Our Disney passes expire October 6, so our time to complete everything at Disney is coming to a close. With football season now upon us (yay! I still love football even if the Bucs are once again terrible), and Asa still on the normal weekends off schedule (blah), we basically just have Saturdays to complete our list. I knew this was coming, and that's why I made sure we were done with Epcot and Hollywood Studios before September. Asa was on call Labor Day weekend, so that complicated things a bit (I was not paying attention to his on call week- and had us set to finish up MK and AK on Labor Day weekend).
We actually have only been to Animal Kingdom twice on this quest. It was the very first park we hit way back on October 13th of last year. And then, on my birthday weekend we snuck in a Friday night trip to check just a few things off the list. We were only there a couple of hours and mostly to see the night time show and use some last minute Avatar Fastpasses I had scored. So, we still had 34 things to see/do/experience before we could call the Animal Kingdom complete.
I told Asa if he was willing to let me do another index card-o-fun and schedule the crap out of our day, I think we could do it in one visit. And he was game. Because, he's almost always game for whatever I come up with. He's kind of great like that. So on Saturday we got up super early (like 7 AM-blah!) and headed on out to the Animal Kingdom. Crowds had been pretty low all week thanks to Hurricane Dorian, and for a Saturday, it seemed relatively quiet.
Now some of the attractions at the Animal Kingdom can be tough to spot. They have a couple of 'roaming' characters on the list, and animals- which may or may not be visible. So I knew I could do my best to plan our day, but it just might not be possible to 100 percent the Animal Kingdom.
Luckily, when we first got into the park we spotted
#40 DeVine
Can you see her there? It's a 'costumed character' that looks like a vine. DeVine is very tall (stilts must be involved) and very camouflage. But she's hanging onto the light post here, and if you look really closely you can even see her green face just above my sunglasses.
Up next I told Asa we should swing by the Otter Grotto to try and spot the otters. We've tried to see them both times we had been to the animal kingdom on our quest and been unsuccessful both times.
However, this time we could check
#41 Otters on Discovery Island
off our list. They were in a little pile resting in the morning sun!
I told Asa we should get there early for the purpose of meeting characters. I have found that if you are there right before they first appear your wait time is minimal. But, if you wait until they've been there, lines can get real long. As soon as people spot the characters, it's a free for all. If you know to be there before they come out, however, you're pretty good. And there were quite a few characters we still needed to see at the Animal Kingdom. A lot of them are listed in Dinoland, part of Donald's Dinobash.
So we headed there first, and hopped in line right away to see
#42 Launchpad McQuack
I am a Duck Tails kid through and through. Um, me and Clint watched them almost as religiously as Muppet Babies before school. So, I was actually pretty excited to see him. I wasn't aware he had a following big enough to grant him permanent character greeting status, but he has his own little hut.
And not only can you see Launchpad, but just down the path from him you'll find
#43 Scrooge McDuck
He too, has his own 'outpost'. He informed us that someone had stolen his prized trophy from those crates back there. Just 'poof', gone overnight. We surmised that perhaps Launchpad was responsible. He did seem a little smug and particularly pleased with himself. Scrooge agreed Launchpad was a good suspect. Scrooge also told us about how he bank rolls this whole Dinobash.
We thought maybe we could squeeze in a visit to see Donald here, as he came out the same time as Scrooge and Launchpad, but his line was already really long, so we decided instead to go visit
#44 The Boneyard
We spent a lot of time in the Boneyard when the boys were little. There's a few bridges and trails to walk around, plus a pit where you can dig out the bones of a woolly mammoth.
And there's a playground too, complete with rope tunnels and bridges and slides. It was probably best we visited early in the morning. Parents hadn't brought their kids for the afternoon break yet. You know where you send them off to play and you sit in the shade and rest your feet. So it was basically just me and Asa on the playground. (This reminded me of the Honey I Shrunk The Kids playground back at Hollywood Studios. I know it had to come out for Star Wars Land, but I miss it!)
