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25 Oct 16, 09:23 PM |
#1
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Apprentice Imagineer
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Furry Funded Florida Family Fun, Day 3
Day 3, September 5th 2016. Mucky Ducks, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom.
Today started with a surprise for the men on the trip, Julia and Sandra had booked up to spend the morning riding Mucky Ducks at Revolution Off Road. So vigorously has they defended this surprise that we didn't have a clue until last night about even what time we needed to get up. Now remember that 1am finish? We were delighted to discover we needed to be on the road by 8.30am this morning. The ladies also decided to keep a surprise that we would need a change of clothes and foot ware from us, but more of that later... While we were getting mucky the ladies were going shopping. The drive out east to Revolution was nice and simple and we were soon making the long trek down their rough drive to their trailer by the lake. I've looked on Google, but the lake appears to have no name. No expense spent on the facilities, the turdis bathroom is thankfully out of shot, behind the 'office'. Here we ran into a snag, Sandra had made the booking some time ago and had forgotten to bring the print out with her. The lady behind the counter could find no record of us... There was some to and fro and some phone calls in an area with extremely patchy signal, but eventually it was conceded that we were booked and had paid. However it was suggested that rather than ride in the Mucky Ducks amphibious vehicles we would have more fun driving our own ATVs. Brian pointed out we were all booked to drive our own Mucky Duck, but we never got a straight answer on that. We were convinced that the ATVs would be more fun than the Mucky Duck as it had been raining so much recently the Mucky Duck would spend most of the trip as a simple slow boat rather than splashing in and out of water so flooded was the area. Administration difficulties behind us we were introduced to our guide and in turn to our ATVs. These were huge, more like small open cars than the little quad bikes you see here. The handle bars were higher than my waist. Sadly I can't remember this dude's name, but he was really friendly and an excellent instructor. We had an introduction to the machines, an explanation of the hand signals we'd use and the general rules of the road around the site. Did you know the Florida air ambulance charges $1,000 per minute of flight time? We were told this a few times and that they like to come out for even a simple call here due to the distance, so we were advised to follow the rules and not follow too close together, not to roll our ATVs and generally have fun. We were also ominously told to leave everything we wanted to keep dry in the car and our keys behind the desk. There then followed a brief couple of trips around a training circuit they have in the field outside the hut to get us used to the controls and we were off into the wilderness. The trails were very wet, with 'puddles' as deep as the seats on the ATVs, so we were quickly soaked to the waist. It was great fun blasting around the place and splashing through the water, we'd all highly recommend the experience. We were out for about 40 minutes before coming back to the hut for a brief rest, where we could buy drinks, before heading back out on some different trails for another 40 minutes or so. I'm happy to say none of us got stuck, although the instructor came close to having to walk out of waist high water and Ed's bike did stall once after a particularly deep part. Once back at the car park we retrieved our phones to find messages from the ladies suggesting we meet at Disney Springs for lunch, but we put paid to the idea and pointed out we would need to change and shower before we went anywhere. Furthermore they would need to pick up new shoes for me and Ed as ours were totally wrecked having been submerged in the dark sandy water all morning. You do get VERY wet and dirty. Plans made to meet back at our rooms it was just the case of getting the hire car nice and damp for the half hour drive back to Disney. Despite the fiasco with the booking system I'd still recommend the ATV experience, just print your confirmation out and take it with you. I’m still not sure why we three men had been sent off for the morning, maybe I was supposed to bond with my brother-in-law? Maybe it was father and son bonding? If it was either then being 15 yards apart on LOUD ATVs is not the best venue for bonding! Whatever the reason my wife and sister had sent us off we were grateful, we’d all really enjoyed our morning. Back at the hotel we all showered and changed before trying on our new shoes. Edward managed to salvage his old ones after leaving them outside to dry for around a week, but mine went in the bin. Then again his had been around £100 and mine had come from the Tesco sales. Some time while we were out having fun Julia had taken some pictures of our room. The bathroom end. The bed end, as you can see there was plenty of room for the ECV just inside the door. Clean again we headed over to give the Pepper Market another chance and get some lunch. The place was much calmer at lunchtime and redeemed itself. There is a large variety of food on offer, from multiple stations. I got a burger, Ed