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

[wdwgirl03]

Nice pictures from Epcot. I like the little trolls. I wonder if they're there all the time. I also like Lady's ears. So adorable!

Thanks!

I love the Flower and Garden Festival. I can't believe what the Disney gardeners do with flowers. Were you able to go into Minnie's butterfly house? That was really neat too. My daughter held butterflies on her hands. So cool.
And the garden trolls in Norway. My grandmother was Norweigen and she had trolls on her fireplace. Looked just like those garden trolls. Great pictures. Looking forward to hearing about Sea World.

Oh I know, some of the stuff they do is amazing. We didn't go into Minnie's butterfly house but I bet that would've been cool!

 

[wdwgirl03]

May 16 cont'd again...

After we had our rental car we drove back to the resort for an afternoon break. We needed to be refreshed before going over to the Magic Kingdom!

When we got back we went to check out the savannah again. I have to say that the details around the viewing areas are awesome.

Now that I saw some rock giraffes I was ready to see some real giraffes. Sure enough, today we saw some!

I was so excited. I love the giraffes! Here's a short video I took of one enjoying an afternoon snack...


It was cool to see some of the animals actually walking around considering how warm it was.

Here's just a couple other pictures I took of the animals...

Sorry this update was so short and kind of boring...I promise the next one will be more exciting.

up next: Pirate and Princess Party!!!!

 

[irky416]

Yay for seeing giraffes!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Friday, May 16 cont'd...

A Little Bit Pirate , A Little Bit Princess

It was finally the night we (well, I) had been waiting for...the Pirate and Princess Party!! After cooling off in the pool for a little bit we got ready for the party. We were boring and didn't wear costumes. I thought about making t-shirts before the trip so we'd have something but decided I'd rather spend the money on souvenirs in Florida.

The tickets for the party were valid for any time after 4:00 so we left around 4:15. There was a fair number of people waiting at the bus stop who were obviously getting ready to party too so that was kind of fun. When we got to the MK my dad had an interesting story about the bus ride. The bus was going kind of slow and it took longer than usual to get to the park. I thought it was just traffic so didn't really think anything of it. Claire and I were also in the back of the bus so we had no idea what was going on up in front. Well, when we get off the bus Dad tells us that there was this little boy who really had to go to the bathroom and couldn't wait. So, his mom pulls out an empty bottle and has him do his business in it! Hmmm...

Anyways, we arrived at the park and went through the bag check. They were using one side of the turnstiles as the party entrance so we entered and got our wristbands. It was so cool because even though the party hadn't started yet the CMs were dressed in their special costumes and they were also starting to put up the decorations! Our first stop was to get a photopass picture in front of the railroad station. The photographer gave us a new card since it was good for a 40% discount on prints at the party or on the photopass website. That would come in handy when we got home.

We also picked up our party maps and went to check out the wait times. Again, they were really short. The longest wait for anything might've been 30 minutes. We decided we'd start out with the things we missed on Thursday so we headed over to Adventureland first. We saw that Timon and Rafiki were out so we went to say hello.

My picture turned out kind of bad, so I'll refrain from posting it. Since it was right there, we got in line for the Magic Carpets of Aladdin. We only had to wait one cycle before we got on.

After soaring over Agrabah (sp?!?!) we went to see the Tiki birds. I can't remember the last time we saw this show...I don't even know if it was before or after the renovation. Anyway, I thought it was fun. I thought it was broken though at first because one of the birds wouldn't "wake up" but I guess that was all part of the show.

We also did POTC. On the way out we saw Captain Hook and Mr. Smee. I think both of them were trying to impress me-they both kissed my hand. hehe

We were kind of bummed that the Jungle Cruise was closed for refurbishment so we decided to go get some dinner. I took this picture of the castle leaving Adventureland:

So we headed back to Main Street to get dinner at Casey's Corner. I love those hot dogs...so tasty! I was looking at the times guide for the party and saw that Splash Mountain was supposedly closed during the party so we wanted to make sure to do that again before 7:00 (I'm not quite sure why it would be closed and I don't even know if it really was...we thought maybe it was from when SM was being refurbed and they just didn't take it off the guide?? )

After dinner we made our way to Fantasyland.

