Don't Fear the Rain, We Have the "Ducky of Death!"-Jan '14 **Bonus TR DCA 9/1 x2

[DaveinFallsChurch]

As I mentioned on a previous update, we visited Epcot on our departure day. Since we were checking out of AKL and checking our baggage at the resort airline counters we decided to take things a bit slow this particular morning. And if you have followed my past trip report you would know that “taking things slow” has been completely unheard of when it comes to my plans!

Our minivan pulled in to Epcot’s parking lot at 9:15am. With the park having been open already for 15 minutes, there were streams of people walking down from the parking lot to Epcot’s gates and frequently blocking the incoming traffic and leading to some backup of cars. I point this out because this was the first time I was witnessing such a scene since it was also the first time that we arrived at a park after rope drop.

The good news for this day? The weather finally, finally cleared up! For the first time since we arrived in Orlando, we were seeing the sun and blue skies. Of course it happened on the day we were leaving but nonetheless it was beautiful. The golf ball was sparkling in the sunlight.



After a successful run on Soarin’ with the boys both passing the height tests, we headed over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends and our favorite seagulls. I could just stand there and listen to these birds all day but in my head I could hear Crush beckoning for us to come inside.







We got in to our “clamobiles” and made our way into the pavilion. Bruce always seems to be lurking around in the next corner.



Hitching a ride on the EAC. Righteous! Righteous!



It’s a Big Blue World~





So the sole purpose of our visit to The Seas pavilion is to have a chance to chat with Crush. Turtle Talk with Crush has been a must for our kids for quite some time. On our last outing DD got picked to ask a question so she was extra excited hoping that she would get to ask another question. None of our kids got picked but they still had a lot of fun as always.



Here’s Dory who makes a cameo appearance near the end and finds herself stuck between a whale and a hard place.



Another must-do for our kids in Future World? Nope, it’s not Spaceship Earth or Tron. It’s this little attraction inside Innoventions called The Great Piggy Bank Adventure.





Oh, how they adore this game. As soon as we enter the Epcot gates all I hear from the kids is the repeated chants of “When are we going to play the Piggy Bank game?” It’s basically three video games. They love that they get to carry around a large piggy bank heavy enough to break every bone in your foot if it got dropped on it. And they get to pick what virtual prize they would like to save money – the kids always seem to pick the “dream bedroom”. Seriously, they could spend hours in this one spot if we let them but eventually we had to tear them away because of our lunch ADR at Via Napoli which I wrote up about on a previous posting.

After our lunch we made our way back to Future World for Journey Into Imagination with Figment! Or as our kids call it “The Skunk Ride” since that’s pretty much the best thing about this attraction in their mind.

The view on the way.



DD commented how this was "backwards waterfall"













And of course we end up spending some extra time in the post-ride section which appears more and more deserted each time we visit. The kids don’t mind jumping around in the dance area and designing their Figments on the computer so that they can clog up my email inbox



A few more obligatory shots of Spaceship Earth from different angles to end this update.

 

[afwdwfan]

And if you have followed my past trip report you would know that “taking things slow” has been completely unheard of when it comes to my plans!

I'm sorry. What does that even mean? I don't comprehend that subject.

Another must-do for our kids in Future World? Nope, it’s not Spaceship Earth or Tron. It’s this little attraction inside Innoventions called The Great Piggy Bank Adventure.

Well... um... Okay! Whatever makes you happy. That's the important part!

After our lunch we made our way back to Future World for Journey Into Imagination with Figment! Or as our kids call it “The Skunk Ride” since that’s pretty much the best thing about this attraction in their mind.

That's the "best" part???

 

[TheMaxRebo]

great pictures Dave! They are all so vibrant!

The Great Piggy Bank attraction is definitely one of those less/unknown ones but only hear good things - think I want to check it out next trip!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

What you pointed out upon arrival is, sadly, all too commonplace. The poor CM's are often yelling at people to walk down the lane further up as cars are still coming in. They don't listen.

Your Nemo pictures are ridiculously good. Mine aren't bad either if the goal is smdges and motion blur.

I imagine with kids the Innoventons areas could really be a lot of fun. As an adult, I hardly spend any time in there. It's usually just a short cut.

 

[LuvEeyore]

Love the update. The Piggy Bank Game? Have I missed something? I'll have to look for this in January. Great pictures as always.

 

[MEK]

Love the spaceship earth pictures, but I especially love the monorail picture. It is really cool!

Too funny that your kids favorite attraction is the Piggy Bank game. Kids? Go figure?

