Memories of the DREAM come true .. 08/09 All 30 days done!

[dizneeat]

I am caught up on your first couple of days and I have to say that you are doing really well on your 2nd day, considering how much travel time you had the day before. I love all of the food pictures you are posting! I try to remember to take pictures of everything, but I start to forget after a while.

Your Eggs Benedict looks amazing! That is my favorite breakfast and I always order it when I can. Now I will have to add Olivia's as a breakfast option. We have loved eating there for years because the food is so good, but we have never been there for breakfast.

Can't wait for more!

I am glad you enjoy the trip report so much!

If you read my latest post you'll find that we didn't do too well on that second day in the end, but then we still had 28 more days to go.

Olivia's is wonderful for breakfast. We make it a point to at least have breakfast there once during a vacation - and I really love their Eggs Benedict!

 

[jenseib]

YAY! Our meet! It was such a nice afternoon and it felt like we knew each other forever.
If you get a chance, please email copies of your pictures. The look better than mine.
I should have my pictures up by next week sometime at the rate I'm going with the new TR.
I am so glad we had a chance to meet in real life. Now once I get this family cruise booked for next fall....you should consider sailing in NOV. ...just saying. LOL

 

[Queenofallthings]

Dis-meets are the best aren't they! Looks like you guys had a great time!

Staying in and having dinner sounded like the perfect evening, sometimes we just have to do that don't we! When you have a resort as gorgeous as OKW, I bet it makes it a little easier to stay too

 

[cbg1027]

A lovely first full day!
Next time I go to WPE, I think I will try your favorite pizza, Karin! I've only had the Margherita version so far.

 

[englishrose47]

Great update Karin!!The pizzas looked great!!Of course the creme brulee is wonderful!! I just have to get over having to order the meatloaf there
Glad the Meet went well!!

 

[WDisneyMom]

So much fun already! OKW looks sooooo great, I would love to stay there some day. So who's the lucky one that gets the King bed? Is that a sofa bed? Is it comfortable? Can't wait to read more!!

 

[deenbrad]

Just checking in...looking forward to more!

 

[dizneeat]

YAY! Our meet! It was such a nice afternoon and it felt like we knew each other forever.
If you get a chance, please email copies of your pictures. The look better than mine.
I should have my pictures up by next week sometime at the rate I'm going with the new TR.
I am so glad we had a chance to meet in real life. Now once I get this family cruise booked for next fall....you should consider sailing in NOV. ...just saying. LOL

We really, really enjoyed our meet, Jen!
There is something truly special about DISmeets. You have "known" someone for quite some time, kind of shared their life or at least their Disneytrips and finally you see them face to face and you bond instantly!

Jen, could you PM me your email adress? I know I should have it, but I cannot find it. Will the low resolution photos do, or do you want the REALLY high resolution ones?

As for cruising in November ..... if it was just considering it, Tom and I would love to go, but unfortunately, this is no vacation time!
Can you hold off for a few years until I retire?

Dis-meets are the best aren't they! Looks like you guys had a great time!

Staying in and having dinner sounded like the perfect evening, sometimes we just have to do that don't we! When you have a resort as gorgeous as OKW, I bet it makes it a little easier to stay too

We had wonderful DISmeets throughout our vacation. As I mentioned before, DISfriends are the best.

We really enjoyed staying in and enjoying the villa, especially with the large veranda. Even when it rained it was so relaxing to sit outside and watching the downpour.

A lovely first full day!
Next time I go to WPE, I think I will try your favorite pizza, Karin! I've only had the Margherita version so far.

I love the Margherita as well, but the 4 cheese pesto is so tasty! And I love the goats cheese they use!

Great update Karin!!The pizzas looked great!!Of course the creme brulee is wonderful!! I just have to get over having to order the meatloaf there
Glad the Meet went well!!

Thank you, Rosie.
You really have to try the pizzas, they are divine. But then I love their meatloaf as well.

 

[dizneeat]

So much fun already! OKW looks sooooo great, I would love to stay there some day. So who's the lucky one that gets the King bed? Is that a sofa bed? Is it comfortable? Can't wait to read more!!

We really had a lovely first day! ...... and it stayed that way!

It's Disney's fault we fell in love with OKW. In 2006 the only AP discount they would give was for Villa and Deluxe resorts, so we stayed at the Yacht club and then booked a studio at OKW. Got upgraded to a 1 bedroom villa for 9 nights! Needless to say we paid back to Disney as we have never stayed in a studio again! We always pay for the 1 bedroom!

And I am the lucky one who gets the king bed! I do offer to use the pullout bed every time, but Tom claims that he likes to be "closer" to the TV and very comfortable! (and yes, there is one in the bedroom as well ). He has the Jaccuzzi to himself though!

Just checking in...looking forward to more!

Thanks for checking in! Day 3 coming up shortly.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Yes, those Dismeets are wonderful! A little disconcerting meeting someone from the internet, but the Dis seems to be full of nice people!

