Disney Recap Days 4&5: Animal Kingdom and Epcot

Day 4 of the trip was our day at Animal Kingdom. We arrived at the park, and per instructions from all of our Disney savvy friends, we went straight to get our Fast Passes for the Kilimanjaro Safari. Well, I went to get the Fast Passes while the rest of the party waited in lines to get character autographs and photos.

The safari was every bit as cool as we’d been told. The animals were amazing. We didn’t see any lions or tigers, but the rest of the animals were out for us to see. After the safari, I went on ahead for fast passes to Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom’s roller coaster), while everyone else stopped for lunch.

After lunch, we decided to ride the Kali River Rapids.

Evan is all about water rides. Pressley has always said in no uncertain terms that she does not like to get wet in her clothes. She tolerated Splash Mountain Falls at the Magic Kingdom because she was wedged in between 2 adults who took the bulk of the splashing, and she stayed relatively dry. So, we thought since she tolerated that, she’d probably be ok on the Kali River Rapids. OH, but we could not have been more wrong.

When the WALL of water came down over her and GranNan, she started crying and wailing hysterically. She cried, “I don’t EVER want to ride on this ride EVER again!!” And, we felt kinda bad for the other people sharing our boat because it was a bit of a buzz kill.

After the ride was over, she was still pretty hysterical, and those clever Disney marketing people had strategically placed a merchandise cart right at the exit of the ride – conveniently selling smocked halter dresses in all different sizes. So, Pressley got a new dress out of the deal, and the rest of us got some relief for our eardrums.

Pressley had been having a fit to get her face painted, so we squeezed that into the day. Evan decided he’d get his painted too. They looked adorable!

We also loved the Everest ride and the Jungle Expedition Parade. So, our day at Animal Kingdom was a big success.

That evening, we ate dinner at the Benihana in our hotel lobby and began planning our strategy for our last day. I had planned to go to Hollywood Studios, so I picked up a brochure so we could plan our attack. I quickly realized that the roller coaster there had a height restriction that would prevent Pressley from riding. As much as our little girl hates getting wet, she is an adrenaline junkie when it comes to speed and height, so I knew that would not go over well.

So, I did what every well-educated person would do in the same situation: I put the question out to my FB peeps to find out whether we should do Hollywood Studios or Epcot. The input had me leaning slightly back in favor of Hollywood, when Evan suddenly developed an opinion and said he wanted to go to Epcot. So, Epcot it was for our final Disney day.

It could not have been more perfect. It seemed like there was less space to cover there – and a lot of attractions are air conditioned. So with tired kiddos (and quickly fading adults), it was just what we needed. The kid favorites were Soarin’ and Test Track (I don’t know why we didn’t figure out that Test Track would basically turn us into crash test dummies for a few moments. My neck is still not the same….) We also rode Mission Space. Twice. Once on the “easy” side, and at the kids’ insistence, once on the “more intense” side. I’ll take the easy side next time, please. I’m too old for more intense. The more intense experience spins you so fast that it “pulls about 2 Gs” – whatever that means. I know one thing it means. I’ll not be dumb enough to do it again… You know when they provide motion sickness bags right next to your seat, you might be in trouble. I’m happy to report that no one needed any bags.

All in all, it was the perfect trip. We had a ball. We learned a lot for next time. And, we convinced Corin that there should be a next time. Win!