Living the Dream Trip Report: Day 6- Animal Kingdom and Villains Unleashed

[BudgieMama]

Our early night made it easier to head to Animal Kingdom for not long after Rope Drop. We arrived a few minutes after it opened the gates, and stopped on our way in for the obligatory photo!

Our first stop for the morning was Expedition Everest. My lovely husband is NOT a roller coaster man, and I knew we might struggle to get him on it. I had told him it was the only "thrill" ride at WDW, and he knows I love coasters, but he decided to brave it...

... HE LOVED IT! He asked to go on it again! We had an early FP+ for it, but had pushed it back when we arrived for later in the day, so we decide to use that later, and head over to the Safari for our FP+ there.

We were both really impressed with the the guide, and saw lots of animals... I didn't want to overload you with photos, but here's a few:

If we'd had a whole day at Animal Kingdom, we'd have done the Safari a couple of times, as it was great (next time, I think we need at least a day and a half at AK!)

It was starting to get HOT at AK (we'd heard it was a problem... but boy! Ouch!) and so we head over to Rafiki's Planet Watch. We didn't see as much as we liked there either- when we arrived, there was only one family waiting to meet our host, so we stopped by to say hello and grab a photo:

We really enjoyed seeing the veterinary work being done there- they were giving some birds their annual check up whilst we were there (we're bird people!) and it was fascinating. We could have stayed there for ages. The CM on our side of the window was really knowledgeable, and answered lots of our questions.

We headed back on the train to Harambe, as we needed to stop by Dinosaur for our FP+, as we didn't have much time left on it. There was a short wait, but we were soon heading back in time. I'm not sure what we were expecting- I think it was faster than I though it would be, and a bit more random, but we enjoyed it!

I think we both look a bit confused about that one!

To be continued...

 

[BudgieMama]

After Dinosaur, we head back to Asia, for another ride on Everest...

Clearly, more prepared for that drop this time! There was very little wait, so we didn't use our FP+ for it, but swapped that for Primeval Whirl as we wanted to try that too, but didn't think we'd want to wait for it.

We got a couple of nice shots with Everest as our backdrop... acting cold was hard in that heat, but I love the Olaf Magic Shot we got!!

We head over to use that FP+, and were glad we hadn't waited, although it was fun! We were put in with two random kids, which we found a bit strange, but never mind! It was quick and fun, and we then needed to dash up to make the only show of Flights of Wonder we could still fit in. I'm so glad they let us in (we were a couple of minutes late) because it was amazing. I'd definitely do that a couple of times next time! I was desperate to be chosen for the owl encounter bit (I LOVE OWLS!) but sadly, I wasn't. Next time, we'll be there early and I will jump up and down much more!

After Flights of Wonder, it was time to head to Tusker House for our lunch. We stopped to pick up a 4th FP+ (4pm for Everest) which we were happy withThis was my husband's favourite meal of the week. What a great selection of food! The characters were adorable in their safari outfits too! Donald knocked my cutlery on the floor, and was so cute being apologetic about it. I saw Donald twice, as he came back around whilst my husband was getting more food, so he sat down with me and blew me lots of kisses... I have to admit, I was a little smitten. I'm a total Donald convert!

I liked the photo opportunity outside Tusker House, and we got some nice shots there too

We'd definitely make the effort to visit TH again, even if we paid out of pocket for it. Great food, great service, great character meets- lovely!

We didn't have long until our 4th FP, but we were both so full, we weren't sure that it would do our stomachs any good, so we head for the buses, as I needed to go and get ready for Villains Unleashed. It was hot hot hot waiting for the bus, but not busy when we got on it, so we could cool down in peace!

To be continued again...

 

[BudgieMama]

Back at SSR, I got myself ready for the party, and head off for the bus just after 6pm. I arrived at DHS just before 7pm, got straight into the park with my party ticket, received my lanyard and picked up a couple of maps (I always lost my first map... I felt so bad when I heard the following day that they ran out! But I did lose one of them, so I was glad I'd picked up a spare!)

This is my costume, if you didn't see it before!

I decided to try and pick up a t-shirt, and arrived by the event shop around 7.15pm... the line was HUGE, and there was only one place to buy stuff (who thought that was a good idea?) The CM at the start of the line said there would be no guarantee they would have t-shirts left when I got to the front of the line. I joined it, but by 7.45pm with a HUGE line to still get through, I left to go see the welcome show. It was OK, but a shame they couldn't get all the villains on stage there.

After the welcome show, I tried to find the hyenas, but there was no sign of them, and no-one to ask. I wandered through the Star Wars area, and saw Darth Vader arrive (he already had a huge line, and I've met him over here in the UK, so he wasn't on my list), and tried to find Constantine, but got quite lost. I head over to meet Jeni and Jo (hi girls) but they both got stuck elsewhere. I met Jeni at the Guardians of the Galaxy dance party, and then head down to see the Fantasmic pre-show... which was AWFUL! Fantasmic was cool, and I hadn't already seen it, but I understand why people were upset, and the details made it sound special, and it was the normal show.

After Fantasmic, I found the line for Darth Maul wasn't too long (about 30 minutes) and I hadn't met him before, so I joined it. He was the only villain I met all night, and he was pretty cool. I love the photos!

I'd watched his interaction with people, and knew he tried to stare them down, so I thought I'd stare back (I don't think Rapunzel would be put off!) and I thought about how I would pose, and I do LOVE these shots!

After meeting Maul, I found Constantine's line... CLOSED. I found the Hyenas... CLOSED... it was the same story anywhere else I tried. I head down the main street to find a good spot for the fireworks (with 90 minutes left to go!) after a quick trip to First Aid for ice packs for my poor heat rash legs! I ended up sat on the curb for a long time waiting for the fireworks... it was really telling when Hades asked if we'd had a good time and everyone round me shouted "NO!" The final bit with Malifecent was cool, and the fireworks were amazing, but I was tired, hot and generally fed up. Fortunately, staking out a spot so close to the gates meant I got out quickly, picking up my "goody bag" on the way out and walking straight onto a bus for SSR... it's a bad sign when that was a highlight, not waiting for my bus!

Soon, I was in bed and very glad of it!

 

[Azza1987]

Oh dear BudgieMama! Seems your AK day was fun but sounds like Villains was a total let down! I've seen a few threads on the planning board about how disappointed they were with Villains night too!

 

[Chilly]

You'd think they could organise a good party after all the practise they've had, did you get a refund?