"Jungle" All the Way! A Christmas TR (NEW 11/26) Good thing that tree is Swiss!

[magichusky]

MONDAY, May 9, 2011
TANGENT #2 cont.
PART C: Casey Jr. and I

So the plan was to cap off our crazy weekend w/ a DL adventure! When my Mom, Heather, and I had gone back in April, DL had a Southern CA resident deal in which you could purchase a 2-day park hopper for the price of a 1-day PH. The ticket expired on May 15th and my Mom decided that she wouldn't be able to use her 2nd day by then so she gave it to Matt. He was super stoked b/c he hadn't been since we graduated from college in 2007.

The park opened at 10am that day so our plan was to leave by 8:30am in order to be guaranteed for rope drop (it takes almost an hour to drive up there from my house). I think I've only been to a DL rope drop once in my life (when I went w/ Matt in 2007). Considering I've been there probably a hundred times, that's pretty incredible. We left my house by ~9:20am (that was most definitely my fault- heehee) and after running into a random spat of traffic, parking in the infamous Mickey & Friends parking structure, and taking the even more infamous tram to the tram station in DTD, we got through security by ~10:40am.

The line to get into DL was completely disgusting, so we made an about-face and went to CA Adv instead. CA Adv is annoying me terribly at the moment due to the pervasive construction projects. Here are the turnstiles, which are also getting a makeover:

When we got closer we discovered that the new design is actually identical to the turnstiles at DHS. We were quite offended- how hard could it possibly be to design a new turnstile?

Here's where the new mini-replica of the Carthay Circle Theater will be. Apparently, at its highest point, it'll be 89 ft tall (Sleeping Beauty Castle is only 77 ft tall!).

Here's some concept art for what the park entrance will eventually look like (you can see the Carthay Circle Theater in the upper left corner). There will supposedly be a 2nd partners statue that will depict Walt upon his initial arrival to CA. Hopefully they won't turn CA Adv into another version of DHS!

We passed the construction area and skedaddled to TOT. The great part about CA Adv is that it's entirely empty in the morning since everyone goes to DL first. The boiler room was consequently deserted and I just had to take a pic since that rarely happens!

More pics:

The line for the swinging gondolas (they have separate lines for the swinging and stationary gondolas) on the ferris wheel is usually like 40 min long (unacceptable!) but today it was 20 min. Sold!

A view of construction on the new "Cars Land" from the top. They're apparently installing a Test Track-like but Cars themed attraction in there.

Part of the entrance to the new Little Mermaid attraction, which should open June 1st!

After we made our first pass through CA Adv and hoarded FPs, we ran over to DL. We decided that we would try to do things that we had never done before (or at least haven't done together, since at this point both of us have pretty much done everything a million times at DL!) so we boarded this lovely omnibus, powered by "Lucky."

I filmed our approach to the castle- check it out:

Disneyland; pulling up to the castle in the omnibus (YouTube)

We then wandered into Adventureland. I tried to get him to purchase this pirate headpiece, but just got this angry photo:

Unfortunately, Tom Sawyer's Island was closed since they were dismantling the stage and temporary seating for the POTC: On Stranger Tides premiere, which had taken place just a few days prior.

We were on our way to lunch and Matt noticed this woman w/ a small child hanging out on this balcony in New Orleans Square, overlooking the Rivers of America. I was so startled that I snapped a quick pic- how in the Disneyland did they get up there???

Splash Mtn was still closed (ahem, it's been closed since January). I don't know why I was so offended b/c I never go on the DL SM anyway, due to an inordinate amount of splashing, but I enjoy taking the train through the SM tunnel and attempting to wave at people on the ride.

While waiting for Captain EO to start, we hung out in this Tomorrowland gift shop. I found this fabulous Dale headpiece but of course it was manufactured for a small child and wouldn't really fit on my head. Matt attempted to jam it on his head and do an impression of Dale's toothy expression:

A proper CA castle:

There was no one around so it was safe to travel inside the castle on the walk-through tour. Matt had actually never been in there so I told him to try and open this door to the dungeon. Watch what happens:

Matt's Surprise Inside Sleeping Beauty Castle (YouTube)

Make it pink!

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST...

 

[magichusky]

PREVIOUS POST CONTINUED...

