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[Colexis Mom]

More great updates Karen Hurry back

[jude411]

I am just catching up on your trip report Karen and it is wonderful. I have not figured out how to download pictures and I thought it would be boring to read a TR wothout pictures , especially after reading Marnie's TR, but I was wrong. Your trip report is so funny and . I love it. I feel like I am there. You say your good with numbers, but you are really a good writer too. I guess when your really enthusiastic about something it is easy to write about. I have camped in San Mateo with my family years ago when I was a youngster. My grandparents all lived in Hayward. Can't wait for more.

[zacksmom_1993]

“What Did You Get For Your Birthday?” “Hypothermia.” – Day Five Part One

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me. I’m definitely long past the age where birthdays are a reason for major celebration. But, when you wake up at Disney World on your birthday, it’s hard to be in a bad mood. I was up well before the 7:00 AM call from Stitch, and went out to the balcony to see who (or should I say what) else was awake. Brrr! The sun was out, but it seemed to be giving off no heat at all. The wind was blowing briskly, and it was COLD! There were no animals out except for two large ankole cattle huddled together by the overlook. The animals were all sensible enough to stay inside. But, not me. Time for me to get this family up and at ‘em and into the cold! I started to get ready and before too long the phone was ringing and the rest of the family was waking up.

Zack immediately rolled over and sleepily said, “Happy Birthday Mom. Do you want your presents now?” I thought that was so cute because Zack always asks to open his presents first thing in the morning on his birthday. He always gets a no; but maybe he just wanted to test me to make sure I applied the rule even handedly.

We left the room about 7:40 and decided to drive since my sisters wanted to visit the Premium Outlets after our morning at Animal Kingdom. We got to the gates and there were about 20 other cars waiting to get in. Huh? What’s the hold up? No one was moving anywhere, and it was then that I remembered that they don’t open the parking lots until one hour before opening time, regardless of EMH. I was really frustrated because I had wanted to be at Animal Kingdom for the opening, as we’d never seen it. Yet another reason to come back I guess. They opened up the parking lot right at 8:00 and then we were cruising towards our parking spaces with a few other brave souls.

I know I’m a bit of a sissy when it comes to the cold. I live in California for a reason (the forecast today is for temperatures in the upper 70’s.) I vacation in Florida for the same reason. I like hot weather, and can’t think of anything worse than being cold. That being said, I also love to ski, so I can handle the cold weather if properly motivated and prepared. I was definitely motivated to get out of the car into the cold on that particular December morning. And, I thought I was prepared, with about four layers of clothing on every inch of my body. But, that walk towards the gates of Animal Kingdom was one of the coldest experiences of my life. The wind was really whipping and there was almost no noise from anyone. Everyone was just walking briskly, face down, trying to bear it as best as possible. With the wind chill, the temperature must have been in the 20’s, at best. Someone mentioned that the air temperature that morning was 31 degrees, which actually sounded a little high.

We walked to the gates as quickly as possible as our moods were heading south rapidly because of the cold. I know that Zack and I had a semi-heated exchange about something. It was the only heated thing we did have that morning. It must have been something really important because I would NEVER get irritated with my child over something insignificant. HA! I just can’t happen to remember what it was any more. But, like I said, I’m sure it was really important. In any case, we had made up by the time I was inside the gates and grabbing my birthday button at Guest Services.

Most of the morning was this weird parallel universe, mirror image experience of our usual visits to Animal Kingdom. We’re most frequently at WDW in the summer, and our goal at AK is to stay as cool as possible. One time on the safari we were in the bench behind the driver so we got a little second-hand air conditioning. Zack started praying for the same seat so we could experience a little second-hand heat on this morning. Of course, we got the very last seat in the vehicle so the cold air was coming in on us from three sides. Most of the animals were too cold to even show up for the safari ride, the others were definitely not acting like themselves. The hippos were really moving around in the water to warm up, not to cool down. We saw one lone elephant, and very few other animals on the open savannah areas. The cheetahs were running back and forth and jumping in and out of the trees to stay warm. And, the lions were really stalking the vehicles as we drove by, probably as irritated as the rest of us over the cold weather.

