lklasing

Wheels under those dresses!

Those women remind me of the women in this video.  It popped up on my facebook page a few days ago.  Skip to about 1:25 to see what I’m talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQkmqK5U5Uo&index=2&list=PLaOpQAE8kDPwSS9L-zJ-BTauELFEvb2VA 

I’m wondering whether DIT may have any insight into this.   They are Russian Folk Dancers.  Maybe the Godmother women in the parade are Russian?

This is for Dave:

I vow that this will be my next job.  It’s not too late for me to do this, I think:

The big finale:

Bus ride silliness:

When we got back to Kidani, we had some more Savannah viewing time, followed by a dip in the hot tub and finally dinner at Sanaa.  We had gone to Sanaa last time we were in the World and loved it, so it was a must do for us again this time, especially since we were staying there.  We were smarter on our second trip, though – we just ordered the bread service and a few appetizers, rather than full entrees, which last time we found to be not nearly as good as the appetizers.

They had night vision goggles to use to see the savannah while we were waiting to get in:

(It looked like we were on Survivor):

This place is so pretty.  Even the ceiling:

Complete yumminess:

After supper, we sadly headed back upstairs and packed.    We had an extra early pickup by MDE in the morning since all of our flights were right at 9:00.

Up next – final thoughts on POR, Kidani, the trip as a whole, and then on to the next trip!!

Monday, January 5:

What an awesome last day we had!  It was our big MK day even though we had already had a couple of visits there earlier this trip.  This was our day to try to do as much as we could while we were still lucky enough to be in the World.  And that’s what we did!

Of course, I got up early and zipped next door to the CS place at Jambo for breakfast, which we ate out on the balcony waiting on the various animals arrive.  We learned that while we’re not sure where they go overnight, they definitely don’t stay on the Savannah all the time.   They were parceled out slowly, coming out in small groups of the same species – a group of zebras, then a clump of giraffes, etc.  (Can you tell I don’t know the right words for groups of various animals?)  Anyway, it was lots of fun getting to watch them join us and each other.

Saddest sight of the day, indicating our departure in just one more:

Very cool thing at the bus stop.  Hopefully all stops will get them soon, since they obviously have the technology:

We grabbed the bus in enough time to arrive at the MK around 10:00 and started hitting the various attractions we had FPs for, both ones I lined up ahead of time as well as ones we got using old bands when we arrived, plus a few on standby.  We did Buzz, Monster’s Inc. (where Danielle was interviewed about being from Alabama!), Space, the speedway, the teacups, Dumbo, Barnstormer, Peter Pan, HM and BTMRR.  We had lunch somewhere in there at CHH and caught the 3:00 parade too.  It was a busy, fun day.

Photopass fail:

Sad Splash Mountain, which closed that day for refurb:

We really enjoyed the parade – this was our first time for this one.

This guy freaks me out:

Major pixie dust, matching shirts, and a squirrel dropping from the rafters BEST TR EVER!!!!!

Thanks!  The funniest part about the squirrel (at least to me, at least once it was over) was when, after the crowd had finally settled down from the falling squirrel incident and we were just waiting for the show to start, that same squirrel (or maybe a friend of his) ran right behind my feet!  Like actually right behind my feet!!!  I'm surprised I didn't feel his tail on my sandal'd foot as he went by!  So, now that everything was quiet and calm, there he goes and what happens?  I SCREAM!  Like, really scream!  Which of course had everyone all around me in hysterics as they knew immediately what must have happened since this was apparently the squirrel pre-show.  It was awesome.  Almost gave me heart failure, but otherwise awesome.  

Squirrel falling from the rafters ... I would have been screaming too!

Yup.  They evoke lots and lots of screams.

The squirrel incident had me really LOL! I bet people freaked! 

 

Oh, 83 degrees.... I miss you! 

 

We plan to visit the AKL next trip. We've never been. One reason is that I've been shopping DVC resales, and it might be a good fit for us. 

You'll love AKL.  That's exciting about thinking about DVC!  Y'all would love it.  And for us, our resale points have been just as usable as our direct purchase points.  Are you thinking of buying AKL or somewhere else?

Fun report so far, falling squirrels included!!

From the map it looks like you stayed right around where we did on one of our visits to Kidani. Wow, that is a long walk. At the end of the day the kids would count the steps as we made the long trek back. Not so bad at the beginning of the day but at the end it was a killer. Can't beat the view though :)

I agree to everything you said!  Long walk, that is definitely worse at the end of the day, but best view ever!

