A Very Merry Un-21st-Birthday to Me! May 2015 Trip - Updated 10/27**

[kadrachb]

There are actually TWO baby gorillas

Well... Now I feel gypped.

Good Updates!

What a fun AK morning so far!! Love your pics with the characters!! Also...a coveted ADR for sure!! I especially love Mickey in that outfit.

I love Donald's and Mickey's outfits! They're just too adorable!

 

[kadrachb]

Animal Kingdom – Day 4 – Part 2:
“I think that’s Rafiki” - “I don’t think that’s a Rafiki – but I don’t know what at Rafiki is.” ​

After our lovely safari, we decided to head to the trail right outside the exit. We went through it pretty fast, because it was packed. Next up to Rafiki’s planet watch!

Once getting on the train, we got to see the baby white rhino that was born in February! We didn’t have a lot of notice, so I didn’t get a picture. Sorry!

After getting to our destination (here comes the explanation to the title) we ended up walking behind a family. The daughter, who was probably about 15, didn’t seem to be happy to be here. So, as you walk along the trail down to the building, there is a statue of Rafiki… Well the mother goes “I think that’s Rafiki” and the daughter replies with “I don’t think that’s a Rafiki… but I don’t know what a Rafiki is.”

Like, HAVE YOU NOT SEEN THE LION KING?!?!?

Anyways, the whole reason for the trip out here was to get pictures with Rafiki!

​

Then we got to see them take x-rays of an owl… Then back to Africa!

It was about 10:30am, so we decided to catch the 11am FOTLK. We didn’t get to see it last year because it was under refurbishment… and it is one of the shows I remember from when my parents took me when I was little.

We were in the lion section! ROARRRR! (I think this is fitting, since we saw the lion today!)
After FOTLK, we decided to head over to the Asia trail. And, we also got to see the Tiger this year! Didn’t take any pictures…
Then to our FP for Everest! But that line was LONG. I guess the rapids went down so everyone was getting free FPs, and Dinosaur was also down. More on that later.

The poor little girl in the front!​

Then it was technically lunch time… we did have plans to eat at the QS for Yak and Yeti, but the line was SO LONG. So we decided to head down to Pizzafari, stopping to see a beautiful Macaw. Once getting to Pizzafari, we decided we also didn’t want to eat there, and we could just grab lunch back at the resort… so we opted to get sprite and a frozen fruit bar instead and hang out in some shops until our Dinosaur FP….

Well, we walk over to Dinosaur and it’s still down. It’s almost 2, which is when out FP would start. I talk to the CM.
He says its been having problems for a couple days now, and that at 2, our FP for it would turn into a free one that we could us at any ride in the park. Kenny and I talked about it and decided to just go back to the resort. But before leaving we got some tree of life pictures.

Once getting back to the resort, we grabbed lunch. And then headed for a nap (I was exhausted). Before falling asleep, I checked my phone. That’s weird, we have TWO free fast passes at AK….

I guess what happened is that Everest went down right after we got off of it, and we never scanned our bands a 2nd time in the FP line. So, it recognized a FP that we did use, and a FP that we didn't use as two free ones!

Will we go back to AK to use them? Or will we go swimming and then head to MK instead? Stay tuned to find out!



Life update:
Sorry for not posting for awhile! On the 26th, my Aunt passed away. And it was out of state, so it took a long time to get the services together. So last week was whirlwind of family stuff. She had been sick for about a year, she was originally diagnosed with brain cancer, and then they found out it was fungal meningitis when she became unresponsive from a surgery where they thought they were removing a tumor last summer (it turned out to be a cyst). She was home since Thanksgiving, but would go back to NIH every month for a week for regular check ups/diagnostic things. She ate breakfast and got dressed, and then suffered a stroke while at NIH.

 

[KathyM2]

Well the mother goes “I think that’s Rafiki” and the daughter replies with “I don’t think that’s a Rafiki… but I don’t know what a Rafiki is.”

This made me laugh....because I have a surly tween son and I can just picture him saying something like this with a sneer lol.

