So this is how parents relax at Disney! A June 8th-16th report.

[DisneyMomFanatic]

Love the TR so far, can't wait for more!

 

[TeresaG]

Awww.. Maddie sounds so sweet with Mickey! I did not know his nose moved. You just gave me something to check out for next time. That's awesome!

The interaction between Maddie and Mickey really was great. I was so grateful that Mickey took the time to say hi to her instead of walking away. And yes, I swear his nose really moved. My DH thinks I dreamed it up but it really did!

Thank you for that post on Tusker House. We are going for the first time next month and I was a little worried because it's our only character meal of the entire trip! I'm not usually a big breakfast eater either but you have me intrigued now Great pictures too

Tusker House is the only breakfast I insist on. It's a very nice buffet.

Great TR!! I have subscribed! I love TR's of parents with small children. I can totally relate! In sept when we go, we will have our 3children with us the oldest 4 and youngest 15 months at the time of travel. I will also be 5 months pregnant with our 4th baby. Thanks so much for all of the pics! I absolutely love seeing what you are speaking of, even if i can picture it in my mind, the pics make it amazing! Keep up the good work!!

Hi and ! 4yrs is such a great age to go. Alex's first trip was when he was 2yrs, but I swear it was more magical for him when he got older. Maddie LOVES it, but she frightens a little more easily. Congrats on #4! I went when I was around 5mos pregnant with Maddie. Everyone was worried that it would be too much but I thought it was super easy. I just drank a lot and made sure to sit when I needed to.

Glad your Tusker House breakfast went well. I laughed at how smitten Maddie was with Mickey Mouse. Who could blame her, though. He is Mickey Mouse, after all. Can't wait to see how your day went!

Oh yea, she was all about Mickey. She has a healthy obsession with him on any normal day, but meeting him in person? She was a goner.

Such a cute story about Mickey! I had no idea that he could wiggle his nose!

I didn't either! Kenny didn't see it so I'm not sure if he believes me. It really did wiggle though -I swear!

Love the TR so far, can't wait for more!

Thank you!

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

Great job T!
Your kids are so cute.
Can't wait to read more!

 

[TeresaG]

Great job T!
Your kids are so cute.
Can't wait to read more!

I'm sorry, do I know you?

Hi Ang!

 

[ARmom30]

I'm loving the pics of your kids with the characters! That is so cute that Maddie didn't want anything to do with them, but then stalked Mickey outside of the bathroom.

 

[TeresaG]

We left Tusker House with very full bellies and were ready to start the day. We were right by the safari so we went over to check the line. Surprisingly, the line was already longer than we wanted to wait in (I think it was 35mins which is long considering later in the day it'll be walk on). One look at Maddie and her droopy eyes pretty much sealed the decision to wait until later. We grabbed FP's and headed over to Kali River Rapids. It was already a hot morning so we knew we were in for a hot day. On the way to the rapids her highness fell asleep. Hey, eating with characters who you want nothing to do with is exhausting.

The wait for Kali River Rapids was 15mins, so I told Kenny to go ahead with Alex and I would hang with Maddie. I was wearing a white shirt and wasn't necessarily in the mood to get soaking wet. Maddie and I parked it in the shade for a little while but the area by Kali was pretty loud for some reason so I texted Kenny to tell him we were going for a walk and went on my way with Maddie.

I was walking aimlessly. I had no agenda except to keep Maddie moving and try to enjoy as much of Animal Kingdom as possible. Don't get me wrong, we really enjoy AK, but it's not an all day park for us. We usually go bright and early and then leave mid-afternoon. Our plan for this day was no different since we were all still pretty tired from the late night at MK the night before.

As Maddie and I were leisurely strolling in shady areas I noticed a group of people standing around looking at the trees. Curious. What's there to look at? Was there a character running around (I had already seen a few of them)? No. They're definitely staring at the trees...

I start looking over at the trees. I'm not seeing anything. Sure, they're really nice trees, but not enough to draw this much attention.

