ABCs of a Nursing School Grad Trip + FL Keys Mini Report;D is for: Dang! Last Chapter of this TR...

[pkondz]

WAIT! Come back! I have so few readers left!

Now, that's not true!

Clearly, I need to up my game and add more fun stuffs.

One notch down from hufflepuff.

Now that does sound naughty!

He said that once. That one in the corner.

Knew it.

Best get on it then!

I better!

You're going to stretch yourself too thin and leave them all crying in the lagoon.

But at least I have a lagoon.

 

[Steppesister]

I know I said that I would be back next week with comments, but we're at Jill's house having dinner tonight and the two of them are in the living room watching Game of Thrones. I am not a fan, so Fran had brought her computer to work on eBay before dinner while I did some laundry. I'm using her computer to catch up a bit on the DIS while they watch that show that doesn't interest me!

I saw that!!! And you even made it to the Peak! WOOT!!!

Never watched that myself either. And, yes, I'd have been on the DIS too.

What did y'all cook and eat??

So remind me, who is the Wine Lady to you? Is she a friend, a consultant at a store you shop at, or do you just frequent the winery for tastings so much you are on a first name basis?

She is my next door neighbor. Let me just say that when we get together, unlimited (GOOD!) wine is a staple.

After looking at your cup, it appears you went to the pool bar and not the restaurant bar.

Yes, that'd be correct. It was still a tad early for our ADR and will quite nice outside.

Cool shot with the rainbow!

Thanks! It was a fun one to get.

After you mentioned it, I went back and looked.....

WL has quite a few. Next time I'm there I need to pick up the list.

I'm always happy to endorse irresponsible behavior when it comes to alcohol!

Yes, this is a must do at this restaurant!

I seriously would go back just for that soup .

I'm so glad that Fran and I agree on Medium Rare at most places and Rare at a Teppan Yaki restaurant.

YES! The way it should be done!

Yummy! I am convinced that the next time we dine here, we need to order a full bowl of soup each, a cheese course and the Berry cobbler for dessert.

I think in all honesty, that's exactly what I'd order as well.

So did they comp your meal?

No, but there is an addendum. I'll add a postscript at the end of comments.

Oh My Gosh! Those are soooooo good! We were there like a day or two after they opened and the chocolates were fantastic and incredibly priced!

I nibbled on one, but am not a huge choco fan. I can eat a tiny bit at a time and be good. I believe we brought them home and quartered them for a couple night's desserts and I had about 1/4 of one.

The bill was $2000 Yikes! Even with the discount? That's more than V&A's!

I was being facetious. It was spendy... I think a $200 or more meal. ? Now that I think back we also got:

Land Greens Salad - seasonal fruit, seed granola, radish, goat milk cheese, seasonal vinaigrette $13

 

[Steppesister]

I had to Google. Cool!
Glad you had fun and I can't wait to hear all about it!!

Uber cool! Only 4 more chapters to go and you'll get to hear all the deets and see the 4 billion pix I took.

Caught up again. I love the soup at AP....well done steak? Glad you love him. LOL That was so cool to get teh cheese and chocolate! Very nice touch!

It's quite possibly the best soup on property. Although I cannot compare it to BoG's FOS.

Well done steak is not worth eating. So I made due with a couple of bites.

Quality customer service... addendum coming.

The Mouse Meet looked fun!

It is a high quality product with cream of the crop speakers and vendors. I was constantly thinking of you and @franandaj and Fran; I totally think this is right up y'all's alley and would have a great time. Next year?? We could do a Sub-DISMeet.

And Game of Thrones was awesome....@franandaj is a wuss! ROFLMAO!

Never watched it either. But I can see you 2 doing some good old fashioned ribbing of poor Alison.

 

[Steppesister]

Ok, DISBuddies,

That brings me up to date on replies and comments. I'm in a particularly busy week with the travel to Seattle, a concert tomorrow night (how many 80's music fans out there remember Bryan Ferry or Roxy Music?), and 2 night shifts this week. Phew! On top of that, I'm running into huge frustrations with getting the vaccinations we'll need for the work we'd wanted to do. Because of that we'll likely be going with Plan B and doing a Health Education Clinic teaching prenatal care, safe water handling/disinfection, hand hygiene and possibly a soap making workshop as a way to encourage that as well as providing a secondary benefit of providing a marketable skill to economically empower women. Luckily, Rebekah has done this and will likely lead that project. If you have not seen this:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40926187

our trip may simply turn into primary clinical care and aid distribution.

Now, onto the addendum I promised about our dinner at AP....

