"I brushed my teeth, and I don't have cooties." An August DFTW and Disneymoon TR

[pkondz]

You're more confident about this than I am.

Yes I am.

But many of my friends are in the same boat, so hopefully they won't fail all of us! We had one exam with one professor that was pretty horrendous. Anxiously awaiting that grade...

Hope you'll post how you did!

Fortunately, I have some video to refresh my memory, but I haven't been through it yet. It's a stretch goal to get through all the video from that trip at some point this spring/summer and edit/organize it for ourselves into something watchable.

Good luck! I have to do that too......... from videos that are now over 20 years old.

100% shock and awe right there!

Best. Day. Ever.

Well...I mean, after getting married and all I guess...

Oh, right...

Meh. Anyone can get married. You're petting a freaking giraffe!!!!!!!

I felt like I'd found my people!!

...there may be video of the show.

I knew it!!!

Nathan liked it! But, again, he's often blinded by his infatuation with all things English, so take that with a grain of salt.

mmmm... salt.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Oh, right...

Meh. Anyone can get married. You're petting a freaking giraffe!!!!!!!

So very true!!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Oh, I love this!! We have fed giraffes at a couple of places we have visited in Wisconsin and Michigan. The last time we had these little short carrot sticks, so we were literally covered in tongue slime by the time we were through! Your face just looks SO happy. Love it!

This just cracked me up!!! Have you seen that there is all of a sudden a Meerkat snapchat filter!? It is hilarious and a voice changer. I recorded Jimmy and seriously couldn't catch my breath from laughing so hard!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Oh, I love this!! We have fed giraffes at a couple of places we have visited in Wisconsin and Michigan. The last time we had these little short carrot sticks, so we were literally covered in tongue slime by the time we were through! Your face just looks SO happy. Love it!

It was such an awesome experience! We had a blast. I had fed the giraffes at the zoo in Milwaukee once, but this was more immersive and we got more time and more information from the guides. A+!

This just cracked me up!!! Have you seen that there is all of a sudden a Meerkat snapchat filter!? It is hilarious and a voice changer. I recorded Jimmy and seriously couldn't catch my breath from laughing so hard!

That's adorable!!

 

[missangelalexis]

Congrats on finishing up your first year!!

The experience with the giraffes sounds sooo cool! Love all the photos and how happy you look

I'm glad you enjoyed the day at Busch Gardens! And your evening at DS was a nice way to wrap up the day!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Congrats on finishing up your first year!!

The experience with the giraffes sounds sooo cool! Love all the photos and how happy you look

I'm glad you enjoyed the day at Busch Gardens! And your evening at DS was a nice way to wrap up the day!

Thanks! It feels good to have that chapter finished! And the giraffes were definitely the highlight of that day. It was a great day there overall though, and I'd like to go back sometime, maybe when it's not so hot and we can make more of a full day of it.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Sorry I haven't been replied in a while. I was caught up last week then wrote to reply but never finished it and now that reply is gone. Argh.
But I wanted to say how sorry I am that you are going through some difficult times. I hope the situation is better and that you know we are all there for you when you need someone to talk to or if you just wanna ramble on and on about Disney (which we are all game for obviously, LOL).
But good news that you are done with your first year of your masters! That is a huge accomplishment and a big congrats to you!
Your hair looks sooo cute and chic! Love the blonde! I am totally thinking of doing something lighter to my hair too. Maybe before the summer.

Your day at Busch Gardens looks like a lot of fun! Wow feeding giraffes! That's cool! I've never been to Busch gardens in Tampa, I didn't know they had that. Good to know!
That fish n chips at Cooke's looks amazing! I'm gonna have to try that to see how it compares to the Yorkshire County Fish Shop in Epcot!

Very excited about your upcoming trip. I will live vicariously through you!

 

[vamassey1]

One of our first stops was to watch the penguins taking their morning swim:

I love penguins! They're so cute.

On the way, we saw the most magnificent ginormous tortoise.

Beautiful!

Not only does it stink for you to lose/break your valuables, but at a place like Busch it could likely end up in an animal's habitat.

I kept thinking they also might end up in an animals stomach.

After everyone had their turn, the truck took us back to where we checked in, and N and I forked over the cash for the stupidly-expensive photo CD, and for a commemorative pin of a giraffe for my collection.

