Excuse me, you'll need to see security. What has Mickeystoontown done? Update 3/25x2

[TinksThree]

I agree with the crowds in Gatlinburg this year...much worse!! Glad you guys missed any major traffic hang-ups on the way home! We got to Tuscaloosa as the Auburn/Alabama fans were letting loose...but they were thankfully going all in the opposite direction!!

I was way behind but all caught up now! I love walking around AK and just looking. As I was reading the post Keith commented on AK being boring (he doesn't care for zoos) which of course made me laugh due to your comments on John's opinion of AK!!

Great animal pics!! Loved, loved, loved the lions and gorillas (amazing!!) and tigers....well maybe not the pooping one!! Also the FOTLK pics were great! I felt like I was there!

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Originally Posted by jenseib

Really? It sounds nothing like that to me. Now the comedians lyrics sound much more like it.

it's in Swahili an African language so I think that may just be a rough english spelling of the lyrics, and yeah the Comedians ones are good too.

[Kathy Jetson]

I was super duper behind again. It looks like you were having a good day at AK except for the yeti. That's funny your talking about poop. River was obsessed with dung this year at AK. Honestly I think he would have been happy to just be in a room where they show you all the different kinds of poop! I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted this year at AK our day had torrential rain for at least half of the day. You got a lot of cute animal pics with the animals up and moving around.

Glad to hear the baby can come home!

[scottny]

All caught up.

Great updates and pics.

The backpack pics made me laugh and I would have walked away from him.

That stinks about EE hopefully you do get to ride it.

The tiger pic is funny.

Nice about Duck Dynasty. I catch it every once in a while.

[Pluto0809]

Unfortunately the netting was still up and the Discovery trail closed when I was there two weeks ago.

[deedeew80]

Hi Lisa! Great updates!!! I never knew about the "praying" tree!! How cool!! I will definitely have to look for that next time!!!

Side note: Still haven't booked our trip yet. It's kind of on the back burner right now. There are just so many other expenses we should really use the money for. Believe it or not, DH wants to still go on the trip anyway & I am being the smart one saying no!! So I don't know what is going on with it right now.

[Bethislucy]

Great Tiger pics.

[mickeystoontown]

Originally Posted by Bethislucy

Great Tiger pics.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by deedeew80

Hi Lisa! Great updates!!! I never knew about the "praying" tree!! How cool!! I will definitely have to look for that next time!!!

Side note: Still haven't booked our trip yet. It's kind of on the back burner right now. There are just so many other expenses we should really use the money for. Believe it or not, DH wants to still go on the trip anyway & I am being the smart one saying no!! So I don't know what is going on with it right now.

Oh no! I hope that ya'll are able to go on the trip. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you get a pin code or a special offer comes out that you can take advantage of.

Originally Posted by Pluto0809

Unfortunately the netting was still up and the Discovery trail closed when I was there two weeks ago.

Ugh!

Originally Posted by scottny

All caught up.

Great updates and pics.

The backpack pics made me laugh and I would have walked away from him.

That stinks about EE hopefully you do get to ride it.

The tiger pic is funny.

Nice about Duck Dynasty. I catch it every once in a while.

You can never tell what John is going to do and, on some, I do walk away. This was too funny not to capture for a lifetime.

Originally Posted by Kathy Jetson

I was super duper behind again. It looks like you were having a good day at AK except for the yeti. That's funny your talking about poop. River was obsessed with dung this year at AK. Honestly I think he would have been happy to just be in a room where they show you all the different kinds of poop! I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted this year at AK our day had torrential rain for at least half of the day. You got a lot of cute animal pics with the animals up and moving around.

Glad to hear the baby can come home!

I remember the kids club things that they had set up and I think one was about the animal dung. Hunter was fascinated with it to. Must be a boy thing.

Originally Posted by TinksThree

I agree with the crowds in Gatlinburg this year...much worse!! Glad you guys missed any major traffic hang-ups on the way home! We got to Tuscaloosa as the Auburn/Alabama fans were letting loose...but they were thankfully going all in the opposite direction!!

I was way behind but all caught up now! I love walking around AK and just looking. As I was reading the post Keith commented on AK being boring (he doesn't care for zoos) which of course made me laugh due to your comments on John's opinion of AK!!

Great animal pics!! Loved, loved, loved the lions and gorillas (amazing!!) and tigers....well maybe not the pooping one!! Also the FOTLK pics were great! I felt like I was there!

We left at 5 something in the morning to come home and it wasn't bad at all. I think I would have fainted had we gotten into traffic like we did last year.

The gorilla pictures are some of my favorites from the entire trip.

[mickeystoontown]

Originally Posted by Angies1274

Lots of updates to comment on...hopefully I will remember everything.

Love FOTLK! You got some amazing pictures!!

Not Yeti!! Too funny!

Too bad that the ride shut down before you could ride it though...

I'm terrified of snakes so I quickly skimmed by your picture. You're very brave for taking a picture...I would have probably run by with my eyes closed.

Love the Tiger pictures! We haven't explored the trails at AK in so long. After seeing all your wonderful pictures, we'll have to make it a priority next trip!

I am very very afraid of snakes but can look at this from afar when they are in their enclosures. I was surprised that I got as close to this one as I did.

The trails at the Animal Kingdom are some of my favorite parts of the park. There are all sorts of interesting tidbits and animals to see.

Originally Posted by PhoenixStrength

Sorry EE broke down while you were in line. That happens to me every trip when I get in line for Splash Mountain, or while I'm on the ride (this last trip was no exception!).

LOVE the tiger, bat and komodo dragon pictures. I know the Komodo that was out when I was there last week was a male, according to the CM there, but they could have more than one!

It seems like one ride breaks down during each of our trips too.

I only saw one dragon that day so I'm betting it was the same male that you saw.

Originally Posted by shan23877

Great updates Lisa! I always seem to be around when the animals are pooping Wish I had better timing.

Love all of the pictures that you and Hunter took on your solo trek. What awesome traditions that you have for AK. And, I love that they're still important to Hunter too.

I didn't even realize that I had taken the pooping tiger picture because, thanks to the invention of the digital camera, I wasn't looking through a lens and I was just snapping away. Once I saw the picture and remembered the little girl's question, I knew I needed to include it.

Hunter has no problem posing for pictures, especially the ones that he knows we take every year.

Originally Posted by sewmess

The netting is annoying under the tree. DH absolutely hates it.

ITTBAB is so much fun wtih a newbie.

The traditions people have made at Disney are always so cool. Hunter's prayer and Hiddne mickey photo, for example.

I was very upset when I saw the netting. It took so much away from the tree.

Hunter looks forward to taking our traditional Disney pictures which is good or else I'd have to bribe him with something.

Originally Posted by lovethattink

I love the bat exhibit. Not too keen on the snake though.

I never noticed the hidden Mickey's, will have to look for them next time.

I don't know if the netting is still at the Tree. JJ is scared to death of the bug show, so we can't even walk on that side of the path without him panicking that we are going there.

The bats don't bother me at all but John doesn't like them one bit.

I can understand why JJ would be scared of ITTBAB. It's pretty darn intense!

Originally Posted by eandesmom

that netting was up in August, with much of it blocked off still. It was very frustrating to me! Really changed the whole thing. I get it, but I don't have to like it.

What a wild story about your dad and the rattler! Amazing.

Fun tiger pics.

Not Yeti

I get it to but I don't like it either.

My daddy must have been one tough customer when he was a kid. I'd have had a heart attack. Mamaw said that he stopped to comb his hair before they left for the hospital so that he'd look nice and neat.

[mickeystoontown]

Originally Posted by jenseib

I am laughing so hard that you took a picture of the tiger going potty. Something I might do myself.

Bummer about EE though. I hope you get back to it.

Only the most dedicated of trip report writers would include that picture.

Originally Posted by lovethattink

ROFL, I had to go back and look at the pictures. Shame on me for skimming through them. I missed some potty humor, lol.

Honestly, I didn't even realize that I had the tiger squatting picture until after I started organizing my pictures. But it did help make the title for that installment.

Originally Posted by pwdebbie

Wow, either you have been very busy or I am way behind! My dh was the "poor sap" who did the warthog when we were there in 2009. FOTLK is our #1 favorite show in all of WDW. And my pics turn out terrible. Yours were great!

I love it when a family member gets chosen to participate. I hope you got pictures!

Originally Posted by natebenma

What a fantastic update!!!

I love Hunter's tradition of praying and it is so cool about your picture spot/growth chart by the tiger mural. We don't have one of those with the boys.

Really, really nice pictures of the tiger up and about. And squatting!!! Cool!

It's neat to look back at the annual vacation pictures and see how much Hunter has grown.

As I said in the replies above, I didn't realize that I had the squatting picture until I had gotten home and organized the pictures. But, the picture went along great with the kids giggling over poop story so I included it.

Originally Posted by Stringbean&Wingnut

We haven't done the Maharajah Jungle Trek in SO long, it looks like a lot of fun! Too funny about the kids wanting to see the bat poop!

Those kids were giggling like crazy over the poop. It was so cute!

Originally Posted by ronnmel

LOL @ the tiger taking a potty break. Maybe that's why he was spacing, trying to find a good spot.

I want to find a spot to take "growth chart" pictures for Claudia. I also want to look through our old pictures to find a place to start taking pictures every time we go as a new tradition.

You've got a good point. I bet that was why the tiger was pacing around!

The hidden Mickey in the mural would be a good one because they can actually stand near it and you can see how tall they get over the years.

[Victoriasmom98]

Originally Posted by jenseib

I am laughing so hard that you took a picture of the tiger going potty. Something I might do myself.

Bummer about EE though. I hope you get back to it.

I was actually thinking to myself "only Lisa would be able to capture the magic that is a tiger going potty!!!!" Beautiful job! Beautiful!!

[mickeystoontown]

Howdy all!

We're gearing up for the first holiday party of the season. The Christmas party will be at our house and the head count is at 24 and could possibly bump up to 26. Instead of slaving away over a stove trying to cook for everybody, we've decided to buy several family style platters from a local BBQ restaurant. It's really not going to be that expensive either. We are getting two platters of ham, brisket and smoked sausage, two platters of chicken, four quarts of potato salad, four quarts of baked beans, three quarts of cole slaw, homemade bread, sauce, pickles, peppers and onions for about $145.00. There's no way I could cook four meats and all of those side dishes for that amount of money. I am cooking all of the desserts though and we'll have banana pudding, two different kinds of cake, fudge and two kinds of cookies.

Ya'll keep your fingers crossed tightly 'cause this is the first time John's side of the family has all come together at Christmas in quite a few years. Usually, somebody gets ticked off at something somebody said or think somebody said. Usually, these type gatherings end up a big fiasco.

I'm determined to keep that from happening this time and hope to keep them busy. I'm going to have the kids play pin the nose on the snowman. I've also put together a game of Christmas Bingo that everybody can participate in.

Everyone is supposed to bring a gift that's no more than $5 to exchange (men bring a man's gift/women bring a woman's gift and parents bring their own children a small gift).

I have gathered up about 50 or so small things and have put them in goodie bags. Everybody gets two goodie bags but can't open them until they've all been passed out. When that's done, they can rip them open and then barter/trade with other guests if they have something that they want. It can be really fun if the guests get into it.

Anyway, ya'll pray that things go well. I'm serious! We've had siblings/cousins/parents not speak for months after a get-together. Hopefully, I can mend that broken holiday chain.

The bossman is going to try and get out of the office early and, if he does, I'll start on the next chapter of my trip report.

[mickeystoontown]

Originally Posted by Victoriasmom98

I was actually thinking to myself "only Lisa would be able to capture the magic that is a tiger going potty!!!!" Beautiful job! Beautiful!!

[PhoenixStrength]

Good luck with the family get together this weekend. That food spread sounds great, and definitely a great price! Fingers crossed for you that all goes well and everyone is still speaking to each other at the end of the day!

[Pluto0809]

Oh boy! You have your work cut out for you with your family! But the food spread sounds wonderful.

I would suggest a Pirate Grab Bag but I'm not sure that would work, my family almost came to blows last time we played that game. In case you don't know what that is, everyone brings one wrapped gift. Then you draw numbers and number 1 picks and opens a gift. Number 2 then gets to either open a gift or steal #1's. The game goes on till all the gifts are open.