[Nimros]

Unbelievably, here we were – looking at our last day at Disney. And here was where some big compromises had been decided upon even before we left home…

The plan for our final day was to tour Animal Kingdom in the morning, leave after lunch and return to the resort to spend an afternoon swimming, followed by an evening at Downtown Disney. We knew this meant we wouldn’t get to see much of AK, but part of the reason for staying on-site was to be able to relax and enjoy our resort – swimming was a big ticket item for Kelley and Cory. And spending some quality time with them was a big ticket item for Mom and Dad, too.

Alexa had already informed us that she wanted to stay at AK all day. We agreed that it would be fine. (Yes, I know I had some concerns about her being alone, but after having experienced WDW first-hand, I felt she would be perfectly safe – at least during the daylight hours!)

Back in June, we had made ADRs for Raglan Road at 8:00pm (the only available slot at the time.) I went ahead and reserved it even though I knew it was a bit late for our family. But Thursday when we returned from MGM, I decided to call and see if there was anything earlier available. Like magic, there was!! We now had ADRs at 5:15pm!!

Friday morning dawned bright and sunny – it looked like beautiful weather all day. Again, everyone had told us AK was the hottest park at WDW – we would soon find out this was very true…

Again, we slept about 30 minutes late and so we were not ‘on schedule’ for our park arrival. Kevin was feeling a bit out-of-sorts that morning (and who could blame him?) and even Alexa was a bit grumpy – she really wanted all of us to stay at AK all day.

We knew we were only going to have time for our top attractions – so Alexa ran ahead to get FPs for Dinosaur and we would meet up at Expedition Everest. We also wanted to see It’s Tough to be a Bug and go on Kilimanjaro Safaris.

TourGuideMike had been pretty much right about the least-crowded parks so far – but today it certainly didn’t seem like it! There were already more people than we had seen at the other three parks earlier that week. The sun was out and it was really beginning to heat up. (I happen to LOVE hot weather, but the rest of my family prefers things a bit cooler.)

Trying to maneuver through all the people was a bit confusing and I took us down a wrong path at first. But I finally got us turned around and back over the bridge to Asia. A long line had already formed outside of EE – whoa! There was nothing for it but to get in line. Alexa came up moments later – she was just as dismayed at the length of the line as we were. But then it suddenly dawned on us we didn’t hear any sound coming from EE…

Just then a CM came along the line, informing people that EE was not running at this time and there was no word about when it would return to operating. This was really bad news – but Kevin, I think, was secretly pleased (I think he wasn’t looking forward to waiting out in the sun!)

Since out FPs for Dinosaur wouldn’t be ready for awhile, we decided to go back and catch ITTBAB. I remember Kevin pausing at the entrance and asking, “Is this a ride?” (Bless his heart!) He was relieved to hear it was a show.

Now, Alexa had teased her little sisters mercilessly about ITTBAB at home; she knows they are not fond of insects in the least. So they were a bit nervous to go see this. But we distracted them with all the animals to be discovered in The Tree of Life along the way (another instance I wish they line had been longer so we could have really ‘looked’ at everything.)Besides, these were “Disney” bugs, we reminded them.

I never heard so much reaction from an audience before in my life! In fact, I heard more laughter and yells of delight from the adults – and all the crying from the little ones. Kevin really liked it – it was good to hear him laugh and enjoy himself. The girls were okay with it (Alexa had warned them about the bee stings, so they leaned forward at the appropriate time!) Of course, the best was the very end!!!

It was time to start heading for Dino Land – and Alexa wanted to take her sisters on Primeval Whirl. To be honest, I was not expecting anything like Chester and Hester’s DinoRama at WDW – I think it rather detracted from the Disney Magic I had come to expect…but lots of little ones seemed to be enjoying it.

As we approached Dinosaur, I told Kevin not to wait outside, but to go in the gift shop where it would be cooler to wait. We were really disappointed that Kelley declined to go in – both girls love dinosaurs and at home had often talked about this attraction. But nope – if Dad didn’t go on, she didn’t either.



Alexa said she was surprised by the reactions of both Cory and I. I think we both must have come out of Dinosaur with blank looks on our faces. I asked Cory later what she thought about it and she said, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?! Well, why not?”

