Bah, Humbug! Tales of A Disney Scrooge's Conversion Update 7/21

[DisneyKid4Life]

OK YES AWESOME!!! Perfect timing to get a first hand account of the cruise. Sa-Weet.

Mickey bars, cake and candy????? OK, I'm sold. And I may not eat the rest of the day...

"Alyssa snagged a bag of cotton candy from somewhere while I wasn't looking," Ahh... Perfect Pirate!

Thankfully (or sadly) I did know about Peter Pan, so nothing spoiled. They really should include Tink though. Just sayin'.

Ok I am officially even more excited for the Cruise now.

 

[Ceryssa]

I'm in! I liked reading your review of the Pirates League. I'm thinking about it for my boys in April. Thanks for posting the pics.

Welcome!! Thanks for reading along. PL was so much fun, I'm definitely glad we did it! I'm sure your boys will love it.

I really think I might have to try BOG one of these days.

Your daughter really looks like she enjoyed meeting Beast.

You definitely should! I know it's a super huge hassle to get a reservation there, but it was totally worth it!

Really enjoying your report!!!! I like the way you write, as if we are having a conversation.... As for your comments on the snow.. We live in New Hampshire and anytime you are feeling that you would like to experience snow, feel free to come up for a visit and shovel til your heart's content!!!!

Thank you! I talk to myself all the time anyway, so might as well ramble "out loud" to you guys

HA! You may remember "Snowmageddon" last year that shut down most of the South with a whole two inches of snow! I'm convinced Southerners just aren't built for snow lol. I prefer the kind that looks pretty for about 12 hours and then melts away

OK YES AWESOME!!! Perfect timing to get a first hand account of the cruise. Sa-Weet.

Mickey bars, cake and candy????? OK, I'm sold. And I may not eat the rest of the day...

"Alyssa snagged a bag of cotton candy from somewhere while I wasn't looking," Ahh... Perfect Pirate!

Thankfully (or sadly) I did know about Peter Pan, so nothing spoiled. They really should include Tink though. Just sayin'.

Ok I am officially even more excited for the Cruise now.

Glad you're here! It's kind of like meeting a celebrity after reading all your TRs

You are going to have so much fun on Pirates & Pals! And experiencing it with kids is a whole different level of awesome, you guys are gonna have a blast. I can't wait to hear all about it! Yes definitely save room for all the goodies! That's the only part I wish I'd done differently. I definitely agree Tinker Bell (or at least Wendy! Poor Wendy, she gets left out of all the fun stuff) would be a great addition.

Yes Alyssa would make a fantastic pirate...that's not the first time she's pulled that heist!

 

[Ceryssa]

It's been a while, sorry. Christmas is in full swing around here what with tree decorating, cookie consuming and general merriment! Which makes me wonder what Epcot is like this time of year. Speaking of which, we were off to Epcot today! But first we had a very special stop to make.

I'd read some reviews about breakfast at 'Ohana in the spring and thought it sounded pretty good, and then Alyssa became obsessed with the Lilo and Stitch movies. Both girls watched them over and over, and even went as Lilo and Stitch for Halloween, so obviously we had to eat here.


This is them at Halloween, just because

We took a cab to the Polynesian and checked in for our 8:55 breakfast around 8:50. We went over and browsed the gift shop while we waited since Alyssa was hoping to find a Stitch. Our pager went off while she was still looking so we promised we'd come back after breakfast, and we we led in to the restaurant by our newest "cousin". I don't remember exactly what was in the bread basket; I think some of it was the pineapple bread from dinner that I've heard so much about. All I know for sure is that we really liked it. Even Aaron, who's normally not a bread person at all, enjoyed it. The juice was also a big hit with everyone but Alyssa, who's not much of a juice person, but I was surprised she didn't like it since they called it "Stitch juice". Our server dropped off our breakfast platter with the usual sausage, bacon, eggs, potatoes and biscuits, which were all really good. But I was more excited about these:

I was expecting Mickey waffles, which would obviously have been just fine, but looking down and seeing Stitch on my waffle was just a whole new level of exciting, don't ask me why.

The characters started coming around pretty quickly. Lilo was up first, and Alhanna was really excited since this was the character she was most excited to meet. I had packed their costumes from Halloween for them to wear, but at the last minute Alhanna decided she didn't want to wear hers, but she enjoyed telling Lilo that she'd dressed up like her for Halloween She signed their autograph books, and seemed to like the picture of her on the page for Lilo and Stitch. I'd made autograph books ahead of time and had a lot of fun finding pictures for each character I thought we'd meet, and several of the characters made a big deal about it. I didn't realize that the characters all sign differently (although I suppose I should have), so I thought it was really cool to flip through the pages and see the characters' different autographs.

