Our Trip: Animal Kingdom

We finished off our week of Disney fun at Animal Kingdom.  Much like Epcot, Animal Kingdom generally is a more laid-back day filled with a nice mix of rides, animals, shows, and just enjoying the ambiance of the park.

I always prefer this location for the tree of life picture rather than the front of the park.  I like the lush greenery...and the lack of people in the background.

We started off our day with the safari.  It was the perfect way to begin the day.  Not only was there no line, but the animals were all out and active in the early morning hours.

The giraffes were very active and kept walking through the road or stopping in the road, causing us to stop several times to allow them to pass.  We saw a giraffe baby galloping, two elephant brothers sparring, wildebeests running, and lots of baby animals.

Since we had watched the Animal Kingdom series on Disney + about a year ago and rewatched several of the episodes on our vacation, it was fun to get to see some of the animals that were featured on the series.  We had just rewatched the episode when the rhino was expecting this baby.

One of the fun things we did this time was the Wilderness Explorer program.  Each kid got a Wilderness Explorer book and went to various stations throughout the park to do an activity, learn something, and then get a Wilderness Explorer sticker.  Briggs especially was all about this and loved trying to find the next station.  The kids got 18 of the 24 badges throughout the day.

We also took the Wildlife Express train to Rafiki's Planet Watch, which we've also never done before.  We saw the petting zoo, got a few Wilderness Explorer badges, and then took part in the Animation Experience, where one of Disney's animators taught us how to draw a character.  It was a lot of fun...and everyone did a great job drawing Heimlich from 'A Bug's Life.'

We rode a few rides throughout the day.  Kali River Rapids was one of Adelie's favorites so she, Staley, and Zach did it twice.

Briggs didn't want to do it again, but we found this spot on the bridge overlooking the ride where you could press a button and spray water on people on the ride.  Briggs thought this was great fun and spent the entire time waiting for Zach and the girls spraying unsuspecting riders.

We did the Dinosaur ride.  Obviously it was a little too scary and intense for Briggs and Adelie, since they both kept their eyes closed through most of the ride.  But they did enjoy Triceratops spin.

Unfortunately, Expedition Everest was closed for refurbishment, so that was one less ride we got to do on our Animal Kingdom day.  But we filled in the rest of our day with walking on the trails to see the animals and watching shows.  We REALLY enjoyed the Birds of Flight show and the KiteTails show.  We watched KiteTails twice since they had both a Lion King show and a Jungle Book show.  KiteTails was a water show with these huge kites being pulled by individuals on jet skis.  It was lots of fun!

We again packed a lunch, had a mid-afternoon ice cream treat, and then had dinner at a quick service station outside of Yak and Yeti.  It was SO good!  Another favorite of the trip with Asian inspired dishes.  (Well, Briggs and Adelie had a cheeseburger and PB & J, so not quite so Asian inspired for them.)

We were all getting tired towards the end of the day, but wanted to stick it out so we could enjoy Pandora in the evening with lower waits for the two most popular rides in the park.  So we rested in the shade, played a little at the Boneyard playground, drank some ice water, waved at some Disney characters floating by,... 

and met Kevin from 'Up'.

This was one of my favorite characters that we happened upon during our trip this time.  So fun and novel!!

We ended our evening in Pandora land.  We all road the Navi River Journey boat ride together and then the girls and I got in line for Flight of Passage.  We still ended up waiting over an hour for my favorite ride at Disney, but we visited with the nice people in line around us and the girls spent most of the time again doing their clapping/singing game.  And I love this ride, so the wait was totally worth it!  This was the first time either girl had done the ride and they both really liked it too.  While we were doing our last ride, Zach and Briggs did the Navi River Journey another time, looked in a gift shop, and then just rested on an outside bench until we were done.

We finished off our last park day by closing down the park again.  After our full week of Universal and Disney parks, we had one more rest day before heading home.  We were ready for a day of rest, but we weren't ready to leave the warmth, sunshine, and vacation fun that we had been experiencing.

Our Trip: Magic Kingdom

We spent our entire rest day at our townhouse.  The kids swam (and swam and swam and swam), Zach took a nap, I did laundry and relaxed on the couch or by the pool, I took a walk, and Zach went for a run.  Zach made a yummy brunch and I made a taco dinner.  After dinner, we took a family walk to a playground to play for a bit and then ended our day with ice cream, an episode of the Animal Kingdom show and Bluey on Disney +, and then got to bed early.

All rested up and ready for our Magic Kingdom day!  For Magic Kingdom, we had to park at the Ticket and Transportation Center and take a boat or monorail from the parking lot to Magic Kingdom.  Briggs was thrilled since riding the monorail was on his list of musts for the week.  We ended up taking the boat to the park (since the monorail was down at the time) and then took the monorail back at the end of the night.  Winning! 

