There's a Chipmunk Eating Your Head !! (Day 6 - Part 5 -updated 1/1)

[IheartDDuck]

I love getting to Animal Kingdom early! You can get so many things accomplished quickly.

That was the day before Thanksgiving!? I would have expected more too.

Congratulations on losing 17 pounds. Don't get discouraged. You look just fine. I have a long way to go myself. Multiple trips to WDW NEVER helps with that.

 

[jecskc]

I love getting to Animal Kingdom early! You can get so many things accomplished quickly.

That was the day before Thanksgiving!? I would have expected more too.

Congratulations on losing 17 pounds. Don't get discouraged. You look just fine. I have a long way to go myself. Multiple trips to WDW NEVER helps with that.

Getting to ANY park early is crucial to getting things done. But I really like AK in the early morning. And this was the most empty we had ever seen AK. We got everything done by lunch. So it was worth all of the whining when I got them up that morning. 7 AM was an EARLY rope drop for sure.

Yes. Day before Thanksgiving. But we make a crucial error the following day in regards to park touring.

Yes. 17. My goal is to lose 50. And I started right before Halloween. Do I like a challenge or what ?? I am so stupid to start a diet at the beginning of the holiday season. I didn't gain any weight at Disney. But I haven't lost any in the week I've been back. So I stayed neutral for two weeks. And I agree that the food at Disney is so hard to resist. I have tons of food porn coming up !!

 

[RGirl]

Joining in! I am with you on the Rope Drop - it is sooo worth it. (We actually have a 3-hour time change, so it is really hard for us (like getting up at 3 a.m.), but it is STILL worth it! )

Love seeing the pics of your villa. DD and I did our first on-property stay (second trip to WDW) in October, and we had a one-bedroom villa at BWV - seeing your pictures is making me wistful.

Looks like you are having an awesome AK day. Can't wait for the rest!

 

[jecskc]

Joining in! I am with you on the Rope Drop - it is sooo worth it. (We actually have a 3-hour time change, so it is really hard for us (like getting up at 3 a.m.), but it is STILL worth it! )

Love seeing the pics of your villa. DD and I did our first on-property stay (second trip to WDW) in October, and we had a one-bedroom villa at BWV - seeing your pictures is making me wistful.

Looks like you are having an awesome AK day. Can't wait for the rest!

Thanks for stopping by. Rope drop is VERY important !! Especially during super busy times like Thanksgiving.

We loved the BWV. Especially our room location. We could just watch the kids from the veranda and keep an eye on the football games. Very convenient for us !!

Thanks for reading !!

 

[jecskc]

Day 2 – Part 4

Next we decided to ride Dinosaur while we were in the area and then the plan was to go back and ride the safari.

We arrived back safe and sound with our contraband dinosaur in tow.
DH and his “pal”.

And DD with DH’s pal.

Please don’t eat me !!

We then cruised the gift shop at Chester and Hester’s and they tried on hats.

Stitch hands !!

There was a train.

Some photos outside the gift shop.

So Primeval Whirl, Triceratop Spin and Dinosaur were all walk on. DH and the kids were saying how nice it was to not have to wait for anything and let me know that maybe I was right about getting to rope drop. We were really having a great time and getting a lot accomplished. Once they realized that this was a good plan, there was less moaning in the mornings.
We headed back over to Africa to ride the safari. And it was only 8:15 AM. Yes, we had gotten all of that stuff done in a little over an hour !!

On our way over to the safari, we got Kali fastpasses. The wait was only 10 minutes, but I didn’t want to be soaking wet all day, so decided to save that for last. I always get soaked on Kali River Rapids. And I mean soaked !! Ring a gallon of water out of your underpants soaked !! So this wasn’t my favorite ride.

There was this guy playing this instrument. It looked like it was made out of bamboo or something. Anyway, he was playing Ode To Joy and it sounded amazing. I’m not sure what this instrument was called, but it was interesting and unique.

It sounded beautiful !!

