Disney Days - Animal Kingdom

  The boys slept in this morning!  Charlie is our early riser and he didn't even stir until 8:20.  That may not sound very late but it is with him.  Of course we were supposed to leave by 9 for the Animal Kingdom and since we were counting on Charlie to be our alarm we didn't quite make it.  But we weren't too late and arrived at the park in plenty of time to go on our first ride.  

Ready to start the day

  We have three people with injuries on this trip.  Noel can't put any weight on her ankle and has had to be in a wheelchair the whole trip.  (Thankfully she is still able to go on all the rides!)  Camille has a hurt knee and needs to rest frequently and Diana has a sprained ankle.  Camille was able to walk around Epcot yesterday but since we were going to be doing the biggest park today, she decided to rent a scooter.  This worked out really well because we did a LOT of walking.  At first she was a little hesitant but by the end of the day she was zipping around people and taking the corners on two wheels.  OK, I may be exaggerating just a bit...  

Grandma and Jon take the scooter for a spin

  Our first ride was Dinosaur and since Charlie was too short to go Camille kindly volunteered to sit with him while the rest of us went on.  The ride was a lot of fun but poor Jon was terrified!  He was white as a ghost when we came out.  Jon said that he doesn’t want to go on that ride again until he is eighteen.  I’m felt bad for taking him on it but the boys LOVE rides and I have a hard time knowing which ones will be too scary.  But at least he isn’t swearing them off altogether. 

  After that we went to a Dinosaur area that was styled to look like a midway.  I took Jon and Charlie on a little flying dino ride while everyone else went on a spinning roller coaster.  Apparently it was a fun and fast ride, Camille’s hat flew off!  After that it was off to Asia for the Mount Everest Expedition.  Only Noel, Greg and I went on this roller coaster although I think Will might have liked it since it was well lit and not too fast.  I love coasters and I am so happy to have people who also want to go with me!!  James is happy too since that means I’m not dragging him along.  :-)

  While we were flying down Everest, James, Camille and Diana took the boys towards a nature walk.  But on the way they got sidetracked by a little fountain that the kids could play in to cool off.  And since our ride was short we were all able to go on the walk together.  Charlie was very excited to see the tigers.  And poor Will was upset because no matter how hard he looked he couldn’t find the Komodo Dragon that was blending in perfectly with the rocks.

Jon with his cart

  After a very pleasant lunch we headed to Africa for our Safari ride.  The Animal Kingdom is (unsurprisingly) a large zoo and the Safari took us right into the animal enclosures.  It was great!  We saw a ton of animals and our driver/guide was both informative and funny.  The kids loved it too although I was so busy enjoying the ride myself that I didn't pay much attention to them.  Greg very kindly sat with Charlie and showed him all the animals.

  After our ride we went on a longer nature walk to see even more animals.  Really, the park is a zoo plus an amusement park so it is huge!  We didn't do any of the backtracking we did in the other parks but it felt as if we did two or three times as much walking.  I'm too lazy to track down the exact numbers but the Animal Kingdom is by far the biggest park (According to the internet either 400 or 500 acres).  The walk was great and the enclosures were large and really well done.  We saw a lot of animals and there were stations all along the walk where the boys could learn about different animals and earn a sticker.  

Charlie watches the monkeys

Will watches a Hippo swim by  

   Will and Jon begged to bring their swords along to the park today and despite some misgivings we let them.  They were mostly good with them and only occasionally and accidentally poked us as they walked along.  But at one point, near the Hippo, a little boy came up to Jon and slowly took his sword away from him.  If Will or Charlie had done this the result would have been tears at best but Jon was very kind and let the little boy take his sword and play with it for a little while.  And later, when we ran into the same boy again, Jon gave him his sword for a bit while Will used his own sword to teach the little boy, who was probably three, how to properly use it.  It was so adorable and I was very proud of them.  

  By the time we got to the end of the walk I was done.  It was hot, my feet hurt and I was tired.  All I wanted to do was go home and swim in the pool or take an air conditioned nap.  But dinner was two hours away and there wasn't time to go home beforehand.  So we meandered towards the Bug's Life movie, stopping on the way for ice cream, autographs and shopping. 

  The Bug's Life movie was a 3D event and I thought it was much better than the Muppet's.  It was a short show but very interactive.  We were sprayed by acid (water), sprayed by a stink bug, attacked by spiders and at the end our seats moved as if there were many large bugs crawling under them.  Will and Diana jumped up right away when they felt the "bugs" moving and I don't blame them!  

  We ate at the Rainforest Cafe and I'm glad that we didn't leave the park earlier because it was excellent!  The restaurant was densely decorated with rain forest animals and periodically the lights would flash, the thunder boom and the animatronic animals would go wild.  Will used to be terrified of this but it didn't seem to bother him today.  Charlie alternated between finding it fun and being scared until at one point he got fed up, turned around and scolded "Stop that Elephant!  Be quiet."  

Who has the best Puffer Fish face? 

Nana, Jonny and a lizard

  Our dinner was very good but the best part was desert.  We had two huge volcano cakes brought to the table which were delicious and made the kids very happy.  This trip it feels like we are really eating a lot.  This is the downside of the meal plan (although I am still glad we have it).  Normally I wouldn't eat dessert with every meal but now I feel obligated to eat what I've already paid for.  The food is very good so it isn't a difficult obligation but I'm still eating much more than I would if I wasn't on the meal plan.  I feel the same way about eating out generally.  Unless I can take it home, I feel like I have to eat everything on my plate so I get my money's worth. 

  Anyway, after dinner we headed back to the hotel and we had an otherwise empty bus take us there.  Even though there was no one else on, Will still wanted to stand up while we drove.  Charlie was very happy though with all the space.  When it is crowded I make him sit on my lap and this morning he was very unhappy about giving up his seat.  The whole drive to the park he glared at the woman sitting next to us and quietly growled "That is MY seat.  I want to sit there!"

  Even though it was after 8 when we got back, the boys were desperate to swim and so James, Diana and I took them all to the pool.  We had wonderful time!  Diana is so good with the kids and they all love her.  The pool is deep (between 3 and 5 1/2 ft) and Will and Jon spent some time with their life jackets on but mostly they practiced their swimming skills and did cannon balls off the side.  Charlie was in a life jacket the entire time and wanted to be completely independent.  He would paddle around growling "I'm a shark!" and pretending to attack us.  Charlie wants to do everything on his own but he still hasn't learned the valuable skill of not swallowing water when his face goes under.  

  We had so much fun swimming and splashing around.  It was late but we weren't ready to turn it yet when our pool time ended abruptly with Charlie throwing up.  I think he swallowed too much water because he was fine and then a minute later coughed and threw up in the pool.  We took him out as fast as we could and I think most of it ended up on the concrete or on James.  But of course they had to close the pool to clean it out.  Charlie was fine and was only upset for a second which is why I'm sure it was just too much water and not a stomach bug.  He's done this before in pools and I really have to figure out how to teach him to hold his breath this summer.  

  And that was the end of our day.  Thankfully the boys fell asleep right away and now it is time for me to join them.  Tomorrow we are going to the Magic Kingdom and I believe that we have saved the best for last.  I can't wait!