GREEN APPLE. A November Anniversary TR with too many photos! *update 12/19*

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I'm here!!!! Hahaha I had trouble coming up with a TR title this time around too!!! Sometimes a lollipop is the perfect answer!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Originally Posted by Stringbean&Wingnut

I'm here!!!! Hahaha I had trouble coming up with a TR title this time around too!!! Sometimes a lollipop is the perfect answer!

Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Yay! I'm glad you are here! Hey, if it weren't for you and your TR, I wouldn't know what an Aglet is!

[Victoriasmom98]

MORE, MORE, MORE!!!! I wanna read it now!! I am loving this so far. Your picture from the plane when you are about to land is my favorite so far. Love it!!!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Who wants to play a game?!? I was going to wait to play this until farther along in the TR, but I realized that those of you who are friends with me on FB will be able to cheat in a bit here when all my photos are uploaded! (they are uploading now! Don't go look yet!)

So, Rey and I went on very few rides. I would have you guess that number, but it's so low, that's no fun! Instead, I'm going to have you guess which rides we rode! We only rode 3 rides the whole trip!!!!!! In order to be fair to those of you that don't know, Rey has a back inury, so no rollercoasters...

I will say that he proved to me that you can go to Disney and not go on tons of rides to have a fabulous time!

[SeptemberGirl]

Originally Posted by Twoboysnmygirl

I will be watching the DIS to see what people thought about how tourism was affected that week b/c we really loved the weather and the dates worked well for us...so maybe another trip in the future!

I just cannot imagine and wish that people would not forget so easily after a tragedy like this. I think most people think that everything is fine and back to normal in Jersey already.

PLEASE tell me, because I would love to go away that week - and since my kid in not in public school, I could leave her and go with N!

You are so right. People think it's over. It's not, and it's nowhere close to normal. I'm shocked by how few people on FB even commented or noticed - I figured my friends out of state might have a vested interest because they spent so much time here with me...

Look at St Louis. The airport - high priority - isn't "back".

Okay, off my soapbox! Back to you!!!!

That 4am lobby shot is gorgeous! I personally love the travel part of TRs. I like to see airports and hear about food. Those are the moments you are so careful and waiting and organized. I love those first moments of a trip. You are ON. Your notebook is still out! You analyze your travel companions moves! You are still dreaming of your vacation.

Plus the first monorail is just so exciting!

Hmm, well you went on the TTA. Does that count? And Small World. Because I think Rey is whimsical. And let's say Philharmagic.

Now I have to go check the pics on FB!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Originally Posted by SeptemberGirl

That 4am lobby shot is gorgeous! I personally love the travel part of TRs. I like to see airports and hear about food. Those are the moments you are so careful and waiting and organized. I love those first moments of a trip. You are ON. Your notebook is still out! You analyze your travel companions moves! You are still dreaming of your vacation.

Plus the first monorail is just so exciting!

Hmm, well you went on the TTA. Does that count? And Small World. Because I think Rey is whimsical. And let's say Philharmagic.

Now I have to go check the pics on FB!

You described that before-trip feeling perfectly!!! I noticed that the flights didn't seem long either on the way there, but on the way back they dragged on forever!

The pics on FB are taking a bit. Who knew that 383 photos took a while to upload? AND, it threw out an error at 230, told me I couldn't upload more than that at a time. Doesn't FB understand me?!?!

[SeptemberGirl]

Originally Posted by Twoboysnmygirl

You described that before-trip feeling perfectly!!! I noticed that the flights didn't seem long either on the way there, but on the way back they dragged on forever!

The pics on FB are taking a bit. Who knew that 383 photos took a while to upload? AND, it threw out an error at 230, told me I couldn't upload more than that at a time. Doesn't FB understand me?!?!

Silly FB!

[Victoriasmom98]

Ok, I'll try to play along.......DUMBO, PEOPLE MOVER and Philharmagic! And I'm going over to FB now.......

[MissPrice]

My guess: People Mover, Peter Pan, and SSE???

[-Hope-]

Uhhh... I looked at FB before I saw the challenge... pretty sure I would have guessed anyway though so it's probably more fair that I didn't play along.

