A Savanna, A Wizard, and Oodles of Food - AKL/DxDP/WWoHP (COMPLETE!)
- Thread starter SimplyGoofy
- Start date
SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
Frozen, all the way! I actually liked both, but I thought the frozen was much better. Anika definitely preferred the frozen - I don't think she's a fan of carbonation!
Wow, it feels like I've been waiting for this update for months.
OMG Jenny, you're a wizard by getting Anika to drink the Butterbeer. That just goes to show how good Butterbeer really is.
I don't think I've read a bad review of 3 Broomsticks. For a QS, it all looks fantastic.
I know, right? And you only had to wait eight more months for the next update (coming shortly!).
I couldn't believe that not only was I able to get her to try Butterbeer, I then had to fight to get my drink back! It WAS magical! (However, I give all the credit to Harry.)
That lunch was great. I would definitely go there again!
Welcome back to the DIS boards. Glad to see a post!
Three Broomsticks looks like a cool place to eat. DH and I are definitely heading to Universal next October and we can't wait to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I'm still not so sure about the butter beer.
Thanks! The Wizarding World was fantastic - and you get to look forward to Diagon Alley, too! I would try the Butterbeer - you may be surprised by how much you like it. (If Anika liked it, it must be pretty darn awesome!)
SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
Have you gone on your trip yet? If so, I hoped you loved the lodge! I thought that resort was fantastic!
Joining in really late but all caught up!
You've had such a range of ADR choices, it's a shame you didn't get to try Raglan RoadI'm looking forward to trying that restaurant in July!
Test Track is a favourite of mine (and my families) too and just like you and your sister can ride it multiple times in a row!
Your trip to the WWoHP looked lovely and you got your sister to drink the ButterBeer! I can tell your Harry Potter fan with all your detailed photos!
Can't wait to read more
I'm bummed that we missed Raglan Road! It's definitely on the Disney bucket list.
The Wizarding World was fantastic - hooray for the magic that pushed Anika outside of her beverage boundaries!
Thanks so much! I hope you had a fantastic time at Islands of Adventure and were able to soak up a lot of Harry Potter!
SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
Eek! It's been just shy of nine months since my last update - this is getting ridiculous. At least you can't call me a liar - I'll be safe by one whole day to make my "won't make you wait for nine months" promise from my last apology update. 
I'm going to try and sludge along on this report anyway - even though our trip was from 2012 and this report was started in 2013!
I love keeping a record of this magical vacation, and hope some things may be useful to all you despite all the changes that have occurred in the World (Fastpass+, restaurant additions, ride subtractions, etc.).
Here's try number three - hopefully I won't be out!
Welcome or welcome back!
I'm going to try and sludge along on this report anyway - even though our trip was from 2012 and this report was started in 2013!
I love keeping a record of this magical vacation, and hope some things may be useful to all you despite all the changes that have occurred in the World (Fastpass+, restaurant additions, ride subtractions, etc.). Here's try number three - hopefully I won't be out!
Welcome or welcome back!
SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
The Rest of the Island
Day 5 - Part VI
We managed to tear ourselves away from the world of Harry Potter in order to see what the rest of Islands of Adventure had to offer.
Our first stop was renting a locker at the front of the park. We had multiple bags with wands, clothes, candy, and other assorted souvenirs that I had NO desire to lug through the entire park.
That task out of the way, we headed over this way:
In order to ride this:
It was a pretty fun ride! I didn't get any additional pictures as this was another locker attraction and I chose not to break out the fanny pack.
Unfortunately, Spiderman was down for refurbishment, so we headed further back to Toon Lagoon:
I had to take a picture of Blondie with my favorite blondie:
I also couldn't miss a picture of this guy:
I LOVED this show growing up! I was only able to watch it at my grandparent's house as I never had cable when I was younger. (I also dated myself as Anika had never heard of Heathcliff!)
Our next attraction of choice was Dudley Do Right's Ripsaw Falls.
After seeing a few trip reports (not to mention all the actual people coming off the ride!), Anika and I broke open two ponchos Id brought with me. I had no desire to be sopping wet and walk with squishy shoes for the rest of the day. We got a few strange looks from the folks in line as it was a beautiful, sunny day, but boy were we glad we had those ponchos! I think the looks of bafflement turned to looks of envy from our ride companions once the ride was over! Anika was also pretty pleased that she didnt have to walk around looking like a drowned rat after the ride.
Despite the drenching that may occur, I do highly recommend the Rip Saw Falls! The theming was well done, and it was a very colorful ride. (Perhaps a bit too colorful - I almost wonder what the ride designer and art director might have been on while they were designing that ride )
One water ride down, one to go!
I'm a huge Jurassic Park fan, so I was pretty thrilled to get a chance to ride with dinosaurs. Several of them seemed pretty friendly:
Others, not so much:
That was seriously the last picture I took on this ride. No pictures of the T-Rex at all.
Anika didn't want to wander through the Jurassic Park welcome center, so we continued on.
(continued in next post)
Day 5 - Part VI
We managed to tear ourselves away from the world of Harry Potter in order to see what the rest of Islands of Adventure had to offer.
Our first stop was renting a locker at the front of the park. We had multiple bags with wands, clothes, candy, and other assorted souvenirs that I had NO desire to lug through the entire park.
That task out of the way, we headed over this way:
In order to ride this:
It was a pretty fun ride! I didn't get any additional pictures as this was another locker attraction and I chose not to break out the fanny pack.
Unfortunately, Spiderman was down for refurbishment, so we headed further back to Toon Lagoon:
I had to take a picture of Blondie with my favorite blondie:
I also couldn't miss a picture of this guy:
I LOVED this show growing up! I was only able to watch it at my grandparent's house as I never had cable when I was younger. (I also dated myself as Anika had never heard of Heathcliff!)
Our next attraction of choice was Dudley Do Right's Ripsaw Falls.
After seeing a few trip reports (not to mention all the actual people coming off the ride!), Anika and I broke open two ponchos Id brought with me. I had no desire to be sopping wet and walk with squishy shoes for the rest of the day. We got a few strange looks from the folks in line as it was a beautiful, sunny day, but boy were we glad we had those ponchos! I think the looks of bafflement turned to looks of envy from our ride companions once the ride was over! Anika was also pretty pleased that she didnt have to walk around looking like a drowned rat after the ride.
Despite the drenching that may occur, I do highly recommend the Rip Saw Falls! The theming was well done, and it was a very colorful ride. (Perhaps a bit too colorful - I almost wonder what the ride designer and art director might have been on while they were designing that ride )
One water ride down, one to go!
