The way We do a Disney Re-Do ~~ Beach club Aug 13-22 - FINISHED!!! 1/20 - Page 22 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Glad yall enjoyed DTD! We tried going back to the hotel a few times mid day last year and found it very difficult to get back out....... I hope yall made it back to AK!
Great update. I'm with you... AK in the heat is downright torture. I hated that park until we went in December and it was much cooler. Sounds like DTD was perfect! As for that Lego store... yep, it is downright dangerous!
Great pics from DTD! I love that the Lego store has that fun area for the kids to play and build - makes for a nice little break. Hope you make it to AK!
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Stacey
Why do these kids look so pathetic?
Find out in: A New Grade, A New House, and A Surprise!Final Thoughts 01/30
How fun for Ben to have "his" time at the Lego store!!! He seems like a really easy going and cool kid, glad he enjoyed the store and the Legos. My nephews are Lego maniacs and we always have a blast in there.
Sorry about the bus rides, that can be so annoying. Hope you had a nice break and were able to head back out later that day. I couldn't imagine NOT having a break back at the hotel. Excited to hear about AK at night, we have never made it past 1pm in that park.
Awww...the pictures of Ben looking so happy at the Lego Store were so sweet (although, I'm sure a boy would never want to hear that. Can you tell I'm a mommy of only girls..lol). I loved that he was so into putting the legos together. When I read that and saw how focused he seemed in the picture, the first thing that came to my mind was, "I bet he is a gifted child".
In all of our trips, we have never ventured to DTD. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's time?.
Don't all mommies think their kids are "gifted"? LOL!
Quote:
Originally Posted by debrabrown
Great update. I'm with you... AK in the heat is downright torture. I hated that park until we went in December and it was much cooler. Sounds like DTD was perfect! As for that Lego store... yep, it is downright dangerous!
When we went last Nov, we LOVED AK. Our GG companions convinced the group that barely a half day would be needed to AK. We felt very sad to only have a half day--There was SO MUCH MORE we wanted to do!! However, it did seem hotter than the rest of WDW, and in Nov the weather was awesome, so we imagined how hot it would be in August.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linnynad
How fun for Ben to have "his" time at the Lego store!!! He seems like a really easy going and cool kid, glad he enjoyed the store and the Legos. My nephews are Lego maniacs and we always have a blast in there.
Sorry about the bus rides, that can be so annoying. Hope you had a nice break and were able to head back out later that day. I couldn't imagine NOT having a break back at the hotel. Excited to hear about AK at night, we have never made it past 1pm in that park.
I do not think he is naturally easy going, but he has had to become more because of other dynamics in the family. While the littlest has learned to be more resposible than her age would predict, Ben has often had to be "okay" with not getting his own needs met. He has, too often, been disappointed when we had to leave or skip a fun activity because his sister was not cooperating. I almost think he stops getting his hopes up. My wish for him is that he grows up more tolerant and understanding than resentful...
We already had 7 days of passes, and we decided in advance it would not be a big deal to extend it to 8, in order to spend even a few hours at a park if we wanted to. We are not park hoppers ($25 for an extra “day” on the tix is a better value than $250 for hoppers. Besides, we know we could not manage the kind of days that would make the expense worthwhile).
We left our room about 5pm hoping to get in at least a few things at AK. Another long wait for a bus…another ride filled with stops…and we were walking through the AK gate minutes before 6:00, as throngs of guests exited at this regular closing time. We were glad to not have to deal with crowds and planned to make the most of our 3 EMHs.
First stop…Lion King. We had not seen this show last visit, as we opted for Nemo. We arrived about 10 minutes early and got front row seats. The place was barely 30% full by the time the show started since we were only sharing the space with resort guests at this time. Great view and no crowds! We LOVED it! I could not imagine liking a show more than Nemo. Still now, I would say I enjoyed Nemo more, but I would rather see LK again if I had to choose just one! DS is a gymnast and this was the first time he had seen something like this live. He was in awe!
After LK, we headed to the safari. We just missed it. I was confused since it indicated that it would be open for EMH…A CM explained that they have to shut it down at dusk for safety. It closed at about 7:10.
DH was more bummed than me—I was willing to skip this one since we had done it and there was so much else here we had not seen. This situation gave us more time to fit other things in.
We had no crowds. No lines. We were bummed that many of the snack and souvenir carts were closed, but we all agreed that it was worth the free and easy touring. We had no need for the GAC tonight!
We saw “it’s tough to be a bug” and I had the girls sitting at the edge of their chairs—so they missed some of the “fun.” When the crowd reacted, they wondered what they missed! (I was also sitting in the front of my chair to be safe!).