“Because I kept my eyes closed a lot!”

As for me – I think I had different expectations. I was hoping to see lots of dinosaurs – not so much darkness. Although I will admit, the point where the Time Rover stops near the end, and the ‘carnitaur’ appears with a low growl – I slipped into ‘reality’ mode and let myself be frightened – but just for a moment!!

Time was flying by – and luckily we heard screams of terror coming from Asia – EE was up and running! Alexa ran over to get a set of FPs and would meet us at Flame Tree Barbeque for a quick lunch.

It was getting hotter and hotter outside – and more jam-packed with people. Kevin, the girls and I were getting frustrated with trying to stay together as we walked towards Discovery Island; there were a few times we got separated by people who were just in too much in a hurry to notice what they were doing. I was beginning to believe TGM had messed up this crowd level prediction! (Alexa told us that after we left, the crowds really thinned out – I believe that either most people had waited to come to AK because the weather was clear that day, or everyone that had plans to be at MNSSHP that evening had decided to spend the morning at AK.)

By the time we reached Flame Tree, we were all starting to reach a breaking point. There was already a long line at the counter and the girls were not happy with anything on the kids menu. Both of them complained they wanted to eat elsewhere.

Here was another unexpected twist in my plans. Kevin thought he had seen a few counter-service places not too far away. So we crisscrossed back and forth, not finding anything that was ‘suitable’ to either girl. We were definitely wasting time trying to please them. Back to Flame Tree we went.

There’s no point in explaining in detail the next scene. Suffice it to say Cory had a meltdown, followed by Kelley having a meltdown, followed by Kevin losing it, followed by Me losing it. (Alexa, who had arrived in the middle of it all, very wisely said, “I’m just gonna order some food and sit down and eat. I’ll see you later…”) To make a long story short, it took Mom beginning to cry just a bit to snap everyone out of their anger. I sat with Cory and explained to her that we didn’t have much time to spend in AK – and that if we wasted time arguing or refusing to eat somewhere, we wouldn’t have time to do the things we wanted to do. I also told her I understood she wasn’t happy with the kids’ choices, but that if she had stopped to listen to what we were saying, she would have found out that we were going to order her something from the main menu.

It also took ‘the Lioness’ to find the courage to follow her instincts in relieving the cubs from the decision-making process and removing them from the situation (I took them to sit with Alexa) which gave ‘the Lion’ a chance to calm down.

Both Kelley and Cory apologized for their behavior - I know it's hard to be a kid in a big world. I gave them both big hugs.

In the end, everyone fell in love with Flame Tree. The pulled pork and smoked turkey sandwiches were delicious, especially with the soft buns. Alexa said the key lime pie was her favorite dessert. And the seating area!! If you ever need a calm, cool, relaxing place to kick back and just enjoy the beauty of a natural setting, Flame Tree is the place for you.


Alexa had selected a little patio section way back in the trees, near a fountain. We were all able to take a deep breath, refuel, and continue on.

Since she finished eating before us, Alexa had run to get FPs for Kilimanjaro Safaris. But when she returned, we realized the return time of 2:30 was later than we wanted to stay. We were extremely disappointed, but a promise is a promise. Kilimanjaro would have to wait until next time…

Expedition Everest was up next. Alexa, Cory and I breezed through the FP line with little wait. The sisters chose to be ride partners which meant I ended up riding with another guest. We LOVED EE!!! It was like being in a movie scene while you’re on an attraction, which is really very cool. I had a hard time trying to decide whether I should scream or not and scare my very quiet partner – but what the heck! I was having a blast!!

(Kevin told me later he was hoping someone would see him standing there and ask, “So, did you get to ride EE?” so he could answer “Not yeti.”)

Kevin and Kelley were waiting for us at the exit – and it was definitely time to leave if we were going to enjoy some swimming. Alexa looked at me so sadly and said, “Are you sure you don’t want to stay, Mom?” Even Kevin piped up and said he could take the girls back to the resort and go swimming with them if I wanted to stay longer. Rrrrrr! I hate being pulled in two directions! Even though I truly wanted to do both, I had to ask myself which activity felt the best - swimming or staying?

