"ENCHANTED TALES with ROB" - A Birthday/Christmas DISer Celebration! **NEW TR LINK**

[peachmermaid]

Oh, I'm so jealous that you met the country bears!! How cute! They're totally underrated.

I love that parade! Every single thing about it. Chip n Dale being in the top 5 things of the parade, of course. It's just so fun. I'm glad you found a spot!

Your shot down Main Street was breathtaking, Rob! I do hope you've hung it on your wall somewhere.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh, I'm so jealous that you met the country bears!! How cute! They're totally underrated.

I love that parade! Every single thing about it. Chip n Dale being in the top 5 things of the parade, of course. It's just so fun. I'm glad you found a spot!

Your shot down Main Street was breathtaking, Rob! I do hope you've hung it on your wall somewhere.

So underrated, right??!!! Maybe that can be a new mission. Make the Country Bears super popular.

Oh Jennifer I do too. Nobody does a parade quite like Disney and this one sure does have so much going for it. That spot actually turned out to be pretty good especially considering I arrived so late.

Aww gee THANK YOU. It was my FB cover photo for quite a while. Maybe I will print it out and hang it up.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

HAVIN' A WILD (CHRISTMAS) TIME; BY LAND AND BY... LAGOON?
Day 5 – December 7, 2013 Part 1



Despite the late-ish night at the bonus Christmas Party the night prior, I was up and rolling early once again.
You can't keep a good man down... Nor even me apparently.

This was a big day as I had plans in a park I’d barely spent any time at so far, AND a very special boat ride that evening.

I arrived inside Animal Kingdom a little after opening wearing my VERY SPECIAL BIRTHDAY PRESENT SHIRT that Brenda had given me.
This was the perfect day to wear it.

I decided to do the Safari first thing for a couple of reasons, but the most likely being that I hadn’t done it yet.

Crossing into Africa, I made photographic note of the ongoing construction for the Festival of The Lion King show building.

A couple was walking nearby, and upon noticing me talking a picture of what was either a half built or half destroyed building, inquired as to what it was.
I explained that this was the new theatre for FOTLK to which they inquired what was going into the OLD location.

I was a little bit surprised as they clearly were familiar enough with WDW that they knew:
A. What FOTLK was and
B. Where its current location was.

Were they not aware of the pending Avatar construction and also how was that even possible?
Clearly they were not as they seemed quite surprised when I answered their question.
I, however, was feeing particularly upbeat and smart as I always like to show off my endless Disney knowledge whenever I can.

My genius recognized I continued onward to get my Safari on which thankfully had very little wait.

I honestly don’t know why I continue to take this picture...Yeah I get it... You're hippos and you like it in the water.

Just once I'd like to see one of them jump into their tutu and dance ala Fantasia.

But Giraffes are just necessary, especially headless Giraffes.

Oh… never mind.

Not for nothing, but I'm putting my money on the Rhino in this particular stand off.

The expedition was pretty run of the mill if you’ve been on the safari before, until our guide offered this unbelievably “helpful” guidance,

“… And to your left you will see the cheetah under those trees.”

OK, let me see if I understand this correctly.

“… Under… Those… Trees.”

Because obviously there are so few trees over there that it would be unmistakable as to which particular tree the cheetah was beneath.
The guide was clearly channeling a weatherman with this "Cover Your *** Completely" statement.

"It's gonna rain EXCEPT in places where it's not... GUARANTEED!"

I considered raising my hand and asking “Could you please be a bit more general?” but I refrained.

However, I still snapped that picture with the understanding that somewhere in there was in fact a cheetah because, well, the guide said so.
Despite what was a pretty vague piece of information, I was confident that a Disney safari guide would NEVER steer me wrong.

Sooooo... Maybe if we analyze and zoom in a little bit...

Ahhh, see there ya go... He was right all along...

… And now I have the muchies.

I was happy that the Lioness was out on her rock to cap off the tour on a high note.

After the Safari, I figured since I was in the area I may as well check out the Gorillas on the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.

So cute... He thinks he's hiding.

And I never tire of seeing Lilly.

I had a FP for Everest at noon, but I figured I may as well check out the wait time anytime.
You can’t have too many rides on Everest.

On the way, I figured it only right to get a couple of photos with my friend first.

