Our Fantastical Photo-Filled 5 Day....Day 4 Magic Kingdom...UPDATED

[Kimbere]

Hello everyone! We just arrived back from our very first family trip to WDW. I took over 1500 pictures on the trip (yes, I'm a scrapbooker) and am excited to start my very first trip report...complete with some of those pics!! Here is our cast of characters for this fabulous trip:

Me (Kim) :tinker: - full-time Mom and trip planner extrodinare. Everyone was calling me "Julie McCoy" for this trip and was indeed on the top of the planning game! I used Tour Guide Mike and HIGHLY recommend this service.

Brad (Hubby) :donald: - paying for trip! :lmao: He was in charge of the camper, and driving it down to Disney from Michigan.

Alison (8.5 daughter) princess: - first time to Disney and was very excited!! Big High School Musical, Hannah Montana and Princess fan!

Matthew (6 son) :stitch: - HUGE Toy Story, Monsters Inc and everything else by Pixar.

We traveled with family friends from Chicago (they pulled their camper down as well): Bob, Diane, Caroline (8), Jennifer (6) and Jacob (5).

We left Michigan on Thursday the 20th about 10:00 in the morning. We stopped for our first night in Jellico, TN and the next night in northern Florida...about 2.5 hours from Fort Wilderness. We arrived at the Fort on Saturday about 10:30 in the morning...FINALLY!!
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We were able to get to our new home, site 1628, around 11:40 and get set up. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Kimbere/IMG_3028.jpg

We hit the Meadow swimming pool for a swim and some relaxation. We had 6:00 ressies for Mickey's Backyard BBQ and everyone was looking foward to it!! There was a light rain falling when we hopped on the bus to head to the BBQ. All of the kids were dressing in matching Mickey & Minnie outfits...dresses for the girls and shirts for the boys! So cute!
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We arrived at 5:45, and found great seats at the table right next to the dance floor. The food was plentiful and really yummy (mac & cheese, bbq chicken, potato salad, cole slaw, cowboy beans, cornbread, ribs and salad)....especially the ribs and ice cream! :thumbsup2 This was an all you can eat buffet and included all the different ice creams they sell at the parks.
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The characters came out around 6:30 for the first time! Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip and Dale were dressed in their western wear and danced with the all the kids!! Great photo op and interaction. As soon as Mickey came up the aisle, Matthew, ran up to him and gave him a hug. I got choked up of course, as this was his first time meeting the mouse...and it was so touching ;)
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Kimbere/IMG_3073.jpg The band that played was lots of fun and the kids all got to square dance and hang out with the characters. The first time they came out it was a bit chaotic and I felt bad for the characters....yikes!! After a break, they all came back out a second time and Mickey & Minnie both went around to each table for autograph and picture ops.
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The night ended with cast doing a cute little themed dance number. All in all, it was a really fun night and I would recommend this dinner to anyone. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Kimbere/IMG_3083.jpg

We headed back to the camper, in the rain, and went to bed for our first long day in the parks. Tomorrow we head to Hollywood Studios....

[VACAMPER]

Looks like you had a great time. You'll be scrapbooking Disney pics. for years.:rotfl:

[BigDaddyRog]

Kim...your hubby resembles my BroInLaw.....

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[PolynesianPixie]

Yey!!!!! I love it love it! The pictures are great! I can't wait to see the next installment!

[ynottony99]

Very nice. I have never done the BBQ, and appreciate seeing all the photos. Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the rest!!!!!:thumbsup2 [/SIZE]

[chief19spixi]

Great pic of the BBQ.. we are going this year but did not know what to expect to see!! Now we do!! Thanks!!

[Us3]

Love the trip report and the pics!!! Keep 'em coming!:thumbsup2

[Mawnna]

Love the posts! Looks like ya'll had a great time. Thanks for sharing your first day, it's like being there ourselves. This makes us more excited about our upcoming trip. :banana: :banana:

[loveDmouse]

Glad you had a great time.

[Kimbere]

Looks like you had a great time. You'll be scrapbooking Disney pics. for years.:rotfl:

I'm thinking at least a year...or until our next trip. It's sickness for sure! :lmao:

Kim...your hubby resembles my BroInLaw.....

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That's funny, Rog! He needs the goatee! :rotfl:

Yey!!!!! I love it love it! The pictures are great! I can't wait to see the next installment!

Thanks Ami, I'll be writing more either tonight or tomorrow. Writing it brings me back there...well almost!

Very nice. I have never done the BBQ, and appreciate seeing all the photos. Thanks for sharing, looking forward to the rest!!!!!:thumbsup2 [/SIZE]

Thanks, I loved the BBQ!

Great pic of the BBQ.. we are going this year but did not know what to expect to see!! Now we do!! Thanks!!

I'm glad you have an idea about what's to come for you. Have a great time!!:lovestruc

[Momof626x3]

Great pictures!!! I can't wait to read more!!!

[3gr8kids]

Looks like you're all having such a great time - can't wait to read/see more!

p.s. was "Cyclone Sally" at the BBQ? When we went, she dragged my DH up on the dance floor and started doing some funky two (or in my DH's case 3) step with him. It was so funny.

[Kimbere]

Looks like you're all having such a great time - can't wait to read/see more!

p.s. was "Cyclone Sally" at the BBQ? When we went, she dragged my DH up on the dance floor and started doing some funky two (or in my DH's case 3) step with him. It was so funny.


Yes, Cyclone Sally and Tumbleweed Tim were there. Lots of fun...the kids loved them!

[lklasing]

I'm in for this TR! popcorn:: I love your pictures, and especially love the matching outfits! I've made t-shirts for our whole blended crew going in May (7 of us), and I can't wait to make everyone wear them. :rotfl:

Looking forward to hearing more from you!

Leslie

[Colson39]

Great pictures!!! Hope to see more of your trip report soon :)

[Kimbere]

Our second day started at 7:00, and we were in the truck driving to HS by 8:00, to be in the lines at the gate by 8:30. We arrived in plenty of time and we were all so excited for the rope drop and the start of our day!
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We the park opened we headed directly to Sunset Blvd to get FP for Tower of Terror and then to ride Rock n Roller Coaster. My daughter was a nervous wreck and absolutely didn't want to ride the RNR, but we talked her into it. Unfortunately, she wasn't prepared for it to go upside down and nearly lost her mind! :lmao: The ride was AWESOME and the first thing Matthew said, (he was sitting right behind me) was "that was wicked awesome". Alison, was crying and kept telling us how much she "didn't like that". Perhaps, not the best choice for a first ride for my fraidy-cat little girl. We did take some pics outside with the guitar while waiting for everyone else to finish riding. Note how pissed she looks? :)
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Needless to say, neither of my kids would even entertain the notion of riding Tower of Terror...the name doesn't inspire a warm & fuzzy feeling. I rode it twice and loved it!
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Loved how the doors open up and you can see outside. Great effect! After riding for the 2nd time, Brad and I go to meet up with the rest of the group, who had gone on ahead to wait for The Little Mermaid show. We found a Photopass person who snapped our pic for us!

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We found the group near big hat, and there were characters all over the place.
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By the time we met up with everyone, kids had already gotten their pic taken with Stitch and were talking about it a mile a minute!!

