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I was up early and spent an hour or
so in the lobby of our building wrapping presents. They have a couple
tables with chairs on the first floor that worked out great. Grabbed
a drink in my GF mug and enjoyed a bit of quiet time before the hectic day
began.
Went upstairs when it was time to get ready and we all caught the bus
to Animal Kingdom. The ride TO the Animal Kingdom from GF was great.
Since it was early entry, there was no stop at Blizzard Beach and the GF
is the last stop before going to AK, so it only took about 15 minutes to
get there. There were a TON of people waiting to get in. This
was the busiest morning we ran into the whole trip. Once they let us
in, everyone headed straight for Africa. I sent the girls to Dinoland
while I followed the crowd to Africa to get some safari Fastpasses.
While everyone else waited in that line, I joined the girls back in Dinoland
and walked on Triceratops Spin, Primeval Whirl and then in to the Bug's Life
movie in the Tree of Life. Both Brinn and Maddy won little stuffed
Dinos since there were no crowds and they only require two players for a
game. Maddy won against Grandma, and Brinn won against Mommy in the
'roll the ball' race game. :-) $2 a player, so $4 for each toy.
Not bad by Disney standards. :-)
I know many people don't like the 'roadside' atmosphere of the new section
in Animal Kingdom, but we really like the rides for the kids and
they enjoy the few games that are there. I think Disney did a great
job recreating that 'tacky' feel right down to the pavement, old cars and
even the tacky Christmas decorations that were put up.
As we wound through the line for Its Tough to be a Bug, we all marvelled
at the amazing carvings. Grandma was quite taken with this amazing
park icon, and we spent a few minutes just enjoying all the detail.
The kids still freak out during the 3D movie, so spend most of it
with the glasses off. I think they did a great job putting it together,
right down to all the special effects in the theatre.
It was now time for our Safari Fast Pass, so we headed back to Africa.
Right to the head of the line with FP (the standby line was quite long)
and wasted no time waiting. Early Entry and FP a lifesaver this trip.
By early afternoon the parks are MOBBED. Thank goodness for all those
late risers! :-) Anyway, back to our Safari. It was the
best one we have ever been on. Since it was not hot, all the animals
were awake and moving around. Even the lions gave a good show!
It was still early enough that many were out eating near the safari trail.
Very enjoyable ride! Grandma really enjoyed it, but could have done
without the 'chase' at the end. A bit too much bouncing. :-)
After walking the Pangori Trail, we walked over for an early lunch at
Pizzafari (no more AP discount) but those kids meal tickets are a great deal.
For the same price as the kid's meal you also get a popcorn or water ticket
and a coupon for ice cream. Not bad! The pizza was good and
after finishing up we then headed into Camp Mickey Minnie. There were
a TON of characters here. In the four covered areas we found Mickey,
Minnie, Daisy and Goofy decked out in their Holiday clothes. We also
found the mouse from Cinderella (Perla?), Terk, Meeko, Donald and later saw
Rafiki and Baloo. Whew! Lots of pictures, but we passed on the
autographs this trip. Makes it faster and Maddy was into lots of hugs
this trip, so she got a few more character minutes that way. :-)
We got in line for the Festival of the Lion King, and while crowded,
we had a great show. This is a family favorite, and Grandma was very
impressed with how good the show was as well. We followed the huge
exit crowd as far as an Ice Cream stand and then used the girls lunch coupons
to grab them each a treat. (Mommy, Daddy and Grandma grabbed a treat
too. I had the ice cream sandwich between two chocolate chip cookies.
YUM! Everyone else had a Mickey bar and loved those as well)
After the early morning, everyone was getting tired, and the park was
getting packed. We decided to head back, and caught our bus after running
into a couple more characters outside the park including Pluto with a bit
of Christmas decoration on his collar. Cute. The bus was packed
(standing room only) and we paid for that quick trip to the park. Had
to stop at Blizzard Beach after the AK, and then also stopped at Wilderness
Lodge before the GF (That was new. The Wilderness Lodge used to share
this trip with Fort Wilderness). The AK busses always make me wish
I had driven! :-)
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