Where did this heat and all these people come from? The new PTR/TR link 5/7

[heaven2dc]

I have to apologize that I just assumed the guy at the top of the steps looked like a worker or CM. Now I'm wondering how he got up there without someone stopping him?

CSR looks so beautiful and the rooms that have been upgraded are lovely!

 

[Poolrat]

My favorite picture

NICE!!!!! I was never up quite that early

the nice thing about that was it was Late Dec/Early Jan so the days were short and sunrise was like 7:30- 8 am

normally - I don't see sunrise either.

 

[kschafer]

OOOOOH A surprise!!! I love surprises!! Wait....do I know what it is? It all seems so far away now!

Tracy

Yah, I think you know what comes next!

Enjoyed the pictures from your early morning walk, very pretty!

Can't wait to hear about the surprise!

Thanks Janell, update coming right up!

Hey Katie...like you, I am not only late to bed, but early to rise at Disney. It's amazing how little sleep you need at WDW, isn't it???

I have to say, I think I also would have chosen to move based on those pictures of where you were situated. Those bldgs and the view aren't anything special, are they? Looking forward to seeing your new digs!

Also looking forward to hearing all about this surprise!!!

Oh trust me, as the week went on, it was harder to get out of bed quite so early (I still did of course!)

My new room location was great!

I have to apologize that I just assumed the guy at the top of the steps looked like a worker or CM. Now I'm wondering how he got up there without someone stopping him?

CSR looks so beautiful and the rooms that have been upgraded are lovely!

No apologies! the pool was closed still so nobody was around to stop him I guess!

The new decor at CSR is really nice!!

the nice thing about that was it was Late Dec/Early Jan so the days were short and sunrise was like 7:30- 8 am

normally - I don't see sunrise either.

I thought about that...I would have been able to see it if it was that time!

 

[kschafer]

Day 2 continued

So when I left you, bell services came and got my bags and I headed to bus stop #3. As I sat waiting to head to my first park of the morning, I sent a text to Michelle. I had tried meeting her at the pool the previous afternoon but just missed her. She and her Mom decided not to come for Fantasmic so I didn’t catch up with her then. So I sent a message that I was waiting on the bus for AK and inquired where they were headed. Imagine my excitement when she texted back to tell me they were waiting at bus stop #4 to head to AK!!!!

The bus came a few minutes later and I excitedly boarded knowing I would finally meet Michelle. The bus pulled up to the next stop and I tried to be patient as they boarded a gentleman in a scooter and the very large family accompanying him. I looked at the line of people waiting to board and wondered where Michelle was. I then spotted a giraffe print camera bag near the front of the line and knew that was her!! I was sitting in the back of the bus and she ended up standing near the middle. On the quick ride over, I began to worry about what we would say to each other and thought maybe this would be an awkward moment. Happily, the worry was for nothing! She waited for me when she got off the bus, we hugged like old friends and quickly started chatting as we entered the park

And this was our first glimpse of the “level 4” crowds

I had sort of expected the crowds at Fantasmic the night before because it was only offered a couple nights that week, AK had closed at 5 and MK closed at 7 for grad nights so I assumed lots of people would choose to hop to DHS for F! Michelle and I kept commenting on how surprisingly crowded it was. BUT, crowds are out of my control but being good disers, we soldiered on knowing we could come up with a good plan on the fly!

We paused briefly to check out the new babies

And made our way to

We went straight to

Where the standby time was listed at 20 minutes but looked longer and the return time for FP’s was only 30 minutes…no brainer! So we grabbed the passes and when on the Pangani trail (FYI: Michelle took MUCH better pictures than I did over the next 1 ½ hours so go check out her TR!!) where we said hello to

And

We tried to say Hi to this fellow but he wasn’t very interested in us!

This little one was a little more cooperative

And these guys at least pretended

No offense to the other critters, but they weren’t the reason we were here. We were much more interested in these beauties

Of course the one we wanted to see most was the baby! A CM told us the Mom was around and to keep looking. She said the baby had learned to hold on to its Mom so chances were, it would be hanging on to her. Finally we got a glimpse!!!

By the time we finished, we had a few minutes to spare so we took a restroom break where I witnessed a Mother trying to convince her child to go in and try using the facilities. The child was not convinced this was what they wanted to do and I had to and realize, I was having a great time and not missing my kids!!

We killed the last few minutes taking some pictures

These kids were SO cute!

Finally the time came

And we made our way into

 

[KathyRN137]

Hi Katie!

It took me a while to get over here, but thanks to your links I'm all caught up now!

I love all your pix of beautiful CSR and can't wait to see your new location!

Hooray for the baby gorilla... what a treat!

Looking forward to more,


Kathy

 

[jenjolt]

Awww...what great animal shots Katie!!! You took some really nice ones! Love the baby gorilla hanging on to its mother!!

YAY for a great DIS meet!!!

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

How cool you got to see the baby gorilla!

I've worried before all of my DIS meets too but with every single person I've met it's like we're old friends. I don't know what it is about the love of Disney and/or the DIS boards but there are some really great people here!!

Looking forward to more!

 

[jenniferkeala808]

Hey Katie! Great pics from Pangani! I loved those gorilla they're so cute! I love the picture of the baby!!! Glad you got to meet up with Michelle and you folks hit it off! Can't wait for the Safari pics!!

 

[dd50]

Great pics. Isn't it funny how hearing a kid not wanting to do something make you think of your own kids.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great pics of the animals on Pagini trail. We missed seeing the baby gorilla so it was fantastic to see the pics in yours and Michelle's TRs.

