A Savanna, A Wizard, and Oodles of Food - AKL/DxDP/WWoHP (COMPLETE!)

[Joyciemc]

I just read your whole TR, and loved it! Can't believe I never found it before!

Though I have to ask you to stop talking about Disney so much, because I'm going there in a few months, and you talking about it is going to ruin my trip. (You might not remember the beginning of your report, since you wrote it like two years ago , but I just read it so it is fresh in my brain cells) Seriously, that lady sounded cray-cray.


Reading about all of your meals has made me 1) hungry and 2) check to see if I can add any meals to my Feb. trip (Specifically, Rose & Crown)

Can't wait for the rest!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Hi Jenny! I'm super late to your trip report, but I love it! I stayed up all night reading it

I'm considering Animal Kingdom Lodge for my next trip, so thank you for the photo tour it looks amazing!

I also love Harry Potter and... I'm a big Universal Studios fan !! You are right though, the popcorn is NOT Disney popcorn..!

Aww I love the It's Tough To Be A Bug pictures! It was closed for refurb on my recent trip. A photo in the bug glasses is always necessary!! And Finding Nemo the musical is one of my top WDW shows.. You've made me want to go watch it on YouTube

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Hahaha, I still get thrown about "stopping for a fastpass". It's like going back in time.

Oh sweet. A moving Lion!!!! Yea, that is rare. Hearing him roar would have really got me.

I always try to do the Safari as early as possible for the exact reasons you mention. But that darned Everest won't let me.

Hmmmm, your experience on Primeval Whirl is odd. I wonder if your vehicle just sucked, because the spinning is the main element I think. I can't ride it without giggling like a 2 year old.

Awww you two make adorable bugs.

Hey, I like to be old school.

That lion was AWESOME! It was such a fantastic safari - what a treat! That safari cemented that the early morning is best - I think the animals are a bit more lethargic once it gets hot. I know I am!

Perhaps I should give it another try? Anika had been on it on a previous trip and remembered that it was pretty fun. If this Fastpass+ thing doesn't make the lines too long, perhaps we'll give it a shot next time.

Thanks! I'm not a big fan of bugs (although Anika is terrified of them!), but we'll gladly don some fun buggy glasses!

I just read your whole TR, and loved it! Can't believe I never found it before!

Though I have to ask you to stop talking about Disney so much, because I'm going there in a few months, and you talking about it is going to ruin my trip. (You might not remember the beginning of your report, since you wrote it like two years ago , but I just read it so it is fresh in my brain cells) Seriously, that lady sounded cray-cray.


Reading about all of your meals has made me 1) hungry and 2) check to see if I can add any meals to my Feb. trip (Specifically, Rose & Crown)

Can't wait for the rest!

Thanks so much for coming over! It's crazy I'm still working on this thing, but we had such a great time that I still want to capture the memories (while I still remember most of them!).

That lady was something else. I was so flabbergasted by her that I didn't even have a good retort. I'm nice, mind you, but I also tend to be a bit feisty. I think it says a lot that I had NO RESPONSE to her because I was so taken off guard to her wacky freak-out moment. (Plus, it's not as though the child didn't know where the plane was going - the welcome greeting from the flight attendant was "Welcome to your flight to Orlando, or for the kids on board, DISNEY WORLD!") People are CRAZY.

Yes, I often find reports that make me hungry! I highly recommend the Rose and Crown - it was very tasty! I especially recommend their desserts, as that Sticky Toffee Pudding was AWESOME. Another Epcot favorite we found on our last trip (which I plan to write about, but may not get to this meal before your next trip) was La Hacienda de San Angel. We made a same-day ADR, and were surprised how much we loved the restaurant. I had the corn soup and the taco trio, while Anika had a chicken dish. I had their corn ice cream for dessert (which sounds totally bizarre but tasted AMAZING due to some random spice they sprinkled on it). I highly recommend that one, too!

