At the bus stop ready to board to Animal Kingdom
Understandably, the girls were so excited for our first park day that they didn't sleep super the first night, but not terrible either. We ate some snacky stuff I packed for breakfast, filled up our water bottles, donned our matching Mickey/Minnie shirts (because, of course!) and boarded a bus to Animal Kingdom. The ride to the park, and all of our rides back and forth, were quick and easy. We never once waited for transportation. I think that was in part due to the resort we stayed at, but mostly because of the week we chose to visit. The crowd predictors rate early and mid May as one of the best times to go with the lowest crowds.
Autograph books ready
We were asked a couple times why we did Animal Kingdom as our first park day and my honest answer is because that's what our travel agent scheduled. Looking back, it was pretty genius. She scheduled the busier parks on weekdays and less busy parks on the weekend. She also scheduled the parks we would want to spend the most time at (and get their early) on days we had dinner reservations rather than the couple character breakfasts we did later on our trip. I think it was also a good starting place, in that Animal Kingdom has so many fun rides and things to see, but still left us looking forward to the much anticipated Magic Kingdom.
Matching Micky/Minnie shirts of course
We got to the park at opening and headed straight to the Navi River Journey. This is one of the two new Pandora rides which have long wait lines. We hear that Flight of Passage, the other one, is one of the best rides in all of Disney, but we didn't plan to do that one. Steve gets motion sick easily so we chose not to use a Fast Pass and the lines are insanely long so we didn't care to wait for it. At one point the line was 4 hours! Another cool thing that was new to us, was the Disney app that let's you book all of your Fast Passes and see wait times for all of the rides so we could maximize our time. We had a Fast Pass for Navi River Journey for later in the day, but since we were able to walk right on at park opening, we cancelled it allowing us to pick up another Fast Pass. Neither the girls nor I had seen Pandora, but the ride was a visually beautiful boat ride which we enjoyed.
Next we explored around the cool Tree of Life and saw some animals before heading in and watching It's Tough to Be a Bug. This is one of the shows I remembered from my trip with my family when I was in college and I really wanted to do it this time. It's a 3D show, but also includes scents, getting sprayed, and even getting poked and prodded by "bugs" in your seat. Ruby, Steve, and I loved it! Ada was a bit scared.
We saw some fun things from UP, one of Steve's favorite movies, and then used our Fast Pass for the Kilimanjaro Safari. This was a good use of a Fast Pass because the lines were long. This was a realistic safari ride in a jeep where you get to view lots of amazing animals up close. At the end of the ride there was a walking trail with other animals to see and some kid activities where the girls got to collect stamps in a booklet.
On our way to lunch (which we ordered using mobile ordering on the app), we got our first character signature and photo. There were only a few families in front of us to meet Pocahontas. She was beautiful and chatted with the girls.
Our food was ready to pick up at the counter so lunch was easy-peasy. Next we headed to the Lion King show. We had a Fast Pass for this as well. It's probably not necessary for the shows, but always appreciated. The show was really incredible; amazing costumes, acrobatics, and music.
We headed to Dinosaurland and our first roller coaster. I think this was another Fast Pass we picked up. I was pretty nervous waiting in line for Primeval Whirl, worried that Ada would hate it and not want to go on any other rollercoasters on our trip, but I didn't say anything and crossed my fingers. I was wrong to worry, she giggled the entire ride and asked to go again as soon as it was done! Steve sat out Triceratops Spin (hello motion sickness) while the girls and I rode. Ruby and Ada both loved the big rollercoasters, but also still loved the little kiddie rides too. They were at the perfect age for everything really.
We got ice cream after the rides and then went to the Finding Nemo show. We loved the Nemo show, the costumes were so cool, the characters were really close, and the bubbles were fun. It was nice to do some outdoor things and then go in to a show to cool off a bit. It was hot the whole week we were there, but not too horrible, and we found we could trade off indoor and outdoor activities. We also didn't have a single drop of rain the whole week. This seems odd looking back, since I'm told they have a rain shower there daily. Just another one of those "perfect" things. It seems like we were in some sort of bubble that week. Someone was looking out for us!
Crazy line of people waiting for the rope to drop for Flight of Passage
amazing Pandora land
Next we explored around the cool Tree of Life and saw some animals before heading in and watching It's Tough to Be a Bug. This is one of the shows I remembered from my trip with my family when I was in college and I really wanted to do it this time. It's a 3D show, but also includes scents, getting sprayed, and even getting poked and prodded by "bugs" in your seat. Ruby, Steve, and I loved it! Ada was a bit scared.
Tree of Life
Family selfie attempt with the Tree
Another angle
It's Tough to Be a Bug
We saw some fun things from UP, one of Steve's favorite movies, and then used our Fast Pass for the Kilimanjaro Safari. This was a good use of a Fast Pass because the lines were long. This was a realistic safari ride in a jeep where you get to view lots of amazing animals up close. At the end of the ride there was a walking trail with other animals to see and some kid activities where the girls got to collect stamps in a booklet.
Kevin from UP
Russell and Doug
Kilimanjaro Safari
Collecting stamps in their passport books
On our way to lunch (which we ordered using mobile ordering on the app), we got our first character signature and photo. There were only a few families in front of us to meet Pocahontas. She was beautiful and chatted with the girls.
Asking Ruby and Ada if they took a canoe to get there today like she did
Pocahontas
Our food was ready to pick up at the counter so lunch was easy-peasy. Next we headed to the Lion King show. We had a Fast Pass for this as well. It's probably not necessary for the shows, but always appreciated. The show was really incredible; amazing costumes, acrobatics, and music.
Music, song, dance, acrobatics
Pumba
Playing drums in Pandora and dancing with Rafiki and Timon
Triceratops Spin
Ruby waving at Steve
We got ice cream after the rides and then went to the Finding Nemo show. We loved the Nemo show, the costumes were so cool, the characters were really close, and the bubbles were fun. It was nice to do some outdoor things and then go in to a show to cool off a bit. It was hot the whole week we were there, but not too horrible, and we found we could trade off indoor and outdoor activities. We also didn't have a single drop of rain the whole week. This seems odd looking back, since I'm told they have a rain shower there daily. Just another one of those "perfect" things. It seems like we were in some sort of bubble that week. Someone was looking out for us!
As we waited for the Nemo show, we could see the Expedition Everest ride and hear the screams of the riders. Ruby and Ada both adamantly insisted the we ride it next. I was pretty surprised they wanted to do it. When making our plans, I had told our travel agent, that I thought the girls would be up for pretty much all the rides with the exception of the very biggest and scariest. Expedition Everest was definitely one I hadn't planned on. Because of this, we didn't have a Fast Pass and did have to wait in line, but it was under an hour wait which I think is pretty good after looking at wait times during busier seasons. Steve and Ruby loved the ride. Ada loved the rollercoaster, but hated the part in the dark when you can see the yeti's shadow and can hear him roar. She was screaming and so scared the lady in front of us kept turning around trying to calm her! It's hilarious to me that Ada loved any rollercoaster (so did Ruby) but was terrified of any ride in the dark, including the super slow "family-friendly" rides.
We want to do it!
Ada changed her mind!
But we conquered the Yeti!
After the ride, it was almost time for our dinner reservations, but I insisted on grabbing a Dole Whip on the way. You know, as a reward for riding the terrifying ride! I'd never had one, but had heard what a must- have treat it is when at Disney. It was good, but maybe too built up, because I wouldn't wait in line next time. Yes, we had dessert right before dinner. We were on vacation!
We scheduled one character meal each of the days we were there. I wasn't sure about this at first, but it was a great way meet a ton of characters without having to wait in line. Our dining plan included one quick service or counter meal for each of us each day and one sit down meal for each of us each day along with two snacks a piece every day. The character meals counted as a sit down meal so it was well worth it. Our first reservation was at Tusker House at Animal Kingdom. The food was buffet style and there were a lot of African inspired options which were all delicious. We all found plenty we enjoyed and had some fun desserts too. All of the meals, quick service and sit down, included beverages of course and even an alcoholic drink for adults. Steve and I took advantage of that, to make the meal plan worth our money of course! This meant we had some fun drinks too. While we ate the characters made their way around to each of the tables, stopping to interact, sign autographs, and take pictures. At Tusker House we met Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Goofy all in their safari gear.
Daisy
Donald
The Main Man!
Love how Ada's looking up at Goofy!
It was getting late by the time we finished dinner so we headed back to our resort and crashed into bed. No one really had any trouble sleeping any of the rest of the nights we had long, hot, busy, and fun days!
It was always fun to see what MouseKeeping did in our room while we were gone!
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