Okay, we left Jacksonville and headed straight for Disney! It was a Saturday and I knew Magic Kingdom and Epcot would both be packed so we opted for Animal Kingdom.
The boys and I at the base of the Tree of Life. I gotta tell ‘ya, I really and truly appreciate the fact that we do not have hard water where we live. After a week of bathing in Central Florida water my hair was dead! It just laid there on my head and died. :( Anyway, the first thing we did was hit the safari ride.
Got pretty close to a giraffe, huh?
If you click this pic of the mommy and baby elephant you’ll see the baby has his trunk on top of his head…too cute. :)
After the safari we walked the Pangani trail. Here is my little bird spotter checking out the fish.
My two monkeys.
A real one! Well, a gorilla actually.
On to Dinoland. Check out the size of that footprint.
Triceratops Spin! It’s like Dumbo, but with dinosaurs.
We always like to take an afternoon break and head back to the hotel to freshen up. Doesn’t this look like a postcard? It’s our wonderful 2nd hotel of the trip, The Embassy Suites just outside the back gate of Disney. They had an indoor and outdoor and kiddie pool and a playground (right next to the kiddie pool…what fun!) A super way to cool off and relax.
After our break we headed to Epcot. They are having their Flower and Garden Festival and it is soooo beautiful there. Snow White and the dwarves are just inside the gate. Of course the first ride we go on is “the big golf ball” aka Spaceship Earth. It has changed a bit and at the end you get to see a video of your future with your pictures in it.
Ds made that goofy face every time! We had dinner at the Electric Umbrella and ate outside next to the water display.
How can you not be relaxed when you are near this?
Dh and the older boys went on Test Track (thanks to a stranger handing us unused Fastpasses!) so ds4 and I headed to Minnie’s Butterfly House and found this nearby…Pixie Hollow Fairy Garden, with displays of all the fairies in topiary and a small playground for little ones.
Isn’t just beautiful? We went around dusk so it was nice and cool and just so peaceful. Disney has really improved on the Flower and Garden Festival over the years, making it much more interactive and fun for the whole family.
Ds plays in the garden and makes a friend on the playground. :) We all went to The Living Seas after that and braved the stand-by line for Soarin’…none of us had ever been on it before. Yep, it was completely worth the 45 minute wait. We were the last bunch to get on the ride before the park closed. It was amazing! And so completes day 1 at Disney. Magical as always.
Looks like SOO much fun.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you all had a MAGICAL time!!
I didn't know that my daughter's school always takes a senior trip to Disney until today. I asked how much it would cost.
ReplyDeleteShe said, "Expensive, but you can pay in installments."
I am now preparing myself for the actual cost!!!