The Tenth Honeymoon is the Best One of Them All! - May '14 TR - COMPLETED 4/19

[nilla]

We make our way back to Africa, where entertainment is happening!







These guys are great! The kids didn't want to dance, and neither did we. But a lot of people got involved. It was pretty funny. Plus, one of the drummers had a whistle. People in Disney shows talk by means of whistle. Or squeaker. It depends on who and where.

After the show, it's off to my favorite part of Animal Kingdom...gorillas!

We walk past just about everything else and go right to the gorillas. But first, photo!



Then, we get to the window.



I wonder if the apes hate being by the window. But they're always here. Maybe it's the only place to really get shade, and Disney Imagineering set it up that way? Don't know.



Gorilla on the go!





We move on, looking for Lilly. We missed Lilly entirely last year, so we're hoping she's around now. We saw her first at two months old. She's four now. But I don't see her.



Hey, there she is!



She's getting big. But that's absolutely her.



There's Dad.



And there's Lilly again.





She's doing her gorilla thing. Aping it up.







Can't have too many photos of that ape! And here's one of me, with Lilly in the background:



More photos of the gorilla area:



And one in front of the Tree:



I think my sunglasses are falling off in that one. Oh well, DinoLand time again!

 

[nilla]

We picked up Primeval Whirl FPs after riding Kali, so we can head over there now.

Photo first:



And another of the bronto (or whatever):



Before we enter, though, Dylan wants a vanilla shake. He gets one. Inside we go...light crowd!



Inside whatever the store next to PW is, and I LOVE the theming in here:







Someone had a fun time shopping to decorate this place!

I really wish they had a carnotaurus antenna topper for sale here, but no go. Oh well. I have a Hitchhiking Ghost slated for that spot anyway.

Top-hatted dinos welcome us to DLUSA...



...and here is the destination:



I could take or leave this ride. Kristin's not a huge fan, either. The kids dig it, though.

Em wants this photo:



There are braces in that girl's future. And possibly therapy.

In we go:



The ride is themed well, but I could do without the spinning. The spinning is not that bad, though...but the ride beats me up as well. And it's not that fun, IMO. Not a horrible ride, but nothing special.

I got one photo from the ride...



...and it's back outside.



One last photo, and it's out of this place:



Ok, two more:



Alright, two more photos AND a stop at the snow cone place. Kristin gets a frozen Coke, while Emily gets a Blue Raspberry Snow Cone.

We get back to Dinosaur, and the wait is 40 minutes. No way - we draw the line at 20. Besides, we're planning on coming back here in a week. That's up in the air, though, since we did just about everything else today. We'll see!

Having done enough, we decide to head back to CSR to swim. We managed to pack in 5 rides on Expedition Everest, a ride on Kilimanjaro Safaris, lunch at Flame Tree, the Nemo Show, Primeval Whirl, and Kali River Rapids, and it's only about 3:15. I'd say we did quite well today


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[Clarf]

Em wants this photo:



There are braces in that girl's future. And possibly therapy.




[/COLOR]

OMG, this pic has me laughing so hard! I can totally see my 7 year old doing this. I'm also glad to see her thumbs aren't up. I was worried they had frozen in a thumbs up position after viewing previous photos.

I've never been in that Dinoland USA store. Looks cool! I can't do Primeval Whirl. I might barf. My 7 year old wanted to do it last time but was just shy of the height requirement, so it's top on her list this year. Good thing my husband can still ride those spinning rides. He can go with her.

Great gorilla pics! They really are cool animals to watch.

Glad you got wet on Kali, and I hope that Grandma did get her Karma!

BTW, did Kristin lose weight? She looks fantastic! (and I say that not implying that she was overweight or didn't look fantastic.)

 

[mirage0306]

Nice day at AK! You know, I've never actually even done Primeval Whirl. It's held zero appeal for me and for some reason, the kids haven't asked to do it. Huh.

Flame Tree is our favorite CS in AK as well, and I also love eating down by the water. It's so pleasant.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

you did get a lot done - especially all those rides on EE. Funny that other areas seemed to have low crowds yet Dinosaur was still 40 mins

That's cool that you keep track of Lilly the gorilla and can check up on her each trip

I love the theming to Dinoland - especially if you go online and read the entire back-story, etc.

 

[shan23877]

I got behind, but I'm all caught up.

Flame Tree always sound amazing, but I can't stop going to Yak and Yeti. Maybe one of these days...

You guys got a TON of rides in that day! I thought the crowds the first week of May were higher than expected for the most part, but AK was by far the least crowded.

