"So what do you want to do next?" An April '10 TR...final thoughts 8/2 p. 63

[nts4wdw]

Those popcorn bowls are too cute! I use our buckets from the parks(I've got so many different ones that I can change them out for the seasons), but those could change my mind. Off to Disney shopping!!

 

[Believeinfairytales]

Oh my gosh! Those popcorn bowls are adorable. I want them. Actually, I tend to want all of the Disney themed kitchen stuff. It's all just so wonderful!

I tend to agree - I have been wanting to turn my kitchen into a Disney/Mickey themed one. I wonder how hubby will feel if it is a ssssssssllllllllooooooooowwww transition??????

 

[Jennifer48]

Whew I finally made it over Sarah! Don't you just hate when real life gets in the way of DIS time?!

I can't wait to stay at Kidani! Did you love the room? Did it really seem larger than the other AKL rooms?

Are the annual passes still paper? I'm thinking about getting one for my June trip and we prob will be back in Sept too for our 1 yr anniversary. I did the math and it makes sense to get one.

 

[leamom2princesses]

Love the popcorn bowls Sarah! We could definitely put those to use at my house. The kids love to have a bowl of popcorn while they watch movies. You know I can't wait to see more pics of Kidani! Our first trip "home" is only about a month away now.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Love the bowls!

They are great.

Love the popcorn bowls! Now if they just came with Disney popcorn

haha, that would be awesome.

We looked at those bowls too, they are so cute.

Yes they are.

I love those little popcorn bowls. They are so cute.

We just tend to use the buckets from our trips. I seem to be obsessed with those..................

Surprisingly we don't have any of the popcorn buckets from there. Just the refillable mugs. haha

Subbing! Your room looks AMAZING! I am dying to stay at AKL!

PS: Sub to my TR if you haven't already
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2374556

AKL is awesome. Hopefully you'll get to stay there.

Off to check out your TR now!

Love the popcorn bowls! Mmm I'm craving Disney popcorn now...doesn't it just taste so amazing there?

I have a confession to make. I honestly don't know if I have ever had popcorn in Disney World. And if I have, I don't remember it!

Oh my gosh! Those popcorn bowls are adorable. I want them. Actually, I tend to want all of the Disney themed kitchen stuff. It's all just so wonderful!

LOL, I know. If only I had my own kitchen to use them in!

Those popcorn buckets are just adorable! Good buy for Dad!

Yeah, he figured if you see something and are looking at it for several trips it's time to just get it.

Those popcorn bowls are too cute! I use our buckets from the parks(I've got so many different ones that I can change them out for the seasons), but those could change my mind. Off to Disney shopping!!

So did you get them?!

I tend to agree - I have been wanting to turn my kitchen into a Disney/Mickey themed one. I wonder how hubby will feel if it is a ssssssssllllllllooooooooowwww transition??????

LOL!

Whew I finally made it over Sarah! Don't you just hate when real life gets in the way of DIS time?!

I can't wait to stay at Kidani! Did you love the room? Did it really seem larger than the other AKL rooms?

Are the annual passes still paper? I'm thinking about getting one for my June trip and we prob will be back in Sept too for our 1 yr anniversary. I did the math and it makes sense to get one.

Hi Jennifer! Glad you made it.

I did like our room and I do think it was bigger. Maybe it was just because there were 2 of us but it was definitely nice.

Sadly the APs are still paper. I really wish they would make them like credit cards! Wouldn't it make more sense to have a sturdier card if you are going more often? My dad's little booklet they give you to keep it in is ripping already.

Love the popcorn bowls Sarah! We could definitely put those to use at my house. The kids love to have a bowl of popcorn while they watch movies. You know I can't wait to see more pics of Kidani! Our first trip "home" is only about a month away now.

Woo hoo, only a month to go! So exciting. I know you guys will love it there.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Hi Sarah! I followed you over from your post on my PTR, hope you don't mind another follower - looks like you've got a lot of them

I have those same popcorn buckets! Aren't they so cute? I bought them from the online store before our December trip, we used them to celebrate during our '100 days 'til Disney party'.

