So 20 thumbs up to Tusker House (not 22 because Boo gave it 2 thumbs down) we all moved on to grab the strollers. Everyone inspected my new Royal Carriage and declared it acceptable and we moved onto the Safari.
One little thing is the stroller comes with this huge bag full of junk. This is fine as it lived in our van the rest of the week. But on this day we had it in the back storage area & it was irritating. I guess it had directions on using the stroller, a journal to sign (I didn’t), and a few accessories one of which was a giant sun shade which I’m sure with a tiny baby might have been OK, I don’t know. We tried it unsuccessfully and gave up. Again, the bag lived in our van & I never looked at it again.
The safari is right next to Tusker House so it worked out well. Using our FP’s we walked to the front of the line and onto a jeep which has the single best driver I have ever had. She was amazing. We almost didn’t go on the safari as I had been many times and it wasn’t high on anyone’s list. But we had been doing so well on time, we added it to our day. Thank goodness because it made me really like this ride again. I believed I was in Africa. I believed it. There were lots of animals. It was just a great ride. Boo loved it. She kept pointing & flapping her arms & yelling, “GOOK!” She liked the chart of animals over our heads almost as well as the real animals.
I didn’t take too many photos, though, as I always come home & have a ton of fairly pitiful photos. So I really tried to only take good ones.
Here are two, I won't bore you with more as I know I normally just scroll down through the 22 safari photos on TR's
This is my favorite as it is a baby giraffe. C'mon, say it with me, "Awwww...."
Once we had saved Red and gotten back to the United States Suzy & I decided it was time for diaper changes. We left the strollers in the Safari parking where they were as it was at the entrance to Pangani Trail where we had sent the rest of the family. This proved to be an idiotic move (leaving the strollers) as we thought in our all knowing way that the bathrooms were right there. Unfortunately, they proved to be forever away and the crowds were thickening. And we were each carrying squirming babies. Heavy, squirming babies.
It took us the entire time the family was on the Pangani Trail to find the bathrooms, change the babies, go to the restroom, and walk back. When we got back our stroller parking had completely emptied & the CM’s were being puzzled as to why ours were still there. This seems simple as we could just move them out of the way. That’s be fine except we now had 4 strollers & squirming, don’t wanna ride babies. So it took some maneuvering to get ourselves moved out of the way. Donald came out. But the rest of the group were gone a while longer. We started to call them as we were now really needing to get going if we were going to make Nemo.
Sorry, no photos of the trail. I can't find any on Donald's camera & I didn't go so I can only assume none were taken except with the kids disposable cameras which are neither filled nor developed. So insert photos of gorillas, etc right here:
Finally, they came out & we started booking it. Family units in place, we took off. Where the path splits to go to Asia vs. the front Donald who was way ahead went to the front, which is not the most direct route. I felt obligated to keep my family together so I followed him while Milo & Suzy went the other way. By this point the crowd was getting huge. And AK is no joke with huge crowds. And as you well know, people were a little cranky.
So Donald has a stroller & I have one & he is booking it, weaving in & out of the crowds. I decided to try to catch up which meant I really had to be a skilled stroller pusher to dodge all the other strollers, people, scooters at a near run. Finally, I caught him. I swear, I should wear a sports bra with the kind of hoofing it I do at WDW. And we started moving with the crowds, which for some reason were also rushing. I thought once I caught him, we’d slow down but for some reason the group of people he was walking with were speed walking.
There was a lovely couple in front of us and all of the sudden the guy stops dead & lifts one foot just like a flamingo. I don’t know if he had an itch or what but in the crowd that day, no one should have ever stopped in the center of a walkway & stand on one foot. BIG mistake. Fortunately for him, Donald is an expert double stroller pushing speed walker and managed to get himself & a stroller with 100 lbs of little girls to stop on a dime. Both the woman & I screamed at which point the guy realized his mistake. No itch is worth near death. He started laughing, we started laughing and got our butts back in gear. None of us wanted to have a
scooter injury and we were about to be killed by the crazy speed walking crowd.
As we pulled up to Nemo, the line had already started moving to go inside and my phone rang. Suzy & Milo were there. I looked up & there they were! Perfect timing. Obviously, our group had been moving faster than the Asia group. As we walked in, however, they were directed to one spot & we were directed to the far wall. It wasn’t that great of a place to sit as I couldn’t see everything. But the nice thing for me was, I got to lean against the wall. So I had a backrest. It was delightful. And I never gave one thought to Donald who was wearing Boo & dying on the little bench. He said he thought about asking me to switch but I looked so comfy.
