No Kids, Gnu Year! Ringing in 2018 at WDW! **Complete 8/31**

[xlsm]

Happy Birthday to your son!!

I can't believe you skipped FoP!!

What a bummer that Jiko was so disappointing, especially since you were looking forward to it so much

Thank you! He had a good day...playing video games and eating Ben and Jerry's, LOL!!
I know!! I had even managed to change times for that FP to make it more convenient, and then the cold just ran us out of there.
I swear every time I scroll through new posts on here there's a "Tiffins or Jiko" thread and everyone always says Jiko Oh well, it just wasn't our night!

How have I never noticed these guys??

This is my jam!! I love this exact dish!

OMG thank you. I always hear such great reviews of Jiko, but our dinner and service there wer so lousy! And my steak was also so overcooked that we did send it back, and then when it came out again, it was still overcooked. And I'm not super picky about steak or anything. Your review kind of vindicated me a bit.

I think they're fun! Bringing a little extra life to Pandora

It was so good!! Definitely the bowl for me next time

I'm both glad and sorry that we were in the same boat with a bad Jiko experience. I feel like everyone thinks I'm crazy when I say it was bad!!

I've never noticed these guys!

Aww, my boys love this area too. DH and I agree with many others that it just doesn't fit. It does look like that we've missed some things though. I don't remember seeing some of the dinosaurs that are in your pics.

Every time we say we are going to try to find her and every time we forget. Well, maybe next month...

Been there, done that. If it was worse than that, then I'm scared!

I think I find something new every time I see pictures of Pandora!

There are a TON of details around the Dinoland area...I think it's worth exploring to see everything. There are little surprises tucked in nooks and crannies.

I hadn't seen her in years, and DH had never seen her before. I always like seeing people's reactions to her, especially little kids!

Well, security wasn't the issue this time...it was after we got through there that the travel issues began

I feel your pain. You should see my brother's hair It's like a shaggy emo flip? He has really thick and fast growing hair and it's like too long but not styled in any way. It gets all puffy over his ear like big dog ears, and it's uneven. He gets it cut every so often but won't let them make it shorter so it just looks more uneven? He says his girlfriend like it long. He's 21 now so I shouldn't be so mad about his hair, but it just looks so awful!

Aw this is cute!

Aw, I love those

So I don't know why I thought of this, but I guess to make you feel better about overhearing an awkward conversation But once when I was in the library at community college they had these desk things that were kind of separated from each other (like you couldn't see over the top to see who was at the one in front of you), and as I was sitting at one I heard a conversation in front of me that I don't think I was meant to hear. I guess a girl and a guy were in love, but their parole officers were keeping them apart, and he offered to "buy her gucci" if she stayed with him. Then I heard them kissing. It was all very Romeo and Juliet of course. I didn't want to get up until they were done, because I don't think they knew anyone was at the desk behind them, and I was not trying to listen but they were being pretty loud for a library.

I think you meant terrifying.

I had that!

I didn't care for the bread there at all either.

Ugh, I remember you telling me about this. That's so disappointing. I hate when steaks are overcooked, and when service is bad at signatures. I felt like that at the Cali Grill the waitress literally disappeared and I also never send back food but my steak was so rare that time I couldn't eat it. But since I never saw her until dessert, I never ended up saying anything.

That's the problem with Xavier's, it grows so fast and is very thick! He's been doing better about putting product in it to keep it from poofing so far since school started (so...seven whole days, LOL). Now Leyton's is getting out of control...he's STOPPED putting anything in his so now it just sits there on top of his head. It always looks like he just woke up. He cares zero percent. I blame it on 8th grade, b/c he cared last year.

Thank you! i felt awkward with the hat and no sunglasses to hide my big white face, LOL. But it came out pretty good considering.

The problem with my cheeseburger pods were that they were dry and a little hard to swallow...it was like they grew in my mouth the more I chewed, LOL! They tasted pretty good, there was just more pod than cheeseburger.

LOL!! Darn those parole officers!! Don't they understand true love??

Haha! I guess her movements could be a little creepy. I think her makeup is so pretty though!

