12 Days of Disney: Our Very Merry Vow Renewal, Christmas, Alligators and more!

[missjackiemcg]

Wednesday, December 28th

We woke up bright and early (but not as early as my Dad!) because today was Rob and Jimmy’s pick—Gatorland! Dad had already left to pick up our rental car. We booked with Alamo, which is almost on site at MK. They picked Dad up at the hotel and brought him to get the car. He made his way back to pick us up and we were off to Gatorland. We got there about 15 minutes before the park opened and waited in a short line. While we were waiting, a gentleman came out and asked if anyone wanted to add on the Adventure Hour to their experience for only $10. We had already researched this and planned for Dad and Rob to join in. Unfortunately, we hadn’t planned to stay past noon and the first time slot available wasn’t until 1 p.m. But they really wanted to do it, so we signed them up and before we knew it we were paying to get in. Mom and Dad were able to use the AARP rate and save more than 50% on their entry!!

DSC06362 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

As soon as we entered, Jimmy was in his glory checking out all the alligators and these first few exhibits were filled with pretty small ones. They were advertising “Fishing for Gators”—6 fish for $5. Jimmy LOVED this so much! He liked being in charge of clipping the pole onto the fence before lowering it down. He kept yelling, “You boys hungry!! Let’s send her down, Daddy!”

DSC06363 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06364 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06369 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We checked in on Chester, the largest resident at Gatorland. He is MASSIVE. So much bigger than the picture lets on!!

DSC06371 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Our next adventure was feeding hot dogs to gators in the marsh along the walkway. Jimmy was fascinated with Lockjaw, a giant gator who had lost part of his jaw in a battle with a crocodile that had lasted all night long. In the end, Lockjaw was missing part of his jaw and the crocodile was missing a foot. Yikes. I am truly the mother of a boy. He tried to toss all of his hot dogs to Lockjaw but the birds kept grabbing them, including one who came really close to yanking one straight out of Jimmy’s hand!

DSC06372 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06377 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Then, we headed back over to the famous Gatorland Jumparoo. On our first visit to Gatorland in 2011, we learned about this apparently famous act that has taken place since the opening of Gatorland. I didn’t even know Gators could move this way! They use their tails to propel themselves up and out of the water. This is how gators in nature can actually grab birds out of the sky.

DSC06386 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06389 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

After the Jumparoo, we had lunch at the little stand. There was a pretty big crowd here on this day, and it was pretty obvious they are not accustomed to serving that many people at once. It was really not efficient. The same person who rings you up gets all your food and drinks, so we spent a lot of time standing there waiting to order and waiting for our food. But, it took up the rest of the time we needed to kill before 1:00.

After lunch, it was time to head over to the breeding marsh for Rob and my Dad to do their Adventure Hour. All we knew when we signed up was that they would have the opportunity to visit the breeding marsh, which is otherwise off exhibit, and that they would hand feed full size alligators. When we actually got over to the marsh and saw the handler calling for the alligators I got a little bit nervous about it! Just the sheer number of alligators that came swimming over and crawling up out of the water was astounding!! I never would have guessed there were even that many in there!

DSC06391 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

As we were standing there watching all the alligators and my nerves were getting edgy, Jimmy pulls on my arm, “Mommy! How come I don’t get to go with Daddy and Grandpa? Why didn’t you sign me up!!?” Can we back up for a second and recall that this is the same boy who just a few days ago had a gigantic meltdown because I made him go on Dumbo?! Apparently a cute elephant and his mouse friend are terrifying, but a marsh filled with 160 full grown alligators is a walk in the park.

DSC06392 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

They let us add Jimmy on to the boys’ group, and once the handler was happy with the number of alligators that had come up on shore, he had each of them put on a glove and opened a giant Rubbermaid full of raw meat (ick). Each of them was allowed to grab three pieces and toss them to the waiting alligators. Sorry, no pics because I was videotaping, but it was just wild!! At one point, the guy used his hat (obviously these gators are trained to some degree) to signal for one particular alligator, Igor, to open wide. When he did, the guy directed Rob to toss him a piece, so Rob actually got the closest to any of them. He tossed one and the guy was like, “Don’t just stand there, toss him another one!!”

We wandered along the rest of the pathway toward the exit and saw some really aggressive looking Nile crocodiles.

DSC06394 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Our next stop for the late afternoon was Cocoa Beach. Jimmy took a little snooze in the car on the way. Grandpa missed our turn and ended up driving the wrong direction on a One Way street, but technically not breaking the law because he was on the sidewalk instead of the actual street. After that little adventure, we found ourselves at a park with a short walk over to the ocean!

DSC06399 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

The clouds started to roll in and the wind picked up, which made for some pretty big waves. None of this stopped Jimmy from splashing around, running in and out of the waves and having the time of his life! The ocean stole one of his shoes right off of his foot actually! We never found it, so on our way back to the car we threw out the other one.