The Frozen sing-a-long, we're hoping to get to do this on our next trip.  I have no doubt that our daughter would LOVE it :)

 

My brother and his wife are DVC members; they (and my parents) joined us at WDW this past October.... they ended up having to split their stay between AK and the Contemporary which was kind-of nice as we got to see suites at both.  I liked each of them but the master bathroom at the AK room was HUGE.  Seriously... I think it was the size of a standard hotel room!  I have no idea why it was that big, but it sure made washing down the kids after the pool very easy.  Their shower head wasn't full force, but I'm pretty sure I could have fit a small car inside the HUGE shower :)  Crazy stuff....

 

Looking forward to hearing about the final day.  Looks like you had such a wonderful trip :)

Those DVC bathrooms can really be nice.  In fact, every DVC unit I've been in so far has been nice, though some are definitely nicer than others.  I think that the newer ones are particularly nice, which would obviously include AKL and Bay Lake Tower.

Your daughter will love the sing a long.  And therefore, I predict you'll love it too!

This TR rocks!

 

What a great first visit to WDW for Megan.  How much fun did she have?

 

Good job seeing Guest Services after being denied at RNRC.  The same thing happened to us recently, and I did exactly as you did.  It's not right that you have to settle for a Tier Two ride if RNRC goes down.  I realize that they have to do that because there are only two rides that everyone wants to do in all of the park, but that doesn't mean we have to accept it.

 

I'm really glad that this TR is just getting started.

 

TCD

Megan had a truly awesome trip, as did Danielle and I.  But it was particularly fun having someone who had never been there before and had no expectations at all about anything. It was our first time to have a first timer in a while.

And thanks for all the tips through so many of your TRs for things like talking to guest services, etc.  I'm glad I had read things like that, as it helped me understand that Disney really does want to take care of its guests - sometimes you just have to help them help you!

Ok, now I'm totally bummed.  On the day you and Aaron met for coffee, I was up early too, and was at the MK for rope drop for the sole purpose of implementing (for the second time this trip) a stellar FP hack.  I totally could have met up with y'all!  Now I know better - that I've got to check out who is in the world for all future trips!  Fiend meet ups are the best and I hate to miss out on any!  :)

By the way, I saw that amazing sunrise too!  

This thread just caught my eye and I thought I'd chime in too.  As much as we really love Sanaa, I think for your group I'd agree with the others and say Boma.  A buffet seems easier for everyone to find a few things that suit them and with the big group with a wide variety of ages, that seems like a good idea.  But make sure to do like TCD said and try to check out some of the resort activities while you're there.  AKL is just gorgeous!  Watching the savannah is fun too, especially if you can get some of those night vision goggles.  The kids will love it but the adults will too!

Thanks for sharing!  Can't wait to read the blog and see all the pictures!  The one you posted from the airport was precious.

A post for all Danielle’s and Megan’s friends out west:

After all that, we drug ourselves from the park and hopped the bus for our new home for the tail end of this trip – Kidani Village at the AKL.  :)  It was already dark when we arrived so we couldn’t see much of the savannah that night, but we sure liked the room.  The building as a whole is beautiful and our room was awesome.  Be aware in case you ever stay there that the shower head was no mild-mannered shower head.  It dang near took your skin right off, which felt amazing at the end of a big fun day. 

Even the tiles in the shower were impressive:

I grabbed some dinner to bring back to the room from the CS place at the Jambo House, which highlighted one very big problem I figured out immediately upon checking in – that Kidani doesn’t have its own CS.  Our room was pretty far off the Kidani lobby so between the walk to the lobby and taking a van next door to the Jambo House, it was quite a trip.  But even with all that, I don’t think it took much more time than going from our room at POR to the Riverside Mills CS.

Once again, we were all beat, so after supper we unpacked a little, ate a little, and then slept a lot.

Up next – Our last day for this trip!    (But at least there’s another trip around the corner!)

Sunday morning I woke up before my alarm, which surprised me given how hard we had been going and how much we needed sleep.  But, it was a good thing in that it gave me time to go to the front desk, check out the procedure for changing resorts and transferring bags, etc., check my POR bill and, of course, get some breakfast!  With another pile of Mickey waffles (the BIG ones again!), I returned to the room.  Megan was up and getting ready but Danielle needed some prompting to get moving.  Thankfully the waffles helped the cause.

