One of them got out an mp3 player with a portable speaker and played some sort of recorded fanfare while announcing our presence to the rest of the lobby. We were told that our package (we had requested a standard room in Magnolia Bend) was being upgraded to a Royal Room for free. After getting our room number, we headed to our room. It was beautiful, though not as big as the room we had the previous night in Dallas. But our little princess was thrilled with the room – no surprise there.
Only a couple of problems – One of the dresser drawer pulls was missing (later found inside the drawer; I tried to re-attach it but couldn’t,) and once I had opened the cabinet that contains the mini-fridge, it would not stay closed. Minor problems – we could live with them. After a brief rest, we went to the Riverside Mill food court for a late lunch. It was crazy busy. The kids and I wanted pizza, and the pizza line was long and slow. When it was finally my turn, I was told it would be nine minutes. I asked the cashier if I can pay for it ahead, along with the resort mugs and desserts I had picked out. She said no problem and rung me up. I made my first purchase with my magic band. After filling our mugs, I went back to wait on the pizza, which didn’t take too much longer. I had heard Disney pizza was bad, but I didn’t have a problem with it. It’s not the best I’ve ever had, but it’s pretty good. Jordan ate his Snickers bar, and Jacqueline absolutely loved her Anna & Elsa krispy treat. My health-conscious wife skipped dessert.
Around 3:30 we arrived at Animal Kingdom. I was pleasantly surprised at how polite and chatty the bag check CM was. Not what I am used to at our local Six Flags. He mentioned that we were just in time to catch Kilimanjaro Safaris before it closed for the day. We headed straight there. It seemed a lot of people were heading right at us, toward the exit. However, the park was still pretty crowded. There was a really good African band playing on a stage in the main corridor of the Africa section. I have since learned that this area is called Harambe.
When we got to KS, there was quite a long standby wait, but the line did not extend outside the main entrance to the ride. However, the queue inside was a great deal longer than I expected. When we finally got on a truck, the driver introduced herself as Hunter and said that we had the pleasure of being her last group before she left Disney. We saw quite a few animals, including elephants, giraffes, and even a pair of lions.
We also learned about termite mounds that appear in the wild. When the ride came to an end, Hunter got choked up as she bid us a fond farewell. Later in our visit, another CM told us she was probably a temporary intern.
Next, we headed for Expedition Everest. I had a fastpass, but it had expired. The standby line was an hour. The kids decided they wanted to wait with me. Julie chose to go do some walking around instead. I was a little surprised that Jacqueline was tall enough to ride. Expedition Everest turned out to be quite well worth the wait. Genuine thrills, helped along by the visuals such as the Yeti shadow. The kids enjoyed it too.
I expected we would be ready to go back to the resort next, but Julie texted me and told me I HAD to bring the kids to Dinoland. I had no idea it was an old-style carnival themed area. We all rode the Triceratop Spin. Tame, but diverting enough for the kids. Goofy was there dressed as Santa and doing meet & greet, but the line was kind of long. Jacqueline wanted to ride Primeval Whirl, but Jordan elected to stay with mom. PW was, basically, confusing. The girl did not enjoy it that much either. After that, it was time to catch a bus. Our original plan was to go to Downtown Disney that night for supper, but it was already late. We just ate at the food court again. Julie finished eating first and went back to the room. While the rest of us continued to eat, we were treated (ugh) to the Riverside Mill Welcome Song, a lightweight and, to me, thoroughly irritating song sung to the tune of that well-known Negro spiritual “Down By the Riverside.” I was so relieved when it was over. At least the place wasn’t quite as crowded as it had been at lunch.
Our two very tired kids went right to sleep that night. Good thing, because the next day would start very early.
