Photo TR: WDW's AK, Epcot, and Chicken Little 11-13-05

Hi gang! We decided to hit Walt Disney World today in order for us to get a bunch of more NEW pictures of Animal Kingdom's Expedition Everest. I figured instead on keep placing links to that other theme park web site, why not go down and take a bunch myself. Anyways onto pictures.

Look how nice it looks now.

Man, it looks like the Yeti already escaped.

Leanne was very nice for not insisting on seeing Tarzan Rocks today.

By adding this snowman, the Dinosaur U.S.A. area's theming doubled.

What's that you see peaking over the trees?

Here are some of the wait times for the day.

Animal Kingdom was pretty crowded today.

Just in case you already forgot which park we were visiting.

Was this ever a boat station for park guests?

Ever wanted to see what it looked like on the otherside of that waterfall?

You are greeted by some nice birds.

After passing through the front gate you get to walk through a really nice area.

More Christmas decorations

We don't even get inside the park before I am replaced by Tigger again.

As well as Elissa friendly rodents.

Hey we got to see a donkey.

Maybe Animal Kingdom will give us an awesome Christmas present this year by soft opening you know what.

Having fun yet Leanne?

Animal Kingdom looks like its going to be busy today.

It kinda looks like a warehouse with some sort of marshmellow stuff all over it.

What's that you see outside my van?

Ok, we just about made it.

Since there has not been an orange grove in the area for at least 12 years.

They really should consider changing the name of the Citrus Tower to something that actually makes sense.

As much as we use the turnpike, maybe we should get one of those Sun Passes.

Leanne decided to pick us up some breakfast before hitting the road.

I wonder if Parker Posey still works there.

Gas prices have gone down some over the past couple of weeks.

Robb, I expect either a check or a transfer to my paypal account by the end of the week.

Leanne is all ready to go back down to Walt Disney World.

I've been keeping up with the construction of this thing, and through the past few months, I have actually wanted to go to disney world...I hope I get to ridr it sometime.

Here are a bunch of Expedition Everest pictures.

Stay!

We continued to walk away from Everest, but it seemed to keep following us.

Especially in the summer months.

Again, this will be the busiest bathroom in the park in a few months.

As we walked away from the mountain they still had more theming.

Its the other side of the fastpass area. Once its finished you will be able to walk thru the other side.

Look what I got to touch today.

Man this thing is huge, its covers at least 6 acres.

More EE pictures.

The real Mount Everest.

Disney Imagineers

They did have new billboards up this visit.

So is this one as well.

The fastpass area is almost finished.

I wonder what area that is going to be?

More EE theming.

Some more buildings in the front of the ride.

This is going to be the ride entrance.

They did knock down some of the walls so we can get a closer look of the queue buildings.

Boy that does look steep.

As well as the helix back into the mountain.

Check out the 80 foot drop.

Yes I am getting pretty excited now.

Not as much dirt to move around now.

Lots of new vegetation around the mountain.

Check these out, this is from today. Look at all the new bamboo.

One final old picture so you can see the difference in the upcoming pictures.

This one was as well.

This picture was taken around 2 and a half months ago.

In case you did not see the new logo.

Even more Everest pictures.

Bye Expedition Everest!

When will the theming ever end?

Holly Yeti! Even more theming.

What is this so far away from Everest?

This will be a Kodak photo spot in a few months.

Could it be the Yeti?

Who is that looking down at us?

Oh my word, my wife and I still say to each other "or just grab a coke" in that Parker Posey accent.

Is that the actual stand?

Wow. The DVD extra of her monologue is worth its weight in gold. "Who's on top and who's on bottom now!"

Nice shots of EE -- I'm just waiting (down the street so to speak) for guest testing. Soarin's was well before cast member previews -- crossing my fingers.

P.

Oh my god dude.Thats the first I've seen of the mountain since the scaffolding came down.

The whole mountain looks windswept. How many millions did this cost again?

You guys better let me know the minute this soft opens!

-Don

Oh my word, my wife and I still say to each other "or just grab a coke" in that Parker Posey accent.

 

Is that the actual stand?

 

Wow. The DVD extra of her monologue is worth its weight in gold. "Who's on top and who's on bottom now!"

 

Nice shots of EE -- I'm just waiting (down the street so to speak) for guest testing. Soarin's was well before cast member previews -- crossing my fingers.

