The Cast:
Me (Im not telling my age): Chief decision maker, planner and organiser extraordinaire
Darren (39): Mr. Grumpy, Marathon Man and Map Reader
Mollie (10): Jekyll & Hyde pre-teen and big girls blouse
Kirsty (4): Scaredy Cat and Drama Queen
Today the plan is AK. After sending Darren for morning refreshments I get the girls ready. When we are all ready we decide to pop out to Ponderosa for breakfast. After stuffing our faces (except for Kirsty who again hardly touched anything) we arrive at AK for 10.00. The first thing I notice is that it seems very busy so we head over and get a FP for Kilimanjaro Safaris. We then hop on the train to Rafikis Planet Watch and go to the affection section (first for us). Sitting on the train Kirsty turns to me and says I think Mickey and Minnie will be worried by now mama Why will they be worried baby? because they havent met me yet, mama! She definitely has illusions of grandeur, my baby!
Anyway we arrive at the affection section and with brushes in hand the girls go around brushing anything that doesnt move, the man with the hairy legs sure got a surprise! They enjoyed this as they both love animals. Eventually we managed to prise them away and stopped in at the conservation station. We are having a good look around when Kirsty, in typical 4 year old fashion of not looking where she is going, bumps right into a man who happens to be holding a very huge and very live spider!, Kirstys favourite thing, NOT! we had to scrape her little body off the ceiling! Mollie on the other hand was having a good stroke of said spider whilst listening to the man tell her all about it. Kirsty was still shaking like a leaf when a voice behind her said Oh what pretty pink shoes she whirled around but there was no-one there, just this green bin so she turns away when the voice asks Dont you want to talk to me? Poor Kirsty is looking very perplexed when the bin says Hello whats your name Kirsty looks at me and gasps mama did that bin just talk? yes I asked you your name said the bin, and that was that, after imparting the whole 4 years of her life history Kirsty and the bin became best buddies. She spent a good 5 minutes chatting with the bin before she was joined by some other children. When we left she gave the bin a hug and promised to write.
We hop back on the train as its time for our safari. Boarding the safari bus the inevitable question is asked; is this a Wollertoaster, mama? no baby, this is a car and we are going to see lots of animals (hopefully!) and we do, lots and lots of them including my all time favourites giraffes and elephants.
After this we go over to Asia and pick up a FP for Kali River Rapids then we follow the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Next we head over to Dinoland to catch Tarzan Rocks but as ITTBAB is a walk on we stop off on route. Im very dubious about taking Kirsty on this, she hates the dark and doesnt like loud noises and is terrified of spiders so this doesnt seem like a good idea to me but Darren was like oh shell be fine but she wasnt fine, she was far from it. As soon as it started she began to shake, when the tarantula appeared she was in a pretty bad state but when the smoke came up and the big bad guy Hopper showed up well she was hysterical, there was just no calming her down. Luckily I sat at the end of the row so I was able to make a hasty escape! Next time I will listen to my instincts and not subject either of us to that scenario again (oh, if only I had remembered this promise when we went on HISTA!).
Anyway we head on over to Tarzan Rocks (again, a first for us). We enjoyed this show which is very fast paced but it was very hot in the theatre so we were glad when it was over. Mollie kept complaining that Tarzan looked nothing like Tarzan and Kirsty kept wanting to know where Janes dad was, kids theres just no pleasing them sometimes! We somehow ended up in the funfair section in Dinoland. We all sat down and played this game where you get a ball which you have to keep throwing and hopefully get in a hole, each hole is worth points and each time you score your points your horse moves, first horse to reach the finishing post wins, well guess what, I Won! I Won! I Won! I had a choice of one very large snake or two little snakes, as I already live with a very large snake (honey Im only joking)! you can guess which I went for. Darren then took Kirsty on TriceraTop Spin while I took Mollie on Primeval Whirl. As were queuing up Mollie asks is this a rollercoaster Mum? Oh dont you start, why am I surrounded by such wimps!
AK is now very busy and its very hot, Ive had my poor old feet trodden on and run over with so many strollers they now have tread marks, Ive been elbowed, pushed and prodded till Im black and blue and had just about enough of all the hot, sticky and sweaty bodies, Darren and the kids are getting cranky (Darrens always cranky mind you thats why we call him Mr. Grumpy) so we agree that well do Kali river rapids, watch the parade and head home.
