What an amazing trip report- totally worth the wait!
Also, I have been lurking following your family’s story while I had been planning my family’s trip. You are so inspirational both in terms of planning and in terms of showing such fortitude in the face of adversity. I wish you and your family only the best. Thanks for letting us follow along.
Your pics are STUNNING. What a great second day!! I’ve been eagerly awaiting updates to your report! Thanks for taking the time to write it - can’t wait for the rest!
There are some seriously awesome photos in that post. Why withdrawn?
Who took the ground-level Main Street photo?
Also, fantastic shot of the dragon!
Your night photos are so clear and crisp. What kind of camera were you using for this trip? I’m especially impressed by the water screen Bambi photo.
I don’t love ROL either. If it fits our plans and we feel like ending on a chill note, we do it. If not, it’s quite skippable to me.
That would be PP’s new iphone. Not sure which one it is, but its the newest one.
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Due to probable user error (that would be my clumsy fat fingers), my Day 3 post was deleted. It was 2 comments above this one. I’m reposting it below.
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DAY 3 (MON OCT 28): ANIMAL KINGDOM
Sleep night before: 7h26m (2h34m total sleep deficit)
Steps: 26,197 (72,591 total)
Miles: 12.9 (35.8 total)
Weather: 75-91°F (record high), 50-90% humidity (heat index ~100°F in afternoon)
Crowd Level: 2 (predicted) 2 (actual)
~6:00AM More typical morning, with everyone waking up and eating breakfast by 6:30. I was better about warning everyone that this would need to be an early morning, and we should try hard to get to the park by 8. The morning plan was packed and timing was critical.
7:14AM Boarded the bus to AK (30m later than I had planned), through security, walking to Pandora, and in standby line for Na’vi River Journey (NRJ) around 7:50. Waited about 15 minutes before riding. Really cool theming, but as others have said, not much to it really. The animatronics are amazing though. Definitely worth a short wait, but like the other dark rides, it would pain me greatly to wait 60+ or 90+ minutes. Walked at a brisk pace to Kilimanjaro Safari (KS), where we had to wait a solid 15-20 minutes just because the jeeps weren’t running yet.
8:45AM Rode KS. We were in the 5th or 6th jeep of the day. Saw just about everything except for lions. Lots of giraffes, elephants, and rhinos, some really close to the jeep. This was a great experience, but not significantly better than going to a good zoo, which we are lucky to have near our home. So, we decided it probably wasn’t worth repeating in the evening (had a FP+ for around sunset).
9:12AM PP, DS4 and I booked it back over to Pandora to ride Flight of Passage (FOP) using a FP+, while others watched Tam Tam Drummers and walked over to Discovery Island to meet some characters and watch “It’s Tough to Be a Bug!” if there was time. This was all part of TP adjustments #10&11 . The original plan had been to do Discovery Island right after NRJ, then split up for FOP and meet up at KS, but we got to the park late and I didn’t want the lines for KS to build too much. Anyways, FOP was amazing as expected, but it was the one ride the whole trip that made me nauseous. I was surprised by this, because I normally don’t get motion sickness. As much fun as the ride was, I may not ride it again when I return in January. Sacrilege, I know…
9:50AM Met up with others on Discovery Island, met Dug and Russell around 10:00, then headed back to Africa for Tusker House breakfast+lunch (unofficial “brunch”).
10:28AM ADR at Tusker House, met Goofy, Donald, Daisy, and Mickey in safari outfits, got all 4 autographs, boys did the Conga Line with Goofy, ate amazing breakfast food, then got a few lunch items to top off. Delicious food. Got my first Mickey Waffle, which one of my co-workers had been hyping for months. Really good, but not worth that ridiculous hype. Sorry Brad, if you ever read this… This was a top 3 meal on our trip, maybe 2nd best behind Be Our Guest. Allergen Menu: full printed version provided at table.
11:30PM Finished brunch with plenty of time to make it over to Festival of the Lion King for FP+ entry. Show started at 12, we were in the elephant section. The first of several really great stage shows we saw at WDW. It would be hard to rank them, but this was definitely in the mix for #1, along with the Nemo musical, Indiana Jones, Beauty and the Beast, and the Frozen Sing-a-long.
12:54PM Boarded Bus to WL, long break in the room, not sure exactly what we all we did. No naps except for DD1.
