The Greatest Hits: A Trip Like This Needs a Soundtrack!-A July 2012 TR Upd. 5/5!

[WEDWDW]

Why do they have a unicorn parking area? How frumpy. Animal Kingdom has some very weird mythical creature confusion.

Hahaha I know, it really doesn't make any sense!

That is totally one of my pet peeves.

After the plans for Beastly Kingdom were scrapped in "favor" of Camp Minnie-Mickey,I never understood why Disney didn't remove all Beastly Kingdom references.

Not very Disney-like to me.

 

[therussells08]

I love that Lion King shirt!! So cute!

Yay Animal Kingdom!! Asia is definitely my favorite because of the decorations! The whole park is so photogenic, but I think Asia is the coolest! PLUS, it has EE and that is my FAVORITE EVER!!! I love it so much!

Your hair is so funny! I can totally relate!

Thank you! John gave it to me for my birthday!

I agree completely! AK really is ridiculously photogenic. John love EE too! It's definitely one of my favorites as well.

Haha seriously though. Girl problems!

Awesome updates today-- love Animal Kingdom and my boys are huge fans of EE also. Can't get them on ToT but they will ride EE all day long. Love. And you still looked adorable with Everest hair and all. I have the same problem. My hair is poker straight until it hits EE and the FL humidity, and then it's allllll over.

We didn't see any lions on our Aug trip, so I appreciated your pics! Great Jeopardy reference too- my fave show!

Had to comment on John's Warrior Dash shirt! My husband and I ran it last year in Pennsylvania and it was soooooo much fun!! I rock my Warrior Dash sweatshirt as often as possible!

Thank you so much! Haha I understand your boys' fear of ToT...I could barely get my mom on it, but she loves the roller coasters!

Aww thank you so much! That's exactly what my hair does!

I'm glad you enjoyed them! My sister loves that show too. As a matter of fact, she has an audition to be on Jeopardy on December 1st in Baltimore! How cool is that?!

That's awesome that you did it with your DH! I definitely just listened to John tell me all about it while I sat on the couch eating chips! I would rock it too! You should be proud!

UPDATES!!!!!!! I'm really excited right now.

OMG I love your Lion King shirt! That's awesome.

John knows what's UP! I love when Animal Kingdom is someone's favorite park because it just doesn't get enough love!

HAHA. That picture IS cute! You're precious. And thank you for providing a picture of the view from the top of Everest because AHHH. I just love it.

BAHAHAHAHA. "Black Friday on Mufasa." That is just BRILLIANT. Haha it's okay, it wasn't any of the ones at Disney... it was one of their animated (far) distant relatives.

Excellent lion pictures. Where is the clapping smiley when you need it? This is the second time I could have used it...

Thanks! I love it too. It will definitely be joining us on our trip in October!

I agree, it doesn't get enough love. I tend to neglect it, so I'm glad John reminds me of how awesome it is!

AWW thanks twin! I look like I'm going to curse someone with my mind or something. I love it too. It's such an amazing view!

That's true...they would never let the Mufasa-killing wildebeest live in Disney World.

I was so excited about those pictures! Although, the meerkat picture I'm posting in my next update trumps even the lion pictures!

YAY some entertainment while I curl my hair for my show this morning! Thanks Joni!

I loooove your Lion King shirt. How appropriate for a DAK day.

I love that deer in the Everest queue! Thanks for thinking of us Frumps.

Your safari pics are great! I always feel so educated after that ride, even though they almost always tell us the same things every time.

Yay! What show are you doing right now? You are so talented!

Thank you! It's one of my favorite Disney shirts!

Haha I'm always thinking of my Frumps! But seriously, every single time I see anything deer related, I think of you girls!

Thanks! Me too! I always feel like I need to educate random people about wildlife after I go on the safari. Look at us, going to Disney and learning stuff! Aww yeah!

Seriously, though! We would totally run the "pink birds" category.

 

[therussells08]

Your shirt is adorable!!

Ahhh I agree that super-excited tram pictures are the best way to show pre-park excitement.

Yes you always have to take the good hair shots within the first 10 minutes of being in the parks. After that if the rides don't get it, the humidity will!

