Our Fall 2014 Trip Report - Coming to You Barely Live from Orlando - Page 15 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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We did not get to see the babies on our trek. You guys were lucky.
I thought it was very good luck!
Quote:
Originally Posted by lauriep
A post with two of my favorite things in it-- Flying Fish and the Wild Africa Trek! I'm so glad FF redeemed itself from your previous experience. I know some people don't fall in love with this place, but I love it--It's still my #1 pick at WDW, with Sanaa and Artist Point very close. Their salads are wonderful and I've always had great service. So lucky to see the baby gorilla and get such wonderful photos. Terrific start to the Trek. Nice to have such a small group.
I am very glad FF was a go - the last time we had really bad service, it took forever to get meals and they were so so. This was better in every way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
Oh wow, those hippo shots are just amazing!
Interesting to know that's how the Cast Members deal with last minute changes to ADRs - I would've thought there wouldn't have been an issue with swapping to a different restaurant, but I guess it still counts as a cancellation, so it's decent of them to ensure that you didn't end up with the charge.
I was perfectly fine with paying the no show fee, just wanted them to know we weren't coming. It worked out fine for us, but we still need to get to Tokyo Dining.
Quote:
Originally Posted by disneydreamer33
Wow! So much rain at Epcot! Glad you got to eat some though.
I am really wanting to do the Wild Africa Trek! My girls would absolutely love it. I am hoping to be able to do it on our next trip in 2016 for my oldest 16th bday. It looks amazing!
I hope you get to do the WAT with the girls. There are some discounts for tours after 11:30 or so. Even though it is expensive, we thought it was worth it.
Boy I fell behind! I actually enjoy WDW in the rain b/c it does thin out the crowds! One of my oldest DD's memories from a past trip was riding Goofy's Barnstormer 7 times in a row, in the rain!!
The Premium gifts are awesome!! I especially like the wine glass. It's my favorite style. I actually got my first one in Ogunquit a few years ago.
I'm so glad you gave Flying Fish another try! We had dinner there the first night of our trip last Oct & it became a new favorite for us!
Thats the kind of wineglass we like, too. Much more dog-proof . We have some good rain memories, too, so I can understand your DD.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MayraLR
Glad you were able to switch your adr and that you enjoyed your dinner at Flying Fish.
Thanks, Mayra.
Quote:
Originally Posted by princetoaprincess
Loved the pictures from the Africa Trek. So cool you could get so up close with those animals.
It was great, we will have some more photos coming up.
Oh wow, I can't wait to read all about it. I would really love to book the Africa Trek for our family. DD is finally old enough. Looks like a great trip!!
The Gorilla and Hippo pics are amazing! I love the shot of the Mama snuggling her nursing baby It sounds like a perfect morning weather wise, and you lucked out getting a small group for the Trek
So excited for you to have started the WAT part of your TR!!!
Thanks, Lisa.
Quote:
Originally Posted by llgmommy2
Oh wow, I can't wait to read all about it. I would really love to book the Africa Trek for our family. DD is finally old enough. Looks like a great trip!!
More to come in the next update. I hope you get a chance to do the Trek.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKnott17
The Gorilla and Hippo pics are amazing! I love the shot of the Mama snuggling her nursing baby It sounds like a perfect morning weather wise, and you lucked out getting a small group for the Trek
It was very humid, but the temp was not as high as it had been. The small group was great
We are headed to Acadia National Park today, so it will be a couple of days before I get back to finish the Wild Africa Trek update. Thanks for following along.
i'm only on page five of this report, having just found it. but i need to say now:
wow. your photos are AMAZING. and i'm a huge photo person.
also: i'm mainly reading trip reports to get psyched up for my trip (beginning in ten days) and your TR is SO HELPING! and by helping i mean 'i just spent a half hour researching MNSSHP because now i want to see hallowishes, too! (i probably will still skip it. we are there the actual week of halloween and, well, that seems like a bad idea. still--your photos!)
ok. going to continue reading now. thanks for this!!!
EDIT: ok. all caught up. and noooooo--don't stop midway through WAT!
Glad you had such a nice dinner at Monsieur Paul! I love your pictures of the mama gorilla and her baby!!! You were so lucky to have the chance to see them that day!
