Disney Day 2

Last night we ended up heading out to The Springs (aka Downtown Disney) and spent a couple hours there.  We mainly shopped, pin traded, checked out the Lego Store and ate overpriced soft serve ice cream.   

Animal Kingdom was on our agenda today, with one of our meal plan reservations at Rainforest Cafe. 

We all got up and around kind of late, so we weren't at the park right when they opened.  Not a huge deal since we had our FP+ set up already.   It was chilly this morning and I was glad we all wore sweatshirts/sweaters.   Amelia woke up not feeling so hot (she's been fighting this cough for the past 4 or 5 days) and was so grumpy.  She has been so uncooperative lately, which isn't typically like her and it is DRIVING me nuts. 

Ryan's dad hasn't been to Disney since 1993, so he's never seen Animal Kingdom.  We stopped by the Tree of Life first and took some pictures, and spent some time searching for animals.   Then we did the Tough to Be a Bug show, which is always so cute!

Call me crazy, but Animal Kingdom is probably my least favorite world??? Anyone else?  Maybe because the activities seem similar to a zoo and we can do that anytime?  I don't know.   After the Bug Show Ry, Dave and Hudson used FP+'s on Expedition Everest.   Porter refused to go.   Hudson has gone on it before (when he was 6 I believe was the first time) and had no fear.  Ryan did say that partway through teh ride he was scared and screaming "Mama mama mama!"  

After Everest, we made it into Finding Nemo, The Musical (we had a FP+ for later but walked right in at the 11:00 show!).   This is one of my all time favorite shows at Disney.  I think it's so adorable!   

We had about 15 minutes before our Kilimanjaro Safari Fast Pass, so we walked the Pangani Forest Trail.  I feel like we always skip this because, again, it's like the zoo.   It was a nice little walk, though, and the naked mole rats are SO dang cute! 

The Safari ride was great, though our tour guide wasn't all that enthusiastic.   We were able to see the giraffes SO close to the truck!   Lots of great animal sightings today.  

Lunch was at Rainforest Cafe.   We used one of our table service dining selections and LET ME TELL YOU it was so worth it.  Adults got one entree, a non-alcoholic beverage and a dessert.  Kids got their kids meal and a dessert.   Helloooo overpriced, delicious steak!   Each day we use the meal plan we realize how awesome it truly is.  

We were stuffed after lunch, and pretty much done with Animal Kingdom.  We never really do Dino Land, so we skipped out on that and headed back to the hotel.  Everyone (except Porter) napped, and got up around 5:45 or so.  We decided to go back to Magic Kingdom, since they were open until 11pm. 

Porter, ahhh let me tell you what a wet blanket he's been.   He has that pre-teen attitude through and through and it is going to make me crazy.   He doesn't want to do anything.  He's grumpy about everything.  He's arguing with everyone.  He's disgruntled about everything.  AUGHGH.   Its kind of sad to me that he's not really feelin' the Disney magic this trip :(.  Though when I think about it... he doesn't like to ride roller coasters, and he is too old for "baby" rides.... so yeah, it might be a bit boring.  There is SO many other things to ride and do and see, so I don't know.... I just wish he'd be happy and excited for one stinking day. 

Back to our evening plans.... We got back to Magic Kingdom around ohhh 7:30 or 8?   We headed to Fantasyland and the kids rode the Barnstormer.  This was Amelia's first roller coaster and she LOVED it.  I can't wait to share the pic I got of her on it.  Grin a mile wide!  Porter rode on it with us and he had a great time, too.  YAY!   We rode Dumbo, too, and tried to get on the carousel but apparently they close that down when the fireworks show starts.   We rode Its a Small World for the first time ever.  I'm not kidding.  When we came to WDW in 2013 it was closed for refurbishment.  In Disneyland last year, it was closed. So, we've ran into bad luck with it!  I LOVED it... it is so so cute!  I could have went through a few more times :)

We watched the fireworks from Fantasyland and then headed to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride.  Everyone rode on that even though Porter tried to psych himself out after reading that it had a "14 foot drop"  HAHA!

On our way out we caught the last bit of the castle show and fireworks.  I adore the castle projection show!  I want to try to get to it another time this week to see the whole thing.   Just as we were leaving, they started setting stuff up for the Electrical Parade.   It started in 10 minutes, at 11pm, so we decided (much to Porter's dismay) to stay since we were already there and could park literally RIGHT near the exit.   We watched the show and then turned around and walked out!  SWEET!

We didn't get back to the hotel until around midnight.  Amelia fell asleep on the bus!  It was a long night.... Not sure we could do too many of those!