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| Photo credit: Disney |
Monday morning we headed to Animal Kingdom for another 8:00 Extra Magic Hour. Animal Kingdom recently opened a new "land" called "Pandora,"
based on James Cameron's movie Avatar, which includes two headliner attractions, lots of bioluminescent scenery, and a new restaurant.
I had obtained Fastpasses to get us to the front of the line on Na'vi River Journey and other rides outside of Pandora, but there were none left for Flight of Passage. Therefore, we headed straight to the line to ride Flight of Passage (along with everyone else in the park who got there early) and waited almost an hour for the experience.
Audrey passed the measurement of 44" at the entrance, but they checked her again as we got closer and it looked like she might be a tad under 44". That's also when she decided she probably didn't want to ride, so she and I took advantage of "Rider Switch," which means we were given a ticket to return later in the day, good for up to three people, so that I could still ride with some of our group. Audrey and I ate a snack and perused the gift shop while the rest of our crowd rode, and Noah and Chris loved it so much that the three of us went right back with the Rider Switch ticket to the front of the line to ride. It was awesome!
Next we rode DINOSAUR!, which turned out to be dark and scary enough to make Audrey cry at the end (I think more out of relief that it was over than anything else). Even Noah was not a fan of this ride.
To recover from DINOSAUR!, Chris and I split the kids and rode some kiddie carnival rides in DinoLand USA: Triceratop Spin and Primeval Whirl.
Audrey also enjoyed playing in a really cool prehistoric-themed playground called The Boneyard, especially when she got Pandy to slide with her!
At some point, we ate lunch at Flame Tree BBQ using the mobile order feature on my app (highly recommended!). We also rode Kali River Rapids with fastpasses.
Some of our group got drenched!
We took the Maharajah Jungle Trek where I met a cast member who had recently graduated from TCU! It's a small world, after all! ;)
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| Tiger sleeping on the Maharajah Jungle Trek |
We really enjoyed Flights of Wonder, a bird show for which we managed to secure front row seats, thanks to Papa and his knee scooter!
We also took the wildlife train out to Rafiki's Planet Watch and the Conservation Station. We watched veterinarians working on a donkey through glass windows, and enjoyed learning more about animals and conservation.
It wouldn't feel like Disney World without a character meet & greet, so Doc McStuffins was there with her "vet hospital" set-up, much to Audrey's delight!
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| Audrey's nervous stance... |
There was also an outdoor petting zoo called "Affection Section."
Before we got back on the train, we enjoyed a presentation about owls.
The cast member took questions from the kids and was impressed by Noah's question about whether owls use echolocation! (They don't.)
We had Fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris, which is an imitation of an actual African photo safari. We rode in open safari vehicles driven by a cast member through a 100-plus-acre habitat and saw a variety of African animals along the way! Well, most of us did...
We headed back to Pandora for our Na'vi River Journey fastpasses and decided to stay in that area and dine at the new Satu'li Canteen. The menu options were interesting but the best part was the free drink refills AND the free cupcakes a cast member gave us, just because!
After dinner, everyone but Chris, Noah and I headed back to the hotel for an early bedtime (and some HGTV for Dad). The three of us thrill-seekers stayed to enjoy the nighttime scene and ride the big roller coaster, Expedition Everest!
Noah overcame some nerves and decided Expedition Everest is his favorite ride in all of Disney World!
We ended up back in DinoLand USA for another spin on Primeval Whirl.
We walked through Pandora after dark to see all of the glow-in-the-dark features, then watched a little bit of the Tree of Life Awakenings on our way out of the park.
I wanted to see Rivers of Light but wasn't sure we could just walk up to see it without having staked out a good location; plus, we didn't want to wait in the ridiculous lines for the buses after the show like we did the night before. We glimpsed a few things on our way out, but here are some Disney World photos to give you an idea.
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| Photo credit: Disney |
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| Photo credit: Disney |
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| Photo credit: Disney |
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| Photo credit: Disney |
We really enjoyed Animal Kingdom!
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