Places to Go (Vacation) - Disney World 2012 - Part III, Animal Kingdom

Dan and I really love Disney's Animal Kingdom - best summarized as the world's coolest zoo with rides. Unfortunately, when I told P we planned to visit on Sunday she immediately said "not the BORING place, with all the animals." Sadness. Last time we visited, she seemed to like it well enough, but then again it was 90 degrees and super crowded so none of us quite felt the magic.



As soon as we arrived, we went straight to Africa, where I ran to acquire fast passes for the Kilimanjaro safari and Dan searched for coffee. While I was gone, Dan and the kids all explored a stall full of African instruments - they loved it. And turns out we didn't even need fast passes as the wait times were under 10 minutes. So we hopped on our safari, which fascinated all of us. Every turn lead to a new animal up close and due to the cooler weather they were actually DOING STUFF, rather than lying around in the shade. We even had to stop for a few minutes when giraffes blocked the road. P turned and said "wow, this is amazing mom. I was wrong about this place."



After visiting more animals in Africa, we meandered into Asia and the Kali River Rapids ride, where Dan and a very very sad T became sopping wet. After laughing at her brother's misfortune P begged to ride again and she too became drenched and very very sad (is this how they learn empathy?). As two/thirds of my kids begged to leave, I thought we might have to call it a day. Then came Dinoland. Oh, Dinoland. Whereas most of Animal Kingdom is subtly beautiful, Dinoland consists of over the top kitsch. My kids loved it. We road triceretops, dug for dinosaur bones, raced down slides, and drove a stationary jeep. Happiness.



Since everyone seemed rejuvenated I talked them into attending a performance of the Lion King, which was absolutely gorgeous. From the costumes to the acrobats, all five of us couldn't take our eyes off everything. Amazing.



Finally, we ended the day by camping on the side of the "road" and watching Animal Kingdom's Jingle Jungle parade, which, though lovely, became a little repetitive after awhile. So it goes. All in all a wonderful day.

Places to Go (Vacation) - Disneyworld, Part III - The Animal Kingdom. The First Stop on Our Roadtrip of the South.

(Cutest giraffe ever.)

On our third day at Disneyworld, we took the bus to Disney's newest park, the Animal Kingdom. Boarding the bus I had vague hopes that since the Magic Kingdom was SO CROWDED maybe Animal Kingdom would be emptyish. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Luckily, I had poured over maps the night before and created a plan. So upon arrival, we hightailed it to Africa in order to get Fastpass tickets for Kilimanjaro Safaris. Then, while waiting for our Fastpass time to arrive, we strolled through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. Animal Kindgom is basically a big, luxurious zoo with some rides (many of which are for older kids). If this seems a little lame to you, remember that what Disney does it usually does pretty well, hence welcome to the most fabulous, incredible zoo on the planet. Everything is just beautiful. And the little "towns" make you feel as if you're really somewhere else (minus all the American tourists). It's quite a site to behold. But if you ask me the true highlight of Animal Kingdom is the Kilimanjaro Safari, even my mom kept saying "how did they do that?" Unlike most Disney rides, the safari is lengthy (approximately 15 minutes) and there are animals EVERYWHERE. The ride is so well-done that it's easy to forget that it isn't "real." All in all, it's probably the best attraction in Disney world.

After Africa, we mosied on over to see the animals of Asia on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Unfortunately, we never made it to Dinoland as we were pretty hot and sweaty and tired. But of course we couldn't leave without adopting two new stuffed animal pets - so Baby Simba and Baby Molly welcome to the family.




The tree lady was fascinating. She really did blend in at first, until we saw her face we couldn't tell what was going on. T loved the bird map, I'm not sure about the birds, but he definitely loved the map.


Parker kept hugging the bug. Like a long last friend, though I'm not sure she's ever seen A Bug's Life (Two-Disc Collector's Edition).