Our Anniversary Week at the Happiest Place on Earth!! TR DONE 8/30 SOUVENIR POST SOON

[Goofy22]

Great Christmas surprise Goofy
You be a fabulous mom
And if the whole too many Disney trips causes a divorce, I'll be glad to accompanny you on any future trips

Thanks I'll keep you in mind just in case!

 

[Charleston Princess]

O'hana dinner*

Have done a breakfast here but not dinner -- enjoyed the atmosphere.

Chef Mickey's breakfast or dinner*

Enjoyed our dinner here -- great dessert bar!

Kona breakfast

Are you coffee drinkers? Their Kona coffee is to die for! So is their Tonga Toast. Mmmmm.

Tusker House breakfast

You know we love it here.

Mama Melrose F! package (only if we decided we want to see F! again, we may not)

Charles and I ate here years ago when it was just the two of us -- we weren't really impressed.

House of Blues dinner (because of how much Chris loved it here)*

I would love to eat here!

Tutto Italia dinner

I would eat here over Mama Melrose's.

Boma dinner

Possibly our favorite restaurant on property. Since you are staying at AKV, you should really consider it.

50s Prime Time Cafe lunch*

I so want to do this one someday -- you and Chris would have a blast, I am sure.

I think thats it. Chris will pick somewhere to eat dinner on his bday. Also on this trip we're planning to hit Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party and do the Keys to the Kingdom tour, both of which I'm soooo excited about!! Just under 6 months to go!!!!

Both of those would be so much fun!!! You are going to have such a great time on this next trip!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

I am soooooooo jealous that you guys are staying in the new AKV's in November!! I'm glad you guys had such a good time at The Lion King! But that meal at the diner definitely was a ripoff! OMG! $140 for diner food is terrible! I like me some diner food but $140 is outrageous! Don't you just love WOD!?!?! It's really is like a little piece of WDW right in the middle of NYC! Perfect for the fix between trips!

 

[Goofy22]

Kristen,

Ok, The news is in! I just heard a few minutes ago! We're going to Disney 11/30 to 12/04/2009 we are staying at Kidani Village!!!! 1 Bedroom Villa I can't wait! I always wanted to goto Disney near Christmas and DD always wanted to stay at AKV!!!

 

[xoktenox]

I'm surprised we haven't either. I guess I'm just afraid it'll ruin some of the magic, I don't know. But, I think we might have to do it next year or something.

Well I hope Chris picks out something awesome.

I think you guys to try it!! Chris better pick something good for his birthday!

O'hana Have done a breakfast here but not dinner -- enjoyed the atmosphere.

Chef Mickey's Enjoyed our dinner here -- great dessert bar! I'm thinking there or Crystal Palace...idk!

Kona Cafe Are you coffee drinkers? Their Kona coffee is to die for! So is their Tonga Toast. Mmmmm. I've had Tonga Toast, from Capt. Cooks though, I'd really love to try Kona!

Tusker House You know we love it here. Would love to do it again but want to try something else too...

Mama Melrose Charles and I ate here years ago when it was just the two of us -- we weren't really impressed. We weren't too super impressed either...

House of Blues I would love to eat here! Chris wants to more than me!

Tutto Italia I would eat here over Mama Melrose's. I agree!

Boma Possibly our favorite restaurant on property. Since you are staying at AKV, you should really consider it. oooh you may have just made the decision there for me!

50s PTC I so want to do this one someday -- you and Chris would have a blast, I am sure. He's really looking forward to doing this one

Both of those would be so much fun!!! You are going to have such a great time on this next trip!

Yayyy I'm so happy I can't wait to do MVMCP and KTTK!

I am soooooooo jealous that you guys are staying in the new AKV's in November!! I'm glad you guys had such a good time at The Lion King! But that meal at the diner definitely was a ripoff! OMG! $140 for diner food is terrible! I like me some diner food but $140 is outrageous! Don't you just love WOD!?!?! It's really is like a little piece of WDW right in the middle of NYC! Perfect for the fix between trips!

I'm sooo happy to stay at AKV! And Lion King was amazing but the dinner was ickkkk and not worth it!!

WoD was sooo great, definitely a great Disney fix

Kristen,

Ok, The news is in! I just heard a few minutes ago! We're going to Disney 11/30 to 12/04/2009 we are staying at Kidani Village!!!! 1 Bedroom Villa I can't wait! I always wanted to goto Disney near Christmas and DD always wanted to stay at AKV!!!

