Dr. Jones and the Spitting Camel - Link to Alaska Cruise TR 9/18

[natebenma]

How funny that the CM on the Jungle Cruise used the Laugh Floor jokes?!

I commented earlier that we liked Blake, the Jungle Cruise driver a lot.

Maybe that's why we thought he was so funny. We haven't been to the Laugh Floor in a few years, so the jokes were new to us!

 

[All7OfUs]

AWESOME update, Cnynthia!! How incredibly cool that a visit to TSI and the Treehouse has inspired such great reading! I love that the boys have some new favorites and that it was a morning that proved wonderful in every way!!

 

[glennbo123]

That's awesome that you were able to use these attractions to steer the boys to read some classics. Walt would have loved that!

What a great morning you had!

 

[natebenma]

Great update Cynthia! How fantastic to share some of the classics with the boys. My boys love TSI (mostly shooting the guns at the Big Thunder trains) and Swiss Family Treehouse, too. Great photos! We saw the Tiki Bird show in 2004, but haven't been back since.

Looking forward to hearing what your exciting plans for lunch are!

 

[Poolrat]

That was a great morning at MK. Hitting new stuff and spending time with the E's.


I will have to check out that bathroom at the fort. Never knew it was there.

 

[tinacaplan]

Sounds like you had a fantastic morning. Great updates. I, too, have very fond memories of the Tiki Room, dating from my youth. I loved that show when I was a kid. Not sure why. That is great that you used this as an opportunity to get the boys to expand their reading horizons. Well played! And now I wish we had gone to TSI. Oh well, there's always the next trip!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Thanks so much for the treehouse pictures, since Bill is in a wheelchair we can't go there so it is great to be able to see it in pictures.

It is wonderful that the boys are reading the classics!! I can't wait to see how the rest of the day goes for you!

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I love your pictures of the Swiss Family tree house, it's one of my favorite Disney movies too. I actually learned from the DVD that Walt came up with the idea for the water wheel on the tree house with it line of buckets dumping water into the bamboo troughs to provide water for the fridge and the sink in the kitchen

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

i love checking out the detail of the treehouse, but most of the time others dont care to take the time to look at everything with me.

and i often forget about the island, i dont think i have been on it in at least 15 years...will have to check it out on the next trip..i bet parker would love running around it.

 

[MEK]

So TSI has the BEST bathroom in all of the MK????? Say it isn't so, because I have been in every woman's restroom at the MK except that one.

I think you truly had a fabulous morning. You did so many fun things. Thanks for the tiki bird song. I have actually only been to the Tiki birds once and to TSI once. I know Disney Dawn was there recently in the late afternoon and she and her DH found a paintbrush. I would LOVE to find a paintbrush.

OK - so where's lunch??????

 

[MAGICFOR2]

All this talk of lunch is making me hungry!

Cynthia, I love this perfect "what do boys want to do " kind of morning! I have kind of forgotten about TSI - we were there when my boys were 12 and 13. They enjoyed the fort even at that age.

Your description of your affection of SFTH is so heart warming. It's so cool to be sharing a childhood memory with your kids, and to bring back the feelings you had as a child. It's great that you helped them connect to the story so they're reading the classics - those are such great stories, and so many children will miss out on them!

 

[Poolrat]

I read the Tiki room is reverting back to the ORIGINAL show when it reopens.

The one story I heard was that the Tiki Gods have been mad since Zazu and Iago took over so they finally did something about it.

Another rumor is that only Iago and Zazu were destroyed in the fire thus supporting the above story.

I for one will be happy to see the original show come back. I didn't HATE the new one but the original brings back those childhood memories.

 

[Moira222]

I am finally back to catch up here. I just love your little captions for your safari shots -- they totally crack me up!!!

As for your AK sort of day -- all in all it does sound rather un stressful, so that has to count for something, right?

Your Never Done Morning was NeverlandMagical in my book - low crowds,just mom& the boys. I love it!! I actually skipped your pictures of Swiss Family & TSI because we have never done either, and both are on our plans for this trip and I want to be SURPRISED, which is kind of hard since I have been absorbing all things Disney for a while now LOL

The Tiki room will be closed when we get there, but I'm glad to hear that the "New Management" is going bye bye...it was fun but we were sad that the original was not there when we went. the New Management scared DD the first time and even a little the second.

 

[Happydog]

Tom Sawyers and the TreeHouse, yep, betcha can't believe that those are big priorities in my house... Boys are boys... But there is plenty of imaginative play to be had there, seriously!!!!

That is a good idea to get them into Treasure Island, etc. those are great stories...

What a fun morning! Can't wait to see where you go for lunch!!!

 

[eandesmom]

What a fun morning! Now I'm really curious where you're going to lunch?

It was a fun morning!!!!!!!!!!!

We haven't been up the tree house in years! The boys have never been up there - I think the last time I visited was in 1997 when DH & I went to WDW - after we got married, before kids. Back in the day when we just headed left at the top of Main Street & made our way around the park clockwise! We'll definitely have to check that out soon!

I was so worried they'd think it was stupid and SO glad they didn't! It was so much fun.

Thanks for the Tiki Room link - I'll have that song in my head for the rest of the day! I think Zach would really get a kick out of that show - it was closed when we were there in March from the fire. It's been MANY years since I've been in there!

By the way - a couple of your photo links don't work...

Thanks for the tip on the links, all fixed! We loved the tiki room, actually sang the song that whole day!

I really need to go to Tom Sawyer's Island on my next trip!!! I have been meaning to do that island for so long now! I am just always deterred by the raft trip... Seems so much waiting involved.

