"We're basically here for the food..." A September 2016 TR**Updated 4/21/17

[DexLabDeeDee]

OMG - Amiee! I totally spaced and didn't "watch" your thread for some reason and I missed out on a whole lot of updates! Whoops!

I'm really enjoying your report so far!

Love, love, love this pic! Hahahaha!

This is SO awesome! I have never thought to take a pic like this on Space Mountain.

I think we all were getting a bit cranky.

And you took your own advice and got out of the parks when you're cranky - good for you! Haha.

Everyone say HI to Kevin!!

HI!!!! Welcome!!!!

Here is the Crystal Palace chef:

Again, yet another good pic idea! I wish I would have done this with my chefs, too! Especially the one at Boma.

Haha. She looks like she is meditating!

 

[VACamm]

Curious that you were able to have the couscous, as I thought it was a pasta product, so it would have gluten?

You are 100% correct!! That is TOTALLY a mistake on my part!!! I did NOT eat the couscous salad. That is a trip report error on my part.. and ... it was some other type of cold salad with a delicious strong vinegar flavor and possibly beets? I honestly don't remember what else was in it, but It was delicious. I unfortunately did NOT take notes and am going purely off memory which is another good reason that my husband is also adding his memories and photos to this report. I actually am going to edit out that couscous from that post so I don't confuse anyone else who has to stay away from gluten. Thank you so much for pointing that out to me.

OMG - Amiee! I totally spaced and didn't "watch" your thread for some reason and I missed out on a whole lot of updates! Whoops!

Hi!!! I was wondering where you were!!

Again, yet another good pic idea! I wish I would have done this with my chefs, too! Especially the one at Boma.

Kevin took pics of me with MOST of the chefs, so he has a whole collection on his phone haha

 

[VACamm]

Day 2 Part 1


The alarm clock started ringing on my phone waaaaay too early at 6:30am. I jumped out of bed and went to the shower to try and wake up, I remember feeling absolutely super exhausted this first morning. We had plans to make rope drop at Animal Kingdom, and we had a full day planned.


One by one me, Kevin, and my dad all got mostly ready while we let Ethan sleep a bit. We walked straight to the food court for coffee’s, and when we got back to the room we woke Ethan up, finished getting ready for the day, and headed to the bus stop at 7:30am.


At the bus stop we all ate our various granola bars, breakfast bars, blueberry muffins, and bananas for ‘Breakfast On The Go’. It works for our group very well, because it allows us to make it to rope drop each morning. We watched a bunch of Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios busses come and go. The Animal Kingdom bus FINALLY came in about 20 minutes.


FINALLY ON THE BUS and on our way to Animal Kingdom! Why does Kevin look so cranky? Maybe he needs more coffee?







Once we got thru the security check, and then past the tapstiles, we were held in front of the tree of life until the park OFFICIALLY opened. We like to be close to the front at AK Rope Drop so that we can go straight to Expedition Everest and ride it several times in a row with little to no wait.


While we were waiting, we decided it was the perfect time for a SELFIE!



And a pic of the Tree of Life!




And also for some Photo Pass photos!!










The music finally started to build and we heard the announcement over the speakers, and the colorful Animal Kingdom birds (parrots???) were released and gracefully flew over all of our heads. I LOVE Rope Drop at Animal Kingdom! One day I’m going to get a photo of the birds being released, but I am never prepared!


We walked / speed walked / maybe ran a little bit over to Asia to Expedition Everest. We passed the completed Jungle Book / Rivers of Light theater and it was absolutely gorgeous!! Once we were at EE, we had to wait about 3 minutes outside of the queue until they actually opened up the ride. The line quickly started to move, and in a few moments we were walking through in MY OPINION the BEST THEMED ATTRACTION in ALL OF WALT DISNEY WORLD!




I love this stuff!



Continued in next post...

 

[VACamm]

Day 2 Part 2

We were still walking very quickly through the queue of Expedition Everest looking at all of the super awesome Yeti stuff!





