Disney dangled the visual weinee & Mickeystoontown gobbled it up! 10/26

[mickeystoontown]

Hey Lisa. I know it has been a while since I posted. Haven't been on in a while. I am all caught up and won't try to comment, other than it was me on the train. Hope your mom gets to go this time!

Hey Melody! Now I remember that it was you on the train! I'm so very sorry that I didn't remember your name before now.

 

[Chicago Mo]

Great fun update! I adore your articles! I know a celebrity!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Happy New Year Lisa!

I think I'm caught up now. I totally understand your feeling overwhelmed over the season!

Welcome to the family Copper! We can't do pets in our home due to allergies, but I can definitely understand the sway a cute puppy can have.

Looks like you were still having fun in AK. I haven't actually tried Pizzafari--I keep heading for Flame Tree every time I'm there. But the meals look good (except for the gelatin layer ) and finding Hidden Mickeys is always a treat!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Great fun update! I adore your articles! I know a celebrity!

Gurl, I am hardly a celebrity. Just little ol' me.

Happy New Year Lisa!

I think I'm caught up now. I totally understand your feeling overwhelmed over the season!

Welcome to the family Copper! We can't do pets in our home due to allergies, but I can definitely understand the sway a cute puppy can have.

Looks like you were still having fun in AK. I haven't actually tried Pizzafari--I keep heading for Flame Tree every time I'm there. But the meals look good (except for the gelatin layer ) and finding Hidden Mickeys is always a treat!

Happy New Year to you as well! Copper is such a sweet little dog and has been doing really well with his don't poop in the house training. We're getting there.

It's been quite some time since we've eaten at Flame Tree and I want to give it another try.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Trekking and praying our way through the Asian jungle!

We left Pizzafari and headed towards Asia. Along the way, I spotted a hidden Mickey:



Hunter noticed that no one was playing the drums so he stopped for a minute to play a tune or two. The boy loves music, any kind of music, and has an ear for it.





We moved on along and I took a picture of a different view of the Tree of Life:



From here, my memory gets a little fuzzy. I can’t seem to remember if John went on the trail with us or if he stayed behind. I’ve mentioned before that John is not a big fan of the Animal Kingdom and is NOT a fan of bats which would be seen along the path that we were about to take. In times past, he’s chosen to sit out the Maharajah Jungle Trek but encouraged us to take as much time as we want. It's possible that’s what he did this time as well but I could be wrong. Maybe as I’m typing along and looking at the pictures, something will jog my memory.

Anyway, the Maharajah Jungle Trek is where we were going:



To our left, we spotted the first animal exhibit and this guy/gal was out sunning himself/herself...ya’ll can choose which one you think it is ‘cause I ain’t lifting it’s leg and looking :



Up ahead, we could see this sign:



Closer look:



But, we had to wait a little bit before we’d see the tigers. First, there were bats to see. Lots of hanging upside down rats...I mean bats:











I am remembering now that John did, indeed, walk the trek with us. That’s why I don’t have many bat pictures. John’s not scared of bats but he doesn’t like ‘em either. Can’t say that I blame him much as they do look a little creepy hanging around in what looks like latex and their “junk” exposed for all the world to see. Yep, I said it. You were thinking it so don’t go shaking your head at me saying it.

Moving right along. When Hunter was a little bitty boy, he asked me why all the strips of cloth were hung in the trees. I read the plaque to him and told him that it was a Prayer Tree and that the strips of cloth were supposed to capture your prayers and hang on to them. He thought that was a pretty cool story and wanted me to take his picture underneath the Prayer Tree. Every year since, we’ve taken a near-identical picture:



Just to the right of one of the Prayer Trees is a mural and it has a hidden Mickey painted into it. Hunter found it many years ago and, again, asked that I take a picture of him beside it. It’s another picture that we take every year:





The walls of the “ruins” leading into the tiger area have beautiful murals painted on them and I know that there are at least a couple of hidden Mickeys worked into them. However, there were quite a few people around and I couldn’t get decent pictures:





**Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

As I said, it was getting pretty crowded so it was hard to get to the display windows to see if the tigers were out and about. Judging by the amount of folks hovering around one of the windows, we figured that there had to be a tiger nearby and there was:



People were jostling others trying to get a look and we were over it so we left it to ‘em. Jostle, push, shove all you want. I ain’t doing it. Instead, we walked on, around the corner where we saw this huge stand of bamboo:




and a cool carving into the stone:



At the next set of windows, there were less people and we could see another tiger lounging in the shade:



Soon, the people that we left behind in the other area, descended upon us and after snapping the one picture, we moved on again. The aviary section was very hot and humid and I’m not sure if that’s why most of the birds were hiding out or what but we didn’t see many.





