A December to Remember w/TONS OF PICS!!!

[joelp]

Great parade pictures!!

Especially the parts I missed ("Daddy - I gotta go potty!!)

I think I know the spot where you were standing - I noticed that location when walking around the MK ... We were just down the road, in front of LTT ...

Waiting for more ...

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Great parade pictures!!

Especially the parts I missed ("Daddy - I gotta go potty!!)

I think I know the spot where you were standing - I noticed that location when walking around the MK ... We were just down the road, in front of LTT ...

Waiting for more ...

Thanks!

More is coming soon.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

I have been so busy and then we've been waiting for our Photopass Pics to come, so I could use those, too. So, stay tuned. Much, much, much more to come!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Okay. . .I'm back. Our Photopass pics arrived, and then I got crazy busy AGAIN, and then, lo and behold. . .I got sick. I have been out of work all week, but I'm improving. As I've been resting and healing, I have often wanted to update my TR, but just didn't have the energy.

So, what's the amazing news?!?!

I hadn't planned to bring this up till later in the TR, but on January 1st, while we were still in WDW, my dear, sweet, loving DH booked our next trip!!! He did it while I was getting ready that morning, and with a big smile on his face, he told me that he had booked it. I was so excited.

Since this year is "The Year of Celebrations," my DH figured that we would go in late July this year. We can't go during either of our birthdays, but going in July will be exactly two months after his b-day and two months before mine. Also, this is our 10th anniversary year. Though it won't technically arrive till December, we didn't want to go back in December just yet. So, we're going to celebrate each of our birthdays and our 10th anniversary.

With so much to celebrate, my DH wanted this to be an over the top type of celebration, so he booked us a room at the Grand Floridian!!! I was beyond excited. We love that resort and have only dreamed about going, but now it was going to be reality.

Okay, the amazing news part. . .Yesterday, my DH decided to check out the cost of Spirit's flights for the dates of our trip, and we are so glad he did! He was able to purchase our tickets for just over $200 total!!! We haven't seen prices that low since who knows when! We decided to go for it, and buy the tickets, rather than wait like we normally do. Wouldn't you know it, just an hour later, the flight prices had already gone up. So, we consider this a major blessing. Then, my DH decided to look at the deal for the three free days when you purchase four days, to see if our dates would apply. Yup! They do!!! So, he called up Disney to get it applied to our trip. Not only did we save over $1350 on our trip, but he was able to upgrade us to a MK view room!!! Even the cast member on the phone was excited for us. We are simply amazed at how much less this dream trip is going to cost us. With economic times being what they are, every little bit helps.

Now, I can go back to our December trip and try to pick up where I left off. . .

 

[dogodisney]

I am so excited for you!
Good DH you have. This trip must be meant to happen since everything is falling into place for you.

 

[scottny]

Hi,
Just found your tr today. I like the way your re-telling it.

The pics are amazing.

That is great about your next trip.

Looking forward to more.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Yay, congrats on your upcoming trip! That is very exciting.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

I am so excited for you!
Good DH you have. This trip must be meant to happen since everything is falling into place for you.

That's what we figure, too!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Hi,
Just found your tr today. I like the way your re-telling it.

The pics are amazing.

That is great about your next trip.

Looking forward to more.

Welcome!!! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Stay tuned. I'm about to post some more.

Yay, congrats on your upcoming trip! That is very exciting.

Thanks! We're very excited and can't wait for the trip to get here.

 

[njdisneyfreak]

By this point, I was hoping to have another installment of our trip done, but I had some technical difficulties uploading my Photopass pics to the website I use. Now that all of those pics are downloaded, I'll figure out what the next installment will be. We have a Nor'easter heading this way, so chances are I won't have work tomorrow, which will give me plenty of time for updates. I can't believe how many pics we have! Thanks for hanging in there with me. . .it will be worth the wait!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

So, we wanted to start our day at the AK, at the updated character breakfast, they now have at Tusker House. We loved it! We had been at the old Donald's Breakfastaurous, and it was okay. This change was great!

