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

[Sleepingbooty]

We are definitely still doing the cruise, just paid a huge chunk on it yesterday, ouch! Still a lot to go though. The good thing about doing that though is I did get our updated port times and found all the excursion times so narrowed down our list of fun port things to do. I think I'm pretty decided on them which is kind of nice actually! They are so pricey that I want to save up so am trying to plan it out ahead of time as much as possible.

Aren't they, though? But honestly, that is the best part of an Alaskan cruise. Other cruises, I could honestly just stay on the ship for half the ports, but you can't cruise Alaska without getting out into it.

I've been looking into FE and pillowcases and all kinds of fun things for the cruise

Fun!

Hawaii on the other hand is a MUCH needed date trip for Jeff and I. Fairly spur of the moment though we've been talking about an April date trip for several months, just hadn't landed on where until recently. We'd been thinking NOLA for several months but about 2-3 weeks ago the rain and cold got to us and we needed WARM.

So we are off to the Big Island in about 5 weeks for 5 nights and 6 days of beaches and volcanoes.

I am very excited, we haven't been to Hawaii since 2004 and have never been to the Big Island!

That sounds fantastic. Scott and I are seriously talking about Aulani in the near future (well, mid range future, I guess)

 

[MaryAz]

Yay for anupdate. Sure a lot of animal booty shots there I felt the same about Tusker House-it was jammed for us as well and just a tad overwhelming. Sometimes as hard as it is for us planners-we just have to let it go. I bet your next morning was a fun one!

 

[Native NYer]

I'm glad everything came together for AK and Tusker House. And happy everyone got to the safari. I am amazed that you were able to plan a trip for 8 people. Definitely not an easy task, but you made it work.

I agree with you about Tusker House. We've only done the character breakfast, but it isn't a stand out for us. It takes FOREVER to be seated, which is so frustrating. I prefer Crystal Palace.

Can't wait to read about your MK morning.

 

[manntra]

Loved your safari pictures!!! Well it was great commentary anyways!!! As C mentioned perhaps you will have a better chance in May

I ate at the Tusker House only once....and I don't remember much of it either...I think I liked the air conditioning

Great PP pictures!!! LOVE your top!

7am at MK!!! What are you thinking?!!!!

Tracy

 

[KatMark]

Have you ever noticed how many of us get "rear end" views of those darn animals????

For a big group, I think you are doing great with getting everyone together, doing things, etc.

I love the family photo (and your hair looks fine by the way!).

 

[creativeamanda]

What a wild run through AK!

I'm impressed ya'll got so much done in such a short amount of time.

One day I think I will do Tusker House, but I'm still kind of miffed that Disney turned such a great CS location into a TS location.

It's funny that E had the camera during the safari. I have some safari pictures just like that for a similar reason.

 

[glennbo123]

I know you would have liked to have seen the park passes and meal credits used a little more efficiently, but hey, if everyone was happy with their day -- it's "mission accomplished".

I laughed at your descriptions of the safari pictures.

I haven't tried Tusker House yet, but I've heard that it's really good so it may go on the list for "next time".

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

One day I think I will do Tusker House, but I'm still kind of miffed that Disney turned such a great CS location into a TS location.

I was a little too, but they did a really good job with it. The menu is a little bit like Boma at AKL, but is deferent at the same time.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

i enjoyed the pics even thought they may have been a tad blurry in some, he got a picture of a charging rhino after a bird, that is something i have never seen...so kudos there.

 

[All7OfUs]

A page late, and a dollar short- as usual. Loved the update- I'll give you credit for getting any pix at all on Safari. they are hard to get, focused or not.

I"m sorry Tusker let you down. I know how excited the crowd was for it; I'm sure the drinks took some of the sting out of having to deal with a buffet. They aren't my favorite places either, with the exception of Biergarten.


I don't know how you deal with the mis-management of time and money. You are so much more patient than I would have been. I love how yo 7ulet it all roll right off ya.

 

[eandesmom]

You are accomplishing things. With a group like that you can't sweat it if everyone doesn't get that they have to move to make it worth it.

Nope, you can't.

