Disney World 2025 Day 2 – Monday, May 19

A Salute To All Animal Kingdom, But Mostly The Lion King Show

All of us were functioning on only a handful of hours of sleep since Anabelle’s graduation three days before. Animal Kingdom opened earlier than any other Park, with the Extra Magic Hour Half hour starting at 7:30AM. Therefore, we missed our first Rope Drop and "slept in." 

Oh the shame! 

Anabelle- who lists Animal Kingdom as one of her favorite “just be” in Disney places- would only take the sleep she needed if we promised to make the Extra Magic Hour Half Hour on Friday.

(Foreshadowing- We did! YAAAAY!!)
 
For us in Disney, “slept in” meant we got up at 7:30, did all our morning preparations at hyperspeed, including assembling my boot and Rosa assembling everything else for the day (Thank you, honey!) The Animal Kingdom bus was there and ready to go when we arrived (A SIGN!!!!) meaning we still exited the bus very nearly at the the Non-Disney Hotel Guest 8AM Rope Drop time in the Park! YAY!
 
Anabelle noticed it was her makeshift trader pin collection that sent her to the bag check line yesterday. She took it out before the check at security and went through the single scan station without getting called to bag check. 

(Foreshadowing- Today.)  

We all breezed through and entered our second Park! YAAY! Anabelle and I enjoy Flight of Passage but wanted all of us to remain together as much as possible on this trip. There is, moreover, a large difference between, “I enjoy this attraction” and “I will wait over an hour for this attraction.” Plus, I remembered liking the Avatar Boat ride, but hadn’t been on it in a while. Aside from remembering the impressive Shaman fully activated her Animatronic Heebie Jeebies, Anabelle didn’t remember it much at all.
 
Once we entered Animal Kingdom (Different, but still excellent, aaahhhhhhhh.) the Avatar Boat wait time was listed at forty minutes. We weren’t sure if we wanted to wait that long. Guiding our choice was the fact that almost everything else in the Park didn’t open until Ten. Rosa made the (correct as usual) executive decision to ride it anyway, and we traversed three lands to the edge of AvatarLand. (clomp clomp clomp) The wait was nowhere near that length, plus the line was pretty. We tried to fill the water bottles at the well-placed fountain on line, but it had functional issues. It required pressing the button like a pump to get a continuous stream out. The other people on line were forgiving of us shuffling back into position. YAY!

Anabelle ended up liking the ride a lot… with the exception of the Shaman.
Her- “I hate that guy.”
Me- “I think it’s a girl.”
Her- “I hate that girl.” 
The Magic Band lit up in appropriate cool colors here and there… for when I wanted to stop looking at the ride I was on, I guess.
(Foreshadowing- I’m going to pick on the Magic Band Plus mercilessly. However, that in no way means I will abandon it the next time we go.)
 

We hung around in AvatarLand for a bit, taking advantage of the short PhotoPass lines. Next on our plan was the day’s first Lion King show and we took the “Secret Path” from AvatarLand to Africa along the river. (clomp clomp clomp)
(Foreshadowing- While still pretty, the secret path has become FAR less secret, and it was occupied by a swath of other guests.)
 
It was time for the first viewing of the show which is the main reason anyone in our family goes to Animal Kingdom… The Festival of the Lion King! YAAY!
We were in the Lion Section. YAAAAAY!!!

Oh wait. The Lion Section still sings the high part. Alas.
We made it for the step by step hand jive instruction. I almost got it, but not quite. (Or, in fact, not at all.) The show was wonderful, as always. And the bird guy was Paolo, the one who answered Anabelle’s comment on our previous trip. Anabelle noticed that the one Tumble Monkey who blew a bar catch, while he did roll into a gag, finished the show with a bandaged finger. Poor monkey.
The Magic Band, once more trying to distract me from what I was watching, lit up in the four colors for each section, as well as along with the songs, including some appropriate vibrations. (e.g. The lightning strikes in “Be Prepared.”)
HEY! I always thought the odd, “one hand reversed” clapping of the Tumble Monkeys looked familiar. It is from the original Planet of the Apes films!
(Foreshadowing- First featured in this show twenty-one years BEFORE Disney bought that franchise. That is some epic foreshadowing, that is.)

