I Wonder if Disney Will Get Mad if We Disassemble the Furniture. Sept/Oct 2024 TR! (Updated 4/18!)

[VAtink]

Day 8, Part 4: Up Close with Rhinos!​

After watching the bird show it was getting close to our time to check in for our tour, Up Close with Rhinos!

We made our way back to the check-in desk and got our waivers signed and got our name tags. We then waited a few minutes for the rest of the people on the tour to arrive.

Shortly after everyone arrived and got checked in the tour started. The CM started off by saying “If you’re here for the tour, you should have played the lottery the day you booked because you were truly one of the lucky ones that day!” HA! Seriously, this tour is super hard to book, and if it weren’t for the awesome phone CM who booked everything for us over our triple split stay, I’m not sure we could have gotten it.

She then went over what to expect with the tour and the rules. Soon after we were escorted backstage to the bus. Since this tour is completely backstage, pictures are not allowed, so I do apologize for the lack of pictures!

We took a short bus ride to the rhino barn where we got off to meet with some of the animal care team.

On the drive back there, we drove past a jeep that looked exactly like the Jurassic Park Jeeps from the original movie, only instead of having “Jurassic Park” written on it, it had “Giraffic Park.” HA!

We ended up getting dropped off at the barn where the rhinos are kept. Here we got to check out the inside of the barn and learn a lot about rhinos, the different kinds, and a lot about the training that they are doing with them. We also got to ask questions, which I feel like this part is really dependent on the group you’re with, we had guests who had a lot of questions so it was great to get that additional information.

After our Q&A, it was time to go meet a rhino! We were brought behind the barn to where the outdoor pens were and another member of the animal care team was feeding a rhino! The day we went, the rhino that was out was Kiama!

They had everyone stand behind a rhino stencil on the ground a bit away from the enclosure to talk about this individual rhino and to go over the rules again. There were specific areas we could reach through the structure to touch the rhino, mostly so if the rhino moved we wouldn’t get our hands squished between it and the steel!

Then it was finally time to touch a rhino! The cast member called each group up one at a time. They didn’t limit anyone in our tour on time touching/petting the rhino, but everyone on our tour seemed to be very mindful of the others waiting so only took a few minutes each. We even had time after everyone had gotten a chance to pet the rhino for people to go up for a second round!

It was so amazing to be able to pet the rhino, I said she felt kind of like hairy leather. Later in the tour a cast member said a lot of people think they feel like hairy cantaloupes, which I think is an even better description!

They do have a sink right next to the enclosure so we could wash our hands after touching the rhino which was nice. While she didn’t feel super dirty, she was a bit dusty!

After everyone in the group got a chance to pet the rhino, they asked if we had any additional questions, and then brought us back to the bus.

At the end of the tour, after we were brought back onstage, they did have prop signs for the tour to get pictures with if desired.





Overall it was a fantastic tour that I would 100% recommend. We learned a lot, and it was just such an awesome experience being able to actually touch a rhino!

Next up: Tiffins!​

 

[Stacybaeasm]

That tour sounds so cool! And petting a rhino??!!! Not a lot of people can say they ever did that. I really, really have to start looking into a tour one of these days. You and your mom always seem to have such a great time doing them.

 

[MPD]

I finally got lucky enough to book Up Close with Rhinos for our upcoming trip - thank you for your description of the tour - I'm even more excited now!

 

[nascargirl]

A few years ago we did Up Close with the Elephants. That was a fantastic but we didn't get to pet one.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Overall it was a fantastic tour that I would 100% recommend. We learned a lot, and it was just such an awesome experience being able to actually touch a rhino!

I've heard nothing but good things about this tour. We enjoyed the elephant tour. But visiting an animal in a cage doesn't seem very appealing. Maybe we should try it someday.

 

[VAtink]

That tour sounds so cool! And petting a rhino??!!! Not a lot of people can say they ever did that. I really, really have to start looking into a tour one of these days. You and your mom always seem to have such a great time doing them.

This was a really cool tour, one of our favorites at Animal Kingdom. Definitely recommend trying this one out (or really any of them, they're all great!)

 

[VAtink]

I finally got lucky enough to book Up Close with Rhinos for our upcoming trip - thank you for your description of the tour - I'm even more excited now!

Yay! That's so exciting! I hope you have an amazing trip and enjoy the tour!

 

[VAtink]

A few years ago we did Up Close with the Elephants. That was a fantastic but we didn't get to pet one.

That's a great tour too, we did that a few years ago. It would have been super cool if they let us pet an elephant though!

