2 Friends & A Ninja Turtle ~ July 2011 Trip Report - Complete - Photo Heavy!

[Molyneuxd]

You need some of these for your next trip...

 

[Amunet]

Haha that's awesome!! I love the dole whip float one ^_^

 

[Amunet]

Realized I don't have the photos for the next update uploaded to photobucket. SO I was planning another update today but that will have to wait for tomorrow ^_^

 

[Amunet]

Today was our appointment with DVC. We woke up around 8am and had breakfast. I didn't take photos but I did write down what we had ^_^
I, of course, had the Breakfast Platter (pictured in the MK post), Amanda had a big Mickey Waffle with Strawberries and Jon had Biscuits with Sausage Gravy.
Me and Amanda really enjoyed ours and Jon said his was okay.

We then were picked up at 8:40am and driven to Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. We went inside and were greeted warmly and offered drinks (coffee/hot chocolate/tea/water) and some muffins. We sat briefly until the lady greeted us.
She thought that we weren't serious ... as she spoke to us like we just after their fastpasses and ice cream.
I don't blame her, I mean, there are three 20somethings sitting in front of her that don't come to WDW often ... so why waste a morning?
WELL, we are serious. DH will be going to school to become a doctor soon and we are planning on purchasing DVC afterwards.
Once she heard this ... she kind of took us more seriously lol

It's a very lovely presentation and they are upfront with you about any question you ask (and even some you don't). If you're thinking about DVC, I highly suggest you plan some time in your vacation to do this tour ^_^

After all was said and done, we got a free scoop of ice cream (with topping) and gave us fastpasses good for any 3 rides (so 9 total since there were 3 of us). This was the reason we didn't mind 'wasting' our morning (instead of doing rope drop). But please, know that these only work if there are still fastpasses left in the machines for the ride(s) you're interested in. Okay, so I guess they gave us fastpass tickets to put into the machine to get a fastpass lol

Then, OFF TO HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS! Our first stop ...

Yup, Toy Story Mania! Though, we sent Amanda up ahead cause she's in *ahem* better shape then me and Jon. Yeah, since Jon and I have never been in the park before, we completely got lost lol. We decided to apply our sunblock while Amanda came back for us.
Okay THEN we all headed to Toy Story Mania and got FPs to use right away (from dvc) and then were able to use our normal tickets to get FPs for later that evening. It was around noon by this time and we couldn't come back until 8pm! Crazy huh?

And now ... photos!

Jon and Amanda posing pretty ^_^

I rode by myself and this was my first ever score on this ride

Booyah!​

I have to say, this is a really awesome ride. I can understand why this ride is so popular! It is amazing fun and I could ride it a few times in a row if I could. Jon and Amanda really enjoyed it as well ^_^

Then, we were determined to ride the other 2 big rides in this park ... and on the way, I took some photos ...

We saw some furry friends! But, we didn't stop ... we were on a mission!

THIS is how crowded it was this day. Not only was it crowded, but it was extremely hot​

I'm sure you have guessed by now that we are headed towards Tower of Terror ^_^ You are correct! We used the DVC fastpass tickets again.

I'm the one in the farthest back row, to the left, with my hands up. That's right. Only way to ride.​

ToT is rather fun. I think Amanda and Jon enjoyed it more than I did. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun ride, but I guess I expected more from all the hype. I do have to say that I LOVE queue for this ride, hence all the pictures above. I love the detail and it really keeps me occupied looking at all of the things ^_^

THEN off to Rockin Roller Coaster, using the last of our dvc fastpass tickets. We LOVED this ride. All of us. It's a much-needed thrill in Disney and a fantastic addition ^_^

We then had to stop by the restrooms to use the sinks. MY GOSH it was crazy hot out. There were some wispy clouds but nothing to cover the sun. To top it of, it was rather humid. We used the sinks to soak our bandanas/small towels to put them on our head. I highly recommend doing this if you go during the summer, it helps A LOT! I think this method (and drinking from our water bottles) we were able to stave off heat exhaustion.

After we felt well enough to venture out of the shade, we headed off to ...

