All I Want For Christmas Is an Okapi, a Dinosaur, a Herd of Elephants and ...

[CandleontheWater]

I know I wasn't around much this TR, but I'm hoping to be active on your next one! I really hope you continue, I know they were an excellent resource for me when I was planning my first trip with Everett. I had some random person on the boards suggest reading your TRs to get advice on traveling with babies and it was really helpful! Now that your kids are older I'm getting more hints and tips, so I think they are wonderful!

For example, I have never seen pictures of the Chip and Dale campfire before. I wasn't sure if I wanted to take Everett, because he is a wild child and I was afraid to have him around open flame. Now I see that the fires are in brick enclosures, which is much safer, and now I'm thinking I can take him in Oct. See, you just keep helping people out! Now I just need to figure out if marshmallows are approved for TSA carry-on!

 

[MeMom]

Looks like a great first day! Can't wait to see more!

We were able to zoom through that one pretty easily.

I don't know if i will get the same
results as MeMom, but we check in at VWL tomorrow and I'll toss some coins for you!

Have Baylor throw the coins. It seems to work well when there are kids around.

Have a great Disney day!!!

I know you can watch fireworks anywhere, but somehow fireworks are just better at Disney!!! Always such a special part of a Disney trip!!!

I'm glad you mentioned the Campfire! I want to try it out soon! I've never been to Ft Wilderness but since you mention the internal buses, maybe we should go one of the days we rent the car. It might be easier just to drive there. Hmmm...I'll have to look into that!

Going back to read what I missed when I was soooo far behind on DISing!

I also hope to post a garden update soon! I know you enjoy those pics so I'll make sure to let you know when I post!!!

We had thought about getting a cab to go back to the room, but as it turned out, we just took the buses and boat, and we got to see the fireworks and EWP as a reward for our patience.

I could use that garden right now. I fix big salads to go with lunches and dinners at camp.

I too love to see your reports and family. Even though I am awful at posting... I do drivebys for pics and updates! I would miss your reports terribly.

We would miss our DIS friends if the DIS didn't exist. I hope it never goes away.

I looove the pictures of the girls with the Tigger, Eeyore, and Piglet! I've always had a soft spot for the Pooh characters.



I think the J sound is hard for kids. My oldest cousin on my dad's side of the family had trouble saying my dad's name, John, when he was little. Instead of Uncle Johnny it came out as Uncle Gonny. So my dad just had my cousins call him Uncle Bubba I've always been amazed that Kazin never had trouble saying Uncle Jeremy. He had more trouble with Leslie.

That deer picture reminds me of Vermont. We used to see them there more often than we do now. We usually see a few when my cousin Sarah is with us. I have no idea why, but I think she attracts wildlife Seriously, in the 50+ years my mom has been going to Vermont, she had never seen a bear. The last time Sarah came with us, we saw a baby bear crossing the street while we were in the car. The first time she ever came with us, a chipmunk ran past her feet the first day she was there. A couple months ago she sent me a picture of a baby squirrel sitting on her foot. It's so weird She's planning on coming this year so hopefully we'll have some wildlife sightings As long as we don't run into a moose or a big bear. The baby bear was fine. We were in the car, and it was the size of a big dog, but I'm glad we didn't stick around long enough for mama bear to show up

Awww I miss WL I loooove going to the Mercantile every day, and taking a walk from our room to Roaring Fork to fill our mugs at night. I always volunteer to do that; I love walking around WL. I love that place

I have seen a few bears in East TN in the past. It was pretty cool.

Wilderness Lodge is a beautiful place to stay and to walk around.

Oh, heavens! Now I wish I had been there for that dinner conversation!

I love, love, love your trip reports, MeMom! It's how I start my mornings!

Be assured, it was no one around here. I don't think this person is on the DIS at all.

It looks like you had a great first day!!

I love your TR's (as I hope people enjoy mine) and I love seeing all the pics even if not Disney related. I feel like I know a lot of you even if I have not met you & really enjoy all of it.

You are right - we feel like we know so many people from so many places. I will find myself saying, "I have a friend in NYC," like I have known Brook personally for years. Or when Michelle and Jeffrey were in Arizona, Mary said if they needed anything to let her know, and I felt good knowing that they had someone close in case of an emergency. We know a bunch of GA DISers, so if we are driving through there, we know we have people who could come to our rescue if we happened to need help. We even know people in other countries that we never would have known without this forum.

 

[thedonduck]

Are you in for coming to see Yehaa Bob on the 27th? Also, there will be a group of us on the Poly beach on the 3rd. Come on over!

