Driver's card · Anna · Oct 2 & 3
Both days run in the morning on purpose. The forecast says thunderstorms are likely after 2 PM Friday and Saturday, and Friday she has to be in College Park by 4 anyway.
7:30 AM · Pickup
About 35 minutes · park opens at 8 · passholder parking is free
Coffee in the truck. Resort guests get in at 7:30, so the Pandora line is already forming when you park. Walk fast, don't run. She'll want to run.
8:15 AM · Pandora first
Pandora · the longest line in the park all day, shortest right now
Straight there, no detours. If Na'vi River Journey is under 20 minutes on the way out, take it. Then leave Pandora and don't come back until lunch.
9:15 AM · The animals, while they're up
Africa · 20 minutes on the truck · best before the heat
Lions, giraffes, elephants, and a driver who's been doing this for years. After: the Gorilla Falls trail if you both still have legs, then across the bridge to Asia.
10:15 AM · Asia
Asia · the coaster · single rider line if the standby is long
It goes backwards. Get her on it. Skip Kali River Rapids. It soaks you and she has a football game at four.
11:00 AM · For the soprano
Africa · 30 minutes · shows on the hour from 10 · arrive 10:40
Live singers, acrobats, and the best voices on property. Sit near the front. Watch her face during "Circle of Life."
11:45 AM · Lunch
Discovery Island · quick service · the seating is on the water behind it
Cheapest good meal in the park, and the covered tables on the water are the best seat nobody finds. Satu'li Canteen in Pandora is the swap if she wants the bowls.
12:30 PM · Air conditioning
Inside the Tree of Life · the new show · cold and dark
Twenty minutes off your feet in the coolest room in the park, then a slow walk to the exit. Dinoland is closed; the new land opens next year.
1:15 PM · Out · home by 2:00
Two hours of buffer before she leaves for the game · storms due after 2
8:45 AM · Pickup
About 1 hour 15 to Lake Wales · US-27 south
Coffee for the road. Tell her to wear walking shoes and that there's music at one o'clock.
10:15 AM · The gardens
1151 Tower Blvd, Lake Wales · open 8 to 6 · $25 each at the gate
A 205-foot Singing Tower with a 60-bell carillon, on the highest ground in peninsular Florida, in gardens laid out by the Olmsted firm in 1929. Walk the long way around first. The reflecting pool in front of the tower is the picture.
11:45 AM · Lunch on the grounds
Outside food is allowed · picnic benches on site · café open 9 to 5
Bring a picnic. It's cheaper, and eating under the trees with the bells going on the half hour is the whole point of the place. The café is the backup.
1:00 PM · The concert
Heard everywhere in the gardens · no ticket · short pieces on the hour and half hour
Find a bench with the tower in view a few minutes before one. Honest note: until mid-October the 1 and 3 o'clock concerts are historic recordings from the tower's own carillonneurs; the live season starts mid-month. The bells are real either way.
1:50 PM · Five minutes away
N Wales Dr, Lake Wales · a public road · free
Pull up to the painted white line, put the truck in neutral, take your foot off the brake. The truck rolls uphill. It's an illusion, and it's on the National Register. Let her drive it if she wants the Face.
2:15 PM · North, ahead of the rain
Forecast from the National Weather Service, Sept 29 · bells at 1 and 3 daily · pay at the gate, nothing to book