Day Three: Disney's Animal Kingdom and Downtown Disney
This morning we woke up at 7am and got dressed before heading down to the Pop Food Court for a quick breakfast. DF had a ham and cheese omelet and bacon which I picked off of because I'm not much of a breakfast person. We paid OOP for this meal but I was told it was decent.
We hopped on the first bus to Animal Kingdom which was very empty! When we arrived there were very few people mingling around the turnstiles which amazed me, but also made me very happy!
it was looking like another day of low crowd levels. We were let in around 7:45am and held by rope for the opening ceremony. DF and I were right in the front so we had a great view.
After the lively ceremony we were walked via rope to Expedition Everest. I was super excited for this ride because I'm a roller coaster nut and I had heard awesome things here on the DIS boards. DF who is afraid of heights took one look at the ride and
"I am NOT going on that."
So I braved it alone, walked right on the front row (!) and I was not disappointed. DF decided to take this picture from the outside. It's too bad he didn't snag a picture of our coaster going up.
The only drawback to this experience was the cold air which made my eyes water terribly. It was maybe 45 degrees that morning.
After EE we decided to head over to the Kilimanjaro Safaris. On the way, however, we had to make a pitstop for DF who saw one of his favorite Disney characters - King Louie. And Baloo was with him!
DF was so happy that I found it adorable! We scattered over to the Safaris afterwards and had to wait maybe 10 min before being loaded onto a car. The weather was warming up slightly and was actually getting quite humid but not unbearable. The only downside to this was the cloudy weather which made the Safari a little grayscale! But we still managed to get some decent shots from the few animals that were out and about in the morning.
After the Safaris we walked a few of the trails and saw more of the wildlife. We were hoping to catch the afternoon showing of Festival of the Lion King so we headed to Camp Minnie-Mickey and met some crazy characters while killing time.
Not to mention catching a photo of my favorite Animal Kingdom art. Have you spotted this in your travels?
Festival of the Lion King is my all-time favorite show at Animal Kingdom because it is so creative, energetic and just all around fun. We were in the Elephant section but sitting near the lions which meant we were near where the Simba float comes out. I admit I may have planned this slightly
It was very hard to take pictures at this event as my flash was too much light but no flash was not enough. Night mode wasn't too great either, so the best photo I have is of Simba:
After the show we were pretty hungry so I suggested the Flame Tree BBQ since I have heard amazing things about it.
Dining Review: Flame Tree BBQ (2 QS credits and fries OOP)
DF had the ribs and I decided on the pulled pork sandwich. This place was amazing! DF's ribs (because I stole some) were so well seasoned that I wished I would have gotten them! I usually hate ribs... As for my sandwich it was very tender and not too overloaded with BBQ. We both dislike baked beans so we grabbed some fries OOP but were disappointed. They were soggy and cold, but that's expected due to having purchased lunch at noon with millions of others. Overall, we will definitely eat here again! I recommend it!
But the food wasn't all we enjoyed about this place. Our table was near a man-made pond overlooking EE and we had a few dining guests.
In addition to these odd looking birds we had mallard ducks and drakes who proceeded to nip at DF's pants after he had given them a few fries. He made some friends!
After lunch it had started to sprinkle but nothing too alarming. I had packed an umbrella just in case! We headed over to Finding Nemo the Musical about an hour early. The line was short so we decided to see It's Tough to be a Bug! since there was no wait. This show was hilarious and made me jump because I had forgotten about the moving aspects of it. We were lucky to be in the back and miss the stinky smell!!
After the show we got in line for Finding Nemo the Musical which was actually quite crowded by this time. Luckily we snagged decent seats and the show was indeed packed. I couldn't even begin to tell you how many times we heard "move all the way down, please"! This show was so awesome. We were both first timers and enjoyed it. DF wanted to take pictures but they all turned out blurry except for one which came out fairly decent. He was happy because it had the pelican in it!
