From wish tripper to greeter - Ali's MAW trip report 4/19 - 4/25 FINALLY FINISHED!!!

[kellyw8863]

After hanging out in Dinoland for an hour, or so, we headed over to Asia so that the biguns could ride Expedition Everest and then we could all do Kali River Rapids. For some reason, I had psyched myself up that I really wanted to do EE despite the fact that I don't "do" rollercoasters - ever.

Well, I did once when I was about 6 years old. I was with my brother on the baby rollercoaster at Canobie Lake Park, and my mother made the operator stop it so I could get off. I was that hysterical. So that was absolutely my last experience with any kind of a thrill ride.

The grandparents and the kids decided that they were going to sit this one out, so Garth and I made it through the queue. The waiting area is really neat with all kinds of mountain climbing memorabilia and pictures, which I enjoyed. And then it was onto the train.

Needless to say I screamed my bloody head off the entire time, but I LOVED it! My fil was actually successful at snapping our picture as we went down the last drop.

We're four rows back and wearing white t-shirts. Garth has his hands up in the air and I'm holding on for dear life trying to hide behind him. When all was said and done, I was so glad I went on it, so Tonya, if you are reading this, definitely do it!

After that, we headed over to Kali River Rapids.

I really thought this would be a ride we could all enjoy. The girls had seen videos of it on YouTube and seemed very excited to ride it. But, I should have thought otherwise after reading this

because this was us. Well, not all of us. Just Ali. We were having quite a nice ride and then came the rogue wave. There's no other way to explain it. It literally seemed to creep up over the back of the raft and soak her, and her only. And I mean soak. Head to toe. Not even her underpants were spared.

She screamed. And screamed. While I laughed. Total bad mommy moment, but it was just so surreal I couldn't help myself. I would have given my left arm for a waterproof camera at that moment. We ended up not getting any pictures of the "crisis" because all hands were tending to her. Disney planned the park well, because just as you got off the ride, you could buy cute little Disney dresses to the tune of $25.00 each. So, you'll notice that in the rest of the pictures from the day, Ali is no longer wearing her fantastic Big Give Lilo dress.

 

[yinyanggirls]

I love all the "random" pics. You got lots of smiles ( and a few pouts) with that camera.

I'm glad Ali was having such a good day at AK since her wish was to see the "Real Tree". Too bad she was the only one to get soaked.

 

[kellyw8863]

My husband would be so happy to hear your compliment on the pics, because I'm always giving him a hard time that he missed his opportunity, or it's too blurry. I so wish I had a picture of soaking wet Ali. It was bad, but one of those things that I'm sure she'd look at later and laugh.

 

[wish_upon_a_star35]

Well I just love all of the pictures of your AK Day! I am really looking forward to going to that park next month. I am so sad that we never made it there last year!

I normally don't do water rides whenever we go to amusement parks. I just have this horrible fear that we'll never completely dry. I know it sounds silly. Especially since I know it's not true. But squishy flip flops just seem like a pain. However since our trip is at the end of June, I'm sure that all of that fear is going to go straight out of the window!! I can only imagine how hot it is going to be and I just know that we will be dry in NO time!

 

[kellyw8863]

After the disaster otherwise known as Kali River Rapids and dropping $25.00 for a nice and dry Minnie Mouse sundress, we decided that it would be a good time for some lunch, so we headed over to Yak and Yeti for some take-out.

Borrowed picture from the 'net.
The food was good and HUGE portions. We ended up getting two kids' meals and two adult meals, and there was plenty of food for the six of us (notice the new dress).

It was crowded, but we found that the tables turned over quickly, and there are even some that are in the shade if you're willing to wait a bit.

This was also our first experience with Disney public bathrooms. Maybe I'm just a huge dork, but I thought the Dyson hand drying things were WILD! Ali was terrified of them, but I thought they were neat and rushed out of the bathroom to tell everyone else to go check them out.

