Heat, humidity and a great Mother/Daughter trip! A May TR **TR Update 12/10**

[afwdwfan]

A 4 hour wait for A & E after Wishes????
It doesn't surprise me, but at the same time, there is absolutely no way I'd even consider it!

Always an enjoyable meal at CP. The characters and food always seem to be great there. Too bad we won't be making it there on our next trip.

I love the castle projection show. I'm glad things worked out for you to be able to stick around and see the show and Wishes.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

A 4 hour wait for A & E after Wishes????
It doesn't surprise me, but at the same time, there is absolutely no way I'd even consider it!

Always an enjoyable meal at CP. The characters and food always seem to be great there. Too bad we won't be making it there on our next trip.

I love the castle projection show. I'm glad things worked out for you to be able to stick around and see the show and Wishes.

I'm sure the wait was still only that long because it was the 24 hour day and so the park was still packed with people. Not many guests left after Wishes like they usually would do.

I love that show too! And they seem to update it often as I usually notice at least one new scene each time I've seen it.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Just a quick update! I found and uploaded the pictures from Crystal Palace with me and the characters, so here they are!


















I'll be back soon, probably tomorrow, with another update!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY 4, FRIDAY MAY 23RD, PART 4​

Once our meeting with the princesses was over we headed back into Tomorrowland to do another attraction we hadn't gotten to yet, Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin!






The posted standby wait was 45 minutes and the line wrapped back and forth in the outside portion all the way to CoP, but it actually moved quite quickly since it's continuously loading and only took about 25 minutes in actuality. I did still have time to take pictures in line though!


















I tried to help Mom and give her tips on getting a good score, but her hand-eye coordination is not very good. You can see that there was a bit of a difference in our scores...






Mom still had fun though! Oh, and I almost forgot, I actually remembered to smile for our ride photo this time!






Next up in our plans was a visit to the Hundred Acre Woods! I don't remember how long the posted wait was, but we waited around 30 minutes to ride it. This is I believe the only interactive line that I do not like at all. Parents were letting their kids run all over the place and create havoc. The parents themselves were leaving the line to play with their kids then getting into arguments when they tried to hop back into line in the same place they left without even asking the person behind them beforehand if they were okay with that. And the family in front of us had a boy about 3-4 years old who was a brat! He kept hitting other kids and climbing on stuff he shouldn't while the parents ignored him. Finally the kid's grandmother went over and grabbed him and laid out her daughter in front of everyone for letting her kid act like that in public. A few people in line applauded her for that and the parents seemed embarrassed and made the kid stay with him the rest of the time in line. The kid was still a little bratty, complaining and whining about wanting to play, but once his Mom told him to be good or they were going home he finally quieted down. Unfortunately that wasn't until about 20 minutes into the wait so it was not a fun time in that queue.

I did take a couple of pictures while I was waiting, mostly to distract myself from that kid!












At long last Mom and I got into our pot of honey and went off on a crazy trip through The Hundred Acre Woods and Pooh's dreams!






























Sadly Pooh wouldn't share his honey at the end!

We were close by Storybook Circus, so we figured we would walk that way and see our favorite elephant, Dumbo! The wait wasn't bad at all there, only about 15 minutes.









I seem to be obsessed with the little fountains at the base of the ride, as I took a ton of pictures of them!






CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST

 

[PhoenixStrength]

More fountain pictures!


















I did take at least one picture while waiting for our turn that wasn't of the water!






Apparently I took ANOTHER fountain picture once I was in my Dumbo too!






Mom took a couple pictures of me in my Dumbo while I took a couple of her in hers!















Mom is very afraid of heights, hence why you can tell from the pictures that I was above her. She did eventually choose to go all the way up and later said it wasn't so bad and that she liked the view up there.

We both needed a bathroom break so we walked to the nearest ones, which were the ones in the circus tent. We passed the Casey Jr water area, where there were no people but the water was still going, so we tried to dodge that!






After our bathroom stop we had another character we wanted to meet. We knew we had to meet her less for us and more for my 16 year old cousin who has a big crush on her and had gone all stuttering meeting her last year! I'm sure the sea shells had nothing to do with that!






This was my least favorite queue design of the day. The Winnie the Pooh was unpleasant, but that's more due to bratty kids (and parents!) then the design. The Ariel's Grotto queue was so hot and the design trapped the humidity in there so much it was hard to breathe. Everyone in line was complaining and several people had to leave the line after a few minutes due to not being able to breathe. It wasn't that hot by then but that queue seems to trap and amplify both the heat and humidity.

Mom and I managed to tough it out though and I did enjoy the various lights they have while you wait. From sea slugs to plants and more!












Ariel herself was very sweet and talked to us for a minute before we posed for our pictures. We got a couple on my camera and then the PP ones.















