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December 2, 2003 – Day Four
Up at 6:15 – this is more like it. We have a light, in-room
breakfast and are out the door at 8:20 – headed for Animal
Kingdom. We catch a waiting bus (I think I should buy a Lottery
ticket) and are through security at 8:40. We’re let into the
park to a rope just over the bridge from the Oasis. I use this wait
time for some shots of the Tree of Life (the montage). By the way,
I’ve been contemplating what shot to use to represent MGM
in this montage. I’m leaning toward ToT over the BAH, mainly
because I like it more. I’ve shot both. Any votes?
There’s a very large crowd here – much larger than
I’m used to with our off-season visits. I’m afraid this
will mean crowds and long lines all day. Once the park opens, the
crowds disperse and it actually seems light during the entire day.
Wrong again.
We head first to It’s Tough To Be a Bug (ITTBAB). This is
always fun. Once again, there are a number of screaming, inconsolable
toddlers here. Several are finally taken out by a parent. Parents
of young ones really need to heed the warnings here. It’s
pretty intense when Hopper shows and the spiders drop. I can only
guess what a 3-year old is thinking during these parts.
We head to DinoLand for a ride on Dinosaur. The CM out front hands
me one of those cards on a lanyard and asks me to give it the CM
that boards us. My assumption is they somehow encode the time on
the card and do the same when you get on the ride vehicle. The resulting
difference is used to post the wait time. I take the card and we
walk through an empty queue and into the pre-show that is about
half over. We’re climbing into the ride vehicle about 3 minutes
after walking in. A good ride and that last blast effectively ruins
an otherwise good hair day.
We exit into the ‘carnival’. OK, last time I mention
this. I get it. I understand the kitsch. I get what they’re
trying to do. I just don’t think it belongs in Animal Kingdom.
Add a hub in Magic Kingdom and call it CarnieLand. Anyway, we ride
Primeval Whirl with a 5-minute wait. It’s a fun ride that
is a lot rougher than I remember from January. I get thrown into
the lap bar several times.
We head back to Kilamanjaro Safaris and a posted 15-minute wait.
It seems shorter because the line moves continuously until we board
the truck. I really like the fact that no two rides are ever the
same here. We see lots of animals but the highlight is Pride Rock.
Our guide tells us that the lions typically sleep 18-20 hours a
day (where do I sign up?) and, true to form, they’re sleeping.
The male is on his side while the female is on her back, head on
his side, with all 4 legs in the air. Pretty comical.
Anyone else think the Little Red story can go? I’ve seen
this too many times with different renditions. Remember when you
had a live guard at the end, holding the rifle on the poachers?
Now it looks like there’s a mannequin in the truck.
Next up is Tusker House for an early lunch. I get the Turkey Wrap
with Corn Chowder and grapes. The chowder is good but the wrap is
almost tasteless. Barb gets a chicken sandwich that tastes like
chicken – or so she says.
We decide to try the Flights of Wonder show. We’ve not seen
it yet. It gets a mild thumb’s up. It’s a little cute
and corny but fascinating to see the bald eagle. There’s a
point where something very large flies very low over the crowd.
I’m not up on my birds and it’s not in my notes but
I remember it was scary and had about a 6-foot wingspan. An African
condor-vulture, or something like that. Anyway, it flies out to
a handler in the far reaches of the bleachers. We’re told
to get our cameras ready and I do. As I’m adjusting aperture
or something, Rodan flies right at me actually grazing my hair with
its talons-of-death. OK, maybe that was my imagination but Barb
said he came really, really close.
We then strolled Maharajah Jungle Trek looking at and photographing
bats and tigers and dragons – oh, my. Now it’s time
for our last ride at Animal Kingdom. Kali River Rapids. Why do we
save it for the end? Because you get wet – sometimes very
wet.
We head through the queue and it’s almost a walk-on. We
board and I’m, once again, seated next to my lovely wife.
This is like an albatross around my neck wearing a sign saying ‘Soak
Me’. My camera bag won’t fit in the center area so I
pull my golf slicker around it and carry it under my shirt. The
woman across from me remarks that I now look pregnant. I leave that
alone but Barb smirks.
The first drop has us at the front of the boat, first over the
drop. A large plume of water goes straight up and lands just behind
my head, but in front of my shirt collar. Yep, right down the back.
Now that’s refreshing. Through the rest of the ride, we stay
relatively dry. The woman to Barb’s left catches a wave over
the side that absolutely engulfs her pants. They’re soaked
all the way through. Great fun!
Done with Animal Kingdom, we make our way out and wait about 3 minutes
for a bus. What? Did no one tell them I was coming? We decide to
exit at the Swan, walk to the Dolphin, and grab one of the ice cream
treats from the Dolphin Fountain. After perusing the menu, the waitress
informs me that I can downsize the ‘Sundae-Sundae’ and
just make it a ‘Sundae’. Wish they had told me that
last year. I opt for the chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce
and… topping? Why not chocolate chips? The waitress is amused.
