Walt Disney World 2 - the Return

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

I first have to thank Louis (DLRP_Bopazot) for all his help in making this trip possible. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Thank you so much my friend!

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Louis at work
I’ll try not to bore you all with a lengthy trip report. I have some pictures that I would like to share and some thoughts.

DAY 1 -

I flew out on the red-eye from LAX to Orlando with a brief stop over in Atlanta. I hopped aboard the Disney Magic Express that would take me from the airport to my hotel, Pop Century Resort. The resort is kinda neat and I was placed in the 80's area that had a giant Roger Rabbit and a oversized Walkman radio. The pool, which was at my doorstep was a computer with floppy disks all around. Neat theaming but the room itself was a clone of the All-star Sport and Port Orleans that I stayed at last trip.

At check in I met up with Louis and headed to Animal Kingdom. He had to work so I spent the day checking out things I had missed on the previous trip. I took the various paths that were just amazing. Lots of animal sightings.

Lunch was at the newly opened "Yak and Yeti" restaurant which was well theme - I sat at the bar. I had the Orange chicken and rice which was decent but defiantly not worth the price. The chicken was no more than standard chicken McNuggets with sauce poured over it. They were a little tough which let me to believe it may have been the Yeti that I ate and would later have to Yak. Thankfully I didn’t have too.

It was a wonderful day at the park and having not slept for many hours I
headed out after closing for some needed rest. Before leaving I explored all around the tree of life, saw the Festival of the Lion King, which is an excellent show and took the train to Rafiki’s area. Below are some pictures from the day!
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The Tree of Life - always stunning around dusk.
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Such a great ride.
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Hold on! Expedition Everest!
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A warning
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Thankfully there was glass between us - he just wanted to welcome me... I think...


More to come...

[GusGus]

Beautiful pics!

Thanks for sharing!!

can't wait to see more

[BarTopDancer]

KITTY!

[Kevy Baby]

can't wait to see moreI'll be home soon.



(Oh wait; did you mean more pix from DW?)

[GusGus]

well, unless something drastic happened today, I've already seen all that you've got.

[lashbear]

We were there as the Yackin' Yeti (deliberate spelling) was being built. I'm glad we didn't wait all this time for an Orange McNugget !

Keep the pics cummin !

[LSPoorEeyorick]

They were a little tough which let me to believe it may have been the Yeti that I ate and would later have to Yak.

Funny you should say. We've traced my Orlando food poisoning back to the noodles at Yakking Yeti. No one should eat there ever again.

[libraryvixen]

Excellent pics Bornieo!

[Tom]

Great pics! Looking forward to hearing more.

[Stan4dSteph]

Funny, I had a very nice meal at Yak & Yeti. Not the orange chicken or noodles though.

[CoasterMatt]

There's been a Yak & Yeti on Ventura Blvd. for quite a while, I wonder if it's any good? Oh yeah, it's a clothing/decor store :D

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Thanks for the comments everyone. More to come..


Funny you should say. We've traced my Orlando food poisoning back to the noodles at Yakking Yeti. No one should eat there ever again.

wow - if and when i got back I doubt I will eat there again. Not only due to your comment but the prices were not worth what you get on your plate. Compared to the other places I ate, most were a bargin.

[madmonkeygirl]

Great pics and so far so good. Love hearing about your trip in detail. Glad you had fun and didn't get sick from eating there...

[dlrp_bopazot]

I first have to thank Louis (DLRP_Bopazot) for all his help in making this trip possible. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Thank you so much my friend!


You're Welcome Bornieo it was a pleasure to have you here . Thank you again for those great meals we had together at AK and MK .

Hope the next trip planned in Europe with a big stop at DIsneyland Paris .

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Day 2 - Magic Kingdom Birthday!

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Well, May 1, 2008 - my big Three Eight was spent at the Magic Kingdom. I got my birthday button and hung with Louis for a bit. Had a "nice" ride on Space Mountain. By nice I mean, most violent ride ever. Wow.

