For our third day, we were spending our time at Animal Kingdom. This would be my first time in the parks on a national holiday and I knew based on how many cars were coming in at 7:30 am with us that it would be a crowded day!
First ride was Navi River Journey. As we were riding, Rachael said, "I kind of wish they'd done more with this. Ya know, made it more of a ride instead of a ... journey..." Shortly after we had our fast passes for Flight of Passage. This was only my second time riding ever and it was just as amazing as the first time.
*Side note - for some reason, I think Disney thought I was going on a really long trip. Since I was staying on property for my October/early November trip, I could book fast passes 60 days in advance. One day I went into the site (well before our off-property 30 day window opened for this trip) and I saw that I could make fast pass reservations for us for the Thanksgiving trip... so I did. And somehow, it worked and we got fast passes for Flight of Passage. Sometimes, it's important to not ask questions.
After doing what we wanted in Pandora, including taking a few pictures, we headed over to ride Dinosaur which is always a good time.
In front of the floating mountains
We still need to watch this movie
A feat of engineering
Spiky plants
About to board Dinosaur
AHH!
I can never have enough pictures of this tree.
After riding Dinosaur we were over in Dinoland USA and made a terrible choice... we rode Primeval Whirl for the first time ever. I can usually find something good in every ride/attraction/show... BUT not in Primeval Whirl. I think kids might like it but for us, it just hurt. I was always afraid of getting sick on that ride; the real thing to be afraid of is bruising.
At least we got something good out of Dinoland!
Um, there's a Dinosaur in your car...
Yeah, see that ride ahead of us on the road, Primeval Whirl? It's the worst.
Just me in my car.
Tallest of the mountains
Never gets old. Well actually, it does. I can't do 2+ rides in a row on this one.
Again, I kept showing off my polka dot nails...
Once we got away from the Yeti, we decided to stop in at Up: A Great Bird Adventure. I'd seen the show before on the previous trip but it was worth a second look.
These birds are beautiful.
Oh we also found some tigers.
This guy was chasing his ball down the hill and it flew into the water.
And then the tiger was sadly looking down at the ball.
The safari was a good one - there were lots of animals near the truck and lots of them crossing the road. We got some good views for sure!
"Baby" hippo
Love the flamingoes
I think this giraffe was pretty happy
Nom nom nom
I want to pet the elephants but I don't want to get trampled... so...
Seems like the jeeps are getting closer and closer together on the safari; like they have them departing more frequently than they used to
This rhino was very close to us
See the lion?
Pumbaa - warthogs!
Photopass stop as you get off the safari
When at Animal Kingdom on Thanksgiving Day, you have to want one thing and one thing only for lunch... Flame Tree Barbecue. We used mobile ordering here as well since Flame Tree can have a longer line.
DELISH
With our tummies full, we went over to see Chip and Dale in Dinoland. Rachael hadn't seen them yet and, as you can imagine, she was so excited!!
So cute!!!
She told Chip he was her favorite...
I saw some photo pass photographers and asked if the Huey, Dewey, and Louie magic shot was still available. I'd wanted it when I came in the summer but couldn't find it... they were able to help me out!
When I wear my Ducktales shirt, people know I enjoy Donald's nephews
FOUND THEM!!!
Wait let's take another!
THEY CAME BACK!
Ok, so the wait for Mickey and Minnie was really long... but I really hoped to see them in Christmas attire and I wasn't sure they'd be anywhere else in Christmas stuff... so we waited a while and found them!
Me telling Mickey he doesn't look a day over 25.
You wouldn't know I'd cried right before this picture. There was a woman in front of us who had special needs. Mickey and Minnie held her wheelchair in place so she could sit back down. I just couldn't.
I haven't seen the Lion Guard since the one time I watched it with Gabe. But still, we roar.
And Tink stopped by on our way out!
So by this time in the afternoon, Rachael was starting to worry she was getting sick and so we decided that we'd done what we wanted to do so we left. We went over to the Vineland Character Warehouse but LITERALLY couldn't find anywhere to park. I think we drove around the parking lot for about 25-30 minutes. We went back to the hotel and later tried to decide on dinner.
We should have gone over to Disney Springs and eaten there; but we tried to go somewhere right by the hotel. This was Thanksgiving evening; we had our "Thanksgiving meal" the day before at Garden Grill but still were needing something for dinner. So, we went over to the Denny's, thinking it would be sort of an ode to the movie The Santa Clause... but after sitting for 20+ minutes, we hadn't even had our names taken for the waiting list. There were two servers and one cook working for the whole restaurant... so...
Taco Bell and McDonald's it was!
Also, one other fun note about this day. We went to Walgreens to get some cold medicine for Rachael. Despite not feeling great, Rachael was dancing in the aisle and this woman turned the corner to come down our aisle. Without skipping a beat, she said, "You go girl," and kept walking.
Stay Tuned! Up next, you'll hear about our adventure with scrunchies and going on a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) tour.
Love all of your pics!
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