Ugh, Jiko. The biggest disappointment ever. Matt says he'd be willing to try again, but I have no interest in going back b/c I'm scared it would be bad again, and there are so many other choices. We'll probably go back eventually, even with me saying that...but not for quite awhile!

I have been away from the boards for a while so am secretly happy that you took your time writing your TR.


excited to read it

I have 2 and want 2 more sos right along there with ya sister.


Cute Magic shot I haven't seen this one.


Yay Meghan, I'm jealous she's at Disney now.



Same for DH

OMG never

Your camara does take awesome night time pics

This looks like Lamb.



YESSSSSS my fave

Cause the chaise lounge is blocking the door.

Enjoyed the TR. I'm freezing just reading it

I was embarrassed it took so long to write, but I'm finally at the end, LOL!

Yay! Another Christmas tree fan!! I'm thinking about adding one to our bedroom this year. DH and the kids always tease me, but they really like them all too!

I love the unique magic shots!! I'm curious to see what they'll have available this year.

The people mover line was NUTS. I've seen it bad before, in October it was long, but never ever looped around so many times like this.

I had planned so carefully...never ever dreamed we'd be stuck on the bus for two hours at that time of day. At the time were like NEVER EVER EVER AGAIN!!! but obviously since we're going back that wasn't true, LOL. I have a MUCH different plan for this year!! No way I'm setting foot on a bus except in the morning on our way to rope drop DHS on new year's eve this year (unless I drastically change things and we go to MK...which is what DH kind of wants to do. We're 128 days out so I've got some time to think)

I rarely have to wear a coat here in the winter but I'm also never outside for hours at a time like while in a park...it still shocked me how cold I was. I'm hoping for some middle ground this year, like sunny in the mid to high 60s with a light breeze.

I think they had a Boar tenderloin dish on the menu in March - maybe it was that?


Oh, that's too bad! I think mine was fine, but not absolutely amazing like what I expected. I much preferred Tiffins even though the Jiko chef said I would like them better!

that might have been it?? Neither one of us remember!

Tiffins was amazing, and I was disappointed I went with Jiko this time instead...but when staying at AKL, I feel like it would have been a shame to miss Jiko again. I'd considered it on my solo trip and ended up skipping it that time. My steak was bad and the mac and cheese was sad, dry noodles just kind of rolling around on the plate, lol. At least Matt's was ok. Even if it wasn't great, at least his was edible.

 

[Raeven]

That's the problem with Xavier's, it grows so fast and is very thick! He's been doing better about putting product in it to keep it from poofing so far since school started (so...seven whole days, LOL). Now Leyton's is getting out of control...he's STOPPED putting anything in his so now it just sits there on top of his head. It always looks like he just woke up. He cares zero percent. I blame it on 8th grade, b/c he cared last year.

He's too young to stop getting ready for school I didn't hit that level of not caring what I looked like for school until like senior year. That's when I was done waking up early

LOL!! Darn those parole officers!! Don't they understand true love??

They don't understand the pain of those two star crossed lovers

 

[xlsm]

Ok, ok, so I"m a week late from when I originally said I'd finish this thing. Better late than never...which has been a recurring theme for this TR.

Chapter Seven: So long, farewell. Maybe.

It was our departure morning

I'm never, ever ready to leave Disney World. But, I always say that the whole process of getting to the airport, going through security, and just dealing with airport-ness in general puts you back into the "I want to be home!" mindset, no matter how sad you were when leaving Disney property.

That's definitely how it went for us on this day!!

We had some issues with the person we bought the reservation from doing things for us (like not ever adding DH to the reservation, meaning his magic band never worked the whole time we were at Kidani), so I didn't even bother to ask her about setting up Magical Express home. We decided to just uber to MCO early. We had packed up the night before, so all we had to do was get up and ready, then roll out.

Originally I had planned to torture you with a picture for each hallway we had to walk down to get to the lobby from our room, but I've decided not to just to finish things off. So you know, it's FOURTEEN pictures. If you really want me to share, I will in a separate post...fourteen pictures of different hallway sections. Seriously.

