So the morning of August 17 arrived bright and early...at 6:00am. We did our usual morning routine and we were all headed out to the bus by 7:15am, our morning drinks in hand!
It was very hot out today and we were heading to the "hottest park". We were dripping already just from our short walk to the bus stop.
We did not wait too long before a bus pulled up and off we went to...
CAN YOU GUESS????
I just love the entrance into Animal Kingdom. In fact, we love Animal Kingdom! We just don't understand why other people don't. But I guess that's good becasue with how busy it gets now, just think how crazy it could be if everyone loved it like we do!
We arrived in time for Extra Magic hours at 8am! It is so nice just walking through there without a ton of people around. Tyler took our passes when we got through th gates and went for Expedition Everest fast passes. He was still saying he did not want to go and Skye was teasing him that she was going! She was finally big enough!!!!
Skye and I headed the opposite way to our meeting spot. Along the way we checked things out...
Don't know who that was but she apparently liked his red shirt!
We ended up at Kilamanjaro Safari to wait for Tyler...who actually should have been there waiting for me. At this point, Tyler was starting to try my patience with just his everyday little things so when we arrived here quite a while after we parted and he was not there and did not come walking up soon after we got there, I was getting a little upset! After standing in probably one of the biggest crowds at Animal Kingdom at 8:15am for quite a while waiting we start to see him moseying on over...taking his own sweet time...looking around...ya. All of that would have been fine if he had gotten there and been looking for us and looking around while waiting but he was not doing that. My Tyler just does not think like that. And to make it worse, he is not answering his phone or calling me...time means nothing for the boy!
So he comes around the corner all smiling and I let him know that was not the correct way to handle that situation and we headed off for one of our favorite rides!
The line for the Safari was not long but it was much longer now than it had been when we should have boarded...I was really planning on two rides.
Now I have a ton of Safari pictures. Probably, they have all been seen before. But I can never get enough of a good thing so I am going to post them. I won't be offended if you skip over them (in fact, I won't even know unless you tell me!) but I love looking at them so here we go...
We always have to have a picture of the "menu board" as we call it...
Okapi...that is probably the best picture of an Okapi I have ever been able to get!
Saddle Billed Stork (I think that is what they were and how you spell it???)
Rhino butt and Vultures
Vultures Drying their wings and probably cooling off...it was HOT!
No, no I believe these are the Saddle Billed Storks so I don't know what the other picture was...
Pelicans in their nests and Vultures...the greyish fuzzier birds are the baby pelicans...so cute!
The Hippos hanging out and of course, Vultures.
A Bayobob (ya, I probably buchered that!) Tree with Vultures in it of course!
We never knew there were so many rhinos here...or that they really ever moved! We saw a ton of them today!
And then we saved Little Red...
...and everyone was happy!
We were really happy...this was one of the best safaris we have even been on. The animals were out all over the place! And close to the road and moving around! I don't know if it was just a good day or if the theory that morning time is the best time but it worked for us!
So we found our stroller, it's always a game there, and headed over for breakfast.
This morning we were using snack credits at Kusifiri Coffee Shop and Bakery! I had been reading so much about cupcakes and such that I knew we needed to get some...and we all never agree on one so we were going to try a few!
We ordered an Elephant Cupcake (of course!)...
...a Zebra Cupcake...
...and a Cottontop Cupcake (which was a special for the month)...
We also had a large bottle of water!
All the cupcakes were good but Skye and I liked the Zebra one the best (we are yellow cake lovers!) and Tyler, oddly enough, liked the Elephant one...it's not odd that he liked the elephant but that he liked the frosting on the cup cake...it was sort of like what you'd get on german chocolate cake...and he usually turns that down. Now that is not to say we did not demolish all three of them...but we did all have our favorites! And we probably would have been fine with two of them, and we're not big sharers with things like this, so that should tell you how filling they were! And the kids lived the chocolate elephant and cottontop on the tops too!
Our cost was $17.75 but we used four snack credits. We were eating around 8:58am. We did not have a line to wait in either. I was tihnking due to the way the place is set up that we'd have a huge line but we didn't. And we were able to get seats over by the Dawa Bar to eat in the shade.
I'd definately come back there again for snacks!
After our extremely nutritious breakfast we mosied over towards Asia...taking in the sights along the way!
This is outside Yak & Yeti. We kept asking Skyler why she broke the statue every time we went by.
So then we got there...
Does he looked scared? He tried to talk us out of it in every way he could. And it did not work. Skye was tellin ghim he'd be ok. And we entered the lregular line becasue it wasn't really that long and we wanted to see the museum and we wanted to save our fast passes for later when it got more crowded...at least Skye and I did!
The line and museum is so cool..even Tyler had a hard time being worried.
That was totally posed...really! At least for Skyler! No, really, Tyler has been on much worse than what the Yeti had in store for him. It's just the not knowing that is killing him! See, this is his first ride on it too because he was always too scared to ride before even though he was tall enough a long time ago!
This is Skyler acting scared...she couldn't wait!
There's my pretty little girl!
See, he's smiling...ok, ok, he really was a little scared but he was walking forward on his own...and I knew he'd be ok once he got on it!
WOW, I might have as many pictures of the wait to see the Yeti as I do for the Safari!
All those pictures make it look like it took us a long time to get through that line but it really did not...and it was much too fast for Tyler!
So we get up there and Skye and I ride together and Tyler is on his own. Well, I had to make a choice...the little one or the chicken one...and I knew he'd be ok...actually, I knew she'd be ok too but she is just so little!
