WDW in October vs. Hilton Head in March: a tale of two trips NEW! 10/6 p20

How neat the the animal caretaker was close enough to your room that you could talk with him. I love that kind of stuff.

You guys saw a lot of animals on the safari! I'd much rather see the back end of animals than no animals at all. ;)
 
Beautiful view from your room! Love all the animals. :thumbsup2

And talking about animals - you got great shots on the Pangani trail and on Safari. I just love AKL and AK park. What a great way to start your trip.
 
Wow! I learned a bit about giraffes today- thanks Sheree! :goodvibes The view from your room was fantastic!

Loved the girls Animal Kingdom themed outfits. ;)
Yeah, we loved that room!
The girls did a lot of their own packing and choosing this trip. They definitely chose well that day!

Love this update! AKL is our favorite resort. You had a great view!
Thanks! We love it too, but I'm ready to try a different resort. AKL is one of our "home" DVC resorts, so I'm sure we'll be back.

I love the view you had. Nice that the cm was talking to you.:thumbsup2

We love AK & seeing the animals & the walking trails. Yeah I wonder if that was Lilly?? I love watching the tigers & could just stand there & watch them all day.

Nice to see a pic of you & DH. I know I am usually the one taking the pictures so not too many of me unless we get PP. It is nice to get us all together.
Yeah that view and the CM every morning was so cool!
I've enjoyed AK more this trip than I have in the past. Just noticing more details and enjoying the animals is so fun! I did make a conscious effort to get in more pictures and have some of the two of us as well. Sarah took a lot of us!

Sleep, schmeep! Who needs sleep? We're going to Disney World! :dance3:
LOL!! That's what I think!

You need to make that path come through Nashville with time for a hippo meet! :thumbsup2

We actually do go through Nashville many trips, but don't often stop. Dave read your comment and said he would like to stop for a day there, so we'll have to set something up! He and I stayed there a couple days pre-kids on our way back from WDW and loved it!


It's been a while since we have driven, but we are doing so this summer. The Florida Welcome Center is always an exciting stop - if we get to it when it is open. Sometimes we are so early driving through there that it is not even open yet. We make a potty and picture stop, but there is no juice for us, and we can't stock up on a few dozen pamphlets to read the rest of the way. :)

Good luck with your driving! The welcome center is such a monumental landmark for us! Even though I know we still have a little ways to go, it's always a fabulous feeling to say "we're in Florida!"


I love this. :love: Just sitting out by the pool catching up with family you don't get to see - very special. ::yes::

Indeed! It's always nice to see them! Hanging at the pool turned out to be a popular activity for us!

Your girls are growing up - and what wonderful young ladies they are going to be! I bet she felt so grown-up doing that.

Oh my gosh, they are! It's going a little fast for me lately. Although part of me wishes one could drive so I could stop being a taxi driver! 4 more years to go! :drive::scared1:


Those pools are great. Art of Animation has that in the Nemo pool, too, so hopefully they will be doing more pools that way as they create new resorts.

I love zero entry! it's great for the little ones to splash around in and still be in the big pool. Plus I think it looks cooler!

Neglected Animal Kingdom??? Bad, bad, bad! :upsidedow
You know we love that park!

Oh, I know! Sarah loves animals too!


What else you got in there, fella?

Great caption!

Brooklynn and I would have been loving that


Gotta love tweens and teens and all of their silliness. I love that you shared this. Jill went through a stage when she called police officers 'po po', and there was some contest that went with that where you said po po and touched the ceiling of your car for a point. :laughing: Kids are fun, aren't they?

Always a source of entertainment!!

The dining plan is too much food for us. We don't drink much soda, and we definitely don't get desserts at every meal, so unless it's a 'free dining' time, it's not a good deal for us.
I definitely preferred not to be on the plan this time. The girls are both Disney "adults" now and they just don't eat like that. They'd love dessert with every meal, but really, the CS desserts aren't usually that great and they don't need it. They get plenty of treats.I meant to do the math, but didn't. I'm pretty sure we came out ahead or very close without the DDP.


