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TR: Golden Oak - Day 4 of 6
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Steve Russo
Jun 26, 2012, 5:31:41 AM6/26/12
to
June 13-18, 2012
Participants
• Steve –Me, my own self.
• Barb – The better half.
Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House
Day Four - June 16, 2012 – Bus problems and cousins
I’m up at 6:00 and notice there’s only one coffee cup. Housekeeping must
have taken the used one from yesterday but forgot to replace it. I call
down to the Front Desk and soon someone’s at the door with three more cups.
A word about the phones here… My experience at Disney’s resorts is that
the phones all have a series of buttons giving you direct access to
Housekeeping, Maintenance, Front Desk, Dining, etc. Not so here and I’m
not sure if it’s Jambo, Animal Kingdom Lodge or now property-wide. There
are fewer buttons and the only one to be used in the hotel is Front Desk
and they seem to take your issue and contact the appropriate parties.
To date, I haven’t had to use the buses here very much – I’ve been
spoiled with getting picked up at the door in air-conditioned buses and
SUVs. Today, I join the regular riff-raff and it brought back ugly
memories of my one stay at Saratoga Springs. We were planning to head to
the Magic Kingdom. When we got to the bus stop at 8:10, there were
probably 15 or so people already waiting. One of them was asking the CM
(the “bus on demand” guy) about the next bus and he indicated it should
be along “any minute”. From that exchange, I took it that they had been
waiting for some time.
By 8:28, I had counted five buses for DHS, three for AK, one DD and two
Epcot. Not a one for Magic Kingdom so, when that second Epcot bus pulled
in, we jumped on. I’m not sure how much longer those folks had to wait.
On the bus, we formulated a plan to hit Epcot for Soarin’ and breakfast,
then hop to the MAGIC KINGDOM. Park hopping is not usually our style
but, as I mentioned, this trip wouldn’t be “typical”. Hopping here would
also involve a monorail ride which, I maintain, is an attraction.
At Epcot, we endured a lengthy wait at the turnstiles – not enough of
them were open (in my opinion) and it just seems that way too many
people struggle with the finger scan. We really need a better way. I
watched as a dad lifted his 3 (?) year old daughter to have her scan her
finger. Is this new? Are they now scanning the children as well?
We didn’t get to Soarin’ until 9:15 and the wait was already at 20
minutes. I first grabbed two FastPasses then we entered the Standby
queue. We were on the ride in about 15 minutes.
We exited and hit Sunshine Seasons for breakfast. I had the breakfast
platter and Barb just grabbed a bagel. Our timing was great as we
finished just in time to use our 10:20 FastPasses.
Now, everything I’ve read since they began enforcing FastPass return
times indicates that a FastPass will be honored 5 minutes early and 15
minutes after the end time. We entered the FastPass queue at exactly
10:15 and I told the CM we were “a bit early”. She said she’d let it go
“just this one time only”. I guess that must be their marching orders to
discourage entering outside of the stated hour.
After the ride, we exited and walked up the stairs. Do you know that
wide aisle that winds around the upper floor to the entrance/exit in the
Land pavilion? We had an extreme version of the Wide Walkers blocking
us. Five people from the same group were spread across the entire aisle
– and they were all, er… Pooh-sized. And they strolled. Ambled really –
very slowly. We had no chance to pass until they, thankfully, pulled
into the Circle of Life Theater.
We hopped the beam (monorail) to the TTC and joined a fairly large crowd
there for the trip to the MAGIC KINGDOM. At the TTC, I caught a glimpse
of the Avenger monorail (Avengerail?) but couldn’t get a good photo – it
had departed before we got up top.
Our only real goal here was to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. On
our last trip, it was down for a lengthy refurbishment and I wanted to
see how it looked now that everything was working again and it had a
fresh coat of paint. We walked up Main Street and stopped at the tip
board where we learned Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was down with
technical issues. Ah, well. Plan B was a walk through the Castle (the
Move It, etc. show was going on in the forecourt) and a stop in to see
Mickey’s Philharmagic.
Mickey’s Philharmagic was very crowded – for the first time I was held
outside the pre-show area but only for a few minutes. While in the
pre-show, I also saw my very first Tour Guide. As I said, I never
noticed them in the parks before but, now, I may be more in tune with
identifying them. She was a young girl with a family of four – two small
children: a boy about five and a girl about three. She was spending a
lot of time keeping the kids entertained as we waited. I’m pretty sure
that’s a job that’s not for me.
After Mickey’s Philharmagic (which we always enjoy), we took a tour of
the sort-of-new Fantasyland. Casey Jr.’s Splash & Soak Station had just
opened yesterday so we strolled over and I took some photos while some
children got very wet. Parents take heed – bring a change of clothes for
the kiddies here. The Beast Castle looks to be about done and the rest
is coming along nicely.
We finished our tour at the train station in what used to be Toontown
and, because of the heat and the fact a train was arriving, we rode it
to the front of the park.
We exited the Magic Kingdom and found a waiting Animal Kingdom Lodge bus
and were soon on our way. We changed quickly and went to the Uzima pool.
I like this pool but think I prefer Kidani’s. It’s just a tad smaller
and I like the water features there.
We found a couple of lounge chairs at the end of a row and in the sun.
We proceeded to bake on one side until done, then dip in the pool for
some basting, flip and bake the other side – repeat until done.
As I mentioned, it was hot – and the CMs were hosting a lot of games for
the kids by the pool. Some were interesting like “Guess the author of
this Disney film quote…”. Others were just loud. After about two hours,
I felt I had reached the appropriate shade of medium-rare and we retired
to our balcony for some animal watching and cocktails, water, brie and
crackers.
After showers and a change, we headed out at 4:30 to Epcot for our
reservation at the Rose and Crown. We were a few minutes early so we
stopped in the pub for a Stella Artois (Barb) and a Black and Tan (me).
We found a good spot to stand at the bar and we were enjoying the Hat
Lady’s singing and piano playing. I know she used to play at the Comedy
Warehouse but I couldn’t recall her last name. I knew her first name was
Carol but a trip through the alphabet didn’t help so I asked her. Carol
Stein (Stine?) and I immediately slapped my forehead.
Our reservation was for 5:45 so at 5:40 I went outside, checked in and
was given a pager. Back inside and the pager went off in about 5
minutes. We were brought to a table for two, outside, right on the
water. I hesitated for a second because it was a bit hot and sticky
outside - but there was a nice breeze on the water and it was actually
very comfortable there. We carried the remainder of our drinks with us.
We had a lovely young Scottish girl waiting our table – and I’ve
forgotten her name. Barb had the Pork Duo (grilled brisket with mushroom
ragout and braised pork with mashed potatoes and red wine sauce) and
liked it a lot. I thought about the Fish & Chips but our server talked
me into the Cottage Pie (Ground beef, onions, carrots and mushrooms,
creamy mashed potatoes and cheddar). Also very good and we enjoyed this
meal, the view, the breeze and a very friendly duck and squirrel who
joined us occasionally.
After dinner, we shopped for a bit for Beatles stuff in the UK and wound
up in the Twinings Tea shop. I don’t recall where but I’m almost certain
I heard or read that it’s pronounced Twinn-ings (short ‘I’), rather than
Twine-ings (long ‘I’). Barb disagreed so I asked a CM. He was diplomatic
and said both pronunciations were acceptable but it was Twine-ings.
Dammit! I still think he was wrong – even with his British accent.
We wandered over to the America Gardens Theater and caught a full set of
Hotel California – an Eagles tribute band. They were pretty good and we
found some good seats off to the left – up close with an unobstructed
view. At one point, their lead guitarist wandered in our direction,
walked atop the wall and stood about 6 feet from me while jammin’ with
two female CMs. It’s downright hysterical to watch these two girls
dancing to the Eagles while wearing their colonial garb.
We noticed a Minnie tattoo on the leg of a young lady about four seats
down from us – OK, I noticed it. At any rate, I managed to zoom in for a
surreptitious photo.
When the show ended, we grabbed a couple of coffees (sigh, Nescafe) in
the American Adventure. Then we strolled World Showcase arguing about
how long it’s been since we’ve seen the film in China. Barb thought it
was recently but was proven wrong when we saw it and neither of us could
remember anything about it except the Great Wall. I’ll bet it’s been 10
years since the last viewing.
It was now about 8:50 so we walked around to the UK and found a pretty
good spot for Illuminations in the area to the right of the Fish & Chips
shop. We enjoyed the show but the wind was carrying the smoke back
toward Crescent Lake so we caught the edges of that.
My cousin, Frank, and his wife, Patti, were here and we had made
arrangements to meet them for drinks at the Belle Vue Lounge in the
Boardwalk. We walked over and immediately noticed that the beautiful
breeze in Epcot was non-existent on the Boardwalk and it was noticeably
hotter and very sticky there.
We met Frank and Patti, grabbed some drinks and found a table outside on
the balcony. I thought Frank told me they were staying at the Boardwalk
which is why I suggested the Belle Vue to meet up. They were curious why
I suggested it because they were staying ay Old Key West. They thought
it was just because I liked the Belle Vue. Ah, well. We had some great
conversation (and two more rounds) before calling it quits at 11:30. We
each grabbed a taxi back to our respective hotels and called it a night.
