Our UnFORGETtable summer trip! A June TR:Update 10/24 Animal Kingdom!

[wigdoutdismom]

Stacy, what day do you arrive at Christmas again? You won't believe that you are able to walk around and not be sweaty! We were amazed!
Going back to look at your videos now!
Anita

 

[stace208]

Stacy, what day do you arrive at Christmas again? You won't believe that you are able to walk around and not be sweaty! We were amazed!
Going back to look at your videos now!
Anita

We arrive on the 26th in the afternoon. Probably around 3-4.

I'm looking forward to the weather and hoping that it's not too chilly. We've been twice in January. One of those times we actually had temps in the 90's for the first part and then we had perfect weather in the 70's and the other time it was in the 80's. In a way, I'd almost rather have chilly! I've got cute sweatshirts I'd like to wear.

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Pick me up on the way down................... I think that will be just fine!

I totally cracked up over your P-A-P video. I seriously need some of whatever it is that CM is popping, drinking or smoking! She was just WAY too perky for somebody who is at work! Your pearls were very nice though!

 

[stace208]

Pick me up on the way down................... I think that will be just fine!

I totally cracked up over your P-A-P video. I seriously need some of whatever it is that CM is popping, drinking or smoking! She was just WAY too perky for somebody who is at work! Your pearls were very nice though!

Isn't she hilarious??? We had that same girl last summer too. Ben does a wonderful impression of her...cracks me up. I need a dose of it too at school!

We seriously do need to meet up sometime. Once we meet in real life, I know we'll hit it off swimmingly, and then we can start planning our own girls only trip.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm and with ya on the WS being not so fun on a hot day! There is NO shade there! And the few moments you go into shops doesn't really cool you down enough. Epcot is a rough park to be in on a hot day, I think it might even be worse than AK.

Despite that, it looks like you guys had a lot of fun! You got some great pictures with the characters!!! Sticky toffee pudding...yum.....!!!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

We will be at vwl when you all come in. We leave to go home on the 28th...
I hope we can schedule time for a nice visit!

 

[stace208]

We will be at vwl when you all come in. We leave to go home on the 28th...
I hope we can schedule time for a nice visit!

Yes, we will definitely be working something out!!! Maybe the evening we come in??? I would really like to see the WL all decorated for the holidays. Or, the next day we are going to MK. So, we'll just have to compare plans and see what works best!!!

 

[stace208]

Saturday is the next day of our trip and we were headed to the Studios!
Up, breakfast in the villa, and out to the car. It was hot already! We got parked and through bag check. We had a plan that was a little different this time that I had heard about here on the DIS. We decided to stay together and head to TSM and ride in stand-by and then grab a fastpass for later.
The crowd took off and we got through just fine. I think the wait time was 30 minutes already but we didn't wait at all. I enjoyed walking through the que.

I rode with Ellie. We were red and blue. John and Ben were yellow and green. You can see that they are both better than either of us.

After we exited, we grabbed a fastpass (no line now) and headed over to Star Tours. John doesn't usually ride this so he wanted to before it gets changed. The kids and I love it and I'm hoping the refurb is as fun as the original.

John did not like the ride. I didn't enjoy it either because I could tell he was getting ready to get sick at any minute (he didn't thank goodness). The kids were clueless and enjoyed the ride.

We then headed over to ToT which John and Ben rode. Then we went to RNRC and Ellie decided she wanted to ride. We were shocked. We waited about 20 minutes. She was pretty scared and rode with her eyes closed but she didn't cry. We were proud of her for even trying! Then Ben and I hopped in line for ToT. It was sweltering at this point and I didn't even get my camera out at all. We went to One Man's Dream. We had never been in there and we all enjoyed it. We skipped part of it at first to go see the movie but then went back in and saw what we had missed.

We grabbed lunch at Backlot Express. Nothing memorable-burgers and hot dog with fries. Then we split up for a bit. Ellie and I went to see Beauty and the Beast, catch some of the parade, and browse. John and Ben went to see Indiana Jones, I think they rode ToT again, and Ben wanted to find the Terminator wax statue.

Ellie and I stopped by the Writers stop and I had a yummy carrot cake cookie. That thing was soooo rich!

I ate more of it than I should have!!

We met back up at the Animation Academy. Ben had begrudgingly agreed to give the drawing class a try. Ellie saw some friends while we were there too.

We were walking out through this one room and look who we found. It was a hoot. She asked Ellie "What are you looking at? What do you want?" Ellie didn't know what to do...it was classic.

See how far away from her she stood for the picture!!! Hilarious!
Now, after this we did the drawing class again. I thought I had pictures of what we drew but I can't find them. Nor can I find the pictures of our dinner at Prime Time Cafe...so, I must go on a camera card hunt. I know we left after dinner and went back to OKW. The kids and I swam and then we played in the Community Hall. It was wonderful having the games and crafts there available. We all enjoyed the quiet family downtime after busy park days.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Woo Hoo Ellie! What a little rock star riding RnR!!!
I just showed Marc the picture of her and that Evil Queen and he was nothing short of jealous! She is his favorite and we never have chance meetings.

 

[VAisforDisneyLvrs]

We seriously do need to meet up sometime. Once we meet in real life, I know we'll hit it off swimmingly, and then we can start planning our own girls only trip.

Hey! I want in on this!

 

[stace208]

Woo Hoo Ellie! What a little rock star riding RnR!!!
I just showed Marc the picture of her and that Evil Queen and he was nothing short of jealous! She is his favorite and we never have chance meetings.

