The Best Made Plans of a Mouse and Her Men - Day 5

[HEMANCLOFTY]

Day 5 – Tuesday 28th Feb
Can You Feel The (Dory) Love Tonight

The Index is Here
Day 4 is Here

I woke up at 5am today. I did my usual Netflix and doze (more Greys Anatomy) until 6:30am when I got up and caught up on my trippie notes until around 9:15am, polishing off 2 cuppas and the Oatmeal & Raisin Cookie that I’d got at Goofy’s last night as I did (the Cookie was lovely).

I didn’t make a note of what time the boys got up, but Tom would’ve had time for some Lucky Charms and / or his Oatmeal & Raisin Cookie, and he also popped to Old Port Royale to get us some drinks in our Resort Mugs.

I was Dory Bounding today – this pic is from later in the day…

Once we were all ready we transferred one of the drinks into our Blizzard Beach Refillable Mug and were headed for the Aruba bus stop by 10am. Our Animal Kingdom bus came straight away – I snapped some Pandora progress from the bus stop, and it was a straightforward swap over to a Blizzard Beach bus...

We were walking up towards WinterSummerLand by 10:50am, by which point it was already hot hot hot, and we were glad we’d brought a drink with us.

Having played Summer the other day, our course of choice was Winter – we sorted out our putters and balls and were asked to wait until we were called to get started, to give the family in front a chance to get ahead.

We only had to wait a few minutes and we were soon off.

I got off to a really good start, with a 2-point lead over Rich, helped by a Hole in One on 7…

As we were playing hole 8 another guest walked by, warning us that there was a big snake on hole 10, but that he’d reported it and they were coming to move it – by the time we got to 10 the snake was gone, but we were very cautious about our bags and cups after that.

My early lead ended up being a fluke, I completely lost it on the last few holes, even managing to get 6 on hole 13, which both the boys got a Hole in One on…

Of course, Rich was once again the winner of the day with 53. I ended on 61 and Tom on 67.

By 11:30am we were on our way into Blizzard Beach, and it was even hotter by now. We sorted out our locker ($15), reactivated our Refillable Mug ($7.99 inc Tax) and did the usual changing / sun spray routine.

As we’d arrived a bit later, we couldn’t find any loungers in our usual spot, so ended up having to get 3 of the little chairs and move them into a corner space that we managed to find. We left our towels and drink and headed (as per Huxwolds tradition) for the Lazy River.

One full (and very relaxing) lap around the river and we got out and joined a short queue for the Ski Lift up to Teamboat Springs. On the way, Tom pondered over Slush n Gusher and Summit Plummet and decided he wasn’t up for a repeat ride on either today. Teamboat Springs was good, but I do think that having to ride with other guests (two mid 20’s lads this time), does make for a bit of an inhibited ride - we like to scream, laugh (and occasionally swear) in private as a family.

It was 12:30pm by the time we were back on ground level, and we were all hungry by now. Rich popped off for a smoke whilst Tom and I sorted his lunch first from Frostbite Freddies, where he’s seen that they did Turkey Legs ($10.99). I asked if he could swap his drink for a dessert, the Cast Member was lovely and said that she couldn’t see why not – there was only one choice, but that was ok as it was an Orange Swirl Cup ($4.99) and having tried my first Dole Whip last year I was keen to give this a go, Tom had already agreed to swap desserts with me.

We met up with Rich by Lottawatta Lodge, where I left the boys to find a table and I queued for a Blizzard Burger for Rich (£10.99) and a Chicken Fajita Flatbread for me ($9.99) – choosing 2 lots of Cookies (£2.99) as desserts for the boys. Our total lunch for the 3 of us would have been around $45 with Tax, but we used 3 Counter Credits.

The Orange Swirl was melting fast so I had a bit before my Flatbread, then decided to have it as a sort of “milkshake”, as there was no way that it was going to last until I’d finished eating in this heat.

I really enjoyed my Flatbread – the sauce on it was really nice. I think the boys enjoyed theirs, but Tom was defeated by the Turkey Leg…

He still had room in his “pudding belly” for his Cookies though

Sorry no pics of the Cookies

It was around 1:15pm by the time we were done. Rich popped off for another smoke, whilst Tom and I messed around taking a few pics on the way back to the locker…

We headed for the Wave Pool next – it was nice and relaxing, but all that bobbing about so soon after lunch wasn’t for Tom so he headed off to Ski Patrol. About 5 minutes later Rich and I were feeling the effects of the wave bobbing too, so we headed over to watch him play.

