My First Trip Report--Day Five--Animal Kingdom and a night on the Boardwalk!

[niks81]

DAY FIVE--JUNE 10, 2002
Animal Kingdom Day

The fatigue had set in I was more used to the routine having been before but Mike was not and it was too funny. We got up and got ready...weather looked iffy. There were definitely clouds but we couldn't tell if there would be rain or what. We've learned the weathermen really never know We got ready and had a good breakfast and then headed down to the bus stop. We waited for probably ten minutes and then an Animal Kingdom/Blizzard Beach bus rolled up. There were quite a few people going but oh well. The bus ride was nice. I actually prefer the buses to the boats....don't know why, but I do. We got to AK and the park looked crowded, much more so than the other parks had on the days we went. I remember that it always seemed crowded there due to park layout, but the entrance looked pretty bad. I thought Mike was really going to like this park even though there weren't lots of thrill rides. He really likes animals and I thought he would just love to see them uncaged on the safari ride. We got our bags checked and then went to insert our tickets. Mine wouldn't work It was too beat up! So I had to go to Guest Services and get another. Finally....we got done with that and went to get a FP for Kilmanjaro Safaris. Return time was already around noon...I couldn't believe it but we got one anyway. Then we decided to check out the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. I didn't remember much about this and Erika didn't either. I found it to be very interesting, and Mike of course loved it. We saw a lot of neat animals. The gorilla part is the best though. At the end we saw a gorilla that wasn't behind glass and we really enjoyed that. He was eating and we had a clear shot of him. I got great video! After we got through that we decided to head for It's Tough to be a Bug! The line was moderate....we probably waited 20 minutes which wasn't bad. I remember enjoying this show, but I decided upon leaving that it was my fave 3D show out of all of them. Mike loved it, he was laughing the whole time! Erika liked it a lot too, more than she remembered The characters are great and I love when they do the stinger and at the end the feeling like bugs are running under you. That show is a classic. We always make it tradition to take our pictures with those dorky bug 3D glasses on and it is always so funny! When we finished with that we headed over to Kilmanjaro Safaris since our FP time had rolled around. We didn't have to wait too long which was good because I think that line is horrible! I was anticipating this for Mike because he loves animals so much. However, the ride seemed more boring and long to me this time, maybe it was because it was my third time before. Erika looked like she could fall asleep. Mike on the other hand shot a roll of film. I think it is one of those rides that may get old after a few runs. I wish they would change the script! We did however have some giraffes very close to us, and they are my favorite so I loved that. And I had never been on a safari when the animals crossed the road, but this time three rhinos crossed right in front of us which I thought was so cool. They are huge! I think Mike enjoyed the safari a lot, probably not the highest on his list, but anything with animals is usually something he enjoys. We walked over to Kali to get a FP but they didn't have them ?? so we decided we'd just come back and wait in line. We decided we had to eat at that point....starved! We headed over to DinoLand with no real destination in site. It was then I had my first site of Chester & Hester's DinoRama. I was speechless at first. It was a totally different look than the rest of AK.....I wasn't quite used to it. We decided to grab a FP quickly for Primevil Whirl so that it would time out about right after we ate. We ended up stopping at Restaurantosaurus. It was pretty basic food: McDonald's....the lines were really long. I finally found a table and we all ate. I had Chicken Nuggets and they were good...a change from the regular Disney fast food. Erika and Mike both got sandwiches of some sort....I think cheeseburgers. I just couldn't get over how crowded it was...there is tons of seating and not a seat was open. As we were finishing up and family asked if they could share our table with us! I think they need to open a few more places at AK to eat at...not enough room. Our food was not even close to being settled but we headed over to Primevil Whirl for our FP. The ride looked like fun! But I was worried because I had just ate....I should have been worried....The ride is a lot of fun...but do not ride it after eating! We thought we were going to lose it! Erika especially, she kept covering her mouth! Mike liked the ride a lot. I do think it is a great ride though...two thumbs up. It definitely gets you laughing. After that I began to like the whole DinoRama thing. I think after being in that area for awhile (Even though it felt like your annual city festival) it was a good touch to AK because it was a bit louder and wilder than the rest of the park and some kids and families need that. We went over to Dinosaur and got a FP for that and then headed back to Kali River Rapids. It