The "How Could You?" trips x2-the finale! 2/12

[Tiggerrn2]

How cool you caught EWP! We love watching this...don't ask me why, we just do. Sounds like a great way to spend the evening - Dole Whips and Wishes!

We love watching Wishes from the Polynesian beach! Have watched from our Tower MK view at Contemporary as well, and still prefer the Polynesian beach! Such a cool perspective!

We had a great evening. Relaxed and fun! Kids chased the ducks on the Poly beach waiting for the action to start. It really was a different sort of vacation for us taking the time to enjoy the resorts and nightly entertainment outside of the parks. I think we all get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of the park days, that we forget there is a whole other "World" to be enjoyed.

 

[Buzzsgramma]

I must say with all the wonderful things that happen in the World...that when i hear the music from the ELP...excitement fills my body & my heart starts beating...I feel like a kid!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

The day DD had been waiting for had finally arrived. As an 8th grade graduation gift, she decided she wanted to swim with the dolphins instead of a party or anything else.
I have to tell you, the cost of these tickets in prime season was the reason we had no Disney park days. They were crazy expensive and I was really hoping it would be a nice day. No need for the worry, the day was better than any of us could have dreamed.

Our morning started bright and early. I wanted to be sure to get there before opening so we could get an early swim and have the rest of the day to just enjoy the park.

CSR is really pretty first thing in the morning...

this is my favorite photo

We headed out just after everyone rolled out of bed. No need to stop for breakfast or anything else. Today, everything is included.

love the busses painted like this

We arrived plenty early-before 8am opening. We had a great parking place just a short walk from the entrance.

We stopped along the path for a few photos before entering the building.

We entered the lobby and checked in.

Very pretty in here

We were given a 10:20 dolphin swim time and were told to meet at the Sand Dollar Cabana 30min before to check in and watch a video. So we went to get a locker and our masks/snorkel equipment and find breakfast.

I stopped to grab a photo of one of the dolphin swim areas on the way to the lockers and food search.

The breakfast buffet was amazing. Sorry, once again, no food porn. But there was a hot buffet as well as plenty of cold food items to choose from. I had potatoes (both mexican and regular), eggs, sausages, some fruit and a diet Coke. (there was orange juice, tea, milk, or coffee as well as soft drinks to choose from). I am pretty sure DH chose many options off the hot buffet as well. DD had some muffins and fruit and some cereal. DS had cereal, french toast sticks, and eggs. Everything was very good. You could go back for as much food as you wanted.

We still had about an hour or so before we needed to get to our Cabana to check in for the dolphin swim. Sooooooo...... where should we go?

 

[Tiggerrn2]

I must say with all the wonderful things that happen in the World...that when i hear the music from the ELP...excitement fills my body & my heart starts beating...I feel like a kid!

I know the feeling! Glad you found me again.

 

[KatMark]

I found you.

Thankfully, I wasn't too far behind. Great introductions...your kids are adorable.

We used to make the drive to Disney every year and we'd pass Ruby Falls, but we never stopped there.

Love that you guys are into that rock climbing and ziplining (is that what it's called...too lazy to go back and look ). If I were about 20 years younger....

I didn't realized you stayed at CSR...my all-time favorite resort. And your pictures of how beautiful it is during the day, and especially first thing in the morning, are making me very excited for our trip back there in 36 days.

I want to take Mark and do the swim with the dolphin next year for our 30th wedding anniversary special treat, so I'm really looking forward to those updates.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

I found you.

Thankfully, I wasn't too far behind. Great introductions...your kids are adorable.

We used to make the drive to Disney every year and we'd pass Ruby Falls, but we never stopped there.

Love that you guys are into that rock climbing and ziplining (is that what it's called...too lazy to go back and look ). If I were about 20 years younger....

I didn't realized you stayed at CSR...my all-time favorite resort. And your pictures of how beautiful it is during the day, and especially first thing in the morning, are making me very excited for our trip back there in 36 days.

I want to take Mark and do the swim with the dolphin next year for our 30th wedding anniversary special treat, so I'm really looking forward to those updates.