Waiting for our train ride... we are NEXT!



Riding to the top… the view is amaaaazing!




At the top….Ut ohhhhhh…. Tracks out!



We survived our first ride of the day and captured this fabulous ride memory of our 13 year old son doing the Dab. If you don't know what 'The Dab' is, consider yourself lucky. Apparently its a 'thing' among young people. I guess I'm not young... and I'm not cool.
Also, you can see my husband and his ginormous muscles. I'm so lucky.

My dad and I are apparently the only normal ones in our crew.




We were able to ride it 3 times in a row this morning with literally zero wait time. We kept walking around in a circle and getting back on. After 3 times, we were finished. We headed straight over to Dinoland to ride Primeval Whirl. Its tradition… we ride it 1 time each year. It makes me a tad bit queasy, but hey… you only live once!


Dinosaur was closed for refurbishment during this trip, so unfortunately we didn’t get to ride it this time. BUMMER!


So we headed straight over to Africa to use our Fast Pass for Kilimanjaro Safari. The animals were sadly not very active this visit, and the Lions were not in their enclosure because they were working on installing some new ‘Log’ contraption. That was a bit disappointing especially since last Christmas we were able to see the male Lion ROARING really loudly and it was spectacular. The crazy thing is that this was my first time EVER on the safari that I didn’t take even 1 photo, so I have no photo evidence that we even rode it! We were however able see the hippos, elephants, and all of the normal animals minus the lions.


After our safari, it was time to head over to the Tusker House for a breakfast ADR. Actually, this was not just a normal breakfast, but we had reservations for the Jungle Book Alive with Magic reserved seating breakfast package. Basically, we got breakfast with the characters, AND we would receive tickets for reserved seating for the first Jungle Book show of the evening! We were SO excited!!


On our way to Tusker house, I spotted this cool graffiti….




And Ethan decided to ride a motorcycle…



It was turning out to be a perfect morning in Animal Kingdom! We had already ridden Expedition Everest 3x, Primeval Whirl, and the Safari all before 10:30!

Stay tuned for next time when we go to Tusker House for breakfast AND we go to Festival Of The Lion King!

 

[annie170]

I love your matching Up shirts! Up is one of my top five favorite Disney movies. Actually, I judge people by how they react to the first fifteen minutes of that movie. If it doesn't get to you, we can't be friends.

Expedition Everest three times in a row! What a perfect way to start the day!

I hate when people refer to AK as a glorified zoo. The theming is just so well done.

Looking forward to your review of Tusker House. That is my favorite character buffet, food wise. We always try to make an adr for around 11:15. That way we get the tail end of the breakfast food and the beginning of the lunch selections. so good!

 

[VACamm]

I love your matching Up shirts! Up is one of my top five favorite Disney movies. Actually, I judge people by how they react to the first fifteen minutes of that movie. If it doesn't get to you, we can't be friends.

Expedition Everest three times in a row! What a perfect way to start the day!

I hate when people refer to AK as a glorified zoo. The theming is just so well done.

Looking forward to your review of Tusker House. That is my favorite character buffet, food wise. We always try to make an adr for around 11:15. That way we get the tail end of the breakfast food and the beginning of the lunch selections. so good!

Thank you so much! I loved these shirts too! Fun fact: the movie Up is my husbands favorite Disney movie. We very much looked forward to the Dug and Russell meet and greet at AK.

We kind of did the same thing with the timing of our Tusker House breakfast. We scheduled it so that we could have both breakfast and lunch if we wanted to.... but we ended up only having enough room in our bellies for breakfast!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

FINALLY ON THE BUS and on our way to Animal Kingdom! Why does Kevin look so cranky? Maybe he needs more coffee?

It's the buses. They automatically make you cranky.

MY OPINION the BEST THEMED ATTRACTION in ALL OF WALT DISNEY WORLD!

H*LL YES!!

