How Do You Think We Stay So Happy?*Final Thoughts & Farewells* 10/7 p100

[MEK]

Welcome Back Tanz - I can't wait to hear all about your trip!

I am going to do replies tomorrow. I hope no one minds. Nick had a soccer game tonight and by the time we got home and ate and cleaned up, well you know how that goes.

Anyway ....I am going to do a little of Day 5 review here in a sec.

[MEK]

Day 5 Review

We woke and had coffee on the balcony with this view:



Then beat rope drop at AK



Walking into AK before the crowds was certainly special



It was now time for....



Our fearless leaders



Our gear





Backstage with the hippos





Holy Toledo



Time to cross some bridges



I said cross bridges, not model in front of the bridge




There she goes







Gator time





Elephant in the mud



Break time





Food time







Pride Rock



Pretty scene at the end of the tour



and with that I am so darn tired I am going to quit here for the night and resume tomorrow. Sorry!

[MEK]

So Here I am 24 hours later and I basically can continue right where I left off. I promise, I really WILL get to replies. Busy day at work and planning meeting (if you want to call it that) for the HHI trip.

So without any further adieu - here is the rest of Day 5

Last night I was so tired I forgot to post the......Bathroom!





OK.....moving on!

Bye Lonnie.....



You were an ace!!!!!!

Next stop....Dawa Bar



Cheers




I sort of crashed after that. Weird. I put away the camera until we got here.



I spy a FP return time of 2pm



We literally spent 5 mins in the queue



Wow - found this guy in the dump shop



Love the electrical wiring in the dump shop



One of my favorite AK things



After AK it was time for blender drinks - a can in a can in a can (thanks Happy Dog)







Next stop ....Victoria Falls





I had a little free time to go out and take some pics







Back inside the Lodge

Dinner at......



My Happy Birthday card



But, more importantly, my wine



A view from the table



Yum Yum





Continued.......

[MEK]

Continued......











Happy Birthday



The pool at night





a few final pictures in the lodge

[Queenofallthings]

What a wonderful time you all had! That lunch in France....that sandwich...I must have lunch there the next time we go!!

[wigdoutdismom]

How ever did you bring yourself to cut that cake? It's wonderful!

Those pictures have totally sold me on Jiko! We must try it next June!

[MEK]

Originally Posted by Mndisneygirl

the wonder horn is "when you wish upon a star"

The Dream (and I presume the Fantasy) have mulitple horns that they can play. Very cool.

They think of everything, don't they? I would love to hear that. Maybe I should google it and take a listen.

Originally Posted by TanzUnited99

I have just been catching up on the ending of your TR and loved the way you finished it. What great pictures of Epcot and MK! I'm missing all the parks so your pictures are making it a bit easy for me.

Missing the parks already????? Oh No! I hope you had a wonderful trip and I am really looking forward to hearing all about it!

Originally Posted by TanzUnited99

Oh no on being on Soarin with all those boys - am glad you told them to pipe down.

Yeah - that was an enjoyable experience.........NOT!

Originally Posted by TanzUnited99

Love the VN pics (made me laugh!) and the souveniers

I still think its funny that I took that many pictures of the waiters. Apparently I couldn't stop. They were really cute. What can I say?

Originally Posted by Wicket's Mom

A drink would have been a good thing to have while I was saving the world with Kim! It was sooo hot when my DH & I did them! :

I think an adult beverage is probably a prerequisite for a KP mission. You know, not that I'm an expert and all haing tried them both ways!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Wicket's Mom

Yeah I got Mr. Resister to do two missions with me!

Now - that is impressive! What did he think?????

Originally Posted by tinacaplan

That pic of Spaceship Earth in your most recent post is absolutely post card worthy. Just gorgeous.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by tinacaplan

As for Mr. Max, I wanted to surprise and at least wait until Christmas but someone (ME!) is horrible about keeping secrets and NOT talking about Disney.

I know, Tina, I am terrible with secrets too. When my kids were younger it never even occurred to me to surprise them. I remember one trip when I was literally jumping up and down with excitement when we decided to go. My oldest son was completely shocked that I got so over the top about it. You can see I probably could never keep a secret like that.

Originally Posted by Queenofallthings

What a wonderful time you all had! That lunch in France....that sandwich...I must have lunch there the next time we go!!

