The Comando & The Newbie: Lots of Pics! Completed!

[PrincessVal]

I love all your pictures in the countries. I looks like you guys had a blast. And you are for sure tougher than us. We never made it all the way around when we went in Aug because it was so darn hot.

Oh and I will have to remember to get a passport for next time. It sounds like a great souvenir!

 

[thumperbelle3]

I love all your pictures in the countries. I looks like you guys had a blast. And you are for sure tougher than us. We never made it all the way around when we went in Aug because it was so darn hot.

Oh and I will have to remember to get a passport for next time. It sounds like a great souvenir!

We did have alot of fun at World Showcase. These are my favorite pictures to look back on. Towards the middle of the day it was ungodly hot!

The passport was cool. I would buy it again!

 

[thumperbelle3]

You're Welcome!

We took some pics outside and a nice couple took our picture but my battery died so we didn’t get it. Good thing I brought extra batteries. We quickly ducked into the huge department store. I’d never been in here before. It was pretty cool.

I found out that the candy lady was not performing today. Oh well.

We stopped for some Miso soup at Yakatori House ($2.44). It was ok. I just can’t believe we ate soup today! It was around 2:00pm and the drummers had started playing so we watched them for a while.

I realized we had forgotten to get stamped in Morocco so we went back. I gave the guy our passport and he asked Mark “How did you get into Morocco without a passport?” and laughed because we were sharing. It was funny. Then back to Japan to get stamped!

We were feeling a bit homesick so we stopped in the good ol’ U.S.A. The fife and drum corps were performing.

They were great and we all sang along to “God Bless America”. Patriotic songs always get me choked up.

I was excited to see The American Adventure but it was shut down today. So sad. We did get our selves a beer ($6.13) and later saw Voices of Liberty who were fantastic.

We were for sure buzzed when we left America.

Italy was kind of boring I’m afraid to say. We had just missed the World Showcase Players though.

We got an amazing Italian margarita ($8.52). There are a couple shops here but otherwise not much to do. But totally worth it for the drink! And from this point on we would not forget to stamp our passports even though we kept drinking.

 

[addictedtothemouse]

I love watching the Japanese drummers. And anytime I hear The Star Spangled Banner I cry.

 

[KittyKat08]

Just started reading, can't wait for more.

 

[thumperbelle3]

All of a sudden we were in Germany! I took some pictures outside and then we went into the shops.

I’m part German and have a pickle ornament for my Christmas tree. For those of you that don’t know the tradition: The pickle is hidden in the Christmas tree by the parents and the first child to find the pickle gets an extra present. We got big soft pretzels ($6.98) here with our snack credits. They were so good!

We decided since we were eating dinner in the Biergarten we didn’t get any beer at this time. We tried to find a shady spot to sit. We watched the barges of fireworks come out into the lagoon.

We crossed the bridge into China.

We just missed the acrobats. I really like watching them so I was a little bummed. We went into the Temple of Heaven to look around.

It is beautiful inside. Mark thought it looked like Christmas wrapping paper on the ceiling. It kind of did. Did you know that every carved statue is different? I thought that was so cool. We went into the 360 movie “Reflections of China”. Too bad there were no seats in there. After the movie we went to the Lotus Blossom and got some egg rolls ($4.25).

These were the best egg rolls I’ve ever had. I was surprised how good they were. The best thing about stopping for food in every country was that there were no lines. Guess Free Dining doesn’t draw too many the 2nd week of September.

It had rained while we were in the China movie. We missed it!

Norway was next and we got in line for The Maelstrom. I liked this ride as a child but today not so much. We basically rode it because it was there and it was a short wait. After the ride we had to wait about 10 minutes to get in the little movie which we just walked through anyway. I got my picture taken with the troll!

We did not eat or drink here. And I really wanted to try the School Bread. We weren’t hungry for it and I thought it would melt in the backpack. Oh well maybe next time. My memory card finally filled up here so I changed that. Where should we go next?

Oh look a Margarita vendor! We each got one.

We went inside the Mexico temple and took some pictures.

