Category Archives: Animal Kingdom

Walt Disney World Days 5 and 6

I’m combining two days into one post purely because I didn’t do too much myself!

After a lie in as a reward for the 10K the previous day, we headed to Animal Kingdom and went straight to our first fastpass at Dinosaur, and from there we went to meet Chip and Dale in their Dinobash outfits which were super cute!! It was pretty much lunchtime at this point so we went over to Satuli Canteen to eat (because I can’t live without cheeseburger pods).

After lunch, Chelsea and Sammy had a Flights of Passage fastpass so Sarah and I just wandered around Africa taking photos while they were in Pandora, and then we went back to Satuli Canteen to meet up with David, Megan and Leah quickly. I was planning on leaving after that to go back to the hotel, but our little meet took us up until our Expedition Everest fastpass so I figured it would be rude not to ride!

I spent the rest of the afternoon resting at the resort in preparation for the marathon, with the exception of going to Disney Springs for dinner at Blaze, and then got myself an early night for the next morning..

I won’t go into all the hairy details of the marathon just yet, but I DID IT!!!

It was hot, it was hard work, but it is over now and I’m so happy. I went straight back to the resort afterwards for a good soak in the bath and some feet up time, and then we drove over to Wilderness Lodge for dinner at Artist Point. It was the new Storybook Dining experience which is Snow White themed, and although the setting and characters were very cute, the meal itself was a little disappointing – although I hardly had the energy to eat anyway.

Matthew and I went back to Polynesian while the girls spent the rest of the evening in Magic Kingdom, but we did watch Happily Ever After from the beach at the resort, and I think I was asleep before 9.30pm..

My next post will be a more detailed look into the marathon, but we’re about to set sail on the Disney Dream so I don’t know if that will be posted tomorrow or a few days time!

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Walt Disney World Day 2

This morning we got up bright and early so that we could get to Animal Kingdom. Due to not booking our fastpasses at the 60 day mark, we didn’t have a Flights of Passage fastpass, so we were attempting to rope drop it, and it was actually a success! Although the queue looked scary as we walked all the way down to Harambe Theater, we hardly stopped moving and actually did the ride in under an hour – plus as I’ve only ever done fastpass for it before, it meant I got to see the cool inside queue for the first time.

Once that was done, we could relax a little and got breakfast at Creature Comforts, then we took some photos at the Tree of Life before going to meet Russell and Dug. It was possibly the cutest meet I’ve ever had, and as it was my first time meeting Dug I was really excited, especially as they loved our Wilderness Explorer outfits. After that, we went over to Expedition Everest and rode it twice, once as single riders and the second time using our fastpasses, then we wandered around for a bit before settling on having lunch at Yak and Yeti (QS).

We ended up sitting at Yak and Yeti for quite a while, just enjoying some shade and time off our feet, and then from there we went over to Africa for Festival of the Lion King, then went back to Dinoland and practically walked onto Primeval Whirl, then met Donald in his Dinobash outfit, before going to meet Micky and Minnie, which we had fastpasses for.

After that, we happened across Pocahontas meeting near the Tree of Life while we were heading back to Africa, so we stopped to meet her, and then went on to our final fastpass of the day at Kilimanjaro Safaris – although our ride was somewhat delayed due to the animals blocking vehicles on the roads – but we did get to see the lions really clearly and hear them roar!

Once we were off the ride, we had a mad dash back to the hotel to meet Chelsea who had arrived while we were being held up by rhinos or whatever was delaying the safari! We headed into Magic Kingdom for some dinner, a quick spin on the Peoplemover and a look through some shops, and then got the monorail back to the resort ready for some rest and recovery!

Tomorrow we’ll be hitting the RunDisney Health and Fitness Expo as well as the parks, so stay tuned!

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Lottie and Matthew Do Disney: Day 13

This morning we were up bright and early to get to Animal Kingdom, and while we were among the hundreds of others doing the same, while they joined the 3 hour line for Flights of Passage, we strolled onto the ride courtesy of our fastpasses! In fact, as we left the Pandora area of the park, the FoP line was going all the way down to the Festival of the Lion King theatre.

We grabbed some breakfast in Starbucks, then headed towards Expedition Everest, but opted for the single rider line as the standby queue was over an hour and we weren’t too bothered with doing one ride separately, and this saved us a bunch of time! After that, we went to see Flights of Wonder and then got lunch at Yaki and Yeti quick service.

We then decided to head out from Animal Kingdom and go explore Animal Kingdom Lodge. From the resort’s Savannah outlook we got to see some giraffes, zebras and antelope, and also caught a glimpse of some lions in a neighbouring enclosure! We also checked out the pool area, and attempted a game of table tennis but my hand-eye coordination isn’t fantastic so that didn’t go too well..