She posed for a quick picture, of course. Hey, I managed to get some pictures of the food in there, woohoo! )This was before I'd tried the potatoes, obviously, because once I discovered those things are apparently my crack those babies were GONE. Seriously, so good.)

And then she was off to the next table. We had a couple minutes to eat before we saw The Main Mouse heading our way, and looking very festive in hula gear!

He was really sweet with the girls. He signed their books and noticed Minnie's page was right next to his (it seemed only right to put it there, after all). I didn't notice until later, but he wrote a heart between their pages so that when they were both autographed it read "Mickey Mouse Loves Minnie". Too cute!!



We were about halfway through eating at this point, and Alyssa had been very carefully tracking Stitch's progress, giving us table-by-table updates. She was SO excited! The character attendant noticed her costume, and said that was the first time he'd ever seen someone come in a Stitch costume. He told Alyssa Stitch was going to be very excited to meet her, which put a big grin on her face. When he made it to our table, Alyssa's costume got a HUGE reaction from him, which made her day.

He kept messing with her ears, and pointing to his, trying to get hers to stand up like his.


This guy was just so much fun, and totally made the meal for us. After he got done signing autograph books, it was about time for the character parade! The girls had been a little shy about joining in the one at Crystal Palace the day before so I wasn't sure how it would go, but today was a whole different story! Alyssa of course wanted to go wherever Stitch went, and the minute they announce the parade she took off after him. She got to help him lead the parade.



We had just about finished eating around this time, which worked out well because here came Pluto! I honestly don't remember much about this interaction, he was really cute but the girls were pretty much too overwhelmed at this point to do much more than hand him an autograph book and take a picture.


I did love that he signs his name with a paw print, that's just adorable
We were pretty much done by this point, so we paid the bill and went to let Alyssa change out of her costume, and then of course we had to go back to the gift shop. Alyssa wanted a Stitch, but apparently not just any Stitch would do. We'd seen one with a Christmas hat in Ye Old Christmas Shoppe the day before, but she wanted a regular one. We thought surely the shop next to 'Ohana would have one, but while they had Stitches in Christmas hats, and pillow pet Stitches, and mini Stitches, they didn't have the regular size unadorned Stitches. She'd grab one off the shelf just to realize it wasn't what she wanted, only to go to the other side of the store and repeat the process. After she'd done this three or four times we finally had to step in and say we'd look somewhere else, because we did actually want to get to Epcot at some point in the day, and it was apparent that one wasn't magically going to appear (well it was apparent to us anyway). She was disappointed but we promised we'd look when we got to Epcot (something she definitely did not forget).

Since we were at a resort on the monorail, I figured it would be quicker and more fun to take it over to Epcot. So we walked upstairs and hopped on. We did kind of like riding it, but it didn't really feel very fast, since we had to go all the way around the loop to get back to the TTC. It seems like one of those Disney experiences everyone should do at least once, so I'm glad we did, but I don't think I'd want to rely on it all the time--especially since when we got to the TTC we found out the monorail to Epcot was down, so we had to take a bus anyway Oh well. We had to wait a while for a bus because the line was pretty long, and I was starting to get a little impatient since we were meeting friends that live in Orlando who we hadn't seen in a while, but it wasn't really that long before our bus pulled up and we were off to Epcot!! We had a wonderful day with lots and LOTS of eating ahead of us!

 

[QueenJen]

Sounds like you were having a great time so far.

I especially like that the 'Disney Scrooge' saves the day with a photo of Be Our Guest on the first day! He must have been converted pretty fast.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Aww the girls look too cute in their Halloween costumes. That is awesome!!

Gahhh I love seeing the traditional Fab Five in different outfits. I don't know why but I just find it so cool.

Oh yes, those mice absolutely adore each other. It's too precious.

I bet so many people there enjoyed seeing that Stitch/Stitch interaction. So glad it went so well.

 

[annegirl]

Subbing in. We got there the day after you left!

Love the girls Halloween costumes. And the pirate league looks like so much fun!

 

[Ceryssa]

Sorry about the super long break between updates! Literally everyone in our family and extended family got sick over Christmas, so we've been celebrating the holidays for about 87 days (at least it seems that way)! But now that we've all recovered, opened up all the presents and consumed our body weights in various homemade goodies, it's back to Epcot!