Instead, I'll start things off with a few final pictures of the Kidani Village Christmas tree:

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Ah! Finally some lighting that works for tree pictures!!

I requested our Uber and we walked outside to wait for the driver.

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Animal Kingdom Lodge is so comforting and beautiful...it really makes it hard to leave!

We had expected bad traffic, but we made it to MCO in less than 30 minutes, there was hardly anyone else on the road. There were no lines at bag check and the security line was short.

Well. That means we had time to shop!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89161658@N04/

I wanted EVERYTHING. But, because Christmas had just passed and I am a responsible adult rolleyes I only got one tiny thing for each of the kids.

We admired the airport tree (I knew my days of Christmas trees were numbered, and I would be taking my own down once I got home)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89161658@N04/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89161658@N04/

and went through security. I think it only took about ten or fifteen minutes, so not bad at all. Certainly not like last October when it took over an hour and the line was wrapped all the way around the downstairs area and down the shopping hallway.

We took our last Disney ride of the trip on the fake-o-rail, and that was it. No more vacation mode.

There was still quite a bit of time before our flight so we had breakfast at Outback (I had no idea the airport Outback served breakfast!)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89161658@N04/

I still got to keep my eye on a tree though!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89161658@N04/

I don't remember at all what I had for breakfast, probably something involving eggs and toast, but all I have a picture of is the coffee. It's the most important thing, anyway



https://www.flickr.com/photos/89161658@N04/

I admired my little bitty treats for the boys

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We finished eating and then hit up the Duty Free store

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I always feel like I'm a rebel, buying full sized toiletries and then carrying them onto the plane

And this, my dear friends, is where the fun ends.

We get to our gate and we find out our plane has been delayed by storms in North Carolina or something. Ok, ok, we still have plenty of time, we have a decent layover (around two and a half hours) in Atlanta to give us a cushion. But the delay kept being extended. Ugh.

By the time our plane arrived and everyone was off and boarding began, we would have just enough time to go straight from our plane to the next gate and make in time for takeoff. We'd miss the first boarding call, but would make the plane.

As we approached Atlanta, the pilot informed us there were a lot of planes needing to land. Several people had been told by the flight attendant that they had been rescheduled on different flights. At least two connections had already been missed.

Just as we begin to descend for touchdown, a lady went into the bathroom before the flight attendant could stop her. That caused us to have to go back up, and then to the back of the line for landing. We got the alert that our flight had been rescheduled to 9:30pm. For reference, it was a little after noon at this point.

Because this lady got up to pee, two more flights were going to miss their connections and be rescheduled. It was a mess. Everyone on the plane was furious...except for the handful that had Atlanta as their final destination.

Originally, if we made our connection, we'd have landed at home at 1:30pm so we could pick our kids up from their grandparents - the holiday break was ending the next day, and it was time to go back to school.

By the time we finally landed, we rushed to the bank of help desk phones to call and see what Delta could do for us. We considered all options - flying home on separate flights: Me to our home airport where I could take uber to our house, get my jeep and go get the kids, and DH on the late flight to the airport we left from, where his truck was parked. The flight to our home airport was standby only and they were already offering people gift cards to move to a later flight. No luck for me there.

After many frantic texts and phone calls to the grandparents, DH and I decided that we were just going to take the late flight.

The Atlanta airport would be our home for the next 8 plus hours.

So how do you spend nine hours in the Atlanta airport?? Being incredibly bored. We walked through the different terminals, looked in the shops, played a lot of Words with Friends and Candy Crush...and listened to another couple in the same boat as us fight over what to do. They really got into it. The wife was screaming and the husband eventually said, "I can't deal with you like this", and walked away for awhile.

At some point we got food...Atlanta Bread Co. It's kind of like Panera but better in my opinion. We have one at home and I love it. This one had burgers however, which we do NOT have at home.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89161658@N04/

And I had to get my FAVORITE blended matcha from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (the only place I can get those is in California or the Atlanta airport...it's the best part of the Atlanta airport, honestly. Luckily I'm there at least once a year, lol!!)

