Reporting Live from Walt Disney World - TripThoughts (tm) - 10/8-15

[DoctorK]

Hi everybody. Just got the internet set up in the room, wireless router configured, so I'm good to go. Thought I'd share some thoughts as the trip goes on. Not a full-fledged report, which is why I call them TripThoughts (tm).

The trip is me, DW (MissusSmith) and DD8, with a one-night limited engagement cameo by Gramma.

• Getting up at 3:15am to catch a 6:40am flight was kind of rough. I still think it's worth it though, since it was the only non-stop direct flight.
• Using Magical Express, it took almost exactly 90 minutes from wheels down to arrival at Animal Kingdom Lodge. The bus was probably 75% full when we got on, and we waited another 5 minutes or so. It stopped at Pop Century and Caribbean Beach before AKL-Jambo and finally AKV-Kidani.
• Room wasn't ready at check-in (about 11:00am) but we got the Savanna View request. Staying on points, there are a few "Value Studios," which are only 69 points this week. An unbelievable bargain. Consider that you can typically value points at $10/point, which puts the "cost" of this week at less than $100/day. It's a "value" room because it's literally 3 feet shorter than a standard studio. No big woop. But there are no guarantees on the view - there are 40% savanna view, 40% pool view and 20% parking lot view. So we lucked out.
• Room was ready about 4:15. Magical Express delivered the bags about 15 minutes later.
• It rained steadily all day long. Not a single break in the rain. A couple of times it lightened up, but that was countered by occasional wind-driven downpours. We spent about 3 hours at Animal Kingdom. Touringplans.com had today as a 9 out of 10, and AK in specific as a 7 out of 10.
• Arriving around noon, we stopped for lunch at Pizzafari first - no wait to order. Then walked onto Safari - they were sending vehicles out empty. Then caught the 1:30 Festival of the Lion King (about 50% of capacity I would guess), where DD was chosen to lead the Elephant section and managed to work her unique personality into a pretty cut-and-dry routine. Video to come in the next few days. DeAnn (drischar) recognized her from the trip reports and came up afterwards to introduce herself. She was afraid she was being stalkerish, but I love to meet peeps! In fact, since there are so many of us here now, we should have a prize for whomever finds the most peeps.
• After FotLK we hit Its Tough To Be A Bug (maybe 10% capacity?) and headed back to AKL around 3:00.
• Bus service was great. The AK bus was waiting when we got to the pickup zone, and on the way back we had to wait about 6 minutes.
• Borrowed Gramma's car (she's staying with us for the first night of our trip, and joining us at DHS tomorrow) to hit the nearby Super Target. Bought a week's worth of groceries for this almost exclusively cooking-our-own-meals budget trip. But with the nonstop rain, we decided to invest the $10 to tip a bellhop to cart the groceries up to the room.
• We have a great savanna view. It's a dedicated studio (no connecting door to a 1-BR) and we only have a neighbor on one side, so our balcony has a sort of corner view. I would have pictures to show you but the rain was blowing straight into our sliding glass door, so maybe another time.
• We brought an electric skillet to accompany the microwave, coffee maker and toaster that are already here. We made some chicken, rice and veggies. I cooked the chicken on low with the lid on in case of any smoke, but there was literally no smoke. The room smelled awesome, and it was an easy meal.
• The fridge is strange. It has a separate Freezer. Like a regular fridge. Just way smaller. Unfortunately it takes away from some of the space in the fridge part. Still, it's surprising that I was able to get a week's worth of food for a family of 3 in there. Only 1 gallon of milk (two half-gallons actually) though. We may need to buy more.
• DD was out cold in about 10 minutes (by 7:10) and by 8:00 Gramma and DW were asleep.
• Tomorrow is rope drop at DHS. Although I'd rather not have the rain, I love the way it keeps crowds low. Between TSM, Muppetvision, Star Tours, Indy and Beauty and the Beast, we should be spending a lot of time indoors. We want to do the Animation Academy too. We did that a couple of years ago, but now that DD is 8 I think she'll do a little better and enjoy it more. Also, if it's not cancelled LMA. We're planning a 9-4 kind of day, packing sandwiches for lunch, with dinner back in the room.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter if you want even live-er updates. You don't have to join Twitter, just bookmark http://twitter.com/#!/DoctorK4.

[RoonieRoo]

I love live reports! Keep it coming. I'm sorry about the rain. Hopefully the next days will be just rainy enough to keep the crowds down but perfectly dry whenever you have to be outdoors and not on a ride.

[annethomas]

Looooovvvveee live reports can't wait for more hope you have lots of

[ellie]

Enjoying the new trip thoughts!

[josh]

How live!!!

Glad that you're "making the most of it." The rain does suck.

[DoctorK]

The rain does suck.

It does suck. It is the suckiest suck that ever sucked.

I wanted to explain how I got my wireless router working in the room. As DVC members staying on points, we have free internet. But I think this would work in a normal room paying for internet. The router is currently feeding my laptop and two iphones.

