our non-rushing (sorta) disney anniversary w/ PICS & VIDEO! new TR link - p. 136

[punkin413]

just a little note before i continue. this will be our first day of getting photopass pics taken. obviously i don't have my CD yet. so i'll add in any missed photopass pics when i get it and then i'll just include them in my TR from that point forward.

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when i last left you we were on our way to check in at SSR after our wonderful night at the hojo. we passed under those glorious "welcome to disney" arches and, yes, i'm ashamed to say i didn't take a picture. i was driving and ray was busy trying to get the right amount of sugar and cream into my coffee from the BK lounge! we arrived at SSR around 8:00. WE WERE HERE!!!!!!!

the guard at the entrance asked for ID and then looked on his little list, then gave us directions to the carriage house and said, "welcome home." SO COOL!!!

this place is GORGEOUS!!! the main area before you get to the carriage house (around the pool) looks like a little town or something. i'd definitely stay here again! i took LOTS of pics, but i want to save those for my tuesday morning installment since that's when i took them. i got up early that day and just strolled around the resort - just me and my camera.

anyway, we parked the car and went into the carriage house to check in. we got helped immediately and got our "welcome home" packet. the CM said that our room was ready. REALLY???? i asked if we got congress park and she said no, we got the carousel. she said that if we wanted to wait until later in the day, she could check on getting us a room at congress park instead. i opted to do that because i really wanted to be close to DTD and we were going to AK anyway. she told us to park in the congress park section and gave us a card to call later to check on our room number.

i took this picture of congress park when we parked. although this didn't end up being our building!

we grabbed the backpack and we were on our way to our first disney bus stop!!! it was only like 8:20 and i couldn't believe we could possibly make a rope drop on our first day! totally unexpected. well, i thought we'd make a rope drop. we ended up waiting about 20 minutes for an AK bus. oh, well! we got there just a few minutes after the park opened.

as soon as we got through the gates (and my heart did a little cartwheel! ) i went to the guest services area to the left and purchased my DDE card and picked up our P&PP tickets and we were on our way!!!!!!!!

we decided to head towards the safari first since we had never been on it in the early morning.

continued in next post......http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=24961959&postcount=82

 

[punkin413]

we got to the safari and there was already a 40-minute wait. so we grabbed fastpasses and headed towards the pangani forest trail.

i got better pictures of these guys last year......

i was so happy to see the okapis out and about. both times i've been here before they were hiding. they were so cool! they have these long creepy tongues and when they walk they resemble a giraffe....

next up was the timons.......the meerkats! i love watching these. they're so funny! these two were taking turns watching for enemies while the other one ate. at least that's what the all-knowing meerkat lady said.

next was my favorite - the gorillas. i could seriously stand here for hours and watch these beautiful creatures. i wonder if ray would buy me a gorilla???

ray got AWESOME video of this gorilla. he was just standing there like he is in the picture, looking at all the people looking back at him, probably thinking, "WHAT are you looking at?????? i'm just having a little breakfast. geez." then he finally turned around and walked away.

when we were finished our fastpasses still weren't ready, so we headed towards it's tough to be a bug. ray has never done it and i knew he would love it after i did it last september!

we passed a couple more wild animals on the way......

ray already started complaining about the amount of pictures i was taking. so i took a picture of him to shut him up.

i love this picture of the tree of life through the other trees!

we made it to ITTBAB and there was like a 5-minute wait. i love this poster!!

don't we look super cool in our bug glasses???

the show, of course, was a hit! ray loved it. we sat pretty close and it was WAY better than when i did it in september. i don't remember the smoke....maybe because we were sitting in the back last time. anway, i'm glad he got to do it because he really liked it!

after the show our fastpasses for the safari were almost ready, so we headed that way.

up next.......we ride the safari......OR DO WE???????

 

[VandyFan10]

they have these long creepy tongues and when they walk they resemble a giraffe....

I think they said these were related to the Giraffe

Just like mine.....this picture cracks me up!!!

ray already started complaining about the amount of pictures i was taking. so i took a picture of him to shut him up.

I seriously think we ALL 4 need to take a vacation together

don't we look super cool in our bug glasses???

SUPER COOL!!

Great update keep them coming!!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Dawn! I'm so glad you loved SSR! We're going to try BW in March, but I just keep thinking we should just stick with SSR.

Fun update at AK - I'll be anxious for more....you always have so much fun!

 

[MA pigletfan]

I am so excited to see SSR...we drove around it on the bus on our way to DTD last trip and it seemed so pretty and HUGE!!
LOVE the ITTBAB glasses...stylin'

 

[scottny]

great update and pics.

sounds like a great start to your 1st day.

 

[dwheatl]

Is that a hidden Mickey on Ray's ear?

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Great start to your WDW trip!

SSR looks really pretty. Looking forward to the other pictures you took of the resort.

Love the AK pics from Pangani forest trail - we've never done that trail but the animals look so cool. Love the meerkats and gorillas!

By the way, I love your hair! The last report I read of yours it was much longer.

