Fun, Sun, and Mickey Mouse! An August 2009 TR...new 11/19 p. 34

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Originally we had been planning on going to Blizzard Beach on Sunday but because you can never be sure about the weather during the summer, we decided to go to the Animal Kingdom. It would have stunk to have gone to Blizzard Beach only to have a thunderstorm and have to leave early. That's the problem with going for only four days, you don't have time to do everything. Oh well, hopefully soon we'll get to do Blizzard Beach again. Plus I was perfectly happy going to the AK since it's my second favorite park.

Before heading over to the AK, Dad and I went outside to go see the geyser. We had seen on the Great Hotels episode on the Wilderness Lodge that it went off and in our information packet it said that the geyser went off every hour on the hour. I wanted to make sure we got to see it before going home. We made it just in time and saw Fire Rock Geyser going off!

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It was just another one of those things that adds to the whole atmosphere of the resort. The geyser's also pretty close to the pool so we went to get a few more pictures.

Notice there are more ducks in the pool than people. :rotfl:
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And one of the main portion of the Lodge. So beautiful! Does anybody else see the giant bear in the structure of the lodge? I swear, I must be crazy because when I first saw that bit of trivia I could not figure out what they meant, but now whenever I look at this picture it's all I see! I'll give you a hint: the top 2 triangle windows are the ears...
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A few more random shots:
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So after a couple more pictures we went back to the room quickly and got ready for our Animal Kingdom adventures.

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Our plan for the morning at AK was to do Expedition Everest first (of course!) then the safari. After that we'd just do whatever we felt like. Even though we also had an ADR for the Prime Time Cafe at 3:45, we weren't going to rush. If we had to cancel our ADR it wasn't a big deal. By the time we got to the park, they were already letting people through the turnstiles so we were able to get in, atleast up until the attractions board where everyone is stopped for the opening show.

Soon we were on our way towards Asia for our encounter with the Yeti. We passed the area where they were doing the central fastpass distribution. When I first saw they were doing that I thought it was the stupidest thing since I thought that was the only place you'd be able to get fastpasses. Can you imagine if it was that way?! :scared1: But it actually is a pretty good idea if you don't want to be crisscrossing the park to get your FP.

When we got to Everest we did standby and then on the way out we could pick up fastpasses for a second ride.

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It took about five minutes, if that, to get boarded on the train. Soon we were climbing up the mountain. That view you get of the park is amazing. I was so tempted to get out my camera to take a picture but I was afraid I'd end up dropping it. Maybe next time. As usual the ride was awesome. Definitely one of the best attractions and definitely one of our favorites.

After the ride we got our fastpasses and headed back to Africa to do another favorite, Kilamanjaro Safaris. We stopped to take a quick picture of the Tree of Life. It's such a different angle on that pathway with all the trees framing it.

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There were also a couple people looking down into the water at something. We were curious so we decided to take a peek too. This is what we saw:

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A baby alligator! Yikes! Kinda crazy, but I suppose this is Florida. Atleast it was a little one.

We also got to meet Terk from Tarzan.
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And then we reached Africa and were ready to go on safari!
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Wow! Cool update! Those pics from Wl are awesome! I see the bear since you pointed out the hint! LOL! Hey! We were there 10 days and only got to the waterparks 2 of those days!
 
Nice update. I never noticed the bear before either, but I think I see it now.

Sounds like a fantastic dat at AK so far. Looking forward to more.
 

When we stay at WL, there were always more ducks than people in the pool. Maybe they like the surroundings there. :laughing:

I love the picture of Everest with the prayer flags. I have never even been over there. I am making that a priority in January.
 
A baby alligator! ... very cool. I didn't see the bear until you mentioned the ears, but now its all I see too. :laughing:

I'm not sure swimming with ducks is such a pleasant experience..... Demetri would love it and quack merrily along with them, but Ariana would be freaked. Do they leave or move around the people?
 
You got some amazing pictures of the Wilderness Lodge and it's cool that you were able to watch the geyser go off.

