"Bow to the all-powerful Birthday Button!"-Dec 12-20 TR (4/9 - FINAL POST MADE!)

[buzz for boys]

Fab update !! Got me stumped on the xmas tree though !!!

 

[If U Had Wings]

I didn't know that they had trees for the various characters in Camp Minnie Mickey. Probably because we really only saw the Lion King show there. I took a pic of that last tree and have no idea who it is themed to. Timon maybe?

 

[TinkerbellsMom0923]

Hi
Enjoying hearing about you trip so far. We are off to celebrate my 20 and 17 yr olds birthdays in 2 weeks and 5 days so I am interested in the birthday pin. By the way, I love Pop century, we stayed there last January but are staying at CBR this year. It was a great deal on the price...

 

[skier_pete]

I didn't know that they had trees for the various characters in Camp Minnie Mickey. Probably because we really only saw the Lion King show there. I took a pic of that last tree and have no idea who it is themed to. Timon maybe?

Good try, Timon DID have a tree, but this isn't it. (His was covered with bugs.) This was the Lion King himselfs tree, Simba! (Notice the paw print ornaments, and the "Simba" figure faces low on the tree.)

Hi
Enjoying hearing about you trip so far. We are off to celebrate my 20 and 17 yr olds birthdays in 2 weeks and 5 days so I am interested in the birthday pin. By the way, I love Pop century, we stayed there last January but are staying at CBR this year. It was a great deal on the price...

Hmm, stay tuned for the full power of the Birthday Button!

 

[wannago2disney]

I love the trees. so beautiful. We haven't seen FOTL yet but it is on the plan while we are there this time! looking forward to reading more...instruct me in the power of the birthday button

 

[EMom]

I started to call you more than once while we were at WDW, but every time I'd realize, "He'll never be able to hear me with all the noise," and put it off until later. Later would come and I'd be too exhausted. Eleven days of fun can nearly kill you. We finally tried the daring side of Mission Space and were glad we did. Watched the parade at AK from inside Yak & Yeti while having lunch and killed two birds with one stone. Braved MK on Sat. 12/19 and survived. Barely. DD managed to be the second kid to meet Tinkerbell in the morning and was thrilled.

All in all, it was great to visit for Christmas ONCE, but once was enough. The crowds were low and lovely until 12/19, but after that it was hideous. We are not made for crowds. I hope your birthday was a great one! Sorry we missed you!

 

[skier_pete]

I started to call you more than once while we were at WDW, but every time I'd realize, "He'll never be able to hear me with all the noise," and put it off until later. Later would come and I'd be too exhausted. Eleven days of fun can nearly kill you. We finally tried the daring side of Mission Space and were glad we did. Watched the parade at AK from inside Yak & Yeti while having lunch and killed two birds with one stone. Braved MK on Sat. 12/19 and survived. Barely. DD managed to be the second kid to meet Tinkerbell in the morning and was thrilled.

All in all, it was great to visit for Christmas ONCE, but once was enough. The crowds were low and lovely until 12/19, but after that it was hideous. We are not made for crowds. I hope your birthday was a great one! Sorry we missed you!

Hey Emom! I thought of you a few times...you should have tried my phone, I often had it where I could here it...as we sometimes separated and used it to get back together.

Oh, well. I agree on the crowds (mostly) though they were higher than late-August / September, they were pretty bearable, until Saturday at MK...just nuts...we came in at 2 PM for the parade and castle show, and left.

Also, the problem with going at Christmas is it is so disruptive at home, Christmas is a busy enough time without taking a week of it away.

Anyways, update coming tonight!

 

[skier_pete]

So, I haven't talked too much about the Birthday Button yet...let me say this. I really enjoyed wearing it for most of the week. The pre-dominant event that occurs when you wear the Birthday Button is this....everyone wishes you Happy Birthday. And I mean EVERYONE. Probably about 20 % of the CM you see will wish you Happy Birthday, as well as many of the Patrons. You also start to realize that about 1 out of every 20 people at WDW appears to be celebrating their birthday....so you find the YOU start wishing THEM "Happy Birthday"...it's contagious.

