wdwgirl goes on safari...May 14-19 with tons of pics and video: final update, p. 18

[tinkerbell87512]

Girl I have to say your pictures came out FANTASTIC! Loving your report. haha that picture of you by BTMR is so great!

 

[disneydusted]

Wow!! I just saw that you added some new pictures and the videos... I had the video of Main Street on and the music brought the kids over wondering what I was watching. They said, oooo Disney, no wonder that sounds so familiar! I wish I could bottle up all of that atmosphere and open it any time! Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

I've never seen the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. I'm going to have to see that next time!

I also loved the slide at AKL!

 

[lmillercrew]

Love the PUSH video! I have never seen him either. I keep hoping. I have never seen D'Vine either, but my husband says that we have. (he must be thinking of his 'other' wife, because I remember everything.
Great report, keep it going. Love the little video's that you keep inserting.

 

[DISNEY4XMAS]

I was watching the videos, too and my son came running and I said do you know where this is? And He said DISNEY!!! And with every video he cam running back to the computer!
Great Update!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Girl I have to say your pictures came out FANTASTIC! Loving your report. haha that picture of you by BTMR is so great!

Thanks Cheryl! Glad you're enjoying my TR (I'm enjoying yours as well!)

Wow!! I just saw that you added some new pictures and the videos... I had the video of Main Street on and the music brought the kids over wondering what I was watching. They said, oooo Disney, no wonder that sounds so familiar! I wish I could bottle up all of that atmosphere and open it any time! Thanks for sharing!!!

I'm glad you and your kids enjoyed the videos!! I do have a few more that I'll be posting as I update. I so agree about that atmosphere...it's just another thing I love about Disney World!

I've never seen the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor. I'm going to have to see that next time!

I also loved the slide at AKL!

You should check it out-it is pretty cute. And even though we have no small kids we still get some good laughs out of it.

Glad you liked the AKL video!

Love the PUSH video! I have never seen him either. I keep hoping. I have never seen D'Vine either, but my husband says that we have. (he must be thinking of his 'other' wife, because I remember everything.
Great report, keep it going. Love the little video's that you keep inserting.

LOL, Push was so funny I had to take a video to show my sister when we got home. I don't think I've ever seen DiVine either... We did see the talking palm tree at AK though.

I was watching the videos, too and my son came running and I said do you know where this is? And He said DISNEY!!! And with every video he cam running back to the computer!
Great Update!

Aww, that is so cute! I'm happy he enjoyed them.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Hey, everyone. I just wanted to let you know that I got a call from the principal at the school where I had my interview and unfortunately they offered the positions to someone else. She told me that I was a really strong candidate and that she would suggest subbing because it's a good way to get in the district or whatever (I already am doing that...). So, I've been kind of moping around today and feeling sorry for myself. Oh well, I'll get over it. But the job search continues...

On the bright side I get to sub for my second graders again tomorrow morning. It'll be nice to see them since it'll probably be the last time I see them before summer. It's hard to believe they're almost 3rd graders!

 

[irky416]

I just read through your whole trip report. Your pictures are great!

Sorry to hear about your interview. Don't give up yet. I didn't get hired for my teaching job until August.

 

[kathleen27]

I love the push video, that is so funny!
We have never seen him, but we did see the trash can at AK, and he was funny too.

AK Lodge looks so amazing with the animals. My daughter would love it there.

Sorry about the job.
Have fun with the second graders.

 

[lmillercrew]

Sorry to hear about your job. That's hard to take when you're looking. Keep looking though.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I just read through your whole trip report. Your pictures are great!

Sorry to hear about your interview. Don't give up yet. I didn't get hired for my teaching job until August.

Thanks!

Yeah, I've still been looking around for jobs. A lot of people have been telling me it's early so hopefully I'll be able to find something!

I love the push video, that is so funny!
We have never seen him, but we did see the trash can at AK, and he was funny too.

AK Lodge looks so amazing with the animals. My daughter would love it there.

Sorry about the job.
Have fun with the second graders.

haha, I'm glad you enjoyed the Push video!! It's little touches like that that make WDW so much fun!

AKL is awesome...even if you don't ever stay there you should definitely go to check out the animals (we did that a couple times right after it opened).

Thanks. It's frustrating but life goes on.

Sorry to hear about your job. That's hard to take when you're looking. Keep looking though.

Thanks. I am still keeping my eyes open and am working on submitting stuff to other schools.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Day 2, part 5

Hooray for Hollywood (Studios)!!

After swimming for a while we got ready to make our first official visit to Hollywood Studios. When we were there in January I think they were just starting to change all the signs. This is what it looked like then

And now it's this:

OK, so it's basically the same thing but it's weird calling it Hollywood Studios instead of MGM. We had ADRs at Mama Melrose's which was our main reason for going to DHS. Dad kept saying we could cancel it if we didn't want to go but Claire and I still wanted to go. After all, we love Italian food and we have never eaten there so we thought it would be fun. I think we must've waited a minute for a bus to come and we were on our way. I like the new audio they have on the buses but they're going to have to update it soon so they can include Toy Story Mania!