Next up we stayed in Dinoland to meet up with
#45 Daisy Duck at Daisy Design Studio
Clearly, Daisy is a fashionista. She had outfitted her pet dinosaur with a very stylish scarf. Asa suggested Daisy was in her vacation gear, and she noted that we both had our sunglasses on the top of our head.
Some characters are super fun to meet, and I feel like Daisy never fails. In Magic Kingdom she read our fortune, and in Epcot she tried to get Asa a free iced coffee.
I do enjoy how even if there's multiple places throughout the four parks to meet the same characters, there's always some variation at least in their outfits.
#46 Chip & Dale in Dinoland at the Upper Cretaceous Trail)
are no different. They're dressed up as Dinosaurs!
Chip and Dale are always fun. I love their costumes (though my favorite Chip and Dale is always at the Marshmallow roasting over at Fort Wilderness).
Staying in Dinoland we made a trip over to see
#47 Dino-Sue
For as many items that are on the Animal Kingdom list, some are SUPER easy to check off.
And then we used our first Fastpass of the day for
#48 Dinosaur
This one is not my favorite. For a girl that gets motion sick riding in a bumpy, swerving jeep is not the best way to spend three minutes. But, I did it! Some of the rides on the list I haven't been on in years, and this was one of them. But, you know, it's good just to reconfirm that I am in fact making the right decision by passing on them.
Another character you just have to kind of find roaming is
#49 Kevin
from Up. I wouldn't say, given his size, that he's hard to spot. We ran into him multiple times throughout our day. He mostly hangs out around Discovery Island, but we actually found him over in the Asia area too.
By now it was 11, and we were starving. Getting up early and checking things off our list can make you awfully hungry. I thought we'd swing by Flame Tree Barbecue real quick, thinking it would be easy in and easy out since they opened at 11. But they had a huge line. So, we placed a mobile order and skipped all that nonsense. How do more people not realize they should be using Disney mobile ordering. Of course Flame Tree is always delicious. But, you will always find some sort of bird begging for your food.
Our time to eat was short lived, we had to high tail it over to Africa for
#50 Kora Tinga Tinga
There is lots of various entertainment that happens throughout the day over on the stage right outside Tusker House (and before you get to Kilimanjaro Safaris) so we had to backtrack back to the stage a lot to check everyone off our list. This one is just one lady playing what I believe is an African harp. She's very good, and it's super relaxing. But, she doesn't play on the stage. We were there for some time before we realized the music coming from the speakers was 'Kora Tinga Tinga' and she was just wandering around the area.
We had done everything at Rafiki's planet watch way back last October. We knew it was closing (first they said forever- and then they changed it to a 'refurbishment' and reopened it), so we thought we were on a time crunch. Visiting Rafiki's planet watch can take a chunk out of your day, because it's a 7 minute train ride back there- and if you miss the train it can be a minute until you catch another one. So I thought it was good to do everything back there all at once. But, when it was down for refurbishment they added a new attraction, so we had to make the trip back there once again. I tried to plan in the timing of it the best I could, but I knew we couldn't be late for it or we'd be stuck back there until the next time it came up. I gave us plenty of time to get back there, and we hit the train just right, so then I realized we had time to check off
#51 Wilderness Explorers
Wilderness Explorers is a program mostly for kids- (but nobody seemed to really bat an eye when Asa and I did it without kids)- where you can go around completing little tasks at various stations around the park and then you earn badges for completing the tasks. There are lots of stations, but there's no way we would have time to do them all. I figured as long as we earned at least ONE badge, we could be Wilderness Explorers.
So, we completed our task and got ourselves a badge (which is really just a sticker) in our Wilderness Explorer book.
We still had a tiny bit of time, so we made a beeline for the goats. Of course I'd already checked the Affection Section off my list (because who doesn't want to spend their Saturday petting goats!?) But, if I ever have a chance to pet pretty much any animal, I'm going to take advantage.
Then it was time for
#52 The Animation Experience at the Conservation Station
Disney has had various animation classes over the years. There used to be one way back when Hollywood Studios was MGM, and before they turned the building in the courtyard of Playhouse Disney into the Star Wars Launch Bay. There was also one at Disney Quest, before they closed that to build the new NBA Experience.