I'm a huge Jurassic Park fan, so I was pretty thrilled to get a chance to ride with dinosaurs. Several of them seemed pretty friendly:
Others, not so much:
That was seriously the last picture I took on this ride. No pictures of the T-Rex at all.
Anika didn't want to wander through the Jurassic Park welcome center, so we continued on.
(continued in next post)
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SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
(continued from previous post)
Wait, how did we end up back in Hogsmeade?
There were a few great views of the Wizarding World from the back entry bridge:
As it was getting warmer by the minute, we needed a cool drink. Time for more Butterbeer!
I ducked once more into the sweet shop in order to grab this beauty:
It's a Cauldron Cake, and it was FABULOUS! Seriously, if you like chocolate even a little bit, you need to try this! We were still pretty full at this point, so we had them pack it in a box and we brought it back to our resort to enjoy later. It was a wonderful afternoon treat!
We also enjoyed a few more photo-ops around Hogsmeade:
Finally, it really was time to say goodbye. Until next time, Wizarding World! Stay magical!
While wistfully looking back, we were also excited about what was ahead:
Why hello, Seuss Landing!
We took a spin on the Caro-seuss-el:
And also visited our favorite cat. (Other than Heathcliff. Or Garfield. Or Marie? Okay, how about our favorite Seuss cat?):
I really love the cart dark rides, and this one was no exception. I tried multiple times to get pictures of fun things, but most of the time I had a big, blurry result. So, I'm afraid no pictures.
Having hit most of the "must do" items in Islands of Adventure, we said goodbye:
Up Next: Onward to Universal Studios!
Wait, how did we end up back in Hogsmeade?
There were a few great views of the Wizarding World from the back entry bridge:
As it was getting warmer by the minute, we needed a cool drink. Time for more Butterbeer!
I ducked once more into the sweet shop in order to grab this beauty:
It's a Cauldron Cake, and it was FABULOUS! Seriously, if you like chocolate even a little bit, you need to try this! We were still pretty full at this point, so we had them pack it in a box and we brought it back to our resort to enjoy later. It was a wonderful afternoon treat!
We also enjoyed a few more photo-ops around Hogsmeade:
Finally, it really was time to say goodbye. Until next time, Wizarding World! Stay magical!
While wistfully looking back, we were also excited about what was ahead:
Why hello, Seuss Landing!
We took a spin on the Caro-seuss-el:
And also visited our favorite cat. (Other than Heathcliff. Or Garfield. Or Marie? Okay, how about our favorite Seuss cat?):
I really love the cart dark rides, and this one was no exception. I tried multiple times to get pictures of fun things, but most of the time I had a big, blurry result. So, I'm afraid no pictures.
Having hit most of the "must do" items in Islands of Adventure, we said goodbye:
Up Next: Onward to Universal Studios!
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SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
The Other Universal Park
Day 5 - Part VII
With the Islands of Adventure and the fantastic Wizarding World of Harry Potter under our belt, it was time to put that 2-park ticket to use.
Hello, Universal Studios!
I had been to Universal Studios once before about six years ago. I came to Orlando a few days early when I had a work conference, and chose to visit the Kennedy Space Center and Universal rather than Disney (I know, what was I thinking?!). I actually really enjoyed Kennedy, but all I remember from Universal was being hot and miserable. We were there in July, it felt like five hundred degrees, and I knew NOTHING about touring strategy so we waited in many long, long lines. That was NOT happening this time!
I knew I wanted to ride The Simpsons Ride (as it wasn't there six years ago), and I knew Anika would like The Mummy. First, we were super exciting and sat on a bench and had a bucket of popcorn.
Disney popcorn, it's not.
Nonetheless, it did its job, and we were on our way to our first Studios attraction:
Anika was a bit underwhelmed by the whole deal. I think it's interesting, but agree it did seem rather out of date. After all, Twister was made in 1996!
However, I do love these cows:
Next up was The Mummy!
Its unfortunate that this was locker attraction number four of the day, so I don't have any pictures of the interior of the ride. It's rather dark in there, so perhaps they wouldn't have turned out, but it is an awesome adventure! I'm afraid with the appearance of Harry Potter and his multiple rides The Mummy isnt quite as awesome (by comparison) as it once was, but I'd definitely encourage you to give it a try. Anika and I rode it twice!
One scary adventure with a mummy down, another scary adventure with a group of aliens was up:
I LOVE the movie Men in Black! So much so that I carried my camera along on this ride to get a few random shots:
I didn't take any during the middle of the ride - I was busy protecting Earth from aliens.
Finally, it was time for the Simpsons Ride!
This was GREAT! It is a little bizarre that they pair you up with random strangers (as the cart you ride in has pretty close quarters), but it was a super fun ride.
The last Universal attraction of the day was all for Anika:
This girl LOVES I Love Lucy. She owns every season on DVD and was super excited to see this exhibit. I'm pretty sure we were the youngest people in there!
If you have even the smallest interest in Lucille Ball or the show, I highly, highly recommend taking a walk through this exhibit. It's quite well done and there are tons of fun things to see, including:
I loved that scale version of the set! They also had multiple scripts from the show it was pretty neat to see the actors' notes in them!
No trip to an exhibit about ones favorite show is complete without a few souveniers:
Yes, she absolutely bought the hat. She even wore it to school for a dress like a character day! I'm pretty sure that keychain is attached to her keys to this day. Anika LOVED going here - I'm pretty sure it was the highlight of her day.
Once we wrapped up Lucy, we decided we were done for the day. We'd been going strong for five straight days and really needed a nice, long afternoon break.
This is when I ran into the questionnaire girl.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have no problem providing some feedback. I'm especially excited to provide feedback when I've had a great experience. The gal was asking questions about the Lucy exhibit so I was happy to answer a few quick questions.
Except they weren't quick questions. This survey went on. And on. And on.
Finally, I'd had enough. I told her we had somewhere to go. This girl was determined not to let me go until we'd gone through her whole bloody survey! "Just a few more questions!" she pleaded several times.
And this, folks, is why I love Disney more than Universal. I'd had a very nice time that day, but that annoying girl at the end put a bad taste in my mouth. She was so businesslike, so invasive, and so un-magical. She pulled me right out of my magical theme park bubble. I realize Universal isn't supposed to be magical per se, but it still should have some wonder and non-real life quality to it.
Le sigh.
We trooped our way out of Universal, back through Citywalk, and returned to our rental car. Goodbye, Harry Potter!