We then bribed Hannah with an ice cream treat from the “family” money and not her souvenir money if she would go with us on KRR. We would not have had time for DH and I to both ride it if we had to split up with the kids. She agreed, and we let her use a poncho. As we were riding, she was rambling on about elephants..."where are the elephants?" "I just know there will be elephants." As we approached the elephants, she screamed, "I told you there would be elephants!" Not sure what that is all about, but later she said rides like that ALWAYS have squirting elephants, and that is why she will not ride again. (Although, with months to reminisce about our WDW trip, she now says she would go on it again, if everyone else in the family wanted to, but she would like 2 ponchos next time…). Delaney, of course, wanted to do it again…
We then headed to Dinoland, where I took the girls on Triceratop Spin while the boys did Primeval Whirl. I was surprised that Hannah did not want to go on PW. Last trip, she just missed the height requirement. She was very bummed at the time and we were certain she would have enjoyed it. I think the lure of the familiar won out here.
We seemed to be making good time and should be just able to make it to Dinosaur (Hannah wanted to try it!) before the end of EMH. The boys seemed to be taking a long time on PW (remember, we practically had the park to ourselves...) Turns out the ride was shut down for a while. As the exited, we quickly discussed how we had less than 5 minutes left. We all agreed to RUN to Dinosaur!
We arrived at the queue just as a CM was pulling the rope. We missed it.
I tried to explain how we were held up because of PW problems. It didn’t matter. We were very disappointed. And out of breath.
Just as we started to turn away, another family came up behind us, huffing and puffing like us. The mom in that family was not taking the closing of Dinosaur lightly. She insisted that a CM (even dropped a name) at PW assured her they would still be able to get through. The CM was not budging, and the woman became angrier. We just waited off to the side—if they got through—we would too-- Darn it!
A few minutes later another CM arrived, whispered to the first guy, and opened the rope. We were let through, and one other family, and the rope was attached again.
As we were being loaded into our vehicle, another LARGE group of people was being let in the door. Apparently there were many who talked their way through!
I was certain Hannah would hate this ride. I had not even warned her about the Dinosaurs jumping out.
Her reaction?
She is such an enigma…
She LOVED it. Well...sort of. She said it was her favoritefeeling ride, but one of her least favorite hearing and seeing rides. So…”next time I will bring my ear plugs and eye mask.” Delaney’s reaction? “Let’s do it again!”
The park was really closed now. We made our way to the front. We could not get over how empty the park was.
We were wishing food places were still open. We had not yet had dinner…
After the long and annoying bus ride back to BC, we stopped at the QS restaurant for some food and were in bed by 11pm.
Ben had been wanting to get a picture with his “gun” (recall the “Great Movie Ride” inspiration) on the old-fashioned cars decorating the BC.
We hoped to get to Epcot early the next day to let our budding imagineer do “Sum of all Thrills.”
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We also had a VERY long bus ride back from DTD to the Poly on our last trip. It was after that I told myself I won't go back to DTD unles I really want to or want to look for something I know they won't have in the parks. For you, I can tell your son really enjoyed it!
We also experienced AK EMH and have never done that before and we too were bummed at how hardly any food carts were open (hadn't eaten dinner) but we did enjoy a lot of the park to ourselves. We'll for sure do that again on our next trip!
Another great day, glad Ben had some time to enjoy at the Lego store. My little one can spend hours building there. We have also found that WPE is a great deal on the DDP but we have also had some allergy issues there. Sorry taht you had to deal with another "lloonngg" bus ride but it seemed the little one enjoyed the break and everyone was ready to go when it came time to AK. Can't believe the crowd levels at AK, sorry you missed the safari but glad that you were able to enjoy so many other great rides and that Hannah did ok with KRR and that she enjoyed Dinosaur (well at least parts of it - loved her description of what her favorite parts were). Sounds like another great day....what a difference from your last trip, this sounds almost perfect!!!
Wow, AK at evening EMH sounds great! That's something we've never tried. Now you've got me thinking that maybe we'll give it a shot on this upcoming trip! I hate when they offer EMH and all the food places are closed, though. That's happened to us at HS before and we ended up buying snacks at the gift shop for "dinner." It seems like they could operate one QS place to accommodate the late-night hungry people, right?
Glad you got on Dinosaur! What a stroke of luck! We had a similar experience in August at MK. We had FPs for Peter Pan that said to return between 9:15 and 10 PM (the park closed at 10). We walked up at 9:55 and they told us the ride was closed! Then they said to take them to another ride that offered FPs and we could use them . Just where they thought we could go in 5 minutes that accepted FPs I have no idea. We've ridden it tons of times so it wasn't the end of the world, but a little disappointing.
Uggh those Disney buses! Sorry to hear you had two long rides to contend with that day! Hurry back w/more!
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15 total family trips with stays at the Poly, AKL, Wilderness Lodge, Beach Club, Swan, Dolphin, POFQ, Pop Century, All Star Music, Movies & Sports, and Coronado Springs.
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Deb
Sorry about the very long bus ride!
Sounds like fun at the LEGO store! Great meal at WPE....we love the food there too! 
Sorry about the bus.
Susan
PassPorter Guide Author
. Just where they thought we could go in 5 minutes that accepted FPs I have no idea. We've ridden it tons of times so it wasn't the end of the world, but a little disappointing. 
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