After our super relaxing day the day before, I was shocked when I woke up feeling a bit run down. I guess the build up to the wedding and then a few busy days at the parks had finally caught up with me. Nothing a little lie in and sunshine couldn’t help fix though.

 

 

We drove to Animal Kingdom with the roof down enjoying the morning’s weather.

As we weren’t planning on staying all day at the park and with me not feeling 100% we decided it was easier if we drove ourselves.

We arrived about 10.30am and after grabbing a map and taking an obligatory picture with The Tree of Life we decided to head straight to Festival of the Lion King – a 30 minute musical extravaganza showcasing the best songs from the film, we loved it.

 

As we had fast passes booked for the bigger rides after lunch, we went back to The Tree Of Life to watch It’s Tough To Be A Bug as this had barely any wait time, it’s meant for kids but I jumped a couple of times from the creepy crawlies under my chair!

We decided to keep walking anti clockwise (away from the crowds) and ended up in DinoLand U.S.A. which wasn’t too busy, probably due to the fact that Dinosaur the ride was closed for refurbishment.

Personally, I don’t feel that DinoLand is that exciting and it looks a bit tacky with the funfair style games and big brightly coloured rides. But it’s great for kids who love dinosaurs as they have the huge boneyard play area and then TriceraTop spin which is basically a dinosaur themed Dumbo ride.

The only other attraction in this area is Primeval Whirl. A spinning family friendly roller coaster. This had a 40 minute wait time but we decided to join the queue as I think Matt was ready for something a bit bigger then It’s Tough To Be A Bug 😉

I’m not going to lie I felt a bit scared queuing for this ride, as you know I hate roller coasters and even though this one wasn’t actually that big, the thought of drops and spinning made me fear I might be sick. Also doesn’t help that you are just watching the ride go round and round while queuing which made me more anxious!

The line moved quickly though and soon enough it was our turn. Matt used the GoPro on this ride and I really wish I knew how to upload the video as it makes me laugh so much. I am constantly screaming but actually I really enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun and the spinning weirdly made it better.

We had fast passes for Finding Nemo the Musical so that was next on our list, it came at the right time too as we were absolutely melting from the humidity, so an air conditioned theatre was just what we needed! This show was amazing, all done with puppetry it was visually stunning and had some really catchy songs too.

I was starting to flag a bit by this point and as I hadn’t fancied eating breakfast I was starting to feel quite hungry. We hadn’t booked anywhere for lunch as most places in Animal Kingdom seemed to be quick service, so we made our way around to Africa to Harambe Market. It was pretty busy as it was right in the middle of lunchtime but I managed to grab us a table in the corner, next to a fan hooray, while Matt kindly stood in the long queue, in the heat to get our lunch. Thanks Matt!

The food options are a bit random but Matt went for the corndog and I had the vegetarian stack which was roasted peppers, aubergine, courgette and onions with coleslaw. It was nice to have a rest in the shade and refuel, as it was just so hot.

We had fast passes for the Kilimanjaro Safaris after lunch, and we were lucky enough to see quite a few animals on our journey including rhinos, lions, giraffes and even elephants to name a few.

 

Afterwards we made our way over to Asia, as we had fast passes for the Kali River Rapids.

Unfortunately though we still ended up in a pretty long queue, clearly a popular time for them! We felt that the actual rapids themselves were pretty boring and over really quickly, which was such a shame, as we love water rides, but these are nothing like the Popeye rapids at Universal which are so much fun. Even though we got pretty wet and had a much needed cool down, we were a bit disappointed with them, especially after queuing for so long too!

The only ride left to do, which I had been debating over all day was Expedition Everest. A very big roller coaster, and we all know how I feel about those! I kept seeing it from a distance thinking no way it’s too high and then I would have a talk with myself and say no you have to do this, you have to face your fears. Matt also really wanted to go on it and didn’t want to ride alone, so he kept asking me to go on it with him. But I just didn’t know. In the end I stood watching it from the viewing point for ages and decided I just couldn’t do it. The drop, the going backwards in the dark, none of it sounded appealing and it just terrified me. I felt bad for Matt and he still tried to persuade me to get on it but in the end he rode alone. Sorry Matt! The only positive of that was he didn’t have to join the 45 minute normal queue, instead he joined the much shorter single rider line and he was back again within 10 minutes! I also managed to get some great pictures of him on the main drop and he was happy having gone on all the rides available, that day.

As the park was really busy and we had done all the rides and shows available (the only things we missed were all the animal encounters you could walk around and the train which I believe goes around the park) we decided to call it a day and drove back to the hotel, eating some delicious Mickey Mouse Ice Creams along the way!

That evening we decided to drive to Disney Springs as we hadn’t ventured there yet. The weather had once again taken a turn for the worse (it seemed to be an afternoon/evening thing!) so was a mixture of rain and thunder and lightening, yet still very hot.

We had tried and failed to get a dinner reservation for The Boathouse, which looked absolutely stunning on the water. Make sure you book way in advance for popular dining options! However we did manage to secure a reservation at The Dining Room at Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe.

It’s quite a small restaurant located above the Wolfgang express cafe, overlooking Lake Buena Vista where we had a great display of the lightening.

Matt went for the sashimi starter which he said was amazing and I chose the crab cakes which were so tasty. For mains I had the crispy pork schnitzel which was enormous and came with potato salad, tomatoes and a really yummy sauce, I didn’t manage to finish it all though. Matt went for the roasted duck breast which unfortunately he said was pretty bland, so wasn’t too impressed and said he wished he had stuck to the sushi which was delicious. For dessert we shared Wolfgangs famous apple strudel with cinnamon ice cream which was so comforting. In the end I was totally stuffed.

We spent the rest of the evening leisurely walking around all the shops that Disney Springs had to offer, and there are a lot! Including a huge LEGO Store and World of Disney – The World’s largest Disney store!

Love, Chloe xx