Final Thoughts - Universal Parks
Aside from my last ten minutes, Anika and I had a really fun day at both parks. Universal has great attractions, good food, and plenty of things to do. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is AMAZING and that alone was worth the price of our admission tickets. The rides were phenomenal, the food was great, and the world they created was downright magical. Now that they've added Diagon Alley I would love to visit Universal again to see how they one-upped themselves with that new area. That said, our day at Universal did reaffirm for me that Im a Disney gal though and through.
Up Next: Dinner at Jiko
Day 5 - Part VII
With the Islands of Adventure and the fantastic Wizarding World of Harry Potter under our belt, it was time to put that 2-park ticket to use.
Hello, Universal Studios!
I had been to Universal Studios once before about six years ago. I came to Orlando a few days early when I had a work conference, and chose to visit the Kennedy Space Center and Universal rather than Disney (I know, what was I thinking?!). I actually really enjoyed Kennedy, but all I remember from Universal was being hot and miserable. We were there in July, it felt like five hundred degrees, and I knew NOTHING about touring strategy so we waited in many long, long lines. That was NOT happening this time!
I knew I wanted to ride The Simpsons Ride (as it wasn't there six years ago), and I knew Anika would like The Mummy. First, we were super exciting and sat on a bench and had a bucket of popcorn.
Disney popcorn, it's not.
Nonetheless, it did its job, and we were on our way to our first Studios attraction:
Anika was a bit underwhelmed by the whole deal. I think it's interesting, but agree it did seem rather out of date. After all, Twister was made in 1996!
However, I do love these cows:
Next up was The Mummy!
Its unfortunate that this was locker attraction number four of the day, so I don't have any pictures of the interior of the ride. It's rather dark in there, so perhaps they wouldn't have turned out, but it is an awesome adventure! I'm afraid with the appearance of Harry Potter and his multiple rides The Mummy isnt quite as awesome (by comparison) as it once was, but I'd definitely encourage you to give it a try. Anika and I rode it twice!
One scary adventure with a mummy down, another scary adventure with a group of aliens was up:
I LOVE the movie Men in Black! So much so that I carried my camera along on this ride to get a few random shots:
I didn't take any during the middle of the ride - I was busy protecting Earth from aliens.
Finally, it was time for the Simpsons Ride!
This was GREAT! It is a little bizarre that they pair you up with random strangers (as the cart you ride in has pretty close quarters), but it was a super fun ride.
The last Universal attraction of the day was all for Anika:
This girl LOVES I Love Lucy. She owns every season on DVD and was super excited to see this exhibit. I'm pretty sure we were the youngest people in there!
If you have even the smallest interest in Lucille Ball or the show, I highly, highly recommend taking a walk through this exhibit. It's quite well done and there are tons of fun things to see, including:
I loved that scale version of the set! They also had multiple scripts from the show it was pretty neat to see the actors' notes in them!
No trip to an exhibit about ones favorite show is complete without a few souveniers:
Yes, she absolutely bought the hat. She even wore it to school for a dress like a character day! I'm pretty sure that keychain is attached to her keys to this day. Anika LOVED going here - I'm pretty sure it was the highlight of her day.
Once we wrapped up Lucy, we decided we were done for the day. We'd been going strong for five straight days and really needed a nice, long afternoon break.
This is when I ran into the questionnaire girl.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have no problem providing some feedback. I'm especially excited to provide feedback when I've had a great experience. The gal was asking questions about the Lucy exhibit so I was happy to answer a few quick questions.
Except they weren't quick questions. This survey went on. And on. And on.
Finally, I'd had enough. I told her we had somewhere to go. This girl was determined not to let me go until we'd gone through her whole bloody survey! "Just a few more questions!" she pleaded several times.
And this, folks, is why I love Disney more than Universal. I'd had a very nice time that day, but that annoying girl at the end put a bad taste in my mouth. She was so businesslike, so invasive, and so un-magical. She pulled me right out of my magical theme park bubble. I realize Universal isn't supposed to be magical per se, but it still should have some wonder and non-real life quality to it.
Le sigh.
We trooped our way out of Universal, back through Citywalk, and returned to our rental car. Goodbye, Harry Potter!
Final Thoughts - Universal Parks
Aside from my last ten minutes, Anika and I had a really fun day at both parks. Universal has great attractions, good food, and plenty of things to do. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is AMAZING and that alone was worth the price of our admission tickets. The rides were phenomenal, the food was great, and the world they created was downright magical. Now that they've added Diagon Alley I would love to visit Universal again to see how they one-upped themselves with that new area. That said, our day at Universal did reaffirm for me that Im a Disney gal though and through.
Up Next: Dinner at Jiko
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SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
A Signature AKL Experience
Day 5 - Part VIII
After a rest, we got dressed up and ready for our next signature dinner - right in our own resort!
Time for dinner at Jiko! I was really looking forward to this ADR as so many trip and dining reports had excellent things to say about both their food and experience.
Our actual reservation was several hours later (as I didnt know what time we'd return from Universal). However, after resting for a bit, we were hungry and hopeful we could get in a little earlier. We were let right in after just a few minutes.
We started with Jiko's bread basket - a honey wheat and a flaxseed focaccia with a tandoori butter. They weren't Yachtsman's rolls, but they were pretty tasty and it was hard to keep ourselves from eating too much. We had three courses to eat!
Our first decisions involved choosing our drinks and appetizers. Anika, of course chose water. Since I was in a wine-centric restaurant, I was getting wine!
One thing I didnt consider was needing my ID in order to get my glass of wine. I look considerably younger than my true age (yes, Im sure I'll appreciate this later!), so they werent going to bring my wine until I presented my ID. As we were in our resort, all I'd brought to dinner with me was our Key to the World to pay for dinner. Whoops! Back up to the room I went to retrieve my ID.
One ID later, I had a delightful glass of white wine that was suggested by our server. I don't remember the name after all this time, but I do remember I liked (but didn't love) his suggestion. As such, he brought me a SECOND glass of wine to try, on the house. I think I could learn to love Jiko.
Our appetizer selections came out shortly after our drinks were delivered.
I ordered the Inguday Tibs in Brik, which is filo dough with mushrooms, spinach, and cheese. It also comes with a (spicy!) green apple salad:
Anika ordered the African-spiced Fire Roasted Chicken Flatbread, with cheese, bacon, and arugula, as well as peppadews and zough (both chili peppers):
Anika loved her flatbread, and I adored my appetizer. I love spanakopita, and these seemed like a different type of spanakopita with more interesting spices. The only thing I was not expecting was how darn spicy that apple salad was! It was very good, but it definitely had some zing to it.
