Compromise is a Disney word: Taking one for the team over Thanksgiving 2016* August PTR link! 5/28

[wdwnut61]

Beautiful pictures and Steve got a great shot of you on EE
Love the family shot and the ones of the boys. Your drink looked delicious going to have to look for that in March
I'm sorry and understand your frustration nothing drives me crazy like hearing what do you want to do...I don't know what do you want to do... then you make a decision and hear I don't want to do that

 

[kastoney]

Ok, I'm all caught up. Insert all my quippy quotes and thoughts here If you get over to Disney while you're at Universal let me know. As you may have heard we may be in the area

 

[MamaMeggie]

Congrats on a super fun job!! Getting paid to plan trips is a dream come true!

 

[Imagineer5]

But nobody would say they wanted to do ANYTHING. Anything I suggested was met with "if you want to" or, " I don't care", by all 3 of these guys. I wasn't at the point where I wanted to demand they do stuff or make all the decisions because in all seriousness, it's just not fun if you know nobody else wants to do what you're doing

Gah this is a HUGE reason why I can't travel with my mom again - this is how she is!! But then rolls her eyes when you suggest something too! It's really infuriating. Aria is excited about EVERYTHING right now, so that is why she is so much fun to travel with!!

It was about 10:45. Dinosaur had a short wait but nobody wanted to ride. Nobody wanted to go on the trails and of course nobody would go get their picture taken with characters. We'd missed the 10:30 FoW show I'd suggested we see since we had to go back to Starbucks instead of the bakery in Africa. So we wandered and came upon the Festival of the Lion King theater. Steve chimed in that he wanted to see it so we hightailed it over there to try catching the 11:00 show-it was now 10:53. The line was HUGE! As soon as we got on line they announced that they would try getting us all in but couldn't guarantee. Should we stay? They left it up to me of course so I said we'd wait a few minutes since I knew Steve wanted to see it and the boys missed it last Nov.

I can feel the frustration!!

It's ok, it was like 12:15! This is the sangria they serve in Harambe Market; I got it for the first time back in August and it's VERY good.

Sounds like it was a great plan!! LOL!

 

[princessemsmom]

I am SO happy that I am not alone! My DD can really get her panties in a twist and I just want to umm DRINK!! I usually go for a Bloody Mary from Dawa Bar, but will keep my mind open for that Sangria! I hope the 2nd Sangria made the rest of the day a bit better!

The weather here never really got that bad. So crazy how just a little further north so many things were disrupted. But now temp is dropping again...wish I was at Disney next week

 

[cinderkelly]

That means 5 whole days of not having 1 minute to myself other than when I was showering or.......in the bathroom, so keep that in mind later in the report when you're judging me!

I completely understand where you're coming from. I get exactly 15 minutes of "'me time" each day after I shower getting ready for work. If somebody's up early and wants to chat it throws my whole day off

Asia, enjoying sights along the way such as DiVine:

I've never seen her! So cool!

Nice little view of the Rivers of Light theater I MEAN, the Jungle Book: Alive with Magic theater I MEAN.......yeah

When are they ever going to get that thing finished??

You can see I was using the "erase my chins" trick

I'm going to have to try that trick someday. Does your Mom have a "make my behind look smaller"trick too? I sure could use that one

I know deep down that MAYBE they were trying to please me, or maybe they just......really didn't want to be there?? But nobody would say they wanted to do ANYTHING.

Don't you HATE that? You spend all this time planning for everything to be perfect for everyone to have the best time and then they get all "meh" on you!
I'd be making a bee-line for the bar too

It's ok, it was like 12:15! This is the sangria they serve in Harambe

The sangria looks really good. Funny story, on our most recent trip we were at AK at Harambe just getting a snack. I saw they had this awesome looking vodka, mango lemonade something or other drink so I ordered one. While all the other people's orders were being called out ( food) this older CM handing out orders yells out at the top of his lungs "Vodka!" Everyone stops and looks. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that vodka is for me...

 

[kittylady1972]

First off, yay for more Trips! Very excited for you and the Universal one sounds cool.

Second...what awesome flight prices and I'm jealous. I need to book our May flights today. Jetblue ended up going up but SWA went down so I need to act fast.

