NMAmy's Trip Report with no catchy title--Last installment FINALLY posted - 4/12/09

Looks like a great day at Nimal Kingdom!!! :goodvibes

So glad to see you in a photo! It's a nice one, too!

Good on you for ssshhhh-ing those boys in It's Tough to be a Bug! It sounded like they totally needed a good ssshhhh-ing.

That girl on Everest sounded funny though! Cute!

Amber the Safari driver sounded great! :thumbsup2 We had a disasterous tour guide who was still learning for our guide. Hehee. Poor guy. It was kinda funny though. :rolleyes1

Thanks for another fun update!! You must get up really early!! Which works well for me, because I stay up late and get to read your early morning posts! (It's late over here when it's early there - you know what I mean!!)
 
GREAT update Amy! Man you are ON this report!!:thumbsup2 What a good mommy to collect all those fastpasses!:thumbsup2 SO NICE to see a picture of you..you should do it more often!:thumbsup2 Alex is as cute as ever! Too funny about the little girl apologizing to you...something Eric would NEVER do!;) I was cracking up reading about how you skipped Primevil Whirl cause of the spinning and then I read that you were headed to Dinosaur and I said to myself "oh yeah that's much better" before I saw what you wrote!:rotfl: :rolleyes1 So weird to see you in jeans and sweatshirts...my only experience with the weather in the AK makes we wish I could wear just about nothing, ALWAYS BLAZING HOT!!!:goodvibes
 
Hey, I'm joining in!! I just sat here and read the whole PTR and TR you have so far from page one and its great! Sorry Alex was so sick! I'm subbing popcorn::
 
Great pictures! I think those were native orchids on the trees. Very pretty :)

I'm sorry Alex was so sick- it must have made it hard for both of you.

Ah HA!! I was hoping someone would know what kind of flowers they were--besides "parasites" as Alex called them. :rotfl:

You know, I felt badly that Alex wasn't feeling well but the trip really wasn't bad. I was actually way more relaxed when I got home than I've ever been after returning from a Disney trip. I had lots of time to kick back and read. And Alex sure got plenty of time to rest. ;)

Looks like a great day at Nimal Kingdom!!! :goodvibes

So glad to see you in a photo! It's a nice one, too!

Good on you for ssshhhh-ing those boys in It's Tough to be a Bug! It sounded like they totally needed a good ssshhhh-ing.

That girl on Everest sounded funny though! Cute!

Amber the Safari driver sounded great! :thumbsup2 We had a disasterous tour guide who was still learning for our guide. Hehee. Poor guy. It was kinda funny though. :rolleyes1

Thanks for another fun update!! You must get up really early!! Which works well for me, because I stay up late and get to read your early morning posts! (It's late over here when it's early there - you know what I mean!!)

Amber really rocked--I've never had a safari guide as good as her. Now every other safari driver will have a really difficult time measuring up. :rotfl2:

I DO get up really early--even on the weekend. I told you I'm a little old lady--I'm usually up at 4:30 am. :scared1: I won't even tell you what time I go to bed. :rotfl: I'm a morning person but I need time to putter in the morning before work. I get up at 4:30, watch a little tv (usually a nighttime show On Demand) and go online at the same time, then have breakfast, walk on the treadmill, take a shower, tidy up the house, and then get ready to go to work. I leave around quarter to 7:00 to get to work by 7:30. It's the life of a princess, I tell you!

And I love that you're almost always up when I'm posting in the dark part of the morning. :thumbsup2

GREAT update Amy! Man you are ON this report!!:thumbsup2 What a good mommy to collect all those fastpasses!:thumbsup2 SO NICE to see a picture of you..you should do it more often!:thumbsup2 Alex is as cute as ever! Too funny about the little girl apologizing to you...something Eric would NEVER do!;) I was cracking up reading about how you skipped Primevil Whirl cause of the spinning and then I read that you were headed to Dinosaur and I said to myself "oh yeah that's much better" before I saw what you wrote!:rotfl: :rolleyes1 So weird to see you in jeans and sweatshirts...my only experience with the weather in the AK makes we wish I could wear just about nothing, ALWAYS BLAZING HOT!!!:goodvibes

