Trip Report Another Jolly Holiday ~ JOY From the World ! *COMPLETED*

At the conclusion of my last trip report
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/a-jingle-bam-birthday-completed.922901/
I ended with To be continued....

Well, here's the continuation. Though to be fair, the trips were totally different and not connected in any way except they both included Me (yep, a humble one I am!) And for the second time in a year, I left WDW only to return a week later. I am very grateful that I can visit my favorite place as often as I do and am honored that y'all follow along.

I booked this trip on a bounce back offer while vacationing last year:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/its-a-jolly-holiday-completed.909445/

And this year I may have booked a bounce back offer for December 2017. Okay, I did book. But my love/hate relationship with traveling in December and a few unknowns for the fall may cause me to cancel. Time will tell.

Ready to read about our latest adventures? There's DRAMA . And ELEVATOR COOKIES . And maybe even a RED CARD .

Dates: December 10-15, 2016
Resort: Disney's Wilderness Lodge (duh....it's Christmas!)
Cast: Tuvalu and Woody

Who's in?

 

[MinnieM123]

Well I know y'all must be shocked, because I have made it known that AK is not my favorite park...or my second favorite...or my third. I want to love it (and there are many things I like about it) and each visit I hope to kindle a love for it, but sparks never fly. The optimist in me thinks the addition of Pandora and (finally!) Rivers of Light may change my heart ~ but the realist in me believes AK will probably remain my fourth favorite.

I was delighted, however, to notice this as we entered the Oasis.

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Whatcha talkin' bout Tuvalu?

Look closely...
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She's DEVINE!
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DEVINE is so awesome. You got a good picture of her--it's hard sometimes to photograph her because of all the green, and often she's in the shade amidst trees.

 

[Tuvalu]

We continued walking to our first attraction.

Festival of the Lion King?

Sorry, not today. Great show, but we were under a time crunch.

Street party?

Talented entertainers for sure, but we only watched momentarily as we were in a hurry to visit our first attraction.

Sometimes answering nature's call is the first attraction!

But we did not rush to Harambe merely to use the facilities. We had a date to with a jeep driver to keep. As we made our way towards the entrance to Kilimanjaro Safaris, I witnessed the following exchange:

Man pointing: "Let's go get a fastpass for the safari!"
Woman: "Where?"
Man pointing wildly: "Down there!"

Ladies and Gentlemen, this would be "down there."

The man had obviously not been to AK since the addition of FP+. I can only imagine his confusion when they reached this roped-off area where the old FP machines used to be!

(On a positive note, at least he did not think he was in Disneyland!)

We entered the queue.

 

[Tuvalu]

Here comes our jeep!

Are you sick of our selfies yet? I think I am.........

The Safari is my favorite ride at AK. I've had some good ones and some not-so-good ones. (And one bad no-animals-at-all sunset safari with @TrolleyFollower91 last summer.) While many animals were visible today, my faves ~ giraffes, zebras and elephants ~ were absent.

A jaw-dropping croc photo!

Horn*y animals

We saw and heard the lion roar!

By the time our jeep turned the corner, the lion had lain down with the ladies.

A rare (at least for me) sighting of the warthogs.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

You certainly have good radar for lonely photo pass photographers!

 

[Tuvalu]

We'd worked up quite an appetite on our 2 week (ok, 20 minute) safari. And despite my 1.2 million visits to the world, we were about to try a new experience for breakfast.

We had not dined at Tusker House since it ceased to be a counter-service restaurant a dozen or so years ago. My brother T has raved about Tusker House breakfast for several years now so Woody and I decided to give it a try.

There are several large dining areas.

I was a bit crestfallen when we were led to a tiny room off to the side. I knew it would be a challenge when the characters stopped by.

Our hostess commented how "nice" it was that we had our own room. But it wasn't our own room for long....the few tables filled up quickly and the narrow aisle made it difficult to make trips to the buffet.

I wasn't as thrilled with the offerings here as I am with the buffets at 1900 Park Fare, Crystal Palace and Captain's Grille.

But there is Jungle Juice. When our server asked Woody if he wanted Jungle Juice and he replied, "Yes" this was me:


Jungle Juice is POG (pineapple, orange, guava) juice. Woody has been exposed to POG juice lots of times at the Poly and 1900 Park Fare. He always declines it. He knows I love it and will give me his glass if one is poured for him.

"You know that's POG juice," I said.
"It's not too bad," he replied. "I like it."
(I plan to remind him of this on our next stay at the Poly!)

