Disney World 2016 Archives - EECC Travels

Episode 32: Dinner at Boatwright’s Dining Hall at Port Orleans Riverside – Walt Disney World

EECC Travels — Thu, 01 Jun 2017 19:32:00 +0000

After a nice relaxing afternoon around the resort, and a quick but powerful thunderstorm, we head to Boatwright’s Dining Hall at Port Orleans Riverside for dinner. We were excited to eat here after we saw the menu… all good Louisiana cuisine! Boatwright’s is the table service restaurant at POR and is located between the River Roost Lounge and the food court. You really can’t miss it as there is a huge boat frame hanging from the ceiling in the center around the entry. While we are on décor… everything has a rustic last century feel to it. Everything is wood and metals. The walls are covered with old shipbuilding tools and pictures of shipyards of days long past. It was actually very interesting to see these primitive tools and to see this huge hull and know that this is how ships and boats were made for hundreds of years!

Now on to the food!

First of all, one must order sweet tea when dining in a Southern-style restaurant, which we did (well 4 out of 5 of us). It was just as good as we make at home! The cornbread… Ethan tried to hoard the entire basket for himself it was so good! Ok, so picture the best cornbread you have ever had… It was warm and slightly sweet and flaky but didn’t fall apart… Then you put the butter on it, well enough said. Needless to say, we ate it all!

We all tried something different from the menu. Some of us sticking to our favorites and some branching out and trying something new. Jason had The Big Easy which is a 10oz NY Strip with peppercorn cream and a side of crawfish mac & cheese. I (Alisa) had the Deep South Shrimp & Grits – traditional style. Ethan was on a mission to try multiple versions of chicken & waffles on this trip so ordered the Voodoo Chicken which was just that. Cameron was also on a mission, but for ribs, so he ordered the Sassagoula Short Ribs. Colby decided he wanted ‘Louisiana on a plate’ as he described it and ordered the Boatwright’s Jambalaya. Let me just say here that we are from Louisiana and know what real Louisiana food is supposed to taste like… This was spot on! Everything was so good! This was definitely the best meal of the trip. Who would have thought there would be such good Cajun food in Central Florida…

Dessert anyone?

After this huge meal, no one was really hungry for dessert, but when you’re on the Disney Dining Plan and dessert is included in your meal, well you at least have to try it, right? Me being the sweet lover I am can never pass up dessert! I had the Strawberry Bread Pudding, which was like nothing I had ever had before. They soaked the bread in strawberry juice and baked it in, then it was topped with vanilla ice cream and drizzled with strawberry sauce… YUM! Jason had the Bourbon Street Pecan Pie, which was not a slice, but an individual size pit, also topped with vanilla ice cream, also very good. Ethan vowed he could not eat another bite (where has my bottomless pit gone???) and was the only one to pass on dessert. Colby had the Crème Brulee and Cameron the Banana Pudding. All of these were amazing and we were sad that our tummies were too full to devour them whole… but we tried our best!

Relaxing after dinner

The sky after a thunderstorm is beautiful and the rain cooled everything down dramatically were it was very nice just to sit outside and relax. Jason & I grabbed two rocking chairs (that didn’t actually rock) on the back porch of the main building and just watched the horse and buggy trot by and the boats coming to and from Disney Springs and the clouds moving through the sky and more lightning off in the distance. It was very nice. It was a perfect ending to a day in Disney World!

Want to see the story come to life? Here is the video: YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 32

Want to see more from this trip? Here is the full WDW September 2016 playlist.

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Alisa
EECC Travels

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Episode 31: Aliens & Pirates in Magic Kingdom – Walt Disney World

EECC Travels — Thu, 25 May 2017 18:05:00 +0000

It is lunchtime and we are starving!

Well, all hungry but can’t decide on what to eat… Jason wants one of the Casey’s Corner famous footlongs so we head in their first, but the boys have different ideas and I take them over to Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Café. This place has always been a go-to spot for lunch for our family ever since the kids were little. Food on trays we head into the main room hoping to snag a table to view some entertainment along with our meal… and we were lucky and were able to get one very close to our favorite alien at the Magic Kingdom… Sonny Eclipse. There is something heartwarming about a funny looking alien singing lounge music, we just love it!