 

[KatMark]

Em wants this photo:

I just love this photo of Em. It made my day!

What a great day you had at AK. You got an awful lot accomplished (even if I think you are a little nuts for riding EE five times).

I always forget about the gorillas and want to be sure we see them in September (now that we spend more of our day at AK we can fit more in). We also want to get Nemo and Lion King in this trip if we can.

Too funny how many times Kristen got a comment about her tattoo!

Going back to the CSR for a swim? Can't think of a better way to end the late afternoon.

 

[MEK]

The picture of Emily in her sunglasses is my favorite, but since that has already been posted several times, I will post my second favorite picture! Strong work Kristin!

You definitely get parent of the year awards for letting yourself get bashed up on the Primeval Whirl! You may have gotten bruises, but you got a great shot of the park from the ride.

I would say you had a very productive day at AK. 5 rides on EE! You guys rock!

I'm a big Lily fan, too! I have pics of her from when she was a newborn! All together now - AWWWWW!

 

[nilla]

OMG, this pic has me laughing so hard! I can totally see my 7 year old doing this. I'm also glad to see her thumbs aren't up. I was worried they had frozen in a thumbs up position after viewing previous photos.

I've never been in that Dinoland USA store. Looks cool! I can't do Primeval Whirl. I might barf. My 7 year old wanted to do it last time but was just shy of the height requirement, so it's top on her list this year. Good thing my husband can still ride those spinning rides. He can go with her.

Great gorilla pics! They really are cool animals to watch.

Glad you got wet on Kali, and I hope that Grandma did get her Karma!

BTW, did Kristin lose weight? She looks fantastic! (and I say that not implying that she was overweight or didn't look fantastic.)

I don't think the thumbs up poses are quite done yet

There's really not much in that Dino store besides the theming. I honestly don't know what the sell. Big lollipops, I bet. And trading pins.

Oh, Grandma got karma. Lots of it! It's always nice when you actually get wet on the water ride, IMO.

Kristin DID lose weight, and wants to say, "thank you!" She doesn't post on here, so there it is Quitting drinking over a year ago is what she credits the most.

Nice day at AK! You know, I've never actually even done Primeval Whirl. It's held zero appeal for me and for some reason, the kids haven't asked to do it. Huh.

Flame Tree is our favorite CS in AK as well, and I also love eating down by the water. It's so pleasant.

You're not missing anything with Primeval Whirl

Love Flame Tree! I think I'd be upset if I didn't get a seat by the water.

you did get a lot done - especially all those rides on EE. Funny that other areas seemed to have low crowds yet Dinosaur was still 40 mins

That's cool that you keep track of Lilly the gorilla and can check up on her each trip

I love the theming to Dinoland - especially if you go online and read the entire back-story, etc.

I think that was because Dino was down earlier, so the FPers from before could still ride. Or something.

Lilly is the best! One year, a CM actually asked us to not speak her name, so the other yahoos wouldn't shout it out at her. Odd request, but I see what she means. No other CM ever said that, though. The CM this year was very helpful in finding her for us.

I have not read that, but certainly will! What kind of Disney fan am I?

I got behind, but I'm all caught up.

Flame Tree always sound amazing, but I can't stop going to Yak and Yeti. Maybe one of these days...

You guys got a TON of rides in that day! I thought the crowds the first week of May were higher than expected for the most part, but AK was by far the least crowded.

I loved Y&Y as well! We may do that for dinner next year. Not sure.

AK is great, especially if you hit it early and don't go right to the Safari! That said, I still love the early May crowds. We had a few busy days, but mostly, it wasn't too bad. FP+ helped.

I just love this photo of Em. It made my day!

What a great day you had at AK. You got an awful lot accomplished (even if I think you are a little nuts for riding EE five times).

I always forget about the gorillas and want to be sure we see them in September (now that we spend more of our day at AK we can fit more in). We also want to get Nemo and Lion King in this trip if we can.

Too funny how many times Kristen got a comment about her tattoo!

Going back to the CSR for a swim? Can't think of a better way to end the late afternoon.

Emily is crazy.

You must see the gorillas! If you love gorillas, that is. Lion King was not showing due to refurb this time, but we saw it last year.

How about a swim AND Maya Grill?

The picture of Emily in her sunglasses is my favorite, but since that has already been posted several times, I will post my second favorite picture! Strong work Kristin!

You definitely get parent of the year awards for letting yourself get bashed up on the Primeval Whirl! You may have gotten bruises, but you got a great shot of the park from the ride.

