We got up and packed our stuff back up into suitcases and went down to the Lobby and left them and our backpack's with the guest services desk. They would transfer them to where we were going to be staying for the rest of our trip. Then we hopped on the bus to the Animal Kingdom. This year was a turning year for our family and theme parks. Angela is now tall enough to ride a lot of the rides that she couldn't ride in the past. My favorite thing was to come off of a ride and hear her little voice saying "That wasn't even scary! Let's ride again!" We hadn't had breakfast at the hotel so we got everyone some breakfast at a little bakery near the Kilimanjaro safari.
Then we grabbed fast passes for Expedition Everest to use later in the day and then we warmed everyone up with the rides in Dino-land first... the Triceritop Spin for Angie and I and Primevil Whirl for everyone else. Then we headed to Dinosaur. Angie was excited that she was going through the line and on the ride with the rest of the family and not just waiting outside while the big kids got to ride it. As we went along the ride, I kept a close eye on her, and while she did get scared at the scary parts, they were scares with big grins on her face. At the end she declared it wasn't scary and that she liked it!
From there we headed to Expedition Everest. Another new thing for our family this year is Alex being older. He didn't want to ride Expedition Everest, and Angela was too short to ride it, so we found a great little spot for him and Angie to hang out at. The rest of us were able to go and ride it together instead of having to use the child swap and have it take longer for us to ride in two groups. This is the first time Alyssa was tall enough to ride it, and she had a fun time... I think it was a little faster and scarier than she expected, she liked it, but it wasn't her favorite.
After that we went over to Kali River Rapids. This was the first time I had ever gone on the ride because in the past I'd volunteer to stay with the younger kids (and stay dry) while Rich rode it with Alex and Ashley... and they would ride it over and over and over again. We rode it as a whole family and I got soaked enough for the day. The rest of the family decided they needed to get wetter, and they rode it again another time and came off of it Drenched!
We decided to walk around for a little while and try to dry off. So we went through the Maharajah Jungle Trek. It's neat to see all the animals, but another really neat part of it is the architecture that they have built throughout the walk. I found myself taking pictures of the neat looking doors and archway's and ruins.
Then we went on the Safari ride. We always love to see the animals on it!
The bird show is a favorite of mine. It's amazing what these birds can do, and I love when they don't quite follow the cues scripted and show that they are just animals after all. :)
Another one of my favorite shows... The Festival of the Lion King.
It is amazing and you cannot do it justice in pictures.
We caught a bus from the Animal Kingdom back to our Hotel for the rest of our trip. We stayed at Bay Lake Tower, it's right next to the Contemporary Resort and connected with a walk-way. We loved staying there. That night we went to dinner at Chef Mickey's Restaurant in the Contemporary. The characters come around and visit with all the kids throughout the meal.
We had so much fun that first day that after dinner we were still full of energy. We headed to Downtown Disney with the girls and saw Tangled... it's a very cute and funny movie. :) Alex enjoyed the freedom of being older and stayed back at the hotel and watched tv and had some sister-free time.
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