Cate got a kiss from Minnie:
We got to pet Pluto, which caused his leg to start shaking because he enjoyed it so much (also, check out how Pluto signs):
It was a delicious meal and we got to meet some of our favorites. After breakfast, we caught the bus from the Contemporary over to Animal Kingdom.
We headed straight back to Africa to take a safari. The safari was amazing. The animals were so close that you think you can reach out and touch them at points. Heck, our tour got stopped at one point because there were rhinos in the road in front of us. The kids (Will especially) really enjoyed this trip. After the safari, we went on a jungle trail and saw some more animals including the gorillas that Cate kept requesting.
After our time in Africa, we walked over to catch the Festival of the Lion King. This is a fun show where they sing all of the Lion King songs while different characters and performers entertain the audience. Each of the four sections are assigned an animal and are encouraged at different points to make your animal sound. We were in the warthog section. This might have been the first time Cate really sat still since we had arrived in Orlando.
Right outside the show we ran into two of our faves (or at least two of mine)--Baloo the Bear and King Louie! After Baloo's signature, Cate had one signature so far (Minnie) and Will had five (Goofy, Mickey, Donald, Pluto, and Baloo). Don't worry, we would balance Cate's out later in the week.
We grabbed a quick bite at Pizzafari and headed to Dino Land USA. There we rode Triceratop Spin (a Dumbo like ride) and Cate "drove" us (i.e., she moved a joystick to make us go up or down). After that, I went to grab a couple of paper Fastpasses for nap time and check the showtimes for Finding Nemo the Musical while Jenna and Sarah took the kids to the Boneyard. Think huge playground with fossils throughout it. It made Aunt Sarah nervous because she couldn't always see the kids, so she did a lot of climbing. The kids loved it.
After the Boneyard, we all watched Finding Nemo the Musical, which was a really good show. They make the actors look like the characters kind of like the Lion King broadway show. It wasn't too long and the songs were good. Then it was time for Aunt Sarah and the kids to catch the bus back to the Polynesian for nap time while Jenna and I did some grown up rides. We got the kids on the bus just fine and Sarah started a video on her phone. As the bus pulled away, Sarah gave me the thumbs up, so we spent the afternoon thinking the bus trip went fine. Turns out that as soon as we were out of sight, Cate started screaming (for most of the rest of the 20 minute bus ride), "I want my Mommy! You're not my Mommy!!" Soooooo...there was a bus full of people giving Aunt Sarah the stink eye and questioning whether she was kidnapping our two kids. Cate proceeded to pass out before arriving at the hotel, so Aunt Sarah got to manage a dead-weight sleeping Cate, Will, and a folded up stroller off the bus. Meanwhile, Jenna and I got to ride some fun rides. Thanks for coming on the trip, Aunt Sarah!!!!
Speaking of fun rides, Jenna and I rode Expedition Everest, the Kali River Rapids, and Dinosaur. Expedition Everest is a pretty intense roller coaster in a mountain (see the picture above) that goes in the dark and backward at one point. Jenna was fresh off riding the Barnstormer the night before and thinking it wasn't that tame. As we approached Expedition Everest, she could see people going up the side (pretty high) and then the sound of screaming. She talked herself up after seeing some little girls ride and we went. She did pretty well, although she had to put her head on my shoulder for most of it. Oh, and she screamed a lot. But she said she would do it again, so she was a trooper. [Editor's Note: I was bracing my head to avoid whiplash, but yes, I may have been screaming a few choice words!] We avoided getting soaked on the Kali River Rapids by wearing our ponchos on the ride. We then caught Dinosaur, which was a lot of fun. On our way out, we grabbed a cinnamon and sugar funnel cake for the bus ride to the Polynesian (way better than powder sugar).
We got Sarah and the kids and headed on to the Magic Kingdom for the evening. When we walked in, a show was going on at the castle where the Fairy Godmother put icicles on it for Christmas. It was really pretty (before and after shots below).
After the show, we went to Adventureland to ride Aladdin's Magic Carpets and Pirates of the Caribbean. The kids loved the Magic Carpets. Will would drive us and he got such a kick out of randomly screaming "UP!" or "DOWN!" while yanking on the joystick to move us. Cate really thought her big brother was funny too. This was one of the favorite rides for the kids. Throw in that you could pretty much walk on without a wait, and we rode the Magic Carpets a lot. It had a second row so we could all ride in one carpet, which was another plus. You can see Will steering in these pictures.
We also caught a show at the Tiki Room, which is a really fun show with singing birds, flowers, and walls. We got a great picture pre-show (the kids were not tired at all):
We headed over to Tomorrowland to do some stuff after the Tiki Room. We ate dinner at Cosmic Ray's (really good) and caught the Monster's Inc. Laugh Floor. This is an interactive comedy show where various monsters from Monster's Inc. do stand up. It was pretty funny, although Will kept getting scared by one of the monsters. We also rode Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. This might have been Will's absolute favorite ride. You spin around in your car and shoot lasers at some bad guys. There are two laser guns per car and it keeps score based on how well you shoot. I'm afraid to admit that Will beat me. Sarah and Jenna in the other car also scored higher than me too. After we got off of Buzz we happened to stumble into a dance party being thrown by Goofy, Pluto, and Stitch. At this point, the kids hit their second wind and danced away. It even included a conga line.
I was supposed to take the kids for bed time, but we had managed to stay busy until 9 when the fireworks show begins. We decided to just stay and let the kids watch it from inside the park. Will enjoyed it, but it was too loud for Cate. So I took her to a quieter spot and waited out the fireworks. After fireworks, I took the (very exhausted) kids back to the hotel. Cate fell asleep on the monorail and Will nearly did. I gave them baths and they crashed. Their Day 2 was over.
Jenna and Sarah only had thirty minutes in the park after we left before it closed. I wanted them to ride Splash Mountain because I thought the kids could ride it and Sarah didn't think so. It is a log ride themed to the story of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and Brer Bear (think Zippity Do Dah). At the end, there is a 45 foot drop (there are also some smaller drops during the ride). Anyway, Jenna was a little rattled by the biggest of the smaller drops and a little antsy for the 45 foot drop when the ride stopped just as they got to the foot of the uphill climb to the big drop (at this point, she had ruled out the kids riding). She and Sarah sat there for about ten minutes, looking uphill, and being heckled by the audio animatronic vultures at the foot of the hill. It eventually restarted and they did the drop. Jenna says it freaked her out, but it was over before she could really freak out because the drop is so fast... [Editor's Note: I'm really not as big of a baby as Billy makes me sound! ;) ]
They made their way back to the hotel and we all hit the sack pretty tired. We had finished another good day.
More posts to come...
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