As we reminisce about vacation it is back to reality. A yard to mow, grocery shopping to do, dogs to take out, etc. It is also less than 90 days until our next trip and Chris called to make dining reservations. We still can 't get into O'hana or LeCellier but we added a couple of new ones to the list... Liberty Tree Tavern and Tokyo Dining.
We went to see the movie Up! today and liked it very much. Although I don't think it is really a kid movie. A little too serious.
Hopefully Chris will have his pictures on a disk soon so I can see and scrapbook.
Glad to be home!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
On our way home...
Well we are at Orlando Airport waiting for our flight home. Although I am sad vacation is over I can't wait to see my dogs. This morning we checked out early and headed to Hollywood Studios to see Kris Allen, the winner of American Idol. It was pretty cool. We saw Deb Wills and the filming of a commercial by Kris and some really excited fans. Then Kris rode in a car with Mickey down Hollywood Ave and went on stage for some questions. He sang the song "Heartless" which he did on American Idol and sounded great. We left shortly after but I found out through Deb's tweets that he made a short appearance at the 11am show of American Idol Experience.Overall it was a great trip.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Day 7 - Final Full Day
Today was our last full day here at Disney. Now is when Chris starts his panic about all the things we didn't do. The fact that we are returning in less than 3 months helps ease the pain.
We headed to Animal Kingdom today. Chris wanted to see the Lion King show. This is always a favorite of mine as it is my favorite Disney movie. We then figured we'd try to get into Yak & Yeti for lunch without an ADR. We got right in and once again had a great meal. I had the honey chicken and fried green beans. Chris had tempura shrimp and the pot stickers.
After lunch we had to make a quick stop by the World of Disney store to exchange a shirt I had bought for a different size. Of course by now it was raining again.
We stopped back at the hotel room for a bit and then headed to Hollywood Studios. I wanted to see the American Idol Experience. When we got there the Block Party Bash was going on. It was ok. Then we went to the Idol show. I really liked this. It was very authentic.
By now we walked around the park. We were going to do Toy Story Mania again but the wait said 80 minutes and fast passes were gone. The line was shorter than when we went the other day but I think based on the number of fast passes the stand by line would take longer. Our dinner at the Brown Derby was scheduled for 6:40 but we figured we'd see if they could take us early at 5pm. We were able to sit right away. This restaurant, another newbie for us, was neat inside. The dinner started off good. We both ordered the strip steak but the server kind of disappeared during the meal to the point that we had to ask another waiter to find him for drink refills. The bad service and the ok meal did not put this restaurant on the return trip list.
We are now back at the room packing to go home tomorrow. We have to leave early to get to Hollywood Studios to see the American Idol winner. Of course, Chris is only going because his friend Deb Wills from allearsnet.com will be there as well and maybe we can meet up with her. Whatever it takes.....
We headed to Animal Kingdom today. Chris wanted to see the Lion King show. This is always a favorite of mine as it is my favorite Disney movie. We then figured we'd try to get into Yak & Yeti for lunch without an ADR. We got right in and once again had a great meal. I had the honey chicken and fried green beans. Chris had tempura shrimp and the pot stickers.
After lunch we had to make a quick stop by the World of Disney store to exchange a shirt I had bought for a different size. Of course by now it was raining again.
We stopped back at the hotel room for a bit and then headed to Hollywood Studios. I wanted to see the American Idol Experience. When we got there the Block Party Bash was going on. It was ok. Then we went to the Idol show. I really liked this. It was very authentic.
By now we walked around the park. We were going to do Toy Story Mania again but the wait said 80 minutes and fast passes were gone. The line was shorter than when we went the other day but I think based on the number of fast passes the stand by line would take longer. Our dinner at the Brown Derby was scheduled for 6:40 but we figured we'd see if they could take us early at 5pm. We were able to sit right away. This restaurant, another newbie for us, was neat inside. The dinner started off good. We both ordered the strip steak but the server kind of disappeared during the meal to the point that we had to ask another waiter to find him for drink refills. The bad service and the ok meal did not put this restaurant on the return trip list.
