Trip Report Oh, the Places We go, The People We See

Welcome to my newest Trip Report. For those who don’t know me, I am Jen.

That’s my Daughter Claire with me.



We just got back from an amazing vacation with several family members.

We traveled Nov. 1st thru the 15th, 2012. We rested our headed at 6 different places on this trip, and though it wasn’t always easy to keep moving from place to place, I am happy to have tried some new resorts out and stayed at some familiar ones as well.



This trip came about over a year ago. My Mom’s cousin Vicki wanted to take a trip with her and my Aunt Mary. Her Daughter Katie also wanted to come along.

After some talking and planning it became a group of 16 traveling. I was elected ring leader since I have quite a bit of Disney experience.

Plans were made, some were changed, and some were a little slower at making decisions than others.

My husband Skip is what is known in the Disney groups as a resistor and he decided NOT to come along. He was not so happy about the amount of time I was going to be gone.



The dates for the cruise were set first, Nov 4 through the 8th on the Disney Dream. We all planned to arrive a day early and stay at the Residence Inn near the port. Soon I decided that I must add a few Disney days, and so did everyone else eventually. I thin decide…heck lets add some more, and Claire and I ended up staying 3 more days after the rest left.

Then after doing some research and with a heads up from my good Dis-friend Carey, I was alerted to the fact that the last Halloween party was on Nov. 2nd. How could I pass that chance up? So Claire and I decided to fly in a day earlier than everyone else to hit that party. Claire and I also decided to fly out of Columbus. My family lives near the Toledo, OH area, and the best direct flights are out of Detroit. My youngest sister, who was not going on the cruise, lives in Columbus, and I was able to get a decent priced direct flight from there, so Claire and I drove down Nov. 1 and spent the night before our early flight.



Plans were finally all set in stone and we just had to wait for our time to arrive. Not an easy task, but we all managed.



Let me introduce you to the crew. This is a picture of a picture. My sister has the CD with the actual digital copy, but hasn’t yet loaded it to the computer, so I had to go with this for now till I can get a copy.

In the back row, left to right, we have my parents, Joe and Paula, next to them is my Uncle Geoff. Next to Geoff is cousin Vicki and her son in law Thad. Next to Thad is Pete, Vicki’s husband and then me. Aunt Mary is on the end, she is married to Uncle Geoff and my Mother’s sister.

Down towards the front, left to right, is my nieces Alexis and Abby with their parents Rob and Gail. Gail is my sister. Front and center is Claire. Behind Claire are Jude, and Katie. Katie is married to Thad and is Pete and Vicki’s Daughter. And then we have baby Luke in the stroller. He is only about 9 months old and what a cutie he is.



This trip had the usual ups and downs that most every family will have, but I have to admit things went much smoother than I planned. We never felt the need to kill each other for the most part. LOL

We had several cruise newbies and several Disney World newbies as well.



Please join me in reliving a very magical trip with all the places we traveled and all the people we met along the way!

 

[jenseib]

I made Claire go get in front of it.



One more shot before we head in.



Let the Memories Begin!!!!!





We slowly walked in through the Oasis. Well I wanted to explore and soak it up, but Claire was more worried about me calling to find out where Alexis was, which I did as well.

 

[jenseib]

Terrific report and great job on the pictures! Someday I'll get myself on a Disney Cruise.

Cool how you got to see the AK Christmas Tree!

Thanks. Cruising is wonderful!!!!
I loved the Christmas decor.

 

[jenseib]

Sounds like the process of disembarking the ship goes pretty smoothly. Do you remember what time you reached the Beach Club at?

We are debating on the girls cruise if we're going to car pool, take transfers from the hotel or rent a car to drive there. I think we may do what you did and take DME to the airport because what I heard was the resort transfers are late, something like 11:30am? I figure if we can get to the airport and get on a transfer there, then hopefully it will be earlier than 11:30am. I think we will also just take a shuttle on the way back.

Love Claire's sailor dress. Super cute.

I'm a little worried now about the sea sickness. I don't get it much, but my Mom does. I'll have to remind her to bring Bonine and some ginger!!

I want to say we were there around 10-10:30ish. it was really fast though.

 

[jenseib]

We continued our walk through the Oasis.





We found out where the family was (I believe back near Africa) and started to make our way there. I was also getting hungry. I am one of those people who needs to eat more in the day time or I get headaches and less than pleasant in nature.

We made our way back, but not before getting a few tree pictures.



And my worst fear …it was crowded.



When we first started planning this trip the crowd predictions were low. VERY low. But as time went on they got higher and then we found out it was Jersey week as well. UGH. But we couldn’t change the dates because the cruise was booked and family had vacation dates set.
I figured it couldn’t be nearly as bad as spring break time. Now I haven’t been here during the week before or after Easter, but I have been here in the spring break season and it can get really crowded. And sadly I was wrong. The crowds we encountered this week were very similar and even worse than spring break at times.

I didn’t let the crowds dampen my spirits too much though. I was so excited to be seeing Christmas décor all over the park!!!!



Well there’s an empty area.