Things I Think I Think – I think this was a nice relaxing day – a little
parks, a little pool, a little Illuminations. I think there was a real
problem with Magic Kingdom buses this morning. I’ve not noticed this in
two previous stays at Animal Kingdom Lodge but… one was only two days
and the other we had a rental car. Hopefully this was an aberration. I
think it was fun visiting with Frank and Patti today. They’re as big
Disney fans as we are and really love their time here. I think I should
pay closer attention when they tell me where they’re staying.
--
Steve
Participants
• Steve –Me, my own self.
• Barb – The better half.
Animal Kingdom Lodge – Jambo House
Day Four - June 16, 2012 – Bus problems and cousins
I’m up at 6:00 and notice there’s only one coffee cup. Housekeeping must
have taken the used one from yesterday but forgot to replace it. I call
down to the Front Desk and soon someone’s at the door with three more cups.
A word about the phones here… My experience at Disney’s resorts is that
the phones all have a series of buttons giving you direct access to
Housekeeping, Maintenance, Front Desk, Dining, etc. Not so here and I’m
not sure if it’s Jambo, Animal Kingdom Lodge or now property-wide. There
are fewer buttons and the only one to be used in the hotel is Front Desk
and they seem to take your issue and contact the appropriate parties.
To date, I haven’t had to use the buses here very much – I’ve been
spoiled with getting picked up at the door in air-conditioned buses and
SUVs. Today, I join the regular riff-raff and it brought back ugly
memories of my one stay at Saratoga Springs. We were planning to head to
the Magic Kingdom. When we got to the bus stop at 8:10, there were
probably 15 or so people already waiting. One of them was asking the CM
(the “bus on demand” guy) about the next bus and he indicated it should
be along “any minute”. From that exchange, I took it that they had been
waiting for some time.
By 8:28, I had counted five buses for DHS, three for AK, one DD and two
Epcot. Not a one for Magic Kingdom so, when that second Epcot bus pulled
in, we jumped on. I’m not sure how much longer those folks had to wait.
On the bus, we formulated a plan to hit Epcot for Soarin’ and breakfast,
then hop to the MAGIC KINGDOM. Park hopping is not usually our style
but, as I mentioned, this trip wouldn’t be “typical”. Hopping here would
also involve a monorail ride which, I maintain, is an attraction.
At Epcot, we endured a lengthy wait at the turnstiles – not enough of
them were open (in my opinion) and it just seems that way too many
people struggle with the finger scan. We really need a better way. I
watched as a dad lifted his 3 (?) year old daughter to have her scan her
finger. Is this new? Are they now scanning the children as well?
We didn’t get to Soarin’ until 9:15 and the wait was already at 20
minutes. I first grabbed two FastPasses then we entered the Standby
queue. We were on the ride in about 15 minutes.
We exited and hit Sunshine Seasons for breakfast. I had the breakfast
platter and Barb just grabbed a bagel. Our timing was great as we
finished just in time to use our 10:20 FastPasses.
Now, everything I’ve read since they began enforcing FastPass return
times indicates that a FastPass will be honored 5 minutes early and 15
minutes after the end time. We entered the FastPass queue at exactly
10:15 and I told the CM we were “a bit early”. She said she’d let it go
“just this one time only”. I guess that must be their marching orders to
discourage entering outside of the stated hour.
After the ride, we exited and walked up the stairs. Do you know that
wide aisle that winds around the upper floor to the entrance/exit in the
Land pavilion? We had an extreme version of the Wide Walkers blocking
us. Five people from the same group were spread across the entire aisle
– and they were all, er… Pooh-sized. And they strolled. Ambled really –
very slowly. We had no chance to pass until they, thankfully, pulled
into the Circle of Life Theater.
We hopped the beam (monorail) to the TTC and joined a fairly large crowd
there for the trip to the MAGIC KINGDOM. At the TTC, I caught a glimpse
of the Avenger monorail (Avengerail?) but couldn’t get a good photo – it
had departed before we got up top.
Our only real goal here was to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. On
our last trip, it was down for a lengthy refurbishment and I wanted to
see how it looked now that everything was working again and it had a
fresh coat of paint. We walked up Main Street and stopped at the tip
board where we learned Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was down with
technical issues. Ah, well. Plan B was a walk through the Castle (the
Move It, etc. show was going on in the forecourt) and a stop in to see
Mickey’s Philharmagic.
Mickey’s Philharmagic was very crowded – for the first time I was held
outside the pre-show area but only for a few minutes. While in the
pre-show, I also saw my very first Tour Guide. As I said, I never
noticed them in the parks before but, now, I may be more in tune with
identifying them. She was a young girl with a family of four – two small
children: a boy about five and a girl about three. She was spending a
lot of time keeping the kids entertained as we waited. I’m pretty sure
that’s a job that’s not for me.
After Mickey’s Philharmagic (which we always enjoy), we took a tour of
the sort-of-new Fantasyland. Casey Jr.’s Splash & Soak Station had just
opened yesterday so we strolled over and I took some photos while some
children got very wet. Parents take heed – bring a change of clothes for
the kiddies here. The Beast Castle looks to be about done and the rest
is coming along nicely.
We finished our tour at the train station in what used to be Toontown
and, because of the heat and the fact a train was arriving, we rode it
to the front of the park.
We exited the Magic Kingdom and found a waiting Animal Kingdom Lodge bus
and were soon on our way. We changed quickly and went to the Uzima pool.
I like this pool but think I prefer Kidani’s. It’s just a tad smaller
and I like the water features there.
We found a couple of lounge chairs at the end of a row and in the sun.
We proceeded to bake on one side until done, then dip in the pool for
some basting, flip and bake the other side – repeat until done.
As I mentioned, it was hot – and the CMs were hosting a lot of games for
the kids by the pool. Some were interesting like “Guess the author of
this Disney film quote…”. Others were just loud. After about two hours,
I felt I had reached the appropriate shade of medium-rare and we retired
to our balcony for some animal watching and cocktails, water, brie and
crackers.
After showers and a change, we headed out at 4:30 to Epcot for our
reservation at the Rose and Crown. We were a few minutes early so we
stopped in the pub for a Stella Artois (Barb) and a Black and Tan (me).
We found a good spot to stand at the bar and we were enjoying the Hat
Lady’s singing and piano playing. I know she used to play at the Comedy
Warehouse but I couldn’t recall her last name. I knew her first name was
Carol but a trip through the alphabet didn’t help so I asked her. Carol
Stein (Stine?) and I immediately slapped my forehead.
Our reservation was for 5:45 so at 5:40 I went outside, checked in and
was given a pager. Back inside and the pager went off in about 5
minutes. We were brought to a table for two, outside, right on the
water. I hesitated for a second because it was a bit hot and sticky
outside - but there was a nice breeze on the water and it was actually
very comfortable there. We carried the remainder of our drinks with us.
We had a lovely young Scottish girl waiting our table – and I’ve
forgotten her name. Barb had the Pork Duo (grilled brisket with mushroom
ragout and braised pork with mashed potatoes and red wine sauce) and
liked it a lot. I thought about the Fish & Chips but our server talked
me into the Cottage Pie (Ground beef, onions, carrots and mushrooms,
creamy mashed potatoes and cheddar). Also very good and we enjoyed this
meal, the view, the breeze and a very friendly duck and squirrel who
joined us occasionally.
After dinner, we shopped for a bit for Beatles stuff in the UK and wound
up in the Twinings Tea shop. I don’t recall where but I’m almost certain
I heard or read that it’s pronounced Twinn-ings (short ‘I’), rather than
Twine-ings (long ‘I’). Barb disagreed so I asked a CM. He was diplomatic
and said both pronunciations were acceptable but it was Twine-ings.
Dammit! I still think he was wrong – even with his British accent.
We wandered over to the America Gardens Theater and caught a full set of
Hotel California – an Eagles tribute band. They were pretty good and we
found some good seats off to the left – up close with an unobstructed
view. At one point, their lead guitarist wandered in our direction,
walked atop the wall and stood about 6 feet from me while jammin’ with
two female CMs. It’s downright hysterical to watch these two girls
dancing to the Eagles while wearing their colonial garb.
We noticed a Minnie tattoo on the leg of a young lady about four seats
down from us – OK, I noticed it. At any rate, I managed to zoom in for a
surreptitious photo.
When the show ended, we grabbed a couple of coffees (sigh, Nescafe) in
the American Adventure. Then we strolled World Showcase arguing about
how long it’s been since we’ve seen the film in China. Barb thought it
was recently but was proven wrong when we saw it and neither of us could
remember anything about it except the Great Wall. I’ll bet it’s been 10
years since the last viewing.
It was now about 8:50 so we walked around to the UK and found a pretty
good spot for Illuminations in the area to the right of the Fish & Chips
shop. We enjoyed the show but the wind was carrying the smoke back
toward Crescent Lake so we caught the edges of that.
My cousin, Frank, and his wife, Patti, were here and we had made
arrangements to meet them for drinks at the Belle Vue Lounge in the
Boardwalk. We walked over and immediately noticed that the beautiful
breeze in Epcot was non-existent on the Boardwalk and it was noticeably
hotter and very sticky there.
We met Frank and Patti, grabbed some drinks and found a table outside on
the balcony. I thought Frank told me they were staying at the Boardwalk
which is why I suggested the Belle Vue to meet up. They were curious why
I suggested it because they were staying ay Old Key West. They thought
it was just because I liked the Belle Vue. Ah, well. We had some great
conversation (and two more rounds) before calling it quits at 11:30. We
each grabbed a taxi back to our respective hotels and called it a night.