I took this as we were walking in, because the same rules apply for the giant ball as the castle.


Showcasing more of my awesome photography skills.
Then we stopped to some photos by an actual photographer:


I apparently didn't follow instructions You'll notice Alyssa looks less than happy. This was one of the last in a series of a bajillion photos (this photographer was great) and she was totally over it.

When I saw the food and wine signs, I became acutely aware that I had eaten one too many Stitch waffles (or possibly the crack potatoes) at breakfast. I wasn't hungry, like, at all. Which was a problem because I'd been looking forward to this festival for months! I might have been more excited about it than going to Magic Kingdom. I love food, people! But we had all day here, so I figured at some point I'd probably be ready to eat something. As I mentioned before, we were meeting some friends--my oldest friend and her husband, as a matter of fact. I don't get to see her nearly enough, so the fact that she lives in Orlando was a major bonus for this trip. They were in the UK area, so we blew past Canada (although we did pause to check out the lumberjack show--Aaron loved it, but the girls were unimpressed and I only slightly less so, but I'm sure that's partly due to hearing about how awesome the act they took over for was). I gazed longingly at the booth holding the famous cheddar cheese soup I'd heard so much about, but resolved to go back later and get some. Naturally, I failed to get a reunion photo with my friend--possibly because we were acting out the slow-motion run-into-each-other's-arms scene from every great movie ever made. Okay, from some okay-ish romantic comedies. I took lots when I visited her in July though, so just for fun here's a Frozen Summer Live pic:

Selfies are always better when they involve an Olaf.

But the point here is that we found them and I finally got to lay eyes on my newest nephew who is just the most adorable baby you'd ever want to meet.


We said our hellos, I introduced the girls to their cousin, and they oohed and ahhed appropriately for about 5 seconds, then declared they were ready to "go do stuff". So off we went. We backtracked to Canada to start the KidCot stops, and they had fun coloring for a while before we decided to venture back out. We checked out the Canada pavilion and then made our way over to the UK area, where I spotted the tea store. I though my mom might like something from in there, but I decided to wait. We wandered around the pretty gardens for a few minutes, but my kids only last so long around a bunch of flowers they aren't allowed to pick, so we went on to France. At this point I decided it was time for one of the Grey Goose slushes I'd heard so much about, so we stopped to get one. I actually decided in favor of the Grand Marnier one, and it lived up to their reputation! While we were there an entertainment group came out, the lead guy blowing a whistle in a marching beat and several others carrying tables, chairs and various other interesting looking things. Before we knew it they were stacking things up and one (crazy) dude was climbing up and balancing on them! I was too busy enjoying the show to get a picture, but I did notice they had a giant wine bottle they used in the who, and I wondered who got the privilege of emptying it out. I wonder if you can apply for that job? Cause I'd totally I'd rock at it. After they finished their show we meandered through the France pavilion for a while. We spotted Aurora's meeting spot but she wasn't out yet and the line was already long, so we moved on. Alhanna perused the store and declared she wanted to buy everything in it, at which point I ushered her on out and we headed toward Morocco.

Despite the fact that there was literally food all around me, I hadn't done much eating, so when I spotted Spice Road Table, recommended highly by someone in my Facebook group, it seemed like it might be time to take a break. The place was almost empty and we were seated immediately. The view from the patio is beautiful but Aaron was already pretty much over the heat, so we sat inside, where it is also beautiful. Almost as soon as we sat down both girls declared they had to go to the bathroom (pretty much a guarantee any time we sit down for a meal), so after we ordered I got up to take them. Apparently Alhanna thought the staff seemed bored, so she knocked our glasses of water over on her way out. Oops. We had ordered a three different small plates that had arrived when we got back, all of which were excellent. I ordered the Harissa chicken roll, the girls chose the spicy garlic shrimp, and Aaron got the mix grill skewers. No food pics (c'mon, did you really think you were going to get one by this point?) but we did get a shot of the important stuff:

The chicken roll was awesome. The shrimp were too spicy for the girls, but the sauce was REALLY good. The skewers were our least favorite of the bunch, but were pretty good too! If you're in the Morocco area (or the World Showcase area, in general), run, do not walk, to Spice Road. So good.

