My Kids Apparently Hate Disney. And Stupid Squirrels

Yesterday, we went to Animal Kingdom. The kids didn't really want to go and in the spirit of compromise, I agreed to forgo rope-drop. However, I was not willing to let them sleep as late as they wanted and woke up the older kids around 8:30 to announce a 9 departure (Luke was already up and dressed).

Unfortunately, it was really crowded. The line for Flight of Passage was 105 minutes, Safari was 60, even Dinosaur was 75 (Everest was closed all day). We decided to let Luke do the Wilderness Explorer program. We have avoided it on previous visits, but it seemed like a good day to give it a try. They give the kids a book and the kids go around and collect stickers from various places in the park. At each station, they learn about animals or conservation. There were 27 stops and we did them all! Only Luke wanted a book and he absolutely loved it. It took us all over the park and we saw some areas we hadn't previously visited. The only ride we did was the Safari, the wait went down to a posted 35 minutes and ended up taking less than 20. The other lines remained crazy. The one for FOP looped around the entire land and didn't appear to be moving much as we walked by. I was hoping to ride dinosaur, but it stayed over an hour and most of it was in the sun, so it just wasn't worth it. I also think that one was probably fairly close to the posted time, we had waited in it once when it said 50 and it took 50 and the line was much shorter that day. 

It was cool to see this family of gorillas after seeing them on "Magic of Disney's Animal Kingdom"

Luke learning about enrichment activities for tigers.

Kara and Luke planning out future stops.

So, Luke finished his book, and got to take the Wilderness Explorer's Oath. He was very enthusiastic and was the perfect age for the program. He was an active participant and gave good answers to the questions. His favorite station was matching dinosaur teeth to the correct dinosaur. Some of the stations were combined, so he didn't get the full effect, but it was fun and a nice way to spend the day. He was the first kid of the day to finish the book and as we walked out of the park, he stopped to tell a parking attendant that he had finished the book and was the first kid that day to take the oath. She (acted) duly impressed and it was very sweet.

He took the oath with gusto!

Thomas and I had a good time. Even without riding rides, we had a lot of fun and enjoyed the atmosphere and the animals. Riding on that high, we polled the kids if they wanted to renew our passes. Thomas asked the kids, on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being you can't imagine anything worse, 10 being the greatest news ever, and 5 being completely indifferent, what they gave the idea. Jack and Luke said 5. The girls both said 2. Losers! I am an 8, Thomas said he is a 7. The girls said it is because they want to spend more time at Universal. But, we would never go there on a Saturday, so the two aren't in direct competition. But, whatever. If the parks continue to increase capacity without having shows or the ability to put larger groups on rides, then I can see my number dropping. 

In other recent news, we went to Universal on Columbus Day. It was crowded, but we had a great time. We started with Hagrid's, which was about an hour wait. While we were in line, they opened up a virtual queue and we were able to snag two more ride times (one with each phone). We visited both parks and managed to do quite a bit. They canceled Halloween Horror nights, but had two haunted houses set up. The waits were really short, and Kara wanted to try them out (so did I). We did the first, less scary one, and she really liked it. Jack had asked to go to Halloween Haunt last year, and I thought the houses were a good test of if he was ready. So, I convinced him to go in the second one with Kara and me. Unfortunately, it was a LOT more gruesome than the first and I felt bad for talking him into it.

Their Doc Brown impersonator was awesome!

The tribute store had some awesome displays.

We even got more voodoo donuts, which are good, but I think comparable to DD (and, way more expensive).

We also got to see the new Bourne Spectacular. It was pretty amazing technology. If it wasn't for the masks, I think it would have been really difficult to tell the live actors from the ones on the massive screen. It was well-done and we all enjoyed it. It was a good way to end a three-day weekend.

In final news--we have squirrels living in our eaves, attic, who knows? We can hear them running around the soffits and scratching above us (but, not where the attic is, so crawl spaces I guess?). Also, they have chewed wood on the outside of the house. It is very obnoxious. We spent $700(?!?!?) on tree trimming, but that served more as a reveal for more damage, rather than a deterrent to the obnoxious rodents. We had three removal/remediation specialists come out to provide estimates. The first was $1600 to trap the squirrels and seal up all entry points. The second was $1200 and we are waiting on the third; I expect the third to be the highest (they appeared the most thorough). One of the guys who came out said that he does a lot of work in our neighborhood and the houses were built in a way that makes it easy for critters to gain entry (form over function?). I fully believe this--while I don't know many of my neighbors, all the ones I do know have had this issue. The people right next door have the same exact floor plan and have had issues with both squirrels and racoons. Backing up to the woods is really pretty, but definitely has its price! But, at least we are aware of the issue now and will know the signs to catch it early (or hopefully avoid) in the future. The companies all guarantee their work, but there is some fine print that doesn't elicit full confidence. 

Today, we are going to Marta's house in a bit for more Sunday fun (swimming, games and dinner).