Wednesday, September 17, 2008

First Trip To Disneyworld -- Animal Kindom -- Day #4

Ahh... So nice to sleep in a bit later this morning. We left for Animal Kingdom with the Maurers around 8:30am. We were following Jay. We got a little bit turned around. A CM on his way to work saw us in the left turn lane with our right blinker on... He jumped out of his car and handed us this really great map. How thoughtful & prepared was that!?

I ran over to the Maurers car & told Jay to follow us. And then I led us the wrong way... And then we turned around for the second time. Swallowing your pride tastes bad! When I apologized, he said, "Oh, I knew you were wrong. I just thought I'd let you figure it out yourself!" So smug, Jay Maurer. So smug.

Well we finally made it to Animal Kingdom. And it was nasty, nasty hot. We parked in unicorn and rode the tram to the entrance. We arrived just after rope drop. Not bad! Jay took our tix to FP Expedition Everest. The rest of us headed to Kilamanjaro Safari. We made good time, but Jay's FP line at Everest was like a 10 minute wait -- to fast pass! So, the moms took the kids over to the Pangani Exploration Trails. We saw monkeys in trees, snakes in cages & turtles in aquariums. We were just killing time, but I think the kids enjoyed it. Jay came as fast as he could. Brian waited for him, and then rounded us up.

The line for the safari lasted about twenty minutes. Probably one of our longest lines of the trip. But the kids were still fresh, and attitudes held up pretty well. And the payoff was worth it. This was by far the best safari experience I've had. Brian and I have done this ride 4-5 times, and we saw more animals this trip than ever before: a male & female lion who were both awake and looking regal; lots of elephants - including a baby; the elusive white rhino, a dozen hippos, countless crocs, antelope, wildebeasts, zebras, giraffes - including a baby; i could go on! It was phenomenal. The kids loved it. Andrew got really into the storyline with Baby Red and the poachers. Lauren was a little afraid, but Brian talked her through it. She'll tell you it was one of her favorite rides now.

After a super-successful first ride, we headed over to Everest. We dropped off the dads and Sam. Then we headed over to Dinoland. Will stayed us, which turned out great for Andrew. He thinks Will is the coolest kid ever. They rode Triceratop Spin together with the moms and little girls. The dads returned with Sam all excited about Everest. Will couldn't let his little brother 'win', so he joined Andrea and I on Everest. We walked right to the front with our fast passes, and sat in the back car. It was so fun to watch Will's fear turn to excitement. He thought it was the best coaster ever.

The dads had the little kids over in the Boneyard Playground. We texted them to come meet us at the Nemo show since it was about 20 minutes out. It was too full to get seats together, so we split up by families for that one. Just as the lights went down, Andrew announced he needed a bathroom break. Brian was ticked. At first the ushers said they wouldn't let them back in, but they eventually did after the opening song. Lauren sat in my lap so she could see. She loved the show. I knew she would; we had a great experience with her at The Lion King at the Civic Center back in April. And the opening song has all of those fish on poles that swim out over the audience, similar to the Lion King opener. I got a little teary. It was one of those dream coming true moments... So everyone loved the show. As they should... it's fantastic!

We headed over to Pizzafari for lunch. Apparently so did everyone else, because it was quite crowded. But we scored a big table and it all worked out okay. Jay's folks met up with us again at lunch. The Italian sandwich is yummy, and I love a frozen lemonade for dessert. After lunch we headed over to Festival of the Lion King. Stopping to revel in the mister fans along the queue. Love those!

Show, lunch, show is probably not ideal. But the kids did really great. Of course the FotLK is another excellent show. (These two & Fantasmic are my faves.) The kids got a kick out of the acrobat monkeys and circus atmosphere with all of the familiar music. Lilly fell asleep on her grandpa's lap. But Lauren was standing in her seat, clapping and dancing. That was probably Brian's favorite memory with her. She was just having the best time. Rapt!

We headed back to Dinoland for another Triceratop Spin, but quickly realized our kids were done. We said goodbye to the Maurer clan & headed for the gate. However we did stop for a few photopass pics in front of the Tree of Life. We look pretty sweaty, but I'm glad we remembered.

We hit the pool as fast as we could. It felt so nice to cool off. Brian then ran some laundry while I played with the kids in the quiet pool right outside our door. Such a great resort.

We brought the Maurer kids over to our room around 6:15pm. They played legos for 20-25 minutes, then we headed to Boatwrights for dinner at 6:50pm. We were a little worried about taking five kids to a table service restaurant with just the two of us. But things went surprisingly smoothly. There were at least three rounds of potty breaks. (Sam took his time in the men's room.) But the kids were content coloring their pirate ships and looking at the unfinished boat suspended over their heads. It was burgers and chicken nuggets for the kids. Brian had the filet. I ordered the pork chop over maque choux. The food was average at best. Glad we didn't pay out of pocket for it. The stand-out was definitely the kids 'make your own sundae' dessert. They loved combining sprinkles and syrup and cherries.

After dinner, we let the kids watch 20 minutes of Star Wars the Clone Wars cartoons, then divided them up for bedtime. I took the Maurer kids back to their room. They changed into jammies and brushed their teeth. Then we read our copy of Sorcerer's Apprentice for a bedtime story. It was new to all of them, and they ate it up -- especially considering the Fantasmic Show. The boys went right to sleep. And I lay down with Lilly until she fell asleep. (Actually we both fell asleep :) The Maurers seemed to have a really nice date night at Narcoossee's at GF. It was great going with another family so we could each have a night off!

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