It's funny, it really wasn't much waiting at all. I recall it as being so in the past, and recall it as being a bit miserable back in 2001 in CA but after this trip I really really think it was my ex making it miserable, not TSI! I was worried they were "too old" to have a ton of fun but I was very happily very very wrong about it.

I know that lots of people find TSI boring, but my family loves it. After standing in lines and being surrounded by people all day, it is nice to take the raft over to the island and have some room to explore. My dd's get to run around and burn off some energy. They love the rope bridge and the escape tunnel. I am enjoying your trip report and looking forward to your next update.

I'd have loved to take some escape tunnel pictures, we had SO much fun down there hiding from each other, running into each other, etc.

 

[eandesmom]

Great updates, Cynthia. We've not done Swiss Family since our boys were both with us last (back in 2000 ). I may attempt it myself this trip (Mark can't handle all of those stairs). Although we prefer the OLD Enchanted Tiki House, we enjoy the cool air in the new one and it kind of grows on you after awhile (the song sticks in your head all day like It's A Small World). Believe it or not, we have NEVER done Tom Sawyer's Island. Thanks for the pictures...I'm not even sure I've seen many pictures.

You and the E's had a great and productive morning.

I don't recall the old one so it was new to me! Yes, the song sticks, but in a good way I think.

TSI is a really nice escape away from the crowds and there's as much shade as sun. We absolutely loved it.

You should try the treehouse if you can, I loved how much they loved it!!!

It's funny, I was worried they were too old for both (aka not "cool enough an attraction" but in retrospect, they were the perfect age.

I commented earlier that we liked Blake, the Jungle Cruise driver a lot.

Maybe that's why we thought he was so funny. We haven't been to the Laugh Floor in a few years, so the jokes were new to us!

They are good jokes! The rest of the boat thought they were funny. Heck for all we know, the Laugh Floor is copying the Jungle Cruise.

AWESOME update, Cnynthia!! How incredibly cool that a visit to TSI and the Treehouse has inspired such great reading! I love that the boys have some new favorites and that it was a morning that proved wonderful in every way!!

It really was great in that regard, they came out asking to get the books when we got home. I loved it!

That's awesome that you were able to use these attractions to steer the boys to read some classics. Walt would have loved that!

What a great morning you had!

Walt would have loved that. I sure did

It was a truly magical morning.

 

[eandesmom]

Great update Cynthia! How fantastic to share some of the classics with the boys. My boys love TSI (mostly shooting the guns at the Big Thunder trains) and Swiss Family Treehouse, too. Great photos! We saw the Tiki Bird show in 2004, but haven't been back since.

How can you not love shooting guns! Especially if you are 9 and 11 year old boys.

The Tiki house was a wonderful escape from the heat and really fun, we loved it.

Looking forward to hearing what your exciting plans for lunch are!

Exciting is relative but I was certainly excited about it!

That was a great morning at MK. Hitting new stuff and spending time with the E's.

it was!

I will have to check out that bathroom at the fort. Never knew it was there.

Pure dumb luck, it'd be easy to miss. But OH was it a welcome oasis!

Sounds like you had a fantastic morning. Great updates. I, too, have very fond memories of the Tiki Room, dating from my youth. I loved that show when I was a kid. Not sure why. That is great that you used this as an opportunity to get the boys to expand their reading horizons. Well played! And now I wish we had gone to TSI. Oh well, there's always the next trip!

They played it to be honest, not I. Somehow as we entered, or exited the treehouse it came up that it was based on a book. Well that there was a movie based on a book and this was based on both blah blah blah type of comment. "I want to read that!" said one of them.

Same thing with TSI. They knew about Tom of course, less so about Huck and hadn't read either book. Quite frankly the mine signs over there were enough to pique there interest on that score.

So of course I HAD to buy the books when we got home. They forgot but I hadn't. I'll admit, they didn't get to them right away, the sexy "buzz" books getting top billing but in a way, that's ok as when they did get to them, they were paid the right kind of attention.



I've got Evan reading Watership Down right now.

Thanks so much for the treehouse pictures, since Bill is in a wheelchair we can't go there so it is great to be able to see it in pictures.

It is wonderful that the boys are reading the classics!! I can't wait to see how the rest of the day goes for you!

Thanks Tracy! Sandie and Paul wouldn't have been able to do the stairs (which admittedly I didn't think of at the time) so it was good that we went when we did. Not to mention I don't think it would have seemed nearly as cool to K&T (the jaded teens lol) as it did to the E's.

 

[creativeamanda]

You did a couple of things my kids love--the treehouse and Tom Sawyer's Island. We've never done the Tiki Room and I don't know it will be repaired by the time we go.

Your boys looked like they were having a ball!

 

[norybell]

I totally agree with you about the Treehouse! I always thought it was one of the coolest Disney attractions. So much detail, and it's so nice to be able to take as long as you want (well, assuming it's not too busy) to look at it!

TSI was a recent discovery for me, but it's amazing! Even without kids.

I wonder where you had lunch???

 

[Charleston Princess]

What a great update, Cynthia! I found myself lusting after the heat in those pictures -- it has been so cold and dreary for March/beginning of April here lately. I am DYING for sunshine!

I, too, love the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse and the Tiki Birds. I am curious to see if they are going to revert to the old show after they finish fixing up the fire damage.

Tom Sawyer Island looks like such a paradise for boys! I really must make sure Connor gets a chance to go visit it when we head back there.

I love that the morning led to reading some classics. Maybe I will pack Swiss Family Robinson and Treasure Island into the suitcases for our beach trip this year. Connor has never read either one, and they would really be up his alley. Treasure Island would be perfect since in the story Captain Flint gives Billy Bones the map while they are in Savannah. (If memory serves me.)