Isn't 21 a Little Old For This? (4/29 - The FINALE)

[Eight]

Your upcoming trip sounds amazing!!
My 21 yr old son and his boyfriend went to the exact places last summer.
They climbed the "real" mt. Kilimonjaro and have photos at the top to prove it.

If you have any questions or suggestions about Rwanda and Tanzania you could PM me and I'll give you Ben's email or facebook address! He would love to share any advice he may have with you!!

Debbie

I'd love to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro the next time I go there. Where else did they go? This time, we went to the more "traditional" places, like Ngorongoro Crater, and the Serengeti, and Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. It was great.

What a fabulous TR so far! I was totally blown away by the HP pics- once I post pics from my day at HP back in December you will surely be horrified! You couldn't turn around or step backwards or forwards w/out running into someone. VERY terrible and quite the fire hazard. And SO jealous about Ollivander's! My mom and sister thought I was insane b/c I exerted quite a bit of energy to position myself right at the bottom of the stairs so as to be selected but I was ignored! Unfortunately, since the line was around 45 min, that was my only shot.

I also hope you're having a splendid time in Rwanda/Tanzania!!!! That's entirely out of this world from my perspective- I was stoked to travel to FL!

Since I was horrified simply reading the guide book I had about how crowded it got, I think I will be even more horrified once I see your pictures! I am sorry to hear Ollivander did not see that you clearly were in need of a wand. 45 minutes is crazy though. You're going back next December, right? Maybe you'll get another shot.

Thank you, I had such a wonderful time!

 

[Eight]

Holy adventuring, Rachel! Your tours through Hogwarts make me jealous. I'm a Potter nerd too. Up until I had my girls I always went to the midnight book releases and stayed up all night reading. I can't see the movies though. I can't bring myself to watch them because I know there is NO way you can put 600+ pages of detail into a 3 hour movie and I'd get mad at the creative interpretation

I didn't realize how much I wanted to go check this out until your trip report. You always make me want to travel! Hope you're having fun in Rwanda and Tanzania! I also hope you'll post more to this trip report when you return

The movies aren't my favorite, to be honest, but I think they do a fairly good job. I remember I was so annoyed about the Quidditch scene in the first movie. I was like, "they are committing so many fouls!". I've calmed down about the fact that they won't get everything right since then though.

Thank you, I had really awesome time! I do plan on continuing with this, once I get over being so tired and jetlagged.

Great trip report so far - I am glad you enjoyed the WWOHP! We loved it too - the butterbeer is so yummy! Have a great time in Tanzania and Rwanda.

The butterbeer is great! Kind of wishing I had some right now. Did you try the pumpkin juice? We didn't try that, and now I wish we had. And thank you, I did have a great time.

 

[Eight]

Hello again.

I'm finally almost back on a normal sleep schedule, and I'm ready to get another installment of this TR up! And we're finally at the Disney World part, yay! So let's begin.

After we left Universal Studios (and Hogsmeade. I was so sad to leave my childhood dream), we were off to Walt Disney World! Well, first we stopped at the Florida Mall and grocery store, but that was boring, so that's the only mention they'll get

Soon we started seeing signs for the parks. I took a ton of pictures of road signs, but I'll spare you those, and present you with this instead.

I don't think it was possible for me to be more excited. There are few things better than crossing under that gate for the first time on your trip.

And then we saw this.

And this.

And this.

And apparently it was possible for me to be more excited!

We pulled up to the lobby, and checked in, and got our keys and tickets and everything else they deem necessary to give you upon check in. Then we set off toward to our room.

When we started that journey, I don't think either one of us realized just how long of a journey it was. We had been show on the map that we in almost exactly the middle of one of the wings, and sure, it looked like a lot of rooms in between the lobby and our room, but it couldn't be too far, right?

Wrong. So wrong.

It was certainly a trek to get to our room. We'd pass a room, and be like, "surely, our room has to be next". Finally, we made it to our room, and collapsed on the couch from sheer exhaustion at the effort it had taken us to get to our room.