I got a lot of "Happy Birthdays" and my lunch was at The Liberty Tree Tavern, which is in Liberty Square (Duh!). During lunch there were no characters but the waiters got together and did the Birthday Proclamation which consisted of ringing a bell and yelling that it was my birthday. It was nice of those around me to play along, since I was sitting by myself in a corner. ;) heheh
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It really was a nice day and I hit "The Country Bears" and watched the Dreams Come True Parade, which I only caught the tail of last time. The parade was good, not great. Much to my surprise, Louis informed me the guy at the start of the parade was a "Walt Disney" look-a-like. I didn’t get a picture but WTF? The parade song was good but like several Disney parades, it just repeats over and over and over again.
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I got to meet Jimny Cricket!!

Dinner was at the Crystal Palace, which is a character meet & eat. The food wasn’t really that great and doesn’t come close to Goofy’s Kitchen BUT I had a great time because of the characters and an excellent wait staff that actually cared that I was by myself. Pooh, Piglet, Tigger and Eeyore made their way around to me and the staff was happy to take pictures. Highlight was my little cake and candle that was presented by Piglet. It was very (Geek) cool. Piglet hung out with me as the staff sang Happy Birthday and they presented me with a Birthday card signed by all 4 characters - Awesome!! It was a great experience. Awwwwwww...
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The evening closed with "Wishes" fireworks from Main Street and a prime viewing spot of "Spectromagic," which I love. The Chernabog float actually worked this time - Awesome.

So I made my way back to my hotel and much to my surprise - the hotel left me balloons and an autographed picture of Ariel. Awwwww
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DAY 3 - Universal Studios -

Well, not too much to report on this day. I took the early Mears Transportation Bus to Universal and when I got there I was disappointed that the Simpson’s Ride was closed because of problems. They hoped it would reopen later in the day, so headed to JAWS and caught "Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Revue" which was GOD awful. I remember the one they had at Hollywood and that was pretty good. This one was just terrible. I must be getting old.

So, I took a couple of spins on The Mummy, which is just an awesome ride - some much more fun that Hollywood’s version. By that time, Simpson’s opened and I got to ride it!
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Afterwards I headed to Islands of Adventure and with the short time I had rode Spiderman, Cat in the Hat and had a nice lunch over at Mythos. The park closed at 6pm and I had gotten my ticket to see CHICAGO who were playing at Hard Rock Live in the CityWalk area. As always, it was a great show and a nice cap to the day. The venue is not very big but it sounds great and it seems like every seat was a good one.
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More to come!

[Stan4dSteph]

What did you think of the Simpsons ride?

[katiesue]

Looks like you had a great time!

[Mousey Girl]

grrr.. He is such a tease! He keeps making these great posts with fun pics and then disappears, leaving us wanting more!!

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Ok, ok, ok - I’ll wrap this up ASAP. :p

So, I spent 12 days at the parks, 1 at Universal, 1 day lounging around the hotels and the rest riding rides and having some fun. So I’ll avoid the Day 1 thing and just break it down into parks etc. But a quick back-track.

The Simpson’s Ride -

I really liked it. The best part of the ride, for me, was the video’s show in the line and in the waiting rooms. They’re pure "Simpsons." I’m not a fan of the digital animation used in the ride, though I’ve only ridden it once - it might grow on me. Also, the dome simulator ride has its issues in, just like Back to The Future, you can look to the sides and see the other vehicles - so if your eyes wander it really losses the emersion. I do like it better than the Martini Shaker Star Tours Simulator because you’re shaken up like a Martini. I didn’t mind the movement too much in The Simpsons - I actually liked it better than Back to the Future.

Disney’s Hollywood Studios -

Yep, the name changed and if you look carefully in certain spots in the parks you’ll still find MGM logo’s - I guess they’ve not gotten to all of them. The big story with DHS was Toy Story Midway Mania was having CM and AP previews, of-which, along with Louis, Figment1986 and his mom, I got to ride it 3 times. My review of that attraction is next.

