Tuesday of our Disney week was Animal Kingdom day. The only way to get to Animal Kingdom from our restart was by bus. We got up and going pretty well, but we weren’t at the park at rope drop. We went straight to the line for Avatar: Flight of Passage, which was already over an hour long. We decided to stay in it, as the line probably wasn’t going to get any shorter as the day went on.
After about a minute in line I realized an hour was enough time for us to eat while we waited. Using the map, I identified the closest place for breakfast, which happened to be a Starbucks inside the park. I left the line and was pleased to see there was no line at Starbucks. I got lots of drinks and food and, drink carrier in hand, headed back to find the group. I walked and walked. At one point I thought I’d reached the point where the line turned back on itself, which would have meant I missed them before they went inside and I couldn’t join them, but then as I got up farther, I saw that the line continued. By the time I actually found them, I was really tired of carrying the drinks, and I’d spilled coffee on myself a couple of times. Despite how quickly the line was moving, we still had plenty of time to eat while in line. 4D rides always mess with my stomach, but it’s less bad when I have food in it, so it was good to be able to eat first.
Avatar is another ride that has a good line. When you’re outside, the entire area is designed to look like Pandora, from the movie. When you’re inside, there are many rooms with interesting features. So even though we were in line an hour, between breakfast and the cool scenery, it went fast.
Avatar is one of my favorite Disney World rides. The idea is that you’re linked to an avatar that is riding on the back of a banshee through Pandora. The effects are amazing, and it’s easy to imagine you really are there. One cool part is that the seat, which you get on like a motorcycle, actually feels like it’s breathing between your legs. That was Andy and Madeline’s first time on the ride, and it was fun to share it with them.
From there we stayed in Pandora and did the Na’vi River Journey. As we got off, Andy commented, “So that was: it’s a small extraterrestrial world?” Which is a pretty good summary of the ride. Very similar to it’s a small world, but a different planet.
After that I wanted to walk the paths around the Tree of Life, but the girls were not interested. They decided to go to It’s Tough to Be a Bug, which I am completely opposed to doing because, bugs. Andy and I walked the trails. It was really nice because, despite a crowded park, we saw almost no one. I had actually never seen the Tree of Life up close. It’s really something. I knew that the trunk is carved to show different animals, but that description doesn’t do it justice. For one, the animals are huge! And everywhere. But also, you have to stop and look from all kinds of different angles, or you’ll miss something. And it’s not just the tree trunk. The area around the tree also has carvings. So we spent a bit of time there, just marveling at the artistry.
When we came out of the paths, we were right by It’s Tough to Be a Bug, so we decided to wait for the girls. They wanted to ride Expedition Everest, while I wanted to eat and then look at animals in the Africa session. I was outvoted, which annoyed me a bit. I felt like we were hitting Everest at it’s longest wait time, but it‘s a pretty good coaster, so probably worth the wait. It goes backwards for a bit, which I hate, and which Ellie had warned me about. Going backwards triggers my motion sickness. Fortunately the backwards part was short enough that I was mostly ok.
While we were in line for Everest Andy noticed a nearby ride called Dinosaur that he and Madeline were interested in. After Everest I went with them to Dinosaur, but Ellie and Francesca went to do something else. As we were in line it started to rain, and of course the big girls didn‘t have ponchos with them; the ponchos were in Andy‘s backpack. (This was a recurring theme throughout the week). It was sprinkling while we waited outside, but it really started pouring when we were inside the building. The Dinosaur ride was decent. The idea is that scientists figured out a way to send you back in time, but some junior guy on the project decides to send you to a dangerous time, and you have to get out before the asteroid (the one that kills all dinosaurs on the planet) hits.
Throughout the day we saw Animal Kingdom’s version of character parades: boats on the waterways that run through the park, with characters on them. We even got to see Pocahontas, a character/movie we all believe is underrated.
I mentioned the order ahead option in my Hollywood Studios post, but it would probably make sense to explain it in more detail. The My Disney Experience App has a feature where, for certain restaurants (mostly quick-service), you can place your order on the app. You choose a restaurant and a window of time when you‘ll be there. Then you choose your food and place your order. When it‘s time, you hit the “Prepare My Order” button, and that sends the order to the kitchen. While we were in line for Everest I had ordered lunch and chosen a time based on the estimated wait time. The line went way quicker than the estimate, so we just hit the prepare our food window as we exited Dinosaur.
