(Almost) Solo in May - Update 11/17 - Not sure if I'd call that Pixie Dust!

Yum! Mickey waffles. What a cool hotel! :thumbsup2 Love animal kingdom, and I love EE but I love Dinosaur the most even though I haven't been on it in years!!
 
Wowsa - AK looks really crowded, but thankfully you seem to have buzzed right through the single rider line! :cool1: I love that ride and I think I will FINALLY get a chance to ride it in the dark in December. Double..:cool1::cool1:
 
maybe everyone else decided to sleep in too? UGH on the long but wait but at least you were well fortified for it. Glad you took time to "see" the TOL, it's worth stopping and studying everytime!!!

I think the towel remark made it into the TR but at one point, I think Melissa was at the pool solo and some random dude came up to her and said

"Can I touch your towel?"

it was a contender for the TR title.

:rotfl:
 
Thats the one thing I didn't like about AS Movies, the buses. I waited a lot with them.
 


I usually don't buy much either -- but this trip I was a wild woman! :laughing: I spent WAY more than I ever have on souvenirs. In August I was looking for a bag, wanting to buy one, but couldn't find one either that I knew I would use enough. So, I completely understand! I hate to waste money, and I'm very practical on how I Disney shop as well! I am NOT their target audience. :rotfl:

I'm sure I'll have a wild, woman, shopping moment or two over the years when I'm in WDW. Just haven't had it yet. :laughing:
I'm so right there with ya on not being their target audience, my daughter on the other hand....:laughing: I think you and I would have fun shopping together, we'd want to look in shops plenty, but would encourage one another to keep moving on if we didn't find anything that would be worth having. :goodvibes


Naw, you don't sound like a snob. I completely understand on this front too. In August we stayed at Pop, then the Yacht Club (for just me), then OKW, it felt so good to finally get to OKW. I'm a VILLA snob, so even worse! :rotfl2: I liked the other resorts, but the Villa felt like home to me.

I think I might be in trouble if I'm ever able to stay in one of the villas! :laughing:
 

The palm trees were shedding during my entire visit - HUGE pieces of the trunks would be all over the resort. I had no idea palm trees even did that!



That statement takes me back to my days of living in Florida. Big chunks of palm trees on the ground. It's funny to think that people who live in the north never knew about that. I know there are things that happen up there that you guys see all the time that we would be surprised about, as well.

See? The DIS is very educational. :teacher:
 
WOW...AK looked pretty crowded! Thank goodness for that single rider EE line:goodvibes On our last trip, we had ridden EE 3 times in a row. Thats about my limit (in a row). Olivia wanted to keep riding and no one could do it with her, so I walked her right over to that single rider line and she rode a couple of more times. It moves so quickly and I can stand right there and watch her until she gets on. We took advantage of it again on our second AK day when the lines were longer for standby in the afternoon. Its a great invention;)
I am drooling right now thinking of the delicious Mickey waffle in your breakfast picture! I got those quite a few times at POP on our last trip----YUMMMMM:cloud9:
 


I didn't realize you'd started this! So happy to find it as I try to forget about a craptastic day at work and the equally craptastic one awaiting me tomorrow. :rolleyes:

I still have yet to try Chick Fil A but it's on my list. Know you love it so!

:thumbsup2 to the disco pose in the mirror... too cute.

Movies looks like a cool resort with lots of theming. The food court looks awesome.

Can't wait to hear more about this almost solo trip! popcorn::
 
One day I will try Chick-Fil-A. Ok I'm hungry now lol

I know what you mean about not sweating it. I'm so comfy by myself it's almost frightening lol
 
I think I might be in trouble if I'm ever able to stay in one of the villas! :laughing:

i think i am becomeing a Villa snob too and I haven't even stayed in one yet.:lmao:

I had a shopping "wild" moment this trip, but it was justified.:rolleyes:


That statement takes me back to my days of living in Florida. Big chunks of palm trees on the ground. It's funny to think that people who live in the north never knew about that. I know there are things that happen up there that you guys see all the time that we would be surprised about, as well.