We survived our first ride of the day and captured this fabulous ride memory of our 13 year old son doing the Dab. If you don't know what 'The Dab' is, consider yourself lucky. Apparently its a 'thing' among young people. I guess I'm not young... and I'm not cool.

I know what it is but I do not get it. I don't remember do any weird hand gestures,etc when I was in school. Apparently, I'm just doomed to never be cool. I'm good with that.

 

[VACamm]

It's the buses. They automatically make you cranky.

Agreed!!

I know what it is but I do not get it. I don't remember do any weird hand gestures,etc when I was in school. Apparently, I'm just doomed to never be cool. I'm good with that.

We can be NON COOL together !

 

[kfcamm]

Thanks for saying hey everyone!! I appreciate it. So going to AK has never been better this year because I was armed with my Jungle Book Vans Backpack, my Grape Soda pin, and an 'UP' themed shirt.


HECK YEAH! But first we had to get coffee. Here is Aims and her Dad at CBR.



So while we were waiting for the rope drop at AK, I played a little Ingress. Ingress is a worldwide game that puts the enlightened and resistance against each other. I am the resistance and there are portals everywhere, especially at DW. It is a tamer game than Pokemon Go (the creators of PoGo, created Ingress first). At any rate, it is pretty cool to see what are portals and what missions are out there. Okay, I will stop talking about it, but it is good for the downtime and waiting.


So after the birds flew in and out to signal the opening of AK, we were off – walking of course. I got yelled at two years ago in Tomorrowland and I don’t risk it anymore, but my speed walking is a beast. First things first, we head to the awesome Expedition Everest which I really like and the theming is incredible. I rode it twice, but now as I get older, I can only ride a rollercoaster once or twice before getting dizzy/nauseous. I LOVE roller coasters so this always bums me out because I can't ride them more. So after my one or two rides, I usually head to the gift shop and ask to see CM’s pins or in this case, wait right where the drop is.




After EE, as in tradition, I knew Primeval Whirl was coming up. That’s a vomit maker right there! This ride makes me nervous every time. One time in the past, Aimee said you have to spot when you go in circles and it helps the nausea (Aimee was a ballerina back in the day, but unfortuantely her tips have no effect on me) I just closed my eyes and smiled (while trying to think happy thoughts and ignore the sweat rolling down my back because I was getting nauseous!




We went to Kilomanjaro Safari – another awesome time except we didn’t see the lion. We did see a couple of animals that we hadn't seen in the past which was really neat. On that note - Kwaherini!


We headed over to Tusker House afterwards for brunch. I've never had breakfast there and it was very good. We kept on our progress of meeting characters (and chefs too!).



Donald tried to move in on Aimee while I was gone from the table. When I got back, I mentioned that I saw Daisy earlier. He then looked at me and then grabbed Aimee’s arm and proceeded to kiss her hand, her wrist and forearm. Never expected that! Donald is quite the charmer.




One interesting thing that we saw in Tusker House – didn't get a picture of it – was four small young women walking around in black sweatpants and sweatshirts. They were being led around by a cast member. Aimee said they probably are new characters and are going incognito.


Festival of the Lion King was next and, as always, it was awesome. We were finally on the Warthogs team – I am tired of making a giraffe sound – bleaaaahhhhh. Warthog wasn’t so better though.



Side note: I wish I had a low voice like Kiume. That would be so cool.

We saw Tarzan and there was no line, so we had to meet him! He taught us all some body gestures to intimidate animals. After meeting so many characters this time and the awesome memories with it, I am seriously considering getting an autograph book for next time. Adults can do that too, right?


More to come tomorrow of the rest.

 

[VACamm]

Happy Sunday Everyone! I’m exhausted but decided that I needed to do a quick update here on this Trip Report. Today we climbed to the top of Crabtree Falls which is absolutely beautiful in Autumn! The hike is 1.7 miles to the top, and 1.7 miles back down. It was well worth the sore muscles that I’m experiencing right now.

Autumn in Virginia is great!