We stopped for a photo moment for Claire.

 

[jenseib]

We found the family. I think they had gone to Flights of Wonder and then came the “what do you want to do’s”. EAT!!! I am hungry. Now I really need to start saying this about an hour before I want to eat, because it always seems like we get side tracked and then I am about to die of hunger …..Yep, I may be in my 40’s, but some days I feel like I may die of hunger.
We did stop and get Safari fast passes. The time was for about an hour or so away, so that would be a good time to sit and eat. Of course deciding what to eat is a whole other discussion.
I had heard of Tamu Tamu by many people and I saw it, so I went and looked at the menu. It would work for me, but not Claire. It consisted mainly of sandwiches and Claire is pretty much anti sandwich.
So a decision had to be made before I died of hunger pains. Some people liked the Tamu Tamu menu and stayed. I think that was Mom, Gail, Alexis, and Abby. Dad, Rob and Claire headed off with me. Pizzafari was not too far away and I knew Claire would eat there.






It was fairly crowded in there, but several lines were open. I asked Dad if he knew how to use the dining plan, and of course he had no clue. And I asked if he had his kttw with him and he said no. UGH. Well then it hit me. He was in MY room so his credit and my credits were all connected so I could order and pay for him with my card. We made our decisions and I told Dad what he was allowed to get. I think our pizzas came with a Caesar salad and Dad didn’t want one, but I told him to get it and most likely someone else would eat it.
I think for desserts Claire got a chocolate chip cookie and I got cheesecake and we would share both.





We got our food and Rob got his and a meal for Gail as well. We then walked back to the area we left the family and sat some tables.
Well Rob was nice to get Gail food, but what he hadn’t realized was that she also was getting herself food at Tamu Tamu. We had a ton of food at our table.
We did the best to polish it all off as well as the extra meal that Rob got for Gail.





When it came time for dessert, let’s just say I barely had a bite of mine. Actually I only got a bite because I insisted on it. Claire had big eyes and not for the cookie. I think I saved that for later.

We were now super full. I spent most of this vacation feeling full and that might have been one of the last times I had felt hungry. After that I just seemed to be eating ALL the time.

We decided to head back towards the safari to use our fast passes.

First we had to take a picture of Dad’s new shoes. If you remember way back to the start of the cruise, Dad had complained about his feet hurting and Mom had tennis shoes in the suitcase …the one that had been left at the airport. Well those tennis shoes were new and they hurt his feet as well, so on the ship mom bought him a pair of crocs. We just found this so funny, because Dad doesn’t wear stuff like this, but his feet felt great in them and he wore them every day. In fact on our recent Williamsburg trip he packed them along and wore them then too.

 

[jenseib]

Time for a Safari ride!
We had fast passes and we arrived a few minutes early so we had to wait till the time ticked right. We got in line and even the fast pass line was pretty busy today.



Luckily we didn’t wait too long and we were in line for our truck.





We got in and you know how bumpy those trucks are …we took off with a huge bumpity bump and Abby just started laughing so hard. This was her kind of ride.





We had a really good driver/guide. She reminded me so much of Brook (my friend and co-worker. I have traveled twice with her, and she has shown up in 2 of my past trip reports). She didn’t look like Brook so much, but the way she talked really reminded me of her. The newer spiel is better too. Kind of joking a bit in there and no more hunting for poachers and Red.

I took a ton of pictures on the journey. BUT the sun was not my friend, so some came out, but many are washed out or shadowed. And of course with a bumpy ride, I have some nice blurry shots too.

 

[jenseib]

There were a TON of trucks out on the safari today. Many times we had to stop because of a jam up. On top of that, there were many active animals, some who decided to stand on the road and not move out of the way.



And here is one such animal. As we sat there waiting for the jam to clear up, Mr. Giraffe decided to cross the road, taking his own sweet time. I must admit, it was really neat to see.
Now remember way back on my first day at Animal Kingdom Lodge, when I went into Flamingo overload with pictures. Well now we are going to have giraffe overload!













Here comes another one to cross the road.

 

[jenseib]

This guy was all by himself.



Um, we’re not supposed to go here. It says the road is closed!





I think this was the only elephant shot I could get today.

 

[jenseib]

Now how cute is this baby rhino?



Way back there is a glimpse of the cheetah, which was actually up and moving around.



If course the lions were not up and about. They are always lying on those rocks.



At least they were awake today.









Here are Alexis’s favorite animals …The Geebras! Well that’s what Abby calls them.







And it was nice to not have to deal with Red and the whole poacher scene. This ride had a few more jokes, but also informative. I liked it much better. It did take us a bit to get off the truck. There was a backup, so we had to wait to get to the unloading dock. I think we had to wait a good 5 minutes or more to get there and off.

 

[jenseib]

I had Claire stop for a picture, but she wasn’t too smiley for it.



Alexis popped in to have some fun and lighten the mood.





I thought this flower was pretty.



And we saw a group doing the African safari trek. I really wanted to do this, but Claire was just shy of 8, the age you had to be to do it.





We picked up the stroller and then made some decisions on what to do next.

