After spending and exhilarating morning in Asia and the Yeti, we headed to
Dinoland to be fair to little-britches who was stuck in her stroller.
We noticed a Character Greeting was in progress with a shortish line. So we
all geared up for our babys first Character Greeting
which will surely end up
in a screaming scene, Id bet money on it!
Goody it was our turn! The Charaters in question were Pooh, Tigger, and
Eeyore. We let all 3 boys go first to show the scardy-pants how its done. I
heard Jordan (DS17) say Hey, man, love your movies to Pooh
Smart Alec!
Riley and Dallen hugged Pooh and posed for pictures. See, baby? Poohs
NICE! I let her down, thinking how original Ill be to have a scrapbook FULL of
screaming pictures (like last years Santa picture) and she RAN to him! Yikes!
Didnt see THAT coming? The Photo-pass guy was not CAPTURING the Disney
Miracle fast enough for my taste, but he eventually gets my stage mother
HINT to take some photos!
I had brought my homemade autograph books for the characters to sign with
corresponding colored Sharpee markers. Orange for Tigger, beige for Pooh,
purply-grey for Eeyore!
Next, the same character miming and gesturing for Tigger and Eeyore. My
boys (the younger ones) are still cute with the characters. I wonder when
their hands will be shoved in their pockets and they wont smile for the
camera anymore? Jordan is a smarty-pants and says, Whats UP? with his
hugs! Its fun to see him as a kid again, because at home, hes wayyyy too
cool to hug characters.
The Character Greeting was located just outside of DinoLand U.S.A. so it was
now time to go to the carnival and ride some rides! First up was TriceraTop
Spin for me and Norah. The boys took off to go ride Primeval Whirl (which is
my marriage tip of the day: split up
often!) Here is a picture of Riley with his
nervous face. First time on The Hurl! Which he ended up loving
Itoldyaso!
We love flying rides (like the Magic Carpet and Dumbo) and The Spin is no
exception. I dont think Id ride if I was by myself but I enjoy the magic on
the face of my toddler.
Our family met up at the Toy Store conveniently located near Primeval Whirl.
I was captivated with the Mr. Potato Head area. I betcha I could PACK that
$18 box but I heard there was a lot more Potato Head Parts at DownTown
Disney (very true, in case you were wondering). Just outside of the toy store
was ChipnDale ALL ALONE! Sweet! So we had the chipmonks all to ourselves!
Norah is a pro having encountered Santa (last year) and the Hundred Acre
Wood Gang! We had a lot of time with Chip and Dale who were ON (if you
know what I mean!)
Time for Dinosaur which may or may not be quite as scary as The
Countdown To Extinction was. I think they either tamed it down or Ive
upped my fear-o-meter just a bit since the first time on the ride. We planned
on posing like were scared for the picture
one of us isnt acting! We had a
top secret mission to bring back an Iguanadon! It was a really rough trip back
65 million years just before a huge meteor shower caused a massive
extinction
BUT WE DID IT!! We are heros! Here's another redneck photo of
our ride! (Ya, like we'd shell out $16.95 when this one is JUST as good!)
On the way out of Dinoland, the kids played in the Boneyard for a little while.
Letting me enjoy an ice-cold diet Pepsi from our cooler
.ahhhh! DH can run
after the kids, I'll let him!
People-watching is good from where Im sitting! I know its hot, but the
amount of scantily dressed women was mind-boggling! Nuff said from the
modesty police! (Which reminds me...October is breast health month! Get
your exams and mamograms!)
My family decided it was time to head over to Kali River Rapids
to cool off. I
follow. It IS hot and I AM dying of hotness
, BUT! Do I want to get wet? It
is a scientific FACT that if I ride the Kali, I (and the chump sitting next to me)
WILL be the chosen ones for the waterfall. Its a fact that the waterfall gods
chose the most lovely of the raft to soak!
Plus, I spent a lot of time straightening my (ironically stick straight) hair this
morning. AND do I really want to spend the rest of the day in wet
under-clothing? PLUS, someone has to stay with Norah. So I do what any
self-respecting, hot, wanting dry underware-mama would do: I dug out the
rain gear for myself to wear and readied myself for my turn!
