It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Needs An Eyepatch - A Dec TR Complete 8/31

[DonnaBeeGood]

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[GoofyFan1515]

Welcome Back!

A little late to the party but just saw the link. Joining in. ....will try to get caught up tonight. Always fun reading your reports. .....but I'm sort of doubting the comment about you and your Mom being so different from your brothers when it comes to craziness.....

 

[sdoll]

How did your brother end up with a Toledo Zoo Shirt? I am from Toledo find it neat that our friends from the north are wearing a shirt from Toledo.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

It's great that you had such a great interaction! Hahaha, I can just picture myself and DH kind of bashfully standing there, too shy to say anything. Shameful, really, those poor characters that would wonder if we spoke a different language probably!

I get like that sometimes as well. I find it harder to interact with the face characters because they can talk to you whereas the others like mickey and minnie it is all gestures. I wish I was more like my brothers as they always seem to come up with something funny to say or do with the characters.

I'm sort of doubting the comment about you and your Mom being so different from your brothers when it comes to craziness.....

We are our own type of crazy.

How did your brother end up with a Toledo Zoo Shirt? I am from Toledo find it neat that our friends from the north are wearing a shirt from Toledo.

Our Mom is actually originally from Toledo and we go down every year to visit our family. Sometimes those trips include a trip to the zoo. It's a great zoo. I love all the traditional zoo style buildings and visiting the polar bear cubs and baby Lucas as well.

 

[Steppesister]

LOVE this picture!!! Nice job.

One of the best character interactions we have had. Not just on this trip but out of all of our trips.

How fun is that!?! There are a handful that I remember as well. The unique ones do stand out and are fun to look back on. Glad you got some fun photos of it!

 

[GoofyFan1515]

I do believe I am numero UNO!!

You'll always be numero DOS to me Rosie..........

All caught up Lessa. Quite the start to your trip with the detour and trying to get all checked in and make your flight on time. What a different TR so far for you guys. The boys aren't into cutting their typical dashing pose for the camera, Beth in the pool of all things, and then Lessa flashing the masses! Wasn't expecting to find any of THAT in this TR............

I just love staying at AK, but your troubles with the back side of wate............uh, the parking lot is the reason I love staying at Kidani the best. Parking right under the resort and just hop on an elevator to make it up to your floor somewhere pretty close to your room. Looks like some yummy food and treats at DTD/DS. BTW, there is a great Super Target not very far from AKL on West Irlo Bronson. Quick cut through at the light after you leave AKL, then right on WIB........you can actually see the resort over the trees on the way there......maybe a mile away once you get on WIB???

After breakfast I decided to go watch the animals a bit more. When I had left the balcony earlier I had left the door open. Well, I guess Mom decided to close it and I didn't notice because, BAM! I walked right into the glass sliding door. Alek and Erich got a really good laugh out of that.

Sorry, I had to laugh at this...........too funny.

We got to see the baby giraffes, they were adorable! Our guide told us about the father who came to AK 2 years ago and has had seven kids so far "He really likes it here!".

You think???

Some wonderful pictures at AK, and it's great that for the most part the boys started getting into it a little more while they were there. You really hit the mother lode on the Safari.........cooler weather is a great time for getting some great Lion pictures. And the solo pictures of Beth should work really well on her Dating page.............great job Beth! Looking really good Don't worry about letting down some during your trip and over the holidays. It never hurts to relax and enjoy a bit when you just get back on the plan after. Best of luck with the rest of the weight you are trying to lose.........you can do it!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

LOVE this picture!!! Nice job.

Thank you. Can't take credit though, that is one of Erich's.

How fun is that!?! There are a handful that I remember as well. The unique ones do stand out and are fun to look back on.

I loved that the character handlers and photographer were into it as well. It was clear that they enjoyed their job and that makes all the difference.

What a different TR so far for you guys. The boys aren't into cutting their typical dashing pose for the camera,

Yes, I would definitely say this whole trip was a bit different for us. I think you will see the difference throughout the TR. Not that we didn't have fun but things were different. Not going to get too into that now though, you will just have to see how things play out.

Beth in the pool of all things

Tis a rare sight indeed.

Lessa flashing the masses!

