I beat cancer,now we're going to Disney World!!! 4/23-5/1/10

[Mombits]

As we left the Safari, both kids really wanted to go again, but since we didn't have time, we grabbed some fast passes.

We got to Tusker House and got our beeper. Hannah was in love with pin trading, so she immediately went to the pin cart to check it out. That's when I saw it:

Ick. Manpri's. Luckily, he is wearing sunglasses to hide the guilty

I told Hannah to stop spending all of her money on pins because she'd want some when we went shopping at DTD, but she just had to get one more pin. Guess what? It was for me. What a sweetheart!

Soon enough, our beeper went off. A bunch of people must have been waiting quite awhile because one guy asked me what time my ADR was for. He looked really annoyed.

When we came around the corner, we got in line to meet my DH's favorite! Donald Duck!

Then it was time to eat! I have to say that the breakfast at Tusker House was my favorite meal of the whole trip. There was so much to choose from and everything was just delicious!
Here are a few food porn shots.

And me and my "jungle juice"

In case you are wondering about the stupid hat, well, I was determined not to wear my wig to WDW, but I really didn't have much hair and I was sure I'd get a bad sunburn on my scalp, so I wore the hat and then I would have really bad "hat hair" with what little hair I did have so I mostly tried to keep it on.
We were lucky because first up was Daisy!

Then it was time for a little party/parade around the restaurant.

Donovan wanted to show off his Cars lanyard:0)

DH wanted to meet the big cheese too:

Next up, Goofy.

We all really enjoyed Goofy.

The inside of the restaurant:

After we got done eating, we headed right back over to the safari!

 

[Mombits]

I think your photos turned out fine from AK. Mark and I go to bed early at night -- 10:00 for me, 10:30 for him because I'm up at 5:30 for work and 6:00 for him. On the weekends, I could sleep until 9 or 10 without a problem. But when I get to Disney, I am UP at 5:30 or 6:00 at the latest every single morning. I guess it is just all the excitement and we love making rope drop because so much can be accomplished and then us old people go back to the resort for a swim/nap.

Can't wait to hear about Tusker House.

I WISH I was a morning person, but I soooo am not. None of us really is. I was up and ready to go for two reasons. One, the bed was so uncomfortable. Being pooh sized and sharing with Hannah, who is basically as big as a small adult, well, let's just say "not comfy" and those beds are TINY in the value hotels! Two, well, we were at Disney for goodness sakes! I kept thinking that but it didn't seem to matter to the kids. This fall when Hannah starts Middle School, we will have to get up a lot earlier and I am dreading it!

 

[KatMark]

Great shots with the characters at Tusker House. The food looks good too; we've never been (Crystal Palace is our must do every trip--I love Pooh).

 

[Mombits]

So we went right back to the Safari and hopped on for our two week tour Now, the standby time was 30 minutes. We were glad for our FP's. We loved the safari even more this time. Our guide was much funnier and we got closer to the animals it seemed. Some of them uncomfortably close. Yes, I know that they can't "get" you, but it sure seemed like they might be able to give it a good try.

Once we had safely rescued the baby elephant, we departed from our safari and decided to go on the Pagani Forest Walk. Hannah was not amused. She pronounced it "Booooooring" before she ever got in there and immediately went looking for someone to trade pins with.

We saw this funky toad:

Wandered around in the bird area and Hannah found her target!

Pin traded, we moved on and saw these sweethearts:

Along the way, Hannah and I amused ourselves making silly faces:

Then we came to the gorilla enclosure.

I wanted to do Rafiki's planet watch, but once again, Hannah was not excited. Too bad Hannah, Mom's in charge today. So guess where we went?:

Jumped on the train and once again had to watch out for poachers!

When we got to Rafiki's, I was hoping the affection section would be great, but it wasn't much more than a petting zoo with almost the exact same animals as our children's zoo. D was not impressed.

Then it was time for the show. Hannah was shopping in the little outdoor market and got some books for both of them to put their pressed pennies in. D and I sat down to watch the show and after a little bit, Brian and Hannah wandered over too.
First up was this little stinker:

Then came this prickly fella:

I was somewhat surprised by how interested both of my kids were in seeing this show. After the show, the CM's invited the kids up to feel what a porcupine quill feels like.

 

[Mombits]

Great shots with the characters at Tusker House. The food looks good too; we've never been (Crystal Palace is our must do every trip--I love Pooh).

Thanks, Kathy. There was this asian gentleman, he looked to be about 60 years old, sitting next to us. I was soooo enjoying watching his reaction to the characters. He'd get all excited and jump up and have his dining companions take his picture with each one. It was as if he had been waiting his whole life to see them. I just loved it. The atmosphere was great and there was just such a good variety in the food they offered.

