Does the Pixie Dust count if you don't KNOW about it? Finally Finished :( 11/24

[Lady Lallie]

you should develop sewing as a winter hobby! Make sure you check out the Disboutique thread if you want any advice. These ladies (and a couple of gents) are amazing
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1923786

I really think I am. It's the hobby that is calling to me the most. I will have to mosey over there.

 

[lovesdumbo]

Enjoying your TR! Ash is so adorable!!! That Cindy dress is spectacular but I really loved the Minne dress too!

Bummer you didn't realize you were in a CL room. Were your room keys gold?

Your photos are great! Your Tink photos were great-you should see my blur of green light when I tried to take one. What kind of camera/lenses do you have? I think a dSLR is on my Christmas list.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Enjoying your TR! Ash is so adorable!!! That Cindy dress is spectacular but I really loved the Minne dress too!

Bummer you didn't realize you were in a CL room. Were your room keys gold?

Your photos are great! Your Tink photos were great-you should see my blur of green light when I tried to take one. What kind of camera/lenses do you have? I think a dSLR is on my Christmas list.

Our keys WEREN'T gold...they really didn't want me to know! I forgot to mention that we had gotten a pre-recorded phone message for "Members of the Kilimingaro Club" but I thought they had called the wrong room. Isn't it odd that I investigate things for a living and I didn't pick up on a single clue this time!!! Vacation brain!

Thank you! I have a DSLR. You have to get one. I LOVE my camera. I have the Canon Rebel XT. I have the kit lens, a 50mm prime, and a Sigma zoom lens. I used all three in Disney. DH got really good at working with me to change out the lenses quickly! The best thing at Disney is that I could take pics in places where you can't use flash photography. I never used the flash on it. (BTW, I got my camera on Amazon and I couldn't have been happier with the service and the prices!)

Thanks for reading!

 

[lovesdumbo]

Our keys WEREN'T gold...they really didn't want me to know! I forgot to mention that we had gotten a pre-recorded phone message for "Members of the Kilimingaro Club" but I thought they had called the wrong room. Isn't it odd that I investigate things for a living and I didn't pick up on a single clue this time!!! Vacation brain!

Thank you! I have a DSLR. You have to get one. I LOVE my camera. I have the Canon Rebel XT. I have the kit lens, a 50mm prime, and a Sigma zoom lens. I used all three in Disney. DH got really good at working with me to change out the lenses quickly! The best thing at Disney is that I could take pics in places where you can't use flash photography. I never used the flash on it. (BTW, I got my camera on Amazon and I couldn't have been happier with the service and the prices!)

Thanks for reading!

I've got a reservation for AKL for the first time in Jan/Feb with my DD(9). We are staying concierge. I'm very excited to be doing the sunrise safari. She thinks we're going to Pop and is a bit disappointed because she wants to do ASMu.

I'm thinking about staying at the Logan Hyatt the night before our flight and telling her there with a costume shirt (maybe just a long sleeve T with zebra print Mickey head). Last year I got a great AAA rate on a room for under $100 in Jan but this year its a weeknight instead of Sat and is $165 so I don't know if I'll do it. It was really nice and does make it nice and easy to get the early flight. Our flight isn't til 9am but we'd have to take a 6am boat to the airport so I'd have to leave the house at 5:30. For now I'll just keep an eye on the rate.

I've been reading reviews on the Nikon D90. I'm thinking the kit 18-105 lens and a 50mm prime would be a good start.

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip and seeing more photos! Good for you for getting your photopass CD so quick! I just ordered mine yesterday and I got home from my trip before you went.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I've got a reservation for AKL for the first time in Jan/Feb with my DD(9). We are staying concierge. I'm very excited to be doing the sunrise safari. She thinks we're going to Pop and is a bit disappointed because she wants to do ASMu.

