First Trip With Our Princesses Apr '12 Day 4 Animal Kingdom

[moosha]

Previously on this trip:

Pre-trip Report

Day 0 - Travel to Gatwick

Day 1 - Travel Day

Day 2 - Epcot

Day 3 - Sea World

Day 4 - Tuesday 10th April 2012

I can't believe I am writing this exactly three months to the day after we went to Animal Kingdom. In some ways it seems like it only just happened, but in others it feels like a lifetime ago. I was planning the holiday for so long, a whole year in fact, and at the time it seemed it would never arrive. Now it's already a quarter of a year since we were there. How did that happen?

We were still waking up early on day 4, I think all of us were up before six and had benefited from that early night the night before. Today we were adamant we would have breakfast at the Boardwalk Bakery, having not had enough time previously in the mornings. The CMs behind the counter were what I would call efficient bordering on brusque, and the lady at the till was a bit snotty about the dining plan. I think this was because it slowed things down and they were very busy. We had chosen the same things we would have picked at Beach Club Marketplace which for the girls was cereal with a carton of milk, a piece of fruit and a drink. The CM wanted to put through the milk for the cereal as an extra snack and wouldn't include it in the meal. This was the only place we found this to be the case. When I challenged that the milk wasn't included, the lady's response was 'a lot of people eat cereal without milk' which, in the tone she used, annoyed me and seemed strange :angry:

Anyway, I had an apple Danish which was delicious, Mat had a bagel and we all had juice and bananas. Mat and I also had a coffee, we used snack credits for those and they were the nicest coffees we'd had so far. The CM told us that we could bring our resort refillable mugs for free coffee which we didn't expect as we thought it would just be at the Yacht / Beach Club. Using the refillable mugs at the Boardwalk Bakery would have been a bonus, but we didn't actually make it back there again during the holiday despite agreeing it was the nicest counter service breakfast we had. It was lovely to sit at one of the tables overlooking the lake and enjoy our breakfast. The breakfasts we had at Beach Club Marketplace were convenient and efficient enough, but if (when) we go back to the Yacht Club I would definitely make the effort to visit the Boardwalk Bakery more often as it was a far more pleasant experience overall

By the time we had walked back round to the Yacht Club, got in the car and got through the entrance barriers at Animal Kingdom, it was about 8.45 am. I was feeling a bit stressed out because we had pretty much lost our Extra Magic Hour benefit that morning by arriving with only 15 minutes of our extra hour remaining. I had planned most of our Disney park days in line with EMH, reasoning that as we had for the most part one day at each park, we would use the extra morning hours to get ahead before the masses entered. I know that Extra Magic Hours does not necessarily always benefit because of the extra guests it attracts, but my theory was the 'early bird catches the worm' so I was hoping for the best. This felt like a wasted opportunity

I was also stressed out because the park was very busy, and I was hoping this would be the first day of much lighter crowds after the Easter weekend. I thought I had read reassuring posts on the Dibb advising that things would quieten down after the holiday weekend (maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part) but I also have a friend with a villa in Florida who always visits at Easter and she said the same thing. So a very crowded DAK on Tuesday was a bit of a nasty surprise for me. I was starting to think that we had just been spoiled with the very light crowds we had experienced in September 2001, and this mass of people in front of me at Animal Kingdom was just the norm

I was pretty much dragging everyone from the entrance towards Kilimanjaro Safaris and not allowing anyone to even look at any of the exhibits on our way. However, somehow Seren and Mat managed to break ranks and pull over to look at an anteater and speak to the friendly CM at the exhibit about the creature. I carried on towards our goal at speed 'encouraging' little Freya along by holding her hand (I think she was almost taking off as we came down a slight incline.) I reasoned that my husband and elder daughter would catch up momentarily because, after all, how interesting could an anteater possibly be in comparison with the vast array of exotic species we were about to encounter at close proximity on the safari? Unfortunately this turned out to be the first of several occasions on our holiday when, shall we say a breakdown in communication (my husband not listening) led to an excruciating period of faffing and stressing and waiting around as each half of the family tried to find the other half. In my defence, I thought I had made it clear where we were heading (the safaris) but Freya and I did make an unexpected stop at a little stand distributing Fastpasses for the shows. I knew we wanted to see a couple of the shows and so collecting these FPs seemed like a sensible thing to do to ensure we got to fit in everything we wanted to at Animal Kingdom

