WDW Fan Boys Blog

Now this is what I'm talking about... a full day at the Animal Kingdom without listening to Paul and Brett making fun of me.  Ok, so that really didn't happen but we did go back to the Animal Kingdom today. 

The excitement began at the bag check, where the guy in front of us had a crude looking electronic device that was causing a slight issue.  The device in question was two D Batteries bound together by a rubber band, and they were somehow connected to an electronic device that kind of resembled a pedometer but slightly larger.  The lady checking the bags called over another security agent and asked him to take a look at it.  At this point, the guy flashes an ID badge (I couldn't read where he was from), said "Finally.  Good Job" and both of the security guards waved him on.  I can only assume that he either worked for Disney, or an independent company they've hired to do checks on their security.  I wasn't really re-assured by the "Finally", but I never really saw Disney security as anything but a burrito prevention agency anyways.

On to the park, crowds were light once again and the tip board said 5 minutes for Kilimanjaro Safaris and Expedition Everest.  We headed to Everest with the intention of getting a Fastpass and riding standby, but when we arrived there was a train stuck on the lift hill.  It was there for quite a while, and the ride was down until around 1 PM.  We still got our two rides in though so we were satisfied.

We did more of the Animal based attractions today, including Maharajah Jungle Trek where we learned that the Tapir that has been in the park since 1999 has passed away.  It's exhibit is now home to a pair of Geese whose specific species name I don't remember.  I have photos but I'll post those at a later date.

We stayed in the Animal Kingdom until a little after 4 (we left after the 3:30 showing of the Lion King).  It should also be noted that I got a Jalapeno Cheese Pretzel prior to the show, and had a piece of Jalapeno Pepper stuck in my teeth for about 6 hours.  Sure, I could have brushed my teeth when we went back to the condo, but that would have been the logical thing to do. 

We relaxed at the condo for a bit before heading over to the Magic Kingdom.  Our skipper on the Jungle Cruise was Clare, and I was in one of the first seats and was the butt of most of her jokes.  To her credit she didn't have much to work with because there was little to no reaction from anyone else on the boat.  We followed up Jungle Cruise with rides on Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain.  On our way to Splash Mountain I posted the following two questions on our twitter feed:

Question 1: Who wears a fez on safari? The guy 2nd from the top on Jungle Cruise's rhino scene is sporting a fez.
Question 2: Why do the guys in the jail cell in pirates have a dog bone?

I think I've reached the point where I've officially been to the parks too much, that I'm beginning to ask these types of questions.  After Splash Mountain we met up with listener Ricardo, and later his wife and son.  Ricardo, Marie and I rode Haunted Mansion, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin and Space Mountain and we also stood 10 deep trying to see the Main Street Electrical Parade.  It's great to see that we have fans that have a similar passion for the parks and can also tolerate the drivel we call a podcast.  While we get to interact with our listeners on forums and through listener questions, it's something completely different to spend time together in the parks.  We've stated from the outset that we want this show to be for the fans and by the fans, so I special thank you goes out to Zack, Ricardo and your respectively families who we met on this trip.

Paul, Brett and Ashley have left, so Marie and I are on our own.  This allowed us the opportunity to leave the friendly confines of Walt Disney World, and head over to the relatively unfamiliar Islands of Adventure.  Let the record show, I really enjoy Islands of Adventure while Marie could take it or leave it.

This particular trip to Islands of Adventure was for one reason, and one reason only: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  We knew crowds had been light at Disney World and were hoping it would carry over to Islands of Adventure in some capacity.  After looking at those terrifying crowds that I outlined in The Game Changer, I was prepared to wait 2 hours for Olivander's Wand Shop and Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.  Thankfully that wasn't the case.

We arrived shortly after the 9:00 AM park opening, and made a b-line towards The Wizarding World, and specifically Forbidden Journey.  After dropping our belongings into a locker we were on our way for what was listed as a 10 minute wait.  The reality is, this is the wait before you enter the castle.  Once in the castle you can probably have an additional 30 minutes depending on the time of day.  However our first trip saw us wait around in the pre-show rooms to take everything in while we let others pass us.  I was a bit worried about fitting in the seat but I had no issues.

