flynnibus' WDW 09 Visit - The Cherry Picker Edition

[flynnibus]

On pretty much a whim, I decided to take the family to WDW at the tail end of a business trip. The kids hadn't been since 06, and this would be my first trip back since visiting DL back in June 07. Having had DL as my last Disney trip (I was also in WDW in March 07) I had a new appreciation for some of the DL vs WDW comments as DL was the freshest in my mind. I actually found myself disoriented once trying to find BuzzLightyear because of it! I didn't take tons of photos, but hopefully some of the inline commentary you'll find interesting..

On with the show...

Day 1
I was already in Orlando, but the family was flying in to pick me up and head to the Kingdom. They started at about 4:30am and we would get to the World a bit after noon, so I figured a 'half day park' would be a good start. So the plan was to goto DHS, then finish the night at MK since it had EMH until 3am.

Our start at DHS ended up being... close the park out! RnRC has become one of the kids #1 rides. They rode it 3 times that day alone. We did manage my first Toy Story Midway Mania ride.

It's all I thought it would be and better. The queue is fantastic. For those that poo on that FastPass doesn't go through the whole queue.. bah. It goes through more then enough to get the effect. The only area it skips is the loop in front of Mr Potato Head.


View from the stand-by line as you enter the main indoor queue area. Fast Pass line is on the right. It passes through this room, and turns right, while Stand-by continues down the left hand wall to the back area where Mr Potato Head is.


The awesome candyland box and board on the floor


The Potato Head area..

I love how the crayons have various states of 'use' including the nubs!


The Chutes and Ladders Ceiling


Do you have... any sharks??

Go Fish!

This view stuck out to me.. as the level of detail that they go through in this attraction. Look at the light fightures.. each is individually colored to match exactly the ceiling segment its in.


I always love how they theme the 'CMs only' signs on doors throughout the parks


Ready to START??


Speaking of Mr Potato Head.. he was a huge let down. For supposedly being 'interactive' he stunk. The first day, most of the time he did his 'freeze, I think Andy is coming' gag meaning he stood motionless most of the time. Never once did I see him interact with the actual crowd. On later visits, he had more material, but he's nothing like the Living Character Initiative work Amazing AA - but fell a buck short IMO.

My first game at TSMM I got 132,500. Later in the day I got 166,000. The youngest and I got two rides in that day as the older ones went back for more RnRC time. We had dinner at SciFi which is sort of a mixed reaction. Food still wasn't a hit with people.. but my youngest is STILL talking about the 60ft Cololousal Man from the film loop! Any time we see something oversized, she says it wouldn't be too big for the 60ft man.. hehe I was disappointed that the bill was no longer on the 'parking ticket' stationary as it had been in previous visits.

I called this the Cherry Picker edition because this trip rather then trying to see everything, I basically let the kids decide what we would spend time doing, with some guidance from me on what they should try and of course on schedule. The park was busy, but the longest waits were 40-60 minutes. TSMM was the longest wait we had at about 55 minutes. We got in ToT, 3 rides on RnRC, 2 rides on TSMM, and a ride on Star Tours. I didn't expect to spend so much time in the park, but DHS was quickly becoming the kid's favorite. We closed the park at 8 and headed to the hotel to unload the car and check into our room.

The new Disney system of sending you txt messages to let you know your room is ready is awesome. Our room was ready by 3:30pm. For cost reasons and because I knew we wouldn't be spending much time at the hotel due to the short trip, I opt'd for the All Stars Sports this trip. After staying at Pop Century last time, I basically knew what to expect, and since we had a car, I wasn't worried about the bus situation.

The hotel was Ok, tho I struggled a lot with staying off-site this time because I had to pay for 2 rooms due to having 5 people if staying at a value. In retrospect, staying onsite was the right choice because we really milked EMH this trip.

We stayed in Center Court 4.. which put us just yards from the parking lot which was real convenient.

The girls hanging out with Donald

After unloading the car, we headed to MK. I did not expect to stay long because the kids had been up since before dawn - but they were going strong. Splash Mnt and Big Thunder were known hits from the last trip for my oldest.. but the younger two hadn't got the bug yet. Well step back.. Splash and BTMRR are now top 5 rides for them. They could not get enough! We rode BTMRR two times.. and being my first time riding it at night.. this attraction is great at night!! The back of the train is sooo much better then riding in the front. As the night wore on.. every attraction was a very short wait, with times posted of 20mins or less. The only exception was Peter Pan, which still had a 40 or 60min wait. After riding Splash and BTMRR over and over.. I finally had to drag them out of Frontierland to do something else. We rode the HM which was my first ride since the redo.

