I love Disney, I do-- and stay with me here on my rant--- But sometimes it really gets on my nerves. Last year annual passes changed, there were all kinds of 'new' options and such, but if we wanted the EXACT SAME THING we had the year before, it was going to be like $250 more a person. Passes are already very expensive. But $1250 more for our family? That's crazy talk.
Beyond that, there's the discounts for passholders, which just haven't been all that great- and seem to get worse every year. We get virtually the same discount for hotel rooms as Florida residents (and I'd say the majority of passholders are already Florida residents), extras like mini golf and boat rentals and stuff we used to love doing- went from being half off to 10 percent, and the discount tickets for special events is like $5 off (when they already cost like $80 a ticket).
Couple that with the price of things going up (food and wine/flower and garden festival tasting portions are smaller this year, while the prices are bigger), and things that used to be free now costing money (you can't sit on the nice grass areas for Fireworks anymore unless you buy like $60 desert party tickets), and the restrictions on simple things like being able to park at a hotel for one of their counter service places. And not that Disney would complain, but it's so crowded anymore.
I know everything changes, prices go up, blah blah blah. But, all of that has had me a little disillusioned with Disney lately.
But also know, I am complaining about Disney passes, that are a very nice gift every year from my mom. So, you know, first world problems.
And to their credit they brought back and added some discounts (even though it's said to be 'a limited time", I'll still take my 20% off at the Daily Poutine!)
And really, even though we have a ton of blackout dates on our passes (including all of summer and every single weekend), but our passes this year are significantly cheaper, and for us, they were a great value. (Although mostly because of our 'opposite the rest of the world' scheduling).
I fill out every survey for Disney that I'm asked to, and I note these things all the time.
But then, just a week after I filled out a very complain-y survey, a new passholder event showed up in my e-mail. We were getting an opportunity to get tickets to see Pandora, the new world in the Animal Kingdom, before it offically opens May 27th.
Even better, it was totally free! (I mean, with my pass, but still!)
You had to book it like a month ahead of time, and I hear tickets went like lightning. But, I quickly got some for the 5 of us for Monday May 15th in the two hour window of 6-8pm. Asa's schedule then changed, and I was most upset about the possibility of missing Pandora (we wouldn't go without him)- but he was able to get someone to switch him his Monday for their Friday.
We decided to do lunch at home, and then hit Blizzard Beach for the afternoon (Disney does still offer the $60 after 2pm Florida resident pass for the water parks- and that's an AWESOME deal). Typhoon Lagoon was closed for a quick two day 'refurbishment', so Blizzard Beach was a little extra crowded. We made do with some trips around the lazy river, some time in the wave pool, and an ice cream bucket.
Then we were off to the Animal Kingdom for Pandora! We weren't too sure what to expect. We didn't know how crowded it would be, if we'd get to ride anything, or eat anything or what exactly it would be- but we were excited.
A couple of days ahead of time Pandora appeared as an extra Fastpass plus for us, and it listed one of the two rides. The time on it said 5pm, even though I had booked 6 to 8pm, so we showed up about 4:45 just to be sure. There was a line forming to the left of the Tree of Life, so we hopped in it and waited.
At 5 the line started moving, and cast members scanned our Magic Bands before we got to cross through the doors and head over the bridge.
But when you got through the doors, they were handing out very specific Fastpasses for one of the two rides- Avatar Flight of Passage. We knew we'd get to try out one of the rides, so we were super excited about it.
First of all, it's worth noting, I am the only one who has never seen Avatar. We were going to watch it on Mother's Day until I realized it was almost three hours long. But, I'll get to it eventually. And little tid bit for you, it's the last movie the boys got to see with my dad before he passed away, so it's kind of cool there's a whole world for it at Disney now.
The fact that I have very little frame of reference, yet I was totally in awe of how amazing and immersive this new land is, should tell you something. It is gorgeous, and none of my pictures do it justice. But perhaps the nicest thing was just how few people were actually with us. You could walk around very easily, snap pictures without people in them, and there were no lines to speak of. I can't imagine it being anything like that anytime soon. This place is going to be packed all through the summer.