And, of course, it would be a gorgeous day on your last day. Just to rub it in!

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

That's the "best" part???

Yep, that was my reaction when the kids started telling me that they LOVE the skunk part of the ride.

great pictures Dave! They are all so vibrant!

The Great Piggy Bank attraction is definitely one of those less/unknown ones but only hear good things - think I want to check it out next trip!

Our kids can't get enough of it and I'm pretty sure we've spent at least an hour at this game every trip.

What you pointed out upon arrival is, sadly, all too commonplace. The poor CM's are often yelling at people to walk down the lane further up as cars are still coming in. They don't listen.

Your Nemo pictures are ridiculously good. Mine aren't bad either if the goal is smdges and motion blur.

I imagine with kids the Innoventons areas could really be a lot of fun. As an adult, I hardly spend any time in there. It's usually just a short cut.

Innoventions remind me of a very well done children's museum. It's a great place to escape the heat for the grown ups as well with all those strategically placed benches.

Love the update. The Piggy Bank Game? Have I missed something? I'll have to look for this in January. Great pictures as always.

Definitely geared towards the kids but I enjoy playing with them! If only managing finances and savings were that simple and easy, I'd be retired!

Love the spaceship earth pictures, but I especially love the monorail picture. It is really cool!

Too funny that your kids favorite attraction is the Piggy Bank game. Kids? Go figure?

And, of course, it would be a gorgeous day on your last day. Just to rub it in!

Now that I think of it, I think I finally figured out what we've neglected World Showcase so much - we're spending all of our Epcot time at the Piggy Bank Game!

 

[khertz]

Epcot is not my favorite park by any means, but it sure is photogenic!! I'm glad y'all got a break from the rain, even if it wasn't until your last day.

 

[momabbate]

I really want to spend some time in Innovations. Not sure next trip will be it but it is on my bucket list. Maybe one day when I take a little one or two.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

Epcot is not my favorite park by any means, but it sure is photogenic!! I'm glad y'all got a break from the rain, even if it wasn't until your last day.

I agree, Epcot is very photogenic especially in the World Showcase area!

I really want to spend some time in Innovations. Not sure next trip will be it but it is on my bucket list. Maybe one day when I take a little one or two.

To be honest, I don't think we've fully explored both Innovention halls probably because we spend all of our time at the Great Piggy Bank Adventure.

 

[amazingact21]

I'm glad the rain finally went away for you guys, so that you could capture some great shots of Future World. I actually enjoyed seeing the ones from the Seas with Nemo and friends, if only because I haven't seen too many decents shots from the ride.


The Piggy Bank adventure? Would I be a bad DISer if I admitted I have never heard of this before? Is it in Innovations? Either way, that's pretty funny that your kids were most excited about that. They can pick the strangest things to look forward to. You can never predict what'll stick out to them....

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I'm glad the rain finally went away for you guys, so that you could capture some great shots of Future World. I actually enjoyed seeing the ones from the Seas with Nemo and friends, if only because I haven't seen too many decents shots from the ride.

The Piggy Bank adventure? Would I be a bad DISer if I admitted I have never heard of this before? Is it in Innovations? Either way, that's pretty funny that your kids were most excited about that. They can pick the strangest things to look forward to. You can never predict what'll stick out to them....

I would be honest and say if it weren't for our kids, I would have never found the Great Piggy Bank Adventure on my own. I'm just glad they picked something indoors and air-conditioned as their favorite attraction.

 

[DaveinFallsChurch]

I’m down to my last update for this trip report! After this update, I’ll give my final thoughts on this trip and wrap things up. Then I can move on to starting my pre-trip report!

I’ve already covered most of the highlights of our day in Animal Kingdom but for this final update I wanted to go through some of the smaller and less flashy scenes of Animal Kingdom. As many of you would agree, I think it’s these little things at AK that make the park special and why we enjoy AK so much.

Our AK day, just like our previous park days, was cloudy and rainy. When we arrived at AK early for our before-the-park-opens ADR at Tusker House, it was foggy. I don’t remember seeing AK in the fog before while I have walked down a foggy Main Street. So even though we were briskly walking towards TH once they let the ADR guests in, I couldn’t help but stop to take this picture of the Tree of Life. Makes me feel like I’m on Pandora – wait, did I really just say that??



After breakfast at TH, a safari, and a stroll through Pangani Forest in the rain, we decided to hop on the train to head over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch and Conservation Station. Normally, this would be the time in the morning I would be taking everyone to FoTLK but since the show was on hiatus I thought it would be a good opportunity to see if we could observe one of the veterinarian procedures. On our last trip, one of the CMs at the Conservation Station had told me that they usually have one or two procedures in the morning in the treatment rooms where the guests can observe.

