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Florida 2022 Recap – Day 5 – Animal Kingdom

The day after Magic Kingdom was Tuesday- our Animal Kingdom day!  It was also the day that Grandma Terri and Grandpa George were arriving!
I jumped on Genie+ at 7:00 a.m. and secured Kilimanjaro Safaris and Avatar Flight of Passage.  We were off to a good start!
We left nice and early and were waiting for a bus by 7:15 a.m.  Not too shabby!
The kids were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!  
The bus ride was about 15 minutes long and there really weren’t any crowds.  High fives all around!
We made sure to take advantage of our Memory Maker at the entrance…
We didn’t quite make Rope Drop, BUT we did manage to get in a short line for Na’vi River Journey.  I hadn’t been on this particular ride before, so I was excited to see what it was all about.
After the Na’vi River Journey we headed over to It’s Tough to be a Bug!
We all absolutely LOVED it!
We were moving right along.
Next up was our ILL, Avatar Flight of Passage.  Jane was too small for this ride so we ended up using the Rider Switch option.  Disney doesn’t have rooms for the switch like Universal, but by using our phones and being told it’d take about 25 minutes each (and that’s with walking straight on – such a cool ride), we knew where to find each other and about how long it’d take.
Eliza and I went first, while Jon, Henry and Jane stayed behind.  They grabbed some mid-morning snacks while waiting for us to exit the ride.
Eliza was nervous, but I reminded her that she had ridden this ride four years prior and how much fun it was.
Of course she loved it!
We switched and then I stayed back with the girls.  Don’t mind our messy table. 
Jon and Henry had an awesome time!
We waited outside the ride so that we could leave immediately for our safari!
The boys were back and we quickly ventured over to Kilimanjaro Safaris…

I can’t remember who it was, but one of the kids wanted their picture taken in this spot.  They never ask for pictures, so I obliged.  So fun!

On our way over we spotted this Memory Maker opportunity and given that we had just gone on Avatar, we figured we needed to document it via PhotoPass!
I crack up though, because look at Jane!  Poor thing is squished in there.  I couldn’t believe the photographer didn’t reposition her.  Poor third born!!!!  Bahahahaha!
Here’s another one. 
L. O. L.
At least there was this one of Jane attempting to say, “TADA!”  Henry and Eliza look so happy!

Okay, so back to the safari.
The kids absolutely loved this!
Jane kept saying she wanted to see a reindeer.  Hahaha!  Oh to be two!

The closest we could get to a reindeer…  😉
Somewhere along the way, and after the safari, we ran into Kevin!  Haha!

We used up a LL on DINOSAUR.


Oh gosh, that ride was crazy!!!  I couldn’t remember it being so dang rough, but it was fun!  Here’s my sad attempt at trying to hold Jane so that the roughness didn’t break her apart!  Holy Hannah!

Eliza was over this ride the moment it began!

Post ride snuggles!  I love these!

Next up, we used another LL and went on over to the Festival of the Lion King.  Girlfriend couldn’t hang.  I still can’t believe she had fallen asleep and let me tell you, this is the child that NEVER and I repeat NEVER falls asleep in the car.  It’s either her bed or nothing at all.

#disneytired
She eventually woke up as we started walking.
We also caught the end of KiteTales.  I used to think it was kind of cheesy, but it actually ended up being really cool!
We felt satisfied with the park and knew that Grandma Terri and Grandpa George had arrived so we decided to leave the park early and head back to the resort, but not without first getting a picture in front of the Tree of Life!

