I think the alarm went off around 6. There was, somehow, still ice in the ice bag by the bed, so I started the day icing my ankle, which looked less swollen than the previous day. Then I got ready for the day, and iced one more time, while eating breakfast in the room, before heading for the bus stop, by way of the refill station in the food court. Always pre-game for hot summer days in Animal Kingdom with Powerade. Hydrate in advance!
I must have made it on a bus to the Animal Kingdom shortly after 8, because my facebook check in from there is prior to 8:30. I do remember that I was waved over to an empty bag check line, next to Rainforest Cafe, so my security experience this morning (despite carrying the big camera for the first time in days) was pretty relaxed. No wait, pleasant security guys, and while they were VERY thorough with my bag, they totally missed the straw in my refillable mug.
Once through the metal detector, I only had to wait in a short line for a couple of minutes before they started letting us into the park. I think it was probably 8:30 when they let us in. Once in the park, I headed straight for Pandora, for a spin on Na’vi River Journey.
Obviously 99% of the park was also heading to Pandora. They held us at the bridge into Pandora for about 5 minutes, and then they led us in. I enjoyed a nice leisurely stroll to Na’vi River Journey once the masses veered toward Flight of Passage. I even got to see some Pandoran drummers.
Na’vi River Journey was a walk on, but the CM directed me to be person number 4 in the second row...in a boat with a family of 7. I sat with the family’s 3 older daughters (early elementary to pre-teen age, I think). That was a little weird, but the boat ride was great, as usual.
Na’vi River Journey complete, I took a few pictures around Pandora.
Picture taking complete for a few minutes, I headed for Safaris. And found a (miniscule by Disney standards) crowd waiting to be allowed into Africa, right at the Africa gates. I looked at my watch and realized it still wasn’t 9. Guess they’re only letting people into Pandora before official park open.
Right at 9, the cast members walked us to Africa, thankfully, without any oath-taking. And since all the likely to be runners were still in Pandora, it was a leisurely stroll to Safaris, followed by a walk through “line”.
I was directed to the back row for a truck, and was joined by a mother with her young adult daughter. Animal Kingdom is definitely working harder at crowd control than the Magic Kingdom this week! It ended up being a really fun safaris, both chatting with them, and animal watching. The mother daughter duo was from Connecticut, and the mom is a high school Spanish teacher. We chatted between picture taking. There were some decent animal sightings on this safari.
Upon returning to Harambe, I directed the Connecticut folks to the gorilla falls trail, and I made my way to Asia. Time for a tiger update!
For those who haven’t been to Animal Kingdom in awhile, Disney welcomed twin tiger cubs about a year ago. They made their public debut last winter. I’ve been watching them grow this year. My sister and I saw them in February, when they were about 6 months old. Then I saw them with Nick in April. Time to see if I could see them again.
My first stop revealed just the adult male tiger, but the CM said the boy cub was visible, with his mother over the bridge. And, as luck would have it, I managed some good pictures, of both the adult male, and the youngin’! It really was a good animal picture taking day!
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