Now, I can understand that not everyone would like this...you are basically getting lots of attention that you don't normally get. But I thought it was cool. And every time someone said it, I responded with a loud "THANK YOU!". I also wore a 40th Birthday pin that flashed red LED lights when you pressed it. If anyone mentioned my age, I would flash that button at them.

I also had my DIS LGMH next to the two Birthday Buttons, that got the LEAST response...but one place I did meet a family of DISers was at lunch...so lets continue our TR!

So, we wrapped up FotLK (probably the only show at WDW that I will never get tired of - a trip without it would feel incomplete) we headed BACK to Africa for lunch at Tusker House.

DW and I LOVE the Tusker House lunch buffet. We consider ourselves foodies, but not "gourmet" foodies, we love variety...from a greasy burger to Filet Mignon, from bratwurst and sauerkraut to Falafel and Couscous, we love it all...and that we were LOVE it here. There is a wide variety of foods from both India and Africa.

One of our favorite Indian foods - Samosas - are available at TH. Samosas are a fried dough filled with potato, curry, peas and other veggies and spices. When made right they are incredibly delicious. Imagine our disappointment when our waiter tells us they changed them and they are not as good. After trying them, I agreed, sort of, they were still pretty good, but were somewhat inconsistent. Some of them seemed to have mashed potatoes and no peas or veggies, while others were quite tasty. The spice level was rather low.

The other food was all very good, and we overate immensely here. (I didn’t take any pictures – what an idiot!) After we ate lunch, we headed over to Asia to see the Maharajah Jungle Trek, one of our favorite parts of AK. While we were passing by the Tigers, they had given them an “Enrichment Toy”…basically a big plastic ball. When they threw it into the cage, the Tigers pounced on it like kittens. One of the Tigers brought it down into the water and was rolling around with it, while the other two paced, waiting for their turn. We got some great video, and a few good pictures:

Over a little further we had a long conversation with a CM about the elk/deer-like animals (Can’t remember their names) and their behavior patterns.

We skipped Kali River Rapids, even though it was warm enough to do it, but I did not want to be wet the rest of the day. DD had decided she wanted to do the kid stamp stations, so we got her stamp in Asia, and then did the one at Discovery Island. The one near DI is right behind the tree of life, and while she was looking at the bugs, DMIL and I enjoyed looking over the Tree of Life seeing how many animals we could spot. People talk about “taking the path behind the ToL” to see lots of animals…there were not many animals there, but you do get to really see the ToL close-up.

We then headed over to the Boneyard in Dinoland. DD loves the play areas, and while DW and DMIL watched her, I went off to ride Everest. I hadn’t bothered with a FP because I went in the single rider line. The wait in that line was probably all of 5 minutes. (There were about 15 people in front of me.) I got lucky and was put in the very back car. (For those of you not into roller coasters, while the front car is frequently sought out for its views, the best “ride” on a roller coaster is often in the last car. The physics of coasters makes it so the back car often provides a wilder ride than the rest of the coaster.)

Well, we wanted to catch the 3:45 PM parade, but it was only 2:30 PM when I got back, so I said, if no one minds I'll go ride Dinosaur. The wait said 20 minutes, and I was concerned that I wouldn't have time. I talked to the CM at the entrance and said "Is it really 20 minutes? I have to meet my family in about 20 minutes." This is where the ALL-POWERFUL BIRTHDAY BUTTON really kicked in. He said to me, "Since it's your birthday, here, take this." and he handed me a FastPass (actually it was a child swap return pass, but the same thing, really) which I then used to ride the ride. Yeah, Happy Birthday to me! Actually, I am not a huge fan of Dinosaur...for all the tech involved in it...it's basically a pitch black ride where an occasional Dinosaur that you can't really see pops out at you. Not bad per se, but if I don't ride Dinosaur on a trip, I don't consider it any kind of loss.

It was only like 2:45 PM when I got back to the Boneyard, so we let DD play until about 3:15 PM, and then we headed over to where the Oasis bridge to Discover Island is. We wanted to book out of the park after the parade. The temperature had gotten quite warm and was approaching sweltering, especially for a group of people just the day before had seen 18 C. We got some cool drinks, and tried to stand in the shade until the parade started.