Definitely cute to be on a jeep with first-timers and hear them ooh and aah and hear the kids' squeals over seeing the animals.
Very fun for sure!

Well, I feel like we've just had a conversation, Sheree! Nice chatting with you. I look forward to more Animal Kingdom fun next time.
That was fun! I've got a little more AK to share - maybe even tonight if my kids get to sleep!

As for the gorilla, the last time we saw Lilly, she was nowhere near that size, so unless she has grown leaps and bounds, that is not her. Sadly, I didn't get to see her in March. She will soon be big like the others, and we won't be able to tell her apart from anyone else. They need to put different colored bandanas on them so we can know who is who. ;)
I knew you would know more about Lilly - I agree, they need some sort of labeling system! I remember the guide was able to identify them, I just don't remember what he said and which one I was photographing!

P.S. My reading group just finished reading a book called Gorillas and Chimpanzees. Yes, it was my choice, and yes, I quite enjoyed reading it with them and showing them Animal Kingdom pictures to supplement the learning. :teacher: Gotta use any way you can to sneak a little Disney into a work day, right?
RIGHT!

All caught up. I am famous for getting the rear ends of animals too! :rotfl:
HA! Well, now that you're all caught up, I'll keep going!

How neat the the animal caretaker was close enough to your room that you could talk with him. I love that kind of stuff.

You guys saw a lot of animals on the safari! I'd much rather see the back end of animals than no animals at all. ;)
I think it's one of the things that sets AKL apart. The CMs have so much to share, and are very willing to do so!
I guess you're right - back end is better than nothing!

Beautiful view from your room! Love all the animals. :thumbsup2

And talking about animals - you got great shots on the Pangani trail and on Safari. I just love AKL and AK park. What a great way to start your trip.

It was a great room!
Next time I may hand the camera off and just look at the animals. But it really is fun to try and get that great shot!


More AK coming up!
 

After our safari ride, the girls got henna tattoos on their feet – I think it was for “dance”. I seem to remember Sarah going in to the shop and paying for hers with her KTTW. She loved doing that!






This is Paige's.


Each got it on a different foot -so they made a pair!


I made my way over to the Dawa bar while waiting and got myself a Lost on Safari. Something on my list that I wanted to do this trip. Did I mention I had a whole list of things to do and try? Yup, lots of them were food/drink related! It was quite good and we got a snack, popcorn I think, then too.


We wandered through Asia – no, the girls were not willing to try EE! I looked in the shop and tried to persuade them, but they took one look at how high it went and heard the screaming and said NO WAY! Maybe next time!




We hit Dinoland and decided to try Dinosaur – another thing we’d never done! I’d thought it would be scary for the girls when they were younger, and maybe too “rough” for me. I don’t do motion rides real well. So we got FPs and while we waited we saw the Dino-Dumbo (aka Triceratops Spin) only had a 5 minute wait. So we rode that and then did a little browsing in the gift shop.






I love this shirt!


Sarah found a certain book very amusing.


We rode Dinosaur and thought it was a blast! Pretty rough, but super fun! I couldn’t believe we’d never tried it before! We will definitely do it again! I can certainly see how little ones could be scared.


Paige looks a little frightened, but we all thought it was fun!

cont. in next post.
 



We decided that was enough AK for today, and shopped a bit on the way out.







Purchase with purchase deals: Yes, I brought this throw home!






I really like the themed items here and at the shop in AKL too. About 3 p.m. we headed back and hit the pool for about an hour.


We had dinner plans that night! Somewhere we’d never had dinner at before!

Any guesses?

Here's a hint: We drove to the location.


And headed in this direction...

Can you tell where we are? (Despite the bad lighting?)


How about now?


Yes, we were having dinner at Ohana! We ended up arriving a few minute late for our ADR, and waited no more than 10-15 minutes and got buzzed. Wow, the amount of food here is insane! I loved pretty much everything! Sarah only ate bread and a couple pieces of steak. Our fabulous server, Cousin Joe, noticed, and brought her some alternatives - Mac & Cheese, and fries!

I could have made a meal out of the appetizers, dumplings, noodles and salad. The wings were good, but not as good as I expected. The dessert - O.M.G. that bread pudding made me a fan of bread pudding!!