So glad to have you come along. Our DC day was my favorite day by far! Working on an update for today. Need to scan in some of my waterproof camera photos to share.

 

[KatMark]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Happy Halloween to all my DisBoard Friends!!!! May you have a great day!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Thank you, you too!! Hope you have a Spooktacular day!

 

[Bunchkin]

Great trip report Tiggerrn!!

Love all your pictures!!! I'm a huge TN lover! It's just so beautiful there.

It's a shame nothing was done about the smell in your room. We've never stayed at CSR before, looks nice. But we have stayed at POR, and I miss it!! We love staying there.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Soooooo, when we left off last, we were deciding what to do until our dolphin swim time. We figured the Aviary was a good place to start. The aviary is divided into 3 different areas within 1 larger area. The divisions are based on the types of birds and what they eat. As you enter each area, you are greeted by cast members (aviaryists?) that can tell you about the birds/animals there and then give you the little food cups.

This little fellow is in the aviary, too. But you are not supposed to feed him. He has his own special diet.

These birds are the meat eaters. You get some meal worms and other bits to feed them.

There are photographers in the different areas of DC (just like photopass) that will take photos all day for you that can be added to your CD at the end of the day for purchase with a photo package.

Please disregard the 40 chins in this photo!

Look!! It's Kevin!

No kidding! We heard his call, and both kids were laughing and saying "It's Kevin!"

I thought these were the prettiest birds-Sun Conipers, I believe.

How many can you see?

I was glad we went to the aviary first thing in the morning. The birds are really hungry then as they haven't eaten throughout the night, so they are eager to land on you. It is funny, too, though. They are picky. The birds will land on a tree branch above you and tilt their head sideways to look into your cup. If they see that you have something they are interested in, they will come and land on your arm to have a bit out of the cup. If not, they will look on to the next person.

We were having such a nice time in there, that we almost lost track of what time it was!

We needed to get over here, and fast......

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Great trip report Tiggerrn!!

Love all your pictures!!! I'm a huge TN lover! It's just so beautiful there.

It's a shame nothing was done about the smell in your room. We've never stayed at CSR before, looks nice. But we have stayed at POR, and I miss it!! We love staying there.

Yay!!! You found me!! Trying to post a few more bits before T/T time. Hope the kids are doing great! Your DD looked absolutely beautiful in her homecoming dress! These kids sure are growing up.
POR has proved to be my favorite moderate. It wasn't that CBR or CSR weren't beautiful. They were and we had an awesome time, but they are both so spread out. Despite the odor in the room, the grounds were gorgeous.

 

[KatMark]

First, I have to tell you, you stole my bathing suit. Seriously, that was the bathing suit I had the last two years. Unfortunately, I had to buy a new one this year because of my extra cargo.

What fun with the birds..I know Mark would love to do this when we go to Discovery Cove next year.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

First, I have to tell you, you stole my bathing suit. Seriously, that was the bathing suit I had the last two years. Unfortunately, I had to buy a new one this year because of my extra cargo.

What fun with the birds..I know Mark would love to do this when we go to Discovery Cove next year.

That is too funny!I love this suit!
The aviary was really neat. Be sure to head there early in the day. We went back at the end of our day, and they weren't nearly as eager to come grab a bite to eat. Still fun to look at, just not as engaging.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

We were slightly late by the time we found our way from one side of the park to the other. They have you sign your life away... just in case you get drowned by the dolpins..., and they tell you how the 30min swim/photo op will go and show a quick video.

We were headed to an area just like this one (not ours, obviously, as you are not allowed to bring your own camera-they have photographers and videographers in the water with you). I took this photo before our swim.

We were going to do this next! (sorry, if this is your child, please feel free to poach this picture) Also taken on our way to do our swim.

