Original plan today was Animal Kingdom early then MK in the afternoon but when I got a last minute opening to the Highway in the Sky Dine paired with the thought of a Saturday holiday night at MK I decided to forgo MK totally in exchange for an early morning trip to AK followed by some pool/resort time and then arriving at my special event a little more rested (esp with still being not 100%).
AK opened at 8 for EMH so I hit the business lounge at opening for a danish and diet coke and hopped in my truck at 7:30. AK does a nice job with it's opening. I was through both bag check and the gates before the rope drop and made my way for a first thing ride on the Safari. I was in shorts and a tank top and loving the Florida weather. It was a little cool but it's AK, I knew it would heat up. I had a few fast passes I made at the last minute (since previously I had all of them for an evening in the MK) but I ended up not even needing them. I rode the Safari (lots of animals, even some hippos walking around) and then made a quick run through the Patagoni trail before making my way to the newly refurb'd Dinosaur ride. (Didn't notice any differences.). After that it was time to call Lost and Found about my ears. After approx. 40 mins on hold while strolling between Dino area and Everest someone answered. No help and no luck. I sort of assumed.
Next up a run on Everest (single rider) and then a little window shopping. I had a FP for 10am for Kali RR but I decided against it. I just wasn't feeling like the wetness. I did that back animal trail (forget the name) and saw the bats and tigers (very active) and considered the Nemo show but it didn't start til noon and it was only 10:30. I walked thru quite a few shops ending up in the front of the park to visit Russell and Dug (I had on my other pair of special ears which have Dug on them.). I hopped in line only to notice..no Dug. I inquired and discovered Dug wasn't coming today, at all. Well shoot. I headed back to my truck and back to CSR. I was thinking an early lunch in the food court would be nice since my evening dining event started pretty early so I meandered to the food court around 11:30ish and they were not done serving breakfast. I grabbed a drink and walked around outside and also in the gift shop until lunchtime.
I should have hung out in the food court. Between when I left and came back (maybe 20-30 mins?) it became packed with high school looking kids there for a basketball tournament. I ended up waiting in line around 20 mins for some nachos. They were ok (way more than I could eat.). I went back to my room and changed into my bathing suit and headed to the Dig Site Pool. Neat pool, lots of shade or sun, fun water slide (I tested it for you guys to be sure.). I also enjoyed the hot tub for awhile before returning to the room to shower, change and do a little pin sorting before my big evening out.
I left the room about 5:30 to Uber to the Contemporary (I think check in was 6:30) I wasn't taking any chances on a bus incident. I had no problem getting a ride in minutes over to the Contemporary (around $5.50). Here's a brief review of my time at the event (I'll post a more extensive review in the dining boards in a day or so with a link to pictures (if John says it's ok). We started in the Wave lounge with a cocktail (a sweet one) and a tiny mug of creamy mushroom soup (delicious). They gave us each a lanyard with a hangtag for the event to keep. They also said it was important to stay together as the monorails would be busy as it was the Saturday bf Christmas. We left in a group and caught a monorail to the Poly. We had 2 private cars for around 3o people and 4 "guides".
At the Poly we were in an area outside the Trader Sam's and enjoyed another sweet cocktail and some apps. We had a roasted beet tiny salad, a tuna tartare dish in a little spoon and a pork belly tiny plate. All small but good. Then we boarded the monorail again to head to the GF. As we passed the hoardes of people waiting for the monorail I felt kind of bad for cutting in front of them, but not really
At GF they escorted us to Citrico's where we had the choice of red or white wine, (I asked to try some of both and that seemed ok) and were served a surf and turf duo of scallop and short ribs which was excellent. Then we were walked down to an area off the main lobby on the lower floor where we were served a cheese plate and champagne. Finally back to the monorail around to Contemp and escorted out to a 4th floor balcony under the monorail for 2 desserts (a chocolate one and an orange one) and coffee (with liquors if you wanted.). They gave us a tiny box of two truffles as a gift and we watched Wishes from this area. All in all a very nice experience. Not sure I would do it again and not a good value if you don't drink, in my opinion.
Now this is my only Uber failure of the trip. I tried twice to get a ride from the Contemp lobby area and both times they cancelled on me only a minute away (I have a feeling traffic was either backed up or blocked.). My other choice was to head to the MK and then bus to CSR but honesty I was pooped. I grabbed a regular cab that was already there and was back to my room in about 15 mins ($20.)
Share This Thread On Social Media: