"It's Complicated" October 2019 Link to Disneyland Report

[LindyWebb]

We had a great safari this trip as well. Lots of animals and really close. It’s such luck because sometimes they just are not that visible. Great photos!!

 

[Wood Nymph]

You are lucky to have waited only about 20 minutes for the safari. I have seen some really lines standby lines first thing in the morning. It makes me wonder when the safari became so popular.

The Caring for Giants Tour was great. We still talk about how much we enjoyed it.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

He is really good about isolating himself while working at home, making the basement into the office, but I always feel pressured to look busy around the house so my DIS time suffers!

Haha this is exactly how I am when my lovely hubby is working from home!

Ben is exactly where he should be.

Ben sounds like he’s living his best life! Fantastic results! Proud mum moment for sure!

Nate was home for quite a bit of December and January

I’m sure it’s been lovely having both boys around the place again

He is entering his final year at UNH, really loves what he is studying and is applying for post graduation jobs- some near by, some as far away as Alaska

Exciting times ahead for Nate. College years seem to have flown by. Make sure to let us know where he ends up.

have also been planning for two exciting trips! In early Feb, Mark and I are going to Disneyland for 2 1/2 days and then off to Maui for a week. I CAN'T WAIT!

This trip is fast approaching and sounds like so much fun

Then in March, both boys have the same spring break. We will be going on a family trip to Costa Rica. 4 nights at a rainforest resort in the shadow of the Arenal volcano followed by a 3 night pilgrimage to Margaritaville on the beach.

Another fabulous trip on the horizon

Glad to see you back here. I always love your reports and still smile at Mark telling you to tire yourself out before he gets there You had a great safari ride and I love the elephant photos old and new. Looking forward to hearing more

 

[cindianne320]

Welcome back! You got some beautiful photos of the animals on the Safari.

Glad you got to spend time with your boys over the holidays! And how exciting that they have the same spring break this year! It sounds like you have some great trips on the horizon.

 

[annie170]

Good to see you back, Dee!

It sounds like both boys are doing well. Good for Ben for taking advantage of what DC has to offer. How wonderful that he found the right fit.

I have a very similar photo of a giraffe from my December, 2018 trip. I love when they get up close like that. My grandson still talks about it!

It sounds like you have two really nice trips coming up!

 

[missangelalexis]

Glad to hear you are doing well! And have some exciting trips planned for this year!

Wonderful safari pics!!

 

[natebenma]

We had a great safari this trip as well. Lots of animals and really close. It’s such luck because sometimes they just are not that visible. Great photos!!

I'm glad to hear you had an excellent safari. The past few I have been on were excellent- lots of animals out. I wonder if it is because my trips used to be in the summer but lately I have gone in October.

You are lucky to have waited only about 20 minutes for the safari. I have seen some really lines standby lines first thing in the morning. It makes me wonder when the safari became so popular.

The Caring for Giants Tour was great. We still talk about how much we enjoyed it.

I'm guessing that maybe Pandora has something to do with the lines at the safari. People are getting to the park early to ride Flights of Passage, so they are either scheduling Fast Passes or riding it when they are done because it is so close, or both.

I have noticed that when I am making Fast Passes for the 8th grade class trip. Nothing available until late morning or early afternoon.

The Caring for Giants tour was so good! I haven't really looked, but they have another one now, too, right? Is it Rhinos?

Welcome back! You got some beautiful photos of the animals on the Safari.

Glad you got to spend time with your boys over the holidays! And how exciting that they have the same spring break this year! It sounds like you have some great trips on the horizon.

Thank you. I was very happy with the safari photos. I was mostly using my telephoto lens and have been practicing focusing with it a lot.

It was nice having the boys home. Ben left yesterday and I am bringing Nate back to campus in a few minutes.

We are so looking forward to our trips! It will be a great way to avoid the post-trip depression when we leave Hawaii knowing we will be going to Costa Rica with the boys a month after that.

All of our plans are in place for both trips.

Good to see you back, Dee!

It sounds like both boys are doing well. Good for Ben for taking advantage of what DC has to offer. How wonderful that he found the right fit.

I have a very similar photo of a giraffe from my December, 2018 trip. I love when they get up close like that. My grandson still talks about it!

It sounds like you have two really nice trips coming up!

That's the beauty of the safari. Never the same twice and it is always a surprise to see what you see.

Ben's campus has a lot of opportunities for events and he is plugged into activities elsewhere in the city.



Here's a picture of Ben at the Newseum, which he finally went to before it closed at the end of last year.

Glad to hear you are doing well! And have some exciting trips planned for this year!

Wonderful safari pics!!