Okay, not really, but it is a really long hallway. I can't imagine staying at the far end of it. That's got to be a pain. One day my mom decided to walk to the end of it, just to see how long it was. She was gone for ten or fifteen minutes.

 

[Eight]

We settled in to our room, and of course, I took some pictures before we got too settled and messed everything up.

And there were some ankole cattle to greet us.

When we originally booked this trip, we had booked a two bedroom unit, because at that time, my dad was coming. Then we booked our trip to Tanzania and Rwanda, so my dad couldn't go to Florida due to work related stuff, so we opted for a one bedroom savanna view. Although we've stayed at the Animal Kingdom Lodge three times before, we've never had a savanna view and my mom has always wanted one. She's the animal watcher in our family, while my dad and I are the ones who are furiously snapping photos of them.

The room was fantastic. We enjoyed having more room to spread out, even if there was only two of us, and we also liked having two bathrooms as that saved time in the morning when we were getting ready. And my mom really did like being able to make a cup of tea in the morning and watch the animals from our deck.

However, there were thee things that we didn't like about the room. The first being that it was really dark in the room. Between the combination of not much natural light, the dark wood in the room, and the energy saver light bulbs (which I'm glad Disney uses, but they do take a long time to get to their full brightness, and even that's not very bright), the room felt very dark most of the time. We were also a bit annoyed that the WiFi was so expensive. Admittedly, I don't even remember how much it was now, but I remember thinking it was expensive. And finally, lack of TV channels. It was basically Disney and Fox News. Which normally isn't a big deal for us, since we spend so much time in the parks, but on this trip, we ended up coming back early a few nights because between the combination of not fully adjusting to east coast time, and catching a cold, I was pretty exhausted.

But honestly, despite the fact that I just took a paragraph to talk about what I didn't like, there was much more to like about staying at Kidani Village than there wasn't.

That night we went to Downtown Disney for dinner at Earl of Sandwich. Which was delicious, and I generally don't like hot sandwiches. We also stopped at Tren-D, and I took the obligatory photo of the lights. Because they are really, really cool. I wish I could pull off something like that in my bedroom.

I remember we also went to World of Disney, the pin store and the art store, though I didn't buy anything. I was mostly just plotting out what I would buy.

When we got back to Kidani Village, we went to a cultural talk on Uganda given by one of the cast members there from Uganda. At that time, we were planning our Tanzania/Rwanda trip, and we had been thinking of going to Uganda, though that ended up not working out. I think the cast member giving the presentation was impressed that my mom knew so much about the national parks there. It was very interesting, and I believe they give different talks every night at both Kidani Village and Jambo House, so I would definitely recommend going to one if you have time. My mom ended up going to a couple of them, and I kind of regret not going with her.

I think I went to bed around 10 that night, I was so tired from getting up early.
Tomorrow we were headed to Animal Kingdom, and I had a mission to ride Expedition Everest as many times as possible.

 

[Eight]

I've got some big news.

And with this being a Disney forum and all, you can probably figure out what it is.

I'm going back to Disney World!

It was my birthday yesterday (and if it's not obvious by the title of this TR, I turned 22), and my parents sort of surprised me with a trip. I say sort of surprised, as 1) well, I did see a Disney Destinations letter in the mail, and 2) I've been kicking around this idea for a trip since last January and I had made a spreadsheet with dates and costs last month. So when I saw the letter, I was pretty sure I knew what it was.

Regardless, I was still excited when I opened up a box with the letter inside it!

Details will be coming soon, just have to work out a few things about this trip.

 

[Rozz]

Happy Birthday!

I'm really enjoying your trip report!

I didn't think I'd enjoy the Universal bit as much as I did. I am considering going now!

 

[Eight]

Happy Birthday!

I'm really enjoying your trip report!

I didn't think I'd enjoy the Universal bit as much as I did. I am considering going now!

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!

Universal Studios is pretty fun. Not as much fun as Disney, in my opinion, but it's good for a day or two.

