There is NO random dancing at Disney! A June TR *NEW 9/19 *FINAL THOUGHTS*

[MinnieNurse]

My girls have been asking for another sister.

Me, Me Pick me!!!!

 

[LuvnDizney]

Great TR!! I will have to try the suprise goody bags for my kids on our next trip, I think even my 13 yo will enjoy it. Can't wait to read more!!


Melissa

 

[cjackearl]

Great TR!! I will have to try the suprise goody bags for my kids on our next trip, I think even my 13 yo will enjoy it. Can't wait to read more!!


Melissa

Welcome!! Thanks for reading. By the way, I really like your Avatar.

 

[manntra]

Wow! Love the bags! And I was really when you said "this is a re-anactmant" I was thinking of in the beginning of a TV show when they say that!
I love SE too! Well really I just love it all!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I did wonder if your cars stopped at all while you were riding Spaceship Earth!

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

Looks like you had a great night at EPCOT. We love Spaceship Earth and the changes are very neat. The bags are super cute.

Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[cjackearl]

Wow! Love the bags! And I was really when you said "this is a re-anactmant" I was thinking of in the beginning of a TV show when they say that!
I love SE too! Well really I just love it all!!!

Yes, I had to make sure none of my readers had the wool pulled over their eyes.

I did wonder if your cars stopped at all while you were riding Spaceship Earth!

They did! But only once.

Looks like you had a great night at EPCOT. We love Spaceship Earth and the changes are very neat. The bags are super cute.

Can't wait to hear more!!

Were there any other changes besides the computer future predictor thing at the end? It had been 4 years since I'd been on it and I'm not the most aware of details.

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

Were there any other changes besides the computer future predictor thing at the end? It had been 4 years since I'd been on it and I'm not the most aware of details.

Yes, there were some changes to the special effects in the cave scenes, the Roman Empire scenes were changed a little. Also, the whole scene in the computer center with the woman wearing the miniskirt and boots. That is all added as is the garage scene with the man at a computer. (Some say Bill Gates, I read that it represents all the computer geniuses who worked in their garages and basements.) Of course, now Dame Judy Dench is the narrator.

Anyway, I liked it.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Amelia's expression in Bruce the shark was priceless!!!

 

[pixleyyy]

Fabulous! I love your TR so far and can't wait to read more.

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

Your gift bags turned out so cute! It is obvious how much thought you put in to them. Your kids are lucky to have you as their mom. I love the outside of the bags just as much as what you put in them.

We did not see the Bruce at the Nemo ride. We will have to look for that next time. It's a great photo spot.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

All right, I've seen them and now I must do them too. The surprise bags were perfect!

 

[cjackearl]

Amelia's expression in Bruce the shark was priceless!!!

Oh, her angry face is a scary thing to behold!

Fabulous! I love your TR so far and can't wait to read more.

Welcome!! Thanks for reading.

Your gift bags turned out so cute! It is obvious how much thought you put in to them. Your kids are lucky to have you as their mom. I love the outside of the bags just as much as what you put in them.

Aw, thanks. I really had fun putting them together.

We did not see the Bruce at the Nemo ride. We will have to look for that next time. It's a great photo spot.

He was in a room in the aquarium at the end of the ride.

All right, I've seen them and now I must do them too. The surprise bags were perfect!

You should! Thank you.

 

[Happydog]

YAY! I did it! Caught up and enjoyed every page! What great posts on your first day! I am excited to try Beach Club this December! Your day seemed to start and end so nicely! A little of this and that and so many smiles! Great pictures! great story so far!

 

[Disneyvirg]

Great update! Sorry I'm a little slow here...

I love the pics of your kids in the shark. What's his name? I always forget. Somehow, we managed to go right by him...never saw the guy when we were there.

I'm ready fro the next installment!

 

[cjackearl]

YAY! I did it! Caught up and enjoyed every page! What great posts on your first day! I am excited to try Beach Club this December! Your day seemed to start and end so nicely! A little of this and that and so many smiles! Great pictures! great story so far!

Thank you Happy and Welcome! I'm glad you made it over. You will love, love, love the BC!

Great update! Sorry I'm a little slow here...

I love the pics of your kids in the shark. What's his name? I always forget. Somehow, we managed to go right by him...never saw the guy when we were there.

I'm ready fro the next installment!

No worries. The shark's name is Bruce. He was in the room, alcove whatever next to the one with the seahorses and eels and Nemo fish. Next update coming up shortly.

 

[MeMom]

Oh my goodness, they were so excited! They were pulling things out and oohing and ahhing and smiling and talking all at the same time and it did my heart good to see my children, whom this trip was all about, so happy.

Thanks for starting my morning off with a smile!

 

[cjackearl]

Aw, glad I induced a smile.

 

[cjackearl]

At 6:30 I woke up and got myself dressed before the phone rang at 6:45. I answered it and put it on speaker phone so that the whole crew could hear Stitch and Mickey telling them to wake up. I don’t think the kids ever really heard the wake up call. Every morning that we got one I’d answer it and yell for everyone to get up NOW so that they could hear Mickey and Stitch, but those kids slept hard in Disney. Everyone else got up, had some cereal and fruit in the room and made it down to the bus stop by 7:35 and at AK by 8:20.

Look how bright eyed and bushy tailed they are!

Yep, that's a yawn.

