Trip Report THE ONE FOR THE SALTY 16 (and Thanksgiving🍕)*COMPLETE*

Hello again.
It’s me, Darstarr
This latest episode stars the family!
My husband-Ant
Oldest son-X
Middle son and bday boy-AJ
And the youngest son-Dre

November 26-December 1
At.....wait for it...
All Star Sports!

Collective gasp
“But Darstarr, you’re DVC.”
Yes I am DVC and we (I) have made good use out of it this year. However, when I went to book this trip there was nothing available. Nothing!!! OK, nothing in my point range. My boys are big and they hate sharing beds and someone always ends up on the floor. One time my youngest slept on the dining table banquet rather than share the pullout with his brother. It’s vacation, no one should have to sleep on the floor. We didn’t have enough points left for a two bedroom so I began looking around for a room. I found a room at Riverside that slept 5 for about $250/night. We have done the 5 in a room thing there when the kids were smaller and it was cramped. I was not looking forward to that. Then passholder discounts came out and I got two rooms (TWO) at the original A.S.S. for less than the one room at Riverside. 4 beds and 2 bathrooms!!! SOLD!!!


Lets get to it!

Day one- November 26th
The day started like every other school day except it was AJ’s 16th birthday so he opened presents before leaving for school.

“Mom will you pack my new shirt?”

I was suppose to work this day but I had worked the previous Friday, which is usually my day off, so my boss told me to take the day off. Yay! More time to clean the house.

The five of us were flying down on jet blue from JFK. Four of us were returning to ISP on Southwest. Ant took the dog to his father’s then took his car to ISP so it would be there when we landed on the 2nd. (we have a free resident parking sticker).

We debated taking the train to JFK but it was way cheaper to hire a car. The kids got gome from school about 2:15, “the car is here!”
What???
The car wasn't suppose to come until 3:00. Ant was like “lets go”. I was like “dont rush me because if you rush me and I forget something you will be sorry besides he is 45 minutes early so he can wait”. And yes, I said it just like that, as one long run on sentence.
We left at 2:30. I didnt forget a thing.

 

[Darstarr]

We sat in the back row for handicap when we were there, and got misted... how wet do you get in the front row?

Did I answer your question?

 

[Darstarr]

Thursday November 28th
AKA THANKSGIVING!!!!
(And my niece’s 21st bday)

We slept until 8:30
The boys could give thanks for that
We were splitting up this morning. While in the planning stage I asked AJ if there was anything special he wanted to do for his birthday.
AJ: “I want to do the Africa Trek.”
Me: $$$$$
Then I thought he doesnt know what the Africa Trek is. He isn't on the boards. I can get around this.
Me: “Ooooh. That sounds fun. There is a nice one with the elephants () or one with the rhinos ().”
AJ: “No, the one where they take you out in the truck.”
Me: “That one leaves very early and we are not staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge.”
AJ: “Not the one at the resort. The one at Animal Kingdom where you walk over the animals on the rope bridges.”
Me:

I knew Ant and X would rather fish and there was a DVC bass competition so I entered them in that. Dre was on the fence.

This is Dre’s thought process:
=$
=$$$$$$

Which do you think he chose??

Ant and X left a few minutes before us. They were catching a bus to MK then walking to the Contemporary marina where they would be given a continental breakfast before boarding the boats for the Bass tournament. More on them later.

AJ, Dre and I headed to the food court to make our breakfast.

Some Sports photos in the light of day.


Going down the stairs.

So clean.

This was our room. Top floor. Corner and the one next to the corner. Very quiet location.

Walking towards the pool then onto the front building with the cafe, buses, front desk and gift shop.

Breakfast is served.

This is a good time to point out Dre’s shirt. I bought and packed the boys some new shirts and shorts but somehow they always revert to their old comfy stuff. For example, I bought AJ a disney “best birthday ever” shirt that he picked out online. He never wore it once. Instead he wore the Pluto shirt I got him every single day-usually over a short sleeve. Sometimes not. He was not in my room so I could not intervene. As long as he did not smell I let it go. I tried to do my best Elsa, and let a lot of the little things go.

 

[Darstarr]

Thanksgiving cont

We boarded a bus to AK. We arrived just after 10:00.