Hi Jenny! I'm super late to your trip report, but I love it! I stayed up all night reading it

I'm considering Animal Kingdom Lodge for my next trip, so thank you for the photo tour it looks amazing!

I also love Harry Potter and... I'm a big Universal Studios fan !! You are right though, the popcorn is NOT Disney popcorn..!

Aww I love the It's Tough To Be A Bug pictures! It was closed for refurb on my recent trip. A photo in the bug glasses is always necessary!! And Finding Nemo the musical is one of my top WDW shows.. You've made me want to go watch it on YouTube

Can't wait to hear more!

Don't worry, Katie, you're not late at all! Thanks so much for joining in!!

I LOVED the Animal Kingdom Lodge! The resort is just beautiful, and I loved wandering around and looking at the art, the architecture, and, of course, the animals! They also have some pretty fantastic dining options. I'd love to stay there again (but I have so many other resorts to try!).

I'm a big ITTBAB fan! It's too bad it was closed during your last trip. I still remember the first time I went to that attraction and the bugs "exited" the theatre before us - it was unexpected and crazy, but great!

Although I haven't gotten to the other AK show yet, I think Finding Nemo was my favorite. It was such a beautiful show to watch - so much color and movement, plus lots of great songs!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

For the Love of Pot Stickers
Day 6 - Part IV

After a short stroll we came upon our lunch destination:




To be honest, we chose Yak and Yeti by default as Animal Kingdom isn't exactly dripping with dining options. With this crazy deluxe dining plan we knew we wanted a table service meal. We'd been to Tusker House for breakfast and I've never been enamored with the Rainforest Café, so lunch in Asia it is!

We only had a short wait before we were seated in the "porch" area at the front of the restaurant:




It was a really nice spot! You were able to walk through the restaurant to see all of the theming and the treasures, but the porch area was bright and cheerful with a view of Asia. I'm not sure I'd like the porch as much during the hot summer months (as I don't know if those windows would hold the air conditioning), but it was a great place in February!

Stepping away from my usual iced tea, I ordered a specialty drink for my beverage:




This is a Berry Cherry Limeade, which is cherry and lime juices with Sprite. It was a nice departure and quite tasty!

Anika, of course, got her usual water.

For appetizers, we did an 'Ohana do-over, Animal Kingdom style. I ordered the Thai Chili Chicken Wings:




Anika ordered her new favorite thing, the Pork Pot Stickers:




I don't believe Anika had ever tried a pot sticker prior to this trip to Walt Disney World, but she was pretty willing to try anything on the trip. She ate pot sticker after pot sticker at 'Ohana and LOVED them. She also proclaimed her love for the Yak and Yeti pot stickers - I believe she let me try one bite? (That was one bite, not one pot sticker!). My wings were also very tasty - not very spicy at all (which is the way I like them!) but with lots of flavor. Two thumbs up for the appetizers!

For the main course, I ordered the Shaoxing Steak and Shrimp, which comes with jasmine rice, stir-fried vegetables, and chili plum dipping sauce:




Anika ordered the Lo Mein with chicken:




This meal is one I remember that that darn deluxe dining plan really hit me. My steak had a great flavor and the tempura shrimp were perfect, but I barely made a dent in the plate. My sister also had a hard time eating her very tasty lo mein - as is usual with a plate of noodles, she ate and ate and you could barely tell she'd eaten a thing!

Of course, even though we were very full, dessert was a must!

I tried the famous Fried Wontons, filled with cream cheese and accompanied by fresh pineapple and vanilla ice cream with a honey drizzle:




Anika ordered the Mango Pie, which comes with mango and raspberry sauces:




Both desserts were a hit! Anika LOVED her pie (it was the closest thing to cheesecake on the menu) and I thought the wontons were pretty tasty. I think I was so full that I didn't enjoy them as much as I might have, but I was definitely willing to order them again. (In fact, I have!)