Yayyyy!! I'm so happy you're getting to stay there! I'll make sure to take extra pictures and all so you can see everything. You'll be there a week after we leave. Woooo AKV!

 

[Sunset Cliffs]

Just going back to Boma for a sec...Todd & I are not adventurous eaters either. In fact, on one of our trips I got us all the way to the entry of Boma and we looked at the menu....and we chickened out! We ended up eating in the CS there instead. About a year later, my parents went to WDW and they ate at Boma and raved about it. So then I felt like an even bigger dork that my PARENTS were more brave than I was. So the next time we sucked it up and went, and now it is in our top 3 places to eat there. There are some really different things there, but enough "normal" things that you won't feel like you can't find anything. And the deserts are so yummy!

 

[meanmom121]

Kristen,

Ok, The news is in! I just heard a few minutes ago! We're going to Disney 11/30 to 12/04/2009 we are staying at Kidani Village!!!! 1 Bedroom Villa I can't wait! I always wanted to goto Disney near Christmas and DD always wanted to stay at AKV!!!

Yah I guess I'm going to have to try renting DVC points

 

[Goofy22]

Yah I guess I'm going to have to try renting DVC points

Definitely!!!! I believe my total is cheaper than a value room!

 

[punkin413]

a few things....

i disagree about kris winning AI. i voted for him. danny was my favorite. i can't stand adam. not because he's not talented. i think he's IMMENSELY talented. however, he's SO theatrical that he makes me cringe.....kinda like clay aiken. adam belongs on broadway. he's just too dramatic for pop in my opinion.

glad you liked the lion king. we saw it in atlanta last year and it was incredible and i bet the "real" broadway version was even better!

we went to eat at ellen's while we were in NYC this past weekend. we went for lunch so it wasn't quite as expensive. we all got burgers and i think our bills were around $20 each. i liked the singing most of the time. some of the servers were better than others of course. but we were entertained by some people sitting nearby who were SO drunk and making fools of themselves, so that really made it more entertaining than the singers!

congrats on staying at AKV! i'm so glad it worked out with tara. she rocks! we rented DVC points from her last year at SSR and next trip we're doing the same to stay at VWL. i can't wait!

The statue thing in this picture was made to have the same outline shape as EE. I read on allears.net.

how cool! i didn't know that.

nemo is cool but i'm like you - it's not something i need to do every time. ray slept during some of it, too!

 

[JenAusty]

Congrats on Kidani Village! We had just heard about that not to long ago.. and when we went to AKL for dinner.. we were like in lovveee! So I'm sure the Villas are just as great! That's great that you can do that. DH and I talked to a DVC person while on vaca and while that seems worth it, its nothing we could do right now. We have to get settled and stuff first. But the fact that you can take advantage of something like that and get a better deal is amazing!

Great food choices. I'll be excited to hear about the new places that we didn't go to. We both wanted to go to Tusker House but I didn't know it was Table Service only, otherwise I would of changed our plans. But MM was awesome for F! package. I think you went there last time.. idk though.

 

[OneTreeHillAddict]

Wow. I missed a lot while I was away! Love the AK update. And that's so cool that you're staying at the AKV! Those are gorgeous....I haven't seen them in person but I saw them through the DVC thing I did. How romantic! Just sitting on the balcony and watching the animals roam. Wow!

We just stayed at CSR and those new rooms were amazing! By far the prettiest Disney resort room decor I have seen yet! I would have loved to bring the entire room home with me!

*Wanted to add...AKL counter service is the BEST! I had the fried shrimp before we left and it was sooooooooooooooooo good. The kids had flat bread pizza and it was yummy too. (So they said) Sure looked good.

 

[db4ffc]

Hey, signing in from London as promised....have finally caught up, serves me right for reading the PTR in its entireity! Am expecting to hear lots more about your magical holiday.....keep it up
I agree with everything you were saying about how people our age find it easier to relate on all things Disney...we're all big kids though, even at 23

 

[tinkgurl]

Kristen..you need to not be so busy! I thought that since summer was here we'd be texting more...but nooooooooooooooooo.

 

[Goofy22]

Kristen, I checked out the Kidani Villas online! They are really cool! The one bedroom sleeps five ppl it has a king bed in the master and a pull out sofa and pull out chair!

 

[Eventer98]

Hey Kristen! Finally catching up on your TR. Thanks for the shout out on the point rental!

Can't wait to read more!!

 

[Raecheal]

I"m Racheal....

I just read all throughout your report. It was great. I really enjoyed it. What i really love about it.. is that your trip was so similar to dbf and I... I"m so excited for your new PTR.