Once back at the resort, I told Jon that I’d love a latte and a quick break before meeting up with his parents.
We got off the bus and took a back way/side entrance into the resort.  As we were walking, I mentioned to Jane several times to stay on the sidewalk.  Of course, there aren’t any other sidewalks like the one we were walking on at the entire resort.  We were in a public area, but it was made for more a Cast Member entrance and supply drop off.  It wasn’t a busy area at all, but we saw other people entering this way – it was over by the Conference Center, too, so not a place we weren’t allowed, just a shortcut, you know…
I remember thinking, I shouldn’t tell her to stay ON the sidewalk, I should tell her to walk on the flat part of the “drive.”  Almost exactly as I was thinking this, Jane fell.
She was crying.  We knew she was hurt.
I ran to pick her up and looked to figure out how she was hurt.  At first I thought it was her tongue or her lip or her teeth.
After further inspection it was obvious that her chin took the brunt of it.
I immediately told Jon that I think she needed stitches and that we needed a Medic.  Almost immediately a Cast Member signaled us to follow him and a man in a VERY fancy suit was standing in an almost secret and hidden area of the resort.  He immediately had people bringing him gloves, tissues, he was immediately on the phone and had others on their phones, as well.  He offered me a chair and anything else to help make us comfortable.  Before we knew it, there was an ambulance on the way.
Nick was his name and we were BEYOND grateful that he was there to help.  He even said he was in the right place at the right time.  It’s seriously as if he was just standing there waiting for someone to get hurt.  Soooo crazy!
The ambulance arrived and two of THE nicest men confirmed that she’d need stitches.  They cleaned Jane’s wound and gave her a very special toy puppy dog.  I cannot say enough about their kindness.  We all calmly discussed options.  Jon and I wanted Jane to get all fixed up, but we wanted to be smart about it.  We could be driven to the ER for free and they’d wait for us (like, who does that?), but the rest was on us.  We have an extremely high deductible so getting stuck with a crazy assumed $3,000 ER visit was not something we wanted.  The paramedics called around to find who could help us out AND who would take a pediatric patient.  To our delight they found an Urgent Care that would take her.
Fancy Nick provided me with a ride to and from the Urgent Care all on their dime.  I had also mentioned that we had dining reservations at Chef Mickey’s at 5:30.  He told us not to worry about that and that we could reserve another time or another day if need be.  Absolutely amazing.  
He kept up calm and collected.  Nick offered to walk Henry and Eliza to Grandma and Grandpa.  Everything was out on the table.  In the end, I grabbed our insurance card and Jane and I were off and away and Jon and the kids met up with the grandparents.
Our ride was waiting and even upon arrival at the Urgent Care they were told that we’d be arriving!
Blown away again!
All of this happened around 3:00.  We were in a car by 3:30.
The care that was provided at the Urgent Care was top notch.  It was all women and they took great care of our Jane.  I offered to hold Jane down by her arms, while another nurse held her head.  The nurse kept saying, “It’s okay, Mommy,” to Jane.  It was soooo incredibly sweet for her to love on Jane so much.  The worst part was all the numbing.  Poor girl was kicking and thrashing and screaming.  I felt awful for her, absolutely awful. 
Sweet girl walked into that Urgent Care all Disney-ed up.  What a day.

Luckily that had Encanto on while we waited…
She knew something was about to happen…

She was not a happy camper for a few minutes after.  Sweet girl was so upset with me for holding her down.  She kept asking why I did what I did.  Oh I was crushed.

It was about 5:15 and we were across town.  I called the number I was given and waited on a car.  I called Jon.  We had reservations at Chef Mickey’s at 5:30.  I was determined to get back in time.
Jane and I still hadn’t seen Jon’s parents and I couldn’t check in for our reservations because I was too far from the Contemporary.
Sooooo…I told Jon to get on the monorail and just get to Chef Mickey’s ASAP.  By this time it was past our reservation time.
I was still in the car and still had a resort to walk through and a monorail to hop on before arriving at the Contemporary.
Jane and I were hot messes and I’m sure I wore the look of “worry” on my face; lingering from all that had just occurred and what I was currently attempting at the moment.
As we walked into the lobby of the GF, I frantically asked if being late for our reservations at Chef Mickey’s would be okay and all the Cast Members reassured me that I’d be fine.  I’m not kidding you, I asked this as I was walking by…I don’t even think I had stopped to actually ask.  Hopefully all the Cast Members understood my predicament.  *face palm*
I still had Nick to rely on for reservations and they made it sound like if I had any issue that they’d help me out.
Jon called and said they had checked in and were just waiting on me.  PHEW!!!
I was mentally drained, BUT we were back at it!!!

Food was brought out family style and as it was, we reminded the Cast Members of Jane’s allergy and our server immediately took all food and frantically said, “Remove all her food!”  Haha!  We appreciated her concern, but also, girly girl was starving.
After what seemed like a little confusion and after a Chef coming out to talk to us three times, and after we were all in the midst of eating, Jane finally received her food.  They take this stuff seriously!
It was partly my fault because I was not quite in my Disney Mom Mode to inform them of her allergy.
It all turned out great though and Jane was given lots of yummy food and THE biggest allergy free dessert tray just for her!  LOL!  I was all – “I don’t think she’s allergic to any desserts, but okay!” 
All the other desserts were phenomenal!  Seriously so scrumptious!
After the craziest afternoon we all headed back to the resort with Grandma and Grandpa in tow.  Their room was right next to ours with an even better view of the fireworks!  We all sat out to watch them and then almost immediately hit the hay!
PHEW!!!  It had been quite a day!
Our next day involved us going back to MK and boy – did we have an amazing time!
Thanks for following along!
Marie 🙂

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3 Comments

  1. What a day. I still can't believe how amazing Disney was about everything. They are seriously THE BEST. I'm so glad your sweet girl was able to get the care that she needed and I'm glad it didn't mess up the rest of your day. Also, I'm so glad to hear that y'all loved It's Tough to Be a Bug. Brian was saying that he'd heard really good reviews about it, but I've been skeptical. Haha. We're going to give it a try!

  2. They were absolutely spectacular! I still can't get over it and I don't think I ever will. It's Tough to Be a Bug has so many mixed reactions/reviews and I must say Jane was ready to leave about halfway through. Lots of parents were exiting with kids. Henry and Eliza thought it was great! I'm not one for spiders, so I could've done without that part. Yikes! Haha!

  3. Oh my goodness; what a day! My youngest had to have stitches over his eye once and it is not joke getting a little kid numbed and stitched up. So sorry for the glitch in your vacation but Disney always impresses me with how they handle things like that.

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