Third... ah family. I can't believe they didn't like FoW...it's a fave here and my family detests shows. We really need to do Lion King again soon too. Have yet to see AK at night so hopefully that happens in May. I also need to find that Sangria...sounds good. I can see my family doing the same about not wanting to do anything there so I know your frustration. Hope the rest of the day turned out Better!

 

[iheartbelle87]

Hi, I'm finally here again and TOTALLY LOVING the latest updates.... CSR?! My heart swoons... and a king bed to boot? Yes, please.... can't wait hear about your March trip and where you end up eating

Sounds like things were off to a rocky start at AK for you but thank goodness for sangria! I love FOW - whats up with Chris not liking it?! I say make him watch it on youtube until he agrees he likes it! hah!!

AND you brave souls riding EE... I rode it...once. I'm a scaredy cat!

PS- your hakuna matata shirts? In love. Where did you get them? I want to order these for DH and I for May.

 

[ariane37]

I'm sorry, but I'm laughing out loud at your latest update

Whew! I was afraid people would just think I was mean mommy/bad wife lol! That wouldn't change my attitude on future trips should I have to deal with this behavior again though lol.

It's so funny how we plan these trips and imagine (for months and months!) how these days are going to go and then we get there and reality sets in! It's a good thing they sell sangria in the park, AND that you now have two trips planned for just you and Steve! My one saving grace is that I have a daughter and she likes to plan almost as much as me. DS doesn't care to plan but will be the first to complain when he doesn't want to do something

Yes, I'm very glad we weren't in MK that day or I would have had to settle for a LeFou's Brew, and I don't think that would've calmed me as much I know days don't always go as you plan them and that's ok, it's the attitudes that got me, especially since 2 of them had pretty much just arrived And if you don't want to do something/go somewhere, GIVE ME AN ALTERNATIVE instead of just whining and complaining!!!

Flights of Wonder is one of my favorite things in AK…I skipped it from 2006 until 2013, but once I saw it I decided I have to see it every trip!

I do enjoy it also, I think we'd been 3x without seeing it until now. I'm not a huge bird fan in general but some of those birds are gorgeous!

The Lion King shirts return! I can't get Josh to wear his anymore He's seen too many people in them at this point, and refuses to wear it so it's my pajamas now.

LMAO! Ricky will NEVER, EVER put his on again after that day!!! I still have them and plan to pack it for Steve because I love mine, and hopefully Chris will wear it again, but Ricky definitely stands by Josh!

Oh, I would so love to buy in! I get emails from a few resale companies and totally have planned out what I would buy!

I guarantee in either March or May Steve will stop and talk to one of the DVC guys again.........

I have to say that the sangria looked so good. I will have to try that out. My girls are in their 20's and we are all looking forward to trying some adult beverages in the parks.

It is very good! That sounds like so much fun being able to try adult beverages with your kids. I got Steve a subscription (if you call it that) to a Beer of the Month club for Christmas. My stepsons are 28 and 25 and they've enjoyed sampling the beers with Steve from the 2 deliveries he's gotten so far

I would probably riot if I didn't get to go to Kusifari this trip because I am so looking forward to grabbing something(s) there. But since I am in charge this trip (we will see how long that lasts), I should be good....lol. However, I do usually have tons of gift cards for Starbucks bc its the go to teacher gift, so we will need to hit it up at least once on our trip. I'm thinking the one on Main Street in MK, though.

I laughed at this because I have tons of teacher friends and yes, they get tons of Starabucks gc's! Along with Staples and Barnes and Noble.........and mugs........lol, I try my best to stay away from those things for gifts since they get so many.
I hope you get to Kusifiri! If nobody else wants anything from there, walk away and go yourself! And then go get a sangria

Haha. I can't wait to get all our PP photos! We've never gotten family photos done so this will be in lieu of that

That's the best part of pp I think, being able to get everyone in the picture.

This is so funny because I was taught this trick before as well! It does sometimes look funny in photos but you are correct...only one chin!

Ha ha! Must be a mom thing we all pass down from generation to generation! I don't know that our boys will appreciate it though........

I think you made a very wise decision! And I'm glad you were able to grab another! You definitely needed them by this point! My goodness, you dealt with a lot of attitude! My sympathies!