I'm thinking about staying at the Logan Hyatt the night before our flight and telling her there with a costume shirt (maybe just a long sleeve T with zebra print Mickey head). Last year I got a great AAA rate on a room for under $100 in Jan but this year its a weeknight instead of Sat and is $165 so I don't know if I'll do it. It was really nice and does make it nice and easy to get the early flight. Our flight isn't til 9am but we'd have to take a 6am boat to the airport so I'd have to leave the house at 5:30. For now I'll just keep an eye on the rate.

I've been reading reviews on the Nikon D90. I'm thinking the kit 18-105 lens and a 50mm prime would be a good start.

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip and seeing more photos! Good for you for getting your photopass CD so quick! I just ordered mine yesterday and I got home from my trip before you went.

Oh she is going to lose her mind!!!! How fun!!!

The Nikons are apparently easier to use than the Canons. I don't know what is easier about them but that's what I've read. The photopass photographers use Nikons so you know the pics come out good. I'm just a Canon loyalist so that's why I went with it. Plus I had a Canon film SLR and the lenses are interchangeable.

I ordered the CD the day after we got home. As you can see, I'm crazy about my photos!!!

BTW, do you live on the Islands? Why the boat??? I'm embarrassed to admit that I've lived in Mass my whole life (minus my stay in Ireland) and I've NEVER been to Nantucket or the Vineyard!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

We woke up on Sunday, had a little breakfast in the room , got dressed and headed out to AK.

We took our time getting there, which meant that it was kinda packed up front when we arrived. We stopped for some Photopass pics and then headed straight to the Safari

When we got to the Safari, it said 20 minute wait. There was NO wait…which was fantastic. It also barely gave me time to notice the large number of lime green mickey heads behind me. It was Gmax and a BUNCH of other DISERS (MainStMandy, PoohBear, and maybe some others). We all said Hi briefly and then loaded the trucks. We all ended up on the same truck. Let me tell you that they were the most fun loving group. The CM driving had to “speak” to them. They mentioned something about a bachelorette party so maybe that was driving their excitement. But they did make the safari a LOT more exciting. Here are some safari photos. I took tons but I really don’t want to bore people!

Baby Giraffe

Every wonder how a Giraffe eats something off the ground???? Here’s the answer!

After we got off the Safari, we head toward the Pangani Trail. The gorillas were out! I love Gorillas. In fact, my whole family loves Gorillas. I love that they are so much like us. If you watch them for awhile, they are quite funny. Our local zoo actually has a wonderful gorilla exhibit so we get to see gorillas whenever we like but these were some pretty impressive ones

At this point, I ran ahead to take some pictures while DH took DD around the less than exciting parts…like the birds. No a bird fan. But I did have fun watching the meerkats. They were terrorizing 2 bunnies. I still don’t know if the bunnies were SUPPOSED to be in the meerkat enclosure but the meerkats were not thrilled by them. Here is a pretty meerkat picture if I do say so myself

After the trail, we decided to ride the train out to Conservation Station. Due to DD’s love of animal care, she is always quite excited by getting to watch the surgery. I totally forget what kind of animal they were working on…but it had swallowed something. I just walked around. I checked out the Animalcams because I was reading Kingdom Keepers 2 while on vacation and wanted to see if you really could check out the whole park from the cams! Yes, I believe everything I read in fictional books!

Other than that DD pet a snake

And we met Pocahontas. DH was very disappointed to see that it was the same Pocahontas from the 2007 trip and not the 2006 trip. Although he finds 2007/2008 very attractive, he was all about 2006- who I think is now the Pocahontas in the stage show. I don’t know for sure since we’ve never gone to her show but it looks like it from other people’s pics

On the way out, we stopped to watch the talking Recycling Bin for awhile. The paparazzi comment cracks me up! Then we hopped on the train. Of course while we were literally getting on the train, DD announces that she has to go potty NOW. OK, so now I have to convince her that it would be quicker to continue to ride the train and get to the bathroom than get off the train and walk down the path to the CS. She agreed. I grabbed her and ran. DH gathered all the stuff off the train. She announced about 2 seconds later that she had to go so bad that she couldn’t run. Oh great. DH is back on the train with the stroller. Kristine has two herniated discs in her back so running with a 45+ pound child is next to impossible . Luckily DH caught up quickly with the stroller so I ran with that. While we hit the potty, DH checked us into our lunch ADRs at Tusker House. How was that for timing?
If you have not been to Tusker House…you must try it. Especially if you like Boma. It has a very similar menu (but much cheaper- especially for lunch). I had that fantastic seafood stew they had at Boma again and a bunch of other things. DH tried the entire menu I think! DD ate mac & cheese…AGAIN!