I had the same experience with the computer loving DD and the DisHating DH but I vowed to ignore it and even before we left I had the non expiring option added to the tickets so if they chose to stay by the room or pool I could save that day. I am sure if I go back and look we may have had a couple go intothe park for a meal visits but I was not going to worry about it. That saved my sanity.

I hope your MK day is fabulous.

They did use their tickets every day (even if it was just to go to dinner lol), save one, and in reality, once you hit about day 4 the extra days don't cost that much extra so I'd say we got our ticket money's worth for K&T given that we did a ton those first 4 days. The cost to upgrade to the non expiring, given that I don't know when those 2 will be back, wouldn't have been worth it and we'd have had to upgrade everyone.

Great update Cynthia !!!The Safari pix look like all of mine !!!I haven't yet tried TH but think we will in October after our special Safari!!I loved Kouzzini 's and my waiter wasn't bad either Not Italian but Yummy none the less !!!

A Zesty Greek is almost as good as a hot Italian!

Something tells me you will have an opportunity to get some better safari shots in May...

I would like to try a Lost on Safari...for research purposes of course.

I don't know, I may let Mary Ellen take all the pictures and just enjoy, no way I can even compete with her and Melissa!

Research is VERY important!

Tusker does not sound especially fun. I don't really like buffets either and there is nothing more frustrating than being ready to go and having to wait (and wait) for your bill.

Totally agree with you that some of the best moments end up being the simple and unplanned ones...no matter how much prep work and planning we do!

Hoping your MK day was fun. A 9 on the crowd calendar- yikes!

No kidding, that 9 had me freaked out! I'll admit, I'm not in a rush to go back to Tusker.

Awesome family PP pics. Everyone looks so happy! I love your shirt!

Thanks! I'm sure you'll see it again in May

Denny and I ate lunch at TH in Sept and it was a madhouse - just as you described. When I saw the line to check-in I almost ran away right there.

Seriously! Half of me felt like saying forget it, lets go on rides and hit some counter service somewhere. But most of the gang really liked it (then again, most of them like buffets, I did when I was a kid as well so I can't really complain about it).

Glad you got to do the safari together. Better luck with safari pics next trip!

That was really nice that you sent the kids away to do their own thing. Where they able to get on EE before the park closed. And why the heck does that park close so early in the summer. I think it stayed opened until 10 when we where there in June. I guess because its August, but still?

Why does it close so early period? I mean really, 5 or 6pm on a regular basis seems ridiculous to me.

Loved the update.

Did you really try to get to MK at 7am????? Really? Good luck with that!

You'll have to see how we did with that.

I have to say it isn't easy making it all fit together, but it seems that in the end everyone is having a good time! So I am glad to see that. Being the gang leader ISN'T fun at times, but at least you are able to keep it together and keep your cool! (drinking helps!!!) I agree that it is important to remember a good Disney vacation shouldn't be based on how many rides you take! It may depend on the crowd, but we have really appreciated and enjoyed the ammenities as much as the parks, and so have our kids! Ironically in the "Unofficial" guide to Disney their ratings for kids, and what kids like best, have pool time as one of the highest items, not necessarily the parks alone. So good times are had when everyone is having fun.

We did have fun and that's all that matters, not checking things off of a list.

I would tell you to try the Margarita as well at the Dawa bar. That is less sweet. My DH liked it better, too... C can try the Lost on Safari and you the Margarita this time for "research" purposes...

It's officially on my AK drink to try list for May! That and the Yak Attack from the Y&Y counter service...

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Before I comment on your update I have to tell you I just read your responses and I used to have a book of drink umbrellas in my pantry! I'll take a look to see if they're still there!!!

Oh my, it's sounds like a crazy time at AK! I'm glad everyone got to do at least a couple of things!

Your right about this being how disney makes it's money!! I admit that more then once we paid for a ticket day and only went to MK for an evening party!! We could have gotten in on the party ticket and not paid for the ticket day! Now I paid twice! GRRR! But, if I hadn't someone would have wanted to go to a park that day, other then MK! It is what it is! It's not worth dwelling on!

I'm sorry Tusker wasn't the best meal ever! At least you tried it! We've only ever done breakfast there! It's a much better breakfast buffet then some of the others!!!

Can't wait to see how the plan plays out!