 

[englishrose47]

Yes, those Dismeets are wonderful! A little disconcerting meeting someone from the internet, but the Dis seems to be full of nice people!

I so remember my DD thinking I was insane to MEET strangers , now she is completely used to it and thinks it is just fine !!! She will even ask me to ask my Dis friends things at times !!!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I didn't tell my DH until we were on the ME about the Dismeet. He hates stuff like that, but when we met up he was in no hurry to leave. He had a very enjoyable time. If we get the chance we will do a meet again.

 

[dizneeat]

Yes, those Dismeets are wonderful! A little disconcerting meeting someone from the internet, but the Dis seems to be full of nice people!

We loved ALL our DISmeets this summer. So many wonderful people ..... it was amazing.
But you are right, it is somewhat odd to meet someone you only know from a few pics from the internet, but I have to say that I only met NICE people on the DISboards!

I so remember my DD thinking I was insane to MEET strangers , now she is completely used to it and thinks it is just fine !!! She will even ask me to ask my Dis friends things at times !!!

Actually I was very sceptical myself before meeting my first internet friend, which actually turned out to become my/our bestest friend(s) Mary Ellen and Joe. We had been writing back and forth for quite some time, but meeting face to face was something else, but we hit it off right away and had the most fun together - really hope we can spend some more time together next summer. They had a good reason not to come this year, they became grandparents for the second time. Brittany is a beautiful little princess!
Okay, got carried away, but as I said - I wasn't too sure about the internet meets and now I am ALL for them! DISNEY people are the best!

I didn't tell my DH until we were on the ME about the Dismeet. He hates stuff like that, but when we met up he was in no hurry to leave. He had a very enjoyable time. If we get the chance we will do a meet again.

I am glad he had a fun time, we sure had!

 

[dizneeat]

Day 3, August 15

Adventures in the Animal Kingdom and a leisurely dinner at the neighbours - Part 1

Since we had gone to bed early the night before we were up early again. So we decided to do something we had never managed on any of our earlier trips, head for Morning Extra Hours.

Tom made some coffee and

we had some sandwiches which we prepared from things out of the fridge and when we were done and had put the dirty dishes in the dishwasher we headed out to the Animal Kingdom.
Cars were just trickling in and when it was our turn to park our car we were motioned to start another row – thanks, but NO thanks.

We drove past the parking assistant, drove to the exit, went through the entrance again and joined the line for parking again. This time we were assigned a parking spot in the lower third of the row – okay, I don’t mind walking that far.
A half empty tram just pulled out when we approached the loading area and a new one was no where to be seen, so we decided to just walk to the entrance. Getting through bag check was easy and so was getting through the turnstiles.
Right after we got in we were asked if we would agree to do an internet survey – yip, we would do that, they took an email address and off we went.

It was just 10 minutes into Morning Extra Magic Hours and there already seemed to be quite a few people, we didn’t mind and took our time up the path to the Tree of Life.

There we decided where to go – Safari or Expedition, and the Safari won. So we headed towards Africa,

picked up a Fastpass and since there was only a 5 minute wait we got in line right away.

Five minutes later we found ourselves on the back of a Safari truck and off we went. There were lots of animal along the Safari route this morning and Tom got a lot of good photos.

20 minutes later we got off and had a little time to spare until we could ride again.
What better way to use the time than walk over to Expedition Everest and pick up a Fastpass for that ride. But before that, something I really wanted, caught my eye. A cart selling

Mickey Bars – the perfect snack. So we walked over, I used a snack credit and the sweet Cast member told me to have a look and a feel of the ice-cream, as sometimes they melt too easily in those carts. I did as I was told and deemed the Mickey Bar perfect. We walked over to the self service restaurant opposite Tusker House, there were lots of unoccupied tables and one of them was now occupied by us.

I tried to eat my ice-cream as quickly as I could,

but it was so hot, I really had a hard time finishing it, before it had all melted. Then we were on our way over to Everest, picked up a Fastpass and went straight back to the Safari.

To be continued ..........

 

[PrincessCharlie]

Love your report! 28 days in Disney, that is a dream!

 

[jamiesgirl]

Great pix as usual, but I especially enjoyed the looks of that Mickey ice cream bar! Just a few more days & I can finally have one of my own!!! Looking forward to the rest of your report.

 

[englishrose47]

Great pix of the Safari !!We will be doing the special Safari on Friday the 14th!!! Can't wait !!!!

 

[RGirl]

Enjoying your updates! Your WPE meals look delish. And how fun to have a DISmeet! You got some really good safari pics - mine from last year were terrible.

 

[deenbrad]

I tried to eat my ice-cream as quickly as I could,

but it was so hot, I really had a hard time finishing it, before it had all melted.

As long as you eat all the chocolate off that's what really counts!!

 

[annmarieda]

Ok, so you know I have NEVER had a mickey bar? I may have to try one on the next trip... assuming it isn't too cold in December.