Girls Rule! May 2-9th, 2009 Trip!! – Wow, it was HOT! (Day 4 Part 2 is Up!)

[DexLabDeeDee]

Here is what I wrote before we left for the trip. The actual trip report to follow!

Hurray! As I write this, we are exactly one month away from our trip to WDW! However, I will post this when I come back. I am really excited. Before I go further, let’s introduce the players:

Maggie (28): I call her a “newbie” because she has been to Disney before but as a young child and a lot has changed since then! And she has never traveled to Disney with me which means she’ll do a lot more than she ever expected! She is a lot of fun. Very outgoing, lots of energy. Always ready to have a good time. Really into vintage things. LOVES her 80s music!!

Me, Jenna (28): I have been to Disney twice as a child and six times as an “adult”. I normally travel with my parents and sisters, though last September I went with my DH for the first time. He liked it okay but I don’t think that he had as good a time as I did. Oh well. Can’t win ‘em all. I am more introverted than Maggie but I also love to have a good time. We are opposites in a lot of ways – that’s probably why we get along so well!

Here we are out on the town at dueling pianos for Maggie’s 28th birthday:

I’m on the left and Maggie is on the right.

Here is another one of Maggie and her birthday cake:

Here is another one of me in my Disney gear:

Maggie and I (along with our other friend Amy) went to college together and have been close ever since. We always talked about going on a trip together but it was just talk at the time. This past January, I was getting antsy to go back down to WDW and I started to look at airfare and prices just for fun. I found the 4/3 promo and good airfare and I was immediately desperate to go. Of course. When I want something, I usually want it badly. I decided on May 2-9th because of the low crowds predicted by the Touring Plans crowd calendar and because it wasn’t too far away but still far enough to have time to save up some $$. Now, all I needed was someone to go with me…

I called DH and he said he didn’t want to go again (I figured he wouldn’t) and I knew no one in my family would be able to go. That left my friends. Maggie was an immediate “Yes!” Unfortunately, Amy was an immediate “No.” She teaches and is going to grad school and had finals and is pregnant! Whew! Even if we switched the dates, she still had to teach. I was bummed but I really wanted to go when most schools were still in session so it wouldn’t be so crowded – and hot!

So Maggie and I were off to the World.

This is my first trip traveling with a friend so I hope it goes well. We’ve already sat down and talked about traveling styles and I think that it will be fine. She is a get up and go vacationer and I am too, so that will work. I just have to monitor my walking. I tend to walk fast. I don’t even think about it, I just go. I’ve always been that way. My mom says that when I was learning to walk, I didn’t really walk – I leaned forward and ran. Maggie and I run on different time schedules, though. I like to get things done quickly and efficiently so that I can relax with any time I might have left. Maggie takes her time and doesn’t stress. My DH and DSis are both like this so I think there won’t be a problem.

I decided to use Dreams Unlimited Travel to book because I had been listening to the DIS podcast, been on the site and using the boards for awhile. I thought that they deserved my business for all the good stuff I’ve gotten from them. Dreams Unlimited has been a great experience. I love getting emails from my TA!

There were only two things that Maggie insisted upon: a day at the beach and Universal Studios. Otherwise, I was free to plan as I saw fit. I wanted to get into Port Orleans Riverside because I had stayed there last Sept and loved it. Unfortunately, there weren’t any rooms available at the time and we had to go with our second choice – POP. Actually, it was my second choice and Maggie’s first choice so it works out. I was really bummed at first because I LOVED Riverside but I am warming up to the idea now. I’m a little concerned about the noise level. I heard that it can be noisy. After a day in the parks, I really like to come back to quiet.

We really can’t afford the dining plan so we are paying OOP and we have only one dining reservation – Raglan Road. Which was another favorite from my last trip.

Maggie also really wants to see Cirque du Soleil so she bought us tickets! That girl is crazy nice.

Here is our final itinerary:

Saturday – Arrival – DTD and Cirque du Soleil!
Sunday – AK
Monday – Universal
Tuesday – MK
Wednesday – HS
Thursday – Cocoa beach
Friday – EP – Raglan Road @ 9:30pm
Saturday – EP AM and departure

I also worked with my TA for a birthday surprise for Maggie. Her birthday is in February but I wanted to do something special for her on our trip. I listened to the two podcasts where Kevin reviewed Cinderella’s Royal Table for breakfast and for lunch. The lunch review wasn’t very favorable. (Quite a few people on the boards seemed to agree as well) He did really like the breakfast, though. And Maggie LOVES breakfast. She would also be excited to eat in Cinderella’s castle. Perfect. So I crossed my fingers, contacted my TA and she was able to get a late breakfast reservation for Tuesday! Yay!

So now we wait. And it is really hard! I told Maggie that she was getting a Disney surprise for her birthday but I’m not going to tell her until we are in MK that day. I am about bursting from the suspense!


Update – The End is Near…

The end of the wait, of course! As of today, we have three days left to go! Maggie and I are getting really excited. There hasn’t been too much drama this past month. Well, besides the crowd level scare and the swine flu…epidemic…pandemic…something? I have my touring plans so I’m not too concerned about the crowd levels. (Though I think that it isn’t really going to be level 8 crowded) We’ll have to see when we get there. And the swine flu, well, I figure that we can get sick at any point anywhere so we’ll just be really diligent with washing our hands and carrying hand sanitizer and wet wipes. They haven’t issued any travel restrictions and I can’t cancel my vacation now!

Still can’t wait to surprise Maggie with her birthday gift.

How will this all turn out????

All will be revealed soon……

Day 1 – Wow. Did we just get to do that? (Departure)
Day 1 - Cirque du Soleil (Evening)
Day 2 – Animal Kingdom – Really…how much time does one need to get ready in the morning? Part 1
Day 2 – Animal Kingdom – Owwwww…my feet! Part 2
Day 3 - Universal - Where is everyone? Part 1
Day 3 - Universal - Shrek and Jenna <3 Part 2
Day 4 - Magic Kingdom - Hurray for Birthdays! Part 1
DAy 4 - Magic Kingdom - My eyes! My eyes! Part 2

 

[Micday]

Wow, I'd love to go on a "friends" trip but I would end up wanting to kill them. I'm a control freak.

I can not wait to hear how it went. Please don't wait to long.

Michelle

 

[mickeystoontown]

Yeah! You're back and I can't wait to hear all about it. I often say trip reports and pictures are what keep me sane until our next WDW vacation. Thanks for your contribution to my sanity!

 

[bhwhiz]

I'm in!

 

[tinkerbells mum]

subbing, can't wait to hear all about it xx

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Wow, I'd love to go on a "friends" trip but I would end up wanting to kill them. I'm a control freak.

I can not wait to hear how it went. Please don't wait to long.

Michelle

I'm a control freak, too! I had to really work hard to let Maggie do stuff in "Maggie Time". I'm writing up Day 1 right now but..shhh..I'm at work...so it's slow going. By tomorrow for sure!

Yeah! You're back and I can't wait to hear all about it. I often say trip reports and pictures are what keep me sane until our next WDW vacation. Thanks for your contribution to my sanity!

No problem!! I am helping my parents plan their Sept anniversary free dining trip to help with my post-vacation depression. Writing trip reports help too!

I'm in!

Hi and welcome!

Thanks everyone for joining me!

 

[jamif]

subbing....can't wait to read all about it!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

…..because we are now back! It’s been a little over a week and it seems like ages ago since we went. It was a great time with lots of surprises! Maggie and I can travel together – yay – but you do have to work at it!

Oh yeah, it was also HOT! HOT! HOT! Every morning I would turn on the weather channel and hear this, “Record setting temperatures today…” WHAT?? Needless to say, we drank a lot of water and took a lot of indoor breaks. Ugh.

Oh, and the crowd levels really seemed to vary but I wouldn’t say that we ever saw a level 8 day. Sunday at AK and Tuesday at MK were the busiest, otherwise there were about level 6 crowds. No problem!

Okay, on with the show. Day 1. Departure.

We picked up Maggie from her apartment at 7:45am and headed out to the airport. My DH and a friend of ours were dropping us off for our flight from Minneapolis, MN to Orlando, Fl at 10:00am. I love that feeling when you get dropped off on the curb and your vacation begins!

We went through check-in and security, no problem. Maggie wanted a breakfast burrito so we stopped at McDonald’s for breakfast. Oh! I forgot to mention something. Since Amy couldn’t come with us, we made a Flat Amy! Here is a pic of her with my two kitties, Bitty (as in Little Bitty Kitty) and Sirius (Black):

Just before this was taken, Bitty (the tuxedo) bit Amy on the hand! Naughty kitty! Doesn’t she look all innocent now?

So we spent some time at breakfast discussing Flat Amy and our trip. Maggie wanted to get a snack for the plane and go to the bathroom so we left McDonald’s and ambled to one of the little shops on the way to our gate. I glanced at the time when we were in the shop and my feet started to itch. I need to get to the gate now. I like to be there early and waiting. I told Maggie that we should get going and we could go to the bathroom at the gate. We still had a whole concourse to go down. Luckily, they had the moving walkways. Maggie called her mom on the way and spoke to her while I towed us quickly along. I kept glancing at the clocks as we passed the departure screens and time was slipping away very quickly. I took out our boarding passes and handed Maggie hers because I knew we weren’t going to make it to the bathroom. We were going to have to board the plane right away.

Of course, as I am speeding along towing Maggie (still on the phone and oblivious – thank you! We don’t need two people panicking) someone goes by on the opposite walkway and my boarding pass flies into the air and in between the two walkways. For a moment, my heart plummeted because I thought that there was a long drop below. (I think I was getting the walkway confused with an escalator) Thankfully, it just fell to the floor which was level with the walkway. So picture this, two girls, one on the phone and one with short arms, running backwards on a moving walkway while trying to reach for a piece of paper and laughing hysterically. It took us a few tries but we did manage to grab it and stumble to the gate.

When we got to the gate, we saw that there were only about 5 people left in line. Maggie quickly got off the phone and we rushed to the line hoping that it would look like we were there the whole time. Nope. The attendant taking our boarding passes said, “Nice try being the last ones on the plane.” Huh. That was a strange comment. Not sure what she meant by that. Were there actually people coming behind us or was it a snide remark? Whatever. We’re here. No one had to wait for us.

We got onto the plane but had to wait a moment right by the cockpit. I ducked my head down for a better look and said, “I don’t really get a chance to stand and look at the cockpit.” To which the captain replied, “Do you want to go in and see the co-pilot?” Umm…yeah. I quickly dropped my carry-on and entered the cockpit before he could change his mind. The next ten minutes were crazy! The co-pilot started flipping knobs and pressing buttons, showing me how to use the joystick to the left of the pilot’s seat (A joystick! Like a video game!), showing me printouts of the route, telling me I needed to come back up and fly the plane later.

Then he let Maggie sit down in his seat and took our picture:

Then the pilot said that we needed to take our seats and get ready to take-off. Maggie and I found our seats and just sat there, floored. I can’t believe that they let us in the ****-pit! I wasn’t even fishing when I made that comment. It was just an off-hand comment to pass the time while we waited. CRAAAAZY. What a way to start our vacation!

The flight was actually really rough. We flew through some nasty weather in Alabama. Really bad turbulence. I managed to spill my ginger ale on the person next to me. Luckily (or unluckily), most of the pop got on me and not her. She was very very nice and just said, “Oh, everything will dry. It’s no problem.” I pressed the button for the flight attendant and she wasn’t very nice. I asked for a blanket or something to mop up my seat and my pants and for a second it looked like she wasn’t going to get it for me. She did but left after thrusting the blanket at me. She didn’t even stay to ask if I needed anything else or to offer help.

Landing was awful. For some reason, the left side of both Maggie’s and my face felt like it was going to explode. Literally. It was so painful. I have never felt like that before and I’ve flown quite a bit. The pressure just kept building and building. There was nothing I could do. I felt so helpless. Just when I felt like I was going critical, the plane landed and the pressure slowly subsided. The relief was incredible. It was as if I had come back alive from battle. I was exhausted and I felt lucky to have my face intact. Has anyone ever experienced this before?

We shook off the disturbing flight and made our way to the main terminal:

Maggie quickly stopped in the Kennedy Space Center store and bought us both dried ice cream. I had never had it before. She loves it. We proceeded to the Magical Express and while we were in line, we ate the ice cream:

I don’t like it. Gross. More for Maggie. Our line was pretty long but it went fairly quickly. We had another wait to check-in at Pop but again, the line kept moving. Mark, from London!, checked us in. He was very nice. We talked about Minnesota for a bit. Maggie and I decided to try and minimize our accents while we were down here. It comes out really blatant when we say “Minnesota”. “Minnesohda” Those long vowels. And, of course, our affirmatives. Though we do say “yes”, we more often than not use the Norweigan “ja” (pronounced “ya”). Sometimes it’s okay because it sounds like we are saying “yeah” but we’re not. Just a little experiment for Maggie and me. I can tell you right now that we were completely unsuccessful.

Okay, back to Pop. Our room was in the 80s section (Maggie was thrilled) in building 9. We overlooked trees. Excellent. Quiet trees. Very nice.

What a day and it wasn’t even over!

We still had to get ready and go to La Nouba….

Day 1 Part 2 coming soon...

 

[MEK]

…..

.

Ahhhh....the life of a cat! I can never pack my suitcase or fold clothes without a little extra company!

Great trip report. I am pretty surprised the pilot let you guys in the ****pit. I thought they weren't allowed to do that anymore.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I thought so too! Perhaps it is at the discretion of the pilot?

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

We rested briefly in our room and then got ready to go to Downtown Disney. Maggie wanted to dress up for Cirque, so we packed our dresses and shoes in our carry-on. Luckily, both of our dresses survived the trip with very few wrinkles. I was shocked.

Here’s Maggie at our door:

We managed to find our way to the bus stop from our room. Why is it that things are so clear on the map but so confusing when you actually go out the door? It was a bit of a walk from our room to the Classic Hall. I really didn’t mind. Even after a long day at the park, I don’t mind the walk to the room. I like wandering through the resort.

Anyway, when we got to the bus stop, it was really busy. I was worried that this was going to be a theme for the rest of the trip. When DH and I stayed at POR, which I love, we had a terrible time with the buses. We had to wait awhile for the bus that we wanted and the bus stops from the parks to the resort were really really crowded. In September! A family in front of us was complaining about how it had taken them an hour to get to here in order to get to DTD. From what I could tell, there was confusion about how exactly to get there with the bus service. They were really loud and really upset.

We eventually made it on the second bus that came and we had to stand next to the complainers who were still going at it. I felt bad that they didn’t have a good day but they told their story to anyone who would listen over and over again. I couldn’t figure out exactly why their day went to shambles. They were at MK and I think it was really busy and I think that this was their first time to Disney and they were overwhelmed. They should just scrap the day, go back to their rooms, reset and start afresh tomorrow. Going to DTD after all that is just dragging out the torture.

Maggie and I got to DTD and headed straight to Wolfgang Puck Express. We were STARVING. We had just eaten breakfast that morning and had a snack on the plane but that was it. My favorite pizza ever is here. I LOVE it. Maggie had never eaten at WPE before even though we have one at the Mall of America and in the airport. I got pepperoni and Maggie got margharita. Excellent. Sometime I have to try something else off their menu but I just love the pizza so much.

We sat outside and ate. It was a new experience with the “server” there. For those of you who haven’t been to WPE, you walk up and order at a counter and they give you a number and then you go and sit down with a number and they bring it out to you. There is a pop machine to fill your glass initially but a server walks around and gets you what you need once you sit down. Normally, I grab my pizza to go and meet the rest of my family at Earl of Sandwich so I haven’t ever sat down in the restaurant. Our server was cute, so that was fun. Too bad Maggie lives in Minnesota.

After dinner, we wandered around DTD. I explored the new Trend-D store. I really liked it. It seemed a lot smaller than I remember from Summer Sands (I think that was the previous name). I had seen the Love the World stuff on a Disney newsletter and showed my mom and she loved it, so I was looking for some things for her. I found a nice notepad and a couple re-useable bags but no shirts. I asked a CM and she said that they were being made and they were going to release in July. Bummer. Good thing my parents are coming back in September. I’m glad I asked, though. I would have spent the rest of my trip looking for a t-shirt.

Maggie at the Pirate section of the World of Disney Store:

It was almost 8pm by the time we extracted ourselves from the stores. We wandered past the new T-Rex restaurant. It seemed very active. Maggie was very agitated that we weren’t going to be eating there. I think that she thought we weren’t because of her and she felt bad. It’s because I really really like dinosaurs. But I wasn’t interested in eating with a lot of dinosaurs screaming at me and I wasn’t convinced that the food was going to be any good anyway. I don’t think that she truly believed me but she dropped it.

On our way to Cirque, on the West Side, we bumped into this guy:

He was playing a guitar and a didgeridoo at the same time. Very fun.

We got our tickets at Will Call and climbed the stairs to the seating level. The venue was a lot more comfortable and intimate than I had expected. It felt almost informal in a way. I would show you pictures but we were seated in the first row of the second tiered section where there is a walkway right in front of us right next to one of the entrances. Right next to usher Rose. The crazy lady.

Rose was very interesting. She was our pre-pre-show entertainment. (They had some pre-show entertainment which is why she is pre-pre-show.) If you thought that you would take some pictures of your party sitting and waiting for the show to start, you would be wrong. Because Rose would fly up to where you were sitting (seriously, the woman could MOVE), get in your face and tell you to put away your camera. And then she would return to her post. She did this several times while we watched. The first time she did it we were all shocked. It was really startling. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Maggie slowly put her camera back in the case. Heehee. Yeah, we don’t want a visit from Rose. And don’t even think about using your cell phone because she is all over that, too. I can understand that it could be very distracting and potentially dangerous for the performers but this was before anything was happening.

Maggie and I were totally engrossed in the drama that was Rose. The pre-show had started with a couple of clowns and boxes and some people from the audience but we didn’t see much of it. Rose was way too fascinating. Cameras weren’t the only reason Rose was crazy. At one point, she had an influx of people and there were too many so she radioed for help. A couple of minutes later another CM comes along and starts looking at tickets and helping people find their seats. Well, Rose rounds on him and barks, “What are you doing here?” And he says that he was told to come and help her. She tells him that she doesn’t need any help so he can leave. Hahahaha. Maggie and I both look at each other and ask, “You heard her radio for help, right?” Yup. She radioed for help and then chewed the guy out for helping her. Oh, Rose. You are so amusing.

I would have taken a picture of her but, alas, she would probably come and destroy the camera. Look for Rose if you are ever at Cirque! She knew her stuff, though. You could give her a row letter and she would tell you how many rows up you had to go. Right off the top of her head. Perhaps she had been working there too long.

Cirque was really good. Maggie LOVED LOVED LOVED it. I really enjoyed it but I don’t think that I loved it like she loved it. She was so nervous during the trapeze part that her feet sweated. After the show, outside on the pavement, she took off her sandals and put her feet on the concrete. Two dark footprints! I’m kicking myself for not taking a picture! Maggie, they had a net!

Here’s a picture of us that night:

And Maggie kissing a palm tree because she is so happy to be here:

We walked all the way back to the Marketplace bus stop because I couldn’t figure out where the one for West Side was. I was completely fried at this point. It was 11 and I had been up early and traveled all day. Later in the trip I figured out where to go but it was beyond me at that point. It ended up to be a good thing because we were the first stop and we got to sit down. Whew! What a day!

Animal Kingdom tomorrow….

 

[mickeystoontown]

We've been to Cirque once but didn't see Rose. We are going back in August and I look forward to seeing her. Anxiously await your next installment.

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

We got up at 7:00am. The night before Maggie asked me what time we should get up and I tentatively suggested 7:00am thinking to myself that we could go and get some breakfast by 8:00am and be at the busses soon after to make rope-drop at 9:00am. Maggie then asked me what time should we be out of the room and just as I was opening my mouth, Maggie says, “Don’t you dare say 8:00!” Ummmmm….. I stood there in silence trying to figure out what I should say. After a little while, Maggie obviously realized that I was thinking 8:00 and she says, “How on earth are we both going to take showers by 8:00??” What, really? Two things went through my head – why on earth would I take a shower in the morning when I will obviously be gross by the evening AND how long are her showers that we both couldn’t be done in an hour? Completely flabbergasted, I told her that I would be taking my showers in the evenings and she seemed okay after that.

As the week went on, I saw what she meant – she needs that full hour in the morning because she spends at least a half hour in the room with the toilet (showering and whatnot) and a half hour by the sink. I’m not sure what Maggie does but I know that this is her time to zone out and ease into the day. She needs it like she needs her coffee. My needs are simple in the morning - I need to put in my contacts, lotion up, brush my teeth, dress, put on sunscreen, brush my hair, take care of a couple of other things and watch the weather channel while packing my bag for the day. It takes me a half hour, tops. I am not a morning person either but I on vacation I definitely like to “get up and go get ‘em” right away. I use the time walking through the resort and riding on the bus to mentally get ready for the day. Multi-tasking!

Okay, so we get up and then go to Everything POP to grab a coffee, bagel and cream cheese for Maggie and a croissant for me. It was amazing watching Maggie with her coffee. Some cream, sugar, sugar, sugar, a little more cream and one more sugar. Does that even count as coffee anymore? Not that I’m one to talk. You’d have to dump the whole sugar bag in coffee in order for me to drink it. I don’t drink tea, either. It’s kind of hard because a lot of social situations involve coffee and/or tea. You’d be surprised at how many there are. I prefer hot chocolate. But not in Florida. Waaaay too hot.