We finished packing up everything and then lugged it to the front desk (here’s where that 0.31 mile trek really felt like much longer), where we left everything with the luggage guys to transfer to our next home.  But before I get to that, let me say this.  If anyone reading is considering staying at POR for a future trip, my suggestion would be to do it!  I was really surprised at how much I liked it.  I thought about booking the 3 days I couldn’t get DVC for at POP or another of the values or even offsite and I came very close to doing that.  However, I really get a lot out of the resort part of my stays in WDW and just decided to go with a moderate, mainly out of concern for noise.  I don’t know whether the value would have been noisier, but I’m very glad I chose POR.  It’s just a beautiful resort and really felt like a step up from how I had thought it would feel.  The lobby area was very nice, the staff was wonderful, the food court was large and had everything we needed for each meal we had there, and the room itself was very nice and comfortable.  Being used to staying on DVC points, having daily housekeeping was very nice too! Again, the one comment I have is the issue of it being so spread out.  If I stay there again, and I definitely hope to, I’ll try harder to get a room close to the main building.

Now, having said all that, we get to the next resort – Animal Kingdom Lodge/Kidani Village!   But before heading to Kidani, we had big plans for the day – a quick trip to do two attractions at the MK that would be difficult to impossible on Monday, followed by a big day at HS. 

We made it to the MK right as the opening show was finishing, and booked it to the back for the 7DMT.  We didn’t have any FPs since the trip was conceived far too late to get any, so we jumped in the standby line.  The sign said 45 minutes but I think it was more like 35-ish.  It was only Danielle’s and my second time to ride it and of course Megan’s first, so we had a good time.

After 7DMT,we zipped over to Splash, as we knew that this was the last day it would be operating this trip.  Thankfully we just got a little wet.  I wasn’t in the mood for a soaking before 10:00 in the morning.

After those two, we swam upstream against the hoards of people coming into the park, then took the monorail to the Contemporary and the bus from there to HS.  We got to HS by 11:00, which I thought was pretty good given that it was our second park of the day!

Last pictures for our family in front of the hat!

At HS, we got to do almost everything we had wanted to – lunch at Sci-Fi (a must on all of our family trips, no matter which family members go), Indiana Jones, the Frozen Sing-a-long Celebration, Beauty and the Beast, TOT (just Danielle and me – Megan opted out of that one), Star Tours and TSMM.  We actually got two rides on TSMM, as RNRC went down early in the day and we weren’t able to ride using our FPs.  I got the obligatory email telling us that we could enjoy virtually any other attraction in the park instead of RNRC, except TSMM.  But, it just seemed to me that since I had been required to choose between RNRC and TSMM in selecting FPs, and since we couldn’t ride on the one I chose since it was down, that we should have gotten to go on the other one.  So, I took a tip from TCD and others here who have talked about just politely discussing whatever issues may exist with guest relations.  I was very polite about it of course, and was very willing to take no for an answer, but the CM had no problem at all with the request to switch our RNRC FPs for TSMM.  In fact, when he put them on, he wound up putting on 3 new FPs that could be used on any attraction for the rest of the day, so we wound up all riding TSMM twice.  We thought about going a third time, but we were getting pretty tired from a big day and wanted to see the Osborne Lights.  We were glad to catch them before they went dark, I think the very next day.

They absolutely loved the Frozen sing-a-long.  The two of them and all the other 5 year old girls there.

Random assortment of HS pics:

One pretty funny thing happened while we were there.  We went to see Beauty and the Beast, and before it started we noticed a lot of people looking up in the rafters above and pointing.  Finally I saw what they were pointing at – a squirrel:

Actually, it was a few squirrels.  But then a disaster happened – one fell!  Right into the audience!  People were screaming and running around.  It was hysterical, especially since the squirrel was okay as evidence by him immediately running away.  But it really was a lively moment in an otherwise dull wait for the show to start.

Nice work at AK!

We were posting about Basin at roughly the same time. Crazy! It's called Basin White at the GF but looks like the same place.

Neat that they have a Basin at the GF too!  I'm sure it's the same place.  It's definitely a dangerous place for our family to be - too many fun things to buy!

What a great AK day!

It really was!

