ADP Live From Universal & Disney World

[Madi100]

Aaron, sounds like you guys are having a great time. I'm really enjoying reading your TR.

 

[ADP]

Friday, July 31st

We are back from our morning at the Animal Kingdom. The park wasn't very crowded this morning; however, as we left you could see the people pouring into the park. The sun was ducking in and out of the clouds so it wasn't oppresively hot.

We grabbed a quick breakfast at the Mara this morning before leaving for the park. The Mara is the Animal Kingdom Lodge's quick service restaurant. It was very crowded this morning. I'm glad we are moving to club level tomorrow so we can avoid having breakfast there. It's just too crowded.

We arrived at the Animal Kingdom just after the park opened. We caught the bus at the AKL bus depot. The bus to the Animal Kingdom leaves from zone 1 and you are reminded how to get over to Kidani Village.

It took us about 5 minutes to get over to the Animal Kingdom from the bus...A very short ride.
After a short walk we were at the front gate.

As we entered the park I was ready with my camera. The Animal Kingdom provides some great shots. I don't have the best camera in the world, but everytime we visit the Animal Kingdom I wish I had a Cannon T1i; AKA a nice camera.
Here are a couple of shots from the Animal Kingdom

Coming out the mountain and down the hill of Expedition Everest

Sometimes it can get so hot in the Animal Kingdom you can start seeing double.

When we first entered the park today we went to the fastpass machines at Expedition Everest. The time to come back and ride was posted between 11:00 and 12:00. We got fastpasses and went to Dinoland. Anna wanted to ride Primeval Whirl. We got spun into oblivian and moved on to the Festival of the Lion King show. This is my favorite show on property.

As we left the Lion King Show we made a stop to catch some characters.

It was our time to ride Expedition Everest. We jumped in the fastpass line at around 11:35 and waited for only 5 minutes. The standby time was posted as 45 minutes. Thank goodness for our fastpasses. The Yeti was in B mode again today. He only had the strobe lights on him as you passed underneath him. It's too bad they can't figure out how to get him to move properly. I hope they can figure it out someday.

After we rode Everst it was time for us to leave the park. The crowds were pouring in and the heat of the day was beginning to show up. On our way out of the park we saw Divine near the exit to the park. Unfortunately, this was not the same Divine we met on the plane from Indy to Orlando. Maybe we'll catch her next time.

We plan on coming back to the Animal Kingdom during out trip. I'm not sure which day we'll be there, but until then:

Right now we are headed down to the gift shop to pick up some items we had shipped and purchased from Downtown Disney last night. Kim should be arriving soon, and later we are getting together with Shelly. Tonight we are dining off site in Celebration. We are really looking forward to it.

More to come!

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Friday, July 31st

Sometimes it can get so hot in the Animal Kingdom you can start seeing double.

Good one Aaron! (meaning the picture and the joke).

After we rode Everst it was time for us to leave the park. The crowds were pouring in and the heat of the day was beginning to show up. On our way out of the park we saw Divine near the exit to the park. Unfortunately, this was not the same Divine we met on the plane from Indy to Orlando. Maybe we'll catch her next time.

Wow, there's more than one Divine... who knew? And I've never seen any of them.

Right now we are headed down to the gift shop to pick up some items we had shipped and purchased from Downtown Disney last night. Kim should be arriving soon, and later we are getting together with Shelly. Tonight we are dining off site in Celebration. We are really looking forward to it.

More to come!

Have a great dinner. Please tell everyone I said hello.

 

[WaltD4Me]

Aaron, your trip reports and pictures are the BEST, I just love when you are at Disney! Awesome AK pictures, love the one of Devine. Keep having a great time and keep keeping us posted!

 

[flyingcat2003]

Good one Aaron! (meaning the picture and the joke).

Wow, there's more than one Divine... who knew? And I've never seen any of them.

Have a great dinner. Please tell everyone I said hello.

Is it just me or does Devine creep any of you out as well? I know this sounds bad but she just creeps me out so bad. Kind of like a clown does.

 

[Ms. Belle]

I LOVE LOVE LOVE your trip report. I feel like I'm there with you. You and your daughter look like you are having a great time. I can't wait to read more!

 

[disneyholic family]

Nemo's our favorite show in AK, and Lion king our second favorite....
for us, both of them are must-sees (usually several times each trip)...

great picture of EE!

