Bringin' the HAPPY back! A (do-over) Spring Break TR!

[michellem1118]

You can rent 24 from Disney, right?
15 points per night for a studio at WL...

Yep, up to 24 from Disney, at $15 per point. I'd only need around 15... or I might see what the DVC cash rate is at WL - book one night w/ the 15 points, and the other on the DVC cash rate if it's less than the $225 it would cost to rent 15 from Disney... or book one night w/ points, and the other w/ cash through the AP discount... and then just ask at check-in if we can keep the same room....

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Would they let you book a studio over at the villas?

 

[michellem1118]

Would they let you book a studio over at the villas?

Yep, there's a cash rate for it on the passholder site...

 

[CW4DW]

Great updates - I think you should stay at a moderate resort - we love Port Orleans Riverside... Just my vote!

 

[michellem1118]

Great updates - I think you should stay at a moderate resort - we love Port Orleans Riverside... Just my vote!

I'm leaning towards a mod right now... but it may depend what the DVC cash rate is for one night at a DVC resort, since we have enough points to cover one of the two nights we need....

I'm going to try to get an update up later today, after we get home from our grocery/birthday/mother's day shopping trip.

In the meantime...
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OK, for any of you who have done ADRs before the parks open (Crystal Palace & Donald's Safari Breakfast are the two we have booked this summer) - what's the best way to get there? It appears that busses don't start running until 1 hr before park opening... so... that would mean we'd get on a bus at about the same time as our ressie times. Should we plan to take a cab? Should I try to switch the order, so that the Crystal Palace ressie is the week we're staying at Bay Lake & can walk over, and then only have to deal with bus transportation for Donald's Safari Breakfast? We won't have a car with us on either trip...

 

[KathyRN137]

Buses do run earlier for early ADRs... we've done CP twice at 8am with a 9am park opening and have always been able to catch a bus to get us there on time!


Kathy

 

[michellem1118]

Thanks, Kathy! That makes me feel a lot better!

 

[michellem1118]

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

St. Patrick's Day dawned as a chilly, overcast morning. We were headed out to Animal Kingdom today, and were hoping to make it to rope drop. We were dressed (in green, of course) and ready to go in plenty of time, but there was a long wait for a bus, and then LONG lines at bag check once we got to AK. We missed rope drop by just a few minutes.

We quickly made our way towards my favorite Disney rollercoaster:

We got FPs, and then jumped in the standby line, which had a posted wait time of 15 minutes. I think we actually waited a tiny bit longer than that, but it wasn't bad. I took a lot of pictures of the regular queue, since we never wait in it...

And then some photos taken on the ride:

Here's our ride photo - you can see the camera in my hands!

After EE, we briefly considered Kali, but as I mentioned before, it was pretty chilly outside, and we didn't want to get wet. Instead, we headed down to explore the Majarajah Jungle Trek.

I think it was about this time that we noticed the camera battery was dying AGAIN, because I have no pictures of anything along the trek except the tigers from this visit.

Up next, we stopped for the Flights of Wonder show. We really enjoy this show, and hadn't seen it in a few trips. I managed to get a few pictures:

Next up, we headed to Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Our two-week safari was cut short, so we headed out in search of the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. We were hoping to see the baby gorilla like wigd and shocker.

Not as good as shocker's picture, but it's still a mom & baby gorilla.

After the Pangani Forest Trail, we decided we were hungry. We stopped at Pizzafari for lunch, where we shared an Italian sandwich. Then, we headed back towards EE to use our FPs. I took more pictures, but they look basically the same as the ones I already showed you.

With nearly everything done that we'd hoped to accomplish for the morning, we decided to head back to BCV for a break. On the way out of the park, we ran into some PhotoPass photographers:

It was about 1:30 when we headed out of AK. Up next: How do we spend the rest of our St. Patrick's Day? Do we achieve our goal of "drinking around the world"? And when will we see our DIS friends again?

 

[KathyRN137]

Great Safari pix!

I love the expression on John's face, above!

Keeping my fingers crossed for another DISmeet!


