Disney World 2023: Animal Kingdom day 2 and Final days in Florida

On Saturday we took the morning off to relax, swim, and get some laundry done. We went out to a local breakfast place but otherwise hung around the resort until our last load of laundry was in the dryer. Once that was taken care of we took an Uber over to Typhoon Lagoon for a couple hours of swimming. Both of our visits there were just for the last few hours, and it worked out great. The weather was still warm enough to enjoy being in a water park, and the crowds and lines were minimal. We really enjoy their 6 foot waves in the wave pool, but otherwise it's just a standard water park. The water coasters are fun, but they're fairly short compared to the ones at Water World, so I'm really glad we didn't have to wait in long lines for them.

After Typhoon Lagoon closed we changed and took an Uber over to the Polynesian resort. There we grabbed some dinner in their cafeteria area. After eating the kids participated in some childrens' activities they had outside, and we found a spot on the beach to watch the Happily Ever After fireworks.  Jenny had let Allison use the bubble wand she'd bought for her nieces, Allison brought along her glowing slinky dog, and I brought a bunch of glow sticks (which really helped me find the kids once it started getting dark). I think Allison enjoyed playing in the sand with other kids at least as much if not more than the fireworks. Both kids vastly preferred seeing the fireworks from the Polynesian resort than being stuck in a crowd at the Magic Kingdom. 

Surprisingly I didn't get any pictures of Saturday, though I did send a couple Marco Polo videos to Amy on Sunday morning telling her about Saturday and giving her a tour of the resort.

Tyler didn't want to share the pull out couch bed with Allison so we made him a little bed on the floor from the extra couch cushions.

The next morning we went to the Fantasia Gardens mini golf course. After unsuccessfully trying to make a reservation over the phone, we just decided to get there as early as we could. They still told us it would be at least a 45 minute wait, but fortunately it was only 25 minutes. 

This course was adorable! The kids had watched Fantasia somewhat recently and recognized the characters and decorations. 

This hole had brooms and pails that really did shoot water at you as you passed.

And the 18th hole had a whirlpool and made the water spout after you knocked a ball into it. 

After golfing Oscar took the kids back to play at the activity center at the hotel while Jenny and I got lunch at Raglan Road in Disney Springs. I also picked up this Donald Duck Bubble waffle (which looked better than it tasted), and Jenny did some shopping. I browsed through the shops but didn't find anything that jumped out at me for the prices they were asking for. 

On Monday we went back to Animal Kingdom. Top priorities were the kids finishing up their Wilderness Explorer badges and riding Dinosaur since it had shut down the last time we were here. Disney is planning on changing the dinosaur ride and all of Dinoland at some point, so I really wanted them to get a chance to go on it before it's gone forever. 

Dinosaur only had a 5 minute wait when we arrived, so we grabbed a return time for the Safari and worked our way over to Dinoland with the kids earning badges along the way.

The kids had fun on Dinosaur, posing with "Dino Sue," and meeting Chip and Dale in dinosaur costumes. 

Afterwards we met Moana

And had fun getting Hakuna Matata pictures.

By the time we made it over to the Safari our return time had come up. It was fun to do it again. The first time I'd been in the middle of all 5 of us. This time they put us in two rows where we had plenty of space and could more easily take pictures. 

We saw a "crash" of rhinos. Our tour guide gave us all the fun names that various groups of animals are called. 

Near the safari is the gorilla trail. We toured that while the kids picked up a few more badges.

Jenny got some great video of one male Gorilla knocking another one on the head and running away.

After that we took the train to Rafiki's Planet. The kids did the animation experience and Jenny watched the vets perform an ultrasound on a sheep (she's a nurse, so it was quite fascinating to her). The kids also got four more wilderness badges and brushed animals at the petting zoo. 

We had lunch and had more photopass photos taken.

We're all pointing in the wrong spot, but there's a Kaa magic shot in this photo on the right.

We hadn't met Minnie yet this trip, so we got in line to meet her and Mickey at Adventurer's Outpost. Oscar had to sit out for this one since he still had Allison's frozen lemonade, and they wouldn't let him take it through the line.

Here we are in the Harambe food market area.

Jenny and I watched the Feathered Friends in Flight while Oscar took the kids to the "Finding Nemo - The Big Blue and Beyond" show. Following the show the kids finished up the last of their badges and became Senior Wilderness Explorers. They were given three large stickers. I wish it'd been something a bit longer lasting, like a pin, but they both took a lot of pride in it. 

