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- At the Boardwalk Resort the bus arrival time display was black this morning. The app had some times and they were fairly close.
- From the bus you get a good view of the Disney Skyliner turn station located at the edge of the Boardwalk parking lot.
- Work along the roadway.
- The former Disney Hollywood Studios entrance is now for cast members only. All signage is removed.
- Some work going on in the area across World Drive from the studios. This was where they moving dirt around during the Star Wars work. Would be helpful if they moved the fireworks launch area this direction to recenter them with Hollywood Blvd.
- The temperatures are cool today so some extra sweatshirts are for sale as you walk toward the park.
- Today the Animal Kingdom will close early due to a private event, found out it was for Pop Warner Football.
- Arrived at the park around 9:30am.
- Pandora closes even earlier at 6pm.
- The Tree of Life
- Tried to get into position to get a picture of Winged Encounters (which by the way is not listed on the times guide) but the finale happened too quickly.
- A slow motion video attempt at the finale. Again not really prepared or in the right spot.
- A small line for coffee on the way to Pandora.
- We still had some time until our FastPass+ time for the River Journey so here are some random pictures as I walked around.
- A couple pictures from my cruise.
- Caught the end of the Utility Suit encounter.
- The line for Flight of Passage was stretching outside the valley but not as far as previous visits.
- In Harambe benches blocked this area and it was being used as a waiting area for Tusker House diners.
- Some Christmas decorations in the village.
- Speaking of dining the Disney World App had a push notification trying to sell Tiffins.
- The Planet Watch is currently closed but still on the signage with no indications of the closure. (It is in the times guide though).
- The entrance for the train is being used for the Wilderness Explorers program.
- Had some time until my Safari FastPass+ so walked through Gorilla Falls. No signs of life here.. guess the cold has kept them inside.
- Meerkats were out enjoying the sun.
- No gorillas were out. The cast members said to try back later when it warmed up. Wish they would warn you before you hike through.
- Just before 11am an an 85 min wait for the Safari posted.
- The FastPass+ return was backed up too.
- The crowd shuffled along.
- The FastPass+ return kept moving. Standby was not going anywhere.
- Took only about 10 minutes for the FastPass+ return. Bongos hanging out in the forest.
- A cast member standing on the overlook where the black rhino usually is. Not sure what they were watching.
- A couple of hippo out sunning themselves.
- On the savanna a couple young giraffes. One the driver said was out for its second day only.
- Notice the young one in the middle of the frame.
- Another young giraffe under the trees.
- A closer look.
- Assuming baby and mother.
- Not a lot of activity this morning, most were just sitting around.
- Driving through elephant country.
- A cheetah on the hill.
- A cheetah on the move.
- A water buck
- The warthog was scooting along on his front knees.
- White rhino on the hill.
- A male silverback gorilla was out as we exited.
- Passing by the Tree of Life
- Made our way to see Up! A Great Bird Adventure where they are celebrating Diwali still.
- Stone statues of Russel and Dug out front of the theater.
- Across from the theater a new stage area is set up. I saw no indications of performance times and the could times I walked by it was not in use.
- The stage area is decorated for the festival.
- Our host for the show.
- The show felt slightly better than the version I saw in May but it fell way short of the original Flights of Wonder show.
- Frasier Crane flying to the stage.
- Hope the bald eagle.
- Gibbons on the move.
- Next up paid a visit to the Jungle Trek.
- The bat area was closed today.
- No sign of the cubs. One side had the mother the other the father. Cast members said the cubs are too big to be out with their mother now so they split time.
- Another tiger behind the plants.
- Walking through the aviary.
- The seating area for Drinkwallah has been expanded since my last visit.
- The view.
- The Rivers of Light viewing area is open during the day to sit and relax.
- A good crowd in the walkway near Expedition Everest.
- A fair number of guests taking advantage of the seating space.
- Not a long standby, only 25 minutes.
- Cast Members had the walkway blocked off, so you had to walk through Dinoland.
- Goofy out for a stroll.
