Vacay Day 2: Animal Kingdom

We met the Lozens at our cabin bright and early on Day 2 (Friday). We'd previously decided to go to Animal Kingdom and had a couple "must-dos" outlined--Lion King show and the safari. John and Phil hightailed it over to the safari tour for fastpasses. Meanwhile I stopped to get waters and had a minor freakout that I'd lost my pass/charge card within the first 10 minutes of our first full day...but John found me in my panic and reminded me that I'd actually just handed it to him 5 minutes prior, so that he could get the fastpasses. This is why I need a partner.




The Lion King show was AWESOME! It was a bit intense for Nora in some parts, so John and I had to swap kids so that Nora could be with Mama--after the initial loudness and some reassurance, she settled in and really enjoyed it.






After Lion King, we headed over to redeem our fastpasses. The safari was awesome, lots of animals to see and they have tons of roaming space. We saw hippos, nile crocs, antelope, big cats, rhinos, elephants and a very up close and personal visit from an ostrich. Here we are waiting in line. Note Nora's birthday pin--she wore it proudly...for about 5 minutes.

A few shots from the safari, which, by the way, so cool!






























After the safari, we went to our lunch at Tusker House--the food was very yummy and there was lots of it--and, best of all, Goofy, Daisy, Donald and Mickey were there! The kids loved getting hugs and pictures with them, despite starting off on the wrong foot by beating Donald's bill a bit. After a few words from the parents, the kids settled down a bit.



























































































After lunch, we went to Dinoland where the kids can dig around for bones and run around in a contained area--they had a blast. I didn't see Caitlin the whole time.



We did some rides and Ryan fell asleep in the stroller.





















Later, John took Caitlin and went with the Lozens to the "dinosaur ride"--I'm sure there is another name. I walked around with Nora and Ryan in the stroller and tried, unsuccessfully to get Nora to rest. The dinosaur ride was pretty intense, I'm told. The dinosaurs looked real and moved and John could feel their breath. Caitlin was pretty spooked by this intensity and continues to talk about it weeks later. She's pretty proud to have gone on it. "I was terrified and so was Jack, and so was Lexi, and so was Miss Amy," I hear this every time she brings it up.

Later on, we watched an awesome parade through AK. Kids on our shoulders, lots of loud, fun music and familiar characters (as well as some we didn't know, I'm proud to note!). No outdoor pictures for the rest of the day due to the rain.

After the parade, the boys (except Ryan) went on a real roller coaster (I think John was probably the only one who actually rode it-a Mt. Everest ride or something?). Amy and I took the rest of the kiddos to meet the Pooh crew. Nora was beside herself. Here she is having just seen him for the first time.

She was just jumping up and down over and over and as soon as Winnie caught a glimpse of her, he started jumping up and down too--it was really sweet and Nora still tells me about jumping with Winnie.












Ryan was really shy with this group of characters--probably because it was the first big day there. He warmed up in subsequent days.
























All-in-all, a great first day. Then we headed back to the cabins to get some rest for a big day on Saturday.