{"id":4725,"date":"2017-11-03T07:30:56","date_gmt":"2017-11-03T11:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/?p=4725"},"modified":"2017-11-16T18:28:27","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T23:28:27","slug":"last-minute-trip-part-3-animal-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/last-minute-trip-part-3-animal-kingdom\/","title":{"rendered":"Last Minute Trip \u2013 Part 3 Animal Kingdom"},"content":{"rendered":"

Planning<\/a> | Travel<\/a> | Animal Kingdom<\/a> | Epcot<\/a> | Magic Kingdom<\/a> | Hollywood Studios<\/a> | Summary<\/a><\/p>\n

 Our first stop on our four day trip was Animal Kingdom!  We were excited to get a look at Pandora, the World of Avatar! <\/p>\n

\"Tree<\/a>
Tree of Life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We didn’t really have a destination in mind in Pandora.  We couldn’t get any FastPasses for the two rides in Pandora, so we planned to take in the new area in Animal Kingdom and get some pictures.  What we found there was really impressive.<\/p>\n

\"Valley<\/a>
Valley of Mo’ara<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The theming for Pandora starts right on the bridge that leads into the area.  There is background noise coming from the forest on either side of the path as well.  The first thing we encountered was the Flaska Reclinata plant!  It is a giant, mist generating plant that you can interact with.<\/p>\n

\"Flaska<\/a>
Flaska Reclinata<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We then headed deeper into the area. Here was a stream that led down towards the Flaska Reclinata.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As we turned the corner, we got our first view of the floating mountains. <\/p>\n

\"Floating<\/a>
Floating Mountains<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The floating mountains, to me, weren’t as impressive as the waterfalls coming off of them.  That is what really sold me on the effect.<\/p>\n

\"Floating<\/a>
Floating Mountains Waterfalls<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once we were done looking at the floating mountain, we headed towards Satu’li Canteen.<\/p>\n

\"Abandoned<\/a>
Abandoned Ruins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We stopped to look over the menu.<\/p>\n

\"Satu'li<\/a>
Satu’li Canteen Menu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We also noticed Pongu Pongu right next door, but decided to hold off on the beverages until after lunch.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We went into Satu’Li Canteen and ordered lunch.  I got chicken on top of a sweet potato hash.  I don’t recall what sauce I got.<\/p>\n

\"Chicken<\/a>
Chicken Protein with Sweet Potato Base<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nancy and one of the girls got fish.  My daughter’s lunch (pictured) was the rice base with the fish protein.<\/p>\n

\"Fish<\/a>
Fish with Rice Base<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My other daughter got the Vegetable Curry Steamed Pods.<\/p>\n

\"Vegetable<\/a>
Vegetable Curry Steamed Pods.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the interest of science, we also ordered both the desserts: Chocolate Cake and Blueberry Cream Cheese Cake.<\/p>\n

\"Chocolate<\/a>
Chocolate “Cake”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Blueberry<\/a>
Blueberry Cream Cheese “Cake”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We all LOVED our lunch.  The food was fresh and tasted great.  The desserts were a little sweet, but we split them among the four of us, so it didn’t end up being too much sugar.  There was a ton of seating and the theming reminded me very much of Boma at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.  We will definitely go back to Satu’li Canteen for our meals in the Animal Kingdom.<\/p>\n

After lunch, we headed over to see the cotton top tamarins near the Tree of Life.  We had FastPasses scheduled for Kilimanjaro Safaris, Expedition Everest, and Kali River Rapids later on.<\/p>\n

\"Backside<\/a>
Backside of the Tree of Life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We then rode the Safari before heading over to Rafiki’s Planet Watch to see the tamarins that are located there.  My older daughter got a chance to go with a cast member to learn even more about the tamarins.  They had a lesson on how scientists track them in the wild. She loved every minute of it.  No matter how many times we go to the parks, we always manage to find something new to do.<\/p>\n

We went inside the Planet Watch just in time to see a snake demonstration.<\/p>\n

\"Snake<\/a>
Snake Demonstration at Rafiki’s Planet Watch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We came back from the Planet Watch and let the girls ride Expedition Everest using all the FastPasses.  We also spent a lot of time looking through the shops.  Eventually, it was time to do the River Rapids.  I would like to state again for the record, I HATE being wet at the parks.  You have to walk around soaking wet.  Not my thing.  I don’t even know why I agreed to do this.  I ended up getting soaked and had to spend the rest of the night wet. <\/p>\n

\"Kali<\/a>
Kali River Rapids<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After getting off Kali River Rapids, we decided to head off to dinner at Flame Tree BBQ.  We ate dinner and tried to figure out what else to do.  Our phones alerted us to a thunderstorm coming into the area, so we considered just heading back to the room for the night.  However, when we looked at the Lines app from Touring Plans,  we noticed that the Flights of Passage wait time was shorter than it had been all day at 120 minutes.  We decided to enter the queue to get out of the rain for the next two hours.  This was an unusual decision for us, since we don’t normally ever wait in a line that is longer than 30 minutes. <\/p>\n

