RoosMomKanga
02-15-2008, 11:14 PM
PART 5- MK, AK, & DHS
MK
• General
o Paths
Both walkways to the Castle from the hub were roped off as we were trying to get to Fantasyland. I realized as there were a few families starting to gather at the stage that there was a show beginning in about ½ hour. We had to navigate around further to get there.
The wood walkway right along the river from Liberty Square to Frontierland was virtually unused and so much nicer and faster then fighting the crowds on the regular paths.
o Tinkerbell’s Treasures
Sites said it would be closed, but it was open as we walked past.
o Sir Mickey’s
Saw this on Intercot- Loved the Giant opening up the roof (go inside and look up at the ceiling).
• Attractions
o Buzz
Don’t forget to shoot the back of the robots hands in the first room…major points.
o Space Mountain
Take the path as we always do through Cosmic Ray’s for the rope drop to SM. It’s faster than the left path…our group was there first (and no, I never run).
o Peter Pan
Still one of my favorites. Get a FP or go to this early (we had a 20 min. wait at 9:30 am.) and about 1 hour later the standby wait was over an hour.
o Swiss Family Treehouse
Hadn’t done this in a long time. There’s a really nice photo opportunity of Tomorrowland as you’re reaching the top…have your camera ready so you don’t hold up the single file line.
o Haunted Mansion
Nice updates. SPOILER Loved the staircases and especially the floating crystal ball.
o Pirates of the Caribbean
Take the left queue if possible. The CM talked us into going right, stating that it was about 50’ longer, but worth the added theming in the queue (2 skeletons?). I watched and the left line arrived long before we did…right line not worth the extra wait.
Loved the updates- SPOILER mist falls with Davy Jones was neat and Captain Jack’s (3?) were a nice addition.
• Food
o Pinocchio Village Haus
Very crowded, even at 11:15am. There are very few tables that overlook the Small World launch and these were taken. It’s very noisy inside. We were disappointed that the upstairs seating was roped off so we couldn’t eat on the balcony, but we found a table outside (unfortunately 2 large souvenir carts are setup just outside the patio, so the view of Fantasyland from this patio is mainly blocked.)
AK
• Attractions
o Expedition Everest
• If you’re there at opening, take the route across Discovery Island then across the bridge to Asia and turn right. We went the other way through DinoLand and not only did the others arrive first, but the queue goes toward Asia, so we had to turn left when we arrived to get to the end of the queue. (FP is also at the end of the queue).
• The CM’s were telling everyone that it would be at least a 20 min. wait as they were still “gearing up the ride” and that it wasn’t running yet. We queues up anyway and by the time we walked the queue it was more like 10 min. as they added another train to the tracks right before us.
• We rode in the second car and it had a great view (especially when the “tracks end” you could get a view out), but my DH who rode it again 2x more with our FP (once in the very front car and once near the back) says that the back is a more thrilling ride.
• There’s a great place to view the tracks; both the cars going up slowly (I was looking up so I didn’t see this area on the ride) they can wave to you if you tell them to look down and right as they make the first ascent, and the cars coming out of the mountain and down fast. Just walk past the entrance to the ride and right toward the mountain. Follow the screams and you’ll find the viewing spot with a stone bench to wait on.
• We thought the theming in the queue for this was great!
o Finding Nemo- the Musical
• We lined up about 15 min. early for the first show at 10am. After they started the queue they announced that the show would be 15-20 min. late starting- no reason given (it was closer to 30 min. by the time it started at 10:30). So we waited a total of 45 min. before the show began.
• The show was very well done- a must see if you haven’t yet
o Trails Etc.
• Pangani Forest Exploration Trail & Maharajah Jungle Trek were both well worth the walk.
• Rafiki’s Planet Watch- This was worth it just for the “Sounds of the Rainforest” (as someone on Intercot told me- like “Sounds Dangerous” but it’s actually good- don’t miss this if you’re out there). In the building, small booths with headphones and you listen to the show in the dark…nicely done. We also enjoyed PIPA the talking recycling can, and a large African bird waking up from wing surgery. The small Tamarin Monkeys on the way in were very cute.
• Food
o Yak & Yeti’s Local Food Cafes- CS
• We stopped by to check this out. Nothing on this small menu that appealed to either of us, and we’re not really picky.
o Pizzafari
• We wanted to sit outside, but the small patio at the front entrance was full with people waiting for tables. We walked back inside and straight down the hall until it empties into a room. Turn left there and go outside through the doors. On your right there is an outdoor porch with tables that encircles the back room of the place. We were the only ones sitting there…very quiet. $7.09ea. Italian sandwich with Caesar topping and chips. Sodas $2.09ea.
DHS
• Shop
o Tattoine Traders at Star Tours
• Bought my DH a T-shirt $22 + tax “Darth Tater- I am your Father” (long story).
• Attractions
o RnRC
• Single Rider Line worked great for DH. We FP, but this line was always no wait so he took it. We got there at 2pm on Mon. 2/11 and he was able to ride 3x.
o Magic of Disney Animation
• First part wasn’t that neat- just explaining animation process (10 min. wait for this). If you’ve watched Disney animation stuff, you’ve seen all this
• As an ex-Art Teacher, I LOVED the drawing class (15 min. wait for this- it definitely fills up at the end like they said, so get in line at least 5-10 min. early). I stayed for this while my DH went to ride RnRC 2 more times. I’m wondering if there’s a way to skip the first part and just come to the drawing class…I’ll bet you can come in the exit there for that building and line up for the class?