We decided to purchase Genie + for our Magic Kingdom day.  I again had technology issues first thing in the morning and wasn't able to get my first reservation for the day as early as I had hoped.  Once in the park, I again was so pleased when guest services was able to give us an extra reservation for the day to rectify the inconvenience from their glitchy technology.

The weather was warm and beautiful.  We used our Genie + reservations for the more popular rides and then filled the rest of our day with lower wait time rides, calvalcades, characters, and shows.

We used our Genie + to ride Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, Dumbo, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Winnie the Pooh, and Ariel.

When the lines were short, we also rode Tomorrowland Speedway, Ariel (3 more times!), It's a Small World, tea cups, Goofy's Barnstormer, the People Mover, and the magic carpets.

We used our end of the night ride on Seven Dwarves Mine Train for me and the kids while Zach did Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean again.

Briggs said he loved Seven Dwarves Mine Train, although his tightly closed eyes might have indicated otherwise.

Zach always enjoys the Haunted Mansion ride.  The kids have never wanted to do it, so it's one ride at Disney that I have never done either.

We tried some new shows we've never done before like Hall of Presidents, Carousel of Progress, and the Enchanted Tiki Room.  And because it's a favorite, we made sure to do Monster's Inc Laugh Floor as well.

We packed our lunch again, had some Dole Whip for a mid-afternoon snack, and then had a fish dinner from Columbia Harbor House.  We were always able to find some nice, shaded outdoor seats for all our meals and snacks so we could enjoy the beautiful weather while eating our meals.

We caught the princess calvalcade once (that had all the princesses and the fairy Godmother) and the Magic Kingdom calvalcade once (with Moana, Peter Pan, Aladdin, Alice, Mary Poppins, and Gaston).  Adelie was so excited to get to see Ariel!  The fact that mermaid Ariel was not in her grotto for a meet and greet this time was the biggest disappointment of the trip for Adelie.

But we still were able to meet a few other princesses.  Staley was the kid that insisted we wait in line to meet Tiana...

and Rapuzel.

The girls had so much fun together throughout the week.  Staley was very supportive and helpful when Adelie was apprehensive about a roller coaster or ride.  They had tons of fun making up games and playing together in the pool.  And they entertained each other really well while waiting in lines.  They made up clapping games to 'We Don't Talk about Bruno' and clapped and sang their way through multiple lines each day.  Staley isn't always inclusive or attentive to her little sister, so I loved seeing them enjoy each other so much during our trip.

I love how Staley was always holding Adelie's hand on the roller coasters.

We finished our last rides of the day in time to see the fireworks show.  Because we were already back in Fantasyland, we just watched from the backside of the castle instead of on Main Street.  We couldn't see the castle projections, but had a great view of the fireworks, had plenty of space to spread out, and didn't have to the battle the crowds on Main Street.  And we could even see Tinkerbell fly down from the castle from where we were sitting.

We were in no rush to join the crowds leaving the park, so we took our time once the park closed.  We took some pictures...

admired the castle...

found some more of the golden statues...

and then let Adelie and Briggs shop for their souvenirs from Grammie and Grandpa.  Adelie got an Ariel bubble wand and a baby Ariel stuffed animal.  Briggs got a remote control RC car from Toy Story.

It was another fun, full, beautiful day at Disney.

Our Trip: Hollywood Studios

After a full travel day and 2 full theme park days, the kids were all dragging a little by our Hollywood Studios day.  They struggled waking up, Briggs was complaining of his stomach hurting (which thankfully subsided once we entered the park), and as we were waiting in the long line to enter the park, I was second-guessing my decision to bounce everyone out of bed early in order to get to the park for opening.

Thankfully, things looked up as soon as we entered the park.

Hollywood Studios is the most frustrating of the Disney parks.  It is the smallest park, but it has a lot of the most popular rides without many smaller rides or other things to round out the day.  Therefore, it gets long lines, can feel very congested in certain areas (like Toy Story Land), and can be difficult to navigate and get things accomplished without getting frustrated.

We had decided to purchase Genie + for our Hollywood Studios day, which is the new paid line skipping service that replaced Fast Pass.  However, I was super frustrated when I woke up before 7 in the morning to try to get reservations for our first and top priority ride, Slinky Dog Dash.  Disney's app had some issues and by the time I got things working about 30 seconds after 7, all the reservations for the day were gone.  Thankfully I found a very helpful guest services lady at the park who gave us an any-time reservation for the ride.