 

[Eight]

Hello hello!

I am back, and I apologize again for not being more on top of this thing. I have a really good excuse though, I swear. I got a job. So that has taken up quite a chunk of my time. Oh, how I already miss those days of doing nothing...

Anyway.

The day was January 27th, our first full, proper day at Walt Disney World. Hurray! My goal to get up at 8, but I apparently I overslept by 17 minutes. I have no clue why I was so detailed in the useless part of my notes, and lacking in detail when I could have used it. Hm. Things to work on for my next TR (still planning on going in June, yes! so excited!).

Our first park was Animal Kingdom because I was on an expedition to ride Expedition Everest as many times as possible before the line got terribly long. Expedition Everest is probably my favorite ride from any Disney Park, so I was determined to make the most of my trip to Animal Kingdom. If memory serves me, I rode it nine times when I was at Disney World in 2009, and I wanted to beat that. Would it be possible? Read on.

We headed straight back to Asia, but of course, you probably know me by now, and know that going straight somewhere also means taking lots of pictures on the way.

Can you believe I'd never taken a picture of this before? So I had to get a picture this time.

I can never really decide if I have a favorite park at Disney World, but I guess if I were forced to choose one or I would die or something, I would go with Animal Kingdom. I think the detailing in that park is incredible, and plus, you know, Expedition Everest.

We arrived at Expedition Everest, got some Fast Passes to ride later.

Hurray for short wait times!

We then proceeded to take a trip to a local museum dedicated to the yeti, and then climbed up Everest to see if we could see this magnificent creature for ourselves.

Three times in a row.

It was all thoroughly documented.

My favorite picture of the yeti.

Look at the detailing on this!

Yup, gotta love the detailing.

Finally we made to a temple. And up we went.

 

[Eight]

Such a great view.

I swear, every time I go on this ride, the track is broken. You think they would have fixed it by now..

The intrepid yeti pursuer.

Had enough pictures?

Well, I'd like to end this entry on one more.

Until next time, take care!

 

[magichusky]

OMG so many great photos! I especially enjoyed the collection of EE queue pics- I've actually only been through that queue once since well, I've only been on EE twice and the first time was w/ a FP. I wished I could've hung out in the queue more since it was so awesome in there! I aspire to take a pic of the ripped up train tracks at some point, but I don't know the ride well enough to feel safe having my camera out- skills! Also, your AKL room looked so neat- I hope I get to stay there someday! We managed to quickly check out the AKL main lobby back in Dec and it was completely AMAZING.

And dude, congrats on your new job!!! That must be so exciting to have a real job. Even though I appreciate the flexibility of my schedule while in school, I can't wait to get a job and actually do stuff.

 

[CAStevens218]

I just found your trip report and it is GREAT!! I love all of your Universal experiences, especially Harry Potter!! I'm a HUGE fan as well (I can't understand why I didn't get an acceptance letter to Hogwarts on my 11th birthday??!!??) and when I got to go to WWoHP in December I had the BEST time!!!!

I feel like we are very similar because I also like to ride my favorite rides over and over again! I think we did Everest 6 or 7 times on our last trip and Tower of Terror 12 times!!

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Eight]

OMG so many great photos! I especially enjoyed the collection of EE queue pics- I've actually only been through that queue once since well, I've only been on EE twice and the first time was w/ a FP. I wished I could've hung out in the queue more since it was so awesome in there! I aspire to take a pic of the ripped up train tracks at some point, but I don't know the ride well enough to feel safe having my camera out- skills! Also, your AKL room looked so neat- I hope I get to stay there someday! We managed to quickly check out the AKL main lobby back in Dec and it was completely AMAZING.

And dude, congrats on your new job!!! That must be so exciting to have a real job. Even though I appreciate the flexibility of my schedule while in school, I can't wait to get a job and actually do stuff.

It is awesome! It's one of the few queues I don't mind waiting in because there's just so much to see. I see something new every time.

