Island Hopping: A Highly Inappropriate TR. (Boom.)-- Link to NEW TR! 10/8

[epsmith921]

Okay same! Or at least with some overlap on the days. We're currently planning only about a 5 day trip total and only two of them park days. We have to fly (I'm not driving 24 hours or so no matter how easy and cheap my husband says it will be) so I figured leave the travel days with zero planned and then maybe a break day in the middle. We bought 10 day no expiration hoppers with water parks so we can really milk those suckers!

Loved the video: "people ask us why we keep going back - here's why". I feel that way all the time even without having taken my daughter yet. It's fun, it's clean, it's safe! What's not to like?

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

Omggg! That's so awesome and exciting! If any of our plans match up, maybe we can cross paths one day!

HOW COOL! I love how many people are going at that time!

Okay same! Or at least with some overlap on the days. We're currently planning only about a 5 day trip total and only two of them park days. We have to fly (I'm not driving 24 hours or so no matter how easy and cheap my husband says it will be) so I figured leave the travel days with zero planned and then maybe a break day in the middle. We bought 10 day no expiration hoppers with water parks so we can really milk those suckers!

Loved the video: "people ask us why we keep going back - here's why". I feel that way all the time even without having taken my daughter yet. It's fun, it's clean, it's safe! What's not to like?

SO AWESOME! And, yeah, I'd fly, too!
I'm with you--it baffles me that some people just don't "get it."

 

[hlrababy]

Hey lady!!!

You know, Animal Kingdom is still the park we have yet to visit! I know, I know...we need to go! Hollie loves animals so I know she would love it. I think that means I need to start planning a trip right now!!

I love the girls dresses!!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

After we were done conquering the Yeti in the Mountain, we decided to hop from one continent to another--I mean, this is Disney, so anything is possible, right?!

We were going from Asia to Africa relatively quickly, but not without a stop to look at Brandon's favorite truck.

(I love how Everest is in the background of that one.)

No, we didn't buy anything here (never have), but we did spend quite a while ogling it. I'm sure the cast members loved us.

The girls loved looking at the big, scary mountain through this telescope. They pretty much thought they were the only people in the world to have ever discovered this!

We may have let them believe that.

We stopped for a moment to enjoy some drumming and do some dancing.

We honestly didn't stay there long, though, because people kept crowding around the drummers and then just stopping in the middle of the walkway. It was getting really crowded really quickly. No one could move! We decided to push our way through the crowds and on to our next destination, Kilimanjaro Safaris!

The wait time said twenty minutes, but really we walked straight through the queue and only had to wait on one truck ahead of us before boarding ours for our two week safari.

My kids LOVE animals.

Okay, all kids love animals, but my kids LOVE LOVE LOVE animals. They were super excited!

Okay, me, too.

We began in the jungles.

Soon Julia was whipping out her own camera and snapping photos of every animal she spotted!

It was at this point that our guide, either already tired this early in the morning or hungover from the night before, called some bird a flamingo that was clearly not a flamingo (leave it to me not to remember what we were looking at...I was busy looking at my kids' happy faces, to be honest), and Julia corrected him. Yep. He loved us.

They were so excited that I had to keep telling them to sit down!

Of course we spotted (see what I did there?) some giraffes, and they were going crazy because OHMYGOSHGIRAFFES!!!!!

And our guide was talking about the two different kinds of giraffes but I couldn't understand him and still couldn't tell you the difference to this day. I should totally google that.

Is anyone else just flippin' amazed at the vast size of this savannah Disney created?!

I mean, that's just a tiny part. It just goes on and on. So many animals, so much space...it makes my jaw drop. It's not attractive, but it happens.

We moved on and saw Rhinos, and there was an enormous amount of ooooh-ing and aaaaaah-ing because OHMYGOSH...BABYRHINO!!!

Yes, they are covered in mud and probably smell disgusting, but they are just adorable!

Aaaand, that's all the animals you get from this safari. To be honest, we didn't see many. The lion was asleep, the elephants were far away, the ostriches didn't make us follow them like last time. Really, it was a pretty tame safari, and the end of it make my kids a little confused. They had removed the Little Red storyline, and now the entire end of the ride was covered in green mesh netting stuff and fences. The not-quite-there safari driver told us through slurred speech that it would eventually be the zebra home.

End of safari.

It was hot, our guide wasn't great, and we had so many animal pictures from the last couple of trips that we were more interested in taking pictures of our kids than the animals.

But you know what? Our kids loved it! We didn't complain at all.

Instead, we opted to celebrate their happiness and the fact that we could now cool off!

Hmmm...decisions, decisions...

HECK YES! MICKEY PREMIUM TIME!

Okay, really that belonged to Brynn.

My tastes are much more refined. (HA!)

Mmmmm! Julia was excited about hers, too!

They were melting quickly, so we moved over into some shade and ate them quickly. Brynn really enjoyed hers. See?

Just how it should be!

Now that we were sufficiently messy, it was time to re-group and try out some new things! What wild things could we get into now?!

