Animal Kingdom – Helen's Happy Place

16th August 202215th August 2022

Bag hunting – Tue 26 July

Today panned out quite differently to how I planned it. Last night I saw someone in a DVC group on Facebook post about a new DVC loungefly bag that they had bought. It was gorgeous! For those who don’t know, loungefly is a brand that produces, amongst other things, pop culture themed bags. They now produce mini backpacks for Disney and they are EVERYWHERE. Walking round the parks it is safe to say that they are the bag of choice for most women (you see far more loungefly bags than any other brand). This one that was posted on line was one of the nicest I’ve seen. They said they got it in the shop at Wilderness Lodge. DVC merch is not sold in the parks, only in DVC resorts.

We were doing Animal Kingdom today and we got there just before the park opened. We quickly locked in a DAS for Flight of Passage and headed to Expedition Everest while the queues were light. By 8.45 we were over in Pandora ready to right Flight of Passage. I decided that after I had done this I would go in search of this bag. So, at 9am, just as non-resort guests were piling into the park I was heading out, leaving the rest of the family to do some more rides.

First thing to do was to get a bus to Wilderness Lodge. I didn’t know if they would still have them, but worth a try.

Nope – sold out. I asked in the shop if they could see if any of the other resorts had them. The cast member looked on the system and said that there were 37 at the Contemporary Resort. Or at least, they did 48 hours ago as the system hadn’t updated since then.

So, how to get to Contemporary. Whilst you can get buses between parks and resorts, you can’t get them between resorts. Therefore I’d have to get a bus to a park and then another to Contemporary. So my obvious option was a bus to Magic Kingdom. Contemporary is right next door and fortunately you can walk there from Magic Kingdom (though of course my feet were killing me – it may only be 9.45am but I’ve been going for 4 days now with not enough time for them to recover).

So I did and I got lucky. One DVC loungefly bag purchased!

So, how to get back to the resort? Yes, I could walk back to Magic Kingdom but my feet were painful. So it was a case of go to the bus stop and see what park bus came first and get that to then switch to a Port Orleans one. The first one that came was Disney Springs – the shopping area. Now this was perfect as Disney Springs is very close to Port Orleans so I did that.

By now the rest of the family were also heading back to the resort and we all arrived back at roughly the same time.

We had planned a park free afternoon and after a break in the resort we headed to Disney Springs for some shopping and our favourite pizza place for lunch: Blaze Pizza.

By late afternoon it was looking like it was going to chuck it down – and anyone who has been in Florida rain knows what that can be like – so we headed back to the resort. Unfortunately due to the imminent rain the boat that runs between Disney Springs and Port Orleans was shut – that had originally been our plan – so bus it was.

Later that evening I didn’t feel like eating much so when we went to the quick service at the resort for dinner I just had one of their 50th celebration cheesecakes 🙂

14th August 202213th August 2022

Settling in – Sun 24 July

Today we are off to Animal Kingdom. This park has my favourite ride on property so looking forward to this.

Again we utilised Lightning Lane before we left and booked in a ride (Nav’i River Ride), with the intention of doing a DAS as soon as we got there for Flight of Passage.

This park used to be a half day park but since they added Pandora (the Avatar section) there is more to do now. However, for some bizarre reason they have now decided to close before it gets dark. I saw this is ‘bizarre’ as Pandora was designed to light up at night with bioluminescence on the ground and on the plants, and rocks, etc (if you’ve seen Avatar then you will know what I mean).

When we got there both Dinosaur and Expedition Everest where showing as pretty much walk-ons so we went to Dinoland and did Dinosaur first. Definitely not a favourite of one of my children, so often this is a once and done ride. It is a dark ride and VERY intense as you try to escape earth before the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs hit! Expedition Everest is the big roller coaster in Animal Kingdom with a backwards section in the dark. As we had early entry due to staying in a Disney resort the standby line was only 10 mins so we did it that way – anything around 5-10 mins on a lot of rides is pretty much a walk on.

We decided to then go down to Pandora as it was nearly time for our lightning lane that we had booked at 7am. As we were walking past the lake we saw the new Kite Tails show starting so stopped to watch. Disney has tried to do a number of different shows at this location and none of them have been really successful (though I liked Rivers of Light). This was okay but I wouldn’t stop to watch it again. It was giant inflatable kites of Simba, Zazu, Timone, and Pumba which were pulled through the air by speed boats. A nice diversion but little else.

What it did do though was delay us enough for Kali River Rapids to open at 9am. One of my daughter’s favourites as she loved to get wet we decided to do that on the way to Pandora. I got drenched!

Then Pandora. Nav’i River Journey always seems to get mixed reviews. It’s a gentle dark water ride and some consider it boring. I actually like it – but I’m also a fan of the movie. The design of the ride is a clever mix of a standard river ride with plants and rocks, and projections.