 
Rosa and Anabelle said they wanted to do both “Nature Trails” on this visit, instead of leaving them to me and my “abandon my family” walkabouts. The Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail was next door, and on it we went, with a possible stop for a breakfast ice cream on the way. (clomp clomp clomp)

(Foreshadowing- Sometimes I will use the full name of attractions, sometimes I will use nicknames, and sometimes I will use the weird things my family calls them. How do I choose? Who can say?)
 
Because Disney actually cares about the animals, they have the choice of staying inside or in hidden shady spots when the temperature is as stupidly high as it was. We did get to see a bunch of fun creatures though. In the naked mole rat and “no longer has a horrifically giant frog in it” room, Anabelle was able to see a scorpion. This is rare in any place they have them since they are skilled hiders. Luckily, a nearby two year old, and Tiny Instant Disney Friend, was at the proper eye angle to spot it and pointed it out to her. YAY!
 
Passing one large water tank wall, I reminded Rosa that the fish were what most excited little Anabelle on her early jaunts through this Park. Anabelle said she finds them, “eh.” now. That is until we took five more steps where we walked on a bridge over a pond filled with brilliantly colored, blue fish and she yelled “OOOOOH!” and ran to the rail to stare at them.
 
The hippo was relatively close to the glass and drawing a large crowd by occasionally surfacing. Anabelle took yet another excellent “Point Five” selfie with it. My photographic skills were slightly below hers, taking an excellent picture of the hand of the small boy who was in front of me as he pointed at the huge river dweller.

Most of the gorillas, being smarter than us, were napping in the shade. There were a few looking majestic in the main waterfall and bridge filled viewing area. Another bit of Disney awesome there as the area itself is gorgeous, even without the gorillas in it. (I think that made sense. In any case, YAAAY!!)

 
Exiting the trail, it was time for a momentous occasion. The first McGinleys in the history of Disney World would visit Rafiki’s Planet Watch.
(Foreshadowing- Also… very likely the last.)
 
The beginning of this new adventure did not instill us with confidence. We had seen Rafiki and Timon often listed as meeting people in that unexplored Park section. 

(Foreshadowing- And frequently after our return.)

They were not listed this day. I asked the Awesome and Happy Cast Member standing at the train station entrance why they were not listed, and if they had other scheduled days or times. Awesome and Happy she may have been, but she was also quite terse. She made an “X” with her arms in front of herself and flatly stated, “No characters in Planet Watch, all characters are on Discovery Island and DinoLand!” *Two fingered point behind us*
 
“Right,” I replied somewhat dazed. “I know they aren’t there NOW, and I know where the other Park characters are. But I have seen them listed in Rafiki’s Planet Watch many times. Are they there for certain days or events or…” and before I could finish, she reset into the “X” arm position:
“No characters in Planet Watch, all characters are on Discovery Island and DinoLand” *Two fingered point behind us*
Animatronics are getting frighteningly advanced.
 

We entered the “seats all facing one way” train and took a nice(ish) ride up to the “Watch.” It provided views of back stage areas of the Bumpy Bus safari. This was mostly buildings, but we did see one elephant in its “off display” quarters. YAY!
 

Leaving the train, we hiked to East Jabib where the building was. (clomp clomp clomp) There were wider open sections of the path where one presumes the characters and animal demonstrations that we saw when researching this area take place. There were none. Alas.
(Foreshadowing- Later research by Anabelle showed the characters also meet in the main building, meaning the empty areas were… empty areas. No wonder we never went here.)
 

The Main Building was decked out in really cool animal face art inside and out. Inside also had bathrooms and air conditioning. YAY!

 
The artist drawing class demonstration was starting up and had only reached the eyes and nose. I felt it had a Fox and the Hound vibe, but Anabelle was sure it was Koda. In what are becoming exceptionally rare moments of me being correct, a later pass by confirmed it was Tod.
 
There were a bunch of windows into the veterinary area. Most of the stations had no procedures but were still informative. My Chemistry major daughter got hugely excited over a vast, micro pipette, collection. YAAAY! There was also a large display of the non Winnie variety of poo.
A reminder that I am hilarious, yet disgusting.
 

The one operation that was going on involved a fish. Rosa pointed out it must feel anti-climactic to get a veterinary degree and then have to spend an entire procedure holding a hose over the patient’s gills.
 

