"Hello? I'm in the Carousel of Progress.."*UD1/13pg74"All Good Things...*

[mommytothreeboys]

I had fried oreos once and they were one of the best things I have EVER eaten. TO DIE FOR!!!

Now there's a snack I can get behind! YUMMMMMM!!!!

 

[bellesBFF]

looks like you guys had lots of fun in disney quest!
i didnt do much because i went with my little cousin, all he wanted to do was walk around, he didnt do anything in there!

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

Outstanding update. What a great first day.

Can't wait to hear about AK. MY FAVORITE PARK!!!

 

[Happydog]

Just loved your update! I am glad to get a sneak peek into DQ, we will try that one out next trip or in a few years, I think our boys are too young yet to really appreciate it -- but your DTD afternoon sounds just awesome! Also, the fried candy bar is definitely the thing in the UK -- at least it was in Scotland when we were there... that and a fried Mars Bar... Right there along side the fish and chips! That is what killed it for me but I heard it was good!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Thanks for the update. I am not a gamer at all and I found myself REALLY enjoying Disney Quest. We didn't get a chance to go to DQ in August, 2008 but are looking forward to going in August, 2009.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

Oooo, i'm looking forward to the boat ride from POR to DTD!!! It sounds like you had a wonderful time at DTD, I cannot wait to go to Goofy's candy company!!! We also set aside a day when we can have as much time as we need in DTD!!!!! We're renting the pontoon boats when we're down there also (or the canopy boats) we're a family of six and I was told we would fit in either one of them!

I like the pic of your youngest with no teeth trying to bite into that monstrosity of a snack!!!!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

looks like you guys had lots of fun in disney quest!
i didnt do much because i went with my little cousin, all he wanted to do was walk around, he didnt do anything in there!

You should go back without your cousin and have a blast!!

Outstanding update. What a great first day.

Can't wait to hear about AK. MY FAVORITE PARK!!!

I'm working on the AK pictures now...hoping to have an update posted later this evening.

Just loved your update! I am glad to get a sneak peek into DQ, we will try that one out next trip or in a few years, I think our boys are too young yet to really appreciate it -- but your DTD afternoon sounds just awesome! Also, the fried candy bar is definitely the thing in the UK -- at least it was in Scotland when we were there... that and a fried Mars Bar... Right there along side the fish and chips! That is what killed it for me but I heard it was good!

Too funny about the fried candy bar in the UK. The only other place I've ever seen it is at the carnival!

Thanks for the update. I am not a gamer at all and I found myself REALLY enjoying Disney Quest. We didn't get a chance to go to DQ in August, 2008 but are looking forward to going in August, 2009.

I'd go back...there was a lot I would like to do again!

Oooo, i'm looking forward to the boat ride from POR to DTD!!! It sounds like you had a wonderful time at DTD, I cannot wait to go to Goofy's candy company!!! We also set aside a day when we can have as much time as we need in DTD!!!!! We're renting the pontoon boats when we're down there also (or the canopy boats) we're a family of six and I was told we would fit in either one of them!

I like the pic of your youngest with no teeth trying to bite into that monstrosity of a snack!!!!

LOL!! I love that pic too!

DTD is awesome! The pontoon boat sounds fun! Can't wait to hear about it!

 

[DiningPlanDevastator]

Thanks for your latest trip update... Looking for more to come.

I never knew there was so much to do @ DTD...

 

[hjd0411]

What a lovely family you are! Thanks for taking us on your Disney vacation - sounds like you had heaps of fun! I look forward to reading more!!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Finally caught up!! Great start! (I HATE fish too... don't eat it, don't cook it.)

POR looks great!

Disney Quest looks like fun - we considered it for this trip, but weren't there height requirements for a lot of the "rides"? If I remember, Zachary was too short for most things and Alex was even too short for some of them. Maybe next time.

We had a similar lost card incident on our last day... (a little preview of my TR.)

 

[bellesBFF]

You should go back without your cousin and have a blast!!

haha, i'll pass with him! all he did was walk around the parks.. and i kept on going 'your so boring'.

im going again with a cousin, but a diffferent one, she's one year younger then me (and not two years yonger) and we are like, best friends!

 

[Br'erBriere]

Hi there! I just started reading and saw the picture of the Boys at the airport. I knew it looked like a familiar table/restraunt. Sure enough I keep reading and find out you were at the Buffalo Airport! Amherst here! Can't wait to read more!

 

[crzyeeyoreangel]

*waves* Hopping on board and starting my own. Sounds like your trip started off well. Cant wait to see more pictures.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Thanks for your latest trip update... Looking for more to come.

I never knew there was so much to do @ DTD...

Yeah...we ended up going back for more on another evening!

What a lovely family you are! Thanks for taking us on your Disney vacation - sounds like you had heaps of fun! I look forward to reading more!!

