Sorry it's been so long since my last post! Just to recap, the travelers include me (celebrating my 20th birthday!) and one of my best friends, Stacie. Day 2 was my magical Magic Kingdom day, complete with lunch at CRT, dinner at Liberty Tree and a birthday Wishes cruise.
So we woke up bright and early again on Sunday, June 18th. We got a bit of a late start though, because we decided to have breakfast at Pepper Market instead of getting room service, and then I had to buy a new sweatshirt from the gift shop, so we got to Animal Kingdom 15 minutes after opening. Made me realize how much better it is to get there before opening, cuz Kilimanjaro Safaris already had a 20-minute wait when we got to it (it was our first ride). But still, the crowds were sooo light compared to Disneyland, and the weather was a little cooler today, which made it all the more enjoyable!
Anyway, this whole park was UN-BE-LIEVABLE!! I felt like I'd been transported to, as Alan Menken would say, "a whole new world." (Sorry, incredibly dumb joke, I realize!) I seriously felt like I was in Africa, it was amazing. The Tree of Life is absolutely HUGE, waaaay bigger than it looks in pictures! The animal carvings on the trunk of the tree are absolutely magnificent.
The first attraction we hit was Kilimanjaro Safaris. WOW! This is now one of my all-time favorite Disney World attractions, we rode it twice! First of all, we sat in the back row and the bumpy ride was soo much fun! I actually bounced out of my seat FOUR TIMES! It was soooo fun. Anyway, we saw SOO many incredible animals up close: rhinos, alligators, bulls, zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions and more! It was fantastic! A must-do for the next trip!
Next up was Festival of The Lion King. WOW!!!! This was like Cirque du Soleil-meets-Broadway musical. Another must-do for the next trip!
Afterwards, we went to Camp Minnie-Mickey for pictures with the characters! The line for Mickey was -- amazingly! -- short, so we got the cutest pic with him in his Safari outfit.
Then it was time for our lunch at Rainforest Cafe. I wouldn't call this place a must-do for our next trip, but it was a lot of fun and way better than I'd expected, after reading a ton of negative reviews. First of all, I've read so many complaints about looong waits even with ADRs, but we barely had to wait to be seated. Then, our food was absolutely delicious!! The foccacia bread they brought out in the beginning was soo yummy, and the Rasta Pasta was AMAZING! But it was so rich that I could barely finish half of it. I'll probably request lighter sauce next time. But sooo yummy!
Afterward, we went back to Camp Minnie-Mickey for pictures with Minnie and Goofy & Donald in their safari clothes. Those pix turned out so cute!
Then we did the Maharajah Jungle Trek. This was fantastic! It was soooo cool seeing the tigers up close, wow! They were sleeping on their sides and they looked so cute! It was amazing seeing bats up close too, I expected to be scared but they were a lot cuter than I thought they would be. =)
Next, we had some time to kill before the parade, and Stacie wanted to see the Pocahontas show, so we saw that. I'd heard that the show is really lame, but I was pleasantly surprised! The animals "acting" in the show were the CUTEST! And Pocahontas had an awesome voice, she could have been on Broadway. So we enjoyed it.
Then it was time for Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade, which was so much fun! But right before the parade, something magical happened. I'd been thinking so much about how much I'd loved the Wishes cruise, and how I wished we could do one for IllumiNations. But I'd called before the trip to book one, and there were none available. Anyway, I thought maybe I'd just try, JUST in case, and guess what?! There was one boat available!!!! The CM said I must have won the lottery! So the knowledge that we were getting another fireworks cruise for the following night made the rest of our day extra-sweet.
The parade was a lot of fun and so cute! We didn't have the best view since we waited in the wrong spot, but we still saw everything and the floats and the music were so much fun!
Next, we did the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, which was AWESOME! We got to stand right by an aquarium and see a hippo swim underwater with the fish, and in another area were meerkats -- sooo cute! There was an area for the deer right above the meerkats' habitat, and we actually saw a deer go into the meerkats' area, so the CM told us to clear out while they brought security to put the deer back in her habitat. I was really surprised that happened, because in a Travel Channel special I saw, it said they had invisible barriers to keep the animals in their respective habitats, so I wonder why that happened? Anyway, next we saw gorillas, and that was SOOO cool!! I couldn't believe the up-close-and-personal view we got!
