I Got Work to Pay for My Disney Vacation! w/PICS - COMPLETE 11/21 - Last Hoorah at WL

[NorweJenNY]

After Nemo, it still wasn't time to use the Soarin' FastPasses! So we went to the Imagination Pavillion...

...where there was actually a line!

Ok, so really this picture shows everyone that was on that "line," and it moved quite fast. We just always remembering having basically no one in front of us on this line in the past. This was the longest we had to wait! Nearly an entire minute!


Remember this?

Guess what... Little Guy didn't like the "puff" in the smell lab... so he said he didn't want to go on this ride again (though we rode it numerous times last year without an issue!)

Doh! But I think he still likes the concept of this purple dragon.

Little Guy liked the Figment toys in the gift shop.

And Big Guy liked to make noise:

(So did that adult in the picture!)

I feel like this has been changed to look a little too babyish with the toddler pictures all over and such... I kinda miss the old railroad horn and animal noises that used to be there.

It STILL wasn't time for the Soarin' FastPasses when we were done in the Imagination Pavillion! We went to The Land anyway, and got some brunch (it was 10:45, and we wanted to eat before Soarin' because I'd have to leave after that... lunch isn't served until 11).

Big Guy and I LOVE Soarin'! I think I do more though! It's my must-do in all of WDW! I'm just glad Big Guy wanted to join me on this flight! We had a blast!

We left The Land, and hubby snapped a quick picture of me with my boys...

Then I was on my own.

I had the camera, so I snapped a few pictures on he way back to the International Gateway, like this one...

The International Gateway would lead me to the walkway to Beach Club, where I was going to grab a bus to my conference.

But I still had a little time, though I thought I'd stop at the International Gateway Guest Relations window (as nobody was online there), just to clarify the uneasiness I had about being able to upgrade my ticket to an AP. Apparently, this CM understood what I wanted to do (upgrade 7 Day NE tickets to APs, at the Current Gate Price despite I only paid for 4 Day tickets, and then get the 10% off AP referral too). It took a few steps, but she did it for me right there! I saved a ton of money by combining these deals... and it didn't screw up my DDP! Sweet!

So I left hubby a message regarding what I had done, but I told him to wait on getting the upgrade for him and the boys because I had an extra AP referral card for him to get the 10% off on their 3 passes.

I got to the Beach Club bus stop, and I was in such a wonderful mood... even though I actually had to wait a few minutes for my bus to Downtown Disney!

I got off, still bright and cheerful, and even took some more pictures, like this...

Sure, I'd have a long afternoon and early evening in workshops now, but I'd be back to Epcot that night!

Stay tuned to read & see more!

 

[NorweJenNY]

Disney Bus Meets Ice Age & Thawing Out with Fireworks!

Sunday, July 12, 2009 (evening)

My conference went a little over time this evening, and had I remembered to bring our Planet Hollywood voucher, that's where I would've been rushing to immediately after.

But since I left it at home and cancelled our Planet Hollywood ADR, dh decided we'd just meet back at Epcot for dinner together, and then see Illuminations.

So I crossed the street and headed to the Disney buses, attempting to find one to take me to the Beach Club.

I found my bus, fairly quickly, but it had quite the agenda. We were at DTD Marketplace, but it would have to stop at DTD West Side, then Typhoon Lagoon, then the Dolphin, and the Swan, and the Yacht Club, and finally the Beach Club (still headed to Boardwalk afterwards). I don't know why people complain about the All-Star Resort buses, when here are several deluxe resorts sharing a looooong bus route!

Remember that I was hoping to meet up with my family for dinner. My workshop let out a few minutes after 7. And even though I got the bus right away, it was still a good 45 minutes until I reached the Beach Club.

And don't forget that title I posted for this part of my resort... "Disney Bus Meets Ice Age..." No, I don't mean the Dreamworks film... I mean I was surprised I didn't see an igloo inside... it was SO FREEZING COLD! Who would have thought I'd FREEZE in the middle of July in Florida? I was shivering... so were plenty of other people inside! And to be stuck in there for 45 minutes while we got the grand tour! Yikes!

