Finally a Ford! Our Disney Wedding & NYC Trip August 2014 - Day 12 - Animal Kingdom, Tuskers House

[juliab]

Index

I was awake quite early as I'd had quite a restless nights sleep yet again! I made notes in my journal of our day yesterday and checked some emails. I'd received one from Beaute confirming the time when they would come to my room do my make-up, it was a little earlier than they'd previously said. I was still waiting on a response from the lady making our cake but thought it was a little early to be getting worried! Scott went down to the food court to get us some coffee's and he arrived back with a scrumptious cinnamon bun and some other tasty pastry. I didn't bother with my Weetabix this morning after eating the buns, but when the kids woke they had some cereal for their breakfast. Before we knew it we were all ready and eager to visit a new park, Animal Kingdom

We arrived just after 9.00 and parked in Dinosaur 31, we walked up the entrance as it wasn't far. It was such a lovely morning

We'd already decided to do the safari first so we made our way over to Africa, the park didn't seem busy and when we arrived we were pleased to see the wait time was only 10 minutes. Didn't take long for us to set off on our journey through the savanna.

We managed to see quite a lot of animals as it was early in the day and we managed to get a glimpse of the lioness

We all enjoyed Kilimanjaro Safari, it's one of our favourite attractions in the park. As we walked out Jamie noticed the Harambe fruit market sold the Mickey pretzels, this was an item that Jamie was wanting to try so we used one of the snack credits to purchase it.

Hayden and me popped over the square to the Kusafiri coffee shop and bakery to get one of their delicious buns. Hayden ended up with some elephant ears which he said were extremely tasty



We started to make our way over to Asia as our fastpass window for Everest was now open. As we walked over we could see that they were doing a lot of work on the tree, there was a couple of big cranes at the side so we didn't bother taking a picture, hopefully the cranes would be down the next time we visit. We asked Poppy if she wanted to go on but it was a firm no! Scott took the boys on whilst Poppy and me had a look in the shop. We didn't wait long for the boys to come back to us

The boys were buzzing when they came off Everest, they just love this ride! We used up a few more snacks on a couple of cooling drinks as it was such a hot day, Poppy wanted a cola float

We walked back through Asia and stopped off for a photopass photo with Everest in the background, there was quite a bit of a queue but in all honesty this was the first and probably only time we encountered a queue to have a photo took. We were very happy with the photo and he did a magic shots with Poppy

Our next fastpass was for Dinosaur, for some reason we decided to take the long way round so ended up in Africa again! Managed to get a better photo of the tree though, could only see a partial crane at this angle and the kids had a play on the drums whilst I was trying to frame the shot. Love this area of the park especially when the drum band is playing

Continued below...

[juliab]

Continued from above...

We eventually made our way to Dinoland, can't believe we practically walked all the way back round the park instead of just crossing the bridge! Anyway Poppy and Scott had not been on this ride before and I wasn't sure if Poppy would want to go on especially after her not liking the Jurassic park one. Anyway Scott decided that she would be fine so we all went on! I knew it was a mistake the moment we set off, so again I just held on to Poppy all through the ride and told her to keep her eyes shut! As you can see from the photo I am a right wimp with this ride too and I always close my eyes at the end part! Thankfully Poppy was ok when we got off and we said we'd go on the more sedate rides for her next

I took Poppy on Triceratops spin whilst the boys had a walk across to Primeval whirl, unfortunately the queue was over 1/2 hr and we had a ADR for Tuskers house soon, so the ride but have to wait for another time. Poppy had fun then we walked back across to Africa ready for our lunch appointment with Donald and the gang. We checked in then waited to have our photo took.

I did ask where Donald was as the previous time (2012) we had our photo took outside with Donald but the cm informed us that Donald is inside now, which we thought was a lot better.

We were soon called inside and escorted to our lovely table. We did have a bit of a oooh ahhh as to who was going to sit on the chair on the end as nobody wanted to (kids that is). I pointed out that whoever sat there would get to cuddle the characters first! Jamie soon changed his mind and bagged the chair, there was then another squabble, kids ehh! We could see that Donald was nearby so we waited until he came to our table before getting any food. He was such fun

Next up was Daisy quickly followed by Mickey











Mickey being a little cheeky

There was only Goofy left to visit our table. There was no sign of the big guy yet so we all made our way over to get some of the delicious food, the choice was really good with plenty to satisfy all our tastes. Whilst we were waiting Daisy and Donald came round for another visit.

Patiently waiting

We noticed that it was pouring with rain outside so there we was in no real rush. Goofy finally made an appearance to our table and it was worth the wait to see him

We settled our bill using our magic bands but leaving our tip as cash, then made our way outside. Couldn't believe that we'd been there for nearly 2 hours!

The rain had settled down a lot at this point, just a fine drizzle now, we just had 10 minutes left before our next fastpass time ran out so we quickly walked back over to Asia Kali river rapids. The sun was starting to come out now, not that it would make that much of a difference as we'd probably get a soaking on this one So glad we had a fastpass as the normal queue was very long. We all love this it's a fantastic family ride, the theming is brilliant and we managed to stay reasonably dry!

We had a lovely gentle stroll through the Maharajah Jungle Trek seeing the Komodo dragon, fruit bats and getting a little glimpse of the Tiger!

The kids wanted to go back to Dinoland for a play in the Boneyard, this time we used the short route back! Whilst they were playing I went to the nearest fastpass plus kiosk's to see if we could make one for Finding Nemo the Musical. I managed to locate a kiosk and make a new selection, our time was nearly available but we had chance to grab a Fanta float this time. I also asked for a couple of waters too which I normally do when getting a drink, it's great because they are free but usually cooler than the water fountains

We headed up the stadium for the show, we were sat near the back so not the best seats but at least we hadn't had to wait outside. this is another one of our favourite shows, we settled down and had a great time watching it.

Picked up a cd of the musical when we came out, so happy

We decide to call it a day but managed to have one last photo took on our way out.

We thought we'd done enough walking for one day so we caught the tram back to our car even though it wasn't far. Animal Kingdom is one of my favourite parks as it just seems to have a different vibe to the others. It always feels so much hotter in there though, we were all in need of a cooling swim in the pool. We were soon back at our resort and the maid had left us another cute towel animal

We spent a good hour or so in the pool before having a late tea in the food court at Port Orleans. When we got back to the room I cut Scott's hair in preparation for the wedding, it’s surprising how much it had grown in two weeks! We all showered and were in bed for 10.00 (starting to be a familiar time for us), we had needed to get to Hollywood studios for opening tomorrow as Jamie wanted to do Jedi Training again

Another fantastic day for us all

Next Day Hollywood Studios & Wishes

[beck_loz]

Great pictures x

[Guest]

Another great day. Lovely photos from the Safari, as well as you guys in front of Everest. Animal Kingdom is probably my favourite park - it has a different vibe to it, as you say. Thanks for sharing.

[Lisa29]

Another great day with some really good photos too x

[kblackman]

Great day Julia! I've seen a few pictures of the dinosaur ride but haven't been on it yet it looks quite ferocious lol!

Such a great design with the towel they are so talented! Looking forward to the next day xx

[spencem]

Sounds like a great, we love Animal Kingdom as well.

[WileyCoyote]

Lovely day at AK , what a nice mix of rides and shows and a great character meet over lunch. The kids look like they enjoy every minute. It's such a gorgeous park is t it, your pics are luscious. Eeek. Wedding day approaching ...

[juliab]

Originally Posted by beck_loz

Great pictures x

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Thanks x

Originally Posted by TheBeast

Another great day. Lovely photos from the Safari, as well as you guys in front of Everest. Animal Kingdom is probably my favourite park - it has a different vibe to it, as you say. Thanks for sharing.

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It is such a lovely park, thanks for reading and for commenting too

Originally Posted by Lisa29

Another great day with some really good photos too x

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Thanks Lisa, we had a lovely day xx

[juliab]

Originally Posted by kblackman

Great day Julia! I've seen a few pictures of the dinosaur ride but haven't been on it yet it looks quite ferocious lol!

Such a great design with the towel they are so talented! Looking forward to the next day xx

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I think it's well scary Kaylie but then I am a bit of a wimp xx

Originally Posted by spencem

Sounds like a great, we love Animal Kingdom as well.

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It is such a lovely park, thanks for reading

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

Lovely day at AK , what a nice mix of rides and shows and a great character meet over lunch. The kids look like they enjoy every minute. It's such a gorgeous park is t it, your pics are luscious. Eeek. Wedding day approaching ...

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Kids love the Tuskers house character meal, one of their favourites

Only a couple more days till the wedding Amanda xx