Yes!
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The medals are amazing!
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Monday November 8th (Day 4)
Rope Droppin’ Banshees, an Alien Shaman, and a Pooping Elephant
B was gone when I got out of bed. I was sad for a second, then realized the amazing day I had planned for myself. A day of my favorite things! First up was a mickey waffle platter at the Pop food court at 720a. The crowds were already building and it was making me nervous about the day. Didn’t help that I waited a good 10 minutes before my food was ready. I don’t understand the issue here. They are mass producing this stuff, there shouldn’t be any wait at all.
I inhaled my breakfast and headed outside to see how long the bus lines were. The were insane. In the picture you can see the line of people coming all the way to me near the DME/Lyft pickup at the porte cochere, and then all the way back. That was for the MK buses, but the AK line was just as bad in the very far distance of the photo. It was going to be a crowded day!
I estimated I would be getting on the 3rd next bus, and there wasn’t one there at the moment, so I Lyfted over to AK and was walking in around 745a. I was just happy to be getting inside before the non-resort guests. I stopped to enjoy the Christmas tree for a moment, then THE tree, and then quickly made my way to the FOP queue. When I got there, it was already backed up to the boardwalk-style walkway leading to Africa. Got in line at 755a and in the, uhhh, pre-show room at 837a. I can tolerate that wait.
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I have really come to love FOP. I think my problem early on was the fact that I wear glasses and sometimes it messes with the 3D effect, even making me nauseous sometimes. I’ve learned that pushing my glasses and the 3D glasses as close to my eyes as possible helps. Better yet would be to wear contacts, which I do sometimes, but can’t wear more than 8-10 hours without my eyes bothering the hell out of me. I opted to not wear them today because I didn’t want to carry my glasses around in my pocket and didn’t want to bring a bag with me.
I was off FOP at 855a and on NRJ at 910a. I’ve come to love this ride as well because it is so relaxing and ethereal. It’s an incredibly pleasing 5-10 minutes. And the shaman, just wow. The best animatronic in all of WDW.
After NRJ I booked it to Africa to get in line for the safari at 922a. The line was all the way to Tusker House, but the CM told me the wait was probably only 40 minutes. I didn’t get on until 1015a. So almost an hour wait for KS. I love the safari, but I would not have waited that long. Crowds were insane today considering it was a Monday… Anyways, this particular safari was above average. Saw everything, including a baby hippo. No lions though. We even saw a pooping elephant, which I photographed for all of you to see. The safari guide was on a roll making jokes about it. My only complaint on the safari was that my seat-mates were two women who literally spent the entire time taking selfies with the animals in the background. They must have taken 100 pictures. And they were missing the safari because they were looking at their phones! What is wrong with people???
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Thanks? 
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My New Favorite Thing
After the safari, I got on the train over to Rafiki’s for my new favorite thing to do in all of WDW: the Animation Experience. Train at 1040a, Rafiki at 1048a, and inside just a little after the 1100a sketch had started. So I checked out the exhibits for a few minutes then went to sit down and wait for the 1130a sketch, which would be Flotsam and Jetsam. The gentleman standing at the entrance was the animator that taught me how to draw Shere Khan back in October. I talked to him for a minute about how much I like what they are doing with the animation class.
Was drawing from 1130a to 1200p and the back on the train to Harambe.
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I love this combo of early entry for FOP, NRJ, KS, and Animation Experience so much that at this point I was on my phone changing the next day’s park reservation from HS to AK so I could do it all again. And I did.
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All my faves! Excellent call 
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On my most recent trip, my phone locked out for 15 minutes because somehow I was trying to log in when it was in my pocket and I reached the max number of attempts. I was forced to ride the entire safari without taking any pictures! 
I had to actually look at the animals. It was a blessing and a curse.
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The thing about it is the animals are still pretty far away to get “great” shots without a legit camera and telephoto lens. I can’t help myself from trying though and usually end up with a few decent ones. But afterwards I usually wish I had just enjoyed the ride without a distraction in my hands.