I will put it on our calendar! We have never seen him before so it would be great to meet some fellow Dis-ers while enjoying his show!

 

[DWGal210]

MeMom, never once have I had even a slightly negative though about your reports. They are fabulous & bring the Disney magic to me each morning when I read.

I echo your statement about all the friendships. I consider my Disney friends some of my best ones! I also do the "I have a friend in NY" etc. we've bonded over our shared interests & I think that's pretty darn fantastic. With some of the negative aspects of the Internet, the Dis & our friendships is a great example of the best part of message boards. I consider us very blessed & lucky to have each other.

Have a great day!

 

[MeMom]

I know I wasn't around much this TR, but I'm hoping to be active on your next one! I really hope you continue, I know they were an excellent resource for me when I was planning my first trip with Everett. I had some random person on the boards suggest reading your TRs to get advice on traveling with babies and it was really helpful! Now that your kids are older I'm getting more hints and tips, so I think they are wonderful!

For example, I have never seen pictures of the Chip and Dale campfire before. I wasn't sure if I wanted to take Everett, because he is a wild child and I was afraid to have him around open flame. Now I see that the fires are in brick enclosures, which is much safer, and now I'm thinking I can take him in Oct. See, you just keep helping people out! Now I just need to figure out if marshmallows are approved for TSA carry-on!

There are several resorts that also do campfires that could be easier for you to do. They don't have Chip and Dale, but they have marshmallow roasting, sing-alongs, and movies. That I know of, Grand Floridian, Beach Club, and Port Orleans Riverside do this.

Wonder who the random person was who sent you our way. I am glad they did, and we are glad our experiences could help. Let us know if you get marshmallow approval.

I will put it on our calendar! We have never seen him before so it would be great to meet some fellow Dis-ers while enjoying his show!

Sounds great! We have a Via Napoli dinner, and then what we might do is get a bus to French Quarter and walk down the river to POR. It depends on how we are doing on time.

MeMom, never once have I had even a slightly negative though about your reports. They are fabulous & bring the Disney magic to me each morning when I read.

I echo your statement about all the friendships. I consider my Disney friends some of my best ones! I also do the "I have a friend in NY" etc. we've bonded over our shared interests & I think that's pretty darn fantastic. With some of the negative aspects of the Internet, the Dis & our friendships is a great example of the best part of message boards. I consider us very blessed & lucky to have each other.

Have a great day!

I find myself telling someone at church or school about 'a friend of mine in x state' that does such and such or had a kid who had a certain experience, and then I realize I have never even met this person in real life!


************************************************

Since it's not looking too crowded, this could be a good time for us to go shopping.

There is a shirt for every kind of Disney taste. This one is not my taste, but it's nice that they have things for everyone.

 

[MeMom]

 

[MeMom]

On this day, we were going to have a wild time at Animal Kingdom.

Brooklynn was getting into the dancing that a CM was encouraging at the bus stop.

I told them to act wild.

A little education to start the day.

For our bird lovers.

Cleaning the storage 'log'.

Our first ride was the safari, as it almost always is.

Coincidentally, I got mingoed via phone as I was writing this by DWGal Katie!

Some our favorite safari animals.

The safari was a huge hit with Kay and Brianna. When you aren't used to seeing things like this, it is very exciting, as you can understand. It's still exciting to us, isn't it, and we've been on dozens of safaris!

 

[Disneychix]

I'm finally all caught up! So glad to see Bella interacting on her own with the characters! Brought a smile to my face this morning!

You were very ambitious on your first day with just the grandmas and grandkids! I can't believe you traveled, did a park and did the campfire! Wow! Excellent!

 

[thedonduck]

Love the safari pics! We were at AK last week and the Mr. Lion was sleeping on his back with his feet straight up in the air! It was quite a sight. Our guide made a joke about the CM working the animonatronics (sp??) must have been acting silly this morning! Cracked me up! The trip was so much better without the poaching storyline.

 

[MeMom]

When we left the safari, Brooklynn met a new friend.

As she embraced this new friend, she said to me, "MeMom, I really need something with a long neck." I believe I texted a few of you at that point, because I found it quite funny.

I told her we would wait and think about it and that we would be seeing many things throughout the day. You know - the normal 'Don't make your decision first thing in the morning' speech.

Moving on (without something with a long neck, for now) we went through Pangani Trail.

Meerkats.

Lilly was putting on quite a show for everyone that morning, flipping and flopping all over the place!