After we got done eating Rachel (that's my friend's name, just realize I didn't mention that) and Miguel (her husband) headed out, since the baby needed a nap and they had different dinner plans than us that night. We explored Morocco for a while, enjoying the music and cool music in the shops. We saw a sign for "Lamps of Wonder" and thought that sounded neat, so we wandered around for a while looking for the entrance. Once we found it, we also found a line, and I realized we'd stumbled onto the character meeting spot for Aladdin and Jasmine and they were do out shortly! So we hopped in line and before long they opened the doors. It wasn't long before we were up to the front!


Alhanna was starstruck (she loves Jasmine). I'm not sure what Alyssa was talking about with them, but she seemed to be having a good time I stopped at the Morocco booth for some drinks and baklava, cause it's one of the best foods ever and I'm incapable of passing it up anytime I see it.

We moved on to Japan, where Aaron was really excited to check out the store, and I was very excited about Pick a Pearl. We stopped to watch the drum show for a while, until Alyssa got restless and we headed to the store. Lots of cool stuff in there, if you haven't been. And one of the only stores I've ever actually found Sailor Moon merchandise in. We got a number for Pick a Pearl, since there was a sizeable crowd waiting, and looked around for a while. I took this for my friend whose little boy is obsessed with Sonic.

After a while spent shopping, it was our turn to pick a pearl. The girls both got to pick an oyster, although I think I enjoyed it more than they did There's a cute little ceremony that goes along with it, but they talk SO fast I didn't understand a lot of what she said, and it was super loud in there due to said sizeable crowd.

After their pearls were picked, polished and packed up it was time to leave World Showcase because we had very important Fastpass times coming up. We made a stop at the craft beer station first, and spent a few minutes trying different beers and enjoying the air conditioning. Then it was off to Future World!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Welcome back. I hope everyone is feeling better. I've been fighting a cold for a couple of weeks, so I know what that's like.

Oh God, I imagine I will not like the Lumberjack show. Seriously... a Lumberjack show. BRING BACK OFF KILTER!!!

It's always so great to be able to meet up with an old friend... but to meet up with an old friend in Disney?

Awww the Aladdin and Jas meet looks precious.

 

[glennbo123]

Okay, don't tell all of the people whose TRs I'm behind on that I'm reading yours (Rob, you're sworn to secrecy too )...but great job! I love first-timer reports!

 

[Ceryssa]

Welcome back. I hope everyone is feeling better. I've been fighting a cold for a couple of weeks, so I know what that's like.

Oh God, I imagine I will not like the Lumberjack show. Seriously... a Lumberjack show. BRING BACK OFF KILTER!!!

It's always so great to be able to meet up with an old friend... but to meet up with an old friend in Disney?

Awww the Aladdin and Jas meet looks precious.

Being sick over the holidays is the worst, isn't it? Hoping to never repeat this Christmas. Phew!

Since you have seen Off Kilter I imagine it won't measure up...I don't know, it was ok, kind of entertaining in a cheesy way. It reminded me of those groups that used to travel around to schools and do a show where they broke bricks with their heads and such. I've been told that Off Kilter performs at Raglan Road sometimes, so maybe you can still catch them other places.

Yes it was amazing! And she totally shares my love of all things Disney, which is just the best; as you probably know that's hard to find

Aladdin and Jasmine were great, especially him; he goofed off and teased her and the girls. They played off each other well, it was a really fun meet. I know with lines the way they are it just isn't feasible, but I wish they had more characters that met in pairs.

Okay, don't tell all of the people whose TRs I'm behind on that I'm reading yours (Rob, you're sworn to secrecy too )...but great job! I love first-timer reports!

Welcome, glad you're here! My lips are sealed

 

[Ceryssa]

As we made our way toward Future World, we decided to stop in Mouse Gear to check for a Stitch for Alyssa. She'd been asking about every 3 minutes since we got to the park, since we'd told her we'd look for one. She found one...

She wanted one that was smaller, but the idea of waiting one second more apparently would've brought the entire world to a screeching halt, and she was having what we like to call "a come-apart". Now, we aren't normally the parents that give in when their kids get upset and beg for things, but since she wasn't actually pitching a fit and we WERE on vacation, we gave in. Alhanna wanted to wait and see what she found other places, so we paid for it and set it up to be delivered back to the resort.

