The Animal Kingdom is for Animals... like US!

I had assumed that I'd sleep soundly the night after our Cinderella dinner- after all, I'd been up since 2AM the morning before, but a decent night's sleep wasn't in the cards for me. I was awake at 4:30 staring at the ceiling and listening to all the odd noises that happen in a resort the size of POP in the wee hours of the morning. I had set a wake-up call for 6:30AM so we could shower and get to the buses by 8AM. I stared at the ceiling for a while longer then got up and tip-toed around the room trying to quietly make a pot of coffee. The boys were sleeping like logs, so I didn't really need to worry that I'd wake them. Boy, did that coffee ever taste good! I read the Passporter (a Disney Tourbook) and looked at maps until the coffee was gone and the phone rang with our wake up call.

I picked up the phone and said hello only to hear a bit of Disney-esque music followed by Stitch shouting, "Goooood Mornin'!" He was followed by Mickey Mouse who told us that things have been odd around there since Stitch had escaped and to have a nice day anyway. This was followed by Stitch who spouted a sassy, "Get MOVING!" which made me laugh right out loud. It was the same wake-up call we would get each morning.

The three of us were up and out by 8. The bus was quick to pick us up and we were at the gates to the Animal Kingdom before the rope dropped. Unfortunately, I was a bit unfamiliar with the layout of the place and I was unsure of the crowd levels so we rushed through the Oasis to make it to the main section of the park before the official Rope Drop.

To get to the park, one has to first walk through the Oasis- It's kind of like Main Street USA is in the Magic Kingdom- a setting to get you in the right mindset for the adventures that are ahead of you. Except we were in too much of a rush to enjoy the leafy green coolness of the area.

Mental Note: Next time take your time through the Oasis!

Second Mental Note: In September, there are no crowds.

Minnie Mouse and her friends were there to welcome us to the Animal Kingdom and Mickey was close by as well. They sang their little song and danced their little dances and opened the Animal Kingdom to the real animals! US!

The boys and I made a semi-mad dash (actually, it was a brisk walk) for Expedition Everest, the newest attraction at AK. It's a wild ride around 'Mount Everest' during which the views are incredible. That is if you can keep your eyes open long enough to enjoy them! There was no line at all, so we went right on and were loaded into the carts immediately. I stowed all my gear and the little train was on its way.

Yet another Mental Note: I need to stay away from Expedition Everest!

So I'm on this roller coaster and I think, "No biggie! I've done Splash Mountain, I've done the Big Thunder.. how hard can this one be?"

What a big dummy I am.

I did okay until the coaster stopped and began it's wild descent- backward through pitch darkness. I don't do backward so well... I was flopped around and swung around and beaten back and forth and the worst part? I missed the Yeti! The ride culminates with a pass by a huge hairy monster with glowing red eyes-- and I missed the darned thing!!!

As the three of us disembarked, Stephen and Eddie were positively glowing and exclaiming how wonderful the ride was. Stephen looked at me and asked if I'd seen the Yeti.

"No. I missed it." I answered quietly, swallowing hard. If I threw up in front of my kids, I'd never live it down.

"That's okay mom," he replied, "There's no line. We can go again!"

I looked him squarely in the eye and said with all the seriousness I could muster, "Ummm, no. That isn't going to happen. Not in this lifetime."

So I waited in the gift shop like the big old chicken that I am while the boys rode again. By the time they disembarked the second time, I had gotten my shakes under control enough so I could walk. Stephen bought a hat and we went looking for something a little less scary.

Like the Kilimanjaro Safaris! This is my favorite attraction in the Animal Kingdom. It's a ride through 'Africa' in which the animals appear to run freely and sometimes come quite close to the vehicle you're riding in. Disney does a great job at camouflaging the fact that the animals aren't really free. Still, they seem reasonably happy and they are truly beautiful as you see them running through the 'Savannah'. I loved the giraffes and the elephants. Seeing the mama and the baby made everyone in our car say, "Awwwwww." Too cute!

From Africa, we went to Dinoland where we caught the ride 'Dinosaur'. That was a fun one too and I squawked and hollered as we went past the man-eating reptiles. Yeah- I really love Disney.

Lunch was at the Tusker House, and while I found the African buffet just delicious, the boys were less than enthused. Because our reservation was so soon after breakfast, there were still donuts on the buffet so that's what Stephen filled up on, while Eddie chose to chow down on the 'hot dog nuggets'. So glad the dining was free!

After lunch, we took a walk through the Pangani Forest. It was cool and shaded. Disney goes all out to make things look realistic and authentic, so walking through what seemed like ancient temples was amazing. Of course I was always very serious and mature. Seriously though- the detail is incredible. The temples looked as if they had been abandoned for hundreds of years and the carvings are intricate and lovely. Moss and vines appear to grow everywhere, adding to the aged look of the place.

While in the Pangani Forest, we saw huge fruit bats, gorillas, fish and swimming hippos. AK is not simply an amusement park- it's an educational experience. Just don't tell the kids!

I think we managed to see all the major attractions that day. The boys managed to ride EE another time or two later in the afternoon and we decided that the last ride of the day would be Kali River Rapids, a raft ride which warns, "You will get wet. You may get soaked!"

Sounds like fun!

The line was fairly long for this ride, though nothing like the lines of a few weeks earlier. I think we waited for maybe 20 minutes all together. We were led to a raft which holds 8 people, I think. The raft is round and bounces around as it goes down to the 'river'. The first opportunity for a soaking came early in the ride. Stephen was sitting across from me on the other side of the raft. He was backward as a fountain of water spurted upward and came down fully on his head. I started to laugh as he sputtered and spewed. But the best was yet to come!

As we made our way down the rough waters of the 'Kali River', the raft bounced and spun. We all held on for dear life. I was going down frontward, which meant Stephen was again backward. We began to go down a flume like part of the river. At the bottom I watched as a wall of white water rose up over an unsuspecting Stephen. We are talking wall of water! It was almost as if I was watching it in slow motion. I tried to warn Stephen, but there wasn't time. The water came down and soaked him. He was dripping! And all his evil mother could do was laugh hysterically as he sat across from me, drenched to the bone and sputtering. Eddie and I hardly got wet at all!

The Animal Kingdom closes early, so we decided to go back to the resort to swim. We got home just in time to see the thunder storm rolling in. It really was lovely though, with the black clouds and the rainbows that followed. These pictures were taken from the balcony outside our room. Can you see the double rainbow in the second picture?

The storms finally passed and the boys and I spent the evening in the pool- Hippy Dippy, of course! It rained nearly every day that we were there, but usually the storms were short lived and often enough to drive many people away from the parks. That meant fewer lines for us to wait in!

There is so much more that we did this day! We went to Rafiki's Planet Watch, we saw the staging area for the animals who live in the Animal Kingdom, we ate frozen strawberry bars and spicy Chinese noodles. We shopped and walked and rode. As I lay in the pool cooling off, I remember thinking that I was incredibly tired. It was going to be a long, wonderful 10 days.