I look around and see a CM standing off to the side which was a huge indicator that something WAS happening in the trees. Finally I see some movement...

It's Davine! She blends in with the foliage amazingly. In fact, when I couldn't find her it was because she was IN the foliage and totally camouflaged. By the time I got closer she had stepped onto the path.

Admit it. If the CM wasn't standing right there you would have had trouble too.

I've been to AK 4x and have never seen Davine. I was bummed Alex wasn't around because I know he would've gotten a kick out of seeing her.

After my cool encounter with Davine I headed back to the rapids to meet the boys. My timing was perfect because no sooner had I arrived than Kenny texted me that they were done. I went over to meet them and they appeared to be dry. Well, Alex looked a little wet, but not too bad.

Me: "Didn't you get wet? Wasn't the point to get wet so you'd stay cool through the day"

Kenny: "Only one person got really wet, and they were DRENCHED. The rest of us only got a little wet."

During this very telling conversation, Alex started begging me to go on with him. Please, please, PLEASE mommy! (you know, when one please just isn't enough). I looked at Kenny and said with my eyes "I'm having a white shirt dark bra problem" to which he replied "the chances of you getting THAT wet is like one in 8; you'll be fine."

With that, I looked at my pleading son, looked at the sleeping baby and decided to chance it.

Bad idea.

Guess who was the one person who got soaked? Yep. Well, I guess it's a toss up between me and Alex, but essentially it was me. In my white shirt. How awesome.

The ride was fun, but way way way too short IMO. I've been on a lot of rapid rides similar to that and none of them were that short. I felt a little jipped. Did I mention I was soaked? And wearing a white shirt?

So off to find Kenny and Maddie (who was still sleeping). He took one look at me and bit his lip trying not to smile. I said "One in 8 right?" He just smiled and said something to the effect of being nice and cool while I dried off. I asked him if I needed to buy a new shirt and he said no. Even though my tank was white it was thick material and not see through at all. I wasn't sure if I believed him, but my husband is the last person to lie about something like that so I let it go for the moment. I still insisted on finding a bathroom on our way to wherever we were going though. Just in case.

As we started moving, we walked by a fountain/splash area off to the side. Alex jumped out of the stroller and asked if he could go check it out. We let him.

"Hey kid! What are ya doing over there?" lol What he was really doing was waiting for the jet of water to shoot out.

He JUST missed it.

Then he went in to this really cool looking fountain

He was DRENCHED. Sopping.

I should've just dunked him in a pool. It would've been the same thing.

Finally we pulled Alex away from the fountains and we were on our way.

 

[pooksma]

Please, please, PLEASE mommy! (you know, when one please just isn't enough). I looked at Kenny and said with my eyes "I'm having a white shirt dark bra problem" to which he replied "the chances of you getting THAT wet is like one in 8; you'll be fine."

Devine is one of the most amazing sights at AK IMHO. Lucky you!

 

[PirateKate]

I think that 1 in 8 thing is one of the major flaws in Kali River Rapids- no way to control your level of wetness. On Splash Mountain, you know just where to sit to get wet and where to sit to get not so wet. And it is way too short, too.

I'm glad Maddie warmed up to Mickey. It's so hard to be at a character meal with someone who's afraid of characters.

 

[Minnie_Mom]

I am not completely caught up, but I wanted to say hi! Sorry to have been gone for so long, but life finally seems to have settled down. I can't wait to finish your TR! It looks like you all had a great time. Now, back to reading...

 

[amazingact21]

Oh, I had a feeling when you started talking about a white shirt that you'd end up getting soaked on Kali River Rapids. Never fails...the one person who doesn't want to get wet, is the one person who gets drenched.
It was very cool that you were able to spot Devine. I've never seen her before, but she looks awesome. Even she was standing in the foliage right in front of me, I probably wouldn't have been able to spot her, though.

 

[Queenofallthings]

I could watch Devine all day...I find her so graceful! The first time we walked by her she scared me because she was actually in the foliage and I thought some animal was coming out at us....I may have let a little yelp out Kinda embarrassing

 

[TeresaG]

Devine is one of the most amazing sights at AK IMHO. Lucky you!