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One Man’s Dream

I spent 2 ½ days at Hollywood Studios - mostly to ride Rockin Roller coaster which is now my favorite ride. I was pleased to find a Chicago concert poster in the queue. :)
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Block Party Bash was something I wanted to check out because knowing how hard those dancers hoof here, I couldn’t imagine them surviving in the Florida heat. So, I checked it out and it was pretty much the same show and you could really see it in the dancers not working as hard as they did in DCA. Poor things. This viewing also gave me my first major "peev" of the trip. While waiting for the parade, for which I arrived about 10 min before and got a good spot behind a few people. Some lady and her kid arrived right as the show was doing it’s first stop nearby - it had not made it to us yet. She started bitching at her husband for making everyone miss the parade and getting a good spot and then said "Plus we have this 10 foot tall guy in front of us." Nice guy that I am I turned around and gave her a nasty look. ;) wow - THEN a family with a kid in a wheel chair starts pushing their way to get to the front slamming into my leg. They obviously didn’t speak English (or whatever) so, with my vast knowledge of the parks I told the guy that they needed to go over to the CM standing nearby and be directed to the wheelchair seating area. The guy, with a really fake sad look, keeps saying "Please, we see." And after about a minute of that and me pointing to the CM, they walked over to the CM and were walked to the wheelchair area. I was PISSED first by the h10 foot tall comment, then someone ramming a wheelchair into my leg. Oddly, the lady who made the comment apologized and said it was awesome what I did with the wheelchair people. Ugh! *#&$!


Food at the park was great this time around. I tried their Pizza Port - Toy Story Pizza Planet Arcade - which was decent. I had Sci-Fi Dinner a couple of times - once with Louis, Figment and his Mom. The cool dining experience was at the 50's Prime Time Café where I had a waitress named "Tabitha" who was so much fun and even gave me a birthday card signed by herself inscribed "Keep your elbows off the table!" She got the room to sing Happy Birthday, even though it was days after the actual day. Plus the food was really good. Mmmmm...
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I watched Fantasmic twice and came to the conclusion that I do like Disneyland’s better but I like many elements of this version. Mostly the Lion King and Aladdin sections. They still haven’t updated the show like the one here but I enjoyed it. The first show I got up right in the 10th or so row because we’d gotten the only rain on my visit that sent everyone scattering. So while it was drizzling, the show went on but by then most everyone had left.
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For Gemini Cricket!

Hollywood Studios is a nice park - a real big step above DCA.

Toy Story Midway Mania!
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Spoilers !!!!!!!Spoilers !!!!!!!Spoilers !!!!!!!Spoilers !!!!!!!Spoilers !!!!!!!Spoilers !!!!!!!Spoilers !!!!!!!Spoilers !!!!!!!Spoilers !!!!!!!Spoilers !!!!!!!Spoilers !!!!!!!Spoilers !!!!!!!

Toy Story Midway Mania is not a ride, so I believe. It is a video game where you happen to be on a ride vehicle moving from one tv to another. Unlike Buzz Lightyear, there is really nothing more to do or look at in the ride other than the video screen. In Buzz, at least, you can look around and you don’t have to play/shoot the whole time. This ride it totally based on shooting targets the whole time. This is not to say I didn’t enjoy it. I liked it quite a bit.

The queue area, at least in Florida, is just wonderful. Stuff to look at everywhere and to spotlight one of my favorite sights was the giant Viewmasters of Disneyland and the Peter Pan film. The animatronic Mr. Potato Head was real cool and it’s movements top of the line. Oddly in the Florida queue, if you have Fastpass or a Single Rider, you don’t go near the Mr. Potato Head.

I think the biggest problem I saw with the TSMM was the loading/unloading whereas it all happens at the same time. When you’re lined up to get on, the car pulls up, the doors on the opposite side open and they passengers get out. Then the doors on your side open and you get in. It takes a while and seeing as they had the room, they should have had a separate unloading area because the ride got backed up and was so whenever I was in the loading area. There is an alternate track that leads to a handicap loading/ unloading area where the cars move into the area, then the track switches allowing the other cars to go by and unload. When the Handicap car’s ready, the track moves and it joins up with the regular track.

All in all, it’s fun - the 3D effects are really great and there is some water and air effects. The "gun" that’s mounted on the car is gonna be a problem someday since it’s basically a mounted gun that swivels around, up/ down - side to side and the firing mechanism is a pull string which, unless you’re a chronic masturbator, your hand hurts after getting off the attraction. In any case it will be the first thing to break - no doubt.

More to come...

[madmonkeygirl]

Ok leave us hanging yet again lmao..just joking....

I guess i work way too hard or something. Would be nice to go off for 12 days and have a vacation and ride rides *sigh*. But life and responsibilities maybe someday. (i.e. next tour if they decide to tour when the weather is nicer)...

[madmonkeygirl]

How can you not like the Simpsons? Sorry but i'll take the Simpsons over Back to the Future anyday. It is a very repeatable ride in the fact i could reride over and over again unlike Back To The Future and for once i do not mind waiting in the cue line and the holding rooms.