Can't wait to hear about your afternoon at AK!

 

[wisblue]

My dad's little booklet they give you to keep it in is ripping already.

Well, I did get this pass last August and it's gone through 3 trips and 18 different days of entering parks (and probably almost twice that many park entries). Throw in all of the times I've pulled it out to get AP discounts on things and it isn't too surprising that the booklet is wearing out.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Hi Sarah! I followed you over from your post on my PTR, hope you don't mind another follower - looks like you've got a lot of them

I have those same popcorn buckets! Aren't they so cute? I bought them from the online store before our December trip, we used them to celebrate during our '100 days 'til Disney party'.

Can't wait to hear about your afternoon at AK!

Yay, another reader! I don't mind another follower at all. I am really surprised so many people are joining in but so glad people are reading.

That is a great idea!

I'm about to post the next update so stay tuned.

Well, I did get this pass last August and it's gone through 3 trips and 18 different days of entering parks (and probably almost twice that many park entries). Throw in all of the times I've pulled it out to get AP discounts on things and it isn't too surprising that the booklet is wearing out.

Yeah, that's true but I still wish the cards were sturdier.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Tuesday, April 6, 2010 cont'd (part 4)

As is our usual routine, our first stop once we got into the park was the Attractions Board to check out some of the wait times. By the time we got to the park it was just after 3:30.

It’s kind of hard to read the times in the picture, but here are the waits for the headliners:

Kilimanjaro Safaris…40 minutes
Dinosaur…45 minutes
Expedition Everest…50 minutes
Kali River Rapids…100 minutes

Some people might shudder at those times but really, I don’t think any of those are that bad. Would we wait that long? Now that we’ve been there so many times most likely not but if there’s one thing we’ve learned in all our trips it’s that the wait times posted and the actual time you wait are two completely different things. The other thing to remember is that the parade was about to start and most people start heading out after that since the park closed at 8:00. It would be interesting to see what the crowds were like afterwards.

I decided I wanted to head over to Africa and on the way took the obligatory Tree of Life picture:

And since the parade was going to be starting any minute we decided to just hang out in Africa and watch it. It had been a couple years since we last saw Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade (mostly because we were IN it) and I kept saying how I want to see it again. We were able to find a spot right up by the ropes so I could get some more pictures. Remember how I was reading the Hidden Magic of Walt Disney World book before our trip? Dad ended up reading it too and made some notes of things he wanted to look for. So while I stood and waited for the parade I think he ended up wandering around for a bit looking for some things.

Before long that catchy song filled the air (and I do mean catchy…LOL!) and the parade began!

I guess I had never really paid that much attention to them before but the puppets in the parade are pretty cool. I love how they’re animated…like the giraffe could lower its neck and the iguana coud stick out its tongue.

I thought this family was so cute. Dad made some comment about how their outfits weren’t quite as embarrassing as ours were when we were in it. Remember they change the name to Mickey’s JINGLE Jungle Parade for Christmas so we had to wear Christmas trees on our heads instead of the regular safari hats. If only I had a picture of that. Haha!

When the Mickey car came by at the end of the parade I got super jealous because that’s the one we rode on. Ahhh memories. But everyone looked like they were having so much fun. The guy and girl up front (particularly the guy!!!) were pretty funny. They were dancing along to the music. Gotta love Disney.

After Mickey closed out the parade we kind of had to fight the crowd since everyone seemed to be heading towards the exit. But we were only beginning! We headed over toward Kilimanjaro Safaris where the wait had already dropped down to 20 minutes or so. The safari is one of my favorite AK attractions so it was going to be great getting to do a major attraction right away. And it definitely didn’t disappoint. We got to see a lot of animals which was kind of a treat since that seems to be when they are all hiding to get out of the sun.

