It's gonna take a lot to take me away from this view! 7/10 - Finished!

[BridgetR3]

Gorgeous photos of the animals and the lobby panoramas....wow!!!

It's always nice to take it easy on a rainy day at Disney! I would say that I hope you feel better but I know how the story ends..... =(

 

[MidnightParade]

All I have to say is Yay Rainbow Ponies! So pretty! Good luck in the comp!

Also I have to say nice AKL pics! Looks like a nice relaxing morning!

 

[khaleesi]

Yay for the art show!!! I love all three, but I gotta say I have a soft spot for those rainbow ponies.

I absolutely love your panoramic shots.

Yuck for being sick in Disney and missing out on stuff, but on the other hand... I can't imagine a better atmosphere than that. "Well, I didn't feel well but look at the baby giraffe!" Ha.

 

[KatMark]

I am back and caught up.

I love the paintings you selected for the show.

Thank you for the tour of the savannah. I just loved all of your pictures. The baby giraffe is so cute (giraffes are my favorite animal ever).

We plan on eating at Mara in September on our arrival night. How was the flatbread?

 

[teekathepony]

Looks like a great start to a rainy day!

It certainly was!

I love your paintings! Good choices for the art show!

Thanks Dave!!

Ah, I miss AKL. I even miss the Mara where I devoured a flatbread one midnight and a burger the next midnight. Looking at your pictures made it more so. Great pictures of the animals!

The Mara is a great place for a late night snack! I miss the place too, every day that I wake up and there are no giraffes outside my window.

Wait, do I see a couple zonkeys??? I didn't know they were there.

That's what I thought they were too, but I looked it up while we were there and they're actually Somali Wild A$$, (<-- Dis doesn't like that animal. ) very very endangered, less than 1000 left in the wild. I felt kind of honoured to wake up to those boys every morning.

God that lobby is just so breathtaking. I love the panorama.

Seriously, that lobby is incredible. My next house will have a living room like that.

Isn't there something just so cool about zebras? I think so anyway.

Yes! There is! I'm a horse person so I love watching them because on the surface they look so exotic, but if you watch their interactions they remind me SO much of my pony, Teeka!!

But then... GIRAFFES!!!!!!! It's so great to be able to relax and just watch without feeling rushed.

The giraffes... yeah they're like nothing I have in my back yard! They're so incredible to watch!

BABY!!! Goodness, he just looks so tiny. They really do look exactly the same as an adult, just in miniature form. Like Honey I shrunk the Giraffe. Too cute.

Honey I shrunk the Giraffe!!! That's a perfect way to explain it!

 

[annegirl]

Just found your reports. Subscribing!
I love your style. All the gifs are great!
So, I think you live on Cape Breton island?
I love Canada. I took my parents on a road trip across Canada in 2002. We drove up into Nova Scotia and went over to Cape Breton, then up to PEI, over to New Brunswick, and then all the way across to Victoria and then back down into the U.S.
My mom and I had one previous trip to PEI, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
I have to say that if I could live anywhere that I have been it would be Nova Scotia or PEI. Beautiful country.
I am really enjoying your trip report!
Oh- and I love Beauty and the Beast too! And we just got BOG on my ADR day yesterday. So I especially loved reading your reviews for that. I am so excited to go there. I have dreamed of going to the Beast's castle since I was 15 and saw it 7 times in the theater. Yep SEVEN times. Never happened before or since.

 

[momabbate]

Hi Wendy, I'm Sandy. I have seen you on the boards for a while. I can't stop kicking myself for not reading any of your reports before now. I found this report by chance, and haven't been able to stop reading it. Plus I have signed up for both your ptr and your last tr that has the photo classes. Can't wait to get started reading those. (After catching on a few other tr.)
Great job on selling some paintings and your class. Can't wait to hear what you have planned next.
Sandy

 

[pixleyyy]

Which TR has the photography lessons? I'd love to read them before going ourselves.

 

[natebenma]

Awesome, awesome pictures of AKL!!!

Your time in the hot tub sounds like it was truly wonderful.

I love the panoramic lobby photos.

I thought the zebra on its back was the cutest thing ever and then...

BABY GIRAFFE!!!

Are you kidding me??

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

Wishing you luck at the art show. Your paintings are so beautiful and fun!

 

[HumblePie]

I love your photos! How cute is that baby giraffe?!

 

[PopArtGal]

I love you paintings! As a painter, I'd love to say: Don't feel like you're bragging. Be proud of what you did

 

[PopArtGal]

I love your pictures! Especially the baby giraffe. Who doesn't love a baby

 

[amazingact21]

Oh my goodness, that baby giraffe is too adorable! Good thinking on your part in planning time to really look around the resort and seek out some of the cooler animals. That resort os so huge and spread out, that I'm sure stopping at every lookout and viewing area never got old.

 

[teekathepony]

Gorgeous photos of the animals and the lobby panoramas....wow!!!

Thank you! That lobby is so gorgeous!

