Trip Reports

AUGUST 5-9

Set up:

We purposely made plans to visit WDW during the hottest time of year (August 5 - 9). In 1998, we visited during October because all of the literature indicated that it was a relatively uncrowded time of year. However, it was absolutely mobbed and they even had to “close” the Magic Kingdom one weekend because of the crowds. So this year, in a burst of reverse logic, we decided to go in early August (when it was theoretically mobbed) in the hopes that it would actually be less crowded!

This was a relatively unplanned four-day trip. Since we’ve been to WDW before several times, this trip report will not be a play-by-play type, but rather a summary of the new information we picked up. We’ve highlighted several things that we felt could use more detailed descriptions (like Test Track and Dole Whips!).

Players:

Me (Laurie, 41) professional actress
Brad (husband, 44) writer
Alex (almost 13) our increasingly independent son
This is our fourth trip to WDW.

Getting there:

The first thing we learned is that summer airfares from Maine to Florida are cheaper than spring, fall or winter fares, which is definitely a point in favor of a summer WDW vacation.

We flew Delta, and used Florida Town Car (which we used last time) to get to WDW. As usual, Florida Towncar was prompt at both ends of the trip, and the car was clean and well-maintained. With three people in our party, this is cost-effective and definitely the most enjoyable way to go.

The room:

Last time we visited, we jumped between three on-site resorts (ASMR, DL, Poly). This time, we stayed at ASMR for the full four days. THIS WAS INFINITELY PREFERABLE. We feel very strongly that you get the most bang for your buck at the All Star Resorts. The rooms are almost identical to the “moderate” resorts, and the luxury resorts are not luxurious enough in our opinion to justify their usurious rates. Also, and very importantly, the bus service to the All Stars is as good as, and usually better than, any of the other resorts. We have traveled extensively on the bus system (we know it better than some WDW bus drivers!) so we feel we can speak with some authority on this.

Oh, and staying at the same resort for the whole trip means that they can’t fail to transfer your luggage for six hours when you switch resorts. Don’t ask.

We stayed in the Jazz building, which was very restful and relaxing because it was right beside a rose-filled courtyard which surrounded a beautiful, soothing fountain. We were close to the food court, pool and buses, but we didn’t get any of the pool noise (the pool is near the Calypso building). These rooms are soundproof, which is a leg-up on the Polynesian rooms. We had people on all sides, above and below and heard nothing. Last October at the Poly, I was awakened VERY early every morning by kids scuffling in the room above us.

We noticed that people who stayed in the ground floor rooms often put fairly elaborate collections of Disney figurines in their windows. It was cute.

Also, for the first time, the housekeeping person did fascinating things with my son’s toys. He doesn’t have any Disney characters -- mainly robots -- but she gave it a go, and the Optimal Optimus Transmetal robot in particular had quite an exciting vacation. Thanks!

The only difficulty we experienced with the bus system was in getting from ASMR to Downtown Disney. This is a recurring theme which we have experienced on previous trips and is not a problem which is confined to buses serving the resorts -- last October, for example, we waited for 45 minutes at the TTC for a DD bus in an ever-expanding line of increasingly furious people. I am at a loss to explain why there are insufficient buses to a destination which is nothing but a cash-cow for Disney, but there you are. My advice is skip it unless you have a car. If you insist on going to DD by bus, be prepared to wait for much longer than 20 minutes.

Interestingly, getting back from DD has never been a problem.

The crowds

We had been burned last October by enormous crowds at a reportedly relatively uncrowded time of year. I don’t know if we were just unlucky or if the guide books are operating on old data, but all the parks were very, very, very crowded, and they had to “close” the MK on October 10th because it was full.

So we decided to go in August, during the supposedly hottest, most crowded and most uncomfortable time of year. Our theory was that reports of the heat and humidity are finally beginning to keep people away, that August might now be only a moderately crowded time of year.

We were a little bit right. People with kids still come in very large numbers during the summer months in order to avoid removing them from school. But, and this is the interesting part, crowd traffic patterns were significantly different this trip than on our previous trips (mid November, early October, mid February). Whereas in the cooler months crowds would descend on the parks early, remain steady or even decline a bit during the late afternoon, and then filter in again for the fireworks and final parades, the summer crowds started small and built steadily all day.

