Lucky #13 with pics ~ 9/25 Finished!!!

[nts4wdw]

Let us all have a moment of silence to mourn the lost salsa.

But how cool is it that you got a free upgrade? Gotta love the jacuzzi tub!

You know I did. In fact, as you will see in later chapters, maybe too much......

That's great that you got your son to ride Star Tours! Does that mean that we'll get to hear about you riding Soarin'?

You mentioned that you were thinking of cancelling your birthday trip--is that the October trip? I hope you don't have to cancel it...

Denise

Well, I guess yo'll just have to wait and see about Soarin'.... As for the birthday trip, it was in December and we have definitely cancelled it in favor of a longer trip for Jake's birthday!! I think I can wait a month if I can stay longer.

Lovin the TR! AND the Xanadu references! Oohhh, totally going to have those songs in my head today.

Can't wait for more!

THANKS! I guess I'm gonna end up having to watch that movie!

How exciting to get an upgrade Now you are going to be spoiled like me. Everytime we go now it seems we find ways to get a bigger room. (Our monthly budget has a constant Disney Fund.) We started out at Knights Inn and now we are going for a 2bed at OKW. Thank goodness for DVC rentals

I've already told Chuck it's gonna be awfully hard to go back to the Pop Century after staying in the one bedroom!! But if it's the POP or stay home, I am so there.

Sounds like you had a good beginning...Thanks for respecting the companion restrooms

So, did you like Soarin'? You had to because it's the best!

yes....I like it....I guess...but that's a story for another day.

A one-bedroom sounds awesome! Lucky ducks!

Thanks! It was wonderful!!


It is totally my fault that the next chapter isn't up! Chuck has worked on his and I've got to add. Hoping to working on it today.

 

[nts4wdw]

I’m aghast! You know you think you know somebody after being married to them for 16 years and then you find out something as earth shattering as they have never seen Xanadu. Oh well, Netflix to the rescue!! Until the video gets here you will have to do some heavy 80’s immersion therapy by viewing Xanadu Vids on YourTube and listening to my extensive collection of ELO LP’s (the best band ever!!!! Jeff Lynn, you are the greatest (next to Jamie of course)). Also, I think a viewing of Breakfast Club, 16 Candles and Weird Science are in order (all dressed up with nowhere to go….)

Chuck

Well, my love, just because we've been married 16 long years doesn't mean you know everything about me. A girl has to have her secrets.

 

[buffy0214]

I've already told Chuck it's gonna be awfully hard to go back to the Pop Century after staying in the one bedroom!! But if it's the POP or stay home, I am so there.

I hear ya Who needs a full kitchen anyway? Then they would just expect you to cook. Chuck, you know it's true

 

[luvfigment]

Observation #2 made me laugh...

Can't wait to read the next installment.

 

[nts4wdw]

Day Two Part One
Almost a Dream.
Animal Kingdom, here we come!!.
We didn’t get there quite as soon as I’d hoped because the bus stopped by Blizzard Beach, but we weren’t too far back in the line. Does my family know how to wait or what?

Yep, that’s them. Everyone else is standing up and sweating. My family is playing Blackjack.

And please note: today we are sporting out homemade tye dye Mickey head shirts! (Thanks MNRMommy for great directions.)


Lynn and the kids headed to the Oasis while I braved the crowds to go get fast passes for the Safari. Probably one of Disney’s cruelest jokes is the secondary queue. You know, how the park, whether it be MGM, AK, MK or EPCOT, opens and you enter the park only to find the infamous white rope 100 yards in. As I stood in the midst of a very large and impatient crowd at the base of the Tree Of Life, I couldn’t help but wish I had gone with Lynn and the kids, especially when a little boy started upchucking in front of me (I don’t know if it was the heat, the excitement or what, but, man that little kid sure did pack away some food). Finally the rope dropped and the mad rush was on. I was able to get our FP and took a few pics along the way.