It was this bus ride that caused me to lug a sweater with me for the rest of the trip. Of course, I never needed it quite as desperately as I needed it on this ride! But, I didn't have it this time...

I'm just thankful that I can tell you that all ten toes are currently accounted for, as I managed to avoid amputations due to frost bite! It might have been close, but my little piggies made it wee, wee, wee, wee, all the way home!

Anyway, I would have sprinted off the bus when we finally arrived at the Beach Club, but I think my heart rate had slowed down considerably, and my muscles and joints had significantly stiffened. So I shivered out into the glorious outdoor Florida July weather, where I was suddenly blinded because my glasses had instantly fogged up due to the sudden change in atmospheric conditions...

Though I knew I was in a hurry, I couldn't help but stop to take just a couple of shots of my beautiful surroundings...

It was soon nearing 8:00 and I still had a decent walk through the International Gateway. I called hubby, who had previously hoped we could squeeze in dinner at Nine Dragons OOP, but he decided that might not work. We'd figure something out when I finally got to him.

So I just kept walking, just kept walking, just kept walking, walking, walking... what did I do? I walked... walked... walked...

But as I got through security and such, I was getting an urge... a sudden urge... a bad urge...

Quick pitstop in the UK!

Ok, back on track, 8:15 approaching, and hubby said he snagged a nice spot for Illuminations between Mexico and Norway. It was my job to get dinner.

I had just passed the UK and Canada, and I wasn't turning around, so my best bet would be Cantina de San Angel.

We got some nachos and churros and drinks to share around... not the best food, but decent for filling hungry tummies.

Then we prepared for Illuminations.

WHOOSH!

Once those fire torches lit up (we were right near one), I felt instant heat and knew I would no longer worry about frostbite.

Big Guy enjoyed Illuminations once it began, although I think he was at least a little sensitive to the noise...

Little Guy was curious and watched, but from the comfort of snuggling up by his daddy's feet...

It sure was beautiful though!

Afterwards, we took our time while we let the crowds pass ahead of us to the buses. We casually made our way out and JUST missed a bus to POR. It was PACKED! Bad? Not really! Not one full minute passed and another bus came, but this time, there were fewer people (since most of them just debuted their sardine act on the previous bus). The boys rushed to their favorite spot, the back of the bus, and we all actually got a seat!

We headed back to the room exhausted, yet content. It was quite a day!

Well, I turned in, setting my alarm early (conference started early the next morning), and got a solid sleep.

I was really looking forward to continuing my time in Disney on Monday afternoon, but I couldn't concentrate on new materials in my workshops, as during a break, I got a terrible phone call...

To be continued...

 

[connie1042]

I am enjoying you trip report. Can't wait for the next update.

 

[NorweJenNY]

I am enjoying you trip report. Can't wait for the next update.

Glad you're enjoying it... I'll be updating soon.

 

[NorweJenNY]

Please pardon my not updating yet (despite my intentions)...

But on another note, check out my signature! My dsil & I started a pre-trip report for our fall trip! It's all going to be from the perspective of 2 IN-LAWS!

(Are we crazy?)

So that's three reports in progress at the moment...

 

[NorweJenNY]

The Dreadful Phone Call

Monday, July 13, 2009 (morning)

So I'm in my conference workshops, doing my thing, and on a break I get this phone call from hubby...

He says I'm trying to upgrade our tickets to APs and they're telling me it's going to cost X amount of dollars. He's inquiring to know if that's right from my calculations...

They were saying it would be about $250 more than my calculations... It was one of those "huh?" moments for me...

So I ask if they were giving him the 10% off AP referral... yeah...

What about the current gate price on the 7-day non-expiring ticket?

Hubby says, "Uh... Why don't I let you talk to this guy?" (He was, at this point, already talking to a supervisor.)

So I get on the phone with the supervisor and I learn his name is "John" and he works at Guest Relations at the entrance to the Magic Kingdom. (Apparently that's where hubby decided to take the boys that morning.)

The root of our problems is that they were not giving us the Current Gate Price on the 7-day Non-Expiring tickets because we had only paid for 4 on the B4G3 deal.