Kathy

 

[vamassey1]

Your pictures are great. I really like the photopass pictures too, but the Stitch one is a hoot. I've never seen one like this. They are really adding more and more cute set ups.

 

[micandminforever]

Your pictures are great. I love the stitch one. I could see Mama and baby in the picture, so cute.

 

[MeMom]

Tigers are just beautiful. So graceful and powerful. I am always glad when we get lucky enough to see them up roaming or playing, especially if they are playing in the water.

We are really, really, really hoping to see the baby gorilla on Friday!

I've got to stand in the regular line for Everest someday, too, so that I can get pictures. Maybe this summer. I have no desire to ride again, but I need queue pictures, since I Fastpassed it.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

John's fingers are just perfect in the Stitch picture too!

I love the way the tiger has the tip of it's tongue sticking out...

 

[michellem1118]

Great Safari pix!

I love the expression on John's face, above!

Keeping my fingers crossed for another DISmeet!


Kathy

Thanks! John does do a good job of hamming it up for those special PhotoPass pics, doesn't he?

Your pictures are great. I really like the photopass pictures too, but the Stitch one is a hoot. I've never seen one like this. They are really adding more and more cute set ups.

Thanks! The Stitch photo was fun. I had others I wanted to include, but I hit the 25 picture limit....

Your pictures are great. I love the stitch one. I could see Mama and baby in the picture, so cute.

Thanks! We could just see the top of the baby's head, it was so cute.

Tigers are just beautiful. So graceful and powerful. I am always glad when we get lucky enough to see them up roaming or playing, especially if they are playing in the water.

We are really, really, really hoping to see the baby gorilla on Friday!

I've got to stand in the regular line for Everest someday, too, so that I can get pictures. Maybe this summer. I have no desire to ride again, but I need queue pictures, since I Fastpassed it.

The tigers are some of my favorites! I also hope you get to see the baby gorilla on Friday! Go through the Everest queue on a day when you're there for rope drop - if you go straight there, the standby time will be less than 5 minutes, so you won't waste time while getting those queue pics.

John's fingers are just perfect in the Stitch picture too!

I love the way the tiger has the tip of it's tongue sticking out...

In the Stitch picture, we were actually holding the box, it's just Stitch that was added in.

Our kitties sleep with the tip of their tongues sticking out, so I had to take pictures of the tiger sleeping the same way.

 

[michellem1118]

BREAKING NEWS ON THE JUNE TRIP!!!!!

I just checked the DVC website, and....


OUR WAITLIST CAME THROUGH! We'll be at Wilderness Lodge instead of SSR for John's birthday trip!

 

[SimmerBaggins]

BREAKING NEWS ON THE JUNE TRIP!!!!!

I just checked the DVC website, and....


OUR WAITLIST CAME THROUGH! We'll be at Wilderness Lodge instead of SSR for John's birthday trip!

Yay!!!! I just found your TR and have enjoyed every bit of it...and now, this great news! Congrats...!!!

 

[vamassey1]

BREAKING NEWS ON THE JUNE TRIP!!!!!

I just checked the DVC website, and....


OUR WAITLIST CAME THROUGH! We'll be at Wilderness Lodge instead of SSR for John's birthday trip!

Great news! WL is such a beautiful resort and much more manly than SSR.

Vanessa

 

[michellem1118]

Yay!!!! I just found your TR and have enjoyed every bit of it...and now, this great news! Congrats...!!!

Glad you made it over in time for the great news! I'm also glad you're enjoying the TR!

Great news! WL is such a beautiful resort and much more manly than SSR.

Vanessa

We've never stayed at VWL, so we're really excited! After July, the only DVC property in Florida that we haven't stayed in will be BWV... so that'll be my goal for June 2011!

 

[tinkgurl]

Yes! Your St.Patricks Day! We had to have been in the same area (EE) at the same time!! And at the trails at the same time too!

 

[michellem1118]

Yes! Your St.Patricks Day! We had to have been in the same area (EE) at the same time!! And at the trails at the same time too!

Really? I'm going to go check my photos again and see if I can spot you in any of them!