CJK
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2001
- Messages
- 7,594
After a great night sleep, we decided to go back to the Animal Kingdom today. We didn't make it to early entry but did get there by 9am and were greeted by a HUGE line to enter the park! Psst.....I'll tell you a secret if you promise not to tell. Go into the Rain Forest Cafe and enter the AK through the restaurant's entrance. We breezed by the line! Fantastic! It was REALLY hot today so we knew we wouldn't be spending much time at AK today. We usually go to the Safari first thing, but we honestly didn't feel a need to do so today since we had been admiring so many animals at our hotel! We decided to do primeval whirl again instead. We enjoyed it again this time, but for some reason it didn't seem as fast as a few days before. I wonder if they change the speed?? We wandered through a couple stores and made it to the first Lion King Show of the day. My FAVOURITE guy was back as the leader (the gentleman who sings "Be Prepared"). His voice is so deep and rich. It gives me chills! Oh how I'd love to sing in this show!
Dh was melting by now, but he wanted to see ITTBAB one last time. Not so many kids were crying this time so we were able to enjoy it a little more. We had never eaten at Safari Pizza so we decided to have an early lunch there (no line) and then go back to our hotel for a swim. We couldn't believe how hot it was today. The pool sounded more desirable than sweating our sunscreen off in the parks! We lounged around the pool and got talking to some other people around us. A CM brought out a basketball net and a bunch of balls so we all joined in on a couple games. What a blast! At 4pm, we decided to go on the culinary tour of the hotel. An African CM talked a little bit about the hotel and all the different parts of Africa that had been put into the hotel. It's really amazing how the hotel is really a "melting pot" of different art all across Africa. We then went to Jiko where we learned that 1% of ALL South African wine is sold there. It sounds like a small number, but it's really quite impressive. Jiko recently won a prestige award that only one other Disney restaurant won - Victoria & Albert's at the Grand Floridian! They gave us some samples which makes you want to have dinner there even more!!!! Our guide took us to Boma next where we got to enjoy even more samples and learn all about the various dishes. Boy were we hungry now!!
If we hadn't had PS at Hollywood & Vine for that night, we definitely would have gone to Jiko. Well, there's always another trip, right? After the tour, we took the bus to MGM. I immediately went to RNC and TofT. I was so excited to be able to do both rides before dinner. I didn't think my full stomach would like those rides after dinner! We arrived at H&V 10min. before our PS time and were seated after a 20min. wait. The watermelon was fantastic as was the rootbeer sweet potatoes. However, the meat was very tough and bland (pork & beef particularly). We enjoyed the dinner, but admit we were a little disappointed with the quality. I doubt we'll go back. With our Fantasmic ticket in hand, we realized we had time to do the backlot tour before Fantasmic. After a great tour, we went to Fantasmic. It was nice only having to wait for half an hour instead of the traditional one hour! The crowd did "the wave" many, many times in different styles. It was pretty fun and it sure helped pass the wait time. We enjoyed the show but were shocked to see the big ferry boat wasn't used at the end of the show. The characters used to come out on a ferry boat but instead, they all just came out on stage which is much further away. Does anyone know if this was a fluke or if this change is now permanent?? I hope there was just a temporary problem with the boat! A nice thing about the Fantasmic package seating is that it's easier to get out after the show is over! We were able to get onto our bus very quickly. We phoned Mears and arranged for them to pick us up the following evening and went to the pool for a swim. My burn had subsided and I was able to enjoy the hot tub once again! We packed up our suitcases and hopped into bed. I can't believe our 3 night stay at AKL is almost over! Tomorrow we're moving to the Hyatt Regency hotel in the airport.
Dh was melting by now, but he wanted to see ITTBAB one last time. Not so many kids were crying this time so we were able to enjoy it a little more. We had never eaten at Safari Pizza so we decided to have an early lunch there (no line) and then go back to our hotel for a swim. We couldn't believe how hot it was today. The pool sounded more desirable than sweating our sunscreen off in the parks! We lounged around the pool and got talking to some other people around us. A CM brought out a basketball net and a bunch of balls so we all joined in on a couple games. What a blast! At 4pm, we decided to go on the culinary tour of the hotel. An African CM talked a little bit about the hotel and all the different parts of Africa that had been put into the hotel. It's really amazing how the hotel is really a "melting pot" of different art all across Africa. We then went to Jiko where we learned that 1% of ALL South African wine is sold there. It sounds like a small number, but it's really quite impressive. Jiko recently won a prestige award that only one other Disney restaurant won - Victoria & Albert's at the Grand Floridian! They gave us some samples which makes you want to have dinner there even more!!!! Our guide took us to Boma next where we got to enjoy even more samples and learn all about the various dishes. Boy were we hungry now!!
If we hadn't had PS at Hollywood & Vine for that night, we definitely would have gone to Jiko. Well, there's always another trip, right? After the tour, we took the bus to MGM. I immediately went to RNC and TofT. I was so excited to be able to do both rides before dinner. I didn't think my full stomach would like those rides after dinner! We arrived at H&V 10min. before our PS time and were seated after a 20min. wait. The watermelon was fantastic as was the rootbeer sweet potatoes. However, the meat was very tough and bland (pork & beef particularly). We enjoyed the dinner, but admit we were a little disappointed with the quality. I doubt we'll go back. With our Fantasmic ticket in hand, we realized we had time to do the backlot tour before Fantasmic. After a great tour, we went to Fantasmic. It was nice only having to wait for half an hour instead of the traditional one hour! The crowd did "the wave" many, many times in different styles. It was pretty fun and it sure helped pass the wait time. We enjoyed the show but were shocked to see the big ferry boat wasn't used at the end of the show. The characters used to come out on a ferry boat but instead, they all just came out on stage which is much further away. Does anyone know if this was a fluke or if this change is now permanent?? I hope there was just a temporary problem with the boat! A nice thing about the Fantasmic package seating is that it's easier to get out after the show is over! We were able to get onto our bus very quickly. We phoned Mears and arranged for them to pick us up the following evening and went to the pool for a swim. My burn had subsided and I was able to enjoy the hot tub once again! We packed up our suitcases and hopped into bed. I can't believe our 3 night stay at AKL is almost over! Tomorrow we're moving to the Hyatt Regency hotel in the airport.
