WDW Day 5

Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Highlights: Animal Kingdom, Tusker House, Fantasia Gardens mini golf, Artist's Palette

No more relaxation. We were heading to Animal Kingdom and for early extra magic hours. When we got in, the turnstiles were broken so there was a very large crowd gathering at the entrance of the park. They dealt with the problem rather quickly and before we knew it, we were in and making our way around Discovery Island. We headed straight for Expedition Everest to get our fast passes and were actually able to get more than we needed because half of my family was not interested in riding. After that we took a ride and said "Jambo" at Kilimanjaro Safaris. It was early in the morning so I was hoping we would see more animals than we would later in the day. Sure enough, I was right! I got a bunch of good photos of elephants, giraffes, Thompson's gazelle and a lazy warthog, among others. The safari is always a family favorite. Afterward, we headed back to Expedition Everest to ride twice. I got a little queezy going backwards the second time but was a trooper. After riding, we headed to Finding Nemo - The Musical to meet the rest of our family. They were already sitting in the crisp air-conditioned auditorium so we found some room next to them and were ready for the show. The costumes and scenery had such vibrant colors and the puppets were so animated. It was Dad, Mom, AR and UG's first time seeing it and they really were pleased. After the show, I needed food. We had burgers at Restaurantosaurus and they really hit the spot. Then we hit Dinosaur, Festival of the Lion King and It's Tough to be a Bug. Then we decided to walk through Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and view Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade before our reservation at Tusker House. It is the first Disney parade I have actually seen in a few years.

At Tusker House, Dad made a lot of disappointed noises while eating. He is really not into the African food that they serve there. I liked some of it but would have rather eaten at Boma or Jiko. The hummus was a little too watery for my liking but I had a bottle of Safari Amber that I could only get at Animal Kingdom or AK Lodge so, that was pretty special. With that, Animal Kingdom came to a close and without riding Kali River Rapids, unfortunately.

Back at the room, I passed out for a little bit on the couch but got up with enough time for TK and I to go play mini-golf at Fantasia Gardens. We played the fairways course and it was HARD. I wasn't expecting to win and almost had a temper tantrum because I was not playing up to par, pun intended. After a hurtful loss, we headed back to the resort and I took a walk down to Artist's Palette to scoop up a snack for TK and I. I got TK a chicken and artichoke flat-bread and myself a pepperoni flat-bread and refilled my refillable mug with Coke Zero. I even got a free sugar cookie because our flat-breads took way too long and one of the chefs felt bad for me. After my walk back to the room with heat lightning darting across the sky, we ate and headed to bed. Tomorrow we are going to Magic Kingdom with another wonderful time to be had.