This was a MUST for all of us, expecially Amanda. But, as you might see in that photo, it was full to the very back. So, instead, we decided to grab some lunch while we waited for this show to end and the next one to start.
Again, no pictures of lunch ( I think it was because we were crazy hungry), but I can report what we had!
We ate at Catalina Eddies, which is right across from the Beauty and the Beast stage. Amanda and I had personal cheese pizzas with a side caesar salad & cookie. Jon had a chicken caesar sandwich with carrot cake. We all enjoyed our entrees (and the side salads were rather good) but Jon said that the carrot cake was a bit too sweet and rich for him ... which then interested Amanda lol.

Jon finished eating lunch before me and Amanda did, so he went and used our regular tickets to ride RnR later. After that, we were just finishing up and it was just about time to get in line for Beauty and the Beast. By waiting for this next show, we were able to get astonishingly good seats right in the middle and near the front. Due to this ... there are many photos

Look how good our seats are!

Many Pictures from Beauty and the Beast show. Scroll really fast if you don't want spoilers

I love these costumes

I love this shot! These girls were hilarious​

More pictures in the next post ...

 

[Amunet]

BEAUTY & THE BEAST PHOTOS BELOW
Scroll really fast if you don't want spoilers
Or you can close your eyes and scroll too lol

Be Our Guest Video Clip

Gasp, what's this?

Zomg! It's a floofy pink dress lady!

"Well YOU need to control your temper!"

Oh NOES! He got stabbed!

Awe ^_^

Beauty & the Beast Video Clip

THE END OF SHOW PICTURES

Haha okay. Well I enjoyed this show very much. I think this is the best mini broadway show WDW has. Amazingly well done and put together. It was also nice to be in the shade. This was also Amanda's favorite.
By this time, it was too hot for us to stay, also the park was rather crowded, which didn't help. On our way out, we got this amazingly awesome photo done:

We got back to our room and found THIS:

The stuffed animals we brought with us​

It made us chuckle a bit to see our stuffed animals having a party while we were gone lol. So, according to the pictures, Amanda and Jon were off doing something, which I don't have written down. SO, I have some nice pictures of me goofing around in the room ...

Our pretty room ^_^ We really enjoy POFQ

Look! It's a dork!​

They did come back and we relaxed a bit. Amanda and I decided we wanted to test out the pool. Jon found the TV a bit more interesting lol. So around 3:30pm, we headed out to the pool and enjoyed it. It was a nice pool, not crowded but some families were out.
What I found really interested was how the kids behaved on the pool's slide. Amanda didn't go on it, but I did. When I got to the top, there was a kid there who was kind of like playing those lifegaurds when you're at the waterpark. This kid watched the kid slide down before me and then let me know when it was okay to slide down myself. It was really cute! I'm thankful they were safe about this instead of doing anything dangerous.
I went on the slide a few times and about the 3rd time (there was a period of time between sliding), another kid was there at the top. Lol they did a switch out like real lifeguards! lol

We swam for about an hour and went back to the room, where we sent Jon out to get some beignets while Amanda and I took a shower (separately of course lol). After munching on our goodies and drying our hair, etc. We headed back to the bus stop. It was around 7pm and we were hoping to get back to Hollywood Studios soon. BUT the bus had other plans and went all around riverside before going to HS.

Finally got back to the park ...

... the sun was low so that we were able to keep cool in the shade of the buildings.

Jon wanted to go to this (and I really wanted him to go too, I was excited for him), but never had the chance ​

We thought we'd stop by the Star Wars ride ...

... but it was getting a bit late and we wanted to grab a bit to eat and use our FPs, so we go and get a Star Wars FP to ride later ^_^

Yeah, if you read the earlier part, I got the Toy Story & RnR FPs way earlier. That's how backed up they were!​

BUT! I didn't want to disappoint Jon again, so he at least got to ride one thing:

Shoom!​

I heard about the city area of HS, I mentioned it to Jon and Amanda and they decided it would be fun to wander around and perhaps find something to eat.
On the way, Amanda spotted something she HAD to get a picture with ...

 

[Amunet]

She's a big fan of Castle ^_^​

Haha, THEN we were headed off to the city!

I love this little travel agency. I want to be a travel agent very bad, so I'm geeking out about this little facade

Haha, I think he's hungry ...

