Day 3 – A visit to Animal Kingdom. It’s another early morning at Disney. We wanted to get there at 7.30am to make it for the unofficial early hours so that meant leaving our accommodation by 6.45am. Sighs. lol

It was by then we were so looking forward to our rest day. Yes we had a rest day in between the crazy park days so that we don’t faint from exhaustion 😀

Time check: 6.33am and the bus is only arriving at 6.47am 😦

Just as we made it to Animal Kingdom, the sky was also getting brighter

And you thought we were the only crazy ones at 7.30am, look again

While everyone was dashing or brisk walking their way to Pandora – World of Avatar, we had our eyes set on something else

And that’s taking a photo with Tree of Life. Look at the crowd. Omo

The Tree of Life is a 145-foot sculpture of a baobab tree and honors animals and the place they all share in the great Circle of Life. The sculpture is actually quite pretty I must say, especially with the morning light

And so that deserves a photo together

So after getting done with pictures, it was our turn to brisk walk to catch Avatar Flight of Passage that we saw had a wait time of 30 minutes

But by the time got there, it had gone up to 45 minutes

I must say I was pretty impressed with the ride. You really felt like you were riding on an avatar. I could understand why this was such a popular ride. And also, the sets are really one of a kind

The standby time went up to 120 minutes after we exited. So yay, so glad we managed to catch this one

We went on to Na’vi River Journey next. All I can say was I felt like I was transported to another mystical world. lol. It’s not wow but I guess if you want to hide from the heat, you can consider this

We were tired (already) so we decided to go on Kilimanjaro Safaris

where the truck would take us around the enclosure to visit the animals that were living there

They even had a photo-guide to tell you what animals to expect though the picture was a little too small

It’s quite an informative ride and even though it was just sitting down in the vehicle and spotting the animals, I actually did enjoy the experience

And then it was time for lunch cos everyone was famished. We decided on Satu’li Canteen cos the food looked the most appetising and I thought I can finally have some vegetables

Slow-Roasted Sliced Grilled Beef Bowl, Chilli-Garlic Shrimp Bowl

We all chose a different carb, well clearly

I must say this was the best meal we had in Disney. It was so decent that I would recommend anyone to dine here. Like the beef was grilled just right and tender, the shrimps were tasty and the rice and noodles were actually pretty enjoyable. I’m not sure if the meals we had were so bad we were easily satisfied or we were just hungry. lol

We decided to catch the Festival of the Lion King next and we almost did not make it even though we queued 15 minutes before the show started

Thankfully they still had seats and we managed to snag some front row seats for the show so yay 🙂

It was a show filled with acrobatics, stunts, singing, dancing and well Timon and everyone around me seemed to know all the songs they were just singing along. I was impressed

While we were making our way to Asia, we caught sight of another side of Tree of Life

Can you spot an eagle there?

And the said Asia which was basically Nepal-inspired

And off we went to ride Expedition Everest – Legend of the Forbidden Mountain. It’s a roller coaster ride that takes you up Mount Everest and there was a sudden backward drop at the highest point. It was so exciting but at some point it was giving me a headache cos too much motion. lol

And then we changed into our slippers, walked down to Kali River Rapids where we waited 65 minutes for the ride. It was really tiring, especially standing under the sun. The friend and I were saying how nice it would be to have those benches that you could sit and move automatically so you don’t need to stand and wait. lol. I really wished there were creations like that

And here’s a picture of us before the ride

I was ready to be really soaked cos I saw we were in the front direction where we would hit the splash first, but thankfully the water flew over us and went for the people at the back

So we were half soaked but not that bad. You definitely need to prepare for some splash, small or big

Then we were running out of ideas to do. So we opened the Disney app, found a ride that had the shortest wait time and proceeded there. Which came in the form of It’s tough to be a bug show. I would not recommend anyone that was afraid of bugs to watch this. You would probably end up screaming half the time. lol

And with that, that concluded our day at Animal Kingdom and we decided to make our way to the lodge for our dinner

Look who we found on our way out. Everyone was enthusiastically cheering for Mickey while Goofy was just blocking him half the time. lol

And then when Pocahontas came in the next boat, there was silence. OUCH

We had to take a shuttle to the lodge. Yes, the whole WDW is really huge. We spent time exploring the lodge and looking at the animals that were on the ground

It’s a beautiful resort, inspired by the traditional African kraal and you can choose a room that overlooks the savanna with animals running around. Though I think if I chose to stay here, I probably wouldn’t want to leave my room. lol

They apparently have more than 200 hoofed animals and birds and the guide was explaining to us with so much passion we stood there for 20 minutes listening to him

And then we wanted somewhere aircon cos we still had time before our dinner reservation so we went back to the lobby, found a comfortable spot and napped. lol. I was not kidding. The hotel staffs would probably find us very strange. Why would these people not go back to their rooms and choose to nap at the lobby instead? Ha

Dinner was at Jiko – The Cooking Place, a table service restaurant inspired by African dishes

And it was here I concluded US has no concept of warm water. Cos I asked for warm water and they went water no ice? Basically it was just still cold water without the ice

Complimentary bread rolls

I liked the round one. The flat bread was a little on the saltier side and tasted strange. It kinda reminded me of Ham Chin Peng (Chinese fried doughnuts) though I wouldn’t say the taste is similar

Botswanan Seswaa Short Rib

Slow-cooked Beef Short Rib, Hominy, Sea Peas, Mushrooms and Carrots

The best dish of the meal. Ribs were tender and flavourful and the meat fell apart easily. Not a fan of the beans though

Seafood Tagine

Saffron-scented Couscous, Prawns, Scallops, Squid and Littleneck Clams

Couscous was too sour. I think they added too much lemon. The clam had a little of the clam taste in it. They should have added the lemon here instead. And the seafood as a whole was just salty. Is it salt is free in Orlando?

