Pixieduster
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Dec 29, 2000
- Messages
- 114
Monday, December 4th
Today, our plan was to spend the early part of the day at Animal Kingdom, then go back to Old Key West for a rest before going to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party this evening.
We woke up early and drove to Animal Kingdom to get there for opening. When we visited Animal Kingdom last year in early December, I really fell in love with this park and was looking forward to visiting it again. The weather was pretty chilly again today, but we bundled up and went on our way. We went directly to the Safari at opening. There was no line yet and we were able to get right on. I was concerned because there were sooo many people waiting at the gate to get into the park at opening. Many more than the day we visited last year, but it seems that Disney does a good job of breaking up that crowd as there are many things to distract you when you walk through the gates. There were many great characters available as soon as you got through the gates. I was tempted to stop for autographs and pictures, but my husband urged us to keep going to the Safari. So we did. The Safari was great and there were many animals out and about. I really love this Safari. My 5 year old loves animals and wanted to take pictures of all of them with the disposable camera that her grandmother had given her. She ended up taking most of them of the back of her brothers head, but she was having fun. We were disapointed that they took out the part with the bridge that was collapsing. I kept waiting for it, but it never happened. I never found out why that part was removed. It didn't take away from the whole experience though. We still enjoyed the safari very much. My disapointment came as we exited the safari and began down the exploration trails. It was very crowded and you couldn't take the time to really take it all in. I realized why so many people don't find this park to be one of their favorites. It really makes a difference when the crowds are low in this park. You can really enjoy the beauty and the detail of it so much more. After the trail we went over to It's Tough to Be a Bug. This was great as usual. Then we headed over to Dinoland. Dinosaur is one of my very favorite attractions and our children love the Dig Site there. We got them situated at the Dig Site and then took turns going on Dinosuar. Despite the large crowds elswhere in the park, the line for Dinosaur was VERY short. We had only a minimal wait. I did this twice, once with my sister and then again with my husband. On the way back to the Dig Site, there was a little stand set up with two DJ's from the Dino area radio station. They were doing a little trivia show. As we were walking by, I answered one of the questions and won a Tarzan McDonalds Happy Meal Toy and a plastic bone pin. That was lots of fun. We went back and spent some more time at the Dig Site with the kids and then we decided to leave the park a bit earlier then we had planned on. We were all feeling pretty tired and were getting hungry. We really wanted to be rested up for the MVMCP that evening. There was still so much more of Animal Kingdom that I wanted to see, but we decided we would come back on another afternoon to finish up there.
We decided to have lunch at the Whispering Canyon Cafe as I had really wanted to see the Wilderness Lodge. I had seen so many pictures of it, but I never got a change to see it in person. And being a DVC member, I wanted to see if I could check out the new villas while we were there. The Lodge was beautiful. The lobby is as breathtaking as everyone says.
We were called to lunch at the Cafe. My husband and I had the All you care to eat BBQ. I thought it was very good. I thought the smoke flavor was maybe just a bit too much, but my husband thought it was perfect. After lunch we walked over to the new Villa's and we were able to tour the rooms. They were quite nice and looked much better in person then they do in pictures. My husband, who didn't like the pictures at all, was actually quite impressed after seeing them in person (we're working on adding on some points there now!) There is a room off the lobby at the villas called the Iron Spike Room which I fell in love with. It has a really nice feel there. Very cozy and quite. I'm looking forward to being able to stay there. We toured the grounds of both the Villa's and the Lodge. My son can't wait to stay there. At this point though, when we should have been going back to OKW for a nap, we decided to rent some water mice at the marina there instead. They thought we were a little crazy for wanting to go out on such a cool day and guessed that we must be from the north east. We're from New Jersey. As cool as it was, we had a great time. We were all over Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon for a half hour, then we returned the boats and drove back to OKW for our nap.
Well, the naps never happened. We tried, but no luck. The kids would not sleep and if they couldn't sleep, neither could I. My husband managed to sleep for a little while though. Soon it was time to get up and get ready for MVMCP. We had done this the year before and absolutely loved it. We were really looking forward to going, but - OH NO! My daughter said she isn't feeling so well. She feels like a cold is beginning to come on and she dosen't look so good. My husband ran up to the store at the resort and got her some cold medicine. We figured we would go for a little while and then try to get in a bit ealier so she could rest. And rest she did! Before we even got into the park, she was out! She fell asleep and slept through the whole evening. This wasen't a great evening for us. I was upset about my daughter being sick, it was very chilly and the crowds were very large! I couldn't beleive the difference in the size of the crowd from last year. We decided not to see the first parade and we could barely move down mainstreet. We were going to do some rides, but no one was really in the mood for it. My son was getting tired as well. (I really wish we could have gotten those naps) So, we sat and watched a show in Tomorrowland, then did a little bit of shopping while my husband and son decided to do Buzz a couple of times. We were basically just trying to pass the time until the fireworks. We ended up getting a great spot for the fireworks right in front of the castle. Then as soon as they ended, we got our spot for the parade. We went to the bakery on Main Street and got some hot chocolate and some goodies while we waited. The parade was wonderful and much less crowded then the earlier one. My daughter slept through all of it. We decided we would leave right after the parade as we were all tired. We never got our pictures taken. I was disapointed about that, but my daughter would have never woken up long enough to get in the picutre anyway.
So back to Old Key West we went for a good sleep.
