Showing posts with label Vacation Planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacation Planning. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Disney Trip Report: Day 3

Thanks for coming back for Day 3! I hope you have enjoyed reading about my trip as much as I have enjoyed reliving it!

For Disney Trip Report: Day 1, click here.
For Disney Trip Report: Day 2, click here.

On Day 3, our second day in the parks, we went to Animal Kingdom.

After a quick breakfast in our room, we hopped on the bus and headed to

Animal Kingdom. It was a super quick bus ride-about 5 minutes- and we were in the park!

We saw "Devine," a performance artist who stations herself in various places around the park dressed in vines.
This is Devine. She is so cool!

As soon as we walked into the main part of the park, we saw the Tree of Life. That thing is huge, y'all! The tree is so beautiful and SUCH a work of art!



We walked under the tree to "It's Tough to be a Bug," a cute show with the characters from "A Bug's Life." We really enjoyed it-it had humor and a great message!
One of the carvings from the bottom of the Tree of Life. So cool!

"It's Tough To Be A Bug" is a 3D show and they gave us these cute glasses!
Chris and Dena. 

After the show, we met up with the Altizers, who had come to the park earlier in the day. We headed to the Safari, and basically walked on. It was such a cool experience! Here are some of the pictures I took while on Safari-they dont do the experience justice, but they are still pretty cool!
How cool does Caden look after he got his face painted!
Our Safari bus!

Hippos!

This is a termite mound-so cool!

Caden was so enraptured with the animals!

A baby Giraffe!
Giraffes running. So cool!
This tree looks upside down-see the roots in the air?

Elephants! Look at the baby-so cute!
Flamingos!

Look at that gorgeous lion. He is huge!
Rhino!
From the Safari, we headed to Expedition Everest, I fun ride that has a cool twist in the middle. I wont give it away for those of you who havent ridden it, but it is so fun!
How cool is that? That is Expedition Everest, made to look like Mount Everest! 

After the ride, it was time for lunch. I had seen Yak and Yeti's on Pinterest, and knew that it was a place that I wanted to try. I had the Chicken and Shrimp Lo Mein for my entree and the Fried Cream Cheese Wontons for desert. Y'ALL. SO. GOOD. I am not kidding when I say those wontons are the best thing I have ever eaten. I still cant get over them!



Dena's Steak and Shrimp 

My Chicken and Shrimp Lo Mein. 

Chris and Ben both ordered the Baby Back Ribs
The Fried Cream Cheese Wontons. SO GOOD. 
After lunch, we grabbed a Fast Pass for the rapid ride because the wait had gotten up to 50 minutes. Then we headed to the Flights of Wonder trained bird show. It was so amazing!! I loved seeing all the different birds and all the tricks they had taught them to do. At the end of the show they said "May your hearts take flight and your spirits soar." I thought this was such a cool thing to say and I loved the way they ended the show!
The pre-show at the Flights of Wonder show. 
A bald eagle-so pretty!
What a pretty owl!
The set at Flights of Wonder.


We walked out of the show and stopped to look at a map to decide where to go next. Two cast members came up to us and asked if they could help. They ended up giving us some great advice for the rest of the day. They may or may not have helped us just to get us out of the middle of the walkway, but their advice was still great! *Listen to what cast members tell you. They have great knowledge of the park and can really help you out when trying to decide what to do. Seek them out if you can!*
Ben and me around the backside of the Tree of Life. 


We then met back up with the Altizers, where the boys rode Primeval Whirl in Dino Land. Then we headed to Dinosaur, a dinosaur themed ride. The ride was ok, but not as fun as some others that we rode, and maybe a little too scary for the younger set!



We still had a few minutes before we had to be at the rapid ride, so the boys all went back to Expedition Everest and rode that again. Then it was our fast past time, so we went to the rapid ride. We still waited about 15-20 minutes, but it was no where near as long as the lines for the regular rider! We got on the ride and it started to thunder and lightening, and by the time we got off the ride, they had shut the ride down due to inclement weather. All I can say is that I would have been super pissed if I had waited in line for an hour only to be turned away!


We decided at that point to head back to the buses in an attempt to beat the storm. Let me just say that did NOT happen. We got SOAKED. Thank goodness we had such a short bus ride to our villas because we were cold and wet! We took quick showers and changed into dry clothes. We walked out to the buses and caught the bus to Epcot right away (Animal Kingdom closes at 5 so we were able to do another park that night, even if just for a little while).

We walked into the park and went straight to Spaceship Earth.*On a busy day, do NOT ride this first. In my experience, the lines are crazy and you can always catch it later in the day like we did!*

We wanted to ride Living With the Land, but it was closed, so we went to Mission Space. This ride is cool, but it was not my favorite nor was it Ben's. The space was just a little too tight for me and I felt disoriented when I got off the ride. The screen was way too short for Ben's 6'5 frame and he felt sick after it as well. *If you are claustrophobic, super tall, get motion sickness, or have vertigo/orientation issues, this is not the ride for you. You can try it, but I wont ever ride it again, so maybe you shouldnt either. If you ABSOLUTELY have to ride it, try the Green side (as opposed to the Orange side we went on). I promise you-you will thank me later!*
Me and Ben waiting in line for Mission Space. 

