Disney World - Day 6 - Animal Kingdom & Epcot Revisited

It was so nice having a couple of extra days to revisit our favorite parks. First we returned to Animal Kingdom to do a few things we missed earlier in the week. We were in no hurry and casually enjoyed the park. 

We had a yummy Asian lunch at Yak & Yeti. It was SO good and the portions are large. We sat outside and watched all the birds find their lunch!

Waiting for Finding Nemo - The Musical to start!

It's a beautiful show but Mattie didn't want to hang around after it started so DaDa took her to the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail while Macie and I stayed to watch. That is until we were forced to leave by the contents of her diaper!

We met back up and headed to the Wildlife Express. The train is the only way to get to  Rafiki's Planet Watch. Along the way you can see the large barns and buildings where the animals live when not on display. 

The girls were in a great mood and were really into posing for pictures!

Rafiki stands watch at the entrance to Habitat Habit!

At the end of the Habitat Habit! trail is Conservation Station. 

Rafiki was there!

And Jiminy Cricket....much to my delight!

Mattie wanted to pose with everything!

Just outside is Affection Section, a large petting zoo type area. 

After we all washed our hands we trekked back through Habitat Habit! and boarded the Wildlife Express for the trip back to Africa. 

There's Pluto! He likes to hang out in Dinoland U.S.A....because of all the bones! 

We decided to move on to Epcot via the Magic Kingdom. We were the only ones on the bus!

We hopped on the Monorail at Magic Kingdom and rode to Epcot. I love the decorated windows!

Here's the Tron painted monorail!

At Epcot we revisited The Land and finally rode Soarin'. It was up and running just fine today. We didn't stay around very long and headed to Downtown Disney for dinner.

We ate at Wolfgang Puck Express and wished we had tried it sooner!

Look at all that delicious food!

Really, this is the best macaroni and cheese I've ever eaten! It is made with penne pasta and several cheeses. 

After dinner and a little shopping we took the boat back to the resort and dropped in on Bob Jackson's family comedy/piano bar performance.

"Are you SURE I'm not messing up my hair?"

Even though it was late, Mattie came ALIVE! and danced her little self silly in front of everyone.

Who IS this child? 

She even joined the conga line!!! We were stunned. 

Then, she did the unthinkable and joined the other children ON STAGE. I guess the straw helped because she held it the entire time! She even danced to YMCA! It took her a few lines to sorta get the hang of it.

Then, Macie joined her on stage!

Bob wanted to meet everyone during the break.

Ha ha!

After the break Bob called Mattie up to the stage and sang Happy Birthday!

Even if you do not stay at Port Orleans Riverside we highly recommend attending one of Bob's shows in the River Roost Lounge from Wednesday - Saturday starting at 8:30 pm!

It was the perfect ending to our day!

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If you are planning a Disney vacation, including cruises, I highly recommend Becky Lollar, Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. She is a friend of mine and her services are absolutely FREE! 

She can plan as much or as little of your vacation as you'd like. If you have already booked a vacation directly through Disney (via internet or telephone) you can transfer it to Becky and she can work with you to see if any additional discounts have been released or adjust the trip to better suit your needs. 

Here is her contact info:

Becky Lollar

1-800-883-1535 ext. 25

901-482-2218

beckymagicaltravel@att.net 

She even has a Facebook page with lots of helpful info!

I do not hesitate to recommend Becky's services! She is one of the most detail oriented people I know and is a wealth of Disney knowledge! 

Happy Anniversary to my little blog!

My blog's first anniversary has come and gone but I wanted to mention that I've been occasionally posting for an entire year! 


Here is my very first post. 


Thank you for reading! 

Disney World - Day 5 - Epcot (Part 2 of 2)

Really, Day 5 could take three posts, but I promise to try and keep it brief! 

Maybe it doesn't take much to amuse me, but one of the reasons I love Epcot so much is the KidCot Fun Stop at each country in World Showcase. Children get to decorate a paper mask with *gasp* Sharpies (I will not tell you how I really feel about permanent marker Sharpie use by preschoolers in an effort for my posts and view of Disney World to remain positive). Anyway, I love to complete a task, mark things off a list, scavenger hunt, so I was all in on this! 

Since we were already in Norway for lunch at Akershus we started there. While the girls and I decorated masks DaDa took the stormy Viking boat ride, Maelstrom. 

Macie had no say-so as to the color of charms for her mask so Mattie insisted that they ALL be red!

