Mendelson
01-29-2009, 10:38 AM
Me - 34
Wifey - 39
Daughter - 15
First trip in about five years!
Tuesday was our last day :( and we went to AK for Everest, which we haven’t done. We started with the Safari but only after I hustled across the park to grab FPs for Everest. After the Safari we went to ride Everest but folks were stuck on the first hill so we watched Finding Nemo, the musical… this was amazing! It was like Broadway-quality staging. I had no knowledge of this thing going in and really liked it.
Finally Everest was back up and we got there just as it got back online, so there was no line and we were able to do this twice in a row…loved it! Very rough and rocky – almost like a wooden coaster. Thought this was great.
We had FPd Dinosaur and this was to be our last ride before going to MK for our last few hours. Apparently, one of these tour groups had swarmed the FP line just before we got there so the line was very long…and it wasn’t moving. We stood there for about two minutes and then a security guard came through and made his way past everyone and I could see him up ahead of us trying to sort something out (my guess is that two rival South American countries had gotten into an argument over which country played the most boring soccer…a silly argument, as everyone knows that all soccer is equally deadly boring). As time was short we unfortunately had to bail. We were, however, able to give our FPs to a family near the entrance, who were very grateful. It’s nice to pass on some cheer….we were like our own DreamSquad!
We had about three hours at MK before heading back for our DME pick up. We prioritized and decided to start with Pirates, then HM, then Splash, then Space and Buzz, if possible, still armed with two each of our VIP FPs. On our way to Pirates we stopped to get a Dole Whip float and then I ran ahead to grab Splash FPs. My wife and daughter met me at Pirates where I found that about 1/5th of the Dole Whip had been “saved” for me! They claim they saved 1/3, but no way. :mad: Really, I didn’t need the calories, but it’s about the principle of it!
Did Pirates and HM pretty quick (crowds seemed heavy but lines short at times on this trip) and then used a regular FP for Splash. At the second lift, however, we stopped. And we sat, and sat…and sat. The parade had just started, so we were able to hear the music from this….and found out that it gets old pretty quick! After about 10 minutes, a few pictures and a few videos on our camera, they came by and told us we’d be evacuated. And indeed we were. This was kind of neat, as you get to see the inner workings…where we were initially we were slightly above the banner reading “Welcome home, brer Rabbit.” Then you go inside and see all of the support structure that holds up the mountain…then we walked down some steps and out by the boat…it’s funny to see them all “singing” Zip-ah-dee-doo-dah without any sound actually playing. They gave us fast passes to any ride, but our time was running short.
We managed to FP Space and Buzz to end on a high note, and it allowed us to give away one remaining VIP FP to another grateful family. We got another ice cream sandwich, took some time sadly strolling down Main Street, and made our way back to the resort.
This was truly a great trip for us. Everything seemed to work out very well, from liking our resort, to our room position, to good bus running. Using our knowledge and some hustle, I don’t think we stood in line for more than 20 minutes more than maybe three times….our attraction per hour ratio was very high. Plus, we had good and new-for-us dining experiences and good CM interactions. It was really a magical vacation.
Wifey - 39
Daughter - 15
First trip in about five years!
Tuesday was our last day :( and we went to AK for Everest, which we haven’t done. We started with the Safari but only after I hustled across the park to grab FPs for Everest. After the Safari we went to ride Everest but folks were stuck on the first hill so we watched Finding Nemo, the musical… this was amazing! It was like Broadway-quality staging. I had no knowledge of this thing going in and really liked it.
Finally Everest was back up and we got there just as it got back online, so there was no line and we were able to do this twice in a row…loved it! Very rough and rocky – almost like a wooden coaster. Thought this was great.
We had FPd Dinosaur and this was to be our last ride before going to MK for our last few hours. Apparently, one of these tour groups had swarmed the FP line just before we got there so the line was very long…and it wasn’t moving. We stood there for about two minutes and then a security guard came through and made his way past everyone and I could see him up ahead of us trying to sort something out (my guess is that two rival South American countries had gotten into an argument over which country played the most boring soccer…a silly argument, as everyone knows that all soccer is equally deadly boring). As time was short we unfortunately had to bail. We were, however, able to give our FPs to a family near the entrance, who were very grateful. It’s nice to pass on some cheer….we were like our own DreamSquad!
We had about three hours at MK before heading back for our DME pick up. We prioritized and decided to start with Pirates, then HM, then Splash, then Space and Buzz, if possible, still armed with two each of our VIP FPs. On our way to Pirates we stopped to get a Dole Whip float and then I ran ahead to grab Splash FPs. My wife and daughter met me at Pirates where I found that about 1/5th of the Dole Whip had been “saved” for me! They claim they saved 1/3, but no way. :mad: Really, I didn’t need the calories, but it’s about the principle of it!
Did Pirates and HM pretty quick (crowds seemed heavy but lines short at times on this trip) and then used a regular FP for Splash. At the second lift, however, we stopped. And we sat, and sat…and sat. The parade had just started, so we were able to hear the music from this….and found out that it gets old pretty quick! After about 10 minutes, a few pictures and a few videos on our camera, they came by and told us we’d be evacuated. And indeed we were. This was kind of neat, as you get to see the inner workings…where we were initially we were slightly above the banner reading “Welcome home, brer Rabbit.” Then you go inside and see all of the support structure that holds up the mountain…then we walked down some steps and out by the boat…it’s funny to see them all “singing” Zip-ah-dee-doo-dah without any sound actually playing. They gave us fast passes to any ride, but our time was running short.
We managed to FP Space and Buzz to end on a high note, and it allowed us to give away one remaining VIP FP to another grateful family. We got another ice cream sandwich, took some time sadly strolling down Main Street, and made our way back to the resort.
This was truly a great trip for us. Everything seemed to work out very well, from liking our resort, to our room position, to good bus running. Using our knowledge and some hustle, I don’t think we stood in line for more than 20 minutes more than maybe three times….our attraction per hour ratio was very high. Plus, we had good and new-for-us dining experiences and good CM interactions. It was really a magical vacation.