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In the area around the hat there were lots of great topiary statues, just another great touch that the Disney parks have. I was snapped pictures like a lunatic! :lmao:

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The Little Mermaid show was really good. But, it was so dark in there that none of my pics came out very well. After that show it was 11:45 and time for lunch. We ended up eating at the ABC Commissary. Brad and I had the burgers with fries and it was the usual chicken finger fare for my kids. I swear they could exist on those things. After lunch we headed to Star Tours....which will be in the next installment! Stay tuned....

[2goofycampers]

Love the "Goofy" pic. That is the real Goofy right there,,I'm pretty sure.

[VACAMPER]

I thought you live with the real one?:rotfl:

[Tent Camping Mom]

Great pics and trip report! Makes me want to go NOW! June is soooo far away. :sad1:

[Kimbere]

Love the "Goofy" pic. That is the real Goofy right there,,I'm pretty sure.

Yep, he was the original. :goofy: I think lots of us live with "Goofy". ;) I was trying to get shots of the characters without any strange kids in them. :lmao: So hard to do, but I'm glad I got some decent ones.

[DebbieT11]

Loving your trip report..... it's a loooooonnnnng time till Memorial Day for me....lol......

[kmurawski]

Hope to see more of your trip. I am enjoying your reports.

[terri01p]

What a wonderful family you have...the outfits were perfect, I loved them and you and your dh look so great together, made me wish I were there. Thanks so much for sharing, keep um comin...hehe :love:

[Kimbere]

:woohoo: Okay, after lunch we headed over to Star Tours. My kids haven't seen the movies yet, which is just disgraceful, and really loved the whole scene around the ride. We saw this great picture spot and of course had to take advantage of yet another photo op, before going on the ride.
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We had FP for this ride which was great. The effects in and around this ride were so cool. My kids loved seeing R2D2 and C3PO...let's face it, we all did. :lmao: There was lots to look at while waiting in line!
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I loved all the Star Wars themed Mr. Potato Heads...cracked me up. Brad of course got a little crazy playing dress-up.
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After Star Tours, we headed over to Al's Toy Barn. Matthew is a HUGE fan of Toy Story and was buggin out to get over to meet Buzz and Woody!! It made me so happy to see him meeting 2 of his favorite things in life.
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Next we hit the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular...which was really cool.
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My hubby got chosen from the audience to be an extra, so funny. He came back dressed in a yellow robe and blue turban....had a great time!
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The show was action packed with lots of acrobatics and fire stunts. The kids thought it was "so cool".
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At the end of the show, after Brad changed his clothes, we were able to go down and get pics with Indy and the stars. Fun!! :thumbsup2

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I'm having such fun writing this trip report and hope you are all enjoying it too. Part 3 will be the Block Party Bash and the rest of our day! :banana:

[RvUsa]

Awesome, keep it up, I was just there, but I miss it. Your reports are making me want to go back right now!!!

[DznyRulz]

I'm loving it so far. Keep up the great TR. :thumbsup2

This makes me want to go now. August seems soooo far away.

[Colson39]

Man, that pic you got with the Indy crew is awesome!! I forgot that they they did that, man, that is something to put up on the wall! lol ;)

[bigdisneydaddy]

Thanks for sharing with us. Looks like you had a good time. The BBQ looks ot have changed since we went years ago, the food looks much better.
Keep it coming !

[KristinU]

Great trip report so far! :thumbsup2 I can't wait for your next installment!

[PolynesianPixie]

Lovin' the pictures!!!!!!! :goodvibes

[~Kristina~]

You're from Livonia?? I should have snuck into your luggage! Love the photo's!!

[Momof626x3]

This is great!:goodvibes Can't wait to read more!!

[lklasing]

I'm loving your TR. The kids really look like they are having a great time! Love all the pictures! :thumbsup2

I have to ask about the picture in front of Star Tours - is that a Yoda backpack? We have the same thing! It's so cute!:laughing:

Post more soon!

Leslie

[Kimbere]

Great trip report so far! :thumbsup2 I can't wait for your next installment! Thanks a bunch...it's fun doing it.

Lovin' the pictures!!!!!!! :goodvibes Thanks Ami....next installment coming tonight or tomorrow.

I'm loving it so far. Keep up the great TR. :thumbsup2

This makes me want to go now. August seems soooo far away. Now that our trip is over it's going to seem like FOREVER until November 2009. :sad1:

Man, that pic you got with the Indy crew is awesome!! I forgot that they they did that, man, that is something to put up on the wall! lol ;) Yep, that was an awesome opportunity!! The show was really great and that pic is a definite keeper. :thumbsup2

Thanks for sharing with us. Looks like you had a good time. The BBQ looks ot have changed since we went years ago, the food looks much better.
Keep it coming ! The food was really great...especially since they had to keep it hot and plentiful. I forgot there was also hamburgers, hot dogs and watermelon.

[Kimbere]

You're from Livonia?? I should have snuck into your luggage! Love the photo's!! Ha! If only you had known. Can I hide out in your camper for your next trip? :lmao:

[Kimbere]

I'm loving your TR. The kids really look like they are having a great time! Love all the pictures! :thumbsup2

I have to ask about the picture in front of Star Tours - is that a Yoda backpack? We have the same thing! It's so cute!:laughing:

Post more soon!

Leslie

Yep, the Yoda backpack was one of the props they had for people to use. Very cute!! Most people just used the light sabers...no, not my kids, they had to have it all. :cool1: Glad you are enjoying the report. It's certainly shaping up to be a long one. Hope you're all in!

[lizardqueen]

I am loving your report so far, your pics are great! Can't wait to read more!

[Kimbere]

Hi kids! Had to get some things done around the house, so I had no time to post anything. But, now we move on to the Block Party Bash parade. This is a new parade that apparently just premiered the week before our vacation. As with everything else Disney does, this was fantastic! It consists of basically 3 different performing areas: Toy Story, Monsters Inc and A Bugs Life. We were fortunate to hit the parade right when we came out of the Indy Jones show. It was around 2:30 and the parade started at 3:00. So we got some beers (for the big kids) and the kids had some snacks...and we staked out our spot, which was perfect!! The Toy Story segment stopped right in front of us, literally, and the show started!! The parade is led by a Green Army Man on a float of party blocks. There was lots of singing and dancing...with some acrobatics thrown in. Fun!!
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They performed for about 15 minutes, and then asked the kids to come join in for YMCA. I don't know how the performers will be able to hold up in the summer heat with those costumes on. Especially the dancers! :scared1: After they packed up the Toy Story trampoline, in came Monsters Inc., followed by A Bugs Life. I couldn't get any good shots of the Bugs for the most part. Stupid camera was eating batteries like no tomorrow...so it was moving so slow. The Monsters Inc. costumes were so cute and the orange guy even had a sock stuck on his back like in the movie. :lmao:

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After the bash we headed over to Mama Melrose's for our 4:20 dinner reservations (our Easter dinner). We were doing the Fantasmic dinner package and were all pretty hungry by now. While waiting to be called the kids tried on a few hats in the store across the way.

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Kimbere/IMG_3332-1.jpg (The fake smiles kill me :rotfl: )

I would highly recommend Mama's for dinner. The service was great and the food was delicious! The decor was old-world tuscany style and had a nice "feel" to it. :goodvibes
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This dinner package on the Dining Plan includes appetizers, so we ended up with 4 of them for the table. Two of us ordered the "breads & spreads" which was a variety of sliced breads with spreadable cheese toppings. My hubby ordered the bruschetta, which was my favorite and had a great blend of tomatoes with parmesean crusted bread. YUMMY!
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For dinner I had the tuscan roasted chicken which came in a creamy basil 4-cheese sauce. OMG, it was to die for! Brad ordered the spicy sausage with pasta, Diane had the filet with gorgonzola topping and Bob had the pork roast. The kids all had the chicken with pasta (no sauce, only butter & cheese). Desserts were just as tasty as everything else.