There was a really nice family behind us that could just tell that Donald & I were Disney geniuses from our conversation. The mom leaned down & asked me a question and I shared my infinite wisdom with her. We talked for awhile and then I asked if they had a show times list and I planned a little bit the rest of the day.
And then the show started. It was good, as always. It was the best Crush I’d ever seen. I didn’t like the Dory as much as previous Dory’s as her voice was REALLY high. Almost hurt my ears. But the Crush was amazing. I love this show. I’m sooooooo happy not to have the Tarzan Rocks anymore. We took a friend of ours to see it because he likes to rollerblade. Halfway through he looked over at me like, “Are you crazy? Why am I here?” Ha! It was a dorky show. And Nemo is amazing. Smart move Disney.
After this we were off to do the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Ariel is obsessed with cats. And most especially tigers. For some unknown reason, we had never taken her to see the tigers at AK and it would have ruined her entire week to not see them. So to the tigers we went.
Total side note on strollers because this is the next photo in order:
Stroller chat: Normally with our big kids we would have rented strollers. But Disney went and DOUBLED the cost of them this summer. That's right. Doubled. So I know for a fact that Donald & I would not have rented one because that is simply crazy and our girls are 6 & 8. But here is why I love having a stroller for a 6 & 8 year old. First, when the crowds are insane you do not lose your kids. I know you can hold onto their hands but on this particular day I probably would have black & blued them I would have been holding on so hard. So number one is I like to not lose my kids.
Two, it holds all our stuff. We aren't heavy packers but I had 4 bags! That's right four. I have a flat little purse that I wear all the time with my money, phone, and credit cards. I then have a one armed little backpack that has in it my Hidden Mickey book, autograph books, and a mini M&M holder with quarters and pennies for penny press machines. I wear that the entire day too.
The other two bags are a diaper bag with diapers, wipes, and extra thing of clothes, a small first aid kit, and glow in the dark sticks. And then we have our small collapsible cooler with drinks, string cheese, Bagelfuls, grapes, etc.
In addition to this we had 5 sweaters/sweatshirts/jackets and sometimes a blanket. Did I need all this stuff? Yup. I did. I really, really did. I used every single thing I brought into the park except I didn't use the Deep Woods Off wipes I had put into the first aid kit.
Finally, I like having strollers for big kids because it keeps them from being overwhelmed. It is their home, so to speak. Buzz has Asperger's, my two girls are both very introverted, and McQueen turned 5 on this trip and so he really need a space to go when he got tired/cranky. The big double strollers are perfect little homes for kids to go when they are scared, cranky, tired, in any way emotional. You might like to think your kid will be completely happy at all times while at Disney World, but this is simply not the case. And to have the luxury of sitting down in a stroller & yanking their sweatshirt up over their eyes is the WDW version of going into their bedroom and closing the door. For me, this is absolutely priceless and keeps my family from having meltdowns.
To the best of my knowledge, none of our kids had a full on meltdown in the parks. And let me tell ya, I know meltdowns. So I credit the strollers. But, with Mulan being 8, this will be her last year. By the time we go next time both she & Ariel will have to be brave and do WDW the same as the rest of us. And I might have to calm down on the pace we go for a few years till they are teenagers. Or maybe even go for 2 weeks.
We has 2 (one grey, one red) Combi Strollees which we bought forever ago and both love. And 2 Instep Double jogging strollers with a free wheel up front. One was the RC swap one, one we own.
So there ya go. Stroller chat is over and back to the story:
But first, we needed ice cream. Floats & Waffle Cones. Yummy!
Look, even Charming got a stroller ride!
Not really, he mostly pushed the strollers. Bummer of being 11, eh?
While the rest were doing that, I stood at the entrance of EE and handed out 9 FP’s (the ones I almost killed Jack-Jack getting) to a lucky family. I found a family of 6 standing at the front pondering going in the 90 minute standby line & asked if they wanted them. The mom said, “Why would you do this?” To which I replied, “Cause I can, of course.”
Milo says I get extra FP’s just so I can feel powerful handing them out to deserving families. I do enjoy it. But really, I like to have FP’s to the rides because I’m an optimist & think we’ll have time to ride again. But at the parks like AK & DHS I often end up giving them away because you have to time things so carefully because of the show times that you can’t just ride stuff on a whim without missing a show.
So, to the trek.
The very important tiger:
Awww, look at the baby bird:
I like this trek & enjoy walking it very much. But this day I did not enjoy it so very much as I was concentrating on not killing people with my giant stroller. And trying to get through the doorways without letting birds out, without hitting Boo in the face with chains, and may I repeat, without killing or maiming anyone. It was really tricky and took my full concentration. To brag, I was successful. No animals or people were injured. By me.
