After a fairly good night of sleep, I woke up at 7am to Mickey saying Stitch was loose in the MK. Slowly everyone got up, I made coffee (love having a coffee maker and fridge in the room) and were out the door around 8. This was our first time using the buses, so I was a little nervous about the whole process. It ended being a good experience this trip, although we only used the buses a couple of times. A bus pulled up within a few minutes of getting to the stop, which is very close to our room (gotta love the location of Tokeleau!!). It was a 15 min bus ride to AK. We went to will call to turn in our GAD vouchers (Keith, Evan and I made breakfast casseroles for the Salvation Army for the homeless; Alex was considered to young to get the voucher even though he did help us). We used the GAD to upgrade to the military salute tickets. The CM was able to take care of our 3 gad/upgrades in one transaction, but Alex’s was a separate purchase (no big deal to me, but she acted like we would have a fit). We did add on the waterpark and more option this trip; it was worth a try for only $26! It took awhile to complete and when we finished, we went to the turnstiles on the way far left side of the park. We waited 5 min or so and they opened up. I didn’t see or hear any opening ceremony though; maybe we missed it, although I don't know how since we were there so early and not far from the turnstiles at the ticket booths. Were we were at the very left hand side turnstiles, they still had a cover on it and they never uncovered it. I was surprised they never did as I had read on TGM that they uncover them all. There were others in front and behind us waiting there as well, so we had to merge to the other ticket stiles. I'm sure there was stink eye in there from other people, but what could we do....
Evan took some pictures around the entrance while we did our ticket transaction.
When I'm trying to plan out each park day, AK has me the most nervous and most stumped. We ended up doing the same plan of attack as we did last year and it worked out fine. I am one of "those people" that plan out not only which park on which day, but a 1, 2, 3 of attractions. Now, in my defense, we don't necessarily follow it, but it nice to have for a "what do we do now" moment. I don't know that I even looked at my daily touring plans except maybe if we sat down for a break. After last year's trip when I decided that we WILL be back in the future, it didn't matter if we actually saw everything or not, that we would eventually see it on future trips.
Anyway, back to our day. Keith got fp’s to Everest while the boys and I headed to Dinoland. Alex wanted to check out some of the animals right away so we did for a little while and then onward. (trying to slow down, but commando in me want
ed to get going to stuff)
We stopped to meet Pooh and Tigger on the path right before Dinoland. We were the very first ones of the day there (sorry, those pics are on our photopass). After that Keith met up with us before we even hit a ride. He was either really fast or we were really slow that day. He took Alex on Tricerotop Spin while Evan and I went on Prime Evil Whurl. Afterwards, Evan & I went on Dinosaur while Keith and Alex played some of the games. Alex ended up winning four stuffed animals and was a very happy little boy.
It was nearing 10am, so we headed to
as we wanted to meet the characters while Festival of the Lion King was showing (shorter lines you know). We stopped to see Stitch on the way to CMM. Then we came across Pocahontas.
As we were walking to more characters, the CM’s kept trying to get more people into Lion King. We kept going…..... Then we saw Donald, Minnie, Mickey, Chip and Dale and Goofy all with very little wait. Chip and Dale didn't have a photopass photographer with them, but it was a hoot watching them interact with each other. The loved seeing pics of themselves in the autograph books I made.
You could tell the minute the 10 am show let out as the area
flooded with people and the lines for the characters were long. Once we finished up, we then headed over to the Lion King show for 11 am show. This was one of my "must do's" We lined up with a short wait outside before they opened the door. We sat in the lion section on the end. It was a wonderful show and we all loved it. At the end of the show, the boys were selected to parade around the arena with instruments and dance (pixie dust). It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to see it again!
