Our First Visit - A February 2019 Trip Report with Disney After Hours & Festival of the Arts

One thing I put at the beginning of my cruise trip report was this example of what we were "missing out on" during our trip. That Thursday is our first day at WDW.

46383217274_4383a2be43.jpg
 
I no longer remember why we walked down to Dinoland U.S.A. while waiting for our lunch ADR to come up, but my pictures say we did.

40292494603_05701ba845.jpg

Corn-Ivores made me laugh.


Some generic shots of the entrance.
46342744495_0804a87af8_c.jpg


40292493613_1fb4753e1f_c.jpg


I get the feeling there won't be additional photos of any of this when I get to the part of the trip report where we actually spend time in this area. So I'll mention now that I really liked the visual design of Primeval Whirl. But I let DH and DS go on that one without me. I'd taken enough chances. Maybe next time I'll try Dramamine or something. I really hadn't thought of that until after this trip.

We also had some confusion with the carnival games. The signage on them is hard to spot. And I noticed a CM call over a little girl to just play, so I figured they didn't require tickets or other payment. Cool! And for the price of park admission, go figure. So then I got DH and DS all hyped to play carnival games and then of course it turns out I was wrong. And the tickets were way too expensive for us to bother with. So I don't know what the story was with that little girl. Maybe she had some kind of unlimited tickets wristband.

40292493113_b361bf3691_c.jpg


I know a lot of people want Dinoland replaced already, but I thought it was cute. I'm sure DS would have happily spent hours in the Boneyard if allowed, so we kept him from even noticing it.
 


Time for Yak & Yeti.

DH is a big fan of Panda Express type Asian food, growing up in Southern California, and we have nothing like that where we live now. And I'm pretty familiar with the rest of the Landry's chain. So our expectations were tasty but not gourmet. I did sign up for the Landry's card to help with wait times, but it didn't work. We got there about ten minutes before our reservation and I think it was 20 before we were seated. It was a very crowded lobby but we did manage to stand in front of a fan.

And I found this one DH's camera roll:
47269064711_252b9e2ce2_c.jpg


We were seated in the bar downstairs, the first area you come into. But it was still much cooler than the lobby.

I had the Snap Decision. The waitress warned me that the ginger part tends to dominate but I saw that as a plus. There is no record of what DH had. DS had his usual virgin pina colada.

46342741995_599521903c_z.jpg

40292490223_a7a1b5d74a_z.jpg


DS was on a major coloring kick this whole trip. Extended meal times didn't bother him at all as a result. He created some characters on the first night and kept drawing further adventures each meal.

46342741515_b722e05750_z.jpg

The famous Ahi Tuna Nachos - Sushi grade Ahi, Asian slaw, crispy fried wontons, wasabi aioli, sweet soy glaze
One of our main reasons for choosing this place. And they were delicious. There was more tuna than I expected and it tasted surprisingly fresh. They were a little heavy-handed with the sauces, but they doubled nicely as salad dressing when all that otherwise remained was lettuce. And you could definitely taste the wasabi.


40292489573_d0b1a02eeb_z.jpg

We also got some (pork) potstickers for DS. They were completely standard potstickers. Which is fine.
 
We also had some confusion with the carnival games. The signage on them is hard to spot. And I noticed a CM call over a little girl to just play, so I figured they didn't require tickets or other payment. Cool! And for the price of park admission, go figure. So then I got DH and DS all hyped to play carnival games and then of course it turns out I was wrong. And the tickets were way too expensive for us to bother with. So I don't know what the story was with that little girl. Maybe she had some kind of unlimited tickets wristband.
I don't know, we never bother to play the games. I don't think I have even looked to see how much ticket were.
 


DH opted for one of the specials:
40292491003_488765ae0d_z.jpg


And it really looked like that!
33393331968_71a6c96003_z.jpg


Those were delicious meatballs. With a wonderfully sticky glaze.

Prior to this trip, I had not been able to decide whether I would have the miso salmon or the duck with BBQ plum sauce. And then in the end I got the lobster garlic noodles. Mainly because I really wanted garlic noodles and knew getting a side of them (an actual option) would be way too much food and it was too hot to carry around leftovers.

Lobster Garlic Noodles - Lobster, shrimp, scallops, baby spinach, red peppers, shiitake mushrooms, tossed in zesty garlic stir-fry sauce
46342741045_419d5147fe_z.jpg


I can take or leave lobster but I love scallops. And red bell pepper. This was a very tasty dish. Too bad about the fuzzy resolution. I really do need a new phone.

Healthy looking kids chicken tempura meal.
47269063031_0debb9ac62_z.jpg
 
Last edited:
Dessert!

DS had no interest in the kids menu desserts when he saw the pineapple upside down cake, so we let him order that. (Remember that long ago skit of Jon Lovitz as Pablo Picasso and responding to every bit of bad behavior with "I'm Picasso!" That was me but "On vacation!")

33393331388_590db35c6c_z.jpg

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake - served warm with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce

Ironically, he then decided he didn't like it for whatever reason. DH and I each had a few bites but didn't finish it because we'd had our own desserts.

DH's favorite dessert is cheesecake so his choice was preordained.
47269061391_c45323aeab_z.jpg

Fried Wontons - Skewers of fresh pineapple and cream cheese wontons, vanilla ice cream, honey-vanilla drizzle

I forgot to try one, so I can't say how they were. It was the only dessert that definitely got finished though. And had bonus strawberries.

