Trip Log:

Started off my morning boarding a bus to the Animal Kingdom just after 8am.  Arrived at the park just before they opened the gates to reach Discovery Island.  Made my way out to the Island and watched the opening then met up with a friend to roam the park.  We strolled out to Africa and ended up going through Pangani Forest.  Walked over to Asia and continued on around the Rivers of Light Viewing area and met up with the rest of the group near Dinoland.   Continued around the lake and then back to Asia and eventually back to Africa and found a spot to visit for a while.  Decided it was lunch time so most headed to Flame Tree and I ran to Dinoland to grab something then joined them to eat.  After eating made our way to the front of the park and said our goodbyes before our friend left and we boarded a bus to the Magic Kingdom.  Enroute decided to roam around the Magic Kingdom (originally the plan was just to go catch the Monorail).  We walked up Main Street USA and some stopped at Sleepy Hollow.  Then made our way into Liberty Square, just missing the Liberty Belle.  So we continued on to Frontierland and stopped by Grizzly Hall for a show.  When we exited Festival of Fantasy was just about to begin so we watched the parade then went over to the Liberty Belle for a cruise on the Rivers of America.  Once back a shore decided to do a couple Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom stops and pick up some cards.  Decided to go for the Grand Circle Tour on the Walt Disney World Railroad.   Then boarded the Ferry Boat for the Transportation and Ticket Center.  We then transferred to the Epcot Monorail.  At Epcot stopped by the Electric Umbrella for something to eat then roamed around Future World.  Had about an hour until Illuminations so decided to do a lap of World Showcase starting with Mexico.  Made it around to the International Gateway and had about 10 minutes until showtime so had to pick up the pace and skip some topiaries.  Checked in for FastPass+ viewing of Illuminations.  After the show joined the masses heading for the bus stops.  Eventually made it back to Pop Century to call it a night.

Thoughts & Observations:

• This morning felt more like a Southern California day than Orlando.  The temps were in the low 70s and no humidity.  It was a great day to tour the Animal Kingdom.    I arrived at the park 20 minutes before opening and was able to see the opening moment on Discovery Island.  The birds from the Winged Encounter show open the park.  I saw this the other day but today I was able to find a better spot.  
• I had no real agenda this morning so I circled the park visiting with a friend and just enjoying the nice weather.  We walked most of the park as well as the animal trails.  As the morning went on the crowd continued to grow at the park, seems others had the same idea to visit the on a cool day.
• After lunch headed over to the Magic Kingdom.  The crowd here seemed moderate too.
• Caught the Festival of Fantasy from Frontierland since we found some shade there and the audio was not as loud/distorted as that in the hub area the other day. 
• Made our way to Epcot for the evening.   Took the ferry boat across the Seven Seas Lagoon.  They had three boats in operation utilizing the four docks.  This worked well to keep the crowds moving and no boat had to wait.
• Stopped by Canada to catch the new group performing on the Mill Stage, Alberta Bound.   I thought they were entertaining.   The performance seemed a little rigid to me, they were trying to have fun but it just did not come across as natural.  Also I thought they could have picked a better set list to highlight their lead vocalist.  Many of the songs did not seem to be in her wheelhouse. 
• I spent a majority of my evening just roaming around looking at the Flower and Garden displays and enjoying the pleasant evening. 
• Decided to grab a quick bite to eat at the Electric Umbrella and they could not figure out how to do an order of nuggets without fries.  The cast member said it worked last week but not tonight.  A lead came out and they could not get it to work either.  So they rang it up as something else.  In the end I think I overpaid slightly but I wanted to get going so moved on.
• This evening used a FastPass+ for Illuminations.  First viewing of the trip coming on the second to last night thanks to the rain earlier this week and then me wanting to catch the Star Wars show and the Main Street Electrical Parade.
• After Illuminations joined the large crowd exiting the park.  Of course two ECVs showed up just as the bus did and they took a very long time to load.  There were not additional cast members to help the driver and they did not bring a second bus so the line for Pop Century grew extremely quickly and they were well behind with buses.
  
  

Pedometer Information for the day:

	Part I: Disney's Animal Kingdom A morning walk around the park including Pandora the World of Avatar & Rivers of Light Construction checks. 3 Images Per Page Our traditional format with medium size images and you can click to enlarge 1 Large Image Per Page A large image and you can navigate using buttons on the screen or your arrow keys Mobile Device Friendly One image per page and you can swipe
	Part II: Magic Kingdom A couple of hours at the Magic Kingdom including the Country Bears, Festival of Fantasy and Liberty Belle Cruise. 3 Images Per Page Our traditional format with medium size images and you can click to enlarge 1 Large Image Per Page A large image and you can navigate using buttons on the screen or your arrow keys Mobile Device Friendly One image per page and you can swipe
	Part III: Epcot Monorail trip to Epcot then an evening stroll around Future World and World Showcase before Illuminations. 3 Images Per Page Our traditional format with medium size images and you can click to enlarge 1 Large Image Per Page A large image and you can navigate using buttons on the screen or your arrow keys Mobile Device Friendly One image per page and you can swipe