Trip Report The HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!...oh and congratulations report. COMPLETED

The day had arrived! June 25th. C and I were finally going on our Mother-Daughter trip to Disney! We are now part of an elite club of ladies!

I had just gotten back from a wonderful wine trip to Traverse City Michigan with E, my oldest daughter, the night before so I was a little tired to begin with plus I caught a "bug" and wasn't feeling quite myself, luckily it was starting to taper by my second day at Disney.


Our drive to Detroit airport was uneventful and we breezed past security. We flew with Delta and just have to say I loved both times we've used them.
Whoo Hoo!! That's our plane!

Warning... 95% of the photos on this trip were with my phone. I wanted to be in the moment and not carry my camera. I did take all our evening pictures at Epcot with my Sony A6000, which I haven't been practicing on like I should. Sorry @fractal. I also take horrible selfies so beware.

Magical Express was in my sights, just seeing it had me smiling from ear to ear.

We waited a whole 4 minutes and it was time to get on MDE! The bus was already packed so I know our wait to head off wouldn't be long.

Of course MDE was also stopping at AOA and their stop was first, so C and I decided to get off at AOA and use the walkway to POP. We wanted to see AOA and knew this may be our only chance. Little did I know how much this walkway would come in handy!!

Here she is!! Our home for the next week! The backside of POP!

I hadn't received a text so I went up to check in to see if our room was ready. It wasn't, but no big deal, it was around 1pm and we had plans to go to DS for some Earl of Sandwich. While talking with Check in I mentioned that C had just graduated high school and was heading off to Ball State University (chirp chirp) and would it be possible to give her a Congratulations pin. "of course" says the CM. Then C chimes in, "your birthday was last week, you should get a birthday pin". The CM is more than happy to oblige.

We head to bell services to drop off our bags and wait for our first bus to DS!

After wandering around for little while we found Earl.

C got the Caprese and a side of mac n cheese. I got the Chipotle Chicken Avacado. Thanks @blgauger for the tip.

Although my sandwich was extremely tasty my stomach was winning the battle and started to get upset. I called it quits but not before I tried a bite of C's mac n cheese. I highly recommend it. It was delicious.

We checked out some stores and decided to head back to POP. We still hadn't received a room ready text but since it was after 4:00 we were hopeful. I hadn't seen the Characters in Flight go up and to be honest my stomach wasn't sure it could have handled the heights (this is something we planned on doing) so on we went to the bus stop. If anyone is going to be riding Characters in Flight you may want to call ahead to make sure they are running. It didn't seem very windy so I'm not sure why it didn't go up while we were there. @ajrwdwgirl

One thing I did notice that I found out while on our trip is that the bus pick up for POP is pretty much the last one at every park except for AK.

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

The flatbread didn't do a whole lot for me, sorry @TrolleyFollower91 but that pasta was fantastic, so much better than Olive Garden.

It didn’t do much for me, either. It was fine, nothing spectacular. In my mind I pictured something different so I was disappointed from the get-go.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Before our big plan we decide on another show!

I like this show, plus it's funny watching everyone who thinks they will get soaked. Not once but twice. C was a little worried herself.

......... Who wants ice cream? @Longers. My stomach wasn't hurting and we still needed desert. C and I had this planned to help break up our day at DHS and try something new. We headed out of the park to ride a ferry to Boardwalk to try the Ample Hills sampler. What to you mean the ferry's aren't running? Oh yeah, being on wdwmagic all the time I knew that. It's amazing the things you forget when you're in the moment at the parks. Off to the busses we go. We discussed walking for only a second before continuing to the busses. We make a mistake and hop on a Yacht Club bus, I was talking and not paying attention but no worries. I had to check out the smell of the lobby anyway, and I will report that @fractal is correct, it smelled wonderful. After a walk around the lake we arrive

We each picked 3 flavors and found a table to enjoy our ice cream while people watching. After our delicious treat we walked to the Boardwalk bus stop and found our way back to DHS.

Well @Rista1313 C and I actually decided to watch Frozen a second time in one day. It was the best decision we made all day. Guess who was there.... BEN!

This was the last show of the day and I have to tell you the historians were pretty raw. There were a lot of the same lines from the earlier show but you can tell they ad libbed a lot. C kept asking if they would get in trouble. They would start laughing half way through their lines, heckling a man in the front row, I even heard him say I think this is the worst I've ever done. Actually it was so hysterical. Best Show Ever.

To finish off our very memorable day we wanted to see Fantasmic. Great as always. One neat thing that happened was before the show started a man in the section next to us was trying to start the wave for a few minutes. Finally a few people next to him would do it with him. Then after a few more minutes some people in my section must have felt bad for this poor man trying to get it going decided to join in. By this time I had to help too. C is looking at me like really mom. Next thing I know, 3 sections, then 4, then all of them are doing the wave. Everyone in the stadium just made this man's day. It was neat to see that this one man, not a CM, got a thousand people to do the wave.

We ended the night with a night time ride on TT and then hopped in line for single rider on RR. It was a great day.

