A grand adventure of a lifetime! May 2014 ( THE FINAL)

Great update! As per usual. I think my favorite is the one of your son 'protecting' his grandmother... precious!

Sometimes, when you follow all the 'rules' you are surprised by the lack of lines and how easy everything seems and wonder what all the hype is about. Well, all I can say is I bet that if you hadn't hustled to the Safari, there would have been a line and even the giraffes would have been sleeping ;)

Looking forward to more!
 
Great update! As per usual. I think my favorite is the one of your son 'protecting' his grandmother... precious!

Sometimes, when you follow all the 'rules' you are surprised by the lack of lines and how easy everything seems and wonder what all the hype is about. Well, all I can say is I bet that if you hadn't hustled to the Safari, there would have been a line and even the giraffes would have been sleeping ;)

Looking forward to more!

That picture to me is priceless! Mom and Noah certainly have a special bond!


We could not complain about getting on the ride right away at all. It really helped keep the relaxed feeling which helped the hubby. For that reason alone I think it was worth getting there early. I have a feeling you would be right about if we didn't hurry LOL!!!
 
Nice update - and even though you felt rushed definitely for the best that you went there first ... always tough to balance wanting to take it in yet get to where you are heading and ensure you minimize lines.
 
Nice update - and even though you felt rushed definitely for the best that you went there first ... always tough to balance wanting to take it in yet get to where you are heading and ensure you minimize lines.

That is why it would have been great to have an extra day or at least half a day
;)
 

I'm so glad that Bill decided to join you guys for Animal Kingdom rope drop. It's good that you figured out that it was best to get away from the crowds a bit while waiting for the park to open. Now, you'll know for next trip what works best for your group.

That picture of Noah and your mother is so sweet!
 
I'm so glad that Bill decided to join you guys for Animal Kingdom rope drop. It's good that you figured out that it was best to get away from the crowds a bit while waiting for the park to open. Now, you'll know for next trip what works best for your group.

That picture of Noah and your mother is so sweet!


Oh yes I would say this trip was trial and error. Over all I would say I would do things just as we did them but adjust a little to make it easier on Bill. The family and I can not wait to make an attempt at it again for another trip;)
 
So we were off to see the Wizzard the Wonderful Wizard of OZ. Ok so not quite but we did head towards the Pangami Forest Trail. Although it was not a yellow brick road it was fun all the same.

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The first thing we came accross was this enormous ant hill. WOW I would hate to mess with those ants!!!
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I took notice to all the beautifull flowers throughout the trail.
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The waterfalls were just gorgeous!
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Alex enjoyed leading the way to the wild life.
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The African fish were up first.
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This is also were we saw some really pretty birds.
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I feel in love with these little guys.
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Up next would be the Gorilla exhibit.
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Well hi there hansome!
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There is nothing better than a mid morning nap!
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We had reached the end of the trail.
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Everyone was looking forward to something different. I was looking forward to lunch at Flame Tree Barbeque YUM! Mom was looking forward to taking the boys to It's a Bugs Life and the Tree of Life. Bill and my father were looking forward to being able to sit and relax in air conditioning while watching the Finding Nemo Musical. The boys were really looking forward to the out door bird show.
It was turning out to be a great day and we were excited to explore the rest of the park!
 
The trails are so fun and a good change of pace since to get to go at your own pace

Glad everyone seems to be enjoying the day!
 
I can't believe how fast time has gone by. I thought I would have been able to write a blog every 2 days or so but with a family of 6 it seems I just could not find the time. Can you believe we have been gone for 21 weeks or 153 days. We are now down to just 2 days left in +Australia Queensland and an additional 6 days in Fiji. We arrive back home the morning of July 7th, 2013. 8 days left before we step foot back onto Vancouver Island and we get back into the routine that is life.
 
The trails are so fun and a good change of pace since to get to go at your own pace

Glad everyone seems to be enjoying the day!

Oh yes I would have to agree. It was a a huge change of pace from Magic Kingdom.
 