The wait for Everest was extremely low, but sadly this was due to the fact that it was broken.
There really are some serious maintenance issues at WDW.

So I did what I always do now apparently whenever a ride is broken down.

Nonetheless, I wasn’t fazed as I had ridden it 8 times in a row on a previous day AND there was still a chance for later.

I had a new goal in mind at this point anyway over here.

Christmas brings some pretty cool and unique things to the World, and one of the most sought after is Santa Goofy.
I know he greets to long lines at the Osborne Lights, and while the backdrop there is definitely superior, a short line was a bigger deal to me.

I didn’t know for sure when he’d be out here in Dinoland, but my gut was telling me around 11am.
When I arrived, it was just a tad before that, so I figured I’d just hang around and see.
Sure enough, right around 11am Goofy AND Pluto came walking by so I jumped into the line that quickly formed in front of me.

That said, I was still only a few groups back, and was meeting the original dog pound in no time.

In the short period of time that I waited and met with them, the crowd grew quite a bit, so clearly my genius strategy paid off.
When I joined in the line there was only a handful of people around, but it grew and continued to grow quickly.
And yeah, well done with your tablet photo (I will never understand this phenomenon).

I figured I may as well check in on Everest just in case it was running, but alas it was not… but it still looked pretty.

I held out hope that it would become operational by the time my FP became due before continuing on with my day.

Feels crowded.

TO BE CONTINUED…
​

 

[JDUB]

Great telephoto lense photo of the cheetah!!!! There's your next custom disney tshirt Rob!!! Awesome stuff. Can't wait to hear about your evening later!!!

 

[PopArtGal]

You've tapped on one of my pet peeves... people taking pics or videos with their ipads.

It bothers me for multiple reasons but mostly because I'm short and on occasion my entire view was blocked because of those.

 

[emmysmommy]

Rob I don't know why you couldn't see that cheetah, he was clearly there under the tree!!

ELEPHANTS! I'm still bitter that our safari completely missed out on a single pachyderm. I need to go again. Maybe next month.

Oh and nice shirt! It's so you.

Glad to see you continuing your tradition of the frames FP pose with EE in the background. It's the best spot to pose. Just once I'd like to take the bike that is parked there and ask if I can use it as a prop.

I'm bummed that I didn't even know about the characters in Dinoland. Great pose with the pooches! I would have loved to have a PP of those two. I should have consulted you more for those details.

 

[MEK]

Were they not aware of the pending Avatar construction and also how was that even possible?

​

I have to admit that there was so much on again / off again news about Avatar that I wasn't completely sure they started it until recently. I'm actually a fan. I think its going to be cool.

I honestly don’t know why I continue to take this picture...Yeah I get it... You're hippos and you like it in the water.

​

I think this same thing - "Why do I need ONE more hippo picture?" and then inevitably I take it anyway!

Sooooo... Maybe if we analyze and zoom in a little bit...

Ahhh, see there ya go... He was right all along...

​

That IS funny!

So cute... He thinks he's hiding.

​

Great picture!

And I never tire of seeing Lilly.

​

I definitely have a soft spot in my heart for Lilly. She is such a cutie.

Love your B-day T!

Really funny update. Worth risking running late for work this morning!

 

[JulieODC]

Aren't the gorillas amazing?? We loved seeing them on our last trip -- they were really "hamming it up" for the crowd!

Sad, sad news that EE was closed!

Santa Goofy is so fun!

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your AK day!

 

[Credit Man]

Love the cheetah photo. Did you get orange dust on your shutter button?

 

[missangelalexis]

The birthday shirt looks great!

LOL "Under Those Trees", so helpful!

Love the photos in front of EE! Stinks that it was down though.

Yay Santa Goofy & Pluto!! Great pics with them

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Wow!! They have made HUGE progress on FOTLK!! Back in August, I remember seeing the walls up but not seeing anything else.

I always LOVE when I can help folks out with their touring questions!!

Headless giraffes!! Good thing he found himself again.

That area for meeting in Dinoland was one of my "not so well-known" favorite spots for greeting. The lines there were always so much shorter than other park spots.

"Those" people with the IPads drive me . The worst!! I guess they just don't care that they are blocking someone's entire view behind them. I have enough trouble with my vertically challenged self as it is without being further inhibited by an 8x10 (or maybe 11x14) sized video wall in front of my face. Thank you. I feel better now for venting!

