Day Four- 4/19/07
This day was a little strange to start off, we where meeting my parents at Rainforest Cafe for lunch at 11:40am. So we decided to sleep in a bit and not head to the park til about 10:30 that way we could go right over to the cafe and see if we could get in early. Jason had come to Disney with some rides he wanted to ride that Alex couldn't ride and I was not interested in riding. The big one being Rock N Roller Coaster with Aerosmith. So my idea was. Set the wake up call for 7am. Let Jason get up and get ready and he could take a bus to MGM and ride the rides he wanted using the single rider line. So we did just that. He woke up, got all ready and headed for MGM while Alex and I slept in. The big reason we stayed was being tired, but it also didn't help that I was getting really sick. So off he went to the park. He rode the Coaster 3 times in the single rider line. Saw opening ceremony. Picked up some souveniers at Star Tours that I had asked him to get for a friends children ( light saber keychains) and also managed to see lightning mcqueen and tow mater. Nope for anyone who asks, he didnt stop and get his picture taken. Anyway. Alex and I woke up around 10 and go ready and caught the Animal Kingdom bus. We arrived shortly before 10:30 and headed over to the Rainforest Cafe. This had been the meal Alex was planning on for his 2009 visit so he was eagerly awaiting it. We stopped and took pictures out front and then ran inside cause he needed to use the restroom ( I think he just couldn't wait any longer for a peek inside) After that we went in the gift shop and bought him a small Cha Cha ( the Red Eyed Tree Frog) since they are his favorite animal. After that we headed outside and Jason was just arriving. I stopped and took some pictures of the two of them and then some scenery pictures and also watched some lizards running around the ground. I decided at this point since my parents where not there yet to stop inside and see what the earliest we could check in for our 11:40 reservation was. The two Cast Members at the counter said, You can check in right now and will seat you. I told them the rest of the party wasn't there yet so they said come back up when they are and we will seat you right away. We did and they did. It was a nice plus to get seated early. We ended up being done with our meals and out into the gift shop by 5 minutes after our orginal reservation. We did some gift shop buying and had that stuff sent to our hotel and thats when Alex realized he had lost Cha Cha.. OH NO! He was starting to panic. I sent them back looking and when he couldn't find it I just bought another. Would rather spend 2 bucks on a new one than have him hysterical al day long. Now it was time to pass through the gates into the Animal Kingdom
Animal Kingdom: Once we got into the park we looked at some of the exhibits around Discovery Island and then decided to make a Counter Clockwise Circle since most people seemed to be moving in a Clockwise Direction. So we started down the path to Camp Mickey Minnie and Festival Of the Lion King. On the way down a Cast Member says. The next showing of Festival of the Lion King starts in 5 minutes. So of course we hauled butt down to it. My mother remembers this fondly from her last visit and we all love Lion King and where definatly not dissapointed with the show. It was a great start to the day. After that was over was supposed to be Character Meet and Greets but the lines there for the greets freaked Alex out and he REALLY wanted to do the Safari so off we went to Asia. I wish we had gotten there a bit earlier as a lot of the animals where plum hot and tired and resting. Even though we did get a lot of great pictures we also missed some animals all together. When that was all done we headed over to the Pangani Trail, we really enjoyed this and got some great viewing in. Then it was time to head back out the trail. My mothers other favorite part of this park was the parade so we wanted to catch it but it was REALLY close to 4pm when the parade begins. We came out the end of the trek and there was a huge planter there and a cast member was roping off the sides of it for parade viewing but left the front open. Orginally we sat on the sides but them my step dad asked if we could sit in the front. Sure he said but not on the benches, either on the back wall of the planter or standing. Ok. Great Deal. We where so happy, I have never had better seats for anything in my life. We where so close that when the Peacock Came by its tale actually brushed our faces. Our pictures are great and they are so close to the parade and characters. By the time the parade was over it was about 4:30, we all needed drinks and a bit of a break so we went over and sat down by the drums and had some snacks, got some pictures ( both by myself and photopass) and then headed on our way. Next stop was Maharajah jungle trek, Expedition Everest and Dinosaur. We truly enjoyed all these and the last two made so much better by the Guest Assitance Card with its shorter wait time and less crowded area. I was most impressed by Everest since we where in the third seat and where able to actually see the track turn over. Dinosaur wasn't bad either but MAN, that rides rough. After dinosaur we stopped at the gift shop and Alex bought himself a High School Musical Pennant. I am kicking myself now for not buying the red wildcats shirt as it was the only boy looking High School Musical shirt I have ever seen, But hey, we bought a TON of stuff. We will survive. At this point it was time to leave my parents to head back to their hotel since we had 7:50 reservations at Crystal Palace and they didn't get park hopper tickets. So we parted ways and headed over to Magic Kingdom.
Magic Kingdom: I will say that even with ADRS the wait was long. Not as long as those that came without ADRS at all but definatly the longest at any of our other meals. The meal was good, the food was good. The people sitting around us. Not so good, but thats not Disneys fault and it can happen anywhere. So we ate and headed back out to the Magic Kingdom. They closed at 12 this evening since the next night was Grad Night and they closed at 7. So we finished all our Magic Kingdom Rides up, Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Laugh Floor Comedy Club and just had a great time. Headed back to the hotel right before closing. There was some wait at the busses but not as bad as it could have been. We had fun, Alex loved Splash Mountain, Jason Loved Space Mountain and I just enjoyed riding them again with the both of them. It was was fun being at the park as the parent instead of the child and seeing him experience the rides for the first time. With all the screams and laughing and even some tears, I think he had a great time.
By the time we got back to the hotel everything was closed, so no gift shopping, no stopping for drinks. It was just back to the room and back to bed. Well, for them, for me it was Upload pictures. Pack the bag for tomorrow, clean up some things and then, back to bed.
And Some Pictures....
You needed it what with that late night and all!
I just picked out a few to resize and post.. hopefully I can make a web page in the future..
