Animal Kingdom

Day #3 - we were tired this morning as there was an extra magic hour at Animal Kingdom which basically means that anyone staying at a Disney Resort could go into the park an hour early at 8:00am!  Which meant getting up almost an hour early so we could eat and be there at the opening!

Because we didn't have fast passes for the evening light show (shown in an open auditorium with spaces outside to see it very limited), we decided to make it an earlier day and not stay for the evening!

The crowd level was predicted to be a 3 out of a 10 and we were excited about that, although this park is not as large as the others.  And yes, we had a plan of attack - race to our first ride (the second most popular in the park) to get it rode before the big crowd arrived!!

Our first ride was the Navi River Journey in the NEWLY opened branch of Pandora (based on the movie Avatar!!)  The reviews on this ride and the other one were fantastic so we were excited!!  It was a river boat journey - nice and slow - through the land of Pandora!!  It was awesome - rather dark with beautiful flowers and strange looking plants!!  We got there and basically walked on the ride which we were thrilled about!!  LOVED that ride and could have easily rode it again if the lines weren't so long!!

Here we are in front of the Tree of Life!  There were people there taking photos so we FINALLY got a great group photo!!

Because Expedition Everest didn't have a long wait line, we decided to slip over to that part of the park and ride it - all but me of course!!  You wouldn't DARE catch me on this ride!!  They all loved it except Aleah!

Back over to Dino Land - Glenn and I grabbed some extremely strong coffee and let the kids ride a couple of rides several times as the big crowd hadn't been let in yet!!  The kids enjoyed looking in the shops and also finding pressed penny places to make pennies!

We walked down one jungle trail which found us by a meet and greet of Chip and Dale so I captured some cute photos of the family!

Dinosaur was our first fast pass and it didn't disappoint!!  We did "It's A Bug's Life" and the kids loved it - it's one of my favorite too and it's underneath the Tree of Life - how cool is that?

We had an early lunch at Yak and Yeti - something different than the usual fare and we enjoyed sesame honey chicken and rice.  And a great frozen strawberry lemonade drink!!

The Kilimanjaro Safari was out next fast pass and the kids enjoyed seeing the animals from the truck!  It's a great ride but if you've been to the zoo a lot, it's not much different.  We enjoyed the "Finding Nemo" production and all laughed when Robby fell asleep and started snoring!!

And FINALLY it was time for our last fast pass and the ride we'd been waiting on all day - Flight of Passage at the Pandora section.  I had read that you get on a device that kind of looks like a stationary bicycle - and that's exactly what we did.  You are strapped in well with 3D glasses on and when the ride began, it was like OH MY GOSH!!!!  It felt like you were riding on one of the huge birds in Avatar - dipping down into canyons and by the water and then back up in the air!! The soft bags around your legs made it feel like the "bird" was breathing!!   The ride was totally amazing and there aren't enough adjectives to describe it!!  We all LOVED it and I can sure see why the line stays at 90 to 120 minutes all day long - that's why you HAVE to get a fast pass!! 

It was the FIRST fast pass I went after when I was allowed to book them 60 days in advance - I was on the computer at the exact time I could get on and the earliest fast pass I got for the 6 of us was 2:45pm!!!  That's how fast the fast passes go for that ride!!  But I have to say, it was SO worth it!!

Here's a picture in the land of Pandora and you can kind of see what the features look like!

We enjoyed the production of The Festival of the Lion King and decided to call it a day after that!

But one more cute picture by the dinosaur!!

The journey back to the bus line is always long but we got on the bus right away and back to the hotel!  Glenn napped - Parker and Robby stayed in the room - Aleah swam while Jill watched her enjoying some quiet time!  We all met for dinner at the hotel dining area and ate outside which was nice!  Some relaxing time in the room before bedtime was just what we all needed before our last day at Epcot!!