Then Stacie rode Expedition: Everest. She said it was a lot of fun, but not as scary or exciting as she'd expected. Can you believe it?! She is such a daredevil -- the opposite of me!
Afterward, we left the park and took the bus back to Coronado so we could shower and change for our magical night at California Grill and MK! It was awesome to put on nice clothes and makeup after two days of zero makeup and casual theme park-wear, LOL. We lucked out on the bus, because there was no one else in our bus to MK, so the driver took us straight to the Contemporary! We got there half an hour before our reservation, so we shopped at the hotel; they have some great stores! Then we checked in, I told them it was my birthday and requested a window table. So, barely 2 minutes later they took us upstairs and we had an AMAZING window table, with a perfect view of the Electrical Water Pageant. Wow!! The manager came to our table to wish me happy birthday, it was so nice. I started with the sushi sampler, which was delish, and then it was time for the Wishes Fireworks. Omg, what a treat to see it from the CA Grill's viewing patio!! It was so amazing to get to see it from different ways, first on the Wishes cruise and now at CA Grill. It was like every time was a different experience! I got tears in my eyes at the grand finale of the fireworks, it was so magical!!
When we got back to our table, our entrees had arrived. I'd ordered the pork tenderloin, which was absolutely delicious!! This was definitely one of our favorite meals of the trip, and a must-do for the next one.
Afterward, we raced to MK for the SpectroMagic Parade at 11 and evening EMH. Omg, we LOVED Spectro!!!! Absolutely one of my favorite Disney parades ever! When it was over, being at MK late at night for EMH was sooooooo magical. We got amazing cupcakes from the Main Street Bakery and we did PhilharMagic again. After that, Stacie was exhausted so she went back to our resort and I stayed at the park till 1 AM. I rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin twice, Cinderella's Golden Carousel, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan. It was tons of fun!!
Finally, after the long and action-packed day, I made it to my hotel room at 2 AM. Whew!! What an amazing day!!!!
So we woke up bright and early again on Sunday, June 18th. We got a bit of a late start though, because we decided to have breakfast at Pepper Market instead of getting room service, and then I had to buy a new sweatshirt from the gift shop, so we got to Animal Kingdom 15 minutes after opening. Made me realize how much better it is to get there before opening, cuz Kilimanjaro Safaris already had a 20-minute wait when we got to it (it was our first ride). But still, the crowds were sooo light compared to Disneyland, and the weather was a little cooler today, which made it all the more enjoyable!
Anyway, this whole park was UN-BE-LIEVABLE!! I felt like I'd been transported to, as Alan Menken would say, "a whole new world." (Sorry, incredibly dumb joke, I realize!) I seriously felt like I was in Africa, it was amazing. The Tree of Life is absolutely HUGE, waaaay bigger than it looks in pictures! The animal carvings on the trunk of the tree are absolutely magnificent.
The first attraction we hit was Kilimanjaro Safaris. WOW! This is now one of my all-time favorite Disney World attractions, we rode it twice! First of all, we sat in the back row and the bumpy ride was soo much fun! I actually bounced out of my seat FOUR TIMES! It was soooo fun. Anyway, we saw SOO many incredible animals up close: rhinos, alligators, bulls, zebras, giraffes, elephants, lions and more! It was fantastic! A must-do for the next trip!
Next up was Festival of The Lion King. WOW!!!! This was like Cirque du Soleil-meets-Broadway musical. Another must-do for the next trip!
Afterwards, we went to Camp Minnie-Mickey for pictures with the characters! The line for Mickey was -- amazingly! -- short, so we got the cutest pic with him in his Safari outfit.
Then it was time for our lunch at Rainforest Cafe. I wouldn't call this place a must-do for our next trip, but it was a lot of fun and way better than I'd expected, after reading a ton of negative reviews. First of all, I've read so many complaints about looong waits even with ADRs, but we barely had to wait to be seated. Then, our food was absolutely delicious!! The foccacia bread they brought out in the beginning was soo yummy, and the Rasta Pasta was AMAZING! But it was so rich that I could barely finish half of it. I'll probably request lighter sauce next time. But sooo yummy!