While at Tusker House, we made a plan of attack for the rest of day. We would hit Kali River Rapids, do EE, Dinosaur, see the next showing of Nemo, and then go see FOTLK

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

We headed over to Kali River Rapids. The line was gigantic (and FastPass was not up and running). As in, we were waiting in the long line that I normally run through saying, who waits in this? But it was super hot and we love Kali. We tried to convince the newbies behind us that it would be worth the wait. Luckily we had these puppies

Seriously, they were life savers…for us and the people around us. We were constantly letting them out to strangers. Where else but in Disney will one adult let another adult spray their child in the face with cold water and it not start a brawl???

Eventually we got on Kali. I was going to try to be brave with my “camera poncho” and take some water shots but I chickened out at the last minute. So here are some before we got wet

After the long wait at Kali, we didn’t have time for EE or Dinosaur. So we went straight to Nemo. I had to borrow photos from another DISer for my scrapbook because we were all the way in the back. The show is cute. We have found yet another song that gets stuck in your head!

After Nemo, we got an ice cream and headed off to Dinosaur. I was a little nervous about it and truth be told, DD was terrified. But she she handled it like a champ. This is another ride that every single time, it “gets” me. I know the Dinosaurs are there, I know they are fake (or are they Ridley Pearson???) Anyway, every time I ride the ride, my picture looks like this

After Dinosaur, we headed back out front to go to FOTLK. On the way, we had plenty of time to stop and see some characters

Then it was onto FOTLK. By the time we were done with Camp Minnie Mickey…there was only a 10 minute wait. And DH was conveniently located at the front of the line. We got in and settled down into front row seats. Now by front row, I mean the first row that able-bodied people should have been sitting in. There were two rows in front of us, but they were handicapped access. After about 3 minutes, a family came and sat in the seats. None of them had any visable handicaps. They certainly were not in wheelchairs…they weren’t even in ECVs. A CM came over and asked them to move. They repeatedly told her that they didn’t speak English and then as soon as she left, spoke in English. So here you find my next Disney World pet peeve. Yes, front seats are nice at shows. Yes, we all wish we could sit there. But we don’t…because we have manners. It got really bad when a family with a child in an actual wheelchair (wearing a Make a Wish button) came in. Again, the CM asked if they could move to accommodate the family. NOPE. So this poor kid had to sit in his wheelchair on his own while his family had to sit away from him. Nothing made me happier than when the performers came and got that kid in the wheelchair and pulled him into the show!
Now, because I had really good seats, I went overboard with the pictures. I took over 70. Here are some of them

Overall, it was a great day at AK. We have never stayed at AK for an entire day. This time we stayed til closing. But with no plans for the rest of the day/night…we had plenty of time to head back, have dinner at Mara, and do some swimming. And then we climbed into our turned down beds and got some sleep (but not before DD got injured!)

 

[Mom2apirate&princess]

Loving your tr so far!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Loving your tr so far!

Thanks for reading

 

[Lady Lallie]

Injured!?!

I have camera envy! You got some really fabulous shots. The meerkat is awesome. I had to steal the giraffe photos and send them to my coworker. She got married at Southwick Zoo a few years ago in front of the giraffes.

Have you taken photography classes?

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Injured!?!

I have camera envy! You got some really fabulous shots. The meerkat is awesome. I had to steal the giraffe photos and send them to my coworker. She got married at Southwick Zoo a few years ago in front of the giraffes.

