A Wild Time at Animal Kingdom

On Friday, the last day before heading home, we decided to go to Disney's Animal Kingdom.  It was one of the parks that I had planned on taking Hannah and Owen too because I thought they would like seeing the animals.  This park did not disappoint.  We had a fantastic day and it was probably my favorite or at least tied with Magic Kingdom.  By Friday we had a system down and we were a well oiled machine navigating through the park.  We had made a game plan the night before for how we were going to attack all the key features of the park we wanted to see.  It was a great day to visit Animal Kingdom because it was the hottest day we had all week and much of Animal Kingdom was shaded.

 Owen is ready to get his day started and attempts to head out the door!

Welcome to Animal Kingdom:

The Tree of Life

We headed to the safari ride first and loved it!  Hannah giggled at each animal she saw.  All the grownups were amazed by the animals and how natural the environment was that had been made for them.  We enjoyed the bouncy bumpy ride of the "safari jeep".  Here's what we saw:

 Owen had to be close to Daddy during this adventure.  He sat in his lap or clung to his shoulder the whole time.

 Hannah sat on the seat next to Mommy.

 We were happy to have Grandma with us at Animal Kingdom.

 Hannah watches in amazement. 

 This rhinoceros was Hannah's favorite and it is covered in mud.

Uncle Troy saw an alligator in the lake behind the resort.  When we told Owen he wanted to see one too and he did!  Technically these are crocodiles or so our tour guide told us so.

 Owen says this elephant was his favorite animal at Animal Kingdom.

 What color are flamingos?  Pink!

 Shhh! The lions are sleeping in this morning.

 Daddy's arm feel safe while seeing so many big, wild animals up close.

 Hannah decided to sit with Mommy so she could see better out of the window.

Seeing the Ostrich on it's nest with another nest of eggs close by was pretty awesome.

The back of one of the "safari jeeps".

After the safari ride we checked out some of the walking trails which also got us up close and personal with some more animals.

Hannah and Owen thought this napping gorilla was pretty funny.

 Granddad spotted this gorilla for us to see.

Look closely at this underwater view of a hippopotamus!

Next on our list was the Lion King Show:

Owen liked these larger than life puppet like animals that were stationed around the stage.  He would constantly ask what they were doing as they moved their heads up and down.

 Both Hannah and Owen were mesmerized and sat still and engaged for the 30 minute show.  They clapped to the music several times.

Time to visit with Mickey and Minnie:

We didn't even attempt to see Mickey and Minnie at Magic Kingdom as we knew it would be crazy, but we had our sights set on meeting them here and we did!

Owen and Hannah enjoyed their Mickey and Minnie meet and greet.  They said goodbye and thank you with high fives to both.  See you next time friends!

There weren't very many rides at Animal Kingdom, but after meeting Mickey and Minnie we went to find one in DinoLand.  We don't have too many good photos of the rides because Hannah and Owen both like to take whatever they are riding in straight up in the air so you only get pictures of the underside.  Plus they always had to sit to the inside which made it hard to get good pictures of them on rides.

As you know Hannah and Owen loved meeting the Disney characters.  After not getting to see Pluto at Hollywood Studios they kept talking about giving Pluto a high five and a hug as they did not want to leave him out.  Pluto and Goofy happened to be stationed in DinoLand so we jumped in line to see them when we got off the ride.

Hannah runs into Goofy's arms!  You should have seen the smile on her face!

 Check out Hannah pulling on Pluto's ear.

After a busy morning we took a break for lunch.  Apparently Hannah and Owen were really thirsty!

Hannah takes a break from lunch to give a kiss to Granddad.

While Hannah and Owen took a nap in their stroller we walked around and enjoyed the sights around while trying to stay somewhat shaded.

 Sweet Lovebirds

We all enjoyed resting on these shaded benches.  Grandma and Nana compared pictures...as you can tell we took a lot!

Hannah wakes up in time to see this giant turtle.

Time for Mommy, Daddy, and Granddad to ride Everest.  This was one of the best roller coasters I've been on.  We all had a great time on this thrilling, fun, and suspenseful ride.

We finished our day at Animal Kingdom with Mickey's Jungle Jam Parade of course!  We wouldn't miss a parade because Hannah and Owen LOVE them!

 The parade was full of Lion King inspired animals that were like giant puppets.  You can see the person in the car steering the animal and the person on top operating it's movements.  They were really cool!

 All the parade floats were really funny.  Goofy's truck is pulling a smoking grill with hot dogs hanging out of it.

 Minnie's jeep was pulling a trailer loaded with all of her suitcases, dresser, and a bubbling bathtub.  Minnie really knows how to pack!

Mickey, the star of the parade!

Headed out:

Our smiles show what a great day we had and what a great week we spent in Florida!