March, 2009 TR - I'm a White Rabbit Protégé

[goofieslonglostsis]

Yeah, that's how our entire trip was - - just insane.

Are you sure you aren't a sister of mine? Insane and trip in one sentence, yep that's my motto!.

 

[Crystal_27]

Sorry for the delay in getting this up - - I've been dealing with some DVC stuff for the past few days.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the next installment.

Since I don’t really get into the Disney frame of mind until I see the Castle, we had planned on spending our first evening at Magic Kingdom. First, though, we had an ADR at Kona where I was determined to best the lapu lapu. For those of you who don’t know, the lapu lapu is an adult beverage served in a whole pineapple, whose chief ingredient is Bacardi 151 (along with about 7 other types of liquor). Anyway, here I am, pre-first sip, all giddy with anticipation…

It’s really fortunate that DH didn’t still have the camera post-first sip - - I was a delicate shade of green. MAN, that thing is strong!! Needless to say, I lost the lapu lapu challenge. Actually, I was such a weakling that DH had to help me finish it *and* I was ridiculously tipsy all the way through dinner and well into our journey to Magic Kingdom. And, speaking of Magic Kingdom, we were about to begin our second challenge of the night: Space Mountain.

DD finally hit the 44” mark about a month before our trip, and, being the daredevil that she is, has been beside herself with excitement about riding Space Mountain and Expedition Everest. DH and I hadn’t been on Space Mountain for 10 years, so we really had forgotten anything specific about it other than it was a coaster amidst the stars.

Anyway, upon entering the Magic Kingdom turn-styles, we didn’t even stop for pictures - - we made a beeline straight to Space Mountain. We got 3 FastPasses and then proceeded to get into the stand-by line, which was a manageable 30 minutes (we wouldn’t normally wait in stand-by, but I needed some extra time to sober up). I actually ended up having about an hour to sober up because Space Mountain broke down about 10 minutes into our wait, but, when we finally made it to our rocket ship, the wait was well worth it. DD must love getting her brains scrambled because she loved every minute of our ride, and I think we ended up riding Space Mountain about 15 more times during the remainder of our trip. So, I think we can say that DD easily won the Space Mountain challenge. Here is a picture of DH and DD post-Space Mountain challenge.

What’s next, you ask? This challenge was all DH. I’m very proud to say that DH is a scrapbooking genius (yes, you read that correctly), and one of our many scrapbooking projects focuses on gathering Disney character autographs into individual scrapbooked pages. We are actually up to three books now, and each book has 24 autograph pages, so we’ve already amassed quite a collection. You can see some of DH’s early conquests in my previous 2 reports, but for this trip, our primary focus was getting the autographs for the fairies. Now, I had read horror stories upon horror stories about the waits and craziness of Pixie Hollow, and DH and I both knew that we were going to have to go at least twice in order to obtain the 5 fairies’ autographs (since only 2 fairies plus Tinkerbell are available at any one time). So, after Space Mountain, we walked to Toon Town and got in line for the fairies – the stand-by time was 45 minutes. I actually thought that DD was going to be so annoyed at having to wait in line after just waiting for an hour at Space Mountain, but she actually did great. Anyway, Pixie Hollow was very cute and we were able to score autographs from Rosetta, Silvermist, and Tinkerbell. Three down, two to go (I guess you guys will have to wait until later to see how DH fared on his challenge).

Anyway, after all of our waiting around, we headed to another of DD’s favorite places: Frontierland.

We rode Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Splash Mountain back-to-back-to-back-to-back, actually straight through Wishes.

After Wishes, as the crowds filed out, we hit Main Street Bakery for a ginormous ice cream sandwich. *Definitely* a great way to end our first Disney day.

Up next: Epcot in Bloom. (And, although my Trip Report has been rather lacking in pictures, I will make up for that very, very soon.) Thanks for reading.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Nice to see finally a pic of you, besides TB and DH. You look a lot like TB! And you had me wondering a sec what was that familiarity in your face, but than it hit me. A hint of Renee Zellweger when she did Bridget Jones.

Sounds like TB is becoming a roller coaster junkie big time. If we do have the time to meet up at MK, we'll have to get her my FP's for those rides. Don't do them anyway, and somehow I'm getting the impression that she wouldn't mind too much if she had to do that job for me.

Any pics this time on DH's scrapbook work, or will we have to settle for the words only? Your last TR sure set the bar on that one, so very curious!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Now I can start teasing next week's installment - LOL.



LOLOLOL - I think my problem is just that I'm soooo long winded (can you tell I work for a bunch of lawyers?? This is why people think they get paid by the word). Have a good night!

