Do They Know It's Christmas? Helen&Andy-Nov17. Day 7 - Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios

[HelenJNT]

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Day 7: Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios


We hadn’t bothered setting an alarm for today as we were into the point of the holiday where we were over the jet lag and we had already visited all of the parks once so there wasn’t the burning need to get up and rope drop. I was quite surprised at our laissez-faire attitude to all of this and I have to admit, the question “Don’t you get bored of going to the same place every year?” that we’re all inevitably asked whenever we announce we’ve booked another Disney holiday, was starting to prey on my mind. I was going to address this in my final summary post, but instead you can have my thoughts here - I’ve started so I’ll finish (classic INTJ).

Don’t get me wrong, we absolutely were not bored and we were having a wonderful time but to go from visiting once every three years to once a year was a bit of a change for us. Usually we don’t take it for granted at all and want to wring every drop out of a trip, exhausting ourselves in the process, but this time felt very different and made us much more chilled out. You’ll probably have noticed that I am nowhere near as ranty in this trip report as I was in the previous one. I was chatting to Brett (HappyHaunt1000) and he made a really valid point, which is that when you’ve had a stressful time at work and have been desperately counting down to your holiday, you make more of a conscious effort not to get frustrated and wound up during your trip as you’re just so happy to be there and not at work. This was absolutely spot on (so wise, Brett) and I think it made for a nicer and more relaxed fortnight.

Yes, the Thanksgiving crowds were a nightmare, and yes, we were a bit narked that the standby lines were so long, thereby meaning we didn’t get to ride as much as we usually would have done, but somehow, despite the odd gnashy moment – like the bad day we had at DHS earlier in the trip - it was all just fine and we were going with the flow. I’m not entirely sure Andy was familiar with this zenbot of a wife (bearing in mind he was the one that had to sit through my Boathouse meltdown last year) but he wasn’t complaining either. I also really think that the heat had something to do with it – I hadn’t realised how much walking 10+ miles per day in 100f humidity had affected me in the Spring and I was finding the temperatures in November altogether more pleasant. Sure, we didn’t get a brilliant tan and we didn’t get to swim in the pool, but it was so nice not to have to feel uncomfortable and sweaty all the time and need to lurch from air con to air con all the time. I’m not from the same mould as Everything-Is-Awesome Man, and am certainly not much of a one for sugar coated trip reports so you’ll just have to believe me that everything just felt…smoother…this time around.

I also think that going Wednesday-Wednesday was a bit of a revelation. Although I know it’s just the same length trip as going on a Saturday, psychologically it felt very different as the trip spanned over three weeks rather than just a solid two. Does that make any sense? Plus the fact that we had two very short weeks at work either side worked wonders. We were entering into the second week and whilst there was the inevitable sadness, it wasn’t the massive punch in the “heart balls” (another Brett-ism there) that it usually was. Not because we weren’t having fun, just because we knew we still had a load of fun ahead.

So, where was I? Back in the room, we were awake at 07:00, which, despite everything I just said above, is still ridiculously early when on holiday. We’d both had a solid eight hours though which is always noteworthy for me as I am a terrible sleeper and have started to suffer from insomnia this year. I can always think of something better to be doing (working, or looking at kittens on the internet) than sleeping, and I seem to have inadvertently trained the awake side of my brain to be ridiculously dominant. So yes, eight hours without waking is always something of a revelation.

We left the room at 09:30 and, well, what do you know? Animal Kingdom Lodge FINALLY knew it was Christmas!

There was the tree, fully resplendent and looking glorious. We’d been waiting seven days for this moment! And what a tree. It was huge! All decked out in safari themed decorations and looking immaculate. Despite knowing that there won’t be snow in Africa this Christmas, it still made us very happy.

With that, we were out of the door and onto an Animal Kingdom bus straight away. Being the day before Thanksgiving, it was really busy and the bus was standing room only. We didn’t mind though, it wasn’t like it was a long journey. We had a great bus driver who was really cheery and chatted to us all the way to the drop-off point, wishing everyone happy holidays and giving us lots of facts like the closing times for all the parks – he mentioned several times that “both Kingdoms” were open the latest today. He also gave all the bus stop numbers several times – not that we remembered any of them – and we loved his enthusiasm, feeling it set us up nicely for the day.

