It's kind of fun to do the impossible - Disney with a 1 month old *new 2/13/15*

[TheMaxRebo]

What a fantastic view to wake up to! I'm so torn on AK. It kills my feet, but my favorite show on property is there (Nemo) so I at least have to go for that. Looks like a great safari!

We love the theming of Animal Kingdom, but, especially taking into account it was August, knew it would be too hot to stay there too long. I was hoping to get to Nemo or Lion King but just didn't happen this trip

Cute character pics at Tusker House! Funny about Peter forgetting to include the word NOT

Awesome safari pictures, especially of the lions, super impressive!!

The video of Peter running away from Donald and Donald looking all "well, I tried" is pretty funny/

Thank you - definitely the most we have seen the lions on any trip

Wowsa!!!!! 3 lions on the same safari! You pretty much rocked that safari. I got that same picture of the male last October, but boy are those females amazing. I have never seen two females sitting side by side. I seriously didn't even know that could happen! You are my new hero!

wow, thank you! I mean, I didn't place them together or anything I am sure they are chatting with each other and complaining how lazy the male lion is

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Looks like you had a good breakfast at Tusker (food and character-wise).

Nice safari! I guess you wore the lions out before I got there - did not see one lion on two safaris!

Definitely a very solid choice for breakfast - good to get a number of he big characters done there and fun that they are in their safari outfits ... and I really like the variety of the food.

sorry for hogging the lions ... that's a bummer that you didn't get to see any

I really enjoyed your picture outside the Tusker House. I had to laugh because that seemed to be many of our family pictures taken at the Poly and even our meet and greet with Elsa and Anna. Only at A&E it was Elsa that had her eyes closed.
What a life that male lion lives. He was relaxing when we were there as well. In fact many of the animals were either eating or sleeping.
Very intresting to see that they have started the Avatar work. Hoping to get back to Disney when it is completed.
Looking forward to reading more about your AK day!

It was funny just to cycle through the pictures and in each one a different person had their eyes closed. definitely hard to get everyone looking in right direction and smiling, etc.

I am cautiously optimistic about Avatarland - hope it kinda leverage the fantasy of Pandora without just being a dark ride that tells the story. Of course they could have just build the originally planned mythical beasts land and I would have been happy

That breakfast looks delicious and I am a huge fan of POG juice. They have it at my college but it's not quite the same as drinking it in WDW...

HA I love Peter's face in the picture with Goofy. He looks very suspicious.

That lion picture is majestic!!! Also thank you for giving the name for the "twirly horned deer" as my mother and I call it

POG juice is so good - should start to make it at home. Though, like you say, definitely not the same as drinking it in WDW

Yes, very suspicious ... well, I'd be suspicious of a dog that was three times my height and wearing safari clothes

Well, you can thank Google as I had to search for which animals can be seen on the Kilimanjaro Safari and then match them up

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I didn't know Donald doesn't greet you at the front of Tusker House anymore. Huh...that's a bit of a bummer. The food looks delicious, though. I'm amazed you were able to eat at all, between the characters walking up for pictures and trying to serve two kids. Won't lie, that sounds like a daunting task for me.

Not too bad with animal sightings on the safari. It's rare you see all 3 lions out and about. But I can see where you're coming with the giraffes; it's always fun when they are up close!

Yeah, we were a little bummed about Donald not being out but it is what it is - at least we did get the family picture. Definitely had to eat in shifts but managed to get it down

Our last trip there were so many giraffes super close and it was great - but I definitely won't shrug at getting to see the 3 lions

Indeed that is a goregeous view to wake up to!

We love Tusker House! If you think breakfast is good, you should try lunch sometime.

Too early for some of the animals?! I'm impressed by your knowledge of the correct names.

Out of curiousity, how did Emma sleep at night while you were there? Did waking at night to eat wake the other two? Did the kids have mornings where they just didn't want to get up?

Indeed, it is a nice view to wake up to.

Definitely would be up for trying lunch there once ... we kinda get stuck on doing pre-park opening meals though so that is why we have been doing breakfast there recently.

Well, Google definitely helped with the animal names

We co-sleep with Emma at home and did that there too (though generally, Judi had Emma in one bed and I was with Peter in the other (at least until he fell asleep) and then Olivia had the pulldown. For the most part Peter and Olivia slept through the night - sometimes was a bit of a challenge getting them to sleep though

GREAT safari pictures!

