Pirates, A Need for Speed, the Hoop and more... Updated 5/31...FINALLY!!!!

[Disneyfreak616]

Shasha and Pocohontas are too cute!

I LOVE Pizzafari! I think it's my fave CS.

 

[Dizney73]

I'm loving your TR! Can't wait to hear more. So far your trip sounds wonderful!
We almost went with an ADR for R&C, now I'm wishing we did. Might have to try to change things up a bit!
What a great idea to do the safari twice, I think I will suggest that to dh
Love the story of your kids' names, so nice that you included that part of their heritage ...but so funny about your dd's name not meaning anything it is, nonetheless, a very cute name

Thanks...and I just love the safari! Of course, I love Dinosaur and Everest and Kali too but just not like I love seeing the animals on the safari!
I just love talking about my kids...

Yah for how much you guys got accomplished on your Ak morning.

Your daughter is adorable in her Pocahontas dress and the picture of your kids with her is precious.

Can't wait to hear more

We do get a lot accomplished! I would like to get more done but I also know that witha a 5 year oldand a 2 year old I MUST not push them if I want to enjoy the WHOLE day! Had we not done the safari twice we could have fit in another ride or so...Shasha wanted to ride Kali but i just wasn't in the mood to get wet! And DH said he would rather go on the safari as a family than go on Everest. I think Shasha is old enough for Dinosaur but I think it would scare her too much... so we will wait! I also love Nemo but we seem to see it every time... and that is the glory of going often. If we don't see something this time we will NEXT time!

Love the P theming of this TR!

Yay on enjoying the safari without the camera! Shasha looks cute in her Pocahantas dress

I really wanted to try an entire Disney trip without a camera... so last summer i didn't take a camera with me. I used the convenience of my cell phone to take pics and post them to FB... I enjoyed it bunches...hehehehe

 

[Dizney73]

That is pretty crazy you did everything at Animal Kingdom at least twice. I haven't been able to do that. Though... I do a lot more than you probably did since some of the rides I do, may be too intense for some little kids. I'm still jealous you got to see the FotLK. I really want to see that show and seem to never get over to Camp Minnie Mickey. For my next trip, that will be number one thing to do. Can't wait to read more, update soon!

I go to WDW in the summer on a girls' only trip with my 2 best friends and am an adviser for our Middle School trip in October... so I must admit that there isn't much in the whole WORLD that I haven't done. Since I have the opportunity to do the other rides at other times during the year... THIS trip is all about family! My DH gets to go his own way to ride what he wants (Space Mountain, Everest, RRC... ) and I take the kids to do something for them! We like the Lion King show but I can trade it for Nemo or the Flight of wonder too. It all depends what Shasha wants... she truly does think that the world revolves around HER!!

So excited to see your TR! Your descriptions are great and I love feeling like I went to WDW today!

Your family photo at the beginning of your TR is truly priceless! Amazing capture, of course with little ones as adorable as yours its probably hard to take a bad photo!

Look forward to hearing about your trip, always looking for tips and tricks from families just returning from the Happiest Place on Earth!

Ahhhhhh... thanks! We are having our family photos taken this August by the same photographers. They are FANTASTIC! And oh... we have some BAD photos... believe me!

I like tips and tricks too! These boards are definitely the place to come! My 2 best girl friends and i are doing 4 nights this July... 1 of those nights is on the Platinum Plan! We are doing spa, back Stage Magic, Dolphins in Depth and Aqua Seas tour, Fireworks cruise, V& A's, and sooooooo much more! We learned this little trip here on the boards too! We will be starting our PTR soon.... very soon!

 

[Dizney73]

Shasha and Pocohontas are too cute!

I LOVE Pizzafari! I think it's my fave CS.

Shasha makes a super great Pocohantas! It is that long black hair and her dark skin tone! Of course, I think she has most every princess and other dress they make! She is allowed to take 2 with her on each trip... because we pack carryon only and can't take 'em all

Yummo to Pizzafari! Maybe not my favorite QS but darn close... and whe it is hot in the summer... nothing beats a cool place to eat!

 

[emma212010]

I'm in! DD is so adorable

 

[Dizney73]

My most Magical moment at the WORLD...

We visit Walt Disney World a few times a year and so we are always looking for new adventures. In January we stayed off property with my daughter's Godparents who are semi-retired snowbirds and rent a house in Haines City for 6 weeks. This year on January 16... my husband and I booked the 10 am Wild Africa Trek tour on it's opening day. We couldn't wait to do this tour at the "introductory" price of $129 and it was certainly no let down! But the best thing about the tour was that we somehow lucked out and were on the tour with the legendary imagineer that created the Animal Kingdom Park... Mr. Joe Rodhe!!!! Everyone knows him as the man with the big earring!!! If you don't know who I am talking about ... look him up! It was a once in a lifetime experience for a Disney Lover like me... and my husband! Definitely qualified as MY MOST MAGICAL DISNEY EXPERIENCE EVER!
And just for proof... here are a few photos (thank goodness I took a camera on this trip!) of our Wild Africa Trek experience with the man behind the magic

Breakfast with Joe from California (as he introduced himself)

A close up look at the hippos!

