Saturday, September 22nd, 2018 - Day 2 “Sneak Attack”
Bugle called at 6:00 am or maybe even earlier (definitely felt an hour earlier due to timezones) with plans to rope drop FOP during the 8:00 am EMH. Guessing that DW was up even earlier, not sure what women do to get ready for so long, but I slept fine. DS and DD slept in their clothes for the next day for the most part so they could roll on out. We are a group of early risers with everyone up on weekends before 8:00 am…except me, and I could control me.
DS wasn’t having the graham crackers (not a big breakfast eater) because they were a different name-brand than he was used to at home, and DD liked the Almond Butter Biscuits just fine. Can you tell which child is the easy one right now? 
Older troops grabbed something quick from BC-QS. Overall this Trip General was wholly unimpressed with QS at Beach Club, but none of the troops complained.
We arrived at AK and were waiting for the bag check to open. I got this picture of a sleepy DS at 7:00 am. Notice we are at the front of the turnstiles. Early Bird-WIN!
The 50-60ish female cast member kept my kids “in line” literally and figuratively. She joked around with them until the tapstiles opened. Even gave them a “Don’t forget to hydrate” playing card-size that was cute.
Troops thought I was joking when I said, “I need you to all hold another person’s backpack or arm when we are walking.” We fell back a few rows of folks at each stopping point as DW is short-legged and midwestern nice (should have trained her elbows pre-trip), but the troops all caught on and I led the march forward as they held on for dear life in the sea of humanity.
We were still part of the first show. On and off FOP by 8:10 am heading to NRJ when everyone thanked me for getting them up early as the FOP line snaked toward Africa and they deemed it the best ride ever. As expected NRJ was a short wait of 10 minutes or so…underwhelming, but calming after FOP with the highlight of the gorgeous life-like shaman. Banshee-WIN!
Safari was next and lovely with no wait, with my only complaint being the inflection of the driver’s voice. Something about the lilt at the end of every sentence got to me. I’ve been told I have early onset grumpiness, what can you do.
Moved on to our first FP+ Expedition Everest which was a blast. Being as it was September, and Pre-SW:GE 
, DS and DD went through the single rider line 3 times while DMIL, DW and I rested by the exit.
We met up with DWC around 9:30 am or 10:00 am on the way into Dinoland. Rode Dinosaur with a FP+ as well as Primeval Whirl. Neither of the kids made a big fuss about carnival games, or showed interest in TriceraTop Spin, so we skipped that and went to spend some time in the Boneyard. DD enjoyed it even at almost 12 years old. Was a good chance to rest the feet some more for DW, DMIL and myself.
By then it was time for an early lunch and the thing that DFB vlog got me the most hyped for. BBQ Cheese Fries from Flame Tree BBQ. They did not disappoint. After a messy BBQ lunch we decided to wash up in the Kali River Rapids with a 5-10 minute wait. We actually stayed very dry, but I planned this right before our mid-day break in case of a needed wardrobe or boot change.
As planned we headed back to BC for a well-deserved mid-day break around 11:30. Kids laid low in the darkened room, but nobody napped. DW also liked to freshen up some of her clothes midday every day. Muggy, humid, TMI. Just a good air-conditioned respite, even on the bus. Leaving to get on the bus back to AK by around 2:30 pm.
We had plans to hit the 4:00 pm FOTLK which we really had to make on time due to our mid-day break and ADR. DMIL had just gifted everyone a ticket to the Lion King Broadway show for Christmas, but this was just as good as I remembered it was in 2004 and stands up to Broadway just fine.
After that was Tusker House which was the first time to see characters. The kids actually declined using our FP+ to meet Mickey and Minnie at mid-day. In planning I asked extensively how important seeing characters were, or which ones do you want to make sure you see, and both DD and DS said “Eh….we are fine.” Well DS loved the non-talking characters and DWC tipped us off to mess with Donald by holding up two fingers (Mickey is #1, Donald is #2). Interaction-WIN! Donald and Goofy played some hide and seek, Daisy was a delight and the food was good too. DS spilled his soda on me, but my pants were quick-dry and all was fine.
DD was laughing so hard.
After dinner we walked on the Gorilla Falls Trail. DS definitely slow played each viewing spot. He just did not want to move on he was so enthralled with all of the animals. If we had more time we would have done more trail walking for sure. That was a question mark in my planning the whole time, and the evidence was right there. After that was TtBaB with no wait, which was great IMO, but I enjoy all the 4-D shows in each park.
We started camping out for 8:00 pm ROL by 7:25 pm and were rewarded with great seats and some interaction with a performer in the preshow. As she came right up to DS and had a bit of a staring contest.
ROL is very pretty, but the projections on the water spray got “old” to me after a while (again early onset grumpiness #EOG). Afterward, we checked out the Tree of Life on our way out of AK with another solid day under our belts.
Day 2 was another success, with really short waits all around (FOTLK may have been the longest at 20-30 minutes). The banshee and all other animals conquered we went to bed dreaming of flying. Tomorrow will be a two-pronged attack.
I knew she could head back to the room/resort at any time and she would have if she didn’t want to miss all the fun.