got a Philly Cheese Steak and Julia a roast beef sandwich. We were also all able to get some of their speciality drinks and a cookie on the dining plan. The cookies we saved for breakfast the next day. Julia headed back to the room immediately after eating, the rest of us decided to explore the resort a little bit with a walk around the lake, after waiting for a shower to pass. For some reason I didn’t take any pictures on our walk, but I do remember not liking the main pool area at all. To be a bit clearer none of us liked the horrible noise at the main pool. There was a cast member entertaining about six kids with some sort of quiz. Why she had to do this with a microphone and a PA turned up to eleven I have no idea, the kids were stood directly in front of her! Continuing around the lake from the pool we were soon back at our block where we arranged a time to meet at the car later to go to Magic Kingdom. After a nap we all headed off to Magic Kingdom and our ADR at Be Our Guest. On days like this the FP+ system is fantastic, we had Enchanted Tales with Belle and Seven Dwarfs booked and we would have never have gotten either turning up at this time of day with the old system. We were in the park just before 5pm in some very light rain. Thankfully it never got any harder and soon cleared off altogether. We took a stroll up Main Street toward Fantasy Land, stopping for some pictures along the way. All the windows above Main Street tell a story, this one tells the story of how the land Walt Disney World stands on was purchased. The rain had gone completely by the time we got to the hub. I’m still not convinced by the false perspective on Beast’s castle. Enchanted Tales with Belle is an attraction that I’ve been wanting to experience for a while, but I’ve never quite been brave enough to go into something aimed squarely at pre-teens. It actually has a couple of really clever effects, the enchanted mirror and the Lumiere animatronic. The first you experience is the mirror, and I’m really not sure how it is done. By Disney magic this mirror becomes a door. Once transported from Belle’s old cottage to her new home in the castle various roles get handed out to child volunteers and adult victims. Happily none of us were picked on. You then go into the library show room where Lumierer tells the story with the aid of the new cast to Belle, who must have been at the sauce not to remember her own life story! By looking closely you can see how this magic is done, but it s very clever as well. I have to say I think we all enjoyed our story, even Edward. We had some PhotoPass pictures done and then moved round to Seven Dwarfs where we found a huge queue as it had been down for a while earlier. All say ahh A rose between two thorns, or something like that. I’ve been accused of having a chip on my shoulder before, but never on my hand. The fast pass queue was out and around the ride, but it went reasonably quickly. I wouldn’t mind living here. We had a bit of time before our ADR so we went over to Philarmagic, where we just walked straight up to the doors inside. However we were pushed up tight to them by the cast member, then over the next few minutes the space became absolutely packed as more and more people came in. We moved away from the door a stood near the back where there was a little more space. Eventually the doors opened and those who had pushed to the front suddenly found themselves in the worst seats right on the far side of the auditorium. For once they enforced the ‘move to the far end of the row’ rule as the theatre was full. By the time the show finished it was time for our ADR at Be Our Guest. We checked in at the bridge and I amused myself taking a few pictures while we waited to be let in. I love how everything fits the theme as seen from here. Just as I thought I was going to get a clear photo she opens the door. We were seated in the main Ball Room at a table near the door and I don’t think any of us were blown away by it. The room just felt like a large dining hall to be honest, not anything opulent. It looks opulent, but it feels like a big busy room. The service was ok, but a little focused on what we could or couldn’t have on the dining plan. For example Brian asked for a coffee with desert and the reply was a very blunt “that’s not on the plan” rather than a polite “certainly sir, but since you had a speciality soft drink that will be extra I’m afraid”. Having said that we all enjoyed our main courses. I had their signature pork dish and it was excellent and a big portion. Edward and Julia both had steak and had no complaints about them at all. Sandra appears to have had lamb. Now onto desert and the famous Grey Stuff. Julia didn’t want desert at all, so I was able to get both the deserts everyone talks about. I ordered the éclair, which was delicious and Julia ordered the Grey Stuff, which wasn’t and was served on a stale powdery brownie. The actual grey stuff didn’t really taste of anything, except maybe slightly sweetened cream. Ed had the strawberry shortcake and pronounced it ‘ok’. Very tasty. Not so much so. Perfectly edible. The ladies went to queue up to meet Beast while us men settled the bill, both some credits and the cash for those coffees. There was a bit of a wait to see Beast and it defiantly felt like a rushed production line rather than a character interaction to get your picture. Does it show that we