Looking at the crocs through the rope bridge...

Crossing one of the rope bridges... safari vehicle below...

Getting a closer look at the crocs!

Me... hamming it up on the rope bridge!

And the photo that I have bragging rights to... DH, myself and my favorite Imagineer

 

[Dizney73]

I'm in! DD is so adorable

Thank you! Wait till you see her as a pirate... not so cute!

 

[PixieMama]

I didn't know his name, but I recognize Joe! How very cool you got to hang with him during the Trek!

 

[CastleGazerMom]

What an amazing opportunity to meet a real Imagineer! Joe Rodhe is so cool!

 

[TanzUnited99]

How cool to get to meet Joe Rodhe (I will look him up after I am done on here as do not know much about him)!!! The Wild Africa Trek looks like fun as well!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I can't believe you actually got to meet Joe. I didn't know his name, but I've seen him in so many Disney specials. You were VERY lucky!

 

[Dizney73]

I didn't know his name, but I recognize Joe! How very cool you got to hang with him during the Trek!

Oh... it was so cool! it took me the first 30 minutes of the tour to stop my oooohing and aahhhhing! And the tour was super but they keep raising the price.

 

[Dizney73]

What an amazing opportunity to meet a real Imagineer! Joe Rodhe is so cool!

It was my most Magical Disney Experience EVER!!!

How cool to get to meet Joe Rodhe (I will look him up after I am done on here as do not know much about him)!!! The Wild Africa Trek looks like fun as well!

He was so full of Disney Knowledge and background, of course. And just a down to earth kinda imagineer! The Trek itself was fantastic, although the price has gone up and I am not so sure that I would pay $200 or more for it

I can't believe you actually got to meet Joe. I didn't know his name, but I've seen him in so many Disney specials. You were VERY lucky!

I STILL can't believe that I got to meet Joe AND have my picture taken by a photopass photographer with him! I even ordered a mug from the Photopass site with our photo on it so that I can spend every morning remembering my Magical Moment!

 

[Dizney73]

I know! I know! I MUST finish day #3... but I have excuses!
Last night my dd, Shasha, had her Kindergarten Orientation! I still can't believe that she is going to start kingergarten THIS August! Where does time go?

Tonight we are taking the kids to go see Elmo...
Friday night we have tickets to go see our local minor league baseball team...
And Saturday we are taking shasha to NYC to see her first Broadway show!

See...
I told you I have excuses! I am a teacher... I learn lots!! But i will try my best to finish it up somewhere in there

 

[emma212010]

I totally understand about the busy thing! Sometimes life does exist outside of the Dis No worries!

Congrats on DD going to Kindergarten!! Time does fly though!!

Sounds like you have an exciting week!! Have fun!

 

[Dizney73]

We didn't have much time for a swim today but we did it anyway ... it was what the kids wanted! Po has been learning to take a few catnaps inbetween activities versus actually taking naps each day. But he has not been a problem acting tired, grouchy or screaming... thank goodness. We chilled out in the pool for about an hour and then went back to our room to get ready for the afternoon and night activities. It was then that I realized that sick feeling that I have been pushing to the back of my mind since Sundat was getting worse. But the show must go on... so we hopped a bus to the MK and arrived just a few minutes early for Shasha's Pirate League appointment. (That's the next P!) The waiting area was hot and crowded. At checkin we had to identify what facepaint Shasha wanted and of course she picked the very beautiful Empress with maeup and nailpolish. We waited about 15 minutes until they called us into the League and Shasha was able to choose her pirate name and then Megan Bridgewash and her family were asked to have a seat on the uncomfortable fake crates in the middle of the room and wait again...

We waited about 10 minutes longer and DD, now known as Megan Bridgewash, was called into the makeover chair. While we watched other pirates get made up , Mega changed her mind on which face paint she wanted so we checked to see if that could be changed and indeed it was. I don't remember what it was called but in the end she looked like this...

It wsa totally weird looking at her. With the teeth painted on we couldn't tell if she was smiling or upset! She took her pirate oath, had her photo taken and went outside for the start of the Pirate "parade"... she gathered some treasure and group photos of all the Pirate League participants were taken

and then the kids were lead over to sit on the hot ground and watch the Pirate show.

We stayed for a while and then deemed it too hot to sit out in the hot sun... so we joined the line to ride Pirates of the Carribbean (hum, I didn't count that as a P but it could be...)
Then we headed off to Tomorrowland to catch a ride on the the TTA and then off to Fantasyland to ride It's A Small World. These rides don't get much of a line so we waited to ride them when the crowd was a bit larger here at the MK. On the way back to Main Street Po announced that he wanted to ride the horsies so we did since we had some time before our Plaza (next P) ADR.

