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Trip Log:
Slept in a bit to after 7am and then got ready to go and we were on a bus for the Animal Kingdom around 8:30am. On our way in paused to see Di Vine on our way out to Kilimanjaro Safari. It was posted at 30 minutes and took us 27. We had a lengthy Safari today clocking in at about 37 minutes due to several animals in the roadway. Once back walked through Gorilla Falls then decided to make our way to the front of the park to see the Merry Menagerie. Headed for the park exit and caught a bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Disembarked at Kidani Village and took a look around then took another bus to Jambo house and did the same there. Caught a bus to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Caught a performance by the Juggling Elves then went to lunch at Rizzo’s. After eating took in a showing of Muppet Vision 3D then strolled through Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land before finding the Seasonz Jukebox band. After their set saw the Juggling Elves again then decided to head for a bus to the Magic Kingdom. The Jungle Cruise was showing at 35 minutes as we entered the park and was up to 45 minutes when we arrived at the entrance. Decided to give it a go and it turned out to be an unwise decision. It took us 66 minutes. After our cruise we looked around the Magic Kingdom wait times and decided to try and leave before the park closing rush. Turned out everyone else had the same idea and it took us 78 minutes to reach EPCOT. We took the resort monorail to the TTC then transferred to the EPCOT line. Once in the park I walked by Canada and out to France to look at picking up a snack. The rest of the group went the other way around to the American Adventure to get something. After waiting about 15 minutes and still not being anywhere near ordering I gave up on France and went to join the rest of the group. They were almost done eating their turkey dinners already. Found a spot for the Candlelight Ceremony. After the performance retraced my steps toward the front of the park. The plan was to pause for the SpaceX launch just after 8pm but it was postponed. Walked by Test Track then spent some time in World Celebration Gardens. Found a spot in the front of the park to watch the Beacon of Magic shows while I waited for Luminous. About 15 minutes prior to show time made my way to World Showcase. Tonight opted to watch from the north shore opposite where I did last night. After Luminous the Symphony of Us walked back to the Beach Club to call it a night.
Thoughts & Observations:
- This morning we set off for Disney’s Animal Kingdom. When we arrived at the bus stop it said we had a good wait. Luckily a bus showed up early, but then it unloaded an ECV and loaded another so in the end it came out to about the time the board said for our departure.
- The park felt busier this morning than the other day. The Safari was posted at 30 minutes and it moved rather slowly for us. In the end it took 27 minutes so it was accurate but it sure felt longer. Our trip safari today was lengthy due to a number of several minute stops today along the way. It clocked in at over 35 minutes and by the time we exited the standby queue was double what we waited in.
- Walked through Gorilla Falls and again there was not much to see in terms of gorilla activity today.
- On the way out of the park stopped for the Merry Menagerie in discovery island. These puppets and entertainers are always great and this year’s troupe did not disappoint.
- Stopped by Kidani Village at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge to take a look around. The main building exterior is being renovated and there is a lot of scaffolding up obstructing the views and some of the areas but animals were still out and nearby. The Christmas decorations were on par with past years and nothing new jumped out to me.
- Next up Jambo House at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge. I still wish they had a better way to link the two portions of the resort. This was especially true when we stayed at Kidani, not having easy access to the dining and pools was an annoyance. This year a flamingo has joined the growing gingerbread collection. It is fun to see the display expanding.
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios have a new trio of entertainment offerings billed as Hollywood Holiday Entertainment. Today I managed to catch two of the three. The Juggling Elves and Seasonz Jukebox. I thought it was rather challenging to find these groups as the descriptions were less than helpful. For example, one location says Sunset Blvd. It turns out that means the courtyard by the long-gone Staring Rolls Bakery.
- The Juggling Elves are joined by Donald Duck and put on an entertaining show that involves juggling, plate spinning, and other variety act-type elements.
- We ate at PizzeRizzo. Many do not like the pizza there but we actually do. The element I do not like is you are stuck with a salad or carrots and there is no option to get it without anymore or other substitution choices. I think this is poor and wasteful for those that do not want either. We opted to mobile order and it was a wise choice as the line for the one register that was open filled its queue and out the door. Why they insist on forcing guests into a long line vs opening more registers still baffles me. It seems like such a poor guest experience and the behavior does not seem to be changing. I guess anything to save the labor hours. Having cast members to organize the queue seems to offset any saving with not having one or two of them work registers and have a short wait instead.
