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Tuesday 23rd August

Somehow Scott and I had got bitten and between us we had quite a few of the pesky irritating bumps. Mossie’s just about always take a shine to me so I was surprised I’d lasted this long without getting any. I took some antihistamine to help with and put plenty of bite cream on, that should sort them out!

After breakfast we drove over to Animal Kingdom, look what a beautiful day it was


Now our main objective of the day was the see the Festival of the Lion King. I was still a bit peeved with myself that I’d forgotten to watch the Beauty and the Beast show there was no way we were going to miss this one.

Again it was way too hot to walk up to the entrance so we caught the tram up. It was really quiet at bag check and we were soon entering the park.

Straight away I checked the times for the show and was so glad to see there was a performance at 10, we had around 15 minutes to walk up to it so we thought we’d give it a go.

Needn’t have worried even though the show was just about to start there was loads of room and we ended up sitting just a few benches back from the front. Even better was that we had a clear view, nobody’s head stuck in front of us Poppy was so happy about that. There were still lots of seat available the theatre didn’t fill up.

We settled down then moments later the show began, we were the Lions.


The show was as brilliant as ever, the performers are amazing and it as to be one of my favourites. Near to the end one of the performers came over and asked if Jamie or Poppy wanted to go down and join in on the celebration, Jamie said he was ok (he’d already done it one time before) Poppy said yes but was a little wary about going down there on her own. I said could I go with her and she said yes I couldn’t believe it lol.

We went down and we had such a ball. We walked round roaring like lions, shaking our maracas and waving at everyone, it was just brilliant and we loved it.


Afterwards we sat back down and an American lady a few seats in front remarked to me what an awesome experience for you both, it certainly was.


We left there on such a high this show is so uplifting and energetic and started our day off fantastically. So glad that we went to the first performance of the day.


Used our first fast pass of the day which was for the safari. Course it’s not far there we just had a short walk over stopping off for a restroom break first.


They say that no two safaris are the same and whilst we did see the usual animals we did manage to catch a glimpse of the cheetah this morning, somehow he’d always eluded us.


Poppy continued with her Wilderness Explorer badges as we came off the safari, wed remembered to bring her book back with us.


As we passed one of the food carts with the pretzels Jamie suddenly realised that we’d not actually had one yet. He soon sorted that little issue out!


Had a memory maker photo took as we passed back through Africa it was really quiet in the park today and I think the photographer was glad to speak and photograph someone.


Not that we were particularly peckish in anyway more to do with the fact that we still had tons of snack credits to use we popped into the Starbucks. Managed to use some up in there and we also got a couple of cups of water too which of course are free.


As we walked round we saw this guy, there was no line for him which I thought was strange. Poppy got his autograph and had her photo took then somehow I had my picture took too hehe.


Onto our next fast pass which of course you’ve probably guessed was Expedition Everest. With Dinosaur being closed there wasn’t a great deal of rides to use the fast passes on. The boys love this ride so it just made sense to come back here rather than say go on Primeval Whirl.

Hayden and Jamie wanted their dad to go on with them so we had a look round the shop. Poppy chose a Yeti Explorers kit when we were in there, it’ll be ever so useful when we’re back home! And we got a few other little gifts too.


It was really hot today I wondered if that was the reason why it was so quiet in the park. We wanted to do one of the walks so chose the Maharajah Jungle Trek as we were nearby to it.


I can’t recall seeing any bats they weren’t there or maybe we just didn’t look hard enough! Not that they’re that hard to miss. We walked round further where we did the Tiger.


As we continued our walk round Poppy picked up a few more badges for her book. We spotted some other animals along with a few birds too.


It’s definitely worth a walk on these trails there’s a lot to see and the cast members who are scattered along the walk are always really enthusiastic and more than happy to help if you have a question or two.

We had a 10 minute wait for our next fast pass which was for Kali Rapids, just what we wanted in this heat. We put our bags into the lockers and Poppy decided she needed to get a little wet before the ride!


This too was really quiet and I was surprised at how we walked round before the lane started forming a queue. As we were nearly at the front we were shunted to one side with another family? We were just saying how strange it was that we’d never come this way before when we were shown to a raft which was situated near to the start of the ride. A lady and her daughter were already sat down she’d got one of those big support/brace things on her leg.

Anyway we set off as soon as we were all strapped in and went straight up the slope.


Continued below…

We had a great ride round with only managing to get a few splashes on us all. Fab thing happened next as we came to the roundabout where you get out of the boat the cast member asked us if we wanted to stay on, we all had to agree to it though. We all shouted practically in unison yes please! And that was it off we went for another raft ride down the wild river!


This time the water got us a little bit, Hayden got quite a soaking along with the lady he was sat next too. We did manage to escape those squirting elephants at the end much to everyone’s delight.

