Obrins At WDW March 2006 Day 4

Monday, March 20, 2006

Animal Kingdom, Downtown Disney, And In Room Internet

We started the day with breakfast in the room, which is a big advantage of having the kitchen at a DVC property. This is a big time saver, and I dont generally get too thrilled about eating breakfast out anyway. In the morning, the goal is to get to the parks as early as possible.
So, we were successful today in that we made it to the Animal Kingdom in time for morning Extra Magic Hours. We used our EMH magic on Everest. We headed straight there when we arrived at AK, and had about a 30 minute wait. This was definitely worthwhile, given the line we saw on the way out. By the time we had ridden Everest, and fooled around in the new gift shop (we had to buy the ride photo, since this was our very first time), the park had opened. The standby line was now well over an hour (so we did not opt to go again).
I found Everest to be a very good ride. It is a bit short. The scenery up to the adventurous part is meticulous and gorgeous. They have done a very nice job of telling a story. The thrill portion of the ride is, as I said, rather short. But, it is a lot of fun. The backwards motion is probably the most intense thrill portion. Overall, this is not as turbulent a ride as RockNRoller Coaster or Tower of Terror. The Yeti itself is a great effect. I do feel this ride will stand the test of time.
Nick was a little disappointed in Everest. He agreed that it was a very good ride, but did not feel that it lived up to the hype that had been going around about it. Particularly, he found the thrill portion a little lacking. Debbie and Dalton both were impressed with Everest.
Right after Everest, we went on the Kilamanjaro Safari. Unfortunately, the CM was not too hot on this trip. This is not as important as, for example, the Jungle Cruise, where they are a central part of the show. But, she had pretty poor banter, and did not seem to have the hang of driving that truck around. I had a very difficult time getting any decent pictures. Also, it now appears that they run the entire course without stopping. I swear that they used to occasionally stop for a couple of moments. When we got off the Safari, we immediately pulled a fast pass to go on it again, hoping for better results. On the second ride, the guide did seem to be both a better talker and a better driver. I had better luck with my photos. This driver, however, also never came to a complete stop. Is this a change of policy?
But, on the second ride, there was no recorded audio in the vehicle at all. Clearly, this was a passing technical difficulty. Debbie actually like the ride better this way. Dalton also thought it was cool. Nick missed the audio, he seems to enjoy the little story. I found it an interesting change of pace, but do think the ride is better with the audio.
Between rides on the Safari, we stopped at the Tusker House for danishes. Well, Debbie and I did, the boys had vanished. We really wanted some of the fantastic chicken, but it is not served until later in the day. The danishes were, however, very good. The boys did make it back to join us before the second Safari ride.
Afterwards, the boys wanted to go on Kali River Rapids. I passed, because I did not think it would go well with my cold. Debbie also did not go. The boys came back to report that they had a great ride, which was very wet.
We went back to the Tusker House when they started serving chicken. We were not going to give up. The place was incredibly crowded. We ended up sitting outside, because that was the only place we could find, and we had to hunt for it at that. We were not far from where they were putting on a show of African dance on the patio of the Tusker House, but we were not seated where we had a real view of it. The crowd and being forced out of doors was less than perfect. But, at least it was a gorgeous day, and we were thankful for the weather we were having. The chicken, as always, was extremely good. The kids and I also had desert, and the carrot cake I had was outstanding.
On the bus to the park, the boys were actually falling asleep, and the cold I had been working on had kicked into full gear. I knew that the plan we had of being out late tonight at Downtown Disney and going to the water park tomorrow was going to have to change. But, the advantage of having a detailed plan is that you can change it, and know that you havent missed things that were important to you.
We sat for a little while and debated what else to do. Everyone was feeling tired, and I was feeling pretty ill. Such is the luck of the draw when you are on a trip. We decided that we really did want to see Its Tough To Be A Bug, but that it would be time to go back for a rest period after that.
Its Tough To Be A But is still a great show. The young woman sitting next to me had not seen the show before, judging by her reaction to many things, including the crawling seats at the end. It is always kind of fun to see how someone reacts to this stuff for the first time. On that note, Dalton said that this show was awesome. I have to agree. The 3D shows are all very good, and this one has a neat mix of 3D, audio animatronics, and other effects that make it pretty special.
We ended up at the room at about 2:00 p.m. We all took a nap until around 5:00. At this point, we cooked up the new schedule. Tonight was going to be much more relaxed than planned, but we still went to Downtown Disney. Instead of Disney Quest, we just took a pleasant boat ride downtown, walked about a bit, and came back to the room. We moved our planned DQ experience to the next night. Before heading downtown, we had dinner at Olivias.
The boat ride to Downtown Disney from OKW was very pleasant. It was calm and cool, just about the right temperature. Being on the water in the early evening was a lovely time of day. We walked from the boat dock all the way down to the market place. We stopped in Haagan Daas, but I was kind of disappointed in their selection of flavors. Everyone else was pleased, though. We fooled around in some stores, and just enjoyed the spectacle of the place lighting up at night. We also told Dalton about Cirque Du Sule and explained Disney Quest to him.
Before 9 p.m., as most of you know, there is free admittance to Pleasure Island. It was certainly not crowded, and I kind of wondered if it is still busy (or busy this time of year) when it really kicks in for the night. We could have went into the Adventurers Club, and stood by the front of it debating whether to try. I wish we had done it, because I dont know when the opportunity may present itself again. But, we decided to move on.
Although Nick is past the point where we spend a wad of money at the Lego Store, it is still really a neat place to visit. It is neat to see all of the things that Lego has to offer now. And the sculptures in the front still amaze us. They are different than our last visit, although the sea serpent in the water remains the same. Dalton, seeing all of this for the first time, was very impressed.
The boat coming back from the marketplace side was very crowded, and this made for quite an unpleasant ride. But, our impromptu evening had turned out very well overall.
When we got back to the room, I went ahead and purchased a 24 hour internet connection for $10. I have to say that this is a pretty outrageous rate, especially since we are supposed to have some type of ownership share in this property. Even at the Disneyland Hotel last spring, the in-room internet connection was free. But, I bit the bullet, and did want to at least hook up once near the middle of the week.
I was able to send e-mail when I initially connected, though I was able to reach the web retrieve my e-mail. I found an article on Apples web page which indicated that some firewalls blocked the default smtp port for outgoing mail. I changed the setting of this port from the default (to 587, in this case), and was able to send mail after that. Just something interesting to know, if you run into the same strange problem.
After sending a few pictures to Daltons family, checking and responding to some mail, I decided to try another test. I was curious if one could play the game (WoW) with this setup. I found that I was able to log into my account and play for a bit with no particular trouble (playing with a friend back home who happened to be on). So, the network connection allows you to do most anything, if you dont mind the fee.
Overall, a very good day. New ride, some good animal viewing and photos, and a pleasant, relaxing evening downtown. Plus, a little home away from home tech at the end.

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