Sufficiently stuffed, we wandered around the Poly like we belonged there. Shopped, took pictures, checked out the pool


I love this!


I think someone told them he was going to sneeze on them!

The lovely ladies...

And their parents...


PHOTOBOMBED!



and then we were off to our next destination...
We went resort hopping!
First - on the monorail - The Grand Floridian


Then it was off to the Contemporary. More specifically, to Bay Lake Tower. At that time, they were allowing DVC members staying on points at any DVC resort access to the Top of the World Lounge, so we went to check it out. I was still pretty full, so only got a soda and enjoyed the view.





Look at that, yet another picture of the two of us!

It was only around 8:30 and if you'll remember we did drive to the Poly, so we went back over to the Poly and joined about a thousand others on the beach to watch the fireworks! It was a MNSSHP night, so they were doing Hallowishes! This was a first for us, and although we didn't have comfy seats, it was so fun to see the big picture! Of course, I didn't take any pictures! My fireworks shots don't always turn out, and I just wanted to watch.
It was great that they piped in the music. We had a blast!

Our first full day was a big success!
Strange for this trip, we weren't going to set foot in Magic Kingdom until late Tuesday! Seemed like a long time to wait, but we would manage.

Tomorrow - EPCOT! We get our first taste of Food and Wine! YAY!
 
I meant to include these pictures from the shops at AK and didn't have space so here are some bonus shots!









 
Love the tattoos. I can't show those to Claire or that will be her main mission the next trip. ;)
She did get a Minnie one last trip and she was really impressed with herself.
We ate at Ohana for the first time too in Nov. We just thought it was ok. We didn't like the sauces on the meat. We liked the meats, but the sauces were not our thing. I have read it's changed now, so maybe I'll give it another chance.
The girls do look a little frightened on Dinosaur. Heck I probably look that way too when I ride it.
 

We enjoyed seeing the CM at work in the mornings and it was nice that he would talk to people out on their balconies. That's one thing I love about the AKV - savanna view really makes a difference in the experience we had there. I enjoyed just sitting out there - especially when I was up early. Did have to shield our eyes from that bright morning sun, but that's not a complaint! I would give anything to see that sun around here these days!! [/COLOR]

I agree, Savanna view really does change the entire experience. I feel like we got SO lucky with our reclassified room last trip, but I'd be a bit hesitant to bank on that again and would probably err on the side of caution and just book Savanna view if I had the points to do it.
 
Great pictures! You guys look like you were having a really great time!

I just added the Lost on Safari drink to my list when we're at AK! Yum!
 
Love the girls tattoos!!

Oh I love the Lost on Safari at the Dawna bar. I usually get one every trip.:thumbsup2

We have not been to Ohana in a few years now. I would like to go back again.

Ah Food & Wine. LOVE it!! Cannot wait for this Oct.
 

I laughed at this picture. Someone is looking less than happy here. :laughing:




How about now?

We love 'Ohana! :cool1:
We are hoping to eat there again in New Year's Eve. (Fingers crossed that we can get a coveted ADR on such a busy night.)









and then we were off to our next destination...
We went resort hopping!

One of my favorite things to do in Disney World. :thumbsup2







It was only around 8:30 and if you'll remember we did drive to the Poly, so we went back over to the Poly and joined about a thousand others on the beach to watch the fireworks! It was a MNSSHP night, so they were doing Hallowishes! This was a first for us, and although we didn't have comfy seats, it was so fun to see the big picture! Of course, I didn't take any pictures! My fireworks shots don't always turn out, and I just wanted to watch.
It was great that they piped in the music. We had a blast!


::yes::
 
Love Sarah's top - its absolutely adorable.

Love the henna tattoos. Makes me want one! So cute.

Love the Lost on Safari. I mean, really, who wouldn't?

Your meal at Ohana looks fabulous. It really is a lot of food and my only beef with that meal is I'm too stuffed by the time they serve the shrimp.

Yeah for a visit to the ToW lounge. And yeah for multiple pictures of you and Dave. :thumbsup2
 
Glad I just spotted your TR. Have had fun catching up on the last few pages - it looks like your trip has got off to a great start!