When we arrived at the roundabout where you normally get out we were told to stay put and we’d be getting out at the same point where we got in. So we went all the way round as then as we got to the bottom of the slope that takes you up the hill this massive jet of water shot straight at us. None of us could believe it, it was blasting the raft back into that corner spot but at the same time we were all getting soaked and I mean SOAKED! All of us were screaming stop, not that it helped then we just all started laughing as there wasn’t anything we could do about it! Eventually we got off and we looked like drown rats we couldn’t have got any wetter, even if we’d have thrown ourselves into the river. Oh my word everyone was giving us some right looks when we walked off lol


Picked our bags back up from the lockers and Poppy must have thought she wasn’t wet enough…obviously!


Thankfully it was a super hot day and we started drying off in the sun as we walked.

It was lunch time and the kid’s wanted something to eat - we decided to go to the Restaurantosauras It was a bit of a walk round there but at least it gave us a bit more a chance to get dry.
I think that every time we crossed over this bridge we saw these guys


The restaurant was busy with a really long line to get served, eventually we did and we had the usual fast food, burgers, fries, chicken nuggets etc. The toppings bar here is really good and we topped our burgers off with lots of onions, chilli, mushrooms and blue cheese to name a few.


After our lunch we decide to leave the park, I did ask the boys if they wanted to ride Primeval Whirl but they said not they wanted to leave. We were all feeling a bit hot and bothered so a swim at Riverside was called for. We said our goodbye’s to Animal Kingdom and left the park at 3pm.


Once changed we walked over to the main pool for a nice cooling dip - It was so needed today. Jamie and Poppy joined in with the trivia games that were being played and won themselves a little beach ball. The pool was very lively with lots of fun and games happening, we all had a lovely relaxed time in here just playing around and enjoying the water.


Showered and changed we drove back out to the parks Epcot to be precise. We had a dinner date with a few princesses at Akershus.


As we walked up to Norway Scott took Hayden over to get a return time for Test Track, we’d not had much luck on riding it on our past visits.

We arrived on time for our ADR, it was quiet outside with just a handful of people hanging around. I was hopefully that we’d be in soon and sure enough 10 minutes later we were called inside.

You stand in line to have your photo took with Belle first, she signs your autograph book if you want but she doesn’t really have time to have a chat with you.



Photos finished with we were then took over to our table which was situated in the main room. It was in a nice position and not too far from the all important buffet.

Our server came over took our drinks order and explained about the princesses coming round. We’ve eaten here a few times before so are quite familiar with the set up off this place. It then meant we could go over and fill our plates with the buffet items. It must be said that the kids really enjoy this buffet, I’m not though. They fill up with all the cold meats, cheese and fish which all add up to make it a favourite of theirs. Even Poppy who generally doesn’t eat much at a character meal!

Whilst we were eating the first Princess came along to say hello, took Hayden a bit by surprise in fact she did with all of us. She just seemed to appear from nowhere!


The rest of the Princesses followed by and all of them were so lovely and chatty to us all even to the boys who weren’t too keen to reply back! Snow White remarked on Poppy’s ears and said she’d like to have some just like those too.


Just before Ariel arrived there was the Princess parade around the hall which is really lovely and sweet. Poppy normally follows the Princesses round but on this occasion she was happy to just sit and watch.


Our mains came out which was ok the food here is nothing special well not for the price you pay for it. I know we’re on the dining plan so it doesn’t really matter about the cost as such but I think if you’re paying OOP for this meal it is a lot of money.



After saying that if you want to meet the Princesses it’s a great way to do it and we’ve always had lovely interaction with the characters here.

We left at 8pm and I felt like we’d had the right amount of time in there, we weren’t rushed in any way but yet everything kept moving and we weren’t sat about waiting for any length of time either.

Took a look in the Wandering Reindeer which was obviously full of Frozen products. There wasn’t anything in particular that caught Poppy’s eye but they did have lots of nice toys and soft toys in there.
I noted the time to see Anna and Elsa which was just 20 minutes long, didn’t think this was at all bad but we didn’t bother with seeing them as we’d be doing so on the Dream. The standby time for the ride on the other hand, was 90 minutes, we definitely didn’t bother with that one either.


There was still ½ hour before Illuminations started so we went for a look round one of our favourite countries Mexico to pass the time by.


Of course no visit is complete without a ride on the Gran Fiesta Tour!


Afterwards we had another look round the little stalls everything is so colourful and bright here.


The time now was 8.45 so Illuminations would be starting very soon so we went back outside to bag ourselves a spot to view it from. Now we never pick a perfect place to watch it I think they get took up really quickly and I can’t be bothered with staking out a spot for hours so we just make do with where ever.
We stood somewhere in between Mexico and Norway and from where we were stood there wasn’t any obvious obstructions in the way. Whilst we were waiting Poppy asked for another light toy, the one we’d purchased for the Jungle Book show was rubbish and it had done nothing but leak out everywhere. We’d exchanged it on a couple of occasion but each one had been the same. In the end I asked for a refund and I told Poppy we’d get something else but something that just lit up and didn’t require any bubble solution. Scott took her to the little stalls to choose something. Poppy soon came back and she’d got one of those Mickey hands that light up.