We walked the Pangani Forest Trail after the safari, and again most of the animals (including the humans) were acting strangely. The human folk were all congregating in the naked mole rat room for a little heat. I’ve usually seen them grouped there for a bit of air conditioning. Most of the gorillas were nowhere to be seen and people were blasting past the ones that were out because it was too cold to stay and watch them. For the first time ever we didn’t see a single meerkat on sentry duty. Every other time we’ve been there, we’ve heard a guide say there is always at least one meerkat on guard at all times. I was just imagining a little Timon being told that he had to go out for his shift on watch. His response was probably, “Are you crazy? Do you know how cold it is out there? I’d rather be eaten.”

We couldn’t last long out on the trail, so we quickly walked towards Dinoland and checked in about 20 minutes early for our 9:30 seating at Donald’s Breakfastasaurus. We took another forgettable (at least I’m trying to forget it ) picture. I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but the pictures with just Zack were turning out brilliantly. The pictures of me and Zack… not so good. Alice took our park tickets and got Fast Passes for Primeval Whirl for later. We grabbed some hot chocolate from the porch and tried to snag a patch of sun. And then we waited. And waited. And waited.

After about 30 minutes, Alice went up to the hostess and asked how much longer for our table. Alice must have been really nice when she asked, and other people must have been giving the staff a really hard time, because she looked at Alice and said, “You’re being so nice, we’re seating you right now.” Alice said it looked like there were probably another 10-15 families in front of us. But, we weren’t complaining. It was cold, and if someone was telling us we could go inside to be warm, we were happy to do so. The woman who seated us told us that people just weren’t leaving the restaurant this morning because it was so cold outside. She said the seatings were backed up between 45 minutes and an hour. Again, Zack and I usually love coming into this restaurant because it’s so nice and cool. Strange, strange days. We gave Alice a hard time about being able to pull strings. Alice took it in stride and said she was ready to pull the “It’s my sister’s birthday” card if it seemed like the wait was going to be much longer.

Our server came over to our table almost immediately after we sat down and offered us some hot beverages. We took a couple of layers of clothing off, enjoyed our beverages, and went to check out the buffet. I had a great made to order omelet, and Alice and Zack said the chocolate chip pancakes were incredible. The food at this buffet is really good, but it’s kind of a chaotic atmosphere. Definitely not the place to go for a quiet meal.

After we had finished most of our meal, the characters came around in quick succession. This seems to be the new trend at the character meals, characters coming one after another all at once, rather than spread out through the meal. I guess it’s easier to seat people that way, but it seems stressful for the people who happen to be at the buffet when the characters come by. We saw a lot of speed walking back from the buffet line when parents saw that Mickey was about to pass their table by.

Our server was great, very friendly and fun. She had a squirt gun that she was getting people with. It didn’t go over as well as I’m sure it does in the height of the summer. Towards the end of our meal, she did call me out to the center of the room and sufficiently embarrassed me for my birthday. I loved it, especially seeing Zack proudly sing Happy Birthday to me with the rest of the crowd. I got hugs from Mickey and Goofy shortly after. For, the first time all morning, I felt warm all the way through.

Next Up… Thawing Out and Having Fun for the Afternoon

[LizardCop]

You got a really good way to get warm.....

[jude411]

I probably would have died right there in Mickeys arms from embarrasment!!

[Jillybean]

Sorry that your birthday started out so cold! I'm sitting here shivering just reading about it! The older I get the worse I hate the cold!

Breakfast sounds so yummy - - we'll be trying Donald's for the first time in May! Now you have me excited!

Jill

[Tara O'Hara]

Great update!! What an awesome way to spend your birthday!!