So onto the food… one thing we have all learned is that quick service meals at Disney can be hit or miss. While some are great some are just mediocre. So I was very pleasantly surprised when I ordered the pulled pork sandwich… it was so good!!! The boys had burgers and we had enough fries to feed a small army and along with the chocolate cakes, it is needless to say that we all almost slipped into a food coma! So much so that we actually left our backpack sitting at the table and were all the way to the castle before we realized it!

In search of a water ride…

We watched a bit of the Move It Shake It dance party/parade as we made our way over to Frontierland as we had FastPasses for Splash Mountain. Well… unlucky for us, but luckily for Colby, because he didn’t want to ride, Splash Mountain was down. So we decided for a nice relaxing turn around the park on the Walt Disney World Railroad. This is always nice as it allows you to sit and rest for a while and there is always a cool breeze from the train’s movements. When we made the full circuit of the park back to Frontierland, Splash was still down (Colby did a cheer).

We decided to use our FastPasses on Pirates of the Caribbean instead. Hey, it’s a water ride too and there is a drop… POTC is one of our family favorites! We even dressed as pirates to ride earlier in this trip! My favorite parts are when the wall of fog is in front of you and one of the villains is telling you to beware and your boat moves right through it and he disappears around you and off to the right the pirate skeleton that is driving the ship being beaten back by the wind and rain. Both of those scenes give me chills.

At this point, we decided we all needed a break and instead of another ride in the Magic Kingdom, we opted for a ride on the bus back to Port Orleans Riverside for a rest…

Want to see this story come to life? Here is the video: YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 31

Want to see more from this trip? Here is the full WDW September 2016 Playlist

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Thanks,
Alisa
EECC Travels

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Episode 30: It’s Fantasyland Time!!! – Walt Disney World – September 2016

EECC Travels — Thu, 18 May 2017 19:10:00 +0000

What area of Magic Kingdom is the first to come to mind when you think about the park? For me it is Fantasyland. We have learned through the years of taking our family to Walt Disney World that your time is best used if you take one land at a time instead of running back and forth through the park. So once we had done all we wanted to do in Tomorrowland for the day, we headed over to Fantasyland.

Our first ride in Fantasyland

Our first ride of this area was Goofy’s Barnstormer since there was only a 5-minute wait. Something else we have learned is to take these 5-minute waits when you can get them because they don’t last long! We love this family-friendly coaster and have dubbed it the ‘quickest’ coaster we have ever ridden… Not the fastest, but the quickest. So we decided to time it and from start to finish. The ride lasts 54 seconds. But that’s ok, we still love it!

Walking into New Fantasyland still takes me by surprise.

We had five years where we were unable to go to WDW and when we left in 2010 they were just starting to clear the way for this new area. And when we return in 2015 it is all complete and so different than what we had remembered! The theming is so beautiful here and we love how each area stands apart but all flows together.

The Little Mermaid area is a perfect example… it sits right by Beast’s Castle and the mountain of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and while completely unique it fits perfectly. The Journey of the Little Mermaid is a beautifully done dark ride that takes you through the entire story of Ariel’s longing for what is beyond, to Sebastian’s trying to convince her to stay ‘Under the Sea’, to her transformation and boat ride with Prince Eric with ‘Kiss the Girl’, to Ursula’s attack and finally the wedding! This ride is perfect for all ages and even our boys enjoy it. And if you have some who don’t tell them it’s sometime in the nice cool air conditioning!

It’s time for our ride!

Finally, it was time for our Fast Pass on Seven Dwarfs’ Mine Train and we were so excited! Ethan, Cameron or Colby had never ridden this as there were technical difficulties on our last trip and the ride was down. Jason & I rode it several times on our trip in January and we knew the boys would love it! Rides like this is why I absolutely love Fast Passes… There is a posted 90-minute wait and we were on in about 10 minutes! Fantastic!