Never noticed this sign before at the entrance to the path for Harambe Station.



I just love these ad posters and flyers that are pasted all over Africa. These were at one of the walls of the train station. Especially liked this one. As our kids would say “It’s opposite day!”



A lot of things I was noticing for the first time on this particular outing to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. One of them was the procedures that the CMs went through to clear the train for departure. As you can see, CMs line the platform and signal to each other that the platform is clear and free of any guests before clearing the departure.



What you don’t see in this picture is about two seconds after I took it, one guest came running into the station and jumped the gate behind this CM in an effort to catch the train that had already started moving! The CMs signaled the train to stop and instructed the guest to move back behind the gates and wait for the next train. Seriously. There were two things I was bewildered about the whole sequence that had me and the other guests sitting nearby chuckling and shaking our heads. One was the obvious fact this man clearly had forgotten that he was at Disney and instead went to his commute-to-work mindset of trying to catch the subway and squeeze his body through the closing doors. The second was that he was not traveling alone and when he decided to make a run for it he left his wife behind far back in the queue and jumped the gate.

After that nuttiness we had a smooth train ride to Rafiki’s Planet Watch where Rafiki himself welcomed us and pointed us toward Conservation Station.



Our destination.



So you would have thought that arriving at Conservation Station a little after 10am would have meant a completely empty building, right? I mean this is after all prime touring hours for EE, Safari, and Kali Rapids for those who for some reason didn’t get enough moisture in the past few days. Imagine my surprise when I found a decent size crowd inside the building. Apparently, because of the rain they relocated Chip and Dale’s and Pocahontas’ meet and greets in here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place as crowded before. Even with all of the extra guests in the building, poor Rafiki still couldn’t muster up a wait line for his meet and greet more than 2 people long. As I’ve learned with our kids, young children find him scary. So misunderstood.

As we approached the observation room for the vet procedures I could clearly see some activity and bustling happening inside. But, they were mostly happening in the inner room. The CM standing by the observation window told everyone that they were working with a mandrill who had become lethargic over the past couple of days and they were suspecting he may be constipated. Yep, constipated. The veterinarians sedated the mandrill and were trying to get him positioned to obtain an x-ray of his abdomen which seem to take a long long time. So while we never got to see the mandrill out in the observation room we could see the veterinarians from a far and on the tv screen.



The CM also pointed out every 5 minutes that a mandrill is what Rafiki is and if anyone wanted to meet with a healthy mandrill, Rafiki was just across the hall. Poor Rafiki. Even with the CM trying to sell his meet and greet his line was still only two people deep.

They have a few interactive and hands-on stations set up in Conservation Station. One of them was set up right by the observation window as we strained our necks to see the x-ray procedure happening. DD decided approach the station and asked what those large brown rock-looking things on the table were. The CM answered “They’re animal poop!” So we have a constipated animal in the procedure room and we have a educational station set up right next to it exhibiting the various fecal matter (fortunately desiccated and lacquered up) for the kids to pick up. Now that’s synergy! By the way, I have a very funny photo of DD holding up the largest one and posing posted on my Facebook album that I had a hard time taking because I was laughing so hard. I know a lot of you already are FB friends with me but for those of you who are not and would like to be, shoot me a PM with your facebook name and I’ll send you a friend request!

Nearby, Chip and Dale were having their meet and greet. I love these guys. DS got in line first because he wanted to meet them and of course when it was his turn, the first thing he did was show them his Ducky of Death.



Chip and Dale found the duck to be very interesting and as the three of them posed for the camera Chip decided to place the Ducky on top of DS’ head. DS had this expression on his face that said “These guys are crazy”

I had asked repeatedly to DD while I was in line with DS whether she also wanted to meet Chip and Dale to which she repeatedly said no. Aaaaaand of course as soon as DS finished his meet and greet DD decided that she wanted to meet them too. So I got back in the line with her and she eventually got to get some hugs and giggles out of these two.



Meanwhile, DW took DS out to the petting zoo area as the rain had let up a bit so we rejoined them there and then headed back to Harambe on the train.

After arriving back at Harambe station, we took the kids to the Boneyard playground. Just like the Great Piggy Bank Adventure, the Boneyard has become a must for our kids.





