Disney Vacation Day 2: Animal Kingdom

After getting settled into bed around 12:45AM, the next morning came a little too quickly.  But when you're only in Disney World for a week, sometimes you have to just power through.  So we were all a little groggy and bleary-eyed for Animal Kingdom but we soldiered on.

When I first went to Animal Kingdom in the fall of 1998 (around six months after it opened), I was less than impressed.  I love animals, so I appreciated the safari ride, the stress on conservation, and the animals but there wasn't a lot to do and it seemed like a huge empty park.  I assumed that in the sixteen years since I had last attended that this would have changed dramatically.

I was wrong.  It's still huge.  It still has a great focus on animals and the environment.  And there's still not much to do.  When we got into the park, we immediately went to the Bug's Life show, which is a 3D interactive show.  I wasn't sure how Alli would do with the stingers and slime and 3D glasses, but she handled it okay.  After that we pretty quickly hit up the park's major thrill ride Expedition Everest...

...three times in a row.  I love a roller coaster as much as the next girl, but after three straight rides on this thing with zero waiting, I had to wave the white flag and find some water and a place to sit down.  However, this roller coaster is awesome.  It's definitely intense, and you're running from a yeti the whole time.  Alli loved it, though I am pretty sure she never saw the huge animatronic Yeti at the end of the ride since she mostly was in the position shown above.  Otherwise she never would have ridden it, because that dude was scary.

We went over to Dinoland to ride the Dinosaur ride, which was great.  We rode it a second time as well.  I think I screamed twice as loud as Alli!  We grabbed a quick pizza lunch and then went on a safari where we saw giraffes, rhinos, and elephants.

Then I made Alli walk around a little while to see the animals.  We spent a lot of time with one of my favorite zoo animals, the lowland gorilla.

Then we rode a train over to Rafiki's island where we met Rafiki himself and got to pet some goats, see the vet center for the animals of Animal Kingdom, and see a vulture.

While we were there, Alli spotted one of the famous Hidden Mickeys in a painting around the entry to the vet center.  This kid has a gift.

After we went to see some tigers and walk through an aviary (gulp), we rode Expedition Everest two more times for a total of five times today for those of you keeping count.  The park closed at six, so we went to our dinner reservations at the Rainforest Cafe right outside of the park.  It was a really cool place, and Alli was most impressed.  So suffice to say, Animal Kingdom lacked the magic of Magic Kingdom, but we still had a super day!!

And when we walked into our hotel room exhausted and ready to sleep at 7:30, we came in to a little surprise.

I kid you not when I say this place is magic.  We are having an amazing time!