After a quick and very dizzying spin on the Tea Cups, we head to Cinderella Castle for the show. This was our first time viewing Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire which had recently replaced Dream Along With Mickey. It was a great show that started off with our favorite Fab Five and their friends but then it was broken into smaller acts.

The first being Princess and the Frog with Tianna and Naveen and even Louis with his trumpet and they sang some of our favorites from the movie… being from Louisiana, we are a bit partial to this story! Next up was Rapunzel and Flynn and their band of hooligans from the Snuggly Duckling and the final act was Frozen. First Olaf comes out and then brings Anna and Elsa and of course, we end with Let It Go and really cool ‘snow’ coming from Elsa. All in all, it was a great show!

Want to see this story come to life? Here is the video: YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 30

Want to see more of this trip? Here is the full WDW September 2016 Playlist

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Thanks,
Alisa
EECC Travels

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Episode 29: Our LAST Welcome Show at Magic Kingdom – Walt Disney World

EECC Travels — Thu, 11 May 2017 22:04:00 +0000

We had no idea when we got up and made our way oh so early to the park that it would be our last time ever to see the Welcome Show at Magic Kingdom! Well, actually it was the first and the last time for our boys!!! But looking back we are so glad that we did this. To make it in time for the Welcome Show took a bit of effort. You not only had to make sure that you arrived at the park early enough for rope-drop but add another 30 minutes to that time frame for the show. But so worth it!

The excitement of the Morning Show

We loved how the mayor of Main Street came out to greet us and the Citizens of Main Street sing ‘Good Morning’. By the way, we randomly sing this to each other all of the time so this show will never truly go away for us! And then it is announced that Mickey and the gang are on their way on the train. They have a specially chosen family for the day and everyone breaks into ‘Casey Junior coming down the tracks…’ The steam engine comes into sight puffing smoke along the way.

All faces are on the train station as the characters we know and love pour off the train to wave and smile at us and to welcome everyone for the day to the Magic Kingdom. Then Mickey Mouse starts the countdown… 10…9… 8… and we wait and count along until 3… 2… 1… and YAY the park is opened for the day!!!

Off to Tomorrowland!

Now the massive group of people who have gathered for the show squeeze through the two side entrances for the park to make their way down Main Street USA. So for this reason, I can see the need for a change in the morning show and we are really looking forward to the new show on our next trip… But this will always hold a special place in our hearts!

Once into the park, we made a quick right turn and into Tomorrowland!!! To see the empty areas of the park is a reason to get up out of the bed and get there early! We rode Space Mountain three times in a row and then moved to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin with the high hopes of becoming Galactic Heros. After two times on the ride, none of us were successful. Jason got really close and we all had a lot of fun trying!

After all of this excitement, it was time for a nice relaxing turn on the People Mover which is one of our family’s absolute favorite rides at Walt Disney World. About this time, everyone was hungry and thirsty so we made a stop for Mickey pretzels and water in the shade before continuing our adventure in Fantasyland…

Want to see this story come to life? Here is the video: YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 29

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Alisa
EECC Travels

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Episode 28: Dinner at Rainforest Cafe in Animal Kingdom – Walt Disney World – September 2016

EECC Travels — Thu, 04 May 2017 21:41:00 +0000

We are spending the day at Animal Kingdom and the evening having dinner at Rainforest Cafe! T-Rex over at Disney Springs has always been one of our favorite locations, so we wanted to give this one a try!

The joys of Animal Kingdom

There are some amazing musicians all over Walt Disney World! But one of the coolest we have ever seen was at Animal Kingdom… not sure his name or exactly what he was playing, but it appeared to be a giant harp. We were mesmerized and stayed and watched him for a long time. Until the kids pulled us away… They had spotted a box where you would bark into it and your translated thought would come out just like the collar worn by Dug in one of our favorite movies ‘Up’. It was fun and all of the boys gave it a go.