Now, I have read these DISboards thoroughly, including the ticket section, and I knew what other people knew: Disney was supposed to give us the CGP on 7-day Non-Expiring tickets after we had already used them at least once.

Here, "John," a SUPERVISOR was telling me that's not true. In fact, he told me that they're not even supposed to let us upgrade tickets on a special package like B4G3, but they make an exception for AP upgrades. He made it sound like they were already making a special exception for us.

I told him that I JUST UPGRADED TO AN AP FROM CURRENT GATE PRICE YESTERDAY on my own ticket!

"John," the Supervisor, told me that's not what should have happened... in other words, I just got lucky. (Not according to the DISboards... )

I got back on the phone with hubby and told him to reverse any process that had already taken place. The extra $250 or so was not in our budget, and we'd have to try again elsewhere.

I was fuming mad!

I actually couldn't concentrate in my workshop at that point, thinking of all that was depending on getting these APs.

Hubby, in the mean time, had his own issues to deal with. He had two young boys at the Magic Kingdom, which he could not enter because we had ADRs in Epcot that evening, but we didn't have the park hopping option. If only "John," the SUPERVISOR, had known what I knew and just did the deal the right way, but NO! My family did not all have their APs yet... which would have given us all park hopping privileges!

So hubby somehow got the boys on a "fun monorail ride" to Epcot. (Sorry, no Buzz today...)

Apparently, he couldn't let go of the miserable experience with upgrading tickets either... hubby knew his wife knew what she was talking about. He knew that I DO MY RESEARCH!

So hubby got the boys to Epcot and marched over to Guest Relations near the entrance there...

Would he have better luck, or would the ticket upgrade remain an issue?

To be continued...

 

[NorweJenNY]

We Like the French! - Part 1

Monday, July 13, 2009 (later that day)

So as I left it, this was me: Stuck in a conference, helpless with the events unfolding for hubby & the kiddos...

And this was hubby: Stuck with two kiddos who just wanted to have fun, but instead he 1) stood online for no good reason, 2) had to tell the kids they weren't going to MK even though they were at the front gate, 3) got onto another Guest Relations line when they finally reached Epcot... what more could go wrong?

All I could do was pray, and I did... I prayed for a little "pixie dust" to head the direction of hubby and the boys. I didn't need any myself. It would be enough if their morning could turn around and I could hear about it.

Well, it was a couple hours later (while I was still at my conference), that I heard the story via another phone call from hubby. (What did people do before cell phones? )

Hubby and the boys got to Guest Relations near the front of Epcot. They were given a CM in training... a new guy... His name was Jeremy. He was from France. Hubby told Jeremy from France exactly what he wanted to do, and when he got to the part about upgrading our 7-day non-expiring tickets based on the Current Gate Price, Jeremy from France had to wait a little bit to get help from a supervisor who basically said, "yeah... just click that button right there that says 'Current Gate Price.'"

One button? That's what made the difference?!?!?!

Everything was perfect! The Epcot people knew exactly what to do and did it RIGHT! (It worked for me at Epcot, but at Guest Relations by the International Gateway.) For future reference, even though I know B4G3 is almost over, I highly recommend using any Guest Relations at Epcot!

Not only did we get the RIGHT price on our upgrade, but Jeremy from France was so sorry that it had taken so long for him to do everything, that he gave hubby two FastPasses for the entire family to go on any two rides in all of Epcot at any time that day! Jeremy from France didn't even know about the misery that "John," the Supervisor at MK put hubby through that morning! How sweet! Jeremy from France was hubby's hero that morning!

I was so happy when I heard the story ...but wait, there's more!

Apparently, some random woman had gotten a ticket for a free stroller rental for her little girl. She saw hubby with our two boys and said, "here, I think you could use this more than me." Yeah, hubby thought he didn't need the stroller that morning, but then when all over, with those two boys and the little legs that get tired so easily. He thanked her profusely and actually got a free double stroller for the day!

So when I was done with my conference this particular day, I drove the van (no more long freezing bus rides to the ends of the earth for me!) and parked at the Boardwalk, thinking I'd take a relaxing stroll there and slowly make my way to the back entrance of Epcot... with my camera of course...

And once I got to Epcot, before I met up with my family what would I do?