I hope it's not to late... but I"m in..

 

[xoktenox]

Just going back to Boma for a sec...Todd & I are not adventurous eaters either. In fact, on one of our trips I got us all the way to the entry of Boma and we looked at the menu....and we chickened out! We ended up eating in the CS there instead. About a year later, my parents went to WDW and they ate at Boma and raved about it. So then I felt like an even bigger dork that my PARENTS were more brave than I was. So the next time we sucked it up and went, and now it is in our top 3 places to eat there. There are some really different things there, but enough "normal" things that you won't feel like you can't find anything. And the deserts are so yummy!

Yayyy that makes me so happy to hear you say that. I'm not afraid to try new things when I eat because chances are I'll probably like it as long as there's no red meat involved LOL but Chris on the other hand wasn't too pleased when he read the Boma menu. I told him I didn't care and we were going there anyway but still It makes me feel a lot better to know there are "normal" things there to eat too! Thanks!

Yah I guess I'm going to have to try renting DVC points

Do it!! Let me know how it goes!

Definitely!!!! I believe my total is cheaper than a value room!

Yayyyy!! I'm sooo happy for you and even happier that you got this idea from something that I did. Since I got the idea from other people I'm glad I was able to pass it along!

a few things....

i disagree about kris winning AI. i voted for him. danny was my favorite. i can't stand adam. not because he's not talented. i think he's IMMENSELY talented. however, he's SO theatrical that he makes me cringe.....kinda like clay aiken. adam belongs on broadway. he's just too dramatic for pop in my opinion. Danny was totally my favorite too and don't get me wrong, Kris is definitely talented. I just think that Adam was the more talented of the two. He just worked the stage everytime and I think thats what AI is all about! Good luck to Kris though because he totally is a great singer!

glad you liked the lion king. we saw it in atlanta last year and it was incredible and i bet the "real" broadway version was even better! Lion King was amazingggg, I can't wait to hear about how you liked Wicked!

we went to eat at ellen's while we were in NYC this past weekend. we went for lunch so it wasn't quite as expensive. we all got burgers and i think our bills were around $20 each. i liked the singing most of the time. some of the servers were better than others of course. but we were entertained by some people sitting nearby who were SO drunk and making fools of themselves, so that really made it more entertaining than the singers! Ellen's...oh where to begin? LOL no, it wasn't terrible just disappointing when I literally could get better food at a diner 3 mins from my house. Glad I tried it but not gonna be going back any time soon. That's funny about the drunk people, I can't wait to hear about it.

congrats on staying at AKV! i'm so glad it worked out with tara. she rocks! we rented DVC points from her last year at SSR and next trip we're doing the same to stay at VWL. i can't wait! I can't thank you enough for directing me to Tara! She's great and I'm sooo excited to atay at AKV!

how cool! i didn't know that. Read it on allears!

nemo is cool but i'm like you - it's not something i need to do every time. ray slept during some of it, too!

those boys don't give any mixed signals about what attractions they like and what ones they don't, now do they?

Congrats on Kidani Village! We had just heard about that not to long ago.. and when we went to AKL for dinner.. we were like in lovveee! So I'm sure the Villas are just as great! That's great that you can do that. DH and I talked to a DVC person while on vaca and while that seems worth it, its nothing we could do right now. We have to get settled and stuff first. But the fact that you can take advantage of something like that and get a better deal is amazing! oooooh where'd you eat in AKL? I wish that we could buy into DVC but its not in the cards for us right now either. Maybe in like 15 yrs! LOL

Great food choices. I'll be excited to hear about the new places that we didn't go to. We both wanted to go to Tusker House but I didn't know it was Table Service only, otherwise I would of changed our plans. But MM was awesome for F! package. I think you went there last time.. idk though.

We loveddd TH, I would suggest it highly. I'm excited to try new places too. MM was pretty good but idk if we'll be doing it again this time, depends on if we wanna see F! again. Coming from an Italian family (my mom's side) and living in NY, its hard to beat our Italian food!

Wow. I missed a lot while I was away! Love the AK update. And that's so cool that you're staying at the AKV! Those are gorgeous....I haven't seen them in person but I saw them through the DVC thing I did. How romantic! Just sitting on the balcony and watching the animals roam. Wow! Glad you're back and jealous you went to WDW again!! I can't wait to stay at AKV!! I'm surprised you guys haven't bought into DVC yet. I can't wait to see the animals and stay at a deluxe!!

