Divas, Zebra Domes, and Pixie Dust! A Week in an African Paradise! New TR Link Pg.145

[MEK]

I know I do -- there are a lot of times when I look longingly at the computer while the kids are working and think, "I could just see what everyone is up to on the DIS very quickly..." As the school year goes on, I do find myself doing that occasionally .

I think it would be very, very hard not to DIS at work, considering I am quite guilty of doing it. But I only sit near the computer when I am caught up at work. It's not like I have one stairing me in the face all day.....calling my name....."Mary Ellen....come DIS....just a little bit....no one will Know".

Wednesday dawned bright and early, and as I crept around getting ready for the day, I looked over at my sweet, sleeping babies and thought to myself, “I just don’t have the heart to wake them up early again.” We were supposed to meet up with Anita, Marc, and Baylor for breakfast at the Crystal Palace, but I decided I would just let the kids sleep instead. I texted Anita from Chelsea’s phone -- mine was still dying its slow, agonizing death -- and made our apologies.

Big mistake.

Really big mistake.

Bigger than a mistake.

More like a blunder.

A really big blunder.

An enormous blunder.


Guess who was the first one awake Wednesday morning?

Yep. Because he couldn’t wait to see Baylor again.

OK....that is sad. Poor Connor. But, honestly, how would you know that was coming? That sounds like something I would do. Boys are funny. You just assume they don't care and then find out they really do.

I passed a man walking in the opposite direction who was quite dressed up for that early in the morning, to whom I say “Good Morning.” He then says to me, “Early morning or long night?” That was when I noticed he had a beer bottle in his hand. Really??? At 7:00 in the morning??? Clearly his was a long night!

I think I managed to squeak out, “Early morning” before scurrying off to the Mara.

What is it with you and drunk/hungover men in the morning? And what a jerk....since he was clearly the one with the long night.

Soon, everyone was up, and we decided to see if there was any seating available at Boma. I really didn’t think there would be, so I was pleasantly surprised when they seated us almost immediately.

Ahh, Boma and a pot of French-pressed Kenyan coffee…

I took a couple of shots of lights for LL:

Yum...Boma. I have never had breakfast there, but if I had thought I had any chance of scoring an ADR there, I would have. Expecially when LJ had the rash and we missed the character breakfast at Ohana. Nice Boma pics!


Love your morning at MK and the pictures of the kids are great. Especially Chelsea in her "shades".

 

[SunnieRN]

Fantastic pictures!! I think the honey pots are cute (I rode with Connor 12 or 13 times last trip) but I agree with missing Mr. Toad and was quite shocked our first time there that it was missing.

I am really surprised that Charles wasn't raring to go, in the morning, after sleeping in and having a Boma breakfast?

 

[wsushocker]

It definitely WAS a blunder as she could have had breakfast with ME!

 

[MaryAz]

Got caught up last night-thought I posted....I am glad you and the kids enjoyed the Brown Derby. And the MK looked very fun.

 

[MRYPPNS]

I guess I'm the only mean mom here because I would have woken (is that a word?) my kids up for breakfast in the park.

There was a little girl sitting on the other side of me (maybe four or five?) who peppered me with questions about the princesses that lived in the castle. She wanted to know who lived there, if you could visit them, if you had to be a princess yourself to visit them. She was just precious, and I enjoyed my chat with her.

Did you recuit her for the DIS? Smart kid thou....you were probably the only one on that ride who knew the correct info.

I am more convinced then ever that Charles is just riding down with you in October so you don't have to travel alone and has no plans to leave the resort. No matter....you'll have my cel phone #

 

[If U Had Wings]

Sounds like a good start to your morning. I love getting to Fantasyland early. It's amazing how much you can see in a short period of time there. I'm still in morning over Mr. Toad too. Pooh just isn't the same for me.

 

[carissanboys]

My experience has been that if you time it right, it's pretty possible to get a walk up table at Boma for breakfast. The last time we were there it was practically dead. I just love their food.

 

[Lynn5700]

Hey! I know what you mean about Mr. Toad's Wild Ride being gone. But Pooh is such a cute ride. I love when you get to Tigger and the pot bounces lol!

Your conversation with that little girl sounds so cute. Aww!

I hope you guys got to see Tink.

 

[MeMom]

Can you guess where we headed?

Our first ride ever in a honey pot! (We had never ridden it before since I am still mourning the loss of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. I have tried to move on emotionally though, and I did spot the picture of Mr. Toad handing over the deed to Owl.)

I'm so very proud of you for overcoming your Mr. Toad grievance and giving good old Pooh a chance. Did you see the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride t-shirts? Really, if anyone needs to have one of those, it is you!