I had set my drink down to photo op with some maracas and a little boy about 3 years old came and started to put his finger in my drink! We were like “Whoa there!” Where were his parents? We tried to ride the new improved river boat but they wouldn’t let us on with our drinks.

 

[thumperbelle3]

To make me fret. To make me frown.

We decided to use our FP’s for Soarin. But on the way we did Honey I Shrunk the Audience. Yikes! This was not that great. Very outdated. That movie came out soooo long ago. I smell a rehab in the future. Then we walked on Journey into Imagination with Figment. I still like the old one better but at least they kept some of the Figment animatronics in it. He is adorable and that is the only reason I still ride it. Mark was starting to whine a little about his feet. My back was killing me. As God as my witness I will never wear flip flops to EPCOT again! We were pretty buzzed now and it helped the pain I suppose. We got on the top row for Soarin and it was the best ride of the day! It was 7:30 now so we headed back to Germany for dinner.

Our reservation was for 8:00pm. We got in line to check in. The only “food” line we waited in all week. They gave us a pager and we went outside to sit and wait. About 5 minutes later we were beeped. Our hostess took us to our table in the middle of the second tear. She had the cutest accent and voice. These were great seats. We were seated with two other couples each with one daughter. The daughters were both around the age of 4 so they had a lot of fun becoming friends. One couple was from Louisiana and the other was from Maryland. I think we lucked out with good tablemates. Our server was an older gentleman named Robert and he was American as far as I could tell. Mark and I each got liters of beer! (like we needed any more!) I got the Heffeweis and he got the Oktoberfest. The band started to play shortly after we got our drinks. The kids loved it.

I wish I could have eaten more here. I think I made two trips. One trip all I managed to fit on my plate were cold salads and beef roulades. My second trip was soup and dessert. I would definitely eat there again but as a late lunch instead. We both got to-go cups for our beer (I needed two cups!). It took a long time to get them. I was worried we wouldn’t find a good spot for Illuminations because it was starting in 10 minutes!

We got a really good spot near where we ate our pretzels today. About halfway through I noticed there was no globe. What happened to the globe? Oh well it was still great and I took video of it. I just love the music too.

After Illuminations we slowly made our way to Future World. We stopped in Mexico and finished our beers.

I had promised Mark that we would ride Mission: Space on our way out of the park. I was so full of beer and food I didn’t think it would be a good idea. But we did it anyway. Twice. In a row.

The orange intense side. I thought it was great and didn’t feel anything until we landed on Mars the second time. I felt it a little bit dizzy but not enough to make me sick or headachy. We decided to leave the park now. It was around 10:30pm. We took some pictures of Spaceship Earth.

I was in bad shape though. I sneezed and just about fell over because a shooting pain went all the way up my back. Ouch! Motrin take me away! Luckily we got to sit on the way home. I just kept telling myself it’s a shorter bus ride than MK! It was so nice to be home and in bed. A hot tub would have been awesome tonight. I’ll have to look into that for next trip.

 

[addictedtothemouse]

You rode Mission Space after all the eating and drinking

Hope your back felt better the next day.

 

[AussieAngel]

Yay! I just found your trip report, and have really enjoyed it so far!

Sounds like a fun Disney vacation so far!!

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[thumperbelle3]

You rode Mission Space after all the eating and drinking

Hope your back felt better the next day.

I can't believe I rode it either! It was EMH that night so we got on twice in a row. Mark said he felt a little after the second ride so we probably wouldn't do it in a row like that again.

My back did feel better the next day and we remembered to bring the Motrin with us to the park!

 

[thumperbelle3]

Yay! I just found your trip report, and have really enjoyed it so far!

Sounds like a fun Disney vacation so far!!

Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks for reading. We went to Wilderness Lodge for dinner at Artist Point on our last night. It was really good and that resort is so beautiful! I'm jelous you get to spend 12 days there!

 

[thumperbelle3]

More to do than can ever be done

This is our last full day. We left the room at 8:00am. Mark was moving pretty slow today. We are going to Animal Kingdom today!