Having explored the resort, we caught a bus back to AK and then changed buses to head back to the resort for a pit stop (AKA I’m ill and needed a quick nap and to buy some cold and flu tablets).

Our evening was spent on the Boardwalk. We had dinner at Big River Grille, and then did some more exploring of the Boardwalk Inn, and then headed into Epcot as a cut-through so we could get a bus back to the resort, but we actually got to see a lot of Illuminations as we walked around the World Showcase – I’m not the biggest fan of Illuminations, but it was nice to see it before we leave!

Tomorrow is our last full day and it’s going to be packed with fun!

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Lottie and Matthew Do Disney: Day 8

Today was another Animal Kingdom day! We didn’t get into the park until about 11.30, and we headed straight to Pandora for our Flights of Passage fastpass. Wow.

First up, while I’ve heard amazing things about some of the features of the standby line, I did not mind missing out on this to save the amount of queue time we did by courtesy of our fastpasses. The ride itself was like no other, and I’m not gonna spoil it for anyone but it was insane. After the ride, we had lunch at the new quick service restaurant, Satu’li Canteen, which in a single meal has become my favourite QS place in Animal Kingdom – SO GOOD.

From there, we went to do Expedition Everest, then Dinosaur, and back to Kali River Rapids, which was welcome in the heat of the day! We did dry within no time of coming off the ride, and decided to cool off some more with a sit down and some air-con at Finding Nemo: The Musical.

After the show, we stopped off in DinoLand USA for a quick Primeval Whirl, and then walked back to Discovery Island and did a little bit of merch shopping before having dinner at Yak and Yeti. I’ve done Yak and Yeti once before but tonight’s dinner blew the last time out of the water!

Tummies full of food, we did our last fastpass of the day, Kilimanjaro Safaris, which I love doing in the dark; we got to see the lions up and about, a black rhino closer than I ever have done and the elephants were pretty active too!

We finished up the night back in Pandora, not to do any of the rides but to experience the land lit up in  bioluminescent wonder. If you think this place is amazing during the day, it’s even more awesome at night! 

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Lottie and Matthew Do Disney: Day 2

Jambo friends! Our early night actually led to us being up stupidly early today, but oh well! 

We grabbed breakfast at the hotel, then hopped on a bus to Animal Kingdom, arriving just before opening time. Now Pandora is here, everyone is headed straight there in the morning, but as we had Fastpasses booked for later and on other days, so we weren’t among that mad rush. Instead, we went to Expedition Everest, and rode that twice with absolutely no wait, then went over to Africa for Kilimanjaro Safaris. We were really lucky to see all the safari animals, including all three of the resident lions moving around, which is a rare occurrence from my experience!

After the safari, we finally headed across into Pandora. First of all, just wow. The place is STUNNING, and the detail is incredible – I was blown away. Today we only had a fastpass for Navi River Journey, which got us onto the ride in under 5 mins, unlike the crowds that were queueing for 75. Again, the ride was visually amazing, but I would have been a little disappointed had a queued for over an hour as the actual ride itself left a little to be desired, if you ask me.

After a short wander around the area, we headed back into Africa and went to see the Festival of the Lion King, and followed that up with Kali River Rapids. You know there’s always that one person who seems to get more soaked than anyone else? Well today that was me.

Having soaked myself through, we got lunch at Rainforest Cafe, and then headed back to the resort for a quick nap – our early morning was catching up – and then got ready to head into the Magic Kingdom for Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party.

First up, we grabbed our candy bags and headed into Tomorrowland, where we met Lotso, then Sully and Boo at the monster dance party, and after that had a ride on Space Mountain. Then we headed to Storybook Circus where we queued to meet the Seven Dwarfs (an hour wait, for anyone wondering), which put me just over my goal of meeting 100 characters this year, yay!

After some more trick or treating, we got ourselves a spot for the Happy Hallowishes fireworks, and after that grabbed ourselves a parade spot. We watched the headless horseman make his way down Main Street USA, and then the final Boo To You Parade of the year, before making our way back to the hotel for a good nights sleep!

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February Disney Trip Day 9

So this morning we had the intention of getting up and going to Magic Kingdom for a bit before heading across to Animal Kingdom, but the reality of this morning led to us spending more time in the room trying to clear up some of our mess in preparation for leaving Riverside tomorrow, so instead we just left a little bit later and went straight to AK.

First up, we grabbed a traditional park breakfast of a Joffrey’s doughnut and drink, then our first fastpass of the day was Kali River Rapids, which we welcomed with open arms in the 28 degree heat – we were dry within an hour – then went to meet King Louie and Baloo, which we’d missed on our last day in the park.