In another area, there was a little animosity going on between a couple of big fellas.

Inside a shop, I adored these beauties.

The official Animal Kingdom mug for DISers.

The view from where I stood.

Looks like we're going home with something with a long neck.

AK characters.

Flying dinos.

We ate at Restaurantosaurus.

The view from my basket.

The view of my basket.

 

[MeMom]

I'm finally all caught up! So glad to see Bella interacting on her own with the characters! Brought a smile to my face this morning!

You were very ambitious on your first day with just the grandmas and grandkids! I can't believe you traveled, did a park and did the campfire! Wow! Excellent!

The girls and the grandmas held up fairly well.
Of course, if we had been really ambitious, we would have gone back to Hollywood for Fantasmic.

Love the safari pics! We were at AK last week and the Mr. Lion was sleeping on his back with his feet straight up in the air! It was quite a sight. Our guide made a joke about the CM working the animonatronics (sp??) must have been acting silly this morning! Cracked me up! The trip was so much better without the poaching storyline.

I am ready for them to get the zebra section up and running. We've been very lucky to have seen lions up several times - and even roaring a few times. It's so much fun to not only see that, but to see and hear the other people in the jeep oohing and aahing over it.






Our ticker now says: 9 days and 20 hours until we leave!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Aww, what fun you and Brooklynn must have had! It's written all over her face!
I spied my AK Mug!!!! I love that thing!

If you stop doing TRs I will quit DISing. It just wouldn't be the same.

I do feel like I know your family as so many others have said. And "knowing" you, you would only do this to share the love and joy of Disney. What other reason would there be? That's what this site is for! I just heard Pete Werner say those words on the podcast for the 15th anniversary show. He said the reason he started this site was to help people plan great trips to Disney. Those "others" just don't understand our love for Disney and how much we want to share it with people. It's like we said before how we feel responsible for people to have good trips - we give them advice, tips, show them pictures etc. And then we hope that they know enough to do things so they can have a good time. I have given so many people the same tips and information. Not everyone is wise enough to follow, but I do what I can. After that, well, it is what it is, right?

Now, you only have 9 days lady! Let's go!!! Are you packing yet?

 

[sunny_stace]

Oooh lots of shopping pictures! :haha: Now, not only do I love to shop, and especially for Disney stuff! But I also love your shopping pictures because they remind and encourage me to keep saving! If I've put something on hold at work and come home and see your wonderful pictures, chances are I'm not going to buy that item the next day! I transfer the money I would have spent into my savings account!

The campfire with Chip and Dale looks super fun! I bet the kids in my family would love it! I doubt we will have a chance to do it, but I will store it away in my memory bank for another time. And it looks like there was definitely fun being had at AK! You guys always have so much luck with seeing animals on the safari! But I can't complain, I always get to see giraffes so I'm happy! Brooklynn's new long-necked friend is so cute! I love how she's even showing it to Terk! I think it was definitely a good choice!

 

[vamassey1]

You really did get a lot done for your first night. I have always wanted to do the campfire. Now I fear Danielle is too old, she'll be 13 on the 25th. I do think she would enjoy the movie they do at several resorts.

You got some really great pictures on the safari and the trail. I'm not a bit surprised Brooklynn walked away with another animal friend.

 

[MeMom]

Aww, what fun you and Brooklynn must have had! It's written all over her face!
I spied my AK Mug!!!! I love that thing!

If you stop doing TRs I will quit DISing. It just wouldn't be the same.

I do feel like I know your family as so many others have said. And "knowing" you, you would only do this to share the love and joy of Disney. What other reason would there be? That's what this site is for! I just heard Pete Werner say those words on the podcast for the 15th anniversary show. He said the reason he started this site was to help people plan great trips to Disney. Those "others" just don't understand our love for Disney and how much we want to share it with people. It's like we said before how we feel responsible for people to have good trips - we give them advice, tips, show them pictures etc. And then we hope that they know enough to do things so they can have a good time. I have given so many people the same tips and information. Not everyone is wise enough to follow, but I do what I can. After that, well, it is what it is, right?

Now, you only have 9 days lady! Let's go!!! Are you packing yet?

You are so funny! Don't you ever quit DISing! We all have too many good friends around here.

I have done some packing, actually. I had to wait for one of my suitcases to come back from Colorado with Trent, but then he said he needed to take it to Atlanta this weekend. I talked him into taking one a little smaller, since he's only going to be gone for two nights. So, I took the medium one and started putting things in it.

The rest of today, I have been doing various tasks around the house, as well as working on making some kid-friendly cornbread for camp. It turned out okay, but I have had better. I want mine to taste like Corky's BBQ cornbread, and this fell short of that. I will try again tomorrow. I'm going to freeze it and get it back out next week. I also have to make some sheet cakes this week.

I feel like I need a whole set of those mugs, but I don't even have one!

Oooh lots of shopping pictures! :haha: Now, not only do I love to shop, and especially for Disney stuff! But I also love your shopping pictures because they remind and encourage me to keep saving! If I've put something on hold at work and come home and see your wonderful pictures, chances are I'm not going to buy that item the next day! I transfer the money I would have spent into my savings account!

The campfire with Chip and Dale looks super fun! I bet the kids in my family would love it! I doubt we will have a chance to do it, but I will store it away in my memory bank for another time. And it looks like there was definitely fun being had at AK! You guys always have so much luck with seeing animals on the safari! But I can't complain, I always get to see giraffes so I'm happy! Brooklynn's new long-necked friend is so cute! I love how she's even showing it to Terk! I think it was definitely a good choice!

I did a pretty good job at saving some food money for this trip. I probably won't get much in the way of souvenirs, but at least I don't have to eat PBJ every day this time.

The kids would enjoy the campfire. It was a fun activity, and for kids to be allowed - encouraged, even - to be around a fire is a big thing, of course! They thought it was very cool.

Well, the fire wasn't cool.
It was hot.
But it was cool, too.

You really did get a lot done for your first night. I have always wanted to do the campfire. Now I fear Danielle is too old, she'll be 13 on the 25th. I do think she would enjoy the movie they do at several resorts.

You got some really great pictures on the safari and the trail. I'm not a bit surprised Brooklynn walked away with another animal friend.

I would be surprised if you were surprised! There is no telling what she will come back with this time. I do know the 'long neck' category has been covered, though, so she can't pull that one on me again.

I think showing the movies at the resorts is a great addition. It's something different to do that is fun without being in the parks. Also, some of them have the screens set up where you can watch the movie while you are in the pool, so that's double fun!

 

[DWGal210]

Cool!! That mingo coincidence was pretty fun.

I love that safari. Such a great way to start the day.

I laughed at Brooklyn's "long neck" friend. Cute!!

 

[MeMom]

Continuing Animal Kingdom...

She possibly told me she needed something that roars or something with claws or something that is extinct. I don't remember, but I feel sure she gave it a try.

No luck on that one.

Our standard Animal Kingdom treat.

Time to go see a wonderful performance of Finding Nemo.

Long Neck was a little miffed because we were under the sea. She said giraffes do not belong under the sea.

We really enjoy this show....dude.

After Nemo, we went over to Animal Kingdom Lodge. We were on a mission to get some of those painted pieces for a special DIS friend who had been through some sad times. A lot of DISers had contributed to this cause, because they thought this person was well worth it.

Cast members who checked me out.

After they got it all packed up, there were some days of drama as we tried to locate it. It had 'gone missing' in transit, but finally arrived to its rightful owner.

In the afternoon, the girls swam a little while.

After swim and rest, we went over to Magic Kingdom,

because we were meeting a bunch of crazy people!

There was a decent-sized DIS meet - some dressed up to go to the party and some just meeting at the gate but not going in.

In happy news, we are going back to MNSSHP this year!

We went into MK for just a little while before the party officially started. The excitement could easily be felt in the air.

Note the time on the clock.

As much as we wanted to stay, we had to leave.

As we left and went up the ramp toward the resort monorail, I was surprised to see the really, really, really long line waiting to get into the park. Too bad those people didn't know about going in early, because they were using valuable paid-for party time, and that line was not moving very quickly.

More later.

 

[Happy Elf]

I LOL at Brooklynn's "needing something with a long neck." Here I thought I had heard all about every possible wanting a stuffed friend, but that is a new one! Glad she was able to get her new friend!

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Something with a long neck eh? Well I'm sure glad you scrounged something up for her!

Love the look of the Halloween party! I sooooo want to go on our October trip. I wish the ticket cost wasn't so high though.

Great update MeMom! Our community is putting on Peter Pan the Musical, opening this week. Morghan is playing Curly, who is a Lost Boy. He's kinda naughty. Even shoots Wendy!

 

[micandminforever]

It was great seeing the Dis meet and the ones that dressed up. DH and I are going to the party this year. I am so excited. We will not be dressing up but plan to have fun.

Once again the pictures from AK were wonderful and fun to see.