What's in a title anyway? How about 1300 pictures? 4/15/11-> Bonus Section pt1 & 2

[NateNLogansDad]

I'm glad you gave AK another try. It's my favorite park! Love your pictures of EE (of course).

I have to say that I agree with Logan about Kali. That and Primeval Whirl, or Primeval Hurl as I call it, are the only two things I never want to do again at AK.

I loved Kali!!! Honestly I think he would love Primeval Whirl. Gonna have to give it a try this year.

 

[princessjv]

You were a daring man keeping that nice camera out!

I totally agree with you on AK sometimes NOT being the most "comfortable" park to be in. It always is hotter than hot! Your weather was great that day, though ... right? {It was the day after we left WDW... insert saddness!}

 

[NateNLogansDad]

You were a daring man keeping that nice camera out!

I totally agree with you on AK sometimes NOT being the most "comfortable" park to be in. It always is hotter than hot! Your weather was great that day, though ... right? {It was the day after we left WDW... insert saddness!}

The weather was pretty close to perfect. Honestly I didn't notice the slight breeze until after I got off of Kali. I forgot to mention that we were 1 poncho short (well, not really "short" I just couldn't find it when I looked) so I went on in jeans and a T-shirt with no poncho. I WAS SOAKED when we go off of there.

For the camera, I went over to the stand that sells the throw blankets and got a plastic bag. When I felt like I had pushed it far enough, I threw the camera in the bag, twisted the top, put it under my shirt, and leaned over top of it

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Just to show you how cold it is outside here right now.....


I just booked a trip in May!!!!

 

[MadilynnsMomma]

Just to show you how cold it is outside here right now.....


I just booked a trip in May!!!!

May AND October?!

You lucky dog!!!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

May AND October?!

You lucky dog!!!

We gotta make these annual passes worth it right?

 

[MadilynnsMomma]

Kali River Rapids could possibly be my favorite ride at Disney World... maybe I am just saying this because your pictures and story helped me relive it all all over again!

I love the monkey with the canteen, I am going to have to check that out next time!





****Did you know the D5000 is no longer being produced - I went to Best Buy last night and they have ONE in stock. I am about 2 weeks away from buying it and now I am unsure... I may think about the Canon t1i - or the D3100 or D90... thoughts?

 

[MadilynnsMomma]

We gotta make these annual passes worth it right?

Ahhh annual passes - you ARE a lucky dog!!!

 

[Purpleblanket]

Living right in the middle, I never thought I would here someone from canada call florida cold
But I do know what ya mean, we were there last january and it was freezing cold all week. We had 3 or 4 layers of clothes on all night at the parks. That is not what you'd expect on vacation in florida!!!

I almost think i,d rather have the crowds.....almost.

Ha... Your're right and if I knew what my weather was going to be these last two weeks at home, I would have been calling Florida "balmy" at the time we were there!!
It's been in the high -30's all week and with windchills in the low-40's
(And that's Celcius!) It's crazy. And we have so much snow the snow clearers are having trouble finding places to put it when they clear the streets and driveways!

Newly married son and DIL are leaving for Jamaica in a week. I wish I was going with them!!!

debbie

 

[blessedby3]

Just to show you how cold it is outside here right now.....


I just booked a trip in May!!!!

Thats when we will be there....May 27-June 5!! What are your dates?
Glad you enjoyed AK. It is 3rd on my favorite parks list (behind MK and DHS). We always spend one day there in a weeks trip, but dont need more than that. They have some good rides and shows.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Ha... Your're right and if I knew what my weather was going to be these last two weeks at home, I would have been calling Florida "balmy" at the time we were there!!
It's been in the high -30's all week and with windchills in the low-40's
(And that's Celcius!) It's crazy. And we have so much snow the snow clearers are having trouble finding places to put it when they clear the streets and driveways!

Newly married son and DIL are leaving for Jamaica in a week. I wish I was going with them!!!

debbie

OMG, I could never even imagine living with that kind of weather!!! We've got a 3 year plan with a goal to be living in FL before the end of that. I can't stand this cold weather anymore!!!!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Thats when we will be there....May 27-June 5!! What are your dates?
Glad you enjoyed AK. It is 3rd on my favorite parks list (behind MK and DHS). We always spend one day there in a weeks trip, but dont need more than that. They have some good rides and shows.

April 30th we will be heading down. 87 days

 

[heidijanesmith]

I am lovin' your TR and the great pics!

I am glad you enjoyed volunteering to be in the Indiana show. That was one of the highlights of my first trip to WDW!

I am glad you gave AK another chance. It is our families favorite park, my kids are older, so they really enjoy EE.

Keep those updates coming

 

[JJBEAN]

Joining in...your trip report is fantastic and the pictures are AWESOME! We just booked the Beach Club Villas for November. The kids (and parents too) are so excited! Can't wait to read/see more!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I am lovin' your TR and the great pics!

I am glad you enjoyed volunteering to be in the Indiana show. That was one of the highlights of my first trip to WDW!

I am glad you gave AK another chance. It is our families favorite park, my kids are older, so they really enjoy EE.

