Trip Report I'll stop the World and Melt with you.

It's been two years since my family and I visited WDW. Two long years. Thankfully, my son Sterg and I got a three day Disney fix last summer at Disneyland.

Curiously, this trip report is being written at a time when a lot of negative Disney vibe is emanating from other regions of WDWMagic - as it was two years ago. The Doom & Gloom is running free and wild. I'm just thankful I stayed clear of most of it before our trip because I may have cancelled what turned out to be an amazing time. It is also fortunate that we got this trip in because from the sound of things there may not be a WDW to go to in a few years.

To be truthful, some things that Disney has done has me scratching my head; but this is neither the time nor place to discuss it. Putting that aside - let's get on with the trip report!

We left on Sunday July 21st. Maybe the longest day of my life. The night before, my oldest daughter Alex went to see Taylor Swift in Philadelphia ( about 50 miles away ) and due to a long rain delay she didn't make it home until 2 am. This meant that she would not go to sleep since we were being picked up at 3 am for the drive to Philly airport for our 6 am flight. At least we were supposed to be picked up at 3am.

Here is my Mom ( Yia-Yia )and my youngest daughter Antonia ( Toni ) up and ready at 3 in the morning waiting for our ride. Yia-Yia ( grandmother in Greek ) is 77 years old and joining us for the first time on a Disney adventure. Toni is now almost 12 and the little Yorki-poo in the front is Prince. Prince is short for Prince Charming ( named by Toni ).

When the driver didn't show up by 3:15 I started to worry. I called the limo company at the same time he called me to tell me he was lost. I reeled him in and we were on our way by 3:30. The drive down was nerve wracking as I kept watching the clock and praying for no delays. That is until our driver eased my tension by telling us his son works for Disney and he goes down to the World 4 or 5 times a year. The resulting Disney conversation lasted until we hit the airport around 4:30.

More tension as we went through security. My carry on was stopped in the machine and I was pulled aside. I had put a container of Vitamin C powder in my bag that garnered some attention. Of course, my Mom came over as I was being held and my bag inspected.

"Why didn't you put that in your suitcase, Christo?" she said to me in her Greek accented voice.

"Mom, please go wait over there" I responded.

"No, I want to see what they are doing" Then she followed with this one for the TSA officer.

"It's not drugs, my son doesn't do cocaine!"

OK, I thought. I'm definitely going to be held in some prison cell for the next week.

After the chemical test proved my Mother correct, I was allowed to go on my way. We had time to grab coffee and some food and make it on the Southwest plane to Orlando. A plane full of smiling happy faces! Including these;

This is my wife Val ( not the biggest of Disney fans ), with Yia-Yia in the middle and Alex by the window.

On the other side was yours truly sporting a Hawaiian shirt ( since we were staying at the Poly ), Toni and Sterg.

Before we knew it we were up in the clouds...

 

[fractal]

View attachment 34080 Let's talk about photos, Bob.

Exactly!

Tonga Toast is my favorite! I get it everytime.

I can now say I'm no longer a tt virgin. Thanks for reading!

Last night, I was going through photos from our trip in May '10(because the internet was down) and I found some from our dinner here. It turns out that we sat here on that trip. I don't remember our servers name, he was a cousin. It was my son's birthday and he passed a card around the entire room and made every guest sign it. It seemed awkward for them, but it was a lot of fun.

That's the table I wanted, but I guess it's only for 4. The server you get can make or break the experience.

Disney played a farely large role in WWII with propaganda films and insignias. A lot of pilots wore Disney patches or drawings on their bomber jackets and a lot of the aircraft had Disney characters on them. There is a nice display of it at the National Museum of the USAF in Dayton Ohio.
Click here for a history lesson: http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=7883

Thanks!

Great update and again amazing pictures. I know what you mean about the lasck of evening EMH. I feel like there were onlys 1 or 2 nights were we were at EMH well past midnight, now not so much! I loved the late hours.

Thanks! I did miss being in MK in the am hours.

I think we wound up on a very similar route the other week. The kids wound up getting a nice nap it was such a long bus trek. Love Toni's reaction to your TSMM victory

Now that's what I should have done - take a nap!

 

[fractal]

Hear hear!
More often than not, people have a tendency to focus their energy on something as wasteful as complaining at small little things. The appreciation skill is dry and lacking at times.

