After a restful night's sleep, we got up bright and early to head to Disney's Animal Kingdom for our character breakfast with Donald Duck and friends at Tusker House. In fact, it was so early and the shades in our room kept it extra dark, Max thought we were getting ready in the middle of the night. He was still pretty excited to get up for a fun day!
We got to Animal Kingdom right at opening and made our dash for the restaurant. After we checked in all 17 of us (that's right 17!), my friend and I grabbed everyone's park hoppers and headed for Kilimanjaro Safaris to grab the fast passes for later in the morning. After our first day in Magic Kingdom and feeling we weren't too organized, we wanted a little more strategy for the day. By the time we got back, they had been seated and we got our plates at the buffet. Very good selection, by the way!
Soon after fixing our plates, we got our first glimpse of the characters. The boys stopped eating, grabbed their autograph books and began waving them in the air for signatures. We told them that they would stop at every single table, but that didn't keep them from trying to get the characters attention! It was like a true fan fest!
After a few of the characters came by and gave the boys autographs, Cate got the hint of what the books and pens were for and grabbed her napkin and held it up for Goofy to sign. It was priceless. Unfortunately, I didn't get that captured on my camera, but I will always remember that moment!
After our delicious breakfast, we grabbed our strollers, applied more sunscreen and headed toward Kilimanjaro Safari. The stand-by line was only 10 minutes, so we decided to save our fast passes for later. The line moved very quickly and we all got on. The morning was a nice, breezy, clear one and the animals were out all over the place. The boys loved the bumpiness of it and the girls loved all the animals. I couldn't believe my niece slept through those bumps!
After that, we walked through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and saw gorillas, birds, fish, and hippos.
At the exit of this is the entrance to the Harambe train station where we caught a train to Rafiki's Planet Watch and Conservation Station.
There were lots of characters here and then a petting zone called Affection Section. Max and Cate loved this area. At first, Cate would only say "Hi" to the little goats, but then once she saw the other children brushing them, she couldn't do enough of it! She would crouch down in front of them and say "hi" in her little squeaky voice, then brush them and then move on to another one repeating that! Then, as we left they had a wash station to get their hands clean and she thought that was almost as fun as brushing the animals!
Once we got done there, we headed back to the train and on to the next thing. By this time, it was getting close to lunch time. My friend and I headed over to Kali River Rapids to get more fast passes while the others slowly made their way toward Asia.
We split up a little at this point and our family went to see the Flights of Wonder bird show while I waited to meet up with Leanne.
After the show, we grabbed a bite to eat and met the other family at Kali River Rapids for our fast pass time. We walked right on. The boys were very excited. As luck would have it, my dad and two of our friends were soaked, and the rest of us just mildly wet. My brother joked that he got wetter sitting on the wet seat than he did on the ride. We played a joke on my mom and told her my dad didn't get to ride the ride cuz he fell in the water getting on the raft (he was THAT WET)! She fell for it, but we quickly told her the truth.
We headed over to DinoLand, USA and let the kids play in the Boneyard and play area.
After almost an hour of that, we took them on TriceraTop Spin and then had an ice cream treat. Max even found a hidden Mickey on his own...I guess I have him trained right!
The boys and their dads went on Kali River Rapids one more time while most of the rest of us went back to the hotel. The little girls were starting to meltdown. My dad had never been to the Animal Kingdom, so he really wanted to do It's Tough to be a Bug, so he and I did this before heading back.
It was a warm day, but much shorter lines and we were more organized and so it seemed less stressful than the previous day.
The adults went out later that night without the kids to Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM Studios), but that will be another post. Stay tuned.
*Disclaimer: This post contains pictures from our Disney PhotoPass CD. Because we purchased the CD, we now own the right to them and the ability to share them.
We got to Animal Kingdom right at opening and made our dash for the restaurant. After we checked in all 17 of us (that's right 17!), my friend and I grabbed everyone's park hoppers and headed for Kilimanjaro Safaris to grab the fast passes for later in the morning. After our first day in Magic Kingdom and feeling we weren't too organized, we wanted a little more strategy for the day. By the time we got back, they had been seated and we got our plates at the buffet. Very good selection, by the way!Soon after fixing our plates, we got our first glimpse of the characters. The boys stopped eating, grabbed their autograph books and began waving them in the air for signatures. We told them that they would stop at every single table, but that didn't keep them from trying to get the characters attention! It was like a true fan fest!
After a few of the characters came by and gave the boys autographs, Cate got the hint of what the books and pens were for and grabbed her napkin and held it up for Goofy to sign. It was priceless. Unfortunately, I didn't get that captured on my camera, but I will always remember that moment!After our delicious breakfast, we grabbed our strollers, applied more sunscreen and headed toward Kilimanjaro Safari. The stand-by line was only 10 minutes, so we decided to save our fast passes for later. The line moved very quickly and we all got on. The morning was a nice, breezy, clear one and the animals were out all over the place. The boys loved the bumpiness of it and the girls loved all the animals. I couldn't believe my niece slept through those bumps!
After that, we walked through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and saw gorillas, birds, fish, and hippos.
At the exit of this is the entrance to the Harambe train station where we caught a train to Rafiki's Planet Watch and Conservation Station.
There were lots of characters here and then a petting zone called Affection Section. Max and Cate loved this area. At first, Cate would only say "Hi" to the little goats, but then once she saw the other children brushing them, she couldn't do enough of it! She would crouch down in front of them and say "hi" in her little squeaky voice, then brush them and then move on to another one repeating that! Then, as we left they had a wash station to get their hands clean and she thought that was almost as fun as brushing the animals!
Once we got done there, we headed back to the train and on to the next thing. By this time, it was getting close to lunch time. My friend and I headed over to Kali River Rapids to get more fast passes while the others slowly made their way toward Asia. 
We split up a little at this point and our family went to see the Flights of Wonder bird show while I waited to meet up with Leanne.After the show, we grabbed a bite to eat and met the other family at Kali River Rapids for our fast pass time. We walked right on. The boys were very excited. As luck would have it, my dad and two of our friends were soaked, and the rest of us just mildly wet. My brother joked that he got wetter sitting on the wet seat than he did on the ride. We played a joke on my mom and told her my dad didn't get to ride the ride cuz he fell in the water getting on the raft (he was THAT WET)! She fell for it, but we quickly told her the truth.
We headed over to DinoLand, USA and let the kids play in the Boneyard and play area.
After almost an hour of that, we took them on TriceraTop Spin and then had an ice cream treat. Max even found a hidden Mickey on his own...I guess I have him trained right!
The boys and their dads went on Kali River Rapids one more time while most of the rest of us went back to the hotel. The little girls were starting to meltdown. My dad had never been to the Animal Kingdom, so he really wanted to do It's Tough to be a Bug, so he and I did this before heading back.
It was a warm day, but much shorter lines and we were more organized and so it seemed less stressful than the previous day.The adults went out later that night without the kids to Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM Studios), but that will be another post. Stay tuned.
*Disclaimer: This post contains pictures from our Disney PhotoPass CD. Because we purchased the CD, we now own the right to them and the ability to share them.
4 comments:
Phew, I'm tired - you did so much. That's amazing. Love the pic of Jiminy Cricket - he's one of my favorites.
Allison, you have some GREAT pics in this post! Your story about Kali brings back great memories for me...this is one ride I'm not afraid to be a dry-baby on...I wear a poncho most of the time because I'm the one that usually gets soaked!
One of my favorite Parks, and thanks for letting everyone else in the World know why!
Beautiful story and pictures! Glad you are back!
Sounds like a fantastic day Allison, Cate was so cute brushing the goats and with the autograph!
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