Ponchos, Ponchos everywhere.. Updated 12/14

[justakrazymom]

Yay, update!

I never got to ride the boat in AK. We were there for the soft opening in 1998 but the boat ride wasn't running and by the time we went back in 2000, it was gone,

We rode it a few times in 1999 when we were there. It was something else to do..it was nice!

 

[justakrazymom]

So after DinoLand we headed over to The Tree of Life. I could walk around this Tree all day and just look at it's awesomeness!

Then we went to see It's Tough To Be A Bug:

This is one 3D show that does not bother my eyes.. which is a shock because even the newer ones tend to. The kids loved it..until the bugs left the building..then we had a few mini freak outs..lol

Next up with the Jungle Trek..and you guessed it..MORE rain..

I wish I was able to get more pictures.. but again the Rebel spent most of the Trek in the bag in a garbage bag staying dry. I just love the Jungle Trek ( and the Pangani trail) .. we love looking at nature so they are perfect for us.

After the Jungle Trek Eric and Brian went to use the EE FP's.. I am a giant wimp and won't go on it.

Up next... Nemo!

 

[justakrazymom]

So after EE we headed to watch Nemo.. and we ran into the Sweeners! We were way ahead of them in line but waited and let people go ahead of us so we could all be together.

The show was cute... Not one I'd care to see again but the kids enjoyed it. Once the show was over we decided it was time to head back to the resort. We ended up running into some of the parade...

Noah and Kate had gotten out ahead of us and wanted to just head back to the resort..yet again i had to be like..REALLY?? NO you will wait. So I told em to meet me at the bus stop. Apparently they had a lack of hearing because they waited at the exit and we walked right by without seeing them. So we made it to the bus stop first. We waited for them and we all left together.

Back at the resort Declan wasnt feeling great ( the heat) so he wanted to rest.. Ziah , my mom and I went to downtown Disney shopping. I spent a small fortune that night..lol. After we got back we took the kids swimming. Declan had slept for about 2 hours so he was feeling great!

We ate at POP that night and went to bed fairly early.. Since we had no ADR's the next day we had to decide which park to go to.. Noah really wanted a 2nd day at Animal Kingdom so that was the plan!

 

[justakrazymom]

Hoping to get AK day 2 up later.!

 

[3lilpiggies]

Nice report. Cant wait to hear more.

 

[justakrazymom]

Nice report. Cant wait to hear more.

Should be able to write more by tonight!

 

[justakrazymom]

Before I write anymore I started working on chapter links.. they are started and in post #2

 

[justakrazymom]

So by Thursday night we were starting to worry about Irene.. I was worried about the drive, worried about my mom, Noah and Kate's flight.. about the Warners who would be leaving and pretty much driving up the coast right behind it.

Also we had had a bad storm a few weeks before the trip that resulted in a leader from our maple tree smashing out storage shed to bits. So I was slightly worried more of the same would happen.

In between our activities on Friday I made calls and sent texts to friends. We have this awesome huge sunroom off our kitchen that we use for a school room. Thing is this room is also in the crush zone if the tree falls. I had a great friend go and move ALL my school stuff into my living room. I have thousands of $$ worth of stuff I couldn't risk losing. I also had friends come double check on my kitties and make sure all my windows and such were closed. They also stowed our tables, chairs, toys, bball hoop..basically anything that the storm could stir up and send flying. HUGE thanks to all our friends who helped us.

We did have some damage when we came home.. more of the tree had fallen.. so we made plans to have the whole thing removed.. they did that 2.5 weeks ago..no more worry about the beast of a tree! We had "water front" property for about 10 days after Irene ( our side lawn flooded..but is about 8 feet below the house so no water in the house).

We had some issues on the drive home..but Noah, my mom and Kate had not even a delay in their flight home..so that was perfect!

I must say.. while we were on vacation we had a tornado back home, an earthquake that was felt back home and a hurricane.. seriously??

 

[MK2010]

Just love this report. I don't have food allergies, but I know so many people whose kids do and its just such a pain for them to go anywhere. I love how Disney tries to make it easier. Where else can you go and get that kind of service?

As far as spending too much at Downtown Disney, I'm right there with ya sister! And to make it worse one of our church members parents live in Orlando and will run over there to shop. Very bad for my Christmas budget. I just submit my list and they mail it to me.

 

[beebeeryan]

While you were worrying about Irene, we were beating it down to Florida. Western MA huh? Not too far from us then, we're in Albany. I felt that earthquake but got out before the hurricane and tornado warnings hit. Glad that tree didn't do any damage to the house. We lost a tree in our backyard, but it was a small one and our basement was a little damp, but not flooded. Saw plenty of damage in our neighborhood though. It was pretty crazy on the landing back in Albany, everyone on the plane was ouhhhing and ahhhing seeing the flooded fields and the color of the water in the Hudson when we flew over.

My kids picked a second day at AK too for the last day. Was not expecting that.

