5 do Florida for the 1st time - October 2018 - Day 2 - Animal Kingdom, Swim and Disney Springs

[Milpston]

IndexSo after both Emma and Benjamin waking around 02:30 I swiftly fell back asleep until about 04:20. Sally was up with the kids and hadn't been back to sleep since them first waking. I could very easily have just rolled over and gone back to sleep. Chloe was laying in bed awake and without a word being spoken I knew she was feeling the same as me. I decided that if I did roll over and go back to sleep I may be in for a kicking from Sally on the first day of the holiday so I dragged myself out of bed to help out... the knighthood is surely on it's way to me.

Once up and about we all got our magic bands on. Emma - Orange, Benjamin - blue, Sally - green, Chloe - pink and me yellow. Having chose the magic band colours a few weeks before I was half expecting Emma to say she didn't want orange anymore but it didn't happen.

Somehow they were the best pictures I got of us all with our magic bands! In my defence it was very early.

After I while I decided to go for a little wander and to have a smoke. Obviously at this time of the morning it was still pitch black but I had a wander over towards the beach. I think I called my parents at home, soaked up the atmosphere and enjoyed the warmth.

I returned to the room and took Emma down to Market Place for a look around. Emma was full of beans and running up and down the corridors. I realised that our room was really well located and not too far from the elevators which took us straight down to the Marketplace and lobby.

Emma saw the autograph books and wanted two. I decided that one for her an one for Benjamin was fair enough and she also wanted a pen for the characters to sign with. I cursed not having bought these before arrival. These came to just under $50.

The cast member serving us really nice. She asked us if we wanted our resort mugs but I decided I would wait for the others to be with us so that they could all choose them. We retuned the room to find Sally and Chloe had packed up most of what we needed for our day at the Animal Kingdom.

We all headed down to the lobby at about 7 now that it was getting light. The kids had already had some cereal in the bedroom. Chloe wen and asked the valet desk to bring our car round about 07:30 for us so we could have a little look around the Beach Club together before heading off for extra Magic Hours at AK for 08:00. She loves anything like valet parking that feels posh.

We loaded the tribe into the car and set the sat nav for Animal Kingdom.

The drive to Animal Kingdom was simple enough. My plan before arrival was to use the car to get to Animal Kingdom and the water parks and then use Disney transport for pretty much anything else.

We walked to the entrance as we had already put the kids in the stroller and it just seemed easier. This became a bit of a trend as I don't think we ever used the trams from the car park. We arrived at the entrance about 08:15 and decided to take a slow meander around towards Tusker House for our 09:15 reservation. We grabbed our first couple of photopass pictures on the way. I think Emma declined to get out of her stroller for the second one. It felt really warm this morning.

We noticed that Kilimanjaro Safari was showing as a short wait so we decided to go on before breakfast. It turned out to be a walk on. Now, most rides we will do in WDW are new to us all. I have been to MK and Typhoon Lagoon once about 17 years ago and this was a first visit to WDW for everyone else. I have avoided youtube videos etc for any of the rides (Chloe has done the opposite) but I have seen countless pictures from trip reports. What can I say about our first ride on Kilimanjaro?... it was awesome. I don't think there was a single animal that we didn't see and the lion was prowling up and down the rock roaring as we went round. There were others on our truck saying they had been on loads of times and this was their best ever. If I work out at any time how to post a video I will post one of the lion.
More picture spam coming!

We thoroughly enjoyed the safari and on the way back to Tusker House we stopped to listen to the music in in Africa. There were some kids joining in but Emma was a bit shy to do this at this point.

We arrived at Tusker House a few minutes before our reservation and were handed a buzzer. We waited outside for a few minutes and Emma was on good from running around refusing to pose for a photo.

I thought Tusker House was a really good choice for our first ADR. I really liked the setting, our server was really friendly and adept at topping us up with jungle juice. The character interaction was also really good. he told us we had time to go and get some food before the characters came around As is our normal practice at buffets we got the kids sorted out first before getting our own.