The Jingle Jangle Jungle parade was pretty good...and we had a front row spot. This is the first time I've seen it, and I would probably call it my favorite daytime parade...which isn't saying much, since I am not a parade guy. (Except Spectromagic I LOVE!) But, I guess the getups were designed by Julie Taymor, who did the Broadway Lion King show...and you could definitely tell.

A few snap-shots for those that have never seen it, or never seen the Christmas overlay...

I didn't get any pictures of them, but there were about 12 stilt-walkers in this parade. How can they have stilt walkers for JJJ and not for FotLK? What gives? Does anyone know?

Anyways, Once the parade was over...it was out of AK, and off to....
...well, you'll just have to wait on that one!

 

[skier_pete]

So, we are leaving AK around 4 PM and heading over to ...the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We used this oppurtunity to cool down and relax for a bit, as well as check out the decorations, which is basically the giant tree as well as take a look at the Savannah.

This was our first time at AKL, and it certainly is beautiful, but a bit confusing in layout. We all had to use the bathroom, and when I was done, I took DD down to the see the Savannah overlook. DW and DMIL then tried to come down via the elevator (since they had the stroller) and ended up out by the pool instead. They never did get down to us. The Savannah was a pretty cool concept, there were a few animals out, Zebra and some other herd animal I can't think of right now.

Then, they were doing a craft project making Christmas ornaments by gluing Ostrich egg-shells onto an animal drawing. It was $5, but DD loves crafts, and we needed the rest so we let her do this. Overall, we spent about an hour here. Truth be told, while the decorations were nice, I found the side-trips to the resorts just to look at the decorations tough. While it gave us a break from the parks, it was a lot of traveling for very little return, so we ended up not doing as much of it as I originally planned.

At about 5:30 PM we went back out to the bus stop, next stop - DHS! We were primarily going over to see the Osborne Lights, but were hoping to hit a few rides/shows as well. When planning the trip, I had fretted over this pick, because it was an EMH night at DHS, but it was the best night to make it work. Boy, what a mistake! When we got into the park we had just missed them turning on the lights, and the crowds over by the Streets of NY were INCREDIBLE. To make matters worse, one of the wheels of DD stroller came loose, so it became very unwieldy. (Yes, she's 6 and we still use a stroller, wanna make something of it!)

Well, we were starting to get hungry and the crowds were so huge streaming into the Osborne lights area (they route you around to the back of the park to get into it, and then you come OUT in the front). We decided to ride Star Tours (our 2nd ride of the day! Yippee!) and then get something to eat.

Well, when we tried to eat, we first went to Backlot Express...right near Star Tours...but it was closed. So then we fought the crowds to get to the ABC Commisary, but the line was out the door (we are talking hundreds of people in line). We were so frustrated with the crowds we decided to just go see the lights, and then get the heck out of this madhouse!

So, we made our way to the Osborne Lights:

Very, very, very cool. Several streets are lit up completely covered with lights. They have what is supposed to be a radio station blaring Christmas music. (I found the "DJs" a bit annoying.) and every 10 minutes or so the lights "Danced" to a Christmas song. We saw them do "Feliz Navidad" and a few others. This was really terrific. I am not a huge fan of Griswoldian levels of Christmas lights on personal houses - the environmental conservative in me feels it is just a massive waste of our resources for the simple purpose of "Showing off" a little bit of lights is fine, but massive home displays really turn me off. But this, this was different. Just really impressive, and the first time it REALLY felt like Christmas to me at WDW. (In general, there were only a few times that it felt like Christmas the whole trip - I promise I will point them out.)

So, we left the park it was probably 7:30 PM, and we made our way back to the hotel and ate dinner in the food court. (Again a pretty good meal, I had the Veggie Lasagna, DD had the pizza (again).DMIL got a salad, and DW didn't have anything.) DD wanted to go swimming, so I agreed to a short swim. I don't know if I said this before, but you can tell a Northerner at a disney resort in December, (s)he's the one who's family is in the pool. They say the pools are heated, but I thought they were a bit on the cool side. We swam for about 30 minutes, and then hit the sack...as we actually have a longer day ahead tomorrow!