Quick funny side story. So when I was showing George pictures of our trip he was shocked when he realized that Ariel really is just wearing a sea shell "bra" and not a flesh colored body suit with sea shells. He figured Disney wouldn't allow just that top. He asked if the line for pictures with her are mostly men and teenage boys.

We started to walk through New Fantasyland next. I was trying to take a picture of Beast's castle when I tripped a bit and the camera moved. I wound up liking the effect it caused though, so here it that picture!






CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST

 

[PhoenixStrength]

We looked around the shop there a bit without buying anything and considered getting a cinnamon roll at Gaston's Tavern, but we weren't that hungry so we just got a couple of pictures of his fountain and moved on. Gaston himself wasn't out so no pictures with him this trip!









It was after midnight by this time and I could tell Mom was getting pretty tired. She tried to deny it at first but when I told her I was okay with leaving then if she was, she admitted she was starting to get sleepy. We did both want to visit one more character that we absolutely had to get an autograph for in my cousin's book so we headed toward it. As we passed by the castle I took a photo of the back of it.






And we walked all the way up to here:






Tinkerbell is Kimberly's absolute favorite character ever, so there was no way I could give her an autograph book full of autographs without Tink's being in it! The wait says 35 minutes in the picture, but it couldn't have been more than 10 minutes, which was good since it was getting close to another MSEP and she would be stopping to be in it. We got our pictures with her before she had to leave and with everyone outside waiting for the parade the line was short!

While I waited for the group in front of us to finish their pictures I took a few shots of the room












Soon enough it was our time to meet with her. Since the line was short she spent extra time with us and talked to us for quite a while. The CMs took several pictures with my camera while we talked.















And 3 of us posing with my camera too, then there's the PP ones.


















When we walked out from our time with Tink there were a lot of people STILL around. Many were sitting on the curb waiting for the parade to stop while others were scurrying out to leave before the parade started. We found a photographer who didn't have a line and got one last set of pictures before we headed out.












And then we headed out of MK, saying goodbye to Cinderella's Castle!

There were only a few people waiting at the CBR bus stop, but of those people there were 4 wheelchairs/ECVs. But a cool thing is that we got one of the new extended, double buses (I can't remember what they are actually called now! ). Here are the only pictures I got of it.









By the time we got to CBR it was close to 1am so we headed right to bed.


NEXT TIME: WILD AFRICA TREK!!!

 

[KatMark]

Love your pictures from the Pooh Character Breakfast.

Nice score on Buzz.

I love the queue from Pooh, but I agree with you on the parents who allow their kids to run all over the place and get too wild with no supervision.

I take a lot of those fountain pictures at Dumbo too...must be the colors changing.

Cute pictures with Ariel.

We had that same Tink when Cayley and I stopped and she was absolutely adorable.

 

[mickeystoontown]

We've not been through the standby line at Pooh since they've redone it. Your's isn't the first story that I've heard of unruly kids (and adults too) thinking that it's okay to get out of line but then pop back in. I know that interactive lines are supposed to help keep people interested but sometimes that backfires. At least, in my opinion it does.

Lots of great pictures in this update! Thanks for keeping the tripped up picture of the castle. I like the effect too.

It's tough trying to stay in the park so very late at night or should I say morning. We tried it during the 24 hour celebration and just couldn't stay around for the entire time.

 

[ElsasMom]

Joining late. So many good pictures!

Here are my thoughts so far:

I know I'm still kind of new around here, but that was the BEST DHS TR I've read so far! It made me want to go back.
I LOVE your mom's AK shirt! "Tigger is that you?" Hilarious!! I've never eaten at TH, but it is on my bucket list. Also, You've made me realize there is not enough Daisy Duck in my life.

Can't wait to here more.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Love your pictures from the Pooh Character Breakfast.

Nice score on Buzz.

I love the queue from Pooh, but I agree with you on the parents who allow their kids to run all over the place and get too wild with no supervision.

I take a lot of those fountain pictures at Dumbo too...must be the colors changing.

Cute pictures with Ariel.

We had that same Tink when Cayley and I stopped and she was absolutely adorable.

Thanks!

I like the queue in theory, but it seems that the Pooh queue is the most abused with wild kids and parents alike.

I think the color changing draws me in too. Though I'm drawn to water pictures in general so that adds to it.

She was quite adorable! I haven't actually had a bad Tinkerbell yet though, they seem to choose the CM that is her quite well.

We've not been through the standby line at Pooh since they've redone it. Your's isn't the first story that I've heard of unruly kids (and adults too) thinking that it's okay to get out of line but then pop back in. I know that interactive lines are supposed to help keep people interested but sometimes that backfires. At least, in my opinion it does.

Lots of great pictures in this update! Thanks for keeping the tripped up picture of the castle. I like the effect too.

It's tough trying to stay in the park so very late at night or should I say morning. We tried it during the 24 hour celebration and just couldn't stay around for the entire time.