So we are on the boat and heres a prime example of another of those unfortunate incidences that plague my life. We get in and sit down when Mollie jumps up and demands to swap places with her dad, why he asks, because if anyones gonna get wet itll be mummy and I want to sit next to her, you see my girl knows! I have Mollie on one side and Kirsty on the other. We are joined in the boat by 6 Americans all wearing ponchos which cover them from head to toe (why! what is the point!). Anyway nice American chappie informs us that there are really only 2 seats in the whole boat that get really wet. Mollie smiles gleefully and tells them great cos that means her mum has one of those seats which means either she or Kirsty is gonna get it as well! she knows, my child knows! Boat takes off, bobbing about, turns a few times, a few sprays here and there when bump we hit the first drop and yep, Me and Mollie get wet, Mollie is ecstatic! Nice American chappie tries to reassure me that that was just the little one and it didnt necessarily mean that we were in the seats that get the big one. I just smile knowingly, Darren gives the guy a look that says dont waste your breath mate and Mollie is yelping yes it does, yes it does when bump we go down the big drop and suddenly I cant see a thing, Ive been hit by a tidal wave from behind, Im struggling to climb my way through when eventually I realise I can see again! The tidal wave didnt get Mollie it got Kirsty and my poor baby is drowning, she needs mouth to mouth except her mouth is still full of water, spit it out baby, spit it out, which she duly does (guess nice American chappie was glad he wore that poncho after all!). We squelch our way off the boat, Darren is practically bone dry, Mollie is a bit wet from the first drop but Kirsty and I are drenched, totally from head to toe, guess I now know the point of those ponchos (what is it that woman in the WDW video says you dont just get wet, you get soaked), oh you do, you do indeed.
We find a good spot for the parade but Kirsty and I are just way too wet to want to hang around so we decide to leave the parade for another day and head home. We have been stopping off throughout the day to meet and greet the characters but we still hadnt come across Mickey & Minnie. We are just squelching our way out the gate when Kirsty shrieks loud enough to burst the eardrums and takes of at the speed of light, she goes from nought to sixty in the blink of an eye, no mean feat considering the water retention shes carrying, because lo and behold who should be at the front gate but the great two themselves. Kirsty is delighted and rushes over to give them a big cuddle, giving that shes dripping wet I think Mickeys less than keen but Kirsty doesnt care she just leaps on him anyway! So finally with the sacred autographs taken (the first of many), the photos done and many hugs later we are on our way.
As we are already wet the girls and I play in the fountain just outside our building at the Love Bug for a while and then one nice warm shower and some dry clothes later, we are off to the Boardwalk where we have a PS for Spoodles. I love the Boardwalk and decide this is where Im staying next time (if only). Its a very nice looking hotel. We are all, except for Kirsty, starving as we realise we havent eaten since breakfast! We share a flat bread to start then Darren has steak, I have pasta & sausage and Mollie has pizza. I try and coax Kirsty to have some of my pasta but shes not interested, instead she asks for a banana and then doesnt even eat that, Im not worried yet about her lack of eating but it is unusual. Spoodles was good, our waiter was very attentive and the food was good but it turned out to be very expensive, it was the most expensive meal we had the whole trip other than our V&A meal and yet its not one I would rush back to do again.
Afterwards we take a stroll along the boardwalk and we play some of the games in a vain attempt to win the girls yet more stuff they have no need for, they watch us expectantly with great big eyes and baited breath (this has nothing to do with the games this is just how they always are!) but were both useless at them so the girls come away empty handed. Theyre not happy about this so the only thing we can do to appease them and make up for our total lack of skills and get ourselves back into the good parents book is to pop into the shop and splash the cash! They decide on a charm bracelet and after an eternity choosing some charms and the inevitable squabble you cant have piglet, I have piglet, well you cant have Minnie cos I have Minnie they leave the shop happy bunnies.
We are all now very tired so its time to call it a day. We get in the car and head home. The girls are asleep as soon as their heads touch the pillow and after a glass of wine Darren and I are soon in the land of nod too.
Kirsty Fav Thing: Her new best buddy the talking bin
Least Fav Thing: ITTBAB (closely followed by kali river rapids apparently she didnt like drowning)
Mollie Fav Thing: ITTBAB/Kali river rapids
Least Fav Thing: Didnt have one
Darren Fav Thing: Kali river rapids
Least Fav Thing: Didnt have one
My Fav Thing: Kali river rapids (even with a soaking)
Least Fav Thing: ITTBAB (I made my baby cry again!!!)