Our waitress at Yak and Yeti was great. Anika had not used her drink allowance on the meal, and the server was very enthusiastic to make sure we got everything out of our dining plan. Anika was not interested in a drink with her dessert or anything to go, so the waitress gave me an iced tea in a to-go cup. It was very tasty and much appreciated!

I had to capture a picture of the Buddha before we headed back into the park:




Final Thoughts -– Yak and Yeti
This is a great table service choice! I know many people love the quick service option of the same name (and I’m sure it’s great, too!), but Anika and I really loved the restaurant. All of our food was very tasty, the drink options were fun, and our server was fabulous! This is a wonderful choice to escape the crowds for an hour and enjoy a really nice meal. Even if there were multiple restaurant options available at Animal Kingdom, I believe this spot would still end up on the short list!


Up Next: Trails and Another Show at Animal Kingdom

 

[BennyFedora]

Just joining in!

I know it's been infinity days since your trip, so good job on keeping with it!

AKL is a beautiful resort--though Disney does a great job with all of them! Not sure if you read Joyce's TR when we stayed at AKL, but we had a fantastic view...
Her name was definitely Mary. The trip report! (Day 1: Did I just say donut? Part 3)
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=41144886&postcount=45

You've piqued my interest on Cirque du Soleil, La Nouba. I've never been a "show" person, but it's always fun to try new (to us) stuff at Disney. I saw you mentioned Behind the Seeds, and I'd definitely recommend it! We've done most of the backstage tours and it's amazing to get to pull back the curtain on the magic. I think they do a good job of not taking away the magic, but really showing how impressive Disney is at what they do.

Side note, I never realized that you can see ToT behind Morocco! It makes sense because those parts of the parks are so close in the "real world", but your brain only picks up what Disney wants you to see. The backstage tours really point out and stress line of sight, forced perspective, and drawing your attention where they want it.

Double-side note, have you ever looked at WDW on Google Maps? It's interesting to see where everything really is when you're not immersed in it.

Keep up the good work, and I look forward to reading about your more recent trip sometime in 2016

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I've never really thought about it before but you're right. There aren't a lot of "Deluxe" dining options in AK. Yak & Yeti does seem popular though, but then again, not a lot of choices.

The food does look tasty though.

I am one who enjoys the QS option, but the dine in always looks pretty good too.

 

[Joyciemc]

We're trying Yak & Yeti for the first time in February, and I'm really looking forward to it. Even more so now that I've read your review!

The Deluxe Dining Plan really does seem to be an incredibly amount of food. I am thoroughly impressed that you and Anika are still functioning at this point in the trip!

 

[vleeth]

Have you ever tried Yak & Yeti cs? I haven't even considered going to the TS because we really didn't like the cs.

Pot stickers, who knew? At least you got a bite!

 

[WDWaddictt]

Yak & Yeti is great! We loved it!

I also had the Lo Main but when I was finished it looked like I was sending back just as much that came. A lot of food... but yummy! I wasn't too sure on the fried wontons, it was good but I am not a huge fan of cream cheese. I would probably try something else when we go again.

I would definitely go back.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Just joining in!

I know it's been infinity days since your trip, so good job on keeping with it!

AKL is a beautiful resort--though Disney does a great job with all of them! Not sure if you read Joyce's TR when we stayed at AKL, but we had a fantastic view...
Her name was definitely Mary. The trip report! (Day 1: Did I just say donut? Part 3)
http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=41144886&postcount=45

You've piqued my interest on Cirque du Soleil, La Nouba. I've never been a "show" person, but it's always fun to try new (to us) stuff at Disney. I saw you mentioned Behind the Seeds, and I'd definitely recommend it! We've done most of the backstage tours and it's amazing to get to pull back the curtain on the magic. I think they do a good job of not taking away the magic, but really showing how impressive Disney is at what they do.

Side note, I never realized that you can see ToT behind Morocco! It makes sense because those parts of the parks are so close in the "real world", but your brain only picks up what Disney wants you to see. The backstage tours really point out and stress line of sight, forced perspective, and drawing your attention where they want it.

