Originally Posted By RoadTrip Had another great day at the World. I slept in again... not entirely intentionally. I woke up at about 9 AM and went back to sleep figuring I would sleep for another 30 minutes or so. When I woke up it was 11:46 AM. Oops. At any rate it worked out. I had planned to meet my daughter and her husband at the AK. She called me just after noon and said that except for two things they were done at the AK and that I should meet them at Epcot. That sounded fine to me. Epcot is a better park for rain than the AK is. Rachel said she would call me again when they go to Epcot. I got ready and went to Epcot. I had lunch at the Electric Umbrella. Not great food, but predictably not bad. Just as I was finishing I got the call from Rachel saying they were at Epcot heading for the front gate. We agreed to meet at Spaceship Earth. I was there in just a few minutes and was waiting for Rachel and her hubby. And waiting. And waiting. I thought WOW... things must be really stacked up at the entrance. Just as I was about to call her she called me. "Where ARE you?" "Right in front of Spaceship Earth like we agreed." "But I don't see you" "Well I don't see you either" We soon discovered that we had been within 5 feet of each other for at least 10 minutes. I was on one side of one of the mirrored poles at SSE; she and hubby were on the opposite side of the SAME pole. We discovered our mistake, laughed, and went for a ride on SSE. We also did Mission Space and Imagination together. I felt bad for Rachel after Mission Space. She had been hesitant to ride Mission Space, but her husband (who had never ridden it either) and I convinced her it would be OK. I told her that if she followed instructions and kept looking straight ahead I was sure she would be alright. I also said that the most intense part of the ride was the liftoff, and that was over in about 45 seconds. Well Rachel was fine through the liftoff and figured she had it made. Until we got to the asteroids just before Mars. Crap! I had forgotten about that and knew as we were going through it that Rachel would be sick. She does not do well on simulator type rides, and the asteroid sequence was definitely a simulator type experience. We sat outside Mission Space for about 20 minutes waiting for Rachel to get rid of her rather extreme dizziness. Who knew? Her husband said he would like to ride it about six times in a row. I said I would be glad to accompany him on his quest. ;-) Once Rachel felt better we went on Imagination. Her husband (Ryan) was rather intrigued by the whole concept of a ride with a purple dragon. Rachel warned him not to expect too much. He did anyway and was pretty disappointed at the end of the ride. That leaves ME as the only person I know who actually likes that danged thing. I guess that shows the rest of you wannabe's just who has real power at WDW. They ignore the rest of you and keep JIYIWF just the way it is because I LIKE IT. They really don't care what the rest of you think. lol After that Rachel and Ryan wanted to head back to their room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge to rest and refresh. I said I would stay at Epcot for a while and meet them at Boma where we had dinner reservations. I said I would meet them in the lobby of the AKL before dinner at 7:10PM. After they left I did Test Track and Ellen's Energy Adventure before leaving for the AKL. Our plans to meet resulted in something of a SNAFU. I was in the AKL lobby EARLY, but soon received a call from Rachel wondering where the heck I was. I said I was in the lobby and she said she didn't see me anywhere. She said to go downstairs to the restaurant which I did. I still did not see her. I called her and said I was standing right outside a restaurant named Sanna. Rachel said I was at the wrong AKL. She said I was at the Kuda-hoopa Village (or something like that) and that I SHOULD be at Jambo House. Well I eventually found the right place and I joined Rachel and Ryan for dinner. We had a good time together and the food was EXCELLENT. Friends had been telling me for years that I should try it, but I never did because of the remote location and the fact that I have never been a real fan of "Boo-Fays". I should have listened to them. Boma is really excellent. After dinner R&R showed me up to their room. I thought it was very nice, but even with a Savannah view we did not see any animals in the dark. I said my goodbyes and decided to go back to the Boardwalk. Of course the only way from one resort to another is through Downtown Disney. I discovered a reason that the AK Lodge is not all that popular even though it is beautiful and the rates are usually cheap. It is a long ways from anywhere. It took me about an hour and twenty minutes to get from the AKL back to the Boardwalk. Of course that is not really the AKL's fault. It was Disney's decision to put their transportation hub (Downtown Disney) in one of the most remote locations they have. Oh well. I'm retired and my time isn't really worth much anymore. But if my income was what it was a year ago there is NO WAY I would ever go from hotel to hotel via Disney Transit. Taxi transportation would seem much better. I still love WDW and cannot think of a better place to vacation. But I have to tell you that for the first time ever I feel they are ripping me off. It started with a $17 dollar shot of single malt scotch which should have been $10 at most. It continued today when I was charged TEN DOLLARS AND SIXTY CENTS for a freaking pack of cigarettes. Smokers be forewarned... put a carton in your luggage. you DON'T want to have to buy smokes at the World. Disney is clearly trying to cover the revenue lost by the DDP and by hotel discounting by charging outrageous prices for anything they feel is not essential. And I would certainly never argue that single malt scotch or cigarettes are essential. But at the same time they really don't want to piss me off too much. Me and those like me are keeping WDW afloat during the recession. If they force us to decide that Disney vacations are just not worth it any more they are really screwed.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Sadly Roadtrip, you are experiencing the tipping points we reached last time in deciding whether we wanted to travel 3000 miles and the costs for WDW. There are some fantastic things about the place (Epcot and AKL no doubt), but those bus times coupled with the nickel and diming everywhere and reduced quality, does sting. Glad you liked Boma. I am definately not a Buffet guy at all, but I feel Boma is a quality exception and very worth while.
Originally Posted By Mr X Those drink and smokes prices are definitely out of kilter...I hope the extra profits are worth people getting genuinely pissed off over it. Having a captive audience is one thing...but nobody likes to be the chump and even a loyal DisneyWorld repeater like RT might find that the extra $200 to rent a car for the week is MORE than made up for on cigarette and booze and snack runs off the property... Oh, and while he (and so many others) happen to be out, perhaps they'll end up dining off property. Or worse, decide to make a day of it and check out another place and stay out of the world for an entire day of ka-ching. Is that kind of smack to their bottom line really worth charging such outrageous prices that people will for the most part (just like R.T. did) skip it entirely? If the whiskey had been a reasonably hefty $8-9 R.T., do you think you might have had one or two more? Or returned later in the week? I certainly don't react well to feeling gouged, and $17 drinks and $10 packs of smokes is most definitely in the gouging range! Side note, cigarettes at the Tokyo Disney Resort are less than $3 per pack. (drinks are pretty steep, but nowhere NEAR $17 either!) By the way Jerry, I'm with ya on Imagination. I still like it!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I too like Imagination! So there are at least 3 of us. Hmmmm, it does make DLP's $9 for a whiskey very reasonable. Smokes are about $7 according to my MIL.
Originally Posted By Mr X I think 8-9 bucks is the cost of playing the adult beverage game at TDR as well. Intoxicants can be had cheaper in some restaurants at Ikspiari, and far cheaper still if you buy them in the many convenience stores and markets around property to take back to your room or simply swill them down right in front of the park entrances if you're feelin it (no outside liquor allowed in the parks though). I believe SuperDry came up with just such a plan for the next Tokyo LP meet (Disneyland Hotel patio, just steps away from the main gate of Tokyo Disneyland, convenience store canned beers and snacks...I think that was the plan ). As for smokes, they are a uniform price throughout Japan (¥280 - ¥320 depending on brand), and the resort is no exception. There's no gouging going on here! HOWEVER, re-reading my previous post I think I forgot about the HORRIBLE current exchange rate, and thus smokes are probably closer to $3.50 or so given that unfortunate fact.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo On average, a Whiskey around our area is about $4, so DLP feels expensive. No way would I pay that price at WDW.
Originally Posted By Mr X $17? I wouldn't pay that price ANYWHERE, I'd go have a drink of water from a fountain and go to bed! $4 sounds cheap...I'm surprised since I'm constantly hearing about how outrageously expensive England is! In Japan it's usually in the $6-8 range, sometimes you can find it for $5 or so in a casual establishment.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Remember they make it here. And some things are really cheap here too. Alcohol is one of those things (outside of London anyway)
Originally Posted By Mr X I see. Well, there are lots of Japanese whiskey makers as well. But I get your point. Lots of things are reasonable in any country, as long as you go where the locals go (I'm tempted to write a guidebook to Tokyo along those lines, but I have the feeling noone would buy it!).
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Yes, I would find $8-$9 for a drink reasonable. I stopped at the Belle Vue again last night. After my prior experience I asked the price of what I wanted BEFORE ordering it. I wanted a Bombay Sapphire Martini with a twist. I was told it would be $8.25. I had no problem with that. That drink would be $6 at most places I go to. I don't mind paying an extra couple of dollars at WDW. I didn't mind at all. I had three of them! lol
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<Having a captive audience is one thing...but nobody likes to be the chump and even a loyal DisneyWorld repeater like RT might find that the extra $200 to rent a car for the week is MORE than made up for on cigarette and booze and snack runs off the property... Oh, and while he (and so many others) happen to be out, perhaps they'll end up dining off property. Or worse, decide to make a day of it and check out another place and stay out of the world for an entire day of ka-ching.>> Mr X... you read my mind. I was thinking last night that on my next trip I would rent a car so that I could get over to Crossroads for cheaper food and drink. I also remembered how much I always enjoyed Universal Studios and thought it would be fun to go there again. Disney is lucky I have DVC or I might also decide to give the Portofino Bay Hotel a try. I've always thought that looked like a GREAT hotel.
Originally Posted By Mr X Well, I'm glad you found a (relatively) reasonably priced drink this time! I think you'll find that with a car a lot of options open up for you within 5-10 minutes of the resort, not only Crossroads (which is still somewhat inflated). If you're down by Carribean Beach/All Star zone, you can drive just off property to the lights and there's a 7/11 on the corner that a lot of locals use (just as an example).
Originally Posted By Mr X Also there's a "secret" road near Animal Kingdom (just drive opposite all the "all guest areas" signs) that dumps right out onto 192 and a ton of cheap eats, stores, and of course markets and convenience stores and all that stuff.
Originally Posted By Mickeymouseclub Trippy since you are a DVC member you definitely need to go to the new BLT and ask if you can see the new floor plans and sweet talk yor way up to the top of the World to see the view of the World. And then find out if they allow DVC members to have a drink in the Top of the World lounge. It is worth it if they say yes and stil worth if they say no although Sometimes business is really slow in the lounge they might be flexible. Early sunset is slow and then maybe you can hang out until the fireworks!
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt Glad to hear you enjoyed Boma, a definite stop on our next trip! 4 for Figment
Originally Posted By FenwayGirl 5 for Figment. Know its kind of a cheesy ride, but love Figment...just miss the Dream Finder
Originally Posted By Mr X By the way FWG, I was just talking up Fenway Park on another topic... GOD I miss that place! (sorry for the off topic...that screen name is just all kindsa cool and always makes me think of good old Fenway Park (and, of course, the girls!) )
Originally Posted By FenwayGirl I love Fenway Park...right up there with Disney parks for me. The new owners have made some great upgrades while maintaining the old ball park feel. The truck leaves Boston for Ft Meyers (only people in Ma could celebrate such a thing!)soon, so Opening Day is not so far off!
Originally Posted By A Happy Haunt ^^Let's here it for spring training.. I can't believe you posted about THE TRUCK!!