See? The DIS is very educational. :teacher:

STuff about up north .... let me see. Kids go to school in the snow and a few days after it snows it turns black. Also depending on the place, some large areas like mall parking lots pick up thier snow and have physically put it somewhere else or melt it since it can't stay where it falls and there is not enough space to plow it all up in one big pile . :teacher:
 
i think i am becomeing a Villa snob too and I haven't even stayed in one yet.:lmao:

I had a shopping "wild" moment this trip, but it was justified.:rolleyes:




STuff about up north .... let me see. Kids go to school in the snow and a few days after it snows it turns black. Also depending on the place, some large areas like mall parking lots pick up thier snow and have physically put it somewhere else or melt it since it can't stay where it falls and there is not enough space to plow it all up in one big pile . :teacher:

Lol! They move the snow around here..sometimes you will see dump trucks just hauling snow! Malls with larger parking lots use huge loaders to move the snow around to various piles. One mall in my area even has heated sidewalks to aid in snow removal!
 
Great update, Brook. You got some great pictures of the resort!

AK did look crowded; that was the ONLY park that wasn't crowded when we were there last week. :sad2:
 
After you first sent me the link to this report from facebook, I read the first installment from my iPod but didn't come back and sub!!!
Love the shopping pics - when Mum and I went back in 2008 we did WAY too much shopping without the boys there! xxx
 
Everytime I see pictures of the value resorts, I feel like I am depriving my child of something because I don't want to stay at one. :lmao: I know he'd love the huge icons, but... well... I'm not sure I'd like a lot of the other things about them. :goodvibes Moving on... I love EE! So much fun, but don't know it will ever be as amazing as it was that very first time, when I had no idea what to expect and strongly suspected that my death might be imminent. :lmao:

Unfortunately, in July, the single line was not being used :confused3 and then I was a bit ill...so...no EE for me. And as much as I love AK, Mark isn't a huge fan and Max doesn't love live animals (other than dogs...dogs he loves) I think its the one thing we'll skip during our short trip in February.

But you're right...what a way to start the day! :thumbsup2

That is why you take a day and resort hop! :thumbsup2 Max can run around and enjoy the giant icons, you can grab lunch in the food court, and then return to the resort you prefer! We did that (at Pop) in March and it was awesome.

What in the world - no Single Rider Line in JULY?! That's crazy talk! And I hear ya about AK-same dilemma here. Though, Joe admitted AK has grown on him a bit and Henry has taken a stronger interest in live animals this past year.

We loved the suites! They were perfect for our group (DH and I took my 3 younger brothers ages 20,17,14). I wasn't a huge fan of the resort themeing (I like the giant character/movie icons like at POP) but we weren't there much at all so it didn't really matter. The room was great! Having 2 bathrooms was awesome, DH and I had our own space in the "bedroom", and the kitchenette was great just for the fridge. We always bring cereal along in our luggage. With the fridge we could buy milk in the gift shop at night and have it in the am for breakfast. We didn't really cook otherwise but we stored our snacks etc in the cabinets.
I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again if I had a large enough group. Right now it's just DH and I so we don't need all the room but eventually with kids, we'd totally stay there again.

That's great to hear!!! They looked really fantastic - the two bathrooms would be SO handy. I really look forward to seeing the AoA!

Nothing beats a Mickey waffle for breakfast!! YUMMY!!!

I love your pictures!! It looks so bright & sunny & lovely!!

I love me a Mickey Waffle! My first one was last September and now I stake out the meal that includes one. :laughing:

Yikes! AK looks :crowded: Yippee for the single riders line though!

We waited about 40 minutes in one line (later for Kali)--and I usually will NOT wait that long...but with just Sarah and I, I could handle it!

Boo for no bus mojo. I hope that isn't a trend. Wow, a packed AK it is!:scared1: I think that park is the least maneuverable when crowded. Love the single rider line at EE! DH and I did that in April and we also went twice.

I'm glad you love your job, otherwise I'd have more to do for my March 2012 trip....:rolleyes1

I agree! AK can be a nightmare when it's crowded! I really try to put that day on a low-crowds day as much as I can. The paths are narrower and there isn't much open space - it just gets nutty!

:rotfl: about loving my job!! :goodvibes

Wow. Since I saw most of these pics on FB, I'm getting a healthy dose of deja vu now that I'm reading the TR. :rotfl: Love it!

:laughing: Now you get more of the story with the pics!!

Yum! Mickey waffles. What a cool hotel! :thumbsup2 Love animal kingdom, and I love EE but I love Dinosaur the most even though I haven't been on it in years!!

I haven't been on Dinosaur in years either! It might have to make the must-do list for the next trip.