Once we started walking again, I realized we weren't going to make our first Fastpass, but that was okay since it was Living With the Land and I figured we could do that pretty much any time, plus we were going to have to go back to that area anyway. So we took our time, stopping to look at the fountain and the area. This would've been a great time to visit Club Cool (or whatever it's called), but it totally slipped my mind. We headed toward our next Fastpass at Test Track instead! I had told Aaron about this and he thought it sounded pretty cool, but I wasn't so sure. It turned out to be really fun though!
Aaron and Alhanna's car:

I thought theirs turned out pretty cool.
Alyssa's and mine:

Ours was...unique We had fun making it though and that's what matters right? Yeah, don't answer that.

Apparently I didn't brief my family correctly on how this whole thing worked, because they were definitely under the impression that we were going to get to ride in OUR cars. Alhanna especially was disappointed about that. Oops. We climbed in and were off! Aaron, Alhanna and I really enjoyed it. As you can tell from the picture, Alyssa was too busy burrowing into my arm to try enjoying the ride.


Up next was one I'd really been looking forward to, having heard so much about it. We headed for the Land pavilion to check out Soarin'. After Test Track Alyssa was a little freaked out by the prospect of getting on another ride, but I managed to convince her to get on. She wasn't super happy about it though. We all liked it a lot (of course; are there actually people who ride it and don't like it?). I think the scents are the best. Aaron and Alhana were both super impressed with that part. I love that Disney does things like that to engage all the senses and totally immerse you in the experience. We'd never done anything like that.

After that, it was dinner time! I'd read so many positive things about Garden Grill and Aaron really liked Chip and Dale growing up, so I definitely wanted to experience this character meal. I was a little nervous when I saw the line of people waiting, but we checked in and had a seat. Sure enough, we waited a while, but considering the number of people there we were seated sooner than I was afraid we might be. I had developed a bad headache, so I didn't do well with getting a lot of pictures, and I was a little preoccupied with finding someone from my Facebook group who was eating here with her family at the same time. We'd gotten to know each other over the course of planning our trips, and it turned out we had a bunch of reservations on the same days, and often at the same times! Great minds, I guess We texted back and forth trying to find each other but we never did manage to run into each other that night (although she did tell me later she sent her daughter to talk to a family that was not, it turned out, ours; I found it hilarious, but I don't think her daughter did ). Our server was really nice, and brought our drinks, salad and bread quickly. Once I got some water in me I started to feel better, so I guess I hadn't done a good enough job hydrating that day. I really enjoyed the bread and butter with orange blossom honey. Honey butter is up there on my list of favorites anyway, so this was good stuff. Aaron turned his nose up at it, as he holds bread and butter in complete disdain (I know, I don't get it either! The man is from the South, I'm not sure how it's even possible). But the upside is, more for me!
The characters started coming around, beginning with Chip. I still wasn't feeling great so I really don't remember much about this interaction. The girls loved him though.


He stayed a pretty good amount of time, and liked his picture in their book. Hey look, I even managed to get a partial shot of the food! I should get extra points for that.
Mickey was next, and even though we'd just seen him that morning the girls were excited to see him coming. And really, can you ever get enough Mickey?

I asked if he'd been hard at work growing the food, and he said it'd been a long day so I complimented him on how good everything was. The girls already had his autograph, but they were game for more Mickey hugs!

Pluto came by next for a quick hug, but he didn't stay long which was okay since we'd just seen him at breakfast too.



At some point here we'd started eating our meal. I have to be honest, I just wasn't very impressed by the food here. It was okay, but given the rave reviews I'd heard I was pretty underwhelmed, and Celine (the friend I was trying to find) felt the same way. Aaron wasn't crazy about it either. I'm not sure if they made a menu change or if it was just an off night, but I was pretty disappointed, although I can't be sure how much of that had to do with my headache. I was hoping dessert would redeem the meal, but again, just not super impressed. It was terrible or anything, but I wouldn't go out of my way to eat there again. Around the time our server brought dessert, Dale came by!

Again, I don't remember much about this interaction because I was distracted again, most likely by something shiny across the room. We settled the bill and were ready to see the rest of what Epcot had to offer!

 

[Ceryssa]

My plan was for us to do Living with the Land right after dinner, but Aaron wasn't really feeling it and I wanted to make our way closer to World Showcase so we would be in the vicinity when Illuminations started, so we headed back that way. We peeked into Character Spot but didn't really want to stop, and then decided to hop in line for Spaceship Earth, which we all thought was really cool. One thing I definitely wanted to do was Turtle Talk with Crush, so we went over that way next. It was super cute and we all really enjoyed it; Alyssa said it was her favorite so far. We rode The Seas with Nemo and Friends since we were right there, and then we figured it was time to start heading back to see the fireworks. On the way we came across these really cool lit up tiles.

