Florida
- Day 21
Thursday 13th November 2025
Participants: Tam, Kev, India, Georgia and Charlie
We're
out of bed at 8.00 am for our last full day. Cereal and tea in
the room and heading out the door to the Animal Kingdom at 9.00
am. Luckily a bus is waiting and we're straight off.
The plan is to mostly wander in the Animal Kingdom and do
anything that takes our fancy. It's a lovely morning, slightly
chilly in the shade, but a clear blue sky. The forecast for the
next week is for full sunshine and temperatures rising into the
mid 80's. Ah well, it's been flippin' cold at times, but at least
it's been dry for the vast majority of the time.
At
the Tree of Life we see the wait time for Zootopia is 10 minutes
and so decide to give it another chance. It does make a bit more
sense this time, but it still seems to be a downgrade on Tough To
Be A Bug to me.
We watch the tortoises and otters for a while and they're much
more active today. We haven't ridden the train to Conservation
Station for many years and so decide to give it a try. It's
actually good fun and we watch part of a class that teaches how
to draw Disney characters before seeing a bird getting a check up
in the veterinary area. It's passed out on the operating table
with the teeniest little gas mask over its bill.
After looking at the tanks of spiders, snakes and toads we go into the petting area where there are goats, pigs and donkeys. It's a lot of fun as you get a brush to give the goats a sprucing up. They seem to enjoy it a lot. I believe Tam would lie down there for hours if someone would brush her hair.
India wants to do Expedition Everest single rider, so Tam and I take a break in the outdoor theatre area that used to house the short lived nightime show. Tam takes this a bit too literally.
Never one to miss the opportunity for a bit of shooshie kip kips.
India and I want to ride Dinosaur for the last time before they close it, but although the wait time says 15 minutes the queue is out the door and not moving, so we leave and go for lunch and all of us are happy to return to the Satu'li Canteen. I have the beef with noodles and Tam and I split a beer.
We're
leaving the park now and say goodbye to Ethel the Anteater on the
way out.
The bus to The Boardwalk is just pulling out as we arrive, so we
jump on a bus to Caribbean Beach instead before transfering to
the Skyliner to return to the International Gateway.
Back in the room at 2.00 pm we change into our swimwear and head to the quiet pool for a little downtime. After a quick swim I'm lying on my sunbed half asleep when a lady passes behind me and explains to someone in a very loud voice 'THIS IS THE QUIET POOL. THE OTHER ONE IS MORE NOISY'. Oh the irony.
Back to the room to shower and we walk to Epcot at 5.00 pm for our final night. We're not planning on doing any rides, just walking around and eating and drinking at the Food and Wine Festival booths. At the Alps booth India gets the Raclette and this has a small bug in it. When she points this out to the CM she gives her another one and tells her she can keep the first. Another freebie!
It's
a pleasant evening as long as you have a jacket or sweater and we
find ourselves in the area between the 2 shops at the bottom of
World Showcase to watch Luminous, The Symphony Of Us.
Ind and I go off to track down a drink and come back with a
margarita from the stand outside Mexico. We notice the drinks are
poured from syphons, which seems a bit strange for a drink that
costs $18, but they taste very good.
You can see the Geo 82 lounge in this photo.
We stopped to watch these guys in Canada as well.
The view of Luminous from here is probably the best there is in the park. The show itself is one that has grown on us as we've seen it more. The water effects are nice and there are many more fireworks than in previous iterations.
It's
a lovely way to conclude our nightime activities in Disney.
Except it's not quite. India has been tracking all the launches
from Cape Canaveral and there's another due at 10.00 pm tonight.
The ladies also have it in their heads that they must have a hot
chocolate, so we walk back to the room at The Boardwalk where we
still have half a bottle of rum left. It would seem rude not to
combine the 2 things, so I pour the rum into a plastic cup and
some peanuts into another. Off to the Boardwalk Deli where Tam
and Inds want to buy 3 small hot chocolates, but they have no
small cups left, so they give them the sachets of hot chocolate
for 2 large cups. Another freebie! The ladies find a third
uninsulated cup and we distribute the rum and hot chocolate
between the 3 cups.
A quick walk to the bridge by the International Gateway as Inds
knows this is a good place to watch from.
Sure enough at 10.00 pm we watch the firey trail climb into the
cloudless sky. It's surprising how long you can see it for. What
a great way to complete our final night - rummy chocolate,
peanuts and a rocket launch. Bed at 11.0 pm.