After exiting the castle, we went on Snow White and Pinocchio (definitely things we had never done together) and then we decided we would take a spin on the Casey Jr. railroad (I hadn't been on that thing for at least 20 yrs!). Before entering the queue (which was far too long at ~15-20 min but oh well) I made Matt pose w/ Dumbo:

What a great view from this queue!

A view of the Storybook Canal (another great attraction that isn't at WDW):

Our train finally arrived and we snagged the caboose:

I went totally bananas on this ride!!! I became obsessed w/ the little song that plays as you chug down the track: "Casey Jr. coming down the track! Casey Jr.'s back! Casey Jr.'s back!" HAHA I was singing it for the entire rest of the day and Matt thought I was completely insane.

This ride actually has some insanely fabulous photo-ops. Get ready for some pictures!!

We hoarded a record number of FPs that day but wound up not needing them. We managed to do another pass through CA Adv and then a second pass through DL before we left for dinner at DTD. What a super fabulous park day! DL closed at 8pm that evening so were out of there before it even grew semi-dark. Here's a pic of "Reggie" I took as we walked back towards Main Street:

Well that's a wrap for this tangent- I hope you enjoyed the temporary DL invasion and that your Mother's Day weekend was a good one.

NEXT TIME: back to WDW for our day at AK! See ya real soon!

 

[TanzUnited99]

Wow on the updates! Hope you managed to find Oprah!

Love the wedding pics - you both look gorgeous! Eek at the wedding cake and food - will def have to remember to be careful when it comes to wedding food!

I love the pressie you got your mum - yay on it making it back in one piece!

Loki looks so soft and friendly.

Great DL pics! Wow at DL SM being closed since Jan! I love Matt's surprise inside Sleeping Beuaty's Castle!

 

[magichusky]

Love the wedding pics - you both look gorgeous! Eek at the wedding cake and food - will def have to remember to be careful when it comes to wedding food!

Haha why thank you! Yes, we were just so perplexed at that strange wedding cake concoction. I was definitely having chocolate withdrawal that evening.

Loki looks so soft and friendly.

Hahaha most of the time! He's shedding like crazy at the moment since it's getting warmer so there are literally tufts of white dog hair rolling around the house like tumbleweeds constantly.

Great DL pics! Wow at DL SM being closed since Jan! I love Matt's surprise inside Sleeping Beuaty's Castle!

Thanks! DL is just so very different from the MK- I find that very surprising actually. The trick door inside Sleeping Beauty Castle is crazily enough one of my favorite attractions at DL! There's also this great pirate head that pops out at you inside a cave on Tom Sawyer's Island- the first time I saw it I screamed SO loudly I was embarrassed! Unfortunately I could find no similar tricks in WDW.

 

[magichusky]

IN MEMORIAM

 

[VBsHustla]

I love the random tangents Pretty wedding! Your dress is awesome. I adore that color! Also glad to hear your mom liked the ornament and that it managed to survive all of its treacherous journeys!!

 

[VBsHustla]

Did they remove the giant CALIFORNIA in front of DCA to replace it with that stupid MGM entryway impostor?! I am highly insulted! I liked it the way it was! All of that construction looks disgusting. However, I am delighted that the lake is no longer drained. Now that was ugly! Your pic in front of the ferris wheel/roller coaster looks really cool!

Didn't we get to DL for rope drop the day we saw that crazy Christmas parade? I remember we of course selected the line that involved a broken down machine, but still managed to beat everyone to Fantasyland. And that other time when we chased down those "dream" people at Soarin because we wanted free stuff So you've really done quite well in terms of being there early!! (But remember that one extremely offensive time when we would have been there at 9, but our free parking lot was closed and we had to drive around for 30 minutes in some crazy circuitous route?! Hated that!)

I love your pictures from that train! Brilliant shots of the storybook boat ride thing! I am also proud that you survived that horrifying Snow White adventure. And now I have that Casey Jr. song in my head. What a song!

 

[magichusky]

I love the random tangents Pretty wedding! Your dress is awesome. I adore that color!

Thanks! Yes, I was obsessed w/ that color in the store- it's that great 'hot-strawberry' shade that I've only really seen at BR. They had a black version which prob would've been more versatile but who can pass up hot strawberry?

Did they remove the giant CALIFORNIA in front of DCA to replace it with that stupid MGM entryway impostor?! I am highly insulted!