You can really tell what a great time you had doing this. I'm so happy you had this experience.

This looks pretty good. After a few days of vacation I really start to miss my veggies.

But yeah. Turn It Up. 10/10 would recommend.

Sounds like a great show.

(If you can't tell in this picture, there are giraffes on the ridge behind me. This trail went along the edge of part of the area where we'd gone on the tour with the safari truck earlier that morning, so we could see the trucks coming along and people feeding giraffes behind us.)

I didn't see it at first, but did after looking again.

This is a beautiful shot! Post card worthy.

We went to Cooke's of Dublin, and I got one of my favourite junk food meals: gluten free fish and chips!

Some more good looking food. I've never eaten here but it's on my someday list.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Sorry I haven't been replied in a while. I was caught up last week then wrote to reply but never finished it and now that reply is gone. Argh.
But I wanted to say how sorry I am that you are going through some difficult times. I hope the situation is better and that you know we are all there for you when you need someone to talk to or if you just wanna ramble on and on about Disney (which we are all game for obviously, LOL).
But good news that you are done with your first year of your masters! That is a huge accomplishment and a big congrats to you!

Thanks, Su-Lynn! It's been a rollercoaster, but there have definitely been some victories!

Your hair looks sooo cute and chic! Love the blonde! I am totally thinking of doing something lighter to my hair too. Maybe before the summer.

Thanks! I'm having fun with it! My next appointment is Tuesday, and things are about to get crazy. You should definitely play with lightening your hair! I could see you with a pretty ombre for summer or something like that. Post pictures if you try something!

Your day at Busch Gardens looks like a lot of fun! Wow feeding giraffes! That's cool! I've never been to Busch gardens in Tampa, I didn't know they had that. Good to know!

It was an awesome experience! I really like Busch, but it's out of the way when we typically just stick close to Orlando so I hadn't been since I was probably 10 or 11. It was great to get back because it had been so long that it felt like we were exploring somewhere almost brand new!

That fish n chips at Cooke's looks amazing! I'm gonna have to try that to see how it compares to the Yorkshire County Fish Shop in Epcot!

So yummy! And greasy. But delish. I haven't had the fish and chips at Epcot in years because of the gluten thing, but I remember eating it back in high school and it really hitting the spot!

I love penguins! They're so cute.

They were so funny and energetic!

I kept thinking they also might end up in an animals stomach.

Yeah, exactly. Most of the rollercoaster tracks seemed to be over parts that were fenced off between animal areas, but where we stopped and found the phone I could totally see it flying a little further and ending up in reach of the animals if it was dropped at the right angle. I'm no engineer or anything, but I'm sure it's possible.

You can really tell what a great time you had doing this. I'm so happy you had this experience.

It was so much fun! A really memorable experience for sure! I'm glad we have the pictures to look back on.

This looks pretty good. After a few days of vacation I really start to miss my veggies.

Me too! The first couple days I'm totally okay with the junk food, but I start to crave my vitamins before too long.

This is a beautiful shot! Post card worthy.

Thanks! There were some beautiful views at Busch!

 

[MeghanEmily]

In case anyone is curious to learn more about the object of my affections, the great skating star of Busch Gardens...I did some totally non-creepy research (i.e. I'm really good at Google) and eventually found out that her name is Juliana Cannarozzo, and that she was a TeamUSA figure skater in the junior division in her teens, and then went on to work at Busch in several skating shows. It also just so happens that she played Zoey Bloch in the Disney movie, "Ice Princess," which I remember being briefly obsessed with in middle school. She has also appeared in commercials in Taiwan.

She also has an adorable bulldog who goes by the name of Chunk, and who has his own Instagram account @chunkthebully ...and you'd better believe that I now follow him.

​

 

[jane2073]

Congratulations on finishing your first year!!
And I am so sorry for everything else that you went through.
I hope only good things happen for a long time.

We haven't been to Busch Gardens in over 15 years. Your report makes me want to take the time to check it out again.

 

[MeghanEmily]

Congratulations on finishing your first year!!
And I am so sorry for everything else that you went through.
I hope only good things happen for a long time.

Thanks so much!

We haven't been to Busch Gardens in over 15 years. Your report makes me want to take the time to check it out again.

