| 
   
Tuesday, May 13th, 2025              
	
		
			| Grandma Terry, Uncle Steven, Aunt Erica, and I all made the trip 
			to Walt Disney World this morning, with our first stop being at 
			Disney's Animal Kingdom. After arriving at the park, Erica decided 
			that she wanted a drink from Starbucks. We headed over to Creature 
			Comforts, the Starbucks store on Discovery Island. While Grandma and 
			Erica went inside to order, Steve and I opted to wait outside. While 
			we were outside enjoying the people watching, a young lady with Down 
			Syndrome rolled up next to Steve and I. She tried to strike up a 
			conversation with Steve, but he wasn't overly talkative. She was a 
			nice young lady who was a fan of my University of Michigan gear! 
			Also while we were waiting, we saw Pocahontas walk past us, giving 
			us a big wave! 
			After the ladies returned with their beverages (and breakfast 
			snacks), we decided to head to the Africa section of the park to get 
			in line for the Kilimanjaro Safaris, only to find out the 
			line was far too long when we got there. While we were in Africa, we 
			headed over to Zuri's Sweets Shop so that I could buy myself a 
			Mickey dark chocolate with chili pepper, one of my favorite treats. 
			We decided to head over to Dinoland U.S.A. to try to catch the 
			Finding Nemo: The Big Blue... and Beyond! stage show. This is 
			actually one of the shows that I have never seen before! It was 
			certainly an enjoyable show, with some nice special effects, but it 
			is definitely not one I would watch on repeat like the Festival 
			of the Lion King here at Animal Kingdom or the For the First 
			Time in Forever: A Frozen Sing-Along Celebration at Disney's 
			Hollywood Studios. 
			With the wait times as long as they were today for the safari and 
			Avatar rides, we decided that we would head off to Epcot to spend 
			some more time...  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
		 
	 
	
	
		
			
			 
			Disney's Animal Kingdom
			 
			 | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			An Animal King mural on a gate...
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			...near the Creature Comforts Starbucks on Discovery Island.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			Pocohontas waving as she walks past on Discovery Island.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			A look at the Discovery River near the Africa entrance.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			As spotted this Florida soft-shelled turtle swimming in the 
			river below us.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			A look at Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden 
			Mountain from the entrance to the Africa section of the park.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			"It does not matter who you are, or where you are from, we are 
			all children of the world."
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			A view of Expedition Everest - Legend of the Forbidden Mountain... | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			...with the building replica in the foreground.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			Some photos from my first ever viewing of Finding Nemo: The 
			Big Blue... and Beyond!
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			
  | 
		 
	 
 
 
	
		
			| When we arrived at Epcot, we were getting pretty hungry. 
			Although I don't recall what Aunt Erica ate, the rest of us headed 
			over to the Yorkshire County Fish Shop in the United Kingdom 
			pavilion to order fish. We found a covered table behind the Rose & 
			Crown restaurant to enjoy our meal. We continued our stroll around 
			the World Showcase, browsing along the way. Our next real stop was 
			at the Karamell-Küche shop in the Germany pavilion so that I could 
			pick up another of my favorite treats, a salted caramel, as well as 
			some caramel corn to take to Drew. 
			We made our way to the Mexico pavilion next to check out the 
			recently refurbished Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three 
			Caballeros ride, which I had seen but everyone else had not been 
			on yet. This is not a ride I would wait a long time for, but it is 
			worth it if the wait is short. I think its too bad it can't be a 
			Coco ride, but I realize that there is no place for the queue to 
			be... 
			Our next stop led us back to the France pavilion in the World 
			Showcase, this time to check out the Beauty and the Beast 
			Sing-Along show. After the show wrapped up, and we were let out 
			near the entrance to Les Halles Boulangerie-Patisserie, where we 
			picked up some dessert! We had to get the framboise, which is a 
			raspberry mousse, chocolate cake, and raspberry jam treat that both 
			Grandma Terry and I have grown quite fond of. 
			We were starting to feel like we were ready to go, so we made our 
			way to Creations Shop, the gift shop in the World Celebration 
			section of the park, to do some shopping. After heading out, we made 
			a trip to Walmart to see if there were any good "souvenirs" 
			available. 
			All in all, another great day at Walt Disney World!  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
		 
	 
	
	
		
			
			 
			Epcot
			 
			 | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			The topiaries of the movie Moana 2, including Maui, Hei Hei, Pua, and of course, Moana!
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			The Figment topiary located in the World Celebration area.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			Uncle Steven double fisting drinks at the Yorkshire County Fish 
			Shop in the United Kingdom pavilion.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			Rodney taking a selfie outside of the Morocco restrooms while 
			waiting for everyone else.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			A janitor had just finished sweeping leaves into a Mickey Mouse 
			shape as we made our way through the Italy pavilion.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			We headed over to the Mexico pavilion to take a ride on the 
			recently refurbished Gran Fiesta Tour Starring The Three 
			Caballeros...
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			  | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			Another Rodney selfie, this time in the France pavilion.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			|   | 
			
			
			_small.jpg)  | 
			
			A rare character spotting - Bolt! We spotted him in the World 
			Showcase.
			 | 
			  | 
		 
		
			
  | 
		 
	 
 
	   |