Walt Disney World-Day Three (Animal Kingdom)

We woke up the next morning to find some tired boys. 

After a quick breakfast, we headed out to the Animal Kingdom. 

What a bunch of animals!

First thing we had schedule was the Jungle Safari. We were told to go early in the morning and you will see more animals. We did get to see a lot. 

Patrick thought it was pretty cool.

Josh took the camera after a while and got some great shots. 

After the Safari we headed over to the Lion King Show. I didn't take any pictures but it was amazing. They had swinging monkeys (people in costumes), dancing birds (also people in costumes), and a fire dancer (real fire). I'm glad we went.

We walked around the Africa area for most of the morning and saw some pretty neat things. 

These birds were flying back and forth from their trainers. It was fun to stand in the path and have them fly right over your head. 

We stayed at the these giant fish for a while. Patrick was enthralled. 

We took a train over to Rafiki's Conservation Station. They highlight of this trip was the petting zoo. The animals were eating while we were there but that didn't stop the kids from petting goats, pigs, and sheep. 

We also met Rafiki himself. 

And Chip and Dale.

For lunch we had another character meal scheduled. This time we went to the Tusker House. 

There we met Goofy, Donald, Daisy, and Mickey. They came by our table quite often. 

Every once in a while they would play music and start a conga line. Each child would get a shaker and get to follow Mickey around the restaurant. The kids loved it!

We were all struggling from the late night at Magic Kingdom and we thought this was going to be an early day. Luckily, this lunch started turning things around. 

Another thing that helped was a ride on the Kali Rapids. Joe took the boys right after lunch and they got soaked. Of course, the boys loved it and wanted to go again. 

I waited with Patrick while the boys went on the ride. He feel asleep so I had a few minutes to myself. It was really nice. 

After their first ride, Joe came up to the bench I was sitting at and asked me to look at the guy standing at the bench next to me to see if I knew where he was from. Apparently, while they were in line, the attendant stopped them from going up when they were next and a group got in front of them (who were not waiting in line). It worked out fine as they got on the same raft as them. Joe thought he remembered him from somewhere. I tried to take a sneaky picture but this was the best I could get. 

The group packed up their stuff and left with the Disney employee in tow. After the boys were done with their second trip down the rapids, we figured out where we knew him from. Joe remembered him from Terminator 2 and I remembered him from Speed. He is Joe Morton, the actor. He is currently staring in Scandal. Our brush with stardom. Pretty neat.

We also found out the Disney employee following them around is part of the VIP experience. You can pay for this (a hefty price) and get many perks including walking to the front of any line.  I think we will stick with Fastpasses.

While Patrick continued napping....

(he is normally a tummy sleeper and was so tired this day when he went to roll over, which usually wakes him up, he got this far and decided that was still good enough for a nap)

...Dad took the big boys on Mt Everest Expedition. I was a little nervous about Josh because it looked like a pretty fast roller coaster. 

When they came out Joe was thrilled. He loved it! The boys, not so much. I couldn't convince either of them to come on it with me so I went by myself (although Daniel did change his mind, but too late to join me).

Afterwards, we headed over to Dinoland (which is where we should have spent most of our day. Now we know). They had all kinds of Dino themed rides. The boys were in heaven. 

They went on the Dinosaur ride with Dad. 

While Patrick and I walked around what is used for the line (at the end of the day this park is pretty empty) and found dinosaurs. 

Then the boys took me on the ride. 

Then we all rode on the Triceawhirl. 

To end the day, we asked the boys what ride they would like to ride one more time. Josh chose Kali Rapids and convinced me to go along. We got soaked. Josh ended up going down the big hill backwards and a wave of water came over this back so he got the most wet. He looked like he had gone swimming. 

Daniel wanted to go on Mt Everest, even though he was scared to death. 

Afterwards, when we were getting this picture, the women working asked if he like the ride and he said "No". This made her laugh when I told her it was his second time riding. 

Dad wanted to go one more time on Mt Everest so he had to go by himself. 

It was a great day at Animal Kingdom.

Picture in front of the tree of life. 

After the park, we went back to the hotel and enjoyed a dinner at the cafe then took a night time dip in the pool. Afterwards, the boys crashed in their beds. We put them into their beds at 10:01 and when I went out to grab something from their room at 10:18, they were all asleep. I think that's a record! One more fun morning and then we head back to Alabama. Thanks Disney World!