[Caldercup]

Omigod... I just got caught up and I actually started copying my favorite quotes from all the posts into a word document so I could remark about them....well.... I FILLED UP A WHOLE PAGE OF 'EM!! This one had me choking with laughter:
[ QUOTE ]
when the reindeers were dancing in front of us, one of them turned around and his tongue flew out. Zack is at the age where this scene was funny, not horrifying. So, we had a good laugh. The reindeer just danced over, picked up his tongue, and pranced away.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm still
You so totally rock, dude! Your TR is awesome!!
Eileen

[zacksmom_1993]

You all are so nice! This trip report is turning into a true labor of . I feel like I'm getting to live my vacation all over again. These trip reports are addictive. I don't see how I can go on another Disney vacation and not write one. Thanks for all the comments. I'm enjoying them as much as writing the report itself.
Karen

[zacksmom_1993]

Thawing Out and Having Fun for the Afternoon – Day Five Part Two

We very reluctantly got ready to go back outside. Even though it was nearing 11:00, there were still crowds of people waiting outside to get in for breakfast. I have no idea when they stopped serving breakfast that morning to catch up with the delay. They could still be serving it. When we got outside it had warmed up somewhat, it was probably close to a balmy 52 degrees! We still had a bit of time before our Fastpass window for Primeval Whirl, so we decided to head over to Dinosaur. The sign said there was a 30-minute wait, but the line was just outside the building so I didn’t believe it.

We jumped in line outside the building and the wind started to really howl. It hadn’t taken more than a few minutes from us to go from warm and cozy to freezing cold again. It probably took no more than 3 or 4 minutes for us to get inside the building. But, let me tell you, those were a long 3 or 4 minutes! The doors were open and inviting in front of us and they promised the warmth of a heater. I really wanted one of those Japanese people stuffers that they use on the subways in Tokyo. If people just moved a little bit closer together we’d be inside. Come on; move a little closer, a little closer. Why was it that people were so considerate of each other’s personal space today of all days? There was a group of about 10 teenagers in front of us. They must have all been related because there was about 2 feet of space between each one of them. I just wanted to shove them all together because that 2 feet of space was the exact distance between me and the heat. Move it people!

Finally, the line started to really move and we were safely inside the warm building. In about 10 more minutes we were on the ride vehicle and I got the pants scared off of me once again. We walked over to Primeval Whirl, and nearly walked right on the ride with our Fast Passes. I don’t know what it was about this ride, but my sisters and I could not stop laughing the whole time. I think we were scared that we’d flip out when the vehicle whipped around the turns at the top. We all started screaming in unison and that got Zack laughing which got us all laughing. By the time the vehicle was spinning towards the end of the ride, we were completely hysterical. It was stomach hurts, eyes watering, afraid you’re going to wet yourself laughing. Alice declared that this ride would go in her backyard next to Buzz when she became Michael Jackson rich. Here’s hoping she wins the lottery!

We walked over to Asia because Alice had said that one of her favorite rides was Kali River Rapids. Although there were a fair number of people headed on it, we decided it was just too cold. Instead we walked through the Maharajah Jungle Trek. At first it seemed like a complete bust. The Komodo dragon and the bats weren’t out because of the cold weather, and the tigers were nowhere to be seen in the first couple of viewing areas. But, then we walked around the last bend and the tigers were all sitting together right in front of a big picture window. A lot of people had walked right past them, so we felt like we got a bit of a personal show. Also, we spent probably 30 minutes at the aviary on this path. I’d never taken the time to really look for the birds with the help of the guides they provide at the beginning. So many people were blasting right past, and usually I’m one of them, that they were missing beautiful birds that were literally inches from the path. Alice had really gotten Zack and I to slow down in this section, and we had a phenomenal time.

