It is amazing, the power that Disney has. To drain wallets, to be sure, but also to revive our spirits. At home, two nights in a row with only 4 hours sleep sandwiched around a very, very long day would have had my family sleeping late for sure. At Disney, we were up with the sun. Even me. I am not a morning person.
At home, it would take us a good hour of rapid-fire reminding, coaxing, bribing and cajoling to get everyone dressed, washed, combed and pretty. At Disney everyone grabbed their ziplock bag and was dressed in a flash. No complaints about pants not reaching ones feet from Piper. No wandering around, deeply interested in everything
except the task at hand from Conor. Not even any crazy diaper-avoiding contortions from Sydney. Everybody neat and pretty? Then on with the show!
Somehow, the Disney magic erases fatigue and replenishes our supply of smiles and laughter. It takes all the stresses and aggravations of everyday life and collects them into a magic bubble, then gently blows the bubble far, far away. This leaves plenty of room for the extra wide smiles, big belly laughs and general sense of contentedness that come from being together as a family, without a care in the world.
Oh. Wait. I am the Meanest Mother in the World. Pay no attention to that smiling, laughing, contented mama behind the curtain. There will be drama. There will be bodily injury. And it will be my doing.
So today, we are off to Animal Kingdom. Who guessed right?
Just a disclaimer: this report will not contain much in the way of details about bus waiting. Just assume that in general our bus waiting and bus rides were not overly long or short, and were for the most part, uneventful. Unless youre told otherwise.
We wanted to be there for the park opening. We were there. But we were standing in line at the coffee kiosk just outside the gate. Or is it inside the gate? Details. Waiting and waiting, while everyone else in the Kingdom waltzed on by to hear the Welcome to our home song and see the rope drop. All because Doug had to have coffee. Its ok, though; the kids dont know rope drop from a bump in the road, and are just happy as can be to be here! We have photographic proof.
Admittedly, Sydneyralla does not appear to be the picture of happiness. Trust me, she was. Its just very tricky to get a family of five to all be smiley at the same time.
Our plan was to not be kingdom commandos. Our plan was to briskly walk, with 2 out of 3 offspring firmly strapped into the stroller, to the Safari to be able to ride it without a long wait. After that, Festival of the Lion King, and anything else we were able to catch beyond that would be icing.
Plans change.
I may have already mentioned that our Piper is a critter girl. While her brother is fascinated by the mechanical world, cause and effect and the like, Pipers heart and mind belong to anything that lives and breathes.
So when we approached the Oasis, and there were CMs standing around holding little plastic cages, we detoured. Piper had to check it out. We saw a tarantula, a giant millipede, and a very exotic butterfly, the name of which escapes me. Then we saw blue macaws, wallabies, and spoonbill storks. And the CMs got to hear about the chickens hatching from eggs at Pipers preschool, the butterflies we hatched at home, and all about our cars, past present and future. Yes, Conor chimed in there for a bit. Hes not so much fascinated by the creatures. Give him something mechanical or electronic, something he can twiddle with and figure out the cause and effect, and hes good.
Our detour was well worth it. Not only did we learn that the Giant Black Millipede eats leaves (so fear not, if you bump into one in a dark alley) but we kept our promise to ourselves to take the time to enjoy the little things and not make it all about the rides. All the time, anyway.
On to the Kilimanjaro Safari. Still no line, to speak of. We had a lot of fun with the animal signs overhead in the queue. Mummy! Simba means lion! Thats just like in the Lion King movie! squeaked Piper. I love kids. They are not cued in to the whole wildly (yet systematically) entangled web that is the Disney self-promoting marketing machine. They think its all an amazing coincidence, the naïve little sweeties.
The safari vehicle arrives to take us on our big adventure. We are primed and ready to see some twiga, kiboku, and kifaru. (That would be giraffes, hippos, and rhinos, for those of you that raced through the line without taking note of the queue details. Not that theres anything wrong with that. I dont judge. Unless you knock down one of my loved ones along the way.) Oh and dont forget Simba. Can't wait to see a real Simba!
Jambo! (that means hello. I love that word. It's friendly and fun to say. Say it with me!) I learned very early in our journey to
not try and point animals out to the kids. Because I would say, Oooh, Piper, see the bongo? pointing frantically. Nooo! Where iiiiiiis it? she'd wail, so disappointed to be missing something. So, I shut it. She was able to find things on her own just fine without the pressure of mamas wildly waving finger. She had a better time and Im sure the people around us did, too.
This is her with her grumpy face on, during the "Mommy's pointing at stuff I can't see! She's so MEAN!" phase.
Meanwhile, Conor was bored.