FoP at 240 minutes. Who? Why? And on Thanksgiving???

We started with some shopping. My boys are not shoppers but Dre had his eye on a sweatshirt and we had an hour and a half before trek time.

I bought none of the above.

Here is the coveted sweatshirt we could not find in his size the day before.

Purchase made.

We headed to Dino as it was suppose to be 20 minutes.

Happy Thanksgiving Kevin!!!

These were some festive lights.

It was 20 minutes. Everyone must have been at FoP!

Dino done I thought it would be a good idea to eat before the Trek. They do feed you but that would not be for awhile and I knew the boys would not be huge fans of the food.

 

[Darstarr]

Thanksgiving cont

Mobile order!
Chix nuggets for the boys and for me:

Mac n cheese and pulled pork from flame tree bbq.
At some point we stopped for these.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Full send? My little brother seems to be all about that now as well. Kids these days.

 

[Darstarr]

Thanksgiving and the Trek

We checked in then used the restroom. We were warned it would be awhile before we could stop and use one. (Thats why I skipped the beer with the mac n cheese).

When you check in they give you a locker. You are told not to bring your phone, that they have a photographer taking pictures and if there is a shot you want just ask. This is not 100% true. At one point we were gathering to go to the next stop and we observed one of those large white craney looking birds and it had caught a mouse. It was trying desperately to swallow it but couldn't. I asked three times for our guide to take a picture but she didn't. Maybe a wild bird eating a wild mouse is not very Disney???

Anyhow, my suggestion, for anyone planning on doing the Africa trek is to keep your phone. As long as it has a case they can secure it to you.

We got geared up. They checked and rechecked our harnesses. “Are you getting a wedgie? Yes? Then it is on correctly!”

The rest of these photos come from the trek photographer. Photos are included but do not show in photopass. Instead they give you a code and a website and you can download them. You are also given a waterbottle that they clip onto you with a carabiner. And if you want they will give you something to secure your glasses (recommended).

Group shot as we were leaving.

There was a man there with his (older) parents and he was special needs.
My first thought from the Mom on Thanksgiving, oh how nice the family is doing this together.
My next thought from someone who had just spent a small fortune on the trek, he better not slow us down.
My next thought from the conniving side of me, oooh if he does slow us down that means more time on the trek!
And back to the mom in me, I love that they are together. I love that they are doing this together. Those parents are getting older. Who will care for him when they are gone? Oh my gawd! Who will take care of him?
Cue tear trickle...

The man was a trooper gearing up and going through the check and recheck but when it came time to leave the hut he did not want to.
The rest of the group made our way out slowly and stopped to look at the Okapi. I think we were just killing time to see if the man would join/catch up to us.

I forgot to mention we had ear pieces so our guides, Alexa and Daniel didnt have to scream for us to hear them. Screaming is soooo unDisney like.

Then we stopped to check out this bird.

I still think they were stalling but what a gorgeous bird!!!

Pretty soon we were full steam ahead. The man and his mother were MIA but the father was with us.

Onward.

 

[Darstarr]

Thanksgiving Trek cont

First stop
Hippos. This is a father and son pair. Usually males dont do well together but the son was completely submissive so the father allowed him to hang.
There was a guide there who was the hippo expert. She fed them, told us about them and answered our questions.

See the ducks? They hang out close to the hippos to eat with them. Hippos dont eat meat so the ducks are perfectly safe.

They were feeding them romaine lettuce.

We were attached to a safety wire by a safety lead attached to our safety vests. Are you sensing a pattern here???

It looks like he is smiling

 

[Nunu]

Oh! I see many smiles on AJ and Dre's faces! , remember those, when thinking about the price of the Tour. So worth it, right?

And about Dre's t-shirts:
JC doesn't wear anything Disney, and he already told me he will only take his old shirts if we go to WDW together, next June. He says he doesn't want to "ruin" the nice ones he has, ugh!
I'll try to convince him into buying a couple of Disney t-shirts.

I love that your boys, all wear Disney themed clothes!

 

[Darstarr]

Full send? My little brother seems to be all about that now as well. Kids these days.

You said it!!!

