2belles'mom
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2000
- Messages
- 406
Cast:
Christy (me), 33, loves Disney and plans trip
David, DH, 33, not as big a Disney fan as I am!
Katja, DD, 4, loves all things Disney
Annika, DD, 18 months, beginning Disney fan
Nana, my mother
Grandpa, my father
Steve, 30, my brother
Sarah, 28, my sister-in-law, 1st trip to Disney
Riley, 7, my nephew, 1st trip to Disney
December 19âÂÂAnimal Kingdom day!
David was gone before we woke up; he was driving to Port St. Lucie for a golf tournament and we planned to meet him later in the evening at MGM for Fantasmic. I had the girls down at the lobby entrance by 7:30, where my Dad and the rest of the gang picked us up. It was sunny, but quite chillyâÂÂI had the kids in sweat suits with their blankets wrapped around them. We left CR, 7 us riding comfortably in the Town Car I had rented through Priceline. All went well until we took a wrong turn on Osceolo Parkway and did not discover our mistake until we passed Down Town Disney. Of course, this created a great deal of arguing and bickering. We made the necessary corrections and pulled into the Animal Kingdom parking lot a few minutes after 8. The park was already open and we hurried in.
We were met by quite a few charactersâÂÂhaving never been to AK before I was not sure who or what they were. I now know that some were the monkeys from Tarzan Rocks, but I still do not know about the guys on stilts. Our first destination was Kilamanjaro Safaris, so we bypassed all else and headed there. I was very impressed with AKâÂÂthe recreation of African and Asian scenery was delightful! Everyone in our party was impressed, including my Dad (who is VERY difficult to impress; he even purchased a âÂÂMaking of the Animal Kingdomâ book later at the CR gift shop!). The park was absolutely desertedâÂÂafter the Oasis, we did not see people until we boarded the Safari! We walked right on the, only a handful of people were there. The Safari was greatâÂÂwe saw lots of animals, including the male and female lions. The poaching story was good, but I can see how it would wear thin after many re-tellings.
Next we headed for Kali River Rapids. Katja was absolutely crushed when she discovered she was too small to ride and had a full-fledged melt-down. My mom bribed her with promises of candy or somethingâÂÂwhatever it was, it seemed to work. Steve, Sarah, Riley, Dad and I rode. We were the ONLY people there! We all donned our Ponchos, and I made sure to sit on mine so my rear would not get wet. There were two people in the raft who had just riddenâÂÂa father and sonâÂÂand the CMs let them stay as there was no one else loading, so we joined them. The Dad was soaked. There is one drop with a huge splash that nails one particular area of the raft and not the others areasâÂÂthis is what got him. The ride was fantasticâÂÂagain, DisneyâÂÂs attention to detail is astounding. Perhaps there was more mist and fog than usual since it was rather cold out, but I found the effect to be eerily pleasant. The heat from the fire was intense; how do they do that?
This time around my Dad was in the splash spotâÂÂwhen we hit bottom, the water washed over us, but nailed him square on! He wasnâÂÂt sitting on his Poncho either, so his jeans were totally soaked. We approached the loading area and there was still no one waiting to get on. My Dad opted to get off (not surprisingly), as did the father and son duo. Sarah, Steve, Riley and I stayed on for another go. Riley was in absolute heaven! This time, I was the unfortunate one. It was literally a wall of water that dumped on meâÂÂit blew my Poncho hood right off and dumped water down the neck opening! My hair was wet, and I was a bit wet where the water had entered the poncho in front. I would have been soaked to the bone had I not been wearing a poncho! This time I got off, but Riley, Steve and Sarah went for #3 (still no one waiting to get on at the loading area!). I joined the rest of our party at the bridge that overlooks the rafts, where I discovered that my darling daughter and her doting grandfather had been conspiring to get us ever wetter! There are buttons that can be pushed to operate jet-sprays of water that nail the raft-riders! Okay, I joined in the fun and positioned myself to spray my brotherâÂÂs raft when it passed. We got them good! When everyone had had their fill, we spent some drying off; on this chilly day, the folks at Disney were kind enough to supply giant blow dryers that enabled several people to stand I front of them and heat-dry.
Our next destination was Dinosaur (previously Countdown to Extinction). We made our way to DinoLand and had about a 10 minute wait. Wow! What an intense ride! Riley was terrorized again (but not the extent he had been in Alien Encounter). Katja was just about to lose it, but I buried her head under my arm and that seemed to do the trick. I think the whole thing was a little too herky-jerky for my mom, but she did rather well. My Dad missed it because there was some confusion on his part about the baby-swapâÂÂhe thought that my mother, who was holding the baby, would not be able to ride so he went running like a crazy person, grabbed the baby from her, and went outside to wait. He later claimed that he did not want to ride in the first place, but I still think he wasnâÂÂt listening when we were discussing the plan to baby-swap Annika (up to this point there had been no need to because mom canâÂÂt go on a lot of the rides, so she sits out with the kids who donâÂÂt go).
