Haven’t been able to get back here for a bit! I’m coming, I promise!! LOL
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I loved this trip report; especially when you urged everyone to take a solo day in the World. I’ve never seriously considered a solo day before, but yours sounded delightful!
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Glad you’re enjoying it! There’s still more to come!
Solo day was so wonderful… Looking forward, unofficially, to a solo trip next June. I have to go to Tampa for a work conference and am hoping to take a left rather than a right when I leave there and head to WDW for a few days
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Such an amazing report so far! You have me so excited for our trip in July!
I was going to abandon this as it’s been a while since the last installment, but it seems folks are still reading so – thank you and here goes!
It was time for lunch after the tour. We considered all of the QS available in the park and the kids voted for Pizzafari. We had enjoyed lunch here a few trips back and so we headed over.
I’m not sure if it’s just our timing, but this place never seems busy. It was actual lunch hour but there was no line at the counter and numerous tables available in both dining rooms. Everyone ordered up some flatbreads and beverages, and we snagged a table near an outlet to charge our devices while we ate.
While the atmosphere in Pizzafari was nice – cool, quiet, subdued – the food was nothing special this time around. It wasn’t bad but had this been our first go of it I’m not sure we’d be back. It just wasn’t anything special. But it sufficed our needs for a quick meal, so there’s that. It probably didn’t help that my DD was being a teenager throughout the meal. She just turned 13 in April and she’s feeling every bit of it. I am learning to just roll with the mood swings and to take a step back and know it’s not me, but she was working hard at making it a miserable meal despite our best efforts to first help her out of it and then to ignore it. We saw a lot of this up and down with her throughout the week. Just comes with the territory I guess. Hormones suck, and social media amplifies them.
After we finished our lunch we headed out toward the Discovery Island trails. On the way I met a third Legacy Cast member!
I cannot recall this man’s name, and his tag is not visible in this selfie (I’m horrible at selfies!) but he was the most engaging of all the Legacy Cast members we met. We chatted a bit – he’s from Lowell, MA, just over the border – and I thanked him for his service to the parks and congratulated him on his award. He was really special. Does anyone know his name??
I had never had the chance to wander the Discovery Island Trails in all our trips. I know at least twice they were closed to access for refurbishment, and the other times we just ran out of time. Let me tell you, folks, DO NOT MISS THIS! I only feel sad that I never got so up close to that tree before now! She is beautiful from afar, but up close she is a real work of art. I was in awe to see the carvings throughout the base, trunk, and limbs of the beautiful centerpiece of Animal Kingdom and I could have spent a lot more time yet and not been tired of it.
We headed back over toward Asia to let DS complete some off his final Wilderness Explorer missions. He has worked on this for our last 3 family trips and the goal was to get him finished up today.
Wilderness Explorers is a fantastic diversion for the younger set that keeps them engaged in the park, its mission, and the parts of the world it represents. And without even realizing it, those kids are learning stuff – important stuff – about our world and our place in it. Take the time to let your younger kids do this activity – you won’t regret it. It forces you to slow down, too, and take a break and maybe even learn a thing or two yourself. And it keeps the day from being a forced march during which you miss so many little details. You can do as many or as few missions during your trip, and as we did you can pick up where you left of to work toward the ultimate goal of becoming a Senior Wilderness Explorer. For more information, check out this Disney World website to see how you can sign up and participate!
Along the way DH and I took turns using the Single Rider line for Expedition Everest. This is one of his and my favorite rides in WDW but since the kids don’t like to ride we have to take turns. As such, we don’t usually reserve FPP for it, opting instead for Single Rider, which is typically no more than a 10 minute wait at most and often a walk-on (which it was on this day). The kids had some ice cream from the Ananadapur Ice Cream Truck while we had our turns at it, and DS ticked off a couple more missions too.
DS really wanted to ride Primeval Whirl so that was up next using our FPP reservation. I think FPP is a good choice here because this is a slow loading ride with a small hourly capacity and even with our FPP we waited nearly 10 minutes. As I was the only one willing to ride it with him, DD and DH wandered Hester and Chester’s Dinoland a bit while we rode. I recently heard this fantastic walkthrough of Chester and Hester’s Dinoland on the Radio Harambe podcast and hope to revisit the area and listen while exploring. I had no idea about the story behind the land and I think that’s true of a lot of people. If more people knew the story they might “get it” more. Disney fell short on informing the guest so as to enhance the experience. I was worried that Primeval Whirl would be more like the teacups on a rollercoaster track than it was. While your car does rotate some – and to some extent you can control just how much – it was not barfy at all.
After we finished riding, DS did his FINAL Wilderness Explorer mission and was honored in a special ceremony making him an official Senior Wilderness Explorer!
This was one of the highlights of this trip for him, and honestly for me too. This whole scene is just another way Disney does a great job of making the experience of WDW really special, especially for the kiddos.
We headed over to FOTLK next. We never FPP this one either. Maybe someday that will bite us, but the theater is large and there are no bad seats. We just love this show and it was a perfect way to end the first part of our AK touring.
After the show, our plan was to head back to the resort for a few hours to rest and rejuvenate. I needed a Dole Whip with additive, however, and also needed to stop in at Creature Comforts for my Starbucks You Are Here, Animal Kingdom mug. I sent the family on ahead back to the resort so they didn’t have to wait around for me.
On my way out of the park I learned that you can’t take a Dole Whip with additive with you!