We got to the bus stop and waited for awhile. Finally an Animal Kingdom bus came but it stopped at the Magic Kingdom. Stupid people got on until one smart man must have told the driver that he pulled into the wrong bus stop. Then all the stupid people got off the bus and he pulled up to us and we got on. Mark asked the driver if he was going to Animal Kingdom. Just checking! So the whole ride there I was nervous that he was going to take us to the wrong place and we would miss rope drop! But we made it just in time!

I really like rope drop here. I especially like it when Mickey comes up on the tower next to the Tree of Life. It really puts things into perspective! Mark was amazed at how big the tree was.

At first he thought Mickey was a small robot but I set him straight. We followed Mini, Goofy, and Pluto towards Africa and the Village of Harambe!

Then got in line for our 2 week safari!

I was excited to see all the animals this morning. We figured the left side is the best side to be on. We were on the right and it was hard to get pictures even though Mark was on the outside. Everything seemed to be on the left.

Anyway, it’s hard to take pictures when you’re moving and then my memory card filled up. Wow I guess it must have been a small one I just changed it last night. Then Mark told me my battery was dying. I just changed those too! And I didn’t have any extra. So when we got back from our safari we went into the gift shop and bought batteries and Mark bought me a giraffe carving. It has two giraffes with their necks intertwined. I like giraffes mostly because of their African name which is twiga. I think it’s cute!

After that we walked the Pangani Forest trail. I was super excited to see the gorillas. They did not disappoint either.

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

I've mostly been lurking on your TR and I LOVE it! Your pictures are all wonderful.

It looks like you and your BF had SO much fun on the trip!

Thanks for sharing it all with us!

 

[thumperbelle3]

I've mostly been lurking on your TR and I LOVE it! Your pictures are all wonderful.

It looks like you and your BF had SO much fun on the trip!

Thanks for sharing it all with us!

Thanks so much for reading. We did have alot of fun and I can't wait until we can go back! I'd like to stay for 8 nights next time though.

Have fun on your trip! Can't wait to hear what Thanksgiving is like in the World.

 

[thumperbelle3]

Next we headed to Asia.

We got FP’s for Expedition Everest and got in the stand-by line. This is my first time on this coaster. It is a very cool queue area and I’m glad we got to see it.

The line moved very quickly and I think we only waited 10 minutes. We were seated in the very first row! I had watched youtube video of it and knew what to expect so I got out my camera to take some pictures once we reached the top of the mountain.

This ride was awesome! Being in the front wasn’t like being in the front on Big Thunder. It was fast! I loved the backwards part and being in the dark!

It felt like we were going upside down but we weren’t. Great job Disney!

We got a couple of Mickey Mouse ice cream bars and sat on a bench to eat. Mark's first Mickey Bar!

It was so hot already. We did the Maharaja Jungle Trek after that. Not too much going on here. The tigers were sleeping as usual and the giant bats were doing…ah…what they do.

We tried to get FP’s for Kali River Rapids but they weren’t giving them out. So back to EE and we rode towards the back this time. Got more FP’s for later. We had time to do one more thing before lunch. So we did It’s Tough to Be A Bug.

I really like this 3D movie. It is kind of scary and I did see small children being taken out of the theater. Mark liked that we were under the Tree of Life.

After that we went to Flame Tree Barbecue for lunch.

I got the ½ slab of ribs with baked beans and cornbread muffin, a sprite, and a frozen lemonade ($14.37). Mark got the Beef sandwich with baked beans, an ice tea and key lime pie ($13.47). We sat by the water looking out at EE. There is tons of seating at Flame Tree.

I gave Mark some of my ribs and he said they were much better than Cosmic Rays.

I liked everything except the cornbread muffin. Too gritty for me but Mark liked it. I really liked the beans. The key lime pie was too sweet for Mark so I ate most of it. The frozen lemonade was too sweet for both of us. I tried to eat it but I was full and I also had a huge Sprite to finish. I would eat here again but I’ve never eaten anywhere else at AK so I think we should branch out.