To be continued...

 

[scoot241]

I really like this picture of the Boardwalk. Very nicely composed!

Glad to hear everything worked out with the AP upgrades.

 

[NorweJenNY]

I really like this picture of the Boardwalk. Very nicely composed!

Glad to hear everything worked out with the AP upgrades.

Thank you!

 

[NorweJenNY]

UK/Canada Intermission
(Before we get to "We Like the French! Part 2")

Monday, July 13, 2009 (yet even later that day)

I made my way into the World Showcase.

I spotted a Hidden Mickey in the UK...

And caught a Brit coloring when he should be working...

(Good artist, btw... )

At this point, hubby and the boys were still in Future World, so I told them to meet me in Canada. I had a schedule telling me what was up in just a few moments in one hand, and a refreshing diet coke in the other hand.

I found a front row bench under an umbrella (as the skies looked slightly ominous), and sat back for a relaxing show...

Off Kilter!

If you haven't seen these guys, well, I guess the picture explains a lot...

They've got their kilts (hence the name)... and they play/sing country/rock/drunken-sailor tunes with drums, guitars, and bagpipes.

In other words, you've really gotta be there to fully experience it. The guys have funny personalities too, great on stage.

Though don't stand out in the crowd or you might get picked on...

So I've got my camera around my neck, snapping a few pics of Off Kilter while I'm enjoying the show, and I notice this big dragonfly a few feet away from me on the ground... what's a girl to do? Take a picture of it of course, right?

So I position my camera, and as I'm trying to focus, I suddenly can't find it! So this guy sitting next to me calmly says, "It's on your camera, ma'am."

Mere centimeters away from my fingers, this giant dragonfly resting on top of my lens scares the daylights out of me!



I don't like being that close to evil bugs! (That's why I utilize a camera with a zoom!)

So what do I do? I jump up out of my seat (front row, remember) and start swinging around, trying to shake the thing off... I looked like an idiot... especially when the guy next to me finally just grabs the dragonfly by its wing and gently places it in the bushes on the other side of him.

So of course, the central guy in Off Kilter makes some comment about my "dancing," and follows it up with "it's just a dragonfly... he ain't gonna hurt you..."

Just a dragonfly? Have you ever had one of those inches from your face?!?! Dude! The thing was massive!

Here he is on the bush...

Evil dragonfly!

Anyhoo, my afternoon soon brightened a bit as hubby and the boys finally met up with me!

My boys were playing with some new toys, and cleaning the Canadian fence with them...

Adorable, yes, I know! (I may not have been saying that though had they sprayed mommy's new camera! Fortunately, they didn't!)

So we started making our way back toward France for the evening.

We passed through the UK, and once again... and I don't know... these UK CMs care more about playing then working...

Next stop... France!

To be continued...

 

[NorweJenNY]

We Like the French! Part 2

Monday, July 13, 2009 (a little bit later)

We got to France just in time to check out Serveur Amusant.

Basically, you've got the main guy cutting up, not really doing anything except making people laugh...

And he basically set the stage for this other guy who basically risks major bodily injury for entertainment purposes..

He's very talented though... and gets even better.

Check this one out:

Then the main guy, in order to get some more chairs up to the acrobat, picked on an audience member to help him get up on the table.

But don't think he would dare touch the guy's head with his bare hand!

Of course, the acrobat had to eventually come down, so he enlisted the help of his audience member once again...

Maybe it's better if I don't tell you how this one ends...



Next, we went to Impressions de France, where we sat in an air-conditioned theater with seats! (In case you're not familiar with Epcot, there are a few 360-degree movies that have standing only - Canada, China, but this is not the case in France.)

I must say the guy introducing the film had quite a personality... he went through the whole spiel about no smoking, no flash photography, etc. in English & in French, and when he was done raveling off the French, he concluded with literally, "blah blah blah blah blah."

So, at least at this point, we liked the French for their entertainment.

It still wasn't time for our ADR at Chefs de France, so we stopped in Morocco for a pitstop (and to change Little Guy's pants because he sat in some melted chocolate Mickey bar... you can imagine how that looked! )

I, awaiting hubby and the boys (nice when hubby takes them both) decided to make use of a little more camera snapping time...

Once we were all together again, we made a round trip boat ride... right back to where we started because the boys think of boats as "fun rides" as opposed to mere transportation, and given World Showcase's lack of many "fun rides," this was perfectly fine with their mommy & daddy!

We got back and it was just about 20 minutes prior to our ADR time. Within just a few minutes, we were seated.

Now, bear in mind, you can catch more pics and good stuff in my dining report (see link in signature), but I will share a little with you here...

First of all, there was Remy! (Or "Ratatouille" or "Little Chef," in the minds of my boys)...

I love how he's interactive... he gestures and speaks (squeaks) depending on how you communicate with him. Adorable!

As for the rest of the Chefs experience, great food, great service. I was particularly fond of my dessert...

So now we liked the French even more!

Shall I recall our reasons?

1) Entertainment!
2) Filling our tummies with yummies!
3) Let's not forget Jeremy from France (the Epcot Guest Relations CM who FINALLY got my family's AP upgrade done right AND gave us two family FastPasses for any Epcot rides!)

Which leads me to our next endeavor...

We still had two FastPasses that we hadn't used yet! We could go on anything we wanted! Where would our family FastPasses take us?

Stay tuned...

 

[NorweJenNY]

Superfluous Fastpasses?!

Monday, July 13, 2009 (evening)

We left France with full, happy tummies, and two family FastPassses in hand for anything we wanted to ride together as a family.

Guess what... Little Guy just wanted to do Nemo! There wasn't a single FastPass ride in all of Epcot that Little Guy would ride! Hubby was happy to take him there.

That left Big Guy & me... and his favorite ride in Epcot was Test Track... so off we were, and it was driving me crazy that we were headed to the FastPass line able to take two more individuals with us, but we could not find a mere group of two in sight!

So, you'd think, what a waste! Right? Ha! That's only the beginning of the story. We go through the line, do the ride, and come out to realize that no one ever took my FastPass! I still had two family FastPasses in hand!

Well, Jacob was content with the one TT ride, and we thought we'd use one FP for Soarin' ...and we didn't really have a need to use our extra FP, so this time I looked around for anyone.

Bingo! There was a girl in the holding area with us by TT that actually showed interest in Big Guy and chatted with him a bit. I saw her after the ride with three other people... yes, exactly four! I tapped her on the shoulder to confirm that they were a group of exactly four (no stragglers) and told her we had an extra FP good for four people for ANY ride in Epcot.

She's like, "Are you sure?"

I'm like, "Yeah, have fun!"

"Thank you very much!"

And we got a small glimpse of what it might have been like to be a member of the Dream Team from WDW's previous YOAMD promotion.

So now Big Guy and I are headed to the other side of Epcot when he turns to me and says he wants to be with his daddy and brother...

If you remember, Soarin' is my favorite ride, and therefore, I was really looking forward to riding it with him again.

"Are you sure?" I asked him.

He nodded. No Soarin'? With FP in hand and no Soarin'?

So we headed off to the "other" entrance of The Seas with Nemo, entering by the gift shop instead of the ride. We found hubby and Little Guy near Bruce, one of LG's favorite characters. Hubby was wondering why we were back so soon, and I told him BG didn't want to ride Soarin'

Hubby basically demanded that he take the boys while I march immediately over to The Land Pavillion to experience my favorite ride.

Who am I to argue?

So, off I went to Soarin', all by myself... with a FastPass for four, being used for only one?

I simply couldn't...

Without any smaller person with me, I figured I could wait a few moments to try and find a group of exactly three headed toward the Stand-by entrance (now with a 70 minute wait).

Whoa... they were kinda quick, but as she passed, I tapped a woman on the shoulder, who had two girls with her, about 12 & 14 would be my guess, and checked to make sure there were three in her party (yes, there were), and I asked if they wanted to "be my family" and use the FastPass entrance with me.

Needless to say, they had no objection.