We arrived at the Plaza a bit early for our 6:15 ADR but checked in and were seated in no time flat! We hada wonderful seat in the little round area of the restaurant. We would have had abeautiful view of Wishes had it been 10 pm! I was feeling pretty yucky and decided that I was hungry for toast so i had the club sandwich with both turkey and ham, DH had a burger, Shasha ordered a kids turkey sandwich, and Po had mac and cheese. It was wonderful! This was the first time I have eaten at the Plaza and I can guarantee that we will be back! There was one flaw... the kids were getting sundaes and DH and I wanted to share a sundae so we ordered the brownie sundae. It just NEVER came. We let our server know...and she was totally embarrassed and apologized to us many times. She asked us if we still wanted it and we told her we didn't since the kids were half finished with their ice cream and we knew PO would not sit patiently and watch us eat. But in about 3 minutes a brownie sundae was delivered to our table by our waitress. She told us she just felt terrible and not to worry... this sundae was on them. May I just say that it was sooooooo good! The kids each ate part of the brownie which was rich, chocolately and delicious and DH and I ate most of the rest of the sundae. But it was VERY big and to be honest all 4 of us could have shared it with no other desserts!

We strolled down Main Street and hopped onto the monorail to make our way over to the Contemporary for our final P. We found out that the Pirate and Pals Wishes cruise was meeting on the 4th floor and so we headed directly here. Upon arrival we were given a warm Pirate welcome, given bandanas to wear that identified us as P&P participants. At 8:45 we were invited in to enjoy snacks and drinks. I thought thesnacks were pretty good... prepacked popcorn, pretzels, cotton candy, granola bars, nutrigrain bars, brownies, trail mix, peanuts... and there were also oranges, apples and gold chocolate coins! Coffe, tea, cans of sodas and bottles of water were available to drink. We were told to enjoy and grab a few things for the cruise later! We grabbed some yummies and took a few more for later (tomorrow morning... hehehehehe). Captain Hook and Shmee were also available for photos...

We were all called together and told to follow them down to the docks. Just as we reached the boats a storm began rolling in. The first boat was loaded but we were asked to turn around and go back up to our room on the 4th floor where we waited and waited. Finally we were told that we were grante permission to go... it was 9:50 and Wishes were at 10. We needed to make a choice immediately if we wanted to go (and get no money back) or ditch the cruise and get 50% of our money back. I figured that $25 dollars a person was high for the snacks we received and that we may as well go for it. We quickly filed down the steps and onto the boats... pulled out and started off towards the MK. We weren't even around the Contemporary when the fireworks began and by the time we could see them about 5 minutes went by... so we were late and missed some of the show But things are what you make them so stayed positive... Shasha and Po were loving the fireworks from another point of view with the music piped in. It was very nice... I must admit. But the fact that the weather interfered with our fireworks viewing really stunk! On the way back to the Contemporary our Pirate Pal asked trivia questions and handed out prizes! Shasha raised her hand after one of the questions, "What is the name of Captain Hook's pirate ship?" Ourpal calld on her and she told him that the name of the ship was "the Jolly roger"... I couldn't believe that she knew the answer! Our PP handed her a multi-colored flashing light cup and congratulated her. She admitted to him that she knew the answer because she watches Jake and the Neverland Pirates EVERY morning!

When we got off the boat Peter Pan (and Tinkerbell in a lantern) were waiting for us. After some photos we were back on our journey to the Animal kingdom Lodge! It was VERY late when we got back and ended up carrying 2 sleeping children from the bus stop to the room.

I really wasn't feeling well, the kids were tired... so we decided on NO wake up call in the morning and fell soundly to sleep!

Next Up... Scott's Need for Speed!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

It looks like this wasn't a fun day for you. But it all turned out well. I'm surprised your daughter did the Pirate's League and not the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. I've always seen girls walking out with Princess attire not pirate, though I may have seen one once or twice, but that's interesting that she did. Though you didn't seem very excited about it The Brownie Sundae at the Plaza Restaurant sounds really good. It sounds like people are starting to really talk highly of that place. I may make ADRs there and try out that sundae Sorry about what happened with your cruise. It still looked like you had fun. I'm sure you could still see the Fireworks as you moved out so it wasn't too much lost. You can't control mother nature. Well, can't wait to read more! Update soon!

 

[mermaid764]

That's too bad that the weather had to interfere with your viewing of the fireworks, but the rest of your day at the Mk sounds like a lot of fun.

We added on the Plaza for a last minute reservation on our last trip and it ended up being one of our favorites, i'm glad you guys really enjoyed it.

Shasha is adorable in her pirate face paint, but how funny that she wanted to change from the empress to a skeleton.

Can't wait to hear more

 

[PixieMama]

Awww, too bad the weather interfered with your fireworks. But yay for making the most out of the situation! It sounds like you had good day.

My nephew has done the Pirates League a few times... I love seeing the pics of him dressed up and with face paint! Shasha looks great, too! How fun!

 

[nessz79]

Joining in!