It's the big joke in our family that I'm hardly ever in the picture unless my sister is around. She's a picture taker, too, so she makes sure to document the fact that I'm around. :rotfl:

I did feel a little bad about taking Alex on Dinosaur but he's been on it before and it was his suggestion. :confused3 He did okay, thank heavens! With all the potholes we have in Michigan right now, I don't think it was any bumpier than our morning commute. :lmao:

About the jeans & sweatshirts--you know, AK can either be Africa hot or colder than Michigan. We were there one year when the temp was only about 35 and we had to leave because Caitlin and I wouldn't leave the gift shops. :rotfl: The only indoor ride is Tough to be a Bug. Even Caitlin when on it on that trip and she HATES that one. But it was warm even if it was bug infested.

By that time in the trip, I was wearing short sleeved t-shirts with a light cardigan--it had warmed up from the beginning of the trip. I found the cardigan really easy to just sling over my purse when I got warm.

Hey, I'm joining in!! I just sat here and read the whole PTR and TR you have so far from page one and its great! Sorry Alex was so sick! I'm subbing popcorn::

:welcome: I'm so glad you're here and that you've enjoyed it! And you've certainly proven that you have stamina if you read all that in one sitting. :rotfl:

Sadly, I just realized I'm almost done--just a day and a half to go. It's almost as sad as ending the actual trip.
 

Thursday - Continued

The girls were finally ready and wanted to have lunch at the Dolphin. We disembarked from the bus at the Swan and waited for them by the bridge to the Boardwalk. There's a small retaining wall by the canal and Alex was tuckered out so he was kind of lying down upon it. Then he asked me for the camera because he thought the bottom side of palm trees were really cool and kinda weird looking. I thought maybe he'd popped some cold medicine when I wasn't looking but no--he was sober. :rotfl: Just weird.

So--you decide. Are palm trees strange when you look at them from directly below?

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Two palm trees--two different kinds of strange which justifies two pictures. :rotfl:

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The girls decided they would like to go to the Fountain. Alex had a yummy chocolate raspberry torte shake and a BLT. Jen had a BLT, I had a hot dog with sauerkraut and Cait had chili cheese fries. Both the girls had a dessert, as well.

We had some great conversations--Caitlin asked out of the blue, "Mom, why don't you and Alex ever fight?" :rotfl: Then later, she informed me that when she went to college, she'd be getting an apartment and she was going to take Sunny. :scared1: I calmly said, "No, you can't have her. I love her." :rotfl2: She told me that Sunny was her dog and I said, "Yes, she is and you can visit her whenever you want but I have an empty nest and you cannot take Sunny." She also told me that Sunny was way better behaved than any of her dad's dogs which cracks me up because her dad is a K9 cop. :lmao: Sunny is safe--she's too young to go to college. Plus she won't have an apartment anyway; I have no idea what that kid thinks college will be like.

It was around 2:00 by the time we finished and I just knew that our reservation for the Biergarten at 5:00 wasn't going to happen. The girls said they'd go but I knew that no one would be hungry in 3 hours and I didn't want to pay a fortune for a meal that no one really ate. Alex promised me a German beer. :thumbsup2

The girls then left for AK and Alex and I headed off to Epcot. We had not managed to do Soarin’ yet so we went to get a fast pass. We picked one up for 7:25 pm. The sign said a 60 minute wait and Alex decided he wanted to wait. :confused3 I thought he was crazy, but what the heck--it wasn't like I had some big plan. By the time we were done, he remembered why we don’t like to wait in a 60 minute line.:rotfl: I've never actually waited in that stand by line so I was surprised and tickled by the interactive games. That was fun.

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We were both exhausted by the time we got out but we didn't want to leave yet.

I was so glad to see the sun again!

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We took a little ride under the sea with Nemo. No line for that!

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I just love these little things. They really say "Epcot" to me.

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We picked up a few charms for the little girls at Mouse Gears and then went on the Three Caballeros ride in Mexico. Much better than the old ride.

We stopped in Norway and Alex got a book celebrating his Viking heritage. There was a Norway CM girl wearing a huge winter coat. It seemed a bit wimpy for someone from the frozen north. Even I’d taken off my cardigan by that point. :rotfl:

Peaceful China:

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Germany--hmm...beer. I wanted to wait a bit though.