Wowsa - AK looks really crowded, but thankfully you seem to have buzzed right through the single rider line! :cool1: I love that ride and I think I will FINALLY get a chance to ride it in the dark in December. Double..:cool1::cool1:

Yes! I am thrilled they are keeping AK open a bit later again! No PM EMH, but still, I'm seeing 7 PM closings and that is GREAT! I really hope it works out for you-it's a whole different ride! And hopefully with Avatarland coming in a few years, AK will become a nigh park.

maybe everyone else decided to sleep in too? UGH on the long but wait but at least you were well fortified for it. Glad you took time to "see" the TOL, it's worth stopping and studying everytime!!!

I think the towel remark made it into the TR but at one point, I think Melissa was at the pool solo and some random dude came up to her and said

"Can I touch your towel?"

it was a contender for the TR title.

:rotfl:

CAN I TOUCH YOUR TOWEL?! Okay, that just sounds CREEEEEEEEEEEEEPY! and completely hilarious! :lmao:

Thats the one thing I didn't like about AS Movies, the buses. I waited a lot with them.

Thankfully that was my only big wait, the rest of the time it moved well! We only shared with the other All Stars once too.
 
I think I might be in trouble if I'm ever able to stay in one of the villas! :laughing:

I think we would be the perfect shopping pair! I love looking in all the shops, but it's rare that something (for me) comes out. I'd love to do WoD without a child...though Joe usually does take H so I can get things done that I need to (for clients, friends, DISers, etc.), but even still-I feel pressured to shop quickly!

The Villas are incredible. They can really spoil you!

That statement takes me back to my days of living in Florida. Big chunks of palm trees on the ground. It's funny to think that people who live in the north never knew about that. I know there are things that happen up there that you guys see all the time that we would be surprised about, as well.

See? The DIS is very educational. :teacher:

Yes it is! :thumbsup2 I've actually learned quite a bit on here, and I always am learning something new about Disney-and that helps me in my job!

There is so much that happens in NYC that people don't know about....but most people would probably prefer to keep it that way. ;) :rotfl:

WOW...AK looked pretty crowded! Thank goodness for that single rider EE line:goodvibes On our last trip, we had ridden EE 3 times in a row. Thats about my limit (in a row). Olivia wanted to keep riding and no one could do it with her, so I walked her right over to that single rider line and she rode a couple of more times. It moves so quickly and I can stand right there and watch her until she gets on. We took advantage of it again on our second AK day when the lines were longer for standby in the afternoon. Its a great invention;)
I am drooling right now thinking of the delicious Mickey waffle in your breakfast picture! I got those quite a few times at POP on our last trip----YUMMMMM:cloud9:

I am a huge fan of the Single Rider Lines too! Did you ever see that YouTube video about them? The guys can't sing, but it's still hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGp4u7iLZEM&feature=watch_response


I didn't realize you'd started this! So happy to find it as I try to forget about a craptastic day at work and the equally craptastic one awaiting me tomorrow. :rolleyes:

I still have yet to try Chick Fil A but it's on my list. Know you love it so!

:thumbsup2 to the disco pose in the mirror... too cute.

Movies looks like a cool resort with lots of theming. The food court looks awesome.

Can't wait to hear more about this almost solo trip! popcorn::

Oh boo for craptastic days! :headache: I hope things are going better now, but if not, I'll have another update for you that hopefully will help you escape for a few minutes!



Hello again my friend!!!! Are you here to stay, or just peeping in for a second?

One day I will try Chick-Fil-A. Ok I'm hungry now lol

I know what you mean about not sweating it. I'm so comfy by myself it's almost frightening lol

It's so yummy! Definitely give it a try sometime!!! I was sad in August when it was closed because we came in so late.

I love being that comfortable at Disney - knowing how to work the system, the crowds, not needing a map....LOVE IT!!!

i think i am becomeing a Villa snob too and I haven't even stayed in one yet.:lmao:

I had a shopping "wild" moment this trip, but it was justified.:rolleyes:


STuff about up north .... let me see. Kids go to school in the snow and a few days after it snows it turns black. Also depending on the place, some large areas like mall parking lots pick up thier snow and have physically put it somewhere else or melt it since it can't stay where it falls and there is not enough space to plow it all up in one big pile . :teacher:

:rotfl: Oh Pat, you will be spoiled! It really is wonderful... I forget what the rooms don't have when I stay in one - the Values NEED to have coffee pots. I really hope those are being added sometime soon.

LOL about the snow! So true! Giant dumptrucks and diggers come in and move the snow! It was just normal growing up, I never really thought about the novelty of it. Usually it ended up in a mall's parking lot since they had the space.

