JPL's June 2008 Safari Report

[chrisb26]

Ok here's the deal I am trying to keep the picture up to date with the report. I have about 100 or so MK pictures to fix before I can go onto part 3.

Excuses Excuses

What would have happened if I would have said oh I have pictures to fix before I can go to the next part?

I'll tell you what you would have said too bad hurry up.

So to you Hurry Up! You are not even done with Day 1 yet

I'll say this you better be done by the time I get back next Saturday that would be 2 weeks for your 5 day trip if I could get my 10 day done in such a short time you can too

[JPL]

Day 1 Part 3
June 20th
Magic Kingdom EMHs

I arrived at the MK around 8:30. The first thing I noticed was the top of City Hall is missing. I asked a few CMs and they had no clue what I was talking about I headed towards Tomorrowland fighting the crowds gathering for the first showing of SpectroMagic. I went ride the TTA and see if Sandy(DisneyDreamin) was working but no luck she wasn't there. I took a nice tour around while relaxing a bit before starting off my night. I walked over to SM but the FPs were already gone for the day and I wasn't waiting 80 minutes to ride. My next stop was outside Toontown to pick up some Cinamon glazed Almonds but the had no Papers left to serve them so I walked into Toontown to kill some time while they got some more. I looked in the shop at the judge's tent for a little while before heading back out. I stopped by to get the almonds and then headed through Fantasyland to Liberty Square to ride Haunted Mansion. I really like the new changes on this ride and still see new things each time I ride. After riding HM I walked back through into Fantasyland a caught a showing of PhilharMagic. I then headed over to Advetureland and caught a nighttime ride on the Jungle Cruise with a rather lame skipper. I really like this ride at night it adds a whole new element to it. I wanted to catch the 11 PM showing of Spectro so I took a quick ride with some Pirates. I have to say I took a close up of the final Capt. Jack AA and now I understand why the figure is set so far back, it looks terrible. I spent some time looking in the pin shop and just walking around as I waited to get my spot for Spectro. I walked through and took some pictures and then settled in Frontierland for the parade. After Spectro I walked through Adventureland and grabbed a Dole Whip and then I let some of the crowds leave before cutting accross Main Street for a ride on Buzz. I had no wait but I don't think my gun was functioning all that well since my score was terrible or maybe I was just getting tired from a busy day. After Buzz I walked along Main Street a looked in some of the shops took some pictures. I was about to head back to tomorrowland but the body wasn't willing so I decided to call it a night. I cuaght the bus back to AKL and crashed for the night.

Next Toy Story/Star Wars Mania!

I added some of the picture to the original link but still have about 70 more to process.

[JPL]

Day 2 Part 1
June 21st
Disney's Hollywood Studios

I got up early jumped in the shower and headed straight for the bus. I arrived at the studios about 45 minutes before opening starving and craving I lined up at a turnstile and waited to enter. Since it was Star Wars Weekends the Stormtroopers quickly took their posts on top of the entrance and kept us entertained with their banter. Soon it was time to enter the park but not quite rope drop they escorted us to an area over near the Brown Derby and we waited for park open. They did not have the normal show but instead just some Star Wars music to start of the day. The rope dropped and it was a mad crazy dash to Toy Story Mania. I will say Disney needs to work on their crowd control here it was a free-for-all and I felt like I was at a Six Flags park not WDW. Of course it didn't help to have the The Voyage of the Little Mermaid CMs out cheering and encouraging the behavior instead of telling people not to run. After surviving the stampede I grabbed a FP and quickly jumped on line to ride using standy-by. I was impressed by the queue and it was fun looking at some of the games and toys I had when I was a kid. Mr. Potato Head was really cool I just wish I had the time to stand their and enjoy him a little longer. Soon I was boarding the ride. The technology for the ride is awesome I can't even imagine the computer power it takes to operate it. My first ride I scored around 100,000 points which wasn't too bad. At this point my hunger was getting the best of me and the stand-by line was already over 60 minutes so I headed for Starring Rolls for some breakfast. I grabbed the ever so healthy chocolate croisant and a cafe mocha. I thne walked around a little to take in some of Star Wars Weekends. Ok I will say that some of the people there frightened me. It was extremely warm and humid and there were people wearing full wool Jedi Robes carrying lightsabers and laser pistols. I saw Jedi Mickey and a long line had already formed so I took some pictures of him and then headed over to ride Star Tours. I ran into Chewbacca along the way and saw another long line for him. The wait for Star Tours was listed about 15 minutes so I decide to take a ride to Endor. Why is it that I always get a pilot on his first flight The ride might be a little outdated but it's still fun. After returning from Endor and fighting my way through the gift shop it was almost time for my FP for TSM. Along the way I ran into a Jawa and some Pig Like creature and then saw Darth Goofy and Stormtrooper Donald. I arrived at TSM and got int he FP line. I got a really good look at one of my favorite toys in the queue the Balsa Wood Glider. I remember playing with these all the time with my brother and cousin at my grandmother's house. Everything was going fine up until this point. I reach the bottom of the stairs of the FP and run into a very rude CM. He asked me how many and I said one. He then rolls his eyes and says "we have a single rider line for people like you" Now I know he might have been trying to inform me about the single ride line but it was the tone in voice and the way he said it that got to me. I shook it off which is very difficult for me to do and got on the ride. Apparently anger is the key to the game as I scored 158,000. After riding TSM I spent some time looking in the shops and waiting for the Star Wars Parade. Some how I got caught up in the High School Musical mess and quickly retreated to the safety of Sid's. Iwanted something to snack on so I grabbed a mickey bar and then a soda and waited for the parade. I notice that the skies were starting to darken and I heard some thunder in the distance. The Parade started and I watched it from the area near Sid's right were it entered the parade route. The parade was cool to see I like seeing something with a different spin when I am at the parks. After the Parade I realized I didn't go check out Wickett's Warehouse to pick up my pins. I headed back int hat area and grabbed a couple of pins and walked through the film showcase area where they were featuring items from movie villains. By the time I got around near Star Tours I decide to grab something to eat at the Backlot Express. I had a cheeseburger and some fries which were mediocre at best but filling enough to keep me going. At this point the sky was really getting dark and it had started to rain. I decided I had enough of the studios for the day and headed back to my hotel. It took about 40 minutes before a bus finally came to take me back to the AKL and by this time it was raining pretty hard.I got back at the lodge and went to my room and put away some of the pins I bought and walked around the lodge for a bit.

