We Came, We Saw, We Froze

Jambo!

The Dinosaur Institue and I welcome you to my trip report. There was one theme to this year's trip, and that was...

It was FREEZING this past week in Florida. They haven't experienced cold like this in years. And of course it starts when we arrive. But that's okay...we were in Disney World, nothing could ruin our trip! Luckily we checked weather reports before leaving and packed accordingly.

A little background on everyone. First there's my family- mom, dad, me (19), Shannon (15), and Zach (12). This is our fourth trip to Disney World. We began planning a year ago and have been anxiously awaiting the trip ever since. I think my parents were more excited than the kids were. :lol:

Then there's my best friend of 10 years, Jamie. She is a part of the family, so of course she had to come along! This was her first trip to the World and couldn't wait.

I think that's all. Arrival day coming up next!

 

[Uponastar]

Love the snowman pics!
And the jumping girlies!
And the Brady Bunch on the stairs!
And the Singin' in the Rain umbrella!
And...and...
I want more!

 

[Nicole220]

While walking around we noticed a group of new Cast Members getting initiated, or something like that.

Lunch was at Seasons in the Land. I got the chicken and mashed potatoes. Meh. It was okay. We also used our Soarin' fastpasses while we were there.

Next was Test Track, again.

The Cast Member told us that we were an adorable family. She just had to take a picture of us. :lol:

 

[Nicole220]

World Showcase time!

Representing the country below our Cali home

Am I 21 yet?

We rode Malestrom for the first time. It goes backwards?! Didn't see that coming! And we all thought we were going down the drop backwards. Scary ride...

 

[Nicole220]

Marie was out and I about freaked out. I've always wanted to meet her. Marie is my middle name, so I've always felt this connection with her. :lol: She was too cute for words!

Aurora was across the way, so we visited her as well.

 

[mousefan1972]

Nicole, I am loving your TR! Your pics are great. The Beach Club room looks very nice. What did you like/not like about it? (Other than liking AKL better) :lol:

And the CM is right... you and your family are too freaking cute for words! :kiss:

 

[PotteryGal]

Your TR is absolutely fabulous, Nicole! I love all the pics and can't wait to see more!!

And you're not allowed to leave any out. :animwink:

 

[Nicole220]

The Seas was our last stop before everyone took off.

Mine!

We got there just in time for the dolphin presentation. Yay! The dolphin, Kyber, was shown an object in one window and had to find that same object in the other window. He did well for the most part. By the end I think he had enough. :lol: I was fascinated by the presentation. Before changing my major, I had full intentions of working with dolphins.

Here's a video of Kyber: http://s891.photobucket.com/albums/...e and mrs youngs/?action=view&current=207.flv

After that, Jamie and I decided to stay for a little while longer. We walked through Innoventions and tried the Segways out for a few minutes. I really want a Segway now. They were a lot of fun!

We rode SSE to give our feet a rest before heading back to the hotel. I didn't realize how tired I was because I fell asleep till dinner time. :lol:

 

[Nicole220]

Nicole, I am loving your TR! Your pics are great. The Beach Club room looks very nice. What did you like/not like about it? (Other than liking AKL better) :lol:

And the CM is right... you and your family are too freaking cute for words! :kiss:

Thanks Kristin.

Beach Club was nice, don't get me wrong. It just didn't seem as special. I dont' know. :lol:

Your TR is absolutely fabulous, Nicole! I love all the pics and can't wait to see more!!

And you're not allowed to leave any out. :animwink:

Any? I have to include....everything? Uhh... :lookaroun



And thanks!

 

[Nicole220]

Dinner tonight was at Kouzzina and we were all looking forward to it. Jamie especially because she is a huge Iron Chef fan.

The food here was SO good. For appetizers, we all split the hummus sampler. OMG so freakin' good. All the kids got flank steak (delish!) with these potatoes that were to die for! My dad got the pork chop and my mom got the cinnamon chicken. Both said it was great. Mom, Shannon, and Zach got the chocolate cake for dessert. They made the best decision...it was chocolate heaven. I got the baklavah, which was pretty good and Jamie got the doughnuts.

We were on the dining plan again this trip. I know some people have said that the service isn't as good when you're on the plan, but we never had a bad waiter or waitress. They were fantastic and so very helpful. They made our trip even better.

And now, I present the only food pictures taken on the trip:

Aaaaaand now I'm really hungry. I miss all the delicious food. My family and I didn't enjoy dinner last night. We were so spoiled on our trip, nothing compared. Every dinner we had was excellent. We didn't eat a bad meal.