Today, our plan was to spend the early part of the day at Animal Kingdom, then go back to Old Key West for a rest before going to Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party this evening.
We woke up early and drove to Animal Kingdom to get there for opening. When we visited Animal Kingdom last year in early December, I really fell in love with this park and was looking forward to visiting it again. The weather was pretty chilly again today, but we bundled up and went on our way. We went directly to the Safari at opening. There was no line yet and we were able to get right on. I was concerned because there were sooo many people waiting at the gate to get into the park at opening. Many more than the day we visited last year, but it seems that Disney does a good job of breaking up that crowd as there are many things to distract you when you walk through the gates. There were many great characters available as soon as you got through the gates. I was tempted to stop for autographs and pictures, but my husband urged us to keep going to the Safari. So we did. The Safari was great and there were many animals out and about. I really love this Safari. My 5 year old loves animals and wanted to take pictures of all of them with the disposable camera that her grandmother had given her. She ended up taking most of them of the back of her brothers head, but she was having fun. We were disapointed that they took out the part with the bridge that was collapsing. I kept waiting for it, but it never happened. I never found out why that part was removed. It didn't take away from the whole experience though. We still enjoyed the safari very much. My disapointment came as we exited the safari and began down the exploration trails. It was very crowded and you couldn't take the time to really take it all in. I realized why so many people don't find this park to be one of their favorites. It really makes a difference when the crowds are low in this park. You can really enjoy the beauty and the detail of it so much more. After the trail we went over to It's Tough to Be a Bug. This was great as usual. Then we headed over to Dinoland. Dinosaur is one of my very favorite attractions and our children love the Dig Site there. We got them situated at the Dig Site and then took turns going on Dinosuar. Despite the large crowds elswhere in the park, the line for Dinosaur was VERY short. We had only a minimal wait. I did this twice, once with my sister and then again with my husband. On the way back to the Dig Site, there was a little stand set up with two DJ's from the Dino area radio station. They were doing a little trivia show. As we were walking by, I answered one of the questions and won a Tarzan McDonalds Happy Meal Toy and a plastic bone pin. That was lots of fun. We went back and spent some more time at the Dig Site with the kids and then we decided to leave the park a bit earlier then we had planned on. We were all feeling pretty tired and were getting hungry. We really wanted to be rested up for the MVMCP that evening. There was still so much more of Animal Kingdom that I wanted to see, but we decided we would come back on another afternoon to finish up there.
We decided to have lunch at the Whispering Canyon Cafe as I had really wanted to see the Wilderness Lodge. I had seen so many pictures of it, but I never got a change to see it in person. And being a DVC member, I wanted to see if I could check out the new villas while we were there. The Lodge was beautiful. The lobby is as breathtaking as everyone says.
We were called to lunch at the Cafe. My husband and I had the All you care to eat BBQ. I thought it was very good. I thought the smoke flavor was maybe just a bit too much, but my husband thought it was perfect. After lunch we walked over to the new Villa's and we were able to tour the rooms. They were quite nice and looked much better in person then they do in pictures. My husband, who didn't like the pictures at all, was actually quite impressed after seeing them in person (we're working on adding on some points there now!) There is a room off the lobby at the villas called the Iron Spike Room which I fell in love with. It has a really nice feel there. Very cozy and quite. I'm looking forward to being able to stay there. We toured the grounds of both the Villa's and the Lodge. My son can't wait to stay there. At this point though, when we should have been going back to OKW for a nap, we decided to rent some water mice at the marina there instead. They thought we were a little crazy for wanting to go out on such a cool day and guessed that we must be from the north east. We're from New Jersey. As cool as it was, we had a great time. We were all over Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon for a half hour, then we returned the boats and drove back to OKW for our nap.
Well, the naps never happened. We tried, but no luck. The kids would not sleep and if they couldn't sleep, neither could I. My husband managed to sleep for a little while though. Soon it was time to get up and get ready for MVMCP. We had done this the year before and absolutely loved it. We were really looking forward to going, but - OH NO! My daughter said she isn't feeling so well. She feels like a cold is beginning to come on and she dosen't look so good. My husband ran up to the store at the resort and got her some cold medicine. We figured we would go for a little while and then try to get in a bit ealier so she could rest. And rest she did! Before we even got into the park, she was out! She fell asleep and slept through the whole evening. This wasen't a great evening for us. I was upset about my daughter being sick, it was very chilly and the crowds were very large! I couldn't beleive the difference in the size of the crowd from last year. We decided not to see the first parade and we could barely move down mainstreet. We were going to do some rides, but no one was really in the mood for it. My son was getting tired as well. (I really wish we could have gotten those naps) So, we sat and watched a show in Tomorrowland, then did a little bit of shopping while my husband and son decided to do Buzz a couple of times. We were basically just trying to pass the time until the fireworks. We ended up getting a great spot for the fireworks right in front of the castle. Then as soon as they ended, we got our spot for the parade. We went to the bakery on Main Street and got some hot chocolate and some goodies while we waited. The parade was wonderful and much less crowded then the earlier one. My daughter slept through all of it. We decided we would leave right after the parade as we were all tired. We never got our pictures taken. I was disapointed about that, but my daughter would have never woken up long enough to get in the picutre anyway.
So back to Old Key West we went for a good sleep.
I hope the sleep helps her and that she's better tomorrow. 