\"Flights<\/a>
Flights of Passage Entrance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The queue was amazing.  We actually enjoyed the time we spent in the line, as strange as this is to say.  There are different rooms (or areas) to the queue with lots of interesting things to see while you are waiting.<\/p>\n

\"Hidden<\/a>
Hidden Valley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Avatar<\/a>
Avatar Chamber<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The ride itself was fantastic!  It is one of the most immersive rides we have ever been on.  The combination of the visual, audio, and sensory effects make it a truly unique experience and probably one of the best, if not the best, rides on Disney property.  We can’t wait to ride it again.  (Note that if you tend to get motion sick on screen-based simulation rides like Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, you might experience the same thing on Flights of Passage.  My wife loved what she was able to see of the ride, but she had her eyes shut tight for some scenes when she would start to feel a little unsteady).<\/p>\n

After leaving the ride, we walked through Pandora to see some the bio-luminescent effects that Disney had put into place.  It was interesting to see how they had applied the effect to the walking areas as well. <\/p>\n

\"Bioluminescence<\/a>
Bioluminescence Effects<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We left the park that night exhausted.  It was a long day that started at 4 AM and ended about 11 PM once we checked into our hotel.  The next day would take us to Epcot, which is our favorite park!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Planning | Travel | Animal Kingdom | Epcot | Magic Kingdom | Hollywood Studios | Summary  Our first stop on Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disney-parks","category-travel","no-post-thumbnail","no-read-more-tag","no-sticky","use-excerpt","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5725,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/christmas-2017-trip-part-6-wdw-animal-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":4725,"position":0},"title":"Christmas 2017 Trip – Part 6 WDW – Animal Kingdom","author":"Joseph","date":"April 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Our main goal when visiting Animal Kingdom this trip was to ride Flights of Passage at least once.\u00a0 We couldn't get any FastPasses for it, so we made sure to rope drop Animal Kingdom twice on this trip.\u00a0 We got to ride it on both days.\u00a0 We made sure to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disney Parks"","block_context":{"text":"Disney Parks","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-parks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tree of Life","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/IMG_4308-e1520199064269-1024x874.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/IMG_4308-e1520199064269-1024x874.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/IMG_4308-e1520199064269-1024x874.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4674,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/last-minute-trip-part-2-travel\/","url_meta":{"origin":4725,"position":1},"title":"Last Minute Trip – Part 2 Travel","author":"Joseph","date":"October 31, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Planning | Travel | Animal Kingdom | Epcot | Magic Kingdom | Hollywood Studios | Summary Since we were planning a last minute trip that only lasted four days, we wanted to pack in as many activities as possible.\u00a0 We got early morning flights, which was a plus from both\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disney Parks"","block_context":{"text":"Disney Parks","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-parks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Reagan National Airport Gate 2","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_5052-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_5052-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_5052-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4970,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/staying-on-property-part-3-wdw\/","url_meta":{"origin":4725,"position":2},"title":"Staying On Property – Part 3 WDW","author":"Joseph","date":"February 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Day 1 - Epcot We decided our first day would involve heading to Epcot to take in round 1 of the Food and Wine Festival.\u00a0 We had visited during Food and Wine a few years ago and loved it.\u00a0 We definitely were excited to enjoy it again. We got up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disney Parks"","block_context":{"text":"Disney Parks","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-parks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bus Area at All-Star Movies","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2688-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2688-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_2688-768x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4596,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/last-minute-trip-planning\/","url_meta":{"origin":4725,"position":3},"title":"Last Minute Trip – Part 1 Planning","author":"Joseph","date":"October 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Planning | Travel | Animal Kingdom | Epcot | Magic Kingdom | Hollywood Studios | Summary We usually take a family trip each summer.\u00a0 For various reasons this past summer, we hadn't planned anything and the days were beginning to wear on us.\u00a0 So, with less than 7 days notice,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disney Parks"","block_context":{"text":"Disney Parks","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-parks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/map2.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/map2.gif?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/map2.gif?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11348,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/walt-disney-world-solo-trip-part-3-animal-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":4725,"position":4},"title":"Walt Disney World Solo Trip, Part 3: Animal Kingdom","author":"Joseph","date":"March 14, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I had intended to wake up very early on Thursday to make it to Animal Kingdom for morning Extra Magic Hours (which started at 7 AM). But I had a lot of trouble leaving my cozy hotel bed when my alarm initially went off. The one thing that finally motivated\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disney Parks"","block_context":{"text":"Disney Parks","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-parks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Animal Kingdom","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_9751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_9751.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_9751.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/IMG_9751.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5724,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/christmas-2017-trip-part-4-wdw-magic-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":4725,"position":5},"title":"Christmas 2017 Trip – Part 4 WDW – Magic Kingdom","author":"Joseph","date":"April 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Magic Kingdom We didn't have a lot planned for our days at the Magic Kingdom.\u00a0 Our plan was to arrive fairly early each day and just enjoy the atmosphere of the park at Christmas time.\u00a0 We also wanted to make sure we got to see the Magic Kingdom Christmas parade,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disney Parks"","block_context":{"text":"Disney Parks","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-parks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_6809-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_6809-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/IMG_6809-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peu3ZL-1ed","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4725"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5032,"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4725\/revisions\/5032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}