I am in love with your pics and also how you guys are off to such a fun start- I love the little moments when Robbie and I are on a trip alone. When we're just relaxed and anticipating our time together, joking around with each other, etc.

[RachelNinja]

FABULOUS photos! I have to show that AKL shot to my husband. We stayed there renting points in May for our honeymoon. Hubby is still in the beginning stages of taking pics with his DSLR since he really only uses it consistently during Disney. Over the past couple of trips though, I have seen his pics get better! But of course, most Disney photos are just AWESOME!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Originally Posted by SeptemberGirl

Hmm, well you went on the TTA. Does that count? And Small World. Because I think Rey is whimsical. And let's say Philharmagic.

Originally Posted by Victoriasmom98

Ok, I'll try to play along.......DUMBO, PEOPLE MOVER and Philharmagic! And I'm going over to FB now.......

Originally Posted by MissPrice

My guess: People Mover, Peter Pan, and SSE???

You are going to keep guessing, you all only guessed the easy one b/c of my picture! Peter Pan was a good guess b/c it's really my favorite, BUT...we didn't ride it (walked right by with a 5 minute wait, if you can believe that!) mostly because I get really teary on it and I knew I would get upset riding it without Savannah.

Originally Posted by -Hope-

Uhhh... I looked at FB before I saw the challenge... pretty sure I would have guessed anyway though so it's probably more fair that I didn't play along.

I am in love with your pics and also how you guys are off to such a fun start- I love the little moments when Robbie and I are on a trip alone. When we're just relaxed and anticipating our time together, joking around with each other, etc.

Originally Posted by RachelNinja

FABULOUS photos! I have to show that AKL shot to my husband. We stayed there renting points in May for our honeymoon. Hubby is still in the beginning stages of taking pics with his DSLR since he really only uses it consistently during Disney. Over the past couple of trips though, I have seen his pics get better! But of course, most Disney photos are just AWESOME!

We rented points as well, and I believe we will again in the future too. We loved it so much! Disney is so much fun to shoot at! So many colors and things to capture! I will say though, it's hard to concentrate on my photography when I'm trying to enjoy so many other things!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

So, we were on ME and headed to my Happy Place! I got a wide angle shot of us arriving, but you end up seeing more of the bus than the sign with this lens! (I learned pretty fast that this lens had a pretty big learning curve)



We had a few stops first, but we were so excited, it actually added to the fun to see some of the other resorts. We went to AoA first, sorry, I didn't take any photos, I was slightly putoff by the lens at this point and just wanting to soak up Disney. AoA is just as impressive as the photos I have seen...maybe even more so. Something I knew but didn't register until I saw it was the size. It's MASSIVE. It really blew me away how large it was.

After that we headed to PoP! Yay! This is where we have stayed both times onsite, so it was like seeing home. As we turned onto PoP's drive, I looked to the right b/c it looked a little different and realized that the building right there was NOT part of PoP, but the Little Mermaid section of AoA!! I cannot convey to you how FAR the LM section looks from the main entrance of AoA! Wow! It actually had me changing some of my plans for our mother/daughter trip in February (more on that later).

Caribbean Beach was last, I had never been there, so that was nice! I took a shot of us and the only other family left on the bus who were also headed to AKL! Kinda cool having ME all to ourselves.



We arrived at AKL and were Welcomed Home! I had been there before to eat at Boma a couple times, so I knew what to expect, but it's still just breathtaking. Here's a lobby shot NOT taken at 4am but when we arrived!

(OK, bizarre, but I've uploaded this shot of the lobby twice and it still will not show up...or at least I cannot see it?? Strange!)



We checked in and headed to our room, which was off of the right hand wing, in the Uzima Savanna. The view from our balcony was breathtaking, I didn't think I would be that impressed with a savanna view, but I was. (more on that later and more shots of the room) AND, I could see EE!!! My all time favorite ride ever! It was nice to at least get to see it since we were skipping AK park all together on this trip!