That sandwich was seriously amazing! The best part was it doubled as my breakfast the next day. It was way to big to eat the whole thing (especially after the french onion soup).

Originally Posted by wigdoutdismom

How ever did you bring yourself to cut that cake? It's wonderful!

It seriously was not easy to cut that cake. That's probably why I took about 50 pictures of it before I did. The worst part was that we couldn't finish it. It was so delish and I took small pieces of it all week, but we were just too full to eat it all.

Originally Posted by wigdoutdismom

Those pictures have totally sold me on Jiko! We must try it next June!

I'm surprised you have never been there. I would love to take Denny there. Maybe we can meet there for dinner before during your pre cruise stay!

[MEK]

Day 6 in Review

Day 6 was DHS day and I started my day here





I didn't waste any time riding RnR and then heading over to a class at the animation studios

Mine



The Instructors


I tried to do the Backlot tour, but they were only running at 1/2 capacity, so I abandoned the queue



Instead I took pictures of the Streets of America











I was going for the "artsy" shots at another famous Hollywood landmark





I ended up in one of my favorite, hidden gem, attractions









But my time was cut abruptly short when I found I had filled up my memory card.

New memory card in camera, I had just enough time to watch the steetmosphere performers before my lunch ADR



Next stop - HBD




where some of us flew the friendly skies



and some of us drank conundrum (which I shockingly do not have a picture of), all served up efficiently by my favorite server of the trip

Drum Roll Please.....the man that made this trip report title happen




Lunch was amazing.......


YUM



Double Yum



Triple Yum



Bye BD. I will be back



Continued......

[MEK]

Continued......

A Post Lunch PP Pic



Before a trip here







Where Cynthia kicked my butt



Bye Boo....See ya next trip





Bye HS. I actually can't wait to see you in December so I can ride Star Wars!!!



I exited the friendship boat early so I could take some more pics



























The day concluded here



with one of these



one of these



and some of this

[Queenofallthings]

Alright, it's done, you've completely and totally convinced me to add Brown Derby as our "never done this restaurant before" to our next trip! The food looks amazing!

The Ditch a jalapeno margaritaand good friendsdoesn't get any better than that does it!

[TanzUnited99]

Loving the reviews Mary Ellen! The bike in AK was one of Zaheer's favourite things as well - I have a pic of it coming up in my next update.

I've said this before but I love your pics of the Epcot resorts and then the flowers - they are beautiful!

Originally Posted by MEK

Missing the parks already????? Oh No! I hope you had a wonderful trip and I am really looking forward to hearing all about it!

I had a wonderful trip thanks and have already been on the Disney website to get quotes for a possible future trip!

[MEK]

Originally Posted by Queenofallthings

Alright, it's done, you've completely and totally convinced me to add Brown Derby as our "never done this restaurant before" to our next trip! The food looks amazing!

I think my BD meal was probably my favorite this trip. Everything was absolute perfect. It was my favorite foods all combined into one. If you haven't eaten there, you must. It's definitely a keeper!

Originally Posted by Queenofallthings

The Ditch a jalapeno margaritaand good friendsdoesn't get any better than that does it!

So true. So True!

Originally Posted by TanzUnited99

Loving the reviews Mary Ellen! The bike in AK was one of Zaheer's favourite things as well - I have a pic of it coming up in my next update.

Isn't that bike so cool. Such awesome theming. I absolutely love the AK for that reason and the bikes and the surreys are also some of my favorite things there.

Originally Posted by TanzUnited99

I've said this before but I love your pics of the Epcot resorts and then the flowers - they are beautiful!

Thank you!

Originally Posted by TanzUnited99

I had a wonderful trip thanks and have already been on the Disney website to get quotes for a possible future trip!

I love it!!!!!! That's the only cure for the post Disney blues. Start planning a trip ASAP!!!! It's essential.

[MEK]

Day 7 in Review and Trip Firsts

I'll keep Day 7 brief since I just wrote about it.

Rope Drop





soarin X 2



Living with the Land





Nemo






Underwater fun





Innoventions



Fairies









O Canada - The Movie and the Gardens





Good Bye Slushie Stand



Good Bye Spaceship Earth



Hello Italy



Hello Hottie



Hello Yummy Food





Hello Other Hottie



Happy Birthday to Me



Good Bye Beach Club



Good Bye Disney World until we meet again

Continued........