It's always nice to take it easy on a rainy day at Disney! I would say that I hope you feel better but I know how the story ends..... =(

Yes it is, especially when it's near the end of the trip!

All I have to say is Yay Rainbow Ponies! So pretty! Good luck in the comp!

Thanks! My ponies are already a big hit with the admins of the show

Also I have to say nice AKL pics! Looks like a nice relaxing morning!

Thank you! Yes, a very relaxing morning indeed.

Yay for the art show!!! I love all three, but I gotta say I have a soft spot for those rainbow ponies.

Thank you! I also have a soft spot (also a perplexed bewilderment?) for the ponies!

I absolutely love your panoramic shots.

Thanks! I love that feature on my phone!

Yuck for being sick in Disney and missing out on stuff, but on the other hand... I can't imagine a better atmosphere than that. "Well, I didn't feel well but look at the baby giraffe!" Ha.

It could have been so much worse, I didn't get sick until the last day! And on this day it didn't really bother me much and yeah, baby giraffe kind of made up for anything negative!

 

[teekathepony]

I am back and caught up.

Yay!

I love the paintings you selected for the show.

Thanks Kathy! I can't wait for the show to start!

Thank you for the tour of the savannah. I just loved all of your pictures. The baby giraffe is so cute (giraffes are my favorite animal ever).

You are welcome! I love giraffes, the baby was soooo adorable! A perfect little mini-me!

We plan on eating at Mara in September on our arrival night. How was the flatbread?

Not bad, pretty typical I'd say but hot and fresh when we had it, nice and tasty!

Just found your reports. Subscribing!
I love your style. All the gifs are great!

Glad to have you!!

So, I think you live on Cape Breton island?

You are correct!

I love Canada. I took my parents on a road trip across Canada in 2002. We drove up into Nova Scotia and went over to Cape Breton, then up to PEI, over to New Brunswick, and then all the way across to Victoria and then back down into the U.S.
My mom and I had one previous trip to PEI, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia.
I have to say that if I could live anywhere that I have been it would be Nova Scotia or PEI. Beautiful country.

Wow, that's quite a road trip! You've seen more of Canada than I have! I'd love to get out to BC some time. PEI is gorgeous and if I didn't live here, I'd probably live there!

I am really enjoying your trip report!

Thank you!

Oh- and I love Beauty and the Beast too! And we just got BOG on my ADR day yesterday. So I especially loved reading your reviews for that. I am so excited to go there. I have dreamed of going to the Beast's castle since I was 15 and saw it 7 times in the theater. Yep SEVEN times. Never happened before or since.

Beauty and the Beast is my favourite, but I can't honestly remember if I saw it in theatres... I'm guessing yes.

 

[teekathepony]

Hi Wendy, I'm Sandy. I have seen you on the boards for a while. I can't stop kicking myself for not reading any of your reports before now. I found this report by chance, and haven't been able to stop reading it. Plus I have signed up for both your ptr and your last tr that has the photo classes. Can't wait to get started reading those. (After catching on a few other tr.)

Hi Sandy! to my reports! Thanks so much for joining in! Hope you enjoy the photo lessons! I'm thinking of taking them up again on my PTR when this TR is done and I can focus on just one report.

Great job on selling some paintings and your class. Can't wait to hear what you have planned next.
Sandy

Thank you so much!

Which TR has the photography lessons? I'd love to read them before going ourselves.

"What's the Catch - Do I Not Get Bacon?" -- this is the PTR with the photo lessons, each lesson is listed in the table of contents in post #2!

Awesome, awesome pictures of AKL!!

Thanks Dee!

Your time in the hot tub sounds like it was truly wonderful.

It was! I miss that hot tub... and the palm trees overhead... *sigh* hahaa

I love the panoramic lobby photos.

Thanks! I love that feature on my phone!

I thought the zebra on its back was the cutest thing ever and then...

BABY GIRAFFE!!!

Are you kidding me??

Both were so cute, that baby giraffe was just way too adorable, I could have sat there watching him all day!

Wishing you luck at the art show. Your paintings are so beautiful and fun!

Thank you so much!!

 

[teekathepony]

I love your photos! How cute is that baby giraffe?!

Thanks! I know, that giraffe baby is so sweet.

I love you paintings! As a painter, I'd love to say: Don't feel like you're bragging. Be proud of what you did

Thank you! It's not often I allow myself to be proud of my own work, I have to try harder on that!

I love your pictures! Especially the baby giraffe. Who doesn't love a baby

Thanks, that baby was especially adorable!

Oh my goodness, that baby giraffe is too adorable! Good thinking on your part in planning time to really look around the resort and seek out some of the cooler animals. That resort os so huge and spread out, that I'm sure stopping at every lookout and viewing area never got old.

It was wonderful to take some time looking around and taking pictures, the baby giraffe was a bonus!

 

[JulieODC]

Great animal photos!! That baby giraffe is adorable!! So cool that you can get such great up-close view of the animals from the resort. We're doing breakfast at Boma on Saturday, and I'm excited for DD to be able to see some animals!