Lunch was a miserable experience. First, it was pouring rain, so just walking from Dinosaur to the restaurant, Flame Tree BBQ, was wet and gross. Then the area where you waited for your order was packed with people all trying to stay out of the rain. Andy and I sent the girls ahead to find a table and waited for probably ten minutes for the food, which is a long time when you consider that it’s fast food we’d asked them to start preparing five minutes before we arrived. Then getting up the ramp to the seating area was a challenge. People had parked their double strollers, electric wheelchairs, etc., on the ramp to shelter from the rain. Add to that other people with strollers, wheelchairs, etc., trying to come down, and it took a while. Then when we hit the dining area we discovered the girls still hadn’t been able to get a table. The poor things were trying, but people were sitting at the tables without food, just to stay out of the rain. The girls said the people at one table, who were playing cards, had been asked to vacate for people eating and refused to go. I spoke with a guy who worked there, and as a table cleared out he snagged it for us. Even with a table, it was crowded and loud and not at all pleasant. We cleared out as soon as we finished eating, and a different worker at the restaurant thanked us for being considerate of others. Clearly, it was a stressful time for the people working at the Flame Tree BBQ!
The rain was slowing at that point, thankfully, and we decided to walk back to the Africa area and see my favorite animals, the gorillas. I really love gorillas. I feel like they have a wisdom that you can see in their eyes and the way they hold themselves and move. Whenever I’m in the presence of a gorilla, I feel like it’s special. I was very happy to do the gorilla trail.
Right next to the gorilla trail is the line for the Kilimanjaro Safari. We’d last ridden that when Ellie was four, and I later described it as a “lame, fake safari.” I was not excited about doing it again, but Madeline really wanted to go, and no one else did, so I went with her. This time I enjoyed it a lot more! The rain had cooled things off, which I think made the animals more active. We even had giraffes walk right by our truck. I was glad to have given it another chance.
At the end of the safari they mentioned Rafiki’s Planet Watch and that you could pet goats there. Madeline really wanted to pet a goat, and I couldn’t talk her out of it. I’m not against goat petting, but to get to the Planet Watch you have to take a train, so it’s way more waiting and transit than actual goat encounter. Still, we went. Madeline got some great pictures, which helped make the trek less of a waste of time.
Right after the gorilla trail, Andy had hit a figurative wall. He was tired and his feet hurt, so he’d been just resting this whole time. Madeline and I decided we wanted to ride Avatar again before dinner, and we texted the others. Ellie and Francesca decided to go with us, but Andy passed. Again, the line for Avatar was over an hour. Again, it started pouring while we were inside the building. Poor Andy was not as fortunate. He saw the weather coming on the radar, but instead of going to the closest shelter, he tried to go to a pleasant place to hang out. He got caught in the deluge, and his feet/shoes/socks got soaked. When we met him after Avatar, he was pretty miserable. We were pretty much done with the park, but again it was an hour or two until our dinner reservation. We decided to again see if the restaurant could fit us in early.
Animal Kingdom was the toughest reservation day for me to work out. We’d tried for Yak & Yeti on our sixtieth day before the trip, but there was nothing available. We were able to find an available dinner reservation at Tiffins, so we scheduled that. Then I called the Disney reservation customer service line, and the guy there found a lunch reservation at Sanaa at Animal Kingdom Lodge. That’s a great restaurant, but we didn’t want lunch, and we didn’t want to have to leave the park to get to it. We decided to keep both while we figured out what to do. As with Oga’s Cantina, I searched every day for Yak & Yeti reservations. At one point, Tusker House scheduled its reopening, and I was able to snag dinner reservations there. At that point I canceled Tiffins, because the Tiffins food looked too fancy for the girls’ tastes. But we still couldn’t decide between Sanaa and Tusker House. Finally, maybe two weeks before our trip, I was able to snag a reservation at Yak & Yeti, and I canceled the other two.
We walked to Yak & Yeti in a light rain. Even with ponchos, we were all slightly damp. Again, the friendly Disney folks seated us well before our reservation time. The food was good and the service, too, but everyone was a bit too cold and wet to enjoy it much. The restaurant is right by Expedition Everest, and the girls decided they wanted to ride Everest again before leaving the park. Andy and I exited the park right after dinner and took the bus back to the resort. Shortly after we got to our room it started pouring again. I was able to use Find My Friends to see that the girls were already on the bus to the resort, so they weren’t out in it getting wet again. At the room we all had showers and went to sleep early after a couple of full days.
