A Smile in my Heart–Magical Week of Friends,Fun & Freezing-10/28-COMPLETE!

[mom2mek]

I love its tough to be a bug. That was a very neat show. Aww maybe next time you guys can see more animals. At lest the tigers were out! i love the pic where they asked you guys to do your animal pose.

Yeah, as much as I don't like birds or bats, I was really hoping to catch a quick glimpse of them this trip. A VERY QUICK GLIMPSE!!!!

Great pictures of the kids and tigers. We only saw about 3 bats when we went the following week. I got great pictures of them during the heat of summer. Truth be told I'ld rather have great tiger pictures. Glad your family braved the bugs. I love that show, not the bugs but the reactions.

That's good that you were able to see a few of them. Did you hear if the CM said where they go during the cold spells? I keep picturing all the bats huddled around a little bonfire complaining about it being Florida and they shouldn't have to put up with this coldness!! The tigers were great though and the kids really enjoyed watching them for a while.

The kids all look so cute in their matching shirts! Glad to hear that noone in your group was scared of ITTBAB. Those tigers look like they were a lot of fun to watch!

Thanks Kayce! Yeah, no one seemed to mind the bug show too much but I wouldn't say it was a BIG hit as in they were dying to go do it again or anything like that! LOVED the tigers!!

A couple of great updates, Sara! (slow dowwwwn!)

Love the Cougar Mom shot!

Sare! I know! I'm on a roll with my updates! What's wrong with me? I need to drag this out until I have another trip to plan....and I have no idea when that will be!

Sara:

Love the cougar shot! And the matching t-shirts are adorable!

I actually like the bug show but boy I hate it when they feel like they are crawling under you! I scream every time.

Look forward to the next udpate!

Erika

That was creepy Erika! The kids liked that part! Me? Not so much.

The kids looked so cute in their matching shirts - it was a shame they were almost always covered up with jackets though! We should have made them matching jackets instead!

Great update and great photos.... I always love the "bug eyes" pictures that people take. It's tough to be a bug is one of my favorite attractions but of course it scares the poo-poo out of DD. I don't know why I torture the poor girl, but what mama wants, mama gets. So if I want to go, we go! On our trip her auntie held her and she just hid her face the whole time. She didn't even bother wearing the glasses because she knew she didn't want to watch. She's a good sport.

That's a good idea about not wearing the glasses! But man, Hopper is the scariest part and you don't have to be wearing the glasses to see him!! He was not very nice!

Sara

 

[BippityBoo]

My computer is fixed..I'm back!!! LOVING the kid's matching shirts! They all look sooo cute

Can't wait to see if you guys actually make it to EE Off to catch up on the rest of your report I missed!

 

[Poohtigeey]

Well, I came on here to start my report, but I'm rethinking it since I'm reading your report and not much sounds familiar to me! Seriously, I was there right? Why can't I remember details? I must have been in a happy haze hanging out with my girls! Anyways, don't bash me too much if my report doesn't sound anything like what actually happened!

What a cute picture of Megan on Dave's back. She looks sleepy. Ew, on the Bug show. I get chills just thinking about it. I was happy to be the one to make the FP run. Great update as usual. Well, I'm off to start my report as soon as I think of a snappy title. "Cougar moms take on the world!!!" What do you think? Too much?

 

[mrsksomeday]

Well, I'm off to start my report as soon as I think of a snappy title. "Cougar moms take on the world!!!" What do you think? Too much?

 

[Poohtigeey]

Well, it's started. Now I'm nervous that I won't have readers! Tracy, you better get your hiney over there! It's called "'If we stay at BLT we'll actually SAVE money' and other little white lies." I'm not liking the title anymore, but it's too late now.

 

[mom2mek]

Woo-hoo!! Ok everyone....go check out Monica's report!!!

Sara

 

[MaryAz]

Another great update! Really cool tiger pics! Cute kid and mom pics!

 

[mom2mek]

Another great update! Really cool tiger pics! Cute kid and mom pics!

Thanks! More to come soon!!

Sara

 

[RockinDisney]

Great pics and the kids shirts look GREAT!! Everyone looks so Happy....Your updates are terrific

 

[AlohaAnnie]

Enjoying the TR, I think the Cougar Moms Pic is too cute

To Cold for the animals, sheesh!