I totally understand. I am a paralegal and have been in the business since I was 17. I've been doing it for almost 26 years now.

 

[Crystal_27]

Nice to see finally a pic of you, besides TB and DH. You look a lot like TB! And you had me wondering a sec what was that familiarity in your face, but than it hit me. A hint of Renee Zellweger when she did Bridget Jones.

Sounds like TB is becoming a roller coaster junkie big time. If we do have the time to meet up at MK, we'll have to get her my FP's for those rides. Don't do them anyway, and somehow I'm getting the impression that she wouldn't mind too much if she had to do that job for me.

Any pics this time on DH's scrapbook work, or will we have to settle for the words only? Your last TR sure set the bar on that one, so very curious!

Awwww, you are so sweet - - hopefully by our cruise you'll see me about 10 pounds lighter - - that's the goal anyway. And, absolutely The Big will take any coaster FPs off your hands - you'd be her hero for sure (although I hear that Space Mountain will be down for our September trip so no more brain scrambling for at least another year). I will definitely post some of DH's scrapbook pages. Any requests??

I totally understand. I am a paralegal and have been in the business since I was 17. I've been doing it for almost 26 years now.

Yeah, I've been doing it for almost 11 years, since I was 19. I do love it (especially because I only work part time) but I am becoming more and more like *them* as time goes on. Oh well, there are worst things, I guess (although some would disagree - LOL).

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Yeah, I've been doing it for almost 11 years, since I was 19. I do love it (especially because I only work part time) but I am becoming more and more like *them* as time goes on. Oh well, there are worst things, I guess (although some would disagree - LOL).

As long as you recognize it within yourself, you could be off worse.

Awwww, you are so sweet - - hopefully by our cruise you'll see me about 10 pounds lighter - - that's the goal anyway. And, absolutely The Big will take any coaster FPs off your hands - you'd be her hero for sure (although I hear that Space Mountain will be down for our September trip so no more brain scrambling for at least another year). I will definitely post some of DH's scrapbook pages. Any requests??

Not sweet, just saying things as I see it. If you ask me, you don't need to loose the 10 pounds. I can understand the feeling, though. Don't really want to loose the 10 pounds myself, but it would be a heck of a lot nicer to be in a firmer shape. Especially with a cruise, sunshine, beach, swimming etc.

We'll have to work something out to surprise TB with those fastpasses. No way I'll be doing the rollercoasters so it's like free fp's anyway. Read the same thing about SM being down, though.

Any request? Definately anything to do with the Fairies! I'm still bummed out about missing them last december. That and anything that radiates sunshine, warmth, you know; the good stuff. Need me a fix. Besides that, I'll let you surprise us. Knowing DH's work, it'll all be good.

Anywho, I'm off to do some real work instead of hanging around on here yet again.

 

[Crystal_27]

If I had to pick a second favorite park, it would have to be Epcot. It houses one of my favorite rides (Soarin') and my favorite restuarant: LeCellier. Since this trip was a fairly last minute trip (last minute as in planned only 4 months in advance instead of the usual 12 months - LOL) we were not able to score an ADR for LeCellier for dinner and instead had to settle for a late lunch. So, we pretty much planned our day around our ADR, and planned on hitting the Future World stuff at rope drop, and then meandering around the World Showcase until our ADR.

We were up and out of our hotel without any drama, and made it to Epcot with about 20 minutes to spare before rope drop. After the rope was dropped, DD and I secured FastPasses for Soarin, while DH used our VIP DVC FastPasses to get FastPasses for Test Track. We then met at Test Track and hit Test Track twice stand-by. Since Test Track is one of DH's favorite rides, he was stoked we were able to keep walking on!!

Since DD had hit the magical 44" mark, we decided to try a ride that we had never before been on - - Mission: Space and, of course, opted for Mission Orange - - the spinning side. I loved, loved, loved Mission: Space, but for some reason these type of simulator rides mess with DH big time (which I find bizarre because he could ride Rockin Rollarcoaster 50 times in a row without any pause). Anyway, after DH's head stopped spinning, we used our Test Track FastPasses and Soarin FastPasses and headed toward the World Showcase.

Now, we missed the official start of the Flower & Garden Festival by a couple of days, but I'll show you below some of the mind-numbing displays that we saw. I can only imagine how incredible these displays will become during the actual Festival.

Just beautiful, right? I think that we all walked around chin-to-chest because everything was so incredible. Eventually, though, we made it to Canada, enjoyed a fabulous lunch at LeCellier, and headed back to the Pop for swimming and napping.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Love your update! I can't wait to see all of the flowers at Epcot! Your DD is so cute!

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

As said in your previous TR: love the details in the pic, very clear.

Indeed great stuff they did with the flowers. And TB's dress is very cutesy!

 

[Crystal_27]

Love your update! I can't wait to see all of the flowers at Epcot! Your DD is so cute!

Thank you so much!!

As said in your previous TR: love the details in the pic, very clear.

Indeed great stuff they did with the flowers. And TB's dress is very cutesy!

LOL - TB actually wanted to wear that very dress this morning!! It's actually getting a bit short on her because of her recent growth spurt, but at least she can still wear it around the house.

By the way, I know I promised you some Fairy pictures, but I'm waiting for our Photopass CD to come back to really show you the good stuff. I hate to say it, but I really didn't take a lot of pictures this trip which I guess means that I enjoyed our trip less through the viewfinder and more through my own eyes.

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

It sounds like maybe you're starting to feel more at home and less need to constantly make pictures to be sure you keep the momento? At least that was the effect I noticed myself in December (when I was out, that is ).

If TB wants to keep wearing the dress, why not buy her a short legging or something and let her wear it with that beneath? Don't know about the US, but over here it even is a big fashion thing to do!

 

[Crystal_27]

Okay, so the morning of March 10th was just as beautiful as every other morning of our trip, and today our daughter (who we call "The Big") was beside herself with excitement because today was the day that she was finally going to get to ride Expedition Everest (recall that we were supposed to ride it a couple days before but instead got caught up in DVC madness - LOL).

Anyway, I was super worried about making it to the Animal Kingdom rope drop on time, so we, in our constant state of lateness this trip, didn't even eat breakfast. We barely had time to shower, slather on sunscreen, and run for the busses.

We made it to rope drop on time, and actually were able to catch a bit of the show (although we were too far back to see anything but the Tree).

Anyway, after the internal rope drop, we headed (with the masses) to our first encounter with the Yeti. Here's our first look at Expedition Everest:

DH and I split up so he could get our FastPasses and so I could park the stroller and, of course, me being me, in trying to find stroller parking, I instead managed to somehow get into the stand-by line with the stroller still in hand. Thankfully, a kindly CM took pity on me and took my stroller off my hands, but I am always the first to get exasperated at people who are clueless with their strollers yet I was one of *those* people that morning.

By this point, DH was waiting for me in the stand-by line, but we still breezed through the line and got right on. I have to say that I absolutely was thrilled with Expedition Everest but, after our first ride, The Big was a bit lukewarm. So, before she had the chance to rule on it either way, we did what any good Disney parents would do: we told her that we would buy her something if she rode it again - LOL. So, we breezed back through the stand-by line and rode it again. This time, The Big opted to ride with me and she loved it. And, for her "bribe" she ended up getting a Yeti of her very own, who ended up being her sidekick for the rest of the trip (must be an only child thing).

So, after we got our fill of Expedition Everest, given that we had missed breakfast and our tummies were rumbling, we headed to Pizzafari and ate, grabbed FastPasses for the Safari, browsed a little bit, took some pictures of some of the sights, including a few close-ups of the Tree. I find it just amazing that Disney Imagineers went into such incredible detail on the Tree, all for our benefit.

During our walk-about, we actually saw someone who I never expected to be lucky enough to ever see at Disney: DeVine!!!

Well, I think I'm about to hit the picture maximum for this installment, so I'll leave you guys now. Stay tuned for more Animal Kingdom fun, including Safari pictures, a story about how we got scolded by a CM, and a story about my once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Thanks for reading!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Anxiously awaiting the next installment!

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

Great picks of DeVine!

 

[Crystal_27]

Anxiously awaiting the next installment!

Will be up soon, I promise!

Great picks of DeVine!

I still am in shock that I even saw her. I actually didn't even think that she was out anymore, so I was thrilled and doing the happy dance for the rest of the day. I guess this is what happens when I concentrate less on riding, riding, riding, and more on stopping to smell the roses.

 

[NutzaboutDisney]

Hey Crystal,

It's been great catching up with your TR's. I drooled and drooled with the Food Report from last fall, and cannot wait to hear more about your most recent trip. OH how I wish I lived closer to The Mouse!!!

Your pictures are AMAZING and your dd is adorable! What wonderful memories for her for years to come!!! And your dh and his scrapbooking --- all I can say is !!!

Looking forward to the next installment!