Just got all caught up!! WoW....that sure is a lot of rain!! But like you said, rain does tend to thin out the crowds.
LOVE---LOVE your photos!!!
Can't wait to read about your Wild Africa Trek! The beginning photos, especially the hippo, are fantastic!!
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i'm only on page five of this report, having just found it. but i need to say now:
wow. your photos are AMAZING. and i'm a huge photo person.
...
EDIT: ok. all caught up. and noooooo--don't stop midway through WAT!
Sorry to stop in the middle of Africa! We are back from our short trip, and working on an update now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
Glad you had such a nice dinner at Monsieur Paul! I love your pictures of the mama gorilla and her baby!!! You were so lucky to have the chance to see them that day!
Thanks - yes, I think we were so lucky to see the baby.
Quote:
Originally Posted by travismom
Just got all caught up!! WoW....that sure is a lot of rain!! But like you said, rain does tend to thin out the crowds.
LOVE---LOVE your photos!!!
Can't wait to read about your Wild Africa Trek! The beginning photos, especially the hippo, are fantastic!!
Thanks for checking in. The rain wasn't bad. More WAT coming up.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lfredsbo
Sharon - hope you are doing okay - haven't heard anything new for a couple days?
Thanks for checking, Lisa. As Laurie said, we took a friend to Acadia for a short visit. Now the internet is giving me fits, but I'm trying to load an update
We left off as we were feeding the hippos, and learning about their behaviors. After we finished, we made a short trek through the wilds to get to the next stop:
After a short hike (none of the hiking was strenuous), normally the Trek stops to check out the crocs. The crocodiles had moved somewhere else, so we didn't see them - that was ok, as it made crossing the suspension bridges a little less stressful
Some of the boards on the bridge were spaced far apart. Lou is 6'5" and you can see he is stretching to make his next step:
We all survived crossing the two suspension bridges!!! I can see where this would be a challenge if one is afraid of heights. Another short hike, and we boarded our special safari truck for the ride to the Boma for lunch. On the way, we saw the same animals you would see on the regular safari, but we did get to pull over and stop in several areas:
You may pay extra for the WAT, but you still get to see a lot of animal backsides:
This wildebeest was lying about 20 yards from the Boma where we had lunch, and never looked at us the entire time:
And, this handsome threesome was even closer to the Boma, but I'm sure they thought the grass was keeping them out of sight:
If you've researched the WAT, or read other TRs, you've seen the cute tins they use to serve lunch. Lunch was quite good, and is prepared by the staff at Jiko:
You'll notice I'm soaked - even though I didn't think it was too hot, the humidity was a bit of a knock out for me. I did fine, but will definitely repeat the Trek on a future trip, because I don't think I took advantage of all the photo opportunities. Some of the photos included in this update are from those taken by our guides. They did a good job with photos, and you can certainly enjoy the WAT without even taking any of your own photos.
After lunch, we had a visit by one of the giraffe keepers, and she was very interesting. A highlight of the Trek was being able to interact with several different experts along the way.
Our safari truck was comfortable, and we were allowed to stand up for photography when the truck was stopped and our driver gave the OK. Again, having a small group was so nice.
An example of the types of photo ops we got from the truck:
And, as the rhinos went running past us, this ostrich came screaming by on the other side:
We stopped for quite awhile to see if the Cheetahs would do anything besides lounge:
And then, we waited ... and waited ... and waited ... for the lions to show, but no luck. They must have been napping deep within the rocks. Next time ...
Our final wildlife sighting:
Too soon, we were headed back to Harambe, where it was time to say good bye to new friends and thank our guides for a great expedition. We will definitely do this again!!!
We had a Fast Pass for the Lion King Show, and I really wanted to see the new theater, but we made the smart decision to head out of the park. My energy level was a little low at this point
We found our way to the car, safely navigated outside the World to a store where we picked up some supplies for the week. Our next step was checking into the Boardwalk.
In summary, we thoroughly enjoyed the Wild Africa Trek. It's something we've been wanting to do ever since it first opened, and we weren't disappointed. We've seen more animals on a regular safari, but this was a special experience that wasn't dependent on seeing every animal on the plains or the savannah.
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. We have some good rain memories, too, so I can understand your DD. 
It sounds like a perfect morning weather wise, and you lucked out getting a small group for the Trek 
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