 

P.

Nope it was not the actual stand. But whenever I think of Dairy Queen I think of her.

Oh my god dude.Thats the first I've seen of the mountain since the scaffolding came down.

 

The whole mountain looks windswept. How many millions did this cost again?

 

You guys better let me know the minute this soft opens!

 

-Don

I believe 100 million at least.

I've heard 100 million as well.

And they still went with Vekoma.

More AK action that is not of Everest.

After 90 minutes at AK, we decided to leave the park.

Ok, I am lame for liking Dinosaur, but Leanne shows her opinion for the ride. (Since she skipped Tarzan, I agreed to skip Dinosaur.)

Are we having fun yet?

Up the lift we go.

These are the lucky people stacked behind us.

Wow! Even before we going up the lift the coaster cars are well stacked.

Hooray for spinning mice.

There are a lot of people waiting in the fastpass side...though it honestly took only around 5 minutes.

It's actually the fastpass side that we need the credit.

Maybe that is what is needed before we finally get that other credit at AK.

Whoa! What is Disney condoning at this park?

We did walk by it again, but we forgot to look up.

Ok, so some of my captions are not very original.

We now enter the Clive Barker area.

Nice bird house.

It is nice that AK has a lot of bikes around you can use in case you get tired.

Is that you Tigger?

I wonder what is on the other side of this wall.

More elaborate theming at AK.

I wonder how often CMs have to re-draw all of these bats.

Bats are our friends.

Its a rodent with wings.

Ok into the bat house we go.

I learned that Disney spends a ton of money on lizard areas.

Then you grab a map so you can learn a little something about animals.

After reading the sign, you walk into here.

Some cool jungle walk thingy we never have done.

Did I tell you AK was crowded today?

I guess they are doing some kind of referb, I really could not tell.

After finally leaving Everest behind, we were greeted by this orange wall.

The road to Epcot and more.

Look how long the Margarita line is. You think that they were giving them away free.

I wonder where Carlos is today.

You see a bunch of Disney characters in the area.

When you see this bus.......

Yummy chedder soup at Canada. I had to get some more after our last visit.

"Hey Kid! You better be careful, if Darth Vader sees you, you are so screwed."

It was very tasty!!

"Moussakaaaaaa!" "Oh say it again!" "Moussakaaaaaa!"

Kinda looks like they named a food after Simba's father.

Looks pretty good, though you got to pay money before they raise the glass barrier.

Leanne was very happy to be able to get some Greek food. We missed this food stand last time we were here.

You can learn how to say "Happy Holidays" in many different languages.

Sheng dan kuai le!

The International Chistmas tree is up.

LOL! Someone actually bought that shirt. I guess they are selling them.

But first, it makes things a lot easier to use cash rather than a credit card.

I can't wait to have some good Epcot food again.

They got the new sign up.

No Beverly for you!

Its strange to see Epcot selling a movie featuring Darth Vader killing a bunch of little kids.

Check out those balls.

Again it looks like the Disney is going for that racier edge.

Well only 5 hours until we get to use them.

We ran over to Test Track to grab a couple of fast passes.

It was the last weekend for the Food and Wine Fest.

Holy Crap! Epcot is going to be crowded today.

Sob.....No Tower of Terror for us today.

I wonder how much this guy enjoyed Animal Kingdom today.

It sure looked like someone died in the parking lot.

Onward to our car.

The next time we come to AK, this better be open.

More Epcot goodness, even though it was crazy crowded.

I guess if Soren ever comes to work for Epcot, he can work in the glasses store.

This was becoming a familiar sight for us today.

Leanne stole my wine.

Yummy yummy yummy.

Time for some German snack food.

I promise I will not have any German jokes in this trip report.

Did I tell you how crowded it was today? It looks like Epcot 20 years ago.

Some lucky TPR members will get to go here next month.

Jiao zi hao chi ma?

I finally got to eat the Chicken Sha Cha.....Yummmy!

Waiting in another line for Chinese food.

Looks like they are finally updating the park to 1990.

Ok I am getting closer to the end here. More Epcot.

Not as cool as the Donkey hat.

We were going to Email some friends...oh well.

I wonder what these things look like while spinning. Anyone ever seen them spin from the outside?