After we finished up with lunch, we decided to do the Maharajah Jungle Trek so that we could make our way towards the 2:30 showing of Festival of the Lion King.

For some reason, we didn't get tons of pictures from this part of the day. The girls were fascinated by the bats. They were so big and close-up that I found them to be a little creepy.

The tigers put on a pretty good show for us, so we enjoyed watching them for a while. They came right up against the glass, which the girls thought was pretty nifty.

We also saw some monkeys, though it was hard to see them from where we were.

After this, we bolted over to Africa to try and catch the safari before 2:30.

But alas, the animals were not being cooperative and the trucks were being held up somewhere out on the ride. The CM said that our best bet would be the FP line, but he couldn't even begin to predict how long it would take for us to make it on. After a quick check of the time, we decided that we'd come back after FOTLK, and that we'd start heading towards Camp Minnie-Mickey. We were able to capture pictures with Pocahontas and Meeko along the way.

We cut across Discovery Island, which was a really nice walk. We saw DeVine, which was pretty...weird but definitely interesting.

And best of all, we got some great pics of the girls looking at the Tree of Life. I think this is my absolute favorite picture from the 1000+ that we took.

It was followed by this one, which is kind of blurred but I love the sharpness of the colors, and the expressions on the kids' faces are so characteristic of them.

Next up - Festival of the Lion King and more Disney magic!

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

After hanging out in Dinoland for an hour, or so, we headed over to Asia so that the biguns could ride Expedition Everest and then we could all do Kali River Rapids. For some reason, I had psyched myself up that I really wanted to do EE despite the fact that I don't "do" rollercoasters - ever.

Well, I did once when I was about 6 years old. I was with my brother on the baby rollercoaster at Canobie Lake Park, and my mother made the operator stop it so I could get off. I was that hysterical. So that was absolutely my last experience with any kind of a thrill ride.

The grandparents and the kids decided that they were going to sit this one out, so Garth and I made it through the queue. The waiting area is really neat with all kinds of mountain climbing memorabilia and pictures, which I enjoyed. And then it was onto the train.

Needless to say I screamed my bloody head off the entire time, but I LOVED it! My fil was actually successful at snapping our picture as we went down the last drop.

We're four rows back and wearing white t-shirts. Garth has his hands up in the air and I'm holding on for dear life trying to hide behind him. When all was said and done, I was so glad I went on it, so Tonya, if you are reading this, definitely do it!

After that, we headed over to Kali River Rapids.

I really thought this would be a ride we could all enjoy. The girls had seen videos of it on YouTube and seemed very excited to ride it. But, I should have thought otherwise after reading this

because this was us. Well, not all of us. Just Ali. We were having quite a nice ride and then came the rogue wave. There's no other way to explain it. It literally seemed to creep up over the back of the raft and soak her, and her only. And I mean soak. Head to toe. Not even her underpants were spared.

She screamed. And screamed. While I laughed. Total bad mommy moment, but it was just so surreal I couldn't help myself. I would have given my left arm for a waterproof camera at that moment. We ended up not getting any pictures of the "crisis" because all hands were tending to her. Disney planned the park well, because just as you got off the ride, you could buy cute little Disney dresses to the tune of $25.00 each. So, you'll notice that in the rest of the pictures from the day, Ali is no longer wearing her fantastic Big Give Lilo dress.

LOL!!! You thought of me Too funny. Ok so now that I know YOU did it maybe I will do it. Ty has already told me I AM doing it I had beg to differ But I guess I can try it lol

I am taking my poncho's poor Ali! I bet she loved her dress too!!! What a great day!

 

[kellyw8863]

It was sooooooo much fun. The sound effects were great. The visuals were great. The whole idea of it was great. I'm not going to lie to you - it was fast and the backwards part literally took my breath away (just an odd sensation). I did have my hands up for most of it, but that last drop kind of creeps up on you and I panicked. But other than that drop and the fact that it's fast, it wasn't bad at all. It was FUN!