Mine:
33393331068_f962dbe557_z.jpg

Mango Pie - Shortbread cookie crust, whipped topping, raspberry sauce

This was okay. Definitely seemed like it was made somewhere central and shipped frozen. I can't remember whether I finished it.

Overall, we were very happy with our decision to come here for lunch. The mediocre desserts being the last thing mentioned make it look worse than it was. Once we've had a chance to try Tiffins, we'd go back. Nothing else in Animal Kingdom really grabs me now that the menu at Satu'li Canteen has been changed.
 
I get the feeling that it took forever for our waitress to reappear with the bill or to come back after running the card or something. DS and I definitely ended up walking around a bit outside while DH waited at the table. We checked out a gift shop next door (didn't buy anything) and saw the sign for Maharajah Jungle Trek. This had only tentatively been on my list for the day because I knew that we'd probably either not have enough time or our feet wouldn't be up for two trails in one day. The latter turned out to be true.

We then hunted around for a particular Magic Shot photo opp and finally found her.

47055451062_195f5793fe_z.jpg

46193976985_4ae317fc71_z.jpg

32165867987_cfbe3da55a_z.jpg


Jungle Book is one of my favorites and one of the first we watched in heavy rotation.

I do not remember DS temporarily ending up with my hat.

Cool bell:
40292489063_dbd0118c2a_z.jpg


Soon after DH rejoined us, we found a different photographer who led us down a little ramp to stand in front of the tree.
47055450502_e4239c4971_z.jpg


She told us what to do but left it a surprise who would be in the photo. This isn't a show DS has watched but I've heard of it.
33232588668_39c853ac7f_z.jpg
 
Last edited:
We meandered back up to Africa and DH/DS played on some drums for sale (they encourage this even if you're not buying) while I shopped for pins at the neighboring stall.

46354538755_185ab4596a_z.jpg


Sadly, I ended up losing this bag of pins. No idea where.

We then lined up for the 4:00 show of Festival of the Lion King. I misread how fastpasses work and had a 5:30 for Dinosaur. I'd been thinking that you could book a new fastpass as soon as you'd used your FIRST one, not after you'd used up all three. But I wasn't willing to give up the 5:30 and risk not getting on the ride at all, so there was a lot we couldn't snag and just had to stand in line for. This is as good a place as any to mention that I went back and forth for months on whether to sign up for Kali River Rapids, but then the decision was made for me because it was under seasonal refurbishment while we were there. (And that fact was announced just before we were able to sign up for fastpasses.) Having now done things like Splash Mountain, and experiencing the early February Orlando weather, I would definitely now sign up for KRR if we were somehow there again at the same time of year. Or whenever.

Anyway, the queue for Festival of the Lion King was nice and shaded, if not at all themed. A lot of people were drinking that very photogenic Night Blossom from Pongu Pongu but it sounded way too sweet for me. We ended up in the giraffe section, at the far end of the row from where we entered and only about five rows up. So that was quite good for no FP. It was a really fun show. The acrobatic monkeys were really impressive. And the stilt dancers. I did not manage any great shots of what they were standing on but they jumped and spun around an impressive (and slightly scary) amount.

46728083314_821839ab1c_z.jpg
 
Then it was time to revisit DinoLand U.S.A. I had misunderstood how the special Donald's Dino Bash photo opps were working, so first DH and DS got in line for Primeval Whirl while I browsed the gift shop.

I bought these fun refrigerator magnets but can't find them either right now, so here's a photo from eBay:
s-l640.jpg


Not purchased but also fun:
33575017728_3a7bac757e_z.jpg


They also had a classic DuckTales shirt that I thought DH would flip over but he's decided that it's only appropriate to buy reboot DuckTales shirts now. He has very strong opinions about his graphic tees and I can rarely follow the logic. Half of what I buy him he absolutely loves, but...
 
So the main reason we were in Dinoland was the main reason we were at WDW period. Well, DH was already grudgingly going along since we were already in the area, but what pushed him into enthusiastic category was finding out some of the special limited time guests for this Donald's Dino Bash thing.

47451372321_7f42923f07_z.jpg


47451369721_48398e82f2_z.jpg


Getting Darkwing Duck next is a serious mission.
 
So DS's outfit of the day is now self-explanatory.

I added the cardigan that had been in DS's backpack and roasted for about 20 minutes for this:
46728268504_afc3436b0f_z.jpg


Scrooge's photographer recognized the photo immediately, and knew the character's name, when I showed it to her on my phone. Sadly, I couldn't find my lavender shirt in time, and the pendant is too small to tell it has the exact same design and color scheme as the brooch. And although I brought grey tights, the sweater was all I was willing to do at 80 degrees in the end. But still, I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at Disney Bounding. (And for those who don't watch the show, this is Mrs. Beakley, Scrooge's housekeeper slash bodyguard. Former MI5 (British) secret agent. In the original DuckTales, of course, she was just a sweet old lady housekeeper. I did do a bad job of remembering to keep my purse in front for the apron. Someone's Cinderella bounding gave me that idea. The only thing I had to buy was the necklace. Ironically, since it's too small. But I know it fit!


Launchpad gave DH grief for being the only one to not dress for the occasion.

47451370811_e1d11159cd_z.jpg

47451370521_26c45c0b64_z.jpg

47451370231_62b3d1e706_z.jpg
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top