Things I Think I Think – I think this was a nice relaxing day – a little
parks, a little pool, a little Illuminations. I think there was a real
problem with Magic Kingdom buses this morning. I’ve not noticed this in
two previous stays at Animal Kingdom Lodge but… one was only two days
and the other we had a rental car. Hopefully this was an aberration. I
think it was fun visiting with Frank and Patti today. They’re as big
Disney fans as we are and really love their time here. I think I should
pay closer attention when they tell me where they’re staying.
--
Steve
Rudeney
Jun 26, 2012, 5:29:53 PM6/26/12
to
> Group: rec.arts.disney.parks
> MsgID: <jsbvhs$52q$5...@dont-email.me>
> A word about the phones here… My experience at Disney’s resorts is that
> the phones all have a series of buttons giving you direct access to
> Housekeeping, Maintenance, Front Desk, Dining, etc. Not so here and I’m
> not sure if it’s Jambo, Animal Kingdom Lodge or now property-wide. There
> are fewer buttons and the only one to be used in the hotel is Front Desk and
> they seem to take your issue and contact the appropriate parties.
Sometimes that's better because you end up calling the wrong person. You
might think that housekeeping would bring mugs, but that could be room
service. As long as there are enough people answering that "front desk"
line, that seems to be a better way of handling things, IMHO.
> To date, I haven’t had to use the buses here very much – I’ve been spoiled
> with getting picked up at the door in air-conditioned buses and SUVs.
Oh, so we can add VIP Press Event Snob to the list, huh? :-)
> I join the regular riff-raff and it brought back ugly memories of my one stay at
> Saratoga Springs. We were planning to head to the Magic Kingdom. When we
> got to the bus stop at 8:10, there were probably 15 or so people already
> waiting. One of them was asking the CM (the “bus on demand” guy) about
> the next bus and he indicated it should be along “any minute”. From that
> exchange, I took it that they had been waiting for some time.
>
> By 8:28, I had counted five buses for DHS, three for AK, one DD and two
> Epcot.
Two words: Bus roulette. You'll never be disappointed by long bus waits!
> Not a one for Magic Kingdom so, when that second Epcot bus pulled
> in, we jumped on. I’m not sure how much longer those folks had to wait.
Probably about 30 seconds.
> On the bus, we formulated a plan to hit Epcot for Soarin’ and breakfast,
> then hop to the MAGIC KINGDOM. Park hopping is not usually our style but,
> as I mentioned, this trip wouldn’t be “typical”. Hopping here would also
> involve a monorail ride which, I maintain, is an attraction.
See what fun bus roulette can be?
> At Epcot, we endured a lengthy wait at the turnstiles – not enough of them
> were open (in my opinion) and it just seems that way too many people
> struggle with the finger scan. We really need a better way. I watched as a dad
> lifted his 3 (?) year old daughter to have her scan her finger. Is this new? Are
> they now scanning the children as well?
I don’t think so. My guess is he just has no clue how the system works and
they probably don't staff the gates with enough CM's to help. Here's an
idea (and I give up all rights to this, so Disney you are free to use it
and don’t have to give me any credit - you can say you thought of it
first!). They need to monitor how each guest uses the turnstiles and add a
rating to their park pass database. When it recognizes seasoned guests who
"get it", they need to issue them a new "gold" passport card and hen create
special lines for those guests. Everyone else who seems to be clueless as
to how to follow simple instructions gets to wait in line behind all the
other clueless guests. :-)
> Now, everything I’ve read since they began enforcing FastPass return
> times indicates that a FastPass will be honored 5 minutes early and 15
> minutes after the end time. We entered the FastPass queue at exactly 10:15
> and I told the CM we were “a bit early”. She said she’d let it go “just this one
> time only”. I guess that must be their marching orders to discourage entering
> outside of the stated hour.
That sounds plausible, i.e. to gently remind the guests that they are
early, but let them go anyhow. In the past, they have monitored the return
times as if early entries would tear a hole in the space-time continuum.
> After the ride, we exited and walked up the stairs. Do you know that wide
> aisle that winds around the upper floor to the entrance/exit in the Land
> pavilion? We had an extreme version of the Wide Walkers blocking us. Five
> people from the same group were spread across the entire aisle – and they
> were all, er… Pooh-sized. And they strolled. Ambled really – very slowly. We
> had no chance to pass until they, thankfully, pulled into the Circle of Life
> Theater.
A good way to break up a crowd like that is to yell, "Look - free donuts!"
Actually, that was ugly and I shouldn't have said that. I apologize. I
know yelling the word "free" at WDW can incite a riot.
> Mickey’s Philharmagic was very crowded – for the first time I was held
> outside the pre-show area but only for a few minutes. While in the pre-
> show, I also saw my very first Tour Guide. As I said, I never noticed them in
> the parks before but, now, I may be more in tune with identifying them. She
> was a young girl with a family of four – two small children: a boy about five
> and a girl about three. She was spending a lot of time keeping the kids
> entertained as we waited. I’m pretty sure that’s a job that’s not for me.
Oh, dang! All that parallel parking practice and it means I have to be a
glorified babysitter? No thanks!
> We changed quickly and went to the Uzima
> pool.
...
pool, I made myself a snack platter of Triscuits with a slice of brie on
each, accompanied by a gin and (diet) tonic. I let the plate of Triscuits
sit in the sun for 15 minutes, and voila - baked brie on a cracker. :-)
> After showers and a change, we headed out at 4:30 to Epcot for our
> reservation at the Rose and Crown. We were a few minutes early so we
> stopped in the pub for a Stella Artois (Barb) and a Black and Tan (me). We
> found a good spot to stand at the bar and we were enjoying the Hat Lady’s
> singing and piano playing. I know she used to play at the Comedy Warehouse
> but I couldn’t recall her last name. I knew her first name was Carol but a trip
> through the alphabet didn’t help so I asked her. Carol Stein (Stine?) and I
> immediately slapped my forehead.
Just play word association - piano, Steinway, Carol Stein (spelling isn't
important in this case).
> After dinner, we shopped for a bit for Beatles stuff in the UK and wound up
> in the Twinings Tea shop. I don’t recall where but I’m almost certain I heard
> or read that it’s pronounced Twinn-ings (short ‘I’), rather than Twine-ings
> (long ‘I’). Barb disagreed so I asked a CM. He was diplomatic and said both
> pronunciations were acceptable but it was Twine-ings. Dammit! I still think he
> was wrong – even with his British accent.
According to the twiningsusa.com website, it's a long "i". Score (another)
one for Barb.
> We noticed a Minnie tattoo on the leg of a young lady about four seats
> down from us – OK, I noticed it. At any rate, I managed to zoom in for a
> surreptitious photo.
Would have been any more or less inappropriate to do that had it not been a
Disney-themed tattoo?
> When the show ended, we grabbed a couple of coffees (sigh, Nescafe)
Blech! That's why I drink Johnnie Walker - they really can’t screw that
up.
> My cousin, Frank, and his wife, Patti, were here and we had made
> arrangements to meet them for drinks at the Belle Vue Lounge in the
> Boardwalk.
...
> Things I Think I Think – I think this was a nice relaxing day – a little parks, a
> little pool, a little Illuminations.
Sounds like a great day to me!
> I think there was a real problem with Magic
> Kingdom buses this morning. I’ve not noticed this in two previous stays at
> Animal Kingdom Lodge
I've never had really horrible bus service there. I wonder if there was
something going on that morning.
--
- Rodney
> MsgID: <jsbvhs$52q$5...@dont-email.me>
>
> I’m up at 6:00 and notice there’s only one coffee cup. Housekeeping must
> have taken the used one from yesterday but forgot to replace it. I call down
> to the Front Desk and soon someone’s at the door with three more cups.
Inviting some friends?
> I’m up at 6:00 and notice there’s only one coffee cup. Housekeeping must
> have taken the used one from yesterday but forgot to replace it. I call down
> to the Front Desk and soon someone’s at the door with three more cups.
> A word about the phones here… My experience at Disney’s resorts is that
> the phones all have a series of buttons giving you direct access to
> Housekeeping, Maintenance, Front Desk, Dining, etc. Not so here and I’m
> not sure if it’s Jambo, Animal Kingdom Lodge or now property-wide. There
> are fewer buttons and the only one to be used in the hotel is Front Desk and
> they seem to take your issue and contact the appropriate parties.
might think that housekeeping would bring mugs, but that could be room
service. As long as there are enough people answering that "front desk"
line, that seems to be a better way of handling things, IMHO.
> To date, I haven’t had to use the buses here very much – I’ve been spoiled
> with getting picked up at the door in air-conditioned buses and SUVs.
> I join the regular riff-raff and it brought back ugly memories of my one stay at
> Saratoga Springs. We were planning to head to the Magic Kingdom. When we
> got to the bus stop at 8:10, there were probably 15 or so people already
> waiting. One of them was asking the CM (the “bus on demand” guy) about
> the next bus and he indicated it should be along “any minute”. From that
> exchange, I took it that they had been waiting for some time.
>
> By 8:28, I had counted five buses for DHS, three for AK, one DD and two
> Epcot.
> Not a one for Magic Kingdom so, when that second Epcot bus pulled
> in, we jumped on. I’m not sure how much longer those folks had to wait.
