Flowers, Segways & DIS Meets, Oh My! - Updated 10/26, Final Thoughts-FINALLY!

[stace208]

Congrats to Jared! I'm with MeMom-that Good Citizenship award is the big deal. Those are not things handed out lightly-at least not by this teacher! Jared seems much like Ben to me. Ben is loud and crazy (in a fun way) at home but at school is very serious and quiet.

You got fantastic safari shots!! The lions and cheetahs are something I've never gotten a decent shot of...don't think I've even SEEN the cheetahs before. Too cute of the baby gorilla too!

I hope Justin focuses and gets through these finals!

 

[MEK]

Not sure how I missed this update, but it was a really good one.

First - congrats to Justin and Jared on their school awards!!!!!! Nice work men!

Second - I love that you got to meet up with Katie at AK. Awesome safari pictures. I never get the lion or the lioness. NEVER! So I'm with Katie - I am coming back to borrow your safari pics when I get to that part of my TR.

Third - cute picture of you in the jaws of whatever that creature once was.

4th - that baby gorilla was the highlight of my trip to AK!

 

[Disneygrl36]

OK back from my trip & now I'm all caught up on your trippie.
Love the pics of CSR......I might get to see it in person in August. Eric is attending a conference & it was supposed to be at the Opryland hotel in Nashville but now with the flooding they are moving it to CSR. So, of course, I will need to tag along right?
So glad you went to Jiko & loved it. It really is soooo good. And the nekkid man I say he had to be an exhibitionist cause there is no way at ground level close to the pool that he didn't know he was going to be seen.
Love the baby gorilla pic.....the gorillas are my favorite. Eric always get restless when I stand there & watch them. Hmmmmm maybe a solo day at AK while he's at the conference would be a good thing since it's his least favorite park.
And last but not least, your boys sound like they are doing so well. You have every right to be proud.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Hi Michelle! I read your entire TR so far! I saw the link in your siggie & said to myself "I'll read it tomorrow" and I guess that was over a week or so ago! It was nice to be able to sit on a Sunday afternoon & relax with a cup of coffee & read your entire report so far!

I loved the photos of CSR. I have a good friend who used to work there & I think the resort is beautiful, although I have never actually been there myself! I was impressed with the room you had. It looked alot nicer than most of the Moderate resort rooms. I also thought it was very nice how there were doors to the bathroom instead of just a curtain. The colors of the room were pretty! Very nice! And of course...love the hidden Mickeys!!!

The pics of you & your mom together were so nice! I am jealous, I wish I could take a trip alone with my mom...we would have so much fun shopping & eating!!! But its just too hard with all the kids in the family. We couldn't leave them with the guys.

I loved all the pics you posted so far, especially those of AK on the trail & safari! We somehow managed to miss BOTH last trip but its ok because I am looking forward to both this trip!!! What setting did you use on your camera? Your pics on the safari were great! Loved the close-ups and the pic of the baby gorilla with its mama!

Also glad you decided to take pics of the food! Would you believe that we stayed at AKL last year & I forgot to get zebra domes every single time I was at Mara (which was about 5-7 times!) We were usually there for breakfast so I wasn't thinking of dessert foods at the time! lol I have heard they are yummy! Hope we both get to try them at some point! That steak & mac n cheese looked absolutely delicious!

Naked man?!? LOL I actually had a similar experience last year. Although, I was sitting on our balcony at AKL after dark. I looked across to take some pics of the resort at night...and there was a curtain completely open, with the lights in the room ON, and the guy was naked...and it was not a pleasant site. We'll leave it at that since this is a family-oriented site!

I think there was more I wanted to write, but I can't remember it all now. I will have to go back & re-read some!

Can't wait to read more of your report!!!

Hey there! Glad you made it over

For being a moderate resort, CSR is very nice, it has a much more deluxe feel to it for sure.

Put the trails and the safari on your 'must do' list for next time, you won't be sorry. I love strolling along the trails watching the animals, it's one of my favorite things to do at AK!

