Day 3 - Animal Kingdom

This was our second time to ever go to Animal Kingdom, and we knew that there were at least two rides on our must-do list: Expedition Everest and Kali River Rapids. Our plan of attack was to be at the park when it opened and head straight to Asia so Bill, Sydney and Hayley could ride Everest. Well, best laid plans.....

First off, my feet were killing me by this point! I had read, of course, to wear comfy shoes. I had also read to wear shoes you were used to wearing. Our last Disney trip, we made the mistake of wearing new shoes....ugh! So, we mostly all brought flip flops. Well, for Hayley and Emyley it was a non-issue since they had a stroller to ride around in. Bill had some really nice Addidas flips, and Sydney took breaks in the stroller as well. I wore my trusty Keds flips. Well, because of the way the inside of them are made, they rubbed blisters. I had switched to regular flips once, and they had no support. I had tried moleskin the first two days of our trip, and the adhesive irritated my feet. So, that was problem number one with this day!

Next, Animal Kingdom was having an early entry day. That meant they were opening at 8:00am, and for us to be there by opening time, we needed to be at the bus stop by 7ish to allow for wait time and travel time. We also knew that we wanted to eat a good breakfast at our resort before hand, since we made the mistake of snacking for breakfast the day before (VERY bad idea!). This meant we needed to be at Gaspy's for breakfast by 6:30 which meant getting up at 6:00. No biggie, right? Well, when you add in the fact that the day before we were at Magic Kingdom by 8:00 and stayed pretty much all day (with a couple hour break) until 10:00 and didn't get to sleep until 10:30 or so.......it just wasn't going to happen!

So, we decided not to rush ourselves and just do what we could. We did get the big breakfast and was only about an hour behind schedule when we got to the bus stop. This became problem number 3 for the day! We watched many, many buses go by....mostly for the same destinations before the Animal Kingdom bus ever arrived (at least a 30 minute wait)! We were one of the first people on the bus, which was almost full. The bus was just about to pull out, when someone on an electric scooter came up to catch the bus. The bus driver had to assist them on, and guess where he had to put the scooter? Yep, right where we had sat down! So, we had to all stand for the 20 minute trip to the park. There was one very nice, older lady who tried to give up her seat for Bill since he was holding Emyley, but he told her to go ahead and sit back down...well, her seat disappeared while she was being so nice and had to stand as well!

So, by this time not only my feet were killing me, but my back as well. I had no idea how I was going to get through the day. Then the bus dropped us off way away from the entrance (well, it felt like a long way to me...LOL). Once we got inside, though, it was so nice and shady. We discovered there were many benches lined up where I could take breaks if I needed to. There was hope, yet....

We headed to Asia as we had planned, and while we were crossing the bridge, we looked to our right and saw Everest in the distance. After stopping to take pics, we headed on again, and as we were almost upon the ride entrance, we noticed the train was stopped on the tracks. Yep, the ride was shut down! Talk about disappointment for Bill!

So, next on the list....Kali River Rapids. The rumor is that you get soaked....well, I have heard that before. So, no, I didn't take the advice to bring our ponchos. BIG Mistake!!! Even though, Emyley was tall enough to ride the ride, she had to have a special bar as her seat belt. She was deemed the captain, and she thought that was great! I don't have much faith in her captaincy skills any longer, though, as I was the one who got completely drenched!! This is not an exaggeration in the least...I felt as though I had jumped into the shower with my clothes on! Hayley also got pretty wet! It was great! LOL!

My tired, aching feet were really taking a toll on me, so I took a rest while Bill and the girls went through the Maharajah Jungle Trek. I was glad I took the break, as when they got back they reported that the Tiger exhibit was closed! I would've been very disappointed!

Snack time came next, and while we were sitting down to eat, we heard some screams in the distance....yep, Everest was open again! Hayley decided she wasn't to tackle that roller coaster, yet, so Bill and Sydney headed off by themselves. Bill loved the ride, Sydney does not want to do it ever again! She did get a Yeti souvenir out of the deal, though, so I guess it wasn't a total bust for her! ;o)

Refreshed and shaky (Sydney), we headed to Africa so we could hop on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. Unfortunately, it was a 60 minute wait time, and the Fast Pass return time was too late for us since we had to leave for dinner reservations pretty early. The girls were pretty disappointed, as was I....my feet could've used another rest!

We were on our way to DinoLand USA, when we passed a sign for Camp Minnie-Mickey. We didn't do this part last time we were at the park, and it looked deserted, so we took a detour and guess who we found? Minnie Mouse!! Mickey, Goofy and Donald were also there, but the lines were too long and there weren't any benches to rest on, so we had to forego those.

So, off were went, again to DinoLand, and I was just miserable. I asked Bill to check the time since I knew we needed to head to the bus stop by 3:30 to make dinner. He said it was almost 3:00, so off we went out of the park. Emyley was very disappointed that we missed seeing any dinosaurs. We waited about 20 minutes for a bus this time, and we got to sit down! AAHHHH, it was so nice! Then I looked at the clock....it was only about 1:00! I questioned Bill about it, and he said that he knew I wasn't feeling well, and really needed to go back to the resort, but that I wouldn't go if I knew we still had time to do stuff. AAAWWWW so sweet!

We got back to our room, and I claimed the bed after I soaked my feet. Those beds are really the most comfortable ever, and I totally didn't want to get out of it until the next day, but Mickey was waiting for us to dine with him, and I couldn't disappoint.....