 

[Rista1313]

Guess who was there.... BEN!

I swear he's the hardest working CM in Disney!

 

[Zipadeelady]

It didn’t do much for me, either. It was fine, nothing spectacular. In my mind I pictured something different so I was disappointed from the get-go.

I was wrong then, for some reason I thought I read that you liked it. I better more attention while reading.

 

[TrolleyFollower91]

I was wrong then, for some reason I thought I read that you liked it. I better more attention while reading.

Not being the author of the TR, I can’t quote what it said. But I definitely wasn’t in love with it.

 

[Zipadeelady]

There was one more surprise before the night was over. When we got back to POP it was sometime around 11:00 pm as C and I walked into the room and this beautiful sight was before me.

There was a bit of a confused look between C and I. The card read "together forever". Now you should all know my husband J is a great husband be he isn't going to send me roses at Disney. I called the front desk and sadly had them come get them and take them to the rightful owner which I'm assuming is the girl having a bachelorette party at Disney.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Not being the author of the TR, I can’t quote what it said. But I definitely wasn’t in love with it.

I had to go back and look (I have issues but we won't go into those. ) It was liquid margarita not the edible margherita that you must have been fond of.

 

[meggo819]

We each picked 3 flavors and found a table to enjoy our ice cream while people watching. After our delicious treat we walked to the Boardwalk bus stop and found our way back to DHS.

I'm hoping it's just a perspective issue with the hand in this picture, but this ice cream flight looks much smaller than I imagined...

 

[MerMom1981]

This is perfect! I'm too Disney depressed to write my own TR, so I'll just read yours!

I'm impressed with your ability to roll with an upset stomach. Glad it didn't last!

 

[MinnieM123]

There was one more surprise before the night was over. When we got back to POP it was sometime around 11:00 pm as C and I walked into the room and this beautiful sight was before me.

View attachment 295984

There was a bit of a confused look between C and I. The card read "together forever". Now you should all know my husband J is a great husband be he isn't going to send me roses at Disney. I called the front desk and sadly had them come get them and take them to the rightful owner which I'm assuming is the girl having a bachelorette party at Disney.

Ugh! (Beautiful flowers only to find out they were not meant for your room!)

 

[Fankle]

Late and just catching up but I’m enjoying your report. Sadly I read/heard somewhere that the historians have been asked to tone it down at the Frozen Ever After Singalong.....

 

[Zipadeelady]

I'm hoping it's just a perspective issue with the hand in this picture, but this ice cream flight looks much smaller than I imagined...

I'd like to say that it was just the photo but it was smaller than I thought it would be. I will say though the 3 scoops that I shared with C ended up being plenty for me. Maybe it was because we just ate, maybe it was because I hadn't eaten much due to my stomach but either way 3 scoops was enough or if you wanted to try many flavors on an empty stomach the whole sampler would fill you up.

This is perfect! I'm too Disney depressed to write my own TR, so I'll just read yours!

I'm impressed with your ability to roll with an upset stomach. Glad it didn't last!

I'm glad I can help with those blues, I understand them very well. As for my stomach, if I could just suck it up for a little while after I ate until it settled it wasn't too bad. But I just hate being sick at Disney.

Ugh! (Beautiful flowers only to find out they were not meant for your room!)

There were even two charms within the flowers. ~sigh~ I hope whose ever they were they appreciate the thoughtfulness of gift.

Late and just catching up but I’m enjoying your report. Sadly I read/heard somewhere that the historians have been asked to tone it down at the Frozen Ever After Singalong.....

Thanks for following along. I really hope they don't make them tone it down. That performance is what will have me coming back. Well, that and the need to get out of the heat for a bit.

 

[Zipadeelady]

Today we are headed to Animal Kingdom! I love this park and the day is looking beautiful!

It's hard to go slow and enjoy the sights when everyone around you is running like banshee's, literally. We have a FP for FOP for later in the day so we walk to Navi. C was at Disney with her high school band between Christmas and New Years. The parks were busy and their day at AK was short so she didn't get a chance to see Pandora, she was very excited.

We enjoyed the Navi river ride. There was no wait so we decided to ride it again. It was calm and thought it was nice.

We enjoyed looking around before finding the bridge to Africa. We both really wanted to see FOTLK, actually it's on our never miss list when we come to Disney, and knew this was going to be the best time to see it.

It was a great show as usual, although a tear was not shed this time. I hope I'm not becoming immune.

 

[Zipadeelady]

It is now time for FP#1, It's time for a safari!

I loved this shot with this CM, it's fun when they are willing participants in pictures. Unfortunately this was a snapchat that I was doing with my other daughter and the only picture I had with him.

Our guide was very informative but not very entertaining.

This is what happens when you enter your mid forties and trying to take pictures without wearing your readers. I was aiming my phone where I thought the giraffe was and got this shot.

Road block

Ahhh That's better

Another road block

We used our next FP and rode EE and took a spin on Primeval Whirl, looked for a dino on Dinosaur and even rode the spinning dinosaurs.

