9/16-10/3 The trip that dreams are made of....

[jaycns]

The Cast of Characters-

Me- a 30 something mom who loves Disney.

Dh- a 30 something dad who does not love Disney but does love his family enough to humor us!

Aladdin-(aka Prince Ali aka ds1) is now 10 years old. Lucky for us, he is still a Disney addict and still loves everything about WDW...including the characters!

Goofy-(aka Goof aka ds2) turned 7 on our vacation. Loves Disney, period.

Stitch-(aka Stitchity Stitch Stitch aka ds3) is 5 years old and the magic is all still "real" for him. He loves Disney but has trouble with "new things".

Our plans- 9/15 depart for WDW drive to Valdosta, GA and stop for a quick sleep. Continue to WDW arriving early on 9/16. 9/16-9/23 stay at Disney's Contemporary Resort. Trip report pages 1-11 chronicle our stay at the Contemporary Resort. 9/23-9/30 cruise aboard the Disney Magic. Trip report pages 11-19...our cruise aboard the Disney Magic. 9/30-10/3 arrive at Disney's Polynesian Resort.Starting on trip report page 20 and going through the end of this report is our time at Disney's Polynesian Resort.

9/15- This was really it...the day we were to leave for WDW (never mind that we wouldn't really be pulling under the Welcome to Disney World sign this date). I was so excited. The boys were even more excited and dh was even upbeat (hey, he might not be a Disney addict but going on vacation for almost three weeks is bound to make almost anyone smile).

We set off in our stuffed van and settle in for a long ride all the way to Valdosta, GA. Upon arrival at about 11:00 PM we are all just glad to be able to get out of the van. The 9 plus hours of 3 hyper boys and 1 over excited mom and 1 tired dad didn't make for the most happy last two or so hours.

We had pre booked a room at a Days Inn right off of the freeway (didn't want to add to our travel time) and we couldn't wait to just crawl into bed and get the last bit of sleep before our "real" vacation began.

Well, let our experience serve as a caution to you all....WARNING...horrible motel review upcoming...NEVER (and I really do mean NEVER) stay at the Day's Inn right off of I-75 in Valdosta, GA. Our room was smelly (non smoking...yeah right). We switched our first room and ended up in an even smellier second room. But we were tired, the boys were crabby and we had already prepaid via the internet.

So...we sucked it up and tried to sleep. ISH ISH ISH (I know it's the south, I really truly get that, I get that without the Orkin man many houses/hotels/motels/ would have bug problems) our room was home to MANY cockroaches, flying beetles, spiders and even seemed to be hosting a family reunion to centipedes...AHHHH. The room was so bad that we had to leave at 2:30AM, that is the time when I kept hearing this click click click, crunch, crunch, crunch, click, click, click sound. Well, the clicking sound? A HUGE cockroach stuck in the bathroom sink. It would try and skitter it's way out of the bowl of the sink only to fall back down "CLICK". The crunching sound? Another huge cockroach climbing around in the garbage can going "CRUNCH" over the empty plastic pretzel bag we had thrown away. As far as the flying beetles, well they did their part in dive bombing us awake a few times ...the spider woke my poor sons up as it crawled OVER THEM in the middle of the night and the centipedes hung out to welcome us into the bathroom. When someone says roach motel, from now on, I can truly say that I have checked into one!!

So, it was then at 2:30 AM I hustled my family out of the room, thanked my lucky stars we had only brought in a ziploc bag of toiletries (which was sealed...another thing to be thankful for), our laptop (of course I had to check in with my DIS friends when I arrived) and a large ziploc with our clothes for our Disney arrival packed in it (again, sealed, whew!!). We left without brushing our teeth, our hair or even changing into our clothes for the next day. We just made like the roaches we were running from and scuttled right on out the door!

Dh did gather one very large and squashed resident room host and show him to the front desk worker...that guy didn't even flinch. Just kept on chewing on his chips and said "sorry, ya want a different room". UMMM...NO, I think our family is scarred and scared enough already. So...at 2:30AM after almost no sleep (at least for dh and myself who felt the need to stand guard over our sleeping boys) we were finally REALLY on our way to the world.


