A Birthday Trip without a Birthday - 2/16: Conclusion and Bonus Birthday Tea

[annichan]

Great to see that you are back, I hope you both have had a great time! I am looking forward to your reports, be it in chronological order or in whichever way you are planning on giving it!

 

[Flossbolna]

Having secret plans makes things more exciting, though!

Yes, it was a lot of fun to have that kind of conspiracy going with Marv about surprising Rosie!!

I'm glad it worked out that you could meet Rosie! You had me worried for a second there.

I was worried to at some point when we were rushing through Epcot!! But she had promised to stay at Japan during Illuminations, so I figured her group would somehow be a bit more visible than a single person....

But I am so glad that it worked!!

Somehow, it seems appropriate that Marv would be good at hiding his vegetables. When I was a kid, my favorite trick was to shovel them back into the serving bowl when my parents weren't looking.

Well, good that there weren't any bowls around. Marv might have tried that, too.

I was going to make an It's A Small World joke here, but I don't want to get that song stuck in anybody's head. So I'll just say it's amazing at how the internet has made these kinds of friendships/meetings possible. I'm glad it all worked out so that you could meet in person! It's a special feeling to know you have friends around the world.

Well, you know that if you want to not make an IaSW joke - you should not mention it at all. Now we have the song stuck in our head and did not hear a joke to make up for it....



But I agree, making friends is a wonderful thing and the internet truly has provided so many more opportunities for that. And I am very grateful for this!

 

[Flossbolna]

Great to see that you are back, I hope you both have had a great time! I am looking forward to your reports, be it in chronological order or in whichever way you are planning on giving it!

We had a wonderful time! I hope you will enjoy the report, I am having fun writing it and reliving the trip.

 

[lovealldisney]

Great start ladies! I'm so glad you have a wonderful time. So nice to meet friends. You both look lovely as usual. Magdalene is your hair shorter? It's really cute.

I'm anxious to hear how you liked MNSSHP! I love Holloween! One of my favorite American holiday's.

How did you like the Boardwalk? I'd like to hear your impressions on that.

 

[englishrose47]

subbing !!!!!!!!

 

[englishrose47]

Oh silly me I thought this was the new TR !!!It was awesome to meet both of you!! I was sooooo worried I would not find you and kept popping out to check and then I saw you !! The gang all joined us in time for Illumonations !!Thank you for your kind words about my vocation !! I just love working with this population and especially sharing my LOVE of Disney !!It was such a JOY to hear the one lady say to almost everything we did "I Loved IT" She was sooooo special !!
As for Marv and his surprise that was a CLASSIC!!!!

 

[Poolrat]

So happy to hear you got to meet Rosie and Marv.

I look forward to hearing all abou your trip and the adventures along the way.

 

[glennbo123]

I've met both Rosie and Marv in person also (and lived to talk about it ), but I've yet to meet you two....we'll have to remedy that someday Magdalene and Katharina!

That's an interesting idea to not do this TR chronologically. Looking forward to it.

 

[marvali]

Magdalene, your trip may have been without a birthday, but your Trip Report shouldn't be!!!





Alles Gute zum Geburtstag mein Lieber Freund!

 

[englishrose47]

Happy Birthday !!!

 

[englishrose47]

I've met both Rosie and Marv in person also (and lived to talk about it ), but I've yet to meet you two....we'll have to remedy that someday Magdalene and Katharina!

That's an interesting idea to not do this TR chronologically. Looking forward to it.

After our meeting in DC you almost didn't live

 

[Flossbolna]

Great start ladies! I'm so glad you have a wonderful time. So nice to meet friends. You both look lovely as usual. Magdalene is your hair shorter? It's really cute.

I'm anxious to hear how you liked MNSSHP! I love Holloween! One of my favorite American holiday's.

How did you like the Boardwalk? I'd like to hear your impressions on that.

Wendy, thanks for the compliment on my hair! I think it might be shorter, I was at the hairdresser just before the trip. It might also be blonder...

MNSSHP and Boardwalk will both be covered, but I can tell you that we loved both!!

subbing !!!!!!!!

Welcome again Rosie!!

Oh silly me I thought this was the new TR !!!It was awesome to meet both of you!! I was sooooo worried I would not find you and kept popping out to check and then I saw you !! The gang all joined us in time for Illumonations !!Thank you for your kind words about my vocation !! I just love working with this population and especially sharing my LOVE of Disney !!It was such a JOY to hear the one lady say to almost everything we did "I Loved IT" She was sooooo special !!
As for Marv and his surprise that was a CLASSIC!!!!

I was wondering why you were subbing since you had been around before!!

I was worried that we would have missed you, too! But it all worked out perfectly.

 

[Flossbolna]

So happy to hear you got to meet Rosie and Marv.

I look forward to hearing all abou your trip and the adventures along the way.

Hi Pat! Meeting Rosie and Marv was really great, but from your TR I know how much you enjoy meeting DISers as well!

I've met both Rosie and Marv in person also (and lived to talk about it ), but I've yet to meet you two....we'll have to remedy that someday Magdalene and Katharina!

That's an interesting idea to not do this TR chronologically. Looking forward to it.

Glenn, I forgot, that you have met those individuals as well. I am a little bit sad that I wasn't around when Rosie and Marv met, I am sure they would have made a great pair to hang out with.