We went on it's a small world first.

Funny story about this ride: when my dad and I were in Disneyland in 2007, we ended up getting stuck on iasw for almost an hour and had to be evacuated from the boats...

So now whenever we go on it I always am afraid that's going to happen again. Luckily we didn't get stuck this time. But I was a bad girl and snapped a few pictures along the way.

We were able to go on Peter Pan, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and Snow White too. And this was still before the official start of the party.

Stay tuned for more!


PS-I started working on some scrapbook pages from this trip and will post pictures later.

 

[nts4wdw]

Great update! Chuck told me to tell you when he went to Disneyland as a child, they were waiting to see the Main Street Electrical Parade when a mom let her son pee right in the street!

Loved all the pictures of It's a Small World.

 

[scottny]

great update and pics.

sorry I fell behind been busy.

looks like a great trip so far.

 

[TKDisneylover]

I was a little behind on your TR but am all caught up now! I loved all your little video clips! I had never seen PUSH or HSM so it was extra special to see those! The t-shirt your posed next to, that you were going to buy but didn't, is awesome! How cool would it be to have a t-shirt that gives the spanish version on the monorail?! I'm looking for that one on my next visit for sure!

You had some really great character pics and all the topiaries at EPCOT were beautifu! We definitely want to visit during the Flower & Garden festival sometime. Your pics make me want to go back to WDW sooo bad. Not to mention your pics of the AKL, we loved staying there and will definitely stay there our next visit. My DH really enjoyed staying there and the price was just right for our budget staying in a standard view room.

How about all that rain we are getting??!! How crazy with all the flooding, we even made national news! Thankfully we have not gotten any water in our basement, but it has put the building of our new deck on hold. Will it ever stop raining?

Thanks so much for posting your trip, it's been great reading and viewing.

 

[kathleen27]

Love all your photos.

The flower and garden festival looks amazing. I am hoping to go to it someday!

That giraffe carving is really cool. Glad you got to see some real giraffes as well.

I don't think I could take an hour on Its a small world.
Did you go backstage at all when you were evacuated?

 

[Lady Lallie]

I have never seen this little gem or heard of it. I am assuming it's by the castle??
Great Update! It really makes me want to go to the Pirate and Princess Party.

 

[irky416]

Nice update! You got some really great pictures of the castle!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Great update! Chuck told me to tell you when he went to Disneyland as a child, they were waiting to see the Main Street Electrical Parade when a mom let her son pee right in the street!

Loved all the pictures of It's a Small World.

hahaha, oh my, that is crazy!! I wonder what some people are thinking when they do some of these things. I'm glad you enjoyed the small world pictures!

great update and pics.

sorry I fell behind been busy.

looks like a great trip so far.

Thanks Scott...it was an excellent trip as usual.

I was a little behind on your TR but am all caught up now! I loved all your little video clips! I had never seen PUSH or HSM so it was extra special to see those! The t-shirt your posed next to, that you were going to buy but didn't, is awesome! How cool would it be to have a t-shirt that gives the spanish version on the monorail?! I'm looking for that one on my next visit for sure!

You had some really great character pics and all the topiaries at EPCOT were beautifu! We definitely want to visit during the Flower & Garden festival sometime. Your pics make me want to go back to WDW sooo bad. Not to mention your pics of the AKL, we loved staying there and will definitely stay there our next visit. My DH really enjoyed staying there and the price was just right for our budget staying in a standard view room.

How about all that rain we are getting??!! How crazy with all the flooding, we even made national news! Thankfully we have not gotten any water in our basement, but it has put the building of our new deck on hold. Will it ever stop raining?

Thanks so much for posting your trip, it's been great reading and viewing.

I'm glad you are enjoying the videos! I find myself watching them a lot...I miss WDW! I think I will be buying that t-shirt on my next trip too...otherwise I'm making my dad and sister buy it for me when they go in December!

