It's a Jungle in There

Our first theme park stop was Animal Kingdom. It was a crisp morning and we bundled up in light sweaters and pants and headed out to the early entry bus, along with everyone else at our hotel. Each day a different theme park opens an hour early or stays open an hour later for park guests. We struggled to get all five of us and a stroller on the bus and then unloaded at the theme park, but we managed. Once the tickets were purchased and everyone was settled in their respective spots we headed into the park. Our first ride of the day was the Safari, it's a tour through the animal enclosures in the guise of taking a real safari in Africa. We saw a lot of cool animals and since it was still cool they were actually moving around. The hippos were huge and the herd of elephants even featured a few babies.

Next stop was the Himalayan train ride. I would say it was a cross between Thunder Mountain railroad and the Matterhorn. The Yeti is chasing us and the train goes forward and backwards. Greg took Gabriella on first and we gave her the option to go with me again or wait with the babies. She came off the ride looking windblown and a little apprehensive, but she agreed to take me on it. I asked her what happened and she insisted it should be a surprise. We had a great time and there is nothing more fun than riding a rollercoaster with a happily screaming 5 year old. She and Greg braved the rapids ride and they both required an outfit change afterwards. One of the best parts of the Animal Kingdom were the amount of unique and not often seen characters around the park giving autographs. Balou and King Louie were on hand to say hello to the girls as well as Pocahontas, Lilo and Stitch and Terk from Tarzan. Gabriella had almost filled up her autograph book by the time we were ready to go back to the hotel. The park was beautiful and the animals were fun to look at. There were plenty of shady spots to sit and some fairly tasty food to eat. Greg also sat through the Finding Nemo musical which he counts as his arts event for the year.