Awhhh the lion is too cute! Rubbing his little facey-wacey

The temp story line made me laugh.
They could have at least attempted to tie it in.
'Oh no, the evil poachers are now into construction and poaching dirt! BOO HISS....oh wait never mind they are bringing us zebras...Hooray!!'

Thank you! I love that shirt. John gives great birthday gifts!

I'm glad someone else does that! The tram is just the perfect time for a quick photoshoot.

Haha exactly! These are some of the many problems that plague us DISgirls.

I know, who would think he could bite my face off in one chomp? He's so precious!

Hahaha you're totally right! It was all very forced and a little awkward. I'm just glad they got rid of that old storyline!

Great update! I love Animal Kingdom. We resisted going until 2010 but loved it and will now go there every trip!

I, too, love your shirt! And your park hair! LOL! Not sure how I feel about the new safari... Hopefully once it's done, it will all make sense and the Zebras will be worth it!

Thanks! I'm glad you finally went to AK and that you enjoyed it! It really is a great park, and I feel like it doesn't get nearly enough attention!

Thank you so much! Yeah, I think they will iron out that storyline once it's all done. It seemed very rushed this time.

I love the Lion King shirt! It is perfect for AK!

What a great start to the day!

Thank you! I plan my Disney outfits very meticulously!

It was a great start! We had such a wonderful time on this trip!

YAY you got up so early. I've never gotten up before 7 at Disney, so I admire this!

OMG I totally forgot about the whole thing with part of the Tree of Life falling off. That was crazy.

I love that John's favorite park is AK! It's my mom's favorite too, and it's so great going with someone who appreciates it so much.

Jess and Kristen have totally brainwashed me when it comes to deer. Like now every time I see them in the parks I'm like "DEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The view from the top of EE is one of my favorite things!! Great picture!

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!! I've never seen male lion rub up on the tree like that. You lucked out! One of the most exciting things for me is the anticipation on what (if anything) the lions will be doing. I love them!!

Personally, I didn't really miss the whole Little Red storyline. I mean, it's a safari with tons of animals, there's enough going on. And the zebra addition is awesome too!

Disney is literally the only place where I can get up early and be okay with it. I'm used to getting up at 6:00 everyday at home, but I get up like I'm heading off for my execution. At Disney I wake up like people in the coffee commercials!

It was crazy! I kept expecting to see like, tree debris or something, but Disney cleans that stuff up pretty quickly!

I totally agree! It really makes me appreciate it more when I see how much he loves it!

ME TOO! Those Frumps and their mind control...I think of them everytime I see a deer!

Thanks! I love that view too!

I was so excited about that lion! Usually all the lions (especially the males) are just lying around like big lumps!

I completely agree with you. I never liked that storyline. I just want to see REAL animals! I feel like Disney pretty much covers the animatronic animal stuff on their other rides, so there's no need for them there too.

Ha I nearly choked on 'Black Friday on Mufasa' so funny!


Sounds like you had fun at AK, we love EE too.

Great pics of the lion

Haha thank you! I'm having flashbacks to my own Black Friday experiences...it really does feel like a stampede!

Yes we did! Isn't EE the best? So much fun!

Thank you!

OMG! I just read your guy covered in blood update! I about passed out. I don't do blood very well. Gross!!!! I'm surprised you didn't faint while watching.

Ahh I'm so sorry my update freaked you out! I'm like that with blood too. I probably would have fainted, but I ran away as fast as I could!

 

[therussells08]

That got me laughing. I caught DW one day taking a pic of herself with her cellphone and at first I wondered what she was doing. Then I realized she was doing the same thing you were doing!
No need Joni, you're cute ALL THE TIME!

Haha it's a woman thing! I guess we all do it!

Aww thank you so much! You're so sweet!

Um, that is probably my favorite flavor of Vitamin Water, so I wouldn't mind a review of it!

I've always wanted to take pictures on EE, but I'm too scared that I'll drop my camera.

Hahaha, I love the upside down giraffe picture! And the tongue! So sassy!

That's my favorite too! It's delicious!

I know, I keep my strap so tight on my wrist that I practically cut off circulation!

Aren't those giraffes silly? I love them!

Good start to the day at AK! I'm with you - I love the feeling of your 1st ride on your favorite. It's so exciting!!

Love all of your safari pictures!

Thank you! It was a great morning! Ahh, I love that feeling!