You got attitude/issues back in June and you had my sympathies then. Here's to attitude free trips for both of us in 2017

I forgot to mention, though I may have before, that I have that same Hakuna Matata shirt for DH! I have seen it in several trip reports!

If you think you've seen it in lots of TR's, wait until DH wears it to AK! As Ricky and Josh, @Raeven's boyfriend found out, pretty much at least one member of every family in the United States of America who is traveling to Disney has that shirt So DH will feel like he's walked into a park of his twins, but don't tell him that lol! Ricky and Josh have both sworn to never wear that shirt again! In fact I didn't mention that yet but will now remember to put it in my next update!

Haha I feel like so many folks feel this way. Meanwhile I'm over here like OMG LOOK AT THE GROUND IT IS SO AMAZING and having a meltdown of happiness because Animal Kingdom is my magic place.

Very true, for most people it's their 4th favorite park. In fact a friend of mine who is planning to go for the first time in Oct. asked me which parks are "half day parks" and I laughed, then told her none, especially your first visit! Her DH and DS are huge SW fans so that means HS isn't half day and there is no way I can tell a first time visitor AK is. I think it's the most beautiful of the 4

Good call! They have some really talented performers. Burudika fangirl, party of one

e
Love Burudika! There's also a group of acrobats in Africa we caught in Aug. for the first time and saw again this trip, I'll have pictures in my next update. LOVE them! I can't seem to find out what their name is, though. I should probably just ask when I'm there lol.

I think it's hilarious that it was a negative no one got drenched on Kali

I hate getting wet on that but given the way I was feeling about those closest to me at the moment, I was hoping they'd get soaked

Your sausage looks yummy and I love the sides there at Harambe Market. I personally love the chicken skewer and the beef ribs. Can't wait to go back!

I'll have to try the ribs! It'll be hard for me not to order the sausage or chicken tikka masala though!

 

[ariane37]

Beautiful pictures and Steve got a great shot of you on EE

I'm sorry and understand your frustration nothing drives me crazy like hearing what do you want to do...I don't know what do you want to do... then you make a decision and hear I don't want to do that

Thank you again! Yes, I said in another response above if you don't want to do what I have planned, give me an alternative!

Ok, I'm all caught up. Insert all my quippy quotes and thoughts here

Oh I put in some good, quippy quotes and thoughts alright Thanks for doing a quick drive-by, I know you're busy down there recovering from one trip an getting ready for another

If you get over to Disney while you're at Universal let me know. As you may have heard we may be in the area

I wish! Because I would love to see you We'll have to pick a night and time and then raise a glass to each other, knowing someone else in a different Orlando theme park is thinking about us...............

Congrats on a super fun job!! Getting paid to plan trips is a dream come true!

THANK YOU so much! It truly is and I'm loving it!

Gah this is a HUGE reason why I can't travel with my mom again - this is how she is!! But then rolls her eyes when you suggest something too! It's really infuriating.

Did it with my MIL once - ONCE. Can't always escape traveling with those in your household though, but going with only 1 or at least less than all of them helps

Aria is excited about EVERYTHING right now, so that is why she is so much fun to travel with!!

I do miss the boys being younger, it truly is the best time to experience Disney!

I am SO happy that I am not alone! My DD can really get her panties in a twist and I just want to umm DRINK!! I usually go for a Bloody Mary from Dawa Bar, but will keep my mind open for that Sangria

And I'll have to try something from Dawa Bar next! Because I'm sure there will be a next time......... and I'm very glad it isn't just my family lol.

I hope the 2nd Sangria made the rest of the day a bit better!

It did!

The weather here never really got that bad. So crazy how just a little further north so many things were disrupted. But now temp is dropping again...wish I was at Disney next week

I remember this happening last year but reversed. We weren't getting anything and the city kept getting blasted! Such a short distance in realty really does make a difference. My mom is across the river in Ulster County, about 20 minutes away, and at times she can have 4 inches on the ground while we have nothing.

I completely understand where you're coming from. I get exactly 15 minutes of "'me time" each day after I shower getting ready for work. If somebody's up early and wants to chat it throws my whole day off

Ugh, I feel that, too. And then you feel bad feeling bad about wishing they didn't want to chat but at the same time you want to be alone!!! The life of a mom, I tell you

When are they ever going to get that thing finished??

