With Every Passing Hour, I'm So Glad I Left My Tower! My Solo Birthday Adventure *NEW 3/5

[SarahDisney]

I love this picture!!

I love how everyone else in the photo is just smiling and unfazed by the huge dinosaur roaring at us and then my face is like “oh crap we’re gonna die”

The look on your face is pure awesome. I think your face is way better than everyone else's "blah" faces.

The pretzel and lemonade were pretty good, nothing amazing, but it was much needed food. The lemonade was refreshing, but it was very hard to drink out of a paper straw. I felt a lot better after eating something.

I'm glad the snack made you feel better ... but that was a lot of drama just to get it!
And those paper straws drive me crazy. I hate them, they're so awkward to drink from.

 

[oceanmarina]

Fantastic picture!! Enjoyed your update. I've never ridden Dinosaur, how intense would you say it is on a scale of 1 to 10?

 

[LindseyJo22]

Someone a few rows in front of me had a GoPro camera on a stick mount thing and once the show started they decided to hold it up in the air to film it. It was pretty annoying since it was right in my line of view, but a CM came and asked them to keep it down lower. Yay CMs!

So frustrating! At least the CM stepped in

It was an amazing show! I can’t believe I hadn’t seen it before this trip. I didn’t know what I was missing. It definitely made my must do list for Animal Kingdom now.

Amazing! I've never seen it, but it's on the list for 2017 since we're probably not going to AK this next trip.

On the way there I stopped for a few photopass pics in front of my favorite tree.

Yay! I love your Simba Shirt

The themeing of this area is amazing! I didn't get to see many animals, but I’m glad I took the time to admire some of the details.

This is really a hidden gem - I don't think I'd ever done any of the trails until I went to Disney with my husband's family - and they were so much fun!

I love Expedition Everest! So much fun!

Woo hoo! One of my favorites, too

I really like the way it turned out. That is an awesome photo location because there isn’t anything theme-park-y in the background.

I have some great pictures from this place - it is nice to not have a ride in the background. Yay for Photopass!

I couldn’t remember exactly where the giant Carnosaurus was but I knew it was coming so I kind of half expected it around every corner.

This is how I feel on Dinosaur - it doesn't really scare me, but it is so dark so I expect crazy stuff around every corner So I end up looking more scared than I really am!

 

[dglilbit]

After my trek through the jungles of Asia, I decided to go on an expedition up Mt. Everest. Luckily, I had a fastpass for the 12:45 train up the mountain.

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I love Expedition Everest! So much fun!

Of course, I had to stop for some photopass pics in honor of my journey. The photographer was super sweet.

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"Oh no, there's a yeti!"
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And then Tink stopped by
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On my way to the next land I spotted another photographer on the bridge.

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I really like the way it turned out. That is an awesome photo location because there isn’t anything theme-park-y in the background.

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Then I continued my journey to DinoLand. And went on a spin on the Primeval Whirl. The wait was longer than expected because one side broke down.

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I don’t know why I always insist on going on this ride. It is so jerky and makes my stomach do flips. And its not even that fun. I think next time I’ll just skip it.

And then it was time for DINOSAUR, which was practically a walk on

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I find that ride slightly terrifying, in a fun way. I’m a super jumpy person and I don’t love when things jump out at me or take me by surprise. I couldn’t remember exactly where the giant Carnosaurus was but I knew it was coming so I kind of half expected it around every corner.

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I love how everyone else in the photo is just smiling and unfazed by the huge dinosaur roaring at us and then my face is like “oh crap we’re gonna die”

Following along! I literally LOL'd at your last comment! So funny!

 

[PippiDancer]

I love this picture!!

The look on your face is pure awesome. I think your face is way better than everyone else's "blah" faces.

I'm glad the snack made you feel better ... but that was a lot of drama just to get it!
And those paper straws drive me crazy. I hate them, they're so awkward to drink from.

I agree! Ride photos are so much more fun when you're actually having a reaction instead of just looking bored. I seemed to have a lot of food drama on this trip for some reason. I understand why they have paper straws at AK and I'm all for being animal-firendly, but they are a pain in the butt especially with frozen drinks.