Aaron thought they were just the coolest thing ever, so we spent a while running around on them. At this point I was getting antsy about getting over to World Showcase, because I wanted to try the chocolate pudding with the Irish liqueur custard I'd seen on the menu at the Ireland booth. But I'd forgotten how far down the Ireland booth was and I was pretty tired, so I decided the vanilla caramel custard with chocolate coffee cake sounded like a good substitute! It was excellent. I was nice enough to share a bite with my kids and Aaron, which trust me is a big deal when it comes to dessert--especially good ones! I didn't get my own photo, but I did steal someone else's for you--it was that good, it deserves a photo.

Thank you, Internet Stranger, for being on your game and remembering to take a picture before devouring. Unlike me.

We found a place to watch Illuminations, not being particularly picky this time since I knew we'd have another night for this. I really loved the music of the show, it's just so perfect.

It takes true talent to capture fireworks with this kind of quality, I know. Don't be jealous, y'all. I was working with an iPhone. Also, my photography skills are terrible.

We started leaving since we thought it was over, only to hear fireworks start going off again behind us, so we stopped and turned around again. Newbie mistake. Once they were over for real we headed for the bus stop. We stopped in at the gift shop back at Coronado Springs to grab some Advil since my head was still killing me, and the girls stopped every ten feet or so on the way back to the room for photo ops. Part of having Crazy Camera Laddy for a mom; they've been well trained



If you've never stayed at Coronado Springs, it's an absolutely beautiful resort, especially at night. The way the buildings are all lit up around the lake is gorgeous. It wasn't our first choice of resort, but we ended up being pretty pleased about having landed here. We enjoyed our stroll back to our room and went to bed, since we were heading to Animal Kingdom in the morning!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Haha, my first thought was, Atta girl... way to pick the big one, lol. That Stitch is as big as she is. I'm more with Alhanna though. I like to see everything before I decide.

Soarin is just flat out unique. It's my father's favourite ride. It's been over 5 years, and he STILL talks about it.

Hey that's not just Mickey... That's Farmer Mickey!!! Sorry your meal wasn't great, but it looks like the girls enjoyed the characters and that's the most important thing I think.

YAY Turtle Talk. Alyssa's smart saying it was her fav. It is a super cute show.

Glad you enjoyed Illuminations. The music is absolutely beautiful. And in fairness, there are spots where it seems like the show is over, so no worries.

 

[Ceryssa]

So...it's been like a million years I know. I've been a little nervous about uploading pictures since the boards changeover, but I guess the only way to do it is to jump in and see how it goes! As I mentioned way back when, it was Animal Kingdom day!


We had breakfast scheduled at Tusker House, which I was very excited about, having heard good things! Aaron was particularly looking forward to this character meal, as it featured Donald!

I'd originally had it booked for 8 am, but decided to change it to 10:35, which turned out to be a good call since we all had trouble getting going that morning after two long days in the parks. I thought we'd do a few things before breakfast, but we ended up getting there around 9:45 and after renting a locker and taking our time looking around, we decided to just head straight to the restaurant. We checked in and took our pager over to the waiting area, where there was a lady with some animal trivia. I don't think our kids got many, if any right, and I had to repress the urge to assure her that we do, in fact, send our kids to school! But they had fun so I guess that's all that matters. And maybe they learned something?? Here's hoping.

We were seated not too long after they got bored with the trivia cards, which was a good thing since apparently the cool weather was over and it was pretty warm outside. Alyssa was pleased to see they had "Stitch juice" here as well--not, as she informed our server, Jungle Juice, which fortunately he found amusing The characters had just finished their parade when we came in and were on the other side of the restaurant, so we set off to see what we could find on the buffet, and I'll be honest, I don't remember what any of us ate ( I obviously didn't take a picture, cause that would be crazy) because whatever else was there got overshadowed by the bread pudding. If there's anything better than Mickey waffles for breakfast, it's bread pudding for breakfast--with chocolate chips, no less!


Fortunately, Disney Food Blog does actually remember to take pictures. (Yes I stole someone else's picture again. I clearly do not have a future in reporting, as I can't seem to remember to get photographic evidence.) And this stuff should be documented. Cause it's awesome. Did I mention, bread pudding for breakfast? OK, I'll stop.