 

[englishrose47]

Carol my Co Escort is going with her family in June (DoYa think I made a Disney Freak)She wants to try TH and has a ressie there !! I think we will eat there for our Safari trip in October but I think it is different to the buffet as it said Family style and characters and it is DINNER!! I'm guessing this is a GG special thing !!Anyone ever done it ????

 

[eandesmom]

Sorry you weren't thrilled with the Lost on Safari -- it is on the sweet side, but not nearly as sweet as that Sugar Cane Mojito I had this past summer. I always love seeing pictures from the Animal Kingdom even when they are slightly blurry safari shots.

Not thrilled is probably an overstatement, I didn't dislike it, just didn't love it either. Clearly I had two so it wasn't all that bad. I just don't have much of a sweet tooth...which makes summery drinks a challenge. I'm always looking for the perfect one that isn't too sweet. It's why I love margaritas....they have salt!

Aren't they, though? But honestly, that is the best part of an Alaskan cruise. Other cruises, I could honestly just stay on the ship for half the ports, but you can't cruise Alaska without getting out into it.



Fun!



That sounds fantastic. Scott and I are seriously talking about Aulani in the near future (well, mid range future, I guess)

The array of things to choose from is overwhelming, I'm glad we had tons of time to look it over! I really hope Aulani is in our nearer future...2012 if I get my way.

Yay for anupdate. Sure a lot of animal booty shots there I felt the same about Tusker House-it was jammed for us as well and just a tad overwhelming. Sometimes as hard as it is for us planners-we just have to let it go. I bet your next morning was a fun one!

Serious animal booty I know!

I'm not in a rush to go back to Tusker. Glad I tried it but it's not on a near time redo list for sure. It just wasn't "all that" for the crowd factor, for me.

I'm glad everything came together for AK and Tusker House. And happy everyone got to the safari. I am amazed that you were able to plan a trip for 8 people. Definitely not an easy task, but you made it work.

I agree with you about Tusker House. We've only done the character breakfast, but it isn't a stand out for us. It takes FOREVER to be seated, which is so frustrating. I prefer Crystal Palace.

Can't wait to read about your MK morning.

Making it work is relative. more accurately I just tried to work around it as best I could.

Loved your safari pictures!!! Well it was great commentary anyways!!! As C mentioned perhaps you will have a better chance in May

Well I had to make it interesting somehow.

I ate at the Tusker House only once....and I don't remember much of it either...I think I liked the air conditioning

Great PP pictures!!! LOVE your top!

7am at MK!!! What are you thinking?!!!!

Tracy

I'm sure you'll see the top in May.

We'll see how the 7am thing worked out.

 

[eandesmom]

Have you ever noticed how many of us get "rear end" views of those darn animals????

So true!!!!!!!

For a big group, I think you are doing great with getting everyone together, doing things, etc.

I love the family photo (and your hair looks fine by the way!).

LOL. Thanks! I have no hair in the picture, it's all pulled back. Which honestly, in FL is the best thing I can do. Jeff hates it but tough.

What a wild run through AK!

I'm impressed ya'll got so much done in such a short amount of time.

One day I think I will do Tusker House, but I'm still kind of miffed that Disney turned such a great CS location into a TS location.

It's funny that E had the camera during the safari. I have some safari pictures just like that for a similar reason.

I didn't realize it used to be a CS location. Makes more sense for it if you ask me. It was all right. I didn't feel like we got that much done but we did have fun and that's all that mattered.

I know you would have liked to have seen the park passes and meal credits used a little more efficiently, but hey, if everyone was happy with their day -- it's "mission accomplished".

The park pass thing we'd kind of expected, the meal thing bummed us out at the time (in a shaking our heads kind of way) but what can you do? Everyone was happy. Or as happy as then 17 year old boys get

II laughed at your descriptions of the safari pictures.

I had to make up for the portfolio of animal booty somehow

II haven't tried Tusker House yet, but I've heard that it's really good so it may go on the list for "next time".

You might enjoy it! Lots of folks do. The food was definitely fine, it was more the crowd and the wait and the just general feeling of noise (not that it was noisy) if that makes sense.

I was a little too, but they did a really good job with it. The menu is a little bit like Boma at AKL, but is deferent at the same time.

