Rhonda Horinski & Family - December 2008

The Horinka Family - Disney Christmas
Day 7 – Thursday, December 25 - Animal Kingdom
Cast of Characters: Rhonda, 44 years young, single mother of 3 awesome punks and lover of all things Disney, Sharon, 19 year old DD, Morgan, 16 year old DD, and Payton, 12 year old DS.

We have been to WDW for Christmas Day before, but not in a while. '79, '95, and 2000 to be exact. When we went in 2000, we spent Christmas Day at the (then) Disney MGM Studios. I knew we would be doing either the studios or Animal Kingdom, so when it was offered up, the kids chose a second day at AK over a second day at DS. This is also the first time we have ever been to a park with someone requiring the assistance of a wheelchair. Sharon's leg really swelled up yesterday, and we are following the advice of those at the First Aid station who recommended that she stay off her leg for a day. We've decided that we may just keep her off it for the last two days of our trip just to be on the safe side. I oftentimes read posts from people who begrudge those who are in Wheelchairs or ECVs saying they get on the rides faster. I can say from our experience that, although this was true a total of two times (they wheel you in first for show seatings), for the most part the waits we had to endure for most rides were the same as everyone else, plus we had the extra exhaustion that comes from not only walking the park all day, but actually having to push someone through the park all day. Then there is the added benefit of those who zig and zag trying to get around the wheelchair, especially when they do what we call a "suicide pass" – passing on the right when we are already as far right as we can be. It was an eye-opening experience to say the least. We were happy that Sharon was mobile in that she could transfer, etc.

The park opened at 8:00 and the first thing we did after passing through the turnstiles was to get a wheelchair for Sharon from guest relations. This was quick and painless. Pushing her all day would not be, however! As we approached the rope drop area, I was surprised at the sheer lack of anything that resembled a crowd. We headed straight for Expedition Everest and secured FPs and then rode that bad boy FIVE TIMES IN A ROW as there was absolutely NO line – it was a walk-on ride at this point. Most of the time we were seated in the back two rows. I think this is easier for the CMs as they have to move the wheelchair to the unloading area which is directly behind the last rows. At 9:05 we all started getting a little sick to our stomachs, so we secured another set of FPs for Everest and then headed over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek. What an EXCELLENT time we had! I have walked this trail at least 6 times on other trips and never, ever, EVER seen the tigers. This time they were not only out in the open, they were playing! It was the most fun to watch! We saw more in sheer quantity AND in different breeds of animal on this walk-through than we ever have before. It was just the best time! We spent over an hour. There was no hurry to be anywhere else. After the trek, we stopped to get some soft pretzels to share before heading over to Kilimanjaro. We secured FPs for a later ride and went ahead and rode it then since there was no line (it was 10:20 in the morning – I REALLY expected it to be busier).

After the safari, we headed over to Camp Mickey-Minnie for the 11:30 Festival of the Lion King show. We were seated in the handicapped area this time, which did make it a bit nicer as they let you in to get settled before they open the doors to the general public. I was very cognizant of where Sharon was seated and kept checking behind her because our view had been partially blocked by a wheelchair when we were here a few days ago. The show was great, as always. We can never get enough of this one! After the show we headed over to Dinoland and grabbed Dinosaur FPs and then headed over to Asia to ride Everest using one of our FPs sets for that ride. We then took the Discovery Trail to It's Tough to be a Bug. It was fun for me as a mom who thinks all kids should endure some good, wholesome, painless fun torture at some point in there lives. They forgot about the sting and the maggots, and all three of them screamed when those points in the show happened! Ha! Ha! Aren't I mean?

After the Bug show we headed to Tusker House for our 1:40 ADR. A few weeks before the trip I saw that WDW was offering passes to the 3:15 Finding Nemo: The Musical Show if you had lunch at Tusker House. Being one to not want to stand in lines, we decided to cancel our ADR for Yak and Yeti and do this one instead. Although I still content that I preferred Tusker House as a counter service meal, it was a great buffet with lots of variety! I found a lot of my favorites from Boma were also served at Tusker House! The meal was good and filling, but not great, and after we ate we roamed a bit and enjoyed the steel drummers and other street musicians before making our way to the theatre for the musical. The passes were totally worth it! Those of us who had used the dining plan were seated in our own area – center stage right, first 20 rows! For those who have seen the show, I was seated against the "runway" portion of the stage, so whenever the puppet masters would run down the runway, I got a super-close up look at their costumes and the puppets themselves. It was awesome, and we didn't have to stand in line at all or fight any crowds to be seated. I would recommend doing the Tusker House lunch as it does save you time standing in line. This show was so totally awesome! I now have it included on my "must do" list. It has officially replaced "The Festival of the Lion King" as my family's favorite show in all of the parks! The puppets are just awesome, the puppeteers even more so, and it was just amazing to me that they took a non-musical and made it a musical so seamlessly! Highly recommended! We were out of the theatre at 4:00 and headed over to Everest to use our last set of FPs there (I think 8 times in one day is enough, don't you?) and then decided to hand our Kilimanjaro Safari FPs to another family as we decided not to trudge over to Africa to ride it again. We then went straight to Dinoland to use our Dinosaur FPs before leaving the park at 5:00.

Back at the hotel, the kids swam while I packed, picked up packages, and refilled mugs. I hopped in the pool with my son at 6:30 and then in the hot tub until a little after 7:00 or so. We all went back to the room to change and then headed to Downtown Disney at 8:30. We decided to get Sandwiches at the Earl of Sandwich. YUMMY! I'd heard this was great, but never experienced it myself. The line was long but quite fast and efficient. The soups and sandwiches were fabulous! My son says the "Best BLT" (that's the name of the sandwich) really is, and I totally agree with him! The tomato soup was VERY rich and creamy. We really enjoyed dining here and would do it again. After our meal, we went to Once Upon a Toy where Payton built his own custom light saber before heading over to The World of Disney for the bulk of our souvenir shopping (I have the Disney Visa and get a discount). After, we headed to the World of Sports Store for ESPN – themed purchases for the men in our lives before heading back to the resort at 10:00 p.m. We were in the room and asleep by 11:00. This was just a fabulous Christmas Day. Very relaxing! I'm glad we decided to spend it at a park we had already been to this trip. Nobody felt rushed to fit things in and it was just an awesome day!

Tomorrow – Epcot

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