I think the line of laundry is a cute touch of detail

I don't know what this little guy is from but he's ADORABLE!

I wanted to eat here cause ... well, it's awesome. But we had pizza earlier and we weren't feeling it. So I took a picture!

The left is the Travel Agency and the right is a cute Pharmacy. We took this picture to kind of symbolize me and Jon ^_^​

Then, Jon took the camera and took a lot of photos of the Star Wars, I managed to narrow it down to one lol

Figuring out that the sun was going low, we went off in search of one last thing I had to do before it got too late: The Little Mermaid! On our way, I took ... surprise! ... more pictures ...

Save the monkey!!

We saw Buzz! Quick picture ^_^

Look at that wait time o.o

And then we arrived! We waited in line for a little bit, but I was so excited, I didn't care!

AND from here on out, the photos may be a tad blurry (sorry)

I love The Little Mermaid ^_^ Though, out of the shows we've been to, this is my least favorite. It's too short and the lady that played Ariel had so many flat notes, we were cringing. I hope it's only cause it was late (I think it was the last show) and her voice was sore. Though, I did find a plushie flounder! I bought it, I was so excited. Lol I got some weird looks.

Then ... OFF TO FILL OUR TUMMIES! ...

 

[Amunet]

After The Little Mermaid, we decided to cash in on our RnR FP ^_^ BUT then we remembered we were hungry. Believe it or not, the only place we could find open was Rosie's All American Cafe. I am happy to report, I remembered to take photos!!

Mine. Half eaten Veggie Burger w/ fries & a cookie

Jon & Amanda's food of choice: Cheeseburger w/ onion fries

Amanda's Dessert. After Jon had one for lunch, she wanted to try it

Jon's Dessert. He said it was 'magical'​

With our tummies happy, we tromped off to RnR!

STILL AWESOME! Also, I bought the ride picture!

Can you see why? Great picture of all of us and that guy behind Jon just made the picture priceless lol

Noticing we had more time before the second showing of Fantasmic (oh yes!), we headed back to Toy Story to use that very late FP time of ours.

I loved these toparies ^_^

So cute! Andy's Toys, Aka Staff.

Jon said to make a funny face ... lol

Our ride, Mr. Potato Head

So, I beat Amanda in score, but she beat me in accuracy lol​

Now it was time to go get in line for Fantasmic!

I cannot express how excited we were about this. Hollywood Studios is a first for all of us and all of us were looking forward to this show. BUT nature had to call my name. I ignored it, cause I knew we were going to start herding in soon ... but then nature kind of yelled at me and I had to listen.
SO, here is a nice picture!

Yeah *cough* Anyways, by the time I went back to meet up with them, everyone was herding through the the entrance.

For those of you not familiar with the entryway to Fantasmic (and if you are, enjoy a reminder), it is a bit of a walkway to get to the ampatheatre/stage. I'm not sure if they do it for all shows, but for ours, the walkway was roped off right down the middle so everyone was jammed to one side.
Well, I lost Amanda and Jon, so I called them and tried getting to them, through the throngs. It was hard and I didn't feel like climbing over children or stepping on grannies.
My next decision rewarded me with MANY evil eyes. I went to the side that was roped off and ran freely to meet up with Jon and Amanda, whom I instructed to get to the side of the rope so I could easily spot them. Once I found them, I quickly went back over to the roped off side.

Everyone made a b-line to the center/front, by the time we got to where the seating area is, most people were filling up the back of the seating area. I wanted to try and get a closer spot so we went near the front and astonishingly found seats near the center and close-ish to the front.

FANTASMIC PHOTO SPOILERS AHEAD
Scroll through if you don't wish to see ^_^​

I'd like to warn those of you that wish to see the photos that ... well, they're kind of blurry, but I got the best ones I could. Not tons though. My camera isn't fancy but it works. So after a bit, I took some videos ^_^

Fantasmic Video 1
Fantasmic Video 2

The fire was pretty hot, you could feel it pretty intensely sometimes

Fantasmic Video 3​

The show was awesome! We all enjoyed it ^_^ I can see how it's one of those, see it once in a while shows. ^_^

AND ... I like to take pictures when I walk

Isn't this picture beautiful? ^_^

And memories we did make ^_^ We were pretty wiped after the day. Though, it was really nice to get a reprieve from the sun in the afternoon.
By the time we got back to our room, it was 12am. We had okay bus karma getting back.

