Once Upon a Family / April 2018 / Day 8 Animal Kingdom

[NatsyNoo]

It was another early start today and the alarm was sounding at 6.45am. We had breakfast in the lounge, sorted Shari’s Magic Band issues (where she had joined us midway through, we needed to set up room access, charging privileges, etc, on her newly acquired Magic Band) and then got the bus to Animal Kingdom.

AK_BRDGBTM_20180415_410926796683 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

AK_BRDGBTM_20180415_410926796686 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

We were hoping to leave a bit earlier than what we did, so we didn’t manage to ride Flight of Passage which was already showing a 60-minute wait before the park had even opened, so we decided to skip it (we had a Fastpass for later in the trip, so it wasn’t the end of the world), and headed over to ride Expedition Everest instead.

AK_EVRST1_20180415_410926123437 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

AK_EXPEDITIONEVERESTRIDE_20180415_8218527982 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

We then went over to Kilimanjaro Safari, which was virtually a walk-on.

IMG_8616 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

IMG_8608 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr
IMG_8602 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

IMG_8583 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

IMG_8569 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

IMG_8576 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

IMG_8565 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

Matt and I grabbed a couple of bottles of water ($6) before heading back over to Asia for Kali River Rapids which was a 15-minute wait.

IMG_8617 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

After this, we went over to ride Dinosaur but it definitely is not worth the 40-minute wait so we rode Primeval Whirl instead.

On our way over, we redeemed our pixie dust ice creams from Hollywood Studios the previous week – they tasted all the better!

IMG_8619 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

IMG_8618 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

Next up, we had a Fastpass for the 12.30pm showing of Festival of the Lion King, and we grabbed two drinks ($6.51) for while we were waiting.

Molly and Shari adored the show, after which we headed over to our lunchtime ADR at Tusker House. We had originally been due to go to Rainforest Café for lunch, but since the twins were no longer with us, and my sister hadn’t quite enjoyed TRex as much as anticipated last week, we opted to switch at the last minute.

We were thankfully able to check in a bit earlier than our reservation time, and was very excited to order my POG juice! The shrimp curry was also an unexpected favourite from the buffet.

IMG_8654 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

IMG_8651 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

IMG_8632 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

IMG_8650 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

IMG_8638 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

After lunch, Dad and Shari headed back for some pool time; whilst the rest of us went to ride Navi River Journey for the first time using our Fastpass. Man oh man were we disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, the animatronics are impressive and it’s very pretty but to tier that Fastpass with Flight of Passage was absurd. I think it’s a once only experience and we probably won’t bother again on future trips.

As we came out of Navi River Journey, the heavens began to open and we frantically reached for our ponchos. Dan and Reaz decided to call it a day at this point, whilst Matt and I went to meet Mickey & Minnie using our Fastpass. We then used our extra Expedition Everest child swap pass that we had picked up this morning.

AK_ADVOUTPOSTA1CHARACTER_20180415_410925860112 by Natalie Pope, on Flickr

We headed to the bus at 4pm and found that Dad, Shari, Louise, Dan and Molly were there too! They had clearly had a long wait!

When we got back to the hotel, we showered and changed, and decided that our plans to return to Animal Kingdom for Rivers of Light were thwarted as this rain was in for the night. Louise, Dan and Molly had decided to stay in and catch up on laundry for the evening, so Matt and I decided to head to the Premium Outlets for a couple of hours.

We ordered an Uber which cost $12.44 and visited our usual haunts. I was prepared to melt the credit card but this didn’t happen. I only bought a tshirt in Ralph Lauren ($17.99 but I had a discount code which meant it only came to $14.37 in the end), and in the Character Warehouse, we bought a Jedi hoodie for Matt’s youngest son $14.99, a Hissy plushie from Puppydog Pals $7.99, some It’s a Small World Magic Bandits (which we lost the next day I think!) 99c and a colouring book for Molly $1.99 (total $27.65), before heading back to the hotel at 7pm ish. That Uber cost $13.55.

When we got back to the hotel, we were a bit peckish so grabbed a couple of flatbreads from the Beach Club Marketplace (2 QS credits), and some ice cream and a milkshake from Beaches & Cream (2 snack credits) before heading up to the room.

Once I’d eaten, I packed away our dirty laundry so far (we weren’t planning to wash any clothes whilst there so I just rolled everything up and put it in one of the suitcases), played with Molly for a while, and ended up drifting off at about 10pm.

[mick]

Another good day

Joan

[Goldia]

A mini shopping trip, not quite the haul you were hoping for by the sounds of it. I hope you were able to catch rivers of light later in the trip.

[collybird]

I'd never thought of popping to the Outlets later at night, I imagine parking is much easier!?

Love your skirt today, you planned your outfits so well.

[anniebee65]

I should’ve been commenting all along so apologies because I am thoroughly enjoying this trip. We stayed at the beach club back in 2015 and you are reminding me what I love about those Epcot resort hotels. There’s a lovely pace to your trip and I look forward every day to the updates

[anniebee65]

PS Well done on managing those tricky family dynamics!

[yellowrose78]

Great day, shame you didn't get as many bargains as you'd hoped

[Toff Princess]

Oh your Everest photo is amazing! I must try that with DH if he can stop screaming!

[NatsyNoo]

Originally Posted by mick

Another good day

Joan

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Thank you again for reading!

Originally Posted by Goldia

A mini shopping trip, not quite the haul you were hoping for by the sounds of it. I hope you were able to catch rivers of light later in the trip.

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At least we went so I knew I wasn't missing out on anything! It's not like I didn't spend enough in Disney
Yes we did make it for Rivers of Light, I'll get that posted soon!

Originally Posted by collybird

I'd never thought of popping to the Outlets later at night, I imagine parking is much easier!?

Love your skirt today, you planned your outfits so well.

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I actually find it harder but the Uber took away from any parking stress! They are open til late so it's a good way of preserving a park day!
Thank you!

Originally Posted by anniebee65

I should’ve been commenting all along so apologies because I am thoroughly enjoying this trip. We stayed at the beach club back in 2015 and you are reminding me what I love about those Epcot resort hotels. There’s a lovely pace to your trip and I look forward every day to the updates

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Thank you for reading and commenting. Those hotels are just so perfect in terms of location. We favour Yacht to Beach but both are fab and Stormalong Bay is worthy of its reputation!

Originally Posted by anniebee65

PS Well done on managing those tricky family dynamics!

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Haha thank you!

Originally Posted by yellowrose78

Great day, shame you didn't get as many bargains as you'd hoped

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Ah well more money to spend in Disney eh!

Originally Posted by Toff Princess

Oh your Everest photo is amazing! I must try that with DH if he can stop screaming!

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Aww thank you!

[Lisa29]

Great day again, shame the weather disrupted your plans x