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!

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

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! 

Disney World - Day 4 - Hollywood Studios

I still want to call it MGM Studios because that's what it was when we went to Disney World on our honeymoon in 1996!

This will probably be my shortest Disney post (you're welcome!) because we didn't spend a lot of time in the park. Hollywood Studios is a lot of fun but it is also loud with a lot of action....we don't do loud and a lot of action right now! 


The most fun thing the entire day for Mattie was waiting in line to meet Buzz and Woody. Macie also loved it and really got into posing with all the cute props! She was such a ham that morning!

Mattie got into it, too....when she wasn't DANCING herself silly! 

Mattie was literally gettin' down!

After happily waiting in line for about 20 minutes neither girl wanted anything to do with these BIG guys! I don't guess I blame them....look at the size of them! I didn't want to hurt their feelings so I stepped in. I got my hands repeatedly kissed and hugs from them. Such gentlemen :-)

Even though the girls are not big enough to even be allowed to stand in line at Rockin' Roller Coaster, we HAD to ride it. It's one of our favorites. We ride swapped and walked right on. I love the set-up of walking through the studio and then stepping into the "limo" and going on a wild ride through LA with Aerosmith blasting in my ears! 

Next, we went to our much-anticipated return to the 50s Prime Time Cafe! It's a great place to get delicious home cooking. The restaurant is totally 50s from the furniture and electronics to the knick-knacks and appliances! I had pot roast and it was mouth-watering! 


Make sure you're on your best behavior while dining here! The staff is constantly looking for elbows on the table and ill manners. You may find yourself standing in the corner or with your nose on the door facing as 'punishment'! 

The High School Musical show is a highlight at the entrance of the park underneath Mickey's sorcerer's hat. It, too, is loud....and quite good from what I saw and heard!

We tried to avoid being near The Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular and Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show because of all the thunderous sound effects and we were successful! 


Lightnin' McQueen and Mater! 

It was fun seeing New York City.....

.....and San Francisco sets!

These guys were also loud so we didn't stick around. 

I love the Army Men! We got Fast Passes for the new Toy Story ride but thought better of it with all it's jerky turns and effects. Are you seeing our deliberate attempt to keep our child calm here!?!

The Little Mermaid show is excellent. We saw it in 2007. 

We did go to the Clubhouse Disney show. Other than Rockin' Roller Coaster and the 50's Prime Time Cafe, it was the main reason we visited the park. My girls ADORE Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and they really like My Friends Tigger and Pooh. I mean, they could watch MMCH all.day.long. Little Einsteins and Handy Manny were also a part of the show. 

The show was really cute and after it ended we decided to head back to our room to do some laundry and rest for a while. DaDa took Mattie to the pool and did laundry (!!!) and Macie and I napped. It was the only nap I'd have on the entire trip and it was much needed after all the late nights, early mornings, and FULL days!


After we were rested and refreshed we went to the Magic Kingdom and hopped on a boat to the Wilderness Lodge. We had dinner reservations at Whispering Canyon Cafe with our fairy godparents, Eddie and Sherry! 


This was the first night of the Not So Scary Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom. We saw all sorts of cute costumes on young and old. The majority of them were Disney. The cutest of all was a baby Peter Pan with one sister as Wendy and the other sister as Tinker Bell! 

The girls had a great time playing in the gorgeous, gigantic Northwest themed lobby.

Here's Sherry! She was my boss.....although she likes to say we just worked together. She is the BEST! I loved working with and for her in HR and Recruiting. She now lives the sweet life in Orlando. I cropped myself out of this picture...you should be thanking me!

There's Eddie! 

Here are pictures of them with Mattie on her first Disney visit! We were in line for Peter Pan's Flight in these shots.

Whispering Canyon Cafe is anything but whispering! Their schtick is for diners to ask for ketchup and then the server YELLS for "KETCHHHHUUUPPPP"! Then, dozens of bottles of ketchup could show up at your table! We were seated in a private corner away from all the action which we loved so we could ketchup...I mean catch up.


The specialty is barbeque and it is not disappointing! We were served family-style on a "skillet" with ribs, chicken, brisket, baked beans, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, and corn bread. It is all-you-can-eat without the buffet. I wish I had taken pictures of the food but I was too busy chatting and eating!


We had a great dinner with our friends and took our visit out into the lobby for a little while longer.


As we re-entered the Magic Kingdom to board our bus the Not So Scary Halloween Party was ending and we saw lots more cute costumes. 

This was not our best day in the parks but we made it through and had a wonderful night. 

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

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!