Really looking forward to reading along because there are all sorts of things you'll be doing that are new to you and to us, that hopefully we'll be able to do in Oct 2014 (the provisional date for our next trip). We'd like to catch Food and Wine, as well as MNSSHP, and Ohana is still on my to-do list after we had to cancel an ADR for it last year. Plus I'm paying close attention to weather, crowds, etc because our previous trips have all been in the heat, humidity but low crowds of late August/early September.

The girls do seem to have grown since your European adventures - and how exciting it must be for Sarah to be able to make her own purchases. I still get excited about my KTTW card now :rotfl:
 
Did you realize the the "Lost on Safari" has enough fruit juice to be officially classified as a breakfast drink?
Well, according to me it does......:rotfl2:

The girls, hennas were gorgeous! How did they hold up with pool time?

On a side note, I've been packing up my classroom. At this point I'm just cleaning out file cabinets, the office, and closet, because I'm moving to 5th grade next year. I can't take anything off of the walls yet, because we don't want the kids to think we are done learning for the year. Besides, they don't know that I'm moving up in grade level either...:teacher:

Anyway, in a sack, I found a little something that I had purchased for you a while back.
Could you pm me your address? I'd like to send it to you.....
 
Love the tattoos. I can't show those to Claire or that will be her main mission the next trip. ;)
She did get a Minnie one last trip and she was really impressed with herself.
We ate at Ohana for the first time too in Nov. We just thought it was ok. We didn't like the sauces on the meat. We liked the meats, but the sauces were not our thing. I have read it's changed now, so maybe I'll give it another chance.
The girls do look a little frightened on Dinosaur. Heck I probably look that way too when I ride it.
Ha! Yeah, they were cool, but I wish we'd done what they told us to make them last longer. Maybe next time I'll get one!
Dinosaur - they said they loved it and I just heard that the ride is the same type as Indiana Jones in Disneyland - I'd love to go to DL and do that one.

I agree, Savanna view really does change the entire experience. I feel like we got SO lucky with our reclassified room last trip, but I'd be a bit hesitant to bank on that again and would probably err on the side of caution and just book Savanna view if I had the points to do it.
Yeah, now I can never stay there without savanna view! So spoiled! You had a great deal - but like you say, you can't count on it!

Great pictures! You guys look like you were having a really great time!

I just added the Lost on Safari drink to my list when we're at AK! Yum!
Thanks! It was so fun!
That drink is absolutely yummy!

Great pics! :)
Thanks! I'm always amazed how they turn out. I don't know my camera that well. I've not taken time to read the manual and figure out the settings, but it's pretty basic. I just point and shoot most of the time!

Loving the trip report! Ahhh...the AKL. Cute pics - can't wait for more!
Thanks Emma - I know how you appreciate the tropical feel! I've got lots more pics - just need to find time to get them up!

Love the girls tattoos!!

Oh I love the Lost on Safari at the Dawna bar. I usually get one every trip.:thumbsup2

We have not been to Ohana in a few years now. I would like to go back again.

Ah Food & Wine. LOVE it!! Cannot wait for this Oct.
Thanks! I will be stopping at Dawa every time now too! Ohana was good - I'd eat noodles and potstickers all night! And bread pudding? Yummmm.

I laughed at this picture. Someone is looking less than happy here. :laughing:



Oh man, you're not kidding! I think she was sick of posing by then. I hadn't noticed it when I first posted it.

We love 'Ohana! :cool1:
We are hoping to eat there again in New Year's Eve. (Fingers crossed that we can get a coveted ADR on such a busy night.)


I wish I could join you!



One of my favorite things to do in Disney World. :thumbsup2


::yes::
I know how much you like to resort hop! It's fun and a nice relaxing way to spend some time outside the parks!

Love Sarah's top - its absolutely adorable.

Love the henna tattoos. Makes me want one! So cute.

Love the Lost on Safari. I mean, really, who wouldn't?

Your meal at Ohana looks fabulous. It really is a lot of food and my only beef with that meal is I'm too stuffed by the time they serve the shrimp.

