How many times will you rain on my parade?-a wet (and sometimes funny) first ever TR

[Kbendig]

Joining in!

What a travel day! We never had Earl of Sandwich but it's on my list to try. We normally go to WPE, time to branch out!

I love how excited your brother is getting! It sounds like a great first day so far, I hope the bad part wasn't too bad.

 

[eeyore04]

Woo hoo, I love empty bus stops!!!!

Good choice with Earl of Sandwich. It's definitely one of my favorites and always a great choice.

Sometimes we do irrational things in WDW, like suddenly deciding that we want to trade pins. It's okay.

That's AWESOME that you still get Legos every year for Christmas. I love Legos. I always look at them at the store and yearn to buy them, but I don't.

I have so many Cirque shows on tape or DVD it's not even funny. I haven't seen that many shows live, only 'O' and La Nouba, but I agree. They're great.

I'm actually craving Earl of Sandwich RIGHT NOW!

I have decided that irrational decisions while made on vacation are allowed.

Legos are freaking amazing! I LOVE legos!

Cirque <3 My brother has many of their DVDs... I did watch La Nouba a few years ago on DVD but nothing compares!

Sounds like you guys had fun in DTD! I hadn't heard some of those stories, like the CMs in the emporium. Sossy queen, too funny. That should be his new nickname!
What's your flickr username? I want to add you.

Sossy Queen and Sneaky Snake are David's new names LOL
ummm I think it's tinkerbell_1985?

That was a great update! Good job girl! Ok, now I have a confession to make....after being to WDW 12 times, I had no idea there was a shop inside the Cirque tent....what is up with that? I'm definitely going to check it out on our next one. You guys look like you're having the time of your lives....I love it!

OMG you're not serious?? it's not a HUGE store but it's there. it's to the left of the box office. I would have said "you can't miss it" but you obviously blew that one out of the water!

Enjoying your TR!!!!

YAY! Glad you're here and enjoying what little I have done.
I have like 3 more updates typed (had a really slow week at work) so gonna try to do a couple close together!

Joining in!

What a travel day! We never had Earl of Sandwich but it's on my list to try. We normally go to WPE, time to branch out!

I love how excited your brother is getting! It sounds like a great first day so far, I hope the bad part wasn't too bad.

YAY! Welcome!!

I've only been to WDW twice... I ate at EoS twice on my first trip and four times this trip... you gotta try it at least once! (and I should branch out to WPE LOL)

 

[eeyore04]

I must first apologize for falling behind. My life has taken a hectic turn and I can't quite hit the brakes. I should be doing updates at 3 and 4 a.m. when I'm awake and cannot fall asleep but turning on the tv is much more mindless...

anywho...

I thought I should share with you my birthday goodies from last week.

First my cupcake my friend Angela made for me!

And next my birthday cake!

And for the heck of it, my new Disney purse I so gently pointed out to my mother that I wanted:

oh and my Disney wallet

Wendy and Johnny 'crashed my party' at Boston Pizza on my birthday, which was beyond awesome. I had a great time. That was probably the best birthday I have ever had for many reasons!!



Ok now to the good (Disney) stuff...

Day 1 Part 3 ---the horrible ending to a magical day

I left you in suspense didn't I? Hehehehe I'm bad at that. I like it though. Makes you want to come back for more.

Anyyyywho. I left off with us crawling into our beds at our new home for the first night of our magical vacation.

After laying there for like 10 minutes David told us he wanted to go for a walk around the pool because he wasn't really that tired. Both of us were kind of shocked... I mean we had a LONG day that started at 3 a.m. My mother told him to take her cell phone just in case as he left his blackberry back at home; and mother and I took our phones. He said no he didn't need it so then I told him that he should take mom's phone and he said no again telling us he would be back in 10 minutes.

So we waited...

and I started to fall asleep....

I was drifting in and out when I asked mom how long he was gone and she said about 20 minutes. I sat straight up in bed and noticed that mom was really starting to get upset. I told her we were in Disney and nothing bad could happen and to give him a few more minutes; but inside I was SOOOO angry at him for (1) going out without us so late at night and (2) not taking the darn cell phone.

At the half hour point I marched to the bathroom, changed into regular clothes and marched to the door. I was going to look for him.
Problem was, I couldn't find my phone.

I will admit that this was when panic started to set in and I was full on going crazy. I found my phone, stuffed it in my bra (since I had no pockets in my shorts) and told mom to keep her phone on. I went down to the Hippy Dippy Pool which was in front of our building, couldn't see him, did a full lap around the perimiter and no David.

I walked up to Classic hall and through the food court. Nodda.

Into the shop... nope.