Aaron fortunately was not too busy being enamored with bread pudding to remember to, you know, take pictures of the kids with the characters we came to see! Not sure what's up with the guy in the background side-eyeing us though. I always wonder what kind of crazy expressions random strangers have captured me with in their photos haha! Given the ones they sometimes catch when I'm actually supposed to be in the picture, I can only imagine there are some interesting ones floating around.


Alhanna, at least was pleased to see Mickey again. Maybe Mickey should've apologized for interrupting her from whatever she was eating? Apparently we weren't clear enough about the whole "He's the boss" thing.


I was really glad Daisy was here, since at the time I didn't know if you could meet her anywhere else. I've always been a little offended on her behalf that she gets excluded from "The Fab 5" a lot of the time. Doesn't seem to have dampened her spirits though!

And then it was time for the reason we were here. (Well, 3 of us anyway--I like Donald and all, but he's no bread pudding. You don't necessarily have to tell him though.)

I had told Aaron to make sure he told Donald he was his favorite, since he'd like that. But he, being a good daddy, was trying to let the girls get their character time in first. I, however, did not pick up on this and kind of stole his thunder...and apparently his picture. Oops! Sorry Aaron In my defense I was trying to make sure he didn't miss his opportunity...for me to bump him (and Alyssa evidently) out of the picture. It's possible I could have issues.

We really did like the food here, and the character interaction was pretty fun. The wait to get in was a little long, but that was definitely forgivable given how much we liked it! We'd definitely go back and do this one again.

This meal was momentous for another reason though--I'd met some fun friends through a Dis'er planning group that happened to be there at the same time, and one of them was at Tusker House at the exact same time! In fact, through some sort of freaky coincidence more than half our meals and park days lined up almost exactly. (Probably because we're both super cool and think alike; that's the theory I'm going with.) We'd actually both been at Garden Grill at the same time the night before, but managed to miss each other. That story involves some mistaken identity and the embarrassment of her poor daughter, but today we actually managed to find each other! We'd been texting back and forth for a couple days and finally managed to arrange a meetup on a (I decline to disclose how many there were!) trip to the buffet. As per usual, I didn't get a picture--but thanks to someone who was actually using their brain I have one from the end of our trip, so I'll save it for later since that one involves several other people Anyway, in place of a picture I'll give a shout out to Celine, my very first Dismeet!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Hahha that cracked me up. Glad to hear you do send your kids to school.

Hehe I too always get a kick out of the people in the background of photos. Lord I imagine I'm in some dozzies in some random stranger's pictures.

Wow, you know I literally just recently commented that it should be changed to the Fab 6 to include Daisy. How did she get the shaft anyway?

YAY, congratulations on your first DISmeet!!!

 

[Ceryssa]

Since we hadn't gotten to the safari before breakfast, we set out in that direction after leaving the restaurant. We didn't make it far before we ran into the Harambe drummers though. These guys are a lot of fun. The show is so energetic and they invite the crowd to participate. Aaron thought that sounded like fun, so he jumped in.

We stayed and watched for a while, then continued on our way. I'd been to the other parks before, but this was my first time to Animal Kingdom and I was really impressed with how beautiful it is. I think I could wander around all day and just soak in the place.

I pointed out Everest in the distance to Alhanna, since she was really excited about riding it. We continued on our way to the safari, and were pleasantly surprised to find the wait wasn't bad even without a Fastpass. We didn't take any pictures, since we were enjoying watching the girls observe the animals, and while I enjoyed the safari, I just don't really get excited about taking pictures of animals. Sorry!

We walked a little way up the Pangani trail, but we turned around at the gorillas because we had a Fastpass coming up and we were all getting hot and thirsty. We stopped at Tamu Tamu to pick up some drinks. Aaron got a diet Coke and the girls and I got chocolate milkshakes. The shakes here are really good, very thick and creamy, but in hindsight I wish I'd tried the Dole Whip with the rum in it, since how often can you get one of those? We walked the short distance to the entrance for The Festival of the Lion King for our first Fastpass of the day. This was the main reason I wanted to come to Animal Kingdom, having heard rave reviews for so long. We waited about ten minutes before we were let in (sadly we didn't finish the milkshakes, Alyssa and I were quite upset) and were seated in the Lion section! The show was every bit as good as advertised. Again, I didn't take pictures, since it was my first time seeing it and I wanted to experience it without worrying about the camera. Our section won the competition for who could be the loudest--duh, we're lions!