And I can be the worst culprit

I continue to be amazed at what people complain about regarding Disney. Although I do want them to fix the Yeti.

Tetak in Croatian means uncle, but it looks like there are more words on the wrap on the tree.

Thanks - there has got to be a meaning to all this. ????

We stayed at Kidani Village in June and we loved the TV's at the bus stop! Great way to occupy kids times while waiting for the bus... There were times I was pulling my DS away from the TV as to not miss the bus! LOL

We've visited Kidani Village twice for dinner at Sanaa and I just love that resort!

Loooove the updates. Still so thirsty for more! Stayed in a studio at Kidani last month between cruises. Didn't use the buses but we did eat a dinner at Sanaa (w/ @Disneyfalcon). Interested to hear what y'all thought.

PS. Finally got my MacBook upgraded to the Mountain Lion OS. Running a demo of Light Room. It's okay. I think all editing programs are going to mildly annoy my impatient bone. Still want to try Aperture before laying out my $$ on one. I will say the pics I took with the NEX3 in auto are really pleasing. For quick snapping on the move I really am happy with what I got.

Thanks Kelly! We ate at Sanaa this trip and last and loved it! The food was great and I'm sure there aren't too many places in the world with that kind of atmosphere.

I'm glad you like the results of the NEX-3. It's an amazing camera for the price - looking forward to some pics and I sent you some tips for using Lightroom.

 

[epcotisbest]

More good pics. Thanks for sharing. We love AK, but was not able to get to it this last trip. Next time for sure...maybe.

 

[epcotisbest]

Oh, I have only done Everest once, just to say I have done it. Been to AK many, many times...guess there is so much to do there in my half day (wait, never ever been for just a half day It is always a full day for us when we go) I don't really have time or desire to whine about the stupid Yeti.

 

[fractal]

OK - on to our safari ride. This was going to be the first time I would attempt pictures on KS without my big zoom lens. I still had the 50mm lens on my camera and was not going to take it off. As bad as the results were on TSMM with the lens, the opposite can be said on the safari (at least I think so). It took some getting used to because when you see an animal in the distance the first thing you want to do is zoom in, which you can't do with a fixed "prime" lens. The advantage of a fixed lens is that they are usually just a better lens and the quality of the image is greater. It's a give and take like anything - the zoom is more versatile, but you sacrifice some picture quality. I found with the high resolution of my camera, I was able to crop a photo significantly with good results. In a way - cropping the photo was like a zoom. Our driver did a good enough job but I must admit that I missed the "Simba 1" story.

Yia-Yia just loved the safari. She had been to Disney World in the last 10 years with my sister's family, but she still was amazed by the scope of it.

I know I've seen a million pictures of the safari, in fact I already posted some in the report previously. What follows are pictures just using a specific lens - which I think does give it a different look.

Our safari started early - this guy was in the queue line.

It was kinda funny walking through the line with my Mom - she thought it was the attraction, with the signs and the monitors playing. I was trying to explain to her it wasn't but with her bad hearing, the constant moving and the crowds, the message was not getting through. "Christo, is this it? Some safari this is!" she would say in her thick accent.

That all changed when we climbed aboard our truck.

This was the first time I saw anybody feeding the flamingos. I do know it's (pink) shrimp that they're getting.

I was certainly happier with these results vs. TSMM. I was also happy that Val and Yia-Yia enjoyed the ride.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Another great update Chris!!!! Loving the pictures of the safari! Especially the different perspectives like between the heads, someones elbow slightly in the picture...I like it! Glad to see you had such a fun time with Toni in the morning!!!!!

Ugh, Animal Kingdom pictures are making me sad...can't wait to experience it with Mike for his first time in AK in May (since we skipped out on our honeymoon). Beautiful detail over there! Can't wait to hear the rest!

 

[Tigger19]

Wow those pictures are amazing! Seriously considering getting a new camera like that, what's the full name of the camera again?

 

[fractal]

quick update before work.

After our safari, we found ourselves stuck in Harambe because of the afternoon parade. I'm not a big parade person so I decided to focus on other people watching the parade and my surroundings.

Please people. If you insist on shooting crappy video on your Ipad, at least don't block everybody else's view.

I thought Mickey ears made for a cool foreground.

I did take the time to enjoy a beer. This is underneath the bar.

