More confessions. I got distracted from my TR by a turkey and his side dishes.
Now that all the fun is over and the dishes are clean, I'm sobered up and realizing that it will be at least another year before I get back to Florida. So instead of wallowing in self pity, here's the last 2 installments of my TR.
Sunday morning. Time for Animal Kingdom (4 parks, 3 days).
I got up early, packed, left my bags at the bell desk at Kidani (kept a small bag with swimsuit and shirt), and then headed to Boma for breakfast.
I must bring out the mothering instinct in Boma waitresses, cause the waitress took one look at me and brought out a huge glass of juice. Over the course of breakfast, that glass got filled 3 times. So it may be more accurate to say that I floated, not walked, out of Boma, and only after a plat of pineapple, melon, really gooey (in a good sense) pecan rolls, mini chocolate croissants, and a plate of pancakes and sausage. I love breakfast at Boma.
There was a huge crowd at the bus stop for Animal Kingdom and to add insult to injury, when a bus finally came it was completely filled from Kidani (one of the benefits of staying at Kidani). After 20 minutes a bus came and it filled with another 30 of us waiting at the stop. Finally they commandeered a bus and we got to AK about 50 minutes after I arrived at the bus stop. So I missed the rope drop, but that's OK. Today is my slow day.
AK has the best places for sitting; here's a top 15 list:
1. Along the path between the boneyard and Nemo (along the river). This is very quiet and almost empty most times.
2. Next to the Rock Shop looking out at Triceratops Spin. Good shade for a sunny day
3. Along the path from the boneyard to Dinosaur (by the hamburger joint). This is a good place to relax while the kids are in the boneyard.
4. Behind A Bug's Life (by the insect demonstration). A little noisy when the show lets out.
5. Along the river near the bridge to Africa (there are great bird exhibits on this little used path).
6. On the Buddha Tree by the bridge to Asia (this is great for family photos).
7. Behind the shack that sells cola and blueberry icees. Technically, this is a smoking zone, but sometimes it's empty and a nice place to watch the river.
8. Outside Yak & Yeti's counter service. During meal times, this is crowded, but other times, it's a good spot to watch the Kali River drenched crowds slop their way back to civilization.
9. Outside the main mercantile shop (a good shady location).
10. On the stone ledge around the tree in the heart of the African village (from this vantage point, you can see the musicians playing at Tusker House).
11. On the benches near the fast passes for Kilimanjaro Safaris. Sometimes they do lessons here, so you have to be willing to participate (or at least be part of) an impromptu classroom to sit on these benches).
12. Along the path to the Lion King (there are a number of great water fountains along this path, plus there are places to sit where you can watch the character greetings).
13. At Flights of Wonder. Ok, technically, this is a show and not just a place to sit, but this is a great place to people watch as they jump when the parrots and hornbills fly past.
And the best 2 spots:
14. Along the Pangani trail: There is a great spot by the gorillas and a water fountain where you can just sit back and enjoy the crowds and the animals. Honestly, I spent 2 hours there one trip, just watching the apes and the gorrillas too . . .
15. In the bird enclosure on the Maharaja Jungle Trek. It is amazing how many birds you can see in this enclosure, but you have to sit still and watch. You can't just walk through and expect to see a fraction of the birds here. There is, of course, a hazard in sitting in a bird enclosure for any length of time (yep, that's personal experience speaking).
So on this trip, I stopped along the walk to Discovery Island (near the Anteater). Then I wandered through the shops, taking time to stop and sit near the Lilo and Stitch character greeting (the trees were in bloom, in November, which seems just wrong to someone from Chicago). I stopped again, near the Africa bridge (and watched the guy selling the big blow up rubber globes from a cart).
From there, I hobbled to the Kilimanjaro Safari Ride. Bar none, this is my favorite ride in all WDW. And I love doing it early in the morning (despite the busses and all my sitting, it's only about 9:30 am) and late in the afternoon when the animals are most active.
There was no line to speak of, just a hike through the woods to the loading dock. We had a great driver who was very personable without being too corny (I like the Jungle Boat humor on the Jungle Boat ride; frankly, I'd be just fine if they took out the whole Poachers Chase at the end of this ride and just let us all enjoy the animals.
I included a couple of phone photos at the end of this post. I missed a few of the jungle animals (e.g., Bongo), but we saw most of the animals on the chart and had great views of mandrill monkeys, warthogs, lions, cheetahs (they were out walking in their enclosure), elephant families, okapi, antelope and rhinos. It was once again a great ride.
I spent time around the African Village watching the drummers and shopping in the stores. I walked back to Discovery Island and sat along my favorite riverside path (by the stork exhibits).
As I wandered along the path, I hit the stroller park for A Bug's Life and the attendants let me join the path to the theater from here, which saved me a mile of walking . . . Enjoyed the joy, got wet from the toxic roach spit etc.
I wasn't hungry, but I had one more CS credit and I wouldn't really have a chance to eat again until I was home in Chicago at midnight, so I went in search of lunch. I should have gone to Dinosaur land for the basic burger meal, but instead I ended up at Pizzafari (I don't care for bbq but I understand that Flame Tree is a good lunch choice). Pizzafari is not. I don't know why I do this to myself, but I always end up regretting the rubber bread with a pool of cheese grease that passes for pizza at WDW. Nuff said.
I made a few more stops along the return trip (my knee having pretty much given up the ghost). There are convenient benches all the way to the bus stop, so I managed the force walk back to the bus and the quick ride back to the resort.
Me in the Kingdom.
On the safari ride: Mother Elephant and Young Elephant (much better than the fake one in the canvas truck).
Antelope and Ankole Cattle
Giraffe on the safari ride
