karsen11
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2014
- Messages
- 202
Animal Kingdom Morning...Where's your Sense of Urgency!!!
Today was our first official full day and our first park day. We were all set to head to AK for rope drop, which I told everyone was super important because we did not have FPs at this park. Tom's family has never rode anything in New Fantasyland and SDMT was a must do for them. Tom and I also had to activate our APs this morning so we knew that it may take a few minutes.
I felt my heart beat out of my chest and was woken very abruptly at 5:30am as I realized in the middle of my deep slumber I had forgotten to do something super important the night before...sign out of work for that day sick
. So after taking care of that matter briefly I decided I was wide awake and should just start getting ready. I showered and did my hair/make-up and started to pull out our items for the day to be placed in our park bags. I didn't take any pictures this time of how I organize things, but I definitely intend to next week when we go. I described it a little above, but I pack in gallon sized zip locs for each day; 8 diapers, a pack of wipes, two disposable changing pads, and one poncho for each of us. This all gets placed in what we refer to as "The Gigi Bag" which is a Pottery Barn Kids wet/dry bag (or one of the best purchases I ever made when I was pregnant). The Gigi bag also has her extra ponytail holders/bows and a small brush. The bag fits right into the main portion of our park backpack and it makes it super easy for me to grab as we head into the restroom. In our backpack I also place a muslin blanket (folded tightly and compressed in a gallon zip loc) which helps for stroller naps to use as a pillow and chilly late night bus rides. A snack bag with things like granola bars, pretzels, raisins, peanut butter crackers, apples, and squeeze pouches, a gallon zip loc with a cardigan for Gigi and a cardigan for myself folded tightly and compressed, and lastly a Grid-It with anything in the world we may need (Tide pen, band-aids, chapstick, Benadryl pen, travel Motrin...). I also throw in a couple books/coloring supplies/stickers for good measure.So as I was says, I got all of this packed and ready to go and before long I was waking Tom up to get ready and not too long after Gigi too. I gave her a sippy cup of milk and had her relax in our bed for a little while we put the finishing touches on getting ready. Then I striped girlfriend down, changed her diaper, slathered her with sunscreen and threw her clothes on and her hair up. We were ready to rock and roll! I texted Anna (Tom's cousin) and my MIL that we were ready, and there response was they weren't
. Well we headed down to the lobby and took a couple pictures
It really is so beautiful at the resort, I did wish that we would have been staying longer so that we could have taken it in a bit more, but there's always next year.
When everyone finally joined us, at the time that I had planned to be on the bus already, my MIL decided she wanted to pick up her refillable mug
after she picks it out and is "ready to go" Tom explains to her that she was not going to be able to use it in the park and she go frustrated and said she wasn't going to carry it around then and wanted to take it back to her room
OMG!!!!FINALLY we were heading out to the bus stop. There was a posted wait of about 5 minutes, no problem, a quick photo session will take my mind off of being late (although I was ready early and I had to get myself and a toddler ready) you know but whatever
We loaded onto the bus and arrived in no time.
After a quick swing by the ticket booths to activate our APs, we were heading into the park with a mission...Safari time!
the time stamp on my picture says 9:08am, so not awful, just not as early as I knew we should have been.
Although my party (minus Tom and Gigi) had no clue why I was in a rush, they decided to stop and pet some reptile a cast member was holding
I just kept on going and said "where's your sense of urgency people, we're late and you can pet that guy later". The app was still saying a 10 minute wait but when we arrived at the ride entrance way outside the queue I knew that was wrong...Posted wait 45 minutes. If it had just been the 3 of us I would have never waited that long since we only had a half day scheduled here, but 45 minutes it was. 
already snacking in line
the girls were so cute together.
Finally at 10:05am we were taking off
Ill save you from the traditional Safari pics, but I will tell you that this was by far the best Safari I've ever been on! Every single animal was out and about! Gigi LOVED it!
Anna and I had spoke quite a few times prior to the trip and I tried to give her all of my best trick and tips to help prep her and help her pack. One of the things I tried to explain to her was the importance of bringing a stroller. Yes her daughter is 4 and doesn't typically use one, but Disney is different! IMO a four year old can definitely use a stroller in Disney! But Anna refused, and as a result, immediately after our first attraction her daughter declared, she was hot, wanted out of her tinkerbell outfit, her shoes hurt, and she needed a stroller
. So much for being on a roll now. Tom and I decided if we were going to wait we mine as well get caffeine, so off to wait at Starbucks we go. After I got through the Starbucks line and was waiting for my drink Anna texted and said she also wanted Starbucks and was going to head over to wait in line. So I told her that she should be sure to get a Venti with her snack credit and I was going to wait by the Tree of Life. As we headed towards the tree Gigi spotted Flick and wanted to see him bad! Now two things were puzzling to me about this; 1. She has never seen It's a Bugs Life and has no clue who he is, 2. In Sept when we were in Disney she was having nothing to do with characters that weren't princesses and she was terrified! So this was a huge score! We waited maybe 5 minutes and then we were hugging the kind blue ant
Perfect timing too, because as soon as we finished up with our final pictures, Anna and her daughter (E) were ready to go with rented stroller, crocs, a new outfit, and some tasty treats. Now lets see if we can finally get on a roll?!?!?!
Anna really wanted to ride Dinosaur so we headed in that direction. Minnie and Mickey were meeting and had about a 20 minute wait but Gigi, Tom, and I had no desire to stand in line again, as it was now 11:30 and we've only done 1 attraction which is unheard of for us! So we told them we would meet up with them after we went on Triceratops Spin! With only a 5 minute wait we were finally feeling like we were making headway.
around 11:45 we met the rest of the crew over at the Dinosaur entrance were I believe it was a 25 minute wait and we got a rider switch. Anna and MIL went first and Tom and I took the girls over to the play area. We love it over here because it has been so neat to watch Gigi be able to do more and more each time we visit.
Gigi would have played in here all day if we let her, but around 12:15 E came to me and told me she was "SO FREAKIN HOT"
and I knew they probably needed a bathroom break and some lunch too. I texted Anna and let her know we were headed to the bathroom in restaurantsous and we grabbed some ice waters in there too. A bit refreshed, but hungry we met with Anna and MIL and decided it was time to head to our favorite QS- Flame Tree BBQ!!! Oh my yummieness!Sadly have no pictures of this meal, but I got the combo with pulled pork, roasted chicken, and ribs, and subbed the coleslaw for grapes. Gigi and I split this and man did we devour it!!! Just what we needed to recharge for the remainder of our AK afternoon.
Up next- AK PART II The Doc Is In