What we did see was this pretty birdhouse:



A hidden Mickey:



And a large painting on one of the walls:



We exited the aviary through the groovy plastic chains:



Just as we got to the end of the trail, John’s phone rang. Shocker, I know! He actually did pretty dang good at staying off the phone this trip but sometimes he just couldn’t help himself. He and Hunter found a bench and took a load off while on the phone and checking the phone:



**Up next: This freakin’ hurts! It’s killing me! Oh, I’m gonna have a bruise!

 

[ddstratton]

This trail is one we've never done, and it's on our list to do! Love your pictures of it.

 

[melnbil]

You need to post side by side pics of Hunter at the Prayer Tree and Mickey, just for comparison. I love the trails.

 

[eandesmom]

It's been a while since I've been down the trail, I forget just how pretty it is!

 

[scottny]

Nice pics while waiting for ITTBAB.

Pizzafari = yum.

Nice pics on the trail. Vinny hates the bats too.

 

[MEK]

I love the M-trek! It's really one of my favorite places to visit in the AK. I actually really enjoy the bats. I think they are very cool, as long as they stay right there in their little habitat.

You got some great pictures of the tigers. They can be hard to photograph when they get up close to the walls.

What a great story about Hunter and the prayer tree. Love it!

We didn't see a lot of birds either the last time we went down that trail.

 

[natebenma]

Nice Hidden Mickey in the path. So is that on the way from ITTBAB/Discovery Island and Asia?

I love that you take a picture of Hunter in the same places every year. I wish we had done that, but the boys are so bad about having their picture taken.



I think the Maharajah trek is so beautiful! Dragons, Bats, Tigers and all!

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Love that trail, one of the highlights from our first trip back when DD wanted (like every other 7 year old girl) to grow-up to be a vet...since then she's gone on a Girl Scout trip to Texas A&M's vet school...and saw some actual procedures...she wants to do something completely different now

But we still love the trail.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I love those big, beautiful kitty cats!!! I've been lucky enough to see one play with a ball in the little pool they have. So cute!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Anyway, the Maharajah Jungle Trek is where we were going:

I can understand not wanting to see rats with wings. But that trail really changed my opinion of AK as a park. I wasn't super impressed the first time, but I really fell in love with the ruins and theming on that trail over time. It's one of the best spots in WDW at making you feel like you transported to another place.

Can’t say that I blame him much as they do look a little creepy hanging around in what looks like latex and their “junk” exposed for all the world to see. Yep, I said it. You were thinking it so don’t go shaking your head at me saying it.

I can't believe you looked at them long enough to notice.

He thought that was a pretty cool story and wanted me to take his picture underneath the Prayer Tree. Every year since, we’ve taken a near-identical picture:

Cool tradition!

Judging by the amount of folks hovering around one of the windows, we figured that there had to be a tiger nearby and there was:

And he's awake!

 

[mickeystoontown]

This trail is one we've never done, and it's on our list to do! Love your pictures of it.

I love the "theme" of the trail. You really need to take it next trip.

You need to post side by side pics of Hunter at the Prayer Tree and Mickey, just for comparison. I love the trails.

When I was writing the update, I looked through my computer to see if I could find an old picture but couldn't. I'll keep looking though.

It's been a while since I've been down the trail, I forget just how pretty it is!

It's so pretty isn't it.

Nice pics while waiting for ITTBAB.

Pizzafari = yum.

Nice pics on the trail. Vinny hates the bats too.

I wish that I had one of the salads from Pizzafari right now. Vinny and John would be sitting outside on the phone while you, Hunter and I went on the trail.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I love the M-trek! It's really one of my favorite places to visit in the AK. I actually really enjoy the bats. I think they are very cool, as long as they stay right there in their little habitat.

You got some great pictures of the tigers. They can be hard to photograph when they get up close to the walls.

What a great story about Hunter and the prayer tree. Love it!

We didn't see a lot of birds either the last time we went down that trail.

I think that the bats are cool as long as it's like you said...they stay in their area, not mine.

Hunter started the prayers way back when he was about two or three and we've kept doing it year after year.

Nice Hidden Mickey in the path. So is that on the way from ITTBAB/Discovery Island and Asia?

It was somewhere between It's Tough to Be a Bug and Africa where the drums were. I'm surprised that I was able to spot it on the ground with all the folks that were around.

I love that you take a picture of Hunter in the same places every year. I wish we had done that, but the boys are so bad about having their picture taken.