 

[justakrazymom]

While you were worrying about Irene, we were beating it down to Florida. Western MA huh? Not too far from us then, we're in Albany. I felt that earthquake but got out before the hurricane and tornado warnings hit. Glad that tree didn't do any damage to the house. We lost a tree in our backyard, but it was a small one and our basement was a little damp, but not flooded. Saw plenty of damage in our neighborhood though. It was pretty crazy on the landing back in Albany, everyone on the plane was ouhhhing and ahhhing seeing the flooded fields and the color of the water in the Hudson when we flew over.

My kids picked a second day at AK too for the last day. Was not expecting that.

Albany eh..so we are about 25/30 minutes from you..sweet.

yes luckily the house was not damaged but our fence was pulverized..we lost 2 trees during the storms in late July ( ot was it early August?lol)

 

[Billmel]

oh nooo I just made it to the end of your trip report, it is preparing me a little for a hopefully family trip at the end of April. There will be 13 of us hopefully. 7adults and 6 DGD. It is our 20th anniversary, and it was going to be a couples trip for me and DH, but it is evolving. I have really enjoyed reading your TR, thanks for sharing with us.

 

[justakrazymom]

oh nooo I just made it to the end of your trip report, it is preparing me a little for a hopefully family trip at the end of April. There will be 13 of us hopefully. 7adults and 6 DGD. It is our 20th anniversary, and it was going to be a couples trip for me and DH, but it is evolving. I have really enjoyed reading your TR, thanks for sharing with us.

Kewl.. there is still 3 more days to come!

 

[justakrazymom]

So Friday the 26th was a "free" day. Since Hoop Dee Doo had used up 2 meal credits ( and that was OK by us..lol) we had no meal plans for this day. We had decided the night before we all wanted another day in Animal Kingdom .

We woke early and headed out.. we got there just minutes after it opened. The kids took a few minutes to check out the different creatures the CM's had:

Noah and Kate went towards Nemo and we went off to Camp Minnie Mickey. What I was unaware of was they had a separate rope for that area..lol. We waited with 2 very nice CM's. Once the area opened we went right to The Festival of the Lion King. We parked the stroller, got in line and not to much longer we were in the theater.

We went in and sat down. About 3 minutes later a CM came up to us, asked us how many we had ( 6) and asked if we wanted to have front row seats. Of course we moved!

The kids fully enjoyed the hand jive learning. Then once the show started my rather shy and quiet husband got picked to do the animal noise!! I was dieing.. this man of mine is not an out of the house talker. ( we are exact opposites). I thought Declan was going to fall off the bench laughing!

The 3 kids were picked ( but Ziah is like daddy and is shy so she didn't go) to be part of the show:

We loved the show ( of course).. Just another thing my husband said "this place is awesome" about!!

Up next.. guitar Dan sings the Taejan song!

 

[justakrazymom]

After we exited the Lion King we did saw Character's in Camp Minnie Mickey. Since we had already eaten with the Fab 5 3 times we didn't have to see them..lol

Taejan LOVES Thumper..like scary loves Thumper..and who happened to be out, with a short line AND his women?? Yep.. I had some happy kids! We waited in line.. waited while they went and got some "carrot juice" and then they finally got to meet them!

Next we headed to Chip and Dale.. they had a little longer line and they needed to go grab an acorn smoothie. While we waited Guitar Dan sang a great song about Taejan ( who was in a little mood at first). I so wish I had recorded it..but sadly I didn't once take out the camcorder this time ( bad mommy I know).

As we were leaving the area we noticed characters in the old theater area..tons of characters..3 people ..score..

Rafiki... he def was in character.. it was amusing!

Taejan wanted nothing to do with this guy..

Taejan took one look at Pocahontas and his eyes got about 3times their normal size..yep he's ALL boy ( and he doesn't care for blondes .. just brunettes):

Brer Bear was being...well himself and being rather rascally .,.lol

As we left that area they were moving Chip and Dale and we got to see them again..

By this point we were all starving and our next task was FOOD!

 

[ronnmel]

Wow, score!!! You got so lucky, meeting so many characters with almost no lines! And some not so common ones too!!

Rafiki He is so much fun, he definitely climbed up my list of favorite characters after my Disneymoon!!

 

[Mombits]

I LOVE the pics of your ds with Chip and Dale. He looks so absolutely, purely happy. Nothing better, IMO. That's worth the price right there!

 

[justakrazymom]

Wow, score!!! You got so lucky, meeting so many characters with almost no lines! And some not so common ones too!!

Rafiki He is so much fun, he definitely climbed up my list of favorite characters after my Disneymoon!!

Rafiki was great.. naughty boy..but great..LOL

 

[justakrazymom]

I LOVE the pics of your ds with Chip and Dale. He looks so absolutely, purely happy. Nothing better, IMO. That's worth the price right there!

Exactly! If you think that one is great just wait til our last park day.. I have a priceless interaction for ya!

 

[beebeeryan]

Oh wow, awesome bonus characters at Camp Minnie Mickey, how fun is that!