started to rain (what's new, right) while we were in line but we were too tired to care. The wait was about 30 minutes or so. We got on and we all really enjoyed it, but I wish it were longer. Conveniently at the end we all got soaked where the elephants spit water (or whatever those things were). We got off laughing though. Mike thought it was really neat. That's what I enjoyed most about going with someone that hasn't been....their expressions to things. It's almost like going again for the first time. It was time for Dinosaur, my personal favorite. We went over there and got right in. It didn't seem as jerky, is it just me? It felt a bit toned down, still fun though. Mike of course laughed the whole way (you can't really help it). He was actually scared at the end when the big T Rex opens his mouth and you think you're being eaten! HA! He ducked! That was funny. The picture turned out really good so of course I bought that one too We decided that it looked like major rain so we might as well go. We didn't get to Festival of the Lion King or Tarzan or Flights of Wonder, and even missed Majarahah but it's alright I guess. I don't think the shows would have been as big of a deal to Mike, but when he realized later that Maharajah was a trek with tigers he was disappointed. We went to the bus stop and briefly waited for a bus. When we got back to the resort we were just zonked. I had a PS at Boma for 5pm but we decided we weren't going. I really, really wanted to go, but I was so tired and they were too so just opted out. I wanted to at least visit AKL and I told them that. I ended up falling dead asleep and woke up at like 6pm or something. Mike fell asleep too and I think Erika may have gotten on the internet to check her mail. That night Spectro was showing twice and I really, really wanted to return to the MK!! I realized that park really was my favorite, although I always thought MGM was. Well, neither Mike nor Erika wanted to go, so we opted for a night on the Boardwalk. I knew I wouldn't get to see Spectro probably and just had to live with it We got ready and headed to ESPN Club. I had been there before but neither of them had. We waited in line but the line just wasn't moving. When I asked a hostess she said that many are there to watch hockey and probably wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. We decided at that point we were just going to try the bar/smoking area instead. We got lucky and found a table for three. Our waitress came and got us some drinks. It is very loud in there, which doesn't bother me at all, but just different than what we were used to. It was entertaining to watch all the TV's and hear the roar of the fans if someone scored We ordered and our food came a short time later. Erika got chicken zingers....she thought they were too greasy and I think they were upsetting her stomach a little. I had them before and I think they were just fine. Both Mike and I had the Club Wrap and I thought it was delicious. It wasn't a cheeseburger or fries so it had to taste unbelieveable good....heck it wasn't even fried! HAha. Erika ended up having a couple beers...I had one. It was around 9pm when we left. Erika was a little tipsy, I could tell. You all may call her a lightweight, however she really is....only 105 pounds at age 20. Mike said he'd wait for us on the Boardwalk while we took her leftover chicken to the room. It took us awhile because she was loud and carrying on in the hall. Finally we got back down to the BW and decided to try out one of the clubs. Mike isn't a club person so he wasn't real thrilled, but Erika and I always have been so he was outvoted We talked to the hostess at Atlantic Dance and asked her what the two clubs were like. She said Atlantic Dance had more DJ music, some latin and Jellyrolls was a dueling piano bar. We thought we fit the Atlantic Dance atmosphere a little better. We went in and there was no one there! Dance floor was empty, not a soul in site. We grabbed a table near the dance floor and just ordered a couple drinks. By the time we finished with our drinks there were about ten others that had come in and some were dancing. The inside of AD is pretty cool and I imagine it would be a lot of fun if it were packed. Finally a good song came on and Erika and I went on the dance floor and made a complete food of ourselves but who cares. No one was there anyway! She was part drunk, so she was acting kind of weird. She was acting out with motions the Escape my Love song my Enrique Iglesias. Yeah, a little drunk....so we stayed there for maybe and hour and a half and got some great video and photos, while Mike just shook his head at us. He doesn't care for clubs so I think he could have done without it but oh well. Then we headed back to the room. Erika was being ornery, still having alcohol in her system and she pulled a Do not Disturb sign off the door and put it on another door to the side which read Service Please. She was voted Ms. Mischievious of our high school class...surprised? We got back to the room and just watched a bit of tv. We decided we were sleeping in tomorrow and would decide what to do when we woke up. We went to be and once again I slept great

 

[snuggles]

Sounds like you had a fun day. Thanks for sharing.

 

[yepod]

Thanks for the post!