We stopped at a 24 hour McDonald's after about an hour and dh a large coffee and some hotcakes for the kids when they woke up (as far as I know cold pancakes never killed anyone, so we were going to take our chances). After about another hour on the road, we realized something, we might make it with toothpicks holding our eyelids open to WDW at about 7:00AM BUT we would be in no shape to enjoy the parks or even the pool if we didn't pull over and rest. So, at the next rest stop (just after sunrise), we pulled over, locked the van and slept...BUG FREE.

When "Aladdin" awoke I took him in and we changed our clothes, brushed our teeth and otherwise freshened up at the rest stop. After cleaning up, it was time for a breakfast of cold pancakes

. As you can see from the smile on his face, our night time retreat was already a long ago hazy memory and our upcoming WDW vacation was all he was thinking about!!

Once the rest of the family was clean and fed we started the van and finished the last short leg of our journey to the happiest place on earth. I don't know if it has EVER felt so darn good to drive under this sign!!

I knew that now, the only bugs we would be seeing would be friends of Flick and Atta and the only nightmares we would be having would come before Christmas. At about 9:00 AM we were finally there!!!

To be continued...

 

[paigevz]

Wow, great beginning! I feel like I'm there with you.....................but I'm glad I wasn't..........those bugs would've sent me flyin'.........anything with more than 4 legs is just no friend of mine!

Your son looks so happy..........those HUGE eyes!

Can't wait for the rest, and thanks for putting pictures with it!

 

[MouseTriper]

Wow, your experience at the "Roach Motel" sounds just awful. I don't think I could have even lasted until 2:30am. Glad you finally made it to WDW. Can't wait to hear about your 1st day!

 

[jaycns]

This was the view we had of our soon to be "home for a week". Yep, dirty windshield and all. As we drove up the stress of the night before. The tiredness. The tightness in my neck. It all melted away. The Contemporary loomed before us. Their was a monorail entering the building and somebody was nice enough to leave an awesome parking space open just for us. We snatched the close space and everybody piled out of the car. I had read on a thread or two that "everyone must be present to check in". Well, for us at least, nobody asked. But my kids were super happy to be in the lobby and my husband was just happy to be out of the car.

I grabbed the birthday boy himself, our dear second son, "Goofy", and we went to the counter to check in. Upon check in we were upgraded to a water view room. And not just any water view room...but the most stunning view was awaiting us just outside the window of room

in the South Wing. It was on the third floor and the views...ahh, they made up for all the walking we had to do to get to the room!!

A bit of Disney magic awaited us. Our room was not only upgraded...but ready to enter right now!!! After our "Goofy" listened to the birthday message at the check in counter we headed up to our room.

Upon opening the door, I stood in awe. I had seen pictures of the redone rooms. I had heard others go on and on about them...but standing at the doorway looking in at one, it really was a "take my breath away" moment. It was stunning! The warm colors of the room. The clean lines. The way that texture was just as much a part of the look as color. Well, it was just my style!! The pictures I took don't do the room justice, so I will skip those for now. Instead, here is the view from our room. If anything was more stunning then the room, it was the view from the huge door sized window...
Looking to the left we this

Looking to the right we saw this

Looking straight out we saw this

Here is a picture of Goofy (the birthday boy) in his Pluto hat.

Again, not a great shot of the room. But you can see that even the boys had no problem settling in!

After doing a bit of unpacking and confirming the birthday boy's choice of park for the day we went down to grab a quick lunch from the food court before heading out to MK.

The Contemporary's food court is wonderful. YES, it is small (why does a huge resort have such a small food court?!). YES, it does have a more limited menu then say, ASMovies or POP...but it has pizza, burgers, hot dogs, etc. What more does a hungry Disney loving family need?! Oh, sweets, that's right! And they have them! YUM. They have this chocolate dipped chocolate cake with white chocolate drizzles and chocolate creme between the layers. This slice of cake is to die for!! Needless to say, my thighs paid for it, but I had a piece nearly every day! It was SO good! My boys were partial to Mickey bars or Mickey Rice Krispy heads (with chocolate dipped ears) or "fish bowls" (jello and gummy fish). Dh was happy that he could get a Hagan Daas bar on the dining plan as either a dessert or a snack depending on which credits we were spending.

