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!