Around to the back of our building. Nah

I walked in circles around paths I had NO Idea where I was at let alone where my brother could possibly be. The whole time I was texting mom in full on panic mode. I could see AoA across the lake and thought to myself “a fine reason to have my first look at the new resort” and for a split second the giant Ariel sketch caught my eye but I snapped out of that quickly and was really getting upset at this point.

I saw two cast members coming in one of those golf carts and waved them down. I started to describe David and asked them if they had seen someone walking alone around the buildings.... I was fumbling through my tears to try and find a clear picture of him to show them.

I showed them a half decent picture of him and told them the short story, he went for a walk for 10 minutes and it's now 45 minutes... They politely asked me if there was anything wrong with him. No. other than he'll be dead when I finally find him.

They told me they saw someone around the bridge but it was too dark and they were too far away to get a clear look, but if I don't find him to go to Classic Hall and talk to the manager on duty. I thanked them through my tears and ran to the bridge. nobody.

I texted mom to come out our door onto the balcony, and told her what was going on. She decided to go out looking too BUT if David came back to the room he'd have no way to get a hold of us, with the only cell phones. I told her to stay put and I was going around the building one more time than to the manager. A few minutes later I got a text from her that she found him and they were on the way to the room.

When I got there I was about 5% relieved and 95% angry that he would do it. When I wrapped my arms around him bawling my eyes out I was about 5% angry and 95% relieved that he was safe. Mom found him not far from the pool... but I walked around the pool twice.. so he wasn't there the whole time.

To this day he claims he was around the pool. My mother thinks he went to meet someone he may have contacted online prior to our trip but we have no way of knowing.

All we knew at that point was that he was safe, we were all upset, and tired, and needed sleep.

So we crawled into bed AGAIN and eventually drifted off to sleep....


Up next: Day 2 part 1: Suck it up, princess!

 

[eeyore04]

Sounds like you guys had fun in DTD! I hadn't heard some of those stories, like the CMs in the emporium. Sossy queen, too funny. That should be his new nickname!
What's your flickr username? I want to add you.

noooo make that amy_tinkerbell_1986

1985 must have been taken or I was really tired and didn't realize what number I was typing?

 

[teekathepony]

I wonder if some day, 10 years down the road, will David come clean and admit to what he was up to. Silly saucy queen.

 

[Purpleblanket]

Wow... I hope David didn't try that again on the trip!!! I would have been SO MAD!!! So irresponsible to let others worry about you especially so late at night.

Looking forward to hearing how he made it up to you guys!! lol

Debbie

 

[MEK]

All caught up.

Happy belated birthday!

Great start to your trip. Well, all except for the missing brother thing. It is odd that he would insist on going out without a phone. I would probably be upset too. Not the way you want to end your first day.

Lovely pictures so far. Looking forward to more!

Oh yeah - love the new purse. Awesome!

 

[katt789]

Well it was certainly an interested start to a trip!!

I have to say that I don't like having a connection still in Canada, I find it really slows things down, having to clear customs half way there, I just want to be there already haha

 

[eeyore04]

I wonder if some day, 10 years down the road, will David come clean and admit to what he was up to. Silly saucy queen.

who knows!? he makes my head hurt sometimes

Wow... I hope David didn't try that again on the trip!!! I would have been SO MAD!!! So irresponsible to let others worry about you especially so late at night.

Looking forward to hearing how he made it up to you guys!! lol

Debbie

made it up to us? you might need to stick around for 10 years

however I do hope you stick around for the rest of the TR!

Well it was certainly an interested start to a trip!!

I have to say that I don't like having a connection still in Canada, I find it really slows things down, having to clear customs half way there, I just want to be there already haha

Yeah customs is a pain... luckily our guy was awesome and we were through in no time.

 

[eeyore04]

So sorry I've been on the missing list anyone! Life has been super hectic, I hope I will get a chance to catch up soon!!!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[PISCESANGEL]

We'll be here waiting.

 

[luckylady]

Just found your TR. Hope life has slowed down for you by now. Can't wait to read more.

 

[eeyore04]

Hello everyone! I am here! Life has been completely insane for me lately but I'm home sick.... so I decided to finally post my next update. The most annoying part about updating for me is the whole picture thing but that's what makes the posts, ya know?

In life news, I have finally settled down with a new boy. It's all fresh and new but he knows of my Disney obsession and is so far ok with it. That's a must. He doesn't mind Disney movies (in fact he likes them-he has a 6 year old) and we are getting along quite well.

Now I have a John to go with Wendy's (teekathepony) Johnny hahahaha

oh this is going to be confusing.