Fantastic picture!! Enjoyed your update. I've never ridden Dinosaur, how intense would you say it is on a scale of 1 to 10?

Thank you! I think the rating would depend on what you mean by intensity. Motion wise, it is a little jerky because the vehicle is simulating driving over rough terrain, so I think I would give it maybe a 3 or 4. Scare wise, it depends if you are jumpy or not it is kinda dark and there are times when you turn a corner and are surprised by a dinosaur, think the creepy-light-fish suddenly appearing in the Finding Nemo ride, but there isn't really anything actually scary so I guess I would give it a 4 or 5 depending on your jumpiness level. It is a great ride and very fun, I would recommend trying it.

So frustrating! At least the CM stepped in

Amazing! I've never seen it, but it's on the list for 2017 since we're probably not going to AK this next trip.

Yay! I love your Simba Shirt

This is really a hidden gem - I don't think I'd ever done any of the trails until I went to Disney with my husband's family - and they were so much fun!

Woo hoo! One of my favorites, too

I have some great pictures from this place - it is nice to not have a ride in the background. Yay for Photopass!

This is how I feel on Dinosaur - it doesn't really scare me, but it is so dark so I expect crazy stuff around every corner So I end up looking more scared than I really am!

You definitely need to se FotLk, such an amzing show! I love the trails at Animal Kingdom, they force you to slow down, relax, and take in your surroundings. One of the best things about AK is the themeing and the trails really give you an oportunity to appreciate it. Thats my problem with Dinosaur, I expect to be way more scared than I am so I seem terrified in aniticipation of the fear that doesn't happen.

Following along! I literally LOL'd at your last comment! So funny!

Welcome!! I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks I'm funny.

 

[PippiDancer]

While I was eating my snack I was trying to figure out a plan for the rest of the day. It was about 2:00 and I had 2:25 fp+ for Kali River Rapids. But I also realized that there were only 2 more showings of Finding Nemo, one at 2:30 and one a little later. I was originally going to go to Kali for my fp and then go to the later show, but I decided that it didn’t make sense to criss cross the park like that. So I changed my Kali fp for a later time and got in line for the 2:30 show of Finding Nemo.

The line was pretty long, but I ended up skipping most of it and was towards the front of the line before they even opened the doors just by filling in the available space. I wasn’t even squeezing past people, I just moved into large gaps. I guess thats a benefit of being by yourself.

I got a seat in the lower section, not too far from the stage.





















It was my first time seeing the show and I really liked it. It was a beautiful show and had a great soundtrack. But I don’t know if I would see it every trip.

 

[PippiDancer]

My next stop was It’s Tough to be a Bug.



And I got a Red Card!!

I get unnecessarily excited whenever I get one of these. I love them!!

I love the queue for this show because you get an up close look at the Tree of Life.






I was one of the first people through the doors, so I got a seat at the end of the second row. It wasn’t the best angle so the 3D effects weren’t great. It was cute, but its not my favorite. I could take it or leave it.

And then it was time for my fastpass for Kali River Rapids! It was closed for refurb on my last trip so I hadn’t been on it since 2004.

I had brought my pool flip flops with me because I didn’t want to be walking around in wet shoes if I got soaked on Kali, so I changed my shoes and then put all of my stuff in a locker. I’m really glad they put those in, it makes Kali a lot more enjoyable when you’re not worried about all your stuff and electronics getting soaked.



Once I got the front of the line they sent me to a raft that had already been filled and was towards the end of the rotating loading platform because there was one seat left on it. And I ended up riding with the most obnoxious people ever. Despite the many signs throughout the queue that said shoes must be worn on the ride, they all decided to take their shoes off and put them in the center. The CM asked them many times to put their shoes back on but they pretended that they didn’t speak english. Even when the CM repeated himself in spanish, only one person put their shoes on and the rest pretended they didn’t hear. I felt so bad for that poor CM who was just trying to do his job. He had to stop the rotating platform and hold up everyone else on the ride until these people put their shoes on. It was so obnoxious, I was actually embarrassed to be sitting with these people. And then the second our raft left the loading platform the girl next to me took off her shoes and everyone laughed about how they pulled one over on the CM. Seriously!? Those rules are there for a reason.

