Oh the places We Go, The People We see

[Caretames1]

Today is our 11th anniversary. Skip is busy with work...trying to beat the next rain episode, so I am not bugging him ....but he did mention recently that we never did anything for our 10th anniversary. So you know my mind is going inot over drive. I would love to get him on a short cruise. I know he'll never do a long one and even if it's not Disney, I know we would have fun. Claire told me today that she is not cruising again till Skip goes with us. Well sorry sister....if he doesn't want to come....I'm still cruising sometime in the next year. I bet she would change her tune too if I told her we were going on one.

I would so go into overdrive as well! Get that man pinned down and get some plans!

Kadence would be like "Dad's not coming? We'll call him"!

We've never rode Jungle Cruise in the dark, I bet it's got a whole different feel. I'm going to have to put that on my list!

Well, I explained that for you before. They pick up those buildings and move them farther back while you're out for the day.

Agreed! It was so tempting to steal those laundry golf carts!

 

[KatMark]

Beautiful pictures, Jen. I agree with you...the Christmas decorations are wonderful (can't wait to see them again in five months).

 

[dolphingirl47]

I can't get enough of the castle photos. I also absolutely loved the Christmas decorations. I have never done Jungle Cruise at night. Now I want to try this.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

HAHA! I think actually they move buildings at noon and midnight! That's a great theory!

I think that is just some of that Disney Magic at work.

I would so go into overdrive as well! Get that man pinned down and get some plans!

Kadence would be like "Dad's not coming? We'll call him"!

We've never rode Jungle Cruise in the dark, I bet it's got a whole different feel. I'm going to have to put that on my list!





Agreed! It was so tempting to steal those laundry golf carts!

At night is the best. We almost always ride it at night. Only a few times have we done it during the day.
Let's just say my husband is not high on the good list right now. He spent the evening out in the barn drinking beer with his buddy till 11 PM. It's not like we had special plans, but it would've been nice for him to be considerate and spend the evening with me. And then I mentioned I had some big plans for something to do...and he waved me off and rolled his eyes basically.

Beautiful pictures, Jen. I agree with you...the Christmas decorations are wonderful (can't wait to see them again in five months).

I am so jealous of all your trips this year. i wish I could get a Christmas season one, but I don't think it will happen.

I can't get enough of the castle photos. I also absolutely loved the Christmas decorations. I have never done Jungle Cruise at night. Now I want to try this.

Corinna

I know the castle is just so pretty!!!

 

[MEK]

It's a desperate moment when you have to use up a QS credit on an uncrustable.

The sunset picture at HS is just gorgeous. Glad you were able to rouse from your power nap and make it there in good time to see the lights.

You're right - pictures will never do it justice, but yours come pretty darn close. I love the close up shots of the lights. So cool.

Ugh to major crowds while leaving. So annoying, but what are you going to do.

I look forward to a future Christmas trip since I am missing it by about a week this fall. *sigh*

 

[jenseib]

It's a desperate moment when you have to use up a QS credit on an uncrustable.

The sunset picture at HS is just gorgeous. Glad you were able to rouse from your power nap and make it there in good time to see the lights.

You're right - pictures will never do it justice, but yours come pretty darn close. I love the close up shots of the lights. So cool.

Ugh to major crowds while leaving. So annoying, but what are you going to do.

I look forward to a future Christmas trip since I am missing it by about a week this fall. *sigh*

Yes...I am not a peanut butter and jelly fan at all, but I knew Claire would eventually eat it. LOL
What are your dates this fall.....You cruise as well, right? They announced the dates for the decorations to be up the other day on the ships. I can't remember off the top of my head without digging and looking but the 12th of Nov. is sounding about right.

 

[jenseib]

Nov. 12, 2012, Monday, Day 12



I believe I actually slept in a little longer today than 6 AM. I guess I was getting worn down. I showered and got ready for the day and let Claire sleep. I think a bomb could’ve gone off in the room and she would’ve slept through it.

Since we had a poolside room, I decided to go out around 7:15 and take a few pictures of the area while Claire slept.





















I had to take a peak in the laundry room.

























After about 15-20 minutes of walking around the pool I went back into the room and finished getting ready. It was then time to wake sleeping beauty. Slowly but surely she did get up and ready to start another big day.

We then made our way to the bus stop.