Despite having fastpasses for later in the day, the queue time for Expedition Everest was quite short so we did that, then headed across the water to see Finding Nemo the Musical – Sarah’s first time! The show actually had a little interval due to technical problems, but it was only a few minutes before it was back up and keeping on swimming! We then headed into Dinoland for another first for Sarah: Primeval Whirl, and I’d forgotten just how much that ride throws you around!

Just outside the exit for PW, there’s a little photo booth which I’ve seen before and have always been curious to try out, so we investigated and amazingly it works with photopass and memory makers, so we gave it a go, although I did also pay the $5 for the printed photo strips too – it was too cute not to.. We also met Goofy and Pluto in Dinoland, and also Donald, then had a quick go on Dinosaur because the wait was only 10 minutes, before also meeting Donald.

From there, we left Dinoland and grabbed a late lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue. I’d just like to point out how great this restaurant is as a quick service, because our meals would have come to over $44 if we weren’t on the dining plan, and I got the biggest plate of ribs! Also, there’s so much seating available; we sat right down by the river looking across to Everest and it was beautiful.

After dragging ourselves back onto our feet, we went to Expedition Everest for our fastpass, then wandered back down to Africa where we walked onto a safari – yes, the park is that quiet today – then into Festival of the Lion King. Once the show ended, it was time for the Kilimanjaro Safari fastpass we had booked, but again it was so quiet we didn’t even bother tapping our bands and just did the standby queue. Night safaris are actually the best as well, we saw more lions, got super close to some zebras and we actually saw a mini stampede of the wilderbeast, which even the cast member said he’d never seen before!

We wrapped up the night with a walk on Expedition Everest, followed by a dark Primeval whirl, and closed the park with two rides on Triceratop Spin! We’ve now said goodbye to 3 out of the 4 parks, with tomorrow being our last full day here, and we’ll be in the Magic Kingdom for our last day and a half. Tomorrow morning we’ll check out of Riverside and into the Polynesian for a final night of magic!

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February Disney Trip Day 5 and Enchanted 10K

Well that was an early morning, but I’ve done the 10K!


The race was a lot of fun. I took it pretty easy and stopped for quite a few characters along the way, including Tinkerbell who was with Terrence, Rosetta and Iridessa (AMAZING) and also Dopey, Marie and the Genie! Stopping for characters did bring my time up, but I had so much fun I didn’t really care and I still did pretty well considering!


After getting back to the hotel and recovering with a bath and a quite lay down, we hopped on a bus to Hollywood Studios, then got a boat over to Beach Club for breakfast at Cape May Cafe. It was a classic breakfast buffet, with Minnie, Goofy and Donald meeting in their adorable beach outfits!

Back to Hollywood Studios, and our first stop of the day was meeting Moana, which is at the back of One Man’s Dream. The staging of her meet is amazing; you queue through the cave from the film, with a waterfall backdrop, and you meet Moana on an island beach by the sea – it’s all super pretty! After her, we ticked Pluto off the list by Disney Junior’s, him being the final of the classic six characters for us to meet, then headed down Sunset Boulevard and caught a showing of Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage.


Next up, it was our fastpass for Tower of Terror. If you know me, you’ll know I have a love/hate thing with this ride, but it actually seemed to be over a lot quicker than it normally is so win win! From there, we went to hang out and wait for the elusive Character Palooza, where we eventually met Tiana, Bert, Pinocchio and Pocahontas, then back to Pixar Place for Toy Story Mania. I, of course, destroyed Sarah, but she was a first timer so I’ll let her off..
Another character to tick off the ever growing list, we went to meet Olaf at Echo Lake because Mickey and Minnie had a crazy 50 minute queue. He really liked my medal and wanted one of his own, so he decided to run with me tomorrow, although I warned him there’d be a danger of melting!


The next character we went to see was Chewbacca, although Sarah was pretty surprised as she was expecting Yoda – these non Star Wars fans eh? Continuing her Star Wars education, we marched back across the park to Star Tours, which I was really happy with because it was a scenario I’ve never had before and I basically always see the same ones! Now the queue for Mickey and Minnie was a bit shorter, so we jumped in. I was a little upset that Mickey had been moved from his old spot, but when I saw the new area all was forgiven because that area is really nice and both Mickey and Minnie were really fun and Minnie’s dress was so pretty!


Starting to really feel the 5 hours of sleep I’ve had, we grabbed some dinner at Catalina Eddie’s, then left Hollywood Studios for Animal Kingdom so we could catch Rivers of Light. Well it turned out everyone else had the same idea. We got to the stands with 15 minutes to spare, only to find that they were already rammed, and were queueing people up for the later showing over an hour later. We did a full loop of the lake area, then I had a brainwave to follow the seating for Flame Tree Barbecue all the way down to the waters edge – it maybe wasn’t as great a view as you might get from the stands, but there was seating and hardly anyone there so it makes the perfect secret spot. The show itself was not mind blowing; sure it was pretty and the floats were beautiful, but I definitely wouldn’t be queueing over an hour like some poor unfortunate souls, and I won’t hurry back either.

I’m now exhausted and my feet are really feeling the events of the day, so we’re heading back to the hotel for a good nights sleep, and I’ve got another 3.30am alarm for tomorrow’s half!

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February Disney Trip Day 4

Jambo friends! Today we’ve been exploring the Animal Kingdom, and I’ve become a Wilderness Explorer!


We got into the park just as it opened, and headed in the direction of Kilimanjaro Safaris as we had an early fastpass, but on the way over we managed to randomly meet Flik from Bugs Life and also Tarzan, where we were basically rendered to awkward teenage girls but he was really nice. We then hopped on Simba-1 for a safari, and were lucky enough to see a baby elephant and a young giraffe as well as the other amazing wildlife on the ride.
One quick breakfast later, we hopped on a train up to Rafiki’s Planet watch as Sarah had never been before, and met the main mandril himself, and also caught the It All Started With A Mouse show which was really cute and something I’ve never seen before, or even knew was a thing! A quick train ride back, and we walked over to Asia for our Expedition Everest fastpasses, and we got to ride right at the back which made the whole ride seem more extreme and awesome!

A few Wilderness Explorer stops later, and we headed to Yak and Yeti for lunch. I’d not eaten there before, and I know I’ve probably said this about every restaurant so far but the food was so good and the service was amazing! I had a chicken tikka masala and cheesecake for dessert and I was super happy the whole time.

After lunch we went to meet Pocahontas, which had a fair bit of a queue, then walked across into Dinoland for our Dinosaur fastpass, via a few more WE stops, then after the ride went to meet Russel so I could show him how great I am at exploring the wilderness. Then, with time closing in on me to complete all 31 stops for my badge, the pressure was on, and we spent the next half an hour or so rushing round so I could get my Senior Wilderness Explorer badge before the cut off of 5.15pm – AND I DID IT!


While I went to collect it, Sarah got in the queue to meet Mickey and Minnie at Adventurers Outpost, and I joined her, sticker badge proudly on my chest! From there, we dashed back to Africa for the last Festival of the Lion King show of the day. We got there with only a few minutes to spare, so we were sat really high up, but I still thought the view was pretty good and the show was it’s usual standard – monkeys tumbled, fire baton man batonned..


With the park now fairly quiet, we took the opportunity of a 10 minute wait time on Everest, although we probably only waited 5, and riding that in the dark was pretty awesome, then all the way back to Africa again for another safari – this time in the dark. OH MY GOSH THATS WORTH DOING. I’ve always sworn by early morning safaris, but we saw 3 lions in the evening – and I’m talking up moving around lions, not just the standard one lying on a rock that I’m used to. We were also so close to a white rhino it was incredible!

I’m so happy Animal Kingdom is being kept open later cos it just seemed to make the whole day more enjoyable. I feel like a total cliche because I feel like every day I’m telling you all that it’s been an awesome day but they all really have been! We’re back to the hotel now for a pre-race dinner and an early night as I’m up at 3:30 in the morning (which is actually before this post will even go live) to run the Princess 10K, so keep an eye on my Twitter and Instagram for updates!

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Best Rest Rides at Walt Disney World

Speaking as a person who has not only had to do WDW parks on major jet lag, but also after being up since 3am and running a half marathon (hello RunDisney life), I know that there are always those days where you need to chill out, but also don’t want to miss out on any valuable park time, so I’ve got you covered!

Tomorrowland TTA People Mover

Magic Kingdom

TTA People Mover

Has anyone ever actually had to queue for PeopleMover? I don’t think I’ve ever been on it and not been allowed to ride around and around for ages because there’s no one else waiting. Its the perfect way to still experience MK while keeping your feet up.

Walt Disney World Railroad

One of my favourite things to do sometimes is just get on the train and ride a loop or two around the park!

Epcot

Ellen’s Energy Adventure

Hello 45 minute sit down! I will admit to drifting off while riding this one time..

Living with the Land

This educational little boat trip is one of my Epcot favourites; I love looking at all the plants and trying to spot hidden Mickeys, plus I normally follow it up with a trip to Sunshine Seasons for Mongolian beef and a red velvet whoopie pie!

Spaceship Earth

Its iconic Epcot, plus a nice relaxing trip through history and into the future!

Hollywood Studios

The Great Movie Ride

I don’t care if people think its a little cheesy, but its a nice gentle ride and I always like waiting to find out if I’m in a gangster or bandit car!

