Have you ever seen such a gorgeous tree in your life?
So far, Tabitha had been having a fantastic first Walt Disney World vacation. While we knew that she had loved the parks so far, we knew that today would be one that would blow her away. it wouldn't be one of those in-your-face Disney days but.....
We met at the bus stop and we were met with a large crowd of guests. They were also waiting for an Animal Kingdom bus. One of the others said that they had been there almost an hour. Oh Lord have mercy! We were trying to get to morning extra hours and were already cutting it close even if we didn't have to wait long on a bus.
We waited and waited. The man who said that they had been waiting the longest used the phone in the bus stop to call and let them know. He would also go up to every other bus that came by and tell them how long he had been there. They would always tell him that an Animal Kingdom bus was coming. Finally, a tour bus came and everyone at the stop was able to board. We left the resort and arrived at the same time as the non-Disney property guest. I was mad. We wanted to go straight to Pandora and ride Flights of Passage. Now, the wait time was ridiculous. I made up my mind right then and there that I was going to complain and somebody was going to listen. I didn't know who it would be but it WAS happening.
We entered the park and saw the most gorgeous tree that Tabitha had ever seen. She, literally, gasped. Aww, my frustration lessened a little but not all the way.
I saw a Guest Services umbrella and told the rest of the family that they could either go on without me or wait. It didn't matter to me. They chose to wait and take a bathroom break. I waited in line with several other people. The castmembers were really nice when I told them what had happened. They said that they couldn't really make any complaints about the buses, but they could give us passes for Flights of Passage and the safari since those were the two attractions that we had planned on going to first and second. I was very pleased with their generosity even though I hadn't expected it.
The Kilimanjaro Safari pass could be used at any time of the day but the Flights of Passage was later. Jesse wanted to see Pandora first.
OH WAIT! I forgot to give y'all an update on Jesse. While we had been at Magic Kingdom, he had finally made his way back to Caribbean Beach. He said that the had to hold back the nauseous / puking feeling several times but he made it back. He went straight to bed and was in a deep sleep when someone knocked on the door. It was room check. He asked who it was and they told him through the door. He asked if they could come back and they said no, they had to do the check right then. He told them that he was sick and he had to get dressed. They waited, came in, walked around for less than a minute and left. When we got back to the resort, I gave Lacey some of the anti-nausea meds that I brought along and he was fine the next morning.
Now, back to our Animal Kingdom.....We went to Pandora first:. Oh and I forgot to say that we woke up that morning and it was pretty cool outside. The forecast called for a chilly day which is the reason why most of us are in sweatshirts or long sleeve.
We looked around Pandora for a little while and then headed towards Africa to use our Kilimanjaro Safari pass.
There's our chariot!
John, Hunter, Tabitha and I were in one row with Lacey and Jesse on the next.
Let's get this safari underway!
In all of our safaris, this was the first time the hippos were completely out of the water and sunning:
**Continued in next post
