Outlets, Animal Kingdom & An Accident – Disney World Diary - Three
Today’s Take-aways:
- The Premier Outlets are worth visiting
- Navi River Journey is not worth the wait
- There's a reason Walt didn't want alcohol in his parks
- Flexible plans are essential
The first two days totally killed us so today we took it pretty easy. We hit the outlets in the morning (but not til 10am) and we got some pretty good deals! We got two pairs of Vans for the price of one at home and I got 70% off a Coach bag I'd had my eye on for a while. We visited the Disney Character Warehouse where I found a few souvenirs to take home, in fact one was a totally bizarre discovery.My Mum always tells the tale of my first trip when I was 4 and how she took me on 'Mr Toads Wild Ride' only to scare the bejesus out of me. I don't remember it and the ride closed years ago but I found a bowl that I swear is a souvenir of that very ride. I'm not sure if it's still in another park somewhere and there was no insignia on the bowl but the toad face and the car on the side all seemed to be positive signs. The kids got a few more bits and I got Lee some of his favourite chocolate covered strawberries from Godiva (which he's yet to eat at 8pm) before we left for Animal Kingdom.
We were feeling pretty well rested compared to the previous days at this point. We did Kilimanjaro Safaris first (thankfully we had a fast pass because it was a 75minute wait!!) and it was so much better than I expected. There was a baby giraffe that was just about the cutest thing ever and when the driver said we should keep our fingers crossed for an elephant sighting, Milo actually crossed his fingers and looked pained. I could have cried then and there.
He's really bought in to the magic on this trip and (although we've done Disneyland before) I'm so glad we didn't wait until he was older to bring him here. While we were in the tram from the carpark the 'announcer' said not to get out on the left because the floor was actually lava. He 100% believed that the grass beside us was actually lava. He's been driving us all nuts with his constant chatter (the boy narrates his life) but we have to keep reminding ourselves how magical this is when our patience is wearing thin.After the safari we had a Navi River Journey fast pass (again, thank god! The line was 90minutes!!) and that was kind of disappointing. It was good but I can't imagine how I'd have felt after that crazy long line!! THEN the most hilarious and horrifying thing happened. I bought the kids (and Lee) some ice creams and myself a beer.. and I spilled that beer.. on Milo's head. ON MILO'S HEAD! Thankfully we'd already decided to skip the fireworks and call it a day but seriously, parenting highlight right there!
We headed to Flight Of Passage to check whether Milo was tall enough to ride (we're planning on coming back for rope drop next week) which he is and then we made our way back to the car. It was a considerably more relaxed day and I think we needed it. We picked up some drinks and snacks from Wal-Mart and ordered a pizza for dinner and we'll all get an earlier night for Universal in the morning. It's Lee's birthday so I'm hoping we can find him a sweet treat in lieu of a cake (he says a full one would get wasted - kill joy) or at least a Harry Potter themed something to celebrate.Because Disney has taken so much planning I haven't thought about Universal at all but I'm really excited to see Hogwarts and ride the train. We do have a few Epcot fast passes in the evening (if we're not too wiped out) but that's for tomorrows update!Until then