By now we were hungry as we hadn’t had breakfast, so we went to lunch at flame tree bbq. Evan had the ribs, (came with baked beans and coleslaw with choc mousse for dessert and a bottled water and ate ALL the ribs!). I had the pork sandwich (came with baked beans) choc mousse for dessert with a water. It was supposed to be the key lime mousse, but they messed up and I didn’t catch it in time. This was the first time using the
DDP with all of us so I was a little nervous making sure we got everything that we were suppose to. Keith & Alex had the kid’s drumstick meal (remember Evan used an adult CS for his meal). Each came with 2 drum sticks, grapes and cookies. Alex didn’t eat any chicken, only some grapes. Keith ate all the chicken, from both meals. The seating area was pretty crowded, but Keith secured a seat before I arrived with the food. Good thing we found him easily. It really was crazy and we ate before noon. The small water in the picture below is the one you get with a kids meal. The adult bottled water is the larger one. I would order these and save them for later.
After lunch, we hit the bathrooms and then made our way to Africa to fp the safari. Keith battled the crowd while the boys and I waited near the Dawa bar/Tusker House Restaurant (I should have had a drink!) After the fp was in hand we headed see how long the wait was for Kali. Along the way Evan stopped to play the drums and we stopped for a photopass in front of the tree.
We hit the bathrooms and then made our way to Africa to fp the safari. Keith battled the crowd while the boys and I waited near the Dawa bar/Tusker House Restaurant (I should have had a drink!) After the fp was in hand we headed see how long the wait was for kali. Along the way Evan stopped to play the drums and we stopped for a photopass in front of the tree.
Kali was 55 min standby so we went on the trail nearby until it was time to get our next set of fp’s.
We grabbed some fp’s for kali and then went to ride Everest. Along the way we stopped for another photopass pic in front of the mountain. They also did a magic shot of the boys where Alex was jumping up and the balloons are imposed into his hand. It's really cute and I can't wait for the cd. While Evan & I rode Everest with 2 sets of fp’s, Alex & Keith went to Dinoland to play some more games since Keith still had vouchers left. Evan loved it this year and didn't have any problem riding twice in a row. It didn't bother me this year either, although Space Mountain would be later on..................
We met up with them in Dinoland, got some ice cream and then onward to Kali. After Kali we went to the safari. Safari had no wait either, standby or FP; we completely walked on this ride and could have done so without the fp's. After the safari, we were ready to leave the park, but we were blocked due to the parade coming back to the end in Africa, so we watched the rest of that until it was over, and then headed out of the park. It was a cute parade, but not a must do for next time.
We left around 4:15 and had awhile to wait for a bus. Once we were loaded, it then had to go to BB before dropping at the Contemporary and then Poly. We were headed to:
I have to tell you that I made these invites in my scrapbooking software. the background is actually from a picture that I took last year. You can see a portion of DS's hand on the top of the sign that I couldn't remove very well.
and 
I'm obsessed, what can I say? We, ok I, had a list of must do items that I hadn't been able to squeeze in before. It include Spectro and the Lion King show at AK and seeing the opening ceremony at MK. 
). We loved April with the low crowds and the Flower/Garden festival at Epcot so it was natural to go again in April of this year. However, after the crowds we experienced this year, I think we got spoiled by none in September, so I think our future trip (whenever that may be) will be in the fall.
) Loves the castle.
Loves all characters except princesses.
It was 20 minutes before departure and we couldnt figure out where everyone was and why our flight wasn't listed on the screen where we were sitting, so I headed to check the departure TV and sure enough our gate was changed and we didnt realize it. They were just starting to board when we got there, so no big deal. In my lack of sleep and the chunk hurling, I wasn't thinking too straight. I was just praying that the sickness was over................... and what would I do with our park plans and dining reservations. I was a little stressed at this point, especially with such little sleep.
He didn't catch the resort until the driver asked DH which resort and then Evan stood there kind of stunned. He had really liked the look of the volcano pool! The CM confirmed our info and we were ushered right on through. No one was waiting in our line so we got on a bus right away and they took off shortly afterwards. The first bus I saw was:
