Day 15 – (8.8.18) Animal Kingdom and DS

[VeryexcitedH]

Again I have zero notes for today following on from a mega busy night the previous night whilst watching the Star Wars fireworks then Fatasmic plus this was our last full day of the holiday before driving to Miami tomorrow.

My planned fp were:
Navi River journey 10.35 – 11.35
Festival of the Lion King 12.30 - 12.45
Kilimanjaro Safari 2.25 – 3.25
I’ll use photos and google timeline, as well as my aging memory, to see what we did!

The morning started with more Starbucks iced caramel macchiato whilst getting ready to leave the villa. By 9.15 we were leaving the villa. Google timeline tells me we were in the car for 1 hour 13 and we arrived at our destination at 10.28…..that seems really odd as it’s such a long time compared to the other days so not sure what exactly went on there!

We arrived at AK at 10.35 where we paid for parking, parked up and got the tram to the entrance. We picked up a family photopass on the way in.

First stop was Pandora for our first fp of the day. On the way to Navi river journey we collected a DAS for FOP. Navi done (one time only I’d say, beautiful but not one I would need to revisit), we decided to head over to Kali river rapids as we had missed this the other day. I wonder now whether I altered the fp for Lion King for this or if we actually queued as we did Lion King the other day and I remember only doing it once. Let’s imagine we did indeed alter the fp for Kali! We really enjoyed this ride and did get a little bit wet! On the way out of the ride we picked up a photopass to prove how wet we were!

I think we made our way to Dinoland where we visited the gift shop and swapped the dinosaur t-shirt we bought the other day for a larger size. The receipt shows by now it was 12:52. DD also bought herself a foam emoji keychain which cost her $3.72. We stopped for a photo with a dino on the way out!

After that we made our way across to Everest, taking loads of photopasses on the way, including the embarrassing ones where they make the grown ups kiss and the children hide behind their hands. This will not be published online!

Just looking through this set of photos the photographer had us on a mini photo shoot! Yet when I look at the pictures of the kids I can't include lots of them as Everest is either wonky or half missing so not sure what was going on there tbh!

We braved Everest once more...

After Everest we picked up 2 frozen lemonade cups and a strawberry bar which cost $14.00. We wandered over to the Nemo theatre to watch this show as we were yet to see it. I remember being early but having to eat the ice creams outside as we weren’t allowed in the theatre with them. Trouble was the lemonade cups the children had chosen were massive and it was taking them ages to eat!

Dh to the rescue where he polished them off and we were then able to take up a seat in the Nemo theatre. Fantastic show and it was enjoyed by all. We also appreciated the air con and the sit down for a bit as well.

Receipts show that at 13;39 we were at the Andapur bus which if I remember correctly was quite close to Everest so I am wondering if we rode Everest a second time after Nemo…who knows? But what I do know is that we appear not to have eaten anything yet today! Instead. I chose a black cider float…..this was quite random but so expensive I didn’t dare tell DH it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea! Cost was $12.00. DH and DD bought a swirl cone and DS got an orange soda float, $14.88. We wandered, ice creams and drinks in hand, towards the tree of life where DD bought a Marie blanket for herself. This was $28.75 incl tax and the time was 14:17.

We then made our way slowly back to Pandora and enjoyed looking at the beautiful surroundings, picking up photopasses before using our DAS return time to ride FOP.

Again, wow! This is so realistic and I felt like I was falling at one point (the same as last time) even though I knew it was coming up. In the shop DS used some of his spending money to buy an Avatar pin for his collection, cost was $10.64.

Upon bidding Pandora farewell for this visit we decided to leave the park and now make our way to Disney Springs for some food and a little bit of last minute shopping. I was still after the elusive print I had seen in the art shop at EPCOT.

I have a picture that shows at some point in AK today DD collected her last pressed penny and filled her penny book…she was very pleased with herself!

Plus on the way out of AK we picked up another couple of pp.

Photographic evidence shows that we parked in the Lime garage, level 3, row 5!

We left the car and headed down the escalators into DS where we wandered until a shop took our fancy, that shop being Super Hero Headquarters! I am quite sure that the 3 other members of my party could have spent a small fortune here but I simply wouldn’t allow it this close to going home. Instead one of them (and I have no idea which 1!) bought an Avengers comic for $4.25. The time on the receipt was 16:33.

Next visit was the candy cauldron where, despite drooling over the sugar laden goodies, we decided just to get some ‘bulk candy’, that is the pick n’ mix! $7.13 of candy procured with strict instructions for DS and DD to “make sure it lasts at that price!” The final shop before we ate was Star Wars Galactic Outpost where (I am assuming) DD bought a Kylo Ren racer for $7.45.

Now it was time for food! As we had been making our way around DS, DH had suggested we eat in STK but it didn’t open until 5pm. Well, as it was now 5pm we could make our way there. I’ll be honest in saying I felt rather under dressed going in here with ‘short’ shorts and a boob tube on and not to mention the state of my hair from the Kali River Rapids soaking! Nonethless, DH wanted a special meal for our final evening and this was it!

Despite being a little pretentious the place was quite funky with a DJ in the corner throwing out some tunes and the waitress was lovely, really attentive. We ordered a coke for DH, a sprite for DS, a Shirley Temple (non-alcoholic) for DD and I had a Stellina….I have googled it to see what exactly this was. I think the waitress recommended a wine for me and it was a prosecco. But a delicious one, not bitter like some proseccos can be. It was so delicious I indulged in a second glass!

To eat we ordered:
Me - BRAISED SHORT RIB 'MEATLOAF' “truffle potato purée, wild mushrooms, cipollini onions”

DH - Chicken (This is the current menu choice but doesn’t look like the picture so has likely changed)…..”HIBACHI CHICKEN kale-brussels sprouts-apple kimchi, butternut squash, gochujang honey”

Hmmm... looks nothing like the description so not sure exactly what it was except for chicken!

DD - GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST with Seasonal Veggies. These were asparagus which she hated!

DS - CRISPY MAHI FINGERS “Rice Flake-crusted Mahi, Seasonal Veggies, Rémoulade” and he wolfed the lot down.

We enjoyed our food very much and ordered another refill of soft drinks plus my aforementioned second glass of prosecco. We decided we would like afters but after browsing the menu realised there was no advertised dessert for the children. We thought we’d go with a safe bet of ice cream….and it cost $20 for 2 dishes of ice cream. Seriously?! Kind of spoilt it somewhat as that was a complete rip off but we didn’t realise until we were given the bill!

We also ordered BAG O' DONUTS which was “dulce de leche filling, spiced chocolate sauce, raspberry sauce”

ORANGE DREAM CHEESECAKE “bruleed oranges, whipped cream”

The final cost was $218.18 including tip. Pretty expensive really and by far the most expensive meal we had had whilst on holiday but it was certainly a treat. Except for the ice cream of course!

We left and wandered to the other side of DS. In Sugarboo we bought a notepad for our office as DH loved the quote on it

and he got me a ceramic heart with a quote on it for our wedding anniversary. I collect hanging hearts (like part time working Mummy) and this would be a beautiful addition…except as it was ceramic I snapped it in 2 when we were moving DS’s wardrobe out of his room this February. Luckily DH glued it together and you can hardly tell. Total cost was $23.32.

After that we went to the Marketplace looking for the print I had seen the other day. Unfortunately, they didn’t have it so we settled for another version called Walt’s Dream in the same style, by the same artist. This was $42.55 (and is still yet to be framed and hung on my stairs…next job once my trip report is finished I think!) Whilst in here we also bought an Ursula print by Jasmine Beckett Griffith (they were out of stock of the Maleficent one which we really wanted, both were for DD’s bedroom when we got round to redecorating), a Stitch luggage tag that DS hangs on his door and a Villains apple postcard (again for DD’s bedroom). Total cost was $21.27.

Final stop was the Disney Pin Trading store where, between DS and DD $53.20 was spent on the last pins of this trip to add to their lanyards.

We had finished by 8:00 and so made our way back to the car and set off home to the villa, where we came across an awful thunder storm which saw the rain fall very hard as we were driving.

We arrived home at 8.46 and I can only imagine the children showered and went to bed whilst DH and I had a beer, finished packing then hit the hay ready for our long travel day home tomorrow!

[Excitedx4]

What a wonderful final day! Definitely an expensive meal, Disney can be without the dining plan!

[VeryexcitedH]

Originally Posted by Excitedx4

What a wonderful final day! Definitely an expensive meal, Disney can be without the dining plan!

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Thanks for reading and commenting.
DH was talking about looking into the DDP on a future visit if possible to alleviate the dining cost. And to reduce the car time to be able to have a little drink!