Yia-Yia loved the parade. Here she is waving to Mickey.

UP NEXT - Sterg ticks me off, dinner at Sanaa and; chaos and gnashing of teeth at Downtown Disney.

 

[Billy6]

Isn't Tetak the name of the fictional logging company in Kali River Rapids?? The other word visible is "logging" on the tree. Maybe that's a way to mark the tree for cut down??

Had my first Flame Tree meal last month! Where has it been all my life?!?
Ditto on th area behind it.. Very peaceful and relaxing while eating..visually appealing too!

 

[disneygirl1]

We've visited Kidani Village twice for dinner at Sanaa and I just love that resort

Cris it was a great resort! WE had always stayed at Jambo in the past, so I was a bit nervous about Kidani but I really enjoyed it. The resort is SO relaxing and peaceful!

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I am incredibly late to this TR, but that's okay, I'm enjoying it nonetheless Has it seriously been two years since your last TR?! I guess yours and mine were right around the same time, now that I think about it...how time flies!

Awesome job, as always - your family seems like so much fun!

 

[fractal]

After the parade we all regrouped at the front of the park to set sail for AKL and dinner at Sanaa.

Last photo of many photos at Animal Kingdom. Bye-bye birdie!

there is something very appealing to me about Animal Kingdom Lodge. Not sure what, but I always love going there.

Our reservation was for 5:15 - we were a bit early so had time for pictures and to look around. If you eat at Sanaa, do yourself a favor and arrive early to not only look around inside, but across from Sanaa on the lower level is an observation "patio" that you can go out and observe the animals. There is a fire pit out there and beautiful rocking chairs as well as a CM that will give you all the information you would want on the animals and the resort. It's well worth arrive a half hour early for.

Remember how I asked Sterg to bring ponchos and my extra battery? Well he forgot both. This really ticked me off because I had asked him and then followed up with a text - plus my battery was about to die. The rest of the photos I took with
Val's little Cybershot camera.

I really like the decor of Sanaa.

We did not get a window seat but did get a wonderful booth against the back wall. This helped calm my nerves.

The only complaint I had with the meal was how little bread we got with the bread sampler - we had to order 2 of them and could have done three. The bread and dips were unique and fantastic.
I was in the mood for Steak so I ordered the NYStrip. I remembered how good Sterg's was on our last trip. Val ordered the slow cooked meats in gravy which she very much enjoyed. The star of the night however, was the Tandoori Lamb that my Mom and Alex ordered. Yia-Yia let me try a good bit of hers and it was delicious!

My dead camera - wanting to take awesome food pictures but just didn't have the energy for it.

Of course, any meal at Sanaa would not be complete without a few giraffes peaking in on you.

Sanaa also happens to have a very cool looking bar...

Dessert was ok - nothing amazing. See, I am objective. I did like the little proverbs on the plates.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Oh yeah. Sanaa is good. We ate there last month the night before our cruise. I thought the dinner itself was okay. Of course I didn't order an entre. I had the appetizer sliders as my meal. Tracey & Tammy had the meat in gravy thing that Val had where you pick your dishes. They both seemed to like it. But, that desert you pictured above, I forget the name, Tammy and I both had. Personally, that's what made the meal for me. I'm a sweets girl, tho. Tracey had his usual plain ol' ice cream. He's sooooo strange!

Ugh, I hear ya on the teenager frustrations. You ask 'em to do something, remind 'em a few times, and just when you think you've got 'em covered they STILL forget. I know. I know. Yesterday the yard got mowed...finally. When I got home from the store and it was done I felt like crying. AT LAST!

Continuing to enjoy as you update!

 

[fractal]

More good pics. Thanks for sharing. We love AK, but was not able to get to it this last trip. Next time for sure...maybe.

Oh, I have only done Everest once, just to say I have done it. Been to AK many, many times...guess there is so much to do there in my half day (wait, never ever been for just a half day It is always a full day for us when we go) I don't really have time or desire to whine about the stupid Yeti.

thanks! As you can see, we spent several days in the "half park"

Another great update Chris!!!! Loving the pictures of the safari! Especially the different perspectives like between the heads, someones elbow slightly in the picture...I like it! Glad to see you had such a fun time with Toni in the morning!!!!!