Fun pictures of times spent in Fantasyland. Looking forward to being there again in October!

I think next summer we'll do our last two days at AKL, which means we are going to finally get to eat at Boma. I have wanted to for a while, but I haven't had much support. I'm finally getting my crew to think about it, which means we will do it. I want to go for dinner, for zebra domes, naturally, but I may have to settle for breakfast to get Jill to comply. There are probably more breakfast things she would eat than dinner things. We'll see. I always like to see pictures and read reviews of any meals at Boma.

 

[julezdisney]

When I was doing research on the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I was excited about all of the activities offered for kids. One of them was the Ceramics Activity offered on Tuesdays and Fridays from 11:00 until 1:00.

Here is the description from the activity sheet we received at check-in:

Ceramics Activity
Join us for the ceramics activity and create your own work of art! This is a paid craft and prices will vary. Pieces are picked up the following day.

I knew this was something Chelsea would really get into doing. When we got back to AKL, Connor declared, “I am not feeling very crafty. Can I just go back to the room?” He and Charles headed back to the room to watch cartoons or something, and Chelsea and I headed to Simba’s Clubhouse.

They had several different pieces available to choose from -- giraffes, zebras, flip flops, tiles, several different types of boxes with lids. Chelsea chose a round box with a lid to paint. It was $15.00, and the CM explained that they would glaze it and it would be available for pick-up after 10:00 the following day.

Chelsea got right to work painting her box. She chose pinks, purples, and blues and decorated the box and lid with Mickey heads. It turned out so cute!

Here it is all finished and pretty:

Another great tip from CP! That turned out soooo pretty and that's an awesome souvenir she'll keep forever!

 

[julezdisney]

I'm all caught up (again) CP! Yay me!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Well, all I can say is that it was not our finest Disney morning ever either...
I'm glad you all got into Boma and weren't forced to starve! The kids looked like they had some fun in Fantasy Land, I'm really glad you got to ride in the Honey Pots!
I have once again noticed that it's just the you and the kids at MK.....

We all really liked our ride with Pooh!

Yep, Charles opted to meet up with us later in the day.

Isn't it two years in a row you canceled CP for breakfast? You need to get there sometime, perhaps a late ADR. It was yummy.

Glad you got a ride off the never done list....

Great pictures of the kids as always.

Have a good weekend!

Thank you! Yes, it's the second year in a row -- CP and I just seem destined to miss each other. I think next time I will schedule it earlier in the trip -- it seems like by Wednesday, we are always exhausted!

Oh I hope you find Tink...

Well, we found where Tink lives...

The name of your chapter sounds as if it came straight out of Winnie the Pooh. Cute!

Maybe subconsciously inspired by our ride in the honey pots.

How were you to know how upset Connor would be with your breakfast change of plans? You were trying to do the right thing for your family.

Yes, but if I had it to do over...

I'd love to eat at Boma some day. Both dinner and breakfast, please.

We ate at both this trip (and the year before), and it was delicious every time!

The pictures of your kids on the carousel are just great. They both are so cute!

Thank you! I think I have carousel pictures of them from every trip we have ever taken.

I am with you on missing Mr. Toad - I wish they had gotten rid of Snow White instead when they put the Pooh ride in. That SW ride is way too scary for little ones!
You said the magic word, BOMA, and I got all excited for pics...and then nothin but the ceiling! You tease. Do they have Zebra Domes at breakfast?

I remember being very frightened of Snow White when I was very little. I am still working on the whole food pics thing -- I did get a couple of pictures from our Boma dinner. No zebra domes for breakfast but lots of yummy pastries.

Oh dear, Charles didn't go to MK the next morning either?! So sorry Connor was disappointed (although he doesn't look it at all in the pictures ). I wouldn't call that a blunder at all. You were being thoughtful and trying to let them sleep!

Chelsea looks very glam in her sunglasses!

Looks like you had a good morning in Fantasyland. Hope you enjoyed Snow White... it still scares me!

Connor did manage to get into a better mood once we had breakfast and entered the Magic Kingdom.

Chelsea loves those sunglasses -- sometimes I have to remind her to take them off when we go inside someplace. LOL!

We did enjoy Snow White -- Connor was mad, though, that the CM made him sit on the inside like a little kid.

We haven't been on any of the rides that you did besides IASW in SO long -- I really want to do them all next time.

We hadn't done some of them in awhile either, and it was fun revisiting them.

I also think you are too hard on yourself; I know Connor is still young but I'm sure that if he was a little older, once he got over the initial disappointment, he'd be able to look at it as you trying to do what you thought was best for your family. Which it obviously was.

