2017 Holiday - Day 6 - Mini Golf & Animal Kingdom

A pretty lazy morning for us, luxuriating in the fact that we had breakfast in Cape May Cafe that is in our hotel and so was a 5 minute walk away. We've been to Cape May before, and it involves going in and out of EPCOT when we stayed at Saratoga Springs. No more! We were in and seated and met with Donald, Goofy and Daisy (this is a character dining experience and one of the best IMHO).

They gave be an allergy menu, so I could be guided to the buffet as to what I could have. I asked about GF bread products and was told I could have GF waffles, which I ordered. Matthew had some toast and fruit (had to ask for a banana but it wasn't a problem), Clare had a cooked breakfast, pumpkin-spiced pancakes and a bowl of fruit. All of it was delicious. I was surprised to find that my GF waffles were the famous Mickey waffles! Got to say, I couldn't tell the different between 'evil wheat' waffles and these GF vesions - which was great!

We decided to walk round the Boardwalk and head to Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf and play a round. We went for the course that was more like crazy golf with the musical obstacles (called the Garden Course). We played a round of 18 in the Florida sunshine and it was altogether a most pleasant way to pass an hour or two.

I won, with Matthew and then Clare being very close to each other for second (Matthew just squeaked it). We strolled back tot he resort via the Swan and Dolphin hotel lobbies to have a look inside them and the Boardwalk Bakery to fill up our resort mugs with soda.

Matthew and Clare then headed for Stormalong Bay (the hotel pool complex) whilst I ate a snack in readiness for our trip to Animal Kingdom.

We decided to take a Minnie Cab to AK. These are colourful cars ('dressed up' like Minnie Mouse) drvien by very competent cast members that act like an Uber or a Lyft service. In fact, you order them through the Lyft app (which means you need an account, payment method, etc through them - it's not a completely Disney thing). Using the app was very simple, and soon car number 25 was heading our way. Six minutes later it arrived and Joseph got out to greet us. He was extremely nice and friendly and let Matthew take the wheel of the Minnie Cab (albeit whilst safely parked outside the hotel!).

As we drove to Animal Kingdom, Joe told us about his experiences in Pandora (the new land in AK) as well as chatting about some other parts of Disney. It was a great ride and he was a really nice chap. He felt sorry that I wasn't going to enjoy Flight of Passage (the new Avatar ride) that much, as I'm not a thrill ride kind-of guy, so in a 'Magical Moment' gave us Fast Passes for anything else we wanted to ride. Super nice of him!

However, before going to the new Avatar land we had a dinner buffet booked at Tusker House - which also had character meets in Donald, Goofy, Minnie and Mickey. And so from a Disney high to a Disney low. It took 45 minutes for our table to be ready! It was a warm, boring wait in a rather noisy part of the park and we were - frankly - fed up upon entering the restaurant. However, the food was pretty good and the characters were fun so it wasn't too bad in the end. As part of the reservation, we got tickets to see the Rivers of Light show in the evening. Anyone cas just turn up to it, but we got preferred seating - so were guaranteed a seat and only had to be there 20 minutes beforehand. Handy!

Now it was time for the much-hyped Pandora - Avatar land. We were about to ride the newest ride in Disney - Flight of Passage. Luckily we had Fast Passes, as the standby line was approaching a two hour wait (we heard some people saying they'd waited five hours previously!). We were into the pre-ride after about 10-15 minutes where you are taken through a few movies about how you are being tied to your avatar and will ride the flying creatures from the movie in your rite of passage. You then get astride this kind-of bike thing and get bolted firmly into place. Now, I'm not a thrill ride person, but Clare had assured me I could shut my eyes and I'd just feel a bit of wobbling as the bike-thing beneath me moved around to the 3D movie effects on the screen. The bits I did open my eyes for were stunning. It was done really well. The 'seat' you were sitting on had something that allowed you to feel your creature breathing! Matthew said at one point he reached down to pet the thing it felt so real! Anyway, both Clare and Matthew thoroughly enjoyed it. I'd recommend it as an experience to anyone who can just about tolerate thrill rides (i.e. if you're OK on Test Track you'll probably be OK on this). You can shut your eyes, and open them when you feel the thing stop moving and you'll see some wonderful 3D movie images.

We then wandered round Pandora - which has been themed amazingly well. Truly Disney at it's best. The bar has been raised from the Harry Potter experiences in Universal! However, it's not a well loved movie so the lasting appeal is yet to be determined. But a very fine experience nonetheless.

We then headed to another Fast Pass we had - Kilimanjaro Safaris. This is where you board a 'safari jeep' and head into the jungle and the savannah of Africa to see all sorts of different animals. Doing it at dusk was definitely a good experience, and I'm glad we had the Fast Passes because it was a 70 minutes Standby wait. They were only running at half capacity too with the vehicles. We'd seen this on previous days - long lines but rides not running at full. I think it's a bit mean of Disney and can only imagine they don't want to pay cast members to run at full capacity...

Anyway - after the safari, we headed for our seats at the Rivers of Light show. Both Clare and I enjoyed the wonderful lights and video, but Matthew was bored. I think perhaps the lack of fireworks didn't make it interesting for him, but I liked the fact it wasn't full of Frozen, Lion King or any other IP characters. It was an original show without relying on bloomin 'Let It Go' to sell it.

We then headed for the Nomad Lounge for a little drink before the park closed. Clare had a cocktail, I had a nice Argentinian red and Matthew a Shirley Temple. It was very pleasant sitting on the balcony watching people going to and from Pandora. It was a nice evening, not too hot and humid, and a nice, relaxing experience. Recommended! Plus - the bar wasn't too busy.

Finally it was a quick look round Pandora at night (which was very different to the day with lots of cool lighting and sound effects of beasts in the jungle) before heading out the park and another Minnie Cab back to the hotel. The driver was equally courteous and pleasant pointing out the construction site of Toy Story Land in Hollywood studios on the way back.