Thou Shalt Not Cram May 2019 Day 3 AK

bootsie · 7 Jun 19, 09:28 PM

Why does 3 days on holiday go so much quicker than 3 days at work?!

We woke up about 6am having apparently made it through a whole night without The Noise! We pottered about, watching Netflix and eventually went to get coffee from the hotel Starbucks. We had a scheduled pool morning today and it didn't open until 9am so there was no rush. Housekeeping tried to come in while we were getting ready but kindly said they would come back later. We caked ourselves in sun cream as we were just starting to crisp up - I'm pleased to say that by careful sun cream management I didn't burn once this holiday!

It was so nice to relax by the pool and when we got too hot (it was a scorcher of a day) we dipped in and out of the water. My book did fall apart though I don't know if the heat melted the glue but the pages just fell away, I had to hold it together and quickly finish reading it.

We decided to leave after a few hours. The pool was busier today and the love bugs were really BUGGING us (pun intended) apparently this year was a bumper year for love bugs and we certainly noticed it. We decided to walk to Wholefoods again for an early lunch. We walk was nice and it seemed quicker than last time. We hit the salad bar which is just incredible, so much choice and it is all so fresh. They list the allergens so I can easily identify the vegan options. We got a large box each - mine looks very green and healthy but that is only because I put the salad leaves on last. Then I can eat the salad first and save the best bits until last (am I the only one that does this?)

We did get a large fruit salad to share (which remained uneaten for the entire holiday!) some yummy room snacks and I got a vegan carrot cake cupcake. I was praying to the cupcake gods that this would be better than the Erin McKenna disaster yesterday. We sat in the cafe section and ate our salads before walking back. We called in at the gift shops (otherwise known as tat shops!) for a quick look on the way back.

By the time we got to our room it was time to head to AK, we quickly showered and changed before calling an uber. I did find time to eat my cupcake and I am pleased to report it was delish! Our uber driver was super chatty, he told us all about Disney buying out the family members and how it has become so greedy. He told us Disney makes $58 million A DAY - I really wanted to know if this is profit or turnover but didn't seem like the time to ask.

It was very very hot today at AK. We felt like there were lots of hot fed up looking people perched on every bench/wall/ledge you could see! We didn't really have any fixed plans, I had some FPs and our main plan was to stay until closing so we could jump on FOP last thing.

We spent some time admiring the tree which I just love - so much detail and I notice something else every time I look at it! Then we went to Everest to use our first FP, we got on very quickly and as always it was a brilliant ride, one of our favourites.

We noticed a few different parts that we either didn't remember or are new such as little shops and drink stands. This park is just so beautiful.

As we escaped the Yeti we noticed that Nemo was about to start so we dived in. I liked the show - Dory is the best though!

Once finished we decided we were hungry and headed to Pizzafari as I know they do vegan options. It turned out they can only make a cheese and tomato with vegan cheese and it is a 15 min wait as they are made fresh but we preferred to have a fresh one anyway. The pizza came with a little side salad and they gave us a dressing which is vegan as well.

While we were eating we had a call from the petsitter and I immediately started to worry. It turned out she was calling because the garage had flooded which was a relief as I thought something had happened to the livestock! Jono had to call one of the lads he works with to get them to sort it out - by now it was 9.30pm at home. We (meaning Jono) spent a while on the phone sorting it and at the same time we wandered towards Pandora but I didn't want Jono to be on the phone when we saw it for the first time!

It has been said hundreds if not thousands of times on here and I have no words other than WOW! Pandora blew us away it was just stunning with so much detail and creativeness. We were in awe and my photos do not do it justice!

We had FP for the Navi River Journey which was showing a 70 min wait so we headed on. I repeatedly warned Jono not to expect a thrill ride but we both enjoyed this a lot. We went back into Pandora and noticed that FOP was only showing an 80 min wait - the shortest I have heard of it getting to. Our plan was to get in the queue about 8.45pm just before closing but we felt like we were willing to wait that long. The queue moved quickly, almost continuously and we were in the genetic matching room in an hour! Good going I thought! I felt strangly nervous as I had no idea what to expect, even more so when I saw the seating arrangement!