I think it was just a matter of expectations not matching reality. His mental picture of Disney didnt include this whole animal theme park thing. He actually asked me How long has this safari been? and How long is this going to take? Seriously? I birthed this child?
Doug took a lot of blurry pictures of the animals and quite a few blurry pictures of the landscape with no animals at all. No disrespect intended; its just tricky to take decent photos while youre chasing poachers and saving the world.
Speaking of poaching, I just want to throw in a quick little aside. Conor may be bored with some of the most beautiful and exotic creatures on the planet, but he has an extraordinary memory, and a knack for picking up new vocabulary. We had to explain to the kids what a poacher was, thanks to Disneys Kilimanjaro Safari, and tried to do so in truthful but non-graphic terms. (NON graphic. Im learning. What?!? did not need to be part of this picture on our happy vacation.) So fast forward to nearly a year after this trip. Ive recently gotten into an egg kick, and one day I asked the kids if theyd like a poached egg for breakfast. Conor replies without missing a beat, No, thanks, Mummy. I dont like eggs that have been stolen in the night.
Back to the report.
Following our defeat of the poachers, our next goal is to hit Camp Minnie-Mickey for the Festival of the Lion King. Predictably, we get distracted on the way there. Pin trading, also known as Dougs idea for a really inexpensive souvenir for the kids. I know. You dont have to tell me. I DIS, he doesnt, what can I say?
We pop into the Island Mercantile, and with the help of a couple of CMs named Cheryl and Jamie, we are indoctrinated into the wonderful world of pin trading. A Buzz Lightyear To Pin-finity and Beyond starter lanyard for Conor, and a Princess one for Piper, plus an Animal Kindom pin for each of them. Cheap, dear? Did you realize we could bring home the Mickey napkins and spend that on cocktails instead?
My dear husband and I have different souvenir philosophies. Mine is that I dont need them. I need photos, and I need the photos and stories to be in my album. Id rather spend the money on food. His is that he likes stuff. Usually its practical (sunglasses, watch, hat
whatever he may have inadvertently forgotten to pack). Practical while were on the trip. Once were home, its just more stuff that we dont need. But thats my bias showing.
Conor also completed his first and second pin trades after our purchase. He traded with both Jamie and Cheryl, and they gave him a Magical Moments certificate for the occasion. Awww, that was worth the $75 we just spent.
He's looking down at his pins.
We did it again! Let ourselves be caught in a fun moment instead of tapping our toes and looking at our watches.
At last we made our way to the Festival of the Lion King. Doug and I did not see this on our preview trip last fall. I had no idea what to expect, except that it was phenomenal. We made it just before the show was ready to start, and were seated in what turned out to be the Lion section. At the end of a row, about 3 or 4 rows up from the floor. We were beginning to slide down to the middle of the row, as tends to be the Disney custom. But a lady behind us gave us the high sign and said to stay put. Shed seen the show before, and knew that the performers would be entering from the big doors just to our right. Thanks, maam! And jambo!
From the moment the pre-show began, I knew we had a winner. We were laughing so hard at the banter between the four main performers, and having a ball being lions. Rarrrrrrrr! Jambo, Simba! Were ready for you!
From the first low notes of music which then swelled up to fill the hall, I was gone. The Lion King is one of my favorite (modern) Disney movies. The music, the costumes, the comedy from Timon and Pumbaa, the floats and the acrobatics it all took my breath away. We were bopping in our seats, singing along, loveloveloving the show. Then one of the performers came to see if Piper and Conor would like to join them down on the floor. Piper can be shy at times, and this was one of them, but Conor was all in.
Seeing my precious little boy out there with the rest of the cast, shaking a noisemaker and joyfully doing his best to keep up with the singing and dancing I have a Magical Memory certificate of my own for that one, burned into my brain forever. It was the confluence of all that makes Disney, Disney. Streams of happy, happy tears were flowing down my face. He was so excited. After being bored nearly to death on the safari, he was now in his element.
After the show, we realized that Mickey himself was nearby. By we, I mean Doug and I. We ushered the troops into the queue to meet the main Mouse, but didnt tell them what it was about. We were worried that we might get to the front and find that the Mickster was on a cheese break.
No worries we got to meet him. Well, most of us did. Doug dutifully snapped photos, and Sydney buried her face in my shoulder and would not give the Mouse the time of day. This would prove to be her m.o. throughout the trip.
After the audience with Mickey, we decided to grab some lunch at Pizzafari and head back to the resort. We needed some pool time and some down time, because we (okay, I) wanted to go to the Magic Kingdom for SpectroMagic and Wishes.
Coming next: Part 11, Crash and Jingle (see page 21)
Comment in other thread was meant as harmless, not to offend, 