[MEK]

If you've read any of my other TR's you might remember that I always like to mention my "TRIP FIRSTS". It's my opinion that there is always something new and enjoyable to discover at Disney world, no matter how many times you visit.


General Firsts:

Well my first "first" is probably the most obvious. Although I have gone on "girlfriend" trips before, this was the first trip where all my travel companions were friends that I met right here on the DIS boards. So, without this wonderful community of crazed Disney aficionados, I would never have met my wonderful travel companions.

Thank You DIS!

Resorts:

I have stayed at POR before and I have always loved that resort, but the Beach Club Villas was definitely a first for me. I loved everything about it. Wonderful location, wonderful lobby, wonderful staff, cute room, wonderful pools, wonderful private Epcot entrance. What's not to love about the BC???? I can't wait until I have an opportunity to return. Perfection!

Restaurants:

I experienced many restaurant firsts this trip. So let's start from the beginning, shall we.

La Hacienda CS - I didn't love it here. My chicken tacos were not great. They weren't terrible, just "eh"

Kouzzina breakfast - technically I did eat dinner here before, but breakfast is a whole new experience where ever you go. I loved it. We all did. I loved all the choices and if I ever go back I would order what Cynthia had. Mine was a hearty meal and it lasted all day.

Reglan Road - another first, but one where I want a do-over so I can sit in the main dining room and see the entertainment. Great food. Great beer selections. Great fun!

Blue Zoo - I'm so glad we put this on our list. This was a great experience. I love signature restaurants and this certainly fit the bill. Overall a top notch dining experience and so close to home. If you are staying at the Epcot resorts, definitely put this on your list.

Chefs de France lunch - I have had dinner here, but lunch was enough of a different experience to call it a first. The price fixe meal is a great idea and an incredible lunch value. If I were to go back for lunch I would order that same sandwich. Yummy!

Tutto de Italia - Strictly speaking this was also a first because the last time I ate here it was still Alfredos. However, it might as well have been the same restaurant. It's a lovely place to eat, but my meal was somewhat forgettable. Of course, I did order fish in an italian restaurant so I can't complain. This was probably my least favorite meal of the trip, but it was still an enjoyable evening and it was lovely to walk right outside to watch Illuminations.

Jiko - what can I say???? Even though we had our least friendly server here, the food was delish and it was an overall great meal experience! The restaurant is stunning! No hesitations in going back! The sooner the better.

The Ditch - Technically I only drank here, unless you include a quick taste of C's guacamole. But I FINALLY got my first real margarita. And it definitely lied up to all the hype. I am going back here on my first day in December. No question about that!

La Hacienda - While I didn't love the CS restaurant, I did love the TS. The food and ritas were delish and watching Illuminations from a ring side seat can't be beat.

Via Napoli - What haven't I said about VN - cute waiters, beautiful surroundings, and great food. The perfect trifecta.

Attractions:

I really had to give this some thought since this trip was anything but park commando. But I managed to come up with a few things.

Epcot - well, hmmmmm - here's a stretch - how about the butterfly house and the fairies - both new for me. I never saw either in 2010. I also did the France KP mission, which was new for me.

Magic Kingdom - Does the new HM queue count? If so, I'm covered. I also consider my trip over to TSI a first, even though I visited it briefly on my very first trip to the world. This time I didn't visit the island just to kill time. I really went over there to explore and soak it all in. Does that count?

AK - The African Trek. Ok, I know its not a new attraction, but it really was a fabulous tour and I highly recommend it to anyone who can splurge and has the interest. Really well run and good food, too.

HS - I racked and racked my brains and I can't think of anything new unless you count taking pictures on the street of American. I've never taken pics back there before, so I guess that was a first.

Other Firsts:

My birthday cake......You saw it....Need I say more??????

Calling the phone booths in England. Can't wait to pull that trick on Denny and Nick.

SAB - wowsa!

A Can in a Can in a Can

I'm sure I probably missed something, but if I did I will just add it later.

Up Next - Final thoughts and a link to my new TR!

[Happydog]

I had to catch up big time, but really enjoyed seeing all the pics from your adventures and fun! The end to your Africa Trek seems so cool, and I loved that you ended at the Dawa Bar!!! LOL!!! Seems like you guys took it all in this trip! Jalepeno Margaritas??!! Hmmm.....