Unfortunately this happens far too often.

there is a great Super Target not very far from AKL on West Irlo Bronson

I think this may be the Target we found eventually. Of course we took the long way to it...

 

[disneyguy4life]

You know I have never walked the trails. After seeing some of your pics I'll put it on my AK to do list. Great TR so far.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

You know I have never walked the trails. After seeing some of your pics I'll put it on my AK to do list. Great TR so far.

I truly hope that you get to do the trails on your next trip. I believe you will find it well worth your time!

 

[Stretchy Shorts]

Best part of AKL is the amount of walking you get in. Just don't forget anything in the room! Been there, done that! We're trying Kidani for the first time in Oct.

One trick I learned over the years is taking my rollerboard carry-on with me when I go grocery shopping so I can jam everything in it and easily haul them the 3 miles to the room.

Seems out of character that you're done with the hillbilly ride photos LOL! Of course, we still do them! I figured your brothers would be all over that still!

AK has the best photo ops! Love seeing those pics!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Best part of AKL is the amount of walking you get in. Just don't forget anything in the room! Been there, done that!

Luckily that didn't happen to us! I don't mind a bit of walking as it is what I expected but the additional walking due to the lack of parking was just annoying.

Seems out of character that you're done with the hillbilly ride photos LOL!

I know, so many things were done differently on this trip.

 

[hokieinpa]

I love the pictures from the jungle trek - those prayer flags are always so pretty!

And what a fun meet with Mickey and Minnie! It sounds hilarious! And I love the Christmas outfits!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I get like that sometimes as well. I find it harder to interact with the face characters because they can talk to you whereas the others like mickey and minnie it is all gestures. I wish I was more like my brothers as they always seem to come up with something funny to say or do with the characters.

that reminds me of the time I told Donald he was my favorite and I could almost feel that the person was more into posing with me in a way.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I love the pictures from the jungle trek - those prayer flags are always so pretty!

I also love the prayer flags. Hopefully one day I get to travel to Nepal and see the real thing in person.

that reminds me of the time I told Donald he was my favorite and I could almost feel that the person was more into posing with me in a way.

Yep! It is also really funny when you are with a group of characters and you tell one of them they are the favourite. The reactions of the others is always priceless.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Pumped after our fabulous character encounter with Mickey and Minnie we were ready to push through a few more park hours.



The timing was right for us to see Flights of Wonder as it was due to start just a few minutes after we left the Outpost.



The show was entertaining but not as funny as when we saw it a few years ago. Perhaps because we knew all the jokes? I definitely think it is worth a visit if you have never been and are not afraid of birds flying around you.



We wandered back over to Discovery Island where I checked out the gift shops for the green holiday Minnie ears, no luck. Boo!



I saw on the MDE app that Tarzan was out for pictures. We have never seen him before so I told Alek and Erich that I was going to go over and get in line. It was a really short line so we got to see him quickly. Sadly, there was no photopass photographer. Oh well.



Now, funny little story. One of my co-workers who is about Mom’s age is always asking me if I have found a boyfriend yet. She firmly believes that I will find somebody. Well, when I got back from vacation I led her to believe I had met somebody on vacation. I told her about this "really hot guy" that I met and how he “really loved my hair, thought it was my best feature, couldn't keep his hands off it". She totally bought it and thought that I had seriously met a romantic interest on my Disney World vacation. She then asked if I had a photo with him so I pulled out my phone and showed her my picture with Tarzan. Hahaha. She was so disappointed that I was not serious but everybody else who was in on the joke thought it was hilarious.




Mom and the boys also got their pictures taken with him.






While in front of the Tree of Life we had to stop for another Photopass photo...







I suggested that since we still had lots of park time that we check out It's Tough To Be A Bug. We hadn't seen this show since 2007 so why not? Well, after seeing the show I remembered why we hadn't wasted our time on previous trips. a total snooze. The only reason to go see this show is for the queue that takes you around and into the Tree of Life.



One kid got so scared during the show that she started screaming and crying so one of the parents had to hurry her out through the exit. That was the most exciting part of the show...







It still wasn't time for our Dinosaur fastpass but we decided to wander over and just get in the standby line which was showing as 20 minutes. It was practically a walk on.



I enjoyed the ride as always and none of us bonked our heads as has happened in the past so that was a bonus!