It definitely has some Boma-like things at it, which was a big part of why we picked it. The food was good.

i enjoyed the pics even thought they may have been a tad blurry in some, he got a picture of a charging rhino after a bird, that is something i have never seen...so kudos there.

That's my favorite shot. Not as good as his lion shot last year but definitely the best of the bunch!

 

[MEK]

Lost on Safari - for Research purposes! Good one C! I might have to join you on that endeavor.

 

[eandesmom]

A page late, and a dollar short- as usual. Loved the update- I'll give you credit for getting any pix at all on Safari. they are hard to get, focused or not.

Evan gets all the credit.

I"m sorry Tusker let you down. I know how excited the crowd was for it; I'm sure the drinks took some of the sting out of having to deal with a buffet. They aren't my favorite places either, with the exception of Biergarten.

Oh I'm not sure it did let me down. It met my expectations (I would have picked Y&Y hands down between the 2) and the gang liked it (they picked it) so it was all good.

I don't know how you deal with the mis-management of time and money. You are so much more patient than I would have been. I love how yo 7ulet it all roll right off ya.

I'm a duck.

Before I comment on your update I have to tell you I just read your responses and I used to have a book of drink umbrellas in my pantry! I'll take a look to see if they're still there!!!

oh oh oh! Put them on the pack list!

Oh my, it's sounds like a crazy time at AK! I'm glad everyone got to do at least a couple of things!

Your right about this being how disney makes it's money!! I admit that more then once we paid for a ticket day and only went to MK for an evening party!! We could have gotten in on the party ticket and not paid for the ticket day! Now I paid twice! GRRR! But, if I hadn't someone would have wanted to go to a park that day, other then MK! It is what it is! It's not worth dwelling on!

I'm sorry Tusker wasn't the best meal ever! At least you tried it! We've only ever done breakfast there! It's a much better breakfast buffet then some of the others!!!

Can't wait to see how the plan plays out!

I'm glad we tried it. I'm not that big on breakfast buffets (versus sit down) but think I prefer Cape May

Carol my Co Escort is going with her family in June (DoYa think I made a Disney Freak)She wants to try TH and has a ressie there !! I think we will eat there for our Safari trip in October but I think it is different to the buffet as it said Family style and characters and it is DINNER!! I'm guessing this is a GG special thing !!Anyone ever done it ????

Fun!! There is a GG thing at Tony's, I didn't know about one at Tusker but there is some AK GG thing available that does include food, maybe it's that?

 

[eandesmom]

Today was supposed to have a crowd level of 9 at the Magic Kingdom. Really, it would have been a great resort day with numbers like that. Of course that’s not what I had decided to do with the morning. No, being the glutton for punishment that I am, I apparently wanted to go to the MK despite the dire warnings of tour guide mike and my trusty android app. Why? Who knows. Originally it was really so that Sandie and Paul could actually see the MK. They hadn’t been there yet. It had become clear that other things were of a higher priority and so while they wanted to go there, they had zero desire to get up early to beat the crowds, instead wanted to meet us at lunchtime.

I didn’t have a whole lot of interest in cooling our heels at the resort until lunch and so the E’s and I decided to stick to the original beat the crowd via EMH plan. Jeff decided to stay back, for two reasons. One to ensure that Kendall actually worked out and two to hopefully get them all moving earlier, than if he wasn’t there.

The park was opening at 8. I'd thought it was 7, but it was really 8. which was a bit more palatable...and achievable. We’d yet to make a rope drop. Ever.

And…..we didn’t make it on this day either! I’ll admit, I didn’t really try. We wanted to get there early but…weren’t into killing ourselves to make RD, after all we didn’t have the pressure of TSM closing bearing down on us. The E's were sleepy enough and not thrilled about leaving their cozy beds, pushing for earlier would not have been worth it. There had been a family reunion of some sort at the quiet pool last night, the darn thing just being packed until the wee hours but blessedly, the YC has some amazing sound proofing and once the door was shut, we didn't really hear a thing. It had made for a later than expected night though for Jeff, myself and the teens.

Despite that, we did pretty darn well.

At 8:36 we were seeing this!