 

[VAtink]

I've heard nothing but good things about this tour. We enjoyed the elephant tour. But visiting an animal in a cage doesn't seem very appealing. Maybe we should try it someday.

It was a really good tour, besides actually being able to pet a rhino, we really loved being able to talk to the caretakers and ask questions. I loved the board they have showing all the training they're doing, it's shocking just how many "tricks" they have. So a fun, and a great learning experience.

 

[VAtink]

Day 8, Part 5: Tiffins!​

We last left off wrapping up our Up Close with Rhinos tour!

Once we finished it was getting close to our lunch reservation, so we made our way over to Tiffins!

We arrived a bit early, but they could accommodate us immediately which was very appreciated.

We requested the Grand Ceremonial room and got it, yay!

We already knew what we wanted for our appetizer, so we ordered the octopus right away, then perused the menus.



Both my mom and I ordered a wine flight, she got the white wine one and I got the red wine one.





For food, mom ended up ordering one of the specials that day, a Turkish salad with chicken. I ordered the short rib dish, however I substituted the beef tenderloin for the short ribs. I had gotten this once before and the short rib was 100% fat so I wasn’t a fan, but I wanted to try it again with the tenderloin rather than the short ribs, and I’m so glad I did!

Shortly after ordering, our appetizer came out!





This is so good, I love that they change it pretty often as well, this time it had a bit more of a kick to it than in the past, but still delicious!

Soon after finishing the octopus, our entrees came out.





I am happy to report that I LOVED my food here today. It was such a good choice to substitute the beef tenderloin, it was perfect and not a chunk of fat like when I had this previously but with the short rib. The puree of butternut squash with it was also phenomenal, I will definitely be getting this one again! (Spoiler alert, they removed this from the menu! Well, they still have a short rib, but it’s completely different these days!)

Mom also loved her salad.

It was a great lunch overall!

After finishing up we decided to head out so made our way over to the buses. We saw there as a YC/BC/BW bus already there, so we sprinted over to it so we didn’t miss it. Turns out we didn’t need to run. Once on the bus we just sat there for over 15 minutes before finally pulling away, oops!

Once back at the YC we took a much needed rest. I sat out on the balcony and enjoyed some grapefruit beer while mom napped.

Next up: The Heat Finally Gets Us​

 

[ThreeBoyMama]

Your Tiffins lunch looks so good!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I did the rhino tour ~15 years ago and I think it's time for a redo. I love the opportunities to see the backstage areas and learn more about how they care for the animals. Love that Tiffins is always tweaking the menu, but it stinks when something you love goes away.

 

[Wood Nymph]

The wine flight looks like a good value.

The Turkish chicken salad looks good. But I would have thought that the chicken would be cut into pieces.
Beef tenderloin was a good substitute. Fatty meat is not my favorite. I avoid pork belly at all costs.

 

[VAtink]

Your Tiffins lunch looks so good!

It was so good, probably one of my top meals there! I'm sad they got rid of this version of the short rib dish, I really loved the butternut squash puree.

 

[VAtink]

I did the rhino tour ~15 years ago and I think it's time for a redo. I love the opportunities to see the backstage areas and learn more about how they care for the animals. Love that Tiffins is always tweaking the menu, but it stinks when something you love goes away.

Yeah, part of the coolness of the tour is to see the backstage areas. The touching a rhino is also pretty awesome too!

It is nice that Tiffins makes changes a lot, although I do miss this version of the short ribs. Since we eat there pretty much every trip it is nice to be able to try new stuff though!

 

[VAtink]

The wine flight looks like a good value.

It really is, they're fairly big pours for a flight!

The Turkish chicken salad looks good. But I would have thought that the chicken would be cut into pieces.
Beef tenderloin was a good substitute. Fatty meat is not my favorite. I avoid pork belly at all costs.

My mom loved that salad! Yeah, I'm glad I got the tenderloin instead, I too hate super fatty meat so the tenderloin ended up being perfect!

 

[VAtink]

Day 8, Part 6: The Heat Finally Gets Us​

We last left off taking a break at the YC. After a nice break we got ready to head out again.

Oh, and I usually like to buy my mom a little gift to surprise her with each trip. This trip I got her a little chef Remy, and when we got home we found mousekeeping had set him up on the Mickey towels!



Around 4, we made our way back over to Epcot. We wanted to try more of the food booths this afternoon, and decided we would start our eating in Spain.

Once again today was painfully hot and in the 90s. It’s amazing the difference just a few degrees makes, usually it’s in the 80s when we’re there this time of year, and the 90s were just rough. Probably didn’t help that this trip was sandwiched between two hurricanes so it was also ridiculously humid as well.