Really enjoying the girls photo antics - trying to get my two boys to do anything but look sullen (teenagers..) is a chore

 

Great TP!

My girls never really went through the sullen time at least when getting pictures taken, but I've definitely traveled to WDW with teenage boys who did, so I feel your pain!

Wow! 4 rides of EE, and all the rest by 1:00 pm. That's impressive.

Another great update with some awesome pix.

Thanks, Ray!  It was a big fun day.  We were absolutely dead at the end!

Great update.  Those girls look like sisters in most of those shots.  Great to see ya'll having so much fun in the sun. 

Thanks!  The weather was absolutely perfect that trip and we took full advantage of it.

I think for some, they take the bus whenever possible to save their legs and feet for the parks.

 

Great TR!  Can I ask - is your daughter wearing Chacos?  I am thinking about getting some for my spring trip, but am still on the fence.

Yes about the Chacos!  Danielle loves them.  I've worn my Tevas for years and they're in perfect shape, but Danielle has about talked me into some Chacos for this summer.  You should get some and we can compare notes!

Okay seriously... do you all EVER take a bad picture?  I've never seen so many cute photos :)

 

Back to the drink thing at Epcot... where were you?  Looks like the World of Coca-Cola factory here in Atlanta; I didn't know they had something similar at Epcot (not that I want to, once again, try a bunch of yucky drinks :) ).

Bad pictures?  Ummmmm, yes!  Y'all just don't get to see them!

And about the coke thing - Epcot has a place very similar to World of Coke on a much smaller scale.  Club Cool is what it's called and it's just past the new Starbucks very near the backside of the giant golf ball.  It's pretty much a stop for us on every trip.  I really don't care much about going, but all the kids love it.

I agree! Very cute pictures! You and your daughter seem to genuinely enjoy each other's company!

Thanks!  I am very blessed to have an amazing relationship with both my girls.  It wasn't always that way, so I relish it every second now.  I'm very grateful.

Next we were off to Primeval Whirl, which appeared to have little to no line, so we rode standby first and then again with FPs.  When we were done with that, it wasn’t time yet for our next FP (back to EE again), so we rode EE standby, which was right at the predicted 30 minutes, followed by our last EE with FP.  If you’re counting, that was 4 trips on EE this morning!  EE is in my top 3 attractions, but even I was fine with being done with EE by then. 

Stolen from someone’s snapchat – I figured that the only way for me to make it into very many pictures was to start photobombing them:

After overdosing on the Yeti, we booked it to the new FOTLK theater and caught the noon show before riding KRR.  I’m never willing to ride KRR unless it is legitimately hot, as I have no interest in being wet and cold when the weather is cool, but by now it was a good 80 degrees and beautifully sunny (on January 3!), so I went along.  Thankfully we didn’t get too soaked, though the people shooting water at the tail end got us pretty good.

Finishing up ice cream real quick before entering FOTLK:

With that, we had done about all AK we could do for the morning.  It was 1:00 and we had done EE 4 times, PW twice, plus 4 other attractions and the FOTLK show.  Not bad for just one morning on a holiday weekend.

After doing a little shopping on our way out, we headed back to POR.  Danielle showered and napped inside while Megan and I enjoyed sitting by the quiet pool right by our room.

We were all loving the weather as it has been yucky even in the South lately, but Megan in particular was loving it.  Being from Denver, she has rarely if ever experienced weather this warm, and certainly never in January.

After some down time, we caught the boat to DTD.  Megan and Danielle are both shoppers, so they had a good time.  Plus, I wanted to get Ray and Jodi something since they couldn’t join us, so I was glad to be going too.  Ray was easy, but Jodi is tougher to buy for these days.  At least, I thought she would be until I saw the store Basin.  It must have opened up sometime since the last time I was paying attention to that area.  If you like bath bombs, salt scrubs, or anything else smelly for your bath or shower, it’s the place to go.

After shopping around pretty good, we hopped a bus to the Contemporary for dinner with my friend Claire and her husband and son at the Wave.  I hate that I forgot to take any pictures, but I did.  We had a good dinner together but once again, the girls and I were pooped out from another awesome day.  We had thought about going to the MK after dinner but instead cabbed it back to POR, packed our bags and hit the hay.  I think everyone was sound asleep before 10:00.

Next up – My first ever resort-hop!