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[Poohtigeey]

Woo-hoo!! Ok everyone....go check out Monica's report!!!

Sara

It didn't work.

I don't know if I knew why the bats weren't out. I thought we just assumed why they weren't out. The tigers and hippos were loving the weather though.

 

[mom2mek]

My computer is fixed..I'm back!!! LOVING the kid's matching shirts! They all look sooo cute

Can't wait to see if you guys actually make it to EE Off to catch up on the rest of your report I missed!

Thanks Katie! Everest coming up....

Great pics and the kids shirts look GREAT!! Everyone looks so Happy....Your updates are terrific

Thanks! It was a great day!

Enjoying the TR, I think the Cougar Moms Pic is too cute

To Cold for the animals, sheesh!

Looking forward to reading more.

I know, right? Those animals should have been loving those cool temps and been out to entertain us!

It didn't work.

I don't know if I knew why the bats weren't out. I thought we just assumed why they weren't out. The tigers and hippos were loving the weather though.

Need to get that link in your siggie, Monica!

Yeah, the rest of the animals loved the cooler temps! Wimpy dragons and bats!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

February 7th - Animal Kingdom - Chapter 4!

So we left one area of tigers and headed towards what we thought was the exit. Hunter thought it would be fun to see if he could get into the tiger area!

As we continued along the trail we came across.....you guessed it.....MORE TIGERS!! Well, I'm sure that some of them just walked over from the other area, but it was funny, because Emily said "it's like they have a tiger suite....you know like "The Suite Life!" So here are some more pictures of the tigers inside their "suite"!

I really enjoyed strolling through what felt like ancient Asian temple ruins - the Imagineers really outdid themselves at this park; and especially this section of the park.

We said our final goodbyes to the tigers and made our way out to the viewing area before the bird sanctuary.

We saw this guy:

And we couldn't miss the loud and ginormous crane that came by! Emily and Katie thought he was pretty neat!

Up ahead, Nichole apparently felt the need for a quick bike ride! LOL! And all the kids followed suit....

(Katie has a pretty unorthodox way of riding this bike)!


Then we headed into (insert scary music here).....

THE BIRD SANCTUARY!!!!


Ick.


I'm not a fan of birds. Yes, they are pretty but I get very icky feeling when I know they are flying around me. I don't like flapping wings and I really hate that they are so unpredictable - you just don't ever know when one is going to swoop down over top of your head.

Ok, now that I got that out in the open....I did really enjoy the birdhouses!

We didn't really see a lot of birds....could that have something to do with the fact that I was moving my group pretty quickly through there? Hmmm...I don't know....maybe the birds were hiding out somewhere with the bats and the komodo dragons trying to stay warm! Wimpy birds!!! But Shawn did get this picture of a couple of neat looking birds that were brave enough to be out.

Before long we had made it out of there (thank goodness) and passed a few of these loud little guys!

Now we got together our plan for Everest. We had 7 fastpasses - 5 from our tickets, and 2 from Nichole's. Our non riding kids were Kaylee & Kaitlyn (big enough but don't like it), Luke, Katie, and Megan. All of the other adults had ridden the day before except for Shawn, Nichole and I. Shawn said he would ride it later, so Nichole and I were the lucky ones to take Emily, Michael, Hunter, Sam, and Rachel with us and we also snagged everyone's tickets so that we could get more fastpasses to use later on that afternoon before the park closed. I think Katie was technically tall enough but I told her she wasn't quite big enough yet - I didn't want her to be too scared and then not want to ride it next time we went. She probably would have been fine, but I didn't want to take any chances. She seemed fine with that and didn't even question whether or not she was tall enough to ride.

So off we went.

Without a single camera on me.

I left everything with Shawn except our tickets…and boy, did it feel good! Sorry about no pictures though….you will just have to read about it!

We made it to Everest and the ride was showing a 30 minute wait so we jumped in the fastpass line and were on in about 2 minutes. Emily said "I LOVE fastpass!" Our kids are so spoiled when it comes to theme parks – if we go to any other parks (Busch Gardens is right near where we live) we realize just how much Disney has spoiled us.