I would say you had a very productive day at AK. 5 rides on EE! You guys rock!

I'm a big Lily fan, too! I have pics of her from when she was a newborn! All together now - AWWWWW!

I love how that flower photo turned out! She nailed that.

Primeval Whirl is definitely nothing we would do on a "no kids" trip

I think we had a full day. No Flights of Wonder or Dinosaur, but I can deal with that. It's not like we didn't do enough other things!

Now, let's close out Day 5!

 

[nilla]

We get back to CSR around 3:30, which gives us 3 1/2 hours until our Maya Grill ADRs are ready. Perhaps we made them too late? Oh well, let's swim!

Of course, swimming in the Coronado Springs pool comes complete with the opportunity to take photos of the Coronado Springs pool:



Hey, that's not the CSR pool!



And neither is that. I guess our family hasn't caught up to this writer yet. I'd better rewind.

Backward we go to Station 4, then onto the bus (backwards), then back to AK(backwards), and then back to the entrance (forwards, because we actually walked out backwards originally. Ok, we didn't, but that would make for a better story, and that's all that matters in these Trip Reports).

Photo 1 taken. Photo 2 taken. Now, back on the bus. Hey, Em, look who it is!



I think we may just have to meet him! We FINALLY reach CSR, and once again, it's about 3:30. Suits on, and off to the pool!

After all that forward/backward motion, I could use a beer! So Siestas it is, for a Rix Red.



I also order a water in my mug. The bartender (who has been here for years) tells me that water is not good for me. He lectures me on how I was doing so well with the beer, then I messed it up with the water. I hear ya.

Here's this guy:



And this guy:



And don't forget this guy:



And hey, check out this guy!



Kristin spotted him. He eventually left, but he was there a while. The next day, that plant (is it a banana? It sure looks like a banana. But bananas don't grow like this. Or do they? I guess I'll find out on Living with the Land tomorrow. But for now, back to the story!) was fully closed. Never to open again. It's like the Blood Orchid in the Dennis the Menace movie. Which was a fantastic movie, btw, but not Disney, so not discussed any further.

Oh, it's my turn on the slide! Gotta go!

 

[nilla]

The slide at CSR is known as the "Jagular Slide". See, there he is:



See, what jagulars typically do (you know where I'm going with this) is sit up in trees (or on slides) and shout, "halloo!". Then, they pounce. But this one doesn't say "halloo". Or pounce. Not the best jagular, IMO.

This is a great slide, though! I always try to get around the jagular's waterfall, but it's almost impossible. I'll do it one of these times.

I don't recall if it was this day or another, but there were two boys, probably around 7 or 8, who were CRA-ZY. The concept of a line was not known to them, and there was no way in heck they were going to slide in the required sliding position. They're going head first, backwards, while doing a handstand, in a bobsled...you name it. But that wasn't the worst of it.

On time, in line (they were actually not butting in line this time), I saw the one pulling hard on the head of what looked to be a rubber lizard, right in front of me. Or a real lizard. Yep, real lizard.

Me: "Is that alive?"

Boy without lizard: "It was. He killed it!"

Me: "Dude, don't do that!"

Boy with lizard discards lizard in bushes.

I fully expect to see them on "America's Most Wanted" some day.

In other animal news, at one point, over by the Dig Site playground, we looked over at the garbage can and saw a raccoon with the door open. Another guest chased it away, but that was odd. Aren't raccoons nocturnal? Maybe not in Disney. Or if they have rabies. But he's gone now. We hope. Back to the water!

We swam for a while, and Emily got to participate in the pool activities, which are a lot of fun for an 8-year-old girl, I'd imagine.

Afterwards, it was back to the room, which comes complete with the opportunity to take more CSR pics!



Hey, get up! We're taking more CSR pics!





This is where we live this week:



And more CSR:





Boyd!



Em with tree boyds!





We're at MG. It's only 5:30, but let's see if we can get in!

 

[nilla]

We can! Well, in a few minutes. Photo time!





And just because we have a table, that doesn't mean we have to stop takin photos.



If you haven't noticed, Maya Grill has an Orange theme. There's a guy playing the guitar, too. Really a great atmosphere, and it's not crowded at all.

And now, the food! To start, Em gets a fruit cup...



...and the table gets nachos.



The goal is to keep the kids from filling up on nachos, which they would. I get a 2X:



The meal comes quickly enough. I got the Duck Confit:



I'm a big fan of duck, even though I like ducks. Especially Donald Duck. I just wish they didn't taste so good.

One day, my dog is going to catch a duck. She tries. She's swam many a distance to try to grab a duck at the lake, but they fly before she reaches them.

But that's neither here nor there. And we know that because that story does not have an Orange theme. Unlike Kristin's Filet:



Both of our meals were great (I'm running out of synonyms to describe these meals, btw)! Dylan got the Three Amigos:



Chicken enchilada, beef enchilada, cheese enchilada. Really good as well, but he wasn't interested. He did an ok job, though.

Emily got the.........you guessed it, Mac and Cheese!



Delicious meals! And we're not at dessert yet! Fried Ice Cream is an obvious choice, IMO:



Or regular ice cream, for Emily:



They also had "dessert shots" which looked really good, and I may have gotten them last year. I do not recall.

Anyway, we were done with dinner, and it was a great meal at Maya Grill! This was our second time here, and we really enjoyed it. Great service both times, and excellent meals.

 

[nilla]

With our stomachs full, the fatigue hit even harder. I didn't mention how tired we were during dinner, but we were tired. REALLY tired. As in "we rode Expediton Everest 4 times in a row, then one time later" tired. But it was still early, so we decided to do the CSR tour. Lots of pictures coming up...now!

Far-away view of our building:



Far-away view of the Casitas:



Closer views of the Casitas:











Ok, we need a different angle. Going up!





Dolphin!



Tower of Terror!



Swan! Dolphin! Optical zoom!



Water!



Trees!

 

[nilla]

Next post!

Quiet Pool!



Everest!



I love that we can see all these landmarks from here! Ok, more CSR shots:













There are all kinds of crazy noises coming from the wooded area by the Dig Site. What noise do rabid raccoons make?

The kids want to climb the rocks at the Ranchos. I don't think they should, but don't know that they can't, if that makes sense. So in we go...



...and up they go:



The Ranchos have a Star Wars Tatooine theme. Or, at least I think that's what they're going for here. It's getting darker, which means the camera's had about enough.



So which way home?



And we're back! And we're tired. In fact, I think I was too tired to even upload the photos that night. But there's always the morning for that. Back to Epcot tomorrow!


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[MonsterWDWmom]

Wow what a beautiful resort! It is amazing all the landmarks you can see from there.

Just reading about your day makes me tired I cannot imagine how you all felt!

 

[shan23877]

CSR is so pretty! I never knew that you could see all of that from there. Is it near CBR-like Epcot area?

Maya Grill sounds great. It's nice to have a good option for a TS at the resort.

 

[KatMark]

Jon, I'd be exhausted after a day like that too.

We've only done Maya Grill for breakfast years ago, but I have a very good friend who goes out of her way to eat at Maya for dinner every trip.

Your pictures of CSR just go to show why we love it so much...it truly is beautiful. Thank you for sharing all those terrific photos.

 

[Clarf]

Wow, beautiful pics! I like the different perspectives this year too. Who knew you could see all those landmarks from there?

Your meal sounded great. Dylan's enchiladas in particular looked great. Too bad he didn't like them.

Hope you got to sleep nice and early after a day like that!

I have a quick gorilla story for you. We were at the Milwaukee County Zoo last week. The male gorilla was in his outside summer enclosure and at first was sitting there eating (yes, eating) a cardboard box. He'd put the huge piece in his mouth and then bite off a smaller piece and chew it up. He got bored with that after a minute and walked around the corner, peeked at his audience, and then suddenly ran by the window shaking his arms at everyone then went back to eating his box. It was awesome and hilarious. Thought you'd appreciate it!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

man, I wish in one of these updates you would include some photos of Coranado Springs ... you keep talking about the place but I have no idea what it looks like

Seriously though - it looks lovely and has quite a variety too it ... plus very cool that you can see Tower of Terror AND Everest from it

Um, sounds like those kids need some boundaries .... and you know if they wound up getting hurt sliding improperly they wouldn't admit it was their fault

The Maya Grill sounds really nice ... you don't see reviews of it here much on the DIS but definitely seems like a place we would like!

And silly, don't you know there already is water in beer? no need to get a separate water. I mean, unless you want something that tastes like water ... though in that case you might as well just get a Coors

 

[KatMark]

man, I wish in one of these updates you would include some photos of Coranado Springs ... you keep talking about the place but I have no idea what it looks like

That's funny.


And silly, don't you know there already is water in beer? no need to get a separate water. I mean, unless you want something that tastes like water ... though in that case you might as well just get a Coors

Or a Keystone Light as all the people in Dubuque seem to favor.