Back to Back trips in August-The How Could You's Ride Again!- Final Thoughts 4/14

[RGirl]

Ugh - being sick on vacation is not good. I hope you get better quickly.

Okay - I'm not good at remembering everything when you hit me with several updates in a row. So I'm going to do my best!

Coral Reef - we went there on our first trip and LOVED it. I don't know why we haven't been back. I'm so glad you had a great time and great food!

Aww - I love World Showcase. How I wish I was there now…..

The Sunshine Seasons choices look pretty tasty!

How weird that they wouldn't be playing Disney music or voices under the water - I mean, if they're going to have ANYTHING playing, why wouldn't it be that?

 

[pamelasu1]

This first ride on Soarin'...didn't we get B1 without even asking? Man, it seems like a long time ago!



Not sure what Pam had or maybe she shared with K2.

I had the same thing as you....chicken and green beans! I think that's why there is no picture of mine.




The girls (big and little) did indeed take a dip. Disappointed to hear music underwater instead of voices. And it wasn't Disney music, either. If I recall correctly, we had a bit of Jimmy Buffet going and then some other Pop tunes.
We wandered over to the Cars area to check out their little pool and that part of the resort. Our family had done the tour of this section last summer when Cars area had just opened so I didn't do any photos from here.

Is when the girls left us in the Big Blue Pool and went swimming at the Cars pool? Or is that yet to come?



Loving re-living our adventures!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Ugh - being sick on vacation is not good. I hope you get better quickly.

Okay - I'm not good at remembering everything when you hit me with several updates in a row. So I'm going to do my best!

Coral Reef - we went there on our first trip and LOVED it. I don't know why we haven't been back. I'm so glad you had a great time and great food!

Aww - I love World Showcase. How I wish I was there now…..

The Sunshine Seasons choices look pretty tasty!

How weird that they wouldn't be playing Disney music or voices under the water - I mean, if they're going to have ANYTHING playing, why wouldn't it be that?

Being sick was definitely not the highlight of this vacation. Sunshine Seasons is very good. We didn't spend enough time during the day in the pool. Maybe the "voices" happen then.

This first ride on Soarin'...didn't we get B1 without even asking? Man, it seems like a long time ago!

I know. Doesn't it seem like forever ago? I think we asked for it this first time, but got it without asking the next time.



Not sure what Pam had or maybe she shared with K2.

I had the same thing as you....chicken and green beans! I think that's why there is no picture of mine.

Yep. After I had the update posted, I recalled that was why I didn't take a photo of yours. I think that happened a couple of times actually.


The girls (big and little) did indeed take a dip. Disappointed to hear music underwater instead of voices. And it wasn't Disney music, either. If I recall correctly, we had a bit of Jimmy Buffet going and then some other Pop tunes.
We wandered over to the Cars area to check out their little pool and that part of the resort. Our family had done the tour of this section last summer when Cars area had just opened so I didn't do any photos from here.

Is when the girls left us in the Big Blue Pool and went swimming at the Cars pool? Or is that yet to come?

I think they did go check out the Cars pool here.


Loving re-living our adventures!

Me too! Especially when I am freezing my buns off here.

 

[emmysmommy]

Hi Linda! I'm caught up finally.

That photo of your DD in the ballet - amazing! That is a beautiful shot.

We saw Wishes from the bridge by BoG once and it was the best location - just like you noted. It is really a hidden gem for viewing the show. I have to remember to try and make it back over there again for the fireworks.

So sorry you were feeling cruddy. At least you had a great meal at Coral Reef. My DD loves the mahi mahi there as well. What a great photo of the restaurant you had. Most people just share photos of the aquarium.

Will your DD be the proud owner of a Stitch in the near future??

 

[KatMark]

I'm sorry you still weren't feeling well and then had to deal with slamming doors and noisy mousekeepers.

Love me some Figment...glad your DD found him cute.

You did look awfully tired at lunch. We'd always read bad reviews of Coral Reef too, but Mary and I and the girls went two years ago and really enjoyed it so I took Mark back last year and he enjoyed it too. We are going for the Candlelight Processional in a week and I can't wait for the crab cakes and the Chocolate Wave.

UGH....rain! I hate rain at Disney.

Great pictures around World Showcase!

Glad you got a chance for a little dip in the pool; and your desserts look yummy.

I hope the cough medicine helps you sleep better and you wake up next the morning feeling better.

 

[KatMark]

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of your family, Linda.

​

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Happy Thanksgiving to you and all of your family, Linda.

