The Great Pink Mickey Croc Tour..last pics 08/09, last words 08/15

[MAGICFOR2]

I was waaayyyy behind in reading your trippie, Tammie, but I'm all caught up now. Couple of comments....

Wow! I'm so impressed with Jedi's magical memory moment. That absolutely would have made the trip worth it so much more than it already had to have been.

Fastpass?!!! Very cool!! I'm also impressed with some of the dining events you've spoken of.

Finally, sister time with a bottle of wine....another priceless moment.

Again, thanks so much for sharing this experience with Alice and her munchkins.

Thanks for sharing our Magic, Kimberly!

I don't know if I could ever do Disney in the summer. It sounds soooo hot and humid.

The wine on the balcony sounds wonderful.

It was really hot! We enjoyed our rest times at the resort to regroup and take a shower, and feel presentable for dinner! I really loved being there in October before, and without school schedules, that would be my choice!

Thanks for reading! I will post more tomorrow!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Sunday, June 10th

This was the last day for Alice and the kids, so we had planned to do a few things we had missed at MK and then head over to Epcot to do the World Showcase. (We always call if "the lands" )

We got to the gates at MK 10 min before opening - caught the bus on time and everything! I had never seen the official ceremony before. It was festive, I guess:

We headed in for the stroller/bathroom routine, and then headed left aroung the circle toward Adventureland and POC! We had ADRs for Crystal Palace character buffet for dinner, so I stopped to take a PIC while I was thinking about it. That's all I really got to do... think about it... more on that later!

Now today, we wanted to hit POC, SM and Buzz for sure. I think the teacups were mentioned, but we never saw them! Alice wanted today to be more relaxed, and she wanted the kids to choose the activities - no commando today!

Now we really timed this land badly - the stand for the Dole Whip wasn't open yet, and we were never to return Oh well, I can get one at DL in October if I'll just remember!

We stopped to play with the monkeys and snakes in one of the shops, Grumpy ran ahead for POC FP while we played with the little boats across from the Magic Carpet ride.

We rode the Magic Carpet ride. Twice. Princess would later tell me this was her favorite ride of the whole trip, because "the camels spit on you!"

We headed over to Jungle cruise, as the line was very short, and it is a classic! We had a fun cruise - now I thought our cruise director was pretty funny - Jedi and Princess apparently thought he was corny - I don't know why???

At one point, he said that the natives were hunting for little girls wearing pink shirts and "princess" visors! Guess who he was talking about? She did manage a real smile then!

Now it was time for our POC FP. Grumpy and I are pirate fans! We have this tradition of seeing all of the pirate movies in a marathon when we visit his uncle in Anaheim, and we gave a POC themed party to the Senior class for my DS, and of course there are the Pirates In the Caribbean parties on DCL!!! We were excited to go on this ride - and compare to the DL one. We enjoyed this one - there is a better drop and better themes in DL, but I am sure the FL people think the same of the WDW one. Alice and the kids seemed to like the ride, although I think princess was a little bothered by all of the skeletons! They did have a rousing sword fight in the gift shop afterwards, though.

We headed over to Tomorrowland, got a FP for SM. We headed in to Cosmic Rays for lunch. This was another occasion where craziness abounded, tables were hard to come by, so the girls ordered while the boys found a table. After getting in line to order, Princess needed to find a restroom So I ordered, and found Grumpy - then went back in to find Alice and Princess. We had this routine down pretty well by now. There was a floor show at Cosmic Rays!

Has anyone seen this before? I hadn't. There are animatronic aliens in a band - a stage rose up out of the floor and they started playing big band music. Then they folded up, and the whole stage went up into the ceiling, and they disappeared

After lunch, we got a FP for Buzz, then headed over to Stitch. The wait time was really short, so we went in. Grumpy and I missed the old Alien Encounter - in our opinion, a much better use of space! I think the kids enjoyed this one, though, and we were all thoroughly grossed out by Stitch!

We headed over to SM to use our FP! Princess and I laughed and screamed our way through - Alice kept repeating, OMG! She was quite proud of herself afterward for surviving a coaster in the dark!

We rode on Buzz - I don't remember who won - I'm pretty sure it wasn't Princess and I - we couldn't seem to figure out how to aim!

At this time, we headed on out of the MK and got on the Epcot monorail. We were there in no time! While we waited for the stroller, the kids enjoyed setting up some photo ops.

We decided that Stitch here should visit every country and have his pic taken with something from that country. I took this beginning shot, and then Alice took the reston her camera,so I don't have them. They posed him with a T-Shirt from every country. Very cute.

