Like Mother, Like Daughter - I've Turned Her Into a Disney Freak!

[Camster0307]

Good luck with DD's surgery- hope she recovers quickly!

Funny about slowing down on the end of the trip report- I've been doing the same thing!!! I don't want my vacation to end for the SECOND time!!!! I'm going to do one for our upcoming trip to HHIR, though, so that will help!! (HAHA- I don't know which thing I'm more excited about- the actual vacation, or writing about it on here!!! That's just SICK!!!!!)

Looking forward to more...
Ellen

ps- Do you have plans to visit the family in NJ anytime??

Thanks for the good wishes, Ellen - we could use all that we can get. Simple procedures can get very complicated for her, but she's a strong kid and always doesn better than expected!

I'll be sure to be on the look-out for a new TR from you; will be nice to see the rest of your family. I'm thinking of doing a preTR for my next mother/daughter trip for possible Feb. - that's if I don't have to take out a second mortgage just to afford the airfare!

And, yes, the girls and I will be in NJ for a few days around Aug.16-20; staying at my sister's in Upper Saddle River. I'm taking the girls to a game at Yankee stadium - before it's torn down. So make sure some decent weather sticks around for that time, will ya?

 

[TigerKat]

Cammie - Good thoughts and prayers headed your way, hoping everything goes well with DD's surgery and she has a speedy recovery.

I hate to see your TR and Ellen's end.....

 

[Camster0307]

Cammie - Good thoughts and prayers headed your way, hoping everything goes well with DD's surgery and she has a speedy recovery.

I hate to see your TR and Ellen's end.....

Thanks Kathy!

And, just look at this way, with the trip reports ending, it just means we need to start work on new ones, which means.........more trips!

(It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it! )

 

[babytrees]

Good Luck on DD's surgery....it's got to be a little scary.

So many trip reports are coming to an end and I am so so sad But I am glad you had such a marvelous mother/daughter trip.

 

[pooh52797]

Hope everthing goes well with your DD. My grandpa had to have surgery a year ago and I know how the pressure just eats you alive!!!!!!!

Just Kidding!!!!

Love your TR. Subscribed!!!

 

[Camster0307]

So I last left off with DD and I heading back to the WL after a successful day at DHS. Once again, it was another late night - after midnight. We got back to our room, put on our jammies, turned on the Stacey show, set the TV timer and fell asleep to the "Top 7 Must-Sees at Disney"! Man, I miss that!

The next day we were headed to AK so I set a wake-up call for 7am. Seriously, I don't know why I bother! Every morning of this trip, Stitch and Mickey have woken me and I have hung up the phone and gone right back to sleep. I really thought on this trip that DD and I would finally exerience a rope drop and it just never happened. We are just not early morning risers - not even in Disney. But, we love those PM EMHs! We may like to sleep in a little, but we'll stay up to all hours of the night!

We were up and out of the room by 9am and on a bus by 9:15 - our earliest start of the week! I think it was around 9:35 by the time we got to the front gates and we faced the usual pile-up at the turnstiles. I then remembered a tip I learned right here on the Dis: after security, instead of going through the main turnstiles, cut through the Rainforest Cafe and use their entrance into AK. There was no one - NO ONE - going in this way. You enter the park pass the stroller rental and guest services area. I don't know how much time we saved, but I just hate standing in line and waiting, so I was happy with this shortcut. Got some pix of DD before we went in............

We were then on our way. Now, don't laugh but the only thing we really wanted to do in this park was ride Kali River Rapids. DD loves, loves, loves this ride and I have not been on it with her in 3 years. I must admit, AK is my least favorite park - even more so now that the Tarzan Rocks show is gone. Usually when we're here with my older DD, we do the shows, Dinoland, and alot of character greets. We figured we'd save those to do when we're back in Nov.; so we went straight to the Rapids. The standby wait was only 10 minutes so we jumped on, grabbing FPs for later.

As expected, we got soaked! I thought about bringing our ponchos but I figured getting wet wouldn't be so bad considering how blazing hot it was. Well, I forgot - you don't just "get wet"; you GET SOAKED! And, as usual, WE were the ones who went down the last big drop backwards. I swear - EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I don't think this picture shows how truly wet we were:

No, there will be no pix of me looking like a wet rat! As we exited the ride, DD noticed the standby line was still saying 10 minutes. "Let's go again!" I figured - why not? It's not like I could get any wetter! Second ride in a row; second time going backwards! Yes, I did get wetter! It's reallly not fun walking in saturated shorts - not fun at all! This time, as we exited the ride, I did not look at the stand by line - instead I looked in front of me and saw the Yak & Yeti CS. Mmmm - I think now is a good time to try a Yak Attack to go!

Yeah, it was only about 11:20 in the morning; but I was wetter than I ever want to be again in public and the Yak Attack was going to help me not care so much! DD got a root beer and a pretzel w/cheese and we sat in the sun in an attempt to somewhat dry out. It wasn't really working so we decided to walk around a bit before we went back to KRR to use our FP. We ran into DeVine (not sure if that's how you spell it)......

This is the first time I've ever seen her - and I think she's beautiful! Seriously, just look at her face; if only I could look so good in green make-up!

