Christmastime Trip – 12/9/17-12/17/17 – Day 1

Cast of characters – Me, wife Kathy, daughter Lauren, son-in-law Ben

Saturday 12/9/17

We had an hour delay on our flight out of DTW due to some light snow. One of the hazards of winter travel but all in all it wasn’t horrible. Our first time going through de-icing process which was pretty cool! Even though they drove us what felt like 10 miles out into the middle of nowhere to do it! After landing we took DME to POFQ to grab some lunch and on to Animal Kingdom. I just love how quiet POFQ is. The food court was pretty full for lunch but it was still so quiet! We got the text that our room was ready so we decided to check it out before heading to the park. Oh my gosh did we luck out! It was pretty much a river view without paying for it! I know it didn’t actually qualify as a true river view but we could absolutely see the river heading towards Downtown Disney Springs right from our room. If anyone wants a great room at POFQ, just request 2225. @Chelle comes through again!
Off we went to Animal Kingdom where Ben and Kathy activated their annual passes quickly and easily. We then made out way to Navi River Journey to use our first FP’s of the trip. Kathy and Ben thought Pandora was amazing! It was so much fun for Lauren and me to see their faces as we walked in. We all liked Navi River Journey a lot! There are lots of things going on in the ride and it is very visually stimulating. Now, I wouldn’t wait an hour or anything like that for it but it truly is a great family ride and very neat. We looked around the rest of Pandora and then saw the Navi drummers. This was another new thing to all of us and very, very cool! Lauren and I were pretty positive we recognized the female drummer from Japan and after they were done we had a chance to talk to her and confirmed it was her. It was really neat to see a cast member we remembered and recognized from October! Add to that, that she was totally engaging and really seemed to enjoy talking with us, made for a great interaction experience. We made our way over to Africa via the back route which was really cool to show Kathy and Ben. We caught the 5:00 FotLK show by walking in just a few minutes before it started. We got floor seats which was really nice! So close to the action! Timon was hilarious and we found ourselves watching him throughout the show! We used our FP’s for Safaris, boarding just after sunset. So it was about as close to a true sunset safari as we could manage. This was our first at that time. It was very cool, not as many animals out as during the day, plus it was cold, but really neat. And we did see some different animals that we don’t usually see during the day. Plus, like most cats the cheetahs were up and about which was nice to see. We explored Pandora at night and had a late dinner at Satuli Canteen. We then saw 2 ½ Tree of Life Awakenings shows before our FP for Expedition Everest. Man, if you’ve only ridden this during the day you have got to try it at night! It is legit scary in the dark! Plus, since the eyes are already adjusted to the low light, the Yeti is so much more ominous! It being colder, when we walked past the Rivers of Light area as it was getting ready to start, the theater was only half full! Or was it half empty? We could have easily gotten a great seat but frankly we were cold and tired from a long day and early start. We all really love the Tree Awakenings though, and Lauren and I were glad to see different shows then we saw in October. We then went home to POFQ where we got hot chocolate and decorated our room for Christmas. The Christmas lights would really show up well, including for the river travelers coming back from Downtown Disney Springs.

Steps: 23,221
Miles: 10.48