On to the ride itself - I won't be the first person to review it, but I do think this is the game changer that I referenced earlier.  It's the best ride in the country.  I haven't been to a theme park overseas so I can't speak to that, but it is thorough, uses a variety of special effects, and blends things together seemlessly.  A hybrid of Sum of All Thrills, Soarin', and Indiana Jones Temple of the Forbidden Eye, it is truly an amazing achievement.  What's puzzling is that Islands of Adventure now sports the two best rides in Central Florida yet it's entirely possible that it would rank 7th in attendance for 2010.  With a few modifications, I think Islands of Adventure could exist as a Disney caliber park.  What would those modifications be you ask?

1. Replace The Hulk and Dragon Challenge with less thrilling, highly themed experiences
2. Eliminate any spinning components from The Cat in the Hat
3. Add more family friendly experiences

Back to point 2, we discussed the top 50 attractions in Orlando all the way back on Episode #005.  In this episode I mentioned that The Cat in the Hat is overrated.  I was turned off by the unnecessary spinning of the attraction before, and after going on it again today, it's a higher quality attraction than any Fantasyland dark ride, and is second only to "it's a small world" for scope and scale (I'd rather ride The Cat in the Hat).

Back to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the shops were cramped (this was expected), Flight of the Hippogriff isn't meant to fit two adults in the same seat, and the queue for Dragon Challenge is more than acceptable despite those that criticized the changes.  I also tried Pumpkin Juice and Frozen Butterbeer.  The Pumpkin Juice was weird, especially on a hot August day, but the Butterbeer was quite good.  It does seem that most of the flavor is in the foam, but I don't think I could persuade them to give me a cup full of foam.

While in Islands of Adventure we also hit up Mythos for an early lunch/way of getting out of the heat.  As mentioned earlier, Marie isn't a big fan of this park, and the heat was really getting to her today.  I wound up doing several things on my own while she sat in the shade.

**Speaking of Marie, I hate her computer - I just tried to post this article with a bit about Epcot but the internet connection timed out so I have to re-write it.**

We left Islands of Adventure a little after 3.  We headed back to the condo before making our way into Epcot for the evening.  We attempted to ride both Soarin' and Test Track before getting dinner, but Soarin' seemed to be having technical issues causing our wait to be about 75 minutes.  We were in Concourse 2, and the A section wasn't working.  I'm not sure if there were any issues with Concourse 1, but the queue was slow regardless.

I reached out to our twitter followers in hopes of getting ideas for dinner.  Brett suggested we go to Liberty Tree Tavern or Electric Umbrella.  Apparently he had never been to Epcot.  Listener Bladdernose suggested Germany, while Ashley suggested France.  We tried France but it was booked up and we wound up at Restaurant Marrakesh.  The food was good, the music and belly dancing was entertaining, but ultimately the cost was just too prohibitive.  We each had an entree, no appetizer, no booze, no dessert, and we had the Tables in Wonderland card.  Our check came to $65, and it most certainly wasn't a $65 meal.

We finished our day with Illuminations and a trip to WalMart.  Our last full day is tomorrow, unless of course we get caught up in a hurricane and are "forced" to stay down longer

Today was Paul and Ashley's last day.  We got into the Magic Kingdom a little after 10:00, and the park was absolutely dead.  We saw 11 attractions, and had lunch in under 4 hours, with midday wait times of 5 minutes for Winnie the Pooh and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and 15 minute waits for Peter Pan's Flight, Splash Mountain and Space Mountain.

All in all it was a great first meeting for the WDW Fan Boys, and I can't wait until we do it again.  I'm going to back off on the daily trip reports from Disney for the rest of the trip, but I may bring some information about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter tomorrow.

We brought Paul and Ashley to the airport at around 3:30, and we returned to the park for the evening.  We took advantage of the light crowds and did some of the things we missed earlier.  Additionally, we got on Space Mountain for the third time and are pleased to report that the offboard audio is a huge improvement.  It's still not up to par with Disneyland's version, but it's a significant improvement over coasting through the ride in the dark.

We capped off the night with Wishes, a fitting end to a nice long day.  I'll cut this short because the Merv Griffith episode of Seinfeld is on right now and it's one of my favorites.  I just hope the tiny instruments arrive in time to save the squirrel.