He Was Bitten, Bitten By The Bug! A Nov-Dec '12 TR **WRAP UP 7/26**

[PhoenixStrength]

The deer are still there though. Within the view of the tigers, but out of their reach (thankfully!)

Next up was the bird sanctuary. I’ll just let the pictures do the talking here, until the last one.

Last picture from in here, and this one has a cool story, with little photographic evidence. The pheasant in this picture (which is the one in the back, brownish, with the bamboo slightly blocking it) had just hatched 2 baby birds 5 days prior. They are under her in this picture, but right after I snapped it she stood up and they ran behind her into the bamboo and you could no longer see them. I talked to the CM watching her and she told me their age and how many they are. I was apparently pretty lucky to even see them as she said the pheasant had just brought them out of the cover for the first time ever 10 minutes prior.

It was getting close to non at that point, so I decided to head out since I didn’t know how long it would take for a bus to come in the middle of the day. I did pass the Gibbons and took a couple of pictures of them.

I made my way to Discovery Island

I realized I didn’t have any PP pictures yet in front of the Tree of Life, so I headed around there and got in line. There was a family getting their pictures taken, then me. I noticed while waiting that there were now Cotton Top Tamarins there, beside the Garden entrance! They had an indoor and outdoor area with no fencing around them, since they were on a little island.

The fencing you see there just goes around the enclosure, but the door to it was wide open and they were climbing around the trees on their little island and having fun. The only downside was people kept walking directly in front of the PP with her camera and just standing there, not paying attention. She had to tell 4 different groups to please move so she could get that families pictures done. Finally though it was my turn. As usual my camera is the first picture, then the PP’s camera.

I took one quick close-up of the Tree of Life, as she had quite a line at that point

Then I headed out of the park. I did stop at the AK Christmas tree for some pictures. The girl doing the Photopass pictures was trying to be different, but she actually yelled at me at one point to do something fun and entertaining and stop taking boring pictures! Not cool at all. I did do some weird thing to get her to stop it, but didn’t include it here as it turned out weird. Here is my camera, then one from her.

I walked over to the bus stop and wouldn’t you know, the bus showed up within a couple of minutes. We stopped at Blizzard Beach for a second, but no one was exiting or entering so we were on our way again. I was soon on my way to POP Century with a handful of other people.

Quick fact, in case you don’t know, since it is relevant to the next funny bit. The dialogue you hear on the buses (both to and from the parks/DTD and ME) is GPS related. It automatically starts playing at certain set coordinates.

Anyway, so as we pulled onto Century Drive it started the “Hello Everyone” dialogue for welcoming us back to POP Century, etc. Only this time it just said “Hello Everyone” then stopped. Then it said those two words only every 15 seconds all the way to the bus stop at POP Century where we got off. The poor bus driver couldn’t get it to stop and by the time we got off we were all cracking up laughing. It sounds annoying, but was actually hilarious. Some of the kids started saying “Hello” back to it and it was just fun.

I was pretty hungry for lunch at that point. I had purposely not ate in AK in case the buses took a while but since they didn’t I was sad I hadn’t stopped at Flame Tree BBQ. But oh well, I stopped in Everything POP instead and got a chicken tenders meal. It was fine, nothing special but filled me up.

I made my way up to my room next to download the pictures I had taken and get ready for Steve. It was around 1pm at that time, so I figured I had about 45 minutes.


NEXT TIME: SO, I WAS A BAD DIS-ER



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[Pluto0809]

I always love your pictures of the animals! The tiger ones are awesome.

That's great that you got to ride in the front on EE, great pictures from up there. I didn't realize that you could ask for the front seat till this last trip. I don't think many people know you can and there was never much of a line. So the second time through with a fast pass, I asked to wait for the front. Not the best idea on such a cold day though. I was seriously crying by the end of the ride from the cold wind. Halfway through I thought I'd lost one of my contacts but it was just makeup running in my eye making it blurry.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I always love your pictures of the animals! The tiger ones are awesome.

That's great that you got to ride in the front on EE, great pictures from up there. I didn't realize that you could ask for the front seat till this last trip. I don't think many people know you can and there was never much of a line. So the second time through with a fast pass, I asked to wait for the front. Not the best idea on such a cold day though. I was seriously crying by the end of the ride from the cold wind. Halfway through I thought I'd lost one of my contacts but it was just makeup running in my eye making it blurry.