Onto the entrees!
I chose the Braised Beef Short Rib, with butter-whipped potatoes, pearl onions, and baby carrots with a cabernet and blood orange sauce:
Anika chose the Seared Barbarie Duck Breast, with potato and spinach masala, trumpet mushrooms, and a port emulsion:
Our dinners were fabulous! Anika really enjoyed her duck (I couldnt believe she ordered duck!) and my short rib was perfect and fell right apart. We ate as much as we could, but unfortunely left a bit of food on our plates. This deluxe dining plan is hard to keep up with!
Dessert time! No surprise here - I ordered the dessert that involved chocolate, while Anika picked Jikos cheesecake. That girl rarely meets a cheesecake that she doesn't like.
My dessert was One Last Cup, Tanzanian chocolate and Kenya coffee mousse with cinnamon mascarpone and hot cholocate:
Anikas Madagascar Vanilla Cheesecake, with a chocolate crust and rhubarb sugared items:
As all we had to do to return home was walk up the stairs, I also got this beauty:
This was a Zebratini, with spiced rum, Godiva white chocolate liquor, Frangelico, Amarula, and espresso in a decorated glass. It was delish. Our desserts were also very tasty - despite being majorly full, we finished every last bit of both desserts. Anika especially loved the rhubarb component to her cheesecake - she thought it was very different!
Finally, here are a few pictures of Jiko's interior:
(Full disclosure - I took the interior pictures of Jiko on another day of our trip. Welcome to the advantage of dining at your resort!)
Final Thoughts - Jiko
What a phenomenal restaurant. As much as we enjoyed our time at Yachtsman, I think our food was better here. Every course was tasty, with the major standouts for me being the Tibs in Brik and the One Last Cup dessert. Major points to the waiter who gave me a free glass of wine! It's a fairly slow paced dinner, but it didn't seem nearly as slow as Yachtsman. I think the only negative is that the restaurant is a little dark however, this could be seen as a positive by diners looking for a romantic dinner location. This was our favorite signature thus far, but another may win the final prize from us. We would be delighted to return to Jiko!
Up Next: Pre-Opening Breakfast at Animal Kingdom
Day 5 - Part VIII
After a rest, we got dressed up and ready for our next signature dinner - right in our own resort!
Time for dinner at Jiko! I was really looking forward to this ADR as so many trip and dining reports had excellent things to say about both their food and experience.
Our actual reservation was several hours later (as I didnt know what time we'd return from Universal). However, after resting for a bit, we were hungry and hopeful we could get in a little earlier. We were let right in after just a few minutes.
We started with Jiko's bread basket - a honey wheat and a flaxseed focaccia with a tandoori butter. They weren't Yachtsman's rolls, but they were pretty tasty and it was hard to keep ourselves from eating too much. We had three courses to eat!
Our first decisions involved choosing our drinks and appetizers. Anika, of course chose water. Since I was in a wine-centric restaurant, I was getting wine!
One thing I didnt consider was needing my ID in order to get my glass of wine. I look considerably younger than my true age (yes, Im sure I'll appreciate this later!), so they werent going to bring my wine until I presented my ID. As we were in our resort, all I'd brought to dinner with me was our Key to the World to pay for dinner. Whoops! Back up to the room I went to retrieve my ID.
One ID later, I had a delightful glass of white wine that was suggested by our server. I don't remember the name after all this time, but I do remember I liked (but didn't love) his suggestion. As such, he brought me a SECOND glass of wine to try, on the house. I think I could learn to love Jiko.
Our appetizer selections came out shortly after our drinks were delivered.
I ordered the Inguday Tibs in Brik, which is filo dough with mushrooms, spinach, and cheese. It also comes with a (spicy!) green apple salad:
Anika ordered the African-spiced Fire Roasted Chicken Flatbread, with cheese, bacon, and arugula, as well as peppadews and zough (both chili peppers):
Anika loved her flatbread, and I adored my appetizer. I love spanakopita, and these seemed like a different type of spanakopita with more interesting spices. The only thing I was not expecting was how darn spicy that apple salad was! It was very good, but it definitely had some zing to it.
Onto the entrees!
I chose the Braised Beef Short Rib, with butter-whipped potatoes, pearl onions, and baby carrots with a cabernet and blood orange sauce:
Anika chose the Seared Barbarie Duck Breast, with potato and spinach masala, trumpet mushrooms, and a port emulsion:
Our dinners were fabulous! Anika really enjoyed her duck (I couldnt believe she ordered duck!) and my short rib was perfect and fell right apart. We ate as much as we could, but unfortunely left a bit of food on our plates. This deluxe dining plan is hard to keep up with!
Dessert time! No surprise here - I ordered the dessert that involved chocolate, while Anika picked Jikos cheesecake. That girl rarely meets a cheesecake that she doesn't like.
My dessert was One Last Cup, Tanzanian chocolate and Kenya coffee mousse with cinnamon mascarpone and hot cholocate:
Anikas Madagascar Vanilla Cheesecake, with a chocolate crust and rhubarb sugared items:
As all we had to do to return home was walk up the stairs, I also got this beauty:
This was a Zebratini, with spiced rum, Godiva white chocolate liquor, Frangelico, Amarula, and espresso in a decorated glass. It was delish. Our desserts were also very tasty - despite being majorly full, we finished every last bit of both desserts. Anika especially loved the rhubarb component to her cheesecake - she thought it was very different!
Finally, here are a few pictures of Jiko's interior:
(Full disclosure - I took the interior pictures of Jiko on another day of our trip. Welcome to the advantage of dining at your resort!)
Final Thoughts - Jiko
What a phenomenal restaurant. As much as we enjoyed our time at Yachtsman, I think our food was better here. Every course was tasty, with the major standouts for me being the Tibs in Brik and the One Last Cup dessert. Major points to the waiter who gave me a free glass of wine! It's a fairly slow paced dinner, but it didn't seem nearly as slow as Yachtsman. I think the only negative is that the restaurant is a little dark however, this could be seen as a positive by diners looking for a romantic dinner location. This was our favorite signature thus far, but another may win the final prize from us. We would be delighted to return to Jiko!
Up Next: Pre-Opening Breakfast at Animal Kingdom
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DisneyKid4Life
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2013
Well... well... well... WELCOME BACK JENNY!!! I sure do hope you finish up this time because I know for a fact that there was AT LEAST one more trip since this (and possible more) that needs to be written about. Just sayin'.
Oh yeah, Universal's water rides are no joke.