Next up Animal Kingdom.

Pictures coming later today

[trackbarroness]

Perhaps next time cookie, just remember I work early now since I left the mountain.
Glove the report can't wait to read the next day.

[TinkRocks]

Lovin' the reports & pics so far...

[Thumper03]

The Pics and report are great JP! BrerFan isn't here right now, but I HAVE to show him your pictures of the Silver Back. He's Brer's favorite and it looked like he was posing for you. "I'm ready for my close up"

Queen

[terri.m]

Awesome night shots there figgie! Why do your tr's always make me hungry??

[Chescat]

Awesome reports. Its a scary thought of JP starving and craving and going into a park. I hope there wasn't anybody injured on your way to the food place!

[JPL]

Ok well I am up to date with the pictures as far as the report goes I can now move on to Day 2 Part 2

[JPL]

Day 2 Part 2
June 21st
Return to Animal Kingdom

I spent some time at the hotel and then decided to head back to Animal Kingdom as the rain let up. I arrived at Animal Kingdom around 2:30 and decided to visit the trails again and took a walk through the Pangani Forest. I spent some time watching the animals and then headed towards Asia to was the Jungle Trek. I took a stroll along the path and spent some time watching the tigers who were very active after the rain. I stopped and had a Mickey Bar before heading towards the Safari before the parade started. I was shocked to find that absolutely no line at all for the safari. There were lots of animals out this trip since it was bit cooler after the rain. I got some really cool pictures of the Rhinos that were walking right next to the road. Once again we drove the the poachers right into the Wilson's trap and saved the day. I stopped and watched a few minutes of the parade and the headed to conquer Everest. I waited the extra few minutes for the front car again and was still disappointed that the Yeti wasn't working yet again. Well conquering a mountain and facing a yeti made me hungry so I decided that I would have dinner at the Flame Tree BBQ. I had dinner with a very brave duck and a daring squirrel. I had the Half Rack of ribs platter which was tasty as usual. Dealing with the duck and Squirrel made dinner a little less than relaxing. I finished eating and then decide I wanted to head back to the hotel and go to Downtown Disney. Before leaving I stopped and looked at some of the pins to see if anything new showed up and I found a Star Tours Piece of History pin which was really cool. I headed back to the hotel and got some of my stuff together since I had to move rooms in the morning and didn't want to rush. After getting some stuff together I walked around the lodge and visited some of the Savannah overlooks took some pictures and went to wait for the bus.

Next Up DTD and Magic Kingdom.

[Blue Genie]

Love the Star Wars pictures JP. But I think R5-D4 needs a oil bath...
http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...202008/419.jpg

JP I have a question when they do the Star Wars week there can u get your picture taken with them or not. Cause if they did and if they ever had them over here the only ones I would like to get a photo with is the Biker Scots. There my only favorite Troops out of all the the Stormtroops there is. And maybe R2.

