Cue the Music: How we MADE money and slept with Ariel! Done!

[Grumpy's Wife]

You have been busy little camper. So glad both your kids will be joining you for your Thanksgiving trip. I love being able to see all the Christmas decorations up.

 

[micandminforever]

I am still reading along, and loving your reports.

 

[pooh'smate]

Oh my those people with the mattress on the top of their car!!!Can you imagine if it had rained?

 

[SweetSerenity]

Welcome back! You remind me so much of my mom. My 90-year-old grandmother lives next door to her, and she spends her days doing bout the same. Hanging out at the Dollar General, buying cat food at Walmart--anything Granny wants to do. I hope one day I'll be doing the same for her.

 

[BarbieGal457]

So happy to see you're back!! I absolutely love your reports.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Yay! So glad you are back!

Glad Lacey and Hunter (and maybe Mama) will be coming next trip! What days are you going to be there in November? We have a trip planned for the week after Thanksgiving, wonder if our dates cross at all? And that reminds me, I should start a PTR

I cannot believe Hunter is already 21! I've only gambled a handful of times in my life myself, and the few times I did go I set a $25 limit so I wouldn't lose all my money!

Hope your life calms down at least a little so we can hear more about your trip soon!

 

[mickeystoontown]

So glad you're back!! And howwww is Hunter 21 already??? Doesn't seem possible.

I know! It's hard to believe that he is 21!

Yay! So glad you're back - these boards have been missin you!

Thanks for sticking with me!

Whew, you have been busy. Glad you are back!

Thank you! We are busy but I wouldn't have it any other way.

glad you're back!!

and might idea if camping is super 8or motel 6 - i even went home top sleep during girl scout camp l!!

Oh I love me some tent camping. Just lying around with only a piece of canvas between you and the fresh air. Love it!

Good to have you back! We're going over Thanksgiving too!

Seriously!?! Where are you staying @MickeyReeds

Still here waiting! Glad you are back and that things seem to be on the up and up!! I can't wait to hear more!

I should have another update posted soon!

Well, the koala pic was nice....

Sorry that your pupper died. That is so tough!

Isn't the koala cute? It is tough losing a part of your family!

I'm glad you're back -- I always enjoy your TRs!

Thank you! I appreciate you sticking with me!

I was off the DIS for a while so I had no idea you started this! I'm all caught up now so you can go ahead with that next update.

Glad to have you back!

I was wondering what you would think about All Star Music. It is my favorite value resort but I will admit the rooms are definitely worn. Luckily they are getting ready to renovate all of the rooms! They are going to look like the new POP rooms when they are done. They've started on the All Star Movies ones and then will move on to Music once Movies is done.

The rooms are really in need of a good makeover.

It's funny because I've had one of those handicapped/king bed rooms two of the three times I've stayed there. King bed is not a category you can purchase so it's just luck of the draw but having only 1 or 2 in your party probably makes it more likely. The rooms are a bit small but I've never minded because every time I've stayed there I've been solo. October will be interesting though because we will have three adults in the room (me, Mom and my husband Jim).

I really appreciated the king bed and the location upgrade but the room was showing the wear and tear. Good luck with having the three adults in a room. We will have four in a room this Thanksgiving!

Here!! My baby turned 21 in June! Reading all I can on the disboards, and trip reports, because we're heading back in 2019 for the first time since 2009!

Oh wow! It's been a while since you've visited Disney! So much has changed! I'll be happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Glad to see you post again. You have been missed. Can't get rid of us that easily.

Thanks! I'm glad that you stuck with me!

Welcome back!

Thanks bunches!

I am a long time lurker, but am so enjoying your trip report that I want to make sure I don't miss any of it!

Thanks for coming out of lurkdome to let me know you are still reading!

I'm still here too... off and on as I can be.

I have been playing catch up on your report!

Welcome back

Thank you!

Still here!

Glad you stuck with me!

Welcome back!

So sorry to hear about your puppy! Losing a pet is so hard!

It really was a tough time! Mr. Beaker doesn't replace Copper but he does help.

I totally understand....a lot of crazy going on here too.