Have you taken photography classes?

If you want to PM me your email...I have plenty more giraffe shots!

I have taken 2 photography classes. I would love to take a digital photography one.

 

[LuccaDrake]

Man you've been busy with these updates! I really loved the fireworks pics. I cannot wait to get a dslr. Too funny about DH and Pocahontas! Men!

~Beka~

 

[coteau_chick]

I just wanted to say that I loved the update. The zebra dress is so cute. I made one for my dd when we went in Feb. Did you make the red poka dot dress and the zebra one too?? If you did what pattern did you use. I really like it. My dd was only seven months so her zebra dress was a jumper with bows on the shoulder and ball frindge on the hem. Your dd is really beautiful.



Here is a picture of her dress. I also had a G monogramed on the front of it.

 

[heaven2dc]

Sorry...i missed this post before. "Customs" are outfits custom made for your child. I should have explained that. A lot of my readers are fellow Disboutiquers (ie the crazy people who sew their kids Disney outfits ) and i forgot to explain for the others.

So the Winnie the Pooh outfit in the Boma pics, and the Minnie Mouse dress in the Chef Mickey pics...those are customs

THANKS for reading!!!

Thank YOU for clarifying that! The Cinderella dress was amazingly beautiful - I wish I had a granddaughter to custom make dresses (my grandson is 11 mos old and I would love to have an outfit done for Halloween).

Loved the reaction by Smee!

 

[Diamondintheruff]

Wow you had a busy weekend updating.

You do have some really great shots. I've never done the 1900 park fare but keep putting it on my list each trip. Somehow it keeps getting knocked down. I'm putting it at the top for the next trip.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Man you've been busy with these updates! I really loved the fireworks pics. I cannot wait to get a dslr. Too funny about DH and Pocahontas! Men!

~Beka~

I did a bunch of them while I had time. I can't promise that there will be many more this week. I'm swamped all week and then October is crazy in general.

I believe most men get a secret kick out of checking out the Princesses!

I just wanted to say that I loved the update. The zebra dress is so cute. I made one for my dd when we went in Feb. Did you make the red poka dot dress and the zebra one too?? If you did what pattern did you use. I really like it. My dd was only seven months so her zebra dress was a jumper with bows on the shoulder and ball frindge on the hem. Your dd is really beautiful.



Here is a picture of her dress. I also had a G monogramed on the front of it.

I did make both of the outfits. I'll look up the pattern number when I get home. It's the simplest pattern. Your outfit is super cute. You should come check out the Disboutiquers. Now these ladies (and a couple of gents) can sew!

Thank YOU for clarifying that! The Cinderella dress was amazingly beautiful - I wish I had a granddaughter to custom make dresses (my grandson is 11 mos old and I would love to have an outfit done for Halloween).

Loved the reaction by Smee!

You should also check out Disboutiquers. There is plenty of fun things to make for boys!

Wow you had a busy weekend updating.

You do have some really great shots. I've never done the 1900 park fare but keep putting it on my list each trip. Somehow it keeps getting knocked down. I'm putting it at the top for the next trip.

Oh you have to do 1900 Park Fare. Breakfast is equally as good but it's British characters: Alice in Wonderland, Mad Hatter, Mary Poppins, and Pooh. I think it's one of the best buffets at Disney.

 

[coteau_chick]

I registered for the disboutique . I got there from your signature. Thank you very much. I am waiting for an email letting me log in. You are talented too. Your dd make a great model for your creations.

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

I registered for the disboutique . I got there from your signature. Thank you very much. I am waiting for an email letting me log in. You are talented too. Your dd make a great model for your creations.

Oh the link in my signature is for something else. Confusing I know. There is a thread on the family board about sewing with links to patterns and things
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1923786

But feel free to check out the other board too. That is primarily for a group of us that send Pixie Dust to families going to Disney for a Make a Wish trip. There is also some sewing info on there but that's not the primary focus.

 

[MiaBella05]

subscribing

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

subscribing

and Thanks for Reading!