Hunter is a ham. He doesn't care if I take one or one thousand of pictures of him. I'm really glad 'cause I like taking pictures.

I think the Maharajah trek is so beautiful! Dragons, Bats, Tigers and all!

Me too!

Love that trail, one of the highlights from our first trip back when DD wanted (like every other 7 year old girl) to grow-up to be a vet...since then she's gone on a Girl Scout trip to Texas A&M's vet school...and saw some actual procedures...she wants to do something completely different now

But we still love the trail.

I love animals but I don't know that I could be a vet either. I don't like seeing anything that has to do with cutting stuff open or something in pain.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I love those big, beautiful kitty cats!!! I've been lucky enough to see one play with a ball in the little pool they have. So cute!!

Trip before last, we were able to watch a castmember feed the cats big chunks of red meat. It was cool to watch.

I can understand not wanting to see rats with wings. But that trail really changed my opinion of AK as a park. I wasn't super impressed the first time, but I really fell in love with the ruins and theming on that trail over time. It's one of the best spots in WDW at making you feel like you transported to another place.

I love the whole theme and vibe of the Animal Kingdom.

I can't believe you looked at them long enough to notice.

Wellll, let me tell ya, I've got a couple of pictures that show them in their full glory and it was not to be missed, that's for sure. There was no mistaking that they were males.

Cool tradition!

I am glad that we started it.

And he's awake!

I know! Usually when it's hot, they are asleep in the shade.

 

[mickeystoontown]

This freakin’ hurts! It’s killing me! I’m gonna have a bruise!

Phone calls and phone “checking” done, we hit the pavement again. It was almost time to use our Fastpasses for Expedition Everest but not quite. So, we stopped for a minute to watch the monkeys on the island. There were ducks swimming around and the monkeys were scared of them. Yep, scared of them. Every time the ducks would get close to land, the monkeys would scamper back up the ladder. It was quite funny to watch.





Ooh, watch out guys, there are ducks coming your way! Run! They would watch the ducks closely, eat what looked to be berries or leaves from the bushes and scamper off again if the ducks came near.







Scaredy monkeys!



After watching for a while, we realized that it was time to use our Fastpasses. While standing around, Hunter decided that he didn’t want to ride. John also didn’t want to ride. What? Are ya’ll kidding me? When I booked the Fastpasses, you both said that you would ride. Now, they were chickenin’ out on me. Finally, John took pity on me...prolly because I had my bottom lip stuck out like a toddler (not really)...and told me that he’d ride with me even though he didn’t want to. Hunter would stand around in the store or at the observation area and try to get a shot of us on the way down the big drop.

Ya’ll know my extreme fear of heights and may be wondering how or why in the world I would ride Expedition Everest. I mean, seriously, you can see allllllll the way over to a ‘nother park from the top. But, I like the ride and I’ll close my eyes or not look from side to side when going up if I have to. And, I pretty much have to.

John’s excuse for not wanting to ride? He says that it hurts his back and sometimes going backwards messes up his equilibrium which isn’t good for somebody with epilepsy. But, as with everything in an epileptic’s life, you can’t live in fear and he was feeling good thus he gave in.

I took one, just one, picture while in the queue because we were moving along at a good pace:



Soon, we were boarding our train and were ready to get our ride on! I was feeling a bit brave and took pictures instead of hanging on for dear life.





Plus, if I was looking at the camera, I wasn’t look off to the side at the biggest dang drop off in the whole park.



Look at me now.....I was still taking pictures. I’m so proud of myself:





Annnnnd, that was it. No more pictures because I was too busy hanging on. And John was too busy yelling “This freakin’ hurts! It’s killing me! I’m gonna have a bruise!” around all those twists and turns and drops. Poor thing, the ride really did a number on his back. Ahhh, he’d get over it. Just kiddin’! I promised that he’d get a back rub or that I’d walk on his back (he says that it relieves the pain when it pops like that) when we got back to the resort.

Our train slowed down and I took one last picture before we pulled into the unloading area:



We found Hunter standing in the observation area waiting to see us come down. He had taken two pictures but had no idea if we were in either one of them. We weren’t but I am still posting them because I think that they are pretty neat pictures.





**Up next: Find a penny, pick it up, all day long you’ll have good luck!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

I LOVE EE!!!! You should try riding in the front seat someday --- now that's a rush! And if the boys don't want to ride, there's always the single rider line that goes by fast.

So, scared monkeys afraid of the monkey-eating wild ducks! That must have been a riot to watch! Go get 'em ducks!!