I have no idea whose plate was whose but I know most of us did more than one trip to the buffet. Emma didn't eat a lot but Benjamin loved the sausage patties. The bonus of buffets and family dining for us on this trip was that Benjamin could still have hi only plate despite not having a dining plan being under 3.

We had no idea how the kids would react to characters. Emma last met them about 20 month ago in Disneyland Paris and Benjamin never had. he loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse so we lived in hope that he would take to them.

The first character that arrived at our table was Daisy Duck. The kids got plenty of time with her and she was fantastic. Our server also offered to take photos with our camera.

We needn't have worried. Both kids took to her brilliantly. It is was a moment when we both realised that this trip was a great idea and no way were either of the kids too young like many people say. Daisy became a favourite of Emma's and it cost us a Daisy soft toy at some point during the trip.

Next up was the main man.

Quickly followed by Goofy

With the characters being a huge success and a lovely breakfast Sally and I treated ourselves to a Mimosa on the dining plan to celebrate before Donald Duck arrived.

We paid the gratuity charging it our Magic Band, as we would everything this week, and on the way out Daisy returned for another cuddle with Emma so she was over the moon.

Next up we had a wander around Gorilla Falls Exploration trail. This was pleasant another and held the kids' attention for a few minutes. The queue had now lengthened to 75 minutes for Kilimanjaro Safari but we didn't wait for long for our first fastpass of the holiday. However, Sally gave it a miss as Benjamin was having a nap. I offered to stay with him but she said she wanted to go and get a drink. It was another good Safari.

After this I was desperate for a smoke so headed to the smoking area on the edge of Africa. The smoking areas do sometimes feel that they are actual continents apart in Disney! While I did the that the kids did some dancing in the street to the music outside Tusker House.

We then had a walk over to Pandora for the first time as we had a fastpass for Na'avi River. Benjamin had a nap on the way and Emma wanted an ice cream. She became a bit of a fan of the Mickey ice cream sandwich. We all had various ice creams using snack credits.

Na'avi was ok as a walk on with a fastpass. The standby queue was showing as 105 minutes. There is nothing in this world that would make me queue that long for it. It was pleasant and the kids seemed to enjoy it but I don't really have a lot else to say about it. I do wish I'd got round to watching Avatar before I went like I'd planned though.

After this wo took a mooch over to our last fastpass of the day for Kali River Rapids. It was a bit of a crunch time as we knew Emma was pretty much on the mark for minimum height for this and if she could get on this it would be a good sign for 7DMT and slinky dog which we had fastpasses for later in the holiday.

We headed over and checked how baby swap worked. She scanned all our bands. Chloe, Emma and I went on first while Sally waited with Benjamin. Emma got on with no problem. She was a bit wary of this one and at times on the way round said she wanted to get off. By the end she did say she would go on again though. I love a water ride. none of us got particularly wet which was a bit of a shame as it was really hot again today. Emma was happy enough to go back on with Sally and Chloe so I kept Benjamin amused in the mean time. As I have read before the ride does feel a bit short. They were gone for quite a while. As I was watching I noticed a couple of empty boats then they stopped and an announcement followed that it was down. Fortunately it wasn't down for long and I could see people on the ride again. I kept Benjamin amused watching a little lizard before I managed to spot the girls on their way past.

We then decided to call it a day at Animal kingdom. We didn't want to try and do too much to it on the first day and we had fastpasses later in the trip for the other main attractions. It was on our way out that Chloe realised she had lost her Rayban sunglasses. I wasn't overly surprised as she is pretty well practised at this. She lost her bag with all her money it in at Disneyland Paris when we went. they went to customer services to see if they had been handed in but they hadn't. I had a few digs at her about losing them so she got the hump which culminated in Sally telling me off We all soon got over it on the walk back to the car parked in unicorn.