Saturday morning – This morning, we skipped breakfast at POR as we had ADRs at Tusker House for 8:35.  I had planned for us to just go straight to breakfast but we got moving in enough time that we decided a ride on EE might be possible beforehand, so off we went.  We got to AK right at 8:00 which was opening time that day, so we went straight to EE and managed to get 2 back-to-back rides in on standby before breakfast.  There was no wait at all – just the amount of time it took us to walk back to get on.  Note to self – EE is a lot more pleasant when I haven’t just eaten lunch and beignets right before riding.

Side note – have y’all seen these photopass videos?  I think they’re adorable!  (They’re probably old news to everyone – I’m always late to parties like cool videos.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjSfudhmTZo&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBtoQbHDWZQ&feature=youtu.be

On the way to breakfast, we stopped at a FP+ guy and used FP hack to get 3 more on our old bands.  I’m sure at some point, Disney will close that loophole in the FP+ system, but I’m going to enjoy it until they do.  :)

Breakfast at Tusker House was very good and fun.  The only other time we were there, it was much more crowded and took forever for the characters to make the rounds, with the end result being that we left before meeting even a single one.  This time was different, thankfully.  We got to see everyone, and we all got to eat lots of Mickey waffles.

After breakfast, we went on Safari, which seemed like a really good one this time.  It seemed to last longer and the animals were plentiful.  I’m guessing the drivers perhaps take their time more when there isn’t a big line, and the crowds still hadn’t arrived yet that morning.

Rhino:

Double rhino:

Next, we met Minnie and Mickey who were still dressed up for Christmas and very cute and fun.

Next up was Dinosaur, which we had FPs for but definitely didn’t need.  Both sides were empty walking through.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard so much screaming out of two college girls.   (Actually, I think they screamed that much on M:S the night before also.  Those two sure seem to enjoy getting scared.)

OK, you're in trouble. You ate at Trattoria, and no pictures?

I know.  Especially given the awesome risotto I had.  I really thought about taking Ray back there on Trip #2 but we ran out of time.  But we'll definitely go again.  

Exactly! No Pictures Of The Food!

Yup - my bad.  I do a little better on Trip #2, though.  

 

Distances can be a funny thing.  It's the same distance from the 2700/2800 cabin loop bus stop to the Outpost Depot at the Fort, but how many people do you ever see making that walk?:

 

 

 

It's kind of funny to me that people who think nothing of walking from the park entrance to Space Mountain will sit and wait for a bus to take them a much shorter distance.

 

That said, .31 miles is a long way to be lugging suitcases.

 

Respect points to you and Danielle for making Megan try the Beverly!

 

TCD

I think it was the suitcase that was the tipping point for me.  It seemed forever to get to the front with it.  Interesting that it's the same .31 miles from 2700/2800 to the Outpost.  And you're right, when we were in a cabin in 2700 a few years ago, we walked to the Outpost exactly zero times.

Whew! Caught up.

Meeting up with DIT gang awesome!

Anna hugs rock!

I too love the mother/daughter pix. Twinsies!!!

Love the pix in front of the giant golf ball.

But what did you mean by "I should have gotten ears"? You had them on your shirt. Lol.

Ha!  That shirt is so old and was so cheap to begin with (Old Navy, I think), but I have always loved it.  You'll be seeing it again before this report is over.  Maybe a few times.  

Great update.  I had wondered about the MK closing so early last Friday night.  I'm still trying to figure out who you have to know to get invited to one of those private parties.

Awesome no-double-chin selfie.  

I was guessing that your cousin Yuri was the one who figured out that a refillable mug will hold exactly one beer.  That sounds like something he would know.

Glad you got to see KFK and the others.  I had a bunch of fun seeing them.

Looking forward to more!

After a trip to the confectionary for my daughter, who rivals Elf in her love for sweets, we made it back to POR in time to relax for a little bit and then wait for the next big event – the arrival of Megan!  Megan is Danielle’s very best friend in college, big sister in sorority and roommate for next semester, so she and Danielle are very tight.  There was much rejoicing when she arrived.

First, for old times sake, some faux photopass shots:

I loved getting housekeeping every day while we were at POR, since we never get that when we book through DVC:

We had perfect weather almost the whole trip:

I think we were just waiting on Megan here:

She made it!