3:55PM Boarded bus back to AK. We rushed to the Nemo Musical to catch the last showing at 4:30. Made it with about 5 minutes to go. Amazing show, and excellent in musical form! The kids loved the bubbles coming from the ceiling.
5:04PM Played in the Boneyard for about an hour. The boys loved it. Then they discovered the sandbox area across the bridge that goes through big dinosaur skeleton and the fun started all over. The sandbox has a huge mammoth skeleton that you can excavate. Personally fun for me, as I was a kind of paleontologist in my former “academic” life (before I turned to the dark side, AKA industry). As we started to leave for dinner, the CM overseeing the sandbox told us we could take the sand buckets with us if we wanted to. Unique souvenirs for the boys… I had planned to ride Expedition Everest via single rider while the kids were in the Boneyard, but I decided to stay with them and just ride it in January during my solo trip ( TP adjustment #12) . Good call on my part, as I would have missed all the sandbox fun.
6:20PM Ate dinner at Flame Tree BBQ (mobile order). Great food and atmosphere. There was almost no one here. It was very strange. Our only neighbors were several long-billed birds that were eagerly waiting to steal our food. Allergen menu: available in the mobile order app
6:41PM The original plan was to use a FP+ for a sunset Kilimanjaro Safari, but we spent more time in the Boneyard than expected and we also didn’t feel the need for a second safari. So, we stayed in Dinoland and rode TriceraTop Spin ( TP adjustment #13) . Kids loved it. So did DW. Just another midway ride to me. Nothing special.
7:00PM Arrived at Rivers of Light (VIP) and watched show at 7:30. This was a brutal 30-minute wait for us. For the last 10 minutes, all 3 kids were pretty much just done and complaining. DD1 was crying. The bench seats were extremely uncomfortable and there was not enough room – I had to sit a little crooked so my knees weren’t touching the person in front of me. The sun was setting though and there was a huge thundercloud with lightning on the horizon so it was a beautiful scene otherwise. The show was so-so. The projections on the water screens were pretty cool, but other than that it was just an extremely elaborate water fountain show like in Vegas or Dubai. Worth seeing once, but not sure I’ll see it again in lieu of rides. However, I wasn’t in much of a mood to watch it by the time it started, so I’m sure my attitude colored the experience.
8:08PM Boarded bus to WL, prep for tomorrow, crash
Thinking about my January trip, and I know you’re the person to ask this (to get the answer I’m looking for). Would you rush through a light dinner at Nomad to make it to ROL, or just relax at Nomad a little longer and skip ROL? (I already know the answer, but I need validation…
)
PP?? Peter Pan?
You know what I’m gonna say 
Do not rush the sacred space when there’s nobody with you to rush you.
Father-in-law-who-goes-by-PawPaw
My younger kids love the Boneyard but I am not a fan. I’m always finding a kid and then turning around to discover I’ve lost two more. 
Sounds like a great day! I mayyyy like Nemo more than FotLK but it’s close. They are both so good!
@PrincipalTinker @missoverexcited can you “undelete” my day 3 post above? Not sure why it got deleted.
I think it is all set now?
I moved the photos to the proper place in the day 1 and day 2 posts.
Yes thank you. Not sure what happened. I removed a previous comment, but the system also removed the day 3 one. Weird…
Gotcha.
Can I ask, is your child contact reactive to the allergens? I am hoping for colder weather for our January trip so I can put my son is jeans and long sleeves.
No, fortunately he’s only had reactions to direct consumption. Maybe we’ve been lucky there has never been significant cross contamination, but we’ve also never had issues with “made in a facility where [allergens] are present”.
I really like your addition of TP modifications. I may do that next time! Another great day!
JordanRunner, I am really enjoying your trip report. We were there the same time and I had interacted with you when you shared your plans previously.
We were actually at MK the same day you were so I was looking for us in your pics! It’s funny because our favorite pic is our GS4 on 7DMT laughing – so delighted. Best ever just like yours - definitely need to frame that one.
And we were supposed to be at Tony’s with the Parade package at the same time you were but we cancelled due to the heat. I am sorry now after seeing your great pics. Kids are adorable!
@sbbradshaw I’ve enjoyed your report too! Yeah just our luck it was record breaking temps until near the end of our trip. We survived though. And good to know what it would feel like if we go during the summer sometime in the future.
