"Now That's What I'm Talkin' 'Bout!"- Our 1st DVC stay-May 2010-Wrap Up 9/23

[leamom2princesses]

Great report - loved the info about Kidani. My kids would love to stay there!

I haven't been to the luau in ages...thanks for the update on that as well!

Looking forward to more!

Welcome to my TR and thanks for following along with us!

I see you have a report going. I will hop over there and check it out!

 

[kcandbella]

I have been out of the loop and your TR is moving along so quickly! It looks like a great trip so far. I love the girls pics with their leis on their heads. And their AK outfits! I can't wait to see them in the dresses you made for them!

 

[leamom2princesses]

After exploring the trails we made our way over to the FOW attraction. We had to check in our group there at 6:30pm. When we got over there, our friends were already there and relaxing. Our Group consisted of Dana (racefanof88) & her family, Mary (MaryAZ) and her family, the McFarland family and my family. We had 15 people in all.

When I checked us in I was handed an envelope and told that we were to wear a sticker and each family needed to place one card in the envelope for the dining plan. We were also asked if anyone in our party had special dietary needs.

When I got back to the group I passed out the stickers and sent Mary and Dana up to the front to speak with the CM's about some allergies within their families.

We were part of the "Giraffe" group. We waited for about 10 minutes before they opened FOW. The best part of this was teasing Mary about the birds. She detests birds and I was sure to exploit it. It was fun for me anyway.

When we got inside we were seated with our groups. There was only one other family with us and our group was much bigger than their group. That was cool later as we had almost the entire safari truck to ourselves.

After a few opening words we were introduced to our safari guide and we were on our way to KS. The safari was fantastic. We saw a few animals we hadn't seen earlier in the morning.

Like these guys...I don't remember ever seeing these guys...as fans of Big Cat Diary on Animal Planet, it was exceptionally cool to see them.

This guy was really active and that's always cool....

I wish the truck wouldn't have bounced because this had the potential to be a pretty good shot...

There was one person driving while our guide gave us all the details on the animals along with some fun stories on the origins of their names and such. It was much more thorough than the normal safari.

After the safari, the tour guide took us over to the Tusker House. On the way Lindsey chatted him up and they were talking animals. Lindsey is an animal nut and watches Animal Planet nonstop when she gets to pick what's on. I may have a future vet on my hands. Here they are...

Once at TH, we were seated and on the table was the most delicious salads. Sorry I forgot to take pics...it was just all so exciting that I got caught up and forgot to take pics. It was good enough that we had to ask for more!

Shortly after our waitress took our drink orders, we all made our way to the buffet. Again, more very good food, but I didn't take any pics. During dinner our hostess announced birthdays and anniversaries. There was a man two tables over celebrating his 92nd b-day. Isn't that amazing???

There was an African band that was playing music the entire time we were eating. Every now and then they would do a number and the families would be asked to sing along. The girls thought this was great. Mary's girls and my girls got out there and cut a rug. Here are some pics of them....not that great since I was navigating through heads but documents the fun nonetheless...

After this number two special guests came into the room and danced with the kids for a bit. It was Rafiki and Timon. After a quick dance they made their way into a side room for autographs and photos. Here's our pic:

After the meet and greet we went outside to interact with some "exotic" animals. I have to say this was my only disappointment of the event. Their idea of exotic was a reptile of some sort and a tarantula. The girls enjoyed it but I guess I had my hopes on something a little bigger and cooler.
Here's the pics from the interactions...

After the interactions it was time to gather our things and head to the buses. The park had been closed for hours so special transportation was arranged just for the GG families. Before leaving, we took this pic of the group...we're good lookin' aren't we?

We walked out with Dana and her family and Mary and her family. We had talked ourselves into heading over to MK for EMH. By the time we walked to the bus stop for the parks it was a little after 9pm. It was nearing 9:40 when I looked at Joe and could tell he was getting restless and just wanted to go back to the hotel. So at that very moment I changed our minds and decided to head back to AKL. We had an 8am BBB the next morning and by the time we got to MK it was going to be after 10. It just wasn't going to work well for the girls (or Joe). Just as we were walking away the bus going to MK pulled up but we decided to hitch a ride back to AKL.