Now the guy at the shop told Poppy that the hand would change colour to that of the country’s flag within World Showcase? Not sure if it’s true or not but Poppy thought it was absolutely amazing and wanted to walk round the World to see the different colours. No chance of that happening lol but we did try Norway where the hand started flashing blue and red. Still not overly convinced though haha.




Anyhow it was minutes until Illuminations started and this is our 2nd favourite show in Disney World in fact a very close second to our beloved Wishes. The music is amazing I have the cd at home which I love listening to it always transports me back to Epcot. In the distance we could see some other fireworks, the Star Wars ones probably.

Illuminations began…


The amazing show finished and what a show it was. I especially love it when the different countries all light up it really does send shivers all through me, I so love the music too.

Display over with it was now time for us to ride a few rides. It was EMH so the park was staying open for Disney guests. We noticed a lot of people making a beeline for the Frozen ride but we decided against it and headed over towards Test Track.


We’d not had a great deal of luck with Test Track either due to the weather or long lines so we had our fingers crossed as we walked up to the entrance. Everything appeared to be as it should be we could hear the roar of the cars going round the track and the fast pass line wasn’t snaking all the way outside either.

Kids were so happy to have another ride on here and we all had a great time - again a different experience riding it at night.


Moving next door to Mission Space next where the boys all went on the orange version and left us girls to the green one. We may be wimps for doing this but we don’t care hehe. No queue for this so we were soon on our mission where Poppy was the pilot, her favourite and I was the navigator!


We met back up afterwards and the boys suffered no ill effects for going on the more intense version. The time was getting on so we had to make a decision as to which ride to go on next as it probably would be our last. We decided to try for Soarin so we headed over to the Land.

Pleasantly surprised to see the wait time was 35 minutes, it was more than doable for us. The time was now 10.30 so we knew for definite it would be our last ride.

Enjoyed playing the trivia game as we waited in line and it really did pass the time on. I'm not sure if this is new or not as we've always gone down the fast pass line.


Before we knew it we were soarin around the world and it was just as amazing the second time round. I had a few more tears as the ride ended again, one because I loved it so much and another because I knew our time in Epcot was over. I couldn’t have thought of a better way to end our time here though.

The park was quiet as we made our way out with and I just stopped briefly to take a couple of last photos.


As we made our way out Poppy was so excited to be waving at everyone with her new Mickey hand. She waved and high fived the cast members as we left and this totally made her day. It’s the little things isn’t it that make us so happy. This may sound a little silly but I’m getting quite emotional as I’m writing this as I can see Poppy skipping along with her Mickey hand waving and being so happy. It makes all those months of saving hard so worthwhile.

Walked back to our car it was now 11.30 and we made our way back home at Riverside. We chatted briefly about our day before turning the lights out at midnight.
We had yet another brilliant day. Tomorrow though would be our last day in Disney though and it doesn’t take much guessing as to where that will be.

Thanks for reading

What a lovely day. I can't believe how quiet Animal Kingdom was in August.

I just wondered what lenses you use on your camera? I'm looking into buying a new camera for our tip and your photos are amazing.

What a brilliant day. How great to have a quiet AK? Photo with Tarzen was a bit of a bonus as he isn't there all the time. Your comment about Poppy being so Happy struck a chord. All those months and all that saving and that's the reason we do it.

Look at my countdown Julia! Guess what I've been doing today... ?!

Loving your trip report

Can't wait to hear about the cruise

Another wonderful day, I love the music to reflections on earth too, always brings a tear to my eyes. I'm loving Poppy's mickey hand.

Another fabulous day and you are so right in saying about the little things that make us happy, they are often the ones that make the trip so special.

What a lovely day with so much done. Once we get back to the hotel for a late afternoon swim we find it so hard to then go back to a park so I'm very impressed that you all manage it every day!

It was quiet but then towards the end of August the parks do tend to get a little quieter.

I use the Nikon 16-85mm for the most of the time an occasionally my Nikon 35mm


Thanks we had another fab day. Yes it makes all the hard work worth it.

Oh wow was it ADR day?. Hope it all went ok for you and you got everything you wanted

Thanks for reading along, it won't be long were nearly at the end of our Disney stay

It's brilliant isn't it. Thank you Poppy loves it and it's great that it brings back lovely memories for me

They do don't they, it makes everything worthwhile and creates special unique memories.

Thank you for reading

Thanks Diane we had another fab day. It is difficult isn't it, I think its only because we have ADR's booked that we manage to get out or it starts to rain!