On return to the hotel we did self parking. I was too tight to pay valet more than once and we headed up to the room. We had a quick change and then headed down to Stormalong bay for a swim. It was pretty busy. We had a magic bands scanned on the way in, we grabbed some towels and found a couple of sunbeds to dump our belongings on. We then all enjoyed a nice afternoon swim and cool down together. Somehow I took no pictures but we had a lovely swim. The san bottom felt a bit weird in the swimming pool but the kids loved getting in the water. Emma was a bit clingy to me in here as she's a bit nervous in the water but I knew she would improve across the holiday. Neither of them really wanted to get out of the pool.

After our swim we dried off and headed to Hurricane Hannah's. The kids were getting hungry so we used a quick service credit between them for chicken Tenders and chips. The portions are plenty big enough for two young kids to share. I made attempts to explain the dining plan to Sally but she still didn't really have a clue We had all taken our resort mugs down with us which we filled in the market place on the way down to the pool.

I did actually get a picture of the kids with their food but due to the amount of condensation I didn't wipe off my camera that is the best I can do. The kids didn't eat it all and the birds were soon in to mop up.

We headed back up to the room for a shower and change. By 18:30 we were off out to head to Disney Springs. We soon got a on a bus from the hotel. We were the last ones squeezed on which left me with the double stroller right at the front. It was all a bit of a squeeze. Both the kids were wide awake but that wouldn't last long with Emma once we got to Disney Spring and put her in her stroller. Benjamin loved a stroll into Disney Springs with Mummy.

I had realised on the bus that I had forgotten my camera so photos were courtesy of Chloe tonight.

As we expected on a Saturday night Disney Springs was really busy.We had a walk around trying to decide what to eat. We had loosely planned on getting a Blaze pizza and when we eventually saw it the queue was really long. We walked along further and found Polite Pig but the queue was every bit as long. Remembering reading on The Dibb that the queue moves pretty quickly at Blaze we stuck with that. While Sally and Chloe queued, the kids were asleep in the stroller, I did a march over to World Of Disney to try and collect our $200 gift card. When I saw the queues at the checkouts I nearly binned the idea but on asking a staff member she directed me to a CM sitting at a little desk near the front of the store. She took my details and checked by ID. he then told me it would take half and hour to prepare it (really?) so I headed back to meet up with Sally and Chloe. I arrived just as they were walking out with Pizza and we made ourselves look homeless by eating it on a wall as there is no way we would have squeezed the stroller into Blaze.


The pizza was really good so I think we made the right choice. Sally, Chloe and I had a pizza each and all enjoyed them.

I'm only posting this one to see what Sally says when she sees it .. she obviously enjoyed the pizza.

Once we had eaten I headed back off to World Of Disney to collect the gift card which I managed to not too much issue. It does a nnoy be al little that they don't just put the $200 credit on your hotel account but I'm sure there are people that wouldn't go to the effort of collecting it. Anyway, Sally and Chloe visited a few shops and did our hotel account some damage in Sephora. After which we headed back to catch the bus back to the Beach Club. We were the first in the queue which must have meant we had just missed one. The queue had built a bit by the time the bus arrived and a couple of diabled electric vehicles were loaded on. As one of them went off the front of it lifted.. then higher and if it wasn't for a couple of people grabbing hold it would have rolled over backwards... I made no comment and was very concerned

The bus back was rammed. Sally was left holding the push chair, I had Emma asleep on me and Chloe had Benjamin asleep on her where we were sat at the back of the bus. Benjamin woke half way back and was starting to play up a little so Chloe and I swapped. The bus journey back felt like forever. Once we arrived at the Yacht Club we got off and decided to walk back from there.

The kids were transferred into bed on our return and I took the resort mugs down to fill up. this would become my nightly task. I then laid in bed and wrote a few notes on my phone before going to sleep. You'll be glad to hear these notes didn't last long into the holiday so the days will probably get shorter as I go along

I'm not sure if Disney Springs was a bit too much for us tonight or not. It was a great first full day in WDW and boded well for the rest of the trip. The last note I wrote was, "I'm not loving the buses, the plan was to get the bus to MK tomorrow..."




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[DisneyDaffodil]

Great first full day, you all did so well to last so long after the early start.
The World of Disney gift card pick up is a pain, we queued ages at a till with one older lady serving, we gave up in the end as we had an adr booked and returned after our meal when the queue was a bit shorter. I guess it’s a free $200 so worth the wait but it could just be picked up at resort reception much easier.
The Disney buses are, on the whole, brilliant but some evenings after a long day the journey can seem to take forever. I love watching the children all dozing or full on sleeping going back late at night, bless them 😀

[Eccle]

Sounds like a great day overall, i’m impressed you managed an early start and an evening in Disney Springs on day 1!

How did you find Stormalong Bay was for the little ones?

[Cinderella]

Great day 👍

[GezzasGem]

Fantastic pics you got of the safari, especially the lions! Lovely first day 👍

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

Great first full day, you all did so well to last so long after the early start.
The World of Disney gift card pick up is a pain, we queued ages at a till with one older lady serving, we gave up in the end as we had an adr booked and returned after our meal when the queue was a bit shorter. I guess it’s a free $200 so worth the wait but it could just be picked up at resort reception much easier.
The Disney buses are, on the whole, brilliant but some evenings after a long day the journey can seem to take forever. I love watching the children all dozing or full on sleeping going back late at night, bless them 😀

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I honestly think there will be people who give up on collecting the gift card if it is difficult enough. It can't be difficult to have them at check in and would probably be easier for them to.
I have read so many good experiences on the Disney transport so I just don't think it was for us on that given night. We wee the ones with the two kids absolutely sparko

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by Eccle

Sounds like a great day overall, i’m impressed you managed an early start and an evening in Disney Springs on day 1!

How did you find Stormalong Bay was for the little ones?

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Impressed or think we are mad? I think we got a bit carried away for the first few days which catches up with us later.
Stormalong Bay was gorgeous and I'm disappointed we didn't spend more time there. The kids loved the pool. I do recall that the lazy river part was very deep. I went in with Benjamin and was soon out of my depth. Luckily I did a 10km open water swim last year but I'm not that fit now and was soon finding it hard work. We never went to the part where the kids could pay in the sand and wished we had but overall I think it is great for kids. You will love it.

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by Cinderella

Great day 👍

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Thank you

Originally Posted by GezzasGem

Fantastic pics you got of the safari, especially the lions! Lovely first day 👍

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Thank you. It really was brilliant that safari. We really enjoyed it and Emma still goes around roaring like the lion.

[Eccle]

Originally Posted by Milpston

Impressed or think we are mad? I think we got a bit carried away for the first few days which catches up with us later.
Stormalong Bay was gorgeous and I'm disappointed we didn't spend more time there. The kids loved the pool. I do recall that the lazy river part was very deep. I went in with Benjamin and was soon out of my depth. Luckily I did a 10km open water swim last year but I'm not that fit now and was soon finding it hard work. We never went to the part where the kids could pay in the sand and wished we had but overall I think it is great for kids. You will love it.

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Maybe a bit of both, but it is the kind of plan that I would think was a good idea too! It’s always hard to get the balance between doing everything and exhaustion!

I definitely want to make the most of Stormalong Bay, I know the older two will love it but I was a bit worried if it would be ok for Barnaby who will be 3.5, it sounds like it should be fine though as long as we keep him out of the lazy river!

[caitlinsmummy]

Good call getting up, I'd have throttled Chris if he went back to sleep again

$50 eeekk. At least you know for next time. Love all the different magic bands, I don't think I got any photos of our magic bands at all

Noah has the same Mickey top as Benjamin love how calm and relaxed you all are just strolling by taking everything in.

The photos are fab in Tusker house, we loved in there and that jungle juice was amazing. The kid's faces meeting the characters are so cute.

I've got to say I didn't notice ANY smoking areas in Disney at all. I don't smoke so wasn't looking for them but don't recall seeing any smoking signs anywhere which I think is fab.

Did you find out why it took half an hour to sort the gift card out? That seems rather odd?

We found the buses were really busy at times too, kind of puts you off a bit.

Fab first full day, looking forward to reading the rest of the report, I'll have to continue tomorrow as I'm falling asleep here (not your writing of course ) xx