dougsmom98
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 23, 2002
- Messages
- 2,333
I slept in until 5:30 this morning, showered, made the coffee and had breakfast while the kids slept. The kids were starting to lose a little steam. We left by 7 am again and headed to Animal Kingdom. This was our first time going to Animal Kingdom and we had heard mixed reviews. We were excited to try it for ourselves. I was surprised when we got there because it was a Surprise Morning day for on site guests. I didn't think Tuesday was scheduled to be Early Entry day at this park, so I was a little disappointed. We had chosen Animal Kingdom for New years Eve because we thought the other parks would be crowded with party goers. Since this park closed early we thought it would be less crowded adn the best choice for our group. Despite the on site guests getting in early, we made the right choice in going to this park on this day. We walked onto everything that we wanted to. We decided to stay as a large group at this park and it was an easy park to stay together in. When they finally let us in, we headed straight to the Safari ride. I was in awe when I saw the Tree of Life. It is so impressive to see it for the first time. We walked right on to the safari. It was great, we saw so many animals. The kids didn't appreciate the ride as much as we did because they really could only see the largest, closest animals but they still still enjoyed it because it was a bumpy ride. Next we went to It's Tough to be a Bug. This was one of my favorite things to go to. Douglas was obsessed with Bugs Life when he was 2 years old and now within the last month or so, the twins are obsessed with this movie too. They weren't scared at all. They loved it, and everyone in our group loved it. We then headed over to Dinosaur and Tricerotops spin. My mother watched the twins so I could go one Dinosaur. It was good but the jostling gave me a headache. Douglas looked at my husband and I after the ride was done and said that that ride was kind of scary. I am guessing he didn't really care for it. Tricerotops spin was a good ride for the kids. We didn't need to wait in line for any of these rides. Next, we headed to Legend of the Lion King and we waited in line for 25 minutes here because the CM said he wasn't sure if it would fill up being a holiday week and he said it was a show we wouldn't want to miss. We grabbed some warm chocolate chip cookies at the snack bar that was near the entrance and waited. The kids were antsy in line and kept laying down in the puddles, but the show was worth the wait. We were in the Lion section which was fun because the twins love roaring like lions. It turned out that the seats weren't even filled to capacity so we could have skipped waiting in line and come at the last minute and we still would have been able to get in the show. After that show we went to see Pocahantis with Grandma Willow. The rest of the group decided that they didn't want to go, so we went by ourselves and planned to meet them at Kali River Rapids. This show was kind of boring for us and kind of a let down. It had a good message though. When we got to Kali River Rapids, the rest of the group had just finished the ride. It was only a 5 minute wait so John and Douglas went to get in line. The twins and I watched from the bridge. Everyone in our group enjoyed the ride, even my mother. They decided to go on again though and the second time was a real soaker. We then decided to have lunch. We got the kids McDonalds fries and we got chicken stir fry. The stir fry was nice for something different but kind of bland. We then took the train over to the animal petting area. Mark fell asleep on the train ride so he missed petting the goats but Douglas and Matthew enjoyed it. After we got back and off the train we walked the trails near the safari ride. This was well worth it. When we first started the walk I was thinking it was boring then we got to the huge aquarium and we got to see two hippos playing with each other. They came right up to the window and then they would jump up out of the water. We got to see quite a few gorillas too. It was worth the walk. At this point we were getting tired. Everyone kind of wanted to leave but at the same time they wanted to stay and see the parade. We were 100 yards from the exit and still debating whether or not to stay and I said to my husband that I kind of wanted to stay. In my mind I was thinking that if we went back to the hotel it would still be too early to feed the kids and get them to bed, so that would mean that my husband and I were going to have to take them to the pool. Going to the pool is fun, but tiring because first we have to get them all changed and out the door, and then we spend the entire time playing zone defense. Only Douglas has had any swimming lessons and all three of them like to jump off the side the entire time we are in the pool. We're out numbered by our kids so catching them after they surface so that you can get them to the side is a lot of work. After pool time we would have had to go back to the room, get them dressed again and then spend the next two hours keeping them from destroying the room before we got them to bed. So, when I mentioned this to my husband, he also agreed that it would be easier to stay and wait for the parade. The rest of the group joined us. We found a spot right up front and got our usual Mickey ice cream bars and relaxed for a half hour until the parade started. I loved this parade. The music was upbeat and they had a lot of character interaction. Matthew slept through this parade but Mark be bopped in his stroller the entire time. One of the people on stilts came over to shake his hand so he timidly put it out and shook it. When they left, he had this huge grin on his face. From that point on, everytime someone on stilts or a character walked by, he would put out his hand to shake. I was so pleased because most of them saw him with his hand up and they did came over. It was a total Disney moment for me. Seeing how happy and excited he was, made staying for the parade worth it. After the parade, we left to go to the hotel. My husband went out and got the kids some dinner and bought breakfast pasteries for the next morning while I bathed the kids and got them ready for bed. When he got home, they ate and we put them to bed. I got a salad from the restaurant at the hotel and my husband picked off the kids' leftovers and we planned for our next magical day at Magic Kingdom. The rest of the group decided that they were going to Epcot in the morning so we were going to be on our own at the MK without any help. Stayed tuned.
