Animal Kingdom

Oh the Animal Kingdom.  It is our favorite!  The nice shaded areas, the animals, the cultural experiences.  Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!  Oh wait, wrong place.  We began the morning with breakfast at Tusker House in Africa where we got to see Donald, Daisy, Minnie and Mickey; we did not wait around for Goofy.  Then three really worn out guys and I took the the park about 10 a.m.  

First stop, the Safari!  One of my favorites, especially now that they took out the poacher plot line.  We got to see quite a few of the animals including the baby rhino and elephants.

Then we headed over to Camp Minnie & Mickey for the Festival of the Lion King after making a pit stop to see Minnie and Mickey!

The Festival of the Lion King is one of the most awesome things in the parks, that and Nemo.  We took in both!  I also got a little video this year so Will can relive it daily on his iPad.

Hunter, however, was not impressed with either!  That or the 6 hours of sleep he had last night.

Mom and Dad snuck in a ride on one of our favorite coasters, Expedition Everest, by using the single rider line.

With Will enjoying dinosaurs, Chris decided he was ready for Dinosaur.  Needless to say he had nothing but crazy eyes when he returned to mommy and refused to go back in!

We finished off our day at the beginning of the parade which put us at the end of the parade and we got to be apart of it as we were exiting the park.

None of the rides or show we took part in had more than a 10 minute wait.  The park seemed crowded but not the rides, except the rapids (hour wait, we passed).

Then for a night cap, we headed over to Hollywood Studios for dinner and Woody and Buzz!  The highlight of their trip so far has been Woody and Buzz!

First Night - WDW

Naps are in and we are headed back to the Magic Kingdom!

We were forced to take the ferry as the monorail line was crazy long.  I like the ferry, gives you a nice view of the lights.

We walked in on the Electrical Parade so we were technically stuck so we watched it twice, once at 9 then again at 11.  We had front row seats for the 11.  

In between we relived childhood memories on It's A Small World, then took down Philharmagic and Buzz Lightyear (multiple times).  

What a beautiful sight!

Walt Disney World - Day 1, 1st half

As I sit and type my photos are uploading and my three men are snoozing.  They are resting up for a long night at the Magic Kingdom.

Today we are celebrating my 35th birthday at the most magical place on earth!

We rose early to head to the Crystal Palace to celebrate with Pooh and friends at 8 a.m., before the park even opened!  There were people already lined up to go in an hour early.  Lucky for us we had a secret entrance (not really but hey its a fantasy land).  Have I mentioned it's muggy in WDW! The people were scarce in the park, it was nice to see the stillness.  Anyway, Crystal Palace was a basic character breakfast and Will enjoyed starting the morning with friends.  He hugged and danced his way through breakfast with Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and Pooh.

The park is looking rather fall.  It is quite pretty.  I have never been to Disney in the fall so it was a treat to see the decorations.

Off we were to Adventureland!  Where our first stop is Peter Pan.  He was great with Will, chatted with him and giggled!  

The Dole stand was not opened yet or we probably would have had a Dole Whip for dessert, we will return for lunch.

Moving on over to Frontierland, which is not an area we have even visited with the boys being that they are one and four.  Will stated he wanted to ride the water slide so off to Splash Mountain for his first ever experience with Chris.  To my surprise, he loved it.  Here they are, second row!

All the while, Hunter dozed off in the stroller we rented from www.kingdomstrollers.com.  What a great and easy experience that was!  We ordered and paid online and picked it up at the hotel.  It was awesome.  

Next up we figure if Will is going to ride he might as well take on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Chris quickly realized he is not ready for the fast moving roller coasters.  He did well but won't be going back this visit.

Off to Fantasyland we go!  First stop the Carosel, quick easy ride up and down and up and down.  As we exited, Chris hurried us off to a secret door, this time it was for real!  I was so confused.  

Much to my surprise we were going to get to see Maurice's Cottage!! Yep that's right, we got to go behind the big wall!  It looks so fun and I have watched it come to life on the Disney blog.  However, about 30 minutes into the line the boys got restless and we had to exit.  I did not actually get to go in but it was great to get to be one of the first people behind the door and I so want to come back later this year to dine at Be Our Guest.  

Next up was our Dole Whip!  We dream of the Dole Whip for months leading up to our trip and we will probably stop by more than once.

Well now it's getting hot and we are headed out of the park to run by Target, get some lunch and snag some nap time.  Until next time . . .