It was about 10:30am, so we decided to catch the 11am FOTLK.

Great idea...do they post the show times online at all in advance? I will have to look...I guess if not you kind of just have to hope that some of these happen at the right times to work around everything else you have to plan lol

Will we go back to AK to use them? Or will we go swimming and then head to MK instead? Stay tuned to find out!

My first thought was...I wonder if they will let her use those FP+ at another park later? I guess I have to wait and find out!

She ate breakfast and got dressed, and then suffered a stroke while at NIH.

OMG I'm so sorry about your aunt. That is really sad. And awful that it happened so suddenly like that. My thoughts are with your family and hers.

 

[kadrachb]

Great idea...do they post the show times online at all in advance? I will have to look...I guess if not you kind of just have to hope that some of these happen at the right times to work around everything else you have to plan lol

I think it goes on every hour on the hour. First show I think is at 10am.

My first thought was...I wonder if they will let her use those FP+ at another park later? I guess I have to wait and find out!

OMG I'm so sorry about your aunt. That is really sad. And awful that it happened so suddenly like that. My thoughts are with your family and hers.

Yeah, we were all kind of surprised. But, she wasn't as doing as well as she was earlier in the year.

 

[Gracefulskinny]

Sorry for not posting for awhile! On the 26th, my Aunt passed away.

So sorry for your loss. Losing a loved one to a stroke isn't easy.

 

[chunkymonkey]

I'm finally all caught up with your TR! You and your BF Kenny are really CUTE!!!
What a fantastic present...club level at AKL!?!?!? Jealous!
We stayed at AKL in 2013. Not club level - just a regular room, but luckily we were upgraded to savannah view.
The animals were amazing every day!

Love all the pics! I'm drooling over all the food!

I visited Rafiki too on this trip! It was my first time on Discovery Island! It was a lot of fun, I wonder how I had missed this before? LOL

 

[kadrachb]

So sorry for your loss. Losing a loved one to a stroke isn't easy.

Thank you.

I'm finally all caught up with your TR! You and your BF Kenny are really CUTE!!!
What a fantastic present...club level at AKL!?!?!? Jealous!
We stayed at AKL in 2013. Not club level - just a regular room, but luckily we were upgraded to savannah view.
The animals were amazing every day!

Love all the pics! I'm drooling over all the food!

I visited Rafiki too on this trip! It was my first time on Discovery Island! It was a lot of fun, I wonder how I had missed this before? LOL

Thanks! I need to catch up on your TR! I'm so behind on so many... oops.
The animals ARE amazing. I think I've said this before - but there were a lot of times were one of us was like "OH MY GOODNESS GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW AND LOOK AT THESE ANIMALS" and it sometimes took us 2x as long to get ready.

I actually had a friend visit WDW last year in June, a spontaneous trip for him (we don't talk anymore, he's actually my best friends ex, and he couldn't get over her so he stopped talking to me) and he said he met Rafiki - and I HAD to meet him this year then. Discovery Island I think is REALLY overlooked. We got to see a BEAUTIFUL Blue Macaw that day too when we watched the owl get x-rayed, the handler and him walked right by us.

 

[nilla]

Sorry about your aunt

As for kids not knowing the Lion King characters, I firmly believe this is child abuse on the part of the parents. LK should be required viewing for all!

The prospect of Dino going down is scary. Imagine you were on it - you could be stuck in the Cretaceous period forever! Or stuck right next to the rampaging Carnotaurus. You'd be doomed for certain.

Thumbs up for the bonus FPs! Disney really goes above and beyond best to accommodate their guests, which is what sets them apart from other parks, IMO.

Kristin thinks AK modified the lion enclosure this year to entice them to come out more. Not sure if that's true, but they certainly were more visible this year than they were last year.

Sounds like an awesome trip! Thanks for sharing!

 

[DVC-Jen]

Great Trip Report! I love the picture of the savannah at Animal Kingdom!