We let them loose in there for about an hour and usually DW and I take turns going on the Dinosaur ride while the other watches the kids. One of the good things about this playground? The slides are all tube slides so the kids didn’t end up with an awkward wet patch on their bottoms after going down one. The also love to spend time in the fossil yard where they can dig for bones. It’s also a bit less crowded than the rest of the playground because a lot of folks don’t see the bridge that takes them to it.

After the Boneyard, we took the kids over by Chester and Hester’s gift shop for some Mickey Bar time. This has also become a tradition for us immediately following our Boneyard excursions. The kids usually need a rest and a snack after running around for an hour. So we always come to the ice cream cart here and then find a nice spot under the small awning of Chester and Hester’s where there are also small picnic tables and a bench! It’s sort of tucked away from the main paths so usually not crowded. Here's the spot.



Ok, I’ve tried looking online to see if this giant yellow dinosaur has a name but have been unsuccessful. What I did find was that if people would like to know if this particular dinosaur is male or female, the could walk underneath it and look up for the answer which is “not gross” and done in a “very cute and Disney way”. So now I’m going to have to go and look myself in October.



A couple of shots of Everest which is sort of mandatory when you’re AK.





This one was taken by the Photopass Photog location where people can get pictures of Everest in the background. You can see the bridge on the left that goes between Finding Nemo’s theater and EE.



I’ve been paying a lot closer attention to some of the details and theming across AK. There are the bicycles, the Tibetan prayer flags, and the quirky signage. This time I notice a lot of clever theming for the food carts. This particular one was not being used but was stationed right by the exit path of Maharajah Jungle Trek. I mean who else goes out of their way to paint in rust on a refrigerator?



These faucets were attached to the side of the rusty fridge.



So that about does it for this last update! One last shot of the Tree of Life on our way out of the park from the bridge in Africa.



I’ll post my final thoughts in a couple of days!

 

[LuvEeyore]

Love your Animal Kingdom pictures!! The kids are so cute!!

 

[afwdwfan]

Makes me feel like I’m on Pandora – wait, did I really just say that??

Seriously. There were two things I was bewildered about the whole sequence that had me and the other guests sitting nearby chuckling and shaking our heads. One was the obvious fact this man clearly had forgotten that he was at Disney and instead went to his commute-to-work mindset of trying to catch the subway and squeeze his body through the closing doors. The second was that he was not traveling alone and when he decided to make a run for it he left his wife behind far back in the queue and jumped the gate.

We live in a world that revolves around "me."

Chip and Dale found the duck to be very interesting and as the three of them posed for the camera Chip decided to place the Ducky on top of DS’ head. DS had this expression on his face that said “These guys are crazy”

Looks like fun!

Aaaaaand of course as soon as DS finished his meet and greet DD decided that she wanted to meet them too. So I got back in the line with her and she eventually got to get some hugs and giggles out of these two.

Naturally. At least it wasn't something like one of those Anna and Elsa lines or something.

It’s sort of tucked away from the main paths so usually not crowded. Here's the spot.

Don't give too many of your secrets away!

 

[jordansmama]

Love your EPCOT and AK pics, especially all the small details. Makes me realize how much of that stuff you miss when you're running from one ride to the next.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

You know, that picture of Tree of Life is oddly beautiful in the fog.

Oh my goodness it has been a looooooooong time since I boarded that train. 2006 maybe? Maybe it's time to once again visit.

From the sound of it, that train jumper need a wife break. That is classic.

OK, so the yellow dinosaur is anatomically correct???

What I love about your TR's is that they are completely unique. Of course that also means I get completely caught off guard when you get to the final post!!

 

[MEK]

So I'm curious, was the animal constipated or not? Inquiring minds want to know. And constipation causes lethargy? Who knew?

I think AK has the absolute best details and its easy to discover more and more every time I visit.

 

[khaleesi]

I love your DD's description of the "backwards waterfall"!!

Foggy DAK is gorgeous!!! Great picture!

I cannot believe the guy tried jumping on the train! What the heck is wrong with people?!

Poor Rafiki! I love him!!!! I did have to wait in line to see him, but I can't remember if there were kids in the line. I just remember the two girls in front of me who wore coordinating shirts... one said "Hakuna" and the other said, ummm... I can't remember And then they made a Rafiki sandwich for their picture.

And ummmm.... now I need to know if the dinosaur is a boy or a girl!

 

[ElenaJane]

Poor Mandrill can't get a little privacy with his constipation!! Hope he is feeling, uh, relieved now!

Great last picture update. AK is a very photogenic park!! Loved the "Mandatory" EE photos!