We just stayed at CSR and those new rooms were amazing! By far the prettiest Disney resort room decor I have seen yet! I would have loved to bring the entire room home with me! Awww you're making me wanna stay at CSR again! I heard they were refurbed I can't wait to see your pictures!

*Wanted to add...AKL counter service is the BEST! I had the fried shrimp before we left and it was sooooooooooooooooo good. The kids had flat bread pizza and it was yummy too. (So they said) Sure looked good.

Ohhhh I loveeee me some shrimp! Can't wait to try it! Chris would be sticking with the flatbread as he doesn't eat anything whose primary mode of transportation was once swimming LOL

Hey, signing in from London as promised....have finally caught up, serves me right for reading the PTR in its entireity! Am expecting to hear lots more about your magical holiday.....keep it up
I agree with everything you were saying about how people our age find it easier to relate on all things Disney...we're all big kids though, even at 23

Glad you came over and joined in!! I can't believe you read my whole PTR, I'm honored Stick around for another update tomorrow!

Kristen..you need to not be so busy! I thought that since summer was here we'd be texting more...but nooooooooooooooooo.

OMG text me then! I forget when I'm busy but when I'm at work and stuff I'd loveeee the distraction!

Kristen, I checked out the Kidani Villas online! They are really cool! The one bedroom sleeps five ppl it has a king bed in the master and a pull out sofa and pull out chair!

Seriously, I'm soooo excited for you! What website did you look at them on? Give me the link girl!!

Hey Kristen! Finally catching up on your TR. Thanks for the shout out on the point rental!

Can't wait to read more!!

Tara I can't thank you enough for the point rental!! Its suchhhh a dream to be able to afford to stay at AKV!

I"m Racheal....

I just read all throughout your report. It was great. I really enjoyed it. What i really love about it.. is that your trip was so similar to dbf and I... I"m so excited for your new PTR.

I hope it's not to late... but I"m in..

Welcome to the TR!!! It's definitelyyyy not too late, we're only on day 2! I'm going to have to go over and read your Sept 08 TR when I get a chance because I too love reading about people my own age on here!

 

[Goofy22]

Just goto www.disneyvacationclub.com you can look at all the DVC resorts there like you can on the regular resort site only it's all DVC resorts! I'm also glad that a fellow diser helped you and you helped me! LOL!

 

[db4ffc]

It's a gripping read lol, although by the end I'm just wanting you guys to get to WDW so badly, I don't think I could have read any more In all fairness, I only kept on because I thought the TR was at the end....but it wasn't......but luckily that means I get to enjoy the updates like everyone else and not read it all in one go!

On a side note, Britain's Got Talent just finished, so for all you lovely Americans, this is our winner - "Diversity"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckY5eNm7CMw

 

[xoktenox]

Hey everyone! Sorry no update in so long, I promise I'll start moving this TR along a little faster. I was actually really busy this past week! Let me say how much I just HATE my job and am dying for another. Well anyone who read my PTR may remember that I took 2 civil service tests back in October and then another in January to make myself eligible for county or state jobs. Well I got a ton of interview offers in March and April but I was in school at the time so I didn't go for any of the interviews. About a week and a half ago I got a letter from a school district way out on the east end of Long Island for a position as an account clerk (the 1st test I took), full time, starting at over double the money I made last year! It's perfect timing since its summer now and no school for me plus if I find out I get the job there I still have plenty of time to adjust my school schedule for the fall. And, if I can get in there and get some connections that could be really helpful when I finish my Master's degree and need a teaching job. So I sent the request for an interview time in and am still waiting to hear back. Wish me luck! Then this past Thursday I was talking to Chris while i was at work and we decided to go out and buy a Nintendo Wii! So after work we went to Best Buy and he bought it for me!! (I threw in a little bit of money but he paid for the bulk of it) I'm so excited and I've been playing it alot, taking away my Dis time. I know, bad Diser! And yesterday I worked until 2:15 and then had Nicole's (ibedancin824) graduation party, a BBQ for my aunt and uncle's birthdays and Chris's niece Aubrey's 1st birthday party! So I've been busy but here I am, back with an update! On with the show.....
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When I last left you we had just got done watching Finding Nemo--The Musical and were walking towards Dinoland. I took that nice shot of the tattooed man and off we went! We walked through Dinoland and decided there really wasn't anything there we wanted to ride. We considered jumping on line for Primeval Whirl but the wait time was like 30 mins or something and we didn't want to wait that long for it. So off we went to ride Dinosaur! Back when I was at AK in 1998 with my family (just 5 months after the park had opened), I remember riding Dinosaur, which was called Countdown to Extinction at the time. I knew it was a cool ride then so I was excited to ride it with Chris. The wait time was posted at 20 mins which wasn't too bad so we hopped on line. Here's a few cool pictures from the queue