DH has a convention to go to in October and will be at CSR. He was most interested to see your pics of the room and resort.

 

[KatMark]

Katie, that is great that you got to see the baby gorilla...how adorable. When we go to the Zoo, the Ape House is one of my favorite places to go.

 

[Lady Lallie]

Great animal pics, Katie!

 

[Charleston Princess]

When I first read the title of this update, my first reaction was, "Oh my gosh! Who lost their baby???" But then I kept reading and once you met up with Michelle, I realized you were headed to find the new gorilla baby.

I just love how that baby clings to his (her?) mama!

 

[BippityBoo]

COOL! A DIS meet Glad you had such a great time..Uh-oh...we have "level 4" crowds in December...

 

[SoonerGirl]

Yay!! We finally met!!

Don't sell yourself short Katie, your pics are very good! In fact, I may need to steal a few of them

I forgot about those adorable quads that we saw until I saw your pic, they were so cute weren't they?

 

[MeMom]

We're going on a safari!

I've worried before all of my DIS meets too but with every single person I've met it's like we're old friends. I don't know what it is about the love of Disney and/or the DIS boards but there are some really great people here!!

Us, too - we've met the nicest people. It's funny to see the reactions of their families and friends, too, as you know they are looking at the group of DIS friends like we're all a little 'off'.

 

[kate_wdw]

Subbing. I'm really enjoying your trip report. It was especially interesting to hear how you spent your time on your own, as I've been tempted to take a solo trip myself. I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures with your SIL

 

[kschafer]

Hi Katie!

It took me a while to get over here, but thanks to your links I'm all caught up now!

I love all your pix of beautiful CSR and can't wait to see your new location!

Hooray for the baby gorilla... what a treat!

Looking forward to more,

hey Kathy...welcome Glad the links came in handy

I was hoping to see the baby a little closer but a zoom lens and photo editing makes it pretty clear!

Awww...what great animal shots Katie!!! You took some really nice ones! Love the baby gorilla hanging on to its mother!!

YAY for a great DIS meet!!!

Can't wait to hear more!

thanks, these didn't turn out too bad I guess

Michelle and her Mom were so sweet to let me hang out with them!

How cool you got to see the baby gorilla!

I've worried before all of my DIS meets too but with every single person I've met it's like we're old friends. I don't know what it is about the love of Disney and/or the DIS boards but there are some really great people here!!

Looking forward to more!

Yeah, I hear that a lot from Disers meeting at last. Sometimes Greg questions why I spend so much time here but in reality, since I don't have a life beyond wife and mom...it's nice to come here and just be Katie for a change!

Hey Katie! Great pics from Pangani! I loved those gorilla they're so cute! I love the picture of the baby!!! Glad you got to meet up with Michelle and you folks hit it off! Can't wait for the Safari pics!!

I'm still bummed we didn't get to meet Keala

Great pics. Isn't it funny how hearing a kid not wanting to do something make you think of your own kids.

i hadn't quite thought of it that way! I honestly was surprised at how I didn't wish for them with me. I missed them but was having a great time doing my own thing for a change!

Great pics of the animals on Pagini trail. We missed seeing the baby gorilla so it was fantastic to see the pics in yours and Michelle's TRs.

DH has a convention to go to in October and will be at CSR. He was most interested to see your pics of the room and resort.

Well glad you got to see the baby somehow!

Tell your hubby to stay tuned because there are lots more resort pics to come!

 

[kschafer]

Katie, that is great that you got to see the baby gorilla...how adorable. When we go to the Zoo, the Ape House is one of my favorite places to go.

Our zoo is kind of small so no gorillas for me to enjoy often. they really are amazing animals!

Great animal pics, Katie!

Thanks LL

When I first read the title of this update, my first reaction was, "Oh my gosh! Who lost their baby???" But then I kept reading and once you met up with Michelle, I realized you were headed to find the new gorilla baby.

I just love how that baby clings to his (her?) mama!

Gosh, I'm glad I never witnessed any lost human babies. all primate young ones were accounted for

COOL! A DIS meet Glad you had such a great time..Uh-oh...we have "level 4" crowds in December...

I was so excited about the crowd predictions and they turned out to be a bummer for sure! Seriously though, I only waited in a long line once the entire week and I knew when we queued up what we were getting into and decided it was worth it in that circumstance

Yay!! We finally met!!

Don't sell yourself short Katie, your pics are very good! In fact, I may need to steal a few of them

I forgot about those adorable quads that we saw until I saw your pic, they were so cute weren't they?

Well, these turned out best, I ended up with some not so desirable pics on the safari for sure!

Taking pictures like that one of the kids was the reason I had over 3,000 pics! I just took random shots sometimes just for a TR reminder of what I was doing.

We're going on a safari!

Us, too - we've met the nicest people. It's funny to see the reactions of their families and friends, too, as you know they are looking at the group of DIS friends like we're all a little 'off'.

Gotta love a safari!

I say we are all very normal and everyone else is "off" Shelby certainly thought we were an interesting crew and she adapted nicely to the ways of a Diser

Subbing. I'm really enjoying your trip report. It was especially interesting to hear how you spent your time on your own, as I've been tempted to take a solo trip myself. I'm looking forward to hearing about your adventures with your SIL

Welcome Kate As it turns out, I spent a little more time solo because Shelby was interested in an afternoon break a couple days so it was fun to mix it up!

 

[MEK]

I was right - I knew it was Michelle because I had already read about your meet on her TR. I am so glad you got to see the baby gorilla. Seeing the baby gorilla was one of the highlights of my visit to AK. That baby was the coolest ever!

You got some great animal pics! What a great way to start the day!