I can't believe how fast time has gone by. I thought I would have been able to write a blog every 2 days or so but with a family of 6 it seems I just could not find the time. Can you believe we have been gone for 21 weeks or 153 days. We are now down to just 2 days left in +Australia Queensland and an additional 6 days in Fiji. We arrive back home the morning of July 7th, 2013. 8 days left before we step foot back onto Vancouver Island and we get back into the routine that is life.

Not sure if you meant to post here but I have to say your trip sounds amazing!
 
As we completed our visit to Africa we came accross Mombasa Maket Place. I just loved this area! Everything looked ao cool! I would have loved to spend more time listening to the performers in the center of what Disney made look like a town in Africa. The cobble stone wall of this building seemed to be a great spot for a picture and of course I had no problems getting my model.
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I found this outdoor seating area to be filled with charm and beauty,
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Discovery Island was our next stop. I could not wait to see the boys response to a Bug's Life.
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Along the way we pointed out the carvings from the tree of life. I remember it to be amazing but the boys seemed to more intrested in getting to the show.
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Bill had the camera at this point and boy now I am really sorry I did not take more pictures in this park. I did manage to find this shot online which will give you an idea of the detail that is involved in the exibit.
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The boys really liked it's a Bugs Life. I wish I would have taken a picture of Alex's face as they asked the ants to leave and you felt them crawling in your seat. He really enjoyed himself and got the giggles when then that happened. Of course the older boys thought the stink bug was the star of the show.

Once the show was over I headed right to the photographer at Tree Of Life. It was something I felt we just had to do although mom and dad choose to sit this one out. Unfortunitly it took several shots and this was the best of the bunch.
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After having our picture taken it began to dawn on me that it was getting pretty warm and the everyone was ready for a break. This would be a perfect time to grab some ice cream and sit and relax a bit.
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While the gang was resting I found this very intresting tile work. Can anyone guess where I found it?
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While they were still taking a break I found this beautiful lush foliage to occupy my time.
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Alex found his own entertainment
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Looking at the time I knew we would have to think about stoping for lunch and since we were close to Flame Tree Barbacue it would be perfect timing. Unfortunitly I did not think to take pictures of many signs on our trip or all the food we ate so I have to depend on photos I found online. Note to self; pictures of signs and food for next trip report.
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This pretty much shows you what everyone in our group choose to eat. YUM!
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We even had some entertainment while we dinned.
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I could not help but notice how pretty the grounds were around the restraunt. It really made dining here enjoyable. Here are some flowers I noticed
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After lunch our group headed to Asia in hopes to hike another trail before we headed to the 1:00pm Flight of Wonder Bird Show. Along the way I found a photo op.
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Now I had every intention on taking the group on another hike but I was to find out that Noah would make other plans. Not having girls I really thought we would be in the clear of meets and greets other than the Popular Frozen characters . Wow was I wrong! Noah caught a glimpse of Louie one of the Jungle Book Characters and within seconds we were in line to meet him. Plans would have to change and we would need to be flexible . Getting everything in just was not going to happen but I was confident we still would have a great time!
 
Love the Animal Kingdom updates! I see you have discovered the same thing I discovered a few years ago... Plan plan plan to the last detail and then when the actual trip arrives just be flexible! Family fun comes first! I never paid attention to the flowers or foliage much before in Animal Kingdom, but after seeing your photos I am sure that I will be next time I go. :D Thanks again!
 
Love the Animal Kingdom updates! I see you have discovered the same thing I discovered a few years ago... Plan plan plan to the last detail and then when the actual trip arrives just be flexible! Family fun comes first! I never paid attention to the flowers or foliage much before in Animal Kingdom, but after seeing your photos I am sure that I will be next time I go. :D Thanks again!

Wow you are so right! The wonderful thing about putting the family first is it gives me great joy seeing how happy they are! In the upcoming update you will see for yourself the great joy that meet and great gave Noah.
 