 

[kadrachb]

Animal Kingdom / Magic Kingdom – Day 4 – Part 3​

After our nap, we were going to go swimming and check with the concierge at club level to see if we could get our free FPs changed over for magic kingdom. However, we decided to skip swimming and just go back to AK and use our FPs, and afterwards we would go to MK.

So we get on the bus, which we were the only ones, since AK was closing in 2 hours, and our bus driver talked to us about celebrations in her country. She never really told us where she was from – I just know it wasn’t Puerto Rico, since I mentioned something about my old roommate doing something similar to how she celebrated, and her reaction made it seem like she wasn’t. Anyways, very nice person. Interesting to talk to.

When we got to MK, so many people were leaving! It must have looked weird, us entering the park.

But we decided to use our first FP on the Safari (again) since DINOSAUR was still down. We sat in the back, again, but it didn’t seem as bumpy this time.

Our next FP we used on Everest again. I told Kenny if we road the rapids, and I got wet I’d have to go back and change… so we both decided Everest was the best timesaving ride.

And then off to MK! A lot of people were heading over that way, and it had EMH, so I was a little worried about it being packed, but it wasn’t that bad.

We ended up getting a FP for Winnie the Pooh, which I just think is the cutest ride!

And then we did Enchanted Tales With Belle… Only a 20 minute wait, which was great!

I love the decorations in the cottage! And that mirror effect was amazing! Kenny wasn’t super impressed, he was just like “Yeah, that’s cool.” But I was totally enthralled with it.


When they ask if anyone wanted a part that didn’t get it… I raised my hand…

I ended up being the dog foot stool thing, and I loved the show! I think we’d only do it once a trip, but still cute.

And then we decided to eat at Pinocchio Village Haus. I got the caprese flatbread (which was very good) and Kenny got the meatball sub. For our desserts (since we were on the DDP, but even though I’m a HUGE sweets person I was starting to get sick of desserts) we got the chocolate cake and chocolate gelato. The cake got finished; the gelato almost didn’t get opened.

When we passed Peter Pan, the fireworks were starting in 20 minutes, and it was only a 40 minute wait, we thought, oh we can totally do this!

Wrong. We ended up waiting an hour, and we got stuck behind a lot of people with FPs after the fireworks, but we did get to ride it!


After Peter Pan, we caught the ended to the 2nd Celebrate The Magic, and then sat down and found spots for the 2nd Electrical Parade, we didn’t get to see it last year, so I was glad we caught it this year!

After the parade, we ended up walking through some stores on main street. I bought the Cinderella’s Castle Pandora charm. It was a hard choice between that and Belle’s dress (I almost bought both). And we had a looooong wait for a bus.


We ended up walking almost 25,000 steps this day!

 

[nilla]

Great update! I love the new queue for Peter Pan. In fact, I love just about all of the new queues. Awesome idea by Disney to put effort into making waiting more fun.

Enchanted Tales looks fun. We ALMOST did that this year.

Where to next?

 

[kadrachb]

Sounds like an awesome trip! Thanks for sharing!

Great Trip Report! I love the picture of the savannah at Animal Kingdom!

They're really great rooms, the savannah views. I don't know if I'd stay at AKL again without booking it.

Great update! I love the new queue for Peter Pan. In fact, I love just about all of the new queues. Awesome idea by Disney to put effort into making waiting more fun.

It actually kept us pretty entertained. Which was good, because if it didn't I probably would have gotten cranky..

Enchanted Tales looks fun. We ALMOST did that this year.

Its a lot of fun! I originally thought it might not be too fun because its mostly for small kids, but the detail in everything is AMAZING!

Where to next?

It's a surprise!

 

[BibbitybobityLu]

Wow I seem to have realllly fallen behind! Sorry about that! I will try and keep up from now on!

Also I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt

 

[KathyM2]

Winnie the Pooh, which I just think is the cutest ride!

I think that's one of the best rides too. So adorable. Great update!! I would have had a hard time resisting buying both charms.

 

[alrushton]

I saw where you posted in another TR that your birthday was Feb 28. My son and I have the same birthday so I figured I must read your TR.