​

Thank you very much. Same to you and yours!! May you have a wonderful, blessed holiday!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Hi Linda! I'm caught up finally.

That photo of your DD in the ballet - amazing! That is a beautiful shot.

Thank you.

We saw Wishes from the bridge by BoG once and it was the best location - just like you noted. It is really a hidden gem for viewing the show. I have to remember to try and make it back over there again for the fireworks.

Maybe we shouldn't be giving away all our secrets!

So sorry you were feeling cruddy. At least you had a great meal at Coral Reef. My DD loves the mahi mahi there as well. What a great photo of the restaurant you had. Most people just share photos of the aquarium.

Will your DD be the proud owner of a Stitch in the near future??

Hmmmmm, quite possibly.

I'm sorry you still weren't feeling well and then had to deal with slamming doors and noisy mousekeepers.

I do understand they need to get their work done, but truly wish they would not use those metal latches and continue to let the doors bang into them so early in the morning.

Love me some Figment...glad your DD found him cute.

You did look awfully tired at lunch. We'd always read bad reviews of Coral Reef too, but Mary and I and the girls went two years ago and really enjoyed it so I took Mark back last year and he enjoyed it too. We are going for the Candlelight Processional in a week and I can't wait for the crab cakes and the Chocolate Wave.

UGH....rain! I hate rain at Disney.



Great pictures around World Showcase! They were K2's photos. Mine are the smaller sized photos in this group.

Glad you got a chance for a little dip in the pool; and your desserts look yummy.

I hope the cough medicine helps you sleep better and you wake up next the morning feeling better.

I did feel better in a day or two. The cough was just something else. I started to worry I had the whooping cough!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Dis friends!!! May you all have a blessed holiday with your friends and family. Thank you for coming along with me and reading along in my adventures. I am thankful for the Dis and the friends I have made by spending my time here.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Hello again all!! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and spent time with family and friends.
Time to move on with this trip report!!

Day 3, Tuesday August 27th
Today was Rope Drop day at Animal Kingdom.

We went out to the car and drove ourselves on over, parking in the AAA parking spaces once again.

It was a bit crowded since we arrived at the turnstiles at 8:45am.

We made our way all the way to the right to the cast member entrance. The CMs began opening and we walked right in ahead of the masses after our Magic Band turnstile entrance was used.

We headed straight over to Everest for a quick ride and grab FPs for later.

Then we took a quick walk over to Harambe for a 2 week Safari!!

These photos are a mix of mine and K2s. Hers will show up larger. (and nicer)

The Rhino doing what he does best!

Hippo pod

Passing over the gators!

On toward the open savannah!!

A better look at the baby!

This one came right up to our truck!!

I love the ankole cattle. Interesting fact: These big horns are hollow and full of blood vessels. If they lose one of them in battle, the animal will bleed to death.

Love the elephant family.

And just in case you thought I was always getting the good side of the animals this time.......

The backside of a moving cheetah!

"in the jungle, the mighty jungle,..........

admit it,....you are now singing "A Wheeeeeeeeee eee eee eee eee a Whee ummm bummmm ba way"

Let's not forget the female!!

Hello Pumba!! So nice to see you out and about!

These birds are homely no matter how you try to spin it!

No two stripe patterns are the same.

This guy was lying down on the job as we reached the conclusion of our 2 week tour.

We disembarked our safari truck and headed back over to Everest, stopping for some photos along the way.

 

[mickeystoontown]

A ride on Expedition Everest and a safari! What a way to start your morning off right! You got some really good pictures on the safari. Looks like the animals were moving around quite a bit.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

We stopped near the tree and I took some photos of the carvings. It is amazing how the imagineers created this tree.

Then we stopped to admire the street dancers for a bit.

We continued on our trek to Everest. I know if you line this shot up right, the peaks of the statue mirror the peaks of the mountain. Obviously, I didn't take the time to make that happen.

Going up!!

Now we are really going up!!!

Quick photo from up top!! Can you see the AKL out there in the distance?!

Uh Oh!!

A successful run through the mountain once again!! Ummm, K2, the camera is on the other side!!!

Let's head on over to DinoLand!!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

DinoLand

Hey Look!!! It's Mrs. Huxtable!!

We forgot to look scared!! (or we didn't get the memo)

We headed back towards Chester and Hester's and a few of the group rode Primevil Hurl! (I sat this one out!)

Time for a snack!

And K2 got some of this...

The girls stopped for a meet and greet (and a dance apparently) with a couple of Disney Dogs!!

