Snow to 80 in 8 days–A spoonful of Holiday Cheer (2/5 update Ch 36 - Final Thoughts)

[KatMark]

Kathy, You're supposed to be sucking up for points, not disqualifying yourself!!!

Thank you for catching that, Liesa. I meant to add that if your son is that handsome now, just watch out when he reaches his dad's age. All the ladies' heads will be turning.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Thank you for catching that, Liesa. I meant to add that if your son is that handsome now, just watch out when he reaches his dad's age. All the ladies' heads will be turning.

nice recovery

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

It's Flights of Wonder. Gaaaaah! Are you sure you really went to Animal Kingdom?

Glenn editing what marv types isnt going to get you any brownie points in his game...and you can kiss all future bonus points goodbye.

i saw it as flights of wonder...not birds.

 

[marvali]

Glenn editing what marv types isnt going to get you any brownie points in his game...and you can kiss all future bonus points goodbye.

i saw it as flights of wonder...not birds.

Yeah I saw that Dan. I know he doesn't have a thread going now so he is probably starving for attention, but I can't believe he would stoop to doing something like that just to try and make me look bad.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Yeah I saw that Dan. I know he doesn't have a thread going now so he is probably starving for attention, but I can't believe he would stoop to doing something like that just to try and make me look bad.

the nerve of some people...at least i dont have to worry about him catching me in the contest, i can set my eyes on catching those ladies...they are close enough that i can reach out and get em

 

[marvali]

the nerve of some people...at least i dont have to worry about him catching me in the contest, i can set my eyes on catching those ladies...they are close enough that i can reach out and get em

You wish! Oh wait, you probably meant in the contest didn't you........

 

[mom3sonstt]

Hey Marv - so far Dan is the only man in my predictor game. Are you and Glenn going to let him have all those ladies to himself?

 

[marvali]

FLASHBACK: Earlier when we had left the Kilimanjaro Safari on the way back to Expedition Everest I took the whole family down the Hidden Trail at the Tree of Life. Here are some more pictures I found that I took on my second Hidden Trail journey.

After our final ride together at Expedition Everest, and leaving Jonathan behind for his solo part of the day, there were two goals in mind. First, I wanted to share the character Christmas trees with the family at Camp Minnie Mickey. I especially wanted to get photos of the tree at the Goofy Greeting Trail I had not been able to get that morning when the boys arrived to join me. Secondly it was New Year's Day and just like the night before when I had to get New Year's Eve Disney pins, I had to find the New Year's Day Disney pins with 2011 on them! As I said in my NYE update if I'm at a Disney park during any holiday or special occasion I like to get the special pins they sell around that time since they are usually Limited Edition pins and hard to find otherwise.

We started towards the entrance of the park so we could head to Camp Minnie Mickey. Just after crossing the bridge over to Discovery Island we encountered more people than it seems we had seen all day. I soon knew why as I heard music and looking past the crowd saw Mickey's Jingle Jungle Parade was headed our way. We saw this parade on our previous New Year's trip and really enjoyed it, but today was more about "new" holiday things and the parade wasn't high on our list. I turned to the family and asked if anyone was interested in seeing it again just in case, but nobody was. I turned and began to blaze a trail behind all the people, squeezing through small gaps and passing through stores where necessary. Finally we arrived at Island Mercantile.

The last time we had been here at New Years I had looked for the New Year's Disney pins most of the day, and Island Mercantile turned out to be the only place I could find them. I was hoping for the same success this trip. Sure enough there was a kiosk just outside that had the pins I was searching for. As the parade passed nearby we pretty much had the store and the pin kiosk all to ourselves. We saw a lot of other things we liked, but nothing we really wanted to spend money on so everyone chose some pins they wanted and we made our purchase.

Leaving Island Mercantile we headed towards Camp Minnie Mickey. I showed everyone the Christmas trees as we entered the area on the way to the Greeting Trails. As we got to where the Greeting Trails were Andrew spotted a character he hadn't previously gotten a picture and autograph with - Thumper. I opened the pack I was carrying and pulled out his autograph book for the first time this trip. As I dug around in the bottom of the pack I couldn't find a pen anywhere. I handed Andrew some money and he headed back to a gift kiosk we had passed on the way into Camp Minnie Mickey to purchase a pen. As we stood waiting and watching for him, Thumper was finishing his time greeting the guests and was getting ready to leave. I spotted Andrew and motioned for him to get there quickly. He managed to run up as Thumper was leaving, but he stopped and signed Drew's book and took a picture with him anyway.

