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PART TWENTY-THREE- THE PANGANI FOREST EXPLORATION TRAIL AND MAHARAJAH JUNGLE TREK
While the journey is currently in Animal Kingdom, I'm going to continue with my Animal Kingdom photos even though they were taken later on in the week. I hope you don't mind!
These photos were taken from the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail which is situated behind the Kilimanjaro Safaris. This is sometimes overlooked because people exit the safari and head straight back towards the rest of the park. There are some amazing animals here though, and if you have the time, take a stroll through the path!
My favorite exotic animal (after the horse, of course!) is the Okapi! I was so glad I got to see them!
Meerkat!
Gorillas!
Viewing area for the hippos!
Moving out of Africa and into Asia with the Maharajah Jungle Trek!
One of the starring attractions of the "trek" (aka walking path) are the vampire bats! This is the only place in the United States that you can view these amazing creatures! Did you know they are all trained to go into their house for the night when the CM blow a whistle? Pretty neat!
Moving from the bats to the next area called for walking under these gorgeous archways!
This was outside of the Tiger exhibit, but unfortunately they were sleeping out of my view so I did not get to see them other than a glimpse. Pitty but maybe next time! Cats do need their sleep!
The next exhibit was the bird exhibit, which was marked by this intricately carved sign.
The end of the path with bird detailing. You could honestly spend hours in this area and you would still be finding new species of birds to view and photograph.
PART TWENTY-FOUR- MICKEY'S JAMMIN' JUNGLE PARADE AND DIVINE
One final group of pictures before I move on from Animal Kingdom includes the Jammin' Jungle parade!
Here come Baloo and King Louie to start off the parade!
Rafiki!!!
Elephant float!
Hippo float with a lucky family aboard!
Chip!
Minnie aboard her stylized car float!
Giraffe float!
Alligator float!
It's Goofy!
Thumbs up!
Bird float (vulture, perhaps?)
Tiger float with another lucky family!
Terk!
Timon!
Donald! He sure looks happy today!
PLUTO!!!
Final float with the star of the show aboard!
Once we had viewed the parade, we made our way towards the beginning of the park. This giraffe statue on the way out!
Anteater on the pathways heading back to the Oasis and exit of AK.
Right before we exited the park one day, we stumbled upon DiVine! It was amazing to witness in person. If you ever get the chance, as a CM where she is! It will be worth it!
Well, that's a wrap for AK! I hope you all are still with me as we venture back into one of the other parks tomorrow!
PART TWENTY-FIVE- OPENING CELEBRATION AT MAGIC KINGDOM!
One of the great things about arriving to Magic Kingdom for park opening is getting to watch the opening celebration. There's a song and a dance, and to end the celebration Walt's train comes down the tracks with Mickey and the gang to welcome you to the park.
If you would like to see a video of this ceremony, click HERE. (Note that this is not my video!)
Waiting for the show to begin and the park to open!
The "chief of the brigade" coming out to greet us!
The dance crew (in Christmas attire!) dance in front of the railroad station at the entrance of the park.
Here comes the train!
All of the characters stepping off of the train:
Mickey!
Some of Mickey's friends! (taken on different mornings as you can tell by Alice as she is a face character)
One of my favorites pictures from this opening celebration: Chip and Dale!
With the fireworks at the conclusion of the celebration, we made our way into the magic!
PART TWENTY-SIX- DREAM ALONG WITH MICKEY STAGE SHOW
While walking from Tomorrowland towards Cinderella Castle, we heard a show going on and walked closer to the Castle to see what it was. We had no idea they did a stage show in front of Cinderella Castle, so we stayed to watch for a moment and I was able to capture these pictures! They are some of my favorite pictures from the entire vacation. If I could figure out how to submit them to Disney, I would!
Especially love this one!
Peter Pan!
Goofy and Donald as pirates!
At this point in the show, we had to move on as we had reservations. We did however, stumble upon the show again exiting Liberty Square and I was able to capture the villains that had eluded me the first showing.
That show in front of the castle looks amazing! I love that the princes are there. Do you know what it's called so I can look up when it's scheduled for our visit?
That show in front of the castle looks amazing! I love that the princes are there. Do you know what it's called so I can look up when it's scheduled for our visit?
It's called Dream Along with Mickey! It's definitely worth the time to watch the entire thing though. Just beware that there is absolutely no shade in front of the castle if that's where you are to view it. It runs about 20 minutes from start to finish.
PART TWENTY-SEVEN- BE OUR GUEST EXTERIOR, ENTRANCE, ORDERING ROOM, AND MAIN BALLROOM
We were lucky enough to secure a Be Our Guest FP for lunch on our trip (go Mom!), and we were all so excited to finally see what it looked like inside the exclusive and illusive castle. We were not disappointed!
Beast's Castle!
The sign welcoming you to the castle.