Keep those updates coming

The Indy show was great! I really loved being in it. You know I'm going to have to try to get in it again Even if I don't, I need to try to get some pictures as good as the ones Tina got

I have to say, with AK my opinion made a full 180 on it this trip. I'm REALLY looking forward to getting back there and doing it again....in 86 days!!!!!!

As for the updates.....if you were awake, I'd say give me about 10 more minutes!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Joining in...your trip report is fantastic and the pictures are AWESOME! We just booked the Beach Club Villas for November. The kids (and parents too) are so excited! Can't wait to read/see more!

Unfortunately, that will be the one sad thing for us this year.....no Beach Club

BUT We are up to trying new things, so in a few months we will try out Pop Century and in October AKL.....so, not all a bad thing but we will miss being HOME

 

[NateNLogansDad]

A new update should be ready in about 5 minutes........


brb






Oh yea.....there is some Snow Caps out in the main lobby if anyone wants some

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Hey, I’m back! Miss me?

So, we were going to a late breakfast. We passed by that duck and went to go see another.

Ever figure out where we were going? Here’s another couple hints…..

Yep. For our next First Time we had ressie’s for

Here’s that other Duck I mentioned….along with Mommom Ginny, Brandon. Tracey, and Austin

And my crew…..

We went in and enjoyed the buffet, some (me) more than others (every one else who had ever stepped foot in there.) I don’t know what my deal was but I felt the need to “Carb up” everywhere I went. Looking back, that may have something to do with all the weight I put on that week…..hmmmm. Anywho, along with the good eats we had company join us.

This next picture made the whole thing more than worth while. I know I know, I’m such a mommas boy but it make me tear up a little when I see it. I think I’m going to print this out for her so she can have it at work. It just oozes with what I call “Disney Emotion”

I know right?
More company….

Than the Goof came out and did a little parade around the room. Logan was a little skeptical but the Goof has his ways……

Right about this time I had some pieces of paper that were burning a whole in my pocket and the need was there to spend them. No sorry it’s not cash….I’ve been married way too long to have any of that stuff (it is still green right?) No Sir! It was our time for fastpasses to…..drumroll……..

Remember in the last update when I had gotten them before breakfast? Brandon’s group was still sleeping back then so they missed out! They went off on their own and we headed for the big ride!

Oh heck yea. We had seen this on Stacy’s Must Do’s, and Samantha Brown’s Disney episodes blah blah blah, but had never done this in person. Yep, another first!

Parental note, and take this one seriously: Don’t try to trick your kids into getting on this one. Take them on when they are ready…..the toys are just too expensive at the end!

With the fastpasses in hand we walked right in. If I remember correctly, there was only a 20 minute wait posted but with the FP’s, it was knocked down to 2 minutes. Yeppers 2 minute wait for EE! Try doing that in August! I didn’t have any time to get any real “good” pictures so I popped up the flash and grabbed a few to document what we saw.

Yep, I’ll admit it, that was a forced smile. I wanted to get at least one before he decided if he liked it or not.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

Tina on the other hand couldn’t wait to get on!

Logan……not so much. (Do you see a pattern with him?)

Just another beautiful day in the woods

We hadn’t even done a hill yet, and Logan was petrified

Tina was LOVING it already

The view of the park is awesome….look close and you can see the Tree of Life in the middle there

And then all of frozen heck broke loose

At this point, Nate realized we were about to go backwards and grabbed my arm TIGHT so for a few seconds, there are no pictures…..I was more worried about loosing the camera!
A few seconds later…..

And here’s our Picture!

When we got off, the boys were terrified and I was shocked. They actually both shed some tears for a few minutes. Between you and me, I think they just wanted another toy from the gift shop…..it worked.

With their new EE swiss army knives, binoculars, and whistles (all plastic) in hand we headed West I think.

I have heard different names for this area of the park. Chester and Hester’s. Heckle and Jackal, C&H, but there was one ride in particular that I was interested in and it only went by one name…….

DINOSAUR!

Again, totally a walk on. I know it’s crazy, but I wanted to take some pictures so bad by this point in the week, that I was starting to miss the crowds. A 10 minute wait would be perfect sometimes *sigh* I guess when they say “You can’t please everybody” I’m that guy sometimes…..

That ride is way darker than I thought it would be. I tried to get a few pictures but really, this is all I got.

Believe it or not, I actually put the camera down after a minute and just enjoyed the ride.

Totally Worth It!

Sometimes I get a little out of hand with the pictures and I need to remind myself to have a little fun. After all, there’s always time to go on a second time and try your luck with pictures then….but that’s for later

 

[NateNLogansDad]

So, we knew we had to be at certain places at certain times to do certain things, but for now we had a few minutes and the kids wanted to check out C&H’s a bit.

I took them on….

…while Tina went for a soda.

I learned that if all you want are a few snapshots of an area, hop on a ride that spins around in circles! Makes sense doesn’t it? Try not to get dizzy…….

We hung out for a few more minutes but Brandon had sent me a reminder text that it was getting time to meet up for a show.

The kids didn’t feel like walking so I threw them the keys and they drove there

Tina and I got stuck walking, which takes longer…..which is why you have to wait till the next installment to see where we went!