YES! The CA has been shunned! Like, I'm totally concerned that CA Adv is going to turn into another version of DHS. How tragic and boring that would be!

Didn't we get to DL for rope drop the day we saw that crazy Christmas parade?

Haha omg, was that when the HSM cast filmed their Christmas concert in front of the castle? And we were entering DL through the tunnel and saw a sign explaining that they were filming that day and we both just screamed! HAHA! I truly don't recall a specific rope drop except for that one time- maybe that's b/c DL doesn't have a special rope drop ceremony like MK does. I still haven't seen that crazy train station welcoming performance, btw!

But remember that one extremely offensive time when we would have been there at 9, but our free parking lot was closed and we had to drive around for 30 minutes in some crazy circuitous route?! Hated that!

OMG YES!!! And we were planning on entering CA Adv through the secret Grand Californian side entrance at 10am sharp so we could sprint to TSM! That stupid parking lot is like never open anymore- I think the CMs park there now since their old lot is the new Cars Land. Still can't believe we got away w/ free parking at Disney for a whole year basically!

I love your pictures from that train! Brilliant shots of the storybook boat ride thing!

HAHA dude, I was SO excited on that ride! Those pics turned out super well. Can't wait to go back and sing that fabulous song! I knew I must've had a good reason to be obsessed w/ it as a small child!

 

[magichusky]

TANGENT #3: Ariel's Revenge
THURSDAY, May 26, 2011

WARNING: the following is slightly
BUT: A massive amount of AK photos are coming right up!

I hope everyone had a fabulous Memorial Day weekend! Since I have SO many AK photos to get through (most of them are from the 'Jingle Jungle Parade' which I randomly went completely bananas over) I thought I would squeeze in an extra update this week. In the meantime, as I wrestle w/ organizing my massive collection of Jingle Jungle photos, I have another DL tangent. I promise it's super short!

The new Little Mermaid attraction at CA Adv apparently opens June 1st, but I heard over the radio on Thursday morning, May 26th, that 'Ariel's Undersea Adventure' was having a soft opening that day. I wasn't planning on driving home for Memorial Day weekend but decided that I may as well and would just stop at DL on the way. I wanted to be one of the very first to check this thing out!

After parking and leaping out of the tram, I immediately scrambled over to CA Adv but discovered that Ariel was down!

I asked a nearby CM who was standing guard by the queue what was up w/ Ariel and was informed that the ride was experiencing technical difficulties and they would try to reopen later. I was highly amused by the new CM Ariel themed costumes, so of course I sneakily took photos of them:

I made the mistake of going over to the Burrr-bank Ice Cream Parlor and ordering a chocolate/rainbow sprinkles cone w/ vanilla scoop while I was waiting. Whenever I get CA Adv ice cream I always walk it over to DL and eat it on Main Street by the flag pole since it's way more pleasant than staring at Paradise Pier for 15 min. I thought it far too much of an inconvenience to grab a napkin on my way out of the parlor which proved to be exceedingly stupid since my cone promptly exploded upon arrival at Main Street (it was warm outside!). Apparently I was so outrageously messy that the woman sitting on the other end of the bench gave me a pile of Wetzel's Pretzels napkins. I was pretty embarrassed to say the least!

I stopped by the Blue Ribbon Bakery to pick up some Matterhorn Macaroons for my Mom, since she's obsessed w/ them:

I paid cash at the register and was given a mound of coins as change. There were so many of them that I had to slide my stuff over to the other end of the counter so I could get a handle on the situation. Within seconds, I experienced a severe case of deja vu: all of the coins promptly exploded out of my wallet and rolled all over the counter, completely interrupting the new transaction that had begun next to me. Feeling like a total nincompoop and apologizing profusely, I scooped up the mountain of coins and macaroons and retreated.

The macaroons were in tiny bakery tissue envelopes and would be impossible to transport in such a state anywhere, much less under the sea. I was too embarrassed to ask for a larger paper bag at the Blue Ribbon so I went into the Emporium. Instead of just asking for a bag and leaving, I couldn't help myself and purchased this fabulous laptop case/messenger bag (I had been searching for one for quite awhile anyway):

It was made out of the same neoprene material w/ the same pattern as that used on my pink camera case I found at WDW. I loved how the inside was a Mickey Mouse red:

I also found this completely fabulous hot pink Mickey Mouse journal:

And here's Figment modeling what the inside looks like:

After the Main Street bonanza I headed back over to CA Adv to check on Ariel. The darn thing was still closed! At this point it was past 6pm. I didn't feel like driving home in the dark, plus CA Adv closed at 9pm anyway so I grumpily returned to the tram. You haven't seen the last of me, Ariel!