 

[cantwaittoseemickey]

It has been quite a few years ago but I rode a backwards roller coaster and used to love it. I think just because I got older and my focus changed on Ty's health that it brought alot of things to seem more scary to me because I just want to make sure my feet are on the ground firmly so I can take care of him. So now certain things just kind of make me scared. If that makes sense

 

[kellyw8863]

It does make sense! That's exactly how I developed a fear of flying. I just feel like I always need to be in control so I can fix anything that goes wrong.

 

[Figmificent]

Aww your family is just fantastic! I'm glad AK is going better for you... and I just ADORE that pic of their backs while they are looking at the tree of life and holding hands! Tooooooo cute!!!

 

[kayrosek]

Great update. Jonnie really wanted to ride Kali River Rapids but then spent the whole time worrying about getting wet. In the end he thought it was hysterical that mommy and sisters got the majority of the waves (and mommy forgot dry clothes for her). Sounds like you had a good day. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[Wee Annie]

Love the TR so far! Especially love it because it's helping me relive our wonderful time at the AK.

We all did Expedition Everest, except for Elke (too small). My older girls LOVED it, and did it multiple times (tip for those going soon -- this ride had the absolute fastest FP line of pretty much any ride at Disney for some reason!). Elke actually cooperated by napping in her stroller (about the only time she did that the whole trip) while we took turns going on EE. Jake and I liked it and thought it was a good ride -- well worth doing. Honestly, I didn't think it was all that scary. I went on it twice. The first time was definitely the best because I didn't know what was coming. Jake and I agreed that the second time around was not quite as much fun because you knew what to expect. But still a good ride. As far as rollercoasters go, this is a smooth one. Jake hates bumpy rollercoasters (says that riding Space Mountain is akin to someone taking him and throwing him in a small, tight wooden box, and then throwing that box on the back of a pick-up truck and driving fast on dirt road with lots of pot holes. In other word: Ouch!).

We also all did Kali River Rapids. I was surprised that Elke wanted to do this, and gave her multiple chances to chicken out. But she was determined. I had brought flip flops and extra shorts for both my older girls, and an entire change of clothing for Elke with us to the park that day (I don't go pretty much anywhere without an entire change of clothing for Elke -- I've learned the hard way....). It was my oldest, Kate, who got literally drenched. Ironically, Elke got the least wet (which was good -- poor Ali!). Kate ran and changed into the dry shorts I had brought with me, and then I teased her because her underwear was so wet it made her new shorts wet. But it is a fun ride. If you don't mind getting WET.

We ate at Yak & Yeti for dinner. I think it was the only dinner we didn't eat at GKTW (trying to save some money). Very good food.

LOVE that pic of the girls looking up at the tree. Can see why it's your favorite!

 

[xanphylus]

You guys are so making me switch my plans to go to AK instead of HS! I know whenever we go, we will only be able to do 2 parks, maybe 3 tops. I know MK is one, and its between AK and HS right now, Epcot if we do 3 (my fav). EE sounds really cool and I LOVE rollercoasters.... well, not as much as I used to, but I still love a good one every now and then.
As I have gotten older, I seem to see the danger in them more and see my life flash before my eyes a little more and wonder, what would happen to Davy if his mommy got flung off the scary coaster while looking for fun? I know the chances of it happening are slim, but you know, with my luck here lately, I would be the one Pooh sized gal that got flung off the ride or something. Maybe that's my hint to diet.... hmmm... nah! Besides, Davy likes his fluffy, cuddley, Pooh sized mommy just the way she is!

But seriously, I may have to hit AK now!!

 

[SunnieRN]

Your daughters are gorgeous!! I am enjoying your journey so much!! My older grandson (4) has severe sensory issues. A lot of his pictures he is turned into Mommy or Grandma or Daddys shoulder, to "hide" from everyone and everything. Poor wee ones, noises, too many people, or strange situations do them in!