You were certainly lucky to have just a 5 minute wait for Expedition Everest.

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your Animal Kingdom day.
 
Yay! You found the bear face in the building! :banana: It's one of my favorite "hidden" facts about WL!

I loved that Samantha Brown special!
 
Great pictures!!---and I see the bear now!! At first I didn't and I looked and looked!!:rotfl: That is sooooo cool!!!

Only a 5 minute wait for EE? That's awesome!! I felt the same way about taking a picture because it is such a great view....but, like you I didn't want to take a chance.

Cool baby alligator picture!!
 
Wow! Cool update! Those pics from Wl are awesome! I see the bear since you pointed out the hint! LOL! Hey! We were there 10 days and only got to the waterparks 2 of those days!

Yeah, it's so hard to fit everything into one trip! Guess that's why we have to keep going back. :)

Great update.

I think I would have lost it if I'd seen the baby gator. :scared1:

It was just kind of strange that the alligator was right there. I had never seen one in the parks before. :eek: I wonder what they do when that happens, like if they remove them? :confused3

Nice update. I never noticed the bear before either, but I think I see it now.

Sounds like a fantastic dat at AK so far. Looking forward to more.

It took a little bit of looking (and imagining!) to see the bear.

More of our AK day will be coming up soon!

When we stay at WL, there were always more ducks than people in the pool. Maybe they like the surroundings there. :laughing:

I love the picture of Everest with the prayer flags. I have never even been over there. I am making that a priority in January.

LOL, they must. Those Disney ducks have no fear of people whatsoever. Probably because everyone feels like they have to feed them. :confused:

Thanks! I snapped that one as we were entering the EE line but I think it's one of my favorites.

A baby alligator! ... very cool. I didn't see the bear until you mentioned the ears, but now its all I see too. :laughing:

I'm not sure swimming with ducks is such a pleasant experience..... Demetri would love it and quack merrily along with them, but Ariana would be freaked. Do they leave or move around the people?

haha, that's funny! I love how now everyone is saying they can see the bear. :thumbsup2

I don't think I would like swimming with the ducks either. Since it was so early there weren't too many people in the pool so the ducks kind of stayed away, but who knows what they'd do if there were more people!

You got some amazing pictures of the Wilderness Lodge and it's cool that you were able to watch the geyser go off.

You were certainly lucky to have just a 5 minute wait for Expedition Everest.

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your Animal Kingdom day.

Thanks. The geyser was pretty neat.

I think most people decided they wanted to get FPs right away so we didn't have to wait too long at all.

Yay! You found the bear face in the building! :banana: It's one of my favorite "hidden" facts about WL!

I loved that Samantha Brown special!

I certainly did find the bear! Gotta love those little secrets.

Me too...I'm sad they don't ever have those on anymore! Oh wait, we have them all recorded on DVD...:laughing::rolleyes1

Great pictures!!---and I see the bear now!! At first I didn't and I looked and looked!!:rotfl: That is sooooo cool!!!

Only a 5 minute wait for EE? That's awesome!! I felt the same way about taking a picture because it is such a great view....but, like you I didn't want to take a chance.

Cool baby alligator picture!!

Isn't it?!

Maybe some day I'll be brave enough to pull out my camera because I'd like to get a picture from the top of the mountain too where "there doesn't seem to be any track." ;)
 
Well since there is no school today I thought I'd go ahead and do another update.

August 23, 2009 (part 2)

One of the things we've learned about the safari is that you get to see a lot more animals early in the morning. A lot of times we've gone to the Animal Kingdom in the afternoon and have seen a few animals but not too many. And since it was summer, who knows what the animals do when it gets really hot out.

When we got to Kilamanjaro Safaris, it was already getting pretty steamy outside and I don't even think it was 9:30 yet! There were a few more people around KS than there were at Everest but we still didn't have to wait too long. After 15 minutes or so we boarded our safari vehicle and were ready to go. I sat on one of the ends so I could try to get some pictures. It's always so hard because it's so bumpy!

