Thursday, April 12, 2012

Disney World - Day 6: Animal Kingdom

Thursday was Chris's 35th Birthday!! We went to Animal Kingdom!

First stop - DINOSAUR! Once again putting the parent swap into play. We both rode it in 15 minutes. It's a lot like Indiana Jones at Disneyland.
Chris took some photos of Ryleigh with some Dinosaurs while I was on the ride.
From Walt Disney World 2012
From Walt Disney World 2012
This is me on Primeval Whirl. Chris got to ride first.
From Walt Disney World 2012
Ryleigh and I on TriceraTop Spin.
From Walt Disney World 2012
We found monkeys!
From Walt Disney World 2012
And the Tree of Life in the center of the park. So cool to look close and see all the animals that make up the trunk of that tree.
From Walt Disney World 2012
We waited an hour in line for the Kilamjaro Safari's. But it was worth it. We saw so many animals!
Forget what this guy is called. It's actually related to a Giraffe, not a Zebra. 
From Walt Disney World 2012
A Rhino.
From Walt Disney World 2012
Hippos!
From Walt Disney World 2012
Alligators - and LOTS of them!
From Walt Disney World 2012
Lots of Giraffes too! This guy was super close to the path.
From Walt Disney World 2012
Elephants! (We saw a lion, but apparently that photo didn't upload - oops!)
From Walt Disney World 2012
A White Rhino
From Walt Disney World 2012
This rock made me think of the Lion King. And the sky was actually that blue!
From Walt Disney World 2012
An Ostrich!
From Walt Disney World 2012
And a WartHog!
From Walt Disney World 2012
This is the Mountain. We were on our way to Expedition Everest - an awesome rollercoaster!! I don't know which I liked better Everest, or Rock n Rollercoaster. Tough call! 
From Walt Disney World 2012
After that, we went to the Finding Nemo - the Musical. I didn't take any photos. After taking photos at show at all the other parks, I wanted to just sit back and enjoy this one. It was really cute and a novel approach. They used puppets, and the puppet masters sung. Very unique.

After the show it was time for our lunch reservation at Tusker House. It was an African style cuisine buffet that was surpringly good. They also had the best deserts! 
Here's our pre-lunch photo with Donald. Ryleigh was grumpy because Donald kissed her eye.
From Walt Disney World 2012
Mickey was there! He loved Ryleigh.
From Walt Disney World 2012
Daisy Duck! Super sassy.
From Walt Disney World 2012
Goofy. Ryleigh liked him because he was so silly.
From Walt Disney World 2012
Chris got his birthday cupcake and a birthday card signed by all the characters.
From Walt Disney World 2012
Once AGAIN! Front of the line for the parade!
From Walt Disney World 2012
See Mickey loved her! He came back to give her a hug and surprised her.
From Walt Disney World 2012
And ran into him AGAIN before we left :)
From Walt Disney World 2012
We walked outside and were trying to decide what to do. We remembered that the parade was going to start in about 15 minutes, and we found a perfectly EMPTY spot right by the restaurant. Just so happens it was a PERFECT location!! The parade came right toward us and turned right in front of us. We sat down and got a front row seat!
From Walt Disney World 2012
From Walt Disney World 2012
These "floats" were neat. The people were strapped to the animals on wheels. Some had heads like he one below to move or push or maneuver in some way. It was neat to watch how they worked.
From Walt Disney World 2012
Other floats were propelled by people riding a bicycle-like device. 
From Walt Disney World 2012
And others were like Jeeps. Here's Minnie's car.
From Walt Disney World 2012
Goofy's car.
From Walt Disney World 2012
Donald's car.
From Walt Disney World 2012
And Mickey!
From Walt Disney World 2012
Family photo in front of the big tree on our way out.
From Walt Disney World 2012
We had to get back to the hotel to shower/change before the Midwestern University - Friends of Midwestern reception. Ryleigh was a perfect angel at the reception sitting in the corner playing on her touch. I found Tom G an old classmate. Talked to my old coworker. Caught up with some of the old students. Introduced old students to new students. Introduced preceptors to students they will have in the coming months. Overall it was a successful reception. Afterwards, we again debated about going back to the parks, but Chris was Disney'd out. We discovered they were playing "Despicable Me" at the pool, so we went down for a swim/hot tub. Then we again ordered room service for dinner, but this time, no carrot cake for Ryleigh :) 

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