Hi and welcome aboard!

Finally caught up!! Great start! (I HATE fish too... don't eat it, don't cook it.)

POR looks great!

Disney Quest looks like fun - we considered it for this trip, but weren't there height requirements for a lot of the "rides"? If I remember, Zachary was too short for most things and Alex was even too short for some of them. Maybe next time.

We had a similar lost card incident on our last day... (a little preview of my TR.)

Glad to have a fellow non-fish eater! I'm not sure about height requirements for rides...I think maybe for a couple of them, but Jonah is the shortest and he is tall enough to do everything so I don't notice them as much anymore.

Unfortunately, that would not be the last "lost card" incident.

haha, i'll pass with him! all he did was walk around the parks.. and i kept on going 'your so boring'.

im going again with a cousin, but a diffferent one, she's one year younger then me (and not two years yonger) and we are like, best friends!

Yay! Sounds like fun!

Hi there! I just started reading and saw the picture of the Boys at the airport. I knew it looked like a familiar table/restraunt. Sure enough I keep reading and find out you were at the Buffalo Airport! Amherst here! Can't wait to read more!

Hi! Glad to have a fellow Upstate New Yorker!

*waves* Hopping on board and starting my own. Sounds like your trip started off well. Cant wait to see more pictures.

Welcome home! Thanks for stopping over!

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Our first Park Day!! WOO-HOO!!

It was early EMH at Animal Kingdom, so the alarm was set for 6:00 am. I know that there are a lot of people who don’t like to get up early on vacation so that may sound crazy to some. Normally I am not an early riser myself, but at Disney I don’t mind getting up early to take advantage of EMH. We wanted to be at the bus stop by 6:45 so we all got up, ate a quick breakfast in the room, got dressed and took the short walk to the bus stop.

I had been watching the weather forecast and this was the only day on our entire trip that had rain in the forecast. It was a bit overcast, but no rain yet. I was hoping it would hold off and we could enjoy our day! I was also a little nervous about the crowd levels as today was a 9 on the UG crowd calendar. We had never done a 9 day so I had concerns!! But.....I had a good plan and we were excited so we trudged ahead!


Waiting at the POR bus stop on our first park day!

Before I get too far, I want to say that my family LOVES Animal Kingdom. I know it’s a debated topic here on the DIS, but we spend an ENTIRE day, open to close, at AK and enjoy every minute! I think the theming at AK is second to none and the park itself is just so beautiful. I love the little touches like the bike tracks in the pavement in Asia, the way they make a water fountain fit seamlessly into an Asian village (see pic below), the authentic roofs in Harambe village, etc. If you slow down just a little, it’s easy to see the little things and I think Disney did the “little things” perfectly in AK. Ok...I’ll get off my Animal Kingdom soapbox now!

[

We arrived at Animal Kingdom around 7:30 for an EMH opening at 8:00. Our plan was to head to Everest and ride it, get a FP to ride it again later, then head to the Safari. I snapped this picture of the crowd waiting at the turnstiles when we arrived.

A nice CM took this one for us!

I don’t usually remember to take crowd pictures, so I was pretty proud of myself! My kids passed the time blowing bubbles in the line and lots of other kids joined in by trying to catch and pop them. It was very cute! About 7:45 they opened the turnstiles and let us in as far as the entry to Discovery Island.

We had never been to AK for a rope drop before so this was a treat! Minnie and Goofy came out on a Jeep-type vehicle and did a little opening show. Mickey made an appearance in the distance at the Tree of Life...he was high up on a scaffolding of sorts. The story was that Minnie and Goofy were going on an adventure and were going over their checklist before they left...camera, check...sunscreen, check....map, check! It was really cute and we enjoyed it. Then the rope dropped and we were off!

We refused to be a part of the “let’s run” crowd, so we hung back and just took our time getting to Everest. We went through Asia instead of Dinoland and enjoyed the scenery of the early morning. I love this picture of Jeff and the boys looking at Everest in the distance. Dan has done a lot of reading about real expeditions to Everest and is very interested in the facts, etc about the mountain. He had stopped here to read a plaque explaining the different peaks and was sharing the information with his Dad.

We arrived at the Fastpass machines for Expedition Everest and prepared to get our Fastpasses so we could enjoy the ride again later. (Insert sound of a screeching halt here.) OH NO.....Isaiah’s lanyard pouch has fallen off of his lanyard and that’s where his KTTW card is......AGAIN!!! The cards have charging privileges on them and that is our main concern. Jeff and Isaiah head off to find it (yeah, right) and Dan, Jonah and I get in the standby line to ride Everest. We figure we can get on and off by the time they get back. We only stand in line for a few minutes....the only sad part of that is that we miss all the cool stuff in the “Yeti Museum.” The ride was great! The Yeti was working and as creepy as ever! Upon getting off we called Jeff to see how he was making out with the KTTW situation. He was on his way back from Guest Services and, believe it or not, a CM had found Isaiah’s card and turned it in! WHEW! Another crisis averted! I’m not sure how many more we can handle, though! Jeff is worried about the security of the lanyard pouches being attached as they are. The little metal ring on which the pouch is hanging is what failed on Isaiah’s. So we take all of the KTTW cards and put them in my bag. We will try to figure out the lanyard situation later...for now we plan to enjoy the rest of the day without incident! Or so we hope!