Up next - Safari !!!

 

[jecskc]

Day 2 – Part 5

Kilamanjaro Safari Time !!

Hippos !!

Crocs !!

Boab Tree

We’re four wheelin’ now, baby !!

Giraffes !! I love them !!

Some other animals

Elephants

Cheetahs

Lioness

Pumba’s relatives

Some other antelope-y type animals.

Geysers

Waterfalls

Gorilla back

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I can't believe everything you got done in an hour at AK!!!! That's awesome! Gotta love getting there early!

Wait...are the knit Muppets hats available outside of the Muppets gift shop in DHS now???? I passed up getting the Beaker hat last year and SO regret it, I want to get one this year now! But now I'm nervous with all the Muppets hype that it'll be sold out! I'd love to have a few more opportunities to find them if need be!

 

[jecskc]

I can't believe everything you got done in an hour at AK!!!! That's awesome! Gotta love getting there early!

Wait...are the knit Muppets hats available outside of the Muppets gift shop in DHS now???? I passed up getting the Beaker hat last year and SO regret it, I want to get one this year now! But now I'm nervous with all the Muppets hype that it'll be sold out! I'd love to have a few more opportunities to find them if need be!

These hats were in the Hester and Chester's gift shop outside of Dinosaur. We didn't make our way over to the Muppets gift shop this trip, so I am not sure what they have. I hope you can find a cure for your souvenir regret. I know your trip is coming up soon. Next month, right ?? So exciting !!

 

[jecskc]

Day 2 – Part 6

After the safari, the kids stopped to play a bead game with this nice CM from South Africa. It was cool.

So then we went to Rafiki’s Planet Watch.

Hidden Mickey

Brushing the goats

And the ever important – hand washing.

DD and a gorilla

Grandmother Willow

DD and Rafiki

DS and his shark friend

I love this mural of all of the animals. It is so beautiful.

And back on the train for the trip back to Harambe.

And that was everything we wanted to do at AK for that day. I mentioned seeing a show, but the kids weren’t into it. There was a great deal of talk about going back to the boardwalk to swim. They were dying to try out the water slide.

It was about 10:30 AM by this time and I wanted to have lunch at Flame Tree Barbeque. We got over there and discovered it didn’t open until eleven. By this time the park was starting get a good crowd going. So we decided to wait for Flame Tree BBQ to open, have lunch, use our Kali fastpasses and then head back to the resort.

 

[jecskc]

Day 2 – Part 7

Some photos while we waited for the restaurant to open.

We lined up outside the restaurant.

Well I stood in line and DH and the kids went to scope out a table. When the restaurant opened they played a little song and clapped and stuff. DH remarked that we were present for Flame Tree BBQ rope drop. I thought that was funny.

So we used counter service credits and got DD a kids hot dog
Which apparently I didn’t get a photo of.

DS the BBQ half chicken

He had removed the baked beans and cole slaw from the plate before I took the photo. Said he wasn’t eating that.

DH and I shared the chicken and ribs.

I also got us some onion rings to share.

We had already eaten half of them by the time I took this photo.
Overall, the food here was pretty good. I liked the chicken and the ribs. The beans and cole slaw were just OK. I thought they were too sweet tasting. We also got chocolate mousse for dessert and it was icky. Something about the consistency of it just grossed me out. I mean mousse is supposed to be somewhat firm in texture and this was just too soupy. Anyway, lunch here was just OK. I am not sure we will go back. The meat and the onion rings were good.

After lunch we made our way back over to Asia to ride Kali River Rapids

After having an ideal morning where crowds were concerned, I thought I would snap this photo of the area around Kali River Rapids.

You could barely walk. So by about noon, this park was PACKED !! So, again, we were happy to have made the very early rope drop.

Anyway, I wasn’t in the mood to get soaked. It was 81 degrees on this day, but it was cloudy and breezy so it was very pleasant. But I just didn’t wanna get that wet. So DH and the kids rode and got soaked while I waited at the ride exit and checked my e-mail and returned some texts from my tennis buddies.