 

[jenseib]

While waiting for the bus, the lady behind me asked if I was on the Nov. facebook group. I told her no….wait…yes I am. LOL! I don’t know what I was thinking when I said no. She told me her name, Jennifer, and I recognized it and we chatted a bit. She had recognized Claire’s top as I had posted it on the group back when I got it. I hadn’t been too active on it for a month or so prior to the trip though. I was busy writing my TR from the Sept cruise and honestly there were a couple of annoying people on there. Carey was on it was well and she can verify that we had a couple of whackos posting daily……like 70 times a day and with really dumb questions. Some people were changing ADRS EVERY SINGLE DAY, and adding in more just to have a snack and paying out of pocket to basically try as many restaurants as possible. And then there were other issues there too. And eventually there was a “fake” poster caught. Not sure what that was about ….why on earth would you make a fake name and pretend to be going to Disney?
Anyways, bus mojo was not with us this morning either. We had to wait quite a while for a AK bus to arrive. And we kept seeing buses that didn’t have park names on them. I think they were testing routes or drivers. Eventually I do believe we got on one of those buses because the wait was so long they directed one to take us over there.




We eventually made it over to AK.



We stopped for a few photopass pictures before we went in.





And I was sooooo excited to get this picture. It has been on my bucket list for quite some time.







We then headed towards the entrance with a few pictures on the way.







Once we got into the park we stopped for another photopass picture.













And on we went again.









I think you have a pretty good idea where we were heading.

 

[dizneeat]

Great photos again, Jen!
Sorry about the buses. But how funny the lady recognized you with the help of Claire's shirt.
I really enjoyed seeing the photopass pics too! And I really love the Stitch one!

 

[SigalTchelet]

I agree that they are great pics! LOVE the one of Claire with Simba. The one with both of you with Stitch is adorable too! How was Expedition Everest?

 

[ronnmel]

That's so cool that they do the Stitch coming out of a present. I had that magic shot done 2 years ago, but he was coming out of a crate.

 

[jenseib]

Great photos again, Jen!
Sorry about the buses. But how funny the lady recognized you with the help of Claire's shirt.
I really enjoyed seeing the photopass pics too! And I really love the Stitch one!

I seem to have people recognize me from Claire a lot.
I was shopping one day and an old school mate saw Claire and then saw me and said hi. She said she saw Claire first and knew I had to be around. She recognized Claire from facebook. LOL
And then at Claire dance recital another school mates daughter started going there this year and they were in the same waiting room together. When I went to pick Claire up the school mate said hi, but siad Claire will probably tell me about some crazy lady coming up to her and asking if her Moms name is Jennifer and goes to Disney a lot. LOL

I agree that they are great pics! LOVE the one of Claire with Simba. The one with both of you with Stitch is adorable too! How was Expedition Everest?

I liked the shots too. I got quite a few this trip, but I wish we had even more. We missed out on a lot of opportunities to take more, mostly characters, because Claire didn't want to wait.

That's so cool that they do the Stitch coming out of a present. I had that magic shot done 2 years ago, but he was coming out of a crate.

I have yet to get the crate one either. But this will do for the bucket list and if I can get the crate one in the future...thats a bonus!

 

[mom2rtk]

I had no idea they did that Christmas present Stitch shot at AK! And somehow I've missed it all this time. Now I have to hope it's there when we get back at Christmas in 2014!

Let's just say my husband is not high on the good list right now. He spent the evening out in the barn drinking beer with his buddy till 11 PM. It's not like we had special plans, but it would've been nice for him to be considerate and spend the evening with me. And then I mentioned I had some big plans for something to do...and he waved me off and rolled his eyes basically.

Ah yes.... the old "wave off and eye roll" technique. I hear that does wonders for family life. Sounds like he was trying to impress his friends.

Happy Anniversary anyway!

Kadence would be like "Dad's not coming? We'll call him"!

 

[jenseib]

I had no idea they did that Christmas present Stitch shot at AK! And somehow I've missed it all this time. Now I have to hope it's there when we get back at Christmas in 2014!





Ah yes.... the old "wave off and eye roll" technique. I hear that does wonders for family life. Sounds like he was trying to impress his friends.

Happy Anniversary anyway!

I thought you have done that one too. I guess not. ..be on the look out for future trips. It was cool.
I just sent you an email about our exciting night out Sat. It was awful.

 

[Caretames1]

I had to take a peak in the laundry room.

I'm not a short person, (5'6") but those damn dryers were way too high for me! I got lucky and got to use them while at AoA. I couldn't even get my clothes out without finally stepping on the door of the dryer below. Bad design!

And I'm sorry to hear of your lousy Anniversary. I had a lovely anniversary while on our trip , you'll have to remember the above stupid laundry room when I get to Nov 7th on this TR.