Gift shops!!!

A day at any park is not complete without a stop in one or two… or ten gift shops… Well we saved up all of our precious shopping time (wink, wink) and made this our last stop before dinner. One of the best is the huge store as you enter/exit the park and this is where we found ourselves. And to Colby’s very excited surprise he found the Yoda plush he had been searching for. We never thought Animal Kingdom of all places would have such a selection of Star Wars merchandise! Colby was a happy camper and at the check out, Cameron was excited with the pin trading ‘hive’ by the register. And the cast member was nice enough to tell us the conservation story that went along with it… elephants were damaging fences bordering farmland so instead of using man-made means of deterring the elephants, bee hives were set up along the fence lines. Elephants are afraid of bees so they used nature to protect the fences and farmland and the farmers were also able to collect the honey. Win Win!

On to dinner…

This is our first time ever eating at Rainforest Café. T-Rex at Disney Springs is an annual stop for our family so it has always been chosen over this similar restaurant. We love that there is not only a Rainforest Café at Disney Springs, but also one right outside of Animal Kingdom. This was our chosen spot for the night! You enter from the park through the gift shop which has a lot of fun merchandise and glorious, glorious air conditioning!!!! It was magnificent!

We had a 6:00 reservation and were quickly seated and since we were starving ordered almost immediately. I (Alisa) was craving a good burger after seeing the ones at T-Rex the night before, so it was the Rainforest Burger for me and also for Colby, which was great! Cameron, always loving seafood, had the Shrimp Platter. Jason the Primal Steak and Ethan ventured out with the Pastalaya. All in all a very good meal. And for dessert… a Sparkling Volcano, which they brought with candles for the twin’s birthday.

Love the theming!

The animatronics throughout the restaurant are great and they come alive, well they get really lively, about every 20 minutes when a storm hits the rainforest. Thunder and lightning and the screeching of monkeys… oh yeah, you feel like you are in the jungle! We walked around and saw that there were more than just monkeys & gorillas around. There were animals you will find on an African plain as well as in a jungle. You could see zebras, rhinos and elephants peeking out among the jungle growth. So with full tummies we decide to call it a night!

On to Magic Kingdom with the last time we will ever see the welcome show…

YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 28

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Alisa
EECC Travels

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Episode 27: Dinos & Fish & Turtles… Oh My! – Walt Disney World – September 2016

EECC Travels — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 14:00:00 +0000

There is so much to see in Animal Kingdom… dinos & fish & turtles. Yes dinosaurs, well not REAL dinosaurs, but there are plenty of them in Dinoland!

Dinoland USA

Cameron has become crazy about pin trading! He will literally stop every Cast Member he sees with a lanyard and ask to trade. He found a really fun guy at the entrance to Din-O-Rama and they visited and traded for a while and of course he had to ask about Cameron’s Pluto collection! He has been collecting Pluto pins for the past few years and has attached them to the floppy ears of his hat, it has drawn quite a few comments over the trip! With a new Pluto pin to add we take our first steps of this trip into Dinoland… First stop a funny picture of course! I love the cute photo op there is with the car and dinos, we always take a fun snapshot here. Another first for the trip… Mickey ice cream bar! Yes, I cannot believe we have been in Disney for several days and this is my first, but it is true…

Primeval Hurl?

Now on to the ‘spin cycle’ as Stacy calls it. Primeval Whirl is one heck of a ride! It is not like anything else at Disney, or at any other park I can think of… This is the one ride that I dread but have to ride at least once. It is full of ups and downs and sharp turns and spins and will knock you silly! And don’t even think about riding this one if you get motion sickness, geesh! But it really is fun and we never skip it… but also never ride it twice J We also take a quick round on Triceratops Spin and pop in our favorite gift shop in Animal Kingdom before leaving Dinoland. Dinosaur was closed for refurbishment so we did not get to ride on this trip…

We LOVE Finding Nemo!