 

[Teresa Pitman]

AK is my favourite park so I am especially enjoying this last installment. I saw Lilly when she was less than two weeks old - she was so adorable. I have so many photos of her over the years! It's been fun watching her grow up.

And the cheetah photo is perfect!

I don't comment often but I'm reading along and loving it.

TP

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I could see vague Disney touring advice becoming a meme:

"If you look to the left you will see the cheetah under those trees"

"Just go past Spaceship Earth and you will get to the Norway Pavilion."

"Oh, sorry Anna and Elsa moved .... you can find them in one of the other parks"

"The 3 O'clock parade will start exactly this afternoon"

"Why yes you can meet Mickey Mouse ... I'd say checking either in Disney World or Disney Land would be most efficient"

"Disney IT will get right on fixing that"

 

[teekathepony]

I'm impressed by your endless energy. Late nights AND early mornings?

Were they not aware of the pending Avatar construction and also how was that even possible?

Oh how I wish I too could live in such a state of ignorant bliss...

Just once I'd like to see one of them jump into their tutu and dance ala Fantasia.

I'd pay extra to see that.

“… And to your left you will see the cheetah under those trees.”
Sooooo... Maybe if we analyze and zoom in a little bit...

Ahhh, see there ya go... He was right all along...
… And now I have the muchies.

All it takes is a little bit of zoom. It's pretty obvious really. (And why would you post something like that when I have absolutely no fake cheese snack foods in my house!? )

EE was down too? Yikes, that does call into question maintenance practices.

SANTA GOOFY! He's so cute! I didn't know he meets in Dinoland! And Pluto too, how adorable. Love the PP pics!

I get the biggest kick out of the tablets as cameras. I mean, my mom uses her iPad mini to take pictures sometimes because it's 1000x better than her p&s camera, so I guess in a way I get it, but even still. She gets all self conscious when she does. And it's pretty inconvenient to carry them around everywhere!

 

[Pluto0809]

I have actually seen the hippos out of the water but it's not much more of a thrill then when they are in the water. I think they mostly sleep all day!

LOL on the Cheetahs and your "lazy" tour guide. Most of them will at least make an effort to tell you which tree they are under even though they are still hard to spot.

That sucks that EE was down, hopefully it was back up later in the day for you.

That Pluto/Goofy meet and greet is my favorite place to meet my favorite guy! I love that the line is shaded and even in your "crowded" picture it was still probably only a 15 minute wait. And bonus that they are in their Christmas costumes!

 

[JessM]

You have to take all the same animals pictures you take every time because the guide says at the beginning to have those cameras ready, wouldn't want to not follow the rules

Headless giraffe too cute!

Haha cheetah somewhere, too funny but so true with most of those guides!

Boo for Everest being down : (

Ahh Santa Goofy! So awesome and I love your strategy

 

[courtneybelle]

I mean, in the couple's defense, I'd be much happier if I didn't know that Avatarland was a thing. But that's for another day.

at the cheetah under the trees. Can't believe I missed him the first time.

SANTA GOOFY!!! He's the best.

I saw a TON of iPad photographers when I was in Italy. I thought it might just be a Disney thing but apparently it's worldwide.

 

[natebenma]

Mary Ellen beat me to the exact two comments I was going to make-

Love the "hiding" gorilla picture and

Hilarious Cheetah photo!

The guide must have assumed everyone would see the cheetah since it is always spotted!

But Giraffes are just necessary, especially headless Giraffes.

Oh… never mind.

That's not a headless giraffe... he is just doing an ostrich impression.


That's all I got!

 

[khaleesi]

Chester Cheetah

Awwww I love Santa Goofy!! Wonder why he wasn't out in February? Ha.

Isn't funny how some things you just take the same picture of over and over again? I tried so hard not to do that this time. I have at least five different (and yet, somehow, the same) pictures of the elephant from the Jungle Cruise.

 

[ElenaJane]

Now I am just going to be disappointed if I don't see Chester on the safari! I have seen so many TR with AK Safari pictures (mine included), but Chester under the trees, hands down is my favorite.

What a great pic with Goofy and Pluto! One dog and one "dog"? I'm still not sure Goofy counts as dog, but I'm not a vet.

Can't wait to keep reading!