Anyway, back to Disney stuff....

Day 2 Part 3

We checked in at the Tusker House podium for our late breakfast / early lunch ADR, and were given a pager that would buzz as soon as our table was ready. I remember sitting outside at the little tables on the patio for quite a while before our pager started to buzz. Once we were brought inside, our waitress came to our table and told me that the Chef would be over to take me around the buffet and show me what was safe for my Gluten allergy.

The chef was amazing, and he brought me around the buffet to show me what was safe to eat, and he also told me that he would personally cook up some FRESH Gluten Free Mickey Mouse Waffles! YES PLEASE!



The Gluten Free waffles were delicious!

I will say that the Gluten Free selections were very impressive at Tusker House. They had Udi's bread and bagels for toasting. They also had Donuts! I also got scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and fruit.

Before we knew it, our Safari friends started to come around… Daisy was first.



Then Donald… who got a little frisky with me and was kissing my arm! LOL We were all laughing, he was SUPER hilarious!





Mickey was amazing!



Oh I forgot to mention, our neighbors at the next table agreed to take photos for us, which we in turn took their photos so that everyone could get in the pictures. It worked out great, and we were VERY appreciative! They were a super sweet couple who were celebrating their anniversary!

Last but not least, Goofy finally made their way to our table.



I will say that the Tusker House has an amazing breakfast buffet, and if you plan it right and schedule it for around 10:45-ish to 11:00 you can have a nice Brunch because they start bringing out the lunch food. I ate a ton of Gluten Free items, and there were so many other things that WERE on the safe list that I just could not physically eat because my belly was so full.

The very impressive Tusker House Breakfast Buffet Menu:

Spit-Roasted Bone-in Ham

Spiced Corn Beef Hash with Cornbread Topping

Scrambled Eggs

Mickey Waffles

Potato and Leek Frittata

Ham and Cheese Frittata

Beef Bobotie

Seasonal Vegetable Quiche

Oven-roasted Red Skin Potatoes

Coconut-Sweet Potato Casserole

Basmati Rice with Lemon, Cinnamon, and Cardamon

Sweet Plantains

Sweet and Spicy Honey Mustard

Tater Tot Potatoes

Bacon

Sausage Patties

Warm Maple Syrup

Whipped Butter

Froot Loops

Rice Crispies

Mealie Pap

Oatmeal

Raisins

Biscuits

Sausage Gravy

Raisin Bran

Frosted Flakes

Granola

Lemon-Poppyseed Bread

Assorted Yogurts

Assorted Fruits Cantaloupe Melon, Pineapple, Honeydew Melon, Watermelon, Bananas, and Grapes

Cottage Cheese

Vegetable Cream Cheese

Plain Cream Cheese

Jams, Jellies, and Fruit Chutneys

Whole Grain Breads

Orange Bread

Cornbread

Banana Bread

Coffee Cake

Glazed Donut Holes

Mealie

Apple Turnovers

Strawberry Turnover

Mini Plain Croissants

Mini Chocolate Croissants

Warm Cinnamon Rolls

Fruit Cobbler

Banana-Cinnamon Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

There was SO MUCH FOOD! Between the variety of foods, and the fantastic character interaction, I highly recommend Tusker House to anyone who is looking for a good character meal with unique and delicious food.

Continued in next post...

 

[kfcamm]

Hi Kevin! I love your picture of Elsa's shoe!

Thanks! It was totally random and just laying there. It had a Cinderella flair to it.

 

[kfcamm]

Hi Kevin! Very cool to know we'll be getting your perspective too.[/QUOTE]

Thank you! I am not as interesting as my wife, but I'm going to give it a shot!

 

[kfcamm]

Hi Kevin! Good job on your post! You're quite the photographer. Very cool that the chef posed for a photo and that picture with you and the Beast is definitely frame worthy. I also love the pic of the lost slipper. Is it just me, or do you wonder how upset that little princess was when she discovered one slipper was lost?