We are now back at the room packing to go home tomorrow. We have to leave early to get to Hollywood Studios to see the American Idol winner. Of course, Chris is only going because his friend Deb Wills from allearsnet.com will be there as well and maybe we can meet up with her. Whatever it takes.....
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Day 6 Wednesday - Our 14th Anniversary!
Today was our anniversary and it was another great day. We started the day by going to the Magic Kingdom. We wanted to see the new Stitch show which was a disappointment. 
Then we did Monster Laugh Floor because we had gotten a Fastpass for Buzz Lightyear. So after Monsters we did Buzz and good thing we had the pass... it was crowded.Then we walked along the back side of the park so I could get Mrs. Potts soft serve, another favorite. We headed to Pirates of the Carribean and rode that. Keep in mind that along the way Chris takes pictures of everything. By now it was noon and we decided to eat lunch. I got chicken nuggets because I knew Chris wanted to have the tacos. The Taco restaurant is never open when we go so this was a treat for him. 
We decided after lunch we would go to Downtown Disney. On our way out of the park the Move It, Shake It Dance party was going on. It was pretty good.
We headed on the monorail to the Contemporary to catch the bus to Downtown Disney. By now there was another thunderstorm going on. I know... big surprise. We pretty much missed it during our travels. It was slightly raining when we got there. We bought the dogs some treats and stuffed toys as promised as well as a couple of items for us.
For our anniversary dinner we went to Narcooseeses.We decided after lunch we would go to Downtown Disney. On our way out of the park the Move It, Shake It Dance party was going on. It was pretty good.
We headed on the monorail to the Contemporary to catch the bus to Downtown Disney. By now there was another thunderstorm going on. I know... big surprise. We pretty much missed it during our travels. It was slightly raining when we got there. We bought the dogs some treats and stuffed toys as promised as well as a couple of items for us. 
We decided to come back to the room after dinner. We love this resort and feel very comfortable just hanging out in our room.
Only one more full day to go and then I got the news that Kris Allen the American Idol winner will be at Hollywood Studios on Friday morning. Now I have to figure out how we will get packed and checked out and to the park in enough time to get a good spot and then to be done in time to make our plane at 2:20pm. Better go start packing....
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Day 5 Tuesday
Today was a great day. We got out early today so that we could ride Toy Story Mania at Hollywood Studios. We got there before the park opened only to find that everyone else was there to do the same thing. As soon as the park opened everyone headed for the same place. We only had to wait for about a half hour and the ride was great. Similar to Buzz Lightyear... you have to shoot things for points. I actually did better on this.
After that we headed for Tower of Terror, a favorite of ours. We waited approximately a half hour on that as well.
We had to leave after to reach Raglan Road, the Irish pub at Downtown Disney. We had lunch reservations at 11:30. It was very good. I had the fish and chips and Chris had a shepards pie made with prime rib and lamb. We will definitely visit this again.
The next highlight of the day was for Chris who finally went up in the fake hot air balloon. It is a large balloon teathered to the ground that goes up 400 feet and overlooks the property. He LOVED it. He says this is a must do on every trip.
We returned to the hotel around 2pm because I needed to do some work and the rain was on its way. Shortly after 3:30pm a large thunderstorm rolled through. We decided that we would not make it to our reservation at Epcot's Bistro de Paris for 5:30 dinner reservations so we went down to the lobby to cancel. They have a new reservation system and all of the cast members seem to be having trouble navigating the screens. The only thing available according to the system was Flying Fish at 8:40pm. Although we enjoy this restaurant we were not sure if it was our choice for the evening so we took it and decided to search for other options.