We walked into the park at just before 10:00, and well, it was elbow to elbow. Andy wanted a Starbucks breakfast but we saw the queue and it was about 60 people deep even on the outside of the building, so, well, nope. That’s a hell of a wait for a coffee and certainly not one we were prepared to do. The line there was longer than ones we saw for character meets later in the day.

Our fast passes weren’t for a couple of hours so we needed to make a plan, and fast!

We decided to get the train over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch and when we arrived at the Harambe station, we were the only people there so we were congratulating ourselves on playing a blinder.

However, like the wildebeest stampede in the Lion King, people kept on arriving after us and before long the station was rammed.

People were trying to get in front of us, despite the fact we were already pressed up against the barrier – seriously now, where do you think you’re going to go? Calm down.

We got on the train and were immediately penned in by a family of about 20 people who treated us to an entire journey of them yelling about small child Parker’s wobbly tooth. Side note – much like you can’t go to Spain and fail to hear Brits screaming “Alfieeee” or “Archieee”, we noticed that pretty much ALL the American kids this year (or perhaps just the badly behaved ones who needed to have their names called AT ALL TIMES) were called either Parker or Travis. But mainly Parker.

The train arrived at Rafiki’s Planet Watch and I went to get up but it was clear that Parker and co. weren’t moving anywhere and had just come for the full circuit ride rather than to see anything at the other end.

You sit side-on in this train so we would have had to clamber over all of them, or ask them all to get out so we could exit, so it was a bit awkward and the train was already filling up for the return journey. Oh. So we didn’t get off the train and before we knew it, it had departed again to take us back to Harambe. Brilliant.

Once we arrived back again, I asked Andy if he wanted to stay on the train but he said no as he was hungry. Maybe next year, Rafiki, next year…

Breakfast in Animal Kingdom is a very endangered species indeed. We walked through the Harambe Market but we weren’t really in the mood for chicken skewers or currywurst for breakfast so that all fell a bit flat.

We looked at the bakery place next to Tusker House as well but that had a queue stretching all the way back to the safari so was a no go for us as well.

Feeling pretty hangry as we hadn’t eaten in over 12 hours, we set off in the direction of Asia, hoping we would find something there. Along the way we ruled out fries with sriracha mayo (which sounded ace but not for breakfast ta) and various other lunchtime treats and were torn between feeling impressed and shocked that so many people were walking around swigging beers.

Asia was as rammed as everywhere else but we spied a short queue for the tea kiosk there and promptly joined it. I was really intrigued by the variety of teas they had on offer (I only drink herbal or fruit tea though as I can’t bear any form of breakfast or Earl Grey tea) but I was swayed once I got to the order point by a Shakin’ Jamaican cold pressed coffee as I do love an iced coffee.

I was asked if I wanted syrup with it but declined – I’m quite old-school when it comes to coffee, I like it to be strong and not sweetened and without too much milk. Bog-normal, as I think Leyfy’s husband calls it. Andy, on the other hand, is the polar opposite of me tastebud-wise, and ordered a peppermint decaf latte.

There wasn’t a lot to be had here in terms of breakfast (just doughnuts and cookies) so we each ordered a cookie - as that was all they had. Andy went for a choc chip one and I had the M&M version. I really don’t like having sweet stuff for breakfast but I was ravenous so needs must.

We found a convenient lamp post base across the way and proceeded to wolf the cookies down while watching the monkeys hanging around.

My coffee was nice but my goodness it was sweet. The menu had said it had hints of caramel, and that’s all I could taste – thank heavens I had said no to the extra syrup. It was too sweet for me and I ended up binning about a third of it.

Andy enjoyed his latte. I had a sip and I don’t think peppermint and coffee are a winning combination (unless we’re talking espresso and an After Eight) as to me it just tasted like drinking a coffee after cleaning your teeth.

It was time for our Flight of Passage fast pass so we made our way over to Pandora, this time realising that it was significantly faster to get there if you walked through the hub. I still to this day find Animal Kingdom’s geography a little hard to get my head round which is silly really as on paper it isn’t vastly different to the Magic Kingdom – I think I find the hub area confusing as you can’t walk all the way round the tree – not that I’ve seen anyway.