Can't you tell?

Here is another intense part of the ride.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Ok its starting to get intense in here.

Everyone all ready for launch?

Mission: Space really knows how to handle crowds well...unlike its next door brother.

"We Choose to Go With Goofy"

Come on guys, its Universe of Energy and Wonders of Life that need the "Future" updating. Not Mission: Space.

This is as close we got to ride Test Track. We did not want to wait around until 7:55, so we gave away our fast passes.

Here is a monorail picture for you fans out there.

Well back to Future World.

Its the cool globe barge thingy.

Boy I have never seen the World Showcase this crowded before, and most everyone here was local.

Anyone recognize this place?

You can even take them home with you.

Joy to you and me!"

Oh yeah, I forgot about the concert series. I wonder who is playing tonight? ..tension builds..

I wonder what the long line is for?

Yaaaay, my project!! FYI: the shot with the Imagineers is actually mostly scientists and researchers with a few Imagineers thrown in there.

OK final update. Chicken Little at Downtown Disney.

We wanted to wish R&E a happy 2nd wedding anniversary. Now this is the end of the trip report.

We are almost to the end.

They are having some sort of art festival going on, but all the artists have left for the night so we did not get to see any artwork.

We did some window shopping.

After the movie we walked around a little.

The movie was pretty good, but the 3-D was amazing. The 3-D was crystal clear sharp, even better than the theme park versions.

A lot of people are going to be walking by this ad since AMC P.I. is the "official" movie theatre for WDW.

They stylized the polarized (not blue and red!!) 3-D glasses after Chicken Little's.

We wanted to go see Chicken Little shown with a digital projector in 3-D.

WOW!

That's one hell of an update! My connection on the ship isn't exactly what you'd call slow, but with all those pics it timed out over and over.

(Right click, show picture)

EE is looking particularly amazing. I especially love all the colorful "prayer streamers" everywhere. If you've read any books on actual Everest climbs, they are apparently pretty important to the Nepalese/Tibetans. It really is looking gorgeous, a real 'E-ticket' attraction!

Chris B

Amazing TR you guys!!! Wow. :shock: I was totally 'there' with you on it all, the way you described it, and photoged it.

Excellent trip report. One of the best I have seen here, no shite.

Take a bow you two. And Leanne, I'm a pin trader, too! Have several groupings of pins on their individual, themed lanyards.

Faves are Scary Teddy from NBC/HMH, Triton from Littlest Mermaid. And the one and only true evil faerie, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty.

~ ~ ~ ~

Wow, that was an awesome photo TR! It looks like you had a good time there! Expedition Everest looks amazing. I hope I can ride it next year! I think it is nice, to taste some food from all over the world!? How was the German food? Do you had apple strudel?

--Sören

"Moussaka"

Great TR!

Wow, that was an awesome photo TR! It looks like you had a good time there! Expedition Everest looks amazing. I hope I can ride it next year! I think it is nice, to taste some food from all over the world!? How was the German food? Do you had apple strudel?

 

--Sören

Yeah I had the apple strudel, and it was pretty good.

WOW! I would of been so pissed if I was at Epcot. I hate crowds. But all that food might make up for it.

Is the Food and Wine Fest everyy ear? The same time of year?

Thanks Erik... for not wearing your Miller shirt

WOW! I would of been so pissed if I was at Epcot. I hate crowds. But all that food might make up for it.

 

Is the Food and Wine Fest everyy ear? The same time of year?

 

Thanks Erik... for not wearing your Miller shirt

Yes its the same time every year. What is really funny is that Leanne and I noticed we only did two "ride attractions" the entire day. We did the Primeval Whirl as well as Mission: Space. It was not so crowded that we could not ride anything else (Except Test Track), we just decided to do a little exploring and eating instead. Yeah I only wear that Miller shirt on special occasions.

I love the Food and Wine Festival, but haven't been able to get back to it for a couple years.

My only beef is, why is Lowenbrau the only beer available for sample in Germany!

WOW...That was a great TR Erik! Sooo many pictures and so many great pictures of Expedition Everest. It looks like a real mountain!.

GREAT pictures Erik.

Nice that you got a nice picture of you and Leanne at Epcot without some lunatic Alvey and her friend gurning in the background...!

The food pictures made me hungry. :?