After we had gotten home, I told The Wine Lady that we'd dined at AP and had passed along greetings to the staff. I added that we were treated quite well and enjoyed our dinner quite a lot. She smirked at me and told me that they indeed had called her sometime afterwards and personally thanked her for the good word she had put in for them and to thank us again for coming in. I thought that was a nice touch that they followed up with sincere customer interaction and put some professional ending and closure to it. Well done, AP Team!

Lastly, I wanted to mention something I'd forgotten to write about because I didn't have any photos of it; something magical that happened on our way back to the MK. We had pulled away from the dock and I was standing on the bow trying to get some night photos of the other resorts and noticed a gigantic, full orange moon was just rising alongside the Contemp. It was spectacular and beautiful. And too far away for a shot worth getting with my regular stock lens. And it was dark. And I was on a moving boat. So this was one of those times when it was completely appropriate to just... enjoy. I was not the only guest who noticed and it would be fair to say that the moon captivated our attention as easily as fireworks over the castle.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

. I was wondering the other day if you are missing your former country of work? Do you miss that team who certainly must have been friends? I'll bet it's great seeing the girls more though!

Honestly I don't really miss Brunei itself but I do miss the food. Chicken tikka masala is just not the same at home.
And of course my coworkers who really were friends after spending 11 years there, I do miss them. Being away from our families so much we spent much of our off time with each other.

 

[Steppesister]

Honestly I don't really miss Brunei itself but I do miss the food. Chicken tikka masala is just not the same at home.

I know this feeling and these sentiments exactly. I mean... to the 'T'. Don't miss crapistan, miss the people. Miss the food once in a while, since I can't seem to replicate the horse sausage or the fermented camel's milk very well here.

And of course my coworkers who really were friends after spending 11 years there, I do miss them. Being away from our families so much we spent much of our off time with each other.

And yes, you become a 2nd family. I soooo get everything you're talking about here.

 

[Steppesister]

Also, I've been meaning to put a link here for those of you who missed that I have another TR going that can at times be referenced here. Feel free to join along in that one too for more stories of good times and photos around DLR.

The ABCs of A Trip Worth Waiting For

 

[Malia78]

The ABCs of A Trip Worth Waiting For

Ack! I didn't even know that this one existed.

 

[Steppesister]

Ack! I didn't even know that this one existed.

It's a pretty short one, so easy to catch up on.

 

[DonnaBeeGood]

.

 

[afwdwfan]

I had no idea who those people were in the picture. I won't lie. And I had to google it. What kind of a TR writer are you, making us use google to fill in the blanks????

After we had gotten home, I told The Wine Lady that we'd dined at AP and had passed along greetings to the staff. I added that we were treated quite well and enjoyed our dinner quite a lot. She smirked at me and told me that they indeed had called her sometime afterwards and personally thanked her for the good word she had put in for them and to thank us again for coming in. I thought that was a nice touch that they followed up with sincere customer interaction and put some professional ending and closure to it. Well done, AP Team!

Definitely some good customer interaction. Quite frankly, I feel that we should expect no less from a Disney Signature restaurant.

 

[Chrystmasangel]

Super hard to see, but I circled it for you.

 

[pkondz]

WAIT! Come back! I have so few readers left!

I'll stick around. Gotta see who wins the contest!

Clearly, I need to up my game and add more fun stuffs.

Nah. I think you're doing a great job as is.

One notch down from hufflepuff.

He said that once. That one in the corner.

I'm growing a bit concerned for you.

I should think about growing some vegetables, too.

Fresh rum without the dental caries, please.

Noted.

This is a pretty good one to have.

You're going to stretch yourself too thin and leave them all crying in the lagoon.

Nah. I'm a man of many talents.

What I didn't share, because my photos were horrible due to: A) a moving boat, B) only a small lens, and C) dark, was that we were treated to a HUGE full moon rising over the
Contemporary as we made our way back to MK. It was spectacular and a lot of people were standing on the bow watching it as we sailed along. Magical!!

Cool!

 

[pkondz]

Which was...?

Inception

Such a shame. Salmon is super healthy and so yummy! Especially grilled with lemon or on a salad even. But, yes, I get that Ruby is allergic, so gotta steer clear.

I know! The three of us loved it.
But.... yeah...

Only a couple of kinds get picked: Chanterelles and Morels. Both are the bomb diggity sauteed in garlic butter and fresh parsley.

I wouldn't know what to look for.
And would be scared I'd pick up something poisonous.

But then again... ummm, neither am I. You already know my faltering opinion of the gift shop.