We started our day riding the new Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Railroad ride at park opening while the line was not too long.  It was lots of fun!  Then the kids and Zach went to the Lightening McQueen show while I tried to work out our Slinky Dog Dash issue with guest services.

There are no full parades at Disney right now, but they have pop up calvalcades, which are just like mini parades with a few characters.  We enjoyed seeing the calvalcade with the Incredibles, Edna Mode, and Sully from Monster's Inc while we were having a snack and putting on our sunscreen.

Because of the long lines for all the rides, we did rides with our Genie + reservations and then filled in our free time with shows, characters, and exploring the new Star Wars land.  We went to the Frozen Show and the Beauty and the Beast show.  And Zach enjoyed the Indiana Jones show, although the kids chose not to go to that one.

Slinky Dog Dash was a favorite for all the kids, although Adelie was in tears before the ride, not sure she wanted to do it.  But Staley was very caring, held her hand through the ride, and Adelie said it was a favorite of the day.  We also did Toy Story Mania and Alien Swirling Saucers with Genie + later in the day as well.

Hard to tell with the hair in her face, but it looks like a smile.

Briggs liked it so much that he and I were able to do it a second time using Zach's Genie + reservation that he didn't use.

The new Star Wars land was a highlight for Zach.  Although we are not a big Star Wars family, the detail and immersive experience of the land was still impressive.

We all did the ride Milennium Falcon: Smugglers Run.  It made Zach feel motion sick, but the rest of us thought it was fun.  Each person had a job on the flight.  Zach and I were pilots (I don't think I was very good at it, which might be part of the reason Zach felt sick), Staley and Briggs were gunners, and Adelie was an engineer.  I think having a job gave the ride a more fun and different feel from many of the other simulator-type rides.

Zach treated himself to a fun Sprite in a round bottle as his Disney souvenir.  He really enjoyed checking out Star Wars land, seeing all the ships and droids, watching the Storm Troopers, and just enjoying the incredibly themed and immersive land.  Zach is the only one in the family who has watched all the newer Star Wars movies.

And we had to get our traditional Chewbacca and Briggs picture, even if it was different from our previous trips.  Chewbacca has always been one of Briggs' favorite characters to meet, even when he was just an infant.

And we met lots of characters during the day too, like Minnie...

Olaf...

Fancy Nancy...

Pluto...

and even Doc McStuffins.  There were absolutely no lines for most of these characters so the kids were happy to meet them, even if they aren't favorites anymore.

While filling time in our day waiting for our Genie + reservations, we also took the opportunity to ride the skyliner from Hollywood Studios to Caribbean Beach resort and back.  Riding the skyliner was one of Briggs' top requests for our entire week.  It is a fun and relaxing way to travel.

We packed a lunch for our Hollywood Studios day, enjoyed a mid-afternoon snack of mickey ice cream treats, and then had yummy sandwiches from Woody's Lunchbox for dinner.

By late afternoon, Staley hit a wall.  She was exhausted, didn't want to eat her dinner, and was in tears about just wanting to go back to the townhouse.  We rested in the shade, coaxed some dinner into her, calmed her down, and then just walked around the park a little as she decided whether or not to stay or just head back.

Staley felt better with a little dinner in her, rallied, and decided to stick it out so we could go on Rockin Roller Coaster while Zach and the littles watched the Lightning McQueen show again.

We had the opportunity to ride it twice in a row (using the fast passes from the rest of the family), but Staley changed her mind right before we got on the second time.  She felt a little woozy after the first ride and she decided getting right back on again might not be the best idea.

With about an hour before park closing, Zach took the opportunity to jump in line for Rise of the Resistance, the premier ride experience in Star Wars land.  The kids didn't want to go, but Zach thought it was amazing!

Zach said the ride was just like being plopped down in the middle of a movie.  He said it was incredible!  Since there are many things we enjoy at Disney that Zach can't do, I was so glad that he had the opportunity to experience this.

The kids were all getting tired, but were troopers while waiting for Zach to do his ride.  We played with glow sticks, looked at pictures from the trip so far, and just chilled out in a quiet spot at the edge of Toy Story Land.

After 12 hours in a theme park for the third straight day, things are bound to get a little crazy!

When Zach finished his ride, we had enough time left to jump into line for Toy Story Mania as our last ride of the day.

By the end of the day, we were all exhausted!  We had walked 10-13 miles every day for the past 3 days, spent full days from park opening to park close at theme parks over the past 3 days, and experienced way more sun and warmth than we had in months.  It had been another good day, but we were all happy to have a rest day the following day where we could sleep in, relax, and recoup so we could be ready for the remainder of our trip.