one as well as your dining review!

Thanks for joining in BillyFan! It's nice to see a familiar face around here.

New update coming soon.

 

[DLR29]

With the Sun Rolling High through the Sapphire Sky (Morning-AK)

Morning:
We woke up bright and early again, although today I didn’t feel it was extremely necessary. This morning though, we used a wonderful trick made possible by staying at the Grandstand specific section of SSR. We wanted to get to AK relatively early but it wasn’t essential that we got there at rope drop. Anyway, we reached our Grandstand bus stop just as the AK bus was pulling away. So we ran to the stop at the Springs because we knew that the Grandstand stop was first and the Springs stop was last (out of 5). The distance in between the two is short enough that if you just miss a bus, you can hustle over to the Springs and catch it. Sure enough, we caught that same bus and were heading off to the park without any more stops! And we even made it there early for rope drop.

First I ran and got EE FP for everyone, since it was a major hit a few nights ago. Then I bolted to the Safaris where we tried to get an early morning ride. This time the line was clogged up at the front but eventually it started moving and we only waited about 15 min. Saw tons more animals in the morning.

Giraffe very close to our vehicle

I just love this shot

Closer shot