Menu outside of the wall for everyone to plan what they want to eat!
Gargoyles! How cute are these guys?
A waterfall sits to the left of the walkway leading up to the castle.
Detailing on the fences before you enter the building:
Here we go!
Vaulted Ceilings when you first walk into the castle.
The sculptures in this area are stunning!
Beast detailing up on the pillars!
Sconces with melting candles light the room.
We turn the corner and head down the hallway to where we will order our food! (ignore Sean's head!)
Suits of armor line the pathway towards the ordering stations.
Ceiling lights in the ordering area.
Each ordering station is represented by a number and character from the movie.
The words and music to Be Our Guest in French on the side of the ordering kiosk!
PART TWENTY-EIGHT- BE OUR GUEST WEST WING, SECOND BALLROOM, AND FOOD!
Entry into the West Wing!
Beast's portrait hanging on the wall.
The enchanted rose created with some Disney magic!
We ended up sitting in the main ballroom area near the back of the restaurant, where it was snowing outside of the windows!
The second ballroom has a large Beauty and Beast dancing as the center focus of the room that also functions as a clock.
Rose light above the spinning centerpiece.
Pillar detailing!
There walls in this room are completely covered in tapestries and pictures in ornate frames featuring Belle's journey and romance with Beast.
Tapestries on the way out of the castle.
Just as you are about to exit the castle, you are left with this amazing mosaic.
On a food perspective, only three of us ate lunch here (Dad, Katie and Sean). There wasn't anything on the lunch menu that I liked, so my mom was kind enough to eat with me elsewhere. We did all get cupcakes, and can I just say that they were the best cupcakes I've had in the world and on the verge of being the best I've ever had. I had the strawberry cupcake, but the song is truthful when it says "try the grey stuff - it's delicious!" (it really is!) Be Our Guest is the best quick service value in Magic Kingdom in my opinion, and comes second to Wolfgang Puck Express in Downtown Disney as what I believe to be the best quick service value anywhere in the world.
PART TWENTY-NINE- WHEN BEING STUCK ON A RIDE ISN'T NECESSARILY A BAD THING
While we are in the new Fantasyland area, our story will take us to the Journey of the Little Mermaid. The ride broke down several times while we were on it, but that just gave us opportunities to grab some great photos without worrying about the motion.
The Ariel on the bow of a ship outside of the attraction:
Scuttle!
Here we go, under the sea!
Ariel and her treasures
Under the sea!
Helping out those poor, unfortunate souls! This was the first part of the ride (and the second part about 5 feet down the track) that we were halted for about 4 or so minutes. During this time, I was able to record Ursula's entire song for this part of the attraction. If you would like to view this video, click HERE.Ursula has to be one most advanced and realistic anamatronics that I have ever seen!
Transforming into a human!
Kiss the girl already, Eric! This was the final place where we were stopped while on this ride. The facial expressions for Ariel are so spot on!
The final scene! Ariel gets her prince, with Daddy's approval of course!
I can't believe I'm writing my 30th post on this TR, and I have yet to make it to EPCOT! (don't worry, that is coming slowly yet surely! ) Who knew I had enough content to write so many posts?
While we are in MK, I will write the obligatory attraction that every parent has probably been on 100 times and everyone else has been on 101. This used to be my sister and I's favorite ride, and god bless my parents who rode this ride over and over and OVER again when we were younger because the lines are never terribly long and we just couldn't get enough. I can see now as an adult how that could have been like pulling teeth but no matter your age, it is tradition to go on this ride at least once every trip!
This post like most of my others is going to be heavily picture based as I'm not even going to pretend to know exactly which countries all of these scenes and dolls represent. Some of them I know and will do my best, but I'm not 100% on all of them. With that being said, enjoy!
Ready to embark the happiest ride that ever sailed!
\
England
Ok guys, I have this one. France. Haha!
Scotland
Don Quixote throwback! You get that windmill good sir!
Holland
You're totally singing/humming the song in your head, aren't you?
Australia
This Ferris wheel is really flying, isn't it?
And with that, our happy little cruise ended to signs of how to say "goodbye" around the world. I've always loved this little touch!
PART THIRTY-ONE- WISHES NIGHTTIME SPECTACULAR AND MISC MK PICTURES AT NIGHT
While we were waiting in the park for the Wishes firework display and castle projections, we took in as many attractions as we could before grabbing our seats and waiting for the show to start.
First, at my request, we took horses on the carousel for a spin. Carousels are my favorite (a true obsessed horse fan right here) and riding at least once on the carousel here is a MUST.
Next was Big Thunder Mountain, which I didn't take out my camera on. This ride is really neat to ride at night with the lighting and the exclusive party going on in the saloon!
Lastly, we took a ride on Dumbo. The ride at night is very cool and the lighting is amazing!
The castle lit up as we made our way to the front to get seats for the show!