While waiting (a short wait, but remember we were hyper at this point) the boys all grabbed coloring sheets from the food court and completed their masterpieces. All three turned them in to the "Artist of the Day" Contest box in the middle of the food court area.

After a lunch of cheeseburgers, pizza and hot dogs (along with that way too good chocolate cake of course) we headed up, up, up to the monorail platform.

By the time the boys and I were seated in the front of the monorail it was about 1:30PM. Since the monorail only takes 4 riders in the front and since dh's middle name is motion sick, dh rode in the back with all of the "regular folk". The boys and I took in every sight on our short ride to the Magic Kingdom!!

With no lines to speak of we breezed through the entry and on to Main Street. And this was our first photo of us and the castle as we entered that magical world for the very first time this trip.

It's not a great shot of any of us, the sun was in our eyes, "Stitch" didn't even want his picture taken and we were much too anxious to "get on with it" to smile nicely, but this picture is worthy of including for one purpose...it was taken on a Saturday afternoon at about 1:45PM...look at the lack of crowds!! We were really going to enjoy this vacation!!


To be continued...

 

[DisneyFan06]

Good start. Good pictures. But I must say you had my head spinning. Straight photo, sideways photo, upside down photo. Still awesome.

 

[Jaclyn810]

I cant wait to read more! Theres nothing like seeing that welcome sign after a long drive

 

[jaycns]

Good start. Good pictures. But I must say you had my head spinning. Straight photo, sideways photo, upside down photo. Still awesome.

Photobucket did me in...okay, I think I figured a way to fix them Now maybe you won't get vertigo while reading the report!!

 

[jaycns]

DAY 1- final installment...

As we turned and looked up at the castle I was just about in heaven! I was surrounded by those I love most. I was about to start an almost three week vacation. I was at the happiest place on earth...I think I may have floated for a few steps.

First order of business?? Just what the birthday boy ordered. We would make our way to Splash Mountain

Well...it was not just his idea to ride Splash on a hot Disney afternoon...nope, almost everyone else in the park must have had the same thought (come to think of it, maybe that is why Main Street looked so empty). So...we grabbed a fast pass and headed back over to Fantasyland and rode on Snow White. Don't ask me why (because I could not even venture a guess) but my boys are in love with that ride. Lucky for us, everyone else was as Splash so we just walked on to Snow White. After that, it was time to hit Pooh (under a 5 minute wait) and IASW.

Fast pass time...we headed back over to Splash and the first of many magical park happenings occurred. Instead of collecting our fast passes the CM told us to keep them and come right back around. She had overheard "Goofy" talking about how much loved the ride and that it was his very favorite. I don't think the fact that he was wearing a birthday button hurt either. She allowed us to do this twice.

THANK YOU CM at Splash, you made "Goofy's" birthday special!! It was fun to be able to look over while on Splash and see our resort.

After that bit of magic we went straight to PotC . The additions are awesome without detracting from the original ride. Capt. Jack looks so real! I had to look twice to make sure I wasn't looking at Johnny Depp. The movements of the figures and the lifelikeness is just amazing! I really like new the "water" effect at the start of the ride. It sure had me fooled!

After riding on PotC we saw Aladdin, Jasmine and Genie out. Dh and the two youngest were taking a potty break...but our "Aladdin" stopped for a visit with his favorite character! When our "Aladdin" saw them his eyes bugged out. Aladdin and Genie are real life heroes to him! When our "Aladdin" told the "real" Aladdin that he was his favorite Disney character and his favorite hero, he gifted our young "Aladdin" with a jewel (it may have been plastic but it was priceless to our son) and told him to protect this treasure. It was a great moment for me as a mom, to watch my son (who may not be game for this type of thing very much longer) interact on such a gleeful level with his favorite characters.

Next up? The Haunted Mansion. Another oldie but a goodie. The boys love the part where the ghost follows you home. We always try and guess which ghost we will get. To date I think we are about 50% correct with our guesses. Not too shabby!!

