Oh no, I hope she’s ok 
I’m good thanks @hodg ! Still issues with smell/taste 8mths later 
Let chat expire but will sign up again soon
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I love love love that you did this! I am in awe! Fangirling your grit and nerve! Go, Tumble!
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Should I clarify that I was talking about Summit Plummet? 
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Good to hear from you, @granny! I hope you’re feeling 100 percent again soon!
I wanted to post one more picture, since tonight I had the pleasure of meeting the illustrious @pod4christ! Thank you for taking the time to meet DD and me! Hope you had a great night. 
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Did Niter take this pic?
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Bahaha
Actual Trip Report Part 1 - Introduction and Arrival (Saturday, August 7)
Hello and welcome (back) to my Trip Report! I am TumbleMonkeys, frequent Lines chat poster, and writer and reader of Forum trip reports! I traveled to Disney World last week with my DH and my kids, DS13 and DD16. It was our fifth trip as a family.
Our trip began on a sad note because it was supposed to involve 7 more family members! My sister’s family and my parents were not able to join us due to Covid concerns. But, we’ve rescheduled that epic family trip for summer 2022! However, we live within driving distance, and since the house was already paid for (and we were all vaccinated), we decided to go for it! Not knowing exactly what to expect, but certain that we would all be happy with a Disney vacation in any form it took, we began our 864 mile drive from Fairfax County, Virginia just after 1 AM on Saturday morning.
To steal a phrase from @Totsypooh, I-95 South on a Saturday always makes me question my life choices.
Even at 1 AM, we hit gridlock just south of DC. But overall, the drive was uneventful (as high of praise as this particular corridor can earn on a summer weekend). This was our first trip ever with three drivers! DH and I took the beginning and end of the trip, respectively, and DD held her own through the Carolinas. We rolled into Emerald Island resort around 5:30 PM on Saturday.
We’ve never stayed in an offsite house before, so I don’t have much to compare it to, but I liked our Emerald Island location. While Route 192 is not my favorite road to drive on, it was a pretty quick trip to the parks. The community was very well cared for. Our house had 6 bedrooms (remember, we were supposed to have 11 people!), 5 bathrooms, and a private pool. It was about 3 miles to the southern WDW welcome sign (travel times were 15-25 min to various bubble locations). And, the house cost less than an All Star room to rent. I know we won’t have QUITE so much extra space when we have our whole travel party with us, but I would not hesitate to rent a house again. Quiet time and preparing healthy foods are not usually dimensions of our Disney trips, but they were welcome additions! On this particular night, we drove to Sunset Walk shopping center and picked up yummy pizzas and salads from Capone’s, and then went to bed early after a quick dip in the pool.
Thanks for following along. Up next - Animal Kingdom rope drop day!
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I’m so glad I didn’t miss much while I was away - we were on a cruise 6-14th. I’m sorry your extended family trip had to be postponed. I wanted to stay at Emerald Island for our last one back in 2012 with 12 of us, we ended up staying miles further away.
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It was fun!
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Part 2 - Animal Kingdom
I started planning this trip before even pitching it to my family in February 2020. As you can imagine, a few of the plans changed along the way! One of the areas I was following closely was the value of rope drop, versus the time spent standing in sun and in heavy crowds. Touring Plans’ Instagram, and especially Kyle Pallo’s YouTube channel, helped me evaluate my plans (over and over). By August 2021, Rope Drop at Animal Kingdom seemed like a no-brainer, an immediate entry to the park leading to low crowds for the next few hours once finishing Flight of Passage. So, we hopped in the car by 6:40 and hit the parking booths just as they were opening at 7. There was a short wait at the Pandora bridge, but the rest of the time we were in motion, from parking into the park and then through the queue.
We arrived early, but we didn’t really walk with purpose, and we were still done with FOP by 8:20. We rode Navi River, Dinosaur, and multiple rides on our favorite, Everest; all basically walk-ons. DD and I were excited to see that the Asia bus was open, and we bought our traditional root beer floats (and a Yeti sundae for DS) to eat on our walk to the 10:30 Festival of the Lion King show. Not gonna lie, the modified show was underwhelming (and you can probably tell from my user name that I am a huge fan of the original!). The performers were great, but I didn’t even cry (this is highly unusual when LK is involved). I hope this show is returned to normal soon!
We had lunch reservations at Rainforest Cafe, which my kids love even as teens. I’d agonized somewhat about indoor dining during the Delta spike, but the restaurant was actually uncrowded at 11:15, and eating outdoors in Orlando in August is tough stuff. I did adjust a few other dining reservations that were lower priority, but we kept this, and most other indoor plans. This was our first time at this location, but it was a lot like the Disney Springs one: big menu, decent food (though overpriced), cool effects. While dining, we prioritized a few more things to do before heading home, knowing the crowds had grown. We settled on a few more rides on Everest and one on Kali River Rapids, which ended up being by far our longest wait of the day at around 45 minutes.
Since we had a full kitchen, I wanted to cook in some nights, and we had Amazon Fresh deliver groceries after we arrived. I had made dinner in the house’s crock pot and threw together a salad, but after that, DS was interested in a fun dessert, so I took him to the Twistee Treat Westside, about 10 minutes from the house. On the way home, we hit some rain, and then saw a double rainbow! After an early rope drop and 2 nights of weird sleep, I collapsed by 10 PM and didn’t wake up again until 8.
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Sounds fab!
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Your lovely floral mask is very appropriate for AK 
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