Trip Log:

 Started off this morning arriving in Orlando just  before 6am.  We had to wait for our gate then headed for the Magical Express and off to Walt Disney World.  Arrived at Port Orleans French Quarter about 6:45am and checked in.  Our room was ready so dumped off the carry-ons and went to breakfast at the food court.  After breakfast regrouped and waited for the busses to start running to Downtown Disney.  Caught the first bus, 8:45am, and road to the Marketplace.  Hiked out to Goodings for some snacks/soda and then back to Downtown Disney and a bus back to the resort.  Upon arriving at the room saw the bags showed up so unpacked a bit then headed off for EPCOT (while the others slept).  I spent an hour or so wondering around the outside of Spaceship Earth and waiting to see if they were going to open it for testing.  No luck.  Around 1pm headed for Animal Kingdom.  Walked through the park and out to Africa, spent some time looking around and then off to Camp Minnie Mickey to catch the concert (there is a singing group that performs a couple times a day), then back to the line board area to rejoin the others (who finally woke up).    We went to Flame Tree and Dinoland for lunch.  After eating walked through Asia and then over to Africa.  Went on the Safari then walked through Pangani Forest.  Caught the Jingle Jungle Parade and then road the Safari again.  Back to Camp Minnie Mickey to catch the 5:30pm Lion King show.  Grabbed our wristbands for the Magic Hours and then headed to Dinoland for a snack.  The rest of the group abandoned me again as they headed back to the room for more sleep I spent the next couple hours walking the park taking pictures.  I first walked through Dinoland and then around Everest.  Continued on the trail through Asia and around the Yak and Yeti.  Next up the dining area for Flame Tree then the walking trail through the Tree of Life Garden.  Ended up in an empty Africa then walked back to Asia and decided it was time to head out.  It was just after 8pm so I wandered toward the park entranced and hopped a bus back to EPCOT.  Strolled through Future World taking some night shots and then stopped by Mexico to take a ride on the recently reopened boat ride.  Then found a spot for Illuminations.  After the show hiked out to the bus and back to Port Orleans to call it a night.

Thoughts & Observations:

• We took the Magical Express again this trip and again had no problems or delays at all. I think the key to this has been the arrival times, we are usually in before 7am. Our flight arrived around 6am and we were at Port Orleans before 7am. Our bags showed up before 11am with no problems. (Well one bag had a rip in it so we had to deal with the front desk and got it fixed).
  
  
• Most Walt Disney World busses (I know Disney calls them motor-coaches now but I am sticking with bus) now feature background music and announcements. For the most part this was ok... I enjoyed having something to listen to. The announcements consisted of the normal safety spiels and then some insider tips for whatever destination you were going to. The digital display in each bus had closed captioning on it. I think it would be great if this eventually had more up to date information, maybe park hours and show schedules...
  
  
• As you will see in the pictorial update Spaceship Earth has been restored to its original look, no more giant hand/wand... and I think it looks great. I overhead some saying it looked plain to them, but I like it that way... The attraction itself is slated to re-open in February. They were doing some early previews/testing starting last weekend so I spent some time waiting around on several visits to EPCOT (and finally did get on, more on that in a couple days).
  
  
• There was a problem with the computers at the ticket windows at Animal Kingdom and due to the delay we were given a couple front of the line passes for our group, which turned out to be useful since the Safari was out of Fastpasses for the day already.
  
  
• I found the new entrance to the Tusker House to be a bit awkward, but I would image it helps with the traffic flow not having people back up out into the walkway. The podium where you check in is located at the door furthest from where the food is, the food/buffet is in the courtyard where you used to stand and order. All other doors are shut/locked so you cannot get in from the outside. The snack place on the opposite side of the street now sells sandwiches and hamburgers. I did not think they had a kitchen over there, so this seemed interesting to me, but it makes sense since the fort area has some seating.
  
  
• Made two rounds of the Safari. Both times it seemed as if they were having problems merging the standby and Fastpass lines, or maybe it was just due to fewer trucks running that the Fastpass line backed up to nearly the entrance. It appeared that about half the trucks had the new 9th row. They were not loading it and the load station actually had the gate chained off so no one could go there. On trucks with the new row two groups would enter through gate 8. The safari was really quiet, not much activity by the animals, even the elephants were no shows and far off in the distance. Guess it was bad luck. The new narration is much less assertive and memorable than the old one also there seemed to be much less dialog. The woman has been completely removed from the spiel. Also the plane at the end is gone and I have not seen the jeep that shoots, drives by your truck as you round the corner to approach the camp, at you in several trips so it may be gone for good now too.
  
  
  
• Animal Kingdom is still one of my favorite parks to visit after dark. I think the lighting and the atmosphere are very relaxing and I enjoy spending a couple hours just roaming the park and taking pictures. I guess part of the draw is the lack of crowds as much of the park you have to yourself for the most part. Guests are concentrated around Everest and in Dinoland since that is where most of the open attractions are, but still much of the park is open to explore. I only wish they would open some of the animal exhibits at night. I heard when the park first opened that the Safari did have lighting installed and the capability of running in the dark if needed, wonder if that still exists and if so it would be great to see.
  
  
• Over at EPCOT the Grand Fiesta Tour at Mexico was also new since my last trip to WDW. Donald and the gang from the Three Caballeros have taken over and they are in Mexico for a concert tour and Donald goes off sightseeing and the attraction is basically the other two tracking him down and getting to the concert at the end. The storyline is a bit hard to follow at times as the dialog goes by rather quickly. I found the new animated clips to be entertaining and since I enjoy Donald the attraction worked for me.
  
  
• Capped off the day with Illuminations, which is still one of my favorite Disney firework shows, especially at the holidays when they add the Peace on Earth finale.. for those who have not seen it, if you have the chance do.. it is one of the loudest, most impressive finales I have seen and considering it is done nightly from Thanksgiving till New Years is really impressive.
  

Pedometer Information for the day:

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