The Magnificent Seven - April 2018 - Day 5 - Animal Kingdom and Port Orleans Riverside

[Redrach1903]

Day 4 is here

Wednesday 11th April

I was awake at 4.20am this morning because the room was lighting up! I was sure it was lightning, but Chris told me it was car lights or something. I can't really remember to be honest! I did manage to fall back asleep until 6.45 at which point I got up and made the tea/coffee. Love my wee routine in the villa I could totally settle into it forever. Jake got up at 7.45 and I didn’t write down what time Chris surfaced, but probably not much after me!

While I was sitting outside enjoying my morning tea I decided to jump onto the Port Orleans website to double check that YeeHa Bob was playing at Riverside tonight. Last year we got stung when we turned up only to find he was on holiday! Well thank god I looked cos he was only on bloody holiday again! Oh well!

Morning visitor:



Chris was going off on a solo mission to golf shops this morning. Jake and I were more than happy to be left behind, so we had pop tarts for breakfast and then I went for a shower while Jake played on his iPad by the pool. When I came back outside I could hear him talking and presumed he had FaceTimed his Mum. Queue the following convo:

Me: Is that your Mum?
Jake: No
Me: Oh is it Grandma?
Jake: No
Me: Ok, so who ARE you talking to?"
Jake (looking sheepish): Olivia…

HAHA! Olivia is his wee girlfriend from school and he thought he'd sneak on and chat to her while I was out of earshot. Young love eh? I didn’t want to embarrass him, so just smiled and went back inside.

Once Jake had finished with Olivia, he wanted to go for a swim. Note the blue skies – the weather had officially made a turn for the better





Another morning visitor:



I dragged Jake out the pool at 9.45 to get showered and requested an Uber at 10.05. We were heading off to the Animal Kingdom and Chris was to meet us there later on in time for our Flight of Passage FP!



While we were waiting, Jake informed me that he's thinking about riding Tower of Terror tomorrow….

Our Uber arrived within 5 minutes and our driver was James. He told us there had been an accident on the 192 so he took us down a parallel road. It's actually a continuation of Funie Steed Road, but is unfinished, so it's like a really bumpy dirt road! He told us that it was actually a project started by a local who hated the 192, but it was never finished! Turned out to be a handy wee shortcut and we used it most days! It takes you out opposite Sherbeth Road!

We arrived at 10.25 and had a very pleasant stroll into the park. The contrast from the day before was staggering!







The entrance to the park was absolutely rammed and was moving at a snail's pace! Pffft, this ain't my first rodeo! I grabbed Jake's hand and guided him to Rainforest Café……



And we entered the park this way, with not one other person in sight! BOOM! Jake was well impressed with my secret Disney knowledge!



We stopped for some Photo Passes!







Look at that beautiful blue sky!





Kangaroo? Wallabee? I hate to admit it, but I don’t know the difference!



We had a walk round the back of the Tree of Life, which I think is called Discovery Island Trails? It is a beautiful spot if you've never been.







And guess who appeared round here? FLIK!











Porcupine cuddles!



We then did Gorilla Falls which was soooooooo busy! Where had everyone come from today?! Must have been the change in weather!



Funny to think we were huddled under there for an hour yesterday trying to dodge a storm!



Little yellow birdies!





Fishies!







Jake spent quite a bit of time looking at the various creepy crawlies in the indoor bit. I stayed near the door. I don’t much like that bit! *shudders*.

Sleepy hippo!



Nosey meerkat!



And then onto the main event! I hope they are happy. I always feel a pang of guilt viewing animals out with their natural habitats, but they do seem to have lots of open space here.











We fancied a wee snack next, so we popped into Zuri Sweets which is opposite Harambe Market. There was a lot of droolworthy goodies to choose from!



We were served by the cutest old lady CM. I think she must have been at least 75 years old, such a cutie! Anyway, I went for my old fave chocolate covered strawberries and Jake wanted to try a cake pop. $14 for these.





We found an empty table outside Harambe Market and sat and enjoyed our snacks in the sun It was lovely!





Jake inhaled his cake pop and then ever so subtly looked at my strawberries and said "they look SO good". I really wanted to tell him to beat it cos they are MINE, but I was nice….



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[Redrach1903]

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Chris text while we were sitting there to say that he was parked and was hungry! I told him where we were and said we would wait for him. Once he found us we went off towards Pandora.



I had a place in mind for some grub which comes highly recommended by a few fellow Dibbers – The Nomad Lounge!



We got a seat outside and it was so lovely! Such a nice little hideaway with pretty views!









I chose the African-spiced Wagyu beef sliders, Chris chose the pork ribs AND the sliders and Jake chose grilled fish.







Holy moly, this place was a winner! Those sliders were just amazing, I am drooling just thinking about them! My only complaint is that there were only two, I could easily have devoured 6 Chris did give up most of his second slider to me though

Chris was enjoying his ribs so much that he kept shhhhing me so he could enjoy them uninterrupted! Jake was proper raving about his fish too, he loved it and finished every morsel!

So yeah, a massive thumbs up from us all and we will definitely be back next time! It's not cheap though, $69 for basically 3 appetizers and a kids meal, but it was totally worth every cent! If we weren’t there with Jake I reckon we'd have hung out here with a couple of cocktails too!

This is it looking over from the bridge into Pandora. What a lovely spot, huh?



Into Pandora we go!









Since our PhotoPasses from yesterday were a soggy state of affairs, we recreated them today! Isn't everything better when the sun is shining?





Now it was time to have a good look around! It looked so much better with blue skies!









Something I meant to say yesterday is that Pandora is actually bigger than I was expecting. I’d read a few TRs that mention how small it is, so I was expecting it to be super tiny!





Next up we stopped at Pongu Pongu for a refreshment!



Impressive theming for a wee drinks hut!



There was a really annoying woman in front of us. You know the type, asks an absurd amount of ridiculous questions. I mean, look at the menu. There's really not a whole lot to it.

Once it was finally our turn, I ordered the Night Blossom of course and Chris had a Mo'ara Margartia! Jake didn’t want anything.



Hidden Mickey made out of balls. Ahem…



Both drinks were very delicious indeed! The bursting balls are very strange though

We had a nice walk around taking in all the details until our Flight of Passage FastPass opened (eeeeeep!).



Drink swiped!



We stopped for more Photo Passes.









And continued exploring all the beauty of Pandora!





My boys











Details.



I got a sunnier moss wall pic



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[Redrach1903]

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We wandered into Windtraders for a look.





And Jake immediately zoned in on those daft banshee things. I actually cannot believe they have them roped off and there is a CM there to take people in one by one to demo them! Absolute madness!





Jake was dead set on buying one, but we told him have a proper think about it as they were like $60 incl tax!

Anyway, now it was time for our Flight of Passage FP! Eeeeeep, so exciting! I was so lucky to nab one of these, I had literally been trying 3 or 4 times a day for weeeeeeeeks!



The standby was "only" 2 hours…



The walk into this is beautiful.







The FP line was quick. A little too quick actually as I was hoping we would get into the lab to see all the cool stuff, especially the Avatar in the tank! Oh well! We were soon being sorted into our lines.



We were then shown to the Genetic Matching Room where everyone is assigned a number, scanned and matched to an Avatar. It's a cool pre-show, if a little long. I can imagine it would get tedious if you rode several times.





After that I think we watched a safety video and then off to the ride! The ride seats are individual and they are kinda like sitting on a motorbike! Once you have straddled it (settle), restraints automatically close around your legs back which felt funny!

I was massively excited to see if this lived up to all the hype and I'm pleased to say, that for us, it did. Exhilarating is a good word to describe this ride. It really is clever beyond compare. I literally had my mouth open throughout the whole thing in total awe (that would have been a bonny ride picture ). It's just a stunning attraction and fully deserves all the praise it's been getting. High five Disney! The boys absolutely loved it too! Chris was totally impressed by the breathing of the Banshee! For anyone wondering how it is for kids; Jake really really enjoyed it. There are a couple of encounters with scary creatures where he got a scare and ducked, but it's nothing too terrifying!

More pics around Pandora…





Ummm not quite sure he told us the right place to point!



It was time to leave Pandora now and head on round to Asia. We watched some monkeys and ducks for while on our way.







And Jake played with some water.





We then did the Maharajah Jungle Trek! This is so beautifully themed.









It was very very hot today, so the tigers were hiding out in the shade!



We did have good views of some other beasts though!





Cute birds enjoying the water!





And a peacock!



Our next FP was supposed to be for Kali River Rapids, but it was down and had been all day, so we decided to head over to Everest and use it on that instead of waiting for our actual Everest FP to open up. With me?









Jake was excited to be going back on Everest!







Jake wanted to sit with me this time! I told him I'd let him know when the yeti was coming up so he could look for it!



I kept my phone out to take some photos of the climb and Jake was not impressed with me! "Rachael, put your phone away!" Hahahaha! Such a little worry wart!





Wee snippet of the ride! Love it so much!



Jake's face in this pic



Chris's is pretty funny too



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[Redrach1903]

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We were ready to leave now, but first we had to pop back to Pandora as Jake had decided he definitely needed a shoulder sitting banshee in his life! The CM explained that he needed to take an oath to look after it properly. There was a PhotoPass photographer there to capture the moment. How cute!





One happy little boy! We knew he'd probably never look at it again after the holiday, but it was his $ to do with what he pleased, so we just let him get on with it! He named it Sheeban. See what he did there?





We stopped for another PhotoPass before leaving where Jake again asked for a magic shot!





It was 3.30pm when we left and it was SO hot now. We stopped at Publix as we needed more bin bags for the villa. Jake and I also fancied a sub from the deli! Side note – how good is Cherry Dr Pepper?!



A boy and his banshee!



We all played in the pool for a while before getting ready for night time!



Jake spoke to his Mum again and told her that he was thinking about doing ToT tomorrow. She told him if he did he could get the game he's been pestering her for (Fortnite). That certainly made him think about it a whole lot more, especially when we told him he could have it for our house too!

We were ready to leave the villa at 7.10pm. We had decided that even though YeeHa Bob wasn’t playing we would go to POR anyway! It's a nice resort for a wander around!



Jake was giving this the side eye as we passed it...



We arrived at POR around 7.35pm. It was so nice to be back here! Chris & I stayed here for a week in 2016 and had the best time!





There was one of those sack games at the entrance, so we all had a wee shot!











I was obviously victorious at one point



We went for a look in Fulton's where I fell in love with this top! I wanted a bigger size though! I decided I'd pop back later to see if they could find me one!



We then had a walk round to Acadian House, which is where we stayed in 2016. Such a gorgeous resort! The only thing missing from this resort is apartments! We like space!







Our mansion



It was a lovely wee stroll, after which we were hungry so we headed back to River Mill for some grub!





This is one of the best food courts in Disney I think, there is a lot to choose from! It's so nostalgic for me too, I remember it so vividly from our first ever Disney holiday in 1997. I remember having green j-ello



I had good old chicken tenders, Chris had a Cajun chicken burger and Jake had mac n cheese. This is where his chocolate milk obsession began! $35 for this lot.







After tea we headed round to the arcade for a bit! Boys and their toys!















This is all I participated in! And now, come to think of it, I have no idea where these photos are!



It was definitely time for a drink now, so we walked round to River Roost.



I got my very favourite Disney cocktail – Pina Colava!





Chris had his usual Michelob Ultra!

And we managed to get a selfie sans Jake



I nipped back to Fulton's to see if they had that top in a medium and I was very pleased that they did! I can't remember how much it was though, maybe around $40? When I returned to the table I found this (among others) in my phone!



There was a musician playing in the bar, but it was all very mellow. I was sad that Yeeha Bob was on his hollibobs We left after two drinks each ($39) and were home by 10.45pm. Jake fell asleep in the car again! When we got home I text Emma & co to wish them a safe journey as they would have been getting up very soon! Eeeeep! I couldn't wait to see them!

Jake went straight to bed and I think Chris & I were only about ten minutes behind him! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Thanks for reading along!

Steps today – 20.141 (8.81 miles)

Tomorrow we go to DHS in the morning and in the evening the rest of the gang arrive - it's here

[iheartwdw]

A great day. We love POR too, especially the food court pizza. Gutted that Bob wasn’t there, he’s a real Disney legend.

Looking forward to reading more of your adventures.

Laura Xx

[l33na]

Brilliant fun filled day. Love how Jake sneakily FaceTimed his girlfriend, young love
Pandora looks beautiful. We won’t be doing Disney this year as I’m the only one who wants to. I’d love a Pina Colava, looked yum. You always manage to do a lot with your days. I’m going to have to try and pack more in, he he.
I’m excited to read the rest of your trippie knowing your family are arriving tomorrow.

[Floridafour]

Great read. I’m desperately trying to get FP for FOP no luck yet though. You can’t beat that blue sky, thanks for posting 🙂

[disneypars]

Another fabulous day . Some great photos especially when the sky is so blue. We've never been able to see Yeha Bob either.

[yellowrose78]

Brilliant day with loads of fab pics

[caitlinsmummy]

We're staying at POR in October, your pics have made me so excited!

That top is so cute and I must ask where are those pink flip flops from?

Another fab day X