Double-side note, have you ever looked at WDW on Google Maps? It's interesting to see where everything really is when you're not immersed in it.

Keep up the good work, and I look forward to reading about your more recent trip sometime in 2016

Thanks for joining in, Ben!

I ADORED the AKL. I'd love to stay there again - but there are so many resorts where I haven't stayed yet!

Cirque du Soleil was INCREDIBLE and I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend it! It was a decent chunk of change for a single show, but I think the cost is pretty comparable to any Cirque show. It was so well done and we both thought it was fabulous.

It's amazing what you can see when you're not surrounded by crowds of people! As for Google Maps - absolutely! What's really sad is when I load my Google Earth app it goes immediately to... Disney World. I may look it up a bit too often...

I know, right? I'm trying very, very hard to be more up-to-date.

I've never really thought about it before but you're right. There aren't a lot of "Deluxe" dining options in AK. Yak & Yeti does seem popular though, but then again, not a lot of choices.

The food does look tasty though.

I am one who enjoys the QS option, but the dine in always looks pretty good too.

Yak and Yeti was pretty tasty. I think what I appreciated most about the restaurant versus the quick service is the indoor seating with air conditioning! That was even more appreciated during our May trip!

We're trying Yak & Yeti for the first time in February, and I'm really looking forward to it. Even more so now that I've read your review!

The Deluxe Dining Plan really does seem to be an incredibly amount of food. I am thoroughly impressed that you and Anika are still functioning at this point in the trip!

You'll love it! (At least, I think you will!) Anika and I both think Y&Y is great, and it would likely make the "must eat" list even if there were more options available.

That Deluxe Dining plan is CRAZY. We really enjoyed trying all the restaurants, but I felt really bad wasting food. We're not very big people - our stomachs only have so much room! I think we did pretty well, considering!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Have you ever tried Yak & Yeti cs? I haven't even considered going to the TS because we really didn't like the cs.

Pot stickers, who knew? At least you got a bite!

I haven't, at least from what I remember. One advantage that may exist with the restaurant versus the quick service is the food may be prepared to order (while the quick service may have more prepared in advance in order to make it "quicker"). I suppose certain items wouldn't be as tasty if they weren't fresh.

She LOVED those darn things. She felt quite generous giving me that single bite!

Yak & Yeti is great! We loved it!

I also had the Lo Main but when I was finished it looked like I was sending back just as much that came. A lot of food... but yummy! I wasn't too sure on the fried wontons, it was good but I am not a huge fan of cream cheese. I would probably try something else when we go again.

I would definitely go back.

I feel like any Lo Mein dish tends to be a large amount, but the portion at Yak and Yeti is crazy! I thought the Fried Wontons were okay, but they weren't my favorite dessert of the week.

Y&Y is must do for us. I don't think Anika would forgive me if we didn't have an ADR for that restaurant.

 

[thornton0511]

I am way overdue on subbing to this thread I am excited to read about your adventure with your sis....and besides better late than never right?!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I am way overdue on subbing to this thread I am excited to read about your adventure with your sis....and besides better late than never right?!

You're certainly not late - I'm WAY overdue on finishing this! I'm thrilled you stopped by, however, and will have a few more chapters up this evening!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

Yikes, these new boards! I'm having a few picture posting issues - I'll have a post up once I figure out my problem.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

A Festival and a Few More Expeditions
Day 6 - Part V

Alright, folks, it’s time to get serious… this trip report has been going on for two years – it’s time to get this puppy wrapped up! I’d like to start a Pre-Trip Report for my fabulous vacation that I have planned for May, but there will be none of that until this one is done! Let’s see how many chapters I can crank out this weekend…

(As a side note, did anyone else have to go through reports from the old site and fix punctuation issues? Perhaps it’s because I type my chapters elsewhere and import them, but I just spent several hours “fixing” things from earlier chapters. I didn’t want people to think I didn’t know how to properly use apostrophes and hyphens!)