Ick, on your nekkid man experience! It probably happens more often than we think it does.

Phew...finally caught up!

First off, funny you should have trouble finding chairs at the pool. We did too! The entire time we were at the Beach Club (8 days) I don't think we could get enough chairs, even just the adults, without doing a herculean hunt.

Funny thing, 85% of the chairs didn't have anything on them but towels. At least once a nice woman offered to give up her 10 yr olds chair, saying he would be in the pool the whole time anyway. And we of course returned the favour by only taking 2 chairs for our family of 4 since the kids would not be laying out anyway. But I don't think everyone operates on this basis.

Wasn't that nuts? I was just in shock right away, I thought 'uh oh, this could be a bad sign'.......

Most of the chairs we saw had nothing but towels on them as well. Sometimes people would say that they thought that the people using the chairs had left, but I didn't want to take the chair just in case. It was kind of frustrating that people couldn't be bothered to drop their used towels in the bin on the way out of the pool

How very smart of you to have saved your bottled waters from your CS meal for later, using your mugs instead since you were right by the food court! I will have to keep that in mind. Although it sounds great in theory having access to the fountains for refilling mugs, invariably I always wanted a drink after the marketplace closed.

We weren't actually at the food court, just the snack bar by the pool, but we could refill our mugs there. This was a very good thing, because given the location of our room, we never would have filled our mugs if we had had to go all the way to the food court.

Although I can only see the top of it, I love the pattern of your swimsuit!

Thanks, that pic originally showed the entire suit, but I figured me in a bathing suit was not something people wanted to see so I cropped it The bottom is a skirt, solid in color, kind of a seafoam green.

And great idea with the mirror shot! I typically have so few pics of me since I am the only one who takes photos...I will have to keep this in mind. Better a mirror shot than nothing!

That was my thought when I took it - I wasn't sure how many pics of us together we were going to get!

You and your mom looked gorgeous for your meal at Jiko! That must have been such a special time for the two of you!

Thanks, it was a great time and a great meal!

Can't believe that naked man you spied!!! I guess it takes all kinds! I would not have been pleased if my 7 yr old daughter had witnessed that!

If it weren't for all the kids around the whole situation would have been much funnier. I certainly hope no little ones saw him!

Love your pictures of AK!! You aren't kidding you had some crowds! I'm starting to think there is no down time in Disney anymore! I remember going when I was 10 in the middle of October and I think my dad and I were the only people in EPCOT that day LOL!!!!

Glad you had such a great DIS meet with Katie!!!!

I think you are right, the days of a slow period at Disney are long gone I'm afraid.

Hanging out with Katie that morning was great fun!

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Happy Birthday Michelle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

​

 

[SoonerGirl]

Congrats to Jared! I'm with MeMom-that Good Citizenship award is the big deal. Those are not things handed out lightly-at least not by this teacher! Jared seems much like Ben to me. Ben is loud and crazy (in a fun way) at home but at school is very serious and quiet.

You got fantastic safari shots!! The lions and cheetahs are something I've never gotten a decent shot of...don't think I've even SEEN the cheetahs before. Too cute of the baby gorilla too!

I hope Justin focuses and gets through these finals!

Thanks Stacy! I think Jared's teacher takes those Citizenship awards seriously too. There were a couple of teachers that gave them to almost everyone in their class, but Jared's teacher seemed to be more picky, there were only a few kids that got them in her class.

Those lions and cheetahs are so elusive!

Last day of school here - by this point he is 1 hour into his 2nd final of the day, just one more to go after that!

Not sure how I missed this update, but it was a really good one.

First - congrats to Justin and Jared on their school awards!!!!!! Nice work men!

Second - I love that you got to meet up with Katie at AK. Awesome safari pictures. I never get the lion or the lioness. NEVER! So I'm with Katie - I am coming back to borrow your safari pics when I get to that part of my TR.

Third - cute picture of you in the jaws of whatever that creature once was.

