Day 2 - Disney's Animal Kingdom Slideshow

Or see it on Flickr Slideshow (full screen) by clicking HERE:


At 9:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, I went to the orientation meeting while Jon took the kids to the Gingerbread House for breakfast. We didn't get to bed until around midnight the night before. Keep in mind that Florida 9 a.m. is a Californian's 6 a.m.

It was hard to get the kids to leave the village because they hadn't had a chance to play there yet. We let Jessica enjoy a couple rounds on the Merry-Go-Round & and think the kids all went to the ice cream parlor before we headed over to Disney's Animal Kingdom. We headed straight for the safari tour. You ride in this cool jeep and drive through the terrain and see animals. There are no obvious fences so you can really imagine that you are on an African safari.

Next the kids LOVED the Kali River Rapids. These type of water rides became Jessica's ABSOLUTE favorites. We dared the kids to give Expedition Everest a try. The kids never actually saw the tracks. I don't think they would have gotten on if they saw how steep it was. I didn't take any pics there, but there's a beautiful image posted HERE. It's quite the thrill ride. The premise is that you are going to climb Mt. Everest and there's folklore about a Yeti. You head up a steep track, wind a little, and then roll to a stop when you see THIS. YIKES!!! You hear some click, clickety, CLACK, CLACK, CLACK and then you are rolling backwards toward super speed into THE DARK. You go upside down - maybe twice. A bit more twist twist and then it's light again as you go racing down, around, through the mountain. And YES - I spotted the Yeti - more than once. My kids on the other hand might have had their hands clenched across their faces. Nobody wanted to ride again with Dad.

There were other cool things there - like a Lion King show and a safari parade, but we left around 4 p.m. to go check out Epcot. So much for our idea to make it a "short day" at the parks.