Thank you so much!

Hi Joni,

Back from our trip and caught all back up. Loved your Cape May review so much I think I am going to give it another try.

Can't wait to read more!

Hi! Welcome back! I hope that you had a great trip! I can't wait to hear about it!

I highly recommend it, even though they have gotten rid of the Oreo bon bons! It's one of my favorite buffets!

You're welcome!The effort you 3 put into your TRs is amazing!

I think Disney should have Mickey standing at the door to the DME bus for the return trip to OIA from All-Star Sports and present a limited edition pin to all July Guests that says "Congratulations Pal For Surviving A Week In Little Brazil!"!

You're so sweet! Thank you again! They're so fun to write, and it means so much to me that people really enjoy reading them!

HAHAHA I completely agree with that! Maybe we should all start writing that on our "I'm celebrating" buttons?

That is totally one of my pet peeves.

After the plans for Beastly Kingdom were scrapped in "favor" of Camp Minnie-Mickey,I never understood why Disney didn't remove all Beastly Kingdom references.

Not very Disney-like to me.

You're absolutely right! I feel like they were just like, "Eh. Leave it." That is SO not Disney!

 

[therussells08]

"Wild Thing"- The Troggs​

July 9, 2012​

Wild Thing,
you make my heart sing
You make everything groovy,
Wild Thing​

John and I have a tradition at Animal Kingdom: we ride Expedition Everest, we go on the safari, and then we HAVE to go to Pangani Forest and the Maharajah Jungle Trek. It’s not for my benefit, trust me, but it’s because this is pretty much John’s favorite part of Disney- looking at all of the animals. I have no idea why, but he could look at them all day. I could take it or leave it, but I always make sure to remind myself that it’s OUR vacation, so I need to do what he enjoys too!

I do try to take pictures of all the animals, though. You’d think by the way I act that I actually loved looking at them, but I’m just obsessed with properly documenting everything for my trip report!

Here’s a monkey with a lot of white hair that appears to be growing out of his armpits.

Here’s an okapi! For some reason this is the only deer-creature whose real name I can ever remember.

Maybe it’s because they’re so distinct looking. They look like their lower halves have been dipped in zebra paint!

The hippos were swimming around underwater, so I took a picture! It was kind of creepy, though.

Then I took a picture that I’m even more proud of than my lion picture!

LOOK AT THAT MEERKAT. He’s just so majestic and regal! Looking off into the distance with that pensive facial expression, while the sunlight touches his face…beautiful. I should be a professional meerkat photographer. There’s a market for that, right?

Up next was John’s favorite part of Pangani Forest: the gorillas. I don’t get why he loves them so much, but I literally have to drag him away from them every time.

I’m sorry, is that a mistake, or is the scientific name for a gorilla really “gorilla gorilla gorilla”? Really?

Plus the fact that they have fingernails, not claws, really freaks me out.

Look at the stink eye that gorilla is giving me. HAHA.

I was very impressed with that guy’s soft looking hair. It definitely appeared as though he had recently shampooed and conditioned using Garnier Nutrisse.

That one blinked. Fun fact about me: I love it when animals blink in pictures. It’s so funny to me.

After we finished staring at the majestic meerkats and the scientifically named “gorilla gorilla gorillas,” we decided to stop and grab a drink. I still hadn’t eaten anything all morning, but I wasn’t really hungry. Plus we had a rapidly approaching ADR for Yak & Yeti and I wanted to save up my appetite!

I settled for an Odwalla and John just got a bottle of water.

It was good but super sweet, so I ended up throwing some of it away.

While we enjoyed our drinks we made our way over to John’s other favorite, the Maharajah Jungle Trek! On the way, I saw a Dream Builders sign that I desperately wanted to hang in my classroom.

John was excited for tigers!

If you remember from my past TRs, the Maharajah Jungle Trek is pretty much a house of horrors for me. I feel like there’s a new terror around every corner, specifically with the giant devil bats. Luckily, John agreed to skip them this time.

There’s me saying, “See? Those not wishing to see the bats go THIS WAY!”

I was pretty excited to see the tigers, though! I love this artwork we passed near the tiger enclosure.

Lazy tiger!

Look at those beautiful eyes!

