Day 4 - January 26th 2010

Again we woke up on our own, no alarm which is magical all by itself. We got ready to go and we knew today was going to be cooler and most of Animal Kingdom is shaded so we wore jeans and sweatshirts. We headed to Animal Kingdom; the bus stop was empty and only a few people on the AK bus. Every bus we got on we had a seat and it was not crowded at all. Love Caribbean Beach!

First characters of the day were off to the side of the enterance:
Brer Bear & Brer Rabbit

We headed straight to the back of the park to get on Expedition Everest. We love this coaster; it is such a huge thrill. When we were in line we seen the kids that my mom babysits for, we knew that they were coming to Disney the same time we were but I did not know what their schedule was it was a huge surprise to see them. After we got off the ride we waited to see how the kids liked it and the youngest said it was not good. I did forget to mention that there was no line for Everest at all. We just walked right on so we thought since this was now wait that we would head to Dinosaur and hopefully it would be the same way. It was!! When I rode this ride the last time, I screamed so loud at the last dinosaur so I planned to keep quiet this time and I remembered that once I seen the flash (from the picture they take during the ride) I would be in the clear. I seen the flash and took a deep breath and then there he was – the huge conatouraus at the end of the ride and again I SCREAMED…Kirk just kept teasing me.

Nemo the Musical was starting soon so we headed in that direction and we sat real close to the stage. It’s not the best place to sit. It’s better to sit above the main entrance because you can see all the action. It is still an awesome show, very Broadway style.

We ate lunch at the Restaurantsaurs (not sure it is spelled right). We had some very messy burgers. They were very good too. We decided to do a little character hunting and it was to our advantage. We had seen these characters:

Devine

Miss Bunny – Thumpers Girlfriend from Bambi

Flik from Bugs Life

Terk from Tarzan

Baloo & King Louie from Jungle Book


Then we walked over to the Flights of Wonder show. I have always skipped this because I was under the impression it was boring. Boy was I wrong. This was a first for both of us and it was amazing. The birds came out of the building and flew right over our heads. The bald eagle was breathtaking. Kirk said his favorite was the eagle also.

We were close to Kilimanjaro Safari so we again – WALKED RIGHT ON. We have ridden this dozens of times and it is never the same. This time an Ostrich was walking down the center of the road and would not move so we just followed it, very slowly. Finally it stepped off the path and then we encountered a White Rhino in our path. They stopped the truck and just waited for it to move and it turned around and walked very close to the truck, honestly I was a little nervous that it might charge us. Unfortunately, my camera battery died so I have nothing...

Pangani Forest Trail was next, and I was bumming about my camera battery but I figured – I have taken tons of photos while walking this trail before so no big deal , right? Wrong! We walked to the Hippo viewing area and a hippo swam right in front of the glass and was doing belly rolls. Like it was showing off. Very awesome to see, they are so weightless in the water. The Gorillas were very active and very close too. It was bumming.
We walked back towards the Tree of Life and got our pictures with a photopass photographer.

The It’s Tough to Be a Bug show was our next stop. I have always loved this show, I do know enough not to let myself get stung in the back but I still love all the other interaction.

We figured we would catch the parade before our dining reservation at Rainforest Café and we picked a spot. Well, it was not a good spot – it was at the end of the parade route and we realized that if we waited for the parade we would miss our reservation so we walked up to Rainforest Café.

We love Rainforest because it is not as accessible at home, we would have to drive about 3 hours to get to one so we always eat here. Kirk got steak and I got coconut shrimp. We have both ate these before so we knew that it would be great and it was. But towards the end of my meal I felt really weird. My face was on fire and I felt clammy. I went to the bathroom because I thought I might get sick but I started to feel faint and like I could not breathe. I came out and I seen a waitress so I told her that I was not feeling well. I thought it was an allergic reaction to something I ate. They called the paramedics and grabbed my husband from the table. I had dipped my shrimp in a mango sauce so I was thinking it could have been that. The paramedics took my blood pressure and it was very high and they wanted to put me on an IV of Benadryl and take me to the ER but I did not want to go to the ER – I was on vacation. The only other option was to get me some Benadryl from the hotel store and see how I felt. I said I would do that. I felt extremely sick going to the bus but they took me to Caribbean Beach first thing (the park was closed so only a couple of buses were out front). Kirk went to get me Benadryl and I lay down. I took the meds and went to sleep.

Day 3 - January 25th 2010

Today we had a plan that we needed to be at Hollywood Studios at opening so we could get to Toy Story Mania first thing.

We woke up around 7am and got ready. We headed up to Ole’ Port Royal to grab a Danish and fill our refillable mug. Then out the door to the bus stop, again about 3 minutes until the Hollywood Studios bus arrived.

We made it and the plan was to run/fast walk to TSM as soon as the rope dropped. And were off.,….just before we got in line for the ride, I seen a Green Army Man and I told Kirk as soon as we get off this ride, I need to find one of them. We walked directly on the ride. I kind of wish we would have gotten fastpasses also because we loved it and would have liked to have rode it twice. It was so fun. Kirk beat me, his score was 124,000 and mine was 113,000. Next time I will get him. I loved Andy’s room!

When we got off the ride and the Green Army Man was still out so we got his signature and a photo:

We knew that Woody & Buzz would be coming out so we waited and they came out early, we were first in line. I had their signatures (which normally Buzz stamps but last August he signed for me) but I wanted a photo.


It was only 9:20am so he went to the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We have seen this show tons of times but, we still love it. The laser lights are amazing and the effects like the water mist, bubbles, and wind really make you feel like you are under the sea with Ariel.

After the show, we went to the Animation Studio to see what characters were there. Sorcerer Mickey was the only one available and we have never had our picture with him but I did have Mickey’s signature.

And this-- coming out on my birthday this year:

Next on our plan was to see One Man’s Dream. I seen this back in 2000 and Kirk had never seen it. There were a lot of changes and I loved it. I had tears in my eyes, the story of Walt’s life is amazing and moving. It’s a walking tour of all of his milestones and at the end is a movie about him. He struggled and over came so much. I think every person who enters Disney World or Land should have to see this. Kirk enjoyed it just as much as I did.

Beauty and the Beast live on stage was up next. This was a first for both of us. This is also Kirk’s favorite movie. All I can say is that this show is breath-taking. It is done Broadway style with singing & dancing. This is something that I have to see again, nothing short of awesome. The only down side was that the auditorium was cold.

Here are more photos of Beauty and the Beast show:

Lunch was at Hollywood and Vine at 12:30pm so we headed in that direction. This was another first and we were a little nervous that it would be full of kids and we would feel out of place, we were wrong. It was buffet style with some really great choices plus an ice cream sundae bar. The food was great and we will be making a reservation for here when we come back in September with the kids. This is character dining with Playhouse Disney characters, JoJo and Gallith from JoJo’s Circus and June and Leo from Little Einstein’s. They did do some singing and dancing with the kids. My boys will love it.

We looked at the time and we just had enough time to get to the Lights, Motors, Action stunt show. This was another first for both of us. The bleacher area where we sat was huge, it seats 10,000 people. The stunt show was so cool. Cars spun around and drove backwards they also jumped over other vehicles. It also had stunts with motorcycles and jet ski’s. At the end of the show a girl was riding a motorcycle through fire and she ignited, of course it was part of the show but it was still amazing. They also explained how the stunts were done and how film makers use the footage. I also like the way you can feel the heat from the fire while the show is going on.

We walked back up towards the hat to see that afternoon parade this is not one of my favorite parades at all but we still sat for a little bit to see if anything changed. I love Disney/Pixar characters—especially Woody – but the parade is boring to me. The dancers in the Block Party Bash Parade are real athletes with all the dancing, trampoline work, and lip syncing. It is a work out.

We left before the parade was over and went to the Great Movie Ride. Our driver was not good at the acting part of the ride at all. She did not put on a show for us. They did the mobster scene and the actress (again a girl) was not good either. She was not a convincing “bad” person, we were not impressed. I still love seeing all of the old movies scenes especially Mary Poppins and Wizard of Oz. This is another classic Walt ride.

For dinner we went to Pizza Planet and in the past I have loved this place, today not so much. Our pizza was very greasy and I think it had sat out awhile. It was about 5:30pm when we went here to eat and there was only 2 other families in the whole place. It was a very quiet dinner.

We did see Mater & Lightening too


We decided to head back up to the Animation Studios to see what characters were out and he hit the jackpot. Tons of characters and they kept changing who was coming out.

Frozone & Mr. Incredible

My Mr. Incredible and Disney's Mr. Incredible

TweedleDee & Tweedle Dum

Snow White

Jasmine

Aladdin

Mr. Penguin & Mary Poppins

Mulan

Pocahontas & Meeko


We were so excited to get all these signatures and photos. It was the best as far as characters go. We did miss the Snow Queen but we are coming back here in a couple of days so hopefully we can get anybody we missed then.

We thought we would catch the final showing of American Idol so we headed over in that direction and it was full. We saw some other people sitting on the ground in front of the large screen TV that is in front of the building so we sat down too. We watched the 5 final contestants of the day. The first couple were ok, the 3rd person was pretty good. The 4th contestant was a guy and we thought he was awesome but the final contestant was a girl and she won. This girl will receive a ticket to sing at any audition in the United States. I thought they would at least get a ticket to Hollywood if they were really good but either way Kirk and I would never do this. I think we had the best seats right where we were. We headed out of the park before the mob left the American Idol Experience and headed to Caribbean Beach. Our legs were tired and it was getting cold. We had on long sleeves and coats and we were chilly.

Once we got back to the resort we set out our clothes, repacked the bag, and hit the hay!