NEXT TIME: FOTLK- I swear!

 

[Eight]

I love the ornament you got for your mom. The color is so different, but really, really pretty.

Also love the pictures of Loki. I feel like I've said this before, but he looks like such a sweet dog.

However, I'm having a bit of a love/hate (but it's mostly love) with your pictures of Disneyland. Love it because it's Disneyland and I LOVE (yes, I love it so much it deserves all caps) Disneyland. I only hate it because dang it, I want to go! I miss living in LA. I think I'm going to try and take a trip down to Disneyland in October for one of the Halloween parties though. Hoping that works out.

But anyway.

I would also like to know how that woman and child got up on that balcony. That would be really cool to go up there. I wonder if it has a good view.

Haha, I love the Casey Jr. song! It's so catchy!

Figment looks so sassy modeling that journal. Maybe he has a career in fashion ahead of him?

 

[magichusky]

I love the ornament you got for your mom. The color is so different, but really, really pretty.

I know- it's such an interesting color! I searched DL high and low for them, but they're apparently exclusive to WDW. How rude!

Also love the pictures of Loki. I feel like I've said this before, but he looks like such a sweet dog.

Thanks! He actually escaped from the house today! My Mom said she practically had a heart attack when she realized he had traveled through a gate one of the gardeners had left open. She found him though!

However, I'm having a bit of a love/hate (but it's mostly love) with your pictures of Disneyland. Love it because it's Disneyland and I LOVE (yes, I love it so much it deserves all caps) Disneyland. I only hate it because dang it, I want to go! I miss living in LA. I think I'm going to try and take a trip down to Disneyland in October for one of the Halloween parties though. Hoping that works out.

I hope you get to go soon! DL really is a certain kind of special that WDW can never recreate- like Walt's light that burns in the window of the firehouse, for example. The Halloween Party in DL was AMAZING! Everyone was so friendly commenting on everyone else's costumes, the Rivers of America looked fabulous w/ the mist and Columbia posing as a pirate ship, and the character meet 'n' greets were stupendous, since I hardly see the villains at DL. I even liked the parade!

 

[magichusky]

DAY 2.3: Festival of the Lion King!

Well hey howdy hey there! I'm all 'tangented' out and am ready to roll again w/ the main TR- back to Monday, December 18, 2010...

To recap the first portion of our day, it was pouring cats and dogs until around 1pm or so. We went to DTD to hide in the shops for the morning and eat lunch. It took forever to get a bus from DTD to AKL and then another bus from AKL to AK, but we finally made it!

As this would be our first AK adventure, we had no idea what to expect as we approached the turnstiles:

Upon entering the park, we met some black swans:

I really wanted to walk in here and look around but the family was restless to proceed:

I mentioned that we should try our best to see FOTLK that day, since I had heard such amazing reviews of it here on the DIS. We consulted our park map and found that there was a show starting in 10-15 min! We found it convenient to start w/ FOTLK since Camp Minnie-Mickey was so close to the entrance. As we blindly power walked in what seemed to be a reasonable direction, I was super hyper and started sprinting through the various tunnels, disappearing and then popping out of a nearby, misty cavern and rejoining the group, and generally driving the rest of them nuts.

What is this strange place?

Heather and I paused on the bridge, overlooking this swampy looking area and hunted for alligators:

Huey, Duey, and Louie tried running after us to FOTLK but they were stuck on the other side of the river:

I noticed that there was a massive collection of themed Christmas tress sprinkled around the camp but our parents were already out of sight, so Heather and I decided we better hurry up. I snapped this quick pic of the Lion King tree, which I loved:

We entered the auditorium and spotted Mom and Dad, who were already seated, and raced over to join them in what turned out to be the Lion section:

Once the show began and all of the animals rolled out on their platforms, Timon ran out and started chatting w/ Puumba, and the singing proved to be right on, I knew I would enjoy the show.

Crazy fire twirling guy:

And here's a video I took of him; check it out!