There was quite a crowd trying to obtain these Fastpasses and I had to simultaneously try and make progress in the 'queue' (bunfight), work out which show times for both Nemo and the Lion King would suit us (taking into account our lunch and dinner ADRs), prevent my four year old from running off, and keep an eye out for Mat and Seren who should have been coming along behind us at any minute. I thought it would only take a moment to collect the Fastpasses, but the three CMs at the front of the line were not quite as efficient as I had hoped and seemed to be conducting a separate (work-related) conversation while appearing a bit overwhelmed by the numbers of guests actually wanting to take them up on their kind offer of Fastpasses. They were saying things to each other like 'this is all I have left for Nemo at 11.' It was a bit chaotic and even they seemed a bit thrown by the crowds. I also managed to get to the front of the 'line' and be ignored by the CMs while two other more assertive non-Brits pushed in front of me from either side :angry:

Two sets of Fastpasses in hand, we pulled over in front of the Tree Of Life and tried to spot the other half of our party. We couldn't see them anywhere nearby so kept our eye on the path we had walked along. I was saying to Freya 'they're going to come along any minute now' and I think I was trying to convince myself as much as her. I was getting more annoyed by the second as it was almost 9 am and arriving at Kilimanjaro Safaris seemed a long way off. After a minute or so, I sent a 'where are you?' text and when I had no response I tried to call but Mat's phone just went to voicemail. It was very infuriating. After what seemed like an hour, but was actually only a couple of minutes after we got the Fastpasses, Mat phoned and explained they had stopped at the entrance to Africa and so had walked past us while we waited for Fastpasses. I was not happy at all but decided to not dwell on it. Writing about it now, I realise it wasn't actually his fault at all and I shouldn't have blamed him. I guess it was one of those situations on holiday where you just want everything to be perfect and that in itself becomes very stressful. I had a few of those occasions during the trip where I felt under a lot of (self-imposed) pressure to make sure everything was amazing. This particular day, at Animal Kingdom, was quite tense and although we all had a great time, I wish I could turn back the clock and not be so stressed. If I had relaxed a bit more, the day would have been more enjoyable

Eventually we made it to Kilimanjaro Safaris. I think the standby line was about 20 minutes. I love the safaris. We were sat right behind the driver. She was very good, informative but not over the top, relaxed and not cheesy. She sounded like she knew the elephant poaching plot line was a bit silly too. Of course Disney need to get the conservation message across but I wonder if there is a better way to do it? We saw lots of animals on our safari including alligators, giraffes, flamingos, zebras, elephants, an ostrich, hippos and rhinos. I know the Unofficial Guide did a study and found the time of day didn't actually have an impact on the number of animals you can expect to see, but I still wouldn't take my chances and would always visit the attraction first thing in the morning. Oh and we also saw a sleeping lion on top of the rock shaped like Donald's face. Mat had taken a real interest in my Hidden Mickeys book and was very proud to point this shaped rock out to Seren