Now back to our regularly scheduled trip report…

With our stomachs bursting from lunch, we decided a “low-key” attraction was in order:

I LOVE these trails in Animal Kingdom! As long as it’s not too hot, it’s so nice to wander along at your own pace and watch the animals!

We saw spotted several good animals, including the Komodo Dragon:

Our friends, the bats:

And one of our favorites on this trail, the tigers!

I just love watching the tigers – they remind me a lot of my parent’s dog, who’s a Goodendoodle. He sometimes sleeps just like that tiger, with his legs stretched right in front of him!

Along with animal-watching, I just love how well they designed these trails:

Beautiful!

Once we finished the trail, we had to stop by and watch the monkeys for a bit:

No matter how old you get, watching a bunch of crazy monkeys never gets old!

As our stomachs had settled (and we were there anyway), it was time for another run on our favorite Animal Kingdom mountain:

I was pretty proud of the shot I got of the Yeti shadow this time!

Here’s Anika posing with a much friendlier-looking Yeti:

Alas, she didn’t bring him home this trip, but I may have bought her one during our 2013 sister adventure! He’s was just too cute not to follow us home.

I think they may have been taken a bit earlier in the day, but here are our favorite Photopass pictures from Asia:

We meandered back to Africa to take our second safari ride, and look who we ran into on the way:

Divine! What a fabulous surprise!

I love when a group of “in-the-know” people manage to spot Divine, and a bunch of other tourists walk past them confused as they can’t figure out why the foliage is so darn interesting!

(continued in next post)

 

[SimplyGoofy]

(continued from previous post)

We went on our second safari of the day (which was great, but did not beat the morning safari as there was no roaring lion! ), we ventured onto the other Animal Kingdom trail:

There were more fun animals to see on this trail, including more monkeys:

As well as the fish (and Anika, making a fish face):

We did spend a few minutes watching the meerkats. They’re just hysterical!

Up next was everyone’s favorite on the Pangani trail – the gorillas!

After a while, he’d had enough of the crowds of people staring at him, and did this:

Love it!

Another beautiful view from the trail:

A+ Disney. A+.

Our next attraction was another “never been done” show:

I was REALLY excited to see the Festival of the Lion King as so many people seem to adore it. I loved the plaque on the entrance door:

As it was so long ago, I have no idea what section we were seated in – perhaps the giraffes? I know it was an animal that we had a hard time making the sound for! Here are a few colorful pictures from the show:

I did love the animatronic characters from the movie:

What did we think? The singers and the acrobats were incredible and there certainly was a lot to see… but I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. I don’t know if we were fading a bit as it had been a long day (and a long week), but we both thought it was just okay. We enjoyed it so we’ll certainly try it again, but I don’t think it will be a must-do every trip.

We took a few more Photopass pictures on our way to and from Camp Minnie Mickey:

We also took one of my favorite Photopass pictures… our “Rawr!” picture:

The Photopass photographer (and probably Anika, as well) thought I was a little nuts when I suggested this pose. However, I’d seen it in other trip reports and REALLY wanted this picture. I’m so glad I fought for it as I love it!

Now, it was decision time. We had one more Fastpass burning a hole in our pockets for Expedition Everest, but not a lot of time. We had a fairly early dinner ADR and we probably should head out of the park… but of course, we went on Everest!

Once our final ride was done, we hustled out of the park:

Goodbye, Animal Kingdom!

We did more hustling to make it to the bus stop, and thankfully had to wait just a few minutes. We rushed back to our room, changed for dinner, and high-tailed it to our rental car to drive across property. We had dinner with a view to look forward to!

Up Next: Dinner at the California Grill

 

[SimplyGoofy]

A View of the World
Day 6 – Part VI

After sprinting out of Animal Kingdom and in and out of the Animal Kingdom Lodge, we drove toward Magic Kingdom and to our dinner destination:

The Contemporary Resort!