We love TH breakfast. Donald was inside in May too. Disappointing isn't it? It was nice to have one character picture everyone could be in at a meal.

Poor Peter. Why can't you read his mind? NOT Donald should have been implied

Thank you Shannon! Definitely agree that having a picture is better than no picture at all, though do wish Donald was still meeting out front.

I know - clearly I should know what is in my child's mind eve if he is saying something else

 

[Imagineer5]

Awesome AK morning so far! TH is better for breakfast than lunch, i have decided! LOL. I like that Donald comes to the tables now, though a PP pic would be nice too.

Your safari pics are beautiful, especially the lions. We had poor giraffe viewing the last trip, I don't know why. One of our safaris they were just letting out the giraffes for the day so maybe they were just running a little late?

Anyway excited to read more of your day!

 

[Marsheliz]

OHHH! I didn't realize that Donald no longer meets and take pics outside of TH. Bummer!! One of my favorite pictures of my mom before she got so sick was the pic of all of us with Donald outside of TH!

Great pics of the safari!! Looks like all 5 of you fit comfortably on the seat of Simba 1.

 

[schmass]

I love Tusker House! We've only done it for lunch, though, not breakfast.

You got some really great safari pictures. I usually just scroll right past safari pictures because the all look the same to me, but yours are great! The one with Emma holding Judi's hand is precious!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Awesome AK morning so far! TH is better for breakfast than lunch, i have decided! LOL. I like that Donald comes to the tables now, though a PP pic would be nice too.

Your safari pics are beautiful, especially the lions. We had poor giraffe viewing the last trip, I don't know why. One of our safaris they were just letting out the giraffes for the day so maybe they were just running a little late?

Anyway excited to read more of your day!

We had to scramble a bit - first day getting up after a pretty late night but we were doing pretty good and off to a good start.

It is nice that Donald comes around now - just thought the pre-meal photo was something a little different

Thank you! Dang late running Giraffes!

OHHH! I didn't realize that Donald no longer meets and take pics outside of TH. Bummer!! One of my favorite pictures of my mom before she got so sick was the pic of all of us with Donald outside of TH!

Great pics of the safari!! Looks like all 5 of you fit comfortably on the seat of Simba 1.

Aw, now that makes me really sad that he no longer meets out front - at least you have that memory though

We definitely fit comfortably in the row - pretty much perfect size in that we took up the whole row but weren't too smushed

I love Tusker House! We've only done it for lunch, though, not breakfast.

You got some really great safari pictures. I usually just scroll right past safari pictures because the all look the same to me, but yours are great! The one with Emma holding Judi's hand is precious!

We might try lunch sometime - or a few people have mentioned if you book like the last breakfast seating they will start brining out lunch so you can get breakfast and lunch foods in ... so might think of that for a future trip.

Thank you! I actually didn't notice Emma grabbing Judi's hand until I was going through the pictures - thought it was sweet

 

[MarbleBob]

Another great start to your day. I skipped AK on our last trip, and Stephanie didn't mention anything about Avatar Land to me, but wondering if you could see anything beyond the cranes in the background? (I always find Disney construction to be interesting... We got to see Expedition Everest while it was being built and it looked like a giant mound of scaffolding. We were in California Adventure about a year before Carsland opened, and it was cool to see the activity off in the background. Same for the new Fantaslyland.) Like most others, I'm baffled by why they are making Avatar Land, I wasn't a big fan of the movie, but I can imagine that the end product is going to be pretty darn cool.

Breakfast looks good, especially the strawberry turnover. And Krispy Kreme!?!?!?!?!? I had no idea that they were available at WDW. We had one about five minutes from our house, until it closed down about 5 years ago. Wah!!

And you got some great shots on the safari. How fun!!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Another great start to your day. I skipped AK on our last trip, and Stephanie didn't mention anything about Avatar Land to me, but wondering if you could see anything beyond the cranes in the background? (I always find Disney construction to be interesting... We got to see Expedition Everest while it was being built and it looked like a giant mound of scaffolding. We were in California Adventure about a year before Carsland opened, and it was cool to see the activity off in the background. Same for the new Fantaslyland.) Like most others, I'm baffled by why they are making Avatar Land, I wasn't a big fan of the movie, but I can imagine that the end product is going to be pretty darn cool.