I, too, love Pooh and did the CP character breakfast the first time I went to WDW with my Mom and just loved it. But neither of my kids is that fond of those characters, so we mostly went with the fab 5. Though, as you will see soon, we did get soom "Fresh Pooh"

 

[Mombits]

When the show ended, we went inside. I knew who I was hoping to see. Sure enough, he was there!!!! I'll give you a hint, he's green and very formal!

Yes!!! It was Jiminy Cricket!!!

We also saw Rafiki!

That area is very educational and Brian and Donovan were really enjoying looking at all the displays. There was also a bird demonstration with an owl going on.

There weren't that many people in the building and the lines for the characters were very short. There was only one person ahead of us for Rafiki.
I finally pulled everyone away and we got back on the train and headed to Harambe:

We made a quick bathroom stop and heard the drums and saw these guys giving a dance lesson. It was pretty amusing.

As we walked away, we saw Miss DeVine.

Brian was quite taken with her. He said he'd never seen anything like that in his life.

We came across some drums and the kids wanted to play.

It was getting quite warm in the sun, so we decided to move on. We saw this gal:

but she was going on a break. However I noticed this big fella and there was no line!

And we moved on.

Up next: Tree of Life!

 

[Mombits]

OK, whew! Got a few updates in. I felt sort of behind. I took my Girl Scout troop to the Great Wolf Lodge, which is about 3 hours away from where we live. They loved it. We ate at T-Rex. It was fun but man, 7 11-year-olds can create a ton of drama! Then, Monday night, Donovan came down with a bug and spent the whole night vomitting. Not fun. Everyone is better now, so I hopefully am back on track.

 

[KatMark]

OK, whew! Got a few updates in. I felt sort of behind. I took my Girl Scout troop to the Great Wolf Lodge, which is about 3 hours away from where we live. They loved it. We ate at T-Rex. It was fun but man, 7 11-year-olds can create a ton of drama! Then, Monday night, Donovan came down with a bug and spent the whole night vomitting. Not fun. Everyone is better now, so I hopefully am back on track.

Great updates. I do not think I've ever seen Jiminey out for autographs in all the years we have gone (I've seen him in the parade, but not out posing for pics, etc.).

We've never been to Great Wolf Lodge (I'm assuming you are talking about the one in Wisconsin Dells?). We've passed it numerous times going from Illinois (our home) to various wrestling facilities in Wisconsin.

God Bless you -- 7 eleven year olds!!!! My 6-week highlight to hide my grey would have been a 2-week highlight.

 

[Mombits]

Great updates. I do not think I've ever seen Jiminey out for autographs in all the years we have gone (I've seen him in the parade, but not out posing for pics, etc.).

We've never been to Great Wolf Lodge (I'm assuming you are talking about the one in Wisconsin Dells?). We've passed it numerous times going from Illinois (our home) to various wrestling facilities in Wisconsin.

God Bless you -- 7 eleven year olds!!!! My 6-week highlight to hide my grey would have been a 2-week highlight.

We actually went to the one in Kansas City. The T-Rex restaurant is about 5 minutes away from the GWL.

You know what is funny? This morning when I came into work, one of my co-workers mentioned that I had a little bit more white in my hair (thanks for noticing, right???) but I'm putting that extra "white" down to my weekend with the girls.

I've never been to Wisconsin, but yesterday I was watching something on the travel channel and it was about this ginormous waterpark in the dells and I turned to Brian and said "What do you think?" He just rolled his eyes

I had heard that Jiminy could be found there. I also heard that sometimes Pochahontas is there but we didn't see her and I had forgotten about her actually so I wasn't disappointed to miss out until my friend reminded me.

 

[longing2Batdisney]

Great updates! Chris
I really enjoyed your photo essay of the safari both times! you were able to get to see the lions both times!

I really think I see Danny sitting behind Donovan in the TH photos we were in the next dining area...he is the big white blob! (if it is him)...

we loved meeting Jimminy and Rafaki last year; I could not talk my crew into going back there this year.

I'm so happy you guys were able to see Miss Divine; I have yet to find her...next trip I plan to find her...

can't wait to hear more about your day!
Connie

 

[Mombits]

Great updates! Chris
I really enjoyed your photo essay of the safari both times! you were able to get to see the lions both times!

I really think I see Danny sitting behind Donovan in the TH photos we were in the next dining area...he is the big white blob! (if it is him)...

we loved meeting Jimminy and Rafaki last year; I could not talk my crew into going back there this year.

