Episode 24: Rope Dropping Expedition Everest – Walt Disney World – September 2016
Up and at it early and on our way to Disney’s Animal Kingdom for rope drop!!!
Oh it’s a beautiful morning…
The birds are squawking, the tigers are growling, the monkeys are howling… you get the picture… We’re at Animal Kingdom!!! Well it really is a beautiful day! We arrive bright and early around 8:20 in the morning for rope drop. We have never rope dropped Animal Kingdom before so this is a new experience for us.
At about twenty minutes until park opening they allow everyone to start scanning their magic bands and entering the park. You are allowed to go to Discovery Island and wait there for the park to officially open.
But… we were a little distracted and did not make a beeline to the starting gate. Well first of all for all of you pin traders out there, there is a double sided trash can at the entrance just covered in pins to trade. It is literally impossible for our boys to walk past this without pulling out their pouch of pins to trade!
Next distraction was incredible… Divine! Have you ever seen Divine??? She is amazing! For those who do not know, Divine is a lady on stilts who is covered in vines and plants and can blend in to the surroundings of the park. She moves slow and gracefully and is breathtaking. So of course we had to stop and watch her for a few minutes…
Discovery Island
So finally we make it to Discovery Island and the giant Tree of Life comes into view! And to our utter surprise… there is an actual rope… at rope drop! We have never seen this before. Having opened every park before, I don’t recall ever seeing an actual rope!
So there are really two ways to go from here… Africa for an early morning safari or Asia for Expedition Everest. We only have thrills and Yetis on our minds this morning and we line up on the right side to enter Asia.
Let me say, I was really impressed with the opening of this park. They have a group of beautiful, brightly colored Macaws flying freely around right over our head who all converge on a stand in the middle. Right at 9:00, a statement is made over the loud speaker of the awesomeness of Animal Kingdom and we are told to ‘let our imagination take flight’ and the most wonderful thing happens… At the word flight, all of the Macaws take off to lead you into the park. Wow! Just, WOW! It was incredible!!!
On to Expedition Everest!
With our minds totally blown, we make the mad dash into Asia. Along the way, we see our favorite pals Mickey and Minnie all dolled up in their safari gear waiting to meet with the first guests of the day. And while I would love to stop for a family picture with these two, we have somewhere we have to go, and fast.
Man I forgot how big Animal Kingdom is and how long it takes to get to the very back of Asia, whew! So we turn our final corner and the massive mountain comes into view. We are walking so fast through the queue we barely notice anything (yeah it looks like in the video we sped this up but we didn’t, we actually made it to the ride that fast!). We of course choose to ride in the back for the ultimate thrill and off we go!!!
Roller coaster wake you up!
There is no better way to start your day than on a roller coaster!!! When we found ourselves at the ‘broken track’ I decided to add a hairband to the large collection of multicolored hairbands that adorn this area. I have absolutely no idea how this got started or why people throw hair bands here, but I thought ‘what the heck’ I will add one too! I planned for this and brought a bright florescent yellow band that will stand out so on future rides, I could find it.
Anywho, back to the roller coaster! I just LOVE flying backwards into the dark and the cold and finding the Yeti looking down at you and ripping up the track. And I love even more the drop that leaves your tummy in your throat. Fantastic, all of it!
And my friends, this is why you get your behind out of bed and head to the Disney parks for rope drop… We rode Expedition Everest not twice, not three time, but FIVE times in a row with NO WAIT!!! What a way to start your day!
Join us next time as we visit the animals on the Jungle Trek…
If you have enjoyed this post, please share! Also, sign up for our emails so you have every new post delivered right to your inbox!
Thanks,
Alisa
EECC Travels
