Today we moved to Wilderness Lodge. We decided to book it for the last 3 nights as we had a few DVC points leftover for the year and thought it would be nice to go to a deluxe hotel at the end of the trip after staying at French Quarter. In reality, we loved French Quarter so much that we would rather have stayed there than have the hassle of moving, but even so we knew we’d enjoy Wilderness Lodge and the close proximity to Magic Kingdom for the end of our trip. We had packed everything other than toiletries we needed this morning and the girls’ toys last night, so it was a really quick pack up this morning. Even with everyone except me sleeping until 8.15, we were out of the room by 8.45. We decided to take our essentials cases over to Wilderness Lodge ourselves and let Bell Services move the cases that we knew we wouldn’t need to open again. The plan was to all go together before heading off to Animal Kingdom, but Steve said he’d take the cases and we could get some bits done at the park before he arrived there.
No matter what time you arrive at Animal Kingdom, the queues are always big at the turnstiles. I was going to try the Rainforest Cafe hack where you can apparently walk through and out of the back of the gift shop and through a turn style there, but I was too anxious so stuck with queuing for ages instead! Anyway, once inside we decided to head straight for the 10am Lion King show. We were walking through the queue when a cast member pulled us aside and took us in through a side door to front row seats, which was fab. We love the show and seeing it from the front was even better. The girls also got to join in with the finale.
Next, we went to meet Mickey & Minnie which always seems to have the longest queue with the fewest people! Luckily it wasn’t too painful as a few families in front left. I do hate the automatic cameral in there though. Most of the photo pass photos had at least one person missing from them, and the quality is awful. I was glad I took some photos myself.
Next it was time for Donald hugs, so we went to Dinoland and met him and Daisy. He was on great form and had the girls giggling. The girls decided that they’d love those costumes next, so I had to make sure I took a good look at them as they could well be then most complicated ones yet!
By this time, Steve had arrived, so we grabbed some seasoned fries for the girls and a corn on the cob for me. The sky was very grey, so we decided to join the walk-up list for Nomad lounge and were seated just as it started to pour down. We ended up staying in there a good while, snacking on different bits and pieces until it was time for our Flight of Passage Lightning Lane. The chicken Manchurian nomad bowl was divine, and the girls loved the teriyaki chicken.
Flight of Passage was great again today. Lots of wind and water effects which helps stop me feeling sick. We were also in a different position to where we’ve been before which made us notice new things.
The rain started again so we decided to stick the ponchos on and do Kali River Rapids. It was the only time the rapids water has ever felt warm!!
After that we called it a day and headed back to the hotel (Steve was clearly tired as he managed to fall asleep standing up on the bus!!) and since our Steve had managed to not only switch is to a room with a bath, but also one that was ready immediately, we were looking forward to being able to dry off and relax a bit in there. Our remaining cases from Port Orleans had arrived, so bell services said they’d send them to us. I know everyone loves the Disney transfer service, but we have rubbish luck with it. 90 minutes and 3 phone calls to Bell Services and we were still in the room waiting for the cases to arrive so we could head out. They did eventually arrive, but next time we’ll just move them ourselves.
We were going to head to Magic Kingdom to watch Happily Ever After again for one last time this trip, but the weather was still pretty rubbish, so we decided to give Top of the World Lounge a go instead. We’d never been so it was a really nice change. The girls got to do some sticker books and we all enjoyed a few drinks and a bit of food, including the 7 ‘lair’ cake which was actually really good and not too sickly, an unusual occurrence! About 8.30 we went out on the balcony (that’s the time that the people who pay for the event get to come in and get full use of the tables) and waited for the the fireworks there. It was a bit on the chilly side, but we were undercover so stayed dry, and it was lovely to see the fireworks from a different angle.
As soon as the show finished, I ordered an Uber (the plan to walk to MK and get a boat sounded lovely, but we were all too tired!) and it was there waiting when we got down in the lift, meaning we were back tucked up in bed by 9.45.
Tomorrow it’s marathon weekend registration followed by a relaxing pool day to give me time to recover from the stress!!
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 