How I got my Wireless Router to work

1. I hooked my computer up directly to the wall, agreed to all the nonsense that pops up when the browser loads.
2. Once that's all set, I disconnected the cable from my computer, and put it into one of the ports on my router. NOT the WAN, which is the port you would normally use if you were using it as a router. It's in port #1, but it would work in ports 1-4.
3. My router is set up to NOT assign DNS. It's actually a second router on my home network that we use as a bridge to our primary router. This way, any assignment of IP addresses is done by my primary router at home, or the Disney servers here at WDW.
4. Also, I had already configured a secure login for this router at home, and made sure I could connect to it. I don't like having to do network troubleshooting at WDW.
5. When I connect my laptop wirelessly to the router, it picks up the internet connection. I had to agree to all of that same stuff again.
6. When I connected my iPhone wirelessly to the router, I had to agree to all of that stuff again but it also asked my to type in the long ID code on the bottom of my Key to the World Card.
7. When DW (MissusSmith) connected her iPhone wirelessly, she didn't have to agree to anything. Not sure why that is.

So that's how I did it. Hopefully that helps someone else so their internet experience doesn't suck like the weather did.

[DoctorK]

By the way, any peeps at DHS today should be able to spot us. One blue poncho, one red poncho and a pink Dora raincoat that may or may not be what I'm wearing. Please introduce yourselves!

We're on the bus there now...

[DWCricket]

hearing reports of something going on at MK. moving people to Main Street-have you heard anything??

have a great time at DHS and stay as dry as you can!!

[RuthAnn]

According to WESH.com, there was a fire at Astro Orbiter around 9:30 AM but no one was on the ride at the time. Tomorrowland was closed for about an hour but reopened. Here's the link.

[DoctorK]

Wow, how strange. We were at DHS today so we didn't hear anything about that. Here are today's TripThoughts.

• The steady rain continued this morning. I was up before everyone else, showered and made breakfast for the family. Our plan was to leave the room around 8:00 to catch the bus to DHS. Our plans were delayed when DD realized that she had lost her fanny pack. She had left it down in front of the TV while they were waiting for the room to be ready, around 4pm. We checked with the front desk, the concierce, the bell desk and the gift shop and no one had turned it in. Not the end of the world. Only a new autograph book and pen, lanyard with six "trading" pins from ebay, and $1.53 for pressed pennies. But kind of sad to think that someone would have stolen it.
• Great bus service again today. We waited 3-4 minutes for the bus each way.
  
• Small crowds at the turnstiles at 8:30. About 10 people in line in front of us.
  
• I was the FPV for TSM and the machines were going sooooooo slowly, because they don't work when the ticket is wet, and basically everyone's tickets were wet. Gramma got too far ahead of DW and DD and didn't realize they were supposed to wait for me, so by the time I was out of the FastPass line they were already boarding the ride. I only rode the one time, with the FP.
• Crowds were very light again this morning with the rain. Which is nice, but dry is nice too.
• We did Star Tours a couple of times standby with no wait, except for people to remove ponchos before entering.
• Muppetvision and Lights Motor Action were both about 60-75% capacity.
• I was selected as a volunteer for Indiana Jones. I got to be the "sinister laugh" guy, if you're familiar with the show. It was a lot of fun. The show was shortened due to the rain. We ate lunch in the theater before the show.
  
• I really cannot draw Dopey. Unless it's the era when Dopey had a goiter and wore a sinister mustache.
  
• MissusSmith rode RnRC twice (single rider and with a gifted FP) while Gramma, DD and I watched LMA. We switched off and they took DD to Little Mermaid while I rode single rider once. This was about the time when the rain stopped and the sun starting breaking through the clouds a little. Lines grew very rapidly and the overall size of the crowds was noticably larger.
• We went back to the room and MissusSmith called the front desk to ask about the fanny pack again and someone had turned it in! We'll need that for the Character Connection at Epcot tomorrow.
• It's been next to impossible to take advantage of our prepaid photopass. Photographers aren't out in the rain, we've been told.
• The pool at Jambo was FREEZING. The lifeguard says they just turned on the heater. I have no idea how long it takes to heat that much water. DD swam for about 5 minutes, while MissusSmith and I watched.
• I made some Italian Sausage for dinner, with enough extras to have alongside spaghetti and as a topping for pizza later in the week.
• Fantastic animal action outside our balcony. We had four giraffes and two zebras eating. A couple of Ostriches were nearby "talking" to each other with sort of clicky noises.
  
• We're waiting on the Amazing Race right now (35 minutes late due to football running long). Then it's lights out and up early for Epcot. I hope we still have some smaller crowds, although the weather is supposed to be a little bit better tomorrow.
• Oh, and here's a shot of the sunrise out the plane window yesterday.
  

[ngoldy]

Loving your live report! Thanks for sharing!

[RoonieRoo]

I'm really enjoying your live report. Thank you for sharing the fun.

[DoctorK]

Wow, I just posted that! Thanks for following along, and the kind words.

[Bernie2003]

I'm so glad the rain let up for you guys. Did you even recognize that bright thing in the sky when it peeked out?

[DoctorK]

I'm so glad the rain let up for you guys. Did you even recognize that bright thing in the sky when it peeked out?

