DISNEY! Day 4

Our last full day at Disney was spent at Animal Kingdom. We were really excited because we don't really have a great zoo close to us so the kids really enjoyed it. We got there when the park opened and went straight to get fast passes for Kilimanjaro Safari. We knew we didn't have time to go right away because we had a 10am reservation at The Tusker House so we took the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail. We got a great and up-close view of many animals, the largest being the gorillas.




After we headed to The Tusker House to eat breakfast with Donald Duck, Micky Mouse, Daisy, and Goofy. The food was wonderful and we loved the Micky Mouse waffles the best!




After our breakfast we used our fast passes for the safari. It was awesome! We saw so many animals! I would say the baby elephant was my favorite! This was such a fun experience.






After Anderson REALLY wanted to see some tigers so we went and found them in Asia at the Maharaja Jungle Trek. Then we wanted to go see the Finding Nemo: The Musical but had some time to kill before the next show so we got fast passes for Expedition Everest, went to Dinoland to ride Tricera Top Spin, and let the kids play in The Boneyard.

(Anderson found a drum... shocker!)

The Finding Nemo musical was AMAZING... for more than one reason. Forty minutes in an air conditioned building was pretty nice! It really was an incredible show with so many talented actors. We all really enjoyed it.

We went to ride Expedition Everest. TJ and I both ended up riding it twice, Mom and Dad and Karoline rode it too, she was not too thrilled. After we were walking to another area and the wait for Kali River Rapids was pretty short (I recommend getting fast passes for this!). We had to wait about 25 minutes but we were all able to ride and getting wet was very welcomed. We were so hot...about Anderson was not as thrilled!

(All of us soaking wet and loving it!)

We were pretty tired so I called my friend from Auburn, Kari, because she was there with her family and we were able to meet up which was very fun. We got to talk for a while then headed home.

We rested, packed a little and got dressed then headed to Downtown Disney for dinner. We found out that we could use our quick service meal at Wolfgang Puck Express and it was delicious! It was fun walking around and we let the kids pick out one thing at the toy store. Karoline picked out a nightgown and Anderson picked out Toy Story cars. Mom and Dad were sweet and bought them Monsters Inc. & Tinker Bell DVD's. It was a wonderful day!

DISNEY! Day 3

I am so glad that we did Epcot and Magic Kingdom first! Two full days in a row was good but knowing Hollywood Studios closed at 7 was kind of welcomed! I can also say that I think Hollywood Studios might have been my favorite. Like the other days we got there when it opened at 9am and the first thing we saw was Mini Mouse! Karoline forced me to stop so I sent TJ and my parents to grab fast passes for Toy Story Mania which was a good thing because even the fast passes were gone by 11am! It is the most popular ride/ game there and was lots of fun.

After Mini Mouse pictures we went to see Voyage of the Little Mermaid which was so cute and then Playhouse Disney Live on Stage. My children LOVED this! Anderson was so excited to see Handy Mandy and Jake and the Neverland Pirates! We had more time before our lunch reservation so TJ got fast passes for Tower of Terror and we watched Beauty and The Beast Live On Stage. It was WONDERFUL!

(this picture perfectly expresses Anderson's mood while waiting in lines!)

(You would not BELIEVE the number of strollers at Disney!)

We had enough kid stuff so we headed to ride The Tower of Terror. Karoline wanted to ride too so she did. She was scared but did great. Dad and mom entertained Anderson with a water bottle fight then Mom and Dad went to ride. While we were waiting Anderson and Karoline had a "film crew" come and interview them which was funny!

We had lunch at Hollywood and Vine with Characters from Disney Junior. They danced a lot which came back to haunt us later (Karoline's food didn't settle well and well... my dad took one for the team!) We met Handy Manny, characters from Little Einsteins, & Special Agent Oso. Anderson was in heaven! This was a great character dinner for his age!

After our late lunch we went to use our fast passes for Toy Story Mania. The line was SO long so the fast passes were awesome! We were on our way to The Rockin Roller-coaster when we caught the parade. I will say that The Rockin Roller-coaster was my FAVORITE! I was shaking for about 5 minutes after... don't know it it was because of the ride or nerves that my camera flew out but either way... heart pounding!

The last showing of the Lights! Motor! Action! Extreme Stunt Show was at 4:30 so we went to see that which was VERY entertaining and interesting! Anderson loved watching the cars do tricks, jump, a man fall from a building, and a man catch on fire. Mom and Dad went to The American Idol Experience while we watched this show. They are really into American Idol so they enjoyed that a lot.

(Too loud for Karoline)

The kids played in the Honey, I shrunk the Kids Movie Set Adventure, we caught another concert on the streets, even ran into Mater from Cars! As we were heading out of the park we saw Woody and Buzz Lightyear through a window and Anderson really wanted to meet them so we jumped in line. A 20 min wait with a very over tired, hot, sweaty 3 year old but he was SO thrilled and it was all worth it!

After an interesting bus ride home (remember Karoline, lunch, and my poor dad taking one for the team) we cleaned up and got dinner at the resort. TJ had to take care of Anderson (you don't want me to go into details, promise) and I took Karoline night swimming because she swore she was feeling better... and she was... until about midnight and 1am! :) I didn't get much sleep that night. But again we were thankful for a very fun, busy day!