All the photo pass lines were ridiculously long and Flight of Passage was up to 250 minutes again.

There were a family of three in front of us who were desperate to be called up ahead of the queue and every time a cast member came down looking for a two or a one, they shoved their hands in the air, despite, well, not being a two or a one.

Eventually we were sent to D3, which was up the stairs and it was at this point that it dawned on me that rather than being separate chambers each showing the ride film, it was in fact built very much like the Simpsons ride in Universal with only one screen and everyone being stacked up in different layers. I was really surprised at this as I thought each chamber was a self-contained unit. I had a good look either side of me and could see all the other rows of riders, which I hadn’t been able to see on earlier rides when we were on the ground floor.

I also took some photos of the pre-show (as we had both given up wiggling our arms around by this point). Weirdly, all these photos came out upside-down, which wasn’t anything to do with my photography skills and I think more to do with the way that the images and pre-show film are projected.

As ever, we exited via the shop, where I bought a banshee tree decoration that I had spotted earlier in the trip. We always buy a tree decoration on holiday and nothing says Christmas like a banshee, right? Last year we had bought a Mike Wazowski and the Grim Grinning Ghosts ones and much drama was had last Christmas when I went to give them pride of place on the tree and I couldn’t find them anywhere. I’d had a good clean out of the cupboards at some point in preparation for redecorating the house and had convinced myself I had accidentally put the bag out with the rest of the stuff to be taken to the tip. Anyway, all was well in the end and at some point during the summer last year I had actually found them, safely tucked away in the box from a Starbucks mug, hiding behind a photo frame on the top shelf. Phew.

So yes, the banshee decoration wasn’t made out of glass or anything but it was quite delicate and I was worrying about shoving it in my bag and bits of it probably snapping off when I inevitably forgot about it. Thankfully the cast member who served me grabbed a big moulded plastic box and proceeded to put the banshee in there. This was all well and good but left me with the dilemma that I then had a big old box to carry around for the rest of the day, and what with buying a mug a day up to this point, I was getting a bit fed up with carting a Disney carrier (not to mention my trainers for one day, and various other things) around all day and wanted to be a bit more hands-free. I decided to try out the service where Disney send stuff to the hotel for free, and it was very easy.

The lady wrapped it up in a carrier bag (note – Pandora have their own carrier bags that are different to the usual Disney parks ones, although they are still mainly blue dye so be warned) and marked it as fragile. She filled in a form with our hotel details and gave me a carbon copy of it, and that was it. Super easy. I was told it would be ready for collection from the hotel any time after 13:00 the following day. Andy was quite surprised to see me exit the shop empty-handed so I felt compelled to tell him what I had done.

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[HelenJNT]

I knew that I had wanted to try out the Nomad Lounge during this trip, which is the bar attached to Tiffin’s restaurant right by the entrance to Pandora, and now seemed as good a time as any.

Considering how busy the park was, and how many people we had already clocked getting on the beers, I was surprised by how quiet the Lounge was. We immediately spied some comfy chairs in a shaded area on the outside terrace and sat down.

We had a good look through the very comprehensive drinks menu (am I the only person on the Dibb never to have ordered a Magical Star cocktail?) and I ordered a Boto-Rita which was a margarita made with fresh pink grapefruit juice. It came decorated with pink peppercorns and was served in a really cool chunky glass that if I were 20 years younger and far more unethical might have found its way into my bag - I didn’t think Disney would have gladly packaged it up and sent it to our hotel.

Andy didn’t fancy any alcohol as he had decided that Flight of Passage definitely made him feel a bit iffy, and so he had a non-alcoholic Jen’s Tattoo, which was hibiscus, watermelon, soda and lime. I tried a bit and as virgin cocktails go, was pretty good but I was thrilled with my margarita.

We were pretty peckish and the menu of bar snacks was calling to Andy, so we ended up being rather rebellious and ordering the sliders to share.