We had an ADR for 2:45 and it was already 2:45, so I put on my new dress and we headed downstairs to catch a shuttle. Waiting for the shuttle...to Kidani Village! Our ADR was for Sanaa.



It took a little bit for the shuttle, but the weather was fantastic and I was so relaxed and happy! Rey was worried about being 15 minutes late, but I wasn't. It was 3 in the afternoon! That paid off too b/c there was only 1 other family in the whole restaurant! We had the place to ourselves!!! Of course this is exciting b/c it was like a little oasis and relaxation and romance...but people...it also means great photo opportunities!











The view from our table:






Almost at my limit of shots for the post, so I will leave you with the first thing we ordered. Drinks naturally! Rey got some African beer and I got a African Mango Margarita. This this was the best drink I have had in a long time, maybe ever! SO GOOD! We enjoyed our drinks and our private restaurant while we decided what to order!




Up next...FOOD!!!!!!! Oh yes, I took food pics on this trip, who do you think you're dealing with here?!?!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Are my pictures too big? They look HUGE (like take up nearly my whole monitor) when I'm on the page. I'm not sure why they are so big, probably b/c they are big files, but if people are having trouble with them, I might be able to resize.

[Twoboysnmygirl]

You thought I was going to leave you hanging for another day for that food, didn't ya. I would never do that! (that's a lie)

I knew I wanted the bread service, I had heard so much about it! It was hard choosing three from the list of breads and chutney/spreads they had. I may need to go look at the list to see what we got??? One was cucumber, one was the garlic/pickle and the last was a coriander chutney. We got 2 different kind of naan breads and some onion bread? Oh.my.word. Soooo good! Rey liked the cucumber the best, I loved the cucumber and the garlic/dill. With that, we got the appetizer trio. Cauliflower, lamb, and pea/potato samosas.



Well, I didn't eat the lamb, Rey did, and he said it was good. I don't think he really cares for lamb. The cauliflower and samosas were so good...and spicy! Yum! Rey LOVED the samosa.

We ordered the trios for dinner. He thought the Butter Chicken sounded plain, but I insisted he get it, telling him I was told it was fantastic and not just butter and chicken! He also got some spicy shrimp thing and then the rice that comes with it. I got the vegetarian sampler. I picked the paneer and a spicy chickpea/potato dish to go with my rice. It was superb! I love the spices in Indian food, so this was right up my alley!

Mine:


Rey's:


He LOVED the butter chicken. LOVED it. Score one for the wife who knows her stuff!


Such a wonderful meal to start out trip! I just soaked it in, it really didn't seem quite real. I got up to take some shots of the animals walking around outside, mainly this bird that came up to the window and was making all kinds of noise and puffing out his puffer thing! It was then that I realized I had made a very grave mistake...I forgot my zoom lens. I just was not thinking, focused on having this new rental lens and my prime lens. I really regretted it, the shots I could have gotten of the animals from our balcony make me want to cry...but, these things happen and I just had to let it go. So, I got right up in the window in this guys face, it's the closest animal shot I got the whole trip since I didn't have my zoom!



I did get plenty of shots of wide angle views of the animals though! I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. I thought it might be more "zoo like" and I really don't love zoos, where animals are just pent up in small areas. This felt like I was really getting to see them free and in their own space. Like a fly on the wall, watching them in their natural habitat. I LOVED it! I know this sounds silly, but I've never really had a favorite animal, I love them all...this trip, at nearly 40, I finally have a favorite! Giraffes! I know, I'm a dork, that makes me feel like I'm 7.







Edited to add: We did not get dessert, we were stuffed! Here is the price breakdown for those interested.
Kingfisher beer 7.25
Slow cooked (Rey's) 21.49

Margarita Malawi Mango 9.75
Veg Sampler 14.99

Appetizers:
App for two 14.99
Bread service 8.99

Subtotal: 77.46
tax: 5.04
Total: 82.50
Tip: 17.50

Grand Total: $100.00

I think it was worth it and more!



Next up: after our fantastic dinner, we headed out to the viewing area, back to the room for a little bit (I had to change into another dress! LOL), and then to DTD for the evening!