We finally moved to the Christmas trees along the Greeting Trails. There was one in particular I wanted to get pictures of and that was the one for Goofy since I hadn't had a chance that morning. I wasn't really interested in any pictures with the characters because we weren't all together, but as we walked up to look at Goofy's tree there wasn't anyone waiting in line and Goofy was standing there waving to us to come on up the trail and meet him. If you look at my DIS signature you will see I am a member of the DIS Dad's Club and Goofy is our mascot, so no way I'm turning down an easy chance to get a picture with him.

As we headed up to meet Goofy I stopped to get a picture of the Christmas Wreath on display behind him.

And of course a picture with one of my favorite Disney characters

As we were exiting I stopped to take a picture of the tree.

As we walked along I could see Minnie Mouse in her Christmas attire. I walked a little way up the exit and finally got this picture of Minnie.

As I turned around to rejoin the family I almost bumped into this Mom and her little boy who was dressed as a cowboy. My mind quickly determined that my presence there had confused them into thinking this was the path to meet Minnie and knowing there were people in line already in the entrance side, I didn't want them to go all the way up and be embarrassed to find out that Marv had confused them into thinking this was the entrance. As I tried to nicely explain they were headed in the wrong direction the Mom looked at me and informed me of my terrible mistake; I had failed to remember that explanation of the meaning for the word "assume."

Many of you who are reading this are very familiar with our Darling Princess Juliana, who we all love so much. And some of you have become familiar with Aimee and her Sweetheart Daughter Emily that I just missed meeting earlier in my trip. For those who are, I think it is probably becoming clear to you now where this is headed. The Mom informed me that her son was a Wish Child, and he was allowed to use the exit to get to the front so he could meet the Characters. Finally getting a clue and understanding the real situation, I immediately felt horrible for my mistake and tried to make amends with some insufficiently muttered apology. It made me feel bad when it happened, and even now as I write this I can't help but think of all the children who have or are suffering from so many different life threatening diseases and illnesses. I hope that little boy had a wonderful time that day, and is continuing to enjoy the memories!!! And I hope the medical community, with God given knowledge and wisdom, will continue to make strides in finding a cure for each and every child so they can enjoy a full and happy life!

After dealing with my brush with humility and returning to the rest of the family, we finished up our visit to Camp Minnie Mickey. It was almost time to leave for our dinner ADR, but I had to get one final picture first. I had noticed this one particular ornament earlier in the day and I couldn't help but wonder just how many times as a child this is all my good DISbuddy Dan had received in his stocking at Christmas.......

.........and figured it wasn't nearly as many times as my dear, sweet, innocent friend Rosie!!!


Continued in Next Post ...........Chapter 30 – Yak & Yeti and Closing Down AK

 

[marvali]

Leaving Camp Minnie Mickey it was almost time for our dinner ADR. The park had really started to empty out after the Jingle Jungle Parade and we saw very few people as we headed back to meet Jonathan at...

Jonathan was waiting for us as we walked up and we headed inside to check in. It was getting close to the 6:00 park closing time so the restaurant was almost empty of other guests. Since it was almost time for the staff to head home, I'm sure they were probably glad we were a little early for our 5:45 ADR and we were seated immediately.

I have read quite a bit about Yak & Yeti on the DIS, some very flattering and some not so much. I had read some really good reviews just before our trip and I was hoping this would be an enjoyable experience, especially since our two previous dinners weren't our best experiences with Disney dining. Our waiter arrived and began to tell us about the menu. He was a very personable young man and did an excellent job waiting on us and answering our questions. I asked him about using our TiW card for any additional beverage order and he explained that even though we could use the DDP for our meal, Yak & Yeti is not a Disney owned restaurant so they didn't honor the TiW discounts.

As we looked over the menu there were a number of interesting choices and everyone quickly found something they wanted to try. Matthew has gotten big on eating sushi and decided he wanted an appetizer. After discussing the choices with our waiter he decided on the Seared Ahi Tuna, which he enjoyed.

When we eat Chinese at home Andrew loves the sesame chicken which has a sweet sauce on it, so he decided on the Crispy Honey Chicken.