There's lots of different drawings you might end up being taught- on our time we got Zazu from the Lion King
They give you a clipboard and papers with some predrawn lines and circles to help guide you.
And then they bring out a real life Zazu to help inspire your drawing. Peggy Sue isn't exactly like Zazu, but she's pretty close. She's a trumpeter hornbill. And she catches a grape mid-air, so that's cool. She also flies right over you-- like RIGHT over you. I thought she was going to land on Asa.
After you get your inspiration the animator talks you through how to draw Zazu, and you'll see her drawing right up on the big screens for a closer look at her drawing Zazu.
We are not artists at all, but I feel like we did a good job! I would do this one again. Not only is it super fun, but there is some variation. I wouldn't get Zazu and Peggy Sue every time. It's also just kind of a different kind of Disney World back on Rafiki's planet watch. Not a lot of people head back there- at least not at once, and it's just a slower pace back there. Plus, goats you guys, GOATS!
There was no time to dilly dally on our way back though. The class is 25 minutes (and it sometimes runs a little long), and we had to be back in the Harambe Village for the 1:00 show. We were just lucky enough to hit the train just right, and we were back in time for
#53 Harambe Village Acrobats
Some of Disney's shows are blah. Some are pretty decent. Some, I'm like, I'd see them again if I was walking by. And then there's these guys- they are SO. COOL. For real, make time out of your day to check these guys out. It's only a 15 minute show, but I was happy to watch them for all 15 minutes- even in the Florida sun at 1:00 in the afternoon.
While we were back in that area, I told Asa we should walk the Gorilla Falls Trail. We'd already done this- and spotted all the animals listed as an attraction except one:
#54 Zebras
We couldn't find them on the safari any of the times we'd been on it. They were nowhere to be found the last time we walked the trail. I was begining to think Animal Kingdom didn't actually have any zebras anymore. But, apparently that have at least one. One that we BARELY spotted this time. But, I see his little striped head there. So that counts!
Also, since the zebras are on the back half of the trail, we might have gone in the exit and walked against the crowd. (Shh! We were on a time crunch, people!)
Also worth noting they list
#55 Butterflies (Free-roaming in Africa)
So, those are a bit tough to find. When I added them to the list in the first place, I though, 'oh no, this might be a hard one!' but, as we walked the trail we found a couple (pictures were not easy to get- but you can kind of see the two butterflies in the middle of the picture -check out the tree trunk, that helps spot it).
We had to hurry along the trail, because we had no time to waste to make it in time to see
#56 Up! A Great Bird Adventure
And this one is just kind of blah. It used to be Flights of Wonder, and it was a super cool bird show. Now it's mostly about Russel and Dug looking for Kevin with the occasional random bird coming out. There were chickens, and a parrot, and another Trunpeter Hornbill. But let me tell you, Miles was no Peggy Sue. To Disney's credit, they know this show is not up to snuff. It's actually closing this week to be reworked a bit. It has potential, so we'll see what they do with it.
The show with Russel and Dug might have fell a bit flat, but I was still pretty excited to go see them at their Meet & Greet, even if we had to wait in a line. At least it's shaded with some entertainment.
It wasn't long before we were able to check
#57 Meet Russel and Dug at Discovery Island
off our list.
I told Russel about our Halloween Costumes when we were Wilderness Explorers, so I asked to see his badges. He proudly showed them off. He was especially excited about his recycle badge, and his dog badge- you know, for Dug.
Back on Discovery Island we figured there was no better time than the present to hit up
#58 Hakuna Matata Dance Party
This actually replaced a band that we had seen way back in October, and in my opinion it's an improvement. I kind of like Disney doing these Dance Parties as a way to see characters, or get a candid shot with them without having to wait in a line. You just get to dance with them.