The attraction rode great. The stair room is cool, and the new bride is excellent! The # of changing portraits in the attic is almost overwhelming now! The one thing I'm not really sold on is the seance room. The floating Leota really just looks like a floating head now.. vs the original crystal ball reference. I think the original reference is lost a bit in this incarnation. The head also did not move around.. which I thought it was supposed to do? Overall - a great update to the HM which was long overdue.

A weird thing about the covered queue.. it has a fan system in it that was running.. but the queue row they had open wasn't under the vents. Even well past midnight on this trip, it was INSANELY hot. 80+ degrees and 75% humidity. It was frustrating to have the blowers working hard in the queue.. cooling no one! Not sure what the story is there...

We made our way to FantasyLand and the youngest started her coverage of all the spinner rides. She rode Dumbo, and they did the tea cups and IASW. By this time it was past 2am, and the parental units were running out of steam, and we had some reports of snoozing on IASW so he we headed out. First day down.. and the kids had closed out DHS and rode to their hearts content in the MK!

The Castle on our way out...

[flynnibus]

Day 2

Since we were out late, we let everyone sleep in. The original plan was to visit DAK early due to EMH and finish at EPCOT with dinner at San Angel. But by kid vote.. we went back to DHS!!!

We went back on TSMM, RnRC, ST, etc and did the Lights Motor Action show. LMA actually got quoted as one of the kids' favorites. They actually did the finale where the car does the jump and goes under the stands.. which on earlier visits in 06 and 07 they had not done that segment when I was there. The kids actually ate up about 11:30am-5pm in DHS and only left because we had reservations at EPCOT. DHS was quickly becoming the center of the trip...

Trams Trams Trams...



Monkeying around in the heat...


Anyone know what this area is going to be?

It was actually behind walls on our first day, but was out like this for the rest of the trip. I never saw it at night to know if the luxo part was lit neon.

So no one gets scared in the queue at night..


In the first part of the entrance, they have this net overhead for some reason. Look what we found there...

That's a HUGE critter to see at the 20+ feet up it was. There was also a plastic ball stuck up there.

So regarding upkeep.. when we returned a few days later, both the bug and ball were cleaned up.

Toys hard at work...


Note the tinkertoys and cards at the bottom? Those are actually the 'umbrella' for the CM station at the front of the line. Nicely done!

Also regarding upkeep.. on Friday we noticed the speak-and-spell toy that is near the scrabble board had it's corner of the keyboard pulling back. It almost looked intentional.. but by the next day, it had also already been repaired.

The busy queue...


Artwork..


We had special requests to see HSM3 and the Pixar Play Parade.



Getting down with Pixar..


Both were worthwhile. The Pixar parade is light years ahead of the lame stars and cars incarnations the park has had over the years.

We headed off to EPCOT for dinner. On the way in, SSE was a walk-on, so much to the wife's dismay, I rerouted us to SSE even tho our reservation was coming up soon This was my first ride since the redo.. and all I can say is.. SSE has reversed my opinion that Disney human AA were dead and dated. The new human AAs in SSE are not only fluid and sport many degrees of movement, but they also seem to add a much longer 'script' to their movements. The results? Much more realistic movement that looks much more human like and less 'repeat robot' like past AAs that just cycle such a short loop. With no noticeable mechanical sound, fluid movement, and better 'scripts'... AAs are back baby! As for the touchscreens, I'm pretty indifferent to them.. but my youngest ATE IT UP! She was talking about it over and over and were totally inquisative on how their 'future' differed from mine, etc. They demanded to go back to SSE again.

For dinner, we ate at San Angel in the Mexico pavilion. I had not eaten there in probably 20 years and the family had not at all. The atmosphere was great, and we sat right along the water. The kids were fascinated by the ride going by, and the cool air coming off the water was welcomed with open arms. Unfortunately our waitress was pretty miserable. Service at SciFi the night before had been ok, but not great. Tonight? I never saw our waitress after we ordered. Being as hot as it was, I needed to drink a lot of fluids. I could never even get my drink refilled. In addition, when we were seated, my oldest (who is only 10.. 1yr older then the 9yr old limit on the kids menu) could not find anything on the adult menu she liked and when we asked if it was possible to get something from the kids menu the hostess shot us down and said no we could not. WTF! It's not about the price, but now they were not being flexible with what people can order?? Luckily when our waitress showed up, we asked the same and she had no problem with it. But then the service was non-existant during our meal. She got a heavily reduced tip and I wrote on the check why.