Anyways, I had been doing pretty good with the heat for most of the trip, making sure to drink a ton of water, and even brought Pedialyte powder with me into the parks for an extra boost when needed. Well, my ability to handle the heat had apparently been exhausted by this day.

As we were getting close to the Spain food booth I started to feel a bit off and slightly dizzy. It wasn’t horrible at that point, so I pushed through and made sure to drink a ton of water while waiting for the food.

Here we got the paella, I had planned on trying the wine, but with how I was feeling I decided that would be a horrible life choice so just stuck with water.

We found a table that was partially in the shade and settled in to enjoy the food.



I also finished another bottle of water while eating, and finished it in practically one gulp.

Now our plan this day was to make our way back to the IG and stop at the food booths along the way, however I was still feeling pretty awful after eating the paella and drinking two bottles of water, so I realized what I really needed was to get out of the heat. Especially since I had completely stopped sweating even though I was burning up. Yeah, I was not in a good place!

Here mom had a brilliant idea, we were close to the Florida Blue lounge in Morocco, so she suggested popping in there to cool off for a bit. Great idea!

We made our way over there and inside, and omg, what on earth happened to this place?!?! We’ve been a few times in past years and it has always been a quiet and calm place with hardly anyone there. Well this day it was a madhouse. It was absolutely packed, and there was trash everywhere! Ugh, I hate social media for ruining this place, it was so much nicer when hardly anyone knew it existed!

Since we were already there, we grabbed some ice cold mini bottles of water to drink and found a corner to stand in to try to cool off a bit. A few minutes later a table opened up so we grabbed that to sit for a bit until I felt a bit better.

We didn’t stay for too long since I really wasn’t feeling too great, so after a few minutes we made our way out of the park and back to the YC. I filled up my refillable mug with some powerade to hopefully help, then spent the next few hours in bed drinking the powerade and water and just enjoying the AC.

After a while I finally started to feel better, phew! I was still not 100%, so around 6 we made the decision to cancel our evening plans to go to Jellyrolls. It was sad, I love that place so much, but at that point I knew a late night and drinking was not going to be good for me.

Since we now had a very open evening, and I was starting to get a bit hungry again, we discussed what we wanted to do. In the end, I didn’t want to go far since I still was feeling a bit off from the heat exhaustion, so we decided to just go to Ale and Compass. Fortunately, I was able to book a reservation that evening at 7:30, so I rested a bit more before we headed downstairs for dinner.

We headed downstairs a bit before 7:30 to check-in to our dinner, and I think they may have overbooked this evening since we didn’t get called to our table until after 8! Yikes!

The good news is, during that wait I was feeling better by the minute, so by the time we got seated I was feeling almost 100%! Yay!

We eventually got brought back to our table, and here both mom and I decided to get the burger. We’ve had it before and love it, not quite as good as the bison burger at Geyser Point, but a close second!

It ended up being a great meal, I think my body also needed all the salt in this meal since I started to feel really good after eating!

After dinner we just headed upstairs to watch some football before calling it a night. Not the fun filled night expected, but I’m glad we made the best of it. Plus, I’m so happy I was feeling better, I wanted to be 100% for Victoria and Alberts the next night!

Next up: Finally, a Pool Day!​

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I remember as a kid being so excited to come back to the room and see what my stuffed animal friends were up to. I'm glad to see that some housekeepers are carrying on the tradition. So sorry you weren't feeling well. Ale & Compass seems to perpetually run behind schedule, in my experience. It's frustrating. They recently changed the burger, and I didn't enjoy it as much.

 

[Wood Nymph]

We had a trip years ago that was just before a hurricane in the first few days of October. The humidity was terrible.

Since we now had a very open evening, and I was starting to get a bit hungry again, we discussed what we wanted to do. In the end, I didn’t want to go far since I still was feeling a bit off from the heat exhaustion, so we decided to just go to Ale and Compass. Fortunately, I was able to book a reservation that evening at 7:30, so I rested a bit more before we headed downstairs for dinner.

Ale & Compass comes in handy. We will often eat dinner there when staying at the YC/BC. I like that it tends to be a much quieter restaurant than most restaurants.

 

[Stacybaeasm]

Yikes!! Once you stop sweating, you are on the verge of some serious trouble. I'm glad you got some salt with dinner. Water is good but at that point, you have sweat so much, you really need the electrolytes and/or salt to help. Also, a cool (but not cold) shower will help as well. Just for next time. And also, things I am writing down now to hopefully remember in May.