 

[Darstarr]

Oh! I see many smiles on AJ and Dre's faces! , remember those, when thinking about the price of the Tour. So worth it, right?

And about Dre's t-shirts:
JC doesn't wear anything Disney, and he already told me he will only take his old shirts if we go to WDW together, next June. He says he doesn't want to "ruin" the nice ones he has, ugh!
I'll try to convince him into buying a couple of Disney t-shirts.

I love that your boys, all wear Disney themed clothes!

I try. I even put the new clothes in their suitcases....never to be seen again.

 

[Darstarr]

Thanksgiving Trek cont

Keep in mind, these are pictures taken with a good camera and not by me, thus, the high quality.

Next it was time to see the ladies.
This is the hippo pool for the females. This is the one we crossed over. One at a time and attached to a safety wire.

 

[Darstarr]

Thanksgiving cont

 

[Darstarr]

Thanksgiving cont

I forgot to mention, before we crossed the first bridge, they had us take off our name tags and put them in a velcro secured pocket on our vest. Unless you had your phone in your pocket, which sadly, I did not. If you had a phone then Alexa collected your name tag and put them in her secured bag. This is for the safety of the animals below.

Next we crossed the rope bridge over the crocodiles. They were massive and awesome!

Some of the crocs were missing feet or parts of their tails. It amazes me that this many top if the food chain predators can coexist with relative peace.

This one is missing his “hand”.

Crocodiles have to be one of my favorite animals. All the credit goes to the late Steve Irwin for that. I feel so humbled by these dinosaurs!
We stayed here for awhile asking questions and watching the crocs. They don't move much but I could have stayed longer.

On a side note. I had trouble asking our guide, Alexa, questions....
“Alexa, how old do the crocodiles live?”
“Alexa, is one more dominant then the others?”
“Hey Alexa....”

Poor girl. She must get that a lot

 

[Darstarr]

Thanksgiving cont

Then we were met by a safari vehicle. And there were the man from earlier and his Mother. He was holding onto a guide in the back of the brand spanking new vehicle.

Soooooo, looks like Disney gave this special needs man and his Mom a private safari until we all were reunited. And boy did he love his own personal safari guide! He did not want to let go of her but she had to leave.
I think I was shocked or suprised at first to see them pull up, but its Disney and they did not disappoint. Not my family, has no affect on me and mine whatsoever. But boy did this make me happy. Good job AK Africa Trek staff!!!!

First stop was the painted dogs.

Alexa and Daniel told us that the painted dogs share the exhibit with the hyenas. They take turns being out on the exhibit. I never realized that but yes! Makes total sense!!!

Then we were surrounded by giraffes. 3 or 4 were loitering near the gate that goes back to their night barn.

This guy cracked me up. He just stood like this. We were there for several minutes and he never moved. Giraffes are known to be skittish but I guess the oncoming safari vehicles did not bother him. Daniel joked he was paid by Disney and earning his keep.

These are two near the barn “door”.

 

[Darstarr]

Thanksgiving cont

Here come the elephants!!!
“Hey Alexa! Try to photograph one with its trunk up!”
I cant

 

[Darstarr]

Thanksgiving cont

Then it was lunch time. We made our way past the flamingos up to the Boma.
And most importantly, to the restroom!!!!

Did you know flamingo island is a hidden Mickey???

I loved the food! I had requested no seafood because I knew the boys wouldnt like seafood. I do not remember everything and I didnt have my phone to take pictures. (“Hey Alexa! Take a picture of my lunch!”)

Lunch consisted of a large round tin, with six smaller tins inside each filled with a small amount (4-6 bites) of food. There was hummus that was so good and little tiny pita breads. Curry chicken salad. Fruit salad. A power grain salad they substitute for fish. Tabouleh. I might be missing something. I didnt love the chix salad but loved everything else. Daniel said he wouldnt judge us if we licked the hummus containers. I thought about it.
Dre liked most if the items. AJ ate all our fruit and something else, the power salad maybe?? Anyhow, lunch, for me was amazing!!!

 

[Swissmiss]

I have a niece who turned 21 on Thanksgiving as well

 

[krisri18]

Thinking of you @Darstarr !

 

[k8einwdw]

Poor Alexa

 

[Rista1313]

Did I answer your question?