I am so happy that your AK day is going so perfectly!! Looking forward to more!

 

[rcq925]

Glad you guys had such a wonderful time at Animal Kingdom. I really hadn't planned on spending much time there, but now may reconsider. We have been there twice and last year we spent almost a whole day there, it just seems so spread out and not a lot of rides (which is what my kids want!)

I LOVE the picture of the girls holding hands in front of the tree

I would blow that one up and frame it, it is beautiful! Sisters!!

Can't wait to hear more!!

 

[pacrosby]

YAY I'm all caught up!!! I just 'told' Laura on her thread that I am committed to catch up with one TR and one PTR a day in the hopes of getting back on track here and today YOU are the TR (Laura was the PTR).

Great job so far................you're actually almost done!!

I love seeing px of the things that we didn't have a chance to do - the horseback riding at Keaton's Korral, the fishing, and especially the swimming at GKTW. And the character meals too............those are so fun!! I love experiencing those through others TR's.

Interesting that you've never been a roller coaster lover yet really enjoyed EE. Olivia was a thrill ride lover (including crazy coasters) UNTIL EE. She now refuses to ride most thrill rides. I think the backward movement just freaked her out. Guess it's me and the boys from now on!

Hope Ali is back to good health and your life has somewhat returned to normal (although I wonder if it ever truly does??????).

As an aside: Got your pm. Strange huh? Anyway re: Davis' Farmland, we have never gone as a family but I've always wanted to. Nick spent the day there with a friend back a couple of years ago. Olivia's dancing school is actually in Sterling, just a couple of miles away from DF on rte 12 (maybe a 1/2 mile from 190). Have you been with the girls? Is it worth the money? Maybe I'll have to pen it in as a summer day event.

 

[kaileighbug]

I just found your trip report and love it. How exciting for your daughters. I used to volunteer while I was in the Navy in 1994. Certain Friday nights we would go to GKTW and serve dinner and clean up after. We would stick around to put the castle to sleep before we would leave and head back to base. I loved going there. All the kids were great fun to be around. They have a wonderful place there.

 

[kellyw8863]

Aww your family is just fantastic! I'm glad AK is going better for you... and I just ADORE that pic of their backs while they are looking at the tree of life and holding hands! Tooooooo cute!!!

Thank you. To me, the thing that's so great about that picture is that it was totally unposed. Maya walked up to Ali, took her by the hand and said, "This is your wish, Ali." It was a tear-jerker of a moment. Of course neither really understands the magnitude of the moment, but it made a great picture.

Great update. Jonnie really wanted to ride Kali River Rapids but then spent the whole time worrying about getting wet. In the end he thought it was hysterical that mommy and sisters got the majority of the waves (and mommy forgot dry clothes for her). Sounds like you had a good day. Can't wait to hear more.

I was totally ragging on the people in line wearing ponchos until I saw the potential for getting wet. And then I was wishing that we had the ponchos! We did have a great day, thank you!

Love the TR so far! Especially love it because it's helping me relive our wonderful time at the AK.

We all did Expedition Everest, except for Elke (too small). My older girls LOVED it, and did it multiple times (tip for those going soon -- this ride had the absolute fastest FP line of pretty much any ride at Disney for some reason!). Elke actually cooperated by napping in her stroller (about the only time she did that the whole trip) while we took turns going on EE. Jake and I liked it and thought it was a good ride -- well worth doing. Honestly, I didn't think it was all that scary. I went on it twice. The first time was definitely the best because I didn't know what was coming. Jake and I agreed that the second time around was not quite as much fun because you knew what to expect. But still a good ride. As far as rollercoasters go, this is a smooth one. Jake hates bumpy rollercoasters (says that riding Space Mountain is akin to someone taking him and throwing him in a small, tight wooden box, and then throwing that box on the back of a pick-up truck and driving fast on dirt road with lots of pot holes. In other word: Ouch!).