This meant that getting to the parks at opening time (or better still, early entry) gave you three to five hours of relatively uncrowded conditions. During the afternoon, crowds built steadily, despite the fact that afternoon was the most punishing time of all in terms of the heat. We were stunned by this. Logically, it should be even more important to take an afternoon break in the summer, but this just never happened. By the time evening rolled around, you could definitely tell you were visiting WDW world at a crowded time of year.

My only explanation for this pattern is that the parks are getting more local Floridians at this time of year who sleep in, arrive late and then stay late.

This pattern was most noticeable at the MK and MGM -- as usual, EPCOT felt less crowded in general than the other parks. We visited Animal Kingdom in the late morning through early afternoon and found it only moderately crowded. MGM crowds steadily increased all day, and it became nearly unbearably crowded in the evening because thousands of people were descending on the park in order to watch Fantasmic!. Unfortunately, we were never able to be in that park AFTER the 9:15 Fantasmic had started -- it’s very possible that it actually becomes relatively uncrowded at certain points. However, there are two Fantasmic shows a night, at 9:15 and 11, so I would guess that crowds start to build at 9 for the 11 show, and that many of the people who exit the 9:15 show stay in the park until closing, keeping crowds high all night. This is just a guess, though.

The heat

During our trip, it was as hot as it usually gets in August, 95 or 96 and very high humidity. There was almost always a slight breeze. We went expecting heat. We are from Maine, which rarely sees 90 degrees, so we were actually looking forward to it. We did not find the heat to be unbearable, and I think I know why:

Before we moved back to Maine, my husband and I lived for a number of years in Washington, DC, which, along with Texas, Florida and certain places in the deep south, is a very challenging place to live in terms of heat and humidity. We learned that, if you have to be outdoors regularly in a climate like that, you should keep your air conditioning way, way down in your house. If you don’t acclimate, you will perish.

So, at ASMR, we turned our room air conditioning up to 80. The maid would occasionally turn it down, not quite believing what she saw, but we’d jack it up again

Also, bring water with you.

WDW is great in that most of the lines are in covered, shady areas, or even air conditioning. The most challenging park from a thermal perspective is EPCOT, as there is a lot of walking in the direct sun. There are not as many shade trees as perhaps there should be. But we found MGM, AK and MK quite shady and comfortable.

By the way, we don’t know what all the fuss is about Animal Kingdom and the heat. If anything, there are MORE shady areas to sit and walk there than in the other parks. All I can figure is that A. because of all the dense foliage, the humidity in the park is probably a little higher, so it might feel a little warmer, and/or B. because of the way the park is laid out, with lots of meandering paths, you might feel you have to walk longer between “attractions” , and therefore are more ornery and prone to complaining

BUT THERE IS PLENTY OF SHADE AT AK, so don’t avoid it during the summer!

The food

During this trip, we ate in the parks as we have found, sadly, that the quality of the food at restaurants attached to the resorts has not justified the travel time and expense (and we have eaten at a large number of them). We never make priority seating reservations anymore, having found that it was of limited value. Even with a PS, we frequently had to wait over an hour during “rush” times.

Instead, we eat at “off” times. We eat a decently sized breakfast at the food court, maybe a snack in the park around 11 am, then we eat our main meal of the day between 2 and 4 pm. Then maybe a little snack in the evening. Using this pattern, we have NEVER had to wait in line, even at Cinderella’s Castle and the San Angel Inn.

We were very happy with our food experiences this time. Brad and I are struggling mightily to be vegetarians. This is not as difficult as you might imagine at WDW. Our son is a major carnivore, which presents no problem at all, here or anywhere else.

The biggest pleasant surprise this trip, hands down, was the San Angel Inn at Mexico in EPCOT. This place always gets very mixed reviews in the trip reports, so we were apprehensive about trying it, but we found the food to be fabulous, and we do have standards. I must preface this by saying that there is absolutely nothing at all on the menu for vegetarians, but we initially went for the atmosphere, so we decided to overlook that point.

We arrived at 4pm with no PS. The place was nearly empty and we were seated right away at one of the celebrity-level tables overlooking the “river”. This was interesting because the ride was closed for refurbishment, and the river was drained. Actually, the fact that you could see the boat track and other sundry pieces of hardware was not as distracting as you might imagine. Even without water and with that arrestingly fake volcano, you just can’t beat the atmosphere in that place. The restaurant is located in a little piazza area, with stucco buildings all around, like a quaint Mexican town. The lights are down very low, and lamps and lanterns twinkle all around you. Add to that the lush tropical foliage in the ride area and the faux Aztec temple, and it beats the Rainforest Cafe hands down. It helps that neither faux gorillas nor real waiters whoop, gesticulate wildly or otherwise disturb your conversation.