We headed over to the World Showcase, and stopped in Canada and UK, then a potty break, and then we ran into a few friends.

Mary Poppins was so cute! She asked the kids if they were behaving themselves, then if they had cleaned their rooms. When she told them good-bye, she said, "spit spot" "cheerio!"

So on around the world we went. I don't remember every country. Jedi was very fascinated with the drummers in Japan The kids made several "kidcot" stops - nice chance to get inside and cool off for all of us! Jedi got tired of working on his. He wanted to do some shopping. Here is a pic of Princess with her finished project, just before the rain started.

Another friend:

Lots of fun in Norway!

We stopped in at the Bakery and bought some pastries for breakfast, some waters, and rice cream with our remaining snack credits. Alice and I are quite a bit Norweigan ourselves, and we enjoyed the rice cream - our mom makes it for a side dish at holidays - we call it "glorified rice." Yumm!


Hurricane Part 2 coming up!:

 

[MAGICFOR2]

So we were enjoying our "rice cream" - Stitch was touring the World, and we stopped near the Viking Ship to use the Bathroom. Grumpy said, "tut tut, looks like rain!"... okay, he really didn't say that, just couldn't resist quoting pooh But he did say we should put on our ponchos, because it is going to rain.

Having been in Okinawa for 3 years, we don't really care much about a little rain. It is only raining when it is a downpour, right? So, I sort of smiled and said, do you think we'll melt??? Grumpy said, "okay, but I'm wearing mine!" We all donned our ponchos - I don't think I even had mine over my head and KA-BOOM!!!

Thunder and lightening and the sky opened up and just poured buckets of water out! We started making our way out of the showcase - the water got deeper and deeper and the wind started blowing We made our way over to a little gift shop located right on the other side of the drawbridge after Mexico. It was a little glass building. At the time it didn't seem like a good choice of shelter

We shopped, and sat and shopped and looked out the window. More and more refugees came pouring in, drenched. The CMs were very nice about watching for drowning victims and opening the door for them as they arrived. It started hailing like crazy for awhile, too! I heard one little boy ask, "is it snowing?"

Princess and I were looking out the window at the rain falling sideways, and the wind blowing the palm trees around - she looked up at me and said, "I have seen movies of hurricanes that look like this - Is this a Hurricane?"

We had ADRs at CP for 6:00, so we were watching our watches - it got to be 5:00, and the rain still hadn't let up. We decided to make a run for the monorail - don't know if it runs in a lightening storm? We took off running - I was really glad I had nerdy socks in my crocs that day, as it kept them on my feet! Grumpy was pushing the stroller with the kids in it, and he and Alice, being in good shape were running up ahead. I was sort of speed walking, but the water seriously came up to my knees, so I guess if was
SPEED SLOSHING!!! I finally decided I couldn't keep up with them, and started regular sloshing. Alice came back and sloshed with me - she was afraid they would lose me.

When we got up to the stroller return, no Grumpy, no Jedi, no princess I called Grumpy, and he was right behind us under the entrance for Spaceship Earth.

We decided that it was now 5:30, we didn't even know where the monorail entrance was, and we were soaking wet, had no desire to be in the air conditioning - we were no shows for our ADRs!

When we got to the bus stop our resort bus was waiting for us! We were soon back in our warm room, drying off and ordering pizza delivery with the last of our TS credits!

We put in a Star Wars DVD and enjoyed a delicious pizza, salad and dessert! Jedi and Princess stayed in our room while Alice finished packing, and when the skies cleared, we went down to the pool and enjoyed the hot tub while the kids played in the splash area with some little friends. It was a fun, unexpected end to a great day!

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

That is some downpour you got caught in! You were brave to run through it.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Monday, June 11th

Today was a sad day... but for Grumpy and I, it was also a day we had looked forward to. Alice and the kids were leaving to go home of OK, but we were checking in to the AKL!

Here are some pics of our last moments at SSR together

Finally this sad scene:

We said our sad good-byes, the kids were tearful, and so was I. It was the end of a long awaited adventure. Yesterday on a phone call, Alice told me that Princess wanted to move to Disney world. I think I should go there with her.

Here are a few more pics Princess and I took of SSR that morning:
The lobby:

The main pool:

Artists Palette:

I have to be honest here. Grumpy and I, being empty nesters were looking forward to a quiet day at AKL, just relaxing and enjoying the animals. We had ressies for a romantic dinner at Fulton's Crab House, but we decided that we wanted to just stay at AKL and relax and not take any buses So we checked with concierge to see if we could cancel our Fultons and get Boma. Nothing available, so we left it as it was for now.