The line for the bus for AK was really short. Yay. After the line for DTD last night, I was a little concerned. We arrived at AK about 8:35am. We followed a man with his wife and kid to the front gate. He was wearing a Hello Kitty backpack. You gotta love those dads who let loose when they are at Disney. There were a lot of people waiting outside the turnstiles. Here is Maggie waiting:

We were let inside at 8:45am. I love that they play “Circle of Life” right before you walk in. Perks me right up. We watched the show in the beginning and then we were off to Expedition Everest! This is one of my favorite rides. Love it love it love it! This would be Maggie’s first time on EE and also her first experience with the FP system. I explained it to her a few times before the trip but until you actually experience it, I don’t think that you completely understand it. DH was the same way. She caught on quickly and later on asked why people would wait so long for rides when they could use the FP more often. I don’t know. People don’t read their maps? The FP are all gone? They want to see the queue? It’s a mystery. More for us though, if they don’t want to use it.

We did my usual get a FP, get in the stand-by line. Here is Maggie before getting on our tea train to Everest!

She wasn’t really nervous. She’s a do-everything rider, like me. Good thing because I love my rides! She loved it! She was so happy that we had gotten a FP. That’s why we get a FP and ride stand-by right away after rope-drop. You are guaranteed two rides!

After EE we went over to Dinosaur. I like the delicious chill that this ride gives me. I generally don’t like when things come out at me in the dark, even if I know that nothing is going to happen to me. So it definitely ratchets up the intensity for me and I like that. Maggie seemed to enjoy it as well. There wasn’t very much of a wait.

We went back over to EE and rode again with our FP. This time we took some pictures while on the ride:

We went to Africa via Asia and we saw DiVine! Maggie was really excited because I had shown her my pictures from last year and she was anxious to see her for herself. Here is a picture from last year because we just got video this year:

We got our FP for Kilimanjaro Safaris and then went on the Pangani Exploration Trail. Here is Timon and a gorilla:

A CM was talking about the gorillas when we walked up. She finished with her spiel and a guy came up to her and asked, “Is he dead?” To which the stunned CM replied with a loud, “No!” She said it like he was an idiot. Maggie thought that the CM was a little harsh. I thought the guy was an idiot so I had no problem with her tone. It didn’t seem like he was genuinely curious or sincere. The guy kind of swaggered up, leaned in and then asked his question in an insolent tone. I think that she was so shocked that she answered without thinking. I was mildly offended when he asked like that; I can believe that she was even more offended.

We had a good time trying to identify birds and take pictures of them. Wily little buggers! Just when we would get lined up, they would fly away. Most of our pictures turned out blurry.

After the trail, we went on KS. We were in line in front of a woman with 3 or 4 kids, I can’t remember exactly how many, all under 6 and a young girl who seemed to be a nanny of some sort. The kids were all in different stages of melt down. Both the woman and the girl were carrying large diaper bags and the woman was also carrying a soft cooler. It was awful. I was exhausted just watching them. And it was really hot. At one point, one of the little girls sat down on the ground and started wailing. Maggie looked at me and she said, “I’m getting better at determining when kids are fake crying.” This was definitely a fake cry. Poor thing really wanted some attention. After seeing this and watching more people during the week we both decided that we wouldn’t take any children to Disney that still needed a diaper bag. I know that people do it and it works out but it seems like way too much work. Especially in the heat.

Our driver was Justin. He was cute. And funny. We tried to get a picture of him in the rearview mirror but it didn’t work so well. Here is the back of his head:

Not completely successful. He had a few zingers – “That’s the turkey vulture. It’s native to Florida. Hmmm, strange to see them in Africa.” “You are going to experience one of the most exciting sights in Africa, the ostrich. <We turn the corner and there isn’t an ostrich> Well, they aren’t that exciting anyway.” “Sorry but we have to cut our two week safari short….I felt like I was going in circles anyway.” Heehee. A giraffe was going to the bathroom when we drove by. That was a new experience for me. Huge bladders. Here are some pictures from the safari:

I should mention at this point our new croc sandals that we bought:

Yeah. They were giving us problems. Good thing we brought band-aids. We had to use them a lot that day.

