November 8 - Animal Kingdom
We unpacked and then
headed to Disney Animal Kingdom after our breakfast. Since we left
the Pop Century late we didn't spend time in the Oasis, but headed
straight to the Kilimanjaro Safari. I hated having to give the Oasis
a miss. It's so beautiful
After the Safari we
walked the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. One of the Cast Members
was answering questions by the gorilla area. We told him about
seeing the gorillas playing super man the last time we were here.
They were running around with what looked like tarps. The CM
explained that when sheets at the resorts become thread bare they are
laundered and then sent over to Animal Kingdom to be played with by
any animals that would find them of interest. The gorillas love the
smell of the fabric softener. It's a special day for them when they
enter the exhibit area and find sheets draped over trees and bushes.
The animals fold them, sleep on them, play with them and carry them
around until the sheets fall apart.
Next we ate at the
new Harambe Market. Mom and I split a kids meal of ribs. Yes, the
meal was large enough to split. Suzanne's ribs were dryer and had
more bone. So her experience with the meal was totally different
than ours.
Festival of the Lion
King was next. I notified the CM that members of our party would
find the stairs difficult. We were escorted to a different section
so we didn't have to worry about stairs coming in or leaving the
show. It was nice not seeing the show from the Warthog section for a
change. The sound the entertainers make the audience do for the
Warthog section is hard on the sinuses.
We were on an Animal
Kingdom mug hunt. Our usual restaurant to pick these up was closed
for renovations. So we hunted around and finally found them at a
restaurant in the Dinosaur area. Low and behold they had the
special Halloween Haunted Mansion Ghost mugs available. Or I should
say that the mugs were on display above the cash registers. So,
thanks to Suzanne, Jeff now has one of those as well. (Yes there is
a story here about how Suzanne obtained the mugs from the CM, but
it's not for general audience.)
As always the
Maharajah Jungle Trek was full of animals and birds to photograph.
We didn't spend as much time as we wanted though. 20/20 hindsight
says we should have sat down on a bench for 20 minutes or so and just
gazed around us taking it all in. It's hard to get out of the “rush”
attitude we have back home.
After a lot of
walking in 30C heat we headed back to Pop Century. After a short
rest we headed to Disney Springs (formally Downtown Disney). We ate
at Earl of Sandwich since the Rain Forest Cafe had a 2 1/2 hour wait.
The Earl's offerings were great as usual.
We were disappointed
that nothing was decorated for Christmas at Disney Springs yet. When
we were there around the same time in 2013, everything was decorated
and Christmas music was being played.
Next we shopped for
a bit at the World of Disney. Then back to Pop Century for a Mai Tia
(Suzanne had wine).
We got into a
conversation with another guest in the elevator. He invited us to
come by and see the lights he and his family decorated their windows
with. He also checked out our window decorations and said he'd be
bringing his son by to check them out. He showed us a special
limited edition collector's pin celebrating the end of the Osborne
Lights at Hollywood Studios. This is the last year for the light
display. If he had not told us about the pin we wouldn't have known
about it. They are kept under the counter and have to be asked for.
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