Yes I know. And I agree with you.
Heck I think I bring better than what they have there!

Well, looky there! Does that mean it's double the price of the Artist Point meal, but the "gold" was the free choco and cheese? That's how leprechauns work- they give a little and craftily take a lot.

Yes.

Tis a strong liver, it is, aye!

Then I will make the offer I make to anyone who WNDRS this way: Come as you are, stay as long as you like; the steak's on me.

You remembered!

And... I hate to impose. But... who knows!

It was a cream-based bisque that was out of this world. I'd go back just to get that soup.

I thought as much... but wanted to be sure.

But white is.... so much less superior to red. And that's why I'd drink red with fish or chicken or with appetizers.

To each his (or her) own. My point exactly!

You know me so well.

I knew it!!

Because I was dining with Mr. McTightWaddyPants.

Oops! Sorry!

I don't know! My kids ate them.

Well that bites!

Or... doesn't.

We sure did!!! Loads of it!

Good!

 

[pkondz]

Uber cool! Only 4 more chapters to go and you'll get to hear all the deets and see the 4 billion pix I took.

Great!

how many 80's music fans out there remember Bryan Ferry or Roxy Music?

and 2 night shifts this week.

Ugh. My sympathies....

On top of that, I'm running into huge frustrations with getting the vaccinations we'll need for the work we'd wanted to do.

Oh. That's too bad. Hope it works out okay.

If you have not seen this:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-40926187

our trip may simply turn into primary clinical care and aid distribution.

Awful news.

After we had gotten home, I told The Wine Lady that we'd dined at AP and had passed along greetings to the staff. I added that we were treated quite well and enjoyed our dinner quite a lot. She smirked at me and told me that they indeed had called her sometime afterwards and personally thanked her for the good word she had put in for them and to thank us again for coming in. I thought that was a nice touch that they followed up with sincere customer interaction and put some professional ending and closure to it. Well done, AP Team!

Not bad! I didn't think they'd do that.

Lastly, I wanted to mention something I'd forgotten to write about because I didn't have any photos of it; something magical that happened on our way back to the MK. We had pulled away from the dock and I was standing on the bow trying to get some night photos of the other resorts and noticed a gigantic, full orange moon was just rising alongside the Contemp. It was spectacular and beautiful. And too far away for a shot worth getting with my regular stock lens. And it was dark. And I was on a moving boat. So this was one of those times when it was completely appropriate to just... enjoy. I was not the only guest who noticed and it would be fair to say that the moon captivated our attention as easily as fireworks over the castle.

Moving isn't too bad. The moon is bright! It's reflected sunlight after all. 1/250 is a good starting point.
But! Yeah... you'd want a telephoto lens, otherwise it's just a tiny dot.

 

[vamassey1]

A free meal?


Sign me up.

Absolutely!

It was cool that the light cooperated and I could catch a rainbow in it.

Wow, this is amazing.

Yes. I present to you… Letter ‘T’: A Tanqueray Twist- Gin and Cranberry Juice:

This looks delish! I'm looking forward to the addition of adult drinks on the dining plan. We'll be testing this in February.

If you’ve not visited the PNW, please do so soon. You won’t be sorry.

On my bucket list.

(You did see the Hidden Mickeys in those last 2 pix, right?)

Yes I did.

We split the:
Smoked Mushroom Bisque - wild nettle pistou, sunflower seed, salsify $12

Yum!

Our meal was truly quite fantastic.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

About that time, I had to do what little girls do.

I'm sure it was the drinks. So how was the bathroom?

About the time we’d have ordered our dessert course, which we would have, this showed up at or table:

What a nice treat. The perfect ending to your meal.

As an additional little favour, we here handed this:

I love chocolate!

Free is good; free with chocolate is even better!

Very true!

 

[Steppesister]

W is for: Wild Wanderings and WAY Too Much Food​

This trip was more than just about celebrating the hard work of 3 1/2 long years of Nursing School and adding a couple of letters to the end of my name. My family suffered right along with me, and it was time to reward them also with a trip only dreams are made of. As part of that, It seemed appropriate to treat them to a few “extras” in the form of tours during our time at Disney. I knew they’d enjoy the Seeds Tour I’ve already written about, but I myself wanted to try the Wanyama Tour after reading about it from another DISser. Sorry, I no longer remember who that was ( @Flossbolna ?), but it sounded like my animal-loving 14-year old would like it as well, so I signed us up… strangely okay with the fact that it’s expensive. Like crazy expensive. But I’m about to show you why.