A hippo actually out of the water! Too bad my camera is too slow that the dumb rock got in the way.

Love this giraffe picture!

Another one of my favorites...the elephant!

And some wildebeest.

A white rhino. I think the story about how they got their name is pretty interesting. I guess it wasn't supposed to be "white" since they're not really white but when translating, what should have been "wide" came across as "white"...thus the name. Does that make any sense????

I have to say I don’t quite know what was going on during our ride though because the poor driver had to keep yelling at this one group because people (I’m assuming it was their kids) kept standing up when he’d point out the animals. You all know it’s a bumpy ride and they warn you they can’t stop the truck. And then on top of that somebody SPIT out of the truck! Come on now, seriously?! Who does that??? It was just weird. I don’t know why some people can’t just follow the rules. GEEZ! OK, vent over.

When the ride was over Dad wanted to look for some more of the hidden “treasures” so we spent some time exploring Africa, mostly near the Tusker House and Dawa Bar. Those are two areas where I can honestly say I have not really seen so it was fun to see some of the details, like these posters on the wall. It really helps to complete the whole story. Love the one for the safaris!

But believe it or not, we were still just getting started.

Up next: Asia!!

 

[dismagiclover]

Great update! I love the Safari. It really is a different ride everytime! And I bet you have a great evening. AK really does clear out after the parade.

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

nice update!!!

I loved working the parade at AK!

Random question..when I was a presenter and we had a parade rotation, where you stood is where we would stand but one person inside the ropes and one outside the ropes.

Did you see any presenters doing parade control? They'd be in khaki and red shirts. When I was there in March they were in the AK ent. with bug boxes for the rope drop of AK. I didn't know if those positions were elminated or not, if so thats crazy!

 

[RachelNinja]

I love that your dad read the Hidden Magic book too! I hope that a part 2 is made because that was so fun to read.

Oh wow, I've never seen a giraffe sitting like that before.

 

[Mickey_Mom]

Say whaaaaaat? You were IN the parade? Christmas trees?!

If you could put a caption bubble over the elephant, what would it say?

My second say whaaaat? of this update... spitting?! What was their point?

 

[stace208]

Great safari pictures! I didn't get any good giraffe pictures this trip

The wait times looked the same the day before. We also found them to be off from the attractions board posting. Except Kali. That line was loooong!

 

[Brave teacher]

What lovely pictures! Believe it or not, we have never seen the parade in AK.

I LOVE the safari! You've read my PTR. You know our new love for it. I may have to get the hidden magic book.

 

[MHTeacher]

Great update!

I'm sure you enjoyed the rest of your evening at AK. To me, the evening is the best time at AK---It cools off a little bit, and the crowds thin out.

 

[tinkgurl]

Great update girl!

I agree, the posted wait times and the actual wait times are usually 2 different things! But wow- Kali was posted as 100 minutes?!

Aw, the parade! I'm trying to figure out exactly where you were..I think we were right across from you. We were right by the Dawa bar.

I love that pic of the posters! Isn't the "Hidden Magic" book awesome?!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Great pictures of both the parade and the safari!

We had a family that kept getting in trouble for letting their kids stand up during one of our safari rides last trip as well, they didn't listen when the driver asked them to sit down either Probably the same kind of people who would sue Disney if their child fell and got hurt while breaking said rule......

 

[wisblue]

Even though the wait time posted outside the safari had dropped to 20 minutes during the parade, it didn't take us anywhere near that long to get boarded. In fact it only took us about 5 minutes to get to where they collect the fastpasses and the lines come together.

This was the first time we walked behind the Tusker House and looked at some of the things there. We also heard the sound of breaking dishes and a woman's voice coming from out of one of the second floor windows at the back of the building. One of those hidden touches.

 

[PrincessCaitlin]

Great update!

You took some awesome pictures!

That's so cool that you got to participate in a Disney parade! That is a dream of my family's

Can't wait to see your pictures of Asia!