WDW Day 2

We dragged ourselves out of bed and had breakfast together on the patio by the lake. 

The ducks who enjoyed our crumbs were just a prelude for our visit to Animal Kingdom.

We took the shuttle to Animal Kingdom which is just such a cool park! This was our strategy when we got there: Molly and the guys went to ride Mt. Everest since the wait time wasn't too long for some reason according to iPhone app; Betsy and Kinsley found the nice baby care center for K's mid-morning snack; and I made a mad dash to get us all fast passes for the Kilimanjaro Safari. Then I wandered through the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail on my own for a while. I especially liked watching the gorilla mosey over to the stream for a drink of water.

Then we all piled in the back two rows of the safari truck and enjoyed seeing all the animals in the wild. It was hard to get many clear pictures due to the extremely bumpy nature of this ride. It was a challenge to keep K from flying out of her mommy's lap at times, but she seemed to enjoy the motion. And there's nothing quite like seeing baby elephants humping while on a family adventure!

We all walked through the rainforest I had gone to earlier. There was a huge eye-level fish tank, monkeys, gorillas and various other critters and birds to admire. This park is done so well, you really get the feel you are in a place much more authentic than a zoo.

We paused to plan where to go for lunch, where the closest bathroom was, what to ride next and to document ourselves enjoying Animal Kingdom.

We split up for lunch...Jeff and Nathan discovered delicious BBQ at Flame Tree Barbecue at Discovery Island while the rest of us ate at Pizzafari in Africa. We were impressed with the amount of food that comes with the our lunch plan, and the food was really good. Next stop was DinoLand which was such a fun and colorful part of the park. While Betsy and Kinsley met some Disney characters, the rest of us rode Dinosaur (twice) and the guys rode Primeval Whirl.

Then we all went to see It's Tough To Be a Bug in 3D. (Well, Kinsley and Betsy had to leave because it was too loud.) The best part was seeing the teenaged girls in front of us scream and jump up on top of their seats at the end when the bug effects rippled under our seats. Hysterical! When we left it was pouring down rain. We put on our ponchos and headed to the shuttle bound for Magic Kingdom.

Rain at Disney just seems wrong...

Seems every time we passed Cinderella's castle we had to pose for pictures. 

And, no, it wasn't just my idea!

Fortunately, the rain stopped shortly after we got there. We split up for a while so everyone could go ride what they wanted before dinner. And when Jeff and I walked by the Mad Tea Party ride, this is what we found.

Good grief, that ride turns my stomach just watching it, and here they put my grandbaby on it! But then I was informed you can ride without turning the wheel in the middle and you don't spin. Well... good.to.know. Next up was a buffet dinner with the characters at Crystal Palace. We realized last night that it's a good idea to have dinner reservations and this was about the best place to eat in this park, so Betsy made reservations for us to eat here. I think she secretly wanted to dine with some of the Disney characters, haha. I will admit we all enjoyed schmoozing with Eeyore, Pooh and Piglet.

We headed to Adventureland and all rode Magic Carpets of Aladdin and Pirates of the Caribbean. Then Jeff, Betsy and K headed to the shuttle to return to the hotel. They might have made a stop in a gift shop where Papa might have bought some Disney play snack food for the play kitchen at Camp Sugar Land. He carried a sleeping baby all the way to the bus, reminicient of toting a certain six-year-old Molly on his back all through Magic Kingdom 18 years ago.

The reason we went to Magic Kingdom tonight was that it didn't close until midnight. So off I went with Molly, Nathan and Brian to ride (or wait while they rode) as many rides as possible. Between the inclement weather and the electrical parade, there were short lines at Splash Mountain and Space Mountain which they rode more than once. (Thunder Mountain was under construction, pooh.) Back in Fantasyland, we all rode Winnie the Pooh, Snow White (who is this ride for anyway?...way too scary for little kids) and the Tea Cups. Over at Tomorrowland, we rode Buzz Lightyear and went to the Monsters, Inc. comedy show. We zig zagged all over the park, dodging puddles and crowds.

Of course, my absolute favorite part was the fireworks show over the castle.

Be still my heart.

On our way out the park, M&N reenacted their December 2009 proposal in the exact spot,

minus the Christmas decorations, fake snow and ten thousand other people. Magical!

No telling how many miles we walked today.

Very ready for bed!