> On the bus, we formulated a plan to hit Epcot for Soarin’ and breakfast,
> then hop to the MAGIC KINGDOM. Park hopping is not usually our style but,
> as I mentioned, this trip wouldn’t be “typical”. Hopping here would also
> involve a monorail ride which, I maintain, is an attraction.
> At Epcot, we endured a lengthy wait at the turnstiles – not enough of them
> were open (in my opinion) and it just seems that way too many people
> struggle with the finger scan. We really need a better way. I watched as a dad
> lifted his 3 (?) year old daughter to have her scan her finger. Is this new? Are
> they now scanning the children as well?
they probably don't staff the gates with enough CM's to help. Here's an
idea (and I give up all rights to this, so Disney you are free to use it
and don’t have to give me any credit - you can say you thought of it
first!). They need to monitor how each guest uses the turnstiles and add a
rating to their park pass database. When it recognizes seasoned guests who
"get it", they need to issue them a new "gold" passport card and hen create
special lines for those guests. Everyone else who seems to be clueless as
to how to follow simple instructions gets to wait in line behind all the
other clueless guests. :-)
> Now, everything I’ve read since they began enforcing FastPass return
> times indicates that a FastPass will be honored 5 minutes early and 15
> minutes after the end time. We entered the FastPass queue at exactly 10:15
> and I told the CM we were “a bit early”. She said she’d let it go “just this one
> time only”. I guess that must be their marching orders to discourage entering
> outside of the stated hour.
early, but let them go anyhow. In the past, they have monitored the return
times as if early entries would tear a hole in the space-time continuum.
> After the ride, we exited and walked up the stairs. Do you know that wide
> aisle that winds around the upper floor to the entrance/exit in the Land
> pavilion? We had an extreme version of the Wide Walkers blocking us. Five
> people from the same group were spread across the entire aisle – and they
> were all, er… Pooh-sized. And they strolled. Ambled really – very slowly. We
> had no chance to pass until they, thankfully, pulled into the Circle of Life
> Theater.
Actually, that was ugly and I shouldn't have said that. I apologize. I
know yelling the word "free" at WDW can incite a riot.
> Mickey’s Philharmagic was very crowded – for the first time I was held
> outside the pre-show area but only for a few minutes. While in the pre-
> show, I also saw my very first Tour Guide. As I said, I never noticed them in
> the parks before but, now, I may be more in tune with identifying them. She
> was a young girl with a family of four – two small children: a boy about five
> and a girl about three. She was spending a lot of time keeping the kids
> entertained as we waited. I’m pretty sure that’s a job that’s not for me.
glorified babysitter? No thanks!
> We changed quickly and went to the Uzima
> pool.
> After about two hours, I felt I
> had reached the appropriate shade of medium-rare and we retired to our
> balcony for some animal watching and cocktails, water, brie and crackers.
LOL! That reminds me of last week at the beach. While relaxing at the
> had reached the appropriate shade of medium-rare and we retired to our
> balcony for some animal watching and cocktails, water, brie and crackers.
pool, I made myself a snack platter of Triscuits with a slice of brie on
each, accompanied by a gin and (diet) tonic. I let the plate of Triscuits
sit in the sun for 15 minutes, and voila - baked brie on a cracker. :-)
> After showers and a change, we headed out at 4:30 to Epcot for our
> reservation at the Rose and Crown. We were a few minutes early so we
> stopped in the pub for a Stella Artois (Barb) and a Black and Tan (me). We
> found a good spot to stand at the bar and we were enjoying the Hat Lady’s
> singing and piano playing. I know she used to play at the Comedy Warehouse
> but I couldn’t recall her last name. I knew her first name was Carol but a trip
> through the alphabet didn’t help so I asked her. Carol Stein (Stine?) and I
> immediately slapped my forehead.
important in this case).
> After dinner, we shopped for a bit for Beatles stuff in the UK and wound up
> in the Twinings Tea shop. I don’t recall where but I’m almost certain I heard
> or read that it’s pronounced Twinn-ings (short ‘I’), rather than Twine-ings
> (long ‘I’). Barb disagreed so I asked a CM. He was diplomatic and said both
> pronunciations were acceptable but it was Twine-ings. Dammit! I still think he
> was wrong – even with his British accent.
one for Barb.
> We noticed a Minnie tattoo on the leg of a young lady about four seats
> down from us – OK, I noticed it. At any rate, I managed to zoom in for a
> surreptitious photo.
Disney-themed tattoo?
> When the show ended, we grabbed a couple of coffees (sigh, Nescafe)
up.
> My cousin, Frank, and his wife, Patti, were here and we had made
> arrangements to meet them for drinks at the Belle Vue Lounge in the
> Boardwalk.
> We met Frank and Patti, grabbed some drinks and found a table outside on
> the balcony. I thought Frank told me they were staying at the Boardwalk
> which is why I suggested the Belle Vue to meet up. They were curious why I
> suggested it because they were staying ay Old Key West. They thought it was
> just because I liked the Belle Vue.
Either way, The Belle Vue is always a great choice.
> the balcony. I thought Frank told me they were staying at the Boardwalk
> which is why I suggested the Belle Vue to meet up. They were curious why I
> suggested it because they were staying ay Old Key West. They thought it was
> just because I liked the Belle Vue.
> Things I Think I Think – I think this was a nice relaxing day – a little parks, a
> little pool, a little Illuminations.
> I think there was a real problem with Magic
> Kingdom buses this morning. I’ve not noticed this in two previous stays at
> Animal Kingdom Lodge
something going on that morning.
--
- Rodney
Steve Russo
Jun 26, 2012, 6:55:49 PM6/26/12
to
On 6/26/2012 5:29 PM, Rudeney wrote:
>
>> A word about the phones here… My experience at Disney’s resorts is that
>> the phones all have a series of buttons giving you direct access to
>> Housekeeping, Maintenance, Front Desk, Dining, etc. Not so here and I’m
>> not sure if it’s Jambo, Animal Kingdom Lodge or now property-wide. There
>> are fewer buttons and the only one to be used in the hotel is Front Desk and
>> they seem to take your issue and contact the appropriate parties.
>
>
> Sometimes that's better because you end up calling the wrong person. You
> might think that housekeeping would bring mugs, but that could be room
> service. As long as there are enough people answering that "front desk"
> line, that seems to be a better way of handling things, IMHO.
It did seem to work fine.
>
>> A word about the phones here… My experience at Disney’s resorts is that
>> the phones all have a series of buttons giving you direct access to
>> Housekeeping, Maintenance, Front Desk, Dining, etc. Not so here and I’m
>> not sure if it’s Jambo, Animal Kingdom Lodge or now property-wide. There
>> are fewer buttons and the only one to be used in the hotel is Front Desk and
>> they seem to take your issue and contact the appropriate parties.
>
>
> Sometimes that's better because you end up calling the wrong person. You
> might think that housekeeping would bring mugs, but that could be room
> service. As long as there are enough people answering that "front desk"
> line, that seems to be a better way of handling things, IMHO.
>
>
>> To date, I haven’t had to use the buses here very much – I’ve been spoiled
>> with getting picked up at the door in air-conditioned buses and SUVs.
>
>
> Oh, so we can add VIP Press Event Snob to the list, huh? :-)
>> We changed quickly and went to the Uzima
>> pool.
> ...
>> After about two hours, I felt I
>> had reached the appropriate shade of medium-rare and we retired to our
>> balcony for some animal watching and cocktails, water, brie and crackers.
>
>
> LOL! That reminds me of last week at the beach. While relaxing at the
> pool, I made myself a snack platter of Triscuits with a slice of brie on
> each, accompanied by a gin and (diet) tonic. I let the plate of Triscuits
> sit in the sun for 15 minutes, and voila - baked brie on a cracker. :-)
jelly on it, replace the top so it's an "oreo" and drop it on a grill
for a few minutes - until the brie is soft to not quite runny. Serve
with your choice of Triscuit or cracker.
>
>
>> After showers and a change, we headed out at 4:30 to Epcot for our
>> reservation at the Rose and Crown. We were a few minutes early so we
>> stopped in the pub for a Stella Artois (Barb) and a Black and Tan (me). We
>> found a good spot to stand at the bar and we were enjoying the Hat Lady’s
>> singing and piano playing. I know she used to play at the Comedy Warehouse
>> but I couldn’t recall her last name. I knew her first name was Carol but a trip
>> through the alphabet didn’t help so I asked her. Carol Stein (Stine?) and I
>> immediately slapped my forehead.
>
>
> Just play word association - piano, Steinway, Carol Stein (spelling isn't
> important in this case).
would know.
>
>
>> After dinner, we shopped for a bit for Beatles stuff in the UK and wound up
>> in the Twinings Tea shop. I don’t recall where but I’m almost certain I heard
>> or read that it’s pronounced Twinn-ings (short ‘I’), rather than Twine-ings
>> (long ‘I’). Barb disagreed so I asked a CM. He was diplomatic and said both
>> pronunciations were acceptable but it was Twine-ings. Dammit! I still think he
>> was wrong – even with his British accent.
>
>
> According to the twiningsusa.com website, it's a long "i". Score (another)
> one for Barb.
>
>
>> We noticed a Minnie tattoo on the leg of a young lady about four seats
>> down from us – OK, I noticed it. At any rate, I managed to zoom in for a
>> surreptitious photo.
>
>
> Would have been any more or less inappropriate to do that had it not been a
> Disney-themed tattoo?