We went to AP for a nice breakfast, went back to the room to pack, and called the bell desk to pick up our bags, and left for DTD.

We had some gifts to buy at DTD, and wanted to pick up the special order for our DIL. We took a nice walk, (never leisurely with Grumpy ) and enjoyed our shopping.

We walked over to the PI bus stop, and waited patiently there - the bus came after about 20 min, and we were on our way to AKL! I had dreamed about sitting on the balcony, watching the giraffes for a long time!

Next: In to Africa?

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

I'm looking forward to hearing about AKL. I'm staying there for the first time in October!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

That is some downpour you got caught in! You were brave to run through it.

Maybe stupid! I mean lightning and water I guess it WAS Disney Rain!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

I'm looking forward to hearing about AKL. I'm staying there for the first time in October!

Good! I have lots of pics! It was always my dream - didn't think we would be able to do it anytime soon - gotta love those DVC points!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

As we got off the bus and headed for the front doors, I was starting to relax already, just glad to be at AKL! When we opened the doors, we stepped into Africa! The decor was lots of wood and branches, thatching, masks and African artwork. There was tribal music playing very softly in the background, and there were alot of comfortable seating areas all around the massive lobby insterspersed with display cases of artifacts and hand made beads and jewelry items. I wish I had taken more pics here - I think I was a little overwhelmed! One interesting jewelry item was a long necklace made from matching very old looking rings - all the same - looked like very old hand carved silver rings with red stones in them - not ruby looking, more like red torquoise - some of the rings were missing stones. Of course my DH, no longer Grumpy, and I started making up stories which were very POC-like. "these rings were taken off dead pirates - by natives - they are all matching because they were in some kind of pirate brotherhood." I'm sure the real story is not as good, but it was fun speculating.

There was a large 25ft high(?), 360deg mask, which it was explained is a certain tribe's tradition to make it in secret, then have a young boy carry it on his head down a trail in a parade without falling or stumbling, or he will disgrace the village.

We were quickly checked in - I had ressies for a King Savannah view, but at the last minute, my BIL said he was coming through with his daughter on his way to a Wonder cruise, and would be getting in at midnight - his ressies were for the 12th, so we said he could crash with us when he got in. So, I asked for a change to 2 queens Savannah. The great CM we had said that since we wanted to change, she had a Savannah room ready for us! I asked if I would have giraffes on that side, and she assured me we would

She was also able to help us with our ADRs for dinner! She found an opening at 6pm for Boma! So we were all set to stay right there in Africa and relax! No Bus today! We were also able to ship a box of souveniers home for only $26.00! We liked not being overweight in our bags and not carrying that stuff!

They have the strangest room number system. We checked in on the 2nd floor, walked up a hallway that came out on the 3rd floor, then we took an elevator back down to the 2nd floor, and down a wing I never did quite figure it out.

On the way out to the room, we spied zebras and some really cute little pigs with floppy ears and some kind of mask around their eyes - looked like make up!

When we got to our room, I loved the theming! The wallpaper in the bathroom, the furnishings, even the balcony chairs are all very African!

The view from our balcony:

my buddies:

Here is a view of the DVC construction going on - you could hear it outside during the day - not too bad, though - plus, I guess it has to happen if they are going to build, right?

Our bags were not delivered yet, but we had brought our suits in a tote bag, so we changed and headed down to relax by the pool. I didn't take my camera, just a book, some sunscreen and my KTTW so I could get a nice frozen drink at the pool bar!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

We got down to the pool and walked around for a little - it was beautiful! There are alot of little hidden areas surrounded by jungle and bamboo - some are playgrounds, some are hot tubs, and some are little areas to sit and watch the animals.

I wanted to be away from the "excitement" of the pool, and just relax I found some secluded chairs on a walkway over by the flamingos

Jim was checking out the arcade, so I went to the pool bar and got my frozen drink of the day, a diet cola and a bag of doritos for us to share. I settled myself in to my chair with my book after taking another look at the flamingos. Jim found me and we settled in for what we hoped would be a nap in the sun. I just started getting sleepy while reading, and it started sprinkling! NOOOOO! We just want to relax!!!! Yep, it the thunder started, and the rain started coming down.