We were grouped with a large Spanish family and one of the little girls in the group was crying, refusing to get on she was clearly scared. All the family stayed sat down just shouting at her to get on as she ran back and forth crying. Eventually a cast member came back and said the little girl could wait with her so the family just waved her off. I thought this was really generous, Disney are not a baby sitting service and the parents were willing to leave their clearly frightened child with a stranger who didn't even speak the same language!

Anyway enough about them - the ride was incredible! We loved it so much! A word of warning I did make the mistake of looking to the side where you can see the other riders and this took away from the magic slightly. Also the goggles didn't sit very well over my normal glasses (curse my poor eye sight! ) but the ride is absolutely amazing. I'm so glad we jumped in the queue!

By now we had less than 15 mins to get to our FP for Kali River Rapids closing time so without time to digest what we had just seen we marched back to Asia and made it just in time. Last time we felt a bit disappointed with this one but as standby was 45 min it is a good use of an FP and good for a cool down on a hot day. We enjoyed the ride much more this time. We had such a funny group in our raft including a little girl who was about to burst with joy and said it was the best ride ever.

After a splash down the rapids we were kind of at a loose end again. We decided to head to Dinosaur. Again this was one that didn't meet our expectations last time but as it was a walk on we decided to risk it and actually enjoyed it a lot more this time around! At the exit Chip and Dale were having a dance party in their dinosaur costumes and there were lots of adults dancing as well, it was a good atmosphere.

We decided to do Rivers of Light as we had already gone on FOP but it was too early to go to the theatre. We tried Bugs Life but it was closed so we just did a lap of the park! First to Africa taking in all the details, there is so much to see in AK. Every wall, bench or post has some sort of detail on. We walked to Pandora hoping to see it light up at night but we were too early and it wasn't dark enough. We had a nice walk round noticing even more brilliant details. Then we walked to Asia stopping for a pretzel (these are vegan!)

We had to go right round to the peasants entrance for Rivers of Light and we were surprised how busy it was. The park looked even prettier light up at night especially the big pink Everest. The show started and once again today my expectations were far exceeded. It was a lovely show and I like that it is a bit different. We didn't take too many photos as firstly they wouldn't do it justice and secondly I have a tendency to end up watching the show through a screen rather than enjoying them at the time. We thought it was great and really like the special effects.

When the show as over we hotfooted it to the Tree to try and catch the show there but it had just finished and we didn't think it was on again (this might be wrong? ) so we went to call an uber. We got back and fell straight into bed after a very productive day.

This might be my favourite day of the holiday it was the perfect balance of relaxing and theme parking (not a verb I know...) and it was the first day that we came close to budget. We had some great food and just the right amount of tanning time. Days like this make all the planning worth it!

Total Spends $142

clubhouse · 7 Jun 19, 10:21 PM

What a lovely day, thanks for posting!

bootsie · 7 Jun 19, 10:27 PM

Originally Posted by clubhouse

What a lovely day, thanks for posting!

thank you for reading! it doesn't feel even real now looking back feels like a dream!

JanetteP · 12 Jun 19, 07:32 PM

I think AK is my favourite park - what a lovely day. I can't wait to take my ds this year to Pandora - I know he's going to love FOP. Much better food today too.

**mick** · 12 Jun 19, 09:15 PM

A lovely day with lots done

Joan

bootsie · 12 Jun 19, 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by JanetteParker

I think AK is my favourite park - what a lovely day. I can't wait to take my ds this year to Pandora - I know he's going to love FOP. Much better food today too.

Ak is just so beautiful isnt it! Have a brilliant time!

