Hey there’s no shame in that! Florida heat is debilitating! 
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Are there coffee makers in the rooms at Pop Century right now?..Inspired by your trip reports, I may or may not have booked a last minute trip. I plead the fifth.
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Yep, they were there! I do not claim any responsibility for enabling behavior 
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I thought you were allowed to leave and then come back if it broke down. Is this incorrect?
You can. But in our case, we were so close to the ride portion and we were in the AC that it didn’t make sense to get out of line. If we left the line, we’d be facing a much longer wait because the majority of people stayed in line. As the time drug on a few people did leave. If we had been farther back I would have.
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Day 3 – Animal Kingdom
Warning – picture overload alert
Park open was 8:00 am. We did not make it. After looking at wait times and seeing how empty the park was, we decided to sleep in and take it easy in the morning. We decided to take a bus vs lyft and got to the bus stop around 9:05. This was the line for MK – I made a mental note to avoid this on our MK day. Too many people for my taste! One thing I was acutely aware of during this trip - you have to continuously survey your surroundings and then make decisions that are within your comfort level.
The line for AK wasn’t nearly as long and we made it on the next bus that arrived after less than a 10 min wait.
We breezed through temp check, bag check and into the park. Much like EPCOT and HS, we didn’t have to empty bags or anything at AK. I could get used to this!
We grabbed a Wilderness Explorers book – we have never done this and thought low crowds would be a great time to try.
We earned our first badge learning about Flamingos
Our plan was to head to do the Safari first. But, much like our other days, we changed course because one of the wonderful CMs asked if we had seen the tortoise and because they are DH’s favorite we back tracked and headed down the discovery trail to see them.
This led to walking around the Tree of Life. Each time I go to AK, I am reminded of how much I love this park. All of the trails, the lush scenery, and scenic views – so nice to stroll around and enjoy. There was no one around so we had the trails all to ourselves
Is Nature Porn a thing?
If you are keeping track, we still haven’t made it to the safari. We based the Up! Great Bird Adventure – we have never seen this and it was 20 min til the next show but they were going to be seating soon so we decided to wait.
Visible cleaning between shows – I love seeing this, even wiping down the ropes!!
Similar to other theater shows, certain rows were marked off entirely and then some seats within the open rows were blocked off. I thought this was interesting since it is an outdoor theater but still glad to see.
We really loved the show. We don’t have anything to compare it to but it was fun, informative (loved the focus on behaviors) and entertaining. No Up! Characters which I think is a change but not sure when that changed.
I have never gotten my picture by this wall – with virtually no one around, I finally did!
Now, a few hours off schedule, we finally made it to the Safari!!
I wish I owned stock in plexiglass manufacturers!
We did get our own row on the safari vehicle and each row is separated by a divider.
We did have to keep masks on the entire ride – I think this is change from the previews or the first opening day. No taking masks off anymore which I think is a good thing and leads to consistency on other rides too.
Okapis are some of my favorites
I was live-streaming the whole safari and DH was on the side of the vehicle that didn’t have as great of views of the animals so we have no other pictures from the safari. But, lots and lots of good video. Great view of the cheetahs and giraffes. The only thing we didn’t see were the lions.
Next we decided to do the Gorilla Falls trail.
Baby Grace
We dodged a brief rain shower and continued our strolling around the park.
We were headed to lunch at Flame Tree BBQ and just missed the Birds in Flight but did get to see a couple of the birds
We mobile ordered and I went to scout out some seats. We almost always sit in the immediate seating area but I headed down the path and found a ton of open seats closer to the water. While I was waiting for DH to come with the food, I spotted the first boat with characters!! I love these so much.
Right on the heels of Pluto and Mickey came a boat with Donald
Timon and Rafiki
This really was the best spot to see the boats.
Pulled Port with Mac & Cheese…yum
Another storm blew in and it rained for close to 40 minutes so we took cover, enjoyed lunch and our view (even in the rain).
I simply love this seating area
Even though we had been here for quite some time, we had only seen the Up! Show and ridden the Safari. So next we headed to Pandora.
But got distracted again by the otters – they were out and so playful.
Also distracted by the scenery
And Dole Whip with Rum
Such a beautiful walk to Pandora
For people who think Animal Kingdom is just like a zoo…you are doing it wrong!
We finally made it!
Navi River 10 minute wait at 3:30 in the afternoon
The line moved quickly and we were on in just less than 10 min.
Next we headed to FOP which was posting a 15 minute wait time. It was basically walk on. 
Social distancing in the queue was good.