Thanks! I love the animals and could spend a whole week in AK and be perfectly content!

I hadn't requested the front seat for EE, nor did the family I was sat with. No one was requesting it so we got it by default. It was really cool though. I rode in the last row in February of last year, so I've done all over on EE. That's not good though that you had all that wind and cold while you waited!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Yep, that was on my trip report that I wondered whether or not the dragon was male or female. You'll notice that I didn't have to wonder that same thing when it came to the bats. Uh, yeah, it's THAT obvious.

I have said it before and I'll say it again, I don't see how ya'll take those good pictures while on Expedition Everest. I'm usually hanging on for dear life.

How neat that you got to see the little baby birds! I love that sort of stuff.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Yep, that was on my trip report that I wondered whether or not the dragon was male or female. You'll notice that I didn't have to wonder that same thing when it came to the bats. Uh, yeah, it's THAT obvious.

I have said it before and I'll say it again, I don't see how ya'll take those good pictures while on Expedition Everest. I'm usually hanging on for dear life.

How neat that you got to see the little baby birds! I love that sort of stuff.

I thought it was you! And yes, no need to ask the gender on the fruit bats!

I don't hold on at all, so it's pretty easy for me to take pictures on EE.

I was just about to walk away when she stood up and I saw the chicks. They were so tiny and adorable!!! I was really happy I was one of only a few people that had seen them so far.

 

[summerw]

Finally all caught up! The gingerbread cupcake looks so good and I don't even love gingerbread. I had the same experience with Minnie at chef Mickey. Goofy, donald and Mickey were so charming. I think Minnie had someplace to be or something.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Finally all caught up! The gingerbread cupcake looks so good and I don't even love gingerbread. I had the same experience with Minnie at chef Mickey. Goofy, donald and Mickey were so charming. I think Minnie had someplace to be or something.

Glad you are caught up!

I'm not a huge gingerbread fan either, though I do like it occasionally. That cupcake was divine though!!

Minnie in Storybook Circus was super sweet and friendly, but at Epcot, not so much.

 

[afwdwfan]

That's great that the single rider for EE was short enough to get a couple of rides in. You can never get too much of that one.

I love your animal pictures. You got some really good ones. It would be hard to get a tiger to pose that well for you if you wanted them too. Thank goodness for service dogs.

And I liked your "delicate" description of the bats.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

That's great that the single rider for EE was short enough to get a couple of rides in. You can never get too much of that one.

I love your animal pictures. You got some really good ones. It would be hard to get a tiger to pose that well for you if you wanted them too. Thank goodness for service dogs.

And I liked your "delicate" description of the bats.

Thanks, I love EE so I was very happy to get to ride it twice!

That tiger was funny to watch, but the fact that the dog couldn't care less that it was there made it hilarious.

Trying to keep the site family friendly with my bat description!

 

[ronnmel]

We didn't see DeVine at all this trip. I was a bit disappointed, since Otaku has never seen her.

Your PP pictures are so clear! I wasn't so lucky myself a lot of the times.

at your first EE ride photo. The photo of the stairs really don't look like you are on a roller coaster. I love how you can see Coronado Spring in the SSE picture. It's interesting to see it from above.

I love all your animal stories. How do you approach the CM so they tell you those? What question to you ask them? I feel weird going up to them and say "Hi, what can you tell me about x?"

Your tiger pictures are amazing! And the story that goes with it is so cool.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

We didn't see DeVine at all this trip. I was a bit disappointed, since Otaku has never seen her.

Your PP pictures are so clear! I wasn't so lucky myself a lot of the times.

at your first EE ride photo. The photo of the stairs really don't look like you are on a roller coaster. I love how you can see Coronado Spring in the SSE picture. It's interesting to see it from above.

I love all your animal stories. How do you approach the CM so they tell you those? What question to you ask them? I feel weird going up to them and say "Hi, what can you tell me about x?"

Your tiger pictures are amazing! And the story that goes with it is so cool.

Awww...too bad Otaku didn't get to see DeVine. My parents have never seen her either, and they've been to WDW 4 times since AK opened, including a week prior to this trip I took!

I kind of forgot to pose for that first EE picture! The stairs are a little weird, as they are comforting to know they are there if there was a problem, but not so comforting to think about there being a problem! I loved that I was able to zoom in and get that view of SSE and the surrounding area too. I always try but never get it zoomed fast enough.