You’d think of course we’d head straight to the main rides, start the FP gathering, all that.

Nope.

The E’s had been bribed.

Only one place would do. We had a park that wasn’t teeming with people. That was peaceful and beautiful and magical in a really different way than we were used to. And a bakery that didn’t have a line out the door!!!!!!!!!!!

Danishes were on the E’s radar

For me, a parfait.

It was already pretty bright out.

But fairly quiet

I can’t tell you how fabulous that early morning breakfast, sitting in front of the bakery was. Everything was just right and it just was the absolute perfect start to the day. A great first never done, breakfast in the MK, on Main Street. Something about starting off slow instead of just rushing in…just hit the spot, for all of us. Our goal for the morning was to make it a “never done” kind of morning. To hit things that either we’d never done, hadn’t done in a long time, the kids didn’t remember doing, or things we knew others in the group wouldn’t enjoy. To maybe hit things that were too long of a wait at other times of the day. Ultimately, to do whatever it was the E’s felt like doing, in no particular order, with no particular touring strategy involved. Pressure free, that was the goal. Of course that didn’t stop us from grabbing some SM FP’s before we did anything. We aren’t totally crazy!

In that vein…the first never done, as selected by the E’s was…

A view from a rocket

I flew solo

Eric apparently wanted to be the pilot

A look up

And out

I have to tell you.

This ride FREAKED ME OUT. I am a total thrill ride junkie…to a point. I am a bit freaky at times about height. I really should have let a kid pilot my plane as this ride, the only ride of the trip, all parks, scared the bejeezus out of me. Annoyed me too as if I’d not have been such a wuss, the view was really pretty amazing up there. It’s funny, I didn’t expect it to freak me out at all. We’d never done it as the line is always so long and never seems to move. And even with a very empty park still, it moved slow. It’s just a slow…and LONG…ride. The boys LOVED it though.

They also loved this

Who doesn’t?

Evan was already spraying himself down…heat kicking up as expected.

Since we were there, we decided it was time for a little of this

I’d never done this before. I’m not sure if Evan had, he may have back in 2009 when I took Eric home early and the rest went back out, but he didn’t remember it either. It was a blast, and the AC quite welcome!

A little cruise seemed in order…so we headed off to the jungle.

Continued in next post

 

[eandesmom]

Which of course took us by the castle and the mandatory shots the kids love so much. Evan was happy to show of his new bling…aka his necklace. I’d tried to convince him to wait until AK for a cool necklace of that type but no, he had to have it, and have it now and while dashing raindrops at DHS the day before, he’d finally settled on this one. Which, amazingly he hasn’t lost and still wears it more days than not. Go figure.

We elected for standby. It was a bit of a wait but it wasn’t how we wanted to pull our FP’s and we knew it would get worse so we decided to just go for it. It wasn’t too bad and we enjoyed the queue.

Where’s the boat mom?

Is that ours?

Why yes, yes it is!

That waterfall looked nice

Continued in next post

 

[eandesmom]

Some snakes

Jungle creatures

I think about here, maybe earlier, the E’s realized the animals weren’t real. LOL. They’d never been on the Jungle Cruise before (or didn’t recall it at any rate, if they did it was either in 2001 or 04 so understandable that they wouldn’t recall) and I didn’t set the stage. Seriously at first they thought they were real.

This is a dead giveaway though

We were sad Jeff couldn’t see this plane

I was glad these weren’t real, that would be a little freaky actually, if they were that close to your boat.

We checked out this party

And headed inside

I love the detail!

I don’t care how ridiculously fake these ones look, they made us smile.

And…we were back

I hadn’t been on the Jungle Cruise since…I honestly don’t know when. It was fun, corny, dated and still an absolute blast, especially seeing it through the E’s eyes. Our captain was ok. He tried hard but I think the 3 of us about died when we heard him repeating line for line 2 or 3 jokes that we had JUST heard on the Laugh floor. And they were far far funnier there.
It was 10:30 and had been a productive morning so far. The gang was up, Jeff and K were at the gym working out. The rest went out for breakfast…I think, I’m honestly not sure. What to do next? We literally had hours before we were really expecting anyone and a park full of never dones for some of us, or done so very long ago it was but a dim pleasant memory.