FOTLK: fire twirler, Scar's song

I call these guys the "bird-ballet-people." Their costumes were pretty much hilarious, and the blue one flew around on suspension wires like a noble hyacinth macaw:

Another video I took featuring the bird-ballet-people:

FOTLK: bird ballet people, "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"

I was obsessed w/ this crazy guy but couldn't really get a proper photo of him since he was in constant motion (however, I got a great shot of him in the bird-ballet-people video above!):

Somehow, in the middle of all the "aweemaways", acrobats, and intermittent Puumba squeals, Col Joy fell asleep, still clutching his brand new Mickey Mouse golf umbrella:

This actually becomes a recurring theme throughout the rest of the trip, and I wound up amassing quite a collection of pics featuring a slumbering Col Joy in the oddest of places! Haha stay tuned...

The grand finale:

And one last video:

FOTLK: Aweemaway!

Overall, we all were pleasantly surprised at the quality of FOTLK; we're not generally show/parade people. The show was super colorful, multi-faceted, and the performers were especially entertaining- the singing was, as I said earlier, right on! I don't remember exactly how long it was (that's always the mark of a good show, when you're not checking your watch!), but the entire experience, including sitting down and filing out of the building afterwards, couldn't have taken longer than 30 min. I definitely recommend checking this thing out at least once, and we all agreed that we would definitely see it again.

NEXT TIME: Camp Minnie Mickey; my parents go bananas! (must be the Disney magic)

 

[magichusky]

DAY 2.4: Camp Minnie Mickey

After we exited FOTLK, the others needed a pit stop, so I was free to wander and check out the assortment of Christmas trees displayed throughout the camp without anyone breathing down my neck.

Minnie's tree:

Goofy's tree:

Heather emerged from the restroom and I demanded she sit on this twig couch:

Donald's tree:

Nemo's tree:

Pluto's tree (my favorite! It was decorated w/ mini doghouses and food bowls):

Chip and Dale's tree, decorated w/ festive nut clusters and mini log cabins:

There were a bunch of character meet 'n' greets being held in the various log built gazebos but the lines were semi-long and we were ready to continue on!

There was a lovely kiosk at the entrance/exit to Camp Minnie-Mickey, and I was drawn to these hilarious Mickey Mouse canteens. Yes, I was on the verge of purchasing one (I've always wanted a canteen of my very own after I became obsessed w/ 'Crocodile Dundee' as a small child) but they were $12 or something ridiculous:

Behind the kiosk were a bunch of boards w/ painted on comic foregrounds and faceless cutouts; a sort of optical illusion and a potentially humorous photo-op. As I was admiring the canteens, my Mom suddenly went bananas and she and Col Joy literally RAN over to one of the boards. Heather and I were both so completely flabbergasted by this surprising behavior that it was all we could do to snap a quick pic before our parents reverted to their normal selves.

Drumroll please... possibly one of the most amusing photos from the entire trip:

I was highly amused that my Mom's character wound up being the one under attack by the wacked out ostrich, since my Mom hates birds!

After everyone calmed down, it was around 3:15 - 3:20pm or so and I knew that the 'Jingle Jungle Parade' was scheduled for 3:45pm. I had seen this parade on 'Samantha Brown's Disney Holiday Magic' Travel Channel special and it was on the top of my list. I remember watching that special over and over again every Christmas for the past few years and wistfully wishing that I could travel to WDW someday! Now that I was finally here and, even better, it was Christmastime, I wanted to be sure to check out all of the fabulous things Samantha Brown did at WDW for myself. That's also how I got the idea for our holiday 'sleigh ride' through Fort Wilderness (but that's not until Monday!).

Anyway, the 'Jingle Jungle Parade' is a variation of 'Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade' and the 'floats' were actually designed by Michael Curry, who designed the animal puppets for the Lion King Broadway musical! We're really not parade people, but this definitely wouldn't be any ordinary, obnoxious parade.

We had almost 30 min before the parade started; just barely not enough time to squeeze in another attraction in the meantime. Since I REALLY wanted to see this thing and we wouldn't have another shot later in our trip, we decided to play it safe, find a good spot, and hang out until the festivities began. We consulted our map and decided that a perfect viewing location would be in Harambe Village, near Kilamanjaro Safaris (KS). That was the very beginning of the parade route, so that meant that while everyone else was waiting for the parade to reach them, we would be sprinting immediately to KS in order to avoid a line. Since we hadn't been in the park that morning, we hadn't had a chance to hoard FPs, so I was a little concerned b/c that meant we would have to rely solely on the mercy of stand-by!

