Vacation Day 13: Animal Kingdom - Character Breakfast

We started off the day today with a trip to the Animal Kingdom. We did a pretty good job of getting up and getting ourselves out the door at the time we planned. We got the van parked (in Unicorn Row 26) and headed to the tram. Aiden was excited just to ride the tram from the parking lot to the front gate. He called it “riding the train”.

We went to the front gate to redeem our annual pass vouchers for real park tickets, and discovered that Vavo left her ID back at the house, in her coat pocket. It was a moment of panic, but it all worked out just fine. Jake accompanied her to guest services, where they let her in without her ID. She actually got into the park faster than those of us who were able to redeem our vouchers for our annual passes! We can just get hers tomorrow morning instead.

Mickey Mouse Power Pole on our Drive to the Parks

Christmas Tree in the Front of the Animal Kingdom Park (one of the only few Christmas Decorations)

Close-Up of the decorations on the Christmas Tree at AK

Our first item of business was to slowly make our way to our character breakfast. It was in Africa at the Tusker House. They had a nice selection of food, but the best part was probably the dance line led by Daisy. Daisy would come in the dining area, music would start, cast members would hand out maracas, and all the kids would follow Daisy around the room in a big line, shaking their instruments, dancing and just generally being happy. Aiden jumped right in, and followed the leader! Jeremy didn’t like the dance as much because it was really loud, and he has sensitive hearing. It made him cry. The noise combined with the huge duck was just too much for him. Jeremy didn’t take very kindly to the characters in general this morning. Especially Goofy – he really screamed at him!

Aiden and Jeremy conversing before the Character Breakfast

Aiden with Daisy

Aiden dancing

Temporary Tattoos

Daisy leading the dance

Donald's Grand Entrance

After breakfast, we saw some really cool acrobat dudes. They were performing right outside the Tusker House. They did some AMAZING things with their bodies! Especially the limbo dude – he could limbo SOOOO low! We went up to the guys and told them how great they did after the show, and they took a picture with us. :-)

Cool Acrobat Dudes

Amazing Limbo Dude

Us with the Cool Dudes

Aiden playing Drums in Africa

Jeremy playing drums in Africa

Next, we wanted to make our way over to DinoLand to see Finding Nemo the Musical. So we started heading that direction. On the way, we stopped at Kali River Rapids for a quick ride. Aiden was exactly the right height to make it on board – right at 38”. Because he’s still really small, they gave him a special wristband, and told him that he’s a “captain”. He got to ride in a special seat with a lapbar in front of him to help hold him in. We got to do something we’ve never done before at a Disney park while in line for this ride. We got to be the “timekeepers”. When we entered the line, we were given a lanyard with a special pass on it. When we got to the end of the line, we turned the pass into a cast member and they scanned it in. This helped to update the sign at the front of the ride, saying how long the wait is. We thought it was pretty neat. Aiden LOVED the ride. He was so proud that he was a big boy. And he was so excited to be riding with the grown-ups. It was fun to see him so excited.

Our last activity before leaving the park was “Finding Nemo: The Musical”. It was in a large theater. The actors held larger-than-life puppets of the Nemo characters, making them swim around and talk. It was a fun and upbeat show. Jeremy, however, didn’t agree. He fell asleep about 1/3 of the way into it. He was out like a light! So we took that as our cue to leave the park. We picked up some groceries on our way out, and headed home.

After naps, we went to Vigil Mass at Mary Queen of the Universe across from Downtown Disney. The last time Andrew and Maria were there, it was on their honeymoon. Tonight, they were back with their two children! That was pretty neat.

We met back up with Laura and Jake in Downtown Disney at Bongo’s Cuban Cafe. We wouldn’t recommend this restaurant. If this is in any way representative of Cuban food, count us out. It wasn’t very good. Plus it was slow. Plus our server had a chip on his shoulder. So we’ll just skip over that part.

After dinner, we browsed a couple shops in Downtown Disney and headed home. We have another big day planned for tomorrow – Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party in the Magic Kingdom!

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The best part of day 13 was Aiden’s 1st adult ride & the Character Breakfast. Also, Finding Nemo was a high quality production.
The worst part of day 13 was the crowds, driving around Downtown Disney looking for a parking space for 30 mins, and the lack of Christmas decor at the Animal Kingdom (not enough!!!!)
What we learned on day 13 was write down the name and aisle number of your parking area, lest you forget it at the end of the day, Cuban food is stinky (or maybe just that restaurant is stinky)..
The weather on day 13 was mostly sunny, moderately humid, right around 80 degrees.
Our character sightings on day 13 included Rafiki, Baloo, King Louie, Chip ‘n Dale, Ratcliffe (villain from Pocahontas), Daisy, Donald, Mickey, Goofy, Pluto.
The crowd level today was heavy.