I thought of Marc when we found her and wondered if you guys had ever seen her! I never even knew she was found in the park during regular season-I just though maybe during Halloween time. I was shocked at how many people just walked through and had no idea who she was!!

 

[stace208]

Hey! I want in on this!

I counting on it Maggie!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Way to go Ellie, riding RnRC!

So how did Ben like the drawing class? I'm guessing he liked it since you went back and did another one. That is one of my favorite things to do at DHS!

How awesome that you got to meet the Evil Queen. I have a picture of Justin with her when he was around 7, he was so nervous, she just glared at him and knocked his hat off of his head. It's one of my favorite character pictures, it's so funny - I think he was standing even further away from her than Ellie was!

 

[stace208]

Way to go Ellie, riding RnRC!

So how did Ben like the drawing class? I'm guessing he liked it since you went back and did another one. That is one of my favorite things to do at DHS!

How awesome that you got to meet the Evil Queen. I have a picture of Justin with her when he was around 7, he was so nervous, she just glared at him and knocked his hat off of his head. It's one of my favorite character pictures, it's so funny - I think he was standing even further away from her than Ellie was!

He got a little frustrated in the drawing class and only went back to prove to me that it wasn't because we drew a hard character (Stitch) but that it was because he can't draw. We drew Jiminy Cricket the 2nd time-OY! Anyways, I tried to tell him that it doesn't matter how good it is, it is just neat to do it. I don't know if he'll go back again or not. I figure in a few years he will because he'll get past this stage he's in right now. I'm hoping, anyways!
Ellie and I love the drawing class and I think we could go through over and over and be just fine. It is absolutely her favorite thing at DHS and a very close 2nd for me. (TSMM being my fave)

That's so cool that you have Justin's picture too!! I honestly had never seen a picture of her so I was just tickled. It was excellent character interaction, even though the kids don't know what to make of it all!

 

[brookelizabeth]

How cool that the Evil Queen was hanging around in there! I've never seen her either. What a very fun picture.

Sounds like a wonderful day at DHS. I tried that carrot cake cookie too - yummmmmmm!!! The Writer's Stop is a hidden little gem!

 

[MeMom]

Very cool.

I know we left after dinner and went back to OKW. The kids and I swam and then we played in the Community Hall. It was wonderful having the games and crafts there available. We all enjoyed the quiet family downtime after busy park days.

Sounds like a very nice evening. I used to stay in commando mode, but with my own health issues and the little girls needing rest and swim and play time, I am appreciating this part of our trips more and more all the time.

 

[stace208]

How cool that the Evil Queen was hanging around in there! I've never seen her either. What a very fun picture.

Sounds like a wonderful day at DHS. I tried that carrot cake cookie too - yummmmmmm!!! The Writer's Stop is a hidden little gem!

You're right-the Writer's Stop is a hidden gem. It was fun to sit in there and cool off and have a snack. Not many people realize it's there. I hope it stays that way!

 

[stace208]

Very cool.

Sounds like a very nice evening. I used to stay in commando mode, but with my own health issues and the little girls needing rest and swim and play time, I am appreciating this part of our trips more and more all the time.

The first time we went as a family, back in January of 2006, I was in super commando mode. The kids wanted to swim (it was warm enough!) and it killed me to give up time to do it. I'm sure I even uttered the infamous "We didn't pay all this money for you to swim..." John was better about it and they got to swim each day that it was warm enough. I was a little better on our trip in January 2008 because we were at Beach Club and who could deny SAB??? After that trip is when we decided we were coming at least 1 time per year (hence my return to work) and so I have been better about having down time. This past summer was the best I've done...partly because we had 10 days and partly because OKW just "fit" with our family and had some great activities that made it easy to just hang out. I'm excited to try out some other places on shorter trips but I think OKW will be our longer summer trip home.

 

[stace208]

Sunday It's Animal Kingdom Day!
I love Animal Kingdom. I really, really do. But, it always seems so much hotter there. I'm sooo looking forward to our visit there in December and hope that it's cooler. Of course, I've been to Disney in January twice. The first time it was 92 the day we went to AK...the 2nd time it was 86...so, I'm just hoping for a little cooler in December.
We had our morning routine down pat by now. Up, showers, breakfast, and out to the car. We got to the park plenty before rope drop and geez, it was HOT! They had us stand in a different place this time and we didn't get to see much of the opening show. Once we got in we split up. Ben and I went to ride EE and Ellie and John went to get FP's for the safari. I didn't take any pictures at first because we were booking it. We got there and rode it twice stand-by. LOVE that ride! Then we headed to meet up with them. Ben wanted to stop and ride Primevil Whirl...it had no wait time so I said ok...blech! Never again!!!
We found John and Ellie and headed to the safari.

Our guide slowed down and let us watch this guy get a drink.

Hi big fella

Sleeping...always my luck

After our safari, we headed on the trail. Ellie wanted to take pictures and so John let her use his camera.

We saw this friend but no baby. Only he was out.

I had never noticed this campsite set up near the gorillas. Love the details at Disney!

Now it was time for us to head to our late breakfast ADR.

We had eaten at Donald's breakfast in 2006 when it was at Restaurantosaurus so we were excited to give it another try. It was yummy again!

Silliness!

Characters!

It was a great meal and felt good to sit down for a bit.
Now I need to figure out where we went next....

 

[SoonerGirl]

You got some really good pics on the safari! I really like the one of the giraffe getting a drink.

Gotta love Tusker House for breakfast - especially that juice, yum!!