Well, the tiger story I overheard as the CM was explaining to the boy and his family that had the service dog why the tiger was acting that way. The pheasant chicks I just asked as they ran so fast I wasn't sure what I saw and she was standing right next to me. Oh, and the Komodo dragon was another one I overheard a kid asking him what the gender was. But they are there to answer questions and observe the animals, so they don't mind at all if you ask anything. If I don't have a specific question (like I did with the chicks) I usually ask if there is anything unusual or not common knowledge about "X" animal. You should try it, I've never seen any not answer to the best of the knowledge and be very friendly about it.

 

[KatMark]

Great pictures once again at the Animal Kingdom, Stephanie.

Your photopass pictures turned out great.

I can't believe you took pictures while riding EE. But then I can't even imagine riding it.

I would have been like that little girl with the bats...but for another reason... I walk very quickly through there because I don't like bats.

Great pictures of the tiger up close...funny story about that.

 

[ronnmel]

Awww...too bad Otaku didn't get to see DeVine. My parents have never seen her either, and they've been to WDW 4 times since AK opened, including a week prior to this trip I took!

I kind of forgot to pose for that first EE picture! The stairs are a little weird, as they are comforting to know they are there if there was a problem, but not so comforting to think about there being a problem! I loved that I was able to zoom in and get that view of SSE and the surrounding area too. I always try but never get it zoomed fast enough.

Well, the tiger story I overheard as the CM was explaining to the boy and his family that had the service dog why the tiger was acting that way. The pheasant chicks I just asked as they ran so fast I wasn't sure what I saw and she was standing right next to me. Oh, and the Komodo dragon was another one I overheard a kid asking him what the gender was. But they are there to answer questions and observe the animals, so they don't mind at all if you ask anything. If I don't have a specific question (like I did with the chicks) I usually ask if there is anything unusual or not common knowledge about "X" animal. You should try it, I've never seen any not answer to the best of the knowledge and be very friendly about it.

Thanks. I'll try asking some questions next time. We didn't spend much time observing animals this time anyway.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Great pictures once again at the Animal Kingdom, Stephanie.

Your photopass pictures turned out great.

I can't believe you took pictures while riding EE. But then I can't even imagine riding it.

I would have been like that little girl with the bats...but for another reason... I walk very quickly through there because I don't like bats.

Great pictures of the tiger up close...funny story about that.

Thanks!

I was very happy with the PP pictures in AK especially. There weren't any I didn't like.

You and Lisa are both members of the no-pictures-on-EE club! I've been on roller coasters since I was about 5, so they don't phase me at all. If it went upside down I wouldn't try to take pictures, but otherwise it's fine with me!

I remember you saying in your TRs that you don't like bats.

The tiger situation was so cool to see, since it is not a normal thing to happen. And he was right there so pictures were easy. Funny enough the other tiger I took pictures of is in the same enclosure, but didn't care about the dog at all.

Thanks. I'll try asking some questions next time. We didn't spend much time observing animals this time anyway.

I'm sure it will go well, and you'll learn at least one new thing.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

So, I removed my ticker. Steve and I will be going to WDW soon, but not until sometime in April now and since we don't have exact dates yet I got rid of the ticker for now. It will be added back once we have definitive dates. I'm a little bummed I won't be in Disney for my birthday, with my best friend, but it's a situation out of everyone's control at this point, and it's only put off for a few weeks at most, so I'm fine with it! I'll still be going with him, so it will be fun whenever we go.

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[KatMark]

Sorry you won't be at Disney with Steve for your birthday, but happy that you will still be going together at some point.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Well shoot! I wish that you were going for your birthday but, like you said, at least you know that you're going sometime soon.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Sorry you won't be at Disney with Steve for your birthday, but happy that you will still be going together at some point.

Well shoot! I wish that you were going for your birthday but, like you said, at least you know that you're going sometime soon.

Thanks both of you! I'm a little bummed, but knowing we are still going, just a few weeks later, makes it okay!

 

[ronnmel]

That sucks that you won't be in Disney for your birthday, but the silver lining is that the crowds should be lighter in April since Easter is late March.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

That sucks that you won't be in Disney for your birthday, but the silver lining is that the crowds should be lighter in April since Easter is late March.

Yup, lighter crowds and MUCH cheaper. No holiday so the per night charge is much less, plus I can take advantage of the Spring Deal for percentage off so it would cost almost 50% less!