Monday - May 1, 2017
We wake up early again...like, 6:15 am early (which feels like 3:15 to me - sobbing) because we ordered room service for 6:30...like fancy people do. A knock at the door came promptly at 6:30 am and they wheeled in a cart for us - what an indulgence to eat breakfast sitting on our beds! The continental breakfast ended up being the perfect size for the two of us: I got the OJ, we split the carafe of coffee (there was plenty), and there were assorted breads and pastries - I think we each got 2 pieces - which is actually more than I usually have for breakfast. Also, we totally jacked the little bottles of jams. Because they're awesome. And because we're cheap. But they're so cute! This was just enough sustenance to get us started on the day without feeling gross and sluggish. And while it wasn't super cheap, it actually cost the same as we probably would've spent at Starbucks buying 2 coffees (let's face it, it'd be lattes or something) and pastries (plural) for ourselves - and we got to eat while getting ready and still wearing PJ's. Win! Room service was a fantastic way to start the day. I wish I could have room service every day! This is also the day we adopted our official Disney Parks Hairstyle: the pigtails. We both had hats (because we're Asian, which means 1) we're deathly afraid of sunburn and 2) we have black hair, and left in the sun too long with a bare head means our heads feel like a lake of boiling lava) and we couldn't wear our hats AND get our hair off of our necks. Enter, the pigtail. You divide your hair in half into low pigtails, so voila! Your hair isn't scrunched on your head (in a pony tail or with a clip) so your hat actually fits, and your hair is also off your neck for the win! So yes, we were two middle aged Asian women rocking pigtails for the week, but it's not like anyone knew us. Also, I was comfortable, so I just didn't care that much.
We pack up all of our things because we we were moving hotels - to Beach Club! EMH at Animal Kingdom (AK) start at 8:00 am, and we wanted to get there by 7:30 so we weren't in the back of the line, so we bundled up our stuff, checked out on the TV, called the valet for our car (which is kind of a pain, but it's first world problems) and drove directly to Animal Kingdom. They scanned our Magic Bands to ascertain we were guests of the resort (for free parking) and in we went! Because WDW is full of money grubbing greediness. they've now blocked off the best parking as "deluxe parking" and charge double for it. Nope, we were going to park far away and take the stinking free tram. That's how we roll.
We joined the crowds at the turnstiles and not long after that we shuffled in, being held behind the Tree of Life. We already had FP for the Kilimajaro Safaris, Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids, but I wanted to rope drop the Safari since I read the animals were more active first thing in the morning as a lot of them are nocturnal. That was actually a smart choice since on our second ride through at 2 pm we saw a lot less animals than we did early in the morning.
I don't have a million photos of the safari since I took 2 million last time, but I did snap some of this guy:
He started following us! He literally got within 5 feet of us. Not just the truck. US. It was so cool. Unless giraffes are somehow undercover dangerous, then it wasn't cool at all. But this is such a unique thing to have at a theme park!
After the Safari we head over to Expedition Everest, but we stroll through Africa to get to Asia. I made us stop to get a picture with African Mickey, one of my favorite little Disney details in AK.
Then we went and rode on Expedition Everest (twice...because no lines!) and then headed over to Dinosaur. Dinosaur is just Indiana Jones...without Indiana Jones. It's literally the Indy ride set in weird dino land. I don't know why they didn't just build an Indiana Jones ride, I honestly think it would fit into the theme of Animal Kingdom. I mean, there's Asia and Africa - wouldn't a hidden temple in one of those places with an Indy ride be awesome? Instead there's the loser land known as Dino Land USA. AKA Loser Land. I don't know what such an ugly land is doing in a park as gorgeous and well themed as AK. It's like they ran out of money and just literally put some carnival rides in a parking lot and decided "tada! It's a land now!" Oy vey.
But Expedition Everest, one of my favorite rides. Aside from the thrill factor, it's amazingly themed and the details are gorgeous. And it's the closest I'll ever come to climbing any mountain.