Let the show, begin!
Amazing scroll-work on the castle!
Up balloons!!!
Peter Pan flying across the castle!
M-I-C-K-E-Y
M-O-U-S-E!
How amazing are these projected lights?
If you look closely, you can see the line that Tinker Bell travels on at the start of the show
Star-shaped firework! How cool is that?
Love this shot!
Look at how huge those fireworks are in relation to the castle? Just spectacular!
PART THIRTY-TWO- MOVE IT! SHAKE IT! PARADE AND THE FRONTIER HOEDOWN!
For me, one of the best things about a Disney vacation are the spontaneous events that you hadn't planned for. Disney now requires so much planning beforehand that when something unexpected happens, it's quite special. We booked our hotel almost a year in advance, our dining 6 months in advance and our FP selections 2 months in advance. We planned what parks we would be in every day, where and when we would eat, and when we would see certain parades and special activities that we wanted to see.
One day when we were leaving MK, we heard music come on in the area and turned around. To our surprise, we saw parade floats entering Main Street near the firehouse and we quickly ran over to watch it. We had not planned on seeing the parade, and to be honest we did not schedule it on our itinerary at all. It was awesome to be able to experience the parade that we did not think we would get to see, and even though we missed the first float with Mickey and Minnie it was still magical!
This was the only picture of Minnie/Mickey. This parade is on our to-do list for next time!
Chip and Dale on the back of the Minnie/Mickey float.
Performers encouraging everyone to, well move it and shake it!
Balloo!
Mr Incredible and Frozone!
This picture epitomizes Mr. Incredible I think
Donald! He brought his happy face to this parade!
None other than Goofy himself!
Woody and Jessie!
Strike a pose! A little Vogue anyone?
On a separate day in MK, we were moving through Frontierland when a few CMs asked us to get onto the sidewalk and clear the street. We asked them what was going on and they said there was going to be a special event happening in a few minutes that they needed the space in the street for. We then saw characters from the Country Bears and Splash Mountain coming out along with some CMs from the stores and attractions and a Hoedown commenced! We had no idea this was even a thing, but we stayed to watch the entire thing. It's so much more special when it happens at random and you aren't expecting it!
This guy got really into it. You have to appreciate people committed to their jobs and making the experience great for the guests!
At one point, Br'er Rabbit came over to stand next to my dad. Can you tell he was excited?
PART THIRTY-THREE- SEAN'S ENCOUNTER WITH LADY TREMAINE!
It's not a secret in the Parker household that Katie's boyfriend Sean is not a fan of the characters. (see below for the most awkward character hug of all time)
At this point, I was the youngest at 21 at the time and we all know that the character's aren't "real". We all still enjoy seeing them though, and there is still a sense of euphoria and happiness for my sister and I when we see someone that we like or want a picture with. Sean is not like that, and avoids them at all cost. This is why it was HILARIOUS when Lady Tremaine, who was walking past us at the time with her CM, stopped in her tracks and made a straight line right for him. It's always the person in the room that doesn't like cats that the cat decides to sit on, am I right? My sister wasn't with us at the time, which made Lady T hitting on her boyfriend all the more entertaining to watch.
Sean: "Mrs. Parker, please help!"
My mom's face is priceless!
Lady T: "Don't we look perfect together?"
Lady T: "If I swoon, you'll catch me right?"
Sean: "What do I do?"
She asked my mom how she "caught one so young and handsome" and my mom replied that he was her daughter's boyfriend. Lady T replied that was a brilliant idea and that she should start stealing her daughter's boyfriends instead of finding her own. Love the random character interactions!
Has anyone else had a random interaction like this? Tell me in the comments!
I had posted previously about Space Mountain with our first ride photos, but I never posted the rest of our photos. We take pleasure in trying to come up with random poses and themes, so I believe most of them are entertaining. You be the judge and let us know!
The classic scream face with bunny ears thrown in:
Free-form this time. Me reaching for my sister, my mom double waving
Sean doing I have no clue and my Dad with the classic thumb detachment
The "I'm so cold it's ridiculous and we all have on winter jackets in Florida" pose
The "I have no clue what to do so we'll do the I don't know"
Walk like an Egyptian
We just wanted to see our Mom and Dad do the duck face haha
Not really sure what this is but my Dad wanted to do the circle on your eye thing so we did...
My sister was off doing something and my Mom had had enough of the ride, so it's just the three of us sleeping on the ride
Our final ride! The thumbs down for the last day in the parks (except for Sean who was excited to go home)
Can you imagine what it would be like to have the job of looking through all of the photos for profanity/vulgar things? That must be such an entertaining job to see all of the ride photos that people take.
Dad's circle on the eye thing also had us showing the numbers 1-5 with our fingers…yup, that was Dad's idea. He's had over a year to think of something more original for our October trip! We'll see!
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