So, in great anticipation, we headed to Africa...

NEXT TIME: Get ready for some serious photo overload and... the Jingle Jungle Parade!!

 

[magichusky]

DAY 2.5a: Jingle Jungle Parade Part I

When we last left off, we had a blast in FOTLK (except for Col Joy, who fell asleep), admired the adorable collection of themed Christmas trees in Camp Minnie-Mickey, and my parents jumped into a cartoon (Mary Poppins style). We began mobilizing for the Jingle Jungle Parade and headed to Africa, since we had decided that Harambe Village would be the most strategic viewing location.

Leaving Camp Minnie-Mickey:

The roof to this gift shop made me laugh:

I hung out by this gateway to Africa for awhile taking photos b/c it reminded me a lot of the entryway for 'Jurassic Park':

I took some other pics but they were dotted w/ cranky people literally scowling directly into my camera!

We all paused on the bridge and enjoyed a great view of the Tree of Life and EE. Cool pic, but unfortunately it was so overcast that EE almost blended into the stormclouds:

My parents and Heather inquired what in the Disney World that mountain was doing there and I informed them that it was like the WDW version of the Matterhorn. I was so unbelievably stoked to ride EE and had been looking forward to it for years!

Entering Harambe:

We staked out the perfect spot near Tusker House. Col Joy became restless and started wandering around w/ his new golf umbrella and getting as far away from the impending parade that he possibly could:

As I described in the previous post, I was STOKED to see the Jingle Jungle Parade. I don't know why exactly this random AK parade topped stuff like 'Spaceship Earth' and 'Rockin' Roller Coaster' on my must-do list, but I felt like it embodied so much of WDW at Christmas since I had seen it on 'Samantha Brown's Disney Holiday Magic' Travel Channel special years before.

It's STARTING!!! Cameras at the ready!

There were these awesome caravans (I believe the technical imagineer term is 'Party Patrol') that were pulled along by creature puppet bicycle type things. Each caravan was completely different. A few lucky park guests were seated in each one- we were all so offended at these people b/c they pretty much just sat there and chilled out. No waving, no smiles, no facial expressions that read: "Hey, this is awesome! I can't believe I was honored to be a part of the Jingle Jungle Parade today!" I love how I become terribly offended when complete strangers refuse to return my kind waving.

Minnie's Jeep emitted a hot cocoa scent that swirled through the air and made me feel especially Christmasy:

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST...

 

[magichusky]

DAY 2.5b: Jingle Jungle Parade Part II

...CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST...

My FAV party patrol! Loved how the electric blue alligator was festooned w/ sleigh bells:

Loved how Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear had little rolled up, Christmas themed yoga mats slung over their shoulders:

Goofy's Jeep:

Goofy playing Santa. Notice the naughty and nice lists draped over the side. Donald was on both lists! Scar was definitely on the naughty list.

Loved this hot purple party patrol! The lion puppet was wearing Christmas mittens!

My FAVORITE part of the parade, Donald's Jeep; complete w/ a duck billed bumper and covered in snow:

It started 'snowing' at some point!

The CM was hanging out in this kanagaroo drummer's pouch!

Pluto eventually came along and we adored the red and green dog biscuits decorating his safari hat:

Pluto proved to be in a particularly festive mood and gave me a super high-five! We high-fived eachother so enthusiastically that my hand and his yellow paw connected w/ a thunderous clap. Haha whooops. He then proceeded to give my Mom a huge kiss and Mom was so surprised! I unfortunately missed that photo-op somehow, since we were all so ensconced w/ Pluto's presence.

Here comes the big cheese in his deluxe animal print Jeep! Love the hidden Mickey reflector on the top of the front windshield:

Happy New Year, guys!

Finally the parade was over and it was time to sprint to KS. But let me tell you, I LOVED all of the Jingle Jungling so much that this parade is now a must-do on every Christmas trip in the future! The background music was just adorable, w/ people chanting "Juuuungle JungLE!" while accompanied by friendly drums and rainsticks. The parade in general was so artistic, interesting (so many cute details!), and adorable in contrast to most of the other Disney parades which can be quite flashy and loud w/ more of a pop-culture appeal. The atmosphere and even all of the other guests were super laid back; it was so nice to be able to enjoy a parade without people staking out spots an hour beforehand and small children squeezing in front of you at the last second.