I totally agree. I considered myself very lucky to have seen her!

I think that 1 in 8 thing is one of the major flaws in Kali River Rapids- no way to control your level of wetness. On Splash Mountain, you know just where to sit to get wet and where to sit to get not so wet. And it is way too short, too.

I'm glad Maddie warmed up to Mickey. It's so hard to be at a character meal with someone who's afraid of characters.

The one in eight ratio was just what my husband said. I knew what I was getting into, but I was hoping that maybe I'd get lucky like my my DH had. Wrong. lol!

I am not completely caught up, but I wanted to say hi! Sorry to have been gone for so long, but life finally seems to have settled down. I can't wait to finish your TR! It looks like you all had a great time. Now, back to reading...

Hi! Welcome back! No need to apologize, I know all about how life gets in the way!

I could watch Devine all day...I find her so graceful! The first time we walked by her she scared me because she was actually in the foliage and I thought some animal was coming out at us....I may have let a little yelp out Kinda embarrassing

I would've been scared too if she had shown up out of nowhere! LOL! It was a lot of fun to watch her. It was also a lot of fun to watch people walk right by her without realizing she was there!

 

[DMMarla07860]

just found your report and love it, your kids are cute, looks like you all had a great time, can't wait to read more

 

[Chee Chick]

I am quite familiar with the water fountain/splash area by Kali River Rapids. DS had a blast playing there on our last trip. Too funny about the wet white shirt! So cool that you saw Devine. I've never seen her .

 

[NewlyDisneyCrazed]

Just read your whole TR so far because we're headed to POP with our DS and DD next month. Our sons are the same age but DD is 7. Loving it so far! (And thanks for the heads up about Fantasmic!)

 

[TeresaG]

just found your report and love it, your kids are cute, looks like you all had a great time, can't wait to read more

Thank you! And Thanks for joining in!

I am quite familiar with the water fountain/splash area by Kali River Rapids. DS had a blast playing there on our last trip. Too funny about the wet white shirt! So cool that you saw Devine. I've never seen her .

I imagine lots of families become very familiar with that splash area near Kali River. lol. It's a cute area, but wow is it easy to get soaked! And yea, I've learned my lesson about wearing a white shirt to AK.

Just read your whole TR so far because we're headed to POP with our DS and DD next month. Our sons are the same age but DD is 7. Loving it so far! (And thanks for the heads up about Fantasmic!)

Thanks for joining and ! We were huge huge fans of Pop. So much so that I think from now on, so long as the kids are young, we'll probably only stay there.

 

[TeresaG]

Wow, it's been a while since I updated! Sorry about taking forever. Do I still have readers left??

Anyway, to continue with our Animal Kingdom day!


Finally we called forth the sopping wet 5yr old and we were on our way. Alex kept asking us if we could go ride the safari and believe it or not our FP time was up so we said sure. We walked back over to Africa and I ducked into a bathroom on the way to check my shirt situation. Aside from looking like a drowned dog and my hair having seen better days, my shirt was not see-through so I called that a success. I quickly threw my hair back in a pony tail and met back up with the family.

What I love most about the safari is being able to take the stroller almost until the end. There was no line for FP so we pretty much walked on. The stand-by line was still pretty long though.

We boarded our safari and Maddie insisted on sitting on my lap. I was still very wet at this point and just NOT in the mood to be holding Maddie on the bumpy safari. So what's a mommy to do? Pass her along to daddy. Daddy sticks her on the seat and holds her tight and Maddie doesn't even complain that her minion dared to disobey a direct order. I told Kenny that he had to pick her up when we got to the poacher spot because the ride gets too bumpy to let her sit on the seat.

Maddie sitting all by herself like a big girl. Mommy wasn't thrilled with this, but let it slide.

And here are a few pics from the safari.

The King of the jungle! This is probably the best angle of him I've had. Usually I get the other end.