That turned out to be a problem because all of the buses were gone and there were only few stragglers waiting on a DHS bus. We headed back to the main gate in hope that we could find a CM to call a bus for us or just help us find a ride back home. No such luck. It was almost a bit creepy. We couldn't find anyone and the park was pitch dark.

We found a few contractors and told them our story. They offered to tell the first CM so we were good with that. Right at the moment we saw a bus pull up and we ran like crazy over to it.

We explained to the driver that were in need of a ride to AKL. He was so great. He said "Hop On" and took us over there. There was another family that got twisted around somehow and they were great too. No one seemed to mind helping us out.

As we were exiting the bus we tried to give the driver some money for being so kind. He wouldn't take it but I had read that if you leave the money they can pick it up, so we just dropped it on the floor as we were heading out. I saw him pick it up as we were walking away and he was closing the door. It made me happy that he picked it up-he totally deserved it for going out of his way!

Within a few minutes of hitting the door, here is what the view looked like in our villa...aren't they sweet????

It was a REALLY great day and the GG was a perfect way to wrap it up.

Up Next: MK Day! BBB, CRT, 1900 Park Fare and friends as Grand Marshalls!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I am impressed with your safari, I have only ever seen the lion sleeping and barely visible.

 

[leamom2princesses]

I have been out of the loop and your TR is moving along so quickly! It looks like a great trip so far. I love the girls pics with their leis on their heads. And their AK outfits! I can't wait to see them in the dresses you made for them!

Hi Kayce! It's great to hear from you.

I love your new ticker girl!!

Thanks for the sweet comments on the girls too.

 

[MHTeacher]

Your GG sounds like so much fun! Dana had told me that the safari was great, because it was cooler and you got to see some of the animals that aren't usually active.

Love your group pic! I recognized everyone in the picture.

We were at MK for those EMHs. I think we left the park at 1:55 a.m.--But, we didn't have 8 a.m. BBB appointments!

 

[leamom2princesses]

I am impressed with your safari, I have only ever seen the lion sleeping and barely visible.

Thanks Lessa! I have been wracking my brain trying to see if I ever remember seeing the Cheetahs. I swear I don't remember ever seeing them....it was a really great safari. It was dusk and I think that it was cooler and the animals were starting to come alive.

 

[MaryAz]

Great update!! That safari was really good for animal viewing! I was also a little disappointed in the exotic animals. Avery is taking a Junior Vet class in summer school and loves it. Can't wait to see the BBB pics!! You forgot the funny moment when on the way to the bus where I was racing with Joe in the wheelchair-or were you trying to forget that

 

[wlwilliams9]

Wow! What a great day!! Fun activities with great people, does it get any better than that? I just want to know why the girls didn't drag Dallas out to dance with them?!

 

[leamom2princesses]

Your GG sounds like so much fun! Dana had told me that the safari was great, because it was cooler and you got to see some of the animals that aren't usually active.

Love your group pic! I recognized everyone in the picture.

We were at MK for those EMHs. I think we left the park at 1:55 a.m.--But, we didn't have 8 a.m. BBB appointments!

It was a lot of fun Michelle. I wish I had realized that you all were going to be in AK that day, I would have invited you along. Sorry girl!

I'm glad we skipped EMH. It worked out for the best after all was said in done. There's nothing more fun than two crabby girls in the morning. I'm sure you can identify.

 

[leamom2princesses]

Great update!! That safari was really good for animal viewing! I was also a little disappointed in the exotic animals. Avery is taking a Junior Vet class in summer school and loves it. Can't wait to see the BBB pics!! You forgot the funny moment when on the way to the bus where I was racing with Joe in the wheelchair-or were you trying to forget that

I need to do a search and see if I can find a Junior Vet program around here. That would thrill Linds. I did forget the wheelchair race. I'll let you tell everyone in your report.

