After night one and the exhaustion it brought and tired feet and legs we decided to sleep in on day 2.  We were staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge for the first time ever and we spent more time at the resort this trip than we have before. We loved a lot of things about it. Day 2 we slept in, had a late breakfast at Boma, spent time swimming, hanging out on our savannah view balcony, and napping. We grabbed the shuttle to Kidani Village and had an early dinner at Sanaa before heading to the Magic  Kingdom.

We arrived in time to get in the back of the crowd for the Kutlass show at 730, but after seeing the tight quarters in the Galaxy theater and recalling the rambunctiousness with RED in that theater the night before we backed out and got a great spot on a bench to see the broadcast on the Rockettower Plaza Stage. This also put is in a prime spot to see Chris August.

Chris August was great, probably one of my favorite surprise performances of the event. Chris had a few hits up to that point especially with Starry Night but I didn’t know a lot about him. After hearing his testimony and listening to more of his songs at NOJ I became a big fan.  He put on a great show and had a great message especially to teens and young adults about marriage, divorce, and waiting for the right person God has for you.

We had some time to kill before lining up for our next must do show, Third Day. We had seen them several times and loved them but knew that it would be popular and crowded. Our experience the night before with NEEDTOBREATH taught us that while being upfront was great but in the September heat its not quiet worth it. So we took a spin on Dumbo, Barnstormer, and Space Mountain before heading over for a further back spot in the HUB. We could see the stage, hear Mac Powell loud and clear and move about a bit. It was much easier on the fee this way. Third Day rocked it out as usual and even shared a brand new song, never played for an audience with us. At the time the song was not even a sure thing for their new CD yet but they had another week to decide so they tried it out on us. The band was a little rusty starting out on it and had to get started twice but it was a great song and is now another hit for them, Miracle. I love that Third Day always does something unexpected in their shows, from playing half a show unplugged to moving off the stage and to the back of the arena to play to debuting new songs.

Mercy Me was up next and we were exhausted. We grabbed a spot on a bench to have a snack and rest up for the show. It was hot and sticky out and my feet were feeling every step of the week on them. We went back and forth as to if we should stay and watch them. They took the stage and we wandered over to a spot in the very back. We had an early and exhausting day ahead on Sunday and although they were great but my feet won out and we took off early. We had just seen Mercy Me at our 4th of July celebration in a teeny tiny town nearby Rogersville, TN so we didn’t feel like we were missing out on too much.

Tired but satisfied with our NOJ experiences we shuffled toward the bus to take us back to AKL and my nice comfy bed. I loved being at NOJ for the great concerts, rides with no waits and the feel of the crowd during the night. We had a great time and will got back again for Night of Joy.