Day 13 – Animal Kingdom, GF Café and Shopping
Thursday 26th May
We wake up a little more slowly this morning, but decide it would be nice to pop to Animal Kingdom for a few hours. We drive over rather than take the bus, as we have lunch reservations later. We walk to get fastpasses for Everest, then head to Festival of the Lion King. The show is only half full but then again it is still early. Also there are only 3 vocal leads – is this a permanent change, or did the younger female lead just sleep in? Great performances as usual, with lots of energy from the dancers. I even manage to get a couple of half-decent photos for a change.
Take Ryan on Dinosaur while Emma meets Lilo and Stitch with Helen. After Dinosaur head to Kali to collect FPs, then Everest for to use up FPs from earlier – plus the one from our aborted ride the other day. Ride front row 3 times. Getting a little dizzy by the end…
Meet Helen in Dinoland where she has been on Chester and Hester ride a couple of times. It’s now about 11.40am so we head to Kali to cool down…and get drenched. Refreshing, but we are literally soaked to the skin again – like at Universal.
Looking forward to getting wet…
Less so…
Drive back to the BW to quickly change, then off to GF for lunch at the GF Café. Never been to the Café before, and the place looks lovely, with the serving staff all extremely friendly. Helen and I share Crab Cakes to start, then both have Roast Beef sandwiches for main. I have Key Lime pie for a mini-dessert. Kids have pasta and a mini-choc dessert too. Whole experience was great, and the server even brought me an extra cup of coffee at the end to go – nice touch.
Nice dessert options
Before – 1
Before – 2
After – 1
After – 2
Head off to Walmart to buy a suitcase to replace the one that was damaged on the way out. Find a van at the side of the Walmart car park advertising it is collecting for a children’s shelter, so approach the guy minding it. He speaks very little English, but seems glad of the stroller we have to donate. Mixed feelings about saying goodbye to it – nice to be stroller free, but it does signal the end of the days of pushing our kids around WDW.
Back to the BW to relax, nap and spend some time by the pool, then decide to head out to Cheesecake Factory at Mall of Millennia by around 7pm. We arrive to find it’s about 45 mins wait, so decide to try somewhere else instead and find the Elephant Bar nearby. It’s on Conroy, at the edge of the Mall, and is a real hidden gem. Great Asian-inspired food, inexpensive, good wait staff – excellent sweet and sour chicken, and apple cobbler for after. Helen had noodle dish and crème brulee. Afterwards we pop into Old Navy next door for 10 mins before they close and grab a handful of things.
Back at the BW by 9.30pm and Helen and Ryan head back to the room, while I go for a walk with Emma, stopping for a few mins to see an entertainer spinning plates. We carry on past and round to the Beach Club where tonight’s movie is Mulan. Find a spare lounger near the front and settle back to watch the 2nd half, while Emma makes friends with some girls of her age and gets properly into sandcastle making mode.
Back to the room around 10.45pm to find door has the deadlock bolt across, so back to the elevator, find house phone and call Helen. Apparently Ryan was a little over-zealous when they came back. Just time to type up trip report before bed ahead of the Star Wars Weekend tomorrow at the Studios.
Day 14 – Star Wars Weekend
Setting the Scene and Index
Thursday 26th May
We wake up a little more slowly this morning, but decide it would be nice to pop to Animal Kingdom for a few hours. We drive over rather than take the bus, as we have lunch reservations later. We walk to get fastpasses for Everest, then head to Festival of the Lion King. The show is only half full but then again it is still early. Also there are only 3 vocal leads – is this a permanent change, or did the younger female lead just sleep in? Great performances as usual, with lots of energy from the dancers. I even manage to get a couple of half-decent photos for a change.
Take Ryan on Dinosaur while Emma meets Lilo and Stitch with Helen. After Dinosaur head to Kali to collect FPs, then Everest for to use up FPs from earlier – plus the one from our aborted ride the other day. Ride front row 3 times. Getting a little dizzy by the end…
Meet Helen in Dinoland where she has been on Chester and Hester ride a couple of times. It’s now about 11.40am so we head to Kali to cool down…and get drenched. Refreshing, but we are literally soaked to the skin again – like at Universal.
Looking forward to getting wet…
Less so…
Drive back to the BW to quickly change, then off to GF for lunch at the GF Café. Never been to the Café before, and the place looks lovely, with the serving staff all extremely friendly. Helen and I share Crab Cakes to start, then both have Roast Beef sandwiches for main. I have Key Lime pie for a mini-dessert. Kids have pasta and a mini-choc dessert too. Whole experience was great, and the server even brought me an extra cup of coffee at the end to go – nice touch.
Nice dessert options
Before – 1
Before – 2
After – 1
After – 2
Head off to Walmart to buy a suitcase to replace the one that was damaged on the way out. Find a van at the side of the Walmart car park advertising it is collecting for a children’s shelter, so approach the guy minding it. He speaks very little English, but seems glad of the stroller we have to donate. Mixed feelings about saying goodbye to it – nice to be stroller free, but it does signal the end of the days of pushing our kids around WDW.
Back to the BW to relax, nap and spend some time by the pool, then decide to head out to Cheesecake Factory at Mall of Millennia by around 7pm. We arrive to find it’s about 45 mins wait, so decide to try somewhere else instead and find the Elephant Bar nearby. It’s on Conroy, at the edge of the Mall, and is a real hidden gem. Great Asian-inspired food, inexpensive, good wait staff – excellent sweet and sour chicken, and apple cobbler for after. Helen had noodle dish and crème brulee. Afterwards we pop into Old Navy next door for 10 mins before they close and grab a handful of things.
Back at the BW by 9.30pm and Helen and Ryan head back to the room, while I go for a walk with Emma, stopping for a few mins to see an entertainer spinning plates. We carry on past and round to the Beach Club where tonight’s movie is Mulan. Find a spare lounger near the front and settle back to watch the 2nd half, while Emma makes friends with some girls of her age and gets properly into sandcastle making mode.
Back to the room around 10.45pm to find door has the deadlock bolt across, so back to the elevator, find house phone and call Helen. Apparently Ryan was a little over-zealous when they came back. Just time to type up trip report before bed ahead of the Star Wars Weekend tomorrow at the Studios.
Day 14 – Star Wars Weekend
Setting the Scene and Index
but the Elephant bar sounds good. Did you take any food pics in there?