I'm so happy you guys were able to see Miss Divine; I have yet to find her...next trip I plan to find her...

can't wait to hear more about your day!
Connie

Hi Connie!!! How crazy is that? I wondered if we weren't maybe there at the same time. Miss DeVine was quite the neat character. When we went over to the drums, she followed us over there. She's pretty fascinating. I was really excited to see both the lions and the cheetas. When we got to the lions the first time, he was standing there roaring at the rock. The driver said he doesn't usually do that. THAT was neat to hear.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Chris, I'm here I'm here Do you see me? I'm here! How in the world did I miss that you started a report? Now, I'm going back and reading all the juicy details. Be back to post in a bit.

 

[Mombits]

Chris, I'm here I'm here Do you see me? I'm here! How in the world did I miss that you started a report? Now, I'm going back and reading all the juicy details. Be back to post in a bit.

Hi Lisa! Glad you're here!!! I'm so excited to be reading your newest TR!!! I can't believe how much Hunter has grown! What a handsome young man you have there.

 

[wdwgirl03]

haha, funny that Hannah thought the trail was boring. That sounds like my sister...the faster we can get through, the better for her! And I had no idea there was a show at Rafiki's Planet Watch.

The dancers look pretty awesome. I bet they were fun to watch.

Great updates!

 

[Mombits]

haha, funny that Hannah thought the trail was boring. That sounds like my sister...the faster we can get through, the better for her! And I had no idea there was a show at Rafiki's Planet Watch.

The dancers look pretty awesome. I bet they were fun to watch.

Great updates!

Thanks, Sarah. Hannah decided before we went there that the trail was going to be boring and didn't want to do it. Donovan was up for it and I wanted to go into the building because I was hoping to see Jiminy

The show that was outside was pretty interesting. The CM said that that was the only place at WDW that you would see a skunk and a porcupine. I imagine so! The inside show was on a much smaller scale- it was basically just the CM standing there telling about owls to the group of kids that had gathered around, but still interesting. He had a beautiful little owl on his arm. I think D would happily have sat down to listen but Miss Hannah was ready to roll!

 

[Cory's Gal]

Great updates Chris!! Way to go at braving all that rain!! We were wimps and stayed at the resort... What a wonderful surprise from your friend!!! Very cool how everything was decorated!! I love the Mickey glasses too, I am bummed we didn't buy any, I was afraid to fly home with them! Your Safari Breakfast looks good, we LOVED the food there especially the "juice" yummy!!! That's awesome the kids liked a lot of the hands on things at Rafiki's Planet Watch! I am bummed we missed it this trip! Looking forward to reading more!!!!!!

 

[Mombits]

Great updates Chris!! Way to go at braving all that rain!! We were wimps and stayed at the resort... What a wonderful surprise from your friend!!! Very cool how everything was decorated!! I love the Mickey glasses too, I am bummed we didn't buy any, I was afraid to fly home with them! Your Safari Breakfast looks good, we LOVED the food there especially the "juice" yummy!!! That's awesome the kids liked a lot of the hands on things at Rafiki's Planet Watch! I am bummed we missed it this trip! Looking forward to reading more!!!!!!

Hi Beth!!!
Sorry it took me so long to respond. We had Donovan's 8th birthday party this weekend. 12 little boys playing laser tag, lordy, lordy!!! I had to get the food and the goody bags together and luckily the mini-light sabers I ordered to go with his Star Wars theme arrived from Hong Kong scared1 right on time!!!

I think we totally would have stayed and braved the rain for a chance to get to ride more rides, but they were closing things down, so we headed back. I loved that breakfast and the juice was YUM! Donovan really enjoyed Rafiki's PW and probably would have happily stayed longer but Mommy was in commando mode and wanted to go, go, go!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Goodness gracious, I had a lot of catching up to do. Let's see if I can remember what I wanted to comment on.

I had to laugh about the GPS fussing at ya'll. Have you ever seen the movie RV with Robin Williams? He had a GPS named Lola and it was always fussing at him. I've seen the signs to Ron Jon but we've never gone there. Looks like a pretty cool place though.

The Vero Beach Resort was so pretty and impressive. Too bad your niece and her kids didn't get to stay on the beach longer than they did. At least you guys were able to spend some time together though.

I love Hannah's face when she first saw the castle. Priceless!

The dinglehopper reference made me smile. Lacey used to call forks dinglehoppers when she was a little girl.

Glad to hear that ya'll found the fort on Tom Sawyer Island. We missed it for years and years until a fellow Diser told me to keep going left.

My husband's favorite character at the Laugh Floor is Roz too! She doesn't have to say a thing in order to make John laugh.