NEXT TIME: Expedition what in the Disney World????

 

[Eight]

How does one manage to fall asleep during FOTLK?

A few lucky park guests were seated in each one- we were all so offended at these people b/c they pretty much just sat there and chilled out. No waving, no smiles, no facial expressions that read: "Hey, this is awesome! I can't believe I was honored to be a part of the Jingle Jungle Parade today!" I love how I become terribly offended when complete strangers refuse to return my kind waving.

Haha, this. I can understand if by the end of the parade route they were all not smiling and waving, but I feel like you have no excuses at the beginning of the parade route.

The parade looks so festive with all the little holiday details! So cute!

I am confused about yet loving Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear's yoga mats. Because I can't quite figure out what yoga mats have to do with anything in this parade, but I love it because they do look like yoga mats and I can't figure out what else they could be! And maybe I'm just waaay too amused by the idea of Brer Bear doing yoga.

Now I really want to watch this Samantha Brown holiday special because I'm not sure I've seen it before. Which is weird because I know I've seen other Disney specials with her (I even saw the filming of one! But I didn't see Samantha Brown.. ). Too bad it's June.

 

[magichusky]

I am confused about yet loving Brer Rabbit and Brer Bear's yoga mats. Because I can't quite figure out what yoga mats have to do with anything in this parade, but I love it because they do look like yoga mats and I can't figure out what else they could be! And maybe I'm just waaay too amused by the idea of Brer Bear doing yoga.

Haha I have no idea what exactly those things are- I just loved that they specifically replaced the rolled up blankets/yoga mats w/ Christmas tree fabric especially for the holidays. So cute!

Now I really want to watch this Samantha Brown holiday special because I'm not sure I've seen it before. Which is weird because I know I've seen other Disney specials with her (I even saw the filming of one! But I didn't see Samantha Brown.. ). Too bad it's June.

OMG when did you see them filming a S.B. special??? That's so awesome! I found 2 S.B. 'Season of Disney' episodes on iTunes but the Christmas one is not the one I saw on tv, which is called 'Disney Holiday Magic w/ S.B.' and was made in 2007. It hasn't aired in over a year though, which is ridiculous! I've had it on my DVR for like 2 yrs out of necessity!

 

[magichusky]

DAY 2.6: Expedition What in the Disney World???

After the Jingle Jungle Parade was finished and I had taken about fifty million pics in my extreme excitement, we sprinted over to KS before the crowd had a chance to disperse:

Thought this sign was super funny! (particularly the 'Please do not throw or drop anything from your vehicle as the animals might eat of it' part!)

After only about a 10 min wait or so, we were seated in the middle of one of the safari vehicles. I sat on the edge so as to hopefully get a better angle for photos but I discovered that it's obnoxiously difficult to take good pics on this thing!

We were delayed a few minutes b/c the rhinos insisted upon blocking the road. There were a whole bunch of them wandering around and a little maintenance vehicle came out and tried to herd them out of our way. The rhinos wound up blocking the road for at least 10 min when I went on KS a few months later in April so I'm assuming this must be a rather frequent issue!

I was excited b/c we caught an amazing glimpse of Mufasa on Pride Rock! Around this time, we noticed that Col Joy had somehow fallen asleep again! The ride was so bumpy that I never managed a pic of this insanity.

Due to the delay, our vehicle sped through the rest of the safari so the remainder of my photos didn't turn out very well at all.

The plan after KS was to rush to the Wildlife Express Train to check out Rafiki's Conservation Station before it closed around 5pm. Due to the rhino delay though, the entrance to the train station was roped off before we got there! I was really bummed out since I had been super excited about the Conservation Station.

We decided to hurry on and continue to Asia, since EE was an ABSOLUTE MUST DO! I remember about a year ago I was talking my Mom's ear off about this ride b/c I had seen it on the History Channel's Disney World 'Modern Marvels' episode, so the anticipation was severe. We could see it in the distance and knew we were headed in the right direction:

As we got closer, my Mom started to become skeptical. We asked a CM manning the entrance to the EE queue how intense the ride was; he told my Mom it was like a faster version of BTMR. If you say so...