And I definitely hope to meet you and your family one day as well!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Magdalene, your trip may have been without a birthday, but your Trip Report shouldn't be!!!





Alles Gute zum Geburtstag mein Lieber Freund!

Happy Birthday !!!

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I had a great birthday weekend with a party with my friends on Saturday and then a relaxing day on Sunday ending with dinner with my parents. Quite perfect all around!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Thoughts on the Parks:

I will collect our thoughts for each park separately – in the ranking that Katharina and I agreed on when discussing our experiences over dinner on our last day. We came up with the following:

1: Animal Kingdom
2: Epcot
3: Magic Kingdom
4: Disney Hollywood Studios

It kind of surprised me how easy it was to come up with that ranking and how much we agreed about it. But more about that when we get to the individual parks...

In the PTR we had listed all the new things we wanted to do at the various parks, so we will report back on what we achieved and how we liked it.

And we will start with our number one in the next post already!

 

[Flossbolna]

Thoughts on Animal Kingdom:

This was the one park where we claimed that we had nothing new to do – actually we later remembered that there was something we hadn't done: Nemo – the Musical. But since we still had no interest in seeing this show, we still haven't seen it...

But otherwise, I think this may have been the park where we spent the most hours during this trip. Quite amazing for a park which some consider a half-day park.

And in the end we did get to do something which was new for Katharina: she saw the lights being turned on when we experienced dusk at the AK on Friday evening. AK looks so lovely when all the lights are on, but unfortunately it isn't open long enough in the evenings most of the year and it does not have evening EMHs. But one day during our trip they extended the hours at the AK until 7pm and that was around the time of sunset.

And we found a new love for an attraction at the Animal Kingdom: Dinosaur!!

Those of you were around for the 2010 TR will remember this picture:

It summed up our opinion about this ride very well: way too scary!! Somehow this time we really got into the mood of trying this ride out more often – maybe because we spent so much time in the park? And already after the first ride we both thought that if we could get over being scared all the time, we might actually really enjoy it! And then on the morning we spent with Marv at the AK I managed for the very first time to keep my eyes open during the whole ride. The picture of me was still quite a sight as my face was full of horror! But I had managed to have fun as well. And then after our last ride – on our very last day – I got off the ride and thought: That was great, let's do it again – which we did not do since the line was actually quite long! But it is something to look forward on the next trip!!

Maybe the attraction on which we had the most rides during our trip was Kilimanjaro Safaris – and we had some truly wonderful safaris: we saw the lion walking on his rock, saw giraffes, ankole cattle (the ones with the very large white horns) and even the white rhino so close to the safari truck that it was nearly scary (the rhino encounter was truly scary!!). We had – with one exception - excellent safari guides. The exception was a CM who mistook the safari for the Jungle Cruise and tried to be funny, but did not fully succeed. Luckily the animals were a wonderful distraction. Oh and we went on safaris all times of the day – and everyone had something special to see.

We loved the trails once again and one afternoon we spent quite some time watching the 20 months old gorilla baby playing around in a bush:

That day was fantastic for seeing the gorillas, also the others seemed to enjoy presenting themselves for the tourists:

I could go on and on – about the baby elephant, the wonderful tea stand where Katharina became a regular since she had a soar throat and needed lots of warm drinks, that we spent quite some time exploring all the fun decorations at the Restaurantosaurus... etc. But I guess you get the picture: we loved our time there!!

Anything not so great? Well, I already mentioned the lack of night opening hours. And then there is unfortunate drift of cooking/frying smells from the Yak & Yeti CS towards the lovely seating area next to the wonderful tea stand. Also, I did not really like some of the additions on the safari for those people on the Wild Africa Trek. The bridges and the little hut are ok, but over the hippo pool there is a metal contraption that people get fixed to and there is the place where they get on their safari vehicle. Both theses places look rather industrial and out of place...

 

[marvali]

Nice updates! You might have a few other safari pictures and another Dinosaur ride picture to add to your TR soon......... (assuming Katharina will let you post it.....)

I'm sure it would have been fun for us all to hang out together during the trip. I really enjoyed spending so much time in the parks with you and Katharina, but the time at the tea stand seating area when we just sat and talked was definitely one of my favorite parts.

I told Rosie I couldn't believe I didn't give her my cell number after we met so she could call me later when they got back to POP and I could come over and sit and talk for a while in a nice relaxed way. Of course if we had all done that, we might not have gotten any sleep that night. Too much fun and laughs.

It all ended way too soon as it was.......

 

[Poolrat]

I like how you are reporting this trip.

AK has so many nooks and crannies to surround you with nature and transport you to Africa and Asia.

Glad you were able to sit and relax with Marv. Sounds like a good time.

 

[lovealldisney]

And then on the morning we spent with Marv at the AK I managed for the very first time to keep my eyes open during the whole ride. The picture of me was still quite a sight as my face was full of horror!

I think this is a picture you should post!

Great update! Love all you pictures....

 

[eandesmom]

How very wonderful that AK is still number 1. I can imagine some of the trek additions are not pretty while on safari (though hanging over the hippos is really something everyone should get to do at least once!).

That dinosaur picture is a riot. AK is simply beautiful at night. I've been lucky enough to be there 3 times for EMH. They do offer it, but only at certain times of the year.