{"id":5725,"date":"2018-04-24T07:43:13","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T11:43:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/?p=5725"},"modified":"2018-04-29T11:18:35","modified_gmt":"2018-04-29T15:18:35","slug":"christmas-2017-trip-part-6-wdw-animal-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/christmas-2017-trip-part-6-wdw-animal-kingdom\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas 2017 Trip – Part 6 WDW – Animal Kingdom"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Tree<\/a>
Tree of Life<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our main goal when visiting Animal Kingdom this trip was to ride Flights of Passage at least once.  We couldn’t get any FastPasses for it, so we made sure to rope drop Animal Kingdom twice on this trip.  We got to ride it on both days.  We made sure to pick days that didn’t have Extra Magic Hours in the morning, and we arrived at the park about an hour before opening.  On both days, we got into the park about 45 minutes early and everyone headed towards Pandora.<\/p>\n

\"Floating<\/a>
Floating Islands<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Flora<\/a>
Flora of Pandora<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here are some pictures of the pre-show.<\/p>\n

\"Sampling<\/a>
Sampling DNA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Contamination<\/a>
Contamination Detected<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Avatars\"<\/a>
Avatars<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After riding Flights of Passage, we headed towards Starbucks to grab some coffee.  The line for Flights of Passage was past the Starbucks.  The Cast Members were telling people the line was close to four hours long.<\/p>\n

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

We also got in a ride on the Na’vi River Journey, but things were not working quite like they should.  The Shaman died!!!  There was no face projection and the animatronic was hanging lifeless.  We told the Cast Member about it (and showed her a picture of it).  She was horrified (and laughing) and offered us another ride, but we declined.  We’ve been on it multiple times and we wanted to give others a chance.<\/p>\n

\"Dead<\/a>
Dead Shaman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We made sure to get in our favorite rides as well, including Dinosaur, Expedition Everest and Kilimanjaro Safaris. <\/p>\n

\"Dinosaur<\/a>
Dinosaur Entrance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lazy<\/a>
Lazy Hippo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We also went on the Jungle Trek and took these tiger pictures:<\/p>\n

\"From<\/a>
From the Jungle Trek<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Scratch<\/a>
Scratch Post<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We also made sure to head over to the Conservation Station to see what was going on. <\/p>\n

\"Wildlife<\/a>
Wildlife Express Train<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Conservation<\/a>
Conservation Station<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We also went back to Tiffins<\/a> for dinner.<\/p>\n

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

Here are some pictures of the new menu items we tried.  Everything was really good.  I even went with the Autumn Vegetable Harvest for my entree and it was great. <\/p>\n

\"Black-Eye<\/a>
Black-Eye Pea Fritters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Autumn<\/a>
Autumn Vegetable Harvest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Braised<\/a>
Braised Berkshire Pork Belly Ramen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a different night, we went to Animal Kingdom Lodge, followed by Kidani Village.  We wanted to check out the decorations and have dinner at Sanaa.  Both locations were beautifully decorated and we encountered special activities.  Animal Kingdom Lodge had bell ringers playing Christmas songs and Kidani Village had Donald Duck greeting people in the lobby!<\/p>\n

\"Christmas<\/a>
Christmas Tree at Animal Kingdom Lodge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Christmas<\/a>
Christmas Tree at Kidani Village<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We followed up the visit with dinner at Sanaa.  Of course, we had to order the Indian-Style Bread Service with all nine accompaniments.  This might be my favorite dish at any Disney restaurant. <\/p>\n

\"Indian-Style<\/a>
Indian-Style Bread Service with all Nice Accompaniments<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was the soup of the day, but I don’t remember what it was. <\/p>\n

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

For our entrees, we ordered the Fish of the Day, the Grilled Strip, and the Potjie Inspired entree (where you can pick from different times).  Everything was delicious!<\/p>\n

\"Fish<\/a>
Fish of the Day<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Grilled<\/a>
Grilled New York Strip<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Potjie<\/a>
Potjie Inspired – Vegetarian Options<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Potjie<\/a>
Potjie Inspired – Braised Beef & Chickpea Wat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With the addition of Pandora, we could spend all day in Animal Kingdom.  There are so many great places to explore that it would hard to get bored at this park. <\/p>\n

Here are the other parts of the trip:<\/p>\n

Planning<\/a> | Travel<\/a> | Hollywood Studios<\/a> | Magic Kingdom<\/a> | Epcot<\/a> | Animal Kingdom<\/a> | WDW Part 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our main goal when visiting Animal Kingdom this trip was to ride Flights of Passage at least once.  We couldn’t 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],"tags":[134,181,179,180,178,152,140],"class_list":["post-5725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disney-parks","tag-animal-kingdom","tag-animal-kingdom-lodge","tag-flights-of-passage","tag-navi-river-journey","tag-pandora","tag-sanaa","tag-tiffins","no-post-thumbnail","no-read-more-tag","no-sticky","use-excerpt","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4725,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/last-minute-trip-part-3-animal-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":5725,"position":0},"title":"Last Minute Trip \u2013 Part 3 Animal Kingdom","author":"Joseph","date":"November 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Planning | Travel | Animal Kingdom | Epcot | Magic Kingdom | Hollywood Studios | Summary \u00a0Our first stop on our four day trip was Animal Kingdom!\u00a0 We were excited to get a look at Pandora, the World of Avatar!\u00a0 We didn't really have a destination in mind in Pandora.\u00a0\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\/2017\/08\/IMG_5107-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_5107-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/IMG_5107-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4970,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/staying-on-property-part-3-wdw\/","url_meta":{"origin":5725,"position":1},"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":4674,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/last-minute-trip-part-2-travel\/","url_meta":{"origin":5725,"position":2},"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":11348,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/walt-disney-world-solo-trip-part-3-animal-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":5725,"position":3},"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":4596,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/last-minute-trip-planning\/","url_meta":{"origin":5725,"position":4},"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":4962,"url":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/christmas-2017-trip-part-3-wdw-visit-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":5725,"position":5},"title":"Christmas 2017 Trip – Part 3 WDW – Hollywood Studios","author":"Joseph","date":"April 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"We planned to spend eight days at the Disney parks before leaving for Miami for our cruise.\u00a0 Because of the time of year, we expected it to be really busy in all the parks.\u00a0 We planned to get in a few rides in the morning by arriving for rope drop,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Disney Parks"","block_context":{"text":"Disney Parks","link":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/category\/disney-parks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Annual Passholder Holiday Magnet","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IMG_6643-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IMG_6643-768x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/backtothemouse.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/IMG_6643-768x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peu3ZL-1ul","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5725","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=5725"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6559,"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5725\/revisions\/6559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/backtothemouse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}