I hope you guys get to meet Tink!

I did feel bad though since he wanted to hang out with Baylor some more.

Awww...no big blunder You were being a good mom and letting your little ones get some sleep!!! Besides it looks like they were having a great time in MK!! Boma's breakfast looks so good!!!! I really should get over there and try it sometime!!!

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your day!!!!

Wishing you another good week at school!!!

Boma's meals are superb -- I truly believe they are the best buffets on the property.

Good luck at school this week -- I hope the masses of rain coming your way don't put too much of a damper on things!

How were Charles sugar levels while he was at Disney? I know my sister(who is usually the life of the party) is not fun to be around when her sugar levels are off.

Charles's blood sugar levels were so off while we were down there -- super high and super low. He went to the doctor about it soon after we got home. I am sure that was part of his problem while we there.

ok, good to know on the drinks! I hope he redeems himself, and then some! You deserve to be wined and dined after all that and I notice he seems MIA for breakfast as Boma as well....

Oh, Charles went to breakfast with us -- he just didn't come with us to MK first thing in the morning.

Awww...you meant well, and you know, even when they complain sometimes they just NEED the sleep and you were doing what was best for them. It's not a blunder.

In retrospect I should have gotten everyone up and out of there...hindsight and all that...

Ok, this is the second TR with someone at AKL with a beer bottle first thing in the am (or sleeping it off in a lounge chair by the pool). Hmmn! Wild partying going on at Kidani? Who knew!

Oh, that was on my TR also -- I just seemed to have a knack for attracting the revelers on that trip. LOL!

I too mourn the loss of Mr. Toad. In fact, he's one of the main reasons I'll go to DLR again since he is still there! That and that California Screamin' Oh and the Mondavi wine area. LOL!

I the ITSW commentary and the little girl with the peppering princess questions, how adorable!!!

I would love to take the family to Disneyland someday!

 

[Charleston Princess]

good update!!
Sometimes sleeping in is needed

Thank you! Yes, I do think everyone needed the extra sleep!

Although I have to tell you. There are going to be so many adults on this trip who will want to spoil the you know what out of my son, he may not have to choose between the two.

Gotta love traveling with grandparents!

Poor Connor! He must have been so dissappointed, but it looks like you make an excellent recovery. And I love the way you write, it just gets me sometimes.

Walking jauntily vs. drudging wearily.

Thank you so much!!!

You want to hear something amazingly ironic? The last time I was on IASW, I had someone doing a running commentary on what countries the dolls were from as well. It was kind of cute, but also easy to tune out and listen to the song. Which I love. Because I'm weird like that.

I love the song, too. Unfortunately, it was not easy to tune out this dad -- he had a very forceful voice.

I think it would be very, very hard not to DIS at work, considering I am quite guilty of doing it. But I only sit near the computer when I am caught up at work. It's not like I have one stairing me in the face all day.....calling my name....."Mary Ellen....come DIS....just a little bit....no one will Know".

My computer does that from time to time -- especially during my planning period.

OK....that is sad. Poor Connor. But, honestly, how would you know that was coming? That sounds like something I would do. Boys are funny. You just assume they don't care and then find out they really do.

Exactly!!!

What is it with you and drunk/hungover men in the morning? And what a jerk....since he was clearly the one with the long night.

I wondered about that myself!

Yum...Boma. I have never had breakfast there, but if I had thought I had any chance of scoring an ADR there, I would have. Expecially when LJ had the rash and we missed the character breakfast at Ohana. Nice Boma pics!

Next time you'll know that you should always check -- I was so surprised that they were able to seat us!

Love your morning at MK and the pictures of the kids are great. Especially Chelsea in her "shades".

Chelsea thinks she is very cool when she wears those sunglasses! They are in a lot of photos from our MK day!

Fantastic pictures!! I think the honey pots are cute (I rode with Connor 12 or 13 times last trip) but I agree with missing Mr. Toad and was quite shocked our first time there that it was missing.

I am really surprised that Charles wasn't raring to go, in the morning, after sleeping in and having a Boma breakfast?

I cry a little inside every time I walk past the Pooh ride -- the same with where 20,000 Leagues used to be (where Pooh's playground is now). I miss those rides a LOT.

It definitely WAS a blunder as she could have had breakfast with ME!

What was I thinking???

Got caught up last night-thought I posted....I am glad you and the kids enjoyed the Brown Derby. And the MK looked very fun.

Hi, Mary! We did have a great time getting in lots of Fantasyland rides before the crowds caught up to us!

I guess I'm the only mean mom here because I would have woken (is that a word?) my kids up for breakfast in the park.

I just couldn't do it -- they were so quiet while they were sleeping.

