The Dibb made me do it - Day 14, Animal Kingdom

[BevS97]

So, here we are, the end of the fortnight, except, Phew, we have booked a third week. There were times when I wasn’t sure that was the right decision, but today is not one of them! I am definitely not ready to go home, in fact, in some ways I feel like we are still getting started. Time is going to start to speed up now though, so I think we need to take stock of what we still haven’t done and get a bit more organised.
We have fastpasses for the Na’vi river ride this morning, for 10:30. I’m not really sure when to arrive at the park. I don’t want to get caught up in all the craziness of people running to Pandora, but I don’t want to be too late either. We eventually decide to drive to the park and park at 10:01, the fast pass is 10:30 – 11:30, so that seems to be ok. We have a little trouble parking, the bays seem very tight and everyone has massive SUVs, and we end up jammed in a space so tight we can’t open the drivers side door.

I was very unimpressed with the driver of the white SUV, but as we were leaving we noticed it had started about 5 cars down the row, and each car had been pushed further over the line. It made for an interesting morning with Phil having to climb out of the passenger side!
We wait for the tram, which took a while as more than one filled up before we could board, and then we set off the gate. We got stuck waiting for the previous tram to leave for ages, I don’t know what had happened but eventually they parked us in the ‘emergency zone’ and we had to disembark there.
I took this as we walked across the carpark. one of the things I usually love about Disney is that you can’t see ‘backstage’, I think they need a few more trees to hide the back of Pandora.

We had quite a long wait for bag check, and then a really long wait to enter the park. Considering it wasn’t park opening, and there are no more turnstiles, it was very slow. When we finally got to the gate they weren’t even doing fingerprints in an effort to get people through faster.
We walked around to Pandora, and Molly was walking very oddly, flapping her foot as she walked. Her sandals had snapped, the toe post had come out of the sole, so she was flapping it back under her foot with each step. She hadn’t wanted to say anything, and thought she could walk like that all day, but clearly she couldn’t. She did have to manage for a little while though, as we were heading towards the river ride – the line was over 120 minutes, which is crazy for what it is. It was right up the path out of the land. Luckily we weren’t queuing and we walked pretty much straight on. It’s a very pretty ride, I wish I’d brought the big camera. I took it out the first few days and it was proving to be a pain, so I’ve not been bringing it, making do with my compact camera, or mainly my phone. This is much more convenient, but the photos are nowhere near as good.
For example… I could have maybe tweaked the settings, but it’s more complicated on the compact camera and Katie pointed out I was missing the ride as I was searching through the menus.

You’ll just have to trust me, it’s a very pretty ride. But it’s not a thrill ride, so I can understand why the thrill seekers are unimpressed. This is a pretty it’s a small world, without the annoying song.
After our ride, we leave Pandora – it’s packed and not a lot of fun without a fastpass. We find the nearest shop, and look for some shoes for Molly. She can’t really flap around in these sandals all day. She likes these flip flops, and they are the cheapest option in the shop, so that’s a winner.

While we are in the next shop, I spot the Disney Pandora beads. I was showing Molly which beads I particularly liked, and may have mentioned I have a birthday coming up. I obviously didn’t notice if any purchases were made while my back was turned…..
We do have a fastpass for Kali River Rapids, so that was our next stop. I always always end up absolutely soaked, so I’ve brought a full change of clothes with me. They have supplied lockers now, rather than the ‘waterproof’ container they used to have but I’m not sure everyone has got the message, as there were a lot of wet backpacks coming off the ride. It’s definitely worth using the lockers, they are free and much less hassle than the universal ones.
Considering we had a fastpass, we had a bit of a wait, maybe 10 minutes? And then we were boarded, along with another family, whose mum filmed the whole ride on her iPhone. I was a bit worried but she assured me it was waterproof – I’m pleased to say she didn’t drop it, because I thought it was going in the river.
I, of course, stayed dry this time. That’s what remembering the change of clothes guarantees. Actually we were all really dry, and it seemed there was only one place where any of us could have got wet – I don’t know if they have changed it or if we were lucky? As I’ve definitely never been that dry before.
After our ride, we walk back to Pandora – not the best way to navigate the park, but we want to have lunch in the Satuli Canteen again. We would probably have gone back to Yak and Yeti (since we were right there) but it’s all outside seating, and inside seating was a must.
We had this photo taken on the way around.

