Animal Kingdom

Remember that family vacation back in October? The one where I took over 900 pictures that never made it past the downloading phase? I finally got around to sorting through and uploading a few more to the blog. Here's what I can remember of that long ago trip {in addition to the previously posted Hollywood Studios, The Kennedy Space Center, and Florida Without Kids}.

Animal Kingdom

This was probably my favorite of all the Disney parks we went to on our Disney World trip. It wasn't as crowded as the rest of the parks and the rides were just as fun. Not to mention the beautiful scenery.

The Tree of Life

Had to stop for a picture on our way in and later stopped to get a more detailed picture of the animals.

Fun Fact: Ten artists and three Imagineers worked full-time for 18 months to create the 325 animal carvings on The Tree of Life.

There were several spots to get pictures in front of this tree, but they always had someone stopped there to take a picture. We had to wait to get this one, yet still some wild animals snuck into our picture below.

While we ate lunch we had a great view of Expedition Everest, which turned out to be our favorite ride. At the end of the day there was no wait for the ride and we ran through the line several times before closing and throroughly enjoyed each time!

Below: serious picture for mom and goofy picture to get them to agree to serious picture {the story of my life...our expensive professional picture at the Kennedy Space Center has bunny ears in it}

Kali River Rapids

Fun Fact: Most of the statues and decoration in this attraction are authentic and were created in Asia.

We loved the Rider Swap feature which allowed us to take turns with Joseph while only waiting in line once {kind of}. We still had to wait in the Fast Pass line, which seems a little unfair but it was significantly shorter than waiting in the regular line! The kids didn't mind riding each ride twice, though {once with mom and once with dad}. Little brother pulled through for them! Joseph had fun watching the monkeys with me while I waited for my turn on the ride.

The Boneyard

This place was so much fun! The kids had more fun burying themselves in the sand than uncovering dinosaur fossils, though. Oh, the joy of simple things.

This bridge looked so cool! Here's Camille waving to us on the dinosaur bridge.

Not only did Joseph help the kids go on each ride twice with the rider swap, Joseph also scored us some extra Fast Pass Tickets by smiling at someone important who worked there.  

Joseph certainly isn't stingy with his smiles. Here he is making friends with more of the staff members. He loved their brooms and didn't want to give them back.

We had to trade him for a Mickey Mouse light saber and I think he still cried when we took the broom away.

Kilimanjaro Safari

Fun fact: Kilimanjaro Safari is the largest attraction at any Disney Theme Park.

Todd and I were watching a history channel documentary on Disney theme parks and thought it was very interesting to know that while this is a "natural" environment, it is staged to give people optimal viewing experiences as they travel through to see the animals. They heat {or cool depending on the weather} the large rock they want the lions to sit on at the top of the hill. There were lots of other neat tidbits of information that I've since forgotton. They did a great job, as we saw lots of animals and had a great time.

The drums in this little village setting were a big hit!

 On our way out of the park we took a bunch of goofy pictures because there were no tourists in the way.

 And that's the end. {Get it? The end?}

I wonder if it will be another year before I gear up to post the next installment of our vacation. Do you have any unposted vacations that are too daunting to tackle?