 

[jenseib]

We decided that those of us braver souls were going to get a fastpass for Expedition Everest. Claire has talked about doing this ride for a couple of years, but we haven’t been back since she has been tall enough. The thing is, Claire can be a chicken at times. BUT when you have your brave cousin with you, you might become a little bit brave yourself and Claire decided she would go.
We all headed that way.













That sunlight was really not camera friendly.





We stopped off a minute to check these guys out.



And we decided to stop and get a photopass picture of our family.

 

[jenseib]

At this very moment my Dad decides to turn his cell phone on and check his messages. We all kept yelling at him to get over here, but he totally did not hear a word we were saying and proceeds to stand there and call people back. Now if we had not stopped to get a picture done, he would’ve been left behind. He was totally oblivious to the world around him at that moment. Oh well, we’re not going to hold up the photographer.



Notice that Abby is missing from the first one. She wasn’t too sure about this. She decided to get in the 2nd one.





But there was NO WAY she was going to give a thumbs up.





On we went towards Everest.









We got our fastpasses and had a bit of time before we could use them, so we separated. I am not sure what the chickens, …..um I mean rest of the family did, but we made our way to dinoland to kill some time.

 

[jenseib]

We saw a turtle swimming along.



We entered Dinoland USA!



We decided to get in line for Triceratop Spin.





While in line, Claire and Alexis had a discussion about where they would sit and who would be driving. We figured out the best seat for each and I think they each got a front seat, while Rob and I were in the back seats. I think it was important to them to be able to lift us up and down.





I took pictures around the area before we got started and once in the air, I took some more.

 

[jenseib]

Weeeeeeeeeee!







After that they decided to do Primeval Whirl. That’s not something I like. I hate spinning, it makes me sick, so I walked around while they got in line.

 

[jenseib]

It looks like this dino is going potty!







I browsed the store for a bit.



Took a peek to see if I could see them.







I think Rob texted me that they were getting on and I ran over and waited for them to come by.





It was really loud there and I think I shouted several times before they even noticed I was standing right there.

Off they went and I only got one more glimpse of them and then lost the way they were tracking.

 

[jenseib]

After that it was time to head back to Everest. Rob mentioned on the way over that his muscles had been very sore ever since he had been in the hottub the day before on the ship. He said usually he’s feels so much better, but this time he was so achy. I said that perhaps he cought a bug. Boy, I hate when I am right…..

The FP line for Everest moved pretty quickly.



And then we were off!





The view as we climbed.



The thing about taking pictures while on a rollercoaster …..it’s bumpy and hard to hold the camera, let alone focus.





I did try to explain what would happen to Claire as we went along, well from what I could remember.

It was a hit. She and Alexis both were all smiles when we got off.



In fact, it was so much fun that the girls wanted to ride again, and luckily the line was pretty much nonexistent at the moment.



They both joked about getting the front seat and how scary it would be. We ended up with 2nd and 3rd rows.

 

[jenseib]

The backwards part soon became the favorite part of the ride.

I got a quick glimpse of the Yeti.



And another redneck shot of us.



I have tried to take a picture of these lanterns several times, but they always come out blurry and fuzzy.





The girls wanted to ride again, but it was now getting close to parade time, so we headed back to meet up with the family.



They had a spot saved and we all settled in. It was time for a snack and an ice-cream cart was very nearby, so I ran and got a Mickey bar for me and Claire a sandwich.



Geoff, Aunt Mary, Pete and Vicki had entered the park now and we texted back and forth to let them know where we were. They ended up just stopping along the way to watch the parade before catching up with us.

I took a few pictures while I waited for the parade to reach us.





It looks like we have a little pre-show entertainment.

 

[jenseib]

I had been telling the family how much I LOVE this parade. This is my utmost favorite Disney parade currently running. My all-time favorite is Spectro Magic, but that seems to be dead now. So as we waited I kept telling Gail about this parade and how great the music is, and it’s just so fun. I think I had her excited to see it as well.

Soon the parade made its way to us!



Here is something I had not noticed right off the bat. But something was different today.





It didn’t take long for me to realize the music was slightly off. I have this on CD and listen to it quite often and when it changed I noticed it immediately.



HOLY COW!!!!!!! It’s the Christmas parade! I was so excited. I have never seen this version before. I even researched before I came to see when the first Christmas one started, but according to the history I found, I didn’t expect to see it at all during our trip. It had dates like the 16th or 18 of Nov. This was the 8th! I later talked to a few other people who said that this week was the first showing, and actually the parade I saw this day was most likely the first one of the season.
I quickly told Gail that this was the Christmas one, and though similar, it wasn’t completely the same.









Awww, isn’t his tail cute?

 

[jenseib]

The girls got a little attention. Mostly Alexis and Abby got attention and I think Claire was slightly jealous. But she has gotten plenty of attention on past visits, so I reminded her of that. I do think where we were standing kind of made her left out though a bit. We were next to a tree and the other kids were more visible from the floats than Claire and I were.

 

[jenseib]

Darn it Goofy! Look this way!







Abby was so cute. She loved the parade.