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Cast:
Me 38, DH (Ron) 36, DS Aaron 9 and Jordan 7, My parents Mimi 62, Poppop 63, My sister Wendy 35 her DH Bobby ?, His kids Brandy 16 and Devin 13.
Our day started as we left the house at 7:00am. It was just the 4 of us as the rest of them will be joining us later in the day. We arrived at AKL
at 8:45 and checked in and left our luggage at bell services. The lobby is beautiful and really set the mood for our African Safari Vacation.
Because I had injured my foot 5 days earlier i was wearing a "boot" which allowed me to walk some but the Dr said to use a wheelchair as much as
possible. My church allowed me to borrow their wheel chair (Dollarless). I felt silly being pushed to the bus stop. The bus driver let our party on to
the bus first. We headed to the Magic Kingdom. It was 9:45 when we entered the MK. We headed to Expo hall to get 2 more trivia books for the boys. The
next stop was Tomorrowland we got fast passes for Buzz and then rode the TTA. After the TTA we rode Buzz and then moved on to Fantasyland. We rode
several rides in Fantasyland and then my parents called and said they had checked in and were en route to the MK.
By now I had copied the answers in the boy's trivia books so we headed back to Expo hall to do the pictures and wait for my parents. We did a
family photo of the 4 of us. While we were waiting my parents and sister arrived and picked up their trivia questions and started copying the answers.
When the pictures were done we headed to Adventureland via the train stop in Frontierland. There were 7 of us now and only 3-4 wanted to do the
mountains so we split up the passes and went for fastpasses and got 3 for Thunder Mt and 4 for Splash Mtn. Ron wanted to try the tacos so he and Aaron
picked up food there and met the rest of us at Pecos Bills. While 4 of them went off to ride the mountains Mom, Jordan and I headed to the Diamond
Horseshoe Revue so I could get my lunch-a roast beef sandwich. There was no show going on at the time so we found a table near the door and relaxed.
There was a band playing outside so Jordan went on the porch to listen to it. When I finished my lunch we found a shady spot under the Frontierland sign
to wait for the parade.
The rest of the family returned from the mountains in time to get ready for the parade. we enjoyed the Share a Dream come true parade (as always).
We headed to Adventureland. Four of our group wanted to ride Jungle Cruise, Ron and I opted for Pirates and mom chose to shop. Then we headed to the
castle to show them some of the beautiful crystal we had found there on our last trip. We hadn't taken a picture of Figment 2 (MFL mascot) so Aaron set
up a shot of him trying to pull the sword out of the stone! Wendy and my parents wanted to ride Buzz so it was back to Tomorrowland. My mom maxed out
at 999,999 points! Wendy took dad in ExtraTerrorestrial while the rest of us rode the TTA. Now it was time to leave the park. Since our foursome had no
plans to return to MK this weekend we stopped at Expo hall to do our last 2 photos. The boys had 2 made. One of them with Mike & Sulley (Jordan is
being held upside down and Aaron is under Sulley's leg) and one of them in the front of the monorail. The other 3 headed to AKL to meet the rest of
Wendy's family.
We took the bus back to AKL (after waiting 15 minutes for one to arrive). It is a 20 minute ride from MK to AKL so we rode along and revised our plans
for the evening to accomodate the rest of the group. Epcot and the pin trading at Contemporary were out. Now we would be going to DTD. The boys
were ok with the changes. When we arrived at AKL we hunted for our room. We were in 2352 Kudu Trail. The carpet in the hallways were too cushy for DH to
push me in the wheelchair so I walked long behind it. It took me 15-20 minutes to get to the room. The room was great. The boys were excited about
the bunkbed. We were at first disappointed about the view (that all changed later).
We regrouped and the 10 of us headed to DTD. We waited about 15 minutes for the bus to arrive. Everyone was hungry so we ate at Wolfgang Puck's
Express with my DC our party saved over $18. Everyone enjoyed their dinners and then we shopped. Disney Pin Traders, Once Upon a Toy, Team Mickey, the
World of Disney and the Lego store.
By now it was late and we headed for the bus stop (I didn't buy anything-Dad even paid for dinner so this was a $$less shopping trip for me).
We waited about 20 minutes for the bus and then headed back to AKL. By the time we made it back to our rooms we decided to meet at 8:30am for breakfast.
It was now about 11:30 and the boys went right to bed.
Day 1 is over, I haven't seen any animals off my balcony, I am tired of being pushed around and my family is changing my well planned schedule. I
will live....there is always tomorrow.
Day Two
The phone rings at 7:30am and I roll over and hit the speaker phone button...next thing you know Mickey is wishing us a great day! Somewhere in
the middle of the message my 7 yo pops up from under his covers with a huge smile on his face. This phone call was like magic. Today we had animals!!!
There were many animals on our savannah as we got ready for the day. We were now happy with our view :-) At 8;15 we all head to The Mara for breakfast.
Boy was this a hike! I'll take the walk from the back of the All Stars anyday over this. We chose not to get mugs because we doubted we would trek
this far again. Breakfast was ok, your usual food court fare. We also checked out the pool while we were down there. We never get to swim at the
resorts because we do 3 day trips :-(.
Today was Animal Kingdom day. We waited 20 minutes for the bus to come and take us on the 5 minute ride to AK. Our first stop was Dinoland so we
could ride Primeval Whirl. 7 of us rode the ride it was great!!! I hate roller coasters but this was fun. Then the kids rode tricratop spin. After
that we split up 4 went to ride Dinosaur, the 3 boys went to the boneyard and 3 of us sat outside the boneyard waiting for the others to return. I
purchased 3 of the AK meal tickets-kid sized. We immediately used 1 drink coupon for water. YUCK!!!! They changed from Zephyr Hills (my favorite) to
Dasani-it was very metallic tasting-we didn't get anymore water this trip.
Next it was off to It's tough to be a bug. Jordan is afraid of this show so he attempted to push my wheelchair as we shopped and waited for the
others. We walked the Maharajah Jungle Trek and then headed for an early lunch (we have PS at 'Ohana for supper so we wanted to eat early). We went
to Pizzafari and we were disappointed. They no longer have the grilled cheese pretzels on this kids menu. Just a tiny pizza. Jordan doen't like
their pizza sauce so he only ate a breadstick. Aaron, Brandy and I ate the tiny kids pizza and some breadsticks. We wanted to visit the passholder
lounge before it closed. There was no airconditioning in there!!!!! The kids ate in there anyway and played games. There was no soda there only warm
water! This was not an exciting visit!.
After lunch we went to the Kilamanjaro safari. They made me stay in the wheelchair instead of transferring out. It was a very rough ride-due to the
flexible seat and back on the whhelchair. Part of our group went to Kali River Rapids while Jordan, Ron, Mimi, poppop and I went to get our ice
creams. We all decidied to head back to AKL and either sleep or swim before getting ready for dinner. We saw Lilo & Stitch and Jane Porter on the way
out so Jordan was very excited. We waited 20 minutes for the bus to take us to AKL.
Ron, the 3 boys and myself headed for the pool while the others slept. The water was warm and relaxing. It felt good to get out the kinks from
riding in the wheelchair. Jordan, who is not a great swimmer loved the slide. I think he did it like 9 times! We headed back for a short rest
before getting ready for dinner.
We had 7:30pm PS at 'Ohana. We left our room at 6:20. I was walking instead of riding in the wheelchair. We waited 20 minutes for a MK bus none
came so we finally took an Epcot bus. Then we took the monrail to MK. We decided it would be quicker to walk to the poly instead of wait for the
resort monorail. We finally arrive at 'Ohana at 7:50!!! 1 1/2 hours after leaving our hotel room. We were seated within minutes and then the fun
began. I have already done a restaurant review so I will just share the highlights. The kids loved the games and dancing. We watched the fireworks
from our table it was magical. My sister ordered a cake for our anniversary and it was yummy. My family now agrees all the time i spend online reading
MFL mail is worth it-you saved us money by using the DC at Wolfgang Puck's and you recommended 'Ohana. Everyone enjoyed our time.
We left the Poly via the resort monorail. We stopped at GF so everyone could see how beautiful it was. Then we got off at the TTC and waited 20+
minutes for a bus to take us back to AKL and end our anniversary celebration
Day Three
Ok today, Sunday 9/29 was supposed to be MGM all day. Because of our group of 10 and some of them missing MK on Friday we decided to hit
highlights of 3 parks and 1 day. My boys and I do this all the time but 10 of us is a little different.