But Flight of Passage. If you have never ridden this then it is so hard to explain. You are riding on the back of a banshee through Pandora and it is the closest I have ever come to feeling as if I’m flying. The ride seat is like a motorbike so it is like you are straddling the banshee. To make it seem even more realistic you can feel the banshee ‘breathing’ against your thighs. It only lasts 4.5 minutes but it is so worth the wait – which can still get up to 2.5-3 hours on busy days. This is the ride in Animal Kingdom that you need to purchase a lightning lane for. It hasn’t lost anything in the four years since we last rode it. Still AMAZING!

After doing Flight of Passage we headed back to the resort for a snack for lunch. This is one of the best bits about staying at Port Orleans – the beignets! They are a bit of a Disney World institution. Last time we were here they were available from Sassagoula so you could order them as part of your meal. They’ve now moved them to the Scat Cat Club Cafe next door. They are quite big and so we ordered 6 between the 4 of us. They are basically a French doughnut which were introduced to New Orleans in the 18th century and are served hot. Of course, being Disney, these are Mickey shaped. I did treat myself to a mug in the resort shop so that I can remember the feeling of being sat in Port Orleans while I’m at work 🙂

Beignets from Port Orleans French Quarter

We are deciding to try and spend the hottest time of the day back at the resort for a rest – let’s see how well that works out. So after a break we headed to Magic Kingdom for the evening. We split up and the kids went off together while my husband and I rode the People Mover and did Carousel of Progress. People Mover has the added bonus of getting a good view of the new Tron Coaster that is under construction. There is also a point where the ride goes through the Space Mountain building in total darkness – like you literally can’t see your hand in front of your face. We got stopped in that section and were there for quite a while. Eventually they turned the lights on so we got to see what most people don’t see. It wasn’t an evac though and the ride did start up again.

We all met back up and did some more rides together. The plan had been to stay for the fireworks but it looked like a storm was forecast so we decided to head off back to the resort a bit early. Leaving at the time that the park closes – or when a storm starts – is never a good plan as the queue for buses can be really bad!

1st February 20191st February 2019

What’s coming up in 2019 at WDW

2019 brings some new events at all four parks at Walt Disney World. So what is coming up?

Magic Kingdom

Starting on 18th January Magic Kingdom will be hosting ‘Mickey and Minnie’s Surprise Celebration’ to honour these staple Disney characters. New merchandise, events, and foods will be available. There will be a new version of popular dance parade called ‘Move it! Shake it! MouskeDance it! Street Party’. The Dapper Dan’s and the Casey’s Corner pianist will also add some new Mickey and Minnie magic to their repertoire from 18th Jan to 30th Sept.

Epcot

The Epcot International Festival of Arts is in its 3rd year now and runs from 18th Jan – 25 Feb. We were lucky enough to visit this during its first year in 2017. Amongst other events the Disney on Broadway concert series returns to the America Garden’s Theatre in the world showcase, this year expanding to 7 days a week.

The theatre will also be in use during the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival from 6th March to 3rd June. The Gardn Rocks Concert Series will also expand to 7 days a week during this time.

The biggest event for Epcot in 2019 is probably the end of Illuminations: Reflections of Earth. This 20 year old nighttime firework and music display will come to an end in the second half of 2019. Stay tuned for more news of its replacement!

Hollywood Studios

2018 was a big year for this park with the opening of Toy Story Land in June, but it looks like 2019 will be even bigger! Of course the big event is the opening of ‘Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge’ in late autumn, but that is not all.

The park itself has its 30th anniversary on 30th May (having originally opened under the name MGM Studios) and Pixar will be a big theme this year. Pixar Place is now transformed into a Metroville city block from ‘The Incredibles’ films. Here you can meet Edna Mode, look out for clues as to the whereabouts of Jack-Jack, join in with a lively party and catch Mr Incredible, Mrs Incredible, and Frozone at various points during the day.

When Disney started building both Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge, large sections towards the back of the park were closed. One of the casualties of this was the Mike and Sulley meet and greet. The good news is that these popular characters are now back and can be seen inside the Walt Disney Presents Theatre.

The new park expansion also saw the end of the Cars related experiences including a Lightning McQueen meet and greet. Later on in the Spring, Lightning McQueen returns with a new show experience telling the untold story of Lightning McQueen.

Animal Kingdom

This park celebrated its 25th anniversary last year and this year from 18th Jan – 30th September it will mark the 25th anniversary of ‘The Lion King’. A ‘Hakuna Matata Time Dance Party’ will see Timon and Rafiki dance with live musicians celebrating music around the world. Immersive 3D photo opportunities will also be available with more celebrations yet to be announced.

So make 2019 your year to visit Walt Disney World!