Lets zoom in a touch shall we? Sleepy kitty.

After the safari we headed over to Dinoland. The kids love Dinoland. We pretty much spend hours in the crazy park and digging zone. It was HOT this day. Very hot. I remember grabbing 2 cups of ice from a drink stand so the kids could chomp on ice and stay cool and hydrated. Chewing on ice keeps my hot kids very happy so it's a win-win. They stay quiet and don't argue with each other and they also stay hydrated in the crazy heat. I dumped the second cup of ice into both our mugs for later figuring if they wanted more ice to eat we had it and if it melted at least we had something to drink.

We arrived at Dinoland and set the kids loose in the crazy slide park. Ugh. I have a love hate relationship with this park. Both my kids run off in different directions and give us instant heart attacks. Alex instantly runs off to play on the "big" slide and Maddie just runs off with no location in mind. Kenny and I look at each other and he calls "Maddie" while I call out "Alex" and we both run off after our called child. While I'm keeping my eye on Alex by climbing up the obstacle course a little, I see Maddie running towards me with no daddy in sight. That's not good. I look down and see Kenny standing by a slide and calling for Maddie to slide down. I send her down the slide but tell him he should climb up with her and not let her run around a lone. Men.

After about 40mins of chaos Kenny and I decide we couldn't handle any more. We suggested moving over to the dig site and both kids were very excited about digging. Phew. The dig site had fans blowing and misting water on everyone below which was perfect for the hot day. I found a nice rock to sit on, set down the diaper bag and camera bag and just rested. The kids all found buckets, shovels and sat down to dig.

All my kids digging

I'm not sure how long we stayed. A long time. It was shady, cool, and calm so I'm pretty sure it was an hour or so. When the kids started getting cranky we decided to move on. My big complaint with the Dig Site is having to walk through the torturous slide park to get out. Ugggh. Each kid begged to play for "one minute PLEASE" so we said they could pick ONE slide and then we were leaving. Alex picked the biggest, hardest to get to slide. Naturally.

When we FINALLY were able to leave I think we rode the dinosaur version of Dumbo and then walked over Asia for Kenny's EE FP. I grabbed the kids a popcorn on the way since I was pretty sure they were getting hungry. Our plan was to ride EE and then leave the park to go back to the hotel and rest before going to DTD for dinner (we really love DTD). Kenny was starting to feel a little off, but we figured it was because of the heat. Regardless, it was a super hot day so heading back to the room to rest wasn't a bad idea.

We got to EE and Kenny went on his way to ride his favorite (and at this point the only real rollercoaster he had experience with lol). I found a spot near the coaster where you could watch the coaster come down the small drop. I parked us under the shade and took some practice shots of the coaster dropping so I could test my settings. I texted Kenny and told him to tell me when he was boarding so I was prepared. While we waited, the kids happily ate their popcorn and drank their water. Finally Kenny let me know he was boarding and I was able to snap some GREAT shots.

Up up up and away

He's in the front wearing the white shirt

He loves this ride. No really.

After showing Kenny the hilarious pictures I took of him on EE we decided to call it a day. We were hot, tired from the full day at MK yesterday, and Kenny was feeling off so it just seemed like all signs pointed to us going back to the room.

The kids barely lasted a minute on the bus before falling asleep. I figured we'd just let this nap happen and then take them swimming back at the room before heading to DTD for dinner.

 

[SnowWhite607]

I love EE! And now that I got my 10 year old daughter on it, she loves it as well!

 

[Disneychix]

Bad Mommy minion!

We haven't been to AK since 2008. I was considering it this year but am dreading the HEAT of this park. Your story about the play area, and how hot it was, is not helping with my decision to go back to AK this year!

 

[Minnie_Mom]

Looks like you guys are having a great time. I hope that Kenny was not getting sick and that a little rest will have him feeling like new!

Porter and Audrey Anne love the Dinoland play area, too. However, it makes me a nervous wreck. I need to have both eyes on both kids at all times.

Can't wait to read more.