Wednesday, April 04, 2012

Disney World 2012 Day 4: Animal Kingdom

We went to Animal Kingdom on Saturday, March 17th. It was a shorter day - we got there at 8:30 and left at 4:00. We were trying to pace ourselves for all of the fun yet to be had. ;)

Animal Kingdom was a really neat theme park! Wade knew about a secret entrance from Tour Guide Mike's website, so that was neat. I'll tell you what, Tour Guide Mike was the best $20 we have ever spent. If you are going to do a Disney Vacation, he's your man. :)

Wade & Clayton went straight to Expedition Everest, while Drew and I went to get fast passes so that we could ride it again. Expedition Everest was our favorite roller coaster of the entire vacation - so fun! Clayton wanted to ride it over and over again! He actually rode it 4 times back to back (once while I was getting fast passes, again with fast passes with Wade, again with fast passes with me, and finally with Wade with a buddy pass). He was having the time of his life!

Sweet little Drew was too short to ride, but he was soooo patient while we waited. That kid is pure gold, I tell you! He was content as long as he had a map in his hand. Thank you, Dora. ;)
Clayton and Wade are third from the back on Expedition Everest.
Next we rode DINOSAUR. I had read that it was pretty scary, and I was worried about Drewster. He didn't love it, but he didn't cry or act scared either. He is a brave little fella, for sure!

Next we split up - Clayton & Wade rode the Primeval Whirl and Drew & I rode the TriceraTop Spin. Drew was so cute. He said, "Mommy, there was a dinosaur with your name??? Tri-Sarah Tops?" Ha ha!
We rode each ride a couple of times before moving onto "It's Tough to be a Bug!" It was a cute little show with fun effects. The boys really liked it. I had to get a picture of Wade and the Bigs with the Tree of Life.
Next we went to the Maharajah Jungle Trek. The tigers were the stars of the show - they were really active and fun to watch.
This guy came right up to the window and was staring us down. I must admit that I held onto my babies a little tighter and prayed that glass did what it was designed to do. He looked pretty fierce!
At some point earlier in the morning (I can't remember exactly when), Wade had gotten us fast passes to the Kilimanjaro Safaris Expedition. By this time, it was time to use our passes. I must admit that I didn't think we would get that close to the animals in an open air safari vehicle. But, we sure did! The animals were right next to us. It was very cool!


Clayton being... well, Clayton. ;)
Next we had to hook our little guy up with some characters. He was dead set on meeting Daisy Duck, so we decided to make that dream come true. :)
Clayton waited back with Wade while Drew & I met Daisy. When we got back, Clayton said he was sad that he didn't meet her. I was so surprised that it meant so much to him. By golly, I was going to make sure that we capitalized on him still being little. :)
Chip & Dale were playful little characters. The boys thought they were hysterical.
After the character spot, we got in line to see the Festival of the Lion King. We were one of the first families in line, and got awesome seats. Wade & I have seen the Lion King musical twice and loved it both times. This was very similar - awesome costumes, beautiful voices, cool sets. It was pretty great.
Our last hurrah before heading back to the hotel was Mickey's Jammin' Jungle Parade. There were some really neat floats and some of the characters walked right up to the kids to give them high 5s. They really enjoyed it!

Drew waved his little hand like crazy at every parade. It was fun to watch him in his element. :)

By the time that we left Animal Kingdom we were all beat! We ordered room service (such a fun treat for the boys) and turned in early. I think that we were all sound asleep by 8:45. I don't think that I have gone to bed that early since having children. We got 11 hours of sleep - it was awesome!

The next day we were headed to the Magic Kingdom again. We were excited to have another day to hit all of our favorites again. :)

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