When we finished up looking at all of the animals, it was time to go back to Expedition Everest to use our Fast Passes! Since we were going through the Fast Pass queue this time, I decided to get a picture of some of the different decorations.

As always, I love all the details!

We only waited a few minutes, then it was our turn to load up! Here it comes!

Our second ride on EE for the day was almost as fun as the first, except for this SUPER annoying guy in front of us. He looked like he was fifteen or sixteen, and he was clearly on a date with a girl he was trying to impress. Unfortunately, his plan for impressing her was to cuss as many times as humanly possible while we were on the ride.

It went a little something like this (the DIS-appropriate version):

“Oh fudge, this fudging ride is so fudging cool! Holy shnikey, oh fudge, OH FUDGE! That was so fudging cool! Fuuuuuuudge, here we go again! Look at that big fudger! Is that a yeti? FUDGE YEAH!”

You get it. By the time the ride was over John and I were both ready to punch him in the fudging nose, if you catch my drift. The saddest part was, the girl actually seemed impressed by this loquacious young man and his extended vocabulary. Hah, and who said chivalry’s dead?

ANYWAY, despite Mr. I-Just-Learned-A-New-Word, we had a wonderful ride! When we got off John was ready for some Dinosaur action!

Not before I stopped in the EE gift shop to goof off some, of course!

Cool mask, right?

I thought so too.

On our way we cut through Dinoland USA, and I had to take a picture of my favorite little bit of southern jargon.

John loves dinosaurs!

I couldn’t get on the ride without taking a picture of everyone’s family favorite: the dying dinosaurs! Look at them wasting away, kids!

We were ready to hop in our time rover!

When we got off the ride it was 10:20, and there was a Festival of the Lion King show starting at 10:30! I desperately wanted to see it, so we began our mad dash across the park!

Up Next: Would we make it to Camp Minnie Mickey in time for FotLK? Stay tuned!

 

[cutejellybeen]

I am loving the updates to the review!!! We just checked out of POFQ this morning (waiting for our cruise in ft lauderdale now) so I'm having fun reliving my trip through you already ha ha.

 

[rachel09985]

I can not believe that kid talked like that on the ride. Seriously, leave the trash outside of WDW! I hate when people are trashy inside of Disney, lol!

Awesome animal pics!!! I looove the lion rubbing his face, i have never seen them do anything!! The meerkat pic is my favorite!!! Also funny gorilla stinkeye pic. This is really gross but one time- it was prob the same gorilla actually...he would throw up in his hand then eat it..this was repeated for like 10 minutes. Animals are weird.. I am sure you are about to vomit yourself right now, so sorry!

 

[heathsf]

LOOK AT THAT MEERKAT. He’s just so majestic and regal! Looking off into the distance with that pensive facial expression, while the sunlight touches his face…beautiful. I should be a professional meerkat photographer. There’s a market for that, right?

First of all, you crack up me

Secondly, that may be the best animal photo ever taken in the world. And I don't just mean Disney World, I mean worldwide, like, internationally!

 

[Aussiesalad]

Oh dear, that monkey does have some awkward underarm hair issues...

Meerkats are my favourite!!!! I literally squealed at that picture and all of its cuteness!!!

There’s me saying, “See? Those not wishing to see the bats go THIS WAY!”

I love that sign! It cracks me up every single time

Ugh that kid on the ride. We had an experience like that on Splash last trip.
Just chill out little man, you may be impressing your little date but the rest of the car is very unimpressed.

 

[marDgreen88]

ANOTHER UPDATE! This must be my lucky week. Maybe I should play the lotto... see what happens.

You're right-that meerkat picture does trump the lion pictures. He seriously looks like he's pondering life, or trying to recall the legend of the Big Thunder Mountain line-cutters.

Like... that gorilla is about to punch you or something.

OMG. That kid sounds super annoying. And that girl sounds like a complete idiot, let's be real. WHO would find that impressive? I don't understand. I hate curse words. I never understand why people use them, ever. (Specifically Shoot and Fudge. **** and Darn, I can live with.) I honestly think most of the time it IS to sound cool. Let's just say, that guy wouldn't have impressed me. I'm really going on and on about this though and I need to stop.

I like the way you think. AVOID THE BATS AT ALL COSTS!