I don't mind if a kid (or adult!) gets a little into one of the games or something in an interactive line and doesn't notice the line moved for a few seconds, that's fine, I just mind the ones that are abusing it and do whatever they want.

I liked the effect too! Isn't it funny how some of the coolest pictures are completely accidental?

I remember that you guys left early from the 24 hour party last year. We knew Mom wouldn't make it all night, so we were fine with leaving a little after midnight.

Joining late. So many good pictures!

Here are my thoughts so far:

I know I'm still kind of new around here, but that was the BEST DHS TR I've read so far! It made me want to go back.
I LOVE your mom's AK shirt! "Tigger is that you?" Hilarious!! I've never eaten at TH, but it is on my bucket list. Also, You've made me realize there is not enough Daisy Duck in my life.

Can't wait to here more.

Thanks for joining in!

Aww, thanks! I really like the attractions they have at DHS, even if there aren't too many of them.

They have several variations of the Tigger is that you shirt. I actually bought Mom that shirt on a previous trip since she loves Pooh so much.

Daisy is poorly represented at WDW in some ways, but you can find her if you try!

 

[debsters41]

Wow, I find it amazing that you were able to stay on the go for so long! Kudos! We have buses like that here in Athens, but it looks so much cooler when it is headed to CBR Did you stand in the middle on the circle? (Or maybe there isn't one)

I think it is great that the photographers took so many pictures with your camera as well as the photopass photos. I am planning on buying the Memory Maker, but I am considering getting a camera of my own as well. I currently do not have one, though.

I can't imagine myself not being hungry enough for a cinnamon roll

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Wow, I find it amazing that you were able to stay on the go for so long! Kudos! We have buses like that here in Athens, but it looks so much cooler when it is headed to CBR Did you stand in the middle on the circle? (Or maybe there isn't one)

I think it is great that the photographers took so many pictures with your camera as well as the photopass photos. I am planning on buying the Memory Maker, but I am considering getting a camera of my own as well. I currently do not have one, though.

I can't imagine myself not being hungry enough for a cinnamon roll

Thanks! We didn't wind up in the middle due to it already being full there, plus my Mom's horrible balance.

I was so happy that some of the photographers took so many pictures with my camera too. They'll be another one like that soon that took a TON of pictures with my camera.

I don't know if you've ever seen the Gaston's cinnamon rolls, but there are HUGE! They are the size of a small loaf of bread and neither of us were hungry so we wouldn't have been able to eat more than a quarter of it between the two of us!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

DAY FIVE, SATURDAY MAY 24TH, PART 1​

Mom and I slept in this morning, getting up around 8:30am (yes, that's sleeping in for WDW!!!). After showers we grabbed breakfast at OPR. I once again didn't take pictures (are you sensing a theme?) but we both got a Mickey waffle with bacon, and it was quite yummy!

After breakfast we went back to our room and downloaded our pictures from the night before. We watched tv for a bit and walked to the Jamaica bus stop around 10:30am. There were a few others at the bus stop, but we were the only ones that got on the AK bus when it pulled in about 5 minutes later. We quickly went around the rest of the resort and only 2 other families got on. We did a quick stop at Blizzard Beach where one of the families got off, and then we arrived at Animal Kingdom.






There wasn't much of a line when we got to bag check, or to get in the park since it was late morning. We made our way to the ToL for a quick picture of it and then some shots with a PP.


















We walked to the left of the tree and looked in a couple of the animal exhibits. First up was the vulture and kangaroos.









And then the flamingos!












And lastly a white stork!






We had to check in for our Wild Africa Trek at 12:15pm and it was around 11:15am at that time. We knew we would get a mini-lunch during the tour but since Mom is so picky about food we thought it was a good idea to get something small to eat beforehand. Since we were walking by it we stopped in Pizzafari. I LOVE the paintings in this place. If you've never been in there you need to at least walk around and see the different rooms. I did take some pictures too. First up are a few from the room you order your food in:












We got an order of breadsticks to share and drinks. They were good and a nice quick snack before our tour. Of course I took pictures of the walls in our room that we ate in as well!






























Isn't it beautiful? And yes, there are a TON of Hidden Mickeys in those paintings!

CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Once we finished eating it was time to check in for our Wild Africa Trek tour, so we walked right there. Apparently I forgot to take any pictures on the way, as the next shots I have are after the tour started. For those that haven't taken the tour, you check in by the safari now (used to be by Tusker House until they moved FotLK) and they get you to double check your information they have on file. Then they weigh you (thankfully only you and the guide see the weight!) and get you a harness appropriate for your weight. You put all of your stuff in a locker (cameras with wrist or neck strap are allowed to stay out, but everything else MUST go in the locker) and then the guides help get you in your harness and ear piece so you can hear the guides. Once everyone in our group was ready we lined up for our group pictures. Since Mom and I both have neck straps for our cameras we got to keep ours.