We shopped a bit in Dinoland and then headed off to Trek through another forest!

But first, a final stop at Everest where DD and I hit the single rider line for one last trip to the Himalayas.

another shot across from the top of the Mountain.

There was a little girl sitting with me this time, and her mom and sister were behind us. It was her first time. It is so much fun to ride this with a first timer!!!
I think we may have a problem here!!!

We survived another trip!!

We trekked on! Not sure what you guys stopped to see with the CMs here.

Uh, Pam? Are you supposed to be rinsing your hands in that water?!

We finally reached our destination!!! Coming up next..........A Trek through the Jungle!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

I love this area. It is so pretty, and the buildings inside are amazing.

Mr. Kimodo was on the move!!

And wasn't up for posing for a photo for too long.

The bats had just been served breakfast and were out there "hanging" around!

And now for the stars of the show!! And the reason for making the Trek!

They were on the move as well.

One more-just because they are gorgeous!!!

Found a Hidden Mickey on one of the walls.

Check out the ornate bird feeders.

Time to finish our Trek here and head on over to check out some Bugs!!!

We passed this pair up on our way.

Hi Flik!!! Photos don't turn out too well in here, so this is it.

After we let the small critters crawl out from under us, we headed out for one last stop before departing the park.

There was something I wanted to see here.....before it isn't here any more!

Any guesses? Coming up........where we stopped next.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

A ride on Expedition Everest and a safari! What a way to start your morning off right! You got some really good pictures on the safari. Looks like the animals were moving around quite a bit.

We had a busy morning. The animals were really out and moving. It was a great safari.
Thanks

 

[Tiggerrn2]

I left off headed to the Camp Minnie Mickey area of the park. You know, the section of the park that will be all blue and stuff soon. Or is it purple? No I think the Avatars were blue. Either way, not excited about this.

We were headed to a show!! K2 took some amazing photos-I sat back and enjoyed the show.

I just love those Tumble Monkeys!!!

My DD wants this job when she goes to work for Disney!!!

It was a great show, as always. We didn't have the usual singers for the show this time (and we all noticed), but it still was very good. DD and I saw the Lion King in Chicago. AMAZING show. This performance at Disney is entertaining as well, but if you ever have the opportunity to see Lion King on Broadway----GO!!!!!

We let the crowd shuffle out a bit and then made our own way out. It was time for us to head out for our lunch reservation. We stopped for a brief bit of shopping as we headed to the exit.

This is DD other choice of a job at Disney. I think she'd make a cute Rapunzel!!

It was now about 1:15 and we really needed to make our way out of the park. Time to head to lunch!!!!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

We were at the car at 1:27 and off in a flash to.....

We stopped off in the bathrooms downstairs there. I just love these sinks. I think one would look quite nice in my home!!

We looked for the "not so hidden" Mickey,

We were seated at lovely table near the windows overlooking the savannah. Looks like this guy was wondering what we were having for lunch!

Not seeing anything he was interested in, he decided to move on.

I may run into a little trouble with this lunch. I seem to have misplaced the receipt which helped me to remember what we ate. So I will give it my best shot.

DD is doing her best "Frump" imitation a la Jess! She was enjoying her berry smoothie. K2 was checking in on all her fans! Both girls were hot and tired.

We started with the Indian Style Bread Service with the Cucumber Raita, Mango Chutney, and Roasted Red Bell pepper hummus accompaniments.

My favorite is the cucumber raita.

I had the Tandoori Chicken on Naan Bread. Very tasty!!

DD had a sort of Chicken pot pie, but I don't see it on the menu so not sure what all was inside. I do know she really enjoyed it.

I think K2 had the beef short ribs with basmati rice (not sure what her other entrée was but may have been chicken)

And once again, I only have 3 meal photos, so either someone had the same thing, or someone shared their meal.

All the food was very good. This is a great option for lunch when you are having an AK day. It is nearby and a great break from the park. We were stuffed and decided to take a walk on over to Jambo House for a look around.

We made it over and DD wanted to go down to the Mara for desert now.

Cheesecakes, chocolate chip muffin and a chocolate croissant!!

Remember, I said it was HOT out and we walked off our lunch. It isn't that long of a walk from Kidani to Jambo House, but it was very warm. The girls were roasting.

and tired.

We made the decision to head back to our resort for a swim and a rest.

And I guess this was the day the girls wanted to check out the pool over at the Cars section because K2 took these photos next.