As we were in a hurry, I (of course) had a horrendous time finding a parking spot! We drove around for several minutes before I found a spot in the corner of the Bay Lake Tower parking lot.

We continued our hustling into the resort, and made it to the second floor reception desk:

Likely as we were running a few minutes late, we immediately rode up the special elevator to the restaurant. We were seated after just a few minutes, but we did have an opportunity to soak up the awesome views:

Here are a few views of the “old” restaurant – it’s like going back in time!

Once we were seated, my first order of business was ordering a glass of wine:

I certainly wasn’t going to visit the California Grill and not take advantage of their fabulous wine selection! I ordered a glass of the Staggs Leap Winery Viognier, an “interesting white” wine from Napa Valley that was suggested by my server. It was delicious!

We also received our bread basket and salted butter:

First up were the appetizers. Anika and I wanted to try both a flatbread and a sushi roll, so we ordered one of each and shared them.

Our sushi of choice was the Spicy Kazan Roll, with crab, shrimp, bay scallops, and tuna with fireball sauce:

Our flatbread choice (due to Anika’s reluctance to try the other three), was the Triple Cheese Flatbread, with pecorino, asiago, and provolone cheeses, along with sun-dried tomatoes and arugula pesto:

Both of these were delicious and I believe we finished both! It was impossible not to!

As we waited for our entrees, I took a few of my favorite “Are you really taking a picture of me?!” photos:

Don’t worry – she smiles, too!

(continued in next post)

 

[SimplyGoofy]

(continued from previous post)

Next, it was time for our main dishes! When we were ordering them, Anika ordered the filet, which is an odd choice for here as she usually doesn’t like steak. Remember when she ordered scallops at Yachtsman? And now she was ordering steak here? When the waiter asked how she would like the steak done she looked at me completely confused, and I told the waiter how to prepare it. Keep this in mind for later.

I ordered the Cast Iron-seared Bison, which came with truffle macaroni and cheese and Brussel sprouts:

As I mentioned, Anika chose the Oak-Fired Filet of Beef, which was drizzled with teriyaki barbeque sauce and came with buttered purple potatoes and broccolini:

Holy cow, our meals were fabulous! I really wished I’d had an extra stomach for the evening, as my bison was phenomenal and that truffle macaroni and cheese was to-die-for good. Anika ate almost ALL of her steak and even enjoyed the purple potatoes! She loves broccoli, so the broccolini was also a hit.

Although we’re always looking forward to dessert, we were REALLY looking forward to dessert here given the delicious looking desserts that had been traveling by us during the evening.

I ordered the Valrhona Chocolate Cake, which is a molten chocolate cake with white coffee ice cream:

Anika ordered Heather’s Cookie Plate, which came with a toffee bar, mocha shortbread, peanut butter and chocolate whoopee pies, and Valrhona hot chocolate:

We also each ordered a cappuccino:

My dessert was delicious – there’s a fantastic local place that serves an out-of-this-world chocolate lava cake, and I’m happy to report that this one was just as good! (I’m sure it’s fantastic when compared to most lava cakes, but my local place is hard to live up to!)

Anika ADORED her dessert, and it was her favorite of the week! Here she is devouring it:

Shortly after dessert it was time for Wishes! We took the advice I’d read on the DISboards and chose to watch from the back balcony – you are a little further over, but it was certainly a lot less crowded!

Here are a few nighttime views from the California Grill balcony:

That is one of my better shots of the fireworks. Accomplished fireworks photographer, I am not.

When it was over, we headed back into the restaurant (this gives you an idea of where we were):

When we returned to our table, we realized it had been cleared. We’d already paid our bill and finished our desserts, but we were hoping to finish our cappuccinos – alas, it was not to be!

I went back onto the balcony to take a few more pictures and soak up the view, and then we said goodbye to the Contemporary.

