So, that whole "one in a million" thing? Yeah, even that was a stretch. My boys wouldn't touch this ride with a 39-1/2 foot pole. So, we had my mom take them down to the Dig Site playground in Dinoland while my dad, Julie, Sarah and I went to take on the Yeti.
The queue for this ride is just all kinds of awesome. My favorite part, of course, is the photo exhibit on the wall showing the "lost" 1982 expedition with the Yeti attacking the camera. You may not have known this about me, but I have a somewhat sick sense of humor. Shocking, I know.
Sarah was visibly trembling in line, but putting on a brave face. Naturally, when we got to the loading area, the cast member directed us straight to the very last car. Great. Another wild, whippy ride. Anyway, I love Everest. It might be my favorite ride in all of WDW. We zoomed all over the mountain, and finally came face to face with a fierce Yeti statue in a strobe light. Hopefully they'll fix that guy someday. When we got off, Sarah was grinning from ear to ear and giggling nervously. Actually, so was everyone else. Did she like it? YES! Want to ride it again? No, thanks.
You know how they take your picture on the ride and then try and sell it to you for $18.95? This was our picture. Is the expression on Sarah's face worth $18.95?
I say: Yes. Yes, it was. I'm not sure why my dad is leaning forward and grabbing the seat in front of him rather than his lap bar. And just for trennr, there is a hidden Mickey in that picture as well. You'll have to look very, very carefully.
We thought Sarah deserved a reward for conquering her fears, so she picked up a baby Yeti. We spent some time trying to come up with an appropriate name for a baby Abominable Snowman. Meet Fluffy, the Yeti:
Expedition Everest...
CONQUERED!
We found my mom taking the boys on the Triceratops Spin at DinoLand USA. I know it's themed to be a tacky tourist trap on purpose, but I'm still not a fan. I like my Disney theming exotic, not tacky. Anyway, the boys finished the ride and then we went to lunch. Julie and I wanted to try Flame Tree Barbecue. My dad had eaten barbecue at Pecos Bill's the day before (tactical error there, dad), so he and mom took the kids to Restaurantosaurus (which is just plain fun to type).
I'd never eaten there before, but Flame Tree Barbecue is my new favorite counter-service restaurant. I don't know if they do anything different there, but the pulled pork just melted in my mouth. Awesome stuff. Not only that, but we found this great outdoor seating area down by the lake:
So, let me explain what we had. No, there is too much. Let me sum up: Shade, breeze, Asian-inspired gardens, lake view, iconic mountain in the background, and tender bbq pulled-pork sandwich. Is this heaven? No...it's Flame Tree Barbecue.
In the afternoon, we made our way down a very, very long walk to the Festival of the Lion King show, which we hadn't seen before. I don't have any pictures to post because they all turned out crappy, but we enjoyed the show quite a bit. We were part of the Lion group, so we got off easy. The acrobatics were impressive, although I felt sorry for the guys who had to wear those costumes. I know, lots of people love them, but I'd have to lose a serious bet to put one of those on. And you're welcome for that mental image.
My mom went on and on afterwards about being in love with the "pas-de-deux" that the two "bird" dancers perform in the show. I told her they weren't nearly as cool as the fire-dancer guy. This was because he had fire. That wins every time.
Although Julie and I would have liked to ride Dinosaur, it didn't look like we were going to make it there, and none of our kids would go near it. Instead, we thought the boys would like the train, so we traveled to Rafiki's Planet Watch.
We spent about an hour here. It was enough time to pet a muskrat, meet Rafiki, and wander among the goats and llamas outside. We wandered back to the train and made our way toward Asia to do the Maharajah Jungle Trek. We also got some frozen lemonades. Because it was 95 degrees, and frozen lemonades rock when it's 95 degrees outside. Not as much as Dole Whips, but what are you gonna do?
I don't know if I had just missed this on previous trips, but the Asian Ruins theming on the jungle trek trail is spectacular. Julie spent a lot of time here, taking pictures. This pretty much finished out our day at the park, as it was getting close to closing time and we wanted to get back to POR to change for dinner. Let's look at some of her best shots as we wander towards the exit:
As we rode back, I reminded Dave to ask the bus driver for some Transportation Trading Cards. I hadn't known about these before, but fellow DIS Dad Disney Daddy-O had told me about them in his trip report. The bus, boat, and monorail drivers carry them around and happily hand them out to kids who ask. When we arrived at POR, Dave shyly asked the bus driver (a guy named Mike Cochran) if he had any. Mike searched through his pockets and bags and came up empty. He said he felt terrible. Really, it wasn't a big deal. We'd just keep going and ask the next guy. But Mike said he hated to disappoint kids. First, he asked for our address. Then, he asked if we were staying the rest of the week. We said yes, and he asked for our room number. He said he'd try and get something to David before we left. We told him it really wasn't a big deal, and he didn't have to worry about it.
Remember that name: Mike Cochran, Bus Driver.
Julie and I got changed and headed off for date night. Our destination was the Kona Cafe at the Polynesian Resort. We'd never eaten there before, but I picked it because we like the theming of the resort and the menu seemed slightly exotic for our tastes (meaning food we recognized given slightly Hawaiian names).
I was getting better at the "blurred waterfall" trick, too:
Well, the Kona Cafe is not the most romantic atmosphere. It opens right out onto the lobby and is extremely noisy. That being said, the food was awesome. I think this was our favorite meal of the trip. First, they brought out a huge, warm fresh loaf of sweet Hawaiian bread with macadamia-nut butter. You've never seen a more perfect-looking loaf of bread in your life. Tasted wonderful, but you'd have to be an absolute pig to eat the whole thing.*
* We ate the whole thing. I have no regrets about this.
I got a ginger-crusted ribeye that was cooked perfectly and drizzled with something called "tamarind jus". I have no idea what that is, but it tasted great. Julie got a coconut/almond-crusted chicken that she couldn't stop raving about. And we each had the chocolate lava cake for dessert, which you can see in this picture:
And yes, I did the Hawaiian shirt on purpose. Because Hawaiian shirts rock.
Our romantic evening concluded with a stroll at Downtown Disney, and was marred only by the bus ride from the Polynesian. No scooters, but the driver had the A/C cranked down to approximately 33 degrees. Now I now what a TV dinner feels like. We thought maybe Disney was testing an Antarctica Pavilion concept for the World Showcase, localized entirely on this bus. I never thought I'd be so grateful to step out into hot, sticky Florida air.
After wandering through the stores (and missing out on the balloon ride again), we ended our evening with a lazy boat ride up the Sassagoula River back to POR. Because that boat ride rocks, too.
Coming Up Next: How fast do they run out of Soarin' Fast Passes? And we need ketchup!
I'll head over and check it out.