We walk back through Africa, past the Harambe Theatre and there is a path that leads to Pandora. It’s quite a long path, longer than I expected, there were a few men playing music half way along and a family all dancing, it was nice to see.
We do make it back to Pandora, and order lunch. We had all enjoyed the Beef bowls with potato hash, so we get that (Phil got beef and rice), and splash out on a bowl each. It’s actually a bit too much, but we make a good stab at it.

We have one more fastpass, before we are calling it a day. And it’s back across the other side of the park. We are meeting Minnie and Mickey. This isn’t a very ‘fast’ fastpass either, we have a bit of a wait, and then the family before us have 4 kids and there is some confusion with autograph books, Mickey has to go off because he has something in his eye, but he is fairly quickly back, and eventually we get a photo.

We decide to call it a day, and leave the park. I am wanting to do some shopping, so we go straight out along the Osceola Parkway to the Loop. We go back to Bath and Bodyworks, Molly buys a few more supplies, and I get some soap. I quite fancy getting a few things but once I’m in there I’m never sure what I will like.
Our next stop is Books A Million, where Katie is looking for a Kingdom Keepers booking, and Phil and I pick up a few holiday novels. We look in a Van’s shop for a backpack for Molly but she doesn’t see anything she fancies.
We then drive over to Michaels, but it was very poor with mostly empty shelves. I really wanted some stickers for my scrapbook but I wasn’t taken with anything they had so we left mostly empty handed (I bought M&Ms!)
I wanted to look in Old Navy, but I needed a break, so we went over to Ben & Jerry’s and got milk shakes. These were lovely. I had Salted Caramel Blondie, Molly had Mint Chocolate, and I can’t remember the other 2 but they were all very nice.

Revived we made it to Old Navy. Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything for myself (I have some sweatpants from here that I love but I think I must have bought them in the winter as I’ve never seen them again)
Molly did find some great leggings and tops for her off-ice training, Phil picked up a jacket for $17, and Katie got some jeans, so it wasn’t a wasted trip.
After Old Navy, my feet declared it game over. I have been wearing really comfy Sketchers trainers, but because of the water ride I’d put on Sketchers Sandals today. They are nowhere near as comfortable. They did dry quickly though…..
We drove home, and came up to the room. I typed up yesterdays’ trip report and then fell asleep for an hour. Woke up, and made some tea. I’d bought a frozen skillet meal in Target, it was pasta and chicken in a sauce and you just heated it in a pan (or in the microwave). It wasn’t gourmet, but it was quite nice and it meant we didn’t have to go anywhere.

[collybird]

Thanks for the tip about The Loop, I hadn't heard of it before, but will keep it in mind if we're planning any shopping. Old Navy is a favourite of mine.

[dixonsontour]

We've been to the loop it's got lots of nice shops and restaurants. Those milkshakes look good.

[OB1LukeLucas]

I hope you get your birthday beads!

[Fuellady]

There seemed to be a lot of waiting around today, but at least you still accomplished the things you wanted to do. I do hope some Pandora purchases were made whilst you weren't looking!

We went to the Loop on our last trip but weren't impressed. However, we didn't see any of the shops you mentioned, we must have been in the wrong part of something

[KK_Cat]

I'm a fan of The Loop too, we always drop into Kohl's, Books a Million, JC Penneys, and Bed Bath and Beyond. I must watch out for the Ben and Jerrys next time

[Excitedx4]

I'm another one who's never been the loop before I've seen it on the map so maybe we will make it next year!