Chasing a Dream: September Trip Report Update 12/11 FINAL THOUGHTS/TRIP FAVORITES

Great trip report... can't wait to read more :thumbsup2

I have to agree that that waiter was pretty nice looking :goodvibes

Thanks for reading/posting!

I just found this TR, and havin fun so far!

karen:goodvibes

Thank you! Glad you are enjoying it!

Great update!:thumbsup2 Glad you liked Ohana, it was one of our faves too! I totally agree though SO MUCH FOOD! I was laughing at the "bathroom break" comment! Glad you got to see Fantasmic and that the rain held off for you guys!:goodvibes

My DH has said he would definitely agree to go back as long as I schedule Ohana twice for dinner! :)

Enjoyed your update. We love 'Ohana too. Funny :lmao: same thing happened to my DH right after 'Ohana. Didn't agree with him and we were stuck sitting in the lobby for quite a while. Looking forward to your AK day.

Too funny, Ray will be happy to hear he's not the only one!

Love the pics from Ohana. We loved the breakfast there, can't wait to try the dinner, looks like fun and great food.:thumbsup2
Poor Ray, :rotfl2: 30 minutes? Were his legs numb:rotfl2:
Looked like Rachel enjoyed her cupcake:)

You will love Ohana. Dawn wanted to send Hunter in to check on Ray he was in there so long, but Hunter wasn't going for it! :rotfl:

I've been wondering where you were. So great that the rain cleared up so you could watch Fantasmic.:thumbsup2 BTW, I started my TR too! The link is in my sig.:goodvibes

My photopass cd arrives today, so I will be getting updates out faster now. I'm enjoying your TR!
 
I totally feel you DH pain about the bathroom issue. Been there, done that. Ohana's looks great! I think that that is going to be on the agenda next trip!
 
I totally feel you DH pain about the bathroom issue. Been there, done that. Ohana's looks great! I think that that is going to be on the agenda next trip!

Yes, 'Ohana is a definite must do!! It was the highlight of DH's trip!
 
Today was our Animal Kingdom day. We had Donald's Breakfast scheduled for 8:10am so we were up early and headed out to the bus stop by 7:40. A bus came pretty quick (thank goodness). Today was our matching shirt day, here are a couple pics on the bus:

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We get to AK and have to wait in line to give our names for our reservations so we could get in early. It was already hot and humid and by the time we made it to Tusker House, we were already sweating!! We wanted to stop for a pic in front of the Tree of Life, but we didn't want to be late for breakfast so decided to wait until later. We may it to Tusker House right on time and check in. After about 5 minutes they call us up for our pics. We had them taken separately and together, so 3 different photos.

We are taken in to be seated and they tell us it will be a while before the characters make it to our table, so we head up to get our food. While we were eating, they start the parade, so Hunter got up and joined in right behind Mickey. My pics are not very good so I'm not posting them from the parade. The light was directly behind us from outside so some of the pics didn't turn out so great.

The first character to make it to our table was Donald:
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(see what I mean about the light?)

I wasn't too impressed with Donald. He was in a big hurry and just wasn't going out of his way to make it special....:confused3

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But anyway, it improved as the characters came by. Next up was Goofy:

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Then Daisy (this was the first time the kids got to meet her, we missed her last year):

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Then Mickey:

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In between characters, our pics were brought to the table. The man was nice enough to let us split the packages, so we got a couple from each pose, and he even gave us an extra folder with the 8x10 of the characters for the price of one package! I will try to remember to scan in and post, I forgot to add them to the photopass cd.

Overall the breakfast was pretty good. It was kind of crazy in there, and felt a little rushed with the characters, but I would eat there again. The food was good and there was a pretty good selection.