Overall, a good day. Crowds were moderate at AK, heavy at DHS and wheather was nice (almost too warm).

Next up - my actual Birthday, and it's MK time!

 

[If U Had Wings]

I have to agree with you about the FOTLK show. Overall, I'm not a huge show person when I'm at the parks, but I won't miss the lion king show. It really has a little of everything. The tumblemonkeys are my favorites. Last year I was upset when the family voted and Nemo won. I so much prefer Lion King.

There were stilt walkers when we were there in December. There was actually one guy standing right in front of my section. Maybe they just weren't near you? The afternoon parade at the AK is really the only afternoon parade that I bother to watch. I enjoy the big puppet float things, and the normal song is very catchy. We caught the Christmas one this year and I enjoyed it as well.

I loved the Osborne lights too. We didn't end up making it there until later in the week, but by the time we went I was feeling cranky and deciededly non-Christmassy. Being there just changed that completely and I left feeling like a new person. Very festive!

 

[skier_pete]

I have to agree with you about the FOTLK show. Overall, I'm not a huge show person when I'm at the parks, but I won't miss the lion king show. It really has a little of everything. The tumblemonkeys are my favorites. Last year I was upset when the family voted and Nemo won. I so much prefer Lion King.

There were stilt walkers when we were there in December. There was actually one guy standing right in front of my section. Maybe they just weren't near you? The afternoon parade at the AK is really the only afternoon parade that I bother to watch. I enjoy the big puppet float things, and the normal song is very catchy. We caught the Christmas one this year and I enjoyed it as well.

I loved the Osborne lights too. We didn't end up making it there until later in the week, but by the time we went I was feeling cranky and deciededly non-Christmassy. Being there just changed that completely and I left feeling like a new person. Very festive!

That's interesting that the Stilt-walkers were there when you were there...I wonder if they just had the day off on Sunday? There were definitely no slilt walkers in the show, though. It was a missing piece, though I didn't notice at first until my DW pointed it out...but then it was like a big (tall) gaping hole. The rest of the show was exactly the same - just no guys on stilts. I hope they're back the next time we go!

Otherwise, so much agree with everything you said! It wouldn't be a Disney trip if someone didn't get cranky though, would it!

SkierPete

 

[If U Had Wings]

It wouldn't be a Disney trip if someone didn't get cranky though, would it!

SkierPete

Definitely not! With me, I usually start to get a bit weary of not being able to escape people at some point. I know that sounds strange, but I'm so used to living alone and having some quiet time at night. A week of no time to myself starts to wear on me after awhile.

 

[Flossbolna]

Hi! I just followed over from I You Had Wings TR and only have read your introduction so far. Need to go back and read the rest!!

I really like it that your daughter doesn't want to be a princess! She is very sensible stating that she is a girl not a princess!! While I think dressing up and such is fun and cute, there is quite a bit of princess overload going on at Disney for me!

 

[skier_pete]

I really like it that your daughter doesn't want to be a princess! She is very sensible stating that she is a girl not a princess!! While I think dressing up and such is fun and cute, there is quite a bit of princess overload going on at Disney for me!

I agree, there are little girls dressed up as Princesses everywhere. Realizing this is coming from a guy...but I think a lot of that might be driven by parents. When you see a 3-year old with a princess dress and the whole BBB deal, I think to myself...."That's Mom doing that!" And, if they are driven to do that at 3, of COURSE they'll want to keep doing it as they get older. Though, I am sure some little girls dream of being a princess at a

For me, she doesn't want to be a princess, she doesn't need to. (Walking into Carosel of Progress, she was called a Princess again, and said "They keep calling me Princess." in a slightly annoyed tone.) But, I have never really pushed BBB on her...I am sure she's seen the ads, but have never asked for it....I've always said to DW..."when she wants it, we can do it, but I'm not doing it just to do it".

She definitely is not the type to go with the trends, last year she was an Owl for Halloween last year, the year before that she was Lara Croft (From the Tomb Raider video games.) I asked her since we are going to Disney in 2010, does she want to go as a Disney character...she has said she either wants to be a Flamingo or Lara Croft again. I think Lara Croft would be a better choice in the October heat...though I doubt Disney would let her wear her "guns". (They are model guns, don't actually shoot anything.)

