Day 12: (Near) Death By Rafiki and FOP
Good morning folks! I briefly thought I laundered my Apple Watch last night, but it turns out I didn’t, so I went to bed feeling like a winner. We had a bit of a late start to the morning so we arrived at Animal Kingdom after 9:30. The park seemed VERY crowded. The cast member at the tapstiles even apologized for the bottleneck and said “we have a LOT of people here today” which was slightly concerning.
Safaris had a 45 minute wait, so I booked a DAS and decided to take Henry to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. I hadn’t been since my first trip in 2018, and hadn’t seen the renovations…and Henry likes trains, so I figured it would be a nice, low crowds option. They don’t allow strollers on the train, and it’s very hard for me to carry Henry and fold the stroller we have, so I opted to leave behind our stroller and diaper bag (including the fan, mister fans, bottles, cooling towels, and my drink)…which turned out to be a BIG mistake.
We walked around the Conservation Station for a little while, but there were no seats to watch the animation experience and it was far too hot to visit the goats. I don’t think Henry would be able to follow directions yet anyway so the petting zoo could be dangerous at his age. We wandered around the animal care exhibits just long enough to get some AC, and walked back to the train station just as the train was pulling away. Bummer, but we were among maybe 15 people waiting, so I figured we’d be on our way soon. The train was delayed for quite some time, and the station kept filling up with people. They made 3 announcements, so I estimate it was delayed about 20 mins. I was beginning to feel dizzy and I had a headache - I was worried I might get heatstroke or Henry would be affected by the heat. He seemed OK but I never know.
Fortunately, shortly after I promised myself that after 10 more minutes I would ask a cast member for help, the train was fixed and we were on our way back to Harambe. We got the stroller and walked immediately to Zuri’s Sweet Shop where I made Henry a bottle and made a plan. I didn’t think it was smart to go on the safari right away, and there wasn’t quite enough AC in the shops (due to the doors being open), but fortunately the Tusker House walk up list had only a 10 minute wait.
I must have looked pathetic enough that the host took pity on me and let me bring in the stroller. Henry *hates* restaurant high chairs for some reason (he’s ok at home and our airbnb) and just wants to be held. He’s ok in the stroller for a short time. I figured it would be impossible to navigate the buffet without the stroller, too. We were seated near the back section, where only two other tables had patrons seated. The servers were fantastic and kind, and we had some good character experiences here too - Henry wasn’t too interested in them today but Donald persevered and got some smiles Henry also loved the “Jambo” song and we danced to it twice!
I didn’t really get to eat much but I had a drink and some much-needed AC so it was fine. Henry enjoyed the ham, salmon, potatoes, tater tots, and bacon He even munched on a green bean or two.
After lunch, we boarded the safari and took our patented Safari Nap. I made an attempt to use the rocking chairs in the baby care center, but it seems plenty of folks had the same idea, so we headed out of the park instead. By the time we left it was 107 in the parking lot!!! I burned my hand a bit on the car door. Florida is NOT joking around this summer.
I dropped off the boy and did a Target pickup and had a bath to cool off. Since we had a late night last night, the boys had a “Boys Night In” and I went for a solo DAK/EP extravaganza.
I parked at 4:35 at DAK; by 4:52 I was in line for Dinosaur. The temp was down 96, feels like 105. (Oof does that mean the “feels like” from earlier was 116???) I was off by 5:03. It was darker than I remembered- I’d love to ride that lights-on one day!!
The single rider for Everest wasn’t available, sadly, but the wait wasn’t too bad. I hopped in line at 5:17 and off at 5:26. That one was less rough than I remembered, yay, although the prayer flags at the top were gone for some reason.
I decided I didn’t want to get soaked on KRR, so I walked to Pandora and used my DAS and ILL to ride FOP twice. They were experiencing some delays, so I exited at 6:58 and made the journey back to my car and EPCOT.
It’s too bad that DAK is closing before sunset; I miss seeing Pandora in the dark! Such a big part of that land is the bioluminescence
I arrived at GOTG, my goal for the evening, shortly before 8, with an hour to park close…the line for ILL didn’t seem to be moving, but I was able to finish by 8:40 and head home. It was another great ride, but we got “Disco Inferno” again.