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Next up....Beauty & the Beast and Fantasmic!

[PolynesianPixie]

Nice! I'm looking forward to checking out the block party next time!

[RvUsa]

Great report, keep it up.

I love the guy with the sock on his back..... 2319 2319 was the code they always shouted for the CDC..

[des1954]

This is one of the BEST TR's ever!!! Your pictures are simply delightful and your children are BEAUTIFUL!!! I really, really mean that!

You must be a terrific actress... 5 kids, and you look so....well....SANE!!:rotfl2:

[Kimbere]

This is one of the BEST TR's ever!!! Your pictures are simply delightful and your children are BEAUTIFUL!!! I really, really mean that!

You must be a terrific actress... 5 kids, and you look so....well....SANE!!:rotfl2:

:rotfl: :lmao: Seriously, I almost fell off my chair just now. Only 2 of the kids are mine!! One boy (Matthew) and one girl (Alison). If I had 5 kids I would need to be committed....FOR SURE!! :eek:

Thanks for the compliments! ;)

[des1954]

Dat would 'splain why, when you & Brad were in a picture with kids, there were 3 kid missin!!

If I were really smart, I would have read your siggy!!! http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/36/36_19_1.gif (http://*******************************************ZSzeb00 1_ZSYYYYYYOCUS)

[Shannone1]

Great trip report Kim :thumbsup2

[3gr8kids]

Can't wait for more ~ I'm vacationing vicariously through your trip report, lol

[seabee]

May I ask where you stood for the Block party? It looks like it was perfect. Awesome pics!!

[Kimbere]

May I ask where you stood for the Block party? It looks like it was perfect. Awesome pics!!

Hi Nicole! When we came out of the Indy show if you go to the left, that's where it hooks up with with the street the parade comes down. If you go straight when you come out you'll end up going down the stairs to the lake and the dinosaur. There is a snack stand were we bought the beers right there as well. Perfect spot to view the Toy Story show...and catch everything else as it comes by! :thumbsup2

[JCJRSmith]

I'm loving the reports, Kim, and I really cannot wait for our own trip in June. When I first started reading the report I missed the part where you said you met up with your friends and I was thinking - "They traveled all that way with THAT MANY kids in THAT truck???? These people are very brave, very disciplined or just plain NUTS!!!!" :lmao: :rotfl2: I need to pay more attention

[Kimbere]

I'm loving the reports, Kim, and I really cannot wait for our own trip in June. When I first started reading the report I missed the part where you said you met up with your friends and I was thinking - "They traveled all that way with THAT MANY kids in THAT truck???? These people are very brave, very disciplined or just plain NUTS!!!!" :lmao: :rotfl2: I need to pay more attention

:rotfl2: :rotfl2: Seriously cracking up right now!! I barely made it down there in our truck with the 2 kids....

[Hypermommy]

This is a most excellent trippie. I can't wait to read more!!!! The idea of it being "photo-filled" is what snagged me but your writing style is going to be what keeps me!

[Kimbere]

I'm back! After our dinner at Mama Melrose, we headed to the 7:00 (and final show) of Beauty and the Beast! I had fairly decent seats, but not quite as close as I would have liked.

Having seen the Broadway production of this show, I wasn't expecting much. Man, was I wrong! It was fantastic! Belle sounded EXACTLY like the girl from the movie and the costumes were awesome!! Lots to take in and well worth the time. Don't miss this show if you haven't seen it!

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After the show we headed over to Oscar's for our private entrance into Fantasmic!! We walked into our own private section in the ampitheatre and found seats down close. If you can arrange to do a Fantasmic dinner package, do it!! People started lining up to get good seats at Fantasmic at 6:30 and the show doesn't start until 8:30. With the private entrance we had to be there by 8:00...which is what we did. On our way over we hit up a Photopass photographer and got some good pics!

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While waiting for the show to start we had some frozen lemonades and popcorn. The crowd started the "wave" which of course the kids loved doing!

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Right at 8:30 the show started and Mickey appeared!! Yay!
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This show is INCREDIBLE!!! There are water screens where they are displaying pics from different movies, and shows the beginning of the battle against evil. (My pics are not great of this, too dark and far away)
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There were lots of different water floats, with characters on them. The climax of the show features Malecifent and Jafar...not telling anything else. There are lots of pyrotechnics and great effects! :thumbsup2
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When Mickey wins the battle, a boat comes out with fireworks, that contains LOTS of characters!! The kids loved that! Okay, I did too!! :lovestruc
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When the show was over we headed towards the park exit to get back and sleep!! Everyone was pretty tired and our family was heading to Animal Kingdom and Epcot for the Princess Storybook Dinner the next day! A couple more shots on the way to the exit, and our wonderful day was complete! :woohoo:
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[BigDaddyRog]

Beauty and the beast has been our favorite show for the past 13 years!!! We never miss it. My DD5 was picked to accept the rose at the end of the show in Dec07 but was too shy to go up, we considered dragging her up but dicided that may not be the best idea...dont want her growing up afraid of Disney World!!!!

[Kimbere]

Beauty and the beast has been our favorite show for the past 13 years!!! We never miss it. My DD5 was picked to accept the rose at the end of the show in Dec07 but was too shy to go up, we considered dragging her up but dicided that may not be the best idea...dont want her growing up afraid of Disney World!!!!

That's so funny! When that happened at the end of the show, Brad leaned over and said to me, "I wonder how much they had to pay for their daughter to get that rose". :lmao: :rotfl2: Wait till I tell him about your story!

[Kimbere]

After getting back to the camper about 9:45, we all could have used a little more sleep. We were up at 7:00 and left for Animal Kingdom by 7:45. It was cloudy and a little cool....around 60 when we pulled out. Hoping the clouds would burn off and the day would be a nice one again. We arrived at AK about 8:00 and the park was just opening. Upon entering we got our stoller and went straight back to Everest to ride and then get FP to ride again. Taking Tour Guide Mike's plan once again! The park was very empty, which was a surprise...but this was a "good" day according to him.
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We got a photopass pic taken on the way back and continued on our way.
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I stopped to take some great shots of Everest on our way and was enjoying the early morning quiet.
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This park is really beautiful and I could tell that we were all going to really love it. Both of my kids love animals...but Alison is a total animal nut and wants to be a vet when she grows up!
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We got to Everest and it was a walk on!! :woohoo: After the horror of the RNR yesterday, Ali wasn't excited about riding Everest. (I'm putting this very mildly!) She was actually NOT wanting to ride at all and was pretty scared! :scared1: Then we started talking to this family in front of us and the 5 year old son told her it's his fave ride. She decided to suck it up and deal with it! :lmao: The queue in this ride is amazing with tons of great stuff to look at!
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This ride is awesome and we all liked it a lot!! Even Ali, but she wouldn't admit it! Troll! :lmao: We got our FP and walked over to Dino-Land. There was hardly anyone there as well....excellent!! We walked on the Triceratop Spin and had a little ride.
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I've heard talk that a lot of people hate this area of the park. I can see that it doesn't exactly "fit-in" with the rest of the AK, but thought it was fun. We walked on Primeval Whirl...which the kids and I liked but Brad thought it was too jerky. It was...but it was fun!
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On to Dinosaur, where Ali was once again scared to ride (and it was driving me nuts). Matthew is a huge dinosaur fan in general and loves the movie "Dinosaur" so he was all over this ride. There were great dinosaur things to look at and I was taking pics like an idiot! :rotfl:
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I thought this ride was really cool....and that the effects were awesome! After Dinosaur we needed to start heading back to Everest for our FP ride. When we rounded the corner we saw Pluto and Goofy and had to stop for a pics and autographs. Love how Pluto has to put the book on his nose so he can see to sign. Very cute!
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On our way out of Dino-Land we stopped for one some last pics. On to Everest once again....yippee!
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[kathleen27]

Great trip report. Lots of great pictures. :goodvibes
Looking forward to more!