And all this for USD51. Gulps

Bobotie Mac & Cheese

Four-Cheese, Waygu, Almonds, Raisins, Kachumbari and Red Wine Reduction

The friend’s husband wanted some Mac & cheese so we went for it. This was simply a bowl of bland Mac with a little too flavourful bachor (read: salty) and sauce. It’s bizarre how can a simple Mac & cheese go so wrong. I mean, it’s Mac & cheese!

We were given 3 pieces of candies to end off the night. I ate this with caution. After I took one mouth of it, I returned it to the plate and never touched it again. lol. Basically it was sugar

I wouldn’t recommend dining here. You are better off eating at Satu’li Canteen. And oh, it’s cheaper too 🙂

After dinner, we went back to crash. It had been an exhausting day. I blamed it on the sun

Day 4 – rest day, never been happier. It meant we only need to wake up for lunch though I did woke up at 7 ish cos the people outside my room were making so much noise and I could hear whenever someone walked past my room 😦

Anyway we took a bus to Disney Springs where we were going to have our lunch at The Edison

It was a hot hot day

Set in an industrial theme, the place actually was done up pretty well

Well, it does have the setting and the feels

The Edison

Branded as one of their signature cocktails, it’s a bourbon based cocktail with pear brandy, lemon juice & honey cordial. Initially when the cocktail came, I was like wah! such a small cup! After having one sip of it, I was like okay thankful it was a small cup. lol

They don’t go easy on the liquor. And the drink was on the sourish side. I felt like they poured the entire cup of lemon juice in it. It was regrettable

The Edison

Signature Beef Blend of Sirloin, Short Rib, and Brisket topped with White Cheddar, Crispy Onions, Smoked Bacon, House-made Pickles, Lettuce, Tomato, Special Sauce, Hand-cut Fries

Even though this was also their signature, I have to say the burger was very average. Maybe they shouldn’t have name the dishes after their restaurant, they simply cannot make it. I mean, it wasn’t bad. It was just okay lor. I wasn’t particularly blown away, like I was really expecting a very good burger. The buns were a little dry and the patty was just alright. The fries were good though. I’ll recommend the fries

Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup

I thought the grilled cheese sandwich fared a little better. They were actually quite decent. I thought the tomato soup was quite hearty too though the friend mentioned this tasted like pasta sauce. Ha

I probably had expected much more. But oh wells

After lunch, I wanted a cup of coffee so we made our way to Joffrey’s

The iced latte was actually not bad. Thankfully it tasted like coffee, not too sweet, not diluted or anything like that. It was coffee. Ha

We went to check out other shops/restaurants in the area so we came to Morimoto Asia Street Food where they were selling ramen, bites and dim sum

And so something caught the friend’s eye

In the form of bubble tea. lol

Popping Boba Tea

Hmm. lets just say. I think KOI should open a shop there instead

Moving on..

We walked around the place, popping by one store after another and basically hiding from the heat, until we decided that it was time to eat again

Cos it was churros we spotted!

The churros were disappointing. Like it was rather soft and the design just made it so difficult to eat with the sauce. It wasn’t anything like theme parks churro I expected. Meh

So after loitering around for 3 hours, we made it back to hotel to rest cos the friend was feeling very tired. And so it’s nap time again 🙂

While I went around the hotel searching for halloween deco. Really A for effort The guests really decorate the windowsill of their own rooms. I was like wow. They probably do this for all the big occasions as well, which was pretty cool

Then we made our way out for dinner

Dinner was at Disney’s Boardwalk, which was a short walk away from Hollywood Studios. So we walked there instead since the weather was pretty nice in the evening with the sun gone

We made reservation for Flying Fish, a seafood-centric restaurant that the friend been before and gave pretty good reviews

But since we were early, we took some pictures outside first

I really like the environment here. It just felt so relaxed

Our table was soon ready for us and I must say the vibes this place gave was really different. So different from the other restaurants

Complimentary bread to start

Lobster Bisque w Sambucha, Olive Oil

The bisque was delicious. It was sweet, a little tangy and rich with lobster taste. There was also a sweet piece of lobster meat in it. I had a feeling it was a good start to the meal

Seafood Pearl Risotto

Shrimp, Lobster, Scallops, Clams and Mussels

The friend missed the risotto here. However it wasn’t on the menu anymore. So we requested if we could change the pasta to the risotto but it got our wait staff so confused, thinking we wanted an additional portion of risotto. lol

I thought the risotto was decent but the friend lamented it tasted better before. Point to note: Just follow the menu. If it’s not there, it’s probably not there for a reason. lol

But I liked the generous portion of seafood and how fresh it was. It was definitely and so much better than Jiko’s

Potato-wrapped Red Snapper w Scallops as enhancements

Leek Fondue, Cassis-Red Wine Reduction

The fish was very well done. The leek fondue was tasty too. It reminded me of Chinese cabbage. And I thought it went well with the red wine reduction. This dish as a whole was actually pretty good

Strawberry Basil Sorbet and Chocolate Gelato

We wanted some icecream for desserts. And to our shock, this was portion for 1 person. How can one person eat 3 huge scoops of icecream?!

American portion cannot be belittled

I concluded this was the best table service meal we had so far. We left filling very full but satisfied

As we left the restaurant, we caught sight of some entertainment that was going on outside and we stood there to absorb the atmosphere for abit

And that wrapped up the night as we took the Friendship boat back to Epcot and the skyliner back to our hotel

Read here for previous day at Epcot and Magic Kingdom