[Cruella]

I apologize for taking so long to post the next installment of this trip report. We've been a little busy, what with work and working on the house. We are doing a lot of home improvements to get ready for my sister's wedding in August. I promise I'll try to do better - at least a day of the trip every week!

I want to clarify something before I post this day. I made a remark that the the food at the House of Blues might have responsible for JoAnn's illness while we were away. I don't really think this is true. If it was food at all that caused her illness, I would have to go with the 7-11 hot dog, but truthfully I think it was a bug of some kind, and not caused by the food at the House of Blues. I will say, however, that both Frank and JoAnn were unimpressed with the food served there.

OK, on with the trip...

Tuesday, January 15th

A special note for you trivia lovers out there - today is the 27th birthday of Space Mountain!

Once again, Tim and I were up at 6:10 to call the boys before they went to school. They seemed to be doing OK, but Andrew was definitely missing us a lot. I suffered through a few minutes of maternal guilt and then started to get ready for the day.

We had an 8:00 AM PS at Boma at the AKL this morning. I knew both Frank and JoAnn would love this place because they love wild animals. We had been to Boma in December and loved the food, so we decided to revisit it and hopefully see some animals on the savanna this time. In December there were absolutely no animals in sight, but the view was breathtaking and the décor of the AKL was wonderful.

We arrived right on time and were seated immediately. The CMs here are so friendly and helpful and the food is delicious. If you haven't tried the Boma buffet breakfast, I strongly urge you to give it a try. They have a tempting combination of the regular breakfast fare and exotic African foods that taste great. The spread is huge and if you walk away hungry from this buffet, you have no one to blame but yourself!

After we had eaten more than we should have, we went outside to check out the pool and that side of the savanna. To our delight we saw some giraffes making their way across the savanna, looking regal and very cool. We also saw an assortment of birds. What a treat!

We then went back into the lobby to check out the other savanna views, but we were distracted. We saw Chip and Dale lying on the floor and coloring with a little girl. They looked so cute! This is the Character Caravan that visits the resorts in the mornings before the parks open and was meant to take the place of early openings for the resort guests. This was not the first time I had seen the characters in a resort but there were so few people in the lobby of the AKL that Chip and Dale were giving really quality time to this little girl. We were mesmerized! Then Chip and Dale turned their attention to us. They both kissed me and then I asked Dale if I could take him home. He nodded vigorously and we danced and skipped to the entrance of the Lodge. We went outside and started to cross to the parking lot before his handler came to get him and tell him it was time to leave.

We continued on our tour of the savanna views and found a great spot off the left side of the lobby as you enter, overlooking the Ostrich Trail. It was amazing! I recommend that you try this view if you visit AKL.

After the necessary stop in the gift shop (where Frank actually bought a Disney shirt!) we were on our way to AK. Outside the park were an assortment of characters greeting the guests. We even spied Chip and Dale and I blew a kiss to Dale in remembrance of our special moment at the Lodge.

Then we headed into the Oasis. I love the peaceful feeling of this area and the surprises you find around every twisty trail. We took our time exploring every part of the right side of the oasis, leaving the left side for our way out. We stopped on the bridge to have our picture taken. I would love to get my picture with the Tree of Life behind me, but when we are leaving the line is always so long! This time was no different - I will have to make sure that I go back in the middle of the day when we go back in August so I have time to pick up the picture before the lines get so long.

We proceeded to Africa to get FastPasses for The Safari and then headed back to the Tree of Life to see ITTBAB. Of course, we took our time in the line to point out the various sculptures to Frank and JoAnn, even though there was really no one on the line. These sculptures are amazing and I always find something new every time we walk through. ITTBAB was great as always, but I was disappointed that Frank and Joann didn't get stung. Either they weren't sitting back far enough or their stingers weren't working. Either way, I wanted them to get the full experience, but, alas, it was not to be.

We went back to Africa and walked onto the safari, in the FastPass line. This was a great trip on the safari. We saw more animals than we had ever seen before. Our guide was great too. You could tell that he wasn't as interested in the storyline as he was in giving us the best animal experience he could. He kept stopping to point out the animals that were all around us and we were soon seeing the next truck behind us. But we really got a bird's eye view of many of the animals listed on the guide, no doubt due to the cool weather.

After the Safari we noticed that it was almost time for Flights of Wonder, a show we had never seen and had put on our 'must' list for this trip. So we headed over there and sat in the theater waiting for the show to begin. The scenery is beautiful and the birds are amazing. I even got to participate in one trick. I stood up and held a dollar bill in my hand and one of the birds swooped down and plucked it from my fingers. That part went perfectly, but when the trainer told me to hold out my hand and sent the bird to bring it back to me, I didn't close my hand fast enough and the bill fluttered to the ground. It was very definitely my fault - the bird did exactly what he was supposed to! I would recommend this show to anyone. It has now been put on our favorites list and I can't wait to see it again in August when we go back with our kids. I think that they will love it too.

When the show was over, we headed back to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. This was another attraction I had never seen and we loved all the animals, especially the gorillas. It was at the end of this trek that JoAnn began to feel unwell. We made our way to Tusker House to have a snack and relax for a while. Unfortunately, at the end of our rest JoAnn was not feeling much better. We decided that the guys could go on to Asia while we would make our way slowly to Dinoland and meet them at Tarzan Rocks, resting along the way. We got there first and saved seats, calling them on the cell phone to monitor their progress. Of course, they just made it in the nick of time (Fantasmic déjà vu!) but they did make it and we all enjoyed the show very much. This is another attraction that goes on our must do list for August with the kids.

We talked JoAnn into going to Dinosaur next. In retrospect, Dinosaur was not the best ride to take JoAnn on with her stomach feeling queasy, but she was glad that she got to experience it anyway. As we left the ride and went through the shop we racked up the funniest event of the day, however, when JoAnn picked up one of those dinosaurs that has the long handle that you squeeze to make it's jaws move. She then snuck up behind Frank, who was busy paying for something JoAnn had asked him to buy, and scared the heck out of him by draping it over his shoulder and working the mouth rapidly. Frank was definitely surprised!

We walked out through Chester and Hester's, making a few more purchases including the cutest Mickey bookmark! He looks like he's climbing up the page when you set him in the book. I just love it! Unfortunately, a few days ago, Mushu, our Bichon Frise, decided that my bookmark looked like lunch and nibbled on it. It still works but I'm definitely getting a new one when we go back.
Anyway, on the way out of Chester and Hester's I found a new (to me) hidden Mickey! When you exit the store and go to the left, you pass a series of parking spaces, presumably the parking lot for C&H's. In one of the parking spots is a hidden Mickey! I was just so proud! I'm sure that many of you have spotted it before me, but I'm still proud!

We took pity on JoAnn and headed for the exit, strolling through the other side of the Oasis and seeing the rest of the animals. We missed the parade (my favorite daytime parade) but she really needed to get back home by this time. We also checked out the line for the photos, but, as usual, it was way too long, so we skipped it. We caught the tram to our car and headed back to our condo.

After resting for a couple of hours, JoAnn was only feeling worse. We felt bad leaving her alone, but she insisted that all she was going to do was sleep and encouraged us to go out and eat dinner. We had planned to visit Wolfgang Puck's Express in Downtown Disney and Frank was really looking forward to that, so we left JoAnn to rest in bed and we took ourselves off.

We went directly to Wolfgang's when we arrived at Downtown Disney and we checked out the selections. I have to say that the food here is superb but on this night, anyway, the service left a lot to be desired. They forgot one of our entrees and, as a result, we spent more time there than we thought we would. But, as I said, the food was great and we had a very enjoyable meal. One note - even though it was January and the seating here is outside, don't let that stop you from enjoying your meal here. They have heaters set up around the tables that throw off so much heat, we were shedding our coats within minutes.

We then headed on our way to Pleasure Island where we were hoping to check out the Adventurer's Club. Unfortunately it was engaged for a private party on this evening, so we did something that was on our wish list for this trip - we headed over to the Comedy Club. We had never been here and I was excited about trying it out. It didn't disappoint. If you've ever seen 'Whose Line Is It Anyway' and enjoyed it, then you will like the comedy club. We enjoyed it so much that we went back for another show. Try it, you'll have a good time.

After the second show, Frank was beginning to worry about JoAnn, so we headed home for the night. JoAnn was asleep but woke up long enough to tell Frank that she was definitely worse, which he passed on to us. We were originally planning on spending the next day at Future World, where we had a PS for a late lunch at Coral Reef. JoAnn had specifically requested this restaurant, so if she was still sick we would have to change our plans. As I wrote up my notes from the day I said a little prayer that she would be feeling better in the morning. I hoped that a good night's sleep would be enough to allow her to join us on Wednesday.

And then it was goodnight and dreams of another day tomorrow at the Happiest Place on Earth!