[Chescat]

I like Goofy and Donald in their Star Wars outfits. Especially Goofy. I also really like all the night time shots and Madame Leota inside Mansion. That's awesome!

Genie, I went to WDW the first year they had the Star Wars event. I was fortunate enough at the time that Kenny Baker (R2-D2) was one of the celebrities there. The other was an artist that was working on the 2nd movie I think?? This was 2001. The lines weren't so crazy then so got Kenny Bakers autograph on a star wars coin set and a great picture of him. Are you more into the characters instead of the real Star Wars people?

[JPL]

They have the Disney Characters dressed as Star Wars Characters available for pictures along with some of the more popular Star Wars Characters. There are some different Stormtroopers walking around but the ones in the parade are actually a fan group.

[Blue Genie]

The star yes I'm more into then say people dress up as them. The Biker Scouts are really the only Troops I like. If you see my figures of them I have at less 5 of them. I've been wanteding to get more. Here are my other favorite characters from Star Wars.

R2-D2
Boba Fett
Kidd Fisto
Han Solo
Padme=A.K.A. Nathle Portman

That's all who I really like. I remember one year at a trading collection event my friend took me to Frank and Son's and I saw the people who did Chewy, young Boba Fett fell so sorry for him cause nobody was going to him so he was playing with R2-D2 & Ray Parker a.k.a Darth Maul. I which I knew what I did with the photos I took of them. of chourese I couldn't get no autographs cause it would cost me 20.00 a autograph. But I did see them.

[JPL]

Day 2 Part 3
June 21st
The long Journey to DTD and then Magic Kingdom

I arrived at the bus stop around 6 to head to Downtown Disney to do some shopping. I was sitting there waiting for along time and the number of people kept growing for all the other stops. I knew I was in trouble when The Magic Kingdom bus came and the people actually cheered. I didn't arrive at DTD until about 7:20 which is ridiculous considering Disney claims the buses run about every 20 minutes. I was walking around looking for a pair a shorts to sleep in with no luck. I checeked out the construction progress at the T-Rex Restaurant and then had some ice cream at Ghiradelli. I decided I would head over to the Magic Kingdom at around 8 to catch a few rides since it was open umtil midnight. I certainly didn't want to take the bus back to the hotel and then wait for another bus to go to the parks so I hopper on a boat to Old Key West and decided I would catch a bus from there. It was a nice ride albeit a slow ride but even with the slow boat to china route I arrived at the Magic Kingdom around 9. I took a spin on the TTA again trying to find Sandy with no luck. I took a spin on the Carousel of Progress which I missed the other night. I really still enjoy this attraction and it's a must see for me it brings back so many memories. After that I headed over for some glazed almonds and then decided I needed to visit some Ghosts. I spent sometime at my favorite mansion visiting my old friends. Then I was walking by Frontierland looking for a pin Genie wanted and saw that a show was starting at the Country Bear Jamboree. The sign said next show in 5 minutes but boy was that wrong. The show didn't start for about 20 minutes. They had a Hong Kong Disneyland CM working the show and she really had no clue what she was doing. I actually think she cycled the show through with nobody in it. Well after hanging with the bears for a while I decide nothing follws the bears better than pirates and set sail with the scurvy crew of swashbucklers. After Pirates it was about 11:30 so I decide I would have a Dole Whip and take a cruise on the Jungle Cruise before heading out for the night. I had a better skipper this trip which makes the experience so much better. I took some cool picture of the Jungle at night and then headed for Main Street to continue my quest for shorts. I finally found a pair of Mickey shorts at the Emporium and headed out around midnight to catch my bus back to the hotel. I got back to the hotel around 20 to 1 and went up to get some sleep before my move and Boma for Breakfast.

Next Boma and Epcot.

[Blue Genie]

Very nice report JP. I never knowest this until now but when we tipe my name Genie it almost looks like the name smiles. Well to me it does. Maybe it's the eeeeeeeee's that do it.

[chrisb26]

Great report so far Jp! It looks like you had fun on the trip.

I think its crazy the way some of the buses run and most of the time try to avoid them if possible. I remember once I was at AK and decided to go to MK we were waiting for a bus for like 30 minutes and the line in front of us was already very long so we knew we wouldn't make the bus so we just ended up getting on a bus to the Contemporary and took the Monorail to MK which I'm sure was much faster then waiting for the bus which is kind of crazy.

[Chescat]

Very nice report JP. I never knowest this until now but when we tipe my name Genie it almost looks like the name smiles. Well to me it does. Maybe it's the eeeeeeeee's that do it.

Ge-eee-n-i-eeeeeeeeee!

[TinkRocks]

Your title sure does smile, Genieeeeeeeee...

Great reports JP!

[terri.m]

Yes they are great reports.

When do we get more???