Return to the Magic Trip Report - Day 1 - Animal Kingdom, Here We Come

BudgieMama

DIS Veteran
Joined
Sep 15, 2013
Knowing we'd be up early due to the time difference, and having learnt from our mistakes on our first trip, we planned to head out to Animal Kingdom today, to take advantage of the morning EMH and planning to head back to CSR after our late lunch at Tusker House.

As expected, we had no problems getting up bright and early and were at the bus stop (just 1 minute's walk away) by 6.55am... and then we waited... and waited... and waited... for 40 minutes. CSR gave us a brilliant bus service... apart from this very first morning. Not sure what went wrong there, but by the time we arrived at AK they were already letting people in. It wasn't too awful but it was frustrating to wait for so long on our first day when we were aiming to make their early entry!

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We opted to start our trip with a Safari before heading to Expedition Everest for a couple of rides (start as you mean to go on) which was basically a walk on. We caught the Lion King show, which we hadn't seen before and LOVED, and headed out perfectly timed for a Safari,with our first FP+ of the day! Following our second Safari, we headed over to Kali and after stowing our stuff rode for the first time- we didn't even get too wet!! Next we swung down to the Theatre in the Wild to see Finding Nemo for the first time. I enjoyed it a lot (and bought the soundtrack since I got home!), but hubby didn't like it so much. I used to be involved in puppetry, so I have a lot of respect of the excellent job those performers do! We timed it right as it started spotting with rain as we entered the theatre, but it hammered it down whilst we were in there and dried up when we left! We had a chance to catch the Flights of Wonder show (which we both love) and ride Everest again twice (first standby, then with FP+) before it was time to head to Tusker House for our lunch.

We really enjoyed the food again- I could eat piles of their rice dishes- oh my word! It was great to see the characters. We were there towards the end of the lunch service, so it was pretty quiet. We saw Daisy about 4 times, Mickey came round 3 or 4, plus we saw Goofy and Donald twice each. Daisy made a big (nice) fuss because I was wearing my Donald shirt, but Donald didn't seem to notice! :(

Whilst at lunch, I managed to get a FP to go and meet Mickey and Minnie at the Adventurer's Outpost on our way out... so we did!

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We also stopped by Tough To Be A Bug on our way out, as it was shut in 2014 and we hadn't been able to see it. Back then, AK was full of construction walls, so it was great to have the chance to see the park looking much better!

We headed back to the resort for a nice chilled evening, and after some time in the pool, joined the Movie Under the Stars: Tangled! About an hour in though, I was much too tired and headed back to the room for a shower and my bed! Despite the morning bus problems, it was a great first day! I know lots of people hit MK first, but actually I enjoy saving it for day two! :)
 
Great photos. We kept missing Birds of Wonder, but we got plenty of walk ons to Expedition Everest too - my favourite ride. Shame about the bus, I think our second trip the buses seemed slower than the first time we went.
 



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