Who the..........who knows

I'm going to have to try that trick someday. Does your Mom have a "make my behind look smaller"trick too? I sure could use that one

If she does she's keeping that one a secret! I'd also like someone to give me a "stop my arm fat from swinging around when I wave" trick too.......

Don't you HATE that? You spend all this time planning for everything to be perfect for everyone to have the best time and then they get all "meh" on you!
I'd be making a bee-line for the bar too

They just don't understand what goes into the planning! I don't even mind so much when plans get switched around, it's when nobody speaks up about what they want to do that really makes me mad. I do try to make the trip fun for everyone and that gets harder as the boys get older, and input from them is more important. But if nobody is going to help, then I'll just think about myself

The sangria looks really good. Funny story, on our most recent trip we were at AK at Harambe just getting a snack. I saw they had this awesome looking vodka, mango lemonade something or other drink so I ordered one. While all the other people's orders were being called out ( food) this older CM handing out orders yells out at the top of his lungs "Vodka!" Everyone stops and looks. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that vodka is for me.

HA! I would have said, "Salut!" real loud with a big smile on my face!

First off, yay for more Trips! Very excited for you and the Universal one sounds cool.

I'm really looking forward to Universal, especially since I've never stayed in any of their resorts and we get to tour them all.

Second...what awesome flight prices and I'm jealous. I need to book our May flights today. Jetblue ended up going up but SWA went down so I need to act fast.

Did you book? We just totally lucked out with those prices by getting online at the right time I assure you, it'll never happen for us again lol

Third... ah family. I can't believe they didn't like FoW...it's a fave here and my family detests shows.

Steve is ok with it but yeah, they both loved it when we saw it last which was probably 2014. Boys are annoying!

Have yet to see AK at night so hopefully that happens in May

I hope you do! Even though they don't have anything up and running in the theater, it's so very pretty at night and the Tree of Life Awakenings are worth seeing.

Hope the rest of the day turned out Better!

It got better!

Hi, I'm finally here again and TOTALLY LOVING the latest updates.... CSR?! My heart swoons... and a king bed to boot? Yes, please.... can't wait hear about your March trip and where you end up eating

I will definitely report back on the trip in some way or another

I love FOW - whats up with Chris not liking it?! I say make him watch it on youtube until he agrees he likes it! hah!!

LOL Chris is 11 going on 16 and has the biggest attitude ever when everything isn't based around HIM. That's why he didn't like it this time. I love him to death and he has a great sense of humor but OMG, he has my sisters attitude and sometimes I don't know why she doesn't have a kid like that!

AND you brave souls riding EE... I rode it...once. I'm a scaredy cat!

You sound like Whitney @Whit64130 and TOT! How old were you when you last rode? Try again!! Especially at night, it's so much more fun! Although if you do decide to try that you may not want to read my next update

PS- your hakuna matata shirts? In love. Where did you get them? I want to order these for DH and I for May.

I got mine and Chris's at Kohl's and the other boys at Target! I was just at Kohl's yesterday and they have a different one for women (juniors section) that is still similar to mine

 

[frostymojo]

This is a great trip report, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

 

[ArielSRL]

Here's to attitude free trips for both of us in 2017

I'll drink to that!

 

[Jfsag123]

I have been laughing my way through catching up. Good times!

Going way back on this one, but I'm glad you caught Sergio in Italy! DH was called out as "that guy" when we stumbled on the show a couple of years ago and I laughed so hard. Instant fans.

I completely agree with you about Disney Springs. It's not that it's bad, but it doesn't feel like Disney to me. I really just want to be in the Marketplace, but now the buses drop so far away from there we may end up skipping it this time. Of course, I will likely have hell to pay if I do leave it out because the kids will miss Goofy's Candy Co. and DH will miss his happy place, AKA the Christmas shop. I may have to follow your lead and just excuse myself to go drink while they have at it.

I love you Smee shirt! I probably would have been walking around not-so-subtly gesturing at my shirt and raising one eyebrow at people to the point at which I would have been escorted from the park.

Congratulations on your extra Disney trip! So exciting! ...even if it's not in June.

