Let the memories (of our May 2011 trip) begin! *UPDATED SEPT. 18th- LINK to NEW TR!*

[Queila]

Wow you sure met a lot of characters!! I love all the pics and how excited Beatriz is in the video. We never got round to watching Nemo but I hope to get there on a future trip.

That is too bad you guys never got to see the Nemo show. It is extremely well done and one of my favorites. I guess it is just a reason to go back!

What a great day you are having at AK!!!

I guess I didn't comment on your Flame Tree update. Great pictures of your food and the view.

I insisted that we eat here on one of our first trips to AK. We could not find the restaurant! I think we walked from Asia to Africa and back again, and we were hot and hungry and exhausted by the time we actually found it. We found a table near the counter area, so we didn't have an amazing view. Unfortunately, my family is not in a rush to go back, but I would like to try it again. Tamu Tamu, the restaurant that guests forgot, is our go-to at AK.

Again, fantastic pictures with the characters! The Lilo and Stich ones are great and who needs Crystal Palace when you can get such amazing photos with the Pooh charcters? Love the one with Beatriz surrounded by Eeyore's ear. So cute!

The video of Beatriz at Nemo made me smile. I love the small details Disney adds to its attractions to make them more fun for all ages!

Oh, that stinks that the frozen Chai is not a snack credit!!! I can totally relate about not paying out of pocket when you have a bank of credits on your card! One of my low points was telling my 9 year old that he couldn't have a water because that was not a good use of a snack credit! (I did change my mind and let my thirsty child get the drink)

Joey and I both love ribs so Flame Tree is really a no brainer for us. We love this reastaurant for us that we actually plan ou day at AK around it. I would love to try Yak and Yeti one day though...

It is funny what you say about Crystal Palace because that was EXACTLY what we told ourselves after our pictures with Pooh and the gang at AK. The background is so cute and the whole ambiance is so relaxing that it makes a trip to Crystal Palace go to the very bottom of our list of Disney priorities right now.

I had to laugh out loud with your story about being close to denying your son a bottle of water because of it not being a smart use of a snack credit. I CAN TOTALLY UNDERSTAND!

I love thrill rides, but I also love meeting characters so I would have no problem with spending a day like you guys did. I love the place for meeting Pooh and friends too! It's tucked away, shaded, beautiful, and was not crowded at all when we went.

Very cute pictures with the characters! You can tell Beatriz is loving meeting all of them. I can't say that I blame you for being cheap and not trying the frozen chai. If I have snack credits left, I only use those as well.

Thank you. In 2010 Beatriz wanted nothing to do with the characters but this time around she was all over them and we were very happy to oblige. There is something very special about these encounters.

 

[Queila]

Day 5- Monday- May, 16th 2011- Afternoon at Animal Kingdom (part 3).

So we made it to Marahajah trail and by the time we were through with it I could tell that the fatigue of the day was starting to settle.

I really liked the theming of the place and the diversity of the animals but at that point Beatriz was starting to act crazy and our patience with her was starting to run a littlle thin.

So we saw a little bit of this...

And a little bit of that...

And let's not forget this guy:

I really loved both trails (Pangani and Marahajah) and I plan to do them again and again. I am sure there are a lot of great things we miss when we do them only once and I truly believe they are must- do's at Animal Kingdom.

Anyways, since we were nearby I suggested it would be a good time for one of us to ride Expedition Everest using the swap pass but none of us were really up to it. We were both like: "It's ok you go", "no, no, no... you can go and I will stay with her". I guess none of us were the mood for the thrill so at the end we simply decided to skip it altogether.

It is called GETTING OLD you people!

I should add that Joey makes this type of situations really easy to digest since he keeps repeating that there is no need to do every single thing because there will always be next year. Man, I love my husband!

We also thought about doing "It is tough to be a bug" but considering Beatriz' reaction to attractions like "Indiana Jones", Fantasmic" and even "Nemo" we decided to skip it. In addition, even though in the back of my head I had planned to see the afternoon parade somehow we forgot about it and missed it entirely.

Is this story putting you to sleep already? Sorry about that but it was THAT type of afternoon.

There is always that ONE DAY, that ONE MOMENT during every Disney trip when the family hits a wall and nobody is feeling the magic anymore. And that was the moment for us.

Looking back now I realize we should have just left and called it a day BUT we had reservations at Tusker House for super so we decided to stay.