Even though you didn't get a picture, how cool is that T-Rex?
Can't lie... Kinda loving that you both rode the Caro-seus-el.
Ah Twister. I do like the finale, but find it such a chore getting to that point.
But the Mummy. Still one of my absolute favourites in all of Orlando. I just flat out love this ride and would never ever miss it.
You know I have never gone into the Lucy Tribute. That's so funny (and yes quite cool too) that someone as young as Anika loves her so much. Big props to her for that.
For future reference, and this will work (at least it does with Disney surveys), right at the start tell them you are from Canada. That'll be the end right there. And yes, I'm serious.
Honestly, they may very well have upped themselves with Diagon Alley. And I will add one more thought as, while I've always loved the Universal theming and rides, I was always a little less impressed with the "Team Members". A lot has changed over there, trust me.
Yup, you will DEFINITELY appreciate being ID'd later in life, lol.
So great to get more updates Jenny!!! Please don't disappear again!!
Oh yeah, Universal's water rides are no joke.
Even though you didn't get a picture, how cool is that T-Rex?
Can't lie... Kinda loving that you both rode the Caro-seus-el.
Ah Twister. I do like the finale, but find it such a chore getting to that point.
But the Mummy. Still one of my absolute favourites in all of Orlando. I just flat out love this ride and would never ever miss it.
You know I have never gone into the Lucy Tribute. That's so funny (and yes quite cool too) that someone as young as Anika loves her so much. Big props to her for that.
For future reference, and this will work (at least it does with Disney surveys), right at the start tell them you are from Canada. That'll be the end right there. And yes, I'm serious.
Honestly, they may very well have upped themselves with Diagon Alley. And I will add one more thought as, while I've always loved the Universal theming and rides, I was always a little less impressed with the "Team Members". A lot has changed over there, trust me.
Yup, you will DEFINITELY appreciate being ID'd later in life, lol.
So great to get more updates Jenny!!! Please don't disappear again!!
vleeth
I heart Disney
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2006
Oh-oh!And We're Off!
(Do you smell the foreshadowing?)
You even get to see the Weasleys Ford Anglia:
That is awesome! If I had known that was there we would have gone through the line just to see it.
(continued from previous post)
Its a Cauldron Cake, and it was FABULOUS! Seriously, if you like chocolate even a little bit, you need to try this! We were still pretty full at this point, so we had them pack it in a box and we brought it back to our resort to enjoy later. It was a wonderful afternoon treat!
Up Next: Onward to Universal Studios!
I'll have to try that next time!
Wonderful report!
MEK
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- May 8, 2005
Back to finish up.
I didn't realize its been 9 months between updates! I hope you are here to stay now!
I have to comment on the Butterbeer. I know so many people love it. What's the attraction? I picture it as something sickening sweet. I guess I just have to try it myself.
Once again - loved the Universal pictures. It really does look like there is so much to do there.
You meal at Jiko looks so good. And that zebratinii. I totally want one of those!
I didn't realize its been 9 months between updates! I hope you are here to stay now!
I have to comment on the Butterbeer. I know so many people love it. What's the attraction? I picture it as something sickening sweet. I guess I just have to try it myself.
Once again - loved the Universal pictures. It really does look like there is so much to do there.
You meal at Jiko looks so good. And that zebratinii. I totally want one of those!
SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
Not completely done reading your update, but those pictures from Universal are just amazing. What a fun day. You really got a lot done. That cauldron cake is too cute. Who knew?
I really can't wait to visit there.
The cauldron cake was AMAZING! Highly, highly recommended.
I thought their first Harry Potter park was pretty darn phenomenal. Now that they've added a SECOND section I may have to return...
Thanks - it's great to be back! I promise not to disappear again! (And your memory is very good - I do have another trip to write about once I finally finish this one!)
You're not kidding - Universal's water rides are crazy! They're well done, but you certainly get wet!
I love any kind of Carousel - even if it's been "Seussed" up. Anika definitely rode that one for me.
Good to know about claiming Canadian residency in order to avoid the surveys! I was born in Minnesota and can pull out a Canadian accent if I need to.
(I honestly don't mind surveys if they're brief, but that girl was driving me nuts.)As mentioned to Mary Ellen, the addition of Diagon Alley may tempt my return...
Oh-oh!
That is awesome! If I had known that was there we would have gone through the line just to see it.
I'll have to try that next time!
Wonderful report!
Thanks for joining (even though I'm SO BEHIND!
)Yes, that snowstorm was so ill-timed. That winter had been so nice to us - of course it had to break out the big guns the morning of our departure!
It's amazing how many items they wove into the queue lines. It just proves you need to walk through them all in order to see everything!
Absolutely try it - it was great!
Back to finish up.
I didn't realize its been 9 months between updates! I hope you are here to stay now!
I have to comment on the Butterbeer. I know so many people love it. What's the attraction? I picture it as something sickening sweet. I guess I just have to try it myself.
Once again - loved the Universal pictures. It really does look like there is so much to do there.
You meal at Jiko looks so good. And that zebratinii. I totally want one of those!
I hope I'm here to stay as well - I've missed you guys!
I think the main attraction with the Butterbeer is that it's straight out of the book - it makes you feel more closely connected. I didn't think it was too sweet - very similar to cream soda with a bit of a butterscotch edge. I preferred the frozen (as did Anika), but I would drink either one again. I would give it a try if you have a chance! Perhaps they'll let you have a small sample to see if you like it before buying?
There is a ton to do at Universal! We missed a few attractions and practically every show - so there's even more to do than I pictured. I think we had been go-go-going for so many days that we ran out of steam early that day.
Our meal was GREAT and that Zebratini topped it off beautifully. I'd be happy to return to Jiko!
SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
Goofy, You're My Favorite!
Day 6 - Thursday, February 9th
Our second pre-park opening breakfast was upon us!
Our early morning breakfast at Tusker House was the pre-park opening meal I was most looking forward to. The meal had a ton of positive buzz on the Dis as well as stellar dining reviews. We got to the bus stop plenty early, but of course saw every bus but Animal Kingdom. There was a pretty feisty family next to us that harassed the poor bus attendant about why there was not an Animal Kingdom bus - they had a breakfast to get to! (Not that I haven't gotten feisty myself from time to time, but it's not like that poor guy could do anything about it.)
An Animal Kingdom bus arrived shortly after the harassment incident and we were on our way. It's a very short trip from the Animal Kingdom Lodge to Animal Kingdom.
We were about to have a wild time!