Girl, you and I both went through a lot these last few months.

Hey there! I was wondering if you would ever have time to get back around to this TR with all your busyness!

Gary and I were just in Shreveport a couple weeks ago and I thought about y'all. One of these days we'll have to figure out how to meet up and visit a bit. We were just talking about maybe doing First Monday in the fall when it isn't so stinking hot. I'll holler at you if we decide to go sometime and see if y'all might happen to be there so we can say hello.

@Connie96 you have got to let me know next time y'all go to Shreveport and if you go to Canton. We said that we weren't going to First Monday again until September or maybe October. We went in June and it was HOT as heck! But, just yesterday, I said that I was ready to go back.....if it was overcast that weekend.

Can't wait to read more of your TR.

Im still here! I understand being busy! I have not even touched my TR since I got back from Disney in May! I have had not one free weekend to upload photos! I should just bring my camera to work with me. Glad to see all is well. I understand the pain of losing a pup. My dog died on December 1, 2014 and I am still not over it. I miss that evil minion of mine so much! Love him, but he was evil lol.

You sound like me! I want to get over here but I just haven't had time.

I am sorry to hear about your puppy....even if it was three years ago. They are just like family.

 

[mickeystoontown]

You have been busy little camper. So glad both your kids will be joining you for your Thanksgiving trip. I love being able to see all the Christmas decorations up.

We literally have been happy campers. I'd be back on that mountain right now if it weren't so darn hot outside. I am excited to have the kids with us again!

I am still reading along, and loving your reports.

Thanks for sticking with me!

Oh my those people with the mattress on the top of their car!!!Can you imagine if it had rained?

John and I were looking at the mattresses with the sheets flapping in the wind and thinking that very thing!

Welcome back! You remind me so much of my mom. My 90-year-old grandmother lives next door to her, and she spends her days doing bout the same. Hanging out at the Dollar General, buying cat food at Walmart--anything Granny wants to do. I hope one day I'll be doing the same for her.

Thank you! Oh that's so sweet of your mother! I tell my mama this "You took care of me when I was a kid. Now it's my turn to take care of you."

So happy to see you're back!! I absolutely love your reports.

Thank you!!!!!

Yay! So glad you are back!

Glad Lacey and Hunter (and maybe Mama) will be coming next trip! What days are you going to be there in November? We have a trip planned for the week after Thanksgiving, wonder if our dates cross at all? And that reminds me, I should start a PTR

@PhoenixStrength right now our dates are November 15th to November 24th. I wanted to take advantage of free dining but it starts on the day we check out. And in order for us to not take as many days off work, we needed to go the week of Thanksgiving.
I cannot believe Hunter is already 21! I've only gambled a handful of times in my life myself, and the few times I did go I set a $25 limit so I wouldn't lose all my money!
We had $137.00 between John and I. John can blow through the money in a split second. I'm too tight.
Hope your life calms down at least a little so we can hear more about your trip soon!

I hope to have a post coming up tonight.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Here, man I hate camping, the work of camping-you just take your whole house and move it temporary, hence the people with the sheets on the mattress. But I love walking around and seeing everyone’s set up. It takes a small village like atmosphere.

I heard Thanksgiving time is not so bad, good luck.

Camping is definitely not for everyone. But I love it! I have three totes that we store camping supplies in so they are always ready to go! It does takes some time getting everything together.

You're back!

No need for excuses, but you have plenty of seriously acceptable ones.

Hey Dee! You know that my life is always busy as is your's.

So nice to read about what you have been up to, although I remember reading about how heartbroken you were when you lost Copper.

We can talk about him now and not cry. Our pets become a part of our lives.

Fortunately, my immediate family doesn't have the gambling bug. I think Mark and I have spent a total of $5 a casino- we got a roll of nickels for the slots and when that was gone, we were done. We stayed at a place that gave us $20 credit at a casino. We played with that and stopped. When we were on the Carnival cruise in August, Nate was able to legally gamble so we loaded $10 on a card for him. He didn't enjoy it and I don't think we even used all of the $. PHEW!