We still had a few things to do in Dinoland, so we headed back there to see the mayor of Dinoland
#59 Donald Duck at the Celebration Welcome Center
And then we had just ONE character left in the Animal Kingdom
#60 Goofy at Slam-o-saurus
You can meet Goofy over at Primeval Whirl. This one would have made me really motion sick, since it spins while the roller coaster moves. But, I was prepared to do it. Unfortunately, it has been down for going on four months now. It went down quietly (sometimes you find out it's going down ahead of time), with no real opening date (they've set one and moved it back twice), so we ended up taking Primeval Whirl off the list. Nobody's quite sure when or if it'll ever be back up. I guess I dodged a bullet with that one.
Instead we were onto a ride that was still up and moving
#61 Triceratops Spin 9/7/2019
Basically it's the Dumbo of the Animal Kingdom. Or the Magic Carpets. Either one.
Then it was off to our next Fastpass.
#62 Expedition Everest
I was not so much looking forward to my motion sickness on this one either.
This one gets me when it goes backwards. I'm ok with the rest of it. So, basically I just closed my eyes and hoped for the best. Asa loves it, so he was happy to get to go on it.
Then we headed over to check another animal off our list
#63 The Gibbons!
This habitat was also under refurbishment the first time we were there, so we weren't able to check them off our list. But the moat is all filled back in, and the gibbons have returned.
And then we were able to catch
#64 Bollywood Beats
Bollywood Beats is fine. I mean, Bollywood dancing is kind of crazy. Maybe it was going on Everest, maybe it was the sun (there was little shade at Bollywood Beats, though we did our best to stay in it), but I just wasn't feeling it. They didn't have much of a crowd watching them either, and I thought to myself, this has 'schedule unavailable' written all over it (which is what Disney says when they discontinue an act). But, when we passed by later they had quite the crowd and people were really into it. So, maybe it was just that particular show.
But in any case, it was getting pretty warm out now, and I was ready for a break. We had been making great time and even moving up a few things from later in the day. We partially had to shift things around when one of the afternoon shows of
#65 Finding Nemo- The Musical
got cancelled due to 'technical difficulties'. But luckily, the 3:30 show went off without a hitch.
It's a good show. I might even put watching it from the front on my Disney bucket list (I'd love to see the puppets closer up). The 40 minute show in air conditioning was a welcome break. But, note to Disney: could you maybe improve the benches a bit. They are wildly uncomfortable.
By now we needed a little sustenance, so we headed to Yak and Yet counter service for a little afternoon pick me up. There is good food to be had at Disney, like the tiny mini mango pie for $5. Yes, it's $5 for that tiny little pie, and it's worth every penny. It's like a mango cheesecake with just the right amount of graham cracker crust to filling. But then there's good buys at Disney. You know, good enough food that'll help you fill up a bit without costing you an arm and a leg. Enter the Chicken Fried Rice at Yak and Yeti counter service. It too is $5, but it is a big take out container filled to the brim with chicken fried rice.
After our snack, it was time for our last Fastpass of the day, and our last 'ride' at the Animal Kingdom
#66 Kali River Rapids
I had never been on Kali River Rapids before. Asa had taken Peyton and Calib many, many years ago. But, he didn't really remember it all that well. All I knew was that it was basically Thunder Canyon, a ride at Cedar Point that completely drenches you as your giant 12 person tube goes under waterfalls and through geysers.
So I came prepared. I grabbed some of those slippers we got at some hotel we stayed at that I had saved for no particular reason- because Disney requires you wear 'shoes' on Kali River Rapids and I figured it was best not to walk around the park with wet shoes for the rest of the day. I also brought a change of clothes for me and Asa. But then, as it turns out, it isn't like Thunder Canyon at all, and none of that was necessary. Sure, you get wet. But, it's the perfect amount of wet, especially on a hot Florida day. There's no waterfall that may or may not soak you, just a splash from a small hill and a few geysers or trunks of elephants spitting water at you. I would do this one again, especially in the summer. No need for a change of shoes or clothes. But, I would always get a fastpass for it. The line is consistently crazy long, and not worth waiting an hour or more.