UGH...rain. It is ridiculous how much we've gotten lately. Luckily we didn't have any real damage either...I have a friend who got 18 inches of water in their basement and it was sewage backup. They had to throw away a lot of the stuff they had down there

Thank you for the compliment...I'm so glad people are enjoying my TR!

Love all your photos.

The flower and garden festival looks amazing. I am hoping to go to it someday!

That giraffe carving is really cool. Glad you got to see some real giraffes as well.

I don't think I could take an hour on Its a small world.
Did you go backstage at all when you were evacuated?

Thank you!

haha, yeah, that was a crazy morning. Annoying at the time but now I actually think it's kind of funny. The good thing is they turned off the song but the dolls were still moving so all you heard was this clacking. LOL. They did take us to a backstage area of Disneyland which was sort of cool.

I have never seen this little gem or heard of it. I am assuming it's by the castle??
Great Update! It really makes me want to go to the Pirate and Princess Party.

Oh really?! Yes, it is in Fantasyland near the castle. If you walked through the castle and went to your left it is pretty much right there. The Pirate and Princess Party is so much fun!! I'll be posting more on it later...

Nice update! You got some really great pictures of the castle!

Thanks!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Hello again everyone! It's been a busy couple of days! Saturday night we went to the Brewers game vs. the Twins...sadly they lost in extra innings but it's sort of a miracle it even got to extra innings! LOL. Then yesterday was of course Father's Day and my sister Emma graduated. Needless to say now I feel really old! It's hard to believe I graduated H.S. 5 years ago already.

Getting her diploma!

The ceremony was really nice. It was sort of funny because the orchestra played and guess what song they played?! The theme song from The Incredibles. I thought that was kind of cool.

And today I started working at camp which was fun but really tiring! I'm ready for bed and it's only 5:30!

Now back to the report...
When we were done doing everything in Fantasyland we headed back over to Frontierland to ride the mountains again. On the way over we saw this cool little decoration:

We first did Splash Mountain. I took my camera out again to try and take some pictures from the ride.

I really love this ride! There's just so much to take in and it's such a great setup. Plus, the soundtrack isn't bad either. From there we went over to Thunder Mountain. We ended up getting the cars right in the front which for us is not fun. It's like you're halfway down the hills before you start picking up speed. We'd much rather be in the back. But what can ya do?! Both rides were pretty much walk-ons...the non-party people were starting to leave the park since it was getting pretty close to 7:00. After the mountains we walked over to Liberty Square since we had not yet done the Haunted Mansion. Now, I think it was about 5 minutes until 7:00 but there was this group in front of us who were going to squeeze in as much as they possibly could before they were kicked out. I got a kick out them because it was 2 dads and some kids and one of the dads kept trying to scare one of the girls through the whole ride. In the stretch room the girl said how she already went on it and wasn't scared. But that didn't stop her dad! Some people are nuts but it's good to see them enjoying themselves.

So now that the party had OFFICIALLY begun we made our way over to Tomorrowland (as you can tell we have a very systematic approach to the park...). It was fun to see all the decorations and extra little things like the dance parties and the treasure spots/picture locations. So much fun! In Tomorrowland we rode Space Mountain and Buzz Lightyear again. While we were in line for Space Mountain (well, more like just walking through the queue since there wasn't really a line to speak of) there was this group of middle-school aged girls in front of us. One of them was saying how her friends would have to club her before she got on the ride. I guess she didn't really want to do it but her friends were telling her it wasn't that bad and kind of making her go on. So they get to the front of the line and are on their spots ready to load the rockets when all of a sudden the girl starts freaking out and saying "don't make me ride!" while her friends are literally pushing her into the rocket. Finally the CM says to them if she doesn't want to ride don't make her. So she and one of her friends go out the "chicken" exit while the others ride. It was kind of crazy.

After the rides we just sort of strolled around for a while and headed back to Main Street to get a spot for the parade, Enchanted Adventures. I got a picture on my throne to prove I really am a princess (Sarah does mean princess! haha)

We found a spot right by the Ice Cream Parlor. We each got a dish of ice cream and soaked in the atmosphere while we waited for the parade. I loved the music-it was just a bunch of songs from Disney movies but it set the mood for the party. Here are some of the banners they had on the lampposts:

It was cool because they had little twinkling lights on them. Very cute! Before long parade time was approaching!