We tried to hurry up and finish eating, take the kids for bathroom breaks and then headed straight out to the Safari. The wait time already said 30 minutes and we were there at 9:05!! The CM outside told us it would not be that long, so we went on. He was right, I don't think we waited 5 minutes! There was a line to the left and a line to the right. Hunter wanted to go right but DH said no, let's go this way (left). So we get on board and I was wondering if I was going to be able to get a good picture! It was a lot bumpier than I remember it being last year! Dawn & Ray didn't do the safari last year and Dawn looked kind of freaked out when it felt like the bridge was giving, it was so funny! :rotfl:

Here are a couple of pics that did turn out pretty good:

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We saw most of the animals out and about, so it was a great time to go. When we get off, we see that we should have took the line to the right, because that bus had the Dream Team waiting on them!!! They all got FP's! Me and Dawn were so upset! :laughing:

Next up:

Camp Minnie Mickey
 

Great update!

When we were at Tusker House they never took our picture for the photo package. :confused3

You are right, the lighting in the restaurant looks like it was really funky, wonder what was up with that. :confused3 The pictures still turned out nicely though. :thumbsup2
 
We did AK the same day. Fun to read. We arrived at 9. Picked up our stroller and went straight for the Safari. We were probably in line about the same time. We didn't see the Dream Team though.

Your friends are such a cute couple. Isn't it stange how after a few years, couples start looking like eachother!
 
We love to do the Safari ride first thing in the morning. DH likes to see the animals in the morning. Besides, it's too hot later in the day to be out. Is Tusker House a buffet? How's the food?
 
Great update!

When we were at Tusker House they never took our picture for the photo package. :confused3

You are right, the lighting in the restaurant looks like it was really funky, wonder what was up with that. :confused3 The pictures still turned out nicely though. :thumbsup2

That is strange they didn't take your pic? Did you go for breakfast? I think they only do it then. :confused3

We did AK the same day. Fun to read. We arrived at 9. Picked up our stroller and went straight for the Safari. We were probably in line about the same time. We didn't see the Dream Team though.

Your friends are such a cute couple. Isn't it stange how after a few years, couples start looking like eachother!

It was a great day to do AK, it was not crowded at all! That's funny, we probably walked by each other several times throughout our trips and didn't realize it! :laughing:

We love to do the Safari ride first thing in the morning. DH likes to see the animals in the morning. Besides, it's too hot later in the day to be out. Is Tusker House a buffet? How's the food?

I agree, it was almost too hot that early in the morning! Yes, Tusker House is a buffet (for breakfast anyway). The food was good, but not outstanding. I personally like Crystal Palace breakfast better.
 
I received my photopass cd yesterday! :yay:

Here are a few pics from our HS day:

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As soon as I finish uploading pics to photobucket I'll have another update ready!! :)
 
After the Safari ride and missing out on the Dream FP's, we decided to send the men to FP Expedition Everest while we take the kids over the Camp Minnie Mickey. We told them we would meet them at Triceratop Spin around 10:15. So we take the kids over:

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It was right at opening and there was only 1 family in front of us and no one behind us, so we got a lot of character time. First we met with Mickey:

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Then Minnie. Rachel had been asking to see Minnie ever since we arrived in Disney World and she was so happy to finally see her!

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Then next up was Goofy:

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After we left Goofy, the characters moved from up front back to their trails. We were standing there and saw a Dream Squad member standing at the end of Minnie's line. So we rush to get in line but they left. :confused3 Not sure what she was doing there so we decided to wait around a little bit to see if they came back. We called the DH's up and told them we would meet them at 10:30. So as we were sitting around waiting, this character came out, and Hunter was so excited:

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I just love those pics.

Well, the lines had thinned out, so the characters came back out again! So we had pics taken with Minnie again. Then here comes Goofy and grabs Hadley by the hand to come and meet with him! It was so cute!

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We also talked to a CM who was with the characters telling her we were hoping to see the Dream Team and she said that usually when they are there they give out FP's and you really didn't need them that day, the crowd level was so low. She was right, I think me and Dawn were just so involved with the thrill of winning! :laughing: So we decided to leave and go meet the guys, we figured they may be getting aggravated at this point, they thought we were crazy for "stalking" the Dream Team anyway! But we called them and they had went on to have their own fun, had went and rode Dinosaur.

