Alrighty, where were we?!?!?
Thats right! Its Animal Kingdom Day!!
Today started like most, only this time I was happily waking up after a restful nights sleep thanks to us fixing our AC mishap! Yay for good sleep! Even if it was only five hours of it& moving on.. I, of course, had everything packed up and ready to go this morning. I even remembered to put Tinkerbelle gifts out! The kids each got a plastic safari hat I picked up at dollar tree! They were excited. We grabbed out breakfast to go and headed to Landscape of Flavors with our cups to grab some drinks and eat our food quickly.
By 7:35 we were in line for the AK bus!!
Didnt take long for us to get there, and we were the only family on the bus as well. We walked up to the entryway and took a few photos..
Then we proceeded to hang out by the turnstiles. It wasn't even eight yet, and park opened at nine, so we got some maps and studied a bit while we waited. There was really no M&Gs that were on my must dos today, except Pocahontas. But she had several times where she would be coming back throughout the day, she wasn't a constant, so I knew I could wait to get in line later. My main goal was to get to the Safari first, because I had heard the animal were more active first thing, in the cooler morning.
While we waited, I let Maddie run around a bit, as I chased her down, hoping shed burn off some steam. There really was hardly anyone here. We sat back under a tree for quite some time. When more people started walking up and standing at the turnstiles to get in, we finally gave up our seat and made our way to stand as well.
They opened the park a little early at 8:45 and soon we were in! Even at opening, the crowds were pretty sparse. Having studied my map diligently, I knew the route to take towards Kilamanjaro Safaris, so we headed in that direction. Once we came upon the Tree of Life though, we had to stop and take some pics&
Right after these I saw another PP Photographer who was just walking up, a little closer to the shot, so we went ahead and stopped again. This lady was soooo sweet. I asked about doing Magic Shots and she happily took some. She took sooooo many, in fact. We have a
LOT of pics from her, but heres just a few&
After our morning photo shoot we finally made our way into Harambe
And soon we were heading out on Safari!
Our guide was so awesome, a perfect one for our first time. We only had one other family on board with us, and we were in the front row, so we got to talk to her a lot. She was pretty funny, knowledgeable, and articulate, all qualities that youd want in your safari guide!
We saw pretty much every animal that I expected, I dont think there were any main species that we didnt get to see. We even caught some glimpses at the lions. Overall, the animals didnt seem all that active, but really, despite it being like nine am, it was already pretty warm, so they were probably getting toasted already.
Olivia and Maddie were both pretty impressed. Everytime an animal came into view Maddie would yell out her traditional Ba-Bowwwwwww noise and point. That became her word for anything that wasnt Minnie or Mickey, they were Mi-Mowwwwwww haha&everything and everyone else was just Ba-Bowwwwwww & what can I say? Girl knows her priorities, and the mice get a special treatment.
After our safari we headed through the Pagani trail since it was right there. This was soooo cool! I could sit and watch gorillas all day. They are sooooo interesting. They are so smart, and close to humans, I am just fascinated by them.
I tore myself from them to check out some other fun little critters though&
Prairie dogs!! I had to text one of my BFFs, Jess, this pic because we have a very old, long-standing inside joke about prairie dogs. Ya see, we watched Lion King 1 ½ one day, and we both found the song that Timons clan sings VERY amusing. Ya know the one&where the prairie dogs swish their heads back and forth, looking for predators while they sing this jaunty little tune..
What was that?!?!? {SWISH}{SWISH} Quick before the hyena commmmmmmmmme!
Anyway, we both found that highly humorous, for some reason, and from time to time we like to sing and mimic the song. And anytime we happen upon a prairie dog we
MUST tell each other about it and reference said song. Happens more than ya think&..
Next,
The One With the Swahili!
but it looks like the light saber made her happy again. 
I just noticed your Friends reference. 
I don't know why but I like it so much better than the flatbreads they have elsewhere in the parks and even our local pizza place at home.
I got to do everything I wanted and planned and so much more. This weather was so nice and cool and overcast most the day, which was a nice change. We met soooo so so many characters. The rides were my favorite. The shows were amaze-balls. And Fantasmic, well, it was just the most perfect cherry on top. I wouldnt call this my favorite park, because it didnt have the classic Disney feel and attractions of Magic Kingdom, which cannot be topped, but I would say it was the most fun park. I loved it. And the crowds were low for us, which just made the day that much smoother. 
), and the Animation Academy which my DD's are addicted to 
I hope they still have the Monsters U stuff ging on when we get there in May!
