AC's Fort/Bay Lake Tower February 2013 Trip Report

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Hakuna Matata:

Gorillas in the Mist:

Next....an expedition to get important documents.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Great AK photos!

I have never, ever taken the path on the left when entering AK. We always go to the right.

I guess now I'll have to see if you're right about the path on the left.

An expedition? To get important documents? Can't wait to hear about that.

TCD

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Love the gorilla in the mist.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I always go right too. Probably drawn that way toward EE. To be honest, I am the least familiar with AK of any of the parks, so I can't even really picture that area to the left. I need to spend more time exploring that park some day.

[michele j 9]

Great photos.

:hah: If you want to be faster tape it to your back. Took me a few to figure out what you meant. good one

[kampfirekim 260]

Hakuna Matata:

How do you call one of these over? Meer cat.... meer cat.... meeeeer cat. (sorry, it's lil H's favorite joke when we go to the zoo)

[YENSIDCAMPER 66]

One of the Birnbaum books tells you to go the right it is the shortest path according to them. The specifically say to not go through Dinoland to get EE, Asia is the quicker route.

I bet so many go right now that left is now shorter.

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

Loved the gorillas in the mist. Lol

Don't tell anyone we always go to the left. I don't know if its shorter but its always less crowded. I just figured it was because most were going right for EE.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Great AK photos!

I have never, ever taken the path on the left when entering AK. We always go to the right.

I guess now I'll have to see if you're right about the path on the left.

An expedition? To get important documents? Can't wait to hear about that.

TCD

Go left. "You should try it some time. It's a rush." (Will Ferrell as Harry Carey)

Love the gorilla in the mist.

Thanks Annie.

I always go right too. Probably drawn that way toward EE. To be honest, I am the least familiar with AK of any of the parks, so I can't even really picture that area to the left. I need to spend more time exploring that park some day.

EE is the big draw, but the paths on both sides of the Oasis come back together before the Tree of Life. We literally saw hundreds of people go to the path on the right and then hustled up the left trail and passed all of them. It was nice because then we weren't walking amongst a mass of people. If at the front of the crowd, I would totally cut through DinoLand to get the EE too, but that may just be me.

Great photos.

:hah: If you want to be faster tape it to your back. Took me a few to figure out what you meant. good one

I love those commercials.

How do you call one of these over? Meer cat.... meer cat.... meeeeer cat. (sorry, it's lil H's favorite joke when we go to the zoo)

No apologies necessary. Lil H quotes are always welcomed!

One of the Birnbaum books tells you to go the right it is the shortest path according to them. The specifically say to not go through Dinoland to get EE, Asia is the quicker route.

I bet so many go right now that left is now shorter.

See responses above. Thanks for reading along!

Loved the gorillas in the mist. Lol

Don't tell anyone we always go to the left. I don't know if its shorter but its always less crowded. I just figured it was because most were going right for EE.

That could very well be the case, especially if they don't realize that both initial paths to Discovery Island merge together before the bridge to the Island.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

2-8-13 (continued)

When we left off we had just finished the Safari. We actually rode the Safari twice in a row, once standby and then immediately thereafter with FPs.

Now we were on an expedition to retrieve some important paperwork:

A few minutes later we had four copies of this important document in hand:

With the mission complete, we made our way to the Nemo show:

Somebody decided it was sillypic time while we waited:

After the awesome (per usual) Nemo show, we headed back to EE to use our FPs. DS is not a coaster fan and DD was too short so I went first while DW stayed with the kids and fed them some lunch:

After a great ride, it was DW's turn to go and I finished lunch with the kids.

We had each used a FP, but we had two left. What should we do with them?

I found a mother/daughter who were trying to decide to get in the standby line or not; which was 50 minutes.

I gave them to the duo who acted as if I was the publisher's clearing house prize team at their door.

It was priceless. I love giving away FPs.

Something that will go away soon it sounds like. That sucks.