There are nice details in the restaurant, as well. The chairs are lacquered in festive colors, and the nacho chips are freshly made and very good. The salsa is also fresh. It was too weak for my husband and too spicy for my son, so it was just right for most people. We ate WAY too many chips!

Service was nicely attentive, but it was the food that was the major shock. Frankly, we were expecting (and would have been happy with) food on the level of Chi Chi’s or El Torito. What we got was surprisingly authentic Mexican food. The chicken was suffused with a smoky chipotle flavor, and had an exquisitely velvety texture. My son’s “nacho” plate was composed of this chicken, those heavenly chips, fresh chopped tomatoes, a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkling of a nicely assertive cheddar, and flecks of very, very good chorizo sausage -- an unexpected treat! My husband ordered shredded beef wrapped in a flour tortilla, which I didn’t taste, but he loved. I ordered an appetizer plate which included three thick, warm, freshly-made soft corn tortillas wrapped around various fillings -- it was wonderful. We shared two dinners and the appetizer plate and walked away full and happy. Total damage, only $35.36!

EPCOT is a great park for vegetarians. The food court in The Land building has inexpensive stuffed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, salads, etc. The Pasta Piazza serves a yummy eggplant parmesan, pasta and a cheese pizza in the shape of a Mickey head. Each of the countries also has something meatless worth trying.

Another very pleasant surprise was our discovery of the Columbia Harbor House between Fantasyland and Liberty Square in the Magic Kingdom. It’s a quite large (much larger than it looks on the outside) counter service restaurant with table seating. It serves a very large, reasonably priced and delicious hummous sandwich with shredded carrot and cabbage on wholegrain bread. It is hard to convey how extraordinarily delicious this sandwich was. The cabbage/carrot mixture was some kind of slaw with a light dressing. The cabbage conveyed a pleasantly hot “bite” which might put off some children, but was well-received by the adults at the table. Brad had vegetarian chili served in a scooped-out loaf of crusty bread; fantastic! It was also an unexpected pleasure to be able to dine in a mock-up of an old New England “pub”-type restaurant. Very dark and cool and a welcome respite from the heat outside.

Cosmic Ray’s in Tomorrowland makes a nice veggie burger, which along with the various vegetable toppings in the toppings bar makes a decent-sized meal. This is the type of veggie burger that includes TVP (texturized vegetable protein), rather than oats/beans/etc., and tries to imitate the taste and texture of a hamburger (with, it must be said, only moderate success). However, it tasted pretty good in its own right.

(BRAD NOTE: At Cosmic Ray’s, you are also given the option of having baby carrots rather than fries with your meal. But I got the strong impression carrots are an infrequent choice -- when I requested them, the counter guy looked very confused, and had to ask where they were kept. But persist! The carrots are good -- don’t kid yourself by thinking a day’s walking at WDW can burn off endless quantities of greasy fries.)

A little hint -- it’s very difficult to find a table inside Cosmic Ray’s pretty much any time of the day. If arm-wrestling little children for tables is not your style, try the outside tables. They all have umbrellas, so they’re shady, and they are much easier to come by during the heat of the day. I found them quite comfortable. Also, once you’ve seen Sunny Eclipse in concert twenty or thirty times, people watching starts to take on added appeal.

(ALEX ADDS: Let me take this moment to explain good small child management in WDW restaurants. Keep a keen eye out for Disney’s ‘planned distractions’. This can range from the highly corny Sunny Eclipse to the highly annoying screaming robo-animals at the Rainforest Cafe. These attractions tend to pull children toward it like matter into a black hole. So, if the kids are getting antsy try to spend time there.)

Oh, and may I take this opportunity to explain what a Dole Whip is? I kept seeing references to it in trip reports, but no one ever explained what is was. You’ll find Dole Whips in Adventureland. They are very much like a soft-serve ice cream, but they CMs say they contain no dairy. You can get three flavors -- pineapple, vanilla and chocolate. The pineapple is very fruity and not at all creamy. More like a soft- serve sorbet. The vanilla sure tasted like it had dairy in it, but they said it didn’t. I didn’t taste the chocolate. They will make swirls for you out of any two flavors, but the very best in my opinion is a vanilla/pineapple swirl “float” (in a cup with pineapple juice). Yum!