Barb got a vanilla something or other – who cares. Mine was
great. We flash the DVC card for 20% off.
We walk back to the Boardwalk and decide to stop in at the DVC
office to view the Saratoga Springs rooms. Keep in mind that we
live about 20 minutes from Saratoga Springs (the real one). I’ve
seen the architecture at the DVC resort and it’s close but
Saratoga (the real one) has a charm that is difficult to capture.
There’s something about those old Victorian homes with wrap-around
porches… Anyway, the rooms are nice. I score 2 pins. Barb
scores a bag full of mints, taffy, and cotton candy. We gotta stop
here more often.
We spend some time in the room freshening up and change before
heading to Downtown Disney at around 5:30. We get off the bus at
the Marketplace and stroll through to the West End. We decide on
Wolfgang Puck’s for dinner and are seated almost immediately.
We share an appetizer: spinach and 4 cheese dip with focaccia bread.
I have a Bass Ale and Barb a coffee (what else). We decide to split
a pizza and I let Barb choose. She picks a barbecued chicken. Now
I’m an old Italian boy and a pizza connoisseur. You can have
tomato sauce, tomatoes, mozzarella, peppers (red or green), olives,
anchovies, pepperoni, sausage… but chicken? Well, I pride
myself on being ‘Iron-stomach Joe’ and often say “I
can eat anything”. I get a second Bass and we dine.
After dinner, we go into PI and stroll around a few of the shops.
The first Comedy Warehouse (CW) show is at 8:15 so we try the Adventurers
Club (AC). I’ve been in there several times but we always
leave (usually to the CW) before any shows. It’s about 7:30
and there’s a new member induction going on in the bar. We
take some seats upstairs with a few others and watch Pamela (?)
Perkins and Samantha Sterling interact with a few guests. There’s
a couple upstairs to our left and the girl has shouted something
to Pamela. I didn’t quite hear it but Pamela took it as “I’m
horny” so she, for the next 15 minutes, was referred to as
the “horny girl upstairs”. There was a butler involved
and an aviator was upstairs shouting some things down. We grabbed
each other’s ear lobes and took the pledge. The group retired
to the Mask Room for a show and we made the decision to go to the
CW instead. We got a taste and it looks like fun so… maybe
next time.
We got in line at the CW and were ushered in at 8:15. There was
a large group already in the floor chairs – must have been
a party or something. We got the seats next to the couple by the
phone. They spoke with British accents and overheard me say that
I’d like to get the phone once and offered us their seats.
I declined and told them to have fun. It didn’t matter as
the opening actor rang the ‘other’ phone. The first
show featured Lisa, Brian, Phillip, John and… another guy
whose name I forgot. There was a light crowd. None of the second
seats in each row were filled and not every row was filled either.
It was also a ‘dead’ crowd. No suggestions, no embarrassing
stories, no nothing. The show was just OK. The cast tried but the
audience was just out of it.
We got back in line for the 9:15. This show had a few more people
but, unfortunately, they were just as dead. Same cast except add
Joy (and drop the guy I couldn’t remember). Again, it was
just OK. The highlight was when Brian (who I really like) and Lisa
had to perform a song called ‘Laxative Friday’. Brian
came out in a wig that was bald on top and had large shocks of white
hair at the sides. Lisa had a white wig and ‘old lady’
dress – complete with sagging breasts about waist high. They
did a great improve number. I think it was supposed to be a Show
Tune but they did more of a Vaudeville review. I thought it was
great. If only the rest of the skits were as good.
We bus back to the Boardwalk and decide to hit the Bel Vue Room
for a nightcap. Allen was, once again, behind the bar. He said I
looked familiar but I think he was just being nice. He’s apparently
leaving the Boardwalk. His children are now in school so he’s
looking for daytime hours so he can spend more time with them. He’s
hoping for the pool bar at Saratoga Springs. I hope he gets it because
he’s really a great bartender – very personable and
very efficient.
We chatted a bit about bartending, different liquors, scotches,
etc. He espoused his theory of what makes a good bartender. Everyone
can mix a drink. The recipes, if you don’t know them, are
in a book or Rolodex behind the bar. He spends time reading books
(and labels) so he can make appropriate recommendations. If they
don’t have your brand of scotch/gin/vodka, he can recommend
something close to it based upon flavor, origin, etc. He does take
it seriously.
We quit after one drink, said our goodbyes to Allen, and called
it a night.
Musings and Observations- What looks to me like a large park crowd,
often isn’t. You will get wet on KRR. The Turkey Wrap at the
Tusker House needs to have something (dressing) added for taste.
It’s too much shredded lettuce and is bland. People in the
DVC office treat DVC members very well. Barbecued chicken and pizza
are not a match made in heaven – regardless of what Wolfgang
tells you. The Bel Vue Room is a great place to end a Disney day.
Miles Walked Today – 7.9
Day 5...
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