While Chuck was dodging vomit, the children and I took time to do something I’ve always wanted to do, walk slowly through the Oasis. We stopped at every CM that they have stationed there to slow you down.
We saw the skulls and spiders. We saw them putting out the parrots for the day. They were beautiful!

By the time we caught up with the crowd, the show hadn’t started so we ducked under a cool overhang to wait it out.

We had agreed to meet Chuck on a path that we really like that goes near the Tree of Life. Jake really wanted to get another outfit for Sorcerer Mickey. (he doesn’t want to wear that robe all the time!) so we ducked into a shop to have a look. A sweet CM there told us how the every store at AK has a theme. That store was working and migrating animals. See, hummingbirds. They migrate. More useless trivia just for you.

I couldn’t find the trail so we took another and hoped we’d be found. He found us.
I located my family and we proceeded on to the Pangani trail (I have to admit, I think the trails are my favorite part of AK). Emily couldn’t resist trying the drums.

I never noticed this boat before.

While we were on the Pangani trail, we saw the Dream Team waiting, sadly though it wasn’t for us. After entertaining the thought of running through the trail and then re-entering it again so that we could come in contact with the team again, we decided to just to take our time with the thought that if it was meant for us to win a dream then it will happen- if you have to force it, will it mean as much?
I was seriously wanting to go back through!! One of the Dream ladies did say she loved our tie dye Mickey shirts (talk is cheap, give me a dream fast pass and prove it!)
Some pictures from the trail

My favorites are the gorillas. As we neared the window to view them, they all ran away (they recognized my overpowering physical prowess and ran away in terror afraid that I was there to claim my rightful title as the monkey king)! Sad, but awesome seeing them run by! The ground thundered! Further down the trail, we found them again.

Of course, he let us know just what he thought of us.

Next, we hit the safari.

A great shot of the lioness! Good job, Chuck!

We are four wheeling now, baby!

On to Pizzafari before the lunch crowd hit.

No matter what you think about Disney pizza, I love the theming and attention to detail at Pizzafari. Even the light fixtures are critters!

After lunch we decided to check out the Nemo show.

I was wondering how it would compare to the Lion King show (which I love), Let me tell you, if you haven’t seen the show yet, make it a point on your next trip to catch it. I was wondering how they were going to be able to tie in the Nemo story into a musical and would it appear like a little kids show (cheesey). It was great!! The effects were good, but what I really enjoyed was watching the facial expressions of the puppeteers as they preformed. IMHO I believe that the Nemo show rivals that of the Lion King. It was worth the million year wait to see it.

I totally agree! I teared up so many times!! I thought the puppeteers would be distracting but they added so much more to the show. Dory was adorable!
And I can’t believe you didn’t tell them about what happened while we were in line!


While we were waiting in the first line for Nemo, (yes, there are two) the Dream lady we saw earlier at the Pangani Trail rolled up on her ECV. She said she was glad to see us again and wanted to ask about our shirts. We had a good talk, traded pins and she gave us all Magical gathering buttons to wear! She was very sweet and I felt very special that she had looked for us.

By this time, it was getting pretty hot so we decided to take our daily break. Back to our beautiful suite for AC and rest!!

Coming soon: Part Two, The Rocket’s Red Glare.

 

[Goofyluver]

We loved Nemo! It was my favorite show of our entire trip! Just absolutely fabulous...and I cried too! And...whoohoo on the dream sighting!

 

[tinawv]

Congratulations on the upgrade. I see the beginnings of a great trip report.

 

[IluvXU]

Glad to hear a Positive review! My dd loves Nemo and I have been looking forward to seeing it... even if that means a long wait! Thanks for sharing- no Everest riders in your group?

 

[eternaldisneyfan]

Another great installment. The Safari is one of my favorite things...I wish I could see the Nemo show-it wasn't open on our trip...

I'll keep watch for the next chapter.

--Christamae

 

[eternaldisneyfan]

Another great installment. The Safari is one of my favorite things...I wish I could see the Nemo show-it wasn't open on our trip...

I'll keep watch for the next chapter.