MK
• General
o Paths
Both walkways to the Castle from the hub were roped off as we were trying to get to Fantasyland. I realized as there were a few families starting to gather at the stage that there was a show beginning in about ½ hour. We had to navigate around further to get there.
The wood walkway right along the river from Liberty Square to Frontierland was virtually unused and so much nicer and faster then fighting the crowds on the regular paths.
o Tinkerbell’s Treasures
Sites said it would be closed, but it was open as we walked past.
o Sir Mickey’s
Saw this on Intercot- Loved the Giant opening up the roof (go inside and look up at the ceiling).
• Attractions
o Buzz
Don’t forget to shoot the back of the robots hands in the first room…major points.
o Space Mountain
Take the path as we always do through Cosmic Ray’s for the rope drop to SM. It’s faster than the left path…our group was there first (and no, I never run).
o Peter Pan
Still one of my favorites. Get a FP or go to this early (we had a 20 min. wait at 9:30 am.) and about 1 hour later the standby wait was over an hour.
o Swiss Family Treehouse
Hadn’t done this in a long time. There’s a really nice photo opportunity of Tomorrowland as you’re reaching the top…have your camera ready so you don’t hold up the single file line.
o Haunted Mansion
Nice updates. SPOILER Loved the staircases and especially the floating crystal ball.
o Pirates of the Caribbean
Take the left queue if possible. The CM talked us into going right, stating that it was about 50’ longer, but worth the added theming in the queue (2 skeletons?). I watched and the left line arrived long before we did…right line not worth the extra wait.
Loved the updates- SPOILER mist falls with Davy Jones was neat and Captain Jack’s (3?) were a nice addition.
• Food
o Pinocchio Village Haus
Very crowded, even at 11:15am. There are very few tables that overlook the Small World launch and these were taken. It’s very noisy inside. We were disappointed that the upstairs seating was roped off so we couldn’t eat on the balcony, but we found a table outside (unfortunately 2 large souvenir carts are setup just outside the patio, so the view of Fantasyland from this patio is mainly blocked.)
AK
• Attractions
o Expedition Everest
• If you’re there at opening, take the route across Discovery Island then across the bridge to Asia and turn right. We went the other way through DinoLand and not only did the others arrive first, but the queue goes toward Asia, so we had to turn left when we arrived to get to the end of the queue. (FP is also at the end of the queue).
• The CM’s were telling everyone that it would be at least a 20 min. wait as they were still “gearing up the ride” and that it wasn’t running yet. We queues up anyway and by the time we walked the queue it was more like 10 min. as they added another train to the tracks right before us.
• We rode in the second car and it had a great view (especially when the “tracks end” you could get a view out), but my DH who rode it again 2x more with our FP (once in the very front car and once near the back) says that the back is a more thrilling ride.
• There’s a great place to view the tracks; both the cars going up slowly (I was looking up so I didn’t see this area on the ride) they can wave to you if you tell them to look down and right as they make the first ascent, and the cars coming out of the mountain and down fast. Just walk past the entrance to the ride and right toward the mountain. Follow the screams and you’ll find the viewing spot with a stone bench to wait on.
• We thought the theming in the queue for this was great!
o Finding Nemo- the Musical
• We lined up about 15 min. early for the first show at 10am. After they started the queue they announced that the show would be 15-20 min. late starting- no reason given (it was closer to 30 min. by the time it started at 10:30). So we waited a total of 45 min. before the show began.
• The show was very well done- a must see if you haven’t yet
o Trails Etc.
• Pangani Forest Exploration Trail & Maharajah Jungle Trek were both well worth the walk.
• Rafiki’s Planet Watch- This was worth it just for the “Sounds of the Rainforest” (as someone on Intercot told me- like “Sounds Dangerous” but it’s actually good- don’t miss this if you’re out there). In the building, small booths with headphones and you listen to the show in the dark…nicely done. We also enjoyed PIPA the talking recycling can, and a large African bird waking up from wing surgery. The small Tamarin Monkeys on the way in were very cute.
• Food
o Yak & Yeti’s Local Food Cafes- CS
• We stopped by to check this out. Nothing on this small menu that appealed to either of us, and we’re not really picky.
o Pizzafari
• We wanted to sit outside, but the small patio at the front entrance was full with people waiting for tables. We walked back inside and straight down the hall until it empties into a room. Turn left there and go outside through the doors. On your right there is an outdoor porch with tables that encircles the back room of the place. We were the only ones sitting there…very quiet. $7.09ea. Italian sandwich with Caesar topping and chips. Sodas $2.09ea.
DHS
• Shop
o Tattoine Traders at Star Tours
• Bought my DH a T-shirt $22 + tax “Darth Tater- I am your Father” (long story).
• Attractions
o RnRC
• Single Rider Line worked great for DH. We FP, but this line was always no wait so he took it. We got there at 2pm on Mon. 2/11 and he was able to ride 3x.
o Magic of Disney Animation
• First part wasn’t that neat- just explaining animation process (10 min. wait for this). If you’ve watched Disney animation stuff, you’ve seen all this
• As an ex-Art Teacher, I LOVED the drawing class (15 min. wait for this- it definitely fills up at the end like they said, so get in line at least 5-10 min. early). I stayed for this while my DH went to ride RnRC 2 more times. I’m wondering if there’s a way to skip the first part and just come to the drawing class…I’ll bet you can come in the exit there for that building and line up for the class?