ItâÂÂs Tough To Be A Bug was next on our itinerary, but we all thought that we should do something more benign since Riley had had a tough time with Dinosaur. Tarzan Rocks was close to starting, so we grabbed seats for the show. Wow! It was really good. Annika was glued to the action, and Katja and Riley both thought it was great. Tarzan and Jane were good, but the roller skating monkeys stole the show. Afterwards, my mom and I volunteered to go check out Rainforest Café while everyone else went to the Boneyard. It was really quite cold now, colder than it had been earlier; during Tarzan the weather had taken a turn for the worseâÂÂthe clouds rolled in and the wind whipped up. We didnâÂÂt think the kids would last long in the Boneyard (but we were wrongâÂÂI guess Steve and Sarah practically dragged them out). Then plan was for us to all meet and have lunch there. HA! We did meet there, but skeedaddled as quickly as possible upon learning that the wait was 2 hours!
We were too tired to make creative plans for lunch, so when my Dad suggested we try the Port Orleans food court, he got no objections. It was actually quite good, and had a yummy gumbo soup that they do not have at DxL. We walked around PO a bit (very cute!), but it was so dang cold that we were quickly driven back inside. It was also too cold to swim, so I had my Dad take me back to the CR where I put the girls down for a nap (and they actually slept!).
Our evening plans had included Fantasmic at MGM, but due to the weather we adjusted them so as to stay indoors. My brother really wanted to go to Whispering Canyon Café, but I could not get a PS. We decided to go anyway and take our chancesâÂÂnone of us minded hanging out in the lobby for an hour or so. As it turned out, we did have to wait about an hour, but it passed pleasantly enoughâÂÂwe got some drinks and explored for awhile ( I really LOVE this hotel!), and Katja got to do a kid project with some of the WL CMs.
Dinner was a lot of funâÂÂthe food wasnâÂÂt that great, but the CMs put on quite a show. They had all the Dads in the restaurant get up and do some line dancing, what a hoot! Steve, Dave, and my Dad all participated, and we got some great pictures. They also made all the dads promise to take their kids back to WDW next year. Riley has not stopped reminding Steve of this!
After dinner we headed back to our hotel rooms for bedâÂÂMGM tomorrow!
Next upâÂÂMGM early-entry; Steve, Sarah, and Riley go back to Wisconsin
2belles'mom
[This message was edited by 2belles'mom on 01-08-01 at 09:58 PM.]
Christy (me), 33, loves Disney and plans trip
David, DH, 33, not as big a Disney fan as I am!
Katja, DD, 4, loves all things Disney
Annika, DD, 18 months, beginning Disney fan
Nana, my mother
Grandpa, my father
Steve, 30, my brother
Sarah, 28, my sister-in-law, 1st trip to Disney
Riley, 7, my nephew, 1st trip to Disney
December 19âÂÂAnimal Kingdom day!
David was gone before we woke up; he was driving to Port St. Lucie for a golf tournament and we planned to meet him later in the evening at MGM for Fantasmic. I had the girls down at the lobby entrance by 7:30, where my Dad and the rest of the gang picked us up. It was sunny, but quite chillyâÂÂI had the kids in sweat suits with their blankets wrapped around them. We left CR, 7 us riding comfortably in the Town Car I had rented through Priceline. All went well until we took a wrong turn on Osceolo Parkway and did not discover our mistake until we passed Down Town Disney. Of course, this created a great deal of arguing and bickering. We made the necessary corrections and pulled into the Animal Kingdom parking lot a few minutes after 8. The park was already open and we hurried in.
We were met by quite a few charactersâÂÂhaving never been to AK before I was not sure who or what they were. I now know that some were the monkeys from Tarzan Rocks, but I still do not know about the guys on stilts. Our first destination was Kilamanjaro Safaris, so we bypassed all else and headed there. I was very impressed with AKâÂÂthe recreation of African and Asian scenery was delightful! Everyone in our party was impressed, including my Dad (who is VERY difficult to impress; he even purchased a âÂÂMaking of the Animal Kingdomâ book later at the CR gift shop!). The park was absolutely desertedâÂÂafter the Oasis, we did not see people until we boarded the Safari! We walked right on the, only a handful of people were there. The Safari was greatâÂÂwe saw lots of animals, including the male and female lions. The poaching story was good, but I can see how it would wear thin after many re-tellings.
Next we headed for Kali River Rapids. Katja was absolutely crushed when she discovered she was too small to ride and had a full-fledged melt-down. My mom bribed her with promises of candy or somethingâÂÂwhatever it was, it seemed to work. Steve, Sarah, Riley, Dad and I rode. We were the ONLY people there! We all donned our Ponchos, and I made sure to sit on mine so my rear would not get wet. There were two people in the raft who had just riddenâÂÂa father and sonâÂÂand the CMs let them stay as there was no one else loading, so we joined them. The Dad was soaked. There is one drop with a huge splash that nails one particular area of the raft and not the others areasâÂÂthis is what got him. The ride was fantasticâÂÂagain, DisneyâÂÂs attention to detail is astounding. Perhaps there was more mist and fog than usual since it was rather cold out, but I found the effect to be eerily pleasant. The heat from the fire was intense; how do they do that?
