Thou Shalt Not Cram May 2019 Day 9 Double Disney Day AK and an impromtu visit to MK!

[bootsie]

Today was Memorial Day and also our last day at Disney tomorrow we moved to Universal! We both had a bad nights sleep and the alarm went off at 7.30am which was painful after a late night and little sleep. This was the only time in our laid back, chilled out schedule that we had a late night backed onto an early start. I hadn't intended it like this but some FOP FPs had come available after I made the plan and that was too good to pass up!

We quickly got ready as we wanted to get to AK as early as possible. We picked up two soya lattes which were unfortunately horrible. We called an uber and got to AK for 8.30am not bad going although I wished we had got up earlier.

We had an FP for FOP at 8.50am (Yeeyyyy!) so I suggested going straight to Everest while it was quieter. The wait was 25 mins but I love all the detail in the queue, every fence, post or wall has some yeti related detail on it!

The ride was so much fun and always one of our favourites! No ride photo though it didn't link to the app sadly. When we got off the wait had jumped up to 45 mins so it was good that we got on early. The park was already filling up and there were lines everywhere.

We went to Pandora feeling very fortunate to have an FP for FOP. The line went all the way back to the walkway to Africa?! It was 240 mins long but the FP queue was literally empty. There was a big group of really excited kids that pushed in front of us at the loading area but we knew they were just over excited. Obviously the ride was amazing again and I tried to absorb as much of it as possible feeling very lucky to have ridden it twice.

When we came out we took some time to explore Pandora. There was someone dressed as an avatar out which was cool. We got a night blossom drink I thought it was really nice and took lots of photos.

Bye bye Pandora for now!

It was now 10.30am so we got in the queue for Lion King with FP. There were lots of hot and grumpy folk about today inc my husband! The theatre was full to the rafters but the show was good. I absolutely love The Lion King and all the songs. We then took some time to explore Africa as we hadn't really looked round it this trip. We walked the Gorilla Trails. Most of the animals were understandably hiding from the heat. We saw some really pretty birds, the hippo and the back of a gorilla. I hope they don't keep the hippo in that enclosure all the time it was very small but the gorilla ones seemed very spacious. We picked up some cold drinks (we had so many drinks today!) I got a watermelon lemonade it was yummy.

We walked towards the entrance taking lots of photos on the way. I absolutely love this park.

We headed to Tough to be a Bug which was supposed to be a 10 min wait but it felt like much longer. We didn't mind the outdoor part of the queue as I just love the tree and it is a great chance to see all the details. But once we got inside the holding area it was very uncomfortable. Everyone was hot and sweaty crammed in together. It seemed like we were kept waiting for ages and some people got a bit frustrated. I felt guilty for deciding to go on this ride rather than just call it a day. Anyway when we finally did get on it was actually really good and we agreed it was worth the wait. Jono didn't remember it from last time either.

By now we were well and truly melting but we had done everything we wanted to so we hotfooted it out of there (literally!) and called an uber. While we were waiting a nice Disney cast member was talking to us. He was trying to persuade us to come back tonight as apparently Rivers of Light had changed since we saw it the first time and now it is more Lion King themed. I would like to see it but another time.

We got the uber straight to Wholefoods and quite predictably had another salad box. Again there were different things on offer which is great. I also decided to treat myself to a vegan chocolate mousse cake which was nice.

We walked back to the hotel calling in at the gift/tat shops which we had already scouted out. We got some little gifts for our niece and nephews and my sister. When we got back to the hotel we saw that the pool was packed so we chilled out in the room for an hour.

Our plans to hit the pool for the last time were forgotten and we have a Napccident (accidental nap! ) but we both really needed it and felt better for it.

We had decided to make an impromptu return visit to MK tonight YEEEYYYYY It was a blatent breach of our no cramming policy but this was our last disney night and I wanted to see them again so much!

We got up about 6.30pm Jono was hungry as he hadn't really eaten all day. We needed something quick, filling and have vegan options but didn't want to eat at MK so we decided on Hopdoddy Burgers againnnnnn for the third time in 10 days opps... We didn't particularly want to eat there again but it seemed like the best choice in the circumstances.

When we got there I was pleased to see that they had the Impossible burger back in stock so I ordered that. Jono wasn't feeling very vegan so he got a bacon cheeseburger again. Mine was ok but salty although as a meat substitute I swear no one could tell the difference. Jono forgot to order his burger well done so it was a bit too pink for him but he ate as much as he could. This was our least favourite meal here but maybe we had just come too many times.

Looks just like meat doesn't it!

We went back to the hotel and called an uber which was only $13 today. We got the ferry over and it was another beautiful sunset.

It is fair to say that we noticed a somewhat hostile atmosphere in MK tonight. It was very busy and there were lots of frazzled people. As we were walking off the boat in a huge crush I made a small step to the side so fill a space next to Jono. The woman behind me rammed me with her stroller. I didn't say anything as I just thought it was just an accident with so many people about and I just hadn't seen her coming. She started really aggressively shouting at me "if you walk in front of me I will ram you" and then kept shouting the same thing louder and louder. Normally I would confront someone like that as there was honestly no need for it but I knew Jono would be mortified if I did and I refused to let this weird outburst ruin our holiday zen.

As we walked into Main Street we saw another woman screaming at her teenage kids, literally screaming in their faces saying that she can never please them, one of them was in tears it was not a nice sight! So yeah it felt to us like there was a weird atmosphere tonight but we were here for one thing only - the fireworks.

We got a coffee and went to grab a spot. We got a great pog straight away in front of the castle. There was one person in front of us and then the fence so we knew noone could push in front today. The time did seem to drag so badly tonight and I think they started later as well.

Once they did start I was just blown away all over again! I tried to take it all in and resist taking too many photos but it was really hard when I knew we wouldn't be seeing them again. I just wanted to try and capture the memory of this incredible show.

At the time I thought that the park didn't feel too busy as we left I realised this was completely wrong and it was mental far busier than we have ever experienced. We debated walking to the Contemporary rather than getting the ferry but by the time we decided to walk we were already stuck in a mass of people queuing for the ferry. Feeling like Simba trying to dodge wildebeests we waited for it to move so we could squeeze out of the exit to the side. It was basically a case of wait for the ferry or wait at the Contemporary but at least it was quieter at the resort. It took about 10 mins for the uber to get there and we were shattered after a busy day. We had an absolutely brilliant time I am so glad we made time to see the fireworks again. Today we basically did all of our favourite things it was great!

Total Spend = $269 wayyy over budget but we bought presents today

[GezzasGem]

Great find of an early FOP FP! Booking mine today and a little apprehensive 🤞 shame about crazy stroller lady..takes all sorts! 🤔😄

[bootsie]

Originally Posted by GezzasGem

Great find of an early FOP FP! Booking mine today and a little apprehensive 🤞 shame about crazy stroller lady..takes all sorts! 🤔😄

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Good luck! We got them after 30 days as well because AK changed its opening hours so don't lose hope. I still think if we haven't got them then going last thing at night would have been a good idea. Have a great time! Thanks for reading!

[collybird]

We've had a few holiday meltdowns too, hopefully not bad enough that anyone else would notice though! I think we put so much pressure on ourselves to have as wonderful a time as we've planned that when things go awry we don't always behave rationally. That accounts for the woman screaming at her teenagers, there's no excuse for the crazy woman using a pram as a weapon! I hate those people.