girls' weekend: animal kingdom

Day Two of our Girls' Weekend started bright and early at Animal Kingdom!  We arrived almost an hour before Extra Magic Hours started and joined hordes of people (presumably to run to Flight of Passage) in line.  We were let in half an hour early in order to check in for our Pre-Park Opening breakfast (well, it was PPO before EMH was added!).  We stopped to admire the Tree of Life and Harambe Market on our way into the park.

We were the first table of the day seated at Tusker House!  The buffet area is set up like an open-air African market and the attention to detail is exquisite.  The hostess explained the different areas of the buffet (cereals, pastries, frittatas, Mickey waffles, carving station, etc) before taking us to our table.

Tusker House is a character meal and we got to hang out with Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Daisy over the course of our breakfast, and the food was fabulous, too!!  We'll definitely be adding Tusker House to our regular rotation of Disney dining.

After breakfast, we were within our FP+ window for Kilimanjaro Safari, so we headed that way.  Both of us have done this ride many times but agreed that our safari driver, Roberto, was one of the best and it was an awesome experience!!  We saw Augustus, the baby hippo AND Stella, the baby elephant!!

The giraffes were hanging out right by the road today!

We spent the afternoon exploring Animal Kingdom (and seeing Abigail at Dinosaur!) before ending up in Pandora for a late lunch at Satu'li Canteen and a ride on Flight of Passage-- so thankful we could book 60 days out because the line was LONG!  Such a fun day at Animal Kingdom!

anniversary trip day six: animal kingdom

Kilimanjaro Safari is one of our fave rides at Animal Kingdom so we try to do it several times on every trip for the best chance of seeing a variety of animals being active.  This was the first time we ever saw the hippos out of the water!

- Elephants and rhinos -

- Afternoon snack: Mr Kamal's Seasoned Fries, and the bird that kept trying to steal our fries -

We had fun stopping at all of the PhotoPass photographers since we never remember to get pictures of the two of us when we're with all the kids.

- Riding Expedition Everest -

We easily watched the gibbons play for half an hour before moving on (or back...) to the Safari.

These gibbons had everyone cracking up!

Back on Kilimanjaro Safari and this time the hippos were swimming around.

LOVE the elephants-- especially the baby one!!

- Rhinos and Mr Lion -

We ordered lunch from Satu'li Canteen and tried out the new Mobile Ordering feature and it worked out fabulously!  We put the order in via the app, scoped out a table and then just had to pick up the food once it was ready-- no lines, no headache!  Lunch at Satu'li Canteen: Chicken Bowl with Red and Sweet Potato Hash and Charred Onion Chimichurri, Steak Bowl with Red and Sweet Potato Hash and Charred Onion Chimichurri (with no Boba Balls), Hawkes' Grog Ale and Dreamwalker Sangria, and a Blueberry Cream Cheese Mousse.  This lunch was one of my favorite meals of the trip!!

- Pictures around Pandora -

We finally got to ride Flight of Passage on this trip and it did not disappoint.  It was, quite literally, the best ride I've ever been on so I was happy that we were able to go on more than once!

- Kangaroos playing in front of the Tree of Life -

We wrapped up the night by watching Holiday Wishes from our balcony-- I love having rooms with a fireworks view!!

anniversary trip day two: animal kingdom

Since we got back to our room so late, we slept in until around 10am (that doesn't happen often with the kids!!) and made it to Animal Kingdom in time for lunch at one of our faves, Yak and Yeti.  We started with the Pork Pot Stickers and Pork Egg Rolls and then I had the Seared Miso Salmon and Jacob had the Korean BBQ Ribs, so basically, we ordered our usuals and were totally happy!

Pictures with Expedition Everest-- even though the Tree of Life is the actual icon for Animal Kingdom, I think Expedition Everest is more fun.

Our first ride (of this trip) on Expedition Everest-- quite possibly my favorite Mountain at WDW... Or it's tied with Big Thunder.

Posing with the previously mentioned Tree of Life.

We usually go on Kilimanjaro Safari first thing in the morning so we weren't sure what to expect with an afternoon ride, but we were pleasantly surprised with the number of animals out and about!

Ellie made sure that I promised to take pictures of the elephants for her (she calls herself Ellie the Elephant!), especially the new baby elephant.

Zebras on the side of the road!

- Rhino crossing time -

This was our first trip to Animal Kingdom since Pandora- The World of AVATAR opened and we were amazed.  The level of detail put into this land is awesome!

We found ourselves just wandering around and taking everything in-- and that's not something we often do in other parks.

 -Na'vi River Journey, a boat ride through a bioluminescent rainforest -

We made sure to check out the new food in Pandora, too!  The Nightblossom at Pongu Pongu was refreshing, though a bit on the sweet side, and the Cheeseburger Bao Buns were a fun afternoon snack at Satu'li Canteen.

We made sure to stick around until after the sun went down so that we could see the bioluminescent forest of Pandora come alive and we saw the Tree of Life Awakening on our way out of the park.

Since we were traveling without the kids, we made sure to book dining reservations at places we don't normally go with them-- they like fine dining, we just don't like paying for them to eat at expensive restaurants!!  Our first "fancy" dinner was at Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian.  We arrived a bit early and enjoyed listening to the live music in the lobby of the Grand Floridian before going to dinner.

Narcoossee's has a dress code and flip-flops are not allowed-- perfect time for Mickey shoes!!  We were seated at a table by the window with a great view of Cinderella Castle, Space Mountain and the Electrical Water Pageant.

Narcoossee's: Red Wine Flight, Filet Mignon, Coconut Creme Brûlée, Almond Cheesecake (I would go back just for this dessert!)

We watched the Holiday Wishes fireworks from the deck at Narcoossee's-- another great way to end a fun day in the parks!

SaveSave
SaveSaveSaveSave

drive to orlando, disney springs, 'ohana and holiday wishes

We picked the kids up from school a couple of hours early and hit the road for our Veteran's Day weekend trip to Florida.  Instead of driving all the way to Orlando in one day, we like to leave in the afternoon and drive most of the way and then stop for the night- this time we stayed in Jacksonville, FL.  The kids LOVE getting the cooked to order breakfast at Embassy Suites, and I've even trained them to make my breakfast while I hold our table!

We left the hotel after breakfast and we were at Disney Springs in time for lunch at our favorite place, Earl of Sandwich!  We split thai chicken wraps and then spent the afternoon wandering around Disney Springs.

We took advantage of the Starbucks BOGO sale and everyone got a holiday flavored drink (the kids all got frappuccinos while the adults enjoyed lattes).

We surprised the kids (again!) with dinner at 'Ohana!  We always explain to them that we can't eat at 'Ohana EVERY time we go to WDW (especially since the kids are getting older and more expensive) but since we LOVE it too, we try pretty hard to find a way to go almost every time we're there.

Mmmmmm.  Food for days.....

The view of the castle from our table at 'Ohana.  After dinner we hopped on the monorail for a quick ride around the loop and then got off at the Ticket and Transportation Center to watch the fireworks.

Talking about her favorite ride :)

It was the first time we'd watched the fireworks from the TTC and we were thoroughly impressed! 

Holiday Wishes from the TTC.

Sweet boys.  After the fireworks, we walked back to the Polynesian to get our car and headed back to our hotel to rest up for the next day.