It was getting to be lunchtime and we were hungry and hot. We decided to have some of the best pizza on property, Pizzafari, it almost ties with II Mulino @wdisney9000 We were thinking of mobile ordering but it wasn't busy so just ordered at the register.

 

[Zipadeelady]

We took our time eating and luckily my stomach was doing ok again. We wanted to do one more thing before headed back for a break. After some discussion we settled on the Finding Nemo Musical.

I really enjoyed this musical. The costumes are so neat and the work that these actors have to do during the show is unbelievable.

We headed for the busses and what is this.... Shirley status!! @Tuvalu i thought of you and had to take a picture immediately.

I headed to the pool for a quick dip while C chilled out in the room.

 

[Zipadeelady]

We arrived back at AK after our midday break and it was like deja vu as we headed back to Pandora. It was time for our FOP FP. C didn't do any research on FOP and was very confused as we sat on our banshee. I tried to explain a little bit without giving it away. She thought the little screens in front of us was the screen we would see. After getting off she declared that it was awesome but confessed she thought it was an actual roller coaster before we got on.

It was dinner time and we had been looking forward to trying Satu'li Canteen. Oddly enough I didn't have to use mobile ordering here either, it was very empty. I ordered the beef with hash and C got the tofu with rice. We both got the herb dressing.

I normally choose chicken but so glad I went with the beef. It was soooo good. My belly was happy (for once). C liked her tofu and thought the rice was ok. I gave her a portion of my hash which she said was much better than the rice. During our dinner we talked with a young boy and her mom. They just recently moved to Florida and he's been helping her around the yard and house so she brought him to AK for the day. After our chat C had to cross off another item from her list of musts.... the Night Blossom. No picture but she really liked it.
Again we chose to walk the bridge to Africa.

Very pretty and so quiet compared to the rest of the park. We headed towards Gorilla Falls Trail and I was surprised at how quiet it was, so surprised I had to take a picture. When J and I was there last fall it was wall to wall people and hard to enjoy.

I have a picture of C when she was six standing in front of these fish so I made her pose for me again.

I love hippos but I never can get a good shot of them.

Do you remember in Mulan when Ling, Po and Yau (I'm pretty sure that's who they were) were skinning dipping and playing king of the rock. That's what this little guy made me think of.

 

[TheMouseFan]

At least you got the giraffe's head in the picture! You should have just said you were photographing the tree and the giraffe head was a bonus!! It really stinks getting older, doesn't it!?!

 

[Zipadeelady]

One more post before we end the night at AK.
We enjoyed Tough to be a Bug, always forget about that stinger in the back of the seat.

As were walking around I'm very tired and think maybe I'll break a rule and have a drink. I try talking C into going to Nomad but C wins and we head over to Dinosaur Look at those bags under my eyes. I sure could've used a Lamu Libation.

While entering Dinosaur the FP line was closed, yes closed. It takes us about 10 minutes to actually enter the building in standby. As we enter there was a man on a stretcher being tended to by EMS workers. (he seems ok) but they are blocking the FP line. But what is puzzling is that Disney chose to make all the FP people wait outside in the sun and continue to let standby people enter. I would've thought they would stop standby and let the FP go through that line since their line is blocked. What was even more baffling is that the FP people chose to wait when standby was less than 15 min. So C and I made it all the way to where the FP and standby line meet before going into the show when we finally saw the first of the FP entering and the CM was telling us all to GO GO GO before all the FP'ers came in. Loves those CM's!

After our hunt for a dino we walk back to Asia for another ride on EE only to find out it's down.

We decided to go find a seat for ROL. Again I really enjoy this show, I would've enjoyed it more if the lady sitting in front of me hadn't been trying to record it on her tiny phone and keep lifting it up into my line of sight. She was all over the place, I would probably puke if I tried to watch the playback of it.

After ROL we tried EE again. Yea!! It's up and C is working on her Disney skills. She's hoping to do the College Program.

Let's try this with a smile.

After our Yeti experience it was time for a must for me @Longers.

After EE C and I walked back through Asia and Africa. It was amazing, there was no one. I would've walked slower if I could. It was so peaceful.

Until.... this lady was sitting in an area behind the Tree of Life, I went down there to see some of Awakenings. If @lostpro9het and @imahistorygeek thought there foot lady was disgusting, I was appalled.

She had her whole leg with shoe on on top of the table, where people eat! I took a picture and told C lets keep moving.

We made it to Africa and once again walked on the bridge to Pandora, which is where everyone was hiding. No wonder our walk was so empty, everyone was in pandora. We looked at the lights and kept moving. We watched some more of Awakenings and headed out for the night. It was another great day!!

 

[Zipadeelady]

At least you got the giraffe's head in the picture! You should have just said you were photographing the tree and the giraffe head was a bonus!! It really stinks getting older, doesn't it!?!

Yes it does!

 

[fractal]

Yes!

Yacht Club smell
Pandora
Flight of Passage
Satu'li Canteen
Photographing the Safari


No!

People blocking your view by holding up phone/ipad.
Using dining table as a foot rest.