7:45am Mickey wakes us up again :-) We watch the animals as we finish packing. We move all our luggage to my parent's room as they are staying an
extra night. At 8:30 we head to the bus stop for MK. After a 15 minute wait te bus arrives. As we near the Contemporary we hit a traffic jam! Due to a
triathalon in the MK/Contemporary area some of the road are blocked. We slowly move forward. As we reach the side of the Contemporary closest to MK
we are at a stand still. There are 3 policemen working this intersection. The first one our bus driver spoke to told her she could make a sharp left
and take us to MK when there was a break in the runners. Well after waiting about 10 minutes for there to be a bus sized break everyone else on the bus
(except for our party of 10) decides to get out and walk to MK. Eventually our driver sees a break coming and begins to turn the bus slightly left when
a different police man tells her she can't go that way! At this point my DH goes to the front of the bus (we are sitting in the back because of my
wheelchair) and tries to help her reason with the police officer. This is when the 3rd officer gets involved and yells at the bus driver because she
should have known the route was closed. (The route didn't look closed there were many other buses-Disney and others as well as lots of cars in the same
traffic jam). Finally our bus driver-Gwendolyn explains that she has a guest in a wheelchair and needs to take us to the MK bus stop and not the TTC as
the police were trying to get her to do. When there was a big enough break in the runners Gwendolyn put the pedal to the metal and we were out of the
jam and at MK. We thanked Gwendolyn and presented her with a WWWD pin for her efforts.
Now we are at the MK and it is 10:15am. Everyone except myself, mom and
Jordan head for Frontierland and the mountains. We headed down Main Street
shopping and eventually to Fantasyland where we rode Pooh and the Carrosel.
I checked in with Ron via our new walkie talkies. He said they were heading
to Tomorrowland for Space Mountain and he would let me know when they were
done. We decided to head in that direction too. We stopped so I could try
the strawberry swirl YUMMY!!! Mom and Jordan had lemonade slushies. We
made our way to Space Mountain. I was wondering if Aaron had gone on the
ride (he has never done this ride and neither has Ron). Well, it turned out
Aaron rode and loved Space Mountain and Ron and my sister went to the bakery
on Main St for breakfast!!! Everyone wanted to ride Buzz and there was no
wait so we did that before heading to Expo hall for more pictures.
We arrive at Expo Hall and get Bradny & Devin set for their picture when
someone realizes he doesn't have his 2 lanyards on. After a long discussion
he remembers taking them off in the bathroom near Splash Mountain UGH!!! My
father and Aaron jump on the train and head to Frontierland while the rest of
us play in Expo Hall. We did all the pictures in the back where you can be
part of the scene. The kids played all the games for the 100 years of Magic.
Finally 45 minutes later Aaron and Popop arrive back with the
lanyards-someone had turned them in at Splash Down Photos. Aaron was the
first person to the train for the return trip and he got talking to the CM
and explained his near tragedy so the CM said he could be the conductor.
(Jordan got to do this last year). Aaron got to make all the announcements
and push the buttons. He even got to tell some man to keep his feet inside
the train. Yeah!! A happy ending. We take a group photo with all 10 of
us-they gave us 2 extra copies since there were 3 families in the
photo-Disney Magic and we did a Monsters Inc cast photo with the 4 kids.
Now my stomach isn't feeling well so Ron and I stay at MK (near a
restroom) while the others head to MGM. After a while my stomach settles and
the buses are so spread out we actually caught the next MGM bus! Wendy's
family did TOT while Mimi, Poppop and the boys ate lunch. When we arrived
Ron and I shared a pretzel then Wendy and Poppop did TOT again-no wait. Next
we headed for RnR Wendy and Poppop had never ridden it before and there was
no wait so we walked right on. Poppop will never do it again and Wendy isn't
sure yet! Next it was off to Backlot tour and Millionaire.
Next stop Epcot. We decided to take the boat to Epcot. This was a nice
change from the bus system and Wendy and Bobby had never been to the
Boardwalk or Y&B club so they got to see new stuff. We rode Journey into
Imagination with Figment. Then Wendy's family, Poppop and aaron did Honey I
shrunk the audience. By now Ron and I are starving-but no one else is. Ron
goes over to Garden grill and gets us PS for 7:15pm. After "Honey" Wendy's
family decides it is time to head home. Mom and Dad need to go back to th h
otel with them because Wendy has stuff in their car. They all leave and we
head to test track-which had the longest line we had seen all weekend!!! We
chose not to wait and miss our PS so we went to Innoventions and played until
dinner.
We had a lovely dinner with Mickey, Chip & Dale, and Pluto. Then we
headed back to AKL got our stuff and headed home at 9:30pm. We arrived home
safe and sound at 11pm. We had a great trip. It only rained Friday from
4:00-4:05pm. I will post Figment 2's adventure pics this weekend.
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