A ride with the friendly ghosts left us hungry so we walked over to Pinocchio's Village Haus (thanks DIS boards for that great tip). This is our new family favorite cs place. Fries-yum. Pizza-yum yum. Shakes-yum yum yum. And it was not on the menu, but upon asking we were allowed to get a pizza (no side included) as a kid's meal entrée choice. What kid goes into a pizza place and asks for peanut butter and jelly? NOT my kids (and if I had to venture a guess, not many others either)!! The cups the shakes came in make good cups for the kids to use for dinner at home. Plastic, not too big... not too small. They are just right! The amount of food available on the dining plan is crazy!! I had fries, a personal cheese pizza (it filled up a plate), a large iced tea and a chocolate shake...all of this food took only 1 cs credit!!

It was here in the Village Haus that we encountered the CM that made it to the "highlights of the trip" list. He was a busboy at the Village Haus and he was wearing a pin lanyard. My boys all went to trade with him and he took a long time chatting with them. Then while we were waiting for our food (we took a seat and took a load off while dh waited in line) he came back over and visited with the boys again. A bit later on, he walked slowly past our table and minutes later returned with a piece of chocolate cake for "Goofy's" birthday!! What an amazing cast member!! He then spent another few minutes with our family, asking about our hometown, sharing Disney tips and really just making us feel special! He even had my dh answering Disney trivia questions (a small miracle, trust me). He was amazing!!

Here is a photo of our birthday boy with this very special cast member:

As we were walking out he told us about a hidden Mickey on the walls near the side door. Here it is:

After our dinner we went to Mickey's Philharmagic. This is one show I doubt we will ever grow tired of. It's funny and still amazes us each time we see it. Also, I love the scents they release during the "Be Our Guest" segment.

We then had just enough time to use our earlier fast pass for Peter Pan before it was time to line up for SpectroMagic. By the time we got in line, "Stitch" was fast asleep. We felt bad that he would miss the parade (which was to begin in about 5 minutes). We watched the parade near the start of Main Street (on the castle end). This was a great viewing spot but I can (and do) not even want to consider what it would have been like to watch the parade from this spot at any other time of the year! We had nice neighbors during the parade...which was a very good thing. We got to know them...up close and personal. Although the crowd was not thick at the start of the parade...by the end we were close enough to our neighbors (you know the squeeze people start to apply as they try and worm closer and fill in all of the gaps like sand around pebbles?) to be able to confirm that they were wearing deodorant!!

We woke "Stitch" just as the lights and music started to roll by. The look on his face was priceless...he was flat out, open mouthed, wide eyed amazed!! Come to think of it, so were the rest of us. Here are a few (of the many) pictures I took of the parade.

Upon the conclusion of Spectro we high tailed it out of the park without waiting to see the fireworks. It had already been a VERY long day and we still had one surprise we had arranged for the birthday boy waiting back at our hotel room.

One short walk later we were back at the Contemp. The walkway that runs between MK and the CR is great. Short, almost always deserted (why don't more people use this?). The walk back was faster then walking up the monorail ramp and waiting only 5 minutes for a ride back. Along this path we saw frogs and lizards. A highlight for three little boys who think of all things green and wild as friends they just haven't met yet.

We stopped in the food court and bought refillable mugs. Mugs filled, we took the inner courtyard short cut to our room and opened our door to the last surprise of the birthday boy's day...we had arranged for a cake to be delivered to the room while we were out. Upon our return we found the delicious cake waiting for us. It was a marble cake with a very tasty vanilla frosting, white icing roses and "Happy Birthday Goofy" written in melted chocolate across the top! The cake was only $20 but half of it was left over after we gorged ourselves!

While we were cutting the cake we heard the electrical water pageant sail up...to our delight we had only to open the door sized window of our room and the parade was "right there". We sat happily with the lights down low, eating delicious birthday cake. Our three boys were lined up on the floor watching the parade with huge smiles and birthday cake all over their faces! It was one of those moments in time that a parent will never forget. No matter how many years pass and what happens in life I will never forget the night my three boys sat there watching the light parade and eating birthday cake illuminated by the reflected parade light on the lagoon.
Here are the boys watching the parade.