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We then did something we’d never caught before—The American Adventure. I liked it—it was dark and we could sit down for 40 minutes. The girls were calling while we were in the movie—they were on their way back from AK.

I was starving by the time we got out. We got me a beer in Germany although the CM thought my choice of a pils was kind of wimpy. He made me try the other beer—I downed the sample and told him I’d lived in Germany for a year and I still preferred the pils. He shook his head sadly and told me that there is no accounting for taste!:rotfl: I do like the other kind but it gives me a headache.

We then walked back to Mexico for some tacos al carbon for me. A woman kind of cut in front of me and then I spent the whole wait in line trying to get the rest of her family to stop cutting in front of me. Honestly, if the other 5 members of your party are back behind me, perhaps you should join them. These were all adults, btw, even though she jumped in front of me, I'd have let kids go in front of me!

The tacos were yummy and so was the guacamole. We heard a little boy who was a duck alarm. He made the most dreadful screech every time a duck came near him. I was more afraid of that bird with the long pointy beak. I told Alex he could poke your eye out but Alex was of the opinion that being bitten by a duck would be worse. We have the most intellectual conversations, don't we? :lmao: No wonder we never fight--we're too goofy.

That was it—we were done! We headed back to the Boardwalk and met the girls outside Epcot to pass off the Soarin’ fast passes. We cracked up my sister by calling to sing Happy Birthday to her over the phone. All of us--standing outside the International Gateway and standing in a circle around my cell phone, singing. Loudly. Yeah, people stopped to look. :rotfl:

I hadn't bought a lot of souvenirs on this trip but I had had my eye on a Boardwalk sweatshirt and after thinking about it for a whole week, I finally stopped at Dundy's Sundries and bought it. Oh, yeah, turns out Caitlin bought the same sweatshirt! We had a mother/daughter outfit without me even trying! :rotfl2: She was thrilled.

I had tried to buy the sweatshirt with our $200 gift card and had a panic attack when I couldn't find it in my purse. I checked everywhere. My whole purse, all my pants pockets, I checked with Caitlin and by then I was freaking out. Several hours later, I hopped out of bed because I'd finally thought to check the safe and found it. Whew!
 
I love EE, but my husband can only ride once even if he is not sick. It is very nice of you to collect FPs for the girls. That is what I need, someone to collect FPs for me while I sleep!
 
I love EE, but my husband can only ride once even if he is not sick. It is very nice of you to collect FPs for the girls. That is what I need, someone to collect FPs for me while I sleep!

:lmao: It really was quite a scam that they were running, wasn't it? I'd love to have someone do my fast pass collecting, too.
 
I like Alex's palm tree photos!!! I took a similar photo of palm trees in Hawaii when we were there! I love palm trees.

Oh no, I'm glad Sunny isn't leaving! :scared1: She wouldn't like it in an apartment anyway! (Not that I know anything about your dog... hehee!)

We love the Nemo ride!! So cute!

Are the tacos really called Taco al Carbon!? Carbon as in, charcoal? Heheheee. Or did you just call them that because the meat was burnt?! How intriguing!!

Oh noooo, your trip report is almost done!? How can that be!? :sad1:
 
I am waiting for my first trip and reading your experiences is really great.. I know I am late and missed great entertainment. I would like to go there are have the fun of my life.. I am counting the remaining days to visit Disney.. Great reading your experiences
 
I like Alex's palm tree photos!!! I took a similar photo of palm trees in Hawaii when we were there! I love palm trees.

Alex doesn't take a lot of pictures but he does notice things that I would ordinarily miss. Like the underside of palm trees. :rotfl:

Oh no, I'm glad Sunny isn't leaving! :scared1: She wouldn't like it in an apartment anyway! (Not that I know anything about your dog... hehee!)

Hey, you know enough about her to agree with me and that's all that counts! ;)

We love the Nemo ride!! So cute!

Are the tacos really called Taco al Carbon!? Carbon as in, charcoal? Heheheee. Or did you just call them that because the meat was burnt?! How intriguing!!