Thanks! It's exciting, but well, it's a lot of work haha. Nah, it's really not bad, I'm pretty glad I finally got one as I'd been looking for a while.

 

[Eight]

I just found your trip report and it is GREAT!! I love all of your Universal experiences, especially Harry Potter!! I'm a HUGE fan as well (I can't understand why I didn't get an acceptance letter to Hogwarts on my 11th birthday??!!??) and when I got to go to WWoHP in December I had the BEST time!!!!

I feel like we are very similar because I also like to ride my favorite rides over and over again! I think we did Everest 6 or 7 times on our last trip and Tower of Terror 12 times!!

Can't wait to read more!!

Thank you for reading, and welcome! I like to comfort myself myself by saying the poor owl just couldn't make it across the Atlantic Ocean, and somewhere, lost at sea, is my acceptance letter...

12 times? Nice! I love Tower of Terror too, but I was only able to ride it twice this past trip.

I have more coming up, as soon as I upload the photos.

 

[Eight]

I think I'll try and attempt to finish this TR before I leave in June in case I decide to do a trip report for that trip. I'm seriously doubting that will actually happen as I leave in 33 days, and it's taken me what, 3 or 4 months to get the first two days done. I will try. But I will not promise anything.

After our multiple expeditions to Everest, it was time to hit up another continent.

Africa.

We picked up some fast passes for Kilimanjaro Safaris, and went over to the Harambe School to see if anything interesting was going on. I'd like to say our motives were strictly educational, but there was one other reason why we went there.

On our trip in 2008, we had listened to one of the talks at the Harambe School, and at the end, the cast member asked us if we'd like to sit in the VIP section for the parade. Of course! It was pretty awesome, we were the only people in this area, and all of the characters would come over to us. I felt very important.

I would like to clarify that we didn't just go there hoping something similar would happen, both my mom and I were interested in hearing what they had to say about eco-tourism, the topic of the morning.

While we didn't get VIP seating this time, I did get a Magical Moment and the certificate to prove it. My mom and I were sitting down waiting for the talk to start, and we were the only people there, so we had been talking a bit to the cast members who were hosting the talk that morning. Since we were the only people there, they asked if I'd like to be the person who got to announce that the Harambe School was open. Sure, why not, right? So I got to ring the bell and say in to the microphone, "Welcome to Harambe School. School is now in session."

I have to admit, I felt a little silly because isn't 21 a little old for this? (although I would like to point out, this is actually not when that quote came about. that came on the last full day. but we'll get to that.) But nah, it was fun, and I got a Magical Moment certificate saying I was an honorary scholar.

Cool, right?

I can't say the eco-tourism talk was incredibly informative, but it was cute. And look at this awesome shirt!

I want one! For reasons you will understand in the next paragraphs.

After school, we went to the Pangani Trail for one very important reason. To get a picture with the rock that says "Beware of Buffalo!" I have gotten my picture with this rock for the past three trips, so now it's tradition, but there's a great backstory to it.

My family and I were in Rwanda in October 2007 to see the mountain gorillas. The second day we had permits, my mom got sick and couldn't make it, so it was my dad and I doing the hike to see them, plus the 6 other tourists, plus the guards, porters, and guides. Anyway, we were hiking back from seeing the gorillas, and I remember so clearly thinking, "wow, it's really peaceful in here." About a minute later, the guides and guards starting running backward and telling us to run too. I was freaked out, because I had no idea why all of the sudden I'm being told to run in the middle of a Rwandan forest. I had no clue what was up ahead. My mind went to the worst places, naturally. Soon, word is passed back that there was a lone male cape buffalo up ahead. And they can be pretty dangerous. After a bit, we starting going forward again, but it wasn't long before we were told to run backward again. I could barely breathe by this point, I was so scared.

So, this time we started walking again, but we were going off the trail. Pretty soon I could see that we were almost out of the woods (both physically and metaphorically), but we had stopped again, and I couldn't figure out why. Turns out, there was a large trench, maybe 10 feet deep, that had been built to keep animals out of the farmlands before they built a stone wall. So we had to climb down this trench and climb out again, thankfully, the guides were very helpful.