That's my kind of gambling. I'm too stingy with my money to blow it all. Good thing that Nate takes after his parents. I can certainly see how addictive it can become to some.


My kind of camping!

View attachment 334548

That being said, my son Nate is spending the summer out west working for the Conservation Corps, sleeping in tents in all kinds of weather and working trails. Not sure where he came from!

I would have loved to do what Nate is doing this Summer! I am sure that this is an experience that he will remember forever.

That is fantastic about your November family trip! I hope Mama feels she is able to come along.

Looking forward to more, my friend!

I want mama to go so badly but so far, we haven't been able to convince her.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Flying by the seat of our pants and trying another something new!

We left the gorilla trail and really weren't sure what we wanted to do. Kali River Rapids was running but I do NOT like walking around with underwear stuck to my rear. I've never been on Kali that I didn't get soaked. Not a little wet but soaked. As in we had to wring out our shorts and shirt wet. Not something that is very pleasant to me.


And that reminds me of something. We had two Animal Kingdom days planned so I can't remember if this happened on this morning or on our second Animal Kingdom day. But we were standing in the bus line that morning waiting on an Animal Kingdom bus and two ladies and a child were in front of us. They asked if this was our first trip and we told them it was our 24th trip. This was their first trip since one of them was just a little kid. They had Fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris, Navi River Journey and one other attraction. The mom wanted to know if you got wet on Kali River Rapids. I told her that we had always gotten soaked and we had never seen anyone come away without at least getting some sort of wet. I showed her a picture of Hunter and his girlfriend when they rode the year before and they were dripping.

We continued to talk while waiting for the bus. They wanted suggestions on counter service restaurants. i was surprised when they said that their travel agent hadn't given them any suggestions or tips. Whaaaaaat? That's one of the things that I always do. I offered some suggestions and told them what the various restaurants served. We chatted more and then the bus came.

Our bus looked like the one below....except our bus was full to the brim. We were on one side of the the bus and the ladies we were talking to were on the other. Then there were guests standing in the middle between us. We heard the ladies asking those standing if they had ever ridden Kali River Rapids. The standing guests said that they hadn't ridden it in years but didn't think that you got wet. The ladies said "oh we'll ride it then!" Is it horrible of me to have secretly wanted to see them when they got off Kali River Rapids?


Anyway, that little diddy of a story happened either on this day or on the second Animal Kingdom day.

Let's get back to our flying by the seat of our pants part of this report.

I found this pic in my camera roll:



Looks like I made our fourth Fastpass of the day. I was happy to find this one so that we could skip the standby line for the new nighttime spectacular at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Rivers of Light had been delayed for so long and hadn't been up and running when we were there in 2016. At that time, it was a Jungle Book themed show and we loved it. We were excited to have another "new" to add to this trip.

We were wandering around in the Animal Kingdom and weren't really sure what we wanted to do next. We ended up walking one of the pathways from Asia to Africa and we came upon the "Flights of Wonder" theater. Hum, this trip was all about trying something "new" and we had never seen it before so why not?

There was a castmember out front telling guests about an owl that she had perched on her arm. Lots of children participated in a little question and answer session. It reminded me of the days when Hunter was little and would always always raise his hand and ask questions.

Not long after, the theater opened and we took a seat near the aisle on the far left side facing the stage. We had a pretty good view of the stage. The show has changed since we were there but, at the time, the "story line" was that one of the cast members was scared of birds and the other was helping her get over her fear by introducing her to the various birds that were in the show. It was a little bit silly but we like corny, silly shows so we were enjoying it.

I am sure that these pictures are out of order but at least I have pictures which is better than I've been doing. The birds (and sometimes little mice) would come out of these windows.



See the toucan?


And I don't think that you can see it but there's a big black bird on the perch.



At one point in the show, the owl that was on display out front came out and joined the show. The cast member asked us all to be very still and to not raise our hands or stand during the next portion of the program. They told us how owls are hunters and they are so quiet that their prey didn't even know the owls were coming after them until it was too late. The owl flew right over our heads and we never even heard his wings moving. He was so quiet.

The eagle was one of the most impressive birds that was in the show. The "afraid" cast member came from the side of the theater and onto the stage so that she could meet the eagle. Look at how big the eagle was!