Despite my obnoxious raft-mates, it was a fun ride. I thought I was in the clear when we started going down the big drop and I wasn’t backwards but then the raft twisted and a large wall of water crashed down on my back. My front stayed pretty dry but my head, back, and shoulders were soaked! It actually felt really good because it cooled me down.



I thought about going on Kali again, but decided not too. So I grabbed my stuff out of my locker and found a bench to change my shoes. There was an older lady sitting next to me who gushed about how it was such a smart idea to bring extra shoes.

I used the FP+ kiosks next to Kali and got a 4th fp for Kilimanjaro Safaris at 5:00. I still had some time before my window opened and I was starting to get hungry again so I decided to give Kusifari a second chance after the disgusting breakfast wrap and get a Brownie Paw. But they were closed!

So I settled on a Mickey Bar instead. Which is always delicious. I sat on a low wall to eat it and got melted chocolate everywhere. Those things are so hard to eat without making a mess. Luckily I had some wet wipes in my bag.


As you can see, it was so hot and muggy out that I had pretty much dried off completely already.

 

[PippiDancer]

Then I headed out on safari. The fastpass was basically useless, I walked straight through the queue and there weren’t even many people in the standby line. This time I got an entire row to myself.



















There must have been a kid up front asking a ton of crazy questions because we could hear her our driver trying to answer him, it was pretty funny. While looking at the flamingos I heard her say something like “well those ducks must have flown all the way from Florida, their wings must be tired....no, we are only talking about African animals in this safari...because we are in Africa...we really are...anyway, hey look at that elephant over there.” As someone who has worked with little kids and has dealt with a never ending bombardment of questions many times I thought it was quite humorous, especially since you could only hear her side of the conversation.

 

[PippiDancer]

At this point in the safari the battery icon on my camera started flashing red so I knew it was about to die. I could kind of keep it going by turning my camera off as soon as I took a picture and then turning it on again to take another one.



We actually saw the cheetahs up and walking around, not sleeping like usual. Unfortunately I couldn’t get a good picture.

And then we saw the lions awake! The male was stile lounging around but it was still cool to see him not laying flat on a rock. And there were some females walking around.





And then the magic of this safari continued because look how close these zebras are!!

I probably could have reached out and touched him.




This photo is so adorable and I wish I could send it to this little girl’s parents somehow.



And then my camera officially died and I had to switch over to my phone but none of those pictures really came out except this one.



I considered going on another safari, but decided not to and headed out of the park. It was about 6:00 and was the latest that I ever stayed in Animal Kingdom. That had always been a half day park for me for some reason, but I’m really glad I spent the whole day there and experienced some things I never had before.

On my way out I stopped to pin trade with a CM and got a super cute Mary Blair style antelope pin, which seemed appropriate for Animal Kingdom. The CM even commented that she was surprised nobody wanted to trade for it before now. The CM loved my pin book so we talked for a little bit about how I made it. (You can read about it here)

 

[PippiDancer]

There was a photopass photographer near the gates as I was leaving, so I had to stop for a photo.



I grabbed a bus back home to Art of Animation. They had the pin board out at the gift shop so I stopped and traded for a pink Mickey Mouse head pin. And then I went to Landscape of Flavors for some dinner since I hadn’t had an actual meal all day. I got make-your-own-pasta with alfredo sauce, shrimp, mushrooms, spinach, and parmesan cheese again.


It was just as good as last time. I am seriously in love with make-your-own-pasta.

Once I finished eating I went back to my room and soaked my painful feet in the bath tub for a little while. And then I changed into my bathing suit for some pool time. I couldn’t stay at Art of Animation and not try out the Big Blue Pool! It was dark at this point and the air had changed, so it was a little chilly. But that didn’t stop me. I really like the zero entry of the pool, it’s nice to ease yourself into it. The pool was pretty crowded, especially in the shallow area. I swam around the deeper end for a little while, the underwater speakers were pretty neat. They had A Bug’s Life playing on a screen by the pool, so I watched a few scene of that hear and there. After about a half an hour I decided it was too crowded and that I should switch to the Little Mermaid pool. So I got out, wrapped my room towel around me (AoA doesn’t have towels by the pool, you need to bring one with you) and walked back to the Little Mermaid section. That pool wasn’t as crowded but there were still quite a few people there. I was kind of surprised, in other resorts I stayed at the main pool was always busy and the side pools were practically deserted. I swam around in that pool for a little while but then I started to get chilled so I decided to end my pool night. I got out and the only towel I had was soaked from my between pools, so it was a chilly walk back to my room. I took a nice warm shower in Ariel’s Grotto and then relaxed with some Duffy's Bedtime Stories before bed.