 

[jedijill]

I love the animals as well! I know the kids aren't old enough but the Backstage tour at AK is amazing and really gives you a different perspective of the safari. We got to pet a rhino and see the inside of the animal hospital facilities (the ones you can see from Rafiki's plus a whole bunch of other stuff.

Jill in CO

 

[shan23877]

Sounds like your Safari guide was...different. At least the kids enjoyed it! I've been considering getting Maddie an inexpensive camera before our trip so that she can take her own pictures too. Last trip she ran down the battery on my phone everyday taking pictures with it.

Love the photo of Brynn covered in chocolate. You're right-that's how it should be.

 

[enchantedrosex]

Oh my god...that picture of Brynn with Mickey bar remnants all over her face! SO CUTE!

 

[disneygirl520]

What a great update!! Eating ice cream in Disney is always a challenge. It's a good thing your kids still enjoyed the safari even though your guide wasn't great. I'm glad Julia set him straight as to what a flamingo is

 

[Disney9.9.10]

All caught up! I can't say enough how much I love the pictures in your report! Love the ice cream pictures! And how cute that Julia was taking her own animal pictures (my little brother used to love doing that when he was younger)

 

[justthe6ofus]

I am really enjoying this trip report and your pictures are amazing! We're taking our four kids in June for their first time, and this report has been so much fun to read.

It looks like your family had so much fun, and your Disney touring style seems to be what I'm hoping to achieve: just the right amount of GO WITH THE FLOW and GETTING THINGS DONE.

 

[Dreamer & Wisher]

That Ice cream looks so good, I love Mickey Bars.

 

[tinkgurl]

I could just picture their excitement at all of the animals. How cute!

That Mickey bar looks good! And I love Brynn's "after" picture.

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Oh!!! Oh!!!! I know the difference!!!!!! We did the Wild Africa Trek on out last trip (which was AMAZING) and they told us. There are 2 types of giraffe-Masai (I'm not 100% on the spelling of that) and Reticulated. Of course, now that I'm typing this my brain is not cooperating, but ONE of them (I want to say the reticulated) generally has darker spots, and the pattern between them resembles a more leaf-like shape with jagged edges. The other is lighter, and their spot pattern has smoother lines, looking more like a net.

Yay for Mickey bars! I think our last trip my dad got one every single day. I mixed it up, though I'm still mad at them for taking away the Itzakadoozie. It was my favorite thing :-(

 

[danimaroo]

Somehow I've never noticed that truck! What the heck. I'm with Brandon, it's pretty awesome.

Hahaha, good on Julia for correcting that man. He needs to know his flamingos from other birds! Yeeesh.

Honestly, our safari was okay, too. It's always a hit or miss I feel like! But it's always a good time, and a good way to take a break from running around. At least the kids still had a great time though!

MICKEY PREMIUM! Brynn knows where it is AT! And yes, I sometimes look that way after enjoying my Mickey Premium, hahaha.

I am pretty sure for us, AK is going to be a park we do early morning, then leave before the sun becomes too brutal in the summer. Then again, that will probably be our story most days just because we're going to want breaks from the heat. I feel like both AK and World Showcase are the two places where the heat just goes nuts and you feel like you are going to melt.

 

[marDgreen88]

I agree, the savannah is pretty mind-blowing. It feels so authentic, too. AWESOME.

What was up with yall's safari driver?! Hahah, so strange.

Brynn's eating that Mickey Premium Bar the RIGHT way. In all honesty I wish I could do the same but I'd probably get kicked out of the park or something.

 

[ronnmel]

I find the Safari enjoyable, even when there aren't that many animals. If for no other reason then it's a nice place to sit for a while.

That picture of Julia licking her lips from her frozen treat is so stinkin' cute!

 

[GrimGrinningStitch]

That is an awesome truck! I've always noticed it, but never really taken a close look. Brandon got some awesome photos of it!

Can we discuss the drums? I love the idea, but they kind of drive me nuts. They always attract a walkway-clogging crowd, and are never delightful when you have "too many times on EE" induced headache.

Boo for the lame safari, but I'm pretty jealous you saw a baby rhino. I love rhinos, so I think that would make up for the rest of the lameness for me.

Delicious frozen treats! I have a feeling we'll be needing lots of those in September. I wish I had a premium bar right now!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Sounds like an interesting safari ride... I am always also super-impressed with the sheer size of the savannah, it's wild how big it is!!

Yay for an ice cream (and fruit bar) break!!! I usually end up looking like Brynn does after eating one of those Mickey bars too! (Not even a slight exaggeration - after one, DF was like "you need to wipe off your face" and the napkin was COVERED in chocolate! )

 

[Queenofallthings]

Love that Julia corrected your guide

I don't think anything tastes quite as good as a Mickey bar at AK....we always have one there!

 

[lvcourtneyy]

Boo for a bad safari guide but good for Julia for correcting him! Even if you don't really want to be at work that day, I think the bare minimum for a safari driver is successfully identifying the animals. Especially flamingos rotfl

I love the picture of the girls studying the ice cream menu intently!

Hahaha Brynn's face covered in chocolate is as it should be. I still can't eat Italian ices out of those little squeeze cup things without making a horrible mess!