Oh noooo, your trip report is almost done!? How can that be!? :sad1:

I think that's exactly why they call them tacos al carbon. :rotfl: I have no idea why they call them that. That's what it says on the menu, though. They're chicken tacos.

I am waiting for my first trip and reading your experiences is really great.. I know I am late and missed great entertainment. I would like to go there are have the fun of my life.. I am counting the remaining days to visit Disney.. Great reading your experiences

I'm so glad you're here! :welcome: I know the anticipation of a trip is half the fun. I'm a little bummed now that I don't have a trip to look forward to. Where are you staying? Tell me all about it and then I'll live vicariously through you. ;)
 
Sorry I haven't been updating--my mother is back in town and I've been running all her errands since her driver's license expired while she was gone. She flew in last night which meant I had to pick her up in a college town on the biggest bar night of the year. :lmao:

It was crowded but at least we made it out of there before it got too bad.

Hope you all are doing well!
 
More, more, more!!

(I'm so bossy!)

:surfweb:

I had big plans to finish up on Sunday and then the boards were down all day! I'm sorry all!

Julie, I got a Boss's Day Card from one of my student employees and he'd written on it, "Thanks for being so bossy!" :lmao: We say that at work all the time now.
 
Ok, time to get the last day posted. Here's a start!

Friday, 2/27 -

The plan was for the girls to join us at MGM this morning. Caitlin had big aspirations to ride EE at AK, RnR at MGM, Test Track at Epcot and then go to the Mk just because. She told me she didn’t feel well and went back to sleep. I thought it was just her normal not getting up ploy but the poor thing really was sick. You know, she used to tell me she wasn't feeling well when she didn't want to go to school. Now at WDW, I'm not exactly going to insist she get up and let me check her temp and make her go to school...err...MGM.

I had thought to arrive just late enough to skip the opening rigamarole. When we arrived, they weren’t allowing anyone through security although there were a lot of people already in the park. Alex got annoyed when two guys jumped the line and the lady they got in front of was too busy futzing around with her stroller for the 7 zillionth time to notice. Alex apparently feels it is the job of every person waiting in a queue to do their part when it comes to stopping cutters. :rotfl:He was going to say something but I told him to just let it go.

MGM was once again mobbed. :scared1: This time, it was the beginning of ESPN weekend.

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I took a picture of the audition sign so Cait could see what she'd missed:

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I’d thought to go get a fast pass for RnR and then get in line for Toy Story Mania. We got the fp and by 9:15, the wait for TSM was 70 minutes and the fast pass line looked every bit as long. :scared1: We decided to wait until next year to ride it again. If I didn’t have a lunch reservation at Sci-Fi, we would have just gotten out of that mob scene at MGM and gone somewhere else.

So now we had a little time to kill while we waited for our FP time. We hadn’t been to the Great Movie Ride yet and there was no line. Sign us up. It was a walk on—Alex was seated next to the male version of my mom. He thought there were too many overweight people in the park. He talked about every movie scene we saw. During the movie portion, he named every movie shown. He was nice and it’s easier to deal with when it’s not MY mother and we never had to see him again after the show was done. Mom's hearing isn't as good as it used to be so when she thinks she's "whispering," well, let's just say, she is NOT. :lmao:

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Oh, sidenote--Hedy, you were a GENIUS when you figured out that tiggerbell was talking about Jane with the botox comment. Jane TOTALLY looks like she had botox and I thought of both of you that day! :rotfl2:

Jen’s one request was to ride ToT. Caitlin had volunteered me to go with her because she will not ride it (which was just fine with me!) I picked up two fast passes for ToT and we got in line for RnR.

Alex waiting for me:

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As we were waiting to be let in, the lovely gentleman in front of me asked how many were in our party. When we said 2, he told me to put away our fast passes to use later—he had a special pass for up to 6 people and there were only 4 in his family. They were very nice people.

Since we’d been doing the less exciting rides all week, it was exhilarating to ride RnR. I don’t think it did Alex’s back much good, though. He was great to ride it with me, though. :thumbsup2

To be continued. Really. I promise I'm going to finish this!
 
Sounds like fun! MGM/HS seemed to be very crowded while you were there. We'll be there in less than 2 weeks and are anticipating crazy crowds (crowd calendar says it'll be a 9). Yikes!
 








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