We went to Dinoland and got in line for Dinosaur!

This ride scares the crap out of me!

I had to grab Mark’s arm for safety. The dinosaurs aren’t that scary I just hate the dark. I really am scared in this picture.

I usually ride this twice but time was running out and we still needed to do some more things.

We managed to catch the Finding Nemo show. I was really good. We didn't take any pictures though. Dory’s fin fell off in the middle of the show but they “just kept swimming”. I’m glad we decided to see at least one show while we were here. Mark was disappointed in the hard wood benches, but at least we were sitting. It was about 2:00pm now. We went back to our fav ride of the day EE. We were in the middle this time. FP is a godsend!

 

[AussieAngel]

Yay!! More fun chapters!!

"Just keep swimming" is my favourite Disney quote!! I even made myself a t-shirt on Zazzle with a picture of Dory on it with that quote underneath! Can't wait to wear it in Disney!!

Thanks for some more great updates!!

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

Yum! I love Flame Tree!

I'm jealous that you went on EE 3 times in one day! I hope to do the same later this month!

I haven't seen the Finding Nemo show. Would you recommend it?

 

[thumperbelle3]

Yum! I love Flame Tree!

I'm jealous that you went on EE 3 times in one day! I hope to do the same later this month!

I haven't seen the Finding Nemo show. Would you recommend it?

I thought the Finding Nemo show was really good. A nice shortened version of the movie with some great new songs. The line was looooooooong to get in the theater when we went(probably the longest line of our trip). The performers are really good and I would def go see it again!

 

[thumperbelle3]

Our last ride of the day was Kali River Rapids.

I planned it this way so if we got soaked we could just leave and go home. We have dinner ressies at Artist Point for 6:10pm so I wanted to go home and clean up before dinner. I did not care if we got soaked because we were so hot. AK is the hottest park. Why is that? EPCOT was hot too. Maybe it was because we didn’t bring our misting fan those days? Anyway back to Kali. Did we get soaked? Oh yeah! I felt like someone dumped a huge bucket of water on us. I looked like it too. It was a blast! Totally worth it. Well I guess it’s time to leave. We took some pics on the way out.

The bus ride was long and cold. We had to stop at Typhoon Lagoon first. At least we weren’t the only wet ones on the bus.

Went we got home we changed into our swimsuits and headed to Petals for a frozen cocktail. Warning! Do not get a frozen drink at Petals if you want to get drunk. There was less than an ounce in it I swear. I watched her make it too. $18.98 down the drain. We weren’t looking to get drunk but come on. We hung out at the pool for an hour then got ready for dinner. We took the bus to Hollywood Studios and saw the Wilderness Lodge bus all the way at the end. We totally ran there. We caught it. That was pure luck.

Once at the Lodge we had about a half hour before our reservation. Perfect time to explore the resort.

The lobby was really packed.

So was the pool. I would love to stay here sometime. We check into Artist point 15 minutes early.

The place was pretty much empty and we were sat next to the window but also right next to a beam. It looked like a weird place for a table and only one of us could see outside without turning around. Oh well. We started off with drinks. I got a glass of cabernet sauvignon for $14.50 and Mark got a bottle of Red Hook for $6.25.

I ordered the grilled beef tenderloin, pomme fries and wild mushrooms with chive oil ($40.00). Mark got the Grilled Buffalo Sirloin steak with sweet potato gratin ($39.00). Both were outstanding. The “french fries” I got were really good if you got a little of the chive oil on them. Wow! No pics sorry! Our waiter was Raphael and he didn’t come around a lot. He didn’t come back until it was time for desert. I got the Hazelnut Chocolate torte with blood orange sauce and Lavender ice cream ($9.00) and Mark got the Artist Point Berry Cobbler with black raspberry ice cream ($9.00).

We ate everything on our plates. That was the first time the whole trip we did that. Our bill came to $148.16 and we paid only $20.77 for the drinks and tipped him $22. Free Dining Rules!

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

Wow! Those desserts look GOOD!

As does the Cabernet!