So I left off with our little disaster on the first night. It could have been worse, I know this. I know much worse has happened to people while at that Magical place; however this was the nightmare of nightmares for my mother and I.
*
We woke up Friday morning with me feeling less than stellar. And by less than stellar I mean the worst*headcold*I have had in the last few years. I was determined the runny nose and stuffy head were not going to rain on my parade.
*
After showers, David and I headed over to Classic Hall and grabbed some “snack” breakfast foods (bagels and danishes), filled up the refill mugs and came back to the room where mom was getting ready for the day. We pulled up the ironing board at the end of David’s bed and had our breakfast in what seemed like painful silence.

*
The night before was playing on all of our minds and I, personally, was worried my mother was going to try and put leashes on us like you see those little toddlers wearing the plush backpacks with a leash attached…. Scary sh*t.
*
We quietly discussed our plans for the day, mom and Dave asked a few questions about bus transportation to the parks, the scope of it all, shows, attractions, rides; but other than that, it was dead silence. I think they were only asking questions to kill the silence…
*
I made the decision that since we had such a bad night, I would do something nice to cheer them up.
*
Nothing says “cheer up” than a surprise!
*
I decided that since I held it in THIS LONG, I could give them their surprise ‘tickets’ for the fireworks dessert party. (the story of that endeavor can be found in two posts (1 and 2) on my PTR)
*

Well mom was near tears and David’s reaction was “I knew you had something up your sleeve, I just couldn’t figure out what”
*
…well ‘you’re welcome’ haha
*
I put it out in the open and wanted to clear the air. We had a bad night last night, but we are all safe. We are on vacation and NOTHING is going to get us down. So cheer up, put that smile on and enjoy Disney. Let’s think nothing else of last night. All is well.
*
now that that is clear.... Off to AK!
*
We trekked to the busses and before long we were on the way to our FIRST PARK!
*
I should note that my first park during my first trip in 2009 was Animal Kingdom... neat, huh?
*
We chatted a bit to another family and when we got off the bus we went straight to the Animal Kingdom sign on the far side of the bus stop (which was close to where we got off) I was taking a picture of mom and David (since it’s their first trip) when the family we had just talked to offered to take a picture of all three of us.

And yes, in case you're wondering, David is the new Vanna White

Of course we had them take our picture and I offered to take one of them but they said they’ve been to*WDW*enough and have enough pictures as a group. We thanked them again and headed left---directly to the turnstiles!
*
This is when I told them to get their*KTTW*cards out and I heard an ‘uh-oh’
*
I don’t like to hear those words when we are about to enter a park… That meant that mom couldn’t find her card and thought she left it back at the resort.
*
Omg*rain on our parade...
*
I reminded David not to panic and we walked over to a spot where mom could sit down and go through her entire bag to find her card. I walked around a bit while David helped her look and finally from behind me I heard “found it!” and we were off.
*
We got through the turnstiles and my first priority was to pick up my*Photopass*+ card at the Camera center. Mom and David had a seat on a bench and when I came back I saw a toddler near by with one of those plushy-leash backpacks on and thought to myself… “oh dear God don’t give her any ideas”
*
Now we were REALLY off and running. We went around the left side of the Oasis and stopped dead in our tracks when the Tree of Life came into view. We stopped for a few different*Photopass*shots as we were getting closer to the tree

As we had decided,*FPs*for Kilimanjaro Safaris were first on the list (unless it was walk on). 35 minute wait-FPs*it was!

*
We headed around the park a little and towards Asia. Our discussion the whole time centered around whether or not we were going to try and tackle Expedition: Everest. Although I’m not a rollercoaster person I wanted to try at least ONE this time around. We decided to wait and decide later. Soon I saw a familiar sign come into view and nearly gave the other two whiplash when I bee-lined it towards Kali River Rapids.
*
Mom: Rapids? Will we get wet?
Me: Probably.
David: Like HOW wet?
Me: Soaked if we are lucky…
David: WHAT? No I’m not doing it, I’m not wearing the right shorts!
Mom: Oh yes you are!
Me: Suck it up, princess you’re in Disney World!
*
Muahhahahahahaha*cue the evil laugh.

