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Trip Log:
Started off my morning heading to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We were at the bus stop around 8am and in the park by 8:30am. Walked out to Kilimanjaro Safari which had a posted 10 minute wait which was accurate (took us 9 minutes). After my Safari walked through Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail then caught a train to Conservation Station. Returned and walked over to Asia for Feather Friends in Flight at 10:30am. Crossed back to Discovery Island and then into Dinoland USA and wandered around a bit before heading in for the 11:30 Finding Nemo show. Retraced our steps to Asia and checked in for Yak and Yeti. We waited about 20 minutes for a table on the second floor. After lunch decided to leave Animal Kingdom and take a bus to the Magic Kingdom. Stopped to see the Merry Menagerie on the way out. Once at the Magic Kingdom, first up a visit to Tomorrowland for the Peoplemover. Then crossed before the parade and got in line for Jingle Cruise. It was posted at 35 minutes, took us 15. We were walking by and the Country Bears were seating so walked in and sat down. Then passed back through Frontierland and Adventureland. Decided to take the ferry across the Seven Seas Lagoon and a Monorail to Epcot. Strolled through the parked and picked up a snack in France and ate in Morocco. Then stopped by to see the 7:00pm Candlelight. After the show made my way to the United Kingdom to catch the band there then to the front of the park to watch the Beacon of Magic. Walked around World Discovery and then out to World Showcase a few minute before Harmonious was to begin. Looked around and found a spot on the bridge near the International Gateway this evening. After the show walked back to the Boardwalk to call it a night.
Thoughts & Observations:
- Today we were out of the room and at the bus stop around 8am. I was expecting to find it more crowded, but the buses for both Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom had plenty of seats available. This was a change compared to the last visit where the morning buses seemed really crowded. Not sure if it was just good luck or more buses or what.
- As we walked toward the park I checked the wait times and the only really bad wait was for Flight of Passage. Everything else was under 20 minutes. We walked out to the Safari which was posted at 10 minutes. It took us 9 minutes and most of that was due to the long walk through the queue.
- We had a good safari with most animals out and visible and many moving around on this comfortable morning. Same was true when we walked through Gorilla Falls.
- When we arrived at Conservation Station the longest wait we saw was for the rest rooms. Not sure what was going on but both we out the door. It is still very odd to me the way they have the Animation Academy and you cannot use the main doors to enter the building. Unfortunately nothing was going on so it was a quick visit. I really wish they would put the schedule at the train station or in the app so you had an idea of what was planned for the day.
- Walking through Dinoland USA is rather sad. It has never been a favorite spot of mine. The carnival look does not interest me. There were guests in the area and moving around but the entire area just did not feel up to par.
- The Finding Nemo stage show has returned since my last visit. It is now a shorter show featuring a large LCD wall instead of some sets. The new show, Finding Nemo: The Big Blue… and Beyond!, follows the story of the movie but in a much more condensed format. Overall it was an entertaining show. The screen as a backdrop worked well for some scenes. I did miss the aerial components and some of the numbers seemed more scaled down than before.
- For lunch we decided to give Yak and Yeti a try. We did not have reservations and were hungry around noon, peak lunch time. I showed my Landry’s Card and talked to the cast member and they said 20 minutes only. The card has paid for itself many times over with rewards and time savings. The meal itself was good, the service was a bit slow. We had a great table overlooking the bridge to Discovery Island. Prices like everywhere are up substantially.
- Merry Menagerie is back again this year at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. This collection of puppets and performers is a fun holiday tradition.
- The bus from Animal Kingdom to the Magic Kingdom was very full. Due to the park hopping being restricted until 2pm and no buses running park to park until 1:30pm really adds to the congestion.
- The Magic Kingdom felt busy as we walked around. The wait times were on the moderate to high side but not too crazy.
- Went for a ride on the PeopleMover to take a look at the TRON construction. Of course it stopped but about 10 seconds too late for me to have a view.. instead I was looking at the dark tunnel in Space Mountain!
- The Jingle Cruise was posted at 35 minutes but sure looked shorter when we walked by. We decided to chance it and thanks to the parade the number of Lightning Lane returning guests was minimal and our wait was only 15 minutes. We had an average skipper this time around.
- We were walking through Frontierland and the Country Bear doors just opened for guests to enter the theater so we decided to walk right in and sit down. Always fun to watch the bears… but this time of year I do get frustrated that the Christmas version is long gone… hard to believe its been 17 years since the show ran, time really does fly.
- We opted to take the Ferry Boat across the Seven Seas Lagoon. It was a very full boat. It seems like they should have been using the upper level load/unload to assist but they were not so the process was slow and crowded. We found a spot on the upper level in the front with an ok view at least.
- The Monorails also were very full including the Epcot one that we took next.
- From the Monorail we were able to catch a glimpse of the new Te Fiti statue in the Journey of Water area at Epcot. The statue is large but with the scale of Epcot and distance it does not look huge.
- We grabbed a bite to eat from the bakery in France this evening and were surprised to find a relatively short and moving queue. Guess we had good timing for once. Finding a seat was still a challenge so we walked next door to Morocco. While eating there were a larger number of guests circling the area today than in past visits. Most of the marketplace and restaurant are still closed.
- Decided to give the Candlelight another try and my initial assessment still rings true. I am not a fan of the changes to the song arrangements or the narration.
Pedometer Information for the day:
| Steps |
22,898 |
| Miles |
10.7 |
| Moderate | 17,803 |
| Walking Time |
164 |
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Part 1 - Disney's Animal Kingdom
Spent the morning at Disney's Animal Kingdom featuring a Kilimanjaro Safari visit and Finding Nemo! show.
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Part 2 - Magic Kingdom
A late afternoon visit to the Magic Kingdom featuring some Peoplemover pictures and Jingle Cruise.
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Part 3 - Epcot
A look at the Epcot World Celebration and World Nature projects from the Monorail and on the ground including the newly installed Te Fiti Status in Journey of Water.
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Addition Blog Picture Posts from today:
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