MGM offered a very nice vegetarian sandwich in the ABC commissary, and you can always get a cheese pizza in Pizza Planet. I’m sure there’s more, but our experiences with food here are limited.

We have never eaten in AK except for the Rainforest Cafe, which has been adequately and accurately reviewed by others.

If you’ve never visited WDW during high season before, it’s worth noting that many of the restaurants and snack carts in the parks open earlier and close later than they do during the cooler months.

The parks

Here are the new bits of magic we experienced during this trip:

Magic Kingdom

First of all, why has nobody thought it important enough to mention that TINKERBELL IS A LIVE PERSON! I almost had a stroke! We had never managed to see Tinkerbell “coming down the wire” to start the fireworks, but we always assumed it would just be a light of some kind. We wanted to make sure we saw it this time, so we sat right in front of the castle. I had been watching the area where the wire met the castle for any activity, when I saw an arm come out of a small door of some kind. I figured it was someone attaching the light to the wire or something. Then someone appeared to climb out of the door and stand next to the wire. I was thinking “Oh no, something must have gone wrong and now they have to adjust it...” It was getting pretty dark at this point, and I was straining to see what was happening, when the person suddenly FELL OFF THE LEDGE! I just about fainted, but then the spotlight came up on the person, and it was Tinkerbell, gliding happily down the wire. It took me about 20 minutes to recover from that, and I’m hoping I can spare someone else the trauma.

(BRAD ADDS: The living Tink was very cool. Disney vets can correct me if I’m wrong, but I recall some years ago at Disneyland that Tinkerbell was some kind of sparkler/roman-candle thing, NOT a person. Of all of the cast members that I would like to interview, I would most definitely put this fearless woman at the top of the list.)

Earlier in the day, I noticed that the MK lets white “doves” (and perhaps they are only pigeons) fly over the park in the late afternoon to the music of “Feed the Birds” from Mary Poppins. The only trouble is that this particular song always makes me cry, which was a little embarrassing as I was standing by myself next to the Pooh ride. Oh well.

And speaking of the Pooh ride, we braved the 30 minute wait and gave it a try. I must preface this by saying that I was just recovering from a nasty stomach bug I’d picked up at home, so perhaps no one else will be affected similarly, but that jumpy section in the Tigger room almost did me in! You ride around in Hunny Pots, first through the Blustery Day section where Roo is being nearly separated from Kanga by a big wind, then through a jouncy Tigger section where your Hunny Pot undulates up and down over a seriously hilly track, then Tigger tells Pooh about Hefalumps and you’re into the Nightmare section.

Although this section is brightly colored, not dark at all, and contains a hefalump blowing cool-looking smoke rings through its trunk, it is possible that the mere mention of hefalumps may frighten particularly suggestible children. As indeed it did me. If you can get them to lift their heads out of your lap and actually look at the hefalumps, they’ll be alright. Finally, you pass through a rainy, floody section where Eeyore is commenting morosely on the weather and your Hunny Pot again runs over an undulating track, this time with a side-to-side motion. All in all, it held our interest, although it was more jouncy and more superficially frightening than I thought it would be.

In midsummer, Disney started experimenting with a new system called “Fastpass.” We used it for the first time on Splash Mountain. You go to the Fastpass “kiosk” and are given a slip of paper which tells you to come back at a certain time. Actually, you can come back within an hour AFTER the time noted on your paper. In practice, this reduces your wait time from whatever it is at the time you get your Fastpass (in our case about an hour and a half) to about 15 minutes. You do not go to the head of the line, but you pass by everyone until you get very NEAR the front of the line. From that point on, it’s about 15 minutes.

We tried to do Fastpass at MK on Space Mountain, but by the time we tried it (late afternoon) the time on the slips of paper was late evening, after we were planning to leave the park. So we just stood in line for 45 minutes.

Brad and I did Alien Encounter again and, while I still find it enjoyable, it really is too loud for comfort. I noticed that a lot of shops sell earplugs (especially the resort shops), and I would recommend them to people who are not yet deaf and who are planning to ride Alien Encounter, Countdown to Extinction or see the Festival of the Lion King.