Now I'm not sure if this was something that was fake or real but when the guy brought out the eagle, poop went horizontal...almost splatting the cast member hosting the show.


Once the eagle left the stage, the 'fraidy cat came back onstage.




There was also a segment of the show where a bird sang a song for the audience. I have video but will need to get it uploaded.

The show was long enough to keep the guests entertained and I'm glad that we decided to choose this "new to us" attraction.

***Up next: It's raining, it's pouring, the gorillas are snoring!​

 

[Pluto0809]

I do NOT like walking around with underwear stuck to my rear

Totally agree with you on this one and it's why I have never ridden KRR. I just have no desire to be miserable the rest of the day. I have ridden Splash Mountain but have quite the love/hate relationship with that one. I do have a FP for Splash in August because I figure if I am going to get wet it might as well be during the hottest month of the year.

Is it horrible of me to have secretly wanted to see them when they got off Kali River Rapids?

Nope, I would be wanting to see the same thing too!

It was a little bit silly but we like corny, silly shows so we were enjoying it.

Yep, I love that Disney always adds a bit of a story line to all of their shows to keep you entertained while being educated at the same time! I'm interested to see the new version but I'm not sure if I will catch in in August because I'm only at AK for a 1/2 day. But hopefully in October we'll make time for it.

Now I'm not sure if this was something that was fake or real but when the guy brought out the eagle, poop went horizontal...almost splatting the cast member hosting the show.

I'm going to say real because I saw the old version of the show several times and never saw that happen.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Of course because we arrive November 26th for our trip! Someday our dates will line up!

I have seen Flights of Wonder a couple of times and did enjoy it. We will try to make time to see the new Up themes version in Nigember but we only have 1 day so not sure if we will get to this trip.

I always get soaked on Kali too. Our trip last year it was 95 degrees so we didnt mind at all but while I like the ride we do usually skip it to avoid being soaked the rest of the day.

 

[Woth2982]

I am with you on KRR! I do not like being wet period. I dont even like taking a shower (I promise you I do lol). It is my friends favorite ride so I rode it once with her, then she road it three more times in a row! I stood on the bridge and watched. I actually dont mind the Grizzly River one in California Adventure in the summer, because there is so little humidity and it is so hot the water evaporates quick. It lingers in Florida!

 

[MickeyReeds]

Seriously!?! Where are you staying @MickeyReeds

We will be at Saratoga 11/21-11/26 We rented points from my BIL. This is an adults only trip!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Flights of Wonder is my favorite show at Disney! I’m glad you enjoyed it too!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I am with you on KRR! I do not like being wet period. I dont even like taking a shower (I promise you I do lol). It is my friends favorite ride so I rode it once with her, then she road it three more times in a row! I stood on the bridge and watched. I actually dont mind the Grizzly River one in California Adventure in the summer, because there is so little humidity and it is so hot the water evaporates quick. It lingers in Florida!

Like you, I'll happily watch the others get soaked while I stand on a dry bridge. Hunter and his then girlfriend rode is 11 times in a row when we were there in 2016. They looked like drown rats.

We will be at Saratoga 11/21-11/26 We rented points from my BIL. This is an adults only trip!

I have a client who stayed at SSR and loved it!

Flights of Wonder is my favorite show at Disney! I’m glad you enjoyed it too!

I am glad that we saw it before they changed it up.

 

[ariel_fan76]

Just joining in and loving reading your trip report!!

 

[jdd]

How did I miss seeing a new (okay, maybe not so new!) Mickeystoontown trip report??? I love your reports and am so glad I stumbled on this one! We spent lots of time at the All Stars when the kids were smaller - such fun resorts with the giant icons. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures - we head down to the World in just 32 days, so I'm soaking up all the Disney I can in anticipation

 

[erinch]

I’m in! And only just started, so there was no lag for me! But now you better hurry up.

 

[Steppesister]

I've done the FOW show a few times and love it! So glad you got to try it out too. And yesh, some new guests can be so naive. And well, that interaction was just a bit.... rude? Weird?