ADVENTURES BY DISNEY-- GIRAFFE'S MEET YOU AT THE AIRPORT

Guest Blogger Elizabeth L.  is a member of the Disney's Mom's Panel. and her bio includes the following excerpts:  

Traveling trough time in Spaceship Earth you pass through the Renaissance Age. On a
table a painter has left rings from his jar of paint that forms my favorite hidden Mickey in
Walt Disney World. My family enjoys hunting hidden Mickeys, reading, travel, and all
things Disney. My husband Scott and I have four children, a son and three girls. The six
of us have conquered Space Mountain on three continents but our home base is in
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. I have a fantastically fun job teaching preschool and I am
so lucky to get to serve on the Walt Disney World Moms Panel as the Adventures by
Disney specialist. I am a sporadic runner who is trying to focus and increase my
distance so I can participate in the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror 10-Miler.

GIRAFFE'S MEET YOU AT THE AIRPORT

 Before I was down the prop planeʼs pulldown metal stairs I knew I was in Africa. The
dramatic Drakensberg mountains in the background, the distinctive acacia trees against
the vast sky, and the feel of the arid breeze against my skin were my immediate
introduction to the bush. 

We walked across the tarmac and through an airport that
seemed more like someoneʼs living room than a terminal to meet our safari ranger and
tracker.

Much to our three daughtersʼ delight we were assigned to a female ranger. We climbed
into our open air rover to head to our lodge to rest and refresh before heading out on
our first safari later in the afternoon. How hard would it be to spot animals on safari?
This question had been haunting me since we booked our trip. Would this once in a
lifetime trip halfway around the world prove to be a futile animal search? In just a few
hours I would know when we would finally have the opportunity to perhaps spot zebras,
elephants or my favorite African animal, the giraffe, in the wild.

Our journey to the private game reserve was brief; we only had to cross an empty two
lane road. Once through the gates and across the cattle guard we headed down a dirt
trail to the lodge. Then we saw them. Giraffes! Faces with large doe eyes, giant tongues
devouring leaves, and long, reticulated patterned necks! Giraffes were in the middle of
the path to welcome us! Luckily our Adventure Guide had tissues because tears of
wonder and joy filled my eyes.

Seeing an African animal in its natural habitat for the first time is just one of the
incredible memories Iʼve formed on Adventures by Disney trips. My family has also seen
hot, orange molten lava spew out of an active volcano and sipped steaming coffee on
the plantation where the beans were grown and ground in Costa Rica. Weʼve streamed
along with a sea of Chinese under Maoʼs portrait through the gates of the Forbidden
City, and experienced Festival of the Lion King in Cantonese. Pandas, penguins,
ostriches, baboons, sloths, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, elephants, rhinos, hippos,
raptors, kudu, and many more animals have crossed our sight. Our dinner table
conversations, months and years later, abound with references to our adventures.
Though sprinkled with pixie dust and delight, Adventures by Disney trips are not travels
with Mickey. What gives these marvelously imagineered vacations the Disney
Difference is the attention to detail, the service, and the absolutely amazing Adventure
Guides. Only Disney could create such imaginative itineraries and provide unique
experiences that all ages would enjoy.

Our children have met people kicked out their homes because of the color of their skin,
tied lucky knots with the residents of a traditional Beijing hutong in their home, and
painted shells with indigenous peoples. These are not trips where you look out a bus
window; they are adventures where you engage in a countryʼs culture

Considering one of these trips? Just curious? Have concerns or doubts? Questions
about what to pack? Contact me at the Walt Disney World Moms Panel. I would love to
help your family say “Hello world” and create memories and stories together. disneyworldforum.disney.go.com/panelists.aspx