- Paid a visit to Muppet Vision 3D where we just missed a show so we were able to see the full pre-show sequence. It really is a shame this area is going to be rethemed to Monsters Inc and this classic attraction will be gone. I do not understand why Monsters Inc is not an addition to the park. There is not enough capacity as it is so why not have a net gain of two or three things vs a swap?
- I walked through Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Land. The park was busy and wait times were longer than my patience. The renovation work on the dining are of Woody’s Lunchbox continues. Seems to me this project is taking longer than it did to make the entire land. The queue to order spilled out and streatched toward Midway Mania.
- Decided to trek over to the Magic Kingdom to try and visit an attraction or two. This turned out not to be the wisest move as we hit a long wait and made a poor transportation choice to leave. To get there we had some decent timing with a minimal wait for a bus. The security line was slow going, it seemed a larger number than usual guests we triggering the secondary screening.
- One of our main objectives this afternoon was to visit the Jingle Cruise. The app said 35 minutes as we entered the park which seemed long but reasonable compared to what we had been seeing. By the time we hiked out there and entered the queue it was at 45 minutes. We moved in fits and starts as the Lightning Lane returning guests fluctuated. The mix was less than favorable. The cast members loading the boats were doing a sub-optimal job too with many boats leaving at less than capacity. In the end it took us about 66 minutes to board a boat. We ended up with a fairly entertaining skipper so that was a positive but the queue experience was horrible. Also noteworthy was neither the fans nor air-conditioning were on so with that many guests crammed in and not moving it was a tad warm at times (we found it funny though that at the DHS bus stops the fans were running and that is a wide open area and there were almost no guests around).
- Our plan was to leave the Magic Kingdom and go to EPCOT for the evening. As we exited the park the Express Monorail was backed up to its extended queue. The Resort line had a small line but looked to be a better option. We watched a full train pull in and very few guests exit. We inched forward. At this point we thought about taking the ferry boat but that looked to be backed up a couple boats.. then we tossed around the idea of taking a bus to the Boardwalk but by this point the ramp was full of guests and we figured we were close so we waited. Another train pulled in and luckily more guests than the last exited so we were able to move up to a gate. We choose poorly with the gate though and the next train pulled up full and a wheel chair filled the car and was not leaving. So we moved down a few gates for the next train. This time a cast member added a wheel chair to our car. Eventually we made it on and around to the TTC. Once there they not allowing connections so you had to exit and then enter the EPCOT queue. It was mostly down the ramp. As we waited the line behind us grew and it reached further than we could see toward the tram/security area. In total it took 78 minutes to reach EPCOT.
- With the Magic Kingdom closed EPCOT felt busy and had wait times to match. My group decided to split up and some walked around World Showcase to the American Adventure to get a snack (heading east by Mexico) and the rest to France (heading west by Canada). The line for the bakery was inside the store so I hopped in it. It took a substantial period of time to reach the bakery itself given the length of the queue. I noticed no one had baguettes and there were none on display. Since that is primarily what I wanted I decided to call it quits and leave the queue. Rejoined the rest of the group at the American Adventure and they were just finishing up their turkey dishes. So they walked, ordered and ate in less time than it took me to walk, wait in about ½ the queue then walk to meet them.
- Spent some time in World Celebration Gardens again and found it rather annoying how many lights were having issues and the DJ. Walked by Dreamers Point and Walt was sitting in the dark by himself with strobing lights flicking near by. It was rather sad. I watched a full sequence on Spaceship Earth and no on came through the area. Guess the darkness was not too inviting.
- Closed out my evening watching Luminous the Symphone of Us from across from the Refreshment Port. I was able to walk up a few minutes before show time and secure a spot. I had planned to go closer to International Gateway but given the time and good option I stayed there.
Pedometer Information for the day:
| Steps |
22,336 |
| Miles |
10.22 |
| Walking Time |
3:42 |
| Total Time |
14:09 |
Full picture and video sets coming soon...
Addition Blog Picture Posts from today:
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