The Sturdivants headed home bright and early Sunday morning, and us Warfs headed for the Animal Kingdom. It was still a little overcast and rainy, but we thought the Animal Kingdom was amazing!
Our little safari guides had the maps and were ready to take us on an adventure:
We walked around to take in the amazing surroundings. As you're walking through the Asia, Africa, etc… it truly feels as if you're there. To think of what this swamp looked like before Disney took hold of the land… amazing. Behind us is the Tree of Life, the icon of the Animal Kingdom. The detail carved into this man-made tree is none other than awesome.
The Disney memory maker photographer had a little fun with these two:
In the Africa section, this rhythm band was very entertaining and engaging. We enjoyed hanging with these friendly people for a little bit.
We headed to our time for the Jungle Safari, which is a jeep ride through Africa and Asia… truly what I would imagine a real safari to be! Only, this one had incredible animals around every corner… basically a two week trip in 30 minutes! Silas hadn't put down his sword front he night before, so of course he carried it on the safari. I explained this was only a picture safari… He was poised and ready:
I can't help it. I'm still a kid when it comes to safaris, animals…. there were hippos (not two, but about 10!), lions, elephants, warthogs, everything you can imagine. I'd have ridden this again and again…
But we had places to go and people/characters to see:
Chip and Dale...
Rafiki… (Avery wasn't quite feeling the Lion King baboon.)
Then it was off to the Tusker House for a delicious lunch with our Safari Pals!
Silas and Avery had been asking to have their faces painted all trip… we thought the Animal Kingdom might be the perfect time: our Frozen Princess:
And Friendly Lion:
The Andes here in Asia were beautiful! No, we didn't try the big roller coaster Expedition Everest - we thought that would be best saved for the next trip:-)
We paused to see the Lion King show, which was my favorite show in all of Disney. We all loved it… and I've already bought tickets to see it Broadway style at the Orpheum in February! Here at Animal Kingdom, they mix a broadway type singing with spectacular props, waterfalls, costumes…with crowd involvement... with a cirque de soleil type performance by flying monkeys leaving everyone's jaws open in amazement!
We left the Animal Kingdom that afternoon for one last afternoon/evening in the Magic Kingdom. We arrived just in time to meet Mickey in his studio! He didn't seemed scared or alarmed at our face paint.
One more Festival of Fantasy Parade… from the balcony at the train station. What a view!
It was here that I was holding Avery up as high as I could… and she yelled at the top of her lungs at each princess that passed on floats, "Merida!! Ariel!! Cinderella!! Goofy!! Daisy!!", waving as hard as she could… then the last float that passed was Mickey and Minnie. She yelled "Minnie!!!!" (in her little voice that sounds strikingly like Minnie's voice), and Minnie looked in our direction and waved back. Avery was more than elated and almost jumped out of my arms exclaiming, "Mommy, she saw me! Mommy, she waved at me!" That's when I lost it… and cried again. This magic is what we'll never forget. It's what we've been looking forward to experiencing since they were born:-) Watching the pure joy from four-year-olds is something everyone deserves to experience, a heart-warming and touching thing that is impossible to forget.
And, part of the magic of Disney (or genius of Disney), is that before your trip is even over, you're planning your next visit.
We rode their favorite rides one more time: Silas chose Peter Pan, and Avery chose Buzz Light Year… then headed back to the Polynesian for our dinner at O'Hana. Delicious, beautiful views of the Castle… and of course, the coconut races!
Silas led the way… and Daddy had to help Avery a little… so much fun!
We crashed that night and awoke early on the last day for our breakfast at Chef Mickey's:
And Avery finally got to see Minnie … believe it or not, this was our first time to hug her!
We'd become quite comfortable with our pal Pluto! Silas tugged on his collar, scratched him behind his ear (since Millie likes that too), and tried to pull those whiskers out again…
After breakfast, we had a few hours to go back and pack up… then walked around for awhile, ate lunch at Captain Cook's, then boarded the Magical Express for the airport. What a FULL week it was. We were all exhausted, but so filled with excitement that there was no doubt where we'd been!
We boarded the plane to Memphis, this time Avery at the window. And… such a big "thank you" to the polite people surrounding us who acted like the trip to Memphis was more fun with the Warf duo… even more animated this time than the plane to Orlando… two restraints were required, hence my arm.
We arrived in Memphis, packed up the car, and stopped for a quick break in Grenada before heading back home to Madison. A few weeks recovery would be required.
Man, vacations are so much fun with these two!!
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