We are so excited about the trips. I will try to finish up this report so I can write about them when we are back. It has been almost 6 years since we have been to Disneyland, and there are so many new things to experience as well as the standy-by favorites!

Thanks for the comment about the pictures. I love snapping away!

 

[natebenma]

Haha this is exactly how I am when my lovely hubby is working from home!

He has been working from home 1-2 days a week, but I know he is going in to the office the next two days because his bosses boss is in town.

Ben sounds like he’s living his best life! Fantastic results! Proud mum moment for sure!

He really is. Both boys are. And I'm so glad. Both Mark and I commuted to school. We never lived on campus and when not in class or studying we were working. It doesn't bother Mark, but I really feel like I missed out on making college friends and having the full college experience, so I am happy to see the boys involved in the social aspects of school.

I’m sure it’s been lovely having both boys around the place again

(BUT, OMG, I have been in the kitchen doing dishes since before Christmas. Big difference between feeding 2 and feeding 4 including two young adults. )

Exciting times ahead for Nate. College years seem to have flown by. Make sure to let us know where he ends up.

Right now 3 of the possibilities are Wells, Maine (about 45 minutes from here), Idaho and Alaska.

This trip is fast approaching and sounds like so much fun

Another fabulous trip on the horizon

Glad to see you back here. I always love your reports and still smile at Mark telling you to tire yourself out before he gets there You had a great safari ride and I love the elephant photos old and new. Looking forward to hearing more

Thanks!

I had forgotten about his comment, because I haven't gotten to that part yet.

Didn't work!

 

[natebenma]

There’s Goat to be a First Time for Everything

Previous Update, 1/11/20 Safari So Good

As many of you know, I work as an educator at a historical property that serves as a rescue farm. We have a lot of phenomenal programs- a historical fiction class, an intensive and hands-on archaeology program, Colonial presentations, but our most popular offerings are Day at the Farm and Farm Friends. At the farm, we have Sukey the horse, Roger the Donkey, two ginormous 800 plus pound pigs, 3 goats, 2 cats, chickens and sheep. I don’t know how many sheep because every time I try to count them, I fall asleep!











Every Friday, I have a preschool group that comes to feed the animals, listen to a story I read, do a craft, go on a tractor ride.



I never thought that I would work with or be comfortable with little kids or animals, but it’s a pretty sweet gig.



On past trips, I have never been to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. I was really excited that we planned to go on this trip, and I would get to experience it with an almost 3-year-old. And coincidentally, we would be there right at the same I normally have my Farm Friends class.



**************************************************************************************



We were on the first train over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch at 9:30. It was cool seeing this rhino in the backstage area.

This way!

In the “Affection Station” guests can interact with goats, sheep and mini donkeys.

I texted these pictures to my manager at work, who was covering for me at my Farm Friends class:



“Look what I’m doing right now! Say hi to the kids for Miss Dee” and









Is there room in the budget for a goat playground?







She sent me back a picture of one of the toddlers in our group all bundled up in the driver’s seat of our tractor. Apparently, it was pretty cold back home!





I was really looking forward to watching S. interacting with the animals. She spent a few seconds brushing a goat, but the sand in her crocs really bothered her, so we moved on and went inside the building.

We peeked into the operating room, but there was nothing going on. That’s good news for the critters!

We needed to get back on the train to the main park for our breakfast reservation at Tusker house.







We went to pick up the stroller from where we left it in the lot.



And



We couldn’t find it!!!



Not again!



When you rent a stroller, it has your name on a placard in a little transparent window so that you can identify the one that is yours.



After a second search of the lot we found a stroller with this:







Turns out the stroller was there, but someone had stolen the nametag!



WTH?!?



Next Up: No Good Meal Goes Unpunished

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a nice time at Rafiki's Planet Watch! But so weird that someone would steal the stroller name tag!!

 

[SonnyEclipsesSpaceAngel]

I miss Rafiki's Planet Watch weird how someone would steal the nametag off the stroller all in all I am enjoying your Trip Report

 

[Wood Nymph]

We haven't been to Rafiki's since it first opened at AK, which was a really long time ago. It looks like S was the perfect age for it.

I'm g;ad that you found the rental stroller. It would have been annoying to have to get another one.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Turns out the stroller was there, but someone had stolen the nametag!

Seriously! What is wrong with people

Love the goat selfie with you and Janet (and the playground). The goats at my local farm have a playhouse and platform thing to play on. My wee Grandson adores watching as they try to climb up the ramp to the top platform

 

[natebenma]

Sounds like a nice time at Rafiki's Planet Watch! But so weird that someone would steal the stroller name tag!!

