Amy and F1gment take on Thanksgiving 2011

[mindflipper]

I have to say, this picture creeps me out a bit

I was only following the photographer's directions I swear! I wasn't going to get close enough to actually make contact but that darn bear covered the remaining distance I used copious amounts of hand sanitizer after this photo


F1gment got off a little easier...

Wait! Where's NaCler's photo with Duffy?!?

[Amy]

Wait! Where's NaCler's photo with Duffy?!?

It's over in his trip thread. Here's the link viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6923&start=180
It's about halfway down the page...But since I'm so nice I'll save you the trouble of going over there...

[dstrawn9889]

FOCROFLMAO,CGU!!!!!!

[MmeLeota]

Good thinking about doing the tour on a EMH morning for AK! The Wild Africa Trek is one tour we really want to do since we don't forsee ourselves going on an African Safari anytime soon. Thank you for sharing your experience! When I called about it back in November, the CM told me they hadn't decided if they were going to offer it in 2012 or not since they didn't have 2012 pricing for it. But the CM had quoted $189...it sounded like anyone who was interested in it for 2012 couldn't book it yet, though. So that must have been when they were switching the price.
You got so many fantastic pics of both AK and the trek. I'm glad they offered a snack and took into account allergies. There are a few things in that box I wouldn't be able to eat either. Were you able to combine any other photopass pics with your photo CD from the tour? That would be a great incentive too!

Fabulous pic of NaCler with his new best friend!!!

[Amy]

Good thinking about doing the tour on a EMH morning for AK! The Wild Africa Trek is one tour we really want to do since we don't forsee ourselves going on an African Safari anytime soon. Thank you for sharing your experience! When I called about it back in November, the CM told me they hadn't decided if they were going to offer it in 2012 or not since they didn't have 2012 pricing for it. But the CM had quoted $189...it sounded like anyone who was interested in it for 2012 couldn't book it yet, though. So that must have been when they were switching the price.
You got so many fantastic pics of both AK and the trek. I'm glad they offered a snack and took into account allergies. There are a few things in that box I wouldn't be able to eat either. Were you able to combine any other photopass pics with your photo CD from the tour? That would be a great incentive too!

Fabulous pic of NaCler with his new best friend!!!

I was told on the phone when I booked the tour that you could combine the Trek CD with all your photopass photos from the parks. Once I arrived I double checked as it seems like you always get several different answers. I was told that the Trek CD was indeed a completely different system. The AK guides are Photopass Photography trained, but the two systems don't go together. I'm glad I checked because I would not have wanted to "waste" time spending time in queues for character photos. I can't afford those photopass prices ~ too outrageous!
I haven't looked online at the tours to see if the Wild Africa Trek is currently being offered or not. I would guess it still is as it seemed to be pretty popular and they have put a lot of money into the gear and infrastructure to discontinue the tour after such a short time!
The snack was quite nice. I planned on it as my brekkie that morning as they had told me when I booked that it contained quite a few different foods. I was just disappointed there wasn't more time to enjoy it As it was I ended up stuffing the raisins in one of the pita pockets and cramming it in right before a photo

Isn't that a nice photo of NaCler and Duffy?? I can't take credit for it though, that was NaCler's photo I just kindly posted it here so mindflipper wouldn't have to look alllll the way back through NaCler's report

[yodiwan1]

About the photopas CD, I was listening to a WDW Today podcast and they had a caller tell them they HAD combined their regular photopass with the Trek CD at no extra cost. I would definetly look intot haty more if anyone happens to go.

[Amy]

About the photopas CD, I was listening to a WDW Today podcast and they had a caller tell them they HAD combined their regular photopass with the Trek CD at no extra cost. I would definetly look intot haty more if anyone happens to go.

Hmmm, I was told it wasn't possible. It all seems to depend on who you ask so I suppose you might find a way. It wasn't that important to me I suppose. It might have made the Trek CD a little more interesting to look at though...

[Amy]

Day 7 - Part II

So, after my Wild Africa Trek, I met up with F1gment and we headed to It's Tough to Be a Bug. We love that show




Then we decided to go see Flights of Wonder. This show was cut quite short because one of the birds decided not to come back when called. They couldn't bring out any more birds while he was still free so they ad-libbed the best they could, and we watched him fly around...a lot! Luckily he finally flew in so they were at least able to bring the Bald Eagle out at the very end.
Here is the naughty bird. Or perhaps he just wanted to be the star today. Either way, he stole the show!


Picked up an afternoon shift at the Tiki Room today. I'm so glad Iago is gone though ~ he gave me such a headache! Ack, Jose! We're on!!


I love the opportunity to go down at the end of the show and ask the CM questions and get a closer look at the birds



We had lunch at the Flame Tree BBQ where we shared the chicken/rib combo with baked beans and coleslaw. Dessert was chocolate mousse ~ mmmm!
No Chernobyl chicken this year, but still plenty to share!




Getting closer to Thanksgiving and the crowds were definitely increasing And what a happy crowd they appear to be


After lunch we headed toward the safari. I was driving F1gment's ECV (while walking alongside) for her so she could sit back and relax and enjoy the scenery. I spotted a dime on the ground in front of the Beastly Bazaar and of course I immediately let go of the forward lever so I could stop and pick it up. F1gment wasn't too happy about the sudden stop and refused to even crack a smile when I made the comment that her ECV could stop on a dime The people that were behind us kinda half smiled as I held up the dime for them to see. Oh well...tough crowd


Love the sound the chains make


Nobody in the hippo pool Trek area when we went through...



This giraffe stuck his neck out for this picture ~ ba-dump-bump-crash! Hello, is this thing on? Anyone out there?


Not sure what is supposed to be in this pool as there was never anyone in it when we went through. Or perhaps some animals have access to it, but chose not to be in it. But it was pretty anyhow!


The flamingos are stinky ~ but pretty! And I like the zebra camouflage striping on the safari vehicles too. It's a nice touch.


The savannah stop for the Trek. Looks like there was a group there when we passed through.


Next up was the "fake" train out to Rafiki's planet watch. (Labeled fake by the CMs who run the steam trains at the MK) We managed to look around and spend about an hour and a half there. We had skipped it on the last trip so it was the first time we had been there since it had changed from the Conservation Station.


AK must have a lot of rhinos! These were "off-duty" rhinos back in their backstage paddocks.




One monkey,

Two monkeys,


For you hidden Mickey fans...




Has anyone been lucky enough to see any procedures done in this room?

[Amy]

Day 7 - Part III

One cricket,


Two crickets...hmmm, that doesn't work as well as the monkey picture does it?!


This was a cute little grey banded snake named Valentine. F1gment did not want to pet her, but finally relented and seemed to like this snakey a little better than the ones she sees in our yard




And a poor little Brazilian salmon pink tarantula. Why poor little spider you ask? Well, I'll tell you. The snake had the lovely name of Valentine and guess what the spider's name was. Number 483 I joked with the CMs that they really should give the little tarantula a name too


There were also some Madagascar hissing cockroaches. They are lucky to live at Disney and not Universal so they don't end up on Fear Factor as food An interesting fact I learned about the little hissers ~ they fight with the two bumps on their head.


Back to civilization. There's no earthly way of knowing, which direction this train is going...


We took some time to wander around the Tree of Life and take a few photos. This is a little blurry with dusk coming on, but these storks were really pretty reflected in the water and surrounded by all the lush tropical foliage.



I was afraid this little duck would fall over the waterfall Then I remembered that ducks can fly


I stood with all the groups in the single rider line for Everest....sigh. It really is more fun to ride at night!


Look! I think I see the Yeti's hand moving


One of the few things I like about Dinoland...





We split a pepperoni pizza, salad and grapes at Pizzafari and then headed toward the bus about 7:40.


The grapes were really good and the packaging was cute!


I went on a drink run to the food court and managed to collapse into bed at 10.

The football field at All Star Sports really is a nice place for people and their children to burn off some energy. I can only imagine that they must have come back to the resorts for naps in order to have energy to burn


It ended up being only 79 degrees today, but boy did it feel steamier. Gotta love that Florida humidity

Trip lucky money
pennies - 5 (including one I found as we were starting the Wild Africa Trek. It went into my pocket even though we weren't allowed to have anything in our pockets...shhhh!)
nickel - 1
dimes - 2
smushed penny - 1

[Amy]

Brace yourself...it's time for...

Day 8 ~ November 24, 2011 - Part I

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We got an early start today and even though we just missed the EPCOT bus, we were still on our way and arrived about 9 am.

Too many people already!!


I rode Sum of All Thrills on my Icy Phantom.

Then we headed to Soarin where we got stuck in the third row. It's still a great attraction, but it just isn't the same when you are in the bottom tier

Made our way over to the check in for the Behind the Seeds tour and were able to get into the earlier tour at 10:30. It lasted almost an hour and a half so we were very glad we had gotten in the earlier tour as our ressies for Via Napoli were at 12:45. With the crowds, we arrived at the Italy pavilion just on time.

It's the little things that you appreciate at Disney. Even on this little, inexpensive tour, they take the time to decorate the name tags.


The CM leading the tour was quite informative and obviously enjoyed her position here as part of the CP program at The Land. She was very close to the end of her program and was sad about having to leave soon.


This reminded me of when Willy Wonka was letting the lucky golden ticket holders into the chocolate room for the first time


Outside:


Inside:


They can make the cucumbers, as well as other produce, Mickey shaped by using forms like these


The cucumbers we got to taste were just "regular" shaped so I made my own Mickey Many of the people on our tour passed on trying the cucumbers so those of us who tasted got to eat several slices. The CM mentioned that she eats a lot of salads with really fresh produce!


The greenhouse is so pretty!


In the middle of the tour, they had different things to smell and guess what they were. Here F1gment sniffs some vanilla beans.


In the fishy tunnel. The one thing I regretted not asking is why this tunnel is kept red. Does anyone know why they have red lights in here?




We got to feed the fishies too! Sorry for the horrible photo, but as you can see from the turbulent waters, it is every fish for themselves when they are fed!


I would highly recommend this tour if you are interested in plants, or aquaculture at all. Very interesting and such a nice change of pace in the parks. This was a great day to take the tour too since it was pretty crowded!

[mindflipper]

Ah, another turkey leg lover! Seems like our numbers are growing!

[Amy]

Ah, another turkey leg lover! Seems like our numbers are growing!

I don't care for turkey legs regular or rice krispied ~ it was not very tasty with the frosting
But F1gment does enjoy a good turkey leg at the parks

[Amy]

Day 8 - Part II

You’ll have to use your Imagination on this photo ~ Imagine a monorail on the beam. I waited, and waited, until I figured the monorails just weren’t running yet this morning...sigh.


Chandelier in the check in area of Via Napoli


We shared a fancy schmancy drink for this meal, a Blood Orange Aqua Fresca. For $6, I would not recommend it unless you like very sweet drinks.
For an appetizer, we tried the Arracini. F1gment enjoyed it, but it wasn't as good with the risotto it was made with as it would have been with ricotta that I thought it was made with! These three little things cost $10



For our main dish we shared a pepperoni pizza. I really don't know how people eat one of these all on their own. Maybe if I wasn't eating anything else, but they are pretty large for just one person. Our pizza was quite burnt on the bottom and they offered a new one right away once they saw how burnt it was. This was the replacement pizza which we were too full to eat much of, so we stuck it in a box for a snack later.


Then, the reason I wanted to eat at Via Napoli again...the Zeppoli! You can imagine a choir of angels singing here, I always do They were as delicious as we remembered from our last trip and well worth the $10. I would eat here just to have them, but I think they would frown on you coming in and ordering just dessert.






Once the Zeppoli are gone, someone must finish off the fudge sauce


All told, our non-traditional Thanksgiving meal came to $49 ~ and that was after the 10% AO discount and the tip added in. Sticker shock for those of us who don't eat out even at home

Thought of Len when we saw the bill holder


We headed on around the World showcase and checked a few times here and there, and snapped a few photos. Maelstrom was a 25 minute wait so we passed on that and went on to Mexico. Mom took a pass on that and decided to eat the leftover pizza sooner rather than later since the day was so warm and we had no way to keep it cold. I was in and out in 15 minutes. Considering the crowds, I think I lucked out!

Snow White coming out in Germany


Little details in the train setup in Germany


Oh monorail, there you are!




We went on to the Disney Visa photo spot, where we lucked out again and got in and out of there in 7 minutes. We took a ride on Spaceship Earth and picked up our Disney Visa photo after we finished there.

[Amy]

Day 8 - Part III

Even if we don’t enjoy the current script on SE, we do find the photos from the video at the end fairly amusing!



Then it was on to the Living Seas where we inquired for the doubleboilers and found out dives were cancelled at least through 1/7/12. It is a shame the big tanks are so empty, but the smaller tanks keep me occupied for a long time anyhow. I love all those little fishies and critters!







We decided we were done for the day and headed on out to the bus stop.
We’re still on the ugly monoliths ~


For the Stitch fans out there


Unfortunately we missed the All Star bus out of EPCOT just by a bit but that gave us a chance to talk with oncoming driver Harvey. He told us we would on the newest bus, 5067-11, which was only 2 months old at the time. We got back to the food court at 6:30 where Mom enjoyed her “traditional” T-day dinner of turkey, cornbread stuffing, mashed pot and gravy, candied yayams, cranberry sauce, green beans, a roll and pumpkin pie. Sounds like more when you are typing it out than what it looks like on the plate, but it was more than enough for a dinner!

Pizza for me, turkey dinner for her today. Can't get much better than that in my book!

I left F1gment finishing up her dinner and headed off to DTD to get the rice kripie turkey leg since I wasn't sure if it was only available up through Thanksgiving. Turns out I wouldn't have had to rush as they were available well through our trip. The oddest thing on the bus, apart from the very well dressed, superbly loud, obnoxious tourists was the announcement kept repeating, “Please remain seated while the bus is in motion. If you’re standing plea..” and then it would cut off. This happened throughout the whole trip, so I don't know if the bus driver was chopping the announcement off or if it was a fluke in the system. Listening to the obnoxiously loud people, I gritted my teeth as I had forgotten how long it takes to get from All Stars to DTD! In a way I lucked out though, as I went right to Goofy’s Candy Kitchen, got my turkey leg, headed back to the bus stop and got there right as the All Stars bus came back ~ hooray!!

Appearance: A-, Taste: C- not sure what the frosting flavors were, but they were way to sweet for my tastes


No lucky money today sadly, but it was another warm one with a high of 77.

[mindflipper]

DId you have your Spaceship Earth "Future" video e-mailed to you? It's an option you can do after you get off the ride using the consoles surrounding the globe.