Anyway, we were headed back to DinoLand.

At this point in the update, I am picturing DaveinTN laughing and planning a new dance flick to celebrate.

We headed to DinoLand and rode the prehistoric Dumbo ride:

A couple picks from on high:

DaveinTN knows this place is right next to Prehistoric Dumbo:

So after the Flying Three Pronged Rhinos, we headed directly to...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Yup.

You guessed it.

It's Tough to Be a Bug.

You didn't actually think we were going to the Boneyard did you Dave?

The Boneyard is taking up space where they could put up a food court that sells Dole Whips, cinnamon rolls, turkey legs, popcorn, etc.

They could also put a Meet and Greet there.

Or bathrooms.

Or trees.

Anything but that time suck.

Anyway, we bypassed the yard and went to see Flick and his friends.

Afterward, we headed for the exits so DW and I could get ready for Date Night.

Stay tuned for date night. Not the Steve Carell/Tina Fey movie. But you will see some pood forn so this is probably better.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Wow. Caught up. Love EE

[Family of Bears 98]

We alway baby swap on the coasters. And get fp. So this is how that works out. Arrive with 3 fp. Show baby. Receive baby swap pass. Which means an additional ride plus 3 guests. Use fp. So now we have 2 fp and a swap+3 left. Use fp. Show baby. Receive swap pass. Ride. Left with 1 fp and 2 swap+3s.

I could go on all day long.

[alexwyattmommy 181]

Love the EE pictures. Is someone eating Goldfish while waiting for Nemo? Does he not know that Fish are Friends, not Food? ROFL

Date night!

[kampfirekim 260]

Ohhh I love Animal Kingdom! And I love the Nemo Show! And I love Expedition Everest! Great update and great photos!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Love the EE pictures. Is someone eating Goldfish while waiting for Nemo?

I was going to ask the same question! LOL.

Looking forward to Date Night Pood Forn.

As much as I agree with you on the Boneyard...Anna says we are both wrong and that the place rocks.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Wow. That pic might be the best thread hijack ever!

Good one Dave.

Fish are for eating. I love me some Great Lakes walleye.

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Wow. Caught up. Love EE

Thanks for catching up and reading along.

We alway baby swap on the coasters. And get fp. So this is how that works out. Arrive with 3 fp. Show baby. Receive baby swap pass. Which means an additional ride plus 3 guests. Use fp. So now we have 2 fp and a swap+3 left. Use fp. Show baby. Receive swap pass. Ride. Left with 1 fp and 2 swap+3s.

I could go on all day long.

I may need an illustrated version of that strategy but it sounds like one I need to learn!

Love the EE pictures. Is someone eating Goldfish while waiting for Nemo? Does he not know that Fish are Friends, not Food? ROFL

Date night!

Yep. More gold fish. At least they werent clown fish.

Ohhh I love Animal Kingdom! And I love the Nemo Show! And I love Expedition Everest! Great update and great photos!

Thanks Kim. Hopefully I can keep this up and give you some more good updates tomorrow!

[kampfirekim 260]

As much as I agree with you on the Boneyard...Anna says we are both wrong and that the place rocks.

Great pic and my boys agree with Anna. They are very pro-boneyard. It just makes me overheat and go into a panic. :panic:

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

I was going to ask the same question! LOL.

Looking forward to Date Night Pood Forn.

As much as I agree with you on the Boneyard...Anna says we are both wrong and that the place rocks.

So Anna wins.... so just don't ask me to go to AK with Anna.

[Southern Blessings 4]

Enjoying reading along and looking at your pics! I love Expedition Everest!

[BuckeyeFortMama 43]

I'm caught up.

I'm also loving your report.

Although you're sounding like my husband by referring to anything as a "time suck."

The Boneyard is a time suck but sometimes you need a time suck especially on 7am rope drops when you want to see the parade.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

:pc:

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

Enjoying reading along and looking at your pics! I love Expedition Everest!

Thanks SB.

