Hello, everyone! I am so very sorry that it's been over two weeks since my last update. Unfortunately, school has started again (actually it started a week and a half ago), and I've already been getting a ton of work. It's very difficult for me to find time to write at the moment. However, rest assured that I will continue with the story, it will just be longet between updates. I have some more notes, but I'll save them for the end of the chapter...

Amy and Rory walked through the Maharaja Jungle Trek while they waited for the Doctor and River to get off of Expedition Everest. They ended up waiting for about an hour. River and the Doctor rode the ride at least five times in a row.

Once all four were together again, they were deciding what to ride next, but Amy opted for eating lunch first. They decided to eat at the Yak and Yeti restaurant on the other side of the Asia section of the park. After lunch, they walked over to the Africa section of the park to ride the Kilimanjaro Safari. Everyone loved looking at the animals, but the Doctor became noticeably agitated at the mention of poachers. When it got to the part of the ride where the guide is enlisted to help find a captured baby elephant, the Ponds could see that he was silently fuming. The thought of someone hurting and/or killing a member of an endangered species struck a chord in the Doctor that few other things could... even if it was just a ride.

Once off the ride and back in Africa (and after saving the baby elephant from the poachers), they consulted the map one last time. They all agreed that they would go see the Finding Nemo: the Musical show, then ride the Khali River Rapids, then go back to the hotel. The park would be closing soon anyway.

Inside the theatre, they took seats just next to a walkway leading to the stage and just in front of the aisle that divided the front half and back half of the audience. The show started about ten minutes after they sat down, and they were surprised at how good it was. It was done with large puppets of the fish, with clearly visible human actors singing, speaking, and operating the puppets. The Doctor was absolutely thrilled (actually, all four of them were) at the fact that the performers walked through the dividing aisle and the one leading to the stage. They had large wind-sack jellyfish flying over their heads, and Dory and Marlin running just behind and next to them many times. River had never actually seen the movie of Finding Nemo, so it was completely new to her. She wondered vaguely a few times if what Marlin and Dory were going through to find Nemo was anything like what her parents and the Doctor went through trying to find her. In fact, the Doctor and her parents were thinking about that too, but despite quick flashes of memories like those, they all enjoyed the show very much.

After the show, they decided that they would go ride the Khali River Rapids, and then they would have to leave because the park closed fairly early (6:00). They walked back across the bridge that led to Asia, walked past Expedition Everest again, and to the entrance of the queue for the rapids. As they wound back and forth through paths in jungle, temples, and wooden huts, it seemed a bit odd to all of them that there was absolutely no one else in line for the ride. They arrived at the loading building (a large wooden hut with a rotating belt walkway that followed the circular rafts), and walked down to a raft. As they climbed in, a castmember told them to place any loose items in a bin in the centre of the raft that was covered with a plastic tarp. There were eight seats in the raft, so the four of them sat in every other seat.

As the raft got close to pulling away from the dock, Rory asked the castmember, "Why is there no one else riding this? I mean, there was no line..."

The castmember smiled and replied, "It can be a pretty rough ride, and as you can tell by the state of the raft, a pretty wet one too. We warn everyone, you will get wet, and you may get soaked..."

The raft pulled away from the dock and began sloshing its way through the surrounding forest. They passed over some geysers shooting out from the water, and Amy got hit by one. She was drenched and screaming while the other three laughed. However, it was Rory's turn next as the raft passed by a waterfall and the raft turned around so that he passed directly through it, making him possibly even more soaked than Amy. Now it was everyone's turn to laugh at him. As the raft progressed, the lush, tropical, Indian rainforests gave way to the bleak and barren scenery of a partially logged and burning forest. Suddenly the sound of roaring water could be heard, and they saw a drop off up ahead. The raft got closer and closer, finally plummeting over the edge of the biggest drop of thirty feet, with the Doctor in the unlucky position of going down the hill backwards and being pummeled by the wave resulting from the raft hitting the lower section of river. At this point, River was the only one in the raft not completely drenched. The raft continued through the white water, a cave, and under a bridge flanked by statues of elephants. Unfortunately for River though, those statues contained water jets in their trunks that were controlled by guests on the bridge. A little kid hit one of the sprayer buttons just as their raft passed by, drenching River. Now it was everyone's turn to laugh at her, and after a moments indignity, River laughed with them. Shortly afterwards, the raft had pulled up at the loading pagoda again, and they climbed out on to the rotating belt again. Their shoes squished as they walked and they were leaving a trail of water behind them as the water dripped off of them.

Once they were standing in the centre of the Asia section again, River suggested, "I think we should go back to the hotel to get cleaned up and changed. I, for one, do not want to ride anymore rides while I am this wet."

The other three nodded, and they headed out of the park.

The Doctor had the TARDIS hidden in some bushes outside the park gates, and they all climbed in (more like squelched as their wet shoes walked across the glass floor). The Doctor set some coordinates for the hotel, and within seconds they had landed. When they stepped outside though, it wasn't the Boardwalk hotel. This hotel had huge wooden, tree-trunk like beams and a thatched roof. The Doctor smiled at the Ponds' confused faces and spread his arms while announcing, "Welcome to the Animal Kingdom Lodge! They have rooms... ON THE SAVANA! HOW COOL IS THAT?!" And with that, he bounded inside.

The Ponds followed him in to the building, which had a huge atrium with chandeliers that looked like they were made of warrior shields. There was African art everywhere, and there was even a small stream running through the right hand side of the lobby.

After just a few minutes, the Doctor returned with some room keys and led everyone to the hallway on the left side of the lobby. They walked past two smaller atriums where several hallways intersected to a set of doors on the left. The Doctor and River walked into their room, and Amy and Rory walked into theirs.

The first thing River noticed in the room made her roll her eyes and sigh. She looked over at the Doctor who was grinning like a child. "Really my love? Bunk beds?"

"What's wrong with bunk beds? Bunk beds are cool! It's a bed... WITH A LADDER! But, that's not even the coolest part of the room!" he replied as he took her hand and led her over to the windows and balcony. "Close your eyes..." he told her. She did, and he pulled open the shades, opened the door, and led her out to the balcony. "Ok, open them."

River did as she was told and gasped. The savannah for the Kilimanjaro Safaris spread out before them, but it was different. There was no track for the cars.

"The ride doesn't come back here, but they still have all the animals. See? There's a wildebeest, an ostrich, some cranes... all right outside our room! River, you have to admit, this is very, very cool."

She smiled as she looked at the sun setting over the savannah. "Yes. It is."

Notes:

1) The bit at the very end about the bunk beds in their room is based on an actual experience I had. My parents ordered a room with a king bed and a sofa bed, but we got a room with a king bed and bunk beds. ...I was absolutely thrilled. :) And actually, to my knowledge and experience, the Animal Kingdom Lodge is the only hotel on Disney property to have bunk beds in the rooms.

2) To anyone who has seen the season 7 opener that was on two days ago (Assylum of the Daleks) you know that there was a pretty substantial revelation about Amy and Rory. I won't say what it was (for those of you who haven't seen it yet), but I will say that I may mention it in later chapters because I feel that it actually makes this story a bit sadder for the two of them.

Next update will be whenever I find time to write, but hopefully within the next week or so.

Reviews are appreciated.