Surprised the kids, wife, and my readers w/ a 2 week trip to AoA!(*NEW* 11-7)

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Loved the "twofer", rhino butt and lion. What good fortune!

Awesome that Mickey and Minnie had fun with Parker's bino's. That's a great picture of him cracking up and Noelle pointing.

that picture almost made the christmas card but at the last minute it was left "behind"

it is funny how the kids reacted to it and they were really happy

Wonder if that is the same one they rescued from the poachers that was in the back of the truck you used to see on the safari......released back into the wild???
going to throw my responses in red marv...
I love when you get to see the baby animals out when doing the safari!

Did you try to give that bird........the bird........or something???
that was one that he was staring down parker so maybe he was making a funny face at him or something.
I agree with Parker, I love the trains too! Only been to Planet Watch once........I guess I need to spend some more time exploring back there.

For a minute there, you had me tempted..........
what afraid that if it was someone else they might give you a run for your money.
Love the little grin on Noelle's face here.

Nice!!!

Poor Parker, he was just having a rough trip all around it seems............
he had some bad moments but overall i he loved the trip.
That is all you can really do as a parent, and considering each child is different, you really go through it over again every time.
hit the nail on the head marv
I actually got a chance to do a survey the last time I was on PB. Normally I probably wouldn't take the time, but this is one occasion I took the opportunity to give them an ear full!!!
i gave them a loaded response as well, and they did do a few of hte changes i suggested but still a few things that are really stupid with it.
Hot Italian? That sounds more along Rosie's line............

Well at least Rosie didn't mess this up for you..............

Nice pictures, and some really good interaction from the kids at this character meet!

The characters all seemed to get carried away cozying up to Candi.........Rafiki seemed to also be very cozy when you were at Planet Watch.........
its hard to introduce her to any characters and not have them take an interest...well except the princess variety.
Guess Chip and Dale aren't the only characters you have to worry about......

Parker did a great job with the hopping, but it doesn't look like he enjoyed it very much..........
i know i wish he would have been more excited.

So glad you are getting close on your goal! Congratulations and I hope you go way over!!!

I love the parade at AK. I guess because it is so different from the rest of them with all the unique "floats."

Mmmm........... jalapeno cheese pretzel!!! Would love to be munching on one of those right now!!!
why dont you drive down then send me some.
Nice job on being at the start of the parade. There is also the added benefit of making a quick escape when the last of the parade passes by, while the rest of the crowd is still waiting to see it.

Looks like Parker was doing a great job with those binoculars! I'm not sure I would have been as excited as you to see those white rhinos so close. I remember one time on the safari that two of them were up a little side road that goes between areas and the driver stopped for everyone to get a look. One of the white rhinos didn't like that one little bit for some reason, and actually began to charge at the vehicle. Needless to say, the driver decided rather quickly it was time to move along.
sounds alot like a story we had when we went with my parents.
I think the interaction with the Characters at Camp Minnie Mickey is some of the best. They just seem to take a little more time with the interaction. And it is so good to see Noelle starting to really warm up and get comfortable with the interactions!!!

Nice that you got that extra meet in with Pocahontas. I agree that AK is a really good park to close down; so different when it is almost empty, especially when it works out that you are leaving after dark when all the lights are on and the Tree of Life is illuminated.

i have always liked the character greets at AK they all seem great there.

thanks for taking the time to comment marv.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Chapter 38. Night Time Pooling.

When we left AK, we still had not had dinner, so it was a quick trip back to the room to drop our stuff off then back up to the main lobby for dinner.

Parker opted for the burger...candi had the make your own pasta, and i had the build your own burger...

Noelle demonstrated for me the art of tipping it back

After dinner we went back to the room and got into our bathing suits to enjoy a little down time at our sections pool.

since you can say im going boating, or running, or walking, or swimming, i thought why cant you say im going pooling, if you are not going to swim around but just sort of floating there doing nothing...which is what we did, holding hte kids in the water and just floating around and having fun. so hence we went pooling that night.

parker was all ready to go. all of these are taken with no flash.

and the other direction with aerial looming in the background.

a closer up one.

the wate rwas really warm that night.

we swam around for about 30 minutes then candi took noelle back to the room and parker and i went up to the top floor to get some pictures.

first a panoramic

then a normal shot.

this is right next to where we were standing on the 4th floor.

and since i included one of them here are the rest of the main statues from where we were.

then out to the right on the parking lot side.

and the fish on the wall behind aerial.

then it was back down to the room and get ready for bed.

this was the first night we watched the duffy bed time story that plays in the evening for the kids or adults.

i found the video so im posting a link to it here.

it follows along with the story of the book and the kids loved it, it plays then takes a few minute break then plays again...most nights they would not even make it through one round of the story.

after that we watched a little more tv when the kids fell asleep and ended our day as well for another fun day ahead.

a day off from the parks and just hanging out.

 

[KatMark]

I'm grinning from ear to ear watching Noelle drinking her bottle...such a cutie.

Looks like a fun night in the pool, and great shots around AOA. We thought of staying there for our one night next month but it was just too expensive to sleep for one night.

I can't wait to hear what you do on your day away from the parks.

 

[rachel09985]

Just getting caught up again! I have been that close to a rhino before with the same view you got ( glad that video didn't happen to me too) but I have never seen them walking across the path!

Great late night AoA photos!

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I love your pictures from your night of "pooling"!

I'm having a great time following along - your kids are adorable!

 

[FancyNancy]

OMG the pics of Noelle tipping it back!!!

 

[DisneyLaura]

Hey I'm just catching up, again. I just read the dash for the spin toys! Nice job super Dad!

I wanted to ask you a question about the parade and fireworks, did you change shutter speed or did you just not use a flash. I am determined for our trip this June to get nice shots of those two things!

We are going to a water park this trip as well, being that it's June and going to be hotter than Hades. I want to go to TL as we've only been to BB (well the boys have but they probably don't remember, they were 5 and 3. Ok off to read more.

 

[Trentmom]

The pool area looks great. Love all the Little Mermaid Character statues

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

I'm grinning from ear to ear watching Noelle drinking her bottle...such a cutie.

Looks like a fun night in the pool, and great shots around AOA. We thought of staying there for our one night next month but it was just too expensive to sleep for one night.

I can't wait to hear what you do on your day away from the parks.

must take after me tipping it back then.

stay in the little mermaid section since it is just one night, you then get to still experience everything at a value rate.

have an awesome fun time...even away from the parks...we love none park days...

Just getting caught up again! I have been that close to a rhino before with the same view you got ( glad that video didn't happen to me too) but I have never seen them walking across the path!

Great late night AoA photos!

it was really cool to see such a huge animal walking so slow and you just had to wait and let it do its thing...the kids loved being that close and watching it.

thanks, i was happy with the night time shots.

I love your pictures from your night of "pooling"!

I'm having a great time following along - your kids are adorable!

thanks for joining in.

we are almost through the first week so one more week to go on the report...and many more kid pics

OMG the pics of Noelle tipping it back!!!

she learns it from the best.

Hey I'm just catching up, again. I just read the dash for the spin toys! Nice job super Dad!

I wanted to ask you a question about the parade and fireworks, did you change shutter speed or did you just not use a flash. I am determined for our trip this June to get nice shots of those two things!

We are going to a water park this trip as well, being that it's June and going to be hotter than Hades. I want to go to TL as we've only been to BB (well the boys have but they probably don't remember, they were 5 and 3. Ok off to read more.

i did not change anything on the camera no shutter and no flash...my camera does not have a flash built in. it is an attachment that you have to put on it...for all the night shots i left it off...the camera pulls in all available light for you to take low level/night time shots without flash and get good results.

it also takes the pictures really fast, even in the night time so they usually are not blurry.

with your boys being a little older this time, have you thought about BB instead of TL...just wondering if they would like it more than TL. i could see them loving the tobagoon racers and the teen play area with the zip line into the water and such. but just an idea.

im sure they will find a ton to do at TL as well.

The pool area looks great. Love all the Little Mermaid Character statues

thanks, it was alot of fun swimming with all the big stuff around you. also made the walk seem much quicker with so much to look at.

 

[jenny105]

I think you just coined the phrase pooling.

AoA looks fun! I can't decide where we are going to stay next trip! I have a resort picked for all 3 categories - it's just a matter of which one we are going to go with haha. AoA is my first choice for a value!

 

[glennbo123]

Noelle demonstrated for me the art of tipping it back

I'm pretty sure you already know how to do that. Bud Lite Lime anyone?

The Duffy bedtime stories sound like a great idea for the young'ns.

 

[Poolrat]

I like Pooling....

A wonderful night after a wonderful day. Love the night time pool shots.

The kids look like they are in great moods even for the late hour. You have been going all day.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

I'm pretty sure you already know how to do that. Bud Lite Lime anyone?

The Duffy bedtime stories sound like a great idea for the young'ns.

hey it is a good summer time beer bud...

i really enjoyed watching the story as well, helps you wind down and fall asleep.

I like Pooling....

A wonderful night after a wonderful day. Love the night time pool shots.

The kids look like they are in great moods even for the late hour. You have been going all day.

i knew you would enjoy that reference.

they never seemed to get cranky at night would just be troopers and fall asleep really quick when they hit the pillow.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Chapter 39. A complete off day.

When we take the longer trips we like to have off days in between park days. We try as best as possible to do a park then have a water park day.

Well we figured that we would go for a day this trip that we did no park and no water park.

That was this day. it was sunday so why risk either park or water park being to crowded and not enjoy yourself as much. instead do nothing but relax and have fun which is what we did, it was also the half way point of the trip, Full day number 6.

We thought we could sleep in but at 5:30 Noelle had other plans for us...so candi went and got her really quick so as not to wake up parker.

She held her in our bed and she fell back asleep until 7:00 when we were all up and ready to go.

We put on our bathing suits lotioned up and hit the breakfast station.

I had the Chicken Burger breakfast sandwhich again which really hit the spot. candi had French toast, Parker had the chocolate chip pancakes and Noelle had some of everyones again.

After we were done with breakfast we were on the way to the pool at the ripe hour of 9:00am.

Our pool destination was radiator Springs.

this was our first time back here since we checked in and we grabbed a few of the characters in day time.

It was a nice feeling seeing all the families heading out towards the parks or leaving and knowing that we had no agenda for the day except our dinner plans and were just going to take it easy for the next 7 hours.

We were checking in at the cozy cone motel or the pool if you will.

the details leading up to the main pool entrance were very well done.

through the entrance the door to the pool. and as of that time the entrance here was not coded to swipe your room key to get into that area.

i really enjoyed the spark plug tops of the posts.

a cleverly themed door

parker and candi were really hoping that we could get a cozy cone as our sitting area.

and at that time of day, we had no problem securing one...there was about 3 open ones then. but later in the day i could see how they would all be taken.

looks like we have a few happy campers with our location.

and to keep an eye on our stuff we had sarge looking out for us.

So i go with parker to get his life jacket on and as i start to walk over to the pool he goes to the edge, stands for half a second then jumps in and starts swimming back to the side.

he has never done that before so i ask him if he is okay seeing that he is calm and swimming like a champ...he says yep im good.

so i help him out and he says he wants to do it again all by himself.

okay let err rip buddy.

he does this over and over again while i snap a few pictures

Side note: when i was about his age, i did the same thing for the first time at the pool at the fort wilderness campground...my mom jumped in after me but i was good and swam the width of the pool all myself...

i was so proud of parker and awesome that we both have the first disney swim by ourselves thing together.

Momma and Noelle opted for the girly entrance and took the stairs.

continued in next chapter.

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

Chapter 39. A complete off day. Part 2

We swam around the cozy cone pool for about an hour. Candi was so proud of parker for swimming all by himself.

there was swimming, floating, talking, laughing, playing, and of course just "pooling"

Noelle even wanted to sit on the edge and get a little sun, what a little flirt...

After being there the kids wanted to take some time to go to the Big Pool and check out things there.

the walkway leading out of radiator springs lights.

and i dont think i showed the pathway/roadway yet so here it is.

we set up shop just between the play area for kids and the big pool zero entry area.

the ground is perfect nice and squishy for the little ones to not get hurt.

Noelle loved this water feature she would constantly walk in front of the water being spit out of hte mouth and get wet and just laugh and laugh.

Parker had an absolute blast playing in here, they didnt even want to swim in the pool for the first 30-40 minutes.

Walking around like she owns the place.

Just on the other side of the gate to get into the main pool is a "playground" of sorts...I never saw a ton of kids using it, it is awesome in the theme department but everyone i saw the kids would go down the slides one or two times then leave and go do something else...parker included he did a few slides then was done with it.

Coming up next in our relaxing day, Noelle and I go exploring Pop while candi and Parker play.

 

[katt789]

Good on ya for being able to take an off day! I can’t even do that on a two week trip, heck I had a problem taking a midday break, lawl! I’ve never seen Cars so we never really looked into the cars section with too much detail, but it looks absolutely awesome! So glad that Parker was having a blast jumping and swimming!

Love the nemo swimming area, glad Noelle loved the little squid so much, I love that they have the little ink splatter with it too, so cute!!

 

[KatMark]

Dan, what a perfect morning and what fun. I love the little spot you found at the first pool...that is just too cute.

Way to go Parker in jumping in and swimming by yourself. You are your daddy's boy.

And watch out Daddy...that daughter of yours is going to start having boys coming after her very, very young.

 

[Trentmom]

What a nice relaxing morning for sure.

Love the Cones you could sit in. So neat


The theming there is awesome!!

Looks like a lot of fun at Nemo play water area too.

WTG Parker for being so brave and just jumping in

 

[jedijill]

Good for Parker for literally jumping right in! Noelle is so cute in her little bikini.

Jill in CO

 

[jenny105]

Gotta love days off from the parks! So relaxing.