We arrived at Orlando International and got in the long line for Disney's Magical Express. Magical Express provides transportation from the airport to Walt Disney World resort. After waiting in line for 20 minutes we made our way to the coach bus for the 40-minute ride to Disney's Pop Century Resort.
We checked in and had to change our room from one with two full size beds to one with a king size bed. We received our "Just Married..." buttons and had to recreate "the kiss" in front of the check-in line.
So we dropped off our one carry-on bag with the bellhop and got on the Disney transportation bus to Animal Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is broken into several sections including Discovery Island, Asia, Africa, Dinoland U.S.A. and Camp Minnie-Mickey.
We arrived and immediately went to Expedition Everest in Asia and got fast passes. It was in the lower 90s when we arrived with some humidity, but the breeze kept it from being unbearable. 
In the meantime, we made our way to Dinoland U.S.A. to have lunch at Restaurant-osaurus. I had a burger/fry combo and Beth had a chicken nugget/fry combo. The original plan was to see Finding Nemo: The Musical before using our FP at Expedition Everest, but time was not on our side so we went to explore "Chester & Hester's Dino-Rama" which is a kiddy-land type carnival in Dinoland U.S.A.
We explored and waited less then five-minutes to go on Primeval Whirl, a spinning roller coaster with corny themeing. It was fast and a whole lot of spinning-ness. It was a fun ride, but maybe too soon after lunch for Bethy's stomach. We continued to explore, I took the first pictures on my old Mamiya film camera. 
We made our way over to Asia and used our fast pass on Expedition Everest. We were on the ride in less than five minutes and it was amazing. A very fast coaster with some great twists and a portion that goes backwards that definitely lives up to the hype. After getting off Everest, we explored Asia taking in the theming and shops.
We then made our way over the Maharajah Jungle Trek where we walked and saw Tigers, Deer and Bats...oh my? The Tigers were sprawled out on the ground sleeping - much like the three dogs in the Bort house would. The weather was starting to get to us as we crossed over a bridge and got to the Finding Nemo: The Musical about 50 minutes before the 3:00 show. The sun was getting to us so we utilized our umbrella for some shade. Thankfully we made our way into the air-conditioned theater soon thereafter. Luck was on our side as a cast member pointed out the "best seats in the house" to us and boy was he right. We had a good view of the stage and when characters and scenery came out into the audience and stopped right in front of us. Beth sneaked a little nap in towards the end of the show.
After Nemo, we made our way to the exit of the Animal Kingdom and back onto a bus to the Polynesian Resort for our dinner at 'Ohana. We got to the Polynesian early so we explored the resort and figured out that we had stayed at the wrong resort. So what if it was $400 a night! It's like being in Hawaii with your own white sand beach and water view over to the Magic Kingdom. We checked in early for 'Ohana on the upper level of The Great Ceremonial House and got drinks at the bar where Beth got Sangria and Scott got a Pina Colada.The food at 'Ohana was outstanding and our seat looked over the little harbor in the resort. We started with coconut bread and a mixed green salad with a delicious honey-lime dressing. As we finished our salad, our waiter arrived with Pork Dumplings in Sweet n Sour Sauce, Honey-Coriander Chicken wings, Maui Scalloped Potatoes and Stir-Fried Vegetables. The only thing that we didn't care for was the Honey-Coriander Wings because the coriander seasoning was a bit over-powering. During the meal, there was Ukulele music and traditional songs were sung followed by a childs coconut race and mini-tiki parade of sorts. It was very cute and provided a nice distraction. As the skewered meat that was prepared over an oak fire began to circulate, three dipping sauces: a peanut sauce, chimichurri sauce and sweat and sour sauce, arrived at our table. The skewers had Asian Barbecue Pork Loin, Spicy Grilled Peel-n-Eat Shrimp, Marinated Sirloin Steak and Mesquite Grilled Turkey. The first pieces of steak were a little undercooked for us, but the next pieces we had were very good. Scott enjoyed the turkey and steak while Beth preferred the Pork and the steak. Neither of us like shrimp so we didn't take any shrimp. As we sat there stuffed, our waiter brought out dessert, the 'Ohana bread pudding a la mode with Bananas Foster Sauce.
Although we were stuft, the dessert was delicious. After all that food, we took a few minutes to relax look out over the water, take a moment to rest during our long day and finish our drinks.After waddling out of 'Ohana, we made our way to the dock to take the boat to the Magic Kingdom. We just missed one boat so we took a seat on a nearby bench to look out at the Seven Seas Lagoon, the Magic Kingdom, the Grand Floridian Resort, the Contemporary Resort and the nearby Wedding Pavilion. The next tugboat arrived and we cruised in to the Magic Kingdom around 7:00 pm.
After grabbing a map and taking in the awe that is Main Street, U.S.A. and Cinderella's Castle, we made out way to Liberty Square. The Magic Kingdom is broken up into several lands: Main Street, U.S.A., Adventure land, Frontier land, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, Mickey's Toontown Fair and Tomorrow land.
Once we got to Liberty Square we made our way to the Haunted Mansion where we walked right on to the recently refurbished ride. It looked better then we remembered, but we found it not too scary. We then ventured over to Frontier land and walked onto Big Thunder Mountain. Very tame when compared to Expedition Everest. The skies were beginning to grey as we made our way to the line for Splash Mountain. After about 20 minutes we talked with a Cast Member who gave us expired fast passes to use at Space Mountain once "the rain starts" and he sent us off on a log of our own. Stupidly we sat in the front row – a mistake we would live to regret. As we started on the ride the rains began and then the ride started to have some "hiccups." We were stuck outside waiting to go up the first chute and then the ride stopped. And then the rain really began. So after some hurried discussion, Beth pulled out our emergency umbrella and we huddled under it until the ride suddenly started and I broke down the umbrellabefore the next drop. We then kissed on the five story drop and got DRENCHED! The now dripping wet we then proceeded to spend the $20 (WTF!) on the picture.
We then may our soggy way over to Pirates of the Caribbean and literally walked through the queue and right onto the ride. The new Jack Sparrow animatronics figures and new effects looked cool, but we got stuck in the final scene, the "Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A Pirate's life for me" scene. I tried to keep my sanity while Beth found that it was a great time for a nap. It's like being trapped on "Its a Small World" but with more pirate noises and less homicidal tendencies.We then walked over to the parade area to see if there was space still for the SpectroMagic parade and Wishes fireworks show. There wasn't so we headed home. I was depressed not to keep it going, but nagging foot pains and a rapidly crashing Beth forced us on the bus back to Pop Century.
We got back to our room that was five minutes from the bus stop and found that our bags had magically appeared in our room. We showered off the sweat and suntan lotion and collapsed in bed around 11:30 pm.
Total hours awake: 19
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