EPCOT

The only new thing we did here was Test Track. I will let Brad fill you in on the details: (BRAD NOTE: One of the most extraordinary aspects of these Disney Trip reports is that, after two years of waiting, people finally got to ride Test Track this summer, and NO ONE EXPLAINS ANYTHING ABOUT IT! So here is the scoop. Fast Track is an extraordinarily popular ride, so hit it early, the wait can easily hit 90 minutes by 11:30 a.m. But this is not necessarily a problem. The first surprise, to me, was that if you are willing to be a single rider (to fill in empty spots in the six-seat cars) , you can go right into the ride, rather than enduring an in-the-broiling-sun wait of well over an hour, punishing even by Disney-line standards. I was astonished when the CM came out, announced the single-rider option to the assembled crowd, and of perhaps 300 people standing there, only two took up the offer! Man! I can see parents wanting to ride with kids, and even we-do-everything-together honeymooners refusing, but why other folks didn’t immediately divide their group into singles is beyond me...

Anyway, the singles-go-right-on idea is clearly an afterthought, not part of the original design -- once you exit the regular line, you actually have to cut across some landscaping and go through what was obviously meant to be some sort of staff-service entrance. But then, there you are, in the pre-show. As with many Disney rides, the pre-show is a diverting preview of what is to come. A couple of “engineers” on a TV monitor explain that you are about to become an automobile tester, and that you will experience braking, hot, cold, acceleration, hill climbs, etc. Then you pop out the other side into a service-garage-themed area and settle into a six-passenger car.

I can see why this ride took so long to put together. Most Disney rides have “smart tracks” and “dumb vehicles,” but this one is the other way around -- the vehicle itself contains most of the controls for its various stops and starts; that can’t be an easy engineering feat. Anyway, from the car-boarding area you roar out, shoot up a hill, and then undergo a couple of braking tests. The first time you brake, the car wiggles -- this is the “no-ABS (Automatic Braking System)” section. The second time, your stop is straight and smooth -- this is the “with ABS” section. Not too exciting, and not even accurate -- I recall reading that statistics show ABS is of little or no help in cutting accidents.

Later on, you go through heat (provided by heat lamps, but still not as hot as the line outside) cold and maneuverability sections. The ride culminates with a speed section -- this is the part where the car bursts outdoors and roars over the heads of the folks waiting in line. It is pretty exciting, but I think the digital readout of your speed is a big mistake -- I am sure that most people watching the sign are disappointed to realize they are going about 66 miles per hour. It feels much faster, and it serves no real purpose to tell people that they are actually traveling more slowly than they did as the drove to Disney that morning!

An okay ride, not great. Tower of Terror remains my favorite at WDW.)

MGM

We saw the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular for the first time this trip. My sister and brother-in-law were with us, along with their daughter Zoe, who is seven. Neither Zoe nor Alex, who is twelve, enjoyed this show. The stunts, which involved simulated gunfire (lots), very real explosions (lots) and rivers of gasoline catching fire, alarmed them -- which I had not anticipated as they are not generally fearful children, so parents might want to take note. We were sitting very near the front, so perhaps the seats toward the back might not feel as ”dangerous”.

Brad rode the new Rock’n Roller Coaster. (BRAD NOTE: This one is easy. If you like Space Mountain, you will love this ride. They are quite similar, both are in-the-dark roller coasters, the fundamental difference being that RnRC has a couple of corkscrew sections, so you flip all the way over. It is also somewhat rougher than Space Mountain -- I got off grinning, but also had a bit of a headache from the jostling.)

Our final new experience at MGM was Fantasmic! I can now see why no one ever really bothers to explain exactly what happens during this show. I believe that this is because the story line is largely unintelligible. My son is quite sure it’s based on the theme of good vs. evil -- a point which I am prepared to cede to him. However, the specifics of exactly what Mickey is up to were largely lost on me. It involves many, many villains, and a nominal cast of princesses and their dates. The bad guys are all on the giant mountain with Mickey, the good guys circle the mountain in boats. How or why they help Mickey is still a mystery to me -- it appeared to have something to do with him getting a grip on his imagination, or ceasing to use it. Something like that.