True story.

When I came to Disney World in January 2008 for the first time in four years, I saw this stone and naturally, I had to get to a picture next to it.

2008

2009

2011

Anyway.

I like the Pangani Trail, especially the gorillas. I was so wishing I had my DSLR, as this point and shoot was not cutting it. There was an adorable 11 month old baby gorilla, which you can see in my pictures, though not very well. Like I said, the point and shoot was not doing it for me.

After exploring the Pangani Trail, we watched the Tam Tam's of Congo, and I somehow got pressured in to going up there. I've done it before, but I was not feeling like doing it that day, but I don't even know, somehow I got pulled up there. And let me just say, I can't dance. At all.

But this is what the view from there looks like.

Look at all the people staring at you.

After that it, it was almost time for our reservation at Yak + Yeti. On the way there, we saw DeVine.

 

[Eight]

Much like I love the detail in the Expedition Everest queue, I also love the detail at Yak + Yeti. So here's some pictures.

Lunch was pretty good. I remember I ate almost all of mine, I was very hungry for some reason.

Then it was back to Africa to take a two week safari on Kilimanjaro Safaris.

According to my pictures, we saw an owl and Terk on the way there.

Little did I know when I took this, potholes would become my enemy on our March trip to Tanzania, after we got stuck in one more than once. Good times on safari.

True.

Most of my pictures didn't turn out too well, but here's a few that turned out slightly okay.

As you can see, the rhino got really close to our vehicle at one point.

I'll end on this picture. I love this view.

 

[CAStevens218]

I have good timing for signing into the Dis, I'm just in time for your update! Your experiences in Africa sound so interesting! (I believe you put a link to a trip report about that in an earlier post, I'm going to go back and check it out!!). Anyway, its such a coincidence because I just finished reading a book called A Change in Altitude by Anite Shreve and it was set in Kenya. The characters were climbing Mt. Kenya, and they also had to run from a buffalo!

I love that picture you got of the hippos laying out in the sun! I've never seen them out of the water at Animal Kingdom. Maybe next time!!

 

[Eight]

I have good timing for signing into the Dis, I'm just in time for your update! Your experiences in Africa sound so interesting! (I believe you put a link to a trip report about that in an earlier post, I'm going to go back and check it out!!). Anyway, its such a coincidence because I just finished reading a book called A Change in Altitude by Anite Shreve and it was set in Kenya. The characters were climbing Mt. Kenya, and they also had to run from a buffalo!

I love that picture you got of the hippos laying out in the sun! I've never seen them out of the water at Animal Kingdom. Maybe next time!!

I think the link is on the second page. Haven't updated that in a while either, but I'm hoping to do so this week.

Come to think of it, I think this is the first time I've seen hippos out of the water, be it at Animal Kingdom, the zoo, or in the wild. They're awful funny looking.

 

[CAStevens218]

I think the link is on the second page. Haven't updated that in a while either, but I'm hoping to do so this week.

Come to think of it, I think this is the first time I've seen hippos out of the water, be it at Animal Kingdom, the zoo, or in the wild. They're awful funny looking.

I read through some of your Africa blogs, it looks amazing! Your pictures are beautiful!!!

 

[Eight]

I read through some of your Africa blogs, it looks amazing! Your pictures are beautiful!!!

Thank you!!

 

[magichusky]

HAHA OMG I was hyperventilating just reading about that buffalo encounter!!! What a great story! Your parents are so adventurous- that's really so awesome that you get to travel to all of those extraordinarily special destinations. I also completely LOVE your magical moment certificate; I had no idea the Harambe school was even in there- I'll have to check it out next time. Both times I've been to AK I've been rushed so I haven't even been able to walk through the trails w/ the gorillas or tigers or anything. Love that AK! Your hippo pic is also super great- it's so difficult to take good pics from that insane safari bus.