We head over to Dinoland and Dawn sees Pluto and Goofy out. I had had my fill of characters for the time being and there was quite a line there, so she hopped in line and me and the kids went over to ride Triceratop Spin. We rode about 3 or 4 times one right after the other, no line at all!!

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After we did that, I saw Alan and Ray. Ray wanted Dawn's camera, she had put hers in my backpack, but as she was getting closer to the front of the character line, she noticed that there was no photopass person. So she sent Ray to get her camera. Well, after he took the camera over, she had to go back to get in line, which was already long again. Let's just say she was not a happy person!!! While we were waiting, I took some pics of the kids in the dinoland car:

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After this we went back to ride Triceratop Spin and get a drink and we could not find Dawn & Ray. Dawn had my phone, so we had no way to get in touch with each other!

We decided to stay around Dinoland waiting, and Alan took Hunter to ride Dinosaur while me and Rachel took a break in the shade. Ray found us sitting there and said they had walked over to EE thinking we would be there because our FP time was about to run out. He said Dawn was still ill so they would just wait there. After Alan and Hunter got through with Dinosaur we headed over to EE. We let Dawn & Ray & Hadley go first. I tried to get a pic of them on the ride, I did get it, but you can't even really see Dawn or Hadley and the pics is a little blurry:

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Hadley loved the ride. Dawn bought their photo from the ride. Then it was time for me and Alan to ride. We tried to get Hunter to go on it with us but he did not want to. I guess I ruined him with TOT? :confused3 :rotfl: So Alan and I went on.

Up next:

Bug's Life
Kali River Rapids - did we get wet??
 
Wow.. another great update Tammy! :goodvibes Plus I'm super excited to learn that you just got the photopass cd's! :thumbsup2 I'm sure it will take some time but I'm looking forward to getting my photos. Cheryl had surgery on her foot and a framed Disney photo might be just the thing to make her feel better!:wizard:
I can't wait to read the rest of your report, the kids are just adorable! :goodvibes
 
I love the matching Disney shirts. I also love the picture with the Incredibles. We had matching Incredible shirts and I suggested wearing them to get a photo with the characters. I don't know why but we didn't. I wish we had though. You guys sure did get pics with a lot of different characters.:)
 
Great update and photos. We met Koda the bear in Canada at Epcot last Oct. I believe that Kenai was there too. It was cool! I love it when the characters interact with the kids. It must be hard to do that day after day and still have fun.
 
Great update! I LOVE all the matching shirts!:thumbsup2 Your photopass pics. came out adorable! I can't believe how empty the Animal Kingdom was:eek: we have NEVER experienced that....it always seems 10 degrees hotter then it really is and always WAY TO crowded! So funny about stalking the dream team, it's obsessive isn't it!:goodvibes
 
Wow.. another great update Tammy! :goodvibes Plus I'm super excited to learn that you just got the photopass cd's! :thumbsup2 I'm sure it will take some time but I'm looking forward to getting my photos. Cheryl had surgery on her foot and a framed Disney photo might be just the thing to make her feel better!:wizard:
I can't wait to read the rest of your report, the kids are just adorable! :goodvibes

Hey Dana! I hope you got your photopass cd! Hope your friend feels better too!

I love the matching Disney shirts. I also love the picture with the Incredibles. We had matching Incredible shirts and I suggested wearing them to get a photo with the characters. I don't know why but we didn't. I wish we had though. You guys sure did get pics with a lot of different characters.:)

Yes, I really like that pic with the Incredibles too. We were very lucky with the characters this trip!!

Great update and photos. We met Koda the bear in Canada at Epcot last Oct. I believe that Kenai was there too. It was cool! I love it when the characters interact with the kids. It must be hard to do that day after day and still have fun.