I like how the pterodactyl looks like he thinks that if he flies away, he will avoid any future decaying. My guess is that it didn't work out so well for him.

 

[cindianne320]

LOVE EE! I can't believe that guy's language. Kids are on that ride!

Hope you made it to FOTLK on time!

 

[stephielela]

Great updates! Every time I read about your AK days I feel bad for not spending more time there. Inevitably something always happens to prevent us from soaking up the atmosphere as I plan to... Though this time was crazier than usual lol.

That kid sounds super obnoxious! Whenever I accidentally use a bad word at Disney I instantly feel 10 times more guilty because of all the families and kids around! I can't even imagine continually using them like that! What a jerk!

I hope you made it to FOTLK... Staying tuned to find out!

 

[flyergrad09]

Awww! That meerkat is totes adorbs!

According to a very reliable source (Wikipedia), not only is the Western Lowland Gorilla's scientific name Gorilla gorilla gorilla, but it's a subspecies of the Western Gorilla, whose scientific name is Gorilla gorilla. In my head, I'm imagining each "gorilla" pronounced slightly differently, like when Clayton is trying to ask Tarzan where the gorillas are.

Ugh, that kid. Besides the whole inappropriate-for-Disney thing, EE isn't a swear-worthy rollercoaster. Sure, it's pretty awesome, but it's no Millenium Force. Now THAT'S a swear-worthy coaster, if you can even form words on the first drop!

 

[amandaw]

Love all the animal pics...especially the one with the gorilla giving you the stink eye.

I'm glad you didn't let the boy on EE ruin the ride for y'all. That's just ridiculous though how he was acting.

Hope you were able to make it to FotLK!

 

[Disneyfreak616]

Hahaha you should most definitely be a meerkat photographer. They're in high demand I'm sure.

Oh Mr. Extensive Vocabulary sounds like a real charmer. At least he gave you a fudging good story to tell!

Run to FOTLK, Joni! RUN LIKE A DEER!

 

[Curiouser&curiouser!]

The animal pics are great! The last time we were at AK, we spent more time looking at the animals and less time running from ride to ride. It was suprisingly relaxing!

 

[TexasBelle]

Hey Joni!!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving a few days early!!!

I'm loving the hair pictures!!!!
Your in Disney... It looks fabulous!!!!

EE is one of my favorite roller coaster's, although I love RnRC tooo, I love the music in RnRC more...

My sweet husband was home for 5 days and we had so much fun... but he decided that my DD needed to go with us on my birthday cruise... Which will be so much fun. We love to lay out in the sun all day long and he hates too, so we'll layout all day long and he can do the fun things that go on all day long on the ship.

I bet your looking forward to having a few days off from school. It will be a good break for you.

Have a super day, and Happy Thanksgiving...
Carolyn

 

[therussells08]

I am loving the updates to the review!!! We just checked out of POFQ this morning (waiting for our cruise in ft lauderdale now) so I'm having fun reliving my trip through you already ha ha.

Thank you! I hope you had a good time at POFQ! That's where I stayed with my mom on this trip. I hope your cruise was fun too!

I can not believe that kid talked like that on the ride. Seriously, leave the trash outside of WDW! I hate when people are trashy inside of Disney, lol!

Awesome animal pics!!! I looove the lion rubbing his face, i have never seen them do anything!! The meerkat pic is my favorite!!! Also funny gorilla stinkeye pic. This is really gross but one time- it was prob the same gorilla actually...he would throw up in his hand then eat it..this was repeated for like 10 minutes. Animals are weird.. I am sure you are about to vomit yourself right now, so sorry!

I know, he was pretty disgusting.

Thanks! I couldn't believe the lions were moving around either. I'm glad you like my meerkat picture! I'm pretty proud of it. HAHAHA WHAT?! That is both repulsive and hilarious.

First of all, you crack up me

Secondly, that may be the best animal photo ever taken in the world. And I don't just mean Disney World, I mean worldwide, like, internationally!

Haha thank you!

RIGHT?! I mean, I don't like to toot my own horn, but come on...it's pure gold.

Oh dear, that monkey does have some awkward underarm hair issues...

Meerkats are my favourite!!!! I literally squealed at that picture and all of its cuteness!!!