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| I don't know where the hell I'm looking, but I look kinda drunk. |
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| There's a crazy big ugly dinosaur that roars when this photo is taken, that's why everyone is looking in the same direction. |
After Dinosaur we went on Primeval Whirl, which is just a mouse coaster fancied up with dinosaur poster boards, then we walked around a bit to take photos of the place because it is, in my humble opinion, the most beautiful of the Disney parks (caveat: haven't done Tokyo DisneySea yet, and from what I understand, that park is amazing).
In our travels looping around the park, we'd randomly head over to see if Pandora was having any soft openings. They were, but only for cast members (sob!). So all I got was this lousy ass photo of the open door. Where you couldn't see anything anyway because it just leads to the bridge to Pandora.
We hit up Creature Comforts (Starbucks) for some caffeinated sustenance and laze around Pizzafari's seating area to unwind for a few minutes - then with our icy delicious crack on hand we head over for Flight of Wonder. It's a super cute bird show, and well worth the time. Then we use our first FP - on Kali River Rapids. Fortunately it was a pretty hot day, so getting wet wasn't horrible - but we'd thought ahead and both wore quick dry clothing to the parks, so I was almost fully dry within 30 minutes anyway. It's fun, and it's cute...but the logging theme...eh. It wasn't as well themed as Grizzly River Run in DCA, and in my opinion it's not a must do even if it's fun. While still a little damp, we made a beeline to use our FP for Expedition Everest (again) and then ran to catch Finding Nemo - The Musical. WELL WORTH IT. You know how I thought HS's shows were horribly disappointing? The shows at AK were incredible! The theaters are nice, the production values are high, and they're super fun and entertaining! We both loved the Finding Nemo musical. Even though the lines are long, the theater (indoors, air conditioned!) is super big and can accommodate a lot of people. It was a really fun way to spend 40 minutes, and it was as good as Aladdin @ DCA was. We had a few more things we wanted to do before we took our afternoon break, so we grabbed a Mickey Bar (an absolute necessity), watched the Festival of the Lion King (also super fun), and used our FP for the Safari (not as good as the morning, because the animal were more active earlier).
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| Mickey bars = perfection |
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| Festival of the Lion King: acrobats, dancers, singers and music = lots of fun. |
As we exited the Safari, you can see the gorilla habitat. We happened to walk by an watch the gorilla taking a pee into the pretty waterfall. Hmm...
At this point we were ready for real food, and I wanted to try to check into our rooms at Beach Club, so we took the tram back out to our car and drove to Beach Club. The room wasn't quite ready yet (I got a text that it was ready like, 15 minutes after checking in), so I dragged JK to the Crew's Cup Lounge at the Yacht Club (it's connected to the Beach Club for those who don't know) and we split one of their delicious lobster rolls and truffle fries. We actually got super lucky. I knew the DVC villas were painted a different color from the Beach Club hotel building, so when we drove into the Beach Club, we located the Villa side and parked our car there (and there it remained untouched for 3 days) and ended up super close to our room! Once we finished our food (soooo good. I'm actually kinda sad we didn't get a chance to go back for another meal, which is why we should stay there longer next time) we grabbed our luggage from the car and took in our new room. It's so pretty! I know they just refurb'd the villas, and I liked the new color palette and cool beachy style.
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| the little kitchenette area. That fridge and microwave were so handy. This is before we put our bags and bags of snacks here |
I think this room would be too small for a family of 5 (yes, it sleeps 5. Technically. It's a queen bed, an almost queen sofa bed, and a twin size bed folds down from the cabinet under the TV where the table and chairs are), but for the two of us (and we had the couched folded down into a bed the whole time), it was roomy and comfortable. I think we could do three - but with the beds folded down all the time it might be a bit tight. I got the bed because JK is super nice. She said the sofabed was super comfortable because they use the same comfy mattresses that the nice Marriotts use. While it didn't smell like rich people, the Beach Club was comfortable and homey, and it ended up being both of our favorites of the three hotels we stayed at. All of them were nice, but we LOVED the Beach Club.