We decided to ride Everest again since the standby line was only 10 minutes. By 8:30 we had been on Expedition Everest twice and got FP to ride again later in the day! Ya gotta love EMH!!!

We get our FP for Everest and head off to the Kilimanjaro Safari. The standby line is 20 minutes so we hop in line. This safari ride was awesome! The last time we were at AK, we rode the safari in the afternoon. This time it was morning and I really think we saw more animals. Our driver was very funny and engaged us in the whole story line. Here are a few pics of some of the animals we saw. It’s so hard to get good ones in a moving vehicle!

So....recap. By 9:10 we had ridden Everest twice, lost and found a KTTW card, and done the safari. NOT bad for an hour’s work!

After the safari, we walked the Pangani Forest Trail. I LOVE the gorillas and we saw a lot of them this time. One had a bucket on his head...too funny! We also so a young female climb a tree. My boys enjoy the fish pond and we spent quite a bit of time there.

We decided our next step was to head to Kali and get Fastpasses, then try to catch the 10:30 Flights of Wonder show. I was very skeptical about this because I really do NOT like birds, but the boys wanted to do it so I was willing to take one for the team! As we walked through Africa back to Asia, look who we ran into!!!

I had wanted to see DeVine this trip so the fact that we just happened upon her was a great treat!

We got our FP for Kali without incident and backtracked to the Flights of Wonder show. We got good seats despite it being very close to showtime.

I have to say the show was good! Guano Joe was very funny, and that kind of corny humor is right up my alley! I didn’t like the birds swooping over the audience, but managed to avoid them swooping over me...until close to the end of the show. Jeff casually put his arm around me and pulled me close. I thought he was just getting romantic! Little did I know that he had noticed that the next bird was going to fly from the back of the theater right over us on its way to the stage. YIKES! I’ll admit I did scream like a little girl and amused those around me. Oh well....I went to the show and didn’t hate it so I felt like it was a win all the way around! Don’t get me wrong. I think the birds are beautiful...from a distance. It’s only when they get close to me with the flapping wings, sharp beaks, and clawed feet that I start to freak out!!

Can you see the nervousness on my face as we wait for the show to start? I think I did a good job of covering up how scared I was!!

Although it’s still early, we are all hungry since we had an early in-room breakfast so we decide to head to Pizzafari for lunch. On the way , we spot my DS11's favorite character, Stitch! The line is short so we ignore our growling stomachs and get in line. The interaction with Lilo and Stitch here was great! Stitch noticed the pins on my son’s new Safari hat and pointed them out. Lilo tried to plant a kiss on my 14 year old. Way too cute! I’m glad we paused to enjoy the moment instead of rushing to lunch to beat the crowd.

Up next.... ANOTHER trip to Guest Services, Bug Eyes, will Kali deliver this time?, being bitten by the Pin Trading bug, and what to do when it rains!!

I am headed to New Hampshire to visit my DH’s sister for the weekend, so Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms reading! Enjoy your day!!

 

[cjackearl]

Great update Missy. Good for you for facing your bird fear. The show looks pretty good. We didn't do any of the animal trails last trip, but plan on doing them in June. Yea for seeing DeVine!

 

[carissanboys]

I feel the same way about Animal Kingdom. We just never do a park open to close because we can't make it.

I held on to everyone's cards/tickets. I'm sure they would have lost them! Glad a CM turned it in.

Woohoo - you got to see DeVine!

What a good sport on seeing Flights of Wonder.

Love the pictures with Lilo and Stitch.

Have a great trip Missy and Happy Mother's Day to you too!

 

[MICKEY4EVER!]

I am LOVING your TR! Can't wait to hear about the next trip to Guest Relations. I'm nervous for ya!

Anyways: good job on this - I feel like I'm right there with you!

Your boys are so cute. Love the pics!

 

[MagicShell]

I just found your report. I have really enjoyed it so far. I love the boat from POR to DTD as well. I don't think that a fried Snickers sounds very good myself.

I am looking forward to hearing more about your trip. We love to pin trade so I am excited to hear about your pin trading adventures.

 

[DiningPlanDevastator]

I guess my wife and I don't give AK enough credit. It always seems it is the hottest park... As Zzub would say, they seem to "pump heat" into the park. Even though Everest is pretty stinkin' awesome!

Enjoying your trip report