Swimming it was.

I gave Alexa a hug goodbye and we each went our separate ways.

Getting out the AK was no picnic with all the people. We wanted to take some photos on the way (we saw only one Photopass photographer the entire day), but every time we’d try to line up for a photo, someone would walk right into the camera view. That’s one thing I tried to be very conscious about during this trip – I always tried to keep an eye out for people taking photos. But even I occasionally would step in someone’s way.



Even though we were looking forward to our swim, it was still very, very hard to leave AK half done. We were the only passengers on our bus except for two teens that got off at FQ. But…when we were departing from that stop, another bus pulled out in front of us. Our driver had to slam on the brakes – and sent Cory (who was sitting side-facing) flying sideways down the bench row on her face!! It really hurt her (and scared her as she wasn’t prepared for the sudden stop.) She cried and Kevin told her to come sit with him the rest of the way home – she was Daddy’s little girl for the rest of the day.

Back at the resort, Kelley and Cory decided they wanted to swim in the quiet pool and not at Ol’ Man Island. I think they liked it because it was right outside our room – and it felt like it belonged to them. Kevin and I jumped in with them – and the fact that Dad was swimming really made their day. They laughed and splashed and got brave and swam to the deep end with Dad and created memories that will last a lifetime.

Kevin and I jumped out and sat on the lounge chairs while the girls played on their own – now it was beginning to feel more like a vacation instead of a marathon – although marathons are nice, too!

We went down to the docks to catch the boat to Downtown Disney about 4:00pm – that would give us plenty of time to explore the shops before our ADRs. The boat trip was relaxing – our ‘skipper’ was a very funny lady who obviously enjoyed her job and was happy to share her knowledge about Disney. We kept our eyes open for ‘gators but didn’t spot a one.

As soon as we docked, I called Alexa to see where she was – she was already on the bus headed back to the resort; she didn’t want to catch a bus to DTD but she’d hop on the next boat. We told her to keep in touch and we continued on, exploring several of the stores as we meandered through the Marketplace.

A stop at Ghiradelli’s – oh yes! Too bad there was no dark chocolate to sample but the milk chocolate was still sweet and creamy! The girls loved making a quick stop at World of Disney and the Lego store – the models outside (and in) were unreal! By the time we had reached Raglan Road, we got a call from Alexa – she was at the docks and would be there as quick as she could.

We had to wait quite a bit for our table at Raglan Road – but it was definitely worth it. We were seated in a very quiet, three-sided private booth where we could enjoy the view of the restaurant – beautifully decorated with two bars that together were over 300 years old and had been brought over from Ireland.



The establishment was not very crowded when we arrived, but began to fill up quickly – the entertainment started at 9:00pm and I have a feeling it could get pretty rowdy by that time!! (Ahh, to be young again. ) Our food was fantastic – I’m going to post photos over in the Feasting & Snacking board – check ‘em out – but here is a photo of my most favorite dessert, Bread and Butter Pudding.


By the time we finished dining, it was a lot later than we had anticipated and we still wanted to visit more shops at the Marketplace. We had to forego a visit to West Side and the rest of Pleasure Island, but did go in almost every store at the Marketplace. Kelley and Cory had their eye on a couple souvenirs, Kevin called his oldest daughter to find out what we could get for his granddaughter Emma, who was turning three the following week – and we spent waaaay too long at the Art of Disney…and brought waaaay too little money to buy anything there!

Back on the boat, we sat back and just breathed a sigh of contentment for enjoying such a wonderful evening. My son called and I will always remember chatting with him on the boat ride back – it made it feel like he could somehow be part of this vacation.

Cory was pretty devastated that it was too late to swim when we got back to our lodge at Alligator Bayou – it was nearly 11:00pm and we had early ADRs in the morning – not to mention it was time to pack up and leave for home.

Sigh.

We all felt this special, magical time that was quickly drawing to a close was not enough. But for now, there was no time to mull it over; it was time to hit the sack and be ready for our Supercalifragilistic Breakfast in the morning…


UP NEXT : Our Grand Farewell at the Grand Floridian and Final Thoughts