Hummm, what else? Oh yeah, we have never been impressed with Cosmic Ray's either. It was just okay in our book.

How sweet of your support friends sending you guys a surprise. That was very very nice of them.

I think your safari pictures turned out just fine. And, it's great that you got to do it twice.

Don't you worry about wearing a hat all the time to cover up your hair. Like I told my friend, Ginny.....I think hair is way over rated. We should all be bald so we don't have to worry about fixing our hair everyday.

 

[Mombits]

After we left Harambe, we headed toward the tree of life:

I really enjoy looking at all the carvings on the tree but since the show was a walk in, we really didn't have that much time to look at the carvings- not that I'm complaining! Yay for no lines!!!! So I just snapped a couple of pictures and moved on. The kids got their bug eyes:

See that smile on Hannah's face? Well that did NOT LAST! Remember when I said she was not groovin' on those animatronics? Well, we got into the show and we were seated in about the third or fourth row all the way to the right. The show started and almost immediately she wasn't happy. But as soon as Hopper popped out right above her head, she FREAKED out! She was holding onto my arm and demanding that I let her leave. I told her she needed to just hang on it wouldn't last that much longer and we'd be done, but she was PO'd! Finally, things calmed down a bit and as the "bugs" exited the show and the lady in front of us jumped about 5 feet in the air, she started laughing and then in the last two minutes, she was enjoying herself. Sometimes I guess life is like that. You get 15 minutes of terror and then you totally forget it because you got 3 minutes of absolute joy.

After we left the ToL, we happened to pass the character meeting spot and I was up for it. My kids- not so much, but I was really wanting to go and check out who might be there. Guess who it was?????


It was POOH and friends. But of course, as soon as it was our turn in line, the CM said that Pooh and friends needed to go take a quick break and that they would all be back in about ten minutes. Hannah did not want to wait but I assured her- Fresh Pooh would be worth the wait!

So here she is, with her fresh Pooh!

I love me some Pooh!!! He and I are shaped just about alike

After we left the character meet and greet, we headed toward Dinoland.

I had already decided that we were going to skip Dinosaur. Both of the kids had said that they didn't want to do EE because of the animatronic Yeti (do you sense a theme here?) so I figured Dinosaur would scare the bejeebers out of both of them. I wasn't sure what all was over in that area but I knew Primevil whirl was there and the bone yard. When we got there, I loved how colorful the whole area was. The kids weren't intersted in the other ride, but Primevil Whirl was right up our alley.

I got a big kick out of all the funny things they used on that ride. For example, the signs that told you which direction to go were painted over license plates. Brian pointed out one from our state

I really enjoyed the ride but it sort of gave me a headache. The kids, of course, wanted to go again! So I begged off and sent them with Brian and I went and found this place:

and used a snack credit for a frozen lemonade.

I enjoyed people watching while I sat in the shade and soon my family came and joined me and we headed out. But I caught a shot of this guy trying to beg some popcorn. This is the biggest bird I have ever seen do this! At home, our children's zoo has peacocks that sometimes will beg but man, this guy was tall!

Con't in next post...

 

[Mombits]

The kids were ready for an ice cream break. Originally, I had planned that we were going to eat at Flame Tree BBQ for lunch. But when lunch time rolled around, no one was hungry, so we just kept on truckin'. Now people were getting a smidge hungry but it was 2:30 and we had a 5 pm ADR for Rainforest Cafe, so we decided a snack was in order. Here's what we got.

After our treats, the kids took some time to try on a few hats:

Then we saw this:

Brian immediately started talking the kids into it. Donovan was ready to go. I was ready to go (in fact I had been pretty disappointed that we weren't going to get to ride, so now I was getting hopeful) and Hannah was still sort of iffy. Brian convinced her so off we went. We got there and Hannah immediately backed out
Darn it! So I thought "I'll use the ride swap!" so I got my ticket and Hannah and I went to sit down. But then she decided she wanted to go see if Khali River Rapids had any fast passes left. It was getting hotter than hades out and we had walked by Khali earlier and saw that there weren't any FP's left, but she really didn't want to take my word for it. So we trudged over there in the heat only to find, No FP's. Of course. She was very appologetic for making me walk around in the heat. We'd drunk up all our water and we were started to feel frazzled. By the time the boys came out of EE, it was time for the parade and I felt that the whole family would benefit more from getting to see that then from me getting to ride EE, so we headed over to look for a shady spot to watch the parade. Well THAT didn't happen. The shade part anyway. Man was it hot! But we did find a nice spot to watch. Those people in those furry costumes should get a medal when it's that hot out!

More coming up!