The day began, however, at Animal Kingdom. We got there just before park opening and headed directly over to Everest, which many of us questioned multiple times why we were even on it in the first place. But we all loved and enjoyed it all the same (and Ashley continuously asks if we get to go on it again in January). Then, since we had a few minutes and the wait wasn't very long, we hit Kali as well, using the 2 hour locker rental to hold our stuff while we journeyed on. Now, before this trip I had never actually been on Kali River Rapids, so it was a new adventure for all of us! Well, other than my brother. He's been on it before. We got wet. Really wet. And spent the rest of the day being wet because of it. Megan's shirt took a beating, but aside from that we all survived.
Then we met up with my mom and godfather for Kilimanjaro Safaris, which we waited a while for, but we got on none the less...and in the front seat too! I've never really been up there! Plus our driver was great and there were plenty of animals out to see us! I mean for us to see. We followed our safari adventure with Yak & Yeti. Normally we like to get reservations, but Y&Y is one of those places where if you walk up at 11, right when it opens, you can usually get a table without waiting too long, and this trip was no different. Even with six of us, we managed to get a table and enjoy a delicious lunch...which Ashley and Megan enjoyed tons. Especially the Cherry Limeade I'm always texting them pictures of.
After lunch it was off for a special surprise for Ashley: meeting Russel & Dug, but they were on break and wouldn't be back until 1:30. Needing something to do, I noticed the line for Tough to Be A Bug was only 15 minutes, and with the time included in the attraction, that would put us back in the line for Russel and Dug right about when they were scheduled to return. And it did! So we met Russel and Dug and then headed off to meet up with our group so we could catch a ride via Disney transportation to Epcot.
The thing was, we were scheduled to be leaving Animal Kingdom at 3, but being the smart Disney person I am, I encouraged our group and room to leave at 2:30 instead, putting us ahead of the rest of the group and catching an earlier bus. Needless to say, it worked, and instead of just leaving Animal Kingdom at 3, we were walking on Imagination at 3. Yep, another thing done. And then we hit Finding Nemo as well before finding the last member of our usual group, who's room had insisted on leaving Animal Kingdom at 3 like the schedule said. A stop at Club Cool was then in order, with our director trying Beverly, which was unbelievably entertaining.
To follow that, we walked around to American Adventure, getting there just in time to catch the Voices of Liberty before seeing the show itself. With a walk back around to the front of the park to use our first fastpass of the day, we made it all the way around World Showcase. Megan and Ashley I'm sure are both excited about the fact that in January though, we get to spend a whole day there, instead of just hurrying past each pavilion!
Our fastpasses were scheduled that day so they were all right in a row, a decision that I made in hopes that we could get things to work out the way we needed them to. Since we hadn't met too many characters, a visit to Mickey and Friends at the character spot was our stop, where Mickey commented on my Magic Ribbon I was wearing that day, and we did a dance with Goofy before hanging out with Minnie. Seriously great. And since we hadn't gotten to do it yet, we made a trip to Mouse Gear for Mouse Ears as well! It took a while to get everyone their ears, but it fit into the schedule perfectly, since we then set out to use our next fastpass: Test Track.
I set it up so we would go through at the same time as my parents, but the dark clouds rolling in had us a bit afraid. The attraction had closed down because of the weather previously, but was open on and off. With our fastpasses, we missed the line, although if we didn't get on, the rest of the night was pretty much shot because we'd be stuck there.
BUT WE DIDN'T! In fact, we got through, went on Test Track and as we walked off into the post-show area, THAT'S when they announced that the attraction was shut down again because of the storm. LITERALLY THE BEST MOMENT OF MY LIFE. With that accomplished, we headed to Spaceship Earth, which we hit as it was raining. And then it was off to Soarin', our last fastpass and attraction.
BUT WAIT! The night wasn't over yet! We grabbed some dinner from Seasons and headed off to our meeting spot in Mexico. It started raining as we made our way over there, so we ended up eating on the floor just inside the Mexico Pavilion, but we loved it anyway, especially since Megan's first Disney dining experience started on the ground as well.
Then we hit a problem. Rain. It just rained and rained and rained. We were set to watch Illuminations from the bridge by Mexico when they started at nine, but when it hit 9:45 and they said that there would be a half hour until Illuminations, I got a bit concerned. Then they made an announcement a few minutes later saying it was postponed. But it wasn't CANCELED, just DELAYED. Illuminations was like the Number One thing Ashley was excited about, so we started using the force to make the rain go away and it WORKED.
Illuminations started, and we finished our trip with it. Because like I said, some force out there in the universe made our last day work absolutely perfect.
Total things accomplished: Expedition Everest, Kali River Rapids, Kilimanjaro Safaris, Lunch at Yak&Yeti, Tough to Be A Bug, Met Russel & Dug, Imagination, The Seas with Nemo and Friends, Club Cool, Saw the Voices of Liberty, The American Adventure, Walked World Showcase, Met Mickey, Goofy & Minnie, Got Mouse Ears, Test Track (RIGHT BEFORE IT RAINED!), Spaceship Earth, Soarin', Dinner from Sunshine Seasons, and saw Illuminations!!!!: 19 Things AND we transferred parks!
I don't know how we did it. But we did. Although I'm very excited about spending more time with my friends at my favorite park. Like infinitely amounts excited.
Have a magical day!
(Note: This blog post was written on August 1).
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