Breakfast looks good, especially the strawberry turnover. And Krispy Kreme!?!?!?!?!? I had no idea that they were available at WDW. We had one about five minutes from our house, until it closed down about 5 years ago. Wah!!

And you got some great shots on the safari. How fun!!!

You couldn't really see much else of the construction other than some walls up at various spots blocking your view. I too find the construction at Disney really interesting. Looking at old films/pictures of the building of things like Space Mountain or even the castle fascinate me. I enjoyed Avatar the movie (not a huge fan boy or anything) and have hopes for it with the creative minds behind it and I think (hope) Disney knows it needs to hit a home run with this one and have some really new technologies used in it.

I don't know why Krispy Kremes close down (there was one near where my mother lives that closed) - nothing better than going by when the light is on and getting a super fresh donut from there that is still warm, yum!

Thanks!

 

[AAshleySEG]

Woohoo! I am all caught up now! You had some really great photos on the safari!! I think you read about my "eventful" safari story in my TR. What type of lens were you using to get those shots, they were really good! Nice and close! I always forget to bring my longer zoom lens during it, I need to remember that sometime. I just really don't like to bring too much stuff with me in the parks.

Glad you had good seats for Fantasmic and got to see the Frozen Fireworks show, we missed it, we did get to see it from the Animal Kingdom Parking Tram though...not the same, but hey, we did get to see it.

Makes me sad that they took Donald out of the photo at the beginning of Tusker House, I remember way back when the breakfast was over at Restaurantosaurus, we have not been to Tusker in a few trips, but we always enjoy it when we do go!

The lunch they serve at the Wild Africa trek is awesome!!!
Food From Trek
This was from back in 2011, they even served POG juice with it! It has probably changed since then, but I think you guys would definitely enjoy when the kids get a little older, or maybe you two could do it as a day date sometime in the future?

Glad to be all caught up once again! Also, thanks for coming over and reading my TR too!! I have to do this one pretty quickly since I have another trip coming up soon. Makes me a little sad though, since this is the last Disney trip of us for the year. At least it will be for an important celebration As always, looking forward to reading more!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Woohoo! I am all caught up now! You had some really great photos on the safari!! I think you read about my "eventful" safari story in my TR. What type of lens were you using to get those shots, they were really good! Nice and close! I always forget to bring my longer zoom lens during it, I need to remember that sometime. I just really don't like to bring too much stuff with me in the parks.

Oh, I very much remember your "eventful" safari - we didn't have quite that level of excitment

We don't have a fancy camera, I just used my Canon PowerShot SX260 which does have a 20x zoom - it seems to do a pretty decent job overall though definitely lower light and motion it just isn't nearly as good as a DSLR or similar. Fits in my pocket too which I liked for being at the parks. I would love to be able to take better pictures but just don't have the time to learn (or the patience) right now

Glad you had good seats for Fantasmic and got to see the Frozen Fireworks show, we missed it, we did get to see it from the Animal Kingdom Parking Tram though...not the same, but hey, we did get to see it.

Bummer you didn't get to fully see them and they were really good. We actually were able to see a bit of them from EPCOT after Illuminations ended - they really are the fireworks show you can see from everywhere!

Makes me sad that they took Donald out of the photo at the beginning of Tusker House, I remember way back when the breakfast was over at Restaurantosaurus, we have not been to Tusker in a few trips, but we always enjoy it when we do go!

The lunch they serve at the Wild Africa trek is awesome!!!
Food From Trek
This was from back in 2011, they even served POG juice with it! It has probably changed since then, but I think you guys would definitely enjoy when the kids get a little older, or maybe you two could do it as a day date sometime in the future?

Definitely will want to do that tour in the future. I am sure the kids would love it - though will be a while before all of them are old enough. Maybe something one of us could do with just Olivia or something in the nearer future.