It was during LMA. The "Director" went off script and mentioned that he could see blue sky and the crowd cheered more loudly for that than anything else in the show. I kind of felt bad about that - I think he realized that too.

[chitten]

Great reporting! It is reassuring to know that even when the weather reports look atrocious that you still got all that accomplished! Here's to better weather for the rest of your stay.

[DisneyMom]

Enjoying your trip reports and your tweets! So glad your DD got her bag back. :)

[DoctorK]

Today's installment - Epcot!

• Left the room at 8:05, about 10 minutes later than planned, had to wait 17 minutes for the Epcot bus. We had the most talkative bus driver ever. She literally talked the entire way from AKL to Epcot. Tips like, "Always ride Test Track when the park opens, because it's the only one that closes in the rain." And, "Get free soda - as much as you can drink! Go to Club Cool." I couldn't carry on a conversation with MissusSmith because the driver wouldn't stop, and the speakers were crazy loud.
• Arrived at Epcot about 8:40. Got into a turnstile line at the far right, which was about half as long as the rest. After the pre-recorded non-countdown opening played and the turnstiles opened, it became clear that there was a problem with our line. Turns out the next turnstile wasn't reading tickets, only the scanner would work, so if you didn't have a barcode on your ticket, or if it was faded, they would merge that person into our line. Took almost 10 minutes to get through about 30 people + however many cut in front of us. All of this would have been avoided by getting out of the room just a little earlier.
• However, even with the delay, there were hardly any lines for Soarin FPs, I think due to the more "metered" open (rather than rope drop rush). So, arriving there at 9:00 (15 minutes after turnstiles opened) I still got 9:48.
• Did Sum of All Thrills four times with no wait. Lots of fun to design the ride, and not nearly as motion-sickness inducing as expected.
• Did Mission Space: Orange with DD for the first time (MissusSmith "opted out"). After it was over she said "it made my stomach squish against my spine." Apparently, not in a good way.
• DD was chosen to be an honorary flight attendant at Soarin, meaning she guided people from the standby line to Concourse 1. As a reward the CMs gave us three more FPs! Bonus!
• Eating lunch at the Land pavilion around 11am, lines for FPs were backed up almost to the steps. I guess it was Food and Wine attendees grabbing a FP before heading over to World Showcase. Crowds from 11am on were significantly larger than the last two days, owing to the beautiful weather and F&W I guess. Still, the longest food line we saw between 11-2 was about 10 people at Belgium.
• Tried out the Beverly at Club Cool, and MissusSmith can confirm how it tastes:
  
• Got some great Test Track pics.
  
• Proof we sat through the movie at Norway (DD insisted we sit in the very front row). It's a little blurry because I was shaking with excitement. Vikings! Oil Rigs! A kid imagining things!
  
• We tried the linguica from Portugal, cannoli from Italy and Belgian waffle from some other country - all were very good.
• Waited 7 minutes for the bus back to AKL.
• MissusSmith took DD to the pool while I slept off a headache (probably didn't drink enough water today). She said the water was still freezing.
• More great feeding action on the savanna. I couldn't get two zebras off to the right in this shot.
  
• After dinner (chicken burritos) I took the DTD bus over to Kidani to look for a jar of spaghetti sauce for tomorrow. $3.45 for a jar half the size of normal. My fault for forgetting to buy it at Target Saturday.
• Bonus picture from yesterday, taken at Rock n Roller Coaster. Although the expression on my face is not what is considered classically manly, at least I look better than the guy behind me. His son's face won this ride though. Cartoonish bulging eyeballs always win.
  

Magic Kingdom Rope Drop tomorrow. We'll be doing the Dumbo Dash Thursday at EMH, so I haven't figured out where we'll start tomorrow. Tomorrowland Speedway maybe, followed by tons of Buzz.

[DWCricket]

sounds like a great day!!

Did your DD do the animation class with you? DS8 LOVES to draw and was thinking of doing it, but, he also can get frustrated easily and if it goes to fast for him to "get it" I would just skip it.

[Bernie2003]

Those action shots are always the worst. LOL. That poor kid looks terrified!

[DoctorK]

She did do the class, and she did get frustrated. She wasn't really sketching it the way the artist does, but really it's what you would expect an 8-year-old to do. But since it's not as good as the artist she gets upset.

[DWCricket]

ah, we might skip it then. DS can get a bit perfectionist with his drawing. Maybe I'll look for a disney "how to" book for him.

Thanks for the info!!

[DoctorK]

Maybe I'll look for a disney "how to" book for him.

I saw one like that before at Mouse Gear in Epcot.

[BrandyBo]

Love reading your thoughts! I seriously just woke up one of the kids and have successfully annoyed DH while laughing at the guy behind you in your limo. Poor kid though! Glad y'all are having a great time...just 38 more hours for us!!!
Brandy

[jhalpin76]

I love your live report! Can't wait to hear about RD tomorrow.

They have the drawing book at the store in HS right outside where they do the drawing class - it's the art store. THe book has a ton of characters and was around $15. We bought it after the class and are really happy with it.

DD 7 liked the class, but was a little frustrated that her Buzz didn't look like the artist. However, I asked her and she would love to do it again so the frustration at the time didn't seem to matter in the long run.