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Old 5 Aug 19, 01:13 PM  
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Man v Disney
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Join Date: Jun 15
Day 11 - Back once again like a Floriday Master - AK/Yak N Yeti/Cracker Barrel/AK

Apologies that today is a little late being written up. It was a very full on day and then we had Discovery Cove so not enough time!

After an early start we headed to Animal Kingdom for the third time. It was an a quick drive over again, the villa is so well located. It was already filling up quickly and so we parked in Dinosaur 38 again. The weather didn’t look great today so we planned to do mainly non rides and then see what happened with the rain.

Just as we approached the tram to take us over to the entrance, Eliana realised that she didn’t have her magic band. She had been the last one to wake up and in making sure that she was sun-creamed up and ready had forgotten to put it on. Han was ready to head back to get it, but after checking with a cast member we went in and popped to guest services. They were able to fix the problem by giving her a card with all the details on, once Han had shown her ID. Panic averted!

While she was sorting this out, Josiah and I had headed over to Pandora to get a return time for FOP, which was after 12.43 – already a 210 minute wait. I felt a bit sorry for one guy who saw this and said a 2 hour 10 minute wait isn’t too bad! We all regrouped at Festival of the Lion King for our first Fastpass. Han loves this as she remembers when Josiah was Mufasa in his end of Year 6 school production. It was amazing, again, and we really enjoyed it. We were in the Elephant section and were able to do a very good impression. Disney really do live shows so brilliantly… really high quality and each one feels like a mini Broadway show in itself.



Our next destination was the Rafiki planet watch and the animation experience as we wanted to try a different one today. Once we walked over there we had just missed Ka, from Jungle Book, with the next one being Simba, who we had already drawn. We agreed to return later and do Scar, one of Eliana’s favourite villains.

As we were in this area we went into the affection section and saw the sheep, goats, donkeys, pigs and Llama. Eliana loved this area, and with it being feeding time she thought the whole thing was amazing, especially as the goats and sheep are free to roam around the area. We followed this up with a visit to the Conservation area, and although we just missed the vet team fixing a porcupine’s punctured eye (owweeeee), were able to look at a whole load of different animals and insects.



We got the train back over to the main park and took an immediate right and went to the Gorilla Falls. We spent a good amount of time wandering round and looking at the Gorilla’s and various other animals. There is so much more here than many people realise and I would recommend that when you visit AK you look beyond Asia and Pandora.



Our next fastpass time had opened up and so we headed over to Expedition Everest to enjoy this. Brilliant fun as always, as our pictures show!

We were hungry and so popped to the Yak n Yeti quick service to get a few snacks which we had been keen to try. Eliana had the Chicken Fried Rice while we shared the Honey Chicken and pork egg rolls and bought a mini mango pie for pudding. These were delicious and the reviews were fully correct, the cost came to $30.60. A fair price and we were suitably filled by this.



The final fastpass had opened up and so we headed to Up! A great bird adventure. Well, at least we got to sit down for 25 minutes while we were in here. It was not exactly what we were expecting and we certainly feel like we have seen better bird shows, however it gave us a little break and the birds they do showcase are pretty cool – Eliana liked Doug & Russell from Up though so that made it (sort of) worth it?
On our way to go back to Rafiki we popped in to a shop to have a look at some gifts, Josiah saw some pockys and decided to go for these. They were a Cookies and Cream version of Mikado’s. Han saw a t-shirt she liked the design of although wouldn’t wear it.





As Josiah munched on his pockys on our way through the park we got the train over to Rafiki (again) and headed straight to the Animation Experience as the start time was 2.30 and we were closing in on this. All of us managed to get there on time and we went in and got ready to draw Scar, a fair bit more challenging than Simba.

Our attempts were all good and Eliana was well pleased with her end result. We were all happy that our end results looked like the actual thing! (as you can see! ) and Han is looking forward to adding another to her collection as she has a fastpass on our last AK day while we do Expedition Everest again.




As we got to the train station it started to rain quite heavily and it looked like it was set in for an hour or two. We made the decision to save the FOP return for when we came back later tonight. After donning our ponchos we headed back to the car park lot and arrived back at the car after getting a lift at the tram.

We had a couple of hours in the villa where we played in the pool and slept (not at the same time!). Eventually it was time for us to head out for tea at one of our favourites from last time, Cracker Barrel on West Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway.

If you haven’t been before, you walk through a rather eclectic shop before you get to the restaurant and Han had spotted some bits she wanted to look at before we reached the restaurant area… she would be back!

We checked in at the podium and the greeter ‘greeted’ us with the dodgiest British accent known to man! He even asked if he had said Lincoln right ‘Lyn-con’ and we suggested he could just say it the same as the former presidents surname (?)!

We were seated quickly and given the menu – we chose not to have a breakfast menu although they do do all day breakfasts – and made our choices to let our server know.

Han, Josiah and I all chose the Cracker Barrel Sampler which was meatloaf, chicken n dumplings and sugar roasted ham and we all got 3 sides each… mostly consisting of fried Okra, mac n cheese and has brown casserole with a few fried apples and bowls of corn. Eliana chose the Southern Fried Chicken with fries and corn.

Josiah wasn’t as keen on his as the rest of us but we soon polished it off – only to realise that the corn muffins and biscuits that come with it never arrived. We were too full by then and so didn’t make a fuss.

We paid the bill ($57 with $11 tip) and had a mooch around the shop. You may remember that Eliana had $5 to spend from the lady in the wheelchair – well, this went on Pokemon cards! Not sure why as she has hundreds at home she never looks at but maybe American ones are different?



I was half expecting Han to come out with a basket full but in reality, I saw 2 (more) tops I really liked and so I got those and Han only picked up a handcream as a gift. We did spot that they had 20% off Yankee Candles so might pop back unless there are any outlet bargains to be had.



Leaving Cracker Barrel we headed back to Animal Kingdom and parked on the opposite side of the parking lot in Peacock 7.

As we headed in, loads were leaving although the park still seemed full, and we walked straight to Pandora to use our return time for Flights of Passage. The cast member on the inner turnstile asked us which level we would like to ride on. Han went for the lower level again and the rest of us asked to be on the highest level as we hadn’t done that one – apparently the lowest level is 4ft from the ground, middle is 16ft and highest is 32ft.

I think my favourite is middle now I have done all of them – you get a great overall view. It’s also best sitting on the far left side as you get a bit more of the ‘mist’ sensation. Such an amazing ride – I can’t imagine how things could get better (although Galaxy’s Edge will give it a run for it’s money!).

I went from there to get a return time for Everest while the others were going to get seats for Rivers of Light as we missed it with the downpour and storm the other night. Unfortunately we were running late as, even with a fastpass, Flights of Passage took nearly 40 minutes. I was coming out from getting the Everest return time and heard the others calling my name.

Apparently, when they got to the standby entrance, a cast member called Alexa asked if they had a fastpass. Han said no, that we had the package a few nights ago but the storm stopped it, and Alexa told them to follow her and took them to the front of the fastpass entrance to wait for me. I joined them and she had a few words with the guys at the turnstile and in we went – to possibly some of the best seats there were.

Rivers of Light was brilliant. It combined footage from lots of Disney’s animal and nature (including Moana, Bambi, Jungle Book, Brother Bear, Nemo, Dory and Lion King plus others) projected onto arches of water along with music and floating lily pads and boats with projections, flames, glitter and fireworks – what more would you want!



Leaving the stadium was a nightmare though and Josiah really needed the restroom – sorry Suzie – loo before our nighttime Expedition Everest so it took a little longer to ride it that we anticipated. Still – it was amazing in the dark and seemed faster than ever.



Han went to try and get us a place for the safari but found out that it closed at 9pm, just as Rivers of Light were starting, so headed back to Pandora as we knew we wanted to look at the theming and take photos of it at night time. She actually managed to get us a return time for 9.47pm (park closes at 10pm) so we got to ride it again… this time all of us on the bottom level. We feel very lucky to have been able to ride it 5 times and will hopefully get in another before our tickets expire.

We left the ride and had a look round at Pandora – just beautiful. I said to Han that I’m definitely in the right job. The imagineers who come up with ideas and theming know exactly how much is enough without being too much or too little. I'm certainly not cut out to be an imagineer!

We decided it was time to leave the park and stood and watched the Tree of Life nighttime lights and show then went off to the car and got home around 10.45pm. We packed our bags for the morning as it was going to be an early start – we want to leave the villa at 6.20am to get to Discovery Cove for an early dolphin swim time!


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Trip 1: 2 weeks SSR with DDP 2012
Trip 2: 4 weeks SSR and villa with DDDP 2016
Trip 3: 4 weeks CBR (1) / Villa (3) with DDDP 2019
Trip 4: 3 weeks Villa with Parks 2023

Edited at 01:17 PM.
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Old 5 Aug 19, 04:50 PM  
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katnav
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Such a great day. Really enjoying your report so far. Love how you dip in and out of the parks. This is how we are hoping to do it in a week or so as last time we were full on but feel the heat and rain will mean your style will be more appropriate.

Thanks for sharing.
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Old 5 Aug 19, 10:33 PM  
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Man v Disney
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Join Date: Jun 15
Originally Posted by katnav View Post
Such a great day. Really enjoying your report so far. Love how you dip in and out of the parks. This is how we are hoping to do it in a week or so as last time we were full on but feel the heat and rain will mean your style will be more appropriate.

Thanks for sharing.
Glad you are enjoying it! We find that as there are usually storms mid afternoon you hit the parks at the better times (weather wise) and avoid getting too wet, also the queues tend to not be as bad early and late in the day. Staying to the end is a great way to make the most of a park!
__________________
Trip 1: 2 weeks SSR with DDP 2012
Trip 2: 4 weeks SSR and villa with DDDP 2016
Trip 3: 4 weeks CBR (1) / Villa (3) with DDDP 2019
Trip 4: 3 weeks Villa with Parks 2023
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Old 6 Aug 19, 08:00 AM  
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THE WIZARD
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Excellent report. We will be 'doing' FOP for the first time in September & I never knew b4 your report there were 'levels'! Like Sorin, so thanks for that if asked I'll say middle end then. Yak & Yeti our fav restaurant so nice to hear the QS place sounds just as good.
Glad you all had a good day.
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Old 6 Aug 19, 01:09 PM  
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Man v Disney
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Join Date: Jun 15
Originally Posted by THE WIZARD View Post
Excellent report. We will be 'doing' FOP for the first time in September & I never knew b4 your report there were 'levels'! Like Sorin, so thanks for that if asked I'll say middle end then. Yak & Yeti our fav restaurant so nice to hear the QS place sounds just as good.
Glad you all had a good day.
FOP is amazing, I think we have voted it our favourite 'ride', even though its not a coaster!

Thanks for reading.
__________________
Trip 1: 2 weeks SSR with DDP 2012
Trip 2: 4 weeks SSR and villa with DDDP 2016
Trip 3: 4 weeks CBR (1) / Villa (3) with DDDP 2019
Trip 4: 3 weeks Villa with Parks 2023
Man v Disney is offline Boy Mouse Click to view Members Trip Plans Add Member to Ignore List
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