Right after we entered the park I spotted a PhotoPass photographer who had some High School Musical props and I decided that I had to have one (I loooooove HSM!) so we went to flag him down. Unfortunately he looked like he was leaving. Grrrrr. Then we went to check out the wait times. They weren't too bad but I think Tower of Terror and RNRC were about 30-45 minutes. We wanted to ride both but figured the lines would go down later in the evening. But we still walked over towards that area to check out the action. RNRC was broken down so we wouldn't have been able to ride it anyway.

When we got back to the wait board I saw that photopass guy again and this time we were able to get our picture. Let me tell you he had us doing some hardcore posing. LOL. "Put your foot here, no, move it just a little bit more this way, put your left hand here and put the pom pom over your shoulder..." It was crazy! But the pictures turned out super cute if I do say so myself. (I ordered a few of our pics the other day and will post when they arrive!)

Our ADR wasn't until 4:50 so we still had a little bit of time to stroll around.

The arch also has a new sign which I thought was pretty cute.

Our next stop was Toy Story Mania. I had been obsessively checking the DIS for updates and saw that quite a few people had been able to ride it so I was hoping we'd be able to get on. We started walking over toward that area to see if anything was going on but we could quickly tell that they were turning people away. Dad asked the CMs if they were going to be doing previews at all over the next few days and they said probably not. Bummer. We were all really looking forward to (hopefully) trying it! Oh well. They had the area blocked off with big planters so we couldn't even walk around in the area but from what we could see it looked pretty neat!

It was still only 4:30ish but Dad wanted to go over to the restaurant and let them know we were there.

So we hung out in that area for a while. I went in the Muppets store and saw this shirt:

Yes, I had my sister take a picture of me by a shirt. But I do believe in my PTR I mentioned wanting to take cheesy photos...hehe I can't believe I didn't buy it though- I had every intention of getting it before we left! Guess I'll just have to go back now! While we were still in the store a guy from the restaurant came out looking for us. Our table was ready 15 minutes early! That was quick! I was surprised at how big the restaurant was on the inside because it looks so small from the outside. The place was pretty empty when we got there. Our waiter took our drink orders and also brought us some bread to munch on. Very tasty! I ordered spaghetti and meatballs and Claire and Dad both had the chicken parmesan. (NOTE: spaghetti and meatballs is not on the menu...I had seen the menu before we left and was a little worried that I wouldn't like anything since I'm a pretty picky eater. I thought I'd just ask if I could get spaghetti without anything too fancy and they were accommodating. ). Our food arrived fairly quickly which was nice. The portions were pretty big but we all enjoyed our dinner (despite a lot of negative reviews on the DIS). We were pretty full but decided to split the chocolate truffle cake. It was a little chocolate cake (duh...) with some chocolate filling in the middle and like a graham cracker crumb base. We devoured that pretty quickly!

By the time we were done the place was starting to fill up. We got our bill and were ready to do some attractions since it was such a nice evening.

Next up: Fun and Sun, What Could Be Better???

 

[kathleen27]

Sorry you didn't get to ride Toy Story Mania.
I have seen the photos of the line and the entrance and it looks really neat!

Can't wait to see the photopass pics. We didn't see that photo when we were there.

 

[irky416]

I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner! Sorry you didn't get on Toy Story Mania.

My sister is going to be so excited if there are HSM props to get pics taken with when we go. I'm not even going to tell her, but I hope they're still there! I'll make sure I'm on the lookout for them. I can't wait to see your pictures.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Sorry you didn't get to ride Toy Story Mania.
I have seen the photos of the line and the entrance and it looks really neat!

Can't wait to see the photopass pics. We didn't see that photo when we were there.

Yeah, I saw all those pictures too and a video someone took and couldn't wait. I wasn't really counting on riding it, but hey, I do still have a few days to go on this trip report...

I'm glad you enjoyed your dinner! Sorry you didn't get on Toy Story Mania.

My sister is going to be so excited if there are HSM props to get pics taken with when we go. I'm not even going to tell her, but I hope they're still there! I'll make sure I'm on the lookout for them. I can't wait to see your pictures.

Mama Melrose's was very good. We'd definitely go back there again.

I would think they'd still have the props there-hopefully you'll see one of the photographers with them.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Hello again!! Just a few little updates before I continue with my TR.

Today was a crummy day weather-wise. There was a lot of rain/thunderstorms this morning. My sister Emma was supposed to have her senior picnic today but they ended up cancelling it. I know, you're probably thinking, who cares if it rained? Well, since the weather stunk and I wasn't subbing (I'm thinking yesterday was probably my last day for the year since school ends next week and I can't see too many teachers calling in anymore... ) Claire, Dad, and I went to see Prince Caspian. I actually just saw the first movie for the first time a couple weeks ago and thought it was pretty cool so why not check out the new one?! Overall it was really good. Lots of action and very exciting! Plus those Pevensie boys and Prince Caspian... hehe

Also when we got home I saw that our photopass pictures had arrived!! Claire and I are going to give Dad one of them for Father's Day.

And I have to share this: I wrote about how I didn't get the teaching job the other day. Well, yesterday the principal called again but I didn't get her message until today. She wanted me to call her and left her school number and her cell phone number. Here I am thinking maybe she realized she made a mistake in not hiring me or that someone decided not to accept the offer or that she had information on another opening. I mean, if you leave your cell phone number it must be something important. BIG mistake (or maybe just wishful thinking) on my part. Our conversation went something like this:

Principal: Oh, I'm so glad you called!
me: I'm sorry I didn't call back sooner, I just got your message.
P: Can I ask you an embarrassing question?
me (wondering where this is going): Sure.
P: Did I call you earlier in the week?
me: Yeah, you did.
P: Oh, ok, I thought I did but I didn't cross your name off so I thought I'd rather call you twice than not at all. I'm sorry, this must be awkward for you.
me: Oh, no.
P: OK, I'm crossing your name off now. Thanks for calling.
me: No problem.

Seriously, what the heck! Who does that?!?! Talk about being professional! Now I'm almost glad I didn't get the job...but atleast they didn't offer me a job and then call back saying they gave it to the wrong person. haha But come on. Am I the only one who thinks this is a little ridiculous?

So that's my story for today! I'll do the next installment of my TR soon. Thanks again to everyone who's reading!

 

[wdwgirl03]

OK, back to the TR...

After dinner we still wanted to ride TOT and RNRC but seeing as we just ate...not a good idea. There was one of the High School Musical pep rally shows around 5:30 or so, so we decided to hang around and watch that. People were already starting to gather where the show would be so we found a spot to watch. Before long "What Time Is It?" was blaring and the float/dancers were on their way.

I may be 23, but I really enjoy this show! It's so much fun you just want to sing and dance along. But, as the song goes, I don't dance (atleast in public, haha) but I do sing along (even if it is just in my head!). I got a little camera-happy during the show:

Time for the kids to join in!

Hey batter batter, hey batter batter swing!

And of course I had to take a video of my favorite song in HSM2, "All for One!" Watch the guy in the striped shirt...he gets pretty into it. It's kind of amusing.


I think it would be so fun to be in this show! The kids who do it are very talented-I'd love to be able to do all those dances.

After the pep rally we also did the Backlot Tour. While waiting in line there was a big group in front of us...I think they were doing one of those grand gatherings. When we boarded the tram I think they had like 17 people with them. Needless to say it might be cool to have a big family reunion at WDW...or maybe not. But it seemed like they were having a great time (like I said, I love people-watching!)

In my PTR I mentioned how I wanted to go into the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. That was our next stop. I had to take another cheesy picture to show that I "shrunk":

I kind of like this one:

We didn't really spend a lot of time in there-we pretty much just walked in, took a couple pics and then left. But it brought back memories from when we were younger. I definitely remember taking a picture on the big ant, going down that film slide, and these little musical steps that my sisters were obsessed with (I don't know if they still had those though). Claire had to go through the big net thing before leaving.

Before calling it a night we went on the Great Movie Ride and Rock 'N Roller Coaster. While in line at RNRC there were these 2 girls in front of us who were trying to pass the time but playing this game where they'd hit each other's hands. While one of the girls was pulling her hands away she elbowed Dad right in the stomach. Needless to say that stopped them! They didn't do or say anything in line the rest of the time...I think Dad scared them because he did say something to them. But it was just kind of crazy.

We talked about going to Fantasmic but decided to just leave since Dad and Claire saw it in January and I didn't really care if I saw it since I was getting kind of tired. So we went to get a bus back to AKL and call it another (busy) day.

Up next: Back to Epcot

Hope everyone's having a good day...I guess there's a tornado warning for southern Milwaukee...

 

[kathleen27]

Great update, sounds like a long but fun day!
Glad you enjoyed HSM pep ralley. It was a fun show!

I can't beleive that principal did that!

We have had a lot of rain here too! Hannah's field day has been postponed 3 days in a row now.
I thought she was going to cry this morning.

If it rains this weekend maybe we will go see Prince Caspian.

 

[disneydusted]

I have enjoyed reliving your trip with you.... The HSM video is very fun, I am glad you are sharing the videos!
That principal was quite amazing to call you twice, very rude! I don't blame you for being upset!

 

[irky416]

Cute video!

I can't believe the principal called you back again!