I didn’t realize this before, but the security guard out front made sure to inform me thusly. No worries, I stepped back behind the checkpoint, sat down and enjoyed the last few sips in a shady spot, and carried on. But fair warning – if you’re thinking you can slip out with it in hand, don’t plan on it!
When I arrived back at the resort my family was there and said that they had arrived just a few minutes ahead of me. They had to wait for a bus from AK – AKL whereas I walked onto a waiting one. We all changed and headed to the pool for a bit. We had no need to hurry back to the park as we had ROL dining package tickets which guaranteed us seating. It was nice not to feel we had to rush our quiet time. We spent a good 2 hours literally chilling out and relaxing. While cooling off and enjoying a bit of hydrotherapy we discussed our options for dinner. Can you believe that Flame Tree won, hands down?? Me either 
It’s probably our very favorite QS meal on property. It’s a very good value and really tasty too. And the view?? Tell me it’s not fabulous:
The above photo was taken at 7:35pm. ROL was showing at 8:45, and as you can see a lot of seating was already filled up, including in the Dining Package area. I was a little concerned about that, but no worries. We finished dinner and stopped to have our popcorn bucket filled up and had our bums in some pretty fantastic seats by 8:20 (that popcorn line was stupid slow – not long, just slow beyond understanding).
Rivers of Light is beautiful! The floats, the water projections, the music, the message. There is nothing not to love about it. Except maybe how short it is. It really is not more than 15 minutes. When it ended my son said, “That’s it?!” He was wanting more, and if I’m honest I was too. It would be nice if they could extend this show somehow and make it more of a Fantasmic-length experience. There’s so much they could do with it. But it really is beautiful:
Our only other objective on this evening was to see the Tree of Life Awakening. So after the show we followed the mob back toward Discovery Island. DS was fading fast by now and eager to get back to the resort, but I explained to him that we would have to wait in the bus line if we left with everyone else and that it would be more fun to be entertained and sit on our bums while we waited for the masses to exit. It was a good plan.
That tree is so beautiful – daytime, up close, and oh my goodness at night! What I didn’t realize is that there are several different stories to witness, each one starting every few minutes. Between shows, the tree remains partly “alive” and you see different animals moving around. But the stories are the main attraction and they are just beautiful. I’d have loved to have stayed and watched until I was sure I had seen them all, but I made a deal with DS that we would leave after a total of 3 cycles. I just could not get enough.
We left at about 9:45pm and made it back to our resort by 10. We were all tucked in by 10:30, happy with a relaxed but full day of Animal Kingdom and ready to rest up for a late night at Magic Kingdom on Wednesday.
I want to pause for a moment and just say how wonderful Animal Kingdom is. With the night time activities, and now Pandora (oh my gosh I can’t even wait!!), this park is really giving Magic Kingdom a run for its money for top ranking in my heart. It is fast becoming a park that calls for at least 1.5 days of touring. There is nothing not to love here, except maybe that even on a “slow” day the park can still feel busy because the pathways are relatively narrow, comparatively speaking. But the whole feel of the place is just beauty and wonder and I feel at peace there. I can’t believe that my old self, when planning our first trip to WDW back in 2010, contemplated skipping Animal Kingdom altogether because “we have zoos at home.” I’m ashamed to have ever thought that way. In fairness, I had never been and didn’t really understand that while the animal exhibits are important and not to be overlooked there is so much more to this park. It is such a place of beauty. I hope you plan to spend a lot of time here on your next trip. You won’t be sorry.
Next up: a late start (by design) and a late night at Magic Kingdom makes for a magical day!
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I love your reports! And I couldn’t agree with you more about AK. It is my peaceful place at WDW, too.
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Thanks for the new installment and the great photos…
I agree with you about AK…and am looking forward to being able to enjoy it at night on our next trip.
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Loving the report, and couldn’t agree with you more about AK. It surpassed MK long ago, and is about to topple EP as my favorite WDW park…
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From another AK lover, thanks for the fun reports! We easily spend two full days in AK, and next trip are planning 2-1/2. Between the animals, shows, music, exhibits, rides, food, overall atmosphere, and now Pandora and nighttime experiences, we never run out of enjoyment there.
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Thanks for continuing this! So many things I want to try here, including EE single rider and the Dole Whip Plus! Appreciate the time you’re putting into this report!
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Thanks for the latest fix!
For our January trip (we get to stay at AKL!!) we plan to go to AK everyday of a 10 day trip. We just love it and really want to spend as much time there as possible. A few trips back we only went for a half day and I actually had anxiety dreams about it! Never again!
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Love hearing about your trip - AK is my second favorite park – last trip we chose to RD AK 5 out of 8 days and then hop to a different park for the afternoon.
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I am sooo glad you didn’t abandon the report…I look so forward to reading your next day, I learned a lot about AK that I didn’t know…thanks for the great trip report,it really is very entertaining to read.
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Amazing pictures!! Thank you for continuing your report!!
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Once again, I love your report! Thanks!
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Beautiful pictures - beautiful writing. Please keep going!! 
Looking forward to hearing more!!
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I am still on the edge of my seat over here!
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Will try to add the next part by Sunday. Nice weather =outside!!
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Such a great trip report! I love your writing (and touring!) style 
We have always put AK to the bottom of our list on previous visits, but I can see with Pandora, ROL and the tree awakening, it may just creep up the list!
Can’t wait for the rest!
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I love that!!!