I think Nichole sat in front of the girls (with someone from the single rider line), and I sat behind the boys. I think. Maybe the other way around. I was a little nervous for Emily since the biggest coaster she had been on up to that point had been Thunder Mountain and even that was a year and a half ago. Off we went!!!

We made our trek through the small Tibetan village and we were off on our expedition to the top of Mt. Everest! We have nothing to worry about, right? LOL! Well, Emily loved it! She was giggling the whole time and her favorite part was going backwards! Amazingly, this was the smoothest ride on Everest I have ever had. I love this ride but usually get off with a bit of a headache. Well, not today!!! Our ride picture was cute, but again…no camera so no redneck picture. Sorry. The big kids had a blast riding together and we couldn’t wait to come back later and ride it again. But now….we were off to the Safari!

On the way we passed this beautiful owl outside the Flights of Wonder area.

Gorgeous. But I don’t know if I will ever go into that show. See aforementioned bird dislike!

Jambo everyone!! We are off on our Safari next!!

Sara

 

[burly]

I Love AK! great pics.

 

[mrsksomeday]

I am loving all the tiger pictures!! I am so sorry you dislike birds, we love the Flights of Wonder show. I would suggest sitting way off to the left or right and you should be ok. If you were in the middle a bird might fly over your head.

It sounded like the bigger kids had so much fun on EE. That is so great that all of you could meet up and have fun together.

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Ok, I'm pretty sure I was with you the whole time on the trail, but I have no memory of the bird sanctuary at all! I guess we didn't go in there but I don't even remember seeing it. And I would have loved to go in. I have a love/hate relationship with birds. Like you, I don't want them flying too close to me, but I could watch them forever.

The tigers were great, weren't they? I'm glad we got to see them being so active. I wonder if they are always that way?

Thanks for taking Sam with you on Everest, she loved it!

Can't wait for the safari!

 

[mom2mek]

I Love AK! great pics.

Thanks! I like Animal Kingdom more and more each time we go there!

I am loving all the tiger pictures!! I am so sorry you dislike birds, we love the Flights of Wonder show. I would suggest sitting way off to the left or right and you should be ok. If you were in the middle a bird might fly over your head.

It sounded like the bigger kids had so much fun on EE. That is so great that all of you could meet up and have fun together.

I love pictures of birds and I love seeing them from a distance if I know they aren't going to fly by me, but I don't think I could enjoy the FOW show if I thought at any moment some giant eagle was going to skim the top of my head! Ewwww..... Maybe if I'm brave enough next time, I will take your suggestion and sit way over to the left or right.

Yeah, the kids had a blast on Everest! As did Nichole and I! LOVE that ride!

Ok, I'm pretty sure I was with you the whole time on the trail, but I have no memory of the bird sanctuary at all! I guess we didn't go in there but I don't even remember seeing it. And I would have loved to go in. I have a love/hate relationship with birds. Like you, I don't want them flying too close to me, but I could watch them forever.

The tigers were great, weren't they? I'm glad we got to see them being so active. I wonder if they are always that way?

Thanks for taking Sam with you on Everest, she loved it!

Can't wait for the safari!

LOL Michelle! I think we were all together but kind of walking separately, so maybe you were just ahead of us and zoomed on through without realizing it was a bird area. They had those little fold out guides to identify the birds and a chain-type thing at the exit to keep the birds from flying out. Any of that sound familiar? They weren't any birds to jog your memory, so maybe that's why you don't remember. I'm pretty sure it was the only way out of the trail, so you must have been on it.

Loved watching the tigers!

Sara

 

[jeremysdisneymom]

Another wonderful day! I agree with you about birds. Boy, they freak me out!

Look forward to the next update!

Erika

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

The pictures of the tigers are wonderful! They are such beautiful animals

I hear you on the birds, there's something just a little creepy about them. Although I did do the Flights of Wonder show recently and I actually enjoyed it more than I thought. A few shrieks when the birds got close, but it was a lot of fun and really interesting! You should check it out sometime! Maybe ask a CM where is the best place to sit for someone who wants to be as far from the birds as possible.

 

[Señor DonDuck]

Very nice AKL pics.

Birds whizzing by I don't mind. What comes out of them, when they just happen to be above you, I do.