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Every once in a while I really pay attention to the detail surrounding me. At least this time I found it intresting enough to take a picture as can be seen above. Can any one tell me where that picture was taken in the park?
Our plans were to head to Asia. We were intrested in tackling Maharajah Jungle Trek to see what it had to offer. But just in a blink of an eye that was all about to change. Just when you think you have everything planed out life throws a curve ball at you. While heading to Asia something had caught Noahs Attention. Off in the distance I caught a glimpse of what that might be. It was a orange furry figure and just like a bolt of lighning Noah was gone running as fast as he could to see Louie a character from Jungle book. Now this was not part of the plans. Having boys I really thought I was safe from the meets and greets except for the popular Frozen girls. With autograph book in hand Noah had obviously decided to prove me wrong so there was nothing left to do but join him. Now I have to say we had been very lucky to never have to wait in line very long for anything during our whole trip except for this meet and greet. It was getting warm and the line seemed to last forever. Was it worth it? Well I will have to let you decide by looking at our pictures. Oh and by the way have you come up with the answer to my picture above?
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Looking at my watch I realized that Maharajah Jungle Trek was not going to happen espcially since the boys wanted to see Flight of Wonder Bird Show. We had twenty minutes to get there so we still had a chance. Once we arrived I was surprised that we not only made it in time but we were able to snag seats pretty close to the front on the left hand side. All and all the show was some what entertaining but to the boys it was amazing!

Here is a picture of the side we sat on.
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The eagle was our favorite
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I just nearly caught an action shot of this bird
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The boys really likes the bird that kept stealing the flag but for the life of me I just could not capture it on camera. My timing was off on most of the shots I took including the ones of the runaway rats. Yes you heard me right RATS! Now that one gave me the willies.

Our FP+ for Kali River Rapids was now into a half and hour of the hour we were given so wasting no time we headed for the ride. I had planned this ride for our afternoon with the thought of it cooling us off a bit. I so wish I would have thought to take some pictures before the ride soI could have added them to my trip report. Once we were seated we were joined by two other people. So who do you think get Wet? As we headed for the current it was just a matter of time before we would find out who would suffer the waters fury. Now thinking to myself I just knew it was going to hit my husband and Alex. I had hoped for a water prof camera at that moment to capture the event. To my disapointment it ended up being the strangers whom had join us. I had so hoped it would have been some one in our family except me of course.

To give us time to dry before heading to our air conditioned 3:00 FP+ for the Finding Nemo Musical we headed to Dinoland Usa. The older boys decided that Primeval Whirl would be right up their alley

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We got in line while Alex went with Papa to Tricera Tops Spin wich seemed to him to be more his speed. I was once again pleased to find there was very little wait wait for the ride. Once we got on the ride there was no turning back but at this point Noah was having second thoughts. Since I once again had to hold him tight there was no chance of getting a quick picture but I did manage to find this one on Disney's Blog which gave the exact view that scared Noah.
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I am happy to say that Noah not only made it through the ride but both boys were ready to ride it again! I am not sure if it was because the stars were all aligned that day but the boys pretty much rode the ride back to back. Even Alex rode Tricera Tops Spin twice. I thought this guy was adorable!
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Even though the boys wanted to ride a third time I was able to convience them to head over to Dinosaur which was our next FP+ I only hoped that I was making the right decision. Once we got to Dinosaur we realized there would be no need to use our FP+. The lines were pretty close to walk on. After riding it I have to say there is no doubt in my mind I made the right decision. Those boys LOVED the ride! In fact it became their favorite ride ever!Now by our ride picture you would never know it was also Noah's favorite since we could not get him to look up however Noah was ready to ride it again and again! In fact we ended up riding it three times and no was ever able to get noah to look up! It even became a game to see who could get him to look up first.
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Mom choose to sit this one out.
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Having only 15 minutes to show time we headed over toThe Finding Nemo Musical. Since we were arriving so late I was glad we had the FP+. I was not sure what to expect but I was really looking forward to seeing it. I have to say this show did not disappoint. I thought it was AMAZING!!! The colors were so vibrant and the massive puppets was magical! At one point the puppets even made it out to the audience which completely added to the shows magic. Bubbles were blown from some device from the celling so at one point you were surrounded by irridescense all arround you. This was one of the best musicals I had ever seen! Since we did not score close enough seat that I could take pictures without the flash I was left finding these on line. I do however feel that they will give you the idea.
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Felling pretty good about our successful day we were all ready to eat and relax and what better place to do just that than Rainforest Cafe! The boys were really looking forward to eating here but I would be on a mission to get a photo op I saw when we first entered the park. Unfortunitly I would soon find out I missed my window of oppourtunity. With the Florida humidity getting a clear picture was impossible.
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This also happened when I was attempting to take a picture of the sign for Rain Forest Cafe. Such a shame especially since I remembered to take the picture in the first place! URGGGGGG!!!
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Once inside it did not take long to convience Noah to have his picture taken.
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He is such a ham!
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Now the one thing we noticed about table service is the relaxed atmosphere. If you are in a hurry table service not for you. While waiting what seemed like an eternity just to get our order in the boys became way too relaxed. That was it. Thay had reached their breaking point right there at the dinner table.
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I think I was way too huingry to take the time to snap a picture of what we ate but I did manage to get a picture of the most important stuff desert!
The adults order the volcano to share with the entire group.
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While each of the boys ordered what we use to call dirt desert.
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It was agreed upon by the group to head back to our resort for some R&R which was sooooo needed for our group. Every one chooses to relax in their own ways. The boys were ready to hit the pool and I was hoping to finally get a chance to explore the resort.
 