After the parade moved past I logged on and did a bit of DISing. I had to share the special moment with all of my friends on the Mad Chatter's thread. While I was doing that, the boys played around a bit more. Here is a photo of "Stitch" with my favorite light in the room behind him. It is built into the television wall unit. So pretty!

Just before I was ready to crawl into bed I saw the message light blinking on our phone..."Stitch" had won the Artist of the Day Contest in the food court. His picture would be framed and displayed all day long in the food court area and he could stop down and pick up his magical moments certificate. That little boy had a grin from ear to ear!! I was so happy for him!!

This was the perfect way to start a Disney vacation. As the room faded to silence and everyone was snugly tucked in for the night I spent a few minutes being thankful for my family and the Disney vacation I was only then starting to experience!

Best Moments of the Day: -Our interaction with the busboy at Pinocchio's Village Haus. -Watching our "Aladdin" get a jewel from his hero, the "real" Aladdin. -"Stitch" being named the Artist of the Day. -Finally arriving at WDW after the horrible night we had before. -Seeing the Contemporary from on top of Splash Mountain (and getting to use our Fast Passes for three rides instead of one). Watching "Stitch" and the other boys watch SpectroMagic. **Watching the electrical light parade from our resort room while eating birthday cake...this memory tops not only the day but easily the year. It was pure magic for our family.**

Worst Moment of the Day: EVERYTHING that took place from midnight until 2:30AM at the roach motel. ISH!

 

[MouseTriper]

I am really enjoying your trip report, can't wait to hear what happens next. Oh and your boys are adorable!!

 

[Cass]

A great afternoon at the MK, cast members making your day magical, a beautiful room with cake and a view of the water parade? You have come a LONG way from the horrors of that bug-motel!

What a wonderful first day at WDW, I can't wait to read more.

 

[jaycns]

Wow, great beginning! I feel like I'm there with you.....................but I'm glad I wasn't..........those bugs would've sent me flyin'.........anything with more than 4 legs is just no friend of mine!

Your son looks so happy..........those HUGE eyes!

Can't wait for the rest, and thanks for putting pictures with it!

Those bugs surely were NOT friends of mine!! In fact, every one that came near enough is now in bug heaven (no guilt on my part at all).

I have camped in the rain forest and not been as grossed out as I was at this hotel (maybe due to the fact that I was in their home so it was okay that bugs were there).

Thanks for reading the trip report!

 

[jaycns]

I am really enjoying your trip report, can't wait to hear what happens next. Oh and your boys are adorable!!

I am glad you are enjoying the report.

Thank you kindly for your sweet comment about the boys...we are sort of partial to them ourselves. I must admit, I think they are now trained to stop and smile every time they see me put the camera to my face. That tells you how many (way too many) pictures I took!!

 

[mom2taylorandemily]

Jay, you are only into day 1 and I already have tears in my eyes as I read your report. I am vicariously living and anticipating the same reactions in my girls thru you until I can go. What a great report!!!!! I am loving every minute of it.

 

[cyjmhill]

Jay,

What a wonderful report! Those rooms are great and the view is awesome! Thanks for sharing your photos of the room!

You have a great looking family!

I can't believe you have started you TR already - I guess I better finish mine.

Thanks again!!!


PS - I stayed in room 6314 I had the same view as you did and we loved watching the water parade too!

 

[bekkiz]

The picture of your boys watching the water parade made me tear up! I love when families get to have such magical times together!

 

[crashbb]

It sounds like you had a magical day (well, if we assume that the day started at 2:31am). I hope that the rest of your trip was just as magical.

 

[chip91]

Great tr so far! Can't wait to read more, and your first day alone makes me want to save enough till we can afford to stay at the CR!!!


Thanks for sharing, keep em' coming!

Chip

 

[MouseTriper]

Where is day two?? Hahahaha...can't wait to hear more!!!

 

[jaycns]

Day 2- 9/17 Animal Kingdom

Morning couldn't come soon enough for me. I was still running on the "start of vacation" high that I always seem to get upon arrival at WDW. Every few minutes (or so it seemed) I found myself awake and starring at the clock and willing it to be morning.