It was crazy! I'm glad it just turned out to be a missing name tag, but very very strange.

I miss Rafiki's Planet Watch weird how someone would steal the nametag off the stroller all in all I am enjoying your Trip Report

and thanks for your kind comment!

I love your screen name. Very clever.

Do you miss the planet watch because you used to go with little kids and now do not? Or because it was closed for a bit? Or both?

In a kind of quirky coincidence, I actually took a picture of the name tag that day on someone else's stroller, because it was a sort of uncommon name that an aunt, uncle and cousins have. But I didn't steal it! Sheesh!

We haven't been to Rafiki's since it first opened at AK, which was a really long time ago. It looks like S was the perfect age for it.

I'm g;ad that you found the rental stroller. It would have been annoying to have to get another one.

It was fun having a reason to visit Rafiki's. I don't think I will have an occasion to go again if it is just Mark, or the family or even a trip with girlfriends. I am lucky that I get to interact with animals on a regular basis, so I get my fill of fur that way.



I can't imagine having to get another stroller. Although it could have been interesting if we could track it via Lo-Jac!

Seriously! What is wrong with people

Love the goat selfie with you and Janet (and the playground). The goats at my local farm have a playhouse and platform thing to play on. My wee Grandson adores watching as they try to climb up the ramp to the top platform

There are definitely some twisted people out there!

It is so much fun watching little ones and animals. I am glad I get to experience it so often.

 

[natebenma]

No Good Meal Goes Unpunished



After collecting the stroller- to be named later- we arrived at Tusker House.



Our brilliant friend ~N had booked us at 10:30, so that we would be there for both breakfast and lunch dining selections. I was looking forward to returning to this restaurant. I had been once before for breakfast with my boys back in 2008. I love international cuisine, and Tusker House is kind of like “Boma-lite” with characters.







As we were being seated, the characters walked by us on the way to meeting guests.

Our waiter came over and explained that we would be one of the last tables visited by the characters before they left the room and that we would have time to get food before any of them made it to our table.



Here’s some pictures of the restaurant and buffet offerings

Breakfast

Lunch

Beef Bobotie

Plate Number 1:





Plate Number 2:







Of course, the main reason to dine at Tusker House is meeting the characters. Both ~N and I had our cameras out to take pictures of S as the characters came around, but I found that they thought I was the primary photographer, so they faced me instead of ~N. When I noticed that, I stopped taking pictures of her.



I did pose for a few of my own

My review:



Food: Awesome! There were so many excellent selections and they were all great. I wish I could have sampled more, but I was full.



Service: So-so. Our main waiter was not particularly attentive. I think we were served more by other CMs when we needed something. The check came when ~N and S were away from the table and Janet and I decided to treat them to the meal, so I paid with a gift card and Janet gave me cash.



Sometime later in the trip, I checked the receipt and found that we were charged for S’s meal even though she is under age 3. The waiter never asked, but I believe ~N noted that on the reservation and in MDE her correct age appears.



No good meal goes unpunished!



I did call Disney after getting home and they did refund the price of her meal to my gift card.



Character Interaction: Good, nothing outstanding.



All in all, I’m glad we ate at Tusker House.



Next Up: Well, I just can’t wait for this thing!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Tusker House food selections look great and they'd definitely fill my love of spice
Shame the waiter wasn't up to much but I'm glad you enjoyed the food and got some great character pics. Also happy to hear that disney did the decent thing (eventually) and refundeed S' meal It was nice of you and Janet to treat the others

 

[Wood Nymph]

We have dined at Tusker House three times, always for breakfast and always with grandchildren. Our third visit was the most fun. It was later in the morning, there were a lot of empty tables, and the characters kept returning over and over again because they had nothing else to do. They made a big fuss over DH and one of our friends. It was so cute.

Did you find the food to be as good as Boma? We ate dinner at Boma in December and the food was great.

 

[missangelalexis]

I am a fan of Tusker House. I'm glad it was a nice time! Good catch on them charging you incorrectly- glad they fixed it.

 

[ljcrochet]

Sometime later in the trip, I checked the receipt and found that we were charged for S’s meal even though she is under age 3. The waiter never asked, but I believe ~N noted that on the reservation and in MDE her correct age appears.

I wonder how often they do that to people with young kids? I remember it happening a few times when we went before my girls were 3 (They are now 14). We always check the bill over so we caught it before we paid.

 

[cindianne320]

What a fun brunch- we did the 10:30 time in both May and December- love sampling all the yummy options. Bummer that you were overcharged, but glad they fixed it! What a nice treat for your friends! <3