It’s a jungle out there—at Animal Kingdom that is. We started the day with a latte and pastry at a vendor cart just outside the park before taking in the kids’ favorite attraction. Mary, Andrew, Chris, and baby Brad could’ve played all day at the bone yard fossil fun site. Junior archeologist, Mary, led her team of excavating cadets on a wild dig uncovering an exciting adventure. New a couple years ago, Finding Nemo—the Musical, was a colorful theater production of this Disney movie. It reminded me of the Broadway version of “The Lion King” with a cast of brilliant actors bringing the ocean story to life on stage through puppetry.
Restaurantosaurus was our stop for a light lunch before Andrew and Patrick headed out to ride Expedition Everest. The rest of us took off on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. We didn’t get very far though before having to take cover from an early afternoon thunder shower.
On Kilimanjaro Safari, an open-air, rough terrain vehicle takes you on an expedition through an African-style savannah providing plenty of scenery and exotic animals for pictures and video.
Mickey’s Jammin’ Jungle Parade brought our day at Animal Kingdom to a close with colorful floats and fun music—several characters paused to give the kids a hug or a high five.
Our last night at Beach Club Villas, Beth checked out Expedia.com to book our last two nights of lodging. I thought we may have been in for some unpleasant accommodations at the Blue Heron Beach Resort when neither the address nor the name came up in the Garmin. However, this condominium located on the shores of Lake Bryan is one of Orlando’s newest resorts and made the Beach Club Villas look like Port Orleans on Riverside.
Eight of us were more than comfortable with all the amenities of home away from home including a beautiful view of the lake from our deck. After we got checked in and unloaded the luggage, Beth took us to a couple Disney Outlet stores where we shopped for some discounted souvenirs—(don’t tell the people I give gifts to). It was the happiest place on earth at Downtown Disney tonight with thousands of people enjoying their happy selves in the Marketplace and Pleasure Island. We, of course, made our favorite stops at Earl of Sandwich, Ghirardelli, and the Lego place. At Ghirardelli we sang one more round of Happy Birthday to Andrew as he enjoyed seven cherries in honor of his seventh birthday.
Mary purchased her very own Mickey and Minnie Mouse plush toys to remember this special trip.
Patrick was on a mission today to set a world’s record for hitting all the parks in one day using all the different modes of transportation and eating something from each park as well as riding on at least one attraction at each park—he is truly his mother’s son!!
As I sit here and enjoy the breathtaking view of the lake from our window, I know Mary and I will treasure this amazing vacation for years and years to come. What a great way to start our summer 2009—and we still have a day and a half of Disney fun left!!
No comments:
Post a Comment