New Attractions at Epcot and the Nomad Lounge at Animal Kingdom

Despite heat and crowds we decided to visit my sister at Disney for the day! We were determined to try some new things and not wait in lines. We started this by heading straight to the new Soarin’ at rope drop at Epcot. Everyone else went to the new Frozen ride so this worked in our favor. We rode the new one knowing it would be different from the California version, but hoping for the best. This new version is around the world, and while there were some cool sites, we left disappointed. The overuse of CGI makes this film feel less lifelike then the original. The transitions were pretty cheesy as well and really took us out of the moment. I also did not like new version of Test Track compared to the old one, so sadly future world keeps getting less appealing to me.

We moved on though to see how bad the wait was at the Frozen ride. Turns out there was no wait-because it was closed. Hopefully they get that worked out because I would like to go on this ride eventually without delays. We did get to go to the Frozen meet and greet though. This was our first time meeting Anna and Elsa. We were excited to see a few nods to the old Maelstrom ride that used to occupy Norway.

Anna and Elsa were very cute and chatty! We liked how much time they spent with each guest and there was not a very long wait. We also met a viking after who was out playing around with guests. We had an amusing conversation with him as well. That is one of the best things about Disney-the unexpected entertainment that you find in the parks

We then took a stroll around the World Showcase stopping in stores for some A/C and entertainment as we went. The clouds were looming overhead, so we decided to head to lunch after we had done the full loop.

We then went to Sanaa for lunch which I wrote about it another post. It was great as always! We were hoping it would rain while we were eating and be done by the time we got back to the parks, but we had no such luck. We headed over to Animal Kingdom, and were able to get a ride in on Dinosaur before he rain started. When we walked out though, the skies looked like they were going to open up any minute. Nancy’s roommate who joined us for the day suggested going to a bar and I knew just the place! I led them the way as we fast walked over to the new Tiffins restaurant. The second we got inside, it started pouring. We were so happy to have just missed it!

As much as I would like to try this signature restaurant, we opted for the Nomad Lounge instead. This bar was the perfect hide out from the rain and we were pretty much the only ones in there! The place is filled with comfy couches and nice lighting. We each got an exotic drink and relaxed for an hour.

Once the rain slowed down, we went to the outdoor side and tried out the super comfy lounge seat that was practically a bed! We decided this was our new favorite bar for sure and I highly reccomend it to anyone looking for a quiet place on Animal Kingdom.

Unfortunately, the rain didn’t completely stop and continued to be on and off for the next couple hours. We decided to take the train to Rafikis Planet Watch for the first time since we were kids. There was not much to do there besides meeting Rafiki of course! We had fun with him. I asked him if he could hold Nancy up like baby simba in the picture and he found that hysterical! I think I almost made him laugh. We looked at the exhibits and walked around for a bit. The only other exciting part was seeing some the animals backstage on the train ride.

Once it cleared up a bit more, we went on a safari ride. This safari was extra entertaining and not because of the animals. A lot of them were not very active, though we did get to see the lions. The entertaining part was the child behind us who called all animals flamingos and was very excited when he actually see flamingos. Every animal we passed, he would yell “Look, a Flamingo!”, when it was actually a rhino or whatnot. When we finally got to the flamingos he was jumping up and down. Who knew kids loved flamingos so much?

We ended the day by going on Everest a couple times. This is one of our favorite rides as it is a fun roller coaster where we get to visit the Yeti. We wanted to stay and see Animal Kingdom at night but there was not much left that we wanted to do. That is the nice thing about living nearby though, you can just go and have a leisurely day.