The ride designers definitely targeted me, a completionist and music person, when they put a 6 track playlist…must…complete…
Good morning folks! I briefly thought I laundered my Apple Watch last night, but it turns out I didn’t, so I went to bed feeling like a winner. We had a bit of a late start to the morning so we arrived at Animal Kingdom after 9:30. The park seemed VERY crowded. The cast member at the tapstiles even apologized for the bottleneck and said “we have a LOT of people here today” which was slightly concerning.
Safaris had a 45 minute wait, so I booked a DAS and decided to take Henry to Rafiki’s Planet Watch. I hadn’t been since my first trip in 2018, and hadn’t seen the renovations…and Henry likes trains, so I figured it would be a nice, low crowds option. They don’t allow strollers on the train, and it’s very hard for me to carry Henry and fold the stroller we have, so I opted to leave behind our stroller and diaper bag (including the fan, mister fans, bottles, cooling towels, and my drink)…which turned out to be a BIG mistake.
We walked around the Conservation Station for a little while, but there were no seats to watch the animation experience and it was far too hot to visit the goats. I don’t think Henry would be able to follow directions yet anyway so the petting zoo could be dangerous at his age. We wandered around the animal care exhibits just long enough to get some AC, and walked back to the train station just as the train was pulling away. Bummer, but we were among maybe 15 people waiting, so I figured we’d be on our way soon. The train was delayed for quite some time, and the station kept filling up with people. They made 3 announcements, so I estimate it was delayed about 20 mins. I was beginning to feel dizzy and I had a headache - I was worried I might get heatstroke or Henry would be affected by the heat. He seemed OK but I never know.
Fortunately, shortly after I promised myself that after 10 more minutes I would ask a cast member for help, the train was fixed and we were on our way back to Harambe. We got the stroller and walked immediately to Zuri’s Sweet Shop where I made Henry a bottle and made a plan. I didn’t think it was smart to go on the safari right away, and there wasn’t quite enough AC in the shops (due to the doors being open), but fortunately the Tusker House walk up list had only a 10 minute wait.
I must have looked pathetic enough that the host took pity on me and let me bring in the stroller. Henry *hates* restaurant high chairs for some reason (he’s ok at home and our airbnb) and just wants to be held. He’s ok in the stroller for a short time. I figured it would be impossible to navigate the buffet without the stroller, too. We were seated near the back section, where only two other tables had patrons seated. The servers were fantastic and kind, and we had some good character experiences here too - Henry wasn’t too interested in them today but Donald persevered and got some smiles Henry also loved the “Jambo” song and we danced to it twice!
I didn’t really get to eat much but I had a drink and some much-needed AC so it was fine. Henry enjoyed the ham, salmon, potatoes, tater tots, and bacon He even munched on a green bean or two.
After lunch, we boarded the safari and took our patented Safari Nap. I made an attempt to use the rocking chairs in the baby care center, but it seems plenty of folks had the same idea, so we headed out of the park instead. By the time we left it was 107 in the parking lot!!! I burned my hand a bit on the car door. Florida is NOT joking around this summer.
I dropped off the boy and did a Target pickup and had a bath to cool off. Since we had a late night last night, the boys had a “Boys Night In” and I went for a solo DAK/EP extravaganza.
I parked at 4:35 at DAK; by 4:52 I was in line for Dinosaur. The temp was down 96, feels like 105. (Oof does that mean the “feels like” from earlier was 116???) I was off by 5:03. It was darker than I remembered- I’d love to ride that lights-on one day!!
The single rider for Everest wasn’t available, sadly, but the wait wasn’t too bad. I hopped in line at 5:17 and off at 5:26. That one was less rough than I remembered, yay, although the prayer flags at the top were gone for some reason.
I decided I didn’t want to get soaked on KRR, so I walked to Pandora and used my DAS and ILL to ride FOP twice. They were experiencing some delays, so I exited at 6:58 and made the journey back to my car and EPCOT.
It’s too bad that DAK is closing before sunset; I miss seeing Pandora in the dark! Such a big part of that land is the bioluminescence
I arrived at GOTG, my goal for the evening, shortly before 8, with an hour to park close…the line for ILL didn’t seem to be moving, but I was able to finish by 8:40 and head home. It was another great ride, but we got “Disco Inferno” again.
The ride designers definitely targeted me, a completionist and music person, when they put a 6 track playlist…must…complete…