Ahhh, the FB group from Crazy Town. I defected from them quite quickly!

I love Claire's top, perfect for AK. I am so going to get that PP shot in Nov!

 

[dolphingirl47]

What a shame that you had more bad luck with the buses. I love the Photopass Photos.

Corinna

 

[jenseib]

I'm not a short person, (5'6") but those damn dryers were way too high for me! I got lucky and got to use them while at AoA. I couldn't even get my clothes out without finally stepping on the door of the dryer below. Bad design!

And I'm sorry to hear of your lousy Anniversary. I had a lovely anniversary while on our trip , you'll have to remember the above stupid laundry room when I get to Nov 7th on this TR.

Ahhh, the FB group from Crazy Town. I defected from them quite quickly!

I love Claire's top, perfect for AK. I am so going to get that PP shot in Nov!

I didn't even try those out, but I do kind of remember Pops being kind of high up too.
Our Anniversary was a total joke.....still is. My husband is not very wise with these type of things and he needs to learn to keep his mouth shut too.

I thought that top looked great for AK too.

What a shame that you had more bad luck with the buses. I love the Photopass Photos.

Corinna

Bus mojo was not on our side this trip.

 

[jenseib]

Claire wanted to take another ride on EE.



The standby line wasnt too long either and moved fairly fast.

















Soon it was our turn. I forgot to change the settings on the camera and took this picture. It was very weird looking and over exposed. But as I darkened it a bit it came out kind of neat looking.







We had another fun and exciting ride.



We had a late breakfast ADR at Tusker house today, so we slowly made our way back over in that direction.

















We did a little bit of browsing.

 

[jenseib]

The line to check into Tusker House was SUPER long. It was unreal. So a little after 10 we got in line for our 10:30 ADR.



It took quite a while to get through. They had a couple people checking people in, but they seemed clueless. Let’s just say this process annoyed me so much that I doubt I’ll ever go back there.
Once we got checked in they told me to go back and wait for Donald. I told them I didn’t want to wait for Donald, we just wanted to eat, so they told me to take my ticket inside and give it to someone.

So that is what I did. Only the people inside told me I wasn’t called yet, I had to see Donald first to get another ticket. I don’t want to see Donald, we want to eat. By the Way Donald’s line was at least another 20 minute wait. We weren’t going to get the picture, so I wasn’t wasting the time and Claire didn’t want to wait in it either.
Finally someone points me to a podium and tells me to check with them. So I go there and tell them I am supposed to hand my ticket in so we can be on the list to be seated. They tell me, you need to see Donald first. UGH! I don’t want to see FREAKING Donald….we want to eat!
This guy was confused too but finally was able to make a ticket switch and get us on the list to get called in. Once that happened, it wasn’t too long. And as we went in, I saw the people who were in front of me in the original check in line….STILL in line for Donald and they had a ways to go.



We were taken to the back room.



We quickly went up to get some food as it was going to be a few minutes before any characters made their way to us.







We went for pretty normal items. The African food just wasn’t our thing and the few things I did end up trying I did not care for.

A little bit of dancing around.







And then Daisy made her way to our table.







Mickey wasn’t too far behind.







We went up to the buffet a couple of times, but for us, we really weren’t impressed with the selection. Like I said, the African selections just weren’t something we cared for, so we were sticking to the basics and that limited us a bit.
We were ready to go and had paid, and I let the waitress know that we still hadn’t seen Goofy, but we wanted to leave and wondered if there would be a way to see him shortly and she said yes. She pointed out a Cast Member and told me to talk to him, so I did. He told me where to stand and that he would direct Goofy over to us. Within a few minutes we got to visit with Goofy as well.









With that meet and greet done, we grabbed our things and headed out. I did take a few pictures before we left.













I think you know my thoughts on Tusker House by now. It was way too much of a hassle to actually get checked in and seated. The food was good, but not enough variety for us who don’t want to get crazy with the African food. And the price is just too high to go for just the basics. I will really have to think long and hard before going back again….and if I do, it will be an early ADR, which will hopefully eliminate the long check in wait.

 

[mom2rtk]

That line for TH looks crazy!

We have seen a large line there before, but I thought that was just because we were there when it opened and everyone was there at once.

I've never put TH at the top of my character meal list, but we still like it and will go again. You missed out on the single best reason to eat at TH..... the ability to eat and be AT the safari as the park opens. Take that away and I'm not sure I'd go either.

Although at least we stop and see Donald. You're going to give him a complex or something!