jaychis
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2009
This week was a great week for the family. After a very long house search, we found the perfect place. We have been experimenting with growing Canary Island date palms, avocado's, and citrus. We had 100% germination and growth. I know, corny, but I was excited. What better way to celebrate than spending the day at Disney.
Normally we take a day trip without planning anything. We pick a park, go, and decide what we want to do when we are there. We went to Animal Kingdom about a week ago, but we didn't go until 2:00pm. We felt a little short changed considering the park wasn't that busy for a weekend. My DW decided she wanted to go again and she wanted to spend more time there.
On Wednesday we decided that we should plan a little bit since some schools are still on winter break. We set up FastPass foe Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Festival of the Lion King. We drove over the the park after getting a few things done in the morning and arrived at 11:00. The lot was getting packed. We ended up further back in the parking lot than we thought (Yeti). The morning made it look like things would be less busy. It was in the low 70's and it was raining on and off. We got in the park and went to Kali first. This was a good choice for a FastPass. Most of the day the standby wait time was around 80 minutes. Our FastPass for the safari was about an hour later, so we walked around checking out a few shops and decided to grab a bite to eat in Africa near the safari. As I mentioned the park was hopping and we decided to spend dinner in the Animal Kingdom. I was able to set up a dinner reservation without a problem at Tusker House (the stars are in alignment). For lunch we went to Harambe Market. This was the fist time we ate here and I will tell you, this was an outstanding lunch. I had the Tikka Masala Chicken, my DW had the grilled chicken skewer, and my DS had the kids corn dog meal. The chicken in both our meals was tender, moist, and very flavorful. The black eyed pea salad and green papaya slaw was outstanding. To the point that DW was searching for the recipes. I'm certain the food comes from Tusker House (more on this later). Again, the stars were in alignment. I was given the task to find a place to sit while my DW ordered. I walked over to an area under a shade tree and a group was getting up.
After lunch we went to the safari and were in the vehicle within 5 minutes. Great tour with plenty of sightings. After the safari, we had a few hours until Lion King. We did Gorilla Falls and then Wildlife Express Train. You could spend an entire day doing these attractions alone. Lion King was outstanding and a must see for anyone who hasn't seen it. We then squeezed in a few character meetings (we were able to do 8 characters between dinner and the park. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Doc McStuffins, Daisy, Pocahontas, Baloo, and Rafiki. Before diner we were wondering if we could fit something else in. My son and I headed over to Expedition Everest with only a 15 minute wait and my DW was checking out Rivers of Light. I did manage to catch some of this show as well when we were done with Everest.
We then went to Tusker House and we were seat right away. The food was again outstanding. I have seen a few reviews about the quality of the food. I don't think I had anything that I didn't like. Nothing overcooked or flavorless. My DW had a few things she didn't care for but she doesn't like spice and isn't an adventurous eater (she thinks black pepper is too spicy). She was able to find plenty of things that she loved. The Salmon and the green beans from the kids area were a big hit. I did try the Tikka Masala at Tusker House and it was exactly the same (very tasty). The price at Tusker House is on the pricey side considering this is buffet style. It was a little easier to justify due to the discount as annual passholders.
The Day was a huge success except for Rivers of Light. First about the show. The show was good, but for me, I didn't get the goosebumps or emotion from a great show. It's something I could see once or twice, but that's about it. The other thing is the walkways are way too small for the volume of people. In the DIS unplugged podcast, this was mentioned and I could see how it would take an hour just to get to the parking lot. Everyone is different, this was just my take on it. The show is new and by Wednesday, we were unable to get a FastPass. My wife had a great spot were she could watch the show from the wall surrounding the amphitheater. It was disappointing that kids as well as adults were pushing and shoving to get a view of the show. People were rude and inconsiderate. It felt like they were 10 minutes to late, but were entitled to a front row view. That was my one minute rant for a great day with the fam. Everything fell into place. We looked back at everything we accomplished and it didn't seem possible. We weren't rushing around and in fact it was a very laid back day. As I like to say, "it was meant to be."