We went back to our room to wait for the rain to be done. We ended up falling asleep for quite a while. I think we were worn out We called for our bags, and stashed things away, saving room for BIL. We got dressed for dinner, and then went out to explore the resort a little more. We found a great balcony with big rocking chairs overlooking the zebras, and some other animal watching spots. I visited for awhile with a CM who is on a cultural exchange visa from Africa - she is sooo homesick She said that she will spend 3 yrs here and then when she goes back home, she will have special priviledges back home - she is planning to get her Master's then.

It was finally time for us to go to dinner. Boma was great! The buffet was interesting and delicious. It was really fun to try all the different foods! I had a fabulous glass of wine - the waiter knew just what I wanted when I described the flavor I like. The service was probably the best of our whole trip! We enjoyed this very much. I wish we would have had the DDP for our days at AKL - we didn't think we would use it, but it turns out we would have - could have saved about $100.00 or so!

We rolled up the stairs and looked around in the gift shop, and walked out by the pool for a little bit. I love this gift shop - they have alot of hand made African art at really good prices! We were visiting the flamingos, and saw that they were nesting right below us (right up against the fence and 3 ft down) - and there was an egg hatching! We watched for quite awhile, but then the mom sat back down on the egg. When we checked back the next day, the chick was hatched! We decided to turn in early, as we were to be awakened at 12 or so by BIL.

Jim went to sleep right away, but I had to go out and check on my friends. There was a little truck driving around in the field below - then he parked at the end facing us with his lights on. I guessed he must be looking for some animals. We had seen them all going into the shelter earlier at dusk.

I went to bed and watched TV for a little while and just as I fell asleep, my friend from home called. I reminded her that it was 10:30 pm where I was. I watched TV a little, went to sleep, and my DS called - 11:00 pm. I went out on the balcony to talk to him, and saw my two giraffe friends frolicking in the trees below. Evidently they had hidden out until the truck left! It was so cute!

I went back to sleep and Jim's phone rang (it has a ring that sounds like a rooster ) I couldn't figure out how to answer it, and he was zzzzzzzzz. When I looked at the missed call, it was BIL. I woke Jim up and told him to call his brother. BIL was calling at 11:45 to tell us he was on the ground and would be there soon. Jim promptly went back to sleep. I had a hard time going back to sleep, waiting for a knock on the door - the phone rings - "we are still on the bus." It's now 12:30pm. So, I went to sleep about 1am, and the knock on the door happened at 2am.

I guess they went to every resort in the area on their way to AKL. BIL was not happy We tried to catch up a little, reacquaint ourselves with our niece, then go back to sleep.

Jim and I woke up about 7:30. I made some coffee, which I had gotten ready the night before, and we stepped out on the balcony and closed the slider so BIL and DN could sleep.

We finally woke BIL and DN up at 9:30 am. We got ready and went down to BOMA for breakfast We enjoyed this breakfast. It was pretty much like a regular American buffet - lots of delicious choices.

DN wanted to visit MK, BB and Epcot today!!! Her father convinced her that they could do a little today and a little tomorrow after we left.

This was a bittersweet day for us. We were looking forward to spending the day with BIL, but I was feeling sad that it was our last day of vacation! I think Jim was looking forward to coming home to our kids and DGSs!

We decided to head over to BB, then to Epcot later! Now we told BIL about our bus nightmare, and he immediately hailed a cab We got to BB lickety split! We found a great spot to camp out and relax, which I did quite a bit

We got in line for the gondola to the teamboat springs ride. It got stuck, so we had an extra long visit - didn't mind the wait, except it was SOOOO HOT! We got in the wave pool and the "float around." The other 3 went for the water slides, and I refilled the mugs we bought that morning, settled in to read, and ....... you guessed it! The wind started blowing like crazy! It sprinkled a little, but chairs were tipping over and branches were falling off trees, people were screaming and hurrying to grab their stuff!

My family came back - the men were apologizing for not getting there faster - I guess they thought I was terrified! I really thought we were okay. Just then they made an announcement that the park was closing due to expected lightning. So we packed up - and headed out. So glad we got those refillable mugs

We headed out and....hailed a cab

We went back to the hotel and got a room across the hall for BIL and DN. They were really excited about the animals out their balcony. We got cleaned up, went downstairs, and....jumped in a cab to Epcot!

Next time: Last Night Blues

 

[zweihund]

I just caught up, what great pics Tammie! Looking forward to the rest

 

[MAGICFOR2]

I just caught up, what great pics Tammie! Looking forward to the rest

Thanks Erica! I will finish up on Wed when I get back - taking a business trip tomorrow.