We also all did Kali River Rapids. I was surprised that Elke wanted to do this, and gave her multiple chances to chicken out. But she was determined. I had brought flip flops and extra shorts for both my older girls, and an entire change of clothing for Elke with us to the park that day (I don't go pretty much anywhere without an entire change of clothing for Elke -- I've learned the hard way....). It was my oldest, Kate, who got literally drenched. Ironically, Elke got the least wet (which was good -- poor Ali!). Kate ran and changed into the dry shorts I had brought with me, and then I teased her because her underwear was so wet it made her new shorts wet. But it is a fun ride. If you don't mind getting WET.

We ate at Yak & Yeti for dinner. I think it was the only dinner we didn't eat at GKTW (trying to save some money). Very good food.

LOVE that pic of the girls looking up at the tree. Can see why it's your favorite!

I didn't think it was scary, scary, but I knew about the whole yeti thing because I watched it on YouTube before going. It was just plain fun! Garth said the same thing about Space Mountain. He said it was pretty miserable and low on the fun factor. I do wish that I had brought extra clothes for afterwards - it would have saved me $25.00. But part of the reason for our miserable day at MK was that we overpacked and got stuck dragging around a too-big bag. This time we overcompensated and went with nothing except for Ali's backpack, medical stuff, and a bottle of sunblock thrown in the bottom of the stroller. I hope that you guys were there on a warm day so that Kate dried quickly!

You guys are so making me switch my plans to go to AK instead of HS! I know whenever we go, we will only be able to do 2 parks, maybe 3 tops. I know MK is one, and its between AK and HS right now, Epcot if we do 3 (my fav). EE sounds really cool and I LOVE rollercoasters.... well, not as much as I used to, but I still love a good one every now and then.
As I have gotten older, I seem to see the danger in them more and see my life flash before my eyes a little more and wonder, what would happen to Davy if his mommy got flung off the scary coaster while looking for fun? I know the chances of it happening are slim, but you know, with my luck here lately, I would be the one Pooh sized gal that got flung off the ride or something. Maybe that's my hint to diet.... hmmm... nah! Besides, Davy likes his fluffy, cuddley, Pooh sized mommy just the way she is!

But seriously, I may have to hit AK now!!

Unfortunately, we didn't get to do DHS at all. I would have liked to, though. Age has done the same thing to me. I think of the things that I used to do even ten years ago, and I would never do half of them now. Though I'm sure part of it is motherhood. I'm sorry you're not having an easy time of things right now.

Your daughters are gorgeous!! I am enjoying your journey so much!! My older grandson (4) has severe sensory issues. A lot of his pictures he is turned into Mommy or Grandma or Daddys shoulder, to "hide" from everyone and everything. Poor wee ones, noises, too many people, or strange situations do them in!

I am so happy that your AK day is going so perfectly!! Looking forward to more!

Thank you! Sensory issues are the pits. It's hard to watch your child be fearful of everything. Let's hope they grow out of it!

Glad you guys had such a wonderful time at Animal Kingdom. I really hadn't planned on spending much time there, but now may reconsider. We have been there twice and last year we spent almost a whole day there, it just seems so spread out and not a lot of rides (which is what my kids want!)

I LOVE the picture of the girls holding hands in front of the tree

I would blow that one up and frame it, it is beautiful! Sisters!!

Can't wait to hear more!!

There aren't tons of rides, which was perfect for us because Ali turned out to not be big on the rides afterall. We were there all day and still didn't have time to hit everything we wanted to. I'm hoping I can blow the picture up. It's one of the ones I took with my phone, so I'm not sure of the quality.

YAY I'm all caught up!!! I just 'told' Laura on her thread that I am committed to catch up with one TR and one PTR a day in the hopes of getting back on track here and today YOU are the TR (Laura was the PTR).

Great job so far................you're actually almost done!!