[Hypermommy]

Actually I advise everyone that's ever said Dinoland didn't fit into the theming of the park to listen to Lou Mongello's WDW Radio podcast. I can't remember the episode number but it's the one where they did a DSI (Disney Scene Investigation) about Dinoland. The back story there apparently is that the Dino Institute came to this sleepy little backwater town and set up shop there because of the dino finds in the area. Well, the rest of the town - predictably, I say - decided to cash in on the tourists that were coming to see the Dino Institute. Chester and Hester had a gas station but they decided they'd make more money if they turned their gas station into a gift shop and put some carney rides out in the parking lot for folks to enjoy. That's why, if you noticed, there's a road (blacktop with white markings just like a highway) running between the gift shop and the rides. That's why there's carney games. After listening to the DSI on it, I can't wait to get back and really check out the backstory. Again, Imagineers apparently put a lot of thought into it but unfortunately, this time at least, most folks just don't get it. I know I didn't but I can't wait to go back and check it out with this new mindset.

And I agree with you in re Everest's standby queue. Sometimes I'll forego a FP to Everest just because I want to spend some time in that queue.

Did you get a chance to head out to Rafiki's? I hope so. With the little vet in your family she (I think it was your daughter?) would absolutely love that place.

Can't wait to read some more!!!

[BigDaddyRog]

Hypermom...Thats a great explanation...Ive never heard that before.

I never even thought about Dinoland not fitting the theme...Im just not that deep....but on the other hand, I dont see a problem with wearing stripes with plaid either....go figure!

[Colson39]

And I agree with you in re Everest's standby queue. Sometimes I'll forego a FP to Everest just because I want to spend some time in that queue.

Yea, Disney really went over the top with the queue for Everest, it's hands down the best queue in any theme park anywhere. Not only is it extremely detailed, it has more items to look at in one queue than probably all of Epcot's rides combined.

I hope they notice the response they get to the queue, and really start getting back to heavy theming in the queue area. I think they learned their lesson after the disaster that was the queue line for Soarin' (although it's a bit better now that it's interactive).

[Kimbere]

Actually I advise everyone that's ever said Dinoland didn't fit into the theming of the park to listen to Lou Mongello's WDW Radio podcast. I can't remember the episode number but it's the one where they did a DSI (Disney Scene Investigation) about Dinoland. The back story there apparently is that the Dino Institute came to this sleepy little backwater town and set up shop there because of the dino finds in the area. Well, the rest of the town - predictably, I say - decided to cash in on the tourists that were coming to see the Dino Institute. Chester and Hester had a gas station but they decided they'd make more money if they turned their gas station into a gift shop and put some carney rides out in the parking lot for folks to enjoy. That's why, if you noticed, there's a road (blacktop with white markings just like a highway) running between the gift shop and the rides. That's why there's carney games. After listening to the DSI on it, I can't wait to get back and really check out the backstory. Again, Imagineers apparently put a lot of thought into it but unfortunately, this time at least, most folks just don't get it. I know I didn't but I can't wait to go back and check it out with this new mindset.

And I agree with you in re Everest's standby queue. Sometimes I'll forego a FP to Everest just because I want to spend some time in that queue.

Did you get a chance to head out to Rafiki's? I hope so. With the little vet in your family she (I think it was your daughter?) would absolutely love that place.

Can't wait to read some more!!!

Wow! That's very interesting! I remember seeing that road, we went into that gift shop looking for "my 1st visit" buttons. A CM on Primeval Whirl told us to get them.

Yes, we did go out to Rafiki's. All we had time to do was take a peek around and meet Pocohantas, Jiminy Cricket and Rafiki while there. Next trip we'll have more time to really explore the area. I know Alison would love it! :lovestruc

[Kimbere]

Yea, Disney really went over the top with the queue for Everest, it's hands down the best queue in any theme park anywhere. Not only is it extremely detailed, it has more items to look at in one queue than probably all of Epcot's rides combined.

I hope they notice the response they get to the queue, and really start getting back to heavy theming in the queue area. I think they learned their lesson after the disaster that was the queue line for Soarin' (although it's a bit better now that it's interactive).

I thought it was absolutely amazing. Thought it was exactly like I would imagine the area surrounding Everest to look like. Funny thing, while we were walking thru the line, I believe it was in the room with all the wool socks, Brad remarked that the real places around Everest wouldn't smell nearly that good. :lmao: Disney really thought of everything with that attraction. I hadn't given much thought to the other queues until reading your post. Some are definitely more interesting that others for sure!!

[Hypermommy]

I hope they notice the response they get to the queue, and really start getting back to heavy theming in the queue area. I think they learned their lesson after the disaster that was the queue line for Soarin' (although it's a bit better now that it's interactive).

One of the guys on another site I frequent recently bemoaned the lack of theming in the queue areas as a result of fast passes. If I'm understanding him right he thinks that imagineers aren't theming the queues as much any more becuase they figure most people will get fastpasses and forego the queue. I'm with you.... hope they get back to livening up the queue area. It's like the prologue to the show and is very important to the story, IMO.

Yes, we did go out to Rafiki's. All we had time to do was take a peek around and meet Pocohantas, Jiminy Cricket and Rafiki while there. Next trip we'll have more time to really explore the area. I know Alison would love it! :lovestruc

If you get a chance next time you go, try to hit Rafiki's in the morning. I know... it's a difficult thing to do becuase you gotta get your Everest fix in before it gets too crowded. I'm right with you there! But I'm sure you probably saw the big glassed in examination room looking thing. Well, they do most of their more major veterinary (sp?) procedures in the morning and they usually have a cast member standing with the guests to explain what's going on. Your daughter would love it. I know my son, the future vet or animal trainer, surely did.

Can't wait to read more! Thanks for such an interesting trippie and all the wonderful pictures!!!

[Kimbere]

That sounds awesome! They mentioned something about viewing the surgeries on the train-ride out there. Since we were leaving right after the Jungle Parade to head to Epcot for dinner, we were pressed for time. On the positive side...we'll do all those things on our next trip, and it will be new! :goodvibes We can't go back until November 2009, so I'm trying to keep happy thoughts...even though I'm so bummed we have to wait for so long. ;)

[Schminston-Mo]

Thanks for the great trip report and terrific pictures! It makes me even more itchin' to go back!