[Gemini Cricket]

For Gemini Cricket!
Yay!

[lashbear]

Hehehehe you said Chronic Masturbator.

...So the guys are going to do better than the girls on this one ?? :evil:

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Uh, not necessarily. Women also put a little muscle in it from time to time. (Not to mention women who handle their partner's equipment.)

More pictures, B! I'm enjoying them.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Thanks LSP & LB - You all will see just how perverse it is once you ride it. I'm sure those shy - teenage - game'ers will get some really high scores.

[Bornieo: Fully Loaded]

Disney’s Animal Kingdom -

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As stated before, this is such a beautiful park and I spent a lot of the time just looking around and taking in the majestic atmosphere of Animal Kingdom. One of the major highlights was Expedition Everest, which is a short but powerful ride and I’ve included a couple of videos for those interested.

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Another great thing about this trip was the opportunity to see things that I had missed the last time, so I got to go through many of the trails, including the one that leads you to the base of the Tree Of Life. I experienced that both in the day and at dusk, which was amazing. The Conservation Station was missed last time but it was a nice train ride and the displays were real neat. Most of all I really liked the trails and the "step above the norm" zoo exhibits where the details are just wondrous. I probably spent about a 1½ hours sitting on various benches throughout the trails just looking around and absorbing the whole place.

I re-experienced The Festival of the Lion King several times and its just a great show. The way the whole theater comes alive is pretty original and I really love the music. I bypassed the Finding Nemo musical - I’m sure I could have caught the show but was never in the area at the right time. I really didn’t care for it last time. I did see the Mickey’s Jungle Jamin’ Parade, which I thought was ok. The mobiles of various animals were kinda cool and the music had a nice beat but it sure went on forever. It was a snail pace parade and in the heat and sun, it was struggle but it was enjoyable.

The food, as mentioned in a previous post was Yak and Yeti, which both Louis and I ate at a second time. This time we got a real nice 2nd story overlook that was pretty cool. This time I tried the Honey Chicken which was the same as the Orange Chicken, just with a different sauce. It was decent, but the whole diningroom was really decked out with artifacts and statues - if only they spent as much time on the menu as they did on the atmosphere.

When the park closed on my last day in that park - it was like a heard of people trying to leave so I took a bench in the Oasis Exhibit area at the front of the park and spent about ½ hour watching people leaving but most of all really taking in that area - trees, plants and the birds that were around. It was just really relaxing.

Mickey’s Princess and Pirate Party -

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This was a "hard ticket" event similar to the Halloween and Christmas events at the Magic Kingdom. The event started at 7pm on a Friday night, so the morning was spent at Animal Kingdom -as reported above. I had gone to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party last visit and was really impressed. This time around it was a similar event in that there was going to be an original parade and new Fireworks show for this event too. The them, of course was Princess and Pirates, so a lot of the characters were dressed up and both Princess and Pirates were out and there was a treasure hunt where we got bags with faux diamonds and necklaces. Plus there were DJ’s and all sorts neat lighting and set ups for photo’s and the such.

I made my way around not wanting to miss out on anything and got some cool character pics. I was soaked in the Pirate Mickey pic all thanks to Splash Mountain.
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I didn’t have food reservations so I stopped at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café, which has an animatronics lounge singer in the eating area. I just had a burger which was a100 times better than the slop they call "burger" at Disneyland. After I was eager to see the parade and get a good spot for the fireworks. The parade was ok - it was just a bunch of previously used floats and some of the "royalty" were on horseback. The song was pretty annoying and just repeated over and over again - AND if I thought the Animal Kingdom Parade was slow, this one was just a slow. It really dragged.

The fireworks, thought, were amazing as ever. The video link is below if you dare watch it.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202008/th_100_7554.jpg (http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a377/bornieo/Disney%20World%202008/?action=view&current=100_7554.flv)
Part 1
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Part 2

It really was a nice event - though I will rate the Halloween version much better. Oh, and I spotted a character I’ve never seen before - Flounder from Little Mermaid was in Sebastian’s Dance Party knocking kids over. Sadly I wish there was a handler there so I could get a picture with it but...it was funny enough to see kids being knocked around by the large character.
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More to come...

[Moonliner]

As I count down the days to my own trip your photos are driving me crazy. I wanna go now!