Not surprisingly after flying in from Denver, Megan was hungry, so we grabbed her some lunch from Riverside Mills and after dropping her stuff in the room, headed off to Epcot.  Danielle wanted to make sure that Megan got to ride the monorail, so we went the very, very long way – bus to MK, monorail to TTC and second monorail to Epcot.  Amazingly after that long trip, we still got there in time to catch all our FPs – Character Depot, Soarin’ and M:S, plus a couple extra attractions – Nemo and Turtle Talk.  Megan had actually been on Soarin’ before in California, but she was very young, and everything else was new to her.

I should have gotten some ears:

Proving you’re never too old for character meet and greets:

Danielle insisted on Megan trying Beverly:

These don’t fit as well as they did a few years ago:

After M:S, we headed out through the International Gateway and walked to the Boardwalk, where we had dinner at Trattoria al Forno, the new Italian restaurant that opened up where Kouzzina used to be.  I had been disappointed when Kouzzina closed as I really enjoyed it, but this place was good too.  The girls got pizzas and I got the risotto, which was very yummy. 

After dinner, we just cabbed it back home.  There was no way we were up to transferring somewhere to go from resort to resort.  We all crashed after a really great day. 

Next up:  Exactly how many times can you go on EE one morning on a holiday weekend?

That's awesome that you met up with the DIT gang.

 

And, I just realized something.  I misread this part of your report to mean that trip #2 had just started:

 

 

But, you were heading back from WDW on 2/1?

 

The TCD gang was around WDW on 1/30 and 1/31!

 

I may have run into a couple of those women you say you met at the Fort.

 

TCD

I still can't believe I missed y'all!  But I'm glad you ran into some fun women too!  :)

Pictures with Anna always make me smile :)

 

And, once again, the final picture of you and your daughter.... just beautiful.

Thanks!  It's my favorite picture of us.  Gotta get it framed.  :)

 

 

I always wonder about distances too.

 

So, I checked this out for you.

 

From the far corner of those buildings to the front door of the POR food court is .31 miles:

 

 

That's the equivalent of walking from the entrances of the 300/500 loops at the Fort to Pioneer Hall:

 

 

Which is equivalent to walking from the boat dock at the MK to the entrance of Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor (Space Mountain would be much farther) :

 

 

And, just for giggles, that is also the same distance from the Little Mermaid buildings to the food court at the Art of Animation Resort:

 

 

TCD

You rock!  I was hoping someone would figure that out for me!  I swear, it seemed longer than those distances, but that might be because I refuse to call a bellman and lugged my way too heavy suitcase back up to the front when we checked out.  

A short update, but an awesome one! Anna hugs are the best! And I love the picture of you and your daughter. 

Thanks, Kelly!!

Page 1!!!!!!   :dance:

Wait!

Did I read that right? Are you coming to the Desoto GG?

Ack!  No, sadly.    I started working on this TR before the final dates were firmed up for DeSoto, and then forgot to revise that part out.  I'll definitely be in Honduras that weekend.  But, I'll be wanting to hear all about the fun and I'll definitely try again next time!

It may be short, but it's still a great update!

Thanks!!

Still great pictures, love the Anna hug your daughter got, it looked like a GOOD hug, also the two of you together makes for really wonderful pictures you both look like your having a blast.

Thanks, Rennie!  You're right - whenever Anna is around, there are lots of great hugs!  And yes, we were really having a great time!

Friday

Of course I woke up before the teenager, so I walked over and grabbed breakfast from the Riverside Mill CS.  I found out the hard way that while a few of the grab and go areas open at 6:00 a.m., the good stuff isn’t available till 7:00.  Nevertheless, I managed to get some pancakes for Danielle and of course a Mickey waffle for me once everything opened.  I noticed that they had Mickey waffles that were much bigger than the usual standard size I’ve ever seen in the restaurants before.  I brought Princess Danielle her breakfast in bed, which seemed to be the best way to get her moving much earlier than her internal clock might otherwise get her up.  (By the way, she stole my Mickey waffle so I was relegated to pancakes, but I made up for the lack of the waffle many times over later in the trip.)

Sunrise over the pool:

We were both excited to get to ride one of the (relatively) new double buses.  Danielle was particularly impressed watching the workings of the joint on curves:

After an exciting bus ride, we made it to the MK a little before 9:00.  The park was already lively as it had been open since 8:00 but it really wasn’t too crowded for a while yet.