[LiteBrite]

If you get a chance next time you go, try to hit Rafiki's in the morning. I know... it's a difficult thing to do becuase you gotta get your Everest fix in before it gets too crowded. I'm right with you there! But I'm sure you probably saw the big glassed in examination room looking thing. Well, they do most of their more major veterinary (sp?) procedures in the morning and they usually have a cast member standing with the guests to explain what's going on. Your daughter would love it. I know my son, the future vet or animal trainer, surely did.

Can't wait to read more! Thanks for such an interesting trippie and all the wonderful pictures!!!

If you stop by Guest Relations on your way into AK in the morning, they can find out for you what specific vet procedures are being done that day at Rafiki's, and at exactly what time.

I am also loving your report! :thumbsup2

[chief19spixi]

Great pics!! thanks for sharing!! I can't wait till I go to the world this year!!

[Kimbere]

Okay, after getting Dino-Land out of the way it was back to Everest to use our FP. Since I knew what was going to happen on the ride, I decided to take some pics this time around. Alison was claiming she didn't want to ride it again, but secretly she was excited and was just being dramatic. :rolleyes1
Oh the drama with an 8.5 year old girl! God help me!
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She ended up loving it the second time around!! I guess knowing what to expect took the fear factor out of it!
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We decided to walk over to Africa and check out the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. On the way we saw Baloo and King Louie...of course we had to stop for pics!

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We dropped our stoller in the enormous sea of stroller and headed for the train. A little advice about the strollers...if you rent one bring a scarf or ribbons or something to tie to the handle. Trying to find yours in a group of 200 or so isn't fun! :scared1: Matthew is a train freak, so he was excited to have a ride. We were looking forward to sitting down for 5 minutes! :lmao:
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We you arrive there is a long walk thru the "forest" until you arrive at the main building. There were some nice things to look at, including this:
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We weren't sure what to expect when we arrived but were hoping to get a picture with Rafiki. They mentioned that sometimes you can watch surgeries on the animals, but since we were short on time this trip, knew we couldn't stay and investigate. On our next trip we will plan to spend more time out there....it has a lot to see and do. When we got inside we saw 3 different lines...one for Rafiki, Pocohantas and Jiminy Cricket! Yay!! :dance3: We felt like we hit the character jackpot! :thumbsup2 So we got in line for Rafkii first and got some cute pics!
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Next up was Jiminy and then Pocohantas. I actually didn't know she was there right until we were done with Jiminy. She was kind of hidden away in the corner.
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Headed back to the train station to have lunch and then the Safari. Took these pics while waiting:

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Kimbere/IMG_3540.jpg The train itself is really cool. Lots of old looking bags and packages on top to look like a train in Africa. On our ride back our conductor CM was quite amusing. He played this fun game with a high school senior sitting next to us...."Are you Smarter Than a Fifth Grader"? Of course the questions were trick and she failed miserably...but everyone had lots of laughs. :)

After locating our stroller :scared: we decided to forgo the Flame Tree BBQ for lunch, in favor of saving time walking all the way over there and ate at Pizzasafari instead. We picked up our FP for the Safari and went to eat. The park was getting fairly crowded by this time and we were glad to be leaving after the parade. Next up is the Safari!:yay:

[2goofycampers]

Great pics ! Hey , I had dinner with Pocoha' at the Artist Point several years ago! Okay,,I was really hav'n dinner with my beautiful bride and she just came to our table. But she must'a really had a crush on me cause she scooted in next to me real close! All right,,it was just for a picture shot. But I think she really liked me cause she just kept hanging around ! Okay,,so we were the only table in there for quit a while. It was still fun . Oh , and the dinner was excellent......Frank..Mr.:goofy:

[IDoBelieveInFairies2]

I love Jiminy! You really had great photo op's with the characters! What a fun time with your kids! Thank-you for sharing.:)

[scott62]

Great report and awesome pictures Kim! I am really enjoying reading it and vicariously accompanying you all!

Scott :wizard:

[Kimbere]

Great pics ! Hey , I had dinner with Pocoha' at the Artist Point several years ago! Okay,,I was really hav'n dinner with my beautiful bride and she just came to our table. But she must'a really had a crush on me cause she scooted in next to me real close! All right,,it was just for a picture shot. But I think she really liked me cause she just kept hanging around ! Okay,,so we were the only table in there for quit a while. It was still fun . Oh , and the dinner was excellent......Frank..Mr.:goofy:

Yes, Frank, I'm sure she was totally hot for you. :rolleyes1 :lmao: It must be hard to keep all those women off of you. Seriously, that must have been fun for you both!

I love Jiminy! You really had great photo op's with the characters! What a fun time with your kids! Thank-you for sharing.:)

We definitely had great luck finding the characters! We purchased a Disney Photopass CD before we left, saved over 20% by doing it that way, so seeking out every Photopass photographer was a must! Had to get our moneys worth! :banana: I think we did! :lmao:

Great report and awesome pictures Kim! I am really enjoying reading it and vicariously accompanying you all!

Scott :wizard:

Okay, cracking up! I'm so clueless this morning, saw your location and was thinking, "Cool, someone else from Livonia? Small world." Then I realized it was you (Scott is my brother-in-law). Slow but friendly on this monday morning! :rotfl: Glad you enjoyed it! Hope you subscribed...much more to come!:woohoo:

[Kimbere]

After a surprisingly decent lunch at Pizzasafari, we head over to the Kilimanjaro Safari with our FP. We were all really looking forward to this "ride", but Alison seemed to be most excited. Not surprising since she's the major animal lover...elephants are her favorite wild animal. We walked right onto the jeep and were off on our adventure! I loved the bumper stickers inside our jeep. We were sitting in the first row behind the driver.
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We saw lots of different animals but it was very hard to get good pics since we were moving. This is the pool where the hippos were hanging out...you can see one on the far left of the pic.
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Next came this large bunch of gators, followed by the lions napping in the grass and the we drove up to these White Rhinos.
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They were so close, it was amazing. The two of them were standing there, and in between them there was a baby Rhino. Apparently they always stand on either side of their baby to protect it. So cute!
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The ride lets you out on the Walking Trial with a ranger cabin and this cool drinking fountian right there.
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We walked over by the waterfall, looked down and saw these 2 hanging out.
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All of the sudden one walked over to the other, who was minding his/her own business by the way, and just hauled off and clubbed him upside the head. Needless to say, the big guy won that battle. Man, he was a big one too!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Kimbere/IMG_3587-1.jpg Interesting factoid about gorillas that I learned that day, every gorilla has a different nose print, like our fingerprints our different, and thats a way to keep track of them. I could have watched them all day, but we had a Parade to catch! :banana:

[2goofycampers]

great gorilla story: we were there with DS and his girlfriend looking at the gorillas thru the plexy, this gorilla spotted DS girlfriend came to the plexy put his hand up to hers, we were there for 20 minutes every move she made he followed keeping his hand next to hers on the plexy. when we left he followed as far as he could go. I guess they like 6 foot blondes. >Denise

[VACAMPER]

Love your pictures!!

[chief19spixi]

Great pics!!

[Kimbere]

Moving onward....

After the Safari, we headed over to Camp Mickey & Minnie to see The Lion King and meet some characters. We had about 2 hours till the Jungle Parade and were leaving for Epcot right after that....so time was pressing on us a bit at this point in the day. We crossed over the bridge and spotted some cute things right away.
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We got into the very long line for the Lion King show...but fortunately the line started moving right away. We ended up sitting up in the 2nd tier on the end section, but there isn't a bad seat in the house. My pics aren't very good cuz it was pretty dark in there for the whole show.