Right next to Dinoland is air conditioning… I mean the theater for Finding Nemo: The Musical. Let me just say that I LOVE this show! We used a FastPass for the first time here and scored awesome seats close to the front of the show which was the best view we ever had. Now I love this and recorded almost the entire show… but shortened for our video… I hope you enjoy this snippet as much as we love it.

In case you have never seen this, let me give a quick synopsis… This show is performed with actors with puppets. Now that alone does not sound very impressive, but it really is! The actors where costumes that sort-of camouflage them to the puppet or the ‘sea’ surroundings. Oh and pretty much the entire show is in song.

It is beautiful and fun how they take us through the entire story of Finding Nemo in just 30 minutes and add some original songs that were not part of the movie. Our personal favorites are Crush’s ‘Go With the Flow’ and the ensemble singing “Big Blue World’ which will definitely be stuck in your head for days to come!!!

We end with an amazing musician playing a harp… A HARP in Animal Kingdom! And there is only one word to describe this performance… AMAZING!

YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 27

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Episode 26: A Safari & a Wild Raft Ride – Walt Disney World – September 2016

EECC Travels — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 16:32:00 +0000

Over at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park, there are two things we love… a safari and a wild raft ride! I mean of course, Kilimanjaro Safaris and Kali River Rapids!

A Safari in Florida?

Fresh out of Festival of the Lion King, we decide to stop by to check out the line for Kilimanjaro Safaris. It was at a manageable level so we decided to cash in our FastPass and go for a ride… Jambo everyone!

After a shorter than expected wait we board our expedition vehicle for our three day… I mean 18 minute safari. What I love about this ride is that it is never the same twice since you cannot guarantee what the animals will be doing or where they will be… like oh say standing in the middle of the road blocking traffic… yep this can happen.

What animal is that?

Some animals you may encounter during the tour include: antelopes, baboons, black rhinos, cheetahs, crocodiles, elephants, flamingos, gazelles, giraffes, hippopotamus, hyenas, lions, okapis, ostriches, warthogs, white rhinos, wildebeests, wild dogs & zebras. The giraffes and elephants are our favorites and those trees that look like they are upside down and their roots sticking up in the air… I like that if you see an animal and are not sure what it is you only have to look up at the picture guide above your seat.

With cameras ready, we start snapping photos. There were many in fact as I had one on the left of the ride and Jason had one on the right of the ride and Ethan was snapping pictures with his iPhone. We made is safely over the ‘scary’ rickety bridge and avoided the poachers and took in some great sights along the way!

We found Flik!

The meet and greets around the parks are great and we were so surprised to see Flik from A Bug’s Life! He was so much fun and was a bit ‘confused’ by the twins and we had a good time visiting with him while he signed the boys’ hats.

But now we are hungry… hmmm where to eat? I know, Flame Tree Barbeque! This is our favorite quick service location in Animal Kingdom. It is very tasty and the portions are huge, definitely big enough to share. But hey where are the ribs??? Well after we found the ribs (they just forgot to put them on our plate) we dig in! There are large covered pavilions with picnic tables to eat which are right by the water and if you are really lucky you can score a table with a perfect view of Expedition Everest.

Time to get wet!

So what do you do after a hot ride through Africa on a safari expedition and now have full tummies? Well you get drenched of course to cool off! Next stop Kali River Rapids. This ride is so much fun we rode it twice… because we just didn’t get wet enough on the first go round! Depending on where you are on the raft you may get completely soaked or you may remain relatively dry… but here’s the thing, the raft spins around with the current of the river so on one ride that seat you are in may be dry but on the next it is the one where you get the wettest! It all depends on luck… And are you lucky and stay dry or on a really hot day are you lucky and get wet and cooled off??? Between two rides down the river we were all pretty soaked, but we didn’t mind at all because it was so much fun!

Drying off on a roller coaster!