While my family rides, I sit in the shade with Norah and a lovely couple who
are celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary (their buttons say so!). They
are from Australia and are traveling around the world to celebrate. It is their
first time to Animal Kingdom. I keep asking them questions JUST to hear their
accents! They just are so cute as they finish each others sentences! They
too didnt want to get wet and were waiting for their family to exit Kali. I
noticed a frozen lemonade stand nearby and told them wed be right back. I
had heard how delightful these frozen treats were and wanted to try for
myself. I bought 3 with my snack credits and gave 2 to my new friends.
They agreed the frozen lemonade hits the spot! Norah kept opening her
mouth like a baby bird for more, more, more!
My gang emerged wet but not soaked
the ladywalking near them was
SOAKED. She was the chosen one the gods deemed most lovely to be
soaked! DH had snapped a picture of this poor lady! (We e-mailed it to her
when we got home).
I geared up in TWO rain ponchos. One worn normally and one to wrap around
my bum to not get wet! Wearing a rain poncho is a MAJOR no-no apparently.
According to the Waterfall gods. I ended up not getting water anywhere near
me. I didnt need the ponchos at all! Had I NOT worn them, I would have
been the chosen one! As it turned out, my Riley and Dallen were chosen.
They had chosen the seats directly across from their mama (for obvious
reasons) and their little plan had backfired but good! Heh-Heh!
Time for Its Tough to be a Bug (ITTBAB) hoping not to traumatize my
toddler. We like this attraction for the most part. The first time is always the
best as far as these shows go. Here's a pic. of me, Norah, and Riley with our
"bug eyes":
I like the waiting area the best. The posters are cute and the carvings in the
tree of life as so spectacular! My kids always pose for pictures with their fists
up the gorillas nostrils! Classy rednecks that we are! We know NOT to enter
the auditorium first, to avoid wanting to sit smack-dab in the middle and end
up on some hate-filled list on the "Attractions Boards"!
So we wait for it
wait for it
then in we go to end up in the dead middle
like the seasoned pros we are (blowing on knuckles and rubbing them on
shirt). I dont want to add any spoilers for the couple few DIS virgins who I
know are reading this so I just will say, it is the PERFECT attraction to bring
young preschoolers or toddlers on! YUP!
Can you guess who was perfectly entertained and who was hiding in his
mamas armpit??? Norah had no problem! Her eyes got big as saucers when
Hopper was on the scene but that was the extent of her fear
.which
should frighten me, Im thinking!
Next its time for the Jamin Jungle Parade! DH filmed half of it before he
realized the video camera was off. Which makes me LAUGH! Because when I
do something stupid like that he goes on and on and on and on. So I smirk.
Thanking Karma. I love the music of this parade. The Iko-Iko song especially.
I sing it LOUD (and wrong!). And dance like I just dont care, until I realize Im
singing the wrong words. Then Im marginally embarrassed realizing I wont see
any of these people again, so I chose the HAVE FUN option rather than the
sit and watch option!
After the parade, Norah and I stroll over to the walking safari with the boys
while DH waits for it to loop around again (by Tusker House you get a parade
two-fer!). The Maharajah Jungle Trek has some exotic animals including these
GIANT bats who look like they are wrapped in rubber as they sleep upside
down in the branches of the trees. Theres some cool tigers and these bulls
with mamoth sized horns! They look like they shouldnt be able to balance,
theyre so whopping!
When we meet up again, DH tells me he had his own private parade! The
characters all came over to him and high-fived him and interacted with him!
They probably thought he was unique standing there by himself video-ing
them! We needed to do the Kilmanjaro Safari before heading off to our much
anticipated dinner at BOMA later on.
I LOVE the safari. I love to see the animals in their Wide open enclosures and
cleverly simulated natural environments
. So relaxing! UNTIL!!!! We
encounter some real live poachers who are after Big Red the elephant!!!! Oh
NOOOOO! Our jeep high-tails it east to where the planes had last seen them
and WE scared them away!!!! WHEW! That was a close one! Poor little red
the baby elephant was safe but scared! We saved the day! AGAIN!
But I can handle it, I'm the parent... oh no I can't, who am I kidding? I'll lay down and die if she screams all the way across the Atlantic. Dear God, let her be calm. It's one way or the other with her - you know 2 year olds - there's no in between. Anyway, like I say, great, wonderful, terrific report!! Keep up the good work! 
about Riley not wanting to ride EE. My DD (16) won't ride it either 
for Norah!
I do not care what you say...they are adorable. I also like the matchy-matchy. 
