Disney World: Day 5

Since Luke and I received a free day at the park, we thought it would be fun to go to Animal Kingdom, since Luke hadn't been there before. The park is only open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., so we got up early to get there when it opened. Around 7 a.m., Lexi walks in and says that she wants to go with us. Dad and the girls were not planning on going to Animal Kingdom since they were going to see La Nouba at Cirque du Soleil. However, Lexi being the youngest and most apt to getting her way, came along with us. :) We didn't mind...we don't get to see her often, so it was nice to hang out with her. It also gave the rest of the family some time to do whatever they wanted to do.

Luke at the entrance of Animal Kingdom

We started out the day by running aaalllll the way to the back of the park to the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. This is by far one of the coolest rides at Disney: You ride on a huge jeep through an "African safari." Though it is definitely not the real-deal, it is about as close to it as it can be. It was so neat riding around and seeing zebras, elephants, lions and other animals. And it looks like they had quite a bit of space to roam around.

Lexi on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride

After the safari, we ran to the other side of the park to get Fast Passes for Expedition Everest roller coaster ride. Fast Passes are great if you hate waiting in lines. All you do it grab a fast pass ticket and come back during the time frame on the ticket and you can pretty much walk right on the ride. So we headed over to the Finding Nemo Musical. This production isn't the typical theme park kinda show...the singers are amazing, and the puppetry is very cool. After the show, it was time to ride Expedition Everest. Lexi and I shared a seat and as we were heading up the first big drop, she yells out "I don't think I should have gone on this ride!!" I cracked up as I saw the terror in her eyes. (Good sister, I know) But after a few seconds, her hands were up and she was loving it.

We grabbed some lunch back at the front of the park and made our way to Dinoland U.S.A. And being smart people, we thought it would be a great idea to go on the Primeval Whirl...a roller coaster ride that spins...and spins...and spins. And then jerks you around. Awesome.

Lexi on the Primeval Whirl roller coaster

To finish the day, we did a little shopping, saw some animal exhibits and watched the Festival of the Lion King Musical. It is almost like a mini version of the Broadway show. Again, excellent singing and acting..and kids were dancing the entire time.

Us with Jiminy Cricket

Luke experiencing the joys of being a big brother ;)

We left Animal Kingdom and made our way to the Polynesian Resort for dinner with the rest of the family. There will be a separate blog post for the dinner. It was that good. :D