But I should have just carried Boo & left the giant stroller outside this trek. Sheesh. Hindsight is so valuable.
So, we had one last must do. The Lion King. And guess where it is? The absolute opposite corner of the park. Donald said at the end of this day that I was trying to skinny him up by dragging him back & forth across AK. But the reality is Tusker House is what did it. Because we had to walk to Africa at 10:30 it made it impossible to make the shows in a normal circle. We had to keep crisscrossing to hit it right.
That’s the reason. But it didn’t change that the walk from Maharajah to Lion King was horribly grueling. Long. Exhausting. As we entered the walkway there the previous show had just let out. So it was an absolute mad house. I’ve been in Disney madhouses before and knowing you just slowly creep forward and enjoy the happy crowd and the views around you.
But this crowd was not happy. This crowd was evil. Mean & evil tourists. There were actual fights. As we got close to the theater there was this lady on a scooter and an Oriental-American having a very loud shouting match about who was more obnoxious. And there was swearing. BIG SCENE! Yeah, it got ugly. It reminded me of a foreign marketplace which I think is what Disney was going for. But I wonder if they remembered when they were building it that in addition to being interesting & authentic, foreign marketplaces have a lot of fighting. Bartering & bickering. That is my experience. So if we are truly going for authentic, maybe they should let us barter down prices at all the stores in AK. Now that would be authentic. And make it smell like dead chickens & make sure there are tons of flies everywhere.
But at least we had the crush of people and the swearing. Too bad it wasn’t in a different language.
We briefly escaped to take some photos:
So. To Lion King. We has gotten there fairly early and so had about 20 minutes to kill. I was sitting next to Mulan and McQueen and we played I spy to kill time. But once the show started, Mulan had her final disappointment of the week. There was no story. Just a stupid festival. And there were no real animals. She was incredibly disappointed by this. I tried to explain. It was abstract, it was the idea of the Lion King. It was art. “If it was art, I would like it. I like art! And this, this is NOT art.” Sigh. She was really struggling. Struggling with growing up. Struggling with finding the magic. Struggling with her expectations.
I wished I could have made those first two days better for her. But growing up is just something no one can really prepare you for. There surely are disappointments in being a year bigger. I still am disappointed to discover what being a year older brings.
Here are my sad little photos from the Lion King:
And yet another side note in this post, last year we went to Spirit of Aloha at the Poly and the only thing I like was the cool fire eater/juggler. I hated the show, it was cheesy. I didn't like the food well & thought I cooked chicken and rice better. So I was saddened to see the Lion King had just as good a fire juggler as Spirit of Aloha. Definitely no need for me to ever go to SoA ever again.
After this it was time to see It’s Tough to Be a Bug. I really, really hate this show. I hate bugs. I spend a huge part of this show with my eyes closed. So, since Donald & I had a date night I talked my family into going home & letting me shower & get cute. Milo was all for going home but McQueen would have been sad had they not seen it and it ended up being his favorite thing of the day.
Stay tuned to see how we enjoyed our date…
So with that said, while I was sitting in the airport waiting for Milo to park our car, I couldn't believe this story that unfolded in front of me. I was sitting with 4 children, 5 huge suitcases, a car seat, 2 strollers (1 huge double jogger) and 8 personal bags (kids' backpacks, camera bag, diaper bag,laptop bag, etc.) wondering if we could actually make it to Orlando without losing anything and a woman with her husband tried to check in to the airline. Now remember this was Thanksgiving morning. Well, there they were with their one carry on bag and the airline lady tells them that they were never confirmed. Here come to find out the woman's father had bought them tickets back in August to come home for the holidays and his credit card was declined so the tickets had never been purchased! She had the printout of the confirmation number that they had originally printed out with PENDING printed on it and that was what she was trying to check in with. So she sat down with a cell phone a few feet from me and called her family to let them know she would not be coming. She says to her mom on the phone, "I don't understand why no one checked on this?" 
Hello!! How could you pack a bag and drive to the airport and park your car and ride the shuttle and walk up to the check in without confirming that you actually have a ticket.
I could not believe it. I had looked on Airtran's website at least once a day since I purchased my tickets to make sure nothing had changed with my confirmation 
Anyway these poor people had to go back home to a cold house on Thanksgiving. I felt bad for them but happy for me to have my boarding passes in hand (that I of course had printed out exactly 24 hours before) to where the magic would commence. 
). The other thing we ate was all the leftovers from our restaurant meals. Another reason a fridge and microwave are great to have.
So much fun to do it, write it, read it! 