--
Steve
Rudeney
Jun 27, 2012, 10:10:19 AM6/27/12
to
Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.rr.com> wrote:
> On 6/26/2012 5:29 PM, Rudeney wrote:
>
>>> We changed quickly and went to the Uzima
>>> pool.
>> ...
>>> After about two hours, I felt I
>>> had reached the appropriate shade of medium-rare and we retired to our
>>> balcony for some animal watching and cocktails, water, brie and crackers.
>>
>>
>> LOL! That reminds me of last week at the beach. While relaxing at the
>> pool, I made myself a snack platter of Triscuits with a slice of brie on
>> each, accompanied by a gin and (diet) tonic. I let the plate of Triscuits
>> sit in the sun for 15 minutes, and voila - baked brie on a cracker. :-)
>
> Trust me on this. Slice a wheel of brie horizontally, spread red pepper
> jelly on it, replace the top so it's an "oreo" and drop it on a grill for
> a few minutes - until the brie is soft to not quite runny. Serve with
> your choice of Triscuit or cracker.
>
Sounds good, I'll have to try it.
> On 6/26/2012 5:29 PM, Rudeney wrote:
>
>>> We changed quickly and went to the Uzima
>>> pool.
>> ...
>>> After about two hours, I felt I
>>> had reached the appropriate shade of medium-rare and we retired to our
>>> balcony for some animal watching and cocktails, water, brie and crackers.
>>
>>
>> LOL! That reminds me of last week at the beach. While relaxing at the
>> pool, I made myself a snack platter of Triscuits with a slice of brie on
>> each, accompanied by a gin and (diet) tonic. I let the plate of Triscuits
>> sit in the sun for 15 minutes, and voila - baked brie on a cracker. :-)
>
> Trust me on this. Slice a wheel of brie horizontally, spread red pepper
> jelly on it, replace the top so it's an "oreo" and drop it on a grill for
> a few minutes - until the brie is soft to not quite runny. Serve with
> your choice of Triscuit or cracker.
>
>>> We noticed a Minnie tattoo on the leg of a young lady about four seats
>>> down from us – OK, I noticed it. At any rate, I managed to zoom in for a
>>> surreptitious photo.
>>
>>
>> Would have been any more or less inappropriate to do that had it not been a
>> Disney-themed tattoo?
>
> It's only inappropriate when there's no tattoo.
--
- Rodney
Sue/WDW1972
Jun 30, 2012, 7:37:39 PM6/30/12
to sru...@nycap.rr.com
On Tuesday, June 26, 2012 5:31:41 AM UTC-4, Steve Russo wrote:
> We had an extreme version of the Wide Walkers blocking
> us. Five people from the same group were spread across the entire aisle
> – and they were all, er… Pooh-sized. And they strolled. Ambled really –
> very slowly. We had no chance to pass until they, thankfully, pulled
> into the Circle of Life Theater.
>
>*****************************
> We had an extreme version of the Wide Walkers blocking
> us. Five people from the same group were spread across the entire aisle
> – and they were all, er… Pooh-sized. And they strolled. Ambled really –
> very slowly. We had no chance to pass until they, thankfully, pulled
> into the Circle of Life Theater.
>
I always use an assertive yet (possibly polite) EXCUSE ME and pass people like that. Whether it's their size or choice of walking habits, it's rude to be blocking everyone behind them!
I'm so glad I checked in and found your TR....it's terrific as always! I enjoyed your article & photos of Golden Oaks and what on earth was Barb thinking choosing grandkid babysitting over those freebie Disney events?????? Yikes - bet that won't happen again ;-)
Sue/WDW1972
Steve Russo
Jul 1, 2012, 10:23:34 AM7/1/12
to
mind ;-)
--
Steve
Keane
Jul 1, 2012, 8:44:37 PM7/1/12
to
On Tue, 26 Jun 2012 05:31:41 -0400, Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.rr.com>
wrote:
>I’m up at 6:00 and notice there’s only one coffee cup. Housekeeping must
>have taken the used one from yesterday but forgot to replace it. I call
>down to the Front Desk and soon someone’s at the door with three more cups.
One. I only need one.
>A word about the phones here… My experience at Disney’s resorts is that
>the phones all have a series of buttons giving you direct access to
>Housekeeping, Maintenance, Front Desk, Dining, etc. Not so here and I’m
>not sure if it’s Jambo, Animal Kingdom Lodge or now property-wide. There
>are fewer buttons and the only one to be used in the hotel is Front Desk
>and they seem to take your issue and contact the appropriate parties.
And I'll bet you it's not even the Front Desk. I'll bet each hotel
has it's own phone system, and since AKL is a newer resort,
they just have a better dispatch system. I wouldn't be surprised
if they did it all over WDW, since it's more efficient than having 10
different departments answering phones.
When I had to call AAA, I was calling Oklahoma. After I got the car
mobile again, I got a follow-up call. From Oklahoma. So long as
the network doesn't go down, a centralized system not only makes
sense, but it dumb's down the system to one button for the guest
to press.
>To date, I haven’t had to use the buses here very much – I’ve been
>spoiled with getting picked up at the door in air-conditioned buses and
>SUVs. Today, I join the regular riff-raff and it brought back ugly
>memories of my one stay at Saratoga Springs. We were planning to head to
>the Magic Kingdom. When we got to the bus stop at 8:10, there were
>probably 15 or so people already waiting. One of them was asking the CM
>(the “bus on demand” guy) about the next bus and he indicated it should
>be along “any minute”. From that exchange, I took it that they had been
>waiting for some time.
>
>By 8:28, I had counted five buses for DHS, three for AK, one DD and two
>Epcot. Not a one for Magic Kingdom so, when that second Epcot bus pulled
>in, we jumped on. I’m not sure how much longer those folks had to wait.
Dude. It's like, called Karma, man.
>On the bus, we formulated a plan to hit Epcot for Soarin’ and breakfast,
>then hop to the MAGIC KINGDOM. Park hopping is not usually our style
>but, as I mentioned, this trip wouldn’t be “typical”. Hopping here would
>also involve a monorail ride which, I maintain, is an attraction.
Except for those ramps up...
>At Epcot, we endured a lengthy wait at the turnstiles – not enough of
>them were open (in my opinion) and it just seems that way too many
>people struggle with the finger scan. We really need a better way. I
>watched as a dad lifted his 3 (?) year old daughter to have her scan her
>finger. Is this new? Are they now scanning the children as well?
This is Disney. If you take your child to BBB or The Pirates League,
they implant a chip. Get with the program, please.
>Now, everything I’ve read since they began enforcing FastPass return
>times indicates that a FastPass will be honored 5 minutes early and 15
>minutes after the end time. We entered the FastPass queue at exactly
>10:15 and I told the CM we were “a bit early”. She said she’d let it go
>“just this one time only”. I guess that must be their marching orders to
>discourage entering outside of the stated hour.
Yes. I also understand you shouldn't even expect any grace time at
all.
Fastpass has never allowed early grace time, and don't depend
on having a late grace period. If an attraction is particularly
busy, they may turn you away.
Best advise, is if your fastpass is good from X:XX to X:XX plus one
hour, plan to be there at X:XX. Don't go on another attraction at
X:XX and be mad because you were stuck on it for 30 minutes
and they won't honor your fastpass. Don't get fastpasses during your
dining reservation. You'll just have to do a little more time
management.
Once XPass becomes available, there won't be those problems, but
Disney does have to modify guest behavior (heh) now, before XPass
comes, otherwise you'll have two issues to deal with instead of
one. (Rolling out a new system.)
>After the ride, we exited and walked up the stairs. Do you know that
>wide aisle that winds around the upper floor to the entrance/exit in the
>Land pavilion? We had an extreme version of the Wide Walkers blocking
>us. Five people from the same group were spread across the entire aisle
>– and they were all, er… Pooh-sized. And they strolled. Ambled really –
>very slowly. We had no chance to pass until they, thankfully, pulled
>into the Circle of Life Theater.
About a dozen politically incorrect jokes sprang to mind, but alas...
>We hopped the beam (monorail) to the TTC and joined a fairly large crowd
>there for the trip to the MAGIC KINGDOM. At the TTC, I caught a glimpse
>of the Avenger monorail (Avengerail?) but couldn’t get a good photo – it
>had departed before we got up top.
A day late, and a dollar short. Been there, done that. Life these
days, seems to be one big cliche.
>Our only real goal here was to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. On
>our last trip, it was down for a lengthy refurbishment and I wanted to
>see how it looked now that everything was working again and it had a
>fresh coat of paint. We walked up Main Street and stopped at the tip
>board where we learned Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was down with
>technical issues.
Well, good for you to actually look! I probably would have walked all
the way there, and then bitched and moaned and complained...
>Mickey’s Philharmagic was very crowded – for the first time I was held
>outside the pre-show area but only for a few minutes. While in the
>pre-show, I also saw my very first Tour Guide. As I said, I never
>noticed them in the parks before but, now, I may be more in tune with
>identifying them. She was a young girl with a family of four – two small
>children: a boy about five and a girl about three. She was spending a
>lot of time keeping the kids entertained as we waited. I’m pretty sure
>that’s a job that’s not for me.
I would be intimately familiar with the Orange County jail...
>We finished our tour at the train station in what used to be Toontown
>and, because of the heat and the fact a train was arriving, we rode it
>to the front of the park.
