You had quite the trip, didn't you? June 2019 Completed 12/4! New TR Link 1/19!

[buzzrelly]

nstead, we started with breakfast in the lounge and it was so good! Everything they offer as options is right up our alley so we loved our CL breakfasts!

That breakfast spread looks pretty good. I think you made the right choice skipping your reservation and enjoying the Grand. You can go to breakfast anytime, but how often do you get to sit and relax by the pool at the GF??

 

[Cloe Colton]

Boys! haha

Right?? haha most of the time he gets it right at least! lol

Yikes, not a good look for them.

Nope!! Thankfully they ended up leaving after an hour or so but it was just so strange. Especially when other options opened up after we sat down lol

That is SUCH a cute swimming suit!

Thank you! It was from Target, it screamed the Floridian to me!

Sounds perfect to sit on the balcony and enjoy the rain with some snacks!

It was perfect! And the bread and butter was SO good! lol

 

[Cloe Colton]

That breakfast spread looks pretty good. I think you made the right choice skipping your reservation and enjoying the Grand. You can go to breakfast anytime, but how often do you get to sit and relax by the pool at the GF??

Exactly!!! I'm just glad I went with my gut instead of trying to stick to a plan lol this was definitely the better option!

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Your pool morning looks amazing. Such beautiful weather and so relaxing!

At some point I realized just how many shampoos and body washes DH had amassed on our trip. I deemed him a real life Ross Geller. lol

And also killed the time by taking some pictures!

Are those cars just hanging out there?? Cute photos!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Your pool morning looks amazing. Such beautiful weather and so relaxing!

It was perfect! I'm still shocked that we had such good pool weather for a June day in Florida!

So many! lol

Are those cars just hanging out there?? Cute photos!

Yes!! I think sometimes they switch them out but there's usually one or two out there!



Here's a pic from probably 21/22 years ago!

 

[Cloe Colton]

Day 4 Part 2 Sunday June 16th

It was still raining pretty hard by the time we made it to Animal Kingdom and a family must have been our ubers next pick up because they basically knocked me out of the way to get into the car. Nothing like a little rain to turn people into savages!

I didn’t mind the rain (save for the fact that I chose to wear a completely white dress in rain but YOLO lol), what I was worried about was that we were doing the Savor the Savanna tour this night and I wasn’t sure if they would cancel it or not! It wasn’t a cheap experience and I would be super bummed if we didn’t get to go! I hoped that if they did cancel we would get a giftcard for the cost or something but I decided to not worry about it and just figure that out when the time came!

We quickly made our way to Pandora for our Flight of Passage fastpass. For the first time ever we were sent down to the bottom level which I had never ridden before so that was cool!




The preshow is awful to begin with but we were stuck in there for a LONG TIME. We recalibrated so many times, we were just fuzzy blobs by the end!




(When I get bored I apparently take selfies to pass the time! lol)

Eventually we were through and it was time to ride a banshee, my favorite!! Even though I've ridden it plenty of times I always forget how long it is!



We had a great flight and I honestly didn’t notice any difference in the bottom compared to the middle or top row so it was nice to see the imagineers figured it out for this ride unlike Soarin!

Dan and I decided to stop for some drinks from Pongu Pongu before making our way over to Africa. He went with the green beer and I got my treasured night blossom that I somehow FORGOT TO GET IN MARCH!





We actually stood under the floating mountains to drink them and it worked out pretty well keeping us dry! Haha




Once our drinks were nearly finished I figured it was time for us to start making our way over to check in for our Savor the Savanna tour. This was a tour that I had wanted to do for a while since I love the Safari and having dinner on the savanna seemed like such a cool idea! I believe the safari and the meal are also included with the Wild Africa Trek but the cost of that tour plus the fact that it happens in the dead heat of the day always kept me away from that one but Savor the Savanna just seemed cool!

We stopped by this hut first to check in.



But they directed us to the entrance under Wild Africa Trek. As we walked up the cast member called us by name and I was thinking either we are the last to show up or we are the only ones doing the tour lol



We were the only ones doing the tour!



Apparently there was supposed to be another group of four doing the tour with us but with the bad weather they asked if they could back out so it was just going to be us. How cool right??? A completely private tour of the savanna?? I don’t know how often that happens, and the tour can be up to 12 people, but I think this whole experience is something I will never forget!

We started the tour by drinking POG juice and getting to know our guide, Megan, who was awesome. Super friendly and bubbly, she was great!

We talked to her for a bit and then waited for our truck to arrive to take us out onto the safari.

Because of the rain, the animals were super active and were walking all over the place. The nice thing about the tour was that for areas where we wanted to spend more time or watch the animals more, the truck could pull over (when possible) to allow us to stand, watch the animals and ask questions.


If I remember correctly this was the ankole cattle Maw Maw. She's pretty old and slow moving. You could hear her mooing if she got too far from the group kind of asking them where they were!

When we got out to the African savanna where the giraffes live, our guide told us that there was actually another savanna not visible to guests where the older animals get to live out their days. I don’t know why but it made me happy that the older animals get to retire to a savanna away from the trucks. I mean what better way to retire than in Disney??

My favorite part of the safari truck part was the giraffes. They tend to be my favorite animal on the savanna so when we got to them we were able to pull over and watch all of them frolicking in the rain and interacting with each other.



All of the babies had been recently introduced to the savanna so there were A LOT of giraffes all in the one area. Our guide said that they love to go to their stalls so they think that by standing by their door they’ll get to go to their stalls. I found it really interesting that Giraffes don’t like to be touched like a lot of animals (hyenas love to be loved on! Who knew!) and they have some of the Giraffes trained to do things with their hooves daily in the event they do need to help them at some point. If they aren’t used to the touch they may not respond well! There are so many things that I learned on this tour (there was no canned speech, the conversation just flowed and she answered all of our, mostly my, questions! Hopefully the couple of things I shared doesn't spoil anything for you all!!)

My favorite giraffe was the male, George, who was putting on quite the show for us! And I believe was the father to all of the babies on the savanna. George was puttin in work this year! LOL



After the savanna, we made our way up to the Boma, which is the platform that you can see from the Kilimanjaro safari. They had bathrooms available to use and since the tour had been originally scheduled for six and was now down to two there was quite a spread!





There was also unlimited wine and beer for us to drink which was really nice!




The Tusker beer was definitely Dans favorite!

Does it get any better than enjoying a glass of wine on the safari in Disney??



Nope!

I believe the trainer/keeper? (I forget her title) was supposed to come talk to us out on the savanna but since it was raining and it was just the two of us she came to the Boma instead. Again, it was great to ask all of the questions I’ve thought of over the last 20 years!

From the Boma you could see the savanna with the Giraffes, the lions and the rhinos (if they are out). We actually heard the lions roaring at each other which I’ve never heard before so that was really cool! Their roar doesn't really sound anything like what you expect it to. Also cool just to see them up and interacting with each other rather than just laying down! lol



The only thing that I didn’t love was that because it was just the two of us and they expected us to ask questions, I felt weird sitting down to eat. So Dan and I just sort of ate our food while standing and talking with the cast members. Don’t get me wrong, it was still an AMAZING experience and we both walked away stuffed, but we both definitely felt weird trying to sit and have dinner with four people staring at us haha. I think with more people though that would be less likely to happen!



Had to get a pic of my safari ears I made myself! lol

The dinner portion was about an hour long but it honestly felt like ten minutes! The experience was just so amazing it flew by!!

Once we were done with the dinner portion, we hopped back on our truck and finished the safari. At the end we got to decide which animal we wanted to donate to. I chose the lions since the guide mentioned just how much the lion population has decreased since the last Lion King came out. Dan picked the giraffes since they were his favorite animal we saw. (We’ll technically donate to the rhinos when we do the Rhino tour in September – we will just need to do the Caring for Giants tour at some point for the Elephants!)

As we were leaving, we were given the conservation donation pins, which had a lion on them to commemorate Lion King coming out, AND we were both given Savor the Savanna bamboo coasters! I’m not sure if we were each given one because the other group backed out or if every person normally gets one. Either way they were really nice and a great surprise!



Our awesome guide, Megan!

Overall, I would 1000% recommend this tour. I honestly wish I could do it again soon because it was just a great tour and an awesome way to go “behind the scenes” of one of my favorite attractions in Disney! It has actually made me want to do the Wild Africa Trek more than I had in the past so I definitely have to put that on my Disney bucketlist now!

Vlog of the tour!

​

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like an amazing tour and something I would definitely consider for myself in the future! Love all the pics and your ears came out great!

 

[NJlauren]

Haha must be something about white and rain and AK nights! I did the same thing in August! White T-shirt and didn’t even realize my mistake till I was at the park... that’s what cheap ponchos are for I guess!

This tour looks awesome! The wild Africa trek is coming we want to do as well! i could totally see being the only 2 on the tour being a bit awkward however I feel like it must have been a great experience especially since the animals seemed so active, those other people missed out!

 

[sahu]

Sounds like a great tour! How exciting that it was just the two of you!

 

[DLo]

What an amazing tour . My DH would love this . He is a picky eater so I worry a little about the food .

 

[miniwinnie]

Joining in!! Between FOP, the Night Blossom, and a private tour, this seems like a perfect day in AK!

 

[disneyAndi14]

The tour sounds amazing! I may consider this one for us. We have loved the Rhino and Elephant tours at AK.

How nice to be the only ones on the tour. What did the food consist of? Vegetarian choices?

Thanks for the overview on the tour!

 

[jrmint427]

I definitely started reading your TR back in August, but am just now catching up on reports! I love your reports, and the vlog is so fun! Can't wait to watch more. Your dog is adorable. The Club level seems nice, but I was also surprised no one was there to greet you.

Anyone else know that “I just left work feeling” before a vacation. There is just nothing like it!

Nothing better

I had stopped booking it after a couple of less than stellar lunches but was happy to try it again!

We also skipped BOG on our recent trip, but glad to hear you had a better experience this time - we will need to give it another try!

I was surprised that they no longer had you keep the rose so that your food would find you. There were just cast members walking around checking receipts and having the food sent out. Which I don’t know if maybe the rose system was just down that day but definitely took some of the magic out of the dining experience since the food didn’t just “find you”.

Someone else mentioned them being gone too! I actually think they never worked well while we were there. At least 6-7 people checked our ticket even when we had a rose before. I hope they find a better system!

It started with them complimenting my ears and such but then when Minnie spotted my ring it turned into a whole thing of why Mickey hasn’t proposed to Minnie and it was just so much fun! Even DH was sold on the whole experience and we walked out of the meet feeling the Disney magic. It was the perfect thing to do on our first day and I’m so glad I got a fastpass for it!

It's always so fun to meet this couple. Too funny that she was using your ring to send a message to Mickey! I loved their birthday outfits this year.

Did you get an actual PP Photographer? This is a great picture, and it's awesome they captured the hugs!

I'm excited I still have so much more to catch up on

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

At some point I realized just how many shampoos and body washes DH had amassed on our trip. I deemed him a real life Ross Geller. lol

Ha!

I love that you are posing even with your poncho on.

We were the only ones doing the tour!

AMAZING!!!

Does it get any better than enjoying a glass of wine on the safari in Disney??



Nope!

I want to do this now!

This looks amazing!

 

[kclark9830]

Staying at GF is definitely on my bucket list! It looks beautiful!

 

[jrmint427]

I am all caught up! The Savanna tour sounds amazing, that is on my bucket list now.

We were even gifted with an adorable box of chocolates that had one with a picture of the Contemporary on it and three smaller chocolates.

That is awesome! And even better that they brought a second welcome dessert.

I was also excited for my cute backpack I got off of Poshmark! (if you didn't know you can find some real hidden gems there for Disney merch! Especially since a lot of people only use stuff once or twice!)

I love the backpack and your shirt! Perfect for a Villains night.

I felt someone grabbing my backpack up and off of my back. I turned around and this woman was still holding my bag saying how she loves it

Okay that would really bother me!

but once we were away I noticed that the front pocket of my bag was unzipped and it hadn’t been before so who knows what her intentions were.

Something didn't sit right as you were describing this - who just grabs someone else's backpack?

I knew the overlay at MNSSHP didn’t get the best reviews with the live actors but we really enjoyed it! They really added to the line experience and I think even added something to the ride itself! I didn’t tell DH people’s impressions prior to riding and he thought it was really cool so I think sometimes its best to throw what you’ve read out the window and just enjoy the show!

I probably had expectations too high for the live actors! The one in the line was my favorite. But you're right, sometimes better to be able to make your own judgments.

Overall, I would DEFINITELY recommend the Villains After Hours.

I want to do this now!

I would go from working in the room to working out on the balcony enjoying the view. It was probably one of my favorite days of work ever!

Looks like the perfect work day!

I knew I wanted to recreate my parents old photo that they took on their honeymoon 30 years ago in 1989.

How awesome!!

I even told him the volcano trick and he still failed!

I have to know, what is the volcano trick?!

For our entrees, I ordered the Tastes Like Chicken and Dan ordered the Siu Pork. Overall, our entrees were just okay.

My husband also thought the Tastes Like Chicken was just okay on our recent trip. The food wasn't as good this year but I still love the experience at Skipper's Canteen and will be back.

Apparently there was supposed to be another group of four doing the tour with us but with the bad weather they asked if they could back out so it was just going to be us. How cool right??? A completely private tour of the savanna??

How awesome to get a private tour! I had never heard of this tour before, it is now at the top of my bucket list. I love the Safaris ride and would really enjoy spending more time with the animals on the savanna.

When we got out to the African savanna where the giraffes live, our guide told us that there was actually another savanna not visible to guests where the older animals get to live out their days. I don’t know why but it made me happy that the older animals get to retire to a savanna away from the trucks. I mean what better way to retire than in Disney??

This makes me so happy too!

 

[LeiaIsAPrincess2]

That tour sounds incredible! I think I need to put all of the AK tours on my bucket list!

 

[VAtink]

Sounds like such a fantastic tour, so awesome the other group backed out and you had a private one! Totally looking into this now for our next trip. We did the Wild Africa Trek a few years ago and loved it, so this seems perfect!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

I got my treasured night blossom

This drink is delicious and they do put a fair amount of rum in it. I will definitely be getting it again in January.

All of the babies had been recently introduced to the savanna so there were A LOT of giraffes all in the one area.

We saw a TON of giraffes in September. It was truly amazing! I loved seeing the babies.

The experience was just so amazing it flew by!!

I cannot believe you and Dan had the entire tour to yourselves. What an awesome experience!

Love this vlog (watched it a while back) and the new Aruba one you just posted was awesome. Great job Cloe!

 

[amazingact21]

Your Savor the Savannah experience sounds amazing! I have always wanted to do the Wild Africa Trek, and after reading about your unbelievable safari tour I turned to Alex and said, "This is the absolute next thing we're doing at Disney!"

Giraffes and unlimited Tusker beer...I'm seriously jealous right now.