This is Matt's meal. I'm not sure what it is but I think it was the MalAsian Seafood Curry. I have three receipts from Yak & Yeti but none of them lists the individual items we ordered.

Jonathan ordered the Maple Tamarind Chicken.

Alison’s Beef and Broccoli......

And I ordered the Shaoxing Steak and Shrimp.

We all really liked the meals here, and Yak & Yeti became a new restaurant we would definitely do again.

Next it was time to order dessert. Here is a couple of the items we ordered, the Fried Wontons and the New York Cheesecake.

I had heard so much about the Fried Wontons and had to try them. I thought they were absolutely delicious and Alison agreed. I know some people don't care for them, but the contrast in tastes was something we really enjoyed. After wondering if we would have a good or bad experience here with some of the reviews I have read, this meal and the desserts confirmed to me that sometimes you just have to take a chance and decide for yourself. I know every restaurant can have good nights and bad nights, and maybe bad experiences with waiters (or customers) on occasion, but thankfully we had a great meal and experience all around.

As we left Yak & Yeti and headed towards the exit to the park, I had to get a few more pictures of the decorations, this time at night.

There were very few people besides us left in the park. It is strange to get pictures of it so empty.

Not the best shot of the Tree of Life, but here it is lit up at night.

The Christmas tree outside of Animal Kingdom.

I love the decorations they put on the AK Christmas tree.

Some of the decorations around the bottom of the tree.

I got this one especially for one of my DISfriends! I wonder if she'll notice...........

It was a short bus ride from AK back to Kidani so it was still very early when we arrived back at our room. Now that the weather was warmer, and most of what we had for our trip was for colder weather, I knew I would need my shorts again the next day and everyone else wanted some of their cooler stuff to wear. So with plenty of time before we needed to get to bed, once again we decided to take a trip to do laundry. I would have my shorts to wear again the next day and it would be a lot easier to get everything packed up to head home with most of the clothes being clean again.

So what do you do on New Year's Day to bide your time while the laundry is running? For some of my loyal readers who don't live in the United States that probably isn't a very fair question. And to be honest, with all the women on top in the standings for my TR contest it is a question that might be slanted a little towards helping the men/DIS Dads catch up a little because surely they would know that New Year’s Day is one long series of College Football Bowl Games, from about 11:00 am (EST) until late into the evening. And since we had stayed in our room to watch one of them the night before, instead of returning to DHS for the NYE fireworks, I feel certain that when I tally the scores the real men in the crowd, and some of you ladies who I know also pull for certain college football teams, will have garnered an extra point for this question............

With the laundry done we turned in to get some sleep before our final park day.


Coming up Chapter 31 - Epcot Morning!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

. As we got to where the Greeting Trails were Andrew spotted a character he hadn't previously gotten a picture and autograph with - Marie. I opened the pack I was carrying and pulled out his autograph book for the first time this trip. As I dug around in the bottom of the pack I couldn't find a pen anywhere. I handed Andrew some money and he headed back to a gift kiosk we had passed on the way into Camp Minnie Mickey to purchase a pen. As we stood waiting and watching for him, Marie was finishing her time greeting the guests and was getting ready to leave. I spotted Andrew and motioned for him to get there quickly. He managed to run up as Marie was leaving, but she stopped and signed his book and took a picture with him anyway.

Hate to break it to you but that is Thumper from Bambii. Marie is a white kitten.

It always makes me sad seeing the Wish kids.

 

[Poolrat]

Well I got a couple.
Ak is nice at night. It really clears out and it is so peaceful ( except for Chester and Hester's)

I when you said you had the wontons.


Of course you watched a bowl game on New Years

 

[KatMark]

And of course a picture with one of my favorite Disney characters

Marv, what a great update and great pictures. I have no idea how I did as I can't reven remember my answers anymore, but this is one of my favorite updates. And I LOVE the family picture with Goofy (I didn't know you wore glasses...they make you look very sophisticated).

I am so glad you enjoyed Yak & Yeti. We really loved it back in 2008. And, although I have it booked for September, I will probably cancel as I want to go to Flame Tree. But we will definitely be back.

 

[marvali]

Did better this round!

I love Primevel Whirl - haven't been on it for awhile though. Danny won't ride it (won't ride the teacups either - can't handle spinning rides). On our "bonus" trips I don't go to Animal Kingdom. And on our family trips, especially the last couple years, the boys take off and do their own thing most of the time. I think it's supposed to be closed during this trip so I will miss it again.