 

[ariane37]

This is a great trip report, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Very glad to have you reading along and happy you're enjoying it

Going way back on this one, but I'm glad you caught Sergio in Italy! DH was called out as "that guy" when we stumbled on the show a couple of years ago and I laughed so hard. Instant fans.

Do you happen to remember the Ziti Sisters who used to perform in Italy? Steve was "Caesar" in one of their skits in 2012, it was great. I'm going to make sure we catch Sergio again in March or at least May since Steve wasn't with us when we saw him in Nov.

DH will miss his happy place, AKA the Christmas shop.

I LOVE the Christmas shop! This trip was actually the first one in a long time that I didn't go in, and I did miss it, so I'd sympathize with him.

I may have to follow your lead and just excuse myself to go drink while they have at it.

Yeah, I'll sympathize with your DH, but I'll go have a drink with you!!!

I love you Smee shirt! I probably would have been walking around not-so-subtly gesturing at my shirt and raising one eyebrow at people to the point at which I would have been escorted from the park.

But then as they were escorting you out, you could have pointed at your shirt and yelled, "You can't throw me out, don't you know who I am? It SMEE!!!"

Congratulations on your extra Disney trip! So exciting! ...even if it's not in June.

Thanks! But will the guilt trips from you people never end???
How about your next trip is in....... a month other than June lol??

 

[Jfsag123]

Do you happen to remember the Ziti Sisters who used to perform in Italy? Steve was "Caesar" in one of their skits in 2012, it was great. I'm going to make sure we catch Sergio again in March or at least May since Steve wasn't with us when we saw him in Nov.

I never saw them, but I heard about them. We have been bad about catching the WS entertainment. Going to try to fix that on our next trip!

I LOVE the Christmas shop! This trip was actually the first one in a long time that I didn't go in, and I did miss it, so I'd sympathize with him.



Yeah, I'll sympathize with your DH, but I'll go have a drink with you!!!

I find that acceptable.

But then as they were escorting you out, you could have pointed at your shirt and yelled, "You can't throw me out, don't you know who I am? It SMEE!!!"

Oh, now I almost have to do it

Thanks! But will the guilt trips from you people never end???
How about your next trip is in....... a month other than June lol??

It almost certainly will be because of my work schedule. But it will probably end up being during hotter-than-the-surface-of-the-sun July or August...

 

[Whit64130]

You can see I was using the "erase my chins" trick handed down to me by my mom, who learned it from her mom; whereby you raise and stick out your chin when pictures are taken so only one chin shows. I look weird but, I only have one chin

Bahahaha never heard of this but I will be keeping it in mind!

The line was HUGE! As soon as we got on line they announced that they would try getting us all in but couldn't guarantee. Should we stay? They left it up to me of course so I said we'd wait a few minutes since I knew Steve wanted to see it and the boys missed it last Nov. At 10:59 they announced they could most likely fit us all in but it was standing room only now lol, so Steve, who is the love of my life, almost had a cow and walked out of line

Oh my I can see Nick now....

At that point Chris started whining that we should've gotten a FP for it, why didn't I get a FP for it? Needless to say we didn't get in line. Back to food: one was hungry one wasn't. One wanted food, one wanted a snack. Steve got aggravated with them. Ricky wouldn't go by himself to get something. Then they all just stared at me asking what I wanted to do, so I walked away from them and did this:

Drinking always solves my problems

You sound like Whitney @Whit64130 and TOT! How old were you when you last rode? Try again!! Especially at night, it's so much more fun! Although if you do decide to try that you may not want to read my next update

I am still regretting my decision not to ride yet again....I doubt I will in April seeing how I can't get Chelsy to ride either. How about you tell Steve you need to make a quick trip so you can work on your TA skills and drag me on there... Ahh maybe November, Ashton is dying to get on there since she was too small last time.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

This was the first time any of us have actually seen her!

I've seen Devine a couple times, but I've read before that people have either never seen her or she's hard to find. I guess I just lucked into it. I think she's very cool. I hope she stays and doesn't become a victim of budgets cuts anytime. It's this kind of "atmosphere" that seems to be going away too often lately.

I loosely knew the storyline behind the ride and the queue, but I'd never really looked close at the items or read any of the signs. Here's a close up of the sign in the above picture explaining what all that stuff is:

I didn't pay close enough attention to the story either. But it really is well done once you stop to absorb it.