Before heading to bed, we had to take care of Amanda's blisters that she got from the day's ventures. Thankfully, I always bring moleskin, small scissors and medical tape on vacations ^_^ Otherwise, we wouldn't have popped them.
So, don't pop your blisters unless you have the supplies above.

We went to sleep a bit later ... all of us just passed out.

End of this update, until next time! Feel free to shout out if you're lurking

 

[Amunet]

Okay, so my goal is to finish this trip report by the 1st of April ... Wonder if that will work?

I'm almost done. Got 2 more Disney Days and a travel day (which isn't very eventful)

 

[Mrs. Sojourner]

First, I LOVE the reason behind your TR title! Second, I am ridiculously jealous of your upcoming cruise!! Third, I am very much enjoying your TR- can't wait to hear about the rest.

 

[Amunet]

First, I LOVE the reason behind your TR title! Second, I am ridiculously jealous of your upcoming cruise!! Third, I am very much enjoying your TR- can't wait to hear about the rest.

Awe lol thank you ^_^ Well, I will be doing a TR for my cruise as well, which is why I'm trying to get this one done before we go

Yay! I'm glad someone is at least reading

 

[Amunet]

I believe I got all of my images resized so that I can post them on here without stretching the page ^_^

 

[Amunet]

Just wanted to give a little heads up that the pictures will be a bit different since I had to scan them in

Surprisingly, we slept in today ... until 9:30am! Haha for me, that is NOT sleeping in, in fact, on vacation, I wake up earlier then I ever would at home. But compared to this trip, we slept in ^_^

We had breakfast, which I assume is the same that I've been eating all week (Breakfast Platter), but I'm not sure what Jon and Amanda ate. No food porn

We arrived at Typhoon Lagoon around 11:30am. It was VERY crowded and we noticed this as we were on the bus driving through the parking lot. It was very different from when Jon and I went on our honeymoon, at that time we arrived as everyone was leaving due to a thunderstorm warning. So, this was a very new experience.

Our tickets we bought at the gate because it was a better deal then adding the 'Waterpark & More' to our tickets. As soon as we were through, we got a locker to store our stuff in. We went to the gift shop, they also rent out the lockers ... and the line is usually a lot shorter then the one for the shop that says 'Locker Rentals'.
Then, we only had ONE thing on our mind: Shark Reef!!

Jon did not participate in this as his swimming isn't very good, so he watched us on the above water observation bridge ^_^
Me and Amanda picked up our snorkel gear, which you do when you enter. We walked through and met up with the end of the line. As we were waiting, we were putting on the mask and testing the tube in our mouth and such. This is when we found that the disinfectant they wipe or spray the equipment with is VERY strong and it stung my eyes, it did for Amanda too. The line didn't go quick but many people were lining up behind us, so I'm glad we hopped in line when we did. We used the time to get used to the disinfectant and such.

Finally we made it to the front and me and Amanda were so excited to swim with the fishies and sharks! I've never snorkled before, so I was a bit nervous. For those of you considering this and have never snorkled, don't fear! They give you some instructions and it's very easy. You basically just swim with your arms and glide along the top of the pool with your head in the water.

Well, that's what's suppose to happen anyways ...

We got into the water ... MY GOSH IT WAS COLD! There were trees around so there was some shade, so we weren't really hot, so the water was a bit of a shock (even though they warn you). I got used to it pretty easily though.

Okay, so ... you know how we were just suppose to swim with our arms and not kick with our legs? WELL, I have to say that I somewhat accomplished that with a waterproof camera! Yup, I totally took pictures while snorkeling ^_^

See the second picture? Yeah, I found Dory!

Not only was I taking pictures but I was swimming AND the goggles kept filling up with salt water (since the pool is salt water) and stinging my eyes! It happened twice while I was doing this. Both times I had to stop and kind of almost tread water ... almost. I was so afraid of hitting a fish lol.
Don't worry though! The only reason why my goggles were flooding was because I kept my glasses on, so I could see what I was pointing the camera at.