And what’s the best way to dry off? Well ride a roller coaster of course! It was time for our FastPass at Expedition Everest and… wait for it… we convinced Cameron & Colby to ride! Gasp! After begging this morning to no avail, bribery finally worked in the end… They were both almost out of money and had their little hearts set on a pair of Mickey slippers. So mom and dad agreed to pay the difference in the slippers if they would get their scaredy cat butts on the ride! Colby even enjoyed it enough to give it a second go! I think this brings us to a grand total of seven trips for today on our favorite coaster!

YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 26

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Alisa
EECC Travels

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Episode 25: Animals, Animals, Animals… & Festival of the Lion King – Walt Disney World – September 2016

EECC Travels — Thu, 27 Apr 2017 15:26:00 +0000

We are at Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World for the day! We have so many plans, let’s see what all we can find…

Huge surprise here…

Are you ready for it??? We visited with the animals… at Animal Kingdom!!! J But in all seriousness, we love exploring the shaded and overgrown lush trails of the Maharajah Jungle Trek with the multitude of animals.

With exhibits for Komodo dragons, Malayan tapirs, giant fruit bats, Asian deer and lets not forget the mac daddy of animals in this area… the Bengal tigers! We actually had a really interesting Cast Member at the Komodo dragons who had a skull and showed us how they could unhinge their jaws to eat animals much larger than themselves… these things can take down a water buffalo for goodness sakes!!!

Our boys always love the giant bats and their area is fascinating! They are right there with no glass between us and them and the boys are always afraid they are going to come through, but they are so big that the opening was not large enough for them. There is also some great artwork of what we like to dub ‘the bat cave’ where larger than life bats are painted around you.

And our biggest surprise of the morning was the tigers! They were up and active! Every time I have seen a large cat like these they are usually just laying around or sleeping but these were moving around and even rolling on the ground, I am pretty sure they were trying to get a itch on their backs…

Birds of Wonder

Today was the first time ever we had seen the Birds of Wonder show and we loved it! This is about a 25 minute interactive show which tells a story of a reluctant explorer who is a bit afraid of large birds but comes to like and respect them with some help from Guano Jane. This is a large covered (aka nice shaded cool area) pavilion which the birds have free reign and fly from front to back from one handler to another, even flying low enough that their tail feathers may brush your head… as they did mine!

The show includes such special species as:

Blue and Gold Macaws
Trumpeter Hornbill
African Grey Parrot
Rose-Breasted Cockatoo
Great Horned Owl
Red-Legged Seriema
Harris Hawk
East African Crowned Crane

We really enjoyed this show as it was entertaining and informational and we will definitely be back!

Our favorite show…

So at this point it was the beginning of our FastPass window to begin for Kilimanjaro Safaris, but… someone obviously made a mistake and allowed too many to be booked at the same time because the FastPass line was crazy long! So we decided to let it calm down a bit and while in Africa decided to catch the Festival of the Lion King show that was just starting.

We made it in and sat at the very top of one of the sections. I thought these would be bad seats but they were actually pretty great! Being at the highest point in the theater provided a wonderful view of the entire show. This is my absolute favorite show at Walt Disney World! Festival of the Lion King is funny, beautiful, heart warming, lively and fun! The Tumble Monkeys at the beginning are so funny and so talented! Love their trapeze act! The fire show during ‘Be Prepared’ is dark and beautiful and I always wonder how he does not burn himself???

And my favorite part is during ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ when the two ‘birds’ are dancing and she is lifted up and takes flight… breathtaking! This always brings tears to my eyes! And the ending with the entire ensemble singing and dancing and merging the pieces of each song into one cohesive show is so much fun! Everyone is clapping and singing Hakuna Matata and genuinely having a good time. And this is why we NEVER miss this show when we visit Animal Kingdom!!!

YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 25

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Alisa
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Episode 24: Rope Dropping Expedition Everest – Walt Disney World – September 2016

EECC Travels — Thu, 06 Apr 2017 20:46:00 +0000

Up and at it early and on our way to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for rope drop!!!