Be that as it may, it was no surprise when I found myself awake and watching the sunrise. I am so happy I remembered to shot a few (or a few too many depending on your point of view...thank goodness for digital cameras) shots of the sunrise looking out from our room. Here are a few of my favorite images.
The crack of dawn:

Just creeping over the trees:

Ahh...look at that sunrise. I wish I could start every single day with a view like that!! And you know what...while at Disney, I can!!

What a sight for morning hungry eyes! Okay, enough with taking sunrise photos, it was time to wake my sleeping sweets and start our day dining with a duck!

All neat and clean, we got on with the show. We loaded up in the van and made our way to AK. Our arrival time? Why 7:50AM of course. We had an 8:00AM ADR at Donald's Breakfastasaurus. As far as breakfast buffets go, this one is good...but nothing I would do "just for the food". In fact, our two youngest boys chose to dine on Frosted Flakes with milk and donuts (hey, it's vacation, the sugar high would be useful in walking through the park ). "Aladdin", dh and myself opted for the hot items. Dh and "Aladdin" swear by the scrambled eggs. I myself like the hash browns and the sausage. Again, would I routinely drag my family out of bed for this menu? NO...but the "hosts" (aka Donald and the gang) made it all worthwhile!

Upon entering the restaurant our server noticed "Goofy's" birthday hat pin (not an official birthday button, but one he had traded for the day before on his real birthday) and he asked him about it and told him to stop by guest relations and get a pin. "Goofy" explained that his birthday was really yesterday...but the server told him nonsense, this was a birthday trip and you need the button. We were just going to let it slide (we didn't want to take advantage of the button and take away from the "specialness" of people wearing them on their actual birthday) but our server came up with a birthday button somehow, pinned it on "Goofy's" shirt and loudly asked the entire place to help him celebrate his birthday trip and had them sing happy birthday to him. The server also brought a card signed by the characters present at breakfast...this is one of "Goofy's" prize possessions! He loves this card and keeps it in a treasure box under his bed.

And then came "The Donald" himself...

Tummies full and lips upturned we headed out the door and made our way into Dinoland. WHAT YOU DIDN'T RUN FOR EVEREST??!! Nope, we didn't make that mad dash. You see, the park was E-M-P-T-Y, I was confident that we would be able to secure fast passes and my boys love Dinoland...

"Aladdin" and I rode on Primeval Whirl three times in a row (maybe not the smartest move right after a large meal, but nobody actually got sick and we really enjoyed it). While we did that the younger boys and dh (remember his middle name is motion sick...he doesn't do anything that spins...Dumbo would be the death of him) went over and played a few carnival games.

Next the boys and I rode on the "Dumbo Dinos" as our family likes to call Triceratops Spin. We rode with only two other dinosaurs filled! Talk about an empty park. I was actually starting to feel sorry for Disney....nah...not really, but the thought did cross my mind that is must be expensive for them to run the theme park just for us . Upon exiting the Dumbo Dinos we saw Chip. Somewhere between home and WDW our littlest one had become a die hard Chip fan. When he saw him his little face lit up and he grabbed my hand and pulled us over in his direction. Lucky for him not a soul was visiting Chip. As you can see from the picture Dinoland was really empty.

After about 10 minutes alone with Chip it was on to Dinosaur for "Aladdin" and I (again that pesky motion sickness kept dh off the ride). Since they had some time to kill dh and the younger boys got up close and personal with the resident dinosaurs scattered about the area. On one of them "Stitch" just happened to come across another hidden Mickey. As you can see, he is VERY proud of his find!!

On our way over to the Asia area of the park (Everest and KRR here we come!!). The boys stopped a CM (he looked like an office CM as he was in a button down and khakis) and they pin traded with him. They did a bit of talking with him during the pin trading and by the end of the encounter he had given our family a fast pass good for priority entrance into the attraction of our choice. Just another example of Disney magic being sprinkled about...more then the rides, the food, the characters and the resorts (although all of those are great)...it's the little things that really make Disney dear to my heart. A CM taking time out of a busy day to share a little bit of extra magic with a family they have only just met...that is something that puts Disney in a league of it's own and keeps our family coming back time after time!!

