Chapter 11: The Boma Coma
Having answered the siren call of Flame Tree BBQ, we headed back to Africa to meet up with the rest of my family and use up our last FP on another safari ride. Somehow we managed to get all 13 of us to meet in one place at the same time and board a jeep (truck) for another trip through the savannah.
You don’t really need me to recap this entire ride again, do you? I mean, I just did it in the last chapter, and I really hate to repeat myself. I don’t like saying the same things over and over. I can’t stand being redundant.
We did get the special experience of riding along with this guy:
Not sure what was in that BBQ sauce. Anyway, we saw giraffes and elephants and animatronic sleeping lions. I know this because those are the photos I have in my album.
Just as we were finishing the ride, the skies opened up with yet another 2:00 p.m. Florida Shower. Yes, after three days of jumping the gun, I can only conclude that the daily 4:00 p.m. Florida Shower is now the daily 2:00 p.m. Florida Shower. I blame global warming, or climate change, or whatever they’re calling it these days.
Anyway, we were told by the driver that we were not allowed to stay on the truck—we had to disembark. Then he proceeded to tell us that we weren’t allowed to hang out under the cover of the unloading dock, either. Basically, we were screwed. Have a magical day!
Well, while we didn’t exactly stand still under the roof, we didn’t exactly hightail it out of there, either. Moving at approximately 3 inches per hour (7.62 cm/hour for you non-U.S. residents who use a sane measuring system), which coincidentally is the same speed by which we would leave our hotel room at the end of the week when checking out, we left the protection of the dock cover just as the brief shower was starting to let up. Thankfully, we didn’t get soaked.
Our bag wasn’t so fortunate. It was hanging on the back of our stroller, and we had left a poncho draped over it, but it had somehow shifted when the CM parked it and thus our belongings were drenched.
We wandered the gorilla trail a bit and then my brother and SIL decided to head back to let their kids nap after a grand total of 2 rides on the day. My eye started twitching a bit but I said nothing.
The big kids (especially Dave) were begging to go on Kali River Rapids. But the app had the wait time listed at 45 minutes, and I wasn’t keen on waiting that long for it. So we decided to split up—the big kids would ride the rapids, and Julie and I (with my parents) would take Drew to see the Lion King show.
Festival of the Lion King is one of the better shows in WDW, in my opinion. Lots of good CM talent on display. Drew seemed to have a really good time with it, so I think it was a good call to take him there instead of waiting in line for the rapids. My favorite part, of course, is the fire-dancer. Because pyrotechnics.
When we exited the show, the sun and heat were back. We checked in with the kids and got a text that the wait was even longer now…the ride had shut down. For now, the big kids were waiting it out, so we decided this would be a particularly good time for Dole Whips.
Note: It’s always a good time for Dole Whips.
My dad was able to help me find a little connection to Delaware here. I’ve been going to the same barber shop in Dover, DE for decades now—ever since I was a kid. It’s a place called Michael’s Hair Care. Michael is the owner, and has been there since I started visiting. He cut my hair for several years and then brought on an assistant named Red, who has a mullet and yet I still entrust him to make me look presentable.
Hmm, maybe that’s been my problem all this time.
As an aside, Red is the nicest guy, and knows all of his customers by name. He also never fails to finish his work on my hair by saying, “Well…she might let you use the front door for a little while now.”
Anyway, back to Michael—he now has two sons who both work for Disney. I don’t know their exact jobs, but I believe one works with a lot of their costumes and the other is in graphic design for Imagineering. He left a little tribute to his father as part of the theming in Africa.
It’s right here at Tamu Tamu refreshments. I believe there’s another mural on a wall near the Lion King show building with a reference to “Barber Michael” but I didn’t find it on this particular trip.
Instead of a Dole Whip, Drew got his very first Mickey bar.
It’s safe to say this was a hit, too.
The kids were now having the serious “Do we bail?” conversation as they waited in the heat. In the end, they decided to gut it out, since the rapids are one of David’s favorite rides. We killed time in the gift shops while they finally rode the rapids. After they were done, Dave turned to the other two and said, “It wasn’t worth the wait.”
We met up once more and began to head out of the park. We had an early dinner reservation at Boma. The plan was to catch the resort bus, go eat dinner, and then ride the bus back to AK for the evening.
On the way out, I took a photo of one of my favorite views in all of the parks. I just wish we’d had the good camera, because zooming in on a phone just doesn’t work as well.
We had no issues with the bus ride over to AKL. Depending on what mood I’m in, my favorite resort at WDW is either the Wilderness Lodge or the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Both were designed by the same architect (Peter Dominick), and both have that same jaw-dropping grandeur in the main lobby. They’re both spectacular buildings. We were fortunate enough to stay here for a few days back in 2012, and it was our favorite stay on property. Having the animals outside, just off our balcony, was magical.