Right away, you get a photograph taken outside the restaurant. What we liked about it was that it wasn't a traditional character pic. It was an African themed setting and it was done outdoors! Though I don't have it to show (since they didn't use photopass or personal cameras for it), you'll have trust me when I say that it is one of our favorite pictures from the trip.

Onto the restaurant. . .the theming is amazing. You truly feel like you're in an African marketplace. I'll admit that I've never been to Africa, but it really seemed authentic. The rooms where you are taken to eat are not too large, so it's a cozy feel, without feeling crowded. When getting food, I liked how all the stations were well laid out and easy to maneuver. The food was excellent, but even better than all of this were the characters!

We have eaten at almost all the character meals on our various trips. However, this was the most well organized movement of characters from table to table, and for traditional characters, we were amazed that they didn't have CPs helping them, and they took their time. It was also the only place where every character made sure to ask fellow guests if they would take our pics, so we could both be in the pictures together. Since it is just the two of us, this meant a lot to us!

Okay, enough with the describing. Here are some of the pics:

So you can see a bit of the great decor, I took some pics of stuff in the room where we ate. Here was the wall behind our table:

This next pic is one of my favorites. It was a large board with words from African with their English translations. I thought this was great, because you can learn while you enjoy the look of the place, but I also noticed the last name of a friend of ours on the board who is from Africa, and I was able to come back and tell him that I knew what his name meant!

This was a great start to our AK day. Little did we know what great surprises would be in store for us! I'll give you a little clue. . .the Year of a Million Dreams people gave us an unforgettable experience that day. . .

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Read your last TR and I'm back! Great start. I'm so excited for you that you are staying at GF...and saving so much money doing it

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Read your last TR and I'm back! Great start. I'm so excited for you that you are staying at GF...and saving so much money doing it

Welcome back! It's always great to see old Dis pals.

Who knew you could book a Deluxe resort and save money?

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Once we finished eating breakfast, we headed straight to Kilamanjaro Safari. to see what we had come to the AK to see: The Animals! (oh, sure. . .we went to see Mickey and friends, too, but that'll come later)

We didn't know if it was the lovely temps, the early hour or a combination of those factors, but we saw a ton of animals. We took as many pics as we could. Join me as I take you along on our tour of the animals in the Animal Kingdom, Kilamanjaro style. . .JAMBA EVERYBODY!

Well, our welcoming committee wasn't overly cordial to us. Maybe he wasn't a morning rhino:

Okay, so maybe we’ll have better luck with the next crew. These feathered friends definitely gave us a better view of themselves, but didn’t bother to wake up for our visit:

These hippos, I believe, were talking in their sleep! (or maybe they were warning us not to get to close. . .we didn’t stick around to find out)

We definitely remembered that we were still in Florida, when we saw these guys:

Now, the giraffes were definitely into the whole safari experience. They liked to socialize. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pics when they were at their closest proximity to us, since we were amazed by it all, but here are some of the ones we did get:

Then, it was CHOW TIME!

Thankfully, we didn’t get a close up of these long horns:

Then, just in time for visitors, this elephant came out to greet us:

Okay, now these rhinos were friendlier than the first one we met, but we didn’t realize how friendly they would become. Some of them got so close that our tour guide actually got nervous!

Then, the pride of all the animal kingdom, the lion himself watching over it all:

Here are some shots of the lovely gazelles:

Next, we moved on to Camp Minnie Mickey, which ended with a great surprise!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

All caught up!

How cool to have the Segway Tour be just the two of you?? That is awesome! It looks so fun, too!

You did get some great parade photos. I will definitely keep that spot in mind next time I am scouting something out. And since funnel cake from Sleepy Hollow is also on my list it may be a win-win!

Congratulations on booking your next trip!! It most definitely sounds like a dream come true. What a deal! And a MK view?

AK looked like fun!!

Looking forward to more!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

All caught up!