I’ve previously voiced my opinion on sliders being a complete waste of time and effort but we wanted to try these as they were kobe beef, which neither of us have ever had before. Well, they were utterly delicious. Andy summed it up by unknowingly chanting “mmm, mmm, yeah, yeah” over and over again without realising he was doing it out loud, much in the same way that he unconsciously rubs his tummy whenever he walks past a cake display - and if it hadn’t been for the price, we would have happily ordered more. If that was a little taster of the Tiffins kitchen, I was some way persuaded to book dinner there next year.

It was so lovely sitting there in the peace and quiet and sunshine that we didn’t really want to emerge back into the chaos of the park.

I could have quite happily sunk a few more of those delicious margaritas and I am definitely going to factor in some more Nomad Lounge time and funds next year. With tip, the bill was dead on $40, expensive but worth it, so we left cash rather than charge it to the room. We started discussing our evening plans as we didn’t really have much booked in for that night – I’d deliberately left some spare time when putting the agenda together and we were grateful for it.

We decided that we would go over to Hollywood Studios and see the Christmas Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam show that evening as that was as good an idea as any. Andy also wanted to see if we could snag another fast pass for Tower of Terror. We also talked about seeing if we could fit in the Keys To The Kingdom tour one morning later in the trip as Andy was keen to do it and we had the money – despite spanking $40 here on two drinks (one non-alcoholic) and some two-bite snacks, we’d actually been pretty good with our money so far and it was looking like we were going to end the holiday in the black. However, we didn’t really think we had the time left in the schedule for that so decided it would go on the agenda for next year’s trip instead. Andy thinks it would be a nice thing to do on my 40th so wait for the pre-trip report to see if that pans out.

It was now time to wrench ourselves away from our little unexpected oasis and go and face the yeti once more, as it wasn’t long until our 13:55 fast pass was going to expire.

One of my evergreen memories from this trip is going to be the constant yo-yo-ing between Pandora and Asia. I’m not usually bothered about deliberately booking fast passes in the same vicinity on the same day as we know the parks pretty well by now and you usually have about 45 minutes to kill between each one but this walk between the two was starting to feel like the grind of a daily commute.

We were right at the back of the train this time on Everest and you really feel the g force of the backwards section from there – it’s awesome – but I did feel like my heart was going to burst out of my chest as it just felt like it was never going to stop. You finish quite high up in the air as well for that moment before they let you loose down the drop. I love this ride more and more each time I go on it.

Getting to the Everest fast pass at the end of the hour was a smooth move as it then overlapped with the start of our Dinosaur one. As we got to the entrance of the ride, we saw a family saunter in through the fast pass entrance without tapping their bands. The cast member just looked at them and let them get on with it as by this time they were well inside the fast pass queue, which made us raise our eyebrows a bit. I know the standby wait for this was pitched at 90 minutes but I was quite shocked by their brazen decision to just push in. They continued to push forwards once we were out of the pre-show section as well and no-one took them up on it even though they were inching their way down the stairs ahead of everyone who had been in front of them. I guess everyone had decided to pick their battles though as no-one said anything to them.

This ride photo is one of my favourites from the whole trip.

After Dinosaur, we quickly looked to see if there were any fast passes available at Hollywood Studios but the only one we could get was Star Tours at about 5.40pm. We booked it and then headed off towards our lunch destination, which was Yak and Yeti. Well, I say lunch, it was about 14:50 so it was a very late lunch. See what I mean about us eating at ridiculous times?

Thanks to the Dibb, I had learned about the open sesame powers of a Landry’s card and had ordered one for this trip.

We weren’t entirely sure at what point in the trip we’d be gagging for a sit-down meal and so the prospect of having $50 welcome/birthday rewards in the bank and no need for a reservation so this was a bit of a no brainer for us.

We walked into the restaurant and whereas they were telling other walk-ups that there would be at least an hour’s wait for a table, one little flash of the Landry’s card had the receptionist welcoming us and gushingly thanking us for being part of the Landry’s family. Bit embarrassing but didn’t matter as we were in!

We were shown straight to a table upstairs with a nice view of the park, and far better than last year’s table with a nice view of the restrooms.

It happens on every trip that you get a slightly odd waitress at some point. Last year was the lady in the California Grill who kept squatting down to look us straight in the eye and then demonstrate some yoga moves. This year’s contender was our waitress in Yak & Yeti, who basically had the same demeanour and vocal rhythm as Mrs Meers from Thoroughly Modern Millie. Hopefully she was not involved in human trafficking though.