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I also had to go take out my contacts and put on my glasses. My eyes were so dry and tired! There was a woman in the restroom who looked at me with pure disgust as I took them out...like that was the worst thing she could possibly see in a public restroom?? A person removing their contact lenses??

Finally, finally, finally...it was time to board our flight to go home.

I looked like death warmed over with no makeup and glasses on, and DH looked perfectly fine. Where is the fairness here??

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We landed, got our bags, went to the one drive-thru still open, and got home after midnight.

We greeted our dogs and went to bed. I think it might have been the longest day of my life. If I ever see that peeing lady again, she'd better run, because baby I'm holding that grudge.

I'll leave you where we began...with happy memories of fuzzy hat wearing:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/89161658@N04/

I do apologize...I feel like my normal TRs are more fun than this one. This one became a victim of a busy real life schedule, and I sort of phoned it in. But at least I finished!!

Thanks for following along with me!! I still haven't decided if I'm going to do a PTR for our upcoming adventure or not, but if I do, I hope you'll all come along for the ride again!

Love to you all, and I'll see ya real soon!!

 

[xlsm]

.

 

[amalone1013]

I've been best at lurking here, but I still enjoyed your TR! And it has me super excited to make it out to AKL for the first time this weekend, for Sanaa and Boma!

We had expected bad traffic, but we made it to MCO in less than 30 minutes, there was hardly anyone else on the road. There were no lines at bag check and the security line was short.

Seems so promising...

I don't remember at all what I had for breakfast, probably something involving eggs and toast, but all I have a picture of is the coffee. It's the most important thing, anyway

Obviously. Just ask Lorelei.

and listened to another couple in the same boat as us fight over what to do. They really got into it. The wife was screaming and the husband eventually said, "I can't deal with you like this", and walked away for awhile.

And I had to get my FAVORITE blended matcha from Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf (the only place I can get those is in California or the Atlanta airport...it's the best part of the Atlanta airport, honestly. Luckily I'm there at least once a year, lol!!)

Ha! We have one in our airport! I like to get one before the flight. Actually I just checked, and our gate for our flight to MCO IN 7 HOURS is the one right by them! Woo!

There was a woman in the restroom who looked at me with pure disgust as I took them out...like that was the worst thing she could possibly see in a public restroom?? A person removing their contact lenses??

Why do people get so worked up over contacts? I know touching your eyeballs freaks some people out and stuff, but seriously, just look away. I'm not making YOU touch my eyebealls!

If I ever see that peeing lady again, she'd better run, because baby I'm holding that grudge.

I'm so sorry you had this terrible peeing lady on your flight!

 

[MeghanEmily]

It's over!! Woah!! Despite the ups and downs, and the real life getting in the way, I've still really enjoyed following along here. Looking forward to hearing about your winter trip! I hope you report on it in some way, even if it can't be as extensively as usual.

 

[AliceNDinah]

Oh please, for the love of all that is holy, do a PTR for your upcoming adventure. You are such a talented writer, it was a pleasure to read this TR! So sorry about that last day in the airport, ugh.....but thank you again for the enjoyable read, so fun!!

 

[Raeven]

Originally I had planned to torture you with a picture for each hallway we had to walk down to get to the lobby from our room, but I've decided not to just to finish things off.

I took like a hundred pictures before we left too I spared my TR readers all of those.

 

[rdkeim]

I enjoyed your TR! Hope you decide to do one for your next adventure!

 

[tiggerpals]

It’s done but I’m so glad you shared the trip with us! I’d love to go over New Years sometime but definitely seems like good planning (including when to get on a bus!) is a must!!

 

[missangelalexis]

Everything seemed to be going so smoothly! ugh what a nightmare for you guys, I'm sorry

Also the lady who was disgusted by you taking out your contacts makes me very angry lol as if that is the worst thing in the world??

Thank you for sharing! I look forward to your next report!!

 

[xlsm]

PTR for the upcoming New Year trip is officially started!! Find it HERE

 

[AliceNDinah]

PTR for the upcoming New Year trip is officially started!! Find it HERE

YAY, so excited to read this!!!!!!!!!!!!