After dinner we rode the Fiesta Tour for the first time since the redo. Unfortunately I feel the pace of the story is wayyy too rushed. Additionally, the timing of the flims was really bad for where our boat was.. we would always approach the segment at the end of the film and basically had to struggle to see the loop repeat to see the whole segment. Overall I think the redo at least brings the attraction up to 'average' where the original was realllly behind the curve.

An interesting observation was that the projections used in the opening scene were so vibrant and sharp.. I had no issue at all with their use there vs. AAs. With the black background, and incredible picture.. the film's quality far outweighed that it was only a projection and I was digging it. It worked very well. However, that image quality and vibrance does not carry through with all the other film segments.. really making them feel like a different experience. The projection at the finale was similar quality to the opening scene, but with the large stage there and space.. it really screams that final scene should have been real AAs.

On the way out, it was time for Illuminations... but the park was crowded and there was no good seating around at all on this side of the lagoon. Even as we got more towards future world, it got worse and worse, so we bailed on the fireworks and headed home since we had such a long day prior. Plus the heat had really done a number on me. The humidity and mileage had resulted in some chafing that made it down right painful to even walk. I tolerated it the first day, but by now after a full second day, every step was intense pain. We headed out to 192 to goto Walgreens to find some treatment. Tip: the BandAid blister sticks work wonders!!! After icing down, some cream, to calm it all down.. I was able to sleep. The Blister Stick worked 120% for the rest of the trip making chafing a thing of the past.

After two solid days of Disney.. what happens when the kids get back in the car for the ride back to the hotel?

[flynnibus]

Day 3 - the longest day.. again!

Today was setup to be a marathon... late breakfast ressie.. and late dinner ressie. But with the OPPRESSIVE heat this week, we had noticed the drop off in the late afternoon where people just can't take it anymore and the crowds were dying off in the parks. So we opt'd to just start late, and stay late.. rather then trying to beat the crowds to the park openings.

So this morning we had ressies at Tusker House for Donald's character breakfast. I tried and tried to get Chef Mickeys which was a request after our last trip, but I could never get a ressie. We had a late ressie at Tusker House (10:20) and it took them awhile to seat us. I was a bit worried that the buffet could be winding down that late, but it was still perfectly stocked. Our server was great and attentive. The food was good, and the character selection here of Goofy, Donald, Daisy, and Mickey is just perfect.

The character interactions were a bit rushed compared to our last time at Chef Mickeys.. but overall I'd put Tusker House probably right on par with Chef Mickeys.

Trying to shake the grouch...


She loves Dogs.. so Goofy is a shoe-in


Tusker House does a congo line with rattles rather then the towel twirling at Chef Mickey's


Being in AK, we planned on spending the day here, and then head off to MK area for our dinner at Wilderness Lodge. The shade of AK really helped in the heat.. and don't underestimate those fan misters! We bought one on Day 2 and it was well worth it given the heat. We had a few 'must sees' in the park, and we did a pretty good job of catching most of the highlights. Nemo, Everest, It's tough to be a bug, etc. However this time we wanted to see a few of things we had skipped in the past. The rapids ride and the conservation station. My middle one is animal obsessed so I knew that stop would be worth it.


Happy to be waiting in the queue for the rapids

After being pretty impressed with Grizzly Rapids at DCA for being more then just a basic rapids ride in it's fast and pretty.. we went on Kali rapids this time. First, the queue in this ride is probably one of the most overlooked in all the parks! People talk about Everest and the amount of detail/stuff in that queue.. but I'd say Kali Rapids is right up there with it! Some of the rooms were just amazing with the various materials in them. On the ride itself, it echos Grizzly Rapids over and over with the loading station, the raft details, etc. The logging scene is pretty impactful (and the burning smell especially realistic) but the rest of the ride? OMG when it ended I was like 'are you serious??? that's it???' This ride suffers from being WAYYYY too short. By a factor of 2-3x. This was a major letdown for me. The kids loved it for getting wet (remember it's 95+ with a heat index of about 105F) so we ended up riding it again later in the day.. but wow. What a letdown. But the queue is fantastic!











When you hear Joe R. talk about all the stuff they found in Nepal, or had made there, and brought back.. walking through a queue like this ones makes you wonder just how much time and money did they spend on this segment of the ride. Mind boggling. This queue winds through several different buildings as you make your way down to the dock. To have queues like this, and then get some of the junk you do in DLR continues to drive me insane.

We rode Everest early in the day, and the kids all loved it. I now have a family of coaster freaks.. from the 5 yr old on! Tho the youngest wasn't all too hot on Everest, she sat out the later runs on it. We headed over to Dinoland so they could do Dinosaur, and Primival Whirl. They survived Dinosaur.. but PW was a big THUD on the coaster fans. None of them liked it (suprise!!).

