Tuesday, July 29th, 2003
Today is an early day since we have PS reservations at AK for "Donald's Breakfastasaurus". Once again we drive over due to the time factor and arrive on schedule. We make it almost to the turnstiles before disaster strikes... DD8 gasps
"Mom, I don't have my backpack and my AP is in it!"
(*The previous day DD8 had gone to WL with cousins for a little swim after MGM and left it there.) No problemo! I get on the cell phone to call SIL (who already knew about bringing the backpack) to let her know we needed her ticket. "Oh, no! I left it by the door... and we're just now approaching the turnstiles." Okay, now prepare to panic! But the kind CM at the turnstiles says to take all of our families AP's to Guest Relations and they can print a replacement. Which is just what we did!
Time now for one more little snafu... when I made reservations for "Donald's Breakfastasaurus", only 12 people wanted to go... but one by one I receive voicemail messages that now "Everyone" is going! HUH? How to get 17 people in?? Let me tell you, the Lord works in mysterious ways. When they called our name from the podium where we had checked in, only 12 people in our group had arrived, so we shrugged our shoulders, agreed that everyone knew when to be here and walked in!
*The rest of the group showed up later and were able to be seated but in a quieter section which was perfect for them!
What a fun breakfast! We were inundated with characters as soon as we walked in...
*(A special thank you to "PLUTO" who was the only character who saw my DD2 in her wheelchair and went over to her. He would not leave her alone and she was smiling and touching his nose. He even wanted to pick her up! I LOVE that DOG!)
They seated our entire group in this "airstream camper" which had been cut in half and had a jukebox situated in the middle. We were rocking! Put everyone in a great mood and woke us up for sure! The food is buffet style, with the CM serving our drinks. I would definitely go again! While enjoying breakfast, I slip out to grab some FastPasses to Primeval Twirl.
We divide our group into the "Adventurers" who will brave the "Dinosaur" ride and those who can ride the tamer "Triceratop Spin". Grandpa once again opts for the 2nd choice! We do the Baby Switch Off with DD2 so DH can ride, then we're off to regroup. Primeval Twirl
(again, a not to be missed ride!) awaits! We get in line since it is pretty short, then use our Fastpasses to ride again! The hardest part about DinoLand is getting the kids out of the "Chester and Hester" Dinorama carnival area. All kinds of deliberately "chintzy" fair type games which cost at least $2 each to play...
Tarzan Rocks is starting in 5 mins, but I convince everyone to head for Camp Minnie and Mickey for "Festival of the Lion King" instead.
(*For most shows during the busy season, you need to be seated 20 - 30 minutes before it starts to have a good seat.) As everyone heads out, we lose 4 kids! They have gotten on Triceratop Spin somehow! We wait and send everyone else ahead. It turns out to be a good choice... although we get separated we all have great seats and our group is up front! YAY!
Absolutely one of the best performances of this show that I have witnessed! They are missing one of the female perfomers (the thin one...), but the other singers fill in for her songs and do an outstanding job! Very high energy show... do NOT go to AK without seeing it at least once! My DD8 and DNeph9 got picked to lead the "Pachyderm" section (that's us!) and we held our trunks high and trumpeted our delight! At the end of the show, DNiece9 and DNiece5 participate in the parade around the ring while playing their "musical" instruments! Priceless!
Time for Africa and Lunch at Tusker House. For price and food quality I don't think you can beat Tusker House. We used a couple of Connections Vouchers for convenience, but only saved a few dollars. The rotisserie half chicken with green beans and garlic mashed potatoes was delicious. Topped off with a gargantuan slice of chocolate cake served with 8 forks! That is one rich cake, I would not attempt to eat it alone! Very tasty.
Again, while everyone is eating I get fastpasses for "Kilamanjaro Safaris" and even (like a nut) run over to Asia to see what the "Kali River Rapids" line is looking like... It's INSANE! Even the line for the Fast Passes is crazy! I run away! After our refreshing lunch, we head to the Fast Pass line for our ride and meet our first truly unpleasant CM. We have FastPasses for everyone in our group, except for ours since we have the GAC, I figured I didn't need to get them... She ALMOST did not let us through after reading the GAC!
She proclaimed, "I'll let you get in line for now, but that doesn't mean you may be allowed to stay in line..."
Not only did she embarrass us, but she held up the line by doing this. I was so confounded I didn't get her name!
I am the first to admit most CM's have hearts of gold, but this girl definitely needs to have a slight retraining session or maybe a desk job! We continue through this line and meet ONLY extremely nice CM's along the way! At the end we go through the "Handicapped" gate and as luck would have it, a safari bus is unloading and we are the next party. It is especially gratifying that Disney has these special buses so that those in wheelchairs may simply be rolled in and have their wheels locked and strapped down to ride. I could see DD2's face in the driver's sideview mirror and she was having a ball!
Another blessing was our safari guide who gave us the choice of the "regular" or the VIP tour (we of course, opted for the VIP tour!) So, she turned off the canned "Wilson" tape and proceeded to give us very interesting insider information on the park and animals! We were enchanted, while at the same time being enlightened! Everyone was 100% agreed that was the best ride and we learned so much...
As you can guess, it's time for DD2 and I to hit the road back to the Swan while leaving the rest of our group to "Bake" in Africa. The teenagers have all split off from the group to "do their own thing" as well. So, I will rejoin the group at 5 PM at BOMA's in the AKL! Later!
Just as we get outside, lo and behold a boat is waiting! We wave our arms and run to get aboard! 
They wave their arms, honk their horn and depart! No matter, another boat is right behind and we are the only family to board! A private cruise to MGM!
LOL - I didn't want to look like a stalker staring at people to see anything lime green - so I strolled through "casual-like" as if I was looking for my family - so silly - like anyone even noticed me!
The bread was served by the hostess as she took us to our table and was a hawaiian sweet roll, but was cold and unappealing. I hope the Disney food service management will address this as the quality is flagging at this particularly favorite meal of mine! I LOVE the atmosphere.... I also WANT to love the food, but cannot recommend it at this time.