 

[Crystal_27]

Hey Crystal,

It's been great catching up with your TR's. I drooled and drooled with the Food Report from last fall, and cannot wait to hear more about your most recent trip. OH how I wish I lived closer to The Mouse!!!

Your pictures are AMAZING and your dd is adorable! What wonderful memories for her for years to come!!! And your dh and his scrapbooking --- all I can say is !!!

Looking forward to the next installment!

Welcome to the party, Hon, and thank you so much for your compliments. And, on the scrapbooking note, I realize I promised pictures of the Fairies' scrapbook pages, but I have *such* an incredible story that goes along with those, that I just have to save the pictures to go with the story. I promise, though, I will show pictures of the Fairies' autographs in just a few more installments!

Either way, my next installment will be up tonight!

 

[Crystal_27]

Since you all already know how scrapbooking crazy I (we) are, we really prided ourselves this year because we only did pages for a select few characters: the Fairies and Rafiki. Since we’ve amassed over 75 autographs in 3 trips, it’s really important for me to make sure that we can actually get autographs from the characters whose pages we create. They have to be sure things, in other words. So, in September, one of the characters who we found not only at Animal Kingdom but at Magic Kingdom as well was Rafiki, and we felt sure that we could get his autograph.

Given that Rafiki is usually in his “Planet Watch,” we boarded the train in search of him. We found him (together with Jiminy Cricket (been there) and Pocahontas (done that) and got his autograph without much drama. However, we managed to create our own drama (and get scolded by a CM in the process) when we placed The Big on top of the Rhino at Rafiki’s Planet Watch, said Rhino standing about 7 feet high. Although the CM actually scolded us nicely (if that’s possible), I felt absolutely horrible that we put the CM in a position to have to scold us in the first place. However, since I have photographic evidence, in case you were wondering, this is acceptable:

THIS is not:

Our business at Rafiki’s Planet Watch having been concluded, when we finally made it back to Animal Kingdom, we used our FastPasses for the Safari ride. Here are a couple of snaps from our “2 week” safari adventure:

After the Safari, we were really starting to wind down, but since we had an ADR for 4:00 p.m. at Yak & Yeti (which, before I ate there, have always thought it was Yaki & Yeti), we decided to try and muscle through it and make it to our ADR. I saw that the Flights of Wonder show was starting soon, so we decided to go and see that with the hope that sitting down for a bit would refresh us.

The show WAS very cute. However, during one part of the show, one of the guides (actors) asked for anyone with ridiculous, gaudy cameras to volunteer for a “chance-of-a-lifetime-shot.” Well, you guys know what a shutterbug I am, so I did the whole “pick-me; pick-me” thing (all the while waving my ridiculous, gaudy camera in the air) and actually got picked. So, I got myself to the stage, and me and another camera-happy person were told to focus on a bird that was preening for us on the podium at the back of the theater to get our shot. So I did, and wouldn’t you know that when I got the bird focused, he proceeds to turn around and try and dive-bomb us? Here’s what I saw through my viewfinder (please excuse how blurry these get; they were shot in about a 5-second time span).

Do you guys see how cheery the crowds were while watching my potential demise? They were probably thinking: "one less body to compete for parade spots, ADRs, and FastPasses."

It was all part of the show, and was definitely all in good fun. It also made DH and The Big laugh themselves silly, but I was just glad to have had a bona fide magic moment to finally speak about (I even got a certificate). And, after the laughter died down, the guides *were* good enough to let us shoot a close-up of the bird that almost took our head off.

So, after the Flights of Wonder show, we realized that we were all hungry and couldn’t wait any longer for food, so we dropped by Yak and Yeti to ask if we could bump up our ADR and, thankfully, the CMs at the podium graciously agreed. Our meal at Yak and Yeti was really, really good (we had the steak and shrimp tempura for our entrée and the pineapple/cream cheese wontons for dessert). After our late lunch, we hoofed it (how appropriate, right?) back to the main gate just before the parade started, got on our bus back to the Pop, and relaxed for a couple hours, then headed to Downtown Disney for some Goofy’s Candy Company fun.


Up next: It’s GOT To Be A Record For The…

 

[goofieslonglostsis]

A 2-week safari? Ha, you wish!

The CM scolding, could it be that it was because TB was alone on the rhino without either of you there holding her (read; possible to fall down)?

Has the bird teached you anything?

 

[Crystal_27]

The CM scolding, could it be that it was because TB was alone on the rhino without either of you there holding her (read; possible to fall down)?

Oh, I know we totally deserved the scolding...TB was *very* high in the air (although DH was right there to catch her in case she slipped - - he's just out of camera range - LOL).