Julie and I had eaten at Boma in 2015 when we’d had an adults-only weekend getaway to Disney World. We’d loved it right away and wanted the rest of the kids to try it out. My parents had never been here before, either. In fact, I think it was their first time at AKL. I decided to return the favor they’d given us at Chef Mickey’s by springing for the check here. It seemed only fair.
Once again, I have failed with the food photos. I just wanted to eat.
I think it’s safe to say that Boma is one of our favorite restaurants on property. There’s just enough “exotic” foods here to make you feel like you’re being adventurous, but it’s also Americanized enough that it doesn’t shock our palates. Also, I can park myself right next to the African-spiced beef strip loin carving table and eat to my heart’s content.
The soups are always a big draw here and we all were surprised by how much we liked the carrot soup. The grape soup, on the other hand, will get a hard pass next time. But most of the food here is really good. Especially that beef strip loin.
I do, however, think zebra domes are overrated.
Let’s just go ahead and give out another Homer award.
We all ate way too much food (because hey, buffet) but managed to roll ourselves down to the bus stop. We rode a bus back to AK and stopped for a family photo by the Tree of Life, since we hadn’t done that yet. They turned out pretty well, except for Drew. I don’t know what he was doing. Looks like he doesn’t, either.
We walked back over to Pandora because Sarah wanted to check out the gift shop there. She hadn’t had much chance to see it, what with having to ride Flight of Passage twice. Poor kid. We all really felt for her. I wish I had my violin.
Anyway, we could still enjoy the scenery and the wildlife.
I took this shot because I just thought it looked pretty. Remember this one, we’ll come back in a moment.
After our FastPasses were used up, I’d opened the app to see if I could make any more for FoP (ha! Get real) or EE (ha!). Seeing none, I grabbed some FP’s for Dinosaur, since this was the first time the big kids were actually willing to try it. As day turned to dusk (with more dark clouds overhead), we walked over to the Dinosaur area. Julie took Dave and Scotty to ride first while Sarah and I hung out with Drew. We could hear a few distant rumbles of thunder, but for now everything was clear.
At first, we thought we could take Drew on the Triceratops Spin (which is a completely different ride from Dumbo). But when we approached, there was no line. The cast members informed us that the ride was down due to “lightning in the area”. So that was a bummer.
We took Drew over to the Dig Site playground. We knew he’d like that. Sure enough, as soon as he laid eyes on it, he was ready to climb all over the place. We told him to go ahead, and he was off to the first ladder. He climbed up, disappeared around a corner…
…and then came walking back down the stairs.
“They said the playground is closed!” he exclaimed, and burst into tears.
Welp.
We were told that we could go use the sandbox area across the way—we just weren’t allowed to climb up high while there was “lightning in the area”. So we tried to content ourselves with the sandbox until Julie arrived with the boys.
Did they enjoy Dinosaur? It was a definite…”kind of”. I don’t think either one of them has ever been a fan of jump scares.
Sarah and I left to get in line. As we walked, I took a shot of one of my favorite little Imagineer in-jokes. These pipes run overhead in the room where you get loaded into the ride vehicles on Dinosaur.
They look important, don’t they? Well, if you’ve never seen this one before, I’ll spoil it for you now: those are the chemical formulas for ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise. One of the original sponsors of the rides was McDonald’s.
We had a good time on the ride. I think Dinosaur is fun for what it is, a room full of jump scares. I enjoy trying to figure out all of the misdirection stunts they’re throwing at you.
When we got back, they had opened up the playground again, and Drew was in his glory. Yes, it was getting dark and late, and he was exhausted and needed to go to bed.
But we let him play. He was at Disney World, and having a blast. That doesn’t happen every day.
He climbed every single ladder, slid down every single slide, crossed every single bridge, and explored every single corner.
You can’t put a price on that kind of joy.
Night had fallen, and the new show, Rivers of Light, was about to start. We’d never seen it, so we did what any hardcore Disney fan would do in that situation, and skipped it completely to go look at Pandora lit up for the night.
I have read several reviews of Rivers of Light, and watched some of it online, and the best reaction anyone seems to be able to muster for it is: meh. So we all decided we’d rather wander Pandora.
Along the way:
Ok, remember that spot in Pandora where I took the photo by the waterfall? Here it is at night.
Pandora looks amazing at night. One thing I appreciated was that if anything, they underplayed it. They tried to sell you on the plants and life itself being bio-luminescent, so you don’t get a lot of obvious light sources. And I think the work spoke for itself. I was glad we took the time to wander through.
Just in case, we also checked on the wait time for Flight of Passage.
120 minutes.
Nah.
Coming Up Next: Back to Epcot. Remember that hideous efficiency score of 25 we got on our vehicle design at Test Track? Challenge accepted.
Don't you hate it when that happens?
I could never quite understand it because the driver usually sounds like Charlie Brown's teacher.
As Jeff said, Meat + Fire = World's Best Recipe. I need to have you over for some homemade BBQ.
Fran did the same thing to me when we had FP for Navi River Journey our first time at Pandora!