 

[Debbie6221]

Great job Tammie! I am loving it! I think I am actually caught up. Thank Goodness I went back and double checked cause I missed a lot!
CONGRATS on the fast pass! Very exciting!
Your AKL pix totally reminded me of my birthday stay there. Our rooms had very similiar views!
Looking forward to more later!
Debbie

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Great job Tammie! I am loving it! I think I am actually caught up. Thank Goodness I went back and double checked cause I missed a lot!
CONGRATS on the fast pass! Very exciting!
Your AKL pix totally reminded me of my birthday stay there. Our rooms had very similiar views!
Looking forward to more later!
Debbie

Such an awesome resort! So glad we stayed there The FP was the best!

 

[MAGICFOR2]

So on our last evening in the World, we hailed a taxi and went over to Epcot to see what we could, along with DBIL and DN.
We tried to go to Soarin',Test Track, and MS but there were no FP available. We went to Finding Nemo. I had a nice visit with another DISer, who noticed my LGMH on my bag - Hi IFish4Men(?) along with her adorable twin boys, 3. One of the boys wanted to be up in line with us, and by the end of the wait, wanted to ride along with me in my car! We boarded and just as we got into the part along the real acquarium, a real dolphin came swimming through! It was just too cool!

We wandered over to the World Showcase, stopping in the shops of the UK, stopped to ask for a table for an early dinner at Rose and Crown, with no luck. Then around to France, ending up at Le Chefs de France. They had a table!
Now, we don't see much about this restaurant, but it gets a big from us! The decor was very beautiful, and the service was excellent! I had a melt-in-your-mouth Cabernet, and an equally "melty" Filet Mignon. Jim had a delicious chicken in wine sauce. Our dinner came with Creme Broulet, and the coffe was delicious, too! Our servers were friendly and amusing - French accents and all!

DN wanted to visit Impressions de France, a wrap-around screen movie about France - there were some beautiful scenes, and the CM who introduced it was very proud of her home country!

We headed back across the water by boat - DBIL made some humourous observations about some people we saw there - he had me and crying while trying to hide my face the whole way across!

We looked at some shops in UK again - I purchased some Twinings tea - I had really loved the cup I made in the room at AKL! On our way out, we jumped on Spaceship Earth so DN could at least ride something there... and it was time to hail a taxi!

We headed back to AKL, and the last night blues set in We made one last visit to see the Flamingo chicks, and then headed up to pack. DBIL talked with us and looked at my "grandma" pics while I packed, and then we said our good-byes and tried to get some sleep. We had a 4am appointment with ME

Our ME bus arrived right on schedule at 4am - we stopped at POP and headed to the airport. It was really sad watching the "farewell and comeback" video on the bus! Not sure if I like that video We had a good trip home - we are now getting excited preparing for our family DCL trip Sep 2008!!!

Thanks for reading! "That's all Folks!"

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

I'm sad that your report is over. But I'm glad you had a great time!

Thanks for the great TR!

 

[zweihund]

Tammy, sounds like it was a great trip! September isn't too far away......

 

[MAGICFOR2]

I'm sad that your report is over. But I'm glad you had a great time!

Thanks for the great TR!

Thanks for reading! I look forward to your trip!

Tammy, sounds like it was a great trip! September isn't too far away......

I wish we were going on another one like you are! We have to start planning our excursions - my kids are getting so excited!

 

[Lovin Life]

Tammie,
I have finally finished your trip report! It is awesome! I felt like I was right there on the trip with you all! Ohana's sounds wonderful! Banana bread pudding? YUM. You had so much good food and drink everywhere. Your pictures are great! AKL looks awesome! I would love to get up early to watch the animals from my balcony. I sounds like you all had such a great time, and experienced so much. I guess we all experience rain while there, but, wow! How many days were you there? You really made me excited about our upcoming trip with family. I don't think that I could ever do a trip report like this.


Pam2

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Oh Pam, you are so sweet, you make me ! I'm glad you enjoyed my TR! I didn't have many readers, so I didn't think I was doing that well. We were there for 8 days, not counting the travel days. AKL was everything I had hoped it would be, except the CMs seemed to be confused about the rules and a little hesitant to help us with arrangements, etc. our DBIL got the runaround a few times in getting his luggage, checking on his room, etc. And we got the runaround in making our ME arrangements and mailing our package home. We decided it was just a lack of staff communication somehow. I still AKL! It would be a great place to take your kids!