I need to take the time and watch the Bird show again. We've only seen it once and that was several years ago.

Yes, I think "Rosie Ride" is supposed to still be closed while we are there. Flights of Wonder is really good. I keep hoping to be picked from the audience to be part of the show to get the really good action shots.

How was I the Star , other than being compared to Father Time , did I miss any comparison to the Yeti, or a Wise Old Owl in the Bird Show but don't you fret my friend .. my imagination worked overtime in a couple of answers to #11

Sorry I didn't get those comparisons. I'll make sure to work them in my TR for my next trip. (well, except for that Wise Old Owl one......)

I can just imagine you saying this in a girly girl voice But yes don't steal my lines!

Nice update, Marv. We have never seen the bird show at AK.

Need to go on your next trip. I think you and Mark would both enjoy it.

I love how they do the drawing on the sidewalk with the water and broom -- way cool.

That one caught us by surprise. I don't remember seeing anyone post about it on the DIS until after our trip.

You got some good photos of the Safari.

Thanks! That was some of the best I remember ever taking. Usually somebody or something blocks at least part of the picture, or messes up the focus.

Ha! I got the water and broom thing!! Great updates as always. The bird show is really nice, I should have guessed that...

And your boys' pictures on PW are very funny.

Thanks Magdalene! I almost had perfect timing on that one ride pic, which is typically not my luck.

 

[marvali]

Hate to break it to you but that is Thumper from Bambii. Marie is a white kitten.

It always makes me sad seeing the Wish kids.

Oops, you're right! I'll go fix it now.

 

[glennbo123]

Hey Marv - so far Dan is the only man in my predictor game. Are you and Glenn going to let him have all those ladies to himself?

Our router`s been kaput for a few days, and I`ve taken a few days off so can`t even check in from work. I`m attempting this from my cell phone. Hope to be back online in a day or two.

 

[marvali]

and we need to have pirate kate stop with her guessing she is ruining the game for everyone who is not smart enough to get 7 right each round.



at least i have more bonus points than everyone

The "bad" part is she has streaked to the top of the leader board.........and she didn't even join the contest until the second round! Quite impressive and shows with a good round or two anyone has a chance to jump back into the thick of things.

Ahh, your TR is making me more an more excited to go in December!

It is a great time to be at Disney (but then, is there a bad time?).

Hey, Dan- I'll trade you some correct answers* for future contests, in exchange for some of your bonus points. I think I could use about 10 extra bonus points...

*No guarantees, refunds, or exchanges in the event that correct answers are deemed incorrect by the judging committee.

Hey, no backroom dealing around here!!!

 

[englishrose47]

Great Update Marv !!There was very little Rosie bashingI was spot on with your food from Y&YGot laundry right too !!!The dessert was my favorite thing at Y & Y , the steak was alittle to well done for my "Rareness" and I would have preferred fried rice to the jasmine rice , and they said no substitutes !!The shrimp was great !! Any who I at least wont get a ) this time !!!!

 

[goofy's_gurl]

I love all the pictures of the trees. Everytime i been to AK (which is only two times) I never really went near the tree of life or camp minnie mickey. I must do that sometime.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hi marv! I love the last updates, even if most of my answers are wrong AK is my favorite park, except for the lack of beverages. I think it's because the themes are seamless, so you can just be immersed in the "culture" for the entire day!

We enjoyed Y&Y alot, too! I'm glad we didn't listen to the naysayers and just decided to make our own decision. That was our last day and we didn't have ADRS - we were able to walk in about 4pm with no problem. Now the CS Y&Y we were really disappointed in - tasted like they were serving leftovers - I think we will opt for Flametree next time.

Really nice family pic with Goofy! You got a pretty good pic of TOL all lit up - I've never seen it in the dark.

Are there questions I can get wrong for chapter 31 posted - I didn't see them.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

The "bad" part is she has streaked to the top of the leader board.........and she didn't even join the contest until the second round! Quite impressive and shows with a good round or two anyone has a chance to jump back into the thick of things.
It is a great time to be at Disney (but then, is there a bad time?).
Hey, no backroom dealing around here!!!

Hmmm, I have a little theory - maybe Pirate Kate is really Ali?