I'm caught up.

I'm also loving your report.

Although you're sounding like my husband by referring to anything as a "time suck."

The Boneyard is a time suck but sometimes you need a time suck especially on 7am rope drops when you want to see the parade.

I stole the line from your husband. He seems like a wise man.

:pc:

Can I have some of that?

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

2-8-13 (Date Night)

The kids were left at BLT with a sitter and DW and I were on our way out for date night.

We decided to hop the monorail, soon to be renamed the Star Wars Episode Seven-o-rail.

Grand Floridian DVC Construction:

We exited at the TTC and waited for the Oz-o-rail. Why didn't they have an emerald monorail for the new Oz movie? I think it would have been cool. Anyway an Epcot monorail was just around the corner:

On the way in to the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow:

The Graveyard:

Golf ball through the trees:

More golfball:

One of my favorite views in all of WDW:

After heading inside, we decided we should check the FP situation for Test Track and Soarin......Soarin was long SB wait and had no FPs left so we headed to TT. We wanted to ride TT more anyway because we had not been on the new version as of yet:

With fast passes in hand, we headed for the UK.

We checked in at Rose&Crown and were seated within a couple minutes.

While we waited I observed a young lady signing autographs for her fans:

After we were seated we decided on an appetizer and drinks:

We shared the Scottish Egg, which was mouth watering delish. I had a black&tan and DW had a glass of Pinot.

DW ordered the salmon which she said was very good:

I had to get the fish & chips which was also very good:

Here is my wife finishing her second glass:

Do you see the people sitting at the table behind her? There was a group of 5-6 elderly males. They were discussing their many ailments, prescribed medications, etc. Some of the ailments were decidedly male related in nature. It was funny listening to them talk about all their issues and comparing and contrasting them. Some people may have been offended, but these guys were all war veterans based on the conversations I overheard; so they can say and do whatever they want as far as I am concerned. They earned the right.

After dinner, we saw a nice lady receiving visitors:

We walked up to her too late, but we had a question for her that needed to be answered.....so we asked if she knew any wild women and whether she knew what MPR was................and here is what happened:

I guess she didn't like our line of questioning but we thought it was funny anyway:

The Photopass photographer just stared at her while she walked away. Apparently she wanted to know about the WW and MPR also.

Mary would not come back so we took the bridge to France. Immediately upon reaching the other side of the bridge I felt the sudden urge to just give up on our evening, pack it in, and head home.........but somehow I found the strength to follow my DW into the breach. Yep. I finally went somewhere in the French pavilion at WS and lived to tell about it. I am not proud that I went there, but DW wanted to and it was date night so yours truly took one for the team:

Champagne is gross so who the hell pays $350.00 a bottle for this crap?

DW asked if I wanted to get something from the bakery in France. I told her she could get something but my hypocrisy only went so far.

Then I explained all the other treats available around WS and she wisely chose against anything in the liberated French territory.

Little did I know that we could go somewhere next that was almost as bad.

Can you guess where we ended up next?

[AC in A2......Aaron 693]

If you guessed it, I am impressed.

If you have been through this in your own life, I feel your pain.

We were headed into Hello Kitty Hell:

After barely making it out with my sanity, I watched the Koi for a minute:

Where was the booth renting lures and poles? I couldn't find one so we moved on to Germany and a very important first:

We had never been in the caramel shop there before. The caramels were awesome but the caramel corn was even more awesomer.

Before we left Germany, DW agreed to take a picture with Dave's dream girl:

After having a few laughs about Dave with Miss White, we walked back to American Adventure.

I smelled something when we walked past earlier and felt the need to go back. We always watch the movie at the American pavilion once each trip. We were early for the movie so I got one of these to help kill time:

Yup.

That is a funnel cake.

In front of a bunch of flowers named after the USC Trojan football team.

After scarfing down my delicious American cuisine, we went into the movie:

After the movie, it was time to use our TT FPs. We will be headed there next.