I love that sign! It cracks me up every single time

Ugh that kid on the ride. We had an experience like that on Splash last trip.
Just chill out little man, you may be impressing your little date but the rest of the car is very unimpressed.

HAHA yeah he needed some Nair pronto.

Yay! I'm glad you liked the picture, and it catered to your specific animal preferences. This is why I need to be a professional meerkat photographer!

Me too!

Isn't that so annoying? I just feel like there's other ways he could have expressed his excitement!

ANOTHER UPDATE! This must be my lucky week. Maybe I should play the lotto... see what happens.

You're right-that meerkat picture does trump the lion pictures. He seriously looks like he's pondering life, or trying to recall the legend of the Big Thunder Mountain line-cutters.

Like... that gorilla is about to punch you or something.

OMG. That kid sounds super annoying. And that girl sounds like a complete idiot, let's be real. WHO would find that impressive? I don't understand. I hate curse words. I never understand why people use them, ever. (Specifically Shoot and Fudge. **** and Darn, I can live with.) I honestly think most of the time it IS to sound cool. Let's just say, that guy wouldn't have impressed me. I'm really going on and on about this though and I need to stop.

I like the way you think. AVOID THE BATS AT ALL COSTS!

I like how the pterodactyl looks like he thinks that if he flies away, he will avoid any future decaying. My guess is that it didn't work out so well for him.

DO IT! Play the lottery, and when you win we can stay in Disney for a MONTH next October!

Hahahaha that's exactly what he's doing! News of these tragedies travels fast in WDW.

For real. Why so serious, Mr. Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla?

I completely agree with you. Although, like we discussed on Twitter, I do feel like the DIS might be a little harsh about expletives!

I HATE BATS. Ugh.

Yeah, I haven't seen any pterodactyls (I totally had to look back at your post to see how to spell that) lately, so I'm guessing that wasn't a successful plan.

LOVE EE! I can't believe that guy's language. Kids are on that ride!

Hope you made it to FOTLK on time!

Ugh, I know! It was so obnoxious!

Thanks! Stay tuned to find out!

 

[therussells08]

Great updates! Every time I read about your AK days I feel bad for not spending more time there. Inevitably something always happens to prevent us from soaking up the atmosphere as I plan to... Though this time was crazier than usual lol.

That kid sounds super obnoxious! Whenever I accidentally use a bad word at Disney I instantly feel 10 times more guilty because of all the families and kids around! I can't even imagine continually using them like that! What a jerk!

I hope you made it to FOTLK... Staying tuned to find out!

Thank you! I totally know what you mean. I would be guilty of neglecting AK too, but John loves it so much so we always spend a lot of time there.

I am the same way! I'm not perfect, and I definitely swear from time to time, but I feel so bad when I do it in family environments, and I ABSOLUTELY don't do it on purpose like that jerk!

Awww! That meerkat is totes adorbs!

According to a very reliable source (Wikipedia), not only is the Western Lowland Gorilla's scientific name Gorilla gorilla gorilla, but it's a subspecies of the Western Gorilla, whose scientific name is Gorilla gorilla. In my head, I'm imagining each "gorilla" pronounced slightly differently, like when Clayton is trying to ask Tarzan where the gorillas are.

Ugh, that kid. Besides the whole inappropriate-for-Disney thing, EE isn't a swear-worthy rollercoaster. Sure, it's pretty awesome, but it's no Millenium Force. Now THAT'S a swear-worthy coaster, if you can even form words on the first drop!

I know, I loved him! He was very dapper.

HAHA thank you for looking that up for me! That is so weird! Oh well, it's the one scientific name I can actually pronounce! Now I'm thinking of Tarzan too!

I totally agree! It's exciting, but it's not super intense or anything. I've never been on that roller coaster but it sounds crazy!

Love all the animal pics...especially the one with the gorilla giving you the stink eye.

I'm glad you didn't let the boy on EE ruin the ride for y'all. That's just ridiculous though how he was acting.

Hope you were able to make it to FotLK!

Thank you! He was grumpy!

Yeah, he was only embarassing himself really, so we just made fun of him!

Thanks! Stay tuned to find out!

Hahaha you should most definitely be a meerkat photographer. They're in high demand I'm sure.

Oh Mr. Extensive Vocabulary sounds like a real charmer. At least he gave you a fudging good story to tell!