--Christamae

 

[DisneyJenn18]

your pics are great! Looking forward to reading the rest!

P.S. Love the pic of the lion-ess... the cats are my fav!

 

[Twingle]

Great update! Lovin' that you and Chuck (or you and Lynn, whoever reads this firsties) are writing the TR together. DH doesn't know what a TR is, let alone that I am writing one. That way, I can say whatever I want, ha ha! (insert evil grin <here>)

Your shirts turned out great - isn't MNRMommy awesome?

Looking forward to more!

 

[LITTLEKID58]

Tfs

 

[lgcountry]

What great animal pics. I'm in awe of how nicely they posed for you. (Even the gorilla)

 

[buffy0214]

Awesome pictures of AK! I am looking forward to the new Nemo show.

I love the tie dye shirts, too. I made some for my family but it was soooo messy. I was afraid that I'd messed them up but they still turned out cute. I guess tie dye is forgiving of mistakes.

 

[nts4wdw]

We loved Nemo! It was my favorite show of our entire trip! Just absolutely fabulous...and I cried too! And...whoohoo on the dream sighting!

I knew I wasn't the only one who cried! And this won't be our only dream sighting.........

Congratulations on the upgrade. I see the beginnings of a great trip report.

Thanks! More is coming soon!

Glad to hear a Positive review! My dd loves Nemo and I have been looking forward to seeing it... even if that means a long wait! Thanks for sharing- no Everest riders in your group?

She is going to love it! I can't remember why we didn't ride Everest that day, but we certainly will before it's over.

your pics are great! Looking forward to reading the rest!

P.S. Love the pic of the lion-ess... the cats are my fav!

I love that shot! It's hard to get good pics on the safari, but Chuck does a great job.

 

[nts4wdw]

Great update! Lovin' that you and Chuck (or you and Lynn, whoever reads this firsties) are writing the TR together. DH doesn't know what a TR is, let alone that I am writing one. That way, I can say whatever I want, ha ha! (insert evil grin <here>)

Your shirts turned out great - isn't MNRMommy awesome?

Looking forward to more!

It is really fun writing together. His sense of humor is much better than mine.
If you see MNRMommy anywhere, tell her I mentioned her, OK? She deserves her PROPS. (No I would never say that in real life.)

What great animal pics. I'm in awe of how nicely they posed for you. (Even the gorilla)

We were very tempted to name this chapter, "No dream for us, but we did get mooned by a gorilla!"

I was afraid that I'd messed them up but they still turned out cute. I guess tie dye is forgiving of mistakes.

Yep, that's the reason I tried it!


Off to post Part two!

 

[nts4wdw]

Day Two Part Two
The Rocket’s Red Glare

Day 2 resumed with us going leaving out from the resort and going to view the space shuttle launch. We had given serious consideration to driving to Titusville to view the launch but we were hesitant since we are unfamiliar with that area (afterwards when we drove to KSC, we were glad that we didn’t. I can only imagine what the traffic must have been like on those small 2 lane highways). Instead we headed to the next best place to view the liftoff – The Grand Floridian.

And being who we are, we decided to make it interesting. First we took the bus over to EPCOT.

(I’m not sure what’s up with the bandana.)

Here comes our next ride.

After hopping over to the resort monorail, we arrived. I love the Grand Floridian. It is so my dream to stay there. (The impossible dream.) Just walking in from the monorail, I feel seriously under dressed.

We grabbed a spot on the patio area near the beach and waited, while we tried to figure out which way East was.

As you can see, the children are not at all intimidated by our posh surroundings.

While the children ran around like nuts and Chuck played with camera settings, I eased over to get a glimpse of the bride that this carriage was waiting for.

As she came out, (After they took 50 pictures of her), the crowd cheered as she drove away. So if you left the Grand Floridian to get married at the Wedding chapel on June 8 at about 5:45 pm, I saw you. You were beautiful!!
I feel at this point I have to my 2cents – A note to all of you soon to be grooms out there that may be considering getting hitched at Disney. Don’t do it!!! First of all you are making the rest of us look bad!! Also, you have to think long term – you are getting married at Disney, and are riding off in a glass carriage – how will you ever be able to top that? (The problem with young love is you have to learn to pace yourself , start low and then build up over the years – but when you start at the top, you have nowhere else to go but down) (Oh Chuck, does this mean I'm gonna have to wait until we are ninety to get my proposal and vow renewal at Disney?!?! )

As the time drew nearer, more people joined us on the patio and then at the lift off time we heard several people on the beach shout ‘there it goes!”. We ran to the beach and were able to see the shuttle lifting off.

As spectacular as viewing a space launch is, the feeling that is among the crowd is what interested me. I would equate it to the feeling one gets when hearing ‘We Go On’ during Illuminations (I don’t know about you, but after watching ROE and hearing that song I always have the irresistible urge to go out and do something spectacular with my life like find a cure for cancer or learn how to tie my tie). As the shuttle continued to lift off, it was quiet on the beach for 30 –40 seconds and then the crowd began to clap and cheer. I have never been sooo tempted to go up to complete strangers and give them high fives and start chanting USA, USA. After seeing so many launches on television, I have taken the whole concept of space travel for granted. However, after seeing it through my own eyes, not on a television screen and from over 50 miles away, I couldn’t help but be impressed.
I felt quite the same. Go, America!!

We left GF and grabbed a monorail to the TTC and then onto to EPCOT.

Our dear daughter ran ahead and asked if we could ride up front. We lucked out and no one had asked. Here it comes.

The sun was starting to go down and it was a beautiful ride.

Our driver was awesome. When he saw Emily’s bandana, he asked if she was a pirate. Suddenly shy, she shook her head. He told us pirate jokes all the way to EPCOT.

What is a pirate’s favorite restaurant?
Arrrrrrrby’s

What’s a pirate’s favorite kind of movie?
One rated RRRRRR.

Well, you get the picture. He presented us with our official monorail copilot’s licenses and we thanked him.

After a slow moving trip through time on Spaceship Earth, the children tried out one of the new games in the post show.

I’m so glad something is in there now. It was so sad to see it empty, although it was a good place to wait out a rainstorm. Still is, I guess.
We didn’t have real plans and since we got there after 8:00, we had given up any hope for getting a prime Illuminations viewing spot. We decided to just walk around the World Showcase and then we came to Japan and noticed that there wasn’t anybody on the deck of the Matsa No Ma Lounge. (I think that’s what it was called.) Since the restaurant was currently closed and we didn’t have to worry about anyone running us off, we decided to give it a chance. While the view was probably not as good as some of our previous viewing spots, given the fact that we walked up to it just 5 minutes before Illuminations started as opposed to camping out for an hour only to have a bunch of ‘Johnny Come Lately’s” trying to edge their way in front of us, I am not going to complain.
He’s a little bitter about people pushing their way in. But I think his shots were great and sitting next to a speaker, I could sing as loud as I wanted and no one would care.

As we walked slowly around the lagoon, we enjoyed the lights.

Goodnight from EPCOT!

Coming soon: Day Three, A Dream for us!!

 

[luvfigment]

I am loving the dual trippie! AK looked like fun and those were some great pictures from the safari!! The shuttle launch also sounds pretty cool and I love those patriotic moments...for me personally I find those moments even stronger since serving in the military myself not to mention DFi's is still in the Air Force.

I totally agree with Chuck and the "Johnny come lately's"!!! I know we are in Disney but it still makes me mad when people try to push their way through when I fireworks start or have about 5 mins before hand. I didn't just stand here for 1 hr to save you a spot!! Ok I am done with my rant...moving on.

The pictures from Illuminations are BEAUTIFUL!!!! Great job...I am hoping my new camera will be able to capture great shots like that!

 

[Goofyluver]

We got to ride up front up too! And it was awesome! And I thought it was hilarious Chuck when you talked about working your way up as a husband! Glad you're keepin' it real!!! LOL!