Bunch of tours I want to do besides that one: Keys to the Kingdom, Magic Behind the Steam Trains, Behind the Seeds, etc. ... have to figure which ones we can do with the kids / wait for them to be older vs. which ones to do earlier

Glad to be all caught up once again! Also, thanks for coming over and reading my TR too!! I have to do this one pretty quickly since I have another trip coming up soon. Makes me a little sad though, since this is the last Disney trip of us for the year. At least it will be for an important celebration As always, looking forward to reading more!!

That is great how often you get to go - and very excited to hear about all of your food adventures in your latest TR

 

[Leshaface]

Having the apps included definitely put a positive spin on the entire meal and made the wait it bit more palatable (get it, palatable, it's a pun ... ok, moving on)

The Salad was really good - just a lot of good stuff, great dressing, and minimal lettuce

Ha! That's why we liked it too!


Wow isn't that stroller lot fairly big?! Can't believe they had to have additional parking. Must have been very busy.

You got a great view of Fantasmic! and very cool gifs

The Frozen fireworks looks pretty fun. Love how the palm trees are swaying in the video. So how long is the show? Is it only the length of "Let it Go"?

This will be our first ADR where the meal starts before park opening. Where do we go when we get to AK?

I'm really looking forward to doing TH! I've heard amazing things about that juice.

OMGosh, I died seing Peter's face in the Goofy picture

You got some great lion pics! I've never gotten a great one. Definitely jealous

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Ha! That's why we liked it too!


Wow isn't that stroller lot fairly big?! Can't believe they had to have additional parking. Must have been very busy.

You got a great view of Fantasmic! and very cool gifs

It's pretty big, but not huge considering how big that theater is - and we only just missed fitting in, we were one of the first to have to go to the auxiliary lot

The Frozen fireworks looks pretty fun. Love how the palm trees are swaying in the video. So how long is the show? Is it only the length of "Let it Go"?

Actually the snow only was on for the last little bit of Let it Go so probably only like 20 seconds or something - though we high-tailed it right at the last note so not sure how long after the song ended it stayed on

This will be our first ADR where the meal starts before park opening. Where do we go when we get to AK?

I'm really looking forward to doing TH! I've heard amazing things about that juice.

To get in to a park for pre-opening ADR you follow the signs which will point you to one of the edges of the entrance gates (usually the left) and the CM at the front will have a list of all the people with pre-park opening ADRs (same thing would be at MK if you have an early BBB appointment or any park for an early tour) and they will let you in and you then basically are on your own to walk to TH - though many areas are roped off so you can go over to EE or anything

:OMGosh, I died seing Peter's face in the Goofy picture

You got some great lion pics! I've never gotten a great one. Definitely jealous

Peter is a funny little guy at times - definitely make great faces

Thank you! Only fair based on how jelous I get reading some of your reports with all the awesome meals you have had and fun meet-ups, etc. - plus the DMB concert to boot!

 

[ElenaJane]

Oh my gosh, nothing like waking up to that view! Only better view, IMHO, would be from the Cinderella Castle Suite!

Not only did you get a glimpse of the Lions, but got great shots of them! Before your TR I was not 100% convinced they even existed...

 

[JulieODC]

Looks like you guys had a great safari ride! Great photos, especially the close-ups of the lions!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Oh my gosh, nothing like waking up to that view! Only better view, IMHO, would be from the Cinderella Castle Suite!

Not only did you get a glimpse of the Lions, but got great shots of them! Before your TR I was not 100% convinced they even existed...

That is true, literally waking up inside the Magic Kingdom would be pretty darn cool ... though if I ever got to spend the night not sure I could sleep

Well, to be fair, they may have been animatronic - I didn't get out to check

Looks like you guys had a great safari ride! Great photos, especially the close-ups of the lions!!

Thank you! Definitely a fun Safari and fun to go as the kids are getting older and getting more out of it

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Part 14 - Animal Kingdom part 3: Is she tall enough for Expedition Everest?
Tuesday, August 26th​

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After our fun ride through the savanna it was close to time for our next FP+ - this one for Expedition Everest ... which would also be one of the key variables to this trip: Would Olivia measure tall enough to ride? At home she was measuring right at 44" but I didn't know if Disney's height guides ran tall, short, etc.

So over we walk and the result? She made it! Not with a ton or room to spare but she definitely hit the bar without really stretching or anything.

