southerngirl
12-29-2010, 07:04 PM
Day Four--Tuesday, December 21st--Part 1
After the disastrous morning at HS yesterday, we weren't sure what to do this morning. We knew we had two full days left and that we wanted to go back to MK in the morning on one of those days, but we weren't sure if we should also try and visit AK. I had never been to AK, and neither had DH, but I jumped on Intercot the night before and, thanks to all you wonderful friends, we were advised that most kids LOVE AK, so we should give it a shot.
We decided to get to AK as close to opening as we could, since the crowds were beginning to mount for Christmas. So, we woke up at 6:30 and got showered and ready, grabbed a quick breakfast and coffee in the lounge (and restocked our DS's snack bag with Fruit Loops and Goldfish) and then headed to the bus stop. I had my first "I hate Disney transportation" moment. We were one of four families at the bus stop, and all of us sat there while three Studios and one Downtown Disney bus came through. Finally, almost 20 minutes after getting to the stop, an AK bus pulled up. The driver first stopped at the Grand Flo and then took us some crazy back way through the CM entrance and finally dropped us off at the gates to AK, right around 8:30.
I race walked back to Africa and grabbed FPs for the safari while DS and DH strolled over. DS decided that he does not like to ride in his stroller unless absolutely exhausted, so for most of the trip, he pushed it, and it served as our rolling luggage cart. Today was no exception. Still, by the time DH and DS reached me, the stand-by wait for the safari was only 5 minutes, so we jumped in line. It was a great ride! As we learned later, the driver really does make all the difference. We saw TONS of animals, and our driver was really into the story line and drove sort of crazy (which our son loved) in several parts. We all loved the ride!
We walked through the exploration trail and saw the gorillas, fish and other animals and then went back with our FPs to the safari. This time, our driver was much more subdued, and we saw totally different animals. We enjoyed this one, too, but we agreed the first driver blew this one away. Once we returned from that trip, I grabbed a cinnamon roll at the bakery (I'd only been able to get a cup of coffee in the lounge), and DH and I gobbled it up. Then, we decided to take DS on the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. We rode the train over and back (we decided that there wasn't anything there that really piqued our interest), and then we made our way back to the front of the park, with the intention of stopping at Camp Minnie Mickey. However, we had 12:00 ADRs at Whispering Canyons, and DH wisely decided that, since it was 11:00, it probably made sense to go back to the bus stop, since we'd have to wait.
We arrived at the bus stop and waited about 10 minutes for a bus to the Lodge. We didn't realize that bus also stopped at Blizzard Beach. Of course, since it was only about 60 degrees outside, no one was waiting on us at that stop (we were the only family on the bus the entire time), and we finally pulled up at the Wilderness Lodge about 11:45.
Coming--Part 2!
After the disastrous morning at HS yesterday, we weren't sure what to do this morning. We knew we had two full days left and that we wanted to go back to MK in the morning on one of those days, but we weren't sure if we should also try and visit AK. I had never been to AK, and neither had DH, but I jumped on Intercot the night before and, thanks to all you wonderful friends, we were advised that most kids LOVE AK, so we should give it a shot.
We decided to get to AK as close to opening as we could, since the crowds were beginning to mount for Christmas. So, we woke up at 6:30 and got showered and ready, grabbed a quick breakfast and coffee in the lounge (and restocked our DS's snack bag with Fruit Loops and Goldfish) and then headed to the bus stop. I had my first "I hate Disney transportation" moment. We were one of four families at the bus stop, and all of us sat there while three Studios and one Downtown Disney bus came through. Finally, almost 20 minutes after getting to the stop, an AK bus pulled up. The driver first stopped at the Grand Flo and then took us some crazy back way through the CM entrance and finally dropped us off at the gates to AK, right around 8:30.
I race walked back to Africa and grabbed FPs for the safari while DS and DH strolled over. DS decided that he does not like to ride in his stroller unless absolutely exhausted, so for most of the trip, he pushed it, and it served as our rolling luggage cart. Today was no exception. Still, by the time DH and DS reached me, the stand-by wait for the safari was only 5 minutes, so we jumped in line. It was a great ride! As we learned later, the driver really does make all the difference. We saw TONS of animals, and our driver was really into the story line and drove sort of crazy (which our son loved) in several parts. We all loved the ride!
We walked through the exploration trail and saw the gorillas, fish and other animals and then went back with our FPs to the safari. This time, our driver was much more subdued, and we saw totally different animals. We enjoyed this one, too, but we agreed the first driver blew this one away. Once we returned from that trip, I grabbed a cinnamon roll at the bakery (I'd only been able to get a cup of coffee in the lounge), and DH and I gobbled it up. Then, we decided to take DS on the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. We rode the train over and back (we decided that there wasn't anything there that really piqued our interest), and then we made our way back to the front of the park, with the intention of stopping at Camp Minnie Mickey. However, we had 12:00 ADRs at Whispering Canyons, and DH wisely decided that, since it was 11:00, it probably made sense to go back to the bus stop, since we'd have to wait.
We arrived at the bus stop and waited about 10 minutes for a bus to the Lodge. We didn't realize that bus also stopped at Blizzard Beach. Of course, since it was only about 60 degrees outside, no one was waiting on us at that stop (we were the only family on the bus the entire time), and we finally pulled up at the Wilderness Lodge about 11:45.
Coming--Part 2!