I know what you mean, they are probably making faces inside the costume to entertain themselves! haha

Great update! I LOVE all the matching shirts!:thumbsup2 Your photopass pics. came out adorable! I can't believe how empty the Animal Kingdom was:eek: we have NEVER experienced that....it always seems 10 degrees hotter then it really is and always WAY TO crowded! So funny about stalking the dream team, it's obsessive isn't it!:goodvibes

Thanks! I really love our photopass pics, I love all the new borders they have added since last year. Yes, we were definitely obsessed with the Dream Team!! :rotfl:
 
Okay, so I know I promised quicker updates..... oops!! :rotfl2: My computer at home has not been cooperating with loading pics to photobucket, so I'm having to do it at work and I don't want to spend too much time because I don't want to get in trouble! :scared1:

Okay, so anyway, I think when I left off we had just did A Bug's Life and then we headed to Kali River Rapids to cool off on this very hot day. This was the longest line we had so far, I think everyone had the same idea! But it still wasn't bad, maybe 10 minutes. Rachel was not too excited about getting on this ride, but she went anyway, and of course, she gets soaked! She was crying saying "It's all your fault momma!" (I think she was getting coached by DH! :laughing: )

So after the ride, a lot of us were really soaked and ready to call it a day. Since we hadn't had our pics made in front of the tree of life, we met up with a photopass photographer on our way out... As you can see, my family got soaked, Dawn & Ray lucked out. Hunter's shirt was so wet, Alan told him to take it off so he could wring it out! :)

Here are some pics on our way out: (I really wish we had the time to take them that morning, we all look wonderful soaked! :lmao: )

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For some reason after the photographer took this pic, he then zoomed up for "a close up of mom and dad". It was zoomed it right on mine and Alan's face. That was a pretty pic, let me tell ya! haha That one was deleted from the photopass before I ordered it!!! :lmao:

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I had to laugh at Ray during this pic. The photographer was saying "look down at baby Simba" and Ray kept looking at the camera. I was over on the side laughing and when he realized what happened he laughed and told me to shut up! :laughing:

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I just love these shots of the kids with baby Simba:

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So we then headed for the exit to get some R&R before our night at Epcot. When we got back to POP we ate some lunch in the food court and then the kids wanted to go swim for a bit. Here are some pics at the pool:

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After the pool we went to the room for naps. This was around 4:00pm and we wanted to be at EPCOT by 7:00. This was the most rest that was scheduled the entire trip, so we took advantage! :rotfl2:

Coming up next: Our Night at EPCOT & dinner at LeCellier.
 
:laughing: Rachel is adorable with her "It's all your fault momma" after Kali.

I think the photopass pic with you guys all wet is actually kinda cool, it shows how much fun you guys were having. :thumbsup2
 
Hi,
Another great update! so cute! Yes! I loved the pics! Thank you again for a great job. :) The first time I went on Kali River I got so soaked. The only way I could describe it was by telling people that I would have been more dry had I jumped into a swimming pool! lol!
 
Holy Frijoles did you guys get soaked at Kali.:lmao: That's why I wear a pancho. Great update.:thumbsup2
 
:laughing: Rachel is adorable with her "It's all your fault momma" after Kali.

I think the photopass pic with you guys all wet is actually kinda cool, it shows how much fun you guys were having. :thumbsup2

Yes, I guess that's true, sometimes the best pics are the ones where everyone isn't all prim and proper! :)

Hi,
Another great update! so cute! Yes! I loved the pics! Thank you again for a great job. :) The first time I went on Kali River I got so soaked. The only way I could describe it was by telling people that I would have been more dry had I jumped into a swimming pool! lol!

Thanks! Glad you got your cd! Hunter definitely looked like he had jumped in a pool, I think we're cursed, we got soaked the other time we rode it!:rotfl2:

Holy Frijoles did you guys get soaked at Kali.:lmao: That's why I wear a pancho. Great update.:thumbsup2

Yeah I think next time I will be pulling out a poncho too! :thumbsup2
 












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