We were getting hungry so Maggie wanted to get a soft pretzel but she also found a package of fresh fruit, cheese and crackers. We went and sat outside Tusker House. She was on . Apparently, it was just what she wanted. I was getting hungry at this point too but I wanted my Pizzafari so I waited. During our break, Maggie suggested a drinking game. This is strange because Maggie doesn’t drink alcohol. She meant water and that we should pick a phrase or word each day and drink a sip of water each time we hear or say that phrase/word. Today our phrase was, “Oh my gosh!” We ended up drinking a bottle and a half of water. Yay. (We had paid for a couple of bottles yesterday and we were just filling them up at the water fountains today.) I know we should be drinking even more but it’s probably more than we would have normally. I often forget to drink because I’m not thirsty very often.

After our break, we wanted to get another FP for EE so we wandered back through Asia. On the boards I had heard about the wonderful egg rolls in Asia but I could never find them before. People really seemed to like them so I wanted to try them. We did manage to find the cart and I got one. It was SUPER HOT!!!!!!!! Like right out of the fryer. I could barely hold on to the thing. They just gave it to me in a napkin. I had to grab a few more so I could hold it. It took forever for it to cool. I put some duck sauce on it. It was good but it wasn’t amazing or anything. I would recommend getting it if you are around but I wouldn’t go out of my way.

Next up Pizzafari and the afternoon…….

 

[mickeystoontown]

You two are a real hoot! It's great to see you enjoying Animal Kingdom.

 

[Raecheal]

I can't believe I just found your TR- Love it so far.

 

[bob6sims]

Great TR so far

Looking forward to reading more

 

[jelloarms]

I am here. I ate at Wolfgang Pucks last time too and their pizza was just wonderful!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Thanks for joining everyone! I hope to have another installment today!!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

On our way to Pizzafari we got another FP for EE. Yummy Yummy Yummy. I really enjoy Disney pizza. Except for the crust. It’s just too much. I would like more toppings and less crust. That’s why I have Maggie. To eat my crusts. No other reason. Maggie is a bread-monger. Like my sister. They could eat a whole loaf in one sitting. Crazy people, I tell ya.

So, I got a pizza and it came with a “salad”. It was really just a pile of lettuce. I would have loved croutons and parmesan cheese but oh well. I would have loved some parmesan cheese with my pizza, too but it seems that they only have crushed red peppers anymore. I’m sure they got rid of the cheese due to “customer demand”. Right. Maggie just got dessert since she already ate – chocolate cake.

Maggie has her card out all the time because all you do is spend money all day in Disney!

They were running really slow at Pizzafari and there were a lot of people so after I got my food I went to find a place to sit. I found a room with a table – huzzah! We don’t have to eat outside in the 90deg heat! I sat down, waited for Maggie and ate my lettuce. As I sat there, all of a sudden I hear, really loud and echo-y, “GET OFF THE FLOOR!....GET OFF THE FLOOR!....GET OFF THE FLOOR!” I think everyone in the room just stopped. There must have been some strange acoustics going on because it felt like a woman was yelling right in my ear. I tried to look around and find where it was coming from but I couldn’t figure it out. Meanwhile, the voice keeps going and going. I started to look on the floor and through the tables, I saw movement. Now that I knew where to look, there was a mom in the corner with one on the floor and two sit at the table. One down, two to go. She’s bent over and yelling at the kid. Meanwhile, the little girl at the table turns and smacks the other little boy. He starts screaming. The mom immediately straightens and turns her evil-eye on the little girl and yells in a demon-voice, “WHAT DID YOU DO?” The kid on the floor sees mom’s attention shift and he starts to yell and squirm. The mom now starts alternating between the two situations, yelling non-stop – “GET OFF THE FLOOR!....<turn>…WHAT DID YOU DO?....<turn>…GET OFF THE FLOOR!...<turn>…WHAT DID YOU DO?” My food is completely forgotten now. The family definitely deserves sympathy at this point but it’s become almost farcical. After a few rounds between the two meltdowns Mom has had enough at this point and she grabs everyone and drags them out kicking and screaming.

Just as she leaves, Maggie walks in. Of course. I tried to explain what happened but I couldn’t do it justice. So we sit down to a completely uneventful meal in comparison. Here is our food:

Maggie really liked her dessert but she said that it was really rich. The frosting on top was a ganache.

