Orlando 2018–Day 5

Oh. My. Goodness.

(Have I started each post of this vacay with those same words??)

I cannot believe I’m typing this after a day of Volcano Bay, then a day of Vero Beach, then a day of Magic Kingdom, but...we weren’t completely dead yet, so we tackled another park today!

Animal Kingdom, we survived you.

Now.

Here’s how it went.

A lazy morning to wake and recover a bit. Then lots o’ indecision (should we pull the trigger?; should we not?; what else would we do instead?; do we wanna pay that much?), until, finally, we just ripped off the bandage and logged online and bought the tickets.

No turning back.

Now this is about when we tried to wing it, but I started scrambling on my app for any possible day-of Fast Passes and a rough plan through the park.

And it didn’t work so well (I firmly believe you can’t really “wing” Disney—especially with tiny tots), so the first couple of hours were a bit rough, with us wandering around, probably individually think we shoulda left well enough alone with the three fantastic days we’d already completed.

But. 

We ate (it took awhile), we rallied, and right around the time Chica and I went on our first Fast Pass (no other brave souls wanted to tag along) things started to pick up.

So here’s where the fun begins!

And by “fun,” I mean my enthusiastic eldest was gung-ho about riding this quite intimidating roller coaster I somehow, miraculously (since it averaged a 70-minute wait time), managed to snag Fast Passes for. 

Here’s the behemoth, though you can’t see particulars of how it zooms through that mountain and down the side:

I mean, she was giddy thrilled about it, despite Mama quaking in her boots, and trying, repeatedly, to warn her away from it, ha.



Of course, hearing about the 80-foot drop, the terrifying dips and turns in a pitch black cave, and going backwards didn’t faze her. And I think she could have handled them in reality—until the part, halfway through, when a yeti (part of the ride’s theme) scared the living piss out of everyone (and our screams could be heard ‘round the park), and my poor baby started sobbing.

I can’t tell you the combo of pity and humor and terror and gut-drops, and oh-my-goodness-I’m-never-gonna-survive-but-I’ll-damn-well-make-sure-my-child-does moments we weathered. But this picture is worth a thousand words, and even though I shouldn’t love it, I totally do, ha:



The whole thing was a total riot and terror riot, and I was literally shaking as I got off the ride whilst holding my recovering, crying kiddo, haha.

But I’m ridiculously happy to report that Chica wasn’t overly scarred for life, and she totally livened up when we bought a souvenir. And by the time we met up with everybody else, she was smiling and saying she’d been scared, but the ride was good. ;) Definitely a memory I’ll keepsies.

Next up was the other Fast Pass I managed—a 40-minute, Finding Nemo musical that Chicklet, in particular really loved. And, man, was it nice to sit in an air-conditioned theater.

After that, we were back to our aimlessness again, and headed to a few areas to try to see some animals, but ran short on time for our Rainforest Cafe reservation we snagged near the park’s entrance. So we took a few pics, found some more furry souvenir friends (of course, we didn’t have anouhh already—oye!), and just meandered toward the food.

Trouble, trouble, and trouble:

In the end, an early dinner in a super-coolio environment was the way to go. For sure. Two of the kiddos have been to this restaurant (another location), but I always forget what fun it is. Chicklet, in particular, was lively in her enthusiasm and commentary, which made my heart happy.

My goofballs. :)







We might not have enough room for all our souvenir loot in our suitcases, but dang was it fun to just be irresponsible and say yes to a few things, when we so often go with a no. Spoiled kiddos, this round, I tell ya.

So after dinner, it was later than we expected, and we were close to just calling it a day. But the hubby said—hey, I know we can’t make it on either of the rides (the wait time on one was about 3.5 hours!), but why don’t we wander over to the new Pandora island (you know, from Avatar) just to take a look.

So we did.

And holy bejeezes is it amazeballs.











These pictures don’t even do justice to the size of the area and how dang cool it is. I mean, a true feat of planning and engineering, and I can’t even imagine the cost!

And, holy cow, it felt even more magical because we were there during that otherworldly dusk-lighting, golden timeframe. 

It really was cool, and it almost made me anxious to be there knowing we’d almost missed the chance to see it.

Did I mention we took a billion gazillion photos in Pandora, hehe. It was impossible to resist!













I mean, we didn’t even do anything in this section but wander around, and it was still my favorite. And due to wider avenues, and larger-than-life rock formations, it felt much less crowded and congested than the rest of the park.

And it was a great way to cap things off by stopping to watch a mostly drum-based lively little performance going on, that involved audience participation. The girlies dug it, and so did I (poor Little Man was wilting as he’s come down with some congestion just today and by this time, he was about done for).







Leaving after Pandora and then stopping at the exit for mouse ears (a must!) felt like capping things off on a high note. Everybody was tired, but still smiling, and it officially felt like the right thing to do to tack this park onto our already successful trip.

If we managed to enjoy this park without being able to participate in a few of the things it’s really known for (the animal safari—no Fast Passes; lines way too long; the Pandora rides—also no Fast Passes and impossibly long lines), I cannot imagine what fun it could be with the proper advanced planning and luck of scheduling.

So...something to achieve on the next trip.

But perhaps not for a few more years, to let the kiddos grow and reach new height and ride requirements for a whole different Disney experience.

Should we be so blessed.

;)

Until then...