This was the only park opening that the cast members had a hard time finding my reservation. I had been up with the masses 180 days prior, so I knew it was there - I ended up finding my own name and pointing it out to the cast member. We were in!
I can't get over how fun it was to walk into the parks when they were so quiet - there were so few people in these pictures!
I love the signs they have throughout Animal Kingdom:
It would be great if we were allowed to wander through the entire empty park, but we were moved along to our destination:
I LOVE the gateway to Africa - it's so full of detail!
I know it's mentioned on many a trip report, but they really did a good job of making you feel like you're surrounded by old buildings from somewhere else:
Ha! Love it!
We checked in at Tusker House and only had a short wait. We chose to skip our picture with Donald in order to head straight into the restaurant. It was pretty empty in our section of the restaurant:
Once we had our table we headed out to the central area for the food:
I didn't take a picture of every food cart, but this gives you an idea of the variety of available food:
The breakfast at Tusker House includes more traditionally slanted African fare like sweet potato casserole, beef bobotie, sweet plantains, and mealie pap. There are also fun items like bread pudding, frittatas, blintzes, and warm cinnamon rolls. For those with less adventurous palates, there is the usual scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and Mickey waffles. There really is something for everyone, so don't let the "unusual" items scare you away (and the "unusual" items are pretty darn tasty!).
Here are our plates, starting with mine:
My choices included spiced corn beef hash, scrambled eggs, banana cinnamon bread pudding with frosting glaze, bacon, a cheese blintz with cherry sauce, and oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon.
And Anika's plates:
Her plates included scrambled eggs, bacon, a Krispy Kreme donut, a Mickey waffle, coffee cake, and fruit.
I also got a glass of the passion fruit, orange, and guava juice, which is "Jungle Juice" at Animal Kingdom. The same juice is called "Liliko'i Juice" at the Polynesian restaurants. No matter what it's called, it's fabulous!
Finally, it was time for the characters! I was pretty excited about the line up at Tusker House, as they included Mickey, Daisy, and GOOFY! I adore Goofy - he's my favorite Disney character. (That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone here - have you seen my DIS name?)
Our first visitor was the main mouse:
I'll blame the early hour, but Anika was still giving me my favorite "Why are you taking pictures of me?!" face:
I love it!
Despite the fact she's not a big character fan, she still broke out a smile for Daisy:
Finally, it was time for Goofy!
He was so important that I even stood up. (That may have to do with the fact that he's so darn TALL, but nonetheless...
Even Anika stood for a picture with my favorite guy:
After our visits from the characters, we wrapped up our meal and headed out.
Final Thoughts - Tusker House
What an excellent breakfast! Both Anika and I loved the variety of food available, from the usual fare to the more interesting African-slanted dishes. Everything we ate was very, very good. We loved getting into the park early and getting another excellent seat near the character entrance. The characters they include are also top-notch - some of the top-names with above-average food. We would be thrilled to return to Tusker House and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Animal Kingdom!
It was just a few minutes to nine and we wanted to get on our way. As we were already in Africa, we had an obvious destination in mind...
Up Next: SO MANY animals...
Day 6 - Thursday, February 9th
Our second pre-park opening breakfast was upon us!
Our early morning breakfast at Tusker House was the pre-park opening meal I was most looking forward to. The meal had a ton of positive buzz on the Dis as well as stellar dining reviews. We got to the bus stop plenty early, but of course saw every bus but Animal Kingdom. There was a pretty feisty family next to us that harassed the poor bus attendant about why there was not an Animal Kingdom bus - they had a breakfast to get to! (Not that I haven't gotten feisty myself from time to time, but it's not like that poor guy could do anything about it.)
An Animal Kingdom bus arrived shortly after the harassment incident and we were on our way. It's a very short trip from the Animal Kingdom Lodge to Animal Kingdom.
We were about to have a wild time!
This was the only park opening that the cast members had a hard time finding my reservation. I had been up with the masses 180 days prior, so I knew it was there - I ended up finding my own name and pointing it out to the cast member. We were in!
I can't get over how fun it was to walk into the parks when they were so quiet - there were so few people in these pictures!
I love the signs they have throughout Animal Kingdom:
It would be great if we were allowed to wander through the entire empty park, but we were moved along to our destination:
I LOVE the gateway to Africa - it's so full of detail!
I know it's mentioned on many a trip report, but they really did a good job of making you feel like you're surrounded by old buildings from somewhere else:
Ha! Love it!
We checked in at Tusker House and only had a short wait. We chose to skip our picture with Donald in order to head straight into the restaurant. It was pretty empty in our section of the restaurant:
Once we had our table we headed out to the central area for the food:
I didn't take a picture of every food cart, but this gives you an idea of the variety of available food:
The breakfast at Tusker House includes more traditionally slanted African fare like sweet potato casserole, beef bobotie, sweet plantains, and mealie pap. There are also fun items like bread pudding, frittatas, blintzes, and warm cinnamon rolls. For those with less adventurous palates, there is the usual scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and Mickey waffles. There really is something for everyone, so don't let the "unusual" items scare you away (and the "unusual" items are pretty darn tasty!).
Here are our plates, starting with mine:
My choices included spiced corn beef hash, scrambled eggs, banana cinnamon bread pudding with frosting glaze, bacon, a cheese blintz with cherry sauce, and oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon.
And Anika's plates:
Her plates included scrambled eggs, bacon, a Krispy Kreme donut, a Mickey waffle, coffee cake, and fruit.
I also got a glass of the passion fruit, orange, and guava juice, which is "Jungle Juice" at Animal Kingdom. The same juice is called "Liliko'i Juice" at the Polynesian restaurants. No matter what it's called, it's fabulous!
Finally, it was time for the characters! I was pretty excited about the line up at Tusker House, as they included Mickey, Daisy, and GOOFY! I adore Goofy - he's my favorite Disney character. (That shouldn't be a surprise to anyone here - have you seen my DIS name?)
Our first visitor was the main mouse:
I'll blame the early hour, but Anika was still giving me my favorite "Why are you taking pictures of me?!" face:
I love it!
Despite the fact she's not a big character fan, she still broke out a smile for Daisy:
Finally, it was time for Goofy!
He was so important that I even stood up. (That may have to do with the fact that he's so darn TALL, but nonetheless...
Even Anika stood for a picture with my favorite guy:
After our visits from the characters, we wrapped up our meal and headed out.