I took a little peek in a couple of stores and tried to do some shopping but was not successful:

So we decided to just walk back to Discovery Island with the intention of taking some family pictures by the Tree of Life. And this is what we got:

OK then.

So we tried one of the two of us:

Better!

And then Beatriz agreed on taking some "silly pictures":

Then we walked aimlessly for a couple of minutes until we stopped to admire this guy:

I have to say he did put a smile on my face.

Still at this point I was really willing to cancel my reservation at Tusker House and just leave but Joey suggested we should simply go to the restaurant right away, have an early super and "get it over with".

I agreed and so we went.


Continued next post.

​

 

[Queila]

Day 5- Monday- May, 16th 2011- Animal Kingdom day- Super at Tusker House and hanging out at Pop Century.

Our meal at Tusker House was good but I guess I was too tired to fully appreciate it.

Joey LOVED the food and it ranked really high on his book.

Me?

I liked it too but I believe I was still a little full from lunch and ice cream so I think I only made one trip to the buffet.

I was glad the ambiance of the restaurant was relaxed because by this point Beatriz is unwilling to seat and finish her meal. When it gets to that point I feel bad to be too severe with her or put her on time out because it is not really her fault. You could tell the poor girl was in DESPERATE need of a nap.

Tusker House ended up being my least favorite meal of the trip but I would like to give Tusker House another try in the future. Maybe for an early breakfast when we are all rested and collected.

I did not take any pictures of the food but as we were leaving the restaurant I asked someone to take pictures of us:

Can you tell Beatriz is about to fall asleep?

When we left the restaurant the park was already closed so we calmly made our way to the exit.

One last picture of Joey and Expedition Everest at the background:

Can you tell Joey is about to fall asleep?

When we were in the bus on our way to Pop Century I was dreaming about taking a shower and having an extra early bed time.

However, we got a phone call from my friend A. telling us that he was AT Pop Century waiting for us.

It just so happened I had forgotten I had told him we were probably gonna go for a swim at our hotel that night and that he should come and join us.

I felt so bad I did not have the courage to dimiss him. He was already there anyways and we hadn't had the chance to hang out with him for the past two days so "Sure! We are almost there. See you in a couple of minutes!"

So we got to our hotel and my friend A. was waiting for us at the lobby with a friend. We will call her P. and she is also Brazilian and she is also at Disney on the international program.

So as soon as we said our hellos and we are hanging out at the lobby a CM approached us and asked us if Beatriz wants to be part of the "Peace and Love parade". I did not know what it was but I guess she had the perfect outfit for it so off she went.

Click here for a 37 sec video of the "parade".

And she gets to pick a little prize at the end:

So it was not warm enough for the swimming pool to tempt us. Ever since the rain two days before the weather was a little more "mild" than what I expect for Florida but everybody there seemed to be happy with the break from the heat and the humidity.

Now here is the deal: I live in Canada. MY WHOLE YEAR IS A BREAK FROM THE HEAT so I was not happy with that! I was more like: BRING THE HUMIDITY BACK ALREADY!

Anyways, so while Joey decided to bring Bea to get even more hyper at the Arcade (the girl was trying to drag us in there ever since we first set our feet at Pop Century), I decided to seat with my friend A. and his friend P. by the bar in the pool area.

They had not had super yet and while they ate their picks from Everything Pop we chatted extensively about all things Disney.

They were so excited to share their CM stories with me and I was was so excited to hear them. I asked all sort of questions about their routines, their schedules, their training, their perks, who does the laundry of their uniforms, the good, the bad, the ugly... EVERYTHING. At the end they were like "oh that is too bad we cannot bring you backstage with us... you would love it".

And I was like STOP TEASING ME!!!!

After a while Joey came back from the arcade and we tried to hang out by the pool a little longer but it was clear we had pushed Beatriz to the limit and the poor girl was a total mess.

So my friend A. and his friend P. left and we went back to our room for showers and bed time.

It was a long day!


.......................................End of Day 5.....................................​

 

[brookelizabeth]

Your day at AK was not boring! It was fun! But I know that wall all too well. We have been there more than once with Henry.

Despite you just wanting a shower and a bedtime, hanging with your CM friends sounds like a pretty fantastic way to end the night!

 

[ronnmel]

It is so hard to just go back to the resort and rest when at Disney. I hope you guys didn't pay too much for pushing Beatriz so hard. At least I have a feeling that her worse/tired behavior is better than some of my students' regular behavior...

