Princess Half Marathon Part 3- Animal Kingdom and Boma

Princess Half Marathon Part 3- Animal Kingdom and Boma

Quick Service Dining Plan

Today we woke up early because we were excited to start the day.  Naomi is an early riser like I am so we both jumped right up when we got our Stitch wake up call at 7. This was a nice part of the solo trip! Off to breakfast. We bought the quick service dining plan when we booked our trip.  This plan included a refillable mug for each of us plus 2 counter service meals and a snack for each day of our stay. While I really like the convenience of knowing the cost of the trip before we go, I don’t think I will book the dining plan on future visits. I kept tabs on what each meal would cost in cash each time we ate, and I know I did not save money with the plan.  It gave us too much of things we didn’t really want (a dessert at each meal!) and not enough options for healthy alternatives. In addition, we booked a few table service places throughout the trip so ended up with way more counter service food then we needed.

Breakfast at All Star Sports

We headed to the food court at All Star Sports for breakfast.  The options for breakfast were fine for our short trip, but I would not have enjoyed them for a long trip since there wasn’t a large number of choices. But we did enjoy our breakfast sandwiches and potatoes as well as coffee and juice.

Animal Kingdom

We quickly ate then headed to Animal Kingdom.  We were among the first in line at 8:15 to get in for the 9 AM park opening.  I love to be there for park opening!! If you arrive at the parks early you can get all the rides in before it gets crowded and there are hardly any lines. Pretty soon the gates were opened and we headed straight for Expedition Everest and got in line with no wait. Sadly and with much shame I will admit that I will not ride scary coasters so I walked through the line with Naomi and bashfully walked through the chicken exit.  I did get to get pics of her being brave though!

Princess Half Marathon Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom

We then rode Dinosaur (LOVE it!) and took a spin on the Triceratops Spin.  That’s more my speed.  We spent the rest of the morning meeting characters and making a pit stop for ice cream. When we went through the Character spot line Pluto chased Naomi all around the area.  She was mortified (in a happy way!).  I love that Disney characters continue to give older kids lots of attention. It was very cute.

Disney Princess Princess Half marathon Goofing off

Disney Princess Half Marathon Rafiki at Animal Kingdom

In the early afternoon we headed to the Safari and we saw more animals then ever.  I don’t know if it was because it was cool out or the time of day but tons of animals were out. We saw ostrich, lots of giraffe, lions, rhinos, gazelles and hippos. It was wonderful.

Disney Princess Half Marathon Safari at Animal Kingdom

Disney Princess Half Marathon Safari at Animal Kingdom

Safari at Animal Kingdom

Lion King Show at Animal Kingdom

We then saw the Lion King Show which is such a great show! The crowd really gets into it and the performers are really amazing! Don’t miss this show if you go! At this point we were feeling a little tired and decided to rest up since the race was the next morning.  We took the Disney bus over to the Animal Kingdom Lodge to explore for a little while before our early dinner reservations at Boma. That evening, my mom who was driving up from South Florida to meet us for dinner to be with during the race weekend. Evidence that we really do live in a small world showed itself as I ran into a high school friend and her husband with their two adorable boys who I had last talked to almost 18 years ago!

Boma

Naomi and I explored the animal viewing areas at the hotel which are stunning. I would love to stay here one day! We also hung out on the porch overlooking the savannah and played cards. It was very relaxing way to wind down before dinner. My mom lives a few hours away and she was planning to join us for part of the trip and was now driving up so we relaxed in the lodge while waiting for her. My mom arrived and we headed to Boma for dinner.  This is my family’s absolute favorite restaurant in Disney and we loved it once again.  It’s a buffet with unique kinds of African and eastern influenced foods. We checked in for the first seating and were led through a line of cheering servers to our table which was fun. The buffet is set up into “pods” of different sections and unlike a traditional buffet line you can visit pods as you like without walking through the entire line. There is a carving station and on the night we went prime rib and roast pork was served with several sauces to add if desired. Another choice was baked salmon with a coconut curry sauce and my mom said it was moist and flavorful. I also never leave Boma without eating the bobotie, a traditional meat casserole with a bread topping. It is so delicious and unique. There is also a soup pod with 4 or 5 different choices. I tried each of the soups and they are my favorite part of this meal. There is also a section with various types of hummus and flatbreads. I think I ate my weight in their chicken curry soup and red pepper hummus.  They are Yummy!!! Another pod had several salads and fruits. The watermelon rind salad is very unique and absolutely delicious. There is also a pod with kids’ traditional food like chicken fingers and plain pasta. This is what I love about Boma, you can try many new foods while also being able to choose more traditional fare. We also love the Frunch juice- so refreshing! The dessert pods are what brings the restaurant over the top.  With multiple different choices in tiny serving sizes, we always bring a plate with each choice to the table so we can have a bite of each. I loved the chocolate peanut butter tartlet. The only drawback was that the restaurant was pretty crowded which led to long lines for the carving station. This was a little difficult for my mom to maneuver since she had mobility issues. We still were able to have a wonderful meal. I would definitely recommend Boma to anyone. We usually eat there after a visit to Animal Kingdom and it is always a nice end to the day.

Feeling very full we headed back to our hotel for a quick swim before bed. The pool had hardly any people in it so it was very quiet and relaxing. We played cards at the tables surrounding the pool and swam for a little while. There were no towels by the pool so we had to run up to our rooms in the cool night air when we got out of the water. We quickly got ready for bed. Lights out was at 8:30 because we had a crazy early wake up call set for 2:15 AM.  The Princess Half Marathon was finally here! Naomi was a little nervous so she tossed and turned for a while but surprisingly I fell right asleep.

Disney Princess Half Marathon Race Day tomorrow!

You can read about the rest of our Disney Trip Here:

Part 1- All Star Sports

Part 2- Race Expo and Hollywood Studios

Part 3- Animal Kingdom and Boma

Part 4 -Race Day

Part 5- Garden View Tea and Epcot

Part 6- Epcot and Coral Reef

Part 7- Magic Kingdom

Part 8- Be Our Guest Restaurant

Have you eaten at Boma?  I’d love to hear about it!

Happy Travels!

 

 

 

 

 

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