We then stopped for a photopass photog........

Do you think the photopass photog. purposely take bad pictures w/ your own camera so you have to buy the ones they take? Just putting that question out there.

Anyway, we were back on our way back to Kali for one more soaking -- at least this time we didn't go down backwards. We were now done with AK. We were really wet, it was hot and crowded. I was thinking it would be nice to just head back to the resort and spend a few hours in the pool. But, before we left, I really needed to find these guys first:

I love these performers! Used to love getting some CS food from Tusker House, a drink from the Dawa bar and hanging out here in the shade to watch their show. DD and I are not happy that Tusker House is now a TS restaurant.

It was now 12:30 and we were headed back to the Wilderness Lodge. We got on our suits and headed down to the pool. Unfortunatley, the sky was not looking too good. By 2:00, it started to rain. We stayed in the pool though - we were fine with swimming in the rain. But then it started to pour - really pour. Like pouring so hard it hurts. I thought now would be a good time to grab some lunch at Roaring Forks.....

Unfortunately, that's the same idea everyone else had. It was crowded in there; and freezing! We waited for what seems like forever for our food and went looking for someplace to sit. Of course, there were no indoor seats available and there were people sitting on the floor in the hallway outside of Roaring Forks. I'm not eating on the floor! Outside the tables were open but it was still pouring. DD braved the rain to check out the situation and decided that, with the umbrella open, we could stay relatively dry eating at the table. Don't you know, once we sat out there, others followed suit. And, as luck would have, the rain subsided for a brief while.

DD ordered her usual, the chicken fingers w/fries. I decided to try the turkey/brie on foccaccia bread. This was really good.......

At this point, it was after 3:00. Their was a brief stoppage of the rain so I told DD we could jump into the pool for a little while. She enjoys the pool no matter what the weather. We swam for another hour and then decided to go back to the room for our last night out. We were headed to Epcot. We had dinner ADRs at LeCellier (a traditional last night in Disney restaurant) and it was also PM EMH tonite. DD was determined to get on Test Track finally!

Next installment...........stormy weather; Mickey boppers; and Illuminations!

 

[alan_renfroe]

Hey Cammie! You daughter and family are in our thoughts and prayers. Good luck!

Oh...and happy early birthday!

 

[TigerKat]

Cammie - Your story of getting soaked on Kali River reminded me of our trip back in '04. This was pre-crock days(at least for me), we got soaked and guess who got the mother of all blisters that wouldn't go away for what seemed like a week.

I am most definitely putting the Yak Attack on my list of must do's at AK! I also agree that DeVine is stunning.

Can't wait for the rest!

 

[TigerKat]

Almost forgot, we TOO aren't happy about Tusker House not being CS any longer, it was the only CS that appealed to us. We didn't like Flame tree at all.

 

[UsNew2Disney2008]

Cammie - those pics of Fantasmic are wonderful. Makes it easy for me to say there is NO WAY Nicolas would sit through that! The snake - oh no way!

Cute picture of you guys with Belle. Just one question? Where's the beer?

Love the food & drink pics! Seriously. You've done a great job on the review! Can't wait to catch up more. Then again, if I wasn't behind, I wouldn't be me!!!!

 

[MouseFan Down Under]

I am loving your report Cammie (I just caught up!)

It seems like you guys had a blast!

I am actually taking my mum for a Daughter & Mother trip in 6 weeks time...I am getting so excited. (It's her 60th Birthday present!)

Looking forward to the final installment and to hear all about Le Cellier...

 

[tttessa]

Hiya Cammie -thoughts are with you for the hospital trip.....

just catching up on the trippie - we also got SOAKED on Kali.... but took a change of clothes we put in a locker! I cannot walk round wet...

Trip report is great... looking forward to the rest..

Tessa

 

[karajeboo]

Cammie - this is where Dollar Store ponchos come in handy. Wear it on KRR and then give to someone in line as you exit. When I did this, being the kind DISer that I am , the woman who took it from me thought I was an angel sent from heaven! Just spreading some pixie dust!

Love that you went to AK for ONE attraction! Shows how well you know yourselves and know the parks! And how cool is DD that she's a trend setter, sitting out in the rain to eat lunch!

 

[Camster0307]

I'll get to the responses in my next post; I just had to show you guys something.

Last night, DD and I were looking through our past years' Disney photo albums and I came across the following pic. It was taken of her on our very first trip to WDW in 1998 when she was 2 1/2; at AK in the exact same spot I took a picture of her this year. Man, look at much she's grown!

1998 - 2 1/2 years old......

Ten years later.......

Excuse me now while I mourn the passage of time!

 

[CRdisMom]

that is too cute. I love having pictures where you can gauge growth. You are getting really good at this TR stuff

 

[punkin413]

great update! i don't do kali or splash without a poncho because i don't like having wet underwear! in the 3 times i've been to AK i've never seen devine. i hope to see her either in september or december!!! she looks really cool. my best friend has only been once and they saw her then.....luckies! does your DD not like EE? if she hasn't tried it, try to get her to do it next time. she'd love it, i bet.

i saw in some comments that your DD is having surgery. i didn't read the post with the details (i tend to only read updates on TRs - i wish i had more time to read all the comments!!!) but i wanted to wish you guys good luck and let you know i'll be thinking of you. hope it's nothing too serious.

 

[Camster0307]

Good Luck on DD's surgery....it's got to be a little scary.

So many trip reports are coming to an end and I am so so sad But I am glad you had such a marvelous mother/daughter trip.

Thank you for the good wishes.

I'm sad I'm almost done also. But I'm seriously considering doing a pre-tr for our next mother/daughter trip. I'll post a link here if I start one.

Hope everthing goes well with your DD. My grandpa had to have surgery a year ago and I know how the pressure just eats you alive!!!!!!!

Just Kidding!!!!

Love your TR. Subscribed!!!

Thanks for reading and I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Hey Cammie! You daughter and family are in our thoughts and prayers. Good luck!

Oh...and happy early birthday!

Thanks Alan - it's nice to hear good thoughts and prayers are coming from everywhere! Can never get enough. And thanks for remembering my birthday!

Almost forgot, we TOO aren't happy about Tusker House not being CS any longer, it was the only CS that appealed to us. We didn't like Flame tree at all.

Lunch at Tusker House was a tradition for us! But now after seeing Alan's pix from Yak & Yeti, I'm thinking I may have to give that place a try!

Cammie - those pics of Fantasmic are wonderful. Makes it easy for me to say there is NO WAY Nicolas would sit through that! The snake - oh no way!

Cute picture of you guys with Belle. Just one question? Where's the beer?

Fantasmic can be too intense for younger kids; I would keep him away from that for a few years! Oh - and you know that Belle! She's such a prude sometimes!

I am loving your report Cammie (I just caught up!)

It seems like you guys had a blast!

I am actually taking my mum for a Daughter & Mother trip in 6 weeks time...I am getting so excited. (It's her 60th Birthday present!)

Looking forward to the final installment and to hear all about Le Cellier...

Now that's what I'm talking about: the daughter taking the mom trip! You're such a good daughter! I'm hoping mine does the same as I get older.

Hiya Cammie -thoughts are with you for the hospital trip.....

just catching up on the trippie - we also got SOAKED on Kali.... but took a change of clothes we put in a locker! I cannot walk round wet...

Thanks for the good wishes, Tessa.

I always seem to forget how truly wet we get on that ride; one year I had to buy DD a whole new change of clothes in one of the store because I didn't want to go back to the resort. She was only 8 and the only size underwear I could find was a size 12! Oh well - at least they were dry!

Cammie - this is where Dollar Store ponchos come in handy. Wear it on KRR and then give to someone in line as you exit. When I did this, being the kind DISer that I am , the woman who took it from me thought I was an angel sent from heaven! Just spreading some pixie dust!

You know one year, we did wear ponchos; but I didn't SIT on the poncho and the water came up over and down the back of my seat - so I was still sitting in it!

that is too cute. I love having pictures where you can gauge growth. You are getting really good at this TR stuff

Thanks, Laura. I'm having fun doing it!

great update! i don't do kali or splash without a poncho because i don't like having wet underwear! in the 3 times i've been to AK i've never seen devine. i hope to see her either in september or december!!! she looks really cool. my best friend has only been once and they saw her then.....luckies! does your DD not like EE? if she hasn't tried it, try to get her to do it next time. she'd love it, i bet.

i saw in some comments that your DD is having surgery. i didn't read the post with the details (i tend to only read updates on TRs - i wish i had more time to read all the comments!!!) but i wanted to wish you guys good luck and let you know i'll be thinking of you. hope it's nothing too serious.

I had hopes of convincing her to ride EE but we were just so wet, we wanted to get out of there. She says she doesn't want to try it though; I think she'd like it too - she loves BTMRR. As long as EE doesn't go upside down or have REALLY steep drops, she'd be fine! (it doesn't, right?)

As for DD's surgery, it's for my older DD who is special-needs. Unfortunately, these things are never easy for her (or me, for that matter!). Thanks for your good thoughts.

 

[mamaboogie]

Hi Cammie!

Just wanted to say I've really enjoyed reading your TR. Your DD looks like such a lovely young lady and both seem to have had an amazing time!

We are going to WDW in August and seeing trip reports like yours makes us very excited!! My girls are 12 and 14, we last went in 2006 (with DH and DHs family!) and I'm looking forward to going back just the four of us.

I'm inspired to write a TR when we get back - thanks especially for the lovely food pics! I'm looking forward to Le Cellier as we have an ADR there - I'm interested to see the menu as I believe there've been some changes.

Best wishes to you and both your girls!

Shari xx

 

[4forWDW]

Thanks for the update
Wishing for the best for your DD's surgery.
I know what you mean with getting soaked!
We finally rode it this past April. We waited and rode it the last ride of the day so we thought we would go back to the room wet. Well, my DD & I went back soaked! My DH & DS were slightly wet - not like us. When we started to get wet it felt like Mickey was holding a 55 gallon trash can full of water, upside down over my head!
Waiting for more.......

 

[TigerKat]

Great minds......we've got Yak & Yeti booked for lunch!