I then went to watch the Flotillas while the kids were getting the last of their badges on the tiger trail Jenny and I had already explored on our previous Animal Kingdom day. Here's the Goofy and Pluto and the Pocahontas and Meeko Flotillas.

The Ducktales Flotilla

Here are the Timon and Rafiki Flotilla and the drummers flotilla. We'd seen the drummers flotilla twice already on our previous day and hadn't realized they came in groups of three or when and where exactly they go. The drummers start the flotillas, but if you hang around a few extra minutes, Timon and Rafiki come around and then Russell and Dug. I figured it out this time and stood on the blue bridge where it starts from and circles back to. The kids and Oscar had joined me by then. I wanted to make sure they saw Russell and Dug since they'd watched "Up" recently and had just completed their badges.

They were both so excited to see Russell and Dug! They waved down at him doing all the different hands signs they'd learned while saying "the wilderness must be explored!" 

We got some pictures with Expedition Everest in the background.

Then rode Expedition Everest for our final time this trip.

We separated from Jenny so the kids and I could ride Kali River Rapids. Jenny didn't want to get wet. Neither did Oscar, but he still walked with us there and purchased banana candies while we rode. 

It said it would be a 25 minute wait, but it was more like 10. I'm glad since the ride is pretty short. It does have a nice drop at the beginning, which is fun, but after doing the long "Pluto's Bilge Rat Barges" at Universal Orlando, this seemed crazy quick. I'm glad we didn't have to wait a long time for it.

On our way to meet Oscar I got this cute photo of the kids posing with Russell and Dug statues. I told Oscar to meet us close to where we'd had lunch, which he thought meant Tusker House, where we'd had lunch the previous Animal Kingdom day. I meant where we'd had lunch that day, so it took longer than expected and I almost didn't make it in time to see Festival of the Lion King with Jenny. The kids were getting hungry and just wanted to play at the Dino playground.

The kids lucked out at meal time. They bought a mac and cheese at a little food stand, and they were the last customers just before it closed. The employee had an extra pretzel and churro, so he gave it to them for free. 

Jenny and I were seated separately since she'd arrived early and I got there just before they shut the doors, but I had a great view! They sat me on the edge of the longest bleacher right next to Pumba. No one was in front of me and I got great pictures. Jenny was in the same section as me but closer to the middle and closer to Simba. 

The acrobatic monkeys are always fun to watch.

This was the "Be Prepared" song with the impressive fire juggler.

Since we'd both seen the show before, we took advantage of this second time to get great pictures and video. It was definitely worth seeing twice.

Jenny and I got a return time for Flight of Passage. The kids wanted to do it at first then decided they were done and headed back to the hotel. We had a bit of a wait until we could get in line, so I wandered around getting photos. 

Jenny and I got some cute photos with this little waterfall.

The Pandora area is so beautiful! The lights were just starting to turn on before we got on our ride. Jenny forgot to take her regular sunglasses off her head, and when they told us to put our 3D glasses on, she accidentally put her sunglasses on. She rode the whole ride wondering why her vision was so blurry. 

We squeezed in one last ride on Na'vi River Journey. By the time we came out it was getting much darker and the lights looked even prettier. 

That evening we went to Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' for dinner. Jenny had originally had a reservation at 10pm since that was the only thing available, but thankfully they called us and moved it up to 8pm. I didn't care for the chives in everything, but otherwise it was all really good. I had extra Chicken and Dumplings soup (I picked out the chives), which I saved and ate for lunch just before we left to catch our flight the next morning. 

Our flight wasn't until 2pm, so the kids painted piggy banks and Tyler and I went swimming before we had to check out and leave for the airport.

It was a great trip, though it was soured by returning to pick up our car at the hotel in Denver only to find out that our catalytic converter had been stolen. We had to have it towed, file a police report, reach out to insurance, and take a Lyft home, all of which added time to what was already a long travel day. It took awhile for Lyft to find us a driver willing to do an hour+ long drive, but thankfully one came through for us and we got home about 2 hours after we had planned to. I tipped her very well. At least we came home to a very affectionate Nibbler who'd missed us dearly. His nails were so long and he was pawing me so aggressively I had to trim his nails in the middle of the night just to be able to fall asleep.