 

[kadrachb]

Wow I seem to have realllly fallen behind! Sorry about that! I will try and keep up from now on!

Also I'm so sorry to hear about your aunt

I fall behind on TRs all the time! No worries

I think that's one of the best rides too. So adorable. Great update!! I would have had a hard time resisting buying both charms.

Thanks! I don't think the dresses are a parks exclusive, so I can always head over to our Mountz and buy it there if I don't want to wait till next time!

I saw where you posted in another TR that your birthday was Feb 28. My son and I have the same birthday so I figured I must read your TR.

Ah! So cool. Glad you decided to join in!

I don't meet a lot of people with my birthday, and I tend to get someone who asks me if my birthday is really the 29th

 

[kadrachb]

Day 5 – Epcot – Part 1​

The morning went the same while the whole get up and go to club level for breakfast. We slept in a little bit today, and I thought we might miss our FP for Spaceship Earth, so I then changed it to later in the day.

But, when arriving the line for Spaceship Earth was about 5 minutes, so we went on it anyways!

After Spaceship Earth, we perused Mouse Gear, where I found a pair of earrings I really liked but was unsure of getting, and Kenny did like that Olaf water gage… but it wasn’t up to some weather type standard I guess? So he didn’t get it. It was cute though.

Next up was Test Track!

And. right as we go around the track it starts to rain. And when rain hits you that fast… it kind stings

So, by the time we get off and look at the gift shop, its only drizzling and I decided to use the bathroom. Well, as I come out of the bathroom it is POURING, and Kenny is standing under a tree…

Well. He FORGOT THE PONCHOS IN THE ROOM. LIKE, what’s the point of getting ponchos if you’re just going to leave them in the room? He didn’t have a good answer for me.

After speaking to a nice French lady, the rain stopped and I ended up going back to Mouse Gear to buy the earrings. Kenny did have a FP for MISSION:SPACE, but ended up not using it.

So off to Mexico we go! Before Mexico, Kenny did find a nice Flower and Garden t-shirt of Mickey mowing the lawn (which is one of Kenny’s favorite things to do). It was on sale, he bought it.

Now on to Mexico! On our first time in Mexico we got the chocolate flan….

It was delicious...
We road the boat ride, and then skipped Norway since we ate there earlier in the week… And onto China!
Last year Kenny tried on one of the rice patty hats, but wouldn’t buy it. Kenny’s dad and I told him he HAD to this year… so he did.

I’d also like to just say Kenny isn’t Chinese, some people actually asked him if he was that day. He’s Korean. And no, he doesn’t speak Korean. He’s adopted.

Then we got some food at their booth… The candied Beijing Strawberries and then the chicken bun thing.

We met Mulan…

And then we were off to Germany!
We stopped by the Lion King topiaries

And we got a caramel s’more and bacon square. I loved the s’more… The bacon square was just a little too much for us! (Again with no pictures! I’m bad at this…)

We headed over to Italy, walked around, looked at some wines… and got a Peach Bellini!

By this time we were pretty worn out. We decided to head back to AKL, since there was nothing we felt like we really wanted to do. I stopped and got a bottle of Key Lime sparkling wine from a F&G kiosk, which I knew I’d have to pack in my suitcase because you can’t ship wine to PA… But, it ended up being okay! We haven't tried it yet though.

And we stopped to get a taco in Mexico, and a blueberry pomegranate margarita at the F&G booth. The taco was VERY good… and the margarita tasted like cough syrup.

I took about three sips and gave it to Kenny, who agreed it tasted horrible. BUT he kept drinking it. Such a trooper.

Then back to AKL we went! We had reservations had 8:40 that night at the Cali Grill, so by the time we got back to AKL it was around 3pm. We napped, swam, and then got ready!

 

[KathyM2]

I thought we might miss our FP for Spaceship Earth, so I then changed it to later in the day.

That's so awesome that you were able to do this!! I'm so not good at changing plans on the fly lol I have to learn to be more flexible!!

