How A Trip Goes From Relaxing To Lets Do Everything? 2 Week Pic Report From Mar '11

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Let's move on in the parade to the Aladdin float

And moving on to some other random characters

Dumbo was there, in the same way Figaro was there

Mary and Bert

The Captain of the Hook

And his arch nemesis

Spent all these years being proud of telling Chip and Dale apart, forgot how to learn about Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum

Castle Float

Some evil step-sisters (and step-mother, let's not leave her out)

They really felt like dancing, evil dancing!!!

The Fairy Godmother

Here comes the Princesses (Brittany's favorite part )

Ariel was ignoring us

Next: Finishing Off The Train Ride​

 

[saintstickets]

Great parade pics! You had a prime viewing spot. Keep the fantastic TR coming!

 

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Great parade pics! You had a prime viewing spot. Keep the fantastic TR coming!

Thanks Saints!!! Just edited 300 more pics to keep this thing going. Thanks for reading!!!

 

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After the parade, we headed back towards the train station to finish the tour. Along the way, we passed the Briar Patch.

And past Big Thunder

We checked in at the station

On our way around, we got a look at the New Fantasyland banners at the old Toontown train station

Apparently I sat in something, Britt thought this was funny. Apparently, you should check the seats on the train carefully before sitting down. At least we had the washer and dryer back at Old Key West.

Next: Out For Our 3rd ADR Of The Day​

 

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Never again will we try 3 ADR's in one day. It is just too much and this coming from a big eater.

So where are we heading on for this 3rd ADR?

That's right! Another resort Britt had never visited and it just begs to be shown off.

We got there a little early so we could look around and go outside and look around the savanna.

It is a great place to spend some time watching the animals and so much quieter than the Animal Kingdom both times I have been here.

The glass over the entry way from the savanna.

And now a look at some of the details

Next: Getting To The Grub​

 

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So for our third meal of the day, I chose another buffet. In retrospect, not the smartest choice considering we had started the day at a buffet too, but why not? Let's make ourselves pop at the place where calories don't count, Disney World!

Let's take a look at:

Looking down on the restaurant from the cool bar above it

And the entry way, where it seemed like pure mayhem going on, but Boma always feels this way to me. And Jiko looks so nice and quiet, haha.

The cover of the drink menu

And the buffet

And now for the pics of the food

And dessert, of course, I promise you, this wasn't the only plate.

Boma is pricey. A little overrated for our liking. Animal Kingdom Lodge though, is always amazing. I think Britt would join me in saying that we think that Tusker House is a better deal with better food, at least for us. Two adults for dinner were $65.98 minus our TIW discount of $13.20. The total with tax and gratuity ended up being $68.10.

Next: Getting Day 13 Off With A Bang​

 

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It was time for us to go off campus again. This time it was over to Tampa to check out Busch Gardens, a place that I had not been since the early 90's.

A look at the entrance

And over to Gwazi to try out this rambunctious wooden roller coaster.

A few shots of the coaster

We didn't know that Busch opened the park in stages. We were there at park opening but only Gwazi was open for the first hour, we ran into a guarded gate trying to get to Sheikra.

Here are a few early shots of Walkabout Way (the Austrailian section, there will be more to come later.

And finally a few pics of the gardens and flamingos

Next: Shrieking On Sheikra And Other Wild Adventures​

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So we were held up at the rope waiting to get to the large coasters and hit them before the rest of the people filled the entire park. Of course, our first stop on this coaster tour was:

Now Sheikra is a huge drop coaster, not for the faint of heart and is like the Griffon that we have here in Virginia at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

Really cool coaster!!!

Here are a few shots of the log flume which we passed on the way to our next destination.

And a few more shots of landmarks on our walk. This nice Tiger striped flower bed.

And the entrance to Timbuktu.

And finally to our next monster!

KUMBA!!! Another great coaster.

And back into Timbuktu.

We were here to visit my first looping coaster from many years ago!!

And boy did it hurt. It was a very, very painful ride.

Here is Scorpion with Sheikra in the background

Next: Seeing The Animals At Busch Gardens Vs. Animal Kingdom​

 

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So, we were done being beat up by Scorpion and were moving our way over to Montu when we decided to stop at Rhino Rally. Now, I know the river part of this ride was removed due to accidents/space constraints, so I figured it would be like Kilimanjaro Safaris but in smaller vehicles. And I thought that those smaller vehicles would offer a different, perhaps better experience being that it was a smaller amount of people in the Jeep. I was wrong! I could not of been more wrong. This attraction is completely worthelss, there ar barely any animals, do not waste your time. We didn't take many pictures, because, quite frankly, there wasn't a lot to take pictures of. Here is what we got (mostly signage.)

Here are some of the few animals we saw.

Now for the regular animal exhibits at Busch Gardens Tampa. These were fantastic, unbelievably detailed and you could get so close to the animals. These pictures aren't cropped that much, this is actually how close you can get to these magnificent creatures.

Beautiful looking building called the Colony House Restaurant

Next: Montu And More​

 

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Next up was Montu. It lived up to all of the hype. A great inverted coaster that will be enjoyed by any coaster fan.

We then went over to a reproduction walk-through of King Tut's Tomb. I had great hope for this because I like parks that aren't all coasters and thrill rides. I was wrong again. It was a very bland, very boring disply.

And here is a look at Cheetah Hunt (it was being built at the time, it is now open.)

And then we headed over towards the Gorilla display.

Next: Train Tour Of The Savana​

 

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The next item on our agenda was you guessed it, get more pictures of animals by taking the train through the savanna. The line was suprisingly long, but we made it on the train and began our journey.

First the train station.

And a view of Montu pulling out of the station.

And off we go for more giraffes

And some other animals.

A lot of Rhinos

Rhino versus Bird (The bird won)

And an Ostrich

And as you pull into the next station, some African Cattle

Next: Totally Terrific Tigers​

 

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So we got off of the train after the savanna portion to go explore Jungala. Jugala is the tiger exhibit/net climbing area for kids combined with a few small rides tucked in the various sections of the land. This area was fantastic and was so much fun to move around and explore in. There were hidden aquariums and small animal displays everywhere and the tiger display was out of this world. Dare I say it, yes I must, this was a better display and exploration area than Maharajah Jungle Trek at Animal Kingdom. I know, crazy but I feel it is true.

The pics we got out of this area do not give it justice since we were using our eyes to soak in the details so much and forgot to use the camera as much. But here is some of the goodness we captured.

You can get so close to the tigers here!

No zoom necessary. This is how close you are. Don't you just wanna scratch his head.

The area also had an orangutan exhibit but most of them weren't out to play.

And finally, a look at what we got in terms of the netted areas of Jungala.

Next: A Few Ramaining Shots From Busch Gardens Tampa​

 

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At this point, Busch Gardens was getting really crowded so we stopped and took a couple more shots on the way out.

First up was the aviary.

And a few shots of the really well themed Sesame Street childrens area.

And some pics of the hundreds of Kangaroos that were in Walkabout Way

And another shot of one of the gorgeous gardens in Busch Gardens

Bye Bye Busch Gardens

And final obligatory Brittany with the sign pic

Next: Time to Pick A Disney World Park To Spend The Evening​