Animal Kingdom

Kilimanjaro Safaris

So I always try to make this a morning ride, but its the perfect way to ease into a day in the park, plus you never get the same experience twice!

What do you do on your down days in the parks?

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My Top 5 Most Underrated Places in Walt Disney World

It feels like forever since I’ve written a post about WDW, all the amazing other parks in the world have been busy getting in the way! But as it currently stands, my next Disney countdown is ticking towards my trip with Sarah in February, and I’m getting super excited to start properly planning again.

I know everyone has their special places in WDW, the places that they love over anywhere else, and we can’t possibly understand why not everyone shares our immense love for them, and here are mine:

1. The Boardwalk

Walt Disney World Boardwalk

It genuinely upsets me that there are a tonne of Disney World goers who have never discovered that little area of beauty that branches off of the World Showcase at Epcot. I love resorts, I love the peace and its just so damn pretty!

2. Japan

Epcot World Showcase Japan

Japan is definitely my favourite country on the World Showcase. The architecture is amazing and I love the huge shop of Japanese goodies; its so true to the country itself and it always gets me really excited.

3. Sleepy Hollow

Walt Disney World Sleepy Hollow

For starters, there are amazing waffles. For mains, the view of the castle is just stunning and its an awesome photo spot, plus its always been really quiet when I’ve eaten there. And for desserts, the waffles again..

4. Africa

WDW Animal Kingdom Africa

So often people overlook the incredible detail in Animal Kingdom, but I think this is truest in Africa. Disney Imagineers blow my mind.

5. Hollywood Boulevard

WDW Hollywood Studios

I know Hollywood Studios is considered a bit of a dunce park right now, what with all the development, but there’s just something beautiful about looking down the street and seeing the Chinese Theater at the end. It just feels like being transported to the era of classic movies and Hollywood glam!

Where are your favourite areas in WDW?

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WDW Transportation Links

Walt Disney World spans a crazy 40 square miles, did you know that?

With that in mind, your holiday can double as a logistical operation as you maneuver getting from park to park and back again, especially if, like us, you don’t have a car to get about. Fortunately though, Disney have thought all of this through, creating a bunch of different ways to get about, and on our January trip, Dad and I did a lot of exploring via some of the lesser known transportation options, and today I’m going to share all these wonderful links with you!

Magic King

Credit: itslizi.etsy.com

Bus

If you’re staying at a Disney resort, you can get to and from the Magic Kingdom by buses that run direct from your resort to the park entrance

Monorail

The monorail services the Contemporary, Grand Floridian and Polynesian resorts, and also runs from the Transportation and Ticket Center if you do drive to the park.

Boat

Boats to and from the Magic Kingdom run from the Ticket and Transportation Center and Disney’s Contemporary, Grand Floridian, Polynesian resorts, as well as Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness Campground.

Epcot

Credit: itslizi.etsy.com

Bus

Buses run regularly from all Disney resorts

Monorail

If you’re at the Magic Kingdom or monorail loop resorts, you can get the monorail to the Transportation and Ticket Center and transfer to a monorail that travels direct to Epcot’s park entrance

Boat

If you’re at Disney’s Boardwalk Inn, Yacht and Beach Club resorts or Swan and Dolphin hotels, you can travel by boat to Epcot’s International Gateway, where you can enter the park via the World Showcase

On foot

You can also walk to the International Gateway from any of the above resorts, and also from Hollywood Studios – a path runs between the two via The Boardwalk

Hollywood Studios

Credit: itslizi.etsy.com

Bus

Resort buses regularly travel to Hollywood Studios and back again.

Boat

You can travel to the park by boats from The Boardwalk Inn, Yacht and Beach Club resorts and Swan and Dolphin hotels. You can use these boats as a way of transferring to Epcot too!

On foot

You can walk to Hollywood Studios from Epcot via The Boardwalk – during peak seasons, this walk is quicker than any other transportation!

Animal King

Credit: itslizi.etsy.com

Bus

Because its so far out from the other parks, the only way to get to the Animal Kingdom via Disney transportation is resort bus, and sometimes these routes travel to Blizzard Beach too.

Disney Springs

Credit: itslizi.etsy.com

Bus

All Disney resorts have buses that run to and from Disney Springs. If you want to travel from the parks, I recommend getting a resort bus to Saratoga Springs which is right next door, then you can either walk from there or catch a bus

Boat

A fun way to get to Disney Springs if you’re staying at Port Orleans Riverside or French Quarter, Old Key West or Saratoga Springs (including the Treehouse Villas) is by boats that run every 20 minutes or so to and from the Marketplace jetty. You can also get boats from The Landing to West Side.