Before the group shots I took a quick picture of our guides, who were both great. More is on the left and did most of the photography and Ashton is on the left and she did most of the talking.






Then we did our group pictures. First one is all of us looking nice, second is all of us being lions/lionesses with Ashton acting like a scared antelope in front!









Left to right there was a couple celebrating something (I cannot remember what right now), a Mother and daughter duo, Mom and I, another husband and wife, then a Mom with her two sons, both of which were very well behaved and hilarious the whole time!

There were lots of pictures taken by both me and the guides, so I'm not going to bother saying who took what pictures every time. If I feel the need to point it out I will, otherwise it's just a mix of both.

We went in Pagani Forest Trail first and saw the Black and White Colobus Monkeys.















And then the Okapi. The first pictures was the best I could get as the Okapi would not turn around and the other one was out of sight. As soon as the group started to move the other one came up, so Mora got the second picture of that one.









We were told some facts as we went along, but to be honest I already knew the stuff they told us at this point so I don't remember what all they said!

Next up was the aviary. Here are my pictures:


















And here are Mora's:












We walked into the hippo and fish area next, but quickly walked right through and kept going to just past the exhibit. At this point there is a gate on the left and the off-trail portion of the tour begins. You walk through a bit of a semi-trail through the trees and roots and come out above the hippos on the right side when you are on the safari. There we met the Hippo caretaker, Mel...






...and the two hippos in the enclosure, Hans and Henry.






I sorta told you about them earlier in the TR, they are the father and son that are unique since most males won't live with another male. They get along well though so we got to see them both. Oh, and the ducks that were visiting them!






I don't remember 100% which hippo is which, but I believe Henry is the Dad and Hans the son. In any case I'll call them those names with those hippos for this portion! Shortly after we walked up Henry decided to show off by swimming around, blowing bubbles and just being a ham in general.


















Yes, he is pooping and waving his tail to fling it all around in that last picture. Thankfully he was pretty far away from us at that point so none came near us! He stayed over there the rest of time time, which Mel said is typical of him.


CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST

 

[PhoenixStrength]

While Henry may have been anti-social, Hans was front and center for us the whole time. I'm going to post a picture that doesn't have the hippos in it, but you can see how we were attached to look over them and how close to the edge we could get. There was a bar behind us that our harnesses clipped into and had sliders so we could move around and still be safe.






Mel was feeding Hans while telling us about him and Henry, so I got a ton of good pictures of him while he ate his lettuce. All of the following pictures were taken by me! Ready for Hippo overload?




































Mora and Ashton got a few good pictures too, as well as one of Mom and I, so I'll post theirs now:





















After about 15 minutes there we said goodbye to Hans, Henry and Mel and unhooked from the bar that held us in place. We walked only a bit before stopping to look at a replica Hippo skull while Mora talked to us about their skulls and teeth. The first two pictures were taken by Ashton, then they are mine.


















That last rock says "Kiboko", which is Hippo in Kenyan.


NEXT TIME: RICKETY BRIDGES AND NILE CROCODILES!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Steph, the hippo pictures are sooooooo good! You could see every single detail on the hippo when the guide was feeding him. How cool! I wish that the tour wasn't so dang expensive as I'd love to do it.

 

[ElsasMom]

I'm learning so much! I'm not going to lie I spent like 20minutes finding hidden Mickeys in those awesome paintings. Thanks for posting those

Your Hippo pictures are great! Just curious where's the momma hippo? Also, I now have "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" playing on loop in my head

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Steph, the hippo pictures are sooooooo good! You could see every single detail on the hippo when the guide was feeding him. How cool! I wish that the tour wasn't so dang expensive as I'd love to do it.

Thank you! It was really cool to watch her feed him too. We did the afternoon tour, so it was $50 less per person. It is expensive, but in my mind it's so worth every penny for such a unique experience. I hope you guys can do it some trip soon.

I'm learning so much! I'm not going to lie I spent like 20minutes finding hidden Mickeys in those awesome paintings. Thanks for posting those

Your Hippo pictures are great! Just curious where's the momma hippo? Also, I now have "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" playing on loop in my head

I spend quite a bit of my meal times there forgetting to eat while I look for HMs too!

The females and males are kept separated due territorial issues. The females are in the other enclosure across the road from the males.

 

[debsters41]

This Tour looks incredible! And your pictures are amazing. I have been toying with the idea of surprising my DD with this tour. If I get some extra work I might just be able to manage it!

I am also a picky eater, so I can relate to how your mom was feeling.

Your pictures are amazing, oh wait, I said that already?

 

[KatMark]

Great update and great photos...especially the hippos.

I so want to do this next trip with Mark. He was a little leery because of his weight, but I keep telling him now that he's lost weight that he will be okay.

I can't wait to see more of it.