Wimp. I notice no pedometer readings, either.
>We exited the Magic Kingdom and found a waiting Animal Kingdom Lodge bus
>and were soon on our way.
Sure. The bus doesn't show up and it gets two paragraphs, but when
there's a waiting bus it only gets a passing mention... If you waited
for the bus that morning, and averaged your two bus wait times, it
probably came out to 20 minutes... I hate statistics, don't you?
> We changed quickly and went to the Uzima pool.
>I like this pool but think I prefer Kidani’s. It’s just a tad smaller
>and I like the water features there.
That, and you don't feel like your the attraction to pool view guests,
the same way the animals are for the savanna view guests...
That was always my impression when I stayed at Jambo (nee AKL).
>After showers and a change, we headed out at 4:30 to Epcot for our
>reservation at the Rose and Crown. We were a few minutes early so we
>stopped in the pub for a Stella Artois (Barb) and a Black and Tan (me).
>We found a good spot to stand at the bar and we were enjoying the Hat
>Lady’s singing and piano playing. I know she used to play at the Comedy
>Warehouse but I couldn’t recall her last name. I knew her first name was
>Carol but a trip through the alphabet didn’t help so I asked her. Carol
>Stein (Stine?) and I immediately slapped my forehead.
Huh. It's Stein. She was the one on piano during the musical finale
at the D23 WDW 40th anniversary event. She was on stage with
Billy Flanigan and another woman no one seems to know the
name of. I wonder if she remembers. Maybe dinner at the Rose and
Crown might be in order. :-)
>Our reservation was for 5:45 so at 5:40 I went outside, checked in and
>was given a pager. Back inside and the pager went off in about 5
>minutes. We were brought to a table for two, outside, right on the
>water. I hesitated for a second because it was a bit hot and sticky
>outside - but there was a nice breeze on the water and it was actually
>very comfortable there. We carried the remainder of our drinks with us.
>
>We had a lovely young Scottish girl waiting our table – and I’ve
>forgotten her name.
But you do remember she was young and lovely. We know where
your mind resides...
> Barb had the Pork Duo (grilled brisket with mushroom
>ragout and braised pork with mashed potatoes and red wine sauce) and
>liked it a lot. I thought about the Fish & Chips but our server talked
>me into the Cottage Pie (Ground beef, onions, carrots and mushrooms,
>creamy mashed potatoes and cheddar). Also very good and we enjoyed this
>meal, the view, the breeze and a very friendly duck and squirrel who
>joined us occasionally.
Interlopers.
(Substitute beef for lamb, and you have shepard's pie in Raglan Road.
:-) )
>After dinner, we shopped for a bit for Beatles stuff in the UK and wound
>up in the Twinings Tea shop. I don’t recall where but I’m almost certain
>I heard or read that it’s pronounced Twinn-ings (short ‘I’), rather than
>Twine-ings (long ‘I’). Barb disagreed so I asked a CM. He was diplomatic
>and said both pronunciations were acceptable but it was Twine-ings.
>Dammit! I still think he was wrong – even with his British accent.
The Brits pronounce everything wrong anyway. They pronounce
elevator as lift and say petrol instead of gasoline, and you expect
them to get something made there right? No chance.
>We wandered over to the America Gardens Theater and caught a full set of
>Hotel California – an Eagles tribute band. They were pretty good and we
>found some good seats off to the left – up close with an unobstructed
>view. At one point, their lead guitarist wandered in our direction,
>walked atop the wall and stood about 6 feet from me while jammin’ with
>two female CMs. It’s downright hysterical to watch these two girls
>dancing to the Eagles while wearing their colonial garb.
What you don't think that girls like Martha (both of them), Deborah
and Abigail didn't rock out?
>We noticed a Minnie tattoo on the leg of a young lady about four seats
>down from us – OK, I noticed it. At any rate, I managed to zoom in for a
>surreptitious photo.
Pervert. Where are the links to the pictures?
>When the show ended, we grabbed a couple of coffees (sigh, Nescafe) in
>the American Adventure. Then we strolled World Showcase arguing about
>how long it’s been since we’ve seen the film in China. Barb thought it
>was recently but was proven wrong when we saw it and neither of us could
>remember anything about it except the Great Wall. I’ll bet it’s been 10
>years since the last viewing.
They changed the film in 2003, so if you haven't seen it in the past
10 years, you haven't seen it at all...
>It was now about 8:50 so we walked around to the UK and found a pretty
>good spot for Illuminations in the area to the right of the Fish & Chips
>shop. We enjoyed the show but the wind was carrying the smoke back
>toward Crescent Lake so we caught the edges of that.
That's the problem with the West side of the lagoon. Prevailing
winds may bring the pyro smoke your way...
>We met Frank and Patti, grabbed some drinks and found a table outside on
>the balcony. I thought Frank told me they were staying at the Boardwalk
>which is why I suggested the Belle Vue to meet up. They were curious why
>I suggested it because they were staying ay Old Key West. They thought
>it was just because I liked the Belle Vue. Ah, well. We had some great
>conversation (and two more rounds) before calling it quits at 11:30. We
>each grabbed a taxi back to our respective hotels and called it a night.
It's all about being a CLS... You say Old Key West, they hear
Boardwalk...
>Things I Think I Think – I think this was a nice relaxing day – a little
>parks, a little pool, a little Illuminations. I think there was a real
>problem with Magic Kingdom buses this morning. I’ve not noticed this in
>two previous stays at Animal Kingdom Lodge but… one was only two days
>and the other we had a rental car. Hopefully this was an aberration.
Sure. And you just walked onto a bus from MK to AKL. You only
focus on the negative...
> I
>think it was fun visiting with Frank and Patti today. They’re as big
>Disney fans as we are and really love their time here. I think I should
>pay closer attention when they tell me where they’re staying.
Just blame it on your advancing age... That's what I do.
Keane
--
This message originated on the Usenet group
rec.arts.disney.parks. See RADP.org for more info.
When stars are born, They possess a gift or two,
One of them is this, They have the power to make a wish come true...
-- Wishes Visit my site: http://keanespics.com
wrote:
>I’m up at 6:00 and notice there’s only one coffee cup. Housekeeping must
>have taken the used one from yesterday but forgot to replace it. I call
>down to the Front Desk and soon someone’s at the door with three more cups.
>A word about the phones here… My experience at Disney’s resorts is that
>the phones all have a series of buttons giving you direct access to
>Housekeeping, Maintenance, Front Desk, Dining, etc. Not so here and I’m
>not sure if it’s Jambo, Animal Kingdom Lodge or now property-wide. There
>are fewer buttons and the only one to be used in the hotel is Front Desk
>and they seem to take your issue and contact the appropriate parties.
has it's own phone system, and since AKL is a newer resort,
they just have a better dispatch system. I wouldn't be surprised
if they did it all over WDW, since it's more efficient than having 10
different departments answering phones.
When I had to call AAA, I was calling Oklahoma. After I got the car
mobile again, I got a follow-up call. From Oklahoma. So long as
the network doesn't go down, a centralized system not only makes
sense, but it dumb's down the system to one button for the guest
to press.
>To date, I haven’t had to use the buses here very much – I’ve been
>spoiled with getting picked up at the door in air-conditioned buses and
>SUVs. Today, I join the regular riff-raff and it brought back ugly
>memories of my one stay at Saratoga Springs. We were planning to head to
>the Magic Kingdom. When we got to the bus stop at 8:10, there were
>probably 15 or so people already waiting. One of them was asking the CM
>(the “bus on demand” guy) about the next bus and he indicated it should
>be along “any minute”. From that exchange, I took it that they had been
>waiting for some time.
>
>By 8:28, I had counted five buses for DHS, three for AK, one DD and two
>Epcot. Not a one for Magic Kingdom so, when that second Epcot bus pulled
>in, we jumped on. I’m not sure how much longer those folks had to wait.
>On the bus, we formulated a plan to hit Epcot for Soarin’ and breakfast,
>then hop to the MAGIC KINGDOM. Park hopping is not usually our style
>but, as I mentioned, this trip wouldn’t be “typical”. Hopping here would
>also involve a monorail ride which, I maintain, is an attraction.
>At Epcot, we endured a lengthy wait at the turnstiles – not enough of
>them were open (in my opinion) and it just seems that way too many
>people struggle with the finger scan. We really need a better way. I
>watched as a dad lifted his 3 (?) year old daughter to have her scan her
>finger. Is this new? Are they now scanning the children as well?
they implant a chip. Get with the program, please.
>Now, everything I’ve read since they began enforcing FastPass return
>times indicates that a FastPass will be honored 5 minutes early and 15
>minutes after the end time. We entered the FastPass queue at exactly
>10:15 and I told the CM we were “a bit early”. She said she’d let it go
>“just this one time only”. I guess that must be their marching orders to
>discourage entering outside of the stated hour.
all.
Fastpass has never allowed early grace time, and don't depend
on having a late grace period. If an attraction is particularly
busy, they may turn you away.
Best advise, is if your fastpass is good from X:XX to X:XX plus one
hour, plan to be there at X:XX. Don't go on another attraction at
X:XX and be mad because you were stuck on it for 30 minutes
and they won't honor your fastpass. Don't get fastpasses during your
dining reservation. You'll just have to do a little more time
management.
Once XPass becomes available, there won't be those problems, but
Disney does have to modify guest behavior (heh) now, before XPass
comes, otherwise you'll have two issues to deal with instead of
one. (Rolling out a new system.)
