Walt Disney World, January 2017, Part 6

By Nick

Thursday January 26th 

On our last full day we were up early and meeting the Walsh family at Disney's Animal Kingdom for rope drop.

As we were watching birds being fed on Discovery Island, who should walk up next to us but Gaylin!

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Barbie, Meghan, Todd, Flynn, Gaylin and me

She had taken a DVC tour the day before, so had 3 FastPasses to use, and accompanied us on the Kilimanjaro Safaris.

Afterwards, we took a walk through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. Or is it now Gorilla Falls?!

Following this adventure, we stopped at Zuri's Sweets for a snack before making our way over to the Maharaja Jungle Trek.

The Walsh's, Barbie and I had lunch at Yak and Yeti Local Foods. There was nothing on the menu for Gaylin, who is gluten intolerant, beyond a dessert offering, so she headed off to Flame Tree Barbecue.

As we were leaving, I noticed a bird eyeing up a woman's french fries. I mentioned this to the girl, and as she looked up I was amazed to see this was my friend Nina! Her husband Brandon walked over a few minutes later. We'd met Nina and Brandon a few years earlier at La Cava Del Tequila at Epcot's Mexico pavilion. In fact, Nina can be seen sipping a cocktail in this post: http://disneymusings.blogspot.com/2014/05/epcots-la-cava-del-tequila.html

Barbie and Todd decided to hit the single rider line of Expedition Everest while Meghan, Flynn and I enjoyed the waterfront seating area for the (as of then) unopened Rivers of Light show.

We walked over to DinoLand where Barbie and Meghan took a ride on Primeval Whirl while the men took a break on a bench.

The Walsh's decided to head back to their resort, the Animal Kingdom Lodge for a rest and/or a swim, and we were going to go back to the Boardwalk, but as we exited, decided that if we laid down we possibly wouldn't get up and over to Disney's Hollywood Studios for our early dinner ADR at 50's Prime Time. So Barbie and I hopped a bus over to DHS.

We visited something we'd noticed earlier in the week, Red Carpet Dreams, where we queued up to meet Mickey and Minnie.

After our visit we went over to the Tune-In Lounge for a Coke and an adult beverage (guess who had which) while we waited for the rest of our party and ADR time.
Friends Kandi, John, their kids Grayson and Sawyer arrived about the same time as the Walsh's and we were all seated shortly thereafter.

Another great meal, we had a really entertaining server and fun neighbors!

After dinner we went to Star Wars Launch Bay.

We found a good spot for the Walsh family to enjoy the Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular, and Barbie and I said goodnight, as we were pooped, and still needed to pack for departure the next day.

Friday, January 27th

We dropped our carry on luggage at bell services and went over to DHS to take one last spin on Toy Story Midway Mania, selfies with Buzz and Woody, and a drop on Tower of Terror.

We grabbed breakfast at Starring Rolls, splitting a ham sandwich and red velvet cupcake. We had no idea this would be the last time we'd ever get to eat there, one of our standard stops since we started to come to Walt Disney World together in 2006. It closed just a few days later!

After eating we slowly walked back to the Boardwalk to await Tragical Magical Express to the airport.

Thanks for following along, and please enjoy Parts 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - and 5.