145 Middle Schoolers: Wicked Awesome or Epic Fail???DeParting-Such Sweet Sorrow p. 76

[natebenma]

Dee - I agree with you that I would not be able to hand over my room key.

I have never heard anyone use the term Wild Kingdom. A friend, who is in Disney now, told me how excited she is to be able to take a boat over to Disney World from the Wilderness Lodge.

Love your pictures! Can't wait to see your safari pics.

I was definitely holding on to that. Plus, I had added charging privileges to my card. I'm not sure if many or any of the other chaperones did that, but since I am used to using my room key for purchases, I figured "Why not?"

I didn't really have many expenses at DW. Meals were (mostly) covered, I had a Disney rewards card from my Visa for about $70 that I used for beverage purchases/snacks and such (mostly for the kids).

I don't think I had heard the term "Wild Kingdom" before this trip, but I suspect it is a local thing since the closest zoo for most of us is "York's Wild Animal Kingdom" People were just mashing up the name.

The next couple of updates will be VERY picture heavy!

The Safari and the Pangani trail.

I'm going to try to get that up later today.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

The next couple of updates will be VERY picture heavy!

The Safari and the Pangani trail.

I'm going to try to get that up later today.

Yay I cant wait for more pictures
I've just spent the morning looking through old photos in search of some to put in the 5yo "wonderful me" box for school They have to hand the boxes in to the teacher (contains photos, drawings, medals, anything that they consider to be a clue to who they are) and then she picks a few each day and the kids try to guess who it belongs to! When they get it right or give up the owner gets to tell why they are wonderful Needless to say the odd photo from WDW has made it into the box!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Yay! All caught up. I hate, hate, hate the feeling of having said/done something wrong earlier in the day and being forced to wait hours to rectify the situation. It's the absolute worst, but don't beat yourself up over it. It's not worth it.

 

[natebenma]

Yay! All caught up. I hate, hate, hate the feeling of having said/done something wrong earlier in the day and being forced to wait hours to rectify the situation. It's the absolute worst, but don't beat yourself up over it. It's not worth it.

Thanks! Although it was several hours before I could apologize for what I had done, I spent that time sleeping! Again, I was shocked that I was able to fall and stay asleep because normall that sort of thing would bother me and keep me up.

Q was fine the next morning, so no harm done!

 

[natebenma]

We entered Animal Kingdom and handed over all of our park tickets to another chaperone who was going to be getting FP for Expedition Everest while we were in line for the Safari.

We didn’t stop for a Photopass picture in front of the Tree of Life. Good thing I prepurchased that card- so far the only pictures from my group were solo ones of me in HS! I hoped the other groups from our school were getting pictures taken.

Here are some pictures I took on the way to Africa.

Tamu Tamu Restaurant- we have had lunch here on our last two family trips. Nobody ever seems to talk about it or even knows it is there.

According to the time stamp on my photos, we arrived at Kilimanjaro Safari at 9:15 and we loaded onto the jeep around 9:35, so it was around 20 minutes. By that time, our FP runner had caught up with us.

How many in your party?

20!

Off we go!

Continued in Next Post

 

[natebenma]

Continued from Previous Post:

Pride Rock- Will we see any lions???

YES!!!

New Zebra Area- Coming Soon

We’re Back!

Next up: Pangani Trail

 

[DisMomAmy]

Wow! I've never seen 3 lions out! Great shots you got!

By the way... I can't see the first few pictures you posted. They say they were moved or deleted.

 

[333disneymom]

Dee - great pics!

Wow! I've never seen 3 lions out! Great shots you got!

By the way... I can't see the first few pictures you posted. They say they were moved or deleted.

The lions are always hiding when we ride the safari. Can't see the first few pics either.

 

[eandesmom]

great lion shot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't see the first few either.

How much of a jeep does 20 take up? Curious if you all got on the same jeep or not.

 

[natebenma]

Wow! I've never seen 3 lions out! Great shots you got!

By the way... I can't see the first few pictures you posted. They say they were moved or deleted.

I was SOOOOO excited to see all 3 lions. We have always gone on the first safari of the day. MHTeacher went on the last safari of the day and I believe she has a picture of all 3 lions, with the male STANDING!!!

I really wanted to get this new update posted, but I am having a devil of a time with Photobucket today! It is really slow! So I keep trying to correct those few photos at the start. I hope to get that cleared up soon.

Dee - great pics!

The lions are always hiding when we ride the safari. Can't see the first few pics either.

Thanks!

When do you typically go on the safari ride?

Working on those pictures!

great lion shot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't see the first few either.

How much of a jeep does 20 take up? Curious if you all got on the same jeep or not.

The lion picture is definitely my favorite from the safari and one of my favorites overall on the trip.

We filled up the back half of the jeep. I think the jeeps probably seat between 40-60 overall.

 

[MEK]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW! I love your safari pictures! We're talking Safari pay dirt! I am so impressed! And three lions? I didn't even know there WERE three lions. I have never even photographed one. I must always hit the safari at the wrong time. Strong work!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

You got some really great pictures Dee. Love how close the animals appear and how totally oblivious they seem to everyone travelling throught their neighbourhood I love that safari!

 

[jmskinner]

I was worried that you would be finished with your TR by the time I got back on here. Love the Safari pics and I am so jealous of your pics of the Cheetahs and the Lions. All those trips on the safari and I still don't have those.

Oh, and having to explain to the other parent how the FP and tickets work was making me mad. Makes me want to say "And how many times have you or your friend been here?"

And I had to about the phone call in the middle of the night. I've been there, woke up the next day wondering if it really happened or I dreamed it.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

We have never seen 3 lions at one time!!!! Only 1
Great pics. We also do the safari first thing in the morning.

 

[jenseib]

Great safari!!!! I can't wait to see the zebra area!

 

[333disneymom]

When do you typically go on the safari ride?

We have gone as early as 10 a.m. and as late as 3 p.m. But every time we go, it's always HOT. Maybe this December will be our best bet? I'll keep you posted.

 

[eandesmom]

We have gone as early as 10 a.m. and as late as 3 p.m. But every time we go, it's always HOT. Maybe this December will be our best bet? I'll keep you posted.

Early is magical for animals. Magical!

 

[natebenma]

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW! I love your safari pictures! We're talking Safari pay dirt! I am so impressed! And three lions? I didn't even know there WERE three lions. I have never even photographed one. I must always hit the safari at the wrong time. Strong work!

Thank you so much! I was really happy with the pictures I took and I really appreciate your comments.

I could not believe that we spotted all those animals! And especially the lions. They are always hit or miss, but mostly miss.

You got some really great pictures Dee. Love how close the animals appear and how totally oblivious they seem to everyone travelling throught their neighbourhood I love that safari!

Loving the zoom on my Lumix camera. Plug, Plug!

I was worried that you would be finished with your TR by the time I got back on here. Love the Safari pics and I am so jealous of your pics of the Cheetahs and the Lions. All those trips on the safari and I still don't have those.

Oh, and having to explain to the other parent how the FP and tickets work was making me mad. Makes me want to say "And how many times have you or your friend been here?"

And I had to about the phone call in the middle of the night. I've been there, woke up the next day wondering if it really happened or I dreamed it.

Still a few more updates to go.

The cheetahs are especially tough because they are usually way back in the woods and well camoflagued. The zoom came in really handy for these pictures!

I had a couple of moments where I was trying to explain something (to this same chaperone) and he just wasn't listening. The "discussion" about the buses comes later this evening.

I didn't win any awards for alertness the night I got that phone call.

We have never seen 3 lions at one time!!!! Only 1
Great pics. We also do the safari first thing in the morning.

I'm thinking now that we may have had such great views of the animals due to the weather. It had rained that morning, so it was a bit on the cool side. Probably the coolest I have ever been on a visit to Animal Kingdom.

Great safari!!!! I can't wait to see the zebra area!

The zebra area should be really nice.

We have gone as early as 10 a.m. and as late as 3 p.m. But every time we go, it's always HOT. Maybe this December will be our best bet? I'll keep you posted.

Yes, I think the temperature more than the time of day really impacts whether the animals are out and about.

Early is magical for animals. Magical!

Oh, did someone recently have an awesome magical surprise safari in the morning?

 

[Missyrose]

Wow Dee, those safari pictures are GOR-GEOUS!!! The elephant pics and the lion pics are just amazing!

The new camera is clearly working out well.

Did the boys like the safari? I feel like it can be a hit or miss attraction for teens.

Can't wait to see the trail (I've never done any of the trails, they look fun though!).

 

[natebenma]

Wow Dee, those safari pictures are GOR-GEOUS!!! The elephant pics and the lion pics are just amazing!

The new camera is clearly working out well.

Did the boys like the safari? I feel like it can be a hit or miss attraction for teens.

Can't wait to see the trail (I've never done any of the trails, they look fun though!).

Thank you so much! I was really really happy with pictures from the safari.

So yes, the new camera is working out, but now every time I go to Sam's Club I start drooling over a big girl camera package they have there. But I'm not sure I am ready to move away from my point & shoot and I definitely am not ready to give up my camera's waterproof feature.

Good question about whether the boys liked the safari. I DON'T KNOW!!! I'm guessing yes, because we really got some spectacular views of the animals, but I really wasn't supposed to be TALKING to any of the kids and I definitely was verbotten from communicating with Nate.

What, you haven't seen Lion King OR walked the trails? Have you been on the secret trail that takes you close to the tree of life?

We did the Pangani trail on this trip but not the Maharajah trail in Asia. I like that one a lot more- Komodo Dragons and Tigers and Fruit Bats, Oh My!