The awkward pre-show with the scanning for parasites doesn’t play, you are just handed glasses and then proceed into the next room. And then, unfortunately, the awkward pre-show video plays 
There were three parties total in the chamber. We did have a little longer wait here because they were wiping down the ride vehicles before we were seated.
The ride was great as usual and we decided to get back on and ride again. Another walk on. Great views from the queue!
We opted to skip a third ride because we wanted to hit up EE and Dinosaur, so we headed back toward Dinoland. I had wanted to stop at Nomad Lounge but it was already after 4 so it will have to wait until next trip.
Got some great pictures of the Kangaroos at the base of the Tree of Life
Obligatory Selfie
We took so many pictures today!! But, I just love them all
We went to Dinosaur and unfortunately, it was down and they didn’t know when it would be back up so we headed to EE.
As we approached EE, there was a posted wait time of 30 minutes and the line reached pretty far out. I didn’t want to wait and DH obliged so we decided to head out.
We weren’t really sure what to do for dinner. I checked MDE but there just weren’t a lot of options for TS in the park. Only Tiffins had availability and that would not be up DH’s alley so we figured we would either go back to the hotel or go to Disney Springs.
But, we passed Rainforest Café and it looked open. I wasn’t able to get make a reservation but went in to see if we could get in with the Landry’s Card and sure enough, we were seated less than 5 min later. I know a lot don’t like the food or atmosphere but for DH (who is a really picky eater) this was an easy choice.
We were able to catch a bus back to the hotel around 6:45 and had it all to ourselves!
Thoughts and Observations from today
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Love Animal Kingdom. Such a nice relaxing reprieve from the craziness of the other parks
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It is the perfect park to stroll around and just relax, even more so when there are so few people!
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I do miss the parks at night. Animal Kingdom has some great areas with colorful lighting and I love seeing it (I have a thing for colorful lights)
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This park felt so safe, so easy to socially distance and lots of visible cleaning (which, as you know, I like. Even if it is the equivalent of security theater, it works on me!)
Tomorrow is back for round 2 at Hollywood Studios (Spoiler Alert - one of us has a change in plans!)
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Your pics are gorgeous! It’s such a pretty park.
I am always in awe of how they made Animal Kingdom look like a jungle - especially the Asia area with Everest across the lake in the distance. So many colors you don’t normally see in this country. It’s amazing to think it’s still Florida even though it’s so much different from Epcot or MK! (Is there even foliage in HS? ) And it seems to be getting better - thicker, denser, more colorful - with every year.
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Animal Kingdom was our favorite park on our one and only WDW visit. I can’t wait to go back!
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There are some beautiful bougainvillea growing on trellis’ near/across from the ToT. I like to sit back there in the shade w/ a cold beverage while DS goes on the ride over and over and over and over and over. The last time I was there a couple of young boys started climbing the trellis and I told them to be careful cuz Bougainvillea have nasty long thorns.
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Some notes —
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It is such a joy to read your daily trip reports and to share in your experiences. Thank you for writing them.
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Your photographs — especially at AK — are superb and I have downloaded a few to pass off as my own. Thank you for taking them.
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I am bitter beyond measure that you are at WDW right now. If I could be there now I would be. It is so bizarre to literally not be able to fly to the US. Though I am scheduled to be there in October (a) there is no way to know if that trip will actually take place, and (b) I just know that, by then, WDW will be overcrowded and I won’t have the awesome experience you’re having. I hate you and I hope you drop your Dole Whip on the floor.
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I just LOVE you!!!
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This might have made me spit out my drink
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Thanks for the review and taking your time to fill us all in. Looking forward to the rest of your trip!
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This has always bothered us too. Despite it’s current popularity, it is still our least favorite park because it doesn’t have much shade or greenery! In the past, we have usually gone in June, and the heat is brutal. (We are dreading the even worse August heat if we go through with our upcoming trip.)
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I suppose the problem is that it is / was originally themed as a backlot in California. To be honest the gardening in actual backlots pretty sparse. Lots of asphalt and cement. Not the best framing for an attractive park. Glad they’re moving away from that but they need to add a more jungly feel to SWGE.
How does it compare to DLR’s SWGE? Have you been to both?
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I’ve been to the one in DLR and only seen WDW in pictures. I think they are comparable as far as foliage goes except WDW has the advantage of having Florida beyond the berm. DLR has I-5. 
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Thank you for the report! Love the pics. Makes me want to go so much. The low crowds/empty parks seem to offset the missing things (fireworks, parades) especially if this isn’t your first time.
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