Anyway, there is plenty of fire and fireworks for everyone, and if you enjoy pictures projected on water screens, you’ve won the lottery with this one! I certainly wasn’t bored, although I’m not sure I would categorize it as entertainment either. Unless entertainment is the absence of boredom. It’s worth seeing once, just in case you can manage to piece together the plot. If you do, though, could you post it?

Animal Kingdom

Our new experiences here were Countdown to Extinction, It’s Tough to be a Bug, the Disney Radio River Boats and the Kali River Rapids ride.

We rode Countdown to Extinction first, mid-morning, and there was no line. The best way to describe it is a combination of Alien Encounter and Ellen’s Energy Adventure. The scenery (i.e. dinosaurs) is not scary. Even the car ride itself gives you only a moderately intense buck. The distinguishing feature of this ride is its ear-splitting noise level. This is one of those rides where the treble is jacked up so high it’s painful and the bass is so intense it shakes everything. When we got to the end of the ride where they display your picture (like Splash Mountain and Tower of Terror) my husband laughed himself sick at the photo of me bent double with my fingers jammed into my ears. I was just trying to staunch the bleeding.

Bring earplugs, especially for kids.

It’s Tough to be a Bug, on the other hand, was sweet. Alex was slightly concerned about the part at the end where you get “stung” by a metal thing in your seat. It turns out that the “stinger” is in the back of your seat (not under your derriere) and it’s really more like a blunt rod which gives you a little poke. It’s not sharp or pointed, so kids needn’t worry that they’ll be hurt in any way. The movie is mainly a parade of different bugs doing their 4-D tricks. It was relaxing and cute, although it was loud in places, so exercise discretion if your child is apprehensive about darkened theaters and/or noise.

The Disney Radio Boats were the high point of Alex’ and my day at AK. It’s a slow boat around the park -- scenic and relaxing and not “exciting” in any way, which is just the way it ought to be. The attention to detail along the riverbank was fabulous -- lots of ruins and junked stuff. I was, however, highly annoyed by the Disney Radio station that the boat captain was clearly being forced to play by Management. The captain was executing a perfectly lovely narrated tour of the park. Inexplicably, the radio was simultaneously “broadcasting” a stream of inane chatter between two individuals that only incidentally touched on the areas of interest through which we were passing. I vote for keeping the captain and losing the radio.

Brad tells about the Kale River Rapids Ride: (BRAD NOTE: A cool ride, and one on which you will get wet, wet, wet! Really! Particularly if you are seated in the wrong [or right, depending on your point of view] spot, you can get almost as soaked as if you had jumped into the river. My wallet in my back pocket got so wet that I had to remove all of the contents that night and let them dry on the room’s desk. Scenery is lovely, the rainforest devastation scene is quite poignant, and aside from the dampness, the ride itself is not particularly rough at all.)

While Brad rode the Kali River Rapids Ride, Alex and I sat in a “ruin” of a marble temple just off the main road in Asia and enjoyed ice cream. I have come to appreciate Animal Kingdom as a place where you can (and should) slow down the pace and just drink in the surroundings. Now that I’ve done all of the obligatory rides and shows at AK, I’ll probably come here it to just hang around from now on -- and love every minute of it! Being surrounded by nature in all its glory has its own rewards.

(ALEX ADDS: Let me first say that I do not enjoy AK. This is due to the fact that Disney mainly uses AK to ADVERTIZE. You hear Radio Disney everywhere and everything is ‘sponsored by ...’ Also, it looks unfinished. Disney’s attempt to make an ‘ancient ruins’ motif looks more like a ‘we didn’t finish the building clean-up by opening time and the materials truck will be here on Tuesday’ motif.)

Summary of the Summary

All Stars gives you the biggest bang for your buck.
We used Disney transportation and loved it.
Unless you’re trying to get to Downtown Disney. Then take a car.
Go to Magic Kingdom and MGM in the early morning if you go during the summer -- crowds are lightest at the beginning of the day and build steadily all day.
San Angel Inn has great (i.e. pretty authentic) Mexican food and great atmosphere.
Columbia Harbor House has a great hummous sandwich for you vegetarians!
If you can stand it, eat sit down meals between 2 and 4 pm and you won’t need Priority Seatings.
Hand off wallet or purse to non-riding companion before riding Kali River Rapids.
We hope this report has been helpful. We always love reading trip reports and are pleased to be able to make our own small contribution!

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