We started the day in Dinoland. The Dinosaur ride was similar to Indiana Jones at Disneyland. Jack was TERRIFIED during the ride (it's dark the entire ride and dinosaurs pop out and scare you) but when he got off the ride he said that he loved it... he just didn't want to go on it again! haha
We then got drenched on the river raft ride before meeting up with Maddie's sister, Brittany, who lives in Miami and came to Animal Kingdom to see Maddie and James for the day. I'm so glad she came! We had a blast, and my boys loved her girls!
We were able to get SO MANY rider switch passes for Expedition Everest with 5 babies! It was one of my favorite rides at Disney World.
I LOVED the Festival of Lion King! I think it was my favorite show at Disney World.
I didn't get a picture at Lion King but Brittany and her cute girls did. She has three babies in diapers right now - what a super mom!
After Lion King, we headed back to the hotel for a quick nap. We stopped at the Rain Forest Cafe so that Jack could pick out a toy with the money that Tinker Bell left him. He knew exactly what he wanted and had been talking about it for a month - a big cozy snake! It was eleven bucks - that's what I call a Disney steal! It was so cheap that we offered to buy him another one but he said that he just wanted one! What kid refuses another toy?! haha HE LOVES HIS SNAKE and has slept with it every night since :)
We hurried back to Animal Kingdom for our dining reservation at Tusker House. We tried to eat as cheap as possible at Disney since we stayed for so long. We brought bagels and fruit from home for breakfasts and packed sandwiches most days for lunch but the character meal at Tusker House was our big splurge. We are glad we did it! The food was amazing and the character interaction was so much fun! Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Pluto circled around our table three times each! Jack and David were so cute with the characters. They would squeal when they approached our table and they told them about all of the animals that they saw on the safari ride that day.
We went to a few more shows after dinner, rode Expedition Everest a few more times with rider switch passes, and then went early to get good seats for the new Jungle Book night show. Jack received devastating news that the Giant Galapagos Tortoise exhibit was closed for refurbishment. He had been looking forward to seeing those dang tortoises for a long time and was SO SAD!
Animal Kingdom was so beautiful!
Jack and David love these cheesy magic shots! haha
We weren't super impressed with the Jungle Book nighttime show, (it's a filler show while they fix technical difficulties with the permanent night time show, Rivers of Light) BUT I loved it because Jack loved it so much. He danced and sang along to the music and explained what was going on to Brittany's infant baby that I was holding :) After the show when we were about to leave the park, I jokingly asked Jack if he wanted to go on the Dinosaur ride again and he said yes!!! I was shocked and so excited!
.... And then there were two :) It was 10 pm when I took this picture but Jack was still going strong! I think he loved Disney just as much at 10 pm on our last day at Disney as he did our very first day when we first entered the park! I was so proud ;) haha
Jack was adamant that he needed two "grown ups" to sit between him on the Dinosaur ride so my dad met up with us :) Jack talked on and on in line about the Iguanodon, and during the ride he closed his eyes and hid the entire time and looked TERRIFIED! When the ride was over, I asked him if he was scared and he said, "No, I just closed my eyes during the scary parts." (which was the entire ride)
The short projection shows on the Tree of Life were so amazing and I feel pretty cool because we were there the first night that they started showing them :) I knew all about Animal Kingdom at night before all of the Disney World blogger experts that I follow did! haha
It was past 11 pm when we got back to the hotel and Jack passed out on the bus snuggling my dad :)
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The next day was departure day :( My family's flights were all late so we had plenty of time to pack up. We swam at the pool one last time, then went to one of Disney's mini golf courses since we got free vouchers with our vacation packages.
I have to say, after seven days at Disney, mini-golfing is pretty lame, even if it's a Disney mini-golf course ;) We were there at the hottest time of the day, and I'm pretty sure the only ones who had a blast were Jack and David. David still can't stop talking about the golfing! Haha
We caved and got Jack a "cozy" Destiny whale shark to go with David's Dory that he chose. He was pretty happy about it and I'm sure he'll play with it every day with the rest of his "cozy" sea animals and reptiles.
We said our sad goodbyes to my family, then hit the road... it was a rough drive for me and Spencer. I'm so glad that Spencer didn't have to go to work on Memorial Day because we needed that extra day to recover!
I must say, Jack and David rocked the drive though.
My mom bought me the amazing candy that does not exist in the midwest and it got me through the drive!
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We had such an amazing trip to Disney World and I'm so glad that we were able to go while our kids were small enough to believe in all of the magic! I was telling Spencer the other day that I would rather live in a shack and have money to travel then have my dream home and not travel at all. I guess ideally I would want both ;) But seriously, I love traveling and having a big vacation dream. (My first travel goal was for study abroad and I started saving for that when I was a freshman in high school) I'm glad we made another dream come true in the happiest place on earth with my favorite people on earth :) Planning vacations is half the fun for me and planning a trip to Disney World during the most depressing part of Iowa's winter was so therapeutic and really helped me make it through the winter! Now that Disney World is over, I'm back to researching more vacations! It's addicting! Any suggestions?
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Day 1 - Magic Kingdom -----------> here
Day 2 & 3 - Epcot and Hollywood Studios -----------> here
Day 4 & 5 - Magic Kingdom and Typhoon Lagoon -----------> here
Day 6 - more Magic Kingdom --------> here
Okay, all your posts seriously had me researching a trip to Disney for my family! How fun to do OT with plenty of grownups to help out! BTW, I have 2 more reasons you should move to Dallas: 1) We have 2 major airports for easy flights and 2) we have chocolate covered cinnamon bears.
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