sgdisney
08-30-2007, 09:21 PM
CAST: Me (Sandy)
DS17 (Joey)
DATES: August 16-22, 2007
RESORT: POFQ
Our escape from reality has come and gone and now we are back at work and school and wishing we were back on Mount Everest!
Our flight left and arrived right on time, landing at MCO around 10:00 a.m. The Magical Express check-in was quite crowded and it took us about an hour to get on a bus, but we were at our resort and checked into a ready room in the exact location I had requested within no time once we got through the line. I went to the concierge window to ask about transferring our 7 day Park Hoppers to our room key and they took care of this in a matter of a few minutes.
We really had not made too many specific plans but did have an early dinner reservation at MGM on arrival day. BUT, plans changed and we headed over to AK as this was our first trip since EE had opened. Our first stop was over to Asia to check it out. I had seen EE in various phases of construction, but it looked awesome finished and I could not stop snapping pictures. This was around 1:00 and the line was a 90 minute wait and the FP window was for 4:30-5:30. So we grabbed some FP’s, then headed over to Dinoland, and while on the way I called Disney Dining to see if we could change our dinner time from 4:50 to later. Luckily, they were able to give us a 6:00 ADR, which would be perfect with our plans to head over after conquering Everest. In Dinoland, we did Dinosaur and that wacky coaster, whose name for some reason has completely slipped my mind. Both were fairly short waits. We then hiked over to Africa and rode the Safari with about a 40 minute wait. There was not much action on the open plains of Africa, but we did get to see the baby giraffe. We also walked the Pangani Forest Trail, and got some great shots of the gorillas. The heat and lack of sleep the night before were starting to get to me, plus I had really eaten very little all day, so we stopped for a short rest with something cold to eat and drink. I tried the frozen banana for the first time and just thought it to be okay. Shortly our FP time came around and we made the trek back over to Asia, snapping more pictures of Everest on the way. We were about 5 minutes prior to our time and were waiting for the clock to tick away with several other people and I had my first rude person encounter, luckily one of very few the entire visit. There were these two boys also in the vicinity, but not exactly in line and I guess the Dad thought I cut in front of then and he started yelling at the boys not to let people get in front of them, etc. If I did cut in front of them it certainly was not intentional, and I made sure to stand back and let them go first, only to find out that their FP’s were for 5 minutes after ours and they couldn’t get in anyway! We quickly made it through the FP line and were loaded in the train about midway back. WOW, what a thrill that first ride was. It was far better than I ever expected and we both came off with big smiles on our faces. Disney definitely got this one right. It is a great addition to AK in both appearance and thrills.
After that thrill, we made our way back out to the buses and got on our most crowded bus of the trip, standing on the way over to the Studios, arriving there around 5:15. Joey went down to check on FP’s for either RnR or ToT, and he came back with two for RnR at 7:45. He said the ToT was only a 20 minute wait, but we decided to come back and do both after dinner. On the way over to Mama Mel Rosa’s, we literally walked into Star Tours. This is not one of my favorites, but Joey always enjoys it. It is a good thing I rode before eating as this one really does make me pretty queasy feeling. We proceeded to have our dinner at MMR, with both of us having flatbreads, me the grilled pepperoni and him the four cheese. Service was very quick, in fact they brought out our flatbreads before they had time to get my salad to me. But it was all good, after all, it was our first night at Walt Disney World. After dinner, we headed back down Sunset Blvd, rode ToT with a short wait, then went on one of our favorites, RnR with our FP’s. I think they changed the lines for this attraction and it took no time to get into our stretch limo and head to the concert. I’ve ridden this one probably 30 times and it still gives me a thrill. After that ride, we made one more visit to the Hollywood Hotel and then headed back home to POFQ.
Our luggage had arrived, so we quickly unpacked with visions of bed in front of our tired eyes. Joey had not slept at all the night before and we had left home at 4:45 that morning so we were a bit tired. He laid down on the bed, fully clothed, and fell asleep in about a minute. I tried to wake him to change, but all he did was get under the covers and go right back to sleep. I shortly followed, with visions of our Keys to the Kingdom tour that was scheduled for the next morning, and slept better than I had for weeks. Oh it was good to be back in that wonderful World again!