 

[Tuvalu]

You certainly have good radar for lonely photo pass photographers!

Must. Resist. Joke.

 

[Tuvalu]

It was a tight squeeze for the characters when they arrived.

Donald was first.

Then Goofy

Daisy

I kept looking for Minnie. I expected her to be here. She wasn't.

We waited a long time for Mickey.

Though I wasn't as enamoured with Tusker House breakfast as my brother was, I am willing to give dinner a try....in order to gain priority entrance to Rivers of Light.

 

[Tuvalu]

After breakfast, Woody and I went on a long scenic walk through the park. We stopped to watch the monkeys.

How convenient that there is a kiosk selling monkeys directly across from their habitat!

 

[Tuvalu]

Another "artsy" shot by Woody:

Making our way towards Everest.

We had a FP (for Woody, I don't ride) but he decided he was too full from breakfast to conquer the Yeti.

My attempt at "artsy".

Bye, Everest!

 

[LadyBelle]

I am just amazed that you can go to a park before your flight home. I'm too nervous a flier, I guess, to risk it. That and since I have to have a connecting flight home instead of direct, I get nervous about missing any sort of flight.

 

[Tuvalu]

King Louie snuck up behind me and scared the **** out of me. He, like Mary Poppins, was in a hurry to get somewhere. Perhaps the parks need to install Character Crossing signs?!

Safe in Dinoland, we went to use our final FP.

This was the end of the FP line!

Once we were inside the building, the line moved quickly.

I had to pose because I knew Woody wouldn't. I don't think he has ever seen the dinosaur.

 

[bee]

***** animals

What naughty word did you try to post, @Tuvalu???

 

[Tony the Tigger]

King Louie snuck up behind me and scared the **** out of me. He, like Mary Poppins, was in a hurry to get somewhere. Perhaps the parks need to install Character Crossing signs?!

Safe in Dinoland, we went to use our final FP.
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This was the end of the FP line!
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Once we were inside the building, the line moved quickly.
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I had to pose because I knew Woody wouldn't. I don't think he has ever seen the dinosaur.
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The dinosaur pic is my favorite Tuvalu pic ever.

We have enjoyed Tusker House for lunch a few times, although it is a little pricey. We like that some of the selections are not the usual run of the mill stuff.

 

[Tuvalu]

What naughty word did you try to post, @Tuvalu???

Fixed it.

 

[radiorae]

Feels good to sit down!
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Ha! I have an almost identical picture from my trip the other week. The People Mover is the best for resting -- it feels so nice to actually be able to put your feet up (though I suspect the cast members probably frown on this behavior )

Thanks for another fantastic trip report

 

[Zipadeelady]

I had to make one of your Flag retreat pics my desktop picture on my work computer! Nothing beats a little bit of Disney with some patriotism.

 

[amjt660]

Must. Resist. Joke.

Resistance is futile - bring it!!!

 

[amjt660]

King Louie snuck up behind me and scared the **** out of me. He, like Mary Poppins, was in a hurry to get somewhere. Perhaps the parks need to install Character Crossing signs?!

Safe in Dinoland, we went to use our final FP.
View attachment 189426

View attachment 189427

This was the end of the FP line!
View attachment 189428

Once we were inside the building, the line moved quickly.
View attachment 189429

I had to pose because I knew Woody wouldn't. I don't think he has ever seen the dinosaur.
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How can Woody not look to his right???
I had the same thing on my ride picture from Dec with a guy looking straight forward
The dino is pretty big and pretty loud at that point!!!

Max

 

[Tuvalu]

We browsed in my favorite AK gift stores on our way out of the park. I did buy something which I plan to use on a future Disney trip. You'll have to watch for it in another TR.

@LadyBelle, I was able to relax and have fun in AK even with us flying home later. For me, that is one of the benefits of flying ~ extra time at Disney on departure day! When we drive down, we are pulling out of the parking lot before dawn.
Woody, however, much prefers driving to flying and (like you) is not completely at ease on flight day.

We admired the tree on the way to the bus.

Won't be long now for Pandora!

Well, it wasn't exactly wild, but it was a nice way to spend the morning.

 

[Scoppin]

There was a lonely Photopass photographer on the bridge to Discovery Island.

Lonely no more.
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Yay! Another magic shot that worked!

We turned around in time to see the macaws fly over to open the park. Then they returned to their perch.
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Such colorful creatures!

I see you stumbled upon a number of lonely Photopass Photographers as we did on our trip. Sad seeing them all lonely like. Just had to go up say hi and make them earn their keep.