Thank you! I appreciate the compliment. Credit goes to the phone camera I felt so bad for the Princess who lost her shoe...

 

[VACamm]

Day 2 Part 4

We left breakfast / brunch and headed straight over to the Festival of the Lion King theater for our next fast passes for 11:30. It was PERFECT timing, because when we walked up to the theater, the fast pass line was JUST being let into the theater. We didn’t have to even wait 1 minute! We were able to get terrific seats in the Warthog Section. I didn’t get any pics, but I think my husband did. My entire family sang at the top of our lungs to every song, and we had a blast. We REALLY enjoy this show every year!

The theming around the theater is really amazing. Kevin made me and my dad stop for a photo…



Ethan was super tired and cranky… he is almost 14 years old and a teenager 100% with the mood swings included. We gave him permission to ride the bus back to the resort to take a nap while we did a few more things in the park before we went back to the pool. He texted me every 15 minutes until he was back in the room.

We decided to head to Starbucks for an iced coffee, and as we were walking to our destination, we saw TARZAN with his attendant… but with NO LINE. We walked up to him and got our photos with him.



It was a tad bit awkward.

Anyway, we looked to our left and saw the gates / entrance for Pandora!! We of course had to peek through the cracks to see if we could see anything. Nope. Couldn’t see anything.

HOWEVER… we DID see the new restaurant Tiffins and the new bar called Nomad Lounge right next to the entrance to Pandora. We decided that since we had 1 hour until our next fast pass, that we would skip Starbucks and have a cocktail! It was 12:00 after all!!

Tiffins is gorgeous. LITERALLY unbelievably spectacular inside. I need to make a reservation for dinner next year for sure. We walked around and peeked inside of each room, and its amazing inside.

We decided to get some cocktails in Nomad Lounge. The theming is sooooo cool. Its all about living your life as if its an adventure, and travelling as much as possible. It was very cool.





Kevin ordered a specialty beer... my father and I ordered some specialty cocktails! The Snow Leopard Salvation was DELICIOUS and I highly recommend it. I will say they were very heavy on the vodka!





After our cocktails, we made our way to our 3rd Fast Pass of the day: Kali River Rapids. Its probably my least favorite ride in all of Animal Kingdom. I wore my poncho on it because one year I got so wet that it looked like I jumped in a pool with my clothes on. This time, I only got a few sprinkles in my face so it wasn’t bad.

Our next stop was the Dug and Russel meet and greet. They were so adorable and it was well worth the 15 minutes that we waited there. WILDERNESS EXPLORERS!



We were getting a bit tired, so we all agreed it was time to head back to the resort for a quick nap time / pool time to rejuvenate ourselves for the evening!



When we got back to the resort, we found Ethan sound asleep on the pull down bed…. Awwwwwwwww!



Stay tuned for the next post where we eat dinner at Boma, and head back to Animal Kingdom for the night time shows!

 

[annie170]

Kevin, between your Jungle Book Backpack, Grape Soda Pin, and Up shirt, you might be the coolest person on the DIS!

I like how you got photos of the chefs with Aimee. I guess you've got to keep an eye on Donald around the ladies!

I understand how you feel about Primeval Whirl, also known as Primeval Hurl. It stinks getting older.

Aimee, glad you were able to find so much you could eat at Tusker House. I love how there are so many unique items on that buffet.

Every time I see Festival of the Lion King at AK, I almost feel like I'm watching a Broadway Show.

Yay for meeting Dug and Russel!

It's nice when your kids get to the age where you can let them go back to the room by themselves. I think it's great that Ethan not only wants to go on vacation with you, but takes part in hikes like today. I teach high school aged kids and know that can be a tough age. He seems like an awesome kid.

 

[VACamm]

Kevin, between your Jungle Book Backpack, Grape Soda Pin, and Up shirt, you might be the coolest person on the DIS!

Kevin's 2 favorite Disney Movies are UP and Jungle Book. He was very happy this day on our vacation because he got to represent both with his attire and accessories!