After our ride, we decided it we high tailed it over we could catch the next showing of
#67 Festival of the Lion King
Like, we pretty much ran through the back half of the Animal Kingdom- but we made it with about a minute to spare.
I also enjoy this show. It's got songs from the Lion King, flying monkeys, acrobats, and fire. So, who wouldn't like it?
Just as the Lion King was letting out, it was time for the final show we had to catch on the Harambe Village Stage
#68 Burudika
It's a band, with some dancers. Nothing too exciting. Probably my least favorite of all the acts here. But, not terrible or anything.
As I mentioned, we'd been on the Gorilla Falls Trail before. But, we hadn't been on the other trail yet
#69 Maharajah Jungle Trek
This one had various animals- iguanas of some sort, and some deer like creatures I can't remember anymore.
And as far as theme-ing goes, it's better than the Gorilla Falls Trail.
There's a couple of animals along the trek that are on the attractions list. At first, we couldn't find any Tigers, and I thought 'man, this is going to be it. We managed to get everything on our list checked off, but you just can't control animal sightings'.
So we looked at the map again and thought it looked like their was tiger viewing in a couple different spots. We backtracked and sure enough, there was one WAY up a hill. Barely a sighting, but a sighting nonetheless.
#70 Tigers (Asia)
Once we located a Tiger we continued on the trail, where you end up walking through the bird house.
#71 Migratory Birds at Maharajah Jungle Trek
They've got some cool birds here, including this awesome pheasant, who was making some sort of noise that we couldn't decipher if it were a bird or a screaming toddler until a cast member clarified it for us.
By now we were about an hour and half ahead of schedule on my index-card-o-fun. We had managed to walk at a good clip through the park and hit things just at the right time to move a few things up. Our dinner reservations were still quite a ways away. I have one of those Landry's rewards cards, and for my birthday they give you $25 to use at one of their restaurants (and you have until the 15th of the month after your birthday to use it). Usually we go to Bubba Gump's at Pass-a-Grille, but they also own Yak and Yetis at the Animal Kingdom so I figured we could just use it there. Since we've got the card, we got priority seating and even though we were an hour and a half early we were seated in 5 minutes.
Now, we weren't full on big meal hungry. So we figured we'd get an appetizer and a dessert and call it a day. We decided on the Dim Sum Basket, which has the steamed buns Asa likes. He's never happier than when he's eating a steamed bun, I tell you.
But I was there for the DELICIOUS pineapple cream cheese wonton dessert. I don't know what the sauce is that they pour all over these things, but it is heaven. The pineapple is grilled, the wontons are crispy, the strawberries are chilled, and the ice cream mellows everything out. It's just the perfect combination, and probably my favorite thing to eat in all of Disney. I haven't had it in a long time though, because dining reservations inside a park isn't something we usually do (we just don't like to have a timed thing like that), but it's so worth the stop. And with my birthday free $25, our meal was just $1.06 (plus tip of course).
With our tummies full, we decided it was time to head on out.
But, we had just one stop to make- one more item on our list, so it was back to Dinoland for us, where we started our day.
For
#72 Dino-Riffic Dance Party!
This one is in the evening from 5pm-8pm, and features a lot of the characters we saw at meet-and-greets earlier in the day, including Chip & Dale in their dinosaur costumes!
With that my friends, the animal kingdom is complete. All 72 items checked off the list.
And we were on our way home before the sun even set.
As a tally, here is where we stand
Epcot 69 out of 69
Hollywood Studios 40 out of 40
Animal Kingdom 72 out of 72
And all we have left is the Magic Kingdom
Which currently stands at 58/66
That's 239 out of 247, for a percentage of 96.8% Complete!
Here's the issue. Our Magic Kingdom list, while it only has EIGHT items on it, one of them is 'Let the Magic Begin' which is the rope drop celebration at 7:55 AM. That's IN THE MORNING, people. There is talk of trying to get it this Sunday, and just getting up at 5 AM. We'll see if that actually happens. But, now we're SOOOO close.
Next Up: We're celebrating Swaptember this weekend and maybe hitting up MK on Sunday, we'll see how it goes.
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