Around 6pm we readied ourselves and headed out of the bubble. We wanted to check out the Disney outlet shops. There are 2 of them not far from our resort. I have to say I was not overly impressed. DD found a cute backpack for $12 that she used the rest of our stay. But really I didn't see anything that was that great of a price. I was hoping to get a few pins that the girls could use for traders. But we came up empty. I think Pam did find a couple of items. We did hit a few other shops and the girls found some nice Sperry sneakers at a really great price. DD feet were bothering her so they were a nice find for her.

We stopped at a Starbucks for a treat!! Thinking of you Miss Kathy!! Then decided to head to DTD for a bite to eat and some shopping there.

We went to my favorite Earl of Sandwich!! DD had the kids pizza sandwich and I had a chicken bacon avocado wrap and diet coke. I don't remember what Pam or K2 had. It hit the spot. DD and I headed over to the Pin Traders shop. I used my AP discount and DD picked up a couple of the pins she was working on for her collection of Resort Pins for the resorts we have stayed at over the past 9 years. She is only missing the elusive Beach Club pin. Thank you Miss Kathy for trying to find that one for her during your stay. I also picked up one of the Epcot 30th Anniv. AP pins they still had.

We were quickly losing steam and headed back to the resort for bed. I wrote up a few notes for the day and it was lights out at 1212!

Coming up next........a Backstage Magic Tour followed by a trip Around the World!!

 

[RGirl]

Hey there! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I am back and all caught up.

WOW - you had a great AK morning. Holy cow! Willow and I are in full agreement that hitting EE as many times as possible is the way to go. I am jealous that you did the trail with the tigers - I dream of getting to do that one day.

Isn't FotLK so great? I sure hope they relocate the character meets somewhere great - the Camp Minnie/Mickey meets have always been way up on our favorites list.

Sanaa looks wonderful - I just love that you can see the animals while you dine! Someday…..

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Hey there! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! I am back and all caught up.

WOW - you had a great AK morning. Holy cow! Willow and I are in full agreement that hitting EE as many times as possible is the way to go. I am jealous that you did the trail with the tigers - I dream of getting to do that one day.

I love AK early in the day. But it does get warm fast. The tigers are gorgeous.

Isn't FotLK so great? I sure hope they relocate the character meets somewhere great - the Camp Minnie/Mickey meets have always been way up on our favorites list.

I am sure they will have the characters greeting still somewhere. That is a great place to greet! And there are never that many people waiting back in that corner of the park.

Sanaa looks wonderful - I just love that you can see the animals while you dine! Someday…..

They have a nice little kids menu available. The food was really good.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Wednesday, August 28th!! Pam and I were excited for this morning. We were doing the Keys to the Kingdom Tour!! At first, the girls were going to spend some time at one of the water parks until our tour was over, but they opted to have a sleep in and then go shopping that morning instead. Thanks to the Disney transportation system and now that the girls are older, we felt OK letting them hang by themselves for the morning.

We were up early and at the MK gates at 8:15am. We checked in at City Hall and received our "credentials" for the day. We ordered our lunch from the Harbor House menu at that time as well and could help ourselves to coffee or water.

The Halloween decorations have appeared since our visit here just Sunday!! Love the MK decorated for the fall season!

Also love coming in to the park early in the morning when there are so few people around.

Our tour didn't start until 9 o'clock, so we had time to browse about a little in the peace and quiet of the park.

We walked over to the little side street to have a listen to the piano and voice lessons. I think we may have been a little too early in the day. No one was in yet.

Someone did enter the tap dancing area for some lessons. We listened in for a bit and then decided to make our way back down Mainstreet for some photos.

I did the KTTK tour before in 2008 and learned about the names on all the windows along Mainstreet. They are all important members of Disney's cast and crew through development of the park and the attractions, costuming and voices of the attractions. It was all very interesting, but unfortunately, I am not good at remembering all the little details.

On with the photos.

We did a photopass.

Then headed into the hat shop for a listen in on a 3-way conversation. (Remember, the days of small town Mainstreets, phones were party lines and you never really knew who all was on the other lines.) There is a phone on the back wall of the hat shop. If you have a minute, wander in and have a listen. It's a funny little conversation. We eavesdropped on a lady telling her daughter she would need to "pretty herself up real good to get her a husband that would make $8 a week". Then the lady realizes the neighbor is listening in on the conversation and yells for them to hang up. Next she is asking her daughter to place an order for her for a size 42 Union suit. She didn't want her size getting out to the neighbor.

It was getting close to tour time, so we headed back out towards City Hall to wait with the others.

Next up....let's tour!!