I like how you got photos of the chefs with Aimee. I guess you've got to keep an eye on Donald around the ladies!

Donald was quite the ladies man! haha

Aimee, glad you were able to find so much you could eat at Tusker House. I love how there are so many unique items on that buffet.

Yes, it was very delicious! We only had ever eaten at Tusker House for dinner before, so this was really terrific to try it for breakfast. We really enjoyed it. The gluten free options were very impressive, and it is high on my list for Gluten Free friendly restaurants for Walt Disney World. The chef was terrific and very understanding. Also, I forgot to mention that I asked for Soy Milk to add to my coffee, and they brought me my very own Silk Soy Milk carton to the table

Every time I see Festival of the Lion King at AK, I almost feel like I'm watching a Broadway Show.

We feel the same way. Its SO well done, and it give me chills when I watch it!

It's nice when your kids get to the age where you can let them go back to the room by themselves. I think it's great that Ethan not only wants to go on vacation with you, but takes part in hikes like today. I teach high school aged kids and know that can be a tough age. He seems like an awesome kid.

He is an awesome kid, you're right. We are so lucky that hes so well rounded and an all around pleasure to be around.... most of the time, haha. If he gets tired.... the crankiness comes out! We definitely respect his body cues that he needs a nap in Disney!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

I got yelled at two years ago in Tomorrowland and I don’t risk it anymore, but my speed walking is a beast.

Hmmm....I'm pretty bad-a** at speed walking too. If our trips ever line up, we need to race!

We kept on our progress of meeting characters (and chefs too!).

Yaaay! More chefs!

One interesting thing that we saw in Tusker House – didn't get a picture of it – was four small young women walking around in black sweatpants and sweatshirts.

I saw this too at HS! I thought that they must be crazy to wear that in this kind of weather!

We saw Tarzan and there was no line, so we had to meet him!

I had NO IDEA you could meet Tarzan. How cool!!

Adults can do that too, right?

Absolutely!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Then Donald… who got a little frisky with me and was kissing my arm! LOL We were all laughing, he was SUPER hilarious!

Haha. You don't look like you mind, Aimee! Kevin better watch out!

Oh I forgot to mention, our neighbors at the next table agreed to take photos for us, which we in turn took their photos so that everyone could get in the pictures. It worked out great, and we were VERY appreciative! They were a super sweet couple who were celebrating their anniversary!

That's so cool. What a great idea!

We decided to get some cocktails in Nomad Lounge. The theming is sooooo cool. Its all about living your life as if its an adventure, and travelling as much as possible. It was very cool.

Yet another bar I need to try! I should just have one trip where I go drinking all around WDW - there's just only so many you can get in!

WILDERNESS EXPLORERS!

This makes me smile. Yay Wilderness Explorers! And in your UP shirts! Did the characters notice them?

 

[VACamm]

Yet another bar I need to try! I should just have one trip where I go drinking all around WDW - there's just only so many you can get in!

You will have to stay tuned to this TR for when we accepted the Drinking Around The World Challenge. Its quite comical. You definitely need to check the Nomad Bar out though for sure, its absolutely spectacular! AND... it still smelled NEW!

This makes me smile. Yay Wilderness Explorers! And in your UP shirts! Did the characters notice them?

They DID notice it! Russell did a little dance! It made our day for sure....

 

[ALEXandFAB]

If you don't know what 'The Dab' is, consider yourself lucky.

I have a nine year old son. I know all about dabbing. I am not lucky.

We had already ridden Expedition Everest 3x, Primeval Whirl, and Expedition Everest all before 10:30!

Great morning!

I rode it twice, but now as I get older, I can only ride a rollercoaster once or twice before getting dizzy/nauseous. I LOVE roller coasters so this always bums me out because I can't ride them more.

Same here I miss the days when I could ride all the roller coasters I wanted without feeling the least bit off.

I will say they were very heavy on the vodka!

As they should be!