This time around my Dad was in the splash spotâÂÂwhen we hit bottom, the water washed over us, but nailed him square on! He wasnâÂÂt sitting on his Poncho either, so his jeans were totally soaked. We approached the loading area and there was still no one waiting to get on. My Dad opted to get off (not surprisingly), as did the father and son duo. Sarah, Steve, Riley and I stayed on for another go. Riley was in absolute heaven! This time, I was the unfortunate one. It was literally a wall of water that dumped on meâÂÂit blew my Poncho hood right off and dumped water down the neck opening! My hair was wet, and I was a bit wet where the water had entered the poncho in front. I would have been soaked to the bone had I not been wearing a poncho! This time I got off, but Riley, Steve and Sarah went for #3 (still no one waiting to get on at the loading area!). I joined the rest of our party at the bridge that overlooks the rafts, where I discovered that my darling daughter and her doting grandfather had been conspiring to get us ever wetter! There are buttons that can be pushed to operate jet-sprays of water that nail the raft-riders! Okay, I joined in the fun and positioned myself to spray my brotherâÂÂs raft when it passed. We got them good! When everyone had had their fill, we spent some drying off; on this chilly day, the folks at Disney were kind enough to supply giant blow dryers that enabled several people to stand I front of them and heat-dry.
Our next destination was Dinosaur (previously Countdown to Extinction). We made our way to DinoLand and had about a 10 minute wait. Wow! What an intense ride! Riley was terrorized again (but not the extent he had been in Alien Encounter). Katja was just about to lose it, but I buried her head under my arm and that seemed to do the trick. I think the whole thing was a little too herky-jerky for my mom, but she did rather well. My Dad missed it because there was some confusion on his part about the baby-swapâÂÂhe thought that my mother, who was holding the baby, would not be able to ride so he went running like a crazy person, grabbed the baby from her, and went outside to wait. He later claimed that he did not want to ride in the first place, but I still think he wasnâÂÂt listening when we were discussing the plan to baby-swap Annika (up to this point there had been no need to because mom canâÂÂt go on a lot of the rides, so she sits out with the kids who donâÂÂt go).
ItâÂÂs Tough To Be A Bug was next on our itinerary, but we all thought that we should do something more benign since Riley had had a tough time with Dinosaur. Tarzan Rocks was close to starting, so we grabbed seats for the show. Wow! It was really good. Annika was glued to the action, and Katja and Riley both thought it was great. Tarzan and Jane were good, but the roller skating monkeys stole the show. Afterwards, my mom and I volunteered to go check out Rainforest Café while everyone else went to the Boneyard. It was really quite cold now, colder than it had been earlier; during Tarzan the weather had taken a turn for the worseâÂÂthe clouds rolled in and the wind whipped up. We didnâÂÂt think the kids would last long in the Boneyard (but we were wrongâÂÂI guess Steve and Sarah practically dragged them out). Then plan was for us to all meet and have lunch there. HA! We did meet there, but skeedaddled as quickly as possible upon learning that the wait was 2 hours!
We were too tired to make creative plans for lunch, so when my Dad suggested we try the Port Orleans food court, he got no objections. It was actually quite good, and had a yummy gumbo soup that they do not have at DxL. We walked around PO a bit (very cute!), but it was so dang cold that we were quickly driven back inside. It was also too cold to swim, so I had my Dad take me back to the CR where I put the girls down for a nap (and they actually slept!).
Our evening plans had included Fantasmic at MGM, but due to the weather we adjusted them so as to stay indoors. My brother really wanted to go to Whispering Canyon Café, but I could not get a PS. We decided to go anyway and take our chancesâÂÂnone of us minded hanging out in the lobby for an hour or so. As it turned out, we did have to wait about an hour, but it passed pleasantly enoughâÂÂwe got some drinks and explored for awhile ( I really LOVE this hotel!), and Katja got to do a kid project with some of the WL CMs.
Dinner was a lot of funâÂÂthe food wasnâÂÂt that great, but the CMs put on quite a show. They had all the Dads in the restaurant get up and do some line dancing, what a hoot! Steve, Dave, and my Dad all participated, and we got some great pictures. They also made all the dads promise to take their kids back to WDW next year. Riley has not stopped reminding Steve of this!
After dinner we headed back to our hotel rooms for bedâÂÂMGM tomorrow!
Next upâÂÂMGM early-entry; Steve, Sarah, and Riley go back to Wisconsin
2belles'mom
[This message was edited by 2belles'mom on 01-08-01 at 09:58 PM.]
