I was wide awake shortly after 6, despite not falling asleep until well after 1. Disney adrenaline?
I facebooked for a bit and then eventually started getting ready for the day. Nick continued snoring, thanks to the amazing light blocking sliding doors all over that room. Pop is still not my favorite value resort, but I really like the new rooms. Good thing they’re starting similar renos at the All Stars!
Eventually I woke Nick up, because we were meeting his parents in about 25 minutes. We finished getting ready, and were only a couple minutes behind the planned schedule. His parents headed to the main building a few minutes ahead of us, because they’d gotten a call from the front desk about an issue with the card they had on file. We arrived just as they were checking out the shadow boxes in the lobby. Kim was totally loving this place.
We then moved to the food court for breakfast. Nick had biscuits and gravy, and hash browns. I had a yogurt parfait. Nick’s parents split a breakfast platter. We lucked out and made it to the food court ahead of the school groups, so breakfast was quick and painless.
Pretty soon we were headed for the bus stop. An animal kingdom bus was filling to standing room only as we got there. We waited for the next bus, which showed up within minutes. We only had time for one colorful picture, to prove we were ready for the day.
Within minutes of stepping into the line, we were on our way to the Animal Kingdom. It ended up being a pretty interesting ride. The Star Wars half marathon was going on, so we watched the runners, marveled at the quantity of runners, and chatted with a guy about the “balloon ladies”...the pace setters. And we saw said balloon ladies...wearing death star balloons. HARSH!
We were stepping off the bus at Animal Kingdom by 8:20. Kim and I picked the slowest bag check lines, while the boys headed through the bagless line...because we were carrying their ponchos, and then we both got selected for the metal detector. This was a little bit of a process, because Kim just had her hip replaced in October, but, we got through it, and pretty soon we joined the boys and walked straight into the park, where we picked up our 20th anniversary park maps. Nick and I had been here for the 15th, so when we realized that this trip would coincide with the 20th, it was a no brainer that we’d be celebrating.
The park was wide open, despite it being way before opening time. We headed straight to Pandora, with a quick stop at the store in Discovery Island that was selling all of the 20th anniversary merchandise. I picked up a pin, and we continued on our way.
We had a fastpass for Flight of Passage for the next day, and the wait was already posted for 90 minutes, so we headed straight for Na’vi River Journey, where we walked straight on the ride.
Here we made a mistake. We said there were 4 of us, and pointed to the boys. They still seated all of us in one row. As Kim said, “good thing we all like each other”. Of course it was the first real day of vacation...and we hadn’t sweat TOO much yet!
I had ridden Na’vi River Journey with my sister in February, and had been impressed then. While I have not seen the entire Avatar movie, the technology in this ride is very impressive. Nick, Kim, and John were equally impressed, if not more impressed than I was. And as we were nearing the exit dock, I heard John say that he’d love to ride that one again.
Since it was still a walk on, we headed straight back through the queue for a second ride, and this time we had the sense to split up 2 and 2. We enjoyed it again and noticed more details.
After our second trip on Na’vi River Journey, we decided to see if we could find the baby hippo. So it was off to Africa. Side note, when did Pangani Forest get renamed to Gorilla Falls trail?
We didn’t see a baby hippo. But we did have some impressive views.
After more time on the trail than anticipated, we booked it back to Pandora. Today was the first day the Pandora Utility Suit was on the schedule. We did a bit of picture taking around the land before we went looking for it.
Turns out Pandora is bigger than I had originally realized. The Pandora Utility Suit is over by the restaurant. It was very cool to see, and even cooler to see it move.
Once the PUC headed offstage, we decided to take cover, because it looked like it would pour at any moment, and the 20th anniversary ceremony had supposedly been canceled as a result. By this point we were getting hungry, so I went over to the bar and got a couple of those pineapple cream cheese egg roll things, and Nick went inside the canteen, where he emerged with a couple of weird drinks for us to try. Bottom line? I preferred the pineapple cream cheese egg rolls to the drinks. I believe he had the opposite opinion.
By the time we were done snacking, the sun was re-emerging, or, at least, the clouds were getting lighter, so we started working out way towards Asia. We ended up detouring, first for a failed attempt at a picture, and then for lunch at Flame Tree. By the way, the concept that mobile ordering takes less time is a lie, or at least it is at Flame Tree. We waited a LONG time.
But, eventually, our food was ready. We all had the french fries with pulled pork and cheese. They’re on the snack menu or something like that, but they were completely sufficient as a meal. And they were delicious. Now that they’ve removed the turkey and cranberry sandwich from the menu, this will be my go-to at Flame Tree. Horrifically unhealthy, but...we’re in Disney.
After lunch we decided to divide and conquer. Kim really wanted to see the new bird show debuting today since it involves Up characters. She’d even worn her Up shirt for the occasion! I, however, have been used by birds for target practice enough in the last few years that bird shows are NOT on my to-do list. I also knew I needed to be moving along. With the promise of a cupcake sundae, Nick decided to join me. But first, we had to see the baby tigers!
We parted ways, and Nick and I headed for the Maharajah Jungle Trek. My sister and I had seen the baby tigers in February when they were about 6 months old. Today, we treked through the jungle, and found plenty of weird animals (water buffalo…) but only one tiger. It was, at least, one of the not-so-little-anymore babies.
Tiger spotting complete, Nick and I headed for the bus stop, to go observe some animals of another sort.
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