Lol! They move the snow around here..sometimes you will see dump trucks just hauling snow! Malls with larger parking lots use huge loaders to move the snow around to various piles. One mall in my area even has heated sidewalks to aid in snow removal!

Oh my gosh, it's too funny that we just said almost the same thing...I swear I didn't read your response before I wrote back to Pat above! :laughing:

Great update, Brook. You got some great pictures of the resort!

AK did look crowded; that was the ONLY park that wasn't crowded when we were there last week. :sad2:

Wow! AK not crowded?! That's rare! It always seems busy to me. The crowds have been busier than normal this year. I'm seeing some 9's even in October, which is very surprising!

After you first sent me the link to this report from facebook, I read the first installment from my iPod but didn't come back and sub!!!
Love the shopping pics - when Mum and I went back in 2008 we did WAY too much shopping without the boys there! xxx

I'm glad you came back! :goodvibes So it's not just me who behaves more when her husband is present! :laughing:

I've got lots of reading to do, but will catch up eventually.

:welcome: Glenn! I hear ya, I'm lightyears behind on your report!!! I will catch up someday!!!!
 
After our spins on Expedition Everest, Sarah and I headed over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek, I love the details of this trail.

IMG0136-L.jpg


IMG0138-L.jpg


IMG0144-L.jpg


IMG0150-L.jpg


IMG0158-L.jpg


IMG0170-L.jpg


IMG0174-L.jpg


IMG0175-L.jpg


IMG0176-L.jpg


IMG0177-L.jpg


A Deluxe Bird House Resort.

IMG0184-L.jpg


After our trek we grabbed FP's for Kali -- I had never ridden it before and was determined! And it was a hotttttttt day, so it would be perfect!

IMG0187-L.jpg


A bit of shopping-we didn't buy anything, but sure had fun looking! The gift shop right by Kali has some really unique things.

IMG0188-L.jpg


IMG0189-L.jpg


IMG0190-L.jpg


I just love this shirt!

IMG0191-L.jpg


IMG0192-L.jpg


IMG0193-L.jpg


By this time our stomachs were starting to gowl, and I knew something I had wanted to try was very close by...

IMG0194-L.jpg


I finally tried the frozen chai! YUMMMMM! It really hit the spot on that hot day! As I sipped, we set our sites for Flame Tree BBQ, another first for me (and Sarah).

However, on the way I purchased an appetizer...

IMG0195-L.jpg


The Jalapeno Cream Cheese Pretzel! FINALLY! As you can see by the pic, I was very excited to try it! I cannot recall if I've told the story yet in my other TR (Feb/March), but I tried to get one and the girl in front of me bought the LAST ONE. Not today, no, no, that baby was MINE!

Being that I had the chai and the pretzel, I didn't go for an actual meal at Flame Tree but instead got

IMG0197-L.jpg


Sarah ordered the pulled pork with a side of fries instead of beans, but they gave her both!

IMG0200-L.jpg


This was a WONDERFUL meal. The fruit was very fresh and delicious, between that, the pretzel and the chai, it was a perfect meal for that day. Sarah and I sat there quite a while, chatting, eating, and admiring the view.

Continued in next post
 
IMG0202-L.jpg


IMG0204-L.jpg


IMG0206-L.jpg


IMG0207-L.jpg


IMG0211-L.jpg


During this trip I had my eyes on Pirate gear - we are booked for an 8-night cruise in June 2012 and of course I want us all to dress up for Pirate Night! So Sarah and I shopped a bit more.

IMG0213-L.jpg


IMG0214-L.jpg


I really like the Mickey Pirate!

IMG0215-L.jpg


(sorry about it being sideways!)

IMG0216-L.jpg


Nice and simple, this shirt was leading on my list.

IMG0218-L.jpg


I almost bought this one too - the price tag was ugly, so I resisted, but I was tempted - I hemmed and hawed over it for a while! I'm glad I finally passed, I found a Pirate shirt I like just as much for $10 at Target!

Non-Piratey things.

IMG0219-L.jpg


IMG0220-L.jpg


IMG0221-L.jpg


IMG0222-L.jpg


IMG0223-L.jpg


IMG0225-L.jpg


After shopping, I don't believe either of us bought anything here, we took some time at the Tree of Life again.

IMG0228-L.jpg


IMG0229-L.jpg


IMG0230-L.jpg


IMG0235-L.jpg


Baby ducks!!

IMG0238-L.jpg


I believe we were holding FPs for the Safari, so that is where we headed to next!
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!











Top