One funny story: on our way down on the elevator, we were with another family that must’ve been staying at the resort. The dad had a still unfinished cocktail in his hand, and the staff didn’t say one thing about it. The guy did look like a bit of a rock star though – the clothes, the hair… I don’t know how else to describe him except that he looked like a rock star. I’m guessing he was somebody famous? I have no clue who he was, but I wouldn’t imagine most regular people would be allowed to take a cocktail from the restaurant!

Our other funny story involves Anika’s dinner selection. Remember how I mentioned she doesn’t usually like steak? Well, she didn’t know she was ordering steak! She read the “filet” – and thought she was ordering fish! When the steak arrived she was taken aback, but figured she must’ve ordered it so we went ahead and ate it anyway. And she loved it!

No wonder she was so confused when they asked how she would like it prepared! As she said that night, “I didn’t know you could eat fish other than well done!” (Other than sushi, I suppose!)



Hysterical! I laughed about it for the rest of the evening, and our parents also thought it was pretty funny when I told them about it. At least Anika learned that she liked steak!

Final Thoughts – California Grill
This was, hands down, our favorite meal of the vacation! Every course was perfect and we loved every bite. Our appetizers were excellent, and both of us REALLY enjoyed our main dishes. That restaurant even managed to get Anika to order and eat steak (even if she didn’t know it upfront!). Although it was hard to top our main dishes, our desserts delivered. Anika still remembers that cookie plate and we ate there THREE YEARS AGO. This restaurant was being refurbished during our visit in 2013, so we are SUPER excited about visiting it in May!

Up Next: Another Pre-Park Opening Breakfast

 

[TheLittleKatie]

Updates!

Ugh, I had to go through and fix my punctuation too some of my posts had weird codes instead of punctuation, and other posts had no punctuation whatsoever! So I thought the exact same as you, I don't want people thinking I don't know how to use an apostrophe!! I'm glad I only had a few days of my first TR written though, the OCD in me would've been overwhelmed if I had hundreds of posts!!!

I'm glad you got to see the Tiger, he wasn't out on our last trip. You got some great pictures on the trail, I love how you could probably convince people you were in India. No one does theming like Disney!

It sounds like Anika and I have matching Yetis ! I also bought one back in 2012

You saw Divine! I've never spotted her, but I've taken note of what you've said - next time I see a group of tourists staring into the bushes I'll pay a bit more attention!

You didn't like Festival of the Lion King?!!!! To each, their own, but I LOVE that show! Maybe give it a second chance sometime

Your meal at California Grill looks incredible!!! I know it's changed a little since then, but your report has seriously made me consider booking it for our upcoming trip! We did it back in 2012 and had an amazing meal, but we both ONLY ordered main courses.. (what were we thinking?!?!?!) I would really like to try some of those desserts!

So funny that Anika thought she was ordering fish Although "filet of beef" makes me wonder how on earth she got that mixed up...!! "I didn't know you could eat fish other than well done!" Brilliant!

Great updates, excited to hear more!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Oh lord I don't even want too think about previous chapters and reports and potential issues after the DIS change. The biggest for me was font size. But to go back and fix it, uh uh, not happening.

But also, good on you for sticking with this one Jenny. This is why I never unsubscribed. There are many that I did that went awol, but not this one because I somehow just knew you'd get 'er done. So two

Oh I agree, the trails are fantastic. I love anything in a theme park where you can go at your own pace.

Aww, seeing your Everest photopass photos makes me nostalgic. My last two trips, that area has been behind walls. But I do love that spot. Maybe they'll be down by May for you.

I often wonder if non-Disney folk just assume people are replaying the Jungle Cruise skipper's "Favourite Plants" when pointing out Divine. Spotting her is ALWAYS a cool treat.

Oh I hope you give Lion King another try, maybe earlier in the day before you wear out. I find it amazing and beautiful. But that's also what makes a Disney trip so great. Everyone has their favourites and that's ok.

That is definitely a beautiful restaurant. And wow, what a view.