After Kali, DD wanted to buy a baby Simba with her gift card money, so we stopped to get one.

I took some more photos of the Christmas tree.

After that we left to go back to the Boardwalk. The kids REALLY wanted to swim !!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Yes, we leave next month! I'm really hoping to resolve this souvenir regret! Hahaha.

at Flame Tree rope drop! Wow the park really did fill up throughout the morning though, that's great that you guys made it there so early!

 

[jecskc]

Yes, we leave next month! I'm really hoping to resolve this souvenir regret! Hahaha.

at Flame Tree rope drop! Wow the park really did fill up throughout the morning though, that's great that you guys made it there so early!

Yes, this was really important during the week of Thanksgiving to make it to rope drop. It got really packed by about 11 AM. Hopefully, when you guys go, you won't have to worry too much about that.

I know that you are so excited !! I bet you are like ... Christmas can come and go quickly so I can can get to Disney !!

We went in January this year for a quick weekend trip for my Birthday and we really enjoyed Disney in January. The weather was perfect. 50's at night, 70's during the day.

It was perfect for our Thanksgiving trip, too. 60's at night and low 80's during the day. The kids went swimming every day. Just great weather. We really got lucky this year with the weather.

 

[jecskc]

Day 2 – Part 8

So we left AK and headed back to Boardwalk. Some day time pics as we enter the lobby.

I was all about the Christmas décor !!

We could definitely smell the ginger bread.

We stopped at the little gift shop off of the lobby that was called Dundry’s Sundries.

And I bought

I like to buy pins of the resorts we have stayed at. I have Wilderness Lodge, Old Key West, Saratoga Springs and Boardwalk. We have stayed at POP, but I don’t have one of that resort. I need to remedy that !!
DD loved these chocolate coins. We got some.

And DS found a Vinylmation on sale for $5.

I looked at it with fascination …. and dread. I knew that we were embarking upon another “collecting” journey. It was bad enough having the pin collection. But now the vinylmation ?? I have to admit that the whole vinylmation thing didn’t really appeal to me, but after this trip, I would say they have definitely grown on me. This purchase would set off a fascinating domino effect of DS purchasing these things and trading =- purchasing and trading. Near the end of the trip, DD got into it too. They are kinda neat, I guess. I record all purchases and trades, so stay tuned to see what we got. Oh, and BTW, I have fished two of them out of the dog’s mouth just this week …. Sigh. She’s a bad dog.

So DH and the kids get into their swimsuits and head to the pool. They absolutely can’t wait to ride that water slide.

I took some photos. Here is a photo of our veranda.

Looking straight up – this is our view of the pool.

We were not bothered at all by noise.

I headed over to check things out and take photos.

DD coming out of the slide.

The kids (and DH) proclaimed this the best water slide at a resort yet. They ride it many times every day. I chilled in a lounger and ordered a Caribbean Limeade (which was more pineapple-y than lime, but still good) and wrote in my journal and read a book while DH and the kids enjoyed the pool and the slide. I just wasn’t in the mood to swim this whole trip. I guess because it wasn’t that hot. But on this day DH said the water was nice.

After a while I went back to the villa, but DH and the kids swam for a little while more. They came back and got changed. DS and DH went to go check out the arcade and over to the gift shop to trade his vinylmation. He got

Phil !! Phil is cool. But people didn’t seem to like to hold on to him. He was present at many of the trades we participated in.
After that, DS and DH went exploring and took some photos.

Beach club

Boardwalk

He played with the panorama option on our new camera

Cont'd next post

 

[jecskc]

(cont'd)

Then they checked out the Swan and Dolphin.

And they came back with another one …..

 

[jecskc]

Day 2 – Part 9

We finally got the kids dressed and ready for our 5:15 ADR for Captain’s Grille at the Yacht Club.

We just walked over since it was so close. Some photos on the way.