We really did have a great time there. I'd love to go back sometime, possibly in more reasonable weather so we'd feel like we could take our time more and explore, rather than trying to hit the highlights and get back on the road before we melted. It was a nice change of pace from the Disney parks when we went.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

HAPPY POST #1017!!

Congrats!

Amazing Photo!

Also amazing photo!

Also pretty amazing!

I was probably eating all kinds of toxins after the bun had been warmed up inside the plastic...but I'm not allergic to microwaved plastic as long as it's gluten free, so whatevs!

Ha! it's all about priorities... right...

Zoey Bloch in the Disney movie, "Ice Princess," which I remember being briefly obsessed with in middle school.

So, your a serial stalker.... You just didn't know it!

 

[vamassey1]

Me too! The first couple days I'm totally okay with the junk food, but I start to crave my vitamins before too long.

The first few day I love my junk food, but it does get old.

It also just so happens that she played Zoey Bloch in the Disney movie, "Ice Princess," which I remember being briefly obsessed with in middle school.

Wow, we love that movie.

 

[MeghanEmily]

So, your a serial stalker.... You just didn't know it!

Surprise!!

Wow, we love that movie.

Yeah, I loved it too. I was so surprised! But I went back and watched some clips, and it's her. Neat!

 

[pepperandchips]

Wow Busch Gardens looks way better than I imagined. Would you mind quickly comparing your animal experiences there to what’s available at animal kingdom? Is it worth the drive over, in your opinion? I love the safari and have had the opportunity to feed a giraffe myself here at the Atlanta zoo. You’ve got me wondering if I should add Busch Gardens to my wish list!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Wow Busch Gardens looks way better than I imagined. Would you mind quickly comparing your animal experiences there to what’s available at animal kingdom? Is it worth the drive over, in your opinion? I love the safari and have had the opportunity to feed a giraffe myself here at the Atlanta zoo. You’ve got me wondering if I should add Busch Gardens to my wish list!

Hmmm...that's a good question. I don't know that I'd go out of my way to go to Busch if I didn't have many days to work with and I wasn't already planning to have a vehicle. But we really enjoyed it. I think the animal exhibits there are quite nice, and it's got a few good shows, and I like the ability to tour in a more laid back way than at the Disney parks. But I think its biggest draw is for thrill-seekers/coaster-lovers. So if you want to ride some great rollercoasters, and like the added draw of the animal exhibits, I think it's a great place to spend a day. But for me Busch feels like rollercoasters + reasonably good local zoo, plus it has a few optional extra experiences to add on like the tour we did. Animal Kingdom definitely has it beat on atmosphere and immersive theming though, and there are more attractions at Animal Kingdom that appeal to a wider audience...more fun-for-the-whole-family kinda thing. We will probably go back to Busch again within the next few years, and I'll definitely look forward to it, but I won't be prioritizing it over my favourites unless it fits naturally into a trip. It's also worth noting that if you haven't been to that area before that it deeeefinitely takes you out of the "Disney bubble." The Tampa Bay area is an interesting one, and we drove through some less-than-classy areas to get there. No super-unsafe-fearing-for-our-lives experiences or anything by any means, but it's less enjoyable in terms of being a nice scenic drive than going off property elsewhere like when we've done the Universal/Seaworld area.

 

[pepperandchips]

Thank you so much! We always have a car but it sounds like Busch Gardens would be a better candidate for a future trip where we don’t have Disney passes. I have a friend in Tampa so maybe I could work this in on a visit with her. I love coasters and animal trails but neither as much as Disney immersion and theming! Thank you for the review!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Thank you so much! We always have a car but it sounds like Busch Gardens would be a better candidate for a future trip where we don’t have Disney passes. I have a friend in Tampa so maybe I could work this in on a visit with her. I love coasters and animal trails but neither as much as Disney immersion and theming! Thank you for the review!

It's definitely worth going! But I probably wouldn't go in place of Disney priorities if it came down to it.

 

[Tracy161]

Sending love and light, and many thanks, to all of you who've been thinking of me or giving me encouragement.

We're just one big giant Disfamily here

HAPPY POST #1017!!

This is awesome! And to #1017

As of yesterday, I'm done with the first year of my master's degree.

YAY!!!!!!! A huge congrats to you! I know how much work and stress it is But it'll be so worth it!

Love this!

We went to Cooke's of Dublin

I've been really wanting to eat here some day. Glad you could get your fish and chips!