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The show was about 35 min. long and we headed out into the sea of humanity to find the greeting trails. Brad went in search of the stroller (again) and we hit Donald's line. We hadn't seen him at all yet so this was our first priority. They were playing lots of "radio disney" type music right there. Donald was dancing his tail off....he was seriously crackin us up. They put the Cha Cha Slide on and he was doing the running man, sprinkler and just about everything else he could think of. :lmao:
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The funniest thing though....when he was signing Matthew's autograph book he was scribbling on the page, we thought maybe the pen wasn't working or something. When we left the line, we noticed that he had scribbled out the sorcerer Mickey on the bottom on the page. :rotfl2: That Donald was SASSY! :lmao:

We looked at the line for Mickey and the wait was 50 min and Minnie wasn't much shorter. So, we decided to go explore the Tree for a few before waiting for the parade to start. This tree is incredible and you could spend hours looking at all the detail. Our next trip we will be spending more time going around the entire thing and spending more time in the trails. I did get some great pics though!

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Next up is the Jungle Parade and then on to Epcot!

[BigDaddyRog]

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I love the lizard right between Daisey's eyes!!!!

[VACAMPER]

You spot everything don't you

[DznyRulz]

Nice shots of the tree. I just love the detail they put into it. I see something new everytime I look at it.

[Kimbere]

I love the lizard right between Daisey's eyes!!!!

OMG, that's hilarious! I didn't even notice that. :lmao: VACAMPER is right...you do notice everything.

[Kimbere]

On the way to our parade spot we saw Lilo and Stitch...so of course we stopped. Those characters certainly can derail your plans. When the photopass photograper was trying the take pics of the kids, "Stitch" kept waving his hand in front of the camera so she couldn't get a picture. Typical naughty Stitch. The photog scolded him and he stopped. The kids were loving it! We got some great shots and continued on our way!
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Our day at AK was nearing it's end and after briefly exploring the Tree Of Life, we found a spot for the Jammin' Jungle Parade! Once again we found great seats right as we came out of the Tree path. We staked out our spots and then I took Alison to buy a pin for her lanyard. When we came out it was a mass of people!! Seriously, we could barely get back to our spots because of the human gridlock. :lmao: Finally, the parade started. All I can say is amazing! The "floats" were incredible, animals that were manually operated by the person underneath. It reminded me of the animals in the broadway production of The Lion King. Very creative and super cool!

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The parade ended around 4:30 and we were right on schedule to get to Epcot for our 6:30 dinner ressies. We walked to the car and hit the road for our evening at Epcot!

[bigdisneydaddy]

Those are some great pics, you will enjoy those for a lifetime. We have been going long enough and the kids are old enough (15 & 17) where they look at old pics and say "remember when"
We have a lot of pics in the house of the family at different places in WDW, Ohana, HDDR etc. I love seeing them ever day.

[Kimbere]

Okay, we're back and arriving at Epcot! We had 6:30 ressies for the Princess Storybook Dinner at Akershus. We arrived at the park around 5:00 and were excited to spend our evening here. The Flower and Garden show was going on, so there were very cool topiaries all over the place, including at the entrance.
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It should be said that by now, we were all a little tired and the kids were getting a little cranky....but we were looking forward to our Princess dinner and getting a second wind. I headed over to Soarin in the futile hope to get a FP, but alas, there were none to be had. I had a feeling that would be the case. Brad was supposed to take the kids to the Epcot Character Spot, but when he walked in and saw the lines said, "Not a chance", and we all walked back over to Nemo. The line was moving quickly and we had time to kill before our ressies, so into the queue we went. Matthew loved it, Alison liked it and we thought it was okay...but not worth a long wait. Did feel good to sit down for a few though! :lmao: Got some cute pics in the "Turtle Talk" area and left for Norway.
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The crowds were about medium sized, especially for so late in the day. Brad was walking like he was in a freakin' marathon, and my short legs just won't go that fast. :rotfl2: So I took my sweet time walking over there behind them. The kids were in the stroller so there was no complaining. :) I saw this on my walk:
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These toparies were amazing. I can't even imagine how they put them together. I'm sure they were all over the park, but we didn't go any further than Norway. We arrived at Akershus and had about a 15 minute wait until we were called. As soon as we went in, Belle was in an alcove greeting each family privately (pic op for Disney). I think the kids were a bit dazzled by all the Princesses running around. At this dinner were Ariel, Jasmine, Aurora, Alice and Belle. Very fun!
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We were seated and placed our orders. Brad & I had the "meatloaf"...chicken fingers for Matty and Ali had the pizza. There was a pretty yummy buffet included in this dinner which featured all kinds of Norwegian fare: thinly sliced salmon, herbed cream cheese, all kinds of cold meats & cheeses, fruit, peel and eat shrimp, and other stuff I can't remember. :thumbsup2 The food overall was very good. The Princesses go around the room to each table and spend time taking pics, talking and signing autographs. It was so fun watching the kids watch the "girls" make their way around. Alison went thru stages were she loved Aurora, Ariel and Belle...she was each one for Halloween on different years. Got some great pics and memories! Ariel came to our table first. Alison was a little timid with her favorite Princess and Matthew clammed up and wouldn't take a pic. Very strange for my little ladies man. :confused3 Alice came next and had the cutest little English accent...very authentic and she looked amazing.
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Matthew wouldn't take a pic with Alice either, the first time she came around that is. :) By the time Aurora, who we didn't think looked anything like Aurora (if you know what I mean), came to the table Matthew was into it. She was the most rushed of all the Princesses and was a little cold.
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The last one to come to the table was Jasmine and she was great! Spent lots of time talking with the kids and got down on her knees to be on their level. They loved it! Brad loved her costume! :rotfl: She asked the kids all kinds of questions and left them very happy.
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Our cute Norwegian waitress snapped this pic before we headed out and went to stake out a spot for Illuminations....with the rest of the park!
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We got spots right on the fence, and by this time it was getting quite chilly and windy. We all had jackets, but were wearing shorts. Sooooo, the kids were getting a little whiny. We had a 45 minute wait in total and spent time chatting with this really nice family from the UK. Once the show started the kids forgot all about the cold and really enjoyed the show. This laser and fireworks show was awesome and we absolutely loved it. Pics didn't turn out very well, so I won't bore you with them. After the show we joined the cattle call to the exit (moo- moo). :scared1: We made it to the car around 9:40 and hit the road for the Fort and SLEEP!! The next day we had horseback riding at 10:00 and then a day of fun and hanging out!

[DivaOstrich]

Your trip report is great!!! I am enjoying it so much!!

[All7OfUs]

Hi There,

We just returned on Tuesday, and I think I'm enjoying reading your trip report as much as I am enjoying writing mine. :cool1:

I'm only on day 2 of reading yours, but am thoroughly enjoying it. I'll savor yours as I slowly get my own done. Keep up the good work!

[Kimbere]

Your trip report is great!!! I am enjoying it so much!!

I'm so glad you're enjoying reading it. I keep wondering if anyone is still reading along. :rotfl: It's fun writing it and re-living all our memories.

Hi There,

We just returned on Tuesday, and I think I'm enjoying reading your trip report as much as I am enjoying writing mine. :cool1:

I'm only on day 2 of reading yours, but am thoroughly enjoying it. I'll savor yours as I slowly get my own done. Keep up the good work!