Run to FOTLK, Joni! RUN LIKE A DEER!

Right?! I feel like I would really be able to grow in that career choice.

Hahaha seriously though. He was a winner.

I DID. You Frumps would be so proud of me!

The animal pics are great! The last time we were at AK, we spent more time looking at the animals and less time running from ride to ride. It was suprisingly relaxing!

Thank you! It is really nice to just relax and look at the animals. That's John's favorite thing to do!

Hey Joni!!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving a few days early!!!

I'm loving the hair pictures!!!!
Your in Disney... It looks fabulous!!!!

EE is one of my favorite roller coaster's, although I love RnRC tooo, I love the music in RnRC more...

My sweet husband was home for 5 days and we had so much fun... but he decided that my DD needed to go with us on my birthday cruise... Which will be so much fun. We love to lay out in the sun all day long and he hates too, so we'll layout all day long and he can do the fun things that go on all day long on the ship.

I bet your looking forward to having a few days off from school. It will be a good break for you.

Have a super day, and Happy Thanksgiving...
Carolyn

Happy Thanksgiving to you too!

Thank you! Disney hair is a good thing, because that means you're having a blast!

I love RnRC so much! That's definitely my favorite ride!

That's so nice that your husband was home! A cruise with your DD along sounds perfect! I'm so happy for you!

It is WONDERFUL having a break from work! I'm so happy!

 

[therussells08]

Hi everyone! I hope you all are gearing up for a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow! We are actually celebrating today, because my sister has to work tomorrow, so I'm getting ready to chow down on some awesome food in about three hours! I just wanted to say one of the things I am most thankful for is my passion for Disney, and all of the wonderful friends I've made who share that passion. You all are amazing, and even though I've never even met most of you in "real life" I still consider you my friends! I'm so glad to know each and every one of you! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

"Circle of Life"- The Lion King

July 9, 2012

It's the Circle of Life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love ​

When I left off we were making a mad dash for the 10:30 show of Festival of the Lion King! We raced across the park and made it just in time!

It worked out perfectly, actually, because we walked right in without having to wait and were seated in the giraffe section!

Excuse our weird faces in this picture, but we were so happy to have made it to the show on time! Not to mention having a break from the heat!

My pictures from this show aren’t great, so I’ll just share a few of them.

I thought this one was really cool, with everyone dancing and all the colors!

PUMBAA!

Here’s the giraffe, reppin’ our section. I feel like the giraffe section is kind of the nerd spot, so I was happy to be there.

The elephant!

And the main man himself!

I love the monkeys so much! Their acrobatic skills are so impressive! Aren’t a lot of them former Olympians?

The performers always have such beautiful voices, too! It never fails to bring me to tears!

After studying all of the costumes extensively, I decided the zebra is my favorite!

GAHH that show is just SO PERFECT. I really hope the rumors about Disney ending it are untrue. That would be terrible. It is such a high quality performance by everyone involved, and it still blows my mind that it’s included in park admission. Disney is so amazing!

When FoTLK was over we still had about an hour until our lunch reservations at Yak & Yeti, so we decided to go to some of the gift shops and look around to kill time.

I love all of the Lion King stuff! It reminded me of when I was little and the movie came out. I remember going to the theater to see it with my mom and then going to Wal Mart afterwards and there was Lion King stuff EVERYWHERE! She bought me a stuffed Simba, and I still have him, even though my dog chewed off one of his eyeballs like fifteen years ago!

I was so proud to be an honorary giraffe, so I hung out with one of my brethren for a while.

They had the cutest selection of Mickey and Minnie ears!

And…THE PILLOWS. Oh Mylanta, the pillows.

Unfortunately I didn’t buy any right then, even though I wanted ALL OF THEM. I did, however, get some later in the trip. Stay tuned to find out which ones I finally settled on!

On our way between shops I traded for a pink Mickey pin.

And in the next shop John made himself a pressed penny!

I tried to take a picture of it, but it came our really bad so I have no idea what the penny is. Any ideas?

After we did some browsing in the shops we still had about 30 minutes until our lunch reservation, but we were STARVING (remember, I hadn’t eaten all morning!) so we decided to see if we could get in early!

Up Next: Lunch at Yak & Yeti, complete with me successfully breaking something. Stay tuned! ​