Rapids was a walk on! David got a little nervous when the rotating loading platform came into view and he could see some very wet people come off the rapids, some in ponchos. That’s when he suggested we put on our ponchos.
*
David: uh oh I think we need our ponchos…
Me: Nope
David: Why? they are wearing them!
Me: Two reasons
David: Which are?
Me: One, getting wet will cool you down, two, it’s too late now!
*
We were quickly ushered to the nearest boat and off we went. Mom and David were together and I had a seat by a charming young man of about 6. He was scared to death and his dad was trying to tell him he would be ok. I told him that if he was nervous he could hold my hand, and with his father smiling and telling him it was ok, the boy calmed down a bit. His two older sisters were on our left and mom and David were on our right. I told him that it was their first time too and David and mom talked to him a bit to help ease his mind. I think in all that David forgot where we were and soon we were falling very fast down that first drop. Muahahahahaha
*
David and mom got SOAKED, the boy’s sisters and father got soaked and he and I only got splashed a little.*Hehehe*we talked a bit during the ride and the kid really enjoyed it. Honestly I paid more attention to the kid then mom and David. I know they enjoyed it, but I found out after the ride was over ^_^
*
We had to stop on the bridge over the ride while they tried to ring out their clothing. I, on the other hand was just perfect. We did a bit of shopping and headed back towards Africa to use our FPS;
But on the way we stopped to watch a couple of Cms from Tailand make animals out of palm leaves. We chatted with them for a good 5 or 10 minutes while they worked on a couple little birds.... when they were finished they handed them to us to (what I thought) have a look at them, but when we put them back on the table in front of us they gave them to us plus a fish that had already been made and said that we could keep them!

We walked past Flights of Wonder which was just about to start and decided to go in and watch it since we had lots of time before our Safari. I really enjoyed FoW and it was a chance to sit down and watch something not only entertaining but also educational. I tried to snap a couple pictures and we were off to the races after that was done... THE SAFARI!

...This is where I should fill you in on my brother's fascination of Elephants

I don't know when, or why it started, but for as long as I can remember, he has loved Elephants. Plushies, figuraines, pictures, books, posters, calendars, Christmas Tree Ornaments (no joke) he LOVES them. So the safari was a no-brainer for us. He was prepared to not see any elephants but he would have surely been very disappointed.

(deja vu so bad right now I'm sure I wrote this part at work a couple weeks ago? Maybe I forgot to e-mail that file to myself....?)
Anywayyyy

We zipped through the fastpass line and were on our way to our truck. I really enjoyed having no real story line and how they took little red and the poachers out. It wasn't essential to enjoy the safari. It made the Safari feel like they were trying to force you on a “thrill” ride when really it should be a ride through those amazing animal habitats.

When we were coming up to what I thought was the Elephant area I braced myself, gave mom a nudge and a nod, and watched David as his eyes LIT UP seeing the majestic elephants in person. This was one of those moments on the trip that I wish I had a video camera to capture the look on his face when he saw them. Our driver spent what felt like more time than usual so we could get lots of pictures of them; to David no amount of pictures would have been enough but he was in awe.

We had a fairly friendly giraffe and I did get some half-decent shots of the safari which I will share a small snippet:

I'll leave you with that

coming up next: Day 2-part 2: I can’t believe we just did that!

 

[Purpleblanket]

Great Update! I love Kilimonjaro Safari!!

debbie

 

[teekathepony]

Early morning is the best time to do Kali, lots of time to dry off!
I would have loved to see David's face at the elephants.

 

[MEK]

Yeah - you're back!

I didn't realize the dessert party was a surprise - nice!

I hate getting soaked on Kali. I am such a wimp I have to wear a poncho.

Nice safari pickets. I just love that attraction!

 

[eeyore04]

It has been a long time since I updated and I woke to this:

I know I've been neglecting this. I've been neglecting a lot of things lately. I am itching to do some scrapbooking; however my scrapbooking room is a mess and needs to be cleaned so I won't be doing any of that for a very long time.

I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas/Holiday and hope that 2013 brings lots of love, happiness, good health, and everything good.

I had a great Christmas.... my favorite gift...

MINNIE MOUSE SANTA HAT! OMG! The story of this will come later

Ok so as I left off, we had just done the Safari and David was still in awe of the elephants. I loved seeing my brother so excited and I thought that it would be an amazing day. We decided to stay on the Africa side of the park so we won't be too far from Tusker House for our lunch with Donald and the gang; and after, my plan was to head over to DinolandUSA where I was going to attempt to keep my eyes open the ENTIRE time on Dinosaur.

But before we stuck around Africa (and after I checked the times guide) we decided to go to Camp Minnie-Mickey to see Festival of the Lion King. This is one show I missed during my last trip and I’m sure glad we had the time to do it this time. Because it was almost an hour to the show we stopped for ice cream:

And when the hoards of people were leaving we inched our way to the lineup where some very interesting characters surrounded us. Like the family dressed in matching outfits that looked like they were straight from a thrift store… in Hawaii…. in 1982. Not only were they dressed horrible but they were pushing people to get ahead of everyone else and very rude about it (when we really weren’t that far back in the lineup) We were all going to the same place!!!