Looking forward to reading yours. Have you started it yet? :goodvibes

[VACAMPER]

We are all still reading. Great report.

[RvUsa]

Hubba Hubba, I like Jasmine's outfit too....:lmao:

[VACAMPER]

ok! The women are reading your report and the men are looking at jasmine.:lmao:

[Momof626x3]

I'm still reading! I love all of the pics! The flower and garden ones are making me excited to go see them for myself!!!:yay:

[PolynesianPixie]

It's a fabulous TR! Reminds me of why I fell in love with this board to start with!!!!!!!:goodvibes

[Shannone1]

ok! The women are reading your report and the men are looking at jasmine.:lmao:

I bet you are right !! My kids haven't been into the characters meals so it's fun to see pictures of them. My girls are 14 and almost 12 and it's all about the rides to them. At 7 my son is beginning to feel the same way. He doesn't want to do meet and greets or autographs which is fine with me :thumbsup2 If there happens to be characters around, I will have them pose for me....like Chip & Dale at the campfire program, or the characters from Crystal Palace. Otherwise we skip the characters and autograph lines.

I've been enjoying you TR Kim :goodvibes

[RvUsa]

Hey, I love the TR, I have read every bit of it LOL, can't a guy just admire some amazing costuming????:lmao: Yeah thats it, I love the costume...

[Kimbere]

Glad you're all still here! Men, wipe up the drool and get ahold of yourselves...well not literally! :lmao: You'll like this pic of Jasmine even more! :rolleyes1

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Kimbere/IMG_3768.jpg

[VACAMPER]

:lmao: Glad you're all still here! Men, wipe up the drool and get ahold of yourselves...well not literally! :lmao: You'll like this pic of Jasmine even more! :rolleyes1

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Kimbere/IMG_3768.jpg

:lmao: :lmao:

[RvUsa]

:worship::worship::faint:

[VACAMPER]

I bet their not real. Even if their not i'm still jealous.:rotfl: :rotfl:

[RvUsa]

See if I said that, I would get in trouble....

[Kimbere]

:rotfl: :rotfl: Cracking up!! I think they were real. Don't people who get **** jobs normally "go big or go home"? :lmao:

[VACAMPER]

I'd settle for a lift!:lmao:

[RvUsa]

She is just trying to "fill" the role professionaly. :confused3

[VACAMPER]

She is just trying to "fill" the role professionaly. :confused3

Let's all raise our "cups" to her.:rotfl:

[Us3]

:rotfl: :rotfl: Cracking up!! I think they were real. Don't people who get **** jobs normally "go big or go home"? :lmao:

:lmao: too funny...you used a Jonny Sunami quote to describe....

[MomofPirate&Mickey]

Great pics & report!! We had a better Aurora (who was the greeting Princess when we were there) for our Breakfast celebration for Pop-Pop's birthday on 12/23. We'll have to make another trip to here for a character meal!! We had Snow White, Belle, Jasmine & Mary Poppins for ours. Leo loved MP!!:lovestruc She told him to sit down in his hair chair & boy, did he hop to it!!:lmao: She was the only one he cared to have a picture w/ (although Aurora did give him a kiss on the check when we went in) & the only one he waved at before she got to the table. He just loved her!!!

[Kimbere]

Finally, a day of relaxation. Ha...as if! We had 10:00 horseback riding ressies, so we were able to sleep in a bit and have a relaxing morning...which we all needed at this point. The kids were able to play for awhile before Ali, Caroline and I were due at the Ranch.
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Around 9:45 we headed over to the Tri-Circle D Ranch to get checked in for our ride.
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The girls were very excited and Ali was about to burst! I think I mentioned that she's horse crazy, so this was a huge thing for her.
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Since she was 4, Ali has always said she wants to be a horse trainer and doctor when she grows up. Actually after her 1st pony ride at the State Fair, she said she wanted the job of leading the ponies around the ring. When she said that, Brad looked at me at said, "Oh great, our daughter wants to be a carny". :lmao: At least it would have saved on college money! :rotfl: Too funny!

They brought our horses around and up we went. Alison was riding Toby, Caroline on Bugsy and I was on Ditto. They gave a bit of instruction on how to control the horses, for those who didn't know, and we headed out.
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We had fun on the ride and the girls did a great job of keeping their horses, who wanted to snack, under control. We got back to the corral at 11:00 and got on a bus back to the loop. When we got to the campers, everyone was at the Meadow Pool. So the girls got changed and we walked over there. The kids swam awhile, and I decided to go back to shower and get ready for lunch.

After lunch we drove over to Downtown Disney to explore and we were staying for dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express. It was a beautiful day and we had fun shopping at the stores. At the World Of Disney store, Stitch was decked out for Easter...but was still spitting water at everyone! :lmao:
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The kids had fun playing in the spray for awhile, then we headed over to the Lego Store....and onto to Once Upon A Toy. What a fun store that was!!
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Oh, the toys to be had in this place. Matthew's head just about spun off his shoulders looking at everything. :lmao: Not only were the toys cool, the decorations were amazing too!
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We spent a long time in this store looking around, torturing our children cuz we wouldn't by them anything. We're so mean, aren't we?? They really are deprived little souls. :lmao: Had fun trying on some hats and then left to look around at other stores.
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We had a super yummy dinner at Wolfgang Pucks. I had the 4 cheese pizza with pesto (OMG...so good), Brad had the spicy sausage pizza and the kids had chicken and fries. Actually the orders of chicken fingers and fries were HUGE!! If you go for a meal, and take your kids, they could easily split an order. The menu was really fantastic and everything sounded good....salads, pastas, roasted chicken and of course pizzas. It was pricey, but since we were on the dining plan it didn't matter. ;) Great deal for a counter service...I highly recommend this stop! We finished around 6:15 and headed back to the Fort for an early bedtime.
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Tomorrow is our last day and will be a long one at the MK. The kids were in bed by 7:45 and the four of us hung outside, drank some wine and planned our attack for the next day. We were getting up at 6:00 the next morning to be on a 7:15 bus to the boats. Next report to come shortly!!:woohoo:

[Colson39]

Love the update, and great pics!!!

One of these days I'm going to take Reilly on the horses at the Fort, let's hope he doesn't take after his grandfather and try to bet on them...lol

[PanFanAL]

I see the force is strong in your family. :darth: Hehe. I noticed the boys playing with the Star Wars Toys. It is amazing to me how the toys I played with as kid are back popular again. May the force be with you!:yoda:

[Kimbere]

I see the force is strong in your family. :darth: Hehe. I noticed the boys playing with the Star Wars Toys. It is amazing to me how the toys I played with as kid are back popular again. May the force be with you!:yoda:

Matthew bought those toys, with his own money, at Hollywood Studios in the Star Tours giftshop. It's a very cool action figure set and was well worth the $12.95...which I thought was a deal. :thumbsup2

[All7OfUs]

Keeping up with the report, and loving every minute. We had very similar trips in some respects, so it's fun for me to compare :) Our kids loved the Lego store too, there's sooo much to see there!! My older kids really thought the store fronts on the Lego store of the different cities were really cool.

Can't wait for the MK day coming up!

[MomofPirate&Mickey]

Great TR!! BTW, when we were at DTD on 4/10, Stitch was gone from the WOD store!!:scared1: :sad1:

[Kimbere]

Love the update, and great pics!!!