How cool to have the Segway Tour be just the two of you?? That is awesome! It looks so fun, too!

You did get some great parade photos. I will definitely keep that spot in mind next time I am scouting something out. And since funnel cake from Sleepy Hollow is also on my list it may be a win-win!

Congratulations on booking your next trip!! It most definitely sounds like a dream come true. What a deal! And a MK view?

AK looked like fun!!

Looking forward to more!

I'm glad you were able to catch up, and here I was concerned that I wasn't posting often enough!

If you ever get a chance to do the Segway Tour, do it! So much fun!

That's definitely a great parade spot for many reasons. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Wait till you hear more about our AK trip. . .

 

[njdisneyfreak]

Before I explain the title of this posting any further, I'll explain how we reached that point in the journey. We were heading towards Camp Minnie Mickey, to get some pics with the true stars of Disney, no matter which park you're in, when we came upon Flik, from "A Bug's Life"!

A good way to start this leg of the journey. Then, we came across Pocohantas and Meeko, who we've never gotten pics with on any of our trips, because we never see them:

These shots are a must, each time I come here. They're tradition:

Then, the ones we had come here for:

Mickey was showing how he brings couples together!!!

Meeting Donald was hilarious, because of his reaction to my DH's Mickey t-shirt. Check it out:

Then, he was trying to move me away from my DH:

He liked my t-shirt, of course! It was Donald!!!

Finally, we got a shot with all three of us:

Of course, we got our pic taken with Minnie Mouse!

After we met with the fab four, my DH noticed a few people who looked like the YOAMD cast members. We were planning on verifying the time of the AK Christmas parade, so he figured, why not ask them? Well. . . wouldn't you know it, the lady who we asked noticed our anniversary buttons and began chatting with us. Then, she not only told us the time of the parade, but said that we were in luck, because she wanted us to be her special YOAMD VIPs for the parade viewing! I was so excited, that I actually began tearing up. I know. I'm corny. She was so happy that I was that excited.

For the rest of our day at the AK, until we arrived at the location where we were supposed to meet her at, I was on cloud nine. I truly couldn't stop grinning!

I will share more about what our experience was like during the parade, but there was more AK fun beforehand.

We stopped to get pics with some of our other Disney pals:

Even over at Dinoland, we got a surprise character meet and greet, and found both Pluto and Goofy, posing together!

There's much more to share about our day here, and of course the parade, but I need to break this up a bit. . .so hang in there. . .you won't believe the rest of this day!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Oh I would have teared up too...how exciting!

 

[njdisneyfreak]

After our pics with the various characters, we headed over to see the Lion King show which we hadn't seen in years. We were excited.

I tried taking pics inside, but it was too difficult. This is the only decent one I got:

But, our day just kept getting better and better, because we were directed to the best seats! We were in the front row, right in front of all the major parts of the show. We could not have picked better seats. Different cast members, in the show, would smile at us or pat our heads (those were from people on stilts). . .it was a fantastic experience.

Then, we began walking towards the Rainforest Cafe for lunch, and without even know it, we ended up with a great view of Devine! If you've never seen her before, she's a lady, who is dressed to look like the vines, and she blends in with wherever she is. . .absolutely amazing! I have never seen anything like her before. She truly looked like a part of nature, and boy was she flexible!

If you have never seen her before, I hope you get the opportunity. It was hard to walk away, but we were hungry. But, we did take a great pic of these parrots:

After lunch, we headed back through the main entrance of the park. That's where we got this shot taken:

Then, we went on to do something we've always wanted to do. . .go over to the Tree of Life and get close-ups of the animals carved all over it. Before I show you the pics we took, I have to share that we were in awe over the artistry involved in all these carvings. We know that there had to be hundreds if not thousands more carvings that we could never get pics of, due to the enormity of the tree and the inaccessibility to much of it.

Here we go:

Many more tree pics on next post. . .

 

[princess&her4princes]

WOW, that's wonderful, you met up with YOMD team and got special treatment, how exciting!! Can't wait to hear some more!!