were not impressed by our Be Our Guest experience? We got another couple of pictures while we got ourselves sorted, used bathrooms and decided what to do with the rest of the night. I think it is safe to say we won’t bother trying to get another ADR here with everything else that is on offer at WDW. These chat among themselves. Not a bad bathroom entrance hall. Tonight was the last ever scheduled performance of Jungle Book Alive over at Animal Kingdom, since it was dry we presumed it would be on. Myself, Sandra and Brian headed over there in the car while Julia and Edward had had enough for the day and headed back to the hotel on the bus. They could easily get on and off the bus with the ECV, but they wouldn’t have been able to get it in and out of the car on their own. Animal Kingdom had changed its hours today, closing at 9pm rather than 11pm as it had been. This meant we simply went in and watched the show, the park closed as the show started so there were no rides to do after then show. I was dead on my feet, so I for one was quite glad my sister couldn’t inflict another late night on us. For a supposedly unpopular show it certainly pulled a crowd! Dancers with the water projection in the background. The lead singers on their central barge. Fire! I have to say I enjoyed the show, yes the projections could have been brighter and the singers being on a central barge side on to the audience was a little odd, but the show had loads of energy and some great music. I suspect its Bollywood style went over better with us Brits for who it is becoming more main stream culture than for Americans and South Americans for who it might be their first exposure to Indian music and dance. Show done we sat for a while to let the crowd go and then made our way home to bed, where another early alarm awaited us.
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All of my trip reports can be found here, Florida, Paris and LA. |
26 Oct 16, 12:33 PM |
#2
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slightly serious Dibber
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You certainly had a fun morning! You mentioned that the instructor was very friendly, he appears to also be extremely handsome! unfortunately we missed Jungle Book Alive due to reasons I can't remember, I wish that we had seen it...
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26 Oct 16, 02:55 PM |
#3
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Thread Starter
Apprentice Imagineer
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He didn't do much for me I'm afraid.
I went into the show with low expectations and was very pleasantly surprised, I'm very glad we made the effort that last night.
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All of my trip reports can be found here, Florida, Paris and LA. |
27 Oct 16, 10:23 AM |
#4
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Excited about Disney
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Your photos are lovely! :-)
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Lynne |
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27 Oct 16, 04:08 PM |
#5
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Imagineer
Join Date: Jul 13
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Another lovely day, we loved Enchanted Tales, my 4 year old fell in love with Belle last year and was delighted to be part of the show with her! Looking forward to the rest.
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27 Oct 16, 11:17 PM |
#6
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Thread Starter
Apprentice Imagineer
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Thanks
I was impressed with the show. Work keeps getting in the way of writing.
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All of my trip reports can be found here, Florida, Paris and LA. |
1 Nov 16, 11:54 PM |
#7
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Imagineer
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Looks like you had fun off roading Nice to read something different to do in Orlando, good tip
Did Mickey make an appearance in Jungle Book Alive?
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2 Nov 16, 09:12 AM |
#8
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Thread Starter
Apprentice Imagineer
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The ATVs were good fun, but someone has pointed out many travel insurance policies exclude riding them so please check you are covered if you are thinking of having a go yourself.
I don't remember seeing any characters other than the ones from the live action film in the show.
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All of my trip reports can be found here, Florida, Paris and LA. |
3 Nov 16, 09:53 AM |
#9
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Imagineer
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Lovely day with more fab pics
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2 Jun 17, 03:09 PM |
#10
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Imagineer
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Another brilliant day. The tour in the morning looked ace.
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Danielle Gryffindor's do Florida August 2017 trip report *COMPLETE* Gryffindor's back again August 2018 pre trippie |
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