After the safari I dragged everyone on Dinosaur which was my joint favourite ride with Spiderman on my last visit in 2001. Spoiler alert for our Islands Of Adventure day: Forbidden Journey was great, but it broke down when I was on it for about ten minutes, somewhat affecting the tension of the experience. So Dinosaur and Spiderman remain my two favourite rides in Florida. However, Dinosaur did not go down very well with anyone else in my family on this day. The girls were petrified before we went in, and both said afterwards they didn't like it and wouldn't ride again. That didn't actually prove to be true for Freya as she became more brave as the holiday progressed and did keep me company on a return visit to Dinosaur at the end of the holiday. I absolutely love Dinosaur, I much prefer 'thrill-rides' of this nature to proper roller-coasters. I love the way the cars throw you around a bit, and that it's dark and you don't know where the 'dinosaurs' are going to spring from. (My favourite ride at Disneyland California when I last visited in the early 90s was Indiana Jones which has a lot of similarities.) Our ride photo had to be purchased - I love all of our expressions especially Seren who is sucking her fingers like she does for comfort and pretending she's not actually there. The rest of us look absolutely petrified too



After Dinosaur we stopped at Triceratop Spin as we thought the girls deserved a more light-hearted ride after their Dinosaur ordeal. It was a bit meh and while we rode, even Mat was looking at Primeval Whirl longingly. The girls were too small and even if Seren had been tall enough I'm pretty sure she would have refused. One to put on the list for our return visit as it looks fun. After Triceratop Spin we headed for the 11 am Nemo show which was a new experience for us all. As I mentioned before, we had fastpasses for this, but once in the theatre we couldn't really see what the point of them was after all. If you want to get a decent seat for these shows, fastpass or no fastpass you're going to arrive pretty early. And they seemed to be letting any old Tom, Dick or Harry in right up until the show started despite it being pretty much full

The show was great though. Mat and I both suffered a bit with heavy eyelids while we were watching it but that was down to our punishing park schedule and the dregs of jet lag rather than anything being wrong with the show. I really like the way the puppets were used by the performers who were very talented. Seren and I are both suckers for a bit of musical theatre so we were in our element. Mat doesn't really get it usually, but even he was impressed. I especially loved the big Crush anamatronic. After the show we had to make the obligatory stop at the merchandise stall so the girls could spend more of their dollars on soft toys. Seren wanted Squirt the small turtle and Freya chose a small Nemo complete with damaged fin. Two soft toys each in 24 hours. Not bad going. And almost all of their dollars already spent

From there, it was time to head to Yak & Yeti for our 12 pm ADR. I must pre-warn before a pretty negative review of our lunch that I was still a little on edge after our 'disagreement' when we entered the park, and I was feeling a bit stressed about our highly structured Animal Kingdom day as with an ADR at lunch, one in the evening and the two show fastpasses, it felt like we didn't have much time to just wander and be spontaneous. None the less, Mat and I had both been looking forward to Yak & Yeti as the menu really suited us. We had a nice table by the window and were able to watch some street shows like a guy showing people how to play an exotic musical instrument. I know that sounds vague, but I didn't make a note of what it was and all I can picture now is the guy and the participants, but not the instrument. It was enjoyable to watch though as whatever it was must have been very tricky to play because people (males) were walking up all cocky and then looking a bit silly when they couldn't get the instrument to make any music

I digress. Back to the restaurant. What we hadn't banked on was a really dodgy server. He was disinterested, spoke too fast and just seemed to be constantly reeling off a pre-prepared speech and not really paying any attention to us. This was the first (and one of the only) occasions that we had to raise the issue of Seren's allergy despite it being noted on every ADR, as the server hadn't noticed. He sent the chef out to speak with us and we discussed Seren's allergy. The only item on the kids' menu that was vegetarian was vegetable lo mein. The egg roll had pork in, and there was also a burger or hot dog. We told the chef that she doesn't like noodles, and asked if she could have something other than the lo mein as the menu was very limited for children who don't eat meat. The chef was stood next to our server and it was a very awkward situation with long pauses in the conversation. In the end I found myself asking if Seren could just have some fries. It felt like I was begging and it was like getting blood out of a stone trying to get her some fries. Fries aren't going to cost them anything and we had seen children at the next table (with a different server) being brought a plate of fries with ketchup, no problems. It was not exactly very Disney and really raised the tension. In the event Seren didn't really eat much from her 'fries mountain' (we were still finding the fries too salty.) Freya enjoyed her vegetable lo mein with a side of rice, but she didn't eat a lot of it. Mat got really cross with the children for not eating a lot, and was trying to get them to eat more of their meals but it was becoming more and more stressful

Despite the rubbish service, Mat being really stressed and the girls going on hunger strike after only a few bites, I really enjoyed my food at Yak & Yeti. I had the wok fried green beans to start which were delicious (my joint favourite starter of the holiday up there with the salad I had later that day at Jiko.) I love an onion ring or a deep fried prawn but these were even better as the texture was nicer and they felt healthier (despite being fried.) I gobbled them up but I may have reluctantly allowed my wonderful husband of ten years to experience the joy of sampling just one as I am such a loving wife. My entree was miso salmon with jasmine rice and stir fried vegetables which I enjoyed and it was tasty but I think I was partly just happy to be eating something healthy after a lot of fast food over the previous few days. I had mango, lemon and raspberry sorbet for dessert which was lovely

When we left Yak & Yeti I tried to encourage Seren to come on Everest with me but there was no chance of that happening. The line was very long and I didn't fancy riding by myself. I was being a bit of a wimp and should have just gone for it. I think if someone had dragged me on I would have done it but was a bit too nervous to face the Yeti as a Billy-No-Mates. I had watched the ride on YouTube before we went and was hoping to go on, but I guess I'll have to wait until we go back and my little Freya will be big enough to hold my hand. As we walked back from Asia, the girls stopped to play some bongo drums for a few minutes which they loved



We walked up to the Tree Of Life and had a look at the tree which impressed us all, then we went on It's Tough To Be A Bug. We had warned the girls that it was a bit scary but all I could remember about if from last time was 'bugs' crawling along the seat at the end. I had forgotten about the dark bit, the smoke and the massive spider, all of which went down really well with the girls. We had a bit of a wander around Discovery Island as we had some time to kill before the Nemo show which I think was at about 3.30. I know we saw a giant tortoise and a parrot but didn't make a note of any of the other animals. As we headed to Camp Minnie & Mickey for the Lion King show we walked past a carved totem pole which the girls took a shine to



We were a bit too early for the show so we waited for the fastpass line to open. While we did, Thumper came out for a meet and greet, so Mat and the girls lined up to meet him. The lines for the other character meet and greets were loooong so we just hung around listening to some guy sing and play guitar (he was a CM not a busker.) It was pleasant enough, kind of a Beach Boys sound but we thought it was a bit random, and that's from two massive music fans



Eventually the people in the fastpass line were let in, and unbelievably they had already opened the doors to people without fastpasses. We stood in line with plenty of other fastpassers clutching our little passes like a bunch of mugs while other, less organised people wandered in to take their seats. :angry: So I certainly would not waste time getting fastpasses for the Animal Kingdom shows again. As with Nemo, they were squishing people in right up until the last minute, and as they keep some of the seating empty right until the last minute, some of the last people to arrive got great seats

We got great seats too though. After the fastpass waste of time, I was determined we were having good seats, so we were second row on the floor. Unfortunately two annoying American girls decided they were going to cut into our row as we all walked along to sit down, so they were sat pretty much on top of us. It was all a bit squished until one of the American girls was invited to participate which gave us a little bit more space for a brief moment or two. I put Freya on my lap in the middle of the show so there was room to breathe. She was very tired and we both enjoyed the cuddle

I love the Lion King show. Best show at a Disney park hands down in my opinion (with Nemo second.) The singing, dancing, costumes, acrobatics and animatronics are all top notch. Although park shows are shorter, when you consider West End ticket prices, it shows what good value Disney park tickets are in my opinion. (I paid more than £80 each for Seren and I to see the Wizard Of Oz in the West End, and isn't it about £40 per head to visit Legoland in Windsor for the day?) I know how I would rather spend my money

I'll admit I cried a bit at the finale of the Lion King show (I do that at every musical I see.) It was so impressive, and the girls really got into it too although I think they were a bit overwhelmed as there's so much going on and it's right in your face, especially when you're sat in the second row. Seren did get a couple of high fives from the characters though, which she loved

We got out of the theatre pretty quickly and found very short lines for the character meet and greets. We told the girls we only had time to meet one of them as we knew by the time we'd finished with one, the whole Lion King audience would be queuing to meet the characters. They chose to meet Minnie Mouse. We waited for five minutes or so before our turn. I must admit, Minnie in the safari gear freaked me out a little, I thought she looked a bit odd without her usual dress. The girls didn't mind though, they were really excited to meet Ms Mouse. The PhotoPass photographer took a photo of us all with Minnie which was one of only very few occasions that Mat and I had photos taken with a character. We were more than happy to just watch the girls and take photos of them with whichever character it was they were meeting



We wanted to go over to Rafiki's Planet Watch so walked to Harambe Reserve to catch the train. It was late afternoon by now and the park was still very busy. I've heard a lot of people say they only do half a day at Animal Kingdom, and as it doesn't stay open late, I thought it might be emptying out by then. Once we were on the train we realised we didn't really have any time to stop at Rafiki's Planet Watch so just made a round trip on the train and vowed to come back (we didn't.) I found it interesting seeing all the safari animals' homes for the night, and also getting a glimpse of the 'backstage' areas and Cast Member car parks (yes I am a geek)

Once we got back to the train station we wandered back to the car and drove over to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner at Jiko. This was our first experience of resort / Signature dinner after a park but we got very good at getting changed in the hotel toilets over the course of the fortnight. After a long day at Animal Kingdom, I felt all scuzzy and not at all up for a Signature restaurant but once I was in my dress and freshened up I felt much better. These were actually the best hotel toilets we got changed in, and Freya and I found a large cubicle which was conducive to us both putting on our smarter clothes with no problems. The restrooms at the Grand Floridian, Contemporary and Polynesian resorts were not such accommodating dressing rooms in our experience

We liked Animal Kingdom Lodge, it was smart, light and nicely themed. On the way to the restrooms we had wandered across Boma and it seemed very busy. Initially I had thought Boma was Jiko and worried that we weren't in for the relaxing meal that we needed after a hot, busy day at Animal Kingdom. When we left Jiko at about 7.30, Boma resembled a bit of a bunfight and I was glad we had cancelled our reservation there when we did some last minute tweaking. I would like to try the restaurant on a return visit as I think a lot of the food would be right up our street, but it might be more suitable after a quiet day rather than a full-on park day as I'm not sure we'd have the stamina

Jiko was our first Signature restaurant and we weren't really sure what to expect. We were hoping it wouldn't be snooty and that the quality of the cooking would exceed our expectations. We weren't disappointed on either count. Our ADR was at 6, we were a little early and were seated in the bar area for a few minutes. When we were taken through to the restaurant, we were very happy with our quiet table and our server, Omar, was great. He was my favourite server of all the restaurants we ate in as he was the perfect balance between extremely friendly and professional. He was very knowledgeable and passionate about the menu and excellent with the girls

Seren's allergy was handled very efficiently. At Signature restaurants, the servers dealt with allergies themselves as they were knowledgeable enough and would simply check with the chefs if necessary. This was reassuring as it gave a very professional impression. Seren chose fruit salad to start, followed by pizza and then vanilla ice-cream. Freya had carrot and celery sticks with peanut butter, market fish and then the ice-cream. Mat and I both enjoyed the breads at the beginning. I didn't make a note of what they were but they were served with a spiced butter which was so yummy. Mat's appetiser was the Taste Of Africa (poppadums, naan and another bread with a selection of dips) which he really enjoyed and I had the Jiko Salad which, as it's seasonal, had different ingredients to the current menu but definitely had peaches in and was delicious. Mat's entree was a very yummy shrimp curry. I had Bunny Chow and Falafel Durban Curry Vegetables which was one of the most tasty meals I have ever had and was perfect for me: falafel, naan bread, mango ketchup, Harissa mustard, wilted greens, yoghurt and olive tapenade. It's making my mouth water just listing those ingredients. In my notes it says I had a dessert but I can't remember what it was and it's not on the receipt so maybe I didn't. I remember Mat had a coffee instead and Omar put it through as a dessert so we didn't have to pay for it. To drink, Mat had a virgin strawberry daiquiri as he was driving and I had a Sunriser cocktail which was yummy

We left Jiko feeling uncomfortably full but extremely happy. We had chosen the perfect Signature restaurant to try out the Signature restaurants. Jiko is smart but relaxed and the food was very impressive. It set the bar very high for the other Signatures and although the ones we visited were all very good, Jiko remained my favourite meal of the holiday matched only by California Grill in the second week

As our ADR had been early, we were back at the Yacht Club in plenty of time to watch the Muppets movie at the beach outdoor cinema which was the plan. Even though we arrived fifteen minutes or so before the film started, it was busy and there were no more loungers available. We managed to drag two from a little further along the beach so Mat and I each shared with one of the girls. The very sweet CM brought round towels to keep us warm (it wasn't yet chilly but we were more comfy with the towels.) Seren was very excited about watching the movie again as she had loved it at the cinema a few months before, but unfortunately both of the girls fell asleep within the first fifteen minutes of the film starting. I had been using the opportunity to catch up on my notes but it was a bit too dark, so we decided to cut our losses and go up to bed, freeing up our sun beds for others who were still arriving and struggling to find a seat

We were all in bed by about 9.30 and were glad of the early night as we knew the next day was to be a big one... we were finally heading to Magic Kingdom

Day 5 is here

[disney owl]

a busy day at AK but you managed to fit a lot in

[lady emz]

Another fab day, you are managing the crowds well

Love your dinosaur ride photo! xxx

[moosha]

Originally Posted by disney owl

a busy day at AK but you managed to fit a lot in

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We did fit a lot in. I wish we had been able to go back for another day though as we didn't get a chance to see most of the animals. And I wish I had just gone on Everest too. Next time I think we need at least a day and a half at AK

[moosha]

Originally Posted by lady emz

Another fab day, you are managing the crowds well

Love your dinosaur ride photo! xxx

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Thank you. I love our Dinosaur ride photo too, it's one of my favourite photos from the holiday xxx

[roxie2001]

Really enjoying your trip report. I totally agree about trying to make everything perfect. I did exactly the same on our first Florida holiday. I've hopefully learnt from my mistakes to make this year a little less jam packed, and make better use of fast passes.

[moosha]

Originally Posted by roxie2001

Really enjoying your trip report. I totally agree about trying to make everything perfect. I did exactly the same on our first Florida holiday. I've hopefully learnt from my mistakes to make this year a little less jam packed, and make better use of fast passes.

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Thanks, Roxie. I guess it's about striking a balance between fitting in everything you want to do and actually being able to enjoy it. I'm such a planner and control freak but I'm really happy with everything we managed to get done and don't feel like we missed out on anything

Next time, we're hoping to make our Orlando holiday a bit longer, and as it won't be our first time there as a family we can prioritise our favourite things from the last trip. Hopefully that, and of course those wonderful fastpasses you mention, will mean we can chill out a bit more

Hope you have a great (more relaxing) trip this year

[mrsbigbeak]

Great pic on dinosaur we only done a day at ak , I think we could of done with another day of half at least x

[moosha]

Originally Posted by mrsbigbeak

Great pic on dinosaur we only done a day at ak , I think we could of done with another day of half at least x

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I am thinking two full days at Animal Kingdom next time, maybe even two and a half. We barely saw any animals and I like the idea of pottering around at a slow pace and taking everything in a bit more. Plus, I am planning to drag everyone on Everest at least once next year

[bambikate]

lovely lovely day! <3 xxx