>After the ride, we exited and walked up the stairs. Do you know that
>wide aisle that winds around the upper floor to the entrance/exit in the
>Land pavilion? We had an extreme version of the Wide Walkers blocking
>us. Five people from the same group were spread across the entire aisle
>– and they were all, er… Pooh-sized. And they strolled. Ambled really –
>very slowly. We had no chance to pass until they, thankfully, pulled
>into the Circle of Life Theater.
>We hopped the beam (monorail) to the TTC and joined a fairly large crowd
>there for the trip to the MAGIC KINGDOM. At the TTC, I caught a glimpse
>of the Avenger monorail (Avengerail?) but couldn’t get a good photo – it
>had departed before we got up top.
days, seems to be one big cliche.
>Our only real goal here was to ride Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. On
>our last trip, it was down for a lengthy refurbishment and I wanted to
>see how it looked now that everything was working again and it had a
>fresh coat of paint. We walked up Main Street and stopped at the tip
>board where we learned Big Thunder Mountain Railroad was down with
>technical issues.
the way there, and then bitched and moaned and complained...
>Mickey’s Philharmagic was very crowded – for the first time I was held
>outside the pre-show area but only for a few minutes. While in the
>pre-show, I also saw my very first Tour Guide. As I said, I never
>noticed them in the parks before but, now, I may be more in tune with
>identifying them. She was a young girl with a family of four – two small
>children: a boy about five and a girl about three. She was spending a
>lot of time keeping the kids entertained as we waited. I’m pretty sure
>that’s a job that’s not for me.
>We finished our tour at the train station in what used to be Toontown
>and, because of the heat and the fact a train was arriving, we rode it
>to the front of the park.
>We exited the Magic Kingdom and found a waiting Animal Kingdom Lodge bus
>and were soon on our way.
there's a waiting bus it only gets a passing mention... If you waited
for the bus that morning, and averaged your two bus wait times, it
probably came out to 20 minutes... I hate statistics, don't you?
> We changed quickly and went to the Uzima pool.
>I like this pool but think I prefer Kidani’s. It’s just a tad smaller
>and I like the water features there.
the same way the animals are for the savanna view guests...
That was always my impression when I stayed at Jambo (nee AKL).
>After showers and a change, we headed out at 4:30 to Epcot for our
>reservation at the Rose and Crown. We were a few minutes early so we
>stopped in the pub for a Stella Artois (Barb) and a Black and Tan (me).
>We found a good spot to stand at the bar and we were enjoying the Hat
>Lady’s singing and piano playing. I know she used to play at the Comedy
>Warehouse but I couldn’t recall her last name. I knew her first name was
>Carol but a trip through the alphabet didn’t help so I asked her. Carol
>Stein (Stine?) and I immediately slapped my forehead.
at the D23 WDW 40th anniversary event. She was on stage with
Billy Flanigan and another woman no one seems to know the
name of. I wonder if she remembers. Maybe dinner at the Rose and
Crown might be in order. :-)
>Our reservation was for 5:45 so at 5:40 I went outside, checked in and
>was given a pager. Back inside and the pager went off in about 5
>minutes. We were brought to a table for two, outside, right on the
>water. I hesitated for a second because it was a bit hot and sticky
>outside - but there was a nice breeze on the water and it was actually
>very comfortable there. We carried the remainder of our drinks with us.
>
>We had a lovely young Scottish girl waiting our table – and I’ve
>forgotten her name.
your mind resides...
> Barb had the Pork Duo (grilled brisket with mushroom
>ragout and braised pork with mashed potatoes and red wine sauce) and
>liked it a lot. I thought about the Fish & Chips but our server talked
>me into the Cottage Pie (Ground beef, onions, carrots and mushrooms,
>creamy mashed potatoes and cheddar). Also very good and we enjoyed this
>meal, the view, the breeze and a very friendly duck and squirrel who
>joined us occasionally.
(Substitute beef for lamb, and you have shepard's pie in Raglan Road.
:-) )
>After dinner, we shopped for a bit for Beatles stuff in the UK and wound
>up in the Twinings Tea shop. I don’t recall where but I’m almost certain
>I heard or read that it’s pronounced Twinn-ings (short ‘I’), rather than
>Twine-ings (long ‘I’). Barb disagreed so I asked a CM. He was diplomatic
>and said both pronunciations were acceptable but it was Twine-ings.
>Dammit! I still think he was wrong – even with his British accent.
elevator as lift and say petrol instead of gasoline, and you expect
them to get something made there right? No chance.
>We wandered over to the America Gardens Theater and caught a full set of
>Hotel California – an Eagles tribute band. They were pretty good and we
>found some good seats off to the left – up close with an unobstructed
>view. At one point, their lead guitarist wandered in our direction,
>walked atop the wall and stood about 6 feet from me while jammin’ with
>two female CMs. It’s downright hysterical to watch these two girls
>dancing to the Eagles while wearing their colonial garb.
and Abigail didn't rock out?
>We noticed a Minnie tattoo on the leg of a young lady about four seats
>down from us – OK, I noticed it. At any rate, I managed to zoom in for a
>surreptitious photo.
>When the show ended, we grabbed a couple of coffees (sigh, Nescafe) in
>the American Adventure. Then we strolled World Showcase arguing about
>how long it’s been since we’ve seen the film in China. Barb thought it
>was recently but was proven wrong when we saw it and neither of us could
>remember anything about it except the Great Wall. I’ll bet it’s been 10
>years since the last viewing.
10 years, you haven't seen it at all...
>It was now about 8:50 so we walked around to the UK and found a pretty
>good spot for Illuminations in the area to the right of the Fish & Chips
>shop. We enjoyed the show but the wind was carrying the smoke back
>toward Crescent Lake so we caught the edges of that.
winds may bring the pyro smoke your way...
>We met Frank and Patti, grabbed some drinks and found a table outside on
>the balcony. I thought Frank told me they were staying at the Boardwalk
>which is why I suggested the Belle Vue to meet up. They were curious why
>I suggested it because they were staying ay Old Key West. They thought
>it was just because I liked the Belle Vue. Ah, well. We had some great
>conversation (and two more rounds) before calling it quits at 11:30. We
>each grabbed a taxi back to our respective hotels and called it a night.
Boardwalk...
>Things I Think I Think – I think this was a nice relaxing day – a little
>parks, a little pool, a little Illuminations. I think there was a real
>problem with Magic Kingdom buses this morning. I’ve not noticed this in
>two previous stays at Animal Kingdom Lodge but… one was only two days
>and the other we had a rental car. Hopefully this was an aberration.
focus on the negative...
> I
>think it was fun visiting with Frank and Patti today. They’re as big
>Disney fans as we are and really love their time here. I think I should
>pay closer attention when they tell me where they’re staying.
Keane
--
This message originated on the Usenet group
rec.arts.disney.parks. See RADP.org for more info.
When stars are born, They possess a gift or two,
One of them is this, They have the power to make a wish come true...
-- Wishes Visit my site: http://keanespics.com
Steve Russo
Jul 2, 2012, 8:40:04 AM7/2/12
to
On 7/1/2012 8:44 PM, Keane wrote:
> On Tue, 26 Jun 2012 05:31:41 -0400, Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.rr.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>> I’m up at 6:00 and notice there’s only one coffee cup. Housekeeping must
>> have taken the used one from yesterday but forgot to replace it. I call
>> down to the Front Desk and soon someone’s at the door with three more cups.
>
> One. I only need one.
And Barb needs one so...
> On Tue, 26 Jun 2012 05:31:41 -0400, Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.rr.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>> I’m up at 6:00 and notice there’s only one coffee cup. Housekeeping must
>> have taken the used one from yesterday but forgot to replace it. I call
>> down to the Front Desk and soon someone’s at the door with three more cups.
>
> One. I only need one.
>> We finished our tour at the train station in what used to be Toontown
>> and, because of the heat and the fact a train was arriving, we rode it
>> to the front of the park.
>
> Wimp. I notice no pedometer readings, either.
park touring. Heat, humidity, old age and laziness are my excuses -
although not in that order.
>
>> We exited the Magic Kingdom and found a waiting Animal Kingdom Lodge bus
>> and were soon on our way.
>
> Sure. The bus doesn't show up and it gets two paragraphs, but when
> there's a waiting bus it only gets a passing mention... If you waited
> for the bus that morning, and averaged your two bus wait times, it
> probably came out to 20 minutes... I hate statistics, don't you?
First, the late bus didn't really get two paragraphs and, second, I know
I can be long-winded but even I would have difficulty stretching an
on-time bus into multiple sentences.
>> Our reservation was for 5:45 so at 5:40 I went outside, checked in and
>> was given a pager. Back inside and the pager went off in about 5
>> minutes. We were brought to a table for two, outside, right on the
>> water. I hesitated for a second because it was a bit hot and sticky
>> outside - but there was a nice breeze on the water and it was actually
>> very comfortable there. We carried the remainder of our drinks with us.
>>
>> We had a lovely young Scottish girl waiting our table – and I’ve
>> forgotten her name.
>
> But you do remember she was young and lovely. We know where
> your mind resides...