 

[teekathepony]

Great animal photos!! That baby giraffe is adorable!! So cool that you can get such great up-close view of the animals from the resort. We're doing breakfast at Boma on Saturday, and I'm excited for DD to be able to see some animals!

Thanks! The baby giraffe was just absolutely perfect, so adorable (and right outside my hotel room, how often can you say that??)
That's right! You guys have a Boma stop! I lovvvve Boma, delicious. Have a great time there and on your cruise!

 

[teekathepony]

Hello again!

It's a miserable, cold, rainy day so to me that just translates to an excellent day to Dis. The circus is in town and every time they're here, we have three weeks of cold rain. They used to come in June, then they moved to May to try to avoid that cold, rainy period and it just followed them. Around here we really hate to see the circus coming.

But it means I'm ready for another update!

Saturday November 16
"Fire and Ice"

We had finished up a rainy morning around the resort and were headed for a rainy afternoon in Downtown Disney. I didn't bother bringing my camera because of the rain, so I have very few photos. I'll skip through pretty quick

Our first stop was here:

IMG_0856 by teekathepony, on Flickr

My absolute favourite shop in all of WDW. Disney and Christmas together -- who could ask for anything more??

I got a picture of this for my friend Carolin who lives in Germany:
IMG_0858 by teekathepony, on Flickr

Ironically, you guys know the pickle tree in the German pavilion? Well, Caro, who was born, raised and lived all but one year of her life in Germany, has never heard of the pickle on a Christmas tree before.

I wandered around there for a while and got a couple of really nice ornaments. I have two traditions -- every year I have to get a towel and a Christmas tree ornament from Disney. Checked one off my list!

And now I must apologize, because I thought I had pictures of my souvies but I can't find any! Hmm... did I forget to take them or did I lose them?

Wait, I'll go through all of my memory cards again.

Nope. Ok well I can't even really remember what I came home with otherwise I'd google pictures. Sorry! I guess when I got home I was in no shape to organize souvenirs!

We spent a long time in the World of Disney looking at everything. I saw this shirt and thought of Rob (DisneyKid4Life) and his (much better) custom shirt.

IMG_0860 by teekathepony, on Flickr

It's cute and all, but... Survived > Conquered!

I wanted this shirt:
IMG_0861 by teekathepony, on Flickr

but did not get it. That I do remember.

Oh! I remember I got this shirt!

I'm a big Oswald fan, it's so nice to see Oswald merch popping up more and more.

I was also on a mission to find a pair of footwear. My sandals were hurting me pretty bad by this point and I needed a break.

[Review: Footwear

Sandals: Sanuk "Yoga Sling 2"

Last trip I wore the Sanuk Yoga Mat thong type flip flops and loved them, this year I figured I'd stay with the same brand, same sole, just a different look.

The left sandal caused me issues right away. The little leather twine that is wrapped around the between-the-toe part had shifted and out popped a tiny piece of sharp metal that I didn't see until it wore a hole in my foot. Johnny was able to move the leather back over the metal and then it was fine. The right shoe never had that issue.

I found the material "straps" way too tight. It has to be snug to keep the shoe on, sure, but it was so tight it bruised both my feet.

Finally, I like flip flops at Disney because if they get wet (rain storm, water ride, kid drops a drink, whatever Murphy's Law can throw at you) they just dry right up, but the material on these stayed wet forever. If I got it wet one day, they'd still be damp the next morning.

The soles were still comfy and I had no problem with that, no sore feet/legs/back associated with bad soles. That was the only good thing.

Score: 1/5 *

Conclusion: Won't buy again, would not recommend.]



So anyway. I found a stand of Crocs. I'm not a fan of them generally, but this is Disney and saving your legs and feet comes first. Besides, that's all Johnny wears in Disney and he swears by them. I was about to buy a plain black pair when I spotted these:

IMG_0888 by teekathepony, on Flickr

You might be able to tell since they're already on my feet, but I bought them. Croc soles, Mickey canvas uppers. Adorable and fairly comfy, though the backs did rub on my heels pretty bad and pretty fast.

We moved along to the Lego store.

IMG_0862 by teekathepony, on Flickr

My boy. He still poses like a toddler for the camera. So cute.

IMG_0863 by teekathepony, on Flickr

I didn't go in the lego store because it was jam packed. Johnny went in but didn't stay long!

IMG_0968 by teekathepony, on Flickr

IMG_0867 by teekathepony, on Flickr

A preview for the newest ride that, at the time, was still under construction:
IMG_0864 by teekathepony, on Flickr

We had taken so long in WoD that it was almost time to head in for our early (3:30) dinner!

On our way I spotted this:

IMG_0865 by teekathepony, on Flickr

I texted the pic to my co-worker. You see my store takes the Santa photos at the local mall.

"Is our display this nice this year??"
IMG_0866 by teekathepony, on Flickr

The answer, sadly, was no.

(Continued in next post)