This is about where she looks at me and says "This is all it is? This is a baby ride!"....YES, THOSE WEWRE HER EXACT WORDS!!!!
And the verdict was...
Even Chicken Boy loved it and it is now his favorite ride at Animal Kingdom! See, Moms do know best!!! Although he was not thrilled with going backwards in the dark and I had to convince him that he did not go upside down...he said it felt like it in the dark. What proved it to him was that he did not have a harness over his sholder and Skye was able to ride.
So as we walked away...
...we headed to...
...where Tyler was very upset that one of his favorites was not going to be functional for our whole trip. He loves Primeval Whirl and will ride it over and over! Oh well! So we rode some Triceratops and then went to scare Tyler some more!
Actually this one scares me!!! And Tyler knows he is scared on this one but will ride becasue he can safely hide.
Ok so this is a kid that by the age of two could correctly identify and pronounce any dino you threw at him. He owned and loved the Jurrasic Park Triolgy since around then too. But he has night mares about Velociraptors chasing him through the house...he still does every now and then...so this was really funny!
We have actually never been in this part of the queue because we have never actually ever had a line before to get on!
And this is my attempt at taking a pic of the ride pic so you can see how Tyler rides Disnoaur! Well, he made Skye, his little sister by 5 years, ride on the end and he was in the middle. Then he closes his eyes and holds his ears (he has done that since he was little when he is scared...I guess the sound is worse than the sight!) and tries to bury himself under my arm! He is such a MO!
But in this case he did not plan very well becasue he put me on the side with the big, scary T-Rex so he had to lean towards his baby sister to protect him! I admit, that guy is scary!!! I think Skye is the only one of the three of us who actually was not phased! She's a weird one...
We were a little early and they make you wait untilk all the breakfast people have seen the characters before letting the lunch crowd in. In fact, they would not even let us check in when we got there. So we sat in the shade with everyone else and waited.
Till we were allowed to check in and then shortly after, brought in to be seated...
All the sounds from "upstairs" were going on...we love the little things like that!
We were brought into the larger dining room...
And we were sat pretty much right in the middle of that room...good spot!
Oh, and I meant to tell you that they moved check in around the back of the hotel...which made for a lot of congestion back there. I don't really understand it but I wasn't asked so whatever!
Now, we have been here for both breakfast and lunch before. And we really like it. There is always a lot that we know and like and there is also a lot that we can try if/when feeling adventurous! We have always had hot food and if things have even been close to empty, the trays have been refilled. And normally, the flow of the buffet line goes very smoothly so you're not waiting very long at any one pod. They also seem seperated enough so we don't get many dirty looks when cutting in to get to the pod we want...that's what you're suppoosed to do people!...like you dometimes do at other buffets. And I have to say that other than Boma, this is the only buffet we like for lunch or dinner...normally, we only do breakfast buffets as we have not normally liked the food at other meals. and while this place has tracings of Boma, it has a whole different vibe going on we think! The one place we have consistantly had our only issues here is with the wait staff. Only once have we had a good waiter, I mean, how hard can it bue to wait at a buffet...the least you could do is act interested!
So on with the pictures...
Here's our regular drinks...I do like that they brought Skye a paper cup with a top...just makes it easier. Oh, and I hate the paper straws...but I understand the reason behind it and prefer them to the alternative of no straws!
My first plate.
Skye's first plate.
Tyler's first plate...I believe the carving board had roast beef and pork loin that day.
My second plate...I must have liked the tomato salad!
Skye and my shared dessert plate.
Skye's dessert plate.
Ty's dessert plate.
More corn dog nuggets from the kid's buffet. They were really good! We shared them around the table.
Skye's apple sauce.
Looks like my plate with Skye's fruit and more corn dog nuggets.
All in all we loved it here...again! We had plenty variety to pick from and left full. We left at 12:21pm so our meal lasted almost an hour...and this was a rare day for us as there was always a line at the carving station. That really puts a damper on things. But all was good in the end. The cost was $59.61 or three meal credits. Well worth it to us...and we will definately be back!
HOLY DOWNPOUR BATMAN!!!! Remarkably, you could not even hear the rain from inside so we were somewhat surprised!
Up until this point we had had very little rain...well we were making up for it now! And do you know where the ponchos were??? Come on...guess!!! If you guessed "in the the stroller on the other side of the Dawa Bar", give yourself a treat! We had thought to cover the stroller...in fact, we kept the rain cover on it all the time and any time we left it somewhere, we covered it all up. But we did not think about what owuld happen if it rained while we were inside and we then had to get outside to the stroller to get the ponchos! DUH!!! So I did what any responsible, mature parent would...I sent Tyler to get the stroller! LOL...
The good news??? He found out how well his new, never been worn before, bright, yellow, athletic shirt handles water!
Actually, he had no problem going out in the rain...he's a 12 year old boy, what's the problem???
So what's to do at the Animal Kingdom, in the rain...well, we headed back to the Safari!!!!
We walked right on and had first row (which is always a thrill fo rthe kids but I think it is not the best seat in the car) and we had a really good driver this time!
And we learned something on this trip through...those are not baby giraffes or kids or teens..there are actually two different kinds of giraffes on the safari. The littler ones are a different kind than the big ones...they even have slightly different parreting and colorings.
The we got to Lou's favorite...but he was not here...so we enjoyed them for him!
Oh no, that's Skye not a gorilla...
Did I mention how hot it was? We had done a lot of things today and I was willing to retire to our room or pool for a while but they would have none of it...and it's really not like me to want to stop while we're in The World...which is why I find it difficult to pay for Deluxe hotels!
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