4th - that baby gorilla was the highlight of my trip to AK!

Thanks Mary Ellen!

It was great to be able to meet up with Katie and spend some time together that morning.

For the longest time I didn't even know there WAS a lion/lioness on the safari! They are quite elusive!

I'm pretty sure that is a hippo skull, since it's right by the hippo pool and all...

Can't wait to see your pics of the baby gorilla!

OK back from my trip & now I'm all caught up on your trippie.
Love the pics of CSR......I might get to see it in person in August. Eric is attending a conference & it was supposed to be at the Opryland hotel in Nashville but now with the flooding they are moving it to CSR. So, of course, I will need to tag along right?
So glad you went to Jiko & loved it. It really is soooo good. And the nekkid man I say he had to be an exhibitionist cause there is no way at ground level close to the pool that he didn't know he was going to be seen.
Love the baby gorilla pic.....the gorillas are my favorite. Eric always get restless when I stand there & watch them. Hmmmmm maybe a solo day at AK while he's at the conference would be a good thing since it's his least favorite park.
And last but not least, your boys sound like they are doing so well. You have every right to be proud.

Hey Melanie, welcome home!!

You MUST tag along with Eric for his convention. That sounds like a perfect opportunity for you to go to the parks and stroll through the things you want to see at your pace and your pace alone!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Happy Birthday Michelle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

​

Thanks Kristin!

Stick around - I've got an update coming right up

 

[SoonerGirl]

Before I get to my trip update, I have something else I'd like to share that is somewhat trip related.

Mom came over the other day bearing gifts! I assumed that since my birthday was coming up (as Kristin just pointed out above, it's today) that it was a birthday present. But, it wasn't. It was a thank you gift for planning and organizing the trip! I love Jim Shore, and she got me two new pieces. Here's a pic of me with Mom with my gift, you'll have to excuse my appearance - it was a ballpark day!

A couple of close ups:

At the end of the note that she wrote, she asked 'when are we going back?' That was followed by a ha ha, so I'm sure she was joking - doesn't she realize that is no joking matter??? I'm ready to plan a trip right now!

OK - on with show - Day 2 continued

When we finished the safari we decided to go try and catch the next Festival of the Lion King show. We had to stop for a quick picture of the dragon waterfall

Then we made our way over to the theater. I wasn't as pleased with my photos this time around, but I still got a few pretty good ones - I'll let them speak for themselves

Something that I've noticed the last couple of times that I've seen the show, it seems as though they have really reduced the number of dancers. I made a comment about that afterwards and Katie said she had thought the same thing. Anyone else have this same feeling?

When the show ended, it was time for Katie and I to say goodbye. She was headed over to DHS for a lunch ADR, and Mom and I were spending the rest of the afternoon baking at AK.

It was great spending the morning with Katie and getting to know her better, she was as sweet and fun as I had perceived her to be from her posts here on the DIS, she is a genuinely lovely person!

Continued in the next post

 

[SoonerGirl]

After we said our goodbye's Mom and I headed back to

But before we got too far we hooked a right and started towards Asia - it was time for EE FPs! Mom still wasn't sure she wanted to ride this, but she was going to be a trooper and give it a shot. As we walked along the path, out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. We stopped and were treated to the beautiful DeVine!

I made sure to tell Mom what a treat it was to get to see her, in all my visits to AK this was only my second sighting! We continued along, stopping for a picture in front of the Tree of Life

Eventually we ended up at Expedition Everest and were able to get FPs with a return time of about 2:30.

That done, we decided it was time for a bit of lunch. It was incredibly hot on this day and I really contemplated scrapping our plans to eat at the Yak & Yeti CS and head over to the nice, cool, air conditioned Pizzafari instead. BUT, I also didn't want to walk back across to the side of the park we had just come from only to fight the crowds inside Pizzafari (you all know what it's like in there on a busy day!) In the end we stuck with Y&Y. We were able to find a table that was partially in the shade, and we sat down to enjoy our lunch.