 

[Sooze]

^^^^^^I Agree!^^^^^^^

I still can't decide which one I like best, Nemo or FotLK... so we always make sure to see them both as well!

How weird, when we were there in mid-July, the Yeti was janked, too! You could barely see him and he wasn't moving. Get it fixed!!

Can't wait to hear about your meal in Celebration!

 

[SunnieRN]

What a wonderful trip report!!! You have really convinced me that I want to go to Universal/IOA! Staying onsite, of course!

Your daughter is beautiful!! Loved her face painting and it was so cute when she was doing the hula!! She didn't even look nervous, must be due to her cheer leading experience.

I am happy for you all that your family is now together and I hope you had a wonderful dinner!!

 

[disneyholic family]

Aaron - that sign for kidani village - you mean that's the sign at the AKL for how to get to kidani village?

is kidani village that far from AKL that you need to take a bus...
or am i being particularly thick today and not understanding the sign?

 

[Metro West]

Is it just me or does Devine creep any of you out as well? I know this sounds bad but she just creeps me out so bad. Kind of like a clown does.

 

[ADP]

Aaron - that sign for kidani village - you mean that's the sign at the AKL for how to get to kidani village?

is kidani village that far from AKL that you need to take a bus...
or am i being particularly thick today and not understanding the sign?

Correct...You can catch the bus to take you to Kidani Village. According to the DVC member website...Jambo House is 1/2 mile from Kidani Village if you decided to walk. There is a sidewalk/path that connects the two main entrances at each building.

What a wonderful trip report!!! You have really convinced me that I want to go to Universal/IOA! Staying onsite, of course!

Your daughter is beautiful!! Loved her face painting and it was so cute when she was doing the hula!! She didn't even look nervous, must be due to her cheer leading experience.

I am happy for you all that your family is now together and I hope you had a wonderful dinner!!

Thank You. Univeresal is a lot of fun. We can't wait when Harry Potter when it opens.

 

[ADP]

Hi Everyone,

We are getting ready to check out of our room and check back in to our new room on the Kilimanjaro club level. We are going to grab a quick breakfast and head to the Magic Kingdom. Hopefully, it's not "crazy" crowded today.

Kim is here and now I feel our vacation has "officially" started.

We had a great time at Celebration last night. We got to dine with Kathy, Kevin, John, Kevin's mom Anna, and Shelly. It was great to see all of them again. We dined at Celebration Town Tavern. It was a fabulous meal.

Here are a couple of photos I took while we were in Celebration.

Celebration Town Tavern

I had a bowl of lobster chowder which was very chunky. It was full of chunks of lobster, potatoes, and corn. It was very creamy, but delicious. I also had a side salad and an order of chips and salsa.

Kim had a grilled chicken platter. She enjoyed it. It came with a large portion of vegetables and a large baked potato.

Anna had a kids chicken fingers platter. She loves any type of chicken fingers, so it was a hit with her.

Thanks to everyone for a great evening. It was a lot of fun.

We are off to the MK. I'll be back with more later.

 

[Launchpad11B]

Sounds good Aaron. Tell Kim we say hello.

 

[OKW Lover]

Sounds like a fun night at the Celebration Town Tavern. Can't wait to read more of your trip report - keep it coming!

 

[A.Mickey]

Hi Aaron!

Loving your live trip report! I am glad Kevin plugged it in a recent podcast, that is how I found out about it.

See you in Indy!

 

[Sooze]

Hi Aaron!

Loving your live trip report! I am glad Kevin plugged it in a recent podcast, that is how I found out about it.

See you in Indy!

Celebrations is just beautiful, isn't it?! When Matt and I go on our adults-only trip, we may just have to venture back out there for some food! Thanks for sharing.

 

[kab407]

I love CTT!

Have a great day Aaron, Anna and finally Kim!!!!

 

[shellyminnie]

I had a bowl of lobster chowder which was very chunky. It was full of chunks of lobster, potatoes, and corn. It was very creamy, but delicious.

Mmmmmm . . . lobster chowder!! OMG!! That was the best chowder I have ever eaten. You must go on Fridays to try this . . It is definitely worth the trip!!

Good food . . good company . . it was indeed a great night!!

 

[*NikkiBell*]

Lobster chowder? Wow, that's something I'd love. I'm a lobster junkie.

Question, in the tavern pic it looks like there's residential housing above the restaurant. Were those apartments? offices? I'd love to get over to Celebration to see the area one day. I've always been curious about it.