There were also a large amount of varied and weird insect displays throughout the building. BUGS! YAAAY!
A few small reptiles were mixed in as well. This included what a fellow Guest, (and clearly not an Instant Disney Friend) referred to as a “Pordo Rye-can” boa constrictor.
'Murica!
 

Outside was a petting zoo. Rosa brushed a couple of goats, we were stared at by a cow for a bit, and I put a great deal of effort to keep the sand on the ground from migrating into my isolation boot.
 
And… That was it.

 
On the extended hike back to the train, (clomp clomp …) we stopped to Mobile Order lunch. Anabelle’s experiences doing this for us in Disneyland and pre trip research meant she mastered the process before the other two of us. She set up our Flame Tree lunch orders, including allergy requirements, before we continued to the train. (clomp)
 
A clearly unpracticed scooter driver took about eight tries to back up the ramp before two Cast Members pushed her up. With the short notice of both the trip and my injury,  I was quite happy with my decision to “clomp.”
 
While the trip up to the Planet Watch passed semi-interesting animal care buildings, the ride back down provided views of…
Trees.
(Foreshadowing- This cemented the likelihood that it would be the last time McGinleys rode this train. Until the Bluey announcement, that is. )
 
Exiting the “top” part of the Park from Africa we passed around the Tree of Life, (clomp clomp clomp) I waved the Magic Band in random directions whenever the statue vibration happened, and we reached the wonders of Flame Tree Barbecue in time to click “we’re here” for our order and barely avert CrazyHungryLand. 

(Foreshadowing- I believe the “thrills” of Rafiki’s Planet Watch may have accelerated our journey to that land.)
 
Rosa went ahead to grab a table. She texted us directions: “Down the stairs to the right” from the seating area, and then information that she moved to the one next to that with napkins and plastic ware. The directions were excellent with two exceptions.
A) Anabelle and I were performing an outstanding balancing act with the drinks due to Animal Kingdom’s no lids rule. This was made more interesting as it was early in the trip when Anabelle focused on my injury as something to worry about, instead of later on when she learned I had it under control and considered it a general hinderance to our group speed.
B) Rosa’s directions lacked “initial conditions.” And we didn’t know which of the many pavilions she started in.
 
We did manage to assemble together for the greatest of Disney Counter Service lunches. Anabelle had the impossible burnt tips (Of what? Who cares, they were fantastic!) while Rosa and I each had our own servings of RIBS!!! (YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!)
Mine were wonderfully accompanied by a gigantic Coke Zero (so I didn’t die) and a Safari Amber beer. (Again, YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!)

Anabelle was originally going to forgo caffeine on this trip, however, for the same reason I stayed on it (so she didn’t die) she went back to her Gold Peak Iced Tea, starting here.
An ibis wandered by. However, since Aurora wasn’t with us for it to torment, it left.
While we refilled energy levels back to almost functional, Anabelle revealed she had discovered the Zen like joys I was well acquainted with of “the mug run.”
“It was so fun! Except for all the times I almost dropped them all.”

Anabelle enjoyed her burnt tips of whatever to such an extent that it was she, the non RIB eater, who formulated a plan to have dinner here again before hopping to the Magic Kingdom later in the week.
(Foreshadowing- If only we had…)
 

While we were enjoying the view and finishing up the delightful RIBS and tips (and beer!) Anabelle was checking character appearance times, because the App actually had them. IMAGNE THAT!!! (I really think the Disneyland lack of planning emotional scars will haunt us for a long time.)
 
She realized it was coming up on the final appearance time for the DinoLand characters, causing a speed walk (or as much of a speed walk as my clomping booted foot would allow on the uneven grounds of Animal Kingdom) into DinoLand.
 
Just before the entrance to that section, the line for Moana was forty-five minutes. “And… we’re not stopping!” yelled Anabelle as we whipped by. (clompclompclomp)
 
Goofy was in a fairly pedestrian camping outfit. Knowing we’d meet him several other places, we smiled and waved as we passed, heading deeper into the partially closed area. Just before the entire Land was shuttered, I finally got to walk the dinosaur sculpture filled “Cretaceous Trail” as the members of the former Street Party “Donald’s Dino Bash” now were meeting guests there. YAAY!
 
Rosa’s Boys, in their adorable dinosaur outfits, passed us and waved on their way back to their spot.
 