When we exited the show it... was.. POURING! And I am not exaggerating! Luckily we had our umbrella because buckets were being dumped on the AK! We decided to head over to Dinosaur! even though we expected a long line since it's an indoor ride. I wasn't wrong! DF and I snagged a Turkey Leg (yum!) and got in line. It only took around 30 min to get on the ride. I am a big fan of this and was excited to watch DF's reaction to the bumpy ride. He was a little nervous but loved it. Our photo at the end was so funny I regret not buying it. Just imagine DF looking at the dinosaur with a "... what?" confused look and me looking at him in excitement for his reaction.
The rain had not let up when we exited and it was now 3pm. We decided to go get some pictures with Tigger and friends while killing time for the parade.
We had little line for these guys because of the rain, I assume. After we headed back to the entrance so we could scout out a location for the parade. DF wanted to head back to the Safaris so we could catch the beginning and maybe the end as well! As we were walking over we found Lilo and Stitch. DF and I got in the short line to get a picture. Lilo saw our "just engaged" buttons and was so excited. She convinced Stitch to 'propose' to her while DF would do the same and the photo was just amazing;
We headed to the Safaris and picked up a souvenir popcorn bucket along the way. Unfortunately the parade was canceled due to heavy downpour so we left the park around 3:45pm and headed to the resort to change. Even with an umbrella we were soaked!!
We headed to Downtown Disney around 6:30pm when it had stopped raining, thankfully. We had an ADR at Planet Hollywood at 7pm. We were seated immediately.
Dining Review: Planet Hollywood, OOP
I've always loved the atmosphere of this place and it's been a traditional dining experience each time I've been to the World. DF was a first timer and loved the size and detail of the interior. He had the steak and I had pasta. Both were delicious but I was so tired and cranky from the earlier rain and canceled parade that I can't remember details. I always go here, but if you are limited in time you could skip it easily.
We did a bit of shopping in which we found an amazing multi-picture frame for $25! We also used up some snack credits at Goofy's Candy Co. DF got marshmallows covered in chocolate and oreos. I had a rice krispy treat covered in white chocolate, oreos, and a caramel drizzle. They were both so rich it took 3 days to finish them off!!
We got back to the hotel around 10pm and crashed from another busy day.
Next up is Epcot Future World... stay tuned! Thanks for tagging along!
I beg forgiveness of you, myself, and Mickey for denying the world my Disney story! Let's continue on with the second half of the day. When we last left off we had just finished lunch. 
I warn you that I will vent about these people frequently in this TR. So we headed back to the sorcerer's hat 
But after finally finding a seat fairly high up in the chilly metal bleachers we were in for a great show! DF took hold of the camera for this show since my fingers were much to frigid from the winds (I'm not kidding by how high up we were). If I could fit all the photos on here I would because he took many. However, I will post my two favorites and save you the flipbook of images that could likely be made! 
Again we both got a little picture happy, but I will post my favorites. Maybe I'll submit some to the photo boards or create a photo board of my own for my 300+ shots. 
Were it not for the amazing Fantasmic ticket that we were given, I would have walked out. I will never return here. 
DF was very impressed and finally understood why I had hyped it up. The tickets from dining were well used because we arrived around 6:15pm and it was absolutely packed. I suppose that comes with 2 nights of shows only. I took multiple images at this show but very few turned out, sadly. I did, however, manage to capture a blurry dragon and a nice shot of the steamboat! 
Hope to see ya there... erm.. here!
we're quite the fun couple at times. And so indecisive of our date. ha... officially May 27th but if I get accepted into graduate school then it will be debatable.
I want to encourage my daughters to do it!!
I have to admit we were both apprehensive about this ride because neither of us is the biggest fan of heights. It wasn't too bad, actually, since you're lifted up in the dark and can't tell how high you go until you're already there! 
effects weren't very great. The show ended close to noon so we decided to scout out a place for lunch. Today was devoted to Future World, but we headed into the World Showcase anyway for some authentic Mexican cuisine. 
I'm not sure why birds are so stupid.