What a goob! My astronaut!

The orange side of Mission Space. A little too intense for me! 
We then headed to Test Track. I was super excited about this ride-it used to be one of my favorite rides and I was so excited to show Ben all of the old car-themed decorations that they had on the wall. We were all a little disappointed to walk in and see that they had renovated the entrance to be all new and futuristic. It was cool to get to design your own car and have a competition with your friends, but I still miss the old ride!
The truck we designed!


At this point the Altizers were waiting on us for dinner, so we ran through the World Showcase and caught a few fireworks on the way. We hopped on a bus to the Boardwalk and the ESPN Club. This is a super cool place to eat. There are TVs everywhere-even in the bathroom! We munched on appetizers-Hog Wild Nachos and Overtime Fries- because we were still full from our huge lunch and even watched the Auburn game! This was a fun place and we will definitely want to go back! (Click here for the menu if you are interested!)
The dining room at the ESPN Club. 

The TVs in the bathroom-so you never miss a minute of your game!
Hog Wild Nachos

Overtime Fries

We walked to the Beach Club resort to try to get ice cream at Beaches and Cream but we couldnt get a table so we took a bus to Downtown Disney, then back to our resort. After an hour long bus ride, we were finally back at our resort. We went to our rooms and crashed.

Thanks for reading my Day 3 Trip Report. Come back tomorrow for Day 4!


For Disney Trip Report: Day 1, click here.
For Disney Trip Report: Day 2, click here.



Sunday, September 15, 2013

Disney Trip Report: Day 1

Many of you know that Ben (my husband) and I have been planning a trip to Disney for mid-September. What some of you may NOT know is that we actually bumped our trip up 9 days and just got back a few days ago. It was one of the best weeks of my life and I am SO happy that we bumped it up! I plan on sharing each day with you in a separate trip report with a special post recapping all of the tips at the end. I hope you come back for some great pictures, funny stories, and GREAT tips (which will be preceded in each post by a *)!

Day 1: Travel

Our trip planning first started in August 2012. We were graciously given a week at any Disney World Resort as a wedding gift by two of our great friends. We had originally planned to use it as a honeymoon, but the time constraints of Ben's schedule at the time would not allow that. Months and months went by and we still had not booked our trip. Then one date night in mid-May, we decided to just do it! So we picked out our dates (September 14-20, 2013) and the next day our trip was booked. We were so excited to stay in a suite at the Animal Kingdom Resort with a Savanna view. I IMMEDIATELY took to Pinterest and started planning our trip. *(I cant wait to share some of my favorite planning posts with you at the end of this series! )

The countdown calendar I made for our trip. Click here for how I made it!

Then, the night that was set to be 10th day before our scheduled trip, we decide that work schedules would not allow us to be gone at the time we originally planned. Rather than cancel our trip, we decided to move it up in order to go with the owners of our company and another family that shoots for us (Ben works for a bow manufacturer, Ben Pearson Outdoors).  So after a scramble to pack and IMMENSE luck in getting the room we wanted reserved, we packed up the hummer the next day and headed off to Disney. 
We were so excited to leave 9 days early!
And after seven long hours in the car, we were finally there! 
2. The view as you drive onto the property. 
We were lucky enough to stay at the Kidani Village at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Our room overlooked the animal enclosure and it was so beautiful to wake up to every day! The theming in the room was way more than what I expected-Disney thought of every detail, even down to the doors they used inside the suites. Here are some pictures of our amazing resort. 
3. The sign outside our resort.
The sign over the door to the villas. 
1. The view from the drive up to our resort.
1. The wall that outside the front entrance. 
1. The view from the back of the lobby towards the front door.
1. The view out the back of the lobby. 
Our room number!
3. An aerial view of our resort. The "E" shape on the left is the Kidani Village, and the "U" shape on the right is Jambo house.
1. The view from the front door into our living room. 
1. Our bedroom! Amazing king-size bed!
The towel animal that housekeeping had for us. 
3. This bathroom was amazing. It felt so luxurious and it was OURS for the week!
We did not go to the parks on this day, so I dont have any real tips to give you for today's report. The one thing I will say is that if you are going to celebrate anything: TELL THEM. They are so great about giving you special treatment. They gave us "Happy Anniversary" buttons that we wore every day in the parks and LOVED the special attention we got because of them. In addition to the buttons, by the time we had arrived at our room after checking in, we had a happy anniversary message from MICKEY AND MINNIE themselves on our phone! It was so special and something that will make us smile for years to come!

Stay tuned this week for the trip reports from each day with some special tips I learned along the way!


1. Source
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