So we chatted while on line for about 20 minutes (there was a slight delay announced... but not too bad). It was a mother and her two girls who were visiting from Kentucky. (If you Kentuckians are out there reading this, HI!) Apparently, the father was waiting back ... fear of heights or something... I must say, it was quite a pleasant way of waiting on line, just talking to strangers. I don't believe I've ever been by myself like this before, but it sure was fun. I'm not a very outgoing person either, so this was kinda out of my comfort zone, but well worth it! That family was so happy! It was so wonderful to bring joy to yet another group! Dream Team member experience #2 for the evening!

We wished each other well after the ride and parted ways. My actual family met me by the exit. The boys squealed and told me that Daddy had gotten them cotton candy.

And now, perfect end to a wonderful evening, the family was all together again ready to head back to our resort... and we realized the van was parked by the Boardwalk still.

Well, at least we burned off nearly all of our calories from dinner! We left shortly before Illuminations, to avoid the crowds, and made our way back to get into bed.

We had an early morning the next day... 8:00 ADR at Tusker House in AK...

Would we make it to our early ADR in time? Stay tuned...

 

[NorweJenNY]

An Early Start at Animal Kingdom

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

It was early... at least for us... especially for hubby...

But there would be no cereal in the room this morning, nor mere muffins with refillable mug drinks... no sirrrreeee!

It was a day I had entirely off from conference, and we were starting with a buffet breakfast at AK... Donald's Safari Breakfast at Tusker House. (I even got my boys to both wear a Donald shirt in his honor today. )

Big Guy, who has been learning to read, led us to the bus stop by reading the signs... and finally, he led us to the correct stop at the South Depot by reading "Animal Kingdom" and following the arrow. To his mommy, who has been the main influence in his kindergarten education (first year of homeschooling), these reading opportunities made this Disney vacation a very worthwhile field trip. (Why didn't my schools ever take us to WDW? )

He really doesn't often like reading at home, so I welcome chances where he's excited about reading... he's normally more of a mathematically-minded child.

Anyhoo, lucky us, first bus to arrive: Animal Kingdom! Great week for us and short waiting times! ) We were on by 7:30. I know, I cut it close... we should have been out earlier, but it was early... at least to be getting out with my three guys. (Had it been myself, I'd have been out a good half hour earlier, at least.) The trek to AK is quite a lengthy one, and once we got off the bus, we still had to check in with the lady outside the front gate who made sure we had an ADR (since it was before park opening), and there actually was quite a line up of people entering through the turnstiles in front of us.

Still, once inside, it was considerably quiet.

Anyone who's done this before can guess we were late for our 8am ADR. No biggie though, as we were in by 8:15 or so.

We got a nice pic taken:

As I explained in my dining report, this was taken with a CM on my own camera. Sure beats paying $30-some for the package they were offering!

Highlights of the morning included filling our tummies with yummies, of course (which you can see in detail in my dining report), and meeting the characters, of course!

Though I must say, the tables were kinda close together for those characters with the more pear-shaped figure...

Big Guy got a kick outta seeing Donald's "butt" so close...

Boys will be boys, right?

Well, we did meet the front of Donald...

As well as Daisy...

And Mickey...

(who also did a good job reminding Big Guy to finish eating.)

And Goofy...

Since hubby acts like him so often, I had to get hubby's pic taken with Goofy too...

A highlight of Tusker House for Big Guy, of course, was his breakfast cupcake.

I love his expression in this photo!

And the highlight of my Tusker House experience was my dessert-after-breakfast too:

I look forward to coming back for this bread pudding with vanilla sauce!

And just so you can see how well Tusker House gives you the feel of an African marketplace, I took a picture of the highly decorated ceiling:

So we had a bunch of yummies in our tummies, and we had rendezvous-ed with all the characters... the next item on our agenda? We were off to Kilamanjaro Safaris, but would we beat the crowds from rope drop?

 

[NorweJenNY]

Don't Feed the Live Animals

Tuesday, July 14, 2009 (later than early morning)

Tummies were full and we were off! We exited Tusker House, wondering what time it was when we instantly knew with this sight approaching us...

It was the rope drop crowd! (So it was just after 9am.)

And we were to the safari rope first because we were there before the crowds were able to come!

I HIGHLY recommend early ADRs for this reason!

(We'll be doing this again on our next trip too!)