One of these days I'm going to take Reilly on the horses at the Fort, let's hope he doesn't take after his grandfather and try to bet on them...lol
:rotfl: Riding is better than betting I'd say....at least you know what you're getting in to.

Keeping up with the report, and loving every minute. We had very similar trips in some respects, so it's fun for me to compare :) Our kids loved the Lego store too, there's sooo much to see there!! My older kids really thought the store fronts on the Lego store of the different cities were really cool.

Can't wait for the MK day coming up!

Did you write a trip report? I'd love to read it. :goodvibes Our MK report will be in a couple of parts, it was a long day!

Great TR!! BTW, when we were at DTD on 4/10, Stitch was gone from the WOD store!!:scared1: :sad1:

What!!! :scared1: Did they put anything else up there?? Maybe they were just fixing him up after Easter?

[MomofPirate&Mickey]

What!!! :scared1: Did they put anything else up there?? Maybe they were just fixing him up after Easter?


Nope, there was nothing there.:sad1: We'll be back this w/e, so we'll have to see if he's back. Hopefully they were just refurbishing him & he'll be back soon! They did the same thing w/ Buzz outside of the toy store about a year or so ago. Repainted him & now he's back to all his glory.

[JCJRSmith]

I have been sitting here enjoying your TR and in the back of my mind is this voice that keeps saying, "IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...IWANNA GO...IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...I WANNAGO..."

All I can say to the voice is, "Voice, I wanna go too."

[All7OfUs]

Yep, I did start a trip report on the camping forum- It's called, "Are you crazy? etc..." I thought about putting onto the other forum(s) too, but I camp out on this one almost exclusively. I like this bunch best! :confused3

[seabee]

ok! The women are reading your report and the men are looking at jasmine.:lmao:

My DH said "Book It." :lmao: :rotfl:

[Kimbere]

I have been sitting here enjoying your TR and in the back of my mind is this voice that keeps saying, "IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...IWANNA GO...IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...IWANNAGO...I WANNAGO..."

All I can say to the voice is, "Voice, I wanna go too."

I hate it when the voices start talking too loud. :rotfl2: Seriously, I can't wait to go back and it won't be for way too long.

Yep, I did start a trip report on the camping forum- It's called, "Are you crazy? etc..." I thought about putting onto the other forum(s) too, but I camp out on this one almost exclusively. I like this bunch best! :confused3

Found your report. ;) I posted mine here in my favorite forum, and also in the regular TR forum.

My DH said "Book It." :lmao: :rotfl:

:lmao: :lmao: Men! Maybe he'd like to just hang out at the Princess Dinner exclusively? :rotfl2: Who knows what he might see.

[ntsammy5]

Great report -- pictures are fantastic

[Katie Dawn]

Found your TR today and I have loved it!!! Pics are great and I can tell from the "sound" of your "voice" that you had a great time!!!

<waiting with baited breath for more....> ;)

(Hmmm...that phrase...baited breath...what is that all about anyway? How can you bait breath?) :confused:

[scott62]

Okay, cracking up! I'm so clueless this morning, saw your location and was thinking, "Cool, someone else from Livonia? Small world." Then I realized it was you (Scott is my brother-in-law). Slow but friendly on this monday morning! :rotfl: Glad you enjoyed it! Hope you subscribed...much more to come!:woohoo:

Too funny! :lmao: Yeah, I'm lurking in Livonia and just now catching up on the report. :surfweb: It is really a fun read! :thumbsup2

BTW - I was cracking up at Matthew's expressions in the pictures with the princesses! Too funny!

Catch you around the 'hood.

Scott

[Kimbere]

Great report -- pictures are fantastic

Al, glad you're enjoying it. And, yes, beer and camping definitely go together!! :goodvibes

Found your TR today and I have loved it!!! Pics are great and I can tell from the "sound" of your "voice" that you had a great time!!!

<waiting with baited breath for more....> ;)

(Hmmm...that phrase...baited breath...what is that all about anyway? How can you bait breath?) :confused:

Hey Katie! Yes, we did have a great time!! Glad that's coming across in the report. MK part one is coming up today!! Stay tuned....;)

Too funny! :lmao: Yeah, I'm lurking in Livonia and just now catching up on the report. :surfweb: It is really a fun read! :thumbsup2

BTW - I was cracking up at Matthew's expressions in the pictures with the princesses! Too funny!

Catch you around the 'hood.

Scott

Lots of Matthew's expressions crack me up. He's such a funny kid!! :cool1:

[Kimbere]

Okay kiddies, strap yourselves in!! We're off to the Magic Kingdom for our final day at the World. Let me preface this report by saying this was a long day...we were at the MK from 8:00 till nearly 1:00am! A whopping 16 hours in the park! :jumping1: I also took almost 500 pictures this day alone, so this part of the report will have tons of pics!

We were all up, showered and out the door by 7:15 to catch a bus to the marina. The buses weren't coming, so we just started walking and got picked up about 5 minutes later. The Fort was so quiet this early in the morning and the beach was looking very peaceful and inviting!
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Everyone was very excited to get our day started at the MK...the kids were dancing all over the place waiting for the boat to arrive.
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We loaded up and had smooth ride over the MK, the kids and Brad rode outside...the rest inside.
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v205/Kimbere/IMG_3847.jpg (the new construction next to the Contemp. is the new Kingdom Tower)

We arrived at the dock at about 7:45 and our fun-filled day started. I of course took some arrival pics and had to hurry to keep up with everyone.
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The guys went to get the stollers, and Diane and I rounded up the kids and headed for Fantasyland. Our plan of attack was to do Dumbo first, then meet Ariel before the line got long. After that the rest of Fantasyland...and onto Toontown for Barnstormer. The first glimpse of the castle was amazing, and watching my kids take it all in was priceless!!
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The park was pretty empty, which was nice...but we knew it wouldn't stay that way for long. Lots of people got waylaid by the characters that were out and got in those lines...we kept going! :banana: As TGM says, "Rides first, characters later".
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I wanted to get the classic family shot on Main Street in front of the Castle, but Brad wasn't with us...so all day that was in the back of my mind. We arrived at Dumbo and only had to wait for one load to ride and then it was our turn. Somehow the guys didn't catch the part about meeting us at Dumbo, and we were wondering where they were. Finally we called and they were still standing at the stroller rental, wondering where we went. :confused3 Seriously, after like 5 minutes we thought they would have figured out we were gone and called us. :lmao: Anyway, they finally caught up with us right before out turn to ride, and were able to take pics!

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The kids enjoyed the ride, of course, they are kids after all. Glad to have the "must-ride" Dumbo out of the way, we made tracks for Ariel. There were only about 5 people in front of us, which was fantastic!! No wait is what I'm all about...especially when we only have one day in the MK. :woohoo: Alison has always loved Ariel and was very excited to meet her in the Grotto!

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After Ariel, we headed over to Small World (yes, that frickin song is still in my head almost a month later). :crazy: Next installment coming soon....

[Marek 4]

I absolutely love your TR's! It is just like I am there all over again! Keep them coming!

[Colson39]

Gotta love those cool mornings at the Fort!!

[Shannone1]

Another great installment :thumbsup2 You may want to reduce the size of your pictures a little just to make it easier to read. With the last one you have to keep scrolling over to read everything. However you choose to post it, I'll be looking forward to reading the rest of it. :goodvibes