Since the news said we would get another batch of rain this evening we decided we wanted to eat in a hotel where we could valet park. We picked the Beach Club because we had several options in the area to pick from. Of course Chris's first choice was Cape May Cafe clambake. We figured we would give it a try. They told us they could fit us in within 45 minutes so we were happy. We went to cancel Flying Fish and our table was called in 6 minutes. As we were escorted to our table by Andrew who was earning his ears, we came upon a BIG surprise... crab legs were part of the buffet (apparently this is just a test for this week). To say that Chris was the most happiest I have seen him is an understatement. We then were greeted by our server Roger who has worked at Disney for 37yrs. We remember having Roger before and we told him how happy we were. Not only were there crab legs on the buffet but they brought the buckets back. This was something we loved and they did away with. The buckets are great for transporting the clams. Needless to say we are both back at the resort stuffed from dinner and still talking about what a great day we had!
After that we headed for Tower of Terror, a favorite of ours. We waited approximately a half hour on that as well.
We had to leave after to reach Raglan Road, the Irish pub at Downtown Disney. We had lunch reservations at 11:30. It was very good. I had the fish and chips and Chris had a shepards pie made with prime rib and lamb. We will definitely visit this again.
The next highlight of the day was for Chris who finally went up in the fake hot air balloon. It is a large balloon teathered to the ground that goes up 400 feet and overlooks the property. He LOVED it. He says this is a must do on every trip.
We returned to the hotel around 2pm because I needed to do some work and the rain was on its way. Shortly after 3:30pm a large thunderstorm rolled through. We decided that we would not make it to our reservation at Epcot's Bistro de Paris for 5:30 dinner reservations so we went down to the lobby to cancel. They have a new reservation system and all of the cast members seem to be having trouble navigating the screens. The only thing available according to the system was Flying Fish at 8:40pm. Although we enjoy this restaurant we were not sure if it was our choice for the evening so we took it and decided to search for other options.
Since the news said we would get another batch of rain this evening we decided we wanted to eat in a hotel where we could valet park. We picked the Beach Club because we had several options in the area to pick from. Of course Chris's first choice was Cape May Cafe clambake. We figured we would give it a try. They told us they could fit us in within 45 minutes so we were happy. We went to cancel Flying Fish and our table was called in 6 minutes. As we were escorted to our table by Andrew who was earning his ears, we came upon a BIG surprise... crab legs were part of the buffet (apparently this is just a test for this week). To say that Chris was the most happiest I have seen him is an understatement. We then were greeted by our server Roger who has worked at Disney for 37yrs. We remember having Roger before and we told him how happy we were. Not only were there crab legs on the buffet but they brought the buckets back. This was something we loved and they did away with. The buckets are great for transporting the clams. Needless to say we are both back at the resort stuffed from dinner and still talking about what a great day we had!
Monday, May 25, 2009
The Great Piggy Bank Adventure!
I had read about this new section of Innoventions on allearsnet.com and thought it sounded fun. The Great Piggy Bank Adventure is a game that you can play to teach you about the importance of financial planning. First you pick a goal....the ultimate vacation, retirement, college fund, or bedroom remodel. Then you get your pig. I just loved the pig! You proceed to play three games:
1st - a game to try to direct your money between saving and spending
2nd - a game about inflation and how the wolf takes your money
3rd - a game about spreading the money into different investments so the wolf can't get it.
At the end you weigh your pig to see if you reached your goal.
We came close but did not reach our ultimate vacation but we had a blast playing! I LOVE THE PIG!
Day 4 - SAFARI TIME
One of the great things about staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge is that we can do the Wanyana Safari. Only available to resort guests, this safari consists of 1 1/2 hours in a safari truck on the hotel savannah followed by a family style meal at Jiko, one of the hotels restaurants. Although expensive we felt this was a once in a lifetime experience.
Along with two other parties we boarded the truck and got up close and personal with the many giraffes, antelope, zebras, and birds on the savannah. We learned many things about them including their names and habits. It was also great to see the Lodge from a different perspective. What we thought was Kidani Village Lodge was really Jambo house. As you can see in this picture the animals are really right outside the hotel roaming freely. Did I mention that this is Chris's new favorite resort??
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