Ugh, Animal Kingdom pictures are making me sad...can't wait to experience it with Mike for his first time in AK in May (since we skipped out on our honeymoon). Beautiful detail over there! Can't wait to hear the rest!

Thanks Jess! I have a feeling he's going to love AK.

Wow those pictures are amazing! Seriously considering getting a new camera like that, what's the full name of the camera again?

Thanks Tigger19!

I have the Sony NEX-7 which is (currently) the top NEX camera. I started with an NEX-3 ( still have and use it ). I love that you can get DSLR quality pictures in a camera with the fraction of the size and weight.

Isn't Tetak the name of the fictional logging company in Kali River Rapids?? The other word visible is "logging" on the tree. Maybe that's a way to mark the tree for cut down??

Had my first Flame Tree meal last month! Where has it been all my life?!?
Ditto on th area behind it.. Very peaceful and relaxing while eating..visually appealing too!

Billy6,

Yes, I did some research after seeing your reply. It is the name of the logging company. What I couldn't find is the meaning behind the red ribbon. Was it put there by the company to "mark" the tree or by locals as a protest against them cutting down the trees. Amazingly, I could not find an answer to that. For now, it remains a bit of a AK mystery.

FT is very good and the area behind it is so nice.

Cris it was a great resort! WE had always stayed at Jambo in the past, so I was a bit nervous about Kidani but I really enjoyed it. The resort is SO relaxing and peaceful!

We're going to have to make a tough decision for our next trip!

I am incredibly late to this TR, but that's okay, I'm enjoying it nonetheless Has it seriously been two years since your last TR?! I guess yours and mine were right around the same time, now that I think about it...how time flies!

Awesome job, as always - your family seems like so much fun!

Thanks for joining in! I'm enjoying your report as well!

Well- 2 years since WDW. Sterg and I did get to go to DL last summer ( which I did a report on ) - but time does fly. Thanks again - most of the time they are fun!

Oh yeah. Sanaa is good. We ate there last month the night before our cruise. I thought the dinner itself was okay. Of course I didn't order an entre. I had the appetizer sliders as my meal. Tracey & Tammy had the meat in gravy thing that Val had where you pick your dishes. They both seemed to like it. But, that desert you pictured above, I forget the name, Tammy and I both had. Personally, that's what made the meal for me. I'm a sweets girl, tho. Tracey had his usual plain ol' ice cream. He's sooooo strange!



Ugh, I hear ya on the teenager frustrations. You ask 'em to do something, remind 'em a few times, and just when you think you've got 'em covered they STILL forget. I know. I know. Yesterday the yard got mowed...finally. When I got home from the store and it was done I felt like crying. AT LAST!

Continuing to enjoy as you update!

If you get a chance to go there again, the Tandoori meats incredible! Maybe the dessert was better than I think. I just can't seem to remember it ( I might have still been fuming about my dead camera.).
Sterg will mow the yard when he needs money ( I pay him for doing that ), but yes - the regular chores are always a struggle. He's in charge of the trash and I call him the Head of the Dept of Waste Disposal. Even with a fancy name like that he forgets ( or wants to forget ).

Speaking of frustrations - there are some major ones coming up in the report.

 

[tiaragirl]

Okay, I'd first like to say that this TR has helped me through a hell-ish day - marking G5s rough drafts, talking to my momma who is in Canada (I am in China) about wedding plans, and my first full day since my (now) fiance "left the building" for home. In between all this craziness, I managed to read this TR from top to bottom and I can honestly say it added the magic back into my day!

Your pictures are fabulous. You've heard this umpteen times, of course, but just to give you another shout-out - wonderful. For me, they capture some of the unique details about the parks that people see (or don't see) but almost always take for granted. So, props for that.

All your time spent with Toni makes me smile, because that's how it was with Dadder and I before Carly was old enough to participate in such ventures. Even now, Dad and I are often up before everyone to golf. There's something special about spending quality time with a family member, whether at Disney or otherwise, and if Toni is anything like I am, she will ALWAYS cherish the memories as much as you do.

I'd also like to comment that not ALL teens go through that "I don't want to wake up, I want to sleep in" phase.. she might mean it when she says she won't! I, for one, have never outgrown a 6:30-7AM Disney wake up call to be there for rope drop. Even C is pretty good - sometimes she grumbles, but we're always to the bus stop by 8. And, if you've seen my TRs, you know that we NEVER outgrew posing for photos! Hahhaha.

