Trip Report: Leaving the Disney Bubble (Day 4, Part 1 | January 2021)

 Wednesday, January 27th

Today I woke up at 6:30. It was also Covid test day. If you want to get out of a two-week quarantine in NYS you have to be tested in Florida and then again a few days after returning to New York.

As has become standard, I ate my oatmeal on the balcony and took in the beautiful view. At 7:30 we went to the front of the hotel for our shuttle to the rental car location on Disney property. We got a Nissan Altima with Maryland plates. Just like the November trip dad and I took, we went to the Maingate testing site just off Disney property. The set up was a little different this time. The National Guard was helping run it this time. In November, we had no complaints and didn’t this time, but it was more structured now.

There was a “single riders” line. In retrospect maybe we should’ve done that one. There was one family that seemed to have a lot of issues which really slowed things down. I called my mom while waiting in line. Ultimately, it took about 90 minutes. And all of our tests were negative.

We went back to return our car. The same shuttle driver took us to Animal Kingdom. He was very nice just like our driver in November. We’ve had two great experiences with the car care center.

We arrived at the park around 11 AM. The Flight of Passage line was short so we headed to Pandora. The drummers were on the cavalcade boat as we walked by the water. I can’t wait for the entertainment in Animal Kingdom to return. It’s probably my favorite-especially in Africa. The wait ended up being about 10 minutes which is definitely great for Flight of Passage. We only stopped walking occasionally to stop at the social distancing markers.

I enjoyed Flight of Passage, but it does scare me. My dad always says you just have to throw yourself into it. I try. I also don’t think I could ride it two times in a row without getting nauseous. 

Up Next: Affection Section

Trip Report: A Late Lunch at Yak & Yeti (Day 3, Part 3 | November 2020)

 Then, it was time to eat at Yak and Yeti. We had done the quick service before, but never tried the table service. I got the honey chicken which I’d never had before, but I’m a fan. I also enjoyed the decor and our waitress was nice. I will eat here again, but don’t feel the need to right away.

We left the restaurant around 4:20 and the park was closing at 5:00 PM. The Flight of Passage wait time was posted at 10 minutes so we were off to Pandora. It was a complete walk on. We got off at 4:50 and decided to get in line for Na’Vi River Journey. We didn’t want to wait a long time for it, but a short wait as the park closed worked for us.

Up Next: Poly Pulled Pork Nachos

Trip Report, Day 1, Part 3: Pandora!

Date: November 30, 2019

If you missed the last post, you can check it out here.

Our next fastpasses were for Na'vi River Journey. So we headed to Pandora via the bridge from Africa. 

Na'vi River Journey is a good attraction, but I wouldn't wait more than 15-20 minutes for it. It's just really short. The shaman animatronic is great, but only makes up for so much.

Then, it was lunchtime so we did mobile order at Satu'li Canteen. I ended up getting the hotdog kid's meal. I highly recommend kids meals. They are a great value. My dad got a bowl-I don't remember which one. We both liked are food. The hotdog was the best thing I ate today. And that's saying something because I'm not a huge fan of hot dogs.

Then, we were off to Asia. We went to my favorite trail-Maharajah Jungle Trek. I like both the animals and the overall theming/aesthetic. Unfortunately, there were no bats. This is the second time I've missed out on bats. I love them-they are the puppies of the sky.

When we finished up our FastPasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris were ready. I was worried the sun would be in our eyes because I've had that happened on afternoon safaris in the past. But it wasn't that bad.

There were tons of giraffes on the safari. The cheetahs were also very active. I'd never seen that before and it was very cool to see. 

Then, we did standby for Dinosaur. I love Dinosaur-the preshow is a gem. 

After that, it was getting dark so we headed to the Tree of Life. I wanted to see the Tree of Life: Awakenings. Our last trip there was a  downpour so we weren't able to watch it. We saw 2 shows-I think It was a little unclear how the structure of the show is set up.

Then, we decided to do stand-by for Flight of Passage. We've hard the line can be not that bad close to park close. Plus, everyone says the queue/lab is amazing. We ended up waiting about 90 minutes. the lab was nice, but a very small part of the overall queue. I don't think I would do standby again. It is a fun ride, but does really scare me. My dad says you have to just really through yourself into it. 

Maybe next time.

Then, we headed back to the hotel. They still didn't have any holiday refillable mugs.

We got 3 Mickey beignets to share from Scat Cat's. We got the regular ones, but they have flavors and liquor shots. People always rave about them. We were both a little underwhelmed. They were good, but not amazing. Both of us also almost died by choking on sugar. They put so much sugar on these. I would hate to clean those tables. 

We tried to use My Disney Experience App to find our room. It wasn't very helpful but we got there eventually. I unpacked, my dad soaked his feet in ice and I was out!

Steps Walked Today: 21, 851

Up Next: Day 2

Trip Report: An Evening Safari

If you missed the last update you can check it out here.

My cousins (Scott & Shelly) were going on Flight of Passage with their oldest. So, they asked if we could watch their youngest-Hayley. We said sure and we would take her on the safari. Two-year-olds love animals, right?

Dad held her and she promptly fell asleep. Kids can be heavy when their dead weight. I tried carrying her and lasted like 30 seconds. 

It was really cool to see the safari at night/dusk. We were able to watch the sunset and saw 3 lions. It was a pretty bumpy ride. I probably only noticed because I was worried it would wake-up Hayley. She didn't wake-up-she was dead to the world.

Then, we were off to Pandora to see it at night. Plus, we had to return Hayley to her parents.

It was cool to see the bio-luminescence but it was kind of underwhelming. People probably oversold this land at night.

I bought the Night Blossom drink to give it a try. It was ok, but just a little too rich for me. I would have preferred a lemonade over limeade, too. I only drank about half of it. But I'm glad I gave it a try.

Up next: Will We Be Rained Out Again?

Trip Report: Flight of Passage

If you missed the last update you can check it out here.

I picked up a Mickey pretzel to try and pick me up before our Safari FastPasses.

Our safari driver was better than our last one. They really got in to the shaky bridge part which was good. 

Then, we met up with my cousins-Jorge, Amy, and their daughter Areana. We were lucky to get FastPasses for Flight of Passage at the same time. We hadn't even tried to do that.

I was sad about not seeing the queue. Everyone says the queue is amazing. I'm sure I'll see it in person someday, but there's no way I'm waiting for 2-3 hours to see it.

The ride was pretty spectacular. It reminds me of Soarin' but better. And i'm more comfortable in this one because you're strapped in real tight and have something to hold on to. I think it's best to go in with limited knowledge and just experience it so I won't say much about it. I definitely screamed but in excitement not terror. My dad said it is his new favorite ride and that's really saying something.

We hung out by WindTraders so I could call Disney Dining. Earlier in the week we had made Rivers of Light dinner package reservations at Tusker House. Now, we were trying to add my cousins. I was successful in making the change

So we stayed in Pandora for a little while to relax and take everything in before we were headed to dinner.

Up next: Dining with Character