Tuesday morning, we got up bright and early again for a fun-filled day at the Animal Kingdom.
We went into the park and just took a few minutes to look around. Of course, we had to pose for a family picture in front of the focal point of the Animal Kingdom, the Tree of Life.
Ava had her picture taken snuggling with baby Simba!
Close up picture of the Tree of Life. The detail is amazing!
Expedition Everest off in the distance
We went early to get our Fastpasses for Kilimanjaro Safaris. While we waited for the safari, we went to see the Festival of the Lion King. It was absolutely fantastic!
After the show, we went to get into our open-air jeep for the safari. Our guide was very knowledgeable and we were able to see so many animals on the savanna.
There were tons of crocodiles!
Yes, we came this close to a lion. This was all we could see of him since he was fast asleep.
We were able to chase a poacher and reunite a baby elephant with its mother after driving fast through the savanna and over rickety bridges. Very exciting! ;)
We visited more characters over in Camp Minnie-Mickey. They looked so cute decked out in their safari gear! Ava got more autographs for her book and we took a few more family pictures. Minnie was so glad to see Ava!
The whole family with Mickey!!
After Camp Minnie-Mickey, Kevin went over to get Fastpasses for Dinosaur and then we took a break and had lunch at Pizzafari. After lunch, mom, Kevin and Ava rode Dinosaur.
They also had a great time on Kali River Rapids. Ava was the only one who really got very wet. She usually hates getting wet or dirty but mom and Kevin said she was laughing the whole time she was getting drenched. She just happened to be sitting in the one spot on the round raft that took the brunt of the waves. After getting off that ride, we snuggled Ava up in the stroller all wrapped up in Kevin's fleece pullover and she conked out. We used that time to head over to Expedition Everest since Ava was not quite tall enough to ride it.
Here the Photopass photographer told us to act like the Yeti since Everest is all about it (or is it him? the monster? whatever) I think I pulled it off a little better than Kevin--at least I attempted to look like I was growling. So cheesy! But a fun memory to have.
I sat down with Ava while she slept and mom and Kevin went to ride Everest. The way the ride is set up, you can actually see a portion of the roller coaster during the ride. I found a bench and had a great time watching everyone fly past me screaming while Ava snoozed. Mom and Kevin got off the ride with huge smiles on their faces and declared that Expedition Everest was the best ride so far. Ava was starting to wake up and we decided to finish up our day in the park by going to the Finding Nemo show. It was another fabulous show and we were blown away with the entertainment once more. It was starting to get dark as we were leaving and it was so pretty with all the lights and lanterns lit up throughout the park. We caught the bus to the Animal Kingdom Lodge resort to have dinner at Boma. Our dinner was delicious. There was so much different food to sample. Mom and I had a nice chat with one of the men who was manning the wood fired grill. He asked us where we were from and when we told him Memphis, he immediately told us about how he really wanted to drive up with a team to participate in BBQ Fest. He had never been but had heard how popular it is. I assured him that it would definitely be a good time. :) Ava got another birthday cupcake for dessert and also sampled some of the bite sized items from the dessert bar. At night at the Lodge, they hand out night vision googles so that you can view the animals out on the savanna. Cool, huh? It was getting pretty late so we decided instead of taking a bus back to Animal Kingdom and then hopping on another bus back to Pop Century, we would just have the Lodge call a taxi for us. The taxi pulled up and Kevin sat up front and mom, Ava, and I piled into the backseat. After driving for a minute or two, Ava looked at me and whispered worriedly, "I am REALLY not supposed to be doing this, Mom." Huh? I wasn't even thinking about it but all of a sudden it dawned on me that she was not in a car seat. So then I freaked out for a second but then told her it was okay--it was a very short ride, there was next to no traffic, she was wearing a seatbelt, and I would hold her very tightly. So more firsts for Ava--her first time to ride in a car without a car seat (rest assured we will not be making a habit of that!) and both her and mom's first time to ride in a taxi. We were really racking up a lot of firsts on this trip! We got back to the resort and went right into our nightly routine. Kevin and Ava went down to the pool for a night swim and mom and I planned for Day 4--Hollywood Studios!!!
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