I guess I didn't take any pics, cause I can't find them, but I can tell you we enjoyed the food here. I had the honey chicken and Mom had the mandarin salad. We both had frozen lemonade for dessert - that was so cool and refreshing!

After lunch it was time for the

We spent a little while watching the very cool, but also very creepy bats

Then we went in search of tigers!

Not much to see here - they were all doing this

Afterwards we decided to catch Flights of Wonder. I had never seen this show before our trip in December, but we found it quite entertaining and I thought Mom would enjoy it as well.

It really is a cute little show! If you haven't seen it, check it out

Coming up: We go on an expedition and get lost on safari!

 

[kschafer]

It was great spending the morning with Katie and getting to know her better, she was as sweet and fun as I had perceived her to be from her posts here on the DIS, she is a genuinely lovely person!

It was such a fun morning, thanks for letting me tag along with you and your mom!

Once again, your pictures of FOTLK turned out WAY better than anything I took so I can skip that part of our morning too right?

Hanging out with us Disers didn't teach your Mom that trips to Disney is no joking matter?

Happy Birthday Michelle!!!!!!!

(when are you joining FB so we have a heads up on these things )

 

[Charleston Princess]

Happy Birthday, Michelle! Hope you are having a fabulous day!!!

Getting you those two Jim Shores figurines was super sweet of your mom! I adore the Tinkerbell one!

I always enjoy seeing bats and tigers in photos. I feel like that tiger -- I could use a nap right now.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I can't wait to see what Mom thought of EE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is my family's favorite coaster in all of WDW!

 

[marsa1969]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I'm loving the updates so far. A big congrats to the boys!! It seems the older they get the more running we have to do for them. I'm thankfull that DS can drive himself to football.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Happy Birthday Michelle!

You got wonderful FOTLK pictures. We had nosebleed seats and my zoom didn't work so mine are horrible. I just love that show!!

I'm glad you and your mom enjoyed Yak and Yeti. I want to try that next time maybe. Sounds good!

 

[BippityBoo]

Happy Birthday!!! I just love the Jim Shore figures that your Mom got for you...how sweet is she?!

I really want to try Y&Y one day. Maybe on our adults only trip Sounds like your frozen lemonade was just perfect for such a hot day!

The bats were SO creepy, but cool. Also, you are the third positive review of "flights" so I guess I should check it out! I am looking forward to reading about your EE ride!!

 

[KatMark]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHELLE. Hope you have a great day.

I love the pictures of DeVine. We saw her for the first time (and our last time at AK) in 2008 when we went with our best friends for our 25th anniversary. We've never done Flights of Wonder or Lion King. Hopefully next year as we aren't doing AK this year (although Mark really wants to see the new baby elephant).

 

[wdwgirl03]

Love the figurines...very cool!

Awesome updates! You got some great pictures on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. I love that one of the tiger. FOW is an awesome show and so is FOTLK. Interesting about the # of dancers possibly being reduced. I guess I haven't seen it enough that I wouldn't even remember. All I know is it's an awesome show!

 

[MeMom]

So many nice Animal Kingdom pictures. I could spend so much time in that park just watching the animals without ever riding any rides. The tigers are beautiful animals, even if they are lazy so much of the time.

So glad you got to spend the time with Katie. It's fun to meet new DIS friends.

Sweet Mom to get those Disney figurines for you. However did she know you would like something Disney? I'd take her 'joke' as a cue to start planning!

 

[WDWsweetie]

joining in!!

 

[Disneygrl36]

Happy Birthday . Hope you got to do something fun.

You are helping me plan my solo AK day already....I can eat at Y & Y CS & finally go see Flights of Wonder that I have wanted to see but can't ever seem to get Eric to go!!!! And maybe I might get to see Devine as I have never gotten to see her. Gotta get him to pin down the details on this conference so I can get to planning.

Loved your Mom's thank you gift. That was thoughtful of her.