Next up: Day 2, Keys to the Kingdom and MK til 2:00 am!
DS17 (Joey)
DATES: August 16-22, 2007
RESORT: POFQ
Our escape from reality has come and gone and now we are back at work and school and wishing we were back on Mount Everest!
Our flight left and arrived right on time, landing at MCO around 10:00 a.m. The Magical Express check-in was quite crowded and it took us about an hour to get on a bus, but we were at our resort and checked into a ready room in the exact location I had requested within no time once we got through the line. I went to the concierge window to ask about transferring our 7 day Park Hoppers to our room key and they took care of this in a matter of a few minutes.
We really had not made too many specific plans but did have an early dinner reservation at MGM on arrival day. BUT, plans changed and we headed over to AK as this was our first trip since EE had opened. Our first stop was over to Asia to check it out. I had seen EE in various phases of construction, but it looked awesome finished and I could not stop snapping pictures. This was around 1:00 and the line was a 90 minute wait and the FP window was for 4:30-5:30. So we grabbed some FP’s, then headed over to Dinoland, and while on the way I called Disney Dining to see if we could change our dinner time from 4:50 to later. Luckily, they were able to give us a 6:00 ADR, which would be perfect with our plans to head over after conquering Everest. In Dinoland, we did Dinosaur and that wacky coaster, whose name for some reason has completely slipped my mind. Both were fairly short waits. We then hiked over to Africa and rode the Safari with about a 40 minute wait. There was not much action on the open plains of Africa, but we did get to see the baby giraffe. We also walked the Pangani Forest Trail, and got some great shots of the gorillas. The heat and lack of sleep the night before were starting to get to me, plus I had really eaten very little all day, so we stopped for a short rest with something cold to eat and drink. I tried the frozen banana for the first time and just thought it to be okay. Shortly our FP time came around and we made the trek back over to Asia, snapping more pictures of Everest on the way. We were about 5 minutes prior to our time and were waiting for the clock to tick away with several other people and I had my first rude person encounter, luckily one of very few the entire visit. There were these two boys also in the vicinity, but not exactly in line and I guess the Dad thought I cut in front of then and he started yelling at the boys not to let people get in front of them, etc. If I did cut in front of them it certainly was not intentional, and I made sure to stand back and let them go first, only to find out that their FP’s were for 5 minutes after ours and they couldn’t get in anyway! We quickly made it through the FP line and were loaded in the train about midway back. WOW, what a thrill that first ride was. It was far better than I ever expected and we both came off with big smiles on our faces. Disney definitely got this one right. It is a great addition to AK in both appearance and thrills.
After that thrill, we made our way back out to the buses and got on our most crowded bus of the trip, standing on the way over to the Studios, arriving there around 5:15. Joey went down to check on FP’s for either RnR or ToT, and he came back with two for RnR at 7:45. He said the ToT was only a 20 minute wait, but we decided to come back and do both after dinner. On the way over to Mama Mel Rosa’s, we literally walked into Star Tours. This is not one of my favorites, but Joey always enjoys it. It is a good thing I rode before eating as this one really does make me pretty queasy feeling. We proceeded to have our dinner at MMR, with both of us having flatbreads, me the grilled pepperoni and him the four cheese. Service was very quick, in fact they brought out our flatbreads before they had time to get my salad to me. But it was all good, after all, it was our first night at Walt Disney World. After dinner, we headed back down Sunset Blvd, rode ToT with a short wait, then went on one of our favorites, RnR with our FP’s. I think they changed the lines for this attraction and it took no time to get into our stretch limo and head to the concert. I’ve ridden this one probably 30 times and it still gives me a thrill. After that ride, we made one more visit to the Hollywood Hotel and then headed back home to POFQ.
Our luggage had arrived, so we quickly unpacked with visions of bed in front of our tired eyes. Joey had not slept at all the night before and we had left home at 4:45 that morning so we were a bit tired. He laid down on the bed, fully clothed, and fell asleep in about a minute. I tried to wake him to change, but all he did was get under the covers and go right back to sleep. I shortly followed, with visions of our Keys to the Kingdom tour that was scheduled for the next morning, and slept better than I had for weeks. Oh it was good to be back in that wonderful World again!
Next up: Day 2, Keys to the Kingdom and MK til 2:00 am!