Dinosaur was much better for me this time then previous visits.. in terms of seeing everything, etc.. but I hate the 'get away' segment at the end as it just beats the crap out of you.

The outside and loading areas of Dinosaur are still top notch.


The volume was just a bit too much for some of my kids


These poor dogs had it the worst. The M&G is completely exposed in Dinoland and I was melting just standing there in line. True Hot-Dogs..


We then headed out to the conservation station which I had never done on previous visits. It was interesting to be able to do without being crowded (again.. late afternoon) so we got to do the exhibits without any lines.. talk to the CMs there... visit with a boa.. and met Jimmy Cricket and Pocahontas there.







We also hung out at the petting area for awhile with the sheep and goats which the kids really enjoyed brushing and playing with. Especially as the goats played 'king of the hill' with each other on the bridge in their playground set.

As the day wound down we went back to Everest. The ride was basically a walk on. In about 35 minutes.. they rode Everest 4 times! Making a total of 5 rides in a single day. We closed out AK, and then headed off to Wilderness Lodge for dinner.

This Photopass CM hung out with us a bit as the day wound down and we were waiting on our Everest Riders



We arrived early for our 9pm ressie, but it did end up taking them to almost 9:30 before we were seated. Whispering Canyon was great. Our server was good (even invoking 2 unsolicited 'I liked him' from our kids later on). After putting back 2 drinks... I got served the big jar The food was good, and I think overall this place was a hit with the family.

1.5 L worth.. after I had already drank 2 drinks


The Wilderness Lodge was pretty. I'd certainly consider this for a location if you are looking to spend Deluxe dollars. The individual launches to MK are a nice perk.


MK was open to 3am again with EMH, so after dinner we headed towards the Launch to the MK.

Now, WDW gets a ton of flack about upkeep, being stale, etc. I noticed little things outside the main attractions all over the place that reflected the amount of updates that are going on constantly in the park that simply because they are not new attractions themselves they go overlooked. The launch to the MK was a great example. The launch itself had obviously been updated with an all new lighting system. All ceiling lights were LED clusters, and the lighting on the canopy itself on the outside was all LED as well. The boat looked top notch. There were many other examples like this that I didn't take specific notes on.. but I think WDW gets a bit of bad rap here unnecessarily if you actually look around.

New tower...


Continuing with the Cherry Picker Edition... we let the kids really pick out what they wanted to do. The 11pm SpectroMagic was starting just as we walked in, so we were able to watch it with a good view near the train station with no wait at all. Then off to the favorites, Splash and BTMRR again... we did the Jungle Cruise at night which was interesting. The skip we had was actually pretty good, and managed to use the corny stuff without coming off as corny and forced himself. Well played. Unfortunately there was no gun shots tho DL wins out there.

We continued through the park picking off favorites like the Carosaul, Magic Carpets (now completing the spinner trifecta of all the spinners at all the parks) and I finally got the family over to Tomorrowland where we did Buzz, Pooh, and Indy Speedway. Riding Buzz again after the DL trip rang true how much better the target system is at DL vs the unanimated, one shape targets at MK. I still like the spinners and locked guns better at MK, but the target system at DL is just 10x better.

Lying in Wait...


By 1am, we decided to pull the plug as 3 solid days were starting to catch up with us. However, the late night EMH were proving to be quite a hit for us. Manageable crowds, and the EMH attraction roaster has really gotten better over the years where there really was not much in the way of things closed that we wanted to do.. and the # of food/snack option open late has improved as well from earlier trips.

The castle's backside..


The castle at 1am


With all the talk about the Bay Lake Tower.. and how it appeared from the park, etc. I can honestly say at night - it's a non factor. I saw the red lights on top of the contemp tower more then the Bay Lake Tower. I also took some shots from the launch so you can see the amount of light pollution vs the existing tower. The new tower looked complete from the outside.

Earlier in the night.. heading to MK..


From the MK side on the way home late


A random thought.. it was interesting seeing some of the retro merchandise in the parks.. including extinct attractions like a Mr. Toad's Wild Ride Shirt.

[flynnibus]

wow - no love for the TR. I still had 2 more days to post too

[Mommyto4]

I loved this trip report !!!!!!!!!!! and what an adorable family!!
i LOVE wdw toy story !! is disneyland done as well? You really did stay late, I hope we will be able to to when we go LOL! OK, keep it going !!

[TikiRoomLiz]

Enjoyable TR! I've never been to WDW and will finally be heading out early next year, so it is nice to get to see these TR's on how different folks approach their days there. I must say though that with the way you described the weather that tall drink looked delicious!

