Bay Lake Tower Weekend Part 3
Sunday, July 11, 2021
Today, we're headed to Animal Kingdom which opens at 8 am so we are up early. We got out of room a little later than planned so the park has already opened when we walk through the gate. (I'm not sure what bus capacity is these days so we've been driving to all the parks when, normally, we would use Disney bus transportation.)
We head directly to the Safari and, surprise, it's a walk-on. They are still loading only one party per row on the safari vehicles so we have a whole row for the two of us. For some reason, there seem to be fewer animals than usual on display. We already knew the lions would not be out as that area is currently being refurbished. Despite seeing fewer animals, we see some sights we rarely see. A couple of the pink backed pelicans are swimming around and a hippo is wedged into a corner is such a way as to be very visible at the surface of the water. Also, a warthog is wandering around instead of hiding away inside its shelter.
After the safari, we head over to Starbucks for lattes and breakfast sandwiches. While most of the tables outside are taken, we are able to snag one on the walk on the opposite side of sidewalk from Starbucks. Another surprise - there really isn't any line to speak of this morning.
Following breakfast, we walk through the Gorilla Falls Trail which I always enjoy. We had over to the Feathered Friends in Flight show but are too early for the first show of the day so we head over to the Maharajah Jungle Trek. When we emerge from that, we return to he bird show. Folks are now being allowed into the theater. As we enter, we're told to sit anywhere except for spots reserved for those with wheelchairs.
Following the show, we head to Expedition Everest. All the attractions now have long lines, with most being 40 minutes or more. We get on line at Expedition Everest which is listed as being a 40 minute wait and decide we don't want to be waiting in long lines. As we leave the park, we see lots and lots of people entering the park so I'm sure wait times must have increased more after we left.
Back in our room, we change into bathing suits and head out to the pool. We spend a few, relaxed hours at the pool. Lunch is from the pool bar - Caesar salad with chicken for me (basically a bunch of romaine topped with chicken along with a Caesar salad dressing packet but the chicken is quite yummy and I eat a fair amount of the lettuce as well). My spouse has a sandwich with chips.
We return to the room; shower, change, and hang out for a bit. Once again, we head to The Wave for dinner at the bar. This time we both order the pork loin with grits and asparagus. The loin and grits are very yummy. I had previously decided I didn't like grits after trying them once before but I'm guessing that might be due to the way they were prepared. These were very good and I may have to put grits on my list of items I do like.
After dinner, we wander through the shops at the Contemporary and then head out to the boat dock. We had thought about taking a boat ride over to the campground and back but the boats are not running from the Contemporary. Well, maybe they'll be operational again in the near future.
We head back to our room and hang out on our balcony or a bit. Once again, we watch the Magic Kingdom fireworks from our balcony - a much more enjoyable experience this evening since we do not hear the screamers from the evening before.
On Monday, we have reservations for Disney Studios but I cancel them and we return home.