Someone reading this might get a kick out of this: DW wants us to dress up as Pamelia Perkins and Hathaway Brown for Halloween at Disney. I love the idea, as I love a costume that 80 % of the people won't have a clue who you are, and 20 % of the people (but probably most of the CM) will find absolutely brilliant. (When DD wanted to be Lara Croft, that's what I thought that costume would do, and it was exactly....as we were trick-or-treating everyone once in a while someone would say "OMG, She's Lara Croft!")

 

[jennJK]

I think a lot of parents push princess stuff, but for my dd- it was all her! She hasn't even watched Cinderella more than once but somehow Cindy is her fave.

She is 3 and 2 weeks ago a woman asked her what her name was and she said, "princess." um, no, it isn't! She's always talking about princess this, princess that, it is cute yet annoying. I'm much more the jack skellington kind of girl, so if you see someone dressed in black, carrying a skull covered purse, holding hands with a princess in pink head to toe, that's me. Believe me, she's had firm opinions on things like her clothing since she was 2.

I don't feel like I should force my opinions on her if it's not endangering her, ykwim? She's in the princess danger zone!!!

Great TR so far! Thanks, I love that all powerful bday button! woo hooo!!!

 

[skier_pete]

I'm much more the jack skellington kind of girl, so if you see someone dressed in black, carrying a skull covered purse, holding hands with a princess in pink head to toe, that's me. Believe me, she's had firm opinions on things like her clothing since she was 2.

Thanks! That's a humorous mental picture for a cold snowy Saturday!

DD not anti-princess, she's just more interested in animals, and the Fab 5. She goes around saying "Mickey's my boy!" a la Stacy from Top 7 must sees. (Actually, she would love to meet Stacy, too.

 

[Nancy for Disney]

We finally went into FotLK. An awesome show, as usual. But, where were the stilt walkers??? We couldn't believe they weren't in the show. It was definitely a little something missing. (I have a theory which I will share on Day 3, though.) Otherwise, it was a great show. They tried to pull DD into the show, but she continued to be stubborn and wouldn't join in.
(To be Continued!)

I agree with you comments on FOTL. It is my favorite show and the only one I would be willing to do on every trip. As a matter of fact we saw the show the day before you and there were certainly stilt walkers. I don't think they were on stilts very long but I have a picture to prove it. Look to the left.

Does that tree have a Lion King theme? I didn't even notice the trees. It makes me very mad at myself.

 

[Flossbolna]

I really love the character trees at AKL, what a cute idea! And of course I can't proof it, but my guess would have been Simba!

It's interesting to read about the birthday button. It will be my sister's birthday during our trip and I will try to convince her to wear it - but I am not sure how much she will like the attention. But I guess she will at least try it!

I absolutely agree with your view on costumes! And going as someone from the AC sounds very clever, unfortunately I would never recognize you. I only managed to get to the AC once.

Looking forward to the next days of your trip!

 

[wannago2disney]

Great update. looking forward to more!!

 

[skier_pete]

Does that tree have a Lion King theme? I didn't even notice the trees. It makes me very mad at myself.

I really love the character trees at AKL, what a cute idea! And of course I can't proof it, but my guess would have been Simba!

It's interesting to read about the birthday button. It will be my sister's birthday during our trip and I will try to convince her to wear it - but I am not sure how much she will like the attention. But I guess she will at least try it!

I absolutely agree with your view on costumes! And going as someone from the AC sounds very clever, unfortunately I would never recognize you. I only managed to get to the AC once.

Looking forward to the next days of your trip!

Very Close Nancy...Flossbolna is right...it is the Simba Tree! There was also a Timon tree we saw. I wish I had had time to take them all.

The Birthday Button is quite fun I thought...you really don't get anything of "value" from it, but you get a lot of Birthday wishes, a few songs (as in, the staff at a QS restaurant), a couple of "free" cupcakes (like I need more food) and if you are very very lucky...as I was...oh, you'll just have to wait a bit for that...