Love these Disney inspired underground logos? They were made by the lovely Lizi and you can buy prints here!

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WDW Day 7!

Well that’s Four Park Challenge off my bucket list!

We started this morning with Extra Magic Hours in Animal Kingdom, and first stop was obviously Expedition Everest – did you catch it on Periscope? Rollercoaster out of the way, we stopped off at Creature Comforts (the AK Starbucks) for hot drinks – yes it was that cold – and breakfast pastries, then onward to Kilimanjaro Safaris where we got to see two baby white rhinos playing, eek! We decided that for our challenge, we would get photos with Mickey at each of the parks, so we stopped off at Adventurers Outpost to see him and Minnie before catching a bus to Animal Kingdom Lodge to park-hop.

From AKL we transferred onto a bus to Hollywood Studios, where we first stopped off to see Mickey, this time in his classic Sorcerers Apprentice costume. On a character meet roll, we also got a selfie with a green army man, and went to see Mike and Sully, but as we’re headed back to Studios tomorrow, we decided not to queue for any rides.

Now midday, we caught another bus onto Wilderness Lodge, for a quick look around but also so we could transfer to the Magic Kingdom by the boat that runs direct from the resort, handy right? Again, first things first, we went to see Mickey in Town Hall Theater, then grabbed lunch at Cosmic Ray’s Starlight Cafe. Would you believe we’ve never done Astro Orbiter before? Well we have now! With that experience under our belts, we got a spot near the castle for Festival of Fantasy, which was just as magical as it always is, and finished up out MK time with an obligatory Its a Small World.

 To throw another form of transportation into the works, we obviously had to take the monorail across to our final park, Epcot, and actually it wasn’t Mickey we went to first, it was Baymax. Yes again, no we don’t care. Mickey was next, at the Epcot Character Spot, then we went across to Journey into the Imagination. We had a Fastpass, but there wasn’t much of a line to bypass! Not quite hungry yet, we stopped off to watch Circle of Life in The Land, before dinner at Sunshine Seasons, probably my favourite quick service in the whole of Walt Disney World. From there we went to Spaceship Earth for our Fastpass, but again there was no line so we didn’t even bother scanning them. With time before the fireworks, we figured a 40 minute wait at Test Track (which we discovered a love for the other day) would keep us warm and indoors, but we actually waited less than 10 before we got to the design stage, then another 10 before the ride itself. In fact, we ended up doing it twice! That took us right up to our last Fastpass for the day, for Illuminations: Reflections of Earth, which was beautiful as always. It was pretty chilly, so as soon as the display was over, we joined the brisk hoard of people leaving the parks and jumped on our last bus: back to the resort!

How’s that for a busy day?

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WDW Day 2!

Good morning!

I say good morning because while it’s still the evening here, the time difference means it’s about 2am back home!

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Today was our Animal Kingdom day; we got up about 7ish, had a leisurely breakfast and got a fairly quiet bus to the park. Despite being earlier than opening time, we were let in to head down to the tree of life and wait for the remaining areas to open at 9am, before we joined the crowd making a beeline for Expedition Everest. Quite honestly, today was a really lucky day for wait times, and we hit all the big ticket attractions – Kilimanjaro Safaris, Festival of the Lion King, It’s Tough to be a Bug – with minimal waits, and pretty much walked into Flights of Wonder and Finding Nemo the Musical! In fact, despite having three Fastpasses booked, we only used one of them, for Dinosaur. We also went to hang out with Rafiki at Planet Watch for a little while.

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After feeling we were done for the day, and with the prospect of the races looming, we grabbed a cab to the ESPN complex for the RunDisney expo. Having no idea what to expect, I expected the worst: huge crowds, long waits, lots of pushing and shoving.. Nope. I honestly don’t think it could have been any easier. After picking up our bibs, then our race shirts and the commemorative jackets I had pre-ordered, all of which took maybe 15 minutes tops, we hit the main expo area. There were tonnes of great exhibitors with cool products, including the official RunDisney merchandise area, and the oh-so- popular New Balance, and we even got to meet Jeff Galloway, former Olympian and official ‘coach’ for RunDisney; it was cool, there was a selfie. Apart from a few little RunDisney bits, we didn’t really buy anything, although I’ve got my eye on a pair of the limited release New Balance shoes..

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From the expo we went back to French Quarter to drop our race stuff and hang out for a bit before we caught the boat to Disney Springs for a bit of light shopping and dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express, before calling it a day and boating back to the resort to get ourselves together and properly rested for the race.

So tomorrow is the 5k, which is really a no-pressure run, and it kicks off at 6am – 11am for my UK supporters. I’ll try and Periscope a bit of it, all depends on our wifi signal, but in any case, wish us luck!

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What I’m wearing – Hakuna Matata

New mini series, yayay!

Every week until I leave, I’m going to be sharing one of the many Disney inspired outfits that I’ve planned for my trip in January! The outfits may be styled a little differently, given that I had the opportunity to shoot on a lovely sunny and quite warm day, and January in Florida and California will be a little different, weather-wise.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Hakuna Matata crop top from Look Human (now unavailable)

Bandeau from Republic (now unavailable)

Skirt from Black Milk Clothing

Necklace from Accessorize

Grey cardigan from H&M (old and probably unavailable now)

Boots from Missguided (old and probably unavailble now)

Its fairly well known that The Lion King is a very special film to me; it came out the same year I was born, lions are one of my favourite animals, and well quite frankly, its just a great film!

I’ll be wearing this outfit to the Animal Kingdom, although probably with some more sensible shoes! (I live in chelsea boots in the winter, but most likely I’ll be in Converses the entirety of my trip)

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Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom

So you don’t have to visit Disney World to experience The Rainforest Cafe, but why not dine with the animals before/after visiting some real ones?!

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We planned to have breakfast here, as the Downtown Disney branch doesn’t open for lunch, but by the time we got there they were just about to open for lunch, so we had a bit of a browse of the huge gift shop area before being seated at our table.

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I’m no stranger to a Rainforest Cafe, but this one was enormous! They don’t even the whole restaurant for lunch its that big.

Without a doubt, it was the best meal I had during our stay. I had Parmesan Chicken; the portion size was huge, but if I had a bigger appetite I would have eaten every last bite!

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I cannot fault anything about this place; its so family friendly, our server was great, and the chimps sat next to us were great company!

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Festival of the Lion King

In a secluded corner of Africa in the Animal Kingdom is the harambe Theater, which is home to The Festival of the Lion King.

The 30 minute show combines fabulous live singers, dancers and acrobats with large animatronic floats of your favourite characters from the film, and involves the whole family with audience participation and an open invitation to sing along!

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The theater is set up in the round (or square, in this case), with each of the four sides being allocated an animal sound to pipe up during the performance. The layout of the set also means that everyone has a great view of the spectacular Tumble Monkeys, fire dancing and, not to mention, Timon strutting his stuff around the floor; he’s such a diva..

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Unlike the smash Broadway and West End musical, the show doesn’t actually tell the story of the Lion King, it just celebrates the best songs including The Circle of Life, Be Prepared and The Lion Sleeps Tonight, but with the showstopping cast, incredible costumes and amazing sets, you’re definitely missing out if you don’t check it out for yourself!

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Finding Nemo – the Musical

Yep, you read it right, Disney Pixar’s classic tale has been brought to the stage in the Animal Kingdom!

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The musical tells an abridged version of the movie story; it skips the unnecessary to cut the show down to a manageable 40 minutes, great for restless little ones.

Its staged like the hit Broadway and West End musical The Lion King, with actors handling incredible puppets and scenery, and a total phenomenal set.

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We got a Fastpass+, which got us seats about 1/3 of the way from the stage, but the theater seating is raised and staggered, and the large characters and props mean that no matter where you seat, you’re going to be able to see.

My one (very minor) criticism of the whole show it that the songs aren’t up to Disney’s usual standard; they’re not particularly catchy or memorable, but they serve fine during the performance. I guess for those who hate having songs stuck in their head for the rest of the day it would be a relief, but for me it took a little something away..

Aside from this super minor blip, Disney have well and truly hit another one out the park. A definite must see for anyone of any age!

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AK Tips and Secrets

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°o° You can enter the park 15 minutes early, and Mickey and the gang greet you by the Tree of Life.

°o° Grab a map and schedule; there are so many unique character meets in the Animal Kingdom such as Rafiki, Baloo, Russell and Doug etc.

°o° Crowds tend to head for Kilimanjaro Safaris first thing as the animals are usually more active in the morning. That being said though, you’re likely to see animals any time of day, so if you can, hold off til the afternoon when queues will be shorter.

°o° Be sure to wear comfortable shoes; while walking is a given, AK has lots of adventurous trails to explore.

°o° If you’ve stopped off at The Rainforest Cafe before heading into the park, use the secret entrance at the back of the gift shop to skip the queues at the main entrance.

°o° At Adventurer’s Outpost, you can meet Mickey and Minnie in their safari gear. This is the only place you can see the two of them in these outfits, so is a totally unique photo opportunity.

°o° At various stations around the park, kids can receive stamps in a ‘passport’ for completing activities – collect all of them for a special prize!

°o° There are red, yellow and white pipes found on Dinosaur, each with a chemical formula on them. The formulas are actually the real formulas for ketchup, mustard and mayonnaise!