Are you excited? Are you ready? Ready to see some up close and personal photos of the Savanah Birds and Beasties? Ready to see how one lady, I won’t name names or anything, pigged out so badly she felt like Puumba walking out of Jiko? If so, time to come along and see what all the fuss is about! Jambo, Friends!

Our journey from Animal Kingdom to Jambo House was rife with stress. We were running a bit behind the time I thought we should leave in order to give that cushion for unforeseen circumstances, like the bus getting a flat tire, alligators on the roads blocking our way, or the usual, no bus at all for 23 minutes. It’s happened before, you know. In fact, it happens most of the time if you’re traveling with me. So, I guess that doesn’t count as an unforeseen circumstance. And, therefore, why I was pretty worried at leaving so little time to get from Point A to Point B. By some act of God, we got a bus quite quickly (only 10 minutes), and made it to AKL without peril or mishap. I know I just lost most of my readers to this being an utterly boring chapter so far. But, if I promise a bonus point to anyone who tells me how many animal photos are in this chapter in your comment will you come back?


YAY! I know some of you are all about cheap thrills!


(Hey Lurkers! I know you’re out there! This is a perfect time to say howdy and jump on board. There’s only a small handful of chapters left, so your time is running out to hang out with the cool kids. )



We disembarked the bus and made our way into the Jiko reception area, where our afternoon and evening began. 2 lovely hostesses greeted us and told us that we had a bit of time before we’d be shown into the room where we’d have our reception and learn more about our tour. Dang skippy! I had time to potty. If you suffer from TTBS (Teeny Tiny Bladder Syndrome), you’ll know exactly how relieved I was. (See what I did there?) Business taken care of we found a seat nearby and very soon the other 2 Safari-goers also checked in. Cool! We could get the show on the road. Our African hostess came out to greet us and led us back to a beautiful private dining room all set up with a gorgeous spread of African-inspired appetizers. I wish either of the two crappy photos I took of her would allow me to decipher her name- the best I can do is “Applesauce”. If you have a better guess, by all means rename her. Her smile defined her and my dream to visit Africa was cemented forever. (Guess who's going to Africa in November?)

Applesauce was so darn sweet I wanted to take her home to replace the current progeny gifted to me… which seem to have contracted mild cases of Teenage Mouth. I’m sure there’s a cure, but I have yet to find it.

Anyway, she was from Namibia and seemed proud and excited to tell us a little about her country as well as a bit about the various delicacies we were casually munching on. I wish I could definitively tell you what it was we consumed, but the best I can do is: some sort of sausage, nuts with African spices on them, scones, various breads with mustard and dips, some sweeter dessert-like thingys, and some other stuff. I sucked at taking notes. Clearly. What I do remember is that it was all very delicious and that I should have paced myself much more responsibly given what was to come later. Oops.

After about 30 minutes, a couple of super hot guys came out and introduced themselves as our guides. I was suddenly no longer interested in the animals. Anara agreed and reminded me I was old enough to practically be their mother. I acquiesced, reminding her that not only were they too old for her, but that they probably came home every night from work reeking of zebra dung.

Clearly, she didn't care...


Time to load up into our open-air safari truck! When they told us we were free to do whatever we wanted back there, I knew it was going to be worth every penny of the ticket price. We were allowed to do anything but touch or feed the animals, even though, we were told, we would be close enough at times to do exactly that. Say WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?! OH, man, this was gonna be good. Let’s go!!


Our truck chugged along until it took us through some security gates; while one guide drove, the other sat in the back with us and talked about the various measures taken to keep Disney Animals IN and Florida Critters out. Can someone please explain to me how I can remember that it was quite fascinating, but could not tell you one specific thing he said to save my life? Let’s just say, most of the time their measures work. It was also explained to us that most people think that the AK animals and AKL animals all make up just one big zoo. Nope! There are, in fact, 2 separate zoos at Disney (even though neither of them want to be publicized as such). They technically operate as completely separate entities with completely different breeding programs, management strategies, etc… If AK needs a temporary home for one of its animals, for example, they must actually apply for relocation privileges at AKL- either at Jambo or Kidani.


Eventually, we arrived at the entrance to the Savanah of AKL and began the real meat of our tour. (They just keep getting better and better, no?)

Since you probably just answered “NO!”, I will stop my running commentary and just show you the animals with minimal verbosity. In absolutely NO order whatsoever other than than how PB decided to put them in, I present to you...

THE ANIMALS OF AKL ZOO:

We should take a lesson from the Savanah. Obviously, it's possible for different fur colors and shapes and sizes to get along quite peacefully.

Steaks for a village!

(Did you know that the Kidani and the Jambo herds of Zebra are different species? They keep them separate to keep the genes pure.)

Yes, we were THAT close. Yes, we could reach out and touch them. No, I didn’t. But I sure did wanna! We were free to move from side to side as we wanted to take photos or see the animals better. Along the entire way the guides were telling us in great detail about the animals, their names, stories about their personalities, what the ate, their routines, everything. It was truly a tour worth the time and money. Plus, we got to be "backstage" and get views like this:

Oops! A few more!

I thought I got some pretty decent photos of the giraffes from my balcony... I was wrong.

(Not an intentional Hidden Mickey, but a cool one nonetheless!)

At one point, the guides demonstrated one of the ways they train the animals to come when they call for their feedings and to do animal care. It was fascinating to see the pig thing do what he asked. If only I could learn this technique for the ones I have at my house.

I know I have some readers who go nuts over animals; I have others who would rather see and hear about food. For those of you in the latter category, your turn is coming up in the very next update! I aim to please everyone, so fear not. My sincere apologies to those of you who find updates dull without some iteration of exploding helicopters. Putting a giraffe onto a chopper and having it explode is about as inconceivable as a Disney bus arriving within 23 minutes of my getting to a bus stop.

 

[Steppesister]

Today was a pretty busy day. I had a long working meeting with Rebekah, my daughter who is going with me, in which we tried to nail down the clinics and work we'll be doing in Sierra Leone, Africa. In light of the recent horrific disaster (still thousands missing) we may likely be doing some primary treatment of cholera victims for the inevitable outbreak. Additionally, we found out we'll be attending a gala fundraising dinner with dignitaries, so I guess I'll have to practice using a fork and knife and to not use my sleeve for a napkin. It's all coming together and I'm now just over the halfway point of raising the $2,000 needed to get myself there; much of that coming from DISFriends like you!! Now... to develop the curricula for seminars on hand hygiene, basic first aid, water purification using low-tech methods, and prenatal and infant care.

Comments hopefully tomorrow afternoon...

Peace and Jambo, Friends!

 

[KathyM2]

The Pacific Northwest MouseMeet is the largest unofficial Disney Fan gathering in the nation and we got to be part of it. <insert gigantic huge smile here>

This is seriously cool. I love meeting other fans. In fact one of the other Disers just told me that there is a local group here too...who knew!! I hope I can go to their next gethering!

If you suffer from TTBS (Teeny Tiny Bladder Syndrome), you’ll know exactly how relieved I was.

This cracked me up because on our trip my DD was constantly annoyed by how many times I was in search of restrooms...luckily they aren't usually too far away at WDW.

Yes, we were THAT close.

Those giraffe pics are seriously amazing. I don't know which excites me more...close ups of animals or food lol but I'm glad your TR has both!

 

[franandaj]

I myself wanted to try the Wanyama Tour after reading about it from another DISser.

I don't blame you. I've done it twice and wouldn't mind doing it again sometime!

you’ll know exactly how relieved I was. (See what I did there?)

Yes, I did.

and led us back to a beautiful private dining room all set up with a gorgeous spread of African-inspired appetizers.

That's new! I never got a pre-trip snack. Did they give you a little snack while you were on the Savannah?

After about 30 minutes, a couple of super hot guys came out and introduced themselves as our guides. I was suddenly no longer interested in the animals. Anara agreed and reminded me I was old enough to practically be their mother. I acquiesced, reminding her that not only were they too old for her, but that they probably came home every night from work reeking of zebra dung.

And possibly from the looks of him, he may not have been interested in you or your daughter! Let's just say guys who are really cute and pretty are usually looking for something (or someone) else.

Can someone please explain to me how I can remember that it was quite fascinating, but could not tell you one specific thing he said to save my life?

You were so caught up in his good looks that you were hanging on his every word? I won't go into all the random details that my silly mind stores from trips like this.....

In absolutely NO order whatsoever other than than how PB decided to put them in, I present to you...

I can tell that because there really is a specific order to which animals you see when, that is providing that you entered through the Pembe Savannah first and then through the Sunset Savannah, to the Arusha Savannah followed by the Uzima Savannah.....Each one has slightly different animals. The Pembe Savannah is the only one that doesn't have giraffe, but they have Okapi. They also have the Red River Hogs.

Very nice pictures though....I love the ones up close of the giraffe feeding.

(Did you know that the Kidani and the Jambo herds of Zebra are different species? They keep them separate to keep the genes pure.)

Interesting I looked that up and one are Grant's Zebra the others are Hartland Mountain Zebra. A fun fact that I did not know!