Normally we take a day trip without planning anything. We pick a park, go, and decide what we want to do when we are there. We went to Animal Kingdom about a week ago, but we didn't go until 2:00pm. We felt a little short changed considering the park wasn't that busy for a weekend. My DW decided she wanted to go again and she wanted to spend more time there.
On Wednesday we decided that we should plan a little bit since some schools are still on winter break. We set up FastPass foe Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, and Festival of the Lion King. We drove over the the park after getting a few things done in the morning and arrived at 11:00. The lot was getting packed. We ended up further back in the parking lot than we thought (Yeti). The morning made it look like things would be less busy. It was in the low 70's and it was raining on and off. We got in the park and went to Kali first. This was a good choice for a FastPass. Most of the day the standby wait time was around 80 minutes. Our FastPass for the safari was about an hour later, so we walked around checking out a few shops and decided to grab a bite to eat in Africa near the safari. As I mentioned the park was hopping and we decided to spend dinner in the Animal Kingdom. I was able to set up a dinner reservation without a problem at Tusker House (the stars are in alignment). For lunch we went to Harambe Market. This was the fist time we ate here and I will tell you, this was an outstanding lunch. I had the Tikka Masala Chicken, my DW had the grilled chicken skewer, and my DS had the kids corn dog meal. The chicken in both our meals was tender, moist, and very flavorful. The black eyed pea salad and green papaya slaw was outstanding. To the point that DW was searching for the recipes. I'm certain the food comes from Tusker House (more on this later). Again, the stars were in alignment. I was given the task to find a place to sit while my DW ordered. I walked over to an area under a shade tree and a group was getting up.
After lunch we went to the safari and were in the vehicle within 5 minutes. Great tour with plenty of sightings. After the safari, we had a few hours until Lion King. We did Gorilla Falls and then Wildlife Express Train. You could spend an entire day doing these attractions alone. Lion King was outstanding and a must see for anyone who hasn't seen it. We then squeezed in a few character meetings (we were able to do 8 characters between dinner and the park. Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Doc McStuffins, Daisy, Pocahontas, Baloo, and Rafiki. Before diner we were wondering if we could fit something else in. My son and I headed over to Expedition Everest with only a 15 minute wait and my DW was checking out Rivers of Light. I did manage to catch some of this show as well when we were done with Everest.
We then went to Tusker House and we were seat right away. The food was again outstanding. I have seen a few reviews about the quality of the food. I don't think I had anything that I didn't like. Nothing overcooked or flavorless. My DW had a few things she didn't care for but she doesn't like spice and isn't an adventurous eater (she thinks black pepper is too spicy). She was able to find plenty of things that she loved. The Salmon and the green beans from the kids area were a big hit. I did try the Tikka Masala at Tusker House and it was exactly the same (very tasty). The price at Tusker House is on the pricey side considering this is buffet style. It was a little easier to justify due to the discount as annual passholders.
The Day was a huge success except for Rivers of Light. First about the show. The show was good, but for me, I didn't get the goosebumps or emotion from a great show. It's something I could see once or twice, but that's about it. The other thing is the walkways are way too small for the volume of people. In the DIS unplugged podcast, this was mentioned and I could see how it would take an hour just to get to the parking lot. Everyone is different, this was just my take on it. The show is new and by Wednesday, we were unable to get a FastPass. My wife had a great spot were she could watch the show from the wall surrounding the amphitheater. It was disappointing that kids as well as adults were pushing and shoving to get a view of the show. People were rude and inconsiderate. It felt like they were 10 minutes to late, but were entitled to a front row view. That was my one minute rant for a great day with the fam. Everything fell into place. We looked back at everything we accomplished and it didn't seem possible. We weren't rushing around and in fact it was a very laid back day. As I like to say, "it was meant to be."
