Adopted ducks + Wild Africa Trek + seriously great food= an AWESOME trip! The end p10

I woke up before sunrise. I took the opportunity to walk around the Polynesian grounds. Some morning photos:
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Those are just a small amount of the photos I took. I went to the front desk to ask if I should take a cab & they told me I definitely should. They got a taxi for me & he drove me to AK...but they weren't even letting anyone into the parking lot yet. One of the cast members came out of one of the parking kiosks & told me to go to AKL & wait for a bus. That's what I did. I waited for a while & made it to the AK entrance right at 7:45. There were only 2 other people waiting. After about 15-20 minutes, almost everyone was there and they asked us to walk over to Africa to meet our guide at the end of the bridge. Immediately after the bridge, we took a left & walked way in the back & through the woods. We arrived at a little building & we were asked to put our belongings in lockers there. I put everything except my camera in the locker. We then walked to the other side of the building where they weighed us- only the CM can see the actual weight. I was worried about this one because even I don't want to know my weight! We were then handed a vest & went through about 10 minutes of instructions to put it on. It was a process, let me tell you. It wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world, but it is important for safety & really holds everything you need. They gave us a metal water bottle that snaps right onto the vest. After that, we went over the "test foot bridge". I have to be honest & say that I KNEW without a doubt that I would have problems crossing the longer, higher bridges. I let the guides know & they assured me not to worry too much. Our group waited for the last minute arrivals to suit up- they gave us jungle juice while we waited. I didn't drink too much of it because I knew we wouldn't be near any "facilities" for 2 more hours. :rotfl: When everyone was ready, we walked out the way we came in and headed to Pangani Forest Exploration Trail.
We saw these guys:
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We saw a few birds:
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After that, we slipped off into the woods!
 
As soon as we stepped off into the woods, it felt like we weren't in the park anymore. It was a short walk over to get tethered at the Hippo overlook. There was an expert there to answer any hippo questions we might have. There was a male hippo closest to us- they kept tossing him food, but he seemed to have no interest. The ducks ate his lettuce.
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After this stop, we walked a short distance & I saw it: the foot bridge! I knew there were 2 on the Trek- I just didn't know they are one right after the other. Our guides, Jon & Lani were awesome. Jon went over first, then everyone else crossed before I did. They suggested waiting for everyone else to cross first, so I wouldn't experience some of the wobbling from other walking on the bridge. Here is what the bridges look like:
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The sides are all open and there are a few areas where you have to take a HUGE step. The bridges are pretty long, too. I crossed the first one SLOWLY. By the time I got to the platform at the end, my legs were trembling & I felt sick. Well, Jon got on the second bridge & jumped in between the wooden slats onto the rope net underneath to show me that there was no way I could fall through. That made me feel better. Since the second footbridge was over the crocs, I booked it pretty fast over the second one. Since I was so scared to cross them, I felt almost emotional and a little proud of myself after that. Next, we were tethered to observe the Nile Crocodiles a little closer. I guess we were about 10 feet above them & they can jump 8 or 9 feet. I was ok until one of them started to move out of the water towards us. They answered a bunch of Croc questions, too.
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Then, we walked through more woods, saw a nice view of the savannah, and found our safari vehicle. Before getting onto the vehicle, we took off the vests. That felt great. We rode through part of the safari (our vehicle stopped many times for animal photos and facts) until we got to the place where we had our pit stop & snack. Let me just say- it was an awesome view of the savannah!!! I'm going to overload you guys with photos now.
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Continued in next post...
 
I saw your post asking me about the storms just as I posted mine - lol
Luckily, no damage here at all. We had some loud thunder around 4:30ish...then off and on till maybe 11 or so.. and some rain...those poor people in Springfield!!

heading back to read your posts!!
 
Hello there...
I am enjoying looking at your beautiful pictures and was excited when i read you left out of Green Airport! That's where I always fly out of to go to the World....and we always fly SWA!!! They are the best! From the very begining of my vacation they make it fun ;)
The Poly does look nice, but definitely needs some updating....they should think about doing that before building more hotels, eh?
Thanks for sharing your trip! I just love reading trip reports! I am not taking a trip this year...have to till next July...but that's ok..can't wait to read more :)
 

I see you found (or they found you?) your duck friends again the next morning.

Your pictures of the Wild Africa Trek are REALLY making me want to do it (if we could just get them to come down in price :laughing:).
 
Sorry your room was kind of dumpy :(
what building where you in? I'll have to check what building we were in last August...the room wasn't that bad...I like your view! We overlooked the marina...we were also on the 1st floor, but no kids visited us!! LOL
My husband did get attacked by ducks on day at the pool....they wanted his chips!! LOL

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I saw your post asking me about the storms just as I posted mine - lol
Luckily, no damage here at all. We had some loud thunder around 4:30ish...then off and on till maybe 11 or so.. and some rain...those poor people in Springfield!!

heading back to read your posts!!

Springfield & Brimfield were just torn apart! CBS had a video of the first tornado forming over the Connecticut River in Springfield.

Hello there...
I am enjoying looking at your beautiful pictures and was excited when i read you left out of Green Airport! That's where I always fly out of to go to the World....and we always fly SWA!!! They are the best! From the very begining of my vacation they make it fun ;)
The Poly does look nice, but definitely needs some updating....they should think about doing that before building more hotels, eh?
Thanks for sharing your trip! I just love reading trip reports! I am not taking a trip this year...have to till next July...but that's ok..can't wait to read more :)

Thanks! SWA out of TF Green is the BEST way to travel! Next July is such a long wait, but planning is half of the fun. I always love the time leading up to a trip. Thanks so much for reading!

I see you found (or they found you?) your duck friends again the next morning.

Your pictures of the Wild Africa Trek are REALLY making me want to do it (if we could just get them to come down in price :laughing:).

One of the only reasons I went is that I only had to pay for me. $189 is pricey for a tour! It was worth every penny for me, though.

Sorry your room was kind of dumpy :(
what building where you in? I'll have to check what building we were in last August...the room wasn't that bad...I like your view! We overlooked the marina...we were also on the 1st floor, but no kids visited us!! LOL
My husband did get attacked by ducks on day at the pool....they wanted his chips!! LOL

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:lmao: about the ducks! They sure do get crazy with food!!
I was in Tahiti. I mean- the rooms are HUGE & my view was great! I certainly shouldn't complain...they really just need some paint & the sliding door issue drove me nuts.
 
:lmao: about the ducks! They sure do get crazy with food!!
I was in Tahiti. I mean- the rooms are HUGE & my view was great! I certainly shouldn't complain...they really just need some paint & the sliding door issue drove me nuts.[/QUOTE]

I also recently stayed in Tahiti and I would like to second that they are in need of a painting and a sprucing up. I know we all hate to say anything not nice about Disney but it is the truth.

Also Now I need to put up a duck pic I have some of the tiniest babies!
P5280168.jpg
 
:lmao: about the ducks! They sure do get crazy with food!!
I was in Tahiti. I mean- the rooms are HUGE & my view was great! I certainly shouldn't complain...they really just need some paint & the sliding door issue drove me nuts.

I also recently stayed in Tahiti and I would like to second that they are in need of a painting and a sprucing up. I know we all hate to say anything not nice about Disney but it is the truth.

Also Now I need to put up a duck pic I have some of the tiniest babies!
P5280168.jpg
[/QUOTE]

OMG- SOOOOO cute!!!!! :love:
 
:lmao: about the ducks! They sure do get crazy with food!!
I was in Tahiti. I mean- the rooms are HUGE & my view was great! I certainly shouldn't complain...they really just need some paint & the sliding door issue drove me nuts.

I also recently stayed in Tahiti and I would like to second that they are in need of a painting and a sprucing up. I know we all hate to say anything not nice about Disney but it is the truth.

Also Now I need to put up a duck pic I have some of the tiniest babies!
P5280168.jpg
[/QUOTE]

we stayed in Fiji....that is too bad about Tahiti....maybe they have a plan to rehab those rooms soon.....I do remember my travel agent talking us out of staying at the Poly on our Honeymoon cause she thought it was very run down...I did hear some rooms got rehabed...
I agree...they should spruce up the rooms on a regular basis...
 
grrr.... I hit submit too soon....
I LOVE the little baby ducks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so cute!!
 
April! AWESOME!!!! trek photos....I would love to give that a try; but, it will be a while until Ashton is old enough....can't wait to see more!

great photos! of the resort on your morning walk....hope they start to rehab the Poly soon it is in a great location!
 
we stayed in Fiji....that is too bad about Tahiti....maybe they have a plan to rehab those rooms soon.....I do remember my travel agent talking us out of staying at the Poly on our Honeymoon cause she thought it was very run down...I did hear some rooms got rehabed...
I agree...they should spruce up the rooms on a regular basis...

:thumbsup2 Agreed!

grrr.... I hit submit too soon....
I LOVE the little baby ducks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so cute!!

I have such a soft spot for baby ducks. They are little bundles of fuzzy cuteness!!! :)

April! AWESOME!!!! trek photos....I would love to give that a try; but, it will be a while until Ashton is old enough....can't wait to see more!

great photos! of the resort on your morning walk....hope they start to rehab the Poly soon it is in a great location!

Thanks!! It was awesome to walk around the Poly in the morning. I love the volcano pool & just walking the paths. It is such a calming atmosphere.
 
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The next few are a bit tough to see the subjects (cheetah, butterfly, lionness):
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I'm going to go & upload the photopass photos from Wild Africa Trek now. The photopass only included photos from the Trek. Some final words about the Trek- we had a great group of people who all interacted well. Our guides Jon & Lani were AWESOME. :worship: They were knowledgeable, encouraging, funny, and professional. This was the best thing that I have done at Disney World. I forgot I was in a park. I've read people say that they didn't think it was so great, but I have to wholeheartedly disagree. It was fantastic and worth every penny.
 
Good Morning....still keeping up with your posts! I am just blown away by your photos from the safari! The amount of pictures you got of ALL the animals is jsut amazing....and how close you got..you must have a really good camera! I just love photography....
Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us!
I just LOVE DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
The photos are amazing! I especially love the one of the giraffe peering around the tree.
 
April, the pictures are absolutely spectacular and I am really enjoying looking at them.
 
Good Morning....still keeping up with your posts! I am just blown away by your photos from the safari! The amount of pictures you got of ALL the animals is jsut amazing....and how close you got..you must have a really good camera! I just love photography....
Thank you so much for sharing your trip with us!
I just LOVE DISNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks! I love Animal Kingdom- I always end up taking WAY too many pictures.

The photos are amazing! I especially love the one of the giraffe peering around the tree.

Thanks! The giraffes were so cool.

April, the pictures are absolutely spectacular and I am really enjoying looking at them.

Thanks!!! Wait until you see the photos that the Wild Africa Trek guides took- those guys can take some seriously good pictures!!
 












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