Final Thoughts - Tusker House
What an excellent breakfast! Both Anika and I loved the variety of food available, from the usual fare to the more interesting African-slanted dishes. Everything we ate was very, very good. We loved getting into the park early and getting another excellent seat near the character entrance. The characters they include are also top-notch - some of the top-names with above-average food. We would be thrilled to return to Tusker House and would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Animal Kingdom!
It was just a few minutes to nine and we wanted to get on our way. As we were already in Africa, we had an obvious destination in mind...
Up Next: SO MANY animals...
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DisneyKid4Life
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2013
You make a GREAT point Jenny. I understand that people get frustrated at times in Disney. But so very often they take it out on the wrong person. And that really really bothers me.
I've only been in a park once prior to opening (MK for the Keys tour), but I so agree. Early entry is an experience unto itself.
Haha, I'd probably go with Anika's plate. More the traditional style.
YAY for Goofy!!!!
I've only been in a park once prior to opening (MK for the Keys tour), but I so agree. Early entry is an experience unto itself.
Haha, I'd probably go with Anika's plate. More the traditional style.
YAY for Goofy!!!!
SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
Not that I've never been frustrated at Disney, but usually I'm more internally frustrated at a situation rather than at a particular person. Other people's abysmal behavior really keeps you in check.
Early entry is AWESOME! We now need to do it at least once each trip!
That girl has yet to find a donut she doesn't like.
I love me some Goofy.
SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
The Best Safari EVER
Day 6 - Part II
Full of good food and happy from the good character meets, we headed out of Tusker House and to the rope blocking the way to the safari. We didn't have to wait long before they dropped the rope and we were on our way! There were a few people in front of us as we stopped for a Fastpass for a second ride later that day:
I know everyone posts a slew of safari pictures, so I tried really hard to scale them down to a small, manageable number. Secondly, I know many people say their safari was "Great!" and "It was the best one they ever had!" Pshaw. THIS was definitely the best one ever...
It started normally enough with your usual assortment of the rhinoceros, birds, ankole cattle, et. al.
I also love the surroundings on the Safari - Disney does such a great job with the landscaping!
I also can't miss a few photos of the elephants:
Or my favorite flamingos:
Up to this point it was your basic, typical safari. Then it got AWESOME.
Usually when the driver loops past the lions, you get a lovely view of the female lions lounging around and sleeping. The male lion? Hes nowhere to be found.
NOT TODAY.
Look at this guy!
He's awake!
Not only was he awake, after walking around for a bit... he stood right above us and let out a huge ROAAARRRR!!
I'm telling you, it was fantastic! I'm sure we held up more than a few safari vehicles as we didn't move for quite a while. I've never so much as seen the male lion, let alone heard him!
It's pretty hard to top an (1) awake, and (2) ROARING, lion, but it was nice to spot our buddy Pumba as well as drive RIGHT NEXT TO an ostrich (forgive the blurriness):
A few last shots of the safari before we left. No worries, friends!
Wow. What a fantastic first pick at Animal Kingdom! Although part of our choice was geographically based, I HIGHLY recommend going on an early morning safari. We saw TONS of active animals - many more than we usually see (and more than we saw on our afternoon safari). Not only that, we saw and heard the lion! Double win!
Up Next: More fun in Animal Kingdom
Day 6 - Part II
Full of good food and happy from the good character meets, we headed out of Tusker House and to the rope blocking the way to the safari. We didn't have to wait long before they dropped the rope and we were on our way! There were a few people in front of us as we stopped for a Fastpass for a second ride later that day:
I know everyone posts a slew of safari pictures, so I tried really hard to scale them down to a small, manageable number. Secondly, I know many people say their safari was "Great!" and "It was the best one they ever had!" Pshaw. THIS was definitely the best one ever...
It started normally enough with your usual assortment of the rhinoceros, birds, ankole cattle, et. al.
I also love the surroundings on the Safari - Disney does such a great job with the landscaping!
I also can't miss a few photos of the elephants:
Or my favorite flamingos:
Up to this point it was your basic, typical safari. Then it got AWESOME.
Usually when the driver loops past the lions, you get a lovely view of the female lions lounging around and sleeping. The male lion? Hes nowhere to be found.
NOT TODAY.
Look at this guy!
He's awake!
Not only was he awake, after walking around for a bit... he stood right above us and let out a huge ROAAARRRR!!
I'm telling you, it was fantastic! I'm sure we held up more than a few safari vehicles as we didn't move for quite a while. I've never so much as seen the male lion, let alone heard him!
It's pretty hard to top an (1) awake, and (2) ROARING, lion, but it was nice to spot our buddy Pumba as well as drive RIGHT NEXT TO an ostrich (forgive the blurriness):
A few last shots of the safari before we left. No worries, friends!
Wow. What a fantastic first pick at Animal Kingdom! Although part of our choice was geographically based, I HIGHLY recommend going on an early morning safari. We saw TONS of active animals - many more than we usually see (and more than we saw on our afternoon safari). Not only that, we saw and heard the lion! Double win!
Up Next: More fun in Animal Kingdom
Last edited:
SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
Yetis, Dinos, Bugs, and Fish
Day 6 - Part III
As we love our crazy rides, no big shock on our next attraction:
We're coming for you, Everest! First, a few small details from the queue:
I love the packs that are "abandoned" on the other side of the platform:
And, time to climb:
I LOVE the views from the top of this ride (Hey there, Epcot!):
Very happy (and chilly!) riders:
Followed by everyone's favorite "uh-oh!" moment:
I remember the first time I went on this ride (the 2007 trip) I was rather mystified when I reached this part of the ride. I was thinking, "Wait, does this part of the track rise up and then we swoop past it, or is there an invisible drop?!"
Yes! A BACKWARDS invisible drop!
Holy cow, Expedition Everest is fabulous! The theming throughout the whole ride is great, the views are fantastic, and the whole ride is so well done! Although I love many of the subdued elements of Animal Kingdom (the trails, the random animals...) this attraction is one of my favorites in all of Disney World!
The top two attractions down, we headed to the next big section of the park:
Up until this trip I'd not gone on one ride in "Dino-rama." I had no desire to ride Triceratop Spin (give me Dumbo any day), but I was curious about the other major ride in Dino-rama:
And my thoughts? LAME. I think part of the problem is they had such a short line (or rather, no line at all) so they sent Anika and I in our own car. We're not very big people so I don't think we added enough weight to make it spin. As such, we climbed and then floated around the ride. It had a few good moments, but not nearly the spinning excitement it should have had.
Moving on...
Time for Dinosaur! I know some people arent fans of this ride as it's rather bumpy (and super dark!), but we think it's a good time.