I made it safe to the end ^_^ I was like the last one out lol But it was okay! There are showers you need to rinse off in after you get off. I had a great time and would still do it again! Though, I think I would wear contacts.

Afterwards all of us headed towards Jon's favorite activity at Typoon Lagoon ... Castaway Creek!

Top - Amanda & Jon Having Fun
Middle - We left Amanda Behind!! Oh no! Lol and my foot
Bottom - Amanda caught up and stole the camera! Me & Jon with Amanda's knees

Top - Underwater Jon!
Middle - Haha doesn't it look like Jon's head is spouting water?
Bottom - Underwater Me! Jon took it, which is why half my face is cut off ​

We call Castaway Creek the Lazy River ... which it pretty much is. But my gosh, it's so fun! We stayed in the river for about 2 hours! Afterwards, we wanted to get out and try some of the other fun stuff and decided upon the Wave Pool ^_^ THIS WAS FUN!

Top - On our way out of the lazy river, we HAD to take this photo (Amanda & Jon)
Middle - I rode the wave and I took this photo of the shallow end of the wave pool
Bottom - Underwater Amanda!​

As you may have gathered, Jon isn't a very strong swimmer (he's doing so much better since we met though!) so he stayed in the shallow end while Amanda and I swam out to the deep end to have fun with the waves.
We swam back to Jon and I noticed he didn't have his glasses on! I asked him what he did with them and he said he didn't even know they were off! He can see fine without his glasses, but they help with how he used to be cross-eyed. A wave took his glasses off and they were lost to us
I could see how glasses get ripped off though ... I had to hold onto mine while we rode the waves with Jon for a bit.
Amanda and I went back out to the deep end, came back and rode twice more ... then the waves stopped We decided to get out at this point.

For the wave pool, if you can swim well, I highly suggest going out to the deeper end, it not as crowded. In the shallow end, there are mostly kids who swim in groups, which is totally fine! But man, those little feet and elbows hurt when they get smacked with a wave! They can't help it, none of us can, but it's nice to avoid it if you can ^_^

We wanted to go ride some of the waterslides and such, but as we were walking over to there, we discovered that the ground was crazy hot! So, doing some kind of fire dance back to our locker (which the sun was beating down on). We applied more sunblock, got our shoes and Jon put on a shirt ... since the sun was really beating down on us. We also decided to buy him a new hat so his *ahem* shiny head could be protected.

Okay, so I really wanted to take pictures of food porn but as I only had one underwater camera (disposable), I wanted to save the photos.
But I can tell you that we ate at Typhoon Tilly's at this point and got some food ^_^
Me & Jon = Chicken Wrap + Twist waffle cone & cheesecake (me) and Mickey bar & fruit cup (Jon). This took us 1 meal credit (quick service) each + 1 snack credit each.
Amanda = Nachos & Vanilla waffle cone. Both were 1 snack credit.

Putting back our KKTW cards, we decided that we were in some dire need of waterslides! Of course, we headed to Crush & Gusher!

We rode the Coconut lane first, then the Pinapple Plunge lane. We enjoyed the Coconut one better ^_^

I'd like to add that we left our shoes by some CM's at the entrance of the ride. We asked if they could watch them and they said, "No, but you are welcome to put them in front of us." Something about not taking responsibility in case someone does steal and we could blame them. BUT shoes in front of them usually don't get stolen cause they are standing right there.

After, we headed on over to the family raft ride ... Gangplank Falls?

Amanda hurt her knee on this ride Afterwards, we went on the two other tube rides. One of them I kind of got stuck on for a brief moment because there wasn't enough water on the slide (and perhaps because I'm a tad pooh sized ).
In my notes it says we rode the blue first (which is where I got stuck twice) and then the yellow.

Amanda's knee was still hurting so we decided to go back on the lazy river, where she didn't have to stand or be active with it. Only once around and she didn't feel well, at all so she got out and waited for us. Jon and I stayed on for one last lap and had A BLAST! Lol we kept twirling around together in the innnertubes and laughing like crazy. Other people joined in on the laughing lol

Then we got out and joined Amanda at the lockers where we started packing up our stuff ...