Now granted, as we approached the safari ride, some people with longer legs (who had no little legs in their party) went ahead of us, but we still just walked right through the queue... we got on the second safari vehicle of the day!

And I must compliment our safari driver who suggested putting cameras on sports settings. Good tip!

Here's my proof of that being a good tip...

And this was one ride Little Guy actually enjoyed! He LOVED it! Just like he loved it in the past! It wasn't too intense for him! Yay!

So we grabbed FPs to ride the safari again before we took off for our traditional after-safari stop, the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch.

And we got lots of great pictures there too...

 

[NorweJenNY]

So we rode the train...

and went to Rafiki's Planet Watch for something the boys really love to do... pet the animals...

(And apparently we go there for something Mommy really loves to do too... take pictures! )

Little Guy really showed his sweet, tender, nurturing side here.

And look! It's a hidden Mickey!

We also browsed the shop, and the boys played with some expensive beaded animals that fortunately the CM didn't mind them doing. They were being careful.

Little Guy tried on a cute hat...

And then we were off to the train again. The boys led the way since they love trains and like the fact that they knew were they were going.

Then it was time for safari ride numero dos!

More pictures!

And check this one out... ostrich AND ostrich eggs in one shot!

And my favorite picture was once we got off because toward the end of the ride, despite the speed at which we were flying around turns and bumping all around, Big Guy fell right to sleep! Hubby had to carry him off...

 

[NorweJenNY]

It was a lot of live animals that morning, and it didn't stop there...

At lunch time we came across this little friend...

Hubby decided to feed the duckie some of the roll from his sandwich, despite the sign that said not to feed the animals...

So duckie thought we were his friends. Duckie even brought another duckie friend over. Duckies kept a constant eye on us through our whole meal.

I was worried they might suddenly steal something off our plates. (A bird once jumped onto our picnic table and stole my pickle right off my plate! It was a good thing I didn't like pickles...)

Fortunately, the duckies, other than making us nervous, did not attempt anything like the Great Pickle Theft of '96.

We didn't really have any other encounters with live animals this day, but that's not to say the "fake" animals were no fun...

Stay tuned for MORE PICTURES AND REPORTS of our day at Animal Kingdom...

 

[bballbabe]

I just came across your report and I am thoroughly enjoying it I had wanted to read it because you were staying at POR. We had stayed there last Apr. 08 and the bus service was horrible. You can read about it in my trip report link below. We will be staying there again when we go in Oct. Only because my parents are paying and that's where they want to stay. So far it looks like the bus service has gotten better.

I am subscribing to see how well the rest of the trip went. Oh - the pictures that you have are really good.

 

[NorweJenNY]

I just came across your report and I am thoroughly enjoying it I had wanted to read it because you were staying at POR. We had stayed there last Apr. 08 and the bus service was horrible. You can read about it in my trip report link below. We will be staying there again when we go in Oct. Only because my parents are paying and that's where they want to stay. So far it looks like the bus service has gotten better.

I am subscribing to see how well the rest of the trip went. Oh - the pictures that you have are really good.

Thanks!

I just read your report. I can't believe that POR screwed up your room reservations too! At least you got to experience both Alligator Bayou & mansions in one trip. That's kinda cool! I must say, I did enjoy AB though. I like the rustic type feel.

So sorry you had a miserable time with the buses. Overall, I have to say that I can't complain about bus wait times from our last trip. The longest I waited was 20 minutes to get a bus from Downtown Disney to WL, and they say buses average every 20 minutes. The system is definitely working right now in my experience. We'll see if that happens for our Sept/Oct trip too... hopefully we will all have good experiences this fall.

 

[NorweJenNY]

Anybody ever see a theme like this?

I almost forgot to mention this!

When we ate in one of the shelters behind Flame Tree BBQ, we noticed there was a distinct theme, and a most bizarre theme. I thought it was ironic, with the "don't feed the animals" signs around...

The whole place was decorated with snakes eating mice! I'd never noticed it before! Each shelter seemed to have its own animal theme, and this one was a predator and prey!

I wonder who had the idea to use this theme?

 

[debmom]

Thanks for sharing!!!!