We had pretty much seen everything we wanted in Africa, so it was time to head over toward Asia where our next Fastpasses were, but we went via Discovery Island since there was someone special I wanted Alhanna to meet. I couldn't pass up this photo op on the way though:

Cause who could get enough of that view?

It took us a few minutes wandering back and forth to find the entrance I was looking for, but eventually we found the line for Pocahontas, and a few minutes later she came walking by!

She seems happy to be there

We were a few families back in line, so we spent the time talking to the people behind us who had girls a bit younger than ours. The girls were funny about character meets; sometimes they wanted to go together, and sometimes separately. This was one of the times they went one at a time.

She commented on Alyssa's dalmatian shirt and, upon learning she likes animals, chatted with her about Meeko's adventures for a bit. This was one meet I wanted to make sure we did; originally we weren't planning to visit Animal Kingdom, but she was one of the characters Alhanna specifically asked to meet, so when our plans changed to include this park we made sure to plan a stop to see her.

At this point we decided to split up, since Aaron and Alhanna were headed to ride Everest. Alyssa and I had no interest in that and there wasn't really much in the area for us to do, so I decided we'd go check out Dinoland and meet back up with the daredevils later.

I think the whole Dinoland area is so cute!

I mean if you like Dinosaurs I guess. I figured Alyssa would probably like Triceratop Spin, aka "Dinosaur Dumbo", so we went over to check it out.

She agreed to try it out, and liked it so much she asked to ride again!

We sat in the back this time so she could control going up and down.

We went over to the Boneyard next, which she thought was great fun. The rides and characters are exciting, but for the kids sometimes there's just nothing better than a playground

I was trying to figure out how to get a picture of us and the dinosaur, when a super nice CM stopped and asked if we'd like him to take our picture. He was happy to snap a few, then told me to feel free to ask, as they'd always be happy to oblige. I think that's so nice; the cast members really do help make a trip to Disney an experience!

That is a big ol' dinosaur, y'all.

Meanwhile over in Asia...

This was happening. I think Everest *might* have been a little more than Alhanna had bargained for. She survived, but she was a LOT more timid about roller coasters after that.

He took her to find some ice cream, which is always good for relieving post-traumatic stress. He even had the presence of mind to stop for a Photopass photographer:

We met back up with them at the entrance to Asia. We were starting to get a little hungry, but didn't want to fill up too much because we had big dinner plans, so we went looking for the Yak and Yeti QS place where I grabbed a Honey Chicken (which was fantastic) and a Chicken Fried Rice (also goo) for us to share. I texted Celine to thank her for the recommendation, only to find out she and her kids were right behind us! And before you ask, this is photo opportunity #2 of the day that I failed to capture. But I swear it happened! LOL.

Up next was something I'd very much been looking forward to. Having been forewarned, I handed everyone a "just in case" poncho and we got in the Fastpass line for Kali River Rapids. It moved pretty quickly and we were waiting on our raft before long.

After a few minutes, it became apparent we might be waiting a while...and then they announced the ride had broken down and would be closed I was so disappointed! But, it happens. They gave us each a Fastpass good for any other ride in the park, so we spent a few minutes deciding where we wanted to go. Aaron suggested Everest again, to which Alhanna gave an emphatic NO! Alyssa had been chattering excitedly about how much she liked the "Dinosaur Dumbo", so we settled on Dinoland, where Aaron could take Alhanna on Dinosaur and Alyssa and I could hang out while we waited. I warned Alhanna it might be a little scary, but I think I might have been a bit too convincing:

Apparently she refused to open her eyes or look up the whole time. See, this is why I subscribe to the "Spring it on them and hope for the best" theory--preparation backfires sometimes!

 

[glennbo123]

Awesome photo!!! I'm glad that she still braved Dinosaur after that!

 

[vleeth]

Really loving your trip report! The stuff about Donald was so funny. And I can totally relate with having a kid be unsure about rides. Mine got spooked on the Mummy ride and that set the tone.

 

[Chicago Mo]

I am having the best time reading your report! there is so much to comment on yet i cannot get one thought out..
BAD DIS'ER WITH NO PICTURES. The rules is if there isn't a picture then it didn't happen.. Just sayin.

You have an adorable family. i will say you are going going going!!! I love your style of writing. Maybe because of your love of food?!
But yes you need a lot more PICTURES!

 

[SarahKumba]

Ok, you have me convinced, I have to go on the Pirates and Pals boat ride, and I NEED that big stuffed Stitch!