We didn't have a balcony because we were on the first floor, and we had no view to speak of. I mean, there were bushes, and beyond the bushes through the holes in the foliage we could see the Epcot road and cars, but we didn't care.
We wiped ourselves down because we were both kinda dirty and sweaty so we cleaned up a bit (yay for Dude Wipes!) since we didn't want to get our nice clean beds all gross (I even changed into my "room clothes" because my "park clothes" had dirty AK water ride germs on them) and we hooked up the roku and watched Blackish, only one of the best shows ever.
It was a super nice break - we unpacked, we ate, we settled into our room, and we relaxed. But we also had a 6:10 pm dinner reservation at Tiffins as a part of the Rivers of Light dining package. We wanted to see the show, but we didn't want to use a FP for it or stand in line for two hours hoping to get in on stand by, so the day the dining package came out, I booked it. And it's worth it. It's pricey, but since we literally ordered the most expensive appetizer and entree (fortunately they were the ones we actually wanted to eat) and with a drink and dessert, we more than got our money's worth. AND FP's on top of it!
So we put on our muumuus, I rebraided my pigtails, and off we went on the resort bus. I've heard nightmares about the resort buses, but we only had good experiences. We never had a long wait, and as we went when there weren't huge crowds, we always got a seat.
Tiffins is gorgeous - it has all the concept art and inspiration the Imagineers collected in their travels while designing Animal Kingdom - and it's like a museum. They encourage you to go from room to room to view all the artifacts and mock ups and sketches they have displayed. It's a very warm and comfortable environment, but the food is seriously fine dining quality.
We both started with the grilled octopus in some kind of saffron aioli that was freaking delicious. Octopus can be rubbery, but these were perfectly prepared - tender, with the perfect hit of acid to contrast against the rich aoli.
We also both opted for the Wagyu strip loin and braised short rib that came with potatoes and rainbow carrots. Also freaking delicious. The meat was tender and flavorful and they weren't chintzy with the amount either. These were good solid portions of food.
We ended with the lime cheesecake and the calamansi mousse (to the right). I ended up eating more of the cheesecake because it was sweeter and JK ended up going for the calamansi mousse becuase she likes tart, so it was actually perfect.
And they gave us a light up popcorn bucket :)
We had managed to book another FP for Expedition Everest, which I had read you NEED to ride in the dark to get the full effect (and it IS awesome in the dark) and we actually did one of the nature walks before our FP window began. Once we finished Expedition Everest, it was time to find our seats for Rivers of Light.
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| the floats for RoL ready to go |
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| looking towards the seating area for Rivers of Light |
We found our seats and settled in. There was about a half hour wait until the show began, but we ended getting a pretty nice view and with the magic of smart phones, time passed quickly.
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| view from our seats |
Then the show started. I agree with most of the reviews - it starts with a bang, then it kind of peters away - but I think like World of Color, because it's projected onto water screens, this is a show that can be adjusted and it will eventually find its groove. For what it is (it's nighttime entertainment, it's not life changing), it's fun, entertaining, and has some cool effects. It is sad that they couldn't pull off all they promised, but the original plan was crazy ambitious. I do think it's worth watching, and I did enjoy it. The only issue is there isn't enough cohesiveness to pull it all together - it seems like a bunch of cool animal scenes with pyrotechnics cobbled together. But like I said, entertaining, not life changing. It doesn't have the emotional pull of some other nighttime shows yet, but I think with some tweaking, they could get there.
The crowds then disbursed and we shuffled our way out of the park.
We didn't have to wait long for a bus to Beach Club - and soon we were headed back to our room. While walking to our room, we admired our hotel for a bit because it's pretty :)
And after our long day, we shower, watch some Blackish (we basically watched that whenever we were in our room) and crashed. We were headed to Magic Kingdom the next day, in what would end up being the longest and most tiring day of our whole trip.
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