I definitely stepped aside in order to get a picture of that plaque. The CM standing nearby was pretty amused.
And here we are - my one and only picture from Dinosaur:
(Did I mention the ride is dark?!)
(continued in next post)
Day 6 - Part III
As we love our crazy rides, no big shock on our next attraction:
We're coming for you, Everest! First, a few small details from the queue:
I love the packs that are "abandoned" on the other side of the platform:
And, time to climb:
I LOVE the views from the top of this ride (Hey there, Epcot!):
Very happy (and chilly!) riders:
Followed by everyone's favorite "uh-oh!" moment:
I remember the first time I went on this ride (the 2007 trip) I was rather mystified when I reached this part of the ride. I was thinking, "Wait, does this part of the track rise up and then we swoop past it, or is there an invisible drop?!"
Yes! A BACKWARDS invisible drop!
Holy cow, Expedition Everest is fabulous! The theming throughout the whole ride is great, the views are fantastic, and the whole ride is so well done! Although I love many of the subdued elements of Animal Kingdom (the trails, the random animals...) this attraction is one of my favorites in all of Disney World!
The top two attractions down, we headed to the next big section of the park:
Up until this trip I'd not gone on one ride in "Dino-rama." I had no desire to ride Triceratop Spin (give me Dumbo any day), but I was curious about the other major ride in Dino-rama:
And my thoughts? LAME. I think part of the problem is they had such a short line (or rather, no line at all) so they sent Anika and I in our own car. We're not very big people so I don't think we added enough weight to make it spin. As such, we climbed and then floated around the ride. It had a few good moments, but not nearly the spinning excitement it should have had.
Moving on...
Time for Dinosaur! I know some people arent fans of this ride as it's rather bumpy (and super dark!), but we think it's a good time.
I definitely stepped aside in order to get a picture of that plaque. The CM standing nearby was pretty amused.
And here we are - my one and only picture from Dinosaur:
(Did I mention the ride is dark?!)
(continued in next post)
Last edited:
SimplyGoofy
"You are not Mickey Mouse... you are a rat!"
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
(continued from previous post)
We the two Dino-themed rides out of the way, we headed out of Dinoland:
(As an aside, isn't the Tree of Life awesome? The detail is phenomenal!)
We had an appointment with some (mostly friendly) bugs:
We picked up our snazzy 3-D glasses and were ready to go!
(Aside #2 - the ceiling in the waiting area of ITTBAB is GREAT! I'm sure many people around me appreciated that I used a flash for this picture...)
Okay, so the "3-D" doesnt make for great pictures, but I tried my best:
We also saw some friends (Hi, Flik!) and some non-friends (What's up, Hopper?):
Next up was an attraction neither of us had seen before:
I took Anika to see Finding Nemo when it was first released. I'm a huge sap when it comes to movies (or TV, or commercials, or pretty much anything), so I definitely started tearing up near the end of that movie. (There's no way I was alone here...) I was there with stoic Anika who doesn't cry at anything, even to this day. When her big sister starting crying, what did she do? The seven-year-old (!) Anika looked over at me, patted me on the arm, and said, "Don't worry, Jenny. It will be okay!"
I love that girl.
Getting back to our present Finding Nemo - the theatre is HUGE and we were able to walk right in. I loved the bubbles on each side of the stage:
Here are just a few shots from the show:
What a great show! I think I liked it more than Anika, but it was nice to sit down and watch such a wonderful visual spectacle (and the puppeteers are REALLY GOOD). If you haven't seen Finding Nemo, I'd recommend you give it a try!
We had time for one more attraction before lunch - Everest it is!
No shock here it was another great ride! (Is Everest ever not a great ride?)
It was time for lunch! Animal Kingdom is not swimming in food options (unlike, say, Epcot, which has so many good choices that it's HARD to narrow down the options) so we headed just next door to grab food.
Up Next: Lunch at Yak and Yeti
We the two Dino-themed rides out of the way, we headed out of Dinoland:
(As an aside, isn't the Tree of Life awesome? The detail is phenomenal!)
We had an appointment with some (mostly friendly) bugs:
We picked up our snazzy 3-D glasses and were ready to go!
(Aside #2 - the ceiling in the waiting area of ITTBAB is GREAT! I'm sure many people around me appreciated that I used a flash for this picture...)
Okay, so the "3-D" doesnt make for great pictures, but I tried my best:
We also saw some friends (Hi, Flik!) and some non-friends (What's up, Hopper?):
Next up was an attraction neither of us had seen before:
I took Anika to see Finding Nemo when it was first released. I'm a huge sap when it comes to movies (or TV, or commercials, or pretty much anything), so I definitely started tearing up near the end of that movie. (There's no way I was alone here...) I was there with stoic Anika who doesn't cry at anything, even to this day. When her big sister starting crying, what did she do? The seven-year-old (!) Anika looked over at me, patted me on the arm, and said, "Don't worry, Jenny. It will be okay!"
I love that girl.
Getting back to our present Finding Nemo - the theatre is HUGE and we were able to walk right in. I loved the bubbles on each side of the stage:
Here are just a few shots from the show:
What a great show! I think I liked it more than Anika, but it was nice to sit down and watch such a wonderful visual spectacle (and the puppeteers are REALLY GOOD). If you haven't seen Finding Nemo, I'd recommend you give it a try!
We had time for one more attraction before lunch - Everest it is!
No shock here it was another great ride! (Is Everest ever not a great ride?)
It was time for lunch! Animal Kingdom is not swimming in food options (unlike, say, Epcot, which has so many good choices that it's HARD to narrow down the options) so we headed just next door to grab food.
Up Next: Lunch at Yak and Yeti
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DisneyKid4Life
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2013
Hahaha, I still get thrown about "stopping for a fastpass". It's like going back in time.
Oh sweet. A moving Lion!!!! Yea, that is rare. Hearing him roar would have really got me.
I always try to do the Safari as early as possible for the exact reasons you mention. But that darned Everest won't let me.
Hmmmm, your experience on Primeval Whirl is odd. I wonder if your vehicle just sucked, because the spinning is the main element I think. I can't ride it without giggling like a 2 year old.
Awww you two make adorable bugs.
Oh sweet. A moving Lion!!!! Yea, that is rare. Hearing him roar would have really got me.
I always try to do the Safari as early as possible for the exact reasons you mention. But that darned Everest won't let me.
Hmmmm, your experience on Primeval Whirl is odd. I wonder if your vehicle just sucked, because the spinning is the main element I think. I can't ride it without giggling like a 2 year old.
Awww you two make adorable bugs.
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