Jockey · 13 Jun 19, 06:11 PM

Fab day..I love AK..my Favourite hotel is AKL!

collybird · 18 Jun 19, 11:23 PM

It's such a shame about the Erin McKenna cakes as they looked so lovely.

I can't believe that family at FoP, that poor little girl.

You look amazing in your bikini by the way, very jealous!

Sioux · 23 Jun 19, 04:32 PM

This is my favourite park and it always seems to be the hottest one of them all. We tend to go early in the day so we can see the animals before they find shady hiding places. I'm now also craving a pretzel; I especially love the one with jalapeno in

7 Jun 19, 09:28 PM	#1
	7 Jun 19, 09:28 PM bootsie Trainee Dibber
bootsie Trainee Dibber Join Date: Feb 15	Thou Shalt Not Cram May 2019 Day 3 AK Why does 3 days on holiday go so much quicker than 3 days at work?! We woke up about 6am having apparently made it through a whole night without The Noise! We pottered about, watching Netflix and eventually went to get coffee from the hotel Starbucks. We had a scheduled pool morning today and it didn't open until 9am so there was no rush. Housekeeping tried to come in while we were getting ready but kindly said they would come back later. We caked ourselves in sun cream as we were just starting to crisp up - I'm pleased to say that by careful sun cream management I didn't burn once this holiday! It was so nice to relax by the pool and when we got too hot (it was a scorcher of a day) we dipped in and out of the water. My book did fall apart though I don't know if the heat melted the glue but the pages just fell away, I had to hold it together and quickly finish reading it. We decided to leave after a few hours. The pool was busier today and the love bugs were really BUGGING us (pun intended) apparently this year was a bumper year for love bugs and we certainly noticed it. We decided to walk to Wholefoods again for an early lunch. We walk was nice and it seemed quicker than last time. We hit the salad bar which is just incredible, so much choice and it is all so fresh. They list the allergens so I can easily identify the vegan options. We got a large box each - mine looks very green and healthy but that is only because I put the salad leaves on last. Then I can eat the salad first and save the best bits until last (am I the only one that does this?) We did get a large fruit salad to share (which remained uneaten for the entire holiday!) some yummy room snacks and I got a vegan carrot cake cupcake. I was praying to the cupcake gods that this would be better than the Erin McKenna disaster yesterday. We sat in the cafe section and ate our salads before walking back. We called in at the gift shops (otherwise known as tat shops!) for a quick look on the way back. By the time we got to our room it was time to head to AK, we quickly showered and changed before calling an uber. I did find time to eat my cupcake and I am pleased to report it was delish! Our uber driver was super chatty, he told us all about Disney buying out the family members and how it has become so greedy. He told us Disney makes $58 million A DAY - I really wanted to know if this is profit or turnover but didn't seem like the time to ask. It was very very hot today at AK. We felt like there were lots of hot fed up looking people perched on every bench/wall/ledge you could see! We didn't really have any fixed plans, I had some FPs and our main plan was to stay until closing so we could jump on FOP last thing. We spent some time admiring the tree which I just love - so much detail and I notice something else every time I look at it! Then we went to Everest to use our first FP, we got on very quickly and as always it was a brilliant ride, one of our favourites. We noticed a few different parts that we either didn't remember or are new such as little shops and drink stands. This park is just so beautiful. As we escaped the Yeti we noticed that Nemo was about to start so we dived in. I liked the show - Dory is the best though! Once finished we decided we were hungry and headed to Pizzafari as I know they do vegan options. It turned out they can only make a cheese and tomato with vegan cheese and it is a 15 min wait as they are made fresh but we preferred to have a fresh one anyway. The pizza came with a little side salad and they gave us a dressing which is vegan as well. While we were eating we had a call from the petsitter and I immediately started to worry. It turned out she was calling because the garage had flooded which was a relief as I thought something had happened to the livestock! Jono had to call one of the lads he works with to get them to sort it out - by now it was 9.30pm at home. We (meaning Jono) spent a while on the phone sorting it and at the same time we wandered