Afterward, we went back to Camp Minnie-Mickey for pictures with Minnie and Goofy & Donald in their safari clothes. Those pix turned out so cute!
Then we did the Maharajah Jungle Trek. This was fantastic! It was soooo cool seeing the tigers up close, wow! They were sleeping on their sides and they looked so cute! It was amazing seeing bats up close too, I expected to be scared but they were a lot cuter than I thought they would be. =)
Next, we had some time to kill before the parade, and Stacie wanted to see the Pocahontas show, so we saw that. I'd heard that the show is really lame, but I was pleasantly surprised! The animals "acting" in the show were the CUTEST! And Pocahontas had an awesome voice, she could have been on Broadway. So we enjoyed it.
Then it was time for Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade, which was so much fun! But right before the parade, something magical happened. I'd been thinking so much about how much I'd loved the Wishes cruise, and how I wished we could do one for IllumiNations. But I'd called before the trip to book one, and there were none available. Anyway, I thought maybe I'd just try, JUST in case, and guess what?! There was one boat available!!!! The CM said I must have won the lottery! So the knowledge that we were getting another fireworks cruise for the following night made the rest of our day extra-sweet.
The parade was a lot of fun and so cute! We didn't have the best view since we waited in the wrong spot, but we still saw everything and the floats and the music were so much fun!
Next, we did the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail, which was AWESOME! We got to stand right by an aquarium and see a hippo swim underwater with the fish, and in another area were meerkats -- sooo cute! There was an area for the deer right above the meerkats' habitat, and we actually saw a deer go into the meerkats' area, so the CM told us to clear out while they brought security to put the deer back in her habitat. I was really surprised that happened, because in a Travel Channel special I saw, it said they had invisible barriers to keep the animals in their respective habitats, so I wonder why that happened? Anyway, next we saw gorillas, and that was SOOO cool!! I couldn't believe the up-close-and-personal view we got!
Then Stacie rode Expedition: Everest. She said it was a lot of fun, but not as scary or exciting as she'd expected. Can you believe it?! She is such a daredevil -- the opposite of me!
Afterward, we left the park and took the bus back to Coronado so we could shower and change for our magical night at California Grill and MK! It was awesome to put on nice clothes and makeup after two days of zero makeup and casual theme park-wear, LOL. We lucked out on the bus, because there was no one else in our bus to MK, so the driver took us straight to the Contemporary! We got there half an hour before our reservation, so we shopped at the hotel; they have some great stores! Then we checked in, I told them it was my birthday and requested a window table. So, barely 2 minutes later they took us upstairs and we had an AMAZING window table, with a perfect view of the Electrical Water Pageant. Wow!! The manager came to our table to wish me happy birthday, it was so nice. I started with the sushi sampler, which was delish, and then it was time for the Wishes Fireworks. Omg, what a treat to see it from the CA Grill's viewing patio!! It was so amazing to get to see it from different ways, first on the Wishes cruise and now at CA Grill. It was like every time was a different experience! I got tears in my eyes at the grand finale of the fireworks, it was so magical!!
When we got back to our table, our entrees had arrived. I'd ordered the pork tenderloin, which was absolutely delicious!! This was definitely one of our favorite meals of the trip, and a must-do for the next one.
Afterward, we raced to MK for the SpectroMagic Parade at 11 and evening EMH. Omg, we LOVED Spectro!!!! Absolutely one of my favorite Disney parades ever! When it was over, being at MK late at night for EMH was sooooooo magical. We got amazing cupcakes from the Main Street Bakery and we did PhilharMagic again. After that, Stacie was exhausted so she went back to our resort and I stayed at the park till 1 AM. I rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin twice, Cinderella's Golden Carousel, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh and Peter Pan. It was tons of fun!!
Finally, after the long and action-packed day, I made it to my hotel room at 2 AM. Whew!! What an amazing day!!!!