We had made it back to the resort and the boys alreaady had their swimming trucks on so it was the boys waiting on the adults to get ready. I can honestly say we could not get ready fast enough.

I had made a request when we first booked the resort to stay in Jamica in building 45 which was located near the bridge that lead to the pool. I was told how beautiful the area was and was looking forward to finding out for myself. Of course I brought my camera along. I really found our resort beautiful and really enjoyed the walk to the pool. For me that was relaxation at it finest. With it's beautifully colored buildings, it's lush follage, and it's beautiful white sand beaches CBR would prove itself to me and would become the tropical island resort I so wished for to share with my family.
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Walking in such a gorgeous setting was my relaxation. I was even tempted to go for a jog. For my parents it was peace quite time in their room. for the boys well it would playing hard pirate style. With all the hidden passage ways and cannons the boys were in pirate heaven.
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After seeing the pool with my own eyes I would have to rate CBR's pool the best on any Disney property and I do believe the boys would back me up on that one. That night at the pool would create an addiction for me. It would be the first time I tasted CBR's Lava smoothie but not the last. Tasting this drink was like heaven on earth. It was a pina coloda with puree strawberry mixture added to it. OMG!!! You have to try it!
Everyone was getting the relaxtion they needed and it would be nessarry if we wanted to get through tomorrow. Tomorrow would bring Star Wars Weekend and we planned on getting there 45minutes before rope drop. This would mean leaving our resort by 7:00am. This would be a day for the boys that they would never forget but would the Force be strong enough to protect Bill from the Dark Side?
 
Another great update!! Love, Love, Love the pictures of the resort and the boys at the pool! Was it as short a walk to the Pool from building 45 as people make it out to be?

I do hope that no one falls prey to the Dark Side on your next day!:goodvibes
 
The last few updates were so good! As I said before, it's great that Bill came along and enjoyed the day with you guys.

Oh, let me tell ya, even having all boys, you still need to work in a little character time. King Louis is a good character to visit with as it used to be a bit hard to find him.

In all of our trips to the Animal Kingdom, we have never seen the Flights of Wonder show. Even though you didn't capture the bird mid-flight, the pictures were still great.

Gosh, I know that I'm commenting all out of order but I'm trying to post on everything that I read. ;) I agree with you on the flowers in the park. They are all so pretty and the colors so vibrant.

Yay for enjoying the Nemo show! The puppets and performers are pretty cool. Having said that, it's not our favorite show and really missed that the Festival of the Lion King was closed during our last trip.

Awww, the boys had reached their limit by the time dinner rolled around. Table service meals can take a while especially if the restaurant is busy. Get the kids (and adults) sitting down and relaxing after a busy day and it can make for a bunch of sleepy folks.

But, the pools at the resort perked everybody up! As you well know, we are big fans of the CBR and think that it's the perfect resort for our family.
 
Another great update!! Love, Love, Love the pictures of the resort and the boys at the pool! Was it as short a walk to the Pool from building 45 as people make it out to be?

I do hope that no one falls prey to the Dark Side on your next day!:goodvibes

For us personally it was not only a short walk but a very beautiful walk as well.

Now I can not give any spoliers.LOL!!!
 














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