WDW Marathon Weekend 2023 Trip Report
Thursday, January 5 (5K + DAK)
After the 5K, the bus finally arrived and I headed back to POFQ. When I got off the bus there was a little table with props for pictures, which was fun. I went back to my room, showered, took a short rest, and then headed back out on a bus to DAK! I have not been to DAK in a long time-- I went during my bachelorette party but it was at the end of a rope-drop to close park hopping day with extra hours, so it was like midnight. My friends and I were all very hangry and a CM gifted us cupcakes. All we did was the river ride in Avatar. Ha. So, I was excited to go back and actually experience the park.
I met my friend C and her friend J there. We had been unable to get a reservation at Tusker House for breakfast but once our whole party was there they said they had a table for us... we waited like 5 minutes for it. Amazing! This meal was great. There were so many delicious vegan options (I love Disney and its vegan options. This is why I keep planning trips there honestly. All other vacations make food kind of suck). They even brought me vegan Mickey waffles! And, of course, the characters! We had great interactions with Daisy, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey-- the Mickey interaction was the best one because I had my Mickey nuimo with the 5K medal and he kept playing with it. Sooo cute. The juice was yummy, the food was delicious, the characters were fun... I would go back for sure.
(Image description: Mickey nuimo with a plate of delicious plant-based food!)
(Image description: Mickey and my Mickey nuimo. He was so happy to see little Mickey with his medals.)
(Image description: Me posing with Mickey.)
I don't really remember the order of everything we did so I'll just talk broadly. I will say that one of us had
DAS, and I was very impressed with how Disney made that work. As a disability studies scholar, I do appreciate Disney's accessibility-- for both physical and mental disabilities. (Although I did talk to a friend who is a wheelchair user and was on the Wish... seems like accessibility was rough there.)
It's Tough to Be a Bug: I am not a fan of 3D, and I especially do not like jump scares but was brave and made it through. The screaming and crying kids though... lol. When we got done with this it started raining but wasn't too bad. I decided not to take out my poncho.
(Image description: Me, J, and C in our bug glasses.)
Otters: Not really a ride or show, but we did visit the otters as one of the first things. I love otters so much. I could have sat there and watched them all day, and that is not an exaggeration. I wish I had the disposition of an otter.
Kilimanjaro Safari: AMAZING. C said that we really lucked out with how many animals were out. There was an ostrich that was making me uncomfortable... I'm pretty scared of ostriches lol. But we saw all of the animals... cheetahs, hippos, giraffes, lions, rhinos, elephants (P.S. did you know in some zoos cheetahs are given a pet dog/dog companion to help manage their anxiety? I am a cheetah. Minus the run speed.)
(Image description: Me holding my Mickey nuimo in front of a giraffe.)
(Image description: A yawning lion. He must have also gotten up at 2 AM for the 5K.)
Animation Academy: This is one of my favorite things at Disney parks. I did it for the first time during my November visit to DLR, and I do prefer their set up there-- they change who they draw throughout the day and have a little sign outside with the times and who you'll draw. At DAK, it was a surprise. And for some reason they thought the best character to draw would be CHIEF BOGO lol. It was a complicated one, that's for sure. Still lots of fun, though!
(Image description: Mickey nuimo holding a pencil on top of a Chief Bogo drawing. I think Mickey did pretty good.)
Rafiki's Train: More of transportation than a ride, but I do want to note that my friends were talking about how they had COVID already and I didn't want to mention that I had somehow avoided it the entire pandemic out of fear of jinxing myself. Well, apparently my thoughts jinxed me.
Affection Section: I think the clang of my 5K medal made the animals a little skittish around me. But I loved them and pet a goat and a pig. Some of the animals were just standing there SO still which was a little creepy.
(Image description: A candid shot of me interacting with a goat.)
Feathered Friends in Flight!: Very cool. There was some sort of sound/tech problem, and I couldn't tell if it was scripted or not lol. Hearing the birds SING REAL SONGS was wild and also slightly haunting.
Festival of the Lion King: I loveee The Lion King, so obviously i loved this show. The monkeys were cool as heck. Just a great experience. Reminded me a bit of Drawn to Life.
Everest: So fun! I scoped out how to do the single rider entrance in prep for the marathon but obviously didn't need that knowledge yet... We ended up getting to ride this twice.
Flight of Passage: Ummm... I loved this ride. So amazing! I think I really like rides where it's like you're on a bike between this and Hagrid's. I have high hopes for Tron, haha. I also thought it was cool that it was like you could feel the animal breathing.
DINOSAUR: Also fun. I liked this theming better than Indiana Jones in California.
At the end of the day we stopped at Yak & Yeti, where I asked if I could order the vegetable lo mein to go. I could. I ate it back in my hotel room and was sadly disappointed with it. Overall, though, I had so much fun at DAK and would like to go back sooner this time!