Jingle Bells....AKL....Disney for 10 Whole Days! ** Updated June 2015: Videos Added**

[DisneyKid4Life]

In all fairness Jenn, I would totally accept if you made a wrong turn in AK. No matter how many times I've been there, I can still get turned around very easily.

Ooh, I am still thrown for a loop when I see Dino ride photos looking to the right. It seems so odd to me.

Ah yeah, Finally Festival of the Lion King. I can imagine having VIP treatment would make subsequent shows a little lacking. Thank goodness FotLK isn't any ordinary show.

 

[thornton0511]

In all fairness Jenn, I would totally accept if you made a wrong turn in AK. No matter how many times I've been there, I can still get turned around very easily.
Yes but obviously this would not be the first time I did this....on this trip too lol
Ooh, I am still thrown for a loop when I see Dino ride photos looking to the right. It seems so odd to me.
Yeah what's up with that?
Ah yeah, Finally Festival of the Lion King. I can imagine having VIP treatment would make subsequent shows a little lacking. Thank goodness FotLK isn't any ordinary show.

Love this show!

 

[thornton0511]

Lunch at Pizzafari and Saying Goodbye

It was now getting close to 1pm so we had just enough time for a quick lunch and then we would have to head back to the resort to leave. Sigh.

We got in line to order our food. This was our first time to try this place out and I was excited after the great reviews I have read about it here on the disboards. I did love the artwork and themes throughout the restaurant.

After getting our food we found a room towards the back of the building that did not seem as crowded as some of the others closer to the front.
It's probably quite obvious what we all got to eat but I took the pictures so they are going in the report lol.

All of the adults went with pepperoni pizza. The kids both went with cheese.Gotta love Disney QS pizza. I know it's not the best pizza in the world but oddly enough I do crave it sometimes…..kind of the same way I crave my morning crappy cup of coffee from my work when I don't have time to make it at home or stop at Starbucks.

Next up the adults all had our Caesar salads that came with the pizza combos.
And lastly the desserts as part of the DDP. Chocolate mousse

And cheesecake in a cup lol. After scraping the jello stuff off the top is actually was not too terrible lol.

When finished up about 1:30pm which I thought was really quick eating and made our way out of the park. Leaving the last park on your last Disney day is always such a sad moment for me.

Goodbye Animal Kingdom park…..I will miss you!

We hitched a ride on a bus back to AKL and took one of what would be two of the most depressing bus rides of the day…..

As you can tell in this picture how depressing this moment is for our family lol

We arrived back at the lodge and gathered our luggage they were holding for us.

Then we sat at the bus stop and waited…..still upset to be leaving. DH apparently was taking it not so well lol.

Then the magical express came to get us. Not so magical this time. Funny how the same bus that makes you so happy when it picks you up from the airport also ends up being the most depressing one on the way back.

Once we boarded and found our seats I forced a smiling picture from my children.

But within minutes of travel the weariness from our trip had started to set in.
DS was trying to fight it…

DD just gave up…..

And soon enough so had DS….lol

Anyone who ever tells you that a Disney vacation is a relaxing one it lying….it will wear out even the strongest of men lol.

Once we were back at MCO we got our bearings and headed for the TSA lines. I hate this part. Ugh.

Saddest picture ever. Goodbye fake-o-rail!

Once we made it through security we found our seats by our gate and waited for our flight. Goodness they take you back to the airport early! The kids passed the time the way that kids do.

And the adults played cards. Well most did. I passed smooth out and had a nap. One of those deep ones where you are at the point where you no longer care that you are in an airport and drooling on yourself. Yeah it was nice.

Finally at 5:45pm we were able to board our flight home. Longest flight ever…..I hate every part of leaving Disney. It's the furthest time ever from when you will get to go back. Bleh.

We landed at DFW and waited for our bags. I hated this too. I was just now in a bad mood lol.

Once we had collected all of our luggage we took the shuttle back to our car and drove home at 10:45pm. Sigh. It was now the end. Complete. No more Disney. We had to go home and get back to our normal busy lives. The good thing was that we were only a few weeks away from holiday school breaks and Christmas. And this is my most favorite time of the year so that kept me from regressing into a deep Disney withdrawl of depression.
I really hope that everyone enjoyed our adventure. Thank you so much to everyone who loyally followed along on my first ever trip report. There really would be no point in writing these things if no one followed so I appreciate everyone who took time out of their busy lives to read mine and I hope that I was able to keep you entertained!
And don't fret. If any of you feel you might have a void from not reading anymore I have great news! We moved our trip to Disneyland up from July and are leaving in one week! Actually less than a week…Friday to be exact! YAY!!!! So I will definitely be planning on doing a new TR with filled with our adventures from our first ever trip to DLR if anyone would be interested in following along. This will only be our family of four (no in laws this time around lol) and if you have learned anything from this TR then you know that our trips are always unpredictable and you never know what is going to happen!!!
Thanks guys and have a magical day!!! ~ Jenn

​

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Glad you liked Pizzafari Jenn. I liked it (the one time I was there), but I think I just enjoy some of the other QS places so much more.

Wow, you all DO NOT look happy on that bus, lol. But I get it...

You know, that is a really good point and another great reason to do a before Christmas Disney trip. At least you have Christmas to look forward to.

Jenn, honestly, I loved your TR. So much magic and of course, humour. Love love loved it. Have a wonderful trip to the original park. You are going to love it. It's the same... but different. Not to mention, depending on where you're staying, NO BUSES!!!! I can't wait to hear all about it!!!

 

[amyrella]

Just found your TR last week and now it's already finished! How exciting that your trip to DL is in less than a week!! Can't wait to read how it goes, I've never been and I'd love to get out there! Have a great trip

 

[Miss Potts]

Enjoyed this whole TR! Can't wait to read about your adventures in DL!

 

[rteetz]

What an amazing TR I absolutely loved it and can't wait until you do another one!

 

[SusieBea]

I just found you yesterday afternoon, was hooked immediately, and read the whole TR! I will look forward to your next one! Happy planning.

 

[cstorm65]

Great trip report. I loved reading it! Can't wait to read your Disneyland report.

 

[thornton0511]

Glad you liked Pizzafari Jenn. I liked it (the one time I was there), but I think I just enjoy some of the other QS places so much more.
Yes Rob I agree with you that there are many good QS places in AK....and I intend on trying them all bwahahahahaha!
Wow, you all DO NOT look happy on that bus, lol. But I get it...
Yeah I thought that pic was so funny and it really captured the mood we had on that bus ride lol
You know, that is a really good point and another great reason to do a before Christmas Disney trip. At least you have Christmas to look forward to.

Jenn, honestly, I loved your TR. So much magic and of course, humour. Love love loved it. Have a wonderful trip to the original park. You are going to love it. It's the same... but different. Not to mention, depending on where you're staying, NO BUSES!!!! I can't wait to hear all about it!!!

Oh Rob thank you so much! It has been an honor having you follow along with me on our adventure and I have to admit that I am a little sad that it's done. All the more reason that I am excited to start a new one soon!! I will still get to follow you on yours too!! It is so easy to see how you have so many DIS friends here because you stay so dedicated to everyone's TR, and because you seem like and incredibly awesome person too....obviously! I do hope that one day if our Disney paths ever cross that we can dismeet!!!

Just found your TR last week and now it's already finished! How exciting that your trip to DL is in less than a week!! Can't wait to read how it goes, I've never been and I'd love to get out there! Have a great trip

Thank you!

Enjoyed this whole TR! Can't wait to read about your adventures in DL!

Thank you for following along! I am glad that you enjoyed it!!

What an amazing TR I absolutely loved it and can't wait until you do another one!

Thank you for reading and yes I hope to start as soon as we get back!!

I just found you yesterday afternoon, was hooked immediately, and read the whole TR! I will look forward to your next one! Happy planning.

Ha! Well the good thing about reading one at the end is that you don't have to wait for updates! Glad that you found my TR and enjoyed reading it!!!

Great trip report. I loved reading it! Can't wait to read your Disneyland report.

Thank you so much! I hope that it will be a good one!!

 

[scottny]

Looked like a fun way to end the time at MK.
Dinner looked good. The cheesecake in a glass looks really good.
Sorry but the door handle falling off is funny.
WOW! An hour to get you out. 3 people to get you out. LOL.
Ak is a nice way to end the trip.
That is great she liked PW.
I cannot wait to do the Africa Trek Tour. I will walk over crocs. LOL
What a great report. Thanks for sharing it with us and loved the photos.
Have a magical trip to DL.

 

[thornton0511]

Looked like a fun way to end the time at MK.
Dinner looked good. The cheesecake in a glass looks really good.
Sorry but the door handle falling off is funny.
WOW! An hour to get you out. 3 people to get you out. LOL.
Ak is a nice way to end the trip.
That is great she liked PW.
I cannot wait to do the Africa Trek Tour. I will walk over crocs. LOL
What a great report. Thanks for sharing it with us and loved the photos.
Have a magical trip to DL.

Thank you Scott for following along We just got back a few days ago from DL and I hope to start that TR as soon as photobucket stops being stupid lol

 

[thornton0511]

Hey guys! Just wanted to let everyone know that we have returned from Disneyland all in one piece and I have just started my new TR (meaning I have posted a title page lol) and you can find the link in my siggie if any of you are interested in following along! Thanks everyone!!!

 

[catherines_mama]

Found you really late but loved your TR. We are headed to DW about the same time this year. 11/30 - 12/6 so I was drawn to your TR. Loved your details and your trip sounded great. Wow it gets dark early. I lived in FL for a very long time but in the midst of summer it's hard to remember how early the sun sets. - Also wanted to ask how school took the week long outage? We are extending Thanksgiving break and just staying in FL longer (ILs for turkey). We usually do summer to not miss school but Oh well - we are throwing caution to the wind.

Enjoy your DL trip coming up - so exciting!!

PS - you can boat from POR to DTD too, it's a nice relaxing ride For next time!

 

[thornton0511]

Found you really late but loved your TR. We are headed to DW about the same time this year. 11/30 - 12/6 so I was drawn to your TR. Loved your details and your trip sounded great. Wow it gets dark early. I lived in FL for a very long time but in the midst of summer it's hard to remember how early the sun sets. - Also wanted to ask how school took the week long outage? We are extending Thanksgiving break and just staying in FL longer (ILs for turkey). We usually do summer to not miss school but Oh well - we are throwing caution to the wind.

Enjoy your DL trip coming up - so exciting!!

PS - you can boat from POR to DTD too, it's a nice relaxing ride For next time!

Hi there! Glad that you are enjoying the trip report!! Oh my goodness you are going to love WDW that time of year. The weather was amazing!! It does get dark early that time of the year lol. I remember when I was planning for this trip and checking the times for the night time entertainment it was so hard to wrap my head around the early times, but sure enough it was good and dark by then. As far as schools goes I guess it really depends on the school but we really did not run into any trouble whatsoever with the teachers or the district and they missed 6 days too. I think too that it would depend on the ages and grades of the kids too. Probably a lot harder for a high school kid than a primary kid. The issue we ran into this year was especially for our middle school son the amount of work he had to catch up on and also missed time at school was a bit overwhelming. And even for our 2nd grader the teacher had a lot of assignments. But in the end I think its worth it if you kids can keep up and not suffer from missing to not have to go when its crowded. I think you are doing right by just extending a school holiday too! We are going back in Sept and chose labor day week so the kids will only miss 4 days this time around. Hey good to know about the POR boat and DTD!

 

[thornton0511]

Hey everyone I know it's almost been 2 years since this adventure but I have finally gotten around to making the videos to go along with our trip and I have part 1 attached:

 

[thornton0511]

Part 2: Checking in to Animal Kingdom Lodge Jambo House and some adventures in Animal Kingdom park:

 

[thornton0511]

Part 3 More Animal Kingdom Fun

 

[thornton0511]

Part 4: Hollywood Studios

 

[thornton0511]

More to come soon