My sisters had seen everything they had wanted to at Animal Kingdom. I wanted to catch the next showing of Festival of the Lion King so we walked along the path from Asia to Africa. There was a crowd of people looking at something. It looked to be a bush, but then I spotted the cast member with the character jacket. We looked closely and realized that the bush was actually D’vine. I’d never seen her before, and we very easily could have walked right past her again. It was interesting as she walked across the path and then repositioned herself, but then what? I’m not sure if we missed part of the show because the novelty wore off pretty quickly for us. I did notice that there were quite a few men watching. So maybe this is something for the Daddy’s? (You know, like Tarzan is something for the Mommy’s.) She was very bendy, as Zack would put it, so maybe there’s something there. Anyway, interesting, but not something I need to see all the time.

My sisters departed and Zack and I waited in a short line before we were let into the Lion King Theater. Thank goodness this was enclosed! Finally some heat, although I think they enclosed it to keep the heat out! The show was just as powerful as always and we had our traditional seats in the lion section. When Zack was around three, we went to Disneyland several times and would wait for hours to see the Lion King parade. Zack had seen the Lion King as his first movie at 18 months and sat through the whole thing. One of his first sentences as a toddler was, “Dinosaur won’t eat Lion King.” He loved all things Lion King. I can remember camping out on Main Street and Zack jumping up and down with excitement when he saw the floats turn the corner around the hub and he heard the Lion King music over the loudspeakers. It was my favorite Disney parade of all time; and I’m so glad that they are re-using the floats at AK now. The music and the show are powerful enough, but that little extra connection to a piece of magic from my son’s childhood really cements this show in my heart. There’s just nothing like that music!

My birthday was shaping up nicely, even with the cold weather. Zack and I left the theater hand in hand and walked towards the front entrance. On the way, Zack stopped to get his picture taken with Stitch. Stitch made such a fuss over Zack’s Stitch Christmas hat. Zack was beaming, and I was crying. I Disney! We grabbed a bus back to the AKL, and, to give you an indication of how cold it still was, Zack said it was too cold to go swimming. Instead, I grabbed the newspaper and the mugs and we went down to Mara for a snack and some hot chocolate. I read the paper while Zack wasted some money in the arcade. Big mistake. I read about the horrible bombing of the barracks in Iraq that had killed 14 US soldiers. Not what you wanted to hear about on your birthday, and on vacation. But, later in the week, you’ll see that this news added extra meaning to an already magical experience.

We headed back to the room after a little while, and ran into Alice and Kirsten. They hadn’t spent much time at the outlet mall, finding the things still well outside their price range. Kirsten said she had found a great bra at La Perla, and then she looked at the price tag. It was marked down to $250 from $400. I’m not sure who the audience is for this store. If you can afford a $250 bra are you really going to be shopping at a factory outlet? Maybe the servants get to keep some of the money they save if they shop here? It’s a mystery to me. My family had gotten my birthday presents wrapped in this very cool jungle print from the Lodge. I decided that I’d wait until after Epcot to open them and we were off again.

Next Up… A Perfect Birthday Night

[jude411]

Hears to a great . Your son sounds alot like my son. He is 11 and still will hold my hand and give me hugs for no reason. I hope it last forever.

[Jillybean]

What a afternoon at AK (no pun intended ). I love the story of Zack and the Lion King -- so nice to be able to relate a Disneyland favorite to a WDW favorite!

Jill

[jajamoore]

I can definately relate to the Lion King story. My son's(now 13)first theatre movie was also Lion King. Afterwards he wanted us to rewind it so he could watch it again. Of course we bought the video when it came out and also the sing along video and he knew the words to all the songs. I can still see him sitting on the floor playing with his Lion King toys and singing "I Just Can't Wait To Be King". They sure do grow up fast. Enjoy all the hugs your getting now.

[Joy J]

I just caught up with your trip report and it's wonderful! More please!

Joy

[Tara O'Hara]

What a terrific update, Karen!! You are a wonderful storyteller! I, too, your Lion King story! What a great birthday you are having!! Can't wait to see what you get!!