There's two places to get something to eat or drink in Pandora. One is a small little counter with a few drinks just outside the main store, and a counter service restaurant just next to that. The restaurant has outdoor seating and indoor seating, so you can grab something at the little snack counter and then sit at the tables across the way.
We decided to get the Night Blossom, a mixture of limeade with apple and desert pear flavoring topped with passion fruit boba balls, and the Pongu Lumpia, a pineapple cream cheese egg roll. We'd seen mixed reviews on both, so we decided to give it a go. I was underwhelmed with the drink, it was a weird mixture. Peyton adored it. He would have had one all on his own. Calib liked it, but wasn't a huge fan of the boba balls. But I did really like the Pongu Lumpia. It reminded me of the Yak and Yeti dessert that's so popular with the pineapple won tons. I don't think anyone liked it as much as me. The boys were not big fans, Peyton took one bite and decided it wasn't for him.
After walking around a bit, and having a snack it was time for our Fastpass. Now, there are only two rides in Pandora, but they aren't really marked. In fact, nothing in Pandora is signed that well. Maybe that will change, but I hear originally, it was by design to make the world a little more immersive. Either way, we hopped in line and walked through cues upon cues. It's going to be something to wait for this thing opening weekend.
Avatar: Flight of Passage did note that it wasn't for us motion sick people, but I wasn't going to miss this one. I just kept telling myself mind over matter- and that I should close my eyes before I start feeling bad. But honestly, I had no idea what to expect, because I hadn't seen any reviews or anything of it. After you get through all the cues they load you into this little room for a pre-ride video, like most Disney rides. (There's actually two of these pre-ride rooms). Now, the upside of these rooms is that there are only 16 people in your group, and you are given a number to stand on- so there's none of that overcrowding 'fill in all the available space' that you get on a lot of Disney rides.
But, we actually got stuck in both rooms, and had to wait for awhile. The movie would end and then we'd all just stand around looking at each other. Finally, they take you into a third little room, where there are 16 motorcycle looking seats all facing a wall. There's a bin behind you for your stuff, and once you climb on they tell you to slide all the way forward and the seat kind of locks you in- at your back and at your legs. For this claustrophobic girl, I was a little weirded out by that, but I've been on enough Disney rides to know they are overly cautious, and if I maybe didn't slide ALL the way forward when it locked me in, I'd have a little breathing room. Hayden, however, was sort of freaking out- because he didn't know what the ride was going to be like- and slid maybe a little too far foward, and then got super locked in. But, no worries, they will come loosen it up for you if that happens.
Then we sat all locked in, and waited for what seemed like forever- again, kinks they'll have to work out before opening weekend (which is why they were doing these trial previews for passholders, I presume). It seemed really odd in there, it was just a small room, just 16 'motorcycles', and a wall that clearly would slide open to show a screen, but it seemed small for this new ride that was supposed to be cutting edge.
But the ride eventually started- and somewhere along the line the whole wall opened up, and suddenly it was like you were flying on the back of a Banshee (a dragon like animal in Pandora). I mean, it was REALLY like you were flying- the screen is similar to Soarin over in Epcot, but the graphics and the effects are the best in Disney. I had to close my eyes a lot- as you'd swoop in and out of various Pandora settings. Overall though, your 'motorcycle' seat does move a decent amount (and you can even feel the 'banshee breathing'!) and for the motion sick crowd, I'm not sure it's the best. But when I did have my eyes open, it was pretty cool, and the addition of the wind in your face and a light mist at time definitely helped me.
At one point, I was avoiding looking at the screen and I looked over and noticed rows and rows of people, above me, below me, and next to me. All those small rooms open to the same screen and it looks a lot like the Soarin set up. Nobody else noticed this though, because they were so focused on the screen.
Overall, I thought the ride was super cool. And I will probably ride it again (despite my motion sickness issues). But the boys and Asa LOVED it. Peyton said it is his new favorite ride at Disney, and with the addition of Pandora, Animal Kingdom is now his favorite park.