DSC06403 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06414 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Jimmy collected a heap of seashells, but being the meanest Mom in the world, I wouldn’t let him keep them all. So, instead he chose one special shell for each of us and one for himself before heading back to the car.

DSC06415 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We were a bit behind schedule for the day, as I had planned to try to hit up the Disney outlet stores before having to return the car at 7, but it turns out we wouldn’t have time. So, my Dad returned the car to Alamo and once he returned to Pop we headed for a bus to Disney Springs.

DSC06420 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06422 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We had planned to eat dinner tonight at the Food Trucks at Disney Springs. Mom and I had eaten at the Hollywood Studios truck shortly after they first opened on our last trip in November 2015 and really loved it! This was our first time at the “new and improved” Disney Springs. I have to say I felt kind of MEH about it. I didn’t like being dropped off all the way at the other end from the stores we actually like on the Marketplace side. This side felt way too “mall”ish and with all the high end shops, nothing that even interested us. It was SO insanely crowded and not enough signs were visible to point us in the right direction. I saw Guest Relations and grabbed a map but it still took us forever to make our way to where the food trucks were. They are now squeezed into an area with a stage, so it was packed with people!! And the menus had changed.

DSC06423 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Our long day was quickly catching up with us and we were cranky, hungry and getting overtired. We knew this was our only day to shop, so we skipped eating and walked over to the LEGO store, World of Disney and the Christmas shop before making the long trek back to the busses. We had to wait almost 25 minutes for a bus back to Pop and finally got there about 10:30 p.m. I can’t even believe I didn’t feed my kid dinner until that late at night!! My Mom didn’t even stay up to eat; she headed back to the room and went to bed.

After our VERY late dinner, we all went back to the room and straight to bed!

Up next: More princess fun and a wild afternoon!

 

[MeghanEmily]

What a fun day! I've always wondered what Gatorland is like Cocoa Beach looks beautiful. We've only ever done Daytona.

but being the meanest Mom in the world, I wouldn’t let him keep them all.

Oh my goodness, this made me laugh. I used to regularly call my mom the "meanest mommy in the whole world." She wore it like a badge of honor.

I didn’t like being dropped off all the way at the other end from the stores we actually like on the Marketplace side.

Agree. I get that they want people to have to walk by all the new high-end stores to draw them in and make them spend money, but it's so inconvenient when a lot of families just want to get to the fun Disney-type stores they know and love. Too much walking. Wish they'd put the busses somewhere else if they were going to add that whole section.

 

[missjackiemcg]

Thursday, December 29th

Even though we had a late night, we had an ADR for breakfast at Akershus at 9:15 a.m. this morning! I wanted to make sure we had time to get all the way back to World Showcase, so we headed out pretty early. We never had trouble with busses heading out in the morning, so we were on the way quickly!

Security was insane at Epcot every time we went on this trip, despite having two bag check areas and metal detectors at both. As we walked toward World Showcase, I noticed the Christmas tree was already gone!! I couldn’t believe it!!

DSC06424 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

wdw2016364635457646_7907382820 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We made our way through before long and were sitting outside Akershus at 8:30 a.m. MUCH too early for our seating. The place I bought our Drink Around the World nametags from also had Hello Around the World tags. Jimmy talked with the attendant at Akershus and had him sign his nametag. While we waited, I noticed the wait for Frozen Ever After was already 120 minutes at this time of the morning!! The line was so far out of the rope queue that there was a CM standing at the end with the sign saying Line Forms Here!

DSC06425 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Jimmy’s charm worked some magic and even though we were 45 minutes early for our reservation, the attendant came over and gave us the OK to head for the entrance.

We took our picture with Belle and were seated at a table right near the doors where we had entered the restaurant. It was a little awkward as we were the only people sitting in that area. At first I thought Jimmy might get better interactions because he was the only one over there, but most of the princesses were very quick to stop, sign, say cheese and move on.

wdw2016364635471548_396681574345 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

I’m really glad that Jimmy’s favorite girl took some extra time with him and he even got to hold hands with her and lead the parade just like he had in 2013. All I could think this whole meal long was how it might be the last time my little Jimmy wants to eat there and still cares about Cinderella. It was magical and sad all at once!

DSC06426 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

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DSC06433 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

After breakfast, we wandered back to Future World and took Jimmy, Rob and my Dad on a class they had been missing out on—Ellen’s Energy Adventure! Jimmy loved it and cracked up at “Stupid Judy.” We saw an Activia commercial shortly after we got home and he yelled, “Mommy!!! There’s Stupid Judy!!!!”

DSC06434 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

I can't remember when we took this picture, but at some point we were walking toward Figment and ended up spotting a PP photographer! Love these!

wdw2016364635608898_396681501431 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We also took a ride on Test Track where the boys and girls teamed up to build the best car! Mom and I created this beautiful pink beast and we dominated the competition!

DSC06437 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06439 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

wdw2016364635580653_7907551859 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

On our stroll back toward The Land, we stumbled across a stand selling Frozen Cokes (mmmmmmmm) and you could get them spiked with Captain Morgan or Jack Daniel’s! We got it straight this time, but believe me it’s in my notes for December to hit that stop again!

We had time for one more ride on Living with the Land before Dad, Rob and I needed to leave for an appointment at Animal Kingdom! Jimmy and Grandma stayed at Epcot a little longer to meet Sombrero Donald and Mulan.

wdw2016364635680231_7907683514 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

To be continued: Wild Africa Trek!!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Dad, Rob and I got to Animal Kingdom a bit too early to check in for our Wild Africa Trek, so we strolled along the Gorilla Falls Trail and stopped at the Dawa Bar. We tried Tusker Ale and Safari Amber and enjoyed relaxing in the shade and watching the crowds of people. Rob and I also had a little Mickey bar snack while we waited.

DSC06443 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06445 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We checked in and got fitted for our gear. They had little lockers for us to keep our things. We were allowed to keep hats and sunglasses and cameras/phones—they had little straps to attach to them. (Wishing they had those on Rock’n Rollercoaster…LOL!)

DSC06446 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Nick and Laura were our tour guides and we had a fantastic time with them! We started our tour by walking through some trails and going through a gate that took us off the beaten path. We first came to our hippo encounter. We hooked our vests to these hooks that would keep us safe as we walked near the edge. They tossed big hunks of lettuce to the hippo and he just looked so happy and playful down there!! It was really awesome to see him so active and be so close.

DSC06451 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06456 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06463 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Next up, we crossed some rickety bridges over to where we would encounter our next animals—the crocodiles!! We would later learn that there are 24 crocs in that area at any given time. I couldn’t believe it! It never seems like there are THAT many!

DSC06467 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06473 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06483 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

After Rob, Dad and I had crossed over, we were waiting there and messing around with some of the props. We watched the others from our group walk across when all of a sudden a huge battle erupted in the water in front of us!! There was a croc expert standing there with us and he said it happens almost every day—they are aggressive by nature and duke it out over who gets to sit in which spot, etc. One of the crocs was visibly bleeding and another had lost a tooth by the time it was over. The expert told us that they won’t even go in to administer medical attention for this type of thing unless it is a much more serious injury.

DSC06486 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

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We were feeling like we’d already gotten our money’s worth out of this tour when we wrapped up our visit with the crocodiles. But there was lots more to come!

DSC06498 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06506 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Next, we got to board our own special vehicle to go out on safari. We rode on some of the same trails as the attraction but many others that were not part of the attraction. We were able to pull over and stand up and walk around on the truck to take pictures or get closer looks at some of the animals.

DSC06507 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Another nice feature of the whole tour was the guides took turns taking pictures with their really nice camera and we got access to all of the images included with the cost of the tour. I’ll include some of their pictures at the end!

DSC06509 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06512 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06520 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

At the flamingo area of the ride, we pulled off to a little savannah building I had never even noticed before this day!! There were restrooms there for us to use (they are the most beautifully tiled bathrooms I have ever seen!!! Should’ve taken a picture!) We were given African inspired snacks to enjoy as we took in the sunset on the savannah.

DSC06521 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06522 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We had time to chat with our tour guides more informally, too. They said there are 44 vehicles on the Kiliminjaro Safari ride at full capacity and they can move 3,000 guests through every hour when they run it full. There are over 200 CMs employed on the safari alone!

DSC06523 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

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At the end of our private safari, we returned to where we had started and gave back our equipment. We got to keep our nametags and the stainless steel water bottles as a memento of our trek! The last thing we got to do before departing from our tour was pretty awesome! One of the great features of this tour is that part of the cost is given back to conservation efforts. As we exited the truck, we were each given a rock--we walked past a box with five compartments and we got to choose which program we wanted our money to fund. I loved that option!

Wild Africa Trek (173) (600x400) by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Our original plan had been for my Mom and Jimmy to meet us at Animal Kingdom for some more evening fun, but spending 9 days running at Disney World was leaving us pretty pooped! We decided it would be fun to just hang out at the resort. So, we headed back to Pop Century, ordered a pizza (great use of 2 meal credits!) and after we ate it went to the arcade in our pajamas. We also went back to the kid’s TV room/coloring area in the lobby where they had free Pacman and Space Invaders video games.

DSC06540 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

It was a nice low-key evening and a great way to end Day 9!

Up next: Early Morning Magic and a Big Bang!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Just kidding!!! Up next: Wild Africa Trek photopass photos!

Wild Africa Trek 013 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 023 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 026 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 029 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 036 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 034 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 044 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 107 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 112 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 114 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 122 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 124 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 139 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Wild Africa Trek 142 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

 

[buzzrelly]

Hello, all!! Sorry for the LOOOONG absence! Real life has been really hectic over the last four weeks. Trying to finish up the Kindergarten school year has really kept me tied up. Plus, Jimmy made his 1st Holy Communion and our nephew made his, as well. Next week, my class will graduate and on June 2nd I’ll say, “Goodbye!” to my classroom until August. Can you say SUMMER VACAY!?!?!!

You HAVE been busy! Almost time to relax!

We had reservations for an 8 a.m. tour of Marceline to the Magic Kingdom.

I was torn between this and KTTK…I'll probably do this one next

I looked up and saw Elias Disney’s window.

I've never noticed that either

There were FOUR sets of KTTK nametags!!! I was calm at the counter when I said to the CM, I thought they weren’t offering this tour at this time of year.

Wow, weird. I wonder what's up with that??

We entered the backstage area of Haunted Mansion and got to stand in the area that creates the ballroom scene on the ride!!

That sounds amazing!

Rob and I had planned to tackle our Drink Around the World Showcase challenge; however, I had a little sad “I lost my phone and all of my pictures are gone forever” meltdown about three stops in, which sort of ruined the fun spirit of our night!!

Ugh…I'd be majorly bummed too

We slowly wandered through World Showcase and stopped to take a set of pics I ended up LOVING as we passed through France.

Nice pics!

They let us add Jimmy on to the boys’ group, and once the handler was happy with the number of alligators that had come up on shore, he had each of them put on a glove and opened a giant Rubbermaid full of raw meat (ick).

Yikes! No thanks! That makes me very nervous

I’m really glad that Jimmy’s favorite girl took some extra time with him and he even got to hold hands with her and lead the parade just like he had in 2013. All I could think this whole meal long was how it might be the last time my little Jimmy wants to eat there and still cares about Cinderella. It was magical and sad all at once!

Aw, sweet. It's true, all this little stuff comes to an end. I still miss Thomas the Tank Engine

Next up, we crossed some rickety bridges over to where we would encounter our next animals—the crocodiles!! We would later learn that there are 24 crocs in that area at any given time. I couldn’t believe it! It never seems like there are THAT many!

Again…yikes!

Our original plan had been for my Mom and Jimmy to meet us at Animal Kingdom for some more evening fun, but spending 9 days running at Disney World was leaving us pretty pooped! We decided it would be fun to just hang out at the resort. So, we headed back to Pop Century, ordered a pizza (great use of 2 meal credits!) and after we ate it went to the arcade in our pajamas. We also went back to the kid’s TV room/coloring area in the lobby where they had free Pacman and Space Invaders video games.

Sounds like a perfect night

Just kidding!!! Up next: Wild Africa Trek photopass photos!

Great photos!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[missjackiemcg]

I've never noticed that either

One of those goosebumpy magical Disney moments

Yikes! No thanks! That makes me very nervous

I'd be lying if I said I was calm about this, but his Dad really wanted to do it with him, so off they went. My heart was racing the entire time, and I could not WAIT for him to be back on the other side of the fence with me!!

I still miss Thomas the Tank Engine

The only little consolation is that every now and then he pulls out something I thought he was done with, so I can pretend he isn't as big a boy as he is becoming.

 

[Pluto0809]

Guess what? I'm caught up again!! And this time I took some notes so I remembered what to comment on. Hopefully I can understand my notes.

First up, let Jimmy know that there is no shame in being scared of Dumbo. My big kid (Jim) hates it!

Thanks for the Hippo picture! If you didn't know, the whole hippo obsession started when Mom and I did the Wild Africa Trek in 2012.

I didn't read others comments so I don't know if anyone answered your Country Bear question. So the bears in order are Terrence (AKA Shaker), Wendell, Liver Lips McGrowl and of course, Big Al.

Loved, loved, loved reading about your vow renewal. Everything was just so beautiful and the pictures are awesome.

I'm kind of bummed that you didn't get to the HDDR since you know it's a favorite. MBYBBQ looks like a lot of fun too. It's on the list to do sometime but not this January, just not enough time in the schedule plus who knows what the weather will be like.

I'm so glad you got a chance to visit the Tiki Bird Room. As you know it's a favorite of mine. And now there are rumors floating around that it might be going away or changing which makes me sad. Of course there are always rumors about everything so I won't believe it!

Crystal Palace is on my list to try someday, I have yet to eat there. Jim shot it down though for January. He said no buffets but then proceeded to pick Beirgarten at Epcot.

Such a bummer about your phone. I wish Disney had been able to find it for you. I wonder if it's still down in the bowels of RnRC?

I was pretty impressed with your wait times at DHS on Christmas, 20 minutes for TSM? I've never seen that kind of wait time even with the third track. But then you got to MK and yikes! I'm hoping it's not too bad this January.

Oh and you asked who know about Pluto moving to the Animation Courtyard in DHS? Why me of course.

Jimmy's line to one of the Princesses that he had killed "only about 100" dragons made me LOL. Luckily no one was around to see me laughing to myself in my office.

I think I need to catch the Tree of Life Awakenings again. Mom and I just didn't get it in December but maybe we didn't watch long enough. I didn't do any night hours at AK in March to catch it then.

I can't believe they told you no to the KTTK and the 4 parks one and then they did have them. I would have been mad too! But the one you did sounds wonderful and is now on my list to do someday. I would love to go backstage in HM! KTTK was OK, I actually got a little bored towards the end since I knew most of the info. Plus the part I was looking forward to the most, the Utilidors, turned out to be stinky and not very interesting at all. They smelled like garbage and gas fumes and I was nauseous by the time we exited.

Wow, those pictures of your boys close to the Alligators at Gatorland was making me nervous from here so I can imagine how you must have felt being there!

I totally agree with you on the new part of Disney Springs. Just like any outlet mall. I think the only hidden gem is Uniqlo because they have a whole section of unique Disney clothes.

Sounds like an awesome Wild Africa Trek. Mom and I did it in 2012 and love it! The crocs never moved while we were there, it would have been so exciting to see them fight. I probably would have worried about them afterwards though.

OK, I think that catches me up. So now I will give you my preliminary schedule for January. I may flip flop some of the days when hours come out but the restaurants I think are set.

Tuesday, January 2nd - We are flying in this day thanks to Jim's work schedule and also our dog boarding place's schedule. I wanted to come in on the 31st or 1st but that's not going to work out. We will drop off the dogs right at 7 am then head to the airport. Hoping to be at the resort by 3 pm at the latest. I will head to the Race Expo and Jim to DS (heaven help him, he is so directionally challenged and DS has changed so much since his last trip. But he didn't want to go to the Expo with me). After the Expo, I'll head to DS to meet him for dinner at The Edison. Early bed time since 5k is the next day.

Wednesday, January 3rd - 5K then to DHS with lunch at 50s Prime Time. Maybe the Star Wars dessert party? I need to ask Jim if he wants to do it again. I decided not to do the Star Wars tour since it's 7 hours and we won't have any other time at DHS.

Thursday, January 4th - Magic Kingdom with dinner at The Plaza

Friday, January 5th - Epcot with dinner at Beirgarten

Saturday, January 6th - Animal Kingdom, Tusker House lunch for ROL package.

Sunday, January 7th - Magic Kingdom morning with lunch at BOG, afternoon is up in the air, could be DHS or DS or just packing at the resort, evening at Epcot with dinner at Via Napoli.

Monday, January 8th - Fly home

And there you have it. Like I said I might flip parks around on Thursday/Friday/Saturday once I see the hours. Hopefully hours will come out soon but as of right now December ones aren't even out.

 

[missjackiemcg]

let Jimmy know that there is no shame in being scared of Dumbo. My big kid (Jim) hates it!

Must be the name!!!

the whole hippo obsession started when Mom and I did the Wild Africa Trek in 2012.

I did not know that!!! But I do remember reading about your Wild Africa Trek, which is what got me interested in doing it in the first place!!

So the bears in order are Terrence (AKA Shaker), Wendell, Liver Lips McGrowl and of course, Big Al.

I should have just asked you in the first place! Then, I could've looked like a genius when I captioned them all correctly!! (I know this is a dog, but I'm pretending it's a dancing bear!)

And now there are rumors floating around that it might be going away or changing which makes me sad

WHAT?!!? I haven't heard that one yet. I would be so sad I can't believe this was the first time we've seen it after all our trips!! I hope that is a rumor that doesn't come true!

who know about Pluto moving to the Animation Courtyard in DHS? Why me of course.

OF COURSE!! What was I thinking!?

And there you have it. Like I said I might flip parks around on Thursday/Friday/Saturday once I see the hours. Hopefully hours will come out soon but as of right now December ones aren't even out.

You've made me hungry just by the mere mention of those restaurants!! You are so organized (of course, again!) Friday is my last day at school, so I will get our schedule sorted out (hopefully!) in the next week or so, and it really would be helpful if those hours would come out, wouldn't it?!

Glad you got all caught up!! I was so behind I figured I owed anybody who was still hanging in there with me a couple updates at once I was busy on Memorial Day!!

 

[Whit64130]

Can you say SUMMER VACAY!?!?!!

Yay for summer break! Over here jealous I have to work all summer though

I happened to notice this teeny tiny sign in one display that showed a bangle with a Minnie or Mickey charm of your choice for $95. We were sold! She picked Mickey and I chose Minnie, and off we strolled happy as could be with our new bracelets on! (Spoiler alert: This was not our last stop at Uptown Jewelers. We may be addicted.)

I bought my first Disney Pandora bead(s) when the Mrs. Potts came out in March, well I really liked the new release and bought the Mickey, Minnie hat, and the security chain too. Then I bought the AK bead on or last trip. What Nick doesn't know won't hurt him..

The crest that you see on the back of the castle is said to be the Disney family crest as an honor to Walt Disney because he truly was the “King” of it all!

Neat!

She also pointed out the “ring” in the sidewalk as we headed for the entrance.

I finally found it in April!

Our next stop for the late afternoon was Cocoa Beach. Jimmy took a little snooze in the car on the way. Grandpa missed our turn and ended up driving the wrong direction on a One Way street, but technically not breaking the law because he was on the sidewalk instead of the actual street. After that little adventure, we found ourselves at a park with a short walk over to the ocean!

My nieces would love to go to Gatorland one day but us adults are all saying it would take time away from Disney and we aren't ready for that. I have made the trip to Cocoa Beach before. The only time I've been in the Atlantic Ocean! I was a nice little area from what I can remember.

DSC06445

CUTE!

After Rob, Dad and I had crossed over, we were waiting there and messing around with some of the props. We watched the others from our group walk across when all of a sudden a huge battle erupted in the water in front of us!! There was a croc expert standing there with us and he said it happens almost every day—they are aggressive by nature and duke it out over who gets to sit in which spot, etc. One of the crocs was visibly bleeding and another had lost a tooth by the time it was over. The expert told us that they won’t even go in to administer medical attention for this type of thing unless it is a much more serious injury.

I've always wanted to do this and now even more so after reading and seeing your pictures!

Another nice feature of the whole tour was the guides took turns taking pictures with their really nice camera and we got access to all of the images included with the cost of the tour. I’ll include some of their pictures at the end!

Score!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Over here jealous I have to work all summer though

I still work a second job in retail, so you don't have to be TOO jealous I'll just work part time instead of all the time!!

My nieces would love to go to Gatorland one day but us adults are all saying it would take time away from Disney and we aren't ready for that. I

My husband is a HUGE gator fan, both the animal and the team (Chomp! Chomp!) so this was all for him. I figured I got 11 days in Disney, so I could give him this one

I've always wanted to do this and now even more so after reading and seeing your pictures!

The first I ever heard of it was in a friend's TR here on the DIS! I thought the same thing after reading about her experience. It only took us FIVE years to finally make the time to do it. I would definitely recommend doing the last one for the day, too, because we got to see beautiful AK sunset while we made our way back from the savannah.

 

[missjackiemcg]

Wednesday, January 3rd - 5K

I just had a thought!!! Maybe this was a typo, but the 5K is Thursday, 1/4! I just double checked the runDisney site in case I had it wrong. 5K Thursday, 10K Friday, 1/2 Saturday and Full Sunday. Now you can stay up a little later Tuesday night

 

[Pluto0809]

I just had a thought!!! Maybe this was a typo, but the 5K is Thursday, 1/4! I just double checked the runDisney site in case I had it wrong. 5K Thursday, 10K Friday, 1/2 Saturday and Full Sunday. Now you can stay up a little later Tuesday night

Crap! Thanks for pointing this out to me! I think I must have looked at the 2017 dates for some reason. Man, now I'm going to have to completely rethink my schedule since the Expo is on Wednesday, not Tuesday like I thought. I am so glad you noticed that so I can have some time to think. I wonder if I can talk Jim into staying one more day.

OK, editing to say I think I've got it figured out and there are pros and cons compared to my previous schedule. I won't have to buy hoppers but I had to move MK to the weekend which will be more crowded plus I won't get my last day at MK like I prefer.

Tuesday 1/2 - Same flight schedule as below except head to Epcot for the evening with dinner at Beirgarten

Wednesday 1/3 - MK morning/Race Expo afternoon/DS evening with dinner at The Edison

Thursday 1/4 - 5K Race/DHS - lunch at 50s Prime Time/possible Star Wars dessert party

Friday 1/5 - MK with BOG lunch and Plaza dinner

Saturday 1/6 AK with Tusker House ROL lunch package

Sunday 1/7 - Epcot with Via Napoli dinner

Monday 1/8 - Fly home

 

[MeghanEmily]

Just realized I never got back to comment on your WAT photos. This looks like it was so much fun! You're all brave - we're going too give this a shot in August and I'm terrified of the rope bridges! I know they're totally safe, it'll just be that swinging sensation and how it feels looking down that I'm worried about :S

 

[missjackiemcg]

I am so glad you noticed that so I can have some time to think. I wonder if I can talk Jim into staying one more day.

I'm glad I mentioned it, too!! I almost didn't!!

Just realized I never got back to comment on your WAT photos. This looks like it was so much fun! You're all brave - we're going too give this a shot in August and I'm terrified of the rope bridges! I know they're totally safe, it'll just be that swinging sensation and how it feels looking down that I'm worried about :S

It really was SO much fun!!! And they have you all strapped in and only one person on the bridge at a time, so that should help a little. I was actually a little more nervous because I was the ONLY person but you're hooked up on the cord from above, too.

 

[SeptemberGirl]

This is a delightful trip report - it's like my bedtime reading! Just happiness to end the day.

I'm going to race weekend in January this year, too! It's been about three years since I've been that weekend so I'm excited to go back. My friends did Dopey in 2015.

Can you believe that school still isn't out where I live? True story. My cousins are in Joliet and they've been out almost a month!

Any more TR to come?

 

[missjackiemcg]

This is a delightful trip report - it's like my bedtime reading! Just happiness to end the day.

Any more TR to come?

Aww, thanks!! I'm glad you're enjoying it!! I am just about done writing, but need to get all the pictures added in so I can post!

 

[Melissa Thors]

Hey! Just joining in on the magical TR. Love the photos... Shows what a magical time you all were having. Can't wait to read more about it. Kwaherini!

 

[missjackiemcg]

Friday, December 30th

Dad and Rob were up bright and early for another 7:56 a.m. tee time for Sunrise 9 golfing this time at the Magnolia course.

Mom, Jimmy and I were up, too, but we were headed to MK for rope drop. It was in the 40’s this morning, the coldest weather we’d had on this trip!

DSC06542 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We let Jimmy decide where to start, so we ended up in Tomorrowland riding Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin again! This time, Jimmy rode with Grandma, so I had Buddy to be my partner!

DSC06544 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06545 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Then, it was my turn to pick (much to Jimmy’s displeasure!), so we headed for the Teacups. We even saw Alice out in her cold-weather cape. She was getting so chilly that the PP Photographer actually moved her closer to the building nearby to cut down on the wind.

DSC06547 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

wdw2016365636355436_396235539249 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Next it was Grandma’s pick and she has never been on the carousel at MK (WHAT?!) and really wanted to ride on it with Jimmy. He was pretty unhappy about it, but we did eventually get him in the line with a promise to ride on the bench instead of a horse that moved up and down. While we were riding I reminded him about Cinderella having her own horse on the carousel and he spent most of the ride distracted by trying to find the horse with the golden ribbon on its tail.

DSC06548 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Jimmy’s pick was up next, so we ended up on Peter Pan. Since it was still pretty early, we didn’t have much of a wait, which was good news for us because we saw it with some pretty outrageous wait times throughout the 12 days of our trip!!

DSC06549 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr
"Poor Nana!"

And when in Fantasyland, where does one ALWAYS end up!? IASW was up next, and we were surprised to see at the end that the digital boards were removed and replaced with wooden signs in the exit area!

DSC06550 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Haunted Mansion was our next visit, and I remembered to snap a picture of the things we had heard about on our Marceline to MK tour the other day—the doggy gate and discolored wall, as well as the ring!

DSC06552 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06554 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06555 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Jimmy had gotten up the courage to “take on” the carousel again with the ultimate goal of riding on Cinderella’s horse!! I was so excited that he really wanted to go on that I was determined to make this happen for him. We waited in line and I watched to see where Cinderella’s horse ended up. When they opened up the gates to let our line through, we were unfortunately stuck between the two gates as they opened on either side of us, which slowed our progress getting out and around to the other side. By the time we spotted it, someone else was getting on, so I asked the CM if it would be OK to wait in line again. She let us back through so we’d be first in line next time. This time I knew which part of the gate to stand by to be sure we wouldn’t get stuck again. When the gates opened the next time, I was ready. I may or may not have elbowed a couple other Moms out of my way to get where we were headed and I got Jimmy right up on Cinderella’s horse!!! It felt like such a victory…LOL

DSC06560 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

I overheard a Mom nearby telling her daughter that she was on the prettiest horse on the whole carousel. The girl pointed at Jimmy’s horse and said, "that one has flowers and a ribbon, it’s pretty, too." The mom told her, "Oh, but yours is the prettiest." Jimmy and I exchanged a knowing little glance and smiled. He was SO excited!

DSC06564 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We had some awesome character fun during our morning at MK, too! Chip and Dale were a riot as Dale pretended to wipe his nose on the photographer and my Mom. Chip pretended to lick Jimmy’s marker before he handed it back to him. Just general silliness!

wdw2016365636343744_396236096271 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Jimmy told Gaston, “I can do 100 push ups!” to which he replied, “Yeah. Ok.”

wdw2016365636420028_396236136193 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

wdw2016365636420031_7908663642 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

The Fairy Godmother was the most wonderful!! She talked with Jimmy about Buddy and made his day by writing his name, too, when she signed his autograph book.

wdw2016365636429108_396236313784 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Anastasia and Drizella had caused Jimmy a lot of stress. He was terrified to meet them and wanted me to be the one to hand them his book and markers while he hid behind me. As soon as they saw him, they had him by the arm and were teasing him about his Goofy ears and about Buddy. He saw that they were just ridiculously silly and not so scary after all, but he drew the line at letting them kiss him!

wdw2016365636362062_7908588444 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

wdw2016365636362117_7908588447 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

I was really excited to see that Cinderella’s Coach was parked out by the New Fantasyland walls ready for the celebration of the new year, so we made sure to get some pictures while there was no crowd and no wait!

wdw2016365636226839_396235527086 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Our last plan for MK today was lunch at Casey’s. When we got there we were shocked! I had never seen it so crowded in my life!! There was a rope queue out the door and to the right of the entrance that looped back and forth. There was a CM at the front letting people in a few at a time. We hopped in line and eventually made it to the front to order and receive our food. When we came out there were people eating on the ground and at all the tables—it was SO crowded! I thought I’d take a look over near the hub grass and there was LOTS of available space there surprisingly. So, we strolled over with our trays and had a little hub grass picnic with the castle in the background. I actually preferred it to sitting at the little umbrella tables where we would have normally eaten.

 

[missjackiemcg]

We headed back to meet Dad and Rob at Pop Century before heading out to DHS. My Mom really wanted to see Beauty and the Beast and we hadn’t seen it yet on this trip. Jimmy and my Mom headed to the theater for the show while Dad, Rob and I stopped at Guest Relations (again!) to check in on my phone which still hadn’t been found. We were leaving on January 1st and I had really hoped it would be recovered before we went home.

Vicky and her supervisor, Ross, were really tremendous about trying to help me with this issue. I had spoken with both of them during this week since I had lost the phone, and they really did try. On this day they informed me that maintenance hadn’t found anything in their sweep. I explained again that the ride wasn’t moving when I had dropped it, that it had to be below the ride track at the exit. Ross made a work request for the maintenance crew and ride staff to do a complete sweep in that area after closing on this night. I was really hopeful after talking with them that this was going to be the time they found it!

We met up with Mom and Jimmy as their show was ending. Dad and I rode Rock’n Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror, then Dad and Rob went on Star Tours. Following that we headed over for our dinner reservation at Minnie’s Holiday Dine. We met Santa Goofy at the door, but his PP photographer was having a camera issue, so instead Goofy directed us in singing along with the Christmas carols being played in the restaurant. Goofy kept knocking my mouse ears down during the picture, too!

wdw2016365636634044_396696931170 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

wdw2016366636819387_7909191794 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

wdw2016365636745535_7909095278 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

wdw2016365636745575_7909092760 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

wdw2016365636745600_396696945528 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Throughout our dinner, the characters came around in their holiday attire. Jimmy was thrilled to see his favorite on this trip, Donald! He sang him the song, “Quack, Quack, Quack, Donald Duck,” which he learned from one of our old Disney sing along song dvds. Donald was SO happy and kept hugging Jimmy. He sang it to Daisy, too, which was so sweet.

DSC06585 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06588 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06592 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06593 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

We were pretty filled up from dinner, but made sure not to have any desserts while we were there because we had more food waiting for us at the Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam Dessert Party! Rob and I had treated Mom and Dad to this party as a surprise for their anniversary.

While it had been pretty chilly this morning, the day turned out to be pretty nice! As the sun had set it was chilly again but not as cold as the 40’s of the early morning hours. In fact, I looked at my Mom’s phone and saw that it was 54 degrees. We got checked in and were waiting to be let into the dessert party area when Jimmy started begging for one more ride on the Great Movie Ride. Dad and Rob agreed to take him while Mom and I waited. Just before the boys came back to join us, a CM came by with a huge blue cart filled with something. I looked on pretty interested to see what she was passing out. She came to us and was passing out Hot Hands and apologizing for the cold. Rob walked up in shorts and a tshirt and we just kind of giggled. I thought it was kind of hilarious that they considered this cold enough to require these measures! (I did; however, take them and bring them home to use when I ran the Polar Dash 5K in Chicago on January 9th when it was a windchill of -20!!)

DSC06596 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

Before long we were led to our table, which was right by R2D2 and C3PO’s autographs in front of the Chinese Theater. We had some desserts and I had an apple cinnamon whiskey cider and a hard apple cider. They passed out adorable Gingerbread cookies with mouse ear hats on them. Santa Goofy came around to take pictures with everyone. He bent down to give Jimmy a hug and his giant nose gave Jimmy a great big clunk on the head. He was OK but it was SUCH a loud noise!!!

DSC06598 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06604 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06605 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

When we were ready to leave the seating area, we were directed to follow the green light sabers held by CMs guiding our way to the reserved fireworks viewing area. I wish we had thought to head over there a bit earlier because there were a lot of people that filled in in front of us, so I had to hold Jimmy for the whole show so he’d be able to see. The projection across the front of the theater and buildings was pretty cool. It started really subtly with a few snowflakes and then the snow started to gather in corners and along the roofline. The amount of snow was just incredible!! I think the machines are new here though—I don’t remember it ever “snowing” at DHS before.

DSC06609 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06610 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

DSC06614 by Jackie Lagoni, on Flickr

After the show, Mom, Dad and Jimmy headed back to Pop Century for bedtime, while Rob and I headed over to MK, which was open til 3 a.m.!!

Up Next: Fantasy in the Sky!