Top - Another picture from the wave pool from earlier in the day
Middle - Tired Amanda. Jon told her to drink a lot of water cause he thinks that she got heat exhaustion, which is why she felt ill.
Bottom - Tired Jon ... with no glasses ​

We left around 7:30pm ...

Taken on the way out ^_^​

Yeah, we stayed for like 8 hours! It was so fun. If you're wondering, yes, we did get some mild sunburns. But none of ours were that bad at all.
I use SPF 100

Took about 30 minutes to get to the resort (have no idea why it took that long). We all went up and took showers (seperately!) and Amanda just passed out on the bed while Jon and myself went to eat some noms ^_^

Food Porn!

Mine: Baked Chicken Alfredo with side salad.

Jon's: Jambalaya + Dirty rice & corn​

The alfredo was TASTY! The side salad was a tad spicy but rather good ^_^ Jon says that his was 'yummy'.

Taken at the food court; Sassagoula Floatworks and Food Factory. I thought it was cool.​

Then we headed on up to our room and passed out ourselves.

Next up ... the Wild Side ~_^

 

[Mrs. Sojourner]

Looks like it was a fun, but exhausting day. I love the underwater shots!

 

[Amunet]

Looks like it was a fun, but exhausting day. I love the underwater shots!

Thank you! Haha yeah, we had a lot of fun with those. I'm proud of Jon cause he used to have real issues putting his face completely underwater.

Lol looks like you're my only follower. I hope to update some more tomorrow!

 

[Amunet]

Well, I didn't get this TR done before april lol

BUT I have been distracted with a family emergency that will cause me to travel a week before the cruise! Crazyness.

Anywho, I do plan on finishing this up soon and hope to work on it within the next few days ^_^

 

[Amunet]

Wow, big things have happened.

My grandmother is very sick and has been given an expiration date I am also sick this week, which is why I cannot go up to visit her.

Our cruise is in 9 days and I got a call that is pretty much a job offer for United Airlines!

Lots of things! But, since I"m kind of stuck resting at home, I really hope to finish this up before the cruise. Just 1 more day to go!

 

[Amunet]

My apologies for being absent. Many things have happened.
My grammy died on mother's day
I got a new job working for United Airlines ^_^
And I took my first disney cruise

Well, not in that order but yeah.

I only have one more day to update and I'll try to do that this weekend

 

[Amunet]

I thought I finished updating this

Well, I need to finish this promptly.

 

[Amunet]

I don't think anyone is really reading this BUT I need to complete this. I am EXTREMELY sorry for not finishing this, I thought I had.
Also, I didn't take notes on this day, so I will be going by pure memory and the photos (which were thankfully uploaded in order already).


So, without further adieu ...

This is our first time going to AK, for all of us, so I did lots of research ahead of time to make the most of it. We had a plan and that plan was to catch the 2 shows, ride the major rides ... and get there for rope drop.

First goal attained! We did make it for rope drop and we made sure to station ourselves to the far left of the entrance so that when the welcome parade was over, we would be one of the first for Kilimanjaro Safari!

Yeah, that didn't work out too well since the *hehem* fitter people got ahead of us ...

... but we still made it to get fastpasses for the safari. Before rushing off to our next goal, we saw this cool area with drums and Jon wanted to try it but he didn't want to slow us down. But I told him that the area would probably be overrun by kiddies in an hour so I said ... "Go for it!"

I really like this photo too, love the tree in the back!​

We only stayed for a bit because, well ... we had a Yeti to conquer! On the way, I found this really cute footprint in the pavement:

And notice the leaf imprints? Such detail!​

I just want to say that I LOVE the Asia area of AK, I just, I love it!

This is one of my favorite photos ​

Finally, we made it to ...

Okay, so I really must tell you a little story before continuing. Ever since before Jon and myself got married and figured out that we were going to go to WDW for our honeymoon, I fell in love with Everest! I was SO excited to ride it, I've also had a fascination with the real mountain. Though, we weren't able to go during our honeymoon
I'm FINALLY able to see this ride it! So, there are a lot of photos for the queue and during the ride ...

Look at that wait time! Holy flying fairies!

Because there was pretty much NO ONE in line, we were able to score the front! Well, Amanda and I got to sit in front, Jon sat in the row behind us.