Did you recuit her for the DIS? Smart kid thou....you were probably the only one on that ride who knew the correct info.

Her parents may not have thanked me afterwards though since I told her about eating there with the princesses.

I am more convinced then ever that Charles is just riding down with you in October so you don't have to travel alone and has no plans to leave the resort. No matter....you'll have my cel phone #

You could be right -- it's always the luck of the draw with Charles on Disney trips. I will definitely need your cell phone number in case I need a drinking/eating buddy!

Sounds like a good start to your morning. I love getting to Fantasyland early. It's amazing how much you can see in a short period of time there. I'm still in morning over Mr. Toad too. Pooh just isn't the same for me.

We were knocking out those rides right and left while the crowds were still trailing behind us! Pooh was cute, but I will still take Mr. Toad any day of the week over him!

My experience has been that if you time it right, it's pretty possible to get a walk up table at Boma for breakfast. The last time we were there it was practically dead. I just love their food.

Me too! Both breakfast and dinner are so tasty there!

Hey! I know what you mean about Mr. Toad's Wild Ride being gone. But Pooh is such a cute ride. I love when you get to Tigger and the pot bounces lol!

We thought that part was great!

Your conversation with that little girl sounds so cute. Aww!

I hope you guys got to see Tink.

She was a cutie and very inquisitive about the princesses in the castle.

 

[Charleston Princess]

I'm so very proud of you for overcoming your Mr. Toad grievance and giving good old Pooh a chance. Did you see the Mr. Toad's Wild Ride t-shirts? Really, if anyone needs to have one of those, it is you!

I did even think while I was riding it, "I can't wait to tell, MeMom!" I knew you would be proud of me for finally riding in the honey pots.

I saw those t-shirts and spent a lot of time trying to decide if I should get one or not -- in the end I decided I had enough Disney shirts for awhile. I do love Mr. Toad though.

Fun pictures of times spent in Fantasyland. Looking forward to being there again in October!

I love Fantasyland as long as it isn't crowded.

I think next summer we'll do our last two days at AKL, which means we are going to finally get to eat at Boma. I have wanted to for a while, but I haven't had much support. I'm finally getting my crew to think about it, which means we will do it. I want to go for dinner, for zebra domes, naturally, but I may have to settle for breakfast to get Jill to comply. There are probably more breakfast things she would eat than dinner things. We'll see. I always like to see pictures and read reviews of any meals at Boma.

I am so excited that you are doing AKL next summer -- you will love, love, love it! Breakfast at Boma is delicious! Lots of traditional breakfast foods for picky eaters and a lot of different, fun foods to try for the more adventurous.

Another great tip from CP! That turned out soooo pretty and that's an awesome souvenir she'll keep forever!

Thank you! I love that little box -- if Chelsea ever gets tired of it, it's coming to live in my room.

I'm all caught up (again) CP! Yay me!

Hurray!

Any word on the house offer yet???

 

[Lady Lallie]

I could have sworn I commented on this, I must have in my mind.

Poor Connor. Did he get to see Baylor again?

You should book CP for earlier in the week when you are still all fresh and raring to go.

Yay for Fantasyland!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

I could have sworn I commented on this, I must have in my mind.

That's okay!

Poor Connor. Did he get to see Baylor again?

Sadly, no -- I do hope that our trips coincide again at some point -- we had so much fun with all three of them.

You should book CP for earlier in the week when you are still all fresh and raring to go.

Exactly -- I just feel like we run out of steam by Wednesday every year.

Yay for Fantasyland!!

It's so nice when it isn't crowded.

 

[MomofCKJ]

Well I would have probably let them sleep too. Who knew they would then wake up and be bummed. I hope maybe you meet up with your pals later?

And no Charles? Man I'm beginning to think he dislikes Disneyworld as much as my Grumpy does.....


Allyson

 

[JenAusty]

Seee. you try to do a favor and look what happens. hehe for now on its early rising! hehe I would of been sad myself to miss Crystal Palace- that was one of my favorite meals.
But Boma is also very yummy. And it is good to relax and sleep on to refresh.
I've never road Toads- but I'm not a huge fan of Winnie the Pooh.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Jackie, having never road Mr. Toad's Wild Adventure I did the next best thing. I went to youtube and rode it there! I would have loved to have been on it in person!

 

[choirchic]

The more I read these posts, the more I realize that you DIS Moms are truly amazing people! I don't think many people understand the time or effort that most of you put into having an amazing vacation with your children!

I look forward to the day when I can share WDW with Children! Until then, I live vicariously through all of you, and learn from your ups and downs. Kudos to you all! I look forward to reading more...