After lunch, we headed back to Asia. A Flights of Wonder show was starting so we decided to sit down and watch. I really like this show. We sat in the middle where most of the birds fly over head. I tried to get a picture of the one coming straight towards us, but it only kind of worked:

After the show, they keep a few birds out for you to come up and look at:

We wondered over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek next. The first thing you walk into is the aviary. We started to walk in a ways and then realized what it was and I went back to get the bird sheet. As I was walking back I said, “There are birds here, Maggie.” And I heard someone say something but I didn’t think it was to me but then I looked up and a CM was staring at me. I said, “What?” And she replied, “It’s an aviary.” Okay. Yes. Birds. I kept staring at her because I thought that there had to be more. She repeated it slowly, “It’s an av-iar-y.” Yes. Birds. I get it. I waited a little longer. Nope. That was it. I didn’t know what else to say except, “Okay.” I think we both walked away thinking that the other person was just a little slow.

Maggie and I again tried to take pictures of the birds. These ones were a bugger:

We chased them all around the floor. We weren’t even that close, we were using zoom, but they just knew that we were taking pictures and would run into the bushes. We finally gave up and then tried to get the ones in the trees. After trying to zoom in and catch one particular kind, we realize that it was the same type as the ones we were chasing on the ground! Curses! Well played birds….well played, indeed. (Dwight voice) I think we walked away with Birds 100 Maggie and Jenna 6.

We went through the rest of the trek and saw tigers:

And my favorite – fruit bats!

I love watching them fan themselves with their wing. If you watch a lot at once, it’s pretty comical. When we go to our cabin on the lake, it’s fun to watch the bats fly through the trees just after dusk, catching bugs. Good stuff.


We went to go use our FP for EE after the Maharajah Jungle Trek but when we got there we found that EE wasn’t running. The CM said that it would be around 20min. So we went to Dino-Rama. Maggie had been asking about Primeval Whirl. I have never ridden it before and Maggie was curious so we went to look at it. The wait was 40 minutes and after look at it, we decided it wasn’t worth it so we took pictures instead:

We were so wiped after this. It felt 10 degrees hotter in Dino-Rama. At some point today we remembered that we forgot to bring Flat Amy. Sad. We’ll have to make sure to remember her tomorrow. We headed back towards Asia and found that the parade was starting. We weren’t interested in standing and watching so we went to ITTBAB. Here we are looking hot in our bug vision:

Maggie didn’t like it. I’m not a huge fan either. I’ve seen it before. She didn’t get bumped by the maggots because she was sitting so far forward in her seat. I thought that there was a TON more smoke this time. When it rolled over us, for a few seconds I couldn’t even see Maggie and she was sitting right next to me.

The parade was still going on when we tried to get back across to Asia to go to EE. So we stopped and watched the end. There was one girl on stilts that was not having a fun time. Everyone else was really getting into it and singing along and doing their little dances and she was having a bad day. Noodle arms, she would only kind of do the action and then her arms would just flop down, her face looked dead. I hope that she was feeling all right. I can just imagine that it would be torture if you aren’t feeling good and then you have to be in a parade in that heat. Ugh.

We finally made it over to EE and it was running. We did our last run of the day and then we decided to call it quits. There was only a half hour left anyway so we headed out of AK and took these last pictures along the way:

We didn’t have to wait long for a bus and once we got to our room we threw on our swim suits and headed to the computer pool.

Here are our poor feet:

They hurt really badly by the end of the day. We soaked them in the water for awhile. I am definitely wearing shoes tomorrow. I know it’s hotter but the pain at the end of the day is less!

We relaxed for a long time. We “typed” out our names on the keyboard by the pool by taking pictures of the letters:

Maggie and Amy are music majors. Did you notice that the notes are backwards?

We changed in our rooms and then went to grab dinner at Everything Pop. Maggie got a Caesar salad and I got beef and broccoli.

Maggie liked her salad. My food was okay. It wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t great either. After awhile, I started to get sick of the flavor. They pile white rice first and then put the beef and broccoli on top. We split a Mickey rice crispy treat. Num.

See how well I share? Exactly half.

After we ate, we went to the 50s section to check it out. It’s really quiet next to the lake. We started to walk down memory lane (they have a marker for every year from 1950 to 1999 with something that happened during that year) but we heard and saw fireworks so we climbed to the top of the 50s building. We stood there a few minutes but we didn’t see any more. So we went back down and continued on memory lane. We saw some more fireworks so we walked to the edge of the lake and watched…nothing. I suspect that they were toying with us. We decided that enough was enough and we trudged back to our room. We were completely worn out. (You’ll see that this is a recurring theme.)

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

All right everyone! I am heading out to enjoy the Memorial Day weekend! See you Tuesday!