Donald was not with Daisy, but his overly ostentatious outfit (complete with an excessively plumed hat) meant we had to stop by him. He was (as expected) thrilled about Tiny Donald, yielding yet another in a continuing series of fun visits with the number one Duck. YAY!
 
While passing deeper into the Cretaceous Trail, “Walk the Dinosaur” belted across DinoLand. Anabelle and I both commented we’d miss that song the most. Her reasons were Ice Age 3 based, while mine were more “old man who was there when it came out” connected.
 
Chip and Dale were getting ready for another break when we got to their spot. (It was very hot.) Two little girls in animal print outfits were waiting at the head of the line. Awwwww! One flashed her equally animal printed underwear to the line. Aww? Following a Make a Wish kid visit (Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!) Rosa’s boys went on their acorn break but returned quickly.
 
“Surfin’ Bird” kicked on as they came back and with Rosa’s jewelry featuring them, it was the best kind of chaos. YAAAAY!!! I had thought Dale, in his awesome dinosaur outfit, was miming, “I am a dinosaur” to Anabelle. However, he had noticed her “Tightrope Girl” Minnie ears and was actually miming, “I am the crocodile in her painting.” One does not see that advanced level of mime in a rodent outside of this environment. YAAY! 

We posed for PhotoPass, waved, hugged, high fived and had a fantastic time. YAAY!
 

Daisy had already left her spot next to the well-dressed Corythosaurus. (She designed all the outfits for the dinosaurs and characters on the trail.) Our next stop in the multi-day farewell to this Land was in the back at the Dinosaur Ride.
 

Anabelle took another of her patented “Point Five”s of all of us with Aladar outside. On the way in I passed the sign clearly stating, “Please do not ride this if you have every condition that you do,” sign, and once more ignored it.

Even in the twilight of this attraction, there were still first-time riders in the pre-show. It’s always fun to experience any part of Disney World with those folks. The first of many Dinosaur cast members worried about my boot navigating the stairs in the loading area for this one. I was fine on them, but it was nice to be asked. 

(Foreshadowing- Anabelle will do an unprompted “grumpy old man” impression of me saying, “I’m fine,” when asked about elevators. Parenthood, the gift that keeps on giving.)

Then we rode Dinosaur.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

In the little shop following it, Anabelle found a solution to her trader pin storage- a small combination book / pouch pin holder. There were issues with the zipper that would plague her throughout the trip, but Rosa and then she quickly mastered a trick with a pen to unzip it. I cashed in a snack for a diet Coke, as this was an early stage where caffeine deficit was more important than dehydration.
 

Rosa and I took a last look at the skeletons in the boneyard, while Anabelle went off to the digging area for a covert (and successful) mission to immortalize the place Aurora would hide in when the rest of us rode Dinosaur, which made her cousin very happy.
 

Back on Discovery Island, some Wilderness Explorer cast members were showing off an ENORMOUS huntsman spider. They told us they were local, however the similarly sized and built wolf spider lived in our neck of the woods. This provided Anabelle with an opening to, yet again, tell anyone in the world that I flicked one at her at the dock on the other side of Up the Lake once. Because some parental sins are never forgiven.
 
I waved the Magic Band at a few statues, and we found a PhotoPass person near an oar by the Tree. Anabelle didn’t hear what the photographer said at first. She confirmed and found it was not pictures of the Tree itself, but with Moana’s Oar! Anabelle yelled “SAY LESS!” and posed excitedly. The added Hei Hei Magic Shots were a magnificent bonus!  YAAAAAY!!!

 
Naturally we did need to take the classic Tree photos…
staring directly into the sun, squinting majestically, to maintain tradition.

I found myself thinking the phrase that had become far too common, “Why am I vibrating?”
There was a Golden Bambi statue nearby. I took a photo of it, but naturally Anabelle took a much better one. Not with the Point Five this time, but with Portrait Mode, another of her discoveries meaning even less of the pictures in the book will be mine than previously. That is, assuming we ever get around to making one. We are currently three Disney trips behind in photo albums. Some days, I miss film.

(Foreshadowing- Only two between the end of this trip and the finalization of this story! YAY!)

Before heading back into the “up” part of the Park, we detoured towards AvatarLand. Tucked near the entrance path was Nomad Lounge, home of the only gluten free churros on both coasts. While Rosa went in to place her order, Anabelle configured her trader pins into the new binder. It was Three PM, and my phone still had 77% battery left. After years of using old iPhones that dropped charges like a leaking bucket, this was a new experience. Anabelle told me she had explained to Rosa that I had suffered previous “Battery related trauma” after freaking out that we weren’t sure where the portable phone chargers were or if they worked. (Foreshadowing- I think we used the one we found in a drawer once the whole trip.)
 
After a bit, and also after leaving two puddles of sweat on the wall we were sitting on, Anabelle and I decided to join Rosa in the air conditioning. She got her churros, which she asked to have far less sugar than usual on, and found they were still swathed in it. She decided it was worth taking an anti-glutening pill and have real ones for any further Florida churro adventures.
(Foreshadowing- And a few other pill assisted culinary adventures! YAY!)
 
The delay turned out to be perfect timing to meet Pocahontas behind the Tree, as she was running late as well. She arrived and said she had trouble with Meeko. Anabelle looked at us and stated, “Someone probably gave him a waffle.”
Seeing Anabelle’s ears and villain shirt, the Native American Princess asked if she liked to tell scary stories when gathering around the fire. Anabelle, having a fair amount of experience in that area, answered in the affirmative. Pocahontas also expressed gladness that Ratcliffe was not on Anabelle’s villain shirt. Anabelle quickly replied, “EW!” startling her new friend, following up with, “I wouldn’t do that to you.” Pocahontas brought in the Tribal Leaders (us) for a photo as well, which was pretty cool. YAY!

We re-entered Africa to the sounds of Shakira’s “Wakka Wakka (Africa)” by the excellent house (street?) band Burudika. In the near hundred degree heat, in the middle of the plaza was the band’s dancer, two little kids, and Rosa giving it all they had.

Anabelle would have joined, but realized she might die of thirst. Therefore, she went to fill her water bottle and empty it into herself immediately. This meant she also had to empty herself immediately and missed the song. Our trend of stumbling into the final song of a live set began.

We book ended the day with the final performance of the Lion King Show. Anabelle insisted on the seating order so that I would get smacked when Rosa got far too into dancing along. She knows the whole show’s choreography impressively well, meaning I needed to duck a bunch. We got a “second cast” this time. The singers were our favorite group of performers in those roles. (Yes, we have seen this show too many times, what’s your point?) Rosa tried the interactive Magic Band for what she considers “her show.” She liked it but ignored it most of the time. For the animal noises part, the little girl picked in the giraffe section knew the right sound to make, triggering a massive ovation from the Brazilian tour group in the stands she was presumably a member of.  

This gang of tumble monkeys were funnier and more interactive as well. And Anabelle was a bigger fan of the bird dancer/ aerialists. Paolo clearly had intensive ballet training, which made him an outstandingly impressive performer, but the ones in this show had a mix of ballet and theater, adding a bit more leap filled pizzaz to the proceedings. (Disclaimer, this difference is solely a preference of Anabelle and is in no way intended to downplay the awesomeness of Paolo’s ballet or performing skills.) YAAAAAY!!!!  The difference could also be explained by Anabelle checking something later. She didn’t expect to see Paolo at all, since she thought he was appearing in a nearby production of the Gatsby musical. It turned out he was and had a show that day at 5:30. Anabelle, additionally, heaped praise on the more serious “Be Prepared” twirler, as opposed to “the guy this morning who set his nuts on fire.” YAY!
(Foreshadowing- His reappearance the next time we came to this Park was greeted by her saying, “Oh look. It’s ‘nuts guy.’”)
 

The Bumpy Bus tends to trend to shorter wait times later in the afternoon and it was almost a walk on. Sadly, getting a “driver who was basically a Jungle Cruise Captain” did not occur again. At one point Anabelle showed me text on her phone: “This driver is putting me to sleep.” While the driver discussed a small antelope on the right side of the bus, she was completely ignoring the several rhinoceroses on the other side.
 
We were in the back and the bumping was very jarring. I used a trick I figured out on Dinosaur- locking both arms and the other leg in place to keep the booted foot off the ground. Anabelle locked herself in with all four limbs and held Rosa against the wall to keep the bumps from messing with her Mother’s back.

Once anchored, we could enjoy the animals and the extremely funny kid in the row in front of us. He was part of a typical family for certain geographies. Mom looked about eighteen or nineteen with fine line tattoo art all over her arm and back. Dad was probably in his mid twenties but trying to look older, with tattoos like a bloody fanged “only the strong survive” labelled gorilla, and the kid looked to be about five.
‘Murica!
 