Annmarie
Me (Im not telling my age): Chief decision maker, planner and organiser extraordinaire
Darren (39): Mr. Grumpy, Marathon Man and Map Reader
Mollie (10): Jekyll & Hyde pre-teen and big girls blouse
Kirsty (4): Scaredy Cat and Drama Queen
Today the plan is AK. After sending Darren for morning refreshments I get the girls ready. When we are all ready we decide to pop out to Ponderosa for breakfast. After stuffing our faces (except for Kirsty who again hardly touched anything) we arrive at AK for 10.00. The first thing I notice is that it seems very busy so we head over and get a FP for Kilimanjaro Safaris. We then hop on the train to Rafikis Planet Watch and go to the affection section (first for us). Sitting on the train Kirsty turns to me and says I think Mickey and Minnie will be worried by now mama Why will they be worried baby? because they havent met me yet, mama! She definitely has illusions of grandeur, my baby!
Anyway we arrive at the affection section and with brushes in hand the girls go around brushing anything that doesnt move, the man with the hairy legs sure got a surprise! They enjoyed this as they both love animals. Eventually we managed to prise them away and stopped in at the conservation station. We are having a good look around when Kirsty, in typical 4 year old fashion of not looking where she is going, bumps right into a man who happens to be holding a very huge and very live spider!, Kirstys favourite thing, NOT! we had to scrape her little body off the ceiling! Mollie on the other hand was having a good stroke of said spider whilst listening to the man tell her all about it. Kirsty was still shaking like a leaf when a voice behind her said Oh what pretty pink shoes she whirled around but there was no-one there, just this green bin so she turns away when the voice asks Dont you want to talk to me? Poor Kirsty is looking very perplexed when the bin says Hello whats your name Kirsty looks at me and gasps mama did that bin just talk? yes I asked you your name said the bin, and that was that, after imparting the whole 4 years of her life history Kirsty and the bin became best buddies. She spent a good 5 minutes chatting with the bin before she was joined by some other children. When we left she gave the bin a hug and promised to write.
We hop back on the train as its time for our safari. Boarding the safari bus the inevitable question is asked; is this a Wollertoaster, mama? no baby, this is a car and we are going to see lots of animals (hopefully!) and we do, lots and lots of them including my all time favourites giraffes and elephants.
After this we go over to Asia and pick up a FP for Kali River Rapids then we follow the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Next we head over to Dinoland to catch Tarzan Rocks but as ITTBAB is a walk on we stop off on route. Im very dubious about taking Kirsty on this, she hates the dark and doesnt like loud noises and is terrified of spiders so this doesnt seem like a good idea to me but Darren was like oh shell be fine but she wasnt fine, she was far from it. As soon as it started she began to shake, when the tarantula appeared she was in a pretty bad state but when the smoke came up and the big bad guy Hopper showed up well she was hysterical, there was just no calming her down. Luckily I sat at the end of the row so I was able to make a hasty escape! Next time I will listen to my instincts and not subject either of us to that scenario again (oh, if only I had remembered this promise when we went on HISTA!).
Anyway we head on over to Tarzan Rocks (again, a first for us). We enjoyed this show which is very fast paced but it was very hot in the theatre so we were glad when it was over. Mollie kept complaining that Tarzan looked nothing like Tarzan and Kirsty kept wanting to know where Janes dad was, kids theres just no pleasing them sometimes! We somehow ended up in the funfair section in Dinoland. We all sat down and played this game where you get a ball which you have to keep throwing and hopefully get in a hole, each hole is worth points and each time you score your points your horse moves, first horse to reach the finishing post wins, well guess what, I Won! I Won! I Won! I had a choice of one very large snake or two little snakes, as I already live with a very large snake (honey Im only joking)! you can guess which I went for. Darren then took Kirsty on TriceraTop Spin while I took Mollie on Primeval Whirl. As were queuing up Mollie asks is this a rollercoaster Mum? Oh dont you start, why am I surrounded by such wimps!
AK is now very busy and its very hot, Ive had my poor old feet trodden on and run over with so many strollers they now have tread marks, Ive been elbowed, pushed and prodded till Im black and blue and had just about enough of all the hot, sticky and sweaty bodies, Darren and the kids are getting cranky (Darrens always cranky mind you thats why we call him Mr. Grumpy) so we agree that well do Kali river rapids, watch the parade and head home.
