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Old 11 Feb 21, 01:20 PM  
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Silvercat
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WDW 2019 - day 7

Previous day is https://www.thedibb.co.uk/forums/sho... php?t=1188596

DAY 7 – Tuesday 03 December

Plan : Animal Kingdom
Actual : We got up to another sunny but unseasonably cold day, which was a bit worrying as we didn’t have any warm clothing with us! Anyway, we got ready, had some coffee, and drove to the Animal Kingdom, which looked particularly busy. We struggled to find a parking space in the disabled area, finally finding one in the very last row, although this was actually closer to the park entrance, bizarrely.

Expedition Everest was our first FastPass today, but as we approached Asia, the ride seemed very quiet and we couldn’t see the cars running. I checked MDX on my phone, to see that there was a note on our FastPass saying that the ride was currently unavailable and that our FastPasses could be used for another attraction up to 6.00 p.m. that day. We stood near a fence around the lake to debate what to do next, and suddenly heard what sounded like ride cars running – we looked over to Everest and it did appear to be running again, so we went over to check it out. It was indeed working, so on we got! We enjoyed the ride, although for some weird reason it seemed to be faster and steeper than we remembered it being, particularly the backwards bit in the dark, which seemed to have a very steep and long drop. We agreed that we would ride it again at some point, just not quite yet!

We took a slow walk back towards DinoLand, and saw Kevin from Up! She was loads of fun, it was difficult to interact with her as she didn’t keep still for more than a few seconds at a time, and kept flapping her tiny wings and squawking at everyone. She was gorgeous! We hadn’t seen her before in a park, so were quite excited to finally meet her, although DH’s photo of me with her was a bit rushed as she kept moving about and there was no Photopass photographer around.

Continuing the theme this year of trying new things, I had decided that I would give Dinosaur a go. I’ve never ridden it before, as the pre-ride warnings made me a bit wary, but DH rode it for the first time a couple of years ago and thought I would be able to handle it. We approached the building, and saw the standby line was 35 minutes, so I went and got a Guest Assistance Pass time for 30 minutes later, and we found a nearby bench to sit on and wait, which was nice. When we went back in, instead of going through the FastPass line, we were directed to a lift which bypassed the whole queue, and we ended up at the exit area. A Cast Member looked after our walking sticks for us, and we were loaded into the next available car. I thought the ride was great fun, I really enjoyed it! It is a bit bumpy in places, but I then wished I had ridden it years ago because I had a super time with the dinosaurs, and bonus – we didn’t get eaten by anything!

After this we walked over to Kilimanjaro Safaris, which we rode with our FastPasses. I always forget how large the area is that you cover on this ride. We saw 3 baby giraffes, one of which was only born in April 2019, and had been born unexpectedly during the day right in front of one of the ride trucks! There were lots of Rhinos, we just about saw 3 sleeping lions, (2 female, 1 male), and we also saw a cheetah striding around, which we hadn’t seen before.

Once we returned from our 2-week safari, we realised we were a bit hungry, so went to the Yak & Yeti Counter Service for brunch. I got us both honey chicken with rice, and then got Sprite for DH while I had a Bud Light. With hindsight this was a bit of a mistake, I was so obsessed with getting alcohol just because we could, that I seemed to forget that neither of us really drinks much alcohol at home, and beer in the middle of the day just made me want to sleep! I struggled to finish this, and eventually gave up and just threw away the last couple of mouthfuls, (it was a pint, not just a bottle). Anyway, the food was really good, we always enjoy the honey chicken. The seating area was quite busy, we ended up on a long table and were eventually joined by a couple of guys who didn’t speak to each other, never mind us, despite me smiling at them in a friendly manner.

Next we walked back towards the park entrance, and I sat on a bench while DH used the smoking area nearby, and then we went to Pandora. We were starting to develop a routine with the Guest Assistance Pass, in that I would book a slot for whichever ride was fairly nearby but we didn’t have a FastPass for, then we would ride something using our FastPass, before making our way back to the ride with the GA Pass. So as we had a FastPass for Flight of Passage next, I first of all went to Na’vi River Ride and booked a GA Pass time for that, with a return time of 60 minutes later, and then we headed over to Flight of Passage. I was really excited to be riding this for the first time, but the standby line was crazy long, about 120 minutes at that point, and this was a shame as I would have liked to experience the theming in the regular queue line. But not enough to spend 2 hours slowly shuffling through it! So we made our way rapidly through the FastPass line, and pretty soon I was experiencing the pre-show, which was fun. We stepped into the simulator room, stashed our bags and sticks in the locker space at the back, and I boarded my banshee and put on my 3D glasses. I was a little nervous, I am not a bit fan of heights or the sensation of falling, so I felt somewhat apprehensive as I didn’t know what to expect from this ride. However, I need not have worried, it was AWESOME! My banshee was breathing gently between my knees, and she didn’t fall from anywhere, she swooped. Every dream I have ever had about flying happened in real(ish) life right there – it was an incredible experience, I absolutely loved it. Best ride EVER. DH said afterwards that he enjoyed the ride more with me shrieking and gasping, than he did riding it alone last year!

We needed a coffee break, so went to Satu’li Canteen, which looked really nice. Pandora was rapidly becoming our favourite area in the Animal Kingdom! We got coffee, but I also got DH a blueberry cream cheese mousse, and I had a seasonal dessert – peppermint white chocolate mousse. Both of these were a perfect dome shape, very attractive, and they were both utterly delicious! Very light mousse, with lots of flavour, plus mine was pink and white, so pretty.

A quick restroom break, then back over to Nav’i to ride with our FastPass. A really lovely boat ride, we particularly like the shadows of the frog-like creatures on leaves above your head, and the singing Shaman.

From there DH took a smoking break, then we walked over to check out the times of Up! A Great Bird Adventure show. A show was scheduled to start in about 10 minutes, so we joined the queue and were soon seated about halfway down the auditorium, on the left hand side. We hadn’t seen this show since the addition of characters from Up!, and we really liked it, although I don’t think we need to repeat it very often. A huge owl flew right over DH’s head at one point, and I liked that they had left some elements in there from the original show, such as telling people that if they ducked when a bird flew over their heads, the bird would only fly lower!

As we left the theatre at the end of the show, there were some Dwali dancers doing a Bollywood dance demonstration nearby, so we stopped to watch that. It was really vibrant and colourful, and the dancers really engaged with the audience.

After this, we were beginning to get cold and tired. The sun was setting and we really felt the cooler weather, so, much as we wanted to experience Pandora at night and the Tree of Life night-time projections, we made the decision to leave both of these for another day, and took a slow stroll out of the park. We drove back to Old Port Royale, which is what the reception area of Caribbean Beach Resort is called, parked up, and went into the food court to get coffee and hot chocolate in our refillable mugs. We weren’t hungry for dinner, so just picked up a chocolate chip cookie for DH and a rice krispie treat for me, using snack credits. I also collected yesterday’s shopping in Epcot from the resort store.

We drove back to our room, where I had a shower while DH watched TV, then we had our drinks and snacks, and it wasn’t long before lights out and we were snoozing.

Next day is here
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Edited at 03:50 PM.
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Old 11 Feb 21, 02:21 PM  
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mick
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Another good if cold day we were there at the same time and just checked what we did that day and our records say it only got to 61❄️ All day

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