Headed to the Disney Magic!

Hello, everyone!  For the next few days, we'll be taking a break from the Trip Report because...I am headed back out on the Disney Magic!

On this voyage, I'll be going with one of my best friends, who I've known each other since junior high. We leave for Orlando tomorrow, we'll spend a night at Old Key West and then on Friday morning, we'll board the Magic for a 3-night voyage.

I'll be posting pictures here & on Facebook, so be sure to follow along.

See ya real soon!

Trip Report Day Three: Animal Kingdom - Breakfast Time at Tusker House

After our amazing safari, it was time to head over to Tusker House for our New Year's Eve breakfast.

When you check in, you wait for a few minutes for your table.  You also take your picture with Donald Duck!  Tusker House is a character breakfast, and you'll see Mickey and Friends dressed in their safari finest.

Hello, Donald!

Here's our check in ticket, noting our time and the date.

A hostess comes out, calls your name, and then you're escorted into the dining area.  As you walk in you'll see a large open room with various breakfast food stations - if you leave hungry, it's your own fault!  Traditional breakfast fare is available, as well as more "exotic" offerings.  It's SO GOOD.

I also liked that the buffet stations are split up into smaller stations, so you don't have to stand in line for a long time to get to the items you want.  Also, it breaks up the crowds so even though there were a lot of people eating breakfast at Tusker House that morning, the buffet never felt crowded or overwhelming.

Of course, in true Disney fashion, the difference is in the details.

When you're seated, your server takes your drink order and then you're free to go to the buffet.  Coffee, tea, soft drinks, and milk are included with your meal.

The characters also come around to your table, and stop for a picture and/or autograph.  We saw Mickey, Daisy and Goofy!

Me and my boyfriend, Mickey.  (Shhhh, don't tell Minnie!)

Noah and Ms Daisy

Me and Daisy

Noah with Goofy

Me and Goofy

We then got our check taken care of, and headed on our way!  With the Magic Bands, you can also use them as your charging privileges so you don't have to carry around your wallet.  The server brought a barcode scanner to our table, scanned my band and that was it!  Very fast and easy.  He brought us the receipt to sign and then we were done.

We really enjoyed this meal.  It was pricey (about $30 per person before tip) but the food was very fresh, there was a lot of variety and the service was excellent.  They didn't rush you at all, but the cast members and servers kept things moving, so that all the characters had a chance to come to your table during your meal.

Character meals are a GREAT way to see your favorite Disney friends; no standing in line at a park, they come right to your table!

After our breakfast, we decided to walk around, burn some breakfast calories and explore the park.

See you next time!

Trip Report Day Three: Animal Kingdom - Safari Time!

Thanks for being patient with me, everyone!  I moved this weekend which was both fun AND busy/crazy but now I am getting back into a normal routine, which includes the retelling of our December Disney trip.

We then made our way to Africa, as we had a breakfast reservation at Tusker House.

We were able to see Everest, saying "hello" from Asia!

Hello again, Tree of Life!

We still had about 30 minutes until our breakfast reservation, so we wandered over to the Kilimanjaro Safari to see the wait and it was........10 minutes.

Yes, you read that correctly.  It was 10 minutes, on New Years Eve morning.

WILD!

So of course, we made our way through the line and got ready to board our vehicle for our 2 week trek through Africa!

In reality, our "wait" was more like 3 minutes.

I will now regale you with pictures of the safari.  I have done this safari each time I've been to Disney World (and sometimes multiple times each trip) but I can say, this was one of the BEST I've ever done.  

Look, a baby giraffe!  (all together now - AWWW!)

I was trying to get a cute picture of adult and baby together...and then the adult started peeing.  Real classy, giraffe.  Real classy.  :) 

More baby cuteness!  I think, technically, this is a "teenage" elephant.  They stay with their mother until they're about 12-13 years old.

For Ms. Caren and Ms. Bella - MINGOS!

The next few pictures do not accurately display what we saw with the lions.  First, we saw a male AND female lion, at the same time.  In all the safaris I've done, we've only seen one or another.  They are pretty illusive and prefer to sleep out of sight on the rocks.

They were chasing each other around - it was awesome to see them running!  I tried to get some good pictures as we passed but I mostly just enjoyed watching them.  It was pretty cool.

After the lions, we say a few other animals before our safari ended.

After you get off the safari, you can wind your way around some more trails to see other animals.  The gorillas were in rare form today; this one was having fun walking around with a bucket on his head. 

Perhaps he was feeling anti-social that day.

We then walked the few steps over to Tusker House, hungry and ready for our breakfast!

Up next: My dining review of Tusker House Restaurant!

Trip Report Day Three: Animal Kingdom

Hello, everyone!   Let's continue with the Trip Report, shall we?

After we left Hollywood Studios, we had a few hours before we had to be at dinner.  We had friends who were going to be at Disney the same time as us, so we were all meeting that night for dinner at the California Grill.

That afternoon, it was warm enough to sit by the pool for a bit and read, which was nice and relaxing. We then got our nice clothes on, and headed over to the California Grill for dinner!

Sadly, I don't have any pictures of my meal for you.....because....it was so amazing I ate every bite before I thought to take a picture.  California Grill is a signature dining experience, located at The Contemporary Resort, and in my opinion, is SO WORTH IT.  The meal was incredible, the service was fantastic, and the view?  Un-paralleled!  Our reservation was at 7:00 and so in the middle of our meal, we were able to go outside on their viewing platform and watch the Wishes fireworks show, literally steps from the Magic Kingdom! It was pretty incredible.  LeiLani, thank you for letting us crash your family meal and enjoy that with you all!  We'll for SURE have to do it again!

The next morning the plan was to head to Animal Kingdom.

Here is their Christmas tree - it's HUGE.

Recognize this picture?  Yep, it's the "what tree is this" picture I posted earlier in the week.  The details are just incredible!

We only had to stand in line for about 10 minutes, then went into the park!  We had a breakfast reservation at 9:10AM, so we had about an hour to wander around.

We decided to stop at the little trails and break-aways in Animal Kingdom, to check out some of the inhabitants.

There are a few waterfalls at Animal Kingdom, here's one: just gorgeous.

That way to the fun!

Look, mingos!!

Donald, is that you?!

We then came upon the Tree of Life; such a beautiful sight!

The obligatory PhotoPass "In front of the Tree of Life" picture. :)  (By the way, do you ever wonder about the people that are in the background of your vacation pictures?  How about OTHER people's pictures that you're in?!)

We headed in a few shops to look around at the offerings and see if we wanted to buy anything.

We didn't in that particular store, but we did grab a few things on our way out!

There is a Discovery Island Trail you can walk down, so we headed on that path to see what we could find.

What was saw as the largest porcupine that I've ever seen.  This guy was huge!!

See?  Another waterfall!

We still had some time to kill before we had to be at breakfast, so we decided to hit an attraction.  Any guesses as to which one we did?

See you next time!