 

[Queila]

Your day at AK was not boring! It was fun! But I know that wall all too well. We have been there more than once with Henry.

Despite you just wanting a shower and a bedtime, hanging with your CM friends sounds like a pretty fantastic way to end the night!

Hi Brooke!
I am so used to having a plan and going from one attraction to the other that when we spend time just "walking around" I feel like it was time wasted. Obviously, it wasn't.
I am so glad we toughed it up and got to spend time with my friend as well. It ended up being a highlight of the trip.

 

[Queila]

It is so hard to just go back to the resort and rest when at Disney. I hope you guys didn't pay too much for pushing Beatriz so hard. At least I have a feeling that her worse/tired behavior is better than some of my students' regular behavior...

Tell me about it. I get such a high in the parks that I just don't ever want to live. But we are slowly learning the benefits of taking a break.
Beatriz was fine after a good night of sleep. She is a good girl and never throw tantrums but she completely stops listening when she is in such a state. It is enough to drive ME crazy. God bless all the teachers out there.

 

[natebenma]

I can totally see how Beatriz hit the wall at AK. It is such a big park, with so much walking and it always seems hot and crowded. I think you had a really great day there.

We have had both breakfast and lunch at Tusker House. Both meals were ok. I much prefer Boma and it is worth it for us to leave the park to eat there, so I don't see us returning to eat at TH any time soon.

You had a nice ending to the day with the groovy parade at Pop and a great visit with your friends.

 

[PopArtGal]

I miss going in May. I loved it. Unfortunetly, going in full season comes with me job hehe

We have never tried Park n' fly. We may try it next December. Was it ok?

We also fly with Air Canada since it seems to be the only company that doesn't have lay-overs. We tried it once and hated it (lay-overs).

Don't you find that the first day is so weird? We have to get up early to go to Trudeau airport and then we get there (after the 3 hours flight) and are tired, but in a way so happy we can't rest?

 

[PopArtGal]

We haven'T done Cosmic Rays in a while as we didn't really care for the food there. But this trip, I want to try it again.

 

[PopArtGal]

I love the Caroussel of progress... yep, I'm a nerd lol

 

[PopArtGal]

I have to say that I do love the Laugh floor too hehe

 

[PopArtGal]

Wonderfully packed first day!

 

[PopArtGal]

Lovely Donald drawings!

 

[PopArtGal]

I love the Muppetts and I also remember the muppet babies.

 

[Queila]

I can totally see how Beatriz hit the wall at AK. It is such a big park, with so much walking and it always seems hot and crowded. I think you had a really great day there.

We have had both breakfast and lunch at Tusker House. Both meals were ok. I much prefer Boma and it is worth it for us to leave the park to eat there, so I don't see us returning to eat at TH any time soon.

You had a nice ending to the day with the groovy parade at Pop and a great visit with your friends.

Hey Dee,
We love Boma too. The only reason why I would favor a breakfast at Tusker House is the convenience of being in the park already. I have heard they have awesome fruit juices at Boma...

 

[Queila]

PopArt girl!!! Loving all the comments.

Q

 

[Queila]

Joey and I just came back from our 10th anniversary Las Vegas trip. It was WONDERFUL to spend five days of uninterrupted time with my husband.

We needed that.

At first we were supposed to stay in Vegas only but after we found a wonderful deal on a rental car we decided to throw caution out the window and be spontaneous so we ended up.... are you ready... right here:

I know I should feel guilty for "cheating" on Beatriz but I don't. We had a great time and I will be back with some pictures as soon as I can.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Q​

 

[ronnmel]

Welcome back and Happy Anniversary! Wow, so lucky that you got to visit Disneyland!

I agree that it is very nice to spend some uninterrupted time with our husband, and I also agree about the not feeling bad about going to Disney without Beatriz. It's not like it would be your only trip ever. She's go to visit Disney a few times already, and I'm sure it's not the last, so an adult-only Disney visit is an awesome thing to experience.

 

[natebenma]

Happy Anniversary!!!

What a great trip. Can't wait to hear more about it and see some pictures.

My husband and I enjoyed several trips to DW as a couple before the boys came along. I can't tell you the number of times we turned to each other during our recent Disney trips and said "Wouldn't this be a lot of fun without the kids!"

I won't tell Beatriz if you don't!!!