Mattie chose a variety of colors for hers. Here are the finished products.

At several of the stops the cast members will write your child's name on the back of the mask in their native alphabet. 

Mattie got the cute yellow bow as a birthday gift! I thought that was really sweet. 

From Norway, we backtracked the short distance to the Mexico pavilion. There is almost always live entertainment and shows at each pavilion. 

it's a small world in Magic Kingdom was closed while we were there which is a bummer because we really love it. Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three Caballeros is the closest thing to it and is similarly charming. 

Mattie was a little apprehensive upon getting on the ride because of the darkness. One of the cast members gave her a flashlight which was a stroke of genius!

As we were departing the ride we discovered that Macie had a momentary lapse of judgment. She had picked up a bag of candy while walking through the market on the way to the ride. We were horrified and will not address why it took us the entire ride to notice that it was in her hands. We returned it without incident...whew...and tried to explain to her why is it unacceptable to take things without paying for them. It went something like this..."Macie. Candy. Not yours. No no!"

The next pavilion after Norway is China. There is a short film in the temple and Mulan sometimes makes an appearance...but never in the three times we've been! Maybe you can catch her there!

Germany is a beautiful pavilion.

We all loved the miniature village and train set.

Italy is next, then The American Adventure. 

The Japan pavilion is next. 

KidCot Fun Stop in Japan! 

In Morocco you will find Aladdin, Jasmine, and Genie if you get there at the right time. Check the schedule to be sure you do not miss them! We were dealing with a full-blown meltdown and didn't get to see them. 

I really enjoyed the exotic feel of the Moroccan pavilion and loved the atmosphere. We took a snack break and watched a belly dancer for a while.

Marie was doing her thing across from the beautiful France pavilion.

Mary Poppins was going on her break just as we were arriving in the United Kingdom. You can also find Pooh and Tigger there. 

It was up to me to finish the charm and stamp collection!

The last stop (or first, depending on where you start) is peaceful Canada. 

Back at The Land is another one of our favorites, Soarin'. After getting on the ride and waiting for over half an hour during a 'technical difficulty' I decided to leave and try again another day. I didn't want to waste any more precious time. It is such a fun ride and we always love it!

In the same pavilion, we rode Living with the Land. It is well worth 14 minutes of your time!


While the girls and I visited customer service to report our missing Sleeping Beauty hair clippie and reclaimed our lost Photo Pass card DaDa rode Mission: SPACE and Test Track and loved both of them. So much so that he excitedly insisted that I ride Mission: SPACE. He was so enthusiastic and eager for me to experience it that I couldn't NOT ride. 

I really hate to do it, but I must tell you....it was the most unpleasant five-and-a-half minutes of my life. And by unpleasant I mean I thought I was going to die before I got to Mars. I made the very unwise decision to ride on the ORANGE/INTENSE side. I just knew I would throw up whilst being slingshot around the moon and then choked to death by my own vomit at 2.4Gs...sorry, but it's the ugly truth (so much for keeping it positive)! I was clammy, nauseated, dizzy, and miserable the entire ride. So, if you like this sort of INTENSE, weightless sensation as my husband does...go for it!

Pioneer Woman had a similar experience. If you click here to read her post you have to promise you'll come right back to my post. I know how it is to get sucked into her WONDERFUL blog of witty writing and gorgeous pictures. So come right back, okay? 


Thanks for coming back! Be sure to bookmark her or add her to your blog reader. You won't be sorry. 

After the Mars encounter it was time for us to go! The awesome fireworks, laser, and water show, IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth would be starting soon. We made our way back to Downtown Disney for another dinner at Earl of Sandwich.

This (with the exception of the Mars experience) was by far the best day of our vacation! We LOVE Epcot and will probably make it our first stop on our next visit!

***********************************

If you are planning a Disney vacation, including cruises, I highly recommend Becky Lollar, Authorized Disney Vacation Planner. She is a friend of mine and her services are absolutely FREE! 

She can plan as much or as little of your vacation as you'd like. If you have already booked a vacation directly through Disney (via internet or telephone) you can transfer it to Becky and she can work with you to see if any additional discounts have been released or adjust the trip to better suit your needs. 

Here is her contact info:

Becky Lollar

1-800-883-1535 ext. 25

901-482-2218

beckymagicaltravel@att.net 

She even has a Facebook page with lots of helpful info!

I do not hesitate to recommend Becky's services! She is one of the most detail oriented people I know and is a wealth of Disney knowledge!