[NeverNeverland]

Aww. I was gonna reply but you were still on so I thought you were still posting! You didn't say TBC or anything

I am enjoying this report... it is great to hear your opinions And to se that someone other than me really enjoys MGM Studios I think it's neat that you let your girls do what they wanted to do.

One thing for the future... All Star Music (I think they are the only ones) have family suites that sleep 5. I think a few hotels also have bunk beds or trundle beds that can sleep 5.

[Stitchy]

what a cute family!!! Looks like ya'll had a great time! I had no idea Jiminy is at Conservation Station. I guess we'll have to make a point to go there next trip. I know my 6 yr old would LOVE to see him!

[SummerInFL]

Great TR! I absolutely agree about the parks not being as stale as others see it. Also, the chafing story had me LOL.

I can't wait to read the rest of it, you have an adorable family.

[tasman]

Thanks for your thoughts. I am in complete agreement on Kali...awesome queue, underwhelming ride. Keep in mind though that originally, this was supposed to be a ride (Tiger Rpaids Run) with a different type of raft and much larger and more elaborate...similar in scale to Kilimanjaro Safaris and featuring real animals as well. Then one of Uncle Eisner's budget cuts came along... Anywho, if you haven't seen the concept art, some of it is availabe on Disneyandmore.

[daffodilklown]

I'm loving the trip report. It is fun to see what kids come up with when you let them make the decisions...

I know you were in pain but the chafing story cracked me up. I often listen to the Blue Collar Comedy station on Sirius and one of the comedians does a thing on WDW in August and how by the end of the trip he had Gold Bond Medicated Powder in a holster...

Can't wait to see more!

[SkittleKicks]

I love all the shots of Toy Story - and wonderful update about how the bug / ball were removed.

[flynnibus]

Originally Posted by NeverNeverland

One thing for the future... All Star Music (I think they are the only ones) have family suites that sleep 5. I think a few hotels also have bunk beds or trundle beds that can sleep 5.

Yeah, I was aware of the family suites, but they were not available when I booked. The other alternative which I may consider next time is the cabins at FW.

The one thing that stunk about AllStars is no fridge, so trying to stock up on water, food, etc was futile. The cabins have a kitchenette if I recall.

2 rooms at All-Stars was still cheaper by almost $300 then the next Disney Alternative. I actually plan on doing a cost breakdown later too so others can get an idea

[flynnibus]

Originally Posted by TikiRoomLiz

Enjoyable TR! I've never been to WDW and will finally be heading out early next year, so it is nice to get to see these TR's on how different folks approach their days there. I must say though that with the way you described the weather that tall drink looked delicious!

The funny thing is.. the picture doesn't do it justice. It's MASSIVE! I had my regular jar drink.. and I noticed a guy a few tables down had one of the massive drinks. And the next time the waiter came by.. he said 'want another?' and when I said 'yes, please', he said 'hold on, I got one for you'.. and then came back with the biggie

Originally Posted by NeverNeverland

Aww. I was gonna reply but you were still on so I thought you were still posting! You didn't say TBC or anything

Ooops! I actually have most of the text staged offline, but even getting it in the forum takes some time! next days coming up

Originally Posted by NeverNeverland

I am enjoying this report... it is great to hear your opinions And to se that someone other than me really enjoys MGM Studios I think it's neat that you let your girls do what they wanted to do.

Yeah, I've been enough, and of course seen enough from others to know what is worth 'forcing' people on, or not. Plus, it's a vacation, not a book report so I don't think people NEED to see everything. A trip is much more fun when people do the things they enjoy, vs following some script that says you must do A, B, C. I also approach it with the mindset of... we'll be back. So there is no big push to see it all now.

When I was a kid.. we did the 'see it all' vacations and while they are a great reference for now to discuss the past many years later.. I never really got to re-ride all the stuff I liked, etc. So letting the kids 'drive' so to speak and not having hard requirements lead to a much more relaxed vacation. I recommend it

Originally Posted by Stitchy

what a cute family!!! Looks like ya'll had a great time! I had no idea Jiminy is at Conservation Station. I guess we'll have to make a point to go there next trip. I know my 6 yr old would LOVE to see him!

Thx for the complement. I always say.. I make good babies

Yeah, he's kind of a 'rare bird' I think I recall others talking about him being there, so I think he's a regular out there. The Conservation Station is much like any 'science center' you'd visit around the country in terms of exhibits, etc... but talking with the CMs is nice when they talk about care of the animals from all over WDW.

[All4dISNEY]

I'm ready for more! Gr8 TR -- I'm taking notes. (order 1.5L jar right off the bat, bring anti-chafing kit)