>> After dinner, we shopped for a bit for Beatles stuff in the UK and wound
>> up in the Twinings Tea shop. I don’t recall where but I’m almost certain
>> I heard or read that it’s pronounced Twinn-ings (short ‘I’), rather than
>> Twine-ings (long ‘I’). Barb disagreed so I asked a CM. He was diplomatic
>> and said both pronunciations were acceptable but it was Twine-ings.
>> Dammit! I still think he was wrong – even with his British accent.
>
> The Brits pronounce everything wrong anyway. They pronounce
> elevator as lift and say petrol instead of gasoline, and you expect
> them to get something made there right? No chance.
>> We noticed a Minnie tattoo on the leg of a young lady about four seats
>> down from us – OK, I noticed it. At any rate, I managed to zoom in for a
>> surreptitious photo.
>
> Pervert. Where are the links to the pictures?
work).
>
>> Things I Think I Think – I think this was a nice relaxing day – a little
>> parks, a little pool, a little Illuminations. I think there was a real
>> problem with Magic Kingdom buses this morning. I’ve not noticed this in
>> two previous stays at Animal Kingdom Lodge but… one was only two days
>> and the other we had a rental car. Hopefully this was an aberration.
>
> Sure. And you just walked onto a bus from MK to AKL. You only
> focus on the negative...
>
>> I
>> think it was fun visiting with Frank and Patti today. They’re as big
>> Disney fans as we are and really love their time here. I think I should
>> pay closer attention when they tell me where they’re staying.
>
> Just blame it on your advancing age... That's what I do.
--
Steve
Rudeney
Jul 2, 2012, 9:30:12 AM7/2/12
to
Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.rr.com> wrote:
> On 7/1/2012 8:44 PM, Keane wrote:
>> On Tue, 26 Jun 2012 05:31:41 -0400, Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.rr.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> We exited the Magic Kingdom and found a waiting Animal Kingdom Lodge bus
>>> and were soon on our way.
>>
>> Sure. The bus doesn't show up and it gets two paragraphs, but when
>> there's a waiting bus it only gets a passing mention... If you waited
>> for the bus that morning, and averaged your two bus wait times, it
>> probably came out to 20 minutes... I hate statistics, don't you?
>
> What's that about the average person having one breast and one testicle?
Oh, I love statistics! I would have gotten a degree in it had it been
> On 7/1/2012 8:44 PM, Keane wrote:
>> On Tue, 26 Jun 2012 05:31:41 -0400, Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.rr.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> We exited the Magic Kingdom and found a waiting Animal Kingdom Lodge bus
>>> and were soon on our way.
>>
>> Sure. The bus doesn't show up and it gets two paragraphs, but when
>> there's a waiting bus it only gets a passing mention... If you waited
>> for the bus that morning, and averaged your two bus wait times, it
>> probably came out to 20 minutes... I hate statistics, don't you?
>
> What's that about the average person having one breast and one testicle?
offered, so instead I did economics which was the closest thing. Anyhow, I
do need to point out that statistic as being incorrect. The average person
has 0.995 testicles and 0.997 breasts. ;-)
>>> After dinner, we shopped for a bit for Beatles stuff in the UK and wound
>>> up in the Twinings Tea shop. I don’t recall where but I’m almost certain
>>> I heard or read that it’s pronounced Twinn-ings (short ‘I’), rather than
>>> Twine-ings (long ‘I’). Barb disagreed so I asked a CM. He was diplomatic
>>> and said both pronunciations were acceptable but it was Twine-ings.
>>> Dammit! I still think he was wrong – even with his British accent.
>>
>> The Brits pronounce everything wrong anyway. They pronounce
>> elevator as lift and say petrol instead of gasoline, and you expect
>> them to get something made there right? No chance.
>
> Excellent point. Once again, I'm less wrong than I was previously.
is, it rymes with "whining". So, no, you're not winning this argument so
stop whining about it. :-p
--
- Rodney
Keane
Jul 3, 2012, 8:40:13 AM7/3/12
to
On Mon, 02 Jul 2012 08:40:04 -0400, Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.rr.com>
of 'em to your room.
>>> We finished our tour at the train station in what used to be Toontown
>>> and, because of the heat and the fact a train was arriving, we rode it
>>> to the front of the park.
>>
>> Wimp. I notice no pedometer readings, either.
>
>Didn't wear it - took zero morning walks and we actually did minimal
>park touring. Heat, humidity, old age and laziness are my excuses -
>although not in that order.
Yeah, I noticed the heat and sun is really debilitating when I'm down
there during summer... I can't comment on the old age and laziness.
Well, yes I can, but there's that glass house sorta thing...
>>> We exited the Magic Kingdom and found a waiting Animal Kingdom Lodge bus
>>> and were soon on our way.
>>
>> Sure. The bus doesn't show up and it gets two paragraphs, but when
>> there's a waiting bus it only gets a passing mention... If you waited
>> for the bus that morning, and averaged your two bus wait times, it
>> probably came out to 20 minutes... I hate statistics, don't you?
>
>What's that about the average person having one breast and one testicle?
Don't let the government know about that.
>>> We had a lovely young Scottish girl waiting our table – and I’ve
>>> forgotten her name.
>>
>> But you do remember she was young and lovely. We know where
>> your mind resides...
>
>And your point is...?
I want pictures. For proof, only, of course.
>>> After dinner, we shopped for a bit for Beatles stuff in the UK and wound
>>> up in the Twinings Tea shop. I don’t recall where but I’m almost certain
>>> I heard or read that it’s pronounced Twinn-ings (short ‘I’), rather than
>>> Twine-ings (long ‘I’). Barb disagreed so I asked a CM. He was diplomatic
>>> and said both pronunciations were acceptable but it was Twine-ings.
>>> Dammit! I still think he was wrong – even with his British accent.
>>
>> The Brits pronounce everything wrong anyway. They pronounce
>> elevator as lift and say petrol instead of gasoline, and you expect
>> them to get something made there right? No chance.
>
>Excellent point. Once again, I'm less wrong than I was previously.
Oh, yes, I know whatever comment I may make will come back
to haunt me...
>>> I
>>> think it was fun visiting with Frank and Patti today. They’re as big
>>> Disney fans as we are and really love their time here. I think I should
>>> pay closer attention when they tell me where they’re staying.
>>
>> Just blame it on your advancing age... That's what I do.
>
>I blame everything on my age...
I stopped doing that ever since Mom started that crap on me.
Oh wait. Maybe I haven't...
wrote:
>On 7/1/2012 8:44 PM, Keane wrote:
>> On Tue, 26 Jun 2012 05:31:41 -0400, Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.rr.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I’m up at 6:00 and notice there’s only one coffee cup. Housekeeping must
>>> have taken the used one from yesterday but forgot to replace it. I call
>>> down to the Front Desk and soon someone’s at the door with three more cups.
>>
>> One. I only need one.
>
>And Barb needs one so...
No, my comment was about Disney. You as for a towel, they'll bring 20
>On 7/1/2012 8:44 PM, Keane wrote:
>> On Tue, 26 Jun 2012 05:31:41 -0400, Steve Russo <sru...@nycap.rr.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I’m up at 6:00 and notice there’s only one coffee cup. Housekeeping must
>>> have taken the used one from yesterday but forgot to replace it. I call
>>> down to the Front Desk and soon someone’s at the door with three more cups.
>>
>> One. I only need one.
>
>And Barb needs one so...
of 'em to your room.
>>> We finished our tour at the train station in what used to be Toontown
>>> and, because of the heat and the fact a train was arriving, we rode it
>>> to the front of the park.
>>
>> Wimp. I notice no pedometer readings, either.
>
>Didn't wear it - took zero morning walks and we actually did minimal
>park touring. Heat, humidity, old age and laziness are my excuses -
>although not in that order.
there during summer... I can't comment on the old age and laziness.
Well, yes I can, but there's that glass house sorta thing...
>>> We exited the Magic Kingdom and found a waiting Animal Kingdom Lodge bus
>>> and were soon on our way.
>>
>> Sure. The bus doesn't show up and it gets two paragraphs, but when
>> there's a waiting bus it only gets a passing mention... If you waited
>> for the bus that morning, and averaged your two bus wait times, it
>> probably came out to 20 minutes... I hate statistics, don't you?
>
>What's that about the average person having one breast and one testicle?
>>> We had a lovely young Scottish girl waiting our table – and I’ve
>>> forgotten her name.
>>
>> But you do remember she was young and lovely. We know where
>> your mind resides...
>
>And your point is...?
>>> After dinner, we shopped for a bit for Beatles stuff in the UK and wound
>>> up in the Twinings Tea shop. I don’t recall where but I’m almost certain
>>> I heard or read that it’s pronounced Twinn-ings (short ‘I’), rather than
>>> Twine-ings (long ‘I’). Barb disagreed so I asked a CM. He was diplomatic
>>> and said both pronunciations were acceptable but it was Twine-ings.
>>> Dammit! I still think he was wrong – even with his British accent.
>>
>> The Brits pronounce everything wrong anyway. They pronounce
>> elevator as lift and say petrol instead of gasoline, and you expect
>> them to get something made there right? No chance.
>
>Excellent point. Once again, I'm less wrong than I was previously.
to haunt me...
>>> I
>>> think it was fun visiting with Frank and Patti today. They’re as big
>>> Disney fans as we are and really love their time here. I think I should
>>> pay closer attention when they tell me where they’re staying.
>>
>> Just blame it on your advancing age... That's what I do.
>
>I blame everything on my age...
Oh wait. Maybe I haven't...
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