After dinner, Jamie, Shannon, and I went to Epcot to watch Illuminations.

God I love that show. It was just as good as I remember.

 

[tiaragirl]

Mmm, this is a fabuloussss TR. I live for these things.. it's so sad. I should be reading my Soc textbook hahha

 

[bobtabin]

Great Report and one week laters' weather...

GREAT report! I live 1 hour from WDW and I *loved* your trip report! Although, good thing you came a week earlier as it's been in the 20's overnight and 30's/low 40's during the day! However, this weekend is looking good for me to go back to MK as it'll in the our normal 70's for this time of the year!

 

[cdunbar]

Marie was out and I about freaked out. I've always wanted to meet her. Marie is my middle name, so I've always felt this connection with her. :lol: She was too cute for words!

Aurora was across the way, so we visited her as well.

My two favorite characters! :sohappy:

Dinner tonight was at Kouzzina and we were all looking forward to it. Jamie especially because she is a huge Iron Chef fan.

Yummy!!!:slurp:

 

[diddy_mouse]

What a lovely trip report, Nicole! It looks like all of you are having a wonderful time, oh and your pictures are fantastic!

 

[Pongo]

Any? I have to include....everything? Uhh... :lookaroun



And thanks!

That's not suspicious.

 

[HopLow]

Great trip report so far! And I have to say, I love, love LOVE your coat! Can't wait to read more! :wave:

 

[Nicole220]

Mmm, this is a fabuloussss TR. I live for these things.. it's so sad. I should be reading my Soc textbook hahha

Gah. I'm not looking forward to going back to my studies. I'm trying to get this thing done before getting back to work.

GREAT report! I live 1 hour from WDW and I *loved* your trip report! Although, good thing you came a week earlier as it's been in the 20's overnight and 30's/low 40's during the day! However, this weekend is looking good for me to go back to MK as it'll in the our normal 70's for this time of the year!

Enjoy the 70 degree weather! Wish I could've enjoyed it, too. :lol:

What a lovely trip report, Nicole! It looks like all of you are having a wonderful time, oh and your pictures are fantastic!

Thanks!

That's not suspicious.

I'm just playing along with their little game.

Great trip report so far! And I have to say, I love, love LOVE your coat! Can't wait to read more! :wave:

Why thank you! It did a good job of keeping me warm.

 

[Nicole220]

Wednesday, January 6th. Animal Kingdom.

I absolutely love Animal Kingdom. I couldn't wait. Our first stop was Everest.

Jamie was thrilled.

She held (more like squeezed the life out of) my hand the entire time and screamed bloody murder. Her reaction after it was over? "We have a fastpass for that, right?" Woohoo! She conquered her fears and ended up loving it. I'm proud of her.

 

[Nicole220]

Next up was Kilimanjaro Safari. The animals here are wimps! All we saw was a bunch of this:

Nothing. I think we saw about 5 animals. It was rather disappointing. We also tried going through the Pangani trail, but ran into the same thing. Oy. Note to self: don't go to Animal Kingdom when it's freezing out...the animals stay inside.

Then we walked over to Dinosaur, freezing our butts off. This is how my mom tried to keep warm:

We called it her babushka.

I forgot how scary it was! This is the only ride that makes me scream out of pure fear. Zach cried the last time we went on this. He did a little better this time, but still hated it as you can see. We also broke down for a few minutes in the middle of the ride. The lights came on and everything. Uhm, they should keep the lights off. It's a bunch of fake plants duct taped to the wall! :lol: Kind of kills the magic...

Lunch was at Flame Tree BBQ, a favorite from our last trip, which wasn't as good as we remembered.

While eating, we made friends with some ducks. They were inches from me. I could've touched them if I wanted to, but thought better of it.

http://s891.photobucket.com/albums/...e and mrs youngs/?action=view&current=318.flv

Apparently they like ribs. I hope it doesn't hurt them. :lookaroun

 

[ClemsonTigger]

We were planning on it! But never got around to it.

We'll just have to plan another trip so we can try it.

Besides, a Kitchen Sink looses a little of it's appeal when it is 40 degrees!

Great report Nicole! :sohappy:

 

[Nicole220]

After lunch we used our E:E fastpasses.

While walking out of the gift shop, I saw this cute little guy:

I couldn't resist that face! So he came home with me. I'd like you to meet Arnie Eddie Yeti. Or just Arnie.

The tigers were the only ones out in the Asia trail.

Mom and dad decided to ditch us, so the kids went on Primeval Whirl, Dinosaur, and played some games in Dinoland.