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Bye Bye AK!
At 1230p I was enjoying a Dole Whip and admiring one of Imagineering’s greatest works of art while on my way to Everest.
Park was getting packed. In October I rode EE using the SR line 3 times in a row without a wait, but today it was about 15min. Not bad at all, but still a notable difference in crowds from the WDW 50th weekend. I guess I was just surprised by the waits this weekend.
I was off Everest at 1255p and headed to The Tree for one last picture
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Go the Distance
Over in our RunDisney thread @OBNurseNH showed off some engrave-able shoe “flair” that she had found on Etsy.
I instantly knew I wanted some for my race shoes and what I would have engraved on them: lyrics from the Disney song that moves me more than any other, “Go the Distance” from Hercules. Obviously, it is a perfect song for a runner. But for me it is more.
When we came to WDW the first time it was to celebrate my then-DS2’s cancer recovery. We saw Happily Ever After the first night, and when I heard the words of “Go the Distance” I broke down and cried. I looked over at DW and she was balling too. We had seen Hercules during family movie night a few months before and it became a sort of anthem for our lives, going through DS2’s chemo and then surgery. And the aftermath of that, dealing with his permanent disability and unique healthcare needs. The song embodied our emotions.
I eventually decided to have “When I go the distance / I’ll be right where I belong” engraved. It’s perfect. I put them on my shoes and wore them for both races this weekend.
Now, when I was leaving AK, I happened to look down at my shoes and see the lyrics, and was inspired to take a photo of them with the tree in the background. A cool memory to have of my favorite park. Then I realized I could do it at all four parks today, get a photo with each park icon in the background, and so that became a secondary goal for the day. Sadly, during the VMAH I completely forgot to get a photo with Cinderella Castle. I was totally caught up in the Christmas Spirit! I didn’t realize I had forgot until I was on the bus going down World Dr 
I’m going to beat myself up over that until the next time I can take the photo, hopefully in January during Dopey.
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Ok, didn’t want to head off for Thanksgiving on that note, so here’s the next 2 hours…
Ropedrop Hop to Hollywood
I wanted to get into HS early enough to see the BatB show at 200p. I was waiting for the AK-HS bus starting at 110p, but was skeptical it was running. There was the AK-EP bus but it was idling in its spot and not letting anyone on. At 120p, a bus came to my stall and let people off, but the driver wagged his finger at me to say “no” and drove off without picking anyone up (there were 5 of us now). So I audibled and caught a bus to Boardwalk, and was on the walking path to HS at 135p. I saw a bass fishing group, which I had never seen before because I think they are usually really early in the morning.
FYI - From the Boardwalk bus stop, I was able to walk south/west through the parking lot and by the tennis courts to cut off a good minute or so of walking. I remember Ryan and Jeremy talking about this on an episode of Backside of Magic, but pretty sure they concluded that it didn’t save time. After actually doing this, I’ll argue that it is indeed a good shortcut.
Anyways, I was inside HS walking down Sunset Blvd at 149a, enough time to get my favorite beverage to enjoy while watching my favorite show at 2. One more word: CROWDS!
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I have some catching up to do here, my friend!
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I probably won’t post any more until next week, so you have plenty of time to catch up. I have not been putting as much into this report as I had hoped anyways. Life is so crazy right now…
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I’m not crying - you’re crying! 
This is one of my favorite songs. I love how different songs/movies can have such special meaning for us.
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I feel ya! I’m behind on mine but am planning to keep on top of it and get it done by the weekend!
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I just totally stopped mine, so you’re both ahead of me and doing great! (Though I had to move and visit doctors and had no internet…I’ll get there!)
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I discovered this last year, now it is a multiple must do each trip. It does not get the appreciation it deserves and something unique to Disney
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Wow, love this. I just cant imagine what you went thru
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