Then it was making its way down Main Street!

First up were the princesses.

In addition to all of the characters there were plenty of dancers.

This was perhaps my favorite part. And I loved the parade's music too.


Isn't it adorable when Cinderella and Prince Charming bow to each other? They're so in character it's amazing. Love it!

These guys led the way for Aladdin and Jasmine.

After all of the royals, it was time for the pirates.

This was a really cool pirate ship float!

Here comes Captain Jack!

Pirate Mickey was adorable, don't you think?

We really enjoyed this parade. There were plenty of characters including some you don't usually see like Jack Sparrow and even Tinkerbell (sadly we didn't get a decent picture of her). It really is a completely new experience. Excellent!

up next: Magic, Music, and Mayhem

 

[nts4wdw]

Love the pictures of the pirate and princess party! Thank you for sharing them. Maybe I can use them to convince Chuck we need to go......

Congrats to your sister!

 

[irky416]

You got some nice pictures of the parade!

I love the picture of you on the throne!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Love the pictures of the pirate and princess party! Thank you for sharing them. Maybe I can use them to convince Chuck we need to go......

Congrats to your sister!

Glad you enjoyed them! I think you should try to convince him to go...the party was a lot of fun!

You got some nice pictures of the parade!

I love the picture of you on the throne!

Thank you!

 

[Michelle_and_Aaron]

i just found your tr but have now caught up. i already wanted to go to the epcot garden show now i can add pirate and princess party to that and maybe convince aaron we need to go since we can do them both at once.
i can't wait to see more!

 

[scottny]

great update and pics of the parade. I loved it when we went

 

[wdwgirl03]

i just found your tr but have now caught up. i already wanted to go to the epcot garden show now i can add pirate and princess party to that and maybe convince aaron we need to go since we can do them both at once.
i can't wait to see more!

Hello and to my TR...so glad you found me and are joining in. Both the Flower and Garden Festival and Pirate and Princess Party are amazing. If you get the chance to go you should!

great update and pics of the parade. I loved it when we went

Thanks. We loved it too.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Magic, Music, and Mayhem

After the parade we decided to walk back to Mickey's Toontown Fair. Since we're older now we usually don't go back there too often so I thought it would be kind of fun, plus I wanted to meet some more characters. We went into County Bounty and the lines for the characters looked pretty long so I just decided to skip it especially since we wanted to see the fireworks. So we browsed in the store for a little bit longer before going to Main Street to stake out a spot for the fireworks. We got a photopass picture in front of the castle (which Claire and I gave to Dad for Father's Day...I'll have to scan it so I can upload it in here).

After getting our picture taken we found a spot around the hub so we could watch the fireworks show, which if you haven't figured out by now, is called Magic, Music, and Mayhem (hence the title of this update ). Just like the parade, the fireworks kind of had 2 parts: a princess part and a pirate part. It started off with the fairy godmothers from Sleeping Beauty arguing over which color the fireworks/castle should be. The fireworks were blue, pink, or green depending on which fairy it was. Pretty cute! I tried to take some pictures but most of them didn't turn out...here's some of the better ones:

I also took a short video clip...gotta love the music from Pirates of the Caribbean!



The entire show was amazing. Lots of spectacular colors, some unusual shaped fireworks, and of course, a great soundtrack. And you were totally surrounded by the fireworks. Dad said he thought it was better than Wishes.

When the fireworks were over we decided to head out. It had been another long day and we got to do pretty much every ride at the Magic Kingdom. So we said good bye to the MK and made our way to the bus stop. I took a couple pictures of the decorations they were putting up when we got there:

Overall it was a fun night. The park seemed empty but not too empty that it was spooky. We very easily could have done rides multiple times but we're not really ones to go on one thing over and over again. We can't complain about how much we were able to do!

up next: Sea World!!!

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

 

[nts4wdw]

More pictures of the P&PP! yeah! I want to go so badly!! Thanks for the little video. I might have to watch Pirates again!