Day 4
Animal Kingdom
Kilimanjaro Safaris 11:05-12:05
Na'vi River Journey 1:35-2:35
Rivers of Light 8:20-8:45 (Starts at 9pm)
We arrived at Animal Kingdom just before 11 this morning. It sure was nice to sleep in after a late evening at MNSSHP!
Before we headed into the park I had to take a few photos...I love how Casey photobombed this one. I was surprised at how many people were just now entering AK. Maybe they were all at MNSSHP with us last night.
We headed straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris for our first FP.
Shortly into the ride we came to a stop and our driver notified us that there were some giraffes in the road up ahead. He explained that they don’t want the animals to be afraid of the vehicles so if the animals are in the road the vehicles must stop and wait until they move. Luckily for us we waited less than ten minutes before we started moving again. We ended up getting really close to the giraffes, which are my favorite animal, and I was able to get some great photos. I think I squealed a little too loudly in excitement and my son gave me a dirty look, he's at that age where most things I do embarrass him. LOL!
Initially I was concerned we wouldn’t see a lot of the animals because it was later in the morning, but we were able to see hippos, crocodiles, antelopes, ostriches, wild dogs, flamingos, elephants, and cheetahs. No lion today, but maybe next time!
No animals in these two photos, I just thought they were cool pictures.
When we got off of the ride we decided it was time to eat lunch. I got on my Disney Experience app and ordered food from Satu’li Canteen in Pandora. I had read several great things about this restaurant, but was unable to get reservations. I love that select restaurants allow you to order your food from the app and message you when your food is ready. As we entered Pandora we were speechless. Disney really outdid themselves in creating this land to resemble the Avatar movie. We actually made our son watch this movie before our trip so he would have a better understanding of what it was based on. We stopped to take a few pictures but decided we would get more after we ate lunch.
By the time we found a table and sat down I received a message that our food was ready. One thing I liked about this restaurant is they had fountain soda machines and you could go back and get refills if you wanted, not something you typically see at Disney.
Casey had the Slow-Roasted Sliced Grilled Beef Bowl, Karin ordered the Vegetable Curry Steamed Pods, I had the Cheeseburger Steamed Pods and Caleb ordered the cheese quesadilla. Karin and I split our pods and we also tried a bite of Casey’s beef bowl. We also ordered the Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse and Chocolate Cake for dessert. The food and desserts were delicious. We talked about this Chocolate Cake being one of the best desserts we had on this trip. I can't wait to get it again when we are there in August!
After lunch, we headed over to Na’vi River Journey to use our FP. This ride was really cool, but a little shorter than I would have liked. When it was done we all looked at each other like, "that was it?" It seems like most everyone had the same feeling as we did. After we stepped off the ride we decided it was a good time for some cocktails! Casey went to find us a table while Karin, Caleb and I headed over to Pongu Pongu.
But first a quick photo of Caleb...
Mo Ara High Country Ale for Karin and Casey, Hawkes Grog Ale for myself and of course the non-alcoholic Night Blossom for Caleb, which he LOVED. It was nice to sit down, relax and enjoy our drinks.
We kept a close eye on the Flight of Passage wait time since we were unable to get fast passes this trip, but it never went under 75 minutes so we decided not to go on it today. We now know that 75 minutes or less is actually a good wait time and we should have gotten in line, but it’s okay we will try again another day.
Prior to the trip I decided we would each have $100 to spend on souvenirs. Caleb had seen some videos about a Banshee and had his heart set on getting one. After we finished our drinks we went over to the store where they sell them. The store has a special area set up where they teach you about the Banshee and you can select which one you want. You can also purchase a perch for your Banshee, which Caleb wanted as well. These two items almost exhausted Caleb’s souvenir budget, but he was a happy camper!
Since we didn’t take many pictures earlier of Pandora we decided to do that now before we headed to the other side of the park. This is another place where the pictures do not do it justice.
We decided it wasn’t a good idea to carry Caleb’s Banshee and perch around all day so Casey kindly offered to run it back to the car. Karin, Caleb and I wandered around some of the stores near the entrance and then took some pictures in front of the Tree of Life.
While we waited in the shade for Casey to get back into the park we talked about our next ride. I was checking wait times on my app and Dinosaur didn’t have a long wait so we decided to head that way. This ride is like Indiana Jones at
Disneyland, which is one of my favorites. While we all had a great time on this ride we agreed it wasn’t the best idea to go on it right after you’ve had cocktails.
It was a little warm out so we decided this was a great time to get on Kali River Rapids. We stopped part way through the line queue and donned our ponchos. We are used to Grizzly River Rapids in DCA which typically you get completely soaked while riding and we thought this might be the same so we figured better safe than sorry. Lucky for us there was no line and we were able to hop right on. This ride ended up being much calmer than Grizzly and we barely got wet. Next time I don’t think we will even mess with the ponchos.
Next up was Festival of the Lion King. It was going to start soon so we had to almost run (of course we didn't run but it was almost a run) to make it before it started. It ended up being a really cute show which we all enjoyed. After the show, we decided to treat ourselves to a sweet treat at Tamu Tamu. Casey and Karin had the pineapple soft serve in a cup, Caleb had an ice cream sundae and I had a chocolate waffle with ice cream. Once we finished our desserts we were walking around when we came across Mr. Kamal’s Seasoned Fries with Tzatziki Salad. These were on my list of “must try” food items so I grabbed two orders and we found a nice spot to sit where we could admire the Tree of Life. The fries were really good and we had fun spotting different animals carved out of the tree.
We noticed there wasn’t a long wait time for Expedition Everest so Karin and Casey decided to give it a try. I thought about going on it, but decided it would probably be too much for me to handle. I used to love going on all rides until I had my son and then I developed motion sickness (out of nowhere) so even though I do take Dramamine I am always worried that I may have issues. When it comes to rides I have never been on I would rather Casey ride them first and then let me know if he thinks I can handle it.
Casey said he would text me when they were near the front of the line so Caleb and I could come back and actually see them on the ride. We had a few minutes so we wandered around and Caleb managed to let me take this picture of him. I love how blue the sky was on this particular day. Not a cloud in sight!
Casey texted me that they were near the front of the line so Caleb and I found ourselves the perfect spot to see them. As they went flying by we waved and they were able to spot us, despite how fast they were going, and waved back. In case you were wondering the verdict is in and Casey said he thought that ride might have been a little much for me. I am okay with that, I would rather find out that way then ride it and feel really bad afterwards. Anyone with motion sickness knows it can ruin you for the whole day.
After the ride we were discussing our plans for the evening. We did have fast passes for Rivers of Light at 9 pm, but decided to call it a day. It was already chilly out, the wind had started to pick up and we knew it would be even colder sitting on the water. I was a little bummed we would miss it on this trip, but we hope to see it when we go again this October.
Since we got back to the condo earlier than normal we had plenty of time to relax, watch tv and recount our day.
My total ride/attraction count is now 32. Two days left and I have only 8 more to go before I hit 40 rides/attractions for my 40th. Will I reach my goal or fall short???
Next up...Hollywood Studios