Anyway, we learned the baobab tree has no leaves nine months of the year to conserve water. I postulated, “I’m not bald. I’m conserving water.” Anabelle quickly quashed that idea, “No… you don’t drink water.”
 

We needed to work our way out of the Park to make the night’s dinner reservation. Anabelle wanted to run to do some thrill rides before leaving. Rosa doesn’t thrill ride, and I wouldn’t be running for quite a while. (clomp clomp clomp) Rosa and I accidentally detoured into Asia and took that route, leisurely, into Discovery Island. The last number (of course) played by the Discovery Island band was “Danza Kuduro.” Rosa was ready to join in, but in no shape to run either by this point, and they finished by the time we reached them.

She went to soak her cooling towel, while I had a few personal moments with a blackbird and a very close encounter with an ibis.
 

Anabelle scooted down to Everest to single rider it twice in a row. In further evidence of all of us being a bit tired at the start of this trip, she was extremely surprised on the first ride. This was because- She forgot about the Yeti.

(Foreshadowing- We may have all been more than a bit tired.)

 
Anabelle then speed walked into DinoLand without breaking stride. There was a MOB outside the Dinosaur ride… doing nothing. (“Philistines.”- Anabelle.) She got a last ride of the day on that one as well. On her journeys she found a guy handing out “Disney Leaves.” They were dead leaves with small Disney shapes (Mickey, the Castle, etcetera) punched out of them. Since there is no “fall foliage” in Florida, and the leaves were really sturdy, I have no idea where they came from. Maybe he imported them… honestly, they could have been plastic.
(Foreshadowing- I got nothing. We did see more on the ground another day, with zero evidence of their origin.)
 
Rosa and I wandered around the big store for a bit. Anabelle met us, after stopping to check out a giant grasshopper where we saw the spider. We then closed out our Animal Kingdom day with a very short walk to the bus (clomp) because dinner was in one of the snooty hotels.
 
The Chip and Dale decorated bus took us to the Wilderness Lodge before continuing to the Contemporary. (Cue Anabelle yelling at me about nostalgia before I even started.) A fellow rider gave Anabelle HUGE compliments on her Tightrope Girl ears.
 

In a bizarre shift from the usual, I was the only one changing for dinner. Anabelle’s villain shirt covered both locations (Scar and the Queen) and Rosa stuck with her “Hakuna Matata.” After no reaction to my Snow White/ Xenomorph shirt on the last two trips, I switched to Dad’s old “Grumpy’s Garage” shirt with a collar for the swanky joint.
 
We stopped at the hotel store to look around and check pins. After the scorchingly hot day clomping between continents, I fell back on grabbing whatever was near to help steady myself when stepping on my booted foot. Unfortunately, one of those things was a barely secured shelf. My juggler like reflexes kicked in and kept all the mugs from crashing to the ground. Unfortunately, that meant all the metal water bottles went flying in a cacophonous blast. Anabelle showed her usual sympathy- “Can we go now, or are you going to knock anything else over?”
Parenthood, the gift that keeps on giving.
 
The front desk let me know that that the Water Pageant would be by the Polynesian at 8:50 and this hotel at 9:30. Neither of those times were helpful. Seriously, no matter what we do, or how we plan, how are we always exactly a half hour early for this meal once everyone is settled in?
 
Though she felt deviating from her early pick was successful and a “power move” for lunch, Anabelle double checked her highlighted items on the menu list for dinner. After cleaning up a bit in the rest room, she made her triumphant return to the “Bridge of Wahs.” While she got ready, I had a nostalgia moment watching several little girls in princess dresses wander across it.

The Awesome Happy Cast Member at the check in desk really liked my Grumpy shirt. So far, a correct choice.
 

Donald was our waiter, (not the Duck) and he set the Awesome and Happy Disney bar WAY beyond the typical. He seated us and gave us the entire back story and set up for the evening, focusing on “stories are fun, shows are long and boring.” He was over the top exuberant and talked a mile a minute. Anabelle summed it up best after we were seated, “That was magical!”
 

We were ready to experience this restaurant for the first time with just the three of us.
 

For drinks, I went back to the Antidote, which now had fruit flavors with the rum, and was a mystical shade of blue. Rosa wanted the Antidote as well, at first. Donald was supremely on top of things as far as her gluten sensitivity went, going over everything on the menu from memory, describing the benefits of each, and listing the few things she couldn’t eat. Something in the Antidote had gluten in it. (My guess- whatever stabilized the foam.) Therefore, Rosa chose the Enchanted Apple, a sour apple and vodka combination.
 
When it came time to order, I stayed with the “as rare as legally possible Prime Rib,” (It was! YAAAAY!) and Anabelle stayed with the cauliflower fake meat- Tricken Chicken (that came with cauliflower again, YAAAY!) Rosa remembered not to order “Osso Bucco” but had to ask, “What is it again?” before one of us chimed in with “Pork Shank.” YAAAAY!
 
Rather than Rosa getting her own little tray of gluten free appetizers, Donald brought us a gluten free “tree” with all of them for the table. There were celiac friendly meatballs replacing the meat in a pastry thing. Then Donald brought us another little plate of meatballs because he was awesome. YAAAY ! Anabelle was fascinated by the round spoon during this time. The Mushroom bisque continued to be fantastic. The shrimp was also good. Whether or not it actually matched by preprinted menu remains unknown.
 
We must have just missed it on our initial visit here. Donald told us when the place first opened, the Queen came around to the tables too. Apparently, this led to many children screaming and panicking, which is why the Queen summons guests to see her now. I could see the wait staff demanding that change.
 
The “story” started again, with the characters dancing around the room. A SNOW-CESSION!!!!
 
Hey, I forgot the prime rib comes with a popover. MMMMMMMM.
 

We had a “Drive By Dopey.” He was entertaining and very Dopey-ish, however, none of us stood up. He hugged everyone, posed for pictures and signed Anabelle’s book before any of us could move our chairs.
 

Snow White was a huge amount of fun, as expected. She was excited over being on the cup Anabelle got from the movie theater for the live action version of her story, and enthusiastically signed right at the top where Anabelle asked her to.
 

Grumpy was happy (wait, that is wrong… Grumpy was excited) over being on my shirt, and we posed together. Then Anabelle stood up and he saw the Queen on her shirt. That was bad. He went well beyond Grumpy to pissed off. He kept pointing to her and looking at me. I’d shrug and he’d shrug back. He was livid.

Anabelle tried to save herself, first with her Snow White lock screen, but she couldn’t get to her phone. Then she tried showing him the cup… forgetting the Queen was on that too. She covered the villain quickly and said, “Don’t look at this part.” While he was still huffing, she asked, “Anyway… can I have your autograph.” He signed her book, followed by throwing the pen on the floor and stomping off.
 

We were then summoned to meet the Queen… which is still terrifying. We were sandwiched between two little girls who absolutely loved her. The first was given a “Diamond” and then dropped it, so there were some issues. 

The Queen was taller than me. This did not help my terror. Seeing Anabelle’s shirt, she said it was refreshing to see someone with taste. They had a discussion about being tall, how she likes looking down on people, and how tall Queen’s get bigger castles. She was upset Snow White signed the cup top. (Anabelle- “I don’t know why she did that.” After asking Snow to sign there.) Yet The Queen did state she would drink out of it every day, and covered Snow White when she held it saying, “That’s much better.” When Rosa and I went in, being completely panicked I said, “Good evening.” And she replied, “It’s better now that you’ve met me.” Yes, I was completely freaked out, but apparently, I wasn’t the only one, as Rosa and Anabelle took off back to our table afterwards, while I was left to scan the Magic Band to get the pictures on our account.
 
The family who sat near us was next. Their boy hid underneath his napkin every time a character came by. His younger sister was ready to move in with the Queen.
 

We returned to find the excellent dessert selections. This time Rosa did get her own little set, completely with a crustless gooseberry pie. Anabelle overreached for the pana cotta and wiped out that entire tier. It messed with the aesthetics but didn’t hinder the excellent taste. YAAY!
 
Donald brought over the dark chocolate hearts in a box, to represent the Huntsman being told to murder Snow White and carve out her heart… delightful.
 
I can’t stress how awesome Donald was, being a constant fountain of enthusiasm and information. He would give pointers of interacting with the characters, what to ask them, and what to show them, to prevent guests from standing there slack jawed and staring. He really made the evening.
 