Everyone knew “the plan”, which was that George and Madeline would go ahead, get FP for EE, ride it, and then meet Amelia, Ian and myself in Dinoland. We were close to the front of the crowd at the turnstiles. The kids sat on the ground and I reached into my bag to pull out our KTTW cards. One, two, three, four….four….four. Houston, we have a problem. I searched through my bag a little, but it was very organized and I just knew it wasn’t with us. The last time we entered our room I thought it must have gotten left on the dresser. Since it was Amelia’s card that was missing, I took her with me to guest services while George waited in line with Madeline and Ian. I was very impressed with how friendly and efficient the CM at guest services was and we walked away with a brand new key card in a matter of minutes. Crisis averted, it was back to sitting in the sun and waiting for park opening. As an aside, the prodigal key was found later sitting on a nightstand.

Warning: fans and hair do NOT mix!

George and Madeline went ahead after we got through the turnstiles while I stopped to rent a stroller with the other two kids and we followed the masses to where the opening show was put on. When the rope dropped, the younger two and I mosied toward Dinoland while the other two race walked to their mountain top adventure. I realized here that I should have checked my times guide more closely, because the Boneyard didn't open until 10:00, so we hopped on Triceratops Spin for a couple of rides in a row.

The kids and I then wondered around Dinoland until George and Madeline met us. They LOVED Expedition Everest and had used all of our tickets to get FPs, so they could ride twice later. George and the girls next rode Primevil Whirl. I was surprised that Amelia wanted to try this one, but glad that she was pushing herself a little. Guess what Ian and I did? Yep. Triceratops Spin for a third time. Ian was tempted by the midway type games, but I was a mean mom and said no, but I did say yes to the photo booth.

When George and the girls got off Primevil Whirl, Amelia declared it FUN!

By this time it was nearly 10:00 so George took Ian to the Boneyard while the girls and I rode Dinosaur. I have to say, I thought Dinosaur was well done and fun, but that Carnotaur is quite intimidating. Poor Amelia hated this one. She said her legs were shaking when she got off.

The next ride on our itinerary was Kali River Rapids, but the line was too long, so we got FP for later and went to find some lunch. I'd read good reviews of Flame Tree Barbeque and wanted to try it, but ever since our last trip the girls have been dreaming about giant turkey legs. We decided to order food at Flame Tree, find a spot to eat and then I'd go with the girls to seek out their hearts' lunch desire.

I ordered the 1/2 chicken meal. The rub was good as was the coleslaw. The beans were icky.

The girls each insisted on their own. You can imagine how much we threw away.

I think this is one of the best kids meal deals on property. It comes with TWO chicken legs, so 2 lighter eaters could easily share.

I don't have a picture and can't remember what George had. It might have been gone by the time I got the camera out.

It was time to ride some rapids, so George ran to Kilimanjaro Safaris to get FP and we all met up outside of Kali River Rapids.

Continued in Next Post..

 

[cjackearl]

It was time for some river riding! Ian loved walking up to the height requirement sign to show us that he was indeed big enough to ride and positively strutted when the CM gave him a special wrist band indicating he would get a special seat. We all enjoyed our ride and George and I got soaked, like wring out your pants soaked. Good thing it was so hot. I would never wait in a long line for this, though, because the ride is short, like look at each other and say, "That's it?" short. FP is the way to go!

This is how wet George and I got.

TMI WARNING

Having wet shorts on for an extended time combined with lots of walking and chubby thighs can lead to some unpleasant side effects. My thighs thanked me the next day for bringing chafing cream.

Time for an Asian adventure on the Maharaja Jungle Trek.




We all thought the bats were fascinating.

You don't have to warn me twice!

I got a good shot of this guy.

But not of this guy.

Ahh, refreshing!

I may or may not have mentioned to the girls at this point that if they'd taken thier mother's advice and put their hair up, they might not be quite as hot. Don't you hate it when people say I told you so.

Ian was asking for a pretzel at this point, so we decided to get some snacks before seeing It's Tough to Be a Bug.

Ian got his pretzel, George and Amelia bought pineapple bars and Madeline had a chocolate ice cream bar.

Soon, we were meandering through the Tree of Life to see Flik. We enjoyed picking out the animals carved into the tree. We may have been shouting animal names, so if you were near us in line, I apologize. I thought the show was hilarious, but Ian was not a fan. He didn't lose it, but when the spiders came down from the ceiling, I thought he might.

Our FP window had now opened up for our safari through the wild African savannah, so we hightailed it over to Africa. On the way, my little bug traumatized boy fell asleep in his stroller so I picked him up and held him on the safari. He did wake up about half way through.

After the safari, we headed to Camp Mickey Minnie to see the 3:30 performance of my favorite show on Disney property, Festival of the Lion King! We were seated in the elephant section and we clearly made the best animal noises. I took a couple of pictures which didn't come out. This show gives me goose bumps and brings tears to my eyes, its so amazing.

And now it was time for me to fulfill a promise I'd made to Amelia earlier in the day: We could go shopping! She had seen a bracelet and a pin at some carts or kiosks that morning and I told her we'd be back later. Now it was later, so while George and Madeline treked back to Asia to challenge the Yeti 2 more times with their FPs collected that morning, Amelia, Ian and I began searching for her treasures. After finally tracking them down and doing a little shopping of my own, we met back up with George and Madeline. It was time to leave Animal Kingdom for the Animal Kingdom Lodge and our dinner reservation at Sanaa! Would we be impressed?

Next Post: Pictures of our AK shopping and a review of Sanaa