Flower and Garden t-shirt of Mickey mowing the lawn (which is one of Kenny’s favorite things to do). It was on sale, he bought it.

That sounds great! I'd love one of those for my DH. I wonder if they have any special shirts at F&W?

Kenny’s dad and I told him he HAD to this year… so he did.

That's so cute! Also it would look good hanging on a wall at home I'm sure too!

caramel s’more

Awww I want to see pictures of that lol. Sounds delish!!

We had reservations had 8:40 that night at the Cali Grill

Yum...I can't wait to hear about that!!

 

[kadrachb]

That sounds great! I'd love one of those for my DH. I wonder if they have any special shirts at F&W?

I'm sure they will! Probably not lawn-mowing centered because is F&W though lol.

That's so cute! Also it would look good hanging on a wall at home I'm sure too!

I actually have no clue where he put it!

Awww I want to see pictures of that lol. Sounds delish!!

DisneyFoodBlog has pictures of it! Thats why I knew I wanted to try it!

Yum...I can't wait to hear about that!!

Preview: It was delicious!

 

[kadrachb]

Day 5 – Dinner at California Grill ​

So after a needed break, we started to get ready for dinner! Of course, we were slightly delayed by the constant
“Oh my goodness! COME LOOK AT THE ANIMALS OUTSIDE OUT WINDOW RIGHT NOW!"
I have half a face of make up and my hair is half way done? STILL GOING OUTSIDE TO SEE THESE ANIMALS!

Kenny took a picture of me watching the animals…

And then we decided to grab a cab instead of Uber to the Contemporary. You check in on the 2nd floor, and then someone takes you up to the 15th floor. Being back in the Contemporary made me miss it from last year – next to the elevators. Those were a hassle right after wishes.

Anyways, more pictures!

​

We got out buzzer and went out to one of the viewing decks to look around. We were probably only out for about 10 minutes before we were seated.

Funny story – our waiter was actually from the Poconos! And he had lived in Lancaster for a bit. He actually got really excited when he saw my ID was from PA.


Another funny story -The people who sat to our right were from Hershey, PA! Which is only about 45 minutes from my hometown, and 50 minutes from my college town. We actually got to talk to them quite a bit, and the husband is actually a biochemist.


Third funny story of the night – The people who were sitting to our left (who had seemed to be on their honeymoon) were from Columbia, MD. Kenny lives right outside Silver Spring, MD. And the husband in that couple actually works in Mechanicsburg, PA… which is only about a 15 minute drive from my hometown… in the middle of Nowhere, PA.

So I guess it is a small world after all!


So what did we get? Lets start off with drinks!
I got the Santa Monica Cider… for the life of me can’t remember what was in it but it was strong…

​

And Kenny got the classic side car.

For our app (which we payed for OOP) we got the coffee-rubbed pork flat bread. It was AMAZING.

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Also, the bread service was good. Our waiter was very attentive, and actually spent a lot of time talking to us! One of the major things I remember was him sitting down with us towards the end of our meal right before we payed to show Kenny some video about some podcast that they were both interested in, and that him and his boyfriend were leaving for a trip to South Africa in a couple months.


Now on to the entrees!
I got the bison striploin, which came with asparagus two ways and potatoes. DELICIOUS!

Kenny got the Oak-fired filet of beef, which I also got to try. Again, amazing.

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And then it was almost time for wishes! We headed out with our drinks to the second observation deck. They pump in the music and everything! So magical. .

It was also nice because you could see the Star Wars fireworks too if you turned around.
After wishes, we ordered dessert. I couldn’t help but to get the same thing I had last year, the Sundae Sampler, with its wine pairing.

And Kenny got the crème brulee.

All in all, GREAT meal! We love the California Grill. I might have been a LITTLE tispy because I decided to try and take the confetti they placed on the table for my birthday and put some of it in my wristlet… which I am now sitting here thinking… why did I do that? But, we got an Uber to take us back to AKL, and I must have been tispy because I was OUT.