Crossing over Crocodiles, Runaway Trains, & Birthday Wishes Updt 10/18

[kathleen27]

on the Hurricane Hanna's lunch - doesn't sound very magical.

Am glad you had beautiful weather and you sure seem to be having luck with getting empty transport!

Love Jacob's pics of MK and looking forward to seeing more and hearing about how you handled the heavy crowds

No, tired, hungry, & having to stand around waiting was not good.

I couldn't believe we had the bus to ourselves!

Thanks, he has a lot more photos. Some days we did good in avoiding crowds! Other days -

The park looked PACKED! Also, lucky you on having the MK bus to yourselves. We normally have to stand.

I received a new Canon SLR for Christmas and I can't wait to use it at Disney!!!
I can't wait to hear more.....

It was so crowded that night, it looks more crowded in the next update! Thats why we waited to go to the park. I set low goals for this night! We just wanted to go to MK.

It was really cool to have the bus to ourselves, that would be the only time though. We did do some standing though a few times.

Congrats on the new camera! I think the newer ones are a little lighter. I'm not sure how old mine is, I've had it a few years, but not sure how long my Dad had it before that.

Subscribing! It is so nice to read TRs with older kiddos! Love what I've read so far!

Thanks! They still have so much fun at Disney, they both really enjoyed themselves! Jacob is still talking about going back.

Yay! I'm so glad you started your trip report!

It really is so crazy that in 3 years, Hannah and Jacob have changed so much! It didn't seem like that long ago. I guess it isn't that weird though considering 3 years ago during my trip, Howard and I were not dating at that time.

Awww, I'm sorry to hear that Hannah was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. I hope you all were able to adjust and plan while still enjoying your vacation. From your morning situation at the airport and on the plane though, it sounds like Hannah's being very responsible! It really is surprising to see how some kids can handle these things so well. I have a 6th grade student who's severely allergic to a ton of things. She knows what she can and cannot eat and to immediately move away from other students who may be eating something that can trigger a reaction. I'm really amazed that at such a young age, these things can be handled. I don't think I would have had the maturity at 12 and 13.

I love the pic of the two of them looking out the window. What a moment to capture!

Does Hannah have to carry her supplies with her at all times now?

I wish I had a DSLR to use on trips like this, but then I realize that like you, I'd probably leave it packed away because it's just so darn heavy! I do get to sometimes use Howard's, so that's the benefit there! It works out that he's willing to lug that thing around and I ALWAYS have a point and shoot with me. I'm silly, but I think that is just one of the MANY reasons why we work well together, hehe.

I'm really looking forward to reading more!

Hi Rachel!
I can't believe how fast they grow! Three years ago I was taller than Jacob! I remember when you & Howard started dating!

Hannah has taken everything well. We had some issues on the trip & after, it was tough timing because she was still adjusting to the insulin. She has finally settled down the last couple of weeks. She has 3 set of supplies - one set to carry with her, one with the school nurse & one at home. Sometimes she forgets to bring them if we go out quick.

I wanted to use the dslr, but I just didn't want to carry it! It always seems like I have enought to carry. That's great that Howard has one, works out better that way!

 

[kathleen27]

Our number one goal tonight was to get Hannah on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We knew she would love it. We wanted her to try all the rides she’d skipped in the past, and this seemed like the best one to start. It also happens to be Jacob’s favorite. And one of mine. We planned to pick up fastpasses first thing.


We headed into Adventurland and Jacob was really disappointed to see the sign that stretches over the walkway missing. They were doing some construction around here. I hope they bring the sign back when they are done.

We were headed to Frontierland. It was crowded! We were going against the crowd. Everyone was headed toward the front of the park. We were headed for the back of the park.

As we made our way through Adventureland Hannah told me she felt like her blood sugar level was low. OK. She stopped at a wall and checked. She was a little low. -- What we need to do when she is low, is to sit down, have a fast acting sugar, wait 15 min, then recheck her level. It is then a good idea to have a snack, particularly if she has had some exercise. We always carried glucose tablets & lifesavers with us -- We were near some benches & I had her sit down. She took some glucose tablets, and we hung out to rest and wait 15 minutes. Jacob volunteered to go get the fastpasses for us. I gave him our tickets, but made him wear my lanyard. He tends to lose things, and I did not want our tickets lost. After 15 minutes she was fine. She had some peanut butter crackers to keep her level up. We decided that we would not have a lot of time before dinner, and I did not want her to overdo it, so I suggested the Pirate Gift Shop. Hannah didn’t think this sounded appealing to her. Such a princess! I told her if she didn’t like it, we could try something else. I was about to text Jacob when he returned with the fastpasses & tickets.

Jacob took a lot of photos on his fastpass walk! Here are a few:

He had trouble holding the ipod a few times - his thumb looks so big.

Jacob likes interesting angles & close-ups & he will take a picture of anything that interests him! I like this one!

So Crowded!

We browsed around the gift shop. Hannah loved it when she saw all the jewelry & pins.

I thought this pin was so funny:

Jacob took some photos as he wandered around.

Hannah bought an autograph book. Of course she also needed a Disney pen to go with it. Jacob decided he didn't want to collect autographs this trip.

Hannah also picked out some jewelry. She wanted to buy gifts for her friends as well as some things for herself. She bought a triple BFF necklace on this night & earrings.

She waited in line and paid with her key card. She looked very happy to be charging something herself. While we were in line, Jacob had asked to get a medallion necklace, and had given it to us to buy. He had his new sunglasses on the edge of his shorts pocket. I told him that wasn’t a good spot and said “Don’t lose them”.

After we finished & were back outside, Jacob asked for his medallion. I looked down & his sunglasses were not in the spot they had been. I asked where they were. He didn't have them. He has lost many things on vacations so I tend to check & double check with him. He went back & searched, but we could not find them anywhere. Based on the times on my receipts: Bought sunglasses at 3:33pm, lost sunglasses at 4:49pm. He was really upset that he lost them. He searched for a while, but I made him stop to go to dinner.

We arrived at Liberty Tree Tavern about 10 min before our 5:30 ADR.
We have been here in the past (when there were characters). Hannah loves this one. Both kids like the food. It is “family style” at dinner. They bring out platters. First salad & rolls. We love the rolls. Then the main course of turkey, beef, & ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, mac & cheese, & green beans. For dessert it is apple cobbler & ice cream.

We were given a beeper, which went off within minutes, and Dinner was served very quickly! Our waiter was super nice & did a great job.

We had our table service dinner in less time than our “Quick service” lunch.

I really didn’t take food pics this trip. I was busy with checking Hannah’s carb counts. Two nights before the trip, she started giving her own shots, but I still helped her get everything out and ready & repacked.

After dinner it was almost time for our BTMRR fastpass, but not quite. We wandered in that direction, but didn’t get very far before the kids asked to go in the Trading Post. This store is really dangerous if you like pins. Hannah & I love pins. Jacob has some, but he was not wearing a lanyard this trip. We bought some pins. I bought two pins – The Pixar lamp, and the orange bird. They were both adorable. Hannah picked out a Tinkerbell pin, and a Mickey Mouse shirt. Jacob got a sheriff badge.

Jacob’s photos-

We headed over to BTMRR & Jacob took off his medallion, and put on his sheriff’s badge. He needed to match the ride.

Another Jacob photo-

Our first ride of the trip!!!

Hannah was nervous at first – but she loved the ride- though there was a bit of screaming! When we slowed down at the end, she was really disappointed the ride was over. I was so glad she was trying new things!

 

[RachelNinja]

Liberty Tree Tavern sounds like my kind of food! I think it just sounds like a very comforting meal to have.

So glad Hannah was willing to try BTMRR! That's definitely a must do kind of ride. I can't wait until the day that I have kids (if I have kids, that is!) and to take them on BTMRR!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Yay on all of you riding BTMRR and Hannah loving it!

I also like the tree pic that Jacob took

 

[jessily]

Wow it looks crowded! Glad Hannah enjoyed the ride

 

[kathleen27]

Liberty Tree Tavern sounds like my kind of food! I think it just sounds like a very comforting meal to have.

So glad Hannah was willing to try BTMRR! That's definitely a must do kind of ride. I can't wait until the day that I have kids (if I have kids, that is!) and to take them on BTMRR!

Exactly, comforting - nothing fancy. But I love turkey dinners.

We had fun! Its a lot of fun to see the kids enjoy themselves!

Yay on all of you riding BTMRR and Hannah loving it!

I also like the tree pic that Jacob took

Thanks! We enjoyed it!

Wow it looks crowded! Glad Hannah enjoyed the ride

It was so crowded!

 

[kathleen27]

After riding BTMRR, our first ride of the trip, we headed out of Frontierland, and just made it across into Adventureland before the parade started. Jacob suggested Jungle Cruise or Pirates next. Sounds Good! We decided to try Jungle Cruise first. Lines were short because the 7pm parade was about to start!

Hannah loves Jungle Cruise, but she had never been on at night before. Its fun to see the difference between day & night on the outdoor rides – there is such a difference sometimes!


Jacob took lots of photos, most came out too dark. these ones aren't as bad.

Next up Pirates of the Caribbean- The line was probably about 15 minutes.

Hannah took some photos too!

Jacob’s new medallion

Back to Jacob’s photos-

In line-

And of course the ride ends in the gift shop – so Jacob checked to see if his lost sunglasses had turned up. They hadn’t.


Hannah and I wandered around.
We had seen this cute little guy earlier.
Hannah took a photo-

Zero the ghost dog from the Nightmare Before Christmas.

She had to take him off the shelf for a close-up. Now she’s not going to want to put him back.

She thought he was so cute!

It would just be so sad if he couldn’t come home with us.

I thought he was cute too, so he did come home with us.



A couple of Jacob’s gift shop photos:

A medallion from the movie is hanging around the vase-

Cont'd....

 

[kathleen27]

It was getting close to 8pm, and Hannah needed her evening 24hr shot –this medication is in a vial and she uses a syringe. We were still learning to fill the syringe without getting bubbles. The park was also pretty dark. We decided to use the first aid center for this. Bad Idea. We had been in Adventureland. Away from the parade route. Away from the fireworks viewing areas. Away from the Crowd! The first aid center is between Crystal Palace & Casey’s - And Wishes starts at 8pm. It was mobbed, and the bridge across from CP was jammed with people and no one could move. The CMs were telling people to keep moving. No stopping on the bridge.

Jacob snapped off a photo – a little blurry, but an interesting angle.

The blurry shapes are people!!!


We finally made it to the first aid center. It was very nice; they have little rooms like in a doctor’s office. They also gave us some alcohol pads since Hannah was running out. We had not had much practice with treatment “on the go”, and she didn’t really have enough supplies on her. After this night I would check and refill her bag every day. This was the only time we visited a first aid center, timing & location just didn’t work, and we quickly learned to give this shot anywhere.

We decided to head over to Tomorrowland. Not the best idea. Wishes had ended, and mobs of people were heading down Main St. which we needed to cross.

Not Fun!!!!

Hannah was also hungry. Based on her blood glucose level she could have a snack. We finally made it to the popcorn cart at the hub. The new castle show- the magic, the memories, & you was playing. The kids started watching while I was in line. The show consists of light effects & images flashing on the castle with music. Hannah wanted to stay & see the whole show. She was more interested in taking photos & videos than eating popcorn.

One of Hannah’s photos-

Jacob’s photos-

After the show, we finally made it into Tomorrowland.

Unfortunately most of the lines were long, and the kids couldn’t find something they wanted to ride with a short line, we started heading through toward Fantasyland. Around the tea cups Hannah announced she felt low. We stopped at a counter on the side of Enchanted Grove to check her level. The park was pretty dark and there was a light here. She looked shaky & her number was much lower than I’d ever seen it. Her goal is to be between 80 & 180. She was 88 not long ago, now she was 47. I’d never seen her below 60. I had Jacob take her to a nearby bench while I repacked her meter. She was sitting down & taking glucose tablets. I knew she’d need multiple treatments. She was also almost out of test strips. They come in packs of 100, so she just hadn’t realized she was almost out. I was slightly panicked. I bought her an orange juice. Then Jacob bought himself raspberry lemonade. I just wanted to get out of the park so she could rest & we would have test strips. No more exercise!!! But we needed to wait until she felt better. After a half hour rest, & a couple of spoonfuls of sugar, she was her energetic self again. I told Jacob to lead the way – the quickest way out of the park – despite the fact that it was after 9pm & there was a parade going on blocking the way out. He told me he would if he could just remember what the third D stood for – Destination, Determination… ??? …Destination, Determination, Desperation????
He is good at making me laugh, even when I’m stressed. I told him he had the wrong park, Harry Potter was at Universal. He did lead us out of the park, without much trouble. The crowd had thinned out and the sidewalks were clear. Hannah was feeling much better; she was snapping pictures of the ELP as she walked out.

We made it out of the park with the parade still going on, and just in time for the bus. We made it to our room, and Hannah tested fine. The kids watched TV, while I quickly pulled out anything we would need for morning. That ended our first day – which hadn’t exactly gone as planned. We were exhausted and we had a big day the next day! And the next day went much better than this one!

 

[ksl5f123]

I am enjoying your TR! My mom is a Type 1 diabetic so the stories that you are telling about your daughter are all to familiar. All of that walking can really impact your numbers.

I like your kids photos. They take pictures of things I would never think about.

The crowds looked insane in Frontierland - yikes. I am glad that you avoided it for the most part.

 

[TanzUnited99]

MK at night looks so magical and just has a different feel!

It sure does look packed! Love the pics of The Magic, Memories and you show. Am glad to hear Hannah felt better after a rest and you were able to safely make it out of the park

 

[kathleen27]

I am enjoying your TR! My mom is a Type 1 diabetic so the stories that you are telling about your daughter are all to familiar. All of that walking can really impact your numbers.

I like your kids photos. They take pictures of things I would never think about.

The crowds looked insane in Frontierland - yikes. I am glad that you avoided it for the most part.

Thank you. Jacob is interested in art, and he definately sees things in a creative way.

It was so crowded.

All the T1 diabetes situations were so new to us. I wish we'd had more time to adjust, her Dr. lowered her dose a few days later, then again when we returned. A lot of adjustment at the beginning.

MK at night looks so magical and just has a different feel!

It sure does look packed! Love the pics of The Magic, Memories and you show. Am glad to hear Hannah felt better after a rest and you were able to safely make it out of the park

Thanks.

It really is majical at night!

The show was cute. Very short, & in between the fireworks & parade, so nice that they fill that time slot when a lot of people are still hanging out waiting.

 

[kathleen27]

Day 2 –Sunday Feb. 20th

Today our plan was to head to Animal Kingdom.

I automatically woke up a little after 6am, but tried to rest a bit longer. I felt like I needed to catch up a bit on sleep after so little on Friday night. I had hopes of getting to AK at opening. Riding a few things before there were lines. I was up by 7, in the shower, & ready to go, in plenty of time. The kids were not moving though. I finally got them out the door much later than planned. I don’t think we had to wait long for the bus – though this one had plenty of other people on it. We arrived at AK a little after 10am.

All the photos in this update are Jacob’s. He’s the only one with a camera out at this point.

Tree of Life:

Since there are not many breakfast options at BC, we decided to wait until we arrived at the park and try Pizzafari for breakfast.

We ordered, then the kids went to find a table. The chairs in this restaurant our brightly painted & most of them have bugs painted on them. Hannah still will not sit on the bug chairs. She searched until she found a table she liked that had a bug free chair. Jacob came back to help me with the food.

The food was good, but we were disappointed there were no Mickey waffles (or any type of waffle or pancake). There was a choice of 3 entrees – scrambled eggs, breakfast pizza (eggs with peppers, etc), & I do not remember the other. We got an assortment of things, including scrambled eggs w/bacon, pastries, Cereal for Hannah, juice, etc…

Jacob took a lot of photos in Pizzafari, in a couple of different rooms. There are a lot of murals & figures. Each room has a different theme.

After breakfast we wandered over to Asia to fastpass Expedition Everest. Another ride that Hannah had never tried. She was excited to try it later that afternoon.

All the photos Jacob took along the way.

50 min wait time at 10:57am.

We had about 40 minutes until a reservation at 11:45 that would keep us busy for a few hours. I wanted to make sure we knew where we were going and had plenty of time. We hung out a bit, and wandered over to Africa. We browsed at the pin cart. And headed to check in very early for the adventure we had planned!

 

[ksl5f123]

I have never been to Pizzafari. It looks very bright and colorful! I think the breakfast choices are a little lacking in a lot of the restaraunts.

I am looking forward to hearing about your adventure!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Love the tree of life pic and all the photos of Pizzafari. We are not eating there but may have to pop in just to see all the different themes!

at the EE times! Am looking forward to seeing what you had a reservation for

 

[kathleen27]

I have never been to Pizzafari. It looks very bright and colorful! I think the breakfast choices are a little lacking in a lot of the restaraunts.

I am looking forward to hearing about your adventure!

The kids are big pizzafari fans. They love pizza.

I wish they had a main course without eggs. My kids were actually allergic to eggs (would not feel well, have stomache aches) when they were little. They can eat them now though. We love Mickey waffles but they were hard to find this time.

Love the tree of life pic and all the photos of Pizzafari. We are not eating there but may have to pop in just to see all the different themes!

at the EE times! Am looking forward to seeing what you had a reservation for

The murals are neat. I would love to try some of the other places at AK. The kids like pizza too much!

The lines were long that day! We were spoiled with our late Sept 08 trip, when the lines were so short.



----------------------------

I don't have the next update done yet. Too easily distracted tonight.
I will try to finish tomorrow or Tuesday, and get this day all up this week! Though I have a lot of photos from this day, so it may take more posts than I think.

 

[kathleen27]

Jacob & I have both wanted to take a tour at Disney for a while now. But the kids are not old enough for most of the tours. Jacob & I had considered going on the Wild by Design tour since he had reached the minimum age for that one, if we had someone to watch Hannah (she's not old enough). Then our plans changed for the better. Disney announced a new tour! Wild Africa Trek! The age limit – Eight and older!!! It sounded really interesting – especially since Hannah loves animals, and we all enjoy Animal Kingdom Park. The tour started running in mid January. I checked out the reviews and photos & decided to go ahead and book the tour. I decided not to go on this with my Dad & step Mom though after seeing the photos of the bridge you cross. My Stepmother is very afraid of heights. They run multiple tours throughout the day. We booked on Sunday because it seemed like the busiest day of the long weekend. The tour had a limit of 12 guests, and would last 3 hours. When I called reservations, the earliest available tour was noon. We were told to arrive at least 20 minutes early. We arrived much earlier than that. We sat at a table & read over the times guide for the week while we waited to check in. Here is the view from an overlook near where we were waiting.

There were two other families on our tour for a total of 12 guests. We signed some paperwork (Disney is not responsible if anything happens to us, etc…) and after a bit we were brought one group at a time through a private gate, down through the little canoe area, through some bamboo, to the gear station.

We started at the lockers. We were not allowed to bring anything on the tour, except a camera with a strap. We also explained that Hannah needed her meter & some candy. We stashed our stuff in a locker (you set the lock with a 4 digit code, which opens the locker later). Then we stepped on a scale, and were given vests / harnesses. Someone went over step by step how to lock and set everything on the vest. We also had a radio with earpiece so we could hear our guide, and we were each given a full water bottle with our names on them. They clipped onto the vests, and also had a specific pouch on the vest. There is a pocket for a small personal item if necessary. The meter case just fit, but we decided to give Jacob the meter & have Hannah keep some lifesavers in her pocket. In Jacob’s words “Better to think you might be low & have something for it, than to know you are low & not be able to do anything”. We knew there were parts of the tour we might be temporarily separated. I had my camera in my pocket, clipped to the vest. Any camera must be clipped in or worn around the neck. Since the kids couldn’t take the itouches I was the only one with a camera. I offered it to Jacob, but he passed. I brought the point & shoot, because I was not 100% sure if I’d be allowed to bring a camera, and wasn’t sure how large the lockers were. (they were plenty roomy – several sizes available – the larger ones could fit a backpack). I would have been able to bring the S3 & I really wish I had – it takes much better photos at a distance.

After getting on all our gear, we headed over to a practice bridge. We crossed quickly, then headed over to a table with juice set out. The juice was incredible! Very sweet. I haven’t been to Tusker House for breakfast, but I always here about the juice there. I think this might have been the same juice.

The kids all geared up. Check out the Vests!

The pouches hanging on their right (left in photo) are the radio packs for the earpieces, we could adjust their volume.

We headed back to the public area of the park, where we took a few group photos, and learned how to work the clip on are harness, so we could remove it to hand off to the guides as needed. There were 3 guides on our hike, one of which had a photopass camera, and would be taking pictures throughout the tour.

We then headed through Africa toward the exit of the Pangini Forest Trail. We stopped at the gorilla viewing area for a bit.

Our guide was talking about Africa and giving us information about the animals as we went (over our earpieces).

We were lucky and saw a lot of gorillas.

The gorilla in the back moved out from the trees….

He then came charging toward the end of the exhibit, causing a stir in the audience.
I would not want to make him mad!

Photopass photos!

A better shot taken by our guide -

Just after that, on the opposite side of the exhibit, a little baby gorilla came running out into view. I wasn’t able to get a photo of him.

Here are two photopass photos taken by our guide – He’s really cute!

Someone asked how old the baby gorilla was, sorry I don’t remember the age, but when our guide Laura answered the question, she phrased it “we first noticed him here in the preserve x months ago.” I was a little confused at first, until I realized that on the tour, the guides were on script that we were actually in Africa, visiting a wildlife preserve. They never once broke the premise in any way, any mention of Disney was strictly through the Disney Conservation Fund only.

Just past the gorilla exhibit, we headed off the trail onto a hiking path.

Laura, was talking to us over the radio set, and telling us about the animals and the path, and describing everything. We came to a Hippo skull that was being used to mark the path of the trail. We stopped to examine the skull. I hung back to get a photo of just the skull.

The trail led to a Hippo viewing area:

I was aware that we wouldn’t necessarily see any hippos, and had warned the kids of this ahead of time too. Mark, our guide & photographer, took a quick walk to another viewing site, to see if the view there was better at the moment. It was decided we would stay here. We clipped our harnesses into the system, and were able to step closer to the edge of the viewing area. We could see one hippo at a distance at first. He even got up and walked over to a new spot to lay back down. We couldn’t really see him in the new spot, and I didn’t get a photo.



Photopass photos!

After a bit of talk, with a guide stationed at the hippo area, we headed on our way. The next trail we learned about crocodiles.

This trail led to a river, which we would have to cross!
Crossing was a fun adventure - which I'll try to get up in the next couple of days.

 

[sassyredhead]

We are scheduled for the Africa Trek in June. Your pictures are getting me excited! Thanks for sharing!

 

[let'sgo]

I'm really enjoying reading your trip report. And I love all of the pictures! Can't wait to hear about the rest of the tour.

 

[norybell]

Joining in...what a cool tour so far!

Your kids are so cute! It must've been really challenging to have to deal with all the diabetes stuff, without being used to it...sounds like your DD (and you) were coping with it really well.

I just got back a few weeks ago from my first stay at the BC, and I totally agree with you about the bathroom. Ridiculously tiny!

 

[TanzUnited99]

That is the first time I have read about the Wild Africa Trek and it sounds amazing!

That baby gorilla sure is cute

Yay on seeing the hippos!