I ordered a beer, and Andy, who still wasn’t fancying any booze, had a Sprite. We decided against starters and instead went straight in for the main course.

Andy ordered teriyaki chicken, and I noted that the prawn skewers that I had really enjoyed last year were no longer on the menu so decided to create my own main course with the firecracker prawns from the appetiser menu and a side of garlic noodles.

This turned out to be a fantastic idea (self-five) and I was very happy with my choices. The prawns weren’t exactly spicy but they came in a really nice creamy sweet sauce with a little bit of a tang to it. The noodles were good too – I really love rice and noodles anyway as Asian food is one of my favourites and this was a great combination.

They weren’t kidding about the garlic though – I enjoyed it all and finished the lot but my tongue was pretty numb afterwards and I felt sorry for anyone who was likely to be anywhere near me in the near future. Andy also enjoyed his chicken very much.

We had our visit from the manager to make sure everything was OK but it wasn’t obtrusive, just felt like nice customer service.

We then decided we were going to order dessert, primarily because I have been dreaming of those pineapple wontons since having them 18 months ago. They’re a bit of a cult dessert at Yak & Yeti – cream cheese wontons which are deep fried and then skewered with pineapple and strawberries and covered in a white chocolate sauce. I have said many a time that I don’t have a sweet tooth but these are unbelievably delicious, plus there’s fruit there, so they’re practically good for you, right?

Andy had a slice of cheesecake, which looked pretty dull compared to my dessert but he polished off the lot in seconds and said it was delicious.

With that, we asked Mrs Meers for the bill. With the rewards on the card, it came to a very reasonable $25. I’d paid the $25 registration for the card months and months ago so it was long forgotten and we walked out of there feeling like we had had a good feed and at a bargainous price as well. We’ll definitely be back again next year; we’ll have another $25 on the card and those wontons have my name on them.

It was time to leave the park and head on over to Hollywood Studios, by bus, not bike!

I couldn’t remember which number stop the bus went from, despite the driver’s clear and repeat instructions on the way in but it was a really short walk – the park to park buses always seem to be located closer than the resort ones.

There were only a few other people there waiting and the bus arrived really quickly which was great news as moving around in the middle of the day can sometimes be a bit of a challenge.

We got a seat and I was pleased to hear the music playing on the bus was not Christmas music! It was Aerosmith – I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing, which is absolutely one of my guilty pleasures, and I was enjoying singing along inside my head – I wouldn’t inflict my singing on anyone. The one time I was actually brave enough to do karaoke I ended up losing my voice for four days (the best birthday gift Andy could have hoped for) so singing is now few and far between.

We had a rather inexplicable trip via Blizzard Beach which confused us as a) it hadn’t been announced, and b) the water park was closed for the winter. Still, nice little tour of the car park...

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[HelenJNT]

It was getting pretty dark already and we nabbed a photo pass once we arrived in the park. My notes say “friendly Bob” and I think I meant “over-friendly Bob” as he was very touchy feely (I don’t do unsolicited touching, even from my friends) and Bob and I had an awkward moment when I went to tap my band for the photo and he grabbed it and wouldn’t let go. Andy must have had some foresight – maybe the fortune teller gave him the heads’-up last night – as his hand had firmly retreated into his sleeve during the photos.

After this, we started making our way towards Star Tours for our fast pass but realised we were in good time to make the last Indiana Jones show of the day, which was scheduled to start at 18:00. We did a quick calculation as to whether we’d still be able to make Star Tours as this was due to expire at 18:40 but we thought as long as we didn’t get caught in a crowd coming out that we would be fine.

It was interesting coming into a park so late in the day. We felt that we had some renewed energy from the change of scene so it surprised us a bit that the queue for the show was basically like walking into one of the crowd scenes from Les Miserables. People were unbelievably fractious and standing so close together. I have a real pet hate about backpacks on trains, not for security reasons but more because the people (who I refer to as ninja turtles) who wear them inevitably a) don’t take them off on the tube so they end up taking up twice the room or b) swing them back on their shoulders in the aisle of a train with no regard for the people around them who inevitably get smacked in the face by said offending bag. This queue was exactly the same. People with backpacks on were wheeling around left, right and centre causing no end of carnage. Then there were the people trying the old chestnut of “oh, the rest of my family are up there, please let me to the front of the queue to find them”. And I’m a monkey’s uncle.

So all in all, the queue wasn’t a very pleasant experience. This was further compounded by a woman who had legitimately fallen a few steps behind her toddler son as someone had shoved her out of the way, so quite rightly, she tried to get back behind him. However, a large man with terrifying eyes (you know the kind where the blue is so pale that they look like a wraith) got in her way and started laying into her for pushing in and that he was sick of it and that she could ***k off back to where she was in the queue. The woman was so shocked and tried to explain that she was only trying to get back to her son but this horrible man (who looked as nasty as he sounded) wasn’t having any of it. Then, another man, who was standing next to us and had seen what happened stepped in and started taking ol’ blue eyes to task, ordering him to let the woman past. He wasn’t as tall as the bully but he was built like the proverbial brick house, so eventually the man backed down and let the lady past and back to her son. Big of him.

This wasn’t the end of it. Blue Eyes’ wife started freaking out and screaming at her family not to talk to her, touch her or even look at her as she needed some time to “decompress” whatever that meant. Lady, a stressful busy queue is not the place to try and take some time out to meditate and certainly isn’t the place to start ignoring your kids. She was talking at the top of her voice about what a terrible day she had had and how the woman trying to get back to her kid was “a horrible, evil, nasty person”. Andy and I were just standing aghast watching the entire thing – this entertainment was FAR better than the show we were all waiting for.

Thankfully we started moving forwards and got into the theatre. We must have just scraped in as there were precious few seats available. We walked all the way to the right hand side and down most of the stairs and managed to squidge onto the end of a row. Then, as luck would have it, the crazy wife of Ol’Blue Eyes managed to shove herself and her two kids onto the end of the row in front. No idea where the husband had gone, probably to pick a fight with someone else.

Anyway, she appeared not to have drawn breath since the queue as she was still moaning away at the top of her voice. Choice highlights included:

“I am never ever doing another Disney show again. People are ANIMALS” (erm, wasn’t your husband the one that tried to square up to a woman?)

“I could have been stabbed back there. I COULD. HAVE. BEEN. STABBED”

“Remember that time you got in a stampede coming out of Fantasmic and someone stepped on your head?” (to which the kid replied “no, mom, that didn’t happen, I just tripped up a step”)

“People are HATEFUL. Just HATEFUL”

“I need quiet time and at least ten hours sleep at night or I simply can’t function. I tell you, I CAN’T FUNCTION”

I’m not exaggerating when I say she wittered on like this, top volume, for the entire ten minutes before the show started. Maybe I sound unsympathetic and insensitive but it was so bad that everyone around us was looking at the floor. I mean we all like a rant as much as the next person and I know better than anyone else how Disneyworld can sometimes bring on a bit of rage but she was incessant. I felt really sorry for her kids who didn’t say a word throughout this shrill and never-ending show of self-pity. I really felt for them – neither parent had exactly covered themselves in glory as far as we were concerned.

The show started and happily, she shut up. We were nearer the front than we’ve ever been for this and the view was really good.

It was quite cool watching the show at night as well as the fire and other special effects were much more impactful.

My highlight of the show, however, was the man near us who, when asked for volunteers, kept bellowing “pick me for a good time!” As if this wasn’t funny enough, when he was eventually picked and asked his name, he yelled “I’m Chipper, and I’m from Wisconsin”.
Chipper. I kid you not.
G’wan Chipper.

We were ready and poised to run at the end of the show, not least because we had no desire to hear neurotic mum worrying about getting stabbed on the way out, but also because we only had a few moments to get to our Star Tours fast pass. Star Tours is right next to Indiana Jones though so, unlike Moana, we knew we didn’t have far to go.

It was a frustrating queue as we were held at the front where the line splits into two for ages and ages as they let what looked like hundreds of people through on the left.

We finally made it into the ride though and we were on the front row – don’t think that’s ever happened before. The back row is my favourite still though. The cast member came in and did the seatbelt check and then asked if anyone had ridden the ride since November 17th? Andy and I, and a couple of others, put up our hands, and she asked us if we wanted to explain to the other guests what they were about to see? All our hands crept back down again and no-one said anything so the cast member was left to explain how this ride features excerpts from the new movie, the Last Jedi. I’m currently writing this on the 19th December, having been to see the new movie at last. We went yesterday and it was funny as throughout the film, Andy and I were both looking to see when bits from the ride would crop up. Turns out the section in the ride features right at the end and you also get an explanation of what all the red “stuff” is. So now we know.

The park was still heaving when we came out of Star Tours. We were really thirsty so headed for Starbucks as we still hadn’t had our fix for the day. After swimming through the hoards (but not once thinking we might have got stabbed) we were pleased to see that there wasn’t a huge queue for Starbucks so we managed to score a Very Berry Hibiscus and a Passion Fruit Iced Tea Lemonade with ease.

I spotted the famous Butterfinger Cupcake (RIP, Starring Rolls) and was sorely tempted for a moment but I was still stuffed from our late lunch at Yak & Yeti. I wish I’d had one now – we shared one once before and they are divine – worth the hype.

We could see all the cordons (not James, THANK GOD, although it wouldn’t have surprised me if he popped up given that he is bloody everywhere these days) that had been set up for the fireworks and it occurred to me that this was far better organised than the pre-firework mayhem at the Magic Kingdom. I think because there is so much flat open space in front of the stage and the Chinese theatre at DHS that it was easy for the cast to mark out two massive pens on the floor with white tape, usher people in, and keep them there, leaving lots of space for people to walk around the outside. A-type me was seriously impressed by this.

We easily found some space at the front of the second pen back and it was all very civilised. Nobody pushing, no meltdowns; the atmosphere was great. Well, with one fly in the ointment. This seems to be an appropriate moment to discuss bubble wands. I can only liken it to the time we were at the Spanish Steps in Rome and trying to enjoy the atmosphere but it was challenging, due to the amount of hawkers around, keeping up a constant tirade of “”selfie, selfie, selfie” as they were trying to flog selfie sticks to tourists. Bubble wands in Disney are even more ubiquitous than James Corden on the TV. Everywhere we walked during this fortnight was through clouds and clouds of bubbles, and the entire holiday was punctuated by screaming kids wailing as their bubble mix had run out. I know it is ridiculous to be offended by something as harmless and pretty as bubbles but the wands also light up and flash. All the time. And the wands are fairly chunky, and yes, they do hurt when you get whacked with one, which happened to us on an all-too regular basis. Maybe you’re reading this thinking we are complete Grinches who deserved a whack, but when you’re walking everywhere getting constant mouthfuls of Fairy Liquid, it does get a bit tiresome.

So aside from being blinded by a million bubble wands being held aloft, we were ready and waiting for the show. First off was an unexpected surprise, a projection show of a load of Disney live action and animated movies. It was really spectacular and Andy and I, who like nothing better than watching movies, were in our element. We really enjoyed it. I didn’t take any photos as I was enjoying the moment, but there are some later in the report.

After that there was a short wait and Jingle Bell, Jingle Bam started. We just stayed put as we had a really good view. I’d read some mediocre reviews of this show and wasn’t really sure what to expect, but again, we were really pleasantly surprised.

The show really made the most of all the projection screens and I know the firework purists have been yawning “not another projection show” but we really liked it!

I can’t remember a lot about the story, something to do with some mischievous elves trying to save Christmas, but it didn’t really matter as it was impressive and pretty and the fireworks at the end, whilst not a patch on the Star Wars ones we saw last year, were really good. I don’t think you need the dessert party in order to get a good view either.

Fake snow was billowing out throughout and the crowds were loving it – I’ve never seen that many people excited about snow since my first sales conference back in 2002.

We weren’t overly keen to join the rush towards the buses tonight so we took a left and went for a walk down Sunset Boulevard to watch the projections for a bit.

It was quite busy as a lot of people were heading to the last showing of Fantasmic which was due to start just after the fireworks had ended.

It was all very pretty and festive – Hollywood Studios definitely knew it was Christmas. I was amused to see a queue of people forming behind a photopass photographer only for them (and us) to realise it wasn’t a photographer at all, rather a cleaner who had been co-opted into taking a photo of a couple of girls on their iPhone.

The wait times for Rock & Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror were still too long to contemplate and we wanted to get out of the park before Fantasmic emptied out, so we made for the exit, stopping for a rest on the way – where I took this photo to show Andy as he is a massive fan of the American version of The Office.

We only had a short wait for the bus, and we ended up standing at the rear.

There was a funny moment when a teenage boy was talking to someone about his tiny little home town (no stranger danger) and a man piped up and said “did someone say they’re from Indian Creek? No way! That’s where I’m from too!” and turned around. It gradually dawned on him that it was his own son who had said that, causing the man to slap his own forehead and say “I can’t believe I didn’t recognise my own kid’s voice…” The son sounded like Barry White trapped in the body of Barry Chuckle, so he was fairly distinctive!

We arrived back at Animal Kingdom Lodge at about 10pm and were a bit peckish as we had once again managed to go seven hours without eating. Per normal, the queue for hot food was out the door so we made do with a couple of snacks that we didn’t have to queue for. Andy got a rice krispie treat and I got the peanut butter brownie. It was no wonder we were still so in the black on the meal credits, we just weren’t able to spend them.

Back in the room we enjoyed our treats. I couldn’t eat the whole brownie – it was delicious but oh so sweet. I managed half, and the rest went into the fridge, supposedly for another day, but realistically it joined the zebra domes in unforgotten, half eaten sweet treat limbo. Despite the sugar rush, we were sound asleep by 10:30pm.

Essential stats:
2 parks
5 attractions
15,908 steps
7.5 miles

Please join me again for the next instalment, where we return to Hollywood Studios again (I know!) and prove it is more than just a half day park... which can now be found here

[DisneyDreamer81]

Oh I'm so pleased AKL finally knew it was Christmas! What a gorgeous tree!

That woman at Indiana sounds both mesmerising and terrifying in equal measure. I can never look away when I see someone behaving like that.

That margarita at Nomad Lounge looks right up my street - it's on the list for next time!

[mitch-fishguard]

Thank God its not just me that struggled in Flights of Passage. !

[jemima2]

The family in the Indiana queue ... ☹️ But also the rant from wifey very very funny. Hilarious in fact to read, I do concede maybe not in person ...😂 what is up with the qs at your resort? Too small? Always a prohibitive queue ! That was excellent as usual thanks 😀😀

[mick]

Another long but great day


Joan

[HelenJNT]

Originally Posted by mitch-fishguard

Thank God its not just me that struggled in Flights of Passage. !

See more...

Andy was fine on it the first time as I think the novelty outweighed the nausea but he decided from the second time (and definitely the third) that it wasn't the one for him and made him feel quite queasy. Sorry to hear it had you the same way.

[HelenJNT]

Originally Posted by DisneyDreamer81

Oh I'm so pleased AKL finally knew it was Christmas! What a gorgeous tree!

That woman at Indiana sounds both mesmerising and terrifying in equal measure. I can never look away when I see someone behaving like that.

That margarita at Nomad Lounge looks right up my street - it's on the list for next time!

See more...

I know, I was starting to get concerned that we were never going to see the decorations there and that Bob Geldof and co. were actually correct.

Yes, you've summed it up. I mean, we had no choice but to listen to her but I was pretty horrified by her tirade. I mainly felt sorry for the kids as I think they were trying to have a good time.

Oh yes, that margarita was probably-definitely the best thing I drank on the whole trip. It's 100% on the list for next time.

[HelenJNT]

Originally Posted by jemima2

The family in the Indiana queue ... ☹️ But also the rant from wifey very very funny. Hilarious in fact to read, I do concede maybe not in person ...😂 what is up with the qs at your resort? Too small? Always a prohibitive queue ! That was excellent as usual thanks 😀😀

See more...

I was just pleased it wasn't me having the rant, to be honest! But I've never lost it quite like that, and never so spectacularly in public either.

Oh well, the Mara was a total pain as there was only one person at a podium who was taking everyone's orders to be passed to the kitchen so it was constantly a disaster as the traffic just couldn't flow through as it would if you could just go up to a counter and have your food prepared in front of you.