First, your group is divided into 3 pods. They bring you out into the water over the rocks for the photo ops. They have the dolphins out in the water and have them do some tricks for you while you watch. The group stands in a line of sorts and the trainers have the dolphins slowly swim by and let you get a feel of the dolphins and stroke them as they swim on by. The trainers are answering questions from the group and telling you dolphin facts. You also get the opportunity to give your dolphin a fish.
Next, they have each person in a family within your pod come on out for an individual photo (you can either hug or kiss the dolphin for your photo op) and then do a family photo as well.

the hug

the kiss (but I missed)

and DD as she was getting ready for the big kiss

Once you've done the photo ops, the trainers ask who is willing to swim out for a pull. The water gets a little deeper where they have you swim out for your pull. The wet suits will make you more bouyant, but you still need to be able to tread water (and not be afraid to swim). The dolphin they use for your photo op is a different dolphin than the one that does the pulls. We had Kyla and Tyler as our dolphin hosts for the day. You can see the photographers and videographers in the water in some of the photos.

And just like that, your time in the tank is over! We all loved it. The kids had such an awesome time. They have since asked to go again!
Now that the dolphin swim was over, we had the rest of the day to "Discover" everything else there was to see and do. What's next?.........

 

[mickeystoontown]

Wow! Wow! Wow! I can certainly see why your daughter chose to do the dolphin swim/meet/whatever you call it/thingie. You can tell by the smile on her face that she was having a great time!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

We were still full from breakfast, so we decided we would wander around and check out what else we could do. Time to check out this area.

In this area, you float and snorkel around the rocks/man-made reefs observing fish, sting rays, and there is an area (behind glass) that contains sharks/eels. When you stand still in the shallower sections, the rays will actually come right up to you.

The kids (big and small) had a "grand" time snorkeling around the reef.

There are plenty of areas shallow enough in the reef to stand up and look around and rest a bit.

Now, this is salt water (for sea creatures) and it is Even with the wet suits on, after a while you will get chilly. This is where the nice, lazy river portion of DC comes in!

Let me share a map of the park with you so you can see how these areas are spread across the park. We never felt it was overcrowded in the least. The limited # of people allowed each day are in so many different areas of the park, that you never felt as if you were on top of the next person.

photo courtesy of Discovery Cove site-thank you.

Off to warm up.........

 

[Tiggerrn2]

We headed over to Serenity Bay and Wind-Away River. It's a lazy river area that you float through on a noodle. AND it is warm!!! There is a beach area there where you can grab a towel and hit a lounger and just relax as well.

We grabbed ourselves some noodles and headed out into the river to be "not so lazy".

The caves behind that waterfall are where the river begins.

By the time we had warmed up from our lazy river cruise, we decided it was probably a good idea to go get some lunch. They stop serving in the Laguna Grill about 3 (or 3:30 maybe).

So we made the trek back across the park to the grill for lunch.
No before photos....but we had the teriyaki chicken/vegies, the sustainable catch of the day-tilapia with salsa, jumbalaya, mac/cheese (for the big kids) and the younger kids had hot dogs and burgers. We also had fruit (all sorts) and then.............deserts. Sooooo many deserts.There was chocolate cake, carrot cake, cheesecake, brownies, and so many choices! We were stuffed when lunch was over! See?!

Throughout lunch there was a great Reggae band playing all those familiar songs you can sing to-a little Jimmy Buffet, a little Bob Marley! We had an enjoyable meal and relaxing time.

Still a little bit of time left in our day...what should we do?

 

[saintstickets]

I was glad we went to the aviary first thing in the morning. The birds are really hungry then as they haven't eaten throughout the night, so they are eager to land on you.

I'm really enjoying your TR and re-living our trip to Discovery Cove this past May. You are right about visiting the aviary early. We didn't go until mid-afternoon and the birds were not as eager to come out of the trees.

We all loved it. The kids had such an awesome time. They have since asked to go again!

Discovery Cove was the highlight of our trip and the dolphin swim the highlight of the highlight (if that makes sense). DC comes so close to being "Disney-like" due to it's theming, great CM's and attractions. I'm with your kids...I want to go back!!

Great TR....can't wait to read more.

 

[iloverags2]

I know I mentioned this before, but saying it again...I love the family photo of you guys with the dolphin, and love DD's kiss pic with the dolphin! What great shots!!! Your whole day sounds so fantastic; we may actually give it a try one of these days!