Our chariot arrives!

Expidetion Everest Video​

So, what did I think of the ride after all my waiting? It was okay, I think the queue is much better than the actual ride. Still fun though.

After surviving the yeti, we wandered off towards the Dino area to ride ...

Haha okay, so this was pretty hilarious. Jon and Amanda enjoyed this ride but after the first part of the ride, I was pretty much keeping my eyes closed and my head down. In fact, I think the ride photo you couldn't even see my head, I was leaning down so far! Haha it was hilarious! Let's just say I'm not going to ride that ride ever again ... yeah, I'm a bit of a wimp

BUT I really did like the theme and the shop afterwards, in fact, I loved this not-so-little-guy in the lobby:

Then, we kind of realized we were hungry ...

 

[Amunet]

This morning we didn't have breakfast before heading to the park because rope drop was so early. We decided to enjoy the park a bit before we had breakfast. Let me tell you, up to this point, it's only been about 45 minutes to an hour (if that).
We didn't have any specific restaurant in mind and then we wandered past ...

I remember reading that Pizzafari was a quick service restaurant but I didn't think it did breakfast, until we saw a little sign outside that stated they served breakfast! I was like, well, why not?

We went inside and ordered our breakfast. They told us that they would take us on a tour of the restaurant. I was kind of shocked by this because we never experienced anything like this, but then it dawned on me ... we were the first customers of the day! So they must need to distract us as they got the grill all fired up and hey ... that is just fine with me!

So they took us to each room of the dining areas and explained that they all have a cute little theme.

I think this was something like the rodent room

Camouflage room, I really liked the owl​

Last room on the tour was the nocturnal room, which, was my favorite for two reasons:
1) I love the nighttime
2) When we walked in, we were greeted with this sight:

I was flabbergasted! No, they weren't giving us a tour to distract us from how long it will take to make our food, it was so they could surprise us with a table reserved just for us!
Jon and I were wearing our Anniversary pins and they said that it was a special anniversary breakfast. Up to this point, we felt like we were just missing that extra special Disney something. You know? Some thing that happens that just makes it more magical? Well ... this was it. We didn't request this or expect anything like this at all and here are some sweet cast members that just decided to surprise us with this.

Yeah, you can tell we got sun yesterday, can't you?​

The best thing about this? Well, it was the REAL dishware and silverware ...

A real plate! Not a plastic one! And hey, it's a really good breakfast too. See how the bacon is crispy? Oh yeah!

The CMs also came in with a phone and had me and Jon listen ... it was Mickey and Minnie wishing us a Happy Anniversary! How cute is that? Lastly, they presented us with ...

Cupcakes!​

These ones were simple, but so good! Perfect cake to frosting ratio

We were so touched with the whole gesture and it really just made our vacation ^_^
We said our grateful goodbyes and headed off to use our fastpasses for our very first Safari! I took a few pictures on the way and during our ride. So sit back, relax and enjoy the pictures ^_^

Here comes our ride!

I thought this tree was really cool

How cool is this? Cheetahs just hanging out, like no big deal

Man these guys are ugly

Haha, I liked the bumper sticker​

We very much enjoyed the safari, it's amazing to see all the different animals, expecially so close!

Afterwards, we walked off in search of the Lion King show, but on the way we spotted a few characters we just HAD to jump in line to meet: Lilo and Stitch!
Jon is a HUGE Stitch fan and we couldn't chance them not being here after the show, so we hopped in line! Amanda thought we were kind of crazy cause here we are, grown adults, waiting in line to see characters. To top it off, we didn't have any kids, we were seeing them for ourselves.
But, she just sighed, laughed and agreed to take pictures for us

I just love this photo of Jon ^_^

Haha, we were actually laughing/smiling in this photo because the CM with the photopasses commented on how Jon and myself should stand together since it's our anniversary and I replied "Pfft, we've been stuck together for 3 years already, I'd rather be by Lilo!" ​

Yeah, I pretty much glomped Stitch (glomping = running/jumping/hugging onto the victim). It was hilarious! We had a wonderful time meeting these characters! I think Lilo and Stitch really enjoyed us as well, which lead to a magically funny meet.