towards Pandora but I didn't want Jono to be on the phone when we saw it for the first time! It has been said hundreds if not thousands of times on here and I have no words other than WOW! Pandora blew us away it was just stunning with so much detail and creativeness. We were in awe and my photos do not do it justice! We had FP for the Navi River Journey which was showing a 70 min wait so we headed on. I repeatedly warned Jono not to expect a thrill ride but we both enjoyed this a lot. We went back into Pandora and noticed that FOP was only showing an 80 min wait - the shortest I have heard of it getting to. Our plan was to get in the queue about 8.45pm just before closing but we felt like we were willing to wait that long. The queue moved quickly, almost continuously and we were in the genetic matching room in an hour! Good going I thought! I felt strangly nervous as I had no idea what to expect, even more so when I saw the seating arrangement! We were grouped with a large Spanish family and one of the little girls in the group was crying, refusing to get on she was clearly scared. All the family stayed sat down just shouting at her to get on as she ran back and forth crying. Eventually a cast member came back and said the little girl could wait with her so the family just waved her off. I thought this was really generous, Disney are not a baby sitting service and the parents were willing to leave their clearly frightened child with a stranger who didn't even speak the same language! Anyway enough about them - the ride was incredible! We loved it so much! A word of warning I did make the mistake of looking to the side where you can see the other riders and this took away from the magic slightly. Also the goggles didn't sit very well over my normal glasses (curse my poor eye sight! ) but the ride is absolutely amazing. I'm so glad we jumped in the queue! By now we had less than 15 mins to get to our FP for Kali River Rapids closing time so without time to digest what we had just seen we marched back to Asia and made it just in time. Last time we felt a bit disappointed with this one but as standby was 45 min it is a good use of an FP and good for a cool down on a hot day. We enjoyed the ride much more this time. We had such a funny group in our raft including a little girl who was about to burst with joy and said it was the best ride ever. After a splash down the rapids we were kind of at a loose end again. We decided to head to Dinosaur. Again this was one that didn't meet our expectations last time but as it was a walk on we decided to risk it and actually enjoyed it a lot more this time around! At the exit Chip and Dale were having a dance party in their dinosaur costumes and there were lots of adults dancing as well, it was a good atmosphere. We decided to do Rivers of Light as we had already gone on FOP but it was too early to go to the theatre. We tried Bugs Life but it was closed so we just did a lap of the park! First to Africa taking in all the details, there is so much to see in AK. Every wall, bench or post has some sort of detail on. We walked to Pandora hoping to see it light up at night but we were too early and it wasn't dark enough. We had a nice walk round noticing even more brilliant details. Then we walked to Asia stopping for a pretzel (these are vegan!) We had to go right round to the peasants entrance for Rivers of Light and we were surprised how busy it was. The park looked even prettier light up at night especially the big pink Everest. The show started and once again today my expectations were far exceeded. It was a lovely show and I like that it is a bit different. We didn't take too many photos as firstly they wouldn't do it justice and secondly I have a tendency to end up watching the show through a screen rather than enjoying them at the time. We thought it was great and really like the special effects. When the show as over we hotfooted it to the Tree to try and catch the show there but it had just finished and we didn't think it was on again (this might be wrong? ) so we went to call an uber. We got back and fell straight into bed after a very productive day. This might be my favourite day of the holiday it was the perfect balance of relaxing and theme parking (not a verb I know...) and it was the first day that we came close to budget. We had some great food and just the right amount of tanning time. Days like this make all the planning worth it! Total Spends $142

12 Jun 19, 09:15 PM	#5
	12 Jun 19, 09:15 PM mick VIP Dibber ✓Premium Member
mick VIP Dibber Join Date: Apr 04 Location: Rugby mick's Reviews Hotel Reviews: 1	A lovely day with lots done Joan __________________

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode