Guest Post From J.R. Day 4

DAY 4

(Animal Kingdom, Characters in Flight, Flying Fish)

We picked up some Mara for breakfast; nothing too ground breaking, and then got ready to head out to Animal Kingdom. At the park, we immediately headed over to Kilimanjaro Safari and picked up fast passes.

I recommend doing this, because it seemed everyone in the park thought that the wait would be minimal and to do this ride first. However, an hour later, the wait was listed as 50 minutes, but our fast passes helped us get through the line in less than 10. I’d suggest, after getting your fast passes for the Safari, you hit up Expedition Everest. It seems to have little to no wait first thing in the morning. We, however, just wandered the park to buy time. An hour to kill? It is easy to do.

 Especially with Hana, who again, passed out shortly after we got into the park. Luckily, after a quick nap, she woke up right as we wandered upon a meet-and-greet area with the gang from the Enchanted Woods. Get ready for some cuteness people!

 Once she saw him, she just lost it. The photographers were just melting and captured some pretty amazing photos, as did my husband.

 I think her favorite was Tigger, by far. The giggles that were coming from her were ridiculous!

Yes. In between giving him kisses, which he made kissy noises back, she slipped him some tongue. I am not sure where she learned that behavior, but Tigger didn’t seem to mind. Thankfully, we were told he had just come out of the “shower” before we met him. He had a clean nose.

After all that excitement, our hour was up, so we headed back over to Kilimanjaro Safari. She loved the ride, and we were able to see pretty close up as the animals were all up and moving around this morning. As we approached the drop off, a caravan ahead was having issues, so they had to bring a ladder over for us to climb out.

Kyle was so excited.

My mom, who has difficulty going downstairs, took it like a champ.

After we unloaded, we headed over to see the monkeys on the Pangani Trail. On our last trip, it wasn’t too busy and was a pleasure to walk through at a calm relaxing pace. Can’t say that this trip! Sadly, there wasn’t much activity either. I still recommend this trail to everyone. I also recommend the Maharajah Jungle Trek too! On most of our trips, we saw some pretty amazing things. Like the time the baby gorilla wanted to befriend a bunny, and that bunny had other ideas, and kept swatting at the monkey. It was so cute to see this little baby gorilla behaving just like a human toddler would.

After the uneventful trail exploration, we headed over to Dinoland to ride the Primevil-whirl, or as my husband calls it, the “Primevil-Hurl”.

My mom and I hopped on it. It reminded her of a park she visited as a child that had a similar ride the mousetrap. It was a good time.

After that, we headed over to Yak and Yeti. Not without taking a few photographs along the way. I love the little details in Animal  Kingdom.

This is my husband’s favorite restaurant, and every time we have eaten here, the food is top notch.

We would have taken pictures, but we were busy juggling a sleeping child. Our favorites are the lettuce cups for two, crispy mahi-mahi, and the shaoxing steak and shrimp. OH and we always, no matter how full, finish our meal with the fried wontons. YUM!

After lunch, we decided to head out of the park. The crowds were heavy much. We stopped at the Baby Care center before leaving; since Hana woke up from her nap and was due to eat. This was my favorite center by far. This was the only one that had individual feeding rooms, so you had privacy and no one going in and out of the room to distract.

  

Once out of the park, we decided to go to Downtown Disney, so with a little strategy, we hopped on a bus to Saratoga Springs. From there, we walked to Downtown Disney. It was a lovely walk. Just so pretty. I bet you wish we took pictures! If you have time, and are using the buses on your next trip, I recommend doing this.

We had previously purchased a Groupon for the Characters in Flight balloon ride. Kyle and I decided to ride it, while my mom did some souvenir shopping with Hana. It was a good thing, as I don’t think Hana would have tolerated the hour- long wait easily. I don’t believe the wait is usually that long, but because it was windy, they were only able to take up no more than ten people at a time.

It goes way up there!

 It was fun, but for me, just a one time thing.

After that, we hopped on a bus back home, got ready, and drove to dinner. Flying Fish! This place is my favorite place for desserts! We meet up with our good friend Krissy, who recently moved to SW Florida. It was nice to catch up over a fun meal.

Apparently even napkins taste good here. They brought us out a delicious amuse-bouche of onion soup, even after they knew of our intentions of just drinks and desserts. I love service like that! We each ordered a drink, and a dessert.

  

We had this lovely creation, Banana Napoleon, which was yummy. We also ordered the PB&J Crème Brule, which was okay. Not my favorite. And if I may recommend the best drink in the world, the Peanut Butter Freeze. It doesn’t sound like a good idea, but it is amazing. Even my husband, who hates Peanut Butter, loves it. Seriously, try it.

Our friend Krissy ordered this “Trio of Concession Sweets”. Isn’t it amazing? I have to explain what it is for those curious. On the left, is a popcorn mouse with caramel corn on top, the cherry-limeade Popsicle, pound cake fries, and a dark chocolate fudge burger. I can’t recall what the cheese was, but I believe the bun was also pound cake. It was pretty darn delicious