- Goofy has a meet and greet by Primeval Whirl.
- Dinoland is celebrating Donald's Dino-Bash!
- Speaking of Donald.. he is he for pictures.
- Donald Duck meeting at Donald's Dino-Bash!
- There is a lounge set up in one of the restaurantosaurus dining rooms. A sign guiding you there.
- Scrooge McDuck has a meet and greet as part of the bash. Here are some of his collections.
- The duck himself.. Scrooge McDuck.
- Launchpad McQuack is on hand to meet guests too.
- Throughout the land are some Did You Know factoids.
- Daisy designed the costumes everyone is wearing for the bash.
- A closer look at the decorations.
- Daisy Duck meeting guests.
- Speaking of the lounge, here is the entrance.
- Mickey and Minnie are meeting on the river dock, not the Chracter Outpost today.
- This was interesting. The area was roped off with cast members around. No signs of what was going on.
- We had a late lunch at Yak & Yeti. A couple pictures from our table.
- No indications of why the Adventurers Outpost was not in use today. Cast Members were directing guests to the alternative location.
- Since I walked through here 90 minutes ago a wall has gone up.
- Well was in the process of going up.
- From near Flame Tree
- You could see teams were installing the construction walls.
- Found this sign interesting.. it points to a counter only a couple feet away.
- Here is the Ticket Corner.
- The Animal Kingdom Christmas tree as I was leaving the park.
- Flags at half staff for President Bush.
- Spotted our bus boarding... the driver actually waited for us to walk there.
- An advertisement for the Ralph Breaks VR at Disney Springs onboard the bus.
- Passing by Coronado Springs where the Gran Destino Tower is racing toward its summer opening.
- After a quick stop at the Boardwalk to meet a friend and change clothes for the evening we were back on a bus. Passing some work near the entrance to Epcot.
- Spotted some near near the Monorail beams.
- Arrived at the Magic Kingdom just after 5pm.
- The Walt Disney World Railroad is closed for for the next several months (maybe years) due to the TRON construction. There is a train parked in the Main Street Station for pictures though.
- Much like the trains were at Disneyland you can walk right up to this one and get some pictures.
- Looking up Main Street USA as the sun set.
- From ground level.
- The tree was not lit yet but cast members were gathering for the lighting moment.
- This turned out to be one of the most disappointing tree lightings I had seen. The cast members all started a count down and at the end the lights came on. I did not even have time to start my video and it was over. It makes the one minute recordings at Disneyland seem long.
- Cinderella Castle this evening.
- The walls are all down and the Club 33 location is open (well open for members not the rest of us).
- The only marking I saw indicating Club 33 at the door a scanner.
- Had a FastPass+ for the Jingle Cruise so headed that way first.
- Stand-by was a very long 85 minutes. FastPass return was backed up but it moved quickly taking just over 10 minutes.
- Some sights from the Jingle Cruise
- Next we made our way toward Tomorrowland...
- But then backtracked since the A Frozen Holiday Wish was about to start.
- The show is the same as the last several years. No major changes jumped out to me.
- After the show continued on to Tomorrowland and used a FastPass+ for Buzz Lightyear.
- My score was not that good.. my partner kept moving the spacecraft!
- Next up a ride aboard the PeopleMover. It had a 5 minute wait or so.
- Tickets on sale for tomorrow's Christmas party.
- Stopped by the Christmas shop in Liberty Square
- Passing by Cinderella Castle
- Surprised these signs are not lit.. it was rather dark.. guess its for guests during the day to see.
- The Cosmic Rays seating area that was being renovated my last visit is all done.
- The single design of shirt for both coasts still bothers me.
- Since we had visited a trio of attractions and had nothing else on our to do list this evening decided to find a spot for Happily Ever After about 40 minutes prior to show time.
- Some pictures from Happily Ever After
- After the show the Boardwalk bus was backed up so we hopped onto the Swan/Dolphin one next to it and walked through there.
- The chocolate display in the Swan Hotel.
- To close out the evening a look out of our room just before 11pm.