We got on Dinosaur after waiting about 10 mins! Shorter than the posted wait time which I was psyched about. We loved Dinosaur! Chris really loved it too and was making fun of me the whole time though because I rode it with my ears plugged LOL I have this fear of loud noises or things jumping out at me that I don't expect. After close call on Dinosaur we decided to walk over to Kali River Rapids. At this point it was starting to get pretty cloudy out and I was fearing that the predicted rain was going to come. It wasn't very hot so we were a little aprehensive to ride Kali too. We walked over anyway just to see how long the wait was. We got over there and it was posted at 40 mins, longer than we cared to wait. So we grabbed 2 Fastpasses and pondered over what to do next. Close to Kali was the Maharajah Jungle Trek and since we had time to kill, we took a walk through.

I got Chris to pose for this one LOL

I loveeeeeee tigers!!! They're soo beautiful!

I think the bats came next. There was not an icebergs chance in hell that I was going to walk through the bat area. No way, no how. Chris wanted to see them though so he walked through by himself while I waited outside. I was going to give him my camera to take some pictures but then I realized that I'd eventually have to look at those pictures so I took the camera back so he wouldn't sneak one in to scare me. He seriously was in the bat area for like 10 mins. I mean the area is not that big but he was just so fascinated by the bats! He came out and was like "Babe those bats were HUGE!!" Needless to say, he liked that area. But, no pictures, thank you very much. So on we went.

I snapped a shot of these deer even though I see them on my front lawn all the time. Actually, late one night I had to sit in my car for like 15 mins waiting for 2 of them to run off because I was scared to walk past them to get into my house LOL

I tried to be artistic with this one

After our field trip through the jungle we still had time to kill and the weather was looking more and more gloomy. It was probably around 1 at this point and we were starting to get a little hungry/thirsty so we killed two birds with one stone and grabbed some frozen lemonades over at the Yak and Yeti counter service I believe. (I may be mistaken aobut that, correct me if I'm wrong!) Boy were these some tangy frozen lemonades. Seriously we were both shocked at how like sour they were. Wandering around over in this area we ended up over by Tusker House and the Dawa Bar again. There was alot of noise from over here so we went over to check out what was going on. It was African dancers and drummers! Of course anything to do with live music meant Chris wanted to stop and watch and I sure wasn't complaining! It was so cool! They picked a whole bunch of people out of the audience to come and dance with them. Then they started separating the group into smaller groups to come up front and do dances in the smaller groups. They left this one little girl until the very end, not placing her in any groups. I thought they forgot about her! And it was a shame because when they were doing the dances as one big group, she was getting down with her bad self! Well, the guy leading the dancing takes her at the end and brings her up front all by herself and starts showing her what to do. She was sooo into it!! It was hilarious and soooo cute at the same time! She was dancing her little butt off and everyone was cheering and clapping so loud for her!

Its things like this that make me love Disney soooo much. Where else on Earth would you be able to do something like this? Or where else would anyone not be afraid to do something like this? NOWHERE! People can come to WDW and be a kid again and just let loose and have fun. Thats the magic of it all. Plus it was sooo cool to see the native African dancing and music. Loved it so much.

Once that was over we decided to head over to It's Tough to be a Bug. I'm not going to lie, I was really nervous about this attraction! This is the only ride besides Dinosaur I remember doing in 1998 and it scared the bejesus out of me!! I hated getting stung by the bees and when the bugs crawled under you at the end. I didn't wanna seem like a wimp though so I didn't let Chris know I was nervous. So we walked over to the Tree of Life. Here's 2 measely pictures from the wait

Then the unthinkable happened......MY CAMERA DIED!!! AND MY BACKUP BATTERIES WERE DEAD TOO!

I was so upset. Then to top it off, it started to POUR! The sky just opened up and dumped buckets of water down. Luckily right as it began we were under an overhang on the ITTBAB queue but soon enough we had to move. Everyone was wet and stunk and we were all cramped together under the little overhangs. About 3 mins later the rain stopped LOL Lucky for us because not more than a minute later a CM yelled to everyone that the ride was broken! It was shut down due to "technical difficulities." Ughhh!

continued in next post.......