Disney's Animal Kingdom

Disney's Animal Kingdom (a mix of a zoo and an amusement park) may actually be our favorite of the parks!

We ran into the park to start off with an intense animal safari--lucky for us, 9:00 am is still early enough for the animals to not be napping much yet. 

The hippos were their usual lounging selves.

We decided not to pet the 10 foot long crocodiles.

Everyone loved the elephants!

Zebras are actually black, with white stripes.

Nathan, Camille, Madeline, and Brenda all rode the you-will-get-wet river ride.  Can you tell who chose not to wear a poncho!

We snuck in a second run of the safari.  The animals weren't as active this time, but we got to see a few more fun things like happy cousins, 

a Sophia cuddling a stuffed tarantula,

an ostrich (that came up right to our truck), and some rhinos fighting over their afternoon snack!

The girls had a great time watching a musical and acrobatic production with a lion king theme.

Madeline and Brenda took Nathan and Camille on their first ever roller-coaster-with-a-backwards-and-in-the-dark-loop-di-loop.  If it wasn't an hour wait, Brenda and Madeline would have gone again!

The roller coaster was in this mountain--Mt Everest (full with yetis)

At the heart of the park was a gorgeous tree covered with carvings of animals.  We took some time to find some of the animals, but we definitely could have used some more.  It was incredible.

Sophia and her spider "Webby" loved the tree.  

As did Madeline and her new elephant.

Cousins enjoyed a musical production of Nemo--it was actually pretty good!

We finished off our day with a visit to the tree, dinner, and then another visit to the tree (after dark during a light show). . .

Day 2 Magic Kingdom

Today we saw how many people the Magic Kingdom can really hold--we think a lot of people who avoided the rain yesterday came today.  :)  It took us an extra 30-40 minutes to get to the park due to traffic, crowds, and a broken Monorail, so our plan to hit Space Mountain first, had to change, but it got us on the Speedway later in the day.

We started with Pirates of the Caribbean, and even Sophia gave it a try.  After a break at the Tikki Room with Dole Pineapple Whip (a definite must-have, according to Camille), we took a leisurely boat ride through the Jungle

Madeline chose two swords at the Pirates of the Carribbean ride as her souviniers, and they got  a lot of use during the day:  first, for sword fighting of course, and second, as digging tools on Tom Sawyer's Island

Madeline demonstrated her great driving skills, hoping that she could get a driver's license soon!

 

Sophia even took the wheel when she and mom went for a little spin on the Speedway.

Swords were invaluable during the main waiting periods we had throughout the day!

We ended the day with the fireworks show and the storytelling show at the castle.  It was nice to just sit, eat popcorn, and play with the light-maker that shoots bubbles that Mom thought was necessary to keep the younger kids entertained.  It also entertained the older kids (including Mom) too.

Day 1 in the Magic Kington (Disney World)

Our first day in the Magic Kingdom began with a mad rush to the new 7 dwarves train ride.   We still had to wait 45 minutes to ride.
Afterwards, Brenda and Sophia to a gentle break at the Whinny the Pooh ride.

  Camille and Madeline did their best to make the Dumbo ride a bit more exiting, while Sophia and Brenda did their best to keep it tame until the very end.

Madeline, Celeste, and Brenda were wild and crazy on the teacups, while Bella, Sophia, and Stacey kept it gentle and smooth.  Camille and Nathan refused to even get on.  

It started raining, so we tried a 4-D show (10 minutes)

We took a break to watch the afternoon parade--the dragon was the best part!

To get out of the rain, we opted for a quiet boat ride on Small World.  

After Small World we got caught in a deluge and spent the rest of the day in squeaky, wet sneakers.

 That didn't stop us for doing more roller coasters, tame rides like Ariel for the little girls, and moderate shopping (including for ponchos!).

What we really need at the end here is a picture of us all in our ponchos.  It rained like crazy for part of the day, and rained lightly to medium for almost all the rest of the day after 11 am.  Super wet, but still fun, day!

Diagon Alley and Hogsmead at Orlando Universal Studios!

Upon arrival to Diagon Alley, we felt it best to first visit Gringott's Bank, despite the ominous dragon on the roof at the time!

Even Sophia tried the ride (after we offered to buy her a wand)!  Though she displayed great bravery, she won't be going on that ride again soon. . . 

We enjoyed a hearty lunch of meat pies, sausage, fries, and chicken sandwiches, along with butter bear, pumpkin juice, and peach fizz, at the Leaky Cauldron

 Everyone was excited when we found the firebolt broom in the window of the quidditch shop

I suggested Madeline try some of the jelly eels--she didn't take me up on the offer.

At Olivander's Wand Shop, Camille was selected to receive an individual wand fitting, just like Harry Potter.  The shop owner was successfully able to find the right wand for her on the third try--oak, with dragon heart string.  (No pictures, but dad got some of it on video :)

With wands in hand, the girls successfully levitated feathers, made fountains squirt, turned on clocks, silenced phoenixes, ignited birds (Nocturn Alley), and cast many other spells.

To get to Hogsmead, we hopped on the Hogwart's Express.  We made sure we had some Chocolate Frogs in hand to eat on the journey.

Hogsmead appeard a little snowy, but we were fine in our short sleeves.  While there, we visited Hogwarts to take a "broomstick-flying lesson" (which Sophia passed on for good reason), and had a great dinner at The Three Broomsticks.  

We finished the day off with a late night (8-9pm) dip in the hotel pool--lazy river floating and hot tubbing.