Now, the whole time leading up to this moment Olivia was adamant that she would only ride "the gorilla ride" if I rode with her. However, once the moment finally came she decided she wanted to ride with her mom. So, I was a bit of a sad panda after wanting to ride with her - but if this is what she wanted, so be it.

And on it she went:

Afterward I asked he how she liked it and she informed me that she "Did not like it and would not ride it again. Because it made my cheeks go like this:"

It wasn't the speed, or height, or even the Yeti that got her - it was that it shook too much and made her cheeks shake

Well, then it was my turn and I rode alone since she didn't want to go again (we had gotten rider switch cards in case she wanted to go twice - but that was not needed). I actually wound up using the single ride line as that line was shorter than the FP+ line (not that either was very long):

After this we headed backwards a bit for our next FP+ which was one of Olivia's favorite rides last trip - Kali River Rapids! This time she did want to ride with me and she loved it again. She also like that she was the "veteran" on the ride and would chat up the other people on our raft that hadn't ridden it before.

While we were on the ride, Judi sat with Emma while Peter played in the water fountain and spiggets nearby:

Then it was Judi's turn to ride the Rapids and while she did I took the kids on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. The Treks are one of my favorite often overlooks aspects of Animal Kingdom - it's nice to go on an attraction you can take your time with and go at your pace - although we didn't see a ton of animals this trip and going through the trail with a large stroller wasn't the easiest.

First pic is not to point out the fact that Olivia had broken the rules and climbed up a bit on the fence but to show a picture of Emma - who I realize hasn't made many of the pictures:

We didn't get to see any tigers - apparently they had gotten a new tiger who was still getting acclimated to the existing tigers so she was out by herself and apparently she is good at hiding.

The kids did enjoy seeing the giant bats though:

and they really enjoyed "chasing" this large bird that was wandering around the paths in the avian area:

After the Trek we met back up with Judi and started to head over to DinoLand USA as we wanted to let the kids run around a bit in the boneyard. First though, I did get a picture of the kids near the shrine - one of these days I will capture it perfectly aligned with Expidition Evereset:

Judi and the kids actually went ahead because I wanted to double back and check to ensure that our ride photos were added to our memory maker account. They were - just our first time using it and I didn't 100% trust this "automatically added to your account" thing especially since I hadn't used the FP+ line how would the system even know I was on the ride? - you know, since Disney says they aren't using the Magic Bands to track guest exact locations

On the way across the bridge heading to DinoLand I came across a Photo Pass photographer who took what I think is one of my favorite pictures - I really love the view of EE and I am usually pretty hard on pictures of myself but I thought these came out pretty good - definitely will keep this location in mind for the future:

Before I met up with the rest of the family I came across this shirt that I am kicking myself for not getting:

The kids had a ton of fun in the Boneyard - though I was mostly taking video so didn't get really any good pictures ... but trust me, they had fun - especially all the slides.

We then did one trip on Triceratops Spins, though - as was pointed out in Katt789's trip report - why didn't they use pterodactyls for a "flying" dinosaur ride but is still fun. It was fun for me too for the first time have the two kids ride together while I rode behind them to take video and pictures:

At this point it was nearing lunch and we were also kinda ready for a break. So rather than opting for one of the parks food options we decided (partially from the excellent recommendation of Imagineer5) to eat lunch at Sanaa ... and spoiler alert - best. decision. ever.

TTFN

 

[schmass]

Yay for Olivia being tall enough to ride EE! Her reaction is hilarious. I bet next time she'll love it! Sorry that she chose to ride it with Judi instead of you. Rory had a week of wanting "dada" all the time and this morning when he chose me instead it was like "aaaaaahhhhhh". Kids.

 

[geckodani]

How much do I love that she wouldn't do EE again because it made her cheeks shake! Bah hah hah! So awesome.

I too adore that shirt. And I'm pretty sure they have it at Hot Topic if you still really want it...

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Ugh yeah, I also "enjoy" the Fantasmic pre show.

How nice of you to share your glow and how nice of them to be so appreciative.

You got some great photos Phil... and some great gifs.

The Frozen fireworks were pretty spectacular.

Wait, are you saying you skipped the crane ride at AK????

HAHAHA "sad panda", sorry that cracked me up. Gotta love a good South Park reference.