 

[LindseyJo22]

I had brought my pool flip flops with me because I didn’t want to be walking around in wet shoes if I got soaked on Kali, so I changed my shoes and then put all of my stuff in a locker.

This is such a good idea! We aren't going to AK this next trip, but I'm going to try and remember this for the future. Wet tennis shoes are my least favorite thing about theme park water rides.

So I settled on a Mickey Bar instead. Which is always delicious.

Yummy! I'm so ready to have one of these!

Looks like you had a great time at Animal Kingdom It's Tough to Be a Bug is all right, but not my favorite show. I'm glad to hear you liked Nemo though - I feel like it gets less good reviews a lot of the time, and I'm curious about it.

Create your own pasta is yummy! It's one of my favorite memories from staying at POR with my family - mom and I would always split one Eventually I'll manage to get somewhere that has some again!

Ending the day with a swim sounds wonderful! I love the pool at AOA from the pictures I've seen. Of course, it's one you're not allowed to pool hop to, so who knows when I'll get to use it, but it seems awesome! Can't wait to read more as usual!

 

[SarahDisney]

I love your Nemo pictures! I definitely agree with your assessment of the show - it's a great show, but not something that you need to see every trip.

Awesome safari pictures! I love the lion pictures ... I rare see them awake, and seeing them up and about must have been awesome!

 

[oceanmarina]

Loving your updates! Great safari pictures.



Great picture of you in front of AK! A nice dinner & an evening swim, what a great way to end your day

 

[fallonkendra]

I just finished reading your entire trip report so far! Sounds like you had a really great solo trip - that's something I think I'd love, but my boyfriend might love Disney even more than I do, so I know that would never happen...

Your Lion King shirt you wore to Animal Kingdom is adorable! I do the same thing with my outfits when I'm at Disney.

That tour at Magic Kingdom sounds really cool! We didn't have time to fit any of the tours into our recent trip, but maybe I will need to look into it for future trips.

Can't wait to see how the rest of your trip went!

 

[Saphire5742]

Sounds like a great way to end your day at Animal Kingdom!
I was thinking of skipping Kali since I don't enjoy getting soaked, but since you mentioned the lockers and the change of shoes you brought, I think I might try it after all.
So wonderful that you got a whole row to yourself for the safari ride.
Loving your photos as always

 

[PippiDancer]

This is such a good idea! We aren't going to AK this next trip, but I'm going to try and remember this for the future. Wet tennis shoes are my least favorite thing about theme park water rides.

Yummy! I'm so ready to have one of these!

Looks like you had a great time at Animal Kingdom It's Tough to Be a Bug is all right, but not my favorite show. I'm glad to hear you liked Nemo though - I feel like it gets less good reviews a lot of the time, and I'm curious about it.

Create your own pasta is yummy! It's one of my favorite memories from staying at POR with my family - mom and I would always split one Eventually I'll manage to get somewhere that has some again!

Ending the day with a swim sounds wonderful! I love the pool at AOA from the pictures I've seen. Of course, it's one you're not allowed to pool hop to, so who knows when I'll get to use it, but it seems awesome! Can't wait to read more as usual!

It was so easy for me to throw a pair of skinny flip flops in my backpack and saved the trouble of walking around with wet shoes!

Mickey Bars are amazing so much better than the regular chocolate covered vanilla ice cream bars, I have to have at least one every trip!

Make-Your-Own-Pasta is love! I'm a picky eater so it is so nice to be able to customize a meal with all of my favorite ingredients and not have to ask for anything to be left out. I had it twice this trip and twice on my last trip when I stayed at POR.