Then they all just stared at me asking what I wanted to do, so I walked away from them and did this:

I think every family has had those moments. I think I need to take your cue and just find a diversion. I would head for Dawa Bar for a rum cocktail, but it would serve the same purpose.

 

[kittylady1972]

I'm really looking forward to Universal, especially since I've never stayed in any of their resorts and we get to tour them all.

Did you book? We just totally lucked out with those prices by getting online at the right time I assure you, it'll never happen for us again lol

I really did like the Universal Resorts, or the ones we have seen so far. We've stayed at Portofino Bay and Royal Pacific and liked both. We had dinner at Hard Rock Cafe so saw a little bit of the inside of that one too. I'd love to see Cabana Bay and the new ones though!

I DID book our flights...updated my TR below. It feels good to have them done now!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Okay, so I've finally got myself all caught up on this!

As much as it's too bad your whole family couldn't be around for the whole trip, you must have really appreciated the one-on-one time with Chris! I'm an only child and my mom and I have taken a couple of trips just the two of us without any other family, and it's always such awesome valued time. Even if we bug each other once in a while... "Compromise" is a good word, actually. No matter who you travel with, seems like a word we have to use at Disney a lot...

Great that your other two boys could join a little earlier than planned and didn't miss out on BOG!

I would have been so frustrated in your situation about AK because it's probably my favorite park, at least tied with MK. Getting a couple of drinks was totally a good call!

Looking forward to following along with the rest of your updates...

 

[ariane37]

AK Part 2: I Don't Take No Dung from Nobody!
​

Before I continue with our AK day of dread, I want to address the elephant in the room-or rather the lion . Mainly because the story is funny and also because @ArielSRL and @iheartbelle87 mentioned our matching LK shirts in their comments.
I love MY LK shirt by the way, but the guys just tolerated theirs. Steve doesn't argue with me about matching shirts anymore, Chris whines a bit but wears them, but Ricky flat out refuses now that he's too cool at 14. I had to beg him to wear the LK shirt and the only reason he agreed is because his matched Steve's and not his brothers-because, you know, brotherly love
So as we began walking around we notice that pretty much every other person we see is wearing that same shirt as Ricky, and um......they're all girls. Like, girls around the ages of 10-12. Ricky is getting PISSED and I'm just Oooh it was so funny!!! Then we started seeing boys around Chris's age wearing it and a few men Steve's age. Ricky is telling me he's never wearing a matching shirt for me again and how embarrassed he is and I'm basically not caring, and yes this is all before my sangria. Eventually we saw guys his age wearing the shirt, but I'd say out of the 4000 people in AK that day wearing the same shirt, only about 247 were guys between 14-24 years old. So bottom line any of you who want those shirts, be prepared for your men and boys to possibly complain! @Raeven know what I'm talking about!

Back on track! When I left off we were finishing up a late lunch at Pizzafari/sangria aka Harambe Market food. In order to digest we took another look at the ITTBAB line and yes! It was down to 10 minutes. We all were excited to do this since it'd been years; Chris didn't even have any memories of it. I think other than eating this was the first time all day we were on the same page.
Got to see carvings on the Tree of Life we haven't seen in ages:







Now these carvings are pretty darn good!



Since the earlier part of our day had pretty much gone down the toilet, I thought taking this photo was appropriate!



Chris wasn't the only one who didn't remember ITTBAB, I barely remembered any of it. It's still not something I need to do often but I liked it and I'm glad we did it together. Everyone walked out STILL in a positive mood!
It was time for our next FP which was for EE so Ricky and I headed there. I can't remember exactly what Steve and Chris did while we rode but they probably just waited for us.......We now had some downtime until our safari FP. Even though it hadn't been that long since we'd eaten I stupidly brought up our 5:30 ADR at Yak and Yet-it was maybe 3:45? Steve said he wouldn't be hungry and we just shouldn't go. I let that slide while we headed toward Africa, but as we were walking I told them we'd be too early (FP was 4:15) to scan so why don't we try seeing the Street Parti? The conversation went something like this for the next 10 minutes: no, I don't want to, I guess if you do, I'm not eating again at 5:30, why can't we use our FP now, why didn't you book our safari FP earlier, no, no, why, blah, blah blah. I finally told them if they didn't want to wait to ride the safari they could go, I'd ride myself. Nope they wanted to wait so we watched the street party-I watched willingly while they watched VERY grudgingly:



It was ok; I had something else in mind for entertainment called "street parti". I'd been wanting to see it since it began and now I can say I have. I loved the music; I really like all the African music played around the park and by the bands, etc. And the woman in the red shirt and orange sneakers was a great dancer, very energetic. She kept trying to get more people to come up and dance with her but the crowd wasn't that big to begin with.
After about 10 minutes of watching we headed closer to the safari. There was still discussion going on about whether we'd eat at Y&Y. I wanted to; basically I'm hungry about 60-90 minutes after I finish a meal so I knew I'd be ready! Plus I told Steve we'd end up paying the no show fee even if we walked over and cancelled, even though I knew there was the chance they'd wave it. Bottom line I wanted to eat there; as I said in my dining report, I knew if we left and went to Disney Springs we'd all be hungry by the time we got there. Then we'd have to agree on where to eat which, given the day we were having, wouldn't happen. I let it go for the moment when we stumbled upon these guys on our way to the safari:
air



Those guys on the end are in the AIR!!!
I can't for the life of me find out what they're called, so I call them the acrobats in Africa in AK. Steve and I saw them in August, thought they were so fantastic we watched them twice in an hour! These pictures don't even do their performance justice, you guys should all make an effort to see them. It appears they don't begin performing until late afternoon though?? Here's another one:



Seriously, find these guys next time you're in AK
The safari was good, it wasn't quite dusk so we were able to actually see. Steve and I did the safari as the sun was setting in Aug. and while it was kind of neat, by the time we were done it was too dark to see anything and except for the lions, we saw way fewer animals than we normally do. We also normally ride first thing in the morning so, dusk or not, there were less animals now than early. Just our experience!
I had a secret conversation with Ricky as we walked off the safari and then announced to everyone that regardless of where they went, Ricky and I were going to our reservation at Y&Y. I was approaching "pretty hungry" and Ricky is always "always hungry", so there was no need to let the reservation go to waste. Ultimately everyone decided to come and we enjoyed our meal with the exception of Chris who didn't. Full once again we decided to spend a little more time in AK rather than going to Disney Springs, so Ricky got to ride EE at night. Since we were in Asia already for dinner we hopped right in line, which unfortunately was 40 minutes This was totally not my trip for SB waits! This line was every minute of that 40 too, but I got to take a couple more pictures.
This one I tried to get earlier but we had to move before I took it:



It's not really clear but behind the door is Ye-Tea. Ye-Tea. Yeti! Get it Funny, but not quite as funny as my "Hey, It's Smee" shirt!
This ones pretty clear though:



YES! Twice in the same day!
While we were in line Steve and Chris watched the Tree of Life Awakenings. By the time we were off we were all kind of ready to go, so other than a quick glance we kind of waltzed by the tree so Ricky still hasn't really seen that. We'd also pretty much decided we'd go to DS the following day since we had some open time.
I did slow down my pace to take this:



I wish I'd gotten some close up shots during the day because of all the park trees, I think AK is my favorite with all the animal themed decorations. But it still looks pretty at night and it's a beautiful sight to see when you leave.
I was glad to be ending the day and had my fingers crossed that tomorrow everyone would be less grumpy; however since I was the only one who had dessert Steve took Ricky over to Ample Hills Creamery while Chris and I went back and got settled in for the night. Ricky got the cotton candy, I reviewed it in my dining report but he thought it was good. Steve got 2 other flavors, one being the ooey gooey butter cake and he loved that. Otherwise, while he thought it was good and a nice option in addition to Beaches and Cream, it wasn't out of this world delicious where we have to make a special trip when not staying at an Epcot resort.
So....safe to say this wasn't our BEST day at Disney??? But it was better than when I got the stomach bug last year on Thanksgiving down there so there's that, and looking back it really wasn't that awful I'll end this post with our fortunes from Yak and Yeti which summed up our day perfectly (NOT!) but they do sum up our family and in the case of #3, sum up my Christopher perfectly: