pamrob & DH - September 2007

September 06, 2007
DAY 3:

It's Animal Kingdom day! Another early start. We didn't have to wait long for bus and arrived before entry yet again. We probably waited for the turnstiles to open about ten minutes then headed to the rope drop. We lined up on the Everest side and watched the opening ceremony.

We got to Everest with the crowd which wasn't super heavy. It was pretty much walk on. I noticed the dream squad at the unloading area. I pointed them out to DH and told him they were there waiting to award me the castle suite. When we approached the unloading one of the dream squad members welcomed us back and said we were winners. Ok, so no castle suite but we did get lanyards! I was very excited. After reading so much on the boards I really prepared myself to get nothing so a little surprise was fantastic! We headed back through the entrance and walked on again. This is really one of our favorite rides - what a great coaster. I don't like super high, super big drop roller coasters so Everest is perfect for me, just enough excitement but not overly scary to me.

Next we were headed to Dinoland for the Primeval Whirl. Today was the day we were 'officially' celebrating our anniversay so we wore our anniversary buttons we had picked up when leaving Epcot last night. The attendant saw the buttons and let us have our own car even though we could have ridden with two other individuals. She also gave us a tip that we should sit on the far side of the car together if we liked to spin. We were game so we loaded the far side of the car. Yep, lots of extra spinning! When we got back to the loading area there wasn't a line so we asked to ride again - and our request was granded.

After regaining our equilibrium we hit Dinosauer next. DH dropped his sunglasses as our car was leaving the loading area. He had forgotten they were on his hat which he was removing from his head. When we finished the ride we asked about them and although they could see them, the attendants could not go off their platform to get them but gave us instructions on lost and found and said they would be turned in at the end of the day.

Time to hit the fruit stand at the opposite side of the park. One of my favorite snacks is the fresh pineapple! Yum! DH got a giant pickle. We stopped and enjoyed the acrobatic group. We then wandered over to the Safari. This was the longest line we stood in all week - maybe about 20 minutes. Not bad and the line moves along. We were able to see quite a few animals. I didn't take any pictures as we have quite a few from other trips. We just sat back and enjoyed the ride. When we were unloading we again saw the dream squad. They took some of the people off our truck aside and I believe awarded them dream fast passes. I felt pretty fortunate because I really prefered the lanyard since crowds were low enough that waits weren't an issue.

Now at this point I could have left the park completely satisfied. I had done the few things I came to do. My husband, however, has an interest in becoming a naturalist when he can retire at 50 so this park holds alot of interest to him. We took the time to explore the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. Once on the trail, I was glad I had relaxed and let my commando personality go. The animals are beautiful and the walking through the trail is relaxing. We took lots of pictures since we had skipped the trails last year with the girls. Our girls are all interested in nature and animals but got hyperfocused on rides last Sept.

Now my stomach was telling me it was lunch time. Because my all time favorite Tusker House is under reimbursement we needed a plan B. We tried Flame Tree BBQ and shared a rib meal. Since BBQ is a big deal here in the KC area I wasn't setting my expectations too high. I was actually pretty surprised how much I enjoyed the ribs. After filling our tummies we explored the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Another beautiful leisurely walk with another set of pictures. We stopped on our way out and talked to a CM about some of the monkeys in that area. She was very interesting and we talked to her about her experience working at Disney.

Now that lunch had settled we headed back to Everest. The line was a bit longer but I don't think the wait was more than 20 minutes. We decided to use the cards we got from our DVC tour and get two immediate fast passes. We walked right on and enjoyed another trip to see the Yeti. Next a return trip to Primeval Whirl. We were loaded in a car with a mother and daughter who I believe had never ridden this before. They didn't speak English so though we tried we couldn't communicate. I really thought the mom was going to lose her lunch. I kept pushing my bag over by DH just in case. We managed to make it through the ride with no incidents!

By this time it was feeling a bit more crowded and warm so we headed for the bus stop. Once back at the Pop we stopped at the food court for drinks and picked up a little food to share. The cheesesteak wrap we shared was fantastic.

Around 4 pm we headed toward Epcot. We stopped at the email postcard station in Innovations since one of the girls didn't receive our previous email. We picked up a fastpass for Soarin to use later in the evening and then crossed to walk on both Test Track and Mission Space. Our Test Track car was the two of us and one other guy.

On our way to dinner we stopped in China to pick up some fun chopsticks for the girls we had spotted earlier in the week. Dinner was a Restaurant Marrakesh in Morroco. Our wait was short and the venue is beautiful. We both choose the Jasmina salad for our starter. It is a fantastic salad full of fresh vegetables. DH chose the Mediterrean Seafood Platter which was good but not great. I chose the Night in Casablanca. I was really disappointed in my meal. The chicken kabob was really dry and I did not care at all for the lamb. I took about three bites and decided to leave it. I don't know if I have ever had lamb or what it is supposed to taste like so I have nothing to compare it to. By the end of the meal I was really feeling full and uncomfortable. At this point I wished I had cancelled this meal for Raglan Road instead of Spoodles.

After a somewhat disappointing dinner we stopped to use our fastpasses at Soarin. We ended up front and center again. We rode next a girl and her mother. The girl was celebrating her birthday. The ride attendant made an announcement of her birthday and our anniversary before the flight. The mother and daughter really enjoy this ride and have a lot of fun. They were really fun to ride with. They encouraged me to lean forward on parts of the ride. Did I mention I am extremely fearful of heights? Well, completely out of character I did indeed lean forward a few times. Kind of fun . . .

Our initial plan for the evening was a trip to Adventurer's Club but we were both a bit uncomfortable from our meal. We decided to just chill back at the hotel for the evening which worked out pretty good for me since I like to watch Big Brother and it was on that evening. I could really have used a bottle of Tums but managed to survive whatever was irritating my stomach and get a decent night's sleep.

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