Animal Kingdom

Looking back at our day spent at the Animal Kingdom, it all seems to be a blur. I'll share some of the highlights I can remember, but I'm sure I'm leaving something out. (Above is the Tree of Life & a cutout showing the carvings on the trunk.)

Sometime early in the morning both kids managed to crawl into our bed. They looked so tired I couldn't help but take a picture. Notice they both have their clothes on from the day before!

The Plan suggested we ride the Kilimanjaro Safaris first before the line got too long. We followed the suggestion and didn't have much of a wait at all. It was interesting, but our zoo is so nice that the kids weren't as excited as they might have been.

We tried to watch the 3D movie It's Tough to be a Bug, but the girls were frightened by the giant spider at the beginning, so I hurried out with them. I guess it got even worse, culminating in plastic spiders falling from the ceiling while the seats vibrated as if bugs were crawling on you. (Ick!)There were lots of carvings around the exit area where we waited.

Danielle was a little leary of most of the shows after the bug one, so we also missed The Festival of the Lion King. I forced her to sit through Finding Nemo - the Musical, and we both enjoyed it.

There weren't many rides for the kids at this park either. Danielle really enjoyed the TriceraTop Spin. (I think we rode it 3 times.)

Tyler's favorite ride at this park was the Kali River Rapids, where Grandma graciously agreed to take one for the team and accompany him.

Tyler's absolute least favorite ride of HIS LIFE was the Dinosaur ride. He insisted on riding it. I hadn't reviewed it ahead of time (it wasn't on The Plan) but was pretty sure he'd be scared. Ultimately we let him choose. He was so scared he was crying when he got off. Ron and I are still hesitant to mention the word "dinosaur" to him.

We also enjoyed the play area and The Boneyard - a gravely area where you could uncover dinosaur fossils.

We ended the day with the parade. The kids had fun feeding the Ibis their popcorn while waiting for the parade route to reach us. Danielle still wasn't too sure about the characters.

Tyler rated this day somewhere between "the most horriblest day ever" and "the bestest day ever". I'll concur with that.

Next: Epcot Center

The Magic Kingdom, Day 1

We explored the Magic Kingdom a total of three days, and there was still more we could have seen. On our first day there, we were spoiled by incredibly short lines. "The Plan" really did help us out.


Our first ride of the day was Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Tyler's in there somewhere.

The cousins paused for a picture in Dumbo. Kotomi was upset about a "bee".

















There was no wait at all for It's a Small World. That ride was so much better than I remembered it. Ron says it's because I experienced it through our kids' eyes this time. I'm sure that's what made that music more tolerable.






















On our way to ride the Mad Tea Party, we spotted Alice. As we walked by Danielle kept shouting, "Hi Alice!" so I thought we should stop to meet her. This was Danielle's first character to meet, and she really enjoyed it. For some reason she especially liked her shoes. I was so impressed with all the characters we met. They were incredibly attentive, patient, and true to their character.

The Mad Tea Party



Danielle, Grandpa, and Kotomi cross the barrel bridge on Tom Sawyer's Island

We also enjoyed Peter Pan's Flight, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, the railroad, and Mickey Mouse ice cream bars. Tyler braved Splash Mountain with Daddy and really enjoyed it.



We even had time to return to our house for a little fun in the pool before dinner.



For dinner we attended the Hoop Dee Doo Musical Review, where we enjoyed chicken, ribs, and lots of laughs. It really was a lot of fun. Although it was late, the show did manage to keep the kids' attention most of the time. Of course, including Grandpa in the show helped. They also enjoyed playing the washboards at the end of the show.



Danielle fell asleep on the way back to the van (we had to take a boat, monorail, and tram) but Tyler was still awake enough to declare this was "the bestest day ever". It really was a great day.

Next: The Animal Kingdom

MGM

We bought my father-in-law The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World 2007 for Christmas. My initial draw to the book was that it explained in detail each one of the rides at Disney World. Turns out there was much more than just detailed ride information in this book. Using this book and the resources the book recommended, my father-in-law put together a touring plan for families with preschoolers. In addition to recommending what park you should visit on which day, where in the park you should start, and what the top rides for 3-5 year olds were, it even provided step by step instructions, literally, to the rides and attractions. A couple days before the trip we were all overnighted detailed copies of "The Plan" to review and memorize.

While we took every opportunity to tease Ron's dad about compiling "The Plan", it really was very handy. For the most part we avoided crowds, spent very little time waiting in lines, saw the best shows, and rode the best rides (for our age group). There was even a 3 hour rest period built in to each day's plan.

Day 1 of The Plan took us to MGM. There weren't many rides that were appropriate for our children, but there were some good shows. My favorite show at MGM was The Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We also enjoyed Playhouse Disney Live. The kids really enjoyed the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. Tyler was disappointed because there weren't many actual rides. He wasn't too interested in the shows, but he did enjoy the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.

He absolutely loved the Stars and Motor Cars Parade. That was one of my favorite parades, too. Danielle watched a lot of it through her fingers but seemed to enjoy it, too.

After dinner we settled in to watch Fantasmic!, a light and laser show over the water. Unfortunately, I did not do my research or I would have heeded the warning on MGM's website: "This attraction may be frightening for children." It was. Danielle will probably have nightmares from this for weeks.

Overall it wasn't a bad first day. Tyler wasn't thrilled, though, and declared in the van on the way back to the house that it was "the most horriblest day ever". Fortunately we could only improve from there!

Next: "The bestest day ever" at the Magic Kingdom

Getting There is Half the Fun

Last Tuesday we boarded a plane and headed to Kissimmee, Florida where we joined Ron's Mom & Dad, brothers Rob and Don, sister-in-law Leah, 18 month old nephew Caleb, and 3 year old niece Kotomi. (That's 11 of us in all!)

Even the mundane parts of traveling are more exciting with kids. The trip to the airport was exciting - we had to pick up the Thrifty Car valet! The trip through the airport was exciting - we had to take our shoes off for security! Even the wait in the airport for our ride to the rental house was exciting - we got to ride the escalator!

Our vacation house was amazing! There were 4 masters, 2 additional bedrooms, tvs in each bedroom, a game room, and a pool with a spa. (Danielle is still moaning about missing the pool!)

Next: MGM - "The most horriblest day ever."

Our Princess Meets THE Princesses

We made it home safely from our whirlwind tour of all things Disney around noon today. I plan to post some pictures from our trip over the next few days. Until I can get through them all, here are some pictures of our little princess meeting the Disney princesses.

Ariel from The Little Mermaid

Aurora from Sleeping Beauty

Snow White

Jasmine from Aladdin

Belle from Beauty and the Beast

Cinderella