We were early and Captain’s Grille didn’t even open until 5:00 PM, so we scoped out the Christmas décor and took some photos.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Aaaahh, Vinylmation. I admit, I am cursed with the desire to collect Vinylmation. However, I have not gotten into the trading part of it too much.

We love buying pins for all the resorts we've stayed at too! It's a tradition. Back in the day, it used to be these cute little Mickey Bell Hop beanies. It was Mickey in a bell hop outfit with a suitcase that had the name of the resort on it. They stopped those sadly.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I'll admit, the Vinylmation thing has pretty much no appeal to me, so thankfully those are Disney purchases I've been able to avoid! That's fun that the kids enjoyed trading them though!

Ohhhhhhhhh how I love the Epcot resort area. I'm swooning over your pics.

 

[jecskc]

Aaaahh, Vinylmation. I admit, I am cursed with the desire to collect Vinylmation. However, I have not gotten into the trading part of it too much.

We love buying pins for all the resorts we've stayed at too! It's a tradition. Back in the day, it used to be these cute little Mickey Bell Hop beanies. It was Mickey in a bell hop outfit with a suitcase that had the name of the resort on it. They stopped those sadly.

The kids really enjoyed the trading. Some they kept, though. DD got two this trip and was never able to part with either one in a trade.

I'll admit, the Vinylmation thing has pretty much no appeal to me, so thankfully those are Disney purchases I've been able to avoid! That's fun that the kids enjoyed trading them though!

Ohhhhhhhhh how I love the Epcot resort area. I'm swooning over your pics.

Yeah, I didn't get it either so I avoided it because we already had the pin thing going on and that costs enough money, but when DS bought his first Vinylmation on sale for $5, I knew we were in trouble. Now I think they are kinda cool, but I will let him just buy and trade them and try not to get the bug myself. He seems really into them. But he needs to keep them off the floor of his bedroom. I've already rescued two from the dog.

Yes, the Epcot resorts are awesome. And they were so pretty decorated for Christmas. We really wanted to stay there so I could spend more time in the World Showcase, but ironically, out of all of our trips, we spent the LEAST time there ever. Oh well, we always need a reason to go back, right ??

 

[jecskc]

Day 2 – Part 10

As soon as the restaurant opened, we got seated. There were several people trying to get in to eat without a reservation. Here, that didn’t seem to be too much of a problem, but I am sure that other places, it definitely was.

Our server was Eric and he was wonderful !! He brought us some multi-grain bread. Which I will say … just wasn’t that good. Not much flavor to it.

We ordered an Eco-tini and it was fun and very good and citrus-y. It came with this little bracelet. Very enjoyable.

DD ordered the glowing character punch.

I ordered the Wedge salad.

It was very fresh and pretty good. But there was something about the dressing that was just ….. different to me. Our waiter said it had cilantro in it, so maybe I didn’t like that. I would have tasted awesome with blue cheese dressing. Besides the dressing, the rest of the salad was very fresh and tasty.

DS wanted a hamburger but there wasn’t one on the dinner menu. Our waiter said it was no problem, though. He could get us what he wanted.

I had a bite. It was very good.

DH ordered off the Prix Fixe menu. He got a salad and the pan seared chicken.

It came with navy beans and spinach, I think. It was good. I had a bite.

DD ordered the kid’s meaty mac and asked for the sauce on the side.

Our waiter asked if she wanted some cheese to go with it and she said yes. So he brought her some fresh Parmesan.

Which she loved.

She took some more photos of her cup.

For dessert, DH ordered the turtle cheesecake.

It was good. I had a bite …. Or three … or more.

DS just likes vanilla ice cream for dessert. Orders it a lot. Just wants vanilla ice cream.

He borrowed some sprinkles from DD’s kids make your own sundae.

Dinner was good. Not outstanding, but good. But our service was so outstanding that we would go back and just order something else.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I've only been to the Captain's Grille for breakfast (which we really enjoyed), but the dinner looks good too!