 

[Eventer98]

Great update Dawn...glad you liked SSR! You can see why we got the timeshare...it's so peaceful there isn't it? Hope you get Congress Park..we got it by accident. I had requested The Grandstand b/c it was the newest and ended up with CP. Glad we did (views of DTD are awesome as I hope you now know!!) and I have it requested on our next two reservations. Can't wait for more!!

 

[LMO429]

Great update dawn! love all the pics keep them coming

Animal kingdom looked kinda of crowded before the rope drop, I think you were at the tail end of our sprink break in nyc, maybe that was why EE was a 90 minute wait?

 

[roxannensteve]

Sounding good so far

 

[hlrababy]

Great update!! I love your bug eyed pictures!

 

[IluvXU]

Yea! an update... I personally love all your pictures!

 

[MeMom]

I think the picture taking thing is sort of like the Disney thing - you get it or you don't. I'm like you. I get up every morning and head out the door with my camera. Just capturing moments in time to re-live later is exciting to me. I will take a picture of a Florida palm tree blowing in the breeze with the blue Florida sky and the hot Florida sun in the background, and when I look at it later or show it to others, I can just feel myself there. In the mornings, before anyone is up, except a few CMs cleaning a pool or trimming hedges and such, you can get pictures of buildings and icons without any people walking in front of you. I love getting different angles on common pictures, as well as getting any angle on uncommon ones. I want to clone myself and have one of me taking pictures and one of me just watching and doing things like everyone else.

I agree about the gorillas. They are fascinating to watch. I also love to watch the tigers. I think they are beautiful, and I love to watch them walk around so majestically. The meerkats are fun to watch. We watched them chase and take down a rabbit in November. It was exciting to watch, yet kind of sickening, too, because the poor bunny didn't stand a chance. But that's the way of the wild. Oh, heck, who am I kidding? I like to watch them all. I could go on Kilimanjaro Safari and Maharajah and Pangani each three times in one day and still be ready to do it again.

I am so glad you were able to take your trip, and I hope you had a great, relaxing time! I look forward to seeing all of your pictures. You could never take too many for me!

 

[AlienBrain]

yes, we live 20 miles from athens and let me tell ya......it's no fun when you're not a bulldog fan. oh, except when they lose!!! i wouldn't call myself a tech fan but i definitely do cheer for them when they play UGA!!! and as erica told you, i'm a vandy girl. i grew up in the nashville area and was brought up in a vandy household and have held true to my upbringing. DH is a tennessee fan. go figure!

i've shown this to tunajr. and erica, but i wanted to share it with you, too. in fall 2006 when vandy beat UGA at their homecoming football game, i was THRILLED, as you can imagine. a couple weeks later i decided to be a "winner" for halloween!

i really had nothing against UGA until i moved to georgia and red, black and white got SHOVED into my face. it's considered sacreligious around here not to be a bulldog fan, especially where i live! and i'm not saying all bulldog fans are this way, but most of them are TERRIBLE losers and EVEN WORSE winners!

Haha ... great picture and a great costume idea. Yea I didn't dislike UGA fans either ... until I moved up here. Atlanta is the red city: UGA, Coca-Cola, the Braves, the Hawks, the Falcons, and the list goes on.

I really like this tree of life pic because it gives the effect that you are in the middle of a forrest/jungle and the tree of life is rising up in the middle of it.

 

[lexmelinda]

Great pictures! You know I really like the jungle trails and animals more than the attractions at AK....so beautiful.

Why do the AK buses takes soooo much longer than the other buses? Was it a BB/AK combo? Did you have to swing by BB on the way to AK? We usually take the car to AK.

Love the bug glasses. It's a good look!

 

[pooh'smate]

Great update Dawn. I love reading trip reports with lots of pics it makes it so much more interesting. Looking forward to seeing all of your beautiful pics.

 

[LISAMWDW]

Great start! I can't wait to hear more!

haha, I loved when Ray was complaining about taking photos so you took one of him to shut him up! hehehehe

 

[AussieAngel]

Yahooooo! More trip report!!

Loving all your pretty pictures! And ooh la la, SSR looks beautiful!

Here's a question for you... On your trek, did you have to encounter any bats or birds, or um, anything with wings!? Because I'd love to do the trek, but I can't handle anything with wings flapping around me!!

Thanks for the update, Dawn!

 

[Eventer98]

I think the picture taking thing is sort of like the Disney thing - you get it or you don't. I'm like you. I get up every morning and head out the door with my camera. Just capturing moments in time to re-live later is exciting to me. I will take a picture of a Florida palm tree blowing in the breeze with the blue Florida sky and the hot Florida sun in the background, and when I look at it later or show it to others, I can just feel myself there. In the mornings, before anyone is up, except a few CMs cleaning a pool or trimming hedges and such, you can get pictures of buildings and icons without any people walking in front of you. I love getting different angles on common pictures, as well as getting any angle on uncommon ones. I want to clone myself and have one of me taking pictures and one of me just watching and doing things like everyone else.!

I take those same pictures but when I show them to others they don't get it. They think they are just boring pics of Florida. I feel sorry for them!