The Big Trip, part 2: Disney World! (cont.)





[Note: same as the last post. If you don't want to read about Disney World, just skip it and enjoying feeling culturally superior. Pbbbt.]

On to Thursday, in slightly less detail. The plan was as follows: Get to Animal Kingdom around opening time (9:00), do Expedition: Everest, the Safari Tour, Dinosaur, and the Finding Nemo live show, and then head back to the hotel for lunch, naps, and a relaxing afternoon by the pool.

The plan did not include Owen and Eric sleeping until almost 8:30.

Suffice it to say that that rather modest list of attractions (even with Fastpasses for Everest and Dinosaur), plus lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, took us until almost 4:00. In 100-degree heat.

I will say that (1) Everest is seriously good; (2) the safari tour delivered spectacularly on the promised animal sightings; (3) the Nemo show was very cool; and (4) I had forgotten how much fun Dinosaur was (Eric and I had only been to Animal Kingdom once, way back in 2001). So there was a pretty high satisfaction level despite it being another long day. And while I would not choose to eat at the insanely noisy and overpriced Rainforest Cafe without kids, Owen probably thinks it is the greatest restaurant he has ever visited. Animatronic elephants and gorillas!! In! the! Restaurant! I mean, really, what more could one want?...


Around 4, we boarded the bus back to Pop Century, and Owen promptly fell asleep. We had some late afternoon naps followed by time at the pool and playground and a very late dinner. Mom and Dad had tickets for Cirque du Soleil, and Patrick opted to go over to Hollywood Studios to ride the Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster a couple times each, so it was just the three of us for the evening. We spent the last part of the night packing up and wishing we were staying longer.

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