The ride drops you off in a gift shop, as all the good rides do.
My mom had sent me a card with some money for Mother's Day (which of course I know it's silly my mom sends ME Mother's Day cards with money in it- but I can't say I'm mad about it!), so I knew just what to use it for. I wanted a magnet from Pandora to add to my collection.
Back outside, we walked around some more and enjoyed the scenery. The boys didn't even mind that I was taking a bunch of pictures!
So I said there were two rides in Pandora. We originally thought you got a Fastpass for one or the other- but we decided to walk over to check out the other ride, the Navi River Journey. Apparently that one didn't require a Fastpass and we were able to ride it as well (we were SUPER excited about it). The cue for this one is also crazy long- but we walked right through. It was practically walk on (I'm now thinking it'll be a long time before we wait for this ride, so we should have ridden it twice!)
On the River Journey, you board a boat- and the boat are small (we fit in one boat, and we could have maybe had another person or two in our boat, but that would be it). I mean, I liked having our own boat, but I wonder how the capacity of this one will work when it's open to the public.
Think of this ride as a kicked up 'it's a small world', and like WAY kicked up. I snapped two pictures in here, neither of which really turned out. But, the technology on this one is bananas. I won't ruin it, but just keep your eyes open, it's impressive.
Really, walking around Pandora is an attraction in and of itself. There's lots of little interactive things along the way. Beat some drums, pet some plants, and see what happens. It's all very cool. The walkways wind in and out, and there's no one way to anything, which is kind of fun (but again, it had me wondering about morning crowds making a bee line for Avatar Flight of Passage, and how it might get a little confusing- though not my problem, I got a preview and I've already been on everything sans wait!)
We really, really loved Pandora. It's been something like three years in the making, so it was exciting to finally see over the walls. It's going to be hard to nab a Fastpass for this one anytime in the near future (even after our summer blackout dates are over), so it was great to experience it the way that we did. Either way, Animal Kingdom used to be a park we visited maybe once a year. I think with all the new additions there lately (we still haven't caught the night time show), plus our old favorites, we'll be visiting a lot more.
Oh, and I cannot wait to see this place at night. The entire thing glows! You can see it even in the cement in the paths- and the lights are all designed as plants. You can just tell it will be an awesome night time spot.
After our Pandora preview, we headed over to Flame Tree Barbecue for dinner. It's one of our favorite counter service places at Disney- and our Tables in Wonderland gets us a hefty discount. Add to that the money we still had left on a Disney gift card, and dinner was a whopping $15.
Plus you can't beat the setting- there are so many tables it's really easy to find your own nice quiet spot in the shade.
After dinner we used our Fastpasses to ride Kilimanjaro Safaris. We tried it at night last time we visited, but we didn't love it. This time we went at dusk. It's the best time to go- there's SO many animals out and about. We had giraffes right up against the truck, rhinos crossing the road, and we even saw the lions out and about. Sadly we missed the baby elephant- maybe next time.
So another fun day at Disney in the books! We are going to try and get there one or two more times before our blackout dates start.
(And here's my funny tram ride back to the car sequence of pictures.
Don't let their tired yawns fool you though, we were the last car down the aisle, and Calib and Peyton raced back to the car.
In other news, we also celebrated Mother's Day. I got a very thoughtful card from Hayden.
And Peyton finally made me my Fantasy Football Trophy I deserved (I beat him in our Superbowl).
For lunch on Mother's Day we went out to PDQ for my free meal.
And then, back at home, I held everyone hostage to play all my favorite games, that they hate- but they have to do it happily on Mother's Day. We played Lifeboats, which for the record, Hayden won- and other various board and console games.
I wanted the boys to take a nice picture for Mother's Day, this is what I got. I mean, it's not terrible.
That's it from here. Asa is in the office today, so I'll try and get caught up on country blogs too. (I am four behind, even after doing some yesterday- yikes!)
Next Up: Our last weekend before Summer Vacation for all the Public School Kids, gotta make it count!
No comments:
Post a Comment