The Purple Slopes were up next – we waited about 10 minutes for Double Dippers (it was posted as 15). At the top, there were quite a few guests who wanted to ride with specific family members, so I ended up riding on my own (which meant that I got to win ). The boys came down after me, and as usual Rich came out faster than Tom.

Rich didn’t fancy any more slides after this, so he mooched off for another smoke whilst Tom and I headed for the Toboggan slopes. We only did the Snow Stormers in the end though, as both of us ended up slipping sideways off our mats (I banged my elbow I the process ), so neither of us were too fussed about going back up to do Toboggan Racers. We made our way over to meet Rich at our chairs, where we all decided that we were happy we’d done everything we wanted to do here, and to head for the showers.

We’d planned around the bus route today, so were going all the way through for our evening at Animal Kingdom – our first evening Fastpass was for Finding Nemo the musical – hence today’s Dory Bounding outfit…

I was very pleased with my choice of Instagram comment for this one: “Just been swimming, just been swimming”

We picked up another can of SPF 50 Spray ($13.84 inc Tax) from Beach Haus on the way out. It was about 3pm as we were leaving Blizzard Beach, and we were through Bag Check and the tapstyles at Animal Kingdom by 3:30pm – stopping for some Photopass pics on the way in…

We weren’t in a rush tonight, so we took our time mooching around Discovery Island. A Cast Member approached us and pointed out a sleeping Babirusa, then showed us a skull and explained about how their tusks grow. He was very knowledgeable...

Tom took control of the camera, and we saw some Wallabies and Macaws and a few other animals…

Obligatory Tree of Life pic...

We mooched slowly up to Africa and to the Mahindi snack cart, where the Jungle Juice Slushy machine was still broken (I am destined not to have one of these ). Tom asked for some Popcorn ($3.99) so we used a Snack Credit for this and paid OOP ($3.00 + Tax) for a bottle of Water.

Tom hadn’t realised that it would be salty Popcorn, so wasn’t overly fussed. Rich and I picked at it a bit, but we weren’t in the mood for Popcorn and we ended up throwing half of it away.

We walked down through Asia and were surprised to see so many people already queuing for Rivers of Light (it was 4pm and the show was at 7:15pm) – Cast Members were already roping off areas, and we could hear a saying that it is normal to see guests staking out the queue so early. I wasn’t concerned as I’d read that there were no bad seats (more on this later).

It was about 4:15pm by the time we got near the Nemo theatre – the next show was at 5pm, so we had time to mooch over to Dinoland. It was sooooooo hot this afternoon (86 / 30 according to my phone), and the water fountain outside Primeval Whirl was much appreciated when we got to it.

It was only 10 minutes Standby for Primeval Whirl so we headed on (it was actually a walk on) – the ride was great fun, and I worked out how to brace myself (by pushing my arm against the side of the headrest) which helped a lot with the usual jolting. As we got off, the Cast Member complimented my outfit.

Tom wanted to ride again, so he and I headed back on whilst Rich popped off for a cigarette. It was walk on again, and this time the same Cast Member said she loved my shoes, and that I really had to see Nemo today – I told her we were heading there next .

Whilst we were waiting for Rich, Tom and I popped into a Photobooth for some silly pics (it’s great that you can get these on your Memory Maker) …

We were all still hot, so we used 3 Snack Credits at Dino Diner on a Frozen Coke for Tom ($3.99), a Frozen Lemonade for me ($3.99) and a normal Coke for Rich ($3.29).

NB – We’d decided by now to start using Snack Credits for drinks, as we still had 30 Credits to use up

The queue area for Nemo was crazy, I think that we might have accidentally skipped part of the Fastpass queue, but it wasn’t clear at all. At the Fastpass tapstyles, we were told that we’d have to finish our drinks before entering the theatre – there was still about 5 minutes of queuing, and Rich drank his coke but Tom and I were struggling with our frozen drinks. We were still really hot and didn’t want to waste them, so we discreetly smuggled them in , and once we were inside I transferred Tom’s into the Blizzard Beach Mug...

The show started, but just before Nemo appeared for the first time we heard a loud clunk and an announcement came on apologizing for the technical delay. A couple of minutes later the show started again from the beginning…

This time it got to just after Dory’s first appearance and the show just stopped (no noise this time). This time the announcement said “sorry, today’s show has been cancelled…”. Rich was disappointed as we haven’t seen this one since our 2008 trip. I wasn’t too bothered about the show itself but as I was dressed especially for the occasion it was a bit of a let-down …

We were appreciating the a/c in the theatre so hung back whilst everyone was leaving. I was checking on my iPad to see if I’d had an e-mail about reusing the Fastpass (knowing that you sometimes get them if a ride is down) when a Cast Member came up to us to ask if we were ok and to tell us we had to leave. I asked about being able to reuse our Fastpasses, and she very kindly pulled out some paper ones, telling us that they were good for anything except Rivers of Light – bonus …

We pondered what to use them on – Tom wanted to go on Kali River Rapids, but Rich and I weren’t in the mood to spend an evening being damp. Rich and I fancied Expedition Everest, which won the vote. We agreed between us on the way that if the queue was 15 minutes or less we’d pay it forward and pass on the Fastpasses to another family. The Standby was 20 minutes, so we used the passes, which made it a walk on, and we all enjoyed our second ride of the trip…

We headed across to Africa next, taking some photos on the way - the park was beautiful in the late afternoon sunlight...

Rich popped down to his usual smoking spot by Festival of the Lion King, and Tom and I popped down that way to see if there was a showing that we could squeeze in. There was one about the start at 6pm, so we agreed to go in (yay for me, as I know the boys aren’t mega bothered about this show). We walked straight in and were seated in the 3rd row of the Fastpass area in the Warthog section, just as the show was about to start.

I absolutely love Festival of The Lion King. It’s my favourite thing to do at Animal Kingdom, and as usual it was fantastic – the music, the voices, the silliness and the acrobats, and when she flies in the air during Can You Feel The Love Tonight, it gives me goose bumps…

The only downside was a little kid sat behind me and Tom who was messing around on his bench and kept banging into us. It particularly annoyed Tom, but he did me proud and kept his cool.

It was 6:30pm by the time the show finished, so perfect timing for our sunset Safari...

We used our Fastpass and walked straight onto a truck.

NB: I’m not great with my camera settings (and no flash is allowed), so the pics I took really didn’t do justice to how pretty the Safari was at this time of the day. I accidentally took one photo where the flash went off, so decided to film the rest after that, hoping I could take a few screenshots, but it didn’t come out great.


The sunset behind the trees as we got to the Plains was stunning - I wish I could share it with you, but the photos really are rubbish

We had a short delay, which turned out to be some Springbok on the path, who then treated us to a mini stampede. Loads of animals came up close to us. The lions were asleep (as usual), and our driver explained that it was probably about 20 minutes until they’d be up and about for their feeding time.

It was almost 7pm by the time we came off our Safari. No time to grab any snacks or drinks, as the entrance for Rivers of Light was back over by the Nemo theatre. We did have to stop for a very quick restroom break, and to say Fichwa to this fellow...

We made it to the entrance by 7:10pm but it was clear that there was no chance of getting in. There were 100s of guests stood in every spot available outside trying to get a view. I was gutted that my planning had failed us .

We got a spot between some trees, and did manage to see a bit of the water projections and the tops of the boats, but we couldn’t see the river itself. To be fair, the bits we could see didn’t look amazing, and Rich said he wasn’t bothered that we hadn’t made it inside.

The plus side to being stood where we were that it made for a really good getaway before the crowds descended. We were in Dinoland within less than a minute. Rich popped off for a smoke whilst Tom had a solo ride on Triceratops Spin, and then we used our final Fastpass of the day (which wasn’t needed) on our 3rd spin of the day on Primeval Whirl – this time in the dark, which was good fun.

Again, my night time photos were terrible.

It was 8pm as we were leaving the park, using a Snack Credit on a bottle of Coke ($3.50ish) from the Boneyard Cart on the way out. Rich was fancying the Turkey BLT Sandwich he’d seen at Old Port Royale, so we decided to head back to Caribbean Beach for dinner tonight. We were too tired to bother going back to the room to pick up our Resort Mugs, so got off the bus at the Old Port Royale.

It was busy, so Rich went to find us a table whilst Tom and I did the various queues. We got Rich’s Turkey BLT first as it was a cold meal – it came with Jerk Tortilla Chips ($10.99). In the queue a rather rude American guest barged her way back to the front, shouting that her Chips were old and stale. The Cast Member looked like she didn’t know what to do, but put a few more in a tray and asked the lady to taste one to see if it was ok – she didn’t and stormed off instead.

Next Tom got into one queue to get his 8 Piece Nuggets & Fries ($9.49) and I joined another for my Create Your Own Pasta, which I had with Chicken Breast & Alfredo Sauce ($11.99) – we grabbed two bottles of Water ($3.00) and one bottle of Coke ($3.29) as our drinks (total approx. $43 inc. Tax, but 3 Counter Credits for us) …

I didn't take a pc of Tom's Nuggets because I took the others whilst he was still waiting for his - they were standard Disney Nuggets though, so here are some from Liberty Inn the night before...

It was gone 9pm by the time we’d got through all the queues and the till. Rich really enjoyed his Sandwich, and said it was one of the best things he’d eaten so far – it had Basil Aioli and thinly sliced Apple on it. My Pasta was tasty (it came with a Breadstick) and Tom enjoyed his Nuggets (why don’t they call them Chicken Tenders anymore?).

I fancied a pudding, so used a Snack Credit on a Mickey Premium Bar ($5), which I ate on the walk back to Aruba…

Straight to bed when we got in as we had an early start tomorrow - we were off to Clearwater, and had pre-booked our Uber to pick us up between 5:45am and 6am) so that we’d have time to grab breakfast at the Boardwalk Bakery before our pick up at 8am. Warning / spoiler – there will be LOTS of photos!

Today's Totals...

Step Count: 17,010 (12.97km / 651 kcals) – Excluding Blizzard Beach
Dining Plan: 6 Counter Credits / 6 Snack Credits ($95.70)
QSDP Credits Left: 25 CC / 26 SC
OOP Food / Drinks: $11.19
Other Spending: $31.84
Tom Spending: $0
Ubers: $0

Day 6 is Here

[mick]

A good day

Joan

[HEMANCLOFTY]

Originally Posted by mick

A good day

Joan

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Thank you Joan

[JenD1]

You managed to pack in lots today! Pity about R of L but there's no way we would have queued much earlier. Too many other fab things to see and do!

[HelenJNT]

A three hour queue for RoL?! That's that decision made then - we'll definitely be doing a dining package.

Shame about Finding Nemo. I dont think we got to see it until our third trip as every time we'd tried before, it got cancelled.

[Excitedx4]

A great day, you fitted loads in.

[HEMANCLOFTY]

Originally Posted by JenD1

You managed to pack in lots today! Pity about R of L but there's no way we would have queued much earlier. Too many other fab things to see and do!

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Agree, probably not worth queuing for, although I would try again if we had a Fastpass. Unfortunately as the (eventual) launch date was only announced a couple of weeks before we travelled, by the time I tried to get one (about 10 days before) there were none left.

Loved AK at night though - it's definitely moved up from a 1 visit per trip park to a 2 visit

[HEMANCLOFTY]

Originally Posted by HelenJNT

A three hour queue for RoL?! That's that decision made then - we'll definitely be doing a dining package.

Shame about Finding Nemo. I dont think we got to see it until our third trip as every time we'd tried before, it got cancelled.

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I'm sure if we'd tried to get in before 6:30 we probably would have been fine (a bit like Fantasmic, where we usually take our chances), but I'll try and get a Fastpass next year.

I remembered after I wrote this update yesterday, that last time we saw Nemo, we ended up having to go out to take Tom to the restroom (he was only 3), so I didn't get to see it all then either. Maybe it's fate?

[HEMANCLOFTY]

Originally Posted by Excitedx4

A great day, you fitted loads in.

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Thanks - it really was a fab day - it's always good to try new Floziday experiences

[lovedisney]

Loving the trippie so far, looking forward to your next instalment !