Where did this week go???? I'm sorry for the slight lapse in updates, this has just been one of those weeks where everything random and time-consuming happens (on top of starting the new job!), which then seriously impacts my Dis time. Boo.
Anyways. Back to Disney. (Wouldn't it be nice if going to Disney was as easy as typing that??
)
When I last left you, we were at the Grand Floridian, post-breakfast. Now, I know that I have never quite sang the praises of Animal Kingdom - Wingnut nor I are really the biggest fans of that park. When we were planning the trip, Wingnut even asked why I was bothering to notate the EMH's for AK, why would we need those?
Somewhere along the line, he made the suggestion of "why don't we give Animal Kingdom one more shot?"
Alright. Back to Animal Kingdom we go!
We hopped a bus from the Grand Floridian and a few minutes later arrived at the park.
(I have no pictures from that process because, well, we were just riding on a bus. I have no pictures from the following story, because, well, pictures were pretty much the last thing on my mind at the moment...)
We starting walking towards the turnstyles, and I was continuing to revel in the the wonder that is cargo shorts, and how I didn't have to go through the bag check line. I dug through my pocket, found my card/money holder, and did not find my KTTK.
It wasn't in any of my pockets. Or in my card holder, despite frantically searching several times.
Wingnut sighed. "Seriously?"
Instantly, I knew where that card was. Still in the pocket of my sweatshirt, back at the Polynesian.
I panicked, envisioning us needing to bus BACK to the Polynesian and then would it be worth it to go all the way BACK to Animal Kingdom at that point? We're already here! We're so close!!
I did the first thing I could think of, which was to frantically race towards the ticket sales window, hoping they could reissue my card. While I was darting through the cheerfully prepared-with-their-cards crowds, a woman stopped me.
"Excuse me?" she asked, "would you mind taking our picture?"
Ordinarily, of course, I take pictures of anyone who asks me. I even sometimes volunteer to take pictures of people if it looks like a family that is trying to get everyone in a group shot. But right now?? She picked the only person in the area practically running towards a knowledgeable CM with a beleaguered BF attempting to catch up to her.
"No, I'm sorry, I need to do something right now." I continued powerwalking towards the ticket window, Wingnut trailing behind. I approached the CM behind the window, breathlessly explained my dilemma, and was pointed in the direction of Guest Services (which seemed much more promising to me than being pointed in the direction of the bus stops).
Guest Services was only a few more steps away, and a repeat of the explanation and around 30 seconds later, I was reissued a new card. Super-fast and super-easy, thank goodness!
I turned to Wingnut, who was standing next to me by that point.
"Well, that was easy!" I beamed at him.
I think I got another sigh in response.
Fully equipped to enter the park, we noticed the line for the turnstyles had rapidly grown in those brief moments. Did I mention we were in time for rope drop? We're prompt like that.
So far, this AK day wasn't exactly starting off on the right foot. First the small card issue, and now we were both getting the sneaking feeling that we had again incorrectly chosen the least crowded park for the day.
"Should we stay?" Wingnut asked.
Oh, no. Not after me actually putting forth the effort to almost-run to enter the park are we turning around now! We decided to go ahead and proceed, hit the safari first, and then see what we could do after that before the crowds descended further.
Plan in place, the turnstyles soon opened, and we walked through the Oasis towards the next rope. Almost instantly,
we were relieved at the huge difference in having to tour with the wheelchair and walking through the park. The inclines and the textured pavement were simply normal parts of the experience, rather than obstacles.
We joined the rest of the crowd at the Tree of Life, and I finally took a picture.
I consulted the map that I had grabbed (yes, I know, I still need maps at AK.
This park confuses me more than our original adventure trying to find the TTC.) Safari towards the left. Towards the left we stood.
A few moments later, a CM materialized somewhere towards the front of the crowd (we couldn't actually see him), and started getting the crowd psyched to get into AK. He told the people going towards EE to stand towards the right and cheer, then the people going towards the Safari to stand towards the left and cheer. A few random people were going to other destinations, but they were pretty much left out of the bulk of the cheering excitement-building exercise.
Wingnut and I were pretty surprised at the size of the crowd surrounding us (and my hopes that absolutely no one else would cheer that they were Safari-bound were pretty quickly dashed. Hey, you can't blame a girl for trying.), so we devised the ever-original plan to walk as briskly and directly to the Safari as possible.
Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200. And ESPECIALLY do not get distracted by the cute fluffy animals along the way.
Annnnnnnnnd GO!
We walked as briskly as we could (I am FAR from athletic) with approximately half of the crowd for what seemed like forever through various tree-lined walkways until we finally reached the Safari, and walked pretty much through most of the queue. We only had around a 5 minute wait from there (a nice opportunity to actually stand still that morning!), until we were boarding our Safari vehicle.
And then I started taking pictures again!
Hippo!
I like how it looks like he has an entire bodyguard group of birds.
Was this of one of the bridges from the Wild Africa Trek? I can't remember now.
Hey, I took
more pictures of giraffes!
Good morning!
I love the elephants.
Don't go this way...
Mingos for Bella, of course!
Find the lion:
Blurry rhino:
In the end, the baby elephant was saved (I for one am happy this storyline is going by the wayside. It just seemed really unnecessary.), and we decided where to move on next.
that poor woman asking you to take the picture. What was she thinking. I am sure you looked frantic. I know when I have had to run to guest services i pretty much must look crazed...so why would she stop you of all people 
No, I didn't see her again after that! (Thank goodness!)