Also, side note: Toni is adorable and going to be a total babe.. watch out for that, Dad.

Since I've been marking all day, I will write what I would have written had this been a "personal recount" for one of my kids (pretend it's in magenta pen, so as not to offend anyone with red ink): Wow, Chris, your voice really comes through in this recount! You have used the 5 senses effectively to add impressive detail. You're ready for editing - just remember that a strong concluding idea is part of our Criteria for Success.

So.. concluding idea?

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Having some Sanaa envy I get a crane at the windows and you get giraffes!!!!! Totally agree about getting there early or planning to stay late to check things out. Having gone through a quarter of a day with a dead camera battery a couple of trips ago...I feel your pain. Cant wait to read more.

 

[Uncle Lupe]

First thanks for giving me a nice relaxing read to unwind from my most stressful vacation ever.

The Fractal shirt is awesome. Your right it's a delicate balance to achieve. Enjoy the moments of the vacation or capture them in a lens.

When planning this trip did the kids ever try to get you to go to Universal?

Even with Sterg forgetting the battery, Hakuna Matata.

 

[Lynn1030]

We've never been to Sanaa, since we usually do Boma when we head to AKL, but your post makes me want to go, even if just for the experience.

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

So awesome to read about your Sanaa dinner as we just booked it for dinner in February! We enjoyed it so much last time and we're using this trip to try some new places we've yet to try and some places we don't do every trip. Your recap of Sanaa just solidified the choice!!

 

[fractal]

As we were finishing our meals at Sanaa, the conversation started to turn towards future WDW trips. I brought up the thought of a future trip with my future grandchildren. The kids all thought this was funny and started to run with it. They were pretended they were talking to their future children and started to call Val "Yia-Yia" and me "Papou" and Yia-Yia "Great Yia-yia". Sterg was videoing on his phone. "Looks kids, this is Papou. He loves Disney World...and this is Yia-Yia, not so much." "Over her is aunt Alex and Toni and great Yia-Yia"!

It was funny but it had me thinking that such as trip is potentially not that far off - maybe within 10 years ( if we are so blessed ). Kinda started to freak me out. Some more pictures with Val's camera...

By the way, Alex wanted me to point out that their outfits for the evening were a result of me not letting them take a bus back to the Poly from AK, get changed, then get a bus back to AK, transfer to a bus to AKL and make dinner on time. For some reason, Alex and Sterg thought that would only take 1/2 hour and didn't think to dress for dinner when they left the Poly. It was the first time we went straight from a park to dinner, but sometimes you just have to roll with it.

hidden Mickey

A nice lady took our picture - which made me more mad that my camera was dead.

Looking out into the savana...

We made our way to the bus stop to find passage to Downtown Disney. I wasn't thrilled about going there, especially on a Saturday night and on our last night in WDW, but Val and the kids wanted to go. Val for some shopping and the kids because it was a tradition that they didn't want to break.

Sterg was acting goofy to Toni's delight.

and yes, DTD was absolutely mobbed.

After a few quick stops in some small shops, we fought through the mass of humanity towards World of Disney. Never had I seen it so packed here. I was just trying to keep a handle of where Toni was and where Yia-Yia was. There was a band playing in front of the store so I was assuming/hoping that all the people were a result of the free entertainment and not just shoppers. As we entered WoD, I found out my assumption was wrong. You could barely move. It took about 10 seconds before I literally found myself alone in the middle of the store crowd with no idea where the rest of my family went.

After maneuvering around for a few seconds, I tried calling everyone but nobody answered - no surprise. At least I knew we were all in the same building. After a few more minutes of browsing and dodging I bumped into Val, Toni and Yia-Yia. They were helping Toni shop for some trinkets to give her friends back home. I figured I would stay with them and we would then eventually meet up with Sterg and Alex. 10 seconds later I lost Val, Toni and Yia-Yia. It was amazing, like they were swallowed up by the crowd.

We had at least 2, maybe 3 full Brazilian tour groups navigating through the store. Many of them were moving way too fast considering the close quarters - I was slammed twice by fast moving Brazilians. It was starting to feel like a mosh pit!

At least the ceilings weren't crowded....

I found myself moving from room to room, scouring for any familiar faces. It would be another 20-30 minutes before I found one!