Animal Kingdom ended up being such a fun day! So many say there isn't as much to do as other Disney World parks but we found the opposite to be true. There was so much! And we didn't even get to it all! But we still had a ton of fun.
When we first got there we went straight to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. Well, we got there a little early so we had to wait for about 15 minutes before they opened the gates to the Africa section of the park. Once they opened the gates we were able to walk straight to the Safari ride and get right on with no wait time! They say to ride the safari ride in the morning because the animals are up and moving around and it was true. We got to see a ton of animals and several of them were pretty close, or crossed the road right in front of the jeep-type vehicle we were in. I think the kids thought it was a pretty cool ride.
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| The giraffes are always a favorite! |
After the safari ride we went to a show called "The Festival of the Lion King". Garrett thought it was the coolest show ever. He was SO into all the songs, dancing, and there was even fire twirling. It was a really neat show!!
After the Lion King show we took the Wildlife Express, which is a little train, out to a place called Rafiki's Watch, or Rafiki's Lookout-- I can't remember. But it was really neat with a lot of different animals and activities that the kids enjoyed, including petting goats! They got to meet Rafiki and Doc McStuffins was even there, because it was a place all about animals and in her show she is the vet doctor :) Garrett didn't want to have anything to do with either character so he's not in any of those photos.
These baby elephant statues were right when we got off the train at Rafiki's Lookout and for some reason the kids were immediately obsessed with them. All the other passengers headed onto the other things to do and all our kids wanted to do was have their pictures taken on them. They were clearly very excited about these elephant statues... haha!!
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| The kids did a cute little bug scavenger hunt in a little bug garden. |
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| Garrett & Brenna petting the goats |
After lunch it was time for our fast passes in Pandora's World. Rick and Kimbri got a FP for the Avatars Flight of Passage ride. I really wanted to go on it but couldn't while pregnant, but I did go on it when Rick and I came to Disney World for our graduation trip, so it's all good. Garrett and Brenna were also too little to ride so we hung out and walked around Pandora's World while we waited for Rick and Kimbri to go on the ride. Kimbri totally LOVED it and couldn't stop talking about it!
After they got back, Garrett, Brenna & I had scheduled a FP for the other Avatar ride called Na'vi River Journey. We were a few minutes early from what our FP time was and we were just waiting off to the side of the line entrance. All the sudden this nice old man who was helping work the ride came up and started chatting with us. We said we were a little early and so we were just waiting when he said to just go on ahead. We said goodbye to Rick and Kimbri and he walked us up to scan our wristbands for the fast passes. He asked why my husband and other daughter weren't coming and we explained that since we couldn't go on the other ride, we decided to split the fast passes so we could each do a ride with the kids in Pandora's World. He nodded his head and he sent us on our way down the FP line. We walked down into the ride that was under the floating mountains. We were almost to the part where we were about to get on the line when I saw Rick and Kimbri!! I was so confused! And then I saw the little old man that had chatted with us and he brought them over. He said he wanted us to all be able to ride together on a ride and brought them through the exit to meet us so they could hop in a boat with us! That was so kind of him to think of doing that and for allowing that. Normally, since this part of the park is so new, it would've been about a 95 minute wait and he just let them on the ride so they could go with us! It was so awesome :)
Here are a few pictures fro Pandora's World:
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| Rick & Kimbri about to go on Flight of Passage with the floating mountains in the background. |
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| While they were on the ride we stopped and got another sticker badge for Garrett's book. They had little spots to learn about different animals through the park and you could earn badges for each one. |
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| This picture doesn't even do it justice. It was seriously incredible! |
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| Having a snack while waiting for our next ride. |
Next up was the Expedition Everest ride for Rick & Kimbri. It was another one I couldn't go on along with Garrett and Brenna so we decided to get a little afternoon snack while we waited... ice cream! Well, Garrett got a Mickey Mouse ice cream sandwich and Brenna and I shared a strawberry milkshake.
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| Kimbri got a strawberry popsicle later since she didn't get a snack when we did earlier in the day. |
After they got back from that ride we headed to Dinoland. On our way we got to stop and meet Pocahontas! That was pretty fun. I always loved that movie when I was little. When we got to Dinoland, the kids played in the Dino Dig area for quite a while! There was also a little park with slides that they enjoyed just having some time to run around and play.
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| Rick with the kiddos. I wish I could've fit the whole dinosaur in the picture but I couldn't back up any further. It was HUGE! |
Next Rick took Kimbri and Garrett on the Dinosaur ride. I seriously love the picture that was taken during the ride right when a big dinosaur roars. They are totally scared and unsure of what to think but it's so funny to me!
Meanwhile I took Brenna to meet Donald Duck.
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| He blew her a kiss as she walked away. |
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| Family picture in front of the Tree of Life |
Next up was a HUGE surprise for the kids! Grandma & Grandpa Haycock flew in to spend a couple days at Disney World with us. The kids had no clue that was happening. They were going to do the last 2 days in the parks with us but got there the night before and met us at Animal Kingdom to go to the Rainforest Cafe. We worked it out that we went in the restaurant and got seated and then had them just walk up to our table to surprise the kids. It was so fun and such a sweet and happy surprise! I think they were a little stunned at first, haha, wondering how in the world Grandma and Grandpa were suddenly there at Disney World. But it was so awesome! We got it on video.
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| Waiting to be seated at the Rainforest Cafe. They had some giant fish tanks in the waiting area. |
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| Kimbri was so happy to see Grandma Tammy! |
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| We got a huge circle booth that had a fish tank behind the kids' seats. |
And of course, the kids were obsessed with the car from Toy Story that was on the way to our hotel room and always wanted to climb in it and get their picture taken :)