°o° See if you can spot DiVine – she’s a fabulous live act, but hard to find as she’s usually part-tree!

°o° The highway sign Route 498 symbolises the park opening in April 1998.

°o° You can squirt riders on Kali River Rapids from the bridge near the exit. Don’t feel guilty, they’ll already be soaked!

°o° If you’re a coffee addict, the Kusafiri Coffee Shop is the place to get your fix.

°o° Don’t rush from attraction to attraction, there are so many things to see as you walk around the park!

°o° You can hop on the Wildlife Express Train in Africa, which takes you across to Rafiki’s Planet Watch.

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Meeting Characters in Disney World

Character meets can be a truly magical experience for everyone involved!

Make your memories more magical with these top tips:

1. Go to character meals

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A great way to meet loads of characters without having to queue or fight through crowds is to book character meals. These are available in restaurants all over the parks and some deluxe resorts, from princess meals to Mickey and friends to the Winnie the Pooh gang. They’re also great for children who tend to be a little more shy as you’re not being taken out of your comfort zone.

2. Do your research, find out who you can meet and where.

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You’ll be amazed how many characters you can meet throughout the parks, sometimes its just a case of going slightly out of your way to find them. Who are your favourites? Park maps and schedules tell you who you can meet, where they are and what time they’ll be there, from Russell and Doug in Disney’s Animal Kingdom to Mary Poppins in the UK Pavilion at Epcot.

3. Make your meetings special.

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While preparing for your Disney trip, why not have your kids make gifts for their favourite characters? Characters aren’t allowed to accept tips, but you can make their day with drawings or small handmade items; you might even get an extra minute out of it! Alternatively, why not do something different during your character meet? Ask princesses to dance with you, show Mr Incredibles your crime fighting skills!

4. Prepare a few excuses.

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This sounds bad, I promise its not! Kids are curious, and everyone knows how much they love to ask questions, so prepare a couple of white lies for why certain characters don’t speak (‘Goofy’s got a big show later, he needs to save his voice’), or why they take so many breaks (‘I think Pluto’s had a bit too much to drink, toilet time!’).

5. Get autographs

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Get yourself an autograph book, or some kind of alternative (I’ve seen people have characters sign t-shirts, pillowcases etc). You’ll be able to look back at all the characters you’ve met during your trip. Be sure to have a large pen, like a sharpie, as they’re easier for characters with larger hands.

6. Book Fastpasses

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Some characters, especially Elsa and Anna in the Princess Fairytale hall, will have a long queue time if you don’t Fastpass them (Elsa and Anna Fastpasses book out up to 60 days in advance, plan ahead!). You don’t want to take away from the magical experience of meeting your favourite characters with an hour long queue for a 5 minute meet.

7. Decide if meeting characters is something you really want to do

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Character meeting can be time consuming, so if you’re on a tight schedule and you’re not that fussed, don’t waste your time, or a place in a queue that someone else would appreciate more. For younger kids who can’t do as many rides though, characters are the true magic of Disney World.

8. Amaze yourself

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You will truly be amazed by how well characters play their part, so play along with their conversations, or test them by introducing a new topic and see how brilliantly they can cope. On my last trip, Princess Aurora offered to set me up with one of Prince Phillip’s handsome single friends!

9. Appreciate the cast members

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Characters need to take breaks, so sometimes your queue time will be lengthened as they do so. Remember that characters are real people too, so be patient with them.

10. If you only see one character, make it Magician Mickey!

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In the Town Square Theater, you can meet Mickey at his most magical. Take a trip to backstage of Mickey’s magic show, and meet the main man himself in a way you’ve never seen him before, or heard! That’s right, Mickey speaks to you! It is the only opportunity in Disney World to meet him where he can speak to you, answer questions and even show you his latest magic trick!

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Tusker House

Located in Africa in the Animal Kingdom, Tusker is a fabulous themed dining experience for all the family.

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We booked for lunch here based purely on a recommendation from a friend about the quality of the food, so it came as a wonderful surprise to find that breakfast and lunch are both character meals, with Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Minnie all visiting on a break from their safari adventures.

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The food is all you can eat buffet, and the restaurant is set up like an authentic African marketplace, with scarfs and trinkets hanging from every available space, and as I was admiring this one of the cast members told me that all of the masks on one of the balconies are genuine, and belonged to Joe Rodhe, the imagineer who designed the Animal Kingdom, how cool?!

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As for the food.. Wow. The selection available was huge, with a carvery station, salad bar, curries, vegetables, authentic African recipes and a delicious selection of desserts.

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As a family, we agreed this was probably the best meal we had on our trip. It was family friendly, especially with the unexpected character visits, and the food was incredible.

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