Our driver greeted us and asked how many people were riding for the first time. It seemed like there were a lot of first timers. Soon we were entering the reserve.
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It didn't take too long before we spotted our first animal. A bongo, hidden way up in the trees!
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I sometimes wonder how the drivers can spot all the animals. I'm pretty sure I'd be horrible at it. At one point I thought I saw a rhino. Yeah, well, it turned out to be a rock or something. :rolleyes: LOL! Anyway...

We continued on our way and soon arrived at the watering hole where there were a few hippos. Of course they were all underwater.

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My absolute favorite part of the safari is when you get out on the savanna. And it certainly didn't disappoint. We got to see a bunch of animals!

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An ankole cattle. They have a few of these on the savanna at the AKL.
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I always love seeing the giraffes. They're so graceful and fun to watch. A couple of them even got pretty close to our vehicle which is always exciting.
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At one point we even had to stop to allow for giraffe crossing. There were a few people who started cheering when that happened which was kind of funny! Our driver said that they were probably brothers.

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Lucky me, they crossed right onto my side of the truck so I was able to get another picture of them!
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We also saw a wildebeest and some tommies. I can't believe the tommies are full-grown!
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Not quite sure what these are:
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Then we got to see another one of my favorites, the elephants!
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And a real rhino, not a rock. haha
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I'm pretty sure we saw both the male and female lions too but it was hard to get a picture of them since they were lying down. Has anybody ever seen them actually move? The most I've ever seen is the male sitting up.

When the safari was over our driver got an appreciative applause. Guess the first timers enjoyed the ride! It certainly didn't disappoint. I could ride the safari all day simply because you never know what you're going to see. It's always different! And I'm surprised I got as many pictures as I did since my camera batteries were dying. I was a little worried since we still had a day and a half left and stupid me forgot to bring the battery charger (and I was too cheap to buy new batteries, haha). So from that point on I didn't take as many pictures which I guess was alright. Sometimes you get to caught up trying to get pictures of everything that you don't enjoy everything as much.

up next: more Animal Kingdom fun and a free dessert...
 
Hi Sarah!

Great updates and photos! WL looks just lovely, it's my favourite resort and I'd love to stay there one day! I'm not getting the bear face, will need to keep looking! :guilty:

Di x
 
Great Updates! WL looks just breathtaking!

Thanks! The WL is amazing. Probably one of my favorite resorts now!

:guilty:I wish I didn't have school today too!

LOL. I was so happy to finally have a day off...between subbing and other stuff I've been super busy lately.

Hi Sarah!

Great updates and photos! WL looks just lovely, it's my favourite resort and I'd love to stay there one day! I'm not getting the bear face, will need to keep looking! :guilty:

Di x

Hey Diane, how are you?!

WL is your favorite resort? Then you've GOT to stay there some day! Hopefully soon!

Here's another hint on the bear: the other 2 triangle windows are the eyes. If you look really closely there's some woodworking that looks like the pupils.

Hi Sarah - I'm here and subscribed. Now I'm off to catch up on your adventure. Can't wait! :yay:

Hi Nikky, welcome to my TR! :wave2:
 
Hey DIS friends!

I'm on a little bit of an updating kick right now. This isn't a real update but I wanted to share my latest Disney gift. As I mentioned last week, my mom went to Disney World with a few of my aunts and grandma. When we were on our trip, I saw a really cute shirt at the Magic Kingdom (I mentioned it earlier in my TR) but sadly they didn't have my size. I described it to my mom and asked if she could try to find it for me. Sure enough she was able to get it. YAY!

How adorable is this?! I love the retro logo. :thumbsup2
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Even the back has a little retro touch.
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So that was a nice surprise. You can never have too many Disney shirts. ;)

Also, I made a little cheat sheet if you are still curious about the Wilderness Lodge bear...Click here if you want to see!

Have a great night and thanks for reading!
 
Since you tuned in to my PTR, I had to make my way over and read yours! Love all the photos!

I still don't see the bear in the WL facade though.....guess my imagination isn't turned on right now?
 











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