I did tap my Magic Band to get our ride photo but I'm not going to post it as it is unremarkable.



We were now pretty much done with Animal Kingdom but we got detoured by some more characters. Donald was out in his "holiday" outfit. it was basically a red striped tie and holly added to his hat. The rest was his normal safari outfit.



Goofy was also meeting in the area so while we waited for Donald Erich went around the corner to check out the line for Goofy. He said it didn't look too long so we decided to try and get in that line after Donald. Our timing was pretty good as Donald's line got cut off shortly after we joined in.









After Donald it was around the corner for Santa Goofy and Pluto. I think we waited about 20-30 minutes for these guys but we didn't have anything else left to do in the park so it was not a big deal. We were also lucky with our timing here as the line also got cut off shortly after we joined it. It was getting pretty close to park closing time.















Before this trip I had been led to believe that Santa Goofy was a rare photo op. Apparently that is not true. He was out at AK, DHS, MK during the Christmas Party and he also appears at Minnie's Holiday Dine.



Both Donald and Goofy/Pluto meets were unremarkable after our fun Mickey and Minnie meet earlier but I was happy to have gotten so many characters that day in "Christmas" outfits.



After that we were done and good thing we were as the park was closing.






We grabbed another photo is front of the Christmas Tree and then got on the bus and headed back to the resort.





Instead of heading back to the room we went to the car and went in search of Target and a place for dinner. We ended up finding a Super Target with an Olive Garden next to it so that is where we stopped for dinner. We don't have Olive Garden in Canada so we always enjoy a meal here when in the States. I just love the Chicken Gnocchi soup!



The purpose of the Target trip was to check out the DVDs for good deals and Alek and Erich were in search of a particular chocolate bar for a friend back home.



No good DVD deals to be found and Target didn't have the chocolate bars. Oh well. There was a Dollar Store next to Target and the boys checked it out and found what they were looking for so the trip was not a total loss.



We made it back to the hotel just after 8pm. We were disappointed it wasn't a bit earlier as we had hoped to catch Once Upon A Time. As we later found out we could have watched it anyways as it was delayed half an hour due to a presidential address.



Since we weren't watching our show I decided to go wander around the gift shop. I ended up getting a pair of sandals with a subtle Mickey design. I wore them the next day. Was a big rookie mistake...



I also stopped for a photopass photo at the tree in the lobby.



Back in the room I relaxed in bed and checked out our photopass photos for the day and shared some photos from my phone on Facebook and checked my email. The wifi worked really well, I was impressed. We were all pretty wiped and it was early to bed that night.

 

[cajunfan]

Your family looks like so much fun! Great pictures!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

Loved the Tarzan story.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Loved the Tarzan story.

Hi Shannon!!!! So did I!! I would LOVE to meet him!!!!!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Your family looks like so much fun! Great pictures!

Thanks! We definitely have fun traveling together, most of the time!

Loved the Tarzan story.

Hi Shannon!!!! So did I!! I would LOVE to meet him!!!!!

Funnily enough at work a few days ago we were all laughing again at my little Tarzan joke.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

The show was entertaining but not as funny as when we saw it a few years ago. Perhaps because we knew all the jokes?

Went recently again..........yes, having the same skiddish "tour guide" and the same jokes, I agree it could use an update on the story. Still, there were some new bird tricks that were pretty good.

Now, funny little story. One of my co-workers who is about Mom’s age is always asking me if I have found a boyfriend yet. She firmly believes that I will find somebody. Well, when I got back from vacation I led her to believe I had met somebody on vacation. I told her about this "really hot guy" that I met and how he “really loved my hair, thought it was my best feature, couldn't keep his hands off it". She totally bought it and thought that I had seriously met a romantic interest on my Disney World vacation. She then asked if I had a photo with him so I pulled out my phone and showed her my picture with Tarzan. Hahaha. She was so disappointed that I was not serious but everybody else who was in on the joke thought it was hilarious.

Nice.............

After Donald it was around the corner for Santa Goofy and Pluto. I think we waited about 20-30 minutes for these guys

Goofy is ALWAYS worth the wait.........

I also stopped for a photopass photo at the tree in the lobby.

Very Nice!