The Big Blue Pool was great! I kinda wish I had set aside more time to enjoy the pool.

I love your Nemo pictures! I definitely agree with your assessment of the show - it's a great show, but not something that you need to see every trip.

Awesome safari pictures! I love the lion pictures ... I rare see them awake, and seeing them up and about must have been awesome!

I'm glad I saw Nemo, it was a cute show. I would definitely watch it again, but I wouldn't stress about trying to fit it.

Thank you! I love taking pictures on the safari. I was so excited to see the lions awake!! It was so cool!

Loving your updates! Great safari pictures.

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Great picture of you in front of AK! A nice dinner & an evening swim, what a great way to end your day

Thank you! I really like that photopass location. It's a great place to get a picture in front of the sign and the tall grass makes a nice backdrop.

It was a very relaxing end to the day!

I just finished reading your entire trip report so far! Sounds like you had a really great solo trip - that's something I think I'd love, but my boyfriend might love Disney even more than I do, so I know that would never happen...

Your Lion King shirt you wore to Animal Kingdom is adorable! I do the same thing with my outfits when I'm at Disney.

That tour at Magic Kingdom sounds really cool! We didn't have time to fit any of the tours into our recent trip, but maybe I will need to look into it for future trips.

Can't wait to see how the rest of your trip went!

Welcome! Thanks for reading! It was a lot of fun to go on a solo trip and be able to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted without having to worry about anyone else. But I still think I would prefer to go with someone with me. Maybe you could do a solo day during a trip if you really wanted to try solo time.

I love themeing my outfits around what I am doing that day when I go to Disney. I have every day planned ahead of time.

The tour was amazing! It was such a cool experience. But it does take up a lot of time, I would definitely recommend it if you get the chance!

Sounds like a great way to end your day at Animal Kingdom!
I was thinking of skipping Kali since I don't enjoy getting soaked, but since you mentioned the lockers and the change of shoes you brought, I think I might try it after all.
So wonderful that you got a whole row to yourself for the safari ride.
Loving your photos as always

I love that they have lockers outside of Kali now! I love the water rides, but I'm always worried about my stuff getting wet.

I was surprised by how few people there were on the safari. It was really nice to have a row to myself and be able to have an unobstructed view of both sides of the safari vehicle.

 

[winnieatepooh]

I'm loving your report! I've been binge-reading solo trip reports to prepare for my first one

 

[PippiDancer]

I'm loving your report! I've been binge-reading solo trip reports to prepare for my first one

Thank you for joining along! I did the exact same thing before I went on my trip. I never would have had the guts to go on a solo trip, or even have thought of going on my own, if it hadn't been for hearing about other people's solo trips on DIS. I'm sure you're going to have an amazing trip!

 

[PippiDancer]

Hi, everyone! Exactly a year ago from this very moment I was arriving in Orlando and about to start my amazing solo trip!! I'm on school break right now and I so wish I was spending the week in Disney World. I am definitely having withdrawal symptoms. But, I'm 95% sure that I will be going to Disney this week next year! I am definitely going some time next year, most likely with my parents this time, but right now it is a question of when because my parents might not be able to take off the week of April break and as a teacher my options of travel dates is very limited. But if worse comes to worse and my parents can't go I will just go on another solo trip. I'll probably start a PTR this summer once I have a better idea of what's going on. But I am determined to finish this TR before I start that.

And that brings me to the real reason for this mini real life update.

There will probably be a delay in updates for a little while. I just updated my laptop's operating system and now I'm having a bunch of issues with it. Mainly, it won't let me copy and paste pictures from Photos to a word document like I usually do when writing updates. And I tried just copying the pictures directly into DIS and that isn't working either. I have about a fourth of an update done and I've tried to finish it several times, but I just can't get this photo thing to work. I was planning on getting a bunch of updates written over break, but this technology issue threw a wrench in that plan. I am going to try to get the problem solved as soon as possible, but until then I won't be able to do any updates.

I am really sorry, but I hope you guys will wait it out. I really, truly appreciate every single one of you that follow along and help me relive the Disney magic!

 

[KathyM2]

Great TR!! Thanks for sharing!!! Good luck planning your next trip!!