For a visual representation of our reaction to EE, take a look at my parents flipping out when they realized the train was planning on going backwards!!

HAHA OMG I'm sure all of you WDW vets think EE is tame, but all of us completely spazzed out on this ride!!! We weren't exactly expecting the train to speed off in reverse, and all of the twists and turns in the dark made it even more confusing and dizzying. In light of the insanity, I pretty much cracked up after we finally escaped from the Forbidden Mountain and teetered away in confusion.

I think this is another one of my fav pics from our trip- it was taken directly after we exited EE:

The facial expressions are priceless- from left to right: speechless, flustered, vacant. What a great ride! My Mom is still angry w/ that CMs blatant trickery- EE is obviously in no way similar to BTMR, which is one of her favorite rides.

I of course had to get in on the photo shoot and made my Mom take a photo of Heather and me. I was still cracking up and by that time Heather had recovered and was triumphantly pumping her fist.

It was starting to drizzle and get dark so we once again hurried along. We needed to eat dinner and get ready for our Wishes Cruise which was scheduled for that night, so we really only had enough time to check the box on the last remaining AK headliner, Dinosaur.

We made it DinoLand USA and I just adored this sherbert colored long neck (my favorite dino- I was obsessed w/ 'The Land Before Time' as a small child):

We finally found Dinosaur and were delighted that it was a walk on. I was also delighted to see Mrs. Cosby moonlighting as an archeologist in the pre-ride video! Even though I was still mad that this ride was basically a knock-off of 'Indiana Jones: Temple of the Forbidden Eye' back in DL, I was determined to have a blast since I'm a big dino nut (Jurassic Park is one of my favorite movies!).

From our ride pic, you can definitely tell that we were the only ones in the car who had no idea what was going on!

I must say, that I thought this ride was a hoot (as evidenced by my out of control cackling in the pic). My Mom, as usual, was just weathering the storm. Heather was surprised, and Dad was just ready to go get some dinner. I can definitely see though how a small child could become a bit nervous in this attraction!

The one thing that was really missing for me in this ride was a massive exploding volcano somewhere- for some reason you can't have dinosaurs without volcanoes in my wacky imagination. Maybe I just missed the huge pit of lava from the Indiana Jones version. Additionally, Dinosaur actually made me very sad when the meteor hit and we had to leave all of the dinosaurs behind. I didn't really appreciate having a dark moment on my WDW dream vacation.

By the time we had successfully transported the Iguanadon to the present epoch, the sky was growing ever darker. I of course wanted to mess around in AK a bit more but my parents thought we should do dinner and get back to the hotel before our Wishes Cruise (we had to be at the Polynesian dock by 9pm).

Since our itinerary initially had us scheduled for DTD that evening, that was the only night for which I hadn't acquired a dinner ADR. I had actually tried for months to get a T-Rex Cafe ADR and found it to be impossible, which made me excessively angry since I began hoarding ADRs back in June! I suggested we just eat at an AK CS location or go to the Rainforest Cafe just outside of AK, but my parents were adamant that they wanted to leave and get back to SoG. I was becoming concerned since it seemed like everyone was already becoming rabid and cranky yet we still had quite a distance to travel before we even reached the vicinity of SoG... I could smell trouble in the air!

NEXT TIME: meltdown city! Would dinner turn into a disaster? And would our Wishes Cruise be rained out??

 

[conan]

Loving this TR so far! Your Dinosaur photo is so funny! Your Dad looks especially confused.

 

[amazingact21]

I've never been to the Jingle Jungle Parade before, but after seeing your photos I want to give it a shot. I love how you pointed out details, such as Goofy's hat, because I never would've noticed them if you hadn't.

I can't believe Col Joy fell asleep in FOTLK and KS! To me, FoTLK is too engaging to fall asleep to, and KS is too bumpy!!! I wish I had the ability to grab a quick nap during any situation.

Your poor family....EE can be overwhelming if you're not expecting it. The first time I rode it, I knew what to expect, but I was still startled by all the drops and turns. It is definitely intense. But that photo of your parents' reaction on the ride is hilarious! It looks like your mom was wishing she could exit the vehicle.

Can't wait to hear about the Wishes cruise!