Yeah for a visit to the ToW lounge. And yeah for multiple pictures of you and Dave. :thumbsup2
She loves that top too! The henna tattoos were really cool, but without putting some vaseline or something on them, they faded pretty quick from being in the pool.
Yes, Lost on Safari is one that most should try!
I agree about Ohana - I love the starters so much!

I'd go back to TotW again - and spend more time (maybe without kids!)
I am working on being in more of the pictures and it is nice to have some of the two of us.
Glad I just spotted your TR. Have had fun catching up on the last few pages - it looks like your trip has got off to a great start!

Really looking forward to reading along because there are all sorts of things you'll be doing that are new to you and to us, that hopefully we'll be able to do in Oct 2014 (the provisional date for our next trip). We'd like to catch Food and Wine, as well as MNSSHP, and Ohana is still on my to-do list after we had to cancel an ADR for it last year. Plus I'm paying close attention to weather, crowds, etc because our previous trips have all been in the heat, humidity but low crowds of late August/early September.

The girls do seem to have grown since your European adventures - and how exciting it must be for Sarah to be able to make her own purchases. I still get excited about my KTTW card now :rotfl:
Hi and :welcome: I'm glad you found me too! Good thing you're not going until 2014 - it might take me that long to finish this! HA!
The girls are changing so much, it's hard to keep up. Sarah's braces will be coming off late summer, her feet are growing like crazy (I've bought a lot of shoes lately!) and then soon enough, Paige will be getting braces... it never ends!

Did you realize the the "Lost on Safari" has enough fruit juice to be officially classified as a breakfast drink?
Well, according to me it does......:rotfl2:
I can see that! I'm definitely on board!

The girls, hennas were gorgeous! How did they hold up with pool time?
Well, they didn't hold up so well. But we did not follow the instructions too well. They told us to put vaseline or chapstick on them and we only had chapstick. So we did a little, but not every time. I'd guess vaseline would work better too. Put it in your owner's locker!


On a side note, I've been packing up my classroom. At this point I'm just cleaning out file cabinets, the office, and closet, because I'm moving to 5th grade next year. I can't take anything off of the walls yet, because we don't want the kids to think we are done learning for the year. Besides, they don't know that I'm moving up in grade level either...:teacher:

Anyway, in a sack, I found a little something that I had purchased for you a while back.
Could you pm me your address? I'd like to send it to you.....
Oh, that's so sweet! I sent you a pm.
I remember when Paige was in 2nd grade and I found out you taught 2nd, that I was going to send her down to be in your class. She's going to be in 5th grade in the fall... just sayin'...;)
 
You just send her on down. Although my principal informed me that my 5th grade students would not respond to my themed rooms like the little ones did. So I might want to tone it down.....

Really?

I am moving up 3 grade levels.
I know they are older.
Hmmmmm.....
What do you think about :idea:

Monsters University?:sulley:
 
Hmmmmm.....
What do you think about :idea:

Monsters University?:sulley:

That's one of the things I was thinking of for next year, as well. :)
Not that it is 'screaming' out to me or anything...;)

...but it is one of my top three choices right now.

I'm also thinking of a Mickey and Minnie safari theme, since we have 487395 animals.


Part of me wanted to keep the Toy Story stuff up for a second year, but since I started pulling things down to get ready for testing, I went ahead and pulled some of those bulletin boards down, too. I'll just put it all in a tub and do Toy Story again in a few years, maybe. Perhaps there will be a fourth Toy Story movie down the road?
 
Hey Sheree! :wave2: I finally made it back to the Dis and am all caught up on your report. I am still so very bummed I missed you while we were there at the same time. How fun it would have been to meet you and your family! Great report so far and I look forward to reading more.
 





New Posts










Save Up to 30% on Rooms at Walt Disney World!

Save up to 30% on rooms at select Disney Resorts Collection hotels when you stay 5 consecutive nights or longer in late summer and early fall. Plus, enjoy other savings for shorter stays.This offer is valid for stays most nights from August 1 to October 11, 2025.
CLICK HERE













DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest

Back
Top