Amazing yet true...the standby wait for EE was only 20 minutes...but we figured, why wait. We grabbed a set of fast passes from the machine and headed over to KRR (we didn't want to waste our "magic fast pass" quite yet. We all love this ride. It is one of both "Stitch" and "Goofy"'s favorite rides in any park.

Kali was an under five minute wait! A hot afternoon and we were almost walking on to Kali! Now that there folks is more than magic! To take the following picture we had to stop ourselves from going full speed ahead (and we were only passed by one other party while taking it).

It was now time to use our EE fast passes...our two youngest sons chickened out of riding it so dh took them back and they did Kali another time. In the time it took them to walk back to Kali and ride it once. "Aladdin" and I used two sets of fast passes and rode EE twice in a row. AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME RIDE!! The yeti was great. The backward spiral was out of this world fun. It was smooth. It was fast. It was exciting. It was two tons of fun!! I am a coaster chicken. Yep, I won't ride the Rock and Roll Roller Coaster. ToT...nope, not for me. I even had to think long and hard about BTMRR...seriously, that chicken you make fun of? It's me! As I pulled my lap bar down on EE for the first time, I thought to myself "we are going to die", I said a prayer and just as I was about to wave to an attendant to get us off of that death trap, the ride started...WHEW, am I ever glad I took too long to chicken out! It was a GREAT ride!

When dh and the boys returned dh used the last fast pass (we had five total with five in our party but we had already used four of them) and took a solo expedition. He liked it a lot. But being as his middle name is motion sick (did I mention that yet?! ) it was a once a day at most kind of ride for him.

What should happen to be strolling along the pathways of Asia besides DEVINE herself? "Stitch" was the first to spot Devine this time (the boy has the vision of an eagle). Not only were we lucky enough to see her but she graced us with her presence in our picture!!

TO BE CONTINUED...

 

[jaycns]

Next stop? Africa!! All of a sudden we heard music start and saw men laying out mats so we figured we should grab a seat at a table in the shade. That done, we purchased a few drinks and settled in for a show that was over all too quickly! AMAZING would be an understated way of putting it! They could bend, jump, hop, twist, roll and flip in ways I have never seen a human body move before! It was a very fast and high energy act.

After the show "Aladdin" went over and had a nice chat with the guys. They were pretty nice to him and even answered all of his questions!!

Next up? All three boys stopped and made masks. Without any other children at the table, the woman working it took the time to visit with the boys. They enjoyed hearing about her home in Africa. Here is "Goofy" holding up his mask.

It was just about this time that we started to feel the need to either stop for some food or turn into animals ourselves. We chose The Tusker House for some great chicken!! . We had a delicious meal and the air conditioning felt wonderful!

It was now time to embark on our safari adventure. In this case, the pictures are worth a thousand words.

After the safari we wanted to see the Festival of the Lion King. So we took a stroll way over to Camp Minnie Mickey. Once there we figured we might as well see if they had priority entrance to the show (we hadn't needed the pass on any of the rides due to the low crowds). Well, they did. Not only did they, but we could use our pass for it. As if that wasn't awesome enough, we did not have to line up for the show. Instead, we were to be back five minutes before they started seating people. So, we scurried off to take a few pictures with the characters in the meet and greet area. After a flurry of hugs and camera flashes we walked back over to FotLK and waited just two minutes before we were escorted into the empty theater. We were given the very front bench (right in front of the disabled seating area). WOWSERS...this was close. My neck was a bit stiff (you had to look up a whole lot) by the end of the show, but the view was well worth it!! It was also well worth it to have "Stitch" and "Goofy" both chosen to join in the show! It was so cute!! However, it was just about that time that my camera battery died. I did have a back up...but by the time it was dug out of my pack, inserted in the camera and the camera turned back on I had missed the shots But that's okay...because we had a great show to watch! Of course I did get one good shot from the show...and fittingly, it was of the lion king himself....Simba!

After FotLK we were feeling pretty tired and the pool slide at the Contemp. was calling our names.

On our way out of the park we stopped and visited with Flik and his six legged friends in honor of those we had so recently spent the night with. Thankfully the bugs in the show had no interest in tagging a ride back to our resort room.


TO BE CONTINUED...