As we were getting up to leave, Dopey came by again. This time he did see the Queen on Anabelle’s shirt, gave her the “no no” finger wave and backed away. However, since we were packing up, she could get to her phone and show him the Snow White lock screen, earning a farewell hug.
 
With dinner done, the plan for the rest of the evening was “Fart Around the Polynesian.” The first snag to this was an unscheduled rainstorm stopping the boats, the fastest way to the Magic Kingdom and its resorts.
 

We stood at the Magic Kingdom and Fort Wilderness bus stop. A bus for Fort Wilderness came by, and we let it go. Then a Magic Kingdom bus came, and we got on. It went to Fort Wilderness. Luckily, it then did go to the Magic Kingdom. Anabelle said she wanted to see the Contemporary as well. Rather than battling the end of the night Monorail crowd twice, we walked to the Contemporary under the fireworks and a slight drizzle. (clomp clomp clomp) Sometimes, we make poor decisions.
 
A reproduction of the part of the mural with the five legged goat was right at the downstairs entrance. We wanted to see the real thing and needed to go upstairs to get to the Monorail anyway.

While there, we checked out a Fantasia store. Anabelle also took the requisite photo protecting her hair in front of Chef Mickeys.

I had forgotten they re-themed the whole resort to the Incredibles. Cool!

Up on the Monorail platform, the goat was spotted. YAAAAAAY!

Also, looking down on Chef Mickey’s, Goofy was dancing around as they began the birthday celebration.
“THE SCENE OF THE CRIME!” Anabelle yelled. I wonder just how many other guests we confuse on each trip?

 
We took the Monorail around to the Polynesian.

The door announcement did not play. Alas. A girl in the car with us had to check her own Tik Tok postings to know what rides she went on that day. I weep for the future. 

(Foreshadowing- Thanks are due to Anabelle for peeking over my shoulder during the family read through. This is because without her I would have spelled Tik Tok wrong…
And any current slang…
Also, most character names…
Additionally, just about everything else.)
 

The Polynesian is always pretty but our farting around time was limited. The main store there closed an hour before the Contemporary one. That would have been nice to know. However, my pre-farting around research was lacking. We did look at the place for a bit, both inside and out.

I also checked and found out one option of returning home didn’t exist. I was thinking, since EPCOT had Extra Magic night time we could have Monorailed there and taken a short bus ride home well before it closed. I had not considered, now that Night Extra Magic is only for snooty hotels, our value resort would have no busses running to it.
 

Instead, we took the Monorail back to the Magic Kingdom. A guy asked about my boot, and we had an Instant Disney Friend Injury Discussion. He had a back issue that laid him up for months. We both agreed we learned to check stuff out sooner. This Monorail did play the door warning. I utterly failed at trying to record it to send to Kim, but luckily Anabelle is a master of her phone and pulled it off.
 
Once again, only the line for our hotel bus was double sized and we had to stand for the long trip back to the All Star Sports… on a double bus. Ick.
 
Anabelle and I each took a turn at a mug run to get everything we needed for this night and the next morning. Thanks kiddo!

After we all washed up, I took the liner out of my boot, washed it, and wondered if it would dry after using The Robocop the next day. Fortunately, I had the regular, if strangely self inflating liner for the boot if it didn’t.
(Foreshadowing- It did! And Anabelle figured out deflating the regular one! Thanx again, kiddo!)
 
Anabelle performed her nightly ritual of collecting photos she wanted from Rosa and my phone, and proofreading my notes for anything I missed, since I am old and forget things.
 
Rosa pulled out one of the several copies of the menu list which travels with us to look at the French restaurant for tomorrow. See, my weird obsessions are helpful.
 
We all passed out, yet again. I had chills and sweats due to the Villanova Commencement Infection we would all eventually deal with. Already being on meds to prevent an ankle infection helped mine be the mildest case with a bit of decongestant. However, this combined with the Villanova Commencement Sunburn also present, led to the sun reaction / allergy levels in my eyes and nose the next day that rivalled “Nose Blowing Tree Day” issues and had me popping Benadryl like breath mints.
 
The Apple account went weird this time and some days would list Anabelle and my steps combined, throwing even further variability into numbers that are likely already wrong for many reasons. I think it was any night I checked after midnight, providing clear evidence of the multiple times we stayed up far too late.
 
43563/ 2 =21,782 steps
 
17 /2 = 8.5 miles 

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