darthmacho
09-07-2010, 04:07 PM
Date: August 18, 2010
Location: Animal Kingdom
The Cast:
DM: Me, Darth Macho, Celebrating Our 12th Anniversary. (Belatedly)
DW: Dear Wife, The Queen, Celebrating Our 12th Anniversary. (Belatedly)
DD1: Princess, 9yo, Celebrating 1st Visit (That she'll remember. She was just 2yo on her actual first visit.)
DD2: Princess, 6yo, Celebrating 1st Visit (She was born mysteriously 9 months after our last visit…)
Colorful Discovery Island
We had explored Africa and Asia, lunched at Yak and Yeti, and had ridden Dinosaur, so we decided to do a little exploring of the shops in Discovery Island, but first we had to see an old favorite, It's Tough to Be a Bug. We all enjoyed getting up close with the Tree of Life, and my kids got a kick out of all the funny movie posters and of course, the giant dung ball in the lobby area. The show was a hit too, and they enjoyed all the effects, and were spared the "sting" in the back because both of them happened to be sitting forward in their seat. Nonetheless the show was great as usual, and we moved on to our shopping.
Discovery Island is probably the most colorfully themed area in all of WDW. Everything from the building facades, to the lamp posts, to the benches, has something interesting to look at. Even the store shelving is an attraction! While we were shopping, we managed to get separated when DW was browsing, and the kids and I wandered outside to watch the parade going by. As we watched, I checked a nearby tip board, and unfortunately the lines for Dinosaur and the Safari were way too long, and all of the FP distributed for the day, so I knew we weren't going to get on those rides again that day, and since this was our only planned visit to AK for the trip, that meant we weren't going to get another shot until our next vacation, whenever that might be. I was a little disappointed at that thought, but I knew we had so much more to look forward to that week, so I tried not to let it bother me.
Camp Minnie-Mickey
After the parade, we managed to find DW, and happily reunited, we set out for Camp Minnie-Mickey, towards which I noticed a HUGE crowd was heading. I was a little concerned because I had promised the kids we'd find Chip and Dale there (this turned out to be a trip-long quest), but luckily the crowd was heading for Festival of the Lion King, so there was very little wait for any of the characters there.
We had seen Goofy and Pluto over at Dinoland, so we skipped them and visited with Mickey, Minnie, and Donald. We also got to meet Terk from Tarzan, Keen-Eye from Brother Bear, and Thumper and Miss Bunny from Bambi. No sign of Chip and Dale, but before we headed out of AK for the day, we also got to visit with Lilo and Stitch, who entertained the kids with their antics of fighting over the pen, teasing the kids, and other silly antics. The best part was when Lilo wouldn't give Stitch the pen, he appealed to the attending cast member, who mildly chastised her until she gave it up. It's that kind of little thing that makes WDW special.
Tired and having pretty much covered what we wanted, we decided to head back to the resort before the dark clouds decided to open up. We couldn't help but linger around the Oasis for a bit though. There are some cool animals, and some nice shady spots there. It started to rain a little just as we got on the bus. I was a little sad to leave such an amazing park, especially knowing that we probably wouldn't be back again this trip, but we had tired feet and a day of wonderful memories.
Arcade Time
Back at the resort, despite those tired feet, it was still early enough, and we were hungry, so we walked over to the main building for dinner. I didn't take notes about what we ate that night, but I'm sure it was good. I started to think of Riverside Mill Food Court as my own personal kitchen, as that's where we often ate our odd time meals. Even though it was mobbed at times, I always felt comfortable there, happy, and at home. That's important to me when I'm on vacation.
After dinner we played in the arcade, which the kids were asking about all week. We had some fun before heading back to the room for some sleep. There was going to be another 6am wake up call because we had breakfast ADRs at Akershus at 8am.
For next time...
Location: Animal Kingdom
The Cast:
DM: Me, Darth Macho, Celebrating Our 12th Anniversary. (Belatedly)
DW: Dear Wife, The Queen, Celebrating Our 12th Anniversary. (Belatedly)
DD1: Princess, 9yo, Celebrating 1st Visit (That she'll remember. She was just 2yo on her actual first visit.)
DD2: Princess, 6yo, Celebrating 1st Visit (She was born mysteriously 9 months after our last visit…)
Colorful Discovery Island
We had explored Africa and Asia, lunched at Yak and Yeti, and had ridden Dinosaur, so we decided to do a little exploring of the shops in Discovery Island, but first we had to see an old favorite, It's Tough to Be a Bug. We all enjoyed getting up close with the Tree of Life, and my kids got a kick out of all the funny movie posters and of course, the giant dung ball in the lobby area. The show was a hit too, and they enjoyed all the effects, and were spared the "sting" in the back because both of them happened to be sitting forward in their seat. Nonetheless the show was great as usual, and we moved on to our shopping.
Discovery Island is probably the most colorfully themed area in all of WDW. Everything from the building facades, to the lamp posts, to the benches, has something interesting to look at. Even the store shelving is an attraction! While we were shopping, we managed to get separated when DW was browsing, and the kids and I wandered outside to watch the parade going by. As we watched, I checked a nearby tip board, and unfortunately the lines for Dinosaur and the Safari were way too long, and all of the FP distributed for the day, so I knew we weren't going to get on those rides again that day, and since this was our only planned visit to AK for the trip, that meant we weren't going to get another shot until our next vacation, whenever that might be. I was a little disappointed at that thought, but I knew we had so much more to look forward to that week, so I tried not to let it bother me.
Camp Minnie-Mickey
After the parade, we managed to find DW, and happily reunited, we set out for Camp Minnie-Mickey, towards which I noticed a HUGE crowd was heading. I was a little concerned because I had promised the kids we'd find Chip and Dale there (this turned out to be a trip-long quest), but luckily the crowd was heading for Festival of the Lion King, so there was very little wait for any of the characters there.
We had seen Goofy and Pluto over at Dinoland, so we skipped them and visited with Mickey, Minnie, and Donald. We also got to meet Terk from Tarzan, Keen-Eye from Brother Bear, and Thumper and Miss Bunny from Bambi. No sign of Chip and Dale, but before we headed out of AK for the day, we also got to visit with Lilo and Stitch, who entertained the kids with their antics of fighting over the pen, teasing the kids, and other silly antics. The best part was when Lilo wouldn't give Stitch the pen, he appealed to the attending cast member, who mildly chastised her until she gave it up. It's that kind of little thing that makes WDW special.
Tired and having pretty much covered what we wanted, we decided to head back to the resort before the dark clouds decided to open up. We couldn't help but linger around the Oasis for a bit though. There are some cool animals, and some nice shady spots there. It started to rain a little just as we got on the bus. I was a little sad to leave such an amazing park, especially knowing that we probably wouldn't be back again this trip, but we had tired feet and a day of wonderful memories.
Arcade Time
Back at the resort, despite those tired feet, it was still early enough, and we were hungry, so we walked over to the main building for dinner. I didn't take notes about what we ate that night, but I'm sure it was good. I started to think of Riverside Mill Food Court as my own personal kitchen, as that's where we often ate our odd time meals. Even though it was mobbed at times, I always felt comfortable there, happy, and at home. That's important to me when I'm on vacation.
After dinner we played in the arcade, which the kids were asking about all week. We had some fun before heading back to the room for some sleep. There was going to be another 6am wake up call because we had breakfast ADRs at Akershus at 8am.
For next time...