Around the (Disney) World in 12 Hours

Saturday, we hit Animal Kingdom.  It is probably my least favorite park, but the kids had mentioned the River Rapids multiple times, so I knew we had to go.  And, although it is my least favorite park, it has one of my favorite rides (Expedition Everest) and one of Thomas' (Dinosaur).  So while it was not a highly anticipated day, there was still lots to look forward to.  Besides, being a "least favorite" park, does not mean it is not a great place to visit and experience.

Once again, we arrived right around opening (a true must for getting things done).  Marta and Elizabeth and Marta's son Matt and his fiance Christin joined us.  First stop--the Safari tour.  We saw lots of neat animals and it was fun.  My favorite thing on the tour is actually not an animal, but the baobab trees.  They are really impressive and can live to be thousands of years old. The animals were out and active and there was no wait.  We all enjoyed it.

A Baobab tree (photo 

From there, we did the River Rapids.  We knew we might get completely soaked, so I was prepared and made everyone change into flip flops.  Thank goodness, because we might as well have just jumped into a pool and who wants to walk around in sopping shoes and socks all day?  After that, we grabbed fast passes for Everest then headed to Dinoland.  Anna and Kara were (justifiably) scared to go on Dinosaur, so we got a kid swap pass and I waited with them while everyone else rode.  Then, Marta and her crew went on Primeval Whirl.  None of our kids made the height requirement so we bought cookies and waited.  After that, Marta watched the kids in the Dino play area while the rest of us went and rode Everest (so awesome!).  She continued watching them while Thomas and I went back and quickly did Dinosaur.  It was a definite kid trade-off kind of morning.  We had lunch and then decided to go to a different park.  Matt and Christin headed to Hollywood Studios.  The rest of us parked at Epcot and took the monorail to MK.

Magic Kingdom was packed!  There was a (comparatively) short wait for Magic Carpets of Aladdin so we got in line.  Then, it started to rain.  Then, it started to pour (and we had finally dried off from the River Rapids!).  We hung out in the Tiki room for a bit and then rode Pirates of the Caribbean.  Kara was again reluctant, but we forced convinced her to ride (she really does enjoy it once she is on).   Elizabeth wasn't feeling well, but she wanted to see the new Fantasyland, so we headed that way.  The wait times were ridiculous!  Small World was 60 minutes!!! Thunder Mountain was 80.  Haunted Mansion was 40.  We decided to just go back to Epcot.

Two hours after we'd first arrived and parked, we walked through the turnstile at Epcot.  Basically, it was a two-hour excursion to ride Pirates. My biggest complaint about the Magic Kingdom is how difficult it is to get to, it seems to take forever to get from the parking lot onto your first ride.  Elizabeth's stomach was still hurting, so they decided to head home.

Once in Epcot, we rode Spaceship Earth, which is another Thomas favorite (we all like it, but it's in his top 3).  Jack really wanted to take Thomas on Test Track, but it was over an hour wait. We grabbed some dinner, did the Figment ride and then showed Thomas the fairy garden.  Then, we headed into the World Showcase.  After our success at The Hall of Presidents, I wanted to see the show in America.  Unfortunately, it was not very good.  Those who know me know that I am a pretty patriotic person.  I expected to have the heartstrings tugged.  Didn't happen.  They haven't updated it in at least 10 years.  Although, one nice part was about 10 minutes in when Jack turned to me with a half-smile and loudly whispered, "Mommy, they're robots!" (Mark Twain and Benjamin Franklin).  We should have seen Herman's Hermits (who were performing outside) instead.

After the show, we went to France and got some treats from the bakery.  By now it was close to closing and the kids were getting pretty cranky, so we opted out of the night show and headed to the rental house.  Originally, we were going to drive home on Sunday.  But, I wasn't ready to leave.  So, around 4 I had called the homeowner to see if we could add a night.  There was no one checking in on Sunday, so we added the night.  Otherwise, there is no way we could have stayed out so late with all the packing left to do, at least not if we wanted to leave at 3 in the morning.  The next time we go to Disney World, I want to spend more time at Epcot.  I enjoyed walking around the World Showcase and wish we had left more time.

Unfortunately, I did not take a single picture.  All day.