Animal Kingdom Trip Report

Monday morning of our Disney trip was an early opening day at Animal Kingdom for Disney Resort guests…that means we could enter at 8am instead of 9am.  So we had a little breakfast in our room and headed out bright and early.

Handy thing about digital cameras…easy way to remember where you parked.  Although Disney doesn’t exactly live up to this promise.  I saw no unicorns at all!

Family photo op in front of the Tree of Life.  The photopass lady took this one for us, and no, I didn’t realize ds had his headsets on.  On a side note, we got an older photographer in the Magic Kingdom who did notice and told ds to take them off…and take the toothpick out of his mouth.  I loved her.  :)

First thing we did was head to Africa for the Kilimanjaro Safari ride.  It was great to see the animals when they were just waking up.

These rhino literally followed our bus.  It was so cool!

After the safari we always go on the Pangani Forrest trail.  We got a real treat with all of the gorilla family on hand for viewing, including the little one born right there at the AK.  You can see him a little in the background with his mother.

Um, there is a gorilla on my head.

The trail is a delight on it’s own, but especially so to this homeschooling mom.  There are tons of educational opportunities disguised as plain old fun.

I really love the signs, so colorful and attention getting…they make you want to read them and learn more about the animals.

We walked from Africa to Asia (only at Disney World lol) and just enjoyed the atmosphere.  Ds4 tried his hand at some drums.

On to Dinoland!

Hester and Chester, AK’s version of Dumbo.

We took turns riding the Dinosaur ride as Ds4 didn’t want to try it yet.  Here the boys are waiting in the gift shop area for dh and ds2 to return.

Everyone getting a laugh at the in-ride picture.

  A shop outside the ride had a cool train all along the wall and neat displays hanging from the ceiling.

How cool is this bench?  The meticulous attention to detail is truly what sets Disney apart.

We noticed that some of the trams now have doors.  Yet still they insist that youngsters are seated to the inside.  You just don’t know the grief this causes my two little boys.  They take it quite personally and try and fight it every time.  At least I can blame the cast members and not have to take the heat on this issue.  ;)

We went back to the hotel for lunch and enjoyed the one brief lapse in the cloudy and cold weather for a quick dip in the pool.  Next post will be our night in Epcot!