Originally Posted By wendebird Cast: Rich (dh) 44 Me (me) 40 Rachel (dd)10 Cassie (dd) 7 We decided to sleep in this AM because we knew we'd have a late night. We arrived at Animal Kingdom around 11 & got FP's for Expedition Everest, first thing. We then headed to Dinoland. OMG, this place is TACKY, it's filled with carnival games, ring toss, water race, knock over bottles, etc. It's also $2 a game & impossible to get through with kids without trying a game. Luckily I got lucky with the "knock the dino on the head when he pops up game" 2 times & got the girls a plush dino. Then we rode Primeval Whirl. Rachel & Rich LOVED it, Cassie was crying when she got off & I was ready to barf. The ride is like Mulholland Madness meets the tea cups. In other words, a barf machine. Fun, original ride, but a once in a lifetime thing for me. By now it was really starting to heat up & I so appreciated that WDW has fans or air conditioning blowing on you in the queues. I could never do WDW in the summer. It was almost 90 this day & about 98% humidity. I have totally become Californianized. We rode Triceratop Spin, which is a dinosaur version of Dumbo. Then Dinosaur. I thought Dinosaur was good, you ride in a vehicle like Indy & you go back in time to save & bring back (with you) a dinosaur. (Aladar from the movie Dinosaur) Anyway, it's right at the time that the "meteors hit Earth & destroyed all life on Earth" ***Spoiler**** Don't read any further if you don't want to know how this ride goes. Anyway, the meteors start falling & your on board computer identifies each dinosaur you encounter, looking for the correct one. of course, we run into a carnitor among others. Then the meteors really start falling & you hear the computer say 90 seconds to impact, so you start moving faster, looking, not finding, then 45 seconds, it starts to get more intense (voices) everything in the ride goes pitch black & all you hear are T-Rex's growing & not know when they're going to jump out at you. Just as you're about to jump back into the current time, we find the dino we need, he hops on board & another carnitour jumps out above you & you escape just like you do on Indy. I thought it was fun. Time for lunch! We ate at Flametree BBQ. Cassie & I split a turkey sandwich, Rich & Rachel got a kids BBQ chicken meal with grapes & applesauce & we split an order of fries. It cost us just over $20 w/drinks. Oh, the kids meals also came with an 8 oz bottle of water or apple juice. Next we watched the Flights of Wonder show. It was a nice show, it showed birds in their natural state, not doing campy tricks. We saw some pretty birds, including a bald eagle & owl. Next we rode Kilimanjaro Safari with no wait at all. Cassie loves animals & really wanted to sit near the outside. Because of that, I had nothing to rest my arm on while taking pictures. It's a pretty bumpy ride & they don't stop to take pictures. So I got what I could. Now it was time to ride EE. The queue is amazing, I loved it. So well done. Man, this ride was fun, when you go in reverse, it's so fast, you feel like you're going into an inversion. The first time I rode it, I was so sick afterwards, kinda bummed me out, but I'd try it again the next day. I also learned something very valuable on this trip about my motion sickness. I'll share it w/tomorrow's report. After that, we did some shopping, The girls made their first purchase w/the money they'd saved. Rachel bought a Marie plush & Cassie bought a Santa Chip & Dale. We headed to the Beach Club to have dinner at Beaches & Cream. They don't take reservations & it's a very small place. Only about 4 booths, 5 tables & some stools at the counter. Rich & I both got cheesesteaks (well, his without the cheese) & they were soooooo good! We were both very impressed. Cassie got grilled cheese & Rachel got a cheeseburger. The big draw here though is the kitchen sink. It's an 8 scoop sundae served in a bowl shaped like a sink, complete with a faucet. They put every topping on it that they have, angel food cake, brownies, cherries, sprinkles, snicker bars, oreos, chocolate syrup, peanut butter & a whole can of whipped cream. (I probably forgot some toppings) When our waitress brought it out to us, they flicked the lights on & off & made this announcement "You've heard about, you've wondered what it is, well here it comes, the famous Kitchen Sink complete with 8 scoops of ice cream & every topping we have" lol, several people stopped by our table to check it out. We weren't able to come close to finishing it. Our waitress here was just lousy & made a mistake on it. We had ordered it with no coffee ice cream & she forgot, so Rich had one taste of that & wouldn't eat anymore, aye, yi yi. She said she was going to give us some $$ off because she messed up, but she gave me what you'd normally get with the Disney Dining Experience card. Which of course I already had, so I really got no compensation. I think our bill was something like $59 w/tax & tip. One great time, we spent $79 today in food & I had a $63 Disney gift card, so we got through the day only spending $16. It was still a little while till our Illuminations Cruise, so we visited the Yacht Club, snapped some pictures, walked over to the Boardwalk, snapped some pictures of their gingerbread house, found the hidden Mickey's & then headed back to the marina. We met up with Sam, Cindy, Terri, Andrew & Marissa from NJ. I found them at www.disboards.com I didn't want to keep getting up at 3:30 AM to try to book the cruise & also didn't want to pay $250 + tip for the cruise. So we split it with them & w/tip we paid $120. Aryn was our pilot & was a real nice guy. They served bottled soft drinks & water & bagged chips. We got a little tour of the "bay" As we were driving around, Fantasmic was ending & we had great fun telling the kids that was Illuminations. Anyway the 4 kids got along famously & had a grand time telling potty & farting jokes in the back of the pontoon boat while Sam, Cindy, Sam's mom & Rich & I chatted away. Oh, I had bought some glow bracelets & that was another big hit. Rachel made a friend while we were waiting for our boat to be ready. Her name was Laura. Rachel had planned on giving her her address when we got back to the dock. (Laura was on a different boat for the cruise) But she was staying at the Boardwalk & their driver dropped her & her family off at the Boardwalk Marina. Rachel was so disappointed. It was just one of those tender moments where she realized what happened & you could see the tears welling up & she said "I didn't even get to say goodbye") We also met a couple from Oklahoma who booked the cruise 2 nights in a row. The first one was so they could video tape & take pictures of it. The next night was so they could just enjoy the show. aye yi yi, $600 for that. They didn't share the cruise with anyone else. I was wondering if they thought it was going to be a romantic thing, lol, all 6 pontoon boats dock right next to each other under that bridge! We parked the boat under the bridge between France & the UK. It was a perfect spot, perfect view, we just had some light winds blow some ashes into our eyes, but overall, it's the way to go. No mad rush to get out of Epcot when it's over either. You just take the boat back to the Beach Club & head home. No crowds at all. Then we headed home & got there around 10:45 & found my 18 yo niece Becky who lives in Florida waiting for us in her car. YAY!!! We stayed up chatting till about 12:30 & the kids by then had talked her into going to Animal Kingdom the next day. (We were supposed to do Epcot & have the LP Meet, & Candlelight Processional.) I got outvoted 4 to 1. They all wanted to ride EE & Becky had never been there before. Sigh. Needless to say, we set no alarms that night, we were all so tired! Here's the pictures for today's report: <a href="http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=668151166234598831/l=234999038/g=6819098/cobrandOid=1000143/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB" target="_blank">http://www1.snapfish.com/share /p=668151166234598831/l=234999038/g=6819098/cobrandOid=1000143/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB</a>
Originally Posted By irishfan I'm really enjoying reading your trip reports, sounds like a fun time was had.
Originally Posted By Kala The woman in the front row from your pic on Dinosaur is so totally me. I don't know if I'll ride that or EE. I haven't even ridden Splash mtn. in DL Ride wimp that's me! Can't wait to read about your motion sickness in your next report.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Kala, have you ridden Indy at DL? If so, you should be ok with Dinosaur. Everest on the otherhand (I love it), is the most intense non looping coaster Disney has anywhere.
Originally Posted By Kala Yes I've ridden Indy and love it! Do Dinosaur is on the list. EE is not. Though I might get brave, MIGHT!
Originally Posted By wendebird Kala! You should try it at least once! It was really a very fun ride, EE & Dinosaur!!!
Originally Posted By chickendumpling <<After that, we did some shopping, The girls made their first purchase w/the money they'd saved. Rachel bought a Marie plush & Cassie bought a Santa Chip & Dale.>> Don'cha just love that part? I love watching my kids pick out their purchases when it's *their* money. I've noticed they are much more selective! LOL. <<The big draw here though is the kitchen sink. It's an 8 scoop sundae served in a bowl shaped like a sink, complete with a faucet.>> When I was a kid there was an ice cream parlor we used to go to that had stuff like fun. SUCH a bummer your waitress messed that up for you. SIXTEEN bucks for the day?!?! I AM impressed! <<Rachel was so disappointed. It was just one of those tender moments where she realized what happened & you could see the tears welling up & she said "I didn't even get to say goodbye") >> Awwwww. What a little sweetie you have. Great photos again. That guy in the from seat on Dinosaur reminds me of Sam Elliot! I'm really enjoying your reports wendebird.
