Thursday, May 16, 2013

Day Three: Animal Kingdom

Whew! We've had a LOT going on this week. School is getting out so I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off to do all that goes along with buying teacher gifts, end-of-the-year party stuff, etc. So, where were we? Day Three! Animal Kingdom!

{To see my other posts about Disney, click on the links! Mystery Trip, Downtown Disney, Magic Kingdom - Part 1.}

We were up and on the bus bright and early again! We got to Animal Kingdom with about 30 minutes to spare. They actually open turnstiles a little early and then allow everyone to enter the park to a certain point where they rope the crowds off until 9AM.


We headed STRAIGHT to Kilimanjaro Safari. I'd heard and read that the animals are more active during the morning and that the ride gets busier in the afternoon. We were one of the very first safari trucks through. This one didn't disappoint. We like zoos and this was a fun way to see it!

















After that we walked the Pangani Trail. It was interesting, too. Reptiles, birds, fish, and gorillas are some of the animals you see in this part of the park.






Anyone want to guess how much weight Eddie was carrying? Crazy man. And yes, his shoulders did hurt!




{James and I thought this gorilla had a wubbie. I asked the guide and she said they give them different "toys" every day for stimulation. The sheet was just this day's toy.}

Next up we took the train to Rafiki's Planet Watch. This was great for little children. Train + character meetings + petting zoo = lots of fun!










One of my FAVORITE parts of our whole trip came next. We headed back from Rafiki's Planet Watch to the Tusker House {all of this is in Africa}. We hadn't told James our lunch was a character lunch and he was SO excited to see Donald. Oh, this was so much fun. It was a buffet with African food (don't be scared, most things you'll eat and have heard of!). We saw Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Mickey while we were there. We were seated in a room with about 10 other families. Part way through our meal they played music and the kids formed a "parade" with shakers and followed Daisy. It. was. precious. I HIGHLY recommend this one if you have small children who care about seeing characters.


{Sleeping Will.}










We left Africa and headed to Camp Mickey Minnie {if you go in the next few months it may no longer be there...they're building a new Avatar section - yuck! - and moving things around}. Here we saw The Festival of the Lion King. It. was. fabulous. This was Eddie's absolute favorite thing from our WHOLE trip. If you know Eddie you'll be shocked. He was even shocked he liked a MUSICAL as much as he did. The Tumble Monkeys make the show and are fantastic.












While the boys napped we strolled around some of the trails near the Tree of Life. I was a little disappointed that we couldn't navigate the stroller all through that but there were stairs and we had to turn back.




Another favorite of the day was the parade! As far as I know, Animal Kingdom only has one parade a day so we staked out good {shady} seats for it and just sat for a while.

















We headed to Dinoland after the parade and I have to say - I'd skip this whole section next time. James had ZERO interest in riding the rollercoaster there because it's dark. There IS a playground area but we skipped it. The only thing we were able to ride {because of his height} was Triceratop Spin which is just like Dumbo. This area has a carnival theme to it. It. was. hot. Skip it. ;)

After Dinoland we did Nemo: The Musical. This was cute but I wasn't nearly as impressed as I was with Lion King. Will was an ILL PILL during it so that may be part of the reason, too.


We missed all of Asia while we were there. James couldn't ride Everest and we didn't want to do Kali River Rapids {you get soaked}. I DO wish we'd been able to walk the trails and see the tigers and bats, but we'll save it for next time.



When we got back to our hotel we decided to head back to Downtown Disney for dinner. We chose Rainforest Cafe which is almost ex
actly like T-Rex Cafe. Again, the food wasn't impressive and it's loud and crowded. There IS a Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom, too. I probably wouldn't waste my time on it, though. 

{Can you see Will's face here? James was getting in trouble for running in the parking lot and Will was NOT IMPRESSED that Eddie stooped down to chat with him. Ha!}






1 comment:

Anna Catherine said...

You got some great pictures of the safari ride!