 

[tksbaskets]

We started our adventure at 6am on May 22nd when this beast pulled up in my driveway to take us to the airport. (We aren’t rich or anything….the McFarland’s split the cost; it worked out to be cheaper than parking and gas!)

Keep in mind that I was driving so Joe was the photographer. For his first TR supporting role, I think he did pretty well. Was our room ready when we checked in? Did we get our room requests? Well you will have to wait to see on that.
Up Next: Details on AKV-Kidani!

Boy I'm going to be up all night Just found your trip report and now I'm hooked! Nice writing style and great pics your hubby is doing an excellent job in his supporting role.

We will be staying at AKV in December so I'm double excited about your trippie. Thanks for taking the time to share...off to read 11 more pages! Oh why did I start surfing at 11 pm??

 

[leamom2princesses]

Wow! What a great day!! Fun activities with great people, does it get any better than that? I just want to know why the girls didn't drag Dallas out to dance with them?!

It was a lot of fun Wendy! I'm hoping for similar type fun next October when we all run that 5k and blow the doors off Disney.

Dallas is a big sweetie and kind of shy guy. He wouldn't get up there and neither would Lexie. My girls have no fear whatsoever and have never met a stranger so they were

 

[leamom2princesses]

Boy I'm going to be up all night Just found your trip report and now I'm hooked! Nice writing style and great pics your hubby is doing an excellent job in his supporting role.

We will be staying at AKV in December so I'm double excited about your trippie. Thanks for taking the time to share...off to read 11 more pages! Oh why did I start surfing at 11 pm??

Thanks for reading my TR and for the kind words on the hubby! There's lots of chit chat but you can follow the links to skip ahead to the next chapter.

You will love AKV!! It is so great!

Oooohhh, I see that you are from SE Michigan. I grew up in Monroe. Hello to a fellow Michigander!

 

[Brave teacher]

The GG looks like it was a fun time. Great safari pics as well.

 

[ladybugmom]

Oh wow!! What a fun GG!! It sounds like ya'll had an amazing time! I LOVE the group pic!! And how nice of that bus driver to take you back to AKL!!

 

[MissLiz]

We did our Pirates and Pals Fireworks cruise that night and we seriously considered doing EMH afterwards at MK. We started walking from CR to MK with the full intention of going, but by the time we got to the bus stops, we had changed our mind and we just went back to AKL.

We were heading to MK in the morning and we had done a bit before the cruise, so we weren't too heartbroken about missing EMH.

Great update, by the way. The whole GG thing is awesome! I would love to do that sometime!

 

[MHTeacher]

It was a lot of fun Michelle. I wish I had realized that you all were going to be in AK that day, I would have invited you along. Sorry girl!

That's ok, Leanne---I hadn't thought anything about it. I'm glad y'all got to do it and have a fun time!

There's nothing more fun than two crabby girls in the morning. I'm sure you can identify.

No, I have no idea whatever you're talking about........................... Yeah, right!

 

[bouncycat]

Awesome update Leanne!!! Just awesome. LOVED the GG pic!! I wanna go to the next one!!! LOL TGIF my friend!!! Got any good plans for the weekend? I got a pig roast at my dad's, and then cleaning getting ready for company!!! WOOHOO!!!

 

[tksbaskets]

They followed Goofy all over the restaurant. Shortly after that, Joe received his first b-day cupcake of the trip. Josie thought it was awesome to have part of the cupcake for breakfast.

My entire family really enjoyed this meal and we will definitely be adding this to our list of must do's. This will probably be one that we pay OOP.

Up Next: Our ride reviews and our first GG!

I love TH Were those animal print skirts/shorts I see on your girls?? Too cute.

Your DH has a great expression here (nice choice of shirts too)! Looks like my beloved when I'm taking food porn pics