Day 1 - Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Our first Walt Disney World Vacation together began on Sunday, May 20th, 2012. Due to the fact that we booked this trip somewhat last minute (a month prior) we didn't have ideal flight options and ended up having an eight, yes you read that right, eight hour layover! We flew in Toronto and managed to pass the time by browsing the shops and reading books. Thinking back, it wasn't so bad but we definitely do not recommend it!
We arrived in Orlando, Florida around 1:00am and headed straight to our resort via the Magical Express - a great free shuttle bus feature for guests staying on resort that takes you right from the airport to your hotel. On this trip we stayed at Disney's All Star Movies Resort! With this being our first trip staying on-site, we had no idea what to expect but we were thoroughly impressed with the resort! We aren't fancy people so we didn't look for or miss out on any of the bells and whistles that the moderate and deluxe resorts have. As long as there is a bed & pool we're happy! The room was clean, the resort had a fun theme (great for photo opps) and the food court was tasty and had a variety of options for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Our first day began at 6:30am. We got ready, had a quick breakfast at the resort, and headed to Disney's Animal Kingdom! This trip was before the arrival of the FastPass+ system so we strategically mapped out our plan of getting our fast passes for the morning. We left the resort by 7:30am and headed straight to Kilimanjaro Safaris. It's recommended that you visit the Safari early in the morning when it's cooler - the animals are more likely to active, so better chance of seeing them out in the open! This giraffe came right up to the vehicle and posed for some pictures.
Next we headed over to Kali River Rapids. Ellen remembered loving this ride as a kid and couldn't wait to go on it again as an adult. While it wasn't the thrilling ride she remembered, it was a fun & wet start to the day! So much fun, we went on it twice!
After the River Rapids we headed over to Expedition Everest - one of our favourites at the Animal Kingdom. This ride features a Yeti and an unexpected twist that is tons of fun! We rode this ride three times that day!
Before heading back to our resort for lunch, we rode Dinosaur! (Ellen's favourite at Animal Kingdom!) We headed back to our resort for some lunch and a swim in the pool.
On this trip we didn't opt to have the Hopper Pass - a feature you can purchase to your park tickets that allow you to visit multiple parks per day. We stuck to one park per day and sometimes went back to the same park in the evening. We made our way back to Animal Kingdom at 3:30pm. We rode Dinosaur! again, went to It's Tough to be a Bug! and watched Finding Nemo - the Musical, which is a fantastic show! We also saw The Festival of the Lion King for the first time and have been completely in love with it ever since! We rode Primeval Whirl and called it a day a great first day.
Animal Kingdom is generally the earliest park to close (except for the Water Parks) so it's good to plan accordingly. We took advantage of the early night and relaxed at our resort and got ready for our next day at Disney - EPCOT!
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