I love seeing px of the things that we didn't have a chance to do - the horseback riding at Keaton's Korral, the fishing, and especially the swimming at GKTW. And the character meals too............those are so fun!! I love experiencing those through others TR's.

Interesting that you've never been a roller coaster lover yet really enjoyed EE. Olivia was a thrill ride lover (including crazy coasters) UNTIL EE. She now refuses to ride most thrill rides. I think the backward movement just freaked her out. Guess it's me and the boys from now on!

Hope Ali is back to good health and your life has somewhat returned to normal (although I wonder if it ever truly does??????).

As an aside: Got your pm. Strange huh? Anyway re: Davis' Farmland, we have never gone as a family but I've always wanted to. Nick spent the day there with a friend back a couple of years ago. Olivia's dancing school is actually in Sterling, just a couple of miles away from DF on rte 12 (maybe a 1/2 mile from 190). Have you been with the girls? Is it worth the money? Maybe I'll have to pen it in as a summer day event.

I totally understand. I'm having a hard time keeping up with this and keeping up with everyone else. Poor Olivia! The backwards part was disorienting, especially considering the total darkness. Davis' is definitely worth the money! We usually spend the morning petting and feeding the animals, and then we spend the afternoon at the sprinkler park. The girls love it there!

I just found your trip report and love it. How exciting for your daughters. I used to volunteer while I was in the Navy in 1994. Certain Friday nights we would go to GKTW and serve dinner and clean up after. We would stick around to put the castle to sleep before we would leave and head back to base. I loved going there. All the kids were great fun to be around. They have a wonderful place there.

Hello there! That's neat that you used to volunteer there! I'm hoping to start up an extended service break at the high school where I teach and bringing a group of students down to volunteer for a week. It's so nice to hear your perspective!

Things here are status quo. Ali is still sick - not sicker, but her cough and congestion is persistent. It's really taking a toll on her body. She's sleeping through the afternoon, waking for dinner, and going back to bed until the next morning. And, she's having a lot of problems with pain. It's hard to watch. She just really needs to get better soon. Sigh.

 

[kellyw8863]

Next stop on our agenda for the day was the Festival of the Lion King. The show started at 2:30, and we got there at about 1:55 to get in line. We were shown to the wheelchair waiting area, which wasn't very crowded at all. And the nice thing about waiting here was the shade and the giant misting fans.

We weren't let in until about 2:20. The CM took me by the hand and said that she was going to lead us to "the best seats in the house," and it seems that she was correct, though I don't think there are any bad seats because of the way that it is set up (like an amphitheater).

Shortly after we were seated, Ali and Maya were approached by another CM, who wanted to know if they would help him teach the audience the Hand Jive.

Ali was reticent, but Maya eagerly jumped up to follow him. In the end, Ali went, too, but you can tell from the look on her face that she wasn't exactly enjoying herself.

Now I have yet to see Lion King on Broadway despite having tickets twice and being too sick to go twice, but I thought it was pretty impressive.

This "float" was right next to us, and unfortunately, Ali spent the entire time with one eye on it to make sure that it wasn't going to move, or roar, or do anything too lifelike.

The end is interactive where the performers go around and choose children from the audience to participate. Both Ali and Maya were chosen, but Ali wanted to stay put, so Maya went up by herself.

It's definitely a "don't miss" and just one more part of our day that was absolutely incredible.

 

[xanphylus]

Wow! The lion king show looks great! I have seen it in many of the Wish TRs and think it just looks awesome every time! I have to take the kids if we go this Christmas. Your trip looks so great so far! Loving all the pics and stuff.

Thanks for the - its been a rough few days, but my kiddos make it all worth it! Took DS to the train museum today for mommy and me day, and just the way he lit up and started screaming "toot, toot!" as soon as we pulled onto the road (not even the parking lot yet! He couldn't even see the trains yet- he just knew where we were going!!) just made my heart melt and I forgot all my worries!