AKV CL PTR/TR - taking practically first timers -TR starts on P. 17 (completed)

Pam - your pictures are outstanding. So crisp and clear. Looks like a beautiful day.

OK - I have to say that I am already getting annoyed at your brother and SIL. I bet they decide they have to eat about 30 minutes after you get to the park. And how the heck does it take 20 minutes to get sunscreen. Really? :confused3

It was just so bizarre. I felt like I was in the twilight zone. Every time I turned around something else was going awry. She's already a slow paced person but the only thing I could think was that she had some bathroom trouble and didn't want to say anything. Thankfully AK was less than five minutes away so we didn't lose any more time.

No, their 'hearty breakfast' kept them placated until I got hungry. It was a different kind of trip that's for sure!

Thanks so much about the pictures :goodvibes
 
No, their 'hearty breakfast' kept them placated until I got hungry. It was a different kind of trip that's for sure!

Thank goodness because I had visions of them walking in and saying "let's eat lunch". Sort of what my SIL our first night in the MK when we had just eaten lunch 3 or 4 hours prior to arrival. :rotfl2:
 
6 days inbetween updates, my goodness I'm slacking! Sorry everybody :rotfl: Here comes one shortly.

I did buy my airfare for my December and January trips. SW was having a 40% off sale and I just happened to check the website. I haven't seem them that cheap in a long time, $75 and $85 to Orlando and Miami. I also made an ADR for the Sci-Fi Diner on the last day our APs are good at 8:50 during EMHs. I think it will be a really nice way to end the park part of the trip. I've been wanting to try it for ages and every time I stop in they are booked solid. 8:50 was the only ADR left for that evening so I nabbed it.
 
We finally made our way to the Safari and it was a walk-on. The way things ended up most of the week was that the rides had a posted time of 5-10 minutes, but it took that long to walk through the empty queue. It was perfect.

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It was a nice safari but a little underwhelming. R & M really enjoyed it. Remember, this is M's first trip to AK. She really did love the park.

After the Safari we stopped in one of the shops on the way out of Harambe where I found some much needed sunglasses. I had dropped my car off at the mechanic's before leaving and forgot the sunglasses. Everyone had left me shopping and I come out to find R with two glasses of beer and icecream for mom and M. He knows me well, I didn't want an icecream, but why did he need two beers? So he wouldn't waste any time later getting another one he said. You really can't wait until this evening to get FREE beer in the CL? :confused3 I tend to be thrifty when I can get something for free later on. I know it wasn't my money, but it really irritated me.

They all wanted to try the Kali River Rapids so that's where we headed next. We encountered a huge crowd that had found Devine. Mom and M stopped to watch for a while. I had to get away from the crowd so kept walking. On the way we passed the Flights of Wonder arena but the timing didn't work out so continued onward. The River Rapids was a 20 minute wait and I really did not want to get wet at that time so said I would wait for them while they rode. I was quickly getting spoiled rotten by the walk-ons. Well they didn't want to go without me so we headed to EE which was another walk-on. Have I said how perfect that was :lovestruc R & M loved it so much they decided to ride again. I can't ride that one back to back because I get nauseous so mom waited with me. They loved it just as much the second time.

I was actually the one who demanded that we eat and headed to Restaurantosaurous for a veggie sub. They all lolly gagged behind, waiting for R to take a smoke break while I shuffled ahead. It was only day two and my feet were giving me such pain. They all finally caught up with me, I shuffled slowly enough that they could see me in the distance. The only picture I have of lunch is my sandwhich.

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It was really delicious after I doctored it up. I must warn you that I'm a very picky eater and absolutely can't stand onions or peppers and this had both. They couldn't remove them because the sandwhich is pre-made. I also ended up taking off the portabello mushrooms and eggplant which left me with very little untli I added lettuce, tomatoes, and sauteed mushrooms from the toppings bar. I know I know, I warned you. M had the same sandwhich undoctored and really enjoyed it. R had some sort of chicken sandwhich and yet another beer. While mom just had some french fries. Her own order, I wan't about to let her eat all of my delicious fries.

The whole day I thought the park closed at 6 and that we still had a couple hours left but I was checking the times guide for the Nemo showings and noticed that the park actually closed at 5 that day. OH NO!!! We still had lots to see and now one less hour in which to do it. The time stamp of my sandwhich was 3:23, so I think we left the restaurant right around 4:00. The plan was to go to Dinosaur, then do ITTBAB, circle up to KRR, then do the last show of Nemo which was at 5:00. So we hustled out of the restaurant and headed right to Dinosaur which mom sat out. She cant stand how jerky it is. As many times as Ive done this I scream bloody murder when the big dinosaur comes out at the end. R loved the picture of us so stopped to buy it. It was quite amusing. We quickly went outside to collect mom and made our way to ITTBAB. On the way we stopped for a few minutes to watch the crocodile who was moving around in the water which the CM said was very rare. The first time I saw him I thought for sure he was a statue because I couldnt even tell he was breathing. No picture, we were on a mission. Walk-on for ITTBAB, mom and I loved it as usual. R had not warned M of anything that would happen and she did not like it one bit. Id be surprised if she ever did that again. R enjoyed it though, he had been pretty nostalgic all day about AK.

It was a straight shot to Asia through one of the spokes so we made excellent time getting to KRR which was another walk-on. I was going to sit it out because I was scared about getting my camera wet but at the last minute decided to join them and stowed everything in the not so waterproof area. Thankfully everything was safe. The CM was rushing everybody for who knows what reason and R sat right down on a hard plastic area and really hurt his side. He was not a happy camper about that. I got absolutely soaked. Nobody else got soaked except for me. The one who almost didnt go on the ride.... Oh well, thankfully it was the end of the day. They were letting people get right back on without going through line so mom and M went again. R and I had had enough so waited for them. Unfortunately that messed up the plans to go see the last Nemo show but everything worked out fine. It was 5:07 when mom and M joined as after their second ride. I noticed they had some lockers roped off right near the entrance to KRR which are free to use. They werent available yet or I definitely would have used them. We slowly made our way out of the park and thankfully got on the first bus back to the resort.
 

Sounds like a very fun day.... I love he rapids and I am always the one who gets drenched. :)
 
What a shame that your day ended up even shorter than you expected, but it sounds like you still got a lot done. I love the photos from the safari.

Corinna
 
Now I will say that if we went with other Disney lovers then it might not be too bad... For example you guys, if we were all there together, we would have fun, maybe too much fun...:scratchin

I know, I think if we were at Disney together I would get in trouble because we would end up stopping at all the fun places for germ killer i between the rides!

Pam, sounds like you packed a lot in that very late starting day. I'm not a big fan of Kali due to getting wet. I much prefer GRR at DCA because you can run right back to your room at the VGC and change!
 
Sounds like a very fun day.... I love he rapids and I am always the one who gets drenched. :)

It did end up being a fun day. Yep, that sounds familiar. It's always me too. I think some Disney gods are listening in and turn the raft at the right moment for me to get soaked!
 
What a shame that your day ended up even shorter than you expected, but it sounds like you still got a lot done. I love the photos from the safari.

Corinna

I just couldn't believe I messed the times up. I thought I had double and triple checked everything like usual. The only saving grace was that everything was a walk-on. If that hadn't been the case we probably would have only gotten a few rides in.

Thanks about the pictures :) I was disappointed that the rhinos and elephants were hiding. I just love the rhinos.
 
When I last went to Animal Kingdom in 2009, we were stopped for ages as the rhinos were blocking the path. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me that day.

Corinna
 
Pam, sounds like you packed a lot in that very late starting day. I'm not a big fan of Kali due to getting wet. I much prefer GRR at DCA because you can run right back to your room at the VGC and change!

That last hour we were hustling!!!

I've been reading my DL book, and I'm so excited to see all the different rides. It was hot enough that getting wet was refreshing, but I really don't like walking around in wet clothes. I stood up in the bus because I didn't want to leave a seat wet...
 
I am back and just got caught up on your TR, Pam. :yay: I know this was a hard vacation for you. Something tells me you won't be back with that same combination of people again. ;)
 
I am back and just got caught up on your TR, Pam. :yay: I know this was a hard vacation for you. Something tells me you won't be back with that same combination of people again. ;)

Welcome back :)

I kept trying to just go with the flow, but I did find myself irritated a lot. Good thing is I don't think they even noticed. They had such a wonderful trip which I'm glad. It will certainly be a long time before I invite them again. Maybe when I have nieces/nephews old enough to enjoy going.
 
Firstly, I'm really sorry this TR is moving like molasses. Work seems to be draining me extra dry these days.

We got back to the resort around 5:50 and I had the ingenius idea to try one of the side doors so we could walk in the airconditioning. While this was still an excellent idea, we had to go up one floor to reach the main lobby to catch the CL elevators. Appetizers were out and of course we had to get some. (even though we had just finished eating lunch at 4:00) I didn't take pictures of the olives, cheeses, or veggies but those were out every evening as well.

Mom thought this was a little spicey. I didn't try it, am not much of a soup person.

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I usually love mushrooms, but these were a little dry with the cracker.

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I definitely steered clear of these after the other night's episode. They looked like they would have been good though.

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These were over at the kids' table. I thought that was a nice touch.

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After our bellies were happy we all headed down to the pool to soak in some rays. R & M enjoyed some swimming while mom read and I caught up in my journal. It was a really relaxing couple of hours. Our dinner plans were to head over to Coronado Springs and eat at the Pepper Market so we all headed upstairs around 8:00 to get ready. I couldn't find the Pepper Market's hours online so asked the CL CMs if they knew. They were so wonderful and called over to CSR for me. I was a little worried that they closed at 10:00 and that we would be pushing it since it was already 8:00, but they were open until 11:00 so we still had plenty of time. We parted ways to grab showers but not before mom and I had indulged in some desserts.

These became a favorite of mine this trip.

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I never tried the brownies.

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Mom and M enjoyed the cookies.

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Mom liked this, I didn't try it. I had a bad encounter with panna cotta at the CG on a previous trip.

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The crust made these a bit too dry for my taste.

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I thought this was tasty, mom wasn't crazy about it. I learned you needed to have a taste of all the layers in one bite. Each layer seperately was a bit too strong.

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Up next, hopefully sooner rather than later, a more dramatic evening than I would have liked.
 
Thanks for the CL offerings update... We can't wait to go back.

Take your time and enjoy the update.
 
Please do not rush. I usually take about 6 months over my trip reports. Trip reports are there to be savored. I love the photos of all the treats at the Club Lounge.

Corinna
 



















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