First thing we did after arriving was grab some extra FPs with old MBs, which happily worked perfectly again.  We then rode HM which was fun as I somehow haven’t been on that for the past couple of trips.  After HM, I got to introduce Danielle to some fiend friends who happened to be in the MK that day – the DIT family!  We rode Space with Dave and 3 of his girls, and then hooked up with Mrs. DIT and the two younger girls in enough time to all meet Merida together.  Everyone in the DIT family looked like they had had a great long vacation and it was great to get to see them.  I’m hoping to get to see them again at the DeSoto GG in the spring!

After Merida, we parted ways with the DIT gang.  The crowds were in full swing by now, so did we did Buzz on FPs followed by Monsters Inc., and then set off in search of chicken fingers for my newly-not-a-vegetarian-anymore-daughter.  We found out the hard way that Casey’s Corner doesn’t have chicken and Danielle isn’t up to hot dogs yet, so we headed back to Tomorrowland Terrace.  It was surprisingly good, especially my beef and blue cheese salad.  After lunch, we were allowed to take the back way behind the stores toward the entrance to avoid the parade crowds.   It’s not very scenic back there, but at least you get to avoid most of the parade crush.

My all-time favorite picture of Danielle and me:

Sorry for the short update.  I'll have the rest of Friday soon!

Great start to your trip, trip, trips!

Thanks!!

My favorite meal on earth:  A Giddyap and Go on the side porch of Trail's End.

 

I am not kidding.

 

TCD

Geez.  I can't believe I didn't get that without asking.  

I had to ask another cousin, but here's what I got:

"OK, she worked at WGO OIN in Tegucigalpa

 

And outside if Teg at Proyecto Alcanse and Little Red Bil School

 

Also at the Catholic orphanage in Octopeque

 

What I didn't realize is that she went down there on her own.  With no organization backing her"

 

I know that "WGO" is a group that she was working with for a while. I'm not sure what "OIN" means. :)

 

And she's OK - health issues have had tabled her missionary work which is sad, she wanted to do much more.

Wow - to do that by herself is really something.  From what I hear, Tegucigalpa can be very dangerous if you're not exceptionally careful or in a safe area.  I'm so glad that she's okay now but I hate that her health issues cut her mission work short.  Danielle is still trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life but mission work is calling her hard.

What a great start to your trip!

Thanks!  It was a great trip, beginning to end!

WOW looks like you are having a GREAT time!!!!!!!!!!! Treasure it.

We really did have a great time, and now that Danielle is so far away so much of the time, I really did treasure every moment.

I just love the joy in your daughter's face! You guys look like you would be a LOT of fun to hang out with. 

Thanks!  We think we're lots of fun!   :rofl:

Thanks for the Port Orleans Riverside pictures! We're going there in 2 weeks and a day!

 

And how much fun are you two?! These pictures were a HOOT!

Oh my gosh - you're going to love POR!  Please take lots of pics and do a report when you get back!  I think they have several different room configurations there so it would be interesting to see what you end up in.  If you want any particular area or any other room request, I heard that they still pay attention to requests that are faxed in 4-5 days in advance.  That's where I messed up - I waited until 3 (or maybe even 2) days before arriving to remember to do that, and we were pretty far away.

Regardless of where your room is, I predict that you'll love the resort!

Oh my gosh... cracking up as I was reading the last update.  Love you!  Your pictures were great.  "Burst" photos?  Yeah, I have no idea...but all the pics were great!!  Love, love, LOVE the final picture of you two... that one is simply beautiful.

 

What a special trip :)

Try the burst sometime!  Apparently all you do (at least on an iPhone) is hold down the shutter button thing instead of just pushing and letting it go.  It takes dozens of pictures in rapid succession, resulting in some pretty funny stuff sometimes.  

Hooray!  A lklasing TR! x3!

 

This one sounds like a winner already.

 

 

 

Susan's sweatshirt if from my second favorite place on earth to eat a meal.

 

Have y'all ever been to Seagrove Beach?  Susan's shirt is from a place called the Seagrove Market Café.  Ask her about it.  And then you need to go.  Get the Oyster and Shrimp Po Boy (or the seafood platter) (or the chicken fingers) (or a cheeseburger).  Ah man, now I'm hungry.

