Sarah... 40 ... that'll be me
DH Martin... 41... 'I wonder if they're dibbers...dibb, dibb, dibb'
DS Dale... 17... 'This time I cant wait to go'
DD Shannon..10... A Proper Little Madam
DD Lauren... 21... Disney Virgin
DSIL Sion... 23... Deserves a medal
Sunday 8th October... Animal Kingdom and Whispering Canyons
Woke up at 3am and there was no way I could get back to sleep so I turned the tv on to watch the weather report and then did what I always do at home when I cant sleep... made a cuppa and logged onto the Dibb
Everybody else was up and about a couple of hours later... couldn't believe we weren't having to threaten to leave Lauren behind. My chest was feeling tight and I had a cough starting so I dosed myself up for the next few hours and off we went. We had Donald's Breakfastasaurus booked for 8am and we were itching to get off and have our first Disney fix... in fact we were so eager we were at the entrance 10 minutes before the car park even opened (7.37am...yes, I even save the car parking tickets). Lauren and Sions first view of the Tree of Life and a steady walk through the park to Restaurantasaurus where we had our photo taken and met our server Mike. He was really funny, the kids thought it was hilarious when he spilled ketchup over me. Ok so it wasn't real but the sight of me nearly falling backwards off of my chair to avoid it is apparently really funny. He also kept everybody baffled with his magic tricks.
Oh and the food wasn't bad either. Total cost for 6 people $121.35 inc tax but not gratuity as I cant remember how much we tipped and it's no good asking Martin as I always tip when he isn't looking. In fact this time I sent him with Shannon to see if she could get a Breakfastasaurus pin from Chester and Hester's Dinosaur Treasures.
We paid the bill and followed them to the shop and spent the next 20 minutes trying to resist the temptation to buy everything in the shop before walking along to Everest and picking up fastpasses. I did try to talk Martin into a ride, after all he had promised that he would ride his first 'coaster on this holiday... he took one look, turned a funny greeny colour and bottled it.
Last time we visited AK we left it too late to do Kilimanjaro Safari so we decided to head there straight away although we did of course get sidetracked by the baboons. In fact I don't think we managed to just walk past them once during the day, it took us at least 10 minutes every time.
We spoke to a CM on one of the carts who had spent some time in the UK, we mentioned the tornado warning the night before and she told us that it did hit nearby and actually took the roof off of a house.
Kilimanjaro Safari was great we got to see loads of animals and Shannon got really involved in the poacher storyline.
We didn't have enough time to do anything else before our FP at Everest so we took a slow walk back there taking in the pre show display at the Flights of Wonder Bird Show and the baboons (again). We were all taken by surprise by the living tree ...
... but finally I managed to drag everybody to the ride I had been waiting 21 months for.
Definitely worth the wait, what a fantastic ride and gives R'n'R Coaster serious competition for my favorite Disney ride. Shannon swore that she would never ride it again but something told me to pick her up another FP with ours. Martin laughed as he told me that he had seen a dibber while we were on the ride and I had missed them. It was Lynn (Loadsapixiedust) and the stickers on her DS's chair gave her away.
We made our way back to where we started our day at Dinoland and rode Dinosaur. Dale hated this last time, which isn't like him as he normally loves all coasters. He decided to give it another go and actually enjoyed it this time. Onto the Primeval Whirl which I really enjoyed last time... after this time I said never again. I got thrown about so much and then when we pulled in at the end of the ride I banged my arm. I got off the ride cursing under my breath and only 10 minutes later did I realize I had left my sunglasses in the compartment at the front of the ride... Lol, every trip I lose something but somehow never manage to lose the kids.
We found Martin watching a group of trampolinists (is that the right word? ), these guys were great and I only wish I had managed to video the act. Shannon decided she wanted a new lanyard and picked the Princess Starter set which came with 4 pins – two to trade and two to keep.
We couldn't wait to do It's tough to be a bug again and hadn't told Lauren and Sion anything about it so we went there next. We all loved it...well except for the part when the spiders come down from the ceiling which is when I screamed louder than any of the kids in the audience.
It had got sooooooo hot there was only one thing we could do... Kali River Rapids. I really wanted to get wet and cool down a bit but I knew that with the cough I had the last thing I needed was damp clothes so I had to wear the waterproof (no use for the spare knickers today then). Everybody else had a great time getting soaked, even Shannon enjoyed it.
Time for a sit down and Chilli Dogs and ice cream.
Just as we were about to move off and get Shannon cleaned up my eagle eyes spotted dibb stickers and I raced through the crowd knocking small children out of my way in my effort to reach a fellow dibber. It was Lynn again but once I reached her and her family I remembered that I am actually very shy and probably just came out with a load of rubbish... I did wonder afterwards if I even introduced myself other than saying I was a fellow dibber.
Shannon finally cleaned up we watched the baboons (yes again) before deciding to go and grab some early seats for the parade to make sure we could sit in the shade. Well that was the idea anyway but by the time the parade was starting the sun had moved round and there was nowhere to hide. I had a visit half way through the parade...funny at first but after 5 minutes it was really starting to irritate and I was dying to knock it off.
Lauren and Sion enjoyed the parade and couldn't believe it when I told them that the parades in the other parks were even better. We joined the crowd and took a slow walk back to Everest to use our FP's before the park shut. Even better the second time around. I loved AK on our last trip and enjoyed it just as much this time around. There was so much that I felt Lauren and Sion missed out on as they only had the one day but they did most of what they had on their list of AK must do's.
A slow walk towards the entrance looking in the shops on the way... I was so tempted by the pins but I was determined I wasn't going to get into that, it was costing us enough subsidizing Shannon's habit. I was starting to feel worse for wear anyway and just wanted to sit down so we left the park and returned to the villa for quick showers and change of clothes (as well as dosing myself up again) before making our way to Whispering Canyons for our
ADR. I got us totally lost trying to find the resort last time we went but found it straight away this time. The hotel lobby took Lauren's breath away and after we checked in and got a pager she took Sion and took the stairs as far up as you can go to take photo's. For some reason you cant go all the way to the top floor. I meanwhile gave into temptation and bought a pk of four trading pins from the pin stand and made my first trade with the CM.
We were shown to our table and our server Diamond Lil came and took our drinks order. We had told Lauren and Sion about the fun we had had eating here on our last holiday and were really looking forwards to eating here again. The food was gorgeous, especially the meat, but he atmosphere was flat. Shannon didn't want to do the pony ride but I think she was shattered after such a long day. There was a lot of asking for ketchup and servers banging the tables along the floor but none of the joking around we experienced last time we were there.
I ate the Roasted Chicken and had a glass of Chardonnay, Martin had the Canyon Skillet which he shared with Shannon and a Chocolate Shake with a coke for Shannon, Dale had a Hot Dog and Shake, Sion had the Meatloaf and Shake and Lauren had Chicken Pasta and a Shake. Total inc. Tax (but not gratuity) was $114.01.
Lauren and Sion wanted to go to Walmart next so we drove to the one on the US27. Stocked up on Shampoo, conditioner, cereals, coke, DV tapes, and, of course, wine and Bud then stood waiting for the others for three quarters of an hour... now I know you cant rush Walmart, especially on your first visit, but all I wanted to do was go to bed, curl up and sleep.
Finally we arrived back at the villa and after putting the wine and Bud in the fridge I crawled to bed leaving everybody else to jump in the pool for a late night swim and yes, it really was still that warm.