So we are on the boat and heres a prime example of another of those unfortunate incidences that plague my life. We get in and sit down when Mollie jumps up and demands to swap places with her dad, why he asks, because if anyones gonna get wet itll be mummy and I want to sit next to her, you see my girl knows! I have Mollie on one side and Kirsty on the other. We are joined in the boat by 6 Americans all wearing ponchos which cover them from head to toe (why! what is the point!). Anyway nice American chappie informs us that there are really only 2 seats in the whole boat that get really wet. Mollie smiles gleefully and tells them great cos that means her mum has one of those seats which means either she or Kirsty is gonna get it as well! she knows, my child knows! Boat takes off, bobbing about, turns a few times, a few sprays here and there when bump we hit the first drop and yep, Me and Mollie get wet, Mollie is ecstatic! Nice American chappie tries to reassure me that that was just the little one and it didnt necessarily mean that we were in the seats that get the big one. I just smile knowingly, Darren gives the guy a look that says dont waste your breath mate and Mollie is yelping yes it does, yes it does when bump we go down the big drop and suddenly I cant see a thing, Ive been hit by a tidal wave from behind, Im struggling to climb my way through when eventually I realise I can see again! The tidal wave didnt get Mollie it got Kirsty and my poor baby is drowning, she needs mouth to mouth except her mouth is still full of water, spit it out baby, spit it out, which she duly does (guess nice American chappie was glad he wore that poncho after all!). We squelch our way off the boat, Darren is practically bone dry, Mollie is a bit wet from the first drop but Kirsty and I are drenched, totally from head to toe, guess I now know the point of those ponchos (what is it that woman in the WDW video says you dont just get wet, you get soaked), oh you do, you do indeed.
We find a good spot for the parade but Kirsty and I are just way too wet to want to hang around so we decide to leave the parade for another day and head home. We have been stopping off throughout the day to meet and greet the characters but we still hadnt come across Mickey & Minnie. We are just squelching our way out the gate when Kirsty shrieks loud enough to burst the eardrums and takes of at the speed of light, she goes from nought to sixty in the blink of an eye, no mean feat considering the water retention shes carrying, because lo and behold who should be at the front gate but the great two themselves. Kirsty is delighted and rushes over to give them a big cuddle, giving that shes dripping wet I think Mickeys less than keen but Kirsty doesnt care she just leaps on him anyway! So finally with the sacred autographs taken (the first of many), the photos done and many hugs later we are on our way.
As we are already wet the girls and I play in the fountain just outside our building at the Love Bug for a while and then one nice warm shower and some dry clothes later, we are off to the Boardwalk where we have a PS for Spoodles. I love the Boardwalk and decide this is where Im staying next time (if only). Its a very nice looking hotel. We are all, except for Kirsty, starving as we realise we havent eaten since breakfast! We share a flat bread to start then Darren has steak, I have pasta & sausage and Mollie has pizza. I try and coax Kirsty to have some of my pasta but shes not interested, instead she asks for a banana and then doesnt even eat that, Im not worried yet about her lack of eating but it is unusual. Spoodles was good, our waiter was very attentive and the food was good but it turned out to be very expensive, it was the most expensive meal we had the whole trip other than our V&A meal and yet its not one I would rush back to do again.
Afterwards we take a stroll along the boardwalk and we play some of the games in a vain attempt to win the girls yet more stuff they have no need for, they watch us expectantly with great big eyes and baited breath (this has nothing to do with the games this is just how they always are!) but were both useless at them so the girls come away empty handed. Theyre not happy about this so the only thing we can do to appease them and make up for our total lack of skills and get ourselves back into the good parents book is to pop into the shop and splash the cash! They decide on a charm bracelet and after an eternity choosing some charms and the inevitable squabble you cant have piglet, I have piglet, well you cant have Minnie cos I have Minnie they leave the shop happy bunnies.
We are all now very tired so its time to call it a day. We get in the car and head home. The girls are asleep as soon as their heads touch the pillow and after a glass of wine Darren and I are soon in the land of nod too.
Kirsty Fav Thing: Her new best buddy the talking bin
Least Fav Thing: ITTBAB (closely followed by kali river rapids apparently she didnt like drowning)
Mollie Fav Thing: ITTBAB/Kali river rapids
Least Fav Thing: Didnt have one
Darren Fav Thing: Kali river rapids
Least Fav Thing: Didnt have one
My Fav Thing: Kali river rapids (even with a soaking)
Least Fav Thing: ITTBAB (I made my baby cry again!!!)
Annmarie