 

TCD

That's funny about Seagrove Beach!  I've been to that area lots of times, though I don't remember going to the cafe in particular.  My best friend/Danielle's Godmother has a place down there in that area.  Next time I go, I'll have to go get the po boy!  And yes, you got me hungry too!

BTW, what's your favorite place on earth for a meal?

Thursday, January 1:

Danielle and I initially planned to fly out later in the day on New Years Day, but the day before the trip, I switched everything around and we left in the morning, arriving at MCO around 1:20 p.m.  We were hit immediately by the warmth and humidity – a welcome change compared to yucky winter weather at home and some really, really cold weather for Danielle in Wyoming, where it snowed as early as September and went down to -18F with a “feels like” of -38F in November.  We were both loving the much warmer weather.

Of course, when it’s just 2 people together (at least so far) on a trip, you get lots of selfies for pictures, so you better get used to it.  :)  Even after Megan’s arrival, the selfies continued, given that 2/3 of us were college girls and that’s apparently the name of the game for them.

This time, partly because Ray wasn’t with us and partly in an effort to save a few bucks, we took Magical Express.  View of the WDW entrance from the back of the bus:

It was our first time to use it and it successfully got us to our destination for the first part of this trip – Port Orleans Riverside! 

Because this trip was planned in less than 10 days and because it was New Years weekend, I couldn’t find a single DVC unit that would work for the first part of our trip.  So we stayed at POR for 3 nights and then switched.  And I have to say, that I LOVE Port Orleans Riverside!  The ambience was wonderful, the room was very nice, and I loved being able to walk to POFQ for beignets.  It is a resort that I wouldn’t hesitate to stay at again.

When we pulled up to POR and were waiting to get off the bus, we could see a CM holding a sign with our name on it, waiting to give us our package and send us on our way.  Very nice touch.  And our room was ready, so that was awesome too.

Our room was in the Acadian House, on the back side of one of the mansion area buildings.  It definitely was not one of the more conveniently located units. 

But, we got used to the walk and it really wasn’t too far.  I'd be interested in figuring out which loop it would equate to if you were at FW and walking to Pioneer Hall.  But, that requires time and technology, and I haven’t really tried hard enough to do that yet. 

We had planned to immediately go to AK upon arrival, but we were pretty tired from the travel.  So instead, we found our room, dropped our stuff, and strolled over to POFQ for lunch and beignets.  It’s not every day that you get to have freshly beignets!

Our room:

(Note the photobomb in the room pic.  If you’ve been reading my TRs for a while, you may even see an inadvertent rhino face!)

Our portion of the Acadian House:

It was still Christmas everywhere:

Danielle found out how messy a good beignet is:

After our nice break strolling around and eating too much, we decided to try to make it to AK after all.  If we were lucky, we might even make our 4:05-5:05 FP at Everest.

Would we make it?

We did!  Just barely, but we did, and we had a really great time, both riding as well as the excitement of trying to get there in time.  Danielle managed to somehow take a pile of pictures on some rides (something called a burst – do y’all know about that?  It was new to me) and we were actually having as much fun as it looked like.  After EE, we rode Primeval Whirl and then decided to head on back to POR, where we shared a flatbread and hit the hay pretty early.

EE:

Primeval Whirl:

Oh my gosh – getting to spend time with this girl who is usually so far away was just the best.

After the AK, we just headed back to POR and I think just had an easy dinner in the room from the CS place.  

It was a wonderful start to the trip.  Getting to spend time with Danielle was truly a blessing.  She’s so far from home usually that I just relished every second with her.

Coming up:  A Fiend meet up and Megan’s arrival from cold and snowy Denver!

I'm in for the long haul. 

Yay!  Thanks!

A trip report that could be as long as a TCD one, I'm in!

In my wildest imagination, I don't think I could ever write enough to come close to some of TCD's, but this one has potential to be a longer one for me. Glad you're with us!

I'm in!!  Happy Anniversary :)

 

Looking forward to hearing all about the trips :)

Thanks, Nacole!  Glad you're here!

You have a sad face about that? Silly girl! 

Actually, it's a very sad face.  We leave to go home today!!!      

Interesting start, looing forward to rest of report.

Thanks, Tom!

Absolutely beautiful there.  Amazing pictures.  

In! Always love your TRs!

Thanks, Kelly!  I love yours too!  

We're actually leaving WDW on trip #2 tomorrow   so I've got to finish packing up, but I'll have the next installment up tomorrow.