I thought to myself…

…….

well…

…………..

er…...

….

Nope, Amy, keep it PG….

AAAANNNNNYYYYWWWWAAAAYYYY

We finally got into the show and were in the 2nd or 3rd row in the Elephant section, which was RIGHT up David’s alley! The show was amazing. I can’t describe it in words. Like… ripped-off-Cirque-Disney-ified-in-the-most-fabulou-oso-amazing-spectacle-ever. …okay maybe those are words but you get my drift.

When that show was over we waited and let most of the crowds out in front of us (that and we had no choice because according to the Exit door we were at the back of the theatre-in-the-round. We exited and walked slowly, behind the crowds back towards Africa.

There was a really awesome African band playing and we watched/listened for a while before our check-in. We were taken directly to the back where we had our picture taken with our FIRST character of the trip; Donald Duck himself. I was very happy to see Safari Donald, and thought my wardrobe choice fit in perfectly (knowing I was going to Animal Kingdom I dressed for nature) There was nobody waiting for pictures behind us because Donald had a break just before us and we had the opportunity to spend some extra time with this fair-tempered duck.

We had a seat around the corner and in about 10 minutes our name was called and we were seated.

Our server was awesome and explained the buffet/character style dining. The fact that the characters had their set route, yadda yadda yadda (that had NOT been explained to me my first character buffet and we ran out of there missing Mickey Mouse )


Goofy, Daisy, and Mickey all stopped by for photo ops

We got to watch a fun song/parade with the kids. Our food was delish! I had a bit of everything (of course) including lots of dessert! Once we were stuffed, we waddled (just like our pal Donald) out of the restaurant and now we had to go across the park to Dinoland!

(quick side note) During our planning phase, David and I told mom several (hundred) times that if there’s something she’s uncomfortable doing or something that may possibly hurt her (she has chronic pain due to degeneration of the vertebrae in her neck) that all she had to do was tell us, and we would do it while she found some nearby entertainment or browsed in the shops. I told mom about the Dinosaur ride vehicle and how the ride was bumpy and jerky, and she said “if you’re doing it-I’m doing it!” I even told her to take the chicken exit at the loading area and she said no.

We walked on to Dinosaur and there were only 5 of us in the vehicle, mom, David and I in the FRONT row. Exactly not where I wanted to be but it’s too late when Mr. Tyrannosaurus Rex pops out to say hello.

One-I had to keep telling myself to keep my eyes open.

Two-David screamed like a little girl

Three-Mother enjoyed it and only screamed a little

Four-I did manage to have my eyes open when Mr. T popped in to scare the living s*** out of us. And I have the picture to prove it. (good ole’ Photopass+)

When we got off the ride, in our own ways we all said "I can't believe we just did that!"

It took us a good 15 minutes to catch our breath and recover from our adventures at the Dino Institute, but we survived, and when I looked at the time I realized that Mickey’s Jammin Jungle Parade was going to start in like 30 minutes and if we went FAST we could probably snag half decent seats over by Flame Tree BBQ. We found a bench facing the BBQ and before the parade started, David and I went wandering around nearby while mom held our bench. When the parade started we stood up behind some people around the parade route and I did get a few half decent shots through the trees:

Mom and David were amazed at the parade and the animal ‘floats’ er ‘puppets’… you know what I mean…

Once the parade was over we had a decision to make. This was getting to be a really hot afternoon and we were thinking another ride on Kali River Rapids might be in order but while we were deciding, hoards of people were heading towards Dinoland and around the park. We decided that since we had Cirque du Soliel booked for the evening, we would head back to the resort and freshen up for our evening. In the middle of our conversation a band came out across from Flame Tree and we sat for about a half hour listening and dancing in our seats. Once the crowd thinned we were off to the bus stop. Park one was a huge success!


Up next: Look out David: here comes Cirque! or… Look out Cirque: here comes David! or… look out people watching Cirque cause if you don’t shut up, here comes David!

 

[MEK]

You're back again!

I absolutely love the parade at AK. My favorite. So festive.

That's a really cute picture of you and Donald.

Love your Christmas hat!

 

[Purpleblanket]

Great update! Love your photos!

Debbie

 

[cheekypoppins]

omg you guys are too cute!! I love how both of u are adults and holding your mom hand on dinosaur my kids better still hold my hand when they grow up!!! I love it!I'm glad you came back to your Tr I was actually just thinking yesterday...hmmmm what happened to amy's tr????(i was messaging Wendy n it reminded me that you had one going too somewhere)now I'm hooked in again so don't forget me loving the report and pics