Oh it’s a beautiful morning…

The birds are squawking, the tigers are growling, the monkeys are howling… you get the picture… We’re at Animal Kingdom!!! Well it really is a beautiful day! We arrive bright and early around 8:20 in the morning for rope drop. We have never rope dropped Animal Kingdom before so this is a new experience for us.

At about twenty minutes until park opening they allow everyone to start scanning their magic bands and entering the park. You are allowed to go to Discovery Island and wait there for the park to officially open.

But… we were a little distracted and did not make a beeline to the starting gate. Well first of all for all of you pin traders out there, there is a double sided trash can at the entrance just covered in pins to trade. It is literally impossible for our boys to walk past this without pulling out their pouch of pins to trade!

Next distraction was incredible… Divine! Have you ever seen Divine??? She is amazing! For those who do not know, Divine is a lady on stilts who is covered in vines and plants and can blend in to the surroundings of the park. She moves slow and gracefully and is breathtaking. So of course we had to stop and watch her for a few minutes…

Discovery Island

So finally we make it to Discovery Island and the giant Tree of Life comes into view! And to our utter surprise… there is an actual rope… at rope drop! We have never seen this before. Having opened every park before, I don’t recall ever seeing an actual rope!

So there are really two ways to go from here… Africa for an early morning safari or Asia for Expedition Everest. We only have thrills and Yetis on our minds this morning and we line up on the right side to enter Asia.

Let me say, I was really impressed with the opening of this park. They have a group of beautiful, brightly colored Macaws flying freely around right over our head who all converge on a stand in the middle. Right at 9:00, a statement is made over the loud speaker of the awesomeness of Animal Kingdom and we are told to ‘let our imagination take flight’ and the most wonderful thing happens… At the word flight, all of the Macaws take off to lead you into the park. Wow! Just, WOW! It was incredible!!!

On to Expedition Everest!

With our minds totally blown, we make the mad dash into Asia. Along the way, we see our favorite pals Mickey and Minnie all dolled up in their safari gear waiting to meet with the first guests of the day. And while I would love to stop for a family picture with these two, we have somewhere we have to go, and fast.

Man I forgot how big Animal Kingdom is and how long it takes to get to the very back of Asia, whew! So we turn our final corner and the massive mountain comes into view. We are walking so fast through the queue we barely notice anything (yeah it looks like in the video we sped this up but we didn’t, we actually made it to the ride that fast!). We of course choose to ride in the back for the ultimate thrill and off we go!!!

Roller coaster wake you up!

There is no better way to start your day than on a roller coaster!!! When we found ourselves at the ‘broken track’ I decided to add a hairband to the large collection of multicolored hairbands that adorn this area. I have absolutely no idea how this got started or why people throw hair bands here, but I thought ‘what the heck’ I will add one too! I planned for this and brought a bright florescent yellow band that will stand out so on future rides, I could find it.

Anywho, back to the roller coaster! I just LOVE flying backwards into the dark and the cold and finding the Yeti looking down at you and ripping up the track. And I love even more the drop that leaves your tummy in your throat. Fantastic, all of it!

And my friends, this is why you get your behind out of bed and head to the Disney parks for rope drop… We rode Expedition Everest not twice, not three time, but FIVE times in a row with NO WAIT!!! What a way to start your day!

Join us next time as we visit the animals on the Jungle Trek…

YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 24

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The post Episode 24: Rope Dropping Expedition Everest – Walt Disney World – September 2016 appeared first on EECC Travels.

Episode 23: Dinner & T-Rex & Night at Disney Springs – Walt Disney World – September 2016

EECC Travels — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 23:30:00 +0000

One of our absolute favorite places to eat at Disney World is T-Rex at Disney Springs! This has been a go to spot for us since the kids were little… are all little boys obsessed with dinosaurs or just ours??? This restaurant is a place you go not just for good food, but for the all immersive experience.

Giant dinosaurs!

There are huge animatronic dinosaurs everywhere that move and roar and make other sounds that dinosaurs make… Not only dinosaurs, but other large extinct creatures like a Wooly Mammoth with huge tusks. And the ‘water’ area as I will call it has a giant octopus across the ceiling and if you watch the tentacles move!

Also there are large jellyfish hanging in this area and the main feature is the fish bar or as it is also known the ‘shark bar’. On a different trip of just us adults, Jason and I spent some time hanging out at this bar and it was a really cool experience. The bar itself looks like ice and slowly shifts in color, but the enormous tropical fish tank is a sight to behold. It is so big and there are so many different types of fish, they even have picture books along the bar to help you identify them.

Meteor Shower

Another really unique feature of T-Rex is that every @20 minutes, there is a ‘meteor shower’ where the restaurant goes dark, lights flash, the blue ice room turns red and if you look up at the ceiling you will see balls of light hurdling down towards you. Well, nothing is actually coming out of the ceiling, but it is a really cool effect! While this is happening, the animals are all in an uproar! They are all making load, ‘fearful’ noises of their impending doom. But it only lasts a few minutes and everything then becomes calm once again. But I will tell you that it is something you are not soon to forget about this place!

On to the food…

First let me say these portions are ginormous! We have been here enough that we have tried just about everything on the menu and have not found anything to disappoint! My personal favorite is the Mastadon Stuffed Chicken which I have enjoyed on our last two visits. It is so good!!! It is a large, very moist and tender chicken breast stuffed with artichoke hearts, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and butter and served with delicious whipped mashed potatoes. I am getting hungry just thinking about it!

Another favorite is the Boneyard Buffet which is half a rotisserie chicken and St. Louis pork ribs served with waffle fries. We didn’t get on this trip because Cameron was just wanting ribs so chose instead the Mega Mes-O-Bones, which is similar but has double the portion of ribs.

A couple of our guys were in the mood for burgers which we had never tried here before this trip. Colby got the Bronto Burger but Jason was feeling extra hungry and got the Doublesaurus burger! That thing was huge! I have no idea how he actually fit it into his mouth!!! I tried a bite and it was great! There are good burgers, ok burgers and bad burgers in this world and I will rank this one way at the top!

Ethan has been on a Fish & Chips kick on this trip and has vowed to try them at multiple locations. When this order came out, I didn’t even think my 16 year old bottomless pit could finish it! There were four huge pieces of fish and a pile of fries. He tried his best, but he did not conquer eating it all…

Did someone say dessert???

T-Rex has our favorite restaurant dessert anywhere at Disney World… The Chocolate Extinction!!!! This is a family style dessert which is four pieces of chocolate cake and four scoops of vanilla ice cream which is all covered in fudge sauce and whipped cream. To top it off it is served with a canister with dry ice in the center so it looks like a volcano exploding. And let me tell you… I don’t care how full you are, that chocolate cake will get eaten… Every. Single. Bite. It really is that good!

T-Rex also includes a unique gift shop including a Build-a-Bear station that is transformed into Build-a-Dino. Our kids did one of these when they were younger and still have it to this day! There are also really beautiful rocks similar to what you would find in museum gift shops and right outside the gift shop is a play area for kids with giant bones and sand and pails, buckets and paint brushes to work on an archeological dig while waiting for your table.

Disney Springs

After T-Rex, we wandered around Disney Springs a little and explore Uniqlo, one of the new stores that we were really excited about. I had seen clips of this place prior to our trip and they have regular clothes but also really cute Disney t-shirts for way less than you will find in the parks. I think the average price was $14.90! Unfortunately, no purchases were made and we carried our tired bodies back to the boat launch to catch the peaceful ride back down the river to Port Orleans Riverside. But we got a great bonus while we were waiting! There was a great view of the Star Wars fireworks from Hollywood Studios! This ending another awesome day of our Walt Disney World adventure!

Join us next time as we wake up the animals over at Animal Kingdom!!!

YouTube EECC Travels – WDW Episode 23

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Alisa
EECC Travels

The post Episode 23: Dinner & T-Rex & Night at Disney Springs – Walt Disney World – September 2016 appeared first on EECC Travels.