Day 5 - Animal Kingdom Part 2
Lilo and Stitch is one of our favorite Disney films. Maybe it has to do with us being teens when the film came out, the slightly twisted humor, and my Stitch-like tendencies. When we saw the two of them outside of the Island Mercantile we could not help but get in line for another character picture. Right after joining, their attendant said they had to take hula lessons for a few minutes, but they would be back. This was one of our encounters with angry parents who started yelling at the characters and the attendant that they had been waiting for their kids to get their picture taken. The mother got huffy, grabbed her kids by their arms, and dragged them out of the line while she muttered under her breath. We shrugged and moved up to the front of the line.
Waiting. I sat on some rocks and enjoyed looking around.
Both of them gave me huge hugs and kissed my cheek when I approached. I told Stitch his badness level was very low at the moment. He hugged me and pretended to be a gentleman, and then tried to steal me.
We pondered seeing the Nemo show at this point but the line went all of the way down the hill and around so we decided to enjoy the park outside rather than spend so much time waiting for a show. Sadly, we also decided to skip Festival of the Lion King (something to look forward to). My grandparents called at this time and said they would drive over to meet us at DTD before we left for home the next day, so I was excited to meet up with family. I had also told my (half)brother and SIL to come visit and was bummed that they didn't call, it has been over a year since we spent time together, but one of his uncle's died during the first days we were there (I had no idea until I got home and checked my e-mail).
Our next stops were the trails to see the animals and wonderful atmosphere of the park.
I love bats! They are so adorable and I would own one if it was legal (is it?). In an episode of Jeff Corwin he was cuddling a sick one in the back of a car and it showed how sweet they can be. I see them as tiny winged dogs, and most of you are probably thinking about winged rats.
Oops, I forgot to mention I bought some Safari Mickey Ears. My first official pair. It would have been wrong not to, because this is supposed to be my childhood dream fulfilled.
The tigers were off to the side and it was hard to get a good look. I wonder what all of the details are on the position of CMs working in these areas of the park. There were some standing and providing information to people passing through, and I think it would be a ton of fun. I currently volunteer at some touch tanks at the Discovery World museum here in Milwaukee and I talk about rays, bamboo sharks, and lake sturgeon to guests.
After our adventure we got some pizza and then headed to the Conservation Station. I was a little sad that it did not turn out as cool as I had hoped. It's great for children or people who are not as informed on a lot of the animals and issues that are discussed on signs and by CM's. But we did see Jiminy Cricket!
And the talking recycling can!
he got mad when someone tried to put trash in him, and then followed a kid with a water bottle asking for it.
and this guy on the trash can looked like he was licking his back. We couldn't stop laughing, but we are silly.
Then we figured it was time to start hitting the bigger rides and made our way to Dinosaur. It is a jerky ride! I made DBF sit on the outside because I knew he would be closest to the dinosaurs if they came to life, ha. The wait time had not been that bad, but when we wandered up to EE it was a 75minute wait. Since we had a few hours until our FP's were good we decided to wait in line and enjoy the atmosphere. I love all of the details! Some people were having competitions throwing coins onto the alter areas, and I zoomed in with my camera to look for foreign coins. There were quite a few but I didn't snap any pictures.
When we finally loaded I was pumped. We were in the middle of the train and I tried not to crush my Mickey Ears when I put them in the secure basket. The climb to the top of the hill is amazing with the view of WDW property and people down below. And then we were off and up to the dead end track. I loved going backwards and into the extreme loop/curve that you can feel in the chest. When the ride was over we stumbled off feeling dizzy and out of it. People were giggling and trying to find their legs. The wait had not been as long as we thought so we headed back to Dinosaur and walked right on for a second time. The CMs were yelling at us to watch the pre-ride video because everyone was just standing near the door waiting to move on. And then we laughed our way through the ride and back to EE to use our FP's. A line had formed of people waiting to use theirs and I didn't understand the point. The CM was tied up for a few minutes with people trying to talk him into letting them in early before he checked ours to wave us through. We also witnessed a family with four kids being told to get out of line when they reached the front because they had no FP's and had snuck into the line. The second experience was more fun without the apprehension.
The obligatory post-ride photos:
I am pretty sure everyone in the entire park was in this area because of the other areas closing at dusk.
We decided it would be fun to check out DTD and wandered back through the AK gift